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So this is the Sermon on the Mount part two. So as you know the Sermon on the Mount started in chapter five and then it goes from chapter five to chapter seven and so we're kind of in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount and what I would really title this sermon or this portion is pretense versus sincerity. Pretense versus sincerity. So pretense, what is pretense? Well in one passage in the Bible it says that for pretense they made long prayer and then in another parallel passage it says for a show they made long prayer. So basically to do it and pretense can mean basically a fake or a facade and so you're kind of doing it for show you know you want other people to see what you're doing and so it's not sincere it's not an honest thing that you're doing and throughout this chapter that's what you see in different various things is basically don't do it just to be seen of people do it because you know that's what you should do and do it so that God sees it not men. Okay so in verse one there we see the first thing that he brings up is alms. Okay now in verse one there it says take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them otherwise you have no reward of your father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms do not sound the trumpet before thee as the hypocrites do in the synagogue and in the streets that they may have glory of men. Fairly I say to you they have their reward but when thou doest alms let not thy left hand know what thy right hand do it that thine alms may be in secret and thy father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. So what we're dealing with with uh with alms here um is uh is basically the fact that you're not supposed to be basically going around saying hey I'm doing charity I'm doing this or that and this is something that we see within like the the celebrity realm you call them philanthropists right meaning that they're all about doing charity but it's to be seen of men meaning like they're they're they're instagramming it they're they're pinning it I don't know what you know they do all the social media stuff with it basically they want everybody to know you know they're doing the Facebook doing all that stuff to where they want everybody to know hey I helped do this or I gave money to this or whatever and it's always for a show and uh and proverbs 27 hits on this a little bit too go to proverbs 27 proverbs 27 verse 14 it's not saying that you can't like literally give somebody money because they're gonna see you give it to them it doesn't mean that it has to be anonymous okay I don't want you to don't take it that far to where like if someone's like asking for help and you'd be like you know you gotta like somehow like get that money to them and they they don't know where it came from okay that's not what it's saying but what it is saying is that you're not supposed to you're not supposed to do this in an open manner to where everybody's seeing what's going on you can literally just go up and be like hey I wanted to help you out and it's you and them and you're trying to just make it very secret just between you and them and you don't just tell everybody about it okay and so in proverbs 27 verse 14 notice what it says it says he that blesseth his friend with a loud voice rising early in the morning it shall be counted a curse to him so you may have read that verse in proverbs you're like what in the world is that talking about you know because you're blessing your friend but the key is you're blessing him with a loud voice meaning you want everybody to hear it okay so you're doing it for pretense you're doing it for show and so when you do your alms and when you help out people you shouldn't try to make a big show of me like hey I'm helping this person out you know and you're like trying to get everybody to see what you're doing now some big proponents about this are reprobates okay and I'm going to name some names here Ellen Degenerate I mean is it degenerate or degenerous I can't I just say degenerate so much I just think that's her last name Ellen Degenerate, Oprah Winfrey like all these people that are just like giving gifts to people all the time and it guess what it's not in secret that they're doing that because if you know they do that it's not in secret okay they're known for that okay and Ellen's a sodomite you know she's a hater of God and Oprah Winfrey is a big sodomite I'm sure herself if not the fact that she's a false prophet she like she hates Christianity and she's openly you know like basically is blaspheming Christianity and she has like her own religion or whatever so but anyway these people are constantly giving gifts they're giving gifts and they're helping out people and and it's always a big show and everybody looks at Ellen like she's so generous like instead of degenerate she's Ellen generous or something like that you know it's like but you know she she her and a lot of other people are like this though meaning that they're constantly wanting to be known for being charitable okay so but but the thing is with that there's a reason why they're doing that meaning that she's a devil okay but she looks righteous she looks like she's good she looks like a good person by doing that but she's she's she's making something out of that she made millions of dollars off of doing that she's made her fortune off of doing that Oprah is the same way why does everybody love Oprah because she was giving people cars and she's giving people you know you have a car and you have a car and you have a you know I've never watched over but I did see the clips you know or the stupidity but but all I have to say is that these people are devils but they're giving gifts for a reason they want advantage it's kind of like the the false prophet that speaks great swelling words of vanity why they have men's persons in admiration because of advantage they want to have advantage so they're they they they they also not only do they give gifts they're constantly flattering people they have these people on the show and they're just flatter flatter flatter like you're the best actor you're the best this or that you know and then you know we're going to give you a gift we're going to give this person a gift this person you know and it's always for a show so that the world thinks that person's godly that person's righteous so when you come down so when I so when I come down on the sodomites and I say they're a bunch of reprobates and the bible says they're disgusting vile beasts they're going to look at Ellen DeGeneres or they're going to look at Oprah they're going to look at somebody that that's that's well known and they're going to say no no she's nice she's nice she gives gifts to all these people she does all her arms before men to be seen of men and she has a reward and she'll have a reward in hell as well but all that to say is that you got to be careful with people that give gifts all the time now I'm not I'm not against giving gifts okay you know but it needs to be out of sincerity but if I was just like it'd be like this if I were to if I were just to like get a gift for somebody but I made a big deal out and I'm like I got to do it when everybody's around okay and and it's not it's not like I'll give you an example because I don't want you to feel bad like when you guys gave us gifts when when for the one year anniversary that's not what we're talking about here we're talking about the fact that you're you're doing it for the purpose of you know trying to get advantage off people and so it's not like you have a birthday party it's like that's wrong you know because because you're doing it in front of people okay and honestly this is dealing with alms too so a lot of times what you're dealing with here is you're dealing with people that don't have any you know like they need something and you're like their savior so to speak and helping them with something and you've probably seen these videos too and I hate these videos but you have these these little hipsters that make these little videos on the street where they go up to some homeless guy and they like ask them and they're trying to make make this point like homeless people are like nice people or like they're they're generous people or something like that and so they'll do this thing where they give them money it's like why don't you do that without the camera though why don't you do that when no one's watching listen you can you can find out someone's character when you find out what they do and no one knows what they're doing what do you do when you're at home what are you doing no one's watching you you know and