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The religious leaders were hypocrites. Instead of helping to relieve the burdens of others, they weighed them down with more burdens.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Biblical Talks.
Sermon of the Week.
In Matthew, chapter 23,.
Matthew is talking aboutreligious hypocrites denounced.
The religion leaders werehypocrites.
Instead of helping to relievethe burden of others, they
weighed them down with moreburdens.
(00:22):
They weighed them down withmore burdens.
Listen, the only thing thePharisees wanted is to be
honored, to be looked up to.
Now don't get me wrong.
It's not wrong to honor others.
Paul said to give honor to whomhonor is owed and to give
(00:47):
recognition to those who laboramong you.
First, that's Lonely Year 5 and12.
But listen, it's another thingaltogether to love, be in honor
and to seek it for yourself.
The scribes and the Phariseesthought too highly of themselves
.
Please listen to me.
(01:07):
There is to be no elitism inthe family of God, and the cure
for that is servitude.
So let me ask a question whenwas the last time you served
someone, someone who couldn'tpay you back, who couldn't do
(01:29):
anything for you in return?
That's what Jesus did.
The son of God became a servantto save those who couldn't save
themselves and, as a result,god, the father, highly exalted
him.
And that's what Jesus promisedhis disciples.
Whoever exalts himself will behumble.
(01:53):
Whoever humbles himself will beexalted.
Beloved, let's humble ourselves.
Beloved, let's humble ourselves.
Here's Pastor Philip AnthonyMitchell preaching a sermon
called.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Don't Follow them.
I want to take this moment tosay happy Mother's Day to all of
the mothers and grandmothersand spiritual mothers who are in
the room.
I think y'all can do betterthan that.
I want to take this moment tohonor one of the greatest
(02:57):
mothers I know personally, missLena Claire Mitchell.
Lena is a great mom Loving,caring, discerning, tapped into
(03:21):
the discipleship of our children, not just the raising of
children, but the discipleshipof our children.
Not just the raising ofchildren, but the discipleship
of our children.
And, uh, I want to honor my mom,who's watching right now in
North Carolina, um, ms SharonMitchell, um, the mighty woman
of faith who believed God for ason when the doctor said she
(03:45):
could have no children.
And I want to also honor justall of the mothers in our church
and those who are pouring intopeople.
And before we jump into theproclamation of God's word, I do
want to acknowledge that I knowthat today is not joyful for
(04:05):
everybody, that for some peopletoday it is difficult,
especially for those of youwhere there is an empty place at
a table because your mom haspassed away, or for those of you
who have a very difficultrelationship with your mom, or
for those of you who was notraised with a mother, she was
absent.
I want to acknowledge thatthose feelings are present and
(04:27):
our prayer is that the God ofall comfort will minister to you
if you find yourself any placeon that spectrum.
If you are guests sitting inthis room in the overflow, we
welcome you to 2819, where weare serious about the spread of
the gospel and the multiplyingof disciples.
And to all of our digitaldisciples who are watching me
live right now across the nationand around the world, we
(04:51):
welcome you to 2819.
And if you're sitting in thisroom or in the overflow, if
you're watching me across thatcamera, which is amazing, if
you're not a follower of Christ,we know that you're here.
We're thankful that you're hereand you can belong before you
believe, you can be amongst usbefore you believe, and we are
praying for you that a day isgoing to come when you would
hear this glorious gospel andrespond to the call of Christ,
(05:15):
you would come into thisspiritual family before time has
run out.
That is our prayer for you.
You, we are in a series rightnow, week 12, of a series called
Entry and End Times, in whichwe are walking through Matthew,
chapter 21 through 25 together,and what we are doing in the
series.
We are unpacking, as a church,the final actions and the final
(05:38):
teachings of the Lord JesusChrist in the final week of his
life.
Our message this morning iscoming from Matthew, chapter 23.
Verses 1 through 12.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
For all of our note takers.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Eternal God and ever wise father, we thank you for
the opportunity we have to sitand hear the proclamation of
your word.
It is holy, it is alive andactive.
It is forever settled in heaven.
I pray as your word isproclaimed, you would just
(06:31):
minister to the sons anddaughters and even trouble the
one who's far away from you.
I pray you give me strength inmy human weakness to proclaim
these eternal truths.
We ask in the mighty and themajestic and the matchless name
of our Lord and Savior, jesusChrist and all of God's people
(06:54):
said amen, family.
A couple months ago I wassitting in my prayer room and as
I was sitting in my prayer room, I felt this strong urge to run
upstairs and check on myyoungest son, josiah.
But in full transparency, I didnot move quick enough.
And what happened next I wouldlearn from my son later on that
(07:17):
morning.
And so, a couple months ago, myson Josiah.
He took our dogs outside in thebackyard for their morning walk
.
And while he was out there withthe dogs for their morning walk
, this wolf-type beast justemerged from the tree lines in
(07:38):
the woods behind our house andwas sizing up our two dogs to
attack them.
Josiah went into a panic andstarted yelling at our dogs to
get inside, get inside, getinside.
To which the dogs did not obeyhis voice when he first started
yelling get inside.
(07:58):
And this beast, whatever it wasI mean it looked like a wolf he
said.
I don't know if it was a coyoteor whatever, but this wolf-type
beast was standing theregetting ready to attack our two
dogs and because they was notlistening to his voice, he ran
over to our smallest dog and hescooped up Chance, which is a
(08:19):
Shih Tzu, and he ran towards thehouse zoo.
And he ran towards the houseand as he ran towards the house,
he turned around and he startedyelling at our larger dog, a
poodle named Orlando get in thehouse, get in the house, get in
the house.
And Orlando at first would notmove, he would not listen to the
voice of Josiah and as he stoodthere, that wolf was maybe five
(08:40):
feet from Orlando, gettingready to ravish him and tear him
up, and he kept yelling atOrlando get inside, get inside.
And finally Orlando took offand started running.
And it was Joey, who went intoa quick panic but was also very
quick in his thinking, who caredabout the life of our two dogs
(09:02):
and saw that wolf that came outfrom the woods and did
everything he could in thatmoment to protect the lives of
our dogs from those from thatwolf whatever that was that came
out the tree line.
Family.
This went beyond that day.
This would continue over thecourse of a few weeks and
eventually it got so bad that westarted walking the dogs in the
(09:24):
morning with a flashlight andan air rifle to protect our dogs
from that wolf.
My daughter, abigail, who I'vetrained to shoot she's excellent
with that rifle.
She can.
She'll snipe somebody from 50yards away very easy, like
abigail's a beast with thattrigger and she would be out
there with that rifle on hershoulder, with that flashlight,
(09:48):
trying to protect our two dogsfrom this wolf that kept coming
out every single morning.
That was praying p-r-e-y-i-n-gon these two dogs, now family.
It's with this imagery in mindand the seriousness of Josiah's
call that Christ, our Savior,and the apostles and the
(10:11):
prophets gave strong warningsabout one of the most dangerous
threats to the life of thebeliever your sins, your
mistakes and your failures thatyou repent of.
Something more nefarious,something more dangerous that
they warn people of.
It was the prophet Jeremiah inthe 600 AD.
(10:34):
He described this threat likethis in Jeremiah, chapter 23 and
verse 16.
Thus says the Lord of hosts,describing this threat to your
spiritual well-being.
Hear me, do not listen to thewords of the prophets who
prophesied to you, filling youwith vain hopes.
(10:55):
Always talking about blessings,always talking about rosiness
and clouds and candy, fillingyou with vain hopes.
They speak visions of their ownminds, not from the mouth of
the Lord.
They say continually to thosewho despise the word of the Lord
(11:17):
how do you speak?
Blessings to people thatdishonor God?
This is American preaching.
You preach blessings to peoplethat don't respect Christ, like
he's a genie in a bottle.
They say continually to thosewho despise the Lord it shall be
well with you lies.
And to everyone, subordinately,who follows their own heart,
(11:42):
they say no disaster shall comeupon.
You know what that is preaching, with no warnings.
Man, come on, man, for whoamong them has stood in the
counsel of the lord?
They don't pray to see or hearhis word.
They don't read, or who haspaid attention to his word and
listen.
They don't study.
(12:02):
Behold, the storm of the lordwrath has gone out from the
whistling templates.
It will burst upon the head ofthe wicked.
The angle of the lord will notturn back until he has executed
and accomplished the intents ofhis heart.
In the latter days, you willunderstand this clearly.
A day is coming when your eyeswill be opened.
(12:22):
I, the lord, said did not sendthe prophets, yet they ran.
I didn't appoint you yet youstarted a church.
I didn't send you yet you putyourself in the office.
I did not speak to them yetthey prophesied.
But if they had stood in mycouncil then they would have
proclaimed my words to my people.
(12:43):
If they had a prayer life, youwould hear preaching of the
scriptures and not preaching ofopinions.
