Blessed Are Those Who Hear and Guard It

March 26, 2023 · Luke

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Series · Luke · Week 14 of 34

Scripture referenced 6 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

Luke 11 primary passage being preached through, covering prayer, Beelzebub accusation, sign of Jonah, woes to Pharisees and lawyers

1 When he finished praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”
5 He said to them, “Which of you, if you go to a friend at midnight, and tell him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him,’
7 and he from within will answer and say, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give it to you’?
8 I tell you, although he will not rise and give it to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will get up and give him as many as he needs.
9 “I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you.
10 For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?
12 Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a scorpion, will he?
13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
14 He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the multitudes marveled.
15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons.”
16 Others, testing him, sought from him a sign from heaven.
17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. A house divided against itself falls.
18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.
19 But if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore will they be your judges.
20 But if I by God’s finger cast out demons, then God’s Kingdom has come to you.
21 “When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own dwelling, his goods are safe.
22 But when someone stronger attacks him and overcomes him, he takes from him his whole armor in which he trusted, and divides his plunder.
23 “He that is not with me is against me. He who doesn’t gather with me scatters.
24 The unclean spirit, when he has gone out of the man, passes through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none, he says, ‘I will turn back to my house from which I came out.’
25 When he returns, he finds it swept and put in order.
26 Then he goes, and takes seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”
27 It came to pass, as he said these things, a certain woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice, and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts which nursed you!”
28 But he said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it.”
29 When the multitudes were gathering together to him, he began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks after a sign. No sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah, the prophet.
30 For even as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will also the Son of Man be to this generation.
31 The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and will condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, one greater than Solomon is here.
32 The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, one greater than Jonah is here.
33 “No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, that those who come in may see the light.
34 The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore when your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light; but when it is evil, your body also is full of darkness.
35 Therefore see whether the light that is in you isn’t darkness.
36 If therefore your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly full of light, as when the lamp with its bright shining gives you light.”
37 Now as he spoke, a certain Pharisee asked him to dine with him. He went in, and sat at the table.
38 When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed himself before dinner.
39 The Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness.
40 You foolish ones, didn’t he who made the outside make the inside also?
41 But give for gifts to the needy those things which are within, and behold, all things will be clean to you.
42 But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you bypass justice and God’s love. You ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.
43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces.
44 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like hidden graves, and the men who walk over them don’t know it.”
45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying this you insult us also.”
46 He said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won’t even lift one finger to help carry those burdens.
47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
48 So you testify and consent to the works of your fathers. For they killed them, and you build…

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Isaiah 64

referenced as the basis for the song Canvas and Clay, 'we are the clay and you are the potter'

1 Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence.

2 As when fire kindles the brushwood, and the fire causes the water to boil; Make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence!

3 When you did awesome things which we didn’t look for, you came down, and the mountains quaked at your presence.

4 For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides you, who works for him who waits for him.

5 You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned. We have been in sin for a long time. Shall we be saved?

6 For we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

7 There is no one who calls on your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have consumed us by means of our iniquities.

8 But now, Yahweh, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you our potter. We all are the work of your hand.

9 Don’t be furious, Yahweh, and don’t remember iniquity forever. Look and see, we beg you, we are all your people.

10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.

11 Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised you, is burned with fire; and all our pleasant places are laid waste.

12 Will you hold yourself back for these things, Yahweh? Will you keep silent, and punish us very severely?

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Acts

Ray's prayer referenced the disciples praying for boldness in Acts

Read Acts

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Colossians 3

recap of previous week's sermon on things to put off and put on, including love binding all together in unity

1 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.

2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.

3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

4 When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.

5 Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;

6 for which things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience.

7 You also once walked in those, when you lived in them;

8 but now you also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth.

9 Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings,

10 and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator,

11 where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.

12 Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance;

13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.

14 Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.

15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.

17 Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him.

18 Wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

19 Husbands, love your wives, and don’t be bitter against them.

20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this pleases the Lord.

21 Fathers, don’t provoke your children, so that they won’t be discouraged.

22 Servants, obey in all things those who are your masters according to the flesh, not just when they are looking, as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God.

