I invite you to turn this morning to Matthew chapter 6 as we continue our study in the Sermon on the Mount. I had the privilege last week to do a men's conference in BC and Canada, and as I was going over the border, driving over, I hadn't done that in years, and this lady was at the border crossing, the border agent from Canada, and she said to me, what are you doing here? And I said, I'm going to a conference. What's it about? Are you going to cause a riot? That's what she said. I said, I hope not. She said, what's it about? I said, be a man. That wasn't the thing to say. We're going to talk about being men, godly men. And she let me in. And then I came back to the American border agent. And he says to me, what are you doing here? And I said, I was at a Bible conference. He goes, oh. Looks around at the front of the car and he comes back. I said, I just want you to know, I don't like Canada. I want to come home. And he goes, have a good day, sir. So he liked that. And I'm so glad to be home. I don't like Canada. But anyways, Matthew chapter 6 this morning, I invite you to turn to. Matthew chapter 6. And we're going to be looking at the first. We're going to divide this up a little differently. I'd like to come back next week and look at the Lord's teaching on prayer. We'll begin that here. But chapter 6, 1 through, we'll read up to 18. We're going to set aside for next week, verses 7 through 15, which deals with the Lord's prayer. But I think you'll see what he's doing here as he's developing here three practices of the faith when it comes to giving and prayer and fasting. So let's give our attention this morning to the word of the Lord from verse 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. 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. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving may be in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray then like this, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for if you forgive others their trespasses your heavenly father will also forgive you but if you do not forgive others their trespasses neither will your father forgive your trespasses and when you fast do not look gloomy like the hypocrites for they disfigure their faces that they their fasting may be seen by others surely i say to you they have received their reward but when you fast anoint your head and wash your face that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your father who is in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you and there ends the reading of god's word what we see in the gospels when it comes to the ministry of of jesus is that he is greatly compassionate to the pure in heart that is not the perfect in heart we understand that in this life we continue to struggle against sin and that perfection comes in glory what that means is what Jesus is after is, is that what we do on the outside reflects what is on the inside. That's what the Sermon on the Mount has been doing, particularly, that is so important for us. It's such an important section of Scripture to study carefully to discern what Jesus is accomplishing in the ministry. It's been challenging us as to whether what we do externally is a reflection of who we are internally because the ministry of the spirit of the new covenant is a ministry written on the heart this is what the whole testament anticipated so we would expect jesus to address address this up front the lord was willing to be merciful and compassionate to the most needy of people because that need that was often expressed was something that was expressed from the heart of people it was sincere they knew what they were it's like asking a poor person to describe poverty they don't need to be a great speaker they don't need to have a lot of knowledge of that they know it from the heart of what it is to be poor we really don't find him ever coming down in judgment on the broken and the contrite and those acutely aware of their need but he was confronted to those who were playing the game oh yeah he was really confronted about that he was confronted about gross hypocrisy i've said numerous times we're all have a measure of hypocrisy in our lives but he was confronted about gross hypocrisy and especially those who self-righteously condemned everyone else while showing themselves simultaneously as outward righteous righteously as outwardly righteous but not being truthful about the inside there was no love for god that was the issue and that's the issue that's being addressed in the sermon on the mount since the heart of the law is love part of the law is to love the lord your god with all your heart soul mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself we see what religion can become jesus has been dealing with the law that was chapter five jesus took us to the law to show how the law had been abused and that there was no love for god in the practicing of the law for they had boxed out the law of god they hadn't let it come into the heart to do what the law should do and expose the human heart that was chapter 5 i thought to myself it's almost as if why did jesus preach this way in this kind of sermon in the sermon that we were given to focus on and i thought this week i thought it really is a preparation sermon in many ways for the whole gospel ministry to clear away all the facade of what had happened in israel if you want to read about that more go back and read isaiah one i'm tired of your worship services i'm tired of the show i'm tired of your multitude of your sacrifices come to me and confess your sins it's isaiah one this was the problem in israel so the sermon on the mount is is fundamentally addressing this great problem jesus dealt with the law but now chapter six in the sermon on the mount shifts it's a new section an important section of something that he deals with now that matters a lot to the lord it all comes down to one statement that jesus really made if you were to find a summarizing statement in jesus's ministry that summarizes what he's doing particularly here in the sermon on the mount it's this you are those when he said to the pharisees who seek to justify yourselves before men. But God knows your hearts. I think it would be wrong just to continue to go after the Pharisees. Jesus is dealing with a natural problem in the human heart for all of us here. And in many ways, I confess, this chapter is the most uncomfortable, maybe in the Bible, in how it addresses and deals with this problem. it's really uncomfortable you felt it when i read it i trust it strikes right at the heart about our relationship with the lord right at the heart of whether your relationship's true or not whether we're playing a game or not and here's the thing when i say it's uncomfortable i say as a pastor for me