Latest / HBCWestminster / 4.19.23 Matthew 6:1-18 Pastor Danny Gardner

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4.19.23 Matthew 6:1-18 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Matthew chapter 6, we continue our study in the Sermon on the Mount. This evening's text, beware of fake righteousness. That's what Jesus says. If you're looking for the praise and approval of men, guess what? You got it. But don't expect anything else once you get to heaven. That's pretty much what he's going to say. Now, two studies ago, and this was about six weeks ago, Pastor Sam called Jesus a non-revolutionary but radical rabbi. He said he did not come to overthrow the Old Testament in favor of the New.
• 0:28
  Rather, he came to fulfill the law, to make fully known, to reveal the law. His teaching was consistent with the Old Testament law, and it was consistent with righteous living. The Sermon on the Mount, as we have discussed, is not a theological treatise like Romans is. It doesn't teach us how to be made right with God, like do this, do this, do this, and you will be declared righteous or justified. Rather, Christ's teachings in the Sermon on the Mount teach us how to live.
• 0:57
  As kingdom citizens, this is the goal that we should be striving for. The last time we met, Pastor Sam taught us that the instruction section at the end of chapter 5 was not meant to give us a picture of an unattainable perfection, but rather shows us the heart of the law as God always intended. The law was never meant to model external behavior modification. It was meant rather to describe the people who would accurately reflect the Lord's goodness, His righteousness, His priorities.
• 1:27
  For the sake of the onlooking world, that the world should look at people who live this way and be drawn to a loving and good heavenly Father. For the first time in our family's lives, one of our sons purchased a diamond ring for his girlfriend. For the second time in my life, I began to look at rings. But this time, it was not...
• 1:52
  For my loved one, but rather for the purpose of advising my son on what to look out for and to warn him about things to avoid, the price difference in diamond rings is incredible. He asked me one time, right, because looking at rings now is different than when we were all kids, all right, if I can say it that way. Now, everything is done online. You look at all of their stock, you look at all of their inventory, and you're looking at all of these pictures and whatever and setting up appointments to go talk to people and looking at rings and all of that.
• 2:22
  And he just said, Dad, these rings all look the same. And online on pictures, I'm sure they do. He's like, they're the same size? I think they're the same picture. They're the same everything. Why is there so much difference in price? They look identical. Why is this one $4,000 and this one $400? Because if they really are identical, I'll take the $400 one, right? I mean, I'm not a sucker.
• 2:53
  And I said, well, Pearson, the reason is because some are real and some are fake. And they can be very good fakes, but nevertheless, they're fake. And he said, how do I know which is which? I said, well, if the price tag is 400, right, then you'll know. And if the price tag is 4,000, then you'll know, right? You'll know which one is fake.
• 3:22
  A minor transition takes place between chapters 5 and 6 of Matthew. Chapter 5 had as its focus the teaching of the law, what men believe. Chapter 6 will focus on the practice of the law, on what men do. Each of the next three sections that we're going to discuss tonight, verses 1 to 18, correspond to three primary aspects of the believer's life. He is going to talk about giving, how a Christian acts toward others.
• 3:52
  about praying, how a Christian acts toward God, and then about fasting, how a Christian acts toward himself. And what's interesting about these three sections is that he assumes, he just assumes, that his followers, his disciples, will be participating in these three things. Giving, praying, and fasting should help to define the Christian life. All three of these sections condemn selfish motivation. He says there's a way to do them wrong.
• 4:21
  All three of them commend genuine practice of each. Here's how to do them right. We're going to look at the negative or fake practice. Then we're going to look at the genuine or real practice in giving, praying, and fasting. And you notice it begins with a warning where he just says, beware of fake righteousness. It is possible to fake it. Verse 1. Beware of practicing your righteousness before who? Other people.
