1 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:07,280 So we turn tonight to Matthew, chapter 6. 2 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:17,980 Chapter 6, we'll begin reading with, "...that ye 3 00:00:17,980 --> 00:00:20,720 do not your alms before men, to be 4 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:21,360 seen of them. 5 00:00:22,020 --> 00:00:25,240 Otherwise ye have no reward of your Father 6 00:00:25,240 --> 00:00:26,060 which is in heaven. 7 00:00:26,340 --> 00:00:29,240 Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, do not 8 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:31,980 sound the trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites 9 00:00:31,980 --> 00:00:34,220 do in the synagogues and in the streets, 10 00:00:34,220 --> 00:00:36,540 that they may have glory of men. 11 00:00:37,100 --> 00:00:39,580 Verily I say unto you, they have their 12 00:00:39,580 --> 00:00:40,180 reward. 13 00:00:41,660 --> 00:00:43,740 But, at times, let not thy left hand 14 00:00:43,740 --> 00:00:46,600 know what thy right hand doeth, that thine 15 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:49,660 alms may be in secret, and thy Father 16 00:00:49,660 --> 00:00:53,200 which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee 17 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:53,640 openly. 18 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:56,560 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be 19 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:59,300 as the hypocrites are, for they love to 20 00:00:59,300 --> 00:01:01,720 pray standing in the synagogues and in the 21 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:04,300 corner of the streets, that they may be 22 00:01:04,300 --> 00:01:05,360 seen of men. 23 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:08,940 Verily I say unto you, they have their 24 00:01:08,940 --> 00:01:09,480 reward. 25 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:12,380 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy 26 00:01:12,380 --> 00:01:12,880 closet. 27 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:15,420 When thou hast shut thy door, pray to 28 00:01:15,420 --> 00:01:17,900 thy Father which is in secret, and thy 29 00:01:17,900 --> 00:01:21,320 Father which is in secret shall reward thee 30 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:21,780 openly. 31 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:26,320 When ye pray, use not vain repetitions as 32 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:28,640 the heathen do, for they think that they 33 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:29,900 shall be heard for their speaking. 34 00:01:30,860 --> 00:01:32,800 Be not ye therefore alike unto them, for 35 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:34,720 your Father knoweth what things ye have need 36 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:36,160 of before ye ask him. 37 00:01:37,780 --> 00:01:40,620 After this manner, therefore, pray ye, our Father 38 00:01:40,620 --> 00:01:43,660 which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, 39 00:01:43,940 --> 00:01:44,940 thy kingdom come. 40 00:01:45,700 --> 00:01:47,300 Thy will be done in earth as it 41 00:01:47,300 --> 00:01:47,880 is in heaven. 42 00:01:48,620 --> 00:01:51,340 Give us this day our daily bread, and 43 00:01:51,340 --> 00:01:53,480 forgive us our debts as we forgive our 44 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:54,000 debtors. 45 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,080 Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us 46 00:01:57,080 --> 00:01:57,620 from evil. 47 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:00,360 For thine is the kingdom and the power 48 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:01,660 and the glory forever. 49 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:02,460 Amen. 50 00:02:03,460 --> 00:02:05,880 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your 51 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:07,800 heavenly Father will also forgive you. 52 00:02:08,460 --> 00:02:11,660 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, 53 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:14,400 neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 54 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:17,300 Moreover, when ye fast, be not as the 55 00:02:17,300 --> 00:02:20,640 hypocrites of a sad countenance, for they disfigure 56 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:23,340 their faces that they may appear unto men 57 00:02:23,340 --> 00:02:23,900 to fast. 58 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:27,120 Verily I say unto you, they have their 59 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:27,640 reward. 60 00:02:28,420 --> 00:02:31,320 But thou wilt thou fastest anoint thy head 61 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:34,320 and wash thy face, that thou appear not 62 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:36,820 unto men to fast, but unto thy Father 63 00:02:36,820 --> 00:02:39,060 which is in secret, and thy Father which 64 00:02:39,060 --> 00:02:42,060 is in secret shall reward thee openly. 65 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:44,480 1. 66 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:46,600 In verse 1 of this chapter you have 67 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:49,560 a general exhortation from the Lord Jesus to 68 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:52,620 his disciples, and actually there is a change 69 00:02:52,620 --> 00:02:54,560 of one word that will be helpful to 70 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:55,040 us here. 71 00:02:55,140 --> 00:02:56,500 I don't know if the margin of your 72 00:02:56,500 --> 00:02:59,360 Bible shows this, but in verse 1 the 73 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:02,440 word alms should be righteousness. 74 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:06,560 In other words, what the Lord Jesus is 75 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:08,280 saying in verse 1 is that no matter 76 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:11,860 what form of righteousness we practice, we should 77 00:03:11,860 --> 00:03:14,620 do it privately and in secret. 78 00:03:15,180 --> 00:03:17,280 Then he goes on to give three types 79 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:19,160 in the sections that follow. 80 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:21,840 Verse 1 is general. 81 00:03:22,220 --> 00:03:24,180 He says, When you do your righteousnesses, do 82 00:03:24,180 --> 00:03:24,820 them in secret. 83 00:03:25,180 --> 00:03:28,080 Then the first he takes up alms, then 84 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:31,360 the second prayer, and the third fasting. 85 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:34,140 He gives three particular types. 86 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:38,020 So we'll read verse 1, He that ye 87 00:03:38,020 --> 00:03:41,060 do not show righteousness before men to be 88 00:03:41,060 --> 00:03:43,640 seen of them, otherwise ye have no reward 89 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:45,200 of your Father which is in heaven. 90 00:03:45,660 --> 00:03:47,700 It's wonderful how the word of God pierces 91 00:03:47,700 --> 00:03:49,980 through and exposes the human heart. 92 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:53,540 A lot of times there's a tendency to 93 00:03:53,540 --> 00:03:56,080 do things to be seen of men, and 94 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:57,540 if men didn't see you do it, there'd 95 00:03:57,540 --> 00:03:58,760 be no fun in it at all. 96 00:03:59,340 --> 00:04:02,360 Well, in approaching God in service and in 97 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:05,860 worship, God doesn't want that attitude to control 98 00:04:05,860 --> 00:04:08,060 our lives. 99 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:09,980 He doesn't want that to be the motive 100 00:04:09,980 --> 00:04:11,140 of our lives. 101 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:13,760 We have a God who's invisible, but who 102 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:17,399 sees in secret, and he will reward openly. 103 00:04:18,079 --> 00:04:21,300 Now, the first exhortation is that when we 104 00:04:21,300 --> 00:04:23,660 do our alms, we should do them in 105 00:04:23,660 --> 00:04:24,040 secret. 106 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:26,020 And alms, of course, have to do with 107 00:04:26,020 --> 00:04:28,920 deeds of kindness, deeds of charity. 108 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:33,120 And the rather ridiculous picture is given in 109 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:35,860 this portion of Scripture that the hypocrite liked 110 00:04:35,860 --> 00:04:38,580 to go down into the marketplace and blow 111 00:04:38,580 --> 00:04:41,580 a trumpet and attract all kinds of attention 112 00:04:41,580 --> 00:04:44,000 before they gave their gift to the Red 113 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:47,820 Feather Fund, or some other notable work of 114 00:04:47,820 --> 00:04:48,320 charity. 115 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:50,460 And of course you can see the humor 116 00:04:50,460 --> 00:04:53,340 in such a situation, and yet it's real 117 00:04:53,340 --> 00:04:54,620 and true to life. 118 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,460 It isn't the Christian way, but it is 119 00:04:58,460 --> 00:04:59,380 the way of the world. 120 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:01,360 And you know, it's too bad that it 121 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,020 has even crept into Christendom today. 122 00:05:05,020 --> 00:05:08,820 For instance, you have great organizations that promise 123 00:05:08,820 --> 00:05:12,120 to publish the lists of donors if they 124 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:13,780 give above a certain amount. 125 00:05:14,260 --> 00:05:16,840 Well, that's the very type of thing that 126 00:05:16,840 --> 00:05:18,320 is spoken of here. 127 00:05:18,820 --> 00:05:20,640 I remember not so long ago being in 128 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:22,660 a neighborhood, and a certain church went around 129 00:05:22,660 --> 00:05:25,660 collecting money from the people in the neighborhood, 130 00:05:25,780 --> 00:05:27,440 and they promised them that if they gave 131 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:29,940 a certain amount, their names would be inscribed 132 00:05:29,940 --> 00:05:33,460 in the marble floor in front of the 133 00:05:33,460 --> 00:05:33,940 altar. 