In his epistle, Jude, who is the brother of Jesus, warns the church about false teachers in their midst. Jude's entire letter deals with false teaching and heresy. And this concern remains a danger in the church today because false teaching and false teachers are so insidious and so subtle. Jude writes it in this way, he says, they've crept in unnoticed The Apostle Paul tells the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, he says, pay careful attention to yourselves and all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. He says, I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come among you, not sparing the flock, and that they're going to speak, in his words, twisted things to draw away disciples after them. Some have called the pastorate pastors to tender-hearted watchfulness. I love the words of Calvin. He said in this regard that the pastor ought to have two voices, one for gathering the sheep and another for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. He says the scripture supplies him with the means of doing both. Jude illustrates in his epistle five natural phenomena. He uses the natural phenomena to describe these false teachers. He says they're hidden reefs in your love feast, meaning they're subtle, their error is not always blatant, it's hidden. He says they're waterless clouds, they tend to move around from place to place and they wreak havoc wherever it is that they go. He says they're fruitless trees. In other words, there's no genuine fruit in their life when you inspect it. They're no help to other Christians. All they are is there to cause trouble. This is their wild waves. They're there to make noise, basically. Their presence stirs trouble. Their wandering stars, that is in their end, is eternal utter darkness and hell. Now turn to your Bibles to Matthew chapter 23. We're coming to a section or we are in a section of Matthew's Gospel where Jesus is speaking to the false teachers, the false shepherds of Israel. They are objecting to Christ. They're objecting to his work, calling into question his deeds and his authority. We have seen Jesus answer these objections with great wisdom. Every time they raise an objection, he has an answer, showing that not only is he a great rabbi, but he is the Messiah, the Son of God. The revelation, the increasing revelation, that Jesus is now speaking more clearly that he is the Messiah is a threat to Judaism. Because Christ represents a threat to the established authority among the Jews. So they're seeking to have Jesus arrested. In Matthew 23, we arrive at some of the most, or the most, in fact, scathing and even scandalous words that Jesus spoke in all of his ministry. We'll get to those next time in the second half of chapter 23. People have said, did Jesus really even say these words? But when we consider the fact that God has a jealous love for His people, and that He entrusts His people for a season on earth to shepherds, to leaders, and the potential influence that teachers have on the lives of people, for good or for bad, we can understand the righteous indignation that God would have when those people are led astray. And we can understand the righteous indignation of the God-man, Jesus Christ, that he would have toward his people who are assigned to take care of his sheep, but are not doing so. So the warnings of Matthew 23 would best be heeded with fear and trembling, not only by Pharisees, but by the shepherds of our day as well. And then again, not only leaders, but Christians in general. I believe we will all find these words startling and challenging, as Jesus challenges all forms of hypocrisy and people-pleasing in all of us. Let's look at our text and read it together, beginning in Matthew chapter 23. We'll read from verses 1 through 12. Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, the scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, So do and observe whatever they tell you, but do not do the works they do, for they preach, but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to bear and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad, and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor and the feast, and the best seats of the synagogue, and the greetings in the marketplaces, and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man father on earth, for you have one Father who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." Today we're going to be looking at five marks of a false leader, and it's my prayer that God would use this to help us not only in identifying true and false leaders, but also to mortify pride in all of our hearts. It's been said that if a religion is true, it has to begin with true leaders. For good or for bad, people tend to resemble their leaders. They tend to reflect the same priorities. They gather around leaders that have the same priorities that they have. So in one sense, when people are led astray, they can't blame their leaders because leadership is merely a reflection of people's hearts. However, when God judges a people, while he does not exonerate the individual, there is a particular responsibility that a leader holds. I want to look at a couple examples of these. Turn to Hosea, the book of Hosea, chapter 4. Hosea is the first minor prophet, so if you find the major prophets, And you find Daniel, the fourth one, he's the first minor prophet after Daniel, and then turn to chapter 4, Hosea 4. The prophet Hosea is announcing the coming judgment on the nation of Israel, yet we're going to see God's primary contention is with the priests and the prophets who lead the people. Let's look, Hosea 4, verse 1. Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has controversy with the inhabitants of the land. So he's speaking to everyone here. He's speaking to all the children of Israel. Verse 2. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love and no knowledge of God in the land. There is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, committing adultery. They break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish. The beasts of the field, even the birds of the heaven, and the fish of the sea are taken away." So we see this judgment that God is announcing is a coming upon all of creation. But now verse 4, Let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest. You shall stumble by day, the prophet also shall stumble with you by night, and I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge because you have rejected knowledge. I reject you from being priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law and your God, I also will forget your children. But then look at verse nine. It says, and it shall be like people, like priest. I will punish them. Who's them? The people. I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds. So the people as a whole in judgment are not exempt, but leaders are held particularly culpable. Now to go to Ezekiel, two books back from Hosea, and look at Ezekiel chapter 34, we're going to see a very similar thing now with Judah. That was with Israel in the north, same thing with Judah. God announces the scathing indictment on the shepherds of Judah, Ezekiel 34 verse 1. The Word of the Lord came to me. Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to them, even to the shepherds, thus says the Lord God." Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves. Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, clothe yourselves with wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them." And then notice the consequences in verse 5 on everyone. It says, so they were scattered because there was no shepherd and they became food for all wild beasts. My sheep were scattered. They wandered over the mountains and over every hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth with none to search or seek for them. So this scattering that God is doing here with Judah is both a judgment as well as a protection. Because he's scattering them to keep them away from the false teachers. Those predatory shepherds. And then he's going to judge the shepherds. And simultaneously he's protecting the sheep. Look at verse 7. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. As I live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherd have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves and have not fed my sheep, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God, behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue them from their mouths that they may not be food for them." God promises that he will rescue his people. So you get this sense from Hosea, Ezekiel, you can find similar verses in Jeremiah and other prophets where God is entrusting His people to these shepherds, these leaders. And these leaders who misuse and abuse His people stir up righteous indignation in God because of His loving, protective nature. Now go back to Matthew 23. I believe it is with this same kind of righteous indignation, now in Matthew 23, Jesus Christ indicts the false leadership of His people in Jerusalem. These scribes and Pharisees described here in verse 2. The scribes and Pharisees, Jesus said, sit on Moses' seat. And He says, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but they do not practice." In Jesus' day, the charge to teaching the people of God was given to the scribes and Pharisees. The Pharisees were a strict sect of Judaism. They originated around the second century B.C., and they sought to teach the minutia of the law, both the written and oral law. Among the number of Pharisees were scribes. Scribes' primary responsibility was to copy the scriptures, to write them down, but they also became interpreters and teachers of the law. When Jesus said they sit in Moses' seat, some commentators believe that there was a literal stone seat in every synagogue platform which was near where the Torah scrolls were kept, and the rabbi would sit on this stone seat and he would expound on the law. Now whether this seat was literal or not, what Jesus is saying here is very clear, that these men have a charge to teach God's word to God's people. Now, someone needs to do this. Someone needs to teach the people of God the Word of God. Jesus is not in any way saying here that there should not be someone interpreting the Scripture. And in fact, He seems to say that the scribes and Pharisees are saying it right. He says here, do and observe whatever they tell you. So Jesus here seems to be giving some affirmation to listening to these teachers. Now obviously there's some hyperbole when he says, whatever they tell you. Jesus can't be advising the people to follow everything that the scribes and Pharisees say, because we're going to find out that they also heap heavy burdens on the people. So Jesus is not advocating a blind following of these people, but he says, follow what they say. In general, they're teaching the Word of God. And as such, the people ought to listen to the word preached. They listen with all eagerness, even while they examine the scriptures to be sure that what is being taught is biblical. This is our responsibility, brethren. This is our responsibility to this day as hearers of the Word every Sunday. Anytime you listen to a sermon here, anytime you listen to a sermon online, there is this balance of responsibility that we have as those listening. We are to receive it, but with care. See, to blindly accept everything that you hear from a teaching without checking it out against the scripture is unwise and dangerous. We're called