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good morning to everyone happy Father's Day to all fathers out there and happy Father's Day to those who will be father someday a couple announcements a few announcements before we begin worship this morning the first is that there is it next Lord's Day is the fellowship luncheon so we're not having the luncheon after this morning service the luncheon is next week following the morning service now after that luncheon next Lord's Day we will also have the hospital ministry at the Heritage home just in the Cottonwood mall area there if you're coming to the luncheon and you'd like to go you can just talk to one of us there and we can give you the the directions if you've never been there before but again next Lord's Day luncheon following the morning service and then hospital ministry at the Heritage following that a reminder also the baptism for Abigail stare is Sunday July third so we look forward to that Lord's Day as well well let's turn in our Bibles than to begin our worship if you can turn with me to Psalm to Psalm 2 will be our call to worship this Lord's Day morning psalm to the word of the living and true God why do the nation's rage and the people plot a vain thing the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his Christ saying let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us he who sits in the heavens shall laugh the Lord shall hold them in derision then he shall speak to them in his wrath and distress them in his deep displeasure yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion I will declare the decree the Lord has said to me you are my son today I have begotten you ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession you shall break them with a rod of iron you shall dash them to pieces like a Potter's vessel now therefore be wise o Kings be instructed you judges of the earth serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little blessed are all those who put their trust in him amen well let's stand and sing our first hymn is going to be 60 in the larger Trinity hymnal at stand as a church and sing 60 together you let's go to our God in prayer let us pray our righteous and our Holy Father it's our delight to gather again in the house of the Lord on this year lord's day Sabbath to bring to you those praises and all those things of worship that are most certainly certainly do your your high and holy name and we do pray that we would now hollow your name we do pray that your name would be hallowed in all the earth we just rejoice that we can gather and freedom in this place to worship our triune God Father Son and Holy Spirit we do pray that you would again help us to do so right we pray that we would approach you accept ibly with reverence and awe with godly fear we pray that you would help us by your Holy Spirit to have our spirits lifted to that place where we do render you the worship that is do your most precious name we do praise praise you Lord God for the gospel of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ we know that we do gather in his name and we gather your people gather by virtue of that perfect saving work that he has rendered and we thank you that in time and in history he did come the son the son of God came the second of the Blessed triune came into our lower world and took to himself man's nature that he took upon himself humanity coming in the form of a bondservant and that he did render obedience even unto the cross death and we thank you for that so perfect to work we know that we are not saved and that we cannot be saved by deeds of righteousness that we have done there was required the righteousness of another a perfect one even the Lord Jesus Christ and we thank you that he did come that he rendered perfect obedience to your law in the stead of all those who believe in him that in him we have that righteousness that avails with you we thank you that we have that blessed cross work we know that upon Calvary's tree our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ perfected the salvation of a multitude that no man can number that he died in our stead in the place of all those who believe and that he rendered a perfect substitution Airy sacrifice we rejoice in the shed blood of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ knowing that in him we have the forgiveness of sins we rejoice in that blessed reality that on the third day he rose again in power and in great victory we thank you that he has ascended to your right hand and we rejoice in that abiding truth that he ever lives to make intercession for us we thank you that we have an advocate with you even Jesus Christ the righteous and that in him we have the forgiveness of all iniquity we do pray that you would help us to glory in the gospel of sovereign grace this morning that we would sing the praises of our Lord Jesus Christ and that our blessed Redeemer would be exalted upon the praises of this gathered assembly we do pray that around the world today your the glories of your name and your works would be sung by the lips of your people we do pray that in many churches Lord all of your churches that your gathered Saints would sing your praises would rejoice in Christ and the Lord God we would pray that you would remove the lampstand from any churches so called that would seek to propagate a gospel that is no gospel at all we do pray that you would purify your churches around the world and that you would strengthen those that are yours we pray that you would correct those that are not far gone and lift though all of your churches up to a place where they are proclaiming the full and saving Christ and the glorious and Full Gospel of Amazing Grace we do pray Lord God that you would be with those who are in our midst weather here this morning or unable to join us that do suffer physically we would ask again as we pray for them this morning that you would strengthen each and every one in body that you would heal them that you would knit together the various wounds of the physical man and just caused them to know gains and strengthen we do know Lord God though that you come swiftly to those who are yours even in the midst of physical trial that they might know the joy of their Heavenly Father the joy of their triune God we do pray that in the midst of suffering they would know the joy of the Lord Jesus Christ we do pray Lord and we are we rejoice that you have brought many back were traveling we thank you for watching over each and every one and helping them to have a enjoyable time of recreation and rest and we thank you for bringing them home safely and we do pray Lord God that you would continue to watch over those who are traveling and continue to watch over those unable to join us that you might strengthen them that you might guard them and that you might return them back to us with great joy we do pray Lord for those around the world who suffer for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who are in those nations that we read much of that where there is much persecution hatred anger against the people of Christ we would ask that you would help them and comfort them and just bring them daily fresh acknowledgments of the Grace and the strength of the triune God affords is suffering people we would ask that you would just bless them and we would pray again that you would deal with those who persecute them that you would bring to them by spirit and word salvation that many would be saved by the gospel of redeeming Grace and by the spirit of our Lord we do pray Lord God that the many who formerly opposed and blaspheme would by your grace be brought to that point where they rejoice in our Christ and we would ask God that those who remain in opposition would be taken out of the way that you would bring Swift and temporal justice from on high against