Introduction

Today we're going to... we've been... over the last year or so, we've gone through Christ's discourses. And there are five of them. We've talked of four of them. And what we're going to do today is we're going to begin going through Christ's fifth discourse in the book of Matthew, Matthew's chapters 23, 24, and 25. And Matthew organized these discourses in a particular way, and you can see where they begin and you can see where they end. And so today we're going to get into that. And as you look at, Matt, the fifth discourse, Matthew 23, 24, and 25, is the same length as the first discourse, which was the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. And the Sermon on the Mount, Christ's focus was on discipleship, and in a way, Christ was laying out the way that his servants are to be and out there to conduct themselves. Now the fifth discourse is very different from that. What it is, is about judgment. The fifth discourse is about judgment, and it's very strong in that way. It also covers the end of the age, and it covers the return of Jesus Christ to the earth. Now as you look at that, and you begin in chapter 23, verse 1 begins, Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples. And as you look at these things, it's good to go back and look at who is he talking to, who's being addressed here. And Christ is addressing the multitudes and his disciples in Matthew, chapter 23. That's not the total audience, but that's who he's addressing when he first begins. And in this chapter, Christ pronounces eight woes on the religious leadership of the Jews, the scribes, and the Pharisees. And he pronounces those woes on them because of their hypocrisy and their blindness. And he's quite blunt with them, and it's very sobering what he has to tell them. In Matthew 24, he's speaking to his disciples only, and Christ explained the events that would lead up to his return. And he gave several admonitions to his servants to keep in mind so that they will be ready when he does return. And in Matthew 25, he's speaking to the disciples only, and he gives three parables. He gives three parables of the need to be spiritually prepared for his return and the judgment to come. If you look at Matthew 23, you may not have read it recently, but if you go back and read it, you'll find that it is pretty blunt in what it has to say. And people have some difficulty with that because of the bluntness and the strong language that Jesus uses. Usually, Jesus is quite gracious in his words, but Matthew 23 is different from that. And I'm sure Jesus' words were gracious, but he was trying to get something across to not only his disciples and the multitudes, but the religious leadership. In that chapter, he refers to the leaders as fools, as hypocrites, as blind guides, as sons of hell, and it's pretty strong language. Pretty strong language. Before we review this chapter, I thought it would be worth our while to just take a look at a few scriptures that tell us about warnings that God gives to his leadership, especially to the religious leaderships. And God has some very strong things to say to them. Let's look at 1 Corinthians chapter 10.

Begin 1 Corinthians chapter 10. And what we find God tells us when he speaks to the leadership is that see, Mr. Hinniger is familiar with Matthew 25, where if you give him a cup of water, then we've got a drink, but there's still a little scratchiness in there.

1 Corinthians 10. Let's look at verses 11 and 12.

It says there, now all these things happen to them as examples. So all the things that it's recounting here were for examples, and they were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

So that's something that applies to us all the time for us to take heed and look at ourselves and see where we're at. Are we standing? Have we become prideful? Are we aware of who we are and what we are and what things are going on in our life? Let's go to Exodus 30. Exodus 30.

Exodus 30. And let's look at verse 18. And this is speaking to the leadership of the people of Israel, to those who are going to take over the priestly duties.

Exodus 30. It says, you shall also make a labor, a bronze, and a labor is something that you is a wash basin, basically. To lathe is to bathe. So you shall make also a labor of bronze, with its base also a bronze for washing. You shall put it between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it, for the Aaron and his son shall wash their hands and their feet in the water from it. When they go into the tabernacle of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to the Lord, they shall wash with water, lest they die. So they shall wash their hands and their feet, lest they die, and it shall be a statute forever to them, to him and his descendants throughout their generations. So God is very clear here. I expect you, as the priesthood, when you're making sacrifices and you're taking care of the responsibilities here in the tabernacle or the temple, there's a labor here and you are to wash your hands and you are to wash your feet. And God meant what he said. You're to do this. This isn't something that you just do once in a while. It's something that you have to do as a routine part of your duties. Now, not everybody believed that it was a big deal that you followed God's instructions. Let's go to Leviticus chapter 10. Leviticus chapter 10. And we have a couple of priests here who didn't think what God told them to do was such a big deal. Leviticus chapter 10. And let's look at verses 1 and 2. Verse 1 says, Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron. So they were Aaron's sons and they had very important responsibilities in the tabernacle. They were part of the priestly family. Each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. So the fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. So God wanted the fire to continue to burn. And it was the responsibility of the priesthood to keep it burning. And they neglected their responsibilities and it went out. So really, it didn't matter what fire they got. Fire is fire. So they went and they got some fire and started it up again. And God said, sorry, that's not what I want. You offered profane fire and they died before the Lord.

