What Jesus Wouldn’t Tolerate – Part 4
Luke 11:37-54 (47-54)
June 23, 2019
If you’ve been with us the past few weeks
Then you know we are currently listening to Jesus
As He has been invited to lunch at the home of a Pharisee.
• Jesus gave a penetrating message on being authentic and following that message this Pharisee invited Him over.
• Upon arrival Jesus purposely passed the water basin which was used for ceremonial washing and sat down at the table.
• This surprised the Pharisee and upon detecting that surprise Jesus began to unload on him.
As we stated; this was pre-meditated on the part of Jesus.
Way back in the prophet Ezekiel and the prophet Jeremiah, and in the prophet Zechariah we read of God’s disdain for Israel’s false shepherds.
• Instead of feeding the flock, they fed themselves.
• Instead of caring for the flock, they cared for themselves.
• Instead of healing the sheep, they skinned the sheep and slaughtered the sheep.
• They didn’t bind up the broken
• They didn’t heal the lame
• They didn’t search for the lost
• Instead they dominated the sheep.
God was furious and promised He would send a Good Shepherd
Who would not only deliver the flock
But would also put an end to those wicked shepherds.
John 10:7-15 “So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. “All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. “He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. “He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.”
That being the case perhaps you better understand
Why Jesus had no interest in befriending this Pharisee.
This Pharisee had ravaged His flock, and Jesus wouldn’t tolerate it.
And so, as we’ve been studying this discourse we’ve been talking about: WHAT JESUS WOULDN’T TOLERATE.
It’s a bit of a shocking statement to a world who often paints Jesus
As the most tolerant man who ever lived.
While it is true that Jesus was compassionate and gracious
And rightly referred to as “A friend of sinners”.
There was still a group that He would not tolerate.
AND THAT WAS THE FALSE RELIGIOUS LEADERS OF ISRAEL.
JESUS DOES NOT TOLERATE FALSE RELIGION.
And Luke 11 puts that intolerance on display.
We’ve seen that there are 7 realities here that Jesus specifically confronts about these religious leaders as to why He would not tolerate them.
#1 THEIR GREEDY HEARTS
Luke 11:39-41
These were the Pharisees who were clean on the outside,
But Jesus looked at the heart and revealed that
“inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness”
• They were certainly religious on the outside.
• They looked the part.
• But all they really wanted was money.
• This explains why they devoured widow’s houses
• This is why they taught people to neglect their parents
• This is why they taught people to vow by the gold of the temple
They were in it for the money.
Jesus does not tolerate that from religious leaders.
#2 THEIR SUPERFICIAL RELIGION
Luke 11:42
One of the ways they were so easily able to deceive people
Was because of their pretense of religious commitment.
Jesus recognized that they meticulously tithe “mint and rue and every kind of garden herb”
It was quite the display of supposed dedication.
The problem was what they lacked.
“and yet disregard justice and the love of God.”
In short, they were ministers who did not love God.
Can I remind you that even the most extreme religious sacrifice, if not motivated out of love for God, is useless?
• That’s the difference between true prayer and false prayer
• That’s the difference between true Bible reading and false Bible reading
• That’s the difference between true church attendance and false attendance
• That’s the difference between true giving and false giving
Outwardly they look exactly the same.
In fact, you and I can’t tell from the outside if it is true or false.
But the true believer prays and reads and attends and gives
Because he loves God.
The false believer does it for some other motive.
It is superficial religion.
And Jesus would not tolerate it.
#3 THEIR LOVE OF GLORY
Luke 11:43
The Pharisees were those marked by the fact that they “love the chief seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the market places.”
That is to say they were in the ministry because they loved the glory.
And since glory is something that God does not share, that is a problem.
You either serve out of a desire to see God glorified,
Or out of a desire to see yourself glorified.
Jesus doesn’t tolerate those who serve for their own glory.
#4 THEIR DEFILING INFLUENCE
Luke 11:44
Jesus here likened them to “concealed tombs”
Because they made people unclean before God.
They defiled people and the people didn’t even know it.
They made people less acceptable to God than when they started.
Namely because they made people just like themselves.
#5 THEIR POWERLESS MESSAGE
Luke 11:45-46
Here Jesus exposed them as those who “weigh men down with burdens hard to bear”
• It was legalism.
• It was an unbearable list of traditions and requirements
• It was the threat of not being pleasing to God if you don’t strictly adhere.
• They taught salvation through adherence of the Law.
And that is a FALSE MESSAGE
NEVER HAS ONE SINGLE MAN BEEN JUSTIFIED BY KEEPING THE LAW.
