SPEAKER_01: This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SPEAKER_00: What are the two elements that we are not supposed to speak about at the Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner?
SPEAKER_00: Religion and politics.
SPEAKER_00: Guess what we're going to talk about this morning?
SPEAKER_00: We're having a family gathering and we're talking about religion and politics.
SPEAKER_00: Please take your Bible and open it to Matthew's Gospel, the Gospel of Matthew.
SPEAKER_00: We are in chapter 23 of this gospel and our walk through it.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, I don't get excited or wrapped up in about or get wrapped up in politics or government.
SPEAKER_00: I suffered through American government class in high school, and it was made worse by being right after lunch.
SPEAKER_00: So it was so hard to stay awake.
SPEAKER_00: I have a low level of interest, but that doesn't mean that I don't have opinions about politics.
SPEAKER_00: It's just not a subject that keeps my attention for very long.
SPEAKER_00: There's one aspect of politics and government that I do find intriguing, and that is the difference between the terms democracy or democratic and republic or republican.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I don't really care much about the politics behind those terms as much as that really fascinated about the meanings of those terms.
SPEAKER_00: What's implied or intended in the use of those words?
SPEAKER_00: For example, it's common in our country to hear the term democracy applied to our governmental process.
SPEAKER_00: It's so common that many people are accustomed to saying, just in the normal course of communication, that the United States of America is a democracy.
SPEAKER_00: But that's not the language that was used by our founding fathers.
SPEAKER_00: They tended to use the term republic instead of democracy.
SPEAKER_00: So when Abraham Lincoln spoke of our forefathers bringing forth a new nation on this continent under the conviction that all people are created equal, he referred to those involved in the founding process of the United States of America who were convinced that the best means of governing a group of equal people was through a republic, a representative type of government.
SPEAKER_00: Like democracy, individuals in a republic have a voice.
SPEAKER_00: They have a voice in the selection of representatives, and then a lesser voice in the detailed decisions made by the representative that is selected and who represents their interests.
SPEAKER_00: Now, today, as folks look back at the founding of the United States of America and they read and study the original documents, some come away from that study, concluding a more democratic kind of leading.
SPEAKER_00: Others would look at those same things and come away with a more Republican type of leading.
SPEAKER_00: It's not much different.
SPEAKER_00: Some look at our original document, the scriptures, and they walk away thinking that we are a democracy.
SPEAKER_00: Some walk away and think we are more of a republic.
SPEAKER_00: What type of leadership should be in the local church?
SPEAKER_00: What should the local church look like?
SPEAKER_00: Now that I've asked those questions, I'm going to tell you that I'm not going to answer them.
SPEAKER_00: And the parallels aren't exact.
SPEAKER_00: We can't look at the United States of America and the local church and say that these parallels between democracy and a republic, that they match one-to-one.
SPEAKER_00: They don't.
SPEAKER_00: But there are similarities.
SPEAKER_00: And one of those similarities that I want to look at this morning is the fact that there are two groups of people.
SPEAKER_00: There are leaders, those who are responsible for leading a group of people in a particular direction, representing those people, and there are those who follow that leading, who come behind them and support them and encourage them.
SPEAKER_00: And the fact of the matter is that it doesn't matter which of the two categories you are in, it is difficult.
SPEAKER_00: If you are walking as a leader, it's difficult.
SPEAKER_00: If you are trying to follow those who are leading, it's also difficult.
SPEAKER_00: It's difficult to lead when those following you are disagreeing, sometimes vehemently.
SPEAKER_00: It's difficult to lead when there is misunderstanding or misperceptions, when those following don't have all of the information that you have.
SPEAKER_00: And frankly, it's difficult to follow when leaders make decisions with which we disagree, that we think are unwise, or if we think the leader who got elected was unqualified, or is arrogant, or just does not understand wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to be a Christian for very long and part of a local church to experience that same thing in a local church.
SPEAKER_00: So as you look around this morning, whether a person is categorized by any means as a leader or a follower, that person is imperfect and sinful.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord's risen from the tomb, but he's not returned yet.
SPEAKER_00: So everybody here is imperfect and sinful.
SPEAKER_00: Our passage in Matthew's gospel recounts a messianic sermon that speaks to some of the elements involved in functioning together, kind of in a political way, in the local church.
SPEAKER_00: Now, Matthew 23, all of Matthew 23 is one sermon.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to preach all of Matthew 23.
SPEAKER_00: This is a sermon, though, about leaders and Bible teachers from long ago.
SPEAKER_00: We call them the Pharisees.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about church leaders, modern church leaders per se, but Jesus' sermon was addressed to Jewish crowds who followed Jewish Bible teachers, Bible leaders.
SPEAKER_00: And it was addressed to Jesus' disciples who would become leaders in the Lord's church.
SPEAKER_00: So this passage is about an historical situation in Judaism.
SPEAKER_00: But as Matthew includes it in his book after the resurrection of Jesus, sometime later, he intends it for the local church.