And it's interesting as you think about this. Let's go to verse 3. It says, And Moses said to Aaron, This is what the Lord spoke, saying, By those who come near me, I must be regarded as holy. And God is making this point because Nadab and Abihu did not recognize the holiness of God and did not stand in fear of God and awe of God as they should have, and did not honor Him as they should have. And before all people, I must be glorified. So the way that you conduct yourself is to rightly represent me, and this is no small thing. And so God told Aaron to hold his peace. It says at the end of the verse, so Aaron held his peace. I'm sure Aaron was upset by this, but God said, I don't want to hear it. Your sons overstepped their bounds and have paid the price for doing that. And he did hold his peace. They've done something foolish. Let's go down to verses 9 and 10. It says in chapter 10, verse 9, Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you nor your sons with you. When you go to the tabernacle of meeting lest you die, it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.

So when we come to church services, if we're going to stand up here and speak, we don't have a couple of cocktails before we start speaking. All right? That's the premise.

That's not if you want to have a drink afterward, fine. But not when you're getting up and you're going to speak to God's people. That's not appropriate. It says that you may distinguish between holy and unholy and between unclean and clean. So you need to have a clear head in order to be able to discern what's right and what's wrong, what's pleasing to God, and what's not. And if you look at some of the ceremonies, some of them you had to think it through and you had to be very careful because if you weren't, just like you need to have an abi-hue, God said there's a price that you'll have to pay. And God wanted them to understand the greatness and the power and the holiness of God and never to let that slip from their minds. So we see these warnings given to Aaron and his descendants, and these were warnings that you see down through Israel's history, that this was a very important thing that you were not to be slack in. For instance, at the day of atonement in Leviticus 16, it talks about, as the priest, you're only to come into the Holy of Holies once a year on the day of atonement. So don't come in here at any other time. So if you want to peek behind the curtain as the high priest, now is not the time to do that. So God gave them very clear instructions. Let's look at Numbers 18.

It tells us something about the responsibility that Aaron had as far as being a priest and what his responsibility, his descendants, had. Numbers 18, verse 1, it says, Then the Lord said to Aaron, You and your sons and your fathers' house with you shall bear the iniquity related to the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity associated with your priesthood. So what's he saying? He's saying, if there is something wrong with the priesthood or something that is not being done right in the sanctuary, whose responsibility is it? It is your responsibility, Aaron, as the high priest. And whoever assumes the responsibility of the high priesthood, it's their responsibility going forward. So they had the responsibility for how things were done in the sanctuary. And in the Tabardacle, it was very important that God wanted them to be aware of it and make sure it was all done right. And if they didn't do it right, then there was a price to be paid. So we see these things, and as we think about our responsibilities as Christians, they're lessons for us as well. We're not priests. I'm not a priest, but we can learn the lessons that they give to us here. I know that back in Ohio, I was talking to somebody, and this issue about drinking and serving before God came up, and they were surprised. I said, no, that's not the time for us to have a drink before we take on the responsibilities of speaking. Let's go to Numbers, chapter 25. Numbers, chapter 25 talks about one of the most serious breaches that took place in Israel, one of the ways that it was, one of the incidents that occurred that was an affront to God. And this is where the people of Israel went out to worship and to interact with the women of Moab, and they went out and they were worshiping the gods of Moab and participating in the event, and their leaders did nothing. And look at what it says here, beginning in chapter 25, verse 1. Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. They invited the people to the sacrifices, that is the Moabites, invited them to their sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel. I am to be your God. You're only God, and you're involving yourself with this false God, Baal of Peor. Then the Lord said to Moses, Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the Lord out in the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel. So who did he hold accountable here? He held the people accountable for doing what they knew was wrong. But he held the leaders accountable because they didn't stop it. They didn't intervene and said, This is unacceptable for you to do. You know what God has told us, that we are to have no other gods before him. And so Moses said to the judges of Israel, Every one of you kill his men who are joined to Baal Peor. So God said this is unacceptable behavior, and God held the leaders accountable. And the leaders in the church have the same responsibility. Our responsibility is to teach the truth and to guide the church in the truth, and if people have deviated from the truth, to try to point them back to the right path.

And that's still the standard for the church. And the one who's instructing them in this is the same being we find in Hebrews 13 verse 8 who says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He's not different in the Old Testament. He's the same God.

Same standards, and they don't change. They don't change.

Now, let's go to 1 Samuel chapter 3 verse 1. We come forward in Israel's history a ways. We're coming out of the period of the Judges, about a 400-year period, and we learn something interesting here in 1 Samuel chapter 3 verse 1. It says in chapter 3 verse 1, Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. So here's this young boy who's ministering to the Lord before Eli, and the word of the Lord was rare in those days. There was no widespread revelation. That means that God is not speaking to the judge. He's not speaking to the priest. He's not speaking through the Urim and Thummim. God's not communicating with them. Now, why is that?

What's wrong? Well, we find out about that as we go down to verses 11 through 13.

1 Samuel 3 verses 11 through 13. Then the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. When they hear this, they're going to be amazed. It's going to be something that's going to basically rock them.

In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house from the beginning to end. So he said that I'm going to punish Eli and his house. Verse 13, For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them. So what was the problem?

Eli's sons were not acting properly. Eli's sons were not acting as priests, as an example to the people of God. They were taking advantage of the people of God. Eli knew of their sins, and he didn't stop them. He didn't stop them. He talked to his sons, it appears, but he did not stop them. Verse 14 says, And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering for ever. So God was holding him accountable. And you have to realize, as we're held accountable, if you look in Numbers 15, we're not going to turn there, but verses 27 through 29, it addresses those who sin unintentionally.

