Matthew 6 – Lesson 7
"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." - Matt.
6:1. In chapter 6 Jesus continues
His teaching with the Sermon on the Mount. He told us not to be like the hypocrites. A hypocrite is a pretender with a mask to
hide his true identify. Jesus repeated
several phrases in Matt. 6:1-18: "I tell you the
truth, they have received their reward in full" and "Then your
Father who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." He instructed us to be careful when we do our
acts of righteousness like giving to the needy, our prayers and our fasting to
not do them for the praises of men like the hypocrites, but to do them without
others knowing. If you do them in
secret, then God will reward you in heaven.
If you do them publicly for men to see then your reward will not be in
heaven, but only here on earth. God
knows what we do even in secret and He will reward us. If someone finds out about your good works,
that's OK. You will still get your
reward from God. It's all about your
heart motive.
Matthew 6:1-4 – Giving to the Needy
Christians have
responsibilities to give to the needy and to forgive others and God will
forgive us. He rewards us for caring for
others, when we pray and when we seek Him with a pure heart. Many people today use religious activities to
gain approval of others. They brag about
how many committees and boards they are on.
They do volunteer activities out of a sense of obligation or duty. They give large offerings for the wrong
reasons. They like to be noticed and
appreciated. When they do this they get
men's praises and earthly rewards, but are losing their heavenly reward and may
miss out on God saying, "Well done my good and faithful servant."
Those who do acts in
public so others will see how generous they are receive praise and honor from
men. They will receive nothing from God.
They have already received their reward
and there is no reward in heaven for them.
Jesus also called them hypocrites.
In Matt. 6:2 Jesus said, "… they have received their reward in full". So to receive God's rewards you must do what
God commands - love others and do your good deeds in secret not drawing
attention to yourself.
Principle: God rewards those who
do good works to please Him.
Matthew 6:5-18 – Prayer and Fasting
Jesus also instructed
us how to pray. We are not to be like the hypocrites praying in public praying
long prayers for others to see. We are
not to babble like the pagans using many words.
We are to pray in secret. He
didn’t say we are not to pray in public.
Public prayer is a normal part of Christian worship, but we are not to
pray to impress others. God sees and
hears us when we pray. He didn’t forbid
us to repeat our prayers, but said there is no need to keep repeating
ourselves.
Jesus gave us the
Lord's Prayer in Matt. 6:9-13 as an
example of how we should pray.
"Our
Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven. Give us
today our daily bread. Forgive us our
debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." This is meant only
to be a pattern for us to follow as we pray.
Here He is showing us
that we are to honor God as our Father and that He is holy: we want His will above our will to be done on
earth and in heaven; request of Him to give us what we need both physically and
spiritually; we want to be forgiving to others just as He is to us; we should
ask Him for the ability to resist sin and that He will help us stand up against
Satan's temptations.
Luke 18:1-8 tells us we need to
be persistent when praying and to never give up. Remember prayers are answered in God's
timing, not ours.
Why
pray for God's will? Because when we do, we yield to God's
authority. It's a humble admission that
He knows what is best.
Why
fast? When we pray, sometimes we get
distracted. We fast because we want to
be closer to God. When we fast, it helps
us focus our attention to God.
If
God knows what we want before we ask, why pray? To pray is not to get what we want, but to
deepen our relationship with God. Prayer
changes us rather than the situation sometimes.
It gives us confidence in God that He is sufficient. Prayer invites God into our live. God wants a relationship with us. Prayer is simply talking with God as you
would a friend. Prayer is seeking God
and is a demonstration of our faith.
We learn specific
lessons about prayer:
Do not pray like the
hypocrites to be seen by others.
We should glorify
God.
We are to seek His
will.
Pray for both our
physical and spiritual needs.
Seek forgiveness.
Pray for strength
against temptations.
Principle: Pray persistently and
never give up, because God answers prayers in His own timing.
Matthew 6:19-24 – Treasures in Heaven
People tend to
collect earthly treasures such as money, new cars, big homes, powerful jobs, beautiful
clothes, and many other possessions.
