The Father's Secret Place - Kingdom of God Revolution: Matthew 6:1-18 - Matthew: Kingdom of God Revolution

You're listening to the rogue with Pastor Teacher Steve Holt.

You know what your spouse needs more than anything else is a better you.

A better version of you.

That Bible thing is called the U version.

We need a you version of you.

It's a godly you version.

How about a new you in 2020?

Who wants a new you or better you in 2020?

And you that aren't raising your hands, you need to make your help.

Okay.

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We hope you are encouraged by today's message from Pastor Teacher Steve Holt.

I don't know how many of you guys are into Greek myths.

You remember how you had to study Greek myths when you were in high school?

You may have heard of Sisyphus.

So Sisyphus was put into a penal situation in which he had to be forced, because of his pride, to take a boulder and push the boulder up to a top of a hill.

And every time he got to the top of a hill, if you remember the Greek myth, it rolled back down, and then he had to come back down and he'd roll it back up and it would fall back down and then he would roll it back up forever.

And I feel like that's a beautiful metaphor of American culture today.

We're so busy, we're so driven, we're so tied up with so many things that it's killing us.

It's even physically killing us because of our busyness.

And you guys, God made us for rest.

God made us for Sabbath.

And by the way, I don't believe that the Sabbath has to be on Sunday or Saturday.

It can be different for different people, but your body and your mind and your emotions and your spirit need rest.

You need to be able to calm down in your lives.

And we're not doing that.

We're churning out a lifestyle that's just absolutely overplanned, overcommitted, multitask.

Reading a book by Caroline Leaf right now called Turn on Your Brain, and her work in aspects of the study of the brain for 35 years has found that the American culture, and she's South African, but she's speaking to the American culture, she now lives in Dallas, is killing us.

It's just so fast paced.

And we're really the first generation that's been 24-7 on the go.

And so our endocrine disorders are creeping up, and adrenal insufficiencies.

Doctors are saying that the physical consequences of adrenal insufficiency are devastating our health.

Our body was never created to be able to handle the number of stress hormones that we're releasing into our bodies and into our bloodstream every day without any stoppage.

When we're under stress for long periods of time, our bodies produce another stress hormone called cortisol.

Cortisol overproduction contributes to a host of medical problems, including diabetes, heart disease, weight gain, acne, depression, anxiety, sleep disruption, digestive problems, memory, and concentration impairment.

The bottom line is that constant stress doesn't just make you grumpy, it's actually killing us.

And so in our passage today, it's almost like Jesus is coming to his church, to his people on the mountainside, on the Sermon on the Mount, and he's putting a pause button on stress.

And it's so true what you're gonna read here, because what you're gonna read in our passage almost sounds like your phone.

The constant 24-7 news cycle.

You may have heard this week about the most well-known Christian comedian and the sexual manipulation that he's been a part of for years and years.

It was on CNN, it was on charisma news.

Charisma News is the one who broke the story, and on and on.

I saw it on every major news network.

I knew about it in one minute.

One minute I had it all right here.

And so when we look at Matthew 6, it's almost like Jesus is prophetically, though he's speaking of the Pharisees of that time, but it sounds like our culture right now.

So turn in your Bibles to Matthew 6.

Jesus is talking about the secret place.

Men and women, you need a secret place to meet with God.

And Jesus is saying here in Matthew 6, there is a secret place.

There's a secret place that you can go, and it's a secret place where I know where you are, and it's a secret place where I love you, and it's a secret place where you can commune with me.

And the Pharisees at that time had turned God into merchandise.

And we're going to be challenged by that today, that God wants you and me to slow down.

Doesn't mean stop everything you're doing.

I actually believe that those who have rest and walk in rest can do even greater exploits for God.

Because they're getting it from the power of the Holy Spirit and not by trying to impress others.

And so this challenge is certainly before us.

Psalm 27, 5, my wife and I, one of our favorite verses.

For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion in the secret place, he shall hide me.

And men and women of the road, though that make this your family, and as your pastor, I want to challenge you to go and learn and how to grow in that secret place that God has for you.

It can save your marriage, it can save your personal relationship with Christ.

It can save your job.

Because here's the thing that's fun about what we're gonna read: God rewards you.

Man may not reward you, people may never notice, but God notices those that go to the secret place.

And he actually says, I see you.

And it's ironic that he says, I'm gonna see you.

And the reason he's saying that is because nobody else is gonna see you.

In other words, instead of trying to hype your Christianity, how about you hide your Christianity?

And as you hide it in your relationship with me, I notice that.

And what happens, men and women, is we develop a secret history with God.

You develop a secret history with God.

