Is the Love of God what Motivates Me?

I was mentioning a little bit about ABC earlier. Sometimes the students get very, very excited about things. The other day, one of the students was just really excited about something, and he kind of came running up to me. And he says, Whoa, dude, I've got to ask you a question! And I looked in as sternly as I could manipulate at that moment, saying, My name is not Dude. I said, To you, it's Mr. Dude. And they put all those little extra things in their conversation and their communication, and it's kind of funny. But when you think of that, there are times in the Bible, okay, it doesn't say, Whoa, dude. But there's many woes that are in the Bible. It's not like, Whoa, hold your horses kind of Whoa, right? That's maybe one side. Of course, the way he was using it was more like, Hey, I'm so excited. I'm thrilled. And well, maybe pretty much anything you could say when you say, Whoa, dude kind of thing. But when it's in the Bible, it normally means, Look out. Better beware. Or take note of this. Take note of this.

And one of the interesting things is Christ said it in one situation over and over and over, not just one time, but he uses this term over and over and over again. And it's in the book of Luke. And as he uses this word, he warns those that are listening to him.

In fact, he talks to the Pharisees, he talks to the scribes, and he talks to the lawyers. And he says to them, Whoa. And of course, by extension, I think he's talking to us as well. So these people who are listening to the Pharisees, who were they? I mean, we recognize that name, but sometimes maybe we forget a little bit who they were.

These were the religious leaders of the day. And the Pharisee was someone that was emulated phares, and phares means to separate. So the Pharisees separated themselves because they were the pious ones. They were the religious ones. They wanted to protect what they felt was the truth from any contamination.

We don't want to be corrupted. We don't want any of that influence of the Greeks to impact us. So in order to combat that Greek society and all of their pagan worship and all of its culture and all of their pagan customs and all of that sort of thing, they came to the conclusion, we're going to be protecting what we feel is the truth, to have integrity.

And we're going to protect our own interpretation of the law. And of course, where did that take them?

Well, that took them to all of their own specific little customs and their own ideas. And so they ended up adding to God's law. And they piled up on all of their do's and don'ts. In order to protect the truth, you've got to do all these things, which weren't really biblical. And so their idea of trying to help the people to be as pure as they possibly could, what did it turn them into?

I mean, they became the police force. You know, we're the protectors. So in order to protect the Sabbath, fasting, tithing, all of the washings, all of those kinds of things, they made the rules.

And so Christ spoke to them. He spoke to them and he warned them. He also warned the scribes. Now, who were the scribes?

Well, after the Jews came back from Babylon, after the captivity, they couldn't go back to the old priesthood. There was no temple. There's no priest in order to sacrifice because we don't have a temple, so we can't do that. What are we going to do?

Well, they invented the system of the synagogue. And so the Jews started having these synagogues all over, since there was no temple.

Well, who was going to take care of God's Word? Who's going to watch over the law?

Well, that's where the scribes then began to fit in. And they began to be the ones that were kind of the experts in God's law.

And all the different communities would have their scribes. And they could be a part of a different—it didn't matter what sect they were, whether they were, let's say, zealots, or whether they were the Hasmoneans, or whether they were the table washers. That was another group of the Jews where they would wash their arms a certain way in order to do it just perfectly religiously.

That didn't really matter for the scribes, but they were the ones then that didn't have a priestly background, but became very influential because they were, in a way, the keepers of the Word.

And so scribes and Pharisees became seen as the big religious leaders of the day. Of course, Christ comes along then, and he says, Wait a second. Is this really the way it should be? Is this really the kind of people we should be? Should we emulate the scribes? Should we emulate the Pharisees?

And then you add on top of that the third group, the lawyers. Anybody need a definition for the lawyers? Probably not.

Kind of was the same back then. Lawyers, similar type of perspective when you think of the lawyers. But the lawyers know the law. They know the rules.

They know how to defend somebody that isn't even innocent. They can get them off the hook.

And so we have these groups that Christ is dealing with in Luke 11. So if you want to make your way over to Luke 11, here Christ in a way says, Whoa, you better pay attention to this. You better beware. You better look out because there are some attitudes and approaches that just aren't good. They're just not right. There's something that shouldn't be a part of the way that we worship the true God.

