Woes to the Pharisees
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
Beloved, I would like to start today’s message with an answer to the question:
Who are the Pharisees?
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To best answer that, we need to go back to 332 BC for that is when Alexander the Great conquered the Middle East, bringing Greek culture and philosophy to Israel.
By 200 BC, Greek philosophy and its worldview called Hellenism were significantly impacting Jewish young men.
More and more of them were abandoning the Hebrew faith and embracing the perceived superiority of Greek thought and ways.
This created a crisis in Judaism.
Would the “faith” and its covenant responsibilities survive in the generations to come?
Thus the Pharisees was born in response to this alarming Hellenistic trend.
Its two-fold purpose was to call young Jewish men back to the tenants of the Hebrew faith and to a priest-like life.
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The first Pharisees had their hearts in the right place.
They had a passion for evangelism -- bringing Jewish young men back to the historical faith as well as bringing Gentiles into Judaism.
They prayed dozens of times each day.
They memorized great portions of the Old Testament Scriptures.
They had a passion to honor God in everything they did and to fulfill all 613 laws in their lives.
But as is true with many movements, factions within the Pharisees slowly began to revise their “theology” as they hardened their hearts towards those dissimilar to them.
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Even though there may have been no more than 6,000 Pharisees in the Jesus' day, there was considerable “theological” diversity among them.
There's a saying that “Whenever three Jews get together, there are at least four opinions!”
There were differences between the northern and southern Pharisees and even within those two groups there was great diversity of belief and practice.
However, when we get to the Pharisees who increasingly stood in opposition to Jesus, we're primarily talking about the Pharisees in the south, particularly those in Jerusalem who were aligned with the Sadducees and together constituted the Sanhedrin, the Jewish “Supreme Court” ruled over religious matters and controlled the worship and ministry of the Temple.
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By the time of Jesus, some of the Pharisees had taken observant Judaism to a place that did not honor God in much of what they did.
Collectively, they took great pride in their impeccable behavior.
They focused on their idea of doing what's right in the law and believing their interpretation of the Scriptures and the laws.
If you didn't agree with them, you were perceived and treated to be outsiders.
They began to exhibit hard hearts and harsh attitudes toward the “outsiders.”
Jesus likened the Pharisees to “white-washed tombs,” clean looking on the outside but dead bones on the inside.
In their zeal for God, they gradually evolved into an Insider-Outsider “theology.”
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So, please turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.
We will conduct our study in Chapter 11 and focus on verses 37 through 44.
Our message this morning is titled, “Woes to the Pharisees ”
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As you are turning to our passage...
Keep this in mind...
The message today will focus on the sharp contrast of blind faith built on man-made traditions...
And a saving faith built on God’s Word.
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So, this morning we will cover three main points:
1) The Tradition of Men
2) The Neglect of Others
And...
3) The Approval of Men
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Heavenly Father...
You are the our true source of life...
You are truly like no other...
For You are the one true God!
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Help us never seek to have our ears tickled...
Help us to find true satisfaction in all that Your Word offers us...
For it is only the Scriptures that we can relay on as our ultimate authority!
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Thank You for Your mercy and grace for saving all Your lost sheep...
Instead of giving us what we deserve...
You gave us eternal life!
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Thank You for giving us this blessed day today...
Use us to share Your precious Gospel message with the lost...
Us is to share the Good News with the one’s still in the darkness!
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And it is in Jesus’s name we pray all these things...
Amen.
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
37 While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table.
38 The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner.
39 And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
40 You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also?
41 But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.
42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
44 Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) The Tradition of Men
1) The Tradition of Men
Verses 37-40: While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also?
Luke opens this next section by by explaining that “while Jesus was speaking” He recieved an invitation to a meal.
Now, what Jesus was talking about is found in the previous verses that we covered last week in Luke 11:33-36 which says:
33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.
34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.
35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness.
36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”
Beloved, keep this passage in mind...
