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Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 21. Proverbs chapter 21. I'll read verse 3 and then pray, 
and then we'll look at this passage of Scripture. Proverbs 21.3, 
to do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord 
than sacrifice. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father 
in heaven, we thank you for the written word. We thank You that 
it's given by inspiration of God, and it's profitable to us 
in all things. And we pray even now that You 
would thoroughly furnish us unto every good work, that You would 
cause us to reflect upon that written Word, and may the Holy 
Spirit seal it into our hearts, and may it be the case that we 
would walk in obedience. Do forgive us, Lord God, for 
our having disobeyed, and do cleanse us from all unrighteousness 
and sin. We ask, God, that you would fill 
us now with your Holy Spirit and help us to understand this 
passage of Scripture and the larger context of the Word of 
God with reference to these things. And we pray this through Jesus 
Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, I want to look at 
a lot of passages this evening that I think shed light on what 
Solomon says here in Proverbs chapter 21 at verse 3. To do 
righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than 
sacrifice. And I want to, first of all, 
engage in an exposition of Proverbs 21.3. And then, second of all, 
I want to look at the emphasis of this in the ministry of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. In his woes pronounced against 
the scribes and the Pharisees, Jesus essentially quotes this 
particular passage, or at least thematically, and he drives that 
home as one of the problems with the Pharisees. So let's look 
first of all at Proverbs 21.3. Notice the connection. In verse 
2, Solomon says, every way of a man is right in his own eyes, 
but the Lord weighs the hearts. God weighs the hearts. He knows 
what is in us. The eyes of Yahweh, according 
to Proverbs 15, are in every place, beholding the good and 
the evil. So the omniscience of God, the 
Lord weighs the hearts. And when the Lord weighs the 
hearts, according to verse 3, he is looking for righteousness 
and he is looking for justice. In other words, the people of 
God are supposed to manifest these particular things in their 
lives. Now notice, secondly, the requirement. It is to do righteousness and 
justice. The godly man pursues righteousness. I think this is relative to God. I think righteousness answers 
to the first table of the law and justice to the second table. 
In other words, our duty to God and our duty to man is comprehended 
here in this summary statement. To do righteousness and justice 
is more acceptable to God or the Lord than sacrifice. John Gill says, the moral duties 
of religion, what is holy, just, and good, which the law requires, 
what is agreeable to both tables, piety towards God and justice 
to man. Again, I don't think any of this 
is surprising to us, that the Lord weighs the hearts, and as 
He weighs the hearts, He is looking for that commitment to righteousness 
in terms of our response to God, and justice in terms of our response 
to men. In other words, we fulfill, by 
God's grace at least, imperfectly as it may be, those first four 
commandments in terms of our responsibility to God, and those 
latter six commandments with reference to our responsibility 
to man. But this is not alone in Scripture. This is a recurring theme, and 
I want to survey several passages. Go back to Genesis chapter 18 
for just a moment. Genesis chapter 18, where we 
see this emphasis in the life of Abraham. In Genesis 18, at 
verse 18, God says, since Abraham shall surely become a great and 
mighty nation and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed 
in him. In other words, God is saying, I'm going to let him 
know what my plan or intention is for Sodom and Gomorrah. And 
then in verse 19, we read, for I have known him in order that 
he may command his children and his household after him, that 
they keep the way of the Lord to do righteousness and justice, 
that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has spoken to him. So 
this pattern of obedience with reference to God, with reference 
to man, is exemplified here in the life of Abraham. Abraham 
engaged in this sort of thing. He engaged in righteousness and 
in justice. Turn over to Deuteronomy chapter 
10. While some of the language may not be precisely the same, 
the thematic connection is obvious. The pattern of Israel's life 
in the land is declared by God through Moses in Deuteronomy 
chapter 10 at verses 12 and 13. Notice in Deuteronomy 10, 12, 
and now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you 
but to fear the Lord your God? That's that duty toward God, 
that first commandment, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, 
to serve the Lord your God, and with all your heart, with all 
your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes, 
which I command you today for your good. Again, it's a bit 
more amplified, it's a bit longer, it's a lot more detail, but the 
sum and substance of it is to do righteousness and justice 
before the living and true God. When we turn to the prophets, 
we see this emphasis as well in Israel's religious life. You 
can turn to the prophet Hosea. Hosea chapter 12. And in these 
instances, the people of God, the covenant people, Israel, 
they're being upbraided for their having not engaged in righteousness 
and justice, for failing to comply with what Solomon says there 
in Proverbs 21 at verse 3. Notice in Hosea 12.6. So you, by the help of your God, 
return, observe mercy and justice, and wait on your God continually. See, this isn't something new 
to Solomon. This isn't something unique to 
Solomon. This has always been God's way. Exemplified in Abraham, 
the pattern for Israel, for life in the land, and then the prophets 
come and sue the people of God for their having not engaged 
in this righteousness and justice. Turn to the prophet Zechariah. 
