Matthew chapter 6 in our text today is Matthew 6, 16 through 18. Let's give our attention now to God's holy word. Moreover, when you fast, be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance, but they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest anoint thine head and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy father, which is in secret, and thy father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word this morning. We pray with the psalmist in Psalm 119 that you would help us to meditate in your precepts. Help us, Lord, to think deeply about your word today and how it applies to our lives here in the 21st century. We pray, Lord, that you would help us to turn it over and over in our mind and in our heart, that our thinking and our affections would be changed and would be brought more in line with your will and your word. We pray all these things in Jesus' name, amen. Last week, we began our study of verses 16 through 18 here in chapter 6, and we took that opportunity to get a broad overview of fasting. What is fasting? What is that about? So we just began last week by considering the opening statement Jesus makes there, moreover, when you fast, which we said was an assumption on Jesus' part that his disciples would fast, okay? So if Jesus wants us to fast, and I believe he does, then it's important for us to know what it is. What is it we're supposed to be doing? How should we fast? For what purpose should we fast? What kind of mindset and heart and motive should we have as we engage in this spiritual practice of fasting? So this week we want to turn our attention to the primary point that Jesus is making here in this passage, and that is to contrast the practice of fasting as done by the hypocrites in his day with what he wants his disciples to do. And so we refocus our attention not on fasting in general, but on this passage and the point that Jesus is making here. Did you know that it's possible to take a perfectly good thing, a biblical thing, and corrupt it, turn it into something that it's actually ends up being contrary to its purpose. In the time of the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church enforced the practice of fasting during the season known as Lent, and people still practice that today. Well, as part of this, they came up with all these rules about how the fast should be and should not be conducted. One of the things that you were not allowed to eat during Lent at the time of the Reformation was meat. No sausage. Which is why it was so controversial for Ulrich Zwingli, one of the Reformers, to preach a sermon about the eating of meat during Lent. It was forbidden to do so. Now, Martin Luther at the time recognized the hypocrisy that was in this, because on the one hand, Rome said, no meat. If you want to really be spiritual and observe this fast properly, no meat, but you can have fish. and the best of wine. And so Martin Luther says, we've got people who won't eat meat, but yet they are glutting themselves on fish and the best and finest wine. This is a fast? He asks. So even back then, during the time of the Reformation, we have people taking a spiritual practice and corrupting it. Of course, the same thing is going on here in the days of Jesus in the first century. And so Jesus begins this passage by contrasting what he wants his disciples to do with what the hypocrites are doing. What is the practice of the hypocrites? So that's where we're going to begin today. We're going to talk about hypocritical fasting, and then we'll turn the coin over and we'll look at the fasting of disciples. True, secret fasting, as it should be undertaken by disciples of Christ. There's a negative and a positive here. As we said a moment ago, the primary point that Jesus is making is for his disciples to be engaged in fasting truly and sincerely. And in order to teach them that, he shows us first the hypocrites. Verse 16, moreover, when you fast, be not as the hypocrites. What is a hypocrite? The hypocrites have been in the crosshairs here in the first 18 verses of chapter six. Jesus has used them to show how not to give, how not to pray, and now how not to fast. Who are the hypocrites? Well, the hypocrites, to think about the word itself, are those who pretend, are those who look like something outwardly, but inwardly, they're something very different. They're the play actors. You know what an actor is, right? We have movies and TVs today. What does an actor do? He pretends. He pretends to be someone that he is not. And then he gets awards for that, right? Well, that's what the hypocrite is that Jesus is dealing with here in this passage, only this is a religious type of hypocrite. It is someone who appears to be something that they are in fact not. Now, who specifically is Jesus referring to? Well, the hypocrites that Jesus has in the crosshairs here are the scribes, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees. They are the religious and spiritual leaders of the nation of Israel. How do we know that? Well, for example, later on in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus takes the scribes and the Pharisees and pairs them with the word hypocrite. Matthew 23, 13. But woe to you, Jesus says, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. Also in the gospel of Matthew chapter 16, the Pharisees and the Sadducees come to him, and Jesus calls them hypocrites. So who are we talking about when Jesus says, don't be like the hypocrites? We're talking about the