Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Happy Wednesday, church family. Good morning. At this time, we'll begin our service. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. You deserve my every heart With glory and great cost Giving up your life to God Even though you're a cause You took all my shame And in faith in my sin Open up your day And thank you for your love Jesus, what can I give?

What can I bring? To so faithful a friend To so loving a king Say, what can be said? What can be sung? With the praise of your name All the things you have done All my words could not tell I'm taken apart And tear up your nation I miss you for all Jesus, what can I give?

Jesus, what can I give? What can I bring? To so faithful a friend To so loving a king Savior, what can I give? Savior, what can be said? What can be sung? As the praise of your name For the things you have done All my words could not tell Not even in part Of the debt of the Lord That is a rule By the sake of my All right, good morning.

Welcome to Brewing Community Church. As you can see, we have communion today. And so hopefully you came prepared for that. I'll give you instructions again later As we get into the communion. You may have gotten an email If you're a member of the church Or if you're on the church announcement thread On the emails That Lot G that we had to close temporarily Is back open starting today.

So you may have noticed I don't know if anybody parked there But Lot G is the OTA It's the larger lot that we had Shuttle going back and forth So that's going to be open And that's going to be open Not just on Sundays But on Wednesdays and Fridays as well.

Okay, so going forward When we have Bible study on Wednesday That lot will be open And also on Friday When we have praise and prayer That lot will be available. Lot J is still available. That's the big lot And only on Sundays The shuttle will go to Lot J.

Okay, so if you have to If G is full and you need more parking Lot J is open So the one that we've been using So just keep that in mind So starting from today Lot G will be available If you haven't signed up For the Foundations of Redemptive History class It is still open But you will not be able to choose Which small group If you say, hey, can I go to this group Or that group You will not be able to do that So if today is the last day That you can ask So after today If you do sign up We're going to just have to place you somewhere Maybe in a new members group Or a visitors group So please sign up If you haven't signed up for that As soon as possible And then lastly On the 16th Which is coming this Saturday We have a men's fellowship And the theme of it is workplace Christians in the workplace So we're going to be having A short teaching on scripture And what it says about that And then there's going to be A panel discussion time Where you're going to be able to ask Older members of the church Who have been walking with the Lord for a while And how they struggled with How to manage their work and career And their faith And so I think it will be A very practical time So if you haven't signed up Today is the last day to sign up For the early registration After today The cost is going to go up to $15 So if you haven't signed up I strongly encourage you To do that by today Okay Alright I think that's it For the announcement So let me pray for the offering And then If you have a physical offering Again we have the offering box In the back on the way out Alright let's pray Father we thank you so much Lord God For your continued grace And perseverance We thank you Father For your word We thank you for the Holy Spirit That you cause to indwell in us Longing And groaning Lord God That we may be near you I pray Father that That your word That has already been Planted in us Will continue to bear fruit That our worship That we give you May truly be in spirit And in truth Help us Lord God As we draw near your throne With confidence That all that we need Lord God We acknowledge Is from you We pray That even this giving That we would be able to give As an act of worship And again May it be handled Lord God With wisdom And may it be Multiply 30, 60, 100 For the sake of your kingdom We thank you Father In Jesus name we pray Amen As we stand for worship Let's just take a moment All hail the power of Jesus name All hail the power of Jesus name Let angels prostrate all Bring forth the royal diadem And crown him Lord of all Bring forth the royal diadem And crown him Lord of all And crown him Lord of all And crown him Lord of all God, and Him who saves you by these gifts, I live more.

Every king and every tribe on this celestial path, to Him, Lord, may you see us cry, and crown Him Lord of all, to Him, Lord, may you see us cry, and crown Him, Lord. How long to save the eyes we make for, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you join me in everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all, will you 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we'll be reading from verses 1, 1 to 3, the section involves all 12 verses, all the way to verse 12, but it's going to be cut into three parts, okay, but we're going to be dealing with the first part of it today, okay, Luke chapter 12 verses 1, 2, 3, under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together, that they were stepping on one another, he began saying to his disciples, first of all, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, but there's nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known, accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this morning. We pray that the power of your word and your Holy Spirit would speak to us, challenge us, revive us, direct us, Lord God, to the path that you sent your son Jesus to walk, that we may deny ourselves and pick up our own crosses and follow him.

May your name be magnified and your church shine bright, Lord God, in this dark world. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. As you guys know, this is, I think I've been off this pulpit for about five weeks, so it feels like, you know, time goes by so fast and slow whenever I'm away from church.

And so many things have happened. Obviously, we just had a retreat last weekend, and so we were tremendously blessed by that. Prior to that, I was up at a retreat. Prior to that, I was in India. Prior to that, I was in Korea. And so it's been a busy four or five weeks.