and listen you say well do you give alms I'm not going to tell you about it okay maybe you know I mean I could say that I have okay and anybody can say yeah I've given alms before but as soon as you start saying hey I gave this person this much money I gave this person this or that I tried to help you know I did this or that you you lost your reward in heaven okay so this is talking to save people okay so when I say Ellen Degenerate and I and I talk about Oprah what I'm saying is that you can see how the Pharisees do this but he's talking to save people saying hey listen if you want reward in heaven then you need to do this in secret meaning like don't it's kind of like you're handing somebody you know like something that they need but you really know which hand's giving it that's how much you're not like really even thinking about the fact that you're doing it does that make sense it's like you don't know if it's your left hand your right hand you're just like here have this and you forget about it you know you're not making a big deal out of it but people sound a trumpet this is what the Pharisees did and throughout this chapter that's what you see is whether it's whether it's giving alms whether it's praying whether it's fasting it has to be something that everybody knows about and everybody says hey look how spiritual this person is look how nice this person is and they have the reward so but if you want to have treasure in heaven then you need to do that out of the goodness of your heart and you know the bible talks about this too but go to 1st Corinthians 13 but the bible does talk about the fact that um you know that people gives gifts to pervert judgment it says in proverbs 17 a wicked man taketh the gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment and what's that talking about it's talking about a bribe right and so it's it's the um uh a quid pro quo a quid pro quo is like the the terminology you use meaning like if if someone gave me a gift a quid quo pro is where i do something back for them that would be technically a bribe but if someone just gave me a gift you know and they were on my side and i was like let's say i was in political office or something like that and they just gave me a gift and i didn't do anything for them then that's not a bribe because it's just a gift right but uh but that's what a lot of people are doing when it when it comes to gifts they they are giving a gift for a purpose for you to do them a favor and gifts should never be that way you know when it comes to giving alms when you give alms to somebody it's not alone okay if you can't and if you say well i don't have the money to give it to them then don't give it to them okay and god loveth a cheerful giver okay so you want it you don't want to be like well here it is you know it's like no this should be out of the goodness of your heart and it should be something that hey you can give them like you have the abundance you can give it to them and you don't worry about it and even when someone says hey can i can you loan me something i'm just like here have it you know because if i can't give it to them meaning like if i if it's something where i'd have to loan it to him like i need it back then i can't give that's just my policy like i won't give it to him unless i can just go without okay now uh in first corinthians 13 dealing with charity because when it comes to alms you should look at it in the aspect of having charity okay and you think of that right when you think of alms what is it it's charity well what's charity well charity is love but it's basically like it's selflessness meaning like you don't expect anything in return and it's it's not it's not uh what's the word i want to use basically it doesn't help you out at all does that make sense so sometimes you can do stuff for people knowing that and you're going to get something in return right but when you when you have charity it means that you're not expecting anything you know like when we go out soul winning we're not expecting anything you know i'd love for them to come to church but honestly i just i always just assume i'll never see him again okay so i'm not expecting any money from them i'm not expecting them to be here at church you know and being you know like to hear me preach or anything like that i'm not expecting anything but why do we do it because we love and want them to go to heaven and so that's charity okay but notice that you can give a lot and not do it with charity meaning that you can give a whole bunch of alms you can do a whole bunch of stuff and not have charity and notice what it says in first Corinthians 13 in verse 1 it says though i speak with tongues of the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity i am become as sounding brass or a tinkling symbol and though i have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and and though i have all faith so that i can remove mountains and have not charity i am nothing and though i bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though i give my body to be burned and have not charity it profit me nothing you say well what does that mean right here in matthew chapter six you have your reward meaning that you're doing it for own self-gratification and and here's the thing you know it's better it's more blessed to give than to receive so it's not saying that like hey you know you shouldn't enjoy giving to somebody because i do enjoy that you know if i could ever help somebody out and have the means to do it the bible says we should to him to know to do good and do it and not to him it is sin so we should do it and it is it is uh it makes you feel good you know that you're helping someone out so there's nothing wrong with that but it should never be done in the fact that hey i want something out of this charity you know and and we're not going to read the whole chapter but you know it envieth not it boneth not itself you know and it talks about what it's what it's meaning there and so obviously charity and love are very closely linked meaning that um but charity you know charity is just a verb i mean a noun that means love but i believe the bible uses that term because it's something that we can really understand because you think of philanthropy you think of charity like you give to charity and how that's supposed to be something that you're not getting anything in return right it'd be kind of like if you just gave to some charity or whatever you know what are you gonna get and but people that it's kind of like um they're like hey you know give to this charity and we'll put your name on the wall it's like well let's say that charity is good for something which most charities aren't okay most charities i'd be very careful i i don't really i don't give the charity i'm just going to be honest with you because who knows where that money's going at time it's not even going to what you think it's going to and so it's better just to help out individual people because you know that it's actually going to where you want it but all that say is that uh you don't want to take recognition for it and so and i never put things when it comes to alms like i i claim my tithe on my taxes you know because it's charitable giving okay because i think that you should be able to you should try to get back whatever the government's stolen from you okay you know whatever whatever loopholes you can get through to get the government to take you give you back what they've stolen from you i'm for that but i do not put alms on there okay because tithing is a duty does that make sense that tithing is you know gods okay that's why i don't think it's a big deal that people you know like when we count the money for tithing you know i mean and you have your name on there and we keep track of it that's not alms okay alms is something where you're giving above and beyond that like an you know tithes and offerings okay and so don't feel bad about that when you're like you're like oh i don't and i and again if you want to if you want to be anonymous with your tithing i'm all for that that's fine right but what i'm saying is that you know tithing is different than alms okay so but alms i do not report that all my taxes even though i could but i don't because the reward is going to be greater in heaven okay because i don't want even the government to know about that so all i'd say is that that's that's the thing with alms now going down to verse five of chapter six we're dealing with prayer and dealing with the same thing you know not doing it in show you know you don't want to do it to be seen of men and so in matthew six verse five it says and when thou prayest thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets that they may be seen of men verily i say unto you they have their reward but thou when thou prayest enter into thy closet and when thou has shut thy door pray to thy father which is in secret and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly but when you pray use not vain repetitions as the heathen do for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking be not ye therefore like unto them for your father knoweth what things you have need of before you ask him so we see kind of the same thing where it's talking about not doing it for for show or to be seen of men now don't take this too far to say like hey we should never pray in a group okay meaning that in first corinthians 14 it talks about you know that to not speak in an unknown tongue meaning like don't speak in a language that no one else understands and it's in the church right so basically unless you have an interpreter unless you have someone there that's going to interpret everything you say that everybody's going to understand and it basically says when you give the the blessing you know and it talks about that it says how shall they say amen you know if they don't understand what you're saying so there's a case in first corinthians 14 which is the i mean that is the order of the church so to speak if you think about doing everything decently in an order and how things should be done in a church first corinthians 14 is a great guide to that and it's in one of the examples is someone praying that everybody's hearing and they're saying basically if you're praying in an unknown tongue how's everybody going to know what you're saying and how are they going to even say amen you know it's kind of like you can't say amen to something you don't know what they could have said some false doctrine in that prayer and you have no idea right and so it's not saying that like praying you know out loud or praying around people's wrong what it means is that if i got up here and i started just being really pretentious with my prayer okay meaning that i i'm just being overly flowery i'm just trying it's almost that over spiritual attitude you've you've been around those people you know that that pray and it's kind of like oh lord god of heaven and earth i created the universe and you're and you're like i just want to eat my food and it's like you're going through this whole like dissertation like you're making this oration does that make sense meaning that you can kind of see through that with people okay and you can see whether someone's sincere when they pray i'd rather someone just be very sincere into the heart i i you know when people and even people that pray and it's like they're not very eloquent that means nothing to me like it's do you mean what you're saying okay and so obviously someone that preaches you know like and listen i'm probably not a good prayer so i'm not a good example but someone that preacher preaches and stuff like that may be a little more eloquent in how they pray but honestly i don't think i'm that eloquent i think i'm just pretty much straight to the point of what i want to say right and when it comes to praying that's what it should be it's not vain repetitions you're not just saying something over and over again just to say it and just to sound good and and we should we should try to stay away from meaning that we need to pray sincerely okay and so if we do pray and we have these pray you know the men's prayer meeting the women's prayer meeting you know when you are praying out loud just try to be sincere and and and you say well you know i don't feel confident listen you know it's not about that at all it's just about what do you what do you want what do you want from god what are you asking for and and you know do you is that what you really want and are you talking to him and so when i pray i'm usually just thinking am i talking to god or am i talking to you okay and when it comes to you know pretentious prayers that's what i think it comes down to is that they're praying either to themselves or to the people around them and you if you remember the guy the story of the publican and the pharisee you know and it says that he prayed to himself and it says you know i'm glad i'm not like this man notice he wasn't even praying to god that's the narrator saying that obviously he would probably say i was praying to god you know what i mean but really he was just praying to himself he's just you know kind of uh self-pontificating himself and kind of lifting himself up as being like some great person and better than some publican right and so when you do pray you need to be sincere not using vain repetitions because here's the thing god knows what you need more than you do but you do need to ask okay so what this is saying though it's saying that god knows what you need before you ask but you still need to ask meaning that you have not because you ask not but it doesn't change the fact that he already knows it's not like when you bring it up to him he's like oh man i never even thought that you needed that you know what i mean no he already knows what you need and what you want but he wants you to say it he wants you to ask for it it's kind of like your children you know you know what they need but you're just waiting for them to ask you for it and so uh there's a lot of power in prayer but we we don't want to be uh pretentious when we do it you know showy you know where you're kind of trying to put off this facade like you're extra spiritual and you know those people that are just like everything's in the name of the lord jesus christ grace be with you all and it's like all right brother i'll see you later you know like meaning like you're just saying bye to somebody and you're like we're not signing off the epistle of paul here to the corinthians you know and so uh but so you just need to be real if that makes sense just be real you know when we're talking about not being showy just be real and people get caught up into this stuff and this is where the catholic church comes in where everything's got to be a big show everything's got to be very flowery and people like that it's like this prestige this prestige of everything being beautiful and and everything being kind of like in this this flowery oration now listen the bible's gonna be beautiful the word of god's powerful and beautiful and all that stuff but listen when we're praying to god we're not trying to be god's word when we're saying we're just who we are and we just need to be real we need to be who we are and just speak our you know speak what we want and just talk to him you need to talk to god like you're talking to a friend tell it to jesus he's a friend that's well known and when when i'm praying to him and think about it when you're at and when you're in your house when you're praying let's say you're kneeling by your bed and you're praying to god are you really flowery when you pray to god when you do that see your prayer that you pray at home should be the same that you pray out loud and that's a good judgment call right there meaning that you know how do you pray at home just do that do that when you pray out loud i mean there's no there's no secret to it it's just really the fact that you're just talking to god you're just talking to him like you talk to to you or me you know and and so uh don't get caught up into that type of stuff now what's interesting about this passage is that right after this we see the lord's prayer or the model prayer so to speak that we would call it and right before this it says don't use vain repetitions now i grew up catholic and i got my catholic brethren in here well my brother and then uh my brother in christ that's that came out of the catholic church did anyone else come out did anyone ever go to catholic church or anything like that so it's not hard to memorize this portion except for one little portion is uh so i'm going to read this but it says after this manner and that's the key here it's that it doesn't say just repeat this over and over again and it doesn't say that this is the only thing that you should ever pray or the only words you should ever use it's just saying after this manner meaning that it's basically giving us all the the components of what we should be praying for okay so it says after this manner therefore pray ye our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen now now brother anthony i don't know if it the catholic church you went to but it was it was never forgive us our debts it was forgive us our trespasses that we should give others their trespasses and it's always it's it's frustrating because the rest of it i know you know but every time i get