Let's pray and then we'll continue our study.  Oh Lord, we gather together Lord as your family.  We're your kids and we pause to realize who it is we are talking to, our Father in heaven.  Lord, your name is great, it is to be praised, it is to be honored.  We can't wait for your kingdom to be established.  And in the meantime, we want your bidding, your will to be done where we are just like it is going on in heaven at any given moment.  You know what we need Lord.  And we pray that you would provide what we need on a daily basis.  We thank you for the sweet balm of forgiveness and we thank you that you do forgive us our deaths.  Lord, I pray that we would be generous and be the kind of people who emulate your character and forgive others as well.  Lord, we pray that whatever cares or concerns, whatever problems, whatever -- even exciting things that have been going on in our lives, we just want to put them aside now and tune in our frequency, our receiver tuned in to the voice of your spirit speaking through just the simplicity of simply teaching the Bible simply.  And as we open up our hearts to the voice of the spirit, we pray that you would use this to change the way we think.  Renew our minds as Paul said, in Jesus' name, amen.

We've already seen in this monumental message, the sermon that Jesus preaches in Mathew 5, in Mathew 6, in Mathew 7.  That the kingdom of God operates at an entirely different value system than the kingdoms of this world.  They are diametrically opposed.  Since when does the world think blessed are the poor in spirit or blessed are the mourn -- those who mourn, or blessed are the meek, or blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.  The world doesn't think that way.  The world operates on an entirely different wavelength and set of values.  And if I can get this out, I'll show you what J.B. Phillips wrote.  By the way, J.B. Phillips gave us a great addition to the Christian Community in a New Testament freestyle translation that's very colorful.  He also wrote this little quip, the beatitudes if the world were to write them.  "Blessed are the pushers for they get on in the world.  Happy are the hardboiled for they never let life hurt them.  Happy are those who complain for they always get their own way in the end.  Happy are the blasé for they never worry over their sins.  Happy are the slave drivers for they always get results.  Happy are the knowledgeable men of the world for they know their way around.  Happy are the troublemakers for they make people take notice of them."  There's not a paragraph in this mountain of a sermon that we're studying that doesn't demonstrate the stark difference in the value system of the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world.

Now, we started noticing last week that Jesus gives a principle and then he illustrates it with six authoritative statements.  The principle is in Chapter 5 Verse 20, when He said, "Unless your righteousness surpass that of the Scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."  Then after that, he gives six authoritative statements.  Statements that the law wrote something about or that Moses spoke something of in the law.  Something they were familiar with, truce they heard passed down from generation to generation.  But then, Jesus gives the original idea, the truth, the intended rendering of that meaning of that statement.

After Verse 20, he speaks about murder.  In Verse 21, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder," but he says, "Actually it begins in the heart.  It's not just a matter of what you do.  It's a matter of what you think, what you plan, how you feel, what motivates you, what is beneath the veneer of your outward activity."  Then, he covers adultery, he says, "You have heard that it was said.  In Verse 27, you shall not commit adultery, but let me also tell you that if you look at a woman too lust after her in your heart, adultery, the seed of that has already formed in the soil of your own heart and that's where it all begins, it begins in the thought processes, in the heart."  Then he speaks about divorce.  And tonight, we begin in Verse 33, where it concerns promises made until we pick it up in Verse 33.  Again, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord."  Human nature since the fall has always had a problem.  We are in our very core dishonest.  It's who we are.  We are fallen.  We might call it a white lie, or we might call it a discrepancy, we have all sorts of fancy ways to dance around what it really is.  But because of the tendency of human nature to be dishonest, we have seen the necessity to authenticate a promise by some oath or some contract.  When you buy a house or a car, you can just walk in to a car dealership and say, "I want that car.  I promise to pay you.  Can I take it now?"  Shake his hand and -- they won't throw you the keys.  They're banking on this whole core dishonesty that we all have that necessitate something to buttress that to reinforce any promise that we make.  In those days, contracts were drawn up and oaths were given.