scribes, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees, the religious leaders of the Jewish nation. Okay, so now we know who we're talking about. What were they doing? How did they fast? What was their practice in fasting? Well, the first thing we notice about it is their countenance, their face. You could see from their appearance that they were fasting. There are two aspects of this. First of all, they have a sad countenance. Verse 16 again. Moreover, when you fast, be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance. They looked sad. They looked gloomy. They looked sullen. you could see from their face that they were dejected, and this was an indication that they were in this state of mourning that went along with the fast. Number two, Jesus says that they disfigure their faces. Verse 16, for they disfigure their faces. Disfigure is an interesting word there. It could mean literally to make invisible, or it could mean to corrupt. The idea is that they so looked disheveled, so sad, they were so uncount, slovenly we might say, that you could tell they were fasting. They corrupted their faces, so to speak. Now you will remember that many times the practice of fasting involved sackcloth and what? Ashes. Okay, it involved looking like you were in a state of mourning or grief. And so that's what the hypocrites look like. They look like they're in a state of mourning. You can see it all over their face. Now, wait a minute. The scribes and Pharisees might say, wait a second, we have a biblical reason for doing what we're doing. And they could point back to the Old Testament and say, but wait a second, fasting is associated with mourning. It's associated with grief. It's associated with sackcloth and ashes. There's a certain appearance that comes with fasting in the Old Testament. And we looked at some of this last week. 2 Samuel 1, Therefore David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him, and they mourned and wept, and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan. So you see what went with fasting there was this morning, they tore their clothes. And we can look at other examples where they sat in sackcloth and ashes in a state of grief. The Lord himself says in Joel 2.12, now therefore turn to me with all your heart with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. The practice of fasting in the Old Testament involved one's outward appearance. It involved what you looked like, what you had on, and what you did in terms of your physical appearance. For example, Daniel the prophet. Daniel 10.3, I ate no pleasant food, Daniel says, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. So is Jesus rejecting the Old Testament? Is Jesus saying, yeah, I know that people used to do that. I know that people in the Old Testament, they used to put on the sackcloth and ashes and you could see it, that they were in this state of mourning over their sins or some calamity or what have you, but I'm doing away with all that. Is that what Jesus is saying? No, you know better, right? No, we know that Jesus said, think not that I'm come to destroy the law or the prophets. I came not to destroy. but to fulfill. Jesus is not the enemy of the Old Testament. He's not getting rid of the Old Testament. So what's going on here? Could the scribes and Pharisees legitimately point back to the Old Testament and say, we're just doing what the Bible says? No, they can't. Why can't they? Why can't they say they're just following the scriptures in not anointing themselves and looking sad and disfigured and disheveled in the midst of their fast. What is the problem? The problem is motive. That's the problem. It is not so much if they had on sackcloth and ashes. It's not so much that the problem is they put on sackcloth and ashes. The problem is why? What was your purpose in doing so? What is the motive, the intent of the heart? That is the important thing. How do we know that? Look at verse 16 again. When you fast, be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces that... See that little word there? That indicates the reason. The motive behind why they wore a sad face, why they disfigured their faces, why were they engaged in this? It was so that they may appear unto men to fast. That was their purpose. That was their motivation. Jesus is here teaching us about the importance of motive. Do you know what a motive is? It's why you do what you do. It's one thing to do something, it's another thing to get beneath the surface of that and see why it is you're doing it. How important is that? How important is motive? Jesus has been teaching us here in the Sermon on the Mount the importance of what? Outward appearances? External things, how things look? No, he's been teaching us over and over again about what? About the heart. About your intent. about our motive in why we do what we do. Jesus said, blessed are the pure in what? In heart, for they shall see God. Have you ever discovered a bad motive in your heart? Have you ever done something and you thought initially, I did a good thing. And then you started to peel the layers of it back and say, I'm not so sure anymore. I'm not so sure that I did that for the right reason. You can do the right thing for the wrong reason. with the wrong intent, with the wrong motive. I will never forget, it is burned into my memory, when it dawned on me as a teenager that my motives were bad. I was doing good things, I was trying to read my Bible, I was trying to pray, go to church, witness to other people, but at some point it set in that, wow, am