Sermon: Woe to False Teachers (Part 2) Matthew 23:23:36
Truth Taught- Jesus tells us that false teachers are very dangerous because they can lead us away from Christ who is the Key to the Kingdom of God
Introduction
Last time we began to work our way through the woe judgements that Jesus declares on the Pharisees and Scribes, the false teachers of Judaism. If you remember from last week, we looked at the first three. Today, Lord willing, we will look at the last four.
Again, remember that the woe judgements are a promise of God’s wrath unless there is repentance. Sadly, there were not very many who repented. It seems that is typical of false teachers.
1. False Teachers Fail to See and Worship Jesus as the Messiah. They miss the Key to the Kingdom which is Jesus Christ. They have no interest in Christ and by their teaching, they shut the door for others.
2. False Teachers May Be Devout, but In Their Zeal, They Bring Great Harm to Others Their zeal is often the thing that will camouflage their evil. Their devotion makes their lies easier to believe. People see them and are often impressed and this dynamic makes their lies believable.
3. False Teachers Twist the Scriptures for Their Own Gain
They often sound good but will twist and misrepresent the Scripture for their own gain.
Let’s continue with the last four and ask God to give us discernment as we use these principles to know whether or not a teacher is trustworthy and true or a false teacher in it for their own gain.
Matthew 23:23–36 (ESV)
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
1. False Teachers Focus on the Trivial While Excluding the Vital
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
False teachers do not love God. They love your money not your soul. One Puritan said they love your goods not your good. Here, they are so focused on their trivial additions to God’s Law that they miss out themselves and cause their hearers to also miss out on the vital parts of God’s Law.
Jesus tells us have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness.
False teachers are specialists in distractions. Rather than teaching the vital parts of doctrine such as justice, mercy and faithfulness they would rather have you side tracked on things that are not important. They had reduced God’s Law to rules and do’s and don’ts. God’s law to the believer is sweet and precious not a strict and stringent set of rules…
Psalm 119:97–104 (ESV)
97 Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
98 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is ever with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the aged,
for I keep your precepts.
101 I hold back my feet from every evil way,
in order to keep your word.
102 I do not turn aside from your rules,
for you have taught me.
103 How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.
God’s Law reveals who God is. He is excellent in all His ways. His Word shows us who He is and who we are. It tells us what God expects from His followers. God’s Law brings joy to us if we understand it rightly. However, the Pharisees made it a strict set of rules with no love in it…
Psalm 19:7–11 (ESV)
7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
We learned last time that following God in obedience is directly tied to our love for God. You will never obey God consistently unless you love Him supremely. The Scribes and Pharisees did not love God. They did not follow God. They kept others from following God. They would rather others follow them. So, they got people sidetracked on the trivial so as to not learn the vital.
They follow their own invented rules which give them a sense of morality, but only to rationalize their hypocrisy. Their long list of rules make them look like they really are obeying God but really they have devised these rules as a way of deceiving others and boldly disobey God.
1 Timothy 4:1–5 (ESV)
4 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, 3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
They focus on the trivial at the expense of the vital. False teachers desire us to get sidetracked on the trivial and loose sight of the most important aspects of the Gospel.
1 Timothy 6:3–6 (ESV)
3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain,
Here are two short quotes from the great Puritan, Thomas Boston regarding false teachers taken from Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices…
False teachers easily pass over the great and weighty things both of law and gospel, and stand most upon those things that are of the least importance and concern to the souls of men.
False teachers are nice in the lesser things of the law, and as negligent in the greater…The earth groans to bear them, and hell is fitted for them…Luther complained of such in his time as would strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. This age is full of such teachers, such monsters!
2. False Teachers Look Good on the Outside but Overlook the Condition of the Heart
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
The Pharisees were an example of a cup that has only been cleaned on the outside. It looks good until you look down into it. False teachers think that no one is going to look down into their lives and hearts. They forget that if no one else does, God knows the true condition of them on the inside…
They were greedy, self-indulgent on the inside.
One writer tells us that the Pharisees had great and lengthy arguments about which was more important to clean the outside of a cup or the inside? Jesus tells them they are only concerned with appearances but forget or neglect the inside or the heart.
The condition of the heart is far more important than what one looks like on the outside.
There was once a Christian man who owned a diesel repair shop never worried about dressing up for work. Anything he wore while there ended up covered in engine grease. After one week of service, his work shirts were so soiled with soaked-in grease, his wife threw the shirts in the trash. He made more money than the president, but one would never know of his wealth by his appearance and his countenance. He was a humble man who loved the Lord, was kind to others, and loved his family and others until he died.