to that i'm like ah it's debts you know so it's uh it's one of those things that um you can i'm not saying like saying forgive us our trespasses is wrong because later on it does state that that's what it's talking about but obviously i'm going to want to memorize it the way the bible says it and not the way the catholic church taught me or whatever but uh but i'm hoping someone else is feeling my pain every time you read that passage you're like ah catholic church you know and so but but you know just some different things you know give us this day our daily bread you think of like giving us food you know give us this day our daily bread so when you pray and you think about this when we pray for a meal now i'm i'm not i'm not against people that pray for every meal but i don't think you necessarily have to pray for every meal i i i believe honestly you could pray at the beginning day and say lord thank you for all the food you give me thank you for all the foods you're going to give me this day and i think that's sufficient so i think it should be at least once a day okay does that make sense because but nowhere does it say like before every meal you got to pray now jesus prayed and blessed and break before they'd eat a meal so i think there's a lot of truth to doing that but listen if you're if you're at if you're like right on the go and you're like picking up food and you're driving down the road or you know where do you draw a line with that it's like hey i got a i got a cliff bar do i need to pray over this and people get way hung up on this type of stuff okay when it comes to the point where it's ridiculous and so my my thing is that if you prayed if you prayed once throughout the day i think that's that's sufficient now here's the thing uh you know david prayed seven times a day you know like different things and so i'm not put i don't want to put a limit on you either and say well you only need to pray once okay pray as much as you want you know pray without ceasing but all i'm saying is that you know people can get into a ritual thing and i'm fine with that but don't impose that on other people like it has to be that way so if you see someone like oh he didn't pray for his food you know we were at bob evans and they didn't pray for their food they just started digging in it's like that's fine okay meaning like it's not a big deal and sometimes it gets awkward too you know where it's like who's gonna pray and then some people have food and then all this other stuff so don't worry about that type of thing but here's the thing if that's a conviction that you have as far as like hey i need to pray before every meal then do it you know and it doesn't have to be out loud it could be you know silent and all that stuff it's not like we're gonna be like man he's he doesn't want to suffer persecution he's doing it silently okay so don't get so uptight with this with this type of stuff but it is something that we should be praying for every day give us this day our daily bread so i believe that should be a daily thing all these things that are in this i think should be a daily thing that you should be praying for then it says uh forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors okay so obviously it's talking about forgive us our sins or our trespasses or transgressions and so as believers i believe every day you should be asking god to forgive you of your sins meaning that if we confess our sins he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness but one thing that does state here is in verse 14 and 15 it says for if you forgive men their trespasses your heavenly father will also forgive you but if you forgive not men their trespasses neither will your father forgive your trespasses so he's putting a caveat in there saying listen if you don't forgive your brother like you're gonna he's not gonna just forgive you your trust now this isn't talking about eternal salvation this is talking about in life this is talking about your flesh meaning that you know it's kind of like uh in the other passage where it says if you're going to give a gift to god you know get right with your brother your adversary before you give that gift you know leave that at the altar get that taken care of and then come to me meaning that uh you need to forgive them before you can expect god to forgive you in this life here now there's a story about that in matthew 18 but i did want to you know you're saying well what did it mean by forgive our debts you know what are you talking about debts well think about this for the wages of sin is death so what is sin sin is a debt you know we're accruing debt with sin does that make sense and so when you sin against somebody you're transgressing against somebody you're basically you're accruing a debt and it even says now to him that work and not his reward not reckon of grace but of debt okay so when when it comes and what does that mean because you're talking about paying off your sins right when it's dealing with salvation it's either by grace or works and it's saying by grace that's a gift but if you're going to work for it that means it's a debt that you had to pay and obviously jesus paid the debt that we can never pay meaning our sins you know the wage that we had was death okay so you can see why it says debts and why we're forgiving our debtors but one example of that is matthew 18 go to matthew 18 and i'm not going to read the whole story for sake of time we'll get to that when we get to matthew 18 but this goes hand in hand and it's dealing with debt meaning that this man in this story had this huge debt to where his his master was going to throw him in the prison and you know he came to him and he was he was you know you know very sorry about and all this stuff and and the master forgave him all his debt basically just wiped it away and just said all right that's good but then someone that owed him this little amount of money he took by the throat and said pay me what thou owest and then threw him in the prison because he wouldn't because he didn't pay so you can see the story where basically the master would represent god and and basically these two workers that are working together like co-workers and the master forgave him this huge debt but then he wouldn't like forgive this little thing and notice in verse 32 it says then his lord after that he had called him said unto him oh thou wicked servant i gave i forgave thee all that debt because thou desires me shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant even as i had pity on thee and his lord was wroth and delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him so likewise shall my heavenly father do also unto you if ye from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespass trespasses so this goes straight back to what we're dealing with here in the lord's prayer meaning like let's forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors meaning uh there's a caveat there meaning that um and this is obviously it's your heavenly father so we're dealing with saved people here now he's using the physical example and don't you know you see tormentors we're not talking about hell here the physical story is that that he threw this person in the prison and then you know uh and then he's basically saying how i'm going to throw you in there until you pay everything you owe because you didn't forgive your your fellow servant and so basically god's not going to bless you you let's say you commit some horrible sin okay you're here in this life and you commit a big sin let's say it's a massive sin let's say it's like adultery or murder or something like that let's just say something really big and you're saying god you know forgive me of that but you don't forgive your brother because he like dented in your fender you can imagine that god's not going to forgive you meaning like he's not going to let that go he's not going to let it uncheck he's just going to he's going to basically make sure you pay every ounce because god is merciful meaning that you're going to reap what you sow but the amount of punishment that you get may be dependent on how merciful you are to your brethren okay meaning that god may be a little more merciful with somebody because you're going to have judgment without mercy that has shown them mercy and mercy rejoices against judgment we'll all be judged by the law of liberty here in this life but depending on how you treat your brothers will depend on how much mercy you get when you do something wrong okay and so that's what this is dealing with and uh in that lord's prayer and then uh it also says to lead us not into temptation and i'm not going through all the different