Now, there are a couple of commandments regarding oaths.  And both of them are put together, one out of the Book of Leviticus and one out of the Book of Numbers.  It's interesting that God never told people in the Old Covenant to make an oath.  He just said, "If you do make an oath, make sure that you make good on your oath.  If you make a promise and you don't have to, but once you make a promise to somebody, you better keep it.  And if you make a promise to God, you better keep it."  Verse 34 amplifies it, but I say to you, do not swear at all.  Neither by heaven for it is God's throne, nor by earth for it is His footstool, nor by Jerusalem for it is the city of the Great King, nor shall you swear by your head because you cannot make one hair white or black.  But let your yes be yes and your no, no for whatever is more than this is from the evil one.  Two thousand years ago, in Judea, it was common to hear oaths, promises that sounded like this, "By thy life, I swear such and such," or "By my head, I promise this and the other thing."  Now, it sounds odd to us to accept.  Do you remember when you were a kid and you would promise something and the other kid would say, "Cross your heart?  I cross my heart.  Hope to die?  Cross my heart, hope to die."  And it went on and on and on, right? That's sort of the idea.  There were two types of oaths that were made back then.  One was an oath that was a compulsory, obligatory oath, one that was nonobligatory.  One that you are staking your integrity on, but it's not as obligatory as if you were to include the name of God.  If you include the name of God in a promise that you make, it is an absolute binding oath that was thought because you are now making God a partner with you.

So as long as you say, "By thy life" or "By my head", that's okay.  You're swearing by something that doesn't include God therefore, you're not making God a partner.  It's a less binding oath.

And so they had this crazy way of looking at contracts or promises this way.  Jesus point is simple.  You can't keep God out of any promise or transaction.  He is in everything.  If you swear by heaven, well that's where He lives, that's where He hangs out.  That's His throne.  If you swear by the earth, He props his feet up on that, kicks back at His footstool.  He made it, He owns it.  You swear by Jerusalem, that's the city of the Great King.  You swear by your head or by your hair or by yourself, God created that, you're God's creation.  You cannot keep God out of any promise.  So, Jesus raises the standard of verbal integrity.  When you say yes, mean it.  When you say no, mean it.  Make a promise, stick to it.  Many years ago, I told my wife that I would be her husband for richer, for poorer, in sickness, in health until death do us part.  I plan to keep that oath.  She plans to keep that oath.  Not that we plan to kill each other to make that oath a possibility.  I've heard people say something like, "I fulfilled my oath."  So, Jesus is raising the standard of verbal integrity saying that your yes be yes and your no be no.  There's an old act saying that says, "A closed mouth gathers no feet."  And think about that, if you don't get it yet, just kind of move around.  Ever say something and then say, "I've got my foot in my mouth."  So, be very careful, be very sparing with your words.  Don't use and say something that you don't mean.  And if you say it, then mean it and follow it through.

Verse 38 is regarding revenge now.  You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."  That's out of Leviticus 21 or Leviticus 24 and Exodus 21, but I tell you not to resist an evil person, but whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him also.  See what I mean by something being diametrically opposed to the values of the world?  Does the world ever expect that to happen?  Not at all, they would see that as weakness.  They would see that as you're just being a dormant.  If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let them have your cloak also, radical.  Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with them two, give to him who ask you and from him who wants to borrow from you, do not turn away; "Eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," right out of the Old Testament Law.  Now, it's that law that has caused some people to say, "Uh-huh! There is an example of the savagery, the heartlessness, the bloodthirsty reality of the God of the Old Covenant."  "Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth," a harsh judgmental vengeful God right there in the Bible.  "Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth," and they totally misunderstand the meaning of that passage in the Law of Moses.  The reason God gave the law, "Eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth" was to limit vengeance.  It was called the "Lex Talionis", which means the Law of Exact Retribution.  To limit ones expression of revenge because human nature is not to get even.  Human nature is to go overboard.  "Oh, you poked out my eye dude?  You're going to be blind, both of your eyes are gone," that's human nature.  "Oh, you knocked out one of my teeth, you'd wear uppers your whole life.  You're going to wear dentures, man."  So that is human nature, not to have exact retribution of what is fitting the crime, but to exceed the crime.  "Eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth", Jesus says, "But I tell you, do not resist an evil person."  Now, before we get into that, I'll give you an example of how revenge in the Old Covenant and human nature and the necessity for having a law to limit it.

Back in Genesis Chapter 4, there was a guy by the name of Lamech.  And Lamech made a statement one day after killing somebody, he killed somebody.

