SPEAKER_00: Looking at Jesus' words on the s that he gave on the Sermon of the Mount.
SPEAKER_00: And we're going to dig in a little deeper.
SPEAKER_00: We've been in this series called Different, Following Jesus in a World That Is Not, or Following Jesus in a World That Isn't Different.
SPEAKER_00: And we are to be different.
SPEAKER_00: And he gives us a lot of truths and treasures that we saw in the last chapter as it began in Matthew chapter five.
SPEAKER_00: But today we're going to look in Matthew chapter number six and look at the different um motives, the different motives that that come behind whatever acts that we do.
SPEAKER_00: And I'll give you a statement or two and then I'll sort of open our minds to a question or two and then I'll dig in and read the verses and then we'll preach through the verses.
SPEAKER_00: But when you know you are loved by the Father in heaven, you no longer need to live for the applause of people.
SPEAKER_00: When I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I am loved by my Father in heaven, I don't have to live for the applause of people.
SPEAKER_00: And essentially that's what Jesus is digging into in Matthew chapter number six, and we'll look primarily in the first 18 verses.
SPEAKER_00: But let me ask you this before we read.
SPEAKER_00: What uh who are you trying to impress if I were to ask you that?
SPEAKER_00: Now I get it.
SPEAKER_00: In life, I might ask my kids that same question, and they would respond back with Dad, I'm trying to impress you.
SPEAKER_00: Yesterday after Montgomery's game, he'd come up and said, Dad, did I do good?
SPEAKER_00: And I said, Yeah, why?
SPEAKER_00: Because he wanted his dad to tell him, yes, you did awesome.
SPEAKER_00: So I understand that as a child you want to impress your father, but I'm asking you individually right now, right here, who is it that you try to impress?
SPEAKER_00: Because there is something on the inside about us individually that likes to be noticed.
SPEAKER_00: We like for someone to pat us on the back and say, good job, or man, that really that I'm glad that you did that, or I'm happy that you did this.
SPEAKER_00: And listen to me, there's nothing wrong with wanting to be encouraged or for somebody to encourage you unless the reason behind it was for only you to be noticed.
SPEAKER_00: And that's sort of what Jesus is digging into.
SPEAKER_00: It's interesting as we read these verses here in a moment.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna see three topics.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna see giving, we're gonna see praying, we're gonna see fasting.
SPEAKER_00: And what you and I are gonna discover and learn is that you can do the right thing for the wrong reason.
SPEAKER_00: Interesting to me that I can do what was right or what I'm supposed to do, but I have the wrong motive behind it, what's the point?
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna see that come to life in uh chapter number six.
SPEAKER_00: I can give, but if I give for the wrong reason, because I do it for someone to clap or tell me good job, that's obviously the wrong reason.
SPEAKER_00: If I pray and I pray for the wrong reason, you might say, how could you do that?
SPEAKER_00: And I'll show you when we get to this portion of the scripture.
SPEAKER_00: But if you do it for the wrong motives, the wrong reason.
SPEAKER_00: You can serve, but if you do it for the wrong reasons, you listen, you can come to church, but if you do it for the wrong reasons, it's the wrong motives.
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna look at that because Jesus is trying to open our eyes to see that, man, what's on the outside's gotta match the inside.
SPEAKER_00: See, I can fake it on the outside, but if my inside's not broken and bent under the Lord, then I've messed up, I've missed it.
SPEAKER_00: Because people can see what I do, but hear me out, Jesus can see why I do it.
SPEAKER_00: There's the difference.
SPEAKER_00: People see what I do, but only Christ knows why I do it.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he's getting into as he shows us and opens up our minds.
SPEAKER_00: Last week we saw that Jesus dealt with our hearts behind every sin that's ever done.
SPEAKER_00: Now he goes a little deeper, digs in a little deeper, and says, you know what, there's some times that I can avoid some outward sins, but yet if my heart ain't right, as I avoid those, is it wrong anyways?
SPEAKER_00: That's the motive.
SPEAKER_00: So let's look together in this text because it's somewhat challenging, man.
SPEAKER_00: I think, man, I'm doing what's right, but if I my motives are not right, then I'm then I'm not right.
SPEAKER_00: So it's somewhat challenging because I don't think the problem isn't what we're doing, it's the problem is why we're doing it.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what he's trying to hit right here.
SPEAKER_00: Let's look together, verse one.
SPEAKER_00: Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise you have no reward from your father in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Now remember when he began in Matthew chapter 5, verse number one, he's preaching this sermon, and now we get to chapter 6, it's a continuation.
SPEAKER_00: The chapters and the verses were added as they translated it in the original language to our language to help us know where to turn.
SPEAKER_00: So this sermon continues on.
SPEAKER_00: And he got finished last week what we read now.
SPEAKER_00: He starts not necessarily a new topic, it's a continued sermon.
SPEAKER_00: Then he goes in verse 2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogue and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.
SPEAKER_00: Assuredly I say to you, he's saying, Truly I am telling you, they have their reward.
SPEAKER_00: But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.
SPEAKER_00: That your charitable deed may be in secret, and your father who sees in secret will himself reward you openly.
SPEAKER_00: Now he goes in verse number five, and he begins talking about prayer, but notice some of the same words are going to be used.
SPEAKER_00: He goes in verse five, and when you pray, you should not be like the hypocrites.
SPEAKER_00: There's that word again.
SPEAKER_00: For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the street, that they may be seen by men.
SPEAKER_00: Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
SPEAKER_00: Verse six, Jesus continues, 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, do not be like them.
SPEAKER_00: For your father knows the things you have need of before you ask.
SPEAKER_00: And now we'll flip over to verse fourteen and we'll or excuse me, sixteen, and we'll come back to those in a moment.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the third topic.
SPEAKER_00: Moreover, verse sixteen moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites with a sad countenance, for they disfigure their face their faces, that they may appear to be men to be fasting.
SPEAKER_00: Assurely I say to you, they have their reward.
SPEAKER_00: But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but you to your father who is in the secret place, and your father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
SPEAKER_00: Chapter six, verses one through eighteen hits on three different topics, but yet at the same point, meaning if our heart ain't right, it doesn't matter what I do on the outside.
