Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6. Verse one, beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them. For then you will have no reward from your father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving may be in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you. Beware of practicing your righteousness. We talked about that last time. Beware of the stage, beware of performing. This is a lesson on righteousness and how we are to practice it. True righteousness is what Jesus is focusing on here. We know that there is an imitation of Christianity, a false and fraudulent and a fictitious thing that gets called Christianity in our culture. Our brother Kinsey was alluding to that. You all know about that. Many of us came from that. We were deceived to think we were truly born again and we were not. We know that there's a real thing, a true and genuine way. And when we look at the real deal, we see a complex and amazing reality. I don't know if you've ever considered it this way, but true righteousness is made up of three realms. Real Christianity lives in three spheres, three parts to it. You have to have all or you do not have true Christianity. Threefold cord is not easily broken, if you will. And Jesus brings them all out in this section of the sermon. There is your righteousness toward others. There is your righteousness towards God himself, and then there is your righteousness toward yourself. I mean, look at Matthew 6 with me. Give to the needy. Jesus gives us an illustration of giving to show the reality of our godliness toward other people. Prayer. an illustration of the reality of righteousness towards God. And then fasting, an illustration of our mortification of sin, self-denial, the reality of all of these must be there, this perfect balance. Some have taken this section, like many other sections of the Sermon on the Mount, by the letter. not by the Spirit. And we saw that as we moved our way through Matthew. People have thought, and I was one of them, He's just talking about giving here and nothing else. He's just talking about prayer here and nothing else. He's just talking about fasting here and nothing else. And then it leaves people to ask questions like, why doesn't Jesus deal with other things in the Sermon on the Mount? How come he doesn't talk about this or that or this issue? Why are all of these things left unaddressed? And confusion sets in. But as we've made our way through Matthew 5, by now, I believe you've seen Jesus is calling us to go further than the letter and to look at the spirit. He is not giving us in this sermon an exhaustive list of rules of do's and don'ts, but he is giving us the very foundation principles to live by that you might apply to every situation. Brothers and sisters, isn't it true that as you seek to follow Christ, you come across many situations where you cannot find book, chapter and verse to deal with. But God has not left us without guidance. He's given us the very universe supporting foundational principles that we can deal with every single situation we come across. It's the spirit. And we see this perfect balance here. My Christianity, your Christianity, if you are genuinely a true born again believer, you must have dealings with others. You must have dealings with God himself, and you must have a deal with your own heart and your own soul. And if any of these are missing, you do not have true Christianity. For example, to have righteousness towards others, But no love for God is what the Pharisees had. But to say you love God and have no love for others, what does the Bible say? If anyone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. Both are necessary. And yet, if we stop there, how many are in hell right now because the third element is missing. Righteousness towards your own soul. What Spurgeon called the minister's self-watch. To say you love God and to spend your life pouring out and loving others, but inwardly you are filthy, inwardly you are false, is to have no salvation at all. Righteousness in regard to your neighbor, God, and your own soul is essential in order to have true biblical Christianity. If any of these are missing, you do not have the real deal. And Jesus is going to take us through the journey of looking at the proper balance of spiritual life and the pitfalls we can fall into in every single area here. As you think of these three areas towards others, towards God, towards yourself, Do you know where you are weak? Do you know where you fall short? Where do you find yourself most faithful? Where do you find yourself most lacking? Well, may God help us to have balance. Today, we will look at the realm of how we practice our righteousness toward other people. Jesus uses the illustration of giving to the needy, which includes how we deal with what? money, right? Yet it is so important that we know this deals with much, much, much more than money. He uses the words give to the needy. The Greek word translates acts of charity. These acts are words like mercy, pity, compassion. The lexicon literally says to practice the virtue of mercy or beneficence to show one's compassion. But Jesus is saying to us is when you practice the virtue of mercy, when you show compassion to someone in need. Now, there's nothing in that that limits us