134 00:05:34,700 --> 00:05:36,200 Well, that's the very type of thing that's 135 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:38,500 spoken of in this portion of Scripture. 136 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:41,680 And sad to say, in Christendom today there 137 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:43,900 is a lot of giving that never would 138 00:05:43,900 --> 00:05:46,740 take place unless it was publicized. 139 00:05:47,300 --> 00:05:49,440 And of course, this is directly contrary to 140 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:51,620 the spirit of the Lord Christ. 141 00:05:52,180 --> 00:05:55,180 He says, when you do your arm, don't 142 00:05:55,180 --> 00:05:57,180 let your right hand know what your left 143 00:05:57,180 --> 00:05:58,580 hand is doing. 144 00:05:58,840 --> 00:06:00,880 Isn't that a lovely way of putting it? 145 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:02,440 Don't let your right hand know. 146 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:04,600 In other words, of course, it's a figurative 147 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:07,620 expression, and you mustn't press it too far. 148 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:09,240 But the idea is to do it so 149 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:11,740 secretly, over on this side, that the hand 150 00:06:11,740 --> 00:06:13,560 over on this side doesn't really know what's 151 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:13,980 going on. 152 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:15,620 Of course, it does know, because they're both 153 00:06:15,620 --> 00:06:18,460 connected to one central nervous system to the 154 00:06:18,460 --> 00:06:18,820 brain. 155 00:06:18,820 --> 00:06:20,200 But never mind. 156 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:22,680 We know what this means in practice, and 157 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:26,060 thank God we know Christians who are practicing 158 00:06:26,060 --> 00:06:26,760 this too. 159 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:30,060 And I thank God for Christians with whom 160 00:06:30,060 --> 00:06:32,420 I am associated, with whom I have fellowship, 161 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:35,740 and who live this type of a life. 162 00:06:35,820 --> 00:06:37,980 They don't let their right hand know what 163 00:06:37,980 --> 00:06:39,040 their left hand is doing. 164 00:06:39,180 --> 00:06:40,340 And I think in that connection it would 165 00:06:40,340 --> 00:06:42,080 be fitting for me just to pause here 166 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:45,040 and express our thanks to the Saints here 167 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:46,960 in Durham and the Gospel Center for their 168 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:49,240 loving interest in the work of the Lord 169 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:51,680 at Emmaus, and also to those associated with 170 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:54,660 the LNM Bible class, and to many others 171 00:06:54,660 --> 00:06:57,860 who stand by faithfully in prayers and in 172 00:06:57,860 --> 00:06:59,420 sacrificial giving. 173 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:02,980 It might surprise you tonight to know that 174 00:07:02,980 --> 00:07:05,280 rich people don't support the work of the 175 00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:05,460 Lord. 176 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:08,580 I don't know whether you realize that or 177 00:07:08,580 --> 00:07:10,120 not, but the work of the Lord is 178 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,720 carried on by people with very moderate means. 179 00:07:14,540 --> 00:07:16,160 I have some reason to know that, because 180 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:17,480 I've been there at the work of the 181 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:20,480 school for over 14 years now, and have 182 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:22,780 watched the gifts coming in from all over 183 00:07:22,780 --> 00:07:23,260 the country. 184 00:07:24,300 --> 00:07:26,360 And it bows my heart in gratitude to 185 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:28,540 God when I think that the work has 186 00:07:28,540 --> 00:07:32,860 been supported, oftentimes in crucial moments, by people 187 00:07:32,860 --> 00:07:36,460 like widows who have given not out of 188 00:07:36,460 --> 00:07:39,160 their abundance, but out of their deep poverty. 189 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:42,260 And we've learned the lesson that little is 190 00:07:42,260 --> 00:07:43,480 much if God is in it. 191 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:46,040 I often think of what dear Hudson Taylor 192 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:48,080 once said in connection with the work of 193 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:48,460 the Lord. 194 00:07:48,900 --> 00:07:51,540 He said, What we greatly have to fear 195 00:07:51,540 --> 00:07:55,000 is not too little money, but too much 196 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:56,340 unsanctified money. 197 00:07:57,340 --> 00:07:59,720 Well, that isn't exactly the emphasis in Christendom 198 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:01,340 today with all its begging. 199 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:03,920 You think the only problem in Christianity today 200 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:05,580 was a shortage of money. 201 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:06,940 Well, that isn't the case at all. 202 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:08,160 Hudson Taylor was right. 203 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:09,900 What we have greatly to fear is not 204 00:08:09,900 --> 00:08:13,060 too little money, but too much unsanctified money. 205 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:15,580 Well, the Lord Jesus here teaches us that 206 00:08:15,580 --> 00:08:20,020 when we do make our alms, we should 207 00:08:20,020 --> 00:08:21,240 do so in secret. 208 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:25,680 He says, That thy alms may be in 209 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:28,140 secret, and thy father which seeth in secret 210 00:08:28,140 --> 00:08:31,360 himself shall reward thee openly. 211 00:08:32,220 --> 00:08:34,799 If a person just gives to be seen, 212 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:37,159 then he already has his reward. 213 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:38,600 He won't get any reward in heaven. 214 00:08:39,340 --> 00:08:40,960 In other words, the purpose that he had 215 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:42,480 in giving was to be seen of men. 216 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:43,880 Well, when he is seen of men, he's 217 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:44,740 achieved his purpose. 218 00:08:45,740 --> 00:08:46,820 And you know, it is too bad that 219 00:08:46,820 --> 00:08:49,420 a lot of giving today is done with 220 00:08:49,420 --> 00:08:51,560 an idea of giving a person prestige in 221 00:08:51,560 --> 00:08:55,460 the community or even business connections, something like 222 00:08:55,460 --> 00:08:55,660 that. 223 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:58,100 Well, it's all hostile to the spirit and 224 00:08:58,100 --> 00:08:59,980 intent of the word of God. 225 00:09:01,620 --> 00:09:02,780 And then in the next verse, as you 226 00:09:02,780 --> 00:09:04,660 have a section on prayer, and the Lord 227 00:09:04,660 --> 00:09:07,240 Jesus says the same thing, he says, Don't 228 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:09,260 be as a hypocrite when you pray. 229 00:09:09,420 --> 00:09:11,800 They love to pray standing in the synagogues 230 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:13,420 and in the corners of the streets that 231 00:09:13,420 --> 00:09:14,460 they may be seen of them. 232 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:16,020 Now, I've seen this plenty of times. 233 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:18,640 I've gone by certain buildings and I've seen 234 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:20,060 a man out in a black robe with 235 00:09:20,060 --> 00:09:21,640 a little black book in his hand, and 236 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:23,980 he's praying up and down in public sites 237 00:09:23,980 --> 00:09:25,800 and gives the impression of being a very 238 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:27,040 holy man. 239 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:30,180 And of course, you can go to other 240 00:09:30,180 --> 00:09:32,040 sections of the world, and this is very, 241 00:09:32,140 --> 00:09:33,220 very common. 242 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:35,100 The very thing that's described here. 243 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:37,640 In our culture, it almost seems strange that 244 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:39,500 anybody would do this, but men do it, 245 00:09:39,660 --> 00:09:42,040 and they do it not too far away. 246 00:09:42,540 --> 00:09:44,100 Well, the word of God says they have 247 00:09:44,100 --> 00:09:44,960 their reward. 248 00:09:45,460 --> 00:09:47,820 They pray to be seen by others, and 249 00:09:47,820 --> 00:09:50,320 they are seen by others, and that's it. 250 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:52,440 Now, dear friends, this doesn't have anything to 251 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:55,720 do with public prayer in the assembly of 252 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:56,380 God's people. 253 00:09:57,700 --> 00:09:59,080 It doesn't have anything to do with that 254 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:02,520 at all, because there are very explicit instructions 255 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:04,060 to us in the word of God that 256 00:10:04,060 --> 00:10:05,720 when we come together, we are. 257 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:11,120 Men ought always to pray, and men are 258 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:12,900 to take the lead in prayer, of course, 259 00:10:13,180 --> 00:10:14,780 in the assembly of God's people. 260 00:10:15,060 --> 00:10:16,520 I know a lot of Christians that have 261 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:18,960 trouble in their mind with this question of 262 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:19,780 praying in public. 