S.o.t.M. College class Righteousness before Others
Notes
Transcript
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Tonight is our last bible class period for the semester. I have really really enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to next semester.
Next week we will have a singing in place of Bible class so you aren’t trying to process any more information.
NEXT SEMESTER WILL GO BACK TO WEDNESDAY NIGHT FOR CLASS
Mt 6:1-18 Practicing Righteousness before Others; Giving, praying and fasting
Intro: WHAT WE DO MATTERS AND WITH WHAT HEART/MOTIVATION WE DO IT!
Mr Ed’s and religious bumper stickers…When I was a teenager I worked for a surveyor who had an interesting pet peeve; he hated religious bumper stickers. (LIKE THE ICHTHUS FISH SYMBOL, “JESUS IS MY CO-PILOT, “THEN GOD IS MY PILOT,” “IF GOD IS YOUR CO-PILOT, SWITCH SEATS,” ) He was far from a good Christian but he did have a point that people should see it in our actions.
MR DOUGLAS, a man in the town I grew up in was a carpenter, had this old station wagon, with stickers of verses all over his car. He was also know as a very good man. (Many of His just shared a message rather than declaring who He was...
Story of Eastern holy man who would sit on the corner in ashes to show humility…and tourist would come and take picture and he would say wait and rearrange the ashes...)
So now let’s Jesus in this text is teaching against religious show, fake religion that is done to be seen and praised by men.
Mt 5:20 is the attitude behind what is being said. Jesus is once again using the Pharisee and religious leaders as an example…
How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times!
NOW JUST WHEN PEOPLE ARE LOOKING.
JESUS WAS TEACHING REAL RIGHTEOUSNESS AND THEN TEACHES THAT IT IS NOT FOR SHOW…AND THE PRAISE OF PEOPLE.
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
JESUS GIVES SOME SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF how the religious leaders did this: Mt 23
They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues
Q: WHAT WAYS HAVE YOU SEEN PEOPLE PRACTICING RIGHTEOUSNESS TO BE SEEN BY OTHERS TODAY? (THIS IS HARD TO JUDGE BUT)
Some of the same things can be for today as well: how we pray in front of others, when we give (we are sure to tell everyone {if only in passing}…,
APOSTLE AL: “DO you NOTICE ANYTHING DIFFERENT? I LOST THIRTY POUNDS IN THE LAST MONTH. I JUST GOT DONE FASTING FOR 30 DAYS.” (I’M THINKING, “WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME THIS?”
Q:WHY WOULD SOMEONE WANT TO MAKE OTHERS THINK THEY ARE RELIGIOUS OR PIOUS?
Pride and selfish ambition…also sometimes it is more subtle and can be a way of receiving affirmation out of insecurity.
Jesus gives three examples that demonstrate we should practice pure religion; (1) giving, (2) prayer, and (3) fasting. These three things were central practices of Judaism.
The lesson here is that in all these things or anything we do should not be done to impress men. (Greek word for hypocrite is word for actor and mean here a counterfeit.)
Q: WHEN SOMEONE IS DOING RELIGIOUS LOOKING ACTS TO IMPRESS OTHERS, WHO ARE THEY TRYING TO IMPRESS?
The religious or those who are lost? Usually those who are already religious.
DO NOT PRACTICE YOUR GIVING TO BE SEEN BY OTHERS (Vv.1-4)
“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
Jesus says here not to give to be seen by others as the hypocrites do. In Luke 12:1-2 He tells his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy.
This is a great lesson that shows that real righteousness does not care if everyone knows or everyone likes what we do. It’s devotion.
Now let’s make it a little more difficult and talk about how this principle can go along with something else Jesus said… read Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Q: What is the difference in what Jesus is talking about here and “letting your good deeds be seen by men? Our faith should be in everything we do so it is going to show in all we do, right?
“You can be seen doing good works or you can do good works to be seen.”
Notice in Mt 5:16 that God gets the glory not the person who does the good deed. We need to be sure to always give God the credit for what we do. We would not know how to do good if not for God.
