Full sermon outline follows the handout version.
FOLLOWING THE PHARISEES
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Matthew 23:1-7,13,15,23-25
I. FOX News people.
II. How the Pharisees missed the boat.
A. They were filled with pride.
B. They trusted in their own efforts.
C. They didn't really care about people.
III. Their beliefs were the core of their problem.
A. They made God's Law a weapon.
B. They were hypocrites.
IV. What will your destiny be?
A. Baptists have a lot in common with Pharisees.
B. Do we share their other qualities as well?
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Rev. David Holwick I
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
March 6, 2011
Matthew 23:1-7,13,15,23-25
FOLLOWING THE PHARISEES
I. FOX News people.
A. Conservatives love Fox News.
1) News programs in general are much more partisan these days.
2) Many people, like my in-laws, only get their news from
one channel.
3) There must be many like them because their news program is
rated number one by a long shot.
B. There are a lot of conservatives in America.
1) There were a lot in Israel in Jesus' day as well.
a) The main group of conservatives were called the
Pharisees, and they were his greatest opponents.
b) He calls them hypocrites and snakes and scheming foxes.
2) They reciprocated by crucifying him.
C. Conservatives are dangerous.
1) Mart DeHaan speaks for many of us when he says:
I myself am a religious and moral and political conservative.
I believe in moral absolutes, the authority of the
Bible, and that believing in Jesus is the only way
to get to heaven.
I oppose homosexual marriage and abortion and atheism.
But the most dangerous people in the New Testament were not
atheists or homosexuals or liberals or revolutionaries.
Instead the dangerous people were:
1> Politically active.
2> Religiously conservative.
3> Defenders of spiritual heritage.
In other words, they were a lot like you and me.
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b) We need to study the fatal mistakes they made, and
avoid them ourselves.
II. How the Pharisees missed the boat.
A. They were filled with pride.
1) They did religion for show.
a) They dressed in such a way that their religiosity was
on full display.
b) They loved seats of honor at public events.
c) They liked to be greeted with honorary titles.
2) They saw themselves as better than the average Jew.
a) Classic parable - the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.
b) The Pharisee speaks mostly of himself.
B. They trusted in their own efforts.
1) They trusted in their own works and righteousness.
a) They truly did think they would be saved because they
followed the law to the letter.
b) But theirs was a religion of flesh rather than spirit.
2) They got so wrapped up in their theology they did not
recognize what God was doing through Jesus.
a) Even his miracles they attributed to Satan's power.
3) Jesus emphasized God's power to save.
a) We need his body to be our sacrifice for our sins.
b) We need to trust in him daily for guidance.
1> John 15:5 - "Apart from me you can do nothing."
C. They didn't really care about people.
1) Pharisees scorned sinners while Jesus sought them out.
a) It was an ongoing battle between them.
b) Jesus forgave adulterers and sinful women, he touched
lepers and outcasts, he even did miracles for pagans.
c) Pharisees spent most of their time judging sinners
rather than telling them of salvation.
2) Instead of liberating people, their religion burdened them.
a) Pharisees loved converts, but treated them like notches
in their Bible.
b) They exalted themselves rather than serving others.
1> The world is a lot like this, too.
2> But Jesus said Christians are supposed to be
different - put others first.
III. Their beliefs were the core of their problem.
A. They made God's Law a weapon.
1) The Pharisees were Law people.
a) They loved it, memorized it, taught it and enforced it.
b) But it was more of a weapon to bludgeon opponents than
a source for God's love and eternal life.
c) To the Pharisees, the Law became an end in itself.
1> This is known as legalism.
2) Legalism continues to be enticing.
a) Alvin York's experience.
The death of the last American World War I veteran,
Frank Buckles, has drawn attention to the greatest
hero of that war, Alvin York.
Alvin grew up poor in the mountains of Tennessee.
He also lived a wild life with lots of drinking and
gambling and carrying on.
But his best friend was killed in a bar fight, and Alvin
was convinced that if he didn't change his ways, he
would suffer a similar fate.
