As Jesus continues the Sermon on the Mount, He continues the theme that there is a higher law. As He starts in Matthew 6:1, He talks about doing things for the right reason. We are not to do our alms before men to be seen of men. We are to do them because we love and want to serve Heavenly Father. The word “alms” is defined in the Greek as righteousness and acts of religious devotion. It is a broad term and applies to all our dealings with Heavenly Father. If we do things to be seen of men, our heart is not them. We are looking for the accolades of men and not the approval of our Heavenly Father. All things must be done with an eye single to the glory of God to be recognized by Heavenly Father. In verses 2-4, the Savior's lesson continues by saying that if we want to be seen of men when we give alms, we are hypocrites. That is a severe rebuke. We also have our reward so that the Lord will be not bless us for our alms. We are not to let the left hand know what the right hand is doing. In other words, things are to be done from the heart without regard for what others think. If alms are given in secret, then the Lord will reward us openly.
Verses 5-6 parallel verses 1-4. The message is the same: You pray from the heart, not to be seen of men, but to be seen of God. If we are looking to please man, we cannot please God. It all goes back to doing the right things for the right reasons—to do things with an eye single to the glory of God and not of man.
Verses 7-8 continue the theme of praying from the heart, not to be seen or heard of men. Some people think that it is the amount of praying not the intent of our prayer that matters. Such is not the case. The more that our hearts in are in our prayers, the more the Lord hears them. We need to remember also that Heavenly Father knows what we need. One of the major points of prayer is to align our will with our Father's will. We need to ask for the things that we really need, remembering that our will is the only thing that we have that we can give to our Heavenly Father.
Verses 9-13 contain the Lord's prayer. It is introduced as the Savior instructs that this is the way that we ought to pray. It begins calling on our Father in Heaven. All prayers are to be addressed to our Heavenly Father. The next phrase, “hallowed be thy name,” allows us to praise our Heavenly Father. A footnote also states, “Let thy name be sanctified.” We need to be far more aware of giving thanks and praise to God the Father. “Thy Kingdom come,” emphasizes our desire to have the Kingdom of God on Earth be established. We also need to not only prayer for the Kingdom of God to be established on the earth, but we also need to put our shoulder to the wheel and help establish and expand the Kingdom of God on the earth. The Lord's prayer continues with “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” I believe that the Lord wants us to honestly and truly to desire to know His will, to diligently seek His will, and then do His will in all things. We have to pray constantly and consistently to have that happen in our lives. The prayer continues with “Give us this day our daily bread.” Isn't it interesting that the Lord wants to ask for our daily bread. This is both physical bread and spiritual bread. We need the physical bread to stay alive physically, and we need the spiritual food to not only stay alive spiritually, but to grow and progress spiritually. It is the constant nourishment of body and spirit that is important. The next sentence is so critical for our personal salvation and exaltation. “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” The footnote says that debts in the Greek means “debts, offenses, faults, or sins.” The message is so clear. We will be forgiven, as we forgive others. If we do not forgive others, we will not be forgiven. That is the pure doctrine of Christ. It was so important that the Lord included it in His prayer. The next phrase, “and lead us not into temptation,” is one that does not ring true. The Lord does not lead people into temptation. The Joseph Smith Translation corrects this phrase to read: “And suffer us not to be led into temptation.” Also the translation from Syriac is: “do not let us enter into temptation.” I believe that the interpretations are similar. Warn us so that we will not be lead into temptation. Yes, we have to be alert and be listening to the Spirit, and more importantly, follow what the Spirit says. The Lord's Prayer ends with “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” Here we acknowledge that God the Father's kingdom is what is important, that it is His power that blesses us, and that his glory is what we want to attain. This is a humble acknowledgement that what He wants is most important and that we want to do His will in all things.