to money, is there? I think that opens this up very wide. Now to be assured, this includes money. But this is dealing with how we practice our righteousness towards other people in every area of our lives. So let's explore this. There's giving to those in need. Those who we deem as needy. Even lost people do this. Lost people who don't know God, who are God-hating in fact, see people hurting and they want to help for the most part. Every religion, every period of time, every culture, there are those who see a need and they want to help. You probably have people in your own life who you can think of immediately who'll be the first one to help somebody on the side of the road, the first one to volunteer to help. And why is this? Because we are made in the image of God, and God helps people. Our God goes after broken, hurting, wounded, weak, lost sheep. He made us in his own image. And so even among the lost, we see the reality of the image of God and this desire to help other people. Now, if that's true of the lost, how much more in the church? If this is true of those who don't love God, how much more is this evident and real in the church of the living God? If they attempt to do this, if they desire this, if they make efforts towards reaching this goal, how much more do we as Christians practice this? And if you're a Christian, you are doing this. Notice the language in verse two. Thus, when you give, now this has been said by commentators and preachers for ages and ages, and there's no reason to reinvent the wheel. The language of when you give makes the assumption that you are doing this. Not if you give, not on the chance that you might give, but when you give. This is saying you are already giving. doing this. It's just the assumption. You're going to do this. You're not just thinking about doing it. You're not just feeling the need to do it. But when you do this, when you give to those in need, this is going to be your lifestyle as a Christian. Now, I want to spend some time thinking about what it means to give before we start looking at how we need to give, because so often this verse is only limited to money. And I want to show you this is dealing with so much more than that. So let's think beyond money for a moment. What do people need? Just start thinking about that. When you give to the needy, needy, what do people need? We live in a world filled with needs, filled with emptiness, despair. I ask you, Do you see those without mercy? Do you see those who need help? Do you see those who are empty, hungry, thirsty, naked, lonely, homeless, tired, weary, worn out? Do they all need money? No, they need different things, don't they? So what can giving include? What about time? Just think about time for a moment. Think of the value of time. The only gift that you cannot give back. Once time is spent, it is gone. You cannot get the moment back once it is spent. We're told to redeem the time, and why? Because time is short. Because the day is at hand. Because so much time has already been wasted. If we're honest, we've wasted much time. We need to redeem the time. Time is short. Every moment brings us closer to the final moment. I've said before, I'll say again, all of us are just one heartbeat away from eternity. You are one breath away from the grave. You are one moment away from the judgment. And when you give time to someone, that is no small gift. There are those people who need your time, who need patient, loving time. Think of single mothers. Need time. They work long hours. Then they come home and they take care of their children. No time to read the word. No time to pray. No time to even refresh themselves. What do they need? They need time. Housewives need time. Men working two, three jobs to provide for their families. They need time. Time is scarce. Time is rare. How many of you have said at the end of the day, I need more time? Oh, is the day over already? I need more time. I have much more to do than I have time to do it. And how many would be thankful to have some of your time freed up from one thing so that you could do something else? Would that not be a great gift? How many families say to fathers, husbands, mothers, even children, I don't want your money, I don't want your gifts, I don't want your presents, you know what I want from you? Time. Maybe you've said it, maybe you've heard it said. Time is no small thing to give, and you can give time to needy people without spending a dime. What about meals, eating? We just saw the picture, our sister, Trey had her baby last night. The Coneys, they're next, right? And when a mother comes home with a newborn baby, the schedule is a little interrupted. And to have a warm meal brought to the door is far more valuable than to be given a crisp $50 bill. Food. I know food takes money in order to buy it, but you get the idea. Something as simple as bringing someone a meal, a sandwich, a salad, a bowl of soup is so simple, yet so appreciated. But let me make a stronger case for this. This is dealing with more than money. Think of our Lord Jesus Christ. No one was a greater giver than him. But when do you see him giving money to anyone? Jesus was always giving. He fed the hungry. He healed the sick. He touched the leper. He spoke to the isolated. He showed love to the hated Samaritans. Heard