I doing this so that others will see how spiritual I am? Is that why this is going on? Is that why I'm engaged in this activity? And I had to say, yes, there's pride and there's sinful motive here in what I am doing. What about you? Are you doing the right things for the right reasons? What is the motive of your heart? Why are you here today? Why will you pray tomorrow? Why will you engage in a fast? Why will you do what you do in your Christian life or otherwise, just in your everyday life, in your job or what have you? What is your motive? You see, Jesus will not let things rest at the surface. We've talked about this before, right? Jesus will not let things rest with externals. The scribes and the Pharisees were happy with their externals. with how they looked out here. They looked good from out here. But Jesus says, you're like whitewashed tombs. Somebody's painted you up on the outside, but on the inside, you're full of dead men's bones. God forbid that it would be that way with us. Let Jesus search your heart. Let Him search your heart and see what's in there. And see why it is you do what you do, even when it is a Christian thing that you do. Why did the hypocrites fast and why did they look the way they did? They did so for the sake of appearances. Verse 16 again, that they may appear unto men to fast. This has been the theme throughout, right? These first 18 verses. Why did they do their charitable deeds the way they did? Matthew 6.1. Take heed that you do not your charitable deeds before men to be seen by them. Why did the hypocrites pray the way they did in a public, very prominent place? Lots of people coming and going. Matthew 6, 5, when you pray, Jesus says, you shall not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets that they may be seen. That's what they were interested in, appearances. They wanted to be seen doing certain things so they could be recognized and praised for that. Now, before we're too hard on the scribes and Pharisees, Are we not the same way? Now, we watch sometimes, I hope you don't watch too much of it, or maybe you shouldn't watch it at all. Sometimes we watch the celebrities go down the red carpet, right? You ever seen that? Actors and actresses, and what do they do? They stop and they preen for the camera. And everybody's snapping the pictures. What is it about? It's about appearances. It's about what they look like. It's about how beautiful they are. It's about how great their movie was, or whatever the case may be. And maybe we sit back and look at that and say, wow, how empty, how shallow, how superficial that whole thing is. But sometimes we're guilty of the same thing spiritually. Are we not? We could think of lots of different examples. Our common temptation is we want to be seen. We want to be seen as a certain thing or a certain kind of person or what have you. And the scribes and the Pharisees were interested in that. And that's all they were interested in, appearances. Martin Luther, the German reformer, puts it this way in his own contemporary time. It was not a means of controlling or disciplining their own bodies, or of praising and thanking God, speaking of fasting, but a device for having people look at them, talk about them, admire them, and say in astonishment, oh, what wonderful saints these people are. They do not live like other ordinary people. They go around in gray coats. with their heads hanging down and a sour, pale expression on their faces. If such people do not get to heaven, what will become of the rest of us?" Is that not a temptation for you? And for all of us? To be motivated by the wrong things, to be seen for appearance's sake. That's why the hypocrites are doing what they do. In addition to that, Who do they want to appear unto? Verse 16 again, that they may appear to who? Unto men. Who is their audience? If they're the actors in the theater, who is sitting in the stands? Men are. That's who they want to appear in a certain way to. That's what they're interested in. Now this is ironic because it's not like they're fasting to appear a certain way to other people for the benefit of other people. Right? It's not that. They're not trying to get other people to be spiritual and love God with all their heart, soul, and mind. What is their ultimate motive in appearing unto men? Their ultimate motive is selfish. They're interested in worship for themselves. They're interested in being honored and praised and glorified themselves. for what they did. You see, this is how deep sin goes. This is how total depravity is. Sometimes we might be tempted to think about sin like it's out there in the bars. It's out there in the loose lifestyles and all that sort of thing. But surely it's not here. Surely it's not within the four walls of the church. Surely it's not in the lives of God's professing people, but it is, is it not? Sin is so pervasive, so powerful, so corrupting, that it can take a practice like giving to the poor, praying, and fasting, and corrupt it. Turn it into something the opposite of which it was supposed to be. It was intended to be. There is such a thing as religious sins. The temptations of religious people to commit these types of sins, these types of sins before God. Think about the story that Jesus told, right? Luke 18. You got two men that go up to the temple to pray. You've got the Pharisee and you've got the publican or the tax collector. Do you remember what the Pharisee prayed? He was talking to God. We could give him that. But he was talking to God about who? About