REVIEW
FLIP CHART: SOM’S KEY VERSE, GOAL, MOTTO
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness ….” (Mt. 6:33a).
The law sends us to Christ for justification; Christ sends us back to the law for sanctification.
FLIP CHART: Show new “Perfect Righteousness” chart explaining steps to coming to Christ (As a worm, mourning, meek, spiritual hunger/thirst with the result of legal righteousness). Explain moral righteousness, immediate moral change at conversion, gradual change through life’s challenges and speeding up moral change via CCRC (Concentration, Choice, Reflection and Confession/Thanksgiving). Repeat the verse, “By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Heb. 10:14)
FLIP CHART: John Stott’s outline of SOM.
INTRODUCTION
“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. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Mt. 6:1-4).
OUTLINE FOR THIS SECTION:
1. We Must Do “Acts of Righteousness”
2. We Must Not Be Motivated by Personal Applause for Ourselves
3. We Must Do our “Acts of Righteousness” for an Audience of One
4. God Rewards Those Who Do “Acts of Righteousness” Solely for Him
RELATIONSHIP OF CHAPTER 5 TO CHAPTER 6
In the weeks ahead we will look at several comparisons (links, bridges) between chapter 5 and chapter 6 but right now, here is what Martin Lloyd-Jones has to say:
We have been looking at the Christian and told something of his characteristics, how he is to behave in society and what God expects of him in his relationship to others. Now “… this section presents a picture of the children in relationship to their Father as they wend their way on this pilgrimage of life” (MLJ, 9)
In Chapter 5 the focus was on moral righteousness, here it is on religious righteousness (piety). So Jesus moves from the moral actions of a member of God’s Kingdom to his religious acts. In Matthew 5:20 we are told that our righteousness must surpass that of the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law. Here we are told that our piety, our religious acts, must surpass those of the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law.
Someone has said that all the rest of SOM following Matthew 5:20, “…unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” is an explanation of what a righteousness superior to that of the Pharisees looks like.
Mt. 6:1 begins with “Be careful …”, “Take heed”, “Be on your guard”, “Pay attention.” It is in the present tense, active voice. In other words Jesus is warning of a danger that awaits those who want to live more righteously than the Pharisees.
PRINCIPLES FOR DOING “ACTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS” – SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES
I. WE MUST DO “ACTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS”
“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.
In these verses Jesus does not say “if” you do ‘Acts of Righteousness’ but ‘when’ you do ‘Acts of Righteousness.’ There is no need to command us to give, pray, fast or do the other 14 “Spiritual Disciplines” for it is assumed that we will do them.
If we have faith in Christ, we must believe He knew how to live. Living the Christian life means, among others, practicing the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting and giving.
The giving of alms relates us to others; prayer relates us to God, and fasting pertains to the denial of self. These are the “Big Three” of the Spiritual Disciplines / Acts of Righteousness.
These “Big Three” (Giving, Prayer, Fasting) have occupied a significant place in all the great religious systems and major religions. They consider doing them a chief road to winning salvation and also a proof of holiness.
Pope Leo the Great declared, “By prayer we seek to appease God, by fasting we extinguish the lust of the flesh, and by alms we redeem our sins.” (Macarthur, 355).
(Pope Leo I (c. 400 – November 10, 461) was a Roman aristocrat who was pope from 440 until his death. He is the first Pope to whom the title “the Great” was attached, being known as “Leo the Great.” He is perhaps best known for having met Attila the Hun outside Rome in 452 in an attempt to persuade him not to sack the city. He was also a Doctor of the Church, and a leading figure in the centralization of the organization of the Roman Catholic Church.)
“Prayer, fasting and alms are the chief duties required for the Muslim in the teachings of the Koran. Prayer, it is said, will carry a man halfway to Paradise, fasting will bring him to the gates, and alms will give him entrance.” (From the web)
Although nowhere does the Bible teach that performing “Acts of Righteousness / Spiritual Disciplines” will save us and give us entrance to heaven, we here taught that “Spiritual Disciplines” are part and parcel of the Christian life of righteousness.
READING: Have someone read through the “Spiritual Disciplines” on the two sheets on the wall.
QUESTION: Are there any “spiritual disciplines” that are missing, that you feel should be added? If there are, write them on the Flip Chart.
QUESTION: Has anyone started implementing one of the spiritual disciplines listed during this past week?
COMMENT: Journaling / Reflection is important yet many listed it least important.
These “Acts of Righteousness / Spiritual Disciplines” must be implemented in our lives. We must use them to become godly people.
“Train yourself to be godly” (I Tim. 4:7b).
“But you, man of God … pursue …godliness …” (I Tim. 6:11).
“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12).
“Make every effort to add to your faith goodness etc…” ( I Pt. 3:5)
READING: Have someone read the wall chart: Grace is not opposed to effort; it is opposed to earning. “In most churches we are not only saved by grace, we are paralyzed by it. We’re afraid to do anything that might be a “work” (in our progress towards holiness). (Willard, Leadership, Summer, 2005, pg. 23)
“If the Spirit led Jesus and every “saint of note” to consistently practice the “Spiritual Disciplines” so that they could live life to the full, shouldn’t we expect the same leading if we are truly his disciples?”
QUESTION: What is the major reason we are slack in practicing the “Spiritual Disciplines”?
