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Matthew chapter 23, and really I call, I name this sermon Jesus Hard, Jesus Hard Preaching. So this is his hard preaching message here. So if you ever thought that, you know, well Jesus was just this milquetoast kind of soft type of person, then you obviously have never read Matthew chapter 23 because he throws down here with the scribes and the Pharisees. And when it comes down to this, you say, well why is he preaching against them? Well it's not for their sake because there's no hope for them. And if you see the beginning of the chapter, what he's saying is he's telling his disciples and he's telling others to say, you know, basically to warn them of these people. And so this is where you get into answer thou a full accord unto his folly lest he be wise in his own conceits. And as far as when there's a time to rebuke somebody, it's more so when you're dealing with a crowd of people so that the simple may beware. And so there has to be a reason why he's preaching this because obviously, and I would, you know, you think about it if I was preaching to you about these people, I'm obviously not preaching to those people, I'm preaching to you about those people. Or if I'm ripping their face off, it's for a reason so other people will take heed to that. So but in Matthew chapter 23 and verse 1 it says, then spake Jesus to the multitude and to his disciples saying, the scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe that observe and do. But do not ye after their works for they say and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be born and lay them on men's shoulders but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. Now there's actually a lot to learn here is what Jesus says about these people is he's saying whatsoever they bid you observe that observe and do. Now I don't believe he's saying obviously whatever they say no matter what it is. What it comes down to is they're sitting in Moses' seat. What does Moses represent? The law, right? Moses brought the law and it says the law came by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. So what he's saying is that they're sitting in Moses' seat meaning that they're speaking the law, they're preaching the law and so they're basically saying do the law but don't do what they do. And you, there's a lot of Christians out there that say well you know there's so many hypocrites and all these preachers and stuff like that they turn out to be bad eggs or they you know they're a bunch of hypocrites. Listen this whole passage is about them being hypocrites but he says do the law. Do what you're commanded to do and so notice he doesn't say well don't do it because they're messing up. You know that's what the world wants you to think is like well you know these people are messing up. Does that negate that God said to do it? And just because there's people out there that blaspheme the word of God, blaspheme Christianity by their evil deeds in the name of Christianity that doesn't negate the fact that Christianity is godly, that the Bible is true and that it's perfect. The law of the Lord is perfect and you know we need to look at it that way. And so we run out of this all the time when we're out soul-willing and you're like oh I don't want to go to church there's a bunch of hypocrites there. And I'm just looking I'm just looking at what you're a hypocrite you know you know kettle meat pot because I don't know if you ever heard that phrase you know that the cattle calling the pot black you know because they're both black you know it's just they're doing the same thing they're the ones that are hypocrites as well but yet they're saying I'm not gonna go to church I don't wanna be a part of religion because there's a bunch of people that did horrible things in it. Well what did Jesus say about that? To do what they say according to the law right they're in Moses' seat so they're if they're saying thou shall not kill guess what do what they tell you to do in that case but don't do after their works right because they say and do not and that's the definition of a hypocrite is someone that says says to do something but then they don't do it themselves that is a hypocrite okay. And he goes on to say in the next verse there it says for they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be born and lay them on men's shoulders so they're basically saying you guys need to do all this you know and fulfill all these commandments do all these things but we're not gonna even try to lift it with one of our fingers right and it just really makes me think of like pastors that are always trying to delegate work they don't do any work themselves there's nothing wrong with delegating work as long as you're working too right and so it's that kind of attitude of just delegating something but not doing anything yourself and just being a taskmaster right and that's basically what the Pharisees were doing is they were just like having other people do things and they were fat and sassy just receiving everything right and in first Peter chapter five you don't necessarily have to turn there but I've gone through this many times but just the job of a pastor and a pastor is an overseer the pastor is the leader of the church obviously in Christ's stead but the job of the pastor obviously is to feed the flock and that's what he's kind of saying there's what they say to you do meaning that they're they're feeding you the law right do the law because that's God's Word right but don't do after their works because they say and do not and so a good leader is someone that not only feeds you the word but they actually do it themselves okay and it says in verse 2 of first Peter chapter 5 it says feed the flock of God which is among you taking the oversight thereof not by constraint but willingly not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind neither as being lords over God's heritage but being in samples to the flock now how do you being in sample onto the flock you do it right and so that that you know in James where it says be not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work guess what that applies to the pastor that applies to the leaders and how so much the more that's what's crazy to me it's like it actually should apply to you more because you're leading not less right but that's what they're doing obviously is there they're taking advantage of that high position of authority that basically you know you think of the high priest they got it from birthright so they're basically just kind of coming into that by birthright and then just getting all the good things about it but not doing the work that's involved with it we're going back to Matthew 23 there he gets into just some other things about the Pharisees so he's just really laying into the scribes and the Pharisees and you say what's the you know what's the the scribes well the scribes are those that are writing down the law so back then they didn't have a printing press so they had to just constantly be making copies of the Word of God and so that takes some time that's a full-time job if you were to write down the Bible and you were making copies of it constantly yeah that's a full-time job and so the scribes obviously are ones that would say they're knowledgeable of the scriptures because if you're writing it out you're gonna be reading at the same time so obviously that's why they would be kind of leaders when it comes to the Word of God but in Matthew chapter 23 and verse 5 it says but all their works they do for to be seen of men that's the key so everything that they do and if they do anything that's good so to speak are righteous it's only to be seen of men so they want the praises of men that's what it comes down to and that's what we're gonna get into what it gets into right after that it says they make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their garments now you probably have you ever wondered what it meant by phylacteries right well if you look at the word and definition basically they talk about some like Jewish thing like thing that they hold on their body or something like that but go to Deuteronomy chapter 11 so I believe this is what it's talking about in both cases as far as the phylacteries and the borders of their garments I believe both these things are taught in the law but the key is is they're making broad their phylacteries and they're enlarging the borders meaning that it's