23 And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men,

24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

25 But he who does wrong will receive again for the wrong that he has done, and there is no partiality.

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Psalm 119:11

alluded to as 'thy word have I hid in my heart that I may not sin against thee' in relation to guarding the word

11 I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

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Colossians 3:12

used as the benediction, clothing yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience

12 Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance;

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

Pastor Ray worked through the closing section of Luke 11, from the woman in the crowd who blessed Mary all the way to the six woes Jesus pronounced on the Pharisees and lawyers. He moved at a quicker pace than usual, pausing where the Greek sheds light on what Jesus was actually saying and where those words press on the church today.

What was said

The sermon opened with a brief Greek question. When the woman in the crowd cried out that Mary was blessed for carrying Jesus, he replied with a word that translators have rendered "on the contrary," which Pastor Ray thought was too adversarial. He laid out three ways the Greek particle menoun can read: adversative, affirmative, or corrective. His read was that Jesus was not contradicting the woman but amplifying her point. Mary was indeed blessed, and the reason she was blessed was that she heard the word of God and kept it. That pattern, hearing and then guarding what you hear, became the thread running through everything that followed.

From there he turned to the sign of Jonah. The crowds kept demanding more signs even after Jesus had just cast a demon out of a mute man. Pastor Ray pointed out that no sign is ever enough for a heart that has already closed itself off. Jesus pointed to Jonah's three days and his own coming three days as the only sign that would be given. The Queen of Sheba and the Ninevites were brought in as examples of outsiders who did exactly what this generation refused to do. They heard, they came, they repented.

The lamp passage connected to the Pharisees directly. Jesus told them they had the word, they had it memorized down to the syllable, but they needed to make sure the light they were carrying was not actually darkness. Pride and unwillingness to keep listening can turn what looks like knowledge into its opposite.

Then came the lunch at the Pharisee's house. Jesus sat down without the ceremonial washing and the host was taken aback. What followed was a pointed exchange. Jesus told him that cleaning the outside of the cup while the inside stays full of greed and wickedness is not the same thing as being clean. He pressed the point that God made the inside too, and it is what is inside that needs to be given over.

The six woes came out of that moment. Pastor Ray moved through them with one-word summaries he said came from a commentary he found helpful: hypocrisy, imbalance, ostentation, impossible demands without resources, glorifying the prophets while ignoring what they actually said, and taking away the key of knowledge so that people who might have entered the kingdom were blocked instead. He was direct that these woes were not just a history lesson. The same patterns show up when the church draws hard lines around who deserves to hear the gospel, or when people study scripture mainly to separate themselves from others rather than to enter in.

The sermon closed on the response of the scribes and Pharisees. They walked out of that house plotting to catch Jesus in something he might say. Pastor Ray contrasted that with what he said he saw at a funeral the day before, an AA service where people were willing to say plainly that they were broken and needed help. He held that up as the better response to a hard word, not defensiveness, but the willingness to ask whether the shoe fits.

Doing a Bible study?

Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.

The pastor spent time on the Greek word translated 'on the contrary' in Luke 11, suggesting it might better read 'indeed' or 'yes, but even more so.' What difference does that translation choice make to how you hear what Jesus is saying about Mary and about those who hear and guard God's word?
The pastor said there is no level of sign that will convince someone who has already closed off their heart, pointing to the Pharisees demanding more after Jesus cast out a demon. Have you ever been in a season where your heart was closed to something God was saying to you, and if so, what changed?

and 3 more questions in the guide

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Speaker 2Lord, it is good to sing to you this morning. God, would you fill our hearts with joy and hope for you are good. In Jesus' name, amen. If you're troubled and heavy hearted, let's come in. Tender, deliverer, king of kings he is.

He is helper and healer forevermore, savior and shelter through every You You can have a seat here for a moment. So the worship through giving part of the service, I'll invite the ushers to come on forward. We're gonna sing canvas and clay from Isaiah 64, a good reminder of who we are in light of who God is. And we are the clay, and you are the potter, God. We're in all the work of your hand.

