CITIZENS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD - Matthew 6:1-4

Is it good to be in the house of the Lord? Yes, all right. Well, I just want to say welcome to to those of you who are able to gather with us this morning on The Lord's Day and it is a beautiful thing as we always remind ourselves of the writer of Hebrews, right?

Not to neglect the gathering together not to neglect coming together and worship and corporate worship to our great

God and And one of the purposes of that is how God has prescribed it to be a time of encouragement a time of Admonition and growth in the

Christian life for each of you. So so I hope that this morning God uses this his word this common means of grace of gathering to To cause your soul to rejoice

For you to be encouraged in the gospel of Jesus Christ for you to go out and be able to Sojourn to be a foreigner out in a foreign land

As you go through this life Knowing that you have brothers and sisters that are with you and and going through the same

Stuff and to be able to walk with you and this is what part of this is so thank you to our covenant members for Bringing your gifts and abilities you see all the different people with name tags this morning a serving

It's kind of limited because nobody wants to go outside. I noticed all everybody's kind of gathering inside It's a little cold out there, but everyone is here to serve

So thank you for that you are loved and we love that you are willing to serve the body Because to be a part of a covenant body of believers means that you are bringing your gifts and abilities to the table

There is no such thing as a Christian who doesn't serve in the church. No such thing and So thank you for doing that proving that you truly love the

Lord Jesus Christ and his bride But I also want to say thank you to our guest Some some regular attending guests.

Thank you for being here We desire that all of us would grow in the knowledge and fear of the

Lord as we gather today and grow in his word So before we start we always pray for another local church

We like to to make sure that we understand that we're not the only Saints in this town that are gathering in this world that are gathering their other brothers and sisters

And and so we've chosen Central Baptist this morning to pray for them I have reached out to one of the pastors over there

Don Blackmore and and Let him know that we are praying for them and they are encouraged by that and we're so grateful for how

God does use them and And so let's bow our heads now and pray for the that group of believers that are gathering today

Lord thank you for our brothers and sisters at Central Baptist Lord, thank you for the pastors there.

Thank you for the members there the people that serve you God I pray that you would work in their midst father,

I pray that as they come together this morning that that That the Saints among them would truly be encouraged

That the Saints among them would grow in the fear and knowledge of you Father, I pray for whoever's preaching this morning.

If it's if it's brother Archie or whoever God I pray that you would Work in their heart allow them to speak boldly from your word from truth.

I pray that that your word would go forth and Penetrate into the hearts and minds of of your people.

We thank you for For the relationship that we get to have with them We pray that they would be encouraged by it know that we do care and love for them dearly in Christ's name

Amen. Amen. Let's stand as we prepare to start our service with a call to worship

Our call to worship comes from Psalm 149 It's a sing to the

Lord a new song praise the Lord where the psalmist says sing to the Lord a new song

His praise Let Israel be glad in his maker let them praise his name with dancing

This psalm doesn't seem to be a Baptist psalm does it? All right, I love it Challenges us for the

Lord takes pleasure in his people Let the godly exalt in glory let the high praises of God be in their throats

To execute vengeance on the nations To bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron

This is honor for all his godly ones

Praise the Lord. Well, we are the godly ones Not because we are godly but because Jesus Christ has made us godly has made us righteous

Amen Amen, that's why we gather this morning. So let's pray a prayer of adoration to our great

King Dear Heavenly Father Lord, we come to you once again, and we thank you We thank you for bringing us together

We thank you for not leaving us to ourselves, but allowing us community

Allowing us that the church the Bride of Christ the very body of Christ the representative of the

King here on earth And Lord, we pray that you were honored in it

Well, we know that we are not a perfect bride in the sense that we do not always act perfectly

We know that all of the parts of this body are not Always living as we ought

Oh, but our our great Savior the head of that body bathes this body in the word and has has given

Us his righteousness And so we pray that We pray that we would stand in light of that righteousness

That we would be reminded of that righteousness that we would be pointed to The only righteousness that we know which is

King Jesus I Pray Lord that you would be honored this morning father.

I pray that that we would sing praises to your name

As a sweet -smelling aroma up to you King Jesus we pray that you're honored this morning and our worship to you of The the glorious Victory that you have purchased for us and brought us into and Holy Spirit.

