Grapevine Ministries
Messages from the bible to uplift and encourage those that need a word from the Lord, to strengthen their faith. Ps Phillip Barker is an itinerant pastor in Perth, Western Australia.
Grapevine Ministries
Part V, Motives Matter
God looks beyond our actions to examine the intentions of our hearts when we serve Him. Our motives can either sanctify or corrupt even the most seemingly righteous deeds.
• God desires sincere intentions—worship and obedience rather than self-serving desires for recognition or gain
• Even with a pure heart, we can have wrong motivations due to incomplete understanding of God's word
• The world teaches accumulation while God calls us to be vessels through which blessings flow to others
• Jesus taught that our righteousness should be practiced in secret, not for public recognition
• While motives matter greatly, the purity of the gospel message we share matters even more
• We must resist the temptation to edit the gospel by emphasizing only comfortable aspects
• When helping others, sometimes listening and showing compassion is more important than immediate evangelism
• The Bible should be our source for answers rather than personal interpretations or opinions
If you have questions about your faith journey or need guidance on proper motives in serving God, turn directly to Scripture and pray for discernment about what God is asking of you.
Good morning, good afternoon, wherever you are in the world - Welcome to Grapevine Ministries.
Here we go with part five of God's benefit package. Today, we're going to be talking about how motives matter. The thing is, you need to approach God with pure intentions seeking to glorify him. Seeking to glorify him and in doing that, we make sure that our motives are pure. God looks for sincere intentions, such as serving him out of worship and obedience, rather than self-serving desires for recognition, praise or personal gain. You know, I used to say this to a lot of people that volunteered down at community services in Osborne Park in Western Australia in Osborne Park in Western Australia, and one of the things that I actually was fairly prevalent about is understanding people's motives for doing things, and I always looked at it from this perspective. It's all about having your promotion through God rather than your promotion through man, and that isn't just for serving within the kingdom of God, that's in everything. If you're after a promotion at work, then you pray about it, you commit it to the Lord and seek his guidance in relation to that. He may have you in a particular position or a particular job for a specific purpose, and you don't always know that, and that's why it's all about being in the right place at the right time. See actions performed with right motives are seen as pure service, while those with impure, self-centered motivations can corrupt even good deeds and are not pleasing to God. You know, like I was saying, when I ran the Community Services Centre for 10 years, one of the gifts that I was aware of was that people that had a true servant's heart. Seriously, I could line up 10 volunteers and ask them why they wanted to serve as a volunteer at Margaret Court Community Outreach and I would get 10 different reasons of why they wanted to be there, and not all were pure of heart. But in saying that, it doesn't mean their reasons were wrong or not pure in their heart. See, the thing is you can have a servant's heart, but you can actually have it for the wrong motives. Or you can have it for the right motives and don't feel that you have a servant's heart, but you just feel that you're doing the right thing. See, it sounds very confusing, but it's a lot more simpler than you think.
Speaker 1:I'll give you a classic example when I was in the wheelchair and God saw great favor with me and I was healed. Now, because of my lack of understanding of the word of God I was only a young Christian at this stage, I believed that, knowing me and knowing my past and knowing my background and everything that I'd done up until I became born again Christian, I truly believed that I had to pay God back for what he'd done in my life. Now I know all of you people out there that are full of the word of God and all this sort of stuff are saying no, no, no, that's wrong, that's wrong doctrine, that's wrong teaching, that's wrong understanding. Now I know that now. But the thing is what I'm saying is, back then I had a pure heart in 100% wanting to serve God, but my motivation for that was misled. So, even though my heart was pure and I really wanted to serve the kingdom of God wholeheartedly with all my heart, with all my soul, soul, my reasons behind that, or should I say my motives for that, were totally wrong, and not wrong, um, because of my doing, but wrong because of my lack of understanding of the word of god. See, I know that god paid the ultimate price. He sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for us, and it is a free gift that he gives us. So I know what it says now and I know what it does, but what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:In the early days of my faith walk, I really had a real servant's heart, but my motivations behind it were misconstrued. I was doing it all for the wrong reasons. See, I was able to preserve a servant's heart, but many don't know themselves whether they have a servant's heart, and this is due to the lack of knowledge, of understanding the Word of God, which is what I was trying to change. You see, many people use their understanding based on worldly standards. You know, and worldly standards are a bit like this okay, you do something because it's going to get you something right.
Speaker 1:I remember when I used to, when I was going through Bible college, I had this beautiful pastor who's now with the Lord, pastor Jim Stout, and he used to say this he was teaching the finance component of the Certificate IV in Christian Ministries and he used to say that this is how the world thinks you get all that you can and put it on in a can and then you sit on the can. So basically, what he was saying is the world was structured to teach us to. You know, it's get everything that we can from the world and then hang on to it, right. But see, the thing is, we are supposed to be a vessel, a transition vessel. So basically, what God provides for us, he gives to us and we're to give it out, because it says you know, know, god will give you everything that you need. Pressed down, shaken together and running over man will give into your bosom. So he's giving us more than we need and we need to give that out so that we can actually get more back, you know, and so we are a vessel, the same way that Jesus stands in the gap for us. He's between the Father and us, and so what actually does is when we ask, in the Father's name, through the Son, the Father's name through the Son, jesus gets there and he says, yes, this person is worthy of their request because of me, if that makes sense, we need to make sure that we have the right motives for what we're doing. We all know what it's like to do the right thing for the wrong reasons. But what about the reserve, the reverse of that? Have you ever done the wrong thing for what you thought was the right reason? Your motive was pure, but you still blew it. It's basically what I was doing.
