The Christian's Life in Secret - Giving

We are in an ongoing study of the Sermon on the Mount. We find ourselves right at the beginning of chapter 6, Matthew chapter 6. This is the first sermon from this chapter. If you basically boil down Matthew chapter 6, you are going to find that the vast majority of this chapter, in fact we might say all of it, pertains to prayer and fasting and to giving, money, wealth, possessions, food, clothing, the whole chapter deals with these things. Now the first 18 verses are very unique, and then that which follows is unique. We really break this chapter up into two sections, but remember, our Lord is teaching us about the Kingdom of Heaven. I want you to pick up reading with me in Matthew 5:48. I want to pick up that last verse, because obviously when Jesus was first speaking this, there was no chapter division. He just said this at the end of Matthew chapter 5, You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. Jesus is dead serious. Then chapter 6, beware of practicing your righteousness. In other words, as you are striving after that imitation of your heavenly Father, beware. There is something to watch out for. Don't practice your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 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. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Is Jesus Lord? Very basic question. But see, not just answering with a quick yes is sufficient to Christ. Because you know what he says. You call me Lord and you don't do what I say. In other words, there is a contradiction. If you call me Lord, you should act like you believe I really am. But when you don't submit to him, you don't actually live like you believe he is Lord. That's a good question. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things I say? Now listen, when we get to the end of this sermon on the mount, everyone who hears these words of mine, which these are included that we are going to look at today. Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them is like the wise man who built his house on the rock. And you know there is a storm coming, the rains fall, the flood comes, and the guy that's built his house on the rock, it stands. This is a person who hears and does. What's my point here? I'm going to talk to you about some of the words from this sermon that Jesus is referring to very specifically. And I want you all, each one of you, you know what you don't want to do? You don't want to be a sermon hearer only. Something should change. Something should constantly be changing in your life when you hear these words. In mine as well. We should be challenged by these. A change should take place. So who among us is going to hear and bow to Christ as Lord? That's it. And who's going to say Lord and not do these things? Now, did you catch the transition? The reason I read 48 is this. This jumps out. Be perfect, beware. Don't you like that? Be perfect, beware. Be perfect but be careful. That's where he's going at. Be perfect but be in a state of alert. Be perfect but pay close attention to how you pursue that perfection. Because the reality is this, not everything that appears to be good and right is actually good and right. There are a whole lot of religious things that people do that God doesn't approve of at all. That's why he's saying beware. I don't know if you have this, do you get beware of dog signs here? You don't really have dogs here like we have in the U.S. We've got pit bulls and rottweilers that are on chains and running around in the yard and ready to devour you if you take a track to the door. Here everybody's dogs are like very well mannered. It's very rare you see any dog out of order here. But in the U.S. you get beware of dog signs. You ever get those here? Okay. Yeah, a little pipsqueak of a dog. But anyway, beware. I mean listen, going to church feels right. I mean that's a religious thing that people do. You know a guy asked me that yesterday. He was like, did anybody see the guys that were wearing the kilts? They were a rough bunch. And I was talking to the guy about the truth and he said, do you go to church each week? You see that's kind of the measure, right? A lot of people, Christianity, we're going to measure it by do you go to church? Well the reality is if we really want to know what a man and a woman is before God, it's not really what, let's see whether they go to church or not. Our Lord says not so fast there. If you really want to see what someone is, look at them in the secret place. Look at who people are when no one is watching. You see that's where he goes, that's really what these first 18 verses are all about. If you're really interested in perfection, don't primarily consider life in the church. That's important, undoubtedly. But find out who and what people are in secret. Look at these first 18 verses. Two words characterize this section. It's these two words, in secret. And you see them repeatedly, six times. And what I've entitled this sermon is the Christian's Life in Secret, part one, giving. So I don't know how many parts there's going to be yet, but I just know this is part one. Our Lord is here touching on something that is going to help each one of us to really know ourselves. Do you remember the Apostle Paul? He said examine yourselves, whether you're in the faith. Test your own selves. It is important for us, listen if you really care, it's kind of like physical health. You know if you've got something, like one of the elders in San Antonio that just found out that his wife has a tumor around her heart, Hodgkin's lymphoma. You know, there are people who just ignore things. You know, they have some kind of pain, or they have something wrong, or they're out of breath, or they get a cough, and they ignore it. We don't want to do that spiritually. You know what, that's detrimental physically. It can be very, very, very detrimental spiritually, just to ignore things. Examine yourselves, but you