those who would seek to bring violence against the people of Christ we would pray that you would bring an end to all false religion we pray that you would put down those things that are an abomination before you in this lower world we do pray that many would be turned from their idols to the living and true God and that by your grace Lord God you would vindicate your name in all the earth by the propagation of the gospel by the preaching of our blessed Jesus and that many even this day would be brought to a knowledge of our blessed Savior we do pray for those who rule over us that you would cause them to do so in proper justice and we pray that you would take the reins of the nation's away from those who would seek to propagate wickedness in the land who would call evil good and good evil we do pray that you would raise up those who would exercise proper righteousness within the ranks of the government we do pray that you would keep us appraised people as well for all of these things we pray that you would impress upon our hearts daily the need to bring these issues these supplications these prayers and requests before you and that we would mingle them with Thanksgiving knowing that the peace of God which surpasses all understanding comes from you through Jesus Christ our Lord we do pray then now for the preaching of the word is that a central and improper aspect of worship we look forward to now we look forward to the the preaching of the word and we do pray that you would be with the preacher pastor Butler give him strength give him all that he needs to come up here to open his Bible and to proclaim the rich things of your revelation to men we do pray that it would be unto the strengthening and the edification the encouragement of your Saints here this morning and Lord God we would pray that by your spirit by Amazing Grace and the proclamation of the word those who enter these doors outside of Christ this morning would leave singing the praises of our Redeemer and it's in his name we pray in the name of our precious Savior the Lord Jesus Christ amen excuse me if you'll stand with me we're going to sing another hymn hymn number 415 let's stand and sing for 15 together in turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 12 for our new testament scripture reading Matthew 12 will read from verse 12 verse 21 of Matthew chapter 12 once again the Word of God at that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath and his disciples were hungry and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat and when the Pharisees saw it they said to him look your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath but he said to them have you not read what David did when he was hungry he and those who were with him how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him but only for the priests or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are blameless yet I say to you that in this place there is one greater than the temple but if you had known what this means I desire mercy and not sacrifice you would not have condemned the guiltless for the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath now when he had departed from there he went into their synagogue and behold there was a man who had a withered hand and they asked him saying is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath that they might accuse him then he said to them what man is there among you who has one sheet and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath will not lay hold of it and lift it out of how much more value then is a man than a sheep therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath then he said to the man stretch out your hand and he stretched it out and it was restored as whole as the other then the Pharisees went out and plotted against him how they might destroy him but when jesus knew it he withdrew from there and great multitudes followed him and He healed them all yet he warned them not to make him known that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the saying behold my servant whom I have chosen my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased I will put my spirit upon him and he will declare justice to the Gentiles he will not quarrel nor cry out nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets a bruised Reed he will not break and smoking flax he will not quench till he sends forth justice to victory and in his name Gentiles will trust amen let us go to the Lord in prayer let us pray Heavenly Father we rejoice in this now the reading of your Holy Scriptures we thank you for what your word discloses to us concerning the mercy and the grace and the kindness of the Lord Jesus Christ in the in the face of religious perversion and we thank you that he did uphold the Sabbath and yet he did not uphold those ferus ferus a achill twistings of the scriptures we thank you that he upheld the the the principle of the Sabbath yet wrapped in the Mercian in the grace that the Lord our God has given it to us in and we rejoice in our Savior and we rejoice in these closing words that the light of the gospel has gone out to the Gentiles we thank you that we are the the Blessed beneficiaries of the preaching of the gospel that we have by this ongoing principle of the proclamation the gospel of Jesus Christ that we have been those who have been gifted by your grace and for your glory with the knowledge of our Christ and a knowledge of the blessèd Gospel we do pray that you would continue with us now helping us to rejoice in you helping us to rejoice in Christ and in the gospel of sovereign grace we pray in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus amen well I last him then if you'll stand with me is this time in the Red salter will stand in sing psalms 67 you well please turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 23 matthew 23 I'll pick up reading at verse 13 but woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men for you neither going yourselves nor do you allow those who are entering to go in woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you devour widows houses and for pretence make long prayers therefore you will receive greater condemnation woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you travel land and sea to win one proselyte and when he is one you make him twice as much a son of Hell as yourselves 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 fools and blind for which is greater the gold or the temple that sanctifies the goal and whoever swears by the altar it is nothing whoever swears by the gift that is on it he is obliged to perform it fools and blind for which is greater the gift of the altar that sanctifies the gift therefore he who swears by the altar swears by it and by all things on it he who swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it and he who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits on it woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin 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 blind guides who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish but inside they're full of extortion and self-indulgence blind Pharisee first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish that the outside of them may be clean also woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you're like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men but inside you're full of hypocrisy and lawlessness woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous 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 therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets fill up then the measure of your father's guilt serpents brood of vipers how can you escape the condemnation of hell therefore indeed i send you prophets wise men inscribes some of them you will kill and crucify