• 4:51
  in order to be seen by them. For then you will have no reward from your father who is in heaven. Hypocrisy drives God crazy. Now, I apologize if that's blasphemous in any way. I'm not speaking literally here, okay? It drives him nuts. More than any other sin, hypocrisy makes a mockery of God's revealed way for his people. God is always more concerned with the heart than with the action. In fact,
• 5:22
  A man can be flagrant in flagrant sin. Tell me if this is true. A man can be in flagrant sin, but with a genuine and contrite heart and be welcomed by God. A genuinely apologetic, repentant over his sin and be welcomed. In contrast, a man can live a righteous life, but with a calloused heart and be rejected by God. Can anybody think of a relatively famous parable that describes these actions, these two different men and how they responded in such a way?
• 5:53
  Genuine. I mean, a man living in flagrant sin, but then broken, contrite, repentant, welcomed by the Father. In contrast, an older brother who never went off the rails and yet had a hard heart. Do you see the difference? He wants genuineness. He wants our hearts. St. Augustine worded it this way, the love of honor that is being praised by others. Love of honor, being honored by people.
• 6:21
  is the deadly bane of true piety you cannot be genuinely pious if you're seeking the approval of others other vices all of the other sins bring forth evil works but this the love of honor brings forth good works but in an evil way listen to amos chapter 5 the lord speaking i hate wow that is strong language the lord hates i hate i despise your feasts people during the time of amos
• 6:53
  We're living in blatant rebellion against God, sexual immorality, backbiting, hating each other, even at times, during the times of the minor prophets, all of these different minor prophets selling their own brothers into slavery. And yet while they're doing all of those things, are attending the festivals.
• 7:11
  are going up the hill to offer sacrifices during the worship service. I mean, they're singing their hearts out, they're raising their arms, all the while they're practicing these evil things. Do you see what God says? These feasts, these festivals aren't doing anything. Whatever you think they're doing, they're not doing. I take no delight in your solemn assemblies, even though you offer me your burnt offerings and your grain offerings. They're like, we're doing all the right things. Yes, but with the wrong heart. I will not accept them.
• 7:37
  The peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs. He says, stop singing to me. You're singing to me. While there's sin in your heart, you're sitting here and raving in your hands and doing all of this stuff. No, he says, it's fake. To the melody of your harps, I will not listen, but let justice roll down like waters. Righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. That's what I'm after. Listen to Malachi chapter one. This one stings, man. Oh, that there were one among you who would shut the doors. That is the doors of the temple.
• 8:07
  If there was just somebody who would come along and just shut the doors, what's going on inside of the temple, it's fake. That you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain. I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts. I will not accept an offering from your hand. Why? Because it was fake. It was for the approval of others, not the approval of the Lord. Jeremiah chapter 6, another one of the prophets. Hear, O earth, behold, I am bringing up disaster upon the people. The fruit of their device is because they have not paid attention to my words.
• 8:33
  And as for my law, they've rejected it. What used to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba or sweet cane. These are offerings from a distant land. Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifice is pleasing to me. Does God's frustration in these verses make sense? It does, right? The people living in sin, backbiting, bad-mouthing the Lord, and while they were doing those things, they were at the same time going to the temple to offer sacrifices, participating in fake worship services.
• 9:06
  We typically pride ourselves on our genuineness. Everybody thinks. Everybody thinks they're real, they're genuine. We'll even say phrases like, I'm just keeping it real, which is usually an excuse for I'm just going to say whatever I want. I hear people say, I've said this before. I don't care what other people think. I don't care what other people think. Or something like this. I'm just going to do my thing. Really? Can I ask you? You don't have to admit to it. Is the smile ever, honestly, is the smile ever fake? Like, I'm just keeping it real. I don't know.
• 9:40
  Sometimes it is, right? Hallie and I, many years ago now, probably 10 or 12 years ago, were about to meet a pastor that we had never met. We'd been invited to his house. His wife and he had invited us over, Hallie and I, and we had been just at each other's throats all day, Hallie and I, at odds with each other, putting an edge on our words, annoyed by the other one, and I know we're probably the only married couple who struggles with that, but there are occasions. No doubt you've never had that happen in your home, but...
