11 16 the letter & the spirit luke 11 37–54

BRING JESUS TO YOUR WORLD

• The Nation of Israel• Babylonian exile 586BC• Reason for exile :

SIN / Disobeying God’s Laws• To avoid being exiled again :

Keep & Obey the Laws of God diligently• Return from exile 538BC –

Ezra , Nehemiah, Zechariah ....

Origin of the Pharisees, Sadducees & Scribes

Torah – Written Laws613 Laws

Oral Traditions “explanations” of the Torah

‘Great Revolt & Rebellion’ - about 200BC...

TALMUD (instructions) :MISHNA (repetitions)

Collection of the Oral TraditionsGEMARA (completeness)

Commentaries on the Mishna


PHARISEES :Meaning - ‘separated one’ or ‘separatist’Mainly ‘lay people’One year apprenticeship

Aim: strict interpretation & keeping the law on all matters esp TITHING & RITUAL PURITY Goal : keeping the “LETTER” of the LawsMeans : ‘religious policing’Place of influence : the synagogue Exclusivity ...but Highly Respected

Eg : Paul & Nicodemus


SADDUCEES :Educated aristocratic & priestly classControl the Temple & the SanhedrinGenerally - accept the Law

but not the Oral Traditions

eg reject resurrection, angels & spirits (Acts 23:8)

** David Pawson’s ‘mnemonic’Pharisees : ‘far you see’Sadducees : ‘sad you see’



SCRIBES:@ Lawyers

Learned people well versed in the LawCopyist, Teachers & InterpretersExplained the meaning of the Law...How it should be kept...

Highly respectedMany Pharisees were also Scribes

If the Pharisees are the Practitioners of the LawThen the Scribes are the ‘Theologians/Seminarians’

the letter & the SPIRIT Luke 11:37-54

Luke 11:37-5437 When Jesus had finished

speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table.

38 But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised.

Ritual Washing


39 Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.

40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?

41 But give what is inside [the dish] to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.

Outside clean ....Inside ?

Eg : filthy talk, cursing & swearing ....



Matt 15V1-2 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came

to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!"

V17-20 "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.'"

The TWO BIG THINGS with the

PHARISEES:

RITUAL PURITY

TITHING


1st WOE v42 "Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God

a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

MAJORing on the MINORS

Micah 6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.


2nd WOE v43"Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the

most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.

REPUTATION before CHARACTER Reputation is what man thinks we are Character is what God knows we are

D.L. Moody: "If I take care of my character, my reputation will take care of itself."


Background on 3rd WOE - Num 19:16 "Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.

• Burial sites not so well planned ...• Whitewashed before major festivals• Contact results in ... Defiled /unclean 7 days Hindering, not helping

3rd WOE V44"Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves,

which men walk over without knowing it.“ DEFILING, not CLEANSING


3 Woes on the Pharisees :- EXTERNALsMajoring on the Minor Reputation before Character Defiling, not CleansingLuke 11:45-54

v45 One of the experts in the law answered him, "Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also."

A Scribe ...


4th WOE v46Jesus replied, "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.

Eg Law of the Sabbath • No ‘work’ allowed• But what is ‘work’ ?Mishna - 39 main

categories...Yet Jesus did many

healings...? Purposely


5th WOE V47-51"Woe to you, because you build

tombs for the prophets, and it

was your forefathers who killed them. So you testify that you

approve of what your forefathers

did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. Because of

this, God in his wisdom said, 'I

will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will

kill and others they will

persecute.'



5th WOE V47-51 cont.Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah*, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all. *Zechariah in 2 Chr 24:20-22

Similar incident in Matt 23:29-32"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers! Rejected & killed the Prophets... Will finally also Reject

& kill God’s ultimateMessenger...


6th WOE v52"Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering." ? “Too difficult for lay people...”? “Need training ...” preventing people from

knowing / understanding God’s Word

Hindrance and not a help



53 When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions,

54 waiting to catch him in something he might say.

Jesse James killed a man during a bank robbery but a few weeks later

was baptized into the Kearney Baptist Church....

After that, James killed another man but he then became

the choir director at his church....

Jesse James – the Man

BRING JESUS TO YOUR WORLD

1. SUPPORT CHRIST’S AGENDAa. Teachingb. Preaching & Proclaimingc. Healing

Great Commission Matt 28:18-20 MAKE DISCIPLES

Command given to ....

BRING JESUS TO YOUR WORLD2. BE CHRIST’S DISCIPLES

– Responding to Christ’s Calla. Compassion - not Condemnationb. Commitment - not Comfortc. Now - not Laterd. Single minded - not Double Minded

To Be A Christian –Is To Be A Disciple Matt 28:19

To Be A Disciple –Is To Imitate Christ 1 Cor 11:1

BRING JESUS TO YOUR WORLD3. PROCLAIM CHRIST’S MESSAGE

– He’s The ONLY WAYJohn 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me. Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there

is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

Heb 9:27-28 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.


Application:Modern day Pharisees ...“External” religion ....

but no “Inward” realityReligiosity ...Churchianity ...Ref 2 Tim 3:5

“...having a form of godliness but denying its power.”


Christianity ....

is NOT a Philosophy

is NOT a Religion.

it’s a RELATIONSHIP

with Jesus Christ

and the Holy Spirit

Christ in you, the hope of glory


John 16:13-15• But when HE, the SPIRIT OF TRUTH,

comes, HE will guide you into all truth... the SPIRIT will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

John 14:26• But the COUNSELOR, the HOLY SPIRIT, whom

the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.


1 Cor 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the HOLY SPIRIT, who is in you, whom you have received from God?

When you know & accept Jesusyou become a Disciple...

and once you are a Disciple ... you will have the Holy Spirit

the letter & the SPIRITLuke 11:37-54

You can be a Christian ...and not know Jesus.

You can be a Christian ...and not know the Holy Spirit.

“... to be honest, the daughter had reached that age where she seemed to think that her parents only existed to serve her wants. The young teenage girl had lost sight of the fact she was part of a family and that she was expected to contribute to the family as well as take from the family....”“As Christians do we act like this spoiled child

in our expectations from God?" “Do we get to the point where we think God exists for the sole purpose of filling our lives

with health, wealth and happiness."

Modern Paraphrase of Matt 25:41-44I was hungry ...and you formed a Committee to discuss my hunger

I was thirsty ...and you preached to me about the ‘living waters’

I was imprisoned ... and you thank God for your freedom

I was naked ...and you twittered about the morality of my appearance

I was sick ...and you blogged to thank God for your health

I was homeless ... and you WhatsApp me that the Son of Man also had no place to lay his head

I was lonely ...and you just facebooked to say you understand

YOU SEEM SO CLOSE TO GOD; but I am still very hungry, lonely, cold ....

the letter & the SPIRITLuke 11:37-54

SSMC Theme Verse 2014

2 Cor 5:14-1514 For Christ's love compels us, because

we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.

15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

Quote : Ps Edmund Chan

Good To Know

the WORD OF GODbut more importantly

Is To Know

the GOD of the WORD

and if I may add....We His Disciples, Need To Bring OUR GOD Into OUR WORLD

11 16 the letter & the spirit luke 11 37–54

Spiritual

Transcript of 11 16 the letter & the spirit luke 11 37–54