We long to worship you this morning As you work in our midst in our hearts

We pray that the triune God Would be the center of this gathering

Not us not the music not the lights not the room not the the people but the triune

God As he dwells amongst his people we thank you in Christ's name.

Amen You my

God have saved my soul I am yours forever More, I won't be moved of this.

I'm sure You're my God. You've saved my soul When you came for me held in chains by the

Enemy, but you broke them in victory now, I'm free

I'm free I won't be moved of this

You my God have saved my soul I'll stand with the king of kings.

He has paid for my every sin and from now through eternity

I am free I am free You my

God have saved my soul I am yours forever more

I won't be moved of this I'm sure You my God have saved my soul

I am yours forever more It's now

You gave to me the breath of life. You brought me I'm bursting out

You gave Have saved my soul

I am yours forever more I won't be moved of this.

I'm sure you my God have saved my soul There's joy in the house

There's joy in the house Shout out your praise

We won't be quiet We shout out your praise

We sing to the God who heals

We sing to the God who saves We sing to the God who always makes a way

He hung on that cross He rose up from that grave

My God's here We're rolling stones away There's joy in the house of the

Lord There's joy in the house of the Lord today We won't be quiet We shout out your praise

There's joy in the house of the Lord Our God is surely into place

We shout out your praise We shout out your praise

We were the beggars

Now we're royalties we were the prisoners now we're running free we are forgiven accepted redeemed by his grace now we're royalty we were the prisoners now we're running free we are forgiven, accepted, redeemed by his grace let the house of the

Lord sing praise there's joy in the house of the

Lord there's joy in the house of the Lord today and we won't be quiet we shout out your praise there's joy in the house of the

Lord our God is surely in this place we won't be quiet we shout out your praise we shout out your praise when the tempter would fail he would ask to keep my home through life's fearful path as often called he must hold me fast cause he will hold me he'll hold me fast for my

Savior loves me so he will hold me fast those he saves are his demise

Christ will hold me fast precious in his holy sight he will hold me my soul belongs his promises shall last bought by him at such a cost he will hold me fast my

Savior loves me so he will hold me fast justice has been satisfied he will hold me fast raised with him to endless life he will hold me fast till our faith is turned to dust when he comes at last sing it out cause he will hold me fast he will hold me fast for my

Savior loves me so he will hold me fast one more time cause he will hold me fast he will hold me fast for my

Savior loves me so he will hold me fast we usually do this after the sermon but today we thought we would do it before the sermon as our hearts are focused on the glory of the cross the

Savior that has purchased us the blood that was shed the body that was given over for us the one that holds us fast so if you're a guest with us and you are in Christ and you are in good standing with an evangelical church you are welcome to the table we come around the outsides here take of the elements

Pastor Jeremiah I'll be on one side I'll be on the other and we go back to your seat through the center and you can pray pray together as a group, as a family and then partake of the elements we will sing and continue on with our time of worship but I would give you a challenge as the

Apostle Paul challenged the church in Corinth do not come to this table in an unworthy manner for some of you are sick and ill and have even died this is a very serious matter it is not a time for penance it's not a time right now in this moment oh

I better ask forgiveness for all my sins and then I can go to the table no, this is a time where you can come and be reminded of the one that has paid for those sins and if you're truly looking to the cross if you're truly looking to Christ you will not be able to look at sin you will not be looking that direction you will have a repentant heart resting in Christ and if there is sin in your life that is unrepentant and you refuse to let go of it please abstain from this table until you can lay that down before Christ and turn from it so let's now pray for our time at this table dear

Heavenly Father be honored in our worship for we know we are not worthy we know that we do not hang on to you if our connection to you

Christ is dependent upon us we will let go but you have not lost one you will not let go you will hold fast and we are so thankful for the sacrifice of the cross and shed blood in the body given over for us as a propitiation as a sacrifice as a substitute for us we pray that you are honored as we come to this table in Christ's name

Amen if y 'all would sing this with me as we go through the line and take the elements and sing an old hymn here and I'd love y 'all to sing it join in and sing with us as y 'all make your way through back to your seat take my life and let it be consecrated

Lord to Thee take my moments and my days let them flow in endless praise let them flow in endless praise take my voice and let me sing always only for my

King take my lips and let them be filled with messages from Thee filled with messages from Thee take my will and make it

