So, what happens when you shut the door? I want to invite you to open your Bible to Matthew, chapter 6, and I want you to hear something that Jesus says about prayer. He taught this on his famous Sermon on the Mount when he was preaching to thousands of people, and he didn't say, like we might say today, “if” you pray, Jesus says, “when” you pray. The expectation of God's people is that they would spend time with God in prayer, and so in Matthew, chapter 6, verses 5 and 6, Jesus says, “When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father, who is in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.”
I'm asking you, do you shut the door and have a secret time of prayer with the Father? Do you know how to talk to him? Because we're having a conference at our church, it's Friday, June 12, and Saturday, June 13, and the whole point of this conference is to equip you to pray. And so, if prayer has always been an elusive thing in your life, you should definitely attend. If you could open up your bulletin right now, you'll see the signup there for this Conference. And you should definitely sign up and come to this if you want to grow in prayer. And some of you who regularly do pray, you might already be signed up for this conference, because when you're praying, you would love more encouragement, you would love more equipping, and how do I really talk to God so that his name is hallowed? How do I learn how to pray like Jesus taught his disciples. And so, we have a great opportunity here at our church to do something the likes of which we've never done before. We're going to have a Conference on prayer. We've been blessed to have some conferences here at this campus God has given us, but we're actually inviting all seven other Compass Bible churches to come and join us for this Conference.
See, I was at Compass Bible Church in Aliso Viejo, and we used to do this Equipped Conference, and the goal was to equip the people at our church to do the work of the ministry, and so we would have these different conferences. And so, the reason now it's called the National Equipped Conference is because some of the people that all used to be at one church together, well, some of them now are in Idaho, some of them now are in Texas. That one church has now spread to eight different churches, and I can tell you, as someone who's seen the whole thing happen, we asked God to do it, and he did even more than all we could ask or think.
And so, prayer is not something that you want to wish you were better at for the rest of your life. Prayer is something you want to learn how to do as soon as possible, because it will change the rest of your life. And so, I really want to encourage you to consider coming to this Conference, and even if you're coming, let's pray that we will really learn how to pray, and it will change even things here at our church. And if you'll grab your Bible and go with me to Mark 12, I think that's a great introduction to what Jesus is going to teach us in the temple here in Mark chapter 12. We come to the end of this chapter, and Jesus wants to talk about what we do in secret between us and God. And so, if you can turn with me to Mark, chapter 12, verses 35 to 44 I've kind of had this revelation about studying this chapter of Scripture. And in Jesus teaching us in the temple, because I'm more familiar with the end of Jesus' life, the whole part here at the end of Mark is the last week of Jesus' life. And I particularly have spent a lot of time in my life studying his last night, the Last Supper he has with the disciples, when he goes and prays in the garden of Gethsemane, when Judas betrays him with a kiss, when Peter denies him three times, while he's outside of the trial, when they kill him on the cross, when he rises from the dead on the third day. I've studied so much the end of Jesus's life, but here's what I'm really realizing. Look at Mark 11, that's when he comes into Jerusalem. If you go back to chapter 11, verse 1, we've been in Jerusalem, primarily in the temple through all of Mark 11. Now, all of Mark 12, and all of Mark 13, if you look at the pages there for me, that's roughly two full pages of my Bible. And 13 is Jesus continuing to teach what begins in the temple, and then when I look now, go over to chapter 14. And chapter 14 is really long. But then you get chapter 15, and then chapter 16 is really short, and that's also two pages in my Bible. So, what I'm realizing is that in the last week of Jesus' life, we get as much of his teaching in the temple as we do of the end famous events where he dies and rises again,.
But in my life, I've spent way more time studying the end events of Jesus' life and not what he teaches in the temple, but Mark gave me an equal amount of both of those things. And so, I'm realizing I need to pay closer attention. There's an intentionality in why this is recorded that Jesus taught this in the temple, and maybe I haven't paid close enough attention to what Jesus says. So, I want to encourage you to give this your full and undivided attention. Because this is the Word of God. And out of respect for God's Word, I invite everyone to stand up for the public reading of Scripture. And I'm going to read for us our text for today, Mark 12:35-44. Please follow along as I read.
And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.’ David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the great throng heard him gladly. And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
That's the reading of God's Word. Please go ahead and grab your seat. And I would love for you to grab the handout that's there in your bulletin, and I'd love for you to take notes as we go through this text. Notice even how it begins, “As Jesus taught in the temple,” not necessarily saying he's beginning to teach in the temple, but like he has been teaching in the temple. And what I'm realizing is even when these scribes or Pharisees or Sadducees have been challenging him, he's still teaching, he's still saying what he wants the people to know. And so really, he cleaned out the temple. They've been challenging him, trying to catch him in a trap, trying to get him into a controversy. In his wisdom and authority, he answers them so beautifully that now those who are really the religious leaders have left, and there's a great crowd hanging on every word that Jesus is saying, a great crowd who gladly is listening to the teaching of Jesus. So, he's been doing this now for two chapters, exposing the flaws of the false religious leaders and teaching the people from God's Word, and now, look, Jesus just brings this up. He says, “The scribes say.” So, underline “the scribes.” We're going to talk a lot about the scribes. He says, “The scribes say,” there in verse 35. He also says beware of the scribes in verse 38. The scribes are the religious leaders in Judaism at this time, specifically, there would be seventy of them in the Sanhedrin, which is the council of religious leaders there in Jerusalem. And we might know some of the groups of scribes, like the Pharisees or the Sadducees, but they were those who studied the law of Moses, they studied the Hebrew Scriptures, and then they taught them to the people. And so, they're the religious leaders. And notice how Jesus teaches here. He says, "You've heard the scribes say that Christ is the son of David.” Okay, but listen to what David himself says. So, he's going to start with what's possible, popular, what people are hearing, what the common teaching is of their day. And then he's going to compare what the scribes are saying to what the Scripture is saying. Notice how he draws your attention to that in verse 36 when he says, “David himself,” notice “in the Holy Spirit.” Well, according to 1 Peter, when men are moved by the Holy Spirit, that could be the Holy Spirit inspiring them to write the Scripture, and the quote we have here is from Psalm 110, verse 1. He quotes David.