• 10:10
  I mean, it was just one of those days and it was not anything big. You know, it was just these little things and just getting on each other's nerves and just, man, and she's driving me nuts and I'm driving her nuts. And then the whole day we were just.
• 10:20
  at odds the whole day pulling against each other instead of pulling with each other and it was just not fun but we'd been invited to this pastor's house and it was a guy we didn't know and you guys we were arguing in the car to his house we got out of the car and walking up his walkway we are you know making comments to each other these little subtle things we get all the way up to the front door we ring the bell and she's making some comment i'm like i'm not letting that go you know what i'm telling her and we can hear him on the other side of the door and as soon as he opens the door hey
• 10:48
  We're so thankful to be here. You know, arm around her like, we're the gardeners. You know, and sometimes, right? Not keeping it real then. Sometimes it is fake. Is it ever fake with the Lord? That's the question this evening. We fake it sometimes with others. Is it ever fake with the Lord? You'll notice as we jump in, the word when. When. Verse 2, when you give to the needy. Verse 5, when you pray.
• 11:24
  Verse 16, when you fast. The text does not say if. It says when. He assumes, again, all who call themselves the Lord's disciples will give, will pray, will fast. And so let's look first at fake righteousness in regard to giving. And in verse 2, there's a negative example. Here's how not to do it. Verse 2, thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others.
• 11:53
  truly i say to you they have received their reward there were those in jesus's time who would give for the purpose of gain blowing trumpets making announcements drawing attention to themselves they would seek to gain an immediate reward for what appeared to be a very spiritual action in kind of a backward way they were giving in order to get
• 12:16
  In one brief statement, Jesus strips of them any future reward. He says in verse 2, that they may be praised by others. And then he says, guess what? That was what they wanted. They got it. They have received their reward. Rather, God's people.
• 12:36
  should be givers a giving savior should have giving disciples that make sense john macarthur when done giving is done in the right spirit it not only is permissible it's obligatory for believers that we should be the most giving most hospitable most generous people on earth right because we serve a generous and hospitable god in this single verse the lord condemns not only giving for the wrong reason but he condemns not giving at all there's the wrong way to do it now let's look at the right way to do it verse three but when you give to the needy
• 13:04
  Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Be so secretive about it, the one hand doesn't even know what the other one is doing. What a cool way to word that. So that your giving may be in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you. That rather than making a show, the genuine Christian should give as secretly and discreetly as possible. The Bible never commands the believer to give to every person every time without discretion. That's not what it says.
• 13:33
  It does command the believer in Galatians 2 and verse 10 to remember the poor. That's the command that the New Testament gives. Remember the poor. The word for remember could also be translated consider. Be considerate of the poor. It's not a call to mindless giving, but rather a call to thoughtful giving. Giving is a command. It should be done with intention and purpose. Why? Because generosity reflects...
• 14:03
  the attributes of our lord fake righteousness in regard to giving that's how it can be done wrong that's how it can be done right but notice also fake righteousness in regard to prayer there's a negative example and then a positive example prayer you'll notice is just assumed when you pray verse 5 says don't be like the hypocrites that jesus clearly taught that the prayerless christian should not be convinced of the genuineness of your faith
• 14:29
  If you never pray, if you claim to be in Christ and you never pray, then I'm not saying you're not a believer. I'm just saying there is something wrong. There's something wrong. If you're never going to the Lord in prayer, there is something wrong. Charles Spurgeon said it this way, just as the first act of a newborn baby is breathing. As soon as that baby is born, do you guys remember? As soon as that baby is born, what's the first thing they check? Breathing.
• 14:56
  I don't know if they really used to do this. They didn't do it when I was born. When my sons were born, I was a little disappointed by it because in all that, whatever, the cartoons and stuff, you smack them on the fanny and I'm like, when do they get the spank? I'm assuming they've stopped doing that at some point, right? To make sure that they're breathing. It's the very first thing that they check. The first act of life in a newborn baby, the very first thing any of us did when we were born was breathe.
