Matthew 6
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Mathew 6:1:
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. |
 Martin G Collins
A Christian should not let his light shine to be praised by others, but to bring glory to the Father. The Pharisees acted to be seen of men, but true Christians behave to glorify God, caring little what people may think of them. It is by our conduct, not our pomp and circumstance, that others may be brought to honor God. We should live so that people may see from our good works the proper nature of God's way of life. Good works cannot be hidden because they stand in stark contrast to the ways of this wicked world (I Timothy 5:25). These works are required behavior at home and in the outside world.
--Martin G Collins; Forerunner Bible Study; Parable of the Light June 2002 |
In 6:1-18 Jesus deals with three areas of righteous living that He saw as being used for the praise of men rather than for the praise of God. Giving to the poor, praying and fasting are all things that God calls His people to do, but they are also things that can easily be used for selfish gain.
Using these three acts of piety as examples, Jesus calls us to avoid hypocrisy. He calls us to live for the praise of our heavenly Father instead of living for the praise of people. He wants us to recognize how subtle sin is and that we can take good things and use them in sinful and selfish ways. --Southern Hills Life
Using these three acts of piety as examples, Jesus calls us to avoid hypocrisy. He calls us to live for the praise of our heavenly Father instead of living for the praise of people. He wants us to recognize how subtle sin is and that we can take good things and use them in sinful and selfish ways. --Southern Hills Life
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Matthew 6:2-4:
2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. |
Jesus is showing us the difference between hypocritical vs. authentic righteousness. It is not only important that you do the right thing, but that you do it in the right way and for the right reason. Righteousness is an inward matter. God does not look at the outward act but at your heart. And so Jesus begins this section by saying: “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 6:1)
He begins with a warning: “Be careful!” This is a strong warning. You could even translate it as, “Beware!” Jesus has just explained the deeper meaning of the law; he has called his disciples to a surpassing righteousness, and now he lets us know that we are entering dangerous waters here. There is a real danger of taking these beautiful acts of righteousness and emptying them of their meaning if your motivation is wrong. So he warns us, “Be careful! Watch out! This will require constant vigilance on your part.” -Ray Fowler |
Thomas Watson
“Obedience must be sincere. We must aim at the glory of God in it. Finis specificat actionem; .in religion the end is all. The end of our obedience must not be to stop the mouth of conscience, or to gain applause or preferment; but that we may grow more like God, and bring more glory to him. 'Do all to the glory of God." I Cor:10:31. That which has spoiled many glorious actions, and made them lose their reward, is that men's aims have been wrong. The Pharisees gave alms, but blew a trumpet that they might have the glory of men. ”
― Thomas Watson, The Ten Commandments; 1692
― Thomas Watson, The Ten Commandments; 1692
Jerome of Stridon Files
They govern the sheep harshly and infuriatingly, behaving haughtily as is expected of them. They adorn the dignity of their office with their works and take on pride instead of humility. They think that they have assumed honor rather than the burden of their work, and however they see coming forward in the church, preaching the word of God, they seek out to impress.
---Jerome of Stridon (342–347 – 30 September 420)
John Gerstner said, “There is nothing that separates us from God more than our damnable good works.” Preacher George Whitefield said:
Before you can speak peace in your heart, you must not only be made sick of your original and actual sin, but you must be made sick of your righteousness, of all your duties and performances. There must be a deep conviction before you can be brought out of your self-righteousness; it is the last idol taken out of our heart.
Before you can speak peace in your heart, you must not only be made sick of your original and actual sin, but you must be made sick of your righteousness, of all your duties and performances. There must be a deep conviction before you can be brought out of your self-righteousness; it is the last idol taken out of our heart.
When we give with the wrong motivation, our giving is in vain. This is the main reason that Christ said that we must TAKE HEED!
Christ is warning us about the wrong kind of giving and how it forfeits the meaning of our action.
Our giving must be motivated by the right attitude. When we give, it is not about ourselves, IT IS ABOUT GIVING GLORY TO GOD.
Giving is an act of worship. It is never an act of giving glory to oneself.
