Sermon Transcript
The following is a lightly edited transcript generated from the audio; it may contain small errors.
- Opening Intercession for Texas and Florida
- Matthew 6:1–18
- The Bad News: Hypocrisy
- The Good News: Sincerity, Privacy, and Reward
Opening Intercession for Texas and Florida
Good morning. It was good to see Josh and Hannah up here leading worship, wasn’t it? I wanted to mention they have a worship album available. We call them albums still? Okay. I know it’s weird, but it is available. You can get it on iTunes and Google Play, Amazon. It is called Your Kingdom Come. Your Kingdom Come by Josh and Hannah Herrin. So please get a copy, support their ministry. Only a mother would know. Awesome. So as Justus mentioned we’re wanting to help out in Texas. As you know there’s a new hurricane hitting Florida as we speak. So I thought we would take a few moments and pray for the people in Florida. Some of us may have friends there. Many of you may remember Mike and Sharon Cordiner. They’re living in Florida, actually not too far from Tampa. And the news of, the last news I heard is the hurricane’s heading right toward Tampa. And they stayed, right? Yep. They stayed. [audio unclear] to bring people into His kingdom. So why don’t we take a few moments as a body and intercede. We have a microphone here. I’d like to invite all of you to participate as you feel led by the Holy Spirit to go ahead and pray. Then I’ll conclude the prayer time.
Father, we thank You that we can come to You in our time of need and we want to come to You on behalf of those we know and those we do not know. We thank You, Father, that You’re governing all things and You are working through things in ways that we can never really comprehend. We only ask, Lord, that You would turn things for Your glory and for the good of the souls of men and women. And so God, we pray for Your hand to be not just governing the elements, but dealing with human hearts and drawing men and women to Yourself through this difficult time. Bring Yourself glory on the earth, we pray. Father God, I just come to You in the name of Jesus, and Father, You are a very present help in time of trouble and You are a refuge and our strength, You are a shield and our protector, God, and I just want to lift up the people in Florida right now, especially those who are in harm’s way, God. Lord, I want to lift up the Cordiners, I want to lift up my dear friend, sister and her husband Melissa, Tim and their daughter Megan who are in Fort Myers and they are in a safe room right now, God, they were unable to get out, Lord. Father, I just pray, Lord, that You would protect them and that You would shield them, God. And, Lord, that they know that You are surrounding them. God, we pray, Lord, for lives to be spared, God. We pray, God, that there will be minimal damage, Lord. Homes can be rebuilt, God, but lives cannot. And so Father we pray for Your hand of protection. [audio unclear] Amen.
Dear Lord, I just, I’ve got a lot of family that lives in Florida, and I know that through this Your peace is very well needed at the moment. And as she was saying, I really thank You for everything that You’ve done because all of us know it could have been so much worse. And all of us know that through this, we all come to glorify You. I pray for my uncles and my aunts that live down in Florida. I pray for the people that I don’t even know because Your love is so much greater and through this You can be glorified and through this everyone in this room can praise You. We know, we know as a church that You are the greatest power and we know that You are doing this for trials, to bring people to Your kingdom, to know that You, You’re greater and to know that through everything that’s going on, it’s a very emotional time for a lot of us. I thank You for guiding me and bringing me up here to say the following. Lord, I thank You. I know that it’s hard for a lot of people in this room. I know that it’s difficult for the people in Houston and for the people in Florida who have been hit by this already. I thank You so much for it not being as worse as it could have been. And I pray that through this, our hearts are reached to You, and that if people do come up to You because of this tragedy, that You guide them to love You, as You have loved all of us through this. I pray for the people who might have been hit, I pray for the people who are evacuating as we speak. I pray on this church and I pray, Jesus, that You will bring everyone to Your name and that You will love us, even though we have sinned through this. And to bring joy through this trial, and spring joy through the hearts of these people because I know right now it’s not easy to worship You for some people. I know right now even for me praying it’s difficult. If God is good, why is this happening? I’ve asked that multiple times, but I know God in my heart that You’ve talked to me and You have said because I’m testing people in My