SPEAKER_00: He hits it and he uses this word hypocrite multiple times in the text.
SPEAKER_00: Now we've heard that word hypocrite be used before.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, God has opened doors for me to invite somebody to church, and I'll never forget this one person in particular told me, man, they should look, I appreciate you, and you're nice and all.
SPEAKER_00: And I knew there was a butt.
SPEAKER_00: You understand?
SPEAKER_00: I knew it was coming.
SPEAKER_00: But, man, I just I just can't, man, there's just too many hypocrites there at church.
SPEAKER_00: I just can't come.
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, man, I I I've heard I said I've never heard that one before.
SPEAKER_00: But I said, man, you're in the Walmarts and you're cool with buying the stuff here.
SPEAKER_00: There's hypocrites here, right?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, yeah, they're everywhere.
SPEAKER_00: And I said, Oh, but you don't want to go to church.
SPEAKER_00: And he laughed and he got what I was saying then.
SPEAKER_00: But the truth of the matter is, is this word hypocrite is used multiple times through this section of scripture.
SPEAKER_00: So why?
SPEAKER_00: What does that word even mean?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I can tell you what it meant in scripture.
SPEAKER_00: I can't tell you exactly what people mean when they say it outside of the context of scripture, but in scripture, the word hypocrite that is used multiple times in this section of verses is used this way.
SPEAKER_00: It means to pretend to be something that you're not.
SPEAKER_00: The word actor comes from this particular word in the Greek, meaning that I am imitating something.
SPEAKER_00: I am impressing, I'm in, I am, I'm making something out of nothing.
SPEAKER_00: I am impressing somebody else than I actually am to do or to achieve a goal, an actor, and uh uh to be something that I truly am not.
SPEAKER_00: And so essentially what Jesus is saying here is that these men, the Pharisees, were giving and on the outside wanting the world to see them, but on the inside, they were doing it only for the applaud of man.
SPEAKER_00: So the outside of them, they were pretending to be something that they truly internally were not.
SPEAKER_00: He uses the same phrase in the context of praying.
SPEAKER_00: They're praying in ways for only people to applaud them, to say, man, you pray really, really good, or man, you've really could, man, you really got a hold of God on that one.
SPEAKER_00: But on the outside, they were hypocrites.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because internally they were not bent to that.
SPEAKER_00: They were just saying what they had to say to get the applause of man.
SPEAKER_00: And the same concept with fasting.
SPEAKER_00: So he uses it three different times, and I want to make sure that we understand what this word actually means.
SPEAKER_00: It's almost as if somebody's wearing a mask, pretending to be something that they are not.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus knows our heart, but only we know the outside of each other.
SPEAKER_00: And I think in a nutshell, what Christ is saying is this be careful that your relationship with God doesn't become a performance.
SPEAKER_00: And if we're not careful, sometimes that's what it actually could be.
SPEAKER_00: All about show and what others think.
SPEAKER_00: To get an applause or to get somebody to pat us on the back and tell us how good we were at giving this or praying that or fasting at certain times.
SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly what Jesus is trying to safeguard us from.
SPEAKER_00: Don't ever let your relationship with God turn into some level of performance because there's, I promise you, I can't perform enough to please the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to me, I have got to be broken internally, and then it'll show up on the outside.
SPEAKER_00: So let's break this down into three parts, and I'll give them to you.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus sort of broke them up in scripture, but we'll we'll look at them as he did.
SPEAKER_00: We'll look at the first few verses from verse one through four, and we're gonna look at this thought.
SPEAKER_00: When you give, when you give.
SPEAKER_00: So that word hypocrite is gonna be used a lot, but we're gonna break it up in three sections here.
SPEAKER_00: When you give.
SPEAKER_00: Notice in verse number two, as we've read, I'll sort of refresh our mind here.
SPEAKER_00: In verse number two, after it says, Therefore it says, when you do a charitable deed.
SPEAKER_00: The way I like it is that Jesus doesn't say if, he says when.
SPEAKER_00: And then what's interesting is that Jesus assumes that generosity will follow every one of his followers.
SPEAKER_00: He makes an assumption that all of his followers are going to be generous because why?
SPEAKER_00: He knew what he was gonna do in the end.
SPEAKER_00: So as he brings his disciples together and pours this out to them, he's thinking, man, I'm gonna end up giving my entire life.
SPEAKER_00: Why can't you give something out of the right hearts?
SPEAKER_00: So he says, when you give, Jesus is assuming that his followers are generous and that they are giving unto the Lord and they're being generous with what God has blessed them with.
SPEAKER_00: So the issue isn't whether you are or aren't.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because it doesn't, it states and lays the truth that you are.
SPEAKER_00: He assumes that you are.
SPEAKER_00: So here's the question.
SPEAKER_00: Not whether you are, no, you are as important to him, is what he's saying.
SPEAKER_00: So I can only assume what he assumed.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the question: why are you?
SPEAKER_00: So he says, when you give, now the deeper thought process is, why are you doing it?
SPEAKER_00: Why are you doing it?
SPEAKER_00: He's established that you are.
SPEAKER_00: So let's break it down.
SPEAKER_00: In verse number two, giving can become a performance.
SPEAKER_00: That's why he said what he said and two.
SPEAKER_00: Do not sound a trumpet before men as the hypocrites did, is what uh the middle part of verse number two says.
SPEAKER_00: Don't sound a trumpet.
SPEAKER_00: Now, listen, I you what is a trumpet is going to bring attention to itself, right?
SPEAKER_00: Friday night at the football game, halftime.
SPEAKER_00: I look out there and there's all kinds of instruments walking on the field.
SPEAKER_00: Or people are holding them, obviously.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean.
SPEAKER_00: They're walking out there.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I don't, I'll be honest with you.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what a trumpet.
SPEAKER_00: They all were trumpets to me, just to be honest with you.
SPEAKER_00: Well, if they have a horn and you do this and make it and you blow air through it, it's a it's a trumpet in my mind, okay?
SPEAKER_00: But what happens?
SPEAKER_00: It brings attention.
SPEAKER_00: There was uh all kinds of thoughts going on the stands, meaning there was already one lightning delay.
SPEAKER_00: Is there going to be another lightning delay?