and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city 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 barack aya whom you murdered between the temple in the altar assuredly I say to you all these things will come upon this generation o Jerusalem Jerusalem the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her how often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings but you were not willing see your house is left to you desolate right say to you you shall see me no more till you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord amen well let us pray father in heaven we thank you for this lord's day we thank you for the privilege to gather in your house and we would pray now that you would send forth your holy spirit as we look to Scripture we pray that he would lead us and help us to understand this passage and help us as well to apply it for certainly this is a picture of the scribes and Pharisees in the first century but it's also a warning to the church in the 21st century may you keep us from hypocrisy and keep us from the things that are indicated in this chapter and may you by your spirit take that word and put it into our hearts and in our minds and and restrain us day by day and grant us the grace to bring glory and honor to you we ask that you would forgive us now for all sin and transgression how we thank you that if we confess our sins you are faithful and just to forgive us and declension all unrighteousness so we pray that even now asking that you would pour out the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ upon us cleanse us and wash us and purify us and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord amen we have spent some time considering Jesus condemnation of the religious leaders here in chapter 23 as I have suggested several times along the way how we understand beginning in chapters 21 to 23 what we understand concerning what's going on there it will help us to understand the Olivet discourse in Matthew 24 well this morning will take up that last whoa the eighth whoa Matthew 23 verses 29 to 33 just a reminder of the preceding in verse 13 whoa number one they close the doors of the kingdom number two they exploit widows and engage in pretentious prayers verse 14 number three they are missionaries for Hell itself verse 15 whoa for they pervert ODEs and verses 16 to 22 whoa number five they neglect weighty matters verses 23 and 24 whoa six they emphasize externals 25 and verses 25 and 26 and whoa seven they embody hypocrisy and lawlessness and we'll see in this last whoa the same sort of thing is evident and is obvious what they profess on the outside is betrayed by their conduct on the inside the precise definition of hypocrisy is once again seen in whoa number eight so Jesus starts off in verses 1 to 12 by warning the the disciples and the multitudes and then he turns his attention directly to these religious leaders in the first century in at verses 13 2 33 so let's look at verses 29 to 33 under three considerations first their professed allegiance to the prophets verse 29 secondly there protested association with their murderous fathers in verse 30 and then thirdly the prophetic assertion of their hypocrisy in verses 31 to 33 but note in the first place their professed allegiance to the prophets that's the thrust of verses verse 29 woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous this reflects something that goes all the way back to the book of Genesis setting up a monument where somebody died and in this particular instance building the tombs of the prophets probably they didn't engage in this themselves but they authorized it they sanctioned it they enjoyed it and as well adorning or decorating the tombs you can read Gil's commentary for several examples of this particular practice you see it as I said in the book of Genesis Peter on the day of Pentecost in acts 2 speaks of David's to being with us to this day so it was a common practice to do this to build tombs for profits to adorn the monuments of the righteous and by doing so what was communicated the scribes and the Pharisees by this activity said that they held allegiance to the prophetic doctrine said that they were in line with those prophets who had come before that by doing this outward task or outward activity they tried to communicate something that was simply untrue as Jesus points out in this particular sachet the scribes and Pharisees outward displayed their commitment to these prophets and righteous men in the Old Covenant and yet by their inward activity by the fact that they themselves want to kill the Lord Jesus Christ it is inconsistent it is hypocrisy a couple of men observed with reference to their practice Calvin says it is customary indeed with hypocrites thus to honor after their death good teachers and holy ministers of God whom they cannot door while they are alive it's easy to say well we just hold allegiance to those fathers to those profits to those righteous men before us but when they are gone and they no longer condemn us Calvin goes on to say it is a hypocrisy which costs little to profess warm regard for those who are now silent JC ryle says their own conduct was a daily evidence that they liked dead Saints better than living once the very man that pretended to honor dead prophets could see no beauty in a living Christ this is the point this is where Jesus is going this is why he condemns that on the outward or on the one hand outwardly they show this allegiance to the prophets into the righteous but on the N word or in their hearts they have purposed plotted and planned to murder the prophet Christ who is scanning right before their eyes pastor Porter just read Matthew 12 one of the aspects of the Sabbath wars that went on between Christ and the Pharisees they plotted how they might kill him we see this over and over again in this section of Matthew's Gospel and Matthew expects us to understand that to see what Jesus is condemning he's not saying it's wrong to honor the memories of those who have gone before us he's not saying it's wicked to have a tomb 14 David he's not saying it's wicked to forget about all those who are in our past what are you saying is that it's wicked to on the one hand say we esteem them but on the other hand to the other hand to live absolutely contrary to the way those men themselves live when you contradict the prophets and the righteous don't pay lip service by building them tombs or adorning their monuments that's the thrust notice secondly they're protested association with their murderous fathers Jesus says to them because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous and say if we had if we had lived in the days of our fathers we not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets pretty easy for us to say what we wouldn't have got isn't it oh well if I live back that I would have never done that do you really believe that do you know your heart have you exhausted all of the recesses of the darkness of your heart can you say with Judgment Day honesty if I live back then I would not have done such and such I mean imagine it now people say if I would have lived in the first century when everybody was against Jesus and everybody spit on Jesus and they were slapping Jesus and they mocked Jesus and they said away with him away with him crucify him I would have never participated in that and yet how much of that is duplicated in our varied a person's read the gospel narratives and they see the mistreatment of our Lord Jesus and then they delude themselves by saying I would have never done that had I lived in that particular time yes you would have apart from the grace of God you are on done apart from the grace of God you would be in dire straits apart from the grace of God you would have picked up every stone that was launched against a prophet