Can I preach what you practice?
Matthew 23

Intro:
Last week we had a good lesson about what we can learn from little children. Very often, and rightly so, we are reminded from this pulpit of how we as Christians should be living. We have all heard the phrase “practice what you preach”. Today, I’d like to turn that saying around and talk about “Can I preach what you practice?” While I’m speaking this morning I’d like us to keep in mind a slight modification of that phrase; “Can we preach what we practice?”
If we were to leave the topic as “Can I preach what you practice”, it would be a difficult subject to preach on indeed. How do I know what anyone, other than myself and Nina, practices outside of the assembly? I can preach on what we all should be practicing inside and outside of the assembly but I don’t want to do that this time.
Instead, let’s take a look at the example given us by so called godly people who didn’t practice what they preached. As we go along, I’m sure that we all can learn from these people and then we can each answer the question for ourselves,… can we preach what we practice?
I like this story about the three preachers who were out in a boat fishing one day and decided it was time to confess their sins to each other. One preacher said, ‘Well, I’m really struggling with alcohol, every weekend I really struggle not to have a few drinks, please keep me in your prayers’. The second preacher said, ‘I’m really struggling with pornography, every night I just cant help but go on my computer to look for things I shouldn’t, please keep me in your prayers’. The third preacher said, ‘ My struggle is gossip and I just can’t wait until this boat gets back to shore!’
I suppose the moral of that story is that we all have our struggles but there is a huge difference between struggling with something and blatantly just doing something which we know is sinful.

