I'm Losing My Religion
UnCHURCH Me • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 9 viewsOpening message of 7 Woes to the Pharisees Series
Notes
Transcript
Matthew 23:13-16
Matthew 23:13-16
13 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you don’t go in, and you don’t allow those entering to go in.
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as you are!
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the temple, it means nothing. But whoever takes an oath by the gold of the temple is bound by his oath.’
Introduction
Introduction
..........
Big Idea
Big Idea
.........
Background Context
Background Context
Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples: “The scribes and the Pharisees are seated in the chair of Moses. Therefore do whatever they tell you, and observe it. But don’t do what they do, because they don’t practice what they teach. They tie up heavy loads that are hard to carry and put them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves aren’t willing to lift a finger to move them. They do everything to be seen by others: They enlarge their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love the place of honor at banquets, the front seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by people.
“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ because you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters. Do not call anyone on earth your father, because you have one Father, who is in heaven. You are not to be called instructors either, because you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
This is following the triumphant entry and Jesus is addressing the Crowd and His Disciples at the Fesitival.
Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples:
The text writer starts as i want to in laying the foundation for this series that there is a clear distinction between the Crowd and the Commited.
Theres a difference between Christians and Church People
“The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in God’s Law. You won’t go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don’t live it. They don’t take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It’s all spit-and-polish veneer.
The Scribes and Pharisees were well versed in the Laws and Teaching of Moses but they had no heart connection to what was in their head.
They could confess with their mouth but they didn’t believe in their heart.
To put in in the words of Barry White they didn’t practice what they preach.
They created a culture of learning but not living.
I can remember growing up hearing the statement “Do as I say not as I do” and although it was the go to response for many parents it creates a bad practice. It says listen to me in the dark and you better not trip.
Im pretty sure I learned how to curse from listening to people who told me not to cuss.
In the same way many of our churches have failed to build congregations of the committed and have bred crowds of the complicit.
Many believers repeat what is caught and not what is taught and our churches are governed by customs and and not His commands.
Jesus says do what they tell you but be careful because they have mastered my word but not my ways.
They tie up heavy loads that are hard to carry and put them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves aren’t willing to lift a finger to move them. They do everything to be seen by others: They enlarge their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love the place of honor at banquets, the front seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by people.
The Tony Evans Study Bible Chapter 23
23:4 The religious leaders were hypocrites. Instead of helping to relieve the burdens of others, they weighed them down with more burdens.
23:5 Phylacteries were small boxes containing copies of Scripture verses that were tied to the arm or the head and were worn as reminders to pray. Tassels were on the edges of prayer shawls. The Pharisees wore supersized versions of these items to impress people. They were like walking religious billboards, proclaiming to everyone, “Look how holy I am!”
23:6–7 It’s not wrong to honor others. Paul said to give honor to whom honor is owed (Rom 13:7) and to “give recognition to those who labor among you … in the Lord” (1 Thess 5:12). But it’s another thing altogether to love being honored and to seek it for yourself. The scribes and Pharisees thought too highly of themselves (see Rom 12:3).
Road Blocks
Road Blocks
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you don’t go in, and you don’t allow those entering to go in.
“I’ve had it with you! You’re hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God’s kingdom. You refuse to enter, and won’t let anyone else in either.
One of the hardest things to come to grips with is sometimes Believers are the worst Billboards.
When it comes to your faith would you buy what you advertise?
He have a label that says Christian but our life tags us as out of order.
We are just as common, just as ratchet, just as regular, just as rebellious as the world we say we’ve come out of.
Another sad reality is for many people if its not our sin its the Show...
We know how to put on.
We sing, we shout, we preach we pray but there is not life.
We’ve been called to die to our old self… this is the funeral and the question today is are you the Minister or the Mortician
The Minister speaks life while the Mortician dresses dead things.
In this season i don’t want to dress up with lights technology and tag lines things that are dead. LIVE OR BE BURIED!
Road Blocks block the flow of that which is moving.
You can always identify the roadblocks in a ministry because they are always fighting for control.
Your position becomes more important than the movement.
When you’re a road block your actions or position stop willing people from going further.
Roadblocks are stuck in the way/Their ways.
What are somethings in your life that have you stuck? What do you need to remove so that people can get to Jesus through you?
Replicas
Replicas
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as you are!
“You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You go halfway around the world to make a convert, but once you get him you make him into a replica of yourselves, double-damned.
A replica is a duplication of the original.
However there is one distinct difference its not the original.
Many people purchase replicas because they are cheaper.
They dont have the same cost
The process of making a replica cuts corners.
Replicas look the part but they are built different.
Jesus says that the Pharisees are endoctrinating people in dead religion.
The quality of an authentic relationship is determined by the distance between you and the truth.
We are baking cakes with the wrong recipe.
The Tony Evans Study Bible Chapter 23
By exhorting others to practice external religion without internal spirituality, they hindered them from true salvation and actually made them fit for hell.
Be careful not to confuse whats real with a replica.
Check the stitching
Check the Seal
Check the Size -Everybody cant wear it.
No more once size fits all church.
If we aren’t careful we’ll be a generation of counterfeits
Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people.
Ritualistic
Ritualistic
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the temple, it means nothing. But whoever takes an oath by the gold of the temple is bound by his oath.’
The Tony Evans Study Bible Chapter 23
Jesus explained how the Pharisees made false distinctions between different kinds of oaths. They considered some oaths binding and some not, but any oath made before God should be kept.
“You’re hopeless! What arrogant stupidity! You say, ‘If someone makes a promise with his fingers crossed, that’s nothing; but if he swears with his hand on the Bible, that’s serious.’ What ignorance! Does the leather on the Bible carry more weight than the skin on your hands? And what about this piece of trivia: ‘If you shake hands on a promise, that’s nothing; but if you raise your hand that God is your witness, that’s serious’? What ridiculous hairsplitting! What difference does it make whether you shake hands or raise hands? A promise is a promise. What difference does it make if you make your promise inside or outside a house of worship? A promise is a promise. God is present, watching and holding you to account regardless.
We’ve been so ritualistic in our practices that our religion has no POWER
We think that Holiness is an outfit.
We think that Christianity is Church Membership
I thank God for the Pandemic because if nothing else it should have reset our view of the church.
Many churches struggle in this time because our power was connected to our performance.
Screaming Im so ready to go back to church is a sign many of us don’t know where the church is.
We told us not to foresake the assembly of the saints but he didnt tell us to worship it he told us to worship HIM.
I can do that in my bedroom, bathroom, break room, my car, the store, my desk....
Stop worrying about a order of service and live a life of service and order!
Im like the little boy a few years ago who said “I’m tired of this church”
I don’t want religion as we’ve known it. I want relationship that leads me to life like i’ve never experienced it