307, I know not why God's onerous grace be made, as he did know. I'll do the first and the last verses. I know that my Lord's progress rest in me, as he may go. But I know that I am given, I am persuaded that he is able to keep the promise. I know that when my north lay low, I know what my north will do. Oh Lord, I now believe Him, and I'm persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against the day. Number 602. I shall wear a golden crown when I get home. We'll sing the first verse on the chorus just now. I shall wear a golden crown when I get home. I shall lay my buried son when I get home. Oh, don't look at me when I get home, when I get home, when I get home. I'm so good to you when I get home, when I get home, when I get home. I'm so good to you when I get home. Number 347. We're singing from the hymn book. Ring the bells of heaven, there is joy today for a soul returning from the wild. And we'll sing the first and the last verses. Thank the bells of Bethlehem, there is joy today, For a son returning from the wild. See that father feeds him, wash and clothe the way, Well beneath his weary, wandering child. Easter runs to morn, behind a mighty sea. Feeding for the earth above the free. Ring the bells of heaven, spread the peace today. Angels sound the wonder of the day. Joyful tidings fair and far away, for a precious soul was born again. Glory, glory, all the angels sing. Glory, glory, all the lords sing. A ruler once came to Jesus by night. And we'll sing the first and the last verses. The Lord wants me to Jesus find I, to ask Him the way of salvation and life. The Master may not serve in worship and play. He must be born again. us before an end. I verily, verily say unto you, He must be born again. He must be born again. Now we're going to turn in the hymn book to number 312. 312 please, and we'll make this our opening hymn tonight. We want to hear you singing Your very best. My faith has found a resting place, not in device or creed. I trust the ever living one. His wounds for me shall plead. Number 312. And we'll stand to sing, please. Not a resting place, not in device nor quake. I trust the Ever-Living One, His words for me shall be. I need no other argument, I need no other plea. And Jesus died, and loudly died for me. Enough for me, and Jesus says, this is my fear and awe. A sinful soul, I come to Him, He'll never cast me off. I need no other argument, I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died, and that he died for me. Salvation through His blood I need no other argument I need no other plea Yes, we know that Jesus died, and that He died for me. My great decision is a sin, the lost He came to save. For me His precious blood He shed, for me His life He gave. I need no other argument, I need no other plea. Now we're going to pray together, so let's seek the Lord's face in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for the beautiful words that we have been singing. Lord, many of us can say we have been singing those words for years. And I pray that familiarity will never ever breed contempt, that we'll never become familiar with them. We'll always, always rejoice in these words. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me. Lord, it thrills our hearts that we can sing these words meaningfully, because we understand what they mean. We've experienced what they mean. We have entered into salvation. We have been redeemed in the precious blood of the Lamb. We don't need anything else. There is no other way back to God. We have found Christ to be the one true way, the living way. We need nothing else. He is the one who saves and keeps. He is the one who protects preserves and he is the one who's going to guide us all the way to glory. We can say with the hymn writer what a wonderful Savior and I pray Lord that if there's anyone in this meeting who doesn't know Christ that tonight would be the night when that person would cry out God be merciful to me the sinner. That person would look to the Lord and live And I thank the Lord we do receive eternal life and life more abundant whenever we get saved. Lord, the world thinks that we're fools. The world thinks that our lives are boring. But Lord, they're not. We have a good life, a great life, because we have a wonderful Savior. someone who helps us through the trials, who even in mercy helps us understand our situation, helps us even to understand the world in which we live. Lord, it's wonderful that we can say that thou art our teacher, and we can trust in thee with all of our hearts and lean not unto our own understanding, in all our ways acknowledge thee, and thou shalt direct our paths. Lord, thou hast directed us so frequently. And when we found ourselves in dark and difficult places, thou hast shone the light in and made it easy for us. Lord, thou art good to us. We are blessed, abundantly blessed. So we thank thee for all of these blessings. And I pray, Lord, tonight that thou wilt move in our hearts and teach us to love thee more. Those who are saved, give us a real burden, Lord, to go on with God. The devil wants to hinder us from going on with God. I pray that the devil will be defeated tonight and that we will be helped in our walk with God, not