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Verses 1-18: This section, the main subject of which is righteousness, is divided into three subsections: (1) alms-giving, (2) prayer, and (3) fasting.
Verse 1: "Take care not to do your righteousness before men in order to be gazed at by them." This is the general subject. We should not only do righteousness, but we should do it in secret. When we do something, we should govern our heart. The preceding passage emphasizes that we should love our enemies. This passage says that all our righteous deeds should be hidden from men. In this way we will receive a reward from our Father who is in secret. In Germany there was once a great battle, and some soldiers arrived at a place where some good Lutheran believers were. The soldiers asked one believer to lead them to the best wheat field in order that they could cut some wheat. When they were led eventually to one field, they were told to cut there. The soldiers looked around and asked why they were not led to those fields on the side. The believer answered that those other fields were not his, and that only that patch was his. This is the principle of the second mile.
The central teaching in Matthew 5—7 is reward.
Verses 2-4: This is concerning alms. "Sound a trumpet" in verse 2 is probably an idiomatic expression. "Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." Of course, this cannot be interpreted literally. What it means is that we should try our best to avoid giving alms before men, even to the extent that seemingly our left hand does not know what our right hand is doing. "Repay" may also be rendered "reward." All our righteous deeds before God should be done only before God (in secret).
Verse 5: "When you pray." The Lord did not command us to give alms, pray, and fast, because these things are what the believers should do at the least. What the Lord said here is how to give alms, pray, and fast in order to please God.
"Hypocrites." The root of this word in the original language is "an actor, one who play-acts." Hypocrites are actors. For example, they are not very earnest when they pray, yet they act as if they are very earnest. This kind of acting is condemned by the Lord. In the "synagogues" are many zealous people; on the "street corners" are many ordinary people. Synagogues and street corners are stages for the hypocrites, since performers have to perform before men. This means that they want to gain the praise of both the insiders and the outsiders. "So that they may be seen by men." This is the purpose of their performing. To hide shortcomings is the natural act of the fleshly man. However, grace requires us to hide our good points. New Christians like to hide their shortcomings. However, after having deeper experiences, they are willing to reveal their shortcomings before others. Then, further on, because of the grace of God they will be transformed, and their shortcomings will thus be eliminated.
There are two different times for reward: (1) today and (2) in the future. There are two kinds of reward: (1) reward from men and (2) reward from God. We cannot have both kinds of reward. If we want to receive reward from men, we will not be able to receive reward from God in the future. We cannot enjoy a big name in the world and also have a position in the kingdom. Today there are some zealous ones who give alms in order to gain glory and praise. Thus, they will not be able to receive reward from God. Therefore, we should refuse the present reward. People in the world are willing to be zealous and to suffer because they want to gain something today. If we are not careful, we may have the same inclination in our giving of alms and praying. What can we gain from the praise of men? If our eyes are open, we will seek only the glory before God and before His angels. All other things do not count.
Verse 6: "When you pray, enter into your private room, and shut your door." Some say that prayer involves the matter of place and that therefore it is necessary to build a prayer room. However, Paul told Timothy that men should "pray in every place" (1 Tim. 2:8). The "private room" refers to the bedroom, where there are not too many people. It is quiet during the day when people go out to work; it is also quiet at night when people are asleep. This means that we need to pray in a place where there are few people. When the Lord was on the earth, He did not have a place to rest. Therefore, He often used the wilderness and the mountains as His private room (Matt. 8:20; Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16; Mark 6:46; Luke 6:12; 9:28). David said, "I...am as a sparrow alone" (Psa. 102:7).
"Your Father who sees in secret will repay you." It is human nature to call people's attention to one's good points. But God sees in secret; He cannot even forget a cup of water (Matt. 10:42). The good points that we remember today may not be counted by God in the future. What we have forgotten today may be remembered by God in the future. The Greek word for repay means "reward." This does not refer to what is commonly called "answers to prayer." Rather, it points to the reward in the future. God cannot answer prayers that are not according to His will and therefore do not deserve His answer. However, God considers all our prayers in secret as righteous deeds and will reward us in the future.