And so notice what he says. We'll skip down to verse 47. Well, we can even look at verse 37. In Luke 11, verse 37, we see kind of the context here. Verse 37 says, A Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he sits down to eat. So we've got a whole group of people.

And so if you can imagine this dinner discussion, you're sitting at a dinner, and what does Christ say?

He starts pointing out their shortcomings. And as he starts, he starts out pretty easy. Well, here's what you Pharisees do. And then in verse 42, he says, Whoa, whoa to you Pharisees. I thought this was a nice cordial get-together here at dinner. No, Christ lays it on the lot. Whoa to you Pharisees. You miss the big picture.

He doesn't say that directly, but that's what he is saying here in this first whoa. Look at whoa, number one. Whoa to you Pharisees. You tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone.

So here they are. They're in their little gardens, picking out the smallest of things. Because I don't want to offend God by not tithing on every little thing. I don't want to miss that. And yet Christ takes them to task. They were so meticulous. But what did they miss?

Well, love. God's love and His being just to others. Christ put it in different terms in other passages. They strained out a gnat. Remember what that passage in scripture says? Imagine pouring out this thing and straining it. We got all the little bugs out, but we swallow a camel.

Christ compares them to that. Can you imagine making sure every little duty is fulfilled? Oh, I make sure that I tithe. I want to make sure I'm going to read every single label and not eat any pork or shrimp or anything like that. But I'm going to mistreat people. I'm not going to be the kind of example that I need to be. And Christ is calling them on the carpet. And they mistreated people. They weren't representatives of God's way. They were the ones that put other people down. They were the ones that caught people. You aren't doing what's right. You aren't following what God wants. And so, ultimately, he's pointing out the fact in this example, tithing. Tithing to God can't be separated from being nice to other people, to treating people fairly. Because that's what he says. You're passing by the justice of God, the love of God. Are you demonstrating love to others? Oh, yeah, you're taking care of your tithing. Can you imagine counting out little mint leaves? For those who are cooks among us, you know, they're pretty tiny little things. I'm going to count every single one. So I'm going to pile them up and say, Well, there's about a tenth. Okay, great. No, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to be very precise. And yet they miss the point. They miss the big picture. And so what they ended up doing is recognizing the fact that, Oh, this tithing principle is so important, but I can mistreat people. I can treat people anyway. But it's not that kind of proposition. They go hand in hand. And so I think it's a great reminder for us. I mean, what do we focus on in our life?

Do you find yourself focusing on the Nat issues? We're talking about this marriage enrichment weekend. Do I focus on the Nat issues in my marriage, or is it really about the big picture? You see, sometimes we do get focused on those little things that, in the big scheme of things, are really inconsequential. And so when we think about, well, what is it that really fills my mind? What occupies my thinking? Is it those tiny things that really, overall, aren't that critical, the minutiae of things? Well, he did that, and she said this, and I never, and did you hear that?

Am I overreactive? Am I dramatic? Am I a drama queen? Hopefully, drama king?

How would I identify the way I perceive things? Do I really major in the minors? Do I make a big deal over the mountain out of a mo' hill? We say all of those things. What is my perspective in life? And so when we see that, oh boy, we can see all the problems in society. Oh, it's terrible! This whole LGBTQ agenda and how terrible that is, and that's awful. And God hates that.

That's an abomination before the Lord. Yeah, that's all true! But then, do I mess up in my own life? And I end up swallowing my own personal camel. Because I don't demonstrate the kinds of characteristics. Am I fair?

Do I fit in, unfortunately, like a Pharisee that I think I got it all? Because I'm in the church, and I've got a handle on it all. And aren't I great? And yet, we have our own personal strife and difficulties and challenges. So when we look at this, I think, whoa, number one gets right to the heart of that.

That we do these tiny things, but then we disregard the things that are really of greater value. We don't want to miss the big picture. And Christ calls them out in that and says, yeah, you should have done those things, but don't miss the big picture. Check out your own life and make sure you're not missing that big picture.