hindered. Lord, we need thee. There's not a day goes past that we don't need thee. We can't get through without thee, Lord. We'll be defeated. We'll find it difficult and distressing and depressing if we don't have the Lord with us. So Lord, we pray that thou will comfort our hearts. As thou didst comfort thy servants of old, But when the psalmist asked, Why art thou cast down within me? The answer came back, Hope thou in God. And I ask thee, Lord, for those who are cast down, that they'll be enabled by thy grace to trust thee more and to lean upon thee and to discover that the help of the Lord is always at hand. Thou art never far away, only a prayer away. We can call upon thee in and through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and our God is there for us. He's a strong tower, and the righteous run into that tower, and we're safe. These are great blessings, Lord. Bless us tonight here, and do the same in all of our congregations up and down the land, because we need thee, Lord. These are dark days, difficult days, and these are days in which we need the Spirit of the Lord to come and give light and create a soul thirst after God. The world thirsts after the world. May the world start to thirst after God. Working hearts tonight, we pray, all across our churches. So Heavenly Father, bless the Reverend Omarod, and we pray, Lord, help him in Porto Vogue and encourage him and make him, please, Lord, please make him a blessing to the church down there as well. Father, we look to Thee. We need Thy help. We long for thy presence. May thy presence make the feast tonight. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. I'd like to turn you now to our second hymn. It's number 351. When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul. 351, and we'll stand as we sing. ♪ When peace like the river ♪ ♪ Had deadened my way ♪ ♪ When sorrows I sing them of Troy ♪ Love has taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. In its well, in its well with my soul. O Satan, should love him, the trial should come, let his best assurance control. ♪ Christ hath regarded my helpless dismay ♪ ♪ And hath shed his own blood for my soul ♪ ♪ It is well with my soul ♪ It is well, it is well with my soul. I sing of the bliss of this glorious day. ♪ I stand not in awe of the Lord ♪ ♪ Yet still to His cross am I bearing no more ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul ♪ ♪ With my soul ♪ ♪ It is well, it is well ♪ ♪ With my soul ♪ ♪ For thee be it Christ ♪ ♪ Be it Christ's destiny ♪ If Jordan above me shall grow, no power shall be mine, for in death as in life I'll whisper thy praise. with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. The Lord is for me, The sign of the grave is our call. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come, all ye angels. O come, O come Please turn with me now in your Bible to the gospel of Luke for our scripture reading tonight, and it's Luke chapter 11. The gospel of Luke and chapter 11, and we're going to commence to read from verse 37. Luke 11, verse 37. And as he speak, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him. And he went in and sat down to meet. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed before dinner. And the Lord said unto him, now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. Ye fools! Did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? But rather give alms of such things as ye have, and behold, all things are clean unto you. But woe unto you, Pharisees, for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs and pass over judgment and the love of God. These ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone. Woe unto you, Pharisees, for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues and greetings in the markets. Woe unto 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. Then answered one of the lawyers and said unto him, Master, thus saying, thou reproachest us also. And he said, woe unto you also, ye lawyers, for ye laid men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touched not the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe unto you, for ye build the sepulchers of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers, for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchers. Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them that they shall slay and persecute, that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation. From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple. Verily I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation Woe unto you, lawyers, for ye have taken away the key of knowledge. Ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently and to provoke him to speak of many things, laying wait for him and seeking to catch something out of his mouth that they might accuse him. Amen. May the Lord be pleased to bless the public reading of his word to all of our hearts. For Christ's sake, I'm going to ask now for our brother Mr. James Bennison would make the necessary announcements to the congregation. Thank you. Folks, it is good again to see you. In the house of God, we thank you for your attendance. We trust that you'll know the blessing of God as you meet with us even tonight. If you're a visitor, we give to you that special welcome, and we're glad to see you here this evening. We extend again a warm welcome to our preacher for today, the Reverend Murray. We enjoyed his ministry this morning, and we look forward to the preaching of the word in the gospel again tonight. Again, we welcome Mrs. Murray. to our service this evening. Young people, remember, 8.45 p.m. tonight, North Down Youth Rally in the Cumber Free Presbyterian Church, so make your way over to that service, please, specially geared for yourselves. Meetings during the week, Monday morning, 10.30 a.m., Parents and Toddlers Group Meeting in the Church Hall, Then at 6.45 tomorrow evening is the Awana meeting for the boys and girls. Tuesday at 7, the children's meeting. Wednesday at 8, the prayer meeting, Bible study, and our own minister will be back to speak at that meeting. We exhort God's people to attend the prayer meeting, make that time, keep Wednesday free, and join in that meeting around the word and around the throne. of grace this Wednesday evening. Immediately after the prayer meeting, there'll be a short committee meeting first, and then a full session meeting after that. So brethren, please take note of those meetings, please. Friday night, eight o'clock, Youth Fellowship. Saturday, 7.30, the Youth Reach in the Church Hall. And then next Lord's Day, 10 a.m., the Sunday School Bible Class 11 a.m., 6.30 p.m., the two seasons of prayer prior to the services at 11.30 and 7 p.m. Next Sunday, our own minister will be bringing messages on prayer at both services next Lord's Day in preparation for the week of prayer, the church week of prayer from the following night, Monday the 20th through to Friday the 24th each night at nine o'clock. We're giving you prior warning of that, advance notice. Keep those nights free if you're not able to be out every night. Husband and wife, organize yourselves that you're able. The family represented one night or through the week. But we draw that to your attention and we trust that you will join with us and you'll be encouraged as you attend those meetings. A reminder also that next Lord's Day will be the retiring offering for the Missionary Council. I think most people have received the Vision magazine, remembering that the subscription is still £6. If you could bring that money in at another time, and then some books and calendars that people have taken in the past, there's one or two monies outstanding. We'd like to get that cleared, if you could see me. in relation to that. Please remember the folk in the congregation. Some are laid aside. Some need our prayers. We're glad to see her sister Eileen back with us. She was out this morning. Do remember her sister Eileen and the family circle, even at this time of loss and bereavement. And do remember as well little Jeremiah Gibson, the baby boy born prematurely, the son of the Reverend and Mrs. Gibson, minister of our Corregari Free Presbyterian Church, pray that the Lord will continue his healing hand on this young child and bring it up to full health and strength again. Those are all the announcements that we need to make. We thank you again for your attendance and we pray that we'll know the blessing of God, the presence of the Lord in the proclamation of the word of God. Thank you. And now we're going to have the offering hymn. I'd like you to turn to number 278. And as you turn to 278, once again, I'd like to thank our brother James for the kind words of welcome. And it is a joy to be back with you once again, to bring the word of the Lord, to renew fellowship, and to see you all again. I trust God will continue to bless you here in the church. 278, vile and sinful though my heart may be, Fully trusting, Lord, I come to Thee. We'll remain seated as the offering is received. ♪ I have set out on my journey ♪ ♪ Fully trusting, Lord, I come to Thee ♪ I am coming home. I am coming home. I am coming home. I am coming home. I am coming home. I am coming home. I am coming home. I will stand for verse 4 and we'll make it the last verse. Verse 4 please. There is hope unknown, indeed I know I am coming home, coming home, coming home We're turning now to the Gospel of Luke chapter 11, And with our Bibles open, we'll pray for the Lord's help in the preaching of the Lord's Word. Luke chapter 11, please. And now let's pray. Father in heaven, I do thank Thee that many of us can speak of the time when we were called by the Lord out of darkness into light. We were called out of deadness into life. And I thank Thee, Lord, for that time when Spiritually, we came home. We fled from our sin, and we ran to the Savior, the one who suffered and bled and died for the remission of our sins. Gracious Father, I do thank Thee tonight that we have the joy of sins forgiven, and I pray search out every heart lest there be one in this meeting without that joy, one who has never experienced it. One who has been deceived by the devil. Lord, we pray for clarity with regard to spiritual matters. And work, Lord, up and down the land, as many will lift up the bloodstained banner of the cross tonight. Lord, bless them, and bless the hearers alike, and do a new thing in our midst. We pray in the