know what, this is exactly what the world doesn't want to do. And I'm talking the lost out there, they don't want to examine themselves. They don't really want to know the true case of their situation, but you know what happens in the church. Often times you get people in the church, you get religious people, they don't want to examine themselves either. Why? Because it's very uncomfortable. It takes you into a realm that can be devastating, it can just be painful. But listen, if I've got some cancer growing in me, I want to know. Don't you want to know? If you've got a spiritual cancer, do you want to know? I mean look, if you think you're saved and you're really headed to hell, don't you want to know that now? While there's time to do something? Listen, Spurgeon, I was thinking, Spurgeon said something about this and I searched it and thank the Lord it came right up. Spurgeon said this, for my own part, my constant prayer is that I may know the worst of my case. Whatever the knowledge may cost me, I know that an accurate estimate of my own heart can never be otherwise than lowering to my self esteem. Don't you like that? Basically what he's saying here is, you know your true state, it's going to humble you because it's always worse than you think it is. Rarely is it better, it's humbling. But God forbid, this is Spurgeon again, but God forbid that I should be spared the humiliation which springs from the truth, amen. He said the sweet red apples of self esteem are deadly poison. Who would wish to be destroyed thereby? Don't you like that? Men are destroyed who don't want to take time to examine themselves. This is Spurgeon. The bitter fruits of self knowledge are always healthful, especially if washed down with the waters of repentance and sweetened with a draught from the wells of salvation. He who loves his own soul will not despise this. That's key. And you know what happens? Scripture brings us face to face with ourselves. It probes us. It's like a mirror that doesn't allow us to escape. You go and look at yourself and you see things and see we're all getting older. Our physical situation is much like the spiritual. You know if you really look at yourself close in the mirror, you say, wow, I'm really ugly and look at those blemishes and this isn't good. But brethren, there's nowhere in Scripture more calculated to get at who we are than this. What are you in secret? I mean, if you really think, when I'm out of the eyes of all the brethren. You know, there's a way we act in front of each other and then you know how it is. We have a diminishing crowd that we're comfortable around until you get right down to, it can be your spouse and you begin to open up and be more who you really are. But there is a way, even when the spouse isn't around, how we are up here and how we are when we're all by ourselves. And I would almost say, I actually put this in my notes to say, when it's just us and the Lord. But you know, I think there's a better way to say it. When it's just us and how we imagine the Lord is. Because you know what happens when we're all alone? We have a concept in our mind of how God is and that concept of how God is governs how we are when we are all alone. See there are people that do all sorts of things but they do them because they have a very small view of God. And when they're all alone, they do things and they think certain things and it does not square with truth, not at all. So the secret place, just you and your own level of awareness of God. What are you in that place? Because I'll tell you this, that's the true you. That's the true me. I mean sometimes we're in the secret places right here. I mean you can be sitting out there and things are going on up here and you're thinking things and no one else but you and God know. But then we can be out in the field. We can be at home alone. You see, six times Jesus uses these two words in these first 18 verses in secret. There's something, over the years I've had people ask me. I'm wrestling, I'm lacking assurance, I don't know if I'm really saved. That's a good question to ask. That's not a bad question because that's examining myself. I'm concerned about myself. I want to know, am I in, am I out? And one of the things that I tell people is derived right from these 18 verses. What are you in secret? That is so telling. How do you think in secret when nobody else is watching? What's happening? What do you do? And I know, all of us, we all let down our guard in secret. That's just obvious that we are going to do certain things different in secret. Because there are certain things that are socially not correct and right to do in front of a crowd that is necessary to do when you're by yourself. I recognize we do change in that sense. You know, you groom yourself and you do different things that you wouldn't do in front of other people. I recognize that. But you know this, that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about righteousness here. We're talking about good and evil. We're talking about how we act in secret. You know what the deal is? A Christian is a believer. You say, well, you know, we recognize that. Yeah, but listen. Everybody believes something. What is it that makes a believer different than everybody else? Everybody believes something. And we don't call everybody a believer. No, you call somebody a believer that believes the truth. That really believes the truth. And see, we can say, well, yeah, of course I believe there's a God. Yeah. But when you're in secret, it shows what you really believe. Because listen, if you're in the secret place, if you're genuinely saved, I'll tell you what happens. God gives us an awareness of Himself that we never had when we were lost. This is exactly where the psalmist goes in Psalm 139, Lord, you've searched me. You've known me. You know when I sit down. You know when I rise up. He says, you know my thoughts are far off. You search out my path, my lying down. You're acquainted