He said, "Lamech, I have killed a young man for wounding me.  I have killed a man for hurting me."  If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech shall be avenged 77 fold.  Then I'm going to the nth degree.  So, whatever infraction that was against Lamech, it was short of death obviously because he was alive stating that he had taken vengeance.  So, somebody had obviously done something that bothered him and he killed the person.  So, the Lex Talionis was put in force to limit vengeance and it was done for public crimes.  Now, what had occurred by the time of Jesus is they were taking something that was done for governing bodies to enforce "Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth."  That's really in the law courts.  That's for public retribution overseen by a judge and typically a jury.  And once it had been determined that this person had committed the crime, then the Lex Talionis would be put in to place, it would be enforced, "Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth."  On a personal level, it's different however.  On a personal level, there is no Lex Talionis.  If you hurt me, I'm to forgive you.  I'm not to say, "Hey, you know what, you took out my eye.  I'm taking out your eye."  On a personal level, do to not resist an evil person.  On a personal level, God said, "Vengeance is mine.  I will repay," says the Lord.  Hey that's a thought, succumb Lord.  And I like that.  I think God does a much better job than I do.  So, I don't mind turning people that do me wrong over to God and I just want to see what happens.  Not that anything will happen, but I know that God has his ways of disciplining his kids, self included.  Amen.

So Jesus, I know what you've heard and that was enforced, that was put in place but I tell you, do not resist an evil person.  But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.  If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.  And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.  Give to him who asks from you and from him who wants to borrow from you.  Do not turn away.  Now, we have a question that has come to us online.  You know, we have not only text messages that you're able to ask, but we have people watching online and they will ask if they see or if they're listening online, so this one online says, "What about swearing on the Bible in the court?"  I have no problem with it.  I have no problem.  I mean if I'm in court, I'll put my hand on the Bible and I'll swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.  I won't say, "No.  I won't do that."  I do it because my yes is yes, whether I swear on a Bible or not.  If your yes is yes, you can swear on a Bible, you can swear on a comic book.  And I'm not equating the two.  Please don't misunderstand, no emails after that comment, okay?  "I can't believe you've said that."  Just let your yes be yes and your no be no.  And when we say, "Swear to tell the truth," do you promise to tell the truth?  It's not the same thing that Jesus is referring to when he's saying, "You're taking an Old Testament oath that you would foreswear by the Lord."  His point is simple.  You can't keep God out of any transaction.  And in American Court of Law, at least the way it was founded is, the reminder that we're bringing God into the court room.  And we're going to tell the truth.  And we're going to do it based upon what we believe is to be the authority of all truth and that is God's Holy Scripture.

Now, when Jesus said, but I tell you in Verse 39, "Do not resist an evil person."  You have to know something.  This has caused a lot of uproar.  There are people who are totally pacifistic and they will say, "It's based upon this verse."  We're not to resist people who do evil.  A very famous book called -- or by Leo Tolstoy, about war that he wrote, part of the premise of his book was this verse.  What Tolstoy was calling for in his book was the elimination of police and the military because he said they are resisting evil in society and he wants to dis -- he wanted when he wrote that, the Russian novelist, to dispel any kind of show of force because of this verse.

Also, he wanted to get rid of the court system that would bring any retribution upon those who did evil in a society because of this verse.  If we did that, that's like giving every tyrant and thug a permission slip to do whatever they want to do.  The reason there's military, the reason we have police, the reason we have courts and the enforcement of law is to protect those who are innocent by tyrants and by thugs.  So, it's put in placed because we recognize we live in a fallen world.  We don't live in a redeemed world.  We're not in the millennium.  On a personal level, I forgive.  On a corporate level in the country legally, we believed in that rule of law and it's what keeps us going.  It protects us as a society.  And by the way, think of Jesus in the Temple courts, when he saw the false-worship of the people and the buying and selling of animals, that Jesus who said the words we've just read took a whip and so no inconsistency in driving out of the temple, those who are buying and selling.  Also Paul the Apostle, when he talks about enacting church discipline to ascending member of the church, the body of Christ, he says, "There could come a place where you have to deal with it publicly if there's no repentance and some kind of public forum."  So, there is a place for the enforcing of law and even Biblical Law by Jesus and according to Paul by the church.

Now Verse 43, this is the law regarding love and hate.  "You've heard that it was said, "Get this."  You've heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate you enemy."  Now wait a minute, where does it say in the Bible, "Thou shall hate your enemy."  Well, it doesn't.  The only place there's an illusion to hate is where David said, "Do not I hate those who hate thee, ye."  I'm quoting King James as you can tell, "I hate them with a perfect hatred."  Now that's David speaking, but to take what David said and then make it a commandment, "You shall hate your enemy," is a perversion of the law.  God did say, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."  But now, Jesus said, "You've heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy."  The way the law had become perverted by the time of Christ, by especially the group called the Pharisees was to say, "You are to love your neighbors being Jewish people and you are to hate Samaritans and Gentiles," and that's a commandment.  So, they felt righteous in their hatred toward non-Jewish people 2000 years ago in Judea.  That's why they didn't go through Samaria, that's why they distained Samaritans, that's why they would pull their robes closed when they would walk to the corridors of the cities, so as not to brush up against the Gentile.  They even had a saying some of the rabbis that, "God created us, Gentiles, as kindling to fuel the fires of hell."  That's not a great worldview that -- genders lots of love.

