I look through these 18 verses,
which make up our text this evening, and I search for one key phrase,
for one statement that would help me understand what our Lord
is teaching, a key phrase or statement that would sum up what
the Lord Jesus is teaching. And I think that I have it. In
verse 2, our Lord says, Verily I say unto you, they have their
reward." He's talking about good works and the way some men do
good works, the way some men give, the way some men and women
perform moral actions or good deeds, and he says they have
their reward. And then in verse 5 he's talking
about praying, and he tells how some people pray, and he The
same thing, verily I say unto you, they have their reward. And then in verse 16 he's talking
about fasting. He's talking about spiritual
sincerity. And he closes that verse with
the same statement, verily I say unto you, they have their reward. So there's the key phrase, they
have their reward. For the Lord is dealing here
with three vital areas of our Christian walk. Three vital areas. And this will just about cover
the whole Christian walk and Christian experience. There's
the area of good works or righteousnesses. There's the area of prayer. And
then there's the area of worship or spiritual sincerity. or the relationship, the true
relationship, which we have with God. And in all three of these
areas, in good works, in prayer, in worship or spiritual sincerity,
the Lord condemns one thing in all three of them. He condemns
ostentation. You say, well, what does that
mean? Well, it's just this. Ostentatious religion is nothing
in the world but play acting. That's all it is. It doesn't
matter whether you find it in a cathedral or whether you find
it under a tent. It doesn't matter whether you
find it in one of the leading churches of the city or whether
you find it out in a small country fellowship. Ostentatious religion
is nothing but play acting. It's a theatrical performance,
whether it's in the pulpit or the pew, whether it's in the
Sunday school class or the prayer room. It's a theatrical performance,
and it's carried on before the eyes of men to secure their admiration
and to secure their applause. That's why it's carried on. In
all three of these areas, this is what our Lord's dealing with,
three things here. He's dealing with good works,
he's dealing with prayer, he's dealing with my personal relationship
with him in the area of spiritual sincerity, fasting, communion
with God. And the one thing that he condemns
in every area is ostentation. this play-acting, this theatrical
performance that's carried on before the eyes of men and the
ears of men to secure their admiration and their applause. The religious
hypocrite acts apart. That's what he's doing. He's
acting apart just like an actor does in a movie or a television
program or on the stage. He's acting apart. He's assuming
in good work or in prayer, or in spiritual worship, he's assuming
a character before men that is not really his character. He
thinks only of the eyes that see his outward act, and he gives
no thought to the holy God who sees his inward motive. When
he does a good deed, he wants everybody to know it. When he
prays a prayer, He wants everybody to be impressed. When he worships
or fasts or carries on any spiritual communion with God Almighty,
he wants everybody to be aware of his spirituality. And Christ
said, when this is true, when men are impressed, and when men
get the news of their good deeds, And when others are aware of
their communion with God and their faithfulness and their
loyalty and their religious service, when everybody knows about it,
they have their reward. That's it. That's their reward. They did good deeds to be seen
of men. When men saw their deeds, that's
their reward. When they prayed in order to
impress the hearer, when they impressed the hearer, that's
their reward. When they worshiped or fasted
and wanted others to be aware of their holiness and of their
piety and of their spirituality, when others found it out, they
have their reward. That's it. They have it in full. They have it complete. It's all
in this world. It is the praise of men. Now,
in good works, in prayer, and in worship, The thing that is
necessary is sincerity, simplicity, and the big word, reality. The whole of our religious life,
whether it's in the area of good works or the area of prayer or
whether it's in the area of spiritual sincerity or worship, the whole
of our religious life must be referred to Christ and to Christ
alone. Our business is with him, it's
not with men. Our business is with Christ alone.