Savior's great name. Amen. Amen. As we come to this portion of scripture tonight, I want to speak upon more than he bargained on and more than he wanted to hear. More than he bargained on and more than he wanted to hear. If ever there's a case in the Bible of people getting more than they bargained for and hearing more than they expected to hear, this is it. It certainly is. Our God is a God of truth. He is not interested in telling people what they want to hear. He tells them what they need to hear, whether they want to hear it or not. And that's why those who preach the gospel are not those who tickle the ear, but they tell the truth. They just preach from the Bible. They speak the word that the Lord has spoken and given in the Bible. You see, the true gospel is someone preaching from this book. What can be a very difficult message for the sinner to listen to, but they have to listen to it. And if ever they're going to be saved, They have to listen to the truth of the Bible and obey it. Well, in this portion of scripture that I read earlier in the meeting, we have a Pharisee. He is a leading religious man of the day. This man had heard the Lord Jesus Christ preach. He didn't like what he heard. There are many people, they hear somebody preach and they don't like what they hear. Well, this man, he's one of them. And he decided that having heard something that he didn't like from a person that he didn't agree with, he was going to have to, now imagine this, but I'm going to say it, put Christ in his place. He was going to have to teach the Lord a thing or two. Now, even saying that, you would know only A proud sinner would ever dream of doing such a horrendous thing. This man did it. He did it. Imagine trying to tell God what is right and what is wrong. Imagine trying to tell God what he should do and what he shouldn't do. You say, I find that unbelievable. Yes, so do I. But this man did it. He did. The Pharisee had probably seen and heard others question and challenge the Lord, and he would have been aware that they were unsuccessful, because no man was successful in challenging God's Son, the Son of God. Every time they spoke, he had a word, he had an answer. The divine one was not found wanting when sinful men challenged him. He always had an answer, and this man would have been aware of that. And he therefore decides in his folly, his sin, and in his pride, that he's going to get Christ round to his house, and he's going to put Christ right on a few matters. It says in verse 37, and as he speak, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him. And he went in and sat down to meet. The Pharisee besought him to dine with him. That means that the Pharisee issued an invitation for the Lord Jesus Christ to come round for a meal. Now that sounds okay, doesn't it, as far as it goes? That doesn't sound too bad. But the old Pharisee had something else in the back of his mind. But maybe you've had the misfortune somewhere along the line in life to be invited by someone round to their house for a meal. And you've thought, oh, that's most pleasant. I would enjoy that. And when you get round, it's going swell for a while. until you start to discover why they really invited you around, and they start to get stuck into you about something, or question you about something, or try to draw some information out of you, or try to put you right. I'm looking at expressions, and some of you are looking blank, but I can see from the faces that there are others, and you know exactly what I'm talking about. You want to be in my job. You do experience that from time to time. No, you don't actually. Not that side of it, that's for sure. But it's a most unpleasant experience when you discover you've been invited round under false pretenses. And then you're looking for the door, the quickest way out, and you're trying to get out as quick as you can. Well, that's something like what this man did with our Lord. He invites him round. It wasn't a sincere invitation. That's really what I'm trying to say to you, it wasn't. The guest list on that occasion was a who's who of religious leaders, we'll call them. There were Pharisees there, there were lawyers there, there were scribes assembled in the house. It must, well, only for the fact the Lord is omniscient and knew everything and knew exactly what they were at, it would have been a very daunting, frightening experience for any of us, let's say. Not for our God, but for us, walking in, it would have been like Daniel into the lion's den. That's what it's like. Well, these people were determined to make their point to the Lord. Determined. But you know what they didn't count on? He was going to have an answer. They thought it would be all one-way traffic. When we get him in, oh yes, we'll sit down to the meal, We'll have a few things to say. And he'll be in the back foot because he's not in home territory, it's our territory. We'll soon put him right. But they didn't realize that the Son of God was going to answer what they were going to say. These were clever men in some ways, but in other ways they weren't too clever at all to dare, to dare. to question Christ. So that's the situation. So how does this develop, this uncomfortable