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).