For at this meal that Jesus is invited to will be the setting for Jesus’ next lesson...
A lesson of what a life of darkness looks like in comparison to a life of light...
And that whole conversation started when Jesus refused to participate in the man-made traditions of the religious elite of His day.
As the theologian James R. Edwards says:
“The banquet to which Jesus is invited is not an evening meal but an earlier afternoon meal.
The reference to ‘reclining,’ the protocol at formal meals, indicates the importance of the affair.
Given the Pharisees’ history of antagonism to Jesus, this prestigious invitation raises apprehensions.
Indeed, the Pharisee ‘was surprised … that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.’”
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Next, let’s take a look a verse 38 and let’s take a look at the NLT rendering of that verse which says:
“His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom.”
Now, the host’s surprise here implies criticism and offense...
For the Pharisee was concerned with the ceremonial washing that was tradition for them...
In fact, the Greek word for “wash” refers to a ceremonial ablution...
So, this is not about hygiene but ritualistic tradition...
Yet, nothing in the law commanded such washings.
You see Beloved, although the law of Moses prescribed washing in preparation for rituals at the sanctuary...
Like for the tabernacle and later for the temple...
The rabbinic tradition was extended by men, not by God, to the requirement to everyday life...
So, this is an extrabiblical requirement that is not found in the Word of God.
The Pharisee rationalized their practice by saying that if Israel is to be a “kingdom of priests” then the requirement they established is appropriate...
Yet, this is just an example of men leaning on their own understandings instead of just obeying what the Word of God says.
Beloved, sometimes what we need to do is very clear in Scripture...
But in our self-righteousness we can feel it is too simple...
And then we complicate the requirements of God...
And by complicate I mean we destroy the original intent of God’s law and commands with our foolish innovations!
We must come to the realization that you and I can’t help God!
We can’t be more holy than Him...
We can’t be more wise than Him...
We can’t be more devoted than Him...
We can’t be more loving than Him...
We can't be more just than Him...
And the list goes on!
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So, the Pharisees just practiced this washing before eating because they believed that this ritual would cleanse them of any accidental ceremonial defilement.
Yet, this was nothing more than a man-made tradition that had no real power yet it was treated as a religious law by the Jews of Jesus’ time.
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Beloved, consider what it says in Mark 7:1-13:
1 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem,
2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed.
3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders,
4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.)
5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”
6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!
10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’
11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban” ’ (that is, given to God)—
12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother,
13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
So, the Pharisees were preoccupied with external ceremonies but overlooked the more important issue of internal morality.
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Now, Jesus wasn’t going to be playing any games...
He was not going to go along with their made up games and delusions...
So, Jesus did not participate in this act for in all reality it was an additional burdens to God’s revelation...
And our the Lord refused to affirm man-made regulations that violated the commandments of God.
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In fact, to really grasp Jesus stance on this, we need to realize that Jesus was clearly willing to insult His host in order to bring him face-to-face with the Pharisees spiritual bankruptcy...
He was bold, Beloved...
We can’t “meet people where they are at” by participating in destructive practices and out right sin...
We truly “meet people where they are at” by being loving and honest and sharing God’s truth with them in a way they can understand...
Even if offend them in the process.
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So, we should do likewise and follow or Master’s lead...
Never having fear to offend...
But never enjoying the fact that someone is offended by God’s truth.
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Beloved, we are called to be bold...
And we and called to be loving...
So, baptize your words and actions with boldness and love!
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Jesus then says, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.”
Here, our Savior was pointing out to the fact that the Pharisees’ focus on external issues lay at the heart of their error.
Who would want to drink from a cup that had been washed on the outside but was still filthy inside?
Symbolically speaking, the Pharisees scrupulously cleaned the parts of the dishware that were inconsequential while leaving the eating surfaces filthy and unsanitary.
So, the point is that despite their outward devotion to ritual, ceremony, and tradition, on the inside they were full of robbery and wickedness.