things like of this prayer but i did want to just touch on this one lead us not into temptation you know go to first corinthian chapter 10 i think about this in the avenue of of kind of keeping us away from temptation or you know kind of keeping us out of those situations see the devil and his minions are constantly wanting us to get put into situations where we're going to be tempted and you know this is something we need to be praying to god that hey we don't even get in those situations that you keep us from any of those situations and i think about this with you know just being married so as as men you know um you get married and uh if god would just make sure that there's no temptation when it comes to other women meaning that you know there's no girls you know like now if you lift at six thirty in the morning that'll do it you know i mean like no one's going to be there anyway but what i'm saying like you go to the gym or you go out in public or whatever and you're just in different situations meaning that i believe god and i honestly do believe this that god can move circumstances to where you're not going to be around some girl that's going to like find you attractive or just going to try to hit on you or anything like that you're going to go get your hair cut and it's going to be some troll looking lady and it's not going to be some good looking lady okay i'm being a little facetious but what i mean with that is that it's not going to be a temptation you know and listen that happens every time i go get my hair cut it seems like there's like all these like good looking girls that are working there and then i get the one you know like that came out like she was taking tolls under a bridge before she came out through my hair you're like past you're mean i know sometimes i am but all i have to say is that i thank god for that okay meaning that that i i don't want extra temptation that i don't need that i don't want okay meaning that and i'm just using that as a silly illustration as far as um obviously you should be strong and and we're in first corinthian chapter uh 10 it says this in verse 12 it says wherefore let him that thinketh he stand to take heed lest he fall there hath no temptation taking you but such as is common to to man but god is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it okay so this is something we should be constantly praying for though meaning just because god promises that doesn't mean that we should just be like well i don't need to ask for it no he says to ask that that he doesn't lead us into temptation and so and where does that come from why would you be praying for that all the time because you're you're taking heed and you don't think that you can stand on your own wherefore let him that thinketh he stand to take heed lest he fall meaning that you need to have this humble spirit like you know i could get into a temptation that maybe i would fall therefore lord don't lead me into that okay because i'm not saying that if i was around like pretty girls all the time that i would fall but listen i'm not an idiot either to where i think that i'm just immune to that because anybody can fall and that's what the bible teaches and so that's why we need to always be praying that we don't come into temptation that he's not leading us into temptation and then he basically puts a hedge of protection about us when it comes to that and and it and the thing is i maybe it's just i'm not attractive and women don't want to like you know approach me or anything like that and they're not trying to hit on me but i'll say once i got married you know i i believe god has really helped with that that situation meaning that i don't i don't have women coming up to me or and listen i'm an engineer so i don't hang around with women all the time but what i'm saying is that it's not i believe god is really kind of leading me outside of temptation with that stuff i just don't don't deal with it that much i say that now and now it's going to be different but what i'm saying is that we need to be praying for that though and i do pray for that and i believe god's answering that prayer and so you know whatever that temptation could be and you don't necessarily have to say like specific things but i think it's a good thing to do be be as specific as you think you should you could be but in the end i say lord you know things that i could be tempted by that i'm not even thinking about and so lord you know keep me from that it's this could be material things this could be covetousness it could be anything maybe maybe you have like a really a hard time with like you know like you know you always have to have a new vehicle or something like that it's like keep me away from the dealerships or anything like that you know i'm just using like examples of things i don't know uh you know like certain stores you know diluth i'm just kidding these pants are awesome by the way so i bought these diluth pants this message is brought to you by diluth you know these things are amazing but you know i had to give up my firstborn to get them anyway all that to say is that it could deal with anything when it comes to temptation now the next portion of matthew 6 is dealing with fasting so in verse 16 of matthew 6 i think of the catholics through this whole chapter i think of the catholic priests honestly when it comes to doing your alms before men being showy about it i think of the fact of praying obviously with the lord's prayer and the repetition that they use it all the time i mean you go to the confession booth okay which you're not supposed to you're supposed to confess your sins to god right but you go there and to be like all right say five hail mary's and five our fathers that's what they do and i never knew the hail mary so i could only do the our fathers i'd always know like the beginning of it but i can never finish it so i wasn't that good of a catholic say leaves but all that say is what is that this repetition not needless to say i memorized it you know i had that at least most of them memorized um but the same thing with this fasting in particular here in verse 16 it says moreover when you fast be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance for they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast verily i say unto you they have the reward but thou when thou fastest anoint thy 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 the openly this screams catholic why does this scream catholic because of ash wednesday ash wednesday now that's what starts lent now i don't know if it's called fat tuesday or what they call the tuesday before that basically it's like a day where they can sin a whole bunch and then like ash wednesday's like where they do their penance for like six weeks straight until easter or something like that and what why do they call it ash wednesday and i just i'm just looking this up on wikipedia but i've seen it meaning that when i was in college there's all these like people with ash on their foreheads okay now when i was in catholic church i don't remember ever seeing this so i don't i i just don't maybe i was just not like paying attention very available would be possible but but uh but ash wednesday derives its name from placing a repentance repentance ashes on their foreheads of the participants and it goes on to talk about that basically that's why it's called ash wednesday because they're literally putting ash on their foreheads and then it says ash wednesday is observed by many christians including anglicans lutherans old catholics methodists presbyterians roman catholics and some baptists so it's not just the catholics but when i think of it that's what i think of because a lot of times people that are doing it they're doing it for lent okay and uh and so anyway but what does the bible say about this it's funny how contrast the catholic church is from the bible it's like don't use repetitions what is the catholic church repetition repetition of everything they do just vain repetitions you know and then it says about fasting it says be not of a sad countenance or disfigure your faces but notice in verse 17 it says anoint thine head and wash thy face wash your face so what does this mean it means that you don't want people to know you're fasting and this is a hard one okay because i get hangry okay and so and whether you put ash on your face sometimes you're probably gonna know whether i'm fasting because i'm really angry because i'm not eating okay so this is probably the hardest one to do to not show to like to not be of a sad countenance be like why are you sad countless because i want to eat something and so but it's it's so ridiculous when it says wash