Matthew VI

i. 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.

2. Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

3. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth;

4. That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

The word translated “alms” may be more literally rendered “righteousness.” The word is thus translated in chap. v. 20. i. There is an element of righteousness in almsgiving. This is not generally understood. Charity is usually dissociated from ideas of righteousness, justice, and the like. It is righteous on the part of the strong to help the weak — not merely charitable or good-natured, but deeper than this, righteous. Being righteous, its chief side lies towards heaven and not towards earth; this being the case, then, 2. Righteous actions should be confined to

THE UTMOST POSSIBLE EXTENT TO THE DlVINE COGNISANCE.

Philanthropy is the practical side of theology. A philanthropic course may be started from one of two points, — either natural kindliness of heart, or a profound sense of the Divine ideal in man, serving which is serving God Himself. (Matt. xxv. 35 — 40.) Philanthropic service is deep and permanent in proportion as it works from the latter centre. Even the lower considerations are better promoted by working from a high spiritual plane, than by working immediately for them; hence, 3. The secrecy of righteous actions

DOES NOT DEPRIVE THEM OF PUBLIC RECOGNITION AND

reward. “Thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.” It may be considered singular that “righteousness” should be succeeded by “reward.” It must be borne in mind, however, that it is “righteousness” which was realised in the face of the most terrible allurements in the direction of self-glorying. One of man’s greatest trials is to overcome the weakness and the downward tendency of his own flesh. Righteousness is, indeed, in a deep sense, its own reward; it brings a calm rest and a holy joy into the heart, — not only so, it enlarges, refines, and ennobles the whole nature; yet, in addition to this interior reward, there is an open, public recognition which God works out on the righteous man’s behalf. The necessary tendency of “hypocrisy” is towards decay; hypocrisy strains nature, and brings the “reward” of ruin. The tendency of “righteousness,” on the contrary, is towards expansion, strength, and immortality: it is of the nature of God, and brings with it the joy of the ever-blessed Father. Poor are the prospects of the hypocrite! There is a terrible irony in the Saviour’s words, “Verily I say unto you they have their reward.” Peter uses the same word when he speaks of “the reward of unrighteousness,” and again of “the wages of unrighteousness,” and Jude employs it in the expression, “Woe unto them! for they .... ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward.’” The “hypocrite” loses the very object for which he toils; he toils for “reward,” he obtains it, and lo! it wastes in his hand, and mocks his expectations.*

The word SUaios is Homeric as well as Christian, and in Homer it is employed to describe not only the duty of man to man, but of man to the gods. This circumstance certainly elevates our idea of Greek ethics; to have the same

* Christ does not undervalue public opinion as a moral check, but here, as everywhere, throws men upon interior considerations and motives rather than upon outward circumstances. The spring of all true service in Christ’s kingdom is love; whatever is less than this, though collateral and subsidiary, will be burnt up by the final fire. Public opinion (Sfffiov tfdrts) was highly prized by the Greeks as a moral restraint. Numerous instances are given in Homer. When Nausicaa desired Ulysses not to enter Scheira in her company, she found her apology in the (pijXts aSevKris, “the bitter gossip” of the people. Public opinion may still be turned to good account; it is the great unwritten law which surrounds a man like an atmosphere; at the same time he who acts only that he “may be seen of men” has no reward of his Father in heaven. A most distinguished Homeric critic suggests that the uses of the single word aiiws (which occurs only twice in the New Testament — 1 Tim. ii. 9, and Heb. xii. 28, where it is rendered “shamefacedness” and “reverence “) with the cognate verb and adjective, which occur in Homer, would to a large extent establish the fact that the Greeks of his age “were in a condition of high civilisation, in that which constitutes its most essential part, namely, that which relates to the affections and passions of man; the expansion of moral forces by the one and the compression of the other.” Hesiod gave it as one of the characteristics of the iron age that alSojs had fled from the earth; most men are, however, still capable of feeling “shame,” and upon such, public opinion may operate very usefully.

word employed in complimenting Telemachus for handing the cup first to seniority, as is employed in referring to the character of men who had omitted the usual sacrifices, clearly shows the idea which the Homeric age held as to the connection between morality and religion. We should do well to consider that almsgiving and prayer are equally included by Christ under this term. Christian morality is surely not less inclusive than Homeric righteousness.

5. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

6. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

7. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

8. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him.

9. After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11. Give us this day our daily bread.

12. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

14. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

1 5. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

The most needless passage in all Holy Writ, we are sometimes tempted to exclaim! Earnest men, we argue, will surely know where to pray and how to pray. We know not whereof we affirm. The Teacher is still proceeding on a distinct recognition of the weakness of the flesh, and man’s innate self-idolatry. There are three directions respecting prayer: — 1. Secrecy; 2. Brevity; 3. Comprehensiveness. Brevity is quite compatible with fulness. No man can be long in prayer until after he has exhausted his heart; so long as the heart speaks, pray on, though it be from morning until night, and through the night till the daybreak. It is when the lips alone talk, that prayer is long, and then, even a sentence is tedious. The Saviour then tells His disciples how to pray; He shows that they are to remember: —

I. That they are adoring children. 2. That they are £0^ subjects. 3. That the Father’s will is of universal application. 4. That daily mercies should be daily sought. 5. That good men need daily forgiveness. 6. That temptation is to be prayed against. 7. That all ascription of majesty and praise is due to the Father alone. Much practical truth may be evolved by considering this as a daily prayer: be adored this day; thy kingdom come this day; thy will be done this day, &c. This gives us concentration of idea, and ought to give extraordinary vividness and steadfastness to our hope. Think of all these petitions being answered “this day”!

The Lord’s Prayer may be looked at as a summary of the Lord’s Life.

The 14th and 15th verses show that men are to prove the reality of their prayers by the magnanimity of their conduct. They are not to expect from God what they are not prepared to render to man. Men are thus made co-workers with God. As men ask forgiveness from God, so men should ask forgiveness from one another. As God will not grant forgiveness except it be asked for sincerely, so men ought not to grant forgiveness except on the same condition; but as God always forgives the sincere penitent, so ought men to forgive their contrite enemies. Forgiveness without penitence is immorality.

16. Moreover, when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

17. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;

18. That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

It is a mistaken view of civilisation which affirms that the greater the number of man’s wants the further is he removed from barbarism. There is a higher civilisation, which enables a man to say, “I know the value of comforts and luxurious enjoyments, yet I shall so master myself as to be superior to their temptations.” Education rather than self-indulgence, is the main element in pure civilisation. The barbarian does not know the relative value, or the manifold uses of things; to know these, and yet to hold the appetite in restraint, is to be truly civilised. Fasting may serve — 1. To keep the body in proper subordination; 2. To purify and strengthen the operations of the mind; 3. To excite sympathy with those who fast without their own consent; 4. To bring into prominence the fact that there is a higher life than bread can satisfy. These uses can be served effectually only in connection with the secret observance of fasting. The true purpose of fasting is the moral education of our nature. Our Lord’s direction as to appearances is remarkable; He does not teach duplicity, but secrecy; He wishes to check all glorying before men.

In the three points of Giving, Praying, and Fasting, our Lord confines the action (to the utmost possible extent) to the individual and God himself. Too narrow a view of this circumstance would give false impressions of the religious life. There is a side of spiritual life which is secret; there is also a side which is public. In proportion as the secret side is cultivated, will the public side be luminous, persuasive, influential. There are men whose every pulse almost may be said to be published. They have no interior life. They never sit in the secret place and commune deeply with themselves, with nature, or with God. They are afraid of solitude. When they give, it is that they may be seen of men; when they pray, they speak loudly, that the world may pause and hearken; when they fast, they tell the story of their abstinence in shrivelled face or piteous tones. There is, however, a public side to the religious life. There are men whose right hand never tells the left any news of benevolence, simply because it has no such news to tell. These men are not unwilling to be credited with the possibility of having done a good deal in secret; and with many a sign they deceive the trustful and unwary.