And it doesn't seem to compute that, though, for example, in giving and tithing, which is actually the first point, in charitable deeds, which I believe is both giving in service and also giving in your finances, that you're giving 10% of your finances to the Lord, that should mean you have less.

But the reality is God sees that.

And then he promises he will reward that.

And that's why just a few weeks ago we talked about the Malachi miracle.

That God promises the only place you can test him is in that giving.

So some of you are actually in financial straits because you never go to the secret place of giving to God and you keep it all, and what happens is it's just atrophying and dying within you because it was never meant to be that way.

It was meant to be released into the kingdom so that he can be a pipeline of blessing to the whole world, but also in your own life.

That's the reason I love Hebrews 11:6.

Hebrews 11:6

Faith is in which we come to God and we believe that he is.

And what?

That he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

So let's look at that because he starts off with charitable deeds in chapter 6 of Matthew.

Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds.

Now I'm gonna frame this from the area of giving, because I think giving can be financial, but probably most of the time, giving is meant to be serving, serving others.

That's what giving's both in that regard.

Does that make sense?

You guys have heard me say this many times.

Many of you that are new haven't heard this, but I said, you know, as you grow older, if you wanna, if you want to keep maturing, I think the two things we have to keep reminding ourselves of is keep growing and keep giving.

And when I say giving, I don't just mean finance.

I mean give your life away.

Give to others.

Be growing and giving.

So he says here, take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds, your growing and your giving, before men to be seen by them.

Otherwise, you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

So he just said in the same sermon, you know, do your works that everybody might see them and give glory to God.

What's he saying?

I think he's saying, yes, you should do your works, you should do your deeds before men, but not for the motivation of being noticed by them.

Therefore, verse 2, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogue and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.

So they're looking for the adulation of men.

The Pharisees and the scribes were at that time.

There was trumpets that would be blasted during feast time, not every day, but during feast times when the giving took place, and it became, as D.A.

Carson said, very, very ostentatious.

It became ostentatious for the wealthy or even those that were not of wealth, but they were going to be giving a lot to have everybody notice them as they gave.

But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret, and your father who sees in secret will himself reward you openly.

So, coming from the word hooprito, hypocrites, the idea of an actor, a Greek actor at that time, who would wear a mask.

They had a stick, it would hold the mask up, and they would play a part.

They were actors.

The word I like to use is they were posers, they're pretenders.

That's what we are in the religious world.

In the acting world, on a Greek drama, a Greek tragedy was a dialogue with someone.

So a question would be asked, and the actor would give an answer back with the mask in front.

And here's what's ironic.

It's amazing.

I've been to Caesarea, and you go to the amphitheater in Caesarea, and you that are going to Israel with us, in June, one of the first stops is Caesarea.

And it's the way in which the Greeks built these amphitheaters.

You'll be standing on a stage about half the size of this stage, and I can talk like this.

And, you know, 75 rows up at the top, you can hear me just clear.

But then they also had these devices that could amplify the voice.

Does any of this sound familiar with what's happening today with this?

Everybody wants you to know everything they do.

Really, are we that interested in what everybody else is doing?

I went to the store today.

You're not going to believe what happened to me.

I mean, we're just amplifying it.

And so Jesus is challenging us.

Why are you doing what you do?

Is it to be noticed?

And he says, if it is, okay, that's fine.

But you've got your reward.

That's it.

That's your reward.

Everybody notice you, they think you're super cool, think you're a great Christian.

Or the motivation is for an audience of one.

Everybody say audience of one.

Say it again.

Audience of Christ is our audience.

That's what I love about this church.

You come in early, and here's all these beautiful people back in the kitchen getting those gluten full donuts ready.

Yes.

I echo that amen.

I think there is some gluten-free in there.

And then you go downstairs and you see who's ministering in the children's ministry.

Nobody notices them.

But one does.

Christ does.

He notices.

You don't think that the strengthened marriages outside of the four walls of this building are happening because people are serving in women's ministry and back here in the sound booth and downstairs in the children's ministry and in hospitality back there that God's not rewarding them at home too?

That's what he says.

He says he will openly reward you if it's done with a motivation of the right kind of heart.

Folks, that's exciting stuff.

You don't have to be on the stage anymore.

You don't have to be noticed by men.

You can serve Christ for an audience of one, and he promises, I'll reward you.

And I think that reward just it encompasses all different areas of our life.

It's exciting.

Now, if you're not giving and you're not serving and you're not involved in any of those things, then you can't say that.

So you got your reward.

It's as good as it's gonna get right here.

I just want more.

I'm just like, there's that competitive side of me that when I first got saved, I want it all.

I want all the rewards.

How about you?

I challenge you.

There's more than what you've experienced.

So the first secret place with God is in our giving and our growing and our serving.