263 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:23,200 They say, well, I don't like to get 264 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:24,820 up and pray in public because I'm afraid 265 00:10:24,820 --> 00:10:26,560 I'm just praying to be seen. 266 00:10:27,740 --> 00:10:29,120 Well, of course, we shouldn't pray to be 267 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:31,160 seen, and yet I think that we should 268 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:33,520 remember this, that as I said one night 269 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:35,540 before, that in a sense everything we do 270 00:10:35,540 --> 00:10:37,700 is stained with sin, and we have a 271 00:10:37,700 --> 00:10:39,900 great high priest above, and he has on 272 00:10:39,900 --> 00:10:42,720 his forehead a mitre with the words holiness 273 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:45,480 unto the Lord on it, and the mitre 274 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:47,340 on his forehead is for the iniquity of 275 00:10:47,340 --> 00:10:47,940 holy things. 276 00:10:48,060 --> 00:10:49,280 This is a comfort to me. 277 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:52,800 I confess to you that sometimes I stand 278 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:54,860 up to pray, and perhaps my motive is 279 00:10:54,860 --> 00:10:57,260 not 100% pure, but I do it, 280 00:10:57,660 --> 00:11:00,460 and I realize that the Lord is there, 281 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:03,060 and all the iniquity in my holy things 282 00:11:03,060 --> 00:11:06,140 is removed before it ever gets to God 283 00:11:06,140 --> 00:11:06,680 the Father. 284 00:11:07,260 --> 00:11:09,480 So I try not to let my own 285 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:12,580 shortcomings hinder me in my desire to obey 286 00:11:12,580 --> 00:11:13,600 the word of God. 287 00:11:13,660 --> 00:11:15,340 This section doesn't have to do with that. 288 00:11:15,560 --> 00:11:17,140 This section has to do with men out 289 00:11:17,140 --> 00:11:19,540 in the marketplaces and in public places, just 290 00:11:19,540 --> 00:11:22,220 parading up and down, praying to be seen 291 00:11:22,220 --> 00:11:22,740 of men. 292 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:24,480 It says, when you pray, enter into your 293 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:24,940 closet. 294 00:11:25,220 --> 00:11:27,300 Of course, a closet in Bible times wasn't 295 00:11:27,300 --> 00:11:29,140 like where you hang your coat, but it's 296 00:11:29,140 --> 00:11:29,660 a room. 297 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:31,860 It was an upper room in the home, 298 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:33,560 and it was a place of privacy where 299 00:11:33,560 --> 00:11:35,120 a man could go and carry on his 300 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:37,980 devotion with God, and the promise is that 301 00:11:37,980 --> 00:11:40,660 God who is invisible, who sees in secret, 302 00:11:40,780 --> 00:11:42,340 will reward you openly. 303 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:44,160 And then the word of God tells us 304 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:47,380 that we're not to use vain repetitions in 305 00:11:47,380 --> 00:11:48,300 our prayer life. 306 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:52,920 Now, vain repetitions mean, well, say, five hour 307 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:54,940 fathers, or something like that, just for the 308 00:11:54,940 --> 00:11:58,520 idea that going through a certain ritualistic prayer 309 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:00,760 that God hears you for your much asking. 310 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:01,960 Well, of course, that's ridiculous. 311 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:03,940 In certain sections of the world, they have 312 00:12:03,940 --> 00:12:06,220 prayer wheels, and they spin these prayer wheels, 313 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:07,560 and the idea is that the more the 314 00:12:07,560 --> 00:12:09,440 prayer wheel goes around, the more God hears 315 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:09,660 it. 316 00:12:10,060 --> 00:12:12,180 Well, how vain and how full of folly 317 00:12:12,180 --> 00:12:13,900 such an idea is. 318 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:16,540 Use not vain repetitions, it says, of the 319 00:12:16,540 --> 00:12:18,560 heathen do, and that means the Gentiles. 320 00:12:18,940 --> 00:12:21,900 Gentile religions have been characterized by that sort 321 00:12:21,900 --> 00:12:22,300 of thing. 322 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:25,300 They think that they'll be heard for their 323 00:12:25,300 --> 00:12:25,780 much hearing. 324 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:27,460 It says, don't be like them. 325 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:29,760 What God wants us to do is come 326 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:33,180 to him in simple faith, and just speak 327 00:12:33,180 --> 00:12:34,960 to him as a child would speak to 328 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:35,460 his father. 329 00:12:35,540 --> 00:12:36,600 That's the best prayer. 330 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:40,060 That's the best prayer, just coming to God 331 00:12:40,060 --> 00:12:42,920 as to a loving, heavenly father, and telling 332 00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:44,720 him what is on our heart, making our 333 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:46,320 needs and requests known to him. 334 00:12:47,580 --> 00:12:49,340 And then the Lord Jesus gave us this 335 00:12:49,340 --> 00:12:52,820 model prayer in verses 9 through 15, commonly 336 00:12:52,820 --> 00:12:54,940 known as the Lord's Prayer. 337 00:12:55,780 --> 00:12:57,700 Now, remember, as we go over this, that 338 00:12:57,700 --> 00:12:59,480 he has just finished saying, don't use vain 339 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:02,680 repetitions, and I personally don't believe that the 340 00:13:02,680 --> 00:13:04,620 Lord intended us just to take this prayer 341 00:13:04,620 --> 00:13:06,580 verbatim and use it over and over again. 342 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:08,260 I don't believe he intended us to do 343 00:13:08,260 --> 00:13:08,440 that. 344 00:13:08,560 --> 00:13:09,720 I don't think it's wrong if you want 345 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:11,200 to do it, but I don't think that 346 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:12,600 was the idea that the Lord had in 347 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:12,900 mind. 348 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:15,360 I believe this is the model, or the 349 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,080 pattern, that our prayers should follow. 350 00:13:18,740 --> 00:13:19,620 What is the pattern? 351 00:13:19,740 --> 00:13:22,060 Well, it begins, Our Father which art in 352 00:13:22,060 --> 00:13:22,260 heaven. 353 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:23,320 What does that mean? 354 00:13:23,540 --> 00:13:25,620 Well, it means our prayers should be addressed 355 00:13:25,620 --> 00:13:27,320 to God the Father in heaven. 356 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:30,100 And you know, that's really what prayer is. 357 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:34,260 When I bow on my knees in prayer, 358 00:13:34,780 --> 00:13:37,140 by faith, I'm not on the earth any 359 00:13:37,140 --> 00:13:37,500 longer. 360 00:13:37,940 --> 00:13:41,060 By faith, I enter into the heavenly sanctuary, 361 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:44,060 and I'm in the presence of God, the 362 00:13:44,060 --> 00:13:44,960 sovereign of the universe. 363 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:45,980 That's what prayer is. 364 00:13:46,900 --> 00:13:48,120 And I want to tell you, that's no 365 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:48,960 mean privilege. 366 00:13:49,500 --> 00:13:50,860 You know, I couldn't go down and see 367 00:13:50,860 --> 00:13:52,100 J.F. Kennedy tonight. 368 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:54,680 I couldn't get into the world's dignitaries. 369 00:13:54,780 --> 00:13:56,580 The guards outside would give me a hard 370 00:13:56,580 --> 00:13:56,960 time. 371 00:13:57,180 --> 00:13:58,700 But it is a wonderful thing to know 372 00:13:58,700 --> 00:14:00,080 that at any time of the day or 373 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:03,440 night, I can bow before God, and I 374 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:05,140 can come into his presence in the worthy 375 00:14:05,140 --> 00:14:07,220 name of the Lord Jesus Christ. 376 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:08,240 That's prayer. 377 00:14:08,340 --> 00:14:10,700 Our Father which art in heaven. 378 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:12,800 Well, what's the next thing I learned about 379 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:13,120 prayer? 380 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:15,580 Well, I learned that instead of beginning with 381 00:14:15,580 --> 00:14:17,620 my own request and what I need, I 382 00:14:17,620 --> 00:14:21,180 should begin by ascribing honor, worship, and praise 383 00:14:21,180 --> 00:14:21,700 to him. 384 00:14:22,260 --> 00:14:23,600 Hallowed be thy name. 385 00:14:24,740 --> 00:14:25,940 And this is exactly right. 386 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:27,500 This would be the Christian approach. 387 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:30,060 Before thinking about myself and what I need, 388 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:31,560 I should think of all that God has 389 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:33,580 done for me, and so I should begin 390 00:14:33,580 --> 00:14:36,320 my prayers with thanksgiving to him, shouldn't I? 391 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:38,760 And praise him for his glorious name and 392 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:40,820 for the gift of his love, the Lord 393 00:14:40,820 --> 00:14:41,980 Jesus Christ. 