and you would have joined in them likewise apart from the grace of God you would have been with that angry mob saying away with them away with them crucify him you need to be very careful before you assert what it is you wouldn't have done and in this instance these men professed or protested association with their murderous fathers go back to Ezra for a moment Ezra chapter 9 a few passages we ought to consider and compared to see the difference between men like Ezra and Daniel versus the scribes and Pharisees of of Jesus day in ezra 9 the specific context is ezra is praying to god they have intermarried with pagans and that is wrong and so Ezra on behalf of Israel on behalf of the post-exilic community comes to God in prayer and know what Ezra says in verse 7 verse 6 beginning he said and I said oh my god I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to you my god for our iniquities have risen high than our heads and our guilt has grown up to the heavens since the days of our fathers to this day we have been very guilty and for our iniquities we our kings and our priests have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands to the sword to captivity to plunder and to humiliation as it is this day you see a fundamental difference between Ezra and the scribes and the Pharisees Ezra identifies himself along with those who have opposed the prophets of God not the scribes and the Pharisees they think by virtue of these monuments and tombs they are golden they think by virtue of this outward activity that it means or legitimizes their inward hearts of waywardness you can turn to the prophet Daniel Daniel specifically chapter 9 we oftentimes focus on Daniel or the 70 weeks at the end of Daniel 9 and there's no reason why we shouldn't focus on that because it's all about Christ but preceding that 70 weeks prophecy there is prayer offered up by Daniel and notice specifically in Daniel 9 at verse 4 and I prayed to Yahweh my god and made confession and said o Yahweh great and awesome God who keeps his covenant and mercy with those who love Him and with those who keep his Commandments now notice we have sinned and committed iniquity we have done wickedly and rebelled even by departing from your precepts and your judgments neither have we heated your servants the prophets who spoke in your name to our kings and our princes to our fathers into all the people of the land so you see a fundamental difference between the scribes and the Pharisees of Jesus day versus the godly or dare I say the righteous that they themselves built monument to they themselves adorned those monuments so they assert that they would not have participated in the murder of the prophets again be very cautious as to what you assert concerning your past fidelity I would have never done that be careful a lot of arrogance in our hearts and a lot of things that we think we know and a lot of things that we would simply never see our selves doing well praise God His infinite mercy has put the hand of grace in our or put the grace of God in our hearts and he has restrained us prior to our conversion even from doing all manner of wickedness as well the evidence of their assertion was the respect they paid to the memory of the prophets and the righteous through these tombs and monuments see the same emphasis is throughout they clean the outside of the cup at the inside is filthy they whitewash the tombs but the inside is filled with dead men's bones they tie the mint and the anise in the comment but they neglect the way to your matters of the law justice and mercy and faith you see the recurring emphasis you see what hypocrisy is it is to say on the outside or to manifest on the outside something that is just not true you know you hear this at times people say what all the church is full of hypocrites ask people what they mean by that if they mean by that sin well yeah you're absolutely right the church is filled with sinners but he's not a hypocrite who goes to the Lord God most high confessing his sins and asking for forgiveness that's simply not hypocrisy that is what Christianity is all about my little children I write these things so that you may not sin but if anyone does sin we have an advocate with the father even Jesus Christ the righteous so that if you sin and you confess your sin that's not a POC receipt that's the life of faith hypocrisy is looking on the outside something different on the inside and that is what typifies these religious leaders in that day and it's probably what typifies a lot of professing Christians in our day because quite frankly if everybody who name the name of Christ was actually converted and actually saved and actually walking in the fear of God probably things would look a whole lot different than they do today euthanasia sodomy abortion all those particulars that are just you know freely legislated are we as God's people crying out over the abominations in the land are we as God's be people being faithful as in vidual citizens are we as God's people doing those things that are consistent with our testimony of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ or oftentimes does the church mimic what the world does and her homosexuality rates and her divorce rates and her a murder rate sometimes there is consistently high as the world's and that ought not to be you see hypocrisy wasn't a first century sin hypocrisy is in every century sin and we need to take heed on the one hand professing allegiance to the memory of the prophets and on the other hand wanting to murder the Lord Jesus the great prophet is standing in their midst the betrayal of their assertion is seen in many passages that we have before consider the fact that they claim the murderers of the prophets they themselves make this admission notice in verse 30 if we had lived in the days of our fathers Jesus will pick up on that we'll look at that in just a moment but the fact that they claim the murderers murderers of the prophets as our fathers and the fact that their desire is to murder Jesus Christ here is what Spurgeon says what bitter irony there was in such language from the lips of men who were even then plotting the death of the Lord of the prophets and of the righteous of all ages you see can this this brethren it's so ironic it's just so fundamentally in congruous we would never have done that to Isaiah we would never have done that to Jeremiah we would never have done that to to any of the godly in the righteous but in your hearts presently you have not only plotted but are presently plotting and will carry out the plan to deliver up the greatest prophet of all times to the to the shame and torture of a Roman cross this is just terrible Jesus brings it to bear upon their hearts knocks chamblin makes this observation to be sure they outwardly honor the Old Testament prophets yet they fiercely oppose the greatest prophet the one their scriptures foretold and thus they show that they have neither understood nor obeyed the prophets they venerate it's an amazing thing isn't it the prophets who testified concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ on the one hand they affirmed but on the other hand they want to murder the very one that Isaiah told was coming you see where Jesus is going with us no notice in the third place the prophetic assertion of their hypocrisy verses 31 to 33 he's given him the whoa verses 2930 and now he's going to bring it to bear upon their hearts the first place notice they witness against themselves therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets by their own admission they called them our fathers Jesus picks up on that it's a Semitic amid iam for partaking of the same nature it's used in 2315 you make them twice the sons of hell that you are Jesus capitalizes on this to show them their connection to the devil to their murderous