these same problems show up so this is important to dive deep into and to see what Jesus is doing and to understand it and appreciate it for the apostles said it all over the place summarily something that Paul said do I now seek in my ministry or life the approval of men or of god or am i trying to please men if i were still trying to please men i would no longer be a servant of christ i think he was looking at the sermon on the mount i'm so thankful jesus cares to do this up front before we jump into this we need it it is very good medicine for us his goal is to not only demonstrate what the law written on the heart and the ministry of the spirit is designed to accomplish but his goal is to raise up a new in this a new creation of god's people and that's the main point today that the practice you might say of our worship in all of its forms should be out of love for god and not for our own glory if you want a thesis i think that's it so i want to look today at the warning of our devotion if you're a note taker and i want to look at the practice of our devotion and the motivation of our devotion having moved away from the specific treatments of the law of god now christ moves to something very important he now moves to the practice of our religious life there are many ways to describe this he's dealing with what we might call our piety he is addressing our worship of him practically our devotional life if you want to say that all of it has to do with our direct relationship to the lord do we know him does our practice demonstrate that the religious qualities of our christian life are front and center now and so jesus now begins in chapter six with the summary statement that i think drives most of this chapter very important he it's it's it's it is a summary statement right at six verse 1 in everything that he is developing and notice it carefully beware this is the warning 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 there's the summary statement today the structure here is important Jesus is about to address three main practices that that deal with this that were common devotion piety practices in Israel and they were giving and they were prayer and it was fasting we'll talk about that third one a bit at the end of each phrase you'll notice at the end of each category here of those of giving prayer and fasting he has a conclusion statement which says and your father who sees you in secret will reward you so he's working on this great problem of the external relationship as it relates to the internal relationship he knows the thoughts and intents of every single human heart and they're coming before him there has been this great problem you know the church has been killed for it i used to say when somebody says i don't go to church because it's full of hypocrites and i would immediately retort back because i know the game well we'll welcome another but that's not the best thing to say because there shouldn't be that should there it has been true that there has been hypocrisy that has done great damage in the life of the church there's the problem that whatever we do we are doing because we're worried about what other people think of us the extent of our religious life is done on that principle of concern about how we look to others and you see the problem if you live like that living practicing to fulfill the expectations of others which is a challenge isn't it there are many expectations always put on us you can completely practice the christian religion without any true devotion to god that is a great warning to us that should be a great concern for us since we end up serving for the acceptance of people how will that ever create in us something genuine how will that ever create in us something real since we're all talking about authentic christianity today he wants to break us of this but here's jesus saying never practice your righteousness in order to be seen by others which is interesting because he did say earlier in the sermon on him out let your light so shine that people may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven clearly jesus is going after intention here isn't he clearly he wants to go out after the heart remember our righteousness has to exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees. So he's dealing with now the practice of righteousness and the practice that they practiced in their religion. Clearly what Jesus is saying is that God is all-knowing when it comes to the motivations of people and why the human heart does what it does. Which all leads us to the drastic need for a new heart. which is the essence of New Covenant ministry. This is a revolutionizing principle that everything we do, every choice we make, the things that we choose to do in this life when it comes to our religion, not just the actions, but even the intents and the thoughts of the human heart are all known to God. we can't hold our cards close when it comes to him who are we doing this for and that fundamentally changes everything the psalms constantly say this um i think that's why the psalms are so helpful for true devotion to the lord and their honesty and their deep searching piety of the human heart and there's that sort of cardinal truth that's expressed in the psalms i remember when i read psalm 16 and i thought what a powerful little phrase when it says everything we do i have always set the lord before me the lord is before me in all of my choices in my intents and my thought i've set the lord before me imagine living that way with the lord before you and everything Psalm 139, you know my inmost thoughts, all my ways are before you. That's how the psalmist celebrated in that freedom, which is a freedom that might make some of us uncomfortable. What Christ reacted against was this idea that people could live their lives and show themselves as strong and as religious and as devout and as committed and as together. And pious doing that all for people. And never concerned the sham of it. As if God was absent. You think it's been a problem for us? As for me. What it creates is an environment where no one can be honest before God and His people about who they are and what they need. Many of you are struggling. If we only knew. Many of you are broken. Many of you are facing all kinds of internal struggles. Many of you, some of you feel like giving up. Some of you face challenges daily and you try to bear that alone. There are real sins in your life that you're still holding on to. The sin that easily ensnares. Why can't we be honest about that? Why? Why? Because we feel like, if it's made known, it will expose my shame. And people will think less of me. People will disregard me. When every single one of us is in the same place. But we come. And we cover. Because we want everyone to