Hypocritical Giving (Matthew 6:1-4)
Hypocritical Giving
Matthew 6:1-4
You may recall that last week in our study of the Sermon on the Mount
We finished the first point of Jesus in this great sermon.
Point 1 – THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD EXPLAINED
It covered all of chapter 5
As Jesus began to explain to us what God’s righteousness looks like,
And how much higher it is than anything we have attained.
His righteousness is so high
He considers anger to be murder and lust to be adultery.
And obviously when we apply the standards of that righteousness to our own lives we are found deficient, in need of a Savior.
Well this morning we begin POINT 2 of Jesus sermon.
FALSE RIGHTEOUSNESS EXPOSED
A chapter in which we see:
Hypocritical Giving
Hypocritical Prayer
Hypocritical Fasting
Hypocritical Commitment
And this is a very fitting direction for this sermon to go.
Because as soon as Jesus revealed to us that we have major sin issues. (anger, lust, lack of integrity, revenge)
He knows that it is the natural inclination of man to try and even the score.
You might call it the Doctrine of Sin Exchange.
It is where we don’t necessarily justify the evil things we do,
But we do try to even the score by revealing the good things we do
For example:
My anger my prove that I am a murderer, and my revenge may prove that I am merciless, BUT I give to the poor and so I must not be all bad.
Or:
My lack of integrity may prove me a liar, and my lust may prove me an adulterer, BUT I pray continually and so I must not be all bad.
Or:
My propensity to break covenant, or the fact that I am not pure in heart may show that I am not righteous, BUT I do fast periodically so I must not be all bad.
We do that don’t we?
God’s word convicts us of sin in our life,
Maybe even to the point of revealing spiritual death and lostness;
And instead of accepting what Scripture says we are
We try and plead our own case by listing all of our good points.
And Jesus knows that we do it.
But I’m sorry to tell you, He is ready for you.
Because now comes the second point of the sermon:
FALSE RIGHTEOUSNESS EXPOSED.
And what Jesus does here is reveal that maybe the good we do
Really isn’t all that good after all.
What if you found out that everything good about your life
Really wasn’t as good as you thought?
That is what chapter 6 of the Sermon on the Mount does to us,
And once again it pushes us to the Savior.
And so let’s look at this second point of Jesus.
It begins in verse 1 with really what is the point of the entire chapter,
Especially the first 24 verses.
(1) “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.”
I sincerely hope you noticed the first word.
“Beware”
Words like that are used when there is an inherent danger
You we would not ordinarily be aware of.
When I was a kid, every time we would go out playing in the pasture
My mom would say, “Watch out for snakes”.
That is the same type of warning Jesus gives here.
There is a danger that will creep up on you and catch you unaware.
You must be alert to it.
WHAT IS THE DANGER?
The temptation of “practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them;”
We as humans are those who enjoy recognition and praise.
We like to be recognized as those who do something well.
And many have learned that even good deeds
Can earn a certain type of recognition.
And that is a danger.
WHY IS IT SO DANGEROUS?
Because if you do that “you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.”
To put it plainly, if you do a good deed on earth,
And you do it to be recognized on earth,
Then you can forget about getting any type of reward from God.
Other scriptures allude to this concept:
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 “According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”
1 Corinthians 13:3 “And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.”
You see it is clear that there is a very real possibility
Of doing the right things on earth and receiving absolutely nothing for it.
Imagine thinking you were saving your whole life for retirement,
Only to find out when you retired that there had been an error
And you had actually already spent your retirement.
And yet that is happening to people in an eternal sense all the time.
They leave this world after a lifetime of service,
Only to find that they have absolutely no treasure in heaven whatsoever.
Some even find that they don’t have a home there, let alone an inheritance
What a tragedy!
And yet is a real threat, so much so that Jesus says “Beware” of it.
When you practice your righteousness to be “noticed” by men
You will receive no reward for your effort.
WHY?
Because that is idolatry.
That is glorifying self over God.
• And while we know God’s mercies are new every morning.
• And while we know God’s grace is sufficient.
• And while we know God’s lover never fails.
We also know THAT GOD’S GLORY IS FOR HIM AND HIM ALONE.
Isaiah 42:8 “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.”