about this woman at the well. Nobody, no Jew would dare talk to her and hear Christ talking to her. Even when he was exhausted, tired, worn out and weary, he still gave. He gave of himself. He was always giving, giving, giving. No one gave more than him. He spent time with the outcasts. He was always serving others, teaching others, giving all the time. We know our Lord is no hypocrite. So he would not tell you to give to the needy and then himself not give. He's gonna set the greatest example. And yet how many times do you read about him giving money to anyone? How often do you see him putting money in a box or in someone's hand? We saw him watch the widow. We saw him watch others give. We read about the bag that Judas held that may have been used to give to the poor. Maybe they were living off it, but nothing is written about Jesus taking a coin and putting it anywhere. He sent Peter to the fish, take a coin out of there and give that. for the sake of not causing offense. But you don't see him handing coins to beggars. And yet no one on the face of this earth has ever given more than the Lord Jesus Christ. Even his sobering words in Matthew 25, where he is dividing those on his right, those on his left, those who were faithful, those who were lovers of him and those who were not. What does he say about them? I was hungry. I was thirsty. I was naked. I was in prison. You visited me. I was a stranger and what you welcomed me. Isn't that interesting? Nothing about you gave me money. I was broke and you put some money in my pocket. You see how wide this is? You see, I'm trying to widen your mind about what he means by giving to the needy, that we don't limit this to coins and bills. This broadens it. This widens it. This allows for so much freedom in the realm of your ability to give to the needy. It's not that this isn't dealing with actual money. Money is included, but we must see what our Lord wants us to see here. Jesus had no place to lay his head. He had no riches of this world, but that never stopped him from being able to give. Isn't that encouraging? That God does not close all doors except the monetary one when it comes to giving. And there are so many poor Christians who desire to give, but they find nothing in their pockets. And they have been lied to by many people to say, this is the only way. This is the only thing that matters. And they feel incomplete. But God would not have you limited giving to the needy. Think of the help of what it would be to clean the home for some elderly woman, elderly widow, let's say, who can't get around like she once did. What does that cost? Think of what it would be to take a lawnmower and mow the lawn of someone who is unable to do so, to tutor a child, to babysit, like we have this plan, to rake leaves. This is the leaf season. to send an encouraging text message, to give a warm phone call, to greet strangers. Jesus said, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. You may not have a dollar to your name, but you can welcome visitors warmly, can't you? Visitors coming among us, and what can you do? You can give a warm, true, genuine, friendly welcome. Someone sitting by themselves who doesn't know anybody, you can do that. There are children who need mentors. There's much that you can give. Much that you can do. This world is filled with needs. The church is filled with needs. Your family is full of neediness. Think of the reality of being with your family in the holiday season. You're talking to people. Are you talking to them and listening for needs that you can be the one to fill? You'd be surprised at how many needs come up when you just listen to people. hear what they need, hear what they're lacking, and you could be the very one to come alongside them and fill that need. And if any of you have ever been in the place of darkness, the cloud is over your head, under your feet, it feels like quicksand and you open up your Bible and it feels like just words and you pray and it feels like, where is God? You know, like I know. You would much rather have someone sitting across from you. Praying with you, holding your hand, listening, you talking to you as you cry out to God. than if they gave you an envelope with some green bills in it. As thankful as you would be for that, you would much rather have another kind of gift in that moment, wouldn't you? I know a dear brother who's a very successful business owner. He'd tell me all the time, he's a Christian, he said, people, you put this weird thing on money as though it's the best thing you could ever give to somebody. And so people always feel weird when you want to give money to him like, oh, no, no, not that. But the Bible doesn't talk about money that way. And he was saying that to me because I do the same thing. Something awkward comes up like money is that great, great gift and everything else is secondary. But that's not how the Bible talks. I want you to see that Jesus is opening this wide to all areas of giving, charity, compassion, pity, love for the needy. That's what this means. Some of you took psychology, most people in college at least took psychology 101. And there was this man named Abraham Maslow and he wrote about the hierarchy of needs. basic needs, psychological needs, self-fulfillment needs, but he missed the most