Speaker 1And before we sing, Ray, would you pray? Sure. God Almighty, thank you for this beautiful morning. I thank you for this group that's gathered. We ask for, Lord, for your protective hand to be upon those of us who are going out over spring break, Lord.

But I ask that it's not just protection. What the disciples prayed for in Acts was boldness. Lord God, I pray that we would be carrying your name with us wherever we go, that the praise that comes out of lungs that are full of air, Lord, would be praising our Creator, loving you, loving this life that you've given, this abundant life. I thank you for the opportunity, Lord, to be here this morning and share with this room. But God, we ask that when we go from here that we would be sharing your love to everyone we encounter.

In Jesus' name, we ask your blessing on this offering, Lord, that you would take it and do with it as you will. We, Lord, are looking to you for direction, and we want to see your gospel advance into the darkest places, Lord. Show us your way and allow us the strength to walk in it. Thank you for using us, for having us as a part of your divine plan. In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. Thank you, fellows. It's time for Children's Church downstairs.

Speaker 2This

Speaker 1buildup to Spring Bank has been a busy week. Very, very busy week. And I'm thankful to be doing. I love to get the calls. But I had two weddings and that were great this weekend and a funeral yesterday that was probably one of my favorite, celebrations of life I've ever been to.

It was just, it's really, really good. We're up to the rest of Luke 11, okay? We've been going through a chronological study of Jesus walking through the three, the synoptic gospels at the same time recently. And I hit a place where there's a similar story that we've already covered in Matthew, and I mentioned it that it's in Luke two. But I think they're sufficiently different that they're probably different.

But I've preached through a lot of this passage before. I'm going to hit something to begin with that's Justin Luke and then go through the other stuff, and I might go at a faster clip than I usually do. We'll see. Tanya says never promise a short sermon. I don't think it's going be a short sermon.

So Luke 11 so far, if you're looking at Luke 11, it starts off with one of them saying, hey, teach us to pray, and Jesus does, the Lord's Prayer. And then he speaks about being persistent in prayer. He gives a couple of parables of different people that are persistent, going to the neighbor and asking, your kids coming to you and asking, parables for being persistent in prayer. And then he closes off that section with this, and I think it's wonderful. If you all know to do the right thing, just think about this.

You're flawed. You're finite. He even uses the word evil. You're you being evil. How much more then will God give his Holy Spirit to those who are asking him?

And so when you lean into God and say, God, I want to know you. I want to know you. I wanna know you. I don't wanna just take what I know of you and insist that that's all there is, Lord. I want to see who you are.

I want you to start living out your life through me. I want to know that I'm empowered by the Holy Spirit. How much more will God give his Holy Spirit to those who are asking him? He says, be seeking, be asking, be knocking it. You will find, and it will be opened to you.

You'll receive. Immediately after that, we get the Pharisees and they're blasphemy. He does this by the power of Beelzebub. Yeah. Beelzebub talk.

Now last week, we covered Colossians three. I'm just going to put up the slide. The things that we are to put off, to take off like a garment, not just put it off for a later time, okay? It's to take it off. Sexual impurity, immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness, which is in itself idolatry when you look around and you want something that someone else has.

What I have is not enough attitude is not a great attitude. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, filthy talk and lies. And to put on compassionate hearts. God, that we'd be able to see people the way that you see them, compassion, kindness, useful goodness, humility, meekness and patience, and be bearing with one another, forgiving each other just as the Lord has forgiven you. And actually, it closes out with this, and put on love, which binds all of these together in unity.

If you are loving, then you will have these other qualities. They'll be a byproduct of the love. So here we go. Back to Luke. This is where we left off last week.

I actually had it included in the slides last week. I wanted to close with it, but honestly, I looked out and I felt like you could bear no more. While Jesus was saying these things while Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised up her voice and said to him, blessed is the womb that carried you and the breast at which you nursed. What a beautiful blessing that is. Blessed.

You can hear her. She's so excited about it. Now the Pharisees had just blasphemed him. There's there are two ways to take what Jesus is saying when he said, keep on seeking. Keep on knocking.