trial and things that I don’t even understand. But I just thank You for everything that You’ve done. And I hope that through this, You will really just guide us. And through this, You will bring our whole to You. And in Your name I pray. Father, You are a Father of all, and just the creation and the beauty, how that same beautiful earth and weather, Lord, and how just the skies can turn from pure beauty to pure wrath, Lord. But You know, You’ve put it in our hearts that we should be seeking You out, Lord, that there’s a void in our heart without You. And as people are going to lose everything, Lord, their life is going to be turned upside down and they will have just a loss of hope, Lord, but You are the one source of hope for all of us. That You would just make Your presence known, that You would live out the love of Jesus Christ through those that are the first responders, Lord, for those that have remained behind, but also for those that are dislocated right now, Lord, that You would provide for them, there would be provision in a miraculous way, and that they would recognize that without Christ Jesus, there is no other hope and that they must now rely on it, Lord, and You’re going to use that to Your glory, and that we would be a body that supports Your mission for all of those in need, Lord, whether it be from a hurricane or a storm, or just the particular situation they’re in, but that You will be glorified through it all in Christ’s name. Luke 21:25, “There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Jesus, I thank You that You warned us that so many things would happen before You came back. And I ask right now for the church in Florida and the church in Houston and the church in Louisiana, any of the places that have been affected by the hurricane, God, that You would strengthen the believers there right now in the name of Jesus by the power of Your Holy Spirit. God, I ask that they would encounter You like they’ve never encountered You before, because right now they need You like they’ve never needed You before. And I thank You that You are a God who hears the cry of Your people. You never, ever, ever turn Your ear from us, God. And I thank You that You are so kind and gracious. And I thank You that You’ve called us to straighten up and to look for redemption in these times. And I ask that the church would do so. We ask that there would be an awakening of love in our hearts, Lord, both here as well as in Houston and Florida. We ask that in Your mercy, God, You would use Your church to minister the gospel in this hour, Lord, that souls would get swept up into Your kingdom, God. We ask all the time that, Holy Spirit, that You would blow like a great wind. And so we ask, Lord, that You would be stronger than these winds, that the movement of Your Spirit would be stronger than a wind and stronger than a flood, God, that we would see a third Great Awakening in America. I ask right now, Lord, for the empowerment of the pulpits in these places, that they would use this as an opportunity to be loud and proud about the gospel of Jesus Christ, to proclaim the nature of God, to proclaim the nature of the Father, the heart of the Father. I pray that we would be Your hands and Your feet. I ask, God, that people would be emboldened, Lord, to lay down their lives and to lay down their time and their finances, Lord, to minister Your presence and Your love and Your mercy in this hour. We thank You, God, that You are Lord of all. And we ask You to exalt Your name in Jesus’ name. Father, I thank You that as Your Word says, You do reign, and Lord as we say those words here in our quiet, calm place, it can be difficult to utter those words when everything is chaos around us. We pray for Your church in Texas and Florida. We pray that You would, by the power of Your Spirit, make Your church the church, that they would truly rise up and truly be Your hands and feet and Your heart, that Your church would embrace those in need, serve those in need and let their light shine before men that they would glorify You, Lord in heaven. We do pray for Your will to be done, Your kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. Father, only You know the secrets of men’s hearts. Only You know the good that will be worked out of this tragedy. But we trust You. We trust You, God, that You are truly the sovereign Lord. And I pray that we in our lives, we pray for those in Texas and those in Florida that truly we would be able to embrace the reality that You are Lord and walk in submission to Your will. Lord, I’m reminded of the fleeting nature of all things material. In literally a few hours things are just swept away, swept away. Lord, may we see eternity more clearly as the storm passes. May we set our minds on things above, not on things of the earth. Lord, as many have already prayed this morning, we ask that through this time You would be glorified by bringing men and women to Yourself. And we ask in Your name. Amen.
