We're reading from the Gospel of Matthew, beginning now in chapter 6 of the Sermon of the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7. We spent most of the fall and early part of winter in Matthew 5, and now we come to, I believe, some very powerful application that Christ has given us. The first verse of Matthew 6, 1, essentially is the proposition for all that follows. This is a simple application. Then there's three illustrations that follow. I want you to listen carefully for phrases that are repeated over and over again, and the three illustrations of giving, prayer, and fasting. This is a very convicting text that gives us, I think, incredible hope for real life in Christ. So here we are, Matthew 6, beginning in verse 1, I will read through verse 18. Jesus said, 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 the 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 the 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, but they think 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, how it would 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 deaths as we also 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 their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received the 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. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Please be seated. Father, it is your blessed holy word. It's set apart. It feeds us. So Holy Spirit now do that work which only you can do. Change us. Show us things that we have not yet seen. Both that which is in us, and that which is outside of us. We ask this on Jesus' name. Amen. I believe that the words that Jesus preached here are very difficult to hear if we take every word of his to heart. As I mentioned already in the very first verse of chapter 6, you have the proposition. Jesus lays it out. Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them. It's very simple. Don't do your acts of righteousness in order to be praised by other people. But don't we? Don't we? Is that sin not so universal? Is it not deep within each of us? This desire to be praised by our fellow man? I believe it is. Certainly is in my life. It's something that we crave. It's something that we in a sense have been taught to crave. From the earliest of ages we receive rewards for doing things that are considered praiseworthy. And so as we pursue those things, we get out of voice, encouragement. And that's not necessarily inappropriate. But the transition as we come to faith is that we find ourselves then longing for the praise that I believe an audience is ready and willing to give. It's a great temptation. The desire to receive the praise of men can be seen in the way in which we worship. Your worship this morning is inhibited by those around you because you are afraid of them. Your worship this morning is inhibited because of those who are around you because you are afraid of them. What do I mean? Do you really see Sunday after Sunday with a full voice or is it somewhat inhibited because your wife has said not so loud? Are you know yourself, the people in front and behind? I don't really want them to hear. When you consider the things that we have been singing, when you consider the promise that for eternity we will be on that sure singing. We should have no fear. Our eyes should be so lifted up, so vertical when we enter into the sanctuary that we really don't care a lick about what the people around us think about how we sound. But we do. We care so much about how they think that we wake up thinking about how they will think about us. It affects the way you got dressed this morning. It affects the way you let your children get dressed this morning. Does it not? Why? Because deep down, there is a craving that we have to be praised by men. It could even be your Bible. You have a Bible. Some of you bring it on Sunday morning. You all should. Some of you have a lot of identity in your Bible. You carry a really big Bible. And you don't carry a big Bible because you want the world to know that it's large print because your eyes have gone bad. You carry it sometimes because you want the world to see that you take the Bible serious. In any serious Christian would carry around this size Bible with all the study notes. Some of you say no, no. I'm not going to carry a Bible that big because I don't want all the notes. I don't need those notes. I've got commentary sets at home that have the notes. I just want the Word of God. Others of you have seen people carrying a Bible that looks like it's been run over by a semi-truck. It is well-worn. The bands are broken. And it looks like a devoted believer holds that Bible. I must confess to you once I bought a brand new Bible so shiny and new. I wasn't a very old Christian. I thought it looked like I'd never used it. So I took it outside, sent it on my porch and rubbed it on the curb just so it looked like I was into the Word. Why? Why? Because of that opened it in my Bible study, I really cared about what people thought. I was seeking the praise of man. We can do this even in the way in which we're involved in Sunday school or not involved or the class that we are involved in or not involved in. Women's ministry in Bible studies, we can put a level of a pyramid of, well, this is a Bible study for the really devoted women. And when you mature, like me, you can join this class too. Now, some of you are saying, oh, Mark, that's not true. We don't do that. Yes, you do because we're a church. And churches are full of sinners. And it happens in every church I've ever seen. The men do it too. Just a little bit different ways. We crave the praise of man. Some sit back and say, you know, I am proud of the Bible study. I'm a part of because it's so deep, theologically. We're talking about things and taking apart sermons and there's such theological richness here. We don't love people that well. We don't really want people unlike us to be a part of it. But that's what we do. Others don't want that kind of Bible study. They want the one with the seekers. And there's pride in that. Brothers and sisters, we crave the praise of man. It's in us and it's in deep. Jesus gives three specific examples of how this happens. Giving, prayer, and fasting. In each case, Jesus speaks of a group of people who are seeking to be seen by others and people who are seeking to be seen by God. In each case, Jesus says that the reward will be given both to the one who