not wrong to have phylacteries it's not wrong to have borders to your garments the key is is what they're doing with that they're basically making a big show of it okay and so in Deuteronomy 11 and verse 18 I believe this is what it's talking about and again you know you could say well maybe that's not what it's talking about but in verse 18 so you're on my own Deuteronomy 11 verse 18 says therefore shall you lay up these these my words in your heart and and in your soul and bind them for a sign upon your hand that they may be as frontlets between your eyes now this could be figurative okay when it talks about this but basically what I think it may be saying is that you basically take the Word of God it talks about writing it on the post of your house and just different things like that as far as where you had the Word of God everywhere kind of thing so basically they would like had the Word of God like attached to their garments okay and I'm not against that right if you just like I mean it's kind of like if you carry around a Bible all the time you just had attached to you right but what the difference is is what they're doing is they're making a big show of it like look at all the Word of God I got on me right and it kind of you imagine they probably like just have like a big thing like just stuff that's all over their body or just things tied everywhere and it makes them look like they're spiritual what this all comes down to is basically being holier than thou and being extra spiritual and look at me you know I am like this big spiritual leader instead of just dressing like a normal person and just being normal about it or discreet about it right because what's the point of having it on you so that you can read it remember it right it's kind of like if you're trying to remember it's kind of like think about this what if you carry it around a three by five card every day of a different verse of the Bible you can think of that it's like a flack or you like where you have it attached to your body and you're reading it you're memorizing it you're thinking about it and then you put another verse on there the next day right but are you like putting it on your chest you know it's like this is what I'm memorizing this is what I'm reading each day you know what I mean like the point is for your good not for the other people to see right and then go to Deuteronomy chapter 22 dealing with the borders of the garment so and again when you're dealing in Matthew 23 they are in the Old Testament okay so these things do apply to them like these dress standards you know even the dietary laws those applied now they're in the week where it's gonna be ended right so I mean we're getting right to the point where this is doesn't even matter anymore as far as the law the the cardinal ordinances and and all that stuff that were imposed upon them until the time of Reformation but in Deuteronomy 22 verse 12 it says thou shalt make the fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture wherewith thou cover'st thyself and so in in Matthew it talks about the borders of their garments now in another place and just for sake time I'm not really teaching on all this but they would have blue they would wear this blue like fringes on like the borders of their garments and it's basically just like a way to say hey I'm an Israelite you know like kind of just it but here's the thing there's a difference between not being ashamed of who you are and being showy about who you are right and so it's kind of like and this is kind of bigger deal for ladies ladies you know when it comes to like dress standards you know as far as being modest and wearing a dress but you're not going out you're not wearing a bonnet and like wearing Amish clothes right you know so there's like a line where you're you're going past modest to just being like in your face like look at me right because the idea of modesty obviously is that they aren't looking at you like it's a big deal right so you can go in two sides of that spectrum you could be really showy and have all these flashy stuff that you're wearing that people are like whoa you know what's going on or you can be like what in the world that's weird right and so either one of those is not modest okay and obviously showing like you know parts of your body that you shouldn't be showing it's not modest and stuff like that but what I'm saying is that having fringes on their garments you know having the borders of their garments is not the bad thing they enlarged them that's what was bad about it and having phylacteries I don't believe was the wrong thing but they made broad their phylacteries okay and so what it comes down to is they were being showy about it they're like hey look look at my border to my garments it's like we got a buddy you know you didn't have to like make them that big and I'm not sure what they look like but you can imagine if you like a normal coat would have like borders on it and then they have like these like crazy like long big giant things on there or something like that so obviously the reason why is they wanted people to see like they're spiritual you know they're they're really holding to the law it's like you're either keeping the law you're not it's not like I'm really it's like that should not kill I'm really keeping that commandment it's like well you're either keeping it or you're not right there's no like really doing it anyway so uh but going on in verse 6 there says and love the uppermost rooms at feasts and the chief seats in the synagogues by the way you know just a little Greek lesson this is where this is where they try to you know they're like agape means godly love yeah that's that's the word they use here so you know these chief priests had godly love for those chief priests those those those upper rooms and those chief seats right so you know just just let you know that people when they when they they bring up stuff like that it's just a bunch of bologna most of the time you know it's just not true anyway in verse 7 there it says in greetings in the marketplace and markets and notice this to be called of men rabbi rabbi and notice he's gonna go into three different things here it says in verse 8 but be not ye called rabbi for one is your master even Christ and all ye are brethren and call no man your father upon the earth for one is your father which is in heaven neither be caught be called masters for one is your master even in Christ and so what this comes down to I believe is dealing with lofty titles you know lofty titles you know obviously I would hold this to the tee as far as you know when it comes to a spiritual leader they should never be called a rabbi a master or a father right that's where the Catholic Church comes in obviously and you know people are like well you know are you saying that you can't call your dad father well let me say this if it if you have a hard time with that then yet don't call your dad father then because you know this is where they make their tradition that you know negate or nullify the Word of God right because basically they say well you know if you can call your dad father that means you can call the priest father then what's he saying here right what's the point of this verse if there's no one on earth that you can't call father right so what obviously we are dealing with spiritual leaders here right that you're not supposed to be like calling me father even if I want you to Christ you don't call me father okay because God the father is your father spiritually but obviously my dad if I call him father that's different and here's proof that it's not wrong because the Bible does that all the time with people and calls someone their father and that's the Word of God saying it okay and so obviously this isn't talking about your biological father what are we dealing with here we're dealing with the leaders of Israel being wanting to be called rabbi master and father and so and it's interesting because Judaism what do they call all their spiritual leaders rabbi and what are what all the you know Catholics call their priests father or the Pope right which is just another way of saying father right and it's all against the Word of God and so you know try to talk away around that all you want all you're doing is negating the Word of God you're making you know void the Word of God by your tradition and so you know and again you know this is always a place where I think of the the Jews and I think