with all my ways, even before a word is out of my tongue. And you see what's happening. The psalmist is recognizing. The Lord knows. The Lord knows what I think. He knows it. I can try to be as far off. I can try to be as near. I can run away. He's there. He's before me. He hems me in. He's behind me. He lays His hand upon me. He says, such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It's high. I can't attain to it. Where shall I go from your spirit? How can I flee from your presence? If I go to heaven, you're there. Make my bed in Sheol, you're there. Take wings in the morning and dwell in the outermost parts of the sea. Even there, your hand shall lead me. Your right hand will hold me. You see, when a person gets saved, one of the reasons that their life in secret changes is because they suddenly have an awareness of God. You know what? There are certain things that I won't do in front of you because it's not appropriate. But you know full well it's appropriate for me to do at home by myself. Because I see you here, I see you watching, I'm aware of your presence. The thing that happens when we get saved is we become just or even more. And especially in the secret place, we become aware of the presence of God. Brethren, I know this. I mean that experience is my experience. I get saved, I know when I'm in my office all by myself or I'm up here in my head all by myself. I mean we were just with a godly couple up there in Inverness. And he told me that he sometimes feels ashamed at thoughts that come into his head. Where would that come from? A thought comes into your head and suddenly you feel ashamed. Why? Because you know God knows my thoughts from afar off. I'm an open book before him. There's an awareness. He's there, he knows my thoughts, he knows my intents, he knows my motives. I mean that has weight with us. That awareness. A man says, you know, well, I believe in God. Okay, you say you believe in God, show me what you do in secret and that will really tell me whether you believe in God. It's just one thing to know some facts about him or believe some facts. It's a whole other thing to actually recognize the God who knows all, the God who sees all, the God before whom I am an open book. I am naked before him. He sees everything. He knows my motive. You know what? That is corrective. When a man is really gripped by that, when a woman is gripped by that, ever present. You'd show me what a man or a woman does in secret and I'll tell you what they are. And you see, that's the thing, you're wondering, am I real or not? Well just ask yourself that. I mean look, if you just wait to get away from God's people so that you can set your mind on worldly things. You can go think about your toys and your money and your projects and your hobbies and your TV shows and sports and you just, you know, get out of here as soon as you can so that your mind can just relish and bask in all those things, I mean that tells you who you are. But brethren, when you're in the secret place and you're thinking about the Lord, you're thinking about Christ, you're thinking about living right before Him, you think about wanting His presence, wanting more of an awareness, wanting Him to speak to you from Scripture, wanting to feel His nearness, wanting to know that fragrance of Christ, wanting to pray and actually feel His presence, wanting meetings like this and to know He's there. I mean, so, the whole question is this, the Christian lives his life in this world in the presence of God and we have to ask ourselves, are we controlled by that? Now, think with me, the first thing that Jesus wants to deal with in the secret place of all things is giving. Think about that, out of all Jesus could say about everything that we have responsibilities with in the Christian life, all the things, in the secret place, He hits on this. The very first aspect is our lives He aims at, when you give to the needy. Now your Bible might say alms, charitable deeds, giving to the poor, merciful deeds, it's all the same. Both verses 2 and 3, when you give to the poor, did you catch that word when? Our Lord doesn't say if you give to the poor, He doesn't say you might give to the poor, He doesn't say perhaps you'll give to the poor, when? Jesus takes it for granted that God's people are giving consideration to the poor. You see, this comes right from where He was leaving off in the last chapter. How do we deal with even our enemies? How do we deal with people? He allows, we are sons and daughters of a God who allows His rain to fall. Did you see the rain fall this morning? Yesterday and today, it just came down in buckets, like a good Texas rain, it just kind of sprinkles here. It was, I was thinking, just and the unjust. Remember this, Jesus at the end of this book says to those on His right, I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. On the left, I was hungry, you did not give. Here's a question, in secret, do you think about giving? Do you think about other people's needs? You see, this says something about what God has done. The spirit, the fruit of the spirit is love. That's where it starts. Are you strategizing about ways to love, especially the brethren, as much as possible, we need to do good to all men, but especially to those of the household of faith. Brethren, can I tell you this, when we get to the end, Jesus separates people on this basis. Remember this, blessed are the merciful. They shall receive mercy. In the secret place, what's happening? Is there anything about you in the secret place that spells this out? That demonstrates that God's taken hold of that old, stingy, selfish heart that we all had and given a new heart that overflows with compassion. Jesus said, follow me. He went about doing good. Listen, one of the things that true Christianity does is it unlooses the heart strings of compassion and we're not tight wads, keeping all our money, where's my money? Hands off. It frees us up. Listen, listen to