Secondly, look at verse 43. Now he says, now he says, woe to you Pharisees. Once again, you separators, you religious righteous people. You love the best seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces. Pretty short little woe there. Well, what's he getting at here? Can you imagine the scene? Often times I read this passage, and I think of a meeting hall that my wife's parents used to meet.

We'd go visit them in Oklahoma, and they had this meeting hall called the Knights of Pythias. Anybody over here? The Knights of Pythias? Yeah, Knights of Pythias. It was always unique because they'd have all the chairs set up kind of like this. But in the front of the hall, they had seats up in the front as well. One time we got there and it was packed, and the only seats there were in this front, and it was embarrassing, because you're sitting there, you're facing the audience, and the minister's kind of over here to the side.

Just really odd. It's like, what are they up here for? It's just weird and uncomfortable in that. It's like, that's where the important people sit during the Knights of Pythias meetings. They're up there in the front, so everybody knows who the bigwigs are. It's just an odd kind of thing. And yet it was like that in the synagogues. They love the best seats. They want to be recognized. The distinguished guests were up in the front. These are the ones that deserve all of our respect. And of course, that was kind of a thing, even in Jewish society of the day, because there would be different teachers, Pharisees, the scribes as well in that way.

And if you could imagine it, imagine being back in that time period. Here comes the Pharisees. There's Pharisee Judah, Ben Joseph. There he is! You've heard of him, haven't you? He's a great leader, great teacher. And they would love that. Can you imagine? You'd be like a Bantie Rooster strutting around. Yes, that's me. Yep, that's right. That's me. And so Christ is calling that out. Christ is calling...you love the greetings. You love that. You love being noticed. You love...oh, the pat on the back? I mean, we put it in our terms. Yeah, I love being noticed.

I like it when people see how great I am, or they'll mention, really, really, that's wonderful. That's a good job. And we end up doing things just to be noticed. And really, what he's saying here in Woe No. 2, what's your motivation? What's your motivation? Why are you doing the things that you do? Especially here, he focuses in on this religious side of things.

Pharisees were doing things to be noticed. Wow, there he is! Look how great he is! Look what great unders... Well, is that why we do what we do? Getting some kind of personal recognition? I mean, here he's condemning this idea of grandstanding and putting on a show. Because Christ is contrasting it, even though he doesn't say it. He's obviously showing there's a big difference between those that are doing it just to be seen and be noticed, versus those who are doing it for the right reasons.

Because Christ is valuing character. He's valuing that over some title or some recognition. And so when we think of that in our terms, I've got to ask myself, why am I doing what I do? Is it just to be seen? Why do I pray? Why do I study? Why do I sing? Why do we sing together on the Sabbath? Was it just our tradition? We just do this? Or does it really mean something? Why do I serve? Why do I do the things that I do?

Am I doing it because I want to make it in the kingdom? Well, I do want to make it in the kingdom, but is that going to earn my way into the kingdom? Is that why I serve? Is that why I sing? Is that why I pray just so I can make it? Or do I recognize the fact that I have to be given eternal life? I can't earn that. There's nothing I can do to earn the kingdom. The Father has to qualify me for the kingdom.

It's a gift. The gift of God is eternal life. It's not something I earn. So that turns it all around. Why do I do it? What's my motivation? And he's pointing to the fact, maybe hinting back to the first one a little bit, do I really love God? Am I doing this because I love God? I love God and I love His people and that's why I'm doing it. That's my motivation.

I mean, if nobody saw what I'm doing, would I do it anyway? Would I do it anyway? And so he talks so clearly about that, that it's not about the applause. It's not about the limelight. It's not about the attaboy. It's not about any of those things. It's not about self-importance. It comes down to what motivates me. Is the love of God the thing that motivates me?

Christ calls out the Pharisees in that regard. I mean, this must have been quite a dinner party if you think about it. Wow, I thought we were having a nice conversation and suddenly, whoa, whoa, whoa, look out! Beware! You better take note of this! And he doesn't stop. By the way, you scribes, you thought you were getting off the hook? Well, let's talk to you for just a second. Wait a second, I was just an innocent bystander at this meal. Keep going on the Pharisee.

No, he comes to the scribes. That third woe, he says, you scribes, oh, and Pharisees! Hypocrites! Ouch! Christ didn't pull any punches, did he? You were just at a meal, and now he's telling us we'd better watch out. So he says, you're like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them.

