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I have to just say uh how much I appreciate um the team and leading us in worship and oh he's still up here actually. Uh sneaking around back here. Um you probably don't know this, but I'm just gonna say it because he wouldn't say it. But uh Alex uh recently wrote that song with another guy here in town, and I just that that song's been really ministering to me. I really appreciate the lyric and just really thankful for God's gift to Alex and ability to write. Yeah. Um not that uh he was looking for that at all. Um you can pay me later. But um no, but seriously, we really are thankful that God's given this body gifts, and they're not just writing music, but gifts to serve, gifts to care for the needs of one another, gifts to really be a blessing and build up this body so we can uh demonstrate who Christ is to the world around us. And so very thankful for that. Um before we get rolling, let me remind you of something we do, which is that we have a little black pad on the end down here. Uh it'll be a lean this morning, I see as I look across the room. Uh thank you guys for being here. Uh despite the hardship of getting here. I hope that you enjoyed your boat ride. And um so we're gonna be in Matthew chapter six. So if you have your Bibles, pull them out. Matthew chapter six, we're gonna jump right in to um the Word of God today, and we hope that uh when you come here to this church called Point Communion Church, um you find a family of disciples on mission, uh, people who are committed to following Jesus together. Um we don't pretend to have it all figured out, we don't know all the answers, we don't have it all together, and we're all works in progress, and very, very thankful that God is at work here and by his grace and by his spirit. Um, that being said, uh I know that the ladies got away this weekend for our women's retreat, and just really thankful for those who invested energy and time to make that happen. And I heard just really encouraging things about that time. Uh God really moved, uh, the worship times were sweet, that the word was sweet, and uh the community was great, and so very thankful and how that's building us to be people on God's mission together. And so really thankful for that time that they had together. And again, thank you, ladies. Um, I know, like especially Vanessa Houston and uh Laura Munoz and uh Sandra Luvier uh that all uh helped with that. So very, very, very thankful. All right. We're gonna jump in uh back into the Sermon on the Mount here this morning in Matthew chapter six. We've actually, if you've been with us, um congratulations, we made it through a chapter of the Sermon on the Mount. So uh it's five chapters five through seven, and uh we've now made it all the way through chapter five. The last scripture verse in chapter five was be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. So uh we're we're in a really light part of the sermon right now. Um but seriously, I'm being facetious this morning, make sure you guys are awake. But as we start chapter six, um Jesus is gonna shift again his attention here, and he's gonna say some things that are uh that are gonna challenge us, uh that are gonna be really helpful for us. And I hope that you walk away today, both uh convicted uh in your spirit, because conviction is actually a good thing, not a bad thing. We don't have to run and hide in shame and fear because we have a God who is gracious, but that we're honest about where we really are, and that uh we would also feel really empowered by his spirit in us if you're a Christ's follower to change, to grow. Uh we don't want to just hear things, we want to actually obey what we're hearing. We want to obey God's teaching. Um, there are a lot of really intelligent Christians in the world that are not obeying Jesus. In fact, we're really good many times at educating people beyond their obedience. Uh we give them lots of great Bible studies and sermons and uh ways to learn in their intellectual understanding of God, but God doesn't want us just again to be people who give him intellectual assent. He wants us to be people who obey him in the everyday life opportunities just to do what he's asked us to do with what we know from his word. And so, as we get in, um, the first verse in chapter six this morning, we're gonna basically work our way slowly through this passage rather than me read it all up front. We've been reading these whole sections, but we're gonna do that because we're actually gonna skip a section of the text this morning, and I'll explain why in a minute. So here's what it says in verse 1 of chapter 6. Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of people to be seen by them. Otherwise, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. We'll just stop there. Okay? This is really good news for us, even though it feels a little challenging when you read that at face value. Um, but I want to break this verse apart a little bit and explain what Jesus is trying to say here. So, first, uh just indulge me. Uh, it says, be careful not to. So Jesus is aware that there's a problem, and he's been already addressing this problem throughout the Sermon on the Mount, and that there is a superficiality about uh the religious people that he is speaking to, that there is a superficiality of their faith that is really based around behavior, outward behavior. And he has been addressing the fact that to be kingdom people, to be people that are in God's kingdom, truly in God's kingdom, that it's much bigger than just behavior, right? It's much bigger than just how you look like, look, how you look