• 15:24
  So is prayer the first act of life in a newborn believer? Prayer is the air that Christians breathe if we're only ever praying at the end of sermons and before we eat. And imagine this church, we are going hours and maybe even days at a time without breathing. That is prayer in the life of the believer. And there are some wrong ways to do it. The first way is to be seen by others. Look at verse five. He says, don't be like the hypocrites.
• 15:52
  They love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they've received their reward, right? They wanted to be seen. Guess what? They've been seen. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. So don't pray to be seen by others. Here's another wrong way to do it, just heaping up empty words. Verse 7, when you pray,
• 16:21
  Do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do. They think they will be heard for their many words. It's like they're getting paid by the word is what he's saying. No, this is not some essay. It's not, you know, our high school research paper. It must be a minimum of 500 words. And you're like, I like the Dodgers very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very much. 500 on the nose and you go turn it in. That's not how prayer works.
• 16:51
  He says, don't think that just because you use a lot of flowery words that suddenly you'll be heard. We must not ever, he says, turn off our brains and forget the doctrines of Scripture in order to commune with God. It was Jesus, after all, who said in John 4 and verse 23, true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and what? Truth. Worship.
• 17:19
  Prayer, fellowship with the Father will be done, yes, in spirit, but also in truth. In Mark 12, 30, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your what? Mind, and with all your strength. And don't forget the warning of Ecclesiastes 5. God is in heaven, and we are on earth. Anybody remember the rest? So we should let our words be few. God's in heaven, and we're on earth. And so you don't just go walking into his throne room, blabbering on.
• 17:53
  And I'm not saying that we're not invited to come, right? Because if we ask and seek and knock, I mean, the invitation is there. But he is, after all, the king of the universe. And if we were going to address an earthly king, we would never just barge in and just say whatever came to mind. If we were going to talk to the president, we would never just say whatever came to mind. We would probably even script it. I'm going to think this stuff through. When you go to a job interview, you don't just bust in and just say whatever comes to mind.
• 18:23
  You're careful, precise with your words. And here he says, God is in heaven, we're on earth. So be careful with your words. We don't just go trudging into the Lord's presence. We would take time to consider our words. Writing down some talking points would even be a good idea. You even respect the Lord by your thoughtful prayers. Mindless prayers are not an honor to God. Notice another way to pray the wrong way. Before we get to praying the right way,
• 18:53
  If you don't forgive others, if you are harboring unforgiveness in your heart, look down at verse 14. He says, for if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don't forgive others their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses. We should not expect our pleas to God for forgiveness and mercy to be heard if we are harboring bitterness and malice in our own heart toward others. Such hypocrisy, he says, isn't tolerated.
• 19:23
  If you won't be forgiving, he says, I'm not going to listen to your prayers. To pray for forgiveness while at the same moment not extending that forgiveness is the same as saying, just Lord, you know what, don't forgive me at all. There's the negative example. Now let's get to the positive, the genuine example. And you guys know verses 9 to 13 comprise the Lord's Prayer. It's ironic, I think, that it is deemed the Lord's Prayer. It's always called the Lord's Prayer. I liked what one pastor said. He said we should instead call it the disciples' prayer.
• 19:54
  If it were genuinely the Lord's prayer, what would it not include? Read it real quick. Forgiveness of sin, right? It wouldn't include a section on confession. If this really was Jesus's prayer, there wouldn't be forgive me, oh Lord, right? There wouldn't be any of that. He wasn't saying this is how I pray. He was saying what? This is how you should pray. It's one of maybe the most mindlessly repeated prayers in human history.
• 20:26
  Apart from maybe rub-a-dub-dub, thanks for the grub, right? Or bless this bunch that munched their lunch. Amen. J.C. Ryle has said of the Lord's Prayer, happy would it be, happy would it be for the world if this prayer was as well known in the spirit as it is in the letter. I mean, tens of millions of people have memorized it. It's good. Nothing wrong with memorizing it, repeating it.