I. If we, as Christians, preach one way to live and then live our lives in another way, we end up being hypocrites. Folks, this is something we need to be careful of, if I’m going to preach what you practice, then please be careful that you’re not a hypocrite. The word hypocrite comes from the Greek word hupokrites, which means an actor under an assumed character.
a. In other words someone who is putting on a show. Someone who pretends to be something he or she is not, and has no real intention of becoming the person they are depicting. Jesus spoke to hypocrites in His day, in particular some scribes and Pharisees. They were supposedly the more religious people of that time. Yet, some of the toughest words Jesus ever spoke were directed toward them.
b. I’m going to use Matthew 23 as our referenced and some from Matthew 15. In Matthew 23 Jesus didn’t hold back his words to these people. He called them hypocrites seven times, he called them fools twice and blind guides five times, he also called them serpents, brood of vipers. Strong words from Jesus.
c. But did you know that we can still learn some lessons from these so called godly men? I’m not just talking about their bad example as followers of God, but can we actually learn something good, even from a hypocrite?
d. Matthew 23:1-3 - “Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. "Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.”
e. One of our problems is that when we hear negative things about a person or group we tend to totally ignore everything that they have to say. We say things like, ‘who is he to preach to me about drink, when he goes out and drink?’ ‘Who is he to talk to me about relationships when his own relationship is in a mess?’
f. Jesus wanted us to know that we shouldn’t just go ahead and disregard the message being preached even if the messenger seems to be a bit of a hypocrite. There are times folks when we need to look beyond the messenger and listen to the source of the message.
g. I wonder, if I’m preaching what you are practicing right now, then perhaps it would be a good time to revaluate what you’re practicing. Look beyond the messenger and listen to the message. Nobody wants to be told they are a hypocrite, but these religious leaders Jesus was talking about were just that, hypocrites.
II. Jesus continues: Matthew 23:4 - “For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.”
a. I wonder if I’m preaching what you’re practicing. If so then again maybe it’s time to stop abusing people with your authority. In other words, do you force people to live in such a way that you’re not wiling to live yourself?
b. When these religious leaders spoke from Moses' seat in the synagogues, they were speaking with authority. But they were binding things on others they themselves were unwilling to observe. They weren’t practicing what Moses preached. What that creates is an atmosphere of disrespect for all authority, including the Word of God. If we want to practice what I’m preaching today then we need to keep God’s word in highest regard.
c. Matthew 23:5 - “But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.”
d. Let me share with you a description of a person who claimed to be a Christian and see if you can guess who I’m talking about. He made free use of Christian vocabulary. He talked about the blessing of the Almighty and the Christian confessions which would become the pillars of the new government. He assumed the earnestness of a man weighed down by historic responsibility. He handed out pious stories to the press, especially to the church papers. He showed his tattered Bible and declared that he drew the strength for his great works from it. Scores of pious people welcomed him as a man sent from God. You see Adolf Hitler was a master of outward appearance in religion, but he had no inward reality of religion.
e. When these religious leaders did their works, they did them to be seen by others. They loved to wear religious clothing that gave the outward appearance of devotion. If that’s what we practice, then we’re certainly not practicing what the Bible preaches.
III. When Jesus is talking about us being the light of the world, He says in Matthew 5:16 - “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
a. In other words, He says as Christians we need to do things to glorify God. Certainly there are times we do things that only God sees us doing. But if our practice of religion is to do things so that others can see what we’re doing, then again maybe it’s time to change what we’re practicing.
b. Matthew 23:6-7 - “They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'” When it came to attention seeking and looking for special treatment, these guys had it down to the tee. The Pharisees loved the special treatment they received from others. They loved having the best seats in the house, they loved having honorary titles.
c. Folks, if I’m preaching right now what you’re practicing then you really need to listen to Jesus’ words as we find them in Matthew 23:8-12 - “But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be abased, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
IV. Jesus says he doesn’t want us to use religious titles. He says if you want to be great then have humility. If you want to be great in God’s kingdom, then start from the bottom by serving people. When the disciples were arguing about who would become the greatest in the kingdom, Jesus said to them in Luke 22:25-26 - “The kings of the pagans have power over their people, and the rulers claim the title 'Friends of the People, benefactors.' But this is not the way it is with you; rather, the greatest one among you must be like the youngest, and the leader must be like the servant.” [Para.]
a. Jesus is asking the disciples, “Do you really want to rule over people like these guys do? Do you really want to put yourself into that position where all that power might go to your head?” Jesus says, ‘not so with you.’
b. In other words Jesus was teaching them, and us, that if we as Christians really want to practice what Jesus preached. Then we need to respect His teaching and not use religious titles or expect special treatment, but serve others with humility.
c. A certain Irish priest, newly arrived in New York City, was walking through a bad section of town. He suddenly felt a gun against his ribs. He heard a voice, "All right mister, gimme your money!" Quickly, the priest grabbed for his wallet. As he did, the hold-up man noticed his clerical collar and realized he was robbing a priest. The thief was overcome with shame. He said, "Forgive me, Father. I didn't know you were a priest." To which the victim replied, "That's all right, Son. Just repent of your sin. Here, have a cigar." The thief replied, "Oh, no thank you, Father, I don't smoke during Lent."
d. As amusing as that is, in many ways the teachers of the law and the Pharisees were just like that. Jesus says in; 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.”
e. Jesus told them that they were not practicing what they were preaching. They failed to truly show others the way to the kingdom of heaven, and they failed to go in themselves. In fact, Jesus says to them earlier in Matthew 15:3-6 that they were proclaiming one thing and asking people to follow but what they were doing was making no sense out of the Word of God.
V. No wonder Jesus chastised them in verses 7-9; Matthew 15:7-9 – [para] “You hypocrites! How right Isaiah was when he prophesied about you! 'These people honor me with their words, but their heart is far away from me. It is no use for them to worship me, because they teach human rules as though they were my laws!'" [Para]
a. The point I’m trying to make, is that if we’re not practicing what the Bible preaches then we need to change what we’re practicing. We need to make sure that our teaching saves not only ourselves but also anyone else we teach.
b. That’s not just me talking. That was Paul’s advice to his young friend Timothy when he writes in 1Timothy 4:16 - “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.”
c. I heard an interesting story a awhile ago about Members of a Methodist Women's Church Circle who were disturbed because a widowed church member and her three small daughters were staying away from services. Finding the reason to be a lack of suitable clothes, the ladies' group corrected the situation in a most generous fashion. When the little girls still failed to appear at Sunday school, some of the ladies called to inquire about their absence. The mother thanked them sweetly for the clothing and explained, "The girls looked so nice, I sent them to the Presbyterian church."
d. Now that is a good example of someone who was using religion for all the wrong reasons. Matthew 23:14 - “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.”
e. If your practice of religion involves taking advantage of the less fortunate, then again maybe it’s time to change what you’re practicing. These people were doing nothing short of taking advantage of the poor widows and then trying to impress people with their long prayers.
VI. These are the sorts of teachers which Paul warned Timothy about in 2 Timothy 3:4-6. Folks, as Christians we need to be practicing what is right and honorable, not only in the Lord’s eyes but also in what is right and honorable in the eyes of men. Let me give you an example of that with 2 Corinthians 8:19-21 - “… with this gift, which is administered by us to the glory of the Lord Himself and to show your ready mind, avoiding this: that anyone should blame us in this lavish gift which is administered by us providing honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.”
