(Article for publication week of April 29, 2009 AD)
“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.” (Matthew 6:1).
In Matthew 6:1-18 the Lord Jesus Christ teaches us that the practice of righteousness involves three main activities- doing alms, praying, and fasting. Under these three heads we may generally categorize the Christian life. The reader is invited to go and read this passage.
The reading of the entire passage will open to us several vital truths. The first thing we notice is the word “when”. “ ‘When’ thou doest thine alms”; “ ‘When’ thou prayest”; “ ‘When’ ye fast”; When, not if. Our Lord states it as a given that if we are saved we will be doing alms, praying and fasting. If these are not the habit of our lives, we are not saved. Salvation is in Christ Alone, but when one is saved, he will be practicing righteousness.
The second thing we gather from the passage is that Christianity involves positive activity. Sanctification involves putting off the habits of the old life, but also putting on the habits of the new man in Christ (Ephesians 4:22-32). There are a number of people who think they are saved because they quit smoking and chewing. It would certainly be wise to quit all that for the sake of your health, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you got converted. Sanctification is more than leaving off bad habits; it is the positive action of doing righteousness.
The third thing I call to your attention is that hypocrites can and do imitate many Christian actions. Hypocrites can be very generous people. I remember a story about a notorious bootlegger in our Beloved State who used to give large sums from his ill-gotten gains to the Baptist Church. He was a great imitator of Christian giving but he was not a Christian. And hypocrites can say their prayers, and often do. A Christian will and must pray, but a person may go through the exercise of uttering words like prayer and never commune with God. A person may even live an ascetic lifestyle and abstain from tobacco, wine, and tasty food and go on to hell for his trouble. Hypocrites may imitate Christians and fool themselves and others, but they are not fooling God.
Fourthly, we see in the passage that we are to live our lives before God and not men. Thy Father seeth in secret. When we come to know God we realize that he is omniscient. How different would your life be if you lived every moment conscious of the fact that God sees, and hears, and knows everything you do, say and think? How many are snared by the fear of man? Man’s praise is empty. Men will applaud you today and cuss you out tomorrow. What a relief to quit worrying about what men think and live our lives before God, for in reality that is what we are all doing any way.
Finally, I want you to notice that Christians will be rewarded for their good works. As Dr. John Gill so ably pointed out, the reward will be all of God’s grace, but truly a reward. When the Lord says to us “well done”, it will be an open declaration of the grace he put in us and on us. He works in us to both will and do of His good pleasure.
May the Lord bless you all, my dear readers.
“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.” (Matthew 6:1).
In Matthew 6:1-18 the Lord Jesus Christ teaches us that the practice of righteousness involves three main activities- doing alms, praying, and fasting. Under these three heads we may generally categorize the Christian life. The reader is invited to go and read this passage.
The reading of the entire passage will open to us several vital truths. The first thing we notice is the word “when”. “ ‘When’ thou doest thine alms”; “ ‘When’ thou prayest”; “ ‘When’ ye fast”; When, not if. Our Lord states it as a given that if we are saved we will be doing alms, praying and fasting. If these are not the habit of our lives, we are not saved. Salvation is in Christ Alone, but when one is saved, he will be practicing righteousness.
The second thing we gather from the passage is that Christianity involves positive activity. Sanctification involves putting off the habits of the old life, but also putting on the habits of the new man in Christ (Ephesians 4:22-32). There are a number of people who think they are saved because they quit smoking and chewing. It would certainly be wise to quit all that for the sake of your health, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you got converted. Sanctification is more than leaving off bad habits; it is the positive action of doing righteousness.
The third thing I call to your attention is that hypocrites can and do imitate many Christian actions. Hypocrites can be very generous people. I remember a story about a notorious bootlegger in our Beloved State who used to give large sums from his ill-gotten gains to the Baptist Church. He was a great imitator of Christian giving but he was not a Christian. And hypocrites can say their prayers, and often do. A Christian will and must pray, but a person may go through the exercise of uttering words like prayer and never commune with God. A person may even live an ascetic lifestyle and abstain from tobacco, wine, and tasty food and go on to hell for his trouble. Hypocrites may imitate Christians and fool themselves and others, but they are not fooling God.
Fourthly, we see in the passage that we are to live our lives before God and not men. Thy Father seeth in secret. When we come to know God we realize that he is omniscient. How different would your life be if you lived every moment conscious of the fact that God sees, and hears, and knows everything you do, say and think? How many are snared by the fear of man? Man’s praise is empty. Men will applaud you today and cuss you out tomorrow. What a relief to quit worrying about what men think and live our lives before God, for in reality that is what we are all doing any way.
Finally, I want you to notice that Christians will be rewarded for their good works. As Dr. John Gill so ably pointed out, the reward will be all of God’s grace, but truly a reward. When the Lord says to us “well done”, it will be an open declaration of the grace he put in us and on us. He works in us to both will and do of His good pleasure.
May the Lord bless you all, my dear readers.
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