These do not last forever and can be lost by fire, theft, job loss,
failing economy, etc. They are here
today and can be gone tomorrow. Jesus
didn’t say we must not work for profit, increase our wealth, or work to provide
for our future. Money is not bad; it is
the love of money that is the root of evil. (1 Tim. 6:10). But the main
purpose in life must not be to get rich, because it has no value after
death. Jesus told us to store up
treasures in heaven not on earth. Some
treasures we can store in heaven are: offerings to God, love for others,
actions that glorify God, words of praise and thanksgiving to God, true
worship, and anything that makes us more like Jesus.
What is true treasure?
Psalm 119:72 – God’s words are
more precious than silver and gold.
Luke 12:15-21 - a man's life does
not consist of his possessions.
1 Cor. 2:9 - we can't conceive
what He's prepared for us in heaven.
2 Cor. 4:17-18 - what is unseen is
eternal.
Phil. 3:8 - nothing is worth
having except Christ
1 Peter 1:4-5 - our inheritance is
kept in heaven and will never perish, spoil, or fade.
Luke 11:34-36 and Matt. 6:22-24 Jesus told us that
the eye is the lamp of the body and your body is full of light. If you have bad eyes, your whole body is then
full of darkness. In other words - the
eyes guide your body and if there is light you can see where you are
going. You believe in Jesus and have a
healthy spiritual life. But if you have
bad eyes or double vision, you are in darkness and can't see where you are
going. You want to go to heaven, but
don't want to give up worldly things.
You lack clear guidance so you are in darkness. Verse 24 says, "No
one can serve two masters." You
can’t serve money and God, because if you do you will hate one and love the
other.
Where
is your treasure?
Who
are you serving?
What
motive or desire will you ask God to help you change?
Principle: Real treasure is
stored in heaven.
Matthew 6:25-34 – Do Not Worry
Jesus told us not to
worry. We should not worry about our
life, what we eat or drink, or what we will wear. He gave us reasons for not worrying. The birds do not sow or reap, yet our
heavenly Father feeds them. We cannot
add a single hour to our life so why worry.
He even takes care of the lilies of the field. He knows what you need. "But seek first
his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as
well. Therefore do not worry about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own." - Matt. 6:33-34.
The truth in Matthew 6:33 is if God is the center
and rules your life, there’s no need to worry.
We can trust God for everything.
What
do you worry about?
Will
you trust God and stop worrying?
How
has God provided for you?
What
will you do to thank God for His provision?
Principle: Christians need not worry.
================================================
Matthew 7 – Lesson 8
Jesus continues with
the "Sermon On The Mount" teaching respect of man's relation to
others. He warns against judging others,
teaches persistent praying, to watch out for false prophets and reminds us to
be wise as we obey God's Word.
Matthew 7:1-6 – Judging Others
To judge means to
form opinion without weighing the evidence.
Jesus warns against judging other or we ourselves will be judged by the
same standards. We are to be humble,
gentle, and patient. "Love your neighbor as yourselves." - Gal. 5:14. Before judging others we need to examine
ourselves and fix our own problems first.
We are not to condemn or we will be condemned. We are to forgive and then we will be
forgiven. "Give,
and it will be given to you. A good
measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into
your lap. For with the measure you use,
it will be measured to you." - Luke
6:38.
"Do not
judge" doesn't mean that Christians can never express their opinions. Jesus wants us to discern between spiritual
truth and falsehood. It means we should
not condemn. Not all judging is wrong,
only that which is hypocritical. "Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right
judgment." - John 7:24.
These verses teach
what we can judge:
Matthew 18:15-17 - other believers
who sin against us. If we see a fault
with another, we are to first examine ourselves. If a brother has sinned against you, go speak
to him and if he doesn't listen then take another with you. If he still doesn't listen, take him to the
church. If he still doesn't listen, then
treat him as a pagan. When you do
something wrong, wouldn't you want someone to tell you? When we judge another believer, we are not to
be critical, but restoring. We need to
hold each other accountable, but always to it with love and humility.
Gal. 1:8 - tells us we can
judge people who do not preach the truth.
Gal. 6:1-5 - believers who are
caught in a sin, but to do it gently.
2 John 7-11 - people who do not
acknowledge Jesus.