What men think of our gifts, or our works, or our prayers,
or our fasting, matters very little. But what he thinks of
it is of momentous importance. John Gill says, above all things,
In prayer, in fasting, and in good works, be real. Unreality is hypocrisy. Unreality is acting apart, and
God will reject all affectation. I don't care if a man's preaching
a sermon and assumes a religious monotone. God will reject all
affectation. If a man is praying and does
so with a flourish to be seen and heard of men, God will reject
it because he will reject all affectation. Any theatrical performance,
whether it's in good works, whether it's in prayer, or whether it's
in fasting, will be rejected of God. Christ says here, after
each of these statements, when men do good works to be seen
of men, they have their reward. When they pray to be heard of
men, they have their reward. When they fast to be seen of
men and to impress others with their holiness and with their
piety, when others are impressed, they have their reward above
all things. The one thing that is necessary
in all of these areas, reality. Now let's look at each of them
briefly. The first one is found in verse
1. Now, if I can help you tonight
as much as I've been helped today on this subject, then I shall
be happy. Our Lord says in verse 1, take
heed that you do not your alms, and the word alms there, as I've
pointed out two or three times already, is righteousness, moral
action, good works, anything done in the name of religion
or the name of God or the name of righteousness. Take heed that
you do not your righteousness before men to be seen of them."
Now let's be realistic. If a man does good deeds, somebody's
going to know about it. It is totally and completely
impossible for us to do very many good deeds without somebody
knowing about it. Like Barnard said to the lady
who wanted to rededicate her life, She said, don't you think
I ought to come before the church and tell everybody that I've
rededicated my life? He said, I don't think it'll
be necessary. She said, why? Well, he said, if you really
have, it's going to leak out on you before very long. And
when a man or a woman does good work, somebody's going to know
about it. In the first place, those who
benefit by his love are going to know about it. Those who are
recipients of his kindness are going to know about it. And those
whom he tells, or rather those whom they tell, are going to
know about it. You can't hide righteousness. You can't hide good works. It
will become known. Any time that a man does good
works and lives an exemplary life, and a life of righteousness,
it's going to be known by his household, by his neighbors,
by his brethren in the church, and by others. And the second
thing about this now is this. There's a responsibility for
us to set an example, isn't there? There's a responsibility for
the deacons of this church and the elders of this church to
set an example. We are to do good works before
men. A holy life has an effect upon
other people. An example will encourage other
people and will influence them to go and do likewise. We are
to do good works before men. Christ said that they will see
your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. So doing good works before men
is not what Christ is condemning. He didn't say, take heed that
you do not your arms before men. That would be impossible. Totally
impossible. What Christ is saying here, take
heed that you do not your good works before men to be seen of
them. There is the whole thing like
that, to be seen of them. It's impossible, if you're realistic
about it, it's impossible for a person to live an exemplary
life and a true life and a life of good works without people
knowing about it. It has to be done before men,
and really should be. Christ said you don't take a
candle and put it under a bushel, you put it on a candlestick.
And you don't take salt and put it in the cupboard, you put it
on the meat. And even so, we are to perform good works before
men that they may glorify God, but we do it not to be seen of
men. Now listen to this. I don't know who wrote this,
but it's good. Actually, you may do good works before men
and yet not seek human praise. That's what Christ is sending
us to do. You may do good works before men and seek only the
glory of God. and only the praise of the Lord.
And yet, watch this now, a man may do good works in secret,
and yet in his heart wish that he could tell somebody, or wish
that others could find out about it, or wish that he didn't have
to do it in secret so somebody'd know what he's done, so somebody'd
praise him for it. You see that? So it's all wrong
in here. Every moral action has two parts. Every moral action has two parts.