The Pharisees simply lived their lives as if external appearance were more important than internal reality...
And that was the very essence of their hypocrisy, and Jesus rebuked them for it repeatedly.
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Even the word “greed” that Jesus used was a very strong term and in our passage means taking advantage of others by robbery and plunder...
This an obsessive love for earthly pleasures and the material world...
So intoxicating that it leads those under its spell to cheat, con, and steal from those who are easy prey.
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Finally, Jesus says:
“You fools!
Did not he who made the outside make the inside also?”
Now, in Old Testament wisdom literature, a “fool” signified a type of person or pattern of behavior that rejected the ways of God in favor of one’s own destructive ways...
That is the term Jesus is using to describe the Pharisees...
For they should know better...
They should understand that God cares about both the outside and the inside!
As Matthew 15:10–19 says:
10 And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand:
11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”
12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”
13 He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.
14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
15 But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.”
16 And he said, “Are you also still without understanding?
17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?
18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.
19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
You see Beloved, no amount of external good works can save you...
The Pharisees and any other man-made religion out there always puts together a checklist for it’s adherents to follow...
And it they follow the rules they can earn Heaven...
But that is not how it works with God!
As Colossians 2:23 says:
23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
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Next, Jesus broadens this rebuke to more than a single tradition that the Pharisees hold but starts pointing out other examples of unfaithfulness of them...
And Jesus declares three woes against the religious elite...
So, let’s take a look at our second point and explore the first of the woes.
2) The Neglect of Others
2) The Neglect of Others
Verses 41-42: But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you. “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
Now, Jesus starts our by talking about alms giving here...
That would be tithes and offerings...
We see this in the Torah which required Israelites “to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year” for the support of worship centers and their ministers, as well as foreigners, the fatherless, and widows...
For a source from Scripture, check out Deuteronomy 14:22–29.
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So, the point that Jesus is making is that alms are to be given not for show, but as an expression of a faithful heart...
You are to give from within for true almsgiving is not the external act, but is a reflection of one’s attitude before God.
That is why Jesus tells us that there must be a right inner attitude when one gives to the poor, and when the inside is right, all is clean.
The Reformation Study Bible puts it this way:
“Tithing was intended as a joyful and thankful offering expressing love for God, but the Pharisees, by counting up stalks of mint and the like, had turned it into a burdensome duty.
The law of Moses required that farmers tithe on produce and animals; consumers of these farm goods were not so required.
Precision in tithing spices may have expressed a suspicion that those who grew them, unlike the conscientious Pharisees, had been lax in keeping this law.”
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Now, I like the NLT translation of verse 42 which says:
“What sorrow awaits you Pharisees!
For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God.
You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.”
So, tithing is important and needs to be part of our life...
Churches, ministers, missionaries, and the like are not able to function without thites and offerings...
But we are not to neglect weightier commands by God to be super meticulous with how and what we tithe on...
We need to give attention and priority to the things that God gives attention and priority to...
So, do not neglect the most important of commands for the lesser ones.
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In our case here, Jesus tells the Pharisees:
“But woe to you Pharisees!
For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God.
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Now, the word “woe” from our passage is not primarily a sentimental expression of sorrow...
Here the word is used as a declaration of judgment...
And the judgment they are under is due to the neglect of following commands like those found in Zechariah 7:9–10 which says:
9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another,
10 do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”
Yet, these religious leaders were more concerned with greet than serving the needy...
These religious leaders loved the treasures of this world more than the treasure that God offers...
As Luke 16:14–15 says:
14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.
15 And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
You see Beloved, Jesus was pointing out to the Pharisees that they too need to repent...
That they, although the religious leaders of their day, also fall short...
They need to look to God for approval and not other men...
As scholar Darrell L. Bock says:
“The conceptual linkage to repentance and to Luke 11:29–32 shows what Jesus is doing at this meal.
He is explaining that the Pharisees are included in the evil generation he just condemned.
