Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Truth for the Journey from Clifford Baptist Church, 635 Fletcher's Level Road in Amherst. Please join us today as Pastor Jeffrey Campbell leads us in an in depth study of the Sermon on the Mount. Today's scripture is Matthew, chapter six, verses one through four. And the sermon is entitled Give to those in Need.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Jesus has been raising the bar in expectations of his people and teaching the law and showing how his people will be not only different, not necessarily better than the law, but they will go that second mile beyond what the law requires them to do. And so we understand and we learn that there is a higher standard for the people of God. For those who follow Jesus Christ, that standard is high. So I'm grateful for that scripture that reminded us that. And chapter number six opens with sort of an expectation from Jesus of what his people are already doing.
And so there are times maybe I stand here and preach that I don't address certain subjects because it's expected, right? Or maybe I don't go in depth. Maybe that's partly my fault, but some of that's expected. Well, Jesus is going to start out chapter number six with teaching on some things that he expects his followers to be doing.
And so what he's going to address when his followers do these things, they must be doing them for the right reason.
Three things in the beginning of chapter number six that we are going to look at together. It is giving, praying and fasting.
Giving, praying and fasting. Those three things that Jesus will address in this chapter, they will be three separate lessons as we look at them. But the warning behind those three things of giving, praying and fasting is this. When you do those things, you are not to do them in order to be seen or heard, or the attention is drawn to you that you must do them. And the word that we're going to see at the end of this lesson is in secret. You are not the focal point.
Now listen, I'm going to be honest with you. For us, as we look at ourselves, as we battle the flesh that is within us, there's a little bit in us, in each one of us that desires attention, that desires to be noticed, that desires to be seen. And maybe you sit here and say, pastor Jeffrey, no, not me. Well, God bless you because I have to fight that, right?
There's people in the church that get mad when they're not noticed, when the pastor doesn't notice them or when they're not noticed. They're gone for a couple weeks and nobody notices them.
Right?
And so part of my argument is this.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but when we do things, it's not to be noticed.
That is the heart behind what we will study the opening of chapter number six.
Because we live in a world today, we live in a world that is vying for attention.
It's very social media driven.
So you like it, you share it. The popularity, the personal gain, the viral attention.
That's the goal of people in our day.
And so the goal of the Christian is anti all of that, that we should not be driven by publicity or popularity in what we do for the Lord. So over the next couple of weeks, as we dive into these different areas, the warning is loud and clear. Don't do it for your benefit.
Don't do it to be seen or to be heard. The heart must be right. Tonight, as we look at giving of alms, helping those that are needy, that is very important.
Why you give is just as important as how you give. Maybe more important.
The why behind what you give is important. So tonight, Matthew chapter number six, we're gonna start at verse number one.
Take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them.
Otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. So when we think about giving to those in need, that's the title of the message tonight, giving to those in need. The first thing that we must think about is the reason that you give.
The reason that you give is very important.
We're going to see a pattern as we move forward throughout chapter six that will begin in this chapter. I spoke to it for just a second. But in verse number one, as we look at that verse about giving alms, but we see in verse number two, it says when you, when thou do it, when you do this, it is assumed that the people of God, the people that follow the Lord, when they give and when they pray and when they fast, there's an expectation that we do those things.
I know there are times that we have to preach or speak or teach about reminders, but the pastor shouldn't have to tell the people to pray.
They should already be praying.
Now we will look at it some instructions in that. But.
But I should not have to preach sermons on, you need to pray.
And so what Jesus is laying down here when you do these things, when you give alms or when you pray or when you fast, that they are doing these things already. It's understood, it's understood that Christians should be more givers than takers in a financial sense, but also in a worship sense.
When you come to worship service, if this is your home church, here's what our hearts should be together. What can I give instead of what can I receive?
If every person of Clifford Baptist Church had that mentality, we wouldn't have to beg for people to serve.
So it's in giving, it's in serving, it's in praying, it's in fasting. It's expected that people are doing these things, but also that the people of God are givers more than takers. I don't know about you and please, but my mindset every day is, lord, open a door that I can tell somebody about Jesus.
That door looks very different.
That's a prayer of mine. I want to. We want to be those that share the gospel as we understand that we must pray and that we must be givers and that we can fast. We must fast.
It's given to us by God to impact those that are around us. And I believe that God honors these things. Jesus starts out with a warning in verse number one. Look there again. It says this. Take heed that you do not your alms before men. Here's a warning. Beware, pay close attention. Do not do your righteous deeds before men so that you are seen by them or with the goal to be seen by them.
Some will use this scripture to say that you should do nothing in the public eye.
That even standing me standing in public praying should not be done.
I don't agree with that.
