All right, Matthew 23. Church family, I have just about 15 minutes, unless the pastor lets me go over a little bit, but I'm going to do my best to stay at the 10-20 mark if I can. Hey, I want to talk to you just really, really briefly about the Pharisees, and it will be very, very an overview of it, because I'm not even going to deal with the story this morning, because I knew our time would be short. But the different contexts of Christ that we've gone through have been individual people. Like, for instance, the centurion, the woman at the well, Zacchaeus. We talked about specific people that had contact with Christ. This is really kind of one of the first ones, that it's a group of people that had contact with Christ. You know the people like the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the Herodians, there were different groups of people. In Jesus' day, the Pharisees was the largest group that was very well known during the time of Christ. And there's so many applications with the Pharisees, but they were, we would call them a religious sect or a religious group, all right? Now think for just a second here. This religious group believed very much in the Old Testament law, all right? Specifically the 600 plus rules and regulations that the Jews had to take care of. And they also dealt with very much the tradition. In other words, things that were handed down from generation to generation. And they took all of these things, and it was almost as if they were better than everybody else because they kept those things. Now, I want to tell you that independent Baptists have been ridiculed as being somewhat Pharisaical. because of do's and don'ts or convictions and standards or rules and regulations. And church, I'm going to preach against that. We're not supposed to have that kind of mentality. There are five overwhelming characteristics. Now, I've studied all the verses out on the Pharisees, and there's over 100 verses. that talk about either Pharisee or Pharisees. The only two saved Pharisees that I know of in the Bible would have been Nicodemus and Apostle Paul. Both were called Pharisees, both had gotten saved. There were more Pharisees that became believers, but they were, again, going back to this Pharisaical attitude, is they were more concerned about what people thought about them, and as the Bible says, they wanted the praise of men more than the praise of God, that they would not outwardly say that they believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. I will say one more thing before I get running this morning is this, I personally do not believe Pharisees, the biblical term Pharisees, I don't think they were saved. And the reason I don't think they were saved is because three times in the scripture God called them that they had the damnation of hell, that they were going to go to hell. So several different things. So a true Pharisee believed in works. They didn't believe in the faith that it took as far as putting their faith and trust in Christ. But I will say this, Christians can be Pharisaical. Christians can act on the outward like they're super spiritual, but on the inward, they're not super spiritual. So this morning, I wanna talk about the Pharisees. I'm gonna do it really briefly, but again, it was a group of people during the time of Christ that were religious, but were not right. And we have that going on so many times where people who, they do things, but they're not really right with the Lord. So this morning, maybe we look at the Pharisees. Let's go ahead and pray this morning and ask the Lord to speak to your heart. Father, thank you again for the Bible. And Lord, you put everything in there on purpose. Lord, what we're gonna look at this morning is no accident. And so many times we as Christians, myself included, we can be very pharisaical when it comes to our attitude and motives and things that we think concerning others. Lord, thank you again for the Bible. Lord, that you teach us, help us how to learn from it this morning. May we be a better Christian because of what we're about to hear, what we're about to learn. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, Matthew 23 now. There are certain chapters in the Bible that you have labeled. Psalm 23, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, the shepherd's psalm we would call that. Matthew chapter 18, we would call that the child text. That's when Jesus spoke about children. It's interesting when you study Pharisees out and you go to all the different places. For instance, you remember the story of the parable that Jesus gave of the Pharisee and the publican? They both went up into the temple to pray and one prayed looking up into heaven. I thank God that I'm not his other man. