ARE YOU THE REAL DEAL !
Matthew 6:1-8, 16-18
(First Baptist Church 1/29/07)
Outline
I. HOLY ACTIVTIES
a) Giving
b) Praying
c) Fasting
II. HYPOCRITICAL ACTIVITIES
a) Their Methods
b) Their Motives
III. HONORED ACTIVITIES
a) The Rewarded Life
b) The Real Life
READ
MATTHEW 5:1,2
1. Ferdinand Waldo Damara, Jr., during the course of three
decades, taught college classes in psychology, worked as a zoologist,
served as dean of the School of Philosophy at Pennsylvania’s Gannon
College, taught science at a Catholic boys school, did cancer research
in Seattle, worked as a civil engineer in the Yucatan, directed a
student counseling center, taught Latin, English, and French at a
high school on an isolated island off the coast of Maine, served as a
deputy sheriff in Washington State, served as lieutenant surgeon in the
Royal Canadian Navy being hailed as the “miracle doctor” where he was
credited with the saving of many lives, and counseled terminal ill
patients at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Anaheim, California.
Quite a resume you might say. The thing about Damara is that he never
finished high school. The truth of the matter is that Damara was an
imposter.
He’d read and learn enough about his profession and
then pass himself off under some assumed name. His life was portrayed
by Tony Curtis in the movie The Great Imposter.
2. As we move into Matthew 6 and continue our study of the Sermon on
the Mount we see that Jesus is calling for the Christian to be real.
He’s calling for the Christian to be the genuine
article—
the real deal.
3. I read about a preacher who was being interviewed by a pastoral
search committee. An English teacher headed the committee, and
was very concerned that the future pastor spoke properly. He asked,
“When the hen is on the nest, does she sit or set?” The hopeful pastor,
English not being his major, wasn’t sure whether it was “sit” or “set.”
He thought for a moment and then said, “It really doesn’t matter to me
if she’s sitting or setting. What I want to know is that when she
cackles is she laying or lying?”
4. Unfortunately, there are those who profess to be Christians and
pretend to be Christians but their life is nothing more than a lie.
Perhaps the most damaging thing
to the cause of Christ
is the lives that some professing
Christians live.
5. Mahatma Gandhi is one of the most respected leaders of modern
history.
A Hindu, Gandhi nevertheless admired Jesus and often
quoted from the Sermon on the Mount.
Once when the missionary E. Stanley Jones met with Gandhi
he asked him, "Mr. Gandhi, though you quote the words of Christ often,
why is that you appear to so adamantly reject becoming his follower?"
Gandhi replied, "Oh, I don't reject your Christ. I love your Christ.
It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ."
6. What a tragic testimony for those who name the name of Christ.
Unfortunately it’s true in many cases. There’s a
great need for
Christians being real.
Let’s look at what Jesus said about being real.
First, think with me about:
I. HOLY
ACTIVITIES
1. In verse 1 we read “Take heed that ye do not your alms before men,
to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is
in heaven.”
I want you to notice the word “alms.”
You’ll notice that you find the word in verse 2, 3,
and 4.
However, the word translated “alms” in verse 2-4 is a different word
than the word in verse 1.
2. In verse 1 the word “alms” speaks of “righteous deeds,” and is
inclusive of all God-honoring acts of service.
There are three kinds of righteous deeds or holy activities that Jesus
described.
He speaks of giving (Vs. 2-4)
praying (Vs.
5-8)
and fasting
(Vs. 16-18).
3. Now for the most part, Jesus is condemning the hypocrisy of the
methods and motives of the Pharisees, but in doing this, He gives us
some wonderful guidelines for these holy activities in our life.
Let’s notice these activities.
First, Jesus spoke of:
A) Giving
1. The word “alms” in verses 2-4 has the idea of giving.
The word speaks of having mercy and compassion on
someone
and giving to relieve their suffering.
The same idea is found in Matthew 5:7 where Jesus said, “Blessed are
the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”
The same idea of giving to help others is there.
2. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 15:11, “For the poor shall never cease
out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open
thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy
land.”
Also, in Leviticus 25:35 we read, “And if thy
brother be waxen
poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt
relieve him:
yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that
he may live with
thee.”
3. The Psalmist said in Psalm 41:1, “Blessed is he that considereth the
poor.”
4. Christians are to be compassionate people.
When we see others in need we are to reach out to
them.
The Bible says in 1 John 3:17, “But whoso hath this
world's good,
and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his
bowels of
compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in
him?”
5. As Christ loved others, we’re to love others.
As Christ reached out to others
in time of need, we’re to
reach out to others in their time
of need.
A great example of Christian love is opening our
pocketbooks
and checkbooks and helping others.
6. In verse 3 Jesus gives us a guide for our alms-giving.
He says, “But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy
right hand doeth.”