It's not your mother's day,sermon we in a series through
Matthew, and they would haveturned from their evil way and
(13:08):
from their evil deeds.
Am I a god at hand, declares thelord, and not a god far away?
He says listen, and not a godfar away.
Can a man hide himself insecret places so I cannot see
him?
That?
Is they not going to escape me,declares the Lord.
Do I not feel heaven and earth?
Declares the Lord.
(13:30):
Have I heard what the prophetshave said?
Who prophesy lies in my namesaying I have a dream?
I have a dream.
How long shall there be lies inthe heart of the prophets who
prophesy lies and who prophesydeceit with their own heart, who
think to make my people forgetmy name.
(13:51):
They exalt their name aboveChrist.
Come on, man, even as theirfathers forgot my name, let the
prophet who has a dream tell thedream, but let him who has a
word speak my word.
How Faithfully.
What straw, in common withleaves, declares the Lord, is
(14:13):
not my word.
Like fire, declares the Lord,and like a hammer that breaks
the rock in pieces, rock andpieces.
Therefore, behold, I am againstthe prophets, declares the Lord
, who steal my words fromanother, from one another.
Behold, I am against theprophets, declared the Lord, who
(14:34):
use their tongues and declaresthe Lord.
Behold, I am against theprophecy who lie in dreams and
declare in the Lord, who telland lead my people astray by
their lies and theirrecklessness, when I did not
send them or charge them so theydo not profit this people,
(14:56):
they're no good for you.
They're no good for you,declares the Lord.
A threat man, you swipe up andbump into them.
You watch them on youtube, yougo to their conferences, you
read their books.
This is who jeremiah is talkingabout.
Listen to what peter said aboutthem.
The apostle peter in the firstcentury ad.
(15:18):
He said in second peter,chapter 2, verse 1 but false
prophets also rose among thepeople, just as there were false
teachers among you who willsecretly bring in destructive
heresies, even denying themaster who brought them,
bringing upon themselves swiftdestruction.
And many will follow theirsensuality and, because of their
(15:40):
way of truth, will beblasphemed and in their greed
they prophesy for profit.
They will exploit you withfalse words.
Their condemnation is from longago.
It is not idle and theirdestruction is not asleep.
Listen to what jude, thebiological brother of jesus,
said about them.
(16:00):
In jude, chapter 1 and verse 10through 13.
He said but these people listento what he said about them.
In Jude, chapter 1, in verse 10through 13,.
He said but these people listento what he said about them?
These people who you see onTikTok, these people who you see
on Facebook, new Age apostleswho try to build churches on
Facebook, who have no authorityfrom God, who try to come at
(16:22):
real prophets.
You have a Facebook churchtrying to come at real prophets.
You have a Facebook churchtrying to come at real prophets
who God has assigned over souls.
Your only ministry is alive.
No interaction with sheep.
Don't smell like sheep, nowounds from sheep.
(16:43):
Your only interaction withsheep is across the screen.
But these people blaspheme allday.
They do not understand.
They are destroyed by all thatthey, like unreasonable animals,
understand instinctively.
Woe to them, for they walk inthe way of Cain.
Abandon themselves for the sakeof C gain to Balaam's era.
(17:05):
Perish in Korah's rebellion.
These are hidden reefs that youlove.
Feasts as they feast with you,without fear, no fear of the
Lord Shepherds feedingthemselves.
Waterless clouds swept along bythe winds, fruitless trees in
late autumn, twice dead,uprooted.
(17:29):
Wild waves of the sea castingup the foam with their own shame
, wandering stars for whom thegloom of utter darkness has been
reserved forever.
Now that's not enough.
Listen to what Jesus said aboutthem In Matthew, chapter 7.
I taught you this in the firstyear of the series, in verse 15.
Beware of false prophets likethat.
(17:50):
Phone going off is an alarmgoing off right now.
Beware of false prophets whocome to you in sheep's clothing.
They have Christian lingo, theyhave christian antics, they
have christian programs, theywrite christian books, they do
christian podcasts, they dochristian conferences.
(18:13):
For lack of discernment, wethumb them.
Like them, support them, listento them or led astray by them.
Beware of false prophets whocome to you in sheep's clothing
but inwardly a ravenous wolves,like that thing that came out
after my dogs.
You will recognize them bytheir all.
(18:40):
Throughout the scripture isfilled with these kind of
warnings, from the Old Testamentto the New Testament.
Why?
Because the prophets and theapostles and your Lord knew that
this would be the mostdangerous threat to the church.
When John is writing in the NewTestament, he's not warning the
people about the devil, onlyhe's telling them I know, when
(19:01):
we leave ravenous wolves,they're gonna come in behind us
and they're gonna wreak havocamong the flock.
That one of the most dangerousthings you face, hear me.
You swipe up and see it.
You watch it on youtube.
They're sitting in yourchurches.
Listen are false prophets, falseteachers with false messages,
(19:25):
who have false authority, whoare ravaging the church.
You listen to them, you thumbthem, you like them, you support
them.
You read their books and go totheir conference.
They rotten out your soul.
You read their books and go totheir conference.
(19:46):
They rotting out your soul.
This is what we deal with as weapproach man, this powerful
text of scripture.
Hear me, it is this text thatwe're about to unpack, which is
the beginning hear me of thelast public message Jesus ever
(20:07):
preached.
If his first recorded sermonwas the Sermon on the Mount,
this is his last recorded sermonand of all the things the Lord
could have said to us before hewas executed publicly.
He took this moment in historyto warn his children and all
(20:29):
future followers to protectthemselves from men like this.
He did not use his last publicsermon to talk about love.
He did not use his last publicsermon to talk about love.
He did not use his last publicsermon to talk about grace man.
He did not use his last publicservant to pronounce blessings.
(20:52):
No, this whole chapter 23, hislast public sermon, is full of
warnings and walls anddamnations.
Watch the Lord.
Watch who called himself thegood shepherd man this is
powerful Used his last publicsermon to try to protect those
(21:13):
who have ears to hear, to guardyour heart from false teachers,
false messages, men who havefalse authority.
He rose into Jerusalem.
You remember the sceneConfronted by the Pharisees,
(21:34):
sadducees and Herodians.
You remember that scene?
He rocks them with his wisdomand his use of the word of God.
Just a reminder to you thatsome of the battles in your mind
, battles in your heart, battlesin your life, follow the
pattern of the Lord.
You can defeat the devil withthe word of God.
You can back him down to yourmind with the word of God.
You can come against him inyour house with the word of God.
You give him the fire of theword of God.
(21:55):
He comes for your marriage.
Give him back the word of God.
He comes for your heart, givingback the word of God.
He lies to you about your past,giving back the word of God.
And it was Christ right here,watch, after he backed them down
, the religious elite, thecorrupt Pharisees of the day.
With the word of God, he willnow begin his last public sermon
(22:17):
.
We'll look at the first halftoday.
The second half next week HeatNext week, heat Next week.
His last public message thefirst thing he exposes to
(22:37):
protect you listen to me frommen like this, hear me watch is
false righteousness.
God, this is so powerful to me.
Chapter 23, verse 1.
He exposes the falserighteousness of false teachers
who have false authority.
Then Jesus said to the crowdsand his disciples ie, he pivots
away from the Pharisees, towardshis followers, towards the
(22:59):
crowd of thousands of people topreach.
To people who have watched,maybe one last opportunity to
repent and protect themselvesfrom the Pharisees.
He says about them watchpublicly His last public sermon.
He speaks with a loud voice.
The scribes and the Phariseessit on Moses's seat seat.
(23:22):
So do and observe whatever theytell you, but not the works
that they do, for they preachbut do not practice.
So in the beginning of hissermon he says to his followers
and to the crowd these pharisees, these hypocritical leaders,
(23:44):
man, they sit on Moses' seat.
Now listen to me carefully.
Moses was a great man of God, agreat prophet of God.
He is the one through whom Godwrote the first five books of
the Bible Genesis, exodus,leviticus, numbers and
Deuteronomy.
Moses wrote those by the Spirit.
Moses' hail is one of thegreatest men in the history of
(24:05):
the Christian faith.
In the first century, thesynagogues had a big stone seat
at the front of the synagoguecalled Moses' seat.
And watch this.
It was a seat of authority.
The literal Greek reading ofthis verse in its original
language said the Pharisees satthemselves on Moses' seat.
(24:30):
That is, they took that throneof authority that God did not
give them.
We see the same thing happeningtoday, when you see people who
call themselves apostles and Goddid not anoint them to be that.
They call themselves prophets.
God did not call them to bethat.
They call themselves pastors.
(24:51):
God did not call them to bethat they start churches.
God did not call them to startthat.
Not just because you have agift, that don't mean you need
to start a church.
And what these men did?
They sat sat, the greek saysthey sat themselves gosh on
moses.
See, that is watch.