SPEAKER_00: There's some people are thinking, man, am I gonna wait four hours for French fries in that line that is very, very slow, slower than the self-checkout at Walmart?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: They're just trying to decide what they're gonna do.
SPEAKER_00: And then the trumpets and the band begin to play, and what happens?
SPEAKER_00: Your mind stops looking around.
SPEAKER_00: You begin to focus in on what is happening on the football field, the movements of their feet and the timing of the music.
SPEAKER_00: It brings attention to the performance that they were practicing week after week after week since the summer to show us on the halftime show, a performance.
SPEAKER_00: And if I read verse number two, he says, Don't sound the trumpet before men, meaning don't make it a performance about you, because why?
SPEAKER_00: When you do that, it makes it all about you.
SPEAKER_00: That's why he followed up in verse number two.
SPEAKER_00: It says that they have glory from men.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, if you tell everybody and make it all about what you just gave, or how you just helped somebody, therefore it makes it a performance for you, and all the attention is on you.
SPEAKER_00: What's the motive?
SPEAKER_00: The motive was for them to get some level of applause or to be celebrated.
SPEAKER_00: They wasn't interested in helping somebody, what Jesus is saying.
SPEAKER_00: They were interested in somebody seeing them help somebody, and therein lies the problem.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't just give, they gave for recognition.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus is trying to lay it out there in such a clear way for his followers and for us.
SPEAKER_00: That's why he says, actors, a hypocrite if you were.
SPEAKER_00: The outside action is, man, look what I've done.
SPEAKER_00: And the inside's not broken for the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: The inside's, yes, keep telling me how good I was at doing that.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 3 goes a little deeper and says, man, giving should flow from the heart as we seek after the Father.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 3.
SPEAKER_00: But when, again he assumes, when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.
SPEAKER_00: It's interesting terminology there.
SPEAKER_00: We've heard that before.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of times in corporate world, they may say that when there's a poor communication within the office, the left hand, the right hand don't know what's up.
SPEAKER_00: So why would Jesus use this sort of terminology here in chapter number six in verse number three?
SPEAKER_00: I think he was being a little exaggerant in some degree.
SPEAKER_00: He was sort of saying, man, listen to me, this is exactly, we shouldn't exaggerate this and make some level of performance.
SPEAKER_00: So what should I do if the right hand and the left hand shouldn't know?
SPEAKER_00: This is essentially what he's saying.
SPEAKER_00: Don't make a production out of giving.
SPEAKER_00: This is what he says.
SPEAKER_00: I love simple stuff.
SPEAKER_00: I like to keep it very simple, but my mind processes that easy.
SPEAKER_00: This is what he's saying.
SPEAKER_00: Don't do that, do this.
SPEAKER_00: Give and then move on.
SPEAKER_00: Give and then just move on.
SPEAKER_00: That's essentially what he's letting everybody know.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, man, if you're gonna help somebody, if you're gonna give something, just do it and move on.
SPEAKER_00: Why should we just move on?
SPEAKER_00: Well, he tells us the answer in verse number four.
SPEAKER_00: Verse number four, that your charitable deed may be in secret, that your father who sees in secret will himself reward you openly.
SPEAKER_00: So your father who sees it, therefore the audience that you need to worry about seeing is the audience of one, which is Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And guess what?
SPEAKER_00: He sees all of it.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to wonder if somebody saw it because he sees all things.
SPEAKER_00: No different than my kids will say, Dad, did you see that hit I made?
SPEAKER_00: Dad, did you see the tackle?
SPEAKER_00: And I say, Yes, man, I saw it.
SPEAKER_00: Go make another one.
SPEAKER_00: Go hit that ball further.
SPEAKER_00: Or my girls will say, Dad, did you see my cheer?
SPEAKER_00: Did you see me get thrown in the air?
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I saw that.
SPEAKER_00: Continue on.
SPEAKER_00: They want the approval of me and Megan.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because they want us to be proud of them.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to wonder if anybody sees it because the only one that matters saw it all is what he's saying.
SPEAKER_00: He sees everything, everything.
SPEAKER_00: Now listen, we have a choice to make.
SPEAKER_00: In life, there's a lot of choices.
SPEAKER_00: But here, you and I must decide what kind of reward that you and I want.
SPEAKER_00: Because notice the sobering statement that Christ made in chapter two, in verse two of this chapter.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 2, in the latter part of verse number two, he says, Assuredly I say to you, they have their reward.
SPEAKER_00: He's speaking to the hypocrites.
SPEAKER_00: They have their reward.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus didn't say they won't receive an award.
SPEAKER_00: Yet they gave out of the wrong motive, and Jesus didn't say, I'm going to withhold them in a reward.
SPEAKER_00: No, he said they have their reward.
SPEAKER_00: They got exactly what they wanted.
SPEAKER_00: What do they want?
SPEAKER_00: People to notice.
SPEAKER_00: What'd they get?
SPEAKER_00: They got an applause.
SPEAKER_00: What'd they get?
SPEAKER_00: They got people to care about what they did and to think it was spiritual.
SPEAKER_00: So essentially what he is saying is, that's your reward.
SPEAKER_00: You wanted applause, you got it.
SPEAKER_00: Their reward is going to be surface level only, nothing eternal.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: But hear me out.
SPEAKER_00: Don't confuse the applause of people with the approval of your Savior.
SPEAKER_00: It's far different.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: We know what Christ says.
SPEAKER_00: He is going to give us the ultimate approval.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to me.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter how many times I get clapped for on this earth.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not doing it for them.
SPEAKER_00: I'm doing it for him, and that's what all that matters.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is forcing you and I'd ask a question: which reward do you really want?
SPEAKER_00: Do I want temporar temporary recognition?
SPEAKER_00: Or do I want eternal pleasure from my Father?
SPEAKER_00: It's up to us.
SPEAKER_00: Individually, we must ask that.
SPEAKER_00: So let's make this super personal just for a second, and then we'll move on to our next couple verses.
SPEAKER_00: Why do you serve?
SPEAKER_00: I'm just assuming that you do.
SPEAKER_00: Why do you give?
SPEAKER_00: I'm only assuming that you do, that's what Christ did.
SPEAKER_00: Why do you help people?
SPEAKER_00: I'm only assuming that you do, as he did, right?