to search the scriptures. However, on the other side, to listen to everything for the purpose of criticizing is also unfair and equally dangerous, as we are called to do and to apply what we hear. Now we're about to discover that a teacher can be right in their doctrine, but not in their life. In verses 3 to 12, Jesus is going to identify these false shepherds, who he's already said their teaching is right, with five marks. These scribes and Pharisees in Jesus's day with five marks. But it's not limited just to them. These five marks can certainly be applied to leaders in the church today. We need to be careful that we don't only point fingers backwards and get involved in Pharisee bashing. It's very easy to say, oh, look at those sad, sorry bunch of Pharisees. I believe that every word of Scripture has a context, and as we understand the original context, we make an application to ourselves. So this is not a sermon for pointing fingers. They must be applied to leadership in the church in our day, and also to ourselves. It's not only here to warn leaders, but all of us, because we are all susceptible to these very same sins. So today, as you hear these characteristics of leaders, it's going to be very easy, I will warn you, it's going to be very easy for you to start to think of people. You're going to identify certain false leaders with a particular mark. I know that I did as I was preparing. I would immediately think of someone, someone would come to mind. I think we risk cheapening the text if we only apply it to our opponents. If we only apply it to those Pharisees or those leaders, those false teachers out there I think to get the most out of this, I want you to try to do, as I try to do, apply this chapter first to yourself as a Christian, and then after that to the practice of leaders in the church. And for this reason, in this sermon, I will probably talk about myself a little bit more than I'm used to doing. I'm going to refrain from using examples of leaders identifying leaders by name. It's not that I'm against naming names, you know that. I believe fully that it is necessary at times to do so. But what I want here is not to point fingers. I want us to our own hearts, to examine our own hearts in this area. So when you hear a mark and you immediately think Benny Hinn, Stephen Furtick, Creflo Dollar, Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, or Pastor So-and-So from my previous church, I had to get that in. Resist, resist that thought and try to see how the mark instead reveals your own attitude and behavior. Let's begin with the first mark of a false leader. Verse 3. Do and observe what they tell you, but what? But not the works they do for they preach but do not practice. The first mark is hypocrisy. Hypocrisy. We ought to be able to see a leader in his natural habitat, so to speak. We need to see a leader, observe a leader's life, in order to see if he is qualified for the position that he holds. We need to be able to see if someone is practicing what they preach. As such, a leader cannot hide himself away from the flock. His home, his family, his life needs to be an open book, and his life ought to be consistent with his doctrine. I will say, as one who stands in a position of leadership in the church and stands on this side of the pulpit, that this is extremely difficult. This is difficult on me as an individual. It's difficult on our family. God's word, the standard of God's word is unbelievably high, isn't it? And we all fall short of the standard. every single one of us. Pastors fall short of the standard that God sets. We all fall short. So as preachers of the word, how, as I'm grappling with this, I'm thinking, how, Lord, do we preach your standard and then see the disconnect in our own lives? See, when we preach, we have to examine ourselves. Brethren, every time I prepare a message, God works that sermon first in my own life, and quite honestly, many times I see hypocrisy in my life. I'll give you a clear example, something very recent. A couple of weeks ago, while I was preaching, I was preaching the standard of love your neighbor. And I said to you and I was admonishing you that when you see a neighbor in need, set aside your own agenda and put that person's need first. I don't do that. I don't do that all the time. I don't do that most of the time. But that is the standard that God sets. I believe that's the standard that God called me to preach and I can't not preach it. If I don't do it, I need to preach it, though, in a way that makes it clear that I'm with you in this. Not to suggest, I'm doing this well and you're all not. So every week I pray, when I pray, I say, Lord, use my words to bring conviction and comfort, not one without the other. I pray that God would work His Word in my own heart, that He would change me where I need to be changed. And I'll tell you, with all of you, by the end of the service, when the Lord's Supper, I am so grateful for the Lord's Supper, when my gaze is turned to Christ, and I'm displeased with myself because of my sin, because of my hypocrisy, because of my disregard for my neighbor's need, and nevertheless that I know that my sins are covered by the suffering and death of Christ, I rejoice in that moment. So as a preacher, I'm fully aware of the sinful inclination of my heart toward hypocrisy, and we all must be, because we are all called to minister the Word to one another, are we not? We are called to tell the standard, even while we are fully aware that we fall short of that standard in ourselves. But when we preach to others, apart from the recognition that we fall short, apart from our own sinful condition, our own need for grace, our understanding of our need, our recognition of our need for grace, we become like