I've been looking at where you're at as a congregation and saw that Pastor Scott's been walking you through 1 Corinthians and a study on spiritual gifts, and so I wanted to think through ways in which I could bring both value and exhortation and encouragement and dovetail with what he has been ministering on. And as I prayed and considered how I might do that, a particular text came to mind that I think offers both positive affirmation, but is also a solemn warning. And not that I've come from, you know, Arizona or anywhere else to warn a congregation that's not entrusted to my stewardship, but we're brothers and sisters in Christ and all scripture is beneficial to us. But in this, I think that it will encourage us as we exercise our spiritual gifts and as you continue to walk through that series in First Corinthians and the congregation continues to grow in maturity and in fellowship together, serving with the right motive and the right attitude. I also believe this text offers a word of caution that is irrespective of location, it doesn't matter where you are, if you're in Kentucky, Arizona, Florida, or anywhere else under the sun, every one of us as believers, as we serve, are prone to selfish recognition, attention, the reason why we serve, the reason why we fellowship, and many times, in all of God's goodness to give us spiritual gifts, we can err in beginning to think it's all about us. And something that we have seen by the grace of God, I don't say this by way of a rival, but in his kindness to us as a younger church plant where we are, When people ask, you know, what is it that's caused the growth? What is it that has drawn people to the church? It seems to have such a sweet spirit and such a vibrant culture within that congregation. It's nothing that I've done. It is a gift and a grace of God. And I always tell people who ask, God has given the people a heart for him and for one another. the way that they serve, the way that they love. I remember early on people warning, you know, about burnout and warning our congregation and that we're a church plant and so even right now it's 721 where we are and early this morning around 5 a.m. team members were already beginning to pull up with the trailer and everything else under the sun and I've said repeatedly we have the most uncomfortable chairs in all of America. We have that that down. We get the award for that. And yet people continue to come. And somebody recently kind of made a joke and said, you know, I would imagine because, you know, you're Benny Hinn's nephew, you know, you're famous and lots of people come to the church. And I remarked back, not too cheeky, but a little fired up, that that was an insult to God. It's not enough to be, you know, related to some crazy televangelist. It's not enough to be Ken Ham. It's not enough to be Voddie Bockham. It's not enough to be anybody to sustain a congregation. Only the Lord does that. Amen? He builds his church. And how does he do that? He does that through the word of God. He does that through his people. And I was explaining that God has done something remarkable. We're not worried about burnout. When people have the right perspective on the why, why you do what you do, why you serve, why you love others, why you sacrifice, why you give, why you lay your life down, why you look at one another, and you're full of joy and love and patience because we're going to offend each other and we're going to sin against each other. We're going to drive one another a little crazy every so often as believers. When you know your why, it will change everything. It transforms a congregation. it grows a church in a healthy way. And I believe our text will add some value to your current study, giving you a different perspective from a different book that's still in line. And so if you'll turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter six, verse one, I wanna look at really just one verse, but we'll jump around a little bit in Matthew and a few other places. In Matthew chapter one, Jesus is shifting gears. He's just gotten into the heart behind certain sins like adultery and revenge, you know, getting people back for wronging us. Lust and lying is all on the menu. And then he sets his sights on hypocrisy of all things. And while the Pharisees in particular, that group of individuals that he always rebuked and went after, were known for engaging in righteous works the way they did those good works was, well, like a spiritual show-off. Their goal was to be seen by other people, and not in the way that Matthew 5 says, that we're to serve the Lord and glorify him through doing good works and good deeds so that people glorify our Father who is in heaven. But they wanted recognition for themselves. They wanted the glory and the attention for themselves. They had a very, what about me, look at me mentality. And so Jesus offers this word of caution to spiritual show-offs to not practice their righteousness to get attention from people, but rather to do good deeds, and this would apply to the way we use our spiritual gifts, for the glory of our Father in heaven and the good of those around us. This becomes a God-centric and others-centric of service. In other words, it's not about us. Nothing we do is about us. We can apply the heart, thank you, behind why we do the things we do by asking or apply the text to our heart and why we do the things that we