Romans: Law, Obedience, and Sanctification: Walking With God

How to Enrage Hypocrites and Pharisees

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: New Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2014-04-06

Synopsis: John Weaver examines Luke 6:1-11 to show how Jesus enraged the Pharisees by opposing their traditions, confounding their thinking with biblical logic, and applying God's law. He argues that genuine Christians will naturally provoke hypocrites when they obey Scripture, and that believers must apply God's Word regardless of opposition.

[John Weaver] So let's open our Bibles, if you would, to Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6, and we're going to read the first 11 verses. Luke chapter 6. The title of the message today is How to Enrage Hypocrites and Pharisees Without Even Trying. So if you really want to know how to enrage a hypocrite or a Pharisee, you can find it in this chapter. Look in Luke chapter 6, beginning there with verse 1.

[John Weaver] And it came to pass on the second Sabbath after the first, that he went through the cornfields and his disciples plucked the ears of corn and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. And certain of the Pharisees said unto him, Why do you that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath days? And Jesus answering them said, Have you not read so much as this, what David did when himself was hungered and they which were with him? I went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him, which it is not lawful to eat, but for the priest alone. And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath. And he came to pass on another sabbath.

[John Weaver] Then he entered into the synagogue, and taught. And there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day, that there might be salvation against him. But he knew their thoughts, and said unto the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose, and stood forth.

[John Weaver] Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing. Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil, to save life, or to destroy it? And looking round about upon them all, he said to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he did so. Then his hand was restored whole as the other, and they were filled with madness. and commune one with another what they might do to Jesus.

[John Weaver] So how to enrage hypocrites and Pharisees without even trying? Every one of us know that oil and water do not mix. Likewise, real, genuine Christians and Pharisees and hypocrites do not mix well either. All one has to do is read the Bible and you're going to discover that there has always been a large difference between pretend Christians and real Christians. They've always been at odds with each other. As the old saying goes, they do not play well together, nor do they worship well together either. In fact, I would venture to say that 99.9% of most church troubles arise because of the differences between pretend Christians and real Christians. Wheat and tares are contrary to each other. They may grow alongside each other for a short while, but when it comes to producing fruit, the tares fail. Problems arise when the tares wish to take over a field and the wheat will not allow it. The animosity is absolutely natural that one fights against the other. One of the things that we fail to remember is this, that dominion is in the hearts of the ungodly as well as in the hearts of the godly.

[John Weaver] And so there is a natural struggle and a natural fight. It is the battle of Ishmael against Isaac. You remember the Apostle Paul explained this battle in Galatians 4 and verse 29 when he said, but as it was then, he that was born unto the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now." And Paul stated the same principle, just a little differently, in Galatians 5 and verse 17, when he says, for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary, the one to the other.

[John Weaver] And certainly that is true. The flesh is contrary to the Spirit. The Spirit is contrary to the flesh. Isaac is contrary to Ishmael and Ishmael is contrary to Isaac. So Pharisees and hypocrites are nothing more than Ishmaels. They are after the flesh and they have absolutely no heart for the things of God. They do, however, have a heart to persecute anyone who stands for God's truth and applies the law of God. So like Ishmael of old, the hypocrites and Pharisees always mock Isaac. The interesting thing is God has a great deal to say concerning hypocrites. He also called the Pharisees hypocrites.

[John Weaver] Now I suppose it might be possible to be a hypocrite without being a Pharisee. But it is impossible to be a Pharisee without being a hypocrite. I want you to hold Luke chapter 6, but I want you to turn first to the book of Job, and let's go to Job chapter 8. Let me just show you several passages to begin with concerning hypocrites. Job chapter 8, and we're going to begin reading there at verse 11. Job chapter 8, verse 11.

[John Weaver] Follow if you would please. Job 8 and verse 11. The Bible says this. Can the rush grow up without mire? Can the flag grow without water? While it is yet in its greenness and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb. Now watch the application. So are the paths of all that forget God, and the hypocrite's hope shall perish. It's interesting that a hypocrite has hope, but he says that hope shall surely perish. If you look in Job chapter 13, Beginning there with verse 15, Job 13 and verse 15, Job says, Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.

[John Weaver] I will maintain mine own ways before him. He shall also be my salvation, for a hypocrite shall not come before him. Notice if you would, Job said, Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. But a hypocrite is not going to come near him. Look, if you would, to Job 27, and let's begin reading there with verse 8. Job 27 and verse 8. Again, the Word of God tells us this. Job 27, verse 8. For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul? Will God hear his cry when troubled? cometh upon him?

[John Weaver] Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call upon God? Well, obviously, hypocrites do exactly as do others in one sense of the word. They have hope. They hope. But the Word of God says their hope shall quickly perish. They have no standing before God. Therefore, they cannot come before God. And the hypocrite loses all when he dies. And Job is telling us, even in this life, he really loses as well, because he does not delight himself in the Lord, neither does he constantly and continually call upon Him. Everyone understands that hypocrites are always the quickest to see even the tiniest flaw and the tiniest sin in the lives of other individuals, and yet they overlook the greatest of sins in their own lives. If you will turn to Matthew chapter 7, everyone is familiar with this passage. Matthew chapter 7, beginning there with verse 3. Notice what our Lord says. Matthew chapter 7, verse 3, just showing you how particular hypocrites are concerning the sins of others. Matthew 7, verse 3. God our Lord asked, and why beholdest thou the mote, that is that little tiny splinter in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam, the great four by four that is in thine own eye?

[John Weaver] Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, let me pull out the mote out of thine own eye? And behold, a beam is in thine own eye, thy hypocrite. First cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then thou shalt see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eyes. So obviously, the hypocrites are those individuals who are willing to attack and willing to persecute anyone who has the tiniest little sin, while at the same time, they're overlooking their sins. If you will turn right on over to Matthew 23, in fact, we've got a lot of passages to cover today, but I want you to see how accurately our Lord nails the Pharisees and the hypocrites. So we're going to begin reading with verse 24, Matthew 23, verse 24, and we'll read down through verse 33. Notice if you would, Matthew 23, verse 24, how Ford says, in fact, you could go back to verse 23. He says, warn you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.

[John Weaver] For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought you to have done and not to leave the other undone.

[John Weaver] Now, our Lord is not condemning them for tithing, but he is saying that what they do is they tithe to the minutest amount, even on these herbs. And he says these things you ought to have done and not leave the other all done, others at all done. But what he what they are doing is they're making sure they do this little teeny tiny thing. And yet they're overlooking judgment and mercy and faith. Look in verse 24.

[John Weaver] You blind guides which strain in a gnat and swallow a camel. Warned are you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites." Notice how he puts them together. "'For you may clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but then they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Warned are you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like unto whited sepulchres. which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Wonder you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you build the tombs of the prophets and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore, you be witnesses unto yourselves, that you are the children of them that kill the prophets.

[John Weaver] Fill you up in the measure of your fathers. Now watch what he says in verse 33. You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell?

[John Weaver] Now obviously our Lord did not have very nice things to say about hypocrites and Pharisees. In fact, we could say it like this. He was completely untactful. His tact was absolutely missing. And when you get to verse 33, wow, you serpents, you generation of vipers, that is you bunch of snakes, you slithering, crawling, wicked, wretched vipers. How can you escape the damnation of hell? You know what I'm afraid? I'm afraid that we as God's people have been too tactful in dealing with such people.

[John Weaver] It's interesting how we want to make sure that we do not upset or offend or hurt their feelings. But I want to call your attention to this fact that our Lord was not too concerned with that. If you'll look in Matthew chapter 15, and let's begin reading there with verse 7. Matthew 15 and verse 7. I want you to look how our Lord ends this little discourse. Matthew 15 and verse 7. Our Lord says to these Pharisees, you hypocrites.

[John Weaver] Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. And he called a multitude and said unto them, Hear and understand, not that which goeth into the mouth that defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the mouth this defileth a man. Then came his disciples and said unto him, Watch, knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended after they had heard this saying.

[John Weaver] But he answered and said, Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. Let them alone. They be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Notice what they said to Christ. Knowest thou not that the Pharisees were offended when they heard your teaching? The Lord said, Tough. Every plant which my Heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. Let them alone. They be blind leaders of the blind. If the blind lead the blind, they'll both fall into the ditch. So our Lord was not too concerned about the feelings of the hypocrites and the Pharisees.

[John Weaver] Now, I am not suggesting today that we purposefully and deliberately hurt and aggravate a hypocrite or a Pharisee. But what I am stating is this, if we follow the lead of our Lord, and if we obey the scriptures, we will automatically anger them and enrage them without even trying. In other words, they'll just simply come to pass naturally. Not because we're intent on hurting them, not because we want to, but simply because of their hypocrisy and their pharisaism. We will get exactly the same result that our Lord got. If you look back in our text to Luke chapter 6 and verse 11, I want you to note what the Bible says. After our Lord got through, the Bible says in verse 11, and they were filled with madness and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus. Now, I want to call your attention to this word, madness. When the Bible says they were filled with madness, the Greek word is anoia, which refers literally to madness, to folly, to rage, and a lack of understanding.

[John Weaver] Now listen, the Greek word nous is the word for mind. When you put an alpha in front of it, it negates the word. So Anoia is from the word noose. Now watch. Literally, the Bible is saying this, that our Lord drove them out of their minds. They were so enraged they could not think clearly, nor could they think straight. All they wanted to do was to hurt him since they were so enraged and had become so insane.

[John Weaver] So let me ask this question. How does one enrage a Hippocrite or a Pharisee without even trying? Well, let's see how our Lord did it. If you'll look in Luke chapter 6 verse 7, The very first way that you enrage a hypocrite or a Pharisee without even trying is by violating and opposing their traditions. Look in verse 7, And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day, that they might find an accusation against him. Now what is significant about this verse is that they watched him to see if he would violate their interpretation of the Sabbath and their tradition concerning the Sabbath.

[John Weaver] Let me make this exceedingly clear. Christ did not violate the Sabbath. However, If you read through scriptures, and I'm going to show you a number of them this morning, you will find that Christ consistently and constantly violated and opposed their interpretations and their traditions concerning the Sabbath. Christ angered them because he would not submit to their interpretation and to their tradition. Now, we've got to make one point exceedingly clear, and that is this.

[John Weaver] Even hypocrites and Pharisees have standards. They do. They're certainly not biblical standards. But they have standards. They have a tradition. They have a religion. It is not biblical Christianity. It has nothing to do with biblical law. However, they have a religion and their religion is a facade. It is a counterfeit. It is an imitation. You remember the Apostle Paul described himself in Philippians chapter 3 as a Pharisee of the Pharisees and touching the law blameless.

[John Weaver] In other words, he thought he was absolutely perfect. And yet the Apostle Paul acknowledges and confesses in Galatians 1 and verse 14, he says this and profited in the Jews' religion above many of my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of the elders." Notice if you would please, the Jews' religion is equated with the traditions of the elders. And Paul said he acceded in those traditions. He excelled in them. In the book of Colossians chapter 2 and verse 8, now listen to what Paul said. He gives a warning and he says this, beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. So he says you better watch out for the traditions of men. The Pharisees were absolutely notorious for following their traditions. I want you to go in your Bibles to the book of Mark, chapter 7. Mark, chapter 7.

[John Weaver] And let's read the first 13 verses. I want to show you how absolutely bent on performing and keeping their traditions, the Pharisees really were. Look at Mark, chapter 7, beginning there with verse 1. Mark 7, verse 1. Here it is. Then came together unto him the Pharisees and certain of the scribes which came from Jerusalem. And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say with unwashed hands, they found fault. They always do. For the Pharisees and all the Jews, now watch, except they wash their hands often, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.

[John Weaver] So this had nothing to do with sanitation. It had nothing to do with Cleanliness. It was a tradition. They went through a little ceremonial washing, lest some germ of some Gentile dog had gotten on. It was a tradition. It was a ceremony. It was a ritual.

[John Weaver] Now watch, if you would, in verse 4. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, and many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups and pots, brazen vessels, and of tables, Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?

[John Weaver] He answered and said unto them, Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. How being vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Watch, for laying aside the commandment of God, You hold the tradition of men as the washing of pots and cups and many other such like things you do." Wow. And he said unto them, full well you reject the commandment of God that you may keep your own tradition.

[John Weaver] For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother, and whoso cursed his father and mother, let him die of the death. But you say, If a man shall say to his father and mother, It is Corban, that is to say a gift, not whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, he shall be free. And you suffer him no more than you ought for his father and mother.

[John Weaver] Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, watch what you have delivered, and many such like things you do. So the Pharisees have their traditions, they have their traditions based upon the Sabbath day. They have their traditions based upon ritualistic washings, ceremonial washings.

[John Weaver] Now, I do want you to see this passage. I do want you to turn to first Peter, chapter one. And I want you to look at what Peter says in verse 18, first Peter, chapter one in verse 18. Our Lord, of course, declared that their traditions were vain and in opposition to the law of God. Moreover, he referred to them as nothing more than the traditions of men. But look what Peter says in 1 Peter 1 and verse 18. He says, for as much as you know, you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold.