I think that's kind of off the wall. What does that have to do with anything? Well, of course, in Jerusalem is where they kept the feast. So people would travel and come. The pilgrimage feast, Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles as well. You'd have thousands of people coming into Jerusalem.

And of course, in order to keep the feast as a Jew, you had to be ceremonially pure. You had to be clean. Of course, if you touch a dead body or even touch a grave, now you're unclean. Now you're out. Now you get out of the camp for a while, you're not going to be able to keep the feast. So what they would do in order to help people not to step on a grave and then be impure, they would whitewash the tombs. And that way they'd stand out. It's like, oh yeah, I'm not going to step there. Somebody dead buried there. So Christ is bringing that analogy to mind, saying, you scribes and Pharisees, you're like that hidden grave. See, people think you're so great, they think you're so religious, but you're just like those tombs that somebody accidentally walks over and now they're unclean.

Wow, this would have had to hurt when Christ said this to them. What do you mean? We're the teachers. He says, yeah, but people are taken in. They don't realize the mess they're getting into, how far off track they are from the truth, and now they're defiled. Now they're defiled. And so they were literally contaminating those people who were, I guess in a way, unsuspecting following them.

And of course, the Pharisees would have been offended, I'm sure, by this, the scribes as well, because we're the purists. We're the good guys. But he says, no. In Matthew, he says it a little bit differently. It's recorded in Matthew as well. Maybe you could look that one up later. But in Matthew 23, he says, you're like whitewashed tombs. You're like whitewashed tombs. And what do they look like on the outside?

I've got a fresh coat of paint. It's all shiny and bright and beautiful. It's white. It's nice. But what's inside? It looks good on the outside. But what's on the inside? You see over in Matthew, he says, dead men's bones. That's what's in a grave. So you can look good on the outside, but what's inside? It's full of bones and all uncleanness. That's what he says in Matthew.

So when Christ says that to them, you know what he's saying? Somebody should have whitewashed you. Then we'd all be warned not to come near you, not to listen to you. So in a way, their me-first attitude of what did it do? What did it produce? Well, it hurt others. It hurt others. And so this woe kind of focuses on that. Are we so concerned with ourselves that we end up hurting others? Do we need to be whitewashed? When we look at God's Word and we recognize these things, do we really recognize what the Word is saying? When we read the Word, are we counting on our own thoughts, our own opinions, our own ideas? Or are we dependent on God's? I mean, what is our biblical perspective based on the Pharisaical side of things? They come up with all kinds of rules and regulations that really didn't have much to do with God's law. And so in our application, I mean, we all look pretty good on the Sabbath. We get our nice clothes on, we get our tie on, hey, yeah, I look pretty good. Well, what's going on on the inside? We don't want to be like this white boy. We don't want this deadness and uncleanness inside of us. And remember, God looks at what's on the inside, and we can't be like this beautiful casket of gold. I was thinking about that in relationship to this woe because there was this thing about King Tut's tomb. You know, when they first discovered King Tut's tomb, the fellow who was the main man, the discoverer of it, Lord Carnivar, was his name, the English guy. And after discovering it, he dies. So you know what the word was that went out? Oh, he's under the curse of King Tut. He violated this tomb of King Tut and died and died. Now, interesting that the man dies as being the first one to get in there, and then everybody thinks, oh, some terrible curse has been unleashed. But you know what they found? After studying the tomb, not necessarily just the sarcophagus, but the tomb itself, they found out the cause. It wasn't some curse or, you know, thing like that. There was a bacteria that was on the walls of King Tut's tomb. And once they went in, and of course then disturbed the, you know, all the quiet for all those centuries, the spores of this bacteria went into the air, into lungs. And then, because of that, those that came into the contact with those spores ended up dying and got really, really sick. But the interesting part is, all right, they died not because of some curse, but because of the tomb itself.

And yet, here they found this beautiful gold casket of King Tut. I know you've seen pictures of it. It's traveled around the world in museums and all kinds of displays and things like that. It's like, well, what's inside of King Tut's sarcophagus?