do by asking, why do you obey God? What's the motive for serving? Why do we give? Why do we honor the Lord? Why do we sacrifice? Are we after the public glory and praise of men or are we after the glory of God? Matthew writes, recording, of course, the words of Christ. Verse 1, beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them, otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. Now the first thing I want you to do is look back with me at chapter 5 And I want you to look at verses 14 to 16, and right away let's just reconcile the question. If we're not supposed to practice our righteous works before men in order to be noticed by them, then well how does that jive with These words, if you look at them in verse 14 of chapter five, before saying what he just said, Jesus says, you are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket. So clearly the goal is to illuminate and light up the world around us. But he puts it on a lamp stand and it gives light to all who are in the house. And then verse 16, let your light shine, and this is a command, before who? Men. before men in such a way that they don't see it and you're hiding your good deeds, you're not really showing a lot of good works. No, he wants you to do your good works, to let your light shine in a way that they do see them. But what do they do? They glorify your Father who is in heaven. And so then, after unpacking further, more truths, He talks about the way the Pharisees serve and use their spiritual gifts. I think one of the challenges for us as Christians is navigating the desire to obey God and do great things for God and honor Him, while also being cautious of spiritual pride and self-righteousness. I think that if you made a short list of particular attitudes that will deteriorate a congregation and erode our unity and fellowship and strength and maturity, selfishness and pride, self-recognition will be at the core of why many churches don't experience the kind of vibrancy that God has ordered for his bride. Anytime we make it about ourselves, we're inviting God's hindrance, his discipline, even his justice, because we know in the Bible he will not share his glory with another. God does not share the credit. He wants a people and has given himself for a people so that we might give ourselves wholly and completely to him. I think as well the challenge we endure is to present ourselves in a way that may be a kind of functional perfectionism. We want people to see that we're following God and we begin to obey and do certain things so that people see, look at us, you know, we have it all together. I think there's an element of pride. in that we look for people's approval, and we want them to see what a great life we have, what a great marriage we have, what obedient children, and how ordered our way is because we follow. ...were very much the same. They did their righteous deeds and presented themselves with a perfectionist attitude. Meanwhile, deep down, they were hypocrites. So I think there's a warning here as well. that no matter what great things we do for God, no matter how effective we are with our spiritual gift, are we not still humble servants in need of his grace and his gospel every single day? Is it not all from him and for him? We're just the conduit through which he's working. That's all we ever are. We're just a vessel honored to be used for the master's glorious purposes. So the warning here, specifically tied to these three areas Jesus is talking about in context. You're giving, you're fasting, and you're praying. All of these things are to be done with humble hearts, not for the purpose of being a spiritual show-off. And the language in the text here argues for something that is extremely provocative to our egos. This is not good for the human ego at all, but it's true. based on what Jesus says. Christian obedience and good works done for attention. are not rewarded by God. And therefore, they should be worthless to us. And you might think, worthless? That's a little strong, Kosti. I would just say that based on what Jesus teaches, you and I don't have rewards when we do our good works in order to be noticed and praised by men. It's Jesus who says those things should be worthless. Why? Well, they don't matter in the end. You're gonna get to heaven and stand before Christ and present to him your royal and righteous resume and all of it was done for other people and all of it was done to be a show-off. And Jesus is saying, all of your obedience, all of your righteousness, all of the externals, when you do them for you and to get attention, those nullify those things, but if you'll do them humbly and faithfully as a servant, oh, the honor and the reward and the blessing and the joy, not only here as we serve together, but in eternity when we meet our Lord. In verse one he says, them that word beware it translates to be concerned about and so that really is the call here to just take inventory of your life and me of mine are we serving for the purpose of edifying the church bringing glory to god loving others above ourselves or are we serving to be noticed by others when he says, beware of practicing your righteousness before men. It has a kind of forceful imperative tone to it. This is a command to be vigilant about your heart and your motives. And I believe Jesus says this because there's a constant temptation that never goes away. I don't think