think we're together people. And we bypass that dependency that we must have before the Lord and honesty and how we lean on one another and help one another and encourage one another. I've said I'd love to see people praying here more together. Sharing each other's burdens and honesty and openness. So, you see what's happening here. see what jesus is addressing here he's he's addressing the motivation of that which is practicing our righteousness before others jesus here speaks of ostentatious showing of oneself as devout but that's not always the way you think of it i don't know that that's so much an issue and well it is an issue it is a big issue But I was thinking of the different ways this happens. I was at that men's conference this past last week, and we were talking about leadership as men and being sincere, and the issue came up. This very issue came up in a question about the sort of facade and the showiness of religion. And I said, well, it's kind of like the man who's a millionaire who buys the 1982 Ford Ranger that's a junky car. And he drives that car around and he's proud about that. But because he's so worried about what people think of him is the reason he does that. That choice makes him look so humble. That choice makes him look so self-denying. And he is just as much parading himself in that. It's false humility. There can be just as much showing of oneself in the opposite way so that the goal is to say, well, look at how humble and meek and look at how much they deny themselves. I said, buy the nice car if you have the money. The worst thing to do is the phony thing. But if you don't have the money, don't buy a Porsche. Depends on the motivations of the heart before the Lord. And some guy in the back yells out, but I like that 82 Ford Ranger. And I said, you must not be the millionaire. Because the millionaire doesn't like the car. He drives it to show himself. See, this is the important point Jesus is making. Do you see in all this, who is disregarded? There's no thought of the Lord. God himself is not in the motivations of the human heart. that's what we've been dealing with in the Sermon on the Mount. And at the heart of this, you have to ask the question, why do people do what they do? People de facto, by nature, live to please everyone else. People who live worrying about that incessantly or people who are in that trap create the most, listen, this is so important, They create for themselves the most constricting, shallow, hard-to-live life, shackled, because you're never free. And it destroys your witness. Why do people do this? Because ultimately, they're overcompensating. They're overcompensating on the outside for the approval of people, family and friends. while what it's all saying is there's a massive void on the inside. A massive void on the inside. It's empty. It's what it displays. They're living as if God doesn't exist or God doesn't matter. Why do we come to worship? Jesus is essentially looking at our devotion, our practice is there any thought that should drive this that says what i do i do out of love for the lord now jesus applies this in three ways to our giving to prayer and to fasting you notice in verse 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. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving may be in secret. Notice there that Jesus is after the intention of the heart. Our giving should never be for others to see. It shouldn't even be on the radar. Our giving should not be the concern that the deacons know. Or if they didn't know, that you wouldn't give. The whole matter of giving is taking place before the Lord. I've set the Lord before me. The Lord is always before me. There's a reason the Bible says God loves a cheerful giver. A cheerful giver gives out of the abundance of his heart. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all others. They gave out of their wealth. She, out of her poverty, put in everything. all she had to live on. She gave out of the poverty of the heart. Prayer. When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, God, I thank you that I'm not like other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even this tax collector. Why is he saying that? For everyone to hear it. I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of all that I get. But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. You see, the reason people pray or the reason that people don't pray. This is important, I think. The reason people pray or the reason that people don't pray can have everything to do with others and not God. Do you think the Pharisee would have prayed if he weren't seen? They're only praying because they're seen. And here's the irony. They only come to the temple to pray. But that desire to be seen is really exposing what the Lord knows. They're not praying at all in secret. There's a tie there. Prayer must be completely avoided in their life when they're looking for the praise of men on the outside. Because their devotion finds its fulfillment in doing it before others. Jesus says, when you go into your room, when you pray, shut the door. Go into your closet and pray to your Father who's in secret. Ah, there's something real. There's something sincere. Third, and when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces, that they may be fasting to be seen by others. Fasting is something that, in my opinion, we have overreacted to because of Roman Catholicism in Protestant churches. It was only commanded once in the Old Covenant per year on the Day of Atonement, but the Pharisees were doing it twice a week jesus is addressing what would become in israel and had become a major showcasing a false religion they would disfigure themselves and they would appear gloomy so that everyone would look at them and say oh the pharisees are in a period of fasting how pious they are it's similar to lint today putting a big mark on the forehead and showing everyone that you're giving up something tell me how it's different jesus says and you're practicing that don't even appear to anyone of what you're doing don't let anyone see it fasting as we have overreacted to it there are times when it should be done in exceptional circumstances i think that's what the old testament taught us it's good and right not to force god's hand but to help you look to him and trust him but it's exceptional it's exceptional and if we do it no one should know maybe your wife if you're not eating her dinner, but no one should know. Even with prayer, how often have we said, wow, that guy can really pray. Polished. Great sounding. That's not impressive to the Lord. Give me a rough, short prayer that says, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. that'll be praised in heaven. Finally, we come to the motivation. It should be