394 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:43,900 Hallowed be thy name. 395 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:45,980 You know, the name in the Bible is 396 00:14:45,980 --> 00:14:48,260 always taken for the person, and when you 397 00:14:48,260 --> 00:14:50,760 say, Hallowed be thy name, you mean, Hallowed 398 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:54,480 be God, praised be God, worshiped be God. 399 00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:55,560 That's really what it means. 400 00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:59,740 Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come. 401 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:01,000 Now, what does that mean? 402 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:03,680 Well, it means after worshiping and praising God, 403 00:15:03,780 --> 00:15:06,460 I think of God's interests here on earth, 404 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:08,880 and I put his interests first, because I'm 405 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:10,820 taught that later on in this same chapter, 406 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:12,720 seeking first the kingdom of God and his 407 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:13,180 righteousness. 408 00:15:13,900 --> 00:15:18,100 Now, thy kingdom come, that really means, Lord, 409 00:15:18,260 --> 00:15:20,780 I pray for the time when the Lord 410 00:15:20,780 --> 00:15:23,240 Jesus Christ will come back and set up 411 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:26,260 his reign here on earth, and when the 412 00:15:26,260 --> 00:15:28,380 knowledge of the glory of the Lord shall 413 00:15:28,380 --> 00:15:30,340 cover the earth as the waters cover the 414 00:15:30,340 --> 00:15:30,700 sea. 415 00:15:30,980 --> 00:15:31,640 That's what it means. 416 00:15:32,420 --> 00:15:33,720 You know, this poor old world is in 417 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:36,580 a mess tonight, and Christ isn't where he 418 00:15:36,580 --> 00:15:37,200 ought to be. 419 00:15:37,940 --> 00:15:39,720 The Lord Jesus Christ is in heaven tonight, 420 00:15:39,780 --> 00:15:40,920 but he shouldn't be in heaven tonight. 421 00:15:41,100 --> 00:15:43,180 He should be on earth, reigning where he 422 00:15:43,180 --> 00:15:43,600 should be. 423 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:46,120 The Spirit of God is on earth today. 424 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:47,140 He shouldn't be on earth today. 425 00:15:47,140 --> 00:15:49,680 He should be in heaven with God the 426 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:50,020 Father. 427 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:54,080 The presence of the Spirit of God in 428 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:57,120 the world tonight is witness to a rejected 429 00:15:57,120 --> 00:15:57,680 Christ. 430 00:16:00,250 --> 00:16:02,130 So, I pray thy kingdom come. 431 00:16:02,190 --> 00:16:04,230 I look forward to that glorious day when 432 00:16:04,230 --> 00:16:06,950 the Savior himself shall come and set up 433 00:16:06,950 --> 00:16:10,190 his worldwide rule, when he shall rule for 434 00:16:10,190 --> 00:16:12,250 a thousand years over this earth. 435 00:16:12,330 --> 00:16:13,130 Thy kingdom come. 436 00:16:13,530 --> 00:16:15,530 Thy will be done on earth as it 437 00:16:15,530 --> 00:16:16,170 is in heaven. 438 00:16:16,530 --> 00:16:17,850 You see, this is what the child of 439 00:16:17,850 --> 00:16:18,950 God longs for. 440 00:16:19,330 --> 00:16:21,870 Today we live where the King has been 441 00:16:21,870 --> 00:16:27,490 rejected and where man's will is predominant and 442 00:16:27,490 --> 00:16:30,250 where the will of God means nothing among 443 00:16:30,250 --> 00:16:31,430 the people of this world. 444 00:16:31,910 --> 00:16:33,850 So we pray, Thy will be done on 445 00:16:33,850 --> 00:16:36,590 earth as it is in heaven. 446 00:16:37,970 --> 00:16:41,990 After that, we introduce our own needs. 447 00:16:42,350 --> 00:16:44,150 I take it that this expression, Give us 448 00:16:44,150 --> 00:16:46,050 this day our daily bread, is just a 449 00:16:46,050 --> 00:16:47,970 short summary that at this point in our 450 00:16:47,970 --> 00:16:49,990 prayers we are permitted to come to God 451 00:16:49,990 --> 00:16:51,610 and make known our needs. 452 00:16:52,170 --> 00:16:54,910 This expresses our dependence upon him for the 453 00:16:54,910 --> 00:16:56,450 very food that we eat. 454 00:16:56,870 --> 00:16:59,110 Give us this day our daily bread. 455 00:16:59,450 --> 00:17:02,130 It's not only physical food, but we should 456 00:17:02,130 --> 00:17:05,730 pray every day for spiritual food, too. 457 00:17:05,849 --> 00:17:07,349 Give us this day our daily bread. 458 00:17:07,710 --> 00:17:09,609 I don't think the Lord just intended this 459 00:17:09,609 --> 00:17:12,430 to mean the food we eat with our 460 00:17:12,430 --> 00:17:15,510 bodies, but also the spiritual food, the word 461 00:17:15,510 --> 00:17:17,310 of God, and that he should give us 462 00:17:17,310 --> 00:17:20,369 a suited portion each day for our soul. 463 00:17:21,550 --> 00:17:23,150 Then it says, And forgive us our debts 464 00:17:23,150 --> 00:17:24,950 as we forgive our debtors. 465 00:17:25,670 --> 00:17:27,970 Oh, you say, that doesn't sound like Christianity, 466 00:17:28,350 --> 00:17:28,750 does it? 467 00:17:29,010 --> 00:17:30,670 Forgive us our debts as we forgive our 468 00:17:30,670 --> 00:17:30,890 debtors. 469 00:17:30,890 --> 00:17:31,670 It really does. 470 00:17:32,130 --> 00:17:32,790 It's very Christian. 471 00:17:33,350 --> 00:17:35,090 It's very Christian, because in the verses that 472 00:17:35,090 --> 00:17:36,710 follow, we learn that if we don't forgive 473 00:17:36,710 --> 00:17:40,690 our debtors, how can we expect God to 474 00:17:40,690 --> 00:17:41,250 forgive us? 475 00:17:41,590 --> 00:17:43,590 Oh, people say to me, but Mr. MacDonald, 476 00:17:43,690 --> 00:17:45,910 you forget that forgiveness of sins is through 477 00:17:45,910 --> 00:17:48,390 the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. 478 00:17:48,510 --> 00:17:49,130 That's true. 479 00:17:49,990 --> 00:17:50,550 That's true. 480 00:17:50,590 --> 00:17:52,070 When you come to God in the first 481 00:17:52,070 --> 00:17:54,110 place for forgiveness of sins, it has nothing 482 00:17:54,110 --> 00:17:55,490 to do with your forgiving others. 483 00:17:55,910 --> 00:17:56,510 Nothing to do. 484 00:17:57,050 --> 00:17:58,870 But you see, what we must remember in 485 00:17:58,870 --> 00:18:01,470 this prayer is that there are different types 486 00:18:01,470 --> 00:18:03,110 of forgiveness in the Bible. 487 00:18:03,730 --> 00:18:05,950 When you come to God as a guilty, 488 00:18:06,230 --> 00:18:09,370 lost sinner, confess your sins and receive Jesus 489 00:18:09,370 --> 00:18:11,690 Christ as Savior, you receive what we call 490 00:18:11,690 --> 00:18:13,330 judicial forgiveness. 491 00:18:14,190 --> 00:18:15,130 Judicial forgiveness. 492 00:18:15,250 --> 00:18:17,110 Your sins are gone, buried in the deep, 493 00:18:17,130 --> 00:18:17,750 deep sea. 494 00:18:18,190 --> 00:18:20,570 God will bring them into remembrance no more. 495 00:18:20,890 --> 00:18:22,830 But there's another type of forgiveness, and we 496 00:18:22,830 --> 00:18:24,850 call that parental forgiveness. 497 00:18:25,710 --> 00:18:26,970 Now, you know that in your home when 498 00:18:26,970 --> 00:18:29,050 your boy is naughty, you don't sentence him 499 00:18:29,050 --> 00:18:30,070 to the electric chair. 500 00:18:30,730 --> 00:18:32,310 That's the judicial act. 501 00:18:33,390 --> 00:18:35,410 But you have in your home what you 502 00:18:35,410 --> 00:18:37,690 call parental forgiveness, don't you? 503 00:18:38,010 --> 00:18:39,690 Well, after you become a child of God 504 00:18:39,690 --> 00:18:41,390 by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you 505 00:18:41,390 --> 00:18:43,170 don't need judicial forgiveness anymore. 506 00:18:43,890 --> 00:18:46,530 When you sin, God doesn't sentence you to 507 00:18:46,530 --> 00:18:49,270 die in hell after you're saved, but you 508 00:18:49,270 --> 00:18:52,350 need parental forgiveness after you've sinned. 509 00:18:52,590 --> 00:18:54,310 And God is saying here that if you 510 00:18:54,310 --> 00:18:59,290 don't forgive men their debts, how can you 511 00:18:59,290 --> 00:19:01,770 expect parental forgiveness from him? 512 00:19:02,830 --> 00:19:06,030 In other words, you're not acting like God 513 00:19:06,030 --> 00:19:07,390 has acted toward you. 514 00:19:07,650 --> 00:19:10,410 Forgive us our debts as we forgive our 515 00:19:10,410 --> 00:19:10,870 debtors. 516 00:19:11,390 --> 00:19:12,450 And then it says, It will lead us 517 00:19:12,450 --> 00:19:14,790 not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 518 00:19:16,150 --> 00:19:17,370 That's a hard one, isn't it? 519 00:19:17,370 --> 00:19:19,490 Would God ever lead anybody into temptation? 520 00:19:20,470 --> 00:19:21,970 That's hard, isn't it? 521 00:19:22,870 --> 00:19:27,370 Well, you know, although it's hard, and although 522 00:19:27,370 --> 00:19:30,430 that's difficult to understand, yet I pray that 523 00:19:30,430 --> 00:19:31,990 prayer, and I think I know what it 524 00:19:31,990 --> 00:19:33,010 means when I pray it. 525 00:19:35,310 --> 00:19:38,130 I think that what we're praying here is 526 00:19:38,130 --> 00:19:43,490 that God deliver us from being put to 527 00:19:43,490 --> 00:19:43,970 the test. 528 00:19:44,950 --> 00:19:46,690 You know, he allowed Job to be put 529 00:19:46,690 --> 00:19:49,950 to the test in the Old Testament, told 530 00:19:49,950 --> 00:19:51,390 Satan he could do anything but take his 531 00:19:51,390 --> 00:19:54,210 life, and poor Job went pretty low. 532 00:19:55,190 --> 00:19:57,570 Well, I'm afraid I wouldn't have the strength 533 00:19:57,570 --> 00:19:59,510 and fortitude that Job has, and I say 534 00:19:59,510 --> 00:20:01,690 to the Lord, lead us not into temptation. 535 00:20:01,850 --> 00:20:03,810 Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me 536 00:20:03,810 --> 00:20:04,210 from evil. 537 00:20:04,490 --> 00:20:08,450 I think this prayer suggests a sense of 538 00:20:08,450 --> 00:20:13,570 my own weakness and my own worthlessness, and 539 00:20:13,570 --> 00:20:16,450 that if left to myself for an instant, 540 00:20:16,590 --> 00:20:17,930 I can do nothing but fall. 541 00:20:18,370 --> 00:20:20,410 And I think it's a prayer for God's 542 00:20:20,410 --> 00:20:23,990 sustaining grace through all the trials and difficulties 543 00:20:23,990 --> 00:20:26,670 and temptations of life, and life is filled 544 00:20:26,670 --> 00:20:27,150 with them. 545 00:20:27,890 --> 00:20:29,910 And so once again, I say that although 546 00:20:29,910 --> 00:20:32,050 I might not be able to explain all 547 00:20:32,050 --> 00:20:34,670 the theological meanings of a verse like that, 548 00:20:35,010 --> 00:20:37,350 yet I can pray that I'm satisfied in 549 00:20:37,350 --> 00:20:38,990 my own soul that I know what it 550 00:20:38,990 --> 00:20:41,350 means and that God knows what it means 551 00:20:41,350 --> 00:20:44,430 to lead us not into temptation, but deliver 552 00:20:44,430 --> 00:20:45,270 us from evil. 553 00:20:45,410 --> 00:20:47,310 For thine is the kingdom and the power 554 00:20:47,310 --> 00:20:48,290 and the glory forever. 