Isaiah 48:11 “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.”
And when you do deeds on this earth to receive the glory for it,
That is idolatry and God does not reward that.
In fact your fortunate He does not instantly crush you into a fine powder.
This is a real danger and one that must be avoided.
So before you start presenting to God
All the good things you do in the church or in the community,
We first have to find out why you did them.
And that is Jesus point here in the 6th chapter of Matthew.
This morning we see the first example, and that is GIVING.
And even more specific, giving to the poor.
And before we dive into the specifics of this text, might I remind you
That giving to the poor is an absolute command of God.
Deuteronomy 15:7-11 “If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. “Beware that there is no base thought in your heart, saying, ‘ The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and your eye is hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he may cry to the LORD against you, and it will be a sin in you. “You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings. “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.’”
In fact for all the talk we do about titheing has anyone ever noticed why God demanded the tithe?
Malachi 3:10 “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.”
Giving is commanded by God,
We see this also in the New Testament.
Luke 14:12-14 “And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. “But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Furthermore those who do give are promised a blessing from God.
Psalms 41:1-3 “How blessed is he who considers the helpless; The LORD will deliver him in a day of trouble. The LORD will protect him and keep him alive, And he shall be called blessed upon the earth; And do not give him over to the desire of his enemies. The LORD will sustain him upon his sickbed; In his illness, You restore him to health.”
2 Corinthians 9:6-7 “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
And on the flip side, those who do not give to the poor
Are condemned by God as wicked and evil people.
Psalms 109:6-16 “Appoint a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him come forth guilty, And let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few; Let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless And his wife a widow. Let his children wander about and beg; And let them seek sustenance far from their ruined homes. Let the creditor seize all that he has, And let strangers plunder the product of his labor. Let there be none to extend lovingkindness to him, Nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; In a following generation let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, And do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the LORD continually, That He may cut off their memory from the earth; Because he did not remember to show lovingkindness, But persecuted the afflicted and needy man, And the despondent in heart, to put them to death.”
1 John 3:16-18 “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”
You see giving to the poor is an absolute command.
And according to the passage here
We learn that it is something EVEN THE HYPOCRITES DO.
And so friend, if even the hypocrites give to the poor,
What does that say about you, if you don’t?
Jesus clearly says “So when you give to the poor”
Not “if” but “when”
Giving to the poor is an understood application of Christianity.
It is impossible to claim to be a Christian without it.
But the point Jesus makes here is that just because you do it,
That doesn’t guarantee that you are a Christian either.
Amy Carmichael said in that mission’s video.
“You can give without loving, you cannot love without giving.”
And that is precisely the point that Jesus will make here.
As giving is understood,
Jesus is going to let you see if your giving is legitimate or not.
There are two points to be made here.
#1 GIVING IN HYPOCRISY
Matthew 6:2
“So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do”
And so it is obvious that we learn that there is a way to give to the poor
Which is hypocritical.
WHAT IS A HYPOCRITE?
My dictionary tells me that hypocrisy is “feigning to be what one is not”
The word “hypocrites” translates HUPOKRITES
Which was the word used for a Greek actor
Who wore a mask to better play a role.
And so when Jesus spoke of them,
He was essentially calling them mask wearers.
BUT THE INTERESTING THING IS THIS.
Everyone knew what a hypocrite was,
But very few realized who the hypocrites were.
That is what Jesus came to expose.
Luke 12:1 “Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”
Or you can read all of Matthew 23 in which
Jesus calls them hypocrites 7 different times.
And so it is obvious that these men gave,
But they did so in a way that was not pleasing to the Lord,
And in a way that Jesus specifically tells us to avoid.
And so let’s look at how hypocrites give.
1) THEY SOUND TRUMPETS
“So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets”
And that is obviously a strong statement from Jesus.
It is probably not likely that they carried a literal trumpet with them
In which they blasted it every time they gave.
But what is extremely clear is that they “tooted their own horn”.
They might as well have blasted a trumpet,
Because they made sure everyone knew about it.
And if you think this type of thing
Is foreign to the church today you are mistaken.
Our churches are filled with the “anonymous giver”
Who is really good at leaking the information.
