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Scripture Reading: Matt. 6:1-18
In this chapter we will consider the fourth section of the Lord’s teaching on the mountain, which concerns the righteous deeds of the kingdom people.
Matthew 6:1 is the general sketch of this section concerning the righteous deeds of the kingdom people. The Lord said, “Take care not to do your righteousness before men in order to be gazed at by them; otherwise, you have no reward with your Father who is in the heavens.” The Lord asks us to do our righteous deeds in secret, not before men, because His central intention is that we would be delivered from our temper, flesh, and self.
In chapter 5 the Lord desires that we would allow the kingdom of the heavens to rule. In the matter of hatred, we should not deal with others but with ourselves. In the matter of lust, we should not give any place to our lust. In the matter of speaking, we should be simple and clear, not speaking for ourselves. In the matter of revenge, we should not contend with others but go along with them, and we should not allow things to touch us, giving the Lord all the ground in us. In the matter of loving others, we should not follow our choices and preferences; rather, we should love both those who are lovable and those who are unlovable. We should be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (vv. 21-48). All these matters require that we forsake our temper and flesh, live in the life of God, and be under the ruling of the kingdom of the heavens.
In chapter 6 the Lord spoke concerning the righteous deeds of the people of the kingdom of the heavens. His intention in this section is that we would still be delivered from our temper, flesh, and self, because our temper, flesh, and self can still be present in matters related to righteous deeds. When we commit sins and do evil, surely we are full of temper, flesh, and self; but even when we give alms and do good, our temper, flesh, and self can still be a factor. Hence, after the Lord spoke concerning how the authority of the kingdom of the heavens rules over us in matters related to the filth and corruption that men condemn, He continued to speak concerning how the authority of the kingdom of the heavens rules over us in matters related to righteous deeds that men praise.
The ruling of the kingdom of the heavens over righteous deeds requires that we do these things in secret. This requirement seems very easy on the surface, but in reality it is very hard, because a person must be delivered from the self in order to do righteous deeds in secret without making himself known.
Most people in the world do good deeds in order to make a show of themselves. If they cannot make a show, they often are unwilling to do good deeds. This proves that they are full of the self in doing good deeds. If the kingdom people can do righteous deeds without making a show, however, this is a proof that they have been delivered from the self. To do righteous deeds before men is to make a show of oneself. To do righteous deeds in secret is to deny and reject the self, not giving any place to the self.
After giving a general sketch in Matthew 6:1, the Lord lists three things. In principle, these three things include all the righteous deeds of man before God. In the first section of the Lord’s teaching on the mountain in chapter 5, regarding the condition of the kingdom people’s heart, there are three aspects: toward oneself, toward others, and toward God (vv. 1-12). On the one hand, the Lord teaches us what is required toward ourselves; on the other hand, He also teaches us what is required toward others and toward God. In the section on the kingdom people’s righteous deeds in chapter 6, the Lord also speaks of these three aspects, because these three aspects include all the righteous deeds of man before God.
The giving of alms represents the righteous deeds of the people of the kingdom of the heavens toward others. Giving alms is to treat others graciously and mercifully with material things; hence, it is a righteous deed. A citizen of the kingdom of the heavens should have such righteous deeds in his living. In 6:1-4 the Lord does not speak of whether we should give alms but rather of how we give alms. The Lord said that we should not do our righteousness “before men in order to be gazed at by them” and that we should not give alms with the sounding of a trumpet (vv. 1-2). This means that we should give alms in secret instead of doing it in order to be gazed at, like the Gentiles. To be gazed at is to make a show of oneself. The people of the kingdom of the heavens should give alms without letting the left hand know what the right hand is doing (v. 3). This is an extreme description, but it means that we should not let others know by doing this in absolute secrecy.