invitation in this uninviting type setting? How does it all develop? Well, in verse 38, if you look at it, it says, and when the Pharisees saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed before dinner. That's how it started. The Lord Jesus Christ sat down to the meal without washing his hands. And the Pharisee could not believe what he had just done. Now, his amazement had nothing to do with personal hygiene before eating food. That was not in the mind of this Pharisee really. And Christ's reason for omitting the washing of his hands was not neglect, for our Lord never neglected anything. But the Savior was making a point that was going to open up the conversation, and he would take it in his direction. The Lord was taking the lead, and the old Pharisee didn't even realize it. He walked into the trap. The Lord was taking the lead. You see, these Jews back then, they had a host of what I call man-made laws. Supposedly laws for pleasing God. You do this and you do that, that pleases God. You don't do this and you don't do that, that pleases God. And because we do these things and don't do the other things, we please God more than the other people who aren't involved. It was all man-made. It was a false salvation by works type system that they had developed. That's basically what it was. Of course there is no salvation by works, but that's the system of belief and practice that they had established. They'd got away from the word even though they thought they were keeping God's word, they'd got away from it. And of course, one of these rules was that hands had to be washed, but they had to be washed in a very specific way between each course of a meal. I was reading that it had to be done very specifically. There had been like a stone basin with water in it. That was special for the special water, lest the water would be contaminated in any way. So it's a bit like holy water, that type of thinking. And there was a basin, and the water had to be poured in a special way with the hands. I read it had to be poured first of all from the fingertips and run down through to the wrists. And then there was a special way they had to wash the hands and the fist inside the palm of the hand. And they had to go through a hole. It was a rigmarole. And then when that was all done, then the water had to be poured the other way from the wrist, running down from the fingertips, signifying it was washing away all the defilement. It was just something that they had developed to make themselves look good and more holy than other people. Do you know someone like that who tries to make themselves look good and more holy by the way they do things? Well, that's what's going on here. Well, whenever this took place, the Pharisees believed they were better than others. And anyone who didn't do it was sinful. They believed that. Christ didn't do it. So all of a sudden you can see, now there's the conversation started now. He didn't wash the way they thought he should have done it. He didn't do it their way. So in their eyes, he's a sinner. The holy spotless lamb of God. But in their eyes, that's what they're thinking, that he's sinful. And because these laws meant so much to these people, they were astonished that Christ would walk past the water basin, walk past the water jugs and not do it their way. They saw this as gross sin. It was this that got the conversation started and they heard more than they expected to hear that day. The conversation did not go the way they had planned. I want to speak to you about the types of sin that Christ exposed because of this event. My, it just opened up the door for him to expose sin. And he did not miss his opportunity to witness and preach the truth to them. And as well as that, he not just exposed it, he condemned sin. in the most forthright way by pronouncing a woe upon those who had departed from the book and had made up their own rules. He condemned it. So, what sins did he expose when he went to that meal and they tried to pounce on our Lord because he didn't wash his hands the way they thought he should have washed his hands? He exposed inward sin. How do I know that? Look at verse 39. And the Lord said unto him, this is the Lord saying, now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter? But your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. At a meal time, I suppose the most appropriate illustration for Christ to use is the one concerning cups and plates. Because that's really what this is about. They're sitting at a meal. They're trying to find fault in our Lord whenever they're full of sin themselves. And he realizes there are cups and plates sitting around. And the Lord is well able to use the illustration to make the scriptural point. And that's exactly what he does. He makes these men aware that it's possible for these utensils to be clean on the outside while dirty on the inside. Clean on the outside, dirty on the inside. Anyone who looks into a cup that hasn't been cleaned properly will know exactly what I mean. We're great tea drinkers and coffee drinkers in this part of the world, aren't we? And many of you like it without milk. And then the inside of that nice, white, fine bone china, it can get, yes, steamed. And