Jesus referred to
some unbelievers as dogs - those who mock the truth and are unwilling to listen
to the pearls of God's truth. They
reject God. Matt. 7:6 says if they don't value the truth
and are unwilling to listen, we should not impose the truth on them even if we
are right. We can't force them to
believe. We are just wasting our
time. The only thing we can do is to
live a holy life as an example to the unbeliever and let them see Jesus in you. That is a better witness than harsh critical
condemning words.
Principle: Believers are called to be discerning,
but not condemning when relating to others.
What
relationship are you approaching with a judgmental spirit?
Will
you ask God to reveal this to you?
Where
is your heart? Is it full of legalism, grace, or
humility?
What
part does kindness play in your attitude toward others?
Matthew 7:7-12 – Persistent Prayer
There are three
stages of prayer: Ask, Seek, Knock.
Ask - This is dependence
on God. God wants a relationship with us
even though He already knows what we ask ever before we ask. He wants us to talk with Him.
Seek - This is a yearning
for God. When we seek God, we are
earnestly seeking Him and focusing on Him.
We look for Him expecting to find Him as well as answers to our prayers.
Knock - This is to be
persistent. Keep on praying and never
give up.
Do
you persistently pray for something or have you given up? Remember God answers prayers in His timing,
not ours.
Does
God answer prayers of unbelievers?
God is sovereign and can choose to answer any prayer He sees fit. But scripture clearly indicates that God does
not listen to or answer prayer to those:
Who have personal and
selfish motives – “When you ask, you do not receive,
because you ask with wrong motives, that you may
spend what you get on your pleasures.” – James 4:3.
Who regard iniquity
in their hearts – “If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.” – Psalm 66:18
Who remain in sin - “We
know that God does not listen to sinners.
He listens to the godly man who does his will.” – John 9:31. “But your iniquities
have separated you from your God; you sins have hidden his face from you, so
that he will not hear.” – Isa.
59:2
Who are proud of
heart – “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the
humble.” – 1 Peter 5:5, Prov.
3:34.
Who are the wicked – Prov. 21:31; Isa 1:15; Jer. 11:11-14
We know that God is
all knowing so He hears all things, but hearing prayer doesn’t mean He will
answer. The only prayer of the
unbeliever He will hear and answer is the prayer of repentance. If you have received Christ as you Savior,
you have the privilege to talk with Him.
Believers can approach God boldly and with confidence that their prayers
will be heard and answered according to God’s perfect will.
Like a parent, God
already know what His children need and what is best for them. You don't give your children everything they
ask for, because you know what they need and what is best. We don't get everything we ask for from God,
because He knows what we need. Sometimes
He gives us suffering and desperation to draw us closer to Him.
Jesus tells us in
verses 12 to do everything to others as you want them to do to you. This is known as the "Golden
Rule". This is hard to do
sometimes. We can't do it without Jesus. Jesus said the greatest law is to love
God. We can't show true love for Him
unless we love others as ourselves.
Principle: God the Father gives wisdom,
discernment, and love for others through persistent prayer.
Do
you pray persistently?
Will
you ask god for His best plan?
Will
you ask Him to help you follow the Golden Rule?
Matthew 7:13-29 – Discerning Decisions
Jesus tells us "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many
will enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life,
and only a few find it." - Matt.
7:14. Narrow is Jesus. He is the only way to heaven. To follow Him is hard, but leads to
eternity. Jesus said, "I am the truth the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through
me." - John 14:6.
Jesus warns us to
watch out for false prophets. We can
identify them as wolves in sheep's clothing and by their fruits (Matt. 7:14-20). We should not be fooled by their outward
appearances. They distort the truth to
gain disciples (Acts 20:29-30), they
deny the Lord bringing destruction on themselves (2 Peter 2:1-2).
We are to test them
to be sure if they are from God (1 John
4:1). We should pay attention to the
way they live. Do they show
righteousness and humility in the way they live? Is their teaching the true Word of God? Are people growing in their faith because
of them or are they falling away?
These false prophets
do not know Jesus (Matt. 7:23), they
do not do what He says (Luke 6:46),
they do not have the love of God in their hearts (John 5:40-43), they do not accept Jesus or believe in Him (John 6:29), and they reject God (Hosea 8:2-4). These deceive themselves by accepting praises
from each other and were not doing God's will.