himself. He was there to express how righteous he was and how pleased God should be with him. Luke 18. Also, he spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. That's what the hypocrites did. They believed they were righteous and despised other people. They saw themselves as the holy ones. And so when the Pharisee begins to open his mouth in Luke 18, he says, I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. He was proud of it. What was it about? It wasn't about God. It wasn't about other people. It was about him. You see what's at the root of this whole thing. What's at the root of it is pride. The fruit is the Pharisee in the public place with a sad, dejected look on his face. He's engaged in a fast today. That's the fruit. But the root of that plant is pride. Human pride. That's the danger, is it not? It's a peculiar danger to fasting. Now, I hope I persuaded you last week that you should fast with some of the exceptions that we noted. You know, if you're five or you're sick or you've got health concerns or something like that, I hope I persuaded you. And so the danger for you, if you take it up and say, I'm going to fast and pray, even if it's in some limited way, the danger is that you might end up thinking, wow, I've done something big time here. And it's so easy for that to creep in, is it not? Have you ever felt that way? You don't have to shake your head and nod. Have you ever done spiritual things and thought, wow, I'm a pretty spiritual person? Okay, you don't have to agree with me. I have. I'll just use myself as the example. And I know you have too. What is that? It's pride. That's what it is. There's that insidious root of pride that's in the human heart that wants to take even a spiritual practice that should be focused on God and turn it into something that is about me. It has redirected the focus and attention away from the place it should have been, the Lord, and now the whole thing's revolving around me. We've got pride at the root of it and we've got selfishness at the root of it. You see the scribe and the Pharisee, the Sadducee, they are worshiping here, but they're not worshiping God. Who are they worshiping? Themselves. They have set themselves up on an altar, so to speak, to be adored and honored and praised. And we have the same, the exact same set of temptations today. Examine your heart. Okay, so here's the practice of the hypocrites. What kind of reward do they get for that sort of thing? Verse 16. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. We've seen this with giving and with praying and now we see it with fasting. They aimed at a certain thing, right? The hypocrites wanted something. They wanted to be seen They wanted to ultimately be praised and acknowledged, recognized as spiritual, as godly. And the people did. They recognized them as such. And Jesus says, you have your reward. They got what they aimed at. Their goal was human recognition. They've received it. And that's all they're going to get. Let us make sure that We do things for the Lord, and we do things for the right reason. And let us remember that if we do things actually to be seen by men, the only reward we can expect to get, and nothing more, is to get that, and that alone. So if I pray, or I come to church, or I witness, or I talk about theology, or whatever it may be, and I do it so that other people will think I'm something, and they actually do end up thinking I'm pretty hot stuff spiritually, then I've gotten my reward, and that's the end of the story. Nothing more can be expected. Charles Spurgeon puts it this way. We cannot expect to get a reward both from the praise of our fellows and the pleasure of God. We have our choice, and if we snatch at the minor reward, we lose the major. May it never be said of us, they have their reward. Okay, so there's the practice of the hypocrites. This is how they fast. And this is why they fast. This is what they're all about. But we're supposed to be different. We're supposed to engage in a fast in a very different way, with very different motives. And so now let's turn our attention to this in verses 17 and 18. But you, verse 17 begins with, you are to be different. You, disciple of Jesus Christ, you, follower of mine, but you, when you fast. Again, Jesus assumes that this is what his disciples are going to do. He does not say, well, they do it, you don't do it at all. Just forget about this whole fasting thing, just abandon it. It's a hopeless enterprise. No, Jesus does not say that. He says, but you, when you fast. Okay, so now he's gonna teach us how to do it properly. And the first thing this involves is the appearance of the disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the hypocrites were noted for their appearance, right? They look sad, their faces are disfigured, maybe they have ashes spread on their face, maybe they're wearing sackcloth, what have you. How are we to be different? The first way we are to be different is in our appearance. Verse 17, but thou and thou fastest anoint thine head and wash thy face. These were the common practices of the day. Wash your face and anoint yourself with oil. This was a means of cosmetics, if you will, in the first century world. To give you a modern example, it's me saying, or it's Jesus saying to us something to the effect of, don't fast and look as if you just rolled out of bed. Now we all look a certain way when we roll out of bed, right? Not too hot. Not too good. My kids like to tease me about my hair, the appearance of my hair in the