Our Father who Sees and Rewards
Sermon Series: The Sermon on the Mount
Message By Sam Daniel on September 20, 2026
Passage: Matthew 6:1–18
Lord, we thank you for the privilege we have to worship you today. How beautiful it is to sing of your praises, to sing of your goodness towards us, to remind ourselves that we are nothing without you. Even now, as we hear your word, would you help us. Give us minds that our attentive, hearts that are ready to receive your word, speech that is clear and may all of this be done for the glory of your name. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen!
Introduction
The Sermon on the Mount was a call for the disciples of God to live as citizens of the kingdom of God. The sermon was delivered by their King—King Jesus. There were so many distortions that had arisen due to sin. Distortions that had spread through the teachings and the practice of the leaders of the day. Their teachings and practices were contrary to what the law taught; contrary to what the Lawgiver intended. Jesus came to help his disciples recalibrate their lives based on the true standards of God’s law: to see the heart of the Lawgiver; to live in a relationship with him; to live rightly before him.
In chapter 5 of Matthew, Jesus, after talking about the attitudes the people in his kingdom should possess, addressed the teachings of the leaders. In chapter 5 we saw this refrain, “You have heard it said…but I say to you.” He was refuting the teachings of the scribes and the pharisees. As we come to chapter 6, there is a transition. He transitions from refuting the teaching of the leaders to warning against the practice of these leaders. Look at vs 1—Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Vs 1 serves as the principle or summary statement for verses 1-18. From vs 2, Jesus would go on to explain this statement through 3 illustrations. First, in the area of giving to the needy (vs 2-4); second, in prayer (5-15); third, in fasting (16-18). Three areas—which you could call as religious practices, or acts of piety, or acts of devotion—which Jesus uses to explain the principle in vs 1. You see a pattern through all three illustrations. Don’t do this, but do this. He warns them to put off hypocrisy (which was the practice of the leaders—the practice of righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them), but do something else. Vs 2—when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues, but give in secret; vs 5—when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, but pray in secret; vs 7 when you pray, don’t be like the gentiles who heap up empty phrases, but pray like this; vs 16—when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, but let not your fasting be seen by others. This is how the passage is structured. As we look at this text, the main point of my sermon is this. A disciple of Christ, in his acts of devotion, rejects all hypocrisy by focusing his attention on his Father in heaven—who sees all things and rewards true righteousness.
We shall look at this in 3 parts. First, who is a hypocrite? Second, why should we reject hypocrisy? Third, how can we reject hypocrisy?
Who is a hypocrite?
The word hypocrite comes from a Greek word which was used to refer to a person who was a stage actor. A person who wore masks to play different roles in his play. Masks were used to hide his true self and put on a show for people. While it was acceptable for stage plays, it is unacceptable for one who did this in real life. A person who pretended to be someone on the outside what he was not on the inside. This was quite prevalent in Jesus’ day. The scribes and pharisees were putting on a show to others. They, in their religious practices, acts of piety, were showing that they were truly devoted to God on the outside, but on the inside, their hearts were far from God. Their hearts were focused on others. What did they do? Jesus tells us. Vs 2—Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Their focus, on the inside was on the praise of others, but on the outside were showing that they were giving because of their devotion to the Lord. Likewise, for praying, they stood and prayed at a prominent place, so that they can be seen by others. Similarly, for fasting, they would disfigure their faces so that it would be obvious to others that they were fasting. They did this so that people would see that and say, “O look at him, he is fasting. He must be a very devoted person.” Acts of devotion are meant to be Godward. And hence doing them to please man, while you are pretending to please God, would be hypocrisy. The one who does characteristically is a hypocrite.
Why should we reject this kind of a lifestyle?
Why should we reject hypocrisy?
There are at least 3 reasons why we should reject hypocrisy. First, Jesus warns us about hypocrisy. When Jesus warns us about something, we ought to take it seriously. Do you see how the passage starts? Jesus says, “Beware!” It’s a warning to stay away from this behavior. He warns us because it is a dangerous path to take. Jesus had said earlier in this sermon, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Now, he is showing what that righteousness was. It was a false righteousness. It was just a show, without any devotion to the Lord. The end of this pattern of life we are told towards the end of this sermon. There will be people who come to the Lord and say, did we not do this or that in your name? And Jesus would say, depart from me you workers of lawlessness. They think that they are practicing, displaying righteousness, but God sees through it and says, that is not righteousness, it is lawlessness. It’s a dangerous path to take.
