Could you turn back to Matthew chapter six, verse one. I've entitled the message for tonight, When You Do Your Alms. Verse one, Matthew chapter six. Take heed that you do not your alms, And my marginal reading says your righteousnesses take heed that you do not your righteousnesses before men to be seen of them. Otherwise you have no reward of your father, which is in heaven.

Now in this passage of scripture, he breaks down. We've already seen this go over it again real quickly. Works of mercy, works of devotion, and works of self denial. Verses two through four, he's talking about works of mercy, your almsgiving. In verses five through 15, he's talking about works of devotion, prayer to God. And in verses 16 through 18, he speaks of works of self denial. That's the point behind fasting. It's self-denial. It's denying yourself. And remember the Lord said, if any man come after me, let him deny himself. Take up his cross and follow me.

When people get stuck on fasting, they think, well, does it mean no water either? Does it mean sunup to sundown? Does it mean 24 hours? Does it mean 40 days? You're missing the point. Read Isaiah 58. This is talking about works of self-denial.

Now he says, take heed that you do not your righteousnesses, your works of mercy, your works of devotion, or your works of self-denial. Make sure you're not doing this so other men can see it. Otherwise, you have your reward if that's what you're doing.

Now, I just want to consider verses two through four this evening. Therefore, verse two, therefore, when thou doest thine alms, do not sound the trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But when thou doest 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."

Now, these things are a given with every believer. When you do your alms, when you pray, when you fast, And if somebody's thinking, I don't feel like I fast regularly enough, I'm sure we don't, but that's not the point. The point is self-denial. That's the whole point behind fasting, and there's self-denial. We deny righteous self, we deny sinful self, we deny everything about ourselves and following Christ. This thing of self-denial is involved.

But when he talks about doing your alms, In verse two, when thou doest thine alms, the word comes from mercy, acts of mercy. When you do your acts of mercy, pity, compassion, and forgiveness, when you do your alms, make sure you're not doing it to be seen of men. Make sure you're doing it for the right reason. Now, here's the point. Motive is everything. Two men can perform the same act. God is pleased with one. He's offended by the other. Same act. What's the difference? Motive.

Now, look at our Lord's description of these people. Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, your acts of mercy, compassion, kindness, Don't sound a trumpet before thee to broadcast to everybody of the magnanimous efforts you're bringing in to help people. Don't sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Now here's the motive, and this is what the Lord is condemning, that they may have glory of men. I love saying this. God is the God of glory. That's one of his titles. Glory is essential to God. Everything he does is to the praise of the glory of his grace. And it's only right that it should be so. Now, if I'm seeking my own glory, it's evil. It's wrong. If he seeks his own glory, it is only right that it's so because of who he is. He does what he does to the praise of the glory of his grace. He created the universe for his own glory. He sent his son to die for sinners for his own glory. Thank God that he acts for his own glory.

Now, glory is not essential to man. These men are doing this to get glory for men. Glory is not essential to man, nor does any man have any glory coming to him.

1 Corinthians 4, 7, who maketh thee to differ from another? And what do you have that you didn't receive? Now you've been made to differ by the grace of God. You didn't do it. He did it. He made you to differ. What do you have that you didn't receive? Do you have some kind of natural gifts? He gave them to you. Can you glory in it? Do you have faith? It's his gift. Can you glory in that? He says, now, if you received it, Why do you glory as if you hadn't received it? It's something you've achieved on your own.

Now wanting to glorify yourself or wanting glory for yourself is also wanting to rob it from God. That's the critical issue. To want to have glory to myself is to want to rob God of his glory. Now remember the glory is who gets the credit? Who gets the credit? Desiring glory for men renders a man unable to believe. Listen to this scripture from John chapter five, verse 44. The Lord said, how can you believe that receive honor or glory, it's the same word, how can you believe which receive honor from one another and not that glory that comes from God only? If I'm seeking my own glory, I can't believe. It's impossible to believe and to seek my glory and believe at the same time.

John chapter 12, verses 41 through 43, these things said Isaiah when he saw his glory and spake of him. Nevertheless, among the chief rulers, many believed on him, but because of the Pharisees, they would not confess him. Thus they should be put out of the synagogue, for they love the praise of men more. than the praise of God, the glory of God. If I'm seeking my own glory, I'll get it, but I won't have grace. You see, if I get glory, that means salvation by grace is not true. If he gets all the glory, salvation is all of grace. This is how critical this issue is. These men doing what they do to get glory for men.

