APRIL 5TH
TEXT: Matthew 6:1-4 King James Version (KJV)
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.
2. Therefore when
thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do
in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I
say unto you, They have their reward.
3. But when thou
doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4. That thine alms
may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward
thee openly.
Today, so much is said about giving but not many are careful
enough to study their Bible to understand what the word of God says about
giving. Only those who understand and live by the principles of giving are able
to attract the full blessings of giving. Today, we are going to begin a study
on some of the scriptural principles on giving.
In Matthew 6:1-4, Jesus addressed the issue of giving but we
must understand the kind of giving being addressed here. This is important
because many of the time most people quote the scripture out of context and
then apply it in other context and this passage is one passage that many quote
out of context. Verse 3 of our text for today is one verse that has been over generalized.
Many are quick to say, the Bible says, when you give, your left hand should not
know what your right hand give. This is the reason why some people refuse to
have their contributions to the work of God to be recorded because the left
hand must not know what the right hand is doing. But the truth is that they may
have overgeneralized or used this scripture out of context.
Let’s read carefully and understand what the scripture is
addressing here. Verse 2 reveals to us what kind of giving is being addressed
here and the attitude the Lord was addressing. KJV says, “…when thou doest
thine alms…”, but the Amplified version says, “…whenever you give to the
poor…”. This tells us that the Lord was addressing giving to the poor and the
attitude that is expected of us when we give to the poor. He is saying, if you
want God to reward your alms giving or act of charity to the poor, you must not
make noise about it like hypocrites do, why? when you do that, you humiliate
the poor and make him/her look pitiable and unfortunate. But worse than that,
you take the glory that should go to God, but it is God who gives us the power
to get the wealth to be a blessing.
I know this will take some time for some people to
understand but please note that if this is not addressing the issue of giving
to the poor, our Lord Jesus would not have publicly announced what the widow
gave and commended her giving. You see, the giving here is not to the poor. It
is not alms giving. It is giving to God in the house of God (see Mark
12:41-44).
Again, when David and the people of Israel gave for the
building of the temple the exact amount was recorded. When Solomon gave at the
dedication of the temple it was recorded.
When the little boy gave his lunch of five loaves and two
fish to Jesus it was recorded and by reason of his giving many were blessed. We
must realise that when we give to the Lord, it motivates others and encourages
them to follow our good example. Let’s not over spiritualize certain things by
our own interpretation of the scripture. If Jesus commended the widow who gave
two mite publicly, then there is much for us to learn. But when you give to the
poor, do so in secret and your heavenly Father will reward you with blessings
that you cannot hide.
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