Matthew 6

1 Take hede to youre almes. That ye geve it not in the syght of men to the intent that ye wolde be sene of them. Or els ye get no rewarde of youre father which is in heve.

2 Whe soever therfore thou gevest thine almes thou shalt not make a tropet to be blowe before the as ye ypocrites do in the synagogis and in the stretis for to be preysed of men. Verely I say vnto you they have their rewarde.

3 But whe thou doest thine almes let not thy lyfte had knowe what thy righte had doth

4 yt thine almes may be secret: and thy father which seith in secret shall rewarde ye opely.

5 And when thou prayest thou shalt not be as ye ypocrytes are. For they love to stond and praye in the synagoges and in the corners of ye stretes because they wolde be sene of men. Verely I saye vnto you they haue their rewarde.

6 But when thou prayest entre into thy chamber and shut thy dore to the and praye to thy father which ys in secrete: and thy father which seith in secret shall rewarde the openly.

7 And whe ye praye bable not moche as the hethe do: for they thincke that they shalbe herde for their moche bablynges sake.

8 Be ye not lyke them therfore. For youre father knoweth wherof ye haue neade before ye axe of him.

9 After thys maner therfore praye ye. O oure father which arte in heve halowed be thy name.

10 Let thy kyngdome come. Thy wyll be fulfilled as well in erth as it ys in heven.

11 Geve vs this daye oure dayly breede.

12 And forgeve vs oure treaspases eve as we forgeve oure trespacers.

13 And leade vs not into teptacion: but delyver vs fro evell. For thyne is ye kyngedome and ye power and ye glorye for ever. Amen.

14 For and yf ye shall forgeve other men their treaspases youre hevenly father shall also forgeve you.

15 But and ye wyll not forgeve men their trespases nomore shall youre father forgeve youre treaspases.

16 Moreoure when ye faste be not sad as ye ypocrytes are. For they disfigure their faces that they myght be sene of me how they faste. Verely I say vnto you they have their rewarde.

17 But thou whe thou fastest annoynte thyne heed and washe thy face

18 that it appere not vnto men howe that thou fastest: but vnto thy father which is in secrete: and thy father which seeth in secret shall rewarde the openly.

19 Se that ye gaddre you not treasure vpon ye erth where rust and mothes corrupte and where theves breake through and steale.

20 But gaddre ye treasure togeder in heve where nether rust nor mothes corrupte and where theves nether breake vp nor yet steale.

21 For where soever youre treasure ys there will youre hertes be also.

22 The light of the body is thyne eye. Wher fore if thyne eye besyngle all thy body shalbe full of light.

23 But and if thyne eye be wycked then all thy body shalbe full of derckenes. Wherfore yf the light that is in the be darckenes: how greate is that darckenes.

24 No ma can serve two masters. For ether he shall hate the one and love the other: or els he shall lene to ye one and despise ye other: ye can not serve God and mammon.

25 Therfore I saye vnto you be not carefull for your lyfe what ye shall eate or what ye shall drincke nor yet for youre body what ye shall put on. ys not ye lyfe more worth then meate and the body more of value then raymeut?

26 Beholde the foules of ye ayer: for they sowe not nether reepe nor yet cary into ye barnes: and yet youre hevely father fedeth the. Are ye not moche better the they?

27 Which of you (though he toke thought therfore) coulde put one cubit vnto his stature?

28 And why care ye then for raymet? Considre ye lylies of ye felde how they growe. They labour not nether spynne.

29 And yet for all yt I saye vnto you yt eue Salomon in all his royalte was not arayed lyke vnto one of these.

30 Wherfore yf God so clothe the grasse which ys to daye in the felde and to morowe shalbe caste in to the fournace: shall he not moche more do the same vnto you o ye of lytle fayth?

31 Therfore take no thought sayinge: what shall we eate or what shall we drincke or wherwt shall we be clothed?

32 After all these thynges seke the getyls. For youre hevely father knoweth that ye have neade of all these thynges.

33 But rather seke ye fyrst the kyngdome of heuen and the rightwisnes therof and all these thynges shalbe ministred vnto you.

34 Care not then for the morow but let ye morow care for it selfe: for the daye present hath ever ynough of his awne trouble.

Matthew 6 Commentary

Chapter 6

Against hypocrisy in almsgiving. (1-4) Against hypocrisy in prayer. (5-8) How to pray. (9-15) Respecting fasting. (16-18) Evil of being worldly-minded. (19-24) Trust in God commended. (25-34)

Verses 1-4 Our Lord next warned against hypocrisy and outward show in religious duties. What we do, must be done from an inward principle, that we may be approved of God, not that we may be praised of men. In these verses we are cautioned against hypocrisy in giving alms. Take heed of it. It is a subtle sin; and vain-glory creeps into what we do, before we are aware. But the duty is not the less necessary and excellent for being abused by hypocrites to serve their pride. The doom Christ passes, at first may seem a promise, but it is their reward; not the reward God promises to those who do good, but the reward hypocrites promise themselves, and a poor reward it is; they did it to be seen of men, and they are seen of men. When we take least notice of our good deeds ourselves, God takes most notice of them. He will reward thee; not as a master who gives his servant what he earns, and no more, but as a Father who gives abundantly to his son that serves him.

