1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,960 Amen, all right, I'm gonna need a little bit of feedback 2 00:00:03,960 --> 00:00:07,560 here, so don't be bashful, a little response here, 3 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:10,280 but what is the good life? 4 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:11,240 What is the good life? 5 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:14,320 If I grab the microphone and I hit the streets 6 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:15,960 and I started to do an interview, 7 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:17,720 what are some of the responses I would hear 8 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:19,760 on the street of the good life? 9 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:21,080 What's a good life? 10 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:22,400 Relationship with Christ. 11 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:24,440 Relationship with Christ, all right. 12 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:26,840 The spiritual one here, that's a good answer. 13 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:29,280 What's some of the answers I might hear on the street? 14 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:30,120 20 million cash. 15 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:32,960 20 million cash. 16 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:35,800 Cha-ching, the good life, right? 17 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:36,640 Big house. 18 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:38,480 Big house, yeah. 19 00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:39,320 Fast cars. 20 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:40,880 Debt free, what was that? 21 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:41,720 Fast cars. 22 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:43,040 Fast car. 23 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:46,160 20 cars in the garage, yeah. 24 00:00:46,160 --> 00:00:47,680 What else, good life? 25 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:49,520 Eastern State. 26 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:51,960 Relationship with family and kids, 27 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:54,600 this is the good life, right, yeah. 28 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:55,440 Anyone else? 29 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:57,800 Your health. 30 00:00:57,800 --> 00:00:59,880 Your health, yeah. 31 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:02,400 The good life is having health. 32 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:04,920 Knees not aching, back not creaking, right. 33 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:06,960 The ability to get out of the bed in the morning, 34 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:08,280 that's the good life. 35 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:11,080 It's a lot harder nowadays, but yeah. 36 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:15,680 Anyone else? 37 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:17,360 But what, what was that? 38 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:18,200 A cup of coffee. 39 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:19,040 A cup of. 40 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:20,320 Yes. 41 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:21,160 Yes. 42 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:22,000 Yes. 43 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:22,840 Yes. 44 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:23,680 Yes. 45 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:26,520 Yes. 46 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:28,960 There are days that is the only life. 47 00:01:31,320 --> 00:01:34,880 Cup of coffee, that is the good life, yeah. 48 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:38,840 Well, we're gonna be looking at 49 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:42,480 the greatest sermon ever preached. 50 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:45,240 The greatest sermon. 51 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:48,680 Anyone know what the greatest sermon ever preached is? 52 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:50,320 The Sermon on the Mount. 53 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:52,880 He had the spiritual answer 54 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:54,160 and he's got the good answer there. 55 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:55,440 Good, he's right. 56 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:57,200 The greatest sermon ever preached 57 00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,920 is a sermon that was taught by Jesus, 58 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:01,240 the Sermon on the Mount. 59 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:03,080 And we call it the Sermon on the Mount 60 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:05,440 because in Matthew chapter five, verse one, 61 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:07,800 it says that when Jesus saw the crowds, 62 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:09,680 he went up onto a mountain. 63 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:14,240 And he sat down and his disciples came to him 64 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:18,080 and he began to teach his disciples. 65 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:21,600 And this teaching is for his disciples. 66 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:24,680 That's something to remember as we hop back into Matthew. 67 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:27,600 We've been in Matthew before, we're picking it up again. 68 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:30,280 We've made it all the way to chapter six, 69 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:31,600 the middle of chapter six. 70 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:32,720 And so we're kind of jumping in, 71 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:35,480 but I'm gonna give you a little bit of just a recap 72 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:37,840 of some of the themes that were there 73 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,240 in the study of Matthew 74 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:42,840 and particularly the greatest sermon ever preached. 75 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:44,800 It's important to remember first 76 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:46,880 that it is to his disciples he's teaching, 77 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:49,720 even though there is a large crowd there. 78 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:52,720 And his disciples are those who have left everything 79 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:53,920 to follow him. 80 00:02:54,920 --> 00:02:56,520 And so they are his disciples. 81 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:59,360 They are wanting the life of the kingdom. 82 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:03,960 They understand that Christ is come to bring something. 83 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:06,480 They don't fully understand all the details of it yet, 84 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:09,160 but Christ is beginning to teach them. 85 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:11,000 And this sermon represents a teaching 86 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:16,000 about what the good life is in the kingdom of God. 87 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:18,680 What is the good life in the kingdom of God? 88 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:22,480 It's a blueprint for really living. 89 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:26,720 That's what this whole sermon is about. 90 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:31,520 And Jesus teaches that the good life of the kingdom 91 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:34,560 is for the poor in spirit, 92 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:38,200 for those who mourn and those who are humble, 93 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:42,240 those who hunger and seek after righteousness, 94 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:46,360 those who are merciful and pure in heart and peacemakers, 95 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:51,360 that the good life is to those who are persecuted 96 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:53,840 for righteousness' sake. 97 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:57,760 And this is an upside down thinking 98 00:03:57,760 --> 00:03:59,400 if you compare it to what we would find out 99 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:00,520 on the street, right? 100 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,880 No, the good life is the opposite of all of those things. 101 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:06,320 The good life is ambition. 102 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:08,400 The good life is rising up. 103 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,160 The good life is rising through the ranks to the top. 104 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:14,120 The good life is $20 million in the bank account. 105 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:15,160 That's the good life. 106 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:18,560 And Jesus says there is a good life in the kingdom, 107 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,240 but it's not like what you'll find on the streets. 108 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:26,480 And unless we think it is a trivial matter 109 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:30,520 to follow Christ into this good life that he offers, 110 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:33,640 a few verses later in Matthew chapter five, verse 20, 111 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:35,160 he says, I tell you, 112 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:36,680 remember he's talking to his disciples, 113 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,120 those who have already left everything to follow him. 114 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,600 He says, I tell you that unless your righteousness 115 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:46,520 surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees, 116 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:49,480 you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. 