this. Again I want to emphasize, of all the things that Jesus could talk about in the secret place, first and foremost, recognize this, when you go home today and you're in that secret place, or even right there in the recesses of your mind, the God who you call Father, He is a God that sends His Son to shine and His rain to fall on the just and the unjust. And He is a God who sent His Son that in the secret place, He wants us first and foremost to take us to giving, to needy. Listen, this is a huge thing. Remember this, maybe you've come across this, behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom. This comes from Ezekiel 16, and look, whether you want to debate about whether he's talking about Sodom or he's using the term figuratively, which I think he is, that's not the issue. The issue is this. When you think about the sin of Sodom, what do you think about? Homosexuality. Obviously. She and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. That's Ezekiel 16:49. Brethren, listen to this. Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered. Proverbs 28:27, whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse. Now, I'm asking you all, we have a number of people in here that claim to be Christians. I'm just asking you, in the secret place, remember Spurgeon, we want to know the worst of our case. We want to come face to face with this. Are we thinking about ways to give to the needy? Does that take up our secret place? Brethren, you're going to hear me come back to this, and I've already mentioned this before, but listen. Is not this the fast that I choose? You remember how it was in Isaiah, and the Jews, and they were saying, well, Lord, we fasted, and we're recognizing you're not really receiving our fasting. And God says through the prophet, is this the fast that I choose, or is not this the fast that I choose? In other words, I don't want you going without food, and then living the way you live. I'll tell you the kind of fast that I want from you. Here it is, and he wants it from us too. Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house? When you see the naked, cover him. Don't hide yourself from your own flesh. Now listen to this. Listen to the promises, because you know full well, in these verses, the reward of the Father is on the table here. He says, then shall your light break forth like the dawn. Does anybody want that? We're supposed to be light in the world. Anybody want your light to break forth like the sun coming up over the horizon? I do. I want that. Okay, share your bread with the hungry. These are conditional promises here. And your healing shall spring up speedily. Any of us need healing? I'll tell you, we need physical healing, and we need spiritual healing in this church. Your righteousness shall go before you. That means you're going to have a reputation. I want that from this church. Real righteousness. The kind of righteousness that Jesus talks about. Those on his right hand. I was hungry. You fed me. I was thirsty. You gave me something. I was naked. I mean, brethren, that's what we want. I was in prison. You visited me. That's the reputation we want. What about doing good, just like Jesus did? That's a reputation he had. That's a reputation I want us to have. That reputation of righteousness will go before us. How about this? The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. You know what a rear guard is? Remember how Amalek would come up behind Israel and attack the people that were stragglers? A rear guard was when you basically had troops at the back to watch out for that very thing. God's got your back covered. That's what that means. Anybody want that? Then you shall call. Then you shall call and the Lord will answer and he'll say, Here I am. I think in our prayer meetings about that all the time. I want that. I want when we pray for God to say, Here I am. And how are we going to know that? Because he can't give answers to what we ask for. One of the old Puritans said, I don't remember which one it was. He said, When a merciful man prays, it's like heaven stops and God says, Hark, a merciful man prays. And all the ears are bent that way. That's the promise here. Brethren, I want this. But it's not even done. It says, If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and we're in a dark day. Your gloom will be as the noon day. In other words, the darkest it will get for us will be like the noon day. The Lord will guide you continually, satisfy your desire in scorched places, make your bones strong. You shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt. You shall raise up the foundations of many rivers. Anybody want to rebuild the kingdom of Christ in the city of Manchester? I do. I want these things. I very much do. Again, I remind you, out of all that the Lord Jesus might have brought to our attention, first concerning what we do in secret. Here's where he's at. He's dealing with these very things. Do you not find it significant that giving to the poor and needy is in this place? Before every other aspect of the Christian life? Remember this, therefore you must be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. You see, this is what he wants us striving after. Christian, you have a heavenly Father. Every good gift, you know this, every good gift, every perfect gift, comes down from the Father of lights. He is a giver. The scripture talks this way, the Lord waits to be gracious to you. Remember, being sons of your Father, He makes His Son rise on the evil. You've got Acts 14, He did good by giving you rain from heaven, fruitful seasons, satisfying. He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. In Him we live and move and have our being. And there's this, for God so loved the world that He gave. He gave His only Son. We have a God who's a giver and He saves us to be instruments of His giving. Because brethren, everything we have is His. The earth and the fullness thereof, it's all His. We're only