the motivation for all our religious acts. In every single one of these, they end with, and the Father who sees you in secret will reward you. Reward is a big emphasis in the Sermon on the Mount. Not a consolation prize. I think it's motivating us to his pleasure. To his pleasure of actually doing this from the heart that pleases him. And the enjoyment of that. This is what I love about the Sermon on the Mount. It's helping us to understand what's true and what's false. And that what is true is true. And that by the Spirit, this is something that can be enjoyed. It pleases God when these kind of good works are done from faith. In sincerity of a regenerate heart. The fact that our Father speaks like this to us is a tender moment in the Sermon on the Mount, I think. True religion is rewarded in ways that is a great blessing. Not to merit the blessing, but to enjoy it. It's not the reward that drives us. I think that would be a mistake of reading this. I said earlier, this makes us so uncomfortable because it challenges the motivations of why we do what we do in this life. The unregenerate heart doesn't appreciate this. The unregenerate heart doesn't understand this. doesn't understand the things of the Spirit of God. It's spiritually discerned, 1 Corinthians 2. Without a new heart, the praise of men will drive us as our purpose in life devoid of the praise of God. What drives the Christian is the love that God has shown to us in Christ. When life comes out of the heart, it begins there through the very life of our Savior. let me read this and you see it remember the woman who was the great sinner who came to jesus and she stood behind him at his feet weeping she began to wet his feet with her tears then she wiped them with her hair kissed them and poured perfume on them i want to go actually to it for a minute it's such a powerful passage in luke 7 a woman of the city verse 37 who was a sinner when she learned that he was reclining at the table in the pharisee's house brought an alabaster flask of ointment and standing behind him at his feet weeping she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment now when the pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself if this man were a prophet he would have known who or what sort of woman who is this is who is touching him for she's a sinner. Think he'd have ever done this? And Jesus answering said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. He answered, say it, teacher. Certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed 500 denarii and the other 50. When they could not pay, he canceled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more? Simon answered, The one, I suppose, for whom he canceled the larger debt. And he said to him, You have judged rightly. Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, You see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet. But she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss. From the time I came in, she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil. But she's anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. What's he after? But he who is forgiven little loves little. Ah, there it is. There it is. And he said to her, your sins are forgiven. Then those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, Who is this who even forgives sins? And he said to the woman, Your faith has saved you. Go in peace. What is giving? What is giving? It's a response to what's been given to us. Who has been given to us? What is prayer? It's a response of speaking and talking with your father. Who spoke to you in giving you His Son. What is fasting? It's a way of denying yourself and trusting Him. All of these become sincere when we appreciate and receive the gospel that's been given to us. And then we are responding to the indescribable gift of His Son that we have been loved by God Himself and to be loved by God Himself is all that matters. then true love flows out of the heart it lives by faith and sees that only one the only one who truly matters in this life and that everything we live for is Christ by the power of the spirit I live by faith through him who loved me and died for me then we're no longer living for ourselves then the void is filled then living water is flowing out of the heart then we have light in the soul then we begin to taste what it is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength a taste of it in this life and fulfilled in perfection and glory but beloved our worship of him our piety our devotion becomes sincere when the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Spirit whom He gave to us. The Lord loves genuine love from a pure heart. True religion with true colors. Let me ask you to close. Some of you have been in church all your life like me. Are you practicing your righteousness? If God were to come right now and sit you down, he just really is, by the way, that's what preaching is, but if God were to sit you down and say, son, daughter, you've been in this church a long time. Why are you coming? Are you practicing your righteousness because of that person or that person? Why are you doing what you're doing? are you doing it to be seen? Would you do any of this if they were out of the equation? Where would you be? You know how we will be effective as a church? How our witness will be strong? There's been enough hypocrisy in the church over this. Our witness will be effective when people see love like this, like that woman, flowing out of a sincere heart. Give praise to God. Give praise to God. He's worthy. And He's the one that loves you. His love is what matters. May His love compel us to respond to His covenant love in faith and trust that overflows in our love for him as we live this life by his grace with a great goal of setting the lord always before us as the one who matters the most in our lives amen let's pray lord forgive us we're all guilty of this especially me forgive us lord for worrying more about the praise of men more than the praise of god help us lord for we're so weak grant us your spirit and the renewing effects on the heart that we lord might love you begin to love you living by faith and that what we do our devotion to you arises out of a born again born from above heart that as the new covenant ministry has promised and promised would be successful that the spirit would give life and that life would flow abundantly help us lord strengthen us thank you for telling us this that you care thank you lord for forming us convicting us shaping us in our character that we might be a people of praise of the god who saved us and may lord this kind of environment be created in this place for your praise for your glory for your kingdom as we practice our righteousness for the glory of our god jesus name amen