Now, we got to read through the Psalms together as a church. It was a great joy for me, and we actually did a whole sermon earlier this year on this psalm, Psalm 110. Maybe you can remember where it says, “Yahweh,” the first word for Lord, there, Yahweh, who we think of as the Father. He said to Adonai, which is Yahweh, is kind of God's name, and Adonai is a title that means Lord, boss, master. And so, Yahweh says to Adonai, or you could think of it as the Father says to his Son, Jesus, “sit at my right hand until I may put your enemies under your feet.” And that's what we celebrated on Ascension Day. Those of you who were able to be here Thursday night we thought about Jesus ascending into heaven, being at the right hand of the Father, but see, notice what Jesus does. He says the scribes are saying that the Messiah is the Son of David. The scribes are emphasizing how the Messiah comes in the line of David, how he's going to be like a king like David, trying to restore Israel to the glory of what it was at the time of David. But notice what Jesus does, he says no, but David said, Lord said to who, to my Lord. Who's calling him “my Lord”? There David is, David's not acting like he's his son or his descendant, David's not acting like he's coming from him. David talks about the Lord like he's over him, like he already exists, like he is his master, his boss.
So, this is some masterful teaching here. Notice how Jesus summarizes it in verse 37. David himself calls him Lord, so how is he his son? See, when you talk about the Messiah, and you say he's a descendant of David, that's true. The Messiah is going to come in the line of David as one of his descendants. But notice how it's like you're putting the Messiah under King David, and really their goal would have been to see the kingdom restored to the way it was with David, and the goal of the Messiah coming is that it will work out well for me, because I’ll get to be in the kingdom, and our nation will be restored to the glory it had among the other nations, but see, Jesus flips the script, and he says, "No, you're thinking about the Messiah as underneath David. When David says the Messiah is over him, he takes the low view of the Messiah, and he shows how we should actually be having a high view of a lifted and exalted Messiah. And so, Jesus does this by comparing what the scribes are saying and comparing it to the Scripture. This is something we need to observe. This is something that you're going to have to learn how to do in your life, because we may not have scribes in the same way, but we have many religious leaders, many of them self-appointed religious leaders, who are putting out things that they are saying, and you're hearing them, you're hearing them on podcasts and YouTube, you're hearing them because other people are repeating them. There are even things that people regularly say after a service of this church or in one of our fellowship groups, and they repeat some of the popular thoughts, some of the common things. Oh, I just heard this on Christian radio. I just heard somebody say this the other day. And then they bring up something that somebody said. And should we listen to what somebody said? Is what somebody said true, or is it actually a little bit different than what the Scripture says? See, you're going to be hearing what many say, and you're going to have to compare what they say with what God says.
Let's get it down like this for point number one, if you're taking notes: “Source what people say to Scripture.” Source what people say to Scripture. And I'm saying you might have to do this with what people are saying right here at this church, because people are repeating things that they hear, and a lot of these things, they're not completely false, so there's truth to them, but they're also not exactly the truth of what the Scripture says either, and. Why this is such a good example, because is it true that the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed promised one of God, is he going to come in the line of King David? The answer to that is Yes, that's true. You could say the Messiah is the son of David, but see, when you talk about it like that over time, it gives this impression that the Messiah is lesser than David. When really, Jesus uses Psalm 110, verse 1 to show that the Messiah, he's the Lord of David, he's the Lord of Israel, he's the Lord of all creation. He's not just a man who's going to appear later in time, he is the God-man who was with the Father before there was time.
And so, what you'll notice is a lot of the most popular things that people are saying in Christianity today are things that generally work for our benefit, things that generally the reason people keep saying them is I like how that works out for me, and if I'm not careful, if I listen to what popular Christian things are, I'd become the center of the universe, and it's almost like God exists to bless me. But what the Scripture is actually saying is that Jesus is the center of the universe, and I exist to praise the name of Jesus Christ. And so, people are saying things that are kind of true, but they make it about us and the Scripture. While Jesus loves you, and he does want to bless you, the scripture is not primarily about you. The scripture is saying that Jesus is the center of the universe, and that every knee is going to bow, and every tongue is going to confess that he is not just the Lord of King David, he's my Lord. He is the Lord of all.
And so, this got me all fired up. I'll tell you what, I was building this chart where I was going to make the top ten stupid things that Christians are saying right now and compare them to Scripture. I mean, I had on my computer, I was building this chart out, and then I realized, why am I going to steal all of your answers? Because it's not just that you need to hear me compare what people are saying to what Scripture says, you have to learn how to do this yourself, because they're going to be saying it to you, and you're going to have to learn how to think. Don't just accept it because so and so said it.
And then, let me just tell you, the number one person who gets quoted around here, well, so and so said, is unfortunately me. I'm the number one person who gets quoted, particularly awkward when spouses are having an argument at their house, and if Pastor Bobby was here, he would say, "I just want to make it very clear, I'm not there, and I don't plan on being there anytime soon. I'm not coming over for the argument. All right? So, keep me out of it. It does not matter to one degree, what I say, it only matters what God says, and I'm only doing a good job if I'm quoting what God says and helping you understand the Scripture. If I'm adding my own thoughts, then that's actually a problem, and so we got it. I don't care how famous the pastor is, how sound their theology is, how big their church is, or how many followers they have on social media. Stop quoting people and quote God. We're supposed to care about what God says. It's worth memorizing. It's worth knowing the chapter and verse, it's worth not butchering for the rest of your life. We're not paraphrasing in a way that actually loses the original meaning of the text. It's worth actually knowing in such a way that you can say, I know what God says, and you can't quote anybody more awesome than that. And so that's what you need to do, yeah, if you have good Bible teachers, the whole point of those teachers is to teach you the Word of God, not to become the source of authority themselves.