on the outside to others. And when he gets to this verse, he says, be careful not to, he's he's saying, hey, be careful. Be aware that this is a problem, that the human heart tends to lean the direction I'm about to tell you. It tends to struggle with this. And again, as I already said this morning, I want to reiterate this point. It's great as a Christ follower that we don't have to pretend to be perfect. We don't have to pretend to have it all together. Okay? So we can be honest that what Jesus is about to say is something that we can all struggle with. Be careful, be aware. This is a problem. Be careful not to, not to what? Well, he says, be careful not to practice your righteousness. We'll stop there. What does that mean? Practice your righteousness. Well, just for the sake of trying to simplify this, be careful not to do good works. Okay, good things that we do. Good things, being as human beings, all of humanity, is created in the image of God. And so when we do good things, we are reflecting the image of the God that we're made in. Okay? And so we do good works. Those good works, I mean, we could go through, they run the gamut, right? Uh everything from taking care of someone uh who is in need, they're sick, and you take them a meal. Uh it could be something as simple as uh, you know, you you uh see somebody who has a physical need and you give some some money to support that, which is actually one of the examples we're gonna talk about in a minute. Uh it could be just simply that you really care for others by being a good listener to them, okay? So those are some of the good works. Now, we know that Jesus is pressing at something deeper, or at least that he has something specifically in mind, because he's gonna give us three illustrations in just a minute that we're gonna talk about that speak to this. But for what we understand at the at the surface level here, he's saying, be careful not to do good works. For what? In front of people. Be careful not to do good works in front of people. Now, if I just took that, that's a little challenging and and uh and a little bit like, wait, wait, wait, wait. Didn't we already read in Matthew chapter 5 in this sermon in verse 16 that we're supposed to like do good works in front of people? In fact, on the screen above me here, Matthew 5, 16, a section of that verse, it actually says, Let your light so shine before men so that they may what? See your good works. Now is that what's the difference between that and what Jesus is saying now? Because it seems like he said we were supposed to let our light shine so that they could see our good works, but now he's saying, Be careful not to do your good works in front of people. Is he contradicting himself? Well, what's the next phrase say? This is also helpful. Remember, always stay with it. Remember the context, remember the bigger picture, and also make sure you listen to each of these words because he then says what? To be seen by them. Now, when he's saying seen here, he doesn't just mean like, again, that they would see our good works, but that the motive of the heart is so that others would see you. Why would we want people to see us? So they would go, man, you're a good person. You're awesome. I mean, you're a really nice guy. You're you're a good person, right? To be seen by them. So the motive of the heart in these righteous, these good works, is basically he's saying, be careful not to do these good works in front of people so that people see you and think you're awesome. Because that's not what we're shooting for here. That's not kingdom of God behavior. That's not the way that my people actually live. That's not the way the kingdom of God operates. Remember, already Jesus is flipping everything on its head. He is turning things inside out and upside down. And he says this as he closes out that verse otherwise you will have no reward from your father in heaven. Now, again, as we get into the illustrations in a minute, we'll understand this a little bit better, but this seems pretty drastic. No reward for doing good deeds in front of people? Really? Well, because again, we understand that Jesus is poking at the self-righteousness that permeated the people of the crowd he was teaching to. And I would say it actually still is a part of our lives today. Would you agree? There is a part of us that can struggle with wanting to do the good things that we do so that other people notice and again praise us. Thank us and look to us as the good people. Here's the truth. God, in his word, says he resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. His grace is a reward. Even though it's something we can't earn, when we humble ourselves and acknowledge that we need it, it is a gift, isn't it? How about this? He moves on behalf of those who acknowledge their need, like we talked about in the very beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. Those who realize that they're spiritually bankrupt and they come to him. This is a reward. He works through those who realize it is for God's glory and not their own that we do these things. His work is a reward. He takes away the need that we have to gain people's praise. This is a reward. But when you do it for other people, your reward is just simply the praise of man. And then it's here and it's gone. And anybody who's lived for the praise of man knows that it is shallow. It is fleeting. That it doesn't last very long. That no matter how many compliments, attaboys, pats on the back, high fives, fist bumps you get, you'll always want more. Don't you? Don't we? Because this is the way that we work. So Jesus gives us three illustrations to unpack