So Jesus said, "You've heard that it was said, "Love your neighbor," that's biblical.  The problem comes in the definition of what a neighbor is and what the definition of an enemy is.  So Jesus says, "But I say to you, love your enemies.  Bless those who curse you.  Do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you."  You know how hard that is.  Yes you do.  You know how hard that is.  That you may be sons of your Father in heaven, not that you may become, it just shows that you are sons, daughters of your Father in heaven for He makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust.  If you love those who love you, what reward do you have?  You're not even the tax collectors, do the same.  So Jesus said, "Love those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who hate and spitefully use you."  Now, I've discovered something.  I've discovered that based upon what we've just read, I've discovered it's awfully hard to hate someone that you pray for all the time.

Somebody that really bothers you, somebody that has been a thorn in your flesh, somebody that really has been irritant and it's been so easy for you to carry a pack of grudges over, by the way, the heaviest weight for you to carry in your back is a pack of grudges.  And when that person's name is mentioned and your mind just fires off, right?  Like the fourth of July.  My challenge to you is as soon you get that thought, ask that God will bless them.  Ask that God would change them, speak to them.

Last week, I was coming out of a bank.  I was recognized, somebody said, "Are you Pastor Skip?"  I said, "Yes, I am."  He goes, "Can I ask you a question?"  He's told me about his previous marriage, his wife had left him, and she was an unbeliever, and he had some trace things to say about her.  He wanted my advice.  "What do I do about her?  She's out of my life.  She kept my kids from me."  And he goes, "I can't love her.  I don't love her as a wife.  She's not my wife anymore.  It's hard for me to love her as a woman because of what she did with my kids and what she did to me overtime.  She's my ex-wife.  I can't love her as a child of God."  She said, "She's become my enemy."  I said then, "Love her as an enemy."  Jesus said, "Love your enemies."  I said, "Do you pray for her?"  He said, "No."  So I said, "Would you do that starting this week?  Would you start thinking of her name and lifting her up?  Think about whatever has been in her that caused her to act and react the way she did willfully, or because she didn't have the right equipment to deal with life, or because the way she was raised or whatever, but just pray that God would do a work and change her.  Just pray for her everyday."  And he paused a while before he said, he goes, "I can do that."  And then I said, "Now, think of something else.  Are you a wonderful person?  Are you perfect?"  He goes, "No."  Far from me, he kind of rundown all the linty litany of offences he had and drug abuses, etcetera.  I said, "And yet, God loves you and God has forgiven you.  Now, if God can forgive you and you know you better than I know you, can you forgive her?"  He smiled, he goes, "I've never thought about it like that before."  At least he smiled.  He was a big guy and I was glad for that.  So, just right there in the parking lot, I laid hands on him and we prayed together as people were going in and out, they probably thought "two coots" but it's a great opportunity to do ministry.  So, Jesus said, "Love your enemies, pray for them, do good to them."

Verse 46, "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?  Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  If you greet your brother and only, what are you doing more than anybody else?"  In other words, big deal, everybody does that.  Everybody can love people who love them and say nice things to them and give them hugs and pats and encourage anybody -- worldly people, unredeemed people do that all day long.  And if you greet your brother and only, what are you doing more than others, do not even tax collectors do so.  Therefore, summing it all up, listen to how it would sound on their ears.  Therefore, you shall be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect.  That doesn't sound so encouraging, does it?  Let me sum it all up.   All I'm saying to you as you listened to my sermon on this mount is be perfect like God.  That's what it sort of sounds like to our ears.  However, the word perfect is "telios," it means to be completed, or to become mature, or to reach a goal, or to fulfill a purpose that it was made to fulfill.  That's the idea.  So, here's the deal, do you really want to be a mature Christian?  How many want to be a mature Christian?  Okay, if you really want to be mature, the question is how do you become mature?  What marks a mature believer?  How do you know if you're mature?  How do you know when you've reached the mark?  "Because I memorized a hundred Bible verses," that's not the answer.