And sinning unintentionally is one thing. And then it goes on in the same chapter in chapter 15 in verses 30 and 31. It speaks of those who sin presumptuously. Those who sin presumptuously and presumptuously means doing something defiantly. You know it's wrong and you still do it.

And it speaks of reproach. And reproach can also be translated blaspheme. And these verses seem to describe the judgment that was carried out on Eli. Because it was so flagrant, he knew what was wrong.

But he did not stop it. He did not fix it. And coming forward to the New Testament, it's interesting what the Apostle James has to say in chapter 3, verse 1. Now I'll just read this to you. He says, My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. James tells his audience that, you know, you want to be a teacher, but think about it. Do you really want to be a teacher? Because when you become a teacher, there is an accountability that goes with them. And they will receive a stricter judgment. So it was the same in the Old Testament. It is the same in the New, and it has not changed. Eli knew what was going on. He didn't stop it. And so the example there for us is if we know something's going on in the church, we need to do our best to address it and deal with it. We can't let it go. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 13.

Hebrews chapter 13. And speaking about the membership and the ministry, Hebrews chapter 13 verse 17.

It says, Obey those who rule over you. So, you know, there are those who rule, who have responsibility of oversight in the church. Obey those who rule over you and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls. That's their responsibility as pastors to watch over the flock and to make sure the flock is well fed and well taken care of, and if there are any dangers or difficulties to seek to address those on behalf of the flock. For they watch out for your souls as those who must give account. Yes, they have oversight, but they are expected to give account. So there is coming a day of reckoning for everybody that is a teacher in the church where God's going to say, let's examine how you did. Now that could be pleasant, or it may be unpleasant, but there is an accounting that is to come. And I'm a minister, and as a result of being a minister, you have all that power and glory, and that comes with it, but there is also an accountability. God is going to say, how did you do your job? Did you do it faithfully? Did you do it the way that I expect you to do it? He says, let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. It's a lot easier to do your job as a minister with joy than with grief. I can verify that through personal experience.

Being joyful is a lot better than having the grief that sometimes comes with it, but that's just part of the whole thing in dealing with human beings. So I thought I would go through these things and just point out that God has standards, and God has ways that He wants things to be handled.

He lays them out in the Old Testament, and in many ways they carry forward into the New, and they're still applicable in this time. God hasn't changed. It's not that God has no standards in this time. In Matthew 23, Jesus first spoke to His disciples, and then as He gets later into Matthew 23, He speaks to the priesthood, and He speaks to them quite plainly. And at the time that Christ is speaking, the priesthood had become corrupted. The priesthood had become terribly corrupted. You can see it at the beginning of Jesus' ministry. What does He do? He goes to the temple, and He cleanses it.

Why does He cleanse it? Because there's a whole, horrible market that's been established there, and the priesthood's making money hand over fist by selling animals and changing money there at the temple. That was never what God intended. So He cleans them out at the beginning of His ministry, and then at the end He has to go back and clean them out again because they went right back to doing what He had tried to clean out at the beginning. So Jesus delivers the message of Matthew 23, and as you think, look at what Jesus said.

It's not that Jesus that many of us grew up with in Sunday school. He's quite different from that. He is merciful and kind, but He is also quite blunt when necessary in order to get His message across. So let's get further into Matthew 23. So He begins by speaking to the multitudes and to His disciples, and then in verse 2 He says, the scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. That's an important point which we'll discuss more about here in a moment. Therefore, whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do. But do not do according to their works, for they say and do not do.

For they bind heavy burdens hard to bear and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do not do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at the feast, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, rabbi, rabbi.

And so we have to keep in mind that these words were addressed to the disciples in the multitudes. The religious leaders, as you look at Christ beginning to address them here, the religious leaders had been trying to trip Christ up. If you go back to, let's go back to Matthew 23, and if you go back up to chapter 22, in the chapter they're asking Him questions.

And the reason they're asking Him questions is because they want Him to be tripped up. They're trying to catch Him in a mistake. They're not rooting for Christ. They're trying to undermine Him and bring about His downfall. The pharisees asked Him about paying taxes to Caesar. And He answers, give to Caesar what's Caesar's, and to God what is God's. Then they talk to the Sadducees about the resurrection. So He answers them in that regard. And so they hear Him talk about the resurrection, and He basically answers them in an irrefutable way.

And the pharisees are thrilled. So they begin to ask Him one of their own questions, teacher, which is the great commandment in the law. And He explains that perfectly. And what He does is every time He answers them in the most gracious manner, the most effective manner, and what they found was we can't trip Him up. Look at verse 46. It says, And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did any one dare question Him any more. So they realized, we're not going to trip Him up. We're not going to make Him make a statement by which we can condemn Him.

It's not going to happen. So they gave it their best shot. And Christ is very aware of where they're coming from. They're not on His side. They are His enemies, and they want to see His downfall.

