Welcome And Study Focus

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You're listening to Heat the Word with our pastor and teacher Ken Davis. Pastor Ken is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Southwest Metro in Burleson, Texas. Please join us as we study the Gospel of Luke verse by verse.

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When we operate in hypocrisy, as the scribes and the Pharisees were operating, it is our tendency to look upon other people and to pass judgment on them. When in fact what we need to be doing is looking at and judging ourselves. We need to be examining our own hearts and asking God to reveal in us if there's any wickedness that we need to repent of. Because the fact of the matter is, God's testimonies have been revealed to us throughout all creation.

Hypocrisy Versus Heart Obedience

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The Gospel of Luke is the third account in the Gospels of the life and teachings of our Savior, Jesus Christ. As believers, there are few studies that will benefit us more spiritually than studying the life and teachings of the Master. Many people today say that they believe in God, but what exactly does that mean? You see, even the demons believe in God, but what makes them different? It's obedience. So many people today say they believe in God, but then they walk in opposition to his word. Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commands. Don't forget to stay with us after today's message to hear more information about He the Word, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 23, verse 22, as we join Pastor Ken.

Woes To The Pharisees Explained

Weightier Matters: Justice, Mercy, Faith

Straining Gnats, Swallowing Camels

Clean The Inside First

Whitewashed Tombs And Hidden Sin

What Hypocrisy Really Is

On Struggle, Sin, And Grace

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Listen, in your blindness, you are teaching things that are not true. And he's saying, Woe unto you when you are teaching falsehoods as though they were truth. You're making distinctions for people that have no bearing or any basis in reality. You're wrong in what you're teaching. And so these men are not only teaching wrongly, they're actually teaching false doctrine. Verse 23, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay tithe of mint and anis and cumin. What are those? Those are spices. You know how tiny a spice is? It's a little bitty seed, many of these things that they're talking about. And he's saying, listen, you pay tithes of those things. They would sit there and they would weigh out one tenth of it, and they would give that tenth. They were very meticulous in this little thing of tithing, even their spices. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay tithe of mint and anis and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law. What are the weightier matters of the law? He tells us here, they are justice and mercy and faith. He's saying, Yeah, okay, you're trying to keep the letter of the law as it regards to outward things. You wear the right clothes, you go to the right prayer services, you say the right things, you even pay your tithes. Wow, how great is that, right? But he says, you do all of these things and yet you neglect the weightier matters of the law. Well, what are those? Think about it. Justice, mercy, faith. What evidence is there in the external of these things? These are the internal things of the heart. These aren't religion, these aren't laws, these aren't rules and regulations to eat this or to not eat that, to go to church on this day or not go on that day. These are issues of the heart. God looks at the heart of man. Now here's what's interesting. He says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumen and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done. Justice, mercy, and faith, without leaving the others undone. So he's saying, Yes, you should pay your tithes of this and that and whatever. You should attend services and be in prayer and do the outward things. Yes, you should do those things. You should not leave those things undone. But you should not ever begin to believe that those are the important matters of life. The important things are where we stand with the Lord in our heart. Verse 24 blind guides who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel. What does he mean by strain out a gnat? I mean, can you imagine this Pharisee, right? He's sitting there and he's eating his soup, right? And as he's eating his soup, a little gnat flies over and lands in the soup. Well, that gnat is unclean. For him to eat that gnat would defile him because it's a bug. You know, some bugs they could eat. Grasshoppers were okay. Anybody want grasshoppers for lunch? I guess if you dipped them in chocolate, they'd be all right, okay? But you they could eat a grasshopper. That was a clean animal, it was allowed. But they couldn't eat a gnat. That was unclean. And so what he's saying is you strain out a gnat. You know, you get that little gnat and you're gonna get him out of there because that's unclean. You couldn't eat that. But then you swallow a camel. Have you ever seen a camel? I mean, live and in person, not on TV. How many of you have actually seen a camel? Now, have you smelled a camel? They are nasty creatures. I was at the San Diego Zoo one day and there was a camel standing in front of me, and he wasn't further than from me to the third row back. And I was looking at him, and as he stood there looking at me, standing right in front of me, he yawned. Their breath is hideous. I promise you. And they're nasty. It's like this, uh, I don't know if he had a head cold or what, but that was a horrible sight. And he's saying, You strain out of nap, but you swallow a camel. You make such a big deal out of nothing, and yet these things that are truly important, like loving one another, like forgiving one another, like showing mercy to those who are in need. Those things, he says, you just forget about those things. You've got it all backwards, he was telling them. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, verse 25, hypocrites, for you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee. First, cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so, you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. He's saying, Woe to you, because you look so good. You look so good on the outside. No one would ever suspect what's really going on in your heart. Woe to you. Because you can fool everybody around you. You can fool your spouse, you can fool your kids, you can fool your boss, you can even fool your congregation. But you can't fool God. You can't fool God. It may look good on the outside, but if you are living in sin, if you are harboring iniquity in your heart, God knows it. He sees it. Can I tell you something? Hypocrisy, and you've heard me say this before, hypocrisy is not having a standard and failing to live up to it. Can I tell you we all do that? We all have a standard that is the word of God. And is there anyone here who lives up to the word of God? No. We have a standard and we all fail to live up to it, so that's not hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is having a standard, failing to live up to it, but then pretending as though you weren't failing to live up to it, but acting as though and portraying to others as though you were living to the highest standards and that you were yourself without fault. That is hypocrisy. You know it's okay as Christians to have problems. It's okay as Christians sometimes even to struggle with sin. What's not okay is to not struggle. Sometimes people say, you know, I wish I didn't have this particular area of sin. Maybe I'll just use an example. It's um well, maybe it's an addiction to food. Let's just use that as an example. Some people might say, I wish I didn't have this addiction to food. I wish I didn't crave it so much or want it so much. I wish that I didn't have to struggle so hard against that. Well, my question would be, what sin would you prefer to struggle with instead? Because the fact of the matter is you're going to struggle with sin. And if it's not in this area, it's going to be in another area. Now, each of us have different areas that we struggle in. And that is not to excuse us, that is simply to say that we are human, we are fallen, and that each of us stands in need of God's grace. Amen. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, if we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. You see, their fathers had killed the prophets, they had stoned them, they had beaten them, they had murdered them in many cases. And now these men would build these great monuments to the prophets, and they would say, Hey, if we had been alive in our fathers' time, we would not have behaved in that manner. Oh, we would never have done that. We are more righteous than our fathers, they would say. Therefore, Jesus said, You are witnesses against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up then the measure of your father's guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers, how can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I sent you prophets, wise men and scribes, some of them you will kill. You know, don't you love the fact that Jesus right here says, I sent you these people? I sent you the prophets. Who is he claiming to be? The one who sent the prophets. That is God Himself. Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men and scribes, some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Barakiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. See, your house has left you desolate. For I say to you, you shall see me no more, till you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Now, we can look at the scribes and the Pharisees, and we can say, Man, those guys were really slime balls. We would never have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets. We kind of sound like them, don't we? I would never have done that. Boy, you know, if I were alive in that time, I'd have been one of Jesus' disciples. I wouldn't have been one of those scribes, right? You know what? The fact of the matter is, is that we each one have the opportunity to either follow him and serve him or reject and deny him today. And it's not enough for us to say what we would do, but we have to actually put feet to our faith and do what we say we will do. And that is, we need to follow him, to lay ourselves down and to turn our backs on selfishness and pride, on hypocrisy, and to stand for Jesus. Turn, if you will, to Romans chapter 2. I love the fact that Jesus rebukes these scribes and Pharisees, and that in his rebuke he gives yet opportunity for them to repent. And I believe that many of them did. I believe that when those thousands came to Christ, it's very likely that among those thousands during the early chapters of Acts, there were many who had previously been of the scribes and of the Pharisees. Even many of the priests would come to believe, we're told. Paul himself had been one of the Pharisees, and a very accomplished one at that. In fact, that Pharisee wrote these words in Romans chapter 1, verse 16. He said, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. You see, it doesn't say here that the just will live by keeping the law. It doesn't say here that the just will live by being faithful to a religious code or creed. It doesn't say that the just will live by looking really good and having a really good reputation to all of those around them. Doesn't say any of those things. Doesn't say that they'll be saved by paying their tithes or by being in church every Sunday. It says the just shall live by faith. Paul goes on to write in verse 20 of chapter one for since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. You see, those scribes and those Pharisees, they were without excuse. They should have recognized who Jesus was. And we also today stand without excuse, having the testimony of God's word and all of creation before us. Verse 21, Paul writes, Because although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. You see, what he's saying here is whether they admit it or not, they know that he is God. There is that within the heart of man that testifies to the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord, that there is a God who created all that we see, and yet so often we choose to deny him. Verse 22, professing to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things, meaning idol worship. You might say today, you know, we don't worship animals and we don't worship idols, and yet, you know, anything that you set before God in importance in your life, that is an idol to you. Verse 24, therefore God gave them up to uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. Isn't that the danger that we see before us today? That