stewards. You see what He wants us to do? Don't say that's my money, don't say that's my account, don't say that's mine. That's His. And what He's done is saved you and He's making it very clear. What He wants you to do is go into the secret place and strategize about how you're going to take the resources that He's given to you and you're going to further the kingdom of Christ, especially giving attention to the poor and the needy. Job said this. His friends, you remember, were saying, well, you know, certainly Job, all this affliction has come upon you because you've not concerned yourself with the poor and needy and the widow and the orphan. And he says, I was a father to the needy. And he says this, I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know. I love that. I searched out the cause. In other words, when I was in the secret place, I was actually thinking and strategizing and searching. I went looking for it. I didn't just wait until it came to me. Or worse, I avoided those emails or I avoided those parts of town or I avoided those churches or I avoided those brethren or I avoided that missionary or I avoided that orphanage because I just didn't want to know. I mean, he went looking for it. But here's the qualifier. Not all giving is pleasing to the Lord. Then motive is the big thing. And he says this. He says, when you give, don't sound the trumpet. Don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Let your giving be done in secret before your Father who is in secret. But see, this causes a question to arise in my mind. If I strive to give in secret, which is what we're dealing with right now, and then pray in secret, which is next, and then fast in secret, which is after that, all this secretizing, isn't that kind of contrary to what we read back in verse 16 of the previous chapter where he actually said, let your light so shine? Doesn't he say that? Doesn't he want everybody to see our good works and good glory to our Father who is in heaven? Contradiction? Well, you know what? I like what John Stott says. I think he hits this right on the head. Listen to him. It is our human cowardice which made him say, let your light shine before men. And our human vanity which made him tell us to beware of practicing our piety before men. I think that's great. There's no contradiction. Jesus is addressing two different issues. On the one hand, he's calling us to show forth the fact that we believe him and we follow him and we're identifying as Christians and we're not denying him. On the one hand, when the temptation is to hide, when the temptation is to be quiet, when the temptation is not to stand for the truth or stand for Christ. But on the other hand, Jesus calls us to go into hiding when the temptation is to show off. So, I mean, it's pretty basic. Hypocrites. Let's think about those. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do, in the synagogues, in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they've received their reward. So here it is. Be perfect, but be aware. You don't want to be like these hypocrites. What's a hypocrite? An actor. Basically, a hypocrite is somebody that puts on a disguise. Now look, when it's done in a play, it's done on a stage, it's done on TV or in the movies, it's acceptable because we recognize, we all know they're actors and we can kind of evaluate how well they're acting. You say, oh, he's a bad actor, he's a good actor, whatever. But you know, it's not entertaining when it's in the church. Because you know what? When it happens in the church, it's not that everybody knows the person is acting. The person is acting in a way to deceive. How are they hypocritical? I mean, how is a person hypocritical when it comes to giving? Because basically, they want you to think that they're very godly and they care for people when really, what? They're self-absorbed and all they want is you to applaud them. They want to be thought highly of by you. It's not that they really care, it's that they've got their reputation to... It's a disguise. They're impersonating somebody who cares, but they're not really that person. They really care about themselves. That's the issue here. Self-absorbed, self-consumed, obsessed with self-congratulation. It's a deception. But you can see what's behind it all. Not all giving is pleasing to Him. The motive has to be right. He's all about motives. That's why the secret place is so telling. Because what happens in the secret place really reveals what your motives are. What you do here, we may have actors here. You don't know, but in the secret place, that's where it's... But then there's this. When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Now look. We recognize the obvious. We're not to announce to others what we're doing for the sake of applause. Like Spurgeon says, to stand with a penny in one hand, a trumpet in the other, is the posture of a hypocrisy. But you know what's not always plainly obvious? It's the fact that don't let this hand know what this hand is doing. Now those are both my hands. It doesn't say don't let your hand know what my hand's doing. It says don't let this hand know what this hand's doing. It's almost like, don't even let yourself know what you're doing. You say, how am I going to do that? Well, listen. There's a way to live for your own congratulation. And there's a way to live and keep an account of what you're doing. Listen, I think that one of the best ways to deal with this is forget. Be led by the Spirit and do what the Spirit's leading you to do and forget it. Don't keep tabs, don't keep accounts, don't keep records. Give and forget it. Don't give for the praise of others and don't give so that you can keep rehearsing over and over and over. You know, don't you like it? Those people on the left hand, Lord, when did we do that? Now, they might be thinking, well, we know we did it to that guy. When did we do it to you? But I think, brethren, I think a lot of times that it's