So Christ had begun to denounce the pharisees, and He made it very clear that He disagreed with them and that they were off-base. In fact, as you go and look in the Apostle Paul's writings to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6, verse 5, it says that these men were of corrupt minds and resisted the truth.

And that's the state of the religious leadership of the Jews at the time of Christ. Not everybody, but generally speaking, they were men of corrupt minds and resisted the truth. Then Jesus continued in chapter 23, He says, The scribes and pharisees sit in Moses' seat. Therefore, whatever they tell you to observe, and that observe and do, but do not according to their works, for they say, and do not do.

So Matthew and the other Gospel writers usually refer to the scribes and pharisees.

Only here in Scripture is where Matthew wrote the scribes and pharisees. And there is a distinction there because it seems the Greek grammar, the way that that was stated, has significance.

The Greek grammar suggests that Jesus was aiming those words at those who were the actual teachers.

Jesus was attacking a theological position and those who taught it.

You have to realize that the religious leadership had a theological position, Christ was aware of that position, and he is attacking that position.

As it talks about Moses' seat, Moses was the mediator of the covenant at Mount Sinai.

He was the mediator between God and the children of Israel.

1 Corinthians 10, verses 1 and 2.

It says, Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

All of the people of Israel were baptized into Moses, into the agreement that God relayed to Moses at Mount Sinai. And Moses was the leader who set up the whole Israelite system.

As it says in Hebrews 3, verse 1.

Just see a few things about this. Hebrews chapter 3, verse 1.

It speaks about the system that Moses was very much a part of and set up as God instructed him. Hebrews chapter 3, verse 1.

It says, Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, and when he's speaking to the holy brethren here, who are the holy brethren, that he's addressing. Well, they're Hebrew Christians who are familiar with the Old Covenant.

Partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who is faithful to him, who appointed him as Moses, as was part of and built God's house, was also faithful in God's house. For this one has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, and that is Jesus Christ, inasmuch as he who built the house has more honor than the house.

For every house is built by someone, but he who built all things is God. And Moses, indeed, was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward.

So Moses was a servant in God's house.

Christ is the son who is over God's house at this time. Moses had a primary role in the establishment of the children of Israel. So Moses had that primary role.

So under the Old Covenant, Moses was the one that God used to establish the covenant and to rule in Israel and to take on some very important responsibilities of God relaying things to his people.

Things changed in Hebrews 8-6.

We see a very radical change from the Old Covenant to the New.

But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry, that is Jesus Christ, inasmuch as he is also a mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. So Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant. Christ is the mediator of the New, and the New Covenant is established on new and better promises. And it talks about better in quite a few places in the book of Hebrews. And as you go and look at chapter 9, verses 11-15, it talks about a more perfect tabernacle, one not made with hands but of the tabernacle in heaven. And that is the tabernacle in which Christ serves. So after describing the earthly tabernacle in chapter 9, the Holy Place, the writer compares it to the heavenly tabernacle in the Holy Place.

And Christ is the mediator of the New Covenant, which involves the promise of an eternal inheritance.

So the First Covenant, the Mount Sinai Covenant, provided for what?

It provided for an orderly society. God from Mount Sinai laid out Israel's constitution, the laws, the statutes, and judgments to preserve order and to offer them prosperity. If you follow this path, you will be blessed. That's what God offered to them. And it provided the rule of law. How should we conduct ourselves? How do we deal with these various problems in our society? And God laid that out for them. In our time, what do we see?

We see that we are moving away from the rule of law. That law and order is breaking down in our nation. The rule of law requires an orderly way to resolve disputes peacefully. It means the law rules.

So when there's a question, you appeal to the law, and what the law instructs is the path that you follow. When you make a decision as a society to say, you know what, I don't care what the law says. I'm not going to do that. You're on shaky ground as a society.

Because then, everybody can do whatever they want.

And all you have to do is go through and read the judges again. And what does it say? Everybody did that which was right in his own eyes.

And as you look at the period of the judges, it was not a pleasant time for people living in that time. To illustrate, let's go to Deuteronomy 17.

Let's go to Deuteronomy 17.

Deuteronomy 17, it talks about how, you know, if there is a matter that comes up, how do you deal with it? Deuteronomy 17, beginning in verse 8, it says, If a matter arises, which is too hard for you to judge, so you don't know the answer to the question.

Between degrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the Lord your God chooses. Now, at this point, they weren't in Jerusalem yet. They were still east of the Jordan. They had not come into the land. So when they began to set up the tabernacle and they began to deal with matters, and matters would be taken up to be judged, they were first done a gildal, then eventually they were done a shyla. That's where they established the tabernacle and they would go up to the priest there. That's where Eli was. They would go up to the tabernacle and said, we've got this matter. We don't exactly know how to make a judgment about it.

So you go to the place which the Lord your God chooses, and you shall come to the priest, the Levites, and to judge there in those days and inquire of them. They shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment. So you're to come up and you're to appeal to God, and they would appeal to God and make a determination. Verse 10, you shall do according to the sentence which they pronounce upon you in the place which the Lord chooses. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they order you.

That's interesting. So if a controversy arose, take it to the priest and the Levites, and they would make a decision.

