 We are looking this weekend at seeking the glory of God and I'm so thankful, I'm so thankful for the title because ladies, I hope that is your deepest desire, is that your life would glorify God. And whatever you do, whether you eat, drink, do everything to the glory of God. And when I think about that, I think about what I'm going to speak on this morning. And that is the contrasted life of hypocrisy and holiness. Because ladies, if you're living a life of hypocrisy, you are not bringing glory to God. We have many so-called Christians today that have fallen doctrinally, they have fallen morally, and they have blasphemed God. They have made his word unattractive to the point people don't want to be in church anymore. They don't want to be a Christian because Christians are just like the world. However, those of us that desire to live lives of obedience, holiness, we want to glorify God with our lives, right? In whatever we do. And so this morning we're going to continue our journey. Last night we kind of were flip-flopping and I ended, we started last night with the end of Matthew 6 and this morning we're going to start with the beginning of Matthew chapter 6. And so if you would turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 6 and we're going to look at the first four verses this morning together as we contrast the life of hypocrisy and holiness. Before we do, let's commit our time to the Lord. Father in heaven, Hollywood is your name. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. Father, I pray this morning that we would strive as daughters of the King to live lives of holiness. Lord, as Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said, what you are at home is what you are. And so I pray if any of these ladies are living lives of hypocrisy that Father they would do self-examination this morning, that they would ask themselves hard questions. Because Father, we don't want to be one on that day that you say at the end of this sermon, depart from me, I never knew you. You workers of iniquity. And so Father, if there are any here this morning who do not understand the Gospel, who have just made a intellectual profession of faith but not committed their life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, I pray, oh God, that today would be the day of their salvation. And I ask this, Father, for your glory only. To expand your kingdom and your glory in Christ's name. Amen. Well, the following is actually a true story that took place in a Sunday school class. A woman was teaching a class of little boys and she was wanting to teach them about the story about the Pharisee in Luke chapter 18. You don't need to turn there, but probably most of you are familiar with this, the two men that went up to the temple to pray, remember that? And the Pharisee stood and prayed with himself. I think that's so interesting. He prayed with himself, wasn't praying to God, oh God, I thank you. You know, I'm not like this tax collector. You know, he said, I'm not an extortioner. I'm not unjust. I'm not an adulterer. Why? I fast twice a week. And I give of everything that I possess. And then Jesus goes on to say the tax collector who is standing afar off would not even lift up his eyes to heaven and he smote his breast. And he said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And then Jesus says this. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted. So after the teaching time and she was trying to explain this passage to him, she asks for all the little boys to pray a little short prayer before Sunday school was dismissed. And one boy without any apparent beating on his chest prayed, we thank the God that we are not like that Pharisee. Now, as comical as that true story is, I'm afraid that some of us in this room this morning are inwardly thinking very similar thoughts. We might not be like that boy who actually prayed that prayer, but in our hearts we're thinking, God, I thank you that I'm not like her sitting on this side of me. God, I thank you I'm not like her who's sitting on this side of me. And ladies, we don't realize it, but in essence many times we're no different than the Pharisee that we so loathe. Phariseeism or hypocrisy shows itself in many ways and oftentimes it's very subtle. And so as we begin Matthew chapter six of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is once again gonna bring his audience to elevate their spiritual lives, not on their outward actions, but on the inward heart. And we brought out last night the Sermon on the Mount is a sermon that Jesus gave, one of the most profound sermons he ever gave. As Martin Lloyd-Jones says, it's the most read, the least obeyed. To contrast, Phariseeism, hypocrisy, with genuine kingdom citizens. And he's been raising the standard starting with the B attitudes. And as he goes through, he keeps raising the bar. You have said, you shall not kill, but I say to you, if you're angry in your heart with your brother, you might as well murder him. You've heard it said, you shall not commit adultery, but I say to you, whoever looks on a woman to lust with her inner heart has committed adultery already. And on and on he goes, he keeps raising the standard. And so we come to chapter six, and he's gonna do it again. Now these four, first four verses of chapter six are not short, or they are, they're not short and sweet, but they're short and solemn, especially for those who will do serious heart evaluations. So let's look at them together. Notice what Jesus says. Take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen by them, otherwise you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Therefore, when you do alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues in the streets that they may have their glory from men. Fairly I say unto you, they have their reward. But when you do your alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand does. That your alms may be done in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Now, Martin Lloyd-Jones says about this chapter. He says, we may as well realize the outset, at the outset that this chapter six is again a very searching one. Indeed, we can go further and say that this is a very painful one. I sometimes think that it's one of the most uncomfortable chapters to read in the entire scriptures. It probes, it examines, it holds a mirror up before us, and it will not allow us to escape, he says. There is no chapter which is more calculated to promote self-humbling and humiliation than this particular one. But thank God for it, he says. Now, your outline's very simple this morning. We're going to contrast the life of holiness and hypocrisy. We're going to see hypocritical living and its results. There's two of them, and holy living and its results, and there are two of them as well. So let's first of all look at the life of hypocrisy and its results. Jesus says, take heed that you do not do. Your alms or your translation may say charitable deeds before men. The words take heed there are words that we would do well to take heed to because they actually mean pay attention. Be careful. Above all things, take heed to what I'm about to say. Jesus says, ponder it, hold it in your mind. Don't let it go. So what do we take to take heed to? Jesus says that we don't do our charitable deeds before others. Now, charitable deeds or alms in this particular verse is really acts of righteousness, and then as we come to verse two, Jesus is going to talk about a particular act of righteousness, and that is our giving. It's particularly our giving to the poor. And then he's going to talk about another act of righteousness, where it's our act of praying, fasting, and prayer. So there's three acts of righteousness here. And, you know, if we would think about it, do you know everything that we do in life can either be an act of righteousness or an act of unrighteousness? Our praying, our fasting, our giving that Jesus will mention in this chapter, our church attendance can be an act of righteousness or unrighteousness, our singing. If you sang while ago and didn't mean any of those words you sang, that act of righteousness that we were collectively doing in your heart became an act of unrighteousness, if you were not singing that from your heart. Our work, our cooking, our playtime, our relax time, all of it. So when you think about it, if we're trying to fulfill what the conference is all about, living our lives to the glory of God, then everything we do is either an act of righteousness or unrighteousness. Let me give you a simple example. For example, my husband's favorite meal is turkey, mashed potatoes and peas and rolls and pumpkin pie. Not very healthy for a diabetic, but that's his favorite meal. It's probably my least favorite to cook because I don't like deboning turkeys. They take forever. And so I can say, I'm going to cook my husband his favorite meal. Oh, what an act of righteousness that is. But if the whole time that I'm in the kitchen, I'm begrudging the time it takes, I'm upset because it's taking my time away from something else I want to do, then that act of righteousness that I wanted to do for my husband as unto the Lord has now become what? An act of unrighteousness because of my inward heart that's grumbling and complaining. So Jesus says, take heed. Take heed that you do not do these things before men to be seen by them. The words before men means in front of them. And the words to be seen by them is actually a Greek word which pertains to being theatrical. You've all been around women like that. I've seen a lot of theatrical women. Now, ladies, obviously, we have to do our deeds before others, right? We have to do our spiritual gifts. Right now, I'm using one of my spiritual gifts before you. We have to do our deeds of righteousness before others. That's not what Jesus is saying. He's saying we don't do our deeds in front of others in order to be noticed by them. That should not be the motive of our heart. Our motive should be to glorify God, not ourself. In fact, we know from Scripture that it is fine to do your deeds of righteousness before others. Remember Acts chapter 9 when Tabitha, whose name was Dorcas, had died? And Peter came to raise her from the dead and all the widows were standing by and weeping. You know, they were crying because, you know, they were showing Peter all the things that she made. And it says she was full of good works and deeds, which she did. She was known as a woman who went around doing good. Also, Cornelius in Acts chapter 10, it says there was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius. He was the band of the Italian band, a devout man who feared God with all of his household and listened to this. He gave alms generously to the people and he prayed to God always. Cornelius, Dorcas, they were known as people who did Acts of righteousness. But their motive was not, we have nothing in the text in Acts 9 or 10 that tells us it was to be seen of others. They didn't go around boasting about how great they were or what they had done. They just did it. So the desire to be seen of men