They took authority that goddid not give them.
(25:13):
Nowhere in the scriptures doyou ever see god giving the
pharisees authority over hispeople?
But what we do see is ahypocritical, corrupt, darkened
group of men.
Watch who hijack authority forthemselves.
Watch and then they use thatauthority to exert watch, this
(25:34):
dominance over god's people.
Watch.
Now the Lord said this is insaneto me Do whatever they tell you
, but don't do what they do,because they preach but don't
practice.
The Lord said about thePharisees do what they tell you,
(25:57):
but wasn't he going againstthem the whole chapter before?
So some scholars believe he'sbeing ironic, like, since they
hijacked the authority, listento them.
Other scholars believe he'stelling them watch as long as
they're telling you the truthfrom the scriptures and that
only you got to obey that.
(26:17):
This is powerful to me becauseit shows us that God loves
people so much He'll workthrough broken vessels, even
evil vessels, to even get youthe word, even through vessels
he has rejected for himself.
This is important for you toremember because not just
(26:41):
because you hear truth fromsomeone's mouth, that don't mean
God has affirmed that person,because a prophet, a false
prophet, is not just going togive you lies.
Only they will mix in lies withtruth.
So you say, but they quotedthat scripture, right?
That doesn't mean God affirmedthem, though God did not affirm
(27:01):
the Pharisees, but yet Jesussays so long as they teach you
from Moses' law, obey that andno further.
But watch, but don't do whatthey do, don't follow after
their behavior.
Hear me, american ChristiansDon't be people that post and
don't live that.
Don't be people that preachcome down and don don't live.
(27:25):
That I can tell you from beingup here.
It's easy to preach and notlive what you preach when you
come down, it's very easy.
That's why, man, the best thingthat some false preachers can
do is stay on the platform,because as soon as they come off
.
They have no virtue, or thebest thing they can do is stay
off the platform, because assoon as they come up here, this
(27:47):
is the only virtue they have man, they can move a room and move
a crowd and move an arena.
Come off of the stage and don'tdo anything.
They just preached.
This is the Lord warning youand I Don't preach and not
practice.
Don't be like these men.
(28:09):
We do this.
Man, you got all thesescriptures in your profile but
you don't live them.
And this is the Lord saying tohis people don't act like these
Pharisees, don't be people thathave confession without a life
to match.
I'm trying to.
(28:33):
So we see in these men watch afalse righteousness.
They have no righteousness fromGod.
They create their ownrighteousness by taking over
Moses' seat.
They sat themselves in aposition of authority and we see
people do that all over thiscountry, who God did not call,
did not appoint, did not raiseup, and they take their own
(28:55):
authority and give themselvestheir own names.
They start ministries outsideof God's will and you flood
those ministries.
They start ministries outsideof God's will and you flood
those ministries and the Lordand his love for his people.
He would then go on.
Why is he being so seriousabout exposing their false
righteousness?
Two things After this, he wouldthen expose their false
(29:19):
ministry.
Watch when he says to them I'malmost done, almost done, verse
four.
They tie up heavy burdens, hardto bear, and lay them on
people's shoulders, but theythemselves are not willing to
move them with their fingers.
Okay, watch.
So the people of god watch they.
(29:40):
So the people of God watch.
They have the word of God andat some point in time the
Pharisees, spiritual leaders inIsrael watch, begin to create
oral laws to try to force peopleto be obedient to the written
word of God.
Over thousands of years theydeveloped thousands of oral laws
(30:02):
and they built a fence aroundthe word of God.
They took those oral laws andthey codified them in a book
called the Mishnah, and thenwhat they did was exalt their
man-made doctrines.
Watch above the word of God.
So by the time Christ in thetree is born, he's now alive in
(30:24):
an era where the common peoplewatch are underneath the heavy
burdens of this oral law,thousands of them that robbed
and choked out the life fromserving God.
So now every day is a burdenfilled with thousands of rules
and regulations.
I mean they had rules andregulations for everything.
(30:45):
I mean, on the Sabbath youcan't even go one mile.
They had so many rules thatpeople were grieved with all of
these burdens.
Watch and what the Lord saidthat these men see people's.
Watch this see God's peoplesuffering and will do nothing to
ease their suffering.
Watch this is like shepherds inour country who see the plight
(31:11):
of God's people.
They do not shed a tear inprayer for God's people, don't
care about the socioeconomicstatus of God's people, don't
care about the spiritualwell-being of God's people.
They only care about feedingthemselves.
I don't know about you.
Let me talk for me.
If I'm a sheep, I want to be onthe shepherd that shed some
tears for me.
I want to be on the shepherdthat prays for me.
(31:35):
I want to be on the shepherdthat cares about me.
I want to be on the shepherdthat reads the word to me.
I want to be on the shepherdthat will fight a devil for me.
I don't want to be on theirshepherd that reads the word to
me.
I want to be on their shepherdthat will fight a devil for me.
I don't want to be on theirshepherd that hears me suffering
.
See me suffering, see me goingthrough, and all they care about
is getting out of sermon, goinghome and going to sleep.
You won't catch them on theirknees during the week, won't
(31:59):
catch them shedding a tearduring the year.
They do not care about thewell-being of God's people.
Man.
There's American shepherds likethat all across this landscape.
The only thing they care aboutis their next sermon, their next
honorarium and where they'regoing to eat on Sunday.
They do not shed tears for thepeople they preach to, don't
care about them, don't pray forthem, don't fight for for them,
(32:20):
don't stand in the gap for them.
This is false ministry.
Watch, where you preach laws topeople and you do not ease
their suffering by caring forthem, praying for them, loving
(32:42):
on, loving on them, trying tohelp them.
This is for you.
Don't smell like sheep, not incommunity, don't know nothing
going on in the church.
Don't smell like sheep.
(33:10):
The back half of his sermon woesand damnation.
This first half, warning hischildren stay away from men like
this.
So he exposes their falserighteousness.
He exposes their false ministry.
And the last so he exposestheir false righteousness.
He exposes their false ministry.
And the last one he exposes heexposes their false greatness.
(33:35):
Verse 5 through 7,.
Look what he says, verse 5through 7, they do all their
deeds to be seen.
Everything they do is for ashow To be seen by others.
Man, look, you're going to readthis, you're going to start
watching YouTube, you're goingto start picking up on them.
They do all their deeds to beseen.
(33:58):
They bring attention tothemselves to eclipse the glory
of god gosh.
They do all their deeds to beseen for they make their
phylacteries broad and theirfringes long and they love the
places of honor at feasts andthe best seats in the synagogues
(34:19):
and greetings in themarketplace, being called rabbi
by others.
Watch this.
So he says about thesepharisees.
They love doing ministry justfor a show.
They preach to be seen.
They do ministry to be seen,they dress to be seen, they post
to be seen.
They do stuff just to bringattention to themselves.
(34:40):
How did the ph, the Pharisees,do that?
Two ways.
They made their phylacteriesbroad.
They said preacher, what is thephylactery?
Philip, what is the phylacteryWatch?
In the book of Deuteronomy, godtold his people in Deuteronomy,
(35:02):
chapter 6, or eight, six, six.
In Deuteronomy, chapter six.
Thank God for men that knowtheir Bible.
Come on, kenny.
Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 8.
God told his people I want youto take my word.
(35:29):
Bind it on your hand and onyour forehead.
These Pharisees took thatliterally.
So they created a little box, aleather box, called a
phylactery, and inside that theyput scriptures in the box.
Then they would get a strap andtie the box to their forehead,
and another box they would tiedto their left hand and they
would walk around the streetwith the box on their forehead
and the box on their left handwatch, to show everybody I'm
(35:52):
holy, I'm righteous.
I got the word.
So they're walking around withthis box on their forehead or
left hand and to get attentionfrom people, they made the box
even bigger and they made thebox on their arm bigger.
So now they're walking aroundwith this giant box on their
forehead, watch, just soeverybody see them like oh,
they're righteous, they'rerighteous, they're righteous.
(36:15):
Right, you see, people do thistoday.
Right, they do all this stuffon the outside to try to prove
to people oh you're, you'rerighteous.
They do everything for a show.
Listen, man, god, man.
When I first read this man, whenI first read this this week, I
wept.
Now hear me, I just want to behonest, when I first read this
this week and studied, I criedat my desk.
(36:38):
And I cried at my desk becausetheir behavior reminds me of
what we see in this country.
We see from my camp pastors andleaders who have made
Christianity man a celebrityculture, and we're fighting
(37:00):
about who got the best buildingsand who got the best shoes and
who got a private jet, and weturn christianity man into a
celebrity culture and we dothings on purpose to put
ourselves in positions to beworshipped by men, and so
everything we do is for a show.
We post for attention and wepreach for attention and we
(37:24):
dress for it.
We do everything just to beseen.
It happens all across thiscountry and when I see it I cry.