of the Catholics when it comes to this and how they just completely just disregard this passage and Jesus is ripping their face for it right after this meaning that he's gonna he's gonna lay into them but you think of job job 32 you don't have to turn there but it says let job 32 21 it says let let me not I pray you accept any man's person neither to let me give flattering titles unto men for I know not to give flattering titles and so doing my maker would soon take me away and you know what this comes into also I think it's it's pretty ridiculous when pastors need to be called doctor right you know like doctor so-and-so well you got a PhD good for you I don't care right and so this whole doctor you know I got a doctor in that that's a lofty title and it's not in Matthew 23 but the principle is of being exalted above measure you know like why do you need to be called doctor let me ask you that question is there a reason that you should be called doctor is there some reason that you know there's obviously no biblical reason because when you get to the doctors of the law it's never usually a good thing you know when you're looking at the New Testament there but you know tell me why you need to be called doctor and why that would be a reason you say well you're called pastor yeah pastor is a shepherd which is a servant right be like calling me a minister right you know Jesus came to minister not to be ministered unto minister means to serve that's not a lofty title right and so you know when it comes to all those different things so but all that to say is that we need to stay away from that type of stuff you know I don't care if I have a doctorate now obviously if you have a profession and you have like a you have your credentials that's different but I don't go around saying call me Jason Robinson professional engineer you know that's a that's a accolade that I have you know I have a license in professional engineering but I don't say you know you know Jason Robinson senior structural engineer PE you know put that into my name you might as well just put ABC the yeah you know just go down the line on the alphabet because it doesn't matter right especially in the Bible right what does your doctorate have to do with and and here's thing most of the time it's like doctor of divinity masters of the universe you know it's like like first of all you know and people get these degrees like these these Bible college degrees it's like masters of theology it's like are you like you know Thor or you know yeah what's a I'm trying to think of like the He-Man and She-Ra you know going back to the 80s right but all that to say is that you know what what are you trying to prove by putting that in front of your name when I see people putting that especially preachers okay listen if you're in a job and you need those credentials and in order to be the license to do work yes okay but you're not like asking people to to call you that right like I don't call up somebody like you didn't refer to me as professional engineer you know like it's just ridiculous but all I would say is that when it comes to preachers you ought not to have those type those type of lofty titles attached to you okay I don't care if you have a doctor I don't care if you have five doctorates you know as Kent Hovind said one time he stands for post hole digger right meaning it doesn't matter right and listen by the way you know those people that have those doctorates they're garbage they got them from some garbage you know Bible college that taught them nothing okay you know show me a doctor of divinity that's actually preaching the Word of God faithfully and actually you know standing with the Word of God today you won't find it much of these doctors are just kowtowing to the world now and so you know well they wanted to be a part of the world because they're asking for their lofty titles of master and you know and doctorate and all that stuff and again I'm not against doctors okay my wife has a doctorate right and and people have doctors you know you go to the hospital and and there's a person has doctor I'm not saying they're evil people right but if the person you know I've never came I've never talked to a doctor and I've like called them like somebody and they're like call me doctor like I've never had that right I've gone to my family doctor and I'm just like hey John how's it going yeah call me doctor you know how arrogant that is to say something like that and so anyway all that to say is that you know we need to stay away from that type of stuff and it comes down to humility because in verse 11 notice why he's saying this because there's a reason why he's saying don't call master because Christ is your master first of all don't call him rabbi and I and I like that it does that twice you say well rabbi means master right this says rabbi which is being interpreted master it says in John so rabbi literally means master but I love that they put don't call don't call anybody master either because someone's gonna be like well I said rabbi I didn't say master right it's just covering all bases it's like don't call rabbi don't call master I know it's the same thing but you know you're probably gonna mess that up so I'm gonna put it in there anyway yeah that's the way I look at that it's like covering all those bases and but in verse 11 there it says but he that is greatest among you shall be your servant and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted and I think about the proverb you know we're talking about proverbs where it says to not take the highest rooms and stuff like that and Jesus talks about that too you know they basically take the lower seat because you know it's gonna be embarrassing if you're at the higher seat they tell you to go down but you're only you can only go up from the bottom right and so it's always gonna be you're gonna have praise a man if he says hey you know friend come up higher and so you always want to be humble because you you know you don't want to be embarrassed first of all and be like you know cut down a couple notches but it has to do with humility and obviously these scribes and Pharisees are full of pride and so that's one of the big first things that we see out of these and what we're gonna get into with with these woes are really dealing with all the things that you need to look for and in a spiritual leader or things that you should look out for right so these are like the don'ts like these are the things about a spiritual leader you don't want to see and the first thing it gets into is the fact that they're preaching a false gospel and they're hindering people from getting saved so in verse 13 it says but woe unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men for you neither go in yourselves neither suffer you them that are entering to go in now in Luke chapter 11 it's kind of like a parallel passage with that Luke chapter 11 verse 52 when it says this he's talking to the lawyers and so he says it to the scribes and the Pharisees and and then the lawyers and and I love Luke 11 because because when they're he's kind of ripping on the scribes and Pharisees and then there's a lawyer there and he's saying you know what you're saying is you know kind of hitting us too and I'm kind of paraphrasing that and it's like and then he says woe unto you also lawyers so they're kind of like you're kind of stepping on our toes a little bit there well woe unto you too like he just hits them on all sides and I just love that but anyway but then he's hitting on lawyers in Luke 11 52 says woe unto you lawyers for ye have taken taken away the the key of knowledge ye entered not in yourselves and then that were entering in ye hindered so it's very clear there with the lawyers that there you know and with the scribes very saying you suffered them not to go in but here's the thing they're hindering the gospel like they they don't want them to get saved and they're causing them not to get saved and this is this is very common when it comes to false prophets and how you know obviously they're preaching a false gospel and they're they're not going in themselves they're damned themselves and that's why he keeps calling them blind blind guides the blind leading the blind so they don't know how to get to heaven but they're gonna tell you how to get to heaven and that's all you know listen I don't know if you've run into it but I've run into preachers I've run into pastors and you know