October 4, 2009
SOVEREIGN GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH
Of Princeton, New Jersey

Matthew 6: 5: 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. 6: But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

MEETING LOCATION
Rocky Hill Firehouse, 2nd floor
150 Washington Street, Rocky Hill, NJ, 08553

SCHEDULE OF SERVICES
Sunday 10 AM Bible Class
11 AM Morning Service
Thursday 7:00 PM Mid-week Service

WEB ADDRESSES AND MAILING ADDRESS
www.sovereign-grace.us/
www.sermonaudio.com/sgbcpnj
http://www.freegraceradio.com/

Clay Curtis, Pastor
7 Birch Street
Pennington, New Jersey, 08534
Phone: 615-513-4464
Email: clay@sovereign-grace.us

Be sure to bookmark our website for daily articles, sermon notes and audio messages
http://www.sovereign-grace.us/

DOING ALMS

Matthew 6: 1: Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
Doing alms is the act of providing for the poor. Various translations use various words for "alms" such as: charitable deeds, piety, good actions, or kindness. But the word "alms" is translated from a root word that agrees with the context of how sinners are saved by God--"elehos"-mercy. Believers are made to see themselves as the poor and needy who received all good alms from God in Christ.

Titus 3: 5: Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6: Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7: That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

THE LORD'S WORD TO DO NOT

Matthew 6: 2: Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Anything that the believer does in order to gain the applause of men, for the purpose of building up a good name among men, is for the glory of ‘self' instead of the glory of God. If our acts of mercy are not performed by the power of God's grace then from the beginning, we are operating from a mere view of glorifying self. When the act is performed to be seen of men the result will be that the flesh is puffed up in pride and all a person will continue to see is self. If the reward, the prize, which we seek is to be highly esteemed and praised by men then the praise of men will be our only reward. Since we sought not God's glory but our own, we must expect noting from God.

THE LORD'S WORD TO DO

Matthew 6: 3: But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
Keep your acts of mercy a private matter between you and God. If we performed an act of mercy in such secrecy that our own left hand did not know what our own right hand had done, that would be of utmost secrecy. That is exactly the utmost secrecy that the Lord is teaching. Keep it from even yourself. So far from making a display of it, dwell not on it even in your own thoughts, because it will only minister to spiritual pride.

The sinful flesh of every believer is so full of deceit that if you make others the first to know, or make your generous actions first in your thoughts, you can be certain that your own deceitful nature will make sure you are the last to know that you are walking in the pride and vanity of your own mind.

Your heavenly father sees in secret. Just because no one else sees your kind act or generosity, God sees. God knows the heart. He put the grace there. God knows the amount. He put it in your hand. God knows the deed. He gave you grace to perform it.

WHAT BELIEVERS SHOULD EXPECT FROM THE FATHER

Matthew 6: 4:...and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
Make sure you understand that this is not a condition: if you will God will. This is a promise: I will and you shall.

The grace of God which makes the believer willingly provide for the needy is grace given in Christ, by Christ, and to the praise of Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the good and righteous GodMan (Read Ps 112:9.) He hath dispersed to us poor sinners: we were depraved of clothing so he robed us in his garment of righteousness, depraved of food so he feeds us the Bread from heaven, depraved of shelter so he makes us to abide in him continually. His righteousness--his merciful provision to us poor sinners--endureth forever. He has given us life, along with all the gifts of grace in the inner man. It is from Christ Jesus the good and righteous man that we shall have all things--spiritual and temporal--so as to abound in this good work of providing for the poor.

The work begins by the Father giving the believer grace to give alms, the open reward he gives the believer is more grace to behold, not ourselves, but the unspeakable gift which God gave to us, his Son. The open reward God gives to us as we minister to the needy is in knowing that the poor saints thank God for his grace to us and them. The reward is grace, grace and more grace (2 Co 9: 7-15.) And in resurrection glory we shall have him who is all our salvation, Christ Jesus the Lord. (Lk 14:14.)

Men who want to be seen do not want to be with God, they want to be God. The believer desires the reward of God our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ.

SERMONS
The Husbandman and the True Vine
A Secret Work, An Open Reward
All Things Are Yours
Wise Corinthians, Foolish Paul

ARTICLES FROM OTHERS
A High Priest Taken From Among Men
Betraying with a Kiss
Eavesdropping the Ark
Equal Yet Different
Our Great High Priest
The Worst Punishment I Ever Experienced