Matthew 6:1–18
If you would, open your Bibles to Matthew 6. We’re going to talk this morning briefly about prayer, because as we head into the life groups, you know the topic is going to be prayer, a praying life. And if you’ve not read the book, we encourage you to do it, we encourage you to attend the life group. And if for some reason you cannot attend, we still encourage you to get a copy of the book and read it. It’s one of the better books on prayer out there today. Matthew 6 starting in verse 1. This is a section of what is known as the Sermon on the Mount, starting in verse 1. I’m reading the New King James. “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.” Some of your versions do not have the word “openly” there. Personally, I believe it should be there. It’s a whole other story. Verse 5, “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray: 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 forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” Here in this passage there’s one principle, one principle we have to get this morning. Can you do that? Can you handle one principle? Just one. One principle that runs through this entire section. And Jesus uses three illustrations, but it’s about one principle. The illustrations are alms, or my version says charitable deeds. Alms was not just giving, but giving specifically to the poor, which in those days there was in the synagogue, there was a box, if you will, it actually was almost like a funnel that opened up and looked like a trumpet that was for the poor. So you could put your alms, the money for the poor, alms would go in that receptacle, if you will, and your tithe would go somewhere else. So he’s talking about a specific kind of giving here. So he talks about alms, then he talks about prayer, and then he talks about fasting. So there’s three practices that are mentioned here, but there’s one principle that runs through all three of them. What is the principle? The principle is this, that in all that we do for God, whether it’s alms, prayer, fasting, or we could say anything, worship, Bible study, whatever we do for the Lord, in all of these things let our motive be to please God and not men. In other words, in all that we do for God, the important thing is our sincerity before the Lord, not our appearance before men. So Jesus contrasts true devotion, the true spirit of devotion, which is invisible, versus hypocrisy.
The Bad News: Hypocrisy
So let’s talk first about the opposite of sincerity, and that’s hypocrisy. Let’s talk about the bad news first, okay? And then we’ll talk about the good news. The bad news is Jesus warns us here against being hypocritical in our religion, our devotion, if you will. One author said this, he said, in ancient drama, an important part of the play was fulfilled by the chorus. As in opera and musicals, it provided commentary on the action of the play. In fact, the hypokrites, hypocrite, was the one who answered the chorus. That is exactly what the Pharisees had begun to do. Their religious activities were no longer answering to God. Instead, they’re answering the chorus of men’s opinions of them. In ancient drama, actors did not wear makeup. They wore masks, representing the parts they played. What a vivid picture that gives us of the hypocrite, he pretends to be one thing, but all the time he’s really something altogether different. His outward action suggests that his whole heart is focused on the Lord, but his inward desires are for the recognition and praise of men. So a hypocrite is someone who acts as if he lives for God, but in fact he lives for man or the fame or the approbation, it’s called, the affirmation of men. He’s more concerned with a good name than good works. Lives on a stage, conscious that the world is watching while he forgets that God is watching. God is watching. So a hypocrite would rather appear to be righteous than actually be righteous because he desires admiration, not sanctification. He focuses attention and effort on the outward more than the inward. Remember Jesus talks about Pharisees and how they clean the outside of the cup, right? They put so much attention into the outward form of their religion so that they appeared to be holy and appeared to be righteous before men, but He said that inside they were like tombs with rotting bodies inside. So hypocrites are fake, right? In a very literal sense, the hypocrite is living a lie. How is it that we human beings are prone to this failing? Well it all started in the garden. Remember the fall where Adam and Eve eat the fruit? They realize they were naked and what did they do? They covered themselves and then they hid from God. They ran from God. So when someone is ostentatious in their public display of their religion, they’re actually hiding the real condition on the inside. And it’s really rooted in pride. It’s a desire to mask the hidden reality of what’s going on on the inside. And this is done through a public display of religion or spirituality or goodness of some kind. So being rooted in the fall, this is a universal problem. Now if you ever shared Christ with anybody and one of the first things they say to you is, well, you know, the church is full of hypocrites. Did you ever hear that? Yeah. All the time, the church is full of hypocrites. And you know what? It’s true. But it’s only partly true. And what I mean is, the world’s full of hypocrites. Right? Because it’s a universal problem. So we have hypocrites in our government. No, amen, just some chuckles. I mean, how many guys have, you know, have campaigned on family values, then they get elected and you find out he’s having an affair with the secretary. Well, that’s not a family value. It’s hypocrisy. We see it in government. We see it in the medical profession. The oath of Hippocrates is to do no harm, and yet we have a profession which is aborting children and euthanizing older people. We see hypocrisy in the entertainment industry. There are wealthy people in our country who would rather put on a concert to help