117 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:56,560 Well, who are these scribes and Pharisees of Jesus' day? 118 00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:59,400 These were a group of folks 119 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:03,760 who they practiced strict adherence to the Jewish law. 120 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:08,080 They were striving to execute on the letter of the law 121 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:09,920 rigorously, perfectly. 122 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:14,200 In fact, they so wanted to make sure 123 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:16,280 that they were keeping the letter of the law, 124 00:05:16,280 --> 00:05:19,480 that they set up kind of fences around the law 125 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:22,760 to make sure that they didn't accidentally cross over 126 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:24,160 and violate it. 127 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:25,640 You know how we have houses 128 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:27,720 and then we put a fence around our property? 129 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:30,360 We're like, we don't want you to get even near to our house. 130 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:31,600 You stay out there. 131 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:33,000 We're gonna put a fence around our property. 132 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:34,400 Well, they had the same thinking. 133 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:37,080 Let's put a fence around the law. 134 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:39,840 In other words, more laws 135 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:42,160 to keep us from ever getting close 136 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:44,840 to the laws that are there and so we'll never break them. 137 00:05:44,840 --> 00:05:46,280 That was their thinking. 138 00:05:46,280 --> 00:05:49,040 And the Pharisees were all about it. 139 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:52,000 Now, they weren't the professional class 140 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,760 of priests or teachers. 141 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,600 They were the lay people who had just said, 142 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:00,120 we're gonna be all about this. 143 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:02,800 You know, they were the type A go-getter type personalities. 144 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:04,800 Like, we're gonna grab this by the horn. 145 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:05,640 We can do it. 146 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:07,120 We can live this perfectly. 147 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:09,200 And that's who Jesus is talking about. 148 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:13,760 They worked really hard at outward, 149 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:17,680 detailed conformity to the religious rules. 150 00:06:19,280 --> 00:06:21,520 And Jesus says to his disciples, 151 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:25,920 your righteousness must surpass theirs 152 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:28,320 if you are to enter into the kingdom of heaven. 153 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,200 And I think most people who are looking at the outward 154 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:35,520 display of their righteousness at that moment 155 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:37,840 would say, hopeless. 156 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:40,800 It ain't happening, right? 157 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:43,600 No one is better at it than the Pharisees. 158 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:48,480 But Jesus wasn't talking about 159 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:50,880 the same kind of righteousness. 160 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:54,960 When he said surpass, what he was really saying is, 161 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:57,280 you need a kind of righteousness that is better 162 00:06:57,280 --> 00:06:59,920 than the righteousness they're pursuing, 163 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:04,080 that is more whole or complete than the righteousness. 164 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:06,080 You need grade A righteousness. 165 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:10,800 They're going after grade C to enter the kingdom. 166 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:12,960 And the righteousness he's talking about 167 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:16,800 is a kind of righteousness that is the inside out. 168 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:19,360 Whereas the Pharisees were obsessed with working 169 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,800 on the outward condition and adherence to the law, 170 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:24,880 Jesus says the kind of righteousness 171 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:26,720 that will get you into the kingdom of heaven 172 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:30,480 is a righteousness that is inside out, 173 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:33,280 that begins at a heart level, 174 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,160 that begins at a motive level, 175 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:39,680 why we do what we do, not simply what we do. 176 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:45,360 And so we're jumping in now to chapter six, 177 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:47,120 and we're picking it up in verse 16. 178 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:49,440 If you have your Bibles, I would encourage you to turn there 179 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:52,720 on Matthew chapter six, verse 16. 180 00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:55,440 It will also be on the board if you would like to read along. 181 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:59,040 It reads like this, Matthew chapter 6 16, 182 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:03,680 whenever you fast, don't be gloomy like the hypocrites, 183 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:07,040 for they disfigure their faces 184 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,560 so that their fasting is obvious to people. 185 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:13,680 Truly I tell you, they have their reward, 186 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,480 but when you fast, put oil on your head 187 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:18,960 and wash your face so that your fasting 188 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:20,880 isn't obvious to others but to your father 189 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:22,240 who is in secret. 190 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:27,240 And your father who is in secret will reward you. 191 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:29,000 This is God's word. 192 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:35,080 What we have here is right in the middle of chapter six. 193 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:38,040 If you remember what we studied last when we were in Matthew, 194 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:40,680 if you were here, we studied the Lord's Prayer. 195 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:44,360 And the way to think about the Lord's Prayer 196 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:46,600 from a structure standpoint on the greatest sermon 197 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:49,560 ever preached is the Lord's Prayer is in the center. 198 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:53,000 And that may not make a whole lot of sense to us 199 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:55,560 since our stories typically began 200 00:08:55,560 --> 00:08:57,640 and then the climax is toward the end 201 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:00,120 and then you have a wrap up, right? 202 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:02,600 But in Jewish literature and Jewish writing, 203 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:05,800 the point, the main point, the crux of everything 204 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:09,640 that was taught was always at the center working outward. 205 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:14,120 And so the center is the Lord's Prayer, 206 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:16,440 Jesus teaching us how to pray. 207 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:18,280 But right around the Lord's Prayer, 208 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:21,480 before it and after it here in 16, 209 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:26,480 we have three examples that Jesus uses to teach his disciples 210 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:29,240 what it means to have that greater righteousness. 211 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,080 And the first one back in verse one is giving 212 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:35,400 in how we give. 213 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:38,760 The second one is in praying how we pray. 214 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:43,760 And then the third one here is how we fast. 215 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:49,480 Between verse one and 18, these examples are given. 216 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:52,440 And the reason these three examples are chosen, 217 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:57,440 giving, praying and fasting is because these three activities 218 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:01,440 would have been very significant to the Jewish audience 219 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:03,400 he was speaking to, the disciples. 