You know, it is physically taxing, obviously, because moving around so much and being in different places. And, you know, my sleeping habit's not that great. But part of the reason why I enjoy going out to missions is because it kind of recalibrates my thinking sometimes. You know, because our church has been around for 28-plus years, we can no longer be considered a church plan, obviously.

Those years have been gone many, many years ago. And so there's a natural tendency when a church has been around for a while, and maybe some of you have been a Christian for a while, where our focus tends to become us. That our call to be a light to the world, as Pastor Ray challenged us in his last sermon at the retreat, kind of is theory.

It's something that we know that we ought to do, but it's not the heartbeat of the church. But the reason why us being a light is so important is you cannot understand Scripture outside of God pursuing the lost. The reason why we have Scripture is because it is a history of God's redeeming, God's plan of redeeming sinners for himself, for his glory.

So any part of the Scripture that you are reading, and not understanding that that's the reason why he wrote it, you're going to learn theory. You're going to learn what he did. But you're not going to know why he did it. So you gain information. You collect a lot of information about what the Bible is, and what God did, and what does the Gospel say, not really understanding why.

Or you may understand why, but you don't really understand the heartbeat of God. And so what ends up happening is you gain a lot of knowledge, and when that knowledge is not being practiced, it just becomes a lot of resources for pride. You cannot understand the Gospel. You cannot understand what Jesus said.

You cannot understand the cross until you understand why. Not that we will understand all of why. Like, why does he love us? Why does he pursue sinners? Why did he sacrifice so much for people who are not deserving? You know, that's a mystery that we will probably carry into eternity.

But we know that that is why we're here. That's why the church is established. That's why we study the Bible, so that you may be equipped. Equipped for what? Just so that you can be a better father, so that you can have a nicer church, where people are caring for each other, so that we can counsel each other, so that we can have a better, easier, comfortable, more loved life.

No, the equipping is for the purpose of training us to go out. To go out and be the light. So if we are not actively participating in being the light for the world, you end up naturally become self-focused. And everything you evaluate, you evaluate based upon how does it affect me?

What am I getting out of it? How do I fit into this? Instead of seeing the scripture as how am I being equipped to reach the lost? I say all of this because the text that we're looking at starts out by saying under these circumstances. So you need to know what under these circumstances.

Why is the next 12 verses and the next two chapters, why does he say what he says? Is it, we already know if you read it, it's about hypocrisy. But why does he say that? What is the circumstance that he is referring to? I mean, we go all the way back to verse 37.

It tells us now when he had spoken, a Pharisee asked him to have lunch with him. And he went in and reclined at the table. And the Pharisee saw it. He was surprised that he had not first ceremony washed before the meal. So they were accusing Jesus, oh, how can this be a man of God?

How can this be a man who is close to God if he's not practicing our laws? Obviously, it was man-made laws. He's not breaking any Old Testament laws. But in that context, Jesus rebukes them about their hypocrisy. And then the lawyers hear that and said, Lord, if you say that, you rebuke us too.

And he turns around and says, yes, good. Because I mean to rebuke you. And he rebukes them. And then after he rebukes them, they don't like what he has to say. In verse 53, when he left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very high. To be very hostile and to question him closely on many subjects.

Plotting against him to catch him in something he might say. That's the context. So when he says under these circumstances, he's talking about he's very aware that the hostility toward Christ is growing from the leaders. He's about six months away from the cross. We already shared in the previous studies that Jesus has turned his attention from the crowd mainly to the disciples.

Because he's preparing them. In about six months, he's going to be physically gone. And he needs them to be ready to take the baton and continue to do the work that he has come to do. So now he, if you look at it, he says under these circumstances, so many thousands of people, even though a large crowd was coming to them, what does he say?

He turns around to his disciples and he says, beware of the leaven. So it's important that we understand the circumstance. And two, it's important that he is now preparing his disciples. He was addressing his disciples because in Luke chapter 12, verse 11, at the end of this interaction, he's going to tell them when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense or what you are to say.

Who are the they he's referring to? The Pharisees, the scribes, the leaders. In other words, they're going to drag you into court. They're going to be the ones who's going to be whipping you. These leaders who are on the surface look like religious leaders. They're the ones who seem to be godly.

They're the ones who seem to know the law. They're the ones that you're going to for counsel. And Jesus is telling them, watch out for these people. They're the ones who are going to drag you into court. They're the ones who are going to crucify me. And then they're the ones who are going to want to crucify you.

So the whole text here in verse 1 through 12 is to prepare the disciples for the persecution and the hardship and eventually the death that they will face through these people. So I say all of this because we have to understand all that he's saying because he's preparing them to go out.

He's preparing them to go out. So none of this would be that important. He's not just exposing hypocrisy. He's not just saying, hey, don't be a hypocrite. Be honest. He's exposing the hypocrisy because it's through the hands of the hypocrites that the greatest persecution is going to come. These Pharisees had the power over the synagogue.

