Check Yourself
Notes
Transcript
Handout
GIVE/PRAY/FAST
GIVE/PRAY/FAST
INTRODUCTION
Matthew 6:1
This next series we are going to be going into is one that i believe will stretch us and challenge us to live differently.
This series is about giving, praying, and fasting.
You may be familiar with these three but are we doing these three things?
Tonight is more of an introduction to this passage, the next three weeks we will be looking at these three things individually.
However let us ask ourselves a few questions.
Even as high school students what does it mean to give? Why is giving important? And what exactly are you giving?
Praying, we did have a series earlier this fall about pray, but I am convinced that this is the one main area that we fail at the most and I believe it is the most valuable.
Are we praying without ceases as Paul saying in Corinthinians?
And fasting? Are you trying to lose weight? then fasting might be for you? J/K
What is fasting? Do you know why you should fast?
I believe this is something that is hard to get a grasp on and for many years I did not.
These three topics are all things that Jesus is not saying:
Tonight we are going to be looking at .
Hey IF you get around to these do these things, He says WHEN, when you do these things.
English Standard Version Chapter 6
6 “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.
And if we can be honest I think many of us can admit that we struggle to do one if not all three!
I want to encourage you on why it is important that we do these but also challenge you:
that if you are not giving— to start;
that if your prayer life is only meal prayer— to start praying
— and to actively start fasting to draw near to God.
This is the start of the passages we will be looking at the next three week.
This is the start of the passages we will be looking at the next three week.
This is the start of the passages we will be looking at the next three week.
In order dive into the other three areas we must know what is happening right now in the text.
English Standard Version Chapter 6
6 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
The person who is talking is Jesus. He has been speaking for the last chapter.
The red letters in my Bible gives that away.
We catch him speaking at this moment in a very common heard message called the sermon on the mount.
Jesus has been covering the beatitudes, how we are to be salt and light, the purpose of Jesus- coming to not abolish the law but to fulfill the law, anger, lust, divorce, oaths, retaliation, and loving your enemies.
The passages leading up to this point are wonderful and I would encourage you all to read .
So now lets turn our attention to which reads this.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
“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.
Our first point tonight is:
Be careful how you present yourself.
Be careful how you present yourself.
Jesus is pretty clear here, He is saying look be careful, beware, take care, that you do not show your faith in a way that is judgmental.
No one likes a person with an upidy attitude.
This is very much a heart check, Jesus is challenging the people to check their motives.
Why are to do righteous works?
Are you doing it to glorify you or are you doing them so God gets the glory?
I think it would be appropriate to give a proper term for righteousness:
Righteousness means:
The English word “righteousness” refers to the quality of being righteous or in the right and is cognate to “just,” “justness,” and “justice.” In biblical usage, “righteousness” possesses ethical, forensic, salvific, and socioreligious connotations, depending on the context. Generally speaking, in relation to God, “righteousness” can refer to a divine attribute or to a divine activity, while in relation to human subjects, “righteousness” primarily denotes a legal and social status or a moral state.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Righteousness
The English word “righteousness” refers to the quality of being righteous or in the right and is cognate to “just,” “justness,” and “justice.” In biblical usage, “righteousness” possesses ethical, forensic, salvific, and socioreligious connotations, depending on the context. Generally speaking, in relation to God, “righteousness” can refer to a divine attribute or to a divine activity, while in relation to human subjects, “righteousness” primarily denotes a legal and social status or a moral state.
Basically they are good, they are just in there actions.
Now in the Jewish world righteousness is what the people were all about.
Keeping the law, the OT testament law; the ten commandments and all the other 600 something laws equalled righteousness for the Jewish people.
This was based on a work based righteousness, you have to do this in order to be called righteous.
This is what led to the group of people called the Pharisees.
They lived a righteous life, however they would also live in a way that put their righteousness on a pedestal.
They were doing exactly what Jesus was saying hey don’t do this!
Now fast forward to the Gospels, Jesus.
Jesus is not saying don’t act righteous
Its okay to strive for this, we should, strive to be good, and to be just, don’t just run around sinning all over the place.
Jesus is calling them to act still, he is saying when you practice your righteousness be careful.
Be careful to that you do not do it in a way that is all about you.