SPEAKER_00: What happens inside when I do it?
SPEAKER_00: Do I secretly want recognition or am I cool knowing that only the Father sees it?
SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes in those moments like that, it actually will open our eyes to see the ultimate.
SPEAKER_00: It's okay to stop Paul's and analyze.
SPEAKER_00: There's times in my life where I have to think of why did I do what I did?
SPEAKER_00: And if I need to make some internal adjustments in my life, I do it.
SPEAKER_00: I readjust.
SPEAKER_00: Life is all about adjustment.
SPEAKER_00: And we tell you, if I'm doing it for the wrong reason, I'm the only one that can adjust that.
SPEAKER_00: I have to.
SPEAKER_00: I can't do it for anybody else but for me.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus isn't telling you and I to stop doing good.
SPEAKER_00: No, he's telling us to stop looking at the wrong audience as we do good.
SPEAKER_00: You see the difference?
SPEAKER_00: Give, serve, help, be generous.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he's saying.
SPEAKER_00: If the father, let me give you this statement, then we'll move to our next verse.
SPEAKER_00: If the father sees it, you don't need anyone else to notice it.
SPEAKER_00: You see the difference?
SPEAKER_00: All right, let's move on to verse 5.
SPEAKER_00: So he shows us when you give.
SPEAKER_00: Now the next topic that he's preaching about in the Sermon on the Mount is when you pray.
SPEAKER_00: So in verses five through essentially 15, he gives us these verses about prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And I only read a few of them, but I'll read the other ones in a moment.
SPEAKER_00: But he says, when you pray.
SPEAKER_00: So notice the text in verse number five.
SPEAKER_00: When you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites, the actors, the pretenders.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, he doesn't say if you pray, he is assuming that you do it.
SPEAKER_00: Now, out of the three, most of us are good.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I can do the prayers.
SPEAKER_00: Now here's the question: are we only praying when we need something?
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Are we only praying when I need God to change something that I don't like?
SPEAKER_00: Listen to me.
SPEAKER_00: What is the mindset behind my prayer life with the Lord?
SPEAKER_00: He says, not if, but when.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus is assuming that you pray on a regular basis, a constant conversation with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine just opening up your phone and getting on your phone and just talking to somebody for days on end?
SPEAKER_00: Now, some of y'all could.
SPEAKER_00: My kids probably love this, right?
SPEAKER_00: But I'm thinking to myself, man, I got stuff to do.
SPEAKER_00: I need to hang up.
SPEAKER_00: I got some activity.
SPEAKER_00: I got some action, I got to do a bunch of junk.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm thinking about like this.
SPEAKER_00: Instead of being on the phone with somebody, what if I'm like constantly having the phone on with the Lord?
SPEAKER_00: The constant communication with the Father, meaning I'm leaving, man.
SPEAKER_00: I'm talking to God.
SPEAKER_00: God, should I go left or right?
SPEAKER_00: Should I hit that gas station or should I go to Ingalls or to go to Kroger?
SPEAKER_00: And y'all might think that's silly, but I do that because I always think that God lays my step.
SPEAKER_00: What if I'm supposed to be at Engels to encourage somebody or to invite somebody to church?
SPEAKER_00: But I went to the Kroger's because it's easier.
SPEAKER_00: Or what if I went to Ingalls because Kroger's like a madhouse 24-7?
SPEAKER_00: That one up there, like you can't really get in there and get out within five minutes.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm like, I'm going to Ingalls.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care if it's$2 more.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just going to get out of there, you know?
SPEAKER_00: But maybe the Lord says no.
SPEAKER_00: And there's been times where I've had to talk to somebody that hadn't seen it in a while.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe somebody came up to me and asked me a question because they saw me pray at an event or something.
SPEAKER_00: And then I think, Lord, I know you laid those steps out.
SPEAKER_00: I'm saying a constant communication, meaning I'm talking to the Lord all the time, not just when I want something.
SPEAKER_00: See, the issue isn't whether you pray, it's why you pray.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, he's assuming that you're praying.
SPEAKER_00: And I think prayer more than anything else of the three topics here reveals how we view our relationship with God.
SPEAKER_00: I tell you this, when I was preparing for this, I stopped and thought over the last month, what did I pray about the most?
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm telling you, it proves and shows the true motive behind my relationship with the Father.
SPEAKER_00: Then, you know, listen, this is not a religion, this is a relationship.
SPEAKER_00: It's a living, breathing, vibrant relationship.
SPEAKER_00: I talk, he talks.
SPEAKER_00: He opens my eyes, he guides my steps.
SPEAKER_00: It's a constant conversation.
SPEAKER_00: And I started to think about, man, what am I priority?
SPEAKER_00: This reveals my prayer life will actually reveal how I reveal how I view my relationship.
SPEAKER_00: Is it just one-sided, that's all about me and not about him?
SPEAKER_00: Does it show me?
SPEAKER_00: Does it prove what?
SPEAKER_00: That's open my eyes and I hope that it'll open yours as well.
SPEAKER_00: Let's look at these, let's look at verse five and six just for a second.
SPEAKER_00: See, prayer is a conversation with your father, not a performance for people to look at.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, not hypocritical, right?
SPEAKER_00: The actor, the pretending.
SPEAKER_00: Prayer is a conversation with the Father.
SPEAKER_00: Notice in verse 5 it says, when you pray, then look in verse number 6, but 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.
SPEAKER_00: So what's he mean?
SPEAKER_00: Does Jesus condemning public prayer?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I would say no, because he actually prayed publicly.
SPEAKER_00: Is he criticizing when we as a church pray publicly?
SPEAKER_00: No, because you can go back to Acts and read of the first church and they prayed publicly.
SPEAKER_00: So the method isn't necessarily praying aloud or praying even publicly.
SPEAKER_00: Remember the focus of what is happening here.
SPEAKER_00: It's they're not condemned, he's not condemning public prayer.
SPEAKER_00: No, it's something that happened all through uh through his ministry and happened all through the ages of the church.
SPEAKER_00: See, the problem isn't where they're praying, the problem is why are they praying.
SPEAKER_00: So he mentions clearly in verse number five about them praying on the street corners and even praying in the synagogues.
SPEAKER_00: And so it's not where they were standing or that they were standing in a way that all could see them.