If you didn't obey them, they didn't like you, they would kick you out, which meant that they had power over their spiritual well-being because they wouldn't be able to go into worship. They had power over their social being because once they got cut off, they couldn't do any business.

They probably couldn't get married. Once they got cut off, they couldn't survive financially. So the power that these people had over the Jews of this time could not be exaggerated. And he said, these very people that you relied on, these leaders that you went to to seek after God, they're the ones who are going to turn against you.

And they're the ones who's going to end up crucifying me. So there's three things that he says in verses one through twelve. One, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. That's a text that we're going to be looking at this morning. And then in verse four to eight, it says, do not fear.

Do not fear these hypocrites. And we're going to get to that next week. And he says, when he says, do not fear, he's not saying just do not fear them. He's saying, do not fear death. All they can do is kill you. If you're going to fear anybody, fear the one who can kill you and then judge you afterwards.

Do not fear. We'll get to that next week. And then the main point that he's trying to get to is in verse nine through twelve. It says, confess me before men. He's warning them because he's going to challenge them in verse nine through twelve. After I leave, you're going to have to take the baton.

And don't be afraid of confessing me before men. They could have avoided all of this if they didn't obey verse nine through twelve. If they just kept their inside quiet. If they made the purpose of their life to have the easiest life that they can. Work hard. Save up money.

Make sure that our children have everything that we didn't have when we were younger. If your whole purpose of life is to have a better, easier life. Compete with the world. But do a better job than them. Then you don't have to worry about verse one to verse eight.

Because it's not relevant. So what if they're hypocrites? Just don't hang out with them. Just don't go to their church. Just go to another church. People that you respect. I mean, what do you have to worry about fearing death? Because you're already living your life avoiding any kind of discomfort.

Any challenge that may come into your life. Oh, that's not the place. God must not want us there. So if you don't obey verse nine through twelve. Verse one through eight is irrelevant. It's just knowledge. Just okay, God hates hypocrites. God wants us to fear him. It's just more information.

But these are practical information of equipping. Because they needed to understand in order to obey verse nine through twelve. The opposition is going to come through these hypocrites. And they're going to try to kill you. He said, "Do not fear. Keep speaking." I'm going to look at three things that he exposes here.

Before we get into our communion. First of all, the spiritual leaders would be the first to oppose their gospel work. Which I've already mentioned in verse one. He began saying to his disciples, first of all, be aware. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. In other words, be alert or consider carefully.

Because superficially, they're going to look godly. Superficially, they're going to seem like they're representing God. But he says, "Beware of them." Now, you have to understand how shocking this is. Because they're the spiritual leaders. They're the ones who knew the law. They're the ones who obeyed the law. They're the ones who supposedly represented God.

They were the leaders of the synagogue. And as Jesus is heading to the cross, he said, "Beware of these guys." Consider carefully who they are. Don't be won over by their superficial religiosity. Consider carefully who they are. He says, "Beware of the leaven." Leaven in the Bible is almost always referring to sin.

And the reason why he's referring to sin is because it's small. As you guys know, I'm really into baking. Those of you who laugh know I'm joking. I know nothing about baking. I actually have to look it up. How does leaven work? What is it for? Leaven is such a small piece that you put into a dough, and it says basically it completely changes.

Right? It metamorphosizes. Right? That product and it becomes something else. That's how the Bible uses the imagery of sin. Something so small has deadly effect. We see that in Adam and Eve. You know, we're going to be studying the book of Genesis. And it's almost shocking to see that this simple sin mentioned in chapter 3 of Genesis.

How it led to this. Don't eat it. And she ate it. And that was it. That was the Genesis. That was the leaven that came into mankind and ruined all of mankind. So the scripture uses that to describe the deadly effect of sin. That it doesn't have to be a great sin.

Any sin ends up ruining everything. So every Passover, right? Pastor Mark leads our Passover meal. And in the Passover meal, if you've attended it, you know that there's a part of the meal before the meal happens that they're supposed to go out and find everything. Like you're not allowed to have any kind of leaven in the house because it represents sin.

So that before they can have this ceremony before God, again, symbolically, they had to do away with sin. And they had to do that every single year to teach them the deadly effects of sin, the necessity of the cross. If you do not understand the deadliness of sin, even small sin, then cross is just an event.

It's just a beautiful scene of God loving his people. But it's not something that we cling to, that we're desperate for. He says, beware of the leaven, the sin of the Pharisees. Galatians 5:9. A literal leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. All throughout Scripture in the Old Testament, the leaders are the ones who are first rebuked.

Right before Israel is judged, a prophet usually goes. And the first group of people that he ends up rebuking and exposing are the leaders. And Isaiah 9:16 says, "For those who guide this people are leading them astray, and those who are guided by them are brought to confusion." You say, well, because of leaders.