important need of all. Peace with God. How about preaching the gospel? Isn't that giving to the needy? Isn't that the greatest gift that could be given to the most needy in this world? To be without home, to be without food, to be without clothing, but to be saved? is to be rich beyond imagination. Remember the rich man and Lazarus? When they died, who was the true beggar? And who was the true inheritor of all? Martin Lloyd Jones said, almsgiving, of course, this word, means helping people, giving a helping hand in case of need, giving money, time, anything you like, which is going to help people. That's what this means. So this is the what, and I know I'm camping out here for a moment, and I do so because if you are like me, I limited this. God widens it. This is about giving. Too often, Christians feel so useless. Think of older Christians, like older, older, and they're not able to move around as much. So they can't work. They have very limited resources. They're not able to go do some manual labor. And they say, well, what can I do? What help can I bring? What can I give? You think of the collective wisdom of being a Christian, to gather young people around and just pour out truth. older women taking a younger woman under her wing and say, Sister, this is how you keep a home organized and structured. Let me give you some recipes on a budget. Let me show you how to make sure that that child listens to you the first time. These are gifts, glorious gifts that can be given that don't cost a dollar. Children, Maybe you get allowance, maybe you don't, maybe you have money, maybe you have none, but that doesn't mean you can't give. You can see mommy tired, say, you know what? I'm gonna clean the table for her so that she doesn't have to. Even if you don't clean it well, what a joy would that do for your mother's heart? You could give to your siblings and say, I'd rather play this, but for their sake, we'll play something different. I remember, again, I talk about Haiti a lot, but how many poor people did we see, brother? Extreme poverty. And would they be kept from obeying this verse because they have no money at all? No, that would be cruel. They read this and say, I want to obey that, but I'm struggling to even feed my own children. God does not do that to the poor. So no matter how poor you are with the world's monetary gifts, we can all honor God by obeying this passage of scripture. So give and give and give some more. And may I add, give your best. Don't give like the yard sale, you know, the yard sale, right? Thrift store, you have the giveaway pile. All right, we'll just put that in the yard sale. It's stuff that you're like, well, it's not trash. but I don't really care if I have it anymore. We don't want to give to God like that. We don't want to give to others like that. We want to give our best. Give the best that you have. One more thing about giving money versus other things. Some of us have come from very strange backgrounds, where certain things were taught. And one of the things that was taught is that money is the most important thing, and that giving money comes before everything else. And giving to the church comes before everything else. Again, money is important, and the way we give shows our hearts. But there are people who feel pressured to give to churches, organizations, ministries. Meanwhile, their families are without basic needs. And many preachers have even told congregations that they should neglect their home responsibilities because this shows greater faith. Some of you know about these churches that have these money lines and all these false prophets come through fleecing the flock. So should you be giving financially to the church if your family doesn't have their basic needs? Well, notice that in this sermon, he first said, let your yes be yes and your no be no before he said give to the needy. I've known men who have had their lights cut off, water turned off, eviction notices on the door, but they felt godly because they were given to the needy, because they were given to the church. I pay my tithes though. It is not noble or righteous to let your family go without their basic needs because you gave to the church. And to fail to keep your yes is not godly, or holy. In fact, Jesus said it is of the evil one. That's not just me saying this, actually, our brother took us to first Timothy earlier, so turn real quick to first Timothy three. I want you to see this. First Timothy three, 14. He said, I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. So there were shown the household of God. I'm trying to, same book, 1 Timothy 5, 8. We're gonna see another household. But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." See the two households? You have the household of God, and then you have your own household. And only one of those households are you told, if you don't provide for, you are worse than an unbeliever, and you've denied the faith. So does that mean that we neglect the house of God? By no means. You see the warning there, right? And the context of 1 Timothy 5.8 has to do with caring for your widowed mother. It's just assume you're going to care for the people who live under your roof. It's Christianity 101. So you have the expectation that you're going to care for the members of your house. You