Living Before The Lord

Introduction

Matthew 6:1-8. If you have one of the church's Bibles, that's on page 811.

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.

And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

And then down at verse 16. And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces, that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others, but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Would you please join me as we pray and ask the Lord's help in understanding his word this morning?

Lord, we pray that by your spirit, you would illumine our minds to understand your word this morning. That your word would take root in our hearts and there find fertile soil. Hearts ready and glad to receive your word, your truth and your instruction. By your word this morning show us Christ and refresh our souls. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Overview of Matthew 6:1-8 and 16-18

We're studying Matthew 6:1-8 and 16-18, skipping over the Lord's Prayer this morning, not because we intend to skip it, but in fact, because we will cover it next week. You'll notice there's a little bit of repetition here and in verse 16 through 18, another example of Matthew 6:1 is given. We have the example of giving, of praying, and of fasting, all expounding upon this, "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."

The Reason We Practice Righteousness

One of the greatest ways to get to know someone is to spend time with them. I think we'd all agree with that. If I want to really know someone, I'm going to spend time with them. There's a number of ways you can do that. One of the more intimate ways you can get to know somebody is by stepping into their home. This is one of the reasons in our church, we're ever going to encourage hospitality, having people over for a meal, opening up the doors of your home and inviting people in if you are able. When you step into somebody's house, when you spend some time there with them, you just learn different things about them. You see the pictures on the wall, you see how they organize certain things, they cook you a meal, and you learn something of them even there. You have a different kind of conversation even than you would just out at a restaurant or here at church. It's a great way to get to know people.

There's an even better way to get to know people as well: living with them. All of you who are married or have been married, know this. That yes, you knew your fiancé at some point, and you thought quite well, and then you moved in with them, as you got married, and you live under the same roof, and you sleep in the same bed, and you learn a host of new things about them. In fact, I am still learning things about my wife, every day it seems like, things that I misunderstood or hadn't gotten quite right before, things that I wouldn't know unless we were up close and personal and we lived in the same household together. This is one of those reasons children know their parents so well. They see the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly through every up and down in life like nobody else gets to observe.

Jesus has spent the last significant portion of the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5:17 all the way through Matthew 5:48, giving us what you could call a meal-level evaluation of our hearts. He's given us here the heart of the law. His desire for us is that we would live righteousness, that we would have a practiced righteousness that bears fruit in our lives, and in an end to help us along that path, he's shown us God's desires for us. Matthew 21 all the way through verse 48 is Jesus giving examples from the Old Testament law that show us the heart of his law, which gets to our hearts. He's expounded what it means or what righteousness looks like. That's the first step in understanding righteousness, what does it look like objectively to live righteously? How do I understand that from God's mouth?

Culminated in Matthew 5:48, "You therefore must be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect," and Jesus' call to be whole, which really is the very heart of the law. To have our entire beings set aside toward God and his service, wholeness, whole heart, whole life worship and obedience will produce holiness outwardly. And so now Jesus moves on to help us understand the practice of righteousness. And he moves probably more from that meal-level overview to a little bit of a more nitty-gritty, personal, I'm moving in with you examination of our hearts. Because here, rather than just talking about what righteousness is or what it looks like or what God's heart is for our righteousness and and the broad category of being perfect, being whole, he gets to our motives. He gets to what are we really living for? What's my aim when I practice righteousness? How am I living and why am I living that way? What motivates me? Why am I doing what I do?

As Christians, there's so many ways we can ask that question of ourselves. Why do I show up to church? Why do I give? For what reason do I serve in children's ministry or clean the church? Is there a reason that I would ever fast? Why do I or don't I spend time in private prayer? Why am I or am I not willing to pray in public? How do I serve others and even the church sacrificially, actually enjoy it and not get burnt out? How do I enjoy serving the Lord if my capacity has diminished over time with age and life stage? What about the motive behind any of those things might be tied to any measure of recognition before man as a motivator in our hearts?

Understanding Matthew 6 here in verses 1-8 and 16-18 helps us answer these questions at our heart level. Perhaps it won't give us all the specifics, but it will begin to address more specifically why do we do what we do. And so in the most important ways, it addresses us. These verses illustrate for us three things: the reason we practice righteousness, the reality of our righteousness, and the reward for true righteousness.