I don't agree with that is what the point is here. The warning is not that you can't pray in public, that you can't give in public, that you can't fast and carry on with your normal life. That's not the goal here. The goal is this. Why are you doing what you are doing?
Why are you praying? Why are you giving? Why are you fasting? That's the goal of the teaching and you're gonna hear it over and over for the next couple of weeks. Why do you do what you do?
The reason you give, the reason you go and do should be dependent upon pleasing God, not pleasing your fellow man.
What we also can get from this is this.
There is a sin driven, pride filled area of each of our lives that stars for attention.
How many of you raise kids and there are times that those kids just done something for attention.
Maybe my kid's just done that.
Terry and I will sit there and they're just doing that. He's not really crying, he's doing that to get attention.
Momma go over and pat him on it. You Know, or maybe we wouldn't.
There are times that we want the pat on the back, that we want the attaboy, that we want people to glorify or lift us up instead of the Lord. And that is not the intention of the Christian heart. That should not be the intention of the Christian heart.
And so what we see here is the warning from Jesus as we look together.
The reason that you give and the warning is this.
When you do things before people, you aren't doing them to be seen.
You aren't doing them for recognition or praise.
And so we fight that desire for attention versus the desire to do the right and godly thing.
So you can do good things, you can do biblical things, but you can do these good and biblical things for the wrong reasons.
And that's the warning.
That is the battle that we see on the pages of Scripture.
And as that battle is playing out, particularly in the area of giving, is it done with the right heart or is it done to be seen by others?
Is it done to be obedient to the Lord and to please the Lord? The reason is is important.
There is a pastor that I listen to. His name is HB Charles. I love his energy, I love his message.
I don't necessarily agree with him on everything, but I love to listen to him. But he has a podcast, a series on training pastors of teaching preachers how to preach, Teaching pastors how to be pastors.
Every week he puts out a new episode and I listened to that just to gain wisdom. But this pastor out of his heart, here's what he offers.
Two Preachers.
Don't make yourselves the hero of every story in every sermon.
That's a challenge, especially when you use personal examples.
May sound like you're bragging. That's a fine line there.
And so when we do that, it is a reminder to all of us, not only to preachers, but all of us, that when we go before the Lord and we're called to do something by the Lord, that we do that. Not to be noticed by fellow men, not to be the hero of the story, because Jesus is the hero of our story.
What the Lord does in our hearts, the reasons of why we are doing, doesn't even need to be noticed by anyone else. Our reward isn't a temporary man given reward, a pat on the back.
I reward should be one that is sought from the Lord himself.
Look at verse number one again. Take heed that ye do not alms before men to be seen of them. Otherwise ye have no reward of your Father, which is in heaven.
When you see the end of verse number one, Jesus says this. If you do it for man, man's applause will be the only thing you ever get.
That short lived pat on the back is all you will get for all eternity because that's the reason you done it.
We'll talk more about the reward at the end. Look at verses 2 and 3.
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. 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.
Point number two, tonight, when we think about giving to those in need, the way you give, the way you give is very important. I want to address the word alms.
That word alms is not a tithe or an offering, okay? We're not talking about giving to the church. We're not talking about your tithe or your offering. We're talking about addressing the charitable, godly driven opportunity to help someone that is in need.
And you and I have run across those opportunities that God has put before us. Some translations use give to the poor or give to the needy or charitable deeds. So the idea behind the word alms is not we're not talking about giving your tithe or your offering. That's not what Jesus is addressing here. Giving Jesus is addressing helping those who are in need.
And the way that we do that is very important.
Remember, he's not arguing if we should be doing that. It's when we do that.
And one of the greatest opportunities we have as believers is to help meet the needs.
Now, I want you to know in biblical days, there was no government support, there was no government help, there were no food stamps, there were no programs, there was none of that stuff. And so it fell on the shoulders of the believers to be those that helped the poor and the needy out.
And we've shouldered that load onto the government. And some of our feelings, maybe even mine sometimes is if the government is going to help them, what do I need to do?
That's the wrong attitude.
And yet God gives us opportunities not because we have more or not because we have to, but that we can be a blessing in the name of Jesus to somebody else that is in need.
I don't have to preach to you about that.
You guys have had opportunities to help people and you've taken advantage of it. God bless you. God bless those people. God Bless those situations.
But Jesus then references the hypocrite.
Look in verse number two.
Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, when you help somebody in need, do not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and the streets.
These hypocrites, what is the definition of a hypocrite? Is someone who motives.
Whose motives are driven with the wrong heart, with the wrong intention.
But in the Greek language, what that word hypocrite translated means is someone that would wear a mask.
And in a play, they would wear multiple masks.
So what that word means is you put on one face here, and then you go over here and you put on another face.
Does that make sense?
