Faces | “The Angry Face Of Religion” Sermon

SERIES: Faces  SERMON:  “The Angry Face Of Religion”

Mark 14:9 “Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”      WOW!  She expressed LOVE!!!

The greatest lesson we can embrace from this encounter:

The power of the gospel is manifest in our lives through beholding and not behaving.

A Deep Vision Of Grace!!!

“The sweet language of experience is ‘Thou God seest Me’ When the eyes of the soul looking out meet the eyes of God looking in, heaven has begun right here on this earth.” 

A.W. Tozer  (The Pursuit Of God)

The feast of Passover:
Brought the sacrifice for inspection. Got rid of the leaven.
Jesus came for inspection. Jesus cleansed His temple.
Today He begins His final assault to secure JUSTICE FOR ALL!

Matthew 21:9  “Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!’” 

Matthew 21:10  “And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, ‘Who is this?’”    Moved:— (Seio) to shake,  agitate, cause to tremble 

Luke19:41-44  “He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes’ …  because you did not know the time of your visitation.” 

Matthew 21:12-13   “Jesus went straight to the Temple and threw out everyone who had set up shop, buying and selling. He kicked over the tables of loan sharks and the stalls of dove merchants. He quoted this text: My house was designated a house of prayer;” 

Mathew 5:2:3 “Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’”   Sermon On The Mount

Picture Of The Religious Leaders Challenging Jesus.

Matthew 23:13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”

“… you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. …  whitewashed tombs … full of extortion and self-indulgence …  Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?”

Matthew 23:37 ”O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!“

The Greek word “ouai” (Woe) is used in the following three ways:

Used to express a denunciation; blameworthy and evil.

Used to express a severe distress or affliction.  Used to express great grief.

hupokrites (hoop-ok-ree-tace’):—  an actor; stage-player, pretender one who hides behind a mask.

This was using profanity to a religious Jew. Theatre Pretend.

Hypocrite:— a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.

Hypocrisy is the gap between what we show and who we are. 

Jesus got angry with religious leaders who used His father’s word to harm others. 

He got mad when religion got in the way.  VERY MAD!!!

Religion is behavioural conformity.  Wanting a list and not the Lord.

An empty heart.  The system without the Saviour.

The perfect way without the indwelling perfect person.

Exodus 20:19  ”Then they said to Moses, ‘You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.’”

Give us Rules without Relationship.  We would like to follow without the personal encounter

John 5:39-40  ”You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.“

God loves you more than God loves His rules.    NOT

God loves His rules more that he loves you.        This Hurts People

Mark 2:27 “And He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.’”

“Legalism is the conviction that law-keeping is the ground for our acceptance with God — a failure to be amazed at grace.”   John Piper

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (NLT)  ”For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.“

Luke 24:49 “What comes next is very important: I am sending what my Father promised to you, so stay here in the city until he arrives, until you’re equipped with power from on high.”

I am learning that the best cure for hypocrisy is community. Hypocrisy is not so much the result of not living what I preach but much more of not confessing my inability to fully live up to my own words.   Henri Nouwen

Proverbs 28:13 (NIV) “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

Psalm 32:5 (Message)  “Then I let it all out; I said, ‘I’ll come clean about my failures to God.’ Suddenly the pressure was gone— my guilt dissolved, my sin disappeared.”

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