Sermon slides from message "the Letter & the Law (Luke 11:37-54)" by Rev Dr Ng Swee Ming on 16 Nov 2014. Concluding Part # 4 of Sermon Series "Bring Jesus to your World"

1. BRING JESUS TO YOUR WORLD

4. • The Nation of Israel
• Babylonian exile 586BC
• Reason for exile :
SIN / Disobeying God’s Laws
• To avoid being exiled again :
Keep & Obey the Laws of God diligently
• Return from exile 538BC –
Ezra , Nehemiah, Zechariah ....
Origin of the Pharisees, Sadducees & Scribes

5. Torah – Written Laws
613 Laws
Oral Traditions
“explanations” of the Torah
‘Great Revolt & Rebellion’
- about 200BC...
TALMUD (instructions) :
MISHNA (repetitions)
Collection of the Oral Traditions
GEMARA (completeness)
Commentaries on the Mishna
Origin of the Pharisees, Sadducees & Scribes

6. PHARISEES :
Meaning - ‘separated one’ or ‘separatist’
Mainly ‘lay people’
One year apprenticeship
Aim: strict interpretation &
keeping the law on all matters
esp TITHING & RITUAL PURITY
Goal : keeping the “LETTER” of the Laws
Means : ‘religious policing’
Place of influence : the synagogue
Exclusivity ...but Highly Respected
Eg : Paul & Nicodemus
Origin of the Pharisees, Sadducees & Scribes

7. SADDUCEES :
Educated aristocratic & priestly class
Control the Temple & the Sanhedrin
Generally - accept the Law
but not the Oral Traditions
eg reject resurrection, angels & spirits (Acts 23:8)
** David Pawson’s ‘mnemonic’
Pharisees : ‘far you see’
Sadducees : ‘sad you see’
Origin of the Pharisees, Sadducees & Scribes

8. Origin of the Pharisees, Sadducees & Scribes
SCRIBES:
@ Lawyers
Learned people well versed in the Law
Copyist, Teachers & Interpreters
Explained the meaning of the Law...
How it should be kept...
Highly respected
Many Pharisees were also Scribes
If the Pharisees are
the Practitioners of the Law
Then the Scribes are
the ‘Theologians/Seminarians’

9. the letter & the SPIRIT Luke 11:37-54
Luke 11:37-54
37 When Jesus had finished
speaking, a Pharisee invited
him to eat with him; so he
went in and reclined at the
table.
38 But the Pharisee, noticing
that Jesus did not first wash
before the meal, was
surprised.

10. Ritual Washing
the letter & the SPIRIT Luke 11:37-54

11. 39 Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you
Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish,
but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made
the outside make the inside also?
41 But give what is inside [the dish] to the poor,
and everything will be clean for you.
 Outside clean ....
Inside ?
 Eg : filthy talk,
cursing & swearing ....
the letter & the SPIRIT Luke 11:37-54

13. the letter & the SPIRIT Luke 11:37-54
Matt 15
V1-2 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came
to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, "Why do your
disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't
wash their hands before they eat!"
V17-20 "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth
goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But
the things that come out of the mouth come from the
heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the
heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual
immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are
what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with
unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.'"

14. The TWO BIG THINGS with the
PHARISEES:
 RITUAL PURITY
 TITHING
the letter & the SPIRIT Luke 11:37-54

15. 1st WOE v42
"Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God
a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds
of garden herbs,
but you neglect justice and the love of God.
You should have practiced the latter without
leaving the former undone.
 MAJORing on the MINORS
Micah 6:8 He has showed you,
O man, what is good. And what
does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and
to walk humbly with your God.
the letter & the SPIRIT Luke 11:37-54

16. 2nd WOE v43
"Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the
most important seats in the synagogues and
greetings in the marketplaces.
REPUTATION before CHARACTER
 Reputation is what man thinks we are
 Character is what God knows we are
D.L. Moody:
"If I take care of my character,
my reputation will take care
of itself."
the letter & the SPIRIT Luke 11:37-54

17. Background on 3rd WOE - Num 19:16
"Anyone out in the open who touches someone who
has been killed with a sword or someone who has
died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human
bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.
• Burial sites not so well planned ...
• Whitewashed before major festivals
• Contact results in ...
 Defiled /unclean 7 days
 Hindering, not helping
3rd WOE V44
"Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves,
which men walk over without knowing it.“
 DEFILING, not CLEANSING
the letter & the SPIRIT Luke 11:37-54

18. 3 Woes on the Pharisees :
- EXTERNALs
 Majoring on the Minor
 Reputation before Character
 Defiling, not Cleansing
Luke 11:45-54
v45 One of the experts in the
law answered him, "Teacher,
when you say these things, you
insult us also."
A Scribe ...
the letter & the SPIRIT Luke 11:37-54

19. 4th WOE v46
Jesus replied, "And you
experts in the law,
woe to you, because you
load people down with
burdens they can hardly
carry,
and you yourselves will
not lift one finger to help
them.
Eg Law of the Sabbath
• No ‘work’ allowed
• But what is ‘work’ ?
Mishna - 39 main
categories...
Yet Jesus did many
healings...
? Purposely
the letter & the SPIRIT Luke 11:37-54

20. 5th WOE V47-51
"Woe to you, because you build
tombs for the prophets, and it
was your forefathers who killed
them. So you testify that you
approve of what your forefathers
did; they killed the prophets, and
you build their tombs. Because of
this, God in his wisdom said, 'I
will send them prophets and
apostles, some of whom they will
kill and others they will
persecute.'
the letter & the SPIRIT Luke 11:37-54

