MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KASNSAS, OK
(Revised: 2014)
A. Generally, those of us who have read much of the Gospel accounts of the life of Christ don't have a very good opinion of the Pharisees.
We read the 23rd chapter of Matthew where 6 different times Jesus says, "Woe unto you, teachers of the Law, Pharisees, hypocrites!"
We remember also that it was a Pharisee who stood up in the Temple & prayed, "God, I thank you that I am not like other men - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all that I get." (Luke 18:11-12). In other words, "God, you're lucky to have me on your side."
We remember, too, in the story of the Good Samaritan that one of those who passed by on the other side, ignoring the wounded & bleeding man, was a Pharisee. These & other incidents leave us with a poor opinion of the Pharisees.
B. Well, we're not the only ones with a poor opinion of most of the Pharisees.
ILL. The writers of the Jewish Talmud listed 7 different kinds of Pharisees, & only one of those classifications was in any way favorable of them.
They agreed that there were some "God fearing Pharisees" who really & truly loved God, & devoutly sought to put into practice the Law of God in their lives. But these were greatly outnumbered by the other kinds of Pharisees.
Some were "Shoulder Pharisees," Pharisees who made quite a show of performing their religious duties. They wanted the praise of men, so they made sure that everybody saw them when they were fasting, or praying, or giving. In effect, they wore their religion on their shoulders for everybody to see.
There were the " Ever reckoning Pharisees " who kept careful track of all the good & bad things that they did, trying to make certain that they always had more good deeds to their credit than bad deeds to their discredit.
Then there were the "Timid or Fearful Pharisees." These were convinced that God was just waiting to zap them for doing something wrong, so they were very timid or fearful of changing the status quo, of doing anything at all.
Others were called "Hump backed or Tumbling Pharisees." These tried to show how humble they were by always shuffling around with their backs bent & their eyes on the ground. Shuffling along, they tumbled over things a lot.
Another group was called the "Bruised & Bleeding Pharisees." These were so fearful that they might see something evil, particularly women, that they kept their eyes tightly closed as they walked along. As a result, they bumped into & fell over things so much that they were constantly bruised & bleeding.
Last of all, there were those the Jewish writers called the "Wait A Little Pharisees." These sounded very religious, but they never got around to practicing what they preached. They were always going to do something special "tomorrow," but as the old saying goes, "tomorrow never comes."
Now I have said all this to get your attention on two words this morning, two words that are used quite often in the Bible to present two contrasting attitudes. And they are used just as often to present those same two contrasting attitudes today.
The first one is the adverb, "but." We use this word a lot, don't we? "I don't mean to be rude, but . . ." & then we proceed to be rude. "I don't want to interrupt, but . . ." & then we go on ahead & interrupt.
PROP. I'm convinced that the faith of a lot of people could very easily be typified by the word, "but."
I. IN THE BIBLE
A. In Luke 9:57-62, we are told that some men said to Jesus, "I will follow you wherever you go." Now that is a very positive statement. Then they completely destroyed the positive statement with the word, "but."
One said, "Lord, I will follow you wherever you go.' But he said, 'Lord, let me first go & bury my father.' Another one says, "I will follow you, Lord, but first I must go home & say goodbye to my family."
You see, they all conveyed the same idea. "Lord, we do want to follow you, but there are other things that come first. And as soon as we get them taken care of, then maybe we can get around to following you."
ILL. There are many other examples in scripture: Five foolish virgins who wanted to go to a wedding, but their lamps were without oil; Others were invited to a wedding feast, but one had to test some oxen, another had to look at a piece of land; & another one had just gotten married, himself.
Ananias & Sapphira wanted to be praised by their fellow Christians for their great generosity, but they weren't really willing to be all that generous, so they lied about it.
Then there was King Agrippa, who was almost persuaded to be a Christian, but he just couldn't bring himself to make that great commitment.
You see, there are a lot of people whose lives can best be typified by their use of the word, "but."
B. The second word is the word, "therefore." And I am convinced that there are a lot of people whose faith might very well be typified by the use of that wonderful word, "therefore."
Do you remember the words of the great commission? Jesus said, "All authority in heaven & on earth has been given to me. Therefore go & make disciples of all nations..." (Matthew 28:18) God speaks, & He expects us to obey.
ILL. Noah was commanded by God to build an ark, & Noah could have made a lot of objections. It had never rained before, & the idea of building an ark in the mountains seemed very foolish. Besides that, it was going to be an overwhelming construction job long before the invention of cranes & modern tools.
Noah could have looked at all of that & said, "But God . . ." But he didn't. He said, "God wants it, therefore I will do it."