Zechariah, the second to the last book in the Old Testament, 
Zechariah chapter 7, which is an intriguing chapter that in 
many ways really does illustrate Proverbs 21.3. We'll look at 
the comparison in Proverbs 21.3 in just a moment. But for now, 
I just want us to see that this was always the case for the people 
of God. Notice in Zechariah chapter seven, 
specifically at verses eight to 10, then the word of the Lord 
came to Zechariah saying, thus says the Lord of hosts, execute 
true justice, show mercy and compassion, everyone to his brother. Do not oppress the widow or the 
fatherless, the alien or the poor, let none of you plan evil 
in his heart against his brother. Again, a recurring emphasis on 
doing righteousness and justice. Our obedience with reference 
to God, our obedience to God with reference to men. And then 
one final passage that I think in some ways is probably the 
most popular is Micah chapter 6. You can turn there. Micah 
chapter 6. Micah chapter 6 is an intriguing 
passage of scripture. It is a courtroom scene. The 
prophet is functioning as God's prosecuting attorney. The mountains, 
the created order, serve or function as the witnesses with reference 
to this courtroom. And then in verse 3, the Lord 
God opens up with his opening argument. He says, O my people, 
what have I done to you, and how have I wearied you? Testify 
against me, for I brought you up from the land of Egypt. I 
redeemed you from the house of bondage, and I sent before you 
Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember now what 
Balak king of Moab counseled, and what Balaam the son of Baal 
answered him, from Acacia Grove to Gilgal, that you may know 
the righteousness of the Lord. So the people of Israel are not 
conducting themselves in a manner that is consistent with God's 
word. They're not engaging in righteousness and justice. They're 
engaged in covenant breach. And so the Lord God says, what 
have I done to you? How have I wearied you? What 
in my part of our relationship has brought you to the point 
of this infidelity? Now notice the response of Israel 
to God. Verse six, it's an insincere 
question. With what shall I come before 
the Lord and bow myself before the high God? In other words, 
we want to try and fix this, at least externally. We want 
to put a band-aid on this. So with what shall I come before 
the Lord and bow myself before the high God? Notice the emphasis 
on the externals. Shall I come before him with 
burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be 
pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall 
I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the 
sin of my soul? Shame on them for offering up this sort of 
an argument. What will make him happy? What will appease him? 
What will get him off our back is essentially what they're suggesting. 
And they then suggest even human sacrifice. They treat Yahweh 
as if he's Molech. Now notice the response by God 
through the prophet in verse 8. It says, He has shown you, 
O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require 
of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with 
your God? This isn't something that should 
baffle you. This isn't something that should 
leave you perplexed. It's not the case that you have 
to manufacture sacrifice and even bring the fruit of your 
loins and present it unto God. He's always told you, you've 
always been conscious of the requirement, you know the definition 
of obedience to God the Lord. He has shown you. He's not left 
you in the dark with reference to this particular issue. So 
when Solomon says to do righteousness and justice is more acceptable 
to the Lord than sacrifice, Solomon is in the great train of redemptive 
history. He's not telling people anything 
that they hadn't already heard. Now, going back to Proverbs 21.3, 
Solomon makes this comparison. He says, to do righteousness 
and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. It is more acceptable to the 
Lord than sacrifice. Now, there's a couple of things 
we ought to observe here. In the first place, Solomon is 
not anti-sacrifice. If you go back to 1 Kings chapter 
3, prior to the construction of the temple, Solomon offered 
up a lot of sacrifices. When the temple was built and 
they dedicated the temple, Solomon offered up a lot of sacrifices. It is a comparative statement. 
He's not saying that sacrifice is terrible, sacrifice is bad, 
sacrifice is evil, but he is putting an emphasis on the moral 
law. In other words, to do righteousness 
and justice is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice. The law can be divided into a 
threefold way. There is moral law, there is 
judicial law, which governed the people of Israel in the land, 
and then there is the ceremonial law. And sacrifice typically 
refers to ceremonial law. And so what God is saying to 
do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to him than 
sacrifice. In other words, to obey the 10 
commandments, to glorify God through obedience. And again, 
Solomon is not alone with reference to this emphasis. Probably one 
of the most familiar references in 1 Samuel chapter 15. You can 
turn there. 1 Samuel chapter 15. Again, Solomon 
isn't saying that the sacrificial system is bad. Solomon is simply 
highlighting the priority of the ethical over the cultic. 