"When I get to be a deacon or elder on my church," that's not the right answer.  The answer is, you know you are mature, you're telios.  You've reached the mark when you love your enemies.  When you love like this, not just your friends, not just your family, not the people who smile and say, "You're just so wonderful."  But when you love like this, man, you've arrived.

Now, I have read this before but it's a book that spoke to me and this illustration still speaks to me.  A pastor in South America writes this.  There was once a man in my former denomination who became my enemy some time ago.  He said that I was not being faithful to the church.  Eventually, he started to hate me.  During one of the conventions, the denominational conventions, I went up to him and I said, "Hello, how are you?"  And I gave him a hug.  "Don't hug me," he growled.  "Well, I love you," I replied.  "You can't love me," he said, "because I'm your enemy."  He was almost shouting.  I said, "Praise the Lord!  I didn't know you were my enemy, but now here's an opportunity for me to love my enemies."  And then he said, "Thank you Jesus for my precious enemy."  And then he writes, you know something one year later I was preaching in his church.  That's maturity, that's telios man, that's completion.  You've hit the mark.  When you love like that, that separates the men from the boys, the big leagues from the minor league.

Now in Chapter 6, we're still expanding the principle of Chapter 5 Verse 20, keep that in mind.  He gives the principle.  He gives them examples from the law.  This is what you have heard and I say unto you, six times he does that, you've heard this and I say unto you that.  Now, there's a little bit of a shift from what they've heard to what they've seen.  I've told you about what you've heard and I've given you the correct interpretation.  Now, let me speak to you about things you have seen especially in those that you consider to be so righteous, that's the Pharisees and the Scribes.  Now, keep in mind the principle, unless your righteousness exceed that of the Scribes and the Pharisees, you're not even getting into heaven.  Theirs was a self righteousness.  They patted themselves on the back because they did certain things.  It was all outward, it was not always inward.  They missed the mark.  So, Jesus speaks to them about things that they have seen and He's speaking about genuineness here.  How to be genuine and He uses the word to contrast that which is genuine and it's the word "hupocrit", hypocrite, it's a Greek term that means literally a stage actor.  That's where the term comes from, the theater.  You go to a theater and you observe somebody putting out on a mask playing a part, playing the role.  He's not really that person, he's playing the bank robber, or he's playing the hero or heroine.  He's a good actor.  He's a hupocrites.  He's the hypocrite.  He's an actor.  So, Jesus uses that term.  Now when we hear the term, it's not a good term.  Originally, just being an actor.  We hear the term, it's a scolding, scalding remark.  Nobody likes to be called a hypocrite.  Jesus uses the term thrice.  Oh, listen to me.  I'm sounding like an English actor.  He uses the term thrice.  Once in Verse 2, "Therefore when you do a charitable deed, you shall not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do."  The second occurrence is in Verse 5, "When you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites."  We'll get to that.  And then over in Verse 16 is the third incident.  "Moreover when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites."  So, let me sum it up before we get into it.  This is what he is saying in a nutshell about the Pharisees or about anybody who would seek to emulate their righteousness, "How dare you say what you say when you live like you live."  If you say what you say, let's see it in your life because here's a group of people who say a lot of things, but it's not in their life, those are stage actors.  Those are hypocrites.

So Verse 1, "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds or the giving of alms before men to be seen by them otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven."   This is considered a sacred duty to perform acts of mercy.  They were called acts of mercy and that's the Greek term, a merciful action to somebody who really needs a helping hand, a charitable deed, giving of alms or helping people out.  Now, what I find interesting is the chapter begins with a warning.  It says, "Be careful," that's what "take heed" means, watch it and why is that?  Because whenever you do something good, there's a danger in it because you are being watched typically.  And sometimes you can be suddenly thrust into the visible public arena and that's always dangerous.  It's dangerous because the flesh loves to be admired.  And so it can become our motivation.  I get strokes, people tell me I'm awesome, I'm wonderful when I do those things.  Nothing wrong with encouragement, but if you're doing it simply to get the strokes and to be told you're wonderful, then it's a problem.  So, he starts with a warning, "Be careful, take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men to be seen by them, otherwise you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven."