“True, He had required them to let their light so shine before men that they might see their good works, and glorify their Father which is in heaven (Mt 5:16). But this is quite consistent with not making a display of our righteousness for self-glorification. In fact, the doing of the former necessarily implies our not doing the latter.” —Jamieson-
WHAT SHOULD OUR MOTIVATION BE IN DOING WHAT WE DO FOR GOD IN OUR LIVES?
The major point here is that motives are what matter in doing what we do in worship or service. Our motives should be love from a pure heart in all we do. 1 Cor. 16:14; “let all you do be done in love.” The point of 1 Cor. 13…if not out of love I am nothing…
B. V2 Do not give to be praised by others
1. Jesus says, “Sound no trumpet before you.” So in other words don’t toot your own horn” about what you did or gave. We have probably all done this at one time or another. Sometimes we are just so excited that we want to tell someone.
- (What is our motivation? Never be for another…like its tax deductable, i.e. commercial)
Q: What is the reward that they have? Obviously it is the applause of men, which is what they want. It is a foolish thing to trade the reward of God for the reward of men.
2. The equivalent in our language to the Greek phrase ’they have their reward’ would be ‘paid in full.’ So we get the point that they would get nothing from God.
- What a foolish thing to trade one for the other because God’s reward far outweighs what we do out of faith and obedience. His reward, as we studied Sunday night is not deserved or earned but given out of His grace because we worked out of obedience.
Q: What do people do today to get attention? Give great amounts of money, give humanitarian aid and publicize how much they give, (What I did not know about Bush) …
C. V3-4 Give in secret and you will be rewarded
God is the only one whom we should be seeking approval from. If we will seek to please Him then it will not matter how others see us. However if we are pleasing God we will make an impression on many through our good works.
Q: What did Jesus mean by not letting one hand know what the other is doing?
A: This mean that we do not even in our own hearts make a great deal out of what we have done. If we in our own hearts begin to do things for the purpose of our feelings we can get to the point of doing it for just that reason. The praise of men can be addictive and some have to have it. Elab…
So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”
Appl: This is an important lesson because our culture is consumed with image, pomp and show. So much that many fall into the trap of having to have the latest thing that shows they are successful. There is an obsession with looking good, having the nicest close, cars and houses. Many want to give an image in the things that they have.
Q: The question arises in your mind; should we not applaud something that someone has done for God?
Q: Can we not encourage and give those who are serving God a “pat on the back” for their service? Does scripture not say that we should give honor to whom honor is do and give double honor to those who labor among us, especially elders? 1 Tim. 5:17; Barnabas was given credit for giving in Acts 4 but I am sure that that was not why he did it. It is why Ananias and Sapphira lied about their giving in Acts 5
On the other hand why did God say to give honor to those who served? When we do not encourage one another in the work of the Lord it can become very discouraging.
We need to serve God whether we get encouragement or not but Paul encouraged the churches that were working for God.
WE CAN ENCOURAGE OTHERS BUT NOT DO THINGS EXPECTING OR FOR PRAISE!
DO NOT PRACTICE PRAYING TO SEEN BY OTHERS (EXAMPLE 2)
II. Do not practice praying to be seen by others (Vv. 5-15)
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
Hypocrites love to pray in front of others to get attention. Prayer was one way to get attention and praise back then. True prayer is not in technique or performance but a relationship and conversing with God. Jesus says how to pray with the right heart.
But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
This is a lesson for us. How often do we pray in private when no one else ever knows about it? How often do we do things that no one ever knows about? Answer this within yourself. If it is hardly ever, maybe you need to check your motives.
JESUS OFTEN WENT OFF BY HIMSELF TO PRAY. WE SHOULD TOO!
It is one thing to pray on an occasion where that is the point and you are with Christians. It takes faith and genuineness to pray in your home or at work when no one is encouraging you to do so.