Christ is warning us about the wrong kind of giving and how it forfeits the meaning of our action.
Our giving must be motivated by the right attitude. When we give, it is not about ourselves, IT IS ABOUT GIVING GLORY TO GOD.
Giving is an act of worship. It is never an act of giving glory to oneself.
The nature of hypocrisy. "Hypocrisy" (hypokrisis) means that what one appears to be is different from what one is. Cf. 15:7-8, "You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.'" The verb hypokrinomai means "to play a part, hence...to simulate, feign, pretend" (Thayer, s.v. ). Thus in the case of each practice discussed in 6:1-18, the individuals in question appear to be serving God, but in fact they are serving only themselves: "to be honored by men" (6:2); "to be seen by men" (6:5); "to show men they are fasting" (6:16)................as C. S. Lewis taught us in Mere Christianity, in the chapter on "The Great Sin." The hypocrites are not merely proud of being spiritual; they are proud of being (and of being thought to be) more spiritual than others, the others who have such respect for them and render them such honor. For pride's survival, it is vital that one be above the rest. None of the three exercises is really directed towards God; indeed, pride insists that God - the true and living God - not be brought into the picture. The proud person must be supreme; thus the sovereign God is the most threatening figure of all. They want to be "seen by men," but not by God (6:1). -Dr Knox Chamblain
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God is our Father who’s hidden in the dark, and He will do two things: First, He sees what we’re doing; second, He rewards us. When we know that our Father is secretly looking, we will be cautious in every little thing that we do. Even when no one is watching us and knows what we’re doing, our hidden Father will be secretly watching us. One day, everything that we’ve done in our life will be presented before the throne, and that’s why we must be cautious in everything that we do.
Not only does God watch us, He also rewards us. Even though we did some good deeds in secret, thinking that no one knows, but our hidden Father sees everything and He will reward us. Isn’t God’s reward far better than people’s reward? Isn’t it the best reward if we can stand before God’s throne and hear Him calling us a good and faithful servant? May God help us not to seek reward from people, but to solely look upon God, and to faithfully and truthfully live before Him. -ROLLOC Devotion |
We can practice this in the area of giving. Hypocrites are actors living by a double standard with the world as their stage to play pretend, and their giving is motivated not to be seen by God, but to be seen and praised by people (Matthew 6:2). Jesus assures them their reward will be no more nor less than that – the praise of others. Enjoy it for the moment, because it will be gone soon and no reward in heaven will be given to such people. Another way is shown – give for the eyes of One - give in secret - so much so your left hand does not know what your right does, give like your Father in heaven is looking and to bring a smile to Him. “Secret” doesn’t mean anonymously or mysteriously, but solely. It means to give “solely” for the eyes of One, for the joy of One, to bring pleasure to One. --Lakeview Community Church of Niles
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Matthew 6:5-8:
5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. |
"When we pray, ―Lead us not into temptation we are not praying for the averting of all temptations or trials resulting from a spiritual or physical cross, or from all circumstances in which we would be able to fall. This is God‘s way with all His children whereby He humbles them, exercises them in the battle against the enemies, and sanctifies them. Rather, the petition is as follows: ―Neither let the temptation get a hold of nor have power over us; do not withdraw Thy Holy Spirit from us; do not give us over to ourselves when opportunities for sin manifest themselves. When the enemies assault us and seek to toss us to and fro and sift us as wheat, let us then not be overpowered by the temptation. Do not let us be ensnared so that unrighteousness would gain the upper hand; neither give us over to evil inclinations nor to the lusts of our corrupt heart. For where would this not bring us? If, however, it pleases Thee to let situations arise and that snares are laid for us everywhere, and if devils and worldly people in a subtle or evil way scheme to catch us, keep us from falling and lead us by Thy Spirit. Give us strength to remain standing, so that by our fall our own soul be not mortally wounded, the godly be neither grieved nor offended, and Thy Name and true godliness be not blasphemed.‖ Such was David‘s prayer: ―O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in Thee. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on Thee‖ (Ps 25:20-21); ―O forsake me not utterly‖ (Ps 119:8); ―Let not them that wait on Thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek Thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel‖ (Ps 69:6)."
