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Welcome to the Bible Study section of God's Message on the Web. I will be presenting a Bible Study lesson
each week. These lessons are from my personal notes or used by permission from licensing agreements to
redeliver orally and not for profit and I encourage you to look up the Bible passages. Make sure that you
read everything and make your own opinion about the Bible Study lesson that is being presented to you.
Please keep it in the context of The Holy Bible. The only way to understand what God's Message is saying
is for you to know the Bible. Open your mind to God's Message. Back to Bible Study Home
each week. These lessons are from my personal notes or used by permission from licensing agreements to
redeliver orally and not for profit and I encourage you to look up the Bible passages. Make sure that you
read everything and make your own opinion about the Bible Study lesson that is being presented to you.
Please keep it in the context of The Holy Bible. The only way to understand what God's Message is saying
is for you to know the Bible. Open your mind to God's Message. Back to Bible Study Home
Download this Bible Study "Motives Matter" in MP3 or PodCast format
MotivesMatter.mp3 from God's Message on the Web
“1Take 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.
2Therefore 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.
3But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
5And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the
synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They
have their reward.
6But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father
which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for
their much speaking.
8Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask
him.
9After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11Give us this day our daily bread.
12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and
the glory, for ever. Amen.
14For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
16Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that
they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
17But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
18That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which
seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.”
In human relationships, motives matter. We have understood that truth in our marriages, in our friendships,
in our relationships with parents, and in the business world. First, consider the business world. This is a
well-known statement: "There are no free lunches." In the business world, if someone other than a friend
takes you out for lunch, there is a business reason. There is a business motive for taking you to lunch.
Second, consider personal relationships. Those of you who are single, think with me for a moment. If
someone that you hardly know of the opposite sex begins to send you a gift every week, how does that
affect you? If you hardly know the person, a likely first reaction will be, "Why is he (she) sending me
gifts?" As you continue to receive gifts week after week, the next likely reaction will be suspicion: "What
does he (she) want?" If the gifts continue to come, and you still don't know why you are receiving them, just
receiving the gifts can become frightening. You likely will regard receiving a gift as an act of harassment.
Gifts received for unknown motives are suspect.
Husbands, suppose we really "outdo ourselves" in being thoughtful, caring, and considerate to our wives, far
beyond the bounds of our usual behavior. We know we are in trouble if she reacts to our uncommon
consideration and asks, "Just why are you being so nice to me?" She wants to understand the motive behind
our behavior. Wives, when (if?) we husbands show extraordinary kindness and attentiveness, what is the
first question that enters your conscious thinking? Is it, "What does he want?" or, "What has he done?"
In every relationship context, motives are critical. The way we react to other people's actions and deeds will
almost always be determined by our perception of their motives.
Human motives are as important to God in our relationship with Him as motives are in our relationship with
each other.
I. Thus far in our examination of Jesus' sermon in Matthew 5, 6, and 7, we have noted:
A. Jesus began by giving his description of a righteous person. The righteous person:
1. Recognizes his or her own spiritual poverty.
2. Is grieved over that poverty.
3. Is gentle or meek.
4. Hungers and thirsts for righteousness.
5. Is merciful.
6. Has a pure heart.
7. Is committed to promoting reconciliation.
8. Will endure hardship and opposition for Jesus' sake.
B. Next, Jesus stated how the righteous person would function in an unrighteous society.
1. He or she would be light.
2. He or she would be a saving or preserving influence, like salt.
(Transition: tonight, Jesus focuses us on the motives of a righteous person. Jesus emphasized that in being
righteous, motives matter.)
II. Jesus began with a warning: Do not perform godly acts for the purpose of bringing attention and
praise to yourself; if you do, that is the only reward that you will receive.
A. Let's clearly understand the warning.
1. The warning does not focus on the visibility of our good deeds, but on our personal motives for doing
the good deeds.
a. Remember, in this very same sermon, in chapter 5:16 Jesus has already said, Let your light shine
before men in such a way as they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
b. Our good works are to be open and obvious--we do not shun visibility.
c. But we are not calculating in our good deeds; we do not perform them in a manner that promotes self
rather than God.
2. If we do good deeds and religious acts to win praise and promote ourselves, the praise and attention
that we receive is our reward for what we do, and our only reward.
a. The only reward that we will receive is human praise; there will be no reward from God.
b. When we receive the praise we were seeking, we are at that moment paid in full.
c. We got what we wanted; we achieved our objective; there is nothing further to be received from God.