Verse 7: "And in praying do not babble empty words as the Gentiles do." This means that we should not use many meaningless words to make our prayers long. It does not mean that we should not pray with the same words. The Lord prayed three times using the same words (Mark 14:36, 39, 41). Therefore, we know that when we are genuinely burdened in our spirit, we often pray many times with the same words. The prayer of those who know best how to pray is original and not natural. There is a bad tendency among the believers today. We think that our prayers cannot be effective unless they are long. Therefore, we prolong our prayers so that they will be heard by God. However, most of the prayers recorded in the Bible are short; for example, "Lord, save me!" (Matt. 14:30). Thus, we can see that short prayers are very important. When we are at a critical point in our gospel preaching to sinners, or when we have an urgent need, short prayers are most effective.
"For they suppose that in their multiplicity of words they will be heard." Probably this is what today's believers think. When we have the time, we may pray long prayers privately. However, we should not think that we will be heard because of our multiplicity of words.
Verse 8: "Your Father knows the things that you have need of before you ask Him." Some say that since God already knows our need before we ask, we do not need to pray. They also say that it is better not to pray than to have short prayers. However, this verse does not mean that we should not pray. Rather, it means that we should not go to God to give a report. Although God knows our need, He is still waiting for us to pray. Nonetheless, He does not want us to report. For example, "Lord,...we are perishing!" (Matt. 8:25) is a report, but "Lord, save us!" is a prayer. It is not right to notify God, but it is right to make requests of God. This verse is to discourage prayers that are in the nature of a report.
Verse 9: "You then pray in this way." This does not mean that the prayer that follows should be used as a form. Rather, it means that the disciples should take it as an example of prayer and learn to pray in the same way.
Verses 9-13: When the Lord was on the earth, this was the only time that He taught people to pray. On the other occasion, recorded in Luke, it was the disciples who asked the Lord to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1). Although the words there were similar to the words here, the two were given on two different occasions. From the prayer here we can get some clue. Although the Lord taught us to pray just these few sentences, we can see what God wants us to pray in these few thousand years. All of God's desire and all that He is intent on accomplishing speedily are expressed through this prayer. This prayer shows forth God's eternal will and God's desire toward man.
This prayer contains the word "Your" three times and the word "us" four times.
"Your name be sanctified; Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth." God's name is not sanctified by people on the earth. Neither is God's authority exercised on the earth, nor is God's will done on the earth. The purpose of God is to have His will done also on earth, as it is in heaven. (This sentence is a great key to understanding this section.) From this it can be seen that in heaven God's name is sanctified and God's will is done. However, on earth other names are sanctified, the kingdom of darkness exists, and an opposing will is present. Satan is the ruler of this world and the god of this age, and in his hand the whole world lies (John 12:31; 2 Cor. 4:4; 1 John 5:19).
We should preach the gospel to deliver people out of the hand of the evil one that they may sanctify God's name and be subject to God's authority, so that God's kingdom may come to this very earth on which we stand. Today's Christians bear a great responsibility, that of bringing the kingdom to the earth through prayer. Why is Satan still in the world today? It is because those who belong to Christ have not experienced the victory of Christ. At least one of the reasons that God created man was that God does not want to cast out a created being — Satan — directly as a Creator. The fact that God in that day charged Adam to keep the garden of Eden shows that there was an enemy. The authority that God gave to Adam was that which He had previously given to Satan, who was originally the archangel.
The serpent was cursed to eat dust, which is the substance with which man was formed. This means that man fell and was subjected under the authority of Satan. God's original intention was to have man cooperate with Him. Since the first man Adam failed, God raised up the second man Christ to overcome Satan. Through His death the Lord redeemed man from sin, and He did the will of God. The Lord joined every saved one to Himself that they all may exalt God, do God's will, and destroy the kingdom of Satan. This group of people corporately form the second man Adam in order to do the will of God on earth as it is in heaven.
Mr. Evan Roberts said that the wheel of prayer is as follows: (1) God initiates, (2) man prays, and (3) God accomplishes. Ezekiel 36 shows us a great principle. God first said that He will give Israel a new heart, yet He still wants them to inquire of Him, and then He will accomplish it.
Verse 9: "Our" includes all Christians. Only Christians can call God their "heavenly Father"; people in the world cannot address God in this way. "Your name be sanctified." This is what God has always demanded for thousands of years.
Verse 10: "Your kingdom come." On the one hand, we may say that the kingdom of God is already in our midst. On the other hand, we may also say that it has not come and is waiting for the believers to pray for its coming.
Verses 11-13: These are our askings, in which "us" is used four times. Verse 11: This is asking God to give us our daily bread. Since Christians do not have savings on earth, they need to ask for their daily bread.