Now, let me say this about the glory of God. The test of true doctrine is who gets the glory. You can judge what you're hearing by this. Does it give God all the glory? It's true. Does it give man any glory? It's false. Let me show you that in the scripture. Turn to John chapter seven. Verse 14, now about the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews marveled, saying, how knoweth this man letters? He's never learned. He's never been to seminary. He's never been educated. Where's he coming up with this? Jesus answered them and said, my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself. If I'm willing by the grace of God to do his will, I'm not going to be fooled. I'll know the doctrine, whether it be of God. If I don't know the doctrine, it's because I am not willing to do his will. Doctrinal error is a sin problem. It's a wicked will problem, not an intellectual problem. If any man will do his will, you know, the gospel, while it's gloriously, I can't even use enough words to talk about the unspeakable words of the gospel, yet it's easy to understand. It's very simple, very easy to understand. Christ is all in salvation. Anybody not understand that? Salvation is by grace. Is there anybody that doesn't understand that? There's no such thing as free will. Is that hard to understand? No, it's very simple. And if I don't understand the doctrine, it's because of an unwillingness to bow to God as all in all. That's the problem.

Now let's go on reading. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself. He that speaketh of himself, what? He seeketh his own glory. That's simple enough. But he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true. And no unrighteousness is in him. Now, if I'm seeking mine own glory, I'm seeking to rob God of glory. In this thing of salvation, if I'm seeking the credit, I'm denying that salvation is all of grace. Now that is the issue that's taking place with this man sounding the trumpet before him to let everybody know of the magnanimous nature of his gifts toward others and all the help he gives, seeking his own glory. What he's doing is he's denying that salvation is by grace. That is the issue.

What is the right motive for almsgiving, for acts of mercy? We'll look at Matthew chapter five, verse seven. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Now, they do not obtain mercy because they're merciful. They're merciful because they've obtained mercy. Blessed are the merciful. How blessed you are of God if you're merciful. What kindness He showered upon you. What great grace He's given to you. What mercy He's shown you. that you would be merciful. Oh, we ought to be so zealous to be merciful because of the mercy our God has shown to us.

You're not showing mercy, you're not giving alms, and that's what almsgiving is, it's an act of mercy. It's an act of charity, it's an act of grace. You're not doing this because of what you can get out of it, but because of the great mercy he has shown to you.