Well, King Tut's there, and he's dead, and his bones and his groves. It's disgusting.

And I think when you think of that, you could look so beautiful. I mean, the whole world was in awe of this discovery of this fantastic gold casket. And yet, what's inside? Just like Christ said, you can make the outside look beautiful, but it's what's inside that really counts. And so this woe was focusing on that. What's inside of us? We can look good, but is our motivation really the way that it needs to be? And do we use these things in a wrong way, that we're just impressing others with the appearance of things? But yet, the reality is something different. We've got to make sure that's not the case, so Christ was calling the scribes and the Pharisees to task on that. Of course, with that, if you look back at Luke once again, don't ask me why the lawyer would pipe up, but he just couldn't be quiet, so he has to say something.

He says, well, teacher, you're putting down the scribes and the Pharisees, you're putting us lawyers down, too. I mean, he knew they were included in all of this, even though they hadn't been specifically mentioned yet. So Christ, in a way, verse 46, all right, as long as you bring it up, let's talk about that. Woe to you lawyers, too! You lawyers better watch out. You better beware. He says, you loathe men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. They were piling on. They were piling on. You know, these lawyers at the time, they were the ones that kind of helped come up with all these rules and regulations that the Pharisees wanted to impose as well. So they come up with 613 different rules and regulations. There's 39 that applied to the Sabbath day itself. And yet, what did they do? They had all their legal tricks. They'd say, you cannot do that on the Sabbath. You can't harvest on the Sabbath. They'd come up with these rules and regulations. Well, Christ walking through the field and plucking some grain. Remember when they accused Christ of violating the Sabbath? Well, that was because of their harvesting law. They applied their harvesting law to condemn Christ. Well, was Christ harvesting? Was he having a little snack along the way? He wasn't harvesting, but that's what they accused. So they manipulated the system. So they could accuse Christ of being a heretic when he wasn't. But then what would they do? They'd say, well, you know, you can't tie a knot on the Sabbath. No knot because you know, you tie a knot if you're going to do work. So if you're going to go get water, you have to tie a knot around the bucket, lower the water down in the well and get it out. And that's work. You can't work. So none of that. Of course, if you're going to put on a shawl or a girdle, you could tie that. That would be okay to tie a girdle. That would be fine because that's part of your dress, part of what was allowable to wear. But if a good old lawyer wanted a drink, how would he get one on the Sabbath? Well, I can't tie a knot in a robe. That's violating the Sabbath. But if I tie the girdle onto the bucket and lower that into the well, that's not violating the Sabbath. And so that's what they would do. They would manipulate their own rules for their own purposes. I mean, you've heard of Sabbath Day Journey. What was the rule on the Sabbath Day Journey? Well, you could only go so many steps past your doorpost. Your doorpost was the marker. You can't go that far because that's farther than a Sabbath Day Journey, and that would be a trip. And you cannot go on a trip on the Sabbath. Okay, that's a good principle. Yeah, if we don't think about that. But you know how they'd get around that? You've got a movable doorpost. I just pick up my doorpost and carry it with me. I can go as far as I want on the Sabbath. And so they would manipulate the system. That these rules and regulations were supposed to make it easier so we don't violate anything. And then people don't have to make decisions for themselves. See, that was the idea. But then they'd use the system for their own purposes. And so they piled on all of these rules and regulations. Of course, Christ is calling them out here.

And of course, you think about that then as we try to translate that to us today. Maybe we don't have our doorpost loose so we can pick it up and move it with us. Or we don't worry about tying girdles. It's a lot easier to get a drink of water. Am I just turning on the faucet today? That's not work. Anything like that. But see, what they were doing is they were judging people for things they did themselves.

They took others to task. And sometimes we have a tendency to do that. And maybe it doesn't always look exactly the same, but do we fall into that? Little ways we could do that? Yes, it's a sin. You need to take care of your body. You shouldn't be smoking. Smoking is awful. What's wrong with you? And we can condemn that.

But then, do I go home and eat a double hot fudge sundae piled up this high and I'm a glutton? Is that any better? Is that any better? I don't curse! I would never do that! But what was that latest gossip you were telling me? Could you repeat that again? I missed the story. Can you fill me in on that?

