SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
QUIET MINISTRY
#16 – Sermon On The Mount
If you are a child of God because you
have trusted Jesus as your Savior, God has given you ministry. Ephesians 2:10,
Colossians 3:24, Galatians 5:13
In our text we find Jesus telling us
that the best kind of ministry that we can have is quiet ministry.
Quiet ministry is simply serving the
Lord without drawing attention to ourselves.
The Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day often drew attention to
themselves when they performed religious service. They wanted the attention and
praise of men. They were hypocrites.
They lacked sincerity.
Matthew 6:1 - 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.
The word “alms” refers to ‘acts of righteousness’.
This could refer to anything that is by nature good and helpful.
Jesus is saying “When you do good
things, don’t do them to be seen of men. If you do things to receive men’s
praise, you have no praise from God.”
If I do something so someone will think
I’m a nice person, I have no reward from God.
If I do something so people will note
how religious I am, I have no reward from God.
If I do something good so that in return
someone will do good to me, I have no reward from
God.
Is Jesus saying that if I do something
good and someone sees it, I get no reward from God? No.
Jesus is saying, if I do something good
looking for the praise and adoration of men, I have no reward from God.
If you are doing something good out of
devotion to God, you will draw as little attention to yourself as
possible.
When people find out about what you have
done, it will not be because you drew attention to yourself, but because God
wants your good works to be a testimony for Him. Matthew 5:14-16
So, the key word is “motive”.
If your motive is to bring glory to God,
you will do things quietly. You will have a quiet ministry. And if, you are a
Christian, you will be awarded by God at the “Judgment Seat of Christ”. 2
Corinthians 5:10
In the passage before us Jesus itemizes
three areas of quiet ministry.
QUIET SHARING – Vss. 2-4
Vs. 2 – In this
verse Jesus is talking about sharing with the poor, giving alms to those in
need.
Jesus is telling us, “Don’t blow your
own horn” when you give. Don’t make a
big deal of it. There are people who
give to charity, and yes even churches, so that their giving will be
recognized. That’s what a hypocrite will
do. He is acting as if he or she is
concerned for those in need. In reality, he or she is concerned that they be
thought well of.
Jesus tells us here, “that they have
their reward”. They actually do receive the praise of men. But they receive no reward from God.
Vs. 3 – Jesus gives a figurative
illustration of quiet ministry. Quiet
ministry doesn’t let the active hand, which for most of us is the right hand,
let the inactive hand, the left hand, know what it is
doing. We are to do our giving and then
forget it!
Vs. 4 – Giving in secret doesn’t always
mean that nobody knows about your giving.
It means that you do it as quietly as possible.
Please notice that Jesus doesn’t say,
“If you give alms”, he says “When you give alms”. Giving is something that God has designed to
help to meet the needs of those suffering.
When Paul had a meeting concerning his ministry
to the Gentiles with some of the early church leaders, Peter, James, and John,
Paul reports, Only they would that we
should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.
(Galatians 2:10)
Romans
QUIET SUPPLICATION – Vss. 5-6
Vs. 5 – Please
note that Jesus is not condemning corporate prayer, praying together, or out
loud in church.
Jesus is condemning those who make their
private prayers public. These people pray
where they can be seen and appreciated by men for their dedication. These people do not pray to be heard of
God. They pray to be heard of men.
Jesus says “They have their reward”
which is the praise of men.
There is another challenge in this verse
for those of us who pray publicly. We
must be careful that our prayers in church and elsewhere are actually talking
to God, and not trying to tickle the ears of men.
Vs. 6 – Notice again that Jesus is not
saying, “if” you pray.
Jesus says “when” you pray!
Prayer is to be a very integral part of
the life of the Christian. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Ephesians 6:18
Jesus tells us here,
that our personal prayers to God are to be just that, personal.
Jesus tells us to go into our “closets”
to pray and to shut the door.
A closet can be any place that you can
be alone with God.
Now why would you want to get alone with
God?
1. Only God can
answer your prayers.
2. Your body,
Christian, is the temple of the Holy Ghost. God lives inside.
3. God wants your
fellowship and your dependence on Him.
4. God is
deserving of your worship and adoration.
5. God
understands and knows you better than anyone else. You can pour out your heart
to Him and He will understand.
6. God has
promised to answer your prayers.
QUIET SACRIFICE – Vss. 16-18
Vs. 16 – Like
giving and praying, fasting is a private ministry. When a Christian fasts,
nobody should know it. People who wanted to appear religious would do all they
could to show that they were fasting.
Fasting may be done in times of
mourning.
Fasting may be done in times of
conviction of sin.
Fasting may be done in times of
prolonged prayer.
Jesus seemed to assume that there would
be times when the Christian would fast.
Vss. 17-18 – Jesus is
telling us here that when we fast, don’t make it a public issue. Go out of your way to not look like your
fasting.
God, who will see your private fast,
will reward you openly.
I’d like to make an application of this
principle.
Perhaps you don’t fast now, or have
never fasted.
But there are times when you have made
other sacrifices for God or for the benefit of man.
Perhaps you sacrificed a dinner out to
give to a missions project.
Perhaps you have sacrificed your time to
help a Christian friend in need.
Perhaps you have sacrificed your own
career for the sake of your husband and/or children.
Perhaps you’ve sacrificed to take care
of your parents.
Perhaps you’ve sacrificed for the sake
of your church.
I believe that we should perform
these sacrifices as quietly as possible and not draw attention to ourselves.
And I further believe, that God,
who sees us privately will reward us openly.
And besides, Christian, when we
consider what Christ has done for us, no sacrifice is too great.
Let’s be like the servant in
Jesus’ story in Luke 17:7-10.