220 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:05,240 This would have represented their regular 221 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:08,120 and even commanded activity of their life. 222 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:09,560 We think of giving sometimes, 223 00:10:09,560 --> 00:10:11,240 especially if you're in church, you get all sweaty 224 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:13,720 because it's like, oh no, he's gonna talk about giving. 225 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:14,560 That mean? 226 00:10:14,560 --> 00:10:18,440 Grab the wallet, right? 227 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:19,720 No, no, no. 228 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:21,960 In Matthew chapter six, verse one, 229 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:26,520 when he talks about giving, he's talking about almsgiving. 230 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:28,040 It's not a word we use very much. 231 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:31,320 Alms, alms for the poor. 232 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:35,200 This wasn't about funding and ministry. 233 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:38,160 This was about your responsibility individually 234 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:40,400 to give directly to those who are in need. 235 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:45,080 That you are the kind of people, this was expected. 236 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:46,880 Jesus says, whenever you do this, 237 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:50,280 it's expected that you will give to those who are poor. 238 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:53,320 That's just a part of being a disciple. 239 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:56,760 And in their society, it was more than just being a disciple. 240 00:10:56,760 --> 00:11:00,480 It was actually their food stamp program. 241 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:04,440 The community takes care of one another, 242 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:06,440 especially those who are down and out. 243 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:08,760 And so he uses giving and then he uses praying, 244 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:12,000 which was an activity that they did throughout the day. 245 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:14,480 Every single day they prayed. 246 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:18,480 And now he uses an activity, the activity of fasting. 247 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:22,320 But to start this whole section off, 248 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:25,840 he sets it up by saying this in verse one of chapter six. 249 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:29,160 Be careful not to practice your righteousness 250 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:32,200 in front of others to be seen by them. 251 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:34,680 Otherwise, you will have no reward 252 00:11:34,680 --> 00:11:36,920 with your Father in heaven. 253 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:38,480 Be careful how you practice. 254 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:41,040 And then he gives these three examples. 255 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:43,800 This will serve as a pattern for Jesus' teaching. 256 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:48,000 He's laying out the idea of what a hypocrite does 257 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:51,040 when he gives praise and fasts, 258 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:53,000 and how his disciples will live differently 259 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:56,720 than the hypocrites and when they give, pray and fast, 260 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:58,560 because it will be from a wholly, 261 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:00,600 completely different motivation. 262 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:04,280 It may be the same thing that is happening, 263 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:06,280 the same activity that's happening, 264 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:08,560 giving or fasting or praying, 265 00:12:08,560 --> 00:12:10,560 but it will be completely different. 266 00:12:10,560 --> 00:12:15,560 Because it comes from a motive, a heart aligned with God. 267 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:17,160 And we find here in this passage too, 268 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:19,520 that Jesus is really leaning into 269 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:21,840 like Jewish wisdom literature. 270 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:24,760 You guys know like the book of Proverbs, right? 271 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:28,840 The book of Proverbs is this heavy wisdom literature. 272 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:30,280 Sometimes it's hard to understand. 273 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:31,400 Sometimes you look at it and you say, 274 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:32,720 hey, that, it makes promises, 275 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:34,040 but that's not always how it is. 276 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:36,520 Well, that's because it's wisdom, right? 277 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:38,520 It's generally true. 278 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:41,120 It's generally the way we ought to live. 279 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:43,360 This is wisdom that's pointing us this direction. 280 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:46,440 And Jesus is leaning into that wisdom way of writing 281 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:49,000 when he lays out these three examples. 282 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:52,040 And wisdom literature focuses primarily on 283 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:54,880 the fear of the Lord at the center. 284 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:57,160 It's from the place of the fear of the Lord 285 00:12:57,160 --> 00:12:59,000 that we work out. 286 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:00,720 And that's that motivation. 287 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:04,280 That's that centering core, the fear of the Lord. 288 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:06,840 And also that the integrity of the heart 289 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:11,840 before God comes before the acts of righteousness we do. 290 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:15,080 That is most important that our heart be in alignment first 291 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:17,080 than doing the activities. 292 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:22,960 Jesus is contrasting the Jewish wisdom literature 293 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:25,880 that says, hey, the fear of the Lord is the foundation. 294 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:27,760 The integrity of the heart before God 295 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:29,800 is paramount before the activities. 296 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:31,880 And he's comparing that or contrasting it 297 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:35,240 with a Greco-Roman idea of the virtue writings 298 00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:36,880 of their day. 299 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:38,600 And here's the thing about the virtue writings 300 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:40,320 of the Greco-Roman period. 301 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:45,320 The virtue writings were all about doing public acts. 302 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:49,600 Public acts, good acts, good deeds in public 303 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:52,800 for the purpose of being glorified. 304 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:57,040 Think about it, like how are you gonna get a statue? 305 00:13:57,040 --> 00:13:59,760 How are you gonna get an inscription written about you? 306 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:02,760 How are you gonna get someone to parade before you 307 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:05,360 when you enter into a town? 308 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:08,680 You've gotta do heroic, virtuous acts. 309 00:14:08,680 --> 00:14:11,040 And so the Roman Greco writing was all about, 310 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:15,560 hey, do these acts, do these performances in public 311 00:14:15,560 --> 00:14:17,880 in order to get to the public's praise 312 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:20,680 and you will have immortality. 313 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:22,320 You will have immortality, you'll live on 314 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:24,880 in the likeness of your statue 315 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:26,920 or your inscription somewhere. 316 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:30,520 And this is all in the mind of Christ 317 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:31,880 as he's giving this teaching 318 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:34,600 because this is in the mind of his disciples. 319 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:37,120 What about the Roman way? 320 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:40,600 The Roman way of triumph, the Roman way of gaining 321 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:43,560 a name for myself, glorification, public performance 322 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:45,120 for public praise. 323 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:47,680 Is that the way or is the other, is the way 324 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:50,560 through the virtue of the fear of the Lord, 325 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:54,080 through the wisdom of following God and his commands 326 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:57,000 from the integrity of a heart aligned with God first? 