When judgment day
comes, there will be those who Jesus will not recognize even though they called
Him their Lord. Maybe they went to
church and performed some religious duties.
They spoke about Jesus, but really didn't mean what they said. They only lived it on Sundays. It isn't enough to believe in Jesus - even
the devil believes. They never truly
accepted nor obeyed Him. They never
truly had salvation. Jesus made a great
claim about His identity in Matt.
7:22-23 - He is Lord! He wants us to
build our life upon Him, the sure foundation (Matt. 7:24-29, Luke 6:46-49).
We are to believe in Jesus and obey His Word. We are to put His words into action.
We can be sure. Jesus wants you to be sure. In 1
John 5:13 - "I write these things to you who
believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have
eternal life." If you are not sure, tell God, "I want to be
sure and I can't do it without you.
Jesus, save me from judgment.
Help me not to doubt." Then
believe and let Him change your life.
It's that easy. "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and
whoever comes to me I will never drive away." - John 6:37. Then thank God.
When storms come, the
Christian will stand. Our foundation is
Jesus. Build your foundation on Him
before the storms come. These verses
also talk about the true foundation:
Isa. 28:16 - Jesus is the
precious cornerstone.
1 Cor. 3:11 - Jesus is the sure
foundation.
1 Peter 2:4-8 - the true
foundation is Jesus.
What
foundation is your life built on?
What
is the true direction of your life?
Will
you seek Him this week?
Principle: The more you obey what is right, the
more you can recognize what is wrong.
People were amazed
and astonished at Jesus' teaching, because He taught as one having authority (Matt. 7:28-29). When God's Word is presented truthfully, it
has great power and is set apart from the mere opinions of men.
Jesus begins to
establish His power as the Messianic King through miracles of healing and
casting out demons. There are five
miracles in this chapter: Jesus heals a
leper, Jesus heals a centurion's servant, Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law and
others, Jesus calms the storm, and Jesus heals two demon -possessed men. These miracles show Jesus has power over all
things and all people.
================================================
Matthew 8 – Lesson 9
Matthew 8:1-17 – Authority Over Disease
The Leper
A man with leprosy
came to Jesus for healing. Anyone with
leprosy was not allowed to come into contact with people, because it was very
contagious and deadly. This leper was very
bold and didn't worry about what others thought. He was humble and didn't doubt that Jesus
could heal him. "Lord,
if you are willing, you can make me clean." - Matt. 8:2. Jesus reached out
His hand and touched him and said, "I am
willing. Be clean." - Matt. 8:3. Jesus was filled with compassion and healed
him. After healing him Jesus told him to
go and not tell anyone, but to show himself to the priest. The priest would examine him and pronounce
him clean so he could be restored to society.
Jesus knew the man
could not keep quiet and had to tell everyone of this miracle in his life and
that it would cause great hardship for Jesus in the future. Jesus does the same for us. He knows we mess up and don't always obey,
but still he put His life on the line for us at the cross.
The leper acknowledged
his need. He trusted Jesus. He worshipped Jesus. We are all lepers before God. Sin makes a person unclean. Our sin influences and contaminates
others. We need God to cleanse our
sin. Jesus accepts all those who seek Him
and His cleansing. We may be good and
moral, but before God we are filthy rags.
God provides a remedy for sin.
Like the leper you need to acknowledge you are unclean, believe Jesus
has to power to cleanse you, have faith that He has justified you to be clean
before Him, and then thank Him. Nothing
you are or have done repulses Him.
Have
you asked Jesus to cleanse you?
D0
others know the grace Jesus has given you?
What
is keeping you from telling others?
The Centurion
When Jesus entered
Capernaum, a Gentile centurion came to Jesus and told Him his servant was
paralyzed and was suffering. He told
Jesus to just say the word and the servant would be healed. The centurion had great faith and was not
afraid to ask for help. He felt unworthy
in Jesus' eyes. He cared about his
servant which showed he was a compassionate leader. Jesus noticed his great faith and said, "… I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in
Israel with such great faith. I say to
you that many will come from the east and the west and will take their places
at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be
thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth." - Matt. 8:10-12.