Every good deed has two parts. Every act of righteousness has
two parts, the outward and the inward. Now, we see only the
outward. When a man pays his tithes and
offerings, that's all we see. When a man witnesses to a sinner,
that's all we see, an outward part. When a person does a good
deed for his neighbor, whatever it might be, we see the outward
part. When people entertain the missionaries, when they feed
the visiting ministers, when they give love gifts, when they
do all these things, we see the outward part. When a neighbor
comes and serves you in any way, when they sing up here, when
they play the instruments, when they teach the Sunday school
classes, when they visit the sick, that's good work, and we
only see the outward part. And that may seem to be real
good, but if it doesn't spring from
the right inward motive, It's all bad. It's all bad. The real action is not outward,
the real action is inward. If the motive is holy, the deed
is holy, even if it be but a small gesture. But if the motive is
selfish, if the motive is selfish, if what we're doing is seeking
the praise of men, if we're doing these good deeds to be seen of
men, If the motive is wrong, if the motive is selfish, the
whole deed is worthless, even if it be the very gift of everything
we have. Listen to this scripture. In
1 Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul says this, Though I bestow
all my goods to feed the poor, that's everything I've got, and
though I give my body to be burned, That's giving my life. And have
not love, it profiteth me nothing. Nothing. So my friend, I may
do a very small deed. It may be a very small deed. Outwardly, it may be measured
as a pittance, the widow's too might. But if my inward motive
is right, if the inward motive is holy, Whatever the good deed
is, however small it might be, it's acceptable to God. But if
I do not have the right motive, an unselfish principle motivating
my good deed, if I do it not for the glory of God but to be
seen of men, it doesn't matter if I give my very body to burn
at the stake as a martyr and sell everything I've got and
distribute it to the poor of this town, it'll profit me nothing. Christ said, they that do their
good deeds to be seen of men, they have their reward. They have their reward. The true
motive of Christian righteousness is the glory of God. Not my selfish
praise, but the glory of God. The Christian gives, he loves,
he lives out of love to God and love to others. He seeks not
the praise of men, he seeks the glory of God. And good deeds
are not good when they're done for the sake of display. Good deeds are not good. They
are sinful when they're done only for display, for the sake
of display. And Christ says, they have their
reward. When I do my good deeds to be
seen of men and to receive the praise of men, I have my reward. One of the things that you learn
early in the ministry, and a lot of churches employ these methods,
we don't here, but a lot of churches do, in the bulletin on Sunday
mornings they have a special offering to be received for missions
or some other cause. If you'll put people's names
and their organizations, The adult Sunday school class number
one gave $200. Adult Sunday school class number
two gave $125. The busy beavers gave $26. And the Christ's little helpers,
they gave $14. And then even old Anonymous likes
to see his Anonymous in there. That's right. The fellow that
sends his gift, Anonymous, wants you to be sure you get Anonymous
$5 in that gift. And they'll always give more
if they see their names on the subscription list. You can get
people to support a radio program if you'll call their name, if
you'll dedicate them a number. You wonder why some of these
religious programs on the air dedicate numbers to brother and
sister so-and-so and brother and sister so-and-so. They get
an offering for that. And when brother and sister so-and-so
hear their names, they send in the money. You find that out
real soon. They do it to be seen of men. And Christ said, when they hear
their names on the radio or see their names on the subscription
list, they have their reward. That's it right there. That's
all that'll come of it. It's a pitiful reward, but that's
it. That's what they were seeking,
and that's what they were looking for, and that's what they get.
Now look at verse 2. Therefore when thou doest thine
arms are good deeds." Don't sound the trumpet before you. Don't
tell it out far and near, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues
and in the streets. When do they give to the beggar?
They do it out on the streets when they can hold the coin high
and hear it drop into the tin cup and everybody can look and
see. Where do they do it? They do it on the streets and
in the synagogues that they may have glory of men. And verily
I say unto you, They have their reward. Now look at this next
verse. When thou doest good deeds, let not thy left hand know what
thy right hand doeth. Now then, I'll explain that.