We sometimes manipulate the system and have a tendency to look at things that way. Because everyone should agree with me, because after all, I'm right and they're all wrong. You see how silly that can be? Christ is pointing out that they were so willing to criticize others with never looking at themselves and admitting their own guilt. Seeing how they were piling on and criticizing and judging others when they didn't even judge themselves. And so it's a great lesson here, I think, as well. As long as the lawyers pipe up, he says, you lawyers, you're a mess as well. You better look out and you better beware. And so we all know that for sure. Old lawyers never die. So we've got to be careful about that, right? How much of a lawyer are... well, actually, there's another side to that, too. Old lawyers never die. They just lose their appeal. Oh, yeah, I wrote it together. Sorry, I threw that in. Should have thrown it out. Yeah, they lose their appeal. Well, we've got to watch that as well, don't we? All right, look at the next one. Back to Luke 11. A fifth woe. A fifth woe. In a way, this really connects to modern times. We've all heard the big thing in the news lately is fake news. Everybody heard of fake news. I don't know. It's in the headlines. Everybody's talking about fake news. This is fake, and this isn't real, and all the social media bringing out this stuff that isn't true. Well, I think Christ is way ahead of his time here as he talks about fake news in this fifth woe. He says, Talk about fake news. This is it. What did the Pharisees do? Well, they wanted to honor the fathers, those that went before us. So they would build these beautiful monuments to the great teachers of the past. You know, the dead prophets that had gone before. And what was the purpose? Well, Christ is saying, yeah, it wasn't really to honor them. You just want to impress the people. Look how great we are. We're building these great monuments. We're recognizing when really they were getting the credit. They were taking the credit.

And the interesting part, when Christ takes them to task on, that's fake news. You're not really doing it for those. You know, you're not really following what those great prophets talked about. When the prophets spoke God's Word, you weren't obeying that Word. You weren't following that Word. You're building them great monuments to impress the people. Yet what you're doing is just the opposite. Because you're building these things, these monuments, but you're not building your life on what they taught. Yeah, you're building something else all together different. And so Christ says, yeah, your father's killed the prophets. They died. They killed them. They didn't do what they said. And so, in a way, what he's calling them out on, kind of all three, I think, are included here. You build the tombs, prophets, or the Pharisees, the scribes, and the lawyers. In a way, what Christ is saying, you approve of the crime. They were killed by those who opposed God, and now by building these things for all the wrong reasons, you're giving them credit. You're approving of the crime, and in fact, you're kind of finishing the job. And so Christ is calling them out on that. And so as we look at that, he goes on. Look at verse 50. He says, "...that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation." And so he kind of does this little play on words here, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah. He says, "... everything in between." He's saying, "...the blood of the martyrs are on your hands." Why? Well, I don't want that. I don't want that on me. And so how do we make sure that's not the case? I don't want to be under this woe. That's for sure. I mean, why was the blood of all those martyrs, A to Z, on their hands?

I mean, it wasn't just because they built these monuments and were phony about the whole thing with the fake news. It's the fact that they had that same attitude, that same hateful spirit, as those that murdered the prophets, as those that came before them. You see, to them, who they were, their character, was not as important as how they looked, what people thought of them. It was all about style over substance, where Christ is calling them out. It's not the appearance that counts. It's not looking good that counts. It's really what the substance is, what's really at the heart of things. You can't value talk over doing, talk over deeds, tolerance over righteousness. You see, that down-roll spiral was already there. It was already there then. Look at today's society. We're all about appearances, aren't we? I mean, how many terribly ugly people are there in Hollywood, anyway? See, it's not there.

We have this connection, I think, to what Paul talked about to Timothy. Remember when Paul told Timothy about the end times? These perilous times would come? In 2 Timothy 3, he talked about that. One of the things Paul told Timothy is that we could have a form of godliness, but we deny the power.