The leaders weren't doing their job. The leaders were hypocrites. Leaders were the first one who compromised. And because of that, anyone who follows them will also be compromised. I can't emphasize enough the importance of qualified leaders. You know, as the church grows, there's a growing pressure. And the pressure has always been here.

We have so many needs and not enough leaders. And so, because the need is great, we need to establish more leaders. Agree. 100%. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. But the temptation is, because the harvest is great, let's just send whoever. Establish whoever. Anybody who wants it, just go.

In order to plug in the holes. Until you start to find out the leaven of the leaders and the hypocrisy and that their righteousness was very superficial. And then when they get squeezed, you see what they have. And then the whole church falls apart. And that's the history of the nation of Israel.

That's the history of the church. That as the pressure grows, we automatically think that if we just threw more people at it, that that's going to solve the problem. The greatest mistake that the church would make is to establish wrong leaders, unqualified leaders, untested leaders. Because you don't realize where they are until they are squeezed.

Some men's sins are obvious. The obvious sins are easy to deal with. Some men's sins trail behind them. It trails behind them because they're hiding it. It trails behind them because they haven't been tested. It says beware of them because if you establish the wrong leaders, everyone under them will also fall.

In Matthew 23:13, "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people, for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in." Now, any time I say this, I know how it sounds. And I know what people say because I hear it.

What about you? If you're calling out leaders of other churches, or maybe even here, including myself, right? How can you be so bold about other people? Why aren't you more gracious? Why aren't you more... Why are you so judgmental? Why are you so harsh? Because the whole church will crumble if you establish wrong leaders.

And I believe the Christian state that we are in today, first and foremost, and foremost is because we ordain people haphazardly. The way somebody comes into ministry today is, "I want to do God's work." Great. Go to seminary. They go to seminary. I've never heard anybody get rejected by seminary.

Ever. I've never heard somebody say, "I want to go to seminary, but I just couldn't pass their entrance exam." If you want to go, you go. Then once you go, you're the spiritual leader. And everywhere you go, you get the pulpit. And then you begin to teach at church.

We don't know what your life is, but especially in a large, growing church. Anybody who's willing, if you're faithful at church, if you show up to events, they're loyal to the church, then let them lead. And so, as the church gets bigger, the qualification of leader becomes weaker and weaker and weaker until there's some conflict.

Until they fall into temptation. Until they get tested. Then all of a sudden, everything that seems to be going so well just absolutely crumbles. That's why the scripture says, "Do not lay hands hastily." If you lay hands hastily, you will participate in the sin of the one whom you have laid hands hastily.

Dr. Wilkins, one of my professors at Biola and Talbot, he was serving at a church in Seattle, and he left there to be a professor at Talbot, and then he wrote a book. And in his book, he says, "One of the most important things, one of the most important things that a pastor can do is to guard the gate.

To guard the gate. To guard the gate of leadership." Because if you allow anyone and everyone to enter into leadership, you will reap what will come. Maybe not that year, maybe not two years, but eventually you will reap. So I know that even in our church, because I hear it all the time, right?

They don't want to establish leaders. Of course we want to establish leaders. Because we are dying here. We have a church of over a thousand people. We have four pastors. We feel the pressure more than anybody else in our church. Our families feel the pressure more than anybody else at our church.

Of course we need that. Why are we so slow? Because it's that important. Because church is that important. You don't just take a kid, you know, your child, your precious child. And then you're looking for a babysitter. And you're looking for the next, whoever is available. And you just drop them off and hopefully you don't hurt them.

Hopefully you don't abuse them. Because I need a babysitter. No, you would be careful. And if you don't have a babysitter that you can trust, you won't entrust them to them. Right? You'll keep them to your side. You'll take them to work. You'll do whatever you have to do.

Quit your job. Take vacation. Because you cannot take the chance of somebody harming your child. Is the church any less precious? Are the souls that are in our church any less precious? That we would just establish anyone and everyone who's not tested? Tested? We have to be careful. Jeremiah 5:30-31 It's an appalling and horrible thing that has happened in the land.

The prophets prophesy falsely and the priests rule on their own authority. They don't have any power. They have a form of religiousness. Form of godliness. There's no real power. The sin Jesus specifically is pointing to is what I just said. They had a form of godliness. They're hypocrisy. Hypocrisy means to be hidden, to be concealed, to keep a secret.

The Pharisees, if you know, on the surface were very godly people. It tells us they prayed and fasted. Probably more than an average Christian. I've only known maybe two or three people, or maybe a little bit more than that, in my life as a Christian, that on paper prayed more than the Pharisees.