He is highlighting the day-in obedience to the Lord God Almighty 
over those laws relative to the cult. But notice in 1 Samuel 
15, remember the occasion. God tells Saul to go and utterly 
destroy Agag and all of the Amalekites. That was the marching order. 
Saul go in and utterly destroy Agag and the Amalekites. So Saul 
goes on this particular mission. He comes back having not fulfilled 
it. And he tells Samuel that he had 
fulfilled it. And Samuel says, well, why am 
I hearing these oxen and why am I hearing these sheep? If 
you would have done what God said, I would not be hearing 
these things right now. And of course, Saul tries to 
blame the people. Now, ultimately, God comes to deal with them pretty 
severely in 1 Samuel 15, 22. So Samuel said, has the Lord 
as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying 
the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than 
sacrifice and to heed than the fat of ram. Again, it is not 
an indictment of the sacrificial system, but rather it is an indictment 
of a heartless approach to the sacrificial system. There are 
times where God receives the moral without the ceremonial, 
but he never received the ceremonial without the moral. You cannot 
go to God foul and polluted by sin, engage in the external trappings 
associated with our religion, and somehow think that God is 
pacified. That's the mistake of the people 
in Micah the prophet. How do we come before him? Do 
we multiply these things? Do we bring him our firstborn? 
He has shown you, oh man, you already know it is faithful obedience 
to God's holy law to do righteousness and justice is more acceptable 
to Yahweh than sacrifice. He goes on in verse 23 to highlight 
that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness 
is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the 
word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king. Turn back to the prophet Hosea. 
The prophet Hosea. We looked at this text several 
weeks ago when we looked at Matthew 9. Remember in Matthew chapter 
9, when Jesus is at that feast in Matthew's house, celebrating 
the good gifts of God Almighty, the scribes and the Pharisees, 
they complain. Why has he gone to be a guest 
at the home of a sinner? And Jesus cites this particular 
passage in Hosea 6 at verse 6. Notice God says, I desire mercy 
and not sacrifice and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. Turn to the book of Psalms, Psalm 
40. Just to show this comparative, 
it is not the case that sacrifice or the ceremonial or the externals 
with reference to our religion are absolutely unnecessary, but 
there is a priority on a heart of obedience. To do righteousness 
and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. That's the point. That's the 
emphasis. Notice in Psalm 40, verses six 
and seven. Sacrifice and offering you did 
not desire. My ears you have opened. Burnt 
offering and sin offering you did not require. Then I said, 
behold, I come. In the scroll of the book it 
is written of me. I delight to do your will, oh 
my God. And your law is within my heart. 
You see the premium placed on obedience from the heart over 
the burnt offerings and the sacrifices. One other place, Psalm 51. Psalm 
51. And when Solomon says justice 
or righteousness and justice more acceptable to Yahweh than 
sacrifice, there are those sacrifices of a broken spirit, a broken 
and a contrite heart. These, O God, you will not despise. That's not what Solomon means 
in Proverbs 21. He means the call. He means the 
external. He means going through those ceremonies of Moses without 
having a heart commitment to the law of God. But notice specifically 
in Psalm 51, verse 16, four, you do not desire sacrifice or 
else I would give it. You do not delight in burnt offering. 
Again, if we do these things, if we engage in the externals 
of our religion, we come to church, we read our Bible, we hang out 
with one another, we fellowship in the Lord, but our hearts are 
far from God. Righteousness and justice are 
vacant. They're absent. They're not present. 
than all the external trappings involved in our Christianity 
are for naught. That's the emphasis, and I hope you see that in Proverbs 
21.3. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to 
God than sacrifice. In other words, to see that moral 
law and empowered by the Holy Spirit to do those things and 
to maintain fidelity with reference to God and with reference to 
one another. So back to this particular passage, 
verse 17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken 
and a contrite heart. These, O God, you will not despise. 
But now notice how he ends the psalm. Do good in your good pleasure 
to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem. 
Then you shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, 
with burnt offering and whole burnt offering. Then they shall 
offer bowls on your altar. Bridges makes the observation. 
He says that God has accepted the moral without the ceremonial, 
but never the ceremonial without the moral observance. That's 
the emphasis in Proverbs chapter 21, verse 3. To do righteousness 
and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Now, why is this the case? Well, I would suggest two reasons. 
First, The tendency of man to focus on the externals of religion 
to the neglect of the internal heart disposition. Let me just 
repeat that. The tendency of man to focus 
on the externals of religion to the neglect of the internal 
heart disposition. In other words, just tell me 
what I need to do. It's like those people in Micah. Just tell 
us what we need to do. How do we get God off our back? 
