1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,600 We are continuing in our sermon series this morning in the 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:07,480 Sermon on the Mount. Our title this morning is Do 3 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:12,280 Good for the Right Reasons and it's based on Matthew chapter 6, 4 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:15,440 the 1st 4 verses. I will say at the outset, this 5 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:19,440 is one of those passages where a lot of people get their toes 6 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:26,200 stepped on and their feelings hurt because giving is such an 7 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:33,120 extremely sensitive and delicate and fragile issue in the hearts 8 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,080 of so many people. Nobody needs to tell me what to 9 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:39,200 give, how much to give, when to give, and so on and on and on it 10 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:42,600 goes. The, the sermon series that we 11 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:46,120 we're on is the Gospel of Mark in the Matthew, the Sermon on 12 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:47,840 the Mount, Matthew 5-6 and seven. 13 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:53,120 And the first part, chapter 5. Actually, commentators say that 14 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:55,680 this deals more with the outward stuff. 15 00:00:56,120 --> 00:01:01,360 For instance, Jesus elevated anger to the category of murder. 16 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:04,280 So if you're angry at somebody, you're yelling at him and anger 17 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:05,640 and you're, you're angry at somebody. 18 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:10,600 Well, Jesus puts that in the same pile as he puts murder and 19 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:13,960 this idea of lusting for someone, he puts that in the 20 00:01:13,960 --> 00:01:16,920 same category as actually committing adultery and the 21 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:19,480 swearing of oath. He puts that in the same 22 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:22,480 category as saying something beyond yes and no. 23 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:26,400 And last Sunday, Joel preached on love and action. 24 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:30,080 And we're called to do more than just be good to those who are 25 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:33,320 good to us and do good to those who do good to us. 26 00:01:33,320 --> 00:01:35,520 We're called to be more. We're called to actually love 27 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:40,120 those who do not only do nothing to us, but those who do bad to 28 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:41,240 us. And today, this morning in 29 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:45,520 chapter 6, we see a shift in this this Sermon on the Mount. 30 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:50,600 Here Jesus focuses more from the outward, shifted inward. 31 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:53,440 Richard Gardner in his commentary puts it this way. 32 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:58,200 He writes, Jesus continues to talk about a righteousness which 33 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,000 exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. 34 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:04,320 Up to this point, the focus has been on acting rightly in 35 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:05,840 relationships with fellow humans. 36 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:10,520 Now the focus shifts to write actions in relationship to God, 37 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:15,040 to pious deeds and practices. And these specific practices 38 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:19,240 that Jesus points out here are almsgiving, charity, prayer, and 39 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:21,720 fasting. And these three there were 40 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:24,320 customary expressions of piety and Judaism. 41 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:28,360 So this morning we'll not talk about doing wrong things like 42 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:32,960 hating enemies or yelling at people, things like that, but 43 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:37,200 it's more of the heart. It is possible to do good things 44 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:41,840 without a right heart and do good things with actually sinful 45 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:46,120 motives. Two people can do the exact same 46 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,960 good deed, but for very opposite reasons. 47 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:54,920 The deed may be may be a very good and noble deed, but the 48 00:02:54,920 --> 00:02:58,360 heart may be very different. We can do good for right 49 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:02,440 reasons, which we should, but we can also do good for wrong 50 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,320 reasons. This becomes very, very 51 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:11,200 precarious in terms of how do we identify giving has been around 52 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:15,440 for thousands of years. Charity is not a new thing. 53 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:18,320 In the nation of Israel. There were different ways in 54 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:22,080 which God commanded his people to practice charity, to give 55 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:26,360 alms to the poor or to to give gifts to the church or to the to 56 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:29,960 the temple. One form of charity that was 57 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:33,520 practiced in the Old Testament was the gleaning of the fields. 