Woe to You, Hypocrites! – part 3
Matthew 23:25-28
September 30, 2012
The Master’s Seminary produced a book on preaching.
The opening lines of the introduction of that book are as follows:
“I am continually overwhelmed by the responsibility and liability that possess the preacher of God’s Word. We all look with indignation at the lawyer or judge who, for the motive of personal wealth, distorts the truth in attacking the reputation and personal possessions of people, while reducing them to poverty. We respond with similar indignation to the quack doctor who, by incompetence, hazards the health and life of someone for the purpose of financial gain. Such people deserve to be considered criminals; the pain and loss of their victims should rightly be laid to their account.
Offering oneself this way as the counselor or healer to care for someone in the time of crisis and then, through negligence, lack of skill, or selfish greed, making havoc of their lives is unconscionable. Medical and legal associations have set standards in an attempt to prevent such malpractice.
But what about me as the purveyor of God’s truth, the physician of the soul? Shall I not be held responsible to God for any perversion of truth, however witless, and for my negligence and lack of skill? What earthly regulatory association validates me? Do not I, who preach God’s Word, face a higher court than the legal bar or any medical tribunal? James wrote, “Let no many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment” (James 3:1)
No profession has as high a liability potential as that of one who preaches God’s Word. God will judge every preacher on the truthfulness and accuracy of his preaching. Any failure as a spokesman for God bring not only shame (2 Tim. 2:15) but judgment. The Holy Spirit promised that all who pastor God’s flock must “give an account” (Heb. 13:17). There will be a day of reckoning for the preacher. Only a tested and qualified kind of person has the right to be considered a lawyer, a judge, or a physician. The standard is significantly higher for the preacher!”
(MacArthur, John [“Preaching: How to Preach Biblically” Thomas Nelson Publishing; Nashville, TN 2005] pg. xi)
Certainly those are penetrating words for any preacher to read or hear.
But they make a valid and accurate point.
• If a doctor can be punished for being ill prepared or corrupt…
• If a lawyer can be punished for being ill prepared or corrupt…
• How much more the preacher?
After all, a lawyer only holds a man’s money…
A doctor only holds a man’s physical life…
But the preacher holds a man’s eternity.
• And if men are punished for corruption in legal affairs…
• And if men are punished for corruption in medical affairs…
• Certainly men will be punished for corruption in spiritual affairs.
James 3:1 “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.”
And to understand that all we really have to do
Is look at the severe punishment of a true prophet.
CONSIDER MOSES
Numbers 20:11-12 “Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”
I think everyone who reads that account agrees that
Moses received a stricter judgment.
And the same goes for those Jesus is addressing here.
You don’t sit yourself in the chair of Moses without expecting
To receive the same standard of judgment that Moses received.
And just like we understand the anger
For a corrupt lawyer or misguided physician,
WE CERTAINLY UNDERSTAND THE ANGER FOR A FALSE TEACHER.
And that helps us understand
Why Jesus is unloading so much aggression here in this 23rd chapter.
• These men claim to speak for God.
• These men claim to be lights in darkness.
• These men have seated themselves in the chair of Moses
• These men guide other men.
The problem of course is that they are blind men guiding blind men,
And so Jesus is here to expose them.
• His aggression is real
• His aggression is intense
• His aggression is pointed
• His aggression is accurate
He has already exposed them in regard to their hypocritical lifestyle.
• They are those who say things and don’t do them.
• They are those who tie up burdens on people but don’t help them carry them.
• They are those who love glory but have forgotten humility.
• They are those who pray in public, but put widows out on to the street.
• They are those who shut off the kingdom from those who are interested.
• They are those who purposely deceive people and make them sons of hell.
• They are those who have mixed up doctrine and a lack of integrity.
• They are those who miss the point of true religion.
And yet Jesus is not finished.
This morning we two more points of contention that Jesus raises
With these false prophets who lead His people astray.
#1 THEIR RELIGIOUS AIM
Matthew 23:25-26
And again we hear that familiar groan from Jesus.
“Woe” OUIA
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” (HUPOKRITES)
Jesus has yet to back off of this persistent groan of disgust
Or accusation of being phony.
He is sickened and outraged at the display that these men put on.
And here Jesus begins to explain even more of the problem.
“For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.”
It is the picture of a man who hosts someone at his home
And brings out the fine china to serve a meal in.
(Everything is perfect)
And then when the guest sits and the waiter removes the lid from the dish,
You find a rotting dead skunk inside the pot.
And Jesus says that dish is a perfect example of who you are.
