“Practice What You Preach!” – FBC Morning Light (11/8/2024)

Well, good Friday morning to you as we wrap up the work week and look forward to the weekend. I trust that a priority in your plans this weekend is to be in church Sunday morning, get with God's people in the Bible study time, worship together with God's people in the morning service.

Our church, we started recently with afternoon services, have that scheduled through the winter months when it gets darker earlier, and so at 1 o 'clock we have an afternoon service. We have a lunch together after the morning service, that's a good time of fellowship.

But anyway, whatever, I just encourage you to make gathering with God's people on the Lord's Day a priority. Make it a priority to honor the Lord's Day. Well, today in our Bible reading, we're reading in Matthew 22 and 23, Mark chapter 12, and in Luke chapter 20.

Hypocrisy, Burdens, and Motives in Matthew 23

I want to focus on chapter 23, especially the first dozen verses here. Just after the section that I want to look at, Jesus addresses the scribes and Pharisees and he calls them hypocrites. He says, woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.

Why is he so strong with them? Well, that's where it brings in the first 12 verses of this chapter. I want to look at this from the standpoint of any Christian's life. We can be influential in the lives of other people in a negative sort of way, just as the Pharisees were.

Let me explain. So in verse 3, Jesus says, regarding the Pharisees, the scribes and the Pharisees, he says, do what they tell you to do, to observe, but don't do according to their works. Why? He says, because they say and they do not do.

Now, the scribes and the Pharisees, they were in positions of spiritual authority or leadership. They had the responsibility of teaching the Mosaic law, and insofar as they did so accurately, it needed to be received and it needed to be followed.

But he says, don't be like them, for they say and they don't do. So here's a warning for you. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that people should do what you say, regardless of what you do. I think of this in terms of parents.

Moms and dads can be this way toward our kids. We can expect them to behave in certain ways and to toe the line in certain areas that we're not leading by example, and that's a huge mistake. That's very destructive in their lives.

So no, we need to be sure that our actions match our exhortations in this regard. But he goes on to say, they also bind heavy burdens hard to bear, and they lay them on men's shoulders, and they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

In other words, in their rigidity and their traditions, they lay all kinds of weight on people, things that they expect people to do that, again, they don't do themselves. And I think about this, again, in terms of those who are in leadership.

They can be leaders in churches, or they can be leaders in homes, where we're so burdened about being in control that we make a bunch of rules and regulations that we expect people to carry out, and even give the impression that it's the spiritual thing to do to obey these things.

And they're not taught in the Scriptures. They're just rules to help keep us in control. I think we have to be careful of that kind of thing, laying burdens on people that we ourselves are not even willing to bear.

And the third problem that Jesus points out with these scribes and Pharisees, who are such hypocrites, is that all the works they do, they do to be seen by men. They do to be seen by men. So all their religious observances and practices, it's jaded by their desire to be seen, and to be recognized and honored for what they're doing.

And again, I think we have to be careful about this. Do our kids, for example, as parents, do our kids know that we're going to church because we love God, and we love God's people, and we want to hear from Him, and we want to worship Him?

Is that what they know? Or do they get the impression that you're taking them to church because you want to look respectable among other people in the church? It gets to the motive, doesn't it? Why do we do what we do?

And Jesus is dealing with these scribes and Pharisees and calls them hypocrites because it's really all about them. It's all about them. It's all about their position. It's all about their power. It's all about their prestige.

And He says, hey, they're just a bunch of hypocrites. Well, let this be a challenge to us, not to be such hypocrites. Let's not be out for power and position and prestige. Let's be out to serve Christ, to love Him, to live for Him, and to live for Him because we love Him.

May that be our ambition. And so, our Father and our God, we thank You for this challenge from Your Word today, that we might be delivered from the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

All right, well, listen, have a good rest of your day today, and have a wonderful weekend. And again, prioritize gathering with God's people on the Lord's Day. Good day.