BEING LESSONS FROM THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW.
CHAPTER VI. (Continued from page 172.)
The third section of the "Sermon on the Mount" – the principles of the kingdom, which are given for the government of those waiting for it – occupies the first eighteen verses of the sixth chapter. It has upon it the seal of a third section, as plainly bringing us into the sanctuary, – into the presence of our Father, and giving us a lesson of sanctification, – of the holiness that suits His presence. It thus corresponds with the third book of Moses, Israel's lawgiver, while yet a greater than Moses is here.
The first verse is the text of the whole, which is then illustrated, amplified, and enforced, in three different applications. The text is:"Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men, to be seen of them :otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven." The word is allowed to be "righteousness " here, as the Revised Version gives it, and not "alms," as in the common one. In the following verses "alms" is right.
This "righteousness" is then illustrated in three different applications, manward, Godward, and self-ward, as alms-giving, prayer, and fasting. Each of these is an illustration, not a definition, as is clear. Alms-giving does not define our duty toward men; nor prayer that toward God; nor fasting, what we owe ourselves. In each regard our righteousness must go far beyond the illustration. And yet the illustration is in each case chosen, as we cannot doubt, in divine wisdom, and has a peculiar fitness to bring out the character of this righteousness, as disciples are called to practice it, before their Father in heaven. This we shall surely see, as we examine them.
I. Alms-giving is chosen to express what is righteousness toward men. What is the reason of this ? Such questions it is right and good to ask, if only we seek the answer reverently, and without forgetting that divine wisdom is not exhausted by the apprehension we may obtain of it. In this first case, as surely in the others also, we may think of more than one answer.
As the Lord is reproving a righteousness done be-fore men, He naturally takes up that which would be most showy-most apt to be reckoned on to produce the desired effect. We are told by Him of those who sound a trumpet before them when they give alms, and that in the synagogues, as well as in the streets. The language is probably symbolical of the blazoning abroad, in whatever way, their acts of " charity;" while for this also they would naturally have the most plausible reasons, invented to cover the fact that they sought glory of men ; but this was the fact. And alms-giving has also been one of the standard methods adopted by those who have sought this. It can be practiced with so little personal sacrifice, while it meets so evidently one of the sorest of palpable needs that can be met; it has so the form of benevolence, that it seems like cynicism to question whether the spirit be there; it is in itself so right, and puts one so plainly in the company, at least, of those who do right:all this makes it of priceless value to those who love the praise of men. And those who do so can very readily attain their object; nothing, perhaps, is more readily or certainly secured. But then, alas for them, "they have their reward:" it is all that they will possess, forever.
On the other side, alms-giving as an example of righteousness is a significant witness that to show mercy is not something to be classed as supererogation, but that the ministry of love is after all only a debt-a due. To be righteous really carries no merit in it, although God in His grace may please to speak of recompense.'' When ye shall have done all things that are commanded you," says the Lord elsewhere, "say, We are unprofitable servants:we have done that which was our duty to do." (Luke 17:10.) Only in a world of sinners such as we are, could the thought of righteousness-the mere fulfillment of duty-associate itself with any idea of merit. And with the comparative righteousness which is all that is ours at best,-a righteousness that still leaves us sinners,-how impossible should be the thought! But, to love, with all that should flow from this, is mere commanded duty; yea, to love one's neighbor as oneself is the injunction of the law. The Christian standard rises higher still in its law of self-sacrifice and all its marvelous enforcement of this in the example of Him who has given us life through His death. Henceforth, for those who have known this, there is no possible margin of devotedness outside of that duty which His love has endeared.
Alms-giving shrinks in this way into a small thing indeed; while this diminution of it does not make it less imperative. It becomes only a finger pointing along a road which leads out into the infinity beyond. "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be made rich." (2 Cor. 8:9.)
And yet we cannot afford to forget the Lord's words here, though to a people who could not know, as we know, such grace as this. Significant it is, that, when He would, to these Jewish disciples, speak of righteousness manward, His illustration of it emphasizes mercy. All this is only magnified for us by our Christianity, in every particular. We are, above all, the witnesses of grace. Debtors to it absolutely, we are debtors to show it to others. Freely having received, we must freely give. How otherwise are we to reflect Him to men around ?
And we need still the reminder :" But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth; that thine alms may be in secret:and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." Alas, how Christians have forgotten such words in their displayed charities, justifying the dis-play as letting their light shine ! The contrast is manifest with what is here :too manifest to need enlargement.
2. The second illustration of righteousness is God-ward ; and here the Lord illustrates it by prayer:"When ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites are:for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, to be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy chamber; and when thou hast shut to thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret ; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."
It is a striking thing that righteousness should be illustrated by that which is the expression of creature need and dependence. But all the sin in the world came in through man's forgetfulness of this. Nay, Satan became what he is in the same manner – "lifted up with pride" (i Tim. 3:6). Prayer is the expression of what is the very opposite of this, Think, then, of the utter and awful contradiction in terms, of praying to God, to be seen of men! "As the hypocrites do," says the Lord; and yet, is not this an hypocrisy which creeps oftentimes into public prayers, where those who pray are, after all, not to be so characterized ? Are not those who lead the prayers of others especially liable to act in some measure in this way ? the consciousness of being before others leading them into petitions which are not dictated by felt need so much as by a sense of propriety of some kind ? How much shorter, how much simpler, how different in various ways, might many of our prayers be, if we were alone before God instead of in the prayer-meeting !
This leads us on toward the next warning :" But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do :for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them :for your Father knoweth what ye have need of before ye ask Him." This, if there be no need to explain or apply, still needs serious attention on the part of Christians.
Our Lord follows this with the divine model of prayer, which for fullness combined with perfect directness and simplicity so manifestly fulfills the conditions indicated. Nor only this :the order and proportion of the petitions are, with all else, perfect, and claim our earnest attention. They betoken a condition of heart which, wherever it is found, must insure answer,-the state of one over whom God's will is supreme,-for whom He is first and last, beginning and end. To realize such a condition would of necessity make us realize the meaning of those words of the Lord's, " Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done to you." Clearness of apprehension would go with it,-confidence of success:"The effectual fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much" (James 5:16).
A perfect model of prayer this is and must be :whether designed for a form, and especially whether intended for Christians, is another matter. The differences in Luke (11:2-4), now recognized in the Revised Version, would, of course, be one of the plainest arguments against this. Apart from this, the gift of the Spirit to Christians, for those who realize what is the distinct characteristic of the present dispensation, (John 16:7 ; Rom. 8:26, 27,) and expressly named as the Intercessor within us according to God, may still more hinder such from interpreting it as a form to be used by the saints of the present time. That it is not in the Lord's Name is evident upon the face of it, and confirmed (if confirmation were needed) by His words to His disciples afterwards :" Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My Name " (John 16:24); and this is a difference not to be remedied by supplying an omission where there is none, and making that really imperfect which is perfect. And this very perfection, for the disciples of that time in their transition state, would seem to suggest once more its not being intended as the suited expression of a Christian in the Christian state. One is more concerned, however, to point out the actual perfection of the prayer, than to dwell upon such distinctions in this place,- even though they have to do with differences vital to Christianity; but here is not the place for their examination. Let us consider now, briefly, the petitions contained in it, and what they imply. F. W. G.
(To be continued.)