This is a proverbial phrase, and it expresses the secrecy
of a deed. Do what God enables you to do,
whatever it may be, large or small. Do what God enables you
to do. A person can't do more than God
enables him to do. That's the reason we are to give
our money as God has prospered us, proportionately. Do what
God enables you to do and do what God leads you to do. what
God enables you to do and what God leads you to do without sounding
a trumpet to attract attention and without calling it to the
attention here of your dearest and nearest friend. That's what
it's talking about here. The left hand and the right hand,
let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth. Don't even
call it to the attention of your dearest and nearest friend for
his praise. Your Father, which sees in secret,
shall reward you, and your Father, which sees in secret, knows the
real meaning of your deeds and your words, and it's totally
vain to act the part in front of him." Totally vain. Now look at the second part of
this message, verse 5. We're talking about praying now. The religious Pharisee loved
to pray standing, and he loved to pray standing in the synagogues
and in the corners of the streets, Christ said, to be seen of men.
Now the Lord Jesus here is not condemning the posture of standing
while praying. And the Lord Jesus is not condemning
praying in the synagogue, public prayer. In fact, our Lord encourages
public prayer. He said, where two or three are
met together in my name, where two or three agree on earth as
touching any one thing and they pray about it, it shall be done.
But what our Lord is condemning here is the same thing over here
in verse 1 and 2 about good deeds. He says, they love to pray standing
in the synagogue and in the corner of the street that they may be
seen of men. They loved standing to pray because
they could better be seen. They loved standing to pray in
public places rather than in the closet because they could
better be seen and heard. Christ said they gained their
point. They have what they seek for. They have the praise of
men, and this is all that they shall ever have. Verse 6, But
thou, when thou prayest, Enter into thy closet." Where is this?
You can find a closet on a crowded street. I don't think the Lord
is especially saying here, enter into a little room, four by five
or six by three, and close the door. I think a person can find
a closet in his car. I think he can find a closet
on a busy street. I think he can find a closet
in his den, in his study, in his bedroom at home. A closet
here is just a secret place for meditation. It's a secret place
for retirement. It's a secret place for prayer. Our Lord instructs us not only
to pray publicly, but to pray privately, which is less likely
to lead to pride. Public prayer is difficult. It's
difficult for any person. private prayer, there's only
one difficulty, and that is feeling the need and taking the time. Because when you're praying privately,
you have no trouble with pride. When you're praying privately,
you have no trouble with vanity. When you're praying privately,
you have no trouble with putting on an appearance of religion.
When you're praying privately, you have no problem with hypocrisy.
It's just you and God. It's just you and God. When you're
praying privately, it's not because somebody made you pray. When
you're praying privately, it's not because someone shamed you
into praying. When you're praying privately,
it's not because somebody called on you to pray. When you're praying
privately, it's because you want to pray. It's just you and God. That's what our Lord's talking
about here. When thou prayest, don't be like the hypocrites.
They just love to pray standing in the synagogues. They can be
seen better that way. They love to pray standing in
the corners of the street. They can be heard better that
way. And they do it to be seen of men. And I'm saying to you,
when they're seen of men, they prove their point, they impress
people, that's their reward. Verse 7. When you pray, Use not
vain repetitions. What's this? That's saying the
same things over and over and over and over again. Sometimes
it's difficult not to say the same things over and over again
when you pray several times because we have the same regard for God,
we have the same petitions to bring, we have the same need
But this is carrying out the prayer, saying things over and
over again in order to make the prayer longer. What Christ is
saying here, when you pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen
do. They think they shall be heard
for their much speaking. Much speaking is not much praying.
If a man prays a long time, he's going to have to say the things
over and over again. Prayer doesn't have to be long
to be effective. Prayer doesn't have to be long
to be to God. It can be, well, the thief on
the cross uttered one sentence, Lord, remember me. Peter, sinking beneath the waves,
uttered three words, Lord, save me. Hannah didn't utter any words,
not a word. Her lips moved, but she spoke
not a word. Do you know the longest prayer
in the Bible can be prayed in three minutes? Did you know that
this prayer right here, let's see how long it takes to pray
this prayer, this example that the Lord Jesus gave his disciples
in verse 9. Now, Our Father which art in
heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thou wilt be
done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the
kingdom and the power and the glory for ever. Amen." 26 seconds. There's a preacher in Grand Rapids,
Michigan, pastor of a church. He's not there anymore. He used
to be. Every Sunday morning he prayed. twenty-two minutes every
Sunday morning. And what Christ is saying here,
much speaking is not much praying, using vain repetitions over and
over and over again. Now, don't misunderstand me.