people than to just write a check, because they are displaying their generosity and parading their goodness before all of us. And this is all just hypocrisy. And yes, it is true there is hypocrisy in the church. And if someone says that to you as you’re talking about your faith, don’t deny it. You agree. So yeah, well, you know what? That’s why Jesus came to save us. Because by nature, we’re hypocrites. We need to be saved from our own hypocrisy. We need a Savior. We don’t need religion. I mean, for the average non-Christian, they think you’re selling them religion. We’re not selling religion. We’re declaring a gospel. We’re telling them about a person that they can come to know. That person’s Jesus. Of course, Jesus gets judged by His church, does He not? And it’s a sad truth. I did it before I knew Christ. Some of you probably did it before you knew Christ. That’s what the world does. They look at the church and they say hypocrisy, selfishness, judgmentalism, I don’t want that. And unfortunately in some cases their assessment is true. Now granted there’s clearly a bias in the fallen heart against the church and against Jesus to magnify the faults. So of course we need to be aware of that. But let’s not deny this is not a problem in the church. It is. And like any problem, you know, the way you solve a problem is you have to admit it first, right? And so, yes, it’s a problem. It may be a problem in your life. I wouldn’t know, necessarily, but I know this. God knows. And that’s the whole point of this passage. All throughout this passage, Jesus says, your Father sees in secret. So we can parade our religion, but it doesn’t change what God sees, right? He sees what’s really there in the heart. God doesn’t look at the outward form, God looks at the heart. So unfortunately we fall into bad habits as Christians. I don’t mean like the typical bad habits. I mean bad habits which make it hypocritical. Like yes the Bible’s God’s Word, but then I never read it. Yes God answers prayer but I rarely pray. Yes God is my provider and I’m filled with anxiety about money. Yes my possessions are the Lord’s. Yes, yes, yes, by the lips, but no, no, no, by the life. The test of the profession of our faith isn’t what we say, right? The test is what we do. That’s why at the end of this Sermon on the Mount, Jesus sums up the whole thing by saying this in Matthew 7 verse 21, and these are really alarming words, alarming words. In Matthew 7:21 He says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” So Jesus, now people read this, oh well then my salvation is based on what I do. No, no, your salvation is based on the reality of your salvation. In other words, it’s one thing to say I’m a Christian, it’s another thing to be a Christian. And those who are truly born of God’s Spirit, truly justified in His sight, through God’s work in their lives, they will bear fruit. And Jesus says, you either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad. In our day and age, the only thing anybody has to do to get church membership is say, I believe in Jesus. Okay, sign here. No, really. I believe in Jesus. Sign here. No matter how they’re living, as long as they say those words, it’s like a magical incantation that gets you in. I’m an instant member. I believe Jesus. Okay, great. Take a seat. Well, that might work in church but it’s not going to work in heaven because God knows the heart, right? So He knows that when we say Lord, He knows if we mean that. And so, so often when we’re worshiping and we say things like You are holy or You are Lord or You are blessed, I just stop and I say do I believe that, do I really believe what I’m saying, do I live like I believe that? She’s saying the words and not having a corresponding reality in the life and in the heart, well that’s basically what hypocrisy is, and we’ve all done it at different times, but it’s a dangerous thing to fall into. And it’s very easy when you’re in Christian circles to fall into, you know, Christianese, right? God provides, you know, and you’re worrying all the time. Well, okay. I mean, we get into Christian habits that end up not corresponding to the reality of how we’re living. And that’s what Jesus is warning against. What Jesus wants, what God wants is that we be sincere, that we be honest. That’s kind of weird when you think about it, that God wants us to be honest. That’s like, I mean, you know, I want my wife to be honest, I want my kids to be honest, because I don’t know their heart, right? So God’s like, I want you to be honest, but I know when you’re lying anyway. Well, I mean, He already knows, you know. So why does He care? Because that honesty is required to be in communion with Him. That’s what John is getting at in 1 John 1. He says, God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. So if we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie. First to ourselves and then to others, right? In other words, darkness and light don’t dwell together. So it’s not that God doesn’t know, [audio unclear] fellowship with Him. Just like in the garden, they ran. They ran. And so you have this growing distance between your heart and the Lord in terms of your relationship and everything on the outside can appear to be the same, but on the inside there’s a void. Because there’s not a corresponding inward reality to what’s being said on the outside. So Jesus wants sincerity. He says that the hypocrite will be rewarded. But what is their reward? Their reward is simply the reward of men. So they wanted the praise of men, they’ll get it, maybe. But maybe they’ll get a lot of praise from men. But that’s the reward. In other words, they will get what they sought, but they won’t get God’s reward. And so in all that we do, motive is paramount. It’s paramount, because if we do it with the wrong motive, the wrong object or objective, then we can do something that appears virtuous. And maybe in some senses it is virtuous, but the reward is void because we sought the reward of men and that’s all that we’re going to get.
