SF919 - THE SECRET OF GODLY GIVING (Matthew 6 1-4)
Matthew 6:1-4
Introduction
Review Chapter Five
Two key verses: Matthew 5:20, 48
Matthew 5:21-48 focuses on the teaching of the law, what men believe.
Ø The emphasis is on inner moral righteousness—He gives six representative illustrations regarding murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, revenge, and love.
Matthew 6:1-18 focuses on the practice of the law, what men do.
This section emphasizes outward formal righteousness—giving three representative illustrations of religious activity.
Jesus deals with three critical areas that make up our Christian lives...
Ø Our deeds, giving, our religion as it acts toward others (6:1-4)
Ø Our devotions, praying, our religion as it acts toward God (6:5-15)
Ø Our disciplines, fasting, our religion as it acts in relation to ourselves (6:16-18). (MacArthur, Chapter 33)
The emphasis in Chapter 6 is doing the right thing the right way for the right reasons!
1A. The Proper Motive In Giving (6:1)
The story is told of an eastern holy man who covered himself with ashes as a sign of humility and regularly sat on a prominent street corner of his city. When tourists asked permission to take his picture, the mystic would rearrange his ashes to give the best image of destitution and humility. A great deal of religion amounts to nothing more than rearranging religious “ashes” to impress the world with one’s supposed humility and devotion.
1B. Beware of self-serving righteousness
Prosechoô (beware) means to hold, or take hold of, something and pay attention to it, especially in the sense of being on guard
Theaomai (to be noticed) is related to the term from which we get theater. It has in mind a spectacle to be gazed at.
In other words, Jesus is warning about practicing a form of righteousness (dikaiosuneô, acts of religious devotion in general) whose purpose is to show off before men.
2B. Be sure that God does not reward self-serving righteousness.
The purpose of this kind of righteousness is to please men, not God. Such false righteousness, Jesus assures us, will never qualify a person for God’s kingdom (Matt. 5:20).
God does not reward men-pleasers (Matthew 5:16), because they rob Him of glory.
2A. The Proper Method In Giving (6:2-4)
1B. We are expected to give – “when” (6:2a)
Deuteronomy 15:11 “For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’”
Malachi 3:8, 10 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings…. ‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.’”
2B. How not to give (6:2)
You should not call attention to yourself or your gift
You should not see giving as a means of salvation
Many Jews believed that salvation was much easier for the rich, because they could buy their way into heaven by giving to the poor.
You should not seek the honor and approval of man.
Those who give for the purpose of impressing others with their generosity and spirituality will receive no other reward.
3B. How to give – ten principles (6:3-4)
1C. Your giving is to be spontaneous. (6:3)
To “not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” was an expression that referred to doing something with no special effort or show.
2C. Your giving is never to be for show. (6:4)
Ø The question is not whether or not our good works should he seen by others, but whether they are done for that end. (Matthew 5:16)
Ø The difference is in purpose and motivation. When what we do is done in the right spirit and for the right purpose, it will almost inevitably be done in the right way.
3C. You are to give regularly and systematically to the work of your local church.
1 Corinthians 16:2 “On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come.”
4C. Giving from the heart is investing with God.
Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure-- pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
5C. Genuine giving is to be sacrificial.
2 Samuel 24:24 “However, the king said to Araunah, ‘No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing.’ So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.”
6C. The requirement to give has no relationship to how much a person has to give.
Luke 16:10 “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.”
7C. Material giving correlates to spiritual blessings.
Luke 16:11 “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?”
8C. Giving is to be personally determined.
2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
9C. We are to give in response to need.
2 Corinthians 8:1-5
10C. Giving demonstrates love, not law.
John 3:16
Application
The privilege of giving is a means of great joy in the life of the believer. Knowing that through my giving I can be a blessing to someone else should give me great joy.
How does your giving measure up against the Lord’s gift to you.
Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
THE SECRET TO GODLY GIVING
Matthew 6:1-4
1A. The Proper _________________ In Giving (6:1)
1B. Beware of __________-serving righteousness
2B. Be sure God does not reward self-serving righteousness.
2A. The Proper _______________ In Giving (6:2-4)
1B. We are expected to give – “when” (6:2a; Deuteronomy 15:11; Malachi 3:8, 10)
2B. How __________________ to give (6:2)
You should not call attention to yourself or your gift
You should not see giving as a means of salvation
You should not seek the honor and approval of man.
3B. How to give (6:3-4)
1C. Your giving is to be spontaneous. (6:3)
2C. Your giving is never to be for _____. (6:4)
3C. You are to give regularly and systematically to the work of your local church. (1 Corinthians 16:2)
4C. Giving from the heart is ______________ with God. (Luke 6:38)
5C. Genuine ____________ is to be sacrificial. (2 Samuel 24:24)
6C. The requirement to give has no relationship to how much a person has to give. (Luke 16:10)
7C. Material giving correlates to spiritual blessings. (Luke 16:11)
8C. Giving is to be _______________________ determined. (2 Corinthians 9:7)
9C. We are to give in response to ___________. (2 Corinthians 8:1-5)
10C. Giving demonstrates _________________, not law.