the Pharisees. It's then that Romans 2 warns to us. It says, in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself because you, the judge, practice the very same things. He says, we know the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice these things. We know that God's judgment is right. This is Paul in Romans 2, by the way. If you want to write that down, Romans 2, verses 1 to 4. We know God's judgment is right and true. But we have to be careful when we preach to others that we are not disqualified. He says in verse 3 of Romans 2, he says, do you suppose, O man, you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? And I feel that sometimes people act this way. It's almost like they think they can cover their own sin by raising their voices and preaching more hard about the very thing they're doing, and in that way they're atoning in some way. There's an air of superiority, an air of judgment that comes in their words when people do not practice what they preach. And that's why the preacher needs to be very careful. And when we preach the word to others, we need to be very careful. It doesn't mean you keep your mouth shut about truth, but you identify with the individuals. You don't point your finger. Sometimes people will point their finger It's amazing. They're doing the very same things. They're pointing their finger at others about it, and it's so obvious. Let us examine ourselves. Brethren, as we instruct others on how they should live, let us do so with a demeanor of humility, examining ourselves. And even if you examine yourself and it's an area of strength for you, even then, no, it's only by the grace of God. There go I. Without this, our ministry is gonna come across as haughty and prideful. We need to be careful because when pride comes in, we think we stand. And it's when we think we stand, we're most inclined to fall. First mark, hypocrisy. Second mark of the false leader, verse four. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. Now this is linked to the first mark because again, they're telling people what to do but they're not doing it themselves. There's hypocrisy involved in this but the emphasis is less on the hypocrisy and more on the laying of heavy burdens on others. They tell people how to live and they love it. They seek to control people's lives by laying guilt upon them. Guilt has long been the strategy of getting people to do what you want them to do. Leaders of all kinds have used guilt to manipulate people. Now it's important to balance this because people in our age, especially where any hard word melts the snowflake, Anything remotely harsh is considered judgmental and imposing guilt. Obviously that's not the case. Hard preaching is not always judgmental preaching. Preaching a hard word is important. Jesus preached a hard word. Just because our culture can't accept hard words doesn't mean that everything that's hard is judgmental. And we need to recognize this. One cannot teach the scripture rightly without being hard at times. Hardness, though, must not be confused with Phariseeism. When a person comes out of a sermon feeling bad about themselves because of their sin, that's a good thing as long as the gospel, the solution, is clear. Where do I run to? If it's just I feel bad about myself because of my sin, but I have nowhere to go, that's judgmental. If I'm just displeased with myself, I'm not told about the Messiah whose suffering and death covered that sin and my continuing weakness, then I'll leave that preaching condemned and burdened. And that's the second mark. They are burdening the people. A preacher instead must point the sinner to Christ, to the cross, if they are directed to Christ where there is forgiveness. As we speak hard, truthful words into the lives of others, brothers and sisters, and there will be times when you need to do this, do it in love, realizing that the source of repentance is the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have truth without love and grace, it is brutality. And the Pharisees were brutes. They mercilessly laid heavy burdens on the people, and in their mercilessness, they themselves were not even willing to lift a finger to help carry the load. So as we assess leaders and as we examine ourselves, let us ask ourselves whether we just want to tell people what to do, And this goes for husbands and fathers or leaders of discipleship groups or anything in any position of leadership. Do you just want to tell people what to do or are you willing to help bear the burden, share the load, help them accomplish their goal? We cannot expect out of others what we are not willing to do ourselves. Third mark of a false leader. need of an audience, verse 5. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. Again, related to hypocrisy because even the things they do, it's just for an outward show. Whatever they do, it's not motivated by because it's the right thing to do or because I'm here to help, but rather it's to be seen. They need an audience to perform their good works. They want to be seen by men. That word seen by men is one word, theophani in Greek. It's where we get that word theater. Their whole life is a show. Their only good deeds are when it's in front of other people. In this case, the scribes and the Pharisees, it was manifested in two ways, by broad phylacteries and long fringes, Jesus says. He says you love to broaden your phylacteries and lengthen your fringes. Now, this is referring to in the law, in the Torah, It says that God lays his word on people's hearts and minds. And then he says, he gives this, he says, bind them, meaning the law of God, as a sign upon your hand and the frontlets between your eyes. The Pharisees in the second century BC took these admonitions