555 00:20:48,490 --> 00:20:48,670 Amen. 556 00:20:49,010 --> 00:20:52,310 And your prayer closes again with praise to 557 00:20:52,310 --> 00:20:55,590 God and acknowledgement of his supremacy and his 558 00:20:55,590 --> 00:20:57,990 sovereignty over all the earth. 559 00:20:58,470 --> 00:21:00,790 And then the Lord Jesus goes back to 560 00:21:00,790 --> 00:21:02,490 verse 12, and he knew that that one 561 00:21:02,490 --> 00:21:04,290 was going to cause us a little difficulty, 562 00:21:04,330 --> 00:21:06,450 and he says, For if ye forgive men 563 00:21:06,450 --> 00:21:09,090 their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive 564 00:21:09,090 --> 00:21:09,530 you. 565 00:21:09,850 --> 00:21:12,110 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, 566 00:21:12,310 --> 00:21:14,950 neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 567 00:21:15,330 --> 00:21:17,070 And once again, we just want to say 568 00:21:17,070 --> 00:21:20,650 that that has to do with parental forgiveness 569 00:21:20,650 --> 00:21:22,850 and not judicial forgiveness. 570 00:21:23,330 --> 00:21:26,730 Judicial forgiveness is completely on the basis of 571 00:21:26,730 --> 00:21:27,950 the shed blood of Christ. 572 00:21:29,090 --> 00:21:31,730 Parental forgiveness has to do with our fellowship 573 00:21:31,730 --> 00:21:35,110 with God the Father, maintaining fellowship with him, 574 00:21:35,490 --> 00:21:38,110 and his dependence to a certain extent on 575 00:21:38,110 --> 00:21:39,870 how we treat others. 576 00:21:41,390 --> 00:21:43,370 And then he comes thirdly to the subject 577 00:21:43,370 --> 00:21:46,510 of fasting, the third kind of righteousness found 578 00:21:46,510 --> 00:21:48,290 in the Word of God in this chapter 579 00:21:48,290 --> 00:21:49,750 has to do with fasting. 580 00:21:50,250 --> 00:21:52,110 Now, does fasting have anything to do with 581 00:21:52,110 --> 00:21:53,510 the present dispensation? 582 00:21:53,790 --> 00:21:55,250 Well, of course, the Word of God teaches 583 00:21:55,250 --> 00:21:55,950 that it does. 584 00:21:56,430 --> 00:22:00,370 It isn't very popular, but fasting means to 585 00:22:00,370 --> 00:22:05,130 abstain from food or drink for a period 586 00:22:05,130 --> 00:22:07,930 of time in order to give oneself more 587 00:22:07,930 --> 00:22:12,470 undistractedly to prayer or to meditation on the 588 00:22:12,470 --> 00:22:13,210 Word of God. 589 00:22:14,870 --> 00:22:17,190 I think that you all realize that we 590 00:22:17,190 --> 00:22:21,330 can think and we can concentrate better. 591 00:22:21,550 --> 00:22:23,890 We're more sharp and keen and alert on 592 00:22:23,890 --> 00:22:25,790 an empty stomach than we would be on 593 00:22:25,790 --> 00:22:26,570 a full one. 594 00:22:27,090 --> 00:22:29,490 And so God has allowed in his word 595 00:22:29,490 --> 00:22:31,970 for this matter of fasting. 596 00:22:32,690 --> 00:22:35,030 But you know, once again, if you fast 597 00:22:35,030 --> 00:22:36,510 and people don't know about it, it kind 598 00:22:36,510 --> 00:22:37,870 of robs it of some of this joy. 599 00:22:37,970 --> 00:22:39,090 And that's just what the Lord is saying 600 00:22:39,090 --> 00:22:39,270 here. 601 00:22:39,290 --> 00:22:41,290 When you fast, don't let anybody know about 602 00:22:41,290 --> 00:22:41,410 it. 603 00:22:41,410 --> 00:22:43,570 It must be done in private. 604 00:22:43,850 --> 00:22:45,810 It must be done in secret. 605 00:22:45,970 --> 00:22:47,350 You know, in the Lord's day when they 606 00:22:47,350 --> 00:22:50,870 fasted, the hypocrites would get some ashes and 607 00:22:50,870 --> 00:22:53,270 they'd cover their face with ashes, and then 608 00:22:53,270 --> 00:22:55,550 they'd turn on the tears and they'd start 609 00:22:55,550 --> 00:22:58,470 to wail, and the tears would start flowing 610 00:22:58,470 --> 00:22:59,570 down through the ashes. 611 00:22:59,710 --> 00:23:01,410 And you can remember, you can just imagine 612 00:23:01,410 --> 00:23:03,210 what they looked like by the time they 613 00:23:03,210 --> 00:23:03,650 got through. 614 00:23:03,730 --> 00:23:05,210 Somebody would come along and say, Boy, that 615 00:23:05,210 --> 00:23:06,790 man's really been fasting, hasn't he? 616 00:23:07,110 --> 00:23:08,430 But that's just what he wanted them to 617 00:23:08,430 --> 00:23:08,830 say. 618 00:23:09,310 --> 00:23:10,930 And so that's what the Lord says here. 619 00:23:11,510 --> 00:23:12,830 That's just what the Lord says here. 620 00:23:12,930 --> 00:23:15,350 He said, Moreover, when ye fast, be not 621 00:23:15,350 --> 00:23:17,310 as the hypocrites of a sad countenance. 622 00:23:17,710 --> 00:23:18,870 And were they ever sad? 623 00:23:19,130 --> 00:23:21,290 For they disfigure their faces that they may 624 00:23:21,290 --> 00:23:22,770 appear unto men to bat. 625 00:23:22,930 --> 00:23:24,630 I say, Do they have their reward? 626 00:23:24,870 --> 00:23:25,570 What does that mean? 627 00:23:25,630 --> 00:23:27,170 Well, it means that they wanted men to 628 00:23:27,170 --> 00:23:28,750 see them and to acknowledge and to say 629 00:23:28,750 --> 00:23:30,630 that passing word, and the men did it. 630 00:23:30,850 --> 00:23:32,190 And so they have their reward. 631 00:23:32,310 --> 00:23:34,270 There's nothing in it as far as God 632 00:23:34,270 --> 00:23:34,910 is concerned. 633 00:23:35,090 --> 00:23:36,850 He says, When you fast, anoint your head 634 00:23:36,850 --> 00:23:37,890 and wash your face. 635 00:23:38,270 --> 00:23:40,810 Well, anoint your head and wash your face 636 00:23:40,810 --> 00:23:45,230 really means just carry on as normal, because 637 00:23:45,230 --> 00:23:51,690 those were two of the everyday methods of 638 00:23:51,690 --> 00:23:54,510 keeping oneself at that time. 639 00:23:54,890 --> 00:23:57,070 And it means just don't do anything out 640 00:23:57,070 --> 00:23:59,470 of the ordinary, just wash your face and 641 00:23:59,470 --> 00:24:02,170 carry on as you ordinarily would. 642 00:24:02,570 --> 00:24:04,930 That thou appear not unto men to fast, 643 00:24:05,010 --> 00:24:06,930 but unto thy father, which is in secret. 644 00:24:07,250 --> 00:24:09,430 Thy father, which he is in secret, shall 645 00:24:09,430 --> 00:24:10,750 reward thee openly. 646 00:24:11,670 --> 00:24:14,250 And so these three illustrations of righteousness to 647 00:24:14,250 --> 00:24:17,170 be practiced in secret, bring before us the 648 00:24:17,170 --> 00:24:19,270 inward character of true Christianity. 649 00:24:20,010 --> 00:24:23,070 It's not doing things to be seen of 650 00:24:23,070 --> 00:24:23,290 men. 651 00:24:23,790 --> 00:24:25,190 And you know, it'll be a wonderful thing, 652 00:24:25,270 --> 00:24:27,490 I think, to stand before the judgment seat 653 00:24:27,490 --> 00:24:30,510 of Christ and to, in that day, to 654 00:24:30,510 --> 00:24:34,130 see revealed at the throne, all that was 655 00:24:34,130 --> 00:24:38,690 done so quietly and so secretly unto him. 656 00:24:38,990 --> 00:24:39,930 And I want to tell you, there's a 657 00:24:39,930 --> 00:24:41,770 lot, there's a lot been done by saints 658 00:24:41,770 --> 00:24:44,610 right here, and nobody else knows about it, 659 00:24:44,950 --> 00:24:47,290 but it's been done and God knows about 660 00:24:47,290 --> 00:24:49,550 it, and it's going to be rewarded openly. 661 00:24:49,670 --> 00:24:52,570 And that's true Christianity, according to the sermon 662 00:24:52,570 --> 00:24:53,450 on that. 663 00:24:53,970 --> 00:24:55,750 And then the Lord Jesus comes to the 664 00:24:55,750 --> 00:25:02,590 whole subject of, of caring for tomorrow. 665 00:25:02,590 --> 00:25:06,030 And the whole subject of material things. 666 00:25:07,330 --> 00:25:09,310 And what he says here is not very 667 00:25:09,310 --> 00:25:09,970 popular. 668 00:25:10,630 --> 00:25:12,570 And what he says here, I'm sorry to 669 00:25:12,570 --> 00:25:16,210 say, is not accepted in most of Christendom 670 00:25:16,210 --> 00:25:16,570 today. 671 00:25:19,570 --> 00:25:21,330 And very, very serious, I think. 672 00:25:23,660 --> 00:25:24,760 Very, very serious. 673 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:27,400 The Lord Jesus says in this next verse, 674 00:25:27,500 --> 00:25:29,620 lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth 675 00:25:29,620 --> 00:25:32,860 where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where 676 00:25:32,860 --> 00:25:34,500 thieves break through and steal. 677 00:25:35,420 --> 00:25:37,220 You know, to lay up treasures on earth 678 00:25:37,220 --> 00:25:39,580 is just as, is just as contrary to 679 00:25:39,580 --> 00:25:42,420 the word of God as theft or adultery 680 00:25:42,420 --> 00:25:43,040 or murder. 681 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:46,700 It is just as contrary to the word. 682 00:25:46,700 --> 00:25:47,920 I didn't say it was just as serious, 683 00:25:48,100 --> 00:25:49,600 but it's just as contrary to the word 684 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:53,000 as theft or adultery or murder. 685 00:25:54,120 --> 00:25:55,460 To lay up treasures on earth. 686 00:25:56,540 --> 00:26:00,060 Now, a clever theologian can give you 60 687 00:26:00,060 --> 00:26:01,680 reasons why the Lord didn't mean what he 688 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:02,240 said here. 689 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:04,280 But I want to tell you, if you 690 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:05,940 want to be a Christian that goes on 691 00:26:05,940 --> 00:26:07,880 for the Lord, you take the word of 692 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:09,240 God the way Jesus said it. 693 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:12,000 Because mark my words, the Lord Jesus knew 694 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:12,960 what he was talking about. 695 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:15,420 And when men get through with verses of 696 00:26:15,420 --> 00:26:17,620 scripture today, they've extracted all the milk out 697 00:26:17,620 --> 00:26:17,800 of them. 698 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:18,720 There's nothing left. 699 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:21,620 And I'd like to suggest to you, my 700 00:26:21,620 --> 00:26:23,640 dear friends tonight, and this comes from the 701 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:24,440 bottom of my heart. 