And it tells you that you're to do according to all that they order you.

Our rebuttal would be, what happens if they're wrong?

What's the answer?

The answer was, you still do it.

That's what Jesus said because they sit in Moses' seat.

They have that responsibility, and God has given them that responsibility. So as they seek to answer you from God's law, then you do what they tell you to do. But you know what Christ said? He said, but don't act like they do.

Don't conduct yourself like they do. Let's look at verses 11 and 12.

It says, According to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you, according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside to the right hand, to the left, from the sentence which they pronounce upon you.

Now the man who acts presumptuously... Remember, we read about acting presumptuously. I don't care what they said. I'm going to do exactly as I see fit.

The man who acts presumptuously and will not heed the priest who stands to minister there before the Lord your God, or the judge that man shall die, you shall put away the evil from Israel.

And the outcome of that would be... Verse 13 And all the people shall hear and fear and no longer act presumptuously. So God laid things out in a certain way, and man is not to act presumptuously, or to heed what you've been instructed to do.

And listen and then put it into practice. And people will hear and fear. So you see, when you have a dispute, and you have a final arbiter to decide the matter, and once decided, if everyone accepts the rule, then it produces peace.

If you don't accept the rule of law, what's the problem? You have continual strife.

Yeah, I know they said that, but I'm not doing that.

Is that happening in our country? It certainly is.

And that's not a good trend. And we see our country... We see the strife because they cannot agree upon a judgment. And if a judgment is made, people say, I don't have to follow that. I disagree with it. And we can do what we want. And it's a sad... That's been one of the blessings of... Upon the people that live in the United States and other English-speaking countries is the rule of law. The rule of law is not some small thing. It is a very important thing. It means if you enter into a contractual agreement, and there's a breach of that contract, that you can have confidence that you can take the matter to the judge, and the judge will say, you know what? You entered into this contract, and I know you don't like it, but guess what? You have to fulfill the contract.

And when you have a system where people can come up and say, I've entered into a contract, and he says, who cares if you've entered into a contract? Guess what? You lose confidence in the system.

And then everybody begins to act as they see fit. And that's a dangerous thing.

So as you look at what's described here in Deuteronomy 17, if you go back to the founding of the country, the framers of our Constitution use these verses to establish the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court to be the final arbiter in the United States. The expositor's commentary on Matthew 23.2 says, the leaders sit in Moses' seat. This is their comment. It says, ancient synagogues in Palestine and Greece have shown that the synagogues had a stone seat in front where the authoritative teacher, usually the Grammataeus, he sat up in front, and the Grammataeus was the teacher of the law. And in the King James Version and in the New King James Version, it's there called scribes. The NIV calls them teachers of the law. Moreover, to sit on X's seat often means to succeed X. So if you sit on Moses' seat, it means that you've succeeded Moses and you are in his position now.

So Moses was the mediator between God and the people of Israel, and the scribes and Pharisees were the ones who sat in that seat. Therefore, they are the ones who are the mediators between God and Israel. They are the legal possessors of that responsibility.

So Christ told his disciples to not be presumptuous, but to respect the judgments of the temple leaders.

And as you look at 70 AD, everything fell apart. There is no more seat of Moses.

The temple was destroyed, and there was no more priesthood, and there is no more seat of Moses as you had before that time.

With the fall of Jerusalem, there was no temple, no functioning priesthood, and therefore they couldn't administer these things in the same way.

Today, those who serve Jesus Christ in spirit and truth are not recognized and are few and scattered.

In many of the decisions that we have come to understand, we reached back in the worldwide Church of God days. And we haven't just abandoned everything. There are some things we understand better, but many things we continue to administer the same way, because the understanding was good, and there's no reason to discard it and start over again.

Some of those decisions, such as tithing, the decisions about keeping the feast, smoking, and other things, are still the tenets that we hold to in the way that we administer things. For instance, if you remember back, for those of you who were around in the worldwide Church of God days, if you remember back, how many calendar controversies did we have back then?

You know how many we had?

We didn't have any.

It was not an issue, because we had decided that we would look to the Jews and their understanding of the calendar for the way that we would observe the Holy Days. But with Mr. Armstrong's death, guess what? Authority is gone, so we've got every imaginable idea about the calendar today.

And it's something that creates confusion and contention. And there is a great deal of contention in the Church of God, not so much right now, but there has been about this particular issue. So Matthew 23 tells us that in Jesus' time, the scribes and Pharisees sat in Moses' seat.

And from 70 AD onward, the seat was taken away.

And they don't have a temple, a court, or a priesthood, and they can't operate.

Now, chapter 23, verse 3, let's read verses 3 and 4. It says, Therefore, whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do. Whatever they tell you to do, that observe and do. But do not do according to their works, for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens hard to bear and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

So Christ was telling His disciples to hold these leaders in respect, but don't follow their example.

They say, and do not do.

And that's a critical thing for us as leaders in the Church, to recognize that our responsibility is to say and to do.

Not just to say it and then do something different, but to say it and to do it. That's the approach that we have, to set an example of right conduct and be consistent in them. These verses reveal characteristics for which the scribes and Pharisees were reviewed.