• Even in the Old Testament we see it very early on that “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
• The prophets laud the message: “The just shall live by faith”
To preach to men a salvation dependent on their own obedience
Is to preach a message that does not have the power to save.
Go read Romans 7 and listen to Paul finally throw up his hands in the air and cry, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”
To tell people that they must do something to earn God’s favor
Is a powerless message. It is a false gospel.
And Jesus does not tolerate it.
WELL, THAT’S WHERE WE’VE COME SO FAR.
Their Greedy Hearts, Their Superficial Religion, Their Love of Glory,
Their Defiling Influence, Their Powerless Message
#6 THEIR REJECTION OF TRUTH
Luke 11:47-51
Now it is likely that when reading through this passage
This one may have caused you to scratch your head a little bit.
And that is because the sin that Jesus exposes as deserving of “Woe”
Doesn’t look that bad to us.
(47) “Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them.”
We see that same harsh statement “Woe”.
But when we see why He said it, we are confused.
“For you build the tombs of the prophets”
We are well aware of the fact that the prophets of the Old Testament routinely died a martyr’s death.
• They were roundly hated and rejected.
• They were continually put to death.
Psalms 44:22 “But for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
And we understand the sin in that.
But Jesus here pronounces judgment on the scribes
Because they “build the tombs of the prophets”
SO WHAT GIVES?
Does Jesus just not like tombs?
Does Jesus just not want them buried?
What is the problem?
The problem is that their building and adorning of the prophet’s tombs was a work of tremendous hypocrisy.
They adorned the tombs of the prophets AS IF TO SAY, “We would have listened to those prophets; not killed them”
And Jesus (who knows their hearts)
Sees only the hypocrisy in such an action.
BEYOND THAT, LET ME REMIND YOU.
When God sent prophets to the people in the Old Testament, can I remind you why He DID NOT send them?
HE DID NOT SEND THEM TO BE GLORIFIED.
The goal was not to get you to honor them.
WHAT WAS THE GOAL?
To get you to OBEY them.
Listen to this revelation regarding Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 33:30-33 “But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ‘Come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the LORD.’ “They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. “Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them. “So when it comes to pass — as surely it will — then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst.”
Those people would just pack the pews to listen to Ezekiel.
“Oh what a wonderful preacher you are!”
What was the problem?
It wasn’t a lack of honor, it was a lack of obedience.
OBEY THEM DON’T VENERATE THEM
I would tell you this is another one of the areas where Catholicism is so far off the mark.
• Catholicism loves the veneration of saints.
• They love to honor the apostles and even the angels.
• They will build statues and shrines
• They will give them all sorts of glory and praise
• Some will even pray to them
But don’t suppose for one second that that was the goal.
God never intended for them to be venerated,
He sent them into the world that we might listen to them and obey them.
To fail to obey them and then to build them a decorated tomb
Is actually the highest form of hypocrisy and insult.
It is worse than actually killing them.
BUT THEN WE HAVE TO ASK:
So did these Scribes and Pharisees not obey the Old Testament prophets?
NO! NOT EVEN A LITTLE.
Let me prove it to you:
John 5:39 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;”
Do you understand the main point of the Old Testament?
It was to prepare you for Christ.
• The Law condemned you and showed you your need for a Savior.
• The prophets showed you who that Savior would be and called you to look for Him.
And the Pharisees totally ignored their message.
Had they listened to those prophets (instead of decorating their tombs)
They would have run to Jesus.
Let me show you.
Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”
Isaiah was giving clues about the coming Messiah.
Matthew 1:20-23 “But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.”
Or another:
Micah 5:2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”
Matthew 2:4-6 “Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: ‘AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.'”
Or another:
Isaiah 9:1-7 “But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them. You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”
Matthew 4:12-16 “Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES — “THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.”
Or another:
Isaiah 35:4-6 “Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.” Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah.”
Matthew 11:1-5 “When Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities. Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM.”
Or another:
Isaiah 42:1-4 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. “He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street. “A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. “He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”
Matthew 12:15-21 “But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all, and warned them not to tell who He was. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “BEHOLD, MY SERVANT WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN; MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL is WELL-PLEASED; I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM, AND HE SHALL PROCLAIM JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES. “HE WILL NOT QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT; NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS. “A BATTERED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF, AND A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OUT, UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY. “AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE.”
Or another:
Isaiah 61:1-2 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn,”
And Jesus even made that one easy for them:
Luke 4:16-21 “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
It is obvious that they didn’t listen to a thing the prophets said.
They build their tombs but rejected their message.
Jesus called them on it the hardest when He quoted:
Isaiah 29:13 “Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,”
And we didn’t even get into all the prophecies about His death.