58 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:36,960 They would cut the wheat, they would bind the sheaves, or 59 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:41,120 they'd pick the grapes and take them off to the wine VAT or take 60 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:43,400 the olives and bring them to the press and so on. 61 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:46,320 But what we find in the Old Testament, I'll just read some 62 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:48,800 of these just kind of to paint a backdrop for what they're 63 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:51,440 understanding and their perception was in those days of 64 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:54,720 giving and so on. Deuteronomy chapter 14, we read 65 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:59,440 the the book of the law says at the end of every 3rd year you 66 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,560 should bring the tithe, bring out the tithe of your produce of 67 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:05,600 that you can store it up within your gates and the Levite 68 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,560 because he has no portion or inheritance with you. 69 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:11,320 And the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are 70 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:15,200 within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied that the 71 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:18,360 Lord your God may bless you and all the work of your hand which 72 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:20,839 you do. It was kind of a social network 73 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,200 for those who didn't have enough or couldn't make ends meet, so 74 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:26,040 to speak. It was kind of a measure of 75 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:30,240 social services in terms of food and so on. 76 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:34,800 And then as far as their work was concerned, Deuteronomy 2419, 77 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:38,280 we read When you reap your harvest in the field and forget 78 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:41,120 a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. 79 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:43,560 It shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, 80 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:46,160 that the Lord your God may bless you and all the work of your 81 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:48,120 hands. When you beat your olive brows, 82 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:49,960 you shall not go over the bows again. 83 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:52,680 It should be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. 84 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:56,080 The same for the vineyards. When you gather the grapes of 85 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:58,760 your vineyard, you shall not clean it afterward. 86 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:02,080 It shall be for the stranger, the fathers and the widow, and 87 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:04,640 you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. 88 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,360 Therefore, I command you to do this thing. 89 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:13,280 It's interesting how they were very well familiar with giving 90 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:15,600 and doing charity and the purpose of it. 91 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,880 This did not need to be explained, not clarified, 92 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:21,080 nothing like that. The instructions were clear. 93 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:23,760 Be generous and because of who God is. 94 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:27,800 Further, in the book of Proverbs we have a verse in Proverbs 95 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:31,120 1917. He who has pity in the poor 96 00:05:31,280 --> 00:05:34,720 lends to the Lord, and he will pay back what he has given. 97 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:39,880 The gift of generosity and willingness to share runs 98 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:45,200 through the whole Old Testament. There are always and there have 99 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:48,800 always been and always will be needy people, beggars. 100 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:52,920 People are down on their luck, the elderly who can't provide 101 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:55,040 for themselves anymore or sick who can't because of their 102 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,440 health. It goes on in the world today 103 00:05:57,440 --> 00:05:59,400 has many poor people in our time. 104 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:03,280 This thing applies as well. Not in those specific details. 105 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:06,040 Generosity is a biblical principle that runs right 106 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:08,200 through the core of the whole Scripture. 107 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:14,000 So Jesus taught this, but what Jesus did with the teaching on 108 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,120 giving was not just do it and that's it. 109 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:19,840 Why? Why are you doing it? 110 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:23,560 So that's where we want to go to Matthew chapter 6-1 to four. 111 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:26,720 Let's read Matthew chapter 6-1 to four. 112 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:29,800 Take heed. What that you do not do your 113 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:33,960 charitable deeds before men to be seen by them, otherwise 114 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:35,680 you've no reward from your Father in heaven. 115 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:38,800 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a 116 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:41,520 trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues 117 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:44,760 and in the streets, that they may have glory from men assured. 118 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:46,760 They say to you they have their reward. 119 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:50,880 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your hand, left 120 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:54,000 hand know what the right hand is doing, that your charitable deed 121 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:58,480 may be in secret and your Father who sees in secret will himself 122 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:03,720 reward you openly. It is interesting how Jesus does 123 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:07,560 this shift and how he now changes the the message. 124 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:13,240 Jesus is not asking if you give. That's not the question. 125 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:19,600 He said when you give how to do it, it's not a question of if, 126 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:23,440 it's a question of when. And one writer that I was 127 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:26,200 reading as I was preparing this sermon pointed out something 128 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:30,000 that I had not seen before. And he's asking the question. 