[Mr. Mark Welch]: Well, brethren, although Jesus Christ never sinned and He was perfectly balanced in his responses to life and His challenge, He was clearly upset. In fact, rightly angered by certain behaviors of a certain group of people called the scribes and the Pharisees. Why was Jesus so angry with them? After all, weren't they among the most respected religious leaders of the day? Maybe that's partly why. What chapter of the Bible would you go to if you wanted to show Christ's approach in his assessment of the scribes and the Pharisees of His day? Can you think of a chapter right off hand that comes to mind? Where in the Bible would you go to show what Jesus really thought of the scribes and the Pharisees, and He does it in a very profound way?

One chapter in the gospels especially stands out to me, perhaps it does to you as well. In this chapter, Christ repeatedly points out the hypocrisy of the scribes and the Pharisees regarding the laws of God and their approach to God's law. The problem, according to Jesus, is that they focus meticulously on the letter of lesser aspects of the law, but they neglected the spiritual weightier matters and aspects of the law, and they didn't apply themselves well in their own personal lives and in their relationships with other people. So Christ had good reason to take exception to the example that the scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day were setting.

Why did Christ single out judgment or justice? They go hand-in-hand together, mercy and faith, or faithfulness as the weightier matters of the law. What relationship does each of the weightier matters have with the law? Why should you and I focus on the weightier matters of the law, the most important aspects of the law? Well, that seems like a no-brainer, but sometimes we don't do that. Just like the scribes and the Pharisees.

How are we to prioritize these matters in our own lives today? And are these issues as relevant today as they were at Jesus' time when he was on the earth? Brethren, what was the big problem again that Jesus had with the scribes and the Pharisees? They were hypocrites because they made a huge issue out of the letter of the law in more minor aspects of the law, while they neglected to apply the most important aspects of the laws of God: mercy, judgment, and faith. They didn't apply it in their own personal lives and they did not apply it in their relationships with others.

Jesus points that out in a few examples in what chapter? Matthew 23, that's correct. I know some of you were well aware of that. Matthew 23, this chapter has always stood out to me in a profound way because Jesus was pretty hot in this chapter. I mean, I don't know how you could read it any other way. You know, He was incensed. He was worked up, you might say. So let's go to Matthew 23 and we're not going to read all of the chapter. I mean, it would be good if you would do that to get it all into context, but we're going to start in Matthew 23:23. So it's easy to remember how to find this verse, it's Matthew 23:23.

Matthew 23:23- And Jesus has already said, "Woe, to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites," a number of times, he says it again here in verse 23. "For you pay tithes of mint and anise and cummin," some little herbs, just you're paying a 10th of these small herbs “and you have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy and faith. These, you ought to have done," talking about those small things, you know, tithing and doing it well and really being faithful in your tithing is important. So, he wasn't making light of that law, but he was just saying that you're so meticulous, and just the tiniest things, probably, going way beyond what God even expected them to do. You know, just being super meticulous about this in an outward type of way, but neglecting the inward spiritual matters of the heart and the mind.

So back to the verse. He said, "These, you ought to have done without leaving the others undone."

So, you should be focusing on the most important aspects, but don't leave the other things undone either, you know, pay attention to everything. But first things first, get your priorities straight. Isn't that a challenge for all of us, getting our priorities straight? Of course, it is. So, we see very clearly that Jesus was very angry about this. We'll read a few more verses here. He says in verse 24. And this is also a very profound verse.

Matthew 23:24 He says, "Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel."

So they would strain out these little unclean gnats and I wouldn't want to eat them either, you know, I wouldn't want them in my food, they're unclean, but you swallow a camel. Now, how could you possibly swallow a camel? Well, He's making a point. You know, you're not focusing on the most important things. You're focusing on these little tiny things when there's something huge right before your eyes, and you're not paying attention to it.

Matthew 23:25 He says "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." Again, showing that if we focus on the outward appearance or the outward things while neglecting the inward heart and mind then we're certainly missing out. You know, we're making a huge mistake here.

Matthew 23:26-28 He said "Blind Pharisees, 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 your like whitewash tombs, which indeed appear beautiful,” Looks good on the outside, “But inwardly, they're full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men." Yes, you're the religious leaders of the day. “You appear righteous before men, but inside you're full of hypocrisy and you're full of lawlessness.” You're breaking God's laws and you're hypocrites. "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” Because you build the tombs of the prophets, yet you had a hand in killing the prophets. Your fathers had a hand in killing the prophets, and you're not any better than them.