fathers themselves John 844 he says you are of your father the devil and the deeds of the thought of your father you want to do he was a murderer from the beginning and a liar he speaks there's no truth in him those deeds you want to do notice specifically you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets by your testimony by your actions no matter what you conclude or what you say outside you may visit tombs you may adorn the monument you may pay great respect at the cemetery but your actions speak differently how can jesus say bye or you are witnesses against yourselves that your sons of the prophets while they rejected John the Baptist didn't they it's an amazing thing when we compare what Jesus is doing here with what John does in Matthew chapter 3 they use the same language in their condemnation of these religious leaders they rejected John the Baptist he came preaching he was the forerunner he was Isaiah 40 he was the man that would announce the coming of the king and call the nation back to repentance did they receive him did they did they act upon what he said now they thought he was a nut they thought he was a madman the common idea among the Israelites of that day John came didn't eating or drinking and you think he has a he has a demon the Son of Man comes eating and drinking you call him a wine-bibber a glutton can never make some people happy that's what Jesus said he'll die trying trying to make everybody happy can't do it because if you don't eat they're going to say you have a demon if you do eat they're gonna say our wine-bibber a glutton you really can't win with the people that are absolutely wicked in their hearts they as well reject the Lord Jesus Christ therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets by their rejection of price by the fact that we are in this context that began in Matthew chapter 21 on the Tuesday of the Passion Week when Jesus comes to the temple they hit him with a question of authority by what authority do you do this Jesus hits him back to shut him up and then he tells three parables about them specifically coming under the judgment of God and then comes for direct confrontations they send persons to ask him questions to try and put him on the horns of a dilemma and in each instance he successfully answers and then he brings the last one to bear upon them whose son is Messiah we don't know that's exactly right you don't know because you've rejected the one who came into this world sinners to save see they rejected Christ they had become witnesses against themselves that they were in solidarity with those who murdered the prophets you see if Isaiah Ezekiel Jeremiah and Daniel and Hosea and Joe and Amos and all those those godly prophets of old and all those righteous men of old all testified of Christ and these men opposed Christ then there's no possible way they're aligned with those men of old it simply is not the case there are several instances in Matthew's Gospel as I've already raised that we see Jesus understood what they were going to do to him just a couple of the more famous or the more well-known ones notice in 1621 from that time Jesus began to show to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and raised the third day again 17 20 22 22 and 23 now though while they were staying in Galilee jesus said to them the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men and they will kill him in the third day he will be raised up and they were exceedingly sorrowful notice as well in chapter 28 verses 17 and 18 now Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them behold we are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests into the scribes and they will condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and discourage and to crucify and the third day He will rise again so we go back to chapter 30 reason I read these particular passages and we can multiply them is because I can hear objections when we read a passage like 2331 in our own society people would say Jesus that's not fair you just don't know that you can't judge somebody's heart well first of all these Jesus and you most certainly can judge somebody's heart be judges them by their actions they want to kill him he knows this Matthew expects you to remember this so that when we come to the woes it all makes sense you're not scratching your head saying where did this come from well you're not like those other persons who have said Matthew 23 sounds like the most unchristian chapter in the entire Bible because Jesus is speaking so harshly toward that do you know that everything stated in Matthew 23 can be found elsewhere in Matthew you know that everything stated by Jesus in Matthew 23 was testified by Yahweh of Israel to Old Covenant Israel Jesus is not doing anything new Jesus is suing the persons with a covenant lawsuit setting the stage in the ground for chapter 24 when he prophesies of Jerusalem's destruction of the temples destruction were not to be left wondering is he talking about our future no he's talking about this godless generation that rejected the Lord of glory that you always sent to them they read the curses covenant visa V Deuteronomy 28 I submit that if you get 21 to 23 24 is simple to understand and to apply that's not to say there isn't judgment in the future for sinners today that doesn't mean there's no judgment for those who profess to be Christians and are not but we need to take the context and it speaks very loudly in fact 2336 Jesus gives us a marker how we're supposed to understand the Olivet discourse this will come upon this generation not our generation why don't we read Matthew 24 and say well this must speak of our time why why would we ever do that in light of chapters 21 to 23 where Christ is essentially led us by the hand and Matthew has led us by the hand and he has showed us what is going on the significance of Matthew 24 is the coven ental transformation from Old Covenant Israel to the church this is what John highlights in the book of Revelation he expounds it in detail commentators have long said Matthew 24 is the little apocalypse exactly John speaking about the self same thing in the big apocalypse it is the fall of Old Covenant Israel because of the rebellion against your way that culminated in the rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ again not to suggest that if these sins are duplicated now that will somehow escape judgment but the target in Matthew 24 is Jerusalem and the Temple not a future Jerusalem not a rebuilt temple but the very self same one that the disciples looked at and said isn't this beautiful and Jesus says I tell you not one stone will be left brethren we need to think biblically when we come to prophetic passages so we don't end up whacked out so many weird things come out of Matthew 24 that never were intended by the Spirit of God and if we would take and pay attention to the context it's a beautiful thing to help us in our study now let's get back to that eighth row guess I had to get that one off my chest there just to get us thinking properly but in this context notice secondly the measure of their fathers sins were filled up notice eight whoa and then he starts to speak judgment upon them or or bring the assertion of their hypocrisy and their guiltiness the first place verse 31 their witnesses against themselves notice secondly fill up then the measure of your father's guilt that's a command Jesus is telling them to do something and you might think that's odd because if you understand what he's saying go ahead murder me and murder the godly man i said it's essentially what he's saying fill up then the measure of your father sins the measure of your father's guilt go do what you're going to do Jesus will say this to Judas in John 13 what you do do quickly this is what's called an ironic command you find them