#6 The “Stumbling Blocks To Real
Spirituality” Series
"IF ONLY...!"
TEXT: Matt.
23:29-39 Lk. 11:47-51
INTRO: Ever hear
anyone say, “If only I had been there things would have been very
different” or, “if I had been put in charge everything would have turned
out ok.”
ILLUS:
In
It is always easier to say, “IF
ONLY...” and of course can be very egotistical; it really is often a
statement of vanity and vain excuses!
PROP.
SENT: God's Word teaches us
that we are responsible for what we do and don't do, not just what we say we
will do or won't do. If you say, "IF
ONLY..." then be prepared to do what you say, God will hold you to
it!
I. WOEFUL REASONING!
Matt. 23:29-32
A. Alarming
Fallacy Matt. 23:29-30
1. It was easier for the Pharisees to
honor dead prophets than to honor live ones among them like John the Baptist and
Jesus!
a. Dead prophets pose no
threat!
b. Their message was silent – to the
Pharisees it was mostly history at this point!
c. Live prophets however could point
out their present sins!
d. Live prophets were thus
unwelcome!
2. This is the danger with such a line
"IF
ONLY..."
a. It is always easier to say what should have
been done once the work is over!
b. They had the audacity to say that
had they lived during the time of their forefathers they would not have
participated in the wicked actions of killing the prophets God had sent. "IF
ONLY..." they had been there they would have been righteous!!!! Mat 23:30 “And you say, 'If we had lived in the days
of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood
of the prophets.”
c. There is a huge ego factor in such
a statement "IF ONLY..."
ILLUS:
We are
split spiritual personalities. We
swear allegiance to one set of principles and live by
another.
We extol self-control and practice
self-indulgence.
We proclaim brotherhood and harbor
prejudice.
We laud character but strive to
climb to the top at any cost.
We erect houses of worship, but
our shrines are our places of business and recreation.
We are suffering from a
distressing cleavage between the truths we affirm and the values we live by. Our
souls are the battlegrounds for civil wars, but we are trying to live serene
lives in houses divided against themselves. -- Melvin F. Wheatley -- Edythe Draper, Draper's Book of
Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,
1992). Entry 6068.
3. This kind of reasoning is a
dividing factor, it presupposes the superior intellect of the one who makes such
a statement ... unless the one who makes it is willing to do something concrete
to bring help.
4. The Pharisees’ fallacy was that
they believed they were too good to have done what their forefathers had done to
the prophets YET ... THEY
WERE DOING THE SAME THING WITH THE PROPHETS GOD HAD JUST SENT
THEM!
a. John the Baptist
(killed)
b. Jesus
(killed)
c. Later with Stephen
(killed)
d. Later with nearly all the
disciples! (11 of them die a
martyr’s death)
5. It is easy to celebrate a dead
past … it is another thing to challenge the
present!
B. Accusing
Forefathers! Matt.
23:30-32
1. Remember the days when you told
your parents, "IF ONLY I WAS THE PARENT I WOULD LET ME DO THIS OR
THAT..."
a. It has become the fashion to accuse
the parents of all the world's ills ... but now it is our generation taking over
and having ills … or being the ills of society!
b. The Pharisees weren't being
consistent, they accused their forefathers of murder, yet went out and dressed
up their graves and then ignored the prophets God had just sent to
them!
2. It is always easier to accuse
others of failure than to see our own!
a. It looked so good to honor those
who were dead and no longer had a voice to give to the messages God had
sent.
b. Yet they refused to receive the
messages from God sent to them through the perfect and greatest prophet, Jesus
the Christ!
3. This was near the conclusion of
Jesus' ministry ... they had the chance to know God's heart by now ... and
refused, yet seem to say, "IF ONLY WE HAD LIVED IN OUR FATHER'S DAY WE WOULD NOT
HAVE SINNED..."
4. We should watch out for those "accusing fingers" that can be raised in
egotistical judgment!
ILLUS: Who will
listen to the message of God's understanding and love when the messengers of
that God are examples of anything but that? -- Greg Asimakoupoulos, Leadership, Vol. 11, no.
4.
5. It is the principle of "removing the
beam from our own eye, before trying to cast out the mote in our
brother’s" that should have been in play
here.
a. It is always safe to be spiritual
over other people’s sins, especially from a distance.
b. Yet, it is hard to recognize the
very same sins in our lives many times.
II. WAVERING RESPONSIBILITIES! Matt. 23:33-36 Luke
11:47-51
A. Applying
Fire! Matt. 23:33
1. They were standing in the place of
receiving judgment; they should not have been dishing it
out!
a. In a sense they were in the "HOT
SEAT."
b. Judgment against them would be
greater than their fathers because they had a greater
revelation!
c. It was this that led to the comment
by Jesus “…
this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have
happened.” Matt.
24:34b
2. Their single pointed finger at
their forefathers left them with 3 fingers pointing back at
themselves!
ILLUS: Hypocrite:
Someone who complains there is too much sex and violence on his
VCR. -- Marriage Partnership, Vol. 12, no. 2.
3. Judgment without responsibility
is a bad marriage!
a. There are those who want to judge,
but not work for better changes!
b. Unless one has born the
responsibility to change something he should be cautious about
judging.
c. The Pharisees waved their
responsibility; they only wanted to judge!