327 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:58,080 Is that the way? 328 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:01,000 And Jesus is contrasting these two. 329 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:06,000 And he begins by saying, whenever you fast, 330 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:07,360 and we'll stop right there, 331 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:11,320 because notice that it does not say if you fast, 332 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,200 it says whenever you fast. 333 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:20,680 Fasting is not an if, but a whenever. 334 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:23,480 And so what is fasting? 335 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:25,680 Well, fasting is very biblical. 336 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:28,680 You guys know that fasting shows up in the Old Testament 337 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:30,760 in a few places. 338 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:32,880 One place is in the book of Jonah, 339 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:34,800 when Jonah goes to the city of Nineveh 340 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:37,200 and he preaches judgment over the city. 341 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:38,720 How does the city respond? 342 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,800 Yes, sackcloth, ashes, they fast 343 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:46,840 and they ask God to relent and he relents on his judgment. 344 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:50,160 Fasting shows up there as a way of repentance. 345 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:54,360 We also see it with David when his child was struck 346 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:58,960 sick and unto death because of his sin with Bathsheba. 347 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:02,240 And it says that David fasted and prayed 348 00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:07,240 and asked for the Lord to heal or to deliver his child. 349 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:10,000 And so fasting is a form of mourning as well, 350 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:11,600 repentance and mourning. 351 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:14,480 And we also see fasting used in the Old Testament 352 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:16,400 to seek the direction of the Lord. 353 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:20,440 They would call national fasts to say, 354 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:22,120 what is God doing, where should we do, 355 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:23,720 what should we do in this situation? 356 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:25,920 But then we also jump into the New Testament 357 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:28,800 and we see that fasting is also a New Testament idea 358 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:31,240 because it begins with Jesus in the wilderness 359 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:33,240 for 40 days fasting. 360 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:35,640 Anyone fasted for 40 days before? 361 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:38,680 Not as a boast, but so we can go, wow. 362 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:43,680 No, Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness. 363 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:50,000 We also see that Anna, who was a widow in the temple courts, 364 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:52,720 that she also fasted and prayed for the Lord 365 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:56,720 and said night and day, praying for God's deliverance, 366 00:16:56,720 --> 00:17:00,360 praying for Messiah to come when Jesus was ultimately 367 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:03,360 brought into the temple courts to be dedicated. 368 00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:07,280 Little bit further in the book of Acts, 369 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:10,160 we see that the early church fasted and prayed 370 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:13,480 for God's direction and ultimately it led to them 371 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:16,200 appointing the apostle Paul and Barnabas 372 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:18,400 to go out and do missions work. 373 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:23,400 And so fasting was integral to the life of the believer 374 00:17:24,080 --> 00:17:26,360 in the early church. 375 00:17:26,360 --> 00:17:29,560 In fact, there's a document, it's kind of neat, 376 00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:31,080 it's an extra biblical document, 377 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:33,400 meaning that it is not a part of your Bible 378 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:36,560 and therefore it's not considered inspired word. 379 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:38,120 So it's not something to say, hey, 380 00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:39,280 this is the inspired word of God, 381 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:41,120 we should do everything in it. 382 00:17:41,120 --> 00:17:43,960 But there is a document from the late first century 383 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:47,120 to the early second century called the Didache. 384 00:17:47,120 --> 00:17:50,200 And the Didache is a document that was produced 385 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:52,880 as a way of teaching young converts, 386 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:55,640 those who had just come to the faith in Christianity, 387 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:58,280 what are the essential doctrines of the faith 388 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:01,040 and the essential practices of a believer 389 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:02,360 and it would help to teach them, 390 00:18:02,360 --> 00:18:05,400 oftentimes they would memorize the Didache 391 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:08,840 as a way for them to prepare for baptism. 392 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:10,840 So they would go through this study 393 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:15,440 in preparation for baptism and somewhere in that document, 394 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:17,880 the Didache, there's a passage, 395 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:21,600 one line that's inserted there that I thought was telling 396 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:24,240 of the practice of the early church 397 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:27,120 in the late first century, early second century, 398 00:18:27,120 --> 00:18:30,120 late first century being just after Christ 399 00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:32,000 and the disciples or the apostles. 400 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:33,960 So it's right there at the beginning. 401 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:35,720 Here's the line in the Didache 402 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:37,400 that I thought was fascinating. 403 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:41,080 Do not let your fasts fall on the same days 404 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:44,840 as the hypocrites, for they fast on Mondays 405 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:48,160 and Thursdays, therefore keep your fast 406 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:50,080 on Wednesdays and Fridays. 407 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:55,120 Don't let your fast fall on the same days of hypocrites. 408 00:18:55,120 --> 00:18:57,000 There's that word from Matthew, right? 409 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:00,680 Well, they fast on Monday and Thursday, 410 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:04,120 you're gonna fast on Wednesday and Friday. 411 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:07,640 What do you hear there? 412 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:10,420 I hear a lot of fasting. 413 00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:13,080 A whole lot of fasting was going on 414 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:14,920 in the first century, it sounds like. 415 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:18,520 And this fits actually with the story that Jesus tells. 416 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:19,960 Some of you will remember in Luke, 417 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:22,280 Jesus tells a story about a Pharisee 418 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:24,520 who enters into the place of worship. 419 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:25,640 And do you remember what he says? 420 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:28,160 He looks over at the sinners and he says, 421 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:33,160 God, whew, Jesus, I thank you, I'm not like them. 422 00:19:37,120 --> 00:19:41,580 That side, I thank you, I'm not like them either. 423 00:19:41,580 --> 00:19:44,640 This side of the room, I thank you that I'm not like 424 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:48,100 the tax collector and the sinner and the prostitute. 425 00:19:48,100 --> 00:19:51,260 Why, why, why am I not like them? 426 00:19:51,260 --> 00:19:55,560 Because I fast twice a week and I give a tenth 427 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:57,040 of everything that I have. 428 00:19:57,880 --> 00:19:59,600 Whew, thank you, Lord. 429 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:00,440 Right? 430 00:20:01,620 --> 00:20:04,960 And so it tells you, even in Jesus' time 431 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:07,540 when he's writing this and then late into the first century 432 00:20:07,540 --> 00:20:12,540 and early second century, fasting was a way of life. 433 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:14,200 Fasting was a way of life. 434 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:18,740 Twice a week was a standard for the Pharisees 435 00:20:18,740 --> 00:20:21,160 and for the new converts to Christianity. 