Ephesians chapter two, very familiar passage of scripture. I wish we could approach every passage of scripture. Every time we read it, like it's the first time we've ever read it. I would like to us to approach this scripture just like that. Ephesians chapter two, verse one. And you, you'll notice Hathi quickened is in italics. It was there. in later on in this passage of scripture, but the translators put it there. Let's read it this way. And you who were dead in trespasses and sins. Now I want us to remember who's speaking here. This is the apostle Paul, who was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. This is the man who said, touching the righteousness, which was in the law. I was blameless. This is a man who felt like he was a very good man when he was lost. Now look at his description of himself when he was lost, now that he knows the truth. Wherein in times past you walked according to the course of this world. According to the prince of the power of the air, you were under the control and influence of Satan, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others, but God. That is the grace of God. But, God, who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. When Christ was raised from the dead, I was too. It happened to me and him together and all of his people. Hath raised us, well, let's see, even when we're dead in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ, here's what all this means, by grace you are saved. And hath raised us up together, look at that word together again, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus, for by grace are you saved. Through faith, and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works. Lest any man should boast, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them. Now that's why I want to be a merciful person. No other reason is needed. His mercy to me. That's our motivation. His mercy to me. Now back to our text, Matthew chapter six. Let me read verse two again. Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, it's a given that you do, if you're a believer, do not 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, but when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth. You see, you're not doing this to be seen to men. That's what that means. Don't let your left hand even know what your right hand is doing, that thine alms may be in secret. So only the Father knows you did them. No other man. You don't need to broadcast it. Only your Father sees. And don't you love the way the Lord says, your Father? I love that. Your Father. Verse four, that thine alms may be in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. And this is the first of six times in this passage of scripture that he uses the word secret. Thy father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. If he sees in secret, he's the only one who sees. Acts of mercy is your response to him for his mercy. mercy. Yes, you feel compassion toward that person you want to show mercy to, but acts of mercy are your response to His mercy to you. Now would you turn with me to Matthew chapter 18. I told Lynn while we're driving over here that I'm gonna be referring to this probably three or four times in the next few months going through Matthew. And she said, well, maybe if you warn us ahead of time, people won't think you're being repetitive. Well, I'm warning you ahead of time. So we're gonna come here several times, but look at this passage of scripture in Matthew chapter 18, verse 21. Then came Peter to him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me? And I forgive him. Now, forgiving is a part of that act of mercy. If you give somebody something, it's an act of mercy. If you forgive somebody, it's an act of mercy. This is part of that, the way we treat our brother. That's what he's talking about in almsgiving, the way we treat our brother. And he says, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me till I forgive him? Seven times? And I think Peter thought he was being pretty magnanimous in this seven times, because the Pharisee said, you only need to do it three. If your brother sins against you three times, three strikes, you're out. So Peter thinks, I'm upping them. Seven times, what generosity? I'm sure when Peter said this, he stuck his chest out a little bit, thought, everybody look at me, I'm willing to forgive seven times. I'm sure he felt very good about himself. And if I would have been Peter, I probably would have too. That's just us. Jesus, verse 22, saith unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until 70 times, 70. Now that does not mean that after 491 times, it's okay to quit forgiving. That means all the time. All the time. Unlimited. Always. No stopping point. 70 times 7. You know, in Luke's account, when he told his people they had to forgive, the apostle said, increase our faith. That's a good place to begin with this thing of forgiveness, increase my faith. But let's look at this parable the Lord gives with regard and in response to what Peter said. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto He gave 10 parables where he said the kingdom of heaven's like this, and this ought to really catch our attention. This is what the kingdom of heaven is like, my kingdom, the kingdom that's not of this world. He says, therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which represents God the father, which would take account of his servants. And he is going to do that. You can write this down. He's going to take account of me. He's going to take account of you. This is promised. This is what the kingdom of heaven is like. Verse 24, and when he had begun to reckon, taking account of his servants, one was brought unto him which owed him 10,000 talents. Do you know the biggest number in the Greek, what do you call numbers? Well, numbers, the biggest number the Greek knew was 10,000. That was the largest amount there was. And what the point behind this is, it's a sum that could not be paid back. It was, I've read anywhere between 12 million and a billion dollars is what this word represents. And it was a payment he could not possibly pay back. It's a ridiculously large number the Lord uses to show that he could not pay this back. Wouldn't that represent me and you? Could you pay the debt that you owe? I mean, the sins you know about, the sins you don't know about, which are probably more than the ones we know about. The sins of commission, the sins of omission, the sin of being guilty of the murder of the Son of God. Is there any way that you could pay your debt? No, there's no way we could pay our debt. And that's what is brought out about this man. He owed 10,000 talents of silver. Verse 25, but for as much as he had nothing to pay, how much do you have to pay? Not a penny. I don't have a penny's worth of merit that could recommend me to God. I have no way of making up for my sin. Now, this has got to be seen personally. This is not looked at as a general doctrine. You see, this is the truth with regard to you. You owe 10,000 talents and you don't have a penny to pay. You have nothing. I read also where the number of the verse, let's see, well, it's another example of how big that number is. I can't remember what it was, but he had nothing to pay. But for as much as he had nothing to pay, His Lord commanded him to be sold and his wife and his children and all that he had and payment to be made. Now, there's no way that could pay that debt, but he was going to debtor's prison. Sell his wife, sell his children, sell him as slaves, put him in jail. He couldn't pay his debt. Verse 26. The servant therefore fell down and worshiped him saying, Lord, have patience with me. I will pay thee all. Now he couldn't do that. And I think deep down he knew he couldn't. He said, you know, just have patience. You know, maybe I'll win the lottery. Maybe something like that will take place. I'll be able to pay it back. Have patience with me and I'll pay back every dime of it. And his Lord knew he couldn't do that. You know, this is the sinner's thought. Give me time. I can pay somehow. Just have patience with me. Somehow I'll be able to do something to make up for this. Always something in the future that I'm going to do. Have patience with me. I'll pay all.

And instead of being angry, and that's probably the way I would have reacted to that, if this man said, have patience with me, and I'd pay him. It aggravated his guilt, if anything, making a claim like that that he knew he couldn't do. Look at this glorious master. Then the Lord, verse 27, then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion. Now his reason for compassion was not found in that man. It was found in himself. You see, the Lord is compassionate. The Lord is gracious. The Lord is merciful. The Lord delights in mercy. And he looked at this man, and he was moved by compassion. I love those Scriptures that say that the Lord was moved by compassion. That leper, covered with leprosy. Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. He knew he was filthy. He knew he couldn't make himself clean. He knew only the Lord could make him clean. Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. And the Scripture says in Jesus, moved with compassion. That's the Lord.