“Don’t tell anyone this, but I…”
Other churches don’t even try to hide it.
• How many churches still put plaques on their pews to forever commemorate who donated them?
• Did we ourselves not have a plaque that hung in the foyer commemorating the donations of people in the past?
How can you possibly read this passage
And think that something like that is ok?
God is not the least bit concerned with how much you give,
But He is concerned with HOW you give it.
Mark 12:41 “And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums.”
And those who gave with self serving motives
Were considered hypocrites by Christ.
They sound trumpets
2) THEY SEEK GLORY
“so that they may be honored by men.”
They give like they give because they want the recognition.
They love to have people praise them and honor them for their “sacrifice”.
Was that not the Pharisees?
Matthew 23:5-6 “But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues,”
They give so people will notice.
They give so they can have a certificate.
I just love every time we get a new president of the Southern Baptist Convention, some article will be written about how much his church gives to the Cooperative Program.
And you can’t help but wonder if this is why he led them to do it.
And it is not at all what God requires.
Which leads to the final aspect of hypocritical giving
3) THEY SUFFER LOSS
“Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”
I remember one time when I was in high school.
I bought the hamburger – “You have your reward in full”
Today, I would rather have the treasure in heaven, but I already lost that.
“I hope it was worth it”
Don’t expect God to honor you for your “selfless” act.
Don’t expect God to reward you for stealing His glory.
You have gotten all the reward you will ever get.
That is hypocritical giving.
#2 GIVING IN HOLINESS
Matthew 6:3-4
Here Jesus speaks of just the opposite.
SO HOW DO THE HOLY GIVE?
1) THEY GIVE IN SECRET
“But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”
Again, just as the trumpets were an analogy so is this.
The idea being, that if you can give so secretly with your right hand
That your left hand is unaware of it, then you are giving secretly.
If you can give that secretly then obviously no one else will know about it.
You see, that is how the righteous give.
Matthew 25:34-40 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’”
Did you notice that the righteous didn’t even remember doing it?
You see at the time they weren’t even thinking about themselves,
They were only thinking about glorifying God.
That is how the righteous give.
That is why giving in holiness looks like.
It is to give so secretly that no one notices that it was you.
But to that the hypocrites say, “But if we give like that, no one will see.”
THAT IS THE WHOLE POINT
“so that your giving will be in secret;”
You are trying to keep from being glorified.
The righteous give in secret.
2) THEY GLORIFY GOD
Now this is not explicitly stated, but it is heavily implied.
If the wicked give publicly to glorify self,
Then obviously the righteous give secretly to glorify God.
If you give to the poor and the poor man doesn’t know who did it,
He has no other option but to thank God for it.
And by the way, regardless of what you think,
It really was God who gave it to him.
After all, who gave it to you?
And so we secretly pass along what God has given to us
So that God is the only possible One who can be glorified.
You see, that was the real point of shining your light.
Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Jesus didn’t tell us to shine our light so people could glorify us,
He told us to do it in a way that glorifies God.
And to that, let me ask you.
WHO DOES YOUR LIGHT SHINE ON?
It seems more and more today, whether at funerals or wherever,
We hear this phrase. “He was a great man of God” or “She was a great woman of God”.
But understand me here.
My goal is not to be a great man of God.
My goal is to be a man of a great God.
My goal is for people to see me and say, “Man he must serve a great God! How else can you explain how such a sorry human can do what he does?”
The Righteous give in secret and they glorify God
3) THEY GAIN REWARD
“and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”
You see, you do it in secret,
Because there is only One who can see what is done in secret,
And that is God.
And God does not let the righteous fail to receive reward.
Matthew 10:42 “And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”
And that is clear.
You could give a million dollars to Lottie Moon
And not receive a single reward.
Yet you could give one cup of water to some kid in Sunday School
And be rewarded for it.
THE DIFFERENCE IS WHY AND HOW YOU DID IT.
And so do you see Jesus point here?
I know after being beaten up in chapter 5 about how unrighteous you are,
You were eager to counter with all those good things you do.
But what if all those good things really aren’t as good as you thought?
What if you have already received
The only reward you will ever get for those actions?
THAT IS AGAIN WHY WE NEED JESUS!
Matthew 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.”