External compliance to that ceremonial law will hopefully appease him 
enough so that we don't have to deal with it, or we don't 
have to think about it. So there is this attempt to dispossess, 
in the lives of the professing people of God, the internal heart 
disposition by focusing on external compliance. And then there's 
one step even further, and that is the tendency of man to focus 
on the externals in order to mask the absence of those things. In other words, he knows that 
he doesn't do righteousness and justice. He knows that he is 
vacant of any sort of compliance with the law of God. And so outwardly, 
hypocritically, he wants to portray himself as something other. In 
fact, go back to Proverbs chapter 7 for just a moment. I'm sure 
we considered this particular woman when we looked at the sin 
of adultery in Solomon's school of wisdom. But if you look at 
Proverbs 7.10, well, Proverbs 7.6, For at the window of my 
house, I looked through the lattice and saw among the simple. I perceived 
among the youths a young man devoid of understanding, passing 
along the street near her corner. And he took the path to her house 
in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night. 
And there a woman met him with the attire of a harlot and a 
crafty heart. She was loud and rebellious. 
Her feet would not stay at home. At times she was outside, at 
times in the open square, lurking at every corner. So she caught 
him and kissed him. With an impudent face, she said 
to him, I have peace offerings with me. Today I have paid my 
vows. Well, goody for you. You've done 
the vow thing, you've got the peace offering thing, you've 
gone and satisfied the cultic requirement in terms of Yahweh's 
ordinance with reference to the ceremonial law, and all the while 
your husband is away on a business trip, and you've taken this simpleton, 
you've taken this fool, and now you are kissing him and inviting 
him back to your bed? It's the same sort of thing that 
we see in the gospel narratives. Remember the Pharisees when they 
wanted to appeal to Pilate so that Jesus could be executed. 
They didn't want to go into the praetorium because it was a high 
holy day and they didn't want to defile themselves. They didn't 
want to get near that Gentile pagan palace for fear that they 
would be defiled. All while they are conspiring 
to commit murder against the only innocent man that has ever 
lived. You see, it really is falling. 
to do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord 
than sacrifice. Again, not that sacrifice is 
bad, but sacrifice engaged in or the externals of our religion 
carried out with no heart commitment to Yahweh, with no love or concern 
for others, it's a sham, it's hypocrisy, it's a fake. Now let's 
look at this emphasis in the ministry of Jesus. You can turn 
to Matthew's gospel, Matthew chapter 23. We see the exposition 
of Proverbs 21.3. Now we look at the emphasis in 
the ministry of our Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter 23. Matthew chapter 23 is somewhat 
similar to what I've already said Micah's doing. It's a covenant 
lawsuit. The Lord Christ is prosecuting 
that with reference to the religious leaders of his time, the apostate 
religious leaders of his time. He warns the people, he warns 
the disciples about these men in the first part of the chapter. 
He then cautions his disciples about not being like them. Don't 
be like these Pharisees that want to be sort of seen by men 
and paraded by men. And then Jesus turns his attention 
specifically to these scribes and Pharisees and he pronounces 
a series of woes upon them. Now, a woe is just the opposite 
of a blessing. In the Sermon on the Mount, he 
says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom 
of heaven. Blessed there means good things, happy things, wonderful 
things. But in terms of a woe, it is a statement of condemnation. 
And again, Christ is functioning as a prophet. Prophets before 
him did the same sort of thing. Isaiah was one of them. Habakkuk 
was one of them. They pronounced woes on those 
who were incorrigibly wicked against the living God. So that's 
the larger context. He pronounces these woes and 
promises judgment ultimately upon these religious leaders. 
He then ends in chapter 23 with this lament over Jerusalem. And 
then chapter 24 is the Olivet Discourse, where he prophesies 
concerning the destruction of the temple in AD 70. But the 
fifth woe sounds precisely like what Solomon says. The fifth, 
if you're in the King James tradition. There's a variant in verse 14. 
So the non-King James tradition, the non-TR has seven woes. The King James and the new King 
James has eight woes. So by my reckoning, with reference 
to a new King James, we're looking at the fifth woe in verses 23 
and 24. Notice what Jesus says. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, 
hypocrites. He wouldn't be very popular today, 
would he? People couldn't stomach Jesus today. I mean, we can't 
say anything without somebody somewhere getting offended. I 
mean, it's really getting ridiculous. It's going to be, you know, to 
the point where we can't open our mouths. Well, everybody else 
can, but not you Christians. Everybody else can say whatever 
it is they want, but you Christians, you just need to be quiet, because 
everything you say is hate speech. Everything you say is prejudicial. 