129 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:35,480 He said, did Jesus contradict himself from Matthew 516 where 130 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:38,360 he said let your light so shine before men that they may see 131 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:41,560 your good works and glorify your Father in heaven to today to 132 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:45,160 take heed that you do not do your charitabilities before men 133 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:47,760 to be seen by them, otherwise you have no reward from your 134 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:51,960 Father in heaven. Is that a contradiction or 135 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:58,200 what's going on here? Here's here's the take. 136 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:02,040 Jesus is not so much worried if someone will see you doing a 137 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:04,960 good deed. The question is, are you seeing 138 00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:11,000 it? Good deeds can't be hidden, they 139 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:13,960 come out. That's not the point of the 140 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:16,160 passage. Later on we'll get into that a 141 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:18,560 bit more, but what was Jesus focus? 142 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:24,080 Jesus does not want our heart, our attitude, our mind, our 143 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:28,160 heart and soul to be contaminated with wrong motives 144 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:31,680 when we do good deeds. Satan may not prevent us from 145 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:34,880 charity, from helping the poor, but if he can contaminate the 146 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:38,200 motive, that's all he needs. Then He still has us on the 147 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:42,679 wrong track. When a person gives, there are 148 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:45,560 basically two ways to give. Let's go over this verse a bit 149 00:08:45,560 --> 00:08:48,840 more closely. Take heed that you do not do 150 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:50,360 your deeds. It's a negative statement. 151 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:52,920 Take think of that Stock mentions in his commentary. 152 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:57,000 It's a negative statement. Do not do your deeds before 153 00:08:57,000 --> 00:08:59,000 meant to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward 154 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:00,680 from your Father in heaven. He's looking at the negative 155 00:09:00,680 --> 00:09:03,280 here, then he goes to the positive. 156 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:06,040 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a 157 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:09,680 trumpet before you as a hypocrite doing the synagogues 158 00:09:09,680 --> 00:09:10,920 in the streets, that they may have glory. 159 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:12,840 For men are sure they say to you to have the reward. 160 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:19,080 In other words, do not give for earthly rewards. 161 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:21,520 In other words, keep your motives pure. 162 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:31,280 Do people sometimes give to get give with strings attached or 163 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:32,680 give because I want to feel good? 164 00:09:32,680 --> 00:09:36,640 It makes me feel so good. It's not wrong to feel good when 165 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:39,960 we give, but if that's the motive for giving, has God-given 166 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:44,600 the honor? The expectations are so subtle. 167 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:51,920 They're so, they're so delicate. The thing it's, it's sometimes 168 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:54,080 we have strings attached when we don't even know it. 169 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:56,800 Just wait until somebody forgets to say thank you. 170 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:02,960 We have this need for acknowledgement, for 171 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:08,720 recognition, even self congratulation for people who 172 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:11,360 give with ulterior motives. Their question is not who, Who 173 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:14,600 will benefit from my gift is what advantage will it bring me? 174 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:18,720 When self focused people give, their question is what will my 175 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:21,240 reward be? How much will I get in return? 176 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:26,080 Somebody made a comment very wisely many years ago and I read 177 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:28,720 it and he said that's not a gift, that's a transaction 178 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:35,240 because it's an expectation. If I seek to benefit when it 179 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:37,520 helped another person, that's a transaction. 180 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:40,960 God site. The idea is how can I leverage 181 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:45,600 my giving to edge my way up and maybe get my foot in the door or 182 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:48,560 be be recognized, be acknowledged and so on. 183 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:52,720 When people give selfishly wanting recognition, God is 184 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:57,040 robbed, not as it now God's any poorer than he was before, but 185 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:01,000 God is robbed of the glory and the honor and we're taking it 186 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:02,720 for ourselves which where it doesn't belong. 