SPEAKER_00: No, it's why they pray.
SPEAKER_00: And if they're only praying to be seen and to be heard by the people around them, then the motive was definitely wrong.
SPEAKER_00: They stood on the street corner and they prayed so that others could see.
SPEAKER_00: That's what verse 5 says, that they may be seen by men.
SPEAKER_00: So in theory, they're not really talking to God, they're performing for people to look at and to say, man, man, what a great prayer that was.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you something.
SPEAKER_00: Every time when I talk about the posture of prayer, yes, I know physically there's times where I'll kneel down on my knees and pray, but if my heart isn't kneeled and bent and broken under the Lord when I pray, man, I've missed the mark the entire time.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he's showing us in the text.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he's not about men.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about performance.
SPEAKER_00: Well, then reading in verse 6, it talks about when you pray, go into a secret room.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm thinking to myself, man, what if I had need something to pray, but I ain't got time to go to the closet and pray?
SPEAKER_00: Is that okay?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yes.
SPEAKER_00: Of course.
SPEAKER_00: I pray when I drive down the road.
SPEAKER_00: Whether you're somebody's in the car or not, I might pray when I'm walking around.
SPEAKER_00: There's times where I pray where I'm not all alone, and there's times that I pray when I am all alone.
SPEAKER_00: So why would he say clearly in verse number six, when you pray, go in a secret spot?
SPEAKER_00: See, prayer isn't a speech delivered to impress God.
SPEAKER_00: What is it then?
SPEAKER_00: It's like talking to a child talking to their father.
SPEAKER_00: And so if I'm only praying to get attention, then that's why he's essentially saying, go to the secret place, because you're only praying for the audience of one, not for the audience of many.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to go and approach the father as a child approaches their father.
SPEAKER_00: Now, listen, if you want to have some humorous moments, if I could record some conversations that I have with my kids, I'm sure you have them as well.
SPEAKER_00: And I'll never forget we can be driving down the road and I'll get this story out of I don't know where, about something that probably never actually happened, but yet it sounded really cool, and there was all kinds of actions and activity that went with it, and I am just driving, engaging in the conversation, laughing, cutting up, because I always think, man, if they're gonna tell me about this craziest stuff they're half making up, I want them to know that I'm gonna listen because one day they're gonna come with something very serious that I'm gonna have to listen.
SPEAKER_00: I want them to know that their dad listens to them.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm just thinking about how they approach me.
SPEAKER_00: They don't worry about the vocabulary.
SPEAKER_00: They don't want to make sure that their words are elegant or any of that nature.
SPEAKER_00: No, they just approach the father openly and innocent and say, God, dad, this is what I'm thinking.
SPEAKER_00: This is some stuff I got going on, or man, this is a story that I just made up that I want it to sound real.
SPEAKER_00: And I start thinking about why do we try to approach the father in heaven and have to and make it feel like I've got to give some speech to impress?
SPEAKER_00: Because no matter how I pray, my prayers ain't gonna impress God.
SPEAKER_00: The brokenness in my heart and my approach is what he's after, not the words that I say.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, if we had to have a vocabulary test, I would fail it.
SPEAKER_00: Would y'all agree?
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: But if it's a math test, I'll win.
SPEAKER_00: I'll just gonna be honest with you.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I can add two plus two is four, okay?
SPEAKER_00: I can do that.
SPEAKER_00: But if it's vocabulary, I will butcher it up and laugh as we do it.
SPEAKER_00: It's fine.
SPEAKER_00: So it isn't about your vocabulary words, because then I would never get a hold of God.
SPEAKER_00: No, he's not asking you and I to have some sort of certain terminology to impress the Father in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: It is the approach of innocence knowing that I can honestly approach my father.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I'll have people ask me, preacher, I just don't know how to pray.
SPEAKER_00: Could you help me pray?
SPEAKER_00: I don't mind helping them.
SPEAKER_00: And I, you know, y'all know I'm a plain talker.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just like, man, you see how you and I are talking?
SPEAKER_00: That's how you talk to God.
SPEAKER_00: You got it?
SPEAKER_00: See ya, right?
SPEAKER_00: And they're like, oh, is that easy?
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Just talk.
SPEAKER_00: Just talk, man.
SPEAKER_00: All you gotta do is just have a conversation with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to have impressive words.
SPEAKER_00: You need an honest heart.
SPEAKER_00: That's it.
SPEAKER_00: And I'll be as real as I can be.
SPEAKER_00: There's times where I don't even know sometimes what to pray, but I know that he does, and I'll just lay it out there.
SPEAKER_00: See, what I love is knowing that the Father in heaven is not grading the word, the vocabulary words that I use.
SPEAKER_00: He's just listening to his child cry out at times and pour his heart out or seeking him for direction.
SPEAKER_00: You see the difference.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he means in those couple verses.
SPEAKER_00: What else?
SPEAKER_00: Prayer doesn't have to impress God.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 7 and 8.
SPEAKER_00: And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do, meaning you don't have to just sit there and use repeated words over and over and over again, for they think that they will be her for many words.
SPEAKER_00: It's like the more times I say the same thing, I'm gonna be her, is what they think.
SPEAKER_00: And then in verse number eight, therefore do not be like them, for your father knows the things uh you have need of before you ask.
SPEAKER_00: I like that, and I started to think for a second.
SPEAKER_00: So I don't have to repeat myself a bunch of times.
SPEAKER_00: He, and I, nope, no, Jesus, no, you don't have to do that.
SPEAKER_00: But I'd love in verse number eight, so before I ask, he already knows.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you're anything like me, I'm reading my Bible and I'm studying this, and I've studied this text before, and then, you know, a year or go by and I'll study it again, and then you remember certain things, and I scratch my head saying, Verse number eight says, He knows what I need before I ask.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I ask?
SPEAKER_00: Why am I asking?
SPEAKER_00: Why will I pray if he already knows what I need?
SPEAKER_00: And that makes my head scratch sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: I'm thinking, man, I'm just gonna be like, hmm.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to just scratch my head and think about this one just for a second.
SPEAKER_00: What is he, why would I pray if he already knows the need?
SPEAKER_00: See, we pray because we're in a relationship with him.