this point about why and how we should not do our righteous acts, our good works before men. And he gives three things that these guys in the crowd would have definitely understood, and they would definitely have gained insight on what Jesus was teaching through this. The first one we come to is verse two. He says, So whenever you give to the poor, don't sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in their synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. Now, Jesus in these illustrations, he's gonna have a pattern. He's gonna give a right behavior for the wrong reason, and then he's gonna give a right behavior for the right reason, and then he's gonna talk about the reward that comes with that. And in this one, he starts by saying, hey, in the terms of giving to the poor, don't make a big deal out of it, right? I mean, this doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand what Jesus is saying here. You don't have to be a seminary-trained theologian to recognize that Jesus is saying, when you give to others, like, don't say, hey, everybody, look at what I'm doing. I'm giving to the poor. Aren't I great? Right? And the truth is that these religious leaders of Jesus' day, the Pharisees, they had a way of going into the temple and they kind of had a procession and they made a big to-do about their giving. And they wanted everybody to see it as they put their gift on the altar. Why would they do that? Because they wanted the praise and the approval of men. They wanted to continue to build their case for their own self-righteousness. They wanted to make sure everybody knew how good of a person they were. And so that's what they would do. They would make sure people know, hey, we give this, we give this. I know some people today in our culture who still want to make sure everybody knows that they give. I've been a part of churches where people made it really clear to the leadership, hey, I give this percentage of my income, and I'm talking gross, not net. I'm talking after, you know, I'm talking before taxes, right? Um I'm trying to make sure that, and and I say that because people want to make a big deal out of their giving. And Jesus says, that's not kingdom life. That's not the kingdom way. That's not the kind of humble living that God calls us to. And so he says that if you do this, what? When you're applauded by people, you've received your reward. You got it. Great. You want people to think you're awesome? You got it. But notice what else he says after that. He says, but when you give to the poor, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. How do you do that? Right? How do you not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing? He's just emphasizing the fact that you have to be so, so careful that literally you don't even want, you know, to let anything become a public spectacle for anybody. That even your own body doesn't even know what the other one's doing, right? It's such a humorous thing. I'm sure he just needed to wake people up because they were about to fall asleep at this point in the sermon. So he just tells them this, right? To see what they say. But here's the deal. No, he's saying, again, when you give, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your father who sees in secret will reward you. Listen, God knows everything. He sees everything. There's nothing hidden from his sight. And he sees when we give, even if nobody else does. And he honors that. He blesses that. He rewards that is what the scripture says. Again, I believe that there's been a lot of conversation about what does it mean that he rewards his people. I think there is a huge reward in just knowing that we have the approval of our Father. We have the smile of our Father. And that we don't need anybody else's. There's a reward in that. There's also a reward in getting to see God use us in unique ways. And not having to have the praise of men. We're just released from that. You see, God doesn't just want our money, He wants us. He wants all of us. He wants our hearts. 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 are two great chapters in the Bible that speak to this very issue where in the beginning of chapter 8 it says that out of their poverty flowed their generosity. When I read that, I'm like, how does generosity and poverty belong in the same sentence? I tell you why, because it says later about these people that they first gave themselves to the Lord and then they gave their money. See, their lives they saw were God's, so why would their money not be God's? Their hearts were already given over to the Lord, so their money just simply followed. And part of the reason, I don't want to make this a giving sermon this morning, but this is in the text. On giving, part of the reason that we struggle to give is because our hearts aren't completely his yet. So we hold back, we withhold money, and it represents where our hearts really are, right? Now, that being said, that's not really the point that Jesus is primarily making here. In fact, these three illustrations, he's actually not even just giving us a how-to on giving or uh praying or on fasting. But we do know this that when our hearts are God's, we will give, and we will want to just bless God. We want to bless Him, to serve Him. Now, the second illustration that He gives us in this text is in verse 5. And He says, Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. I assure you, they've got their reward. Um in Jesus' day, uh the Jewish people, they had uh from the temple area or from the synagogue, the local synagogue, they would have like these trumpeters, and during certain seasons