Monday

Related Verses
Matt. 6:5-6
5 And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward in full.
6 But you, when you pray, enter into your private room, and shut your door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

Luke 14:13-14
13 But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
14 And you will be blessed, because they do not have anything with which to repay you; for it will be repaid to you in the resurrection of the righteous.

2 Cor. 9:10-11
10 Now He who bountifully supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and cause the fruits of your righteousness to increase.
11 You in everything are being enriched unto all liberality, which works out through us thanksgiving to God,

Matt. 14:14-24 (22, 23)
14 And going forth, He saw a great crowd, and He was moved with compassion for them and healed their sick.
15 Now when evening fell, the disciples came to Him, saying, This place is deserted and the hour is already late. Send the crowds away that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.
16 But Jesus said to them, They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.
17 And they said to Him, We do not have anything here except five loaves and two fish.
18 And He said, Bring them here to Me.
19 And after commanding the crowds to recline on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds.
20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve handbaskets full.
21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, apart from women and children.
22 And immediately He compelled the disciples to step into the boat and to go before Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away.
23 And after He sent the crowds away, He went up to the mountain privately to pray. And when night fell, He was there alone.
24 Now the boat was already in the midst of the sea, being battered by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

Related Reading
Man’s flesh, seeking to glorify itself, always wants to do good deeds before men in order to gain men’s praise. But the kingdom people, who live in an emptied and humbled spirit and walk in a pure and single heart under the heavenly ruling of the kingdom, are not allowed to do anything in the flesh to gain the praise of men but must do all things in the spirit to please their heavenly Father. 

To the kingdom people God is not only their God but also their Father. They are not only created by God but also regenerated by the Father. They have not only the created, natural human life but also the uncreated, spiritual divine life. Hence, the new law of the kingdom, decreed by the King on the mountain, is given to them with the intention that they should keep it not by their fallen human life but by the Father’s eternal, divine life, not to gain man’s glory but to receive the Father’s reward. (Life-study of Matthew, p. 242) 

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Regarding each of the three illustrations, the Lord used the word secret (Matt. 6:4, 6, 18). We must do our righteous deeds in secret, for our Father is in secret. In verse 4 the Lord said that our Father sees in secret. The kingdom people, as children of the heavenly Father, must live in the presence of the Father and care for the Father’s presence. Whatever they do in secret for the Father’s kingdom is seen in secret by the Father. The heavenly Father’s seeing in secret must be an incentive to doing their righteous deeds in secret. In this verse the Lord also said that the Father will repay us. This may occur in this age (2 Cor. 9:10-11) or as a reward in the coming age (Luke 14:14). 

The effect of doing our righteous deeds in secret is that the self and the flesh are killed. If people in society today are not allowed to make a show of their good deeds, they will not do them…For us as kingdom people, a basic principle concerning righteous deeds is never to make a show of ourselves. As much as possible, hide yourself, keep yourself covered, and do things in secret. We should be so hidden that, as the Lord Jesus said, our left hand does not know what our right hand is doing (Matt. 6:3). This means that we should not let others know what we are doing. 

Although the Lord spoke about the matter of reward (vv. 1, 5), the important thing here is not the reward but the growth in life. The saints who grow openly do not grow in a healthy way. We all need some secret growth in life, some secret experiences of Christ. We need to pray to the Lord, worship the Lord, contact the Lord, and fellowship with the Lord in a secret way. Perhaps not even the one closest to us will know or understand what we are doing. We need these secret experiences of the Lord because such experiences kill our self and our flesh. Although anger and lust are ugly, the thing that most frustrates us from growing in life is the self. The self is most visible in the fact that it enjoys doing things in a public way, in the presence of man. The self likes to do righteous deeds before man. We all must admit that, without exception, we have such a self. Those who always want to do things in such a way as to make a public show are full of self, full of the flesh. The self loves to be glorified, and the flesh loves to be gazed upon. Probably you have never heard a message on these verses that dealt with the self and the flesh. Whenever we come to this portion of the Word, we must realize that it exposes our self and our flesh. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 242-244) 

Further Reading: Life-study of Matthew, msg. 21; CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “A God Who Hides Himself,” pp. 3-11