They prayed and fasted continually all the time. So on the surface they prayed more than other people. They tithed everything that they had. Even the herbs. They were meticulous about tithing. They memorized scripture. They had it written all over them. They had it on their homes. They memorized scripture.

More than the majority of Christians that I've ever met. And then on top of that, you know what else they did? It said they traveled over mountains and traveled far to make disciples. They proselytized. They evangelized. More than most people that we know. So on the surface, you can look at them and say, wow, they are very godly people.

Because they're doing so much for God. But Jesus says, watch out for them. Because that's all hypocrisy. Everything that they do, they do for others to see. It's easy for us. It's easy for us to get hung up on hypocrisy. Because if we're doing it for other people to see, it's easy.

At least for a period. In fact, if you look at scripture, the first sin, the first sin that came into the church and would have compromised them was a sin of hypocrisy. Remember in Acts chapter 5, Ananias and Sapphira? When Barnabas and other wealthy people were selling their property and giving it to the church to be distributed to people who had need.

Ananias and Sapphira had a great idea that we're going to sell our property, but instead of giving all of it, they're just going to give a portion of it, but they're going to pretend like they gave everything. But the problem with that is, one, that wasn't true. It wasn't everything.

It wasn't even required of them. But they wanted to seem godly, just like Barnabas, just like other people. And as a result of that, he said, why did you lie to the Holy Spirit and both of them die because of this hypocrisy? If you think about what they did, right?

Think about what they did. They sold their property, which majority of the people, majority of Christians that has ever lived since the time of Christ, have they sold everything that they had and gave 10%, 20%, 30%? They gave a big chunk of their property over to the church, and they died because of it.

So on the surface, you may look at that and say, wow, I mean, at least they gave. But capital punishment for that? Doesn't that tell us how dangerous hypocrisy is? That God is not looking for people who's going to present themselves as godly because that was the sin of the Pharisees.

And Pharisees were the ones who were behind the killing of Jesus. And so the very first sin that comes in that they needed to deal with and make an example to make sure that do not allow this hypocrisy to come into the church. Do not allow what the Israelites were guilty of before they went into captivity.

Don't allow this in the church. Protect the church from this hypocrisy. They're giving lip service to God, presenting themselves as godless, yes, having no power. If you study church history, I think most church historians will agree the biggest detriment to the church has always been hypocrisy. We have false doctrines.

We have false doctrines. We have persecution. In our generation, we have persecution all over. I'm intense. I mean, you and I just hear about it. But every time now I get an update from our Indian pastors, there's some sort of beating. Last time we were there in January, they were trying to burn down the house that we built.

And all the floor, you could see the char on the ground. I mean, you and I hear about it, and we get challenged by it, and we pray for them. But the biggest hindrance to the church has never been outside. It's the hypocrisy. It's the leaders who pretend, holding on to a form of godliness.

In fact, Apostle Peter and Barnabas in the book of Galatians, you know, the Judaizers were coming in, and they had so much power, they were beginning to influence even Apostle Peter, the leader among the apostles. So when they gathered together, it says Peter would not join with the Gentiles to eat with them, and he would only hang out with the Jews because he was concerned.

He was afraid of their judgment. Paul says in verse 13, Galatians chapter 2, the rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. Remember at the beginning of Galatians chapter 1, he said, if anybody preaches a different gospel other than what I preach to you, let him be anathema.

He was referring to this. He was referring to the hypocrisy that even Peter, Peter judged Ananias and Sapphira, and yet Peter was succumbing to the hypocrisy, the pressure that was coming from the church. So if you look at the early church, the way Satan was attacking, was trying to ruin the church, was through hypocrisy, was the pressure of how they would look to other people.

Matthew 23, verse 5, they do all their deeds to be noticed by men. Of course, our natural instinct, ever since we were kids. So much of what we do is out of peer pressure. That doesn't stop. I mean, it's like, well, you know, I experienced that when I was a teenager in high school, but no more.

Right? You fool yourself. The way we dress. Why we drive a certain car. Why we get certain careers. Who we hang out with. Even what church that we go to. Sometimes even what theology we embrace. All of it. There's a constant pressure. A peer pressure. What will they think if I do this?

If I wear my hair this way. If I date this guy. If I marry her. What will they think? If I live here. If I have that job. If my kids don't behave. If my kids don't go to the right school. If they don't make enough money. What will they think?

So much of what we do is under constant pressure. Of how we will look. And we often compromise so much that we don't even recognize when we're compromising. In Matthew 23. The seven woes that he gives to the Pharisees and the scribes. Every single one of them says, Woe to you Pharisees, you hypocrites.

Woe to you Pharisees, you hypocrites. Woe to you Pharisees, you hypocrites, you hypocrites, you hypocrites. Their primary sin was hypocrisy. Where they presented themselves as godly. But they weren't actually godly. But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known. Some men's sins are easy to see.