Look down at the text with me. In verse 1, he says, "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." That is the summary statement of all Jesus says, and in it we see the reason we practice righteousness. It's the same reason that is repeated in verse 4. At the end of verse 1, we read of our Father in Heaven. At the end of verse 4, we read of our Father. Here then, in verse 6, our Father sees in secret and the one who sees in secret, our Father will reward us. In verse 8, don't be like the hypocrites, for your Father knows what you need. In verse 18, "Your Father who is in secret is the one who will reward you and the one who sees all you do." Do you see that word repeated over and over again, Father, Father, Father, Father seven times here? Of the 17 times that one word is used in the Gospel here in Matthew, 15, 16 of them are here in this section, four of them in the Lord's Prayer, seven of them or eight of them here elsewhere.

You might not have considered that God as your Father is the reason you practice righteousness. He is, and that reality of him as a Father is the reason we practice righteousness. In general, as created humans, we've been created in the image of God, and our purpose is to image God, to reflect his glory, to be like him, to be conduits of praise, and his glory being seen. But more than just that reality, as Christians, we have God as our Father specifically. And we are to display that unique relationship that we are ushered into by Christ in everything. Think about the reality of God as your Father. Christ is the eternal Son of God, and in being united to Christ in salvation, being in Christ, or in him, as you read so often in the New Testament, you have been made a son of God, a brother of Christ.

The thrice holy God, the one who in Isaiah 6 is holy, holy, holy, and everything trembles before him. The one who in Exodus 20 is the God on the mountain in fire and smoke and lightning and thunder. The one who in Revelation is the worthy one, who receives all praise and honor and glory. The one who at the end of Romans 11 in verses 33 and 36 is endlessly wise, and has perfect plans, and holds everything together, and all things are from him and to him and through him. So all praise is his. That God is your Father. The transcendent God has become immanent, near, close. The majestic Creator, the one who dwells in unapproachable light has welcomed you into perfect relationship with him. The one who is simply called, I am, has come to you. He is the one who has stooped low, and in Christ has brought us near.

God is great. God is transcendent, but God is close to us. He is present. He is tender and patient and kind and loving to us, near, affectionate toward you, Christian. Maybe you haven't heard it this week. God loves you. And in Christ, God loves you to the end perfectly. Despite all you are, despite all of your sin, despite all of your failure, God loves you because he is your Father. Think of the affection that you have for your children or that you've seen a mother or a father give to their children. It knows no end, and it doesn't wax or wane because of our children's behavior. Your children might run off and abandon you, and abandon the Lord. Your love for them has not given up. It has not failed. You love them to the end. And so does God as a perfect Father, let alone a human father, love us perfectly. God is for us as our Father.

There's nothing that I have as a father that cannot be used to bless my children as a human father. All I have and possess in some way, fathers, even your work that you leave the home to go do, is directed toward your children and provision of them and fulfilling that role to the Lord. There's nothing you are, there's nothing you have that is not used towards your children, directed at their good. And so too with God. God as your Father means that you can echo the words of David in Psalm 31, "You are my God." God as Father has all of his godness, everything that makes him God and perfect and holy and majestic, all of his godness is directed towards you in full. None of it withheld. None of it kept back. He's your Father. He's a good Father. He gives you all of himself. All of his wealth, all of his grace, all of his mercy that is lavished upon you, all of God's goodness. It's for you.

As Father, God is with you. In Isaiah 41, we read the words we hear repeated many places in Scripture, "Do not be dismayed, for I am with you." The Father does not depart from his children, though you might wander. Though he be so high and lofty, he remains with the lowly. One of the greatest things about having God as our Father is the way that God reinforces this Father-son, Father-daughter relationship. In Romans 8, we are told that the spirit bears witness to our spirit that we are sons of God. Verse 14 of Romans 8, "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." This is the spirit of adoption, as by sons, whom we cry, "Abba, Father." Verse 16, "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." This is why Ephesians 1 says that you are sealed with the Holy Spirit. God wants you to know this. He is your Father. He is good to you. He is with you. He does love you, and he's put his Spirit within you to every moment reinforce that reality, so that you would know it and cherish it and enjoy that relationship.