of fasts or feasting, uh they would they would trumpet out and everybody was supposed to stop and pray. It was like a call to prayer. Now I've never experienced this. I've I um I've experienced it in a Muslim country where they had their call to prayer over the speakers in those places, but they literally would have these moments where they'd call people to prayer, and what would happen is that these religious leaders, again, because they wanted to be seen by others, they would stop what they were doing, and they would just stand in the middle of the street and they would pray. And they would basically make it a show, like, hey everybody, I am this religious person, and I want everybody to see how awesome I am. In fact, they wore these these tassels, these, these, um, these little drape things that would go over them, and they they had little tassels on the end of them, and and they would, they would, they were prayer shawls and they they had these really long ones that looked really elaborate and cool because they wanted to be very fancy and and very put on a show again, and they'd say, Hey, look, I'm a person of prayer, and they stand out in the street, you know, and pray. And Jesus says to them, When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. Which, by the way, um, in each of these sections here, Jesus is gonna use this phrase, you must not be like the hypocrites, or use the word as the hypocrites. Does anybody know what a hypocrite is? The origin is actually from the Greek, and what it really means is actor. A theatrical actor, someone who has a role in a play, right? And so what we what we see is that Jesus is saying, stop acting, right? Quit being a hypocrite, quit being an actor, an actor. You're just going through the motions. It's not really real, right? And so he says, in this uh, I assure you that when you pray in public and people are like, you're awesome, and I love your prayer tassels, by the way, uh, you got your reward. You've been praised. So good for you. It's yours, you got it. You accomplished your job. But he then says, but when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your father who is in secret. And your father who is in secret, who sees in secret, will reward you. So he says to these guys, and I believe to us today, that our private prayer life is where we really connect with the Father's heart and really have the opportunity to say, are we just put on a show in public? Or are we actually committed to pursuing an intimate relationship with Jesus? Um it's easy to pray in public. I know some of you are like, no, I can't pray in public. Oh no. I don't want anybody, I don't pray in public. Don't ask me to do that, you know? It's embarrassing. I don't want to do it. Um but what I mean by that is it's easy to put words and phrases together and to sound eloquent and sound real spiritual. Um I don't mean this as a slam at all, but I grew up in a church where it was pretty conservative and they had like the offertory prayer before they took the offering every week. I know some of you guys maybe experienced that, some of you are like, I don't know what you're talking about. Um and at some at times when I reflect back, I wondered if like it was like a competition to see who could pray the longest and with the most elaborate words. I don't even know if we ever used those words ever, except in those prayers. I mean, they were vocabulary, we didn't even have any other use in other places. But it was it was about, in some ways, like, okay, who can pray the most spiritual prayer? Jesus says, listen, what I'm looking for is people who are praying when no one else is looking. People who are in private calling on me, crying out to me, letting me know how much they need me and how much I mean, just drawing near to me. The quality of our prayer life isn't determined by how well we can pray in public. But how passionately we cry out to our Father in private. Sometimes you're in a room, maybe you're praying with your spouse, maybe you're praying with your family and your kids, and you're just using it as an opportunity to pray at them instead of to God. We all have means and way we use prayer. And what God is looking for is again a pure heart. It just says, God, I want to be with you. I need you. God, I want to draw near to you. And he says that he will reward. I believe that the reward that comes is his presence. Sensing his hand on us when we really call on him when no one else is looking. And here's what's amazing: people who have a strong and powerful prayer life, God will use them publicly. And when they pray in public, there will be a power in their prayer. It is not just because it's eloquent or theologically sound. It's because it's personal. It's because it's rooted in the understanding that they are loved by their Heavenly Father. Some of the most amazing prayers I've heard were really awkward, didn't really come out real clear, but the heart was a heart of love for the Father. And a belief, a faith, a childlike faith to believe that God was actually hearing and was going to move. God is honored by that. He rewards that. And here's the thing: in private, even if no one else sees you, God sees you when you pray and you call on Him. And just as a practical note, if you only pray in public, or if you only pray with other people and when other people are around, like God's saying it's time to grow. Pull away. Get alone with Him. He wants to speak to you. Your Father loves you. He has things He wants to say to you in the secret place, in the quiet place. The third illustration he gives. Now, before I get into this illustration, let me say I'm skipping 10 