I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Matthew. Matthew
chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6. I'm going
to actually look at verse 1. I'm going to comment on verses
2, 3, and 4, but actually verse 1 is where I would like for us
to look for just a few minutes this evening. Before we do, let's
ask our Lord's blessing. Brother Neal, would you ask the
Lord's blessing please? Our most kind, gracious Heavenly
Father, we thank You that You have allowed us to gather together
in Your Word. Now, Lord, as we have opened
Your Word, would You bless it to our hearts. O Lord, help us
that we might draw near to You in Your Word, Lord, that we might
take comfort in life. Certainly, Father, we're needy
people. We do need Your comfort. We need Your care. O Father,
draw our hearts to Yourself. Bless our brother as he opens
the Word to us, O Lord. Give Him the words that we pray,
Father, that it might be for Your honor and Your glory, and
for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, in His name we ask. Amen. Amen. Our Lord has been preaching the
Sermon on the Mount, and this This one verse out of
that message I'd like for us to consider just for a minute. Take heed. Take heed. Be cautious, is what
he's saying. He said be very careful. Be careful. Be careful here. Take heed that
you do not your alms. your righteousness, your acts, a key that you do not your alms
before men to be seen of them. Otherwise you have no reward
of your Father which is in heaven. The part of this verse that just
really arrested me was the latter part of that verse, no reward of your father which
is in heaven. gravely, gravely interested in
the reward of Almighty God. Genesis 15.1, I want you to turn
there. This is the Lord talking to Abraham. When we realize the reward of
the Lord, what is the reward of the Lord. Genesis 15 verse
1. After these things, the word
of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying... Now listen, this is the Lord
Jesus Christ who is speaking. This is the Lord. This is the
word of the Lord. The word of the Lord. He came
unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield
and thy exceeding great reward. Now here's the issue, here's
the whole issue. The reward of a believer is the
Lord himself. Every believer is interested,
vitally interested, that I have Him, that I know Him, that I
be found in Him. There is nothing else in this
world that matters. There is coming a day in which
we're going to stand before God And if we have not Him as our
reward, we have nothing but death. Take heed that you do not your
alms before men to be seen of them, otherwise you have no reward
of your Father which is in heaven. redemption, righteousness, His
righteousness, life eternal, being with Him. That is our great
reward. And these alms that the Lord
is talking about, and you know, generally speaking, we think
of money, but I'm talking about anything. everything. It's not that we don't do alms
before men. I mean, it's almost impossible
to just have everything so completely secret. We've shown up tonight
and I see you. You're here. But what's the motive of our
coming? That's what he's talking about. Take heed that you do
not your arms before men to be seen of them. There's the issue
right there. The issue is coming down to this. Who am I coming to please? Who am I coming to honor? Have I come this evening to be
seen of men? to say, well, he's a faithful
man. He's there tonight. Or have I come because truly
I'm convinced that this is where God's going to speak. This is
where the Lord speaks. That He speaks through His Word,
blessed by the Spirit of God, for His honor, and for His glory,
and for His praise, and not mine and not yours. I enjoy being
here with you. being with the body of Christ,
being with God's people. But the whole issue right here
is motive. What's the motive? Why do I do? Now, I'm going to tell you the
thing about a believer. A believer hears this and says in his heart, Lord God
of heaven, help me. Help me. Lord, forgive me. And an unbeliever says, oh, I
don't do that at all. Listen, here we're being warned. He said, take heed. If I be found
to do what I do, and I'm finding that what I'm doing To be honest with you, man in
his unregenerate state is blind. He's blind to his own blindness.
He thinks he knows. He thinks. The unbeliever does
what he does truly. Now listen to what I'm saying.
The unbeliever does what he does truly because he wants to earn
a place in heaven. You ask an unbeliever, where
do you want to go when you die? He's not going to tell you hell.
He's going to say, I want to go to heaven. I want to be with
the Lord. But I'm telling you that the
Lord has revealed something here about hypocrites. who do what
they do to be seen of men, to have the glory of men, that love
the pats of men. And here's the sad thing. Every
one of us has an old nature that wants the same thing. I want it and you want it. But
if we be found to desire to gain esteem and to to be praised of
men and honored by men, and we do that without remorse for that
attitude. Knowing in our heart that's not
a right attitude. If I do that without conviction,
if I do it without chastisement, if I do it and come for the praise
of men, honor of men, glory of men, I have my reward. That's
what the scripture says. Therefore, when thou doest thine
alms, don't sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites do in
the synagogues and the streets, that they may have glory of men.
Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. The Lord knows. And I see in me that is in my
flesh there dwells no good thing. So for any believer, Any believer
is going to agree with what I'm saying. There's an old man in
all of us that wars against the spirit of our new mind, our new
man. Am I doing what I'm doing for
the glory of God? I want to. I want to. I desire to come before him to
hear for his honor and for his glory. Now this message right
here, I started reading today, I was going to go from verse
1 down to maybe the bottom of 15. I decided I'd just stick with one. There is a convicting word that's set forth, take heed. Our Lord is warning us, take
heed that you do not your arms before men to be seen of them
otherwise. You have no reward of your father
which is in heaven. So here's my question to myself
and to you. What is our motive? What is our
motive? There's two motives in every
believer. There's two. One of them wants nothing but
the praise of men. And the other one desires only
the glory of God. And they're contrary one to the
other. And they don't mix. And they war. And they fight. And they strive together. And
they butt heads. And the believer knows it. And
he does this very thing when the Lord says, be cautious, a
believer says, Lord, I desire to be cautious. Let me walk before
you knowing that you know and you see and walk before men as
it becometh a believer. Let my conversation be as it
becometh the gospel. Let me walk as a believer. The scripture admonishes me and
you. 1 Corinthians 10.31, whether
therefore you eat, now listen to this, you know we quote these
scriptures and I mean we just run them off just like that. Listen, whether you eat, whether
you drink, whatever you do, whatever you do, do all. to the glory of God. That has
a sound that I so truly desire. I want that. I want that. And I know this, I'm going to
go through this life by the grace of God wanting that. and never
seeing it accomplished fully in this life, and I know it.
I'll go through the rest of my life struggling with a frail
body of frail, just everything about me, wretched, to will present
with me how to accomplish that which I would, I find not. I
want to be corrected. Take heed, he says. Lord, I want
to take heed. I want to be corrected in my
wayward thoughts. Because I'm constantly forgetting. I need the admonition of the
Lord. I need His instruction. I need
His correction. Lord, keep me from that spirit
and attitude of that Pharisee. Look at Luke 18, 9. We've looked
at this many times. Luke 18, verse 9. This is every believer right
here, but for the grace of God. Here's every believer right here.
but for the grace of God. Now the publican is every believer
by the grace of God. But this Pharisee right here
is every believer but for the grace of God. It's every man
born in Adam but this is every one of us who believe but for
the grace of God. But for His grace this is the
way it would be. Two men went up to the temple
to pray And men, by and large, are all religious. Men, just,
you know, without God, but religious. Went up in the temple to pray.
One was a Pharisee, the other a Republican. And that Pharisee
stood and prayed, and prayed honestly with himself. as honestly
as he could, not honest before God, but honest with himself.
He truly, truly believed this. He stood and he prayed thus with
himself, God, I thank Thee that I'm not as other men are, extortioners,
unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican, and he wanted
other men to know it. He wanted other men to congratulate
him. I wish I could be like you. I
wish I could be constant like you. I wish I could be pure,
consistent like you. I fast twice in the week. I deprive myself of things that
I truly want. And I do it, now Matthew 6 says
they do it to be seen to men. When you fast, the Lord said,
don't twist and turn your face. Appear to be fasting. Wash your
face. Don't let anybody know it. To
be seen of men. For the glory to come here. I
fast twice in a week. I give tithes of all that I possess. But they'll do it as those rich
folks, you know, when the widow put in her two mites and everybody
else come in putting in all her copious amounts to be seen of
men. If you're going to be, we've
got a box back in the back, behind that door right over there. And give, all believers give. When you give, just give. Just
give. Mark's going to know it, because
he's going to have to count it, and he's going to know it, but
nobody else needs to. I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar
off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, smote
upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather
than the other. For everyone that exalteth himself
shall be abased. He that humbleth himself shall
be exalted." I want you to look at Matthew 7, 17. Matthew 7,
17. Matthew 7, 17. Even so, every
good tree bringeth forth good fruit. But a corrupt tree bringeth forth
evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth
evil fruit. Now think about that. Think about
what he just said. A good tree cannot bring forth
evil fruit. Neither can a corrupt tree bring
forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not
forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore,
by their fruits ye shall know them. Then he says, Not every
one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, which
is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and thy name have
cast out devils, and thy name done many wonderful works? Then
and then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart
from me, ye that work iniquity. Take heed. Be careful. Be cautious. Every believer is struggling
right now. with what the Lord has to say
here. Every believer is struggling with the weight of sin that so
easily besets us. But take heart. Take heart. You that are struggling, and
I'm struggling too, take heart. Christ came into this world to
save sinners. of whom every believer is going
to say, I'm the worst. And they're going to mean it.
No believer will say, I know I'm not the worst of sinners.
