Genuine Giving

Now if you will take your Bible and turn back to Matthew chapter 5. Take your Bible and turn back to Matthew chapter 5. Now earlier I read verses 1 to 4 and I will reference a few other verses but we will not turn anywhere this morning in our message. Now if you think about it we are finally moving into a new section. We're finally moving into a new chapter. This is a new section in the Sermon on the Mount and there is a transition here in Jesus teaching and really and truly it will be easy for you to see this transition. Now clearly we have seen that chapter 5 verses 21 to 48 is all about the inward work.

We took quite a bit of time and we just took our time and studied that inward work that Jesus so thoroughly taught there in verses 21 to 48. In verse 20 Jesus alludes to the inward work and then in verses 21 to 48 remember those six illustrations were all about illustrating the inward work. And I do believe that we have learned a lot. We've learned a lot about what this inner work looks like and I've heard some of you explain. Tell me about some of the things that the Lord has been teaching you. It's always an encouragement.

Well chapter 6 verses 1 to 18 is a new section and in this section Jesus transitions to dealing with the outward work of a man. These verses help us see genuine religious works and hypocritical religious works. And here in verses 1 to 18 Jesus gives three lessons, three illustrations that demonstrate both. These lessons demonstrate both genuine and hypocritical religious works. Now we always have to remember our context here with the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is still teaching there on the mountain side and he's teaching the great crowds that were there. We have mostly Jews that are there.

We have the religious leaders then we have the disciples. I've said numerous times I kind of envision them on the front row. One scholar says that this is like their ordination service and I do believe that is a healthy way to see this. But Jesus is contrasting God's standards with the false religious standards of the Jews. He is correcting, he is exposing, he is illustrating, he is explaining. You might say brother Chris you've said that over and over and over. We've got to understand that and hold on to that understanding all through the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount. And he's doing that right here in verses 1 to 18.

Now with a quick glance at the verses you will really be able to see the three lessons that Jesus uses here. Just look at chapter 6 in your own copy of God's Word. Notice verses 1 to 4. Verses 1 to 4 are all about giving. Verse 2, in verse 2 Jesus clearly is talking about the outward activities that pertain to giving, giving monies. And then notice verses 5 to 15. It's a rather lengthy section. It's all about prayer. And here we do have a form of what is commonly called the Lord's Prayer. And then in verses 16 to 18 it's all about fasting. In all three of those verses Jesus uses the word fast or fasting.

So the subject is obvious for us to see. So I think it's easy for you to see right off the top there those three lessons. Now a question. I want you to think with me about this particular question. Why did Jesus use giving, prayer and fasting? Remember he's illustrating, isn't that right? He's illustrating, he's teaching. Remember what I said, he's correcting and exposing the flaws of the Jewish system. And then he's illustrating and explaining God's standard. Why does Jesus use giving and prayer and fasting? Why didn't he use other religious activities which most certainly would have been a part of their religious life and worship?

You see Jesus was using three of the greatest works of their religious life. These activities were very common but they were definitely preeminent parts of their worship. Very important. When we get into these three lessons we will see what these activities look like for them. But we need to see that Jesus wasn't condemning these activities. No. Jesus was condemning their motives behind these activities. And he is using three activities pertaining to their worship so as to reveal their hypocritical worship and to call them to true genuine worship. As I was finishing up my notes I couldn't help but put right here what were their reactions.

We know their reactions because we know the rest of the story. The Jewish leaders vehemently opposed what Jesus was teaching but yet those he was drawing, those who were true believers were drawn to the teaching that was here. Now question, this is something that I've been pondering all week and I'm going to ask you to ponder this question as well. What are the three greatest, what are the three most common religious activities in our life? Think about that. What are the three greatest activities that we participate in on a weekly basis in the life of the church? I want you to start making a list. Oh you can start today.

You can start this morning. I want you to talk about this with your spouse and with maybe even your adult children or more grown children. I want you to discuss this amongst each other because I want us to identify three of the greatest, the most common activities in our religious life. And we will revisit this a little later on in the message. Now before we get into the actual lesson on giving, we need to see that Jesus gives a guiding principle that is meant to be applied to all three of the lessons. And we will carry this principle all throughout the study of this section, verses 1 to 18.