Keep on asking. This is the way to pray on earth as it is in heaven. God, help us see who you are. And then the Pharisees like, he did that by the power of the devil. And this woman cannot help but holler out, raises her voice.

Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breast at which you nursed. Now, but he said, on the contrary, on the contrary, menoun is the Greek word, menoun right there. I'll get to that. But he said, on the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and follow it. Now, his mother was definitely an example of one who heard the word of the Lord and said, may it be to me just as you have said, and she followed it.

So on the contrary sticks in my mind and I go, why would they use on the contrary there as the translation for that? So I'm going give you three options and these three options across Greek literature can be used for this word. Nobody cares about this but me. Adversative. On the contrary.

That's saying what you said is not right. On the contrary, there's something different that needs to be said. No, rather. And I think that that snuck into this new American Standard translation as a, oh, we can't be praising Mary. And so on the contrary, no, don't do that.

I think that that was almost a theological underpinning for the translation. It's you got to worry about this stuff when you're translating. The next one is affirmative, indeed. How can it be either on the contrary or indeed, but it is. It's a particle.

Minun is a part it's actually two particles. Me means, nope. And therefore, it's what it kind of means. On the contrary, no, rather, affirmative, indeed. Or it can be corrective, yes, but rather.

I think that it's either affirmative or corrective. The New American Standard took it as adversive. So I just wanted to point that out. The definition, look at this. This is straight up dictionary definition.

I don't make this stuff up. Rather, on the contrary is the definition. The usage is nay rather, indeed, truly, really. When you hear somebody say, yeah, right, what does that mean? Yeah, right.

What does that mean? It means no.

Speaker 2Yeah.

Speaker 1I texted somebody yesterday and I got a new one that I've never heard before. They got IKR. I didn't know what IKR meant. I know what IDK means. I don't know.

But IKR means, I know, right? I didn't know that. So a teacher is teaching and she says, if you use a double negative, it's really positive. You say, I'm not. I ain't going there.

I can't even do it. I'm not never going to do that. I'm not never going to do that. That means you're going to do it. You can't do that.

There are no the teacher says double negative really means positive. Don't use double negatives. So there's no example where two positives means a negative. And the one of the kids says, yeah, right. So I think that taking the context here, when this woman is hollering out a blessing, and it is true that Mary is blessed.

The angel said so. This lady is the first one from Mary said, all generations will call me blessed. The first recorded in scripture that we have of another woman calling her blessed is this woman. So I think that we have to go with indeed or yes. But beyond that, even more so, blessed are those who hear the word of God and follow it.

Mary's reasonable service was a unique task. And she said, may it be to be just as you have said. Now when God comes to us with our unique task, what are we to do? We're to hear the word of God and follow it as the word here. This one is used twice in the New Testament.

It emphasizes ongoing continual action just because of the type of participle, it's a present participle. It means keeping, guarding, protecting, observing. It's used twice in the New Testament. The other place that's used as well, the shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks by night. So they're guarding them, they're protecting them, they're observing, they're careful for the sake of well-being, guarding, keeping watching, that's the word right there.

To guard, to keep watch, to have an eye upon, to guard a person of thing that it may remain safe. So if we are to hear the word of God and to guard it, it reminds me of the thy word have I hid in my heart that I may not sin against thee. That I would hold on to it and that I would let it light my path, that I would preserve it safe, that I'd guard it, I care for it, I take care not to violate it, I would observe it. So that's the little section I thought I would go through rather slowly and think. It is important that we are listening, first of all, and that we are willing, second of all, and that we are guarding what we hear, and we're sticking with it.

He has a plan for our abundant life. And so whatever it is, Jesus says, blessed are those who hear the word of God and guard it, keep it, follow it. Now as the crowds were increasing, he began to say, this generation is a wicked generation. It demands a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the son of man be to this generation.

This one confuses a lot of people like, he's given signs all the time. He just cast out a mute a demon out of a man who was mute and he now could speak. He just did a sign, but they're demanding me a further sign. They wanna see something bigger, something else. That one was done by Beelzebub.