They did not practice what they taught.

And you know, if people that you're speaking to know that you are not practicing what you preach, how much credibility do you have?

You have none. So when you say, hey, I think you guys need to do A or B, and then you see I'm not doing A or B, how much credibility do I have? None.

I know, and I've seen people get up and give a sermon at, I remember years ago this guy got up and talked about how we're to serve the church.

And they're talking, and my wife and I later on said, you know, that was a pretty good sermonette about the subject. It would have been much more effective if he actually did what he talked about, because he didn't serve the local congregation. So I'm like, good point, but you're not doing that. And if you really want your message to ring true with the people, they need to know that you're doing what you say.

So, you know, it's important to lead, and you set the example in what goes on.

Let's look at the verse where the section of the verses says, For they bind heavy burdens hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

So what's he talking about here? Some people say, well, he's talking about the Ten Commandments. How burdensome the Ten Commandments were. Is that what he's talking about? What is he talking about here? If you look at the Pharisees, they followed what they called the oral law. The Apostle Peter described that in Acts 15, verse 10. There he said, Now therefore why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? Now, you have to be careful when you read commentary on that, because they will tell you that's talking about the Ten Commandments. But it's not. It's not. If that's true, then you have to say, well, God put a yoke on our necks and gave us a yoke on our neck and put this binder on us. And that's not what he did at all.

That's never said about the law. It's referring to the oral law. That's what Paul is talking about. In Acts 15, they're talking about being circumcised and following the law of Moses. That is the oral law. That is man-made, legalistic rules which are a burden. Man-made, legalistic rules which are a burden. And as you look at the oral law and you do some investigation into it, a good explanation of that is found in the Jewish New Testament commentary. He goes through and explains it in a way that is helpful. I remember when we were all trying to figure out, well, do we keep the law or not, that they would quote from that particular author who put that together. And it was very helpful for us to understand the concept of halakha, these rules that were created by man and were put into effect in Israel, in Judah, especially after the return from the exile. And they sought to impose those things on the people of God as the church began.

And God never imposed those. He never imposed them on them. What we find here is that these things, they will tell you that these things were given to Moses at Sinai. He just never wrote them down. Now, scholars look at this and think, I don't think so. I don't think so. God sold Moses the commandments, the laws, the statutes, and He gave them the whole package. He gave them the Constitution for Israel. Moses wrote it down. The fundamental part of it, God wrote with His own finger on the tablets of stone and the other additional details to guide and direct the people of Israel to give them that Constitution by which they were to live, God gave to Moses.

In all of these things that God supposedly spoke to Moses, but nobody wrote it down until the medieval times, I'm not sure about that. I'm not sure about that. You know, when they tell you, well, God gave this to Moses at Mount Sinai, but we just wrote it down in 1350. Hmm, what was happening between all that time? These are things that, in all probability, they made up. If you see the word halakha, it means, if you look at Webster's New World Dictionary, it says, any of the laws or ordinances not written down in the Jewish Scriptures, but based on an oral interpretation of them. The part of the Talmud devoted to such laws and ordinances. So, they weren't written down, but they were eventually accumulated and written down and put into the Talmud at a much later date. And they were heavy burdens that were put on God's people. The oral law at the time of Christ was not written down. As I said, it was later put into the Talmud, and it was passed on in Christ's time orally or verbally. And as you look at, and it's interesting, as you look at what's taking place here, they had all these burdens, but they didn't practice them, but they expected the people to. Think about our country. Do we ever pass laws and say, all of you folks living out there beyond Washington, D.C., you have to practice these things, and if you don't, you'll be fined or jailed. But, if you look at them, amazingly, they exempt themselves from them. That's what the scribes and Pharisees were doing. To not impose it upon yourself and impose it on other people, that's not what God wants. In fact, they did it with a straight face, which we would call hypocrisy. So God made it simple. There should be one law for everyone. There's one law for the priest. There's one law for the common man. There's one law for the king. There's one law for everybody. Nobody is exempt. And that's the way it is in the church. There is one law for all. That's how it's to be. That is how it's to be.

Let's go to Matthew 23, verse 5. It says here, But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylactries broad, and enlarge the borders of their garments. So they desire to look good. And you know what? In human beings, the desire to look good is something that people like. They like that. They want to be seen as good. And that's a very strong impulse in human beings. And the desire to actually be good is less common. And it's harder to find, especially among religious leaders. Most religious leaders are eager to tell you how humble and religious they are.