Verses 5-8 It is taken for granted that all who are disciples of Christ pray. You may as soon find a living man that does not breathe, as a living Christian that does not pray. If prayerless, then graceless. The Scribes and Pharisees were guilty of two great faults in prayer, vain-glory and vain repetitions. "Verily they have their reward;" if in so great a matter as is between us and God, when we are at prayer, we can look to so poor a thing as the praise of men, it is just that it should be all our reward. Yet there is not a secret, sudden breathing after God, but he observes it. It is called a reward, but it is of grace, not of debt; what merit can there be in begging? If he does not give his people what they ask, it is because he knows they do not need it, and that it is not for their good. So far is God from being wrought upon by the length or words of our prayers, that the most powerful intercessions are those which are made with groanings that cannot be uttered. Let us well study what is shown of the frame of mind in which our prayers should be offered, and learn daily from Christ how to pray.

Verses 9-15 Christ saw it needful to show his disciples what must commonly be the matter and method of their prayer. Not that we are tied up to the use of this only, or of this always; yet, without doubt, it is very good to use it. It has much in a little; and it is used acceptably no further than it is used with understanding, and without being needlessly repeated. The petitions are six; the first three relate more expressly to God and his honour, the last three to our own concerns, both temporal and spiritual. This prayer teaches us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and that all other things shall be added. After the things of God's glory, kingdom, and will, we pray for the needful supports and comforts of this present life. Every word here has a lesson in it. We ask for bread; that teaches us sobriety and temperance: and we ask only for bread; not for what we do not need. We ask for our bread; that teaches us honesty and industry: we do not ask for the bread of others, nor the bread of deceit, ( Proverbs 20:17 ) ; nor the bread of idleness, ( Proverbs 31:27 ) , but the bread honestly gotten. We ask for our daily bread; which teaches us constantly to depend upon Divine Providence. We beg of God to give it us; not sell it us, nor lend it us, but give it. The greatest of men must be beholden to the mercy of God for their daily bread. We pray, Give it to us. This teaches us a compassion for the poor. Also that we ought to pray with our families. We pray that God would give it us this day; which teaches us to renew the desires of our souls toward God, as the wants of our bodies are renewed. As the day comes we must pray to our heavenly Father, and reckon we could as well go a day without food, as without prayer. We are taught to hate and dread sin while we hope for mercy, to distrust ourselves, to rely on the providence and grace of God to keep us from it, to be prepared to resist the tempter, and not to become tempters of others. Here is a promise, If you forgive, your heavenly Father will also forgive. We must forgive, as we hope to be forgiven. Those who desire to find mercy with God, must show mercy to their brethren. Christ came into the world as the great Peace-maker, not only to reconcile us to God, but one to another.

Verses 16-18 Religious fasting is a duty required of the disciples of Christ, but it is not so much a duty itself, as a means to dispose us for other duties. Fasting is the humbling of the soul, ( Psalms 35:13 ) ; that is the inside of the duty; let that, therefore, be thy principal care, and as to the outside of it, covet not to let it be seen. God sees in secret, and will reward openly.

Verses 19-24 Worldly-mindedness is a common and fatal symptom of hypocrisy, for by no sin can Satan have a surer and faster hold of the soul, under the cloak of a profession of religion. Something the soul will have, which it looks upon as the best thing; in which it has pleasure and confidence above other things. Christ counsels to make our best things the joys and glories of the other world, those things not seen which are eternal, and to place our happiness in them. There are treasures in heaven. It is our wisdom to give all diligence to make our title to eternal life sure through Jesus Christ, and to look on all things here below, as not worthy to be compared with it, and to be content with nothing short of it. It is happiness above and beyond the changes and chances of time, an inheritance incorruptible. The worldly man is wrong in his first principle; therefore all his reasonings and actions therefrom must be wrong. It is equally to be applied to false religion; that which is deemed light is thick darkness. This is an awful, but a common case; we should therefore carefully examine our leading principles by the word of God, with earnest prayer for the teaching of his Spirit. A man may do some service to two masters, but he can devote himself to the service of no more than one. God requires the whole heart, and will not share it with the world. When two masters oppose each other, no man can serve both. He who holds to the world and loves it, must despise God; he who loves God, must give up the friendship of the world.

Verses 25-34 There is scarcely any sin against which our Lord Jesus more warns his disciples, than disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of this life. This often insnares the poor as much as the love of wealth does the rich. But there is a carefulness about temporal things which is a duty, though we must not carry these lawful cares too far. Take no thought for your life. Not about the length of it; but refer it to God to lengthen or shorten it as he pleases; our times are in his hand, and they are in a good hand. Not about the comforts of this life; but leave it to God to make it bitter or sweet as he pleases. Food and raiment God has promised, therefore we may expect them. Take no thought for the morrow, for the time to come. Be not anxious for the future, how you shall live next year, or when you are old, or what you shall leave behind you. As we must not boast of tomorrow, so we must not care for to-morrow, or the events of it. God has given us life, and has given us the body. And what can he not do for us, who did that? If we take care about our souls and for eternity, which are more than the body and its life, we may leave it to God to provide for us food and raiment, which are less. Improve this as an encouragement to trust in God. We must reconcile ourselves to our worldly estate, as we do to our stature. We cannot alter the disposals of Providence, therefore we must submit and resign ourselves to them. Thoughtfulness for our souls is the best cure of thoughtfulness for the world. Seek first the kingdom of God, and make religion your business: say not that this is the way to starve; no, it is the way to be well provided for, even in this world. The conclusion of the whole matter is, that it is the will and command of the Lord Jesus, that by daily prayers we may get strength to bear us up under our daily troubles, and to arm us against the temptations that attend them, and then let none of these things move us. Happy are those who take the Lord for their God, and make full proof of it by trusting themselves wholly to his wise disposal. Let thy Spirit convince us of sin in the want of this disposition, and take away the worldliness of our hearts.