3. Jesus clearly illustrated his warning by using three common examples that occurred every day in their
society. Example # 1: the practice of giving alms or giving assistance to the disabled.
a. That is still an important good deed, an important religious deed in Arabic cultures and in a number of
third world countries.
b. It served a purpose close to the intent of our social security system.
i. The handicapped and disabled must be cared for even in a poor society, and Israel was a poor society.
ii. It was the responsibility of the disabled to publicly ask for alms.
iii. It was a godly act, a good deed, to give something to those in need.
iv. There is a tremendous emphasis in the Old Testament on the importance of helping those in need.
v. Jesus continued that emphasis in his teachings.
c. You and I would view standing on the street asking for help from strangers as undignified and
shameful, but it was the responsible thing to do then.
d. The warning: when you give help to a needy person requesting your help either in the synagogue or
on the street, do not give your help in a manner calculated to attract attention to yourself, or act for the
purpose of gaining praise from others.
i. To do so is an act of hypocrisy.
ii. Why?
iii. Because you are making a public declaration of concern for "this poor, unfortunate person" when
your primarily concern is not for the person.
iv. You are primarily concerned about shaping and influencing other people's perception of you.
v. Since your real motive is to gain attention and praise, when you receive that attention and praise, you
are paid in full.
e. When you give help to another, do it quietly, in genuine concern for the person as an act of your
devotion to God.
f. People do not have to know what you have done for God to see what you have done.
4. Example # 2 concerned personal prayers that were prayed in public (this is not speaking of assembly
or group prayers where one person is leading a collective prayer).
a. Praying private prayers publicly was a common, accepted practice that was so common place you
likely were regarded to be odd if you did not do it.
i. That was why a person went to the temple daily if he lived in Jerusalem.
ii. That was commonly a part of synagogue practices.
iii. It still occurs in Jerusalem every day at the wailing wall, the only remaining remnant of the temple.
b. At some point that practice had evolved into at least some praying personal prayers aloud in public.
i. It became a means of attracting attention to yourself as you prayed your personal prayers.
ii. If a person prayed his personal prayers aloud in public to attract attention and win praise, then he
was paid in full when he received the attention and praise.
c. Jesus said the person who did that was hypocritical.
i. Why?
ii. He publicly presented himself as communicating with God, but his primary objective was creating an
image for himself, not communicating with God.
d. Jesus then presented some new emphasis and concepts concerning personal prayers.
i. Meaningless repetition does not impress God--that was an idolatrous concept.
ii. God is completely aware of our needs before we ask for His help; the objective of personal prayer is
not to inform God.
iii. In personal prayer:
a. Honor and praise God.
b. Pray for God's purposes to be achieved.
c. Ask God to supply your physical needs (not your wants--prayer is not a tool to be used by our
greed).
d. Ask for forgiveness from God as you are willing to extend forgiveness to others.
e. Ask God to guide you away from temptation and to deliver you from evil.
iv. This focuses on the basic concerns of the righteous person:
a. Honoring God.
b. Commitment to the will and purposes of God.
c. Receiving basic physical necessities.
d. Receiving forgiveness.
e. Receiving guidance away from temptation.
f. Receiving deliverance from evil.
v. Jesus ended this emphasis with a sober admonition: forgive if you want God to forgive you.
5. Example # 3 concerned the practice of fasting every week.
a. The practice of weekly fasting arose in Israel as a means of declaring humility before God.
b. In many past generations, Israelites suffered severe consequences because their pride made them
stubborn before God.
c. The primary message intended by weekly fasting was this: "God, I am not stubborn and I know my
place. You don't have to punish me to teach me my place."
d. But they perceived a problem with fasting as a private act: other people would not be aware that you
were fasting.
i. In the same spirit and with the same motives of the other two examples, it was important to make
others aware that you were fasting.
ii. So they put flour on their faces and wore somber expressions to attraction attention to the fact that
they were fasting.
iii. Jesus said the attention was their reward; they were paid in full.
e. Again, he said such activity was an act of hypocrisy.
i. Why?
ii. They gave the public appearance of humbling themselves; actually, what they were doing was an act
of pride because they coveted the attention of others.
f. If you are fasting as an expression of humility before God, don't make your fasting apparent to others.
g. God sees and accepts when people can't see.
