Message for THE LORD S DAY MORNING, April 7, 2013 MESSAGE 13 in Living The Salt Life Series (A Study of Jesus Sermon On The Mount) Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister Warnings Against Spiritual Grandstanding Message 13 in Living The Salt Life Sermon Series (A Study of Jesus Sermon On The Mount) Matthew 6:1-8; 16-18 NKJV There s a saying we hear quite often these days, If you ve got it, flaunt it. -Typically, this expression means: If you have a great body, don t hide it under modest apparel, show yourself off for the whole world to see. -Or if you have a brilliant mind, don t be humble and unassuming about it, show the rest of the world your superior intellect. -Or if you have lots of money, spend it so everybody knows how rich you are! If you ve got it, FLAUNT IT! Unfortunately a lot of Christians practice this worldly principle when it comes to their spiritual life. They love to flaunt how much they give.they love to flaunt how much they pray they love to flaunt how many good deeds they do they love to flaunt how much they serve and they love to flaunt how spiritual they are. In today s message from THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT, Jesus is going to teach us that If You ve Really Got It (SPIRITUALLY) You Don t Need To Flaunt It! Our study today is found in the SIXTH CHAPTER of the Gospel of Matthew. And in the first eighteen verses, Jesus issues three warnings about being a spiritual show-off! Before we get into our text, let s ask the Lord s blessings on our study this morning. P R A Y E R
Well let s take a look at Jesus three warnings. WARNING #1: GIVE,, But Don t GRANDSTAND!! (vs. 1-4) Matthew 6:1-4 (NKJV) 1 Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. 1. When you compare what Jesus says in the first part of verse 1 with what Jesus said earlier in Matthew 5:16 it almost sounds like a contradiction. -In Matthew 5:16 Jesus said, Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. -And now in chapter 6, verse 1, Jesus says, Take heed that you DO NOT DO YOUR CHARITABLE DEEDS BEFORE MEN, TO BE SEEN BY THEM. 2. When you look closely at these two commands you see they aren t contradictory at all. The difference between the two has to do with our motives. To do our good deeds so that God gets the glory is a good thing. To do our good deeds so that we get the glory is a bad thing. To do our good deeds for the applause of God is a good thing. To do our good deeds for the applause of men is a bad thing. ITS ALL ABOUT M-O-T-I-V-E!
3. In these first four verses of Matthew 6, Jesus addresses the issue of GIVING. You notice in verse 2 Jesus says, Therefore, WHEN you do a charitable deed.. Jesus did not see IF YOU DO A CHARITABLE DEED. He said WHEN. Jesus expects His followers to be a giving people. Giving is a COMMAND not a SUGGESTION. But while giving is a GOOD thing, it can be done in the WRONG WAY! 4. Jesus says, Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do NOT sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. 5. No doubt Jesus has in mind a practice of the Pharisees which He had come to detest. In the Temple there were thirteen receptacles where contributions could be made. Each of these receptacles was like a big chest with an opening on top that looked like a funnel. The Pharisees would typically exchange soft money like our paper bills for coins. Then they would stuff all those coins into their aprons and pockets and go into the Temple court and start emptying all those coins into those funnel openings on top of the chests. The sound of all those coins being dumped into the funnel would echo all over the courtyard and impress everyone within ear shot. Even if it wasn t a big gift, it sounded BIG! It sounded sacrificial! It sounded generous! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
6. Oh brothers and sisters, Jesus is NOT saying, Don t give! He is saying, GIVE, BUT DON T GRANDSTAND! If you want to determine whether your motives in giving or doing good deeds are genuine try this: Don t tell a single soul you did it! If you can do that, then it tells you your motives are pure. If you CAN T do that it tells you your motives are impure. 7. Jesus is teaching us that when we take a selfless act like giving and turn it into a selfish act to impress people, then we have gotten all the REWARD we are going to get! And He even tells us in VERSE 1 that we will not receive any reward from our heavenly Father for any good we do for show. In other words, enjoy that pat on the back. enjoy those few words of praise. enjoy those few admirable looks you get from others because that is all the reward you are going to get. 8. But Jesus tells us in VERSE 4 that when we give with pure motives from a pure heart, GOD HIMSELF WILL REWARD US OPENLY. We may do a lot of good in this world for which we receive no recognition, no appreciation, and no praise. But one day the LORD will reward us openly for the good we did for His glory and His honor and not our own. 9. GIVE BUT DON T GRANDSTAND!
