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| SERMON #94 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly, MAT 6:4. In Chapter 14 of the Gospel of Luke the Lord Jesus deals with the pharisaical pride of self-exultation. The principle taught is that when one is bidden to a feast, it is better to take the lowest room so if they tell thee to come up higher, it shall be an honor rather than to be bidden to come to a lower place which would be a disgrace. The principle that is taught here carries forth in LUK 14:13-14 where we find, "But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." Let's look at the parallel between the principle of this teaching and the principle taught in MAT 6:1-4, "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. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth. That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly." The principle taught in the first eighteen verses of Matthew 6 is the principle of Godliness. In the previous sermon, it was pointed out that the six contrasts in MAT 5 are teaching us righteousness. Unrighteousness is any act against our fellow man, i.e., the second table of the law. In MAT 5:21-48, Jesus teaches the principle that this righteousness that excels is revealed in the motive of love from the heart; our motive of loving God above all is reflected in our relationship to our fellow man, which is the second table of the law. In Matthew 6 we are dealing with the first table of the law; that is the attitude of the heart toward God, not the attitude of the heart toward man. Godliness deals with the attitude of the heart between us and the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ sets forth the urgency of having a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. They had a righteousness that exalted themselves so their works might be seen of men; that is ungodly. Jesus teaches us that our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. In MAT 5:20 we read, "For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." This becomes a matter of salvation, not a matter of opinion. It is not a matter of indifference; it is an absolute matter of salvation. We need a new heart, i.e., a right attitude toward our neighbour before the Lord. The first table of the law of love is revealed in our loving God above all: with all of our heart, soul and mind. The heart's desire isn't for the exalting of self, but for the glory of God's Name. We do alms, i.e., that we do the things the Lord has commanded us to do, from a motive of love to God and our neighbour. There are several words in the Greek which are translated as righteous. We cannot assume what the word righteousness in Scriptures means. To properly understand what is meant in the context in which it is used, we must go back to the original word to understand what is really being taught. This word righteousness, as it is used in MAT 5:20 is taken from the Greek word dikaios which means, "Equitable in character or act--right as self evident, i.e., just in principle, decision and its execution--innocent: be righteous." When Jesus says, "For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees...," He is saying that unless you have an equitable character, unless you deal fairly with your fellow man, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Your character or acts must be just in principle; you must do that which is right toward your fellow man in all of your decisions and their execution or you will not enter His kingdom. That is the righteousness that must excel; we must have a character and principles towards our fellow man which exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. Why? They lived by the letter of the law; if they did not actually commit adultery with a woman, they did not feel they had violated the law. They did not consider the intent or spirit of the law. Christ says, "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart," MAT 5:28. The Pharisees didn't feel there was anything wrong with saying, "Raca," i.e., thou empty man, or "Thou fool" which was passing judgment upon their fellow man's eternal state. MAT 5:22 says, "But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." They didn't consider such statements as murder because they didn't literally commit the act. They didn't understand that it was heart murder! They were strangers to the spirit of the law which the Lord Jesus was teaching. In MAT 6:4-18 Jesus teaches the principle that this righteousness that excels must be done with the right motive from the heart under the first table of the law, Godliness. When the Lord says that our righteousness must excel, it must be with a Godly motive. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind," MAT 22:37. Any violation of that commandment becomes an act of ungodliness. Our text refers to the fact that we do our alms, i.e., acts of charity toward our fellow man, not to be seen of men, but rather we must do these to honor God. The purpose and the principle that motivates us must be for the honor of God--Godliness. The principles of Godliness, which are the central theme of Jesus' exhortation in our text, are the same principles which come through in V:6; "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." In other words, Jesus is telling us that praying is also not to be seen of men; it is to be done in secret. Prayer is to be a matter of heart worship between us and the Lord. It has to be that it is for the Lord, then He will reward us openly. MAT 6:8 says, "Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." The same principle is shown in MAT 6:16-18, "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." So whether we are fasting, praying a petition before the Lord, doing something to help our fellow man, or making a donation, we are looking at the principle of Godliness which the Lord Jesus is teaching. These acts are to be done in secret. It is a heart matter between us and the Lord. "That thine alms [prayers and fastings] may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly," MAT 6:4. Godliness is the motive of the heart to honour God by our self-sacrificial love to God and our neighbour. It is the motive of the soul, heart, and mind to honor God by our righteousness.
