The Gospel According to Matthew Chapter 6

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The Gospel According to Matthew Chapter 6

The Bible Text from https://www.bible.com/bible/111/MAT.6.NIV

Sermons on the Mount 2

Giving to the Needy

1 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

(As a steward, we must take care of fellow human being, particularly who are in need. The goal of doing charity is not to promote our fame but to please God since God wants us to live together, believe together, serve together, to be blessed, to be blessings, and for His glory. We are serving God's work to honor Him but not anyone else. It should be true even in this time of promotion, advertizing, bragging over internet world.)

Prayer

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

(Prayer is the Divine Communication between God and us. There is no room for hypocrisy or pretending in prayer. Prayer should be cognitive, moral, intentional, honest, spiritual, and etc. You may refer to https://cafe.daum.net/k331/PeqF/23 for more.)

(The Lord's Prayer: We need to pay proper attention to this ultimate prayer that Jesus taught.)

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

(Following- Blue, is from the above link, & Red is addition.)

"'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

  Prayer is based on our relationship with God.

  We claim a father-children relationship and honor our Father in heaven.

(God is the source of all, devising all, defining all, governing all as He wants.

He is bigger than Immeasurable space- heaven. (1Kings 8:27, “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!)

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

  This is the ultimate purpose of our prayer and life- cognitive and physical realization of God's kingdom in our daily lives. We remind ourselves the Great Commission and our Obedient Commitment to the Mission. Make our and their lands Kingdom of God.

11 Give us today our daily bread.

  We acknowledge that we rely on God's provision for our life.

  Also, we vow to live diligent, humble, and simple lives.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

  In spite of the fact that we are sinners from the birth but we have fellowship with God and other people because of sin-forgiving blood of Jesus.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'

  We rely on God for our daily spiritual, mental, and physical warfare against the evil power which tries to separate us from God.

(While we trying to be righteous, more effort to rely on God's mercy and grace.)

"For Thine Is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory. Amen!"

(It might be an acceptable insertion by Protestantism.)

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

(We are not in the seat of judge but must humble ourselves, trying to obey His commandment of love in the remembrance of His righteousness. We must decern, however, what is right and wrong to make sure we follow the God's way.)

Fasting

16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

(Fasting and other godly disciplines can be beneficial for your faith, but should be personal not to make yourself look-good, seeking praise from others.)

Treasures in Heaven

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. (The worldly values such as pleasure, possession, and pride are very temporary. The life on this earth is not the only of ours.)

20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. (Our value system should be on the Truth of the Kingdom of God, which is lasting forever in God's time and space. We can't bring earthly thing to the Kingdom but we can accumulate Kingdom Worth (souls) from here.)

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

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.

23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (The importance of Value System; this world only, or the Kingdom of God? We must not be blinded with limited perspective.)

24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. (We supposed to serve God. But many of us lost the true value out of our foolishness and arrogancy, resulted to serve worthless worldly things. Rom. 1:21-23, 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Now it's time to make sure we serve God but not our own lust, desire, and pride.)

Do Not Worry (Due to Unknown Future)

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? (Life itself is more important than food, which means, if there is life there is God-made life supporting system.)

26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? (Nature shows mentioned truth; life supporting system.)

27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (No. Worrying does nothing other than hurting.)

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.

29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. (Man-made can't be compared to God-made nature.)

30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? (We must learn from the Life-Giving System of God to enjoy His provision.)

31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. (Those who do not know God's system try to make their own life by themselves and struggling due to their limited ability, and worry about what to eat and what to wear.)

33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (God's Kingdom has more than enough for our survival with food and clothes. We must seek the Source rather than branches.)

34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (We must seek what we need within the Kingdom of God daily base.)