Go with me to Acts, chapter 17, and let's look at a great example of this kind of discernment, where we take what people say and we compare it to what Scripture says. Acts 17, it's one of my favorite chapters in Acts, because Paul goes to Thessalonica, and when the people hear the Word of the Lord, oh, it sounds forth from them, it echoes from them. There's a great response to the gospel. The gospel shows how powerful it is in Thessalonica, and the reason I love Thessalonica is because the first book we went throughout our church is 1 Thessalonians, and we looked at how these people, they turned from idols to serve the true and living God in repentance, and they responded to the gospel with faith, where they believe that Jesus was going to come from heaven and deliver them from the wrath that is coming upon the whole world. And so, these people had a powerful response to the gospel, but there were some Jews there in Thessalonica who hated what Paul was saying, and they resisted him, and they had to get him out of town, because these Jews were going to harm the Apostle Paul. And so, he went to this next town, which is called Berea, and look at what it says here in verse 11 of Acts 17. “Now these Jews,” he went to the synagogue and started teaching in Berea, and these Jews, it says, “were more noble than those in Thessalonica, they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so,” examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
So, these people are held up as noble, as exemplary, as someone for us to follow. And it says, here's what they did when Paul, and this is Paul that we're talking about, Paul, who's seen Jesus, who's been sent out as an apostle of Jesus. Oh, they're ready to hear his teaching, but they're going to compare everything Paul says. They're not even going to say, 'Well, Paul said it, therefore it must be true. No, they're comparing what Paul says to what? To the Scriptures. So, they're happy to hear, but then they want to compare, and they want to make sure that what is being said goes along with what God says, and if there's a difference, we want to see the difference and promote what God says. See, this is what mature Christianity looks like, is through constant practice you are able to discern truth from error. Some things are half-truth, and you're able to see what's true about it, and then what it's missing, what it's lacking in the full expression of God's truth. And so, that's what we want. We want to be Bereans, okay? We don't want to be Compassians, we don't want to be Bobbyans, we want to be Bereans. We want to compare everything that people say to what Scripture says.
And so, this is going to happen in your fellowship group. This is going to happen as you talk to people, as you listen to the radio, as you watch YouTube. Somebody's going to be saying something. How do you know what they're saying is really true? You’ve got to go back to the source, and you’ve got to compare what the scribes are saying with what the Scripture is saying. And if you do that, watch, you'll make the same flip that Jesus does here. Instead of it being about the Messiah coming for us and what he's going to do for our nation or our kingdom, it's going to be about the Messiah coming for his glory and what he's going to do with his kingdom. He'll go from someone who's making it about us to making it all about him. And so, I could give many examples of this, but look, here's what I want to do. If you flip over your hand out to the back, this is what I want you to do at your fellowship group this week, or I want everybody here, even if you're not going to your fellowship group this week, for some reason, I want you to do number two. Number two says, “What is something you hear people say about Jesus, or maybe they're paraphrasing something Jesus said. How would you compare this to the source of Scripture. So, what are these popular kinds of expressions that you hear people quoting Jesus? Are they really quoting Jesus? Things people say about Jesus. I'll just give one that was on my chart. Okay? I’ve got to share at least one, but I want to leave most of them for you. But who's ever heard people say, “Well, Jesus was a friend of sinners.” Have you ever heard somebody say that? And who did Jesus hang out with when he was here on earth? He hung out with tax collectors, and who else? Prostitutes. And you'll hear people act like that's true, there's truth to that, but then they act like, so that's why I'm rolling with these folks over here. And they don't always get to the end of the story, which is a lot of those tax collectors were repenting of being tax collectors and leaving everything to follow Jesus. That's what happened after he hung out with them in Mark, chapter 2. So, you don't get the full story of Scripture, you get something that's kind of from Scripture, but then you come up with Jesus was not participating in anyone else's sin, Jesus was not condoning anyone else's sin. Jesus was actually exposing people's sin and drawing them to the light of God's revelation.
And so, we can say something that's true, but then it can get misinterpreted. So, there's one example, all right, but now you can't use that one, so you got to come up with your own examples, and what are people saying, but what does the scripture actually say? So go back with me now to Mark 12, because Jesus has more to say about these scribes. He's exposed something in their teaching that's kind of true, but it's not the whole truth, and the people are delighted to hear Jesus’ teaching. He's helping them think through some of the misconceptions that the scribes have been giving them, and they're seeing the Messiah as more exalted based on the teaching of Jesus. That's always the point of Scripture, is to show us the glory of God. If the point becomes the exaltation of people, well, it's probably being twisted, when the point is to give God the glory. And so, now he just flat out says in his teaching, “He said, 'Beware of the scribes,’” And next to that word “beware,” I want you to write the word “see,” because that's what he's saying there in the Greek. This is going to be very important. He's saying, see the scribes, take a look at the scribes. I want you to consider the scribes with me now.
Let me just tell you, at this point of the sermon, some of you are about to feel very uncomfortable here at church this morning. Okay? I just want to warn you that what Jesus is about to say, some people might think is inappropriate, because Jesus is about to say that these scribes, the religious leaders of the Jews, who wear long robes, and they love the greetings in the marketplaces, and they love the best seats in the synagogues, and they get the places of honor at feasts, and they're devouring widows' houses, and they make long prayers, but they're not talking to God. They're impressing people. Those guys are going to hell. That's what Jesus says right here. In fact, he doesn't even just say they're going to get punished. He doesn't even just say they're going to get judged on the great day of judgment. He says that those scribes, who are supposed to be the religious leaders, but are false, they're going to get a greater judgment, that's what he says. “They will experience a greater condemnation.” Now, if you just came to church and I started quoting people's names and I started railing on people in their false teaching, and I started saying that those false teachers are going to hell, you might think, whoa, this pastor's way out of line, but this isn't me saying it. This is what Jesus teaches in the temple. This is what Jesus literally teaches in the territory where the scribes do their work. He says, yeah, can you see those guys? You see how they present themselves, you see how they look on the outside, they're going to be judged, and they're going to get a greater judgment, like it says in James, chapter 3, verse 1. Not many should be teachers, for they will incur a stricter judgment, and Jesus says that's what's coming for these scribes.