Now let me clarify something about this before we go on. Jesus is not saying this. Listen. He’s not saying that we should deny that we perform private religious duties. In other words, I’ve been asked this question before, actually many times, if I’m fasting and someone invites me to go to lunch, what do I do? Well, you don’t sit down and say, I’m not hungry, because now you’ve lied. Okay, well you just be honest, I’m fasting so I’m going to pass. That’s all. That’s not parading your fasting. All right. I’ve had people come up to me before, not many, but it’s happened. Say, before church, by the way, I prayed for you. Sandy one morning walked up to me and said, I prayed for you this morning. And well, that wasn’t boasting. She was encouraging me. Okay, so there’s a difference. And the difference is not in the action, the difference is in the motive. Okay? So Jesus isn’t saying you should hide that you pray or that you fast. That’s not what He’s saying. He’s saying don’t parade it and there’s a world of difference between the two. He’s also not forbidding public worship. I actually had someone who told me that they believe that based upon this passage that Christians should not pray out loud together. Yeah, and that is a misapplication. Jesus is not saying don’t give alms. He’s not saying don’t pray. He’s not saying don’t fast. What He’s doing here is He’s dealing with the fundamental flaw not only of Pharisaism of His day, but the fundamental flaw in all human religion. And that is the flaw that it is done for the wrong reason. Okay, the wrong reason. So no, He’s not saying you don’t pray in public, but rather that when we pray in public, we don’t do it with an eye to other people’s opinions. So what’s forbidden here is not the public act of devotion, but rather the private desire for admiration. That’s what’s really being forbidden. Thirdly, and I’ve heard this often, Jesus isn’t saying here, well, if you’re doing lousy spiritually then don’t go to church or don’t worship. And I’ve heard people say this many times, hey I didn’t see you at church, what’s going on? Oh, you know, I’m not doing very good so, I don’t want to be a hypocrite and go to church. That’s like saying, I’m sick, so I’m not going to the doctor. Not when I’m sick, because I’d be a hypocrite. No, He’s not saying that. As a matter of fact, often people don’t go to church when they’re doing bad, because they care about the opinion of people. That’s what’s really happened. They’re avoiding people, because they don’t want to look people in the eye and say, I’m doing terrible, right? We’ve all done it. So He’s not saying that. Jesus never tells us to lower the standard to the lowest common denominator. Okay, that’s not what He’s doing here.