[John Weaver] from your vain conversation or conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot. He says your traditions did not save you. I want you to understand how punctilious these Pharisees were in keeping their traditions. I want you to see How a Pharisee can be spiritual according to his own standards. And completely ungodly according to God's standards. I want you to look in John chapter 18. John chapter 18. And look at verse 28. You remember now it was the Pharisees and the scribes that delivered Jesus to the high priests and then of course they delivered him to Pilate. But look at John chapter 18 and verse 28. We need to understand that both hypocrites and Pharisees are religious.

[John Weaver] They can be pious and dedicated to their religion of humanism and traditionalism. The reason they can be pious, listen carefully, It's because they make their own rules. Do you understand I can be as holy as anyone as long as you allow me to define holiness and make my own rules? I've told people before I can jump 20 feet in the air straight up flat footed. Everybody looks at me, you can't do that. Sure I can. If you allow me to define 20 feet straight up. or if you allow me to make my own rules.

[John Weaver] I want you to watch this. Look in John 18, verse 28.

[John Weaver] Now, the Bible says, Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment, that is, to Pilate. And it was early. And they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. What? Ah, they did not wish to be defiled ceremonially so that they could keep their tradition. However, it did not bother them to be defiled morally and criminally by delivering an innocent man to be crucified.

[John Weaver] You see the double standard? It's all right to murder as long as we don't violate our traditions. You can violate God's law, that's fine, but just don't violate our traditions as well.

[John Weaver] Now, let me tell you something. Humanly speaking, I'm not talking about from the divine side. Humanly speaking, the reason Christ was crucified. was because of the envy and the hatred that the Jews and the Pharisees had against him for refusing to keep their traditions. Humanly speaking. Now let me point something out concerning traditions. First of all, I would say there's nothing wrong with traditions as long as they meet two requirements. First of all, If a tradition is biblical, there's nothing wrong with a tradition. There were a few biblical traditions.

[John Weaver] For instance, in 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 15, the Apostle Paul wrote, Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word or by our epistle. So there were traditions that have been communicated. We could say that the Lord's Supper is a tradition in one sense of the word. We know it's an ordinance, but it's something that we do. Baptism would be a tradition. It's an ordinance, but it's something that we do. And it's a biblical one. The Apostle Paul also said in 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 6, Now, we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh this orderly, and not after the traditions which he received of us." In other words, Paul said, if you won't follow the biblical tradition, then we're to withdraw ourselves from him. So, first of all, there'd be nothing wrong with the tradition as long as it is biblical. There would be nothing wrong with the tradition as long as, number one, it is not contrary to scripture, and number two, it is not binding upon anyone.

[John Weaver] Now, what am I talking about? I could start a tradition that everyone comes to my front door must drink a cup of tea before he enters in. Well, that's my tradition. Well, is there anything unbiblical about drinking a cup of tea before you come into my house? No. But what if you don't drink tea or you don't like tea? You see, if I can say it's my tradition, everyone drinks a cup of tea before he comes in my house and you come and you say, I like tea. I'm more than willing to have a cup of tea. Fine. But what if somebody comes in who's allergic to tea and they say, I can't drink that tea?

[John Weaver] Am I to get upset? No.

[John Weaver] Now, if I understand that my tradition is not binding on anyone, that everyone is either free to leave it or accept it, that is one thing. But the problem with the hypocrites and the Pharisees is this. They always want you to do as they say and do what they demand. Thus, when you oppose their traditions and refuse to submit to them, then you enrage them without even trying. Why? Because they demand submission. And they place their traditions above the law of God.

[John Weaver] That's what we read in Matthew 15 in Mark chapter 7. And when you do not do as they do, you enrage them. So how do you enrage a hypocrite or Pharisee without even trying? First of all, by opposing or violating their traditions. I want you to go back to Luke chapter 6, because here's the second way that you can enrage them. It's found in verse 9. The second way to enrage a hypocrite or a Pharisee without even trying is by confounding and confusing their thinking. Look in verse 9, Luke chapter 6.

[John Weaver] Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing. Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it? Listen carefully. Logic, especially biblical logic, is not the forte of Pharisees and hypocrites. Our Lord's question illustrates the fact that neither the Pharisees or hypocrites were able to think scripturally. They not only did not have the ability to think scripturally, but they did not wish to think scripturally. If they thought scripturally, they would no longer be a hypocrite or Pharisee. Now, there are two passages of scripture that forever settles the fact that no hypocrite and no Pharisee has the ability to think biblically. The first one, of course, is 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 14, where the Bible says, but the natural man, that is the unsaved man, man by nature, but the natural man received not the things of the Spirit of God for their foolishness unto him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. So a Pharisee or a hypocrite has no ability to discern the things of God.

[John Weaver] And when you get to Romans 8, verses 6 through 8, the Bible says this, For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Obviously, they do not have the ability to think scripturally and biblically. And secondly, they do not wish to think biblically and scripturally.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to watch how our Lord boxes these Pharisees in. He confronts them with the truth. He asks them a simple question. Is it lawful, that is according to God's law, to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it? Now, if they answer yes, it is lawful to do good, it is lawful to save life. Then the next question is, why are you attacking me?

[John Weaver] Why are you watching me? If they answer no, it is not lawful to do good and lawful to save life. Then, of course, they expose themselves to the people and they condemn themselves. When they are forced to follow our Lord's logic, they do not wish to arrive at the proper conclusion. They become confounded. and confused because they cannot hold to their positions and admit the natural logical answers to his questions.

[John Weaver] Now, look in verse 9 again. Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing, is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it? When our Lord asked this question in verse 9 as to whether or not it's lawful to save life or destroy it, The Pharisees were already planning to destroy his life. Go back to verse 7. And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the seventh day, that they might have an accusation against him. Well, skip down to verse 11. And they were filled with madness and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus. Now, I'll show you another passage. where it's very clear that they wanted to take his life at this point. So here's the point. Christ was doing good. They were doing evil. Christ was saving life and they were willing and ready to destroy his life and to allow another individual to go totally unhealed.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 21, because our Lord oftentimes confused and confounded his adversaries. Look at Matthew 21. Here's another illustration of this. Matthew 21, and let's begin reading verse 23. Matthew 21, verse 23. Watch him carefully. Matthew 21, verse 23. And when he was coming to the temple, the chief priest and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching and said, By what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority?"

[John Weaver] Oh boy, they wanted to pin him down. And Jesus entered and said of them, I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, which was it, from heaven or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say from heaven, he will say to us, why do you not then believe him? But we shall say of men, we fear the people, for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus and said, we cannot tell. And he said of them, neither I tell you by what authority I do these things.

[John Weaver] In other words, he would box them in. He would get them where they could not answer, or if they answered correctly, they would always be condemning themselves. If the Pharisees had been honest, and if they had logically followed our Lord's reasoning, they would have understood the principle that our Lord was teaching.

[John Weaver] Now, when you look at Luke 6 and verse 9, listen to me carefully. When you look at Luke 6 and verse 9, where our Lord said unto them, I will ask you one thing, is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good or to do evil, to save life or destroy it? May I tell you what our Lord was actually teaching? Listen carefully. God's law teaches us that to neglect any opportunity of doing good is to incur the guilt of doing evil.

[John Weaver] Let me say this another way. To do absolutely nothing in the face of evil is to be guilty of evil. Failure to save a life when it isn't within one's power To do so is to be guilty of taking a life. Our Lord is saying it is lawful to obey God even on Sabbath days. It is lawful to obey God at any day, any time, at any place. Period. Even if it violates the traditions of men. So our Lord is saying we cannot refuse an opportunity to do good, if we do, then we're incurring the guilt of doing evil. I think it's James 4.17, he says, therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him, it is sin. Obviously. Well, let me give you a third way of how to enrage a hypocrite and a Pharisee without even trying.

[John Weaver] Look in verses 10 and 11 of Luke chapter 6. You enrage a hypocrite and a Pharisee by explaining, expounding, and applying God's law in every circumstance. Verses 10 and 11, And looking round about them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand, and he stretched it, he did so, and his hand was restored whole as the other. Watch, and they were filled with madness, and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.

[John Weaver] Now, our Lord had given the principle of the law in verse 9. Now in verse 10, he applies the law of doing good and of saving and healing the impotent man. What was the result? In verse 11, they were filled with madness and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus. Do you understand this simple principle? Religious enemies, the enemies of Christ, hate God's law And they hate the application of that wall, especially when it destroys their traditions and their interpretations. Our Lord healed this man, and he did so in such a way that even the Pharisees could not even condemn him.

[John Weaver] How did he do so? He just looked at the man and said, stretch forth thine hand. Our Lord did nothing but speak. And the man did nothing but stretch forth his hand and he was instantly healed. How could they accuse Christ of violating the Sabbath, even their interpretation of the Sabbath? And of course, this thing was done publicly.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn to Mark chapter three. I want you to look at this. Here's the same passage. The same illustration, Mark chapter 3. And let's begin reading there and let me show you what else the Bible says concerning Christ. Mark chapter 3. Mark chapter 3, watch it. Let's just read the first six verses. And he entered again in the synagogue and there was a man there which had a withered hand.

[John Weaver] And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day that they might accuse him. Then he said to the man which had the withered hand, stand forth. And he said unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil, to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. Watch verse 5, And when he had looked round the battle of them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored whole as the other. Watch, and the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel of the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him." Wow.

[John Weaver] We need to understand this truth. Listen, the world and the devil, as well as hypocrites and Pharisees, are not concerned with what you believe, as long as you do not apply it. It is only when truth is applied that the devil, the world, the scribes and the Pharisees and the hypocrites are so enraged. Because it's violating their traditions and it's violating their interpretations. Let me tell you something. There's a vast difference between freedom to believe and freedom to act. To explain this further, listen, I just said neither the world, nor the devil, nor the hypocrites, nor the pharisees could care less what you believe, just so you do not apply it. Do you realize the governments of the world will give you freedom of religion?

[John Weaver] What do they mean by that? Think you're free to believe whatever you want to think and whatever you believe as long as you keep it between your ears. However, when you go to apply the truth, you're going to find there's really not very much religious freedom. An illustration. You can say, Brother Weaver, I believe the scripture when it says very clearly Spare the rod and spoil the child. Oh, I believe in corporal punishment. Fine. Wonderful.

[John Weaver] It's okay for you to do that. It's alright for you to believe that. Until your child acts up in public, and you apply the rod in public, and the next thing you know, you're reported, and governmental agencies are visiting you, Because they say that you don't have a right to discipline your child. You see, there's a difference. Between freedom to believe and freedom to apply and freedom to act.

[John Weaver] I want you to look in your Bible to John, chapter five. John, chapter five. I love this passage. John chapter 5, and let's begin reading with verse 5. You know the story of the impotent man. John 5, verse 5. Watch carefully, John 5, verse 5, and a certain man was there which had an infirmity 38 years. When Jesus saw him lie, knew that he'd been now a long time in that case, he said unto him, Will thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man when the water is troubled to put me into the pool.

[John Weaver] But while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus said unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked. And on the same day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the Sabbath day. It is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. He answered and said unto him, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. Then asked they, What man is this which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? And he that was healed was not who it was, for Jesus had coveted himself away, a multitude being in that place." Now, watch what happens.

[John Weaver] Let's turn over to John chapter 7, beginning there in verse 23, because now our Lord is confronting them about this incident that happened in John 5. So in John chapter 7, verse 23, look at it. Our Lord asked, if a man on the Sabbath day received circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken, watch, are you angry at me because I made a man every whit hole on the Sabbath day?

[John Weaver] Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment. Then said some of them of Jerusalem, watch, is not this he whom they speak to kill? But lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ? But note if you would. He said, you will circumcise a child on the Sabbath day, but Lord Moses would not be broken. Are you angry at me because I made a man whole on the Sabbath day? Whenever you begin to apply the law of God, folks get angry.

[John Weaver] Look in Luke chapter 13. I want you to see this one. Oh, Luke 13. And let's begin reading there in verse 10. You've got to see this one. Luke 13, beginning there in verse 10. Remember I told you earlier that the reason the Jews crucified Christ was not only out of envy, but because he violated their traditions over and over. Watch Luke chapter 13, beginning there in verse 10. And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.

[John Weaver] And behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years and was bowed together and could in no wise lift up herself. So here's a woman bent double. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said to her, Woman, dart loose from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her and immediately she was made straight and glorified God. Now watch this.

[John Weaver] And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day and said to the people, there are six days in which men ought to work. In them, therefore, come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day. The Lord answered him and said, Thou hypocrite. Doth not each one of you on the Sabbath lose his officer's ass from the stall and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan hath bound low these eighteen years, be loose from this bond on the Sabbath day? And when he had said these things, all of his adversaries were ashamed, and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him." Can you imagine? The Pharisees were willing for the woman to be healed if She would be healed according to their tradition and their interpretation. But they were angry at Jesus because he healed her on the Sabbath. And they were willing for the woman to stay in pain and agony one more day.