• 20:53
  reciting it of course we should do that it is after all inspired the inspired word of god but its intention was to be used as a thoughtful pattern for followers in order to ensure that their prayers were accurate when you pray pray like this include these types of elements is what jesus is saying in this brief example that follows christ gives seven points of a god honoring prayer i'm going to go through them quickly
• 21:19
  Every single God-honoring prayer will not include all the seven of these points, but every God-honoring prayer will always have as its focus our Father in heaven. You know, this is the only thing the disciples ever asked Jesus to teach them. This is it. In all of the Gospels, this is it. Teach us to pray, and what we have recorded is Christ's response. You'll notice he calls God Father. Verse 9, our Father. Our Father in heaven.
• 21:51
  And that's not to say that you can't pray by means of the spirit or directly to the Lord Jesus, but he begins by addressing the Lord using a familial relationship. If God's your father, then you can come into his presence anytime you want. Just like my sons need not schedule an appointment to visit with me, right? Maybe others do. Let me check my calendar. Let me check my schedule. My sons can call anytime. They can text anytime. They can expect me to pick up the phone anytime.
• 22:21
  They can walk into my house anytime they want. They can walk in my office anytime they want. They've got an all-access pass. And so, too, we are invited into the very presence of God anytime we want. Isn't that crazy? He calls us sons and daughters. And if God is your Father, it's because you have called His Son your Savior. And anyone who calls Jesus Lord calls Jesus' Father his own Father.
• 22:51
  I mean, this is a crazy concept. If you have done this, if you have called Jesus Lord, then listen to this promise and invitation from Hebrews 4. Let us, that is believers, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. It has happened to me in my years of ministry that I will meet people from other Christian traditions, those who come from maybe a more high church background like Catholics.
• 23:21
  Orthodox. They've even tried to pay me to pray for them. I have at times received letters requesting prayer contained in the envelope along with the prayer request. It would be like a $20 bill or a $40 check. Their thinking, I think, in some of those traditions is that
• 23:44
  I mean, as a pastor, as a minister, as a priest, whatever, I must have closer and more direct access to the Lord's throne. So would you please pray for this? And here's payment. But that's not what this says. And this is a glorious truth. All those who are in Christ have the skeleton key, the master key, which opens the door to heaven. I am happy to pray for you anytime for 20 bucks. That's not what this says.
• 24:16
  If you call Jesus your Savior, you can also call God your Father, and you yourself can pray directly to him. What a promise that is. What a backward thing it would be for one of my sons to ask one of you to come and talk to me. No, you just come talk to me. You have an invitation. And friends, that is the invitation he gives us. With confidence, draw near to the throne of grace.
• 24:49
  I mean, it's even more than an invitation. You'll notice that's an imperative. It's a command. Come into my throne room. Notice he continues, hallowed, hallowed be your name. Hallowed means holy. The Lord's very name is holy. Your name is holy, sacred, revered, awesome.
• 25:12
  The seraphim, the angels in Isaiah 6 have been screaming his holy name incessantly as far back as humans can remember. And what they have been reciting without end in heaven, the Lord's followers are to declare on earth. Holy is the Lord's name. And this kind of praying, praying the holiness of God, has grasped the greatness of God, J.I. Packer has said. The Greek construct here is interesting.
• 25:39
  The verb hallowed be is passive imperative. That means that in this simple declaration of God's holy name, we are asking God to carry out the action of making his name holy. Like, wait, what? What I'm saying is this. We not only declare that the Lord is holy, we are by declaring his holy name, asking him to make his name holy. Lord, make your name holy. Declare your name sacred.
• 26:09
  Make your name revered in my life and in this world. His name is much more than a byword. It is much more than a curse word. We are, by declaring his holy name, asking the Lord to change our hearts, to make us more conformed to his image, to accurately reflect his name in this world. It's a recognition that the Lord's reputation in the world is only as good as our reputation. Make us holy, we would pray, so that people will know that you are holy.
• 26:41
  As Ian Bounds has said it, Christians are the Bibles that sinners read. Christians read these Bibles. Sinners read us. We shouldn't assume that our unsaved neighbors are reading their Bibles every day. What are they reading? Us. They're watching us. And because the Lord's reputation is directly reflected in our reputation, hallowed be your name is a prayer request to make our lives a living reflection of the Lord's holiness.