Do something else. Do it again. Do it again. They won't but there's no amount of signs. There's no level of sign that will convince someone who already has closed off their heart.

And he's saying that this generation appears to have done that. But he says that no sign will be given except the sign of Jonah. Now without going through the whole book of Jonah, Jonah was reluctant to go to the Ninevites, remember? And so he ran. He ran from the call of Lord, not because he was afraid.

Well, not because he was afraid to do it because he thought they might kill him or something else. He was afraid to do it because he thought they might repent. And they didn't deserve repentance. They didn't deserve to be God's people. When we ask for thirty days of prayer for the Muslim world, is there anybody in here who has this feeling of they don't deserve it?

Modern day thinking. We go, I mean, some of some of you don't even wanna pray for the Democrats. Like, it's like, it's for the Republicans. Let me balance that back out. We we like to draw lines as who is the enemy.

Jonah had drawn a line as to who was the enemy. God was sending him as an agent of peace, and he didn't wanna go because he did want them to have peace. So three days in the fish's belly, he comes out and he goes. I'm I'm imagining it's a rather lackluster servant. Repent.

And they do because God had him sent for a purpose. Now Jesus has been sent as an agent of peace. He's been sent as an agent of peace to people that should listen to him. They've got the whole Old Testament, and everything points towards him, and they cross their arms and they say he's from Beelzebub. But there is a time coming when Jesus will spend three days and when he comes back.

It changes everything. Even his followers, it changed the way that they were. They were no longer reluctant and skittish and confused. They had a new purpose and they went out and we're here because they went forward and were willing to die for what it was that God had said. Just as Jonah became assigned to the Ninevites, so will the son of man be to this generation.

The queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them. Why? Because the queen of Sheba came from the Middle Of Africa all the way up to see what was going on. She was seeking truth with Solomon because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon. Behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

That's Jesus. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and they will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And behold, something greater than Jonah is here. And if you reject that, the people who have accepted the word of the Lord get back to that verse before. Right?

So hear the word of Lord and guard it. The Queen of Sheba did that. The Ninevites did that. And he's saying, and you're not doing that. It's still open.

You still have the option of doing it, but you're not doing it. No one likes a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. Your eyes a lamp of your body. When your eyes clear, whole body is full of light. But when it's bad, your body is also full of darkness.

So watch out that the light that's in you is not actually darkness. And he's speaking to Pharisees right here. He said, y'all have got the word. You've got it figured out. Every syllable, you've got it figured out.

And you think you know it all. Make sure that the light that you have is not darkness. Your attitude makes all of the difference if you're not willing to listen to what God says. Therefore, if your whole body is full of life without any dark part, it will be wholly illuminated as when the lamp illuminates you with its light. Be ready to receive the light.

Be ready to receive the light that God gives. God resists the proud, He gives grace to the humble. I preached on this one in March 2022, and I went into greater detail. It's almost the same message. You can go back if you want to.

I'm going keep moving. Now when he had spoken, a Pharisee asked him to have lunch with him. Table fellowship is huge at this time. If you invite somebody to dinner, it's a huge deal. So the Pharisee honestly, for a Pharisee, he's asking Jesus to come to his house.

He's asking him in. That seems like he's on the fringe already. When he had spoken, a Pharisee asked him to have lunch with him, and he went. Jesus went in, and he reclined at the table. And when the Pharisee saw this, he was surprised that Jesus had not first ceremonially washed before the meal.

What a faux pas. I invited this guy in, and he's just gonna go sit down. Or in Jackson, I invited this guy in, and he didn't take off his shoes at the front door. When the Pharisee saw this, he was surprised. He was taken aback.

He was aghast that Jesus had not first ceremonially washed before the meal. But the Lord said to him, now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but your inside is full of greed and wickedness. Oh. Y'all are very careful about following the rules. But what's inside is ugly.

You're not paying any attention to that. You foolish ones. Did he who made the outside not make the inside also? But give that which is within as a charitable gift. What is inside of you?

Give that as a charitable gift, and then all things are clean for you. It's not about ceremony. It's not about ritual. It is about a heart that is right before God. And then he starts off with the woes.