Second, hypocrisy is a distortion of God’s purpose for our life. We were created to glorify God, not glorify ourselves. Hypocrisy flips things around and seeks to glorify ourselves. The focus is on ourselves, rather than on our creator. The focus is on what others will think about us, rather than what God thinks about us. The focus is on the praise of men rather than the pleasure of God. So, Jesus says, let your piety be practiced in secret. Don’t let others see what you are doing. To fight this distortion don’t even let your left hand know what you right hand is doing. It’s just another way of saying, don’t even announce about your giving to yourself. Don’t give in to that distortion.
If you tracked along in the Sermon on the Mount, you might think there is a contradiction between what Jesus says here with what he’s said earlier in chapter 5 and vs 16. Jesus said, “Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works.” But in this passage, Jesus says, “Do not practice your righteousness to be seen by others.” Let it be done in secret. The question that arises is what should we do? Should we be seen or not be seen? If you read chapter 5 vs 16 fully you will see that there is no contradiction. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. The focus is on the glory of God. There he is addressing a person who is tempted with laziness and whose life doesn’t show any visible fruit. But here the focus is on a person who is tempted to show off. In 5:16, he says, let your good works be visible, so that God would be glorified. In 6:1-18, he says, don’t let your good works be seen, so that you wouldn’t seek glory for yourselves from others. It’s just two ways of saying the same thing. Your ultimate focus is on God’s glory. If you focus on your own glory, it would be a distortion of God’s design. That is what hypocrisy is—a distortion. That kind of distortion is unbecoming of a child of God.
Third, hypocrisy is contagious and destructive. This kind of lifestyle is contagious and spreads easily. In Luke 12:1, Jesus warns his disciples, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” Hypocrisy is like leaven which spreads. It looks invisible, but it spreads and its effects are visible. That is why Jesus speaks about this so often in the gospel, does he not? There are teachings like this. There are rebukes and woes pronounced on the leaders for their hypocrisy. In the New Testament we see several metaphors to describe them. White washed tombs. Wolves in sheep’s clothing. Waterless clouds. There are warnings about the destruction and end of such people who make this their pattern of life. Hypocrisy is contagious and destructive.
Jesus is speaking about hypocrisy to warn his disciples. As Jesus’ disciples we need to heed these warnings and evaluate our lives. We need to ask ourselves, what is our motivation behind religious acts that we do? When we give to the needy, what is our motivation to give? Do we give out of a desire to meet the needs of others and thereby bring glory to God, or do we give out of a pressure of what people will think about us? When we give, we might not sound a trumpet or make it obvious like those that Jesus speaks about in this passage, but do we keep announcing to ourselves what we’ve done over and over, that at any given opportunity, at the slightest trigger we are quick to announce to others what we’ve done. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. This behavior shows where our hearts are focused is it not?
Likewise, when we pray publicly are we more bothered about others think about us, or do we desire to edify others and bring glory to God. The 3 examples in this passage are not exhaustive but indicative. We can give in to hypocrisy with any religious activity. Preaching, teaching, any form of serving in the church. We need to check our hearts motive. Who am I doing this for primarily? If our primary audience is not God, then there is a problem.
There is a tendency to say that since we struggle with hypocrisy, let me not do any of these activities. Let me just be silent and aloof. That is also an issue is it not? Notice, Jesus says, when you do these things. When you give, when you pray, when you fast. It’s a given that a disciple of God will do these things. We should do these religious acts. But as we do them, we reject hypocrisy. We reject all hypocrisy because it is dangerous, it distorts God’s design and it is destructive amidst the people of God. Which leads us to the important question. If we should reject it, how then can we do it?
How can we fight hypocrisy?
In each of the three illustrations, there is a pattern that Jesus uses. Don’t do this, but do this. But each section ends with a phrase—”And your father who sees in secret will reward you.” Jesus repeats this in vs 3, 6, and 18. Understanding this phrase is key to fighting hypocrisy. Let’s break this down. First, he says, “Your Father”. Did you notice the number of times he uses this word “Father” in this passage. 10 times this word is used. In fact, even the previous passage ends on this note. Jesus says, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Jesus clearly want his disciples to see that they have a relationship with God—a relationship of a Father with a child! A relationship that Jesus came to restore by giving his own life. A relationship in which: we cherish Him; we revere Him; we seek to honor Him; we depend on Him; we cry out to Him for help. The prayer in the middle of this passage, highlights this relationship so beautifully does it not? Jesus says, pray then like this, “Our Father”. As disciples of God, we are in this relationship and we cherish it. We were adopted into his family through Jesus’ work on the cross. We are no longer slaves, but sons. If we are sons, we cherish this relationship and stop pretending.
