#140 Lu. 16:14-17 THE PHARISEES, THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL

Introduction:

    In our text last Sunday Jesus said that no servant can serve
two masters.  He will either have a greater love and loyalty to
one than he does the other or at least he will devote more time
and energy to one than he does the other.  The unjust steward in
the parable is a classic example.  He tried to serve two masters.
He tried to serve the rich man who had appointed his as steward
and he tried to serve mammon or wealth at the same time.
    But just as Jesus said, the unjust steward was not able to
successfully serve both masters.  He devoted himself to serving
wealth and failed altogether as a steward to the land owner.

I.  The Pharisees

    The men in the parable, of course, were fictional.  The
parable was taken from a real life-like situation, but it did not
deal with real people from real life.  They were fictional
characters.
    In our text today, Jesus deals with real life characters who
also had set about to serve two masters.  These are Pharisees.
The Pharisees took great pride in being great servants of God.
They considered themselves to be the classic examples of what a
servant of God ought to be.  They considered themselves to be
God's very favorite servants.  They considered themselves to be
better than anybody else in the world.  They considered themselves
to be more righteous than anybody else in the world.  In fact,
they were counting on their great righteousness to get them into
heaven.
    V. 14, "And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all
these things: and they derided him."  According to verse one,
Jesus addressed the parable to His disciples.  Even the statement
that no man can serve two masters was made to His disciples.  The
statement that no man can serve both God and mammon was made to
His disciples.  But the Pharisees were present and they heard what
He had said and they voiced opposition to what He said.  In fact,
Jesus very seldom ever said anything that the Pharisees agreed
with.  But they most certainly did not agree that a man cannot
serve both God and mammon.
    As has already been noted, the Pharisees prided themselves as
being great servants of God.  But they were also covetous men who
sought great wealth.  They had a special love for money.  They
apparently took as much pride in their ability to get wealth as
they did in their pretended service to God.  I said that the
unjust steward was a classic example of one who tried to serve two
masters, but he was not real.  The Pharisees were classic examples
in real life of those who try to serve two masters and money was
the master which they loved the most.
    So when they heard Jesus speak the parable and conclude by
saying that no man can serve both God and mammon, they derided
Him.  They poked fun at Him.  They ridiculed Him openly.  They
turned up their nose at Him.
    V. 15, "And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify
yourselves before men..."  That is they habitually tried to
justify themselves in the sight of men.  They did not really try
to get right with God.  But they went to great lengths to appear
to men that they were right with God.  They wanted people to think
that they were right with God.
    In Luke 11:39 Jesus used a cup and a platter to illustrate
what they were doing.  We read, "And the Lord said unto him, Now
do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter;
but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness."  Jesus
said that their kind of living was like cleaning up the outside of
the cup and the platter and leaving the inside full of filth.  Can
you imagine drinking out of a cup that looked clean on the outside
only to discover that the inside was coated with old rotten molded
food?  Can you imagine eating out of a platter that looks clean on
the outside only to discover that the inside of the platter was
coated with old rotten moldy food?  The Pharisees were careful to
live in such a way that they appeared to be devoted to God, but
inside their hearts they were rebels against God.  They were full
of ravening wickedness.  Even right at this very time in our text
they were mocking and ridiculing the very Son of God.
    Luke 18:9-14, "And he spake this parable unto certain which
trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised
others:  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a
Pharisee, and the other a publican.  The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men
are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as
his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be
merciful to me a sinner.  I tell you, this man went down to his
house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth
himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be
exalted."
    This is the kind of people the Pharisees were.  They tried to
appear as dedicated servants of God in the sight of men, but they
were not.  They were self-righteous, egotistical, rebels.  They
were rebels against God who in their hearts were guilty of all
manner of sin and unrighteousness.  In the actual conduct of their
lives they were servants of mammon and Jesus said no man can serve
God and mammon.
    (V. 15), "...but God knoweth your hearts..."  God knew their
hearts.  When it comes to cups and platters, God knows what is on
the inside.  When it comes to the hearts of men, God knows what is
on the inside.  God knew about their covetousness.  God knew the
ravening wickedness that was in their hearts.
    You can please men by your outward appearance of goodness, but
you cannot please God by appearances only.  God knows the heart
and the heart must be right to please God.
    (V. 15), "...for that which is highly esteemed among men is
abomination in the sight of God."  Now Jesus did not say that
everything that is highly esteemed among men is abomination to
God, but at least some of that is highly esteemed by men is an
abomination to God.  For instance, serving mammon would be highly
esteemed among men, but it is an abomination to God.  Making a
show of righteousness on the outside is highly esteemed among men,
but unless the righteousness is also in the heart, it is an
abomination to God.  God calls it hypocrisy and God hates
hypocrisy.