Matthew 23:29-33 He says, "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.” And you're just like them. “Fill up, then the measure of your father's guilt, serpents, brood of vipers, how can you escape the condemnation of hell?"

Now that's pretty strong language, isn't it? I mean, I think those are fighting words, right? If you call people hypocrites and tell them they're going to hell you're really going to get some hackles up. Well, that's exactly what Jesus did. But evidently, they were taking it at the moment. I think Christ was so compelling at the time and there were other people there, you know, that weren't the religious leaders of the day. And so they had to be careful how they reacted to Jesus, but you can bet that inside they were boiling with hatred and resentment for what Jesus was saying about them, even though it was true. “Serpents, brood of vipers, how can you escape the condemnation of hell?”

Matthew 23:34-39 "Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify." So Christ prophesied that would happen, and indeed it did happen. "And some of them, you will scourge in your synagogues," certainly, that happened to Paul and others, "and persecute them from city to city." That's what we read about in the book of Acts. "That on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar." So Christ is saying you're guilty of all of it. And then He says, He finishes up here. "Surely, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation." And then in verse 37, Jesus also laments about what's going to happen. He says, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her," Christ knew he would be stoned, He would be killed, He would be crucified in short order. So He says, "I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. See, your house has left to you desolate for I say to you, you shall see me no more until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,'"

Christ is indeed coming. And I know we all look forward to Christ returning to set things straight and to renew all things. But in the meantime, let's talk about how we must not be like the Pharisees, how we must not be like the scribes. We must not be hypocrites. I'd say if there's one thing that has hurt the church of God more than any other over the years, it's hypocrisy. And that's one of the reasons why we lost a lot of our younger people, our teenagers, and young adults is because the parents haven't always set the best example. So I believe we should own that as people of God and realize that we must not continue making the same mistakes that our forefathers had just like Christ was telling the scribes and the Pharisees of their day that they should not sin as their fathers' sinned before them. It's time to repent of our sins. Set a better example, become a church without spot and without wrinkle, you know, that is our calling, brethren. That is what it's a high and a holy calling. It's not a simple thing is it to become a church without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing?

So, let us consider two much related questions. First of all, why did Jesus single out judgment, mercy, and faith as weightier matters of the law? Why these three? What relationship does each of the weightier matters have to the law of God?

So let's begin. Why is judgment or justice, the first one mentioned here, one of the weightier matters of the law and what relationship does it have to God's law? So let's talk about judgment. Brethren, we know that we are to judge righteous judgment, and we could go to a lot of scriptures, you know, to bear all this out, but we frankly don't have time to do that today because I have important things to talk about and I want to put it together in a package. So we can't go to every verse. But the scripture clearly says that we are to learn to judge righteous judgment, and we are to seek for true justice.

God is a God of justice. We are to be men and women that seek true justice. We are to discern what is right and wrong behavior. What is just according to God's word? And we are to reject the wrong and embrace the right as our way of life. There are always consequences, we know, for breaking the law of God, we see it in our own lives. Isn't there a law that God put into motion? It's called the law of sowing and reaping, reaping, and sowing. We reap what we sow. And it's true, whether it's good or bad, we're going to reap what we sow and every decision we sow something. Every decision that we make to some degree, there may be some minor ones that don't make a whole lot of difference, but there's a lot of decisions that we make each day that really do reap those consequences, either good or bad. So, we should be aware of that as we go throughout our lives, always consequences for breaking God's law. We enter into judgment when we break the laws of God. Judgment is passed, and when we sin, we're found guilty of sin. We're found guilty. As soon as we sin, we're found guilty. I mean, there's no way to change that. Once we've sinned, we're guilty.

Justice is served in a sense because God isn't mocked. God knows we've sinned, God knows all things. God knows the truth. One may be falsely accused in this life by man, and they may even die for a crime that they didn't commit. But God judges that person innocent, who is innocent, regardless of what man says, or does, or thinks, regardless of man's judgment. So we all come before God, either clean and pure, or not so much as we go throughout life. We are to personally judge righteous judgment as life happens around us. Our judgment should be based on God's law and the truths of God. It's not ours to condemn someone, but we are to be able to judge right from wrong, according to the laws of God because we're to be students of the Bible. We're to know what the Bible says. So, we're to be able to understand and discern and have righteous judgment.