He's at the Pharisees' house. But woe to you, Pharisees. Woe to you. For you pay your tithes of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet you ignore justice and the love of God. But these are the things that you should have done without neglecting the others.

Yeah. Go ahead, tithe your mints. That's fine. Tithe mint, tithe rue, tithe what it is. That's fine.

It's the Old Testament standard for sure. Go ahead and do that. But get your heart right before God too. Pay attention to justice. Reach down and help someone.

Allow the love of God to just not stop with you. He loves me and he doesn't love them. I'm so glad I'm not them. These are the things which you should have done without neglecting others. Woe to you Pharisees for you love the seat of honor in the synagogues, and you love the personal greetings in the marketplaces.

You love it, your position. Woe to you, for you are like unseen tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it. Now this one's an interesting one to talk about with Pharisees because they were really, really big on not touching dead bodies. Right? You couldn't be anywhere near a dead body.

There was a certain perimeter around the grave. And he's telling them, yeah, you pay a lot of attention to those rules like that, but what you actually are, you are like a dead man's tomb, and it's not even marked so people can walk around it. They're stumbling over you. You're causing them to be defiled, and you don't even know it. Your teaching is a problem, Jesus is saying there.

One of the the lawyers said to him in reply, love this. One of the teachers of the law or experts in the law or lawyers. One of the lawyers said to him, teacher, when you say these things, you insult us too. Is that not funny to y'all? He's talking to the Pharisees.

Woe to you Pharisees. Woe to you Pharisees. Woe to you Pharisees. And they get that, and then they think, but I act just like them. When you say this to them, you insult us too.

Honestly, if I was sitting right there in the pew, I'd be thinking, when you say this to them, you insult us too. I'm sorry, I'm the one delivering this message, but I've had to deal with this for several weeks now. When you say this to them, you insult us too. If it's if the shoe fits, you wear it. Right?

He said, woe to you lawyers as well. Don't let me leave you out. For you load people up with burdens that are really hard to bear while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers. You're not helping people with the problems that that you are creating for them. Your interpretation of what it says that you have created into this system is leaving out people.

And there are people who are struggling from things that you're telling them not to do, but you're not giving them any help to get out of the problem. Help them. Get out of the problem. Woe to you. It keeps going.

This is just five. There's one more. Woe to you. For you build the tombs of the prophets. Can you think about that for a minute?

You build the tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. They killed them because they didn't wanna listen to what they were saying. Jesus is saying the same thing the prophets were saying. You're ignoring justice. Dare I say social justice these days.

You're ignoring it. You're ignoring it altogether. You build the tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. You are witnesses, and you approve of the deeds of your fathers by what you're saying to me because it was they who killed them and you build their tubes. You're glorifying the prophets like, poor thing.

Isn't that a shame? But you're not listening to what they said. For this reason also, the wisdom of God said, I will send them prophets. I'm gonna send them people, and apostles sent out ones, and some of them they'll kill, and some of them they'll persecute so that the blood of all the prophets, all of them that have been shed since the foundation of the world may be charged against this very generation. It builds up.

It keeps going. So that the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world may be charged against this generation from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah. I don't know if it's just because it's A to Z, I don't think it is. But Abel's the first one, Cain slew Abel. Without good reason, Abel had offered a good sacrifice to God, and Cain was jealous and angry and upset about it.

Why was his not accepted? Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God. Yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation. Woe to you, lawyers, experts of the law, for you have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourself did not enter in, and you hindered those who were entering in.

Isn't that hard? We have the scriptures. They had the scriptures. How are we using them? Is this the key to entry into the kingdom of God?

Or is this something that we can study so we can separate ourselves from them and be an us together and everybody else be darned damned outside, anathema. We are it and they are not. Woe to you, lawyers. You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you hindered those who are entering.

So what were those six woes about again? If I were to just do a one word summation of the six of them, it was hypocrisy to start off with. You're mighty clean on the outside, but on the inside, you're dirty, greedy. Imbalance, ostentation, you love those seats and those greetings in the synagogues. You put impossible demands on the people, but you give them no resources for how to get out of the problem.