Alms, prayers, and fasting were long established, unquestioned expressions of righteous commitment to a
godly existence. Absolutely nothing was wrong with any of those three acts--unless they were performed
for the wrong reason in wrong motives. Done for the right reason and right motives, they were godly acts.
But done for the wrong reasons and motives they were ungodly acts that resulted in God's rejection.
Consider a couple of examples that relate more to our realities in religious practices.
III. Example #1: a Christian has just arrived in a community and is establishing a new business in the
area.
A. His desires and his motives:
1. He wants to establish the best and most profitable contacts in the area, so he chooses a congregation
that has the greatest potential to help his business.
2. He gets involved in that congregation in every high profile manner available to him.
3. What he does is good--there is nothing wrong with his deeds and actions, but his primary motive is
not serving the Lord, but building his business.
4. Good deeds, good involvement, wrong motive.
5. He builds his business; he accomplished his objective--paid in full.
B. Taking tax credits for our contributions to the congregation.
1. Is that wrong? Not to my understanding.
2. In my personal judgment, it is a responsible act of good Christian stewardship.
a. Personally, I can use more money for specific support of congregational projects and works if I
accept tax credits for my contributions.
b. I never want to stop growing as a better steward of all of God's blessings, and I want to constantly
grow in generosity.
c. But there is a difference in a Christian using tax laws to be a generous, better steward, and a Christian
using tax laws strictly as a good business decision.
d. Regardless of our motives, the funds we give will benefit the congregation or the godly work, just as
the giving of alms benefited the needy person regardless of the motive of the giver.
e. But our personal motives will determine if our generosity is of spiritual benefit and reward to self.
We need to jump ahead in Jesus' sermon to emphasize an important truth. If a Christian brother or sister is
personally convinced that it is wrong for him or her to take a tax credit for his or her contributions, then he
or she should not take it. I should not judge him in his decision, and he should not judge me in mine. At the
beginning of chapter 7 Jesus addresses this truth.
One of many things you nor I can do is accurately determine and judge the motives of another person. God
knows my motives, and if they honor him, he accepts them. God knows your motives, and if they honor
him, he accepts them.
When it comes to motives, we each are responsible to be aware of our own; we each are responsible to honor
our own consciences in a manner that is true to our motives; and we each are responsible not to pass
judgment on each other's motives.
We must never forget that in godly acts and deeds, motives matter.
Download this Bible Study "Motives Matter" in MP3 or PodCast format
MotivesMatter.mp3 from God's Message on the Web
Used with permission from David Chadwell, West-Ark Church of Christ
Visit God's Message Blog to comment on this Bible Study Lesson
http://godsmessageontheweb.blogspot.com/2007/10/motives-matter.html
Last updated on October 29th 2007 God's Message on the Web
MotivesMatter.mp3 from God's Message on the Web
“1Take 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.
2Therefore 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.
3But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
5And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the
synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They
have their reward.
6But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father
which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for
their much speaking.
8Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask
him.
9After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11Give us this day our daily bread.
12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and
the glory, for ever. Amen.
14For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
16Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that
they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
17But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
18That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which
seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.”
In human relationships, motives matter. We have understood that truth in our marriages, in our friendships,
in our relationships with parents, and in the business world. First, consider the business world. This is a
well-known statement: "There are no free lunches." In the business world, if someone other than a friend
takes you out for lunch, there is a business reason. There is a business motive for taking you to lunch.
Second, consider personal relationships. Those of you who are single, think with me for a moment. If
someone that you hardly know of the opposite sex begins to send you a gift every week, how does that
affect you? If you hardly know the person, a likely first reaction will be, "Why is he (she) sending me
gifts?" As you continue to receive gifts week after week, the next likely reaction will be suspicion: "What
does he (she) want?" If the gifts continue to come, and you still don't know why you are receiving them, just
receiving the gifts can become frightening. You likely will regard receiving a gift as an act of harassment.
Gifts received for unknown motives are suspect.
Husbands, suppose we really "outdo ourselves" in being thoughtful, caring, and considerate to our wives, far
beyond the bounds of our usual behavior. We know we are in trouble if she reacts to our uncommon
consideration and asks, "Just why are you being so nice to me?" She wants to understand the motive behind
our behavior. Wives, when (if?) we husbands show extraordinary kindness and attentiveness, what is the
first question that enters your conscious thinking? Is it, "What does he want?" or, "What has he done?"
In every relationship context, motives are critical. The way we react to other people's actions and deeds will
almost always be determined by our perception of their motives.
