Preached by Gregory W. Lee
3 June 2007
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Mat 23
25. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
26. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.
28. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
-- for the past year, I have been having conversations with a student in my office about religion -- one day I asked him, "Do you go to church anywhere?" -- he told me that he had been a member in a local baptist church growing up -- but that he hadn't been to church since he was 16 years old
-- he told me about how the church elders had a problem with the youth group being too loud and too boisterous and how they didn't want the youth in the church -- they wanted things to stay just the way it always had -- and they didn't like the way the youth were bringing contemporary worshp songs into the church and doing things that they had never done in a worship service before
-- it turned into a huge issue and he said that the church actually split over it -- the people who didn't want the youth messing up their services stayed in the church and the others went off to found a new congregation -- but he and his family opted to leave and not come back
-- he shared that this turned him against church -- not against God -- but against church -- so now that he's an adult and out on his own, I asked him why he didn't try going to one of the other churches in town that had more contemporary and charismatic services -- and he replied back with that familiar line, "Because there's too many hypocrites in the church."
-- my initial reaction was to reply back, "Well, we can always make room for one more" -- but I just couldn't -- because I knew that he was right -- there are too many hypocrites in the church today
-- as you know, we've been going through this series from Matthew 23 on "How to be a bad Christian" -- it's what we call an expository series -- where we take a passage and break it down and try to get from it the message that the Spirit has for the church today
-- there are several advantages to expository preaching -- one is that I know ahead of time what the sermon text is going to be -- and, hopefully, it keeps me from getting stale and from preaching on the same topics over and over again because you are bound by the message in the text you are using
-- and, another advantage, is that sometimes you are forced to preach messages that are just a little harder or a little closer to home than you would normally like to bring
-- and that's just what happened this week in this passage -- you see, the reason I knew that my student was right -- that there are too many hypocrites in the church today -- is because I saw one first thing this morning -- when I looked at myself in the mirror before breakfast
-- if we are honest with ourselves -- like it or not -- we have to admit that there is within us a little hypocrisy from time to time
-- it is that hypocrisy -- the hyprocrisy that is found within believers and within churches -- that Jesus is confronting in our passage today
-- so, if you would -- let's look back at this passage again in some more detail and let's try to see what Jesus' message for us this morning is
II. Scripture Lesson
-- verse 25
25. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
-- so what is a hypocrite? -- well, we get the word "hypocrite" or "hypocrisy" from a Greek word that means "Actor" -- it means to play a part -- to act one way on the outside while living a different way on the inside
-- now that definition is a little different from the way we normally define a hypocrite -- normally, when we think of a person that is a hypocrite in the church, we think about someone who portrays themselves as holy on Sunday but then goes out and lives like a sinner the rest of the week
-- there are certainly people who do that -- the televangelist scandal of recent years shows us that this type of hypocrisy occurs -- but that's not the meaning Jesus had in mind when He used the word "hypocrisy" in this passage
-- the Pharisees were holy every day -- they were the holiest people around -- they were the most righteous -- the most zealous for the law -- they were good and godly men -- they didn't act one way on the sabbath and then act another way the rest of the week
-- in fact, Jesus commended their outward righteousness on occasion -- in Matthew 5:20, Jesus tells His disciples, "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven"
-- these men were as holy and righteous in their actions as they could be -- they had it down -- they were the standard to follow
-- but still, Jesus called them hypocrites -- not because of of their lack of righteousness on the outside -- but because of their lack of righteousness on the inside
-- you see, they were playing a part, just like a part in a play-- it was the only part they knew -- and they had played it for so long, they had actually started believing it was true -- as a famous French classical writer once commented, "We [become] so accustomed to wearing a disguise before others that we are unable to recognize ourselves"
-- they really believed they were holy -- they really believed they were righteous -- and so did everyone who saw them
-- so Jesus had to do something drastic to shock them into reality
-- "Hypocrites," He cries out, "All you are doing is washing the outside of the cup and the dish, but the inside is as dirty as ever" -- in other words, "You may be clean and holy and shiny on the outside -- you may think you are holy and righteous through and through -- but your heart is still as dark and evil and dirty as always"
-- the Pharisees had been more concerned about appearing holy before men than before God -- and while their lips praised the Lord, their hearts were far from Him
-- verse 26
26. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
-- notice that Jesus calls them "blind" here in this passage -- the Pharisees and the teachers of the law prided themselves in interpreting the Scripture -- in knowing the law and understanding the law and teaching it to others -- showing them the way they should go in their lives
-- but Jesus says that they are blind -- they haven't seen the truth themselves -- they have missed reality and settled instead for a part in a play
-- "Clean the inside first," Jesus says, "and then the outside will follow"
-- for all their acting -- for all their trying to be holy and righteous and to follow the law to the "nth" degree -- the Pharisees could never be holy in the eyes of God, because their heart was not right with Him
-- as Isaiah pointed out in Isaiah 64:6, "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags" -- in other words, we can try to act holy and righteous and good, but our acts don't amount to anything unless they are driven from a pure and clean heart
-- once you are clean on the inside, good works will naturally follow -- pouring up out of the wellspring of living water that is within us
-- Jesus calls the Pharisees and the teachers of the law "hypocrites" because they were trying to live holy lives on the outside without first being holy on the inside
-- I once read about this man who applied this principle to his home -- actually, he did it to fool the tax assessor -- he didn't take care of the outside of his house -- his lawn was unkempt -- his bushes were not trimmed -- leaves were not raked -- the paint was peeling -- gutters hanging down -- the place just looked like a mess
-- but, on the inside, it was palatial -- he had the best carpet -- top of the line furnishings -- high dollar entertainment center with stereo -- it was a showcase -- it was a home you'd expect to see in the pages of a magazine
-- even though his motives in this case were not pure, he did illustrate what Jesus is trying to point out in this passage -- it is not the external things that count -- it is not the part that the people see that counts -- it is the inside part -- it is your heart and your spirit and your relationship with the Father -- that is what is important -- and that is where you should be working and putting your most time and effort
-- do you remember what God told Samuel when Samuel went to Jesse's house to anoint the next king of Israel? -- Samuel wanted to anoint Jesse's oldest son who was tall and handsome and well-built -- but God said, "No, this isn't him" -- in 1 Samuel 16:7, God told Samuel, " Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
-- what defines a hypocrite in God's eyes? -- someone who looks holy on the outside but who is far from Him in their heart
-- verse 27
27. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.
28. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
-- Jesus makes His same point to them in another way -- once a year, the tombs in Jerusalem would be repainted -- they would be made to look new and shiny so they would be attractive to all who passed by them
-- but being clean and attractive on the outside did not change what was on the inside -- they were still tombs and they still held the bones of the dead
-- according to the Law, anything dead was unclean -- and if a Jew touched a dead person or their bones, then they would be considered unclean until they had been cleansed by the priest
-- by calling them "white-washed tombs" -- "whited sepulchres" -- Jesus was pointing out to them that they were not only ceremonially unclean -- but they were unclean in the eyes of God
-- they talked like they were holy -- they walked like they were holy -- they acted like they were holy -- but in reality, they were unclean hypocrites leading others astray
-- so, if you want to be a bad Christian, become a true hypocrite -- thinking that by being holy on the outside you can make up for internal failings and hidden sins
-- as Dave Burchett [http://www.daveburchett.com] points out, "The warnings of Jesus to the phony Pharisees are also directed at me...and you"
III. Application and Closing
-- my student contended that there were too many hypocrites in the church today -- and when I saw myself in the mirror this morning, I found myself agreeing
-- as I see it, there are two dangerous types of hypocrites in the church
-- I'm not worried about the people who come in and pretend to be holy on Sunday and then live a sinful life the rest of the week -- they aren't playing a part that they think is real -- they know that they are sinners and far from God -- and so does everyone else who sees them -- God is already working on their heart, convicting them of their unrighteousness -- that's why they come to church and try to blend in on Sundays
-- no, I'm worried about the other two types of hypocrites in the church -- the ones who are dangerous because they are lying to themselves
-- first, there is the person who comes to church religiously -- who is a pillar of the church -- sings in the choir -- knows all the words to the songs -- comes to Bible study -- always participates in everything that goes on -- does good things in the church and in the community -- really looks holy -- but doesn't know the Lord -- in fact, there's never been a point in their life when they made a personal decision to ask Jesus to forgive them of their sins and to come into their life to be their Lord and Savior
-- these are the hypocrites that think they can become Christians by osmosis -- they are Christians because they come to church or because their family goes to church or even because their family built this church -- but, truth be told, they're playing a part -- they're not Christians at all
-- the other type of hypocrite is the one who looked back at me from the mirror this morning -- the one who is a Christian -- who has accepted Christ and received forgiveness from sins -- but who still has unforgiven sin in their hearts that they are dealing with on a regular basis
-- maybe it's anger -- or covetness -- or lust -- or pride -- or gossip -- or envy -- or lying -- or stealing -- or any number of things -- whatever it is, it's deep inside -- and we know it -- and so we compensate by doing good things to make up for it -- "Perhaps if I'm holy enough on the outside, it will make up for what's on the inside"
-- and so we put forth one picture for the world -- of the holy Christian man or woman -- the one who is doing all the right things and really living for the Lord -- when inside we know that our hearts just aren't where they ought to be
-- either way, we're just as big a hypocrite as the Pharisees ever pretended to be
-- so what do we do about it? -- well, there's only one thing we can do -- and that's run to the cross of Jesus -- as Timothy Sanford says, "The cross is the only cleansing agent that originates from God and performas a once-and-for-all cleansing of the believer"
-- the cross can cleanse us -- whether it's the cleansing of sins for the first time for a person who has never accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior or whether it's the daily cleansing of
sins from us Christians
-- as it says in 1 John 1:9-10, "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness -- If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."
-- the only cure for hypocrisy is the blood of Christ -- and the only place to get that cleansing blood is from the cross of Jesus
-- as the Robert Lowry hymn “Nothing but the Blood," says:
"What can wash away my sins?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh, precious is the flow,
That makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus."
-- this morning, if you find yourself a hypocrite -- either because you have never accepted Christ or because you have been trying to cover up your sins by being good and holy on the outside -- then I want to invite you to come to the cross and let Jesus' blood wash away your sins and cleanse you again
-- as always, the altar is open for any who wish to come forward and respond to God's word -- let us pray
No comments:
Post a Comment