7. The idea is of giving without being hesitate to do it.
The right hand is used in the Scripture to speak of
our work.
There are so many things that we do with our right hand (if your right
handed) during the course of the day without thinking about it.
When you do them, you don’t stop and tell your left
hand
about it.
Jesus is talking about the spontaneity of our giving.
When we see people in need, if we have the ability
to help
them, we shouldn’t think twice about it.
It ought to be a natural and spontaneous response on our part.
8. In verse 4 Jesus said, “That thine alms may be in secret.”
Jesus is telling us that we should help others without any desire to be
recognized for our giving.
I know some people who if they give anything they
want a plague
put up to let others know what they did.
Our giving to help others is a matter between us and God and the person
we help.
We should care about nothing but
helping others.
It should never be a matter of trying to gain favor or get attention.
Secondly, Jesus spoke of our:
B) Praying
1. In verses 5-8 Jesus talk about praying.
In verse 6 He said “when thou prayest, enter into
thy closet, and
when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father
which is in secret;
and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward
thee openly.”
2. I want to point out at the very beginning that Jesus took it for
granted that a Christian would pray.
Notice carefully Jesus does not say, “If thou
prayest,” but “when
thou prayest.”
He was assuming that prayer would be a regular activity of a Christian.
3. In speaking of the Christians prayer habits He spoke of entering
into your “closet.”
Now, Jesus wasn’t talking about the place where we
hang our
clothes.
The word referred to a room in an Oriental home that was used for
storage or privacy.
What Jesus is talking about is
getting alone in a private
place to pray.
Shutting the door speaks of getting alone in a place
where you’ll
not be disturbed or distracted.
4. It’s true that you can pray as you work or as you drive, but there
needs to be a time each day where we get alone with God and spend time
with Him in prayer.
5. Do you have a time and a place where you get alone with God?
I could never emphasize enough the importance of
doing it.
John Wesley knew how important it was. He once said, “I have so much to
do today that I must spend at least four hours alone with God.”
6. Someone has said that a prayer-room is to a Christian what the heart
is to the body. Amen.
Getting alone with God is your
spiritual life-line.
Thirdly, Jesus talked about:
C) Fasting
1. In verses 16-18 Jesus talked about fasting.
The word “fasting” simply means “to abstain from
food.”
We don’t hear much about fasting.
Yet, fasting is one of the most powerful and
effective steps we can take to get something from God.
THIS YEAR, IT’S SOMETHING THAT WE AS A CHURCH WILL BE DOING.
FOLKS, When we fast we’re depriving the physical
desires of
our body to get the spiritual desires of our soul.
It’s doing without the physical in order to obtain the spiritual.
2. Jesus explained that fasting is something very personal.
He said in verse 18, “That thou appear not unto men
to fast, but
unto thy Father which is in secret.”
It isn’t a matter of getting up on Sunday morning and announcing that
you’ve been fasting.
Rather, it’s something very personal, but also very
powerful.
Let me move on and not only say a word about holy activities,
but also:
II.
HYPOCRITICAL ACTIVITIES
1. The heart of all Jesus said was in response to the methods and
motives of the Pharisees.
They gave, prayed, and fasted but were soundly
rebuked by
Jesus and marked as the example of how we aren’t to
give,
pray, and fast.
2. Three times Jesus called them “hypocrites” (Vs. 2, 5, 16).
The word “hypocrite” means a “stage player.”
It’s what we’d call an actor.
An actor is someone pretending to be someone or
something
they aren’t. They’re merely acting out a part.
3. That’s what Jesus called the Pharisees.
They pretended to be righteous but were anything but
righteous.
In short a hypocrite is someone
that isn’t real and
the Pharisees weren’t real.
The hypocrisy of Pharisees is seen in:
A) Their Methods
1. In verse 2 we read, “Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do
not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues
and in the streets, that they may have glory of men.”
A common custom of the Pharisees was to have a
trumpet blown
when they were about to give.
2. Talk about blowing your own horn, the Pharisees gave it new meaning.
The blowing of the trumpet was to get everyone’s
attention
so they could see them give.
3. In verse 5 we read, “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the
hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in
the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.”
Instead of getting on their knees in the synagogues
they’d stand
to make sure everyone saw them.
They’d also gather on a busy street corner during the busiest time of
the day to pray so that people could see them.
4. In verse 7 we read, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as
the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much
speaking.”
“Vain repetitions” refers to
empty babbling
and repetition.
They prayed as loud and as long as they could when they prayed.
5. Finally in verse 16, “Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the
hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that
they may appear unto men to fast.”
The Pharisees fasted at least twice a week and when
they did it
they’d put on their sad face.
Some even went as far to put on makeup to make them look pale.