Several years ago, before this building and before the building we were in prior to this, in the original building after the theater that we met in on Sunday morning, we leased a little building on Eubank, 1660 Eubank.  And I remember walking into the negotiation over that little piece of property.  It sat a couple hundred people, but the rent was steep for us.  We were a small body at the time and I'm thinking, "Lord, I don't know how we're going to be able to afford this, but I'm walking by faith."  We have maybe, maybe just enough money to make the monthly rents.  So, let's see what the negotiations tell.  The owner of the building was talking about what a great building it was what a great location it was.  He's going through the whole list and I went, "Look, we just want-- we want a place." And he looked at me and he said, "Tell you what.  I'm going to give you a break on the price.  I know I said it was this, but I'm going to give you break to make the church body afforded."  Now I'm thinking, "Praise God, thank you Lord, the prayer has been answered." And then he paused and he said, "The way I figure it, that maybe just enough to give me that extra push I'll need in the heaven come judgment day."  I was tempted to say nothing.  It would be easy to just say, "Amen."  A deal is a deal.  But I said and I won't tell you his name.  I said, "I don't think this is going to work.  This will score no points or whatsoever with God come judgment day, it's all about a relationship that you have with God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and no amount of good works if you're doing it, something good to get you into heaven, it won't cut it."  See that's the danger of good works, that's why there's this warning, "Take heed."

The motivation is so important.  Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet, probably a figure of speech before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues or on the street corners that they may have glory for men.  Now shortly, I say to you, they have their reward.  Interesting, the word to be seen by men, see the word "seen?"  It's a Greek word "theaomai."  We get the term theater from it.  It means to gaze at, to study, or to command attention so that people look at you.  You're doing something to be noticed by people.  Amen.  I want to give you this amount of money, I want my name on a plaque in that wing of the building, "donated by," and I like you to say something about who I am and what I've done as well underneath that plaque, "Oh, I'll pay for the plaque."  Why would you want a plaque when you are losing your reward that you are going to get in heaven?  So, you're either going to get a reward now, pats on the back, "Oh you're wonderful.  Thank you, I saw the plaque.  I saw your name.  Thank you for donating that."  Or, you can wait and let God reward you.  And from everything I've read, He does a way cooler job at rewarding you than anything we could do on earth.

So he says, "Don't do it like they do it to be seen for they have glory from men."  Now shortly I say to you, they have received their reward.  Literally, they've gotten their payment in full.  In other words, if you do stuff to be seen by men, God owes you nothing.  Imagine how we would be to be in heaven and this conversation goes on, "God this is awesome, I'm glad I'm in heaven and this is really cool.  I like my digs really nice over here, but some seems to be missing here.  You know I gave a considerable sum of money on this occasion and another gift on that occasion and I gave this and that over on that occasion, it didn't seem to be any accounting for that or any reward for that.  I thought I got heavenly rewards."  God said, "Oh, from our books it shows you've already gotten your reward.  People applauded you and they read your name every week on that brass plaque."  And every time they walk by, they said, "He's awesome.  He's awesome."  That's always the danger of doing anything public including public ministry.  If you aren't doing public ministry and people say, "Pastor, we love you.  It is Pastor Appreciation month, we're supposed to say that so we want to say we love you and we genuinely do."  I appreciate that.  Everybody loves encouragement, but this little part of me goes, "Man that little reward, I just lost that one," you know in heaven.  So, the way I figured it is some of you and I know some of you that works so diligently and so faithfully behind the scenes and nobody notices you.  I expect to see you in the front row in heaven.  If you want to find me, you're going to have to go way in the back row somewhere.

But when you do a charitable deed, Verse 3, "Don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.  It's your charitable deed maybe in secret and your Father who sees in secret will himself reward you openly."  Because of these verses, I have never done pledge Sundays where I've asked people to pledge, you know, to a certain amount or I've never said, "I believe right now the spirit of God is telling me there are 40 people, yes 40 is the number.  I keep seeing the $1000 symbol.  There are 40 people with a $1000 that are supposed to go."  You've seen that done.  I hate that stuff.  I get sick to my stomach when I see that stuff.  To be seen by men, is that to be done simply.  Paul said to the Corinthians, "Let a man so give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly, nor of necessity for God loves a hilarious giver."  That's the wording, "a hilarious giver."  If you can give to the Lord hilariously, give.  If you're giving, "I could've bought a cup of coffee with that."  Really that's all you give?  Keep it.  Buy a cup and buy me one when I see you at Starbucks next time, whatever.