[John Weaver] Just so it would not violate their tradition and their interpretations. Our Lord said, you hypocrite. You'll loose your ox or your ass from the stall and take him to water. And ought not I to have mercy on this woman? If you don't have mercy on your animal, can I not have mercy on this woman who also was a daughter of Abraham? You have to remember that passage that I read in Mark chapter 7 verse 2.

[John Weaver] The way that you enrage and anger Pharisees and hypocrites without even trying is simply by violating their traditions and their interpretations, by confusing and confounding their thinking, and thirdly, by applying biblical law. Why? Because our Lord said in Mark 7 in verse 2, Pharisees always find fault. And if you did everything scripturally and biblically and correctly, they would still find fault.

[John Weaver] Now, let me make some applications. I want you to think about these. We, like Christ, should always apply God's word, even in the face of our enemies and in the face of the enemies of Christ. It is always right to do right, regardless of who is in front of us and regardless of the consequences. Do you realize that a failure to apply God's word is in essence to be ashamed of our Lord and His Word. Our Lord said in Mark 8 and verse 38, Whoso therefore shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in his glory of his Father with his holy angels. So our Lord said, if you're ashamed of me, I'll be ashamed of you. It's just that simple. We have to understand, folks, it is always right to apply God's Word even if folks are upset.

[John Weaver] Secondly, we need to note this. Miracles. Miracles do not impress the unsaved. Nor do they impress the Pharisees or the hypocrites. Here's a man who had a withered hand and he stretched out and instantly he was healed. It was made whole. And yet the Pharisees were unsubdued. They were filled with anger and madness. A mighty work had been done in their presence, yet instead of receiving it, they intended to murder the milker worker.

[John Weaver] Let me tell you something. We cannot rely upon our witness, our works, our good deeds, or anything else to impress the wicked. We must rely solely and completely and totally on the grace and mercy and power of God. Our Lord performed a miracle in front of them. And it's like water off a duck's back. Over and over he did that. And over and over they set about to kill him.

[John Weaver] The third application is this. It is not unlawful, ungodly or unbiblical to enrage and to anger those who hate Christ by obeying Christ and doing his will. When one is angered and enraged by a biblical act or deed, he is just simply demonstrating his hatred for Christ and the Word. We must continue to obey Christ even if our enemies are enraged simply because we are doing so. We must always, at all times, in every circumstance, do things the way Christ commands and not the way people want it done. I want you to listen to what Matthew Henry said about these Pharisees in Luke chapter 6. I love it. He said, they were mad at Christ, mad at the people, mad at themselves. Anger is a short madness. Malice is a long one. Impotent malice, especially disappointed malice, belonged to the Pharisees.

[John Weaver] When they could not prevent His working this miracle, they communed one another what they might do to Jesus, what other way they might take Him and run Him down. We may well stand amazed at it that the sons of men should be so wicked and do thus, and that the Son of God should be so patient as to suffer it.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to stop and think at what he said. Wow. When you look around and you see how people mock and blaspheme. Not only Christ, but his word. You can't help but think, Lord, how can you put up with this? You do not think people are as wicked, or could be so wicked, as to liberally mock and blaspheme. And what else is amazing is that Christ patiently bears with them. We not only have to stand amazed at the wickedness and sins and rebellion of wicked men, we have to stand amazed at the mercy and the love-suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ who endures such blasphemy. And while we're on that subject, we must also stand amazed at how our Lord Jesus Christ put up with our sin and our rebellion until he saved us by his grace. We can ask God, why do you not wipe these wicked men off the face of the earth? But if we ask that, we would also have to ask, why did you not wipe us off before you were gracious and kind to us?

[John Weaver] If you want to enrage a Pharisee or a hypocrite, if you want to enrage the powers that be, Just obey God. Apply His law in every situation, every circumstances, and you will accomplish your mission without even trying. We're not called upon to appease and placate and satisfy people. We're called upon to obey our Lord and to worship and serve him alone. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask for your grace, for your mercy, for your goodness and your kindness. Lord, teach us to be obedient, even in the face of rage and anger of ungodly men. Make us holy. Make us godly. Help us to apply thy truth. In thy name we pray. Amen.

How to Enrage Hypocrites and Pharisees

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	68151428130
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Romans: Law, Obedience, and Sanctification: Walking With God
Genre	Sermon
Date	2014-04-06
Dictation Name
Book	Book 134: Romans: Law, Obedience, and Sanctification - Volume 1 — Chapter 13
Source Timed Segments	78

Formatted Transcript

Opening

So let's open our Bibles, if you would, to Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6, and we're going to read the first 11 verses. Luke chapter 6. The title of the message today is "How to Enrage Hypocrites and Pharisees Without Even Trying." So if you really want to know how to enrage a hypocrite or a Pharisee, you can find it in this chapter. Look in Luke chapter 6, beginning there with verse 1.

Scripture Reading — Luke 6:1-11

And it came to pass on the second Sabbath after the first, that he went through the cornfields and his disciples plucked the ears of corn and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. And certain of the Pharisees said unto him, Why do you that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath days? And Jesus answering them said, Have you not read so much as this, what David did when himself was hungered and they which were with him? How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him, which it is not lawful to eat, but for the priest alone. And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath. And it came to pass on

another Sabbath.

Then he entered into the synagogue, and taught. And there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath day, that there might be an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts, and said unto the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose, and stood forth.

Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing. Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil, to save life, or to destroy it? And looking round about upon them all, he said to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he did so. Then his hand was restored whole as the other, and they were filled with madness, and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.

Introduction: The Natural Conflict Between Real and Pretend Christians

Weaver introduces the theme that genuine Christians and hypocrites are inherently at odds, like oil and water, and that most church troubles stem from this conflict.

So how to enrage hypocrites and Pharisees without even trying? Every one of us know that oil and water do not mix. Likewise, real, genuine Christians and Pharisees and hypocrites do not mix well either. All one has to do is read the Bible and you're going to discover that there has always been a large difference between pretend Christians and real Christians. They've always been at odds with each other. As the old saying goes, they do not play well together, nor do they worship well together either. In fact, I would venture to say that 99.9% of most church troubles arise because of the differences between pretend Christians and real Christians. Wheat and tares are contrary to each other. They may grow alongside each other for a short while, but when it comes to producing fruit, the tares fail. Problems arise when the tares wish to take over a field and the wheat will not allow it. The animosity is absolutely natural that one fights against the other. One of the things that we fail to remember is this, that dominion is in the hearts of the ungodly as well as in the hearts of the godly.

Biblical Descriptions of Hypocrites

Weaver surveys Job and Matthew to show that hypocrites have a false hope, overlook their own sins, and are condemned by Jesus as blind guides and serpents.

Now I suppose it might be possible to be a hypocrite without being a Pharisee. But it is impossible to be a Pharisee without being a hypocrite. I want you to hold Luke chapter 6, but I want you to turn first to the book of Job, and let's go to Job chapter 8. Let me just show you several passages to begin with concerning hypocrites. Job chapter 8, and we're going to begin reading there at verse 11. Job chapter 8, verse 11. Follow if you would please. Job 8 and verse 11. The Bible says this:

Scripture Reading — Job 8:11-13

"Can the rush grow up without mire? Can the flag grow without water? While it is yet in its greenness and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb."

Now watch the application.

Scripture Reading — Job 8:11-13

"So are the paths of all that forget God, and the hypocrite's hope shall perish."

It's interesting that a hypocrite has hope, but he says that hope shall surely perish. If you look in Job chapter 13, beginning there with verse 15, Job 13 and verse 15, Job says, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.

Scripture Reading — Job 13:15-16

I will maintain mine own ways before him. He shall also be my salvation, for a hypocrite shall not come before him." Notice if you would, Job said, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust

him." But a hypocrite is not going to come near him. Look, if you would, to Job 27, and let's begin reading there with verse 8. Job 27 and verse 8. Again, the Word of God tells us this. Job 27, verse 8: "For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul? Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?

Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call upon God?

Scripture Reading — Job 27:8-10

" Well, obviously, hypocrites do exactly as do others in one sense of the word. They have hope. They hope. But the Word of God says their hope shall quickly perish. They have no standing before God. Therefore, they cannot come before God. And the hypocrite loses all when he dies. And Job is telling us, even in this life, he really loses as well, because he does not delight himself in the Lord, neither does he constantly and continually call upon Him. Everyone understands that hypocrites are always the quickest to see even the tiniest flaw and the tiniest sin in the lives of other individuals, and yet they overlook the greatest of sins in their own lives. If you will turn to Matthew chapter 7, everyone is familiar with this passage. Matthew chapter 7, beginning there with verse 3. Notice what our Lord says. Matthew chapter 7, verse 3, just showing you how particular hypocrites are concerning the sins of others. Matthew 7, verse 3. God our Lord asked, "

And why beholdest thou the mote, that is that little tiny splinter in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam, the great four by four that is in thine own eye?

Scripture Reading — Matthew 7:3-5

Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine own eye? And behold, a beam is in thine own eye, thou hypocrite. First cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then thou shalt see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's

eyes." So obviously, the hypocrites are those individuals who are willing to attack and willing to persecute anyone who has the tiniest little sin, while at the same time, they're overlooking their sins. If you will turn right on over to Matthew 23, in fact, we've got a lot of passages to cover today, but I want you to see how accurately our Lord nails the Pharisees and the hypocrites. So we're going to begin reading with verse 24, Matthew 23, verse 24, and we'll read down through verse 33. Notice if you would, Matthew 23, verse 24, how our Lord says, in fact, you could go back to verse 23. He says, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.

For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought you to have done and not to leave the other undone. Now, our Lord is not condemning them for tithing, but he is saying that what they do is they tithe to the minutest amount, even on these herbs. And he says these things you ought to have done and not leave the other undone. But what they are doing is they're making sure they do this little teeny tiny thing. And yet they're overlooking judgment and mercy and faith. Look in verse 24.

"You blind guides which strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites." Notice how he puts them together. "For you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you build the tombs of the prophets and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore, you be witnesses unto yourselves, that you are the children of them that kill the prophets.

Fill you up in the measure of your fathers. Now watch what he says in verse 33. "You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell?" Now obviously our Lord did not have very nice things to say about hypocrites and Pharisees. In fact, we could say it like this. He was completely untactful. His tact was absolutely missing. And when you get to verse 33, wow, "You serpents, you generation of vipers," that is you bunch of snakes, you slithering, crawling, wicked, wretched vipers. "How can you escape the damnation of hell?" You know what I'm afraid? I'm afraid that we as God's people have been too tactful in dealing with such people.

Jesus' Untactful Confrontation of Pharisees

Weaver highlights Jesus' harsh language toward Pharisees, noting that He was not concerned with offending them, and that believers should not be overly tactful.

Now obviously our Lord did not have very nice things to say about hypocrites and Pharisees. In fact, we could say it like this. He was completely untactful. His tact was absolutely missing. And when you get to verse 33, wow, "You serpents, you generation of vipers," that is you bunch of snakes, you slithering, crawling, wicked, wretched vipers. "How can you escape the damnation of hell?" You know what I'm afraid? I'm afraid that we as God's people have been too tactful in dealing with such people.

It's interesting how we want to make sure that we do not upset or offend or hurt their feelings. But I want to call your attention to this fact that our Lord was not too concerned with that. If you'll look in Matthew chapter 15, and let's begin reading there with verse 7. Matthew 15 and verse 7. I want you to look how our Lord ends this little discourse. Matthew 15 and verse 7. Our Lord says to these Pharisees, "You hypocrites.

Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. And he called a multitude and said unto them, Hear and understand, not that which goeth into the mouth that defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the mouth this defileth a man. Then came his disciples and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended after they had heard this saying?"

But he answered and said, "Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. Let them alone. They be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." Notice what they said to Christ. "Knowest thou not that the Pharisees were offended when they heard your teaching?" The Lord said, "Tough. Every plant which my Heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. Let them alone. They be blind leaders of the blind. If the blind lead the blind, they'll both fall into the ditch." So our Lord was not too concerned about the feelings of the hypocrites and the Pharisees.

First Method: Violating and Opposing Their Traditions

Weaver explains that Jesus enraged the Pharisees by violating their man-made traditions about the Sabbath, which they elevated above God's law.

So let me ask this question. How does one enrage a hypocrite or a Pharisee without even trying? Well, let's see how our Lord did it. If you'll look in Luke chapter 6 verse 7, the very first way that you enrage a hypocrite or a Pharisee without even trying is by violating and opposing their traditions. Look in verse 7, "And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath day, that they might find an accusation against him." Now what is significant about this verse is that they watched him to see if he would violate their interpretation of the Sabbath and their tradition concerning the Sabbath. Let me make this exceedingly clear. Christ did not violate the Sabbath. However, if you read through scriptures, and I'm going to show you a number of them this morning, you will find that Christ consistently and constantly violated and opposed their interpretations and their traditions concerning the Sabbath. Christ angered them because he would not submit to their interpretation and to their tradition. Now, we've got to make one point exceedingly clear, and that is this.

