INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• Today we are going to examine a unique group of people as we continue with our A Drifting Heart series.
• Today we will see how the scribes and Pharisees ended up with the worst-case scenario when it comes to a drifting heart, a heart that drifts so far from God that one ends up with no heart.
• Somewhere along the line, these men had drifted so far from God that they ended up with no heart for God.
• They were so far from God that they were plotting to kill Jesus.
• How could this happen, these men were supposed to be the cream of the crop when it came to being religious.
• They were the ones that people were to look to in order to see what it meant to serve and follow God.
• These men follow the law to the letter, but yet here they are, so far from God they could not recognize Him if He were standing right in front of them, WHICH HE WAS!
• Are the scribes and Pharisees so unique that what happened to them could only happen to them?
• Is it possible for me to drift so far from God, that I would no longer have a heart for Him?
• Wait, nothing can separate us from the love of God, no one can snatch us out of His hand, is that not what the Bible tells us?
• It sure does, BUT, we are a free-will being who can walk away from God anytime we choose.
• The context of the message today is that Jesus is confronting the scribes and Pharisees.
• Jesus will proclaim eight WOES against these leaders, chastising them in eight blind spots in their lives that was driving them from God.
• Not only were they drifting away from God, but they were also leading others to do the same thing.
• You know what is scary, how can folks who are so religious be so far from God?
• Let that thought bounce around in your mind, we will come back to that question later!
• Today we are going to look at three of the eight woes so that we can see how to protect ourselves from letting our heart drift so far away from God that we lose heart.
• Let’s turn to Matthew 23, we will be in verses 23-28, let’s start with verses 23-24
• SLIDE #2
• Matthew 23:23–24 (CSB) — 23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, and yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These things should have been done without neglecting the others. 24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat, but gulp down a camel!
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
Our heart will drift from God when we…
I. Major in minors.
• Jesus begins this fifth WOE by reminding the leaders they were hypocrites and, once again, He will let them know why He concluded this.
• This WOE focuses on the act of tithing, which means to give 1/10 of one’s income back to God.
• It is meant to show God that one recognizes that God is the source of one’s blessings and it shows God we trust Him in this area of our life.
• In Leviticus 27:30-33 we find that God commanded that 1/10 of the produce from one's land, as well as a 1/10 of the herds, belongs to God.
• The religious leaders determined, rightly or wrongly that this included their seeds.
• These leaders would spend a great deal of time counting out these tiny seeds to present to God.
• One would think that God would be impressed by this show of religious devotion, this attention to detail.
• Yet here is Jesus calling them hypocrites? Why?
• Jesus was not condemning tithing, far from it, but what He was condemning was the practice of putting the little things over the more significant things.
• The Pharisees were not treating the essential duties (how to treat people in a way that honors God) with the same sense of urgency as they were counting seeds.
• That would be like seeing your loved one with their arm almost cut off, and bleeding profusely, then you would get on them because their shirt does not match their pants. ?
• Jesus offers what God sees as weightier issues, justice, mercy, and faithfulness.
• Justice is making sure we give all their just due. Treating everyone evenhanded, in a fair way.
• Mercy is displaying compassion and kindness to the poor and miserable, displaying loving-kindness in one’s conduct toward others.
• Faithfulness is a commitment to one's promise and/or belief in God.
• The Pharisees were very religious, yet they lacked in these crucial areas because they were only worried about being self-righteous.
• Jesus dealt with this in Matthew 25 where Jesus talked about clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, and visiting folks in prison.
• The people asked when was Jesus in any of those conditions, He replies…
• SLIDE #4
• Matthew 25:40 (CSB) “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
• The religious leaders treated people with contempt, they were so wrapped up in being what they considered righteous, that they forget that God loves people and has compassion toward people.
• Now, let’s take it to a different level.
• Jesus knew the heart of these people, He also knew what they were going to do to Him.
• These men prided themselves on being righteous, yet these men, in their desperation to get rid of Jesus, were willing to accuse an innocent man, to condemn an innocent man to death.
• These men would participate in pronouncing an unjust sentence against Jesus. They were unmerciful toward Him, and they had no faith in anything He or the Father said.
• Jesus told them they were to practice justice, mercy, and faithfulness without neglecting the other things they were doing.
• In verse 24, Jesus uses some humor to make a point.