WARNING #2: PRAY,, But Don t Turn It Into A PRODUCTION! (vs. 5-8) Matthew 6:5-8 (NKJV) 5 And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 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. 7 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. 8 Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 1. Just as Christ expects us to give in the right way, He expects us to pray in the right way. 2. Notice the precise wording Jesus uses in verse 5.. He doesn t say, The hypocrites love to pray. He says, The hypocrites LOVE to PRAY standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. 3. The Greek term Jesus used for love to pray standing literally means, to strike a pose. OK, I m going to strike a pose like I m praying for all of you who want to see what a righteous man looks like. ( Here, get a picture of this: HANDS CLASPED, LOOKING HEAVENWARD. And get a picture of this! HEAD BOWED, HANDS TOGETHER IN PRAYER POSITION. )
4. If they had had cameras back in Jesus day the Pharisees would have struck prayer poses all day long. Can you imagine tourist in Jerusalem saying, Oh look, there s a Pharisee praying, let me get my camera! 5. In our day and time, the prayer pose has been replaced with the prayer voice. Have you ever noticed when some people pray they change the sound of their voice? ILLUSTRATION: When I was preaching in Illinois we had a man in our congregation who talked like this normally. Hey Reg, how you doing? But when he prayed, he dropped his voice a whole octave and spoke like this, Oh God, our omnipotent Creator C of the universe. Now I have to confess, when I called on this guy to pray, I had to open one eye because the guy I called on and the guy that was praying didn t sound like the same guy. 6. Jesus is teaching us to PRAY, BUT DON T TURN IT INTO A THEATRICAL PRODUCTION! DON T STRIKE A PRAYER POSE.. DON T USE A PRAYER VOICE! DON T SPEAK A BUNCH OF CHRISTIANESE JIBBERISH! Remember you aren t praying to people, you re praying to God! Pray like a child speaking to his father! Be humble! Be genuine! Be real! 7. Jesus says in VERSES 6, 7. 6 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. 7 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.
8. Jesus is NOT teaching us that it is WRONG to pray in public. HE is teaching us that BEFORE we pray publicly we should spend much time in private prayer. Think about it! If one doesn t value prayer enough to practice it in his private life in the presence of GOD, then isn t it hypocritical to PRAY in PUBLIC in the presence of people? (PAUSE!) 9. Brothers and sisters, when it comes to PRAYER, the beauty is NOT in the SPIRITUAL SOUNDING WORDS, the beauty is in THE SINCERITY OF THE HEART! GIVE..BUT DON T GRANDSTAND! PRAY BUT DON T TURN IT INTO A PRODUCTION! WARNING #3: FAST,, But Don t Make It A FANFARE!! (vs. 16-18) 18) Matthew 6:16-18 (NKJV) 16 Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 1. Most Christians don t fast these days, unless they are dieting, or have been told by their doctor to fast the night before some tests or a surgery.
2. But in Jesus day, fasting was very common. One would fast or refrain from eating for a certain period of time in order to focus on GOD. 3. The Pharisees loved to FAST! As a matter-of-fact, there was only one thing the Pharisees loved more than fasting, and that was IF EVERYBODY KNEW THEY WERE FASTING! 4. The Pharisees would put on dirty old clothes, stop shaving, let their hair go unkempt, and walk around with a pained look on their faces like they had just sat on a cactus. 5. When people would see them out in public they would remark, Oh, they must be fasting! What a spiritual man, to deprive himself of food like that in order to be close to God. 6. But the ugly truth was, the Pharisees weren t fasting to get close to God, they were fasting to impress people. In fact, they may not have even been fasting at all. 7. Jesus is teaching us it is good to fast for the right reason, BUT DON T MAKE IT A BIG FANFARE! ************************************************************************
C O N C L U S I O N Did you ever wonder why the scribes and Pharisees were into all that spiritual showmanship? The answer is simple: THAT S WHAT RELIGIOUS PEOPLE DO! - Religious people trumpet their giving and their good deeds. - Religious people pray to impress others. - Religious people have to flaunt their religion in public. - Religious people crave the attention and applause of man rather than the approval of God. The scribes and Pharisees had RELIGION, but what they didn t have was a LIFE GIVING, LIFE-CHANGING RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST. And so this morning I leave you with this soul-searching question: Do you have RELIGION or do you have A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST? Are you living for the APPLAUSE of man or the APPLAUSE OF GOD? Brothers and sisters, none of us can posture our way into heaven. God isn t impressed in the least with religious showmanship and spiritual grandstanding. May we settle for nothing less than a life-giving, life-changing relationship with the LORD JESUS CHRIST!