Human motives are as important to God in our relationship with Him as motives are in our relationship with
each other.
I. Thus far in our examination of Jesus' sermon in Matthew 5, 6, and 7, we have noted:
A. Jesus began by giving his description of a righteous person. The righteous person:
1. Recognizes his or her own spiritual poverty.
2. Is grieved over that poverty.
3. Is gentle or meek.
4. Hungers and thirsts for righteousness.
5. Is merciful.
6. Has a pure heart.
7. Is committed to promoting reconciliation.
8. Will endure hardship and opposition for Jesus' sake.
B. Next, Jesus stated how the righteous person would function in an unrighteous society.
1. He or she would be light.
2. He or she would be a saving or preserving influence, like salt.
(Transition: tonight, Jesus focuses us on the motives of a righteous person. Jesus emphasized that in being
righteous, motives matter.)
II. Jesus began with a warning: Do not perform godly acts for the purpose of bringing attention and
praise to yourself; if you do, that is the only reward that you will receive.
A. Let's clearly understand the warning.
1. The warning does not focus on the visibility of our good deeds, but on our personal motives for doing
the good deeds.
a. Remember, in this very same sermon, in chapter 5:16 Jesus has already said, Let your light shine
before men in such a way as they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
b. Our good works are to be open and obvious--we do not shun visibility.
c. But we are not calculating in our good deeds; we do not perform them in a manner that promotes self
rather than God.
2. If we do good deeds and religious acts to win praise and promote ourselves, the praise and attention
that we receive is our reward for what we do, and our only reward.
a. The only reward that we will receive is human praise; there will be no reward from God.
b. When we receive the praise we were seeking, we are at that moment paid in full.
c. We got what we wanted; we achieved our objective; there is nothing further to be received from God.
3. Jesus clearly illustrated his warning by using three common examples that occurred every day in their
society. Example # 1: the practice of giving alms or giving assistance to the disabled.
a. That is still an important good deed, an important religious deed in Arabic cultures and in a number of
third world countries.
b. It served a purpose close to the intent of our social security system.
i. The handicapped and disabled must be cared for even in a poor society, and Israel was a poor society.
ii. It was the responsibility of the disabled to publicly ask for alms.
iii. It was a godly act, a good deed, to give something to those in need.
iv. There is a tremendous emphasis in the Old Testament on the importance of helping those in need.
v. Jesus continued that emphasis in his teachings.
c. You and I would view standing on the street asking for help from strangers as undignified and
shameful, but it was the responsible thing to do then.
d. The warning: when you give help to a needy person requesting your help either in the synagogue or
on the street, do not give your help in a manner calculated to attract attention to yourself, or act for the
purpose of gaining praise from others.
i. To do so is an act of hypocrisy.
ii. Why?
iii. Because you are making a public declaration of concern for "this poor, unfortunate person" when
your primarily concern is not for the person.
iv. You are primarily concerned about shaping and influencing other people's perception of you.
v. Since your real motive is to gain attention and praise, when you receive that attention and praise, you
are paid in full.
e. When you give help to another, do it quietly, in genuine concern for the person as an act of your
devotion to God.
f. People do not have to know what you have done for God to see what you have done.
4. Example # 2 concerned personal prayers that were prayed in public (this is not speaking of assembly
or group prayers where one person is leading a collective prayer).
a. Praying private prayers publicly was a common, accepted practice that was so common place you
likely were regarded to be odd if you did not do it.
i. That was why a person went to the temple daily if he lived in Jerusalem.
ii. That was commonly a part of synagogue practices.
iii. It still occurs in Jerusalem every day at the wailing wall, the only remaining remnant of the temple.
b. At some point that practice had evolved into at least some praying personal prayers aloud in public.
i. It became a means of attracting attention to yourself as you prayed your personal prayers.
ii. If a person prayed his personal prayers aloud in public to attract attention and win praise, then he
was paid in full when he received the attention and praise.
c. Jesus said the person who did that was hypocritical.
i. Why?
ii. He publicly presented himself as communicating with God, but his primary objective was creating an
image for himself, not communicating with God.
d. Jesus then presented some new emphasis and concepts concerning personal prayers.
i. Meaningless repetition does not impress God--that was an idolatrous concept.
ii. God is completely aware of our needs before we ask for His help; the objective of personal prayer is
not to inform God.
iii. In personal prayer:
a. Honor and praise God.
b. Pray for God's purposes to be achieved.
c. Ask God to supply your physical needs (not your wants--prayer is not a tool to be used by our
greed).
d. Ask for forgiveness from God as you are willing to extend forgiveness to others.
e. Ask God to guide you away from temptation and to deliver you from evil.
iv. This focuses on the basic concerns of the righteous person:
a. Honoring God.
b. Commitment to the will and purposes of God.
c. Receiving basic physical necessities.
d. Receiving forgiveness.
e. Receiving guidance away from temptation.
f. Receiving deliverance from evil.
v. Jesus ended this emphasis with a sober admonition: forgive if you want God to forgive you.