Certainly the Pharisees would have agreed with Jesus that the current generation of Jews was evil, but they would have excluded themselves from that group.
Jesus is saying that the Pharisees belong among the condemned.
And if the pious Pharisees stand condemned, who is excluded from the call to repent?
Clearly the answer is no one.
All stand in need of God and the message that Jesus brings, whether they realize it or not.”
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Beloved, evaluate your inner most self and be honest...
What do you really love?
Do you love the world?
Do you love the things in the world?
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Or do you love God?
Do you love His commands?
Do you love His ways?
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You can’t have it both ways...
As 1 John 2:15 says:
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Unfortunately, the Pharisees as a whole choose the love of the world over the love of God...
The Pharisees cared more about what other men had to say versus what God said in His Word...
And this takes us to the second and third woes which we cover in our third and final point.
3) The Approval of Men
3) The Approval of Men
Verses 43-44: Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”
Now, the term “greetings” mentioned in verse 43 are referring to elaborate salutations that showed the recipients to be important people...
So, the greeting in the marketplaces was not so much a quick hello as an involved salutation of respect...
And in the Talmud, a book of Jewish man-made laws, such elaborate greetings were compulsory for teachers of the law.
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However, I would like you to take a look at the stark contrast between the attitude the Pharisees had regarding themselves and what Jesus says about His followers...
Just take a look with me at Matthew 23:8–12 which says:
8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.
9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.
10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ.
11 The greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Instead of seeking to be recognized by others...
Instead of looking to sit in places of honor...
Instead of focusing on oneself...
We are to point all glory to God.
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We mus realize that as followers of Christ, each and every one of us needs to be a servant leader...
We need to have a heart of service like Christ did...
For in the end...
When God’s final judgement takes place...
The ones who sought their own glory will be humbled...
And the ones who lived in humility will be exalted...
Just look with me at Matthew 20:25–28 which says:
25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,
28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
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Next, I would like to take a look at the NLT once again regarding its rendering of verse 44 which says:
“Yes, what sorrow awaits you!
For you are like hidden graves in a field.
People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.”
You see Beloved, in biblical times touching a grave made a person ceremonially defiled...
We know this from Numbers 19:16 which says:
16 Whoever in the open field touches someone who was killed with a sword or who died naturally, or touches a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
Now, an unmarked grave was a hidden source of ritual impurity...
You see Beloved, it was customary in Israel to whitewash tombs to mark them in the spring of the year so people would not unknowingly come into contact with them.
This was of particular importance for priests and Levites, for whom a seven-day defilement might render them unfit for temple service.
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So, Jesus used unmarked graves as a metaphor for the Pharisees’ pious appearances, which disguised their inner wickedness...
For they are like graves not clearly marked.
Furthermore, Jesus’ point is that people who follow the Pharisees are deceived...
For they become “unclean” before God without even knowing that the Pharisees have led them astray...
This is applicable to false religions like Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses...
And it is applicable to apostate churches like Catholics and Orthodox who have added man-made traditions to the Gospel message.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary on Luke puts it this way:
“In calling Pharisees ‘unmarked graves,’ Jesus accuses them of a dangerous deception:
They presume to be religious leaders and models, because of which they enjoy great social esteem, but those who are attracted to them, or who would pattern themselves after them, are rendered unclean and defiled in the sight of God.”
So, the Pharisees may have seen themselves as the paragon of purity...
But the reality of the situation is that they where in fact leaders of spiritual uncleanness whose teaching leads people to death.
As 2 Corinthians 11:13–15 says:
13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
Likewise take a look at what John 12:42-43 says:
42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue;
43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
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Beloved, the glory that comes from men will never last...
It fades away...
The greatest show of honor that the world can offer you pales in comparison to being in right standing with God...
So, in all you do give God the glory...
And live by the principles commanded in Scripture.
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It does not matter what the Pharisees taught...
Their “wisdom” will fade away.
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It does not matter what Mormons teach today...