I'm not saying that every time we get up to pray we're supposed
to pray twenty-six seconds or thirty seconds or a minute or
even two minutes. Pray five minutes if you're led
of the Holy Spirit, but don't feel obligated to pray that long. Don't feel that it's not prayer
if it's not that long. Don't feel that it's not religious
enough if it's not that long. What is prayer? Prayer is the
soul's sincere desire, unuttered or unexpressed. Prayer is the
motion of a hidden fire that trembles in my breast. Prayer
is a burden of a sigh. Prayer is the falling of a tear. Prayer is the upward glancing
of the eye when none but God is near. When you pray, don't pray to be seen of men.
I say unto you they have their reward. But when thou prayest,
enter into a quiet place, a place of meditation, a place of prayer,
And pray to thy father which is in secret, five words or five
hundred words, it doesn't matter. But thy father which seeth in
secret shall reward thee openly. And when you pray, don't think
that much speaking is much prayer. Don't suffer for articulation
and pronunciations and the these and the thous and the proper
expressions and the holy sounding phrases. Just Lord, the publican
said, be merciful to me, the sinner. Lord, remember me when
thou comest into thy kingdom. Lord, save me. These were all
effectual prayers. All of them, effectual prayers.
Actually, listen to this right here. In verse 6 it says, And
the Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. You
say, what are you talking about when you say God will reward
you? One writer said, I don't expect
to be rewarded for praying. It's reward enough that God will
meet with me and allow me to call him Father. That's reward
enough. If he will meet with me, and
let me call him Father." Now, verse 16, and when you fast,
the Jews had particular days set apart for fasting. Every Monday and Thursday. Turn
to Luke 18, verse 12. In Luke 18, verse 12, I'm going
to bring out something different here. I want you to stay with
me. The Pharisee, verse 11, stood and prayed thus with himself,
I thank thee that I am not, as other men are, extortioners,
unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican, I fast twice in
the week. Those days were Monday and Thursday. Now then, when these men, these
Jewish Pharisees, these hyper-religious people, these super-pious people,
Every Monday and Thursday, when they fasted, they wouldn't wash
their faces. In fact, they would put black
on their faces. They'd smudge them up real good.
They'd put ashes on their heads. They'd let their hair hang down.
They'd tear their clothing, that they might look to men like they
were in deep religious contemplation and meditation. They wanted everybody
to know that they were solemn, religious, pious people under
great burden and in great communion with God. They wanted to let
people know that. Now Christ said, when you fast,
don't be like these hypocrites. What is a hypocrite? It's play-acting. It's assuming a character that's
not really you. for they disfigure their faces,
that they may appear unto men to fashion." There I say unto
you, they have their reward. That is, when men say, look,
isn't he a good man? When they look and say, well,
she's certainly a fine woman, a pillar in the church, a godless
That's their reward. They've achieved what they set
out to do. They've got all the praise of men that they sought
for. It's theirs, and that's their
reward. They have it already. There's
no reward waiting. There's no reward coming. There's
no reward going to be given when Christ comes. They have it right
now. Now watch this. When you fast,
now let me say something here. Fasting is not commanded in the
New Testament as a duty. Nowhere. Fasting is not commanded
in the New Testament as a duty. It is left to individual freedom
and individual need. There are no special days set
apart for doing without food, nowhere in the New Testament.
There are no special times set apart for the doing without food.