The Good News: Sincerity, Privacy, and Reward
So Jesus is driving home the fact that true spirituality, true prayer, which we’ll be studying in our life groups, true prayer has to be sincere before God, regardless of how it appears before men. Right? Take a moment and talk about sincerity. What do we mean by being sincere? The essential issue in true Christianity, it’s proper motive, not appearance. This is the fundamental issue. Theatrical virtue does not count in the kingdom of God. God is not and cannot be impressed. Can I say that again? God cannot be impressed. It doesn’t matter what we do for Him. You could donate a hundred million dollars today and He wouldn’t be impressed. Nothing impresses God if it’s done for the praise of men. Sincerity in the faith means that whether we’re praying or giving or serving, whatever we do, we do it with an eye to the will of God and not the opinion of men. In other words we’re doing it because God wills us to do it. That’s why even though you might be doing terrible some Sunday, you come to church. Why? Because it is the will of God. That’s why. You are to pray privately and publicly even. Why? Because it is the will of God. You engage in worship even though you might be feeling lousy. Why? Because it is the will of God. That’s why we do it. Not because others are looking. So what’s the test of whether or not we’re really sincere in what we’re doing? Jesus gives us the test right here. Notice. He says here, after saying, He says, don’t let your right hand know what your left hand is doing. In verse 3, then He says, 6, when you pray, go into your room and when you shut your door, pray to your Father in secret. In other words, the test of sincerity is privacy. He says, close the door. God sees in secret or in private. So what’s the point? The point is this, that what we do in private is really the test of our sincerity. Those who serve God in secret truly serve God for the right reason. Why? Because nobody’s looking. There’s no temptation to play to the crowd when there’s no crowd, right? So what do we do when no one’s looking but God? And privacy or obscurity reveals the true nature of our motive. And let me just emphasize this for a moment. That we live in a culture that is absorbed with images. And images of the self. We have a word now that’s made it to the Oxford English Dictionary and it’s called selfie. Let’s all hear it. You all know it. It’s a real word. Bad sign. It’s a real word. Right? We have Fakebook, I mean Facebook. We have Twitter. We have selfies. We have social media and when you read through it so much of it is absorbed with people presenting the preferred image, the preferred image. Now I understand nobody wants their dirty laundry out in public, right? I get that, but yeah I joke about calling Facebook Fakebook, but there’s a truth in it, there’s a real truth in it that people are always presenting an image which is actually not true. Nobody’s happy all the time. It doesn’t work that way. Okay. You know, your marriage isn’t always great. It doesn’t work that way. I mean, it’s just not life. It’s fake. But people build images and studies have been done about how this is affecting younger people in terms of their self-esteem, in terms of their happiness, and their self-esteem and happiness is declining because they’re comparing their real life to what they’re seeing online and they’re thinking they’re failing. But they’re not failing. They’re living normal lives. A normal life isn’t like the fake life that you see on social media. But they’re just figuring that out because they’re younger. And so we Christians of all people in this day and age need to be reminded that God doesn’t look—well, no, God does look at your Facebook, doesn’t He? Maybe I need to remind you of that. And maybe I should remind you that God looks at your Twitter feed and God looks at your Instagram and God looks at everything you’re putting out there for public consumption. But He’s not impressed by any of it. He’s probably depressed, knowing that God doesn’t get depressed. If God got depressed, we’d really be in trouble. Ha ha. Wow. It’s like, how many tweets about coffee can I read in one day? I mean, am I right or not? You’re laughing because you know I’m right. Another picture of food. How many of those do I have to look at? I know that you eat food. Thank you very much. I eat food. We all eat food. There is no news that you eat food. It is not news. We all eat food. But the whole thing that’s happening here is this focus on self, but not just self, focus on the externalities of what I’m eating, what I’m drinking, what I’m doing, and through it all, God’s looking at the heart. Now I actually think Facebook and Twitter and Instagram, I think they’re really great tools for the kingdom, if we use them for the kingdom. But often they get used to, you know, criticize people and tear down other people and make yourself look really cool and do all these things. They could be used for the kingdom. And some people are, some of you are. So I’m not like a Luddite, okay, and you can look that up later. Okay. So the Lord, what the Lord’s telling us throughout this text is God sees in secret, so giving, praying, fasting, worship, serving, preaching, whatever you’re doing, don’t do it for the wrong reason. Do it for your Father in heaven who sees your real motive. Do it because you love God. Amen. I mean we live in an age which pushes against the reality of the invisible. You hear me? The reality of the invisible, because everything is so visual. I can’t see your heart, thank God. And you can’t see mine and you’re really blessed because mine’s bad. So I can only see what you do. You can only see what I do. But how much of what you do or I do corresponds to the inward reality. Only God knows, right? And Jesus is reminding us God knows. He knows. So