Some men's sins trail behind them. When they are squeezed. And if you see them through circumstance. And if you see them through circumstance and difficulty and trial, you will see what comes out. Martin Lloyd-Jones. Martin Lloyd-Jones says that there's three types of hypocrisy. And I think this is helpful because he's like a surgeon kind of dissecting, right?

How does this get applied? What does this look like in the lives of the people? One, there's an intellectual hypocrisy. Two, there's emotional hypocrisy. And third, there's practical hypocrisy. An intellectual hypocrite is somebody who is high on theology. High on knowledge. And they judge everybody else based upon how much you've read.

How much you know. What theology? How do you do this? And how do you do that? And it's all theoretical. So their righteousness is how much they've studied. How much do they know? But their worship before God is not passionate. If you ask them, do you love Jesus? They say, yeah.

Their love is an intellectual love. Thinking that if I know about love, if I know the gospel, if I know the theology, and if I ascend to the right forms of theology, that's love. And their practice is weak. If you examine them beyond what they say and what they read and what they know, it begins to crumble.

So every argument, every discussion is about what they know. He said, that's an intellectual hypocrite. You're presenting the form, what you're good at, and what you're not good at, you tend to hide. And then there's an emotional hypocrite, he says. And emotional hypocrites, they tend to look down on the theologically astute people.

It's like, oh, you know, the Pharisees read the Bible. The Pharisees did this. But we're all about love. Where's the love? When it comes to the scripture and theology, you think, ah, you know, it's not a way. Isn't the greatest commandment to love God and love your neighbor? And as long as we die, nothing else matters.

And they don't pursue righteousness because righteousness is all excused as long as we love. So it's all about how we feel, how we express ourselves, how we pray, how loud we sing. Those are the, he says, are emotional hypocrites. And then there's a practical hypocrite. Those are the ones who are applying.

They're the ones who are disciplined. They're the ones out evangelizing. They're the ones memorizing scripture. They're the ones who are volunteering for every need in the church. But they're theologically weak because they're not looking at scripture. And then when you look at their affection, their affections are all over the place.

And whenever they get squeezed, usually grumbling comes out. Because they're doing so much, the other people are not doing what I'm doing. You know what's interesting? Jeremiah 17, 9 through 10, where God brings the word. And listen to what he says. The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick.

In other words, don't trust your heart. If you say, oh, it's about heart, it's about love. The heart is deceitful. You can be deceived by your heart. Who can understand it? The Lord searches the heart. I test the mind. Even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the result of his deeds.

Did you notice that? So some people may say, oh, it's about the heart. And some people say, no, it's about the mind. And some people say, it's all about application. But God says, I search the heart, the mind, and your deeds. Because all three make who we are. At no time are you separate.

Is your emotion separate from your mind? At no time is your will separate from what you know. You can't say, I believe God, and then not practice it. If we're going to say we're followers of Christ, you must believe, you must have affection, and you must obey. I can't just say, you know what?

I love you because everything makes sense in my mind. Right? I don't do anything. I don't feel anything. But, you know, in here, you're good. Right? I know everything about you. And if somebody says who you are, he's like, yeah, this person is lovable. That's great. Right? But there's no application.

There's no real affection. There's nothing that you're doing. Or maybe somebody who's like doing. I'm doing so much, but I feel nothing for you. Waking up early in the morning, cooking breakfast, lunch, dinner, and sacrificial. But I said, do you love me? I don't feel anything. Love is something you do, not something you feel.

That's not in the Bible. Yeah. We sing that. And people memorize that, thinking it's biblical. It's not in the Bible. Of course it's something you feel. How do you worship God with lips? When he says, your heart's far from me. They call that lip service. Of course it's something you feel.

Or he's like, I feel, I feel so much love for you. I feel so much love for you. But, you know what, you know, I'm not sure. You know, somebody asks me what I think of you. It's like, yeah, I don't know if this is the person that I want.

But I feel for you. But you don't do anything for you. You don't sacrifice anything. You don't commit yourself. But I feel for you. At no time can a human being ever separate any of these three. Because they all represent who we are. So, Martin Lloyd-Jones says, a hypocrite chooses one.

A hypocrite is somebody who highlights one. Whatever he may be good at. And then the things that he hides behind him. Right? He doesn't expose to truth. Every single one of us has a leaning toward one of these things. Right? Every single one of us. There's nobody who's perfectly balanced.

That's why we need to be sanctified. But a hypocrite is somebody who chooses that one. And that's the one. And everybody else needs to be like me. And that whenever somebody points out, but you don't practice, or you don't study, or you don't do this. He said, no, but look at this.

He said, this is what the Pharisees were doing. They're presenting their outward righteousness. Where inwardly, it was like a grave. Your presentation is good. But reality, reality is just a grave. And I'm going to just quickly go. How did it manifest with these Pharisees? Matthew 15, 8. They honored me with their words, but their hearts were far from me.

