INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• WE are winding down our series of 8 Ways to be a bad Christian.
• Today we are going to look at the final issue in our series. This final way we can be a bad Christian is one that can be so damaging not only to ourselves, but to those around us as well.
• If we are not careful, over time we can get to the point where we forget where we came from.
• I do not want us to think that we need to sulk over the past, nor should we let the past drag us down, but one aspect of the past we need to remember is the fact we were at one time lost.
• There were occasions when Paul would remind his readers of this fact.
• SLIDE #2
• Ephesians 2:12 (ESV) 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
• Why are we trekking down this path? When we totally forget where we came from, we can easily gloss over the things we struggle with in our walk, and really come down hard on others who are also struggling.
• IF we are not careful, we can start making ourselves feel better by glossing over our sins and magnifying the sins of others.
• Today that is what we are going to look at as we finish up our series on “8 Ways To Be A Bad Christian” this morning.
• Let us begin by looking at Matthew 23:29-30.
• SLIDE #3
• Matthew 23:29-30 (ESV)29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
• SLIDE #4
• To be able to excuse our sin and yet condemn others, we first need to be able to make ourselves look good.
SERMON
I. MAKE YOURSELF LOOK GOOD. (29-30)
• Here we have Jesus once again calling these men hypocrites. As Jesus peered into the eyes of their souls, He knew what was really going on in the inside of each of them.
• Now He is going after them for building tombs and decorating monuments of the righteous.
• Now once again, this sounds like a nice thing to do, but Jesus was not condemning the act, but the attitude.
• Continuing the imagery of the whitewashed tombs in 23:27-28, Jesus centered on the tombs of the prophets and the graves of the righteous.
• The graves of saints, prophets, and martyrs were revered. People even decorated the graves of those long dead who seemed worthy of such honor. Herod the Great built a marble monument at Solomon’s and David’s tombs.
• The veneration of the martyrs’ graves was ironic because these martyrs had, in most cases, been killed by the religious establishment of the day.
• For example, the prophet Zechariah was executed (2 Chronicles 24:20-22) and the prophet Uriah (or Urijah) was killed (Jeremiah 26:20-23).
• The religious leaders would honor the memory of the dead by speaking well of them, praying near their tombs. Sometimes they would build synagogues close to their places of burial to honor them.
• Jesus knew what was really happening. Remember last week He called these folks whitewashed tombs; they looked great on the outside, but were full of dead men’s bones on the inside.
• These folks were all about appearances. If they looked good enough, all was right.
• One of my best friends in High school joined the army after school. He promptly went out and bought a killer looking 1982 Camero Z28. It was to die for. It looked spotless. The only problem, it was a flood car. The car was the biggest headache ever and later Chris got rid of it.
• If we are going to excuse our sin and condemn others, we must make sure we look good.
• When we get an overinflated view of ourselves, we too will start overlooking what we struggle with and magnify the sins of others.
• Matthew 7, Jesus had a word of advice for all of us.
• SLIDE #5
• In Matthew 7:1-6 (ESV) 1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. 6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
• How do we make ourselves look good?
• How did the religious leaders try to make themselves to look good?
• SLIDE #6
II. THROW OTHERS UNDER THE BUS. (30)
• Have you ever been in one of those conversations where you are discussing the acts of another person and inevitably someone will say, “If I were them, I would not have done that?”
• If you look back to verse 30, you will see the same thing happening.
• SLIDE #7
• 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
• Jesus said that while all this wonderful building and decorating was going on, the religious leaders would proudly proclaim that they would not do what those who came before them did.
• If WE would have lived back then, WE would not have done what they did, WE would not have taken part in the shedding of the blood of the prophets.
• Really? Jesus? Stephen? The early church?
• What was happening was the leaders were throwing those who came before them under the bus.
• By the way, I love that phrase. I do not know why?
• They felt that they looked better by making others look bad.
• These guys put on a show not based on reality.
• The professed to honor the dead, proclaiming that they would not have done what they did, yet they would not receive the living. (Jesus)
• They held Abraham and Moses in the highest esteem, yet they were about to MURDER the one of whom they spoke of.