436 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:30,280 They say that when the Pharisees would fast, 437 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:34,080 that oftentimes they would put mud all over their face 438 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:37,360 or put a bag over their head, right? 439 00:20:37,360 --> 00:20:42,360 To show the level of sincerity of their mourning 440 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:44,640 or repentance or whatever it was. 441 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:48,040 And so you can imagine on Mondays and Thursdays, right? 442 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:49,440 A bunch of people in the marketplace 443 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:52,840 with bags on their heads or mud all over their face. 444 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:55,700 It probably was an interesting spectacle. 445 00:20:59,460 --> 00:21:02,640 So I'll ask us this, to get our mind going, 446 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:07,640 do we regularly practice fasting? 447 00:21:07,660 --> 00:21:11,000 Do we regularly practice fasting? 448 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:15,000 I'll tell you that in my early days in the faith, 449 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:18,200 I was at a church where fasting was a theme. 450 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:20,880 Like it was something that we did fairly regularly 451 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:25,680 as a body called to fast or personal fast. 452 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:27,920 But in looking back, I was much younger then, 453 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:30,000 much, much, much younger. 454 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:32,580 I'm such a different person now. 455 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:37,020 I was much younger at the time, 456 00:21:37,020 --> 00:21:40,220 but I remember the fun jokes that we would make 457 00:21:40,220 --> 00:21:42,260 whenever it was fast time, right? 458 00:21:42,260 --> 00:21:46,920 And then those jokes actually began to take on reality 459 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:47,760 a little bit. 460 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:50,580 So one of the things that you would hear is like, 461 00:21:50,580 --> 00:21:55,080 man, I'm fasting right now, I'm only doing smoothies, right? 462 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:57,240 And then the next time you would run into them, 463 00:21:57,240 --> 00:21:59,760 like the next week, they're on a two week fast, 464 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:01,840 like yeah, I'm still fasting, 465 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:06,360 but I decided I was gonna blend up the brisket 466 00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:08,620 and just drink it. 467 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:11,680 And then pretty soon everyone's getting creative 468 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:13,200 with their fasting about what they can put 469 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:14,500 into the blender and blend up. 470 00:22:14,500 --> 00:22:17,560 It's like a little potato, a little sour cream, 471 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:19,200 a little chive, a little, 472 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:22,660 I'm getting a loaded potato here in my fasting drink. 473 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:27,100 Can you imagine what immaturity? 474 00:22:27,100 --> 00:22:29,100 We would never do that, would we? 475 00:22:29,100 --> 00:22:34,100 What is the purpose of fasting? 476 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:36,600 Why should we fast in the first place? 477 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:38,240 Well, I'll say it this way, 478 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:42,520 fasting is a way for us to deny ourselves food 479 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:46,240 or certain kinds of food or activities or something 480 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:52,880 so that it reminds us and we are making a confession 481 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,640 about our dependence on God. 482 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:59,120 It's a reminder to us that our life, 483 00:22:59,120 --> 00:23:01,560 our reality, our sustenance, 484 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:04,400 true life is not found in these things. 485 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:07,880 It's not even found in food, which gives us life, 486 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:10,200 but it is found in God and God alone. 487 00:23:13,120 --> 00:23:18,120 If you're like me, like food brings comfort, right? 488 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:20,600 Some of you guys get a hangry, right? 489 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:22,640 Hunger, anger, right? 490 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:24,640 You get a little hangry and then you eat a little bit 491 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:27,200 and you're like, woo, I'm much better now, right? 492 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:31,640 And we joke about the carb coma, right? 493 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:34,840 You have a really heavy meal loaded with carbs 494 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:38,440 and shortly afterward, like you are useless, 495 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:41,640 but you feel good, but you're useless, right? 496 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:45,640 And we pray our best and we worship our best 497 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:48,280 when we've had a big full meal, right? 498 00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:50,960 Or we sleep. 499 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:55,960 Or we sleep and we rest really well. 500 00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:58,960 Food brings us comfort. 501 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:02,800 So why wouldn't food be included in fasting, right? 502 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:04,840 Because it separates us from that thing 503 00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:06,800 that lulls us to sleep, 504 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:09,920 both physically and spiritually at times, 505 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:12,280 and it awakens us and tunes us in. 506 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:14,920 Richard Foster, a Christian theologian and author, 507 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:17,020 he says that more than any other 508 00:24:17,020 --> 00:24:19,400 spiritual discipline practiced, 509 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:22,280 fasting reveals the things that control us. 510 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:26,920 Fasting reveals the things that control us. 511 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:31,080 And fasting is also a sort of declaration 512 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:34,400 that whatever it is that we're seeking from God, 513 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:37,000 whatever that is, is greater than our need 514 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,920 for the most basic of our needs, eating. 515 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:46,120 It's desperation and dependence. 516 00:24:46,120 --> 00:24:48,440 But we have to be warned because Jesus says 517 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:51,040 that there is another way that you can fast. 518 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:55,840 Verse 16, whenever you fast, 519 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:58,960 don't be gloomy like the hypocrites, 520 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:01,040 for they disfigure their faces 521 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:04,080 so that their fasting is obvious to people. 522 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:07,040 Truly I tell you, they have their reward. 523 00:25:09,120 --> 00:25:10,960 And so we're told by Jesus that fasting 524 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:14,960 can actually be co-opped by the Lord. 525 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:19,120 It can be co-opped for the praise of people. 526 00:25:21,120 --> 00:25:24,360 It can be co-opped to earn the praise of others. 527 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:27,880 How many of you know that we are tempted 528 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:32,880 to act spiritually, especially in a congregation 529 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:35,600 or a church when we are around one another? 530 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:38,880 We are tempted to act spiritually in worship, 531 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:41,440 in prayer, in obedience, in order at times 532 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:44,680 to be seen and praised by others. 533 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:48,520 But I will admit, it happens. 534 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:53,000 At a heart level, at least. 535 00:25:55,360 --> 00:25:59,960 The hypocrite is not a hypocrite because he or she 536 00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:04,240 acknowledges that fasting is good, but then doesn't do it. 537 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:06,320 That's how we typically think of a hypocrite. 538 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:08,200 Oh, you say it's good, you say it's right, 539 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:09,400 but you don't do it. 540 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:14,160 No, the hypocrite that Jesus is talking about 541 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:17,560 is one that is a hypocrite because they do the good thing 542 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:19,760 that orients them toward God, 543 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:22,960 the God-orienting thing like fasting, 544 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:25,800 but not to orient themselves to God, 545 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:27,920 but to people instead. 