Their “wisdom” will fade away.
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It does not matter what Jehovah's Witness teach today...
Their “wisdom” will fade away.
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It does not matter what Roman Catholics teach today...
Their “wisdom” will fade away.
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It does not matter what Eastern Orthodox teach today...
Their “wisdom” will fade away.
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But, you want to know what source of true wisdom won’t ever fade away...
The Word of God!
Just look at what it says in Matthew 24:35:
35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
So, as this message comes to a close...
I would like you to consider this:
Paul W. Powell once observed:
“Pride is so subtle that if we aren’t careful we’ll be proud of our humility.
When this happens our goodness becomes badness.
Our virtues become vices.
We can easily become like the Sunday School teacher who, having told the story of the Pharisee and the publican, said:
‘Children, let’s bow our heads and thank God we are not like the Pharisee!’”
Lest we forget, each and everyone of us who is a genuine born-again believer is only now a believer due to God’s grace...
Let us not look down on the Pharisees, Mormons, Jehovah's Witness, Catholics, and Orthodox...
Remember, some of us come from that same background...
And remember that all of us, even if that wasn’t our background, had a past...
And it wasn’t pretty...
We all had to repent and believe.
So, pray for those under the spell of false religions and apostate churches have the chance to also experience God’s grace...
For we would not have any hope if it was’t for God the Father sending His Son to pay the ultimate price for us...
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And it is now about Christ’s sacrifice that we bring our attention to.
Communion
Communion
As we begin our communion service, I want to invite every genuinely born-again believer in the room to partake in this act together.
If you do not yet know the Lord and do not have a relationship with Him...
Or if you are under church discipline from this church or another church...
Then I will ask that you wait until you have resolved your issue before participating.
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As you came in you should have picked up a communion packet if you are joining us.
This has both the bread and juice in a convenient package.
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If you have not received one of these, please raise your hand and someone will get you one.
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Before we join in communion together, I would like us to consider 1 Corinthians 11:23-26:
23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,
24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Now, as you meditate on that...
I would like to share this story...
Some years ago, on a hot summer day in South Florida, a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house.
In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went.
He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore.
His mother, in the house and looking out the window, saw the two as they got closer and closer together.
In utter fear, she ran toward the water, yelling to her son as loudly as she could.
Hearing her voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother.
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It was too late.
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Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him.
From the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs.
That began an incredible tug of war between the two.
The alligator was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much to passionate to let go.
A farmer happened to drive by, heard her screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the alligator.
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After weeks and weeks in the hospital the little boy survived.
His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal.
On his arms, were deep scratches from where his mother’s fingernails dug into his flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she loved.
The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma asked if he would show him his scars.
The boy lifted his pants legs.
And then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter,
“But, look at my arms.
I have great scars on my arms too.
I have them because my Mom wouldn’t let go.”
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Just like a mother who loves her child, so God loves each of you.
The scars on the hands and feet of Jesus remind us that God, in His great love for us, could not let us go.
Communion reminds us of the cost Jesus paid for our sins.
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So, Beloved...
Let’s all take a moment right now in silent prayer to thank the Lord for all He did for us...
(MOMENT OF SILENCE)
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Tom will you pray before we partake in the bread:
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The Word of God says in Luke 22:19:
19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
(TAKE THE BREAD)
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Adrian will you pray before we partake in the cup:
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The Word of God says in Luke 22:20:
20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
(TAKE THE CUP)
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With that we conclude the communion portion of our service.
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Let’s pray...
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Heavenly Father...
If anyone hearing this message right now does not know You in a saving way...
Please have mercy on them...
Reveal Yourself to them...
And make them brand-new!
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I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
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For those hearing this message who already know You...
Please have mercy on us...
Help us to walk faithfully in our spiritual journey...
Help us to follow Your desires...
And remind us that once we were lost but now we are found!
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Again, I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
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It is in Jesus’s name we pray all these things...
To God be all the glory.
Amen.