So, you might be a part of this naive idea that is very common in our day. Well, you shouldn't say anything bad about religious people, they're trying to do something good. That's not what Jesus teaches in the temple. Jesus says that many religious people are false, and if you follow them, you will not end up with Jesus. You will end up in hell. Well, they will be experiencing the greater judgment themselves. So, there is a time where false teachers need to be called out for leading people away from God, and Jesus is doing that here. You need to see this.
Let's get this down for number two: “See not all religious leaders are good.” You need to see that not all religious leaders are good. Just because they're doing something in the name of God does not mean they are actually all doing it for God. There are many religious people leading people astray, making people sons of hell like themselves. And Jesus was very clear about this. So, do you understand this? Do you understand that there are many false teachers out there, and that they're on their way towards judgment? Jesus, do you see the scribes? Yeah, they're not as they appear, they're not as you would see them with your eye. Something different is happening spiritually with these scribes. Now, what I want to show you is that when Jesus uses this Greek word blepo, to see this very common Greek verb that begins a whole line of teaching that Jesus is going to do, and it begins here at the end of chapter 12, and it goes all the way throughout Mark 13. So, when Jesus said, “See the scribes,” he started this epic series of teaching that's going to continue, that we're going to be studying in Mark 13, and he's going to use this word, see, see, see, or look at this. He's going to use this same word as kind of the driving force behind his teaching. Let me show you. In chapter 13, verse 2, they say one of his disciples said to him about the temple, “Look, teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings,” and Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings?” Hey, look at the buildings. Can everybody see how awesome the structure of the temple is? “There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” So, you could see, look at the scribes. Jesus is saying, do they look like they're leaders of religion? Yeah, they're going to hell and experiencing greater judgment. Yeah, does the temple look awesome? Look at these mighty stones that they used to build the temple. Does the temple look like a place of profound worship? It's going to be destroyed; it's going to be torn apart. Not one of these stones is going to be left. Look, what you can see something different is actually coming.
So, this is the manner of teaching that Jesus is using. Can you see this? It's not as it appears to you, and you have to learn to really listen to what Jesus is saying. Now in Mark 13, look at the next verse, where Peter and James and John and Andrew, they all come to him when they're outside of Jerusalem, now on the Mount of Olives, overlooking the temple there. Look, they ask this question in verse 4: “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” So, they ask a question about the future, the kinds of questions that many people have. How's the world going to end? When's it all going to happen? And so, starting in two weeks, we're going to do a series here at our church called “When,” and it's going to be a four-part study through everything Jesus says to answer that question, and it'll be the deepest dive into eschatology that we have done so far here at our church. So, if you have questions about how it's all going to work out in the future, you definitely want to pay attention to what Jesus says. But what I'm trying to show you is we're actually kind of starting that series right now, because when Jesus is saying see this, it's not how it appears. See, the temple, it's not how it appears. He's already started his teaching, and he continues to say, see this, see that. Look at verse 5, look at what he says in verse 5. “See that no one leads you astray.” People are going to come, and their intent is going to be to lead you astray from Jesus. And here's what's crazy: they're going to use Jesus as the reason you should follow them. They're going to say, yeah, Jesus was a prophet, but we have another prophet after Jesus. Or guess what? Jesus came to me in the woods, and he came over to the Americas, and he's got a new message: "Hey, follow me. There's going to be all kinds of people, and some of them are even going to claim to be the Christ himself. See, look, watch out, don't be led astray. There are many false Christs, many antichrists will come, even before the ultimate antichrists will come. Look out for them. There's going to be counterfeit, Jesus presented to you, and you got to be able to compare the fakes with the real. That's why it's so important you study who Jesus is and what he actually said, because people are going to come to your door of your house in the name of Jesus, and if you follow them, they will take you completely away from Jesus. That's who a false teacher is, and be careful who you call a false teacher, because a false teacher is someone who claims that if you follow them, you will follow Jesus, but actually they will lead you to hell, that's what a false teacher is, and Jesus says, look, see this, they're going to come and try to lead you astray, he uses it again in verse 9, when it says, "Be on your guard.” You might even want to write this in your Bible, but “be on your guard,” or if you're, you don't like writing in your Bible, get some notes on this, because when it says "be on your guard,” it's actually "see to this yourself.” He's still using that same word, look, see this, he's saying, see, this counterfeit Jesuses are going to come, and you need to see this. They're going to put you on trial. Some of those disciples are going to end up in front of kings and governors, and they're going to be challenged about their faith in Jesus, and they're going to have to be ready to give a reason for the hope that they have to defend why they have put their faith in Jesus.
He says, you're going to be put on trial, the fakes are going to come, and then they're going to challenge you to see if you're really truly a follower. He continues to use this idea about seeing. Go ahead to verse 23 Notice where it says, "But be on your guard,” again in verse 23, he's saying, "See to yourselves. I've told you all things beforehand. Let me tell you now. I want to tell you the things you can't see, so you can look at yourself, so you can make sure you're ready. Now, I want to prepare you for the future. Now, I want to start talking to you about things unseen, and I'm going to teach you about things unseen, so you can see to yourself. You can get ready now. You need to wake up. You need to be alert. You need to be ready for what's going to come.” And so he concludes in verse 33 when he says here again in verse 33, “be on your guard,” see to yourself, look at yourself, and he says, “Keep awake, for you do not know when the time will come, you don't know this time that the Father has fixed by his own authority.” If anybody ever tells you, they know when it's all going to happen, when the Father's sending Jesus back, no, they don't know. Only the Father knows. And the only way to be ready for something you don't know when is you’ve got to be ready now. See to yourself, stay awake, be on guard, he says. So, the teaching of Jesus here, the more I'm able to study it, the more I'm just overwhelmed by his masterful teaching.
