The Righteousness of Those

1. The Righteousness of Those Whose Live’s Are Ruled By God - 5:17-7:12 Matthew 6:1-4 Inward True Religion—Charitable Deeds

2. Jesus strikes at the heart of hypocrisy - Pride & Worldliness!

3. Three Areas of Religious Piety: Benevolence – Man-ward Prayer – God-ward Fasting – self-ward

4. True righteousness and piety rest not upon our relationship with people and things - but our relationship with God! The “first” commandment is essential to the “second” - (Mark 12:29-31)

5. True righteousness and piety reaches to heart depth - (Deut. 10:12; 30:6; Matt. 22:37-40; Mark 12:29-31; Rom. 2:29; Eph. 6:6) • True righteousness and piety has the right motive and attitude - NOT merely right words and deeds!- (1 Tim. 1:5; 1 Thess. 4:1; Eph. 4:1-3; Col. 1:9-12)

6. “Mere worship and generosity do not give a man refuge from evil. Satan will follow him right into the place of prayer and turn his very worship into sin. A man must keep his heart pure and his love true. God must be the object of everything.” Paul Earnhart, Invitation To A spiritual Revolution; pages 71

7. “Yet, giving to the poor like all other expressions of devotion to God may be turned sour by a perverse motive. The absence of a Godward heart in what we do for other pollutes everything.” Paul Earnhart, Invitation To A spiritual Revolution; pages 73

8. Matthew 6:1 “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.”

9. Matthew 6:2 “Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.”

10. Matthew 6:3,4 “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.”

11. “Two Great Threats To Our Right Standing Before God” Religion Acts Done to Impress Men… • Religion can be easily corrupted into acts of self-righteousness and pride. • "Practicing your righteousness" simply refers to all acts of obedience & service to God - things He has commanded & accepts. • “Before men, to be seen by them” - i.e., the deeds are being done in order to receive human acknowledgement and praise for ourselves.

12. Charitable Deeds - “Pride Corrupts Acts of Love” • Jesus condemns ALL hypocritical acts of righteousness! (2,5,6,16) • If, in the innermost being of our heart, we do not mean to please and glorify God, HEWILL NOT REWARD us! • The end does not justify the means OR THE MOTIVE!

13. “Two Great Threats To Our Right Standing Before God” Religion Acts Done to Impress Men… • Alms (KJV) Charitable deeds (NKJV) • A Word related to alms in Matthew 12:7 • Mercy is a necessary ingredient in showing kindness to others—seeing a need and desiring to help. • God never blessed his people for “beating their own drums.” • Acting just demonstrates one’s love and obedience.

14. “Two Great Threats To Our Right Standing Before God” Religion Acts Done to Impress Men… • Alms (KJV) Charitable deeds (NKJV) • These acts of kindness only accepted by God when one’s attitude is correct. • This makes the act a benevolent one. • Seen in Christ sacrifice for us • 2 Corinthians 5:21 • Wrong motives makes our acts invalid!

15. “Two Great Threats To Our Right Standing Before God” Religion Acts Done to Impress Men… • Alms (KJV) Charitable deeds (NKJV) • Ultimately our only reason for pleasing men is to please ourselves. • One can pretend to obey God, but inwardly seeking the praise of men. • Glorifying self must be different than glorifying God! • We seek His approval—not men’s! • Galatians 1:10

16. Charitable Deeds - “Pride Corrupts Acts of Love” 57.111δικαιοσύνηd, ης f; ἐλεημοσύνηa, ης f: to give to those in need as an act of mercy—‘acts of charity, alms, giving to the needy.’. . . your prayers and acts of charity have gone up as a memorial before God’ Acts 10:4. Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.). New York: United Bible Societies.

17. Charitable Deeds - “Pride Corrupts Acts of Love” 1. “mercy, pity” . . ., especially “as exhibited in giving alms, charity”: Matthew 6:4; ποιειν εληεμοσυνην, to practice the virtue of mercy or beneficence, to show one’s compassion (A.V. “do alms”) (cf. the similar phrases δικαιοσυνην, αληθειαν, etc. ποιειν), Matthew 6:1 . . . εληεμοσυνας, acts of beneficence, benefactions (cf. Winer’s Grammar, 176 (166); Buttmann, 77 (67)), Acts 10:2; εις τινα, Acts 24:17. Hence,2. “the benefaction itself, a donation to the poor, alms” Thayer Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.

18. Charitable Deeds - “Pride Corrupts Acts of Love” • It’s not a matter of “IF” but “WHEN!” • "That you do not do your charitable deeds (acts of righteousness) before men, to be seen by them . . ." - (1) • “when you do a charitable deed” - (2) • “But when you do a charitable deed” - (3) • “That your charitable deed may be in secret” - (4)

19. Charitable Deeds - “Pride Corrupts Acts of Love” • “Blessed is he who considers the poor; The LORD will deliver him in time of trouble. The LORD will preserve him and keep him alive, And he will be blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.”{Psalm 41:1,2}

20. Charitable Deeds - “Pride Corrupts Acts of Love” • “Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor Will also cry himself and not be heard.”{Proverbs 21:13}

21. Charitable Deeds - “Pride Corrupts Acts of Love” • “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?”{James 2:15,16}

22. Charitable Deeds - “Pride Corrupts Acts of Love” • “But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth?”{1 John 3:17,18}

23. Charitable Deeds - “Pride Corrupts Acts of Love” • An Individual Charity • Not limited to church contributions- 1 Thessalonians 5:15 • Not limited to brethren— Luke 6:35; Galatians 6:10 • Not limited to money— Mark 3:4; Acts 3:3-6 • Not limited to the rich— 2 Corinthians 8:2 • Governed by principles (doing good may the opposite of what they want) 2 Thessalonians 3:10; Ephesians 5:7,11

24. “Two Great Threats To Our Right Standing Before God” Religion Acts Done to Impress Men… • The TEXT… • “Take heed…” • Literally asks us to hold our minds on the matter. Give careful consideration. • that you do not your alms…” • Implies acts of kindness that are done as one as opportunity

25. “Two Great Threats To Our Right Standing Before God” Religion Acts Done to Impress Men… • The TEXT… • “...to be seen by them…” • Motives makes action wrong. Not putting on a performance • “…Otherwise, no reward from the Father…” • Do we need “credit” to help? Attitude of willing to help always!