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I have. And then the publican. He wouldn't even lift his head up to heaven. He beats upon his chest and said, be merciful to me, O sinner. So Jesus gave parables. Remember the Pharisees came to Jesus often. I think there was 10 different questions, and I think those are in your lessons, but 10 different questions that they asked Jesus Christ, all very condemning, all very critical and negative. The Pharisees just, you know, they wanted to make themselves look better than everybody else. But if you were to go to a chapter that is specifically about the Pharisees, it's the one you just turned to. It's Matthew chapter 23. Jesus himself is going to be talking about this religious group called the Pharisees. Remember what Jesus told the disciples? He said, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Now, he wasn't talking about leaven as in bread. He was talking about the doctrines, the teachings of the Pharisees. He said, beware. Don't just take it all in. Now, look what he says now in Matthew 23. I won't read the whole chapter with you, but look what Jesus says about the Pharisees, Matthew 23 look at verse number 1. Then spake Jesus to the multitude and to his disciples," those are Christians, believers, the disciples, saying, "'The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.'" Now what do Pharisees do? Different marks or different characteristics. He says, verse 3, "'All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do. But do not ye after their works, for they say and not do.'" That's a pretty powerful statement, being pharisaical, they say and not do. Verse 4, 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, let me just say a couple things here. We have to be careful that just because, you know, the Bible tells us, and I think it's Hebrews, he said that God's commandments are not grievous, but they're still commandments. You know, we get the idea that, okay, I'm a Christian, I'm a believer, and so I don't have to be, I'm not under the law. Hey, how many's glad we're not under the law? Can you imagine trying to do all 600 plus? Okay? I know we're under grace and we're not under the law. You know, when Jesus came and died on the cross, he did away with the ceremonial law. We sacrifice no more animals, okay? Me personally, I believe that the dietary law was specifically to the Jews. I believe if we follow those dietary laws, you're going to be a healthier person. But Paul made it very clear in the New Testament, it's okay for me to eat meat. And I'm very thankful for those verses, okay? Because I like bacon, I like ham, I like hamburgers, okay? But what people forget is this, is that the moral law has never changed, all right? What God morally said in the Old Testament and New Testament, Jesus didn't do away with that just because he died on the cross, all right? Nakedness is still nakedness. We looked at Luke chapter, I'm sorry, he looked at Leviticus, I think it's chapter 18, but Leviticus chapter 18, the whole chapter. He spends five verses, and one verse he talks about sodomy, one verse he talks about abortion, one verse he talks about adultery, and then one verse he talks about bestiality, and then there's one more about moral things. He spends the rest of the chapter talking about nakedness, the whole rest of the chapter, okay? So we say to ourselves, man, you know, it's okay for my kids to wear a pair of shorts. Well, wait a second here. Exodus 28, 42 says that nakedness is showing the loin or the thigh, very, very clearly, the loin or the thigh. Again, I'm not really trying to go this direction this morning. I don't think a Christian's wrong if you're wearing shorts down to your knees. Now, some of you are going to take that excerpt and play it again and again and again, okay? My kids and myself, I've never wore a pair of shorts, period. I've only wore a pair of pants. I've never had a pair of shorts on. But if a Christian was to wear a pair of shorts down to the knees, and it was covering their loin or their thigh, then they would be covering their nakedness. Now, let's not be hypocritical this morning. You can't get around the fact the Bible specifically says loin or thigh. but I'm not gonna wear a pair of shorts, period, because I do not wanna be at the line of what's right or wrong. Are we okay so far this morning? All right, we're not really teaching on this this morning, I'm just trying to use this as an example, is that the Pharisees had all these rules and regulations, and God says, hey, listen, they're being, that's a Pharisee. They say they do not, and they're putting all these regulations on you that they're not even doing themselves. All right, does that make sense? That's what he's talking about here, about being pharisaical. Church family, you are being pharisaical with your children, If you tell them to pay attention in church, and you don't. Or you tell your children to read their Bible and have their devotions, but you don't. That's being pharisaical. I'm binding heavy burdens. Okay, you do what the Christian ought to do, but I don't have to. All right? Pharisaical, all right? Okay, we got to hurry. I don't have time to go through all this. Verse number four. I'm sorry, verse number five. But all, and I like that word all. but all their works they do for to be seen of men." Not some, not partial, everything they do, they're looking for people to look at them. All right? So he says, for all their works they do for to be seen of men, they make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their garments. Now, I don't have time to teach all that. Phylacteries means it was a leather purse, basically, that they kept scripture in. And the only reason they carried these phylacteries, this purse with Scripture, this box with Scripture, the