Sons of Your Father.

Matthew 6:1‑18
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2. — THY FATHER WILL REWARD THEE.
(Read Matthew 6:1-18.)
ALMS, prayer, and fasting form the three- fold cord of a Christian’s hidden life.
Alms, manward; prayer, Godward; fasting, selfward — all under the Father’s eye, the Father’s ear; and all when done according to the Son’s teaching receive the Father’s reward. They must be done for Him “in secret,” not for man to see and applaud. Whose approbation do we seek, beloved? Then again, if the Father’s approval be our delight, we shall not be discouraged by the conduct of others, for the mainspring of our life will be Christ, and the Father’s reward will encourage us.
In Titus 2:12, also, Christian life faces three ways, — the grace of God teaches believers how to live, viz., “soberly,” as concerning one’s self; “righteously,” toward men; and “godly,” tard God.
Like three strains of a cord they are twisted together, by “the grace of God that has appeared,” and by “looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”
Alms. — Men are the recipients, but alms should not be done merely for the sake of men who need them. “To do good and to communicate forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Heb. 13:16). Compare Philippians 4:18 and 1 John 3:17, where the spring of brotherly help must be the love of God. Note also Galatians 6:10, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”
Neither the public subscription list, nor attaching the founder’s name to a so-called work or cause, or to a building or institution, can rank among alms given in secret, so that the left hand knows not what the right hand does. Beware lest the Lord should say of any of us, “Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.”
“How much to give,” can only be settled by each one before the Lord. The Scripture gives various rules and examples, some of which apply to all believers, others more especially to the rich or to the poor. Let us turn to a few passages. “Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, as God has prospered him” (1 Cor. 16:2). Not merely once a year or once a month, but as each “first day of the week” finds us still on earth, our privilege is to set apart for communication to others as God has made us to prosper.1 Unexpected economies, salaries and receipts of all natures, go to make up the total. We should not wait to see if we have anything left over at the end of the week before we give, but as Israel began by setting apart the tithes for the Levites, so we should begin the week by “alms.” “The willing mind” (2 Cor. 8:12) is what God specially appreciates, while the Lord Jesus Himself, “who for our sakes became poor,” is the wondrous model proposed to us by the Holy Spirit (verse 9 of same).
Rich believers have their own special exhortation in 1Timothy 6:17-19.
Poor saints have a precious example in the widow who cast two mites into God’s treasury (Luke 21:1-4). She had the Lord’s approval.
(“It is more blessed to give than to receive,” are the words of the Lord Jesus. They teach us to labor — not only for our own needs, but also — to support the weak (Acts 20:35).
Dependence and waiting upon God for wisdom are necessary so that the giver be guided aright in his gifts. Unless such be the case, needs may be overlooked because unknown, and sometimes certain needs may be met in such a way as to damage or hinder the soul of the receiver. Believers, alas! at times fall into the habits of men and leave God out, or nearly so, when human knowledge and wisdom seem to suffice.
How different that is to the teaching of Christ in these verses, how continually He links all with the Father. “Thy Father which seeth in secret, Himself shall reward thee openly.”
Prayer. — In the prayer the Lord Jesus here teaches His disciples, we have (it is needless to say) a prayer perfectly suitable for them at the time and very full of precious teaching for us. Only sons could pray in such terms, for the prayer is addressed to the Father. It is short, simple, and full, if we bear in mind that redemption was not yet accomplished when the Lord Jesus gave it. God’s glory is the subject of the first three petitions, and the believer’s needs come afterward. Christ who ever sought the Father’s glory, ascribes the kingdom to the Father, though He Himself will reign in it on the Father’s behalf.
Let us take up each petition shortly.
“Our Father which art in heaven.” Though it be an individual prayer for the privacy of the closet (see vers. 5 and 6), the plural form “our” is used; it links all the other sons with the one who prays. “Father” is the precious relationship name which the Son alone could declare, and which the disciples at that time could grasp little if at all. “Which art in heaven” leads the heart away from this scene to the Father’s place on high, which the Son had left for a while that He might do the Father’s will on earth.
“Hallowed be Thy name.” Perhaps the first commandment of the law given by Moses — “I am the LORD thy God, thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exod. 20:3) — may help us to understand the import of this petition. God alone acknowledged, served, glorified; no other name allowed beside His.
“Thy kingdom come.” Compare chapter 13:43. “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” Also chapter 26:29, “When I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” It is the coming time when Christ will have His disciples with Him; and when He will reign in glory and all be subdued unto Him.
“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This, like the first petition, is partially verified now in the hearts of the children (sons) of the kingdom (see chap. 13:38); it will be verified on a larger scale during Christ’s glorious reign, and will be fulfilled when “God is all in all” (1 Cor. 15:25-28).
“Give us this day our daily bread.” Daily dependence for daily food is the lesson taught here. We are not to desire stores and reserves for future needs, but only the necessary provision for each day. God will give the suitable answer. He will bestow whatever He finds fitting for each, and He will encourage us to trust Him daily till our pilgrimage is over.
“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” This conditional forgiveness is clearly laid down by the Lord in the verses which immediately follow the prayer. “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” I hear someone asking: “How is this? I thought our forgiveness depended on Christ’s blood ‘shed for many for the remission of sins’” (chap. 26:28). That is so indeed; yet (it is needless to say) both statements are true, for both are Scripture, both indeed from the Lord’s own mouth. There is no contradiction in them. Our petition is based on God’s governmental dealings with His sons, and is stated in terms suited to a time when redemption was not yet accomplished. Certain parables of the kingdom of heaven present this governmental side of God’s ways, as in chapter 18:23-25. We need to bear this in mind, for God disciplines His sons (Heb. 12:7), to make them partakers of His holiness. In Ephesians 4:32 we read, “Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven us.” Doubtless you find this exhortation more suitable for those who have believed the “gospel of the grace of God.” Let us profit by it, beloved brethren, and we shall not fall under the edge of God’s government in this respect. Some of the Corinthians were weak and sickly, and some had been put to sleep; the object of the Lord’s chastening always is, “that we should not be condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:30-32).
