Go to content

Main menu:

SCRIPTURE – Mat 23:24                                                                                                                                                                        FEBRUARY, 2020

Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

SUBJECT – MORAL v MORAL, THERE IS A DIFFERENCE

PLAY/DOWNLOAD [MP3]

In order for you to get the gist of this month's message, I want to give you a more descriptive view of what Christ is saying to the preachers and politicians of His time, and today

Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for YE PAY TITHE OF MINT AND ANISE AND CUMMIN, AND HAVE OMITTED THE WEIGHTIER MATTERS OF THE LAW, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Mat 23:24 YE BLIND GUIDES, WHICH STRAIN AT A GNAT, AND SWALLOW A CAMEL.
Mat 23:25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for YE MAKE CLEAN THE OUTSIDE OF THE CUP AND OF THE PLATTER, BUT WITHIN THEY ARE FULL OF EXTORTION AND EXCESS.
Mat 23:26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Mat 23:27 WOE UNTO YOU, SCRIBES AND PHARISEES, HYPOCRITES! FOR YE ARE LIKE UNTO WHITED SEPULCHRES, WHICH INDEED APPEAR BEAUTIFUL OUTWARD, BUT ARE WITHIN FULL OF DEAD MEN'S BONES, AND OF ALL UNCLEANNESS.
Mat 23:28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within YE ARE FULL OF HYPOCRISY AND INIQUITY.
Mat 23:29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
Mat 23:30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

In this passage of scripture, we see Jesus giving a severe-tongue lashing to the scribes[lawmakers], which are those that make, and enforce the laws, and the preachers that essentially give their approval to what the politicians decide as to what is and is not the law.

The way they come to this conclusion is that they look at the Law, the books that were delivered to them by God, through Moses, then ask the preachers to give them an interpretation of certain parts of the Law, so that they can update, or eliminate laws that didn't fit with what they wanted to do.

The reason they wanted to update the Law, was because much of what the Law addressed as being something worth being severely punished for, was too harsh, and didn't leave much in the way of 'wiggle-room' for them to be able to negotiate with the people, for their[these politicians and preachers] benefit.

In other words, they wanted a redo of God's Law, to make it more compatible to their own way of thinking. Just like today, most people say the rules that the Bible sets forth, are out of date, seeing that this is the 21^st century!

What they came up with were laws that corrupted God's message on the weightier, more serious matters, when it came to their own actions, and those of their own relatives and friends while at the same time, still enforcing them on everyone else.

I'm talking about favoritism, listed in the Bible as [respect of persons!!].

Favoritism is a process whereby you give special treatment to individuals that you like, or those that support you or can do something for you, while at the same time persecuting those that you don't like.

So, what Jesus is addressing here is the fact that since these people were those that are supposed to be representatives of God and the Law, they were making it appear that God approved of what they were doing.

Now, for the record, the Law[God's], is the foundation of what we today refer to as His Moral Law, or simply Morality. These Laws are eternal, and are not up for discussion, debate or updating. They are what they are!! They say what they mean!! And, WOE to anyone that tries to change them.

These individuals Jesus is addressing, have quite simply done just that, by enacting an updated version of the Law, and making their own moral law, superior to the LAW!!

They then enforce this law on everyone else, outside of their circle of friends and supporters.

A good example of how this worked, is the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery.

In John 8:3-11, we see these religious leaders/politicians bringing a woman to Jesus that was caught in the very act of adultery. They asked Him what did He think should be done to her. They said that the Law requires her to be stoned to death.

Without going into all the details, Jesus, who was the expert of the Law, because He was the Law in the flesh, sent them away in shame.

This particular situation is a good example of the issues that Jesus was talking about. They brought the woman, but they didn't bring the person she was with. After all, it takes two to tango. Why didn't they bring the other person? Probably because, he was a friend, relative or supporter of theirs, or even one of them. I believe what He wrote in the sand, brought that point out.