The centurion
displayed extraordinary compassion and love for his servant as well as
extraordinary faith in Jesus. His faith
gave Jesus great joy and Jesus praised him publicly for it. Because of the centurion's great faith, he
would enjoy a special meal in heaven with the Jewish patriarchs along with
people from every corner of the world.
He warned the Jews not to assume they would be welcomed simply because
of their ethnic heritage. Faith is the
only way to belong to God's kingdom.
What
have you done lately to show your faith and trust in Jesus?
Jesus Heals Many
Others
Jesus continued
healing people. He went to Peter’s house
and saw that Peter's mother-in-law was ill with a fever. He touched her and the fever left. Then she got up and began to serve
Jesus. Her illness wasn’t as serious as
the leper, but He took the time and healed her.
This showed Jesus' love and compassion for even the smaller things.
Many people who were
demon-possessed were brought to Jesus.
He drove out the spirits and healed all the sick fulfilling the Isaiah
prophesy. "He
took up our infirmities and carried our diseases." - Matt. 8:17, Isaiah 53:4.
Matthew 8:18-22 – Authority Over People
A teacher of the law
came to Jesus and said, "Teacher, I will follow
you wherever you go." - Matt.
8:19. Jesus told him, "… the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
- Matt. 8:20. Another told Jesus that he wanted to go first
and bury his father. This probably meant
his father was still alive and he wanted to wait until his father had
died. Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
- Matt. 8:22.
Jesus was saying that
following Him will not be easy. It won’t
be a perfect life, but Jesus comes first above everything else. Following Christ always brings changes to a
person's life style. Anyone who chooses
Christ will be an enemy of Satan and his demons. Many people today are like this man and want
to wait until a more convenient time, but the time is now to follow Jesus. If you are not a child of God, don't put it
off. You don't know what tomorrow will
bring. Do it now!
Are
you waiting for when the time is right to follow Jesus? The time is now!
Matthew 8:23-27 – Authority Over Nature
Jesus and his
disciples got into a boat to escape the crowds and get some rest. While Jesus was sleeping, a furious storm
came up without warning. The disciples were
afraid for their lives and they called out for Jesus to save them. Jesus showed His humanity by realizing they
were afraid and He calmed the storm. He
showed compassion and love for them.
They were amazed at His power.
They lacked faith and trust in Jesus to protect them. If they had realized who Jesus really was,
they would have not been so afraid.
What
storm have you faced that God used to build your faith?
Matthew 8:28-34 – Authority Over Forces
of Evil
After Jesus calmed
the storm they arrived on the other side of the lake, two violent
demon-possessed men came out from tombs.
The men recognized Jesus as the Son of God and asked, "'What do you want with us, son of God?' they
shouted. 'Have you come here to torture
us before the appointed time?'" - Matt. 8:29. The demons
begged to be sent into a herd of pigs so Jesus drove them out into the
pigs. The demons knew who Jesus was and
were afraid of Him. They knew He would
judge them someday, but that His time had not yet come. They knew their fate would be Hell.
We are in spiritual
warfare. Satan and his demons are very
real. Hell is real. Even the demons fear it. That is why they ask Jesus if He had come to
torment them. They knew judgment awaited
them. They would rather be cast into pig
than be cast into Hell. All things,
including Satan, his demons, and people who follow him were created by and are
subject to Christ and await final judgment and the Lake of Fire.
We need to not remain
ignorant. We need to know that Satan is
not on our side. He is the enemy of Jesus
which makes him our enemy. Without Jesus
we don't stand a chance against him.
The townspeople did
not thank Jesus nor did they consider the two men who were restored as of any
value. Instead they pleaded for Jesus to
leave their region. They were afraid of
Jesus' power. They lost 2,000 pigs
because of Him. This showed their greed
and indifference to the saved men. Does this sound like some people
today?
What
do you fear?
Who
or what controls you? - drugs, lack of discipline, refusal to forgive, love of
money?
Have
you confessed your sins to God?
Who
holds the authority over your life?
Principle: Jesus has authority over all things.
Join me
here next week as we continue our study of Matthew
-- I encourage you to trust in Jesus.
______________________________________________________
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Resources
My research and my insights are from:
The Holy Bible – New International Version
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