Look at these scribes, the people you think are leading us spiritually, they're going to be judged. Look at this temple, the place you think is associated with the worship of God, it's going to be destroyed. And then let me start showing you things you can't see, so you can be ready to see them. Jesus is saying, look at this, and he's teaching us, and the first thing that he teaches is not everybody who appears to be a religious leader is actually someone you want to follow. In fact, there are religious leaders you do not want to follow. And so go back now to chapter 12, verse 38, where he says, look at these scribes, and he lists here six different things about these scribes. And these we may not call anybody scribes today, like they did at that time, because they were studying the writings of the Hebrew Scriptures and the Law of Moses, but there are many people like these scribes that Jesus describes here in these six things. Look at them: They have the “long robes.” Okay, so you can tell right when they come walking in. Look at how long that robe is, right? They like the “greetings in the marketplaces.” We’ve got more about that coming, but notice here they have the “best seats in the synagogue.” “They have the places of honor at feasts.” Do you see the way Jesus is building this? These religious leaders are being exalted themselves. That's not the point of being a religious leader, a spiritual leader to other people is to exalt God and to lift high the name of his Messiah, his Son, Jesus. The point of being a religious leader is not to build your own platform to create your own following. It's ridiculous how many religious leaders will openly talk about building their own platform. You're not supposed to be elevating yourself, you're supposed to be elevating the name of our God, but that's not what they're doing. They're getting the best seats, they're getting the places of honor. And then you can almost hear the rage come out in Jesus' voice, when he says “they devour widows' houses.” And he just says their prayers are fake, they're making these long prayers, but they're not talking to God, they're talking to you, trying to impress you.
So, he's just completely calling these guys hypocrites, and he's saying they are going to get judged more severely. Even then, people out there doing wickedness, but not claiming the name of God. No, the kind of wickedness they're doing while claiming the name of God will lead them to a greater judgment. Jesus in the temple, in front of a great crowd of people, he just openly calls these men out for who they are. No wonder these scribes want to kill him. Now go with me to Matthew 23 where we get a whole chapter of this. So, I just want to say again, if you're uncomfortable with this, if you're uncomfortable with false religious leaders being called out, well, I think we should just stay in our own lane. I don't think we should call out other people. No, you need to learn from Jesus. Jesus is calling out false religious leaders, and everybody knows who he's talking about. These scribes, some of them are the ones that just asked him questions earlier, and he overwhelmed them with his wise answers, so people know the scribes that he's talking about. So, if you think, well, we should never call out somebody else. Well, where'd you get that thought from? Where'd you get that idea from? Because you didn't get it from Jesus. And we've referred to Matthew 23 now a few times as we've gone through his interactions with the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes, because Matthew 23 is an entire chapter of Scripture where Jesus calls out false religious leaders. How can you say we shouldn't do something that Jesus does for an entire chapter? It's like he's teaching us the way to think about it. He's teaching us how. To do it in our own minds, how to make sure we're following truth and not error, how to discern what he says, starting in verse 5 of Matthew 23. “They do all their deeds to be seen by others, they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes.” What kind of robes do they have, everybody? Oh, they got those long robes, you see somebody talking about God in a long robe. Beware, everybody, “they love the place of honor at feasts,” exactly what it says in Mark 12. They love the best seats in the synagogue. And how about those greetings in the marketplaces? Now, what do we mean by greetings in the marketplaces? Here we get some more detail. Look at what it says in verse 7, being called Rabbi by others. Rabbi means what, everybody? So, they like, oh hello teacher, oh teacher, “being called Rabbi by others, but you are not to be called Rabbi, for you have one teacher and you are all brothers and call no man your father on earth, for you have one father who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor.” Who is our one instructor, everybody? The Christ, the Messiah, Jesus is our rabbi, Jesus is our teacher. And so, what are the greetings? Well, they're being referred to as teacher or father or instructor. And Jesus says we shouldn't be greeting people like that. You shouldn't call anybody on earth your father unless they're your actual dad, and there should be no man on planet earth that is ever referred to as Holy Father. There is only one Holy Father, and he does not reside here as a man. He sits on a throne in heaven. Anybody being called teacher or father, Jesus says that's wrong. Jesus says those are the false teachers you need to watch out for. That's what Jesus teaches.
Now, I've heard people ignore the teaching of Jesus. I have literally read to people the words of Jesus, and they acted like, well, they've been doing it for a long time. This goes back way into church history, and in church history, they started having these traditions of calling these people fathers, or seeing these people as priests, are calling them teachers, and I'm like, well, apparently the church history didn't go back far enough to the actual one who began the church, because he says something different than what those men say. He says, don't call anybody father or teacher, because you've got one father in heaven, and you've got one teacher in Christ. And those teachers, don't exalt them, then don't listen to them, don't follow them. If anybody's wearing long robes and they want you to call them Father, you should watch out for these people. That's not my opinion, that's the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we all need to hear this, and this is why I'm so thankful here at our church that Brother Bobby is really catching on. All right, I just want to thank all of you who are starting to refer to me as one of the brothers around here. I feel very weird. I know I know that people mean it as a sign of respect, but when I know that Jesus says these kinds of things I would prefer for you to use the name that my dad and mom gave me, which is Bobby. You can just call me Bobby, just Bobby's great. I really enjoy when you just call me Bobby. It feels like you're respecting me when you say that, because I don't want to be referred to as some kind of teacher. Yeah, I like to teach the Bible. I'm a pastor teacher here at the church, I don't have my own teachings, I'm just trying to explain to you what Jesus said, and so I'm just one of the brothers here, that's how he refers to it.