we ever conquer this. At least, I haven't seen it conquered in my own life. It requires inventory of my heart, day after day, time and time again. And the more gray haireds I talk to, I talked to one older gentleman recently, he said, the older I get, the more I realize just how sinful and prideful I am. And I thought, well, that's discouraging, basically at 40. I'm told that I'm only going to become more aware of my sin, more aware of how much I need Christ. And there's a beauty and a blessing in that, isn't there? That the longer I go on in the Christian faith, the more I don't really think I've arrived or I'm anything, but rather I'm humbled by the fact that he would save a sinner like me and then use us for his glory. There's this invitation here to take inventory and be careful. And when he says, practice your righteousness, I mean, these are good things. These are good righteous deeds. They're deeds of obedience. They're things that obey the law. And certainly obedience can bring us closer to God. The last thing I ever want to do is say, be careful of practicing your righteousness before men. All obedience is useless. No, obedience is good. It's required. It's faithfulness. We long to obey God. We strive by his grace to obey him. Even Paul, when he says, just because grace abounds, shall we sin all the more? He says, may it never be. Just because we do sin and we will sin, and pride is an ever-present threat, it doesn't mean we throw off all obedience, no. These are good things. But the motives with which the Pharisees did them were perverted. So it becomes convicting as we ask ourselves, is this for an outward show? Or am I doing what I'm doing because I love him? My affection burns for him. Therefore, my actions follow with that same heart. The Pharisees' works were all before men, you see it there, to be noticed by them. the greek word he uses there theomai is the greek word for noticed and you can you can almost hear the onomatopoetic aspect to this or the english equivalent theater in theomai the fact that it's theatrical it's the behavior of thespians you know the actors and the play actors and the people just putting on a show he's saying they were doing their works so they could just put on a show the word means to behold And it's referring to someone who does what they do in order to attract attention and praise. That was the hallmark of the Pharisees. And why is it such a blight on the honor and glory of God? Because he will not share his glory with another. We didn't die for one another that we might save and redeem one another. We didn't condescend from heavenly position to come and be the Redeemer and the Savior and the Lord and the friend. We didn't send the Holy Spirit. He did. And so when we start taking credit and honor and glory for works that are done through a gift given by the Holy Spirit, we start taking credit, we're like a kind of a spiritual squatter. We're in a house that doesn't belong to us. We're acting like we own the place. It's like somebody with maybe a beautiful home, and I come over to your property today, and you have a gorgeous farm. We've been seeing all these rolling green hills. I told my wife, would you ever want to live in Kentucky? The kids are playing in the rain. She said, don't tempt me. Arizona, we're going into the inferno for the next four months. But imagine I just decide when I'm gonna show up on your property and I start inviting people over and I say Mikasa Tsukasa, you know, my house is your house my place come on in and you're going you don't belong what you're taking credit for what you didn't buy purchase build or sustain this is the kind of attitude that we're operating with when we say look at me I Look at what I do. Look at all that I have done. And it's the Holy Spirit's gift. It's the glory of Christ. It's the love and honor of the Father. And so that's where all the attention must go. The Pharisees, they operated with a self-serving attitude. I think we have our own version of this, even though today we don't walk around in robes and the phylacteries, if you don't know what those are, the big headdress things that the Pharisees would wear. I mean, if you saw a real Pharisee today, it would be something out of the movies. I mean, they look just wild, but they walk around very pompous. We don't do that per se, but we have our own version. People serve and they want everyone to know it. If they don't get recognition, they'll leave the church. Nobody thanked me for all that I did. And look, an attitude of gratitude is healthy for a church. We want to be appreciative of one another. We can say thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you for serving. Hey, we appreciate you. I just want you to know that, you know, God, I know you don't need my praise, but I want you to know it means a lot and it's an encouragement to us. We can say these things, but I think as American Christians in particular, we like our recognition. We're used to that in school and in sports and in every other forum. Look at what I've done. What do we say? Thank you, dad. Thank you, friend. Thank you. And these are good manners. But when it comes to serving, if we have these expectations and they're not met, well, it's the old phrase, expectation breeds frustration. When you expect that people are going to fawn over you and what you do is going to be heralded from behind the pulpit. I mean, they