SPEAKER_00: And so it has application for leadership in the church and for following leadership in the church until the Lord returns.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the Sermon of the Lord Jesus in chapter 23 has three parts.
SPEAKER_00: The first part, up till verse 12, is corrective.
SPEAKER_00: The second part from verses 13 to verse 36 is critical.
SPEAKER_00: That is, it's critical of Jewish leadership.
SPEAKER_00: And the third part, the last three verses, verses 37 to 39, are condemning.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus goes from corrective to being critical to being condemning.
SPEAKER_00: And this morning we're going to look at the first part of the sermon, the corrective element.
SPEAKER_00: If you guide your attention to verse 1, I'll read verses 1 through 12 if you would like to follow along.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew records for us that Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat.
SPEAKER_00: So, these are commands, practice and observe whatever they tell you as they sit on Moses' seat, but not what they do.
SPEAKER_00: For they preach, but do not practice.
SPEAKER_00: They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and they lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
SPEAKER_00: They do all their deeds to be seen by others, for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces, and being called rabbi by others.
SPEAKER_00: But you, but you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.
SPEAKER_00: Implication they're brothers and sisters, your family, and call no man your father on earth, for you have one father who is in heaven, neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ, the Messiah.
SPEAKER_00: The greatest among you shall be your servant.
SPEAKER_00: Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
SPEAKER_00: Could you pray with me?
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We all have um difficulties sometimes in in the local church, much less in in life.
SPEAKER_00: Um either either with leaders or in leadership or following leaders or we all have opinions, we all have convictions, and and so it's it's a struggle sometimes to figure out how all of those fit together.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that your your spirit would guide us and and our understanding this morning to open up your word to us as we look at this together in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever heard a sermon where you understood what the preacher was saying, but you you walked away not having a clue how to apply it?
SPEAKER_00: That's how I feel about Jesus' sermon here.
SPEAKER_00: This is one of those sermons where you say, I get what you're saying, Jesus, but I don't really know what you mean for me.
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of difficult to figure out how do we take a corrective and a critical and a condemning sermon that was directed towards leaders 2,000 years ago and have some application for us.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we have here.
SPEAKER_00: What Jesus means is somewhat easy to understand, but how we are to apply it, especially as a local church, is much more difficult to gather.
SPEAKER_00: And even after wrestling with it this morning, we may walk away wishing that Jesus said a little bit more.
SPEAKER_00: I know we you never walk away wishing that I had said more.
SPEAKER_00: But we might wish that Jesus said more this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Now there are two main parts to these verses that we've just read.
SPEAKER_00: The first main part is primarily about the Pharisees, the scribes and the Pharisees in verse 2 who sit on Moses' seat.
SPEAKER_00: It's talking about their position.
SPEAKER_00: And there's a literal image that's implied here that Matthew's readers would most likely have been very familiar with.
SPEAKER_00: Today we have these things called standing desks that are made to lift up and to lower so you can sit down at them and you can stand up behind them.
SPEAKER_00: What's going on here is sort of a standing seat.
SPEAKER_00: There was a literal seat that was designed to be such that a teacher could sit in front of people and sort of rest himself on it, but not be fully seated.
SPEAKER_00: And that was the position of the teacher in the synagogue who was opening up before him the word of God, the scroll of God's word, and he would read it and he would explain it.
SPEAKER_00: That's Moses' seat.
SPEAKER_00: So it's opening up the word of God, so it's representing the person who's in that position.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: The second part, though, doesn't really focus so much on the Pharisees as lead us away from the Pharisees to consider ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: It's directed primarily towards the followers, towards the listeners of Jesus, the people who are in verse 1, the crowds and the disciples.
SPEAKER_00: Both sections, though, have elements that pertain to leaders and to those who are following leadership.
SPEAKER_00: Especially, though, those who lead through the Word of God.
SPEAKER_00: I really like how commentator Frederick Bruner has described these sections, and so I'm going to borrow his terms.
SPEAKER_00: He uses the terms gracelessness.
SPEAKER_00: My wife has asked me all week, is that a word?
SPEAKER_00: Well, it's in a book, so I'm going to use it.
SPEAKER_00: Gracelessness and greatnessism.
SPEAKER_00: Gracelessness, I'm going to mess up those words already.
SPEAKER_00: Gracelessness and greatnessism.
SPEAKER_00: He uses those terms to describe the problems that Jesus addresses here.
SPEAKER_00: So first, in verses 1 through 7, Jesus characterizes the Pharisees by describing them as being without grace.
SPEAKER_00: We've already covered some of the required background for this passage in our study of chapter 22.
SPEAKER_00: Judaism, you remember, worked on identifying and listing out all of the commands that Moses gave in the Torah in the first five books of the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: And they came up with roughly 613 of them.
SPEAKER_00: And if you were here at the time, I had them all printed on 8.5 by 11 sheets of paper and taped together, and we rolled them out up here.
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of commands.
SPEAKER_00: They wanted to know what God expects of us?
SPEAKER_00: They listed those all out.
SPEAKER_00: Then at some point, Jewish leaders began to build fences around those 613 rules.