morning. And I don't really care until a certain time, because they're the only ones who see it, right? Now, if you come to my house at 730, you might see me in my natural state. It might be discouraging to you. Don't do it. But it's the difference between that rolling right out of bed. You haven't done anything to make yourself presentable. We might say and you making yourself ready for the day. You take a shower. Maybe you comb your hair you brush your teeth. Ladies, you may put on makeup or something like that to look presentable. That's what Jesus is saying. He's telling His disciples, anoint your head, wash your face, so that you do not look like you're engaged in this fast. You're to go about your day as you normally would, as on a day when you're not engaged in a fast. Now, is Jesus teaching His disciples to be deceptive here? No, He's not. Jesus would never do anything of the sort, teach his disciples to be dishonest or lie. This isn't about that at all. This is about them not seeking to draw attention to themselves. There's a difference between those two things. Because the disciples' motive is different. Their appearance has to be different because their motive is different. Why they're fasting and what they're doing in their fast is worlds apart from the hypocrites. from the scribes and the Pharisees. What is their motive? Verse 18. That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy father, which is in secret. Why were they to anoint their head and wash their face? So they did not look like they were fasting to men, but so that their audience would only be an audience of one. One person, and that's the divine being, their heavenly father. Brush your hair, Brush your teeth, get yourself presentable and ready for the day, engage in your fast, but don't do it in such a way that everybody stops and stares and says, oh wow, he's fasting. Oh wow, she's fasting today. Wow, I wish I was as spiritual as they are. That's what they're to avoid, the disciples. Why? Because they're not doing it for people. The Christian is not to do it for other people. That's not what a fast is about. It's not me trying to get recognition from you. It's not me trying to get something out of you, whether that's praise or adoration or what have you. Who are we doing the fast for? The fast is done for the Father. Remember what a fast is. The heart of fasting is to abstain from food for a spiritual purpose. It is a time of devotion to whom? To God, to your heavenly father. What did people do when they fasted? They prayed. They sought the Lord. Lord, help us. Lord, deliver us. Lord, guide us. All of these things, the focus was where? It was on God himself. And this is what the disciples are to do. Again, this is a reminder for us to do what we do in the Christian life and to do it for God. Now that's a cliche, right? Do what you do for God. We would all nod our head and say, yes, amen. Yeah, I believe that. We should do what we do for God. But these things creep in, don't they? This pride rises up from within. Our motives, we see them often as corrupt and we've got to fight it. We gotta pull up those weeds out of our heart when we see them, when we recognize, oh boy, I'm doing this for the wrong reasons. Lord, please forgive me and help me to do this for you, to do this with purity of heart. And one of the things, one of the primary things that will help us kill the pride and grow the humility, kill the wrong purpose, the wrong motive, and cultivate the right purpose is to do these things in secret. Verse 18 again. That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy father, which is where? In secret. And thy father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. And Jesus here tells his disciples to engage in the practice of secret fasting. Private fasts. The fast where it's something between you and God alone. That's how you make sure it's devoted and motivated by the right things. You do it not in public, but in private. Now, just a couple of quick clarifications here. Last time we talked about public fasts. There were national fasts in the Old Testament, there were public fasts when all the people were called to fast, and everybody knew, right? This is a fast day. This is a time of fasting, like during the Day of Atonement, or that period of time. We also saw in the Book of Acts examples of fasting. And these were corporate, church fasts, where elders were being ordained, or the church was seeking guidance, or the church was engaged in missionary commissioning and activity and things like that. So we're not saying that there's no place for those things. Okay. There is such a thing as a appropriate biblical public fast, and we won't rehearse all the things that we talked about last week, but we're not saying that Jesus is condemning all of that here. What he is dealing with is the personal fasting of the individual, and even in a corporate fast, making sure you're still not drawing attention to yourself. Now, I realize that this is tough to do. It's tough in our day and age, and it was tough back then as well, for this to be a complete and utter secret. For example, if I fast, Dina and the girls know about it. Why? Because I'm not at the table. Where's dad? What's he doing? Why isn't he eating with us today? Right? So someone might say, well, all your fasting is illegitimate because your wife and your kids know about it. No, that's not the point. That's not the point at all. Now, if I went to my wife and kids and said, fasting today, feeling very, very spiritual