In Matthew 23:27, Jesus
said, “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.”
Pastor Kyle stated that we
can know the “right stuff” to say around church people, but don’t always do it in
our personal lives. We may be good at knowing what to say and do, but have no
direction to go in our walk with the Lord. What good is it to preach what you
do not practice? It is not as much being a hypocrite as it is being human to
fail. The objective is not to be professional Christians. Jesus denounces the
Pharisees in order to teach His disciples to be sensitive to even the tiniest
amounts of legalism and hypocrisy inside themselves.
Philippians 2:1-4 “Therefore if there
is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of
the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being
like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let
nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness
of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look
out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”
Kyle gave us two keys to
staying spiritually sensitive to the hypocrisy inside of us. (1) Switch seats
with the struggling. The Lord knows that it feels risky and unsafe to open up
about our personal struggles. Flip your thinking up-side-down and serve, not be
served. Jesus said in Matthew 20:25-28, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles
lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not
so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your
servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave — just as
the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give
his life as a ransom for many.” In reality, the prestigious seat that
we want that’s in the better position, is still just a seat. (2) Remember that
Jesus switched seats with us. The wages of sin is death, eternal separation
from God and never-ending damnation. But, God so love the world that He gave His
only begotten Son to take our sin as a redemption ransom that we may be saved. Do
not try to candy-coat the truth. The seat that we deserve is God’s wrath,
judgment, condemnation and eternal punishment. The objective is two-fold: our
good freedom and glory to God.
Philippians 2:5-11 “Let this
mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God,
did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no
reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the
likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled
Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of
the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the
name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the
earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.”
Who gets the message of the
gospel? Who is intended to receive the good news of the Lord and connect with
God in a holy reconciled relationship? Switch seats.
In Christ, Brian
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