literally, and they started a tradition of writing, transcribing scripture, portions of scripture onto parchment, rolling it up really small, putting it into these little boxes called phylacteries, which phylacteries, interestingly enough, also means charms. And they take this practice, which today is called laying to feeling, and it's tying straps around your arm and around your head at specific times of prayer. When Jesus speaks of broadening the phylacteries, he could be talking about making the boxes bigger so that it's more evident, or he could be talking about wearing them for longer periods of time, or he could be talking about making a big show of the process of how you're wrapping these straps around your arm. broadening your phylacteries. The lengthening of the fringes, that refers to the blue and white tassels that the law prescribed for the Jewish people to wear on the four corners of their garment, the tallit or the prayer shawl. Some rabbinical schools believe that the longer tassel were a sign of a greater commitment to the commandments. But alas, any kind of ostentatious religion does not impress God. He is not impressed by displays of religion. Turn to Amos, the book of Amos, chapter 5. God disdains outward religious observance that is void of practice. Even biblically prescribed practices in Amos 5, the prophet is prophesying against Israel prior to their captivity. At this time, Israel is zealous. They're religiously zealous, outwardly at least. They're outwardly assembling, they're singing, they're offering sacrifices, but they were not ministering to the people. Amos 5, verse 21, God indicts them. He says, I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies, even though you offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings. These were prescribed in the law. He says, I will not accept them. And the peace offerings of your fatted animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs and the melody of your hearts. I will not listen, but let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Brethren, if we are not living out what we profess, if there is no justice and righteousness in our lives, if there is no holiness toward God and mercy and compassion toward others, our Sunday worship will become a stench to God. So let us repent of any religious show on Sunday. Churches need to repent. Pastors need to repent. We all need to repent of religious show. We may be able to fool others, but we can't fool God. His eyes see all. And we're told to fear Him, not to fear man, but rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body and hell. Fourth mark of a false leader, verses 6 and 7. You can call it vain glory or the love of honor and titles and privilege. They love the place of honor at the feast, the best seats in the synagogue, and the greetings in the marketplaces, and being called rabbi by others. Again, linked to hypocrisy, linked to the external show of religion, is their love for prominence. They love the place of honor at the feasts. They love their name in lights as the great conference speaker. They love the best seats in the synagogue. This is believed to refer to the seats that were facing forward in the congregation. These people are not like you people. You people are facing these select few up here. They're the holy ones. this tradition which started in the synagogue and continues to this day in churches I have always found to be the most curious of traditions. Why? I don't get it. Maybe someone can explain to me. What is the purpose of having the thrones in front of the church where the pastors and elders and deacons sit? I think that that purpose needs to be reevaluated in light of this text. They loved to be recognized. They loved to be recognized even when they're outside the assembly in the marketplaces. They loved it when people knew their name and would be like, hey, Rabbi. It's like that song, Sometimes You Want to Go, where everybody knows your name. They loved the title. Rabbi, Great One, My Great Teacher, Honor, Greetings, Recognition. These are all things that carnal men love. And if we're honest with ourselves, We all love them a bit too much, don't we? When Jesus speaks to his disciples in verse 8, he makes it very clear they're there not to seek the same kind of fame and honor that the scribes and Pharisees sought. He tells them, and he tells us this, look at verse 8, but you, and that you is emphatic, now it's you, but you, he's making a distinction, you are not to be called rabbi. They can be called rabbi, but not you, not my disciples. You have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man father on earth, for you have one Father who is in heaven. Neither be called teachers, for you have one teacher, the Messiah." Now, Jesus is not here saying that it is wrong to be a teacher or to have a teacher. He is not saying here, don't go and get your PhD. Rather, he's saying here, don't use these honorific titles. See, one can be a doctor of theology that is honorable. It is honorable. It's an earned title. In our church, there could be teachers of the word. There could be pastors. There are deacons. These are God-given positions. Whether we give the name of leader or not, whether we use them, there's no question that a church needs leaders. Even if we suppress the title, the church can't run without leaders and overseers. It's part of what God gave to the church. Clearly, God gives gifts of leading and teaching to his church. What's being prohibited here? What's being prohibited is not the position, but calling each other by an honorary title that stirs up pride. How long can one be called by these titles without the temptation of pride creeping in? Jesus says, you have one rabbi, you have one father, you have one