You see them when we walkthrough airports with all of
this fancy garb, and we do allof this stuff just for somebody
to notice you.
You You're so insecure, youneed to be noticed all the time,
(37:48):
so desperate to be worshipped,and in our preaching we eclipse
the word of God and in ourbehavior we eclipse the
character of God.
Why are y'all not fed up withthis kind of behavior?
You see this all the time Menof God on social media, doing
(38:13):
all these stunts to just bringattention to themselves.
These Pharisees walking aroundwith phylacteries on their head
and on their arm, and then thetassels of their garment.
They made long numbers andnumbers.
God told his people for allyour clothing, put tassels at
the bottom and each tassel willrepresent the commands that I
(38:35):
gave you.
And put a blue cord on it.
That's why we like.
The color blue is what god gaveisrael.
But what the pharisees would dois take their cords and they
make it real long, so that whenpeople see those long fringes,
man, they will say, oh, thesepeople are really holy.
Remember, jesus was wearing oneof those.
That's why the woman who hadthe issue of blood she grabbed
(38:57):
hold of that thing, because thescripture says when the Messiah
came, he would have healing inhis wings and since she was a
Jew, she must have knew the wordof God.
So she didn't even try to grabhis body, she just grabbed his
wings.
But she kept saying to herselfif I only grab the hem of his
(39:21):
garment, I know that I shall behealed.
She believed what she read.
Some of you want deliverance,but you don't believe what you
read.
You need a marriage change, butyou don't read what you believe
(39:42):
.
You don't believe what you read.
You want God to move in somearea, but you don't read what
you believe.
You don't believe what you read.
You want god to move in somearea, but you don't believe what
you read I believe.
Do I got anybody else thatbelieve I believe?
Watch.
And they love the best seats inthe synagogue.
(40:04):
They love sitting in the highseats where everybody can see
them, and greetings in themarketplace.
Now hear me, the lord is notagainst front court seats at the
hogs game.
He's not against a special seatin a gown.
He's not against that.
The operative word here is love.
They love special seating.
They love special seating.
They love special greeting.
They love to be in public, inthe marketplace, the busiest
(40:26):
place in the city, and peoplesay, oh Pharisees, oh rabbi,
they love that stuff, they loveto be called rabbi.
I'm about to land a plane,which means in Greek watch
master, lord, lord, lord.
They love watch this.
Titles that gave them glory.
(40:49):
Who called you an apostle?
You gave that title to yourself.
Who called you a prophet?
You gave that title to yourself.
Who called you a pastor with nochurch?
You gave that title to yourselfAll across this nation, even in
this room, we got people yougave that title to yourself.
All across this nation, even inthis room, we got people.
You're so title struck I'm not,I'm, I don't care.
(41:09):
Especially in the church is oneof the only places where
insecure people can come in,take a title to stroke their ego
and build their insecurities.
That's why we especially blackpeople we love titles.
We introduce ourselves withtitles.
We get mad if somebody don'tuse your title.
(41:32):
It's dangerous to find youridentity in your title.
What happens if it changes?
What happens if you lose it?
You lose yourself.
I am a pastor by divine calling,a calling I ran away from for
(41:57):
four years.
I don't throw that title around.
I don't even introduce peoplewith the name pastor philip.
You don't even see it in myname on the introduction slide.
My name is philip.
I'm only pastor philip by god'sdivine assignment.
(42:17):
My identity cannot be found inthat, for god takes me out the
past.
I still have to be a disciple.
I still have to be a discipleof Christ, apart from my title.
Did you stop having a loveaffair with titles?
(42:41):
Especially all you who looklike me.
We love titles.
The church is the platform forthe insecure To build a monument
for themselves, to stroke theirego with titles God help us.
(43:08):
We bump into you in the airportand we don't call you by your
title.
So after the Lord exposes theirfalse righteousness, he says
(43:38):
don't act like them, their falseministry.
Don't behave like them, theirfalse glory.
Don't act like them.
They're false ministry.
Don't behave like them.
They're false glory.
Don't act like them.
Stop looking for glory.
He will now protect hisfollowers with these last verses
, verse 8 but you that's atransitional word don't act like
them.
(43:58):
American christians, but you arenot to be called master, you're
not to be called rabbi, for youhave only one teacher, which is
Christ, and you are all whatBrothers and sisters, and call
(44:19):
no man your father on earth.
Gosh, I don't want to evenstart trouble right there, let
me just keep moving.
I get in too much trouble.
Let me just keep moving.
Who is in heaven?
You only got one father who isin heaven.
We're not calling a bunch ofmen father, only got one father
who is in heaven.
We're not calling a bunch ofmen father, we got one father
who is in heaven.
Man, I really want to saysomething, but I don't want to
(44:41):
get in trouble.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no.
I'll let you figure it out foryourself.
Nope, nope, nope nope, nope.
(45:03):
I'm going to let you figure itout for yourself.
Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.
Titles, titles, titles forfalse authority over people,
titles that they use for falseauthority over people.
(45:25):
Oh my God.
(45:48):
Verse 10, neither be calledinstructors for you have one
instructor who is christ.
Oh my gosh, in heaven, heaven,nah, they're going to mean me to
death.
I'm done.
(46:16):
Now hear me.
The Lord is not against youcalling your biological father
father, or calling a man aspiritual father.
He's not against you callingsomebody a teacher, because even
Paul taught us in the book ofEphesians that God calls some
people to be teachers, and allthroughout the New Testament we
see people called teachers.
What the Lord was saying isdon't allow people who use
(46:40):
titles to be God to you.
Gosh, you're going to fill inall these blanks when you get
home.
Don't allow people who usetitles to become God to you,
that they cannot use titles toreplace God in your life.
There is only one true father.
(47:01):
There is only one trueinstructor.
There is only one true master.
There is only one who forgivessins.
There is only one who died on across, only one who shed his
(47:22):
blood for you, only one.
This is false greatness, false.
This is false greatness, falseglory.
That's why the Lord said thoseof you who will be great, he
said the greatest among youshould be what your servants.
(47:45):
And whoever exalts himself willbe humble, but whoever humbles
himself will be exalted.
Why is favor on that man?
Why is favor on that ministry?
(48:06):
He don't look like a preacher.
He don't look like no pastor.
He can't put together a goodsentence.
You think a fancy garb makes aman holy?
Is a man with a robe any moreholier than me With ripped jeans
(48:30):
on and a chain around my neckthan me with ripped jeans on and
a chain around my neck?
Too many false teachers, falsemessages, false authority.
But there is one who deservesall of the homage, all of the
(48:52):
honor, all of the praise, all ofyour worship the man who came
from glory and humbled himselfto become a servant, even unto
death, and who was raised andhighly exalted, who laid an
(49:22):
example for us of humility andtrue righteousness, which does
not come from behavior, it comesfrom the cross.
But Christ died, taking hisperfect righteousness and
imputing that to the sinner.
Who taught us real ministry isabout service unto others and
(49:48):
not being served, not lording onourselves glory.
Who taught us real greatness isdown Humility, not trying to be
a show, and you will know them,them by their fruit.
(50:19):
May the Lord protect your earsand protect your eyes and
protect the one soul that youhave from these false preachers,
false authorities, falseteachers running rampant in this
(50:42):
country.
May your soul be purged fromthe lies and the filth that you
have taken in, may you be washedin the word and in the blood of
the lamb, and may you havewatch this a ministry that is
authentic and a righteousnessthat comes from Christ and a
(51:05):
greatness born in the fire ofhumility.
How about that for a sermon?
And of a wise father, I feelthe spirit of God.
(51:26):
I pray you will tear down everystronghold that has been built
up in the minds of your sons anddaughters by false preachers
who taught them false messages,exercising false authority.
I pray they would hear yourinvitation saying come unto me
(51:50):
all you who are weary and heavyladen, and I, jesus, will give
you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, for myburden is easy and it is light.
I pray that you would anointour ears to discern the wolves
(52:17):
among the sheep and that wewould hurl ourselves on the
altar of authentic ministry andhumility and, as a result, our
nation would see a revival.
One church, one city, one state, one region at a time.
Save the one under the sound ofmy voice, who's far away.
(52:41):
Rescue them right now.
I pray this over your people inthe mighty.
I feel the spirit and themajestic In the matchless name
of our Lord and Savior, jesusChrist.
(53:02):
Now, if you receive that, giveyour rabbi praise.
Speaker 3 (53:07):
Hello, my name is Michelle Tolliver and Biblical
Talks book offer for the monthof July is Saints, sufferers and
Sinners Loving Others as GodLoves Us.
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(53:27):
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Filled with everydayillustrations as well as
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(54:13):
Thank you for listening toBiblical Talks.
Welcome to Biblical Talks.
Sermon of the Week.
In Matthew, chapter 23,.
Matthew is talking aboutreligious hypocrites denounced.