Thine it shall be no longer mine take my heart it is

Thine own it shall be Thy royal throne it shall be

Thy royal throne for my

Savior loves me so He will hold me fast sing it one more time

He will hold me fast He will hold me fast for my

Savior loves me so He will hold me fast thank you so much for this time this morning

Lord of worship I praise you for holding us fast for holding me fast

Lord I pray this morning Lord as we prepare our hearts to hear your word

I pray that you would be with Pastor Jeremiah as he comes before us and boldly proclaims your word and preaches

Lord I just pray that you would just give him the words to speak Lord I pray that you would open our hearts open our minds our ears this morning

Lord that we may take your word Lord I pray that you would bless this offering this morning bless this offering

Lord as we give back what is rightfully yours Father we love you we praise you we ask all these things in Jesus precious and holy name

Amen Well if you've been attending 12 .5

for very long in the past year we have been still in the book of Ephesians and last week

Pastor Nathan preached on the kingdom of God we came to a part in Ephesians chapter 5 where it talks about the kingdom of God and Christ and so we thought it necessary to expound a little bit more on what the kingdom of God looks like last week

Pastor Nathan talked about how the kingdom is where the king is right? the kingdom is where the rule and reign of the king is with his reign and authority that goes over all of creation the kingdom is in heaven where Christ sits on his throne next to the father on high and the kingdom is in believers right?

this is the church we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and so it is Jesus Christ who is king of kings and he is the true and better Adam last week

Pastor Nathan talked about how in the beginning there was a kingdom on earth and Adam was given dominion over it to subdue the world and what happened on his watch the enemy came in Satan came in and he tempted

Eve and sin happened with Adam and Eve and the kingdom of man fell and so when we start talking about the kingdom of God Jesus is a perfect king who establishes his kingdom perfectly and he crushed the enemy

Amen he crushed Satan he crushed sin and death at his resurrection and so we are a part of a kingdom that cannot perish and so this morning

I want us to talk about citizens of the kingdom of God we've been in the book of Ephesians but I want us to take another pause this morning

I'd like to take your attention to Matthew chapter 6 and so if many of you are familiar with this passage this is right in the heart of the sermon on the mount this is the greatest sermon ever preached by our

Lord many have said and right before the sermon on the mount he says these profound words in Matthew chapter 4 verse 17 he says repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand so we're gonna see kingdom of heaven kingdom of God if you were a part of our sermon discussion last week these are synonymous terms when we say the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven

Jesus says repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand he says it is near it is right here in your midst later in Matthew's gospel he says you can know that the kingdom of God is here among you when you see demons being casted out you know what?

Jesus was actually casting out demons when he said that he's telling us that the kingdom of God the sphere of salvation is here and you must repent right?

turn from looking inward and looking at yourself and turn to look to the only king the only one who can save right before the sermon on the mount

Jesus, Matthew tells us that he went through all of Judea teaching in the synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and so the entire sermon on the mount is an exposition of what

Jesus meant when he said repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand and so he begins his discourse with the beatitudes

I just want to draw your attention if you're there in Matthew chapter 5 verse 3 the first beatitude he says blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

Jesus is telling us that citizens of this heavenly kingdom the kingdom of God are those who are poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven for those that are the blessed men and women of God they don't look to themselves they see their spiritual bankruptcy before God and they look to Jesus in faith and faith alone another beatitude if you look down at verse 8 blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see

God citizens of the kingdom, believers have had a heart change they are salt and light in this decaying and perishing world and so we're called to be salt and light and then

Jesus says this profound statement in Matthew 6, 33 he says that this is the heart of believers of the citizens of the kingdom of heaven when this world is sinking around us when we see sin, we see decay we see evil, we see the enemy at work what do believers do?

we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all of these things will be added to you so this morning as we're talking about citizens of the kingdom of God I actually want us to talk about something we need to be on guard something that we need to be watchful for because there are people that claim to be citizens of the kingdom of God and they are not

Jesus tells us in Matthew 5, verse 20 for unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you will never enter the kingdom of heaven okay, so he gives us a strong warning there and here in Matthew chapter 6 he expounds more on that warning and what that looks like and so this will be our main passage

Matthew chapter 6, verses 1 through 4 where Jesus 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 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 let's pray this morning heavenly

Father we just want to lift your name on high and God, I just pray that this morning that our hearts would be illuminated with your truth