• Have you ever been around someone who tried to make themselves look good at the expense of others?
• It is like the bully picking on the smart kid. The over weight girl attacking the pretty girl.
• I have seen this happen so many times with parents concerning their daughters in athletics. It happens with guys, but I have coached girls in softball and basketball.
• A parent who thinks their kid should be starting over another will go to the other parents and pick a part a child who is playing ahead of theirs.
• My kid could have made that error.
• You hardly hear them say my child could have made that impossible play!
• Many times as Christians we can be tearing others down just so we can feel good about ourselves.
• I have seen this happen also.
• I have known “Christians” to not like someone just because they were more attractive physically and or spiritually than they were.
• We must guard against trying to build ourselves up by tearing others apart. WE must resist minimizing or sins or struggles by trying to compare them to the sins and struggles of others.
• This goes back to Matthew 7. Jesus tells us not to hypocritically judge others. We can examine what other people do. How can you tell if you are casting your pearls to the pigs unless you make a judgment as to what a pig is?
• What we are not to do is to drop the hammer on others while we ignore what we are dealing with.
• As an extreme example, if we are stealing from our employer, we should not drop the hammer on someone else who is stealing. We need to get our act together then help the person who is struggling with the same thing.
• We should not be throwing others under the bus in order to make ourselves look good.
• In order to be able to excuse our sin while condemning others, that is the path we will have to take.
• Here where it ends up catching up to us.
• SLIDE #8
III. OUR ACTS WILL BETRAY OUR ACT.
• Here me on this one. Eventually our ACTS will betray our ACT.
• What we do will contradict what we say when we try to excuse our sins and condemn others.
• Let’s look at verse 31.
• SLIDE #9
• Matthew 23:31-32 (ESV)31Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.
• In verse 31, Jesus turns there own words against them by reminding the leaders that they acknowledged that their fathers were the ones who shed the blood.
• They were true sons of the fathers, inheriting their murderous instincts and following their character.
• Like father, like son.
• These leaders were going to put into practice all the false principles which led there ancestors astray.
• They were so much like their ancestors that in similar circumstances they would do what their ancestors did.
• Their acts would betray their act!
• Verse 32 looks a little odd in English.
• 32Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.
• Jesus is referring to a metaphor. This verse refers to a full cup, which a single drop more will make the cup overflow.
• This was a prediction of what these people were about to do. They were going to complete what their ancestors began.
• There is a certain limit to iniquity; when this is reached, punishment falls.
• The accumulating iniquity of the nation is represented as a measure which their fathers had provided, partly filled in which they were going to fill to the brim.
• The final drop that the leaders would add to the cup that their ancestors left to them full would be the death of Jesus at their hands along with the persecution of His followers that would take place. There would be vengeance from God to follow!
• The act is over, Jesus sees right through them.
• The holy “ACTS” and words of these people would be exposed to man and had been exposed to God as FAKE, as an ACT.
• Ultimately, if you want to spend you time excusing your sin by trying to make yourself look good, and by throwing others under the bus to make yourself look better, your acts will betray your act!
• You cannot hide what you are from God!
• If you are struggling with sin, do not gloss over it. Work on correcting it. Don’t be embarrassed by your struggle. Do not let your pride keep you from admitting that you need prayer, encouragement and support.
• I want you to understand that God loves you, you do not have to hide things from Him, and He sees them even if you try to hide them.
• Do you think that the religious leaders would have been better off working on their hearts instead of working on their act?
CONCLUSION
• I know some of the messages in this series may have been a bit hard to swallow. I know they have been hard to preach because I am forced to look in the mirror.
• I pray that you do not get riled up against the messenger, but rather that you heed the messages.
• Why do you think God allowed Matthew 23 in the Word? So we can LEARN!
• I pray for the day that we can ALL stop the acts and really lay it all on the table before God and before one another.
• Are you ready to stop the act and take some real action that will change your life and your destiny?
• Come today!