probably... You know what? In the secret place, the picture you get is the people that did feed and they visited and typically once they give, they're thinking about the next thing. Well, how can we do the next thing? They're not, you know, constantly like that sweet morsel, that chocolate chip that I raid Ruby's cupboard and I grab those out and you just swirl that chocolate chip around in your mouth over and over. It's not like that. It's like you just gobble. It's more like a child. You gobble it down and now you're just ready for the next one. And that's how it is. It's like, well, you gave to that thing, okay, we're done with that thing, now we go on to the next thing and we just keep going and don't keep accounts. When you've done all that you were commanded, say we're unworthy servants. We've only done what was our duty. And you can just think about Jesus Christ. He was rich and He became poor that I might be made rich. We took care of that need over there, but oh, there are so many other needs in the world. And you just get absorbed with them and then you're not just... Brethren, I want to be practical about this. Just some practical thoughts. Where are we at? We've got 15 minutes, right? 12 minutes? Nobody's going to fall asleep on me. Listen, practical thoughts. Be careful about being woodenly literal on this. Because look, obviously, that's somewhat hyperbolic. You can't... I mean, look, if you write a check, you don't do checks here, but in the U.S. we do lots of checks. And if you write your check, you know you wrote it. You know if you made a direct deposit to Grace Fellowship Manchester. You know what you did. You can't... Obviously, Jesus is giving an illustration here. But be careful about being overly literal. What do I mean? There are often more considerations to be taken into place. I recognize this. You remember this in Acts 4? Barnabas. Do you remember what Barnabas did? What did Barnabas do? He sold his land. Others were doing it, but it specifically... We're told that they were selling their lands. Here's the thing. Think about Barnabas specifically. Barnabas sold his land and he brought the proceeds from it. And what did he do with it? He laid it at the feet of the apostles so that they could distribute it to the people in need. Did the people know he did it? Yeah, they did. In fact, it was recorded in the pages of Scripture. Now, you know what? He was called the Son of Encouragement. Might he have done that to be a good example to other people? Could he have done it privately? Could he have gone and sold it and taken the proceeds and kind of slipped it in the back door somewhere? Or handed it to a child and said, take that over and don't tell them who it's from? Yeah, he could have. He could have done it that way. But he didn't do it that way. I'll tell you this, when David said, I've taken of my own silver and my own gold for the sake of the temple, now what are you guys going to do? You know, there is a time to be an example to people. And Barnabas certainly knew this teaching of the Lord Jesus. And yet, he did not think that he needed to do it absolutely privately. There are a number of things to take into account when we're doing this. You know, another thing you want to think about is 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and 9. I think Macedonians, the way they gave, they certainly did that publicly enough that they were able to be an example to the Corinthians. And Paul used them as an example. But you know one of the things Paul said? Is that when people know that you are the one who gave, they thank God for you and they pray for you. There have been times when I've said to Ruby, do you think we ought to give secretly to that? Or do you think we ought to let them know? Typically, my wife is going to say, I think you should let them know. Because she believes that it will encourage them. So you want to think about those things. Listen, the issue here is motive. You really want to consider your motives. God is examining. You have to think, your Father who sees in secret. And He knows the motives of our heart. He's aware of it all. He's recording it all. That's the issue. And brethren, when you're in the secret place, I just want to encourage you. Think about your giving. I'm going to be transparent with you here. I don't like the giving here. I don't like the way it happens. Here's why. You guys have this gift aid thing, which makes it very convenient for people. And you don't use checks. Why'd that go away? But here's the thing. You guys have this gift aid thing, at least in this church. I don't know how Billy's... Oh, by the way, we have brother Billy here. And his wife Roberta. Everybody want to say hello? Sorry, I meant to introduce you both when we started. I don't know how they do the giving in Billy's church. But listen, this gift aid thing. It's like there's these automatic deposits made, and you all determine this. What I don't like about it is this. It doesn't require you on a regular basis, whether that be weekly, or bi-weekly, or monthly, or whenever you're paid, you're not consistently thinking about your giving. You're not consistently... Brethren, when you've got a person that gets paid every two weeks, or bi-monthly, twice a month. In the U.S., I was paid that way. Twice a month. And so, basically on the 1st and on the 15th. And so, every time I was pulling out the checkbook, and it's not just mechanical. It's not automatic. I'm actually thinking. What are the present needs right now? Where are things at? What's happening? What are we doing as a church? What kind of needs are the different missionaries talking about? Who are the poor people in the church that our deacons are working with right now? So I'm constantly thinking. Brethren, if one of the things that Jesus wants us to do in the secret place is to be involved in this kind of thing, if you've got a system that's been implemented on you by your government, or by this gift aid