Like Isaiah 53 or Psalms 22
NOT ONLY THAT,
Aside from Messianic prophecies, they didn’t listen to the message of the prophets regarding heart worship over religious ritual.
Jesus would quote this verse to them several times:
Hosea 6:4-6 “What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”
THEY DIDN’T LISTEN TO A WORD THOSE PROPHETS SAID.
But instead in hypocrisy they built their tombs
As if they were so much better than their fathers who killed the prophets.
The reality is, that they would have been right there with their fathers.
And so Jesus announces that the building of the prophets tombs
Was not a rebuke of their fathers, but in all actuality
It was the completion of what their fathers started.
Now, certainly the Pharisees could argue the point.
“No we would not have rejected the prophets”
So Jesus goes a step further here and GIVES PROOF of His indictment.
(49) “For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute,”
Jesus says I CAN PROVE that you would have rejected the prophets and joined with your fathers in killing them.
How?
I’ll send you some more.
“I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute.”
• Do I need to remind you about John the Baptist?
• Do I need to remind you about what they did to Jesus?
• Do I need to remind you about the stoning of Stephen?
• Do I need to remind you about the slaughter of James?
• Do I need to read you that whole list of Paul’s suffering?
• Do we need to talk again about the imprisonment of Peter?
Jesus proved His claim by sending them more prophets and more apostles and they did to them exactly as their fathers did.
And because of this Jesus has a severe judgment for them.
(50-51) “so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.’”
Jesus repeated it there just so you’d clearly get what He was saying.
All the wrath that had been stored up for all the prophets
Who had ever been killed in the Old Testament,
God was going to charge it against “this generation.”
THIS GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO WERE LIVING IN THE DAYS OF JESUS
WOULD PAY FOR ALL OF THEM.
Now first of all you need to know that this is not unprecedented.
• We first start reading about the entrance of sin in Genesis 3 and throughout chapters 4 and 5 plenty of people die, even of a ripe old age. But in Genesis 6 it was those alive at the time who paid the penalty for all the sin committed since the fall.
• Sodom and Gomorrah had lived in sin for years as they exploited humanity and lived in sexual perversion, but it was the generation alive in Genesis 19 who felt the fire fall from heaven.
• Israel lived in the sin of idolatry for well over 400 years and yet it was the generation alive they paid the penalty when Nebuchadnezzar broke down the wall and slaughtered the city.
• The world has lived in reckless sin since the days of Noah and yet there will be one generation who will receive the horrors of the great tribulation.
It’s not unprecedented that God forces one generation
To bear the horrors of built up wrath on the sins of the past.
And here that is what Jesus announces for this generation.
THEY WILL BEAR IT ALL.
And who could argue with God.
• After all, this generation was not only privy to the entire Old Testament…
• They not only received the preaching of John the Baptist…
• But they actually met Jesus face to face…
• They saw His miracles with their own eyes…
• They heard Him speak with their own ears…
• They are those who heard Paul preach…
• They are those who heard Peter preach…
• They are those who witnessed the ministries of Phillip, and Andrew and Matthew and the rest of the apostles…
Their rejection of truth was as severe as any who came before them
And so God announced that this generation
Would bear the punishment for all those who came before them.
He said “from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you it shall be charged against this generation.”
And by the way, that is exactly what happened.
• In A.D. 66 Israel would revolt against Rome.
• In A.D. 70 nearly 1,000 towns and villages throughout Israel would be
destroyed.
• Jerusalem would be taken, its buildings leveled, and the temple would be
destroyed.
• Tens of thousands of Jews would be massacred and thousands of others
would be sold into slavery.
They paid for their rejection of truth.
In fact they paid for all the rejection of their fathers as well.
BUT HERE IS THE POINT:
Jesus would not tolerate their rejection of truth.
You don’t get to be a spiritual leader if you reject the truth of God.
And certainly we see that in our day.
With the rise of HIGHER CRITICISM and MODERNISM we saw the rise of liberal theology and the rejection of the Bible as absolute truth.
I have shared with you regarding an incident here in Spur a few years ago where a pastor looked me in the eye and said, “I don’t believe the Bible is true”
We live in a generation of people who will say the Bible is true, but they are REINTERPRETING it just as fast as they can.
Sins that were clear cut just 50 years ago (like homosexuality)
Are suddenly being reevaluated with a new interpretation.
I saw a group of ministers on Facebook who stood up
In support of Planned Parenthood and the right to have an abortion.
What else can we say but that spiritual leaders are rejecting truth.
But I would also tell you that
IT’S NOT JUST those who openly deny the truth of the Bible.
There is also a danger of unwittingly rejecting the truth.
It would be simply to NEGLECT the truth.
This is what Paul warned Timothy of in his letter.