And we will revisit this principle over and over so as to make sure it is firmly implanted into our minds, and in our hearts, and in our thinking, because this principle must guide us as we engage in what? Our outward Christian activity. Many of you know that I have participated in and been a part of and led out in a student ministry camp for years. Years ago, years ago when I was in student ministry, I really developed the habit of doing most all of my own programming. It was because I was terribly disappointed with much programming that was out there.

And I did my own mission trips and I did my own retreats and I did my own camps, things like that. Because I wanted to give the students who were under my care the best that I could give them. Years ago, I started doing my own student ministry camp with some ministry friends. And then when I left student ministry, I really thought I'd give that up. But my ministry friends, they just kind of ganged up on me and said, "Nope, you're going to keep doing it." So we've done Glory Day student ministry, Glory Day student summer camp since 2003. It's a lot of preaching and teaching.

But one of the activities that we do, we use the facility, we're in a facility in southeast Tennessee. One of the activities that we do is we always carry our young people and adults white water rafting on the Ocoee River. You know the beauty of the Ocoee River is it's difficult enough to be a challenge, but it's easy enough that you can go and enjoy and not feel like you're going to lose your life. You might for a minute or two, but you get over that. But you know, we've used the same rafting company for years other than a couple of years here and there.

And you know, through all of those years, we've had all types of white water rafting guides. We've had men, we've had women, we've had big and small. We've had professionals, school teachers, and we've had some that seem to be rather transient and everything else like that. But you know, the secret to being a good guide is not size and strength. You might think that's the case. The secret to being a good guide is not size and strength. The secret to guiding that raft down the river with five or six, and I've even seen seven people on a raft. The secret is knowing two things.

First, knowing how to use the oar, knowing how to use that paddle on the back of the raft as they steer. And then second is knowing the dangers of the river and avoiding those dangers on the river, whether it be rocks or some type of hydraulic or there's a whole list of things that are dangerous. So we must know this guiding principle. We must know this principle and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can use it to be much like that river guide who uses a paddle. You see? With God's help, we must see and know the dangers of our own sinfulness that can destroy us just like a raging river can.

And we will see that the Jews were drowning, drowning in a river of self-righteous hypocrisy. Now, before I spell out the principle, to be honest with you, I spelled out the principle first. But before I spell out the principle that I have come to understand, I want us to look at some details out of verse one real quickly. Look back at verse one of chapter six. What is Jesus saying? I'm reading from the English Standard Version. "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 in heaven." Now, I want us to see a few details.

First, I want us to see, this is what I'm calling, "Jesus is saying, 'Beware of the dog.'" That might sound strange for some of you, but there's a purpose. "First, Jesus is saying, 'Beware of the dog.'" Notice the English Standard Version uses the word "beware." Now, the King James, it uses the two words, "Take heed." The meaning of the word here in the original is easy to see. It means to be on guard. It means to pay attention. Pay attention. It even means to take a hold of. We get this. To be on guard of. To beware of. Something that is against us. Something that might even pose a threat. I think I've shared this story before.

I remember years ago when I was in student ministry, I always had an active visitation program. One night, I went out with a few young men. We were going to visit a teenager, a student who had visited the church, and we were in my wife's car. We pulled up to the house, and there was a porch. On the porch was a dog, and on the post of the porch was a sign that said, "Beware of the dog." Well, I think I was probably going to show out a little. I got out, and I kind of talked to the dog, and the dog seemed rather friendly. I told those teenagers, I said, "Y'all just sit tight.

I'll take care of the situation so we can all get out." Well, I got halfway between the porch and the dog, and the dog quit wagging its tail. The sign meant something, and before you know it, I climbed on top of my wife's car. I should have read the sign and paid attention to the sign. But the object here with what Jesus is saying is not physical. This is mental. Jesus is talking about being on guard against something that is in the heart, in the mind, and the thinking, and the life. But then second, this is what I'm calling, Jesus says, "Don't be a show-off. Don't be a show-off." Look back at the verse.