5. Example # 3 concerned the practice of fasting every week.
a. The practice of weekly fasting arose in Israel as a means of declaring humility before God.
b. In many past generations, Israelites suffered severe consequences because their pride made them
stubborn before God.
c. The primary message intended by weekly fasting was this: "God, I am not stubborn and I know my
place. You don't have to punish me to teach me my place."
d. But they perceived a problem with fasting as a private act: other people would not be aware that you
were fasting.
i. In the same spirit and with the same motives of the other two examples, it was important to make
others aware that you were fasting.
ii. So they put flour on their faces and wore somber expressions to attraction attention to the fact that
they were fasting.
iii. Jesus said the attention was their reward; they were paid in full.
e. Again, he said such activity was an act of hypocrisy.
i. Why?
ii. They gave the public appearance of humbling themselves; actually, what they were doing was an act
of pride because they coveted the attention of others.
f. If you are fasting as an expression of humility before God, don't make your fasting apparent to others.
g. God sees and accepts when people can't see.
Alms, prayers, and fasting were long established, unquestioned expressions of righteous commitment to a
godly existence. Absolutely nothing was wrong with any of those three acts--unless they were performed
for the wrong reason in wrong motives. Done for the right reason and right motives, they were godly acts.
But done for the wrong reasons and motives they were ungodly acts that resulted in God's rejection.
Consider a couple of examples that relate more to our realities in religious practices.
III. Example #1: a Christian has just arrived in a community and is establishing a new business in the
area.
A. His desires and his motives:
1. He wants to establish the best and most profitable contacts in the area, so he chooses a congregation
that has the greatest potential to help his business.
2. He gets involved in that congregation in every high profile manner available to him.
3. What he does is good--there is nothing wrong with his deeds and actions, but his primary motive is
not serving the Lord, but building his business.
4. Good deeds, good involvement, wrong motive.
5. He builds his business; he accomplished his objective--paid in full.
B. Taking tax credits for our contributions to the congregation.
1. Is that wrong? Not to my understanding.
2. In my personal judgment, it is a responsible act of good Christian stewardship.
a. Personally, I can use more money for specific support of congregational projects and works if I
accept tax credits for my contributions.
b. I never want to stop growing as a better steward of all of God's blessings, and I want to constantly
grow in generosity.
c. But there is a difference in a Christian using tax laws to be a generous, better steward, and a Christian
using tax laws strictly as a good business decision.
d. Regardless of our motives, the funds we give will benefit the congregation or the godly work, just as
the giving of alms benefited the needy person regardless of the motive of the giver.
e. But our personal motives will determine if our generosity is of spiritual benefit and reward to self.
We need to jump ahead in Jesus' sermon to emphasize an important truth. If a Christian brother or sister is
personally convinced that it is wrong for him or her to take a tax credit for his or her contributions, then he
or she should not take it. I should not judge him in his decision, and he should not judge me in mine. At the
beginning of chapter 7 Jesus addresses this truth.
One of many things you nor I can do is accurately determine and judge the motives of another person. God
knows my motives, and if they honor him, he accepts them. God knows your motives, and if they honor
him, he accepts them.
When it comes to motives, we each are responsible to be aware of our own; we each are responsible to honor
our own consciences in a manner that is true to our motives; and we each are responsible not to pass
judgment on each other's motives.
We must never forget that in godly acts and deeds, motives matter.
Download this Bible Study "Motives Matter" in MP3 or PodCast format
MotivesMatter.mp3 from God's Message on the Web
Used with permission from David Chadwell, West-Ark Church of Christ
Visit God's Message Blog to comment on this Bible Study Lesson
http://godsmessageontheweb.blogspot.com/2007/10/motives-matter.html
Last updated on October 29th 2007 God's Message on the Web