Weigh in the balance your time and opportunities of grace and salvation, and you will find them very weighty. Precious time and seasons of grace, Sabbaths, communions, prayers, sermons, and the like, are by many, now-a-days made light of; but the day is coming when one of these will be reckoned more valuable than a thousand worlds by those who now have the least value for them! When they are gone forever, and the loss cannot be retrieved, those will see the worth of them who will not now see it. (Thomas Boston, 1676-1732)
QUESTION: What are some major dangers we need to avoid when practicing the “Spiritual Disciplines?”
ANSWER: legalism, deadness, obtaining praise from men etc.
Mt. 6:1 lays down a general principle and contains several principles that we should follow when performing all “Acts of Righteousness.” Verses 2-18 are three illustrations of the principles given in Verse 1.
II. WE MUST NEVER BE MOTIVATED BY PERSONAL APPLAUSE WHEN DOING “ACTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS”
“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” (Mt. 6:1).
The Pharisees really overdid it in drawing attention to themselves:
“They make their phylacteries (boxes containing Scripture verses, worn on forehead and arm) wide and the tassels on their garments long …” (Mt. 25:5). In Numbers 15:37-41 the Israelites were to put wide tassels on their garments in order to remember the commands of the Lord.
“They love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeting in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’ (Mt. 23:6-7). This is so abominable that Jesus said, “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces” (Lk. 11:43).
“Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widow’s houses and for a show make lengthy prayer. …” (Mk. 12:38-40).
My teacher in Bible School referred to the Pharisees as religious people in long robes, with long prayers and long fingers.
In our text we read that when they give they announce it with trumpets in the synagogue and on the street corner (6:2); when they pray they also pray where everyone can see (6:5); and when they fast they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting (6:16).
QUESTION: What do Christians do today that draws attention to themselves? That draws attention to their “Acts of Righteousness?”
The Pharisees were “spiritual exhibitioners.” They made sure everyone gazed at every religious act they did. For the Pharisees everyday was “Show and Tell.”
“To be seen by men” in our text comes from thaomai, the Greek word which is the source of our word “theater.” The idea is to do your “spiritual disciplines” in such a way as not to be noticed, nor to attract attention, nor to get people to gaze at you. You are not an actor in a play, you are not on stage.
ILL: “The story is told of an eastern ascetic holy man who covered himself with ashes as a sign of humility and regularly sat on a prominent street corner of his city. When tourists asked permission to take his picture, the mystic would rearrange his ashes to give the best image of destitution and humility.” (MacArthur, 352)
We laugh at this but the desire to be seen by men is a driving force in everyone’s life. We want to be “Number 1”, the leader of the pack, the center of attention. People dress to be seen, exercise to be seen and live to be seen. Unfortunately this is also true of Christians. One common complaint many of us have is, “They didn’t even notice me.”
This was the ravenous sin of the Pharisees, a hunger for the praise of men. It was their besetting sin. “You … receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that come from the only God” (John 5:44). “They loved the praise of men more than the praise from God” (John 12:43).
“To be seen by them.” How much of our lives are lived to “be seen by them.” We stretch to “keep up with the Joneses.” We dress to impress and attract and entice. We speak to manipulate and ingratiate and seek our own advancement. We work very hard to create an impression to the outside world. But we are critical of the Pharisees who sometimes did the same things.” (From the web)
How much would we do if we were never seen by people?
I WONDER (Ruth Harms Calkin)
You know, Lord, How I serve You,
With great emotional fervor in the limelight.
You know how eagerly I speak for You at a Women’s club.
You know my genuine enthusiasm at a Bible study.
But how would I react, I wonder,
If You pointed to a basin of water
And asked me to wash the calloused feet
Of a bent and wrinkled old person
Day after day and month after month
In a room where nobody saw and nobody knew?
I did a favor yesterday,
A kindly little deed,
And then I called to all the world
To stop and look and heed!
They stopped and looked and flattered me
In words I could not trust,
And when the world had gone away
My good deed turned to dust.
III. WE MUST DO OUR “ACTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS” FOR AN AUDIENCE OF ONE.
“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” (Mt. 6:1).
“Your Father…sees what is done in secret…” (6:4, 6, 18)
QUESTION: What keeps Christians from living for “an audience of one?”
Can you say that you “live for an audience of one?” We can always play to this “audience of one,” because He is always there, always watching!
“Speaking of the Puritans in American history, Os Guinness, the well-known Christian thinker and leader, said that they lived as if they stood before an audience of One. They carried on their lives as if the only one whose opinion mattered was God.” (Dallas Willard, The Divine Conquest, pg. 190)
The problem is that too often we want to live for an “Audience of One” and we want to be that One.
The widow who gave her two mites in the temple was not giving to impress anyone. She was giving for the “Audience of One.” And Jesus commended her saying that she gave more than all the rest. (Mt. 12:41-42).
The Pharisees and Teachers of the Law were not living for the applause of heaven, the applause of eternity, and thus heaven did not applaud.
SING:
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
Our ‘Acts of Righteousness’ (Spiritual Disciplines) must surpass those of the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law. They do when they are performed with an “Audience of One” in mind.
SO WHAT???
1. God has given us a regimen of “Acts of Righteousness” / “Spiritual Disciplines” that will truly help us to become godly people.
2. We should value highly every season of grace, every opportunity for cultivating our spiritual growth.
3. We must never practice a spiritual discipline with a goal of attracting earthly attention and applause.
4. Every “Act of Righteousness” should be performed for our “Audience of One” with a desire for the “Applause of Heaven.”