LESSON IX.--AUGUST 28.

PIETY WITHOUT DISPLAY.--MATT. 6:1-15.

      GOLDEN TEXT.--Man looketh at the outward appearance, but God looketh upon the heart.--1 SAM. 16:7.
      TIME AND PLACE.--Same as in the last two lessons.
      HELPFUL READINGS.--Matt. 5:27-48; Luke 11:1-4; Luke 14:12-14.

      LESSON ANALYSIS.--1. The Right and Wrong Way of Giving; 2. The Right and Wrong Way of Praying; 3. Teaching the Disciples to Pray. [239]

INTRODUCTION.

      The first chapter of the Sermon on the Mount is devoted to moral obligations; the second chapter passes to religious duties. It has been declared that the righteousness of the citizens of the kingdom must surpass that of the Scribes and Pharisees, and the Lord now teaches what kind of righteousness is demanded in regard to the Heavenly Father. Three leading manifestations of piety among those who listened to his words, alms-giving, prayer, and fasting are taken up; the method of the hypocrites is described and the right way is pointed out.

      I. THE RIGHT AND WRONG WAY OF GIVING.--1. Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men to be seen. The Common Version is wrong and the Revision right in using the word "righteousness." The Savior condemns, generally, ostentatious piety, and then he singles three illustrations of his meaning. The Christian is not forbidden to practice righteousness before men, but to make his object to be seen. So many make a great show of piety, while there is little reality. Many are sanctimonious and devout in the synagogue or church, who are anything else but religious at home. Those whose aim is to secure the praise of men by their show of righteousness get their reward in human admiration, and will have no reward from the Heavenly Father. He looks at the motive that inspires the deed. There is such a tendency to act for human approval that obedience to this injunction is difficult.

      2. When, therefore, thou doest alms. This is the first example. The wrong way, that of the hypocrites, is described. The Greek word rendered hypocrites, means a theatrical actor, one who is not real, but acts a part. Their method was to give with the utmost ostentation. Giving to the poor has always been held in high honor among the Jews. At their feasts the poor were never forgotten. But in that, as in all ages, there has been a tendency to measure the value of the act by the amount that was given, rather than by the motive that prompted it. In our age the world rings with the praises of the millionaire who gives a few thousands out of his superfluity, but is silent concerning the humble ones who have taken from their necessities and given to the same cause. Yet of all who cast their sums, large and small, into the temple [240] treasury, only the widow who gave a mite out of her living, has been rendered immortal. Sound a trumpet before thee. It not being apparent, from Jewish writings, that it was customary with the Jews to sound a trumpet when they distributed alms, this seems only to be a proverbial expression to denote the making of a thing publicly known, as Jews and Gentiles were wont to do, by the sound of the trumpet, in their triumphs, and before acting their tragedies.--Whitby. The meaning is when you give to the poor, do not blow about it. Hypocrite. A Grecian actor. The actors wore masks and appeared to be somebody else than they really were. So too the religious hypocrites.

      3. Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth. A strong expression to indicate that there must be no publishing of our alms deeds, and that secrecy rather that publicity must be sought. That thine alms may be in secret. It is not concealment that is required, so much as to avoid ostentation. Some men will refuse to give unless they are assured that the list of givers will be published. Such give for the praise of men, and they have their reward. But to him who gives from the right motive it matters little if the deed is concealed from all men; God sees it, and will, in due time, openly reward it. Openly. Literally, "in the open place," in the last day, when every secret thing is made manifest.

      II. THE RIGHT AND WRONG WAY OF PRAYING.--5. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be, etc. The second example of the right and wrong kind of righteousness is now given. That men ought to pray is assured. Prayerless men cannot consistently praise the Sermon on the Mount and the morality of Jesus of Nazareth. Religion is the backbone of morality; the second table of the law pre-supposes the first; no love to man without love to God.--Schaff. The wrong way is that of the hypocrites, the men who make a public show of their devotions that they may have the name of sanctity. Love to pray standing in the synagogues. These love, not to pray, but to pray where they will be seen and pray that they may be seen. The Mahometans, when overtaken by the hour of prayer, drop their employments and pray on the streets, in their shops, on the decks of ships, or in any public place. Spreading their [241] outer garments on the ground they turn their faces toward Mecca, go through certain gestures and forms of prayer, and then resume their previous employments. So the Pharisees took pains to be in some public place, in the markets, in the synagogues, or on the street corners, where they would strike an attitude of prayer in the sight of many observers. When the object is to be seen or heard of men, there maybe the form of prayer, but real prayer it is not. Yet nothing is more uncommon than to listen to prayers that are addressed to the audience. Such prayers have their reward in human admiration. Real prayer is the lifting up of the soul into communion with God.