But are they? Let's look at John 7, verse 18. Somebody is telling you as a religious leader about how humble they are. And if they're telling you that, there should be a red flag. I mean, you should immediately be careful. Because if they're truly humble and they're truly living up to God's standard, they don't have to tell you. They should be living it and conducting themselves in a way that backs that up. Chapter 7, verse 18. Notice what Christ has to say. He said, He who speaks from Himself seeks His own glory. So if I am tooting my own horn, I'm tooting my horn for my own glory. He who speaks from Himself seeks His own glory. But He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him. Christ did not come and exalt Himself. Who exalted Christ? The Father did. He came to do His Father's business, to serve His Father, and by serving His Father and living the way that His Father instructed Him, that's the way that He set an example and gained standing with others. So we need to be wary of leaders who praise themselves and point to themselves. And Christ is telling us that leaders may love to show off. And they do. They do. They make their, and in this religious culture, they make their phylacteries broad. So, and the phylacteries being made broad is a literal application of Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 8, where it says, You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And a phylactery is a little, is a box that they put up here on their forehead. And if you were showing off, and usually it's not overly large, but if you were showing off, you'd have, you know, a big box up there. And that would show that you were more righteous than the other guy. And God said, that's not what I want you to be doing. The borders of their garments, it talks about, and this is referring to tassels worn as a reminder of the law. And it's based on Numbers, chapter 15, verses 38 through 40, and also in Deuteronomy, chapter 22. One blue thread among the white threads, and it appears that Jesus, in his time, wore one himself. And today, and you have to realize, we don't do those things any longer because we're under the new covenant. Those things were to be reminders. So you don't need white threads with a blue thread running through it or phylactries to put on because you have the Spirit of God. You have Jesus Christ working in you. You have the Scriptures, and through God's Spirit, he opens us the understanding of the Scriptures. So how can God's truth be in your mind because of God's Spirit working in you to help you to remember and to put those things into practice? So we don't go through those physical things like they did.

As you look at religious leaders today, they often wear what might be called their humble suit. They wear a particular outfit to declare their humility. Sometimes they wear black, or they have a backward collar, or they wear large crosses or robes of various colors. And then, as well as now, the focus was on the outside. As it says, all their works they do to be seen of men.

So the focus was on the outside in order to impress others. And you know, we wear suits and ties. So do we wear suits and ties to impress everybody else? No. It's just the standard that reflects the standard in our particular society. If we lived in Hawaii all the time, we could wear nice Hawaiian shirts to church because that is the culture. Now, I like that. I enjoyed it when we went to Hawaii this year. And if you were in Bermuda, you can wear shorts. I like wearing shorts, but we don't live in Bermuda. So we get to wear these cravats and our suits and our ties. But the reason we wear them isn't to show off for anybody.

It is part of dressing because we are coming before God.

Chapter 23, verse 6, it says, they love the best places at feast, the best seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, Rabbi, Rabbi. And so they wanted the best seats. They wanted those best seats.

And did anybody in the New Testament ever want the best seat?

Just think of a man by the name of Diatrophies in 3 John. 3 John, verse 9, he loved preeminence, which is a human tendency. He loved the best seats. The rabbi, my great one.

And sadly, we've seen it at times in the Church of God, where we would have certain people sitting up front and everybody else sitting down below. They would sit on the stage and they would have the nice china and all that, and everybody's eating on paper plates. Sorry, that's not what God expected. God expected everybody. They're all part of the Church of God. And why are you exalting yourself above others? Why do you deserve china and silverware when we're all eating with plastic spoons and forks and all that? That's not the way God expected it. We're all in this together. And nothing wrong with china. I like china and good silverware and all that. But to do it when I'm doing it and you're not, that's something wrong with that picture. That's not the way God wants us to live. Adam Clark talks about this rabbi-rabbi. He says on chapter 23 verse 7, he says, there are three words used among the Jews as titles of dignity, which they apply to their doctors, RAB, R-A-B-H, RAB-I, and RAB-B-A-N. Each of these terms has its particular meaning. RAB-AN implies much more than RAB-I and RAB-I much more than RAB. They may be considered as three degrees of comparison. RAB means great and RAB-I means greater and RAB-AN means greatest.

These rabbis were looked up to as infallible oracles and religious matters and usurped not only the place of the law but of God themselves. And that's not something we better be very careful about. Matthew 23 verse 8, it says, but you do not be called RAB-I, for one is your teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Have you ever thought about that? What that says?

It's pretty simple. It says Jesus Christ is the teacher. God appointed to teach His ways to everyone on earth. Jesus Christ is the one who is appointed to teach everyone on earth, and we are all to be taught by Him. In Isaiah chapter 54 verse 13, Jesus quoted this in His time. He said, all your children shall be taught by the Lord.

And that's who is teaching us when it comes right down to it. The result of this teaching and application is, great shall be the peace of your children. As God teaches us, great will be the peace of your children. You look at what Jesus Christ said in Matthew chapter 11 verse 28.

He said, come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Come to Me and I will give you rest. Now how is He going to give you rest? It's going to be through His instruction, through His guidance, through His teaching you and showing you how to deal with life.

What is the right way to do it? What is the best way to do it? What's the way that really is going to help things to work out the way you want them to work out? He says, take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

God wants us to come to Him and to His Son Jesus Christ, and it is Jesus Christ who teaches all of us. It is Jesus Christ who works in us through the Spirit of God.

John 6, verse 44, says, No man, no one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, and they shall all be taught by God. Therefore, everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.

Jesus is our teacher, and we all have to become like Jesus Christ and be connected to Him.

In Luke 14, which we quote as we go through the baptismal process in verses 26 and 27, it says, If anyone comes to Me, anyone comes to Me, and that's what baptism is, coming to Jesus, cannot be My disciple. And what is a disciple? It is a disciple of Jesus Christ.