Actually, the spirit of the fast is in the heart. And the spirit
of the fast in the heart is brought about by a special burden and
a special communion with God. And I'll show you what I'm talking
about if you'll turn to John chapter 4. I think it's very
wrong for me to set certain days for fasting. I believe I defeat
the purpose of the whole thing. The spirit of the fast is in
the heart. And it is brought about by a
special burden, by a special season of concern and a special
communion with God. Here Christ said this in John
chapter 4 in verse 31. In the meantime, his disciples
said to him, Master, eat. They went into town and got this
food while Christ was sitting there on the well waiting for
them. They came back and they said, Master, eat. I have meat
to eat that you know not of. I don't need what you've got
right now. Now tomorrow I may need it, and the next day, and
the next day. Right now I don't need it. I've got meat to eat
that you know not of." And his disciples said, if somebody else
brought him something to eat, and he said, my meat is to do
the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Now when
that becomes our meat, fasting will come easy. When we are thoroughly nourished
on the presence of the Lord Jesus, when we are thoroughly satisfied
with the presence of our Lord, when we are so consumed with
the burden of his gospel and of his ministry and of his message,
and when we are consumed with the passion of his people to
the point where we don't even need the luxuries of life and
the things that these bodies crave and desire, that's spiritual
fasting. And Christ said, now watch this,
when you do this, when you're passing through a period of mountaintop
experience, when you're passing through a period of deep concern
and deep burden and deep fellowship with the Lord, don't you walk
around with a frown on your face. Don't you walk around with your
hair uncombed and unshaven and your clothes all wrinkled, you
put a smile on your face and you wash your face and you comb
your hair, listen to him there in verse, when you pray, when
you fast, verse 17, anoint your head, put a little oil cream
on there and comb it real good. And he said you wash your face
and put a little cologne on, a little powder and you dress
up real sharp and don't you let nobody know. that you're in business
with God. That's what it means right there.
Don't you let anybody know it. Fasting is more than abstinence
from food. There's no humiliation when we
show humiliation. That's one of the best sentences,
Charlie, I've ever read right there. There's no humiliation
when we show humiliation. There's no humility when we show
humility. There's no piety when we show
piety. There's no holiness when we show
holiness. That just changes body pride
to heart pride, which is more defiling. Listen to this. Let us keep our
fast within. till heaven and we are quite
alone, and then let the grief and the shame and the sin before
the mercy seat be thrown." Actually, fasting is more than
abstaining from food. Fasting is the denial of self,
the confession of sin, the personal communion with God, a hunger
and thirst for righteousness and such a hunger and thirst
for righteousness that we're satisfied without the carnal
material thing. Satisfied. Let us keep our fast
within till heaven and we are quite alone, and then let the
grief and the shame and the sin before the mercy seat be thrown. Above all things, and I close
with this, turn to Hebrews chapter 4. Above all things, above all things, whether in
good works or prayer or fasting, be real, real. In Hebrews 4.13, Neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and
open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." I may impress Don Pfitzer with
the time I spend in prayer, and when I've impressed him, which
I set out to do, I have my reward. I've impressed on. It won't help
me a bit in the world. I may impress on that I'm a powerful
person, holy and righteous and truthful in my relationship with
God, but when I've impressed him, and he's aware of it, and
he pats me on the back and tells me so, or runs next door and
tells somebody how good a man his pastor is, I've had my reward,
that's it. And when I fast, and when I pray,
and I put on a real pious look, and I put those wrinkles in my
brow, you know, and let my shoulders droop, and let my eyes be sad,
and take on that ministerial tone, everybody said, isn't he
holy? I've got, that's my reward, I've
got it, that's what I set out to do. But if I want, if I want
God Almighty, if I want to do business with God, I seek by
the aid of the Holy Spirit. for the Lord to give me an unselfish
motive when I give my offering on Sunday. Oh God, help me, help
me not to give this because it's the duty of a Christian to tithe.