      6. When thou prayest, enter into thy closet. Private devotions are meant, nor is this designed to prohibit prayers in public assemblies, as some have foolishly contended. The Lord himself both prayed "in the mountain alone," in the night alone, and in public in the presence of his disciples. We have records made of many prayers offered by the apostles in public assemblies. But every Christian must maintain his own personal communion with God, and this must be done in private prayer. These devotions must be in secret. "The closet" may mean any secret place. Peter's closet was on the housetop; the Savior's on a mountain alone. Retirement is important that the soul may be fixed upon God, but the lesson is to avoid ostentation. A secret prayer may be offered on the street, in a public conveyance, or in an assembly, but it will not be spoken in audible words.

      7. Use not vain repetitions as the heathen do. The priests of Baal in the memorable contest with Elijah repeated the whole day, "O Baal, hear us." The Mahometans are required to repeat some expressions thirty times, and others as often as a hundred. The Roman Catholics often do penance by repeating the Lord's Prayer (Pater), or "Hail Mary" (Ave) a fixed number of times. "What is forbidden is not much praying, nor praying in the same words (the Lord did both), but making number of prayers, length of prayers, or time spent in prayer a point of observance and of merit."--Alford. I have heard a man pray for thirty-five minutes in a public prayer which was only a tissue of platitudes, and I am sure that if the Deity were not of infinite perfection he would have been wearied if he had stooped to listen, which I suspect he did not. [242]

      8. For your Father knoweth. Here is given abundant reason for short prayers. The Father already knoweth what we need. Our prayers do not tell our Father our needs, but simply confess our consciousness of them, and our trust that he can and will supply them. Both these feelings must precede answer to prayer. Hence the reason holds good against vain repetitions, not against childlike petitions.--Schaff.

      III. TEACHING THE DISCIPLES TO PRAY.--9. After this manner pray ye. The Savior does not bid us use these words, nor command any set form, but gives this as a proper example of prayer, simple, brief, condensed, yet all-embracing. That the Lord did not design it for liturgical use, as is supposed by those churches which have liturgies, is evident from the fact that, although we have various prayers reported in the New Testament used by the apostles, this never occurs. Our Father which art in heaven. These words reveal a very tender relationship between God and the true worshiper, and base the petition on the fact that the child speaks to the Father. Nor are we to say my, but our Father. He is the Father, not of the "children of the devil," but of every soul who can say, "Hallowed by thy name. Thy will be done." It should be noted that the appeal made is to a personal Presence, a Father, but a Father exalted far above us, our Father in heaven. As the Father is above the mind and heart must be lifted up in order to enter into communion with him. Hallowed be thy name. Of the seven petitions of the Lord's prayer the first three are in behalf of the cause of God, the glory of his name, the extension of his kingdom and the prevalence of his will. The other four, which are properly placed last as least important, pertain to our individual needs, our daily bread, forgiveness of sins, deliverance from temptation, and from all evil. "Hallowed be thy name," the first petition, means to be made holy, regarded and treated as sacred, respected, feared and reverenced by all the earth. No man can pray this prayer who swears, or uses the name of God lightly, or in vain, or who does not seek the glory of the divine name.

      10. Thy kingdom come. The Messiah's kingdom, which in its organized form had not yet come, was proclaimed by the Lord himself as at hand. It did speedily come, as opposed to the Old Testament theocracy; but in its fulness, including the triumph of Christ's kingdom over the kingdom of darkness, it has not yet come. For this coming we may now pray, and the prayer is answered in part by each success of the gospel, and will be answered entirely when the King himself comes again.--Schaff. The disciples were taught to [243] pray for its inauguration; we may not pray for that, as it is already inaugurated, but we may pray for its coming into every part of the earth and into every human heart. Thy will be done, as in, heaven, so on earth. In heaven there is perfect obedience to the divine will, but on earth there is discord and rebellion. The petition asks for the prevalence of the divine will on earth. It is a missionary petition. None can pray it who have not merged their own wills into the divine will. He, in effect, prays the prayer of Gethsemane, "Not my will but thine be done." It is mockery for disobedient lips to utter such a prayer. See that thou be a child devoted to the Father's will, and then thou canst, from thy heart, pray the prayer that Jesus has taught you. Notice also there is the idea of doing the will. There must be active service.

      11. Give us this day our daily bread. The second part of the prayer he gives here, with the petition for daily bread, the fourth petition of the prayer. We are bidden to ask for our bread, not for future years, but for "this day." God does not promise to provide for the future until the future comes. This petition implies that God is the fountain from whence all our wants are supplied and that we are constantly dependent upon him. By "bread" is meant food in general.