might even put you on the screens between the scripture readings if you do the right stuff. Well, we've lost the heart of service. Many people will give lots of money to get their name on a plaque. If you'll name the pew after them, they'll give. But to give anonymously or to give without some sort of recognized credit, well, They'll have no part of that. People will drop millions of dollars today to have a building named after them. I've seen this in pastoral ministry, is leaders will put on elaborate shows of righteous works because they want to be worshipped. We'll present ourselves in perfection for all to see. I mean, look at me, I have it all together, and so that's why you should follow me. We want people to stand in awe of us. That's deep down the glory hog that exists in all of our hearts. And I'll tell you what, that thing needs to be killed day after day. It's like an old corpse that continues to try to rise out of the grave and it needs to be sent back down time and time again. We are humble servants given the glorious honor serving the king, and if anyone thanks us, our job is to be faithful reflectors and deflectors. We reflect the praise and glory of God. Somebody says, thank you, or you did such a great job, or I just love the way you did this, or did that, or did that, or did this. We can say, Well, it's an honor to serve. Thank you for your appreciation. Ultimately, it just was such a joy to get to do it. I think we got more out of it than maybe you even did because getting to serve was a privilege and getting to be a part of it. We can also deflect praise and honor. We can say, well, I appreciate you being so grateful, but I gotta tell you, if it wasn't for the Lord, we wouldn't have this opportunity. He's been so faithful and so kind, and so it's a privilege. We don't need to be falsely spiritual about it when somebody says, hey, thanks for what you do. You say, oh, I'm just a worm in the dirt, you know? You know, just lucky to be here, just getting into heaven by the skin of my teeth. You know, I'm lucky the place didn't fall in. We don't need to overdo it. We can walk confidently in our identity, amen? Our position is secure in Christ, but we don't need to take all the credit for what he's doing. we can just say God, God is doing something faithfully. And I think there's an authenticity that we need in the church today as well that, and I want to use this word very carefully and you'll know what I mean, that is quote-unquote attractive to people. And here's what I mean. When Christians are pretentious and hypocritical and self-righteous, I believe it is a deterrent to people engaging in our fellowship. I believe it's a deterrent to discipleship because everybody's so scared to just be who they are right now and then watch as the Lord works in their life and takes them from where they are to where he's going to take them through the power of the Spirit and sanctification, being made more and more like Jesus. but many times when we put on a self-righteous picture nobody can be real about their sin and so what you get is a bunch of phony Christians putting on a show and meanwhile we're dying inside and I think what Jesus is warning here is look even in all your your good works and your righteous deeds for you by way of application even in all your service spiritually never forget that we are but jars of clay, that we're gonna have struggles, we're gonna have cycles of sin, we're gonna need one another to exhort and encourage and correct, even rebuke. People can come alongside you and say things to you that need to be said. I think there is something very powerful about a sincere church who's more than happy to just be where they are, because isn't that the best way to start? In life, owning just where you are is a powerful thing because getting honest is the first step towards getting onward. You start being honest about where you are and you get to address the weaknesses as you are and the Lord will grow you. But faking it does nobody any favors. I remember some years ago I heard something pastorally that was very liberating. I don't know if you You've heard of him much down in this region or if it's just more so in California or Texas. But does anyone remember Chuck Swindoll? You've heard of Swindoll? Okay, good. Swindoll is one of my favorites. I love him for a number of reasons. And I listened to him recently. He's 91 years old. And I know many of us listen to him on the radio for years. but you see him, Lord willing, landing the plane faithfully in his life and ministry, and he said something that I've never forgotten as a pastor, and I think it will be helpful for you. He said one time, you know, I put Cynthia, that's his wife, I put Cynthia through hell for the first 10 years of our marriage, and I thought, oh my goodness, you're not allowed to say that, you're a pastor. You can't say something so authentic. You can't reveal that kind of sin or challenge. Your marriage was, I mean, you were a lot to deal with. Well, that's not going to be very, you can't say that. And his whole point was, you know, we all have struggles. We all wrestle through things, not disqualifying sins, but certainly things that need to be addressed. I think part of what Jesus is saying here reminds us that we like our leaders strong and perfect. We like our pastors way beyond where we are, and they should be, 1 Timothy 3 qualified, yes and amen, but