leaders of churches and I'll ask them do you know 100% sure you're going to heaven and they'll say no I'm like what are you doing you know like what are you doing leading people then how do you how do you stand up and say hey I'm an authority on the Word of God when you don't know where you're going it's embarrassing but it just shows you this passage here where they're not going in and the people that word would go in you're hindering and in verse so Matthew chapter 23 in verse 14 so we're just getting into a bunch of woes here where he's just pronouncing judgment but in each one of these we see a different detail about the Pharisees so he's pronouncing judgment against them against what they're doing but we can definitely see how this applies to false teachers today and in verse 14 it says woe unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites be devour widows houses and for a pretense make long prayer therefore you shall receive the greater damnation so you may wonder you know what are they talking about devouring widows houses well go to 2nd Timothy chapter 3 2nd Timothy chapter 3 I think this gives you a little more information about it we'll be back in 2nd Timothy chapter 3 just dealing with another part of this second Timothy chapter 3 the first half of that chapter is dealing with false teachers and when you see devouring widows houses I this is what I see that they're dealing with here it says in verse 6 of 2nd Timothy chapter 3 for of this sort are they which creep into houses and lead captive silly women laden with sins led away with diverse lusts ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of truth now as Janus and Jambres withstood Moses so did these also resist the truth men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith that's exactly who you're dealing with in this passage of the scribes and the Pharisees and he's saying how can you escape the damnation of hell but when he's talking about devouring widows houses is basically they're creeping into houses they're teaching things that they ought not and for filthy lucre's sake and you think about widows and anything they have they're basically devouring everything that they have and and even going into to probably I'm sure fornication you know or adultery in the manner of if the person you know these scribes or Pharisees are are and listen you say well that's that's that that never happens Catholic Church Baptist churches pedophilia you know all kinds of a debauchery goes on with these spiritual leaders so to speak as far as you know and you say well listen the pedophilia is the worst but you don't think this happens on the realm of like adultery happens all the time happens all the time that you know these these these pastors will commit adultery on their wife with some other woman and how about pastor Greg Locke okay that's fruit loop you know that that used to be a Baptist right used to be a fundamental Baptist and now he's he basically left his wife for a secretary still pastoring and wanting to give advice about marriage and about raising children go jump in a lake moron and so that guy is a perfect example of someone basically creeping into houses and you know basically you know committing adultery and this happens all the time it's not like that's the only case that it happens but I see that devouring widows houses is they're basically you know they're taking captain you know it says creeping into houses and it says lead captive silly women laden with sins what do you think they're doing evil concupiscence for the kids that maybe don't know what that word means you adults know what I'm talking about so so that's I think what he's talking about there when it talks about for you devour widows house and then it says for a pretense make long prayer and go to Matthew chapter 6 because he already kind of covered on this but what's pretense doing something in a pretense it means a show so if you look at Luke where this is quoted it says for a show they make long prayer okay you can kind of think of the word pretend right it's kind of in the word pretense so they're pretending they're doing it for show they're acting acting like you know they're all spiritual and and basically they don't really mean they're not really even praying to God they're praying to themselves you think about the the public in and then you know the the story of the the public in and man I'm missing the what the name it was basically the parable I guess it could have been a parable but basically where the one guy was saying you know I it said that he prayed to himself prayed within himself or something like that you know I'm glad I'm not like this publican over here you know I tied this many times a day all this stuff right and he's not even praying to God he's just literally talking to himself and so these people that are doing these long prayers and you've seen people that do this they just do it they're doing it for a show right and you know the the ecumenical like liberal churches are just all about this meaning that it's all a big show nothing sincere about that I'd rather hear a man fumble around his words forget what he's saying lose his train of thought but it's sincere it's from the heart and he's actually praying to God right when we do our men's prayer meeting you know it's sincere you know we're just speaking our heart and sometimes we think of things that maybe we didn't talk about that we're gonna pray about and stuff like that it's not rehearsed it's not like this big outward thing that we're trying to like look good and that's what these people were doing they probably just had like stuff that they rehearsed they'd say all the time it sounded good you know people would hear anything that sounds good they sound so spiritual and it's all it's all for pretend pretty much but in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 5 it says and when thou prayest thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets that they may be seen of men and how did this chapter start off it's all about them being seen of men and says verily I say unto you they had the reward but thou when thou prayest enter into thy closet and when thou has shut thy door pray to thy father which is in secret and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly and this this isn't condemning that you can't pray aloud or you can't pray in a public place with other people but what is coming down to is that these people were doing it for show you should not be doing it for show and so if I pray to bless the food or we pray to start the service that's not what we're talking about here now if I went on for like a 15-minute prayer and it was like this flowery eloquent you know like poem if I start doing a poem in my prayer there's something wrong there right I'm just like reading off a poem over here you know you know that's that's ridiculous and you've all been those two where you're like wanting to eat dinner right and you get that guy that just really wants to pray like a long prayer and you're like my food's getting cold you wrap this thing up listen I'm the pastor of the church and I'm saying that when you're praying I this is a side note if you're gonna pray for the food when we go out to eat pray for the food and then say Amen okay I don't care if you could put in something like you know hope we have safe travels when we come home or something like that but listen we don't we're not caring about your neighbor's dog that's like having surgery and like you know I want to eat my food okay so anyway that's not side note but but all I say is that you know when it comes to prayer it shouldn't be for a show and it shouldn't be so other people are hearing you now obviously you want to be coherent if you're praying out loud and and all that stuff so I'm not saying that but here's the thing that all comes with practice when it comes to prayer anyway you know as far as just knowing what you should be praying for and kind of being in that second nature of like praying right but don't make it pretend and don't don't make it fake okay and so that comes that goes with preaching too when it comes to preaching you need to be you okay we're all different we all have different personalities and I'm not up here and listen I love a lot of preachers that are my friends but and listen Pastor Jimenez is one of my favorite preachers when it comes to dynamics but I'm not gonna just be him and Pastor Anderson's one of my favorite preachers as