Everything you say is bad. Well, that's sort of where we're 
heading, and I would suggest that if Jesus found himself on 
a modern college campus, there wouldn't be enough safe spaces 
for those delicate snowflakes. There wouldn't be enough safe 
space for someone that says, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, 
hypocrites. Notice what he says, 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. Notice in 
the first place the condemnation. You pay tithe of mint and anise 
and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the 
law. Their emphasis was on tithing. And they had biblical warrant 
even for tithing seeds. I think it's difficult to sort 
of get this in one's head to consider a Pharisee on the night 
before the Sabbath weighing out seeds so that he could pay precisely 
10%. It's almost a caricature of the 
religious life. John Calvin said that they, with 
reference to tithing seeds, so as to make a display of extraordinary 
zeal for piety at the least possible expense. But there is biblical 
warrant, Leviticus 2730, and all the tithe of the land, whether 
of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the 
Lord's. It is holy to the Lord. So he says that you tithe the 
mint and the anise and the cumin, But then he highlights their 
neglect. They have neglected the weightier matters of the 
law. Now, that's Solomon's point, 
isn't it? To do righteousness and justice 
is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Again, not that 
sacrifice is bad. Not that the externals involved 
with religion are bad. Not that the cult in the Old 
Covenant was bad. But it's better to obey God. It's better to demonstrate that 
righteousness and justice. And in that posture, engage in 
the externals of our religion, and the Lord God is exalted and 
glorified and pleased by that kind of behavior. But they neglected 
the weightier matters of the law. Now, you might find that 
a bit puzzling. You mean there are weightier 
matters of the law? Well, according to Jesus, there 
are. And tithing, mint, anise, and cumin are not them. Tithing, 
mint, anise, and cumin are not the weightier matters of the 
law. The weightier matters of the law are justice, mercy, and 
faith. Turn over to Matthew 22 for just a moment to see this 
emphasis on weightier matters of the law. Matthew 22 at verse 
34, but when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, 
they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked 
him a question, testing him and saying, teacher, which is the 
great commandment? Notice what Jesus doesn't do. Well, they're all equally important. 
They're all the same. It's egalitarian. Every single 
one is precisely the same. That's not what Jesus says. The 
first, the greatest, the most prioritized commandment is that 
you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and 
strength. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself. 
There is a pecking order within the law of God, and there is 
a pecking order within the division of the law of God wherein it's 
better to do righteousness and justice than to sacrifice. God 
is more pleased with that. So when we go back to this condemnation, 
you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin and have neglected 
the weightier matters of the law, namely justice and mercy 
and faith. I would suggest that was both 
tables of the Ten Commandments, justice and mercy with reference 
to men and faith with reference to God. So they pay the tithe 
of mint, anise, and cumin, and they neglect the weightier matters 
of the law, justice, mercy, and faith. Spurgeon said their hearts 
were not right in the sight of God, therefore their minds were 
imbalanced. Again, think about this for just 
a moment. You're prepared to go to church on Sunday, and you 
weigh out seeds. You weigh out seeds so that you 
can satisfy the external requirement to fulfill the tithe law. Again, 
that's not bad, and we'll look at that in just a moment. But 
on the way, you've neglected justice, mercy, and faith. You 
hold fellow brothers and sisters in contempt. You're gossip. You're 
a liar. You're a slanderer. You're engaged 
in that sort of a mindset. You think God is ultimately pleased 
with your mint anise and cumin when you haven't treated your 
neighbor with justice, mercy, and faith? Everybody sees this, 
don't you? I'm not preaching confusing stuff 
here. I think it's pretty easy and 
simple to sort of lay hold on. Brethren, we cannot be this way. We cannot focus on the externals 
to the neglect of the internal. Or what do we often refer to 
this as? We refer to it as majoring on 
the minors. Way out the mint, way out the 
anise, way out the cumin. but neglect the weightier matters 
of the law, justice, mercy, and faith." Now notice, Christ qualifies 
what he says here. You pay tithe of mint and anise 
and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the 
law, justice, and mercy, and faith. But notice what he goes 
on to say. These you ought to have done, the tithing of the 
mint and the anise and the cumin. These you ought to have done, 
tithing the mint and the anise and the cumin. That's not what 
Christ is condemning. Christ is condemning the one 
to the neglect of the other. These you ought to have done 
without leaving the others undone. The Lord does not condemn their 
tithing practice. These you ought to have done. 
