SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/9/2020 9:13 AM
My Worship Time Focus: A Very Short Intro to Matt. 6:1-4
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matthew 6:1-4
Message of the verses: “1 "Beware of
practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you
have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. 2 "When therefore you
give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the
synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to
you, they have their reward in full. 3 "But when you give alms, do not let
your left hand know what your right hand is doing 4 that your alms may be in secret;
and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”
I
want to quote in this SD from Matthew Henry first and then John MacArthur as
they both preview the first four verses of the sixth chapter of Matthew.
“1-4
Our Lord next warned against hypocrisy and outward show in religious duties.
What we do, must be done from
an inward principle, that
we may be approved of God, not that we may be praised of men. In these verses we are
cautioned against hypocrisy in giving alms. Take heed of it. It is a subtle
sin; and vain-glory creeps into what we do, before we are aware. But the duty
is not the less necessary and excellent for being abused by hypocrites to serve
their pride. The doom Christ passes, at first may seem a promise, but it is
their reward; not the reward God promises to those who do good, but the reward
hypocrites promise themselves, and a poor reward it is; they did it to be seen of men, and they
are seen of men. When we
take least notice of our good deeds ourselves, God takes most notice of them.
He will reward thee; not as a master who gives his servant what he earns, and
no more, but as a Father
who gives abundantly to his son that serves him.” (Matthew Henry)
John MacArthur entitles this chapter in
his commentary “Giving Without Hypocrisy” and as mentioned it covers the first
four verses of chapter six. He writes
the following short introduction to this chapter as follows: “Matthew 5:21-48 focuses on the teaching of
the law, on what men believe and 6:1-8 focuses on the practice of the law, what
men do. The first section emphasizes
inner moral righteousness—giving six representative illustrations regarding
murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, revenge, and love. The second section emphasizes outward formal
righteousness—giving three representative illustrations of religious
activity. The first has to do with
giving, our religion as it acts toward others (vv. 2-4); the second with
praying, our religion as it acts toward God (vv. 5-15); and the third was
fasting, our religion as it acts in relation to ourselves (vv. 16-18).”
Now as we move through this section from
Matthew 6:1-4 we will be looking at three different main sections: “The Danger of False Righteousness” (6:1); “The
Practice and Reward of False Giving” (6:2); and lastly “The practice and Reward
of True Giving” (6:3-4). Lord willing,
we will begin with the first section in our next SD.
10/9/2020 9:33 AM
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