GENERAL NOTE.

Why should not the first verse in this chapter be regarded as common to all the directions respecting Giving, Praying, and Fasting? Let the word “righteousness” take the place of the word “alms,” and then it will include the whole of the three religious exercises to which our Lord refers, and thus bring into special prominence the “righteous” side of giving, the “righteous” side of praying, and the “righteous” side of fasting, and by so much will increase the force of the command respecting secrecy.

19. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal;

20. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

21. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

The rich man reads these words, and then buys an estate; the incompetent man reads them, and pronounces the rich man unchristian. The meaning clearly is, that the supreme attraction of the heart is not to be sought in material riches. Christ is ever anxious about the “heart.” The command may be justified on four grounds: — 1. Material riches cannot satisfy the spiritual nature; 2. Material riches are less

f 2 enduring than the spiritual nature; 3. Material riches are exposed to continual peril; 4. Material riches are excellent servants, but unworthy masters. Christ’s ideal of spiritual strength is, that man should hold all material things, all temporary relations, and all accidental circumstances, in perfect subordination to his spiritual nature. The man may possess gold and silver to any extent, provided that his “heart” be above his property, evermore rising towards God. The true use of riches is indicated by Paul in 1 Tim. vi. 17. Christ’s words may be paraphrased thus: — “You have a heart, a spiritual nature, of vast capability; it can lay hold of God and become like Him: it was made to keep His will, to enjoy His smile, and to live with Him for ever; see that it be not fixed on any inferior purpose; feed it not with husks, but give it bread from your Father’s table; if riches increase, set not your heart upon them; be superior to all earthly attractions; set your affections on things above, and not on things on the earth; the thief may steal earthly comforts, but cannot deprive you of heavenly blessings.”

22. The light of the body is the eye; if, therefore, thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

23. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

The eye of the “heart” should be upon God, and then it will be “full of light.” While the eye is blinded with material riches the body necessarily stumbles, falls, or goes astray. What though a man be able to run quickly, if he be blind? Man has only one faculty by which he can communicate with the light, and if that one be incapacitated he must abide in darkness. The “heart” is the “eye” with which man sees God; if the heart be engrossed with earthly things it cannot enjoy the light of God’s countenance; by long disuse it will eventually lose all power, and the man must wander in darkness for ever.

Christ is evidently continuing His discourse upon the heart in relation to secular things, and I take it that He regards the “heart” as the illuminating faculty, so to speak, of the spiritual nature, and points out the necessity of keeping this faculty “single” or “simple” (cnrXovs) if man would walk in “light” and make his “whole body luminous” ((fxoretvbv).

24. No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

i. Wholeness of heart is essential to all progress, — literature, art, commerce, as well as religion. 2. Division of heart is weakness. 3. All men must serve, — the choice is between God and mammon. 4. The true religious life is one of thorough identification with God, and all His purposes and works.

25. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26. Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27. Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28. And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin:

29. And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

31. Therefore, take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32. (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek): for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness: and all these things shall be added unto you.

34. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

The whole paragraph may be taken as showing the contrast between secular greatness and spiritual rectitude. I. In their spirit. 2. In their aims. 3. In their destiny. Or it may be regarded as showing Christ’s method of interpreting the Book of Nature. He interprets it: — 1. So as to condemn all anxiety regarding physical sustenance. 2. So as to find everywhere indications of Fatherly presence and care. 3. So as to show the dignity and value of man in the sight of God. 4. So as to rise from the creature to the Creator. Christ is teaching trust in God in opposition to anxious care respecting physical wants, and His argument, direct and indirect, is four-fold: — 1. That care of the “life” should take precedence of care of the “meat.” 2. That care of the “life” will elevate a man above all sordid or anxious care for his inferior nature. 3. That the most anxious concern on secular affairs is useless. 4. That such concern is not Christian but Pagan. A man may commence from either of two points, — “the life” or “the meat;” according as one or other is the dominating consideration, will be the tone of a man’s history.