Verse 14: "For if you forgive men their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you also." Some say that this passage is spoken to Jews and indicates something different from the forgiving mentioned in Ephesians 4:32. This is incorrect. The reasons are as follows: (1) If this passage was spoken to Jews, how could God be addressed as the heavenly Father? Adam was called the son of God only because he was created by God. (2) Since words such as "offenses" and " heavenly Father" are used, we know that a father-son relationship with God still exists when sins are committed. Therefore, these are sins committed after one has been saved. (3) The sins of the Jews are not forgiven because they forgive others; they still need the sin-cleansing fountain in the future (Zech. 13:1). The forgiveness here is not the initial forgiveness of sin; rather, it refers to the forgiveness of our daily weaknesses and offenses after we have been saved. For these we need to forgive others in order to receive forgiveness from the Father. If a believer does not forgive others, he forgets that he has received forgiveness from God. God cannot allow two believers who have a disagreement with each other to enter into His kingdom. At least one, if not both, will not be able to enter.
Verse 13 tells us that since we stand for the kingdom of God and truly want to keep the teachings on the mount, we should ask God to deliver us from the hand of the evil one. "For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever." The word "for" indicates that this sentence follows the preceding passage and is very precious. We pray this and that because the kingdom, the power, and the glory all belong to God and not to Satan. "Kingdom" is the sphere in which God rules, "power" is the operation of God, and "glory" is the effulgence of God, which shines out from God Himself.
Verses 16-18: This section is on fasting. (1) Fasting is an expression of self-humbling before God. (2) Fasting is an expression of self-buffeting before God. (3) Fasting is an indication of one's seeking for God's grace. Therefore, fasting should not be abolished. However, we should do our best not to let others know. This is a matter of our purpose, intention, and motive. The "repaying," as above, is the reward.
Verses 19-34: This section is on treasures. Treasures include not only money but also clothing, food, and things precious to us.
Verse 19: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves dig through and steal." The Greek word for rust means "eating" and is the same word as for "eating" in Romans 14:17. Therefore, rust may be literally translated "eating," meaning "consumed" or "finished." The consuming by moth refers to clothing, the consuming by rust or "eating" refers to food, and the stealing by thieves refers to money. The Lord's command is: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on the earth." However, this does not mean that we should use up our money and eat up our food every day. To "store up" means that we are planning to have something to depend upon.
Verse 20: "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven." Anything that can be consumed by moth and rust or stolen by thieves is displeasing to God. God condemns idle treasures. We should not be wasteful, nor should we store up treasures on earth. To store up treasures in heaven is to give to the believers who are poor. This is made very clear in Luke. If we store up treasures in heaven, then in time of need we can go to God to make a withdrawal rather than beg. Such storing up of treasures is a changing of banks, from one on earth to one in heaven.
Verse 21: "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." When our treasures are relocated to heaven, our heart will be relocated. We need to transport our heart to heaven by distributing our treasures to others. Our treasures must go first; then our heart will follow.
Verse 22: "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light." Every member of our body functions on behalf of the whole body. For example, a person whose eyes are blind is a blind person, even though only his eyes are defective. This verse tells us that our eyes should be single. Although we have two eyes, our eyes can focus on only one object at a time. Otherwise, we could not see clearly because there would be a seeing disorder. Some believers want to store up all their treasures on earth, but they have no peace within them. Yet they are not able to store up all their treasures in heaven either. Therefore, they try to store up a little on each side. This causes them to lose their spiritual eyesight. The Lord shows us here that we cannot make gains in both worlds. The Lord was afraid that people might not understand what He said in verse 21. Therefore, He used the word in verse 22 to explain it.
If our eyes are not single and our heart is divided between two places, we will not have light. To have light is to see clearly and to be able to make manifest (Eph. 5:13). To be full of light is to be filled with something that can make other things manifest. In other words, light is the spiritual eyesight, the spiritual vision, the spiritual view that can see accurately. Then one can see what is the way of the cross and what is a narrow way.
Verse 23: "If your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!" When our eyes are fixed on two objects and we have two desires in our heart, we no longer have spiritual eyesight. This is like a blind man walking on a narrow, winding path with deep ravines on both sides. How dangerous this is!
Verse 24: "No one can serve two masters....You cannot serve God and mammon." The Lord said, "No one can serve two masters," but the believers always seem to say that it is possible. Like the strength of the other members of the body, the strength of love is limited. If we overspend it on unimportant things, when the time comes for important things, we are without strength. If we spend our love on mammon, then when the time comes for us to spend our love on God, our love will have been exhausted. Our heart can be in only one place. The principle of mammon is contrary to the principle of God. The Chinese idiom which says that the rich are unkind does not mean that the rich are cruel, but rather, that they are selfish.