in order to be admired by them, that's what Jesus is condemning. And it was a very common problem for those that were sitting on the mountain there, the Pharisees and the scribes. They wanted to be noticed by others. In fact, Jesus dialogues them with John chapter 9 and he says this, I do not receive honor from men, but I know you. You have not the love of God in you. And he says, how can you believe who receive honor from one another and do not receive the honor that comes from God? Ladies, the Jews wanted to be praised of men. And Jesus says, I didn't come to receive honor. In fact, we know from Matthew that the Son of man did not come to be ministered to, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. Jesus didn't come, he didn't come down from heaven and say, here I am, notice me. He came to serve. He came to be a servant. He came to die for us. In fact, in John 12 we read these words, nevertheless among the rulers many believed on him, but Jesus did not commit himself into them because he knew all men. They love the praise of men more than the praise of God. Ladies, that's the state of the Pharisee, the scribe, the hypocrite. They love the praise of men more than the praise of God. In fact, Paul, who was once one of them, a Pharisee, a hypocrite, murdered Christians, you know what he said after his conversion? I don't seek glory from men. I'm an apostle of Christ. I'm a slave now. I don't want that glory. So ladies, if your desire to be noticed by others is your motive in doing good, then Jesus says, notice what he says, you have no reward from your father in heaven. The word here for reward is pay for services. You have no reward from your father. So the first result of hypocrisy is that hypocrites receive no reward from God. They receive no reward from God. They receive no reward from God. However, they do receive a reward, but it's not from above. Jesus goes on to mention in verse two what kind of reward they have. Therefore when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets that they may receive glory from men. Assuredly I say unto you, they have their reward. Therefore because of what I said, because kingdom citizens do not seek glory from men, then you do something different. When you're giving your deeds or your alms to the poor, do not sound a trumpet. So Jesus is moving from general acts of righteousness to now one specific act of righteousness, and that is giving. And ladies, we are to give. We are to give to those who are in need. And in the biblical world, the poor was prevalent, just like it is today. In fact, in Tulsa where I live, they say the homeless population is increasing so rapidly. The poor you always have with you, Jesus said. But that is our biblical responsibility. It was the biblical responsibility in Jesus' day. In fact, in Acts chapter three, Peter and John went up to the temple of prayer about the ninth hour and remember a certain man who was lame from his mother's womb. Remember he was sitting at the gate asking for what? Alms, alms. He needed money. There were poor in Jesus' day, there were poor in our day. In fact, we know from James 1.27 that true religion is this, to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, right? Were to help them, were to help the orphans, were to help the widows who are without. Now perhaps you're wondering, did the Pharisees really sound a trumpet? I mean, did they, you know, come and go, doot doot doot, you know, here I am. Watch me put my money in here. Well, there's nothing in history that indicates they actually sounded a real live trumpet. But probably the sounding of the trumpet that Jesus is talking about was probably, they had this instrument that they would put their money in and when I was teaching this to my ladies back home, I brought kind of a resemblance of that, but I didn't want to pack it with me. It was big at the top and kind of narrow at the bottom and so the more money they would drop into this container, the more it would jingle or tinkle and so it became known as the sounding of the trumpet and the more money you put in, the louder the noise would be. In our day, we might equate it to letting the person, you know, as they're passing around the offering basket on Sunday, you know, see how big my check is, you know, as you put it into the offering plate. Or you might let everyone know on Facebook or Twitter what you've done for other people. You go tooting your horn or sounding your trumpet. Ladies, we have many ways of sounding the trumpet in our day, don't we? And because of social media, we have a lot more ways than the biblical world that did of sounding the trumpet. Jesus says to those who belong to Him not to behave in such a way because if you do that behavior defines hypocrisy. What's hypocrisy? Well, a hypocrite is an actor under an assumed character. It's a stage player. They're just playing a part. We're playing the part of a Christian. But that's not who we really are. Ladies, I did that for 12 years. I played the part of a hypocrite, an actor, an actress in my case because I was a woman. I knew the language. I knew I was supposed to read my Bible. I knew I was supposed to pray. I knew I was supposed to go to church. I even married a pastor. But I was a hypocrite. I was a hypocrite. And you know what's so astonishing about this verse is Jesus says they do this in a synagogue, the church, the temple of God, and in the streets where everyone can see them. We would say today we do it at church or places where Christians are gathered together. We do it in front of them. It