And then he talks about number two, prayer.

Prayer.

Verse 5.

And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.

Assuredly I say to you, they have their reward.

So that's as good as it's gonna get, is your Facebook post.

But you, when you pray, go into your room.

And when you have shut your door, pray to your father who is in a secret place.

And your father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathens do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

Therefore, do not be like them, for your father knows the things that you have need of, even before you ask him.

In this manner, therefore pray, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen.

Prayer.

Next week we'll talk about the Lord's Prayer.

We'll break down the Lord's Prayer or the disciples' prayer.

But he's saying, when you pray, you don't need to have these big prayers, these long.

How many have been out in churches where it's always pretty much always repetitious prayers?

Okay, many of us.

That that is a large part of my background in the Lutheran church was you kind of had these repeated prayers.

And what Jesus is saying is, I want you to pray to the Father.

And what's interesting about chapter 6 is Father is mentioned 12 times in this chapter.

He's pushing all of us toward intimacy.

Men and women, Christ is pushing us toward an intimacy with the Father.

This is the most radical statement in the Sermon on the Mount is that we have a heavenly father.

We don't have to go through a priest to know God.

We don't have to go to a confessional to know God.

We can have a confessional relationship, a personal, intimate, growing, vibrant, dynamic relationship with Christ in our own heart.

Isn't that exciting?

That's the coolest thing.

That we have Him working in our hearts and working in our families and working in our marriages.

That's why I'm such a believer in couples praying together.

It's the breaking of the sound barrier.

In my revised book on marriage, that's coming out at the marriage conference that we're doing on Valentine's Weekend in 2020, February 14th, 2020, we're doing the marriage conference.

And we got the my book that's we sold out of all of them, so we're revising it.

I'm going to talk about the sound barrier of marriage.

And it's praying together.

It's really hard.

But if you and so is the sound barrier.

But when we break through, it opens up so many vistas of new discovery in our lives when we learn how to do that.

But it begins, first of all, with us individually praying.

And he's saying, go into your prayer room.

Go be alone with me.

First of all, serve in the secret place.

Now I'm asking you, pray in the secret place.

Have communion with me in that secret place.

Remember the story of the Pharisee and the publican or the tax collector, and they're up on this roof, and the publican is crying out to God, God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

And then the religious priest or the Pharisee saying, Oh, God, I just thank you.

I'm not like this guy.

I'm glad, Lord, that I tithe all of my possessions to you.

And I pray and I seek you and I and I serve you.

Pride humility.

Some of us are so full of us that we can't pray.

All you think about is you.

All you think about is you.

Go like this if any of you know what I'm talking about.

You know?

And some of you are so full of unforgiveness and so full of anger and bitterness you can't pray.

Except your prayer becomes like the Pharisees, God, I just thank you that I'm not like her.

I just thank you, Lord, that I don't do the dumb things that she does.

God, I just thank you that I don't I don't burn our food.

I just thank you that that whenever I cook, I don't treat her like an idol with a burnt offering.

I just thank you, Lord, that that uh I'm so godly.

And I just really got my act together.

Would you help him?

He's he's messed up.

We've all prayed that way at times.

But let's grow up.

Let's grow up before we grow old.

And start making that an intimate relationship between you and the Lord.

And as you grow in him, let him do his work in you.

You know what your spouse needs more than anything else is a better you, a better version of you.

That Bible thing is called the you version.

We need a you version of you that's a godly you version.

How about a new you in 2020?

Who wants a new you or a better you in 2020?

And you that aren't raising your hands, you need major help.

Okay.

No, we do, right?

I want a better version of me.

I'm not perfect.

I don't have it all together.

I mess up all the time.

And and I think my wife was in here, actually, not in children's ministry.

I thought I saw her back there, but she's she'd be amening.

So what he's saying is when you go into prayer, here's a way to pray.

And he starts off with our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

He's saying, Father, son, beloved, a relationship.

And we'll talk more about this next week, but it's about the kingdom.

It's like bringing the kingdom into you.

We need a kingdom in our lives.

We need a kingdom in our marriage.

We need kingdom in our own student lives.

We need a kingdom in our dating lives.

We need the kingdom of God there.

Start there in a secret place.

And he sees that.

God sees when you pray.

He notices you when you pray.

Nobody else is going to notice.

Even your spouse may not notice, but God notices you.

You become a part of the great blessings that come with the kingdom because we're men and women of prayer.

Now you're not going to like the third one.

I actually inserted this in because I think it is part of the secret place, though it's framed differently.

Verse 14.

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you.

But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses.

I think forgiveness is one of those secret places because nobody can do it but you.

Only you can forgive.

Only you can break the power of bitterness through releasing forgiveness.

Nobody else can do it.