SPEAKER_00: When I open in a prayer, it opens a level of fellowship that I wouldn't have if I didn't pray.
SPEAKER_00: And what happens when you fellowship with the Lord?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it builds some level of togetherness, it builds an intimacy that I know that he'll listen and I know that he's right there.
SPEAKER_00: It does something when I pray, even though he already knows.
SPEAKER_00: No different.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever asked your child a question that you already knew the answer to?
SPEAKER_00: Nowadays, man, listen, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't have email when I was in school.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't email my test grades all the time.
SPEAKER_00: I'll get an email before the school bell rings.
SPEAKER_00: They get home, how was the test?
SPEAKER_00: I done know what I already know the grade.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to talk about it.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, dad.
SPEAKER_00: You know, she didn't even tell us about it.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah?
SPEAKER_00: So you did good?
SPEAKER_00: Uh well, I wouldn't say that.
SPEAKER_00: Why am I bringing it up?
SPEAKER_00: I want a conversation.
SPEAKER_00: Say, hey man, did you do your homework?
SPEAKER_00: Man, oh I didn't feel like it today.
SPEAKER_00: Oh.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: I already know you didn't do it.
SPEAKER_00: But I just want to talk about it.
SPEAKER_00: It's no different than there's sometimes that Megan and I, I'll ask her a question that I already know the answer to.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Boy, man, you mean to give you some pointers?
SPEAKER_00: Because as I talk to her about it, it makes her know that I care what's going on.
SPEAKER_00: I learned this years ago.
SPEAKER_00: We were married a year or two, and I'm thinking, man, it's time to go to bed.
SPEAKER_00: What am I gonna do?
SPEAKER_00: Go to sleep.
SPEAKER_00: It's bedtime.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: And then years she's like, you don't ever talk to me.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, we talk all the time.
SPEAKER_00: And you know what I had to figure out?
SPEAKER_00: I'll help you on this one, brother.
SPEAKER_00: He's laughing at me.
SPEAKER_00: I'll help him.
SPEAKER_00: Is that 20 or 30 minutes before my eyes actually close is some good time to have a conversation with your wife.
SPEAKER_00: And it made the next day way better.
SPEAKER_00: And I said, Man, you know, it took 20 minutes of talking, and now she's in, hey, tomorrow we'll talk for 25 minutes.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: The next day is 30.
SPEAKER_00: You understand?
SPEAKER_00: Now there's times that she'll tell me stuff that I'm I'm engaging in conversation.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, yeah, I get it.
SPEAKER_00: I don't, I don't know why they do that, you know?
SPEAKER_00: But the other end of that is, hey, did you see who the Braves traded for?
SPEAKER_00: Or, hey, did you, are you ready for the opening day of the Bulldogs or whatever?
SPEAKER_00: I know she don't really care.
SPEAKER_00: But she's like, no, I didn't see that trade.
SPEAKER_00: Where'd you look at it?
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because she is doing the same thing I'm.
SPEAKER_00: She's building the conversation to help her and I in our communication because the better we are together, the better, the better we'll be as parents, and so on and so forth.
SPEAKER_00: No different than while my kids get home from school.
SPEAKER_00: I stop asking my kids, how was school today?
SPEAKER_00: You know why?
SPEAKER_00: I know what they're gonna say.
SPEAKER_00: Good, or it was terrible.
SPEAKER_00: So I say, hey man, who'd you sit with at lunch today?
SPEAKER_00: And they're like, oh, uh, so and so.
SPEAKER_00: Like, what'd he talk about?
SPEAKER_00: How where is he where does he go to church at?
SPEAKER_00: Or I might say, hey, did you have a conversation with you?
SPEAKER_00: I'll make up something like that because then they can't just say, fine.
SPEAKER_00: They say, man, it was with this or with that.
SPEAKER_00: What does it do?
SPEAKER_00: It builds a conversation up with my kids that I'm telling you, that's what the Father in Heaven aspires for you and I to have.
SPEAKER_00: It's internal.
SPEAKER_00: It does something deeper than you and I could ever, ever fathom.
SPEAKER_00: Prayer draws us into fellowship with our Father.
SPEAKER_00: Let's look at this verses 9 through 14 for a second, or 15, whatever it is.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, and it's uh yeah, I think it's 13.
SPEAKER_00: Notice this.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus teaches you and I how to how to pray.
SPEAKER_00: This is a pattern to go by.
SPEAKER_00: So I'll give you some truth as we work down through.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse.
SPEAKER_00: In this manner, therefore, pray.
SPEAKER_00: So he's giving you and I a model to pray after.
SPEAKER_00: Notice how the pattern begins.
SPEAKER_00: He starts in verse number nine, our father in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: He's letting you and I realize and recognize right off the start as we begin to pray, my father, and I'm giving recognition to the Father in heaven, the creator and the sustainer, the creator of this world, the one that listens to all things, the one that keeps all things in line.
SPEAKER_00: That's who I'm communicating with, our father.
SPEAKER_00: And then he goes and gives us the next model.
SPEAKER_00: This is a great model to go after as we pray, because when I begin to talk with my father, it sets the priorities and realizing that he knows more than I know and he's in charge that I ain't.
SPEAKER_00: And then the next statement says, hallow it be your name.
SPEAKER_00: So essentially, before I ever get into what I need or what I want or what desires that I have, I'm sitting there reminding myself and telling him, hallowed be thy name, holy is your name, a God who is worthy of all my prayer, a God that's worthy of all my devotion and attention.
SPEAKER_00: He, hallowed be your name, a God who is worthy.
SPEAKER_00: It is he who is God that I am speaking to.
SPEAKER_00: And then he goes on, look at verse 10.
SPEAKER_00: Your kingdom come, your will be done.
SPEAKER_00: As he breaks this down, it lets me realize, but literally, before I can uh ask God um any any any question or to accomplish the plans that I choose that I choose that I think that he should do in my life, it lets me know your uh your kingdom come, your will be done.
SPEAKER_00: It's essentially aligning everything up.
SPEAKER_00: God, it's your will that matters, not my will.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I want your ways, not my ways.
SPEAKER_00: You lay that out before you start telling him what to fix and what to do and how to move this and that around.
SPEAKER_00: Then he goes on the next one on verse 3.