it can be clean on the outside, but you look in as dirty on the inside. You'll not find it dirty on the inside in our house because I've got a wife who's very particular about these things. You could get a mouthful of steward dent or even bleach because she makes sure the inside has to be spotlessly clean. So you have to be just careful what you do take in our place. But, you know, it's easy to be dirty on the inside, isn't it? Absolutely. When you go to a restaurant. And the waitress or the waiter brings round that little tray with the lovely pot of tea, the cup and the saucer and the little jug of milk and all the rest. Sets it down. What do you do ladies? I'll tell you what mine does. Takes a look inside the cup. That's the first thing. Just in case it's not clean. The outside might look good but you have to take a wee look in just to be sure. just to be sure. So what point is Christ making when he talks about the outside being clean and the inside being unclean? He's making a point. He's bringing out a lesson. What's he saying? Well, he's making sure that these men know that while they place great emphasis upon outward things, like washing hands before the meal, things that don't do them one bit of good spiritually, They forget about the inward things that would do them a lot of good spiritually. They've got the emphasis all wrong. It's in the wrong things, in the wrong place. Emphasizing outward things. Neglecting inward things. They're emphasizing outward religion. While it says here according to Christ their hearts were full of ravening and wickedness. Do you know what ravening means? Robbery and plunder. Here they are. trying to condemn the Lord of all glory. And yet he can see their hearts and their thieves and robbers. They're in it for the money. They will fleece people. They will tell lies. They will take what does not belong to them. But then they're the cheek to condemn our God for not doing things their way. Full of ravening. These men, their hearts were far from God. Far from God. Ravening and wickedness. What did the Lord see in their hearts that he could say, you're full of wickedness? You would condemn me? And you've got a wicked, depraved heart that has never been cleansed. Oh, what a lesson the Lord is bringing home to these men. And folks, there is much of this still around today. The same thinking, the same folly, the same nonsense. Outward religious rites, but inward sin. Going through the motions of religion while the heart is not cleansed. Is there someone here and you go through the motions of religion? You come to this place, and I know people are glad to see you. But the difficulty is your heart isn't cleansed. That's the feeling. That's the feeling. Maybe you go to church every week. You wouldn't miss a meeting in Ballygaon. You've got a morning or night, one or the other, but you'll be there. But you've never visited Calvary where the Savior bled and died. You know, coming to church is good. You'll hear the Word. God can speak through the Word. That's what He has covenanted to do. Do you need to visit Calvary to be saved? Church doesn't save, Christ saves. Maybe you're the sort of person that would be very generous and place money on the plate. And that's right, we should give tithes and offerings, that's scriptural. And you would do that, but you know what? You need to put your faith in Christ, that's what you need to do. And then you'll understand more as to why we give. But you need to put your faith in Christ. You've got to do that. What about you tonight? Can you say to me that inwardly you're cleansed? Or maybe outwardly you're trying to conform to certain things, but you're still not cleansed in the blood of the Lamb. You need to be cleansed. You see, the Bible says in 1 Samuel 16 and seven, you'll know the verse very well. For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh upon the heart. Now, never ever interpret the thrust of these words as being, oh, since the Lord looks on inward matters like the heart, therefore the outward actions don't count. Oh, yes they do. Oh, yes they do. When you're truly saved, you will be healed like a Christian. you will act like a Christian. The heart must be right first, but when the heart is right, then the life is right, because what's within will come out. So don't ever think, oh, as long as the heart's okay, I can behave in a way I like. No, you can't. That's not scriptural. But the thrust of this verse is very simply this. God sees the heart. And because of that, there must be inward cleansing and forgiveness. That's what you need. You need to be able to say, when the Lord who looketh upon the heart, as he does, looks upon my heart, as he does, he sees that my heart is right with him. That's what's vital, that the inward sin is dealt with. These Pharisees, they didn't think like that. Sadly, it was all outward to them. with no inward forgiveness. So the Lord dealt with inward sin. He also dealt with, in the second place, outward sin. Look at verse 43. He says to these men, woe unto you, woe, now if you stop and think about that, what a judgment from God. A woe pronounced upon These Pharisees, why? For ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues and greetings in the market. Outward sin, he dealt with that as well. Inward sin, first of all, but then he dealt with outward sin. You see, the Lord was evidently aware of the conceit of his critics, of the pride of the Pharisees. These men were egocentric. They desired the praise of men more than anything else. When they attended the services in the synagogue, oh, they demanded the prominent seats where they could be seen. Look at me. Here I am, Pharisee so-and-so. Do you see me? They wouldn't have been happy sitting in the back row. Oh, they had to get to the front where they would be seen. Every movement was made to draw attention to themselves. You know, these Pharisees, they just couldn't come in and sit down. They'd have to run about and be seen. Attention seekers. Outwardly, it was all outward stuff with them. And when they gave to the poor, it was only when there was someone around to see them do it. You can see these Pharisees, if there's a big crowd about, there's someone poor getting their little purses out and getting into it. Do you all see me? I'm looking in the purse now for some shekels. And then they would have given a few to the poor, as long as there's an audience. As long as people see them do it. See these same boys? If there was a beggar on the side of the street, then no one else around there would have walked on past and wouldn't have given them one second glance. Because that's the way they were. Everything they did, they did it to be seen of men. Oh, they loved the market days. They loved the marketplaces. Why? Because whenever they went down to the markets, there were lots of people. And the people gathered around them. Oh, there's Pharisee so-and-so. Oh, there's lawyer Jacob, or whatever. And, oh, high union. They just loved it when people made much of them. You know, I couldn't help but think about it in my own maybe sarcastic way. I'd love those markets. I'd just walk past them as if I didn't know them. I wouldn't please them. Just to stroke their ego. But they love that type of thing. Look at me. It's me. They couldn't hide their pride and their outward sin. And you know, folks, there are many today, and they just want to be seen. They just want to be heard. They always want to be to the fore, and if they're not on the platform, they'll not be there at all, because they're proud people. Their hearts aren't right with God, and they love the preeminence. That's the Pharisees. That's the Pharisees. They like to do the talking, but they're very bad listeners. Do you know someone like that? That's pride. We should be good listeners, as well as good talkers. But these men were good talkers. They wanted to be doing the teaching, but they didn't want to learn from anybody else. No one had anything to teach them. They knew it all. There was no spirit like the spirit of John the Baptist in John 3, 30. He must have the increase, but I must decrease. Think about that. John the Baptist said of our Lord, may he increase, but me, I want to decrease. My prominence, my influence as a preacher of repentance has reached its peak, but the Lord has come. And that doesn't matter about me. It must all be about him. And folks, in this life, if we're saved, it's not about us, it's about the Redeemer. We must exalt him. It's not me that people need to see, it's the king of kings they need to see. It's not me that people need to turn to, it's the Lord Jesus Christ they need to turn to. All servants of the Lord ought to be Christ-centered people. And the Lord could see that these men weren't. And he told them, as well as your inward sin, there's outward sin. You're defiled and riddled with it. Third thing, very, very quickly now, he spoke to them about spreading sin. What's that? Verse 44. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. Oh, what strong words. And he goes on to say, for ye are as graves which appear not, or graves which you can't see or identify. They're not properly marked. And the men that walk over them are not aware of them. They'd walk over graves and not know that they were graves. What's this all about? Well, defilement was a serious menace to all Hebrews. They were very, very careful about it. Contact with the dead would have prevented them from entering certain important places and deprived them of certain valued privileges. And it was always seen as that which was defiling to come in contact with the graves of those recently buried, et cetera. And they weren't to do that. The law demanded that every grave should be marked clearly to warn travellers this is a grave. And that's why the sepulchres were painted white, whited sepulchres. They were painted white that people would know that's a grave. Someone's buried there. And you're to avoid any defilement with the dead bodies, the decaying corpses. And if you did come in contact, that was considered a calamity, a calamity back then. So when the Savior accused these people of being unmarked graves, that's what he's calling them, that's a serious matter. He was saying, you people, when others come in contact with you, you're defiling them. You're supposed to be the teachers of the word, but when people come in contact with you because of what you're doing and how you're living, you're