God is your Father is not just for you or with you. He's over you, the way that a father is over their children. I can look at all of my children's life and see things, the good and the bad. And today, especially as they're young, maybe I'm more like God as a Father than I'll ever be because I have an ability to move around things in their life. I can create adversity and hardship, by way of consequence, or by way of natural consequence, or by way of, let's do something to build some character. I can create ease. I can bear their burdens for them. There's nothing in a 7, 5, 3, or 1-year-old's life that I'm not going to know. And I can work for their good, both in hardship and in ease, both in blessing them and at times for their good, withholding things. God does the same thing, except he is the sovereign one that doesn't just have a short view of a small child's life, but he has a view of all of eternity, and he has a perfect zoomed in view of your life. God's not just up there with a bird's eye view of your life. God is intimately involved with every detail of your life. And as your Father, he is orchestrating every thread of your life to become a beautiful tapestry of his grace and of his goodness. We'll see that shortly in Matthew 6, that we need not worry because our Father knows what we need. He provides everything we need at exactly the right time. We can trust God because he is our Father.

God as our Father empowers us. Think of one of those times growing up, where just the near presence of your dad made a difference. I'm afraid to walk down that dark hallway, or to go retrieve the ball in the neighbor's backyard, and what do I say, "Dad, will you go with me?" And just the presence of my father being there changes things. I'm emboldened. I have a new confidence. I feel like I had an ability that I didn't have before. You can think of those moments where a child lights up when their father enters the room. God's presence with us ought to invigorate us, give us pride, give us confidence, enable us. God, even more as our Father, empowers us because he's given us his Spirit to dwell in us. Not just by his presence, but yes, by giving us his very strength. In Romans 8, again, the Spirit is spoken of as the one who God by his Spirit raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Understand, Father, Son, and Spirit have all the same power, all the same strength, all the same glory, all the same attributes, everything. The omnipotence of God is the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit has taken up residence within the Christian, indwelling you and empowering you. God gives you all of his strength, all of his power, so that you would live for him, so that you would find strength in time of need, so that you would remain steadfast, so that you would be able to kill and fight sin and walk in holiness. It's like when our children want to take on a little more than they're ready for. There's been a number of times I've been using tools around my house, and someone says, "Can I do that?" I think to myself, I don't know if that's a good idea. And then I pause, and I think, what would I want if I were a child? I'd probably want to try. So I say, "Sure, you, okay, you hold this part of the drill, and I'll hold this part. We'll do this together." Or, "You, you grab the wrench, and I'll wrap my hand around yours." And we're pulling hard, and they're they're just straining, and you hear them huffing and puffing. And and the bolt moves. And they hardly did a thing. It was their father's strength wrapped around them, enabling them that did it. And yet they have this great sense of accomplishment. Think of that as a small picture in the way that God strengthens and empowers you by his Spirit. It's his strength at work in you to do his good will, his good pleasure. And he gives us the grace of participating. And we're the ones acting, yes, but it's all by his power. These are just a picture of the ways that God is a Father to us. There's no accident that Jesus in this sermon, and here in this section, is reminding us, it's your Father in heaven who sees you. It's your Father in heaven who you're serving.

And so we ask ourselves, first and foremost, am I relating, if I'm going to live with the right motives, am I relating to God as I'm supposed to? And here it really seems that Jesus wants you to be thinking about God as your Father, first and foremost, primary. And therefore that you be living out of his strength and not your own. Are you depending on God as a good Father for all the strength you need to fight sin, to walk in holiness, to live a life that pleases him? And if you find any area where you are doing it on your own and you are living in your own strength, abandon yourself there and hold fast to God. Do away with yourself. We are not strong enough on our own, but God is.

If there are any of you here today who have walked in these doors and you have not trusted in Christ as Savior, an important reality for you to understand is that God is not described as your Father, and you're not described as his son in this close-knit way. God is a perfect Judge, first and foremost. A just God is what we mean by that. He cannot welcome into his presence those who are his enemies by sin and by choice. But God is forgiving. Like we read earlier, he is abounding in steadfast love and mercy. And so he is the God who became incarnate, God the Son taking on flesh, Jesus Christ, so that he would live perfectly for us, bear our sin on the cross, and rise again, defeating sin and death, so that anybody who trusts in Jesus Christ can be saved. Anybody who calls on the name of the Lord will be says saved, Paul says in Romans 10. And when you are saved, immediately you are called a son. You are sealed with the Spirit, the Spirit of adoption, and God is your Father. And then all of his prodigious wealth, all of his goodness, all of his godness is directed towards you. If you want to know God like that and be reconciled to him, and know that warmth and that nearness, trust Christ, and don't wait a moment. Brothers and sisters, is it not a great thing that we have been welcomed to God as our Father?

