Do What They Say, Not What They Do
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
How many of you have ever had that friend that when you go to play golf, or do some other hobby, is the resident pro?
If it’s golf, they may come up and tell you what you need to do with your golf stance or swing to hit the ball better and then step up to the tee box and shank their own drive.
They may be the pot-bellied, overweight dad that never played past high school, or may have never even played at all, that is now the head coach of a great fantasy league and knows exactly how his son or daughter needs to play the game.
We tend to have people in our lives who know a whole lot more than they show; and if we are honest, we do the same things ourselves.
We don’t practice what we preach.
We even hear people use the line, “Now, do what I say, not what I do!”
Well, that is true of spiritual things as well. There are a lot of blind guides out there and this morning, we are going to begin a journey through Matthew 23, where these blind guides are called out and exposed by Jesus.
You might find yourself among them, so listen closely this morning.
Matthew 23:1–12 “1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. 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.”
Pray
Jesus openly begins to rebuke the religious leaders and pronounces 7 woes on them
7 is a number of completion
At the heart of these woes, Jesus calls out their hypocrisy
The sad truth is that they really believed that they were right with God and were living a more holy life than everyone else
The danger for Christians is that we can pronounce judgment on others and not do the very things we command others to obey.
We can also set up rules that we do not and cannot follow ourselves.
This morning we want to dive into a few lessons Jesus gives this morning and living out genuine faith.
1. Recognize and Obey Those in Authority (vv.1-3)
1. Recognize and Obey Those in Authority (vv.1-3)
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,
2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat,
3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.
text says they sit themselves in Moses seat
There were actually synagogues that had a chair called Moses’ seat
Essentially Jesus is speaking of the authority that these teachers assumed
There was a genuine necessity for someone to teach and interpret the Law for the people. Jesus is not condemning this.
They are in legitimate positions of authority - honor their position and obey as far as you can obey, but do not practice their lifestyle or follow their character
2. Practice What you Preach (vv.3-4)
2. Practice What you Preach (vv.3-4)
3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.
4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
The Pharisees added extra laws on top of the commandments of God
They had a goal of trying to keep people from sinning against God, but their commandments became even more burdensome
Illustration:
I have met a lot of people who when I asked them the question, “If you were to die today, and God were to ask you why should He let you into the Kingdom of Heaven, what would you answer,” who said, “Well, I try to live a good life...”
These people are trying to get to heaven by their good works.
This is like trying to take mud and rubbing it into a soiled garment to clean it out more. It is utterly useless.
Application
The Pharisees were adding more laws on top of the ones that were already given by God and which we could not keep
They taught these laws but often found loopholes for themselves and didn’t practice what they preached
3. Live for the Approval of God Rather Than Man (vv. 5-9)
3. Live for the Approval of God Rather Than Man (vv. 5-9)
5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,
6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues
7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.
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.
Jesus has already called out the hypocrisy of these leaders earlier in His ministry
They wanted others to see the religious deeds that they performed but they were not genuine
They fasted, prayed, and gave alms publicly to be seen by others rather than to draw near to God
Phylacteries - Large boxes tied to the forehead and arms that contained small pieces of a scroll of Scripture
These were worn somewhat superstitiously
Much like people might wear a cross
They wore fringes on their garments - commanded in Scripture and even Jesus wore them, but they made them large and ostentatious.
They wanted the seats in the front of the synagogue where others would see them and in the places of honor.
Kind of like a preacher sitting on a stage in a large chair in view of others
They wanted the highest seats at the banquets. People were seated according to their status and rank.
They loved titles.
All of these things were simply public shows of pride.
Illustration
Greatest Showman - P.T. Barnum became famous for giving people a show. He wanted to entertain, but later decided that he didn’t want to hoodwink people, but give them something genuine.
Application:
How many of the things we do for God are really done for one of two reasons:
To Be Seen By Others and Regarded as a Good Person
To Appease Our Own Conscience that is Telling Us We Are a Fraud
4. Serve Others in Humility (vv. 11-12)
4. Serve Others in Humility (vv. 11-12)
11 The greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
They would be the last to serve
If you will not stoop to serve, you cannot rise to lead.
You have to be willing to get your hands dirty.
Don’t be the one that stands off to the side watching others serve while you nod in approval. Get in there and find a way to help and serve yourself.
Jesus taught to sit at the lowest place in the banquets so that you might be told to go higher up. This was not for show, but in humility.
Jesus taught that the greatest should serve the least and modeled it when He washed the Disciples’ feet
Jesus taught that the greatest must be like a child
Jesus taught that they were not to lord themselves over one another
Application
How many of us would outdo one another in showing love.
Romans 12:9-10 says,
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Conclusion
The truth is that no matter how hard you and I try, we will never be righteous by doing good.
We needed another to come of and give us a righteousness that we could not earn.
I once performed a wedding many years ago for a friend and former roommate of mine.
He went to the Methodist Church at the time and asked me to co-officiate the wedding.
His mom wanted things to look nice, as we can well understand, and so when it came to how the ministers dressed, it was a common custom for them to have the ministers wear a black robe.
I was originally told to just wear a suit since I didn’t have a black robe, but at the last minute, she really wanted both pastors to wear the robe.
So, a robe was found for me that was used by the associate pastor. I put it on but there was also something unique about this robe.
It had the black patches on the sleeves that signified the status of a doctorate. Now, I stood up there wearing that robe and looking the part, but I was no doctorate.
Friends let me tell you that we are invited to the wedding supper of the lamb, but there is a dress code required. We must put on the wedding garments of righteousness, but we have none to wear on our own.
Instead, we must borrow from another. We must have the righteousness of Christ bestowed upon us. We did not earn it. We cannot attain it. We simply stand in another’s achievement and rest in His merit.
There is no better place to rest if you are a believer in Christ.