So he attended a revival and got saved.
The church he joined was about as strict as they come.
The Church of Christ in Christian Union forbid drinking,
dancing, movies, swimming, swearing, and reading
novels and magazines.
They also had moral injunctions against violence and war,
which gave Alvin York a lot of inner turmoil when
he was drafted. [1]
b) Following strict rules like this can lead to an
admirable moral life.
1> But it can also become the focus of your faith.
2> You see yourself as saved because you do the right
things -- and better than others who don't.
3> The rules become the religion.
B. Hypocrisy.
1) The legalism of the Pharisees easily led to hypocrisy.
a) As Jesus said, they didn't practice what they preached.
2) The Pharisees missed the big picture.
a) They tithed meticulously, yet were mean and unjust.
b) In a picturesque way, Jesus said they strained gnats
and swallowed camels.
1> Gnats were considered the smallest unclean animal.
2> To avoid being contaminated by them, the Pharisees
would strain their drinks through cloth.
3> But somehow they missed the elephants.
c) Their outside looked okay, but inside they were rotten.
1> Sort of like a pretty coffin.
3) Jesus says they would burn in hell.
IV. What will your destiny be?
A. Baptists have a lot in common with Pharisees.
1) We emphasize the Word of God.
2) We believe in high moral standards.
3) We want others to come to believe the way we do.
B. We often share their other qualities as well.
1) Personal self-satisfaction.
Jerry Bridges points out that it is not unusual to look at
society around us and make some comparisons.
People around us are flagrantly immoral, dishonest,
greedy and even violent.
They not only do these things, but often see nothing wrong
with it.
Since we are not guilty of this, we feel pretty good about
ourselves.
Self-righteousness is simply the next step.
Since God loves moral people, and we are more moral than
those around us, he must be pretty happy with us.
We no longer need Jesus to die for us - we are earning our
salvation by our own efforts.
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2) Judgmentalism toward others.
a) First we make the negative comparisons with the actions
of others, then we reject the people themselves.
b) Do you believe people can be redeemed? Even bad people?
1> We often spend more time criticizing than we do
evangelizing.
3) Hypocrisy.
a) While we may like to think we are better than others,
sometimes we are much worse.
b) Think of all the sins you criticize in others but
rationalize in yourself.
c) If you preach it, do you live it?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] “Legends and Traditions of the Great War: Sergeant Alvin York,” by
Dr. Michael Birdwell, http://www.worldwar1.com/heritage/sgtayork.htm
# 2846 “Are You A Good Christian?” by Jerry Bridges, Discipleship Journal,
#84, Nov/Dec 1994, page 21.
#25077 “Why Are the Villains in the Gospels Religious Conservatives?” by
Mart De Haan, RBC Ministries Email Newsletter, July 2003,
https://workarea.rbc.org/btaColumnDetail.aspx?id=46668
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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Draft outline of Matthew 23
I. Authoritative teachers.
A. Obey them.
B. But don't follow them.
II. The problems with the Pharisees.
A. They don't practice what they preach.
B. They burden people.
1) They don't care enough to help.
2) They exalt themselves rather than serve others.
C. They do religion for show.
1) Religious attire is exploited.
2) Places of honor are coveted.
3) Attention in public.
4) Honorary titles.
a) Only God should get this honor.
III. Woe to the hypocrites.
A. They shut out people from God's Kingdom, including themselves.
B. They have zeal (to convert others) but only multiply evil.
C. They don't see the essence of the faith.
1) They value material things more than God. (oaths)
IV. They miss the big picture.
A. They tithe meticulously, yet are mean and unjust.
B. They strain gnats and swallow camels.
C. They clean the outside and miss the inside.
V. They are whitewashed tombs.
A. They are snakes.
B. They are doomed to hell.
Discipleship Journal
OT - grieving the Spirit is connected to our response to God.
A. Forgetting God.
B. Grumbling.
C. Disobedience.
D. Disbelief.