-Wilhelmus a Brakel; The Christian's Reasonable Service |
Sibusiso Mlotshwa
Performance tends towards hypocrisy. This seems to be what Jesus challenges in Matthew 6:5, 7. He warns against praying to be seen and vain repetition. In short, such prayers are ignorant of who God is and make too much of man. Praying without a correct understanding of who we are or who we’re praying to. So Jesus proceeds to teach the Lord’s Prayer. By teaching this Jesus provides us with a correct understanding of the Father. This is who hears our prayer. One who relates to us as children. Like many of us today, the crowds before Jesus believed effort and stricter observance of the law was how you got closer to God. Are you discouraged to pray? Are you feeling like you aren’t putting enough effort into your prayer life? Has prayer become a chore and burden rather than a delight? Have you, like the Pharisees, reduced prayer to performance? What if the problem isn’t a lack of work to improve your prayer life? What if you haven’t understood the depth of the gospel? Surely if you understood more of the love of Christ you would pray more fervently! If you knew the hope of his calling it would make you excited about talking to him! Then, waking up early or attending prayer meetings, spending hours communing with God, would cease to be a chore. It would become a delight. - Sibusiso Mlotshwa; Gospel Coalition Africa; What to Do When You Don’t Feel Like Praying 7.18.23
Oswald Chambers
"Whenever we put other things first, there is confusion. 'Take no thought for your life...' Our Lord points out the utter unreasonableness from His standpoint of being so anxious over the means of living. Jesus is not saying that the man who takes thought for nothing is blessed--that man is a fool. Jesus taught that a disciple has to make his relationship to God the dominating concentration of his life, and to be carefully careless about everything else in comparison to that. Jesus is saying--'Don't make the ruling factor of your life what you shall eat and what you shall drink, but be concentrated absolutely on God.' Some people are careless over what they eat and drink, and they suffer for it... they are careless about their earthly affairs, and God holds them responsible. Jesus is saying that the great care of this life is to put the relationship to God first, and everything else second. It is one of the severest disciplines of the Christian life to allow the Holy Spirit to bring us into harmony with the teaching of Jesus in these verses." -Oswald Chambers
"If you've never lived in a place where people couldn't even put bread on the table for their children, let alone find enough for themselves, it's hard to imagine the desperation, the absolutely focusing of desire, involved in being hungry. It is sobering to realize that this is still the daily reality for about a third of the world's population.
And Jesus asks us to pray for bread. What is he on about, given that those of us who have enough bread hardly think about it at all, and those who do not, can scarcely think of anything else? Let us consider this matter from two different directions in relation to the question of prayer.
First, as we can see from the story of Elijah (1 Kings 19:1-8) and the Psalms (Psalm 78:1-3, 25-31), the themes of wilderness, bread, neediness and desire are deeply entangled in Jewish tradition and infuse Jesus's own prayer no less. To ask for bread in the wilderness is to ask, not just to be delivered from death by starvation, but to have one's desires at some deep and profound level tested and purified.
The people of Israel on the run from Egypt are at death's door, but have manna miraculously rained upon them in the wilderness; as the psalmist says, their "craving" is well satisfied. But immediately everything goes wrong: they would like something else, their longing gets distorted, they quarrel and complain. God has graciously given them their "daily bread," but they are immediately off once more into the devices and desires of their own hearts. We might say that their erotic life - in the broadest sense - is suddenly out of order. They ask for, and get, precisely what they desire in prayer - bread - but in their case, it only leads to wrongful further "craving."
Contrariwise, we get the story of Elijah. Elijah's desires seem to be out of order at the start of the story: he retires into the wilderness in a grump, lies down in despair, wanting to die, and yet is awakened by an angel to be given just the bread that he needs to do God's will - today, now. "Get up and eat" is the command. And he does so. His desire was out of order but now is in order. God has given him his daily bread and "strength for the journey." It is all that he needs to fulfil God's will.