teacher, you have one pastor. Jesus Christ is our rabbi, our teacher, our shepherd. There is one teacher in the church. All others who teach are just mouthpieces, if you would. Mouthpieces of the teacher. There is one shepherd of the church. All others are undershepherds of God's flock. And when we look at the words that God will not share His glory with another, that ought to stir these personality-driven cults that are led by men. And I'm not merely speaking of the pope as God-awful as that office is. I am speaking about evangelical popes who raise themselves to positions by self-promotion or even who are raised to the position in the eyes of the people because they are genuinely gifted. Regardless of how one gets to the position of honor, it is a dangerous place. And I have seen firsthand how men who I have counted as humble, they were utterly ruined by massive exposure. The greater one is gifted, the greater it is the temptation to idolize and make them think they're the man, they're the one. It all depends on them. And this is important, brethren, because where God alone is our father, we are all his children. We're all brethren. If we exalt a man, then he's not our brother anymore, is he? Because it can't be father and brother. The accent on this text is clearly on what we call one another rather than the position itself. Now this ought to get us to think about our own language. Now I realize Many of you call me Pastor Joe, Pastor Damien, Pastor Eli. And I know we all use that title out of respect. The position is a biblical position. A pastor is a biblical position. The scripture talks about honoring those who are leaders. But I do think this text, which quite clearly indicts the Catholic and Orthodox traditions of calling the priest father, also should cause us to question our own Protestant use of reverend and even pastor. Now, we want to be careful that we keep this idea here that Jesus says, we're all brothers. We're all brothers. We're not to create an environment in our church where there is a distinction between the clergy class and the laity. The book of Revelation makes it very clear. We are all a kingdom of priests. There is no priest any longer and laity. That is the Old Testament way of doing things. The thrones is the Old Testament way of doing things. And even in our Protestant churches, there is a gulf that is too great between the offices and the laity. Now, holding an office in the church, pastor, deacon, is not the same as holding a titled position in the world, for example. This doesn't mean you treat the world with disrespect. You call the judge your honor. You speak with people with their titles of respect. You call your doctor doctor. But a church office does not establish dominion over others. We are all brothers. A position in the church does not establish dominion over other people. Now some might say, Pastor, you're not being balanced enough here. What you're going to do is create an atmosphere of disrespect. Now listen, there needs to be respect. The scripture talks about honoring those who are in leadership. Honor your leaders, yes, I give you all that, but I suspect there is too much accommodation for the exaltation of man in the church and it is dangerous for everyone. And honestly, I'd rather err on the side of being dishonored a bit here in this life and mortify pride. than feeding pride with titles. So brethren, I have no trouble whatsoever if you call me simply Joe or Brother Joe. It may feel a little bit awkward to you. And I know the heart is respect and all that, and I appreciate that. And I'm not going to rebuke you if you call me Pastor Joe. You don't need to be brought up on church discipline or anything like that. But the context of the church here is let's do our best to avoid places of fostering pride or worse, usurping the honor that is due Christ alone. The main point is don't exalt a person, a pastor, a teacher in a church. The text says you have one teacher and you are all brothers. And he's saying this to the apostles. Finally then, the four marks that we have discussed all point to the fifth mark of pride. Pride encompasses the other four, hypocrisy, oppressing others, needing an audience, vainglory, all linked to pride. Pride is the source of these things and it's also the consequence of them. If not kept in check, pride will grow. There is a phenomenon in this world of greatness-ism. People love to boast about what they do. Just look at Facebook. It is a plague of the human soul. It lies at the heart of Satan's fall and his first lie to Eve, you can be like God. Look at what I do. Boasting. It has led to the downfall of many. Pride is the root of a plethora of other sins in the lives of church leaders throughout history. Now, lest we think Judaism didn't know about this, they did. They dealt with pride, the subtlety of pride in their writings. Their writing is full of it, full of discussions about pride. The scripture is, the humility of leaders in the scripture is stressed. Moses in Numbers 12.3 says he was very meek above all men that were on the face of the earth. The patriarch Abraham said, Lord, who am I but dust and ashes? The Hebrew king actually had to keep a copy of the law and read a copy of the law according to Deuteronomy 1720. This is the king. It says, so that his heart will not be lifted up above his brethren. A beautiful link to the New Testament. The rabbis, though, throughout the ages, fully aware that pride could even masquerade itself in humility. There is a Hasidic tale of a man who comes to the rabbi with a complaint. He says, Rabbi, all my life I've tried to follow the advice of the rabbis, that one who runs from fame will find that fame pursues him. And yet, while I run away from fame, fame never comes to pursue