thing, where you just basically say, well, you know, I'm going to automatically set this up, and I'm going to have this much deducted from me, and so you just basically forget about it. It just happens all the time, and you don't really have to think about it. I don't like that. Because I don't think it fits with this. And you say, well, but listen, it's all got to do with motive. If you look at it and you say, I really like the fact that my money can go further, and I can get this gift aid, and I don't care that para knows, or the deacons know, or the treasurers know, or the trustees know, and I actually don't know exactly how all of that works here, and who all knows. But the reality is this. Do you ever think about it? Do you ever think about who knows? If you do, if you think about the fact that para knows how much I give, and that even enters into the equation of anything you do, I would say, you know what? Forget the gift aid. Give in the box, and give in a different way. All I'm saying is this. We all have to sort through this. If you think, well, as a good steward, I want my taxes to go back to the church. I don't want the government to get that. I understand that. I understand that. If that's the motivating factor here, and that's what drives you. But I really would encourage the folks here to give in a way. Be thinking. Be liberal. You know, it can be so easy. Well, I set up my giving, my automatic deduction every single month. Yeah, but then it doesn't ever press you to give above and beyond that. And brethren, one of the things we're going to look at before we get out of this chapter is storing up treasure in heaven. And one of the things I'm really going to press this church to do is give and give and give and give. Not because I'm looking for any raise, but because I know this. There is such a thing as treasure in heaven. And you are not going to regret. None of you is going to be on your deathbed and say, Ha, I gave too much. None of you are going to do that. You're going to get to the end of your life, and you're going to say, Why didn't I do more? Why didn't I give more? Why was I more like Job? Why didn't I look? True and undefiled religion before God is what? Tell me. It's to visit the widow and the orphan in their affliction. We need to find the widow, especially Christians, set up orphanages, schools, taking care of people that are needy, especially taking care of our own that come into financial places. But see, if it's all automated and so mechanical, where, well, it's just automatic withdraw. You know, I set this thing up with Para, and now I don't even have to think about it for a year. That is not, that's not in the spirit of this. I mean, even if you want to get the gift aid, do it in a way that you're thinking. I would just highly encourage you not to automate the thing. Do it where you've got an account, where whenever you can just put the funds straight into the church account, you get the church account information, and you have to just manually do it, where you have to think, what am I doing? What am I giving? How is this? Brethren, I want to encourage you. Think about your giving. Think about how you give. To whom you give. Listen, brethren. The Scripture says to the merciful, God's going to show himself merciful. The Scripture says that if you're not helping the poor and the needy, you're going to cry, and there won't be help. Jesus says to those on his left, you did not give to me. Brethren, one of the things that should be true is, we should be known. You want to talk about a reputation of righteousness that precedes us? One of the reputations that we should have as a church, if we're really being biblical, is we should be one of the most giving churches. Now, I recognize, because we're not pulling around the trumpet in one hand, people may not know this, but you know what? The people that are in need will know it. One of the things I liked about the fact that people gave lots of cash and gave lots of checks back in the U.S. is because there was an offering box, and it actually got used. I mean, the thing was overflowing. The checks would be sticking out of it in different ways. But you know what? If you glanced over there, you saw people throughout the day, on Sunday, just going to the box. And what I recognize is happening is on a regular basis. People are thinking. They're thinking before themselves and the Lord. They are thinking about what to give and how to give. Brethren, one of the things that I want to have happen here is I want our faith to increase more and more and more. Which means I want you to give more and more and more. Why? Because I know this. You can think that this is carnal, this whole idea of rewards. But I'm telling you this. Jesus said, you want money bags. We'll look at that as we go through chapter 6. You want treasure in heaven. And you know what? This is not mercenary. If you saw a woman and she basically married a man to get his money, you call it a gold digger or whatever you call it here. You see a guy that goes and fights for a country, but it's not his country, and he's really not fighting because he really cares about the country. He just wants some money. What do you call it? It's a mercenary. But I'll tell you, the rewards that God offers, this is not mercenary. Because if a woman marries a man, not for his money, but marries a man for his love, marries the man for the intimacy and for the closeness and for the protection and for the provision, nobody calls her a gold digger. And that's the kind of reward we're talking about. Listen, if you want God as your rear guard, you want God's presence, you want God's help, you want God's answers to prayer, you want God's closeness, if God is telling us that, hey, people that lavishly give, people that are sacrificial givers, I respond to them, I come close to them, I answer their prayers, I'm a rear guard, I do things for their righteousness, there's all these promises. Listen, Scripture