702 00:26:24,700 --> 00:26:27,940 If you come to a verse of scripture 703 00:26:27,940 --> 00:26:31,440 that the Lord Jesus said, and it seems 704 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:35,960 difficult or impossible to obey as it's written. 705 00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:39,740 Well, that's probably the right explanation probably is. 706 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:42,740 And when men can take that verse and 707 00:26:42,740 --> 00:26:45,340 make it to mean something that an ungodly 708 00:26:45,340 --> 00:26:47,260 person could do just as well, that isn't 709 00:26:47,260 --> 00:26:48,880 the right interpretation of the verse. 710 00:26:49,780 --> 00:26:50,160 Brilliant. 711 00:26:51,020 --> 00:26:52,660 The Lord Jesus said, lay not up for 712 00:26:52,660 --> 00:26:53,840 yourselves, treasures on earth. 713 00:26:54,500 --> 00:26:58,300 For moth rusts of corruption, where thieves break 714 00:26:58,300 --> 00:26:58,860 through and steal. 715 00:26:59,260 --> 00:27:01,000 Now to the Jewish mind, there were various 716 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:01,860 kinds of treasures. 717 00:27:02,260 --> 00:27:03,720 And strangely enough, one of the first kinds 718 00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:05,240 of treasures, when a Jew thought of treasures, 719 00:27:05,300 --> 00:27:08,440 he thought of expensive clothing, Hart, Shatner and 720 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:10,160 Mark and so forth. 721 00:27:10,300 --> 00:27:12,360 And that's where the moth comes in, you 722 00:27:12,360 --> 00:27:15,100 know, that's where the moth comes in. 723 00:27:15,100 --> 00:27:17,960 And then of course, money, that's where the 724 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:18,940 rust comes in. 725 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:22,140 And then thieves break through and steal. 726 00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:24,580 Well, that's any kind of treasure at all. 727 00:27:25,300 --> 00:27:27,460 The Lord says, lay up your treasures in 728 00:27:27,460 --> 00:27:31,140 heaven, where neither rust nor moth does corrupt, 729 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:33,760 and where thieves do not break through nor 730 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:34,080 steal. 731 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:36,720 So where your treasure is, there will your 732 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:37,760 heart be also. 733 00:27:37,780 --> 00:27:39,720 You know, the difficult thing about riches is, 734 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:43,480 it's almost impossible to have them without trusting 735 00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:43,840 in them. 736 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:45,300 That's the thing. 737 00:27:46,260 --> 00:27:47,840 And what the word of God teaches, and 738 00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:49,480 I just like to throw this out for 739 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:52,120 your consideration and your prayerful contemplation. 740 00:27:52,820 --> 00:27:54,480 I believe this with all my heart that 741 00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:56,400 what the Bible teaches, and it teaches for 742 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:58,240 every Christian, not just for those who are 743 00:27:58,240 --> 00:27:59,200 in full-time work. 744 00:28:00,180 --> 00:28:02,900 It teaches that we should work hard and 745 00:28:02,900 --> 00:28:07,040 industriously for the supply of our current needs 746 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:09,600 and the needs of our family, and leave 747 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:10,520 the future to God. 748 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:13,560 Now, I don't blame you if that makes 749 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:14,160 you uncomfortable. 750 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:17,100 It makes me uncomfortable, too, and my flesh 751 00:28:17,100 --> 00:28:18,040 doesn't like it. 752 00:28:18,980 --> 00:28:20,700 But I believe that's what the Bible teaches. 753 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:25,940 In other words, our lives as Christians should 754 00:28:25,940 --> 00:28:30,280 be a perpetual crisis of dependence upon the 755 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:30,880 living God. 756 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:33,200 It should be. 757 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:35,740 You say, oh, I don't like that. 758 00:28:35,820 --> 00:28:36,840 Well, I sympathize with you. 759 00:28:36,860 --> 00:28:37,580 I don't like it, either. 760 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:40,640 That is, naturally speaking, I don't like it. 761 00:28:41,500 --> 00:28:43,480 And yet I know that God can't fail. 762 00:28:44,060 --> 00:28:45,420 He can't go back on his promise. 763 00:28:45,540 --> 00:28:47,480 Why do I hesitate to trust him? 764 00:28:47,900 --> 00:28:49,700 Now, it's enough to drive an unsaved man 765 00:28:49,700 --> 00:28:51,980 mad to have no visible means of support. 766 00:28:53,020 --> 00:28:54,700 But I'd like to ask you this question 767 00:28:54,700 --> 00:28:55,020 tonight. 768 00:28:55,580 --> 00:28:59,520 Wherein do our lives differ from the lives 769 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:01,960 of the unsaved people when we lay up 770 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:02,820 treasures on earth? 771 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:06,520 This is a problem, and this is what 772 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:08,140 the Lord has had dealings with me about. 773 00:29:08,420 --> 00:29:10,060 I thought I was living the life of 774 00:29:10,060 --> 00:29:12,060 faith, and I look around and I see 775 00:29:12,060 --> 00:29:13,680 that I'm just living the same kind of 776 00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:15,880 a life as far as financial things as 777 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:19,900 the unsaved man, by a system of clever 778 00:29:19,900 --> 00:29:21,780 reserves and so forth. 779 00:29:22,420 --> 00:29:24,080 Well, this is very searching, dear friend. 780 00:29:25,220 --> 00:29:27,000 I'd like to suggest again, just for your 781 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:29,040 consideration, that what the Bible teaches is that 782 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:33,100 we should work hard and industriously and zealously 783 00:29:33,100 --> 00:29:38,080 for the supply of our current necessities, and 784 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:40,060 everything above that should go into the work 785 00:29:40,060 --> 00:29:40,520 of the Lord. 786 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:42,700 Everything above it. 787 00:29:45,970 --> 00:29:47,930 I'll probably never get invited back to Durham. 788 00:29:51,620 --> 00:29:56,400 I was telling Brother Jetwater that last summer 789 00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:58,860 I was out in California, and one night 790 00:29:58,860 --> 00:30:00,800 we were sitting at a table, Stacey Woods 791 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:02,340 and myself, and there was a young couple 792 00:30:02,340 --> 00:30:02,660 there. 793 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:06,720 And this young couple, they were working very 794 00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:07,060 hard. 795 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:08,240 In fact, I think each of them was 796 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:10,460 holding down two jobs, and they were really 797 00:30:10,460 --> 00:30:11,300 raking in the money. 798 00:30:11,980 --> 00:30:15,240 And Stacey Woods, in his own incisive way, 799 00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:16,420 said to them, and I thought it was 800 00:30:16,420 --> 00:30:20,880 really quite a bombshell, he said, Did you 801 00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:23,840 ever get down before the Lord and decide 802 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:26,500 on some standard of living that you would 803 00:30:26,500 --> 00:30:29,500 be satisfied with, and then decide that everything 804 00:30:29,500 --> 00:30:31,120 above that should go into the work of 805 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:32,460 the Lord, and that if you got a 806 00:30:32,460 --> 00:30:34,660 pay increase that your standard of living wouldn't 807 00:30:34,660 --> 00:30:36,380 go up accordingly, but that it would just 808 00:30:36,380 --> 00:30:37,460 go into the work of the Lord? 809 00:30:39,100 --> 00:30:40,300 That was quite a question. 810 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:42,860 It was really an atomic bomb. 811 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:44,880 You know, God has used that, and there's 812 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:46,760 been a change in that young couple's life. 813 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:48,780 I've been rather close to them, and it's 814 00:30:48,780 --> 00:30:50,580 wonderful how a little question like that could 815 00:30:50,580 --> 00:30:53,660 influence the whole direction of people's lives. 816 00:30:55,890 --> 00:30:57,290 Now, notice, we must go on. 817 00:30:58,490 --> 00:31:00,190 The only thing I don't like about Durham 818 00:31:00,190 --> 00:31:01,470 is the way time flies. 819 00:31:01,790 --> 00:31:04,990 It says in verse 22, The light of 820 00:31:04,990 --> 00:31:06,510 the body is the eye. 821 00:31:07,150 --> 00:31:09,510 If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole 822 00:31:09,510 --> 00:31:10,830 body shall be full of light. 823 00:31:11,090 --> 00:31:12,850 Well, if you just read that verse and 824 00:31:12,850 --> 00:31:15,850 look at it, it almost seems grotesque, a 825 00:31:15,850 --> 00:31:16,670 body with one eye. 826 00:31:16,730 --> 00:31:17,810 But that is what it means. 827 00:31:18,330 --> 00:31:21,150 It says the lamp of the body, that 828 00:31:21,150 --> 00:31:23,230 word light is lamp, the lamp of the 829 00:31:23,230 --> 00:31:24,390 body is the eye. 830 00:31:24,490 --> 00:31:25,030 What does it mean? 831 00:31:25,330 --> 00:31:26,930 Well, it means that all the light your 832 00:31:26,930 --> 00:31:28,590 body gets, it gets through the eye. 833 00:31:28,870 --> 00:31:29,930 It's true, too, isn't it? 834 00:31:30,190 --> 00:31:31,710 Close your eyes, no light. 835 00:31:32,870 --> 00:31:34,790 It says the lamp of the body is 836 00:31:34,790 --> 00:31:35,230 the eye. 837 00:31:35,550 --> 00:31:36,970 If your eye be single. 