And so what the hypocrite is doing, the religious leaders of the day were prime examples. The scribes and the Pharisees, they would stand in the streets and they would act like they would put on the mask, were helping the poor. They would take that mask off and just go about their daily lives.
While they were in front of everybody and while they had everybody's attention, they wore the mask that they were helping the needy and helping the poor, and they were there for everybody. But soon as the crowd went away, they ripped the mask off and they went back to their old ways.
That's a hypocrite.
That's the true meaning of a hypocrite.
And so when we think along those lines of a hypocrite, notice the places that they were. Look at verse number two again.
Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and the streets. Wherever they went, wherever there was a crowd, they put their mask on, they sounded the trumpet. Look at me. Look what I'm doing. Look what I've done.
And those hypocrites, as the crowds would gather in the synagogues, in the street, they would seek the glory of man.
As I said just a minute ago, the religious leaders of the day, even though they're not named here, the scribes and Pharisees are the ones that meet the definition of the hypocrite that Jesus is talking about. So here's what Jesus is saying. Don't be like those guys. Don't be like the hypocrite.
But there's some strong words in verse number two at the end of it. Look at verse number two.
Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
I know I'm standing in a place partly because it's my job, but it makes me shudder that every word, every deed is measured not by the stick of man, not by the stick of Jeffrey, but measured by the stick of Almighty God.
Not that the deed is measured, but the reason behind it. My heart is measured, and yours is, too.
If you say yes to prayer, you say yes to serve, or you say yes to do. You say yes to give to the needy, you say yes to pray. The reason that you say yes is on the line. God is reading your heart.
But those words, they have their reward. Here's the way that it's translated.
Their payment has been made, paid in full.
They will never, ever, ever, for all eternity, be recognized again for what was done.
As I mentioned earlier, as we are driven in a social media world, it's just as easy for you and I to sound a trumpet.
It's just as easy for you and I to put that mask on and to desire that attention.
The flesh and the spirit is at battle here.
And so what we need to understand in our day is that, yes, it is easy to sound the trumpet. But what is the alternative? What is the alternative to the type of hypocritical giving? What is the alternative to that? Look at verse number three.
But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.
We want to be Matthew 6, 3 type of people.
And what that means is this.
When you do something, you don't even realize why you're doing it, other than the Lord asked you to.
You don't draw attention.
You don't tell anybody.
You just do it.
You meet the need and go.
It's so easy for us to want that attention, to desire the pat on the back or the applause of man. And the warning here in verse number two at the end is this, is that that will be the end of your reward unless you give as one that doesn't know what one hand is doing from the other.
What does that really mean? Spurgeon says it best.
Let God be present and you will have enough of an audience.
I talked to a young girl tonight about baptism.
She's a little nervous.
Most young kids are.
I said, what are you nervous about?
All the people.
I can't criticize that heart because that is a true godly heart.
And what I shared with this young little girl is this. When you step into those waters, here's what you need to remember. It's you and Jesus.
Everyone else is able to pull that stained glass back and just peer into what Jesus is doing into your life.
There are times that we need to remember there's but one audience, one person that's important in the audience, and that's Jesus in all that we do. Not just in a baptism, but if we could have that kind of mindset of that little girl that says, I don't want to impress anybody, stand out in front of anybody. I just want to please my Lord, I assured her as she walked down those steps.
Don't worry about the people.
And here's what I'm telling you tonight. Don't worry about the people.
Don't worry about making a name or drawing attention.
Do what God has asked you to do in the way of giving, in the way that you don't really know what you're doing.
You know you're helping the Lord.
But the other hand, the other hand doesn't want to say a word, doesn't even know our next verse. Verse number four will use a word that will be repeated over and over.
Verse number four. At the beginning of it it says this that thine alms may be in secret.
There's the goal.
And you're going to see how praying needs to be done in secret, and you're going to see how fasting needs to be done in secret. And but here's my charge to you as we think about wrapping the way that you give up, we should be givers in such a way that pleases the Lord and that people don't know exactly what we're doing.
The mental picture of blowing a trumpet and attracting attention to yourself versus secrecy, that's the spectrum there. That's the ends of the spectrum. We want to be on the side of the ones that do it in secret and not for attention.
These images are given to show the heart. The way that you give shows the why that you give.
And I'm going to say that one more time. The way you give shows the why you give.
And we've got to be careful there because we're not immune to that.
1st Samuel 16:7 man looks on the outward appearance.
The Lord looks at the heart.
That is a verse that sticks in my mind and is a reminder over and over and over.
And we need to be people that are not concerned so much of what men and women say, but we need to be 100% concerned about what the Lord will say and what he sees as he looks at our heart.
There's one more point tonight.
Look at verse number four.
That thy alms may be in secret, and thy father, which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
We are reminded and I'm going to jump back to the first two verses.