The religion leaders werehypocrites.
Instead of helping to relievethe burden of others, they
weighed them down with moreburdens.
(00:22):
They weighed them down withmore burdens.
Listen, the only thing thePharisees wanted is to be
honored, to be looked up to.
Now don't get me wrong.
It's not wrong to honor others.
Paul said to give honor to whomhonor is owed and to give
(00:47):
recognition to those who laboramong you.
First, that's Lonely Year 5 and12.
But listen, it's another thingaltogether to love, be in honor
and to seek it for yourself.
The scribes and the Phariseesthought too highly of themselves
.
Please listen to me.
(01:07):
There is to be no elitism inthe family of God, and the cure
for that is servitude.
So let me ask a question whenwas the last time you served
someone, someone who couldn'tpay you back, who couldn't do
(01:29):
anything for you in return?
That's what Jesus did.
The son of God became a servantto save those who couldn't save
themselves and, as a result,god, the father, highly exalted
him.
And that's what Jesus promisedhis disciples.
Whoever exalts himself will behumble.
(01:53):
Whoever humbles himself will beexalted.
Beloved, let's humble ourselves.
Beloved, let's humble ourselves.
Here's Pastor Philip AnthonyMitchell preaching a sermon
called.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Don't Follow them.
I want to take this moment tosay happy Mother's Day to all of
the mothers and grandmothersand spiritual mothers who are in
the room.
I think y'all can do betterthan that.
I want to take this moment tohonor one of the greatest
(02:57):
mothers I know personally, missLena Claire Mitchell.
Lena is a great mom Loving,caring, discerning, tapped into
(03:21):
the discipleship of our children, not just the raising of
children, but the discipleshipof our children.
Not just the raising ofchildren, but the discipleship
of our children.
And, uh, I want to honor my mom,who's watching right now in
North Carolina, um, ms SharonMitchell, um, the mighty woman
of faith who believed God for ason when the doctor said she
(03:45):
could have no children.
And I want to also honor justall of the mothers in our church
and those who are pouring intopeople.
And before we jump into theproclamation of God's word, I do
want to acknowledge that I knowthat today is not joyful for
(04:05):
everybody, that for some peopletoday it is difficult,
especially for those of youwhere there is an empty place at
a table because your mom haspassed away, or for those of you
who have a very difficultrelationship with your mom, or
for those of you who was notraised with a mother, she was
absent.
I want to acknowledge thatthose feelings are present and
(04:27):
our prayer is that the God ofall comfort will minister to you
if you find yourself any placeon that spectrum.
If you are guests sitting inthis room in the overflow, we
welcome you to 2819, where weare serious about the spread of
the gospel and the multiplyingof disciples.
And to all of our digitaldisciples who are watching me
live right now across the nationand around the world, we
(04:51):
welcome you to 2819.
And if you're sitting in thisroom or in the overflow, if
you're watching me across thatcamera, which is amazing, if
you're not a follower of Christ,we know that you're here.
We're thankful that you're hereand you can belong before you
believe, you can be amongst usbefore you believe, and we are
praying for you that a day isgoing to come when you would
hear this glorious gospel andrespond to the call of Christ,
(05:15):
you would come into thisspiritual family before time has
run out.
That is our prayer for you.
You, we are in a series rightnow, week 12, of a series called
Entry and End Times, in whichwe are walking through Matthew,
chapter 21 through 25 together,and what we are doing in the
series.
We are unpacking, as a church,the final actions and the final
(05:38):
teachings of the Lord JesusChrist in the final week of his
life.
Our message this morning iscoming from Matthew, chapter 23.
Verses 1 through 12.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
For all of our note takers.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Eternal God and ever wise father, we thank you for
the opportunity we have to sitand hear the proclamation of
your word.
It is holy, it is alive andactive.
It is forever settled in heaven.
I pray as your word isproclaimed, you would just
(06:31):
minister to the sons anddaughters and even trouble the
one who's far away from you.
I pray you give me strength inmy human weakness to proclaim
these eternal truths.
We ask in the mighty and themajestic and the matchless name
of our Lord and Savior, jesusChrist and all of God's people
(06:54):
said amen, family.
A couple months ago I wassitting in my prayer room and as
I was sitting in my prayer room, I felt this strong urge to run
upstairs and check on myyoungest son, josiah.
But in full transparency, I didnot move quick enough.
And what happened next I wouldlearn from my son later on that
(07:17):
morning.
And so, a couple months ago, myson Josiah.
He took our dogs outside in thebackyard for their morning walk
.
And while he was out there withthe dogs for their morning walk
, this wolf-type beast justemerged from the tree lines in
(07:38):
the woods behind our house andwas sizing up our two dogs to
attack them.
Josiah went into a panic andstarted yelling at our dogs to
get inside, get inside, getinside.
To which the dogs did not obeyhis voice when he first started
yelling get inside.
(07:58):
And this beast, whatever it wasI mean it looked like a wolf he
said.
I don't know if it was a coyoteor whatever, but this wolf-type
beast was standing theregetting ready to attack our two
dogs and because they was notlistening to his voice, he ran
over to our smallest dog and hescooped up Chance, which is a
(08:19):
Shih Tzu, and he ran towards thehouse zoo.
And he ran towards the houseand as he ran towards the house,
he turned around and he startedyelling at our larger dog, a
poodle named Orlando get in thehouse, get in the house, get in
the house.
And Orlando at first would notmove, he would not listen to the
voice of Josiah and as he stoodthere, that wolf was maybe five
(08:40):
feet from Orlando, gettingready to ravish him and tear him
up, and he kept yelling atOrlando get inside, get inside.
And finally Orlando took offand started running.
And it was Joey, who went intoa quick panic but was also very
quick in his thinking, who caredabout the life of our two dogs
(09:02):
and saw that wolf that came outfrom the woods and did
everything he could in thatmoment to protect the lives of
our dogs from those from thatwolf whatever that was that came
out the tree line.
Family.
This went beyond that day.
This would continue over thecourse of a few weeks and
eventually it got so bad that westarted walking the dogs in the
(09:24):
morning with a flashlight andan air rifle to protect our dogs
from that wolf.
My daughter, abigail, who I'vetrained to shoot she's excellent
with that rifle.
She can.
She'll snipe somebody from 50yards away very easy, like
abigail's a beast with thattrigger and she would be out
there with that rifle on hershoulder, with that flashlight,
(09:48):
trying to protect our two dogsfrom this wolf that kept coming
out every single morning.
That was praying p-r-e-y-i-n-gon these two dogs, now family.
It's with this imagery in mindand the seriousness of Josiah's
call that Christ, our Savior,and the apostles and the
(10:11):
prophets gave strong warningsabout one of the most dangerous
threats to the life of thebeliever your sins, your
mistakes and your failures thatyou repent of.
Something more nefarious,something more dangerous that
they warn people of.
It was the prophet Jeremiah inthe 600 AD.
(10:34):
He described this threat likethis in Jeremiah, chapter 23 and
verse 16.
Thus says the Lord of hosts,describing this threat to your
spiritual well-being.
Hear me, do not listen to thewords of the prophets who
prophesied to you, filling youwith vain hopes.
(10:55):
Always talking about blessings,always talking about rosiness
and clouds and candy, fillingyou with vain hopes.
They speak visions of their ownminds, not from the mouth of
the Lord.
They say continually to thosewho despise the word of the Lord
(11:17):
how do you speak?
Blessings to people thatdishonor God?
This is American preaching.
You preach blessings to peoplethat don't respect Christ, like
he's a genie in a bottle.
They say continually to thosewho despise the Lord it shall be
well with you lies.
And to everyone, subordinately,who follows their own heart,
(11:42):
they say no disaster shall comeupon.
You know what that is preaching, with no warnings.
Man, come on, man, for whoamong them has stood in the
counsel of the lord?
They don't pray to see or hearhis word.
They don't read, or who haspaid attention to his word and
listen.
They don't study.
(12:02):
Behold, the storm of the lordwrath has gone out from the
whistling templates.
It will burst upon the head ofthe wicked.
The angle of the lord will notturn back until he has executed
and accomplished the intents ofhis heart.
In the latter days, you willunderstand this clearly.
A day is coming when your eyeswill be opened.
(12:22):
I, the lord, said did not sendthe prophets, yet they ran.
I didn't appoint you yet youstarted a church.
I didn't send you yet you putyourself in the office.
I did not speak to them yetthey prophesied.
But if they had stood in mycouncil then they would have
proclaimed my words to my people.
(12:43):
If they had a prayer life, youwould hear preaching of the
scriptures and not preaching ofopinions.
It's not your mother's day,sermon we in a series through
Matthew, and they would haveturned from their evil way and
(13:08):
from their evil deeds.
Am I a god at hand, declares thelord, and not a god far away?
He says listen, and not a godfar away.