838 00:31:37,110 --> 00:31:39,810 Now, single there has a slightly different meaning 839 00:31:39,810 --> 00:31:40,670 than we have for it today. 840 00:31:40,730 --> 00:31:41,990 It really means they're healthy. 841 00:31:42,630 --> 00:31:44,310 If your eye is in good condition. 842 00:31:45,050 --> 00:31:47,590 If your eye be single, your whole body 843 00:31:47,590 --> 00:31:48,910 is full of light. 844 00:31:50,350 --> 00:31:52,570 But if your eye be evil, that is, 845 00:31:52,670 --> 00:31:55,830 if it's diseased or damaged, your body is 846 00:31:55,830 --> 00:31:56,850 full of darkness. 847 00:31:58,570 --> 00:32:01,170 Now, he says there's a spiritual meaning to 848 00:32:01,170 --> 00:32:01,470 this. 849 00:32:02,270 --> 00:32:03,610 There's a spiritual meaning to this. 850 00:32:03,790 --> 00:32:06,250 If your eye is single, that means if 851 00:32:06,250 --> 00:32:09,870 your motives are pure before God, you're not 852 00:32:09,870 --> 00:32:12,270 trying to feather your own nest, but you're 853 00:32:12,270 --> 00:32:14,150 trying to live for the glory of God 854 00:32:14,150 --> 00:32:17,710 and live sacrificially and devotedly and passionately for 855 00:32:17,710 --> 00:32:19,270 him, your whole body will be full of 856 00:32:19,270 --> 00:32:19,410 light. 857 00:32:19,470 --> 00:32:19,970 What does that mean? 858 00:32:20,270 --> 00:32:22,550 It means, dear friends, your life will be 859 00:32:22,550 --> 00:32:24,610 flooded with divine illumination. 860 00:32:24,770 --> 00:32:25,390 That's what it means. 861 00:32:25,430 --> 00:32:27,350 It means you'll never lack the guidance of 862 00:32:27,350 --> 00:32:28,030 the Lord. 863 00:32:28,410 --> 00:32:29,050 That's what it means. 864 00:32:29,990 --> 00:32:32,330 The body is taken as a symbol for 865 00:32:32,330 --> 00:32:32,970 your life. 866 00:32:33,550 --> 00:32:36,170 And if you, if so, the eye of 867 00:32:36,170 --> 00:32:39,150 your soul is healthy before God, and you're 868 00:32:39,150 --> 00:32:41,090 not trying to live for two worlds at 869 00:32:41,090 --> 00:32:44,010 the same time, if you're living for the 870 00:32:44,010 --> 00:32:46,350 glory of God and willing to get by 871 00:32:46,350 --> 00:32:49,790 on essentials down here, God says your whole 872 00:32:49,790 --> 00:32:52,650 life will be flooded with light, with illumination, 873 00:32:52,850 --> 00:32:55,610 with guidance to walk the Christian life. 874 00:32:56,090 --> 00:32:58,190 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole 875 00:32:58,190 --> 00:32:59,650 body shall be full of darkness. 876 00:33:00,290 --> 00:33:03,690 That is, if your motives are not pure. 877 00:33:03,850 --> 00:33:05,750 If you say, yeah, well, I want to 878 00:33:05,750 --> 00:33:08,470 serve the Lord, but I want to set 879 00:33:08,470 --> 00:33:12,930 aside twenty-five thousand for my old age, 880 00:33:14,070 --> 00:33:14,290 too. 881 00:33:15,810 --> 00:33:18,030 And your motives are mixed, you know. 882 00:33:19,170 --> 00:33:20,970 Says your body will be full of darkness. 883 00:33:21,090 --> 00:33:23,690 You'll wonder, why have I lost the glow? 884 00:33:23,890 --> 00:33:26,130 Why am I not getting guidance from the 885 00:33:26,130 --> 00:33:26,490 Lord? 886 00:33:26,870 --> 00:33:30,450 I don't seem to be enjoying the spiritual 887 00:33:30,450 --> 00:33:31,770 warmth I did before. 888 00:33:32,150 --> 00:33:33,870 Well, God says, watch out, maybe your eye 889 00:33:33,870 --> 00:33:34,610 is diseased. 890 00:33:35,090 --> 00:33:37,250 Maybe your eye has become damaged. 891 00:33:37,250 --> 00:33:39,090 And then I think this next expression is 892 00:33:39,090 --> 00:33:39,770 most stretching. 893 00:33:39,870 --> 00:33:41,730 It says, if therefore the light that is 894 00:33:41,730 --> 00:33:43,930 in thee be darkness, how great is the 895 00:33:43,930 --> 00:33:44,290 darkness? 896 00:33:44,750 --> 00:33:45,350 What does that mean? 897 00:33:45,370 --> 00:33:46,730 Well, I think it means that here's a 898 00:33:46,730 --> 00:33:49,010 Christian, and God has given him a certain 899 00:33:49,010 --> 00:33:51,390 amount of light on this subject, but he 900 00:33:51,390 --> 00:33:53,130 doesn't avail himself of it. 901 00:33:53,470 --> 00:33:55,150 Well, the darkness and the light of a 902 00:33:55,150 --> 00:33:56,930 man like that is worse than the darkness 903 00:33:56,930 --> 00:33:58,390 and the light of a man who's never 904 00:33:58,390 --> 00:33:59,410 known about these things. 905 00:33:59,910 --> 00:34:00,670 That's what it means. 906 00:34:01,270 --> 00:34:03,570 This is a strange principle in God's dealings 907 00:34:03,570 --> 00:34:06,250 with men, that when we reject light, we're 908 00:34:06,250 --> 00:34:07,130 given darkness. 909 00:34:08,370 --> 00:34:10,710 And the worst kind of a darkness, here 910 00:34:10,710 --> 00:34:13,050 it would mean a Christian who starts off 911 00:34:13,050 --> 00:34:14,370 brightly for the Lord. 912 00:34:14,909 --> 00:34:17,110 He really is going to go out and 913 00:34:17,110 --> 00:34:19,350 give the Lord his very best, and then 914 00:34:19,350 --> 00:34:22,370 in creeps the love of filthy lucre. 915 00:34:23,030 --> 00:34:27,889 And he hides his light under a bushel, 916 00:34:27,889 --> 00:34:31,550 and the old zeal and fire aren't there 917 00:34:31,550 --> 00:34:32,409 anymore. 918 00:34:32,870 --> 00:34:35,310 The love of material things has come in. 919 00:34:35,670 --> 00:34:37,389 I believe it means that the darkness and 920 00:34:37,389 --> 00:34:39,350 a light like that is worse than the 921 00:34:39,350 --> 00:34:41,130 darkness in his life before he was saved. 922 00:34:41,250 --> 00:34:42,810 It doesn't mean that he's lost his salvation, 923 00:34:43,650 --> 00:34:45,110 but boy, he can sure get out of 924 00:34:45,110 --> 00:34:47,870 tomb and out of touch under those circumstances. 925 00:34:49,370 --> 00:34:51,010 And so the Lord says, no man can 926 00:34:51,010 --> 00:34:51,830 serve two masters. 927 00:34:51,989 --> 00:34:53,230 He will either hate the one and love 928 00:34:53,230 --> 00:34:54,929 the other, else he will hold to the 929 00:34:54,929 --> 00:34:56,290 one and despise the other. 930 00:34:56,290 --> 00:34:57,930 Can't serve God and mammon. 931 00:34:58,270 --> 00:34:59,830 And this is the great tragedy today. 932 00:34:59,950 --> 00:35:01,810 People try to hold on to both worlds. 933 00:35:02,290 --> 00:35:05,150 In fact, there are Christian organizations that will 934 00:35:05,150 --> 00:35:08,510 tell you today that if you buy their 935 00:35:08,510 --> 00:35:10,870 annuities, let's say, you'll get reward down here, 936 00:35:10,910 --> 00:35:12,650 you'll get reward up there, and it's contrary 937 00:35:12,650 --> 00:35:13,370 to the word of God. 938 00:35:16,230 --> 00:35:17,890 It's just contrary to the word of God. 939 00:35:18,970 --> 00:35:21,350 You can't serve God and mammon. 940 00:35:22,510 --> 00:35:23,990 You either love the one and hate the 941 00:35:23,990 --> 00:35:28,990 other, or cleave to the one and despise 942 00:35:28,990 --> 00:35:29,410 the other. 943 00:35:30,150 --> 00:35:31,870 And so the Lord Jesus says in verse 944 00:35:31,870 --> 00:35:34,470 25, therefore, I say unto you, take no 945 00:35:34,470 --> 00:35:34,930 thought. 946 00:35:35,170 --> 00:35:36,810 Now what that really means is be not 947 00:35:36,810 --> 00:35:39,990 anxious, be not anxious for your life, what 948 00:35:39,990 --> 00:35:41,770 you shall eat and what you shall drink, 949 00:35:41,910 --> 00:35:43,390 nor yet for your body, what you shall 950 00:35:43,390 --> 00:35:45,750 put on is not the life more than 951 00:35:45,750 --> 00:35:48,010 meat and the body than raven. 952 00:35:48,110 --> 00:35:49,270 Well, this is what we were talking about 953 00:35:49,270 --> 00:35:49,930 Sunday morning. 954 00:35:50,910 --> 00:35:53,210 God made us for a higher purpose than 955 00:35:53,210 --> 00:35:56,290 to be perpetually worried about food and clothing, 956 00:35:56,670 --> 00:35:58,590 more to life than that. 957 00:35:58,610 --> 00:36:00,270 And he says, don't spend your life in 958 00:36:00,270 --> 00:36:03,450 anxious thoughts for this type of thing. 959 00:36:03,750 --> 00:36:05,610 When he says, look at the fowls, the 960 00:36:05,610 --> 00:36:07,590 birds of the air, they don't sow, neither 961 00:36:07,590 --> 00:36:10,070 do they reap, nor gather into barns, and 962 00:36:10,070 --> 00:36:11,710 your heavenly father feeds them. 963 00:36:11,950 --> 00:36:13,730 Aren't you much better than they? 964 00:36:14,510 --> 00:36:15,790 Well, that's an interesting thought. 965 00:36:15,950 --> 00:36:17,970 The sparrows don't worry about what they're going 966 00:36:17,970 --> 00:36:18,850 to eat next winter. 967 00:36:19,350 --> 00:36:19,990 You ever think of that? 968 00:36:20,370 --> 00:36:21,310 They don't worry about that. 969 00:36:21,630 --> 00:36:23,350 They go out and work like little beavers 970 00:36:23,350 --> 00:36:25,370 for what they're going to eat today, but 971 00:36:25,370 --> 00:36:26,630 they don't worry about next winter. 972 00:36:27,450 --> 00:36:29,090 They trust God for that. 973 00:36:29,550 --> 00:36:30,770 That's the thought of the passage. 974 00:36:31,410 --> 00:36:33,830 God is going to be their provider as 975 00:36:33,830 --> 00:36:35,310 far as that's concerned. 976 00:36:36,750 --> 00:36:38,250 He says, well, if that's true of sparrows, 977 00:36:38,270 --> 00:36:39,450 how much more true is it of you? 978 00:36:39,450 --> 00:36:41,090 And the idea is that it would be 979 00:36:41,090 --> 00:36:44,070 utterly impossible for a man to give himself 980 00:36:44,650 --> 00:36:47,890 completely and utterly and wholeheartedly to the Lord 981 00:36:47,890 --> 00:36:51,850 and ever lack bread. 982 00:36:52,590 --> 00:36:53,970 And then he says, in which of you, 983 00:36:54,110 --> 00:36:58,530 by thinking, can add one cubit unto his 984 00:36:58,530 --> 00:36:59,070 stature? 985 00:36:59,110 --> 00:37:00,170 That's an interesting verse. 986 00:37:00,250 --> 00:37:00,970 You ever try it? 987 00:37:01,350 --> 00:37:05,670 You start thinking real hard, you see yourself 988 00:37:05,670 --> 00:37:07,570 going up 18 inches, because that's what a 989 00:37:07,570 --> 00:37:08,070 cubit is. 990 00:37:08,950 --> 00:37:10,490 Well, it's ridiculous, isn't it? 991 00:37:10,850 --> 00:37:12,290 A cubit was a distance from the middle 992 00:37:12,290 --> 00:37:14,270 finger down to the elbow, about 18 inches. 993 00:37:15,070 --> 00:37:17,970 And then it came to me not only 994 00:37:17,970 --> 00:37:19,850 your height, but the length of your life, 995 00:37:20,070 --> 00:37:20,250 too. 996 00:37:20,970 --> 00:37:23,590 And the Bible says, can you, by worrying, 997 00:37:24,150 --> 00:37:25,550 add some height? 