a. Let me ask, if you’re studying the Bible with another religious person do you try to convert them to Christ or to the church of Christ? I think one of the biggest mistakes we can sometimes make when we’re studying with other religious people is that we try to covert them to our doctrine.
i. So no one misunderstands me when I talk of our doctrine, what I am referring to is what we find in Romans 16:17 – “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.” And in: 1 Timothy 4:6 – “If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.”
ii. Certainly, to a degree teaching doctrine is good but it never ceases to amaze me how some people will go straight into studying instrumental music with the Baptists. Or they will go straight into a study of spiritual gifts with the Pentecostals. My point being that sometimes we want people to trust our doctrine more than trusting Christ to lead them to the truth.
iii. Wait a minute some will say, “Isn’t our doctrine the same one all these other groups should understand?” You would think so. But, alas, that is not the case. Too many religious groups have done what the Pharisees did and incorporated into their doctrine things not practiced in the bible. And too many good, religious people, listen to what they are told by their religious leaders and do not study for themselves.
b. I don’t know if you have ever noticed but when Paul is dealing with problems of doctrine in the church he never starts off by addressing the problem. No, he starts off by talking about Jesus.
c. In other words he gets their thinking about Christ right first, and then he goes on to address the problem. If we’re studying with other religious people, we need to get their thinking straight first. This was one of the mistakes the Teachers of the Law and Pharisees made; they didn’t get their own understanding of what was being taught in the Old Testament straight first.
d. We read in; Matthew 23:15 - " 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.”
VII. Jesus says that these leaders didn’t make people better, they made them worse. And they made them worse because their whole emphasis was on the traditions of men, rather than upon the word of God. Today we can make the same mistake, we can know the Bible but if we neglect God's word, we end up starving those who God sends us to teach.
a. We can end up teaching people our own little agendas; we end up focusing on things like, ‘Yes, we need to sing a song before we have an opening prayer.’ ‘No, we can’t sing choruses during worship just hymns; we have to have two Scripture readings, one from the Old and one from the New.’ ‘Oh no, we can’t use the NIV; it has to be the King James Version because that’s the only Bible which is truly inspired.’
b. We need to be careful not to put ourselves or traditions between God's word and anyone we teach. What we need to do is what Paul did in Acts 20:27, when he let them know "the whole counsel of God."
c. As I said at the start of this sermon Jesus doesn’t mince His words with these guys, He tells them how it is. He continues to do that in Matthew 23:16-21 - " "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.' "Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? "And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.' "Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? "Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. "He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.”
d. I’m not going to go too much into detail with this part of our text because it’s really self explanatory. In summary, Jesus tells them that they were making fine distinctions between the types of oaths one could swear.
e. Don’t we see this practiced in the religious world today and sometimes even within the Lord’s church? People say that some commands of God are essential to salvation, while other commands are not so important.
VIII. When I first became a Christian I used to hear people say that the church of Christ was known as ‘the people of the Book’. We don’t seem to hear that much anymore. I’m convinced that people still think that. I have known people say, ‘you guys really go by what the Bible says, don’t you’?
a. Folks, that’s the way it should be, instead of teaching people subjects which we ‘think are right’. Or teaching people subjects which ‘seems right to us’. We are told in; 1 Peter 4:11 – Those who preach must preach God's message so that God may be glorified. Instead of ‘thus says the preacher’ it should be ‘thus says the Lord’.
b. We should be teaching Bible subjects according to what the Bible actually says, instead of our own opinions, feelings or thoughts, or what some commentator or some early leader said. Dare I say this? "Let us speak where the Bible speaks, and be silent where the Bible is silent".
c. If we are not careful, more often than not we end up practicing what has never been preached in the Bible. Then we end up with lots of inconstancies in our doctrine, just like these people were doing during Jesus’ time on earth.
d. Matthew 23:23-24 - " Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. "Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”
e. Jesus rebukes them again and tells them that they have neglected the "important" matters of God's law. They stressed tithing, but neglected justice, mercy, and faith. In that way they concentrated on the small things and would strain out a gnat, but ignored the more important and swallowed a camel.
f. We can easily be just as guilty of the same thing, by stressing "lighter" matters, and neglect the "weightier" matters. We can also get it wrong the other way round when all we do is stress the "weightier" matters, and neglect "lighter" things. Notice the words; “… without leaving the others undone”
g. Jesus tells us how it should be in Matthew 5:19 - “Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
IX. I heard a story about a certain pig farmer who refused to have anything to do with the church because all he ever saw was a bunch of hypocrites who belonged to it and he always named two or three people by name. One day the preacher came by to buy a pig from him. After looking over the farmer's entire swine herd, the preacher pointed to a scrawny, sickly, ugly little runt and said, "I want that one." The farmer protested, "Why, Preacher, you don't want that one. He's the scrawniest runt I ever saw. Look, here are some fine pigs over here." "That's all right," said the preacher, "I want that one." After the purchase was completed, the preacher said, "Now I am going to haul this pig all over the country and tell everyone that this is the kind of pig you raise!" "Hey, Preacher, that's not fair," the farmer protested. "I raise fine pigs. An occasional runt doesn't ruin my whole stock." The preacher said, "I am only following your example of condemning a whole church because of the small spirituality of a few of its members," needless to say the farmer got the point.
a. I’m wondering if these hypocrites whom Jesus is addressing ever got the point of what He was telling them. I don’t know but I pray that we do.
b. Let’s go on in; Matthew 23:25-28 - "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. "Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. "Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
c. Again Jesus reminds us that if our religion is focused only on the outside then we are not practicing what Jesus preached. These guys were more than willing to put up with extortion, self indulgence, hypocrisy and lawlessness but they drew the line of no tolerance when it came to keeping the traditions of ritual cleansing.
d. I wonder, does our practice of religion, focus on the wrong areas? Do we get stressed out because we think we need a building to worship God? Do we get stressed out because we only have a few members who turn out to support out gospel meetings?
e. If we want to be known as the ‘people of the Book’ and not the ‘church of hypocrites’ then we need to be practicing what the Bible preaches.
X. I remember some time ago I read the historical survey of the churches of Christ in the British Isles published in 1995. I was impressed and encouraged by the faith of all those saints of yesteryear. But you know being impressed and encouraged means nothing unless we try to live by faith like they lived by faith.
a. Matthew 23:29-31 - " "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, "and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.' "Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.”
b. Jesus tells them that it was great that they honored the ancient men of God, but they weren’t willing to live like them. In fact, Jesus tells them they are witnesses against themselves. If that wasn’t a slap in the face enough, Jesus goes on and tells them in Matthew 3:32-34 - “"Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt. "Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? "Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city”
c. Jesus really gives them another serious rebuke and tells them that they are going to do even more harm than their fathers. We know from the Book of Acts that what Jesus predicted came true. Jesus says in Matthew 23:35-39 - that, upon that generation, would come the judgment for the murder of all God's prophets. We see that fulfilled in 70 A.D. with the destruction of Jerusalem.
d. They honored the people of Old but weren’t willing to live what they preached. Today we have great respect for those men of old and those men like Paul and Peter and the others saints. Yet I wonder, are we willing to live what they preached? Or are we just like the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees back then who refused to obey the prophets?