in the prophets when they command Israel to do something sinful we're not to suppose that God really wants them to do something sinful it's rhetoric designed to highlight their guilt and depress them with the reality of it that's the viewer that's the thing fill up then the measure of your father's guilt of the father's sins this indicates a few things that we ought to pay close attention to in the first place he's speaking still of their father's guilt now he's already said that they are aligned with those murderous fathers everybody following the argument verse 31 you testify against your cells that your sons of those who murdered the prophets you're connected to that now let's just consider what it is they've done and then compare it with what the scribes and the Pharisees are going to do when we consider the the measure of the father's guilt to the father's sin in the Old Testament there are many many passages we can go to one thinks of the murder the prophets by Jezebel that wicked wicked wife of a hub one thinks of Ahab's treatment of my K of the Prophet the one prophet who told the King the truth and what does he get as a result he gets a slap in the face and he gets sent to prison to eat bread the one guy that actually had the guts to tell they have what was up he gets a slap in the face see this isn't new in Israel they've treated the prophets and the righteous this way for many many many years we could see the testimony of Elijah after that victory on Mount Carmel what does he do he laments over the reality that Israel has killed the prophets we could focus on the various specifics throughout Old Covenant history but there's a couple that I think we ought to notice and especially ought to notice where they are contextually the first place second Kings chapter 17 we're looking at the measure of the father's guilt we're looking at the measure of the father's sins we're understanding Jesus essentially saying you've already witnessed by your activity that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets fill up then the measure of your father's guilt in other words what you have purposed in your heart go ahead carry it out again he doesn't mean this in the sense that you know I want you to go out and do bad things it's ironic the prophet Isaiah uses this the Prophet Amos specifically in chapter 4 it's something that is a rhetorical convention that is used to press the guilt upon the person and hopefully shock them into realization that what they are doing is absolute folly but notice in second Kings 17 beginning in verse 13 yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah by all of his profits every seer saying turn from your evil ways and keep my Commandments in my statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets EJ Young's book on the biblical prophets is that title my servant the pro servants the prophets God calls them his servants because they declare his word notice nevertheless they would not hear but stiff stiffen their necks like the necks of their fathers who did not believe in the lord their god and they rejected his statutes and his covenant that he had made with their fathers and his testimonies which he had testified against them they followed idols became idolaters and went after the nations who were all around them concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should do should not do like that now where is this located in biblical history 2nd Samuel a second King 17 this is the full of the northern tribes this is the fall of the Northern Kingdom this is when God had that measure of guilt filled up and he sends a Syria in to destroy the northern tribes of Israel notice in second chronicles chapter 36 just seeing a pattern here similar to what Jesus is saying and I think it takes on a great deal of significance when we get to verse 34 and Jesus says I send you scribes I send you wise men this is exactly what yahweh is saying to the nation of israel prior to the announcement of their fall Jesus will do this thing in that that period between his resurrection or sentient and the time that Jerusalem falls he sends prophets he sends wise men he sends apostles and what do they do they kill him they reject them they despise them notice second chronicles 36 at verse 14 moreover all the leaders of the priests and the people transgressed more and more according to all the abominations of the nations and defiled the house of the Lord which he had consecrated in Jerusalem and the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by his messengers rising up early and sending them because he had compassion on as people and on his dwelling place but they mocked the messengers of God despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people till there was no remedy interesting context here it's the announcement of the fall of the southern kingdom 722 God uses the Assyrians to shut down the northern tribes you think Judah would learn but no they did it so Judah continues to sin against God and God in 586 587 sends Nebuchadnezzar whom God through the Prophet Jeremiah calls my servant to shut down the southern tribes what's one of the indicators of their sins what is one of the things that they had engaged in they rejected the prophets see to reject the prophets is to reject God to reject the Word of God is to reject the god of the word and so this announcement concerning the fall of the northern tribes this announcement concerning the fall of the southern tribes Jesus is doing the same thing with the first century representatives of the nation that had apostatized against God and would be shut down once and for all again the Prophet Jeremiah same sort of thing in 25 for in 26 5 in 35 15 same thing they had rejected the prophets they rebelled against the prophets and specifically Jeremiah is prophesying right before the fall of the southern kingdom see when we get to Matthew 23 don't go wow this is brand-new not if you've read your Bible you're going to say when Jesus enters into Jerusalem at the triumphal entry and persons are mesmerised by his appearance and they ask who is this and the men of Galilee say this is Jesus the Prophet if you've read your Bible if you've read the Old Testament you're not going to be shocked at the language that's used you're not going to be shocked at the nature of the condemnation you're not going to be shocked at the pronouncement of judgment because the same things already occurred in the eighth century BC and in the sixth century BC this was the culmination this would end it this would cause the nation of Israel to enter into the ranks of every other nation we ought not to be anti-semitic we ought not to hate the Jews or anything like that because God brought judgment to bear upon them once for all and now the New Covenant expression of God's kingdom on earth is the church and it's made up of Jews and Gentiles so there ought not to be any wickedness in our hearts um take Matthew 24 oh this is a future tribulation of the Jews no it isn't God's already brought that judgment to bear upon them we ought not to expect it talk about anti-semitism thinking that there's some how some massive you know extermination of Jewish people coming in the future they say that we hold an anti-semitic view that is just as anti-semitic as one could get that if you think in the future of the Jews that somehow slaughter is in their in their future I don't know how that sounds nice or good Matthew 24 isn't about our future it was about the disciples future under the judgment of Christ via the Roman armies now notice the command here fill up then the measure of your father's guilt functions in the context of an Oracle judgment to show their solidarity with their murderous fathers and to announce that when judgment comes it will be well deserved they have just filled up the measure of their father's