Speaker 1:The one thing that separates biblical Christianity from almost every other religion is its laser-like focus on our hearts. God cares what we do. God cares what we do, to be sure. Most fundamentally, he cares how and why we do certain things. He's interested in those intentions that are hidden from human eyes. He's after our heart. Now, if you look at Psalm 101.2, it says Serve the Lord with gladness and come into his presence with singing. See, he commands us to serve the Lord with that gladness. This means that serving can be an exercise in disobedience. Yes, you're listening to that correctly, right? If our service springs from a heart that isn't glad in God, it isn't obedience, it's still sin, which seems a bit harsh, but it's biblical fact. Not according to Pasophil, all right, not according to Pasophil, alright.
Speaker 1:Look the Sermon on the Mount. This is where Jesus raises the bar even higher, struggling with hatred. If you have a murder problem, lust is adultery. Matthew 5, 21 to 22 and 27 to 28. And when you fast or give to the poor, jesus says make sure no one notices. Is make sure no one notices.
Speaker 1:See, if we look at the book of Matthew Matthew 6, 1 to 4, this is what it says 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, who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you that they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret and your father will see. All secrets will be rewarded. See, it's a very, very clear command here. See, this means that serving God can be an exercise in disobedience. An exercise in disobedience.
Speaker 1:But the thing is, if your service springs from a heart that isn't glad in God, it isn't obedience, it's still sin, which seems a bit harsh, but it is the facts. This is why this is very important. God sees your heart and his approval is enough. That's all we need. The maker of heaven and earth isn't just concerned with our service. He's concerned with our intentions, our motivations and our heart. As deeply as God cares about our motives, however, there's something he cares about even deeper.
Speaker 1:See, while reading the Bible recently, I was struck by two remarkable divergents, and these were responses to gospel proclamations. It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The former preach Christ out of a selfish ambition, not sincerely, proposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in my chains. But what does it matter in my chains? But what does it matter? The important thing is that every way, whether from false motives or true, christ is preached, and because of this I rejoice. Now, that's not my words, this is Philippians 1.15-18. 1.15-18 says this Some, indeed, preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. The latter, it is out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defiance of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. To afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether it pretends or in truth, christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, I will rejoice.
Speaker 1:See, if you go back to the word, it truly shows the evidence of what we're talking about. But see, evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel, angel from heaven, should preach a gospel other than the one that we preach to you, let them be under God's curse, as we have already said. So I say it again if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than that is accepted, let them be under the curse. And that is Galatians 1, 7 through to 9. See why did comparing these two passages startle me? In Philippians, even though the motives in view are wrong, paul is rejoicing because the message is right. In Galatians, by contrast, we don't read anything about motives. For all we know, the hypothetical apostle here is a heavenly angel that could have perfectly sincere motives. Nevertheless, paul is outraged. Why? Because the message being broadcast is mistaken. See, motives matter.
Speaker 1:Have you ever known a Jehovah Witness? Well, I'll give you a little bit of a snippet so you can get this in the right context here. See me and my wife, as young Christians lived next door to some Jehovah Witness and they were a lovely old couple and I'm not sure I ever met nicer people. You know, if salvation were based on religious sincerity sincerity then they have a far better chance than I do, because I know me, you know and I know what I've done. These were such a beautiful couple, but they're lost, and and I'm saved. Is that because I'm more sincere? No, I'm not. In no way, shape or form. Am I better than them, even with the knowledge that I had. Am I more moral? Not even close. Because I have strong faith? I doubt that as well. Because I have strong faith, I doubt that as well.
Speaker 1:It's for one simple reason my Jehovah Witness neighbours and friends have the wrong message. You see, the only thing that bothered Paul more than the wrong motives in Philippians 1 was the wrong gospel, which was in Galatians 1. According to the Bible, the purity of our message trumps every other consideration, even one as vivid as our motives. Now, don't think I'm just picking on the Jehovah Witnesses. Now don't think I'm just picking on the Jehovah Witnesses. I mean, I could go through a string of different faiths that are doing it wrong, or even some pastors or preachers that are let's just say okay, a large no. No, not even even that.