SPEAKER_00: And they had good intentions.
SPEAKER_00: They said, listen, if this is what God tells us not to do or to do, we want to make sure that we don't even get close to disobeying those.
SPEAKER_00: So let's let's back up and let's say put a perimeter around that and say, we can't even get close to that.
SPEAKER_00: So they added certain restrictions and regulations and explanations that would help keep people from getting too close to the fence.
SPEAKER_00: That wouldn't have helped me because I wanted to touch the electric fence and see what it felt like.
SPEAKER_00: For example, there were limits as to how far you could walk on the Sabbath day.
SPEAKER_00: So you had to count your steps.
SPEAKER_00: There were rules as to how much you could carry on the Sabbath day.
SPEAKER_00: There was even rules about how to define what was and was not work on the Sabbath day.
SPEAKER_00: Think about the lame man in John chapter 5.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus healed the lame man, telling him to get up, to take up his bed, his pallet, his rolled-up bedding, and to walk.
SPEAKER_00: And he did.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus displayed his power over a man that had been lame from birth.
SPEAKER_00: As a result, though, the healed man was accosted.
SPEAKER_00: And the crowds that were around him said to him, It's the Sabbath.
SPEAKER_00: It is not lawful for you to take up your bed.
SPEAKER_00: The man has just been healed.
SPEAKER_00: Can't he go home and take his bed home now?
SPEAKER_00: The man, I love this story.
SPEAKER_00: The man responded with the equivalent of, but Jesus told me to.
SPEAKER_00: Those are the kinds of heavy burdens that Jesus refers to here.
SPEAKER_00: So the scribes and the Pharisees, they have good intentions.
SPEAKER_00: But in their good intentions, they're adding burdens onto the people in order to help them follow God's law.
SPEAKER_00: But they effectively, those extra burdens, effectively made God's law more strict.
SPEAKER_00: And instead of actually helping people follow God's word, they made it more difficult.
SPEAKER_00: Now that's the bigger historical picture going on here.
SPEAKER_00: The Pharisees and the scribes have righteous intentions.
SPEAKER_00: They mean well.
SPEAKER_00: They want their people to follow God's word and to not disobey what God has said.
SPEAKER_00: They are genuine in their desire to obey God and his word.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we beat on the Pharisees rightly, but sometimes we beat too much.
SPEAKER_00: They had righteous intentions.
SPEAKER_00: But as we've seen, there were times when they did not love the Lord their God with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their mind.
SPEAKER_00: Nor did they love their neighbors as themselves.
SPEAKER_00: We're in the same boat.
SPEAKER_00: Whether we serve or work in a position of leadership or not, we in many ways act like the Pharisees.
SPEAKER_00: We have good intentions, we have righteous intentions, but there are times when we do not love the Lord our God as we should, and nor do we love our neighbor as we should.
SPEAKER_00: And so by rejecting Jesus in chapter 22, rejecting the incarnate, the word made flesh, they have effectively rejected Scripture, the written word of God.
SPEAKER_00: All of that comes together right here in chapter 23.
SPEAKER_00: And this first section identifies these leaders of God's people as graceless men.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus calls out three problems associated with their leadership.
SPEAKER_00: The first problem is that they preached without practicing what they preached.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says that in verse 3.
SPEAKER_00: For they preach, but do not practice.
SPEAKER_00: Now wait a minute, Jesus, that's kind of harsh.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you should, maybe that's just your perception.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is the Son of God, right?
SPEAKER_00: He knows everything.
SPEAKER_00: And so he knows that while they might have the right intent, the reality is that they sit in Moses' seat and they read Moses' words and they tell people what Moses' words mean, but then they get up and they leave church on Sunday morning or Saturday morning and they don't do what they've taught, what they've preached.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, do what they say, but not what they do.
SPEAKER_00: So the implication is that whatever these Bible teachers and leaders say to do is grounded in Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: It's grounded in the Word of God.
SPEAKER_00: And so when they reveal the Word of God, when they read the Word of God, when they teach the Word of God, do what they say to do, because they follow in Moses' footsteps when they teach what Moses wrote.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says that is appropriate to listen to and to obey.
SPEAKER_00: Likewise, friends, it doesn't matter who's in this pulpit.
SPEAKER_00: If they're teaching the word of God, we have to hear it.
SPEAKER_00: And do it.
SPEAKER_00: It's the word of God that has the priority.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus says you have to be discerning.
SPEAKER_00: Because even those with the most righteous intentions are still impossible.
SPEAKER_00: And sinful.
SPEAKER_00: They may mess up.
SPEAKER_00: They may say the wrong thing, or as in this case, they may do the wrong things.
SPEAKER_00: Discernment is involved in those who hear the Pharisees and the scribes sitting in Moses' seat.
SPEAKER_00: Whenever they preach what God's word says, Jesus says, do that.
SPEAKER_00: You're obeying God.
SPEAKER_00: But listen carefully and do what God says, but filter out what is not from God.
