Follow Along with the Message

Hot Topics: Hypocrisy - Pastor Josh Stelly - June 4, 2023

If Christians really love Jesus, why is there so much  in the church? Jesus confronted the hypocrisy of religious people and desires that his disciples walk in .

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

“Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’

“Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father. And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

-Matthew 23:1-12 NLT

First Woe: “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.”

-Matthew 23:13-14

Second Woe: “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!”

-Matthew 23:15

Third Woe: “Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear ‘by the gold in the Temple.’ Blind fools! Which is more important—the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? And you say that to swear ‘by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear ‘by the gifts on the altar’ is binding. How blind! For which is more important—the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred? When you swear ‘by the altar,’ you are swearing by it and by everything on it. And when you swear ‘by the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it. And when you swear ‘by heaven,’ you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne.”

-Matthew 23:16-22

Fourth and Fifth Woes: “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel! (vv. 25–26) “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.”

-Matthew 23:23-26

Sixth Woe: “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

-Matthew 23:27-28

Seventh Woe: “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed, and you decorate the monuments of the godly people your ancestors destroyed. Then you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would never have joined them in killing the prophets. But in saying that, you testify against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead and finish what your ancestors started. Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?” “Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city. As a result, you will be held responsible for the murder of all godly people of all time—from the murder of righteous Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you killed in the Temple between the sanctuary and the altar. I tell you the truth, this judgment will fall on this very generation.

-Matthew 23:29-36

We know that God has high expectations of the church.

Hypocrisy is sin and all have fallen short of the glory of God. The only way to overcome sin in our own lives and in the church as a whole is through a process of:

· Confession

· Repentance

· Forgiveness

· Restoration

· Transparency

· Accountability

It is good to be reminded what the Church is:

“Christianity isn’t a religion or an institution of any sort; it’s a relationship. Within the religion of Christianity there are, and have always been, genuine Christians— people who have a saving and transforming relationship with Jesus Christ. And this fact accounts for the tremendous, good Christianity has brought to the world (in spite of the evils)”

-Greg Boyd, Letters from a Skeptic

Matthew 23:4 – “They crush people with the impossible religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.” Think of the overwhelming perception among young outsiders what we are merely hypocrites. Does your life point people to a life in Christ that bursts with freedom to love, restoration, purity, and transparency? Or are you burying people – insiders and outsiders – under the weight of a self-righteous life? Do you lift a finger to help? As a Christian, it’s my duty to ask: Are you lifting a finger now? And Which one?”

-David Kinnaman, UnChristian

Where is our hope and next step?

So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

-Romans 7:18-20

Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

-Romans 7:24-25 

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

-Romans 8:1-2

How do we respond to the those that are outside of the church?

• 
  
  • 1 Corinthians 5:12
• 
  
  • Romans 3:23
• 
  
  • 2 Timothy 1:8
•  the truth
  • 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

How do we respond to those inside the church?

• We must live .
  • Micah 6:8
• We must make allowance for each other’s .
  • Colossians 3:13-14
• We must practice one .
  • John 13:34-35
• We must be deeply  in Jesus. If you do, your life will bear much fruit.
  • Galatians 5:22-23

Take away point: Only when we stop  the church is perfect can we invite Jesus to conform us more and more to His image.