The Reality of Our Righteousness

Because God is our Father, and that is the reason that we practice righteousness and we can practice righteousness, we then turn to the reality of our righteousness. Seen over and over again in these verses, you'll notice we're not really going one verse on top of another today. All these are kind of building into one picture of what it looks like to have practical righteousness, right motives. The three examples were given here are good examples. They show us that righteousness is practiced, but they show us that it's not performative. Righteousness practiced, but not performed so that others would see it, so that we would gain recognition. We have the example of giving to the needy. Now this is an interesting example for us. We're used to giving to church, to giving to the Lord's institution here on earth, the church with which Christ has promised to build. You should give to church. It's the primary place your giving should be done joyfully, sincerely. You should also be generous throughout your life. Here we have this example of giving to the needy, almsgiving, having compassion on those who need help and meeting their need. So perhaps it would be wise for you to set aside in your budget, not just tithing or giving, but generosity, to meet the needs of those around you.

When Jesus says, "Don't sound the trumpet before you," he's not saying your giving can't be known. When Jesus says later in verse 5, "Don't be like the hypocrites and stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners," he's not saying public prayer is wrong. When Jesus says, "When you fast, do not look gloomy and disfigure your face," he's not saying it's wrong for people to know you're fasting. Knowledge of something is different than a motive for doing something. I I want to tell you, I think you should give to the needy, and it's okay if people know. I've been greatly encouraged in pastoral ministry, so many countless times where somebody has handed me an envelope with somebody else's name on it, and said, "Can you please go give this to so-and-so family?" And I get to be the conduit of blessing, and I get to walk over to someone and hand them whatever amount of cash or check is in that envelope, whatever blessing it is. And it's been very generous at times. And they've said, "Oh, thank you." "Do you mind if I know who it is? I'd love to thank them." And I've just said, "Why don't you write a note? They've asked me not to tell you. I'm going to respect their wishes." There would be some amount of blessing, it's good. You don't need all the recognition. You you don't always have to make that connection. But maybe it would be good at times for those extremely generous individuals to say, "Here, I'm going to hand it to you face-to-face, and I want you to know who's blessing you." It's good for the giver, it's good for the receiver.

So Jesus isn't saying you can't pray in public, you can't give in public, nothing can be known. Don't let your spouse know what you give to church. You should close your eyes when you enter in the numbers online to give or when you write the check. No, not at all. Jesus is simply saying the reality of your righteousness is that it's not performed for others. It's not to gain recognition from others. It's not so others would notice you and think, "Wow, they're looking pretty good as a Christian these days. Look at them. Man, they're praying, and it's loud, and it's nice, and they use beautiful language. They must be pretty righteous. Oh man, look at how rough they're having it. Day 7 of a fast. They look like they're in the pits. I wish I was as holy as them. Look at them, giving to that homeless person, doing it on TV, posting about it online. Man, I wish I was like them. They're extra holy." Those are not the motivations for righteousness, for holiness. They can't be, because righteousness begins in the quiet place that nobody sees. Over and over and over, the reality of our righteousness here is shown as in secret. That's where righteousness begins. Doesn't begin where other people see it. If you have not practiced righteousness in secret, the righteousness you practice that might be seen by others might not be true righteousness, might not be true worship.

It all starts in secret. You see it, "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." But when you pray, "Go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret." When you fast, do not let others see it. Verse 18, "That your fasting may not be seen by others, but by your Father who is in secret." Who you are behind closed doors, in the recesses of just you and God in your life is who you truly are. It's not who you are before others. It's not who you might be when you stand up in front of others. It's not who people in your workplace think you are because of your performance there. It's who you are when it's you and God. What are my motives then? What am I trying to do then? What is my life characterized by then? You can clean yourself up, and you can look good on Sundays. And you all look beautiful. But we want to first have righteousness that is seen by God and is not done for man, but is done for him. These things being primarily done in secret shows us that our motivation is that God would receive the glory from them, that God would be praised, that he would be honored, and that our relationship with him would be strengthened.

Here's an illustration that might hit with some of you, and maybe it's just me because I grew up running. If you tell me you're a runner because you've entered a race, like a half marathon or a marathon, I don't really know if you're a runner or not. That's nice that you've signed up for something, but are you a runner? You purchased something. You you put a price tag on it. Do you, are you training for it? Do you go out early and slog some miles when it's dark and nobody else is there? Do you get after it when it's inconvenient? Did you finish the race? Did you actually make it to the starting line even and get through it in some way? There's a difference between saying we're something and actually being something. And Christ's call is that we would be righteous inwardly before the Lord, before anything else.