546 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:29,760 They are a hypocrite because they're trying 547 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:31,600 to get the praise out of the people. 548 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:37,520 Like the Greco-Roman virtue writings, 549 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:40,360 the Pharisees made fasting a spectacle 550 00:26:40,360 --> 00:26:42,000 to gain human approval. 551 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:47,000 And when we do that, it becomes a form of self-righteousness. 552 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:50,640 And when we fast or we pray or we give 553 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:53,080 or we worship for public recognition, 554 00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:57,360 we're actually seeking a form of self-salvation. 555 00:26:57,360 --> 00:27:00,920 We're using religious activity to build our identity 556 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:02,400 apart from the gospel. 557 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:10,280 Fasting is about reorienting or God-orienting our lives. 558 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:13,360 It's about reliance and dependence at a heart level. 559 00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:16,440 And Jesus is teaching his disciples that they are to live 560 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:19,080 not for human approval or praise, 561 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:22,680 but that their primary concern should be God's approval. 562 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:28,720 When you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face 563 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:31,280 so that your fasting isn't obvious to others, 564 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:33,400 but to your Father who is in secret. 565 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:37,400 And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 566 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:38,800 What's the in secret? 567 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:43,800 In secret part is in the heart, in the motive, in the will, 568 00:27:44,120 --> 00:27:45,920 the part that no one else can see. 569 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:48,480 You see the activities look identical. 570 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:54,480 The giving looks the same, but the heart is what matters. 571 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:57,320 The heart is what's in secret. 572 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:02,840 You can see this wisdom type literature. 573 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:05,840 Jesus is saying no one can know 574 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:08,840 he's not saying to us that no one, 575 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:10,200 no one can know that we're fasting 576 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:11,800 and if they do know that we're fasting, 577 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:14,080 well, that's worthless, that's pointless. 578 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:17,720 What he's saying is put oil on your head, 579 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:20,880 but wash your face, do two very common things, 580 00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:23,440 cosmetic practices of the first century. 581 00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:24,880 You know, putting oil, we don't put oil on, 582 00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:26,920 well, some of us may not put oil on our head. 583 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:29,040 Some may, there's all kinds of oils now 584 00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:30,840 that you can put on yourself, right? 585 00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:32,960 And Jesus is teaching us that we should be 586 00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:35,960 putting oil on our face, right? 587 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:38,240 But whatever the common cosmetic practice 588 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:41,320 you go through every morning, that's what it was like 589 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:43,800 to put oil on their head and to wash their face. 590 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:46,000 And he says, do what you do every day. 591 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:48,400 Don't disfigure your face, don't look gloomy, 592 00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:50,600 hoping someone will ask what's wrong. 593 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:55,040 So you can tell them that you're fasting 594 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:57,040 and they can give you sympathy and praise. 595 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:01,360 We tend to think that things like giving and praying 596 00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:05,280 and worshiping and fasting, well, they have to be done 597 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:07,160 in an altruistic fashion, right? 598 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:12,160 Where we want nothing out of it, zero desire for anything. 599 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:15,560 No reward, no recompense. 600 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:17,160 But that's one of the things that I found 601 00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:19,760 very interesting about Matthew is that Matthew, 602 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:23,000 in Matthew, Jesus over 10 times uses the idea 603 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:26,120 of acts of righteousness or acts of obedience 604 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:27,960 and contrasts them with the rewards 605 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:29,680 that we will get for doing them. 606 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:34,040 That there is a reward system of sorts in heaven. 607 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:40,320 He says, in other words, don't seek earthly rewards 608 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:43,560 like treasure or money or people's praise, 609 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:46,600 but do seek and pursue kingdom rewards. 610 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:49,000 They support and encourage faithfulness 611 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:51,120 which will not go unnoticed. 612 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:55,800 And I have to say that we know salvation is by grace 613 00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:58,520 through faith alone, in Christ alone. 614 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:00,440 That it is not something that you can earn. 615 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:03,720 That no amount of obedience, no amount of good works 616 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:06,320 will ever earn you standing before God 617 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:09,440 to commune with him, to be loved by him and to know him. 618 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:11,360 That is only through Christ. 619 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:16,760 But good works and the rewards that are promised 620 00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:19,440 are built on the foundation of salvation. 621 00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:22,560 It's not about earning God's love, 622 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:25,880 but responding to his love in obedient faith 623 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:27,880 and reaping the blessings of God 624 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:30,400 and the blessings of a life that is oriented 625 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:32,000 toward the kingdom of heaven. 626 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:37,880 Tim Keller says, the purpose of spiritual disciplines 627 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:42,000 like fasting and praying is not to earn God's favor, 628 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:46,040 but to put ourselves in the path of his grace. 629 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:49,200 And that is the reward. 630 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:53,080 The reward to us that is promised by God 631 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:55,360 for faithful obedience from a heart 632 00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:57,160 that is oriented toward him. 633 00:30:57,160 --> 00:30:59,320 The reward is a blessed life. 634 00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:02,560 The reward is oriented toward God 635 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:06,240 and a life that is lived wholly and completely. 636 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:11,240 A God designed, God shaped, day to day, grace to grace life. 637 00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:14,560 That's what we're being invited into. 638 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:17,360 That's what Jesus was inviting his disciples into. 639 00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:22,520 I'm gonna invite the worship team to join me on stage 640 00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:27,520 as I wrap it up, but another way to say it is that 641 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:33,240 the reward is life with God and the life of God 642 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:36,560 abounding in us. 643 00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:41,280 That is the reward for faithfulness. 