Again, we're not to condemn a person or come across in a condemning way. That's not love. That's not the way God would have us conduct ourselves. We're not to come across that way at all because are we not also sinners? So when we come across to others in a condemning way, what are we bringing upon ourselves? We're bringing condemnation upon ourselves because even though we may have not sinned in the same manner, we have sinned. So we have to be very careful, you know, in how we come across to people who are less than perfect because, frankly, we're there too, we're all less than perfect.

As a collective body, the church of God, we are given the directive to cry aloud, to spare not, to lift up our voice like a trumpet to show Israel their sins and that we should do. And I think we're doing that, that we have some very strong words in our telecasts and in the pages of the Beyond Today and elsewhere. So we're striving to do that. Now, individually, we should perhaps be a bit more tactful and discrete, maybe not crying aloud, so loudly sometimes. Because again, we need to be careful that we're not hypocrites. Is that how we want to be treated? When we have fallen short, when we have sinned? When appropriate, we should let a person know that we oppose their wrong behavior, but we should do it in such a way that is not condemning. Yes, we do oppose wrong behavior, and people should realize that. We should help them understand what their behavior may be causing in their own lives and in the lives of others. And if they're not seeing it, they really need to learn to see it, to grasp it.

Now, this is especially true I think with our own children, they need to understand that there are always consequences for certain behaviors, certain things that they do, whether good or bad, you know, we should reward them when they're being good. You know, we should praise them, thank them, show them how much we appreciate them, sometimes even maybe buy them a special gift. Not that we do that all the time, but there are times when we should certainly do that. At the same time, they also need to understand that there are consequences for bad behavior. Consequences must be paid if good consequential reasoning is developed in a person.

Do you have good consequential reasoning? Do you think about the consequences of your actions before you actually do them? A person who has good consequential reasoning will think about that before they actually do certain things and they will avoid, you know, a lot of heartache in their lives. So it is important to have good consequential reasoning and to teach our children that there are consequences for the bad behavior that we do. I mean, all of this needs to be done in balance, of course, and love is the key, you know, love is the fulfilling of the law. So, love should be paramount when we exercise these things. Obviously, judgment, mercy, and faith, you know, love is right there at all times.

So, it is important that our parents do utilize some sort of discipline or appropriate punishment for wrongdoing. In fact, we could be neglecting our job as parents if we're not doing that. We need to be consistent with our children. Don't become weary and well-doing because it's easy to just overlook certain things. And if we get in a habit of overlooking certain things, then we're going to teach our children that they can get away with things and that maybe there aren't consequences. There's always consequences to one degree or another when we do wrong because God isn't mocked. So brethren, be consistent with your children and certainly be faithful in teaching them and showing them the way.

So why is judgment and justice one of the weightier matters of the law? I think we can see that, you know, it's so integral that we learn to judge righteous judgment. And, you know, we look at these things in a proper way and we're careful how we carry out these things in our lives. You know, we're going to be held accountable. We must not be hypocrites when it comes to judging others. Remember, get the plank out of your own eye, so you can see clearly to help someone else perhaps get a speck out of their eye.

Why is mercy one of the weightier matters of the law? What relationship does it have to God's law? Brethren, we know that God and Christ are long-suffering. God is not now dealing with humankind according to our many sins, right? No, God is not intervening like He did with Ananias and Sapphira. That was pretty immediate. Uzzah, very immediate. I think God has those examples in the Bible because He wants us to realize He has that power. He has that right if He chooses to strike us down at any moment, when we sinned. The wages of sin is what? It's death, right? Thankfully, He doesn't do that. He's very long-suffering. You know, He doesn't like sin. God is righteous. God is pure. God hates sin. He's against it. But He has an overall plan. He's working out. So he's very long-suffering and patient and we all should be very grateful for that.

Psalm 103:10, David says, and David knew because David was a sinner. Wasn't he? He said “He has not dealt with us according to our sins nor punished us according to our iniquities.”

So we should all be certainly very grateful for that. You know, God is such a merciful, loving God. So he sets that example for us. According to God's plan of salvation, humankind has a certain amount of time to write its history. We're writing our history as human beings, almost 6,000 years now, it's an ugly history. You look back on it. It's pretty ugly history, isn't it? I watched a movie or a film, not just me, but all of us at Ambassador College back in the day about man's inhumanity to man. It just showed a lot of wars and killing and just mayhem, havoc, raping and pillaging, and everything like that. You know, just horrifying history that we've written.