SPEAKER_00: That's why our intention, and whoever fills this pulpit, is to open up the Word of God and to read it and walk through it phrase by phrase, sometimes, word by word, so that you can discern whether or not what is being said is what God says.
SPEAKER_00: You should not blindly accept what we say.
SPEAKER_00: You should look at God's word and say, Is that right?
SPEAKER_00: According to Jesus, the crowds and the disciples would find that the teaching from Scripture in the synagogues was generally correct.
SPEAKER_00: But the follow-through by those teachers and leaders was disobedient, was sinful, was wrong.
SPEAKER_00: They taught the truth, but they lived something else.
SPEAKER_00: I think, at least in part, this is why the Apostle Paul gave instructions regarding who should serve as elders and deacons in the local church.
SPEAKER_00: It's vital.
SPEAKER_00: In 1 Timothy chapter 3, for example, the focus is largely on observable actions that are driven by a proper regard for God's word.
SPEAKER_00: So it says, when you choose elders in your local church, you must choose men that are above reproach.
SPEAKER_00: Well, how do you know that they're above reproach?
SPEAKER_00: By watching.
SPEAKER_00: Says they have to have a commitment to one's spouse and to purity.
SPEAKER_00: How do you know that?
SPEAKER_00: You watch.
SPEAKER_00: Managing one's household well, et cetera, et cetera.
SPEAKER_00: These are observable characteristics.
SPEAKER_00: So the Apostle Paul set in place for the local church expectations that said the men that lead you should preach and teach God's word, but they must also live it out.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus corrects the Pharisees.
SPEAKER_00: Uh-uh.
SPEAKER_00: Not getting away with that.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, God's word is God's word no matter what mouth it comes out of.
SPEAKER_00: But watch what they do.
SPEAKER_00: Watch what they do.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus pointed to observable elements among the Pharisees and the scribes, and he noted they don't live out what they teach.
SPEAKER_00: That's a problem.
SPEAKER_00: That's a problem in Judaism.
SPEAKER_00: And frankly, friends, it's a problem in the modern church.
SPEAKER_00: It's a problem when leaders in the Lord's church today preach without practicing what they preach.
SPEAKER_00: Second problem is that they prescribe without providing.
SPEAKER_00: This is stated in verse 4.
SPEAKER_00: They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and they lay them on people's shoulders, give them a backpack full of things to carry, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
SPEAKER_00: So the first problem naturally leads to the second problem.
SPEAKER_00: And in this case, it only made it more difficult to follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Not only did they not help them, they made it more difficult.
SPEAKER_00: And that kind of leadership is the opposite of Jesus' leadership, is it not?
SPEAKER_00: Didn't he say in Matthew 11, 29, take my yoke, take my burden on you, and learn from me.
SPEAKER_00: Be my disciple.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because I am gentle and I am lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
SPEAKER_00: Now notice, notice that Jesus, though, isn't absolving people from obedience.
SPEAKER_00: He's not saying, uh, just forget what they tell you.
SPEAKER_00: No, he's saying what they tell you from God's word, you need to obey that.
SPEAKER_00: You need to do that.
SPEAKER_00: There's follow-through that's expected.
SPEAKER_00: But instead, he's telling them to focus on hearing God's word when it's preached and doing it, regardless of who is preaching it.
SPEAKER_00: But if they're not following through, don't do what they're doing.
SPEAKER_00: Pharisees and the scribes were preaching and not doing.
SPEAKER_00: That led them to a particular kind of gracelessness.
SPEAKER_00: This is talking about making rules and making following difficult for others.
SPEAKER_00: But you know what?
SPEAKER_00: If you make rules for other people and they don't apply to you, who cares?
SPEAKER_00: You can make them as difficult as you want if they don't apply to you.
SPEAKER_00: Go on, lay down the law, lay down the rules.
SPEAKER_00: But if they don't apply to you, who cares how difficult they are?
SPEAKER_00: Who cares how hard it is?
SPEAKER_00: I'm above those rules.
SPEAKER_00: I don't have to follow them.
SPEAKER_00: They don't apply to me.
SPEAKER_00: That's the Pharisees and the scribes, but Jesus comes along and what does he do?
SPEAKER_00: He obeys the law entirely.
SPEAKER_00: He comes to fulfill it.
SPEAKER_00: And in his grace, don't miss this.
SPEAKER_00: In his grace, his obedience, his perfect obedience is applied to our lack of obedience.
SPEAKER_00: When we fail to carry on the perfect obedience, Jesus' obedience is applied to our failures.
SPEAKER_00: We find rest in his grace because he is gentle and lowly.
SPEAKER_00: Of course, we are still called to obey God's word.
SPEAKER_00: That calling, that order, that command is still there.
SPEAKER_00: We do not escape the command to follow Christ, to obey Christ.
SPEAKER_00: But our inability to do it wholly and perfectly finds forgiveness in Jesus, and his perfect obedience gets applied to our accounts.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that freeing?
SPEAKER_00: We're imperfect, sinful people.
SPEAKER_00: That means we're going to have the right intentions.