ILL. Jesus invited 12 men to follow Him. They could have asked, "Lord, what fringe benefits are you offering?" Or to have replied, "But Lord, we have families & business & financial obligations. We can't leave them."
But no, when He called, they followed. God spoke, therefore they obeyed.
ILL. Barnabas is one of the most inspiring individuals in all of scripture. Barnabas looked at a church in Jerusalem, where many were hungry & suffering. The Bible says that Barnabas owned a tract of land. I don't think that it was a piece of land that was just lying idle, something that Barnabas had extra, that he didn't know what to do with. It was a valuable piece of land.
Yet Barnabas was so moved by the needs of the people that he sold his land & gave all of the money. "God's people needed it," he said, "therefore I will give it."
SUM. You see, in the Scriptures we can find both kinds of people, can't we? There were those who said, "I will, Lord, but . . ." And there were others who said, "I hear you, Lord; I see the need, Lord, therefore . . ."
II. WHAT ABOUT US TODAY?
Now what about us today? Are you a Christian whose faith is best typified by the word, "but?" Or, by the word, "therefore?"
A. John 12:42-43 describes the kind of attitude that is all too prevalent among some church members today.
"Yet at the same time many even of the leaders believed in Him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God."
Does that sound familiar today? "I'm a Christian, but nobody knows it at work. I'm a Christian, but nobody knows it in my neighborhood. I'm a Christian, but oftentimes nobody can tell it from the way I act at home."
"I'm a Christian, but it really hasn't made any difference in my actions. I believe, but it's hard to follow Jesus. I'm a Christian, but I'm busy. I don't have time. I'm a Christian, but . . ." How often have we said things like that?
B. However, the word "but" in the Bible doesn't always have a negative connotation. Listen to the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:12-14, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
C. Paul's words help us realize that there are others who have said, "I'm a Christian, therefore . . ." And that makes a real difference, doesn't it?
ILL. Let me tell you about George Mueller. One day he looked down the streets of Bristol, England, & saw 100's of homeless children. He was so moved with concern for them that he decided that something had to be done.
He had only two pence in his pocket. That's two cents. But he decided to start an orphanage. Over a period of the next 60 years, beginning with only two pence, George Mueller took care of 10,000 orphans. He looked out & saw homeless kids. He could have said, "But I don't have any money. But there is no way to care for them, to meet their needs, to buy the food."
Instead, he looked at them & said, "Therefore, I will reach out & help them." God blessed his efforts in a mighty way, & he told amazing stories of answered prayers.
He kept a record of his prayers, & his prayer records filled more than 3,000 pages. His notes show that more than 30,000 prayers were answered.
One night there was no food in the orphanage to give to the children for breakfast. But at 3:00 in the morning a baker called him up & said, "I just can't sleep. I'm going down to the bakery to bake some bread. Would it be all right for me to bring some over to you this morning?"
One time a milk truck just happened to break down in front of the orphanage on a day when they had no milk. The truck driver came in & said, "This milk is all going to spoil. Would you like some of it?" And their need was met.
Time & time again, 30,000 times in 60 years, God answered George Mueller's prayers, & I'm convinced that it was because he was a "therefore" Christian.
ILL. And how about that great pioneer missionary to China, Hudson Taylor? Hudson Taylor looked at China & saw only himself, one missionary, & millions of people without Christ. So he started praying for more missionaries.
In his lifetime more than 600 people became the answer to his prayers, joining him in China to preach the gospel. Hudson Taylor was a "therefore" Christian.
SUM. There are many obstacles & impossible situations. Yet I'm convinced that God asks us to do impossible things because it is only when impossible things are accomplished that people can see the handiwork of Almighty God.
Do you feel kind of puny in your faith? I do. Here we are sitting around saying, "Well, yes, I believe in God." But do we trust Him?
We say that we believe in the providence of God. Then we run home & worry ourselves sick about all our problems. We say that we believe in the power of God, & then we try to do everything by our own power & solve all our problems ourselves.
You see, sometimes our words & our lives just don't match up.
So what about it? What kind of faith do we have? Is our faith best reflected by the word "but" or by the word "therefore?"
CONCL. Every Sunday we meet here & talk about Jesus. We talk about the Bible. We talk about His sacrifice. Every Sunday we come right to the point where it all boils down to each of us - how will we respond to Him?
"Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins, but - I can't make a decision for Him this morning. Maybe next week, or maybe in a month or two. I'll feel more like doing it then."
Or, "Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins, therefore I do come - repenting of my sins, confessing my faith, & willing to be obedient in Christian baptism - to accept Him as my Lord & my Savior."
We lovingly extend His invitation & pray that you will respond.