So, some of us may need to rethink how we're going to show respect to religious leaders, because giving them titles, giving them greetings in the marketplaces, that's not something we want to be a part of, that's not something Jesus is commending, Jesus is condemning it. Okay, so we need to be careful who we give respect to in the name of Jesus, and how should we give them respect? What I'm saying is there are some people out there being referred to as teacher or father, and they will not accept anything less than that title. You should watch out for them, they're false teachers. Jesus is saying, don't call them that, don't look at them like that. Now, here at our church, you say, well, I want to show respect. Great, look, here's Hebrews 13, verse 7. Here's how we're supposed to do respect here at our church. “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you,” what everybody? “The word of God.” So, if you really want to show respect to the leaders here, don't quote me, quote the Scripture that we studied together that shows respect, that would show that our purpose here has been accomplished, we have learned not to repeat what some person said. We have learned to quote what God said, and so we want to think about our leaders in relation to how they taught us the Word of God. Consider also the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. You want to make sure that the religious leaders you're going to follow, the pastors, elders, overseers, you want to know that these are people who practice what they preach. They can't preach one thing and then live another way. They’ve got to live in a way that's consistent with what they're teaching from the Word of God. And how are you going to know if the men who are leading live a certain way? Well, they're going to have to live that right there among you, then, which is why you can't say my pastor's on YouTube or I listen to this podcast. You have no idea what those people are doing in their lives. You want to be a part of a church where there are pastors who smell like sheep, that's what a pastor really means. It means shepherd, and a pastor is somebody who cares for God's people, and you want to be a part of pastors who live among the people, who are with the people, who spend time with the people, and then they know how the people are living, the people know how they are living. We're all doing this together as brothers and sisters, that's how it's supposed to be. It goes on in verse 17 to say it like this: “Obey your leaders and submit to them.” Yes, you want to respect them and show them they have authority, but here's why: they are keeping watch over your souls, and they're going to have to give an account. Part of the reason you want to show them respect is, you understand they might incur a stricter judgment if they're not doing what they should be doing. And then it says, “Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” Yeah, if you were to disrespect them or not listen to them, that could be, make it harder for them. You wouldn't want to do that. So, yeah, there is a level of respect that we want to have for leaders, but we also need to have a level of discernment. Is this someone who's actually teaching me the Word of God? Is this someone who's actually living out what they preach? Because if they're not like that, you shouldn't follow them, you shouldn't listen to them. In fact, if they are in it for themselves, you should get away from them before they lead you right to where they are going. You don't want a pastor who's trying to build a platform. You want a pastor who's trying to care for God's people, and that's where it really comes out. I love when he says “devour widows' houses.”
Go back to Mark chapter 12, and let's notice here how he mentions the widows, and then we go and we talk about this particular poor widow. So, it's the Greek word Chera. If you're looking at it on your handout, circle the word there for widow that shows up when he says “devour widows' houses” in verse 40, but then all of a sudden in verse 42 and 43 we're watching a poor widow give in the temple and she becomes the focus of the next thing that Jesus says. So, we go from people taking advantage of the widows to now a widow who's actually giving there in the treasury in the temple, so there's an interesting segue. How he mentions it's bad enough that these false religious leaders want to exalt themselves rather than exalt the name of God and his Messiah, Jesus. What's even worse about it is, instead of caring for God's people that they're supposed to be leading, they take advantage of God's people, they use God's people, they exploit God's people for personal gain. One of the things that is regularly taught about false teachers in the Scripture is they are in it for the what, everybody? They're in it for the money, and they're promising you this great blessing, they're offering you this wonderful healing, they're telling you and explaining to you the prosperity that you could experience in the name of God if you send them these three payments or whatever it is, right? There's a catch. They want your money, and it's so twisted that they're in it for the money. It's especially twisted that they're exploiting the widows, because widows are one of these groups of people where we immediately understand that the person who would be there to care for that woman, her husband, is no longer there to care for her. So, a widow, she's someone we should all be ready to care for, because her husband's not there to care for her. In fact, in James 1:27, it says it like this: “Religion that is pure and undefiled,” the kind of religion that God really wants to see, religion that is pure and undefiled “before God the Father, is this to visit orphans and widows in their affliction.” See, so there are many passages in the Hebrew Scriptures, and this is kind of the most famous passage that talks about these two groups of people, children who don't have their parents there to care for them, and women who don't have their husbands there to care for them. And if you ever know an orphan, if you ever know a widow who is in trouble, who's going through a hard time, you should visit that widow, you should visit that orphan? Don't call them and ask if it's a good time to come over. Don't wait and see if they need your help. If you know someone who is in a position where they could use some care, and you know they're going through a hard time, go show up. Watch the look on their face when they see you coming through. That's what the Scripture says. What God's looking for is that we would care for his people, especially those who don't have someone naturally there to care for them.
So, we have a group that sometimes gets together here at our church, and we call it Chera, because that's the Greek word for widow. And so, we get these groups, these ladies. We are blessed with some wonderful widows here at our church, and I've been blessed to go. I don't go to all the Chera events, but I get to go to some of them, and we do a Bible study where we go through all the things the scripture says about the widow, and let me tell you, the widows have a special place in the care of God. God has a widow radar, you could say. He's very aware of those who might need care, and God is attentive to them. If you ever want God to answer your prayer, pray on behalf of the afflicted, pray on behalf of the poor, pray on behalf of the needy, intercede for those who genuinely need some help, and watch God arise, watch God act on behalf of those who are in need. In fact, it promises some amazing things. If you go through a Bible study of all the passages that refer to widows, it is so clear that if the widows go and they pray to God, God cares for the prayer of the widow, and he is ready to answer what the widows pray, and so at every one of these gatherings, I beg the widows, please pray for me, I could really use your help, and then sometimes it talks about that if the widows are taken advantage of by anyone and they pray against them, God will come and wipe that person out. So, I'm begging the widows at this point, please pray good things about me, not bad things, please, or I'll be toast, please. Right.