187 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:06,040 Does it happen our time? Of course it doesn't happens a 188 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:09,400 lot. There's a story in the Bible 189 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:12,120 where we want to turn our attention to this morning and 190 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:14,560 spend a good chunk of our time here. 191 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:17,280 The story in the book of Acts, and I won't ask you to turn to, 192 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:21,040 but I'll just tell the story. The church had just started 193 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:24,320 recently and the apostles had preached, the Holy Spirit had 194 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:27,840 come, the church was growing, thousands were joining, and big 195 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:30,040 things were happening. They were selling their stuff 196 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:32,520 and they're selling lands and houses and properties, and they 197 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:35,520 were giving it to the apostles and they were distributing among 198 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:37,840 the poor and so on. There's a lot we could infer 199 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:40,240 from this story in terms of what happened to the church later on, 200 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:42,680 the persecution that came, which was good if they didn't own the 201 00:11:42,680 --> 00:11:45,120 houses at the time anymore, but we'll go into that this morning. 202 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:48,080 But anyway, so they were being generous and people were just 203 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:50,360 giving, and the church was good, doing well. 204 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:52,400 The church was growing, the Spirit was adding new people, 205 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:54,280 and this generosity was just overflowing. 206 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:58,000 Things were good. The church was young, it was 207 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:00,400 strong, it was new, it was healthy, and so on. 208 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:04,000 And just by way of explanation, when we read a story, a book 209 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:06,920 like Acts, it's a storybook, it's a story of the church. 210 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:09,920 Not everything is prescriptive in the sense all we all got to 211 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:11,800 sell everything. Now, that's not why it's written 212 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:15,200 there, but just what they did in their circumstances, in their 213 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:16,880 context. And so we can learn from that. 214 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:21,960 So people were selling lands and houses, giving the money to the 215 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:24,000 church, and the church was giving to the poor and 216 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:26,280 distributing it. One couple in Ananias and 217 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:28,160 Sapphira, they were part of this. 218 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:32,080 They too had land. They saw it was going on and 219 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:35,560 they thought, you know what, we too want to participate. 220 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:39,680 We too want to join in on this generosity thing. 221 00:12:40,560 --> 00:12:42,240 They decided to sell a field as well. 222 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:47,080 But there was a kink in the plans, a bent in their ideas. 223 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:49,840 We don't want to give all the money. 224 00:12:50,680 --> 00:12:53,560 We'll just keep some of it for ourselves and then just let the 225 00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:56,120 church believe we did, like everybody else does. 226 00:12:57,560 --> 00:13:00,800 Owning the land was not sin. Selling the land was not sin. 227 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:02,680 Giving it part of the money was not sin. 228 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:05,120 None of that was sin. It was what, the reason, the 229 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:07,400 motive, why and how that was sin. 230 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:11,280 Well, Ananias comes to Peter with a portion of the money. 231 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:13,520 I don't know why he didn't just come together, why he didn't 232 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:16,440 bring all of it. Whatever those motives were, 233 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:19,480 we're not told Ananias comes to Peter. 234 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:23,240 We want to bring a donation. Peter instantly senses 235 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:26,760 something's wrong here. Hey, Ananias, is this how much 236 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:31,120 you sold the land for? Yes, sold for so and so much. 237 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:36,160 And Peter says, why have you conspired to lie against the 238 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:39,200 Holy Spirit? You haven't lied to people, 239 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:43,760 you've lied to God. That very moment Ananias 240 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:47,960 collapsed, fell down, was dead. The young men come in to see 241 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:50,400 Ananias lying on the floor there, and they come in, take 242 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:54,200 him out and they bury him. Three hours go by and Ananias's 243 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:58,760 wife comes along. She too brings money and not 244 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:01,320 knowing that her husband has just died and he's he's gone. 245 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:06,160 And Peter asks for the same question. 246 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:07,480 Did he sell the land for so much? 247 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:10,280 She said yes. She too wanted to appear as 248 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:13,680 generous when in fact she and her husband had agreed to keep 249 00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:15,960 back a part of the money from the sale of the land. 250 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:19,640 He, she too, wanted to be viewed as more generous than they were. 251 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:23,680 Peter confronted her. She too died on the spot. 252 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:28,080 The result was a great fear. Him and all the people. 253 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:30,680 And they took God very seriously. 254 00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:35,440 What happened? God had protected His church 255 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:39,240 from the contamination of pride and greed. 