God, I pray that we would be citizens of the kingdom of heaven God, that we would not be deceived by the enemy and look inwardly to our own righteousness

God, but that we would be transformed by the gospel the gospel of the kingdom God, please give us new hearts purify our hearts

God, give us a heart that desires your righteousness and to seek first your kingdom we love you

Lord and praise things in your name amen so hopefully from that passage you caught that Jesus is telling us that God is concerned with the intentions of our hearts that leads us to actions and so verse one

Jesus begins with a strong warning be on guard pay careful attention beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them okay

Jesus is saying we have to be extremely careful about doing good works not to receive praise from men in order to be seen by them and then we're going to have these literalistic mindsets

I'm guilty of being a very literal person but my thought is does that mean I can't do anything to help someone because if they see me do it then am

I receiving praise from men absolutely not that's not what he's saying here in fact that would be absurd this is where Jesus just finished in Matthew 5 16 telling us let your light shine before others that they may see your good works and give glory to your

Father who is in heaven so what's going on here Jesus is telling us to do good works in one verse in the other one he's telling us to beware yes these actually fit harmoniously together in one sense we are to do so many good works so that other people see our lives and see that we're doing it to the glory of God but he is warning us those that claim to be citizens of the kingdom of God those that are doing self -righteousness works to receive glory from men we have to be watchful for that so we must pray for these opportunities to show the love of Christ and to proclaim this gospel of love to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom so back in verse 1

Jesus warns us about the motivation for doing good works or righteous deeds and it's the

Pharisees that we have to be mindful of this is what Jesus is warning us about and let me just say all of us have to war against our

Pharisaical tendencies we can all easily fall into this category the Pharisees' motivation for obeying the law of Moses and doing pious religious acts wasn't to glorify

God but they wanted to receive the adeboys they wanted to receive the props and the pats on the back and so later in Matthew's gospel

Jesus rebukes the Pharisees and says this people honors me with their lips but their hearts are far from me in vain do they worship me and the teachings that they have are the doctrines and commandments of men so what

I'm wanting you to see is God is not impressed about this list of accomplishments that you think you're doing really really well he most importantly wants us to look to him in love with all of our heart with all of our soul with all of our mind and all of our strength and so if we are helping other people and doing good works and it's not coming from a heart that desires to glorify

God if it's not coming from a heart that has faith in King Jesus then it's vain it's detestable in his sight

Romans 14 tells us for whatever does not proceed in faith in Christ is sin scripture tells us that our righteous deeds are like filthy rags before God if it's not in faith in him and so many false religions and worldly philosophies will often say as long as you're doing the golden rule right and you're not doing to others as you would have them do unto you then it doesn't really matter the reason why you're doing right

I want to say that that is absolutely wrong it definitely matters the intention of your heart why you're being kind and loving to other people and there's only two reasons you're either doing it for yourself for your glory to receive praise from men or you're doing it for the one true

God and for his glory so I had a conversation many months ago with a professing believer and he said a very interesting statement and I thought we were on the same page he said we should encourage other people especially this younger generation he was an older fellow he said we should encourage the younger generation to tip our servers two or three times more than we actually do and in this conversation

I thought how could I argue with them that is such a wonderful thing to say and I said that would be nice I guess it is a matter of the heart and he said

I believe to whom much is given much is required yes and amen I was like that's I think that's a Bible verse somewhere and he said yes as we were talking about this

I said yes we should seek to glorify God through blessing others not helping others for the sake of being a good person because that would be vain and empty so at this point

I thought we were on the same page and then he said something that caught me off guard he said well if I'm trying if I'm being a good person and that's vain then

I guess I'm vain and I was like hold the brakes I was like what are you talking about and he said well

I want to help others for being a good person and I'm like yes but the heart must be always fixed and trying to glorify

God with our lives this is what humanism worldly philosophy says that man's mankind's goal is to become better for the sake of being better and we don't need

God for that humanism says just be good for goodness sake and when I hear that I'm like well who gets determined what is good you?

no man doesn't get to determine what is good goodness reflects the standard and character of God he gets to inform us what is good and so as Christians citizens of the kingdom of heaven we have an underlying reason for why we ought to do good works like tip our servers more and to help others in need it's always pointing back to God scripture declares so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do do all to the glory of God amen and so I'll spare you all the details to this conversation but I just simply said when we get when we help others when we give others we want to worship and honor