You “scribes and Pharisees” clean up on the outside
And look religious and exemplary and impressive,
But on the inside, you “are full of robbery and self-indulgence.”
“You are like golden goblets filled with vomit!”
And notice the Pharisee has an active role in this.
Jesus said, “For you clean…”
In other words you focus greatly on your appearance.
It wasn’t just that they were clean outside and dirty inside,
It was that all they tried to do was clean the outside.
THEY HAD BAD AIM!
They could look good externally, but internally they were detestable.
Internally they were full of “robbery and self-indulgence”
• We already read that they devour widow’s houses (“robbery”)
• We already read they excuse breaking certain vows (“self-indulgence”)
And this incidentally are two very real characteristics of false prophets.
A true messenger of God serves uprightly looking to an eternal reward.
A false messenger serves deceptively looking to gain an earthly reward.
Micah 3:5 “Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who lead my people astray; When they have something to bite with their teeth, They cry, “Peace,” But against him who puts nothing in their mouths They declare holy war.”
And this is true in the New Testament as well.
Jude 11 “Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.”
And you remember the error of those men.
They all wanted spiritual recognition while maintaining earthly riches.
• Cain didn’t give the best, or the first, yet wanted to be regarded.
• Balaam was willing to take pay to curse the children of Israel.
• Korah wanted the glory of Moses and Aaron.
All of these men pretended religious obedience,
And yet they only did it to gain earthly wealth and glory.
2 Peter 2:15-16 “forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.”
Their Balaam’s motive is called “madness”
He was overcome by his greed.
Consider this man.
Acts 8:18-24 “Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.” But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”
Yet another prophet for profit, clean on the outside
And full of robbery on the inside.
And this same trend has carried into our own day.
Our televisions are full of hucksters offering spiritual and physical blessing for a small love offering or “seed faith” money.
They offer what they cannot give, and offer it for a cost.
I’ve always like the Ray Stevens song, “Would Jesus wear a rolex on His television show?”
And that was the Pharisees.
Jesus saw their heart and all He saw was “robbery and self-indulgence”
The tragedy is that they didn’t do anything to fix that.
Their only aim was to clean up the outside and leave that sin alone.
And that meant they were only concerned about what man could see
And completely unconcerned about what God could see.
For remember, God looks at the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7 “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
Jeremiah 17:9-10 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.”
And let me remind you that if your religion is only skin deep,
Then God is not pleased.
Things like Bible reading, prayer, and church attendance
Mean little to God if the heart is not right before Him.
And so Jesus gives some advice to these hypocritical Pharisees.
(26) “You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.”
What Jesus reminds them of is that man does not become clean
From the outside in, but from the inside out.
No amount of outward conformity can make your heart right before God.
Isaiah 64:6 “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”
In fact, if all you have is outward conformity, but do not change the heart,
Then we have a word for that, and it is a dangerous one.
That word is called MORALITY.
God has never accepted morality
As a substitute for genuine righteousness.
Matthew 12:43-45 “Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. “Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. “Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”
• That was a man who cleaned himself up.
• That was a man who made himself moral.
• But the Spirit of God did not move in for his house was still unoccupied.
And this man’s morality left him clean, but lost and now in great danger.
MORALITY WAS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR HEART RIGHTEOUNESS
You must start with the heart.
For out of the heart come all things that make up the man.
Remember when the Pharisees approached Jesus because His disciples did not wash their hands before they ate.
The idea was that what they put on the outside would defile the inside.
Jesus said:
Matthew 15:17-20 “Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. “These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
Even later as the church was growing and the Judaizers came with the same message, only concerned about getting the Gentiles circumcised.
Paul said:
Galatians 6:12-15 “Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For those who are circumcised do not even keep the Law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh. But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.”
It is the inside that affects the outside, not the other way around.
And that is what Jesus tells the Pharisees.
Quit focusing on making the outside impressive to man,
And start focusing on making the inside impressive to God.
Their religious aim was all wrong.
And the danger is that since they were the leaders of Israel,
Their aim had become the aim of the nation.
The people were only following their lead.
The people were doing what they were taught.
Their aim was affecting everyone else’s aim.
AND THAT IS WHY JESUS IS EXPOSING THEM.
It was a constant struggle to not get people
To follow the same misdirection of these faulty religious leaders.
And today we must watch out for this, making sure
That our religious aim is not merely to moralize men
Or make them outwardly conformant.
Our goal is to cause men to seek the living God
That their heart may be transformed.