• 27:11
  As we pray his holy name, we remind ourselves that the Lord is right all the time. He's holy. He never errs. He never missteps. He is altogether separate and different than we are. And therefore his plan, his will, even his answers to our prayers can be trusted. Why? Because he's holy. Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Our greatest desire on earth.
• 27:41
  should be for the king to reign in his kingdom that christ would be heralded as king by his creation and receive the honor and glory due to his name one has said is our responsibility to pray for our families our pastors our missionaries national and other leaders for many other people and things but our prayers in every case whoever and whatever we're praying for
• 28:06
  should be that God's will be done in and through those people, that they would think, speak, and act in accordance with God's will. The best we can pray for any person or any cause. Make sure you catch this. You're praying for your friends, you're praying for your spouse, you're praying for your kids, you're praying for your neighbors, you're praying for your pastors. The very best thing you can pray over anybody else is that God's kingdom would be advanced in that person or cause. It's interesting, though, because our prayers tend to be
• 28:37
  Very self-centered. Don't they? Focused on our own needs, our own wants, our own dreams, our own desires, based on our own prayers. Who would we assume as the king? Us. We don't often pray his kingship and his kingdom. Instead, we pray for our own little kingdoms. Christ said that the kingdom belongs to the little children. And in terms of a childlike faith, that is true, but that does not mean that our prayers should be childish.
• 29:09
  Little children know nothing but their own little world. They really are selfish little beings. They are self-focused in their own existence. Their prayers reflect that self-focus. As we grow to be adults, we begin to understand that there is actually an entire universe outside of us. And we begin to be humbled over the course of time, don't we? Understanding that we ourselves must fit into that universe.
• 29:40
  and not the other way around. The same is true of prayer. We must understand ourselves as citizens in his kingdom and not he a citizen in ours. Again, the phrase could be translated, let your kingdom come now. Let your will be done now on earth as it is in heaven. Lord, usher in your kingdom. Notice God's provision. Give us this day, he says, our daily bread.
• 30:08
  Israel required daily manna, so we require daily bread and prayer. We've got to recognize that we are utterly dependent upon the Lord for even the simplest things. There's a Switchfoot song that I enjoy. I don't know if you guys like Switchfoot or not. I've liked them for a long time. Switchfoot, and I was just listening to this with a guy from our church yesterday. We were rocking out to it in the car. There's a phrase. He says, life is short. I want to live it well. One life, one story to tell. Life is short. I want to live it well.
• 30:37
  and you're the one I'm living for. Awaken all my soul. Anybody know the next line? Every breath, every breath that I take is a miracle. That's how dependent I am upon the Lord. It's not even just daily bread. It's moment by moment breath. As a prayer, our daily bread is a reminder that if God doesn't provide, we are undone. He continues, forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors.
• 31:09
  It's the only portion of the prayer which the Lord comments on later. If you're not willing to forgive, you won't be forgiven. J.C. Ryle has said our prayer is nothing without charity. We must not expect to be forgiven if we cannot forgive. Forgiveness must be a part of the Christian's life. Many years ago, before she passed away, we took Hallie's grandma, Betty, out to lunch for her 75th birthday. I have told some of you guys this story before.
• 31:36
  And during that lunch, she began reflecting, Grandma Betty, 75 years old, over her life. She eventually said, and she was a tremendous woman of prayer and a woman of God. She was really just such a neat lady. She said this. She said, there are a lot of people I need to forgive in my life. And I thought, all right. She said, not necessarily for their sake, but for mine. She said, because most of them are already dead.
• 32:03
  It's not only funny, and she was very funny, very sharp-tongued, quick-witted, but I thought that's actually really profound, too. There are people I need to forgive, not even for their sake. It's not bothering them anymore. They're gone. You know who it's bothering is me. My lack of forgiveness of them is bothering me. It's having an effect on me, even if I was the victim, not the perpetrator. Forgiveness of our debts as we also forgive our debtors, Jesus said.