we like our leaders perfect. We like our heroes. We kind of have hero syndrome. We want everybody, we never want to know kind of the nitty gritty, and sometimes as Christians, we pick up on that, and then we put out the air of perfection as well, and a church becomes a shell. of a show. And what Jesus' warning here invites us to think through is that we all have a tendency to become performers in the church. Many, even young men today, will get caught in this trap, that they have to have it all together. And so they read their script and they quote Sproul and MacArthur and Spurgeon acting like, you know, they came up with these truths and they parrot the script. And we become very good at being performers of the truth from a lip service standpoint, but not truly with our lives. And so in the church, we're prone to this. And then there's, Guys like Swindoll and others. Authentic, sincere. imperfect yet mature and I remember hearing him say that and I thought that's the goal not that I want to have to say one day that I did that that's not really the goal in your marriage certainly not the goal in ministry but I appreciated how honest he was as an old man to say listen do not look at my life and think that I just got saved and it was instant sanctification and instant perfection everything was fine and I just did this for the last 50 or 60 years No, there are seasons where we were leaning on the church for just the next day of sanctification and survival. We're going to need each other. And if we are in that position of need, well, you've got to lay aside all self-righteousness. You've got to lay aside pride. You've got to lay down the ego. We're a body. We're a family. And so Jesus' warning is so helpful. Everything he's speaking of is good. Righteous deeds are good. Giving, praying, fasting, serving, all of it is good, but we have to be careful. We have to be careful. The Pharisees were walking billboards for their own good deeds for the motive of showing off and earning the praise of men. You know the easiest way to think through this is are we always the hero of our own story? Are we always the hero? For us, we're not. He is. Christ is. We're not. Well, Jesus says, when you operate the way the Pharisees do, well, you're going to get exactly what you want. He says, otherwise you have no reward with your father who is in heaven. He says, you want all the glory and attention? No problem. No problem. One day, you'll have no recognition with your father. And then you start asking the question, do I want the recognition of men or do I want the recognition of my father who's in heaven? Who do you love more? Who matters more? And what I find so interesting about this line in verse one is God doesn't punish vindictively or aggressively, but he just ignores the act. Isn't that remarkable in this verse? You just have no reward with your father. He doesn't even notice. It doesn't even cause a small stir on the Richter scale. It's as though God has allowed the request to be granted. Here, take your earthly momentary praise from men. Take it all. You're mad because nobody recognized you. Okay, no problem. You can have that approval and make a big deal and be dramatic about it and then everyone will will fawn over you. Guess what? The greater reward that awaited in heaven, the glory and honor of the Father? Well, you just traded that in. And so with the praise of man or the approval of God on the table, which one do you prefer? We think through that. light of good works in Matthew 5 16 and doing them in such a way as to be seen. What does that mean and how do we reconcile that here is to say that we're not afraid to do the right thing. We're not afraid to be bold about our faith. We're not afraid to make it known who we do what we do for and why we do it. We're not going to hide our good works. We're not going to swing the other way from pride and selfish ambition and ego into false humility now. We're just going to walk down Main Street doing what we're doing for the glory of God because he's been good to us. And we're just going to be faithful. We're not going to hide who we are. And at their most fundamental meaning, Jesus's words, they are a warning that the glory hogs will get everything they want from people who don't matter right now. The praise of the world, the honor of others, the attention, none of it matters. I think on the short list of the most embarrassing moments for you or for I as a Christian would be god look at the good things i did with all the expectation that he's going to be very impressed with your i mean look look look i know some people in this line here at your judgment seat lord of done some pretty good stuff but just you might want to have the angels let him know that it's going to be a little longer wait while you read off the list of things that i did you know we're gonna be here for a minute uh... i'm waiting you know i'm i'm waiting for my reward I know it'll take me a while to gather it all and organize it all here in my heavenly mansion, only to find if it was all for the praise of men, I'd be disappointed. I take Jesus' words literally. I would exhort you to do the same. be faithful deflectors and reflectors of the praise that we will be afforded to be good reflectors and deflectors when we're given the glory and the gratitude from people to be appreciative that there are those who are thankful for your faithfulness and your service and your sacrifice and your giving and your obedience to God to use your gifts to build one another up but in the end If nobody ever said hey great job hey thank you ... hey we appreciate you if nobody ever wrote you a tax ... receipt or put your name on anything if nobody ever wrote ... you the thank-you card would it be enough because in the ... end you go to bed on your pillow at night full of peace ... and full of joy and full of comfort knowing. I got to serve the King of Kings today. I get to give. I get to love one another. I get to sweat. I get to do all these things. What a privilege it is to use my gifts. I don't need recognition from men. I know my Father is pleased with me. I want to give you five truths to consider in light of verse one, and then we'll land the plane. I would say these are a catalyst for the verses ahead and they'll encourage you as you continue in your study in 1 Corinthians. Number one, Jesus's words assume that we do righteous deeds. Jesus's words assume we do righteous deeds. He's talking to his audience there in the Sermon on the Mount, teaching them what it means to be a follower of his and His words assume it. Look at the language. Beware of practicing your righteous deeds. They're already going to. God knows. The Lord assumes that we will. And so I think maybe a deeper question that you ask is, you know, do I even give? Do I even serve? Do I even lay down my life for others? Jesus' words assume that we're in the game. that we're active and we're a part of the body. He assumes that we're not playing church as a spectator sport and as merely a consumer, but as a faithful contributor. And so I don't know where you're at, and I certainly have to assess my own heart in this, but we need to ask ourselves the hard questions. Are we active in the body? Do we treat God more like a vending machine? Do we hit him up when we have a need? Or do we have a relationship with our Father who's in heaven and we're actively serving and giving and uniting and fellowshipping and discipling within his body because we are actively a part of his body? Number two, forgetting the giver, capital G if you're taking notes, leads to being entitled about our gifts. Excuse me. Forgetting the giver leads to being entitled about our gifts. You know, maybe, just maybe, the number one way to become a prideful, entitled, egotistical Christian is to forget who saved you and who gave you the gifts you use for your own glory. When we forget the giver, we become entitled. Perhaps, while we can operate with great Christian confidence in our salvation and our position and our identity in Christ, perhaps we also can remain humble. That all that we have is from Him, for Him, and through Him. That every dollar we own isn't our money, it's His. Psalm 50 verse 10 says He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. You think about God owns it all. He owns everything we have. He's the distributor through the Spirit of the gifts. He sovereignly gives them. It's His. your gift, your money, your time, your life. Think about how cocky and egotistical that Israel got. In the book of Deuteronomy, Yahweh ends up rebuking them. He says, don't you forget it's I who has given you the ability to earn wealth. He tells Israel themselves, even the money you make, even the things that you gain from your work, don't you forget it for a second. I'm the actual banker that's sending the paycheck. I think even that can be so convicting and humbling for us as we steward our spiritual gifts, our finances, our time, and our resources, and we maybe lose some of that language that this is mine, or I have this, and I have that, and if you this, then I will. But we realize, well, he's the giver. I don't want to be entitled about what I have. I want to steward it faithfully. And so we can be confident in our position in Christ and yet humble to say, nothing I have I've earned. It's all grace upon grace. When we forget God, we take his gifts and we use them for our own glory and then we take all the credit. This is a road that leads to our demise, even our destruction. It certainly is a joyless destination, but when you do what you do for the praise and honor of the Lord, oh, you're full of joy. Number three, Trading God's reward for the praise of men is fool's gold. Trading God's reward for the praise of men is fool's gold. There actually is no reward there. There's no reward there in the 1800s during the California gold rush. I was reading about this recently one of the most common ... occurrences was when miners would come upon a life-changing ... treasure they would freak out like they had just struck gold ... only to find it was a mineral called pyrite that look just ... like gold maybe you've read about this or heard about it ... before and you only understood that it wasn't gold ... after a series of tests were done so you think they would ... have been really high on themselves really excited ... hey honey I I hit the big one today. Pack your bags, we're going home, we're buying 100 acres. And the test comes back only to find that what had been discovered was completely worthless. So are the works done for the praise and attention of men and not done purely for the glory of God. And so trading God's reward for the praise of men is like fools gold. Number four, even in our greatest successes, we are unworthy servants. Even in our greatest successes, we