256 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:43,920 As I was reading this and meditating on this and going 257 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:47,040 over this, the question that ran through my mind was this. 258 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:53,760 What if God today would deal thus with all the Ananiasis and 259 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:58,360 Sapphira in the world today? What if they were exposed like 260 00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:00,760 this and then and written about like this? 261 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:09,720 We don't know why God chose to deal that way with Ananias and 262 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:13,800 Sapphira, but what we do know is God knows the heart and we 263 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:17,000 don't. He dealt swiftly and harshly 264 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:21,120 with this couple. They had tried to collect praise 265 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:25,320 and glory for themselves at the expense of honesty and 266 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:28,000 integrity, making it look like hey, we're generous. 267 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:32,680 Meanwhile, they were greedy for recognition and acknowledgement. 268 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:37,880 They gave a good thing that some of the proceeds from their money 269 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:41,000 and Peter told him it wasn't. It was yours to keep and yours 270 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:42,480 to give. Why are you lying about it? 271 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:49,360 And God punished them. There are people today who give 272 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:53,800 plenty to the poor and the poor are benefiting from it. 273 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:58,720 But they lose the reward when it's because if we want to show 274 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:06,960 off or want to be seen as good and or look how much I gave and 275 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:10,600 so on. And then there are those who 276 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:13,480 when they give later on, they say, you know what isn't going? 277 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:14,920 My wish. I'm going to stop giving as 278 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:18,840 using that as leverage. Everything we have is from God. 279 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:21,000 Everything thing we have belongs to God. 280 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:26,400 The question I must ask myself regularly is what am I giving 281 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:28,760 for? What is my motive? 282 00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:30,480 And this does not just apply to giving. 283 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:32,040 It's giving what we're talking about here today. 284 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:37,680 But what's my motive? Whether I'm serving anything, 285 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:41,760 any kind of giving to the church, my time, my energy, my 286 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:45,600 finances. I'm happy to say I know a lot of 287 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:47,960 people who give because they're generous. 288 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:52,000 I've personally met some very wealthy rich givers in my 289 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,560 lifetime and some people who are very poor. 290 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:56,960 And then they, and then when I find out they're giving, how, 291 00:16:56,960 --> 00:17:01,080 how are they doing that? The principle here is not the 292 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:03,640 size of the gift, the amount of the money, but the heart out of 293 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:07,359 which it comes. So we need to ask ourselves, 294 00:17:07,599 --> 00:17:11,960 what kind of heart am I giving out of pressure? 295 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:18,480 Guilt because the law says so? Or do we give out of a 296 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:23,400 relationship with Jesus driven by love and generosity? 297 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:27,760 Some people have never discovered the joy of giving. 298 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:33,440 They may be well off or not well off, but it's the fear. 299 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:39,120 Oh, I can't, I don't have anything or the the flip side of 300 00:17:39,120 --> 00:17:41,120 it is then, OK, I have and then I'm going to give to be 301 00:17:41,120 --> 00:17:45,040 recognized. God is a God of generosity and 302 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:48,120 he blesses A generous heart. And Jesus says here, this will 303 00:17:48,120 --> 00:17:52,400 be honored. And he says here how to do it. 304 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,800 He says, when you do a charitable deed, verse 3, do not 305 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:58,760 let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 306 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:03,760 I'll just put it in your pocket. It's not what it means that your 307 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:06,000 charitable need may be in secret and your Father who sees in 308 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:07,840 secret will Himself reward you openly. 309 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:11,240 This is an interesting thing that Jesus says here. 310 00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:14,200 If the right hand is not to know what the left hand is doing, 311 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:18,160 what is he saying? He does not mean we should just 312 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:20,640 close our eyes and grab some money in our pocket and put an 313 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:22,480 offering box. It's not what it means. 314 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:25,600 It's not the case. He's simply saying this is a 315 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:28,240 second point. Give out of His spiritually 316 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:32,360 transformed heart. There are people who give 317 00:18:32,360 --> 00:18:35,920 because they have an opportunity cheerfully, no regard of any 318 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:37,640 benefit or even consequence to them. 319 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:43,160 Hey, I can and I will. True givers cannot be bought 320 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:46,320 with a temptation of recognition and applause, acknowledgement. 