We cherish this relationship with our Father; we also revere Him. He says, our Father in heaven. We recognize his place of authority. Heaven is mentioned to show the authority that God has—A place of supreme authority over all things. We have a relationship with the God of the universe. So, on one hand we cherish this relationship, but there is also a reverence in this relationship. We don’t take it lightly, flippantly. We seek to honor Him. Hallowed be your name. Your name, may it be hallowed, not ours; your kingdom come; your will be done. When we seek to honor him this way, where is there room for honoring ourselves? It puts hypocrisy to death, does it not?
In this relationship there is dependance. We look to him for every day sustenance—give us this day our daily bread. In this relationship there is an eager desire to be like our father. Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. Seeing that we’ve been forgiven a great debt, we are quick to forgive. There is no hypocrisy where we go to Him and seek forgiveness for our sins. In other examples of hypocrisy, you are putting on a show before others. But when we don’t forgive others and go and seek God for forgiveness, we are trying to put on a show to Him. Jesus comes really hard on those who do that. Your father will not forgive you your trespasses. In fact, when we make it a pattern to not forgive us, and purpose in our hearts to not forgive, it shows that we’ve never been forgiven and He is not our Father. We imitate our father, we forgive as God in Christ forgave us.
In this relationship there is a crying out for help. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. There is only one who can save us from falling prey to sin—including the sin of hypocrisy. That is our heavenly Father. We have access to cry out to him—Lord, deliver us from evil! Don’t take us to place where we will fall into sin. Protect us.
There is a relationship that we enjoy, and prayer—in this pattern provided—is an outburst of our relationship with God. When we recognize this relationship, our prayers will be meaningful, heartfelt, God-exalting like how Jesus shows it ought to be. Hypocrisy, on the other hand, shows that our relationship with our heavenly Father is defective. It shows we don’t know our father. That is why Jesus highlight this relationship. Your Father.
Jesus says, “And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Not only is there a relationship but he is a God who sees all things. He is omniscient. All-seeing; All-knowing. Your father knows what you need even before you ask him, so stop babbling in your prayers like the gentiles. There is nothing hidden from his sight. David says, where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to the heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:13. Why do we try to fool ourselves to thinking that we can pretend, when everything is exposed before Him? Our hearts desires, our motives, everything. Where is there room for hypocrisy when we have such a view about God?
This God who sees all things, doesn’t stop with just seeing. Your father who sees in secret will reward you. There is a just recompense that awaits us. For those who are faithful and true, there is a reward that awaits. For those who have been hypocritical, there is a judgement that awaits. We don’t need to run after the praise of men, to be seen by men. If you seek the praise of men, reward from men, you will get it easily. You can put on a show and fool others to thinking that you are religious and holy. They will applaud you. And Jesus says, that is all you will get. But you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
There are 2 kinds of people Jesus talks about. There are those who will do lot of things in Jesus’ name, and on the last day say, did we not do this in your name, do that in your name? Jesus will say, depart from me your workers of lawlessness. But there are others to whom the king will say, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. For I was hungry, you gave me food, I was thirsty you gave me drink, I was a stranger you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. They will respond and ask, when did we do these things? Jesus would respond, Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. The question is, to which group do you belong? The one who keeps record of all things done and does it to seek praise of others, or one who goes all out to serve at every given opportunity out of a love for God and his people?
God sees all things. Every motive of yours, every effort that you’ve made, every sacrifice of yours, every prayer, and he says, when these are genuine and true, when these are done out of a love for God and love for his people, he is pleased. He says, “I will reward you.” Reject all hypocrisy by focusing your attention on your Father in heaven—who sees all things and rewards true righteousness.
Dear brothers and sisters, hypocrisy is not fought through self-determination or following a checklist of what to say and what not to say; how to behave or how not to behave before others. Hypocrisy is fought by pursuing a relationship—a relationship with our heavenly Father. Hypocrisy flourishes when we have a small view of God; a small view of his relationship with us. Only a high view of God and his relationship with us can help us fight hypocrisy. So, may we grow in the knowledge of him. May this knowledge lead us to a more intimate relationship with him. May this relationship cause us to reject all hypocrisy and seek to honor our Father who sees and will reward us.
May this be our prayer.
Riches I heed not Nor man’s empty praise
Thou mine inheritance now and always
Thou and Thou only be first in my heart
High King of heaven my treasure Thou art.
Let’s pray—Lord, we confess that we battle various forms of hypocrisy. We are so quick to seek the praise of others, so quick to do things that draw attention to ourselves. We thank you for warning us today of this. We thank you that you are our Father and we can know you more through your Son and we can grow in this relationship with you. Would you help us, O Lord! We desire to honor you, make you known, live for your glory. Help us, O Lord to reject all hypocrisy and love you more! In Jesus name, Amen!