Can a man hide himself insecret places so I cannot see
him?
That?
Is they not going to escape me,declares the Lord.
Do I not feel heaven and earth?
Declares the Lord.
(13:30):
Have I heard what the prophetshave said?
Who prophesy lies in my namesaying I have a dream?
I have a dream.
How long shall there be lies inthe heart of the prophets who
prophesy lies and who prophesydeceit with their own heart, who
think to make my people forgetmy name.
(13:51):
They exalt their name aboveChrist.
Come on, man, even as theirfathers forgot my name, let the
prophet who has a dream tell thedream, but let him who has a
word speak my word.
How Faithfully.
What straw, in common withleaves, declares the Lord, is
(14:13):
not my word.
Like fire, declares the Lord,and like a hammer that breaks
the rock in pieces, rock andpieces.
Therefore, behold, I am againstthe prophets, declares the Lord
, who steal my words fromanother, from one another.
Behold, I am against theprophets, declared the Lord, who
(14:34):
use their tongues and declaresthe Lord.
Behold, I am against theprophecy who lie in dreams and
declare in the Lord, who telland lead my people astray by
their lies and theirrecklessness, when I did not
send them or charge them so theydo not profit this people,
(14:56):
they're no good for you.
They're no good for you,declares the Lord.
A threat man, you swipe up andbump into them.
You watch them on youtube, yougo to their conferences, you
read their books.
This is who jeremiah is talkingabout.
Listen to what peter said aboutthem.
The apostle peter in the firstcentury ad.
(15:18):
He said in second peter,chapter 2, verse 1 but false
prophets also rose among thepeople, just as there were false
teachers among you who willsecretly bring in destructive
heresies, even denying themaster who brought them,
bringing upon themselves swiftdestruction.
And many will follow theirsensuality and, because of their
(15:40):
way of truth, will beblasphemed and in their greed
they prophesy for profit.
They will exploit you withfalse words.
Their condemnation is from longago.
It is not idle and theirdestruction is not asleep.
Listen to what jude, thebiological brother of jesus,
said about them.
(16:00):
In jude, chapter 1 and verse 10through 13.
He said but these people listento what he said about them.
In Jude, chapter 1, in verse 10through 13,.
He said but these people listento what he said about them?
These people who you see onTikTok, these people who you see
on Facebook, new Age apostleswho try to build churches on
Facebook, who have no authorityfrom God, who try to come at
(16:22):
real prophets.
You have a Facebook churchtrying to come at real prophets.
You have a Facebook churchtrying to come at real prophets
who God has assigned over souls.
Your only ministry is alive.
No interaction with sheep.
Don't smell like sheep, nowounds from sheep.
(16:43):
Your only interaction withsheep is across the screen.
But these people blaspheme allday.
They do not understand.
They are destroyed by all thatthey, like unreasonable animals,
understand instinctively.
Woe to them, for they walk inthe way of Cain.
Abandon themselves for the sakeof C gain to Balaam's era.
(17:05):
Perish in Korah's rebellion.
These are hidden reefs that youlove.
Feasts as they feast with you,without fear, no fear of the
Lord Shepherds feedingthemselves.
Waterless clouds swept along bythe winds, fruitless trees in
late autumn, twice dead,uprooted.
(17:29):
Wild waves of the sea castingup the foam with their own shame
, wandering stars for whom thegloom of utter darkness has been
reserved forever.
Now that's not enough.
Listen to what Jesus said aboutthem In Matthew, chapter 7.
I taught you this in the firstyear of the series, in verse 15.
Beware of false prophets likethat.
(17:50):
Phone going off is an alarmgoing off right now.
Beware of false prophets whocome to you in sheep's clothing.
They have Christian lingo, theyhave christian antics, they
have christian programs, theywrite christian books, they do
christian podcasts, they dochristian conferences.
(18:13):
For lack of discernment, wethumb them.
Like them, support them, listento them or led astray by them.
Beware of false prophets whocome to you in sheep's clothing
but inwardly a ravenous wolves,like that thing that came out
after my dogs.
You will recognize them bytheir all.
(18:40):
Throughout the scripture isfilled with these kind of
warnings, from the Old Testamentto the New Testament.
Why?
Because the prophets and theapostles and your Lord knew that
this would be the mostdangerous threat to the church.
When John is writing in the NewTestament, he's not warning the
people about the devil, onlyhe's telling them I know, when
(19:01):
we leave ravenous wolves,they're gonna come in behind us
and they're gonna wreak havocamong the flock.
That one of the most dangerousthings you face, hear me.
You swipe up and see it.
You watch it on youtube.
They're sitting in yourchurches.
Listen are false prophets, falseteachers with false messages,
(19:25):
who have false authority, whoare ravaging the church.
You listen to them, you thumbthem, you like them, you support
them.
You read their books and go totheir conference.
They rotten out your soul.
You read their books and go totheir conference.
(19:46):
They rotting out your soul.
This is what we deal with as weapproach man, this powerful
text of scripture.
Hear me, it is this text thatwe're about to unpack, which is
the beginning hear me of thelast public message Jesus ever
(20:07):
preached.
If his first recorded sermonwas the Sermon on the Mount,
this is his last recorded sermonand of all the things the Lord
could have said to us before hewas executed publicly.
He took this moment in historyto warn his children and all
(20:29):
future followers to protectthemselves from men like this.
He did not use his last publicsermon to talk about love.
He did not use his last publicsermon to talk about love.
He did not use his last publicsermon to talk about grace man.
He did not use his last publicservant to pronounce blessings.
(20:52):
No, this whole chapter 23, hislast public sermon, is full of
warnings and walls anddamnations.
Watch the Lord.
Watch who called himself thegood shepherd man this is
powerful Used his last publicsermon to try to protect those
(21:13):
who have ears to hear, to guardyour heart from false teachers,
false messages, men who havefalse authority.
He rose into Jerusalem.
You remember the sceneConfronted by the Pharisees,
(21:34):
sadducees and Herodians.
You remember that scene?
He rocks them with his wisdomand his use of the word of God.
Just a reminder to you thatsome of the battles in your mind
, battles in your heart, battlesin your life, follow the
pattern of the Lord.
You can defeat the devil withthe word of God.
You can back him down to yourmind with the word of God.
You can come against him inyour house with the word of God.
You give him the fire of theword of God.
(21:55):
He comes for your marriage.
Give him back the word of God.
He comes for your heart, givingback the word of God.
He lies to you about your past,giving back the word of God.
And it was Christ right here,watch, after he backed them down
, the religious elite, thecorrupt Pharisees of the day.
With the word of God, he willnow begin his last public sermon
(22:17):
.
We'll look at the first halftoday.
The second half next week HeatNext week, heat Next week.
His last public message thefirst thing he exposes to
(22:37):
protect you listen to me frommen like this, hear me watch is
false righteousness.
God, this is so powerful to me.
Chapter 23, verse 1.
He exposes the falserighteousness of false teachers
who have false authority.
Then Jesus said to the crowdsand his disciples ie, he pivots
away from the Pharisees, towardshis followers, towards the
(22:59):
crowd of thousands of people topreach.
To people who have watched,maybe one last opportunity to
repent and protect themselvesfrom the Pharisees.
He says about them watchpublicly His last public sermon.
He speaks with a loud voice.
The scribes and the Phariseessit on Moses's seat seat.
(23:22):
So do and observe whatever theytell you, but not the works
that they do, for they preachbut do not practice.
So in the beginning of hissermon he says to his followers
and to the crowd these pharisees, these hypocritical leaders,
(23:44):
man, they sit on Moses' seat.
Now listen to me carefully.
Moses was a great man of God, agreat prophet of God.
He is the one through whom Godwrote the first five books of
the Bible Genesis, exodus,leviticus, numbers and
Deuteronomy.
Moses wrote those by the Spirit.
Moses' hail is one of thegreatest men in the history of
(24:05):
the Christian faith.
In the first century, thesynagogues had a big stone seat
at the front of the synagoguecalled Moses' seat.
And watch this.
It was a seat of authority.
The literal Greek reading ofthis verse in its original
language said the Pharisees satthemselves on Moses' seat.
(24:30):
That is, they took that throneof authority that God did not
give them.
We see the same thing happeningtoday, when you see people who
call themselves apostles and Goddid not anoint them to be that.
They call themselves prophets.
God did not call them to bethat.
They call themselves pastors.
(24:51):
God did not call them to bethat they start churches.
God did not call them to startthat.
Not just because you have agift, that don't mean you need
to start a church.
And what these men did?
They sat sat, the greek saysthey sat themselves gosh on
moses.
See, that is watch.
They took authority that goddid not give them.
(25:13):
Nowhere in the scriptures doyou ever see god giving the
pharisees authority over hispeople?
But what we do see is ahypocritical, corrupt, darkened
group of men.
Watch who hijack authority forthemselves.