well but I'm not just gonna be him I love brother Bruce I think he's a great dynamic preacher and he's hilarious at times too but I'm not brother Bruce you know I'm not him so I I'm just gonna be me and listen they're not me right so I mean if someone was trying to copy me I don't know why they would but let's say they were trying to copy me you know that's not right either okay and this has happened in the fundamental realms where people get into that mode of wanting to be like people and it becomes a show okay that's what I'm trying to get with that is that if you're kind of pretending to be someone else okay and you should just be you and you know everybody everybody's different everybody's got different personalities you know they talk different you know we don't need to all have the same mannerisms okay that that gets into cultish type stuff we don't need to all have the same haircut dressed exactly the same listen we all have free will here there's boundaries but we need to we need to do what we want to do and anyway so in Matthew chapter 23 getting back to the passage here another pronouncement of judgment here it says wall one to you in verse 15 one went to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you can pass sea and land to make one proselyte when he is made you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves so notice it started off with them basically hindering people from getting saved they're not saved themselves so it's very clear these people are not saved and they're hindering people from getting saved and they're making to themselves proselytes so what is what are they doing they're producing fruit now it's corrupt fruit that's when you get into Matthew chapter 7 that this making this child a twofold more or this person a twofold more child of hell themselves they're they're basically reproducing reprobates right and that's what it gets into when it says you shall know them by their fruits so this this verse right here i believe is showing us exactly that Matthew 7 verse 15 it says beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravening wolves you shall know them by their fruits do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles even so every good tree bring forth good fruit but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit every tree that bringeth bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire wherefore by their fruits you shall know them now this makes sense that this would be talking about a proselyte right or you know a convert we would use that kind of terminology a convert because what it this can't be talking about doctrine this can't be talking about like not saying anything wrong because we all think say things that are wrong so this fruit is something that a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit in it and a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit and so i believe the evil fruit this corrupt fruit is that proselyte that they produce so you kind of see like peter ruckman who was a corrupt tree he's dead now and in hell but he uh he brought forth a lot of fruit you know but they're a bunch of corrupt fruit and isn't that interesting that they're even crazier than him right you ever wonder why it says twofold more now we obviously talk about twice dead but twofold more the child of hell than themselves that means it's worse than what they were right and so twofold more the child of hell basically a child of hell is someone that's damned you know like a reprobate well now we're children of disobedience children wrath meaning that we need to get saved right if he to believe it not the son the wrath of god abideth on him and if you're disobedient to the to the faith obviously you're not saved but here i believe it's basically saying their fruit is even worse than them they're making them even worse okay and you see that i'm just using ruckman as an example of this right because you think of sluder and you think of grady and all these people they're nuts okay and listen ruckman was nuts but they take it to another level okay and so that verse when i think about that i think about those type of applications but um but going on with the next whoa here trying to get get done in a timely fashion here um in verse uh 16 verse 16 actually down to verse 22 is really all about the same thing but in verse 16 it says woe unto you you blind guys which say whose service shall swear by the temple it is nothing but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple he is a debtor he fools and blind for whether it's greater the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold and whosoever shall swear by the altar it is nothing but whosoever swearth by the gift that is upon it he is guilty he fools and blind for whether it's greater the gift or the altar that sanctified the gift who so therefore shall swear by the altar swearth by it and by all things thereon who so shall swear by the temple swearth by it and by him that dwelleth therein and he that shall swear by heaven swearth by the throne of god and by him that sitteth thereon and you know this really shows a couple things first of all it shows their covetousness notice what they think is important as far as what you're swearing on money because the first thing it says on gold right in verse 16 then it says you know if you swear on the gift that's when you're held to to be accountable but it also makes me think of this that they're saying well if you swear on the temple or you're swear on the altar that's nothing do you know that there's a law in judaism that they can basically break vows i forget what the name of the the feast is but there's a there's a feast or something like that where basically that all their vows and all their their promises are null and void that's still today okay and so there's nothing you know that you say well you know it's different the judaism no it's the same as what it was in jesus's day now it's different than what the bible teaches right because this rabbitic talmud worshiping judaism is what you see in jesus day and that is what survived that that christ rejecting judaism that was never according to the bible is what we see him calling them out for you say well you know the jews today they're the same yeah the same jews that jesus just ripped their face off in a whole chapter that's the jews of today so tell me again you know well you know they're gosh they're just falling no they're not falling ill testament that's what jesus said they're making void the law they're not doing the law and we're not even through through the chapter yet but i do see covetousness that's a big thing you remember the one big reason why they wanted to kill jesus because they were going to take away their seat of authority and it all had to do with this money and power and you think of first timothy chapter six first timothy chapter six go there if you don't mind there um and i'll read titus one titus 1 10 says for there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers especially they have the circumcision who's that the jews whose mouths must be stopped to subvert whole houses teaching things which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake well what's lucre that's money right so for filthy lucre's sake filthy is meaning that it's not a righteous meaning that they didn't get it in a good way right and and also we we saw also that they lead captive silly women and they devour widows houses and titus it says that they subvert whole houses teaching things what they ought not and in first timothy chapter six verse nine it says but they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition for the love of money is the root of all evil which while some coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows the love of money is the root of all evil not money the love of money and that's covetousness right covetousness is to desire that right to covet money and so you know that's what i see here with this you know they're basically making making null and void some of their vows here how about this swear not at all that's what jesus said swear not at all neither by heaven neither by the earth so that would get rid of all that problems right there you shouldn't be swearing by the gift or the altar or any part of the house of house of god right shouldn't be swearing at all and so but they're they're worried about the gift and the you know they they want to make sure that their money's there