Even hypocrites and Pharisees have standards. They do. They're certainly not biblical standards. But they have standards. They have a tradition. They have a religion. It is not biblical Christianity. It has nothing to do with biblical law. However, they have a religion and their religion is a facade. It is a counterfeit. It is an imitation. You remember the Apostle Paul described himself in Philippians chapter 3 as a Pharisee of the Pharisees and touching the law blameless.

In other words, he thought he was absolutely perfect. And yet the Apostle Paul acknowledges and confesses in Galatians 1 and verse 14, he says this:

Scripture Reading — Galatians 1:14

"And profited in the Jews' religion above many of my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of the elders."

Notice if you would please, the Jews' religion is equated with the traditions of the elders. And Paul said he exceeded in those traditions. He excelled in them. In the book of Colossians chapter 2 and verse 8, now listen to what Paul said. He gives a warning and he says this, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." So he says you better watch out for the traditions of men. The Pharisees were absolutely notorious for following their traditions. I want you to go in your Bibles to the book of Mark, chapter 7. Mark, chapter 7.

And let's read the first 13 verses. I want to show you how absolutely bent on performing and keeping their traditions, the Pharisees really were. Look at Mark, chapter 7, beginning there with verse 1. Mark 7, verse 1. Here it is. "Then came together unto him the Pharisees and certain of the scribes which came from Jerusalem. And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say with unwashed hands, they found fault." They always do. "For the Pharisees and all the Jews, now watch, except they wash their hands often, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders."

So this had nothing to do with sanitation. It had nothing to do with cleanliness. It was a tradition. They went through a little ceremonial washing, lest some germ of some Gentile dog had gotten on. It was a tradition. It was a ceremony. It was a ritual.

Now watch, if you would, in verse 4. "And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups and pots, brazen vessels, and of tables. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?" He answered and said unto them, "Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Watch, for laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups and many other such like things you do." Wow. And he said unto them, "Full well you reject the commandment of God that you may keep your own tradition.

For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother, and whoso curseth his father and mother, let him die the death. But you say, If a man shall say to his father and mother, It is Corban, that is to say a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, he shall be free. And you suffer him no more to do ought for his father and mother. Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which you have delivered: and many such like things you do." So the Pharisees have their traditions, they have their traditions based upon the Sabbath day. They have their traditions based upon ritualistic washings, ceremonial washings.

Now, I do want you to see this passage. I do want you to turn to 1 Peter, chapter one. And I want you to look at what Peter says in verse 18, 1 Peter, chapter one in verse 18. Our Lord, of course, declared that their traditions were vain and in opposition to the law of God. Moreover, he referred to them as nothing more than the traditions of men. But look what Peter says in 1 Peter 1 and verse 18. He says, "Forasmuch as you know, you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold.

from your vain conversation or conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot." He says your traditions did not save you. I want you to understand how punctilious these Pharisees were in keeping their traditions. I want you to see how a Pharisee can be spiritual according to his own standards. And completely ungodly according to God's standards. I want you to look in John chapter 18. John chapter 18. And look at verse 28. You remember now it was the Pharisees and the scribes that delivered Jesus to the high priests and then of course they delivered him to Pilate. But look at John chapter 18 and verse 28. We need to understand that both hypocrites and Pharisees are religious.

They can be pious and dedicated to their religion of humanism and traditionalism. The reason they can be pious, listen carefully, it's because they make their own rules. Do you understand I can be as holy as anyone as long as you allow me to define holiness and make my own rules? I've told people before I can jump 20 feet in the air straight up flat footed. Everybody looks at me, you can't do that. Sure I can. If you allow me to define 20 feet straight up. Or if you allow me to make my own rules.

I want you to watch this. Look in John 18, verse 28. Now, the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — John 18:28

"Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment, that is, to Pilate. And it was early. And they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover."

What? Ah, they did not wish to be defiled ceremonially so that they could keep their tradition. However, it did not bother them to be defiled morally and criminally by delivering an innocent man to be crucified.

You see the double standard? It's all right to murder as long as we don't violate our traditions. You can violate God's law, that's fine, but just don't violate our traditions as well. Now, let me tell you something. Humanly speaking, I'm not talking about from the divine side. Humanly speaking, the reason Christ was crucified was because of the envy and the hatred that the Jews and the Pharisees had against him for refusing to keep their traditions. Humanly speaking. Now let me point something out concerning traditions. First of all, I would say there's nothing wrong with traditions as long as they meet two requirements. First of all, if a tradition is biblical, there's nothing wrong with a tradition. There were a few biblical traditions.

For instance, in 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 15, the Apostle Paul wrote,

Scripture Reading — 2 Thessalonians 2:15

"Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word or by our epistle."

So there were traditions that have been communicated. We could say that the Lord's Supper is a tradition in one sense of the word. We know it's an ordinance, but it's something that we do. Baptism would be a tradition. It's an ordinance, but it's something that we do. And it's a biblical one. The Apostle Paul also said in 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 6, "Now, we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the traditions which he received of us." In other words, Paul said, if you won't follow the biblical tradition, then we're to withdraw ourselves from him. So, first of all, there'd be nothing wrong with the tradition as long as it is biblical. There would be nothing wrong with the tradition as long as, number one, it is not contrary to scripture, and number two, it is not binding upon anyone.

Now, what am I talking about? I could start a tradition that everyone comes to my front door must drink a cup of tea before he enters in. Well, that's my tradition. Well, is there anything unbiblical about drinking a cup of tea before you come into my house? No. But what if you don't drink tea or you don't like tea? You see, if I can say it's my tradition, everyone drinks a cup of tea before he comes in my house and you come and you say, I like tea. I'm more than willing to have a cup of tea. Fine. But what if somebody comes in who's allergic to tea and they say, I can't drink that tea?

Am I to get upset? No. Now, if I understand that my tradition is not binding on anyone, that everyone is either free to leave it or accept it, that is one thing. But the problem with the hypocrites and the Pharisees is this. They always want you to do as they say and do what they demand. Thus, when you oppose their traditions and refuse to submit to them, then you enrage them without even trying. Why? Because they demand submission. And they place their traditions above the law of God.

That's what we read in Matthew 15 in Mark chapter 7. And when you do not do as they do, you enrage them. So how do you enrage a hypocrite or Pharisee without even trying? First of all, by opposing or violating their traditions. I want you to go back to Luke chapter 6, because here's the second way that you can enrage them. It's found in verse 9. The second way to enrage a hypocrite or a Pharisee without even trying is by confounding and confusing their thinking. Look in verse 9, Luke chapter 6.

"Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing. Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?" Listen carefully. Logic, especially biblical logic, is not the forte of Pharisees and hypocrites. Our Lord's question illustrates the fact that neither the Pharisees or hypocrites were able to think scripturally. They not only did not have the ability to think scripturally, but they did not wish to think scripturally. If they thought scripturally, they would no longer be a hypocrite or Pharisee. Now, there are two passages of scripture that forever settles the fact that no hypocrite and no Pharisee has the ability to think biblically. The first one, of course, is 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 14, where the Bible says, "But the natural man, that is the unsaved man, man by nature, but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned." So a Pharisee or a hypocrite has no ability to discern the things of God.

Second Method: Confounding and Confusing Their Thinking

Weaver shows how Jesus used biblical logic to box in the Pharisees, asking whether it is lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath, exposing their inconsistency.

And when you get to Romans 8, verses 6 through 8, the Bible says this, "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." Obviously, they do not have the ability to think scripturally and biblically. And secondly, they do not wish to think biblically and scripturally.

Now I want you to watch how our Lord boxes these Pharisees in. He confronts them with the truth. He asks them a simple question. "Is it lawful," that is according to God's law, "to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?" Now, if they answer yes, it is lawful to do good, it is lawful to save life. Then the next question is, why are you attacking me? Why are you watching me? If they answer no, it is not lawful to do good and lawful to save life. Then, of course, they expose themselves to the people and they condemn themselves. When they are forced to follow our Lord's logic, they do not wish to arrive at the proper conclusion. They become confounded and confused because they cannot hold to their positions and admit the natural logical answers to his questions.

Now, look in verse 9 again. "Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing, is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?" When our Lord asked this question in verse 9 as to whether or not it's lawful to save life or destroy it, the Pharisees were already planning to destroy his life. Go back to verse 7. "And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the seventh day, that they might have an accusation against him." Well, skip down to verse 11. "And they were filled with madness and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus." Now, I'll show you another passage where it's very clear that they wanted to take his life at this point. So here's the point. Christ was doing good. They were doing evil. Christ was saving life and they were willing and ready to destroy his life and to allow another individual to go totally unhealed.

Now, I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 21, because our Lord oftentimes confused and confounded his adversaries. Look at Matthew 21. Here's another illustration of this. Matthew 21, and let's begin reading verse 23. Matthew 21, verse 23. Watch him carefully. Matthew 21, verse 23. "And when he was coming to the temple, the chief priest and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching and said, By what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority?"

Oh boy, they wanted to pin him down. "And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say from heaven, he will say to us, why do you not then believe him? But if we shall say of men, we fear the people, for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things."

In other words, he would box them in. He would get them where they could not answer, or if they answered correctly, they would always be condemning themselves. If the Pharisees had been honest, and if they had logically followed our Lord's reasoning, they would have understood the principle that our Lord was teaching. Now, when you look at Luke 6 and verse 9, listen to me carefully. When you look at Luke 6 and verse 9, where our Lord said unto them, "I will ask you one thing, is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good or to do evil, to save life or destroy it?" May I tell you what our Lord was actually teaching? Listen carefully. God's law teaches us that to neglect any opportunity of doing good is to incur the guilt of doing evil.

Let me say this another way. To do absolutely nothing in the face of evil is to be guilty of evil. Failure to save a life when it is within one's power to do so is to be guilty of taking a life. Our Lord is saying it is lawful to obey God even on Sabbath days. It is lawful to obey God at any day, any time, at any place. Period. Even if it violates the traditions of men. So our Lord is saying we cannot refuse an opportunity to do good, if we do, then we're incurring the guilt of doing evil. I think it's James 4:17, he says, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him, it is sin." Obviously. Well, let me give you a third way of how to enrage a hypocrite and a Pharisee without even trying.

Third Method: Explaining, Expounding, and Applying God's Law

Weaver demonstrates that Jesus applied the law by healing the man with the withered hand, which filled the Pharisees with madness because it destroyed their traditions.

Look in verses 10 and 11 of Luke chapter 6. You enrage a hypocrite and a Pharisee by explaining, expounding, and applying God's law in every circumstance. Verses 10 and 11, "And looking round about them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand, and he stretched it, he did so, and his hand was restored whole as the other. Watch, and they were filled with madness, and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus."

Now, our Lord had given the principle of the law in verse 9. Now in verse 10, he applies the law of doing good and of saving and healing the impotent man. What was the result? In verse 11, they were filled with madness and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus. Do you understand this simple principle? Religious enemies, the enemies of Christ, hate God's law and they hate the application of that law, especially when it destroys their traditions and their interpretations. Our Lord healed this man, and he did so in such a way that even the Pharisees could not even condemn him.

How did he do so? He just looked at the man and said, "Stretch forth thine hand." Our Lord did nothing but speak. And the man did nothing but stretch forth his hand and he was instantly healed. How could they accuse Christ of violating the Sabbath, even their interpretation of the Sabbath? And of course, this thing was done publicly.

Now, I want you to turn to Mark chapter three. I want you to look at this. Here's the same passage. The same illustration, Mark chapter 3. And let's begin reading there and let me show you what else the Bible says concerning Christ. Mark chapter 3. Mark chapter 3, watch it. Let's just read the first six verses. "And he entered again in the synagogue and there was a man there which had a withered hand.

And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day that they might accuse him. Then he said to the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. And he said unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil, to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. Watch verse 5, "And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored whole as the other. Watch, and the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel of the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him." Wow.

We need to understand this truth. Listen, the world and the devil, as well as hypocrites and Pharisees, are not concerned with what you believe, as long as you do not apply it. It is only when truth is applied that the devil, the world, the scribes and the Pharisees and the hypocrites are so enraged. Because it's violating their traditions and it's violating their interpretations. Let me tell you something. There's a vast difference between freedom to believe and freedom to act. To explain this further, listen, I just said neither the world, nor the devil, nor the hypocrites, nor the pharisees could care less what you believe, just so you do not apply it. Do you realize the governments of the world will give you freedom of religion?

Applications for Believers

Weaver applies the lesson: believers must always apply God's Word, not rely on miracles to impress the wicked, and obey Christ even if it enrages enemies.