It follows, then, from these two contrasting examples that to ask for bread now is to ask precisely for what we need today, bodily as well as spiritually, to do God's will. It is to ask for bread on the table in the most obvious and practical and physically urgent sense; but it is no less to ask for that bread on the wilderness-axis of the testing of all desire. "Give us bread now" thus means, "Give us bread that we may live and do the will of the Father in the space of Jesus," that all our desires may be wilderness-tested in accordance with his desire."
-Sarah Coakley; ABC's Religion and Ethics.
And Jesus asks us to pray for bread. What is he on about, given that those of us who have enough bread hardly think about it at all, and those who do not, can scarcely think of anything else? Let us consider this matter from two different directions in relation to the question of prayer.
First, as we can see from the story of Elijah (1 Kings 19:1-8) and the Psalms (Psalm 78:1-3, 25-31), the themes of wilderness, bread, neediness and desire are deeply entangled in Jewish tradition and infuse Jesus's own prayer no less. To ask for bread in the wilderness is to ask, not just to be delivered from death by starvation, but to have one's desires at some deep and profound level tested and purified.
The people of Israel on the run from Egypt are at death's door, but have manna miraculously rained upon them in the wilderness; as the psalmist says, their "craving" is well satisfied. But immediately everything goes wrong: they would like something else, their longing gets distorted, they quarrel and complain. God has graciously given them their "daily bread," but they are immediately off once more into the devices and desires of their own hearts. We might say that their erotic life - in the broadest sense - is suddenly out of order. They ask for, and get, precisely what they desire in prayer - bread - but in their case, it only leads to wrongful further "craving."
Contrariwise, we get the story of Elijah. Elijah's desires seem to be out of order at the start of the story: he retires into the wilderness in a grump, lies down in despair, wanting to die, and yet is awakened by an angel to be given just the bread that he needs to do God's will - today, now. "Get up and eat" is the command. And he does so. His desire was out of order but now is in order. God has given him his daily bread and "strength for the journey." It is all that he needs to fulfil God's will.
It follows, then, from these two contrasting examples that to ask for bread now is to ask precisely for what we need today, bodily as well as spiritually, to do God's will. It is to ask for bread on the table in the most obvious and practical and physically urgent sense; but it is no less to ask for that bread on the wilderness-axis of the testing of all desire. "Give us bread now" thus means, "Give us bread that we may live and do the will of the Father in the space of Jesus," that all our desires may be wilderness-tested in accordance with his desire."
-Sarah Coakley; ABC's Religion and Ethics.
Jan 20, 2022: Christian Century: Whose Father in heaven?
When Jesus begins the prayer that has come to be called the Lord’s Prayer with the words “Our Father” (Matt. 6:9), who is included in his “our”?
When Jesus begins the prayer that has come to be called the Lord’s Prayer with the words “Our Father” (Matt. 6:9), who is included in his “our”?
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Matthew 6:9-10:
In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. |
Jesus teaches this very clearly in the Gospels. He tells us to pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10 KJV), and He bids us to “ask the Lord of the harvest … to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matt. 9:38).1 By this He means for us to understand and take seriously the fact that our prayer is a major factor in advancing God’s kingdom in this world. Jesus elsewhere encourages prayer in the strongest terms imaginable by saying, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7). “Have faith in God … whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:22, 24). “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Matt. 21:22). The clear implication of these and similar passages is that God commands us to pray and promises to answer in power when we do so. -Thomas A. Tarrants, Author, is President Emeritus of the C.S. Lewis Institute
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Jack Hayford Files
“This is not more cultural happenstance. It is a blitzkrieg from the darkness—a frontal attack of calculated and evil dimensions plotted by the adversary of God, man and all that is good, and being advanced by cunning, demonic hordes who can only be blocked in one way: prayer. Call the people to pray. Teach them to counterattack. Unveil My Word to them so that, by calling on Me through the grace I readily give when they invoke the name of My Son, they may unleash My power. As they accept this partnership I call them to, praying that My Kingdom may enter the world of those they love “on earth,” I will answer them by My Spirit’s power—working My will “as it is in heaven.” Well, that is really what happened. I don’t mean, of course, that God stepped into my office in the sense of physical appearance. Rather He made His presence and will known by the means He has revealed in His eternal Word of truth—the Holy Bible. In that book, which is the ultimate authority on all life’s issues, both eternal and temporal, He says that He will speak at times to people by “prophecy.” In this use, prophecy is not a reference to anything arbitrary or arcane—God is never random; nor is He weird. (Toss out the pundits who publish cleverly”