SPEAKER_00: Give us this day our daily bread.
SPEAKER_00: I love that because how many times do I want God to give me a year's supply of bread?
SPEAKER_00: You know, Lord, hook me up.
SPEAKER_00: I need I need all of it I can get.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm reminded about the Israelites when they were leaving the Exodus, when they were exiting Egypt, and they were hungry.
SPEAKER_00: What did he do every morning?
SPEAKER_00: He gave them one piece of manna.
SPEAKER_00: He's reminding them that he's giving them a daily need.
SPEAKER_00: And tomorrow, guess what?
SPEAKER_00: I'll give you another daily need.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I get mad thinking, God, I need all this stuff, and God said, Man, I've gave you what you need today, brother.
SPEAKER_00: You want what you need for your lifetime, and I'm giving it to you day by day.
SPEAKER_00: So it's a learning, a moment for me to learn to depend upon who?
SPEAKER_00: God, my Father, the Holy One, the one that I know his will needs to happen.
SPEAKER_00: That's this model prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Then he goes on in verse number 12, forgive our debts, is what he said.
SPEAKER_00: He's essentially telling me, after all that, then you begin to confess your sins and receive forgiveness and then grant forgiveness for somebody that needs it from you.
SPEAKER_00: After you put them in that order, then I lay out my sins.
SPEAKER_00: And then he gets to verse 13 and says, Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
SPEAKER_00: He's acknowledging something there.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, Father, I need you.
SPEAKER_00: I need your deliverance, I need your provision, I need your guidance, I need your protection.
SPEAKER_00: Notice that prayer was not about performance.
SPEAKER_00: That prayer was entirely about a dependence upon me, upon my Father in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: See, the Pharisees would sit on the street corners and in the synagogues and pray this elaborate prayer full of different vocabulary words.
SPEAKER_00: But they didn't ever watch this pattern.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: They wanted everybody to know how good and they could talk, and that was it.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 14 and 15, he comes back to forgiveness.
SPEAKER_00: For uh, if you forgive me and their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you.
SPEAKER_00: But if you do not forgive me and their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses.
SPEAKER_00: What is he talking about?
SPEAKER_00: He's talking about the forgiveness.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus isn't teaching you and I that you now have to earn salvation.
SPEAKER_00: No, we we already established that.
SPEAKER_00: Scripture is super clear.
SPEAKER_00: The only way to get saved is by faith through grace.
SPEAKER_00: So, what is he talking about if that's not what he means here?
SPEAKER_00: He's essentially saying that a forgiven heart should extend forgiveness.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he's saying.
SPEAKER_00: There's penny, there's many people that I should have forgiven and I shouldn't hold back just because I'm mad.
SPEAKER_00: No, that's not it at all.
SPEAKER_00: You know how many times that I've been done wrong in my life?
SPEAKER_00: And I don't have to hear an apology to forgive.
SPEAKER_00: It actually allows me to walk around, not always being offended.
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm thinking in my head, you know, they probably didn't mean it that way.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not trying to get walked over like a rug.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just trying to live my life in a way that that honors the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So I extend forgiveness to people because it allows me not to walk around offended and mad all the time.
SPEAKER_00: Man, I'm I'm good.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord will take care of that.
SPEAKER_00: Vengeance's mind says, The Lord, I will repay.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he's telling you and I to do in these tags.
SPEAKER_00: All right, let's move to our last, our last thought together.
SPEAKER_00: When you fast.
SPEAKER_00: 16, 17, and 18.
SPEAKER_00: So he showed you and I, when you give, he's established and assumes that you give.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying when you pray, he's established that he assumes that you pray.
SPEAKER_00: And now, lastly, in verse 16 through 18, when you fast, moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites.
SPEAKER_00: He's laying out an assumption that you and I fast.
SPEAKER_00: Now, most uh out of these three, most people that truly don't understand this one the most.
SPEAKER_00: So that's okay.
SPEAKER_00: So therefore, what do you do when you don't understand something?
SPEAKER_00: You don't do it.
SPEAKER_00: And so the truth of the matter is we don't do it, so therefore, we're like, man, I want to, before I can deal with the motive of that, I gotta start to sort of understand what fasting is.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you what it isn't.
SPEAKER_00: And a diet.
SPEAKER_00: You understand, right?
SPEAKER_00: Now I know there's all kinds of diets out there that are intermediate fasting, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And that's good and dandy and all, but that that's a diet that somebody's done, and that's cool, it may work, and if it works, it works.
SPEAKER_00: That's not the spiritual meaning of fasting that the that the uh scripture is speaking about in this text.
SPEAKER_00: So what is it that he means, okay?
SPEAKER_00: For fasting is giving up something physical to focus on something spiritual.
SPEAKER_00: Giving up something physical to focus on something spiritual.
SPEAKER_00: For spiritual purposes, not for dietary reasons, spiritual purposes.
SPEAKER_00: Fasting is saying, man, God, I desire you more than I desire food for three days, seven days.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus did it for 40 days.
SPEAKER_00: I ain't never done it for 40 days.
SPEAKER_00: I might be pretty angry or hungry or whatever they call it, right?
SPEAKER_00: After 40 days.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus did it.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not telling you that you should do it for 40 days, but I'm telling you you should do it because the scripture says that we should do it when you do it.
SPEAKER_00: Giving up something physical for spiritual reasons.
SPEAKER_00: And listen to me, I can go through scripture and look at times where people had fast for different reasons.
SPEAKER_00: Some of them were seeking direction from God.
SPEAKER_00: They knew that God was moving and they wasn't so sure which direction to go in.
SPEAKER_00: And so instead of just, oh, I don't know what to do, I'm just gonna sit here for a little while.
SPEAKER_00: No, they they stopped and said, man, for so many days, I'm gonna put aside food and I'm going to seek the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And every time I'm hungry, I'm gonna pray.
SPEAKER_00: Every time I have the hunger pains, I'm gonna seek you and I'm gonna ask for this specific thing.
SPEAKER_00: God, I need direction.
SPEAKER_00: I can take you in scripture and show there was time that so-and-so was grieving, and they began to fast because they they were just laying it all out under the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You can look and see where somebody was broken because they messed up and there was a level of repentance, and they were like, man, I'm putting aside the physical want and desire for food so that I can seek the Lord as I repent.