God in our hearts and I thought I would receive a resounding amen from this individual and he just said well I just don't think about it as deeply as you do friend for someone who is resting in King Jesus and he is

Lord of our life someone who is filled with the spirit we are actively praying for opportunities to bless other people and we thank the

Lord in our hearts when we get to actually experience these opportunities the Christians heart is to always glorify

God in whatever we do to honor and praise him so I want us to ask this question to ourselves this morning what is our motivation what is the reason why we treat others the way we want to be treated and why do we do good works is it to be seen by God or is it to be seen by man you may be able to fool those who are around you with what you do but God knows

God knows the motivation intention of your heart God sees the heart so look back with me in verse 1

Jesus 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 phrase to be seen or to be noticed in the

Greek is the oh my this comes from the same root word theatron in the Greek where we get in our

English theater so this imagery is really brought out in verse 2 because Jesus goes on to say 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 and so Jesus is painting a picture he is saying imagine someone who is on a stage in a theater and he says now you have a hypocrite this word in the

Greek is literally one who puts on a mask in classical Greek refers to an actor on a stage someone who masks their real identity and assumes a role who plays a part that isn't truly who they are and so Jesus is pointing to the

Pharisees this is the greatest example of somebody who conceals their true identity and the way that he depicts them is almost not even real he says thus when you give to the needy sound no trumpet before you the

Pharisees were so self deceived and twisted in their self -righteousness that they would actually go to a street corner and they would play a trumpet basically saying hey everybody your savior is here here's some money here's some food go be well come to me next time

I come around and that is so ridiculous I was trying to think what would be a modern parallel of that it's like if we have the offering plate and I just started pulling out that money and just dripping it in there saying hey everybody

I'm giving and I'm probably giving more than you and you really need this one that is the heart and the mindset of a

Pharisee is everybody look at me and what I'm doing it's wild this kind of person is a

Pharisee someone who is putting on a mask because inwardly their true identity is that they do not love

God they love themselves and their performance back in verse 2 Jesus says truly

I say to you they have received their reward you may say so if I'm a Pharisee Jeremiah I can actually get a reward out of this deal yeah you can it's an earthly reward it's an earthly treasure that has no eternal value something that is vain and fleeting and will not last this reward is receiving praise from people and that's it and let's be honest people don't really like someone who's a show -off or brags about themselves and puffs themselves up in that way right so what a futile reward so if your heart is set on pleasing yourself and we're receiving praise from others

Jesus said back in verse 1 then you will have no reward from your father who is in heaven he is saying that you've missed everything you may be going to church and doing all the right things putting on a show for everyone else but you've missed what it means to truly serve the

Lord and be a citizen of the kingdom of heaven friend please do not tell yourself what a show -off you well

I'm glad Jeremiah's talking about to all these other Pharisees in the room but I know he's not talking to them right because I just want to say the person who thinks that they are not a

Pharisee in any way shape or form is probably the biggest Pharisee of all right

I've heard Pastor Nathan say that we are all recovering legalists right we have to war against the flesh someone who's truly in Christ a true citizen wars against those pharisaical and legalistic tendencies and so when we want to help somebody in a way that glorifies

God how can we do that Jesus says in verse 3 but when you give to the needy do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing now it's pretty obvious that sounding a trumpet when you're helping somebody to receive attention that's wrong right that's not the way to glorify

God but oftentimes when we help people there's a less obvious trumpeter going on what am

I talking about a lot of times when you're helping somebody there's a trumpeter there's a trumpet sounding in your own heart in your own mind you're oftentimes saying hey

Jeremiah you're doing a really good job here right let me let me make a little note of how good you're what you're doing right now and so we got to be on guard from this founding that kind of trumpet saying things like look what

I've accomplished you are so great and so this is something that we are all guilty of is proclaiming our our so -called goodness to ourselves

Jesus says do not let your left hand so he's speaking on the personal level do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing this was probably a proverbial saying in this ancient time and so in the

Sermon on the Mount we see that this ancient culture saw the right side as predominant and honorable

Jesus talked about the right eye the right hand the right cheek and so the right side was preferred in this culture and so the idea is that you as you are going about your daily business you use your right hand and when someone is in need you use your right hand you don't use the left hand which gives more attention to yourself almost like sounding a trumpet it's just something that the