We don't want to just have the form over substance. So we can't be a saint on the Sabbath and then fall into all the sin of this world for the rest of the week. It just can't be that way. It can't be that way. Christ is calling all of us. You can't fool God. We don't want to be fake. We don't want to be fake news kind of people. We don't want to fake obedience and just have the look of being religious. So Christ really called them out. There's one more woe that he talks about. Interesting, he's the number of men. He goes to six woes right in the row. He's not seven. There's six of them. He comes back again in verse 52 with a sixth woe. Woe to you lawyers. He says you've taken away the key of knowledge. You didn't enter in yourselves. And those who were entering in, you hindered. And so here it's an interesting dynamic that's going on. It's like there's the way. There's the right path. And because they were keepers of the law. They were interpreters of the law. They were supposed to be defending the faith. But oftentimes it says here, even though they had the keys, they had a certain level of understanding. They had the writings. And yet, because of their interpretation and how they lived their lives, that actually hindered people from getting through the, I mean, imagine the kingdom and entering the door by way of Christ. And here they are. We got the keys, but we're not letting anybody in. And so in a way, I mean, think about it. These people knew the law. They knew the Bible. You could say these were the scholars of the day. And yet, amazing, they didn't see the simple, clear reasons. They didn't see the understanding, the meaning itself. And because they didn't see it, ends up others didn't see it either. And so there was that aspect going on. In fact, if you look back at verse 52, if you read this in the Good News Translation, it says, you've kept the key that opens the door of the house of knowledge. You yourselves will not go in, and you stop those who are trying to go in. And so, interesting that you can memorize the whole Bible if you want to. But the point is, if you don't live by it, what use is it? What use is it to be able to rehearse it without doing it? So Christ points out there's such a difference between knowing the truth. You know, we have to be careful about that. God's called us to the truth. I mean, this is wonderful. It is amazing. It is powerful. I mean, there's no other way. This is the truth of God. And He's given it to us and called us to this truth. And it is fantastic. But if it's just knowing the truth versus living the truth, then we're in trouble. And so here, Christ is saying, you've got to know it, and you've got to live it. They go hand in hand. They go hand in hand. You can't have one without the other. So, woe number six is just about that. Know it, live it. Know it and live it. There's a difference between knowing the truth and knowing it and living by the truth. You know, you've heard the old saying, you talk the talk, or you're going to walk the walk. There is that difference. There's a difference between being convinced of the truth.

And you probably know a lot of people that are convinced of the truth. Oh yeah, I know the Sabbath. Sabbath said God's day. He talks about it in the Bible. The Bible is the day of worship. Absolutely. I understand that. I know that. I'm convinced the Sabbath is God's day of worship. But they're not here. They know it, but then they don't do it. So they're convinced, but just not convicted, to uphold it and live by it. And so there's this big difference between knowing and doing. And that's the amazing thing. When Christ talks about some of the problems with those at the time of the end, they miss out because they don't love the truth. And of course, when you love the truth, you're putting it to practice in your life. And that begins to be the key. Doing the truth. And that means actively involved. So it goes to that next level. To the application of it. And so you've got to work at it. You've got to work at it every day. Every conscious decision that we make from morning till night needs to be in that way. That unconsciously making these choices. That it's intentional. It's intentional. Not that life isn't just happening. I know it and I'm putting it into practice and I am living it. And so when we look at these things, it's interesting the reaction. We probably should notice the reaction to this. What might have started as a little friendly dinner party. Verse 53, and as he said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail him vehemently. And cross-examine him about many things. Lying in wait for him. Seeking to catch him in something he might say that they might accuse him. So there we see this perspective that they had. They were out to get him. They were out to get him. And what he said was the truth. And it just made them all the matter about it. As vehemently as is kind of an interesting word here. If you were to look that up and kind of tear down what the Greek is saying here. The vehement is tied into this word we use for a Tyrannosaurus. Everybody knows the Tyrannosaurus Rex, right? It is the most vicious dinosaur of all. It will tear you apart. What is this Tyrannosaurus Rex? Literally it means a terrible lizard. And this terrible, this awe-inspiring, awesome creature that will rip you to shreds. That word for terrible is vehement. That's how they were that dead set to get him. They were out for him. Viamently. They wanted to tear him to shreds. Kind of like a T-Rex. That's what that was talking about. And yet when we look at this, it didn't impact. Even though he's telling the truth. And they understood, it just made them mad. Just irritated them all the more. And so, obviously, they were lacking the key ingredient. They needed God's Spirit. Which, of course, is a blessing that we've received God's Spirit. So we don't have to be like these scribes and Pharisees and lawyers. Yeah, we need help with our woes. We've got woes. As we read through some of these things, I can't help but say, you know, I'm a Pharisee sometimes. I'm like that. I don't want to be like that. And Christ, with the way he says these things, I mean, it does cause us to step back and say, this is a big deal. This is serious. This is serious. What do I do with my woes? How do I deal with those things? I know, first of all, one of the things the Pharisees didn't get, they just didn't see themselves for the kind of people they really were. The National Manner Services. That's right. We're having services, aren't we? We do have services.