your face and anoint your head but then it's like i'm gonna put ashes on there so everybody can see it it's like how opposite can you be from what the bible says and it it's it's uncanny it's it's so bizarre to me on how they could just be completely opposite of what the bible says and we haven't got to it yet but i mean it says also to call no man on the earth your father and that screams catholic too but this chapter just hits it hard with the prayer with the fasting and you know you know the bible says when you fast and so the bible you know those talk about fasting and i'll say this you know you got a different people are different meaning that some people need to be very careful with fasting you know if you're on you know a strict diet anyway and and you got you got health issues and stuff like that listen you know you may fast for like half a day or something it doesn't give you a time period of what you're doing so you can you know this doesn't say fast for 40 days and 40 nights okay when you fast fast for 40 days and 40 nights without water no listen you know yeah i mean we can fast and stuff like that but you know don't tell people about it now the bible does talk about uh in first you got to tell your spouse okay it's not like you're going to be able to fast and and you're like honey i just don't like what you're eating i'm just not gonna eat that you know i mean you gotta like tell her that like i'm not eating for a reason but even in first corinthian seven it says the fraud not your your uh your wife or your husband and it says except to be for fasting and prayer and that has to be by consent by the way meaning that your spouse has to agree to that and husbands that means your wife has to agree to that that's there's if there's a thing where there's equal power that's where it's at there isn't there is a thing in in marriage where it's equal power and it's dealing with due benevolence and so that means wife you can say no you can literally say no to that and you'd be perfectly biblical and uh and men we probably understand anyway you know when it comes out i'd be like thank god i don't want to put fast right now anyways no but all i'm saying is that um you know when you do fast you know you gotta tell your spouse it's not like you're losing your war because you told your spouse what this is talking about is that you're not telling everybody you know if i were fasting and listen churches can fast sometimes and pray but even if we did that if i said hey you know we're gonna try to you know you know i wouldn't even tell you like hey we're gonna fast for this amount of time i would just say listen we're trying to get a hold of god if you want to fast you can fast does that make sense but i'm not for this like hey everybody's gonna fast for three days because to me that's like this big thing where everybody knows what's going on but to me i would more so say hey we're gonna be praying about this and if you want to fast you can fast and that's on your own terms but see that's an individual thing and and you know esther said fast for me and stuff like that so i'm not against that because i could say that to you be like you can fast but i'm not forcing it upon you it's more so like if you're willing to do it and you want to really get a hold of god or you want to try to get a hold of god and in that manner then then go for it but uh but but fasting definitely is biblical but you got to be careful with it as far as how far you go and and how long you do it you don't want to you don't want to have health problems and if you're working a job too where you need a lot of nutrients you know you don't you don't say hey i'm gonna go on a five-day fast and i'm out there like cutting down trees all day it's like you're gonna die you know you're literally gonna probably fall over and like run out of energy okay so if you're fasting it's gonna have to be like a set aside time where you can actually be able to do it okay and so but if you have a job where it can be done a little more easily as you're doing your job then that's fine but uh but matthew chapter 6 and verse 19 uh it switches gears here um dealing with laying up treasure in heaven and notice what it says in verse 19 it says lay not up for yourselves treasure upon earth where moth moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal for where your treasure is there will your heart be also and so what's interesting about this is that you may think of this the other way you say well where your heart is there where your treasure be now notice that it's what you're setting your sight on and a lot of times it's the way that you need to look at it and you kind of get a goal and whenever you're you know i think i'm thinking of dieting because i'm kind of dieting right now but you have a goal that you're going for and you kind of set your eyes on that and everything kind of goes towards what your desire what your treasure is what you're looking forward to and so your eye the eye affected the heart meaning that what you're looking at and what you're setting is to be your treasure so to speak that's going to affect your actions that's going to affect your heart and so it's what are you looking at that's going to set your desire and so it's not the other way around you think you know you think it would be the other way around like you gotta get your heart right you need to get your eyes right you know you get what you're setting your sights on and uh first anthony chapter six um kind of deals with this a little bit kind of dealing with the riches and stuff like that because what are we dealing with is the fact that we're not living for this world and for the riches and for all the nice treasures in this life because all that's going to be done away with it's going to melt with fervent heat the bible says and moth will eat it up eat it up rust will corrupt it and so it's it's all going to perish and so you need to not set your your your desire on that that shouldn't be the treasure you're looking for it should be the treasure that's going to be in heaven and so in first timothy chapter 6 and verse 17 it says charge them that are rich in the world that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living god who giveth us richly all things to enjoy that they do good that they be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to communicate laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life now what does it mean to lay hold on eternal life it just means that you're basically taking a hold of eternity meaning that you're what you're working for things that are of eternal value and so obviously you have eternal life but when it talks about eternal life or life eternal it's dealing with outside of this world right you're kind of outside the body you know with the lord and his eternal kingdom and so you're kind of laying hold on that before you get there it's kind of like trying to attain into the resurrection of the dead you know we're not going to attain unto it but at the same time we are going to eventually attain to it but that's our goal we're trying to press toward that mark and so we're kind of trying to lay hold on you know that that life eternal that we're going to be with forever meaning like that that you know afterlife if you want to look at it that way but we need to just set our sights on things that are here that that are above and not on things that are here on the earth that are here on the earth colossians 3 says that as well colossians 3 in verse 1 it says if you then be risen with christ seek those things which are above where christ sitteth on the right hand of god set your affection on things above not on things on the earth and so we need to be always just setting our affections on the things that are above you know things that are eternal second corinthians hits on that you know things that that that for our light affliction which is but for a moment working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory and so that's what you're dealing with is the fact the treasures that are going to be in heaven they're going to far exceed whatever you get down here and it's hard to see that because you can't see it right and that's the whole point is that the things that are temporal are seen the things that are eternal are not seen and so it's it this you have this in life when you when you're dealing with saving up for something that you don't have yet now you're kind of saving up money to buy something but you don't have it in front of you because our especially in america it's this instant gratification you want it now that's why our credit card debt in america is horrible you know meaning that you know you gotta