• 32:34
  He continues, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. We are liable. We all know at times to be led astray. We are, as the hymn writer has worded it, prone to wander and prone to leave the God I love. And so he just asks anything that is injurious to our souls, keep from me. Anything which would tempt us beyond our ability to bear. Deliver us from evil. And you guys who have memorized the Lord's Prayer in the past probably notice that you were forced to memorize a section that is not written here.
• 33:04
  Do you guys notice that? How does it end? For yours, thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. Amen. The most reliable and oldest manuscripts don't actually include the epilogue. Therefore, the ESV leaves it off. Doctrinally speaking, those words are wholly accurate. They form a fitting conclusion to the prayer.
• 33:29
  Whether they were original or not, they declare that the kingdom, in fact, all kingdoms belong to the king. They were adapted, I believe, from 1 Chronicles 29 and verse 11. It says this, yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. I mean, if it's possible.
• 33:58
  Maybe this one's even better. Like we should just re-memorize it and add that. That should be the tag at the end of the Lord's Prayer. That is incredible. All of the kingdoms belong to the King. Great power, glory, victory, majesty. You are exalted as head above all. You want to know how to pray? That's how to do it right. And notice finally, with this we conclude, fake righteousness in regard to fasting. That was giving.
• 34:29
  then praying. Now, what about fasting? And this one is actually pretty short. It's easy. There's a negative example. When you fast, verse 16, don't look gloomy like the hypocrites. They disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they've received their reward. They purposely kind of contort their faces so that everybody's like, oh, what's wrong? Oh, I'm fasting. So that you'll leave and say, how holy, how godly are they? Wow. Wow.
• 34:58
  You want people to be astounded? They were astounded. Neat. Instead, he says, and here's the positive example. Instead, when you fast, verse 17, anoint your head and wash your face. Clean yourself up. Make yourself look better than the days you aren't fasting. That's what he's saying. That your fasting may not be seen by others, but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father, I love this promise. What does it say? Who sees in secret.
• 35:30
  Oh man, we fool ourselves if we think the Lord doesn't see in secret. He sees it all, the good and the bad. And here the promise is, if you're doing the good and nobody notices, he sees. And if what you want is his reward, heavenly reward, eternal reward, guess what? He's storing it up for you. What a promise that is. The genuine.
• 35:57
  genuine fasting is rewarded by god even if that action is never seen by another person boy what a tragedy it would be if there were genuine professing believers in jesus christ really genuine christians sitting here in our midst this evening really honestly have prayed have repented have asked the lord for forgiveness have crossed over from death to life but then every other spiritual act in their life was fake and then they got all the way to the end
• 36:27
  And they stood there before the throne and the Lord said, you did okay. I mean, you don't get a well done. You don't get a good and faithful. You didn't do anything. You weren't faithful at anybody or with anybody. No good and faithful servant. You didn't serve anybody. Everything you did was for the approval of man. And you know what? You got it. I hope that's what you wanted because it wasn't real. Here is.
• 37:00
  a warning by Christ, not to put on a show. Those citizens of the kingdom need to have not only lives that are aligned with the word, but hearts as well. Lord, thank you for this text. And Lord, as we analyze our own hearts, God, we realize we want genuine, genuine life-transforming faith from the inside out.
• 37:26
  Lord, we don't want to feel, and it wasn't my intention, Lord, that anybody would feel guilty. It's not guilt or shame. It's a call to action, to right living, to be givers. Not so that others can see and we would receive their praise, but so that you can see. And Lord, when we give, may our right hand not even know what our left hand is doing. I pray that we would be prayers. I pray, God, that we would consider prayer like breathing. We can't even go minutes without doing it.
• 37:56
  constantly offering up our praises, our thanksgiving to the Lord. And God, when we fast, I pray that we would do it for your approval and not the approval of man. Lord, I pray that you would be honored in our right actions because of our right and genuine hearts. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.