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” If we are humble-minded, distrustful of ourselves, we shall desire to be kept from trial, to be sheltered and delivered from the onsets of the devil and from any or all the evil which surrounds us. Self-confidence was the cause of Peter’s fall (chap. 26: 33-35). When God sees fit to allow temptation (1 Cor. 10:13), He remains ever faithful; He “will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” The Church at Philadelphia had little strength, but there was faithfulness, so the Lord promised to keep it from the coming hour of temptation (Rev. 3:8, 10). Let us imitate that Church.
Then follows a beautiful doxology, which mistaken piety seems to have added in a few old MSS., but it did not form part of the prayer that the Lord taught His disciples.
Our private prayers may be long, if we have many persons and matters at heart, but each petition will be short if we remember that “your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask Him” (ver. 8). The object of prayer is not to give information to God, but rather to wait upon Him in childlike confidence and formulate our desires and needs according to the teaching of the Word.
We might add that believers pray by the Holy Spirit (Jude 20), but our purpose is not to give a full exposition of this precious subject; we desire only to draw attention to some of the lessons the Lord Jesus teaches in these verses. Fasting. — While the Lord Jesus was with them the disciples did not fast, but said He, “when the Bridegroom shall be taken from them, then shall they fast” (chap. 9:14, 15). Fasting is therefore suitable for the time of Christ’s absence, or the present dispensation of the kingdom of heaven.
Fasting lessens bodily strength for a while, and thus weakens a prop on which self-confidence easily leans. If practiced without prayer, spiritual pride might result from it; but in the Word prayer is joined with it. Compare Matthew 17:21; Acts 13:1-3, &c. Self-judgment, soberness, and keeping the body under, are all helped by occasional fasting accompanied by prayer. In the two passages of Scripture referred to, fasting and prayer are in connection with the Lord’s service.
Fasting is entire, or even partial, abstinence from food for a while, and should be done in moderation, not for one’s own glory or advantage, but with a single eye to the Lord’s glory. “And thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” We should therefore have at heart to please God in it. That is the key or secret to fasting properly.2
F. M. H.
 
1. It is well to observe that this passage refers to a special collection for the needs of the poor saints at Jerusalem. The Apostle did not wish that there should be a sudden or hasty gathering when he himself visited Corinth, but that rather there should be a continued exercise of heart on the part of these Gentile believers on the behalf of their Jewish brethren. No means better suited to keep up this Christian sympathy, and no day more fitting than the first of the week, when the hearts of the saints overflow with thanksgiving in the sense of the Lord’s goodness to them. — ED.
2. Do not all Christians who seek to serve the Lord, whether in the gospel, or in the edification one of another, fast to a certain extent? In the world the heaviest meal is reserved to the close of the day, and is often a time for self-indulgence; but amongst Christians who are actively engaged in the Lord’s interests this is not so, for who could freely preach or pray when rising from a heavy meal. “Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things” (1 Cor. 9:25).
Then, too, faithfulness to the Lord in this evil world has often led to fasting, not as a voluntary exercise, but as a matter of compulsion through persecution or abounding zeal for Christ’s glory. This was pre-eminently seen in the case of the apostles (2 Cor. 6:5, 11: 27), also in the history of the martyrs, as well as in more recent times, as some now alive can testify. — ED.
Do not all Christians who seek to serve the Lord, whether in the gospel, or in the edification one of another, fast to a certain extent? In the world the heaviest meal is reserved to the close of the day, and is often a time for self-indulgence; but amongst Christians who are actively engaged in the Lord’s interests this is not so, for who could freely preach or pray when rising from a heavy meal. “Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things” (1 Cor. 9:25).
Then, too, faithfulness to the Lord in this evil world has often led to fasting, not as a voluntary exercise, but as a matter of compulsion through persecution or abounding zeal for Christ’s glory. This was pre-eminently seen in the case of the apostles (2 Cor. 6:5, 11: 27), also in the history of the martyrs, as well as in more recent times, as some now alive can testify. — ED.
Do not all Christians who seek to serve the Lord, whether in the gospel, or in the edification one of another, fast to a certain extent? In the world the heaviest meal is reserved to the close of the day, and is often a time for self-indulgence; but amongst Christians who are actively engaged in the Lord’s interests this is not so, for who could freely preach or pray when rising from a heavy meal. “Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things” (1 Cor. 9:25).
Then, too, faithfulness to the Lord in this evil world has often led to fasting, not as a voluntary exercise, but as a matter of compulsion through persecution or abounding zeal for Christ’s glory. This was pre-eminently seen in the case of the apostles (2 Cor. 6:5, 11: 27), also in the history of the martyrs, as well as in more recent times, as some now alive can testify. — ED.
Do not all Christians who seek to serve the Lord, whether in the gospel, or in the edification one of another, fast to a certain extent? In the world the heaviest meal is reserved to the close of the day, and is often a time for self-indulgence; but amongst Christians who are actively engaged in the Lord’s interests this is not so, for who could freely preach or pray when rising from a heavy meal. “Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things” (1 Cor. 9:25).
Then, too, faithfulness to the Lord in this evil world has often led to fasting, not as a voluntary exercise, but as a matter of compulsion through persecution or abounding zeal for Christ’s glory. This was pre-eminently seen in the case of the apostles (2 Cor. 6:5, 11: 27), also in the history of the martyrs, as well as in more recent times, as some now alive can testify. — ED.