Intolerance and exclusiveness. This this I didn't make up those. Those came ready made for me in a commentary. I agree with all of them, but that is what those six woes were about. Woe to you Pharisees, you pay tithes of mint, every kind of garden of myrrh, you ignore justice and the love of God, but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

That's hypocrisy. Woe to you Pharisees for you love the seat of honor in synagogues and personal greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you for your like unseen tombs and the people who walk over them are unaware of it. Woe to you for you load people up with burdens that are hard to bear while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe to you for you.

Build the tombs of the prophets and you approve of their killing. And woe to you for you have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you hindered those who were entering. Boy, this is a hard message. And it ends right here.

When he left that place, the Pharisees' house where he was eating, the scribes and the Pharisees, those experts in the law, they began to be very hostile. They were already hostile in a lot of cases, But it says they began to be very hostile and to interrogate him about many subjects plotting against him to catch him in something he might say, if you think cancel culture is new, it's not. There are litmus tests in politics and there are litmus tests in the world of, let's ask him this and see where he lands on this, to know whether he's with us or with them. Right? Is he on our side or is he on their side?

And we love to split up into teams, and that's just not here. Love finds them all together in unity, compassionate hearts, kindness, all those things we're supposed to be putting on. They're trying to catch him in something he might they just heard the word of the Lord. They just heard it and laid out before them instead of saying, you're right. Oh my gosh.

I'm a hypocrite. Oh, I'm out of balance. I'm broken before you, God. Help me. Instead of doing that, they did this.

I like the funeral yesterday because it was an AA funeral, and church ought to be more like AA. Here it is. On the contrary. Indeed, blessed are those who hear the word of God and they guard it. God, is there any wicked way in me?

Am I a hypocrite? Am I missing this, Lord? Am I just shining up the outside and not paying attention to the inside? God, help me. Am I out of balance?

Am I disobedient straight up? Am I intolerant really? I know I'm accused of being intolerant, but am I really intolerant? Am I exclusive? I know there's an exclusivity to the gospel because there are people who are gonna accept it, the free gift that it is, and there are people who are gonna reject it.

So there's an exclusivity, but it's based on what you choose to do with the word of the Lord. Either you're gonna hear it and reject it or you're to hear it and accept it and guard it and hold on to it. So those are the six woes again. And that's just the way to close it. Think that's the last one.

I go with indeed though instead of on the contrary. I do think that Mary was blessed. I don't think she should be deified, but she definitely was blessed. But the reason she was blessed was because she heard the word of the Lord, and she kept it. Would y'all stand?

I'm gonna ask the band to come back up. And the altar is always open. God help us. Help us to see ourselves in the scriptures, not just, see ourselves as Jesus in the scriptures and not just see ourselves as one of the disciples in the scriptures. But, Lord, when the shoe fits and we are really looking a whole lot like one of the Pharisees or one of the experts in the law, God Almighty, would you would you allow us your Holy Spirit to convict us and to convince us of your righteousness and to lead us into the truth, to illuminate the scriptures so that we may see them and understand them and have the power to walk in victory.

In Jesus' name. Amen. To be forgiven and be free.

Speaker 2It's all you got to lean on, but thank God it's all you need and all the people say

Speaker 1Amen. Alright. For the benediction of day well, I think we're gonna go back to Colossians three twelve. I would like to say a prayer blessing, though. Anybody moving this week?

I know one. Pam, would you come up? That we should just ask that every week. Right? Who's moving this week?

May God bless you on your journey as you go, to Texas. We pray, for you that this would be a good move. In Jesus' name, Lord, we ask that, reunited with family and that for all health concerns, everything, Lord, that you would be working all things together for Pam's good. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion and kindness and humility and gentleness and patience, bearing with one another, even with me, and forgiving one another just as the Lord has forgiven you, and put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. In Jesus' name, Lord, may it be so. Amen.

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Guarding Scripture Hearing From God Hypocrisy Pharisees Prayer Sign Of Jonah

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