Now, let me make some applications. I want you to think about these. We, like Christ, should always apply God's word, even in the face of our enemies and in the face of the enemies of Christ. It is always right to do right, regardless of who is in front of us and regardless of the consequences. Do you realize that a failure to apply God's word is in essence to be ashamed of our Lord and His Word. Our Lord said in Mark 8 and verse 38, "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in his glory of his Father with his holy angels." So our Lord said, if you're ashamed of me, I'll be ashamed of you. It's just that simple. We have to understand, folks, it is always right to apply God's Word even if folks are upset.

Secondly, we need to note this. Miracles. Miracles do not impress the unsaved. Nor do they impress the Pharisees or the hypocrites. Here's a man who had a withered hand and he stretched out and instantly he was healed. It was made whole. And yet the Pharisees were unsubdued. They were filled with anger and madness. A mighty work had been done in their presence, yet instead of receiving it, they intended to murder the miracle worker.

Let me tell you something. We cannot rely upon our witness, our works, our good deeds, or anything else to impress the wicked. We must rely solely and completely and totally on the grace and mercy and power of God. Our Lord performed a miracle in front of them. And it's like water off a duck's back. Over and over he did that. And over and over they set about to kill him.

The third application is this. It is not unlawful, ungodly or unbiblical to enrage and to anger those who hate Christ by obeying Christ and doing his will. When one is angered and enraged by a biblical act or deed, he is just simply demonstrating his hatred for Christ and the Word. We must continue to obey Christ even if our enemies are enraged simply because we are doing so. We must always, at all times, in every circumstance, do things the way Christ commands and not the way people want it done. I want you to listen to what Matthew Henry said about these Pharisees in Luke chapter 6. I love it. He said, "They were mad at Christ, mad at the people, mad at themselves. Anger is a short madness. Malice is a long one. Impotent malice, especially disappointed malice, belonged to the Pharisees.

When they could not prevent His working this miracle, they communed one another what they might do to Jesus, what other way they might take Him and run Him down. We may well stand amazed at it that the sons of men should be so wicked and do thus, and that the Son of God should be so patient as to suffer it." Now, I want you to stop and think at what he said. Wow. When you look around and you see how people mock and blaspheme. Not only Christ, but his word. You can't help but think, Lord, how can you put up with this? You do not think people are as wicked, or could be so wicked, as to liberally mock and blaspheme. And what else is amazing is that Christ patiently bears with them. We not only have to stand amazed at the wickedness and sins and rebellion of wicked men, we have to stand amazed at the mercy and the long-suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ who endures such blasphemy. And while we're on that subject, we must also stand amazed at how our Lord Jesus Christ put up with our sin and our rebellion until he saved us by his grace. We can ask God, why do you not wipe these wicked men off the face of the earth? But if we ask that, we would also have to ask, why did you not wipe us off before you were gracious and kind to us?

If you want to enrage a Pharisee or a hypocrite, if you want to enrage the powers that be, just obey God. Apply His law in every situation, every circumstances, and you will accomplish your mission without even trying. We're not called upon to appease and placate and satisfy people. We're called upon to obey our Lord and to worship and serve him alone. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask for your grace, for your mercy, for your goodness and your kindness. Lord, teach us to be obedient, even in the face of rage and anger of ungodly men. Make us holy. Make us godly. Help us to apply thy truth. In thy name we pray. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Conflict Between Genuine and False Believers

Summary: Real Christians and hypocrites are naturally opposed, like Isaac and Ishmael, leading to persecution and church troubles.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'oil and water do not mix. Likewise, real, genuine Christians and Pharisees and hypocrites do not mix well either.'

Hypocrisy and Pharisaism Exposed

Summary: Hypocrites focus on minor external sins while ignoring major internal sins, and their hope perishes.

Evidence: Weaver cites Matthew 7:3-5 and Job 8:11-13 to show hypocrites' false hope and judgmental nature.

Jesus' Boldness Against Religious Hypocrisy

Summary: Jesus was untactful and direct in condemning Pharisees, calling them serpents and blind guides.

Evidence: Weaver reads Matthew 23:33 and Matthew 15:7-14, noting Jesus' lack of concern for offending them.

Traditions of Men vs. Commandments of God

Summary: Pharisees elevated their traditions above God's law, making the Word of God of no effect.

Evidence: Weaver references Mark 7:1-13, where Jesus rebukes them for holding to traditions like ceremonial washings.

The Necessity of Applying God's Law

Summary: Applying biblical truth, not just believing it, is what enrages hypocrites and is required of believers.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'the world and the devil... are not concerned with what you believe, as long as you do not apply it.'

Obedience to Christ Despite Opposition

Summary: Believers must obey Christ and apply His Word even when it provokes anger, trusting in God's grace.

Evidence: Weaver concludes, 'If you want to enrage a Pharisee... just obey God. Apply His law in every situation.'

Key Arguments

Hypocrites and Pharisees are naturally enraged by genuine Christianity.

Summary: The inherent conflict between flesh and Spirit means that hypocrites will always persecute true believers.

Evidence: Weaver cites Galatians 4:29 and 5:17 to show the battle between Ishmael and Isaac, flesh and Spirit.

Jesus intentionally opposed man-made traditions to expose hypocrisy.

Summary: By violating their Sabbath traditions, Jesus showed that God's law takes precedence over human rules.

Evidence: Weaver points to Luke 6:7 and Mark 7:8-9, where Jesus accuses them of laying aside God's commandment for tradition.

Biblical logic confounds those who reject God's law.

Summary: Jesus' question about doing good on the Sabbath forced the Pharisees into a logical dilemma they could not resolve.

Evidence: Weaver explains Luke 6:9, showing that if they answered, they would either justify Jesus or condemn themselves.

Applying God's law in practical ways provokes the wicked.

Summary: When Jesus healed on the Sabbath, He applied the principle of doing good, which enraged the Pharisees.

Evidence: Weaver references Luke 6:10-11 and Mark 3:5-6, where the Pharisees plot to destroy Jesus after the healing.

Miracles and good works do not convert the hard-hearted.

Summary: Despite witnessing a miraculous healing, the Pharisees were filled with madness and sought to kill Jesus.

Evidence: Weaver notes that the Pharisees were 'unsubdued' and 'filled with anger and madness' after the healing.

Believers must obey God regardless of human reaction.

Summary: It is not sinful to enrage the wicked by obeying Christ; rather, it demonstrates their hatred for God.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'It is not unlawful, ungodly or unbiblical to enrage and to anger those who hate Christ by obeying Christ.'

Scripture References

Luke 6:1-11

Context: The primary text, describing Jesus' disciples plucking grain and Jesus healing on the Sabbath, leading to the Pharisees' rage.

Galatians 4:29

Context: Paul explains the persecution of Isaac by Ishmael as a picture of the flesh persecuting the Spirit.

Galatians 5:17

Context: The flesh and Spirit are contrary to each other, illustrating the conflict between hypocrites and true believers.

Job 8:11-13

Context: The hypocrite's hope shall perish, like a rush without water.

Job 13:15-16

Context: Job declares that a hypocrite shall not come before God.

Job 27:8-10

Context: The hypocrite loses all when he dies and does not delight in God.

Matthew 7:3-5

Context: Jesus rebukes hypocrites for focusing on the mote in another's eye while ignoring the beam in their own.

Matthew 23:23-33

Context: Jesus pronounces woes on scribes and Pharisees, calling them hypocrites, blind guides, and serpents.

Matthew 15:7-14

Context: Jesus calls the Pharisees hypocrites, quoting Isaiah, and tells His disciples to let them alone as blind leaders.

Philippians 3:5-6

Context: Paul describes himself as a Pharisee touching the law blameless.

Galatians 1:14

Context: Paul was exceedingly zealous of the traditions of the elders.

Colossians 2:8

Context: Warning against being spoiled through philosophy and vain deceit after the traditions of men.

Mark 7:1-13

Context: Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for holding to traditions like ceremonial washings, making God's Word of no effect.

1 Peter 1:18-19

Context: Believers were not redeemed with corruptible things from vain traditions, but with Christ's blood.

John 18:28

Context: The Pharisees avoided entering the judgment hall to avoid defilement, yet sought to crucify an innocent man.

2 Thessalonians 2:15

Context: Paul commands believers to hold to the traditions taught by the apostles.

2 Thessalonians 3:6

Context: Believers are to withdraw from those who do not follow apostolic traditions.

1 Corinthians 2:14

Context: The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit because they are spiritually discerned.

Romans 8:6-8

Context: The carnal mind is enmity against God and cannot be subject to His law.

Matthew 21:23-27

Context: Jesus confounds the chief priests by asking about John's baptism, exposing their fear of the people.

Historical References

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Luke 6

Context: Weaver quotes Matthew Henry describing the Pharisees' madness as 'impotent malice' and marveling at Christ's patience.

Important Quotes

And they were filled with madness and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.

Significance: This verse captures the extreme reaction of the Pharisees to Jesus' healing, illustrating the theme of enraging hypocrites.

You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell?

Significance: Jesus' harsh language demonstrates His untactful condemnation of Pharisees, which Weaver uses to argue against excessive tact.

Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. Let them alone. They be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

Significance: Jesus' response to the disciples' concern about offending the Pharisees shows His disregard for their feelings when truth is at stake.

Full well you reject the commandment of God that you may keep your own tradition.

Significance: This quote from Mark 7:9 encapsulates the core issue of elevating human traditions above God's law.

Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil, to save life, or to destroy it?

Significance: Jesus' question confounds the Pharisees by forcing them to confront the logical implications of their traditions.

Thou hypocrite. Doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan hath bound lo these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?

Significance: Jesus exposes the hypocrisy of valuing animals over a suffering woman, applying the law of mercy.

They were mad at Christ, mad at the people, mad at themselves. Anger is a short madness. Malice is a long one. Impotent malice, especially disappointed malice, belonged to the Pharisees.

Significance: Matthew Henry's commentary highlights the irrational rage of the Pharisees when their plans are thwarted.

Discussion Questions

In what ways do modern churches elevate traditions above God's commandments, and how should we respond?

Context: Weaver emphasizes that Pharisees made God's Word of no effect through their traditions (Mark 7:13).

How can we discern between biblical traditions and man-made traditions that should not be binding?

Context: Weaver distinguishes between traditions that are biblical and those that are not, using 2 Thessalonians 2:15 and 3:6.

Why does applying God's law often provoke anger, and how should we prepare for such reactions?

Context: Weaver states that the world is not concerned with what you believe until you apply it, citing the healing on the Sabbath.

What does Jesus' example teach us about balancing truth and tact when confronting hypocrisy?

Context: Weaver notes Jesus' untactful language in Matthew 23 and suggests believers may be too concerned with offending.

How does the account of the woman bent double (Luke 13) challenge our priorities in showing mercy versus keeping rules?

Context: Weaver contrasts the Pharisees' willingness to help animals on the Sabbath with their objection to healing the woman.

Applications

Always apply God's Word regardless of opposition.

Summary: Believers must obey Christ and apply biblical law even when it enrages hypocrites or authorities.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We, like Christ, should always apply God's word, even in the face of our enemies.'

Do not rely on miracles or good works to convert the wicked.

Summary: Miracles did not impress the Pharisees; we must rely on God's grace and power, not our deeds.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'We cannot rely upon our witness, our works, our good deeds, or anything else to impress the wicked.'

It is not sinful to provoke anger by obeying Christ.

Summary: When obedience to Christ enrages others, it reveals their hatred for Him, and we must continue obeying.

Evidence: Weaver asserts, 'It is not unlawful, ungodly or unbiblical to enrage and to anger those who hate Christ by obeying Christ.'

Examine personal traditions to ensure they align with Scripture.

Summary: Traditions are acceptable only if biblical, not contrary to Scripture, and not binding on others.

Evidence: Weaver explains that traditions must meet two requirements: not contrary to Scripture and not binding.

Do not be ashamed of Christ or His words.

Summary: Failure to apply God's Word is akin to being ashamed of Christ, which He will repay at His coming.

Evidence: Weaver cites Mark 8:38, warning that if we are ashamed of Christ, He will be ashamed of us.