verses this morning. So basically, from verse 7 all the way down to verse 15, I'm taking that section out. And it's not because that section is not important. We're just going to like, you know, discard that. Actually, it's very important, and we're going to come back to it next week, okay? And we want to give it some more time because it's where we find the model prayer of Jesus. And so Alex is actually going to help teach that some of that next week to us. But we're going to jump down to verse 16 because this fits the same pattern that Jesus has already been laying forth with giving and with prayer. And he says this whenever you fast, don't be sad-faced like the hypocrites, like the actors. Again, the religious actors. For they make their faces unattractive, so their fasting is obvious to people. I assure you, they've got their reward. So apparently, these religious leaders were trying to make it look like they were miserable. In fact, a lot of times prayer and fasting they would couple it with putting ashes on yourself and sort of being in this time of mourning and lamenting or those kinds of reflection, deep reflection. And he's saying that like these religious leaders, these religious people, they would go out into the streets and try to look miserable. So people would say, Hey, why do you look so bad? Oh, you know, I'm just fasting. Man, you know how close I am with God. Just just having a good fast. He's like, Well, you got your reward. They know now. People are aware. You're awesome. Thumbs up, you know. And the fact of the matter is, is that there are some people, even in our day-to-day, that they use this as an opportunity to get people's approval or get people to think that again they're a great Christian, a good person. Um, but the fact of the matter is, is that Jesus says, when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face. Basically, you know, don't act like you're fasting. Don't walk around in mourning and don't walk around saying, hey, I hope somebody will ask me if I'm fasting so I can tell them. Okay. And this is tricky, by the way, because right now we're in 21 days of prayer and fasting as a church body. Now I don't know who in the room is participating and who's not participating. I know that for me personally, I am doing fasting, and this week I've been in, because I a lot of my rhythm is breakfast and lunches with people. And so drinking water while people eat their breakfast tacos and drinking water while people eat their barbecue sandwiches has been a little rough on me this week, okay? I just lost my reward, but I'm okay with that. All right. But here's the thing sometimes you fast like that and and you and people know. In fact, our leadership team had a little conversation about that. And what was interesting and it came out even in that discussion is how we've seen so many people do fasting poorly for the wrong reason, self-righteous reasons, or to get the approval of others, or just to prove to ourselves we can do it. But what I can say is that God knows our hearts again, and he knows why we're doing it, and if we will pursue him with a pure heart, the purest that we can, and just be honest, then he will meet us there. In fact, I have found my sensitivity to him increase this week. Because, to be completely honest, food is a God in my life in many ways. Many times it controls me, right? It controls my emotions, which is why I get angry when I'm hungry. So I am like the chief of hangry, okay? I understand what that looks like and what that means because I've been there. But this week, learning how to let go of that and to say, God, I want to follow you. I need you more than food is good. But if I do that, if I fast, just so everybody says, well, wow, you're awesome, like I'm missing the point. The point is to draw near to God. I've actually heard three different people this week say the same thing. It's interesting because I don't even know where it originated, that fasting is about weakening the flesh to strengthen the spirit. Um, I actually read it uh from a guy recently as well. And so it's a it's a quote that has stuck with me through the years on fasting, that we have to remind ourselves that we are weak, but that Christ is strong and that he is sufficient. So our goal is not to put our strength on display, but to remind us again of God's strength. We have an opportunity to remind ourselves that we need God more than anything else. When we make fasting a show, when we make fasting about can other people, will other people approve of us or again think we're a good Christian, well, we can get our reward by letting them know, but we're missing the point. Now, all three of these issues giving, prayer, fasting. Did you notice at the beginning of each section? He doesn't say if you give, if you pray, and if you fast. What does he say? When? So, just so you know, this morning, we're not saying you should not give, pray, or fast. In fact, Jesus is saying, when you do these things, do them with the right motive. We should do them with the right heart attitude, with the right approach. And I think there is no better story to speak to this than the parable that Jesus tells in Luke chapter 18. You don't have to turn over there. It's actually on the screen behind me here. But in Luke chapter 18, Jesus touches all three of these things. Listen to what he says. In verse 9 of Luke 18, he also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves. Wait, did you hear that? He told this parable to some who trusted in themselves and that were righteous and looked down on everyone else. That's important. Here's what he says. Two men went up to the temple complex