guilt now they didn't listen to this because they do crucify the Lord of glory they didn't listen to this because in the New Testament or in the in the book of Acts rather when we see the early church starting off who's the first great Amy of the early church it's not wrong it's not the Empire they would increasingly become more hostile toward Christian presence in the Roman Empire but initially i think they thought they were a subset of judaism they just didn't pay much attention to that the first main persecution of the church was through unbelieving Israel and again it's not anti-semitic it's what the text of scripture says Falls testifying before the Sanhedrin Paul says to the to the high priest remember they slap him on the face and Paul said I'm know you were the high priest he's gonna apologize he's not saying well if I would have known you were the high priest and then I wouldn't have I wouldn't have said that you're a whitewash too he's not bad with his vision some say well Paul had malaria as eyes were bad he couldn't really tell it no he said I didn't know you were the high priest because you're not acting like the high priest it was they who persecuted the church again it's not anti-semitism to report the facts of history there ought to be no ill will in our hearts toward men of any ethnic persuasion Israel at the destruction of Jerusalem entered the ranks of every other nation God's heart is with his church in this new covenant era no notice thirdly and finally with reference to this indictment therefore you are witnesses against yourselves secondly fill up then the measure of your guilt of your father's guilt now notice thirdly serpents brood of vipers how can you escape the condemnation of hell the question concerning their condemnation this is where Jesus would be asked to leave the University well he had been left you asked to leave the university long before that hypocrite you you can't call anybody a hypocrite except if they're Christian you can call us hypocrites you know from morning till night go ahead but if we dare utter hypocrisy concerning someone else how dare you hate crime vicious bad horrible Jesus would have been capped off kicked off of any university campus in this continent and if he hadn't even gotten by with hypocrites you gotten by with blind guides probably verse 33 would have done it serpents brood of vipers what serpent suggest if you say snake you're right if you say Genesis 3 15 your writer what did the devil use to tempt Eve it was the serpent revelation 12 identifies the devil with the serpent the promise of Genesis 3 15 is that in this school crushing activity of the woman's seed he will sustain a bruise to his heel these men would be the means by which the serpent would bring that bruising to the heel of the Son of God it's not an illegitimate it's not an inconsistent or it's not an unwise or unkind epithet it is absolutely accurate serpents and interest interestingly enough it's the same thing John the Baptist says to them when he's preaching in the wilderness of Judea in Matthew chapter three notice how shall you escape for how can you escape the condemnation of hell John asked the same thing in fact look there you got to see this solidarity between the two prophets Matthew chapter 3 specifically verse 7 when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism he said to them brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the wrath to come therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance and do not think to say to yourselves we have Abraham as our Father for I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones and even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire I indeed baptize you with water under unto repentance but he was coming after me is mightier than I whose sandals I am not worthy to carry he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire his winnowing fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire so you see the same thing at the beginning of Jesus earthly ministry visa via the Ministry of John the Baptist and at the end of that ministry what do they do they still reject they still despise they still for say but we have these tombs of the prophets and we have these monuments to the righteous and this should evidence that that we're good guys no or not when you reject the baptist and i don't mean Baptists though you shouldn't do that either but when you reject the baptist and you reject messiah you rightly call down this curse upon your head brood of vipers what else does this suggest brood of vipers what does a viper do what does a serpent do it hurts other people Jesus has already showed us their contaminating abilities with the whitewashed tomb you like whitewashed tombs that men don't see so they walk on it and then they are ceremonially unclean they've affected others that's why at the end of verse 36 it's this generation not just these religious teachers but this generation in Israel followed these religious teachers and as a result what Jesus says in Matthew 15 happened if a blind man follows a blind man what happens they both fall in to the pit if you learn anything at least by way of a sideline note from this passage of Scripture find someone who preaches the truth don't put up with garbage don't put up with era see don't put up with the sorts of pablum that is peddled out there in the name of Jesus about feeling well they're being good or this that's all hogwash you need to look the reality that God is a holy God Christ is the only way of salvation that unless we believe in him we will perish in our sins for eternity you need that kind of religious teaching but notice Jesus like John says the same thing but Jesus unlike John specifies the nature of the condemnation John says wrath to come Jesus says Gehenna Jesus defines for us what that wrath looks like our t France makes this observation the continuity between the missions of John and of Jesus and the consequent link between their deaths as martyrs is underlined not only by Jesus use of John's uncomplimentary epithet brood of vipers but also by a very similar rhetorical question to John's escaping the coming judgment this time however the threat is more explicit the addition of health both makes clear the ultimate nature of the judgment and indicates that as far as they are concerned the verdict is already clear you know at least one of the commentators that I have on my shelf made the observation or he made the supposition or perhaps just asked could it be here that Jesus was even proffering or offering mercy it wouldn't be out of the context because remember back in the previous whoa when Jesus tells them specifically first cleanse the in side of the cup yes that's in terms of the strategy for cup cleaning but there's a merciful element in it he's telling these apostates first cleanse the cop with the hope or intention that perhaps they'll say how and he can say there is a fountain open for sin and uncleanness well as I said at least one commentator asks the question here how can you escape the condemnation of hell perhaps Jesus was seeking to provoke them to say how explain tell us I tend to agree with France that their condemnation is sure by this point but we ought not to pass 33 without asking that ourselves you may be a hypocrite this morning you may have professed faith in Jesus Christ you may have sad well unlike my father he would never kill a righteous man or a prophet and I'm like that and yet in your heart of hearts there is rejection there is rebellion there is ungodliness I submit that we all ought to ponder verse 33 just for a moment before we conclude how can you escape the condemnation of hell because it does you no good to sit here in the 21st century and a nice cushy place like all those terrible scribes and Pharisees those terrible men how could they ever do