26. Charitable Deeds - “Pride Corrupts Acts of Love” • Do not advertise your good deed! • It is possible to do GOOD things for corrupt reasons! (that they may have glory from men) • Pride, one’s ego, is responsible for the problem of self promotion. • “Pride dies ONLY when self is forgotten” “as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets”

27. Charitable Deeds - “Pride Corrupts Acts of Love” • Do not advertise your good deed! • Not forbidding doing good while in the sight of others – Matthew5:13-16; Phil. 2:15; Acts 2:44-45; 4:34-37 • Striving for godly character that cannot be hidden in contrast with the hypocrites, who seek for merely a reputation for piety! “as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets”

28. Charitable Deeds - “Pride Corrupts Acts of Love” “Does this mean that it is wrong to give openly? Must all giving be anonymous? Not necessarily, for everyone in the early church knew that Barnabas had given the income from the sale of his land (Acts 4:34–37). When the church members laid their money at the Apostles’feet, it was not done in secret. The difference, of course, was in the motive and manner in which it was done. A contrast is Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1–11), who tried to use their gift to make people think they were more spiritual than they really were.” - Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

29. Charitable Deeds - “Pride Corrupts Acts of Love” • Do not glory in your charity! • Not forbidding us to reflect upon our actions – 2 Cor. 13:5; Gal 6:4 • But - Our reflection must delve beyond our actions into the MOTIVE for our actions! - 1 Tim. 1:5; 1 Jno. 3:20,21 • Forbidding the attitude of self-righteousness - Luke 18:9-14- “that your charitable deed may be in secret”

30. Charitable Deeds - “Pride Corrupts Acts of Love” • Do not glory in your charity! • "The right [hand], [represents] me with my good deed; the left, me with my good opinion about my deed." (LENSKI) • “As much as possible a person must keep his voluntary contribution a secret not only to others but even to himself; that is, he should forget about it, instead of saying in his heart, 'What a good man, woman, boy, girl, am I!'" (HENDRICKSEN) “that your charitable deed may be in secret”

31. “Two Great Threats To Our Right Standing Before God” Religion Acts Done to Impress Men… • The TEXT… • “...when we do our alms…” • Jesus expects us to give alms—not if but when! • “…do not sound a trumpet…” • Don’t advertise it. Don’t round up a crowd and crow about it. Need not tell others.

32. “Two Great Threats To Our Right Standing Before God” Religion Acts Done to Impress Men… • The TEXT… • “...they have their reward…” • Whatever was received one has been paid in full. Nothing owed by God! • “…let not left hand know what the right hand is doing…” • No self boasting of the deed. No self praise. (Luke 18:9-14)

33. “Two Great Threats To Our Right Standing Before God” Religion Acts Done to Impress Men… • The TEXT… • “...Father sees in secret, will reward openly.” • God rewards in full measure only that which is due. Can the temporal praise of men dare to compare to the praise of our Father in heaven?

34. Charitable Deeds - “Pride Corrupts Acts of Love” • A sincere desire to be pleasing to God • The Lord’s disciple is not concerned that others are aware of the good done - nor does he / she become lifted up with self-righteousness – • The Lord’s disciple just wants to be an extension of God’s love and mercy - 2 Cor. 1:3,4; 8:1-9

35. “Two Great Threats To Our Right Standing Before God” Jesus Condemns Both The spirit that seeks praise from others OR self!

36. “Two Great Threats To Our Right Standing Before God”

37. “Two Great Threats To Our Right Standing Before God” Jesus strikes at the heart of hypocrisy - Pride Worldliness! Ego Arrogance Self Righteousness Judgmental Luke 18:9-14 Matthew 23:5-12 Selfishness Greed Materialism Worry Luke 16:19-31 Luke 18:18-23

38. “Two Great Threats To Our Right Standing Before God” • Benevolence – 2-4 • Prayer – 5-15 • Fasting – 16-18 • Covetousness -19-23 • Divided heart - 24 • Anxiety – 25-34

39. Religion Acts Done to Impress Men… “Take thought. Whenever you are acting to relieve the needs of the deprived and unfortunate and some self-satisfaction and smugness begins to creep over you, or a longing for others to know just how noble you are—listen, you will hear the sounds of trumpets blaring.” Paul Earnhart, Invitation To A spiritual Revolution; pages 75

40. Charitable Deeds - “Pride Corrupts Acts of Love” • Jesus didn’t die so you could seek the praises of men or that you may be honored by men. • Jesus didn’t die so you can feel good about yourself and think about how good you are! • Jesus died that you may be reconciled to God and live with Him forever! Will you forfeit the eternal for the temporary?

41. Charitable Deeds - “Pride Corrupts Acts of Love” Matthew 16:24 • “Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Will you forfeit the eternal for the temporary?