But according to God's plan of salvation, humankind has a certain amount of time to write its history, to learn its lessons. And for some, for all of us, to be given salvation at His son's return. Except for the elect's sake, none would be saved alive. But thankfully, we're, we are among the elect that God has called out and chosen. God is allowing much to go on that He does not approve of these days, but He is going to send His son back to make things right and to renew all things.

Today, Jesus, as our high priest intercedes for those who are of a repentant heart and mind. Jesus pleads our case to the Father who then grants, repentance and forgives our sin. This is called mercy. It's a weightier matter of the law. It's very closely related to the law because when we break the law, if mercy is not extended, we are in very, very deep trouble. Admitting and confessing our sin to God is the first step. You know, if you're not willing to admit you're a sinner and that you have sinned, then you're not getting anywhere. You know, that's the first step, you have to admit that you have sinned, that you've broken one of God's laws and there's lots of laws. I guess the Jews counted 613, but they were probably a little meticulous in doing that as well. But there are a lot of laws, you know, that we can break as God's people as humankind.

So that's the first step leading to God granting repentance. Being truly sorry and having a godly sorrow is the second step. Admitting that you've sinned and being sorry that you've sinned. Sincerely sorry that you've sinned, not wanting to go that direction, not wanting to continue in that path. That's the second step. And the third step is having an attitude and a desire of wanting to overcome that sin. Wanting to put that sin out. All three have to be present if God's going to grant repentance.

So obviously, we want God to live in us, so we will be able to do those three things when we need to, which is quite regularly. When all three are present, mercy is extended. And because of this repentant approach, repentance is granted, our sins are forgiven. Christ was perfect. His righteousness is imputed on our behalf. That's a beautiful thing, to have your sins forgiven, to be cleansed. 2 Corinthians, I think it's Chapter 7 that talks about true repentance. You know, that's some very powerful verses that Paul had written down there for us, talks about repentance, how it's a great clearing of the self. You know, it's what zeal it brings out in a person when they really believe and know that they've been forgiven their sins. Wanting to go on is such a beautiful thing. Otherwise, we would be most miserable. Would we not? I know I would be most miserable if I didn't believe that God forgave me, which goes into the third weightier matter of having faith and trusting and believing in God and knowing that God will do that for us.

Brethren, we know that there may still be some consequences for our sins. Even when we repent. There may be consequences. God may allow some of the consequences to come upon us. In fact, some people have ended up in prison because of their sins. Some have had certainly much lesser punishments because of their sins, but regardless, there is a price that we all pay, even if it's just the joy that we would've had had we not sinned, you know, the satisfaction that we would've had if we had truly hung in there and yielded ourselves to God and allowed Christ to live in us and help us overcome. Every time we sin, there's a price that we pay for that. This does not mean, of course... I'm sorry, I got onto the wrong paragraph here.

Christ showed that there is a time to forgive, show mercy, to be gracious to those who have broken His laws. When is that time primarily for you and for me? Frankly, it's all the time. We ought to be gracious and forgiving realizing again that the sinner is very much like ourselves. Perhaps, in other ways, but nevertheless, we're all sinners in various ways and to various extents, and it's really detrimental for us to react harshly to someone who has sinned. You know, I mean, there's a balance, obviously. Christ was not happy. He was angry. There may be a good time to be angry. And I understand that and I've been angry about sin in the past myself and there are times certainly, but knowing our own frailties, our own weaknesses should temper that. And we should be careful how we respond.

So we need to be gracious and forgiving, realizing the sinner is much like ourselves. We are all frail human beings and we would do well to keep that in mind when we see or hear of another person who has sinned. This does not mean we give them a complete pass. Does it? You know, we don't want to go too far the other way either. We don't want to give them a complete pass because that's not God's way at all. God doesn't give us a complete pass. And there are times, again, as we teach our children, certainly, you know, we have to show them certain consequences that come from bad behavior. We can still extend some mercy to someone who just doesn't get it by being patient and by not responding in a vindictive way towards them. Compassion towards others is a fulfilling of the law of God, having compassion for someone.