Verses 14-15 teaches one of the most basic, yet critically important principles of the doctrine of repentance. If we forgive others, Heavenly Father will forgive us. And if we will not forgive others, then Heavenly Father will not forgive us. The Doctrine and Covenants adds, “Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.” Forgiveness is a key to repentance, and without repentance we cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
Verses 16-18 mirror the message of verses 1-8. Instead of applying to praying, it applies to fasting. We must not look like we are fasting, but we should look naturally so that Heavenly Father, who sees in secret, can reward you openly. Fasting is such a key principle of the Gospel that we need to give strict heed to this counsel. Fasting and prayer are the keys to revelation and inspiration.
Verses 19-20 discuss the importance of laying up spiritual treasures in heaven and not laying up physical treasures on the earth. For the physical treasures deteriorate, can be stolen and cannot be taken with us when we die; while heavenly treasures do not deteriorate, cannot be stole and can be taken with us when we die. The same Spirit that possesses our body when we die will go with us to the life after this life.
Verse 21 is the heart of the matter. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” This is an interesting statement. It strikes at the issue of what we treasure. Do we treasure the things of Babylon or do we treasure the things of Zion and the Lord? Our heart will follow what we treasure. The only way to have a heart that treasures the things of Zion is through the mighty change of heart that is discussed by Alma. That change of heart must come from the Savior and through His atonement. As we accept Him completely, Zion becomes our treasure and our heart is also set on the things of Zion.
Verses 22-23 talk of the eye being the light of the body. If thine eye being single to knowing and doing the will of God, then thy entire body shall be filled with light, which is the light of Christ, and/or the inspiration and revelation of the Holy Ghost. With this light, you can know and do the will of the Lord in all things. You have His image in your continence. Continuing, but if your eye (or heart) be evil, then your entire body shall be full of darkness. The absence of light, which is the temptations of Satan and the desires of the natural man, will fill your body with darkness. As one continually gives in to the temptations of Satan and the desires of the natural man, it is a spiral downward until you are completely filled with darkness and the light of Christ, the inspiration and revelation of the Holy Ghost, can no more find a place within you.
Verse 24 states an eternal truth: you cannot serve God and Mammon or the world at the same time. We can serve God and become a Zion people or we can serve Satan and become of the world or Babylon. As Elder Maxwell said that we cannot have a home in Zion and a summer cottage in Babylon. Too often that is what we want to do. The Savior makes it perfectly clear, it is either one of the other. It is the Lord or Babylon. Let us be like Joshua in chapter 24:15: “choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Verses 25-26 are interesting and do not apply to everyone. In 3 Nephi 13:25, the Savior stated: “And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he looked upon the twelve whom he had chosen, and said unto them: Remember the words which I have spoken. For behold, ye are they whom I have chosen to minister unto this people. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” Verse 26 remains very close to the King James version. The apostles are not to concern themselves with the temporal issues and need to focus on almost completely on spiritual issues.
Verse 27 helps us understand that there are certain things that we cannot change—our parents, the attributes of our body: our size, height, eye color, how we look, our place of birth, and many other things. Our role is to accept the decisions that the Lord has made for us, when He placed us here on the earth and to move forward to know and do His will in all things. His will includes being baptized, confirmed, endowed, married in the temple, keeping the commandments, and then preparing ourselves to live with Him forever.
Verses 28-30 teach us more important principles about raiment or things of the world for the apostles. The lilies of the field or the things of nature are so beautifully arrayed and last only a very short time. If the Lord clothes the grass, will he not clothe the apostles. He absolutely will. The 12 have great faith and that faith allows them to fulfill their spiritual missions, and the promises of the Lord are that he will take care of the temporal things.
Verses 31-32 tell the Apostles not to be concerned with what they should eat, drink or wear. It is the Gentiles or the non believers that worry about those three things. They are reassured that Heavenly Father knows their needs and He will provide them.
Verses 33-34 tells the Apostles that they need to first seek the Kingdom of God and its righteousness, and that the Lord will add all things that are needed for his will to be done in their lives. They are not to take thought of tomorrow but focus on the things of today and the assignments of today. The Lord will take care of the “things of tomorrow” tomorrow. The Lord will always be there for them. The last sentence “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” has always miffed me. The only interpretation that makes any sense to me is that there is sufficient evil in the world and we need to focus on being righteous today.