It is a secret encounter.

Now we we may need counseling for someone to draw that out, but at the end of the day, whether it's with some bloodstained allies that are friends of ours, that love us, that we're accountable to, whether it's a counselor, whether it's your own journey with him, still at the end of the day, you have to forgive.

It's one of those things in the Christian life, nobody can do for you.

No one on your behalf can forgive.

No priest, you can go into the closeted area of the confessional, and he says, he pronounces forgiveness over you, and there's nothing wrong with that per se, but you releasing forgiveness into someone that has hurt you, someone who has betrayed you, is up to you in your heart.

And he's saying, it's so important that I can't release even my forgiveness into you to experience my forgiveness in your own life unless you learn to forgive.

And I don't believe he's talking about salvation here.

I believe he's talking about sanctification.

He's talking about the fact that a personal relationship with Christ is broken when we don't forgive.

But men and women, when we do forgive, there is a release.

It takes the weight off in a dramatic way.

And some of you are carrying unforgiveness.

You've got unforgiveness toward your spouse, you have unforgiveness toward your parents, you have unforgiveness toward a coach.

You might have unforgiveness because of something that happened in the past.

And my challenge to you today is to go into the secret place and ask God to give you the power of the Holy Spirit to forgive.

Let me give you four things about forgiveness.

There's so much we could say here, but let me give you four things to remember about forgiveness.

Number one, forgiveness doesn't mean you trust.

Just because you release forgiveness to someone and you truly mean it from your heart doesn't necessarily mean that you trust them.

Because forgiveness is instantaneous, but trust is earned over time.

Does that make sense?

Number two, forgiveness doesn't mean it's easy or that it's instantaneous.

It's actually a process.

Forgiveness is a process over time.

Number three, and you men aren't gonna like this one very much.

Forgiveness doesn't mean the end of the discussion.

You ever say, well, I forgot, okay, I said I was sorry.

Quit bringing it up.

Anyone know what I'm talking about?

The reason is because just because we've said we were sorry and and all that, it doesn't mean that we don't need to still have a discussion, maybe even get counseling, or work through the pain of what we're having to forgive the person for.

Now, some of you yak way too much, and you at some point you need to just shut the trap on it.

But I'm actually giving you an out, so it almost is kind of ironic that I'm saying it that way, because on the other hand, I think you still need to talk about it.

I think some things need to be worked out verbally, even if forgiveness has been extended.

And then fourthly, and finally, and this is this is a tough one, but forgiveness doesn't mean there are no consequences for your sin.

So if you ran up the credit card and foolishly maxed out the credit card, and then you said you were sorry, you still gotta pay it back.

Still gotta pay it back.

Forgiveness.

So serving and growing in the secret place, prayer in the secret place, forgiveness in the secret place.

And then fourthly, he concludes with this.

Moreover, when you fast, verse 16, do not be like the hypocrites with a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces, and they may appear to men to be fasting.

As surely I say to you, they have their reward.

But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your father who sees in the secret place, and your father who sees in the secret place will reward you openly.

The secret place of fasting.

How many of you have fasted before when you're you're praying about something?

Raise your hand if you've fasted before.

Okay.

Um, I've taught on this so many times.

Um, but Liz and I've been fasting on Mondays for I don't know, 25 years.

For all our kids, um, for different things that are happening in our life.

It's just a habit.

And fasting can become a habit in your life.

It's really, really healthy.

It's actually physically and emotionally and spiritually super healthy for you.

And so fasting is a is a beautiful thing, but it's not meant to be announced to everybody in the room.

Hey, I'm doing a 40-day fast.

Yeah.

Man, getting dizzy.

What's up, Pastor?

Fasting for you guys.

A lot of sin in the camp.

I'm taking, I'm taking the load on my shoulders to fast for you.

Oh man, what a what a great guy you are.

Yes.

Man, I see this stuff all the time on like the internet.

It's probably the big thing right now in certain prayer circles to announce all these long fasts that everybody's on.

This guy does 40 days, this guy's on a 30-day, this guy's on a Daniel, this guy's on Elijah, this guy's.

I mean, there's some, I mean, there's like the Joe fast, the Larry Dean fast, the Daniel fast.

I don't care.

If you're fasting, don't let everybody know.

Just seek the Lord.

He he sees that you're fasting.

You don't need to let everybody know and how hard it is and what a martyr you are.

But fasting can be powerful, church.

And if you've discovered it, and I'm not going to go into it today, we don't have time, but it can be powerful in your life.

You've been listening to The Road with Pastor Teacher Steve Holt.

We hope you have been blessed by today's message.

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Thanks again for tuning in today, and be sure to listen to the next edition of The Road with Pastor Teacher Steve Holt.