to pray. One a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee took his stand and was praying like this. God, I thank you that I'm not like other people, greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector over here. I fast twice a week, and I give a tenth of everything I get. And it's gross, not net. But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven. But he kept striking his chest and saying, God, turn your wrath from me, a sinner. I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other. Because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. Are you hearing what Jesus is saying? It's not about the show. In fact, self-righteousness is just as dangerous and deadly as outright rebellion. It's just as dangerous. To say it differently, you can be just as lost and separated from God in religion as you can be in rebellion. There is a spirit of religion that overcomes the church many times, and we lose sight of Jesus. And we get all lost in our religious practices, and we give ourselves all this credit for being good people who do the good things. And I'm just telling you right now, I know you know this, you cannot be righteous in and of yourself. In fact, the Bible says that our righteous acts are like filthy rags before a holy God. We can never earn our right standing with God on our own apart from Him. It's not happening. This is why Jesus in Luke 15, which we've referred to a lot around here, he has the story of the prodigal son, or that's what it's titled, but it should be the prodigal of two lost sons, not just one lost son, one that's lost in rebellion and one that's lost in religion, self-righteousness, performance. One who went off and squandered his father's inheritance on loose living and then comes to his senses in the pig slop and comes home and receives that grace and his dad throws a party. The other who's standing outside pouting and won't go into his brother's party because he thinks he's just fighting on himself and he can't understand how God, how this father could show him grace. Do you understand? The heart of a kingdom person is poor in spirit, people. Poor in spirit. It's not about us. When we do the right thing for the wrong reason, we're dishonoring God. And we are not pointing people to God, we're pointing people away from Him. We're pointing people to religious acts as a means to gain right standing with the Holy God. And that will never be the case. It's a lie from the pit of hell. So what do we do? How do we do the right thing for the right reason? Well, I'm just going to give you three things this morning, okay? How do we do the right thing for the right reason? We must first receive our righteousness from God. We must first receive our righteousness, our right standing before a holy God from Him. We have to receive it as a gift from Him. 2 Corinthians 5.21 is a verse that has ministered to me time and time again, especially growing up as a church brat, where I was in my own mind deluded into thinking that my performance is what earned God's love for me, is what proved that I was actually truly a Christian. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says this. He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. How do we receive that righteousness? By faith. By faith. By trusting that Christ's perfect, sinless life and sacrifice on the cross, that was how my righteousness was purchased. And it's by me putting my faith and trust in that that I can receive righteousness. I can receive the gift of righteousness. Now, why start there? Because if you think that there's another way to get righteousness, you'll pursue it. To get right standing with God. And one of those ways, again, is good works, just like these Pharisees. But it is not about doing these good works, being praised by people that will earn our way to right standing. When we receive the righteousness of God, the right standing, when God looks at us and he no longer sees us, but he sees Jesus in his perfection, which is amazing. In Christ, that's what God sees when he looks at his children. Righteousness in Christ. When we have that, then we are free to do righteous acts for the right reason. Are you with me? Then we can actually do good works for God. We do them for God. In fact, when we receive our righteousness from God, our righteous acts are done for Him. We are worshiping God with our lives. For a Christ follower, we don't pray a prayer and receive God and then live the rest of our lives trying to do good stuff to sustain it and to maintain it, to keep it. As a Christ follower, we receive the gift of salvation, and then all of our life is a response of gratitude to his goodness and his grace in our lives. Isn't that awesome? That all of our lives are that. And so we're not down and sad when we have to do the right thing. It's an act of worship to our Father who has gifted us righteousness, right standing. We are worshiping Him. We are living in a way that reflects that we actually get it. That He loves us, that He's gifted us forgiveness of our sins forever. That our past, present, and future sins are forgiven in Christ. They're washed away, they're removed as far as the East is from the West. Man, that's awesome news this morning. You don't have to earn it. You don't have to work your way into it. You can't. Christ has given it to us as a gift. So our righteous acts are now done for Him to say, God, I love you so I want to give to others. God, I love you so I want to pray and pursue a relationship with you. God, I love you so I want to fast and remind myself how good you are and how much better you are than anything else in this world. Do you see