they want to make sure that their gift is left at that altar and you swear by that meaning that's a big deal you better you better keep your promise then because that's more important than the temple so wicked covetousness now going on in matthew chapter 23 and verse 23 it says woe unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you pay tithe of mint and anise and common and have omitted the weightier matters of the law judgment mercy and faith these ought you to have done and not to leave the other undone ye blind guides which strain at a gnat and swallow a camel and you know this is so true when it comes to when it comes to false teachers a lot of times they're always like big into details right it's like you know this little detail it's like everybody's focused on it's like you run to these people all the time out so when you're like the sabbath we gotta get the sabbath and it's like shouldn't you worry about salvation before you get into the sabbath right or they'll just they'll have some little uh you know uh just hobby horse that they just will not let go of and it's always like this little minor details details it's like that's all they care about is those little details and that's what we see with the Pharisees that are like they're worried about tithing tithing okay tithing is important okay i preached the sermon on that once so tithing is obviously something we should do but do you put that above judgment mercy and faith and that's what he's saying is that you're you're like worried about tithing on mint and anise and common you know which are like seasonings right but you've omitted the weight of your matters of law so you've like negated all this other stuff like covetousness and adultery and fornication and you know swearing on things and like all these different things taking the lord's name in vain you know you're laying all that off because you're tithing on mint and anise that's what you really care about and so where's your priorities when it comes to what's you know important and that and that's what it comes out to when you come to doctrines too is that what's the most important salvation is the most important you know things that are that are talked about a lot in the bible listen tithing is a doctrine in the bible but it's not talked about that much right i'm not going to find you that much on tithing i'll find you what it says in the old testament and new testament but it's not just a big giant topic that we're supposed to be looking into all the time right you should tithe period i could end with that we'll close our bible we'll go home but there's a lot to say about faith there's a lot to say about judgments there's a lot to say about mercy and so you know they're they're focused in on the details so whenever you see a preacher that is focused in on these details and they never give you the big picture beware of that i think about this with end times prophecy and listen we're in daniel you know on our sunday nights we're getting into the details but listen i've already given you the structure you know tribulation rapture wrath there i said it in like two seconds right that's the structure we're going to go through tribulation jesus is going to come rapture us out and then the wrath is going to be poured out on on the unbelievers right pretty simple but but see people don't give you that they're just like let's go into the details first and let's do this and then it's basically to get you off the scent of like what's the actual big picture and false teachers do this and listen there's people that make this mistake that are saved and they and they go into the details without giving the big picture i think it's not wise you're basically you're overemphasizing the details and missing the bigger deal right and you know you're going to miss the big picture but then it says that they they strain it in that and swallow a camel i love that phrase it's just hilarious to me like it's just almost like jesus has this sense of humor like you can't even choke down this gnat but you're literally eating a camel like just just like an anaconda like unhinging your jaw taking down a camel you know like obviously it's not possible but it's just a great picture and you know it i think about salvation the simplicity that's in christ go to second corinthian chapter 11 second corinthian chapter 11 because people will reject the simple truth of how you get saved and they'll just swallow a camel when it comes to what what other people say you need to do just like i'm gonna or you think of like like the bible and then you think of evolution and what you have to really like believe in order to go down that path talk about swallowing a camel right just rejecting pure like demonstrable science and just rejecting logic to accept that but they'll swallow that all day long because they hate god because they don't want to realize that there's actually someone that's above them that they may actually have punishment but in second corinthian chapter 11 verse 3 it says but i fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled eve through his subtlety so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity of the simplicity that is in christ so notice that the simplicity that's in christ and you think of when paul in first corinthians he said you know i came unto you and i knew nothing but jesus christ and him crucified pretty simple all right so when he's preaching to him the beginning death bell and resurrection you know the gospel and it's very simple believe that jesus died for your sins and rose again third day and you'll be saved that's that's it right but people try to put a whole bunch of other stuff and they'll swallow a camel and they'll go down this weird complicated path and and all these different things when it's just so clear and but then they'll strain it they'll strain it oh but for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves is the gift of god not of works lest any man should boast well what is the gift you know what is faith you know what works it's like i don't know what i mean you're gonna question everything what's the number two you know like how far do you go with this type of stuff where you start dissecting it that far down you know i i think these people could literally look at two plus two and think it doesn't equal four like they would literally try to find a way to say it's not four and you're like well you know back in the arabic when they were forming those numbers you know and they'll go and i'm not even joking people will do this kind of garbage and what is that it's straining at an at and swallowing a camel and it all comes down to this they're trying to get away from the truth and they don't want to accept the truth and these pharisees are swallowing a camel straining and added everything that jesus says but going on there in matthew chapter 23 matthew chapter 23 and verse 25 again a lot of this passage has to do with this they look like they're good on the outside these people look like they're spiritual they look like they're good people you know trustworthy all this stuff but they're not they're actually the complete opposite so in matthew chapter 23 and verse 25 it says woe unto you scribes and pharisees hypocrites for you may clean the outside of the cup in the platter of the platter but within they are full of extortion and excess thou blind pharisee cleanse first that with that which is within the cup and platter that the outside then may be clean also i believe actually the next woe is pretty much the same thing it's just kind of explaining it in a different manner so in verse 27 it says woe unto you scribes and pharisees hypocrites for ye are like until whited sep occurs which indeed appear beautiful outward but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness even so ye also outwardly appear righteous on the men but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity now on luke chapter 11 remember we were saying that that was a parallel passage dealing with that cup and platter example he says your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness and what did it say in matthew chapter 7 there you know wolves and sheep's clothing but inward they're ravening wolves right so talking about false teachers so the idea is they look like one of you and people are always just like y'all you know i can't believe that these people did this they they look like one of us yeah that's why it's called wolves