321 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:49,440 True givers give out of the heart of compassion, out of the 322 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:52,280 heart of goodwill, out of the heart of stewardship, because 323 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:55,520 that's their nature. That's what disciples of Jesus 324 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:58,480 do. They have a longing to share 325 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:01,360 what they have been given, not because they have a lot, but 326 00:19:01,360 --> 00:19:02,520 because what they have comes from God. 327 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:05,240 They want to give back. Their giving comes from deep 328 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:08,680 within, a desire to worship with whatever they have to give. 329 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:16,320 There's a story also in Acts chapter 4, a guy named Barnabas. 330 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:21,360 Let me read that a little bit. And Joseph who was also named 331 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:23,640 Barnabas by the Apostles, which is translated Son of 332 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:27,560 Encouragement, a Levite of the country of Cyprus having land, 333 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:31,880 sold it and brought the money at the apostles feet. 334 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:36,800 Just verse 36. The writer acts here in this 335 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:39,680 verse in verse 36, he gives a lot of detail about who the 336 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:43,760 giver is and quite a lot of detail and that he gives. 337 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:46,680 The giving is not in secret, it's actually recorded. 338 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:48,680 We don't know how much it was, but what he did. 339 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:51,240 A little side note in the story hears that this man was a 340 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:52,440 Levite. Now you know who the Levites 341 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:54,040 were. They were not supposed to have 342 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:56,720 land. They were the priestly tribe of 343 00:19:56,720 --> 00:19:58,680 Israel. They were not supposed to own 344 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:00,160 land. They were chosen by God to serve 345 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:02,920 in the priestly ministry. He was a man of Levite who did 346 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:04,960 own land. He's from the country of Cyprus, 347 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:07,480 not from Israel. Cyprus was a small island 348 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:10,840 country in the Mediterranean many hundreds of years earlier. 349 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:13,520 When the people of Israel lost their homeland, they were taking 350 00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:17,400 captive and scattered and so on. And of course everything else 351 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:20,560 fell by the wayside too, in terms of the Levites being taken 352 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:23,600 care of and so on. And so this Levite, a Jew. 353 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:27,240 Man from Cyprus had land, he sold it and it's mentioned that 354 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:29,560 he gave the money to the apostles and it's recorded. 355 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:34,240 Looking at the story, does this now mean that something was done 356 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:36,040 wrong here because it's recorded? 357 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:39,840 Did he write? Draw attention? 358 00:20:40,360 --> 00:20:45,000 Should it have been kept hush? No, the point is not secrecy or 359 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:48,040 no one knowing. The point is the focus. 360 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:50,400 Jesus does tell his audience to give in secret. 361 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:53,320 He is communicating that a person's giving should not be 362 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:56,520 tied to any form of wanting, awareness or public 363 00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:59,080 acknowledgement if the desires to be known. 364 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:02,440 If that is there, then the reward has been cashed in. 365 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:07,120 John Stott in his commentary in the Sermon on the Mount writes 366 00:21:07,120 --> 00:21:09,880 this. He says it is easy for us to 367 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:13,040 poke fun at those Jewish Pharisees of the 1st century. 368 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:15,960 Our Christian Phariseeism is not so amusing. 369 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:19,760 We may not employ a troop of trumpeters to blow a fanfare 370 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:21,560 each time we give to a church or charity. 371 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:25,160 Yet, to use the similar familiar metaphor, we like to blow our 372 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:27,320 own trumpet. It boosts our ego to see our 373 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:30,400 name as subscribers to charities and supporters of good causes. 374 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:32,760 We fall to the very same temptation. 375 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:35,160 We draw attention to our giving in order to be praised by men. 376 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:37,920 Stott mented that Jesus uses 2 negatives to teach in the 377 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:39,880 dangers of wanting recognition. We went over those. 378 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:44,960 It is only in keeping our hearts aligned with God that we will 379 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,720 not fall into these extremes of wanting attention in the left 380 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:50,080 hand, knowing what the right hand is doing. 381 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:54,040 Stock continues. We're not to be self-conscious 382 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:56,800 in our giving, for self consciousness will readily 383 00:21:57,080 --> 00:21:59,040 deteriorate into self righteousness. 