And again, love is a fulfillment of the law. Now Jesus said to the Father, as He was being crucified, "Father, forgive them for, they know not what they do." Steven said something very similar, didn't he? When he was being crucified or when he was being stoned to death, Steven says essentially the same thing, "Father forgive them. They really don't know what they're doing here." If Jesus and Steven had this approach toward those who were grievously sinning against them personally, in fact, murdering them, then we too should strive to have the same loving, merciful approach to those who wrong us. This is consistent with Jesus's instruction to love our enemies, to pray for those who spitefully use us and persecute us, you know, turn against us, sin against us. When appropriate, we should let people know that we oppose their wrong behavior. You might have to do that with a smile sometimes depending on, you know, the relationship and how that all works. We should try to help them understand what, again, what their behavior is causing. If they're not seeing it, this is again, especially true with our children, they need to understand this.

Now Christ gave an example of forgiving people 70 times seven, right? You know, that was the example. Obviously, there is some implication that there should be a repentant heart involved in this. If you're going to forgive 70 times seven, the person better be trying. You better be trying, you know, because otherwise, I think we would all get angry at that type of behavior. You know, someone that would just sin repeatedly over and over again and never really have any remorse, never really try to overcome. All right, so I think that pretty well covers mercy and why that's such an important aspect of God's law, an important part of his law.

Why is faith or faithfulness one of the weightier matters of the law? What relationship does it have to God's law? Brethren, one must have faith to believe that he's forgiven for breaking the laws of God, but he must also realize that there are consequences and judgment for breaking that law. In faith and in faithfulness, he accepts that this punishment is just. We’re getting what we deserve. So whatever the punishment is, even if it's as bad as it was for Ananias and Sapphira. It was just. That's what they deserved.

We must believe and have faith also that our high priest will intercede on our behalf when we truly seek repentance in our lives. You know, when we go to God and we ask for forgiveness, we should know that Jesus Christ is there for us. Jesus Christ will plead our case to the Father, and the Father will grant us repentance. As I mentioned already, what it takes to be truly repentant, then God grants that repentance. We have to have an inkling in that direction though, right? We have to have a repentant heart and mind if God's going to continue to grant that repentance, He does it all the time for us. He's done it all the time for me for 47 years now, He's been very gracious. And I haven't always been as repentant as I should be, but God doesn't give up on us. He continues to work with us and helps us see things and understand things better, helps us to grow and overcome. But none of us will reach perfection in this life. I'm far from perfect. You all know that, I think. Ask my wife, if you have any real doubts about that, she'll be glad to fill you in on a lot of my frailties. I'm sure. But I think you understand, you know, we're all in this together, right? You know, we're all made in God's image. We're all made in His likeness. We're all flesh. We have those same weaknesses that we have to struggle against.

We also need to have faith in God to provide our every need, to trust in Him to take care of us and that somehow all things God allows will work together for good. That's a part of being faithful and having faithfulness when we trust God and have that faith in Him. And we should look for breakthroughs as the song talked about. Don't we all want breakthroughs? I think we're all looking for major breakthroughs in our lives and we should continue to do that and be grateful when we get one and hope that we get another one because one's not enough, we need more than one.

Brethren, we need to be faithful. You know, God's call is to be faithful. Surely, it's one of the greater most important aspects of God's law, to be faithful, to have faith, to trust in Him, to walk in faithfulness. The just shall live by their faithfulness. The scripture tells us the just shall live by their faithfulness, and by their faithfulness, the just shall live abundant lives and be blessed for it. So there is great reward in following God and following his truth and following His ways and keeping His laws.

Now, the scribes and Pharisees omitted the weightier matters, the most important matters. How did they do it? In what ways did they do it? In regard to judgment, they didn't judge righteous judgment. They made judgments that benefited themselves and hurt other people. Rather than encouraging healing of all kinds, they directly opposed healing on the Sabbath, right? Remember that? How incensed the Pharisees were and the scribes that Jesus was healing on the Sabbath day. Jesus pointed out to them that if it was acceptable for the farmers among them to feed and care for their livestock on the Sabbath, surely, it would be acceptable to heal someone.

I remember there was one He healed, that'd been ill for like 38 years or some long, long period of time. To think what rejoicing they all should have had in rejoicing that this person was made whole. I'd love it if people would start healing in here on the Sabbath. You know, I'd love to see God pour that out. And looking forward to the time when he will do that, he'll pour that out. And those amongst us will be healed of these things. I believe that day is coming. I truly do believe that day is coming. I hope I get to see it in miraculous, wonderful ways as the book of Acts shows, as Christ showed in the gospel messages of all the people that were healed, but that shows where the Pharisees were coming from. They were more concerned that they weren't looking near as good as Jesus was.