1 Timothy 1:3-7 “As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith. But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.”
• They were abandoning honest preaching of God’s word and supplanting it with talk of “myths and endless genealogies.”
At the end of the letter Paul would say:
1 Timothy 6:20-21 “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge” — which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.”
• There were others who would not come out and openly deny that the word of God was true it’s just that they were preoccupied with other messages.
• Like things which were “falsely called “knowledge””
And to that we would give the same warning.
JESUS WOULD NOT TOLERATE RELIGIOUS LEADERS
WHO REJECTED TRUTH.
Certainly not those who did it with hostility…
But also not those who do it with neglect…
BOTH PUSHED GOD’S TRUTH ASIDE
He does not tolerate those who claim to be His spokesmen
When they do not listen to or speak His words.
I’ve often read it as the gravest of warnings:
Jeremiah 23:25-32 “I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy falsely in My name, saying, ‘I had a dream, I had a dream!’ “How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart, who intend to make My people forget My name by their dreams which they relate to one another, just as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal? “The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain?” declares the LORD. “Is not My word like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock? “Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the LORD, “who steal My words from each other. “Behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the LORD, “who use their tongues and declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ “Behold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams,” declares the LORD, “and related them and led My people astray by their falsehoods and reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them, nor do they furnish this people the slightest benefit,” declares the LORD.”
God just doesn’t tolerate it.
Jesus doesn’t tolerate it.
The church must not tolerate it either.
We stand with Paul who adamantly told Timothy, “Preach the Word”
• Hear God’s word
• Believe God’s word
• Obey God’s word
• Preach God’s word
And don’t you dare build some shrine
As a testimony to God and the prophets and the apostles
Like you love them when you have no interest in listening to them.
Can you see why Jesus is so angry at these Pharisees and Lawyers?
They are just so phony.
One more thing Jesus wouldn’t tolerate:
#7 THEIR DAMNING RESULTS
Luke 11:52
Well I think this one serves as certainly a fitting way to end the list.
In case we missed the reasoning behind Jesus anger
At these religious leaders, HERE IT IS CLEAR.
These men keep people from entering the kingdom of heaven.
Could there be a worse sin?
“Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge;”
And make no mistake, knowledge is essential to salvation.
No, we are not saved by knowledge, we are saved by grace through faith, And yet Paul reveals to us the role of knowledge in that process.
He wrote:
Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?”
There we understand that if one doesn’t know the truth
Then they cannot believe it for salvation.
And that is the problem of all false prophets from the dawn of time.
They don’t give people the truth which leads to salvation.
Isaiah 5:13 “Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge; And their honorable men are famished, And their multitude is parched with thirst.”
Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”
Jeremiah 10:21 “For the shepherds have become stupid And have not sought the LORD; Therefore they have not prospered, And all their flock is scattered.”
That is the problem.
• These men reject the truth.
• And therefore they do not preach the truth.
• Instead they preach a salvation through adherence to tradition.
• It is a false message.
IT IS UNACCEPTABLE
Galatians 1:6-9 “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”
That is eternal judgment that Paul places on those false preachers.
It just isn’t tolerated.
Jesus told the Pharisees:
Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”
Can you see why Jesus has no interest in befriending this Pharisee or his lawyer friends?
This man sends people to hell with his false doctrines.
THIS IS SO SERIOUS CHURCH.
• False prophets don’t just rob people of their money…
• False prophets don’t just weigh men down with burdens…
• False prophets send people to hell.
They preach a message of salvation that is not true.
And people who believe their lies suffer eternal damnation.
AND JESUS WON’T TOLERATE THEM.
And I have to tell you church that we must follow suit here.
• I know in our day confrontation is a negative concept.
• I know in our day it’s not cool to be a voice of reproach.
• I know in our day we are hated for calling people out as wrong.
But if the church doesn’t do it, who will?
1 Timothy 3:14-15 “I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”
• Jesus is truth and He exposed the false religious leaders.
• We are the pillar and support of the truth and we must do the same.
WE DO NOT TOLERATE IT.
But you say:
“But preacher, that’s not going to make us very popular. People will hate us if we do that.”
That’s absolutely true:
(53-54) “When He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects, plotting against Him to catch Him in something He might say.”
You had better believe they won’t love you for it.
They didn’t love Jesus for it.
But this is one of those areas where we have to decide
JUST WHO IT IS WE AIM TO PLEASE.
Do we aim to please our Lord or do we aim to please His enemies?
Greedy Hearts
Superficial Religion
Love of Glory
Defiling Influence
Powerless Message
Rejection of Truth
Damning Results
These are things Jesus wouldn’t tolerate.
His church must not tolerate them either.