A disciple of Jesus Christ, and if a person is not willing to put Jesus Christ above all, or is not willing to bear His cross, he cannot be Christ's disciple. In other words, we might look at that as saying, I won't accept Him into My training school, which we are all in as God's people.

And as you look at Christ and the way that He deals with all of us, He is like a shepherd who leads us. And it says that His sheep will recognize His voice and follow Him. So, we are all being taught by Christ. We are all being taught differently. Well, does it mean we are being taught different doctrines? No, it is a little bit differently because we are different people, and we are at different stages in life, and different things have to be emphasized. But we all have the same teacher. We all have the same teacher, Jesus Christ. And the goal is that we would all be like our teacher, to grow to the fullness of the stature of Christ. He says, and you are all brethren, which is a pretty simple statement. And it gives us an idea about the relationship between Christ and His disciples. We are all brethren. And we are a family. We are all in this together. That's why it's so important for us to work together and to be in harmony. It's crucial. And it takes prayer, and it takes work, and it takes effort on our part to accomplish that. And we are all here to be taught at Christ's feet.

It says in chapter 23, verse 9, Do not call anyone on earth, Father, for one is your Father, who is in heaven. So what is He saying there? Is He saying that, you know, I can't call my father dad or my father father? Is that what He's saying? Well, it's talking about referring to someone as your father in a religious sense. We're not to refer to anyone in that way. Paul told the Corinthians that he had begotten the people of the Church of Corinth. Paul was the instrument that Jesus Christ used in bringing them into God's family. But we never see any example of them calling Him Father Paul. And we should be aware of that. We don't call anybody Father. Now, in the Church of God, the title that we have used most often is Mr. How many of you know why Mr. is a common way of addressing people and authority in the Church? How many of you know why?

It was because we want to be exalted and be the big wheels. It isn't that at all. There was a reason for that. When, back when the Church began and churches began to be raised up, who did you send out as ministers? You sent out seasoned 50 and 60 year old men who had been in the ministry for 20 or 30 years. That's not the way it was. You sent out 21, 22 year old young men and women, and they were to pastor the Church. Churches where there were people that were 20, 30, 40, 50, these people came out. They had no children and little experience in life, and yet they were to be the leaders of the Church. So guess what? It's easy to dismiss them. So it was felt wise to address them as Mr. And that's where that came from. I know that one minister was mentioning that he went to Australia, and Australia is a less formal place. So people called him by his first name. He had no problem with that. But when he came back to the United States and began to serve in the United States again, he told the deacons and elders, hey look, you can call me by my first name.

And you know what they did? They called him Mr. So-and-so.

Where he was serving was a more formal place, and they were comfortable with that, and that's what they did. People would address me as a Mr. And sometimes it was not the right time or the place. I know that we would be playing softball, and they would be calling me Mr. Smith, and these people would be thinking, what's up with this? Which I didn't ask or request, but that's what they were used to. And people not in the Church would be thinking, what's up with this? And I would tell them, just call me Gary when we're playing ball. Okay, you just got to think of the context.

And people, you know what, call me Gary now. Guess what? I answered to that. So that is my name.

So just say Gary respectfully. But anyway, it says, do not end in verse 10, it says, and do not be called teachers, for one is your teacher the Christ. One is your teacher the Christ. And the commentaries really have trouble with this one. The Jameson Fawcett Brown commentary points out that it's really doing away with the titles that are common. For instance, we have Most Holy, Most Right Reverend and Holy Father. Those are titles that are inappropriate for men. God is our Father. And God is the one who is to be reverented. Christ is admonishing against seeking titles of honor to foster pride. And that's why we don't use those. Verse 11, but he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Jesus repeatedly made this point. He made the point here, and he made it other places.

And Christ made this point, and yet he is the greatest ever. He was the greatest servant. He made the greatest sacrifice. He set the example of selfless service. In Christ's view, the greatest example is the one who serves the most. That's still the standard. That's never going to change. Never going to change. The point is made by Christ because it's common among leaders not to understand ministry. They don't understand that they're to be a servant and to serve the people of their congregation. And that's our primary responsibility. Let's go to chapter 23 here and just look at 11 and 12 quickly and note something that we'll end with.

Matthew 23, verses 11 and 12.

Let's think about, and have you ever thought of verses 11 and 12 as being prophetic? Notice what it says, But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.

He may not be the greatest in service at this point, but that's where he's growing to. It's something that is eventually to come about and be the standard in his life. Verse 12, And whoever exalts himself will be humbled. So they are to be humbled, but they aren't humbled right now. And at the last part of verse 12, it says, And he who humbles himself will be exalted. Are they exalted now? No, but they will be exalted in time. And as you might think about that, there's a prophetic element to it. It indicates God is going to make what is described happen.

He's going to bring it about through his might and power.

So hopefully, as we've gone through this first section of Matthew chapter 23, hopefully it's been beneficial to you. And after this section, we begin the eight woes that Jesus Christ pronounced on the scribes and Pharisees. And we will discuss those woes in the sermon next week.