Christian does we use the right side the preferred side and we don't give it any more special attention and so for my super little people out there it's almost like what is he talking about using your left not letting your left hand know what your right hand is doing he is simply saying this is an overflow of a

Christian's life and guess what we're not going to receive people telling us thank you always we don't do it for that reason right we are called to be salt and light we are representatives of the king so when we help somebody whether they thank us or not we go on our daily walk because we serve them with the right hand it's something that we just do a part of our daily lives and we don't give it any special attention so in the

New Testament Jesus says in verse four sorry I got ahead of myself on my nose look back with me at verse three

Jesus says 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 now

I just want to review briefly two extremes that we can fall into number one giving for show like the

Pharisees to draw attention to themselves that's an extreme that's not what Jesus is aiming at or the person that feels guilty if they were to actually help somebody out and people actually give them some sort of praise or say thank you some people say well if I can't give anonymously then

I'm not going to give at all well that's an extreme remember what Jesus said back in Matthew 5 16 he says let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works it's okay that they see your good works but they need to know the reason why to give glory to your father in heaven so it's a matter of the heart right

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9 7 let each one give as he has decided in his heart not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver this is the huge difference between a true citizen of the kingdom of heaven and Pharisees believers we have a transformed heart we have a heart righteousness right that seeks the kingdom of God and his righteousness and we desire to give him glory with our lives right and we also have an imputed righteousness we have a righteousness that's not our own it's the righteousness the perfection of King Jesus credited and covering our account perfectly by faith the

Pharisees said oh we can do this right we give lip service we love God we say all the right things we do all the right things but Jesus says your heart is far from me and so Jesus says so that your giving may be in secret in the the quietness of your heart and then he goes on to say and your father who sees in secret will reward you

God the father sees all things right this is the doctrine of omniscience

God knows everything he sees all things and his presence is felt by all things Hebrews 413 says that there is no creature that is hidden in his sight but we are all naked and exposed to the eyes of him whom we must give an account one day

God sees all things and his presence is felt by all of his creation and that even means to the depths of hell as felt by his presence because those that have died in their sin will receive the full wrath of God in his holiness and his justice the

Old Testament says the psalmist says where shall I go from your spirit where shall I flee from your presence if I ascend to heaven you are there if I make my bed and shield you are there

Jesus in the New Testament said don't fear man that can kill the body but fear

God who kills body and soul in hell and so I'm getting at is God sees all things he even sees the quietness of your heart the motivation for why you are doing something and so what

I'm discouraged a lot of times is I've been to those church plays in town around the

Halloween season and it's kind of the church's opportunity to do a fall festival and some of those plays

I've seen you know the whole the whole drama of people going to hell that didn't respond to the gospel and faith and what

I see being depicted is that Satan has that pitchfork and he's about to torture them in hell and it's like no no no

God is sovereign over all he is omnipotent he is omniscient and he is the one that is executing judgment perfectly and so I just want us to be reminded that God sees all things he knows all things and this is these are attributes of the sovereign eternal triune

God and so also with this if we wake up every morning and we immediately reminded of the fact that God sees my entire life

I believe that that ought to feel us to live differently to live as he is holy for us to be holy constantly reminded that there is nothing that he doesn't see and doesn't already know friend if we meditated on this truth all throughout the day this would revolutionize the way that we live we are ever in the present gaze of our creator and for unbelievers they are constantly under the rock the watch of their creator who is the righteous judge and he will not be mocked but friends saints those of us that are citizens of the kingdom of heaven we are in Christ we are under the care and the provision of our creator who is also our loving heavenly father

Jesus says and your father who sees in secret will reward you so I made no

I just wanted to ask the question what kind of reward is he talking about here I think this reward includes both a temporal blessing and eternal blessing so if you have a

King James or new King James this verse reads a little bit different I just wanted to draw your attention to this your father who sees in secret will himself reward you openly and so that word openly is not found in the

Greek here this was actually just an interpretive choice by the translators but I think they were on to something they were saying that in the context if you desire to help others not openly to receive praise but rather secretly closed in your heart then by contrast

God will openly reward you and bless you and so this is known as the principle of sowing and reaping if you sow things that are of the flesh then you are going to reap things of the flesh but if you sow things in of the spirit that are praise worthy to God he will bless you right even being obedient to God has inherent blessing in of itself