today, or something like that, then we'd recognize, wait a second, what are you doing here? Why are you announcing this? Why are you kind of broadcasting this thing? Okay, so that's not what we're talking about. But we are talking about things that should be kept private being kept private. Instead of me going out and announcing to my family, my neighbors, my friends, my church, hey, guess what? I fasted three times this week. Or, I fasted this past month for a whole day and it was really hard. No, it's better and more biblical for you to keep that to yourself. For you to keep that between you and God. Why? For your sake, first and foremost, so that pride doesn't grow in your heart. So that you're not thinking, wow, I just did an awesome thing and I'm going to tell everybody about it so they think how great I am. No. What do we do? We keep it secret. We keep it private. between God and us. And here's another wonderful thing about this. We noted this when we talked about prayer. When you do things just you and God, alone with God, it can feel very lonely. I'll admit that. Sometimes I go to prayer and I feel utterly alone. And I have to remind myself of passages like this. I am not alone. It may feel like I'm alone in my prayers. It may feel like I'm alone in my fasting, but I am not. Who's there with me? In the secret place, God the Father is. His presence is there with me. He sees me. He knows. And that's a wonderful thing. Remind yourself of that when you're all alone praying or you're all alone fasting and nobody else in the world knows about it but you and God. Remind yourself that He's with you. that you have his presence, that he is your audience, that he is the one in whose presence you are. Now, there's a reward for all of this, just as the hypocrites had their reward, right? What did they want? They wanted the recognition that came from men. They received it. That's what they got. Is there a reward for the disciple? Yes. Yes, there is. Verse 18 again. which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. You can be assured, the promise of Jesus, of his word, is that this fast, done truly, sincerely, and rightly, will be rewarded by God himself. He sees you, he knows what you're doing, he knows why you're doing it, and he will reward you. Now think about how much greater that is than the reward the hypocrites received. What do you want? Do you want the recognition of people? Do you want people to say of you, wow, they are awesome. They're so great. Look at how great this person is. The world largely runs on the fuel of that stuff. Human praise, human recognition and acknowledgement. Have you felt that? Have you felt that in your own life? Somebody praised you and recognized you. Felt good, right? Felt really good. Well, there's a way that you can do that without being proud, but there's a fine line, is there not? It can easily slip over into, that's what I want. I want people to praise me. I want people to recognize me, what I do and how spiritual I am, even as a Christian. Well, that's a paltry reward. That's like settling for mud pies, when what you could have instead is all the jewels in the world. What is the ultimate, the greatest reward of all? It's to do things for God and to be rewarded by Him. I've told you before, and I'll tell you again, all the human praise in the world, if you added it all up, put it all together in a big pile, got it in a big sack, said, here you go. You can have it. Everybody thinks well of you. Everybody thinks you're the greatest. If you took all that together and you compared it to one day standing before God and hearing him say, well done, you good and faithful servant. This whole sack of human praise just does not compare, does it? That's where you have to keep your focus. You have to keep your focus on the Father. You have to keep your focus on God himself and do what you do for him from a sincere heart. Now that's a tall order, brothers and sisters, because we are not yet glorified. We are not yet perfected. We still have this sinful nature to contend with, to deal with. And so this will be a fight. It would be nice if you could hear this one message, say, okay, I got it. I got it. I'm going to put this into practice. I'm never again going to do the right thing for the wrong reason. It doesn't work that way, does it? There's this constant war between the Holy Spirit and the flesh, and they strive and fight against one another. Let's make sure we're in the fight, that we recognize that it's important that we do the right things for the right reasons, that we be those that Jesus spoke of in the Beatitudes, those who are the pure in heart. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh Lord, how sinful we are. We can't even go to pray many times or fast or give without there being pride there, without there being selfishness mixed in, without our motives being wrong. And Lord, we pray and ask for forgiveness. Please forgive us, Lord, for when our motives are wrong. Help us, Lord, to do the right things for the right reasons. We need your grace to do this, Lord, and we ask for the help of your Holy Spirit to examine our hearts and make sure that we do what we do for you, that we seek you to be our audience, that we seek to do things in secret before our heavenly Father that we may be rewarded by you. Give us grace to do these things, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen. Let's close our service today with a benediction from the book of 1 Peter. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.