SPEAKER_00: As God's people, we're going to love Jesus and we're going to want to follow him.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to want to do what he says.
SPEAKER_00: But beloved, we're going to fail and sometimes we're going to fail miserably.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus comes along and says, get up.
SPEAKER_00: I did this perfectly for you.
SPEAKER_00: What?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, my obedience is your obedience.
SPEAKER_00: Get up and keep going.
SPEAKER_00: The third problem is pride because of position.
SPEAKER_00: This is stated in verse 5.
SPEAKER_00: They do all their deeds to be seen by others.
SPEAKER_00: For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long.
SPEAKER_00: They do all their deeds to be seen by others.
SPEAKER_00: There's your intention.
SPEAKER_00: They had righteous intentions to obey God's word, but in setting up their fences around God's word, their fences pointed back to wah, to me.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, look at me.
SPEAKER_00: Look at how well I'm obeying.
SPEAKER_00: Look at how holy I am.
SPEAKER_00: Philacteries are those little boxes that you sometimes see on Orthodox Jewish people today.
SPEAKER_00: Little boxes that they had scripture or prayer written on tiny slips of paper and rolled up inside of them, and they would strap them to their foreheads, strap them to their wrists, especially during prayer times.
SPEAKER_00: And we have historical records that Pharisees and religious people of the first century sometimes would make their phylacteries, their little boxes extra large.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes they would even have two of them up.
SPEAKER_00: And that was the indication that, oh wow, that's an especially holy person.
SPEAKER_00: The law of Moses said that when you put on your outer garment, that it was not to be shaped, it was to be square, and the four corners of that garment had tassels on them.
SPEAKER_00: Generally, those tassels were white.
SPEAKER_00: But in those white tassels, there was to be one thread that was blue.
SPEAKER_00: And that blue thread was there to remind you of the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: But the law did not stipulate how long those tassels were to be.
SPEAKER_00: So guess what happens?
SPEAKER_00: Let me show you how holy I am.
SPEAKER_00: My tassels get larger.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Well, they want people to notice them.
SPEAKER_00: They want people to notice their prayer boxes.
SPEAKER_00: They want people to notice their tassels.
SPEAKER_00: So when the woman who had suffered for 12 years with bleeding came along and touched Jesus' garment, the word that's used there is she touched, she touched not the hem, she touched the tassel.
SPEAKER_00: She touched the tassel of Jesus' garment.
SPEAKER_00: She reached out and didn't touch the garment, just the tassel that was hanging down.
SPEAKER_00: Bringing healing.
SPEAKER_00: So here are scribes and Pharisees who are wanting to draw attention to themselves.
SPEAKER_00: That they're following in Moses' footsteps, they're proclaiming God's word.
SPEAKER_00: And so that naturally set them apart as leaders of God's people.
SPEAKER_00: But by now we can see that Jesus is identifying not simply an outward problem, but an inward problem.
SPEAKER_00: These Pharisees and scribes have a heart problem.
SPEAKER_00: The Apostle Paul would say they need heart surgery.
SPEAKER_00: More, they need a heart transplant.
SPEAKER_00: They need to have their hearts of stone taken out and given hearts of flesh.
SPEAKER_00: They have a heart problem.
SPEAKER_00: This isn't so much an issue of what they're not doing, although that is problematic.
SPEAKER_00: The great concern is that their hearts are full of pride.
SPEAKER_00: And therefore, they do not practice what they preach, nor do they provide grace for what they prescribe, because they are filled with pride in their position.
SPEAKER_00: So they want to be first.
SPEAKER_00: They want to be first in dedication to God.
SPEAKER_00: They want to be the first ones to the synagogue and the last ones to go home.
SPEAKER_00: They want to display their phylacteries, they want to display their tassels.
SPEAKER_00: They expected to be first in honor and to be first in the synagogues, to have the best seats of honor in the synagogues.
SPEAKER_00: They wanted to, and ironically, in our churches, that would be the back row.
SPEAKER_00: They wanted to be noticed, right?
SPEAKER_00: They want to receive the loudest and the longest honorific greetings in public.
SPEAKER_00: They love being called rabbi.
SPEAKER_00: Now in our in our modern world, we understand rabbi to mean teacher, and that that's right, that's an appropriate meaning of the term, but strictly speaking, it means great one or princely one.
SPEAKER_00: And it seems that's how Jesus uses it here.
SPEAKER_00: These are Bible teachers and leaders that loved to be set apart as oh great one.
SPEAKER_00: I am so glad to have you as my teacher.
SPEAKER_00: Rabbi, I get to follow you.
SPEAKER_00: So their position fed their pride.
SPEAKER_00: Three problems.
SPEAKER_00: Preaching without practicing, prescribing without providing, and pride because of their position.
SPEAKER_00: Now, friends, we all fight sin, don't we?
SPEAKER_00: And and we are more or less successful at it.
SPEAKER_00: Some days are better than other days.
SPEAKER_00: Some mornings we just can't avoid sinning even on the way to church.
SPEAKER_00: That's just the way we are, right?