21. the letter & the SPIRIT Luke 11:37-54
5th WOE V47-51 cont.
Therefore this generation
will be held responsible for
the blood of all the prophets
that has been shed since the
beginning of the world, from
the blood of Abel to the
blood of Zechariah*, who
was killed between the altar
and the sanctuary.
Yes, I tell you, this
generation will be held
responsible for it all.
*Zechariah in 2 Chr 24:20-22

22. Similar incident in Matt 23:29-32
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you
hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and
decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, 'If we
had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not
have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the
prophets.' So you testify against yourselves that you are
the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!
 Rejected & killed the Prophets...
 Will finally also Reject
& kill God’s ultimate
Messenger...
the letter & the SPIRIT Luke 11:37-54

23. 6th WOEv52
"Woetoyouexpertsinthelaw,
becauseyouhavetakenaway
thekeytoknowledge.You
yourselveshavenotentered,
andyouhavehinderedthose
whowereentering."
? “Toodifficultforlaypeople...”
? “Needtraining...”
 preventingpeoplefrom
knowing /understanding
God’sWord
 Hindranceandnotahelp
the letter & the SPIRIT Luke 11:37-54

24. the letter & the SPIRIT Luke 11:37-54
53 When Jesus left
there, the Pharisees
and the teachers of
the law began to
oppose him fiercely
and to besiege him
with questions,
54 waiting to catch him
in something he
might say.

25. Jesse James killed a man
during a bank robbery
but a few weeks later
was baptized into the
Kearney Baptist
Church....
After that, James killed
another man
but he then became
the choir director at his
church....
Jesse James – the Man

26. BRING JESUS TO YOUR WORLD
1. SUPPORT CHRIST’S AGENDA
a. Teaching
b. Preaching & Proclaiming
c. Healing
 Great Commission Matt 28:18-20
 MAKE DISCIPLES
 Command given to ....

27. BRING JESUS TO YOUR WORLD
2. BE CHRIST’S DISCIPLES
– Responding to Christ’s Call
a. Compassion - not Condemnation
b. Commitment - not Comfort
c. Now - not Later
d. Single minded - not Double Minded
 To Be A Christian –
Is To Be A Disciple Matt 28:19
 To Be A Disciple –
Is To Imitate Christ 1 Cor 11:1

28. BRING JESUS TO YOUR WORLD
3. PROCLAIM CHRIST’S MESSAGE
– He’s The ONLY WAY
John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there
is no other name under heaven given to men by
which we must be saved."
Heb 9:27-28 Just as man is destined to die once, and
after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed
once to take away the sins of many people; and he
will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to
bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

29. the letter & the SPIRIT
Luke 11:37-54
Application:
Modern day Pharisees ...
“External” religion ....
but no “Inward” reality
Religiosity ...
Churchianity ...
Ref 2 Tim 3:5
“...having a form of godliness
but denying its power.”

30. the letter & the SPIRIT Luke 11:37-54
Christianity ....
is NOT a Philosophy
is NOT a Religion.
it’s a RELATIONSHIP
with Jesus Christ
 and the Holy Spirit
Christ in you, the hope of glory

31. the letter & the SPIRIT
Luke 11:37-54
John 16:13-15
• But when HE, the SPIRIT OF TRUTH,
comes, HE will guide you into all truth...
the SPIRIT will take from what is mine
and make it known to you.
John 14:26
• But the COUNSELOR, the HOLY SPIRIT, whom
the Father will send in my name, will teach
you all things and will remind you of
everything I have said to you.

33. the letter & the SPIRIT
Luke 11:37-54
1 Cor 6:19 Do you not know that your
body is a temple of the HOLY SPIRIT,
who is in you, whom you have received
from God?

34. When you know & accept Jesus
you become a Disciple...
and once you are a Disciple ...
you will have the Holy Spirit
the letter & the SPIRIT
Luke 11:37-54
You can be a Christian ...
and not know Jesus.
You can be a Christian ...
and not know the Holy Spirit.

35. “... to be honest, the daughter had reached
that age where she seemed to think that her
parents only existed to serve her wants.
The young teenage girl had lost sight of the
fact she was part of a family and that she was
expected to contribute to the family as well
as take from the family....”
“As Christians do we act like this spoiled child
in our expectations from God?"
“Do we get to the point where we think God
exists for the sole purpose of filling our lives
with health, wealth and happiness."

36. Modern Paraphrase of Matt 25:41-44I was hungry ...
and you formed a Committee to discuss my hunger
I was thirsty ...
and you preached to me about the ‘living waters’
I was imprisoned ...
and you thank God for your freedom
I was naked ...
and you twittered about the morality of my appearance
I was sick ...
and you blogged to thank God for your health
I was homeless ...
and you WhatsApp me that the Son of Man also had no
place to lay his head
I was lonely ...
and you just facebooked to say you understand
YOU SEEM SO CLOSE TO GOD;
but I am still very hungry, lonely, cold ....

37. the letter & the SPIRIT
Luke 11:37-54
SSMC Theme Verse 2014
2 Cor 5:14-15
14 For Christ's love compels us, because
we are convinced that one died for all,
and therefore all died.
15 And he died for all, that those who live
should no longer live for themselves but
for him who died for them and was
raised again.

38. Quote : Ps Edmund Chan
Good To Know
the WORD OF GOD
but more importantly
Is To Know
the GOD of the WORD
and if I may add....
We His Disciples,
Need To Bring OUR GOD Into OUR WORLD