are unworthy servants. I love the words of Christ in Luke 17 10. I remember one time I was feeling pretty good about what I was doing and feeling pretty unappreciated. And I told my wife, Christine, honey, I, you know, and I was, I was kind of pouring it out. Like sometimes we, as men do, and we open up ourselves to someone privately. And in this case, my wife, who the Lord has given me as a helpmate, a treasure, a gift, I often call her my secret sauce. That woman is the best of the best. And my wife has been given to me as a gift, and she refuses to coddle me. It's a gift. It's a good thing. And I remember her saying to me, as I told her all these things I was doing, and how unappreciated I felt, this, that, and the other. She said, oh, so you've just been doing what you ought to do. I said, well. But yeah, but you got to understand, honey. And I just began to mansplain, they call it. I'm a man explaining myself and trying to reason with her. And I remember my wife privately exhorting me and encouraging me, and I think it's worth illustrating to you, the truth from Luke 17.10. She came back later on that day and said, hey, I was reading this and I thought of you. I knew it in my head, but I forgot where it was, but here's where it is. She says, Jesus said this to his disciples. So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, we are unworthy slaves. We have done only that which we ought to have done. And I just kind of said, man, I don't like that, but it's true. In other words, look, our greatest moments of obedience, our greatest achievements and successes, you know what we are? We're unworthy servants just doing what we ought to. I'm grateful, grateful that he would use me, grateful that he would use you, grateful that he would love us and gift us, and then to bless the work that this right here, this church, would have a place to meet and be alive. I think of that often. for our church that you have let us survive and thrive that three years as a congregation like we're still here I just think it's still working you're doing a work through the word and it's really not enough on a human scale to just preach the Bible and sing some hymns and gather together and worship our God like what does that do the world would look at that they look at us like we're crazy all the and yet God in his sovereignty and his power chooses to bless and build a church through the ordinary means of grace Oh, He gets all the praise and the glory for that. When we've done all we could do, we've done only what we ought to. The truth is, God expects us to do what He's commanded and really not to make a big deal about it. We're not that big of a deal. What is a big deal is that Christ died to save us as sinners and then calls us to not just be merely slaves but now sons and daughters. That he loves us and cares for us and has secured us, that's a big deal. And so it breeds a humility. And suddenly, we're not like James and John. You remember their mother wanted to make sure that Jesus just had two reservations, one on his right and one on his left, you know, for her two boys, because they were extra special. You know, the sons of Zebedee, they deserve some recognition. So, Lord, could we at least get some seating for them? And I mean, my sons are great. It's sweet. Every mother, I think, would have been in the same position. Her boys are the best boys. Jesus says, look, that's not for me to decide. And here's the thing that the Father has set an order to all this. And if you want to be great in my kingdom, learn to be what? The servant of all. If you want to be first, be last. The way up is down. This is the heart behind our use of spiritual gifts and why we do what we do. Even in our greatest successes, we were and always are unworthy servants. It was all for you. And so we throw our crowns back at his feet. Number five, if you're living for God's glory, human praise is never enough. If you're living for God's glory, human praise is never enough. This won't be enough for us who are in Christ, will it? I don't want the praise of men. I don't want the attention and accolades of men. No thank you. I want God's approval. I want His pleasure. I want His reward. And the Jews at that time, in particular the Pharisees, were spiritual show-offs because they did not have their eyes on the Messiah. And that's at the core of this entire section in the Sermon on the Mount. They were standing in front of the Messiah and didn't get it. that he is the one. He's the one that the scriptures speak about. He's the one that the prophets were told about. He's the one standing in front of them. And all the Pharisees could think about is, he's healing on the Sabbath. Who does this guy think he is? What's going on? What's this guy's deal? And they were missing what was right in front of them. They had their eyes on all the wrong things, their own way, their own desires, They weren't obeying God's law with the right motives, and they pridefully clamored for the accolades of this world. So how do you avoid their plight? Oh, you live for eternity. How do you avoid their sin? You live for the glory of God. How do you not get lulled into the temptation that the enemy will put at your door every day? Come on, take the credit. You remember when he tested Jesus? Hey, why don't you go ahead and turn this stone into bread? You're pretty hungry. Go ahead. Hey, you see all these kingdoms of