Q: HOW DO WE RECONCILE THIS WITH THE FACT THAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO PRAY PUBLICLY AS WELL? Q: Does this mean we cannot pray in public?
No, we can pray in all circumstances (but it cannot be done in the spirit of ostentation. (flaunting to impress others) Jesus prayed in public when He prayed before raising Lazarus from the dead. He did it to teach however and not for show. Even in that pray you find God getting the glory.
V7-8 Pray in understanding without empty phrases
Greek prayers typically piled up as many titles as possible in hopes of getting the deities attention. God’s people have His attention at any time.
Q: WHAT PARAMETERS DOES THIS PUT ON THE WAY THAT WE PRAY?
Let us understand what Jesus is not saying, by understanding what Jesus is not saying;
1. Jesus is not saying that our prayers need to be short or without a lot of words. (Look at Jesus’ prayer in John 17. And in Lk 6:12 Jesus prayed “all night” before choosing of the Apostles.)
2. Jesus is not saying we cannot pray for the same thing more than once. He taught encouraging through the story of the persistent widow to pray persistently. Luke 18 Mt 26 Jesus prayed that this cup pass from Him more than one time…
What Jesus is saying is that we do not need to pray with many words and phrases just to impress others without depth or treat repetition like some kind of chant that will make us more likely to be heard.
Q: How do we see people doing this today? Did anyone see the prayers at the inauguration? I thought is this a speech or a prayer, it mentioned all the notable people…)
Q: WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES US HEARD BY GOD?
A: The one who is lowly in heart, humble, contrite and needy is the one who God hears. Jesus taught in LUKE 18 in the story of the Pharisee and tax collector that the humble prayer of the tax collector was heard.
All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
THE MODEL PRAYER - Vv. 9-13 Pray like this; the Lord’s prayer
Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Q: HAVE YOU EVER HEARD SOMEONE PRAY THIS PRAYER?
Prayer at my friends house, before supper and bed time, was this prayer simply repeated. There is nothing wrong with this if it came from the heart but Jesus wasn’t saying pray like this and this is the only way you can pray.)
By the 2nd century this was used as a liturgical prayer three times a day.
1. Jesus is giving a model or pattern.
Q: WHAT DO WE SEE JESUS PRAYING FOR IN HIS RECORDED PRAYERS?
We find in the recorded prayers of Jesus prayers for specific situations and His speaking to God as His father in a conversational manner. Before a meal, before raising Lazarus, in the garden before His arrest and other times BEFORE FEEDING THE 5000, ETC.
Q: JESUS IS NOT GIVING A ROTE PRAYER, BUT PRINCIPLES/ASPECTS AND ATTITUDES TO BRING INTO YOUR PRAYERS? WHAT ATTITUDES DO YOU SEE IN THIS PRAYER?
There is so much in this prayer. Some much is represented and covered. Tertullian called it an abbreviation of all the Gospels. It does however cover so much .
1. V9 Pray in Reverence of God
The first line of the model pray is important because it shows the two important attitudes that we need to have when we approach God.
First the attitude that Jesus had in His relationship to God in understanding Him as a loving father. Second, there is the attitude that is reflected in the phrase “hallowed by your name.” This is showing God the proper respect AND AWE. (The Greek word here is hagaistheto which mean to reverence as holy.)
And so God’s name is properly respected when we do His will and have reverence for Him in our lives. We should not hold Him in high esteem in our prayers but not in our lives.
2. V10 Pray for God’s kingdom and will
Q: HOW DO WE APPLY THIS TO OUR PRAYER, ESPECIALLY ABOUT THE KINGDOM?
Q: Since the kingdom has already come how can we apply this part of the prayer?
We can pray that the kingdom grow and God’s will be done in the church. We can pray for our home congregation and the church the world over.
This is an important aspect of prayer that we should not overlook in our prayer lives. It can be a temptation to think only of when Jesus said, “pray for anything in my name and will be done.” (Jn 14:13) We can be guilty of praying only our wills instead of God’s. We can fall into spending our prayers on our passions.