You practicing your righteousness should be done in a way to not bring attention to yourself.
EXAMPLE:
—Hello everyone- look as I give my whooping 20 dollars in the offering plate this week, Just so everyone knows I have done this every single Sunday of my entire life.
—Oh and i have not missed a Sunday in 35 years! Look at what I can do.
That would be what Jesus is cautioning the people about.
And why is he cautioning them, because this was a common practice.
People would give, or pray, or fast in a way that brought them attention, which is the exact opposite of what God desires from us.
Maybe you are thinking right now, but wait a minute Zach in Jesus tells us to let our light shine, isn’t boasting about our righteousness just showing that we are letting our light shine?
How do people know that i am a Christian if I don’t live out my faith, be a light.
My answer would be a simple NO.
Let’s look at shall we.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Listen students, when we are all about ourselves and we want to have others see our good deeds, our works, our righteousness— this comes form a selfish, self righteous mentality and it will not be tolerated by God.
They may see your good work but give glory to GOD
God desires you to shine bright not for yourself, but Himself.
Our job is to give glory to God not our works, not our deeds but we boost in Christ and His deeds.
Listen students, when we are all about ourselves and we want to have others see our good deeds, our works, our righteousness— this comes from a selfish, self righteous mentality and it will not be tolerated by God.
Here is how God deals with those who do this...
Let’s look at the second part of this passage.
“For then you will have no reward, (WHAT kind of reward) NO reward from your Father who is in heaven.
No reward for the prideful.
No reward for the prideful.
No reward is for those who practice there righteousness in a showy way.
This would mean that the opposite is true.
We do not want to practice our righteousness in front of other people.
Because if we do, this of course is not loving, nor caring, it is judgmental, it is showy, it is prideful.
So are we never to live out our faith, of course not.
This passage is not telling all believers to live in a bunker and never show the love of Jesus to anyone.
We are called to be lights, we are called to shine like a city on a hill, to be salt.
That means showing love to those around you, not because you want to be better than everybody— That is pride— but because you want to follow what Jesus says in
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
What are you will to do for yourself?
I mean practically anything right?
Of course if you jump up one verse beforehand it says:
This is the great and first commandment.
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
We love God, love people and we reach the world.
Does this mean at times people are going to see you acting out your righteousness?
Yes of course they will.
I REALLY HOPE THEY DO!
They will see you at the lunch table befriending someone who sits alone.
They will see you not swear
They will see you not getting angry
They will see how you have a joy that they can’t explain
They will see how you love people
They will see how you are different
But as they see you, the hope is, that they don’t see you, but they see Christ in you.
This is checking that heart. This is making sure that you are not doing anything because you want something out of it in return.
Check this out:
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
:34
Love others, love people.
This is how they will know we are Christians!
By our love! Not pride but love
And love is not selfish but love is
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:
This is what love is, this is what it means to not practice your righteousness in a showy way.
ITS NOT LOVING
Pretending to be better than someone is not how Christ lived.
Christ was the Son of God and he hung out with the least of these.
The tax collectors, the prostitutes, the poor, the SINNERS.
And when you do this when you love others. You will be known.
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
People will know that we belong to Christ.
Be loving, be caring to others to represent God, not you.
I want us to get a good grasp of this truth because as we look at the next three weeks— Give-Pray-Fast.
I want to lay down an all encompassing blanket that says when we do these three things it is not for our own benefit but for Christ.
We must be careful in practicing our righteousness.
So for next week, I would love it if you started to study what giving means.
You can look at here, or you can look at other places.
What are we giving?
Money, talents, food, supplies?
What are we charged in giving?
I am going to pray and then you can head out to breakouts
Maybe right now you have been acting a little judgmental, you are throwing how much better you are then others.
Your pride is showing and not your humility
Humility is what draws God near, not your pride.
the writers of the the Scriptures talk often about how God comes to the humble!
Are you living a life that is striving for righteousness? Good solid humble righteousness that gives God the glory?
PRAY
Questions:
Have you ever done anything for personal gain?
Why is this wrong? Or do you believe it is wrong?
Out of Give-Pray-Fast which of the three do you do the most? Why?
Out of Give-Pray-Fast which of the three to you do the least? Why?