have the expectation that you're going to keep your word, let your yes be yes and your no be no. And when you say to the bill, to the utility company, the water, the light, mortgage, your rent, whoever, I will pay you if you let me live here, if you let me have lights, if you let me have water. It is keeping your yes, yes and your no, no, when you pay your bills. And to say, I'm not going to keep my yes, I'm not going to keep my no, but I'm going to give to the needy. It's not a righteous thing. It's not a noble thing. Again, there's a difference between eating a steak dinner and having food talking about basic needs. But it's important that we see the balance because this verse has been used in many ways to twist all kind of things out of proportion. So giving broadened and hopefully balanced. Secondly, back to Matthew six. Jesus says, when you give to those in need, how do you do it? How should we be giving to the needy? That's the essential question. There are two ways of doing that in this passage, the way of the hypocrite and the way of the Christian. The question is, how do you do it? So let's look at the way of the hypocrite. So we see giving, see how it is, whatever you're gonna give, the time, the money, the service, the love, whatever it is, that which you're going to give. Jesus warns us, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. He says, sound no trumpet before you. You will find that people will donate lavishly if they can receive credit for it publicly. Put my name on the building. Put my name in the newsletter. Some of you are familiar with churches that have bricks with people's names written on them. The more you gave, the bigger the brick. And what does it say? I gave to this church. And there's my name for all time that people can see that I gave. Can you hear the trumpet sound? There are churches where you could buy your seat. The more you gave, the better seat you have. And everybody knows, no, this is my seat. Why can't I sit here? Who is this reserved for? Those who give the greatest and biggest monetary gifts. What is this? Trumpet sounds. I've seen a lot of horrible things in churches, as I'm sure you have. Money lines. Somebody here has a thousand. Somebody here has five hundred. Sounds more like an auction than a church. The tithers march. Are you a tither? Hold up your envelope. March it around. Let everybody see. If you're not tithing, sit down. This is only for you. You get the special envelope. You get the special seat. You get to be in the parade. And what is this? The trumpets blown. I've named this sermon, Stay Away From Trumpets. Why are they doing this? What do they get? The applause. Now, the likelihood of someone doing that in our circles is probably slim. I mean, probably not going to be many trumpet blasts in that way. We know better, right? Money is the obvious thing. And we would call out such horn blowing in our midst. we would say it's disgusting, and it is. But as we open up giving as it was meant to be, are you tempted to blow the horn in other ways? even financially, you know, given anonymously. Maybe that's something you do. And here we have this box, and nobody even knows that you're coming down here to put it in. Amen. But what are some other ways that you're tempted to sound the trumpet before you give or after? Because the point of the trumpet is to gain attention so that others know what you did. They know what you gave. They're aware of your giving. How about the internet? That's a big place of trumpet blasts. Do you post about your good deeds for others to read? If we were to go through your Facebook, would we hear trumpets? Or would we see light pointing to the father for his glory? Your photos, your stories, What do they say? Is it the way the world does it? You know how the world does it, right? You see in the news, man's act of kindness goes viral. Homeless man, fed, given clothing. I actually watched a story about this, which was a big thing, video scene, millions of times. Oh, what was it? This man, he saw this homeless man. He was hungry. The man was asking for money. took him inside the Pizza Hut, had lunch with him, took him to the Walmart, bought him some stuff, and then, smile! Took the picture, wrote the story, posted it, that everyone can see just how kind and generous he really was. This is the way the world does it. They trumpet blast their good deeds. The celebrities volunteering at this shelter, giving to this neighborhood, passing out turkeys, toys for tots. You come into places and they have these boxes filled up with things that they're going to give. And when they reach the limit of it, what do they do? Press conference. We're going to write a story about it. Let's bring the news out. We want you to see what we're doing. See, see how much we gave, see the toys, see the gifts, see the meals. Look at us. Look at what we've done. Trumpet blasts all around. Sinful symphony is what it is. Talk show host gives a huge check in front of everyone to somebody who posted the viral video of them doing a good deed for everyone to see. And all it is is applause and trumpets. Every trumpet has an intention. Those in the military, when they would be on base and they hear taps, what does that mean? Days over, lights out. The trumpet is a signal to do something, to