In the Bible the right hand usually refers to divine matters, which is the top portion (Gen. 48:14; Exo. 15:6; 29:20; Psa. 48:10). The left hand usually refers to human matters. Therefore, according to the spiritual principle, the Lord’s word implies that we should not allow our flesh to have any part in what we do according to God. We should not let our flesh have any part in our giving alms according to God’s leading, God’s power, and God’s life. For the flesh to have no part requires secrecy. Whenever we want others to see our righteous deeds, our flesh is involved. A righteous deed may be of the Lord and may be carried out by the Lord’s strength, signified by our right hand, but if we also want others to know and make a show of it, our left hand will be involved. It is possible to do something according to God but still allow some ground for the flesh. This is related to the self. By asking us to give alms in secret, the Lord requires that no element of the self be involved.
Sometimes, whether in the church or toward unbelievers, it is not possible to give alms in secret for some reason. This does not mean that we need to refrain from giving because of the Lord’s speaking concerning not doing something “in order to be gazed at by them” (Matt. 6:1). As long as we are not doing something in order to be gazed at by others, it is good enough. We should try to do things in secret, but when circumstances do not allow this, we do not need to keep the letter in a dead way.
Prayer represents the righteous deeds of the people of the kingdom of the heavens toward God. Concerning prayer, the Lord mentioned five key points.
Our prayer should be in secret. In Matthew 6:5 the Lord said, “When you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, so that they may be seen by men.” To want our prayer to be seen and heard by men is of the flesh and the self. Hence, the Lord said, “Enter into your private room, and shut your door and pray to your Father who is in secret” (v. 6). Some people say that to enter into the private room and shut the door is for us to be absorbed in quiet prayer. However, the Lord’s emphasis in verse 6 is that we should not make a show of our prayer. The kingdom of the heavens rules over us not only for us to be absorbed in prayer but for us to pray without making a show, without the flesh and the self. Many people in the church do not know the central point of the Lord’s teaching on the mountain. His teaching emphasized the ruling of the kingdom of the heavens over us. This ruling causes us to have no flesh and no self. The Lord’s word in verses 5 and 6 shows that even in divine things, such as prayer, our flesh and self can be involved. If we can be delivered from our flesh and self in prayer, then it will be easy for us to be delivered from the flesh and self in other things.
People pray with repeated words because they have an intention to make a show of themselves. If a person does not want to make a show of himself, his prayer is always simple. A certain saint may pray only for two or three minutes at home, but in the meetings he stands up and prays with many words for more than ten minutes. This is proof that he has the element of making a show. There is an element of making a show in a long and repetitious prayer, because the person who prays wants to make a display before others.
In verses 9 through 13 the Lord said, “You then pray in this way: Our Father who is in the heavens, Your name be sanctified; Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” Here the Lord presented a pattern of prayer. Although many people use this as a script for prayer, reciting it whenever they need to pray, this was not the Lord’s intention. The Lord’s intention was to show the principles of prayer.
The first principle of prayer is to pray on God’s behalf. The beginning sentence in this prayer says, “Our Father who is in the heavens, Your name be sanctified; Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth” (vv. 9-10). This is a prayer offered on God’s behalf. We need to see that the first thing in prayer is not to ask on behalf of ourselves or others but to ask on God’s behalf. Genuine prayer asks on God’s behalf.
God wants us to ask on His behalf because He still has important things that have not been accomplished on the earth. There are three things that still need to be accomplished. First, God’s name has not been sanctified on the earth. Today people still reject and mistreat God’s name, ranking many other gods’ names equal to God’s name, without sanctifying His name as the uniquely holy name. Second, the kingdom of God has not yet come upon the earth, and the authority of God has not yet been brought to the earth. Today God rules in heaven but not on earth. People do not honor God’s authority on earth. His authority will not be brought to the earth until the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (Rev. 11:15). Third, the will of God has not yet been done on the earth, because the authority of God has not yet been brought to the earth. The will of God can be done in the heavens, but how many people on the earth care about God’s will? How many people are obeying God’s will?
These three things cannot be fulfilled on the earth because Satan is hindering and undermining them. Therefore, God needs a group of people to pray on His behalf. Such a prayer, actually, is a prayer of warfare, because this group of people rises up to deal with Satan’s authority so that God’s authority may be brought to the earth, that God may return to the earth to establish and reign in His kingdom, and that God’s name may be sanctified on the earth. These can only be accomplished through warfare.