384 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:03,720 So subtle is the sinfulness of the heart that it is possible to 385 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:06,720 take deliberate steps to keep our secret by giving secret from 386 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:10,200 men while simultaneously dwelling on it in our own minds 387 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:12,680 in the spirit of self. Self congratulation. 388 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:16,720 It would be hard to exaggerate the perversity of this. 389 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:20,240 Forgiving is a real activity involving real people in real 390 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:22,160 need. Its purpose is to alleviate the 391 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:24,680 distress of the needy. It's possible to turn an act of 392 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:27,320 mercy into an act of vanity, so that our principal motive and 393 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:30,360 giving is not the benefit of the person receiving the gift, but 394 00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:33,920 our benefit of ourselves for those who give it. 395 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:42,240 Christian giving is to be marked by self sacrifice and self 396 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:45,360 forgetfulness, not by self congratulation. 397 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:49,080 That's what John Stott At this point some of you may be 398 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:51,800 wondering, OK, so how much should I now give? 399 00:22:53,120 --> 00:22:56,120 It's not really the point of the sermon today, but I'll just make 400 00:22:56,120 --> 00:22:58,960 a few observations. You can't really pinpoint that 401 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:01,520 number because your income fluctuates. 402 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:05,160 It's not safe to have a hard and fast rule. 403 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:09,000 Instead, ask, Lord, what of this wealth you've blessed me with, 404 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:11,160 this income I've received? What is? 405 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:15,040 What would honor you? CS Lewis once mentioned wisely, 406 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:17,280 he says. I do not believe one can settle 407 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:19,840 how much we ought to give. I'm afraid the only safe rule is 408 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:22,800 to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our 409 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:25,640 expenditure and comforts and luxuries and amusements, and so 410 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:28,720 on is up to the standard common among those with the same income 411 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,080 as our own, we're probably giving away too little. 412 00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:34,480 If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say 413 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:38,400 they're too small. There ought to be things we 414 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:40,440 should like to do and cannot do because our charitable 415 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:43,400 expenditure excludes them. Here's the rub. 416 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,320 As long as we have not died to ourselves, have not taken up a 417 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:51,320 cross to follow Jesus, this is going to be very hard. 418 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:53,720 It's going to be obligatory. It's going to be drudgery. 419 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:56,520 It's going to be about rules. And that's not the point. 420 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:00,960 But once we're saved, once we're surrendered, once we're 421 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:04,000 surrendered to Jesus, this becomes an opportunity and 422 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:06,360 doesn't matter anymore. The left hand doesn't need to 423 00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:07,560 know what the right hand is doing. 424 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:11,160 It doesn't need to the obvious. It doesn't need to be hidden, it 425 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:16,000 just needs to happen. We know in Matthew chapter 25, 426 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:20,360 the the in the Gospel Matthew chapter 25, Jesus talks about 427 00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:21,760 how it will be toward the end of time. 428 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:24,360 What's going to happen on the judgment seat? 429 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:27,520 When Jesus comes, he says, and he will set the sheep on his 430 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:28,880 right, but the goats on the left. 431 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:30,960 Then the King will say to those on his right, Come, and you, 432 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:35,680 blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you 433 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:36,960 from the foundation of the world. 434 00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:39,160 For I was hungry, and you gave me food. 435 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:40,640 I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. 436 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:42,920 I was a stranger, and you took me, and I was naked, and you 437 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:44,680 clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. 438 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:46,320 I was in prison. You came to me. 439 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:49,400 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we 440 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,480 see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? 441 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:55,200 When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or naked and 442 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:58,080 clothe you? Or when did we see you sick or 443 00:24:58,080 --> 00:24:59,920 in prison, and come to you? And the King will answer and say 444 00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:02,480 to them assuredly say to you, in as much as you did it to one of 445 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:04,240 the least of these my brethren, you did it to me. 446 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:09,120 All the service, all the giving, all the sacrifices. 447 00:25:09,360 --> 00:25:11,960 Oh, we did those things, did we? Well, we weren't aware. 