Watch and then they use thatauthority to exert watch, this
(25:34):
dominance over god's people.
Watch.
Now the Lord said this is insaneto me Do whatever they tell you
, but don't do what they do,because they preach but don't
practice.
The Lord said about thePharisees do what they tell you,
(25:57):
but wasn't he going againstthem the whole chapter before?
So some scholars believe he'sbeing ironic, like, since they
hijacked the authority, listento them.
Other scholars believe he'stelling them watch as long as
they're telling you the truthfrom the scriptures and that
only you got to obey that.
(26:17):
This is powerful to me becauseit shows us that God loves
people so much He'll workthrough broken vessels, even
evil vessels, to even get youthe word, even through vessels
he has rejected for himself.
This is important for you toremember because not just
(26:41):
because you hear truth fromsomeone's mouth, that don't mean
God has affirmed that person,because a prophet, a false
prophet, is not just going togive you lies.
Only they will mix in lies withtruth.
So you say, but they quotedthat scripture, right?
That doesn't mean God affirmedthem, though God did not affirm
(27:01):
the Pharisees, but yet Jesussays so long as they teach you
from Moses' law, obey that andno further.
But watch, but don't do whatthey do, don't follow after
their behavior.
Hear me, american ChristiansDon't be people that post and
don't live that.
Don't be people that preachcome down and don don't live.
(27:25):
That I can tell you from beingup here.
It's easy to preach and notlive what you preach when you
come down, it's very easy.
That's why, man, the best thingthat some false preachers can
do is stay on the platform,because as soon as they come off
.
They have no virtue, or thebest thing they can do is stay
off the platform, because assoon as they come up here, this
(27:47):
is the only virtue they have man, they can move a room and move
a crowd and move an arena.
Come off of the stage and don'tdo anything.
They just preached.
This is the Lord warning youand I Don't preach and not
practice.
Don't be like these men.
(28:09):
We do this.
Man, you got all thesescriptures in your profile but
you don't live them.
And this is the Lord saying tohis people don't act like these
Pharisees, don't be people thathave confession without a life
to match.
I'm trying to.
(28:33):
So we see in these men watch afalse righteousness.
They have no righteousness fromGod.
They create their ownrighteousness by taking over
Moses' seat.
They sat themselves in aposition of authority and we see
people do that all over thiscountry, who God did not call,
did not appoint, did not raiseup, and they take their own
(28:55):
authority and give themselvestheir own names.
They start ministries outsideof God's will and you flood
those ministries.
They start ministries outsideof God's will and you flood
those ministries and the Lordand his love for his people.
He would then go on.
Why is he being so seriousabout exposing their false
righteousness?
Two things After this, he wouldthen expose their false
(29:19):
ministry.
Watch when he says to them I'malmost done, almost done, verse
four.
They tie up heavy burdens, hardto bear, and lay them on
people's shoulders, but theythemselves are not willing to
move them with their fingers.
Okay, watch.
So the people of god watch they.
(29:40):
So the people of God watch.
They have the word of God andat some point in time the
Pharisees, spiritual leaders inIsrael watch, begin to create
oral laws to try to force peopleto be obedient to the written
word of God.
Over thousands of years theydeveloped thousands of oral laws
(30:02):
and they built a fence aroundthe word of God.
They took those oral laws andthey codified them in a book
called the Mishnah, and thenwhat they did was exalt their
man-made doctrines.
Watch above the word of God.
So by the time Christ in thetree is born, he's now alive in
(30:24):
an era where the common peoplewatch are underneath the heavy
burdens of this oral law,thousands of them that robbed
and choked out the life fromserving God.
So now every day is a burdenfilled with thousands of rules
and regulations.
I mean they had rules andregulations for everything.
(30:45):
I mean, on the Sabbath youcan't even go one mile.
They had so many rules thatpeople were grieved with all of
these burdens.
Watch and what the Lord saidthat these men see people's.
Watch this see God's peoplesuffering and will do nothing to
ease their suffering.
Watch this is like shepherds inour country who see the plight
(31:11):
of God's people.
They do not shed a tear inprayer for God's people, don't
care about the socioeconomicstatus of God's people, don't
care about the spiritualwell-being of God's people.
They only care about feedingthemselves.
I don't know about you.
Let me talk for me.
If I'm a sheep, I want to be onthe shepherd that shed some
tears for me.
I want to be on the shepherdthat prays for me.
(31:35):
I want to be on the shepherdthat cares about me.
I want to be on the shepherdthat reads the word to me.
I want to be on the shepherdthat will fight a devil for me.
I don't want to be on theirshepherd that reads the word to
me.
I want to be on their shepherdthat will fight a devil for me.
I don't want to be on theirshepherd that hears me suffering
.
See me suffering, see me goingthrough, and all they care about
is getting out of sermon, goinghome and going to sleep.
You won't catch them on theirknees during the week, won't
(31:59):
catch them shedding a tearduring the year.
They do not care about thewell-being of God's people.
Man.
There's American shepherds likethat all across this landscape.
The only thing they care aboutis their next sermon, their next
honorarium and where they'regoing to eat on Sunday.
They do not shed tears for thepeople they preach to, don't
care about them, don't pray forthem, don't fight for for them,
(32:20):
don't stand in the gap for them.
This is false ministry.
Watch, where you preach laws topeople and you do not ease
their suffering by caring forthem, praying for them, loving
(32:42):
on, loving on them, trying tohelp them.
This is for you.
Don't smell like sheep, not incommunity, don't know nothing
going on in the church.
Don't smell like sheep.
(33:10):
The back half of his sermon woesand damnation.
This first half, warning hischildren stay away from men like
this.
So he exposes their falserighteousness.
He exposes their false ministry.
And the last so he exposestheir false righteousness.
He exposes their false ministry.
And the last one he exposes heexposes their false greatness.
(33:35):
Verse 5 through 7,.
Look what he says, verse 5through 7, they do all their
deeds to be seen.
Everything they do is for ashow To be seen by others.
Man, look, you're going to readthis, you're going to start
watching YouTube, you're goingto start picking up on them.
They do all their deeds to beseen.
(33:58):
They bring attention tothemselves to eclipse the glory
of god gosh.
They do all their deeds to beseen for they make their
phylacteries broad and theirfringes long and they love the
places of honor at feasts andthe best seats in the synagogues
(34:19):
and greetings in themarketplace, being called rabbi
by others.
Watch this.
So he says about thesepharisees.
They love doing ministry justfor a show.
They preach to be seen.
They do ministry to be seen,they dress to be seen, they post
to be seen.
They do stuff just to bringattention to themselves.
(34:40):
How did the ph, the Pharisees,do that?
Two ways.
They made their phylacteriesbroad.
They said preacher, what is thephylactery?
Philip, what is the phylacteryWatch?
In the book of Deuteronomy, godtold his people in Deuteronomy,
(35:02):
chapter 6, or eight, six, six.
In Deuteronomy, chapter six.
Thank God for men that knowtheir Bible.
Come on, kenny.
Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 8.
God told his people I want youto take my word.
(35:29):
Bind it on your hand and onyour forehead.
These Pharisees took thatliterally.
So they created a little box, aleather box, called a
phylactery, and inside that theyput scriptures in the box.
Then they would get a strap andtie the box to their forehead,
and another box they would tiedto their left hand and they
would walk around the streetwith the box on their forehead
and the box on their left handwatch, to show everybody I'm
(35:52):
holy, I'm righteous.
I got the word.
So they're walking around withthis box on their forehead or
left hand and to get attentionfrom people, they made the box
even bigger and they made thebox on their arm bigger.
So now they're walking aroundwith this giant box on their
forehead, watch, just soeverybody see them like oh,
they're righteous, they'rerighteous, they're righteous.
(36:15):
Right, you see, people do thistoday.
Right, they do all this stuffon the outside to try to prove
to people oh you're, you'rerighteous.
They do everything for a show.
Listen, man, god, man.
When I first read this man, whenI first read this this week, I
wept.
Now hear me, I just want to behonest, when I first read this
this week and studied, I criedat my desk.
(36:38):
And I cried at my desk becausetheir behavior reminds me of
what we see in this country.
We see from my camp pastors andleaders who have made
Christianity man a celebrityculture, and we're fighting
(37:00):
about who got the best buildingsand who got the best shoes and
who got a private jet, and weturn christianity man into a
celebrity culture and we dothings on purpose to put
ourselves in positions to beworshipped by men, and so
everything we do is for a show.
We post for attention and wepreach for attention and we
(37:24):
dress for it.
We do everything just to beseen.
It happens all across thiscountry and when I see it I cry.
You see them when we walkthrough airports with all of
this fancy garb, and we do allof this stuff just for somebody
to notice you.
You You're so insecure, youneed to be noticed all the time,
(37:48):
so desperate to be worshipped,and in our preaching we eclipse
the word of God and in ourbehavior we eclipse the
character of God.
