“Sin in the Mirror”
(Luke 16:14-18)
Series: Certainty in Uncertain Times
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson
- Take your Bibles and open to Luke’s Gospel, chapter 16 (Page 705; YouVersion).
While you are finding that I want to remind you to be in prayer about what God would have you give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering this year. This special offering named after arguably the greatest missionary to China affords us the opportunity to provide monies for Southern Baptist missionaries serving overseas. Last Sunday evening our own Spencer Essenpreis preached a powerful message on missions being simply the outworking of the Gospel. If you missed last Sunday night you should call the church this week and get a recording. Remember that every single penny you give to the Lottie Moon Christmas offering supports international missionaries. Ask in Sunday School today about how to use the RA Post Office to give to missions.
We’re in Luke 16 today. With your Bibles open I’d like to just point out there are two parables in Luke 16. We looked at the first one last week and we’ll look at the second one–Lord willing–next week. Both of them mention a rich man–a rich man who has an dishonest manager–verses 1-13–and then a rich man and Lazarus–verses 19 to the end of the chapter–and then sandwiched between these two parables are five verses that at first may seem disconnected from the two parables–these are verses 14-18–our text for this morning.
- Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
Before we read these verses, let’s remember that Jesus has just told this parable of the unjust steward, or dishonest manager, and Jesus has just said in verse 13, “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon–or God and possessions; God and money.” So Jesus has just said those words and then we read how the Pharisees respond. The Pharisees are the ruling religious leaders in Jesus’ day. How do they respond to what Jesus has been teaching?
14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.
15 And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
16 “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.
17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.
18 “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.
- Pray.
Introduction:
My study of this passage brought to mind a thing that happened one morning a few years ago. I don’t remember exactly where I was. I’m thinking we were traveling somewhere and I had gotten up early one morning and gotten a cup of coffee. That’s what you do when you get up in the morning, get a cup of coffee. First you say, “Thank You, God, for giving me a new day of life,” and then you roll out of bed and get a cup of coffee. So I had gotten a cup of coffee and it was early and it was quiet and I was sipping on my coffee. And as I had brought the cup to my mouth, I noticed peripherally a movement to the side of me and quickly caught a glimpse of someone in the glass–I think it was a window–and I just remember being so startled that I jumped and actually said, “Ugh!” and when I did that I spilled a bit of my coffee onto my hand and set it down quickly. And then I realized that what I had seen reflected in the glass was actually–a reflection of myself. It scared me!
In recent weeks we have seen Jesus tell these parables and, in telling the parables, it’s like He takes a mirror and holds it up before the Pharisees and says, “Do you guys see yourselves here in the story?” And, you know, it’s easy to listen to preaching so long as the application of the message seems to be directed at someone else, at other people, at Pharisees and the like. But the Word of God becomes especially meaningful to us when we see ourselves in it.
James says in James 1:22-25:
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
So when we read and study God’s Word it’s always helpful to pray as we did earlier, “Lord, show us our selves, show us our sin, and show us our Savior.” Help us to look into the mirror of Your Word, help us see ourselves, help us to see our sin and to be startled by what we see–to go, “Ugh!”–and then help us see Christ and go to Him for correction. That’s my prayer as we go back through these verses now: “Lord, help us to see our sin in the mirror of Your Word.” Look at these five verses again beginning in verse 14.
14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.
Make no mistake: the Pharisees–in the main–were hypocrites. Jesus had called them out before on their hypocrisy; back in Luke 11:39, “Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.” So, “You may look okay on the outside, but on the inside you are full of greed and wickedness.”
Luke tells us the same thing about the Pharisees here in verse 14, “Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things–all the teachings of Jesus about the need to prepare for eternity, to not use money for earthly things, but for heavenly things–and they derided Him,” or they “sneered at Him.” Outwardly, they acted like they were really spiritual and were concerned for spiritual things, but inwardly they cared more for earthly things–things such as money.