"Beware, be on guard, of participating your righteousness before other people." Now here, the English Standard, it says, "In order to be noticed." And this phrase is related to something that might surprise you. In the original, the phrase here, it's related to the theater. The idea here is that something is done so as to be watched, so as to be a performance. One scholar went on to say that this speaks of a spectacular performance. I remember in my high school, that was a few years ago, we, as in we in my high school, had a very large drama department. I didn't participate. But I can remember those years at R.H.

Watkins High School in Laurel, Mississippi. I mean, the Red and Gold Review was a big production. It took up a lot of time and a lot of students and a lot of effort. And it was just a big spectacular performance. And this performance, this spectacular performance here, is related to acts of righteousness, external acts of religious service. And then third, I'm seeing the rest of this as this. Jesus says, "You'll get yours." Here in verse 1, Jesus says that if someone is performing acts of Christian service, with the wrong motivation, for the wrong reason, for a show or to be seen by men, what does he say? They have no reward.

Go back to the verse. "Beware, be on guard of practicing your righteousness before other people." This spectacular presentation. "In order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven." So now the principle. Be careful not to show off your religious works for others to see. If you do, you'll get no reward from God. Now, I'll restate that with the wording that I used earlier. "Beware of the dog." Well, who's the dog? We are. Listen, folks, beware of the dog. Beware of the dog of your own sinfulness of showing off your Christianity, like some religious performance, like some religious spectacle.

And if you do, you'll get no reward from your heavenly Father. See, the principle is rather simple. As a matter of fact, you could rephrase it lots of different ways and still be accurate according to what Jesus has taught here. Now, with that principle in our minds, let's see the lesson that Jesus gives here. Remember, he is dealing with outward expressions of religious activity, outward expressions of service, but now he's focusing in right here in these verses on giving. Now, number one, I want us to see what I'm calling hypocritical giving. That's right out of verse two.

"Hippocritical giving." Jesus is attacking the Jewish leaders and their practice of hypocritical giving. Look back at verse two. "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." Hippocritical giving. Now, if you read the King James Version of the Bible, you will see that verse two says, "Do not your alms before men." Now, alms was simply giving to the needy. It was simply giving to individuals who were poor and who were in need.

And listen, this giving here, giving alms, was a very, very big deal for Jews. Scholars tell us that alms giving was one of the most sacred parts of their religious life. In their eyes, one who fulfilled this duty was considered righteous. This was one in the same in their thinking and their understanding. One who gave faithfully was seen as righteous. Or you can say it like this, one who was seen as righteous, they gave alms faithfully. They were intertwined. And extra biblical Jewish writings show us that they also believed that this alms giving, it really even gained them merit before God.

Some even said that it gained them some sort of forgiveness for sin. So giving to the poor and needy was a very big deal in Jewish religious life. And Jesus is taking on one of the most respected and religious duties. That's why he starts off with giving. One of the most common religious duties and he is exposing their religious hypocrisy within it. Now notice what Jesus is doing here. We're still dealing with verse 2. First he exposes their show. First he exposes their show. Now we may assume that Jesus is pointing out an actual practice of the Jews when he talks about the trumpets here. Go back and look at the verse.

"Thus when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you." See we can assume that that was an actual practice. But there is no evidence that the Jews announced their giving with some sort of trumpet or any other instrument. Whether it was in the synagogues or in the streets. It seems that Jesus is using some type of figure of speech. Jesus was pointing out the fact that the Jews purposely brought attention to themselves when they gave their alms or gave their monies. Now think about it.

If I had Brother Keith walk before me down the church aisle here and blow a trumpet when I paid my tithe, do you think that would seem like some big show? Do you think you would notice that? As a matter of fact you'd probably be closing off your ears because it would be rather loud. But then second he exposes their hypocrisy. He exposes their hypocrisy. The word hypocrite here in the original was a very common phrase in their day. Go back to the verse. "Thus when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you." As the hypocrites do. Originally it was used for an actor. One who wore a mask on a stage in a play.

And it was a way of playing a particular part in the drama in the play. But the word was also used for someone who pretended to be someone that they were not. This reminds me of a time years ago when I worked construction. Years ago I worked with a crew who built houses. And I worked with a particular man and he had his name on the church roll. But you know he really didn't go. And he didn't live like he had his name on the church roll either. But I remember one time he told me the story of a neighbor. He happened to have a neighbor who was a deacon at the church where his name was on the church roll.