Jesus was getting a following. That bothered them. People were beginning to look more to Jesus than they were to them. That was problematic. And remember what Christ did about the money changers on a number of two or three occasions at least. He tossed the money changers out of the temple. That was another time when He was incensed because so much hypocrisy taking advantage of people that were there worshiping God and they were taking advantage of the people, desecrating the temple. They were extorting the common people, benefiting from those activities themselves. Their judgment was to neglect their own parents at times while choosing to look more generous and righteous than they actually were. There were lots of ways in which they were hypocritical in regard to God's law.

What about mercy? The scribes and the Pharisees are not known for their love and compassion, are they? They were already trying to have the Messiah murdered. They were already showing their true colors. They opposed healing on the Sabbath because of their jealousies. As they knew the people preferred Jesus teaching over their teaching, and they were increasingly looking to Him. Instead of being able to see and accept the tremendous blessings that God was pouring out through this man, the son of God, upon the sick, the crippled, the blind, they foolishly opposed Him. Instead of being able to see and accept the tremendous blessings that God was, again, showing to His children and His people and rejoicing with all that, they opposed that.

Rather than have their lofty position in the eyes of the people diminished in any way, they tried to discredit Jesus. They repeatedly questioned Him, trying to make Him look bad, trying to trip Him up in the things that He said, the teachings that He gave. When that didn't work, they looked for more effective ways to shut Him up. They clearly loved themselves much more than the people, Jesus told them, they ought to serve. Humble yourself and become a servant. That was Christ teaching to the Pharisees. Humble yourself and become a servant.

Pride and vanity motivated the scribes and the Pharisees. They were blinded by Satan. They clung to their traditions. Traditions that had led to the killing of the prophets in times past. This clouded their judgment. All of this clouded their judgment. They thought they were safe because they were Abraham's seed. Not so. God expects certain behavior, certain conduct. None of us are entitled, you might say. We all have to live by the same laws. God is a God of justice, but also of love and mercy. He isn't mocked. He's looking for those who practice and stand for justice and righteousness. He wants and allows us to reap what we sow because we need to understand that God's judgment does come upon all of us. It's automatic. It comes upon all of us in one way or another. God has placed that law into motion. That is justice, reaping what one has sown, whether good or bad. That is also the judgment that God has automatically placed into effect in our lives.

Now, brethren, when repentance enters into the equation, God often shows mercy. We know that he extends that blessing of forgiveness and also even lessens the natural consequences, oftentimes, you know, again, He's very gracious. He does not deal with us according to our sins. The scribes and Pharisees would tithe the smallest amounts, but they would neglect much higher priorities. They would be meticulous in some things, but they would show their total disregard for life in killing the prophets and killing the Messiah and taking that approach. You know, it says in that in the last days, some will kill God's people thinking they're doing God a service. Okay, things don't change that much. You know, things are still very similar today. You know, I'm grateful for what I see in the United Church of God today. I'm grateful for the leadership that I've seen, that I've witnessed very closely. And I don't see that type of hypocrisy. I don't see that type of leadership, that type of behavior. I mean, I wouldn't want to be where I'm at if I saw that sort of thing. So I think we should all be grateful for that.

And, you know, let's not equate the religious leaders of the day as being like the scribes and the Pharisees, you know. We should be judged by our works. We should be judged by the things that we say, the things that we do, the example that we set, things have changed. The church of God is not scribes and Pharisees. It's not to say that we haven't had elements of that over the years. But, again, we should walk together as God's people and we are held accountable. Those who are ministers, those who are called out chosen to serve in special ways, have the greater judgment. And it's not something, hopefully, any of us are taking lightly or we will pay a consequence for that.

So what about faith when it comes to the scribes and the Pharisees? Rather than trusting God and showing their faith, you know, miracle-working God. Here, God shows up in the flesh, performing miracle after miracle, walking on the water. I mean, you would think that would be enough, wouldn't you? Well, it wasn't back in Moses' time either. You know, when God led them through the Red Sea on dry ground, that wasn't enough. And it wasn't enough for the Pharisees. And it's not going to be enough for people on this earth. When those types of miracles happen again from God himself. So rather than seeing that it was God, the Father who was giving this man, Jesus, extraordinary power. They rejected both the Son and the Father. In faith, they should have submitted to His son's teachings. Instead, the scribes and the Pharisees oppose Jesus. We need to be careful that we are never opposing God's will in our lives and what God wants for us.

