No more Acting

Preached at Glen Aros Christian Fellowship
Sunday 4th March 2007

Matthew 23:1-31

“Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples,
2 saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.
3 "Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.
4 "For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
5 "But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.
6 "They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,
7 "greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'
8 "But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.
9 "Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
10 "And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
11 "But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 "And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
14 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'
17 "Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?
18 "And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'
19 "Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
20 "Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.
21 "He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.
22 "And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.
23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
24 "Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.
26 "Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.
28 "Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,
30 "and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'
31 "Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
32 "Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.
33 "Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?
34 "Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,
35 "that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
36 "Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

Look at: V23 & 24

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

· Scribes
· Pharisees

Both of them

· Hypocrites

Three tithes’s paid
· Mint
· Anise
· Cummin

Three weightier mattes left undone
· Justice
· Mercy
· Faith

The people who do this

· Strain out a gnat
· Swallow a camel

The Scribes and Pharisees are enemies to the Gospel.

The Scribes and Pharisees are enemies.

The Scribes and Pharisees keep others away from Jesus.

The Scribes and Pharisees win souls, yes, but for their own glory.

The Scribes and Pharisees steal the Glory that belongs to God.

The Scribes and Pharisees were meticulous in paying tithes of mint, Anise, and Cummin.

The Scribes and Pharisees forgot the weightier mattes.

Look at: V25

25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.

· Scribes
· Pharisees

Are …

· Hypocrites (actors)

You clean the outside of the cup
You clean the outside of the dish

But…

Inside they are full of

· Extortion
· Self-indulgence

Look at: V26

26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish that the outside of them may be clean also.

Blind Pharisee your outward motives may keep the outside clean.

While the inside is filthy!

You are an actor!

· First cleanse the inside of the cup
· First cleanse the inside of the dish

That the outside of them may be clean also

Look at: V35
35 "that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

Blood guilty, and soon they would become guilty of the blood of the one who was speaking to them. They would cry out, ‘…let his blood come upon us, and upon our children…’

You may ask…

…How do I cleanse the inside of the cup?

…How do I cleanse the inside of the dish?

Only one place to go!

That is to God Himself!

How to we approach God?

Look at: Hebrews 4:14-16

“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Look at: V16

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

We come…

· Come with boldness
· We come to the throne of grace
· That we may find grace and mercy to help in time of need

Let’s look at it another way…Psalm 51:1-19

“Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your loving kindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight-That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart-These, O God, You will not despise.

Look at: V14

“Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.”

David is guilty of adultery with Beersheba
David is guilty of murdering her husband

God says of David; “… I have found a man after my own heart…”

Really?
An adulterer!
A murderer!

Yes David is a man of God in spite of all he has done.

He has come with boldness and asked God to cleanse the inside of his life!

He asks God to do what he cannot hope to do by his own efforts!

· Have mercy upon me
· Blot out my transgressions
· Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
· Cleanse me from my sin

He is honest with himself and God

· I acknowledge my transgressions
· My sin is always before me
· Against You, You only, have I sinned

You desire truth in the inward parts

· Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean
· Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
· Make me hear joy and gladness
· Hide Your face from my sins
· Blot out all my iniquities
· Create in me a clean heart
· Renew a steadfast spirit within me.
· Do not cast me away from Your presence
· Do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
· Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
· Uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
· Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed

David had bloodguilt; he had murdered to cover up his sin.

David you can’t cover up your own sin.

You have to ask Jesus to cover your sin with his own blood.

Every man and women who rejects Jesus is guilty of His blood!

Every one who receives Jesus His blood covers their sin.

Have you come to Jesus and asked for His forgiveness?
Are you still guilty of His blood?

Then come right now with boldness, you are sitting in His presence. Ask for his grace and mercy.

The blood of Jesus Christ atones for all sin!

No matter what it is!

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lets move on… Philemon 1:1-25

“Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow labourer,
2 to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers,
5 hearing of your love and faith, which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints,
6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
7 For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.
8 Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting,
9 yet for love's sake I rather appeal to you --being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ--
10 I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains,
11 who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me.
12 I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,
13 whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel.
14 But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.
15 For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever,
16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave--a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
17 If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me.
18 But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account.
19 I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay--not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides.
20 Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord.
21 Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.
22 But, meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you.

Look at: V10

“I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains.”

Onesimus is a Son to Paul, not a slave, as he was to Philemon!

Onesimus has become a believer, a Son, through the witness and ministry of Paul.

Philemon is also a believer, a Son, through the witness and ministry of Paul.

Now the relationship between Paul, Onesimus, and Philemon has changed forever.

Paul now has two Sons, and they are now, no longer slave, and master.

Philemon and Onesimus are now brothers! Hallelujah!

Look at: V12

“I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart…”

This is a bit of meat, and will need close attention…

Paul sends Onesimus back to Philemon, saying he is like his own heart. Onesimus is to Paul like his own heart.

Paul is not sending Onesimus back to Philemon so that he can return to his position as a slave. No, Paul is setting His heart free, and he is asking his Son Philemon, to set Paul’s heart free. He is doing this in Onesimus, who is His very heart.

Jesus sets us free so that we may set each other free! Jesus sends to us those who have been in slavery, and says will you set them free. If you do, you are really setting my heart free in this dark world!

Paul is sending Onesimus, back, and saying, he is like my own heart, will you set it free.

Hallelujah! Jesus has set you free

You are like his heart.

You have become the heart of Jesus, by keeping you in this world; He is setting his heart free.

Paul wanted to go to heaven, but for the sake of the brethren, who needed him, he had to stay.

Look at: V16

“…no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.”

A beloved brother

More than a slave

Especially to me, says Paul!

My very heart!

But much more to you Philemon!

You were a slave Onesimus

· You came to Jesus
· You believed on his name
· You repented of your sin
· You were baptised in his name

Now you are free from slavery!

You are a son and a Beloved Brother, you have become my very heart I love you so much!

Many are on their way to Glen Aros Christian Fellowship

At this very moment they are in Slavery.

The Sons and brothers are on their way!

When they come will you receive them back as slaves or as Sons?

When they come will you receive them back as your slaves or as beloved brothers?

Jesus is bringing His Sons and Beloved brothers, to us, they represent His very heart.

What kind of welcome will they receive from you?

Look at: V16

“…No longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.”


Onesimus’s name derives from a root that means "beneficial"

Look at: V11

“Who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me.”

A brother who…

· Was unprofitable
· But now is profitable
· To you
· And to me!

Hallelujah for the Sons, the beloved brothers who are about to return!

They will be profitable to you and me.

Get God’s house ready for the prodigals return.

You are the living house of God.

Are you ready for the returning Sons?

No!

Then come with boldness to the throne of Grace to receive grace and mercy, to cleanse the inside of your life. The sons are on their way home, and Jesus wants you to welcome them home as Sons and brothers, He wants you to welcome them as you would His own heart

Now is the time for preparation!

No more hypocrisy!