I think another key principle here is that our Heavenly Father is gracious it is in his nature to give blessings and gifts to his children later in the

Sermon on the Mount Jesus says if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him right he's giving a reward he gives gifts one of my favorite verses is

James 1 17 that says every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from the father of light with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change

God doesn't lie God is is light and in him there is no darkness at all so when he gives us good things we can know that this is just a glimpse of what is going to take place for all eternity so yes our

Heavenly Father will bless his children with good gifts openly now here on earth but this will have an eternal benefit as well so there are two things

I want to keep in mind as we begin to talk more about this reward number one eternal life is not something that we earned by our works it's not a reward based on how good we were

Scripture is very clear in Romans chapter 3 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and we are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom

God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith and so this heavenly reward is predicated on the truth that God has graciously regenerated our hearts and gifted us faith to look to Jesus as our savior so that's number one we have to keep that in mind but since we have eternal life this is really important Christians will be rewarded one day in eternity based on how they stewarded their lives for the glory of God this is what

Jesus has in mind here in verse 4 this reward is first mentioned earlier back in the beatitudes you want to look briefly

Matthew 5 verse 12 Jesus says rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you so describing this blessed man and woman of God those who are truly citizens looking to King Jesus they ultimately find their happiness and peace that are in things that are totally counter to the world right as the world persecutes

Christians right mocks us they did that to our Lord first right so we should expect that too but we are reminded that ultimately our reward is in heaven there we go so Jesus also mentions the reward towards the end of Matthew chapter 5 in verse 46 he says for if you love those who love you what reward do you have do not even the tax collectors do the same here

Jesus point is that even unbelievers know how to give good gifts to each other there's nothing transcendent about that or anything of eternal worth if you're just loving those that look like yourself rather Christians understand that all human beings are our neighbor and bear the image of God and we are called to love them indiscriminately because of the way that Christ loved us first that that kind of love is out of this world and that is a type of love that stores up each heavenly treasure so once we've been saved by the grace of God through faith we will actually stand before Christ one day and he will reward us based on our lives lived for him and so this is called the judgment seat of Christ and we hear the word judgment sometimes we think oh condemnation that's not what he's talking about here right for those that are in Christ Jesus there is therefore now no condemnation but we will stand and give an account of our lives before Christ and so briefly if you don't mind turn with me to 1st

Corinthians chapter 3 this is a very interesting chapter where the

Apostle Paul informs Christians that we will stand before the Lord and we will give an account for every thought word and deed that we have ever done 1st

Corinthians chapter 3 starting in verse 6 the Apostle Paul says I planted

Apollos watered but God gave the growth so neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything but only

God who gives the growth he who plants and he who waters are one okay and make note of this and each one will receive his wages according to his labor for we are

God's fellow workers you are God's field and God's building according to the grace of God Paul says to me like a skilled master builder

I laid a foundation someone else is building upon it then he says let each one take care special care how he builds upon this foundation for no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid which is

Jesus Christ now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold silver precious stones wood hay straw each one's work will become manifest for the day will disclose it because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done if the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives he will receive a reward if anyone's work is burned up he will suffer loss though he himself will be saved only as through fire so the

Apostle Paul is telling us that yes you have been covered by the blood of Jesus and have all of your sins and trespasses nailed at Calvary right we are covered no condemnation on our account but we then build our lives on the finished work of Jesus to glorify

God and one day we will be rewarded right he calls it the day this is the day that will be disclosed of everything that we've done at the judgment seat of Christ everything we did not do for the

Lord will be burned up like wood hay and straw and it will not stand but everything we truly did to honor

Christ will come through as gold silver and precious stones and that will be our reward one day

James chapter one says blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which

God has promised to those that love him so over the years I've found this concept very confusing and very hard to grasp because I would ask myself well what's the motivation for being obedient to Christ is it my love for him is it everything that he has done for me or am

I doing these things one day to receive a reward well I believe it's all together

I believe these are true I should be obedient to him because of my love for him everything that he has done for me and I think we should also have in mind the reward that we will get one day in eternity because that reward will end up back at the feet at the for the only one who is worthy of all praise worship and glory

Revelation chapter four I believe we get a sneak peek into what worship will look like one day in the throne room of God the

Apostle John says when there were living creatures giving glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne who lives forever and ever the twenty four elders fall to their knees and is seated on the throne and worship him with their lives forever and ever they cast their crowns before the throne saying worthy are you

Lord and God to receive all glory honor and power for you created all things and by your will they existed and were created that is a beautiful picture that's why we should be moved to work hard to live our lives to the glory of God to be rewarded one day to take that reward and put it back at the feet of the lamb

And so with this being a wonderful, beautiful passage that should move us to glorify

God with our lives, I want to share with you a quote from a Christian writer that said, just painted a beautiful picture of how we should look at this wonderful day.