Luke actually identifies the Pharisees in verse 14 as, “lovers of money.” It’s a remarkable thing to be so religious, but to be known as a “lover of money” rather than a “lover of God.” Don’t you think so? Don’t you think it would be rather hypocritical to act as though we trusted God for everything, but inwardly hold onto our money because we really trust in it? Lovers of God or lovers of money…
Well, of course the Pharisees were lovers of money. They didn’t like what they were hearing from Jesus. They didn’t like this parable of the dishonest manager in the preceding verses and Jesus’ point about our living with an eye to eternity, preparing for the judgment to come. No, they loved the things of earth more than the things of heaven. Verse 15:
15 And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men (NLT, “You like to appear righteous in public”), but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
So again, note the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Jesus says in verse 15, “You are those who justify yourselves before men–You like to appear all righteous in public; got your head in the air, eyes closed, hands folded in front of yourselves–BUT GOD KNOWS YOUR HEARTS.” What does God know, church? God knows our hearts.You can fool others, but you can’t fool God.
A self-righteous, pompous sort of deacon was trying to impress his class of young boys. He stood before them with an air of superiority and asked, “Why do people call me a Christian?” One of the boys said, “Maybe because they don’t know you.”
God knows us. He knows our hearts. And it really doesn’t matter what the world thinks if God is not pleased. God’s value system is different from the world’s value system; last part verse 15. Jesus says, “For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”
Now remember the greater context here is a recurring exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees. We go back to Chapter 15 and the first couple verses and you’ll remember–verse 1–that “all the tax collectors and the sinners (all the outcasts) drew near to Jesus to hear Him,” verse 2– “and the Pharisees complained, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’” They complained about Jesus’ hanging out with these sinners. They believed Jesus was belittling the Law, ignoring the Old Testament laws which called for separation from the ways of unbelievers. But God never intended the exclusion of lost people from the Kingdom. Separation had to do with a call for holy living, not a call to exclude some people from the blessings of God.
God’s plan to save people from their sin encompasses all of the lost, including so-called “tax collectors and sinners,”–outcasts, the spiritually poor, blind, and crippled. The Pharisees had added interpretations to the law God never intended, using the Law as something that benefited themselves and excluded everyone else. So Jesus sets forth to straighten their understand of the Law, verse 16:
16 “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.
Jesus says, “Look, the Law and the prophets–the moral commands of the Old Testament–were proclaimed up to the time of John the Baptist. The Old Testament Law was given to prepare people for My coming. The Old Testament Law was given to prepare people for arrival of the Kingdom.
“Since that time–the time of John the Baptist–the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.” That is, before the coming of John the Baptist, the Old Testament Law was preached. The Law is like a mirror. You stare into it and you see your self, your sin, and your need for a Savior. So the Old Testament Law was proclaimed until John the Baptist. And John prepared people for the arrival of the Kingdom. John the Baptist’s message was, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” The Kingdom has come as God has broken into this fallen world, coming to us in the Person of a Savior, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Again, second part of verse 16, “Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.” The Gospel is here. Good News. Salvation. The Kingdom has come.
People are pressing into the kingdom. You Pharisees! While you sneer at My teachings, people are pressing into the kingdom–all kinds of people, spiritually poor, blind, crippled; the Gentiles!–people are pressing into the kingdom while you just stand there with a scowl on your faces.
The Law served as a pointer, pointing out our sin, pointing out our need for salvation, and pointing us to Jesus Christ. That’s what John did. He was just a finger pointing to Jesus: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).” He was a finger pointing.
But while the Old Testament Law served primarily as that which pointed out our need for a Savior, this doesn’t mean that the Law is now to be cast aside. Verse 17:
17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.
The word “tittle” there is a reference to the smallest stroke of Hebrew lettering. It’s like the small mark that distinguishes an E from an F or like the dot of an I. It’s a really small stroke of the pen. Jesus is saying the Old Testament moral law–such as the 10 Commandments–is still binding today. While the ceremonial law no longer applies, the moral law remains binding today.
And let me just add as a helpful reminder, “When we ask what parts of the Old Testament Law are still binding today?” we simply turn to the New Testament and ask whether we read anywhere that the Old Testament laws have been set aside–there are a few, such as forbidding the eating of certain foods, previously considered unclean according to the Old Testament are now regarded clean according to the New Testament.
But in this exchange with the Pharisees, Jesus is addressing their failure to obey the moral law of the Old Testament. It’s like He’s saying to them, “Look, you guys think I’m the one belittling the law! YOU are the ones playing fast and loose with Scripture. I’ve already addressed your failure to “love the Lord Your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” You love money more than you love God. You break the Old Testament Law. But let me give you another example now. Let’s move from “money” to “marriage.” Are you ready, Pharisees, brace yourselves as I give you example number two. Verse 18:
18 “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.