rack up all this debt because you want it now instead of waiting for later and listen you know i also don't take that too far i mean i have a house i do have a mortgage okay but what i'm saying is that um but there's a lot of things that you don't really need you know and then you kind of rack up a bunch of debt and it's because that that mentality of instant gratification we got to get out of that as christians it should always be hey we're looking for what we're gonna have in the end and we're doing all this work but it's kind of like working a whole bunch of not getting your paycheck to way later and uh you know that's it's hard you know when you think about that i mean uh i know brother charles you know has to deal with that and so it's you know that's what you're kind of dealing with though you're working you're working you're working but you're not really you're not going to get paid until when you're done and so you're not seeing it and that's hard it's hard when you're dieting you want to see results you know you want to see that it's working and uh but you got to do it by faith not by sight so um but also uh in and going back to matthew chapter 6 and verse 22 matthew chapter 6 and verse 22 i do believe all this stuff links together uh dealing with where your heart where your treasure is there where your heart be also and then also dealing with the fact of what it talks about next with uh with the light of the the light of the body the body is the eye so in verse 22 it says the light of the body is the eye if therefore thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light but if thine eye be evil thy whole body shall be full of darkness if therefore the the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darkness no man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other you cannot serve god and mammon so obviously we're talking about riches and treasure so mammon you'd be dealing with money right so it's the fact that hey we're serving god not money okay so money answers all things the bible says it's not like money's inherently evil but serving money that's different it's kind of like nothing it's you know uh money's not inherently evil but the love of money is the root of all evil so there's a difference in that now this passage is interesting because it says the light of the body is the eye so you know your eye affected with your heart so and it says if your eye be single compared to being evil and i think of single kind of being you know we should be setting it's like the narrow compared to the broad so evil is kind of like there's all kinds of evils right but when you think of like good it's like jesus is the way the truth and the life there's only like one thing that's good there's only god is good and what his his desire what you should be doing keeping his commandments that's kind of a single thing if that makes sense and then evil is kind of this broad thing where you can get a whole bunch of different uh things but what you're looking at obviously will affect that but notice that it says in verse 23 if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darkness notice there's an exclamation mark on there now that's i i say that because there's not that many in the bible in the king james bible and so when i see that i take note to it um that that's an important thing meaning that there's emphasis that's being put on this and so what is this talking about well i believe this is talking about walking in the spirit and not in the flesh and it's kind of like the whole thing with you can't serve god and mammon meaning that you can't walk in the flesh and the spirit at the same time it's one or the other okay so you probably ever wondered you know what does that mean like i can't can't serve two masters meaning you're either going to serve the law of sin which is the flesh or you're going to serve the law of god which is the mind you know the spirit the new man right and so when you're dealing with this i believe what you're dealing with is the fact that you're walking in the flesh and it's quenching that light that's inside you and how great is that darkness to quench that light because we're talking about the holy spirit of god so if you're quenching that spirit how great is that darkness to quench you know that and you say well you know is the holy spirit light well in first john chapter one it says this in verse five it says this then is is the message which we have heard from the beginning and declaring to you that god is light and in him is no darkness at all so yes okay but jesus is light and the father's light as well meaning like god in general is light but that means the holy spirit would be light as well okay and what what is it what and what is that in reference to it says if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not the truth but if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another in the blood of jesus christ his son cleanses us from all sin and so uh no marvel that we're talking about this prayer about forgiving other men their trespasses and you know so that god would forgive ours why so we can walk in fellowship with him and walk in the light have that light in ourselves but if you're walking in the flesh and you're desiring the things of this world and you're serving mammon you're serving money then that's gonna quench the spirit that's what the bible says too but go to ephesians chapter 5 but the bible says this you know quench not the spirit it says in ephesians chat or i'm sorry first thessalonians chapter 5 and first thessalonians chapter 5 as well it says ye are the children of light and the children of the day we are not of the night nor of darkness now obviously that's in reference to our inner man now when we have our when the resurrection comes when we're all resurrection yeah every soul body and spirit is going to be children of light and we'll all be children of god you know like even our body will be it'll be a spiritual body right but until that time we had the flesh but notice in ephesians chapter 5 verse 8 it says for ye were sometimes darkness but now are ye light in the lord walk as children of light for the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth proving what is acceptable unto the lord notice how that's linked in there with the fact of walking as children of light any marvel because it says if you live in the spirit let us also walk in the spirit and what's in the context they to be led of the spirit they that walk in the spirit shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh and so what are we dealing with here when it's talking about how great is that darkness because the light's in you this is the light that be in you that is in in the be darkness it's not saying that the light went away it's just saying that when you're walking in the flesh you are quenching that light to where it's darkness and how great is that darkness to quench that light that's what it's kind of showing you the gravity of walking in the flesh when you have the holy spirit of god in you because what are you doing you're quenching the spirit you're grieving the holy ghost that's living inside of you and i know i preach a whole sermon on that so i don't want to get into that too much there but i do believe it's kind of touching on that here now the last thing that we see here in matthew chapter 6 is basically the way i would i would uh kind of uh put a title on on what's being said here is fret not meaning that he's basically saying don't worry don't worry about tomorrow don't worry about what you're gonna eat don't worry about what you're gonna be clothed with and that's really what's being said here and uh it says in verse 25 it says therefore i say unto you take no thought for your life what you shall eat or what you shall drink nor yet for your body what you shall what uh what you shall put on is not the life more than meat in the body than raiment and he kind of gives some examples as far as like hey he closed the field he you know and he's taking care of all these different things and and he's basically saying hey listen is he not gonna take thought for you in other passages it talks about the sparrows and everything and it's like are you not more more value than sparrows and so he's like don't take thought for that in verse 33 it says but seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you and if you think about the woman that remember she had like the two sticks and the the handful of meal and she's like i'm gonna go make this for my son and me you know all right the widow woman you know um i'm gonna make this you know and elijah is like hey make me one first think about you know she had to make that