This quote begins by saying, imagine that after this life, you are standing in front of Jesus, all of your deeds, both what you did for Him and what you did to serve

Jesus are represented as wood, hay, and straw. You assume that there are probably some jewels and gold in there too.

All of a sudden, huge fire comes down and burns all the wood and the hay and the straw, leaving only those things that you did for Jesus, those things that could not be burned.

And you look down and to your surprise, you see a pile of gold and jewels, small enough to fit into the palm of your hand.

You walk up to that small pile, your deeds for Jesus throughout your entire life, and you scoop them up.

You approach Jesus on His throne, you see the scars in His hands and on His feet, the evidence of what

He has done for you and for your life. And you hold out your hand to Jesus and present to Him this small handful of jewels and gold.

And the only thing you can muster to say is the honest, tragic confession,

Jesus, I loved you, this much. That really puts things into perspective.

Why am I living my life? What am I living for? What is the motivation? I pray that God would overwhelm all of our hearts and our minds to glorify

King Jesus with everything that we do. Friend, beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them.

That is merely storing up treasures on earth that has no eternal value. That only leads down the broad road that leads to destruction.

Dear Saint, I pray that we would wake up every morning being reminded and refreshed that God Almighty sees everything that is going on in our life, that that would revolutionize the way that we think and we live about our day.

I pray that we would have such a love for King Jesus that we wouldn't have time to think about ourselves, that we would look up on Calvary's Hill, Jesus dying there, thinking about His life, what

He endured, what He suffered, realizing what He did for us specifically. I pray that that would be the driving force and motivation for helping others, knowing that we do not have to keep up with all those times that we do something good.

God knows. Let us labor in these things until one day we hear those sweet words. Well done, good and faithful servant, for you have been faithful over a little.

I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we just want to praise you once again for this amazing time to worship with the saints.

God, please help us to be on guard, be watchful not to fall into these tendencies, to be like Pharisees.

God, those putting on a mask, God, we understand that we are human, that we are fallen, and many of us have been redeemed by your amazing grace, and we don't have to fake it till we make it.

God, you know, and a lot of our brothers and sisters know as well. God, please help us to unite together in spirit and in truth and rally around the truth that Jesus, you are

King and Lord over all. We love you, Jesus Christ, in your name. Amen. Well, at this time, we usually go to the

Lord's table. We've already gone to the Lord's table, but we will pray for our continued time of worship through our time of fellowship as we do every week with Quintinia Feast.

If you're a guest, please stay with us. We have plenty of food. Ms. Brenda will let us know when everything is ready, and we can get in line and get our food and just have a time of fellowship.

I want to challenge all of us that maybe don't sit at the same table that you sit with every single week.

The whole of the body is your family. Let's try and expand our horizons and be with other saints, maybe get to know some other people.

It may be uncomfortable. I see some of your faces like, oh no, I'm an introvert, but this is a good chance for you to have fellowship.

So let's pray that God will be honored in that. I want to let you know that we will not be having sermon discussion as part of our service today because we have a family meeting.

So all members, I encourage you, stay after Quintinia Feast. We have our meeting for this year, the beginning of the year, letting you know about the future and what's been going on in the past with this building and everything.

So please plan on staying, but let's pray that God will be honored in our time of fellowship. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you once again.

I want to thank you for making us citizens of your kingdom and for bringing us in and as citizens of your kingdom,

Lord, we have perfect unity with each other. We may, in our sin, distort that unity and seem to cause it to be hindered,

Lord, but we are perfectly unified because we are unified in Christ. And so I pray as we fellowship, as we eat together, as we just experience community together, that it would be a life -giving experience for each of us and that it would be molding each one of us and that you would be honored in our worship through fellowship, in Christ's name, amen.