Matthew Henry comments here. He says, they that are taught 
in the word and do not communicate to them that teach them that 
love a cheap gospel come short of the Pharisees. At least the 
Pharisees did pay tithes of mint, anise, and cumin. But the Lord 
is condemning their obvious imbalance. They weigh these things out carefully 
to present them on the Sabbath day, to satisfy the tithe requirement, 
and yet all the while they neglect the weightier matters of the 
law, justice, mercy, and faith. R.T. Frantz says, what he objects 
to is the unbalanced piety which sets great store by these relatively 
insignificant rules, but misses the things that really matter. 
Not that we leave those seemingly insignificant things undone. 
These you ought to have done without neglecting the others. 
You see, holiness, righteousness, our obedience to God must be 
universal. It must be across the board. It must be in every jot and tittle 
of our lives. We don't pick and choose. We 
don't say, well, I'm going to be really good at the externals. 
I'm going to show up at church. I'm going to read my Bible. But 
I'm going to neglect the weightier matters of the law, justice, 
mercy, and faith. But on the other hand, we can't 
be those out contending for social justice-ism, gauged in justice, 
mercy, and faith, and neglect the seemingly insignificant things, 
like we need to go to church. We need to obey God in the ceremonies. 
We need to be baptized. We need to practice the supper. 
It's not just an either-or, but a both-and obedience that the 
Lord God calls us to. So Solomon is not minimizing 
the place of the ceremonial, but Solomon is prioritizing the 
place of the moral. We must obey God to do righteousness, 
and justice is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice. Now, before we conclude with 
some thoughts, I want to just look at verse 24, because it's 
brilliant. Not that Jesus needs me to commend him on his brilliance, 
but blind guides who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel. Blind guides who strain out a 
gnat and swallow a camel. Now, this would have been funny, 
probably, to most people hearing it. In Aramaic, camel and gnat 
sound very similar. There would have been a smirk, 
a giggle, a chuckle, not by the Pharisees, mind you, because 
they would be offended, but everybody else that had half a brain would 
have thought, that's funny. Blind guides. They're blind guides 
and they're straining out gnats. Think about the imagery here. 
They would strain out the gnats. Why? Because nobody wants gnats 
in their wine. Nobody wants to drink gnats. 
Gnats were considered unclean. So this was a good practice on 
their part to strain out the gnats, just like tithing. Mint, 
anise, and cumin. But conversely, they swallow 
camels, you see. In their fastidiousness, keep 
all those gnats out, but in the meantime, they're swallowing 
camels. Now, it was wrong to swallow a camel because a camel 
was an unclean thing, according to Leviticus chapter 11. just 
like neglecting the weightier matters of the law, justice, 
mercy, and faith. You see, Jesus uses this hyperbolic 
statement to condemn them, to show them their insanity, to 
show them that they are ludicrous in the way they go about religious 
observance. You strain out gnats, and you 
swallow the camel. Any kid would have heard that 
and would have laughed. Oh, imagine that, somebody swallowing 
a camel. It was funny. Jesus made his 
point using a humorous anecdote, and that's not the only place 
he does that. He does it elsewhere in Scripture. Well, in terms of some concluding 
thoughts, I want us to prioritize or understand that Solomon is 
prioritizing the moral law. Now, the ceremonial law has been 
fulfilled by Jesus Christ. That ceremonial law given to 
Israel in terms of types and shadows pointing us forward to 
the Lord Christ has been fulfilled by him. So there's no longer 
a cult associated with the covenant people. There's no longer a sacrificial 
system. There's no longer the sorts of 
things that you find, say, in the book of Leviticus or Numbers 
or Deuteronomy. That stuff is not still for us 
in terms of covenant. There are externals connected 
to our religious observance, and we never ought to prioritize 
those over and against doing righteousness and justice. We 
need to prioritize God's moral law. Secondly, with reference 
to the concept in Matthew chapter 23, there is a tendency in us 
to major on the minors. A tendency to major on the minors. We all get a B in our bonnet 
and we think it's the most important thing in the world. Now, maybe 
you don't, but I've met a few of them that does, and I've had 
it in my own life. You can look at sort of your 
Christian life and go, what was I thinking over here? Man, that 
was a weird phase. You know, we just get this in 
us, and it's everything. If we just get this right. I've 
heard that multiple times in my 22 years here. And, you know, 
people say, not just here, but elsewhere, you hear it outside. 
You know, if the church could just get this right, then everything 
would be fixed. If the church could just get 
rid of Sunday school, for instance, then everything would be great. 
If the church could just get rid of, you know, wine and communion, 
then everything would be great. That's not the way it is. It's 
never that simple. Again, holiness is wholesale. It's wholesale, rather. It is 
universal. There's a lot of stuff the church 
needs to always be about cleaning up. But there is this emphasis 
on the minors that somehow attaches itself to the professing people 
of God. A few observations. The minors 
are not unimportant, and they must be intended to. You've tied 
the mint, anise, and the cumin. You should have not done that. 