people worship the creature rather than the creator, that they worship the things that God has made rather than the God who made all things. We spend our lives trying to acquire possessions, trying to enjoy life to the fullest, worshiping, as it were, the very creation in which we live, rather than acknowledging the God who gave us the opportunity to live in the first place. Moving on to chapter two of Romans verse one. Therefore, you are inexcusable, O man. Whoever you are who judge, for what in whatever you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. What he's saying here is this be careful when we look at the scribes and the Pharisees, and we pass judgment upon them for their hypocrisy, because we ourselves have been guilty of hypocrisy as well. And we need to be careful as we pass judgment upon them that we are not ourselves judged. He says, Do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent hearts, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each one according to his deeds. Eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation, and wrath. Tribulation and anguish on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek. But glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for there is no partiality with God. For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law. For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified. For when Gentiles do not have the law, but by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts, accusing or else excusing them, in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. A long reading, perhaps more than was necessary, but understand this. When we operate in hypocrisy, as the scribes and the Pharisees were operating, it is our tendency to look upon other people and to pass judgment on them. When in fact what we need to be doing is looking at and judging ourselves. We need to be examining our own hearts and asking God to reveal in us if there's any wickedness that we need to repent of. Because the fact of the matter is, God's testimonies have been revealed to us throughout all creation. We see the evidence of God all around us. We have the word of God spread before us. And it is not by works of the law that we can be. Saved not by the fulfilling of any righteous code, but it's by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. I'm not communicating this the way that I want to. So let me put it differently. It doesn't matter how religious you are. It doesn't matter how many generations back your family goes in the church. It doesn't matter if you were on the building committee that laid the first stones of a building. It doesn't matter if you've been in Sunday school from the time that you could crawl. It doesn't matter if you've sung in every choir from here to Tennessee. It doesn't matter how righteous you appear to men. What matters is does God have your heart? Does God have your heart? You don't have to keep up with the people around you. You don't have to read your Bible as much as this person over here, or give as much as that person over there, or pray like that guy down in the street. You don't have to be anything or anyone other than the person that God made you to be. And that person that God made you to be is a person that is in fellowship with Jesus. You see, we put so much emphasis upon the external that we are in danger of becoming like the scribes and the Pharisees. Because when we think so much about what other people think of us, we lose sight of what God thinks of us. You see, because we can be approved of in the sight of people and yet be completely unrighteous in the eyes of God. And when our confidence is in the opinions of others rather than the approval of God, which can be found only in Jesus, then our confidence becomes self-righteousness, and our self-righteousness becomes judgment toward others. If you want to know whether or not there's hypocrisy in your life, examine how you treat other people. Are you gracious to them, extending mercy where mercy is needed? Or are you harsh and judgmental towards those people? The Bible told us right here in Romans chapter 2 as we were reading that we know that God will judge those who do those evil deeds. We know that he will. Because he judges righteously. That's all I'm saying. Get your eyes off of the external and get them on Jesus. So how can David say, The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool? How can he call the one who would be his son his Lord? Because that one who would be his son would be the Lord God Almighty, who entered into creation and became a man and walked among us, who lived and died for our sins, and who rose from the dead on the third day? You see, the question is easy because we know the answer. The same thing is true about living a life free of hypocrisy. How can you avoid the trap of hypocrisy that the scribes and the Pharisees fell into? By knowing the answer. By knowing Jesus.

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And to him who knocks, it will be opened. That's chapter 11, verse 10 of the book we are currently studying here on Heed the Word, Luke. Luke's gospel account of the life of Jesus is an invaluable study that we know God will use in your life. We do thank you for joining us today. This has been another edition of Heed the Word with our pastor and teacher, Ken Davis. As you likely heard at the beginning of today's program, this message is available free of charge on the website. Simply log on to www.heedheword.org. That's heedtheword.org. Once you're there, select the Listen Online page. There you'll find the Heed the Word Media Player. For your convenience, today's message is available in the MP3 podcast and mobile formats. By far, the best way to stay current with all the latest teachings from Pastor Ken is to subscribe to the Heat the Word Podcast. So log on to Heatheword.org and continue studying with us today. If today's message has ministered to you and you live in the Burleson, Texas area, or will be passing through, we'd like to invite you to join us for worship. We meet each Sunday morning at 10.30 a.m. and Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m. You can log on to HeatheWord.org for driving directions and more information. So please stop by and visit us. Well, that's all the time we have for today. We encourage you to join us next time as Pastor Ken continues teaching through the Gospel of Luke on the next edition of Heathew.