― Jack Hayford, Secrets of Intercessory Prayer, The: Unleashing God's Power in the Lives of Those You Love
― Jack Hayford, Secrets of Intercessory Prayer, The: Unleashing God's Power in the Lives of Those You Love
What did He mean by praying for the “kingdom to come”? Are we praying for a spiritual kingdom in people’s hearts? That certainly is part of it. Paul said, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17). By being born again, a person receives the Holy Spirit—“Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit” (Eph. 1:13b). And thus, the Church is one form of the Kingdom of God, a community of people who through faith in Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit serve Christ in the world. By words and deeds, they help to establish signs of the Kingdom that is to come, just as He Himself did during His lifetime. He referred to His own miracles as “signs of the Kingdom” for they were bright spots in the darkness, examples and indicators pointing to the Kingdom yet to come. The sick were healed, the dead raised, the hungry fed, the blind received their eyesight, and the deaf their hearing…and, yes, sins were forgiven..............What is the Kingdom of God? Where is the Kingdom of God? And how is the Kingdom of God? Basically, wherever God (through Jesus) is in authority, the Kingdom is present. So when Jesus was in person on earth, the first phase of the Kingdom was present. When Jesus went to Heaven, He told His disciples that through the Holy Spirit in them, He would show the same signs of the Kingdom as He had showed them on earth through them. So the second phase of the Kingdom is the phase of the Church, the invisible Kingdom in the hearts of men. And the third phase of the Kingdom will begin when Jesus returns to earth and establishes His Kingdom worldwide. --Christians For Israel
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Matthew 6:11-15:
11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. 14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. |
Paul uses this verse immediately after condemning sins such as adultery and fornication. The larger context is of satisfying the desires of the flesh which is generally the root cause of masturbation. As Paul said, something may not be a sin in and of itself, but we should not let it control us. This is what often happens with masturbation. Perhaps some do it on occasion for “physical release” and without lusting when doing it. But for many others, this is not the case. What often starts as an occasional thing for a “justifiable” purpose, easily becomes a habit, then an addiction. Yes, you can be addicted to masturbation. You can be addicted to sex, even with your spouse. Do not let the desires of the flesh control you.
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Thomas Watson
“We pray, 'lead us not into temptation'. Do we then lead ourselves into temptation?”
― Thomas Watson, The Art of Divine Contentment
Thomas Watson
"Give us this day our daily bread." The good things of this life are the gifts of God; he is the donor of all our blessings. "Give us." Not faith only—but food is the gift of God; not daily grace only is from God—but "daily bread." Every good thing comes from God. "Every good gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights." James 1:17. Wisdom is the gift of God. "His God instructs him to discretion." Isaiah 28:26. Riches are the gift of God. "I will give you riches." 2 Chron 1:12. Peace is the gift of God. "He makes peace in your borders." Psalm 147:14. Health, which is the cream of life, is the gift of God. "I will restore health unto you." Jer 30:17. Rain is the gift of God. "Who gives rain upon the earth." Job 5:10. All comes from God; he makes the grain to grow, and the herbs to flourish ― Thomas Watson, The Lord's Prayer
Walter Wink Files
“Harboring enmity and seeking revenge only perpetuates the power of oppressors to lord it over their victims long after the deed was done. Thus, at the most fundamental level, forgiveness spells liberation for the victim.”
— Walter Wink
James Boice Files
“if we are justified we will have that nature of God that will increasingly and inevitably express itself in forgiveness, just as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven us, we will be able to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt. 6:12). The Lutherans says: “We are justified by faith alone, but not by a faith which is alone.” It is always faith and life: first, the life of God within; then faith; then, the expression of the inner, divine life in what we do. The conclusion is: if we do not forgive, we are not forgiven. We are not justified. We are not God’s children, regardless of what our profession may be.”