Every believer says the same thing. Nobody believes as little as
I do. That's what they'll say. No one
fails to trust any more than me. But for the grace of God,
if God would mark iniquity, where in the world would I stand? Take
heart. There is that old man in every
one of us that does, as I said a while ago, want to have the
praise of men. I know that. I know that. And
the Lord convicts His people of it. And thanks be unto God,
He does. Thanks be unto God that He corrects
us. And we feel the spanking and
the correction of the Lord. We feel it. You feel it in your
heart. Despise not thou the chastening
of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him. For whom
the Lord loveth, He chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom
He receiveth. But if you be without chastisement, wherein all are partakers, aware
of, I'm sorry, all are partakers. Then are ye bastards and not
sons. Turn back Matthew 6. When thou doest, verse 3 and
4, alms. Let not thy left hand know what
thy right hand doeth, that thine alms may be in secret, and thy
father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. Here's that great struggle again. Secret. Nobody's seeing but the Lord.
That hypocrite, the scripture says, is going to make an announcement,
going to blow a trumpet, make an issue out of it, and he's
going to do it for the glory of men. But what is the motive
of a believer? What's the motive of that new
heart? That new man? The glory of God. That's what
we just said. Whatever you do. Eat, drink, whatever you do.
Do it for the glory of God. Why do we do it? Why? What is the source of our strength? What is the source? 2 Corinthians
5.14, the love of Christ constraineth us. His love for us, yes, and therefore
our love for Him. We love Him because He first
loved us. Here's what I need to be reminded of. He everlastingly
loved me. If I know Him and He's regenerated
me, called me out of darkness, then He's died as my Redeemer.
He laid down His life for me. He was buried and raised for
my justification or because of my justification. God who has
eternally justified me. Christ was buried and raised,
accepted because of my justification. He ascends into heaven and is
now there as the mediator, the great high priest of his sheep. Oh, Lord God of heaven, keep
me, forgive me, forgive me, and Lord, teach me to not seek the
praises of men. Lord, may I be found walking,
seeking your honor and your glory. John the Baptist said in John
3.30, he must increase. I must decrease. Colossians 3.17, whatever you
do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God and Father by Him. Peter who was so sure, I'll never,
I'll never fail you. Others will, I won't. He said,
you'll deny me three times before the cock crows twice. Not me. A little girl came up, a little
maid came up and she said, you were one of them. You were one
of them. And the fear of man, the fear
of man bringeth a snare. He said, I don't know him. I
don't know him. I don't know him. Cussed. Says,
I don't know the man. I don't know the man. The Lord was raised from the
dead. He came to Peter. He said, Peter, Lovest thou me
more than these? And he saith unto him, Yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. How I thank the Lord for forgiveness. How I thank God for mercy. How
I thank God that almighty God has been pleased to put away
my guilt because I'm going to tell you something. I'm guilty. of doing this very thing that
the Lord told me to take heed against. And you have to. You
that know it, you have to. We've all done it. We've all
done it. May I study and preach and pray
for you. May I do so for God's honor and
God's glory. I'll just share a little bit
with you. Here, about a week and a half, we plan to have our
special meeting, 60 years. God helped me. There's some of
you here that's been here from the beginning. I know Glenn was.
I'm sure there's others that's been here real close. Lord helped
me to be very mindful of who's to get the praise and honor and
glory. for being able to be here these many years. And take heed
that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them. The only
reason we're here is by the grace of God. Lord, help me. When I do my alms before men,
not only monetary, but when I love you, May I love you for the glory
of God. May I set forth and be merciful
and kind and considerate, not for my honor or your honor, but
for His. Loving you is the mark of a believer. Doing my alms before you, not
with lip service either, but from the heart. By this you'll
all men know that you're my disciples. You have love one for the other. May my words and my actions before
you be from the heart of love for the Lord and for his people. I know that a new heart is going
to evidence these attributes of kindness. Oh, may I take heed. I pray that the Lord give me
a heart that's honest. That is to say this, I know myself
to be a sinner. A heart that's honest with men
about God's sovereignty. Not from fear of what men might
say or think, but because it honors the Lord who has set forth
Himself as the I Am. Give me a heart that magnifies
the Lord Jesus Christ as the Redeemer of His sheep. And Lord,
may I be given a heart and attitude that truly desires your glory,
your honor. That in that day, that day of
eternal reckoning, he that has seen in secret may say, and truly
for Christ's sake, for Christ's sake, reward me for Christ's
sake. according to his everlasting
covenant and say unto me, come you blessed of my father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Take heed that you do not your
arms before men to be seen of them. Otherwise, you have no reward
of your father, which is in heaven. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart and truly give us a heart of remembrance that we
are what we are by the grace of God. Okay.