You should do that, but you shouldn't neglect the other things. So 
the minors in our religion are important, and we need to obey. The minors are minors and should 
not be obsessed over to the neglect of the majors. Let's say you've 
got this bee in your bonnet that if everybody just did what you 
think what was right, and it's a preferential or a secondary 
or tertiary issue, and you run roughshod over the people of 
God, you neglect justice, mercy, and faith for your key issue, 
That is to fall into the Pharisaic practice that Christ condemns. Calvin says, Christ charges the 
scribes with a fault which is found in all hypocrites, that 
they are exceedingly diligent and careful in small matters, 
but disregard the principal points of the law. As well, the majors 
and the minors must not be neglected, but both should be practiced 
by the believer. It's good that they tied the 
mint, anise, and the cumin. The problem is that they neglected 
the weightier matters of the law. To do righteousness and 
justice is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice, but doing 
righteousness and justice and sacrifice is most pleasing to 
Yahweh. As well, the minors may be obsessed 
over to mask the neglect of the majors. And I think that's precisely 
the sin of Pharisaism that Christ is condemning here. These are 
not nice men. These are not good men. These 
are not happy, well-adjusted fellows. These are not genuine 
shepherds that are tasked with leading Israel in their religious 
life. They are corrupt. They exploit widows for their 
own pockets. A widow loses her husband. She 
goes to a trusted official. She goes to a trusted ecclesiastical 
official. She asks a Pharisee or a scribe 
to give her some help in terms of estate planning, or how do 
I manage my finances? Well, you give me a nice big 
deposit, and I'll get you on your way. That is exploitation. It's vile, and it's wicked. And 
that's the sort of things these guys did. And yet, they'd stand 
on street corners and engage in long prayers. They would sound 
the trumpet whenever they tithed. They would make sure they had 
anise and cumin and the seeds that came from the land. They 
had all that, but it was to mask the absence of this righteousness 
and justice that was requisite. As well, there is a tendency 
for us, the professing people of God, to neglect the weightier 
matters. We major on the minors and we 
forget about justice, mercy, and faith. Now again, I don't 
think this is just a Pharisaic sin. I think that this can happen 
with the professing people of God. The people of God. Not just 
professing people of God, but genuine blood-bought believers 
can fall prey to this expression of Pharisaism. C.H. Spurgeon made this observation. 
He said, there are gnat strainers among us still who apparently 
have no difficulty in swallowing a camel, hump and all. He's right. There are gnat strainers 
among us still who apparently have no difficulty in swallowing 
a camel, hump, and all. With reference to this tendency 
to neglect the weightier matters, on the one hand, we boast of 
our supposed acts of piety, we Facebook them, we tweet them, 
and yet we neglect the weightier matters of justice, mercy, and 
faith. You don't need to tell people you're giving. You don't 
need to tell people you're good works. You don't need to tell 
people what you've accomplished religiously in the week. You 
need to be faithful to God, obey Him, and understand that your 
good works are ultimately for His glory and for the person 
that is the target of that good work. It's not to bring accolades 
to us. There is that innate craving 
desire to be recognized, isn't it? We just want to make sure. 
I do this with my wife. Honey, I did the dishes. Not 
so much anymore, because as the kids are gone, that's just my 
job. I'm happy to do it. She makes good food. I should 
just wash dishes. I think that's a good thing. But when the kids were at home, 
and I would do so, I'd always make sure I got credit. What 
is it about credit that we crave it? We just desire it, but God 
the Lord says, don't do that. Do what you're supposed to do 
for the glory of God and the good of others, not for self-exaltation, 
not to puff oneself up. As well, we are obsessed with 
our shibboleths. We are obsessed with our periphery. We are obsessed with those things 
that are unique to us as Reformed Baptists. And yet, we neglect 
the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faith. Now, I'm happy with the shibboleths 
that we have. I'm happy with the particular 
distinctives that we enjoy as Reformed Baptists. But brethren, 
let us not tithe the mint, anise, and the cumin and neglect the 
weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faith. As 
well, we, like the hypocrites in Matthew 23, are oftentimes 
imbalanced in our approach to the Christian life. That's all 
Solomon is calling us to, is balance. To do righteousness 
and justice is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice. Again, don't take from that, 
well, I'll never sacrifice again. That's not what Solomon is saying. 
