Sermon
#66 Series: Matthew
Title: Eight Stern Words of Condemnation
Text: Matthew 23:13-33
Reading: Office:
Ron Wood Auditorium: Rex Bartley
Subject: Christ’s Condemnation of the Scribes
& Pharisees
Date: Tuesday Evening - December 5, 1995
Tape # S-2
Introduction:
Standing
in the midst of the temple, after addressing his own disciples and the
multitude around him, while he had the ear of the people, our Lord Jesus Christ
turned to the scribes and Pharisees and in the most public manner possible
denounced and condemned them with these scathing words: (Read with me Matthew 23:13-33.)
These
words were not spoken secretly. Our Lord did not call the scribes and Pharisees
aside for a private conversation. Rather, he went into the temple, where they
regularly taught the people, where they were most highly respected, ad there
publicly condemned both them and their religion in the most unspairing terms
imaginable. Eight times he uses the solemn expression, “Woe unto you!” Seven times he calls them “hypocrites.” Twice he calls them, “blind fools.” And at last he denounces them as “serpents and a generation of vipers.”
Why such sternness? Why such public condemnations? Why such scathing language?
Could he not have said the same thing in a more polite, more civil, more
acceptable tone? Of course, he could; but it was not his intention to be
polite, civil, and acceptable. It was his intention to be heard! Remember,
these are the words of the one man, the one preacher whose love and goodness
cannot be called into question. Why did our Lord choose to use such scathing
language to denounce and condemn these men and the religion they taught?
Because the glory of God, the truth of God, and the souls of men were at stake.
Proposition:
The solemn truth to be
learned from this passage is quite clear: The
doctrine, the religion, the spirit, and the practices of the scribes and
Pharisees are abominable in the sight of God. The religion of the world is
contemptible to God and should be to us.
Tonight,
I want us to briefly look at each of these Eight
Stern Words of Condemnation, which our Lord delivered to the scribes and
Pharisees. When we have done so, I will give you three or four words of
instruction from them. May God the Holy Spirit be our Teacher.
I. First, OUR LORD CONDEMNS THESE RELIGIOUS LEADERS
FOR SHUTTING UP THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (v. 13).
We know, of course, that no man is
going to literally shut up the kingdom of heaven. That kingdom which God
almighty builds, no man shall hinder. Yet, many, like the scribes and
Pharisees, do all they can to keep sinners out of the kingdom, persuading them
not to hear those who preach the gospel and not to believe that which is
obviously the truth of Holy Scripture. This is what the scribes and Pharisees
did.
·
They
rejected the message of John the Baptist.
·
They
refused the doctrine of Christ.
·
They
tried to keep anyone from hearing and believing the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of God.
II. Second,
OUR SAVIOR CONDEMNED THESE MEN FOR
BEING PRETENTIOUS ABUSIVE AND SELF-SERVING (v.14).
These
base men, wearing the mask of piety and devotion, devoured widows houses. They took advantage of the most
unsuspecting. Pretending to be devoted, spiritual leaders, true servants of
God, they (like the hucksters of our day) took everything they could get from
weak, unprotected, elderly women. The slickest and most vile con men in the
world are those who run a scam upon the souls of men to enrich themselves!
·
Men
who enrich themselves by the work of the ministry are not God’s servants; and
they are not ministering to you. They are using you!
·
God’s
servants come to serve you, not to be served by you.
·
Matthew
20:26-28
·
II
Corinthians 2:17
·
II
Corinthians 4:5
III. Third,
THE SON OF GOD CONDEMNS THE SCRIBES AND
PHARISEES (AND ALL THEIR SUCCESSORS TODAY) FOR DESTROYING THE SOULS OF MEN WITH
FALSE RELIGION (v.15).
Be
sure you understand this verse correctly. Our Lord is not condemning what is
commonly called proselytizing. If you
care for men’s souls, you will do everything within your power to make proselytes of them, that is, to bring
them out of false religion to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not
the encompassing of land and sea to make a disciple that our Lord condemns. He
commands that (Matt. 28:18-20). What he condemns is the destruction of men’s
souls by false religion.
·
Getting
Sinners to Believe a False Gospel (Gal. 3:1)
·
Getting
People to Make a Profession of Faith who have Not Experienced Grace
·
Giving
People a False Peace and False Assurance in a False Hope
These
religious hucksters do not do what they do from a desire to benefit the souls
of men, or bring them to the knowledge of the living God. Not in the least!
Their only object is to swell their own ranks, build their churches, increase
the number of their disciples, and make themselves a name. Their religious zeal
arises not from a desire for the glory of God or the salvation of men’s souls,
but from their own, self-serving interests.