644 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:46,280 Life with God and the life of God abounding in us. 645 00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:49,360 And you could take those two things, 646 00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:53,160 the life of God or the life with God 647 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:55,160 and the life of God abounding in us. 648 00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:56,680 And you could bring those together 649 00:31:56,680 --> 00:31:58,880 and you could package them up 650 00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:01,840 and you could say in one word what they mean. 651 00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:04,560 And that's Jesus's word throughout Matthew. 652 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:06,000 That's the kingdom. 653 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:10,320 As we're studying Matthew and we're looking at the text, 654 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:12,720 you'll over and over again see the words the kingdom 655 00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:14,720 or the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God. 656 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:16,240 And when he talks about the kingdom, 657 00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:20,200 he's talking about life with God 658 00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:23,000 and God's life abounding in us. 659 00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:26,520 And you know what that means? 660 00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:28,640 That's not a future reality only. 661 00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:31,720 It plays a part in the future. 662 00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:34,360 There's a full realization of it in the future, 663 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:36,640 but it's not purely a future reality. 664 00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:38,440 It's a reality now. 665 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:43,480 Brothers and sisters, we can live the kingdom today. 666 00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:46,160 We can live oriented toward God. 667 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:49,320 We can use spiritual disciplines like fasting or praying 668 00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:52,280 or giving or other ways that we can express our love 669 00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:55,040 and devotion to God, faithfully obeying him, 670 00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:58,200 not to get anything for ourselves among people, 671 00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:00,400 but to earn rewards in heaven. 672 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:04,240 That is being with God and God's life being with us. 673 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:05,920 I think of it like a key, right? 674 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:12,200 You put a key in and only when all the cylinders line up, 675 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:13,760 does it work? 676 00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:14,600 Does it turn? 677 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:15,440 Does it open? 678 00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:18,640 And that orienting toward God, 679 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:21,600 that heart's motive toward him, 680 00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:25,480 it's not like a transaction where if I do this, 681 00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:30,480 I get this thing, but it's an alignment. 682 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:33,960 And it's only in the alignment that these things come, 683 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,120 the blessing, the grace, the life abundant, 684 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:41,480 the joy, the peace, the patience, the kindness, 685 00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:43,720 the spirit. 686 00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:48,600 Don't be like the hypocrite who uses 687 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:51,720 these spiritual disciplines, these mechanisms 688 00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:53,640 and thinks of them transactionally. 689 00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:56,320 If I just do them, I get something out of it. 690 00:33:57,440 --> 00:33:59,160 If I do them, I can get people's praise. 691 00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:01,080 If I do them, I can earn God's favor. 692 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:03,760 If I do them, God's gotta love me better. 693 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:05,600 Or if I do them, I'm better than you. 694 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:10,600 Don't use them that way, but they are very useful 695 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:15,600 to reorient our hearts and our lives back toward God 696 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:19,440 and to be found in the way, the kingdom, 697 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:21,520 so that the kingdom life flows through us, 698 00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:26,080 so that we are wrapped up in the kingdom life with God. 699 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:29,200 And I believe there's a passage in Philippians chapter three 700 00:34:29,200 --> 00:34:32,160 where Paul having lived his life this way, 701 00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:34,840 he understood it, he got it. 702 00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:38,080 And that kingdom life was so alive and flowing through him 703 00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:41,680 that it was bursting out through his pen onto a page, 704 00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:44,560 sent to him a letter to the church in Philippi 705 00:34:44,560 --> 00:34:47,920 and ultimately delivered down through time to us today. 706 00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:49,160 I want you to listen to these words 707 00:34:49,160 --> 00:34:51,520 out of Philippians chapter three. 708 00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:53,120 The apostle Paul writes, 709 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:57,080 if someone else thinks they have reasons 710 00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:00,880 to put confidence in the flesh, I have more. 711 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:04,040 Circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, 712 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:07,480 of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, 713 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:10,360 in regard to the law, a Pharisee, 714 00:35:11,640 --> 00:35:14,120 as for zeal, persecuting the church, 715 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:17,720 as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. 716 00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:22,480 Paul saying, I did it all, I was perfect. 717 00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:25,040 I was a Pharisee of Pharisees. 718 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:28,840 I lived the life of trying to earn the life through Jesus. 719 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:31,080 I lived the life of trying to earn the life 720 00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:33,000 through the wax of righteousness. 721 00:35:34,640 --> 00:35:36,120 I can boast in that if I want, 722 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:37,880 but listen to what he says next. 723 00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:42,960 But whatever were gains to me, I now consider loss 724 00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:45,120 for the sake of Christ. 725 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:47,520 What is more, I consider everything a loss 726 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:49,040 because of the surpassing worth 727 00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:51,600 of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, 728 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:54,920 for whose sake I have lost all things. 729 00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:58,640 I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ 730 00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:02,000 and be found in him, not having a righteousness on my own 731 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:03,280 that comes from the law, 732 00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:05,640 but that which is through faith in Christ, 733 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:09,040 the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 734 00:36:09,040 --> 00:36:11,320 I want to know Christ. 735 00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:13,360 Yes, I want to know Christ, 736 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:15,560 to know the power of his resurrection 737 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:17,640 and participation in his sufferings, 738 00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:19,600 becoming like him in his death 739 00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:25,040 and so somehow attaining to the resurrection from the dead. 740 00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:29,200 Not that I have already attained all this 741 00:36:29,200 --> 00:36:31,840 or have already arrived at my goal, 742 00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:36,120 but I press on to take hold of that which Christ Jesus 743 00:36:36,120 --> 00:36:37,520 took hold of me. 744 00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:42,480 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet 745 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:45,720 to have taken hold of it, but one thing I do, 746 00:36:45,720 --> 00:36:48,120 forgetting what is behind and straining toward 747 00:36:48,120 --> 00:36:50,840 what is ahead, I press on toward the goal 748 00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:54,680 to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward 749 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:56,960 in Christ Jesus. 750 00:36:58,160 --> 00:36:59,480 You see it? 751 00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:00,720 It's all there. 