Conclusion:
Yes, we can learn a lot from these guys provided we practice what the Bible preaches. I think we can preach what we’re practicing, provided we take on board what Jesus has been telling us. Yes, there will always be those who abuse authority; there will always be some who don’t teach the whole word of God, there will always be Christians who are inconsistent in their practice of religion.

Yes, there will always be hypocrites within the Lord’s body and as someone once said to me, ‘there’s always enough room for one more.’ I have heard people say to me, ‘Oh I won’t ever become a Christian because there are too many hypocrites there.’ And I trod firmly on my own toes with that statement.

Well, there may be hypocrites in the church, but that is no reason for you not to follow Jesus, you don’t have to be one. Think about it, did the hypocrisy of Judas Iscariot cause the rest of the apostles to leave Jesus?

It is amazing how some people will use the hypocrite card as an excuse not to go to church regularly. Ask yourself, do we allow the presence of hypocrites keep us from enjoying other activities? Oh, no I’m not going to play in the golf competition this week because there are a load of hypocrites there. Oh, I’m not going to go on vacation this year because there are a load of hypocrites who will be in the same hotel as me.

Here is the real question folks, which would you rather choose, would you rather spend a short time with hypocrites in the church, or spend eternity with hypocrites in hell? In conclusion folks, can I preach what you practice? The truth of the matter is, I don’t know. Only in our hearts do we know if we just pay lip service to God and His word or if we truly are practicing what the Bible preaches. And for any who are here who are not yet Christians, I pray that you don’t let the hypocrisy of some Christians keep you from the blessings of salvation in Christ Jesus.

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In God’s plan we learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins… If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.

Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.

# 605 – Just As I Am

Reference Sermon
#39