Verse 25: "Because of this, I say to you, Do not be anxious for your life, what you should eat or what you should drink; nor for your body, what you should put on." Here the Lord changed His tone. Since the Lord commanded us not to store up treasures on earth in the preceding passage, we will no doubt have questions concerning our food and clothing. The previous passage says that the way to deal with idle money is to give alms. The passage from verse 25 on speaks concerning the proper attitude toward our legitimate needs. Here the Lord mentioned food first, and then clothing. This is because our need for food is greater than our need for clothing. The problem of food is more urgent and more difficult to solve than the problem of clothing. "Therefore" has a deep meaning here because the previous passage says that we should not serve mammon. We should not be anxious even for legitimate needs such as food and clothing, for this kind of anxiety can eventually cause us to serve mammon. Life in the original language is soul, the seat of cravings and desires. The Bible in many places connects the soul with food; for example, the soul fainted because of the lack of food (Psa. 107:5).
Verses 25-34: The main subject is on not being anxious concerning food, drink, or clothing. The serving of mammon probably starts with the anxiety for food, drink, or clothing. "Is not the life more than food, and the body than clothing?" This shows that believers should have noble thoughts. "Can God...?" This is man's unbelief. Anyone who asks "Can God...?" expresses his unbelief. If we have no faith in God, it will be very difficult for us to live our daily life. All anxieties can be taken away only by believing in God. When the Lord wants us to consider, He often uses questions. God created the heavens and the earth in the first five days, and then on the sixth day He created man. God had first prepared everything that man needed, yet man still thinks as though he was created on the first day.
Verse 27: "Who among you by being anxious can add one cubit to his stature?" This is the third question that the Lord raised. In other words, since anxiety is useless, then why be anxious? If there is a remedy, there is no need to be anxious. If there is no remedy, it is useless to be anxious.
Verses 26 and 27 cover the matter of food and drink. We easily see the birds if we lift up our eyes. Therefore, the Lord said, "Look...." Verses 28-30 speak about the matter of clothing. Lilies are not common. Therefore, the Lord said, "Consider well...." Oh, how careful the Lord was! The lilies mentioned here are probably colorful. From the phrase "you of little faith" we can see that this was spoken to the saved ones. Mr. George Müller's whole life of trusting God was based on these two great promises concerning the birds and the lilies. His exercise of faith is a characteristic needed for this age.
Verse 31: "Therefore do not be anxious." "Therefore" is used here once more. This is a summary. The reason the Lord used the illustrations of the birds and of the lilies is to forbid us from being anxious and not to forbid us from working. When the Lord said to behold the birds and to consider the lilies, He was not asking us to imitate them. The Lord said through Paul, "If anyone does not want to work, neither should he eat" (2 Thes. 3:10). To "sow" and to "reap" (v. 26) is the work of men, whereas to "toil" and "spin thread" (v. 28) is the work of women.
Verse 32: "For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things." "Your heavenly Father knows" indicates that this is spoken to believers. God provides us only what we need. God will not provide us what we demand or what we ourselves would like to have.
Verse 33: "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." What is the kingdom? On one hand, the kingdom refers to a spiritual condition. For example, the Bible says, "The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 14:17). On the other hand, the kingdom refers to the ruling in the millennium (Luke 19:11). One is the present spiritual living, and the other is the future reward. The present spiritual condition of the believers enables them to reign in the future. The emphasis of the " kingdom" here is the future.
The "righteousness" here can only be obtained by seeking. Thus we see that this is neither the justification by faith nor the righteousness of God mentioned in Romans 3. Rather, this is the righteousness in Matthew 5—7, the righteousness that surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, the righteousness mentioned in 6:1. Righteousness specifically refers to the conduct described in Matthew 5—7.
The phrase "seek...His kingdom" emphasizes not only the present spiritual condition but even more the future reward. "Added" means that you already have something, and other things are added to what you already have. Since you seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, you obtain the kingdom of God and His righteousness; in addition, you have food, drink, and clothing. To one who has nothing, something is "given"; to one who already has something, more things are "added."
Verse 34: "Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself; sufficient for the day is its own evil." This shows that the Lord did not ordain believers to have a life of ease and comfort.