The second principle of prayer is to pray for the necessities of our living. Since our prayer is to fight for God, we also need to ask for food for ourselves in order to maintain our living. The enemy tries to undermine by cutting off our food supply so that we cannot live. Hence, the Lord asks us to pray for our daily bread and for the necessities of our living. However, the Lord only teaches us to pray, “Give us today our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11). The Lord does not teach us to ask for two days’ portion of food. This matches His subsequent word, “sufficient for the day is its own evil” (v. 34), and it indicates that asking for daily bread is not only for our living but also for God’s warfare.
The third principle of prayer is to confess our sins. All proper prayer involves the confession of sins, because all of us have some wrongdoings. Verse 12 says, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” A person who prays in this way does not have the self. Whoever does not forgive others is full of the self. Only a person who forgives others from his heart is without the self. He can ask God for forgiveness because he can say to God, “I have forgiven others.”
The fourth principle of prayer is to ask for God’s keeping and delivering: “Do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (v. 13). To ask for God’s keeping and delivering is to ask God to deal with His enemy, Satan, the evil one.
The four principles of prayer mentioned above include four aspects of prayer: first, prayer is toward matters related to God; second, prayer is toward matters related to ourselves; third, prayer is toward matters related to others; fourth, prayer is toward matters related to Satan. Toward God, we pray for the accomplishment of His plan; toward ourselves, we pray for our living so that we can be for God; toward others, we pray to forgive and to be forgiven by God; toward the enemy, we pray for God to deal with Satan. We may say that all prayer includes these four aspects.
We pray because the kingdom, power, and glory belong to God (v. 13). The kingdom is the realm where He rules, power is equal to His ruling, and glory is His expression. All our prayers should be for God’s kingdom to come, for God to rule, and for God’s glory to be expressed. If our prayer is not for God’s kingdom, power, and glory, it amounts to nothing in God’s eyes. Hence, the purpose of prayer is always for God. Genuine prayer involves man praying on God’s behalf so that God’s kingdom, power, and glory may be manifested.
At the end of this section, the Lord spoke of the condition of prayer, which is to forgive others. Verses 14 and 15 say, “If you forgive men their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you also; but if you do not forgive men their offenses, neither will your Father forgive your offenses.” If we do not forgive others, neither will God the Father forgive us, and our prayer will not be answered. The Father’s forgiveness of us is based on our forgiveness of others. Those who do not forgive others cannot pray. Forgiving others implies that there is no self. If we continue to remember others’ wrongdoings while praying, we are full of the self. The condition of prayer is to have no self.
Fasting represents the righteous deeds of the people of the kingdom of the heavens toward themselves. Fasting deals with our own legitimate enjoyment. Eating is the most legitimate thing to man, but we need to deal with even these legitimate things. This is to treat ourselves strictly.
Giving alms is to treat others generously and to bring them out of suffering. Fasting is to stop our legitimate enjoyment and to treat ourselves harshly. Hence, fasting is a righteous deed of man before God. However, even in such a righteous deed as fasting, there is the possibility of making a show of ourselves. Therefore, we also need to do this without letting anyone but God know (vv. 16-18) so that we may be delivered from the self and terminate the self.
With each of these righteous deeds, the Lord spoke of reward and repayment (vv. 1-2, 4-6, 16-18). Those who do righteous deeds in public will receive reward from men. Those who do righteous deeds in secret will receive repayment from God, whereas those who do righteous deeds in public seek praise and glory from men (v. 2). Since they have received praise and glory from men, God will not repay them.
In this section concerning the righteous deeds of the kingdom people, the Lord shows that there is the possibility of making ourselves known in anything. Even in divine things, such as prayer and fasting, there may be the element of the self. Therefore, the people of the kingdom of the heavens need to be delivered and freed from the self even in their righteous deeds and to allow the kingdom of the heavens to rule absolutely. The Lord’s teaching requires that we be delivered from the self. We should be diligent in this matter.