SPEAKER_00: So because we are imperfect, sinful people, we will be able to identify these same problems in the leadership in our world today.
SPEAKER_00: And we will even be able to locate them in the church.
SPEAKER_00: But the danger, the danger is to associate faces and names with these heart problems immediately.
SPEAKER_00: So we all start thinking, oh, I know that guy.
SPEAKER_00: I've worked with him, I've served with him, I've heard him teach, and then walk out the church and swear up a storm.
SPEAKER_00: We know people like this.
SPEAKER_00: But let's not go there too quickly.
SPEAKER_00: Let's not go to assigning faces and names too quickly.
SPEAKER_00: Let's consider applying what we find here by first considering what Matthew is doing with this passage in the overall flow of his book.
SPEAKER_00: We know that Jesus is correcting the religious leadership of his time.
SPEAKER_00: We know that.
SPEAKER_00: That's clear.
SPEAKER_00: But what else does Matthew show us about Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: What is implied?
SPEAKER_00: Looking carefully, we can identify at least three implicit actions that Jesus undertook here.
SPEAKER_00: First, implicit action is that Jesus acknowledges the uniqueness of leading by and teaching God's word.
SPEAKER_00: He says, yes, that's a unique position.
SPEAKER_00: The Pharisees sat in Moses' seat.
SPEAKER_00: That was a position of respect, not because of Moses, but because of what Moses did.
SPEAKER_00: Moses spoke the words of God.
SPEAKER_00: The Pharisees were Bible teachers.
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus upholds the uniqueness of that position and of leading from that kind of place.
SPEAKER_00: He says, that's a good thing, not a bad thing.
SPEAKER_00: When they preach God's word, listen to that and obey it.
SPEAKER_00: The disciples were soon to become apostles.
SPEAKER_00: They too would be Bible teachers and leaders.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't follow in Moses' steps in so much as Jesus' steps.
SPEAKER_00: That's an even greater position.
SPEAKER_00: The elders in the book of Acts and the rest of the New Testament follow after the apostles.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus acknowledges a position of leadership and direction that declares the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: He acknowledges that and he approves of that.
SPEAKER_00: Second, Jesus acknowledges the priority of God's word for life and godliness.
SPEAKER_00: The Jewish rabbis provided commentary and instruction on the scriptures by this point in Jewish history.
SPEAKER_00: In some cases, they were adding to Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus starts trimming that off.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, get back to the Word of God.
SPEAKER_00: And so what you hear in the Word of God, that listen to, and that obey.
SPEAKER_00: God's word is the bread of life.
SPEAKER_00: And we find in Scripture all we need for life and godliness.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus points to that priority.
SPEAKER_00: The third implicit action is that Jesus acknowledges the pull of pride that is inherent in any leadership position, but especially the position that declares the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Those who fill leadership roles and proclaim God's word face a unique fight against pride.
SPEAKER_00: That was apparent generally in the Pharisees and the Bible teachers of that time.
SPEAKER_00: But it wasn't limited to them.
SPEAKER_00: It's common in leadership of all times.
SPEAKER_00: That's why, at least one reason why James would say, listen, church, not many of you should become leaders.
SPEAKER_00: Not many of you should be teachers.
SPEAKER_00: Because there's an inherent danger and pride eating away at your soul.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus approves of biblical, spiritual leadership that leads people to live by the bread of God's word.
SPEAKER_00: But he warns that pride stalks those who serve in that capacity.
SPEAKER_00: Of course, he doesn't say that all leaders fall prey to that stalking enemy.
SPEAKER_00: Not all are intent on acting in pride and misleading.
SPEAKER_00: They're just common ways in which sin works itself out in leaders.
SPEAKER_00: But the underlying point in all of this is that Jesus is not like this.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Matthew's trying to tell us.
SPEAKER_00: If all you do is walk away from this concerned about Pharisees and concerned about your church leaders, you've missed the point.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew's saying, look at Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Look at how perfect he is.
SPEAKER_00: He fulfills the law.
SPEAKER_00: He keeps the law.
SPEAKER_00: And in that, he leads his people, he leads his sheep with grace and mercy and tenderness and care and restfulness.
SPEAKER_00: And he lifts you up and he gives you his own obedience.
SPEAKER_00: What a place to be.
SPEAKER_00: Those who lead like these Bible leaders, the Matthew's pointing out, do not lead by the heart of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So if you identify a leader who's having one of the three problems, you're identifying they're not leading like Christ.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, to put it bluntly, if leaders fail to demonstrate the practical application of grace to those who are struggling to follow Jesus, then their teaching of God's word can have the effect of just trampling over the Lord's own compassion and grace to his people.
SPEAKER_00: So how might we apply this to the modern church?
SPEAKER_00: You're thinking, well, preacher, you've been preaching at me all morning.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps perhaps we could do a little bit better.
SPEAKER_00: Let's think think about leaders, followers, and the entire local church.
SPEAKER_00: So let's have a family talk about politics and religion.
SPEAKER_00: So let's think first about the responsibility of leaders.
SPEAKER_00: Leaders in the Lord's church must teach rightly.