Charles Spurgeon said,
“Now observe, brethren, if I, or you, or any of us, or all of us, shall have spent our lives merely amusing men, or educating men, or moralizing men, when we shall come to give our account at the last great day we shall be in a very sorry condition, and we shall have but a very sorry record to render; for of what avail will it be to a man to be educated when he comes to be damned? Of what service will it be to him to have been amused when the trumpet sounds, and heaven and earth are shaking and the pit opens wide her jaws of fire and swallows up the soul unsaved? Of what avail even to have moralized a man if still he on the left hand of the judge, and if still, “Depart, ye cursed,” shall be his portion?”
And here we learn that Jesus is opposed to any such religious leaders
Who make it their aim to do just that.
Jesus confronts the Pharisees for their misguided religious aim.
But there is a second problem.
#2 THEIR RELIGIOUS APPEARANCE
Matthew 23:27-28
Now granted these two sound very similar in their point,
But the difference is this.
In regard to the cup, it was what they did. (i.e. “clean the outside”)
Here it is how they appear.
Now we have moved from their example to their SEDUCTION.
It wasn’t just that what they did was wrong.
It is that they made their wrong look so appealing to everyone else.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.”
There again is the example
And one that Israel would have certainly understood.
Every year, leading up the Passover (of which is currently going on), the Jews near Jerusalem would whitewash the tombs surrounding the area.
• It was to make tombs visible.
• So people didn’t unwittingly make themselves unclean.
(Some would even paint bones on the outside)
It was a precautionary thing, but it didn’t change the fact
That when all the tombs got a fresh coat of paint they did look better.
They looked good, but they were full of danger.
And Jesus says here that those whitewashed tombs
Were the appropriate symbol for the Pharisees.
(28) “So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
Jesus said you are just like those tombs.
• Very beautiful…
• Very attractive…
• Very alluring…
• But dangerous to the core!
See the danger?
Their way of life was appealing to people.
They were attractive.
And this has been the work of Satan from the beginning.
Genesis 3:6 “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”
And this has been the work of false prophets ever since.
Matthew 7:15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
2 Corinthians 11:12-15 “But what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.”
False prophets are attractive.
Their look is attractive.
Their offer is attractive.
Their glory is attractive.
Recently in Sunday School we studied through Colossians.
TURN TO: COLOSSIANS 2:16-23
The Colossians were a young church and a confused church.
They had Jewish influence, Gnostic influence, pagan influence…
They had been le to faith in Jesus, but then people came in and told them
They had to be circumcised and observe feasts and rituals.
Others paraded their super spirituality.
The problem was it left the Colossians confused and insecure.
Maybe Christ hadn’t made them as pleasing as they thought.
Notice what Paul says:
(Read 16-23)
Can you hear the false prophets as they look appealing?
• Oh they see angelic visions – they must be spiritual.
• Oh they never miss a festival – they must be spiritual.
• Oh they mistreat the body – they must be spiritual.
False prophets always have a certain alluring factor.
But what did Paul say?
(23) “These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”
Now what was the Pharisees plan?
Clean the outside as well as you can.
What was the Pharisees problem?
They were still full of “robbery and self-indulgence”
DO YOU SEE?
Those false prophets might in fact look good and appear good
And seem to have it figured out, but all of their external games
Won’t do a thing as far as overcoming sin.
And that is why Jesus is so adamantly exposing these Pharisees.
Their aim was to clean the outside
And their appearance was very appealing to those around them.
Jesus could see all of Israel following in their footsteps
And He felt the need to intervene.
“Don’t follow the Pharisees – they are blind! They think all that outer junk makes them pleasing to God. If you follow them you will be just like them, and they are headed to hell!”
And I really think it is impossible for us to miss the point here.
• It is internal, not external.
All the religion in the world won’t change a carnal heart,
Only Jesus does that.
You can come to this church and we can:
• Change your clothes,
• Change your speech,
• Wash your body,
• Teach you our songs,
• Help you memorize Bible verses,
• Explain our ordinances.
But only Christ Jesus can change your heart,
You need more than religion!
That is why Jesus said:
Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
But beyond that, the point of Jesus message is to
Expose those false teachers who give a bad example.
How do we apply this truth to our lives?
The answer? WATCH OUT!
Matthew 7:15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
2 Peter 3:17-18 “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”
Colossians 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive (sulagogeo) through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”
(sulagogeo = “to carry off booty” i.e. “to kidnap” – PIRATES)
Don’t be fooled because people put on a good display.
And don’t seek the external to be made pleasing.
Romans 14:17-18 “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.”
Seek true righteousness in the heart
Watch out for anyone who leads you to believe
It can be achieved externally.