Now remember that this verse is directed primarily at the Pharisees of Jesus’ day so that they can be confronted with their hypocrisy. The Bible is clear that marriage is to be between one man and one woman for life. God’s ideal is expressed in Genesis 2 where we read of two becoming one so that Jesus will say, “What God has joined together let no man separate (Matthew 19:6).” This is God’s ideal for marriage.
We need to feel the weight of this truth today. The same goes for today. God’s ideal for marriage is that the two who have become one REMAIN one. It is not our purpose this morning to provide a full-blown doctrinal treatment of divorce and remarriage. There are a couple of other passages we would turn to that would provide more information on divorce and remarriage, namely Matthew 19:1-10, and 1 Corinthians 7:10-15. If we study these passages carefully, we will see that there are two possible qualifiers. And we’ll just leave it at that because I really want us to feel the weight of what Jesus is saying here. He is stressing that God’s ideal is for the two who became one to REMAIN one.
But the Pharisees had added to the Old Testament Law their own ideas about divorce and remarriage. So if you look at these Jewish writings that were added to the Law, you will find Jewish rabbis approved divorce for all matter of things–including a woman’s burning her husband’s dinner or if a man found another woman more attractive than his wife, one rabbi permitted divorce so that the man could marry the other woman. So you see the hypocrisy here. These Pharisees were making a big deal about their loving the Law when, in point of fact, they had added to the Law things that justified their sinful behavior.
So Jesus is saying, “You Pharisees act like you are so reverent and holy. You sneer at Me, accusing me of playing fast and loose with the Law, while you yourselves are the kings of breaking the Old Testament Law and re-writing it to suit your sinful desires.
Well, it’s generally always easier to enjoy the finer points of sermon application when we believe those points are sticking the guy next to us. So here’s a question for you: “Are you a Pharisee?” When you look into the mirror of God’s Word, what do you see? Here are three questions to ask. Number one:
1) Am I more “Here-Focused” than “Hereafter-Focused?”
Jesus says in verse 15, “What is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”
Listen to Robert Stein: “This is a proverb that warns us not to conform to the way this world thinks (cf. Romans 12:2). Jesus was not saying that values of the world are not exactly the same as God’s or that at times they are different or that frequently they are different. Rather the value system of this world is “detestable,” i.e., an abomination to God (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:19).”
Now listen to JC Ryle: “These verses teach…how widely different is the estimate set on the things by man from that which is set on things by God.” He adds, “We have only to look around the world and mark the things on which most men set their affections in order to see it proved in a hundred ways. Riches, and honors, and rank, and pleasure, are the chief objects for which the greater part of mankind are living. Yet these are the very things which God declares to be ‘vanity,’ and of the love of which he warns us to beware! Praying, and Bible-reading, and holy living, and repentance, and faith, and grace, and communion with God, are things for which few care at all.”
When you look in the mirror what do you see? Are you more here-focused than here-after focused? Number two, ask:
2) Do I Really Love Jesus more than Anyone or Anything?
Were the Pharisees lovers of God or lovers of money? Verse 14, Luke IDs them as “Lovers of Money.” How about you?
Few things seem to agitate the contemporary church in America more than talking about money. Someone says, “I haven’t been to church in 6 months, I decide to come and what does the preacher talk about? Money, money, money!” Well the answer is, of course, you should have been here the previous 6 months and you would have seen that the reason were talking about money today is because it just happens to be the next paragraph in the Bible.” If it’s in the Bible, we preach it.
Now this leads us quite naturally to the third question. Number three:
3) What is My Honest Attitude to the Commands of Scripture?
The Bible says in verse 14 that the Pharisees “derided” Jesus, or “sneered” at Him. That was their attitude. The Bible teaches that the Pharisees looked for loopholes in the commands of Scripture. They were really good about getting around the moral commands of Scripture. Jesus gave an example of their playing fast and loose with Scripture, adding to the Scriptures permission to divorce their wives for nearly any and every reason.
What about you? What’s your attitude to the commands of Scripture? What’s your attitude to money, to marriage, to submission, to evangelism, missions, tithing. Do you immediately look for loopholes or exceptions?
Church, what do you see when you look into the mirror of God’s Word? Do you feel like a Pharisee? You know, you are who you are when no one is looking. Mark Twain said, “We’re all like the moon, we have a dark side we don’t want anyone to see.” But God knows our hearts.
- Stand for prayer.
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