and sheep's clothing they're not just wolves right it's kind of like if the pope walked in here be like man i can't you know it's a wolf and sheep's no he's not that's just a wolf okay so you may look at that while the fair i understand that the analogy of them being like a pharisee on the fact that they're trying to look righteous but no the pope's not fooling real christians here okay they're fooling the unsaved okay so i'll give them that like so the unsaved it would be like a wolf in sheep's clothing because they don't get it but to a safe person you're not looking at the pope you're like man i wonder if he's a good guy i wonder if he's i wonder if now listen today and how backwards and how people are departing from the faith and how people are basically just just simple according to the word of god they actually are looking at the pope christians are looking at the pope like oh he's pretty good guy he's a devil that religion is is a demonic religion of idolatry and wickedness and work salvation that's sending people to hell every single day and throughout this chapter i could take a tour de force on the catholic church in this chapter from when they call it they're calling their their priest papa you know father and the pope and all this stuff and saying that the pope is the vicar of christ and saying that when he's sitting on that throne of his that he's literally the holy father and just how blasphemous that is but how much more when he's sending people to hell with his religion and all those priests and cardinals and all the rest of the birds that are there with them and you say you know why did jesus get so mad you know you think about him you just woe unto you scribes and pharisees hypocrites do you think he said that in a in a still small voice now i'm sure he was probably doing better than i just did right there as far as ripping their face off and and you know there's nothing wrong with being angry at sin and being angry at people that will send other people to hell and it's one of the big things that we see in this chapter is that they hindered people from going into heaven and not only that but they made them twofold more the child of hell than themselves and you say why did jesus get angry because he loved the people that they're destroying you know people get on your cases like i can't believe you hate them i hate people that would destroy innocent people and if you love people that destroy innocent people there's something wrong with you because the lord his soul triath the righteous but him that loveth violence his soul hateth and so people that love violence people that love violating children violating people in general you think of rapists you think of all these just wicked people that are out in the world yeah i hate them because they're wicked devils that the bible says are past feeling past natural affection they've given them they've given themselves unto lasciviousness and yeah i'm gonna be angry about that so i have no love for the pope i have no love for the the leader of islam i have no love for the leaders of all these religions i have no love for any of the rabbis that are leading people to hell i i wish they'd all die and go to hell because i want people to get saved and i don't want to be hindered by their false religion and you say well you're mean well jesus is mean in this passage because he's putting their their condemnation on them them and what they they're preaching and doing and you know there's so many other places you go to with that uh when we already went through this but in titus it talks about they profess that they know god but in works they deny him being abominable and disobedient unto every good work reprobate and listen every word of god is important when it comes to this doctrine of reprobation or this doctrine of you know people being given over to that because it says they're filled of all unrighteousness the reprobate unto every good work every good work it says in and second timothy chapter three it says they having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof so notice how this keeps me this isn't just a matthew 23 but what's the big theme in this they on the outward they look good outward appearance they look like the righteous they look like they're spiritual they look like they're good people but inside they're full of ravening they're full of dead men's bones they're white and sepulchres what does that mean it means that they're a grave that looks really pretty right you think of like if uh like a mausoleum right where you have like you know some people get buried some people will you know i guess that's for people that get cremated i don't know if they do bodies and i don't know i don't know that much about it but all i say is that it looks pretty right but what's inside of it dead men's bones right i'll be a graphic but that's just what it is so you can pretty it up all you want but inside it's just full dead dead bones and going go to luke chapter 11 because i think it's interesting how luke puts it so we've you probably that's probably the more popular verse when it comes to when he's when he's talking about them is that they're full of dead men's bones you know white and sepulchres because you can definitely see what that's talking about on the outward they look pretty it looks nice looks garnished right it looks look well put together but inside they're dead and in luke chapter 11 and verse 44 no so it says one went to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for ye are as graves which appear not and the men that walk over them are not aware of them that's an interesting way to put it right basically they're they're like graves that appear not meaning that they're literally dead men walking but people don't realize it right they're walking by they don't even realize this person is a dead man walking and what does that mean they're twice dead plucked up by the roots raging waves of the sea you know wondering stars of whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever so these people are twice dead that's what he's getting at here you know they're basically just great they're graves they're dead they're twice dead and you know we're dead in trespasses and sins but they're even more than that right they're they're twice dead so um but i just think that's that's interesting the way it says it in luke 11 now matthew chapter 23 i want to get through this here it's matthew 23 and verse 29 it says well unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites because you build the tombs of the and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous so he's basically saying he's not just saying you build them like you're doing them a favor like here's your you know i know you're gonna die here soon here's your no they're building them because they're killing them right that's what he's meaning by this now in verse 30 it says and say if we had been in the days of our fathers we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets so those are like we wouldn't have done that wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourself that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets fill you up then the measure of your father he's basically just go ahead and fill up all the wrath that's going to come upon you in verse 33 he says some nice words to them you serpents you generation of vipers how can you escape the damnation of hell and i believe this verse at least in this place or another place is taken out of the new versions right so uh but but he's throwing down on them he's calling them a bunch of serpents generation of vipers by the way john the baptist did the same thing say well that's jesus talking john the baptist did it and jesus just got done telling harry he was a fox before this he said why he keeps calling them animals because that's what they are and going on from there it says in verse 34 it says wherefore behold i send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes and some of them you shall kill and crucify and some of them shall you scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of righteous able unto the blood of zechariah son of barakas whom he slew between the temple and the altar fairly i say unto you all these things shall come upon this generation so he's he's saying this is an interesting verse here now first of all i love how it sounds like it's just a very poetic that you are guilty or you know that that this righteous