So, the widows see this is so twisted, they're taking the widow's money rather than expressing care and concern for the widows. You’ve got to see, this has become totally out of whack with how God intended the temple to be, and so when we get to this woman, look at her here with me now. We go over to where they're taking the offering in the temple, and it says in verse 41, “Many rich people are putting in large sums, and then this poor widow came,” so we're contrasting already the rich with this poor widow, and maybe you've heard about her two mites, her two small copper coins, which make a penny. We're barely even using pennies these days. And he called his disciples to him, and he said, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.” Okay, now when I grew up, I heard about this widow, and she was held out as an example of somebody who's giving from their heart to God, and I remember learning about this widow, but more recently the popular teaching about this widow that I've started to hear is that she's not an example of giving, she's a victim of a corrupt religious system, and clearly we can see that is true. These scribes are corrupt, they are taking advantage of widows when they should be helping the widows, they are exploiting the widows, we can see that is happening, so there is truth to this more recent teaching that Jesus isn't like using this lady as an example, Jesus is actually continuing his expression of condemnation, but I want to give you two reasons that I think Jesus is pointing out this poor widow as an example of the kind of giving, financial giving, dollar sign giving, that God is looking for. And the first reason I think that you should see her as an example is because he says the word more in verse 43. Can you circle that right there? I think Jesus even starts it with “Truly, I say to you,” which he says when he's about to teach you something that might be hard for you to get your mind around, because you're watching, if you're there where Jesus is, and you're seeing people put their offerings in the treasury, there are people clearly putting in a lot of money here at the temple, remember this is the feast of the Passover, so people are coming from far and wide, not just the normal citizens of Jerusalem, but the people of Israel from all over have gathered together for the feast, and some of them are making very what seems what looks like a very generous amount of money is being given, but then this woman comes with her two small coins, which doesn't make a big noise, as she puts it in there into the treasury, and Jesus says that that woman gave what? More. See, that's actually revelatory, because that shows us that in Jesus' eyes the amount is not what matters the most when you give.
Let's get that down for number three: You need to “Assess your giving by more than the amount,” because Jesus is making a value statement. He's making a comparison. He's making a contrast, the rich people gave, and then the poor widow gave. Who gave more? It was actually the poor widow. Wow, so giving is not just about the amount of money that you put in. There must be something more to giving than just the amount. The second reason I think we should actually look at this widow as an example, I think that's what Jesus is using her as, is in the last verse, verse 44, “For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, has put in everything she had.” So again, notice the contrast. These people are just giving out of the extra. It's beyond what they need. She's giving something sacrificially that she would need, and she's still giving it. She's giving everything she had, all she had to live on. So, you can see how some people are saying, see, this is an example of a widow's house being devoured as she gives her last money. Oh, that's terrible that a widow would have to do that. People should be helping the widow. Okay, I understand where they're coming from with that statement, but one of the things that I've heard is that there was something along the lines, Jesus wouldn't think it's good for this woman to give her last or all that she had, and I'm like, I'm not sure I can agree with that, because I'm pretty sure just two chapters ago Jesus did tell somebody to sell everything he had.
Go back with me to Mark, chapter 10, verse 21, and maybe you can remember this rich young man, and this man ended up walking away sad from Jesus. In fact, we find out from the conversation afterwards with the disciples and Jesus that this man was not saved. And why did he walk away sad? Why did he walk away unsaved? Because he wanted his wealth, his great possessions more than he wanted to sell everything he had, give it to the poor. Look at what Jesus says to him in Mark 10:21, “And Jesus, looking at this rich young man, he loved him, and he said to him, 'You lack one thing, go sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.” Jesus exposes this man's soul, that in his soul he desires wealth more than he really wants to follow Jesus, and Jesus challenges the man, sell it all, give it all away, and so it's hard for me to think that Jesus is now 100% against this woman doing that two chapters later when he just told a man to do that there in chapter 10, verse 21. So, I think that Jesus is saying that this little amount that this woman gives her all. Wow, she gave more, and I want everybody at our church to look at this poor widow and to see what Jesus is pointing out, because one of the things, let me just apply point number one right now, one of the things that many people at this church say, in fact, some of you sitting here today may have actually said this. Some of you sitting here today may have said this to me is, I don't really have a lot of money, so I can't give. Have you ever heard somebody say that before? I've heard a lot of people say that, and usually they follow it up with, so I can't give money because I don't have a lot of that, but I'll give my time. I’ll give my service. And let me just make it very clear. If you want to use your gifts to serve, you should do that. If you want to give your time, you should do that. But just because you're giving your time and your energy and your gifts, does that really mean you shouldn't give any money? Is it really about the amount of money? Is that really what God wants when you give money? Does God need that certain amount? Does God is that really the focus of it? See, I think we've gotten way too practical in our giving and not enough spiritual in our giving. I think practically we're like, well, how much do you need? How much is that project going to cost? How much does it cost to do all these things? Oh, it costs that much. Oh, wow, that seems like a big amount. My little amount, I don't know how important it'll be in that big amount. Therefore, I don't even need to give, because I don't think it'll make a difference. It's just a practical examination of finances or money. Is that what giving to God is supposed to really be? See, I think there's a point of giving where it's a personal expression of my worship to God. It's something that's happening between me and him, and I think that when this woman comes to the temple and when she gives her last two mites, I think that what this woman is saying between her and God is, you've got my life, you've got my whole heart, all that I am. I understand that it's all come from you, and I want to thank you for it. And if you're going to keep providing in the future, I'm trusting that you're going to do it. I understand it's all from you, and it's all for you, and so I want to give to you. I want to give to you from my heart. I want to give to you cheerfully. That's what I think Jesus is saying this woman is doing, and I think we all need to see that, because she just gave a little amount, and she gave more than all the riches.