Matthew 23, 23. They majored on what is minor, minored on what is major. Right? They gave all the tithes for every herbs. But when it came to justice, and grace, and mercy, they would ignore it. Matthew 6, 1 through 5. They did everything to be seen by men. And then Romans 2.

They were constantly judging other people while they themselves were not practicing. Matthew 23, 25. They focused on the cleansing of the outside, but inwardly they were not focused. I mean, inwardly you're bitter, angry, you slander, right? You hold on to grudges, and you can't let go of things that somebody wronged you in the past.

But externally you're reading the Bible. Externally you're serving. Externally you're evangelizing. Externally you're giving. But they were unaware or refused to expose what's going on in their own heart. Focus on cleansing the outside, not the inside. And in Luke chapter 20, 20 through 21, they constantly sought seat of honor.

Because hypocrisy is seeking honor. At the core of hypocrisy, Martin Lloyd-Jones says, at the core of hypocrisy is wanting the world and the church. You don't want to forfeit the world, nor do you want to forfeit what you have in the church. So hypocrisy is somebody who is not letting go of either.

And so the reason why you don't want that is because you want favor of men. And so you want to be honored at church, but you also want to be honored in the world. So at the church, you present what you have externally. And then when you're in the world, you present the other things.

And then finally, hypocrisy led them to kill Jesus. They were willing to do whatever it took to hold on to what they have established. Even if it was to kill Jesus. I mean, they first started to come to Jesus because they thought he had all the evidence of the Messiah.

But the only reason why they turned against him is because Jesus saw their hypocrisy. He saw beyond their praying and evangelizing and their giving, their tithing. And remember, he saw beyond that. And he said, your insides are unclean. And he was exposing what they were trying so hard to hide.

And as a result of that, what did they say? We need to get rid of this guy. He's exposing all our sins. So he needs to go. He can't be the Messiah. He can't possibly be from God. Because if he was really from God, he would appreciate what we've done.

If he was really from God, he would recognize how hard we have worked. But the fact that he's pointing these things out, he must go. Either we go or he goes. Typically, people who live in hypocrisy are hypersensitive to criticism. It's like pouring salt on a worm. I mean, I know that's a nasty imagery.

But that's what it's like trying to reveal truth to a hypocrite who's trying so hard to present themselves some way. And then when their insides are revealed, they squirm. And that's exactly what the Pharisees were doing, these scribes. They were, from this point on, plotting. So Jesus is telling the disciples, what they're telling you in public, that's not what they're saying to each other in private.

In public, because they know that Jesus is love. There's so many people coming to him. They have to step over each other. So in order for the Pharisees to come, if they're seeking man's approval, he can't go against these people. So they were stuck in a rock and a hard place.

Because they lived their whole lives to get respect from these people. And these people started to love Jesus. So how do you get rid of Jesus without losing the people that they've worked so hard to get respect from? So from this point on, they were devising. Maybe if we ask him some questions that he can't answer.

And maybe if we disqualify him. Maybe if we expose certain things that he's weak at. And then we could tell the people, this man can't be from God. But they've already determined in their heart, he needs to go. So from this day on, until they find a way to crucify him, they were living under this tension because they were hypocrites.

How do we get rid of Jesus and not lose these people? That's why Jesus says, watch out for them. Truth of who they are, number three, will eventually be revealed. Luke 12, 3. They're saying great things out in the public, but privately they are plotting to kill me. And eventually they are plotting to kill you.

So Jesus says in Matthew 15, 11, It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles a man, but what proceeds out of the mouth that defiles the man. You will see eventually what comes out of his mouth. They're doing all these righteous things, but eventually you'll see who they really are when they're in private, the things that they're saying.

In Luke 6, 45, The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good. And the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil. For his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart. Let me conclude with this. This is two reasons why he gives such harsh warning to his disciples.

If this is uncomfortable, next week is going to be added on to this, and the week after that is going to be added on to that. So buckle up. One, One, to not imitate them. They are not your examples. Because they sit in Moses' seat, do what they do, but do not do what they do.

Do what they say, but do not do what they do. They're hypocrites. They're not your spiritual leaders. Listen to the scripture, but do not follow them. Matthew 5, 20, For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Do not. Do not find confidence in men. Including me. It would make my life easier if you did. Because I'm a sinner like you. What you struggle with, I struggle with. The temptation you have, I have. The desire for nice things that you have, I have. When I get squeezed, I'm any different than you.

Do not put your confidence in men. Don't quote men as the final authority. You can quote them as encouragement. You can quote them because they help you to understand, but at the end of the day, it must be scripture. And it is the Christ in the scripture. Because if you put your confidence in men, as soon as you are away from that man, your faith falls apart.