actually defiling the people. You're spreading your sin. It's not just your inward sin and your outward sin, but you're spreading it now to other people. You're having a detrimental effect. You're not the salt of the earth. They should have been if they were saved. They should have been the salt of the earth. But they were actually the death of the people. Religious leaders who were just bringing people into condemnation, spreading their own sin to other people. No one would get saved through them. People would be lost through them. They were false teachers. And those who don't preach the gospel, have a detrimental, putrefying effect upon others, and others are lost because they have listened to those who preach a false gospel, who don't preach Christ. That's why we are to come out from among them and be separate. Our God loves purity, not impurity, and that's why it's his will for us to be cleansed and live a holy life. Inward sin, outward sin, spreading sin. Finally, hindering sin. And this is very sad. Look at verse 52. Woe unto you lawyers, for ye have taken away the key of knowledge. Ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. Now what's the key of knowledge? The word of God. And these people had taken it away and replaced it with their own views. Oh, what a sin. To take the key of knowledge, the word of God, set it to one side and say, don't need that. Sure, we've got our own wee rules now. We've worked out our own way to get to heaven. You do this, you do that. You don't do this, you don't do that. That's how to get there. No, it's not. But that's what they had done. They didn't believe in genuine repentance over sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They wouldn't come to the Lord, so they concocted their own scheme to try to get to heaven. But there is no other way. And by doing what they did, they hindered others, even those who were genuine seekers, who were desirous to know the way to heaven. They were hindering them. Never be a hindrance. Never, ever be a hindrance. The apostates like these men were a hindrance. But those of us who are saved can learn from this as well. There's a lesson we can learn. We should not be a hindrance to anyone. You know, by the way we live, if we are doing sinful things and things that are wrong, we will be a hindrance. somebody unsaved will know you. If you're doing things that you wouldn't want me to know about, or the elders here to know about, or the Reverend Ormerod to know about, or any other Christian friend, rest assured somebody's going to know about it. And they might say, I don't want to be saved. I'm not one bit interested. I know so-and-so. I know the way so-and-so conducts his affairs when he's not at church. If they can say, oh, I know so-and-so, and he or she, they're not very honest when it comes to money, you know. They're as crooked as the rest of them. That's being a hindrance. If they say, oh, I know so-and-so, and you want to hear the way they can talk, they wouldn't say those words about their church, but I hear them on a Monday through Friday at work. That's just being a hindrance. It would be an awful thing. if somebody, an unsafe person that you know in your family, a friend or a work colleague, was genuinely seeking. And they then turned around and said, but I don't really think I'll be a Christian because so-and-so. They're not much of an example. If it was right, they wouldn't get on like that, so I'll just give it a miss. Would not be a tragedy. Let's never be a hindrance. These men were just a hindrance. And we're not to be like that. And here's the thing I'll say in closing. If you're not saved, and while I've said it's possible to be hindered, I know, I plead with you, don't let anybody hinder you from getting saved. You don't have to be like them. you can be genuine. Genuinely say, Lord, save me, and I'm going to live by your grace with a Christian life. I, Lord, will follow the book. I take it seriously. I'm not going to make up my own laws or my own ways to heaven. There only is one way. I'll accept Christ and I'll live by the book. And if you and I do that, will not be a hindrance. Now somebody may unjustly call us a hindrance, but that's another sermon. But let's pray that no one here will be hindered and none of us will be a hindrance, that we'll not be like the scribes and the Pharisees, nitpicking, and yet their hearts were far from God. May we never be like that. May God bless his word to all of our hearts. Amen. Let's seek the Lord's face together, please. Father in heaven, I thank thee for the precious word of God. It does challenge our hearts, but Lord, if it didn't challenge our hearts, it would be almost futile. Our hearts need to be challenged, Lord. Sin has to be dealt with, has to be put under the blood. And we must live according to thy holy word. Lord, may someone in this house get saved tonight. And may the rest of us who are saved say, by the grace of God, I want to live according to God's book, God's standard for holiness. Lord, be with us tonight as we go our separate ways. I pray that the grace, the mercy, and peace of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will be our abiding portion now and forevermore. Amen. Amen.