on the one hand He’s warning us against falling into hypocrisy. On the other hand He’s encouraging us because God sees in secret. Now this is, well here’s what Matthew Henry said. He said, as it, meaning God seeing in secret, as it is a terror to hypocrites, so it is a comfort to sincere Christians that God sees in secret. When we talk about the omniscience of God and people say God sees everything, a lot of times our first thought is, oh my gosh, God sees that bad thing that nobody else knows about? Yeah, He does. But God sees every private prayer, every private gift, every sacrifice, every motive of compassion, every tear that you shed for the kingdom and for others. God sees everything that no one else sees and He’s going to reward you for it. He’s going to reward you for it. There are people that belong to the Lord, that are part of His church that never get any recognition. They don’t have public gifts. They’re not on the stage for any reason. Yet they serve in secret. They give in secret, they pray in secret, and God sees every gift, every act, every prayer. And they’ll be rewarded. And when we get to heaven, it’s going to be a revelation. Because some of the superstar Christians are going to be like, hey, where’s so-and-so with the big church? And where’s so-and-so that was on the radio? And where’s so-and-so that wrote all the books? I’m like, oh man, way back there in the slums. Wow, it’s a little bit, they got a little bitty hut way back there. Well, who’s this that got the mansion right next to the throne? Who’s got the glorious palace right there, right there by the throne? Nobody knows their name. Nobody knows their name, except Jesus. Because Jesus watched everything they did, and gave, and prayed all the years of life with no recognition. They were building that mansion stone by stone. And yet so many people, and I’m telling you, I’m on the stage, I’m on the radio, I’ve written books, okay? It is a snare and a temptation. And I have a friend who is much more publicly known than I am. And years ago he said, he’s written 40 books, he’s done all kinds of stuff. He said to me years ago, he said, I’ve made a habit of undermining my own success. The more I thought about it, I realized what he was saying. And it is so dangerous when you’re in the public eye, and that’s why we see so many people in the public eye fall. Okay? I mean, it happens all the time. Every week, I read an article about a different guy or gal falling, who had a stage. It’s a snare. And when I was a young Christian, I wanted a bigger stage. And I think my motive was partly right and partly bad, actually. I think part of it was I wanted to influence people for Jesus. I want to share the gospel. Give me a stage for that. Yeah, okay. But part of it wasn’t that. As I’ve come to understand my wicked heart, part of it is the human desire that we all have just for a stage. And some of you are like, well I don’t want a stage because I’m, you know, I’m a quiet person. Well God bless you. Really God bless you. But I do hope in some unimaginable way you want to share Jesus and influence people for Jesus. Right? The fact is we all have a stage. Maybe your stage is your children, mom, and every day they’re watching you. What’s mom going to do today? Mom going to scream at us today? Mom going to lose her stuff again today? Let’s see what mom does today. So we all have a stage, you go to work, your coworkers see what you’re doing. Oh, let’s see if Joe shows up late again today for the meeting. Let’s see if Joe sneaks out early today from work. You know, Joe, the lazy Christian, you know that Joe? People are watching, right? We all have some stage somewhere. God sees everything and it’s both frightening and comforting at the same time. Because one of the hardest things of the Christian life is not only to sacrifice, that’s hard. It’s hard to sacrifice, isn’t it? But to do it in private when nobody sees and nobody cares and no one says thank you and you’re just laying your guts out there before God in intercession or you’re writing a check and it’s like killing you to do this thing in private, you’re like, man, maybe somebody could say thank you. Ever feel that way? God’s going to say thank you. Just be patient. Just be patient. David said, “Thou tellest my wanderings: put Thou my tears into Thy bottle: are they not in Thy book?” And then at the end of Malachi we read this, “Then they that feared the Lord spoke often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name.” There’s no good deed, no sacrifice, no prayer and no tear that God does not see and record. Your day is coming. Be patient. Be faithful. Be faithful. If God wants you to have a stage you’ll get the stage. Use the stage you have even if it’s just in front of your kids, in front of a couple of co-workers. That’s your stage. Be consistent in what you say, and what you do, and who you are. And you will receive a reward from God because He sees in secret, amen? Let’s stand and pray. Lord, in Your Word it says Your eyes are like a flaming fire. [audio unclear] Your gaze burns up everything that obscures what’s truly there. All the coverings that we put up, all the excuses, all the rationalizations, everything that’s in the way of truth, Your eyes just burn through. And I pray, Lord, for myself, my family, for this church, that we would be real in private. I pray that we’d be willing to pray and sacrifice and do righteousness in private because You see in private. I pray that we’d be consistent Christians in our witness to those around us. I thank You, Lord, last of all, that as we set our minds on things above and not things on this earth, remind us we have a reward. Your Word says Your reward is in Your hand and it’s coming when You come. You will reward us. Make us faithful, Lord, we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.