Should prayer be kept private or can it be done in publick? For various reasons, some believers have grown increasingly concerned about the appropriate places to call upon the Lord. In Matthew 6:5-6, the Lord rebuked the publick prayers of the hypocrites and suggested that His people should enter into their closets to pray. The Lord Himself followed this pattern by seeking a “solitary place” in which to pray (Mark 1:35). Does this mean that the Lord opposed all publick prayer? It is important to consider the whole counsel of God. Obviously the Lord was not displeased with the publick prayer meeting held by believers in the early church – He answered their prayer by freeing Peter (Acts 12:12). Furthermore, the Lord expressed His will – for men to “pray every where.”
In a day when the world uses the word love rather flippantly, the people of God need to revisit the concept of biblical love. The Bible says, “A friend loveth at all times.” This infers that the concept of falling in and out of love is unscriptural. Biblically defined love is not a fleeting emotion controlled by one’s feelings. It remains a choice based on the truths of scripture and falls outside the whims of one's emotional passions. The world declares its love for something and in the same breath declares its love lost for the latest passing fad. Just as God’s love for us remains permanent, so ought our love for others. Unfortunately, this fickleness has crept into the lives of the believers. We could learn much by considering the example of the Lord’s love for His enemies even after they had so cruelly nailed Him to the tree (Luke 23:34). Biblical love forgives and continues to unconditionally forgive regardless of any objectionable response to one’s love (Proverbs 10:12).
The Bible refers to both a godly and ungodly fear. The two fears will not and cannot coexist. Godly fear pertains to the healthy fear involving fearing the Lord (Isaiah 8:13); however, ungodly fear pertains to fearing the things of this world (Isaiah 8:12). Ungodly fear opposes faith and can grievously effect a person (Job 4:14; Job 22:10; Psalm 48:6; 1 John 4:18), but the fear of the Lord is founded upon faith and provides confidence and assurance. The fear of this world brings torment upon its victims, yet the fear of the Lord prolongs life (Proverbs 10:27). Not surprisingly, the world thrives on triggering ungodly fears, especially its entertainment and news programs. God’s people should avoid the worldly and major on the fear of the Lord.
Our verbal communications involve the words that spring forth from our mouths. No doubt, the Lord considers these communications important and we should too. In today’s passage, the Lord gave some specific insights concerning His expectations of our communication. First, He wants our communication to be short and to the point – “let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay” (Matthew 5:37; see also Proverbs 10:19; Ecclesiastes 5:3, 7). Second, our word should be validated without the necessity of certifying it with vows, oaths, and swearing. In the context of the passage, the Lord Jesus forbade swearing “by heaven” (Matthew 5:34), “by the earth” (Matthew 5:35), or “by thy head” (Matthew 5:36). When we swear by these things, we put ourselves in danger of condemnation (James 5:12). Let your nay be nay and your yea be yea!
Doing the right thing is always the right thing to do and yields great benefits. For instance, consider what the Bible has to say about diligence. God’s word promises that diligence brings an increase of substance (Proverbs 10:4; Proverbs 13:4; Proverbs 21:5) and promotion (Proverbs 12:24; Proverbs 22:29). In other words, as the saying goes, hard work pays off. It is not difficult to prove that these benefits manifest themselves in the lives of God’s people who are diligent. Joseph and Daniel are two great examples of those who were diligent and their diligence brought them obvious promotion. Abraham and Job are great examples of diligent men who experienced a great increase of substance. A word of caution might be appropriate here. Men are not to be diligent merely for the sake of reaping its inherent benefits, but should be diligent for the sake of the One who called them to be diligent.
Sometimes a Bible word is best defined by first establishing what the word does not mean. Biblical diligence is such a case in point. A diligent man is one who is not slothful or lazy according to Proverbs 12:24. Proverbs 10:4 bears witness to this fact by contrasting the diligent with those who are slack or careless. According to Proverbs 13:4, a diligent man is not a sluggard. Yet, the Bible also points out that the diligent are to be properly balanced by not hastily rushing through work (Proverbs 21:5). Each of these truths concerning diligence reveals that diligence involves working hard, but with great care and concern. In a world filled with those who choose either quantity or quality of work, God counsels His children to be concerned with both. This is diligence!
One’s actions demonstrate true compassion. Five times the Bible uses the phrase moved with compassion (Matthew 9:36; Matthew 14:14; Matthew 18:27; Mark 1:41; Mark 6:34). Four of the five references refer to Christ’s compassion toward others. True compassion always moves people to do something for others. In Mark 6:34-44, the disciples wanted to send the crowd away hungry, but Christ refused to send them away empty. He would not allow the multitudes to leave His presence still in need. In this one example, Christ's compassion fed thousands when others would have sent them away faint and hungry. The Lord not only fed thousands with two small fishes and five loaves of bread, but also produced a miraculous amount of leftovers.