Go back to Matthew, chapter 6, where we began, when Jesus was talking about praying in the secret. Well, he also talks about giving in secret. Matthew chapter 6, look at verse 2. “Jesus says thus: when you give to the needy,” and let's just talk about that for a moment. When you give to the needy, there are two ways you could give to the needy. One is what it talks about in 1 John 3. You see somebody who's in need, you have the resources to meet their need, you could just directly give to that person, and you could just say, God's blessed me, I want to help you meet your need. That's a great thing that you could do. Also, though, when you give to something like our church, you are giving towards the needs of the brothers and sisters. That's one of the things we learned in Romans, chapter 12, that we're contributing to the needs of the saints, and so when our brothers and sisters go through challenging trials and hard times. We want to have money ready that people have given and collected, so that we can meet those needs, and let me just tell you the main group of people that really get needs met are the people who are new here to the church, and they're people they were living whatever kind of way they were living, and now they're learning about Christ. Now they're repenting and turning their lives to him. Now they're learning how to trust him, and so they're learning a whole new way to live, and they're joining the fellowship groups, they're getting plugged into one on one discipleship, and as they're growing, they're realizing what a mess they've made of their finances, and they're realizing that this debt, or this way they've been spending their money, they got to rethink that, but sometimes they have now put themselves in a very challenging situation, and so imagine somebody who's a new Christian, and they're trying to figure out how to follow Jesus, and they're realizing how much they've blown it now, and now they're kind of getting crushed under the weight of their poor financial choices, and they're like, oh, I wish I could have learned a different way earlier, and then here at the church we can say, yeah, we see you have this specific need. We want to meet this need. Can you imagine the joy these people experience in that moment, the love that they experience from God? That there's already a group of people who are ready to welcome them in and help meet that financial need. It's powerful. That's what's happening here. When you give some of that money, it's going to go to meet the needs of your brothers and sisters, so look at what Jesus says about this kind of giving. Even though this lady was giving publicly there in the temple, I think this is what he's talking about here. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. “There's like some celebrity letting everybody know how much they gave to some charity. “Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in what everybody secret, and your father, who sees in secret, will reward you.”
See, giving is supposed to be worship. It's supposed to be between you and God. What you're saying is, Father, I know that everything I have, you gave me, and as I give this back, I'm thanking you, I'm trusting you, and really, whatever amount I'm giving is just some kind of physical expression that what I'm really giving you, Father, is I'm giving you my whole heart, I'm giving you my whole life. Isn't that what this woman was doing in the temple? Here's a lady who I think is really worshiping. Here's a woman who I think she's understanding that the only logical response, the only thing, when you know who God is and how much God loved you, God sent his one and only son. Why would God send his son, that he's so pleased with, to die in our place? And Jesus, the righteous one, why would he lay down his life and shed his perfect blood, sacrifice his body for you? See, God gave his Son, and Jesus gave his life. There is no amount of money that anybody could possibly give that equals to that. See, it's not about the amount, it's about the expression of saying to God, I see what you have given me, and I am giving myself to you. And the secret just between me and you, I'm not doing it because I want other people to know I'm doing it, I'm doing it, because I want you, Father, to know you have my life, you have my heart, you have me. See, I want to be a part of a church where the secrets that people have are they go home and they pray, and when nobody is noticing, they give. Wouldn't it be amazing if Christians, oh yeah, those Christians, they live their secret lives. So, what do they do in secret? Well, they go and shut the door and they talk to God, and they give away a bunch of their money.
Wouldn't that be great if that's what people thought Christians were doing? All those Christians, they got their secrets. Really, what are they up to? Prayer, prayer, generosity. Watch out for those Christians, they're dangerous. They're praying for worldwide revival. Watch out, they want the poor to have their needs met. Beware those Christians, right? Wouldn't be great if that's the reputation that we had. Wouldn't that be great if that was the truth about us, that when nobody's around and it's just me and God. Oh, I love to talk to my holy father in heaven, and whenever I give, I know that what I'm giving to my father is a ridiculously small amount compared to what he has, but I'm giving it because I love him, because of all that he's given to me, he gave his all. Why wouldn't it make sense for us to give our all in response? And so, I'm not saying you should empty your entire bank account into the offering. I'm saying that you should actually change the way you think about giving, where it's not about the amount, it's about a genuine response where you cheerfully give to God, because you know he gave to you.
And so, we will be taking an offering next weekend, and I'm not interested in the amount, I'm interested that you would give to God in the secret. Let's pray.
Father in heaven, I just want to thank you so much that we got to sit in the temple, and along with that great throng of people, we got to hear the teaching of Jesus, and he took the popular phrase that the Messiah is the Son of David, and he flipped it to be the Messiah is the Lord of David, and he did it by sourcing it to the Scripture. Please teach us all how to do that. Let us mature as Christians. Let us be discerning, comparing what people are saying to what you have said. God, I pray that at this church you will be the name that is exalted, you will be the one that is quoted, and that we would study your Word, because we want to hang on everything that Jesus said, the words of eternal life. And I pray that we will all agree, based on the teaching of Jesus, that there are false teachers out there. There are people who are platforming not your glory, but their own glory. They want praise from other people. In fact, they're even willing to take advantage of other people. And so, God, we pray that false teachers would be exposed, and we pray that we would see them for who they really are. I pray that nobody here would be led astray by these false teachers, and God, I pray for all of us when it comes to that secret place, the time that we spend, just us and you, and I pray that we would pray to you. I pray that we would give to you, that we would think, wow, Father, look what you've done for me. Look at all the blessings you've given me physically in this life. And then to think that in Christ, I have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. I'm so rich, I'm so blessed. When I think about your son and how he gave his life, what more could he give than his life? Father, I want to give my whole heart to you. I want to give everything I am to you. God, I pray that we would be people that please you in the secret, people who really know you, who are really living for you, when no one else is watching, when it's just you and us. I pray that you will hear our prayers and be pleased with our offerings. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.