SPEAKER_00: For you have a responsibility that is of utmost responsibility.
SPEAKER_00: Your position says you must declare the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: You feed the Lord's sheep by declaring the bread of life.
SPEAKER_00: But guard your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Guard your heart because it's an engine of pride.
SPEAKER_00: It has a massive capacity to wreck and destroy.
SPEAKER_00: Guard your life also.
SPEAKER_00: For it is only as you walk in the Lord's ways that you recognize your own need for grace.
SPEAKER_00: And it's only as you Recognize your own need for grace that you learn to extend it to those whom the Lord has called you to lead.
SPEAKER_00: Lead with the heart of Christ, not your own heart.
SPEAKER_00: What about those of us who follow?
SPEAKER_00: And I don't use that term pejoratively, it's not a power thing, it's just a practical thing.
SPEAKER_00: Not everybody functions as a leader, and that's not an evil thing by its nature.
SPEAKER_00: It's just what happens.
SPEAKER_00: Beloved Scripture says that the one who desires to be an elder in the local church desires a good thing.
SPEAKER_00: Yet it also says, let not many of you be teachers.
SPEAKER_00: So as we follow our leaders, we must guard our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: For the heart is an engine of misunderstanding, of discontentedness, of suspicion, and of lack of forgiveness.
SPEAKER_00: And it's only as we seek to walk in the Lord's way that we recognize our need for grace and we learn to extend it to those whom the Lord has called to lead and for us to follow.
SPEAKER_00: Let's put all that together.
SPEAKER_00: What does it mean for us as a church family?
SPEAKER_00: Well, it means that we will have leaders in the future who are not leaders today.
SPEAKER_00: Pay careful attention to their doctrine and to their lives.
SPEAKER_00: The qualifications for elders and deacons are in the Bible for a reason.
SPEAKER_00: For those that are already serving in some capacity of leadership, understand, beloved, that leaders are particular targets in our spiritual warfare.
SPEAKER_00: Pray for them to stand firm against the devil's wiles.
SPEAKER_00: Pray for them to put to death the deeds of the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: Pray for them to strive to walk with Jesus and to live out the heart of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And in turn, we all need to come along together to be gracious in our listening, to be testing in our acceptance of what we hear, and above all to follow Christ and His word, not people.
SPEAKER_00: I have to get to the second part of the sermon.
SPEAKER_00: Second significant section of this correction of the scribes and Pharisees identifies the pattern of greatnessism.
SPEAKER_00: The but you in verse 8 directs Jesus' attention to his listeners.
SPEAKER_00: Primarily, it's probably the disciples that are in mind here, but the crowds are still present.
SPEAKER_00: And so there's a sense in which this is a very general you.
SPEAKER_00: It's plural, meaning everybody who's listening.
SPEAKER_00: So there's a sense in which if you belong to a local body of believers, this really applies to you, but it doesn't matter, it applies to you no matter what.
SPEAKER_00: Because what Jesus talks about here is especially important in the local church, but it's especially important in life.
SPEAKER_00: As with the first part of this passage, this section also identifies three problems, and we don't have time to really jump into them in depth, so I'll just kind of run through them.
SPEAKER_00: The first problem with this greatness ism is the problem of recognition over relationship.
SPEAKER_00: We see this in verse 8.
SPEAKER_00: You are not to be called great one.
SPEAKER_00: You have one teacher.
SPEAKER_00: And you're all brothers.
SPEAKER_00: You're family.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, people, why can't we talk about religion and politics if we're family?
SPEAKER_00: Well, we can't because our pride gets in the way, right?
SPEAKER_00: We have our opinions, we have our convictions, and we want people to know about them.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus says, listen, your your sibling hood, especially in the local church, takes greater priority over recognition.
SPEAKER_00: Second problem in verse 9 is respect over reverence.
SPEAKER_00: Call no man your father on earth, for you have one father who is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: This is not about elevating somebody with a title.
SPEAKER_00: Because when we elevate people with certain titles, then we start to miss the fact that God is supreme.
SPEAKER_00: If we revere people more than we revere God, then we've messed up.
SPEAKER_00: Then we're not practicing rightly.
SPEAKER_00: The third problem is the problem of role, in this case, teacher or instructor, over responsibility.
SPEAKER_00: And the role of the teacher, the instructor in the local church is to point to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So when we elevate a position, the position of teacher of instructor over the responsibility of pointing to Jesus, we've mixed things up.
SPEAKER_00: Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor who is the Messiah.
SPEAKER_00: Now, as with the scribes and the Pharisees in the first section, the issue here is not so much the details as it is the heart.
SPEAKER_00: The heart deceives us into thinking that reality is different than it really is.
SPEAKER_00: Thus, a teacher is above his brothers and sisters because he gets the title of great one.
SPEAKER_00: That was a knocking the feet out from underneath the Pharisees.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, I don't care if you get called rabbi or not.
SPEAKER_00: Your brothers with this one, you're a sister with this one.
SPEAKER_00: Get over it.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about you, it's about the relationship.