Now, even though Jesus could have had her stoned, He didn't do it because of the way the situation was brought to Him. In order for righteousness/justice/judgment to be carried out, there must be no appearance of wrongdoing by the prosecution. Everything must be above board.

In Matthew 7:1-5, and Luke 6:41-42, Jesus is addressing situations like this whereby He is saying, 'before you set about to accuse or judge or prosecute somebody, make sure that you have your own house and affairs in order first. Unlike what a lot of people think, this does not mean that we are not to judge others for their actions. It simply means that if you are guilty of the same thing that you are judging someone else for, then you need to keep quiet/butt out, until you straighten up first.

I sometimes use the example of two people smoking cigarettes. One smokes 1 pack a day, while the other smokes 3 packs a day. Now it would be totally ludicrous for the latter to try scolding the former about their smoking, while they are essentially guilty of doing the same thing but worse.

Now, if the latter, was one that used to smoke that much but quit, then that is more in line with what Christ was talking about. The other thing is, it has to be the same thing. If someone is guilty of adultery, and does not smoke at all, then they could rightly criticize the person[s] that are smoking.

In our subject passage of scripture, if you will look at the capitalized parts, you will see a lot of these points being addressed.

In verse 23, He talks about how they pay their tithes and offerings religiously, yet, they ignore the more serious matters of the law like adultery, murders, abominations, and such. It has been said, that sin, is sin, meaning that no sin is any worse than any other sin. But Jesus says that is not so by talking about how the weightier/more serious parts of the Law are being ignored.

What Jesus is talking about here, was, common back then, and today.

It was and is, the practice of doing all the easy things religiously, while at the same time ignoring the more serious matters.

It is human nature to try to get by with as little effort as possible. We have people today, as there were back then, that make their living by depending on the charity of others, or by criminal activity. They refuse to work. Many times if they do get a job, they will find some way to do as little work as possible, or make excuses as to why they can't do their jobs, or even fake injuries so that they can sue the employer, and be awarded money so that they won't have to work. Did you know that Jesus no less, made a statement, through the apostle Paul, by way of the Holy Spirit, that many people including a lot of Christians, didn't know was in the bible. 2Th 3:10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, THAT IF ANY WOULD NOT WORK, NEITHER SHOULD HE EAT.

This is a basic tenet of the Law whereby God is saying that for mankind to prosper it is necessary for every one to be productive. The only exceptions to that principle are those that are unable to work.

I don't know about back then, but I know today, there are people that would criticize any person that would refuse to help a person in need, when that person by their own actions is avoiding work.

There was a situation, where a person was holding a sign saying that they would WORK FOR FOOD. A man came along and offered to pay him if he would do some work for him. Somebody standing nearby, showed displeasure with this man for requiring the person to work for food.

This person that showed his displeasure was a preacher.

This same preacher had a problem with this man, while at the same time has no problem with people aborting babies, committing adultery and fornication, being engaged in homosexuality and lesbianism, and more, all of which as Jesus put it, the more weightier things of the Law.

In a lot of people's minds, requiring the homeless, or the hungry to do some type of work before you give them any money or food, is immoral. But they say nothing and even support those that are guilty of those weightier things, which, by the way will block them from God's blessings, and lead them straight to hell!!

Another example of this type of foolishness, is what is going on in Washington, DC.

We have a political party trying to remove our president from office based on charges that he allegedly committed crimes that they really don't have any proof of, unless they twist the facts to make it appear as if he did do something wrong.

Everything that they have presented as fact comes from people with a vested interest in him being removed.

At the same time, this same party, judging from their actions and the things they support, are in no position to be bringing charges against this president, or anyone else for that matter. So why are they doing it? Because of preachers, most of whom happen to be black.

Mind you now, Jesus said you need to get your own house in order first, before you set about to judge somebody else.

These people, are accusing him of things like lying, and seeking aid from a foreign country to help him win an election, thus threatening our way of life, while at the same time they are engaged in a war against God, which is one million times more dangerous to this nation than anything they are accusing the president of doing!

And once again we have most black preachers to thank for it!!