Quiet righteousness like this draws us to the cross, places us before the cross. The practice of righteousness as God intends it is naturally lived out by those who have encountered grace. The new nature is not a prideful nature. It's a humble nature. It's a Jesus in Philippians 2 nature, who humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross. That's the mind we're meant to have among ourselves in humility. When you and I keep the cross in view, when we remember how we're saved and what we were before we're saved, it kind of centers us. It grounds us. It helps us realize that it doesn't really matter what other people think about us. It only matters what God thinks of us. And when we think about what God truly thinks of us in light of the cross, it humbles us. How could I, the one deserving of that sacrifice, the one deserving of the sacrifice that Christ took on my place, how could I be counted worthy? How could I be forgiven? How could I be made new? How could God accept me? When we are covered by grace and we have encountered grace, it makes us humble. And then we say, "Lord, I'm content to just live before you. If no one else sees it, if no one else ever knows, if I never receive a moment of recognition for it, that's all I need. I have the Lord. I'm serving him. I'm enjoying him by it."

True righteousness then is first discerned by God before anyone else will sense it. He is the God here who over and over said he sees in secret. Look at verse 4. Your giving should be in secret, "And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." It's comforting because if God sees it, he knows it. It doesn't matter who else does. I can be content that God knows my heart and leave any outcome to him.

You'll notice one more piece of this reality of our righteousness, is that performative righteousness can't coerce God. Look down at verse 7. "When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words." But Jesus is saying their many words do not equal being heard. "When you pray, don't think you can garner favor with God by saying more, and that your prayer will be answered because it's eloquent or beautiful." There are words you'll never, there are prayers you will never utter words to, and the Lord will answer them. He's your Father. He knows what you need. But this shows us, this picture, that we can't coerce God into something by performing righteous acts outwardly. I can't get more favor from God, and more blessing from God, and more forgiveness from God because I do something. The things I do outwardly do not move the needle with how God thinks of me or how God reacts to me. It is true, what James said, that "The prayer of a righteous man availeth much," accomplishes much, that the prayer of a righteous man has great power as it is working. There is a reality in which a righteous life is blessed by God. "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers," Psalm 1 says. And yet, I can't make God do something just because I do something. I can't force God's hand to bless me, to reward me, in this life, to get a certain outcome. You see it there in verse 8, "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him." We'll trust God for what we need, and we'll trust God for what we have. We'll trust God especially that he's covered us already with his mercy and grace, and so I don't need to garner his favor. I do want to honor him. I do want to serve him. I do want to rejoice in God. But I'm not going to coerce any action from God. That's not what righteousness does.

The Reward for True Righteousness

So the reason that we are righteous and we live out righteousness is that we have God as our Father. The reality of our righteousness is that it begins inwardly, where only the where only God can see, and only God can truly discern it.

Last and finally, we consider the reward for true righteousness. And over and over, these verses paint before us two options, two paths that you will direct your life toward. You can direct your life toward temporary reward or eternal reward. You will walk one path or the other. You will find yourself swaying towards one side or the other. You will find motivation, satisfaction from one of these over another. But the outcomes of these two options are wildly different. Couldn't be more contrary. There might be an allure of present reward, of temporal verbal accolades and acknowledgments and touted accomplishments that bolster our strength, that sorry, that bolster our pride today. But friends, know this, eternal rewards are far better.

Verse 1. "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." When you give to the needy, verse 2, verse 3, "Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing," that your Father who sees in secret, he would reward you. Those who do it in synagogues and streets, verse 2, they're going to be praised by others. They've already got their reward. Verse 5, "Those who pray and are seen by others, I say to you, they have received their reward." But your Father who sees in secret can reward you. Over and over this juxtaposition of a temporal reward versus how God might reward us.

Where are you headed? Are you drawn to be seen before men? Remember, it's not inherently bad for others to see your righteousness. Jesus said himself in verse 16, "Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works," not inherently bad, "And glorify your Father in heaven," is what Jesus says, "Not glorify yourself." When you see brothers and sisters living out God's will in their life, please do encourage them. But don't flatter them. Spur each other on, but don't heap up temporal rewards on each other. When our temptation is to be seen before men, it will cause us to act in a flurry of activity, but most of it will be vapid, it will be lacking. It will have no substance.