encourages you to want that. It doesn't tell you you're a mercenary if you want that. Some people shy back from rewards. Rather, I want you to enter glory with the most reward possible. And don't just think about the way the health, wealth, prosperity, and they've got their mansion. Think about closeness to Christ. Think about the kinds of things that a spiritual person would want most of all. Those are the things that you will have. Listen, the Bible does not teach that everybody basically has the same thing at the end. You look at 1 Corinthians 3, what do you get? You get some people build with wood, hay, and stubble. I know this has to do with ministry, but the principle is there. Some people build with those building materials, some it's wood, hay, and stubble. And what happens? Every man, every woman, they're going to be rewarded according to their work. That is very much a biblical concept. And Jesus said something that ought to cause all of us to shed a tear. He said the children of this world are wiser than the children of light when it comes to this. In other words, they know how to get what they want. They know how to save up for what they want. They know how to finagle and work the system to get what they want. And the children of light are not as wise as them. Isn't that a sad reality? We have what our Father has given us, and we tend to not use it to maximize what has been given to us in the way it could be maximized. Brethren, I'm not trying to be legalistic here, but I want you to think about your giving. And I want you to think about your scheming and planning in the secret place. You should be intentional. You should be thinking. When do I need to not let my left hand know what my right hand is doing? When do I need to be absolutely secretive? You need to be purposeful. You need to be thinking. When do I need to do this so that somebody recognizes that I'm really thinking about them, and there's love established, and I shouldn't be secretive? Or where to be an example? Or where to be like Barnabas? Where to be like David? We need to be sorting through all of this. Should I really be giving in a way to get the gift aid? Or am I being too public in doing that? I just want to encourage people. There is an offering box back there. We don't pass a plate. I never wanted to pass a plate in the U.S. because I never wanted people to feel, especially people visiting off the east side, I never wanted them to feel like coming to our church we wanted their money. I wanted to give to them. But the people who wanted to give, they found the box. I like that way because just because of what I said, it gets people thinking on a regular basis. You all do direct deposits over here, but don't automate it. Think, think, think on a regular basis. Be thinking. What am I giving to? Why am I giving to? Am I being like Job? Am I really being the best steward possible? Don't be thinking... Listen, in the secret place, you shouldn't just be thinking about the new tool, the new toy, the new TV, the new thing, the better food, the organic food, that kind of clothing. I mean, look, there's a place to provide for your household. There's no question about that. But one of the things that Jesus is clearly saying is that when you're in the secret place, one of the primary things you ought to be giving yourself to is the poor and the needy and how to care for them and where they are. Brethren, we live in an affluent place that you know full well. When you just open your eyes and you look across to Lebanon, I haven't told you much about Nepal, but the needs in these places are appalling. The needs in Asia. The needs in India. We don't even talk about those things a lot of times. But we need to be thinking. Brethren, here's another thing. Barnabas' example, you can give to the poor and needy through the church. There's no problem bringing money. Because hopefully the church, we collectively are going to be giving to those kinds of needs. But you can also do it privately. I mean, sometimes we're going to vote on making regular offerings. But don't be afraid. See, this is another thing. I like when somebody can just write a check and say, you know, Hamilton's. A thousand pounds. And throw it in the box. And Pera can look at that and say, yeah, next time we send our money to them, we're going to send an extra thousand pounds. Brethren, you should be thinking like that. I don't know if that happens. I don't talk to Pera about this. I really don't know what's happening. But I just get the sense that a lot of it is automated. And I want to discourage that. Just because I want you to really... Brethren, I want you to live this out. I want you to live out what Jesus is talking about right here. God help us. God help us to please Him. To please our Father who sees in secret. Brethren, I want His reward. He doesn't tell exactly what it is, but I know this. Whatever reward God has for us, oh, it's good. You want it. I guarantee you, you want it. If we just play the part of the hypocrite, we don't get it. There are ways to give where God doesn't give us that. Brethren, as much as anything, I think you can probably all attest to this, I want the closeness of the Lord. I want Him to draw near. And if I find any promises that seem to be attached to His drawing near and coming close to us, and there clearly are. There clearly are promises that relate this to our giving. Very pleasing to Him. Father, I pray that You'd give all the brethren here ears to hear. Help us, Lord, to live in such a way as to be most pleasing to You in this area. Father, I pray that these people would be ever so real in the secret place. You know our Father in Heaven who sees in secret. Lord, we want that reward openly. Lord, we want Your kinds of rewards. Not the worldly kinds. We want those treasures that You bestow upon Your people. Lord, thank You for the unspeakable gift that You've given on our behalf. We thank You in Christ's name. Amen. You are dismissed.