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T17:41:09Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T08:55:04Z

Clean Transcript

How to Enrage Hypocrites and Pharisees

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

So let's open our Bibles, if you would, to Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6, and we're going to read the first 11 verses. Luke chapter 6. The title of the message today is "How to Enrage Hypocrites and Pharisees Without Even Trying." So if you really want to know how to enrage a hypocrite or a Pharisee, you can find it in this chapter. Look in Luke chapter 6, beginning there with verse 1.
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And it came to pass on the second Sabbath after the first, that he went through the cornfields and his disciples plucked the ears of corn and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. And certain of the Pharisees said unto him, Why do you that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath days? And Jesus answering them said, Have you not read so much as this, what David did when himself was hungered and they which were with him? How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him, which it is not lawful to eat, but for the priest alone. And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath. And it came to pass on another Sabbath.
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Then he entered into the synagogue, and taught. And there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath day, that there might be an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts, and said unto the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose, and stood forth.
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Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing. Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil, to save life, or to destroy it? And looking round about upon them all, he said to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he did so. Then his hand was restored whole as the other, and they were filled with madness, and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.
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So how to enrage hypocrites and Pharisees without even trying? Every one of us know that oil and water do not mix. Likewise, real, genuine Christians and Pharisees and hypocrites do not mix well either. All one has to do is read the Bible and you're going to discover that there has always been a large difference between pretend Christians and real Christians. They've always been at odds with each other. As the old saying goes, they do not play well together, nor do they worship well together either. In fact, I would venture to say that 99.9% of most church troubles arise because of the differences between pretend Christians and real Christians. Wheat and tares are contrary to each other. They may grow alongside each other for a short while, but when it comes to producing fruit, the tares fail. Problems arise when the tares wish to take over a field and the wheat will not allow it. The animosity is absolutely natural that one fights against the other. One of the things that we fail to remember is this, that dominion is in the hearts of the ungodly as well as in the hearts of the godly.
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And so there is a natural struggle and a natural fight. It is the battle of Ishmael against Isaac. You remember the Apostle Paul explained this battle in Galatians 4 and verse 29 when he said, "But as it was then, he that was born unto the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now." And Paul stated the same principle, just a little differently, in Galatians 5 and verse 17, when he says, "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary, the one to the other."
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And certainly that is true. The flesh is contrary to the Spirit. The Spirit is contrary to the flesh. Isaac is contrary to Ishmael and Ishmael is contrary to Isaac. So Pharisees and hypocrites are nothing more than Ishmaels. They are after the flesh and they have absolutely no heart for the things of God. They do, however, have a heart to persecute anyone who stands for God's truth and applies the law of God. So like Ishmael of old, the hypocrites and Pharisees always mock Isaac. The interesting thing is God has a great deal to say concerning hypocrites. He also called the Pharisees hypocrites.
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Now I suppose it might be possible to be a hypocrite without being a Pharisee. But it is impossible to be a Pharisee without being a hypocrite. I want you to hold Luke chapter 6, but I want you to turn first to the book of Job, and let's go to Job chapter 8. Let me just show you several passages to begin with concerning hypocrites. Job chapter 8, and we're going to begin reading there at verse 11. Job chapter 8, verse 11.
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Follow if you would please. Job 8 and verse 11. The Bible says this: "Can the rush grow up without mire? Can the flag grow without water? While it is yet in its greenness and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb." Now watch the application. "So are the paths of all that forget God, and the hypocrite's hope shall perish." It's interesting that a hypocrite has hope, but he says that hope shall surely perish. If you look in Job chapter 13, beginning there with verse 15, Job 13 and verse 15, Job says, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.
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I will maintain mine own ways before him. He shall also be my salvation, for a hypocrite shall not come before him." Notice if you would, Job said, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him." But a hypocrite is not going to come near him. Look, if you would, to Job 27, and let's begin reading there with verse 8. Job 27 and verse 8. Again, the Word of God tells us this. Job 27, verse 8: "For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul? Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?
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Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call upon God?" Well, obviously, hypocrites do exactly as do others in one sense of the word. They have hope. They hope. But the Word of God says their hope shall quickly perish. They have no standing before God. Therefore, they cannot come before God. And the hypocrite loses all when he dies. And Job is telling us, even in this life, he really loses as well, because he does not delight himself in the Lord, neither does he constantly and continually call upon Him. Everyone understands that hypocrites are always the quickest to see even the tiniest flaw and the tiniest sin in the lives of other individuals, and yet they overlook the greatest of sins in their own lives. If you will turn to Matthew chapter 7, everyone is familiar with this passage. Matthew chapter 7, beginning there with verse 3. Notice what our Lord says. Matthew chapter 7, verse 3, just showing you how particular hypocrites are concerning the sins of others. Matthew 7, verse 3. God our Lord asked, "And why beholdest thou the mote, that is that little tiny splinter in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam, the great four by four that is in thine own eye?
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Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine own eye? And behold, a beam is in thine own eye, thou hypocrite. First cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then thou shalt see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eyes." So obviously, the hypocrites are those individuals who are willing to attack and willing to persecute anyone who has the tiniest little sin, while at the same time, they're overlooking their sins. If you will turn right on over to Matthew 23, in fact, we've got a lot of passages to cover today, but I want you to see how accurately our Lord nails the Pharisees and the hypocrites. So we're going to begin reading with verse 24, Matthew 23, verse 24, and we'll read down through verse 33. Notice if you would, Matthew 23, verse 24, how our Lord says, in fact, you could go back to verse 23. He says, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.
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For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought you to have done and not to leave the other undone.
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Now, our Lord is not condemning them for tithing, but he is saying that what they do is they tithe to the minutest amount, even on these herbs. And he says these things you ought to have done and not leave the other undone. But what they are doing is they're making sure they do this little teeny tiny thing. And yet they're overlooking judgment and mercy and faith. Look in verse 24.
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"You blind guides which strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites." Notice how he puts them together. "For you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you build the tombs of the prophets and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore, you be witnesses unto yourselves, that you are the children of them that kill the prophets.
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Fill you up in the measure of your fathers. Now watch what he says in verse 33. "You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell?"
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Now obviously our Lord did not have very nice things to say about hypocrites and Pharisees. In fact, we could say it like this. He was completely untactful. His tact was absolutely missing. And when you get to verse 33, wow, "You serpents, you generation of vipers," that is you bunch of snakes, you slithering, crawling, wicked, wretched vipers. "How can you escape the damnation of hell?" You know what I'm afraid? I'm afraid that we as God's people have been too tactful in dealing with such people.
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It's interesting how we want to make sure that we do not upset or offend or hurt their feelings. But I want to call your attention to this fact that our Lord was not too concerned with that. If you'll look in Matthew chapter 15, and let's begin reading there with verse 7. Matthew 15 and verse 7. I want you to look how our Lord ends this little discourse. Matthew 15 and verse 7. Our Lord says to these Pharisees, "You hypocrites.
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Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. And he called a multitude and said unto them, Hear and understand, not that which goeth into the mouth that defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the mouth this defileth a man. Then came his disciples and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended after they had heard this saying?"
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But he answered and said, "Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. Let them alone. They be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." Notice what they said to Christ. "Knowest thou not that the Pharisees were offended when they heard your teaching?" The Lord said, "Tough. Every plant which my Heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. Let them alone. They be blind leaders of the blind. If the blind lead the blind, they'll both fall into the ditch." So our Lord was not too concerned about the feelings of the hypocrites and the Pharisees.
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Now, I am not suggesting today that we purposefully and deliberately hurt and aggravate a hypocrite or a Pharisee. But what I am stating is this, if we follow the lead of our Lord, and if we obey the scriptures, we will automatically anger them and enrage them without even trying. In other words, it'll just simply come to pass naturally. Not because we're intent on hurting them, not because we want to, but simply because of their hypocrisy and their pharisaism. We will get exactly the same result that our Lord got. If you look back in our text to Luke chapter 6 and verse 11, I want you to note what the Bible says. After our Lord got through, the Bible says in verse 11, "And they were filled with madness and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus." Now, I want to call your attention to this word, madness. When the Bible says they were filled with madness, the Greek word is anoia, which refers literally to madness, to folly, to rage, and a lack of understanding.
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Now listen, the Greek word nous is the word for mind. When you put an alpha in front of it, it negates the word. So anoia is from the word nous. Now watch. Literally, the Bible is saying this, that our Lord drove them out of their minds. They were so enraged they could not think clearly, nor could they think straight. All they wanted to do was to hurt him since they were so enraged and had become so insane.
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So let me ask this question. How does one enrage a hypocrite or a Pharisee without even trying? Well, let's see how our Lord did it. If you'll look in Luke chapter 6 verse 7, the very first way that you enrage a hypocrite or a Pharisee without even trying is by violating and opposing their traditions. Look in verse 7, "And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath day, that they might find an accusation against him." Now what is significant about this verse is that they watched him to see if he would violate their interpretation of the Sabbath and their tradition concerning the Sabbath.
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Let me make this exceedingly clear. Christ did not violate the Sabbath. However, if you read through scriptures, and I'm going to show you a number of them this morning, you will find that Christ consistently and constantly violated and opposed their interpretations and their traditions concerning the Sabbath. Christ angered them because he would not submit to their interpretation and to their tradition. Now, we've got to make one point exceedingly clear, and that is this.
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Even hypocrites and Pharisees have standards. They do. They're certainly not biblical standards. But they have standards. They have a tradition. They have a religion. It is not biblical Christianity. It has nothing to do with biblical law. However, they have a religion and their religion is a facade. It is a counterfeit. It is an imitation. You remember the Apostle Paul described himself in Philippians chapter 3 as a Pharisee of the Pharisees and touching the law blameless.
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In other words, he thought he was absolutely perfect. And yet the Apostle Paul acknowledges and confesses in Galatians 1 and verse 14, he says this: "And profited in the Jews' religion above many of my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of the elders." Notice if you would please, the Jews' religion is equated with the traditions of the elders. And Paul said he exceeded in those traditions. He excelled in them. In the book of Colossians chapter 2 and verse 8, now listen to what Paul said. He gives a warning and he says this, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." So he says you better watch out for the traditions of men. The Pharisees were absolutely notorious for following their traditions. I want you to go in your Bibles to the book of Mark, chapter 7. Mark, chapter 7.
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And let's read the first 13 verses. I want to show you how absolutely bent on performing and keeping their traditions, the Pharisees really were. Look at Mark, chapter 7, beginning there with verse 1. Mark 7, verse 1. Here it is. "Then came together unto him the Pharisees and certain of the scribes which came from Jerusalem. And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say with unwashed hands, they found fault." They always do. "For the Pharisees and all the Jews, now watch, except they wash their hands often, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders."
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So this had nothing to do with sanitation. It had nothing to do with cleanliness. It was a tradition. They went through a little ceremonial washing, lest some germ of some Gentile dog had gotten on. It was a tradition. It was a ceremony. It was a ritual.
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Now watch, if you would, in verse 4. "And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups and pots, brazen vessels, and of tables. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?"
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He answered and said unto them, "Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Watch, for laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups and many other such like things you do." Wow. And he said unto them, "Full well you reject the commandment of God that you may keep your own tradition.
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For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother, and whoso curseth his father and mother, let him die the death. But you say, If a man shall say to his father and mother, It is Corban, that is to say a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, he shall be free. And you suffer him no more to do ought for his father and mother.
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Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which you have delivered: and many such like things you do." So the Pharisees have their traditions, they have their traditions based upon the Sabbath day. They have their traditions based upon ritualistic washings, ceremonial washings.
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Now, I do want you to see this passage. I do want you to turn to 1 Peter, chapter one. And I want you to look at what Peter says in verse 18, 1 Peter, chapter one in verse 18. Our Lord, of course, declared that their traditions were vain and in opposition to the law of God. Moreover, he referred to them as nothing more than the traditions of men. But look what Peter says in 1 Peter 1 and verse 18. He says, "Forasmuch as you know, you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold.
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from your vain conversation or conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot." He says your traditions did not save you. I want you to understand how punctilious these Pharisees were in keeping their traditions. I want you to see how a Pharisee can be spiritual according to his own standards. And completely ungodly according to God's standards. I want you to look in John chapter 18. John chapter 18. And look at verse 28. You remember now it was the Pharisees and the scribes that delivered Jesus to the high priests and then of course they delivered him to Pilate. But look at John chapter 18 and verse 28. We need to understand that both hypocrites and Pharisees are religious.
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They can be pious and dedicated to their religion of humanism and traditionalism. The reason they can be pious, listen carefully, it's because they make their own rules. Do you understand I can be as holy as anyone as long as you allow me to define holiness and make my own rules? I've told people before I can jump 20 feet in the air straight up flat footed. Everybody looks at me, you can't do that. Sure I can. If you allow me to define 20 feet straight up. Or if you allow me to make my own rules.
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I want you to watch this. Look in John 18, verse 28.
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Now, the Bible says, "Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment, that is, to Pilate. And it was early. And they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover." What? Ah, they did not wish to be defiled ceremonially so that they could keep their tradition. However, it did not bother them to be defiled morally and criminally by delivering an innocent man to be crucified.
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You see the double standard? It's all right to murder as long as we don't violate our traditions. You can violate God's law, that's fine, but just don't violate our traditions as well.
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Now, let me tell you something. Humanly speaking, I'm not talking about from the divine side. Humanly speaking, the reason Christ was crucified was because of the envy and the hatred that the Jews and the Pharisees had against him for refusing to keep their traditions. Humanly speaking. Now let me point something out concerning traditions. First of all, I would say there's nothing wrong with traditions as long as they meet two requirements. First of all, if a tradition is biblical, there's nothing wrong with a tradition. There were a few biblical traditions.
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For instance, in 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 15, the Apostle Paul wrote, "Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word or by our epistle." So there were traditions that have been communicated. We could say that the Lord's Supper is a tradition in one sense of the word. We know it's an ordinance, but it's something that we do. Baptism would be a tradition. It's an ordinance, but it's something that we do. And it's a biblical one. The Apostle Paul also said in 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 6, "Now, we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the traditions which he received of us." In other words, Paul said, if you won't follow the biblical tradition, then we're to withdraw ourselves from him. So, first of all, there'd be nothing wrong with the tradition as long as it is biblical. There would be nothing wrong with the tradition as long as, number one, it is not contrary to scripture, and number two, it is not binding upon anyone.