Solomon is saying, definitely give heed to the moral law and 
then give heed to the ceremonial law. That is the priority. That 
is the order. As well, we criticize persons. We really do this. We criticize 
persons for failing to devote the same attention to the particular 
minor things we have chosen to devote ourselves to. And we get 
this bee in our bonnet. We think everybody else needs 
to have the same bee in their bonnet. No, the bee in everybody's 
bonnet is to do righteousness and justice. If in that, you 
then go off on a tangent and engage in some particular thing 
that's good and legit and fine, don't make that everybody's mission. 
That tendencies out there, isn't it? Well our church does this 
so every church must do this now There are three things that 
every church must do and those three things are preach the word 
Administer the sacraments and engage in church discipline those 
three things every church must do those are Non-negotiable those 
are the marks of the church and if a church doesn't do those 
things it is no church Or it's a very deficient one that needs 
to repent but a lot of the other sorts of things Good things? 
Fine, go ahead. But be careful about making your 
bee in your bonnet, everybody else's bee in their bonnet. That 
is a way, a surefire way, to neglect the weightier matters 
of the law, justice, mercy, and faith. I fear at times, now for 
you I cannot make this statement, but for me, that there is a similarity 
with reference to these hypocrites in straining out gnats and swallowing 
camels. To do righteousness and justice 
is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice, brethren. And 
the final observation or the final point I want to make is 
in Hebrews chapter 10. You can turn there. I quoted 
Psalm 40 earlier as an illustration of the emphasis by God upon Israel 
in terms of obedience. Well, the apostle Paul takes 
up Psalm 40 in verses 5 to 7 in Hebrews chapter 10. And 
here I just want to end on this wonderful note. To do righteousness 
and justice is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice. Praise 
God for Jesus Christ. Now, that does not minimize the 
emphasis for us having, by God's grace and the empowering of His 
Holy Spirit, the duty to comply. But brethren, we know we don't 
comply as we ought. We know that our doing of righteousness, 
our duty to God, and our doing of justice, our duty to man, 
is less than stellar on the best of days. So we, with J. Gresham Machen, ought to say, 
I am so thankful for the imputed righteousness of the active obedience 
of Christ, because there's no hope without it. It is the active 
obedience of Jesus Christ that is imputed to God's people. It's 
received by faith alone. See, God not only forgives us 
in the gospel, but he clothes us in the righteousness of Jesus. 
And that's how Paul appeals to Psalm 40 in Hebrews chapter 10. 
Notice in verse 5, Therefore, when he came into the world, 
he said, Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body 
you have prepared for me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices 
for sin you had no pleasure. Then I said," this is Christ, 
"'Behold, I have come, in the volume of the book it is written 
of me, to do your will, O God.'" You see, it's not just the case 
that we need to be forgiven, but we need to be righteous. 
To obey is better than sacrifice. To do righteousness and justice 
is more acceptable to God than sacrifice. We need forgiveness, 
but we need to be clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, 
and we can praise God for the imputation of that to us, and 
it's received by faith alone. This often goes overlooked with 
reference to the gospel scheme of salvation. Not many people 
echo J. Gresham Machen on the deathbed 
saying, I am so thankful for the act of obedience of Jesus 
Christ, for there's no hope without it. See, Machen rightly understood 
that if he was forgiven of his sin, but he had not received 
this righteousness, then he's back at the tree of the knowledge 
of good and evil. And it's up to him to obey. It's 
up to him to secure his place. It's up to him to confirm himself 
in a state of righteousness. But the gospel is glorious. The 
gospel not only provides for us forgiveness, but it also provides 
a righteousness that avails with God. You see this emphasis in 
Galatians chapter 2. The apostle says, I do not set 
apart the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the 
law, then Christ died in vain. What's the point? We need righteousness. and the righteousness that we 
need isn't going to come through the law because we're terrible 
and we disobey that law. If that were the case, then Christ 
died in vain. The death of Jesus Christ secures 
for us both forgiveness and righteousness. And to do righteousness and justice 
is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. And we ought 
to praise God that we have a perfect righteousness, judicially speaking, 
positionally speaking. But in terms of our practical 
obedience to the Lord, we ought to pray for the power of the 
Holy Spirit and a love for God's law so that we will. not neglect 
the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faith. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for Solomon's words. We thank you for this constant 
theme throughout scripture. And we thank you for the provision 
of a righteousness in our Lord, Jesus Christ. As Paul says elsewhere, 
you made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might 
become the righteousness of God in him. We give praise to you 
for this Lord's day. We give praise to you for this 
time where we get to come out of the world and into the presence 
of our great God. And Father, we have rejoiced 
today in these baptisms this morning. We have rejoiced in 
our time together, our communion as saints with one another. And 
I pray that you would go with us now, watch over us in this 
coming week, and help us, God, to glorify you. And we pray through 
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. We'll close with a brief 
time of meditation and then be dismissed.