Well, how do I know if my good deeds are vain or if they are eternally relevant? Just because we act in ways that look sacrificial to the world doesn't mean that those works are virtuous. It's an essential point made by Jesus when he contrasted the Pharisee and the tax collector.

You remember that story there? He introduces us to a very moral teacher, a man who is not an extortioner, not unjust, not scandalous, not a scandalous sinner like an adulterer. No, in fact, he fasted twice a week and tithed off everything that he got, as we're told in Luke 18, verses 11 and 12.

And it was all in vain, all of it. And yet, said Jesus, our own righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. He said that in Matthew 5.20, so there's a noteworthy sacrifice here as well. So how do we escape the Pharisee's fate of sacrificing in vain? It's the question Pastor John took up in one of his earliest sermons way back in 1980, specifically answering the question, "How do we do good work so that God gets the glory?" Here's the answer from a rookie pastor, John Piper, 42 years ago, just a couple of weeks into his new pastorate.

Here he is. It's possible to be a kind of do-gooder, a kind of philanthropist, benefactor, who, for one reason or another, uses his or her money to alleviate suffering, and not even believe in God, let alone do it all for His glory. And that creates a kind of problem.

Can't just be merely good deeds then, can it, that gives God glory? When Jesus said, "You are the light of the world," He didn't just mean the bodily motions through which you go in doing good deeds. He meant you, your attitude, your motive, the spirit that you exude in those good deeds.

That's what it means to let your light shine. There is a way to do good deeds that will bring glory to God, and doing it that way, in that spirit, will be the shining of the light that Jesus is talking about. Which is why I entitled this sermon, "How to Do Good So God Gets the Glory," not just doing good so God gets the glory.

Don't content yourself that you have done many good deeds in your life. It might be a pile of rubbish in God's sight. There is such a thing as works and Pharisaism. So we must ask the next question, which comes from 1 Peter 4, 10 and 11. How shall we do good deeds?

How shall we serve so that not we, but God, gets the glory? So turn with me to 1 Peter 4, verses 10 and 11. Probably no other book in the New Testament, besides the book of James, reflects a greater acquaintance with the teachings of Jesus than 1 Peter. For example, in chapter 2, verse 12 of 1 Peter, you have a very loose quotation of the very text we've been looking at.

Matthew 5, 16. It says there, "Maintain good conduct among the Gentiles, so that when they speak against you as evil doers, they might see your good deeds and give glory to God on the day of visitation." It's the same idea exactly as Jesus' teaching, because Peter, of course, was a very close apostle.

But in chapter 4, verses 10 and 11, we have probably the clearest word in the Bible about how it is we must do good deeds if God is to get glory. "As each has received a gift, employ it for one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. Whoever speaks, let him speak as one who utters oracles of God.

Whoever renders service, let him render it as one who renders it by the strength which God supplies, in order that in everything God might be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." There is no clearer answer in the Bible to the question how we shall serve or do good deeds so that God gets glory.

And the answer very simply is, for God to get glory in our lives, the good we do must be done in dependence upon the strength which he gives and not in our own. Not mere good deeds, but good deeds done in a spirit of humble reliance and joyful dependence on the provision of God.

I want you to picture two people this afternoon. These two people are trying to decide whether to come to fact tomorrow night. Fun, all cleaning together. Going to clean up the church. Now one of these fellas is a younger man and he's strong and virile. Works a lot around the church and he's pondering, "Now shall I go or not to help?" "Oh, I suppose I'll go.

Might be worth a few brownie points with the leadership. They might serve snacks. Besides, I know how to do all that stuff really well. I can give a few pointers and that's always fun." And so he comes and he grumbles about the tools that are there. And he criticizes the way things have been planned.

And he talks on and on about his experience and how he's done things and the way he would do it. But he works. He gets a lot done. Does a lot more than lots of other people. Gets a lot of corners. Spick and span. A lot of employers would go after that man because many employers are only interested in productivity and efficiency.

God looks on the heart and his assessment of that man's contribution is this. "I got no glory from that effort because it was not done in reliance upon me. It was not done in a spirit of humble trust and joyful acceptance of life and gift from me." Then there's another person.

Now this person's a little bit older this afternoon. He's worked a lot in the church too, but now he's been ill a long time. The knees are real stiff and give a lot of pain. Arthritis, I suppose. And he wants to come. He would love to come. He's always enjoyed working at the church and he never made any big to-do about inconvenience or sacrifice or any of that stuff.

He just was there putting in the hours. And he says, "Oh Lord, I would just love to be there. Maybe I could just encourage some of the downhearted. Maybe I could just keep the coffee warm. But it would be sure great to be there with your people in your house." And so he makes a special effort and prays.

"Just this once, let me wake up in the morning with no pain in these knees and I'll go." And lo and behold, he wakes up with no pain. He gets on the phone to Flossie, "I'm coming down there. I'm going to do whatever you need done." And so he's there and he works.

And he doesn't get so much done because they start to ache a little bit, but he's there with bells on. He exudes a kind of joy and gratitude for life and everybody's attention through him is appointed to God, from whom he has acknowledged receiving this help. His whole bearing and his whole demeanor exude that God is getting the credit for his being there.

And God is getting the credit for every little swipe of the rag or push of the broom. And that's what it means to let your light shine, not just to be there. Right? But here's the hooker. Every single one of us is in that category. Not just him. Every single one of us, all the strength we have is from God.

All the fibers of our brain and our intelligence are a gift from God. Every piece of resolve that we can muster to do good is a gift of God. "What do you have that you did not receive?" Paul said to the Corinthians. "If you received it as a gift, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?

Why do you get haughty and arrogant and braggy?" We are all cripples apart from the grace of God and worse than cripples. Apart from his sustenance, we would degenerate into nothing or into devils without his grace. Oh, how differently we would serve and do good if it would once hit us with all its force.

How utterly dependent we are on God for life and breath and everything. We would not boast in our achievements. We would not criticize the speck in our brother's eye. We would not grumble about inconveniences and we would not be presumptuous as if existence itself could be taken for granted.

It cannot. A person who truly owns up to the fact that he exists by the word of God and that all his strength and moral resolve comes from God is going to be a humble and lowly and grateful and joyful person in all the good deeds that he does and in serving that way, God and not himself will get glory.

Yes, such a concrete, tangible way to explain this point of serving independence in the strength that God supplies so that our sacrifices honor him. This was taken from the early weeks of John Piper's brand new pastorate at Bethlehem Baptist Church in a sermon titled "How to Do Good So that God Gets the Glory," preached on August 3rd, 1980.

I found this clip as I listened through his early sermons. If you find a sermon clip to share, email it to me. Give me your name, hometown, and the sermon title, the timestamp of where the clip happens in the audio. And make a note of what stands out to you in the clip.

Put the word "clip" in the subject line of an email and send it to me at askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org. That's an email address, askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org. Well, if my flesh was crucified with Christ on the cross, then why do I still sin? That's a question we get all the time because it's a great question on a lot of minds.

A question rooted in Gloria Struve's "We Find in Colossians 2, verses 11 to 12." I am your host Tony Reinke. We're rejoined in studio with Pastor John when we return on Friday to look at that text. See you then.