But I think that's a good... I mean, are we listening? I mean, we hear the phone when it goes off, but are we listening to what God speaks to us? I mean, in a way, we need to ask God, I want to see myself for the way I really am. Help strip away, you know, the outward thing, the mask that I have a tendency to wear. Open my eyes. I think it's a great prayer. God, help me to see the truth of who I really am.

Because I want to be like Christ. I want to be like Christ, and I know I can deceive myself. I can look in the mirror and forget about the kind of guy I am after I walk away. And so help me to recognize that. Because as we look at that, there's these little things that I feel. I'm prodded. Yeah, I am guilty. Yeah, I have a tendency to be human. And I can be prideful. You know, there are areas of my life.

I can be a hypocrite. I don't want to be like that. Yeah, I'm pretty selfish at times. I demand my own way. And I see life from my own selfish perspective. And I don't want to be like that. Help me to change. Help me to repent. Help me to rethink things. So that I don't react like a Pharisee or a scribe or a lawyer.

Help me to have that willingness to change. And I think Christ gave these directives to them. Not only for them, but for our learning. So that I can come to that. That, boy, I've got to see that I have to unconditionally and in an unqualified way be willing to change. Be willing to change. Because sometimes, yeah, I fit in all too well with these lawyers and scribes.

Yeah, sometimes I am intolerant. Yeah, sometimes I am pretty demanding. Sometimes I am prejudiced in my thinking. I can't be like that. I'm judgmental. And I have bad habits at times. And I don't want to be that way. And so we can pray about that. God, help me to take it seriously. Help me, God, to strip away what is not Christ-like and see myself for really who I am.

Help me not to be prideful. Help me to be willing to change. And we can pray and ask God, help me to respond to your direction. These people, when they were hit with the truth, they just come back with claws out, ready to attend. I don't want to be like that. Help me to be humble.

Ask God to give us the humility that we need. And as He does that, then we can change. In fact, just a little bit farther back here in chapter 11, if you notice in verse 11, maybe this is part of the lesson here. Because it's pretty close to this whole scenario of these six woes that Christ gave. He says in verse 9, So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. So have we asked God to help us in these ways to strip away those things that might be pharisaical, those things that are scribe-like, those things that are lawyerly, to get rid of those things.

He says, knock and seek. And it will be opened. What a great promise! That is such a blessing, because I don't have to stay like this. In fact, I'm on a path to change. We've committed ourselves to that, haven't we? That that's not who I am. And what a blessing that God doesn't define us this way by our shortcomings.

That is so awesome! That He doesn't hold us in this little box and say, nope, that's who you are. You can't change. No, He says, ask and seek and knock, and it will be opened. We can change. And so He says, everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and whom who knocks, it will be opened for you.

So what a blessing that is! And He even uses this little parable here to explain that. If a son asks for bread, do you give him a stone? And so what a blessing. Aren't we seeking that? We're seeking bread. We want the bread of life. We're asking God for bread. We're asking our Father for bread. What's He going to give us? He's going to give us the bread of life. And so He uses that analogy. So, yes, how much more, end of verse 13, He says, will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?

Of course, we've received the Spirit. And so how much more will He help us to submit to that Spirit, to respond to those nudges and those warnings? What a blessing that God has done that very thing.

And so He promises help for us. In fact, as we recognize these six woes, it is a call to repentance. And so let's respond. Let's continue to be the repentant people of God and strive to live by the Spirit of God. And if we do those things, God says there are blessings that will absolutely follow. That way we don't have to say, woe is me.