reason they carried it around with them is so that everybody would think they were spiritual. It was almost like, you know, they carried their Bible in their hands, so we thought, well, that person must be spiritual because he's got his Bible. You're not spiritual because you carry a Bible, you're spiritual because you put it in. All right? Amen? All right. God bless you, too. All right, go to the next thing here. Look at verse number 6. It says, And they loved the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, to be called of men, Rabbi, Now the word rabbi means my master. In other words, they like titles. They like to be known of people. But be not called ye 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." The Catholic Church didn't get that verse in their Bible apparently. Verse number 10, "'Neither be ye called masters, for one is your master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant, and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased.'" So what he's telling, the last phrase, "'And he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.'" He's talking about these Pharisees because pride was the root of everything they were doing. Now, if you're with me so far, say amen. I'm going to point one more thing out real quickly here and then I'm going to teach for just shortly, all right. Look what he says next, verse number 13, first phrase, but woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. Verse 14, woe, I wish I had time to teach on all this. Verse 14, woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. Verse number 15, woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, Hippocrates, verse number 23, woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, Hippocrates. Verse 25, woe unto you scribes, Pharisees, Hippocrates. Verse 27, woe unto you scribes, Pharisees, Hippocrates. Verse 29, woe unto you scribes, Pharisees, Hippocrates. Now, are you getting the idea this whole chapter is talking to the Pharisee? I'm going to say the last three verses, I don't think are, but he's talking to the Pharisees. In fact, it's interesting what Jesus said about the Pharisees. Hey, by the way, I've got to show you this. This morning, I don't know what to do on this. I'm not going to be able to get through all this, Remember I told you I thought that these were lost people? In this chapter alone, look at verse 13, "'But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, for ye neither go in yourselves.'" In other words the kingdom of heaven. "'Neither suffer ye that are entering to go in either.'" Not the word either, but not to go in. Look at verse number 15, "'Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye can pass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves." One more verse in this chapter, look at verse 33, "...ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" Now I don't know about you, but I get the impression heavily that Pharisees are lost people. Lost people that do spiritual things. Now, so church, be careful now. If we look at another brother in Christ, you call him a Pharisee, the truest sense of the word Pharisee is an unbeliever who is trying to do spiritual things or look spiritual, okay? We use the word Pharisee with believers that, with that same connotation, looking spiritual on the outside but not on the inside, all right? Not being spiritual on the inside. So again, it's lost people here. things are in your lesson. Jesus in this passage alone, look at Matthew 23 again. I keep telling you I've got to get to the lesson. But verse 16, Woe unto you, verse 16, ye blind guides. Verse 17, ye fools and blind. Verse 19, ye fools and blind. Verse 24, ye blind guides. Verse 26, thou blind Pharisee. The Lord called these guys blind. He called them fools. He called them hypocrites. He called them snakes. He called them adulterous generation. This was not a good group, okay? Now, they look good, but they weren't a good group. Now, here's what I want to do, all right? I appreciate it. Let me just lay a little groundwork. Girls are doing great, all right? Looking at those M&Ms. Hungry? Are you hungry? You look hungry. All right. Now, here's what I want you to think about this morning, okay? From just studying the word Pharisee, I believe that there's five main specific characteristics of what a Pharisee does. Now, I don't have time to teach all the stories, don't have time to even look up all the passage, but they're in your Sunday School lesson. I just want to mention them with you this morning in these last time we have together. Now quickly, here's the first one. The first thing that is an overwhelming characteristic of a Pharisee is a person who is condemning, all right? Hey, Jesus, we caught this woman in the very act of adultery. Should we stone her? Jesus, your disciples are going on the Sabbath and eating corn, and it's the Sabbath day, and they're plucking corn. Jesus, you're eating, and you didn't wash your hands before you ate. When you look at the Pharisees, you know what they did? Their whole thing about the Pharisees is condemn, condemn, condemn, condemn, condemn. As Christians, we don't want to do that. We shouldn't be condemning. I keep saying this when I don't have time to teach on it, but I think the pastor just told me