752 00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:03,240 The prize, what's the prize? 753 00:37:03,240 --> 00:37:07,600 The prize is God himself, the life of God in me. 754 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:11,440 How is that attained? 755 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:13,360 Not through acts of righteousness, 756 00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:15,960 not through adherence to the law, 757 00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:18,200 but through orienting toward God, 758 00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:19,960 through reaching out, through pressing on, 759 00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:21,840 through trying to grab hold of him. 760 00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:25,120 Then life begins to flow to me. 761 00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:31,120 The prize is God, the prize is his life, 762 00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:33,640 and ultimately it's his resurrected life 763 00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:37,240 in our glorified bodies, which we will one day possess 764 00:37:37,240 --> 00:37:40,720 in perfect communion with God for all eternity. 765 00:37:40,720 --> 00:37:45,720 You see, in Genesis chapter 15, 766 00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:51,640 God says to Abraham, I am your shield 767 00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:53,480 and your very great reward. 768 00:37:55,120 --> 00:37:58,800 I am your shield and your very great reward. 769 00:37:58,800 --> 00:37:59,960 Will you pray with me? 770 00:38:01,560 --> 00:38:02,720 Father, I thank you. 771 00:38:05,320 --> 00:38:08,680 As we study your word that the gospel of Jesus Christ 772 00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:11,800 is not about my merits or my earning, 773 00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:13,320 but it's about your grace. 774 00:38:14,480 --> 00:38:17,200 I thank you, Lord, that we can study Matthew 6 today 775 00:38:17,200 --> 00:38:20,680 and not get a lesson on, oh, I should be fasting 776 00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:22,840 every single day this amount of time. 777 00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:24,720 I should be doing this, I can't drink that, 778 00:38:24,720 --> 00:38:26,600 I have to eat that, I can't do this. 779 00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:33,160 But instead, you have given us a work of grace, 780 00:38:35,120 --> 00:38:37,840 a spiritual discipline that could help to align us 781 00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:39,600 to have relationship with you 782 00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:41,600 and receive the life of the kingdom. 783 00:38:42,720 --> 00:38:45,480 I pray that each one of us would not walk away 784 00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:49,680 and leave it behind, but instead we would consider how 785 00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:53,680 in our lives we might use it faithfully 786 00:38:57,200 --> 00:38:58,720 to orient our lives toward you. 787 00:38:58,720 --> 00:39:03,080 I thank you for the invitation to live the kingdom life. 788 00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:06,400 I wanna ask while we're praying this morning, 789 00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:10,160 have you lived the life of a hypocrite? 790 00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:14,160 Have you lived the life of performance? 791 00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:16,880 Has the motive of your heart been off? 792 00:39:16,880 --> 00:39:20,800 Have you sought praise of man or acknowledgement of people 793 00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:33,800 or self-righteousness and self-earning? 794 00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:35,320 Or do you want to change? 795 00:39:35,320 --> 00:39:36,800 Do you wanna turn and reorient? 796 00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:40,120 Do you wanna seek intimacy in life with God? 797 00:39:40,120 --> 00:39:42,560 If that is you this morning with our heads bowed 798 00:39:42,560 --> 00:39:44,400 and eyes closed, would you just raise your hands 799 00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:46,040 so I can pray for you this morning? 800 00:39:48,040 --> 00:39:50,240 Father, I thank you for those who are responsible 801 00:39:50,240 --> 00:39:54,160 and those who are responding to your word, to your grace. 802 00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:58,440 I pray that you would empower them to live the life 803 00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:01,480 that you are calling them to, not as a hypocrite, 804 00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:06,800 not through the motions, not for performance, 805 00:40:06,800 --> 00:40:11,320 but that they may know you, that they may lay hold of you. 806 00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:17,400 May they be brought to you our great prize and reward. 807 00:40:17,400 --> 00:40:19,640 I pray that they would grow in intimacy 808 00:40:19,640 --> 00:40:21,600 and relationship with you this week, 809 00:40:21,600 --> 00:40:24,040 that they would feel your presence near, 810 00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:27,880 and that you, by the work of the gospel in their lives, 811 00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:30,920 would take away the desire for performance, 812 00:40:31,960 --> 00:40:35,560 the desire to measure up, the desire for self-salvation, 813 00:40:35,560 --> 00:40:37,800 and instead, melt all of that away 814 00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:40,280 in light of the beauty of who you are. 815 00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:42,920 Captivate their hearts and draw them to yourself, 816 00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:45,800 not through legalism, but because of God's grace 817 00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:48,200 and through legalism, but because of beauty. 818 00:40:49,160 --> 00:40:53,000 That they would see you as beautiful, desirous, 819 00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:55,920 a pearl of great price, a treasure to be chased, 820 00:40:55,920 --> 00:40:58,120 and they would reach out to take hold of you, 821 00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:03,320 not as a law, but as grace. 822 00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:06,680 Amen. 823 00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:12,320 Let's keep praying for just another moment, though. 824 00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:17,320 You are here, and there are things in your life 825 00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:21,160 that have control over you. 826 00:41:23,120 --> 00:41:26,000 Things in your life that have control over you, 827 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:27,360 and as we've talked about fasting 828 00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:28,920 and we looked at the Word, you're going, 829 00:41:28,920 --> 00:41:31,920 you know what, it's time for those things to be done with. 830 00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:33,280 It's time for me to break them off, 831 00:41:33,280 --> 00:41:36,240 and you see that fasting might be a grace 832 00:41:36,240 --> 00:41:40,040 that God has given you to cut that thing off 833 00:41:40,040 --> 00:41:42,720 and to reorient your life toward Him. 834 00:41:42,720 --> 00:41:45,480 It may not be a bad thing, most of the time it's not, 835 00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:48,560 but oftentimes it's the things that we lean on 836 00:41:48,560 --> 00:41:50,520 or we rely on or we've been kind of lulled 837 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:53,440 into a stoop or a sleep around. 838 00:41:55,080 --> 00:41:57,760 If that's you this morning, I also wanna pray for you. 839 00:41:57,760 --> 00:41:59,480 If you are done with those things 840 00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:00,880 having control over your life 841 00:42:00,880 --> 00:42:03,160 and you want to reorient back to God, 842 00:42:03,160 --> 00:42:04,240 I wanna pray also for you. 843 00:42:04,240 --> 00:42:06,040 If that's you, would you just lift your hand 844 00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:07,920 and raise it up with me this morning, 845 00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:10,040 and I will pray for you as well. 846 00:42:11,880 --> 00:42:14,880 Father, we come to you and we pray that 847 00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:18,360 whatever power or hold the things of this earth 848 00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:21,840 created things people have on our hearts, 849 00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:24,280 that you, the great deliverer, would break the bonds, 850 00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:27,680 break the chains, and set us free. 851 00:42:27,680 --> 00:42:30,320 I pray that there would be victory and triumph 852 00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:33,320 in the name of Jesus, of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 853 00:42:33,320 --> 00:42:38,320 that a flood of joy and hope would fill their souls 854 00:42:40,080 --> 00:42:43,400 as they take steps to cut that thing off, 855 00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:45,360 to choke it out for a little while, 856 00:42:46,440 --> 00:42:49,600 and to see what life is like without it. 857 00:42:50,520 --> 00:42:52,040 I pray that you would give them wisdom 858 00:42:52,040 --> 00:42:55,360 on how to execute on that, to do that well, 859 00:42:55,360 --> 00:42:58,400 and endurance to follow through. 860 00:42:59,920 --> 00:43:02,920 I also pray that your life in grace would meet them 861 00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:05,640 and give them strength when they have no strength, 862 00:43:05,640 --> 00:43:08,760 and help to carry them to the finish line. 863 00:43:10,080 --> 00:43:11,280 And may they always remember 864 00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:13,240 the great reward and treasure is you. 865 00:43:14,720 --> 00:43:17,520 It's not about the loss of the thing, 866 00:43:17,520 --> 00:43:20,240 it's about the gaining of the thing 867 00:43:20,240 --> 00:43:22,800 that is of greatest value. 868 00:43:25,720 --> 00:43:28,280 We pray this in the name of Jesus. 869 00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:33,280 Amen.