IV. Fourth,
THE LORD JESUS CONDEMNS THE SCRIBES AND
PHARISEES FOR CATEGORIZING SIN (vv.16-22).
Our
Lord plainly declared that we are not to swear at all (Matt. 5:34-36). But the
scribes and Pharisees taught that some swearing was alright, that it was
sometimes okay to take God’s name in vain (Ex. 20:3), so long as one did not swear
by the gold in the temple’s coffers or the gifts upon the altar! Let a man, a
church, or a denomination forsake the teachings of Christ, and it is impossible
to place a limit upon the heresies and foolishness to which they will run.
Without
question, some sins are more grave than others. Some will be punished more
severely than others. But, whenever self-righteous religious men start defining
and categorizing sin, they make the Word of God of none effect and imply that
certain sins, lesser sins, are permissible.
I read this somewhere the other day: “The ten commandments are not ten
suggestions, but ten commandments; and they are not multiple choice!”
V. Fifth, THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES, LIKE THE
RELIGIONISTS AROUND US, EXALTED TRIFLES, WHILE IGNORING THE MOST IMPORTANT
THINGS; FOR THAT THEY MUST BE CONDEMNED (v.23-24).
They
put the last things first and the first things last. They made a great issue
about tithing on the very herbs of their gardens. That would have been okay,
except for one thing. They ignored “mercy
and faith!” I cannot imagine anything that more properly describes this
religious generation.
A.
They are meticulous about the outward form of godliness.
·
Outward
Behavior
·
Dress
Codes
·
Tithing
·
Church
Attendance
B. They ignore the most basic principles of true
religion, or true Christianity.
·
The
Doctrine of the Faith (II Tim. 1:13)
·
The
Exercise of Faith (John 14:1)
·
Mercy
(James 1:27)
VI. Sixth, THE RELIGION OF THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
IS CONDEMNED BY CHRIST BECAUSE IT WAS AN OUTWARD RELIGION OF RITUALS AND
CEREMONIES, RATHER THAN THE INWARD, SPIRITUAL WORSHIP OF GOD (vv.25-26).
For most people, Christianity is an
outward system of creeds, confessions, and ceremonies. But true Christianity,
while never ignoring God’s doctrine or his ordinances, is primarily an inward,
spiritual matter of the heart.
·
I
Samuel 16:7
·
Proverbs
23:26
·
Joel
2:13
·
John
4:23-24
·
Romans
10:9-10
·
Philippians
3:3
VII. Seventh, OUR LORD CONDEMNS AS UTTER HYPOCRISY ALL
RELIGION THAT HAS FOR ITS OBJECT THE APPROVAL OF MEN (vv. 27-28).
Those
religious works and ceremonies which are performed and promoted to show men how
holy, zealous, or devoted we are, are
an abomination to God.
·
Luke
16:15
·
Matthew
6:3-16
We are neither ashamed nor showy. We simply walk
with and serve our God and Savior. We seek to live for his glory and do all
things for his glory. And, really, it does not matter whether anyone other than
God himself sees that. We want to glorify our Father before men. But we do not
want men to look at us and say, There is
a truly humble man or woman, who lives for the glory of God.
VIII. Eighth, THE SON OF GOD HERE CONDEMNS, AS A CROOKED
AND PERVERSE GENERATION OF SNAKES AND VIPERS, THOSE WHO EXALT THE NAMES AND
HONOR OF DEAD PROPHETS, WHILE DESPISING THOSE WHO PREACH AND TEACH THE MESSAGE
OF THOSE PROPHETS (vv. 29-33).
The
scribes and Pharisees built monuments to dead prophets and revered the memories
of God’s saints who lived in other ages. But, by their treatment of Christ, his
disciples, and his people, they demonstrated that they were of one mind with
those who “killed the prophets.”
Illustrations: Bunyan’s Monument
Newton’s
Church
The
Writings of Owen, Bunyan, Gill, Spurgeon
Application:
1.
When
the teachers, preachers, and religious leaders of an age are in such darkness
and delusions, how great is the darkness of that generation.
2.
God
hates hypocrisy!
3.
Of
all men in the world, none are so base, vile, and wicked as those who, as
preachers, in the name of God, use, abuse, and destroy men’s souls for their
own gain; and none shall be judged so severely. Like a man who would dare pilot
a plane loaded with passengers, false prophets do not die alone!
4.
Let
us ever pray as David did, “Let my heart
be found in thy statutes” (Psalm 119:80).