The passage is not to be considered as forbidding the exercise of prudence or foresight, but as forbidding atheism in secular affairs. There are men who confine God to the sanctuary, and trust to themselves in all other places, — there are also men who are theologians, not Christians.

The Saviour next lays down the principle that care of the greater secures the blessings of the inferior. “Seek ye first,” &c. The inclusiveness of the “kingdom of heaven” is often overlooked. Life’s main business is to be right, all else will follow. Yet against this view may be set facts in Christian experience; good men are often in straits, while bad men often revel in prosperity. This is true; yet: — 1. Difficulties are disciplinary. 2. God knows with how much men may be trusted. 3. Prosperity is fraught with peril.

4. Prosperity and adversity are modified by the moral nature, — a thankful, trustful spirit, multiplies the bounties of God.

Christianity heightens and refines man’s view of secular life. The “Gentiles” take a low view; they believe in dust; they regard the hand as the only faculty of appropriation; they live within the narrow range of the senses. Christians, on the contrary, own “all things;” to them the universe is their Father’s house, and all wheat-fields, olive-yards, and vine-yards, all cattle and gold, belong to Him whose love they trust.

Christ here presents: — 1. The aim of true life, — the Kingdom of God. 2. The business of true life, — seeking this Kingdom. 3. The inclusiveness of true life, — “all these things shall be added.” “‘Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you.’ He casts the latter into the former, as the tradesman does twine and paper into a parcel of rich goods. Suppose a child should ask his father for money to buy a bauble, but the father denies him; now, if the child should proclaim in the open street that his father never loved him, how would this be taken? Yet thus thou dealest with thy heavenly Father, if thou suspectest His love because He denies thee some earthly enjoyment.” — (Gurnall.) “To do unnecessary things in the first place, and neglect those which are most necessary, and put them off to the last, is not this the part of a fool? If a man should go to London to get a pardon, or about some great suit at law, and should, in the first place, spend the most or chiefest of all his time in seeing the lions at the Tower, the tombs in Westminster Abbey, or the streets and buildings of the city, or in visiting friends, and put the other off to the last, would he not be a fool? Christ, who was wisdom itself, judged it folly in Martha to be busy about many things, and to neglect the main, that one thing necessary. It is not necessary to be rich, or learned, or great, though we have cause to bless God if we are so; but God’s favour, and Christ, and grace are absolutely necessary. Therefore, says Christ, ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.’ So He, as wisdom, directs us.” — (T. Goodwin.)

The last verse contains an expression which can be understood only figuratively, — “the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.” The verse may be homiletically used as showing: — i. The value of the present. 2. The bearing of to-day on to-morrow; postponement of duty on the part of man is not met by extension of time on the part of God. 3. The whole day is a type of the whole life, — its beginning, its progress, its noon, its decay, its evening hour. (There are many beginnings and endings in life; all these are spiritually suggestive.) He meets to-morrow best who uses to-day well; so he is best prepared for eternity who has wisely employed the talent of time. Think of the arrears of all our yesterdays being remitted to to-day!

The key-words in this discourse concerning secular things in their relation to spiritual realities, are — “life,” “kingdom,” and “Father.” The words are immeasurably comprehensive; “life” stretching beyond the grave, which is only a comma in the punctuation of the soul’s history; and “kingdom,” including all the Divine empire, specially the government of all moral agencies by the Holy One; and “Father,” gathering up all intelligences, and settling the races in a family relationship. Master these three words (life kingdom, Father), and Christian theology will be yours, in all its spiritual and intellectual wealth.