wants the praise of man and the one who seeks to do things in secret. This morning, I want to talk about the three comparisons of these two approaches and then look briefly at the one, the first illustration of giving. Next Sunday, I'll be talking about prayer and fasting. So comparing these two, these two groups that seek the two rewards. Here's what they have. Here's how they need to be compared. First is this. They both have an audience. The first group of people seeking the reward, which is the praise of man, their audience is a group of people. Their desire to do things like giving, praying, fasting takes place on a stage. Their life before God or really before man takes place on a stage. That's why Jesus uses the word hypocrite. The word hypocrite in the Greek had to do with those actors that would put on a mask being or looking like something other than they were. And there before the audience, they would act as the mask would dictate. And so they performed. That's what Jesus is saying is happening here. That there are those who are doing these acts of righteousness like fasting and prayer and giving in order to be seen by man. That is the audience. But the second group, the person who seeks God doesn't do his or her work on the stage, but in secret, not public, but private. The second comparison is to look at the motive. What is the motive behind the one who seeks the praise of man? Nothing other than love for self. Sometimes we'll talk about sin and say, I struggle with the fear of man. Another way of saying it is, I struggle with the love of self. I'm consumed by and craving that others would praise me. So the motive behind that person on the stage who wants the audience to say, you're awesome. You are great. I admire you so much. It is the praise of man. The motive is love of self. The person who seeks to do these things in secret to honor their Lord is motivated by a love for God that's born out of an amazing understanding of God's love for them. That's the motive. The third comparison has to do with the reward itself. I want you to note that in each of these illustrations, Jesus uses the same specific phrases. The rewards are delivered. In both cases, look with me in verse two. 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 the reward three times. Jesus says that. So the reward for those on the stage who seek the praise of the audience is given. They receive their reward. So do those who seek to do these things in secret. At the end of each section, Jesus says, and your father who sees in secret will reward you. That's in verse four, in verse six and in verse 18. But there's a major difference. The rewards for those on the stage who seek it from the audience is temporary. It feels good. That's why we seek it. Sin is pleasurable. That's why we commit it. But it's temporary. In fact, the longing that is born is the sign that it's temporary. For a moment, you feel the praise of another, but it's leading. And then suddenly, you want that praise again. So if you lead a Bible study, or you give a Bible lesson, or you preach a sermon and someone says, that was wonderful. You know that you have to get up to bat again next week. And that desire for the same praise will be present. That's your reward. You will get your reward, but that's all you will get. The one who does this in secret who doesn't seek the praise of the audience, the reward there is eternal. It lasts. It's given by the one whose riches are beyond comparison. Here's what's frightening. Jesus teaches us that those who seek the reward of the praise of man will not, I want you to hear this, will not receive the reward from God. That should terrify us. But it doesn't. The reason it doesn't is because we don't fully understand how great the reward of God is. It's perfect. There's no flaw. When you pause for a moment and compare his reward, which is forever given by the one who sees all things versus the reward that's temporary, where a person says, you're wonderful. Your children are wonderful. You're such a great mom. You have such a great marriage. When we seek on that stage to reform to that audience, and that's the praise we want, you will not receive the reward that he's speaking of. That is this eternal gift, this eternal blessing. And when we consider the two brothers and sisters, there's no comparison. It's silly to consider that this is the one that I want, but it's here and it's present and you can feel it and you can hear it in a way you can taste it. But the one that's eternal seems perhaps so far off, but it's not really. The Lord begins to reveal his blessings even now. And so when Jesus says, be where? He's warning us. This is a great temptation to seek the praise of man. And those who do will not receive, as Jesus said, they will have no reward from your father who is in heaven. That's a powerful thing to hear, isn't it? Those aren't Mark's words. Those are straight from the words recorded of Jesus's own tongue. Look with me for a moment at the first illustration in verse two. This is the giving. Thus when you give to the needy, Jesus says, sound no trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets. Why would they do that? We find this appalling. I mean, imagine if just after the choir sung, after that moment of pause, someone in the congregation interrupted me and said, Mark, Mark, I just want you to know that I put a check in the offering plate for $300,000. Just wanted you to know. God told me to tell you, I wonder if in nervous laughter, you would still kind of applaud. You really wouldn't know what to do. Would you? By the way, did anybody do that? Just kidding. Because if you did, you could probably give more. We would be confused. We wouldn't know what to think. The Pharisees wanted to be seen, forgiving of alms, forgiving to the needy. They wanted people to notice. They wanted the praise of man. And guess what? They got it. They got it. But that's all they got. They had no reward from the Father in heaven. I wonder what it is you're trumpeting. I wonder what you might be secretly trumpeting, a way in which you might be finding yourself full of pride over an area in your life. You wouldn't blast it out. In fact, that might be one of your areas of pride, but you think I wouldn't do that. And that's where Jesus is teaching is so powerful. Do you see it? Look with me. He says, don't let the trumpet sound. That's what the hypocrites do. And I think most of us would