to go a little longer. You know what, the difference between condemning and judging is this. Judging a person is when we call something into question in our mind. Condemning a person is we declare them guilty in our mind, sometimes with our mouth, but we declare that person guilty. The Pharisees were guilty of calling people guilty. Should we stone her? She committed the act. So the idea of not being Pharisaical means we shouldn't be condemning. Second of all is this. Again, these are the main characteristics of studying the whole, but the second thing is they were clean outwardly. You know what makes a Pharisee hard to understand sometimes? It's that a Pharisee is doing right things, so we have a tendency to think everything's okay. This is actually a china cup. I just got some dirt on the outside, and that's not the case. Now, that little china cup looks... Sorry, I got another piece of dirt right there. Good. So this china cup right here looks really, really nice on the outside, but it's got dirt on the inside. Can you see that? See that dirt on the inside? Smell? Dirt, dirt, all right? Hey, that dirt on the inside, that was the picture of a Pharisee. On the outside, they looked really, really nice, but on the inside, they were dirt, all right? In fact, Jesus said, you're like a whited sepulcher. Now, what are you saying, a whited sepulcher? He's like that beautiful casket. You ever seen an ornate casket? I mean, they're just beautiful. But on the inside, dead person. It's the same way with these Pharisees. On the outside, they looked really good. Now listen, don't be very, listen this morning, don't be Pharisaical about Pharisees. Because sometimes if you're not careful, you say, that person over there, he just thinks he's better than everybody else. Well, by you saying that, you're condemning him, which makes you a Pharisee, too. So we've got to be careful. It's not a matter of the outside. So the first thing about the Pharisees is they were condemning. Second thing is they were clean outwardly, but they weren't clean inwardly. Next one, they compared themselves with others. Now, remember the story of the parable of the Pharisee, the parable of the Pharisee, the publican? God, I'm glad I'm not as other men are. And before he got done with his prayer, or his statements to himself, here's what he said, even as this publican. Church, I mean, do you know what being pharisaical is? Okay, this is just some cheap little cup, all right? Nice little cup. This is part of a China cup. This is a China collection. Little cup. Oh, never mind. Bad cup, all right? What's in both those cups? Dirt. Hey, God made you from the dust to the ground, which means you are what? Dirt. So when we start comparing ourselves with other people, we're comparing dirt with dirt. That's what we're doing, right? And that's what the Pharisees were doing, is they were so concerned about the outside, but the truth of the matter is, they were the same. They still had a sin nature, just like that person they were condemning had a sin nature. So God does not want us to compare with others, okay? Of course, 2 Corinthians 10, verse 12, He that compares with others is not wise. Another thing that was interesting, the fourth thing about them is that they were covetous. What were they covetous for? They were covetous that people would give them titles. They were covetous that they had the highest seat. They were covetous that people would call them master. They had a desire for things they shouldn't have had a desire for. All right, that's being fair and square. Last of all, number five, fifth characteristic, is they were very conceited about themselves. They thought it was all about them, all about their works, all about what they did. All right? Now, here's the lesson this morning. Thank you so much for staying with me. We're about done. All right? You doing all right? All right, good. Do you know her? I'm sorry. Okay. Do you understand that the idea of being pharisaical is definitely a person who's lost but religious? The devil is blind to the eyes of a bunch of people. There's a lot of people that are gonna die and go to hell, and they're good people. They're moral, they're honest, they have integrity, and they're doing all these things in their mind in order to merit heaven. That's being Pharisaical, okay? But, Church, we have a lot of Christians who are saved. The Holy Spirit of God dwells on the inside, but they act like a lost person in this area of being a Pharisee, okay? Church, we're not better than one another. We're all saved by the grace of God. We all deserve to die and go to hell. We're not better than one another. And we do not do things for people to notice us. We do things because we love our Lord Jesus Christ. And when we start doing things, going solening, you know, dressing up for an occasion or a thousand other things, if we do those things and we're doing it to try to get the attention of men, that's being a Pharisee as far as our motive and as far as our action. Hey, God doesn't want us to be Pharisee and call. You know why? Because they're blind. You know why? Because they're like snakes. You know why? Because they're blind guides, they're fools. That's what a lost person does, all right? As a Christian, we shouldn't do those things.