998 00:37:26,110 --> 00:37:27,750 Well, I think if you could, some sisters 999 00:37:27,750 --> 00:37:29,010 would do a lot more worrying, but it 1000 00:37:29,010 --> 00:37:29,510 doesn't work. 1001 00:37:30,150 --> 00:37:30,790 It doesn't work. 1002 00:37:31,070 --> 00:37:33,230 And you can't, by worrying, add years to 1003 00:37:33,230 --> 00:37:33,610 your life. 1004 00:37:33,670 --> 00:37:35,170 It takes a few off, but it won't 1005 00:37:35,170 --> 00:37:35,970 add any on. 1006 00:37:36,450 --> 00:37:37,590 But that's what he says here. 1007 00:37:38,430 --> 00:37:40,130 And why take your thought for rain? 1008 00:37:40,190 --> 00:37:42,430 Look at those wildflowers out there on the 1009 00:37:42,430 --> 00:37:42,730 hills. 1010 00:37:43,290 --> 00:37:45,290 He says, consider the lilies of the field. 1011 00:37:46,150 --> 00:37:48,150 Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed 1012 00:37:48,150 --> 00:37:49,170 like unto one of them. 1013 00:37:49,510 --> 00:37:52,630 They don't worry about their clothing, do they? 1014 00:37:52,690 --> 00:37:54,830 They toil not, neither do they spin. 1015 00:37:54,930 --> 00:37:56,230 And yet I say to you that even 1016 00:37:56,230 --> 00:37:59,450 Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed 1017 00:37:59,450 --> 00:38:00,470 like one of these. 1018 00:38:01,310 --> 00:38:03,630 Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of 1019 00:38:03,630 --> 00:38:05,610 the field which today is, and tomorrow is 1020 00:38:05,610 --> 00:38:08,170 cast into the oven, shall he not much 1021 00:38:08,170 --> 00:38:10,130 more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 1022 00:38:10,370 --> 00:38:11,570 You know, that's a tremendous verse. 1023 00:38:12,430 --> 00:38:17,630 It shows the passing character of beauty in 1024 00:38:17,630 --> 00:38:18,150 the world. 1025 00:38:18,790 --> 00:38:20,150 You know, there are people that live in 1026 00:38:20,150 --> 00:38:21,110 the world for beauty. 1027 00:38:21,970 --> 00:38:23,770 And God says, well, there's a beautiful flower. 1028 00:38:24,110 --> 00:38:25,790 Today it is, and tomorrow it's cast in 1029 00:38:25,790 --> 00:38:26,070 the fire. 1030 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:31,100 Beauty of the soul is far more important 1031 00:38:31,100 --> 00:38:34,120 than any such external beauty. 1032 00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:38,240 He says, therefore, take no thought saying, what 1033 00:38:38,240 --> 00:38:39,660 shall we eat or what should we drink, 1034 00:38:39,720 --> 00:38:41,340 or wherewithal shall we be clothed? 1035 00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:44,140 For after all these things are the Gentiles. 1036 00:38:44,240 --> 00:38:45,300 That is the ungodly. 1037 00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:46,540 This is what they live for. 1038 00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:49,640 Your heavenly Father knows that you have need 1039 00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:51,800 of these things, but seek ye first the 1040 00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:54,460 kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all 1041 00:38:54,460 --> 00:38:56,580 these things shall be added unto you. 1042 00:38:56,660 --> 00:38:57,880 I don't want to come to the end 1043 00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:00,420 of the journey and find that I've lived 1044 00:39:00,420 --> 00:39:03,000 my life worrying about things that were included 1045 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:04,120 in the price of the ticket. 1046 00:39:06,490 --> 00:39:08,270 But that's what this passage of scripture teaches. 1047 00:39:08,810 --> 00:39:10,890 This passage of scripture teaches that if I 1048 00:39:10,890 --> 00:39:12,670 seek first the kingdom of God and his 1049 00:39:12,670 --> 00:39:13,770 righteousness, it doesn't mean that I'm going to 1050 00:39:13,770 --> 00:39:14,250 be lazy. 1051 00:39:14,610 --> 00:39:15,410 Far from it. 1052 00:39:15,730 --> 00:39:17,230 If you seek the kingdom of God first 1053 00:39:17,230 --> 00:39:18,830 and his righteousness, you're going to be diligent 1054 00:39:18,830 --> 00:39:21,090 in the King's business, and the whole tenor 1055 00:39:21,090 --> 00:39:22,510 of your life will be the glory of 1056 00:39:22,510 --> 00:39:22,750 God. 1057 00:39:23,110 --> 00:39:24,470 But it does teach that if you do 1058 00:39:24,470 --> 00:39:27,190 that, you'll never lack for food and clothing. 1059 00:39:27,270 --> 00:39:30,050 All these things shall be added unto you. 1060 00:39:30,310 --> 00:39:32,670 Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for 1061 00:39:32,670 --> 00:39:34,570 the morrow shall take thought for the things 1062 00:39:34,570 --> 00:39:35,170 of itself. 1063 00:39:35,650 --> 00:39:37,230 The fish and the day as the evil 1064 00:39:37,230 --> 00:39:37,650 erupts. 1065 00:39:37,990 --> 00:39:39,730 It's saying, why worry about tomorrow? 1066 00:39:40,250 --> 00:39:41,530 Tomorrow will have its troubles. 1067 00:39:42,130 --> 00:39:43,630 Tomorrow will have its trials. 1068 00:39:44,010 --> 00:39:45,870 Tomorrow will have its cares, but don't worry. 1069 00:39:46,210 --> 00:39:47,650 Tomorrow will have its grace too. 1070 00:39:48,430 --> 00:39:51,730 As thy day, so shall thy strength be. 1071 00:39:52,310 --> 00:39:53,790 Why am I going to worry about the 1072 00:39:53,790 --> 00:39:55,010 future and what the future holds? 1073 00:39:55,530 --> 00:39:57,270 You could really work yourself into the lather, 1074 00:39:57,450 --> 00:39:57,770 couldn't you? 1075 00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:02,680 I could say, well, yeah, you're able to 1076 00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:04,800 travel around now and have meetings and you're 1077 00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:06,880 supportive, but supposing you get older and you're 1078 00:40:06,880 --> 00:40:08,540 dead fast, who's going to take care of 1079 00:40:08,540 --> 00:40:08,880 you then? 1080 00:40:10,060 --> 00:40:12,140 Well, really, I could just be a nervous 1081 00:40:12,140 --> 00:40:13,720 wreck if I were to worry about those 1082 00:40:13,720 --> 00:40:13,880 things. 1083 00:40:14,300 --> 00:40:15,640 God says, you don't have to worry about 1084 00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:16,120 these things. 1085 00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:18,480 You serve me diligently today. 1086 00:40:18,580 --> 00:40:20,240 You give me all that you have today, 1087 00:40:20,660 --> 00:40:23,440 and it's all included in the price of 1088 00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:23,840 the ticket. 1089 00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:25,360 And so I would suggest to you that 1090 00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:27,520 the whole argument here in the latter part 1091 00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:30,360 of this chapter is that anxious thought about 1092 00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:32,640 the future is unnecessary. 1093 00:40:33,620 --> 00:40:35,780 God is going to take care of it. 1094 00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:41,500 It's not only unnecessary, it's foolish and it 1095 00:40:41,500 --> 00:40:42,120 doesn't work. 1096 00:40:43,100 --> 00:40:43,880 It doesn't work. 1097 00:40:43,960 --> 00:40:45,780 So may the Lord help us to learn 1098 00:40:45,780 --> 00:40:46,420 this lesson. 1099 00:40:46,540 --> 00:40:47,780 It's a difficult lesson. 1100 00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:50,020 It's contrary to all that we are as 1101 00:40:50,020 --> 00:40:52,140 men and women in the flesh, and it's 1102 00:40:52,140 --> 00:40:53,660 a side of the truth that certainly hasn't 1103 00:40:53,660 --> 00:40:55,220 been emphasized in Christianity. 1104 00:40:56,460 --> 00:40:57,400 And yet here it is in the word 1105 00:40:57,400 --> 00:40:57,820 of God. 1106 00:40:58,600 --> 00:41:00,080 Please don't be angry with me. 1107 00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:01,280 I didn't say it. 1108 00:41:01,940 --> 00:41:02,880 Jesus said it. 1109 00:41:03,420 --> 00:41:06,980 He said, lay not up for yourselves treasures 1110 00:41:06,980 --> 00:41:07,640 on earth. 1111 00:41:08,140 --> 00:41:08,760 Shall we pray? 1112 00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:10,020 And then our brother Jones will lead us 1113 00:41:10,020 --> 00:41:10,880 in a closing hymn. 1114 00:41:13,020 --> 00:41:16,000 Father, we confess to thee that we do 1115 00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:18,280 worry and we do take anxious thought and 1116 00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:20,640 we think about the future, and we wonder 1117 00:41:20,640 --> 00:41:22,260 what's going to happen to us and all 1118 00:41:22,260 --> 00:41:22,580 the rest. 1119 00:41:22,660 --> 00:41:24,000 Deliver us from it. 1120 00:41:24,500 --> 00:41:27,300 And Lord, we pray thee that thou deliver 1121 00:41:27,300 --> 00:41:30,640 us too from making a comfortable nest for 1122 00:41:30,640 --> 00:41:33,020 ourselves in this scene which gave our Savior 1123 00:41:33,020 --> 00:41:35,920 nothing but a cross and a grave. 1124 00:41:37,140 --> 00:41:40,260 Help us to be always dependent upon thyself 1125 00:41:40,260 --> 00:41:42,800 and to live in this world as pilgrims 1126 00:41:42,800 --> 00:41:46,760 and strangers hastening on to our heavenly home. 1127 00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:49,900 We do ask that in 1001 ways thou 1128 00:41:49,900 --> 00:41:53,660 will make these truths real and vital and 1129 00:41:53,660 --> 00:41:56,060 living in our hearts and lives. 1130 00:41:56,700 --> 00:41:57,980 And then again, we pray that should there 1131 00:41:57,980 --> 00:42:00,400 be some here who are not saved, that 1132 00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:02,100 they will realize that these things we've been 1133 00:42:02,100 --> 00:42:04,080 discussing are not the way of salvation. 1134 00:42:04,600 --> 00:42:06,720 You're not saved by living a life like 1135 00:42:06,720 --> 00:42:10,560 this, but that this is the life that 1136 00:42:10,560 --> 00:42:13,600 is called for all of those who are 1137 00:42:13,600 --> 00:42:14,140 saved. 1138 00:42:14,600 --> 00:42:16,300 We pray that they might understand that this 1139 00:42:16,300 --> 00:42:19,340 is the fruit and not the root, that 1140 00:42:19,340 --> 00:42:22,500 these are the results and not the causes. 1141 00:42:22,980 --> 00:42:25,180 We pray that any such might come simply 1142 00:42:25,180 --> 00:42:27,340 in faith to the Lord Jesus and crown 1143 00:42:27,340 --> 00:42:31,440 him Lord of all and receive his sufficiency 1144 00:42:31,440 --> 00:42:33,940 for such a supernatural life. 1145 00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:36,000 We ask you to the Savior's name. 1146 00:42:36,380 --> 00:42:36,700 Amen.