      12. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive, etc. This is the fifth petition. Debts mean moral obligations unfulfilled, our shortcomings, our sins. Let it be noted with emphasis that God is asked to forgive us as we forgive others. If we are stern, hard and unforgiving we ask him to be so toward us; if we are merciful and forgiving, we implore him to be merciful to us. We ask, in other words, that he may mete out to us what we measure to others. We can note here how we should act towards those who injure us. We should be merciful and ready to forgive whenever they repent and ask our forgiveness. God does not forgive men who are impenitent, but he desires to be merciful and is always ready and anxious to forgive. So, too, we should cherish no revengeful spirit, should be full of kindness, anxious for reconciliation, and glad to forgive whenever the wrong-doer repents. Unwillingness to forgive would make the petition hypocritical.

      13. Lead us not into temptation. The sixth petition. The spirit of this clause is that God may preserve us from temptations that might lead us astray. No man can pray these words who does not try to keep out of temptation. He who asks the Lord to keep him from temptation, and yet rushes headlong into it, mocks when he offers this prayer. The language implies conscious weakness, earnest desire to keep out of temptation, and confidence in the [244] strong hand of the heavenly Father to deliver. But deliver us from evil. The Revision says "the evil one," or from the power of the devil. This asks that we be kept from all sinning. The two last petitions combined ask for freedom from temptation and entire deliverance from all the power of sin. He who is thus delivered will be able to reach the full stature of the perfect man in Christ Jesus. For thine is the kingdom. This clause, called the doxology, is wanting in the oldest and best manuscripts and is undoubtedly an addition by men. It was evidently inserted after churches began to adopt rituals and this prayer had become a part of the ritual service. It contains nothing that is not proper, but it is praise instead of prayer and was not spoken by our Lord.

      14, 15. For if ye forgive men . . . your heavenly father will forgive you. Our Lord makes it a condition of our obtaining forgiveness that we shall forgive. The importance of this condition is shown by our Lord returning to this clause of the prayer, the only one that he reconsiders. Our great need is remission of sins, but our own souls must reflect the forgiving spirit that we would desire our heavenly Father to cherish. If we cherish anger, malice, or revenge, we not only nourish a sin but we shut up the stream of divine mercy towards us.

PRACTICAL AND SUGGESTIVE.

      We must seek the praise of God rather than the praise of men.

      We must never seek to do righteously for the sake of having men see us, but rather to please God.

      We must make it our object to do our own good deeds unostentatiously.

      Almsgiving, praying and fasting should be done quietly and in secret, rather than in public.

      They who act righteously to show off before men get no heavenly reward.

      Our prayers, even in public assemblies, should not be offered to the ears of the audience. We should not aim at rhetoric in our prayers. They should be simple, without redundant words, to the point, earnest.

      There is a right way to give and a wrong way; a right and a wrong way to pray, a right and a wrong way to fast. If thou art a disciple of the Lord choose the right way.

      He who says, "Our Father," sums up in this word, forgiveness of sins, justification, sanctification, redemption, adoption, inheritance, brotherly fellowship with the only begotten Son, and the gifts of the Holy Ghost in all their fulness.--Chrysostom. [245]

      THE LORD'S PRAYER expresses and combines in the best order, every divine promise, every human sorrow and want, and every Christian aspiration for the good of others.--Alford.

      SINCERE PRAYER.--Only he is, truly sincere in prayer who earnestly labors to secure what he prays for. He who prays, "Hallowed be thy name," must hallow it; he who asks, "Thy kingdom come," must labor to spread it over the earth; he who prays, "Thy will be done," must do that will himself; he who asks for daily bread must labor for it; he who asks forgiveness must give it; he who prays to be kept out of temptation must keep out of it; he who implores deliverance from evil must resist the devil.

POINTS FOR TEACHERS.

      1. Bring out the difference between the righteousness Christ enjoins and that of the Pharisees. 2. Illustrate the influence that the desire of human approbation has on religion. 3. Show how the worship of the churches is modified by the desire to please men instead of God. 4. Show where the reward comes from when we seek to please men, and how only a reward from the Heavenly Father comes. 5. Point out the world's way of giving and contrast it with the right way. 6. Point out the world's way of praying, the eloquent prayers, for the ears of men, for things not really wanted, and contrast with the right way. 7. Point to the model prayer, its brevity, its simplicity, its comprehensiveness, and show what is its object. 8. Discuss each of the seven petitions. 9. Show that no one can pray this prayer unless he lives it. 10. Sum up the practical applications to yourself, the lessons for you in to-day's teaching.

Source: Barton Warren Johnson. The Christian International Lesson Commentary for 1887. Des Moines, IA: