51:35

Resource: Map of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount

See .pdf of this transcript

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

false teachers, Jesus, scribes, people, temple grounds, called, tassels, money, God, temple, Pharisees, disciples, robes, beware, widows, men, poor widow, women, greater condemnation, deceived

Table of Contents

Introduction.. - 1 -

The Explanation of False Teachers. - 4 -

The Exploitation of False Teachers. - 9 -

Examples of some of today’s false teachers. - 13 -

Summary Application.. - 14 -

 

 

Introduction

This morning, we're continuing in Mark chapter 12. So, we've been working our way... we're going to finish up chapter 12. And you can see the title of the sermon this morning is Beware of False Teachers. Creflo Dollar... a fitting name for a false teacher. He is a prosperity gospel preacher, who tells his deceived listeners how they can become prosperous. And here's his message to them.

 

You can say, Well, God, I need money. The rent is due. The baby needs shoes. And what about my breakthrough? But if you haven't sown financial seed, how can you expect a financial harvest?

 

What is that financial seed that he's talking about there? It's giving to him. It's giving over to him into his ministry so that he can become rich. And then leave you believing that God will bless you because you gave to his ministry. Creflo Dollar isn't the only false teacher of our day. There are many, many more that are out there just like him. Men and women who preach in the name of Jesus, that God is going to bless them if they just give to their ministry.    

 

And these false teachers don't care about who they take money from. Obviously, they love to target the rich, because the rich have a lot of money to give to them. But they also go after the poor. They go after the poor, and they devour them, and they take all that they have. Because these false teachers aren't working for God. They're agents of Satan.

 

But false teachers aren't just a thing of our day. Jesus was also dealing with false teachers in His day. In fact, as we've seen over the past couple of Sundays, Jesus has been dealing with false teachers who have been attacking Him, because He came speaking the truth and working for God. He was a threat to their satanic system that was leading many people to hell. Jesus warns people about false teachers, which is exactly what it does in our passage this morning.

 

So, if you haven't already, I would encourage you to open your Bible, to Mark chapter 12 and follow along as I read our passage here this morning, beginning in verse 38. Mark chapter 12 in verse 38, says this.

 

In His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like respectful greetings in the market places, 39 and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, 40 who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.” The Widow’s Mite     41 And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. 42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. 43 Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:38-44)

 

Now because we've seen these past few Sundays, it's Wednesday. It's still Wednesday. Some of you have come up to me and wow, this is a long day for Jesus. It is a long day for Jesus. It's still Wednesday, on the Passover week. Jesus has already had many encounters with the Sanhedrin with the Pharisees and the Sadducees as they have questioned Him to try and trap Him as someone who is either starting a revolt against Rome, which they were unsuccessful at doing, or they brought an accusation against Him as a false teacher who doesn't know His theology.

 

They're trying to trap Jesus here. Last week we saw Jesus then turn around and challenge the scribes who were the theologians of their day. And He challenged them with their understanding of who the Messiah was. Was He just a man? Or was He God? And the people are sitting there, and they're watching this take place. And they're amazed with Jesus' teaching, and they love to listen to Him teach. They're impressed with Him. So Jesus still has their attention. He's got their attention.

 

(See link to the map of Temple Grounds)

 

Now to set the scene, Jesus's there on the temple grounds. He's in the outer courtyard area, or what is known as the Court of the Gentiles. It was the place that both Jew and Gentile could go. It was essentially the marketplace where people could buy their sacrifices, and they could exchange their money so that they could go to the temple, offer their sacrifices there during the Passover week. Jesus is there on these temple grounds. And He's got a large crowd around Him.

 

And these temple grounds are massive, massive place. And people have traveled from all over Israel to come to Jerusalem for Passover. His 12 disciples are there also. Then you also have religious leaders who are amongst this crowd that are sitting there in front of Jesus. Religious leaders have not only failed in their attempt to trap Jesus, but they've also failed in their understanding of the Scriptures about who the Messiah is. We saw that last week. These religious leaders who are there amongst this crowd, these guys are false teachers, they're charlatans. They're hypocrites. And they think that they are the true religious leaders who are leading people to heaven. But in reality, these men are agents of Satan, who are leading people to hell.

 

And so, Jesus has one final word for the people who were there on the temple grounds, not only for the people who were there, but also for His disciples who were there with Him. They need to understand how bad this system is. They need to understand how bad the scribes have corrupted The Word of God, and how far they have gotten from the true message of the gospel. So, Jesus here gives them a warning.

 

And by the way, these are Jesus last words to these people there on the temple grounds. These are Jesus final words there. This is His final public teaching for all the people who are there in the Court of the Gentiles. We could say that this is Jesus final sermon there on the temple grounds before His crucifixion, this is it. His final sermon. What is Jesus going to teach in His final sermon. Notice Jesus final sermon wasn't, "Jesus loves you." It wasn't "God has a wonderful plan for your life."

 

It's a warning. His final sermon is a warning. Why? Because of the destruction that false teachers and their false teachings bring. It's essentially "Watch out. Beware." That's His message. And it's also a condemnation against these false teachers and their whole system that they have built. He is going to condemn them. And you might think, why would this be Jesus final sermon for this crowd? Shouldn't Jesus give them the gospel and then tell them how much He loves them? I mean, this doesn't seem like a message of love here. But listen, it is. It is a message of love. It's a message of love. And it's a message of mercy.

 

Jesus loves these people. And He loves these people enough to warn them about the false teachers who were leading them to hell. Not only were the false teachers going to hell, but so were those who were following after them. He loves them enough to warn them. So in our passage, we're going to see two things that take place within this final warning that Jesus gives.

 

1. First, we're going to see the Explanation of False Teachers.
2. And then secondly, we will see the Exploitation of False Teachers.

The Explanation of False Teachers and the Exploitation of False Teachers.

The Explanation of False Teachers

And so let’s look at our first point here this morning, the explanation of false teachers. Look at what it says in verse 38. And He, and in His teaching He (that is Jesus) was saying, Now let's stop there. If you look over at Matthew and Luke's account, Luke tells us, "and while the people were listening, He said to His disciples,"(Luke 20:45).   Matthew tells us in his account, "then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples. (Matt 23:1)

 

And so, while you do have this large crowd of people who are there, Jesus is specifically giving this teaching to His disciples. But as He's giving it to the 12 disciples who are there with Him, He is also aiming this at the crowd as well, so that they could hear exactly what He is teaching them. He wants them to hear this warning about the scribes and the Pharisees. And who would be there amongst these people who would also be there in this crowd? The very scribes and Pharisees that He's warning His disciples about. They’re there, They’re amongst these people.

 

In fact, Matthew gives us a more full account of what Jesus said. And at one point, after warning His disciples and the crowd, He turns over to the scribes and Pharisees, and He begins to pronounce woes upon them. Literally face to face with the scribes and Pharisees, and He gives seven woes to them. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees. But at this point here, He's teaching His disciples. And inadvertently, He's teaching the crowd too as they're sitting there listening, because they love listening to Jesus and all the things that He has to say ... He's got their attention.

 

What does He say to them? Notice what He says in verse 38. Beware of the scribes. Beware of the scribes, the religious teachers, the interpreters of the law, the ones who were teaching the theology of the day. Beware of those guys.

 

What's interesting here is that word beware in the Greek is an active imperative, which means it's a command. But it's active, which means always continually be watching out for these guys. It must be something that is continuous in the life of believers, always be watching out because there are false teachers that are out there. And they're coming after you. That word beware there means to see or, or to perceive or to watch out for, or to be aware of, and it has the idea of being able to discern with your eyes, the idea of discernment, you must be able to practice discernment, as you are continually watching out for these false teachers. Jesus is saying here, watch and see who these guys are and how they act. And then practice discernment, so that you don't become entrapped or deceived by them. Jesus doesn't just stop there with a warning. But Jesus actually goes on and He helps them in practicing discernment. And He begins to give an explanation of not only who these guys were, but also what these guys did these false teachers. So, who were these men?

 

1. Well, first, He says they like to walk around in long robes. Jesus talks about their clothing, talks about their clothing here. They like to walk around in long robes. In those days, men wore long robes. That was their dress. They didn't have jeans, they didn't have skinny jeans, Praise the Lord. But they had long robes. That was their dress. That's what men wore/. And back in Numbers 15 God commanded the Israelites that blue tassels be put on the ends of their robes in order to remind them of the law of God. Listen in Numbers 15:37 says this,

 

 37 The LORD also spoke to Moses, saying, 38 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. 39 It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, 40 so that you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy to your God. (Numbers 15:37)

 

So this is what God commands the Israelites in Numbers 15:37 to do... to put these blue tassels on the ends of your robe. As a reminder, it's a reminder of the law of God that you are to obey the law of God. But the scribes and the Pharisees began to develop their own system with their robes. And what they did is they put the blue tassels on the ends of their robes, but they put long ones on there. They put long ones.

 

In fact, Matthew tells us and Matthew 23:5, Jesus says, "But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments."

 

What’s Jesus talking about there? These blue cords, these blue tassels that they put on the ends of their robes, they lengthen them so that everybody can see them. And they would walk around the temple grounds with their fancy robes and their long tassels, so that people would notice them as the holy men. As the devout men. There’s the religious ones, look at them and their long tassels.

 

You see this in many false religions today as well. priests in the Roman Catholic Church who were their clerical vestments, their long robes, their miter hats, those big, tall hats, those gaudy looking clothing, all of that stuff so that people will notice them, and see that they are the religious ones, that they're the devout ones. They're the holy men of God, and no one can touch them.

 

The same is true with the scribes. How these guys dressed, they wanted the attention. They wanted the accolades from the people as they walked around there on the temple grounds so that everyone would notice them. They're the devout religious men. So, Jesus says you'll identify them by their clothing.

 

2. Second, He talks about their credentials. Look what He says there, He goes on and He says, that they like "respectful greetings in the marketplaces." Not only did they want to be noticed by the dress and what they were wearing, but then they wanted people to show them respect by greeting them with some kind of title. And what was the title that they loved? They loved to be called Rabbi. They love to be called Rabbi. Rabbi was in an honored and respected title, and it would show that you had some kind of knowledge... a great knowledge of the Torah -- of The Word of God. They love to be called Rabbi.

 

One commentator says, The Jerusalem Talmud says that a person must greet one who is greater than he in knowledge of the Torah. So that if this religious man with these long tassels came walking into your presence, you were the one who was supposed to greet them as Rabbi. They didn't greet you first.  No, you greeted them first. The lesser person had to initiate the greeting and greet the one who had the greater knowledge of the Torah and they would wait for that person who doesn't have as long of tassels to greet them. They're the religious ones. And everyone would know who they were because of how they dressed.

 

Many in our day like to be called doctor...Dr. so and so or the priests in the Catholic Church Father... Father so and so.  Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 23:8

 

8 But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. 11 But the greatest among you shall be your servant. (Matt 23:8-11)

 

We have many people in our churches today who love to be called Pastor, or Reverend or Bishop. And they love the title. They love the credentials that they've earned. Because they want everybody to know who they are. They want everybody to know what they've accomplished in life, that they've reached the top.

 

But Jesus says here, don't worry about titles. Don't worry about titles. Just be a servant. That's what you're called to be a servant of the people. These guys love the title Rabbi. Did they want to be known as servant? Do you want to be known as servant? Servant John or servant Tom. People don't want that title. Why? Because people love the prestigious titles. They love the honor. That was these guys, that was the scribes.

 

These guys are false teachers. They're the false teachers of the day. And they wanted the respectful greetings as they walked around in the marketplace. Everyone saw them, they knew who they were, and they wanted them to call them Rabbi. Jesus goes on and tells us