might be as simple as a baby or a wedding shower that we go to. And so we make sure everyone hears, you know, the latest thing that we've done for Christ. Or a ladies' retreat or maybe you have a bunch of people over for dinner and you sound your trumpet there. Ladies, Jesus abhors this kind of self-promotion. In fact, the religious hypocrites in Jesus' day loved the attention, especially while they were in the house of worship. In Matthew 23, it says they love the best place at the feasts and the chief places, the chief seats in the synagogues. They like to be greeted in the market places. Rabbi, Rabbi, teacher, teacher! Ladies, this is especially appalling because the house of God should be the one place that he's put on display, right? Not us. Not us. One of the things that I have not liked as a speaker is that a lot of people have this idea that there's Christian celebrities. There are no Christian celebrities. Martha and I are not Christian celebrities. We're servants. We're slaves. We're just ministering our gifts. That's all we are. We're not any more spiritual than you are. We're not any more, you know, we don't have a hotline to heaven that you don't have. We have feet of clay. We sin. Martha's still bitter at me because I didn't give her food. So I think you better change your topic from modesty to bitterness, but just teasing you. But we bow. I mean, she was very transparent last night about her trial with her daughter. And for those of you that have been in my town, I'm very transparent about my weaknesses, and I have them. Ladies, we must be careful when we come to worship, especially where Christ should be honored in our giving, our singing, our interaction with others. And yes, even in the way we dress, and Martha's going to speak about that in the next hour, in the way we dress, we must give glory to God. God should be exalted. So these religious hypocrites, they get what they want. They get glory from men, which is their reward. They don't glorify God, but they glorify themselves. Interesting, the word for reward here is also pay for services, but it means it could be bad, too. Not good, bad. It also has to do with the payment of a receipt in full, paid in full. In other words, that's all they get. They get a reward all right, but it's not from God. They get praise from men, and that's what they wanted anyway, right? They wanted to be praised from men, and so it satisfies their flesh, and that's their reward. How great I am. In fact, my son was a seminary student at the Master's Seminary eons ago. He's now pastoring a church and going to be 40 soon, so as eons ago he's at the seminary, but when he was out in California, when Robert Shuler was still living, he and some guys from Master's decided they wanted to go there one Sunday, and I said, and why? And I remember he called me that afternoon. He said, Mom, he said, what's wrong about how great we are? And I said, and you stood there and lightning didn't come down and strike you. I don't think he's saying it, but he was saying that's what they actually sang. In the house of God, how great we are. Ladies, hypocrites, they seek reward from men, and that's what they get. Those that tooth their own horn, that's what they get. God's not impressed. God doesn't give a reward for that, but hypocrites aren't interested in honoring God. They want to honor themselves. They want praise of men. It's like Herod, who took all the glory in Acts chapter 12, and remember he was eaten of worms, and he died. I don't know about you, that sounds pretty disgusting, but... Charles Spurgeon says this, to stand with a penny in one hand, and a trumpet in the other is the posture of hypocrisy. So the second result of hypocrisy is they receive a reward, and their reward is glory or honor for men. That's what they get. No reward from God, but a reward from man. Well, hypocrites receive no reward from God, but they do receive a reward from man which is praise for their hypocritical living. But in contrast to hypocrites who do things before men to see and buy them, to receive a selfish reward, we have those who are holy who do things a tad bit different as seen in verses 3 and 4. But you, when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. The word bud is a word of contrast. You, in contrast to them, you do things differently. Do not let your right hand know, or your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Now, you might say, well, what is this all about? Well, for most of us, our left hand is weaker than our right hand, right? I'm right-handed. My right hand is very strong. Those of you with the left hand are left-hand strong, but most of us are right-handed. So what exactly is the significance of this? Well, one man helps us. He says this, the right hand is normally the active hand. So Jesus assumes we will use it when handing over our gift. He then adds that our left hand must not be watching. There's no difficult in grasping his meaning. Not only are we not to tell other people about our Christian giving, there is a sense in which we don't even tell ourselves. We're not to be self-conscious in our giving, for our self-consciousness will readily deteriorate into self-righteousness. So subtle is the simple-ness of our heart that it's possible to take deliberate steps to keep our giving secret from men while simultaneously dwelling on it in our own minds in a spirit of self-congratulations. Ladies, God abhors that. In fact, remember what Peter says about our Lord in Acts chapter 10? It says he went about with the power of the Holy