respond. First Corinthians talks about if the trumpet or the bugle is blown a certain way, it's time for battle. Well, what is the command of all of this trumpet blowing? What is the call? You know what it is? Worship. What are these trumpets blowing, calling you to do? Worship. But who? Not worship God, but worship the generous giver. Look at what I've done. Look at how good I am. Look at how kind I am, how generous I've been. Look at all I've done. Aren't I worthy of admiration? Don't you adore me? Don't you think I'm good? Don't you think I'm kind? Aren't I worthy of your applause? Come on, share that post. Let me hear the trumpets. It's saying, look at me. Look at me. Look at me. I'm a giver. I give the gospel. I give money. I give talents. I give sweat. I give blood. I give tears. I give, I give, I. And I know the very thought of that would make us recoil. And yet, If we take part in any of this, are we not doing the same thing? Are you calling people to admire you, to honor you, to glorify you? Or do we have this John the Baptist mentality? I must decrease, he must increase. Be careful of the trumpets on the internet. Or we may not go to the internet. They didn't have the internet in the time of Christ. And this is not only for the future, right? What did they have? They had their own mouths. They had the grapevine. You know, there's even a saying, I don't want to blow my own horn. You all heard that before, right? That's coming from this. I don't want to sound my own trumpet, but to toot, right? People tell their generous deeds. people tell their own compassionate deeds. They may not go to the internet, but now when you're with them and they say, so, you know, I saw this old man, he was on the side of the road and everyone else was just passing them up, but I stopped. I pulled over and I, I, I lended him a hand and then I took him and you may never post a picture about it, but every time you see somebody, here it is, here's this story of your great deeds of good. You're giving. and you gotta make sure that somebody knows about it. Yes, sister, I know everybody else there was doing wrong, and then I stepped in and I saved the day with my wise counsel, with my compassionate gift, my holy example, really changed the whole scenery there. Glory to God. Yeah, but what is that really? It's just trumpet blast. It's the same thing. You may not get on Facebook and write about it, but you're, blowing your own horn. Are you ever tempted to do this? Do you ever share the tales of what you've given to others, the time, the money, the food, the compassion, the mercy? Are you announcing your giving, making known to others your acts of charity? Are you a storyteller? You always have a story to tell others, which isn't so much a problem, but the problem is you're always the hero of your stories. You always make things better. Things were rough, and then you come in. Things were bad, and then you stepped in. People didn't know what to do, and then you gave wisdom. People didn't know what to say, and then you gave the right word at the right time. You are the hero of all of your stories, and you make sure these stories are published. They're known. Giving to the media. Do you see it? How often do you use the words I, me, in your conversations? We're talking about trumpets and ways to announce, draw attention, ways to boast, brag, and appear a certain way for a certain purpose. What does the scripture say in Proverbs 27 too? Let another praise you and not your own mouth, a stranger and not your own lips. Again, we don't want to go too far and say that we should never tell the exploits of God's people what he's doing in our lives. We ask for testimonies. We ask for praise reports. And there's time to say this. And this is what God did. And that may put you in an awkward position because you don't want to talk about yourself. Sometimes when you seek counsel, you need to tell the story. You need to say, well, this is what happened. Do you think I acted wisely? This is what I was thinking. Do you think I should have done that? But what is the purpose of doing that? Is it so that you will be putting yourself as the hero? Or is it so that God will be glorifying his people helped? This is a heart check because really the only one that knows why you're saying what you're saying is you. The only one that really knows why you're broadcasting, why you're presenting this thing is you. And love believes the best, so we're gonna just believe, hey, you're doing this for the glory of God, but truly it may be because you really want someone to say, wow. Wow, that's what you did? Wow. Matthew Henry say, here may be occasion for us to justify ourselves, but not to praise ourselves. Paul did this and He did it for the sake of defending his ministry so that those who were under his ministry would be protected from the wolves. That's how the hypocrites give with trumpets, both in the religious context, says in the synagogues and in the secular ones in the streets. And why do they do it? that they may be praised by others. That word literally means glorified. That's the word that's used nine times out of 10 in our Bibles to speak about what is due to God and God alone. Their goal is praise. They're actors, they're putting on a mask, they're putting on makeup so that they can pretend to