Carmelo Caparros
Sep 26, 2021
INTRODUCTION
Religious hypocrisy takes on so many forms and this was most especially true among the Jews during the time of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. There were two very prominent religious groups, NONE of which came under God’s approval because of their hypocrisy
The first group would be the Sadducees. Generally speaking, they were the RATIONALISTS of their time who made REASON their god and were likewise ANTI-SUPERNATURALISTS.
The second group would be the Pharisees. They were the CONSERVATIVE ORTHODOX group who were
deeply entrenched in RITUALISM. Their focus was EXTERNAL PIETY and NOT INNER SPIRITUALITY.
These two ancient groups have their own CONTEMPORARY EQUIVALENTS and the deeply committed CHRISTIAN – who is perceived as RADICAL – would not approve of these people.
The radical’s life is bound to the SUPERNATURAL – because of the indwelling of the Spirit – his mind is the MIND of CHRIST, his life is directed toward ETERNAL THINGS and ultimately he is more concerned about INNER REALITIES than EXTERNAL SYMBOLS.
When the RADICAL meets the RATIONALIST and the hypocrital ORTHODOX, there’s bound to be FIREWORKS and that is exactly what we find in this passage. There are TWO points I see here and they are as follows
BODY SERMON
I. The Radical Herald’s Message to the Religious Hypocrites vv. 7 – 10
a. False Assumption & Truth to act upon vv. 7 – 8
b. False Security & Truth to believe in v. 9
c. False Believers’ impending judgment v. 10
CONCLUSION
Herein we saw that the Sadducee, a RATIONALIST, in spite of his supposed wisdom and his being master of his destiny is really a FOOL.
Herein we also saw that the Pharisee, an ORTHODOX JEW, who was proud of his orthodoxy and works diligently with his rituals is working for NOTHING. HYPOCRISY never pays.
Only GENUINE REPENTANCE and FAITH in Christ works.