And you know he talked about when the neighbor, the deacon neighbor would come over to his house. And I never forget what he said. "Boy howdy, that deacon could cuss a blue streak." But he went on to say, "You know, I know my neighbor can control it." Because when the pastor comes by, he can sure turn it off. See it's simple here. Jesus is pointing out the practice of the Jews in their day. This is just what they did. All that they did in everything in their religious life. They gave for all to see by calling attention to their giving. They pretended to be honoring God and blessing the poor. But actually they were seeking the praise of men.

It was all for show. They were nothing more than hypocrites. They were pretenders. They were playing a religious role. Now a question. Was Jesus condemning giving? We really need to ask that. Was he condemning the act of giving? As a part of their worship? No. You see giving to the poor and needy was a part of God's plan all along. He was a part of the old standard of living and a part of the old standard religious life. Just a couple of references here.

Leviticus 25 verse 35, "Commended the Jews to care for Jews who had fallen on hard times." Psalms and Proverbs are full of commands to be generous to the poor and the needy, even to the Gentiles. And I can't help but remember of the many verses that we've been through in our study of Proverbs. Whether I've taught them or we've read them on our own. And there are a multitude of verses in the book of Proverbs that call the wise man to care for the poor, to care for the needy. And this would involve giving. So Jesus is not condemning their giving. Just the hypocrisy in their giving. And oh, it was a lot.

They had taken God's standard and ruined it with pride and self-righteousness. Oh, doesn't that sound familiar? We've seen that all along. And the Jewish leaders were not seeking to praise God in their giving. No, they were seeking the praise of men in their giving. And there is a difference. But real quickly, notice their reward. What does the end of the verse say? "Truly I say to you, they have received their reward." The reward they receive is from men and men only. They receive no reward from God, from heaven. But then notice, number two, Jesus deals with genuine giving. Here in verses 3 and 4, Jesus is explaining genuine giving.

Now, right away we can see an assumption. When you give, not if you give. Look back at the verses. You see the assumption when we read it. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Do you see the assumption? So that your giving may be done in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Jesus knows that giving to the poor and needy, it was a part of their worship. And it should have been. But here in verse 3, Jesus issues them a call. This is a call to secrecy. And secrecy is what this phrase is all about. Look back at verse 3.

But when you give to the needy, here's the phrase. Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Now this phrase seems to have been some type of proverbial saying. And the purpose would have been to get their attention. The purpose would have been to illustrate the teaching. And this figure of speech simply speaks of secrecy. Because right away in verse 4, Jesus explains the meaning of the proverbial phrase. Look back at verse 4. So that your giving may be in secret. So the lesson right here is simple. A part of genuine giving to those who are in need is secrecy. But we must ask a question here.

Is Jesus saying God only accepts secret giving? This is important. Is Jesus saying that God only accepts secret giving? Well the answer to that is no. Back in Matthew 5 verse 16. We've studied that verse. It's been quite a while. Back in Matthew 5, 16 when Jesus taught us that his people were to be salt and light. Jesus says, "Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." We also see an example of Matthew 5, 16 later on in the New Testament church. In Acts chapter 4 we have the great man of God Barnabas. And Barnabas, what does he do?

He sold a field and he brought that money to the apostles' feet. And why did he do that? There was a legitimate need there in the life of the Jerusalem church. And it was well known. But one more chapter over. In Acts 5, we see this public act that did not work out so well. This public act of giving. What happened to Ananias and Sapphira? Oh, they brought money to the feet of the apostles, but they were struck dead. Why? Why was that the case? Hypocrisy. And both Ananias and Sapphira are classic examples of hypocrisy in the church because what did they do? They put on a spectacular spiritual performance to impress others.

Barnabas did not, but yet this couple did. But we also see some other examples. Just a couple in 2 Corinthians 8 verses 1 to 5. Paul boasted about the Macedonian church, their collection for the Corinthians. And then in chapter 9 verses 1 to 5 of 2 Corinthians, Paul boasted of the Corinthian collection for the Macedonians. This would have been church collections sent out among other congregations. Now, what is the difference in these examples? Here in 2 Corinthians, Paul was not referring to individuals or what individuals gave. He was bragging about the offering as a whole, not naming individuals.