the difference? And thirdly, as a result, our righteous acts done before men will point others to Him. So as Matthew 5.16 said earlier, let your light so shine before men, what? So they may see your good works and do what? Glorify your Father in heaven. When we get our righteousness from God, and we understand that our righteous acts are just response to Him, then when other people see that, because inevitably they're going to see that, hopefully, right? They're going to see us love our neighbor as ourselves. They're going to see us care for the widow, the orphan, the poor. They're going to see us minister them. Then our response is not, hey, yep, that's because I'm awesome. It's because, no, I serve an awesome God. And I want everyone in the world to know this awesome God that they can also receive their righteousness from him, their right standing. Now, in this message, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus keeps reminding us as humans that His kingdom is not of this world. And that the way we operate in His kingdom is not the way the world operates. And one of the primary ways that the world operates is that we feed off of the approval and the acceptance of others. And so we rise and fall, whether based on how people feel about us. In fact, there's a direct correlation between how many hours people spend on Facebook and depression. Because they're not getting enough likes and approval, right? And they're comparing and all these other things that are happening. It's a weird deal. But we have a world in which we live where we feed off of people's approval. In fact, we're approval addicts. And I want to remind us this morning that as long as we are consumed by the opinions and the approval of others, we will miss what we already have in God. And I can guarantee you this God's approval of you is way better than any fleeting approval of man. Eating every every any fleeting glory of man. How many of you guys have seen the movie The Greatest Showman? Anybody? Yeah, a few people. If you haven't, maybe you've even heard some of the songs, but uh the lyrics are playing, the songs are playing in my house quite often because my kids love the musical. And one of the songs is called From Now On. It's towards the end of the movie. And he's basically reflecting over how he's chased after these other things that he should not have chased after. And the lyrics say this. He says, I drank champagne with kings and queens. The politicians praised my name. But those are someone else's dreams, the pitfalls of the man I became. For years and years I chased the cheers, the crazy speed of always needing more. But when I stop and see you here, I remember who all this was for. And I was thinking about that lyric, and I was thinking, like, that is so appropriate. Like we can chase after the cheers and the approval of others. Maybe our spouse, maybe friends, maybe co-workers, to get their approval. It will never be enough, will it? Never. But he says, and I see you here. He's talking about obviously seeing his wife, but I would say when we see God, when we see him rightly, when we see Christ rightly, when we understand what he has done for us, we remember that it's not for us, but it's for him. And it's interesting that that song ends with this recurring line, and we will come back home. And we will come back home, home again. And it keeps singing it over and over. And I was thinking, like, for Christians, if you have been working and working and trying to get God's approval and get your friends' approval and to get others to think you're a good person, if you've been working, my my plea with you today is stop. Come back home and realize you have your father's love and approval today. It will set you free. It will set you free from the performance trap that you are in. You have a father who loves you. When you give, when you pray, when you fast, let's pray that we give God the glory for that. And we seek Him and we seek to honor and bless Him and not make a big deal out of ourselves. Have you today? This is my question to you. Have you received your approval and identity from your father? Have you received your righteousness from your father, or are you still trying to achieve it? Because righteousness is received, not achieved. True righteousness is received, not achieved. Let's not be a people who just go through the religious motions, check boxes so that we feel good. Let's receive what God has done for us in the person of Christ, and let's live for him and for his glory because he's worthy. He's worthy of all of our lives. That's good. Let me pray for us. Father, I look across this room and I know my heart. And I know the hearts of the people in this room as far as some of the similar things we can struggle with as human beings. And I recognize, God, that there the enemy is crafty and he sells us a bill of goods that we can earn our righteousness through doing enough good stuff. We can earn your approval, God, by doing enough good things. But we understand this morning that we can't. We can't. Your word says that without you, we are done. And when I think about that Luke 18 passage, Father, when I think about those words, I think about the posture of that man who said, I'm a sinner. God, I deserve your wrath. Oh, God, I want that kind of humility in my life. I want this body to be a people who are not prideful and arrogant. Not a people who say, hey, look at us, but that we are constantly saying, look at our Savior. Look at our Redeemer, our rescuer. He's so good in spite of us. Oh, Father, we just ask for you to remind us today afresh of that reality. We need you. Praise in your name. Amen.