Spirit, and he went about doing good, healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. But Jesus just went through life looking for, you have a need, okay, I'll meet that, you have a need, I'll meet that. He didn't think about it at all. Many times he went without food, he went without water. He was hungry, he was thirsty. He didn't think about that. He just went through life looking how he could be a blessing to others. He didn't consider his own needs. And we're to follow in that example, right? We're to be like him, according to Philippians 2. Ladies, that's what Jesus is saying here. We must go through life not thinking of what others will think of us, or desiring that they will think a certain way about us, but we must go through life looking for ways to give our lives for others. And it should be so natural that your left hand doesn't even know what your right hand's doing. You just go about doing it. You don't even think about it. You just do it. Oh, that person has a need. Let me try to meet it. You haven't, let me try to meet it. And it's not for an inward motivation of being seen of others. Ladies, this is our calling and this is what genuine kingdom citizens do. So the first result of those who live holy is this. They possess genuine humility and they don't even know it. They possess genuine humility and they don't even know it. They think of others more important than themselves. Well, there's a second result of those who live holy and it's found in verse four. So your charitable deeds or your alms may be in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Ladies, isn't this an interesting verse? It's interesting the hypocrites' desires to be noticed by others, whereas the holy person's desire is not to be noticed at all. They do everything they do in secret. Nobody sees them. Nobody knows about it. They don't post it on Facebook. They don't put it on Twitter. They don't put it on their web. They just do it. They're not interested in broadcasting what they do. They want it to be done in secret, in private. Now ladies, maybe this is a struggle for you and deep in your heart this morning you want recognition for everything that you do. I would encourage you to repent of those selfish desires and remember as you go through life using your gifts one day you answer to him and we must strive to please one person and that is the Lord. Somebody asked me last night do you ever get nervous before you teach? And I said not really. I said unless I know the message is not going to be received because I'm not in a place that's doctrinally sound but it's not nervous because I think they're going to hate me but it's like I know that I've had some interesting things happen over the years but I have to come to grips with am I going to compromise this message or not because this audience isn't going to receive it. Ladies I have to stand before God and give an account and according to James chapter 3 teachers receive a stricter judgment for the things that they teach. So we have to be concerned no matter how we serve that we're concerned about pleasing one person and that is the Lord. That's it. That's it. Now the fact that God sees what you're doing even in secret should be a sobering thought to all of us. Hebrews 4.13 says there's no creature hidden from inside but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Proverbs 15.3 the eyes of the Lord are in every place keeping watch over the evil and the good. So ladies God sees what you do. He sees your acts of righteousness but he also sees your heart and our heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Right Jeremiah says who can know it? We don't even know our own heart but God knows and he searches our heart. And Jesus says here in Matthew 6.4 our father who sees in secret Jesus says will himself reward us openly. Now ladies how the father decides to do that is up to him right? I don't know how he does it. However the word for reward is different than the previous word for reward. The Greek word for reward here does not entail the reward being good or bad but it means to give away a reward that is good completely good to restore and it actually means publicly a public reward or external. It could be something that happens here in this life or it could be something that happens when we stand before God and give an account for everything we've done in our body whether it's good or it's bad and as Paul talks about the second Corinthians that our works are going to be tested some with wood hay, stubble some with gold, silver you know we're going to go through the fire some of us are going to come out with a little bit of ashes some will come out with rewards so it could be eternal but it also could be something that happens right now while we're here on earth. In fact I think of a great woman a biblical example is Ruth. Remember Ruth? Remember Ruth? Remember her mother-in-law Naomi and Ruth and Orpah? Not Oprah but Orpah and remember they all lost their husbands and Naomi tells the girls you know you go back to your homeland and Orpah says bye see ya peace out as my daughter will say but not Naomi she said no I'm going to stay with you your God's going to be my God wherever you go I'm going and she went and you know the story of Ruth I don't have to tell you the story of Ruth but remember she starts gleaning the fields Boaz comes out to her and he says it's been fully reported to me all that you've done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband and how you have left your father and your mother in the land of