Speaker 1:I've got to be very careful. You don't want to get on my high horse and and say the wrong thing, but there are some, especially evangelists, that are doing what they're doing because they're in it for the money. They are very, very good motivational speakers, but not necessarily doctrinally correct. That's all I'm going to say on the matter. All right, I don't want to get 50,000 emails and people saying, oh, but what about this and what about that? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I am just me bringing a message that I believe is correct according to the Bible, the New King James Bible, going from Genesis through to Revelation. My teaching here is based purely and simply on the written word of God, not from a book or what someone's written, or someone else's opinion or anything. But if I'm actually voicing my own personal view on something, I will clearly state that that's what I am doing. But this is why I give you the scriptures when I'm preaching. You look it up, you see what the word of god says.
Speaker 1:You know what are your motives when you share the good news of jesus? For me, they're often a mixed bag. Some are good e like love for the lost, passion for God's glory, others not so much A sense of guilt, desire to impress somebody. You know how about your motives when you don't open your mouth for me? It's often an ugly combination of apathy, selfishness and fear of man. And when I'm talking about when you don't open your mouth for me, I'm talking about Jesus. Even more importantly, when you do attempt to share the gospel.
Speaker 1:What gospel gets shared? Which aspects of the message are you most tempted to edit or mute, or perhaps even deny? Maybe it's the sincerity of sin, or the reality of judgment, or even the necessity of repentance? It's exceedingly tempting in our culture today to emphasize God's mercy but not his justice. His love but not his wrath. His kingdom but not his wrath. His kingdom but not his cross. Yet such lopsided messages, however lovingly they may feel, are powerless to save. As the Puritan Thomas Watson once said till sin be bitter, grace will not be sweet. Because the Lord cares much about our hearts. Wrong motives are bad, but because he cares most about his truth, the wrong gospel is worse.
Speaker 1:Let's not tweak the gospel for Jesus. Our mission is to deliver the male, not to tamper with it. The risen king doesn't want editors. He wants men and women who, with gentle courage and humble conviction, will open their mouths to proclaim his liberating message of first importance, see 1 Corinthians 15.3,. The message of what God has accomplished in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is to restore rebels to himself. So let's get busy, friends.
Speaker 1:This good news, after all, is nothing less than God's explosive power to save anyone who embraces his son, and we can look at this from 1 Romans 16. 1 Romans 16 says this For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation in everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Now, if you want to read that in context right, you need to actually put it from this one the righteous shall live by faith. And I'll say it again, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of god for salvation to everyone who believes, to the jew first and also to the g, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. As it is written the righteousness shall live by faith. God's wrath on unrighteousness says this in verse 18,. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who, by their unrighteousness, suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them, and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made, so that they are without excuse, for although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, and I'm going to leave it there, but I strongly recommend that you ring. You can ring God and have a talk to him about it. No, I mean, you can read Romans 1. Because what I'm saying is that your motives, they really matter, and what you need to do is you need to make sure that when you want to share the gospel, or even if someone asks you something about the word of God, there's nothing wrong with you saying, hey, look, I don't know, or let's look that up.
Speaker 1:I remember when I got very first, when I got born again, I had this lovely couple that are still friends with us today and he came around, and because I had all of these questions, I was one of those. I wouldn't say I was an intellect, but I was one of those people that had a lot of questions. I was one of those people that had a lot of questions because, from what I understood, from what my wife was telling me about God, was that what she was saying was based on the Catholic Church and what she had learnt as a child, and I, all of a sudden, had this need to know. I needed to know what was going on and so I had questions and so many people had given me their own answers. It didn't matter whether I spoke to a priest or a nun or another pastor of some kind, but these people that come around, which were actually I found out later this guy's a lay pastor, so he's not ordained or anything, but he's been part of the church ministry in-house for very, very many, many years and every time I asked him a question, rather than him giving me his answer, he always got there and he said well, let's see what the Word of God says. So I knew that I was getting the answer directly from the Word of God through the Lord's mouth.
Speaker 1:Directly, because this person and I don't mind mentioning his name, it's a lovely name, dawn and Ian Phillips very, very good friends of ours, but the way that he approached teaching the word of God or leading someone to salvation was it had nothing to do with him and everything to do with God and everything came directly from the Word of God, straight out of the Bible. So it wasn't someone else's misconception. In relation to that, I hope this matters, because motives matter and maybe you are a good Christian and you are helping people into the kingdom of God. But just maybe, just maybe some of you out there listening might either have the wrong motivations or you're giving your interpretation of what you believe the Word of God is saying rather than actually using the Word of God that is written. Perhaps we'll leave it there for now.
Speaker 1:I just wanted to make sure that you get the right understanding and your motives do matter and, if in doubt, go to the Word of God, and sometimes you just need to pray about it. Okay, lord, what does this person need to hear from you, even though you're the one that is speaking to them or dealing with a situation in their life? And it's not just about becoming born again. Sometimes people are going through challenges in their life. They're hurting, they've lost someone close to them, they're lonely, they're depressed, they're suffering. There are many reasons we need to speak to someone about God, but there's the right timing as well. Don't become a Bible basher. Sometimes. Just share his love and compassion and understanding through you, and sometimes that is what is needed, and a lot of the times, you know, someone just might need someone like you to just listen to what they're going through and then pray for them. All right, that's it for now, until we come to part six next week. God bless you and talk to you soon. Bye for now.
