The Scribes and Pharisees

• Devoted• Zealous• Knowledgeable• Teachers• Who were self-deceived

Real Religion

The pursuit of genuine faith must be ongoing

How Do We Deal With Scripture?

• To control others?

Matthew 15:1-2

Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do your

disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when

they eat.”

Matthew 23:4

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.

How Do We Deal With Scripture?

• To control others?• To comfort ourselves?

Matthew 15:3-5

He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of

your tradition? 4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and,

‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 5 But you say, ‘If anyone tells

his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,”

How Do We Deal With Scripture?

• To control others?• To comfort ourselves?

1. What’s comfortable for us?

2. What’s popular?

3. What’s easy?

4. What’s contemporary?

How Do We Deal With Scripture?

• To control others?• To comfort ourselves?• With honest acceptance?

1 Thessalonians 2:13

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it

not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at

work in you believers.

Matthew 15:7-9

You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

8 “‘This people honors me with their lips,But their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me,

Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

It’s Important That We Stay…

• Teachable Because we do not understand it all

• Tender Because we do not live above sin

• Balanced Because none of it can be ignored

• Changeable The result of taking the first 3 to heart

How Do We Treat People?

• The Pharisees discarded parents,

Matthew 23:14

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses and for a pretense you make long prayers;

therefore you will receive the greater condemnation

The Pharisees impoverished widows

Matthew 26:3-4

Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus

by stealth and kill him.

Plotted murder

James 1:27

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans

and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

How Do We Treat People?

• Pharisees discarded parents, impoverished widows plotted murder

• James spoke of true religion, and undefiled, as assisting those in distress

In this BURGER KING world we think it’s all about us, and having it “our

way.”

Matthew 20:26-28

t shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first

among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but

to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

True religion adds value to the lives of others

Matthew 15:18

But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.

Ultimate purpose of religion is changing the heart

Luke 11:39-40

And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You fools! Did

not he who made the outside make the inside also?

Creator of outer man also made the inner man

How Do You Deal With Your Heart?

• Can we examine it• Admit our wrongs• Confess our sins• And conquer it?

To Add Realism to Our Religion

• Follow the Scriptures, even when it’s difficult

• Treat people with respect, even when they’re difficult

• Examine the motives of our heart, even when others tell us we’re doing great