― James Montgomery Boice, The Parables of Jesus; 1983
― James Montgomery Boice, The Parables of Jesus; 1983
Jack Hayford Files
“Forgiveness. It is not in denying the hopeless days that take place when others reject us or turn on us. It is not in minimizing the pain we experience at the hands of those who seem bent on ruining our lives. People turn on people. They betray one another. Crass unkindness, vicious plottings, horrible and intentional antagonisms are shown, and calling it a hopeless day hardly describes the extended season of struggle that many of us face at times. But there is a lesson at Calvary. Forgive everyone—anyone—whom you think has failed you, hurt you, offended you. If you think they’ve done anything to ruin your day, ruin your life, ruin your opportunities, ruin your dreams, or block your goals—forgive them. Forgiving others is the key to living in the liberty of the freeing forgiveness Jesus has given us, and it’s the first step toward finding hope for a hopeless day, not to mention opening the door to new days unimagined.”
― Jack W. Hayford, Hope for a Hopeless Day: Encouragement and Inspiration When You Need it Most
― Jack W. Hayford, Hope for a Hopeless Day: Encouragement and Inspiration When You Need it Most
1. Use the Lord’s Prayer as a pattern for intercession.
- “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” Spend some time thanking God for his fatherly love and attention. Ponder who he is and adore his majesty, holiness, sovereignty, goodness and beauty.
- “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Turn your intercession to God’s purposes in the wold. Where are you trying to bring your kingdom rather than putting your efforts toward God’s kingdom agenda? Consider what God’s kingdom agenda might be in your relationships and in the world. Pray for these things. What might partnering with God around his will look like?
- “Give us today our daily bread.” Pray for your needs and those whose lives are closely linked with your won. Pray for those who are in danger, suffering and in places of decision-making or costly love.
- “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Confess your grudges, bitterness and oversensitivity; dwell at the foot of the cross. Thank God for what it is like to be forgiven.
- “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” As you look ahed into your day, notice the tasks and transactions ahead of you. Where might you get off track? Become aware of the ways you may be tempted to spin the truth, manage your image, live out your false self, lose your patience or envy another. Pray for the Spirit to work in you to change you. Ask for protection and courage for the day.
- “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” End your time of intercession with prayers of trust in God’s goodness and his redemptive plan. -CCF Siloam Springs
Andrew Fuller
If in anything we need Divine instruction, it is in drawing near to God. It does not appear to have been Christ’s design to establish a form of prayer, nor that it was ever so used by the disciples; but merely a brief directory as to the matter and manner of it. Such a directory was adapted not only to instruct, but to encourage Christians in their approaches to God.
--Andrew Gunton Fuller, The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller, Volume 1: Memoirs, Sermons, Etc., ed. Joseph Belcher (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 1988), 578-583.
- First, The character under which we are allowed to draw near to the Lord of heaven and earth.—“Our Father.”
- Secondly, The place of the Divine residence.—“Our Father, who art in heaven.”
- Thirdly, The social principle which pervades the prayer.—“Our Father—forgive us,” etc.
- Fourthly, The brevity of it.—“Use not vain repetitions, but in this manner pray ye.”
- Fifthly, The order of it.—Our attention is first directed to those things which are of the first importance, and which are fundamental to those which follow.
- “Give us this day (or day by day) our daily bread.” Bread comprehends all the necessaries, but none of the superfluities, of life.
- “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” As bread in this prayer comprehends all the necessaries of life, so the forgiveness of sin comprehends the substance of all that is necessary for the well-being of our souls.
- “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” The last petition respected the bestowment of the greatest good; this, deliverance from the worst of evils. Christ teaches us to suspect ourselves.
--Andrew Gunton Fuller, The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller, Volume 1: Memoirs, Sermons, Etc., ed. Joseph Belcher (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 1988), 578-583.
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Matthew 6:16-18:
16 “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you [openly. |
What Jesus is forbidding here
. . . because we sometimes miss the point.