6. Now what was all this about?
Notice not only their methods but also:
B) Their Motives
1. In verse one we have the words “to be seen of them.”
In verse 2 we have the words “that they may have glory of men.”
In verse 5 we have the words “that they may be seen of men.”
In verse 7 we have the words “for they think that they shall be heard
for their much speaking.”
In verse 16 we have the words “that they may appear unto men to
fast.”
2. The reason the Pharisees did all they did was to be seen of men.
They were nothing but showboats and show offs.
They were always tooting their own horn and seeking glory for
themselves.
They could
strut sitting down.
Their motive in all they did was purely selfish and self-centered.
3. Over and over Jesus tells us not to be like the Pharisees.
He’s calling for us to examine
our motives.
Why do we do what we do?
What should our purpose and
motive be in what we do?
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whether therefore ye eat, or
drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 10:17, “But he that glorieth, let him
glory in the Lord.”
4. The purpose and motive behind all we do should be that God might
receive glory.
5. Paul said in Galatians 6:14, “But God forbid that I should glory,
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul knew that in himself he had no cause or reason
to glory.
6. St. Francis de Sales said, “Some men become proud and insolent
because they ride a fine horse, wear a feather in their hat or are
dressed in a fine suit of clothes. Who doesn’t see the folly of this?
If there be any glory in things like this,
the glory belongs to:
the horse,
the bird
and the
tailor.”
7. In our case, the glory belongs to the Lord and the Lord alone.
Where would we be if not for the cross of Christ?
What would we be if not for God’s grace?
We have no reason to glory in ourselves.
8. Like Paul, we can only glory in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
NOW LISTEN TO ME, ....... Someone has said that the smallest package in
the world is the person wrapped up in himself.
9. One wife explained that the reason she and her husband had managed
to be happy for more than 20 years is that because she and her husband
were in love with the same man.
10. There are those who do what they do to be seen of men.
They want the glory of men rather
than seeking to
give God glory.
Like the Pharisees they only want the applause and attention of
man.
Lastly, think with me about:
III. HONORED
ACTIVITIES
1. Seven times in the verses we’re looking at Jesus using the word
“reward.”
Think with me of these rewards in closing.
First, there’s:
A) The Rewarded Life
1. The Bible speaks often of rewards.
Verse 1 speaks of these rewards as being “of the Father.”
These are divine rewards, rewards that are given by
the Father.
I think of the old song entitled It Pays to Serve Jesus.
God will
reward our giving, our praying, and
our fasting.
Yes, it does pays to serve Jesus.
2. The Bible describes how these rewards are sometimes reaped in this
life.
Verse 4 hints at this in the words “thy Father which seeth in secret
himself shall reward thee openly.”
Jesus said in Luke 18:29-30, “And he said unto them, Verily I say unto
you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or
wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, Who shall not receive
manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life
everlasting.”
3. Take note of the words “in this present time.”
When you serve Jesus there are
rewards that are reaped in
this present time—in this
lifetime.
4. The Bible also speaks of rewards that’ll be reaped in the life to
come.
As Jesus said, “in the world to come.”
Revelation 22:12 says, “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is
with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”
Heaven will surely be worth it
all.
There’s a great payday coming.
5. However, I want you notice carefully what Jesus said about rewards.
You see that the rewarded life is the result of:
B) The Real Life
1. Jesus called the Pharisee’s hypocrites.
They were only pretenders.
They weren’t real.
2. All they did was a show.
Over and over again Jesus made it clear that even
though
they gave, they prayed, and they fasted they
wouldn’t be rewarded.
3. Look at verse 1. We read, “Take heed that ye do not your alms before
men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father
which is in heaven.”
4. Jesus was saying that if we do what we do to be seen by other
people, there’d be no reward from the Father.
5. Three times Jesus said of the Pharisees, “they have their reward”
(Vs. 2, 5, 16).
6. God wasn’t talking about blessing them.
He was talking about judging
them.
7. But on the other hand, Jesus made it clear that those who are for
real will reap eternal blessings and rewards.
8. Do you want to reap eternal rewards in this life and in the life to
come?
If so, then Jesus calls for you to be real—be the
genuine article.
9. If there’s a need in our day it’s for Christians to be real.
This world needs to see real
Christians on the job,
in the neighborhood, and in all
acquaintances.
10. When for so many their Christianity goes no further than the
Church doors, this world needs to see those who are real.
11. The Bible says in Philippians 1:10, “That ye may approve things
that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the
day of Christ.”
The word “sincere” comes from two Latin words,
“sine” meaning
“without,” and “cere” meaning “wax.”
Thus, the meaning of the word is “without wax.”
12. The word comes from the custom of dishonest sculptors who would
hide cracks or flaws in their work with wax.
13. To be sincere is to be without
hypocrisy.
14. To be sincere is to be real.
Are
you the real deal ?
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