SPEAKER_00: There are some that are desperately seeking God in prayer, and they said, Man, I'm just gonna put aside this for three days or seven days.
SPEAKER_00: Here it is, whatever the circumstance is that led you to that moment, it's gotta be spiritual.
SPEAKER_00: And it's gotta be for spiritual purposes only.
SPEAKER_00: The physical hunger can remind you and I need God more than I need food.
SPEAKER_00: I think about Jesus, and the illustration of Jesus is so clear because you and I realize that he is our Savior, but he also is 100% man too.
SPEAKER_00: So as he stepped out of heaven and was born here on earth, and he's in his spiritual ministry, his earthly ministry before he died on the cross and rose on the third day and ascended to heaven 40 days later, as he's walking earth, there was a time in his life where he knew that he needed to seek the Father, no different than you and I.
SPEAKER_00: He got away to pray.
SPEAKER_00: You can read Matthew 4, for 40 days when he was in the wilderness praying to the Father.
SPEAKER_00: And each and every time the devil was there to tempt him, right?
SPEAKER_00: And praise be unto the Lord, he didn't give in to that.
SPEAKER_00: And he could have, right?
SPEAKER_00: That first time, he's like, Man, if you're really Jesus, if you're really this, turn that rock into a piece of bread.
SPEAKER_00: Now he could have done it, but it wouldn't have been, it would have done nothing but just proof nothing.
SPEAKER_00: So what did he do?
SPEAKER_00: He quoted scripture and the devil left.
SPEAKER_00: But in Matthew 4.4, I wrote it down so I wouldn't forget it, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
SPEAKER_00: He said that in Matthew 4.4, as he's fasting for 40 days.
SPEAKER_00: Fasting puts uh that truth into actual practice.
SPEAKER_00: I can live more off of this than whatever food that I'll put in my mouth.
SPEAKER_00: Even sacrifice can become a performance.
SPEAKER_00: I can show you that before I pray here in verse 16.
SPEAKER_00: When he says, Do not be like the hypocrites with a sad countenance, a sad face.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because they would just approach you and say, What's wrong with you, brother?
SPEAKER_00: Oh man, I've been fasting for a week, but I'll be, all right, I prayed about this.
SPEAKER_00: And what do the people do?
SPEAKER_00: They just pat you on the back, say, man, you're good.
SPEAKER_00: Or even in the next latter part of verse, he says, For they disfigure their face that they may appear to be fasting.
SPEAKER_00: Now I read the word disfigure, I'm thinking, man, what are they doing?
SPEAKER_00: But their face is just making some kind of ugly face for them to look at and think, What's wrong with you, bro?
SPEAKER_00: And he's gonna say, man, I ain't eight in a week.
SPEAKER_00: I'm fasting under the Lord for something, for this or that.
SPEAKER_00: And really, they just took the spiritual approach off and made it all about their selves.
SPEAKER_00: That's how they took something super spiritual and made it very prideful, all about them.
SPEAKER_00: Look what I am doing.
SPEAKER_00: What did Jesus say?
SPEAKER_00: Don't do that.
SPEAKER_00: Assured I say to you, they have their reward.
SPEAKER_00: What was their reward?
SPEAKER_00: A clap.
SPEAKER_00: That was it.
SPEAKER_00: That's what their reward is.
SPEAKER_00: So true devotion doesn't need, doesn't need an audience except of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 17.
SPEAKER_00: But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face.
SPEAKER_00: Why is he telling us this?
SPEAKER_00: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_00: In our language, it means get up, take a shower, get ready, and go on.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to me.
SPEAKER_00: I remember a long time ago as a youth pastor and I would preach this text to the 12-year-old boys.
SPEAKER_00: It's biblical to wash your face, boys.
SPEAKER_00: You understand?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: We tell them clean up, get ready.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to me.
SPEAKER_00: In my day, I have to read this and understand.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you something.
SPEAKER_00: There's times I could sit around and mope around because I'm starving, because I'm trying to get something spiritual from the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And really, what is he saying?
SPEAKER_00: He says, anoint your head, wash your face and go.
SPEAKER_00: What's he saying in our common language?
SPEAKER_00: Get up, get ready, take a shower, and move on about your day.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because this you don't make it about you.
SPEAKER_00: Get ready and go about your day.
SPEAKER_00: Verse number eight is the audience that matters.
SPEAKER_00: Verse number eighteen.
SPEAKER_00: So that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your father.
SPEAKER_00: There's your audience.
SPEAKER_00: Your father of one, your audience, who is in the secret place, and your father who sees in secret rewards you openly.
SPEAKER_00: There's the whole point in the text wrapped up right there.
SPEAKER_00: As I close, I think about where I started.
SPEAKER_00: Who are you trying to impress?
SPEAKER_00: After listening to Jesus, I understand that may be a little different now.
SPEAKER_00: He he lays out three good things praying, giving, fasting.
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing wrong with any of them.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus expects his followers to do all three of them, but he also shows that it's possible to do those with the right motives.
SPEAKER_00: So now I've got to think, why do I do what I do?
SPEAKER_00: Who am I trying to impress?
SPEAKER_00: Because people see what I do, but the Father sees why I do it.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: God, I come to you.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, and I ask of you in the name of Jesus to be with us in this moment of invitation, as we begin to reflect and to give in to whatever it is you're putting on our heart, whether you're drawing us or pulling us or convicting us.
SPEAKER_00: And I pray in the name of Jesus, as we have this moment, Lord, that we would truly be obedient to you.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I can't begin to know the heart of all that are here, but I know that you do.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, I pray that as Jesus has poured out his heart in the Sermon on the Mount, that it opens up something within us and lets us realize that motives behind what we do is important to you.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, I pray in the name of Jesus that if there's any area within our life that we may need to change and change our motivations, Lord, I pray that you would touch that right now.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I pray that we'd be obedient enough to you to lay it all out for you.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I pray for that one that doesn't know you as Lord and Savior.
SPEAKER_00: Oh God, I pray in the name of Jesus that you would become so real in their lives they wouldn't be able to flee or run.
SPEAKER_00: They would just turn right to you.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name I do pray all these things.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Let's stay.