II.  The law

    In verse 16 Jesus speaks of the law and the writings of the
prophets.  Jesus said, V. 16, "The law and the prophets were until
John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached..."  The law
to which Jesus referred was the Law of Moses as contained in the
law books of the Old Testament.  The prophets to which He referred
were actually the writings of the Old Testament prophets.
    Thus, the law and the prophets composed most of the Old
Testament.  There were a few poetic books in addition, but the law
and the prophets made up most of the Old Testament.  We are made
to wonder just why Jesus would bring up the law and the prophets
at this point.  Why did He?  Did He just jump from one subject to
another?  Did He suddenly switch subject matter by bringing in the
law and the prophets?  No.  Not at all.
    One of the commandments of the law was, "Thou shalt not
covet..."  Men are not to covet that which belongs to anyone else.
Yet that is exactly what the Pharisees were doing by their
covetousness.  They were constantly coveting that which belonged
to somebody else.  And it did not stop there.  On one occasion
Jesus said to then, "Ye devour widow's houses."  They usually
managed by hook or by crook to get money even if it meant taking
bread from the poor widow.
    They prided themselves in keeping the law of Moses.  They did
not hesitate say that they kept the law.  In talking to one of
them one day Jesus referred to several commandments of the law and
the man said, "These have I kept from my youth up."  But they had
not kept the law.  The law says, "Thou shalt not covet" and
covetousness was a way of life with them.  Covetousness was ever
day business with them.

III.  The gospel of Jesus Christ

    But now note again what Jesus said about the law and the
prophets.  V. 16, "The law and the prophets were until John: since
that time the kingdom of God is preached..."  The law system of
worship was the God given system of worship for Israel until the
coming of John the Baptist.  They were supposed to worship under
the law system.  From the time that God gave the law through Moses
at Mt. Sinai until the preaching of John the Baptist the people of
Israel were supposed to worship under the law system.
    But men were never saved by the keeping of the law.  In
Galatians 2:21 the Apostle Paul wrote, "I do not frustrate the
grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is
dead in vain."  The law was to teach men that they are sinners and
are in need of the saving grace of God.  Even during the law age,
men were never saved by keeping the law.  Righteousness could
never come by attempting to keep the law.  The law was never
intended to save and it never did save.  It was intended to inform
us that we are sinners and lead us to repentance and faith in the
Christ.
    At the coming the ministry of John the Baptist, the law system
of worship proceeded to come to an end.  It did not end instantly
with the first sermon that John preached, but it was during the
time of John's ministry that the law system of worship officially
came to an end.  John announced to the nation of Israel that the
Christ was at hand.  He identified Jesus as the Christ.  He said,
"Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world."
With the coming of the Christ, with the founding of the New
Testament Church system of worship the gospel of Jesus Christ was
proclaimed.  The law as a system of worship was supplanted by the
New Testament Church system of worship.
    If the Pharisees were the spiritual leaders that they
claimed to be and pretended to be, they would have known this.
Many of the common people recognized it.  Under the preaching of
the gospel many were saved and baptized.  (V. 16), "...and every
man presseth into it."  The term "every man" as used here is not
intended to mean every single person, but rather "great numbers of
men."  Starting with the preaching of John the Baptist and
continuing into the ministries of Jesus and His apostles, great
numbers of the common people eagerly pressed into the kingdom
work.
    Yet even though the law system of worship was replaced by a
New Testament church system of worship Jesus did not at all mean
that the law itself was null and void.  What was wrong under the
law under the old law system would continue to be wrong.  What was
sin under the old law system of worship would continue to be
sinful.  It was a sin to covet under the old law system and it is
still a sin for people to covet.  It was a sin for men to serve
mammon under the old law system and it is still a sin for people
to serve mammon.  V. 17, "And it is easier for heaven and earth to
pass, than one tittle of the law to fail."  Jesus said that it
would be easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for the
very least of the commandments of the law to become null and void.
    Listen, God is still supreme.  God is still the Creator and
Owner of this whole world.  God is still upon His throne in
heaven.  His word is still law.  What used to be sin is still sin
and every man, woman, boy and girl in this world is a sinner.  All
have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  It is totally
useless for men to attempt to stay out of hell and go to heaven by
their own works of righteousness.  It is totally futile to put on
a show of righteousness like the Pharisees did when what one needs
is to be born again.
    But God has offered to all mankind a way of salvation that
will work for anybody in the world.  God sent His own Son to the
world to be the Savior of men and He calls upon all men everywhere
to repent of their sin and trust in Jesus Christ and be saved.
There is not one legitimate excuse for anybody in the world to
fail to trust in Jesus and be saved.  But the great majority of
the Pharisees did.  They rejected Jesus and went to hell.

Conclusion:

    Now if that is what you want to do and are determined to do,
then I do not know of any way to keep you from doing it.  You can
go on to hell if you want to, but for those of you who want to be
saved, I will ask you to come and place your faith in Jesus Christ
and be saved.