Sermon On The Mount: Part 22

Take care not to do your good deeds publicly or before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you will have no reward reserved for and awaiting you with and from your Father Who is in heaven. Thus, whenever you give to the poor, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites in the synagogues and in the streets like to do, that they may be recognized and honored and praised by men. Truly I tell you, they have their reward in full already. But when you give to charity, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, So that your deeds of charity may be in secret; and your Father Who sees in secret will reward you openly.

I honestly believe that this is one of the greatest Truth’s for us when it comes to our physical life’s. Human nature want’s to brag about what we are doing. We want to get tax credits for what we have given and we want our names to be written in the bulletins. But Jesus is very clear to us when He says that if we get these things, then we will have no reward from our Father. 

Blessed (happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous—with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the poor in spirit (the humble, who rate themselves insignificant), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven! Matthew 5:3

Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls. Matthew 11:29

The only way that we will ever find rest and true reward from our Father is when we are Shepherded to the Truth by Jesus and don’t let people know how He is using us. This isn’t hard to accept and live in when we know the Truth that sets us free.

For who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart. 1 Corinthians 2:13

The glorious Truth is that we now have Jesus’ heart. We have His feelings and His thoughts, and as He is, so are we, 1 John 4:17

Jesus never had people bow to Him when He was here. He never asked the lost to call Him Lord. He forgave those who were killing Him. He took on a servants towel and washed people’s feet. Even after Jesus was raised from the dead He cooked a meal for the Apostles and we now have His Mind! 

Far too often we are told that we have to be humble and that we have to give. Then after we think that we did it, we want to take credit for it. The Truth is far greater, we can’t help but give and we can’t help but to be humble because we are one with Jesus and that is how He is. We also can have great peace that if anything is causing us to be other wise, our Father will prune it out of us. So no more passing the plate where everyone can see if you have given. No more taking tax credits for your gifts to the poor. No more going up to the alters and publicly showing people that you are making an offering. These things do not bring peace and they rob us of our eternal rewards.