As soon as that man falls, you fall. As soon as you find disappointment in that church, then you fall apart. Our faith cannot be anchored in the church. It cannot be anchored in men. It has to be anchored in Christ alone through the scriptures. Even if I commit the vilest sin.

Even if I commit the vilest sin. Your love for Christ should not change. Your loyalty to Christ must not change. It is not safe for us to put our hope in men. Any men. And then lastly, he tells the disciples the second reason is do not be caught off guard when the persecution comes.

As I said in the beginning, you can avoid all of this. Just don't shine your light. Just keep your mouth quiet. Go feed the poor. When there's disaster, show up with food. When there's hurting people, counsel them. Who would hate you for that? Muslims will praise you for that.

Atheists will praise you for that. People who hate Jesus will praise you for that. There's nothing wrong with that. Everything that I just said is what Christians should be doing. But the reason why there's pushback is because of what Jesus said. The reason why he's warning the disciples about the persecution that's coming is because he's going to tell them to go make disciples.

To preach that Christ is the only way. That the problem of mankind is not economic. The problem of mankind is not superficial. It's sin. And the only remedy to sin is Christ crucified. And if you begin to preach that, if you make that clear, you will get pushback. Yes, even here.

And oftentimes it will come from the hypocrites. In the church. Who have created a nice life. With a nice church. With their bills are paid. Children are in Sunday school. Going through VBS. And people who are hurt, we encourage. We have counseling. We have good Sunday school. Good program.

Good community. And all of a sudden, you begin to preach the truth of the word. And it's like, that's not what we want. Because I've created an image of God where he is loving and never judges anything for any reason. And so it doesn't fit them. So he says, the persecution first and foremost is going to come from hypocrites.

So watch out. So this morning, as we open up the communion table, if I can ask the leaders to come up. And I know it's a heavy message. You know, usually, I give heavy message when I come back from mission trips. I've heard that. Right? If you have anything against what I say, come to me with scripture.

Come to me with scripture. What part of the scripture did I not convey accurately? Don't come to me with your prejudice. Don't come to me about how you feel. Tell me where I compromised in the scripture. Then you'll have my ear. Then I'll pay attention. But if, because you're uncomfortable hearing what the scripture says and you want me to be different, all the more while you need to hear it.

we are in danger. So, if you don't think that we're in danger, you may think I'm the danger. Right? You may think I'm the danger because everything's going great. People are hurting. They're, you know, why does he keep making people feel uncomfortable? So, I'm the problem. But if you agree, the Christianity that we are experiencing in America doesn't look anything that we see in scripture.

what is normal in Christianity that maybe you are experiencing, maybe I'm experiencing, doesn't look anything like what we see in scripture. Read the Bible for yourself. Examine it for yourself. Read the words of Christ. Read the words of the apostles. Dig through the scriptures to see if I am wrong or are you wrong.

We cannot make disciples of hypocrisy. What we want is a church that worships him in spirit and in truth. In 1 Corinthians chapter 11, 23, for I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread.

When he had given things, he broke it and said, this is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, he took the cup also after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Heavenly Father, as we come before this sacred time, I pray that you would search us and know us and see if there's any hurtful ways in us. Help us to come before your throne in celebration of who you are.

Help us, Lord God, to pick up our cross that we would be able to profess as our testimony that we have also been crucified with Christ, that it is no longer us who lives, but Christ who lives in us and through us. I pray, Father God, that as we come before this sacred table, that we would not simply focus, Lord God, on what you have done, but the ramification of what you have done.

May Christ be exalted, celebrated, and worshiped this morning. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So as you are ready, one by one, when you're ready, if you can come and try to make two lines here. And if you've been, again, if you're a baptized believer in the church, we welcome you to come.

And if not, if you have not been baptized, we ask that you remain in your seat. Okay? So when you are ready, please come. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Let's all stand for the closing praise.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Now the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and eternal love of God the Father. Strengthen, restore, and encourage us, Lord God, that we may live lives worthy of the gospel that you've given.

In Jesus' name, we pray, amen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You're my friend, you're my friend, you're my friend, you're my friend, you're my friend, anything, you're my friend, you're my friend, you're my friend, you're my friend, All my heart's desire and my hope to worship you. Oh, you alone are my strength, my shield.

To you alone may my spirit be healed. Just let me know. Well, I think Pastor Peter, he'll cue us if he wants to go up or not. Test, test. Thank you. Hi, Alex. Isaac was saying that first service didn't do communion songs, so he'll just cue us. Like, probably, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dude, wow. Fire, fire, fire. Okay. Okay. I just remember it from Pitch Perfect, like, oh, no, no. Seems like we'll really only have time for sound checking, so let's just make sure all our sounds are online and how we want it to sound. But we have, like, one minute.

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