The two things mentioned here should not be left out of our prayers. We need to remember that God’s purpose, mission and will is more important than our earthly desires. We need to remember the church in our prayers and God’s will.
Q: Do you pray for the church in your personal prayers? You should, CHRIST CAME TO BUILD HIS CHURCH/ESTABLISH HIS KINGDOM.
Jesus prayed for God’s will to be done (26:29) and Jesus lived God’s will out in His life. He said and demonstrated that He was here to do the will of the Father. This is something that we need to be taken into account every day. We live in such a self center society.
3. V11 Pray for God’s blessing for necessities; daily bread
- this reminds you of the manna that was given on a daily basis in the wilderness.
Q; Jesus just said in verse 8 that “your Father already knows what you need before you ask.” So what is the purpose of this?
1. We need to recognize and remember where our blessings come from. GOD IS OUR PROVIDER!
It is important for us to remember, acknowledge and thank God for what we have, even our basic daily needs such as food and shelter and clothing. It s easy for us to misunderstand that we may have done something to get what we have but God is ultimately to have the glory for all we have. - We ask for our daily bread; which teaches us constantly to depend upon Divine Providence. — Matthew Henry Concise
Q: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE BEGIN TO FORGET GOD IS THE ONE WHO PROVIDES?
We can see the effect of forgetting God’s blessings and leaving Him out of our lives in by looking at the moral state of our country. But none of that will matter if He is still acknowledged in our lives. But when we fail to recognize, praise and live for Him…i.e. Romans 1) (we forget just how much we need him!)
It also reminds us that God does take care of us daily so we do not have to worry. Jesus said in Mt 7 that what parent would give their child a snake when asked for bread? His point was God is so much more loving than any parent therefore He will take care of you.
Jesus says later on in this chapter that we need not worry about tomorrow. V34 it can be terrible to worry about what might happen in the days to come and you are overcome.
4. V12 Pray for God’s forgiveness; as we forgive others
We should not expect to receive mercy if we are unwilling to give it. If we do we are making ourselves out to be better than others. We need to see our common problem of sin and be as quick to forgive as we want to be forgiven. Realizing how much we need it should help us to understand how much others need it from us.
Jesus goes deeper into this in verses 14-15
This would have been a powerful image because the Aramaic word can be used sins or debts. The Jewish lawyers had connived a way of falsely justifying not freeing people of their debts on the 7th and 15th years. This would have made an impression.
5. V13 Pray for God’s help in overcoming evil
We can try our best to stay away from temptation but we cannot always foresee where it is going to hit us. As we see from other places in scripture we desperately need God to overcome the evil that is around us and the temptations, doubt, trials and discouragements we face.
Q: HOW DOES GOD DELIVER US FROM EVIL?
It is encouraging that God has promised to help us overcome temptation. He has promised a way out (I Cor. 10:13) and has told us how to overcome the evil we face. (Eph 6 armor of God) He has told us to be watchful and sober minded not thinking we can’t fall. (I Pt 5:8; 1 Cr. 10:12)
Jesus prayed as we find it in John 17: 15 “I pray that you would keep them from evil.” I believe that this is the same thing that is taught here. “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.” 2 Tim 4:18 (ESV)
E. Vv. 14-15 Pray with a forgiving heart
Jesus taught the unjust nature of wanting forgiveness and not being willing to give in the parable of the unforgiving servant who was forgiven of a great debt but unwilling to forgive a small one owed to Him.
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
III. Do not practice your fasting to be seen by others (Vv.16-18)
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
V16 Do not fast to be seen by others - Fasting was typically for the Jew once a year (on the day of atonement, Lev 23:32)but there were others days that they would fast on certain occasion as tradition not law but some Jews would voluntarily fast twice a week to impress others.
One of those days was the day everyone went to the market. They would position themselves in the marketplace so everyone would see them.) Once again Jesus is not condemning voluntary acts of sacrifice but done quietly and sincerely.
B. Vv. 17-18 Fast in secret and God will reward you in secret