Then the Lord of that servant, verse 27, was moved with compassion and loosed him. He set him free. and forgave him the debt. Now put yourself in this man's place. He owed multiplied millions of dollars. He had no way of paying them. He made some kind of promise to the master that he knew wasn't true, trying to delay the sentence and get himself out of trouble. And all of a sudden, the master just forgave him everything he owed. Can you imagine the weight that must have left him? I mean, his wife and children were getting ready to be sold, thrown into prison, made slaves. He was going to be sold. And all of a sudden, he's debt free. Can you imagine how he felt? I owe nothing. What a great feeling that must have been. His debt was forgiven. It was no doubt a crushing load to him. No more. It's gone. I've been set free. I've been loosed. I've been forgiven.

Verse 28, but the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants, which owed him a hundred pence. $15. What can you get with $15? You can't hardly go into McDonald's and get a meal with $15 anymore. It wasn't that much money. And it's something this fellow could have come up with. I mean, you could sell something to come up with $15. Everybody in this room, you could come up with $15 somehow. But what does he do? But the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants, which owed him $15, 100 pence, And he was much more rough than his master was. He laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, pay me that thou owest. Now picture this in your mind. He comes up, he puts his hands around his throat and starts strangling him. Pay what you owe. Pay what you owe.

Verse 29, and his fellow servant fell down at his feet and besought him saying, have patience with me and I'll pay thee all. That's exactly what he said to the A man he owed millions of dollars, the exact same thing. Have patience with me and I'll pay the offer. He could have done it. And he would not, but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt.

Now picture in your mind, he's just been forgiven millions. He refuses to give mercy to a man who owed him $15 and had him thrown into prison. Everybody knows that's evil. That's wrong. His fellow servants knew it. Verse 31, so when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry. And they came and told unto their Lord all that was done. Then his Lord, after that he had called them, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt because thou desirest me. Shouldst not thou also have had compassion? And that's the word mercy. Mercy. Shouldst thou not have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his Lord was wroth, and delivered him up to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if you from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. Now, when he says, shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, everyone knows he should have, don't we? We know he should have, but he didn't. Even as I had compassion on thee, and the Lord calls him a wicked servant, I forgave you all your debt, millions, should you not have done the same. And we know he should have done the same. You see, our motive for almsgiving, is the mercy we have been shown. And his motive for forgiving that fella, that $15 debt, was the mercy he was shown by his Lord. What mercy, but he didn't. He didn't.

Now, if the Lord has forgiven my enormous debt, my sin debt, and has paid the price for my sin, and has loosed me and set me free, and I'm made to be free. Should I not be merciful to everyone, no matter who they are or what they've done? My sin against God is much greater than their sin against me. And it's incumbent on me to show mercy, not because I'm a real nice guy and just have a leaning toward that, but because of the great mercy the Lord has shown me. Forgiving me this infinite debt for Christ's sake. But the Lord was wroth and delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due him.

Now look at verse 35. Remember Peter's question, how many times do I need to forgive? So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if you from your hearts forgive not everyone, his brother, their trespasses. What if they don't ask for forgiveness? Forgive them anyway. In your heart, forgive them anyway. Because the Lord says, if you from your heart don't forgive your brother, there are trespasses. Neither we or Heavenly Father forgive you yours. Now, the point is, God does not forgive us because we forgive. The point is we forgive because we've been forgiven. What a blessed, glorious thing it is to have my sins forgiven. And God's forgiveness is not like me forgiving you or you forgiving me. You see, when I forgive you, I'm like Joseph. I remember what you did. He said to his brothers, you sold me into Egypt. He didn't forget that, but he forgave them. But God's forgiveness is not like that. When he forgives, he makes it to where your sin never existed. And you stand before God as one who hasn't sinned.

Now, if God forgives me that way, may I be a merciful person, giving alms in secret, not trying to sound the trumpet so everybody will know what I'm doing. All these acts of mercy, that's giving, that's showing mercy, forgiveness, whatever it is, how I treat my brother, let me do it for this one reason, because of the great mercy he has shown me.

Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your word, how we thank you for your grace, how we thank you for the forgiveness of sins, how we thank you for who you are, how we thank you for the revelation of your person. Lord, cause us to be merciful alms givers and Lord, let us do it in secret. deliver us from doing what we do to have glory of men. And oh Lord, your promise that you see in secret and Lord all, we are so grateful that you see us as holy and unblameable and unreprovable in your sight. And those actions, even the almsgiving apart from your grace are filled with sin, but how we thank you that were accepted in the beloved and cause us to be rich in good works for the glory of your name, added gratefulness to you. In Christ's name we pray, amen.