FOR OUR FIRST POINT, let's consider what Jesus meant when He spoke of a reward, "thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly."
FOR OUR SECOND POINT, let's consider what Jesus meant by doing "thine alms...in secret," or before men.
First, our text speaks of a reward from the Lord. God placed before Adam and Eve the reward of eternal life for obedience, and the reward of death for disobedience. The true character of God is revealed by the reward He will give us. It is an eternal reward. We have to understand the reward and understand that God does reward. It is so important that when we search out the meaning of Scripture, we use from the original text to understand what is really being conveyed. The word reward is used to convey two meanings. In V:2 it is taken from the Greek word misthos. It means "wages as a just compensation for services received." MAT 6:2 says, "Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward." They have been rewarded; they have received their just compensation for what they have done. The word reward in our text, "That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly," is taken from the Greek word apodidomi. In this case, the word reward conveys a totally different meaning from wages. It means a bonus because something was very pleasing, yet without any power to merit. If someone gets a reward for something that he did not deserve, it is a bonus. That is what is meant by this word. The Father "which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly." The Lord Jesus uses the word reward repeatedly through MAT 6 as He teaches us the principles of Godliness. Jesus taught that on the last day every man shall receive a reward. Those who served the prince of this world shall receive their just wages, but those who have served the Lord shall receive far more than what they have deserved. They will receive the rewards spoken of in MAT 6:4; that is the bonus which is far more than what we deserve. They deserve nothing but destruction, but they shall receive a reward. Why? The Father was pleased when He looked upon them. We read in RTH 2:10 where Ruth had found favor in the eyes of Boaz. Boaz had said she was a virtuous woman; he looked upon her with much favor because he saw such a virtue in her which she could not see in herself. Let's look at what Ruth saw in her own heart, "Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?" Boaz rewarded Ruth for a virtuous spirit, for walking in a pleasing way, but she hadn't seen it. One of the most humbling experiences that I have ever had, happened when the Lord came with a passage of Scripture into my soul that told me He was pleased with something that I had done. I had done something that could actually please the Lord. All I could do was, like Ruth, fall on my face and say, "Lord, how coulds't Thou see anything pleasing in me?" It wasn't in me, but He looked upon me in that blessed redeeming power of Christ, it was Christ formed in me that caused the Lord to be pleased. This same acknowledging of unworthiness is taught by Jesus in MAT 25:37-40, "Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hunger'd, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." The Lord Jesus was telling what will come in the Judgment Day. He will say to those on His right hand, "For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in," MAT 25:35. However, the righteous did not recognize their good works; they saw such an unworthiness that they said, "...Lord, when saw we thee ...?" The Lord was pleased because He saw that self-sacrificial Spirit of Christ, that spirit of meekness and lowliness toward a fellow man. He saw the giving of the cup of cold water which, in most instances, is done in a spiritual sense. When one of our brethren is down spiritually, out in that spiritually dry and thirsty land, we come with the spiritual cup of water, i.e., a word spoken in season for a thirsty soul. Then there is communion between the brethren. Then the Lord Jesus Christ says, "...Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." The Son of God shall come in the glory of Him who "seeth in secret," bringing His reward with Him. He will come in the glory of such a God. In MAT 16:27 we read, "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." It is so important that we understand what salvation is. The other day I was talking to some men and women who had been to the funerals of several people. They had known each one personally. They saw how each church applied the concept of salvation. Then the questions arose. "Where is the scriptural basis for this?" "What Scripture says there is salvation in that?" The beliefs expressed at the various funerals were all based on philosophy. Now we must ask ourselves, "When it comes to our appearing before God's judgment seat, what scriptural evidence is there that you or I have salvation?" Salvation is a very personal matter that goes beyond merely pleasing men. The Lord Jesus says He will reward every man according to his works. There are so many deathbed conversions, so many people want to be saved from the consequences of sin, but how many people want to be saved from sin. So many can say with Balaam in NUM 23:10b, "...Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!" But how many want to live the life of the righteous? Balaam desired the wages of unrighteousness and perished. JUD 1:11 says, "Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core." How many understand the meaning of Jesus' name? He came to save His people from sin. The whole idea that we can live our whole life in sin and be saved on our deathbed is a horribly dangerous doctrine. The Lord Jesus Christ said He would come and "...he shall reward every man according to his works." If we live a life serving the old prince of this world, and then at the end want to flee the consequences of sin, we may find it is too late. That is why it is so important to understand that reward! The Lord Jesus Christ says He will reward everyone according to his works. This sieve will sift each of us to decide whether or not we have salvation. Are our hearts truly united with the will of God? Have we served the Lord? We must know what it is for our hearts and our will to be dissolved in the will of God. Our text says in MAT 6:4, "Thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly." Godliness and ungodliness is seen by the Lord in the secret thoughts of the heart. Godliness lies in our hearts, not in how we put ourselves forth before men. Godliness is in the secret chambers of the heart known only to the Lord. Hannah saw God's all-seeing eye as she said in her prayer of gratitude in 1SA 2:3, "Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed." The Lord is looking at the secret intents of the heart, and by Him our actions are weighed in the balance of His scale of Godliness, i.e., do we love the Lord with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with all our minds? The motive of our actions must be to honor God; it must be our desire and hope that our will is dissolved in His will. God rewards every man for either Godliness or ungodliness in the heart by judging the secret thoughts of the heart. In ROM 2:6-8 we read, "Who will render to every man according to his deeds [We are talking about the reward for every living soul.]: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life [Oh, beloved, see the reward of the Godly, but now also see the reward of ungodliness!]: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath." We must search the Scriptures to understand what the gospel is. To come on the Day of Judgment and find that we have deceived ourselves thinking we have salvation is one of the most serious things which should arouse our concern. Jesus says, "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me," JOH 5:39. We must search the Scriptures to find out what salvation is. ROM 2:6 says, "Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life." They are seeking to be with the Lord and to come into conformity with Him. In ROM 2:16 we read, "In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." This gospel that is brought forth in the Word of God will be that wherewith we are judged. We are not going to be judged by man's opinion or by what we have gained as a fair opinion among men. We will be judged by the Word of God. We will be brought before God on that Day of Judgment to be judged by His Word. We will be brought to an account. Have we spent our life with a contentious spirit? Have we spent our life not obeying the Word of Truth? Every man will be rewarded according to his deeds. It is so important for us to understand that. The knowledge that God will reward the Godly and the ungodly leaves a great comfort to the one, and it is a terror to the other. We must examine our hearts to know where we are. To illustrate my point, let's suppose an armed robber came into your home. You would stand there in horror while he was robbing you of everything. You would be a helpless victim before this armed robber. If a squad of police officers entered that same robber would be in terror, but those police officers would be a great comfort to you. In the Day of Judgment the judging of men according to their deeds will be a horrible terror to those who have lived a life serving the prince of this world. The same appearance of Jesus Christ will be the greatest comfort and delight to those who have served the Lord and to those who have been robbed, and suffered the spoiling of their goods for Christ's sake. "For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward," HEB 10:34-35. In HEB 4:13 we read, "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." I have thought about this so often. One time I visited with a man about assessing our property for property taxes. That gentleman told me that no one knew he had certain things, so why list them? The Lord knows; that is why we list them. All things are open and naked before Him. Satan is the author of lies. If my signature attests that this is a true and correct list of my property, and it is not true, I have called God to witness a lie! I will list everything, not because I am concerned that the law of man will come after me and find omissions, but because everything is manifest and open in the sight of God who searches our hearts; the Lord wants our "Yea" to be "Yea," and our "Nay" means "Nay." One of our greatest rewards is that the Spirit bears witness with our spirits when we are in God's favour. We have the greatest reward of peace in our heart knowing that His Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are the sons of God. We read in ACT 15:8, "And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us." When we have the witness of the Holy Spirit in our heart, we have peace. We don't have to tremble in fear if we see an officer of the law because we are not breaking the law. We do not have to be in fear of the Day of Judgment because we have a blessed Redeemer who becomes our righteousness. Our hearts and souls have become conformed unto His image, and our heart's desire is to do His will. That doesn't mean we always do His will; we are not going to earn salvation with works. Our best righteousness is like filthy rags. We cannot earn salvation, but the Lord will look at the motive of the heart to see if our hearts have been reconciled unto Him and our wills has been dissolved into His will. To those who have salvation in Christ, it is one of their greatest delights when the truth can come to the light. We all offend in many things. If we truly have a heart's desire that is right before the Lord, then it is our greatest delight to have our sins brought to light. We don't become defensive, trying to defend or cover our sin; we delight in having it revealed so we can repent of it and turn from it. The Lord Jesus Christ left a tremendous lesson for us in JOH 13:14-15, "If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." What does washing each other's feet teach us? If somebody sees something in my life that is going against the will of God, and I have not seen it, then "wash one another's feet" means they will use the Word of God to wash my walk of life, council me, and tell me it is an area where they believe I am walking against the Lord. "...Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word," EPH 5:25b-26. If we are one of His, it is our greatest delight when someone helps us uncover our sins so we might be turned and cleansed from them. The reward God has for the Godly is not only for hereafter. Many people have the misconception that our only reward is in heaven. That is not true. Watch what we read in ISA 33:15-17, "He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil [Now does it say he will go to heaven? No! He will be rewarded in this life]; He shall dwell on high: his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. [The Godly will have temporal as well as spiritual blessings in this life. See the spiritual blessings for the Godly who walk uprightly.] Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off." The Lord will come with His temporal as well as His spiritual blessings on those who walk uprightly. He says, "...bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure." "His place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks" tells us they shall have their hiding place in the Lord Jesus Christ, and they will be able to withstand the wiles of Satan. Furthermore, "Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off." They will have a blessed fellowship with their Lord, living in a blessed communion with God. They will see the King in His beauty, i.e., the preciousness there is in Christ, and they will have that reward in this life. They will not live in darkness, confusion or contention, but their hearts and lives will be centered in Christ. "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall," 2PE 1:5-10. It is so important that we understand these Scriptures. The Lord said He would give us peace, but that doesn't mean there won't be struggles. Our hearts will be surrendered to the will of God in those troubles. We might go through some of the most severe troubles, but we will have peace with our hearts, minds, and souls totally surrendered to God's will. Being at peace with God's ways is one of the greatest graces there is. When our hearts are coming into conformity to the will of God and our heart's desire and our will are totally dissolved in God's will, we have one of the greatest blessings in this life. ISA 54:10 says, "For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed [you might go through the most horrible struggles]; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee." You will have peace in your heart because the King, in His beauty, will be held out before you; "Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off," that is the reward of the righteous in this life. We also read in ISA 26:2-3, "Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." The Psalmist tells of the reward of the Godly, i.e., God's people who walk in His favour, in PSA 1:1-3, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. [We are talking about a reward in this life for the person who walks in the way of the Lord.] And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." Isn't that precious? We also read about the reward in this life for God's people whose ways are displeasing to the Lord. "Ye looked for much, and, lo it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste [because they walk in backsliding and sin], and ye run every man unto his own house. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands," HAG 1:9-11. However, the person who walks in the ways of the Lord is rewarded: "whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." This is much different from the prosperity of the wicked. PSA 73:2-9 says, "But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. They know of no restraint because their reward is after death." In V:18-19 we read, "Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors." The Lord has a special delight in, and reward for those who remember Him on His day. ISA 58:13-14 says, "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honorable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words [Then there is a reward in this life]: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it." The Lord is going to reward us in this life for Godliness as well as in the life to come.
FOR OUR SECOND POINT, let's consider what Jesus meant by doing "thine alms...in secret," or before men. Our text is preceded by this admonition: "But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth," MAT 6:3. Sometimes this verse is very misunderstood. It is very important that we understand it. Our text says in MAT 6:4, "That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly." We may not take this out of context with what the Lord Jesus teaches in Matthew 5; it must be held in proper balance. MAT 5:16 says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." See where the motive is. This is what Jesus is teaching; glorifying the Father is the right motive. We are called upon to do our good works before men, to be seen of men, but the motive is to give God the glory, not to glorify self. Our text says that we must do our good deeds quietly, not sounding a trumpet. How are these to be reconciled? Our light must shine, but not to promote ourselves; it is to honor God; "that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Our text cautions against blowing a trumpet to attract the notice of men to exalt self. The Spirit of Christ in us delights to do the will of God, that He may be glorified. Satan is a master at getting over-reaction. He would have us so over-react to a passage of Scripture that we totally defeat the intent of the teaching. He would love for us to use V:3 in a legalistic way. In MAT 6:3 it says, "But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." Some people will never give alms to the church in the form of a check because the deacon would know what they gave. That is a legalist interpretation and bondage that is against the teaching of the apostolic church. Look at ACT 4:34-35, "Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles' feet [Did that mean they wouldn't allow the apostles to know what they brought? No, their