Oh God, help me not to give this because I ought to set an example
for the congregation. Oh, God, help me not to give
this because this is a rightful portion that belongs to the Lord.
Oh, Lord, help me not to give this because we've got to support
this program that we've got started here. Lord, help me to give it
because I want to, for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Help me to give it, Lord, because
I am just in a hilarious way and in a cheerful way, I want
to give it. And when I do good deeds for
anyone, help me when I pray and when I preach and when I sing
and whatever I do, to do it not to be seen of men. What difference
does it make? But if my heart is right, if
that inward condition of heart is right between me and the Lord
Lord, thou art the one with whom I have to do. I don't have to
do with these people in just a few more years, and then I
have to do with you throughout eternity. I've got to stand before
you at the judgment, help whatever I do to be for the glory of Jesus
Christ and him alone. Whether it's giving or whether
it's praying, if I can't say but five words, if all I can
say is, thank you, Lord, thank you, Lord, be merciful, Lord,
help me, Lord, speak to me, forgive me. Whatever I say, let it be
real. Let it be genuine, let it be
sincere, let it not be play-acting, a theatrical performance, an
affectation of religion, the appearance of religion which
is an abomination to God, he said. And that's it. And that's the
reason I said before I started this message, that thin razor
edge between true worship and false worship It's so thin. And this old flesh is so weak.
The first thing you know you're praying and the first thing you
know your mind is 12 miles down the road. It's so thin. And we just lack sympathy so
much. We lack words of praise so much. We lack people to think well
of us. We want a good reputation, whether
it's in our work or whether it's in our appearance. or whether
it's in our gardening, or whether it's in our construction work,
or whether it's in our reading. Doesn't he read well? Or whether
it's in our praying, or whether it's in our preaching. He has
a good sermon, Pastor. I admit, that sounds good. I
love that. But I've got to do what I do
not to the sin of men. I've got to. I've got no other
choice. It's got to be for the glory
of God. If it's not, it's an abomination.
Now, God's going to reject it, and God's not going to bless
me. And this church, whatever we do, I don't care if it's buying
a truck for a missionary, if it's feeding one of them in your
home, or writing him a letter, or saying good morning to him,
or whatever we do, let us do it for the glory of God. If not,
God's going to spew it out of his mouth. And I'm for fasting,
but don't tell anybody you're going to, and don't tell anybody
you're dead. I read these books. A fellow picked up how he went
thirty days without food. I said, well, I did it. I killed
thirty days of starvation. Just that one statement destroyed
it completely. He might as well have eaten a
steak every night for supper. The day he wrote that line down
killed it every bit. Here's a man told how he could
live on orange juice and something else for twenty-five days while
he prayed. Why, he might as well have lived on steak. or fried
chicken, Kentucky fried chicken. When he told it, when anybody
found it out, that killed it. Now that's how thin it is. This
thing of doing business with God, well, it's too much for
me. I'm not sufficient for these
things. I admit it. People have it all figured out.
They've got it cut down just right. They've got it all figured
out. They've got it in a nutshell, but I just don't have it that
way. Our Father in Heaven, thank you for the presence of your
Spirit. We feel that thou hast spoken to us. We feel that thou
hast spoken to thy servant, rebuked him, instructed him. And we feel, whether received
or not, that we have told the truth about spiritual prayer,
good deeds, and worship. The chief motive is the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ, not to be seen of men. And Lord,
thou knowest these weak minds of ours and these weak hearts
and these weak passions that desire praise, kind words, sympathy,
understanding. But Lord, help us to overcome
these carnal desires and help us to seek the glory of our Lord.
We want to worship Thee. We want to do what we do for
Thy glory and for the good of our loved ones and our friends. We want a fellowship here like
no fellowship on earth, not for our praise but for thy glory,
that we might show men in this community what salvation really
is, what it means to know Christ. Now bless us according to thy
will, and help us we lay ourselves before thee. In the name of our
Lord Jesus we pray, amen.