for him first and that's it but he did say you know and god will provide but that took faith right that he was actually going to provide and so when you say well you know i don't know if we're going to make it and all this other stuff let's serve god and he will take care of you and don't worry about it and so we need we need to get in that mindset where we're not just worried about it and listen don't worry about things you don't have control over try not to and listen i listen i bit i'm there we all deal with this but don't worry about things you can't control and you know i think that's one of those big things that you're i think i lose uh days of my life you know off my life i lose years off my life worrying about things that i can't control anyway and i'm constantly telling holly that you know like she'll be worried about something like let's just not worry about it you know can we change it no let's not worry about it or he's going to have to deal with it it's kind of like you just take the punches and just do what you got to do but psalm 37 and why i say fret not because psalm psalm 37 says this phrase a lot through it and i think it really does kind of go in in the same avenue here and honestly this is the last thing i'm going to show you here but um because it says take and and uh the last verse of matthew 6 says take therefore no thought for the morrow for the marsh shall take thought for the things of itself sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof so notice how saying like don't think don't worry about the future that much now i'm not saying like don't you know like we're talking about the soul winning marathon obviously you got to think about the future and kind of playing things out but what it means is like don't worry so far down the line you're worrying about things that haven't even happened yet sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof meaning there's enough to worry about today you know like the daily tasks that you got to get done just kind of deal with that that's sufficient to worry about don't worry about all the stuff you're like what are we going to do if this happens what are we going to do if this happens what are we going to do with this it's like don't worry about it we'll deal with it later you know and so fret not now notice what it says in psalm 37 verse 1 it says fret not thyself because of evildoers neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity for they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb trust in the lord and do good so shalt thou dwell in the land and barely thou shalt be fed delight thyself also in the lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart commit thy way into the lord trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass and he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light in thy judgment as the noonday rest in the lord and wait patiently for him fret not thyself because of him who prosper within his way because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass cease from anger and forsake wrath fret not thyself and in any wise to do evil for evildoers shall be cut off but those that wait upon the lord they shall inherit the earth for yet a little while and the wicked shall be shall not be yay they shall diligently consider his place and it shall not be but the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace now it sounds like the sermon on the mount right the meek blessed are the meek for that they shall inherit the earth now throughout this is basically the same thing we're dealing with here right verily thou shalt be fed you know just trust in the lord all the desires of your heart will be given to you but it's saying don't worry about it don't worry and don't be envious of those that have because you think about the fact that where your treasure is there where your heart be also and don't like you don't want to be designing all these treasures that are here on earth and it's easy to be envious of those people that do have a lot of things and just kind of looking at me like man i wish i had that i wish i had this or that and and no we need to be content with the things that we have and god will add it to us even in this life i believe god will bless you and god will will give you things that you need and above beyond notice that it's like it it talks about food and raiment um the last verse i'll show you is in first timothy chapter six but i'll also read to you hebrews uh well actually in psalm 37 verse 25 i forgot to read that verse down there it says i have been young and now i am old yet have i not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread so that's why you know if you're living for god you're walking in the spirit you're you're doing what you're keeping his commandments you're trusting in the lord you're waiting on him patiently he will feed you and so you don't don't worry about that and that's the great thing about being in a church too because listen you know if someone's in a bad spot listen chances are we're not all going to be in a bad spot financially at the same time that person is you know that's where the church comes in it takes care of people and and you know god will will bless to where there's going to be no lack you know if there's abundance over here that'll take care of the lack over here and and you know we'll take care of each other and so you don't worry about that type of stuff and just kind of and just keep serving god uh in hebrews 13 5 it says let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have for he hath said i will never leave thee nor forsake thee and you're in first timothy chapter 6 and verse 7 it says for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out and having food and raiment let us be there with content so that's how that keeps being brought up it's it's food and raiment and that's what it says in matthew chapter 6 that's what it says in first timothy chapter 6 and it's being content with the things that we have but food and raiment have you eaten today you don't have to answer this but if you've eaten today and you're wearing clothes and everybody is thank the lord we're all wearing clothes it doesn't even mention the house there does it but i think everybody here has a that has a place a roof over their head guess what you're blessed beyond that as well and i and we have vehicles we have all these different blessings that we have so honestly there's so much to be thankful for what god has given us and you know like the song says count your blessings because whenever you think like hell man i don't have that much start counting your blessings start counting look at the stuff you do have and you'll be like man lord is merciful i don't deserve any of this stuff that i got and and we're blessed way beyond measure and so but i i believe the key that's getting down to the end of that chapter is dealing with the fact that you know taking us off for tomorrow taking us off for what you're going to eat or drink taking a thought for what you're going to wear you know meaning that don't worry about it you know don't don't don't like stay awake at night me like i don't know how i'm going to get the next meal listen trust in god he will provide and listen that of course that means you need to go to work man you need to provide for your own you know that's that's entailed in there but if you're working you're working hard you're doing what you need to be doing god will provide he will not suffer the righteous to be to to to not be fed i mean he's going to give us food and raiment that's a promise from god as much as he promises his eternal salvation you will be fed and you will have clothes on your back and you know uh it's a great passage it's really the the idea of that passage is to not be pretentious to be real to be sincere and to trust in the lord to set your sights on things that are in heaven so let's end with the word of prayer we thank you for this evening and thank you for your word and thank you for the sermon on the mount that that we still have a little bit to go with and lord just so many profound statements so many truths that we can use in our lives and i pray that you would help us with that help us to do things that are not for a show but also that we would put our trust in you and that we wouldn't worry about uh things and fret about things uh that that you've already promised to us or even fret about things that we can't control and lord just help us to just have peace of mind and and lord just to serve you uh without that that uh that that fretting mindset that we we could have and lord we love you and pray to be with us throughout this week in jesus christ name amen