WEEKLY
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
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international Sunday school lesson commentary
For
Sunday February 9, 2020
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GOD-HONORING PIETY
(JESUS’ teaching about giving to the needy,
and prayer and fasting)
(Matthew 6:1-8)
If a man goes his own way,
he will automatically drift farther and farther away from GOD, and in the end,
the gulf will have become so wide, that GOD will have been reduced to a distant,
obscure figure of which he once knew, and then, wishes only to avoid.
The Christian reward can only be realized
by going the way of CHRIST JESUS. HE has shown us in 100% human foam, the only
way to GOD the FATHER in Heaven. There is no other way by which we can be
saved. And as an extra measure of assistance, JESUS then sent us the HOLY
SPIRIT to teach each generation all things about HIM (John 14:26). It is a
blessed assurance that we can forever rely upon in this life.
In the middle of JESUS’, now famous, “Sermon
on the Mount”, HE attempts to show HIS followers, just who we need to impress,
in order to receive those rewards from GOD that are “everlasting”. In this
passage, Matthew 6, verses 1-8, JESUS begins HIS teachings on two very
important issues concerning the “Christian Walk”. Here HE addresses the kind of
“attitude of spiritual mindedness”, that, HIS “true followers” are required to
have, and, maintain.
Two very important attitudes, that must be synonymous
with the Christian lifestyle, are;
·
Having the correct attitude towards “giving”
·
Having the correct attitude towards “prayer”
In the biblical Greek, the word used for “hypocrites”
is “hupokrites” (hoop-ok-ree-tace), and it describes “one whose whole life is a
piece of acting”. In this passage JESUS urges HIS followers not to let
hypocrisy define their daily walk. HE also urges them to NOT be seekers of “the
rewards of men”.
In verses 1-4, JESUS, first of all, addresses
the subject of “giving”. Here HE admonishes us to be careful not to do our good
deeds “only in public”, just to be seen by men. When we give to those in need,
we shouldn’t go around announcing and talking about it, “blowing our own horn”
and “calling attention to ourselves”.
The motive of “self-promotion” is “the
wrong attitude” by which to give. Anyone who helps someone simply to gain
accolades and awards from men on earth, has nothing to look forward to from GOD
in Heaven. JESUS says, we should not let our right hand know what our left hand
is doing. Any gift given in secret, for a GODly cause, is a gift-giving action
that will be rewarded by GOD in Heaven, WHO “always sees you”.
In verses 5-7, JESUS issues another stern
warning for us, and that is “to NOT pray as hypocrites do”. Here JESUS says
that hypocrites love to pray in public so that everyone can see and hear them
pray, and those same people are the very ones least likely to pray to GOD “humbly”
in private. Here JESUS also admonishes us “not to babble on and on with long
drawn-out, repetitive prayers”, as if we are trying to demonstrate “who can
pray the longest”. There can be no “prideful” “prayer competitions” before GOD,
only before man.
GOD already knows our needs, even before we
ask, and in fact, HE’s the ONE WHO gives us those needs before we utter a
single word. GOD wants us to rely on HIM, and so HE created us to have a need
for HIM “like a child needs a parent”. In fact, we’ll never come to GOD if we
don’t believe that we need HIM.
Our prayers only need to be “earnest”, and “from
the heart”, and, “faith based”. For these reasons, they don’t have to be long,
and nor do they have to be public to get GOD’s attention. “The effectiveness of
prayer” is based on “the righteousness of the petitioner” (James 5:15-16). We must
learn to honor GOD with piety. Amen.
A
Sunday school lesson by,
Larry
D. Alexander
LARRY D. ALEXANDER-
Official Website
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