this world? Look at this, I own all this. In the irony of that, that Christ is the king of the world, and the lowercase g God of this world, like a little lion on a leash for a time, Satan is allowed to roam, is showing the king of kings what he could give him and none of it is reality. And then he tells him, throw yourself down. Come on, show who you are. Show off. Come on, put on a show, a spectacle. I mean, everyone will believe if you throw yourself from the pinnacle of the temple and the angels come and they carry you and you kind of float and fly and you show that you can bend the laws of nature. In every one of those tests, it was an invitation for Jesus to act on his own volition outside of the Father's will. It was an invitation to not be submitted to the Father, and that is really the invitation every day that the enemy offers us. Do it for you. Do it your way. Why wait on God? Have what you want. Get what you want now. Make it all about you. That's what his testing was, and Christ responds with what? The Word of the Living God, His Word, every single time. And so to faithfully do what God has called us to do, You live for eternity. You keep your eyes on the prize. You obey God for the glory of God. And based on what Jesus says here, our prayer then becomes, Father, give me eternal perspective. Help me to live for heaven so that this world and the praise of men will never be enough to satisfy me. I only want your approval. I only want your reward. I only want your glory. And by all means, do good works. Use your spiritual gift. do it all in light of the gospel and what Jesus has called us to, and when experiencing the very normal, by the way, struggle to crave the praise of men, which we all will at times. Remember the words of Hebrews 4, 13 to 16. It says, and is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do. In other words, God sees it all. He sees our heart. He sees your motive. What a fleeting waste of time to try to put on a show for one another when God really knows what's going on inside. He knows our heart, so take it to Him in prayer and know that you and I, oh, we're not fooling anyone. We might as well just get honest about our sin and look to Him to help us in our time of need. Our heart, our motives, our efforts, and our sacrifices, even our pitiful attempts to show off, oh, they aren't impressive at all. And so then the author of Hebrews says, therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our confession for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. You know, the Lord knows you can go to him and say, Lord, I'm struggling with pride. I'm struggling with the desire for recognition. I bring this to you. I know that I'm being a glory hog right now. Would you help me in my time of weakness? Would you meet me where I am? Would you crush my pride? He's been tempted, the author of Hebrews says, in all things as we are, yet without sin. You're the only one who was offered these things and didn't sin, didn't take it. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. We all have need for grace and mercy in this area, and so as you grow and learn further about spiritual gifts, as you use your spiritual gifts and serve one another, as you do your righteous good works and people notice how you're growing and how the church is maturing and how things are moving along, may it be that we reflect glory and praise and credit unto God and reassess our hearts and our motives day after day. Why do I serve? Why do I give? Why do I do the good works that I do? Because all of these things are gifts and they're meant to bring glory to our God. Amen? Let's pray. Father, Help us to heed the warning that Christ our Savior offers to the spiritually prideful Pharisees and their righteous good deeds for the purpose of recognition. Help us to live out the Matthew 5, 14 to 16 ethic, to let our light shine boldly before men, not to hide our light under a bushel, not to be ashamed of who we are, not to fall into this false humility now, in which we were afraid to do anything if someone might notice it, but rather that we would do what you've called us to do. We would do our good deeds that are to be noticed by men, meaning we would do things right out in the open, never ashamed to be who we are. And when people, and if people, try to put the spotlight on us, we put it on you. I pray for my brothers and my sisters here at Liberty Bible Church that you would grow them and strengthen them in all the ways that matter most spiritually in their hearts, that you would continue as you are in my life and our church, purify our motives for why we serve and why we give, that we would be sacrificial people saying Lord God it all belongs to you has been given by you and so we want to steward it for you I pray that this church would increase in their influence here in the community because they are a Jesus people, salt and light, flavoring and illuminating everywhere, everything that they touch and encounter. I pray for the children in these families that they would grow up to be strong in the truth, gospel witnesses who love you, that you would receive much glory, much praise, and much credit for the work that has begun here and has continued here and is still going to unfold. Bless the leadership and bless the congregation with strength, endurance, and much fruit for your glory, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.