be something that they're not. Barclay said, a hypocrite is like a clean glove which hides a dirty hand. He acts as if he is good, but isn't. And if this is the way that you give, if this is the way that you do and practice, if this is the way that you help others, then the only heaven, the only reward you will receive is the applause. and nothing more. And after all your trumpet blowing, there's another trumpet that we sang about, and that trumpet will be terrifying for the hypocrite, but not the Christian. How does the follower of Christ give? But when you give to the needy, verse three, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. so that your giving may be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you." Now, how do you do this? How do you not know what your hand is doing, and it's your hand? I mean, I've heard about left brain and right brain, but how can you actually do this? Well, again, Jesus is speaking in a way, figuratively, to make the point all the more strong. He's emphasizing. Simply put, Love keeps no record of wrong, and true biblical giving keeps no record of rights. We may be disgusted at the idea of boasting to others, and this idea of blowing trumpets that everyone can hear all you've done, that may be disgusting to us, but we may be boasting to ourselves. Telling others all that we've done may be too much, We keep track of our good deeds. We comfort ourselves with our exploits. We tuck ourselves in at night on the soft beds of our generous giving. Beware boasting even to your own self. Martin Lloyd-Jones said, you do not even announce it to yourself. Your left hand must not know what your right hand is doing. In other words, having done it in secret, you do not take your little book and put down, well, I have done that. Of course, I haven't told anyone else that I have done it. But you put an extra mark in a special column where exceptional merit is recorded. In effect, our Lord said, do not keep these books at all. Don't keep spiritual ledgers. Don't keep profit and loss accounts in your life. Don't write a diary in this sense. Just forget all about it. What's the danger of keeping track of all your good deeds? I see two dangers. You will lean on this for hope and not Christ. When you need confidence, when you need assurance, hope and joy, rather than running and reading about the lamb who was slain for your sins, you take out the ledger of your right hand giving. That is a miserable thing to read. Hopeless book in an empty library, that is. The second danger is that you will blow that trumpet when the person you did it for offends you. Oh, you may not blow the trumpet when you did it. You keep it inside, but you keep track of it. And once that person offends you, out comes the trumpet. After everything I've done for you, and here it comes. I did this, and I did that, and I gave this, and I gave that, and what are you doing? Blowing that trumpet. But if you keep no record, if you're not even keeping track, you're far less likely to take that trumpet out when that person offends you, because you weren't doing it for their sake anyway. You were doing it for the Lord. You were doing it because God sees and not for them. Now, we need God's help with this, don't we? I don't know about you, but I feel tempted in all of these areas and I need the Lord's help to not do these wicked things. We must not blow trumpets or keep journals of our giving. God doesn't want us giving like the hypocrite or like the yard sale. He wants us giving in secret so that your giving may be in secret. Now, why would you give in secret? Because we don't care if men see us. We're controlled by the love of Christ, and that love for him compels us and moves us. We give for our father's joy. We give for our father's glory because the Lamb of God was slaughtered for me. And our father sees in secret means hidden, concealed, not seen by others. And he who sees also rewards. Does this mean that your giving is disqualified if someone finds out? No. The issue is the motive. The issue is the heart. God is our reward. God is the purpose that we do all of these things. So give, brothers and sisters. God has given his son to you. So give. God has given his spirit to you. So give. God has given his word to you. So give. Give because God has given promises, gifts, his truth, ultimately because he has given his very self to you. Give and give yet again, and do it for his glory and not for your own. And his rewards will not be stolen by thieves, eaten by moths, or destroyed by rust or by fire. Finally, Last word, I'll let Spurgeon have it. Let us hide away our charity. Yes, hide it even from ourselves. Give so often and so much as a matter of course that you no more take note that you have helped the poor than that you have eaten your regular meals. May God help us to do so. Father, forgive us for the trumpets that we have blown for the sake of the attention of others. Forgive us, Lord, forgiving for the audience, forgiving with a mask, forgiving as the hypocrites give. Would you help us to give in secret, not looking for any recognition, not keeping diaries or journals, not keeping track, but giving in such a way where after we give, we forgot all about it, that we would even have to be reminded of our generosity. In Jesus' name we thank you. Amen.