6 September 2015
I. Introduction
--
turn in Bibles to Mat 23:25-28
Matthew 23:25-28 (NIV)
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 most of the time that I have worked at Moody AFB, I have had student
interns from Valdosta State University come out and work with me to get
experience in the field -- and I have found that when you are out working in
God's creation, invariably the subject of God will come up -- there's just
something about being in nature that evokes thoughts of spirituality and of
transcendence, and so I have had the occasion to talk to these students about
their spiritual beliefs, although I have to do so carefully because of my
position as a Government employee
--
I had one student a few years back who worked with me for almost five years --
he was not necessarily on a track to graduate quickly, so I got to know him
very well and we had many talks about spirituality, although they were general
in nature
--
so one day I thought I'd press the issue -- I just came out and 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 -- "Do you want to know why?"
--
he had become very active in church when they hired a new youth pastor -- this
young man was energetic and he loved the Lord and he loved kids -- he got
involved in their lives -- he got them excited about God and introduced them to
modern contemporary Christian music -- he would take them off to concerts and
to other events and the kids just became on fire for God -- the youth group
just kept growing and becoming larger and larger
--
before long, the youth pastor tried to incorporate some of the worship songs
into the Sunday morning worship service -- he tried to get the youth involved
in the actual service -- and that's when the problems started -- you see, the
congregation was primarily comprised of traditional, conservative older adults
-- they didn't like change -- they wanted things to stay just the way the were
-- they didn't want new songs -- they wanted the old traditional hymns -- they
didn't want to hear the youth sing in the choir or read the scriptures -- they
wanted the adults to do this and for the preacher to lead the service
--
however, the parents of the youth in the church liked the idea -- they wanted
the young people involved -- they wanted to bring new things into the service
-- and it turned into a huge issue, resulting in a church split -- the people
who didn't want the youth messing up their services held their ground -- they
told the others if they didn't like it, they could leave -- so many of them
left and started a new church -- but my friend and his family opted to leave
and never go to church again
--
this experience -- this feeling of not being accepted -- of not being loved -- turned
my friend against church -- not against God -- but against church -- and he
said, "That's why I don't go to church"
--
I told him I understood -- I had been in churches like that, but that things
were changing -- many churches in our area now had contemporary worship
services -- they were filled with youth -- filled with life -- more dynamic --
more exciting -- "You're an adult now -- why don't you try one of these
other churches to see if you feel at home there -- to see if you get a
different experience?"
--
and he said no -- he wasn't going to go -- because he had learned it didn't
matter what the church looked like on the outside or what they preached or what
they taught -- they were all hypocrites -- and they didn't care so much about
God or about others as they did themselves and how they looked in the community
-- he said, "They teach one thing and then live a completely different way
-- they're hypocrites -- and I'm not going to be part of a church like that
again"
--
when people tell me they don't go to church because there are too many
hypocrites, my initial reaction is to reply, "Well, we can always make room
for one more" -- but I couldn't say that to my friend, because I knew that
he was right -- there are too many hypocrites in the church today -- and there
are too many hypocritical churches
--
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 hypocrisy 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 and see what Jesus'
message for us this morning is
II. Scripture Lesson
--
verse 25
Matthew 23:25 (NIV)
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? -- that's a word that gets used a lot in society today
to describe others -- but it's a word that we've heard so often, that we often
don't take the time to think about what it really means -- in fact, we've made
up our own definition of hypocrisy that doesn't really fit what the Bible means
when it uses that word in Scripture
--
when you think of a hypocrite in a church setting, what do you think of? --
what comes to mind? -- for most of us, we define a hypocrite as a person who
acts holy and righteous on Sunday but who lives like a sinner the rest of the
week -- but that's not the meaning Jesus had in mind here in this verse
--
the Pharisees certainly didn't fit this definition of hypocrisy -- they didn't
act one way on the Sabbath and then another out in public the rest of the week
-- they were the epitome of holiness in their day -- they were the holiest
people around -- they were the most righteous -- the most zealous for the law
-- they were good and godly men
--
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 their lack of righteousness on the outside -- but
because of their lack of righteousness on the inside
--
the real meaning of the word "hypocrite" or "hypocrisy" is
"to play a part -- to play a role -- take upon oneself a persona that is
not real" -- it comes from the Greek word for actor, and it means to act
one way on the outside while living a different way on the inside
--
you see, the Pharisees were actors -- 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, that they were as
holy and righteous as they seemed on the outside -- 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"
--
the Pharisees 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 -- while their lips praised the Lord, their hearts were far from Him
-- their insides did not match the outside
--
verse 26
Matthew 23:26 (NIV)
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 27-28
Matthew 23:27-28 (NIV)
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 sepulchers"
-- 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 because they were living a lie -- they actually believed
that being holy on the outside was all that mattered -- as long as you looked
holy, they reasoned, you were holy
--
so, if you want to be a bad Christian, become a true hypocrite -- not somebody
the world calls a hypocrite, who is holy only on Sunday and acts like they want
the rest of the week -- no, be a hypocrite in your heart -- lie to yourself --
live everyday like you are holy and righteous -- do holy and good and righteous
things every day and believe that this will get you to heaven, but don't make
any changes in your heart -- don't let the Holy Spirit sanctify you from the
inside out
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 Dave Burchett [http://www.daveburchett.com] points out, "The warnings
of Jesus to the phony Pharisees are also directed at me...and you"
--
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 -- lives a holy and righteous life on
the outside, but who doesn't know the Lord in their heart
--
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
think they are Christians because they come to church or because their family
goes to church or even because their family built this church -- they think
they are Christians because they do good things -- but, truth be told, they're just
playing a part -- they're not Christians at all -- this is where the Pharisees
in this passage lived -- this is where a lot of people sitting in church pews
this morning live
--
in Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,'
will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father
who is in heaven -- Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not
prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many
miracles?' -- Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me,
you evildoers!'"
--
doing good things and looking holy on the outside like the Pharisees will not
get you into heaven -- the only thing that will get you into heaven is the
grace of God -- the only thing that will get you into heaven is a personal
relationship with Jesus -- it doesn't matter how good or holy you look on the
outside, if the inside isn't right -- to get your inside right -- to know Jesus
and to be known by Jesus -- you have to accept His offer of forgiveness and
repent of your sins and ask Him to be your Lord and Savior -- you have to trust
in faith on the finished work of Jesus on the cross
--
the other type of hypocrite that I think is dangerous is the one who looked
back at me from the mirror this morning -- the one who is a Christian -- someone
who has accepted Christ and received forgiveness from sins, but who continue to
live a life of sin and do nothing about it but say to themselves, "What
does it matter if I sin? -- God will just forgive me anyway"
--
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, but we don't really care -- we think to ourselves, "God will just
forgive me," and then 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 performs 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
--
most of us are familiar with 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."
--
we use this to justify our sins -- we use this to claim forgiveness for sins in
our heart we are doing nothing to correct -- we're just covering them over --
we forget what John wrote in the next chapter -- 1 John 2:1 -- "I write
this to you so that you will not sin" -- sin should have no place in the
life of a Christian, but we can do nothing about our continuing sin until we
get honest with God about ourselves and who we are on the inside
--
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
--
we're going to close with the Robert Lowry hymn “Nothing but the Blood," and
as we join together in this final song, I want to challenge you to take an
honest look in the mirror of your heart -- are you living a holy life, inside
and out, or are you a hypocrite? -- are you living one way on the outside while
your heart is far from Jesus? -- if that's the case, plead the blood of Jesus
in your life today -- ask Him to forgive you and to sanctify you and to make
you holy -- ask Him to save you through His grace
--
let us pray
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