4. Yet when the same situation arose
that their forefathers had experienced they failed the test also ... and they
had a greater prophet, JESUS!
a. And so they will have greater
fire!
b. This is always the case, greater
knowledge – greater guilt!
B. Abomination Fulfilled! Matt. 23:34-36 Luke
11:47-51
1. I wonder how true this same
principle is today ... we talk about how we would serve God "IF
ONLY..."
a. "IF ONLY..."
someone hadn’t hurt me in a previous
church.
b. "IF ONLY..." the
church did the kind of music I like.
c. "IF ONLY..." the preacher was more
this or less that.
d. "IF ONLY..." the church had more
relevant ministries.
e. "IF ONLY..." people were friendlier
in the church and they cared more.
f. "IF ONLY..." the church
didn’t talk about money so much.
g. "IF ONLY..." they wouldn’t expect
so much.
2. THEN CHANGE THINGS … the facts are
that YOU can make a difference if
YOU get
involved!
a. In fact we have greater resources
today than yesterday!
b. The job of witnessing has never
been easier!
3. In Luke's passage Jesus says they
will be held responsible for ALL the prophets’ deaths in the past! WHY?
a. Because they had the opportunity to
see these past prophets’ words come true about the Messiah and they still
weren't listening to those old prophets!
However they were decorating the tombs as though they honored these
dead prophets while still ignoring their prophecies about the Messiah Jesus
who stood in their midst!
b. What hypocrisy! Their actions of honoring those prophets
were disgusting in the fact that they did not obey what they said, in this way
they were “killing” them again, or just as guilty as doing
as much harm to them as did their parents!
c. The Jesus that was spoken of by
these past prophets was being ignored and denied by them, though they went to
great lengths to show honor to their memories by decorating their
tombs!
ILLUS: For thirty
years Jesus did nothing, then for three years He stormed every time He went down
to Jerusalem. Josephus says He tore
through the
Which state of society is going to
stand a ripping and tearing Being like Jesus Christ Who drags to the ground the
highest respected pillars of its civilized society, and shows that their
respectability and religiosity is built on a much more abominable pride than the
harlot's or the publican's? The
latter are disgusting and coarse, but these have the very pride of the devil in
their hearts. -- Oswald Chambers in The Highest Good. Christianity Today, Vol. 33, no.
1.
d. This is like Christians today who
give great homage to the Bible and a worship service but then gripe and complain
all the time and do nothing positive to help bring people to Christ or
discipline new Christians toward a mature faith … just throw a few bucks in the
offering plate and complain about everything else!
4. The greatest prophet of all time, the Messiah Jesus Christ was
crucified by them! And to think that they had the gall to say
that they would not have done what their forefathers had
done!
III. WILLINGNESS & REWARD Matt. 23:37-39
A. Abundant
Freedom Matt.
23:37
1. Jesus says to them, “O
a. There was plenty of opportunity for
them to follow through on their statement “IF
ONLY...”
b. God gives abundant freedom to us to
do what we know to be right, we don't have to say, "IF
ONLY..."
c. God has always given freedom and
power to obey!
2. There is no reward without first
responsibility!
a. One does not go to heaven without
asking Christ into their heart ... this is each person's
responsibility!
b. It is possible to lose God's best
by not being willing! “…but you were
not willing.” 23:37b
c. It
is easier to talk, than to walk!
ILLUS: A while
ago it was announced that a church in [the Anglican bishop of
B. Abrupt
Finish!
Matt. 23:38-39
1. What had always been called, "GOD'S
HOUSE" was now called by Jesus, "Your
House" ... why?
a. Because the day had come for the
Messiah, they had ignored the prophets and so God would turn away from them ...
it would now be too late!
b. God's presence would go from a
c. For those who accepted this Messiah
of God's, God's life would enter their body, now the temple of the Holy
Spirit!
d. Jesus was telling them the end was
in sight!
e. 24:1 has Jesus leaving the temple of
man!
2. Their "IF
ONLYS..." were empty boasts!
ILLUS: Maxwell
Perkins, the famous book editor, once wrote: "One of my deepest convictions is that
the terrible harms that are done in this world are not done by deliberately evil
people, who are not numerous and are soon found out. They are done by the good -- by those
who are so sure that God is with them.
Nothing can stop them, for they are certain that they are
right." -- Quoted by Father Henry Fehren in
a. They were confronted with the
greatest opportunity of all time!
b. The fulfillment to prophecy stood
in front of their eyes!
c. They heard and saw the Word of God
made flesh!
d. And they rejected
Him!
3. What their forefathers would have
hoped to have witnessed, they had ... and THEY
KILLED HIM!
4. An abrupt finish was all they had
to look forward to!
5. DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE JUDGMENT DAY
WHEN YOU STAND BEFORE GOD AND SAY, "IF
ONLY I COULD GO BACK AND ACCEPT YOU
LORD" ... it will be too late at that point!
a. Replace any "IF
ONLY..." with "I WILL LORD…"
b. Don't judge others when you think
they have failed ... try yourself to do what you think they should do first,
then come alongside them and help them!
CONCLUSION:
"IF
ONLY..." is a convenient way to appear to be responsible without
actually being responsible! God is
looking for people who aren't looking for excuses, but are looking for
action! The man or woman who
serves God actively won't need to use the words, "IF ONLY..."
God's call is to "Active
Duty," not reserves!