And Barnabas was not selling land and giving it to the work of the church to impress men. His heart was pure. His motivations were pure in the matter, in all that he did in his giving. So it appears that Jesus is not condemning or commending or commanding total secrecy when giving. If he was, he would have been contradicting his teaching previously, and then he would be contradicting other New Testament examples in teaching. Here Jesus is teaching that there should be the desire to give secretly. And why? Why would we do this? It would be to protect. It would be to protect against the danger of hypocrisy.

It would be to protect against the temptation from within to want to be praised by others. Now notice the reward here. Verse 4. "So that your giving may be in secret, and your father who sees in secret will reward you." Verse 4 says, "Jesus says that that which is given in secrecy with no hypocrisy, it is seen by the Father and rewarded by the Father." Well, no doubt some of you are wondering how this should work out in our own life. I say this often, we've got to ask the question, "So what?" I mean, we can't just study information and learn the Scriptures and just store it away in our minds.

We have to ask the question, "So what does it mean to us?" And so we should be thinking and praying along those lines. How does this work out in our life? And I want to give us some guidance here. I ran across a list of principles that will help. This was in some material by John MacArthur. He gives seven principles that will help keep us from hypocritical giving. Now I took his information and I rewarded some of it. I changed a little. And I just want to give credit where credit is due. And this will help guide us in the right direction with some application. First, we need to see that giving from the heart is investing with God.

We understand investments. We understand putting money away in an investment, maybe, to accrue, to grow with some interest. So giving from the heart with the right motive, it is investing with God. Luke 6.38 reads, "Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, press down, shaking together, running over, will be put into our lap, for with the measure you use it, it will be measured back to you." So we need to see that when we give, yes, there is a level at which we are investing in others. Brothers and sisters, needs maybe even in the community. But we must see that we are investing with God.

Second, we must understand that genuine giving can be sacrificial. What I mean by can be, it often is sacrificial, but a lot of times it is not. I'll give you an example of when giving was sacrificial. In 2 Samuel 24, 24, David refused to give to God something that did not cost him. He just said, "I will not give God something if it does not cost." I think about our friend Barnabas there in Acts 4. It must have been sacrificial to sell a parcel of land and then bring all of the proceeds to the apostles. But I've kind of divvied it up like this. You know, we have regular giving. We should give our tithes in the life of the local church.

We should regularly give to the church and then maybe at times regularly give to particular needs. But then there are times we give above the normal. But yet then there are times when we are sacrificial. You see? Third, the responsibility for giving has no relationship to how much a person has. This is what some people really need to see. The responsibility for us as Christians in giving, it has no relationship to how much we have. Listen folks, a person who is greedy when they are poor, they will be greedy when they are rich. A person who is generous when they are poor will be someone who is generous when they are rich.

Luke 16.10 says, Jesus says here, "One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little will also be dishonest in what much?" So here's what I want to challenge you to see. No matter how much you have, you can't be stingy. And if you're stingy with a little, you'll be stingy with a lot. And I've known people who had little and they wanted more and they were stingy. And all along they prayed for more. God won't give it. So there's the responsibility for giving. In the responsibility of giving, there is no relationship between how much someone has and if they should be obedient.

Fourth, material giving correlates to spiritual blessings. Let me rephrase it for you. Material giving translates into spiritual blessings. Continuing with Luke 16, verses 11 and 12. Jesus says, "If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?" You see? There is a blessing attached from the Lord if we are faithful in blessing others. And then fifth, giving is to be personally determined. Giving is to be personally determined.

And we'll touch back on this one with the seventh principle as well. But notice 2 Corinthians 9, 6 to 7. Paul says, "The point is this. Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. And whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." Notice verse 7, "Each one must give as he is decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." So giving is to be personally determined as God works in our lives. And see, there's no law, there's no list. This is a work of the Spirit of God within our heart and within our life. And then sixth, we were to give in response to need.