448 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:15,360 In their case, the left hand was not knowing what the right hand 449 00:25:15,360 --> 00:25:17,320 was doing. They didn't do it for attention. 450 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:21,240 These people served out of relationship with Jesus. 451 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:25,000 They gave out of that capacity. And Jesus has a welcoming party 452 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:26,240 waiting for those who've served him. 453 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:27,760 But there'll also be the other side. 454 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:32,400 Matthew Chapter 2541 Then he will also say to those on the 455 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:34,960 left, Depart from me You cursed into the everlasting fire, 456 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:36,600 prepared for the devil and his angels. 457 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:38,560 For I was hungry, and you gave me no food. 458 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:40,920 I was thirsty, You gave me no drink. 459 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:43,480 I was a stranger. You did not take me in naked, 460 00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:46,200 and you did not clothe me sick, and in prison you did not visit 461 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:48,440 me. They also will answer, saying, 462 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:51,240 Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or 463 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:53,240 naked or sick in prison did not minister to you? 464 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:56,320 He will answer them saying assuredly I say to you, in as 465 00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:58,680 much as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did 466 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:01,320 not do it to me. And these will go away into 467 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:04,040 everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. 468 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:06,880 You see these people pull out their charts and their 469 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,960 spreadsheets and their records. Look here, this is how much I 470 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:13,160 donated. This is how many years I served. 471 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:16,280 There's how many classes I taught, there's how many sermons 472 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:19,560 I preached Jesus, I don't know about that. 473 00:26:20,360 --> 00:26:23,800 I never registered on with me. I don't even know you. 474 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:26,440 You have no part with me. You see, the heart was self 475 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:29,600 focused. The deeds were not wrong, but 476 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:32,240 all in vain. Their hearts were like the 477 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:35,080 Pharisees who wanted the praise of men who wanted to be 478 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:37,000 recognized and acknowledged and honored. 479 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:39,720 Matthew 7 verse 21. Jesus says, not everyone who 480 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:42,080 says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter the Kingdom of heaven, but 481 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:44,240 he who does the will of my Father in heaven. 482 00:26:45,120 --> 00:26:47,320 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not 483 00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:50,440 prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name and done 484 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:52,800 many wonders in your name? And then I'll declare to them, I 485 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:56,040 never knew you depart from me, You who practice lawlessness. 486 00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:02,840 They did a lot of stuff, busy schedules, all in, all out, but 487 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:06,080 not for Jesus. They gave with wrong motives. 488 00:27:06,080 --> 00:27:09,760 It was for themselves. A sobering truth to think about. 489 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:12,640 It's not just that we don't do bad things. 490 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:17,040 The good things we do, we have to still do them with Christ and 491 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:19,440 mine, because Satan doesn't care if he can get us to do bad 492 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:21,440 things, Great for his, for the Kingdom of the arts, great, 493 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:23,840 great. He gets us down with him if he 494 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:25,120 can. He's going to do good things. 495 00:27:25,120 --> 00:27:27,040 Well, then I'd better get behind him and make sure He does the 496 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:29,160 good things for himself, for human acknowledgement. 497 00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:33,280 My prayer is that as a church, as individuals, we will not 498 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:35,680 allow the things of this world to get between US and our Lord 499 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:37,840 Jesus. Not the sinful lifestyle, but 500 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:40,520 also the good lifestyle. Do it for the right reasons. 501 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:44,120 So let's do our works of service, our gifts of giving, 502 00:27:44,120 --> 00:27:46,360 our resources. Let's do it for Christ. 503 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:49,760 And when we give, let's give out of a relationship with Him and 504 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:51,840 not keep track and not keep count. 505 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:55,600 Let's pray or thank you for your spirit. 506 00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:59,640 Without you we could never live out your commands in our lives 507 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:02,720 or forgive us where we fall short so many times. 508 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:06,000 Thank you for reminding us and helping us to walk in your way, 509 00:28:06,120 --> 00:28:09,840 to walk in relations with you. May we be a church that is a 510 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:13,000 light on a hill. Maybe be salt in our community. 511 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:14,920 Maybe you live in obedience to you. 512 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:16,480 Thank you, Jesus. Amen.