SPEAKER_00: Respect for spiritual leaders often leads one to dismiss the reverence that is due to God alone.
SPEAKER_00: And being called a teacher or an instructor leads one to lower the place of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Now, Jesus isn't talking about the elimination of titles or categories here.
SPEAKER_00: The disciples, after all, were called apostles.
SPEAKER_00: John later called himself an elder, the elder.
SPEAKER_00: So there are elders, there are deacons, there are pastor teachers, all labeled such as in Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: The issue here is the heart that desires the notoriety, the heart that desires to have the attention.
SPEAKER_00: And so we can identify three truths that are acknowledged here.
SPEAKER_00: First of all, Scriptures acknowledge that leaders will hold positions with specific titles.
SPEAKER_00: That's just a way to identify them.
SPEAKER_00: The titles don't negate, though, that we are all brothers and sisters in the Lord's church.
SPEAKER_00: Regardless of title and responsibility, we're brothers and we're sisters, and when we get to heaven, we're all going to be kneeling before Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We stand on equal footing before the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Sure, we might be called to different roles, but we are all children of the Father.
SPEAKER_00: Leadership in the church is not to be about superiority or about power, but leading as under-shepherds, as we all follow the great shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: Second, the scriptures acknowledge that God ordains leadership roles, including the role of teaching.
SPEAKER_00: Notice that Jesus doesn't say, don't instruct, don't teach, don't lead.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, he sends his disciples out to do that very thing, to teach and to lead.
SPEAKER_00: In just a few chapters, we'll get to chapter 28 in the Great Commission.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus says, Go out and as you're going, make disciples, teaching them to obey.
SPEAKER_00: The Great Commission says, listen, this is going to happen.
SPEAKER_00: Preaching, teaching, and leading are all found in the local church in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: But third, the scriptures acknowledge also that the Spirit works to place people in positions of great responsibility.
SPEAKER_00: For example, in Acts chapter 20, we're told that the divine person behind the appointment of elders in the local church is the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: So when the church gathers together to appoint elders, we're told the one really behind that is the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: So here is the one who assembles God's people in local bodies, and he's the one who gives them elders to lead, and they are to lead, not out of a desire for position or for greatness, but out of humility.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because we're all nothing before Christ.
SPEAKER_00: If we walk away from this thinking, you know what, that man ought not to be an elder, you've missed the point.
SPEAKER_00: If you walk away from this thinking our elders are not like this, you've missed the point.
SPEAKER_00: Those may be true.
SPEAKER_00: The point is, do you see Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Do you see Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Because if you really see Jesus, then you're going to see I am nothing before him.
SPEAKER_00: Whether we're a leader or a follower.
SPEAKER_00: So the fundamental truth for leaders in the local church is that leaders usurp the Lord's supremacy when they forget their place.
SPEAKER_00: Notice that Jesus doesn't say, don't seek greatness.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't rule out ambition.
SPEAKER_00: He just redefines it.
SPEAKER_00: Says, you want greatness, you want ambition?
SPEAKER_00: Great.
SPEAKER_00: Fabulous.
SPEAKER_00: The church needs those.
SPEAKER_00: Clean the toilets.
SPEAKER_00: Take out the trash.
SPEAKER_00: Serve the coffee.
SPEAKER_00: Because the way up is the way down.
SPEAKER_00: So the responsibility of leaders then is to fight the sin of seeking attention and greatness for oneself.
SPEAKER_00: Leaders must be content with where the Lord has given them oversight.
SPEAKER_00: Don't seek more than he's given.
SPEAKER_00: Love your brothers and sisters.
SPEAKER_00: Walk with them, not above them or in front of them.
SPEAKER_00: Live what you preach, do what you say.
SPEAKER_00: Always point away from yourself and to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Now for followers, the responsibility of followers is to follow your leaders as they point you to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Test what they say against the scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: Be a good Berean.
SPEAKER_00: And as they imitate Jesus, so you imitate them.
SPEAKER_00: Encourage them.
SPEAKER_00: Pray for them.
SPEAKER_00: Support them.
SPEAKER_00: Walk with them.
SPEAKER_00: Don't elevate them.
SPEAKER_00: Follow no other name but the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And as we bring that all together as a church, I think what we should walk away from here is that we must receive the food of his holy word.
SPEAKER_00: Make much of it.
SPEAKER_00: And make much of the incarnate word.
SPEAKER_00: May our prayer be that Christ is all and that we be nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray, Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We make that our prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, forgive us of our sin.
SPEAKER_00: We confess to you that we are by nature sinful.
SPEAKER_00: We elevate people when we shouldn't.
SPEAKER_00: Just like the the early church who wanted Paul or Apollos or whomever, we do that same thing and we ask for your forgiveness and your cleansing.
SPEAKER_00: Redirect our thinking and our eyes to you.
SPEAKER_00: Forgive us for our pride and wanting to elevate our own greatness.
SPEAKER_00: May we be a people known for elevating you.
SPEAKER_00: Enable us by the power of your spirit to make much of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_01: Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.