blood is going to come upon you from the blood of able onto the blood of zechariah the son of barakas whom you slew like it's just i don't know i just love the way it sounds but uh all that to say is that it's interesting that the blood of able is being put upon them you ever wonder like how in the world is the blood of able being put on this generation here and they're saying basically you're the one that slew the prophets and you know you think of the verses like you're not going to be put to death but you send your father stuff like that right well think about this they're children of the devil who killed able his brother kane who was of the wicked one he was a child of the devil so what does it come down to children of the devil have been slaying the prophets since the foundation of the world and they're a part of that right so it's kind of like they're in the family if you want to look at it that way so that's how they're linked into the the the bloodshed of able to zacharias have you ever wondered who this zacharias is now go to second chronicle so i'm going to hit on this and maybe this is what i'll end on get into the next part when we get into match 24 so it could be one of these two i'm not super dogmatic on this because obviously you think of zechariah right zechariah the book the prophet and it could be that but i think it more so maybe this zechariah so there's another zechariah besides that zechariah so when you're in second chronicles 24 you're you're you're before the the captivity and all that stuff zechariah the prophet is after the captivity so we're obviously dealing with two different zechariahs but it says in verse 20 or i'm sorry second chronicles 24 in verse 20 says in the spirit of god came upon zechariah the son of jehoiada the priest which stood above the people and said unto them thus saith god why transgress ye the commandments of the lord that you cannot that you cannot prosper because you have forsaken the lord he hath also forsaken you sounds like a good preacher right there verse 21 and they conspired against him and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the lord thus joe ash the king remembered not the kindness which jehoiada his father had done to him but slew his son and when he died he said the lord look upon it and require it now this is a big reason why i believe it's this one now the the only reason that you say well it doesn't say he's the son of barakas now a lot of times this could be the case that it skips over his dad and it's more so like a grandfather or and stuff like that case in point when you go to zechariah go to zechariah chapter 1 this clearly states that he was killed in the court of the house of god and where did it say that zechariah son of barakas was between the temple and the altar which would be that the court right so that lines up and it even talks about how he says the lord look upon it and require it right and what is jesus doing in this passage he's requiring it so i personally believe that this is the zechariah that they're talking about but if you but here's the thing in zechariah nowhere does it assume that zechariah died by martyrdom obviously he died he's not still alive but in zechariah 1 it says in the month 1 verse 1 in the month in the eighth month in the second year of the rise came the word of lord unto zechariah the son of barakiah the son of ido the prophet saying the lord have been sore displeased with your fathers and so you know this has the name like the son of barakas right and you say well it's not the same well pretty much in the new testament you put an s on the end of like these names like jonas and elias and all that stuff so you'd have zechariah the son of barakas right now the reason i say that it's easy that that could be easily the case with uh second chronicles that one of his fathers is barakas right because when you look at other places where it talks about zechariah that's in zechariah that wrote zechariah it says that he's the son of ido zechariah the son of ido and a lot of times you'll see you know uh so and so the son of david it's like that's way back right and so but i think that the story in second chronicles is pretty convincing to me that that's probably the one he's talking about because he was literally killed between the altar and the house and the in the temple his name zechariah he's asking the lord to require it and so i personally believe that but if you say well i think it's zechariah the prophet that's fine you know what i'm not against you but i don't think that it's i i just because his dad's barakas there's a lot of people that have the same dad same names of dads and you know look at the genealogies they're very they're always repeating themselves so it wouldn't be that out of the ordinary that the other zechariah has some father grandfather that's named barakas right and so the other part of the last portion of the scripture i'll probably actually get to though i'll say this because i'm going to get into the judgment of Jerusalem when we get in matthew 24 but in revelation go to revelation or i'm sorry in the very last verse there in matthew 23 and verse 37 just want to hit on this real quick verse 39 says for i say unto you you shall not see me henceforth till you shall see say blessed to see that cometh in the name of the lord have you ever wondered what this means because i have wondered what it meant because you kind of think well is this talking about when he comes on the the ass and they say hosanna blessed to see the coming of the name well that already happened right and he's talking to the pharisees now go to revelation chapter one i'm just giving you a theory here or just a thought on it i i believe actually that when jesus comes in clouds everybody's going to see him and i'm talking about people in hell too and there's there's passages in revelation five where it talks about people under the earth and like think creatures that are under the earth like praising god all at the same time and stuff you say well that seems weird well people that believe in the flat earth are always telling me well you know how is everybody going to see jesus if we're on a globe so obviously it's going to be a supernatural event where everybody's going to be able to see jesus obviously jesus is omnipresent but there's that aspect of it but i believe that is coming every eye is going to see him on the earth but i believe it's not just that now uh revelation one and verse seven it says behold he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him notice this and they also which pierced him and all kinders of the earth shall wail because of him even so amen now this is just a theory okay i'm just kind of talking about what what i think it's saying here why it's saying you're not going to see me again until you say blessed is he that cometh in the name of lord that could be talking about a second coming and the fact that they're going to see him and kind of think about they're going to see abraham and isaac and jacob sitting in the kingdom of god and that themselves thrust out you know so i mean there's going to be a case where they're going to see something else and stuff like that so um that's just a thought you know that that may be what it's talking about maybe just some other event that he's going to people aren't going to say blessed to see the coming of the name of the lord before he died i don't know but um anyway i'll get into the jerusalem you know that uh your house is left until you desolate because that kind of ties into the very beginning of matthew chapter 24 anyway so let's end with the word prayer daily father lord we thank you for this evening and pray that you'd um be with us throughout the rest of this week in order to just pray that you'd help us to to know uh your word and just thank you for the book of matthew and just such a great book and just so many things to learn in there and and i'm sure we haven't even touched uh even a little bit of what's all in there uh through this study but lord we just pray you should help us to know it to understand it and ultimately to use it for your glory pray to be with those that uh that aren't feeling well i pray to be with those that um you know they're just struggling and pray to be with my family especially with the loss of my grandpa and and lord just pray that you to bless our church and lord again be with us throughout the rest of this week we love you and prayers in jesus christ name amen