Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-10-07
Golden Text: "Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth as it is in
heaven" Matt. 6:10.

Thy will be done in earth as it is in
heaven" Matt. 6:10.
1t is fortunate for us that only
chap. 6:5-15 has been specified as
the portion for our study today, for
this section is so full of rich material
we should never be able to take it
all in one half hour. 1t may be well,
however, for us to get a bird s-eye
view of the whole before consider
ing the smaller section in more de-
tail.
Contrary to what might be thought
from its place in Matthew's story, it
was not given early in the ministry
OF Jesus, but towards the end of the
second year. Matthew has rather
gathered up the teaching of Jesus
which set forth the principles that
should govern the conduct of the
subjects of the King, and has pre-
o scented them in a Jewish form to i'm
press the Jewish mind; for you will
remember that Matthew wrote his
gospel to the Jews to prove to them
that Jesus of Nazareth was their
: long-expected Messiah of prophecy.
There are, therefore, seven sections,
4 the first with a seven-fold expansion
OF single statement, and the last
with seven-fold, division of subjects.
The fifth, sixth and seventh chapters
OF Matthew therefore, contain the
constitution of the kingdom, or the
principles that should guide the sub
jects of the King. This fact must
s be remembered, for otherwise some
things in it will be entirely misun-
derstood. One example of this will
|. be considered later in our study to-
! day.
Principles of Prayer-Privacy
We shall now take up the particu
lar section before us which sets
forth the principles that must gov
ern the prayer life Of the subjects
of the Kingdom.
~ kls first of these is privacy. Not
th public prayer is enjoined for
SsthS4s commended elsewhere But
here the matter is thou
when thou prayest, etc. You see,
the custom of the religious leaders
of that day was to make an open
show of their religion, their almsgiy-
ing, their praying, etc; it was done
z with the express purpose of being
manifest to men. They loved the
praise Of men more than anything
else. They loved to pray on the
street corners and standing in the
-synagogues so that everybody could
see that they were very religious.
: Jesus said, verify [ say unto you,
they have their reward" He used
here for reward the word "mishton,"
a very interesting word. Scholars
have long noted. that the New Tesla
ment Greek differs from classical
Greek, but it was not until compara-
lively recently that the reason was
discovered. Papyri of that period
have been dug up which are letters,
ht1 r1 ne ntinnC nrTf-
nary every day matters. The lam
guage of these is exactly the lam
guage of the New Testament. In
other words, the language of the
New Testament is the every day lam
guage of the people, and not the
language of the scholars.
Now the word "mishton" is found
in these papyri written across bills
that have been paid in full" for
that is what it means. Jesus said
(note His use of the present tense),
They have their receipt in full. :"
They prayed so as to be seen of
men: they have received all that is
coming to them they have gotten
what they wanted.
But thou, when thou prayest, en-
ter 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" Note the sin
gular Of these pronouns. He uses q.
different word for reward" here:
& it is "apodidomai," which means ito
give back" And the word fer
openly has the same root as the one
used in speaking of the hypocrites
praying on the street corners to be
seen" In other words, Jesus is
laying down the principles for pri-
: Vate individual prayer-When done
in public for the purpose of being
seen, that is all you will, get. But
II done in the shut closet with the
Father only, He will give back the
manifestation. The man who prays
in the closet shut up with God
doesn't have to tell men he has been
praying; they know it by his life!
Principles of Directness and
Simplicity
when We pray, use not vain rep
etitions, as the heather do, for they
think they shall be heard for their
much speaking" "Vain repetitions'
Is 'battologesete," word found no.
where else. The heather used to
start their prayers with the letters
fthe alphabet. Aleph-(and then
, followed a petition); Beth-(and then
z 1otloWed another); Gimmel - land
then another and so on down tho
= alphabet TO Tau, the last letter. It
& was kind of rosary or liturgy,
but using the letters instead Of
beads or book. Jesus tells them not
to use battologesete, beth-tau-
logosete, vain repetitions, hut to
come with directness and simple.
ity. saying Our Father. If they
2 came that way they would not have
3 to so through the whole list of let.
tiers; this would be sufficient.
How often We do just this thing
set time, a set posture, a set form.
and the meaning all gone! Going
- throTS3 our rosary, our liturgy:
.nd len hurrying to get through!
repetitions. battologesete!
sthen-like. thinking we shall be
Heard for our much speaking!