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Alyssia Lee
Fasting is ultimately a multifaceted spiritual discipline that benefits Christians greatly in many ways.
- Fasting denies the flesh: it denies the desires of the flesh and pushes us to live by the Spirit
- Fasting disciplines the mind: it teaches us that we can push through difficult circumstances when our minds and bodies scream that we are in desperate need, it teaches us that we can handle more than we thought.
- Fasting draws us closer to God: Fasting fixes our eyes on God and helps to focus on Him and pray every time we have the pain of hunger.
- Fasting teaches us to depend on God: our natural instincts are to satisfy anything uncomfortable in us and remove the discomfort, fasting teaches us to run to God rather than earthly comforts.
The main lesson Jesus is teaching here in Matthew 6:16-18, when you fast, don’t look like to the world you are suffering & telling others you are hungry as hell. Make your appearance seem normal, your fasting is between you & God & no one really needs to know. Wash your head & put on a fresh face. If you are sincere & want the Lord’s direction He will give it, but not to the public world. His answer will come to you, in your heart & mind. Most times God’s greatest blessings are just between you & Him in secret, of course others will see it. -ISamuel120 Blog
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Matthew 6:19-21:
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. |
 AW Tozer
The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss, for having the Source of all things he has in One all satisfaction, all pleasure, all delight. Whatever he may lose he has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in One, and he has it purely, legitimately, and forever. --AW Tozer; The Pursuit of God
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Matthew 6:24:
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. |
"If you are Christians, be consistent. Be Christians out and out–Christians every hour, in every part. Beware . . .
of half-hearted discipleship, of compromise with evil, of conformity to the world, of trying to serve two masters, of trying to walk in two ways, the narrow and the broad, at once. It will not do. Half-hearted Christianity will only dishonor God, while it makes you miserable!" --Horatius Bonar |
Neil T Anderson
Achievement is determined by who or what you serve. There is a moral healthiness and simple, unaffected goodness present in the single-minded person that is absent from the one serving many masters. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious" (Matthew 6;24, 25).
There will be no peace serving two masters. To whichever master we yield, by that master we shall be controlled. -Neil T Anderson
There will be no peace serving two masters. To whichever master we yield, by that master we shall be controlled. -Neil T Anderson
Barth identifies two archetypal lordless powers – (i) the myth of the state; and (ii) its “close relative,” mammon. For Barth, the state (which he also refers to as “Leviathan”, a reference to Hobbes’s work) does not equate to the structure of government itself, but refers instead to the power and ideology of the state when it exalts itself, and breaks loose from and disregards the rule of law.21 And mammon, for Barth, references when economic resources, themselves morally neutral, begin to establish their own forces which expert pressure on humanity to submit in obedience. Money is what Barth calls “an intrinsically harmless but useful fiction.” It is an idol, an anti-Christ, that demands and commands our obedience, and when it “meets and joins with that other demon Leviathan” (i.e., the State), it becomes an “absolutist demon,” pursuing endless accumulation and relentless commodification, and employing the tools of violence in order to satiate its unyielding appetite for more. --Karl Barth, The Christian Life, 224. Cf. Paul Fletcher, “Prolegomena to a Theology of Death,” Neue Zeitschrift für Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie 50, no. 2 (2008): 139–57. 23 Walter
To serve here means to serve as a slave; we either serve God as a slave, giving Him the love and service that He desires, or we serve mammon as an idol.
Mammon, therefore, is in direct opposition to God, replacing God, and being an alternative to God; we either serve God or mammon.
The Lord indicates that, for us to serve Him requires that we love Him, give our hearts to Him, and cleave to Him, giving our entire being to Him; it also means that we hate mammon and are saved from mammon. -agodman
Mammon, therefore, is in direct opposition to God, replacing God, and being an alternative to God; we either serve God or mammon.
The Lord indicates that, for us to serve Him requires that we love Him, give our hearts to Him, and cleave to Him, giving our entire being to Him; it also means that we hate mammon and are saved from mammon. -agodman