me. The rabbi replied, the trouble is that while you run away from fame, you're always looking back over your shoulder to see if fame is chasing after you. So according to the rabbis, it was not unusual for a person to take pride in his humility. So that's another thing to be careful about. Also, it was not unknown, according to the rabbis, for a person to indulge in an even more subtle self-deception in which he prides himself in the fact that he is not faking his humility. You get that? Okay, so you got pride outright, very clear. Pride, visible. Then you have pride and humility, like, Lord, I'm so humble. But then you have pride in the fact that your humility is not fake. These are all these writings about this. Here's something from Moses Chaim Luzzatto on false modesty. He's talking about different forms. He says, one imagines that he is so great and so deserving of honor that no one can deprive him of the usual signs of respect. And to prove this, he behaves as though he were humble. and goes to great extremes in displaying boundless modesty. But in his heart he is proud, saying in himself, I am so exalted and so deserving of honor that I need not have anyone do me honor. Another wants to be noted for his superior qualities here, for his superior qualities of being singled out for his behavior. So he says, he is not satisfied with having everyone praise him for the superior traits he thinks he possesses, but he wants them also to include in their praises that he's the most humble of men. Thus, he takes pride in his humility and wishes to be honored because he pretends to flee from honor. Such a prig usually goes so far as to put himself below those who are much inferior to him, even below the meanest, thinking that in this way he displays the utmost humility, while in his heart he thinks, there is no one in all the world as wise and humble as I. Now this shows you how convoluted this whole thinking historically about pride has been. How, though, do you become humbled? Do you become humbled by all this navel? Is this pride? Wait a minute. I'm going through this sermon and thinking, boy, if I say this, is this pride? Is this pride? How then? Well, one rabbi, let me give you two rabbis' opinions, one that matters. But here's another rabbi. He says, how do you become humble? He's writing this letter to his son. How do you become humble? Some good advice here, but all external. He says, I shall explain to you how you shall become accustomed to practice humility in your daily life. This is a rabbi, Nemanides. He says, this is how you become humble. Let your voice be gentle and your head bowed. Let your eyes be turned earthward and your heart heavenward. Let every man seem superior to you in your own eyes. If he is wise or rich, you have reason to respect him. If he is poor and you are richer and wiser than he, think to yourself that you are therefore all the more unworthy and he the less. Good advice, but still a lot of human reason, external, my eyes, my head. If humility were that easy, we can do it. We can walk through the motions of humility. These are the ways the rabbis grappled with pride and humility, often making outward adjustments, not dealing with the heart. But you can see how quite convoluted it gets. The rabbi of rabbis, Jesus Christ, cuts through all the pretense in verses 11 and 12. And he says it clearly. The way up is down. He says, the greatest among you shall be your servant Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. It is not complicated. You don't have to go through this strenuous process of navel-gazing to what are my true motives here. It's simple. You want to mortify pride, find someone that you can serve. Serve others. Humbling yourself does not mean you grovel in these self-deprecating words of self-negation just to show off your humility. It means, humility means, get this, humility means an active, free decision to serve others, plain and simple, without them blowing your horn afterward. serve others. So the pastor, the deacon, the Christian disciple is first and foremost a servant. You don't raise up other people to serve so that you don't have to serve. The common analogy of our being a body, right? We're a body of Christ with many members Every member is essential. Every member is important in the function. We need each other, brethren. So in love, serve one another. That's what you're called to. Scripture says your freedom in Christ is not for your indulgence, but rather it's not for you to oppress others to do the work for you. Your freedom in Christ is to humbly serve others in love. Look for opportunities to do just that and pride will be mortified. And brethren, if and when you ever are given a title, an office, or a place of public ministry in the church, your public ministry then is only another way of serving the body. You're preaching, you're teaching, you're leading in singing, you're leading in public prayer or reading is not as much leading as it is serving. You're serving the body. Let's close Philippians chapter 2. In verses 3 and 4, the Apostle Paul joins us to this end. He says, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only for his own interests, but the interests of others. He's saying serve one another. How do we do this? How do we do this? Is it bowing your head? No. Or you're keeping your eyes low? No. You put on the mind of Christ who did this perfectly. Look at verse 5. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant. Being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. May Christ be our example, brothers and sisters, that we would empty ourselves for the sake of others. May our minds be conformed to this image of Christ, who humbled himself perfectly, even to the point of dying, that others may live. Amen.