Why are y'all not fed up withthis kind of behavior?
You see this all the time Menof God on social media, doing
(38:13):
all these stunts to just bringattention to themselves.
These Pharisees walking aroundwith phylacteries on their head
and on their arm, and then thetassels of their garment.
They made long numbers andnumbers.
God told his people for allyour clothing, put tassels at
the bottom and each tassel willrepresent the commands that I
(38:35):
gave you.
And put a blue cord on it.
That's why we like.
The color blue is what god gaveisrael.
But what the pharisees would dois take their cords and they
make it real long, so that whenpeople see those long fringes,
man, they will say, oh, thesepeople are really holy.
Remember, jesus was wearing oneof those.
That's why the woman who hadthe issue of blood she grabbed
(38:57):
hold of that thing, because thescripture says when the Messiah
came, he would have healing inhis wings and since she was a
Jew, she must have knew the wordof God.
So she didn't even try to grabhis body, she just grabbed his
wings.
But she kept saying to herselfif I only grab the hem of his
(39:21):
garment, I know that I shall behealed.
She believed what she read.
Some of you want deliverance,but you don't believe what you
read.
You need a marriage change, butyou don't read what you believe
(39:42):
.
You don't believe what you read.
You want God to move in somearea, but you don't read what
you believe.
You don't believe what you read.
You want god to move in somearea, but you don't believe what
you read I believe.
Do I got anybody else thatbelieve I believe?
Watch.
And they love the best seats inthe synagogue.
(40:04):
They love sitting in the highseats where everybody can see
them, and greetings in themarketplace.
Now hear me, the lord is notagainst front court seats at the
hogs game.
He's not against a special seatin a gown.
He's not against that.
The operative word here is love.
They love special seating.
They love special seating.
They love special greeting.
They love to be in public, inthe marketplace, the busiest
(40:26):
place in the city, and peoplesay, oh Pharisees, oh rabbi,
they love that stuff, they loveto be called rabbi.
I'm about to land a plane,which means in Greek watch
master, lord, lord, lord.
They love watch this.
Titles that gave them glory.
(40:49):
Who called you an apostle?
You gave that title to yourself.
Who called you a prophet?
You gave that title to yourself.
Who called you a pastor with nochurch?
You gave that title to yourselfAll across this nation, even in
this room, we got people yougave that title to yourself.
All across this nation, even inthis room, we got people.
You're so title struck I'm not,I'm, I don't care.
(41:09):
Especially in the church is oneof the only places where
insecure people can come in,take a title to stroke their ego
and build their insecurities.
That's why we especially blackpeople we love titles.
We introduce ourselves withtitles.
We get mad if somebody don'tuse your title.
(41:32):
It's dangerous to find youridentity in your title.
What happens if it changes?
What happens if you lose it?
You lose yourself.
I am a pastor by divine calling,a calling I ran away from for
(41:57):
four years.
I don't throw that title around.
I don't even introduce peoplewith the name pastor philip.
You don't even see it in myname on the introduction slide.
My name is philip.
I'm only pastor philip by god'sdivine assignment.
(42:17):
My identity cannot be found inthat, for god takes me out the
past.
I still have to be a disciple.
I still have to be a discipleof Christ, apart from my title.
Did you stop having a loveaffair with titles?
(42:41):
Especially all you who looklike me.
We love titles.
The church is the platform forthe insecure To build a monument
for themselves, to stroke theirego with titles God help us.
(43:08):
We bump into you in the airportand we don't call you by your
title.
So after the Lord exposes theirfalse righteousness, he says
(43:38):
don't act like them, their falseministry.
Don't behave like them, theirfalse glory.
Don't act like them.
They're false ministry.
Don't behave like them.
They're false glory.
Don't act like them.
Stop looking for glory.
He will now protect hisfollowers with these last verses
, verse 8 but you that's atransitional word don't act like
them.
(43:58):
American christians, but you arenot to be called master, you're
not to be called rabbi, for youhave only one teacher, which is
Christ, and you are all whatBrothers and sisters, and call
(44:19):
no man your father on earth.
Gosh, I don't want to evenstart trouble right there, let
me just keep moving.
I get in too much trouble.
Let me just keep moving.
Who is in heaven?
You only got one father who isin heaven.
We're not calling a bunch ofmen father, only got one father
who is in heaven.
We're not calling a bunch ofmen father, we got one father
who is in heaven.
Man, I really want to saysomething, but I don't want to
(44:41):
get in trouble.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no.
I'll let you figure it out foryourself.
Nope, nope, nope nope, nope.
(45:03):
I'm going to let you figure itout for yourself.
Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.
Titles, titles, titles forfalse authority over people,
titles that they use for falseauthority over people.
(45:25):
Oh my God.
(45:48):
Verse 10, neither be calledinstructors for you have one
instructor who is christ.
Oh my gosh, in heaven, heaven,nah, they're going to mean me to
death.
I'm done.
(46:16):
Now hear me.
The Lord is not against youcalling your biological father
father, or calling a man aspiritual father.
He's not against you callingsomebody a teacher, because even
Paul taught us in the book ofEphesians that God calls some
people to be teachers, and allthroughout the New Testament we
see people called teachers.
What the Lord was saying isdon't allow people who use
(46:40):
titles to be God to you.
Gosh, you're going to fill inall these blanks when you get
home.
Don't allow people who usetitles to become God to you,
that they cannot use titles toreplace God in your life.
There is only one true father.
(47:01):
There is only one trueinstructor.
There is only one true master.
There is only one who forgivessins.
There is only one who died on across, only one who shed his
(47:22):
blood for you, only one.
This is false greatness, false.
This is false greatness, falseglory.
That's why the Lord said thoseof you who will be great, he
said the greatest among youshould be what your servants.
(47:45):
And whoever exalts himself willbe humble, but whoever humbles
himself will be exalted.
Why is favor on that man?
Why is favor on that ministry?
(48:06):
He don't look like a preacher.
He don't look like no pastor.
He can't put together a goodsentence.
You think a fancy garb makes aman holy?
Is a man with a robe any moreholier than me With ripped jeans
(48:30):
on and a chain around my neckthan me with ripped jeans on and
a chain around my neck?
Too many false teachers, falsemessages, false authority.
But there is one who deservesall of the homage, all of the
(48:52):
honor, all of the praise, all ofyour worship the man who came
from glory and humbled himselfto become a servant, even unto
death, and who was raised andhighly exalted, who laid an
(49:22):
example for us of humility andtrue righteousness, which does
not come from behavior, it comesfrom the cross.
But Christ died, taking hisperfect righteousness and
imputing that to the sinner.
Who taught us real ministry isabout service unto others and
(49:48):
not being served, not lording onourselves glory.
Who taught us real greatness isdown Humility, not trying to be
a show, and you will know them,them by their fruit.
(50:19):
May the Lord protect your earsand protect your eyes and
protect the one soul that youhave from these false preachers,
false authorities, falseteachers running rampant in this
(50:42):
country.
May your soul be purged fromthe lies and the filth that you
have taken in, may you be washedin the word and in the blood of
the lamb, and may you havewatch this a ministry that is
authentic and a righteousnessthat comes from Christ and a
(51:05):
greatness born in the fire ofhumility.
How about that for a sermon?
And of a wise father, I feelthe spirit of God.
(51:26):
I pray you will tear down everystronghold that has been built
up in the minds of your sons anddaughters by false preachers
who taught them false messages,exercising false authority.
I pray they would hear yourinvitation saying come unto me
(51:50):
all you who are weary and heavyladen, and I, jesus, will give
you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, for myburden is easy and it is light.
I pray that you would anointour ears to discern the wolves
(52:17):
among the sheep and that wewould hurl ourselves on the
altar of authentic ministry andhumility and, as a result, our
nation would see a revival.
One church, one city, one state, one region at a time.
Save the one under the sound ofmy voice, who's far away.
(52:41):
Rescue them right now.
I pray this over your people inthe mighty.
I feel the spirit and themajestic In the matchless name
of our Lord and Savior, jesusChrist.
(53:02):
Now, if you receive that, giveyour rabbi praise.
Speaker 3 (53:07):
Hello, my name is Michelle Tolliver and Biblical
Talks book offer for the monthof July is Saints, sufferers and
Sinners Loving Others as GodLoves Us.
Helping the Helpers by MichaelEmlett.
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You want to help, but where doyou begin?
(53:27):
Author and counselor, michael BEmlett outlines a lot of one
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Filled with everydayillustrations as well as
counseling examples, emlittdemonstrates what it looks like
to approach fellow believerssimultaneously as saints,
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Love others wisely and well.
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Michael Emlett has given us atreasure in this book.
For any amount of donation toBiblical Talks, we will send you
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(54:13):
Thank you for listening toBiblical Talks.
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Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.