The scribes and the Pharisees were more afraid of the Romans. The high priest, he was more afraid of the Romans than he was of disobeying God. Thou shall not murder. He was much more concerned about the Romans and what they would do if people followed this Jesus rather than trusting in God. Well, they didn't get it obviously, they didn't have God's holy spirit. Brethren, we have God's holy spirit. That makes all the difference. You know, God's Spirit works in us. It brings us to repentance.

So brethren, what are some takeaways? Real quickly here from the chapter, this chapter in Matthew. Number one, our priority should be focused on judgment, mercy, and faith while we also strive to take care of lesser important obligations. But first things first, let's get our priorities straight. Tithing is important. We need people to tithe. You know, Christ talked about it in the New Testament. I believe that tithing is still a law that's in effect. It should be something that we do. We don't have to be obsessive about it. You know, like they were, you know, they went a little too far in all that and they neglected so many more important things. Brethren, let us start with our families. No, let us practice this with our families. First and foremost, our spouse. Let's love our spouse. Let's show mercy to our spouse. Let's have faith in our spouse. Let's judge righteous judgment as we walk through life, but let's start with our families, with our children, with our families, mom, and dad, and with parents and with our husbands and wives. Let's set the example that we should set right from the beginning with our children and our families.

Secondly, another takeaway, we need to be able to recognize any tendencies of the Pharisees in us individually, and collectively as a whole, as a church, you know, we should pray that God would help us see any tendencies like that, that we might repent as a body that we might repent, as individuals of these things. And again, remember, you may have a plank in your eye that's clouding your judgment, that's clouding your eyesight, not able, not enabling you to see clearly. Pray God will show you these things and bring you to true repentance, which leads to the third, take away, reject those tendencies if you see them. Reject any of those tendencies towards becoming Pharisaical and repent of those things.

Judgment should be tempered with mercy and should be appreciated in faith. You know, we should appreciate righteous judgment. We should appreciate someone who is merciful as God is merciful toward us. We should do unto others as we would have them do unto us, treat them the way we would want to be treated under those same circumstances. We shouldn't want to go scot-free of any consequences when we sin because that's not going to be healthy for us. We need to pay a price. We need to pay a price so that we will do better in the future. You should be repentant, which leads to overcoming. It says that only overcomers will I grant to sit with me on my throne. Only if you overcome. God's again, gracious and merciful. And he gives us time to grow and overcome, and I'm very grateful for that, I still need to overcome. There's things that we all need to overcome.

I'm not going to take the time to go to James 2 but I would encourage you to read James 2. There it talks about, "We are not to show greater respect for some people over others. Respect of persons." You know, God says a lot about that. He says, "Take care of the poor, take care of the needy. Don't show greater respect toward others than you would those who are the most needy, the ones that need the greatest help." You know, don't seek the chief seats. You know, don't go that way, humble yourself before God. And that brings us to the last verse, Micah 6, ties in very well with what we're talking about today.

Micah 6:6-8 "With what shall I come before the eternal and bow myself before the high God. Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings with calves a year old, will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams?" There were a lot of sacrifices, millions, I suppose, of animals that were sacrificed in ancient Israel. “10,000 rivers of oil. Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression?" They even sacrificed their children. That's how off they were. I mean, I hope we're not sacrificing our children in certain ways because we're not giving them the kind of love and attention that we need to. "Shall I give my first born for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" No, that's not what God wants. That's not what we're talking about today. “He has shown you, oh man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you?”

Three things, to do justly, and to have righteous judgment, to treat people in the same manner we would want to be treated in this regard. To love mercy and to walk humbly. To walk humbly with God, to trust God, to have faith in God, to be faithful, to walk humbly with Him. These are the weightier matters of the law. These three items here, to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God.

Brethren, Jesus had good reason to be angry with the religious leaders of the day because of the example that they were setting, they were hypocrites. Brethren, let us focus upon the weightier matters of God's law upon judging righteous judgment and being just ourselves, upon showing mercy and forgiveness toward others, and also in being faithful to God and to one another, always walking in faith and setting an example that we can all follow.