"When you pray," Verse 5.  Now, it goes from giving to praying.  "When you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets that they may be seen by men, or shortly I say to you they have their reward."  That's interesting that Jesus said hypocrites love to pray.  Did you notice that?  Don't be like the hypocrites, they love to pray.  It's not that they love prayer, it's not that they love God, they love themselves and they'll pray and go, "Oh, that sounded really good, I'm really good."  Let me try that again, "I'll say some more stuff."  And people go, "Mm-hmm yes, amen."  Remember what Jesus said, two men went up to the temple to pray, one was a Pharisee, the other was a tax collector, this is in Luke Chapter 18.  "And the Pharisee stood," Jesus said, "and prayed thus with himself."  He's not really praying to God.  He's praying with himself.  He's listening to himself, articulate the words going, "Oh, that's good."  And he said, here's his prayer, "Lord, I thank you that I'm not like other men or even like that tax collector.  I fast twice a week.  I give alms of all that I possess."

Then Jesus said the other guy, the tax collector stood a far off and wouldn't even so much as look upward toward heaven but he beat his breasts and he said, "Oh, Lord be merciful to me, I'm a sinner."  Jesus said, "That man, number two, he's justified before God."  Hypocrites love to pray not that they love prayer, not that they love God, but they love the attention that they get from people who would listen to them and be impressed by them.  He notices that or you will notice that he says, "Standing in the synagogue, they want to stand up in the synagogue and be noticed by people.  The attention is drawn to them or on the corners of the street."  So shortly I'd say, "They have received their award."

Now, the street that he's talking about is a wide boulevard usually with a large intersection where lots of people would be.  That's the term that is employed.  A lot of people going through, there are a lot of people seeing this event.  Can you imagine what it would be like if on a Wednesday afternoon, before Wednesday evening service or Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning, let's say, you're coming by a big intersection like San Mateo and Manol(ph) or you're driving down to San Mateo this way and your wife says, "Honey, I just thought I saw Skip standing on the corner saying something with his mouth and his hands were stretched up to heaven.  I think he is praying, honey."  That's the idea.  You would notice it.  You would see it.  It would make him, 'Wow, he's so holy, man.  He's out there on the street corner praying, he loves this city."  He loves himself.  And he wants you to notice that.

Here's what Jesus says, "But you, when you pray, go into your room.  And when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."  This is not saying you cannot pray publicly.  Jesus prayed before Amil.  There were public prayers.  John 17 has prayed out loud in front of his disciples.  However, public prayer is to be the outflow of private prayer.  Your public prayer reflects your private prayer.  If you have a problem praying publicly, praying with people, praying in the prayer room, could it be probably is that you have just a real problem in your own private devotional life?  What is done in private makes its way to the surface; it is the outflow one of the other.  Now Jesus says, "This should be done in secret.  Close the doors, it should be done in secret."  Why do you need quiet time, we call it, or it's just you.  The door is closed.  There are no interruptions, the phone, the dog's put out.  It's just you and the Lord because that's when you can focus and concentrate on what God's just trying to say to you in that time you set aside.  "Lord it's me, it's your word, speak."  Do you remember after the resurrection, it says, "The disciples were gathered together and the doors were shut and then Jesus appeared?"  He appeared when the doors were shut.  Everything was shut out.  Everything was outside.  They are focused and concentrated on what the Lord might speak to them.  That's when the Lord spoke to them.

Verse 7, when you prayed, do not use vain repetitions as they heed and do for they think they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore, do not be like them for your Father knows the things you have needed before you ask him.  The Phillips translation says, "When you pray, don't rattle off long prayers."  Please don't misunderstand.  Once again, I feel that everything is sort of has to be counterbalanced so nobody gets the wrong impression.  It's not advocating that you should just shoot up a quick prayer and that's all I need, one little, "Hi God, how are you?  Let's go.  Amen."  For the day.  But the idea is vain repetitions, rattling off long prayers because you believe the longer it is even if your mind's disengaged, the better it is.  That was believed by many people 2,000 years ago.  A famous prayer recorded by a rabbi 2,000 years ago, I think it's written in the Talmud, uses 16 adjectives before he even gets to the name God.

"Holy righteous wonderful God," that's the idea.  There was a preacher in Scotland who love to pray that way every Sunday, long flowery prayers, and there's one Scottish old lady who was in the choir, she got sick of it.  The Scots are really great for just give me the bottom line.  And so one Sunday, the preacher is waxing eloquent in a long prayer with many adjectitle phrases and she was in the choir right behind the preacher and she pulled his robe and said, "Just call him Father and ask him for something," like "Get it to it, man."  It's interesting.  If you were to compare the praying of the prophets of Bale, in I Kings 18, to the prayer of the prophet Elijah, it's a striking difference.  Elijah's prayer is a few words.  But number one, he's praying to the true God.  That's always important.  Number two, he's praying from his heart.  His neck is on the line, he's praying authentically, genuinely from his heart to the true God, the prophets of Bale.