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Now, what am I talking about? I could start a tradition that everyone comes to my front door must drink a cup of tea before he enters in. Well, that's my tradition. Well, is there anything unbiblical about drinking a cup of tea before you come into my house? No. But what if you don't drink tea or you don't like tea? You see, if I can say it's my tradition, everyone drinks a cup of tea before he comes in my house and you come and you say, I like tea. I'm more than willing to have a cup of tea. Fine. But what if somebody comes in who's allergic to tea and they say, I can't drink that tea?
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Am I to get upset? No.
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Now, if I understand that my tradition is not binding on anyone, that everyone is either free to leave it or accept it, that is one thing. But the problem with the hypocrites and the Pharisees is this. They always want you to do as they say and do what they demand. Thus, when you oppose their traditions and refuse to submit to them, then you enrage them without even trying. Why? Because they demand submission. And they place their traditions above the law of God.
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That's what we read in Matthew 15 in Mark chapter 7. And when you do not do as they do, you enrage them. So how do you enrage a hypocrite or Pharisee without even trying? First of all, by opposing or violating their traditions. I want you to go back to Luke chapter 6, because here's the second way that you can enrage them. It's found in verse 9. The second way to enrage a hypocrite or a Pharisee without even trying is by confounding and confusing their thinking. Look in verse 9, Luke chapter 6.
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"Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing. Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?" Listen carefully. Logic, especially biblical logic, is not the forte of Pharisees and hypocrites. Our Lord's question illustrates the fact that neither the Pharisees or hypocrites were able to think scripturally. They not only did not have the ability to think scripturally, but they did not wish to think scripturally. If they thought scripturally, they would no longer be a hypocrite or Pharisee. Now, there are two passages of scripture that forever settles the fact that no hypocrite and no Pharisee has the ability to think biblically. The first one, of course, is 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 14, where the Bible says, "But the natural man, that is the unsaved man, man by nature, but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned." So a Pharisee or a hypocrite has no ability to discern the things of God.
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And when you get to Romans 8, verses 6 through 8, the Bible says this, "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." Obviously, they do not have the ability to think scripturally and biblically. And secondly, they do not wish to think biblically and scripturally.
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Now I want you to watch how our Lord boxes these Pharisees in. He confronts them with the truth. He asks them a simple question. "Is it lawful," that is according to God's law, "to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?" Now, if they answer yes, it is lawful to do good, it is lawful to save life. Then the next question is, why are you attacking me?
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Why are you watching me? If they answer no, it is not lawful to do good and lawful to save life. Then, of course, they expose themselves to the people and they condemn themselves. When they are forced to follow our Lord's logic, they do not wish to arrive at the proper conclusion. They become confounded and confused because they cannot hold to their positions and admit the natural logical answers to his questions.
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Now, look in verse 9 again. "Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing, is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?" When our Lord asked this question in verse 9 as to whether or not it's lawful to save life or destroy it, the Pharisees were already planning to destroy his life. Go back to verse 7. "And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the seventh day, that they might have an accusation against him." Well, skip down to verse 11. "And they were filled with madness and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus." Now, I'll show you another passage where it's very clear that they wanted to take his life at this point. So here's the point. Christ was doing good. They were doing evil. Christ was saving life and they were willing and ready to destroy his life and to allow another individual to go totally unhealed.
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Now, I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 21, because our Lord oftentimes confused and confounded his adversaries. Look at Matthew 21. Here's another illustration of this. Matthew 21, and let's begin reading verse 23. Matthew 21, verse 23. Watch him carefully. Matthew 21, verse 23. "And when he was coming to the temple, the chief priest and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching and said, By what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority?"
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Oh boy, they wanted to pin him down. "And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say from heaven, he will say to us, why do you not then believe him? But if we shall say of men, we fear the people, for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things."
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In other words, he would box them in. He would get them where they could not answer, or if they answered correctly, they would always be condemning themselves. If the Pharisees had been honest, and if they had logically followed our Lord's reasoning, they would have understood the principle that our Lord was teaching.
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Now, when you look at Luke 6 and verse 9, listen to me carefully. When you look at Luke 6 and verse 9, where our Lord said unto them, "I will ask you one thing, is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good or to do evil, to save life or destroy it?" May I tell you what our Lord was actually teaching? Listen carefully. God's law teaches us that to neglect any opportunity of doing good is to incur the guilt of doing evil.
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Let me say this another way. To do absolutely nothing in the face of evil is to be guilty of evil. Failure to save a life when it is within one's power to do so is to be guilty of taking a life. Our Lord is saying it is lawful to obey God even on Sabbath days. It is lawful to obey God at any day, any time, at any place. Period. Even if it violates the traditions of men. So our Lord is saying we cannot refuse an opportunity to do good, if we do, then we're incurring the guilt of doing evil. I think it's James 4:17, he says, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him, it is sin." Obviously. Well, let me give you a third way of how to enrage a hypocrite and a Pharisee without even trying.
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Look in verses 10 and 11 of Luke chapter 6. You enrage a hypocrite and a Pharisee by explaining, expounding, and applying God's law in every circumstance. Verses 10 and 11, "And looking round about them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand, and he stretched it, he did so, and his hand was restored whole as the other. Watch, and they were filled with madness, and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus."
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Now, our Lord had given the principle of the law in verse 9. Now in verse 10, he applies the law of doing good and of saving and healing the impotent man. What was the result? In verse 11, they were filled with madness and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus. Do you understand this simple principle? Religious enemies, the enemies of Christ, hate God's law and they hate the application of that law, especially when it destroys their traditions and their interpretations. Our Lord healed this man, and he did so in such a way that even the Pharisees could not even condemn him.
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How did he do so? He just looked at the man and said, "Stretch forth thine hand." Our Lord did nothing but speak. And the man did nothing but stretch forth his hand and he was instantly healed. How could they accuse Christ of violating the Sabbath, even their interpretation of the Sabbath? And of course, this thing was done publicly.
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Now, I want you to turn to Mark chapter three. I want you to look at this. Here's the same passage. The same illustration, Mark chapter 3. And let's begin reading there and let me show you what else the Bible says concerning Christ. Mark chapter 3. Mark chapter 3, watch it. Let's just read the first six verses. "And he entered again in the synagogue and there was a man there which had a withered hand.
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And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day that they might accuse him. Then he said to the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. And he said unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil, to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. Watch verse 5, "And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored whole as the other. Watch, and the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel of the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him." Wow.
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We need to understand this truth. Listen, the world and the devil, as well as hypocrites and Pharisees, are not concerned with what you believe, as long as you do not apply it. It is only when truth is applied that the devil, the world, the scribes and the Pharisees and the hypocrites are so enraged. Because it's violating their traditions and it's violating their interpretations. Let me tell you something. There's a vast difference between freedom to believe and freedom to act. To explain this further, listen, I just said neither the world, nor the devil, nor the hypocrites, nor the pharisees could care less what you believe, just so you do not apply it. Do you realize the governments of the world will give you freedom of religion?
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What do they mean by that? Think you're free to believe whatever you want to think and whatever you believe as long as you keep it between your ears. However, when you go to apply the truth, you're going to find there's really not very much religious freedom. An illustration. You can say, Brother Weaver, I believe the scripture when it says very clearly "Spare the rod and spoil the child." Oh, I believe in corporal punishment. Fine. Wonderful.
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It's okay for you to do that. It's alright for you to believe that. Until your child acts up in public, and you apply the rod in public, and the next thing you know, you're reported, and governmental agencies are visiting you. Because they say that you don't have a right to discipline your child. You see, there's a difference. Between freedom to believe and freedom to apply and freedom to act.
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I want you to look in your Bible to John, chapter five. John, chapter five. I love this passage. John chapter 5, and let's begin reading with verse 5. You know the story of the impotent man. John 5, verse 5. Watch carefully, John 5, verse 5, "And a certain man was there which had an infirmity 38 years. When Jesus saw him lie, knew that he'd been now a long time in that case, he said unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man when the water is troubled to put me into the pool.
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But while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus said unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked. And on the same day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the Sabbath day. It is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. He answered and said unto him, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. Then asked they, What man is this which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? And he that was healed wist not who it was, for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place." Now, watch what happens.
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Let's turn over to John chapter 7, beginning there in verse 23, because now our Lord is confronting them about this incident that happened in John 5. So in John chapter 7, verse 23, look at it. Our Lord asked, "If a man on the Sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken, watch, are you angry at me because I made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath day?
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Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment. Then said some of them of Jerusalem, watch, is not this he whom they seek to kill? But lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ?" But note if you would. He said, you will circumcise a child on the Sabbath day, that the law of Moses should not be broken. Are you angry at me because I made a man whole on the Sabbath day? Whenever you begin to apply the law of God, folks get angry.
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Look in Luke chapter 13. I want you to see this one. Oh, Luke 13. And let's begin reading there in verse 10. You've got to see this one. Luke 13, beginning there in verse 10. Remember I told you earlier that the reason the Jews crucified Christ was not only out of envy, but because he violated their traditions over and over. Watch Luke chapter 13, beginning there in verse 10. "And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
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And behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years and was bowed together and could in no wise lift up herself." So here's a woman bent double. "And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said to her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her and immediately she was made straight and glorified God." Now watch this.
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"And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day and said to the people, There are six days in which men ought to work. In them, therefore, come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day. The Lord answered him and said, Thou hypocrite. Doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan hath bound lo these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day? And when he had said these things, all of his adversaries were ashamed, and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him." Can you imagine? The Pharisees were willing for the woman to be healed if she would be healed according to their tradition and their interpretation. But they were angry at Jesus because he healed her on the Sabbath. And they were willing for the woman to stay in pain and agony one more day.
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Just so it would not violate their tradition and their interpretations. Our Lord said, "You hypocrite. You'll loose your ox or your ass from the stall and take him to water. And ought not I to have mercy on this woman? If you don't have mercy on your animal, can I not have mercy on this woman who also was a daughter of Abraham?" You have to remember that passage that I read in Mark chapter 7 verse 2.
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The way that you enrage and anger Pharisees and hypocrites without even trying is simply by violating their traditions and their interpretations, by confusing and confounding their thinking, and thirdly, by applying biblical law. Why? Because our Lord said in Mark 7 in verse 2, Pharisees always find fault. And if you did everything scripturally and biblically and correctly, they would still find fault.
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Now, let me make some applications. I want you to think about these. We, like Christ, should always apply God's word, even in the face of our enemies and in the face of the enemies of Christ. It is always right to do right, regardless of who is in front of us and regardless of the consequences. Do you realize that a failure to apply God's word is in essence to be ashamed of our Lord and His Word. Our Lord said in Mark 8 and verse 38, "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in his glory of his Father with his holy angels." So our Lord said, if you're ashamed of me, I'll be ashamed of you. It's just that simple. We have to understand, folks, it is always right to apply God's Word even if folks are upset.
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Secondly, we need to note this. Miracles. Miracles do not impress the unsaved. Nor do they impress the Pharisees or the hypocrites. Here's a man who had a withered hand and he stretched out and instantly he was healed. It was made whole. And yet the Pharisees were unsubdued. They were filled with anger and madness. A mighty work had been done in their presence, yet instead of receiving it, they intended to murder the miracle worker.
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Let me tell you something. We cannot rely upon our witness, our works, our good deeds, or anything else to impress the wicked. We must rely solely and completely and totally on the grace and mercy and power of God. Our Lord performed a miracle in front of them. And it's like water off a duck's back. Over and over he did that. And over and over they set about to kill him.
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The third application is this. It is not unlawful, ungodly or unbiblical to enrage and to anger those who hate Christ by obeying Christ and doing his will. When one is angered and enraged by a biblical act or deed, he is just simply demonstrating his hatred for Christ and the Word. We must continue to obey Christ even if our enemies are enraged simply because we are doing so. We must always, at all times, in every circumstance, do things the way Christ commands and not the way people want it done. I want you to listen to what Matthew Henry said about these Pharisees in Luke chapter 6. I love it. He said, "They were mad at Christ, mad at the people, mad at themselves. Anger is a short madness. Malice is a long one. Impotent malice, especially disappointed malice, belonged to the Pharisees.
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When they could not prevent His working this miracle, they communed one another what they might do to Jesus, what other way they might take Him and run Him down. We may well stand amazed at it that the sons of men should be so wicked and do thus, and that the Son of God should be so patient as to suffer it."
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Now, I want you to stop and think at what he said. Wow. When you look around and you see how people mock and blaspheme. Not only Christ, but his word. You can't help but think, Lord, how can you put up with this? You do not think people are as wicked, or could be so wicked, as to liberally mock and blaspheme. And what else is amazing is that Christ patiently bears with them. We not only have to stand amazed at the wickedness and sins and rebellion of wicked men, we have to stand amazed at the mercy and the long-suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ who endures such blasphemy. And while we're on that subject, we must also stand amazed at how our Lord Jesus Christ put up with our sin and our rebellion until he saved us by his grace. We can ask God, why do you not wipe these wicked men off the face of the earth? But if we ask that, we would also have to ask, why did you not wipe us off before you were gracious and kind to us?
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If you want to enrage a Pharisee or a hypocrite, if you want to enrage the powers that be, just obey God. Apply His law in every situation, every circumstances, and you will accomplish your mission without even trying. We're not called upon to appease and placate and satisfy people. We're called upon to obey our Lord and to worship and serve him alone. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask for your grace, for your mercy, for your goodness and your kindness. Lord, teach us to be obedient, even in the face of rage and anger of ungodly men. Make us holy. Make us godly. Help us to apply thy truth. In thy name we pray. Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T17:41:09Z

How to Enrage Hypocrites and Pharisees

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver examines Luke 6:1-11 to show how Jesus enraged the Pharisees by opposing their traditions, confounding their thinking with biblical logic, and applying God's law. He argues that genuine Christians will naturally provoke hypocrites when they obey Scripture, and that believers must apply God's Word regardless of opposition.