motive was not to be seen. Their motive was to give all.]; and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need." They did not blow their horn so the world would know what they gave, but neither did they try to conceal it from the apostles. They laid their gifts down at the apostles' feet so the distribution could be made according to need. The giving was a very well known fact, done before men, but not to be seen of men or receive the praise of men. Let's look at motives. There was a great blessing and the church prospered when many people took everything they owned, sold it, and laid the money at the feet of the apostles. The fact of these contributions was common knowledge, but the Lord looks at our motives. The wrong motive of the heart was revealed in the sin of Ananias and Sapphira! They wanted everyone to believe that they had given their all when in fact it was a lie. The fact that they sold their land and gave part of the money to the apostles was not their sin; they wanted everyone to think they had given their all when they only gave a part. ACT 5:1-2 tells the history, "But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet." The terrible lie was that they would have the apostles believe they had given their all to gain the praise of men. ACT 5:8-9 says, "And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out." She and Ananias had agreed they would sell their possession and say this is the full price, but they kept back part, i.e., they were seeking the praise of men for having given their all, when in fact, they did not. Jesus did not say "Do not do your alms before men," but He did say, "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them:" We must see the difference. We must, "Let [our] light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven," but not with the motive of being seen of men. The Lord is judging the intent of the heart. It is so important to preach the whole counsel of God. If we would only preach MAT 5:16, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven," Satan would be sure to make scribes and Pharisees of the whole church giving alms to be seen of men. However, Jesus tells us in Matthew 6 that the motive of the heart must be right between the Lord and us. See how many people boast of how much they have done for their fellow man in today's social religion and how many they have led to Christ. Have you seen in today's evangelism those who stand up and boast of the thousands they have led to Christ? Who are they glorifying? This violates MAT 6:3, "But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." Letting others see what we have done is not a violation, but to do alms and boast about how much good we have done is a violation. MAT 6:3 is not a command to live in a monastery, but it is a caution of the motive of the heart. Our testimony before the world should be as those patriarchs spoken of in HEB 11:36-38, "And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins [Do you know why? It was for the testimony of their walk of life]; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." Those patriarchs were afflicted and tormented for the testimony that they gave before the world; they were persecuted for their good works, walking in the will of God, and for their testimony of Jesus Christ. Satan would use MAT 6:3-4 to close our mouths so we couldn't bring forth the testimony of Christ, proclaim His name, and be a witness for God. Now think about the spirit of the law which Jesus taught in MAT 5:9-12, "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." Why did they persecute the prophets? They were persecuted for righteousness sake. They were tempted, slain for walking in conformity to the Word of God. Think about this part of the Sermon on the Mount; you never have to worry about being persecuted for righteousness if the world can't see it. The world should glorify your Father in heaven for your good works which they can behold, but the motive for doing the good works is not to be seen of man. It doesn't mean they won't be seen. It becomes a witness for Christ when we do it in the spirit of a peacemaker. These teachings of Jesus contradict any monastery type religion. Any thought that we have to withdraw and seclude ourselves contradicts Scripture, and this is the result if Satan can get us to over-react on what is taught in MAT 6:3-4. Satan gets some into a legalistic spirit, thinking they must isolate themselves to avoid being seen of men. Others think they have to be withdrawn from Christian fellowship and be careful not to speak of the Lord because they would be promoting themselves. Satan is so crafty in his efforts to hush the mouths of God's people. The principles of righteousness and Godliness are taught by Jesus with reference to the righteousness that excels. He says that we must have a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. On one hand they would go against their fellow man and the spirit of the law; on the other hand they would over-act on the other side, doing everything to be seen of men. The scribes and Pharisees were violating the spirit of the law on the first and second tables of the law. This teaching points to true Godly fear. In PSA 112:1 we read, "Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments." In other words, blessed is the man that has a holy reverence for His Word. The Lord is so delighted with such Godliness that He gives His reward. That is what we read in PSA 112:2-4, "His seed shall be mighty upon earth [this is speaking of temporal blessings, the reward we receive in this life]: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever. Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous." This is the reward that the Lord grants to those who have the Spirit of Christ, who have their will dissolved in the will of God. This is the principle that the Lord Jesus Christ is teaching in MAT 6:1-4, i.e., the principle of Godliness, that principle of a heart that is right before the Lord. The Lord is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. Amen. |
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