your birth and you came to a people that you did not even know listen to this the Lord repay your work and a full reward be given to you by the Lord God of Israel under whose wings you have come for refuge ladies here was a woman who sacrificed much for her mother-in-law what was her reward what is Boaz talking about well if you continue on with the book of Ruth probably the birth of her son right along with the glorious privilege of being in the lineage of Jesus Christ she's one of the four women mentioned you think that's a reward that's a humbling reward isn't it but as I said Jesus could also be talking about heavenly rewards we can't be for sure now as I mentioned when we started Jesus begins with a general topic acts of righteousness here he talks about our giving but he also talks about our praying and our fasting I just want to read those really quickly and draw this to conclusion with some questions we don't have time to exegete all of this but look at verse 5 when you pray do not be as the hypocrites are they love to pray standing in the synagogues which is the widest part of the street so that they can be seen by men barely again they have the reward you when you pray enter your room shut the door and the shutting the door there is not a literal door it shut out all distractions I have a friend back home who takes her cell phone she puts it in another room shut out all distractions no distractions pray to your father who's in secret there's the secret thing again then your father who sees in secret will reward you openly when you pray do not use vain repetitions as the pagans do they think that they will be heard for their much speaking be not like them why because your father knows you have need these needs don't repeat things over and over I know that's a big thing right now contemplative chanting and all the other things you don't need to repeat over and over and over again just pray to your father tell him what's on your heart then he gives an example of prayer again we don't have time to get into the model prayer but look at verse 16 in the book of righteousness when you fast don't be like the hypocrites of a sad counts they just figure their faces as they can appear in the men to fast barely I say to you they have the reward but you and you fast wash your face and put oil on it you know we would say put your makeup on get dressed don't look any different than you would on any other day so that you don't appear men to fast but under your father who again sees in secret reward you openly so there's three acts of righteousness giving, praying and fasting so in closing I want to ask you some questions based on these three things so what about you are you going through life looking for ways to minister to those that are in need without fanfare or are you going through life looking for ways to call attention to yourself as you perform acts of righteousness do you make sure that all your friends know all the good deeds that you're involving yourself in or do you just involve yourself in the needs of others without mentioning it at all do you secretly desire to be recognized by others for the things that you do or are you content with the joy alone that your father in heaven is honored by the things that you do and your prayer life have you examined it lately are you praying correctly or incorrectly do you come to prayer meetings to be seen by others do you enjoy praying before others so that they can think that you are more religious than you really are when you pray in public do you actually pray to God or are you praying to the person next to you so that they will listen are you more eager to pray in public than you are in private do you try and impress others with your beautiful prayers or how much you know when you pray do you think about what you're praying or do you mumble some words that you've mumbled before do you use the same cliches over and over again are you praying from a sincere heart do you tell God what is really on your mind and then what about fasting hopefully you fast remember Jesus says not if he says when do you do this act of righteousness so that everyone will know how religious you are or do you fast in secret do we do these things for the glory of God or for our glory for financial gain or eternal gain for the praise of men or the praise of God or to please God one man said this so we must choose God for our audience as Jesus watched the people putting their gifts into the temple treasure so God is watching us as we give as we pray and we fast secretly he is there in the secret place God hates hypocrisy he loves reality that is why it is only when we are aware of his presence that our giving and our praying and our fasting will be real let's pray Father forgive us for all the times that we are theatrical that we do things to be seen of others Father we have our reward and that is praise of men pray Father that our hearts would be thoroughly examined this morning that Father we would examine why we do the things that we do Father we would repent and we would be women whose left hand doesn't even know what the right hand is doing we just go through life serving not even giving it a thought just emptying ourselves for the sake of others to walk as you walked Father and again Lord without you helping us without you holding us fast helping us helping us we cannot do this give us the grace that we need Father because we want to truly glorify you in an age where your glory is being so maligned so give us the grace that we need in Christ's for Christ's sake amen