Opening

Scripture Reading — Luke 6:1-11

And it came to pass on the second Sabbath after the first, that he went through the cornfields and his disciples plucked the ears of corn and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. And certain of the Pharisees said unto him, Why do you that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath days? And Jesus answering them said, Have you not read so much as this, what David did when himself was hungered and they which were with him? How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him, which it is not lawful to eat, but for the priest alone. And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath. And it came to pass on

another Sabbath.

Introduction: The Natural Conflict Between Real and Pretend Christians

Weaver introduces the theme that genuine Christians and hypocrites are inherently at odds, like oil and water, and that most church troubles stem from this conflict.

Biblical Descriptions of Hypocrites

Weaver surveys Job and Matthew to show that hypocrites have a false hope, overlook their own sins, and are condemned by Jesus as blind guides and serpents.

Scripture Reading — Job 8:11-13

"Can the rush grow up without mire? Can the flag grow without water? While it is yet in its greenness and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb."

Now watch the application.

Scripture Reading — Job 8:11-13

"So are the paths of all that forget God, and the hypocrite's hope shall perish."

Scripture Reading — Job 13:15-16

I will maintain mine own ways before him. He shall also be my salvation, for a hypocrite shall not come before him." Notice if you would, Job said, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust

Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call upon God?

Scripture Reading — Job 27:8-10

" Well, obviously, hypocrites do exactly as do others in one sense of the word. They have hope. They hope. But the Word of God says their hope shall quickly perish. They have no standing before God. Therefore, they cannot come before God. And the hypocrite loses all when he dies. And Job is telling us, even in this life, he really loses as well, because he does not delight himself in the Lord, neither does he constantly and continually call upon Him. Everyone understands that hypocrites are always the quickest to see even the tiniest flaw and the tiniest sin in the lives of other individuals, and yet they overlook the greatest of sins in their own lives. If you will turn to Matthew chapter 7, everyone is familiar with this passage. Matthew chapter 7, beginning there with verse 3. Notice what our Lord says. Matthew chapter 7, verse 3, just showing you how particular hypocrites are concerning the sins of others. Matthew 7, verse 3. God our Lord asked, "

And why beholdest thou the mote, that is that little tiny splinter in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam, the great four by four that is in thine own eye?

Scripture Reading — Matthew 7:3-5

Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine own eye? And behold, a beam is in thine own eye, thou hypocrite. First cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then thou shalt see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's

Jesus' Untactful Confrontation of Pharisees

Weaver highlights Jesus' harsh language toward Pharisees, noting that He was not concerned with offending them, and that believers should not be overly tactful.

First Method: Violating and Opposing Their Traditions

Weaver explains that Jesus enraged the Pharisees by violating their man-made traditions about the Sabbath, which they elevated above God's law.

In other words, he thought he was absolutely perfect. And yet the Apostle Paul acknowledges and confesses in Galatians 1 and verse 14, he says this:

Scripture Reading — Galatians 1:14

"And profited in the Jews' religion above many of my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of the elders."

I want you to watch this. Look in John 18, verse 28. Now, the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — John 18:28

"Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment, that is, to Pilate. And it was early. And they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover."

For instance, in 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 15, the Apostle Paul wrote,

Scripture Reading — 2 Thessalonians 2:15

"Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word or by our epistle."

Second Method: Confounding and Confusing Their Thinking

Weaver shows how Jesus used biblical logic to box in the Pharisees, asking whether it is lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath, exposing their inconsistency.

Third Method: Explaining, Expounding, and Applying God's Law

Weaver demonstrates that Jesus applied the law by healing the man with the withered hand, which filled the Pharisees with madness because it destroyed their traditions.

Applications for Believers

Weaver applies the lesson: believers must always apply God's Word, not rely on miracles to impress the wicked, and obey Christ even if it enrages enemies.

How to Enrage Hypocrites and Pharisees

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	68151428130
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Romans: Law, Obedience, and Sanctification: Walking With God
Genre	Sermon
Date	2014-04-06
Dictation Name
Book	Book 134: Romans: Law, Obedience, and Sanctification - Volume 1 — Chapter 13
Source Timed Segments	78

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Natural Conflict Between Real and Pretend Christians: Weaver introduces the theme that genuine Christians and hypocrites are inherently at odds, like oil and water, and that most church troubles stem from this conflict.
Biblical Descriptions of Hypocrites: Weaver surveys Job and Matthew to show that hypocrites have a false hope, overlook their own sins, and are condemned by Jesus as blind guides and serpents.
Jesus' Untactful Confrontation of Pharisees: Weaver highlights Jesus' harsh language toward Pharisees, noting that He was not concerned with offending them, and that believers should not be overly tactful.
First Method: Violating and Opposing Their Traditions: Weaver explains that Jesus enraged the Pharisees by violating their man-made traditions about the Sabbath, which they elevated above God's law.
Second Method: Confounding and Confusing Their Thinking: Weaver shows how Jesus used biblical logic to box in the Pharisees, asking whether it is lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath, exposing their inconsistency.
Third Method: Explaining, Expounding, and Applying God's Law: Weaver demonstrates that Jesus applied the law by healing the man with the withered hand, which filled the Pharisees with madness because it destroyed their traditions.
Applications for Believers: Weaver applies the lesson: believers must always apply God's Word, not rely on miracles to impress the wicked, and obey Christ even if it enrages enemies.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Hypocrites and Pharisees are naturally enraged by genuine Christianity.

The inherent conflict between flesh and Spirit means that hypocrites will always persecute true believers.

Weaver cites Galatians 4:29 and 5:17 to show the battle between Ishmael and Isaac, flesh and Spirit.

Jesus intentionally opposed man-made traditions to expose hypocrisy.

By violating their Sabbath traditions, Jesus showed that God's law takes precedence over human rules.

Weaver points to Luke 6:7 and Mark 7:8-9, where Jesus accuses them of laying aside God's commandment for tradition.

Biblical logic confounds those who reject God's law.

Jesus' question about doing good on the Sabbath forced the Pharisees into a logical dilemma they could not resolve.

Weaver explains Luke 6:9, showing that if they answered, they would either justify Jesus or condemn themselves.

Applying God's law in practical ways provokes the wicked.

When Jesus healed on the Sabbath, He applied the principle of doing good, which enraged the Pharisees.

Weaver references Luke 6:10-11 and Mark 3:5-6, where the Pharisees plot to destroy Jesus after the healing.

Miracles and good works do not convert the hard-hearted.

Despite witnessing a miraculous healing, the Pharisees were filled with madness and sought to kill Jesus.

Weaver notes that the Pharisees were 'unsubdued' and 'filled with anger and madness' after the healing.

Believers must obey God regardless of human reaction.

It is not sinful to enrage the wicked by obeying Christ; rather, it demonstrates their hatred for God.

Weaver states, 'It is not unlawful, ungodly or unbiblical to enrage and to anger those who hate Christ by obeying Christ.'

Scripture References

Luke 6:1-11: The primary text, describing Jesus' disciples plucking grain and Jesus healing on the Sabbath, leading to the Pharisees' rage.
Galatians 4:29: Paul explains the persecution of Isaac by Ishmael as a picture of the flesh persecuting the Spirit.
Galatians 5:17: The flesh and Spirit are contrary to each other, illustrating the conflict between hypocrites and true believers.
Job 8:11-13: The hypocrite's hope shall perish, like a rush without water.
Job 13:15-16: Job declares that a hypocrite shall not come before God.
Job 27:8-10: The hypocrite loses all when he dies and does not delight in God.
Matthew 7:3-5: Jesus rebukes hypocrites for focusing on the mote in another's eye while ignoring the beam in their own.
Matthew 23:23-33: Jesus pronounces woes on scribes and Pharisees, calling them hypocrites, blind guides, and serpents.
Matthew 15:7-14: Jesus calls the Pharisees hypocrites, quoting Isaiah, and tells His disciples to let them alone as blind leaders.
Philippians 3:5-6: Paul describes himself as a Pharisee touching the law blameless.
Galatians 1:14: Paul was exceedingly zealous of the traditions of the elders.
Colossians 2:8: Warning against being spoiled through philosophy and vain deceit after the traditions of men.
Mark 7:1-13: Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for holding to traditions like ceremonial washings, making God's Word of no effect.
1 Peter 1:18-19: Believers were not redeemed with corruptible things from vain traditions, but with Christ's blood.
John 18:28: The Pharisees avoided entering the judgment hall to avoid defilement, yet sought to crucify an innocent man.
2 Thessalonians 2:15: Paul commands believers to hold to the traditions taught by the apostles.
2 Thessalonians 3:6: Believers are to withdraw from those who do not follow apostolic traditions.
1 Corinthians 2:14: The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit because they are spiritually discerned.
Romans 8:6-8: The carnal mind is enmity against God and cannot be subject to His law.
Matthew 21:23-27: Jesus confounds the chief priests by asking about John's baptism, exposing their fear of the people.

Historical References

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Luke 6: Weaver quotes Matthew Henry describing the Pharisees' madness as 'impotent malice' and marveling at Christ's patience.

Important Quotes

And they were filled with madness and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.

This verse captures the extreme reaction of the Pharisees to Jesus' healing, illustrating the theme of enraging hypocrites.

You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell?

Jesus' harsh language demonstrates His untactful condemnation of Pharisees, which Weaver uses to argue against excessive tact.

Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. Let them alone. They be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

Jesus' response to the disciples' concern about offending the Pharisees shows His disregard for their feelings when truth is at stake.

Full well you reject the commandment of God that you may keep your own tradition.

This quote from Mark 7:9 encapsulates the core issue of elevating human traditions above God's law.

Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil, to save life, or to destroy it?

Jesus' question confounds the Pharisees by forcing them to confront the logical implications of their traditions.

Thou hypocrite. Doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan hath bound lo these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?

Jesus exposes the hypocrisy of valuing animals over a suffering woman, applying the law of mercy.

They were mad at Christ, mad at the people, mad at themselves. Anger is a short madness. Malice is a long one. Impotent malice, especially disappointed malice, belonged to the Pharisees.

Matthew Henry's commentary highlights the irrational rage of the Pharisees when their plans are thwarted.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

In what ways do modern churches elevate traditions above God's commandments, and how should we respond?

[Context]

Weaver emphasizes that Pharisees made God's Word of no effect through their traditions (Mark 7:13).

[Question]

How can we discern between biblical traditions and man-made traditions that should not be binding?

[Context]

Weaver distinguishes between traditions that are biblical and those that are not, using 2 Thessalonians 2:15 and 3:6.

[Question]

Why does applying God's law often provoke anger, and how should we prepare for such reactions?

[Context]

Weaver states that the world is not concerned with what you believe until you apply it, citing the healing on the Sabbath.

[Question]

What does Jesus' example teach us about balancing truth and tact when confronting hypocrisy?

[Context]

Weaver notes Jesus' untactful language in Matthew 23 and suggests believers may be too concerned with offending.

[Question]

How does the account of the woman bent double (Luke 13) challenge our priorities in showing mercy versus keeping rules?

[Context]

Weaver contrasts the Pharisees' willingness to help animals on the Sabbath with their objection to healing the woman.

Applications

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T08:55:04Z