But deeds done for the approval or the applause of man, we see in verse number two, that will be the reward.
But in verse number one, we're reminded there is no reward from your Father in heaven. Look at the end of verse number one. It says this.
Take heed that you do not alms before men to be seen of them. Otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. So here's the picture so far. If you're here trying to please man with your faith, the pats on the back, the applause of man, that will be the only thing you ever, ever, ever receive.
The Father has no reward.
In verse number four, we're told that those which see and seek, or he that sees in secret, will reward thee openly.
And what we see is God. God sees the secret things and he is a rewarder of the secret things. And we can get into discussion of what those rewards look like.
Maybe you're concerned about that. I'm not really concerned about what that reward will be. Even in heaven, I want to be a humble man. Just let me get there. Let me be near Jesus and that's enough.
So there's some arguments, discussions. You can look them up, what the reward will be when you get to heaven for this.
But here's what I want you to concentrate on. God gives more gracious than any man could ever give.
So whatever that reward is, it will come from our gracious God that loves you and that will honor what you have done.
I challenge you, don't focus on what your reward will look like one day.
Only know that God knows what it is and the reason behind it is what's important.
I don't want us to leave here tonight to do things because we're going to get a reward one day. That's not the right way to. That's not the right reason to do it.
And so when we do things just for partial reasons or partial rewards or what we think we will do, we often do it for the wrong reasons.
I'm not trying to bash anything. Some people get saved just to go to heaven.
Well, that's just a piece of the pie.
That's just one piece of the pie, of the whole pie, of the reasons that we get saved.
And so when talking through that with people, I want to know, yeah, that's just one piece of pie, but there's more to the pie.
So when you get saved, you got to understand there's this whole pie that awaits.
Don't do it. Just to miss hell or to gain heaven.
There's relationship and there's forgiveness and there's a life to live here. There's so much more to the pie. So many more reasons to give your life to Jesus.
Tonight, when we think of helping those in need, point number three is this.
There will be a reward, the why behind what we do.
If it's self glorification or self gratification, you won't get a reward when you get there.
But if the why behind what you do is God honoring and God led, praise God, you have something to look forward to.
Though no one on this earth recognized what you've done, There's a God in heaven that recognizes and that will reward every everything you do in his name.
And so as we wind it down tonight, the desire is not to draw attention to ourselves in a pride filled or pride driven way.
What we must be careful of, it's not our job to show off or to get an ego boost, but a pure, selfless, gentle, quiet, genuine act of helping someone in need is not only noticed by the Creator of the world, it will be rewarded one day.
Here's the weightier matter of the whole lesson.
God has entrusted you and I to help those in such a way that demonstrates his love for them.
That's a whole nother sermon, but that's the weight that we carry.
How can I help these people in need around with the love of Jesus Christ that I'm not even a part of it, that I'm not even recognized, that I'm not even noticed?
Let's fly under the radar of the world until one day we come before his feet.
In closing, as we are challenged tonight that our audience needs to be one and we understand that he is more concerned about your inside than your outside.
There's no need to put on masks.
There's no need to put on a show. There's no need to gain attention of man.
He's looking tonight at each one of our hearts.
Maybe tonight you sit here and say, there are times that I'm driven for the approval or by the approval of others.
God, will you humble me?
Will you bring me where I need to be that people see less of me and more of you?
You know the scripture.
We want to be the ones that decrease, that Jesus increases.
Let's pray, Father. Lord, tonight, thank you just for your word, Lord. And thank you for the clear call to help those who are in need.
Lord, we don't have to travel far outside of these doors.
We don't even have to travel outside of these doors to realize that there are people that you have crossed our paths with that need.
They need things physically.
They need the necessities of life.
They need Jesus.
Lord, help us open the eyes of our church in such a way that we can glorify you by extending that hand of help to our brother and sister.
Lord, I pray, Lord, that you will humble us.
Not that we receive any recognition at all, but God, that you will get the glory from everything that is said and done from this place.
And Lord, the weight of your matter that you entrust us, you entrust your people to go and help and minister with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
So tonight, as we consider all of these things, Lord, as we ponder them, as we pray about them, as we've heard them tonight, Lord, I pray that you will lead each one of our hearts. Lord, you know the desires of our heart. You know the reasons behind everything that we say and do.
God, tonight, personally, I want to submit my heart to you.
God, help us, help us to do that in a very humble way that we desire nothing for ourself, but all the glory will be yours.
In Jesus name, Amen.
[00:36:21] Speaker A: You've been listening to Truth for the Journey from Clifford Baptist Church. You're always welcome to visit Clifford Baptist Church for Sunday School at 9:45 worship at 11:00am and Wednesday evening worship at 7:00pm Join us again next Sunday for Truth for the Journey.