We were to give in response to need. Now, I want to speak about the context here. I'm talking about the context of the church, the context of the work of God here on earth. Think about our friend Barnabas in Acts 4. He was giving according to a need. He was a leader in the life of the church. And there was a great need in the church. And he gave in response to the need with his brothers and sisters, and with the work of the church that he was pouring his life into. Again, I think back to our study in the life of Proverbs. What did we learn? God's people must not be lazy. We must work.

But yet there are times when we do have needs, and there are needs in the life of the church, not just individual needs. Maybe there are needs attached to vision and missions works, and all types of other are various needs out there. And then sixth, giving demonstrates love, not law. Giving demonstrates love, not law. Listen, folks, don't focus on law. Don't focus on lists. There is no command in the New Testament that deals with specific amounts or percentages. Now, you've always heard probably growing up that we give the tithe, the 10%.

We have borrowed that in our Christian tradition from an Old Testament teaching, and there's nothing wrong with that. And I've taught you through the years, although it's been a little while, that the tithe, it just helps us do the life of the church, the work of the church on a week-to-week basis. And we give that tithe, why? Out of love, not out of list, and not out of law. It's the work of the Spirit of God within our lives. And I'm sure that you could take this list and add to it and change it, but what am I trying to give you? I'm trying to give you some guidance when it comes to the area of giving.

Now, as we begin to close, I want to remember, I want us to remember our principle, the principle that Jesus gives is rather easy to see. It's out of verse 1. "Be careful not to show off your religious works for others to see." If you do, you get no reward. Maybe I'm biased, I like my emphasis. "Beware of the dog." Who's the dog? You. Who's the dog? We are. Listen, because we are sinners and we are prone to sin. "Beware of the dog of showing off your Christianity like some religious performance, like some religious spectacle." And you might say, "Pastor, I'll never do that." Don't be surprised.

And if you do, you'll get no reward from your Heavenly Father. Now, here we've seen the principle. We've seen that it's applied to giving. But also, this principle should be applied to all of our life, all of our outward religious activities, giving, yes, but all of our religious activities, outward performance. Remember the question I asked us earlier in the introduction? What are the three greatest and most common activities in our religious life? What are the three greatest activities that we participate in on a weekly basis here in the life of the church? Here's your homework. Make a list. Ponder over that list.

Discuss it with your spouse. Talk about it with others in the life of the church. Make this a spiritual exercise this week in the next few weeks, because listen, this principle applies to every one of these lessons in verses 1 to 18. And so what I'm showing you is this. We need to identify the list of religious activities that are on the top of our list. And then what do we need to do? Oh, we need to take what this principle teaches. We need to take the principle that is timeless and apply it to how we perform our religious activities.

See, folks, it's not just hearing the sermon and maybe even saying, "Thank you for the sermon." Our pastor, that was a good sermon. It's living it out. I think back to how much time we spent in this last lesson at the end of chapter 5. Remember the lesson? Loving our enemies, praying for those who persecute us. You know, some would say, "Brother Chris, you know, you spent quite a bit of time there. Was that necessary?" I think it was.

And the reason I say that is I had multiple people, one in particular, come to me and talk about how God used those sermons and used the time there to reorient their thinking, to reorient how they were relating to someone who had persecuted them and hurt them. And then as they took that teaching and let it be fleshed out in their mind and their thinking, as they took that teaching, then they began to step out and try to do what? Love an enemy, bless an enemy, pray for the one who had persecuted. They were seeking to work that out. Now, why do I bring that up?

Folks, we take this principle and we work it out in every area of our life, externally, the externals, the things that we do, in our worship. So what are we seeing this morning? First, Jesus is blasting religious hypocrisy. And I got to ask you a question. Do you give hypocritically? Do you put the check in the offering plate so others can see? Do you meet a need? And then casually drop a hint that that's what you've done? So what have we seen? Jesus is blasting religious hypocrisy. And we're going to see this theme all throughout and then more. And then Jesus is explaining generous giving.

There's a time to be open, yes, but primarily I think it should be done in secrecy. Now, what are we looking at this morning? It's rather simple. Genuine giving as opposed to hypocritical giving. Genuine giving. May the Lord help us to be true, genuine givers. So let's pray. Let's commit this to our Lord and then we will dismiss.