Matthew 23:23, 24 Determining the important is essential to everyone! Always there are priorities! Priorities are based on properly grasping what is more important among the numerous importants. Consider. Parents ‘lay the law down’ to a 14 year old: “Under no circumstance are you allowed to drive the car!” The 14 year old arrived home … Read moreHypocrite: Details or Substance?
Matthew 23:16-22 Years ago a Christian lady often remarked to fellow Christians, “I would never say that in a church building!” The “that” was rarely something evil. To her, it was just an inappropriate statement [or action] for “inside a church building.” She had a strict spiritual protocol for what was appropriate and inappropriate in … Read moreHypocrite: Artificial Distinctions
Matthew 23:15 NKJV Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. Matthew 23:14 does not occur in the oldest manuscripts of Matthew. The problem of exploiting the helpless and … Read moreHypocrisy: Converts
Matthew 23:13 We need to begin by defining some terms used in today’s text. Consider the word, “Pharisees.” Do not stereotype every Pharisee as being “a person who misrepresented God.” Even Jewish society recognized there were distinctions to be made among the Pharisees. Not all Pharisees held identical views. What was generally true of the … Read moreHypocrites: An Obstacle to Others
Matthew 23:1-12 A key element in understanding God’s will for His people is found in the role of service. The man or woman who belongs to God is a servant. Jesus repeatedly stressed this in numerous situations. Consider some examples. In Matthew 20:20-28 James and John’s mother asked Jesus to enthrone her sons on his … Read moreHypocrites: The Principle of Service
Matthew 23 It is important to note that Jesus spoke Matthew 23 during the last week of his life. The Teacher spent much of his ministry appealing to the Pharisees in terms meaningful to their perspective. As Jesus’ death approached, nothing changed in the Pharisees’ perspective. Usually it was the Pharisees who tried to confront … Read more“Woe to You, Scribes and Pharisees, Hypocrites!”
Isaiah 29:13 Matthew 15:7-9 Give the typical definition of a hypocrite. (Please be prepared to share that definition/concept with the class.) Today, typically, a hypocrite is a person who indulges in or practices hypocrisy. To engage in hypocrisy is to engage in pretense. It is a pretending designed to deceive. The person gives the appearance … Read moreHypocrisy: A Different Definition
Jude 1:1 HCSB Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James: To those who are the called, loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ. This may be considered a variant introduction of a general letter to the churches of Christ. There are two pieces of information used to identify … Read moreNew Testament minor figure, Jude
Colossians 4:12-14 Philemon 23-24 2 Timothy 4:9-10 What if you were in a time of great need and those you have trusted and counted upon not only are absent but have left you on your own. Imagine the feeling of being totally alone in your greatest need. Over time many would suffer this betrayal. Moses … Read moreNew Testament minor figure, Demas
Titus does not appear by name in the book of Acts. Yet Titus was one of Paul’s most trusted co-workers and companions as well as a great friend as Galatians 2:1-5, 2 Corinthians 7:13-15, Titus 1:1, 1:4-5 along with others show. Paul calls him “my true child after a common faith” Titus 1:4. Thus indicating … Read moreNew Testament minor figure, Titus