But what if our desire and our ambition is to live righteously before God and not worry about if anybody sees it? There's real motivation and real drive here. And it won't keep you spinning on a hamster wheel so that you can get more praise and have the hit of sweetness. The best commendation is God's commendation, his recognition, his praise. The evaluation that men make on your life is often misguided, a half evaluation, maybe even just wrong altogether. But the evaluation that God gives you when he sees you is the truest evaluation. So when you live for his praise, when you live for his seeing of your good works and your righteousness, you're actually protecting yourself. Others' evaluation will will draw you into things you never thought you'd be drawn into if you're living for the praise of men. But God's evaluation will only bolster you to live for his purposes.

When you do things to be seen by men, your reward comes from the hands of men, from the mouths of men. Jesus says, verse 2, "They have received their reward." Verse 5, "When they are seen by others in their prayers, they have received their reward." Verse 16, "I say to you, because their fasting is seen by others, they have received their reward." The reward that you will receive from men is temporary. It is short-sided. It lauds that which seems impressive. Friends, it's the short game. It lasts but a moment. As soon as it's gone from their lips, and they walk away, your reward is gone. It vanishes as quickly as you receive it. Living for the reward, the temporal vain reward of praise will make you impatient. It will place you on a hamster wheel of acclaim and evaluation and pursuit of success in being righteous, or success in the world's eyes. And it will leave you stranded, wanting more and not receiving it.

What would you rather have? This should be an obvious illustration. $100 today or $100 million in 10 years? I don't think with compounding interest $100 will get you $100 million in 10 years. We're talking, that'd be some crazy investing. Just tell us where you do that. We'll all follow. You'd rather have $100 million in 10 years. Some of us in this room will live another 60, 70 years perhaps, if the Lord sustains our life. That is a blip. That is a blink of an eye in light of eternity. Others of you, the Lord has ordained, have less time on the earth, an even shorter blip, hardly an exhale in God's eyes.

If we live for eternal reward, what we will reap is coming very, very soon. The hit of dopamine you will receive from accolades by men goes away so quick. But just as quickly, eternity will come, and your reward will be eternal with God if you live for him. In fact, you are maximizing your joy if you push away the praise of men and you live for the acknowledgement of God. And you're maximizing God's glory when you do that. You're playing the long game. What's really neat is the way that this passage is written is here in verse 1, it says, "For then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven." I think this is more rightly said, "You will have no reward with your Father who is in heaven." There's a number of prepositions in Greek, and you can translate them in about 20 different ways, from, with, in, to, for. And context is key. I think really Paul, Jesus is telling us that our reward is with God who is in heaven. All our righteousness will point to him, but he is ultimately our reward. To have him, to know him, to serve him. And then on top of that, knowing God and experiencing him perfectly throughout eternity, he will reward you. Did you know that in heaven you will receive reward and commendation for your righteous acts? God has no problem rewarding you because it all returns in glory to him, and praise to him, because it's him working in you. But you get you get the small piece that you get to play in it where you do receive a true reward. He's not dangling the word reward before you and saying, "Oh, but but it's not really a true reward someday." No, it is, and it's with God.

Conclusion

So if we want to increase our joy, if we want to increase in righteousness, if we want to increase our lives in praise and glory to God, we will live for God alone. We will not worry about another's opinion. We will worry about God's evaluation of all that we do. In this way, as we started, we finish. Reward reveals our motive. Jesus here is getting to the heart. He's digging even deeper than he already has, and he's saying, "What drives you? What makes you tick spiritually?" So we ask ourselves questions like, "What do I really want? What am I really living for? Do present, temporal rewards of any kind motivate you, or does eternal reward, which nothing compares to, does that motivate you?" It's good for us to stop and pause and look at our lives and say, "Where am I headed? Am I headed down the path of receiving accolades before men, and that's my reward because that's what I value? You can be headed down that path and not care and be living for God alone, and men will reward you." Or am I living in such a way that I don't care if I'm ever rewarded in this life? All I want is to reach the golden shore and there see the face of my Savior and hear those words, "Well done, good and faithful servant." And on top of it, receive a reward.

What do you glory in? Do you glory in praise that God gives and redounds and reflects praise to him, or do you glory in praise that stops at you and fades away quickly? Whose glory am I seeking? Might be the question that gets to the heart of what Jesus is pointing us to here. And why he then goes on to pray in the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your Kingdom come. Your will be done." We're found nowhere in there. Let's pray.