• It was common practice to strain one’s wine through a linen cloth to keep one from swallowing an insect, which would make one ceremonially unclean.
• Jesus said you all are straining gnats and swallowing camels (which would make them unclean also).
• Religious duty is essential, but we are not to perform that duty at the exclusion or in place of justice, mercy, and faithfulness.
• Jesus called them blind guides, the blind cannot see where they are going nor can they be trusted to lead others.
• Let’s look at verses 25-26
• SLIDE #5
• Matthew 23:25–26 (CSB) — 25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, 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, so that the outside of it may also become clean.
• SLIDE #6
Our Heart will drift from God by…
II. Focusing on what man can see.
• Now Jesus hits them with WOE number 6.
• These guys would clean the outside of the dishes and cups they would eat and drink from.
• Jesus was not condemning the practice, He was condemning the fact that these leaders were so focused on what man could see, the outside, that they paid no attention to the inside.
• Those pretty cups and dishes were littered with crusty and moldy food particles from past meals.
• These leaders were great at looking good on the outside.
• People wrongly surmised that because these guys looked the part, that they were the real deal.
• In the NFL, they love a big strong-armed quarterback.
• Throughout the history of the NFL, there have been so many prototype quarterbacks who looked the part but failed miserably.
• The year Peyton Manning was drafted, Ryan Leaf was that big strong-armed quarterback. San Diego selected him number 2 behind Manning in the 1998 draft out of Washington State.
• Leaf was 6’5”, 235 lbs, he could make all the throws and had a cannon for an arm.
• Many believed he should have been the number 1 pick.
• Leaf washed out, he looked the part, but could not play the role. His life is a sad story of failure.
• When you spend all your time focusing on what others can see, you will neglect what is important in life.
• How much time did you spend getting ready for church today? How much time did you spiritually prepare to be here, I am looking in the mirror on this one also?
• To these guys, appearance trumped what was on the inside. Should you take care of your appearance, YES, but not at the exclusion of what is happening on the inside.
• Many relationships fail because one or both in the marriage work hard on putting on the appearance of a perfect marriage, yet they do nothing internally to make it healthy.
• It is like spending all your resources on making your car look good while neglecting what is under the hood.
• Jesus said, you look good but, on the inside, they were full of greed and self-indulgence.
• It is like the man who says he loves his wife, yet is hooked on porn, and lusts after every female that crosses his path. Yet the marriage appears to be strong.
• In verse 26, Jesus tells them to clean the inside first then the outside. This leads us to verses 27-28.
• SLIDE #7
• Matthew 23:27–28 (CSB) — 27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity. 28 In the same way, on the outside, you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
• SLIDE #8
Our Heart will drift from God by…
III. Neglecting what only God can see.
• The seventh WOE deals with a different level of hypocrisy.
• The religious leaders were careful about what others could see yet gave no regard for only what God could see.
• Time and time again they did things to receive the applause of man, not caring what God thought.
• Only God knows your heart.
• The Jews would whitewash tombs just before Passover so that a person would not accidentally step on a grave and make themselves ceremonially unclean before the Passover. Numbers 19:16
• It is easy to look good, to give off an impression that you are holy and devoted to God.
• It is actually quite easy to fake it. You can fool pretty much everyone you want, maybe except your spouse and children.
• We need to place our focus on working on only what God can see.
• We do not need to clean ourselves then come to Jesus, we need to go to Jesus and let Him work on us from the inside out, not the outside in!
• Jesus said, gentlemen, you look marvelous on the outside, but just like those whitewashed tombs, on the inside, they were full of dead bones and every kind of impurity!
• These were the ones who would put Jesus to death.
• He says this in verse 28.
• In the same way, on the outside, you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
• What good is it to fool people when I cannot fool God.
• The only explanation is for one to live this way in my view is that they do not think there is a God to fool.
CONCLUSION
• Back to a question I posed in the introduction, how can folks who are so religious be so far from God?
• This can happen when we do religious acts, and we think those religious acts make us righteous.
• We need to understand that you can be the most religious person on the earth, but if you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus, those acts are just acts.
• When I feel like I can earn my salvation, I have no need for Jesus, and my heart will drift away.
• There are so many out there who do not think they need Jesus because they can do it on their own, their own way.
• Don’t let your heart drift so far away that you end up with no heart for God.
• Do not neglect only what God can see. Use that same thought in your relationships also!