Talk about vain repetition.  It says in I Kings 18, they prayed from morning until noon.  That's a long prayer.  And they prayed, they cried out, and kept saying over and over again, "Oh Bale, hear us.  Oh Bale, listen to us."  And it says -- but there was no voice, there was no answer.  You know why there's no voice and no answer?  Because there was no Bale, there's no Bale.  There's no God named Bale.  People made him up.  It's a false God.  There's only one God in the world, period.  "Well, you have your God and I have my God."  No, there is God.  Everyone else, everything else is fake.  So, they've cried to Bale for more about -- their associations cheer, they have their religion.  He ended like wrong and he then making vain repetitions from morning until noon.  Well, that didn't work.  So, Elijah starts mocking them.  He goes, "Maybe you've got to pray a little bit louder.  After all, he's a God.  He's on important business, or he maybe sleeping.  You've got to wake him up."  He's just taunting him.  You've got to admire he has spunk that problem.  So then, they started leaping up and down on the altar, just picture them.  They started leaping and they started praying, no answers.  Now, they start leaping, doing the spider thing.  Then the Bible says they start cutting themselves.  The idea among the Heathen is that I must persuade my Gods by my strong language and repeated language and saying this over and over and over again until finally they go, "Stop.  Okay uncle, I'll give you what you want."  That's the idea.  That's how the Heathen believe their Gods to be.  They had to be persuaded and you had to change their minds.  Elijah walks up there and go, "Lord, your God, I know it. They don't.  Show yourself strong.  My neck is on the line.  Amen."  Fire fell from heaven consumed the altar, the sacrifice, the water.  And the message was clear of the true and living God.

Therefore, Verse 8 sums it up.  We have to stop there unfortunately.  I was ready to finish the chapter.  I know you're thinking, "Yeah right, we know by now Skip."  Therefore, do not be like them.  Jesus said, "Be perfect for your Father and heaven is perfect.  Be complete now."  He contrasts that with the Heathen.  "Don't be like them or the religion is.  Don't be like them for your Father."  Oh, mark that.  A lot of people talk about God, my God.  How about your father, that's relational.  See, it's not just God and human that is in play, but more intimately, it's father, son or daughter, your father.  He knows the things that you have needed before you ask him.  Now, that's probably a good place to leave off because the next few verses get into the Disciples' Prayer.  That's what we cover next, the Disciples' Prayer.  Oh, I thought that was the Lord's Prayer.  No, it's not the Lord's Prayer.  The Lord's Prayer is John 17.  This is the Disciples' Prayer.  This is the prayer Jesus gave to them to pray and we'll get to that next time.  Let's pray now together, from our hearts.

Lord, I thank you that we've been able to linger over truce that we have heard very familiar territory, these words in this sermon.  Because they are familiar, sometimes they're lost on us.  We forget the other simplicity of them.  How thankful we are that Jesus made it simple in our approach to you.  It's simple because he did the heavy lifting of the cross, our ongoing relationship to you.  It's simple because you are our Father and we're your children.  And in that simplicity of intimacy and relationship, we find everything we need.  Help us Lord to refrain from trying to impress you by anything we would say or do.  You know the truth about us.  We could never impress you.  We're impressed by you.  We can bless you.  We can bring you joy and we pray that we would by glorifying you.

Lord, help us also to not be motivated by carnal fleshly means to be seen by people.  But to be able to live with the contentment that God saw what I did, God sees what I give, He knows and there is a reward waiting for me in heaven.  What a thought and I pray that would dominate us as we live that what we do now, how we live now is either building up our treasure store in heaven or depleting it.  Not heaven itself, that's a gift of God, that's by grace, but our position and the enjoyment of those heavenly rewards.  We're making deposits every single day as we serve you, as we serve your people, and as we do so with the pure heart.

          Lord, I thank you for this flock.  These are hungry men and women.  They love you.  They love your truth and they have needs and I pray Father, we pray for everyone who has come here tonight with those needs.  They're going to leave with the same needs.  I just simply pray they would walk out knowing that there's a God who will provide forever need they have.  And they would be assured that you will perfect that which concerns them.  I pray their heart would be lighter because their trust in you would be greater.  I pray that fear would be diminished because faith is increased.  Bring your people peace, Lord.  And answer their heart cried prayers of their heart, in Jesus name, Amen.