God did not see grease and dirt. God saw the glory of Christ. God saw this man’s heart, his inner person, and was pleased. You see cleanliness is not next to godliness. The Bible does speak of certain modes of purification etc but God is concerned with the inner person while the Pharisees were concerned with their appearance to the exclusion of the inner person.
1 Samuel 16:7 (ESV)
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Jesus shouts…YOU BLIND PHARISEES!
Are you more concerned with outer appearance or the condition of your heart?
Here’s a wonderful passage for the ladies…
1 Peter 3:3–4 (ESV)
3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.
The next Woe is much like the one we just looked at…
3. False Teachers Appear Righteous but are Really Full of Hypocrisy and Lawlessness
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
In ancient Jerusalem all the tombs were whitewashed in preparation for the Passover celebration. When Jesus said these words, the tombs had just been whitewashed. They were cleaned so that the great crowds of worshippers would not accidentally come in contact with one and so defile themselves. So, the whitewashing was to help people avoid the tombs. These tombs looked attractive on the exterior much like the Pharisees. Also, like the Pharisees, on the inside were rotting corpses. Hypocrisy and lawlessness Jesus said describe the Pharisees on the inside. This is true of the false teachers in our day. They may look good but they are wicked rotting corpses on the inside.
Here’s the sad reality…the white washing of the tombs kept people away from them and yet the whitewashing of the false teacher attracts people to their hypocrisy and lawlessness.
This last woe is very sad and very telling. It shows their true hearts…
4. False Teachers Hate Those Who Speak God’s Word
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Here’s what Jesus tells them. They are busy building and decorating the tombs of the dead prophets that their ancestors killed. Jesus tells them that if they would have been alive they too would have murdered the prophets and in fact they did.
John the Baptist was the last OT prophet and they saw to it that he was put to death. Yes, Herod who was a practicing Jew had John put to death. So, from Abel to John the Baptist, Jesus tells these Pharisees that they will be held accountable for all of the shed blood of the righteous.
They will also be the ones who send Jesus to the cross. His blood too will be on their hands.
36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
They are guilty of the shed blood of all the righteous.
35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth
You may wonder how they could be held accountable for all the shed blood of God’s people?
Revelation 17:4–6 (ESV)
4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” 6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
When I saw her, I marveled greatly.
Revelation 18:24 (ESV)
24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints,
and of all who have been slain on earth.”
It’s all connected. Jesus tells the Pharisees that they kill the prophets who God sends and Revelation tells us that this woman, Mystery Babylon is drunk with the shed blood of all the prophets and saints on earth. Jesus makes this connection between Jerusalem and Babylon the great harlot. Babylon is more than just Jerusalem, it stands for all false religions of the world. It stands for the Roman Catholic Church. It stands for all pagan religions. It is Satan the great snake who stands opposed to Christ.
32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. Go ahead and finish the work your fathers began. Finish what Cain began. Finish the job. Jesus knew that He was next.
In this last woe, Jesus is setting up Himself as the One they will crucify and when they crucify the Lord their fate is sealed. They cannot escape their final judgment. They will crucify the very Son of God; their Messiah and His blood will also be on their hands.
It’s not hard to hear in Jesus’ woe judgement echoes of John the Baptist as he preached to the Pharisees…
Jesus…
33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
John…
Matthew 3:7 (ESV)
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Even though John is dead, they can’t get rid of their condemnation. In two days, they will kill Jesus but that does not rid themselves of God’s condemnation it literally seals it.
Conclusion
I pray we all know Jesus as Lord and Savior. I pray you listen to truth and have not been taken in by lies.
Jesus is so good to us to give us four more ways we can spot false teachers.
1. False Teachers Focus on the Trivial While Excluding the Vital
Guard against unhealthy interests in trivial matters of doctrine. I know people who all they want to discuss is eschatology. That is useful but to be solely focused on that without having a grasp on the vital things is extremely dangerous.
2. False Teachers Look Good on the Outside but Overlook the Condition of the Heart
Watch out for those teachers who look the part but there is no truth in their teaching. Don’t be taken in by outward appearances.
3. False Teachers Appear Righteous but are Really Full of Hypocrisy and Lawlessness
Beware of those who seek to set up some level of righteousness that is not from the Bible. Watch out for those who seek to invent a manmade righteousness not found in the Bible.
4. False Teachers Hate Those Who Speak God’s Word
Flee from teachers who oppose those who speak the truth. These teachers often seek to isolate themselves from other teachers much like cults seek to isolate their members from others.
Resources Used:
Gospel According to Matthew Leon Morris
Matthew by Doriani
Matthew by R T France
Sermon by Albert Mohler