such unkind untoward things to Jesus and yet continue in your sin impenitent continue in your unbelief without giving it any thought or concern whatsoever so I ask you with Christ how can you escape the judgment of hell how do you think is it through your works I know what I'll do I'll go home and I'll get rid of this and I'll get rid of that and I'll start going here and I'll start doing that that's not going to get you free from the condemnation of how you say well I'll start going to church not just once but twice on a Sunday I'll be like those really weird ones that go to free grace and they go both morning and evening and that'll fix me that'll help me no it won't listen to Christ question and ponder it don't think what's dealing about think about the question for you how can you escape the condemnation of hell you got to understand there is a condemnation of hell because God is a holy God he made man upright in order to worship him in order to serve him in order to glorify Him but got a man sought out many devices and those devices are multifaceted but all consistent in one thing rebellion against God it's indicative of all our hearts it's all of us before faith in Christ it's every single one of us raising our fists and rebellion some through pornography some through drugs some through alcohol addiction some through you know self-righteousness well I'm not like other men it's all opposition to the living and true God it's all rebellion if we could actually see the hearts of the sons of men we'd see a lot of this we'd see a lot of this wouldn't we we'd see what pastor Porter read in Psalm 2 why did the nation's rage and the people's plot of anything against who against John Wayne is Christ why why would men possibly do that because Yahweh and his Christ only give us for our good it is an evidence of the waywardness and the hard heartedness of man that we would stand rebelled to someone who has in his mind for us good things you've all seen that with your kids right you've told your kids fathers fathers day here's your your your father's day sirna you've done this with your kids you've told them something that's for their good and they go out and do just the opposite isn't it amazing that they would do that don't you want to just in a kindly and graciously way yell at them why would you do that this is what David's asking and song too it's a question Why Why to the nation's rage why do the people's plot of anything why do they take their stand and their counsel together against Joe and against his Christ why would anybody it is in his or her right mind do such a thing well we're not in our right minds in Adam we died in Adam we are opposed to God in Adam our hearts are dark in Adam we love those things which are unlovely in Adam we gravitate towards that which is wicked so I ask you don't think about some wicked person you know out there think about you and ask to ask yourself the question how can you escape the condemnation of hell it's pretty heavy isn't it it's pretty weighty concept when we're talking about heaven and hell you all know what the answer is I don't think I've anybody's here that I've never seen before and I'm sure I've told you the answer before you need to hear the answer you need to listen see there's no proof that you're going to walk out of here today and live another 20 30 40 50 years Paul in his preaching said now is the acceptable time today is the day of salvation why will he die turn ye God through Ezekiel says and live what's prophet Isaiah say why do you spend your wages on that which does not satisfy why are you going to leave this place today after hearing the remedy for your sin why would you continue to spend your money on that which does not satisfy why will you go back to the filth why will you go back to the hog pen why will you go back to the sin and the depravity why again that's God through the prophet Isaiah taking people by the scruff of the neck saying why would you do such a thing God says let your soul delight in me those who have no money come by indeed those who have nothing come drink water wine milk everything that that apart sinner needs we need water for refreshment we need wine for exhilaration we don't all need wine that's just the thrust of the Prophet there and we need milk for nourishment that's Isaiah's version of Ephesians 13 blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ milk wine water come you who have no money come by and eat the answer is to look under Jesus Christ to believe on the one that these men are rejecting the one that these men are resisting the one that these men are going to deliver up to be crucified but paradoxically not paradoxically pre determinedly this was the means by which God could offer salvation to us today it's through the death of his son it's through his life of obedience it's through his death at Calvary and it's through his resurrection from the dead the Bible is crystal clear I hope no one ever leaves from this church and I just don't understand what the gospel is the gospel simple God is holy you're not Jesus lived died and rose again that's the gospel that's the good news the response is believe look on to Christ stop looking at your own resources stop looking at your own moral information stop trying harder and look unto Jesus and live that's the message that's the answer had one of those scribes or one of those Pharisees said something to the effect i am tortured in my conscience i've heard these eight was and i want to know how shall I escape the condemnation of hell Jesus would have said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved it's beautiful father is the best gift you can give to your children's teach them this gospel tirelessly always present to them Christ this church ought to be about Christ Christians ought to be about Christ we're not Christians because we're better than the next door neighbor were Christians because Christ died and rose again we're not Christians because we go to church we go to church because Christ died and rose again we don't wear what I Christians because we read our Bibles and pray we read our Bibles and pray because Christ died and rose again we're not Christians because we have a heart for God because we didn't we're Christians because Christ died and rose again and through the power of the holy spirit that comes upon us during the preaching of the reading of God's Word we by grace believed so if you're not a Christian here today don't look at other Christians or people that aren't Christians say wow they must have done really well no we didn't do really well in fact we did very miserably horribly if you must know if you got you know 25 hours I can start to scratch the surface of year 1 so that's hyperbolic no not according to Salter the wicked go strange from the womb speaking lies as soon as they are born our hearts are in Adam your heart is in Adam you need to be in Christ and the only means by which is faith in Jesus believe in Jesus and that is how you shall escape the condemnation of Hell will let us pray our Father in Heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for the clarity of our Lord Jesus Christ and these things that are not hard to understand but hard to receive especially if we are hypocrites lord do forgive us for our sins and our unrighteousness and our inconsistency and forgive us for that remaining hypocrisy where we're not always consistent with our profession of faith in the son of God I pray as well that you'd open eyes and open hearts and open ears to the truth of the gospel here and that you would save to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord and it's in his Most Blessed name that we pray amen we'll take your Trinity hymnal and turn to the doxology and be found on Roman numeral 16 and we'll close by singing the doxology of praise to our God you you