say, of course, we shouldn't do that, but listen to what else he says. Truly, I say to you, they've received the reward. Verse three, 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. What does he mean? Martin Lloyd Jones, his commentary, which is wonderful on this passage, says this. Note that our Lord does not stop at saying you must not sound trumpets before you and announce it to the world. He goes on to say, you are not even to announce it to yourself. What does that mean? Your left hand must not know what your right hand is doing. In other words, having done it in secret, you do not take your little book out and put it down. Well, I have done that. He writes on, don't keep spiritual ledgers. Don't keep profit and loss accounts in your life. Don't write a diary in this sense. Just forget all about it. Do things as you are moved by God and led by the Holy Spirit and then forget all about them. The point he's trying to make is not that you aren't going to be a wise accountant of the things the Lord's given you, but that you are not taking pride in those transactions and those checks that you've written. In other words, it's not simply about no trumpet. It's also about no tailiging, no keeping of score, no stick where you're making tally marks and this is what I have done. Your right hand should not know what your left hand is doing. Why? Because the seduction of pride is so great. Let me give you one example. This week, this passage has been very, very convicting to me. When I read these words of Martin Lloyd Jones, I was convicted about a practice in my own life that I've been doing since I was 15. It's called journal writing, prayers. I have volumes that I've been writing since I was little since just months after I came to Christ. Some people journal, some people don't. It's just the thing that I've since God calling me to do to help focus my mind, but there's one part in my journal that's in the left column of each page where there's tremendous pride. I didn't see it. I didn't know until I read this. It has nothing to do with giving money, but you know what has to do with the pride I have and the craving I have for people to see the deep devotion I have to the Lord. And that I believe is seen as every day I journal, I write what time it is that I'm journaling because it's really early in the morning. And in my own sick, ferrisackle pride, one day I wonder, well someone look at that and go, he really was a man of God. You may think that's not that big a deal, but the Holy Spirit convicts you of something that's causing you or that makes you aware of something that is keeping you from seeking only God's reward, but instead the praise of man, it's serious. In fact, there's even the temptation right now of wondering whether or not to even share that because I know and sharing that he sounds vulnerable. How wonderful that we have a pastor that will be vulnerable. And so you will encourage me with that this week. And you know what I'll do? I'll go, no, no, no. Praise God.
No, no, no, praise God. You see, that's how sick it is. It's in us, isn't it? And it's deep. How do we get out? How do we get out? I'm going to answer that in a minute. But I must say something else first. We live in a culture, even in the Christian culture, where we seek to praise man. One of the ways we do that is when there is a giving campaign of some sort and we list the names of the people who have given. You may be on a board, a Christian board specifically, where you think it's a good idea to acknowledge those who have given generously. It may be a good idea. But before you allow that to happen again, I want you to do me this favor. Go before the Lord and ask why is this important? I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, but I am going to tell you this that it's dangerous. It's like mixing a toxic cocktail, giving it to someone whose name suddenly appears on a brick or in a bulletin or in a brochure or on a building and saying don't be prideful. Don't take your identity in this. It's toxic. And I'm at so many fundraising events during the year where I see this practice happening. And I'm simply asking the question, is that really a good idea? Or is it tempting us towards what Jesus says? Those who seek the praise of man will have no reward in heaven. Very, very dangerous. So how do we get out of it? This is awesome. Sunday after Sunday, great attention is given to the worship service. What our choir saying is the way we get out of it. Open your bulletin and go back to that piece. It's on page 4. Go to the second to last line and listen as I read. Then they took our Savior and led him to a tree. And there they broke his body, poured out his life, put him to death to rise again. The focus of our eyes, the focus of our life must be on Christ. The way in which you, the way in which I stop being consumed with the craving of praise is to crave Jesus. It is to gaze upon our Savior. It is to look at his objective beauty and ask him through the power of the Spirit to help you fall more and more and more and more and more and more and love with him so that when you have that temptation to say, I hope somebody praises me today, you smell the stench and you take it to the cross and there at the foot of the cross in Golgotha, you consider that your Savior died there and look up at him and say, Jesus, I want to go on the stage and get the praise of the audience and look up at him and realize how silly and keep looking and then you'll realize he's not there. He's not there. He conquered death. He died for that sin that you're confessing there that you want praise, that you crave praise. And he's on the throne, living to intercede for you on your behalf and suddenly that pride of people will be impressed with the condition of my Bible. People will be impressed with my preaching. People will be impressed with my prayers. People will be impressed with my children, my marriage, my work. It's shallow because he is your vision. He is the one who delivers you, temporary praise of man. That reward is no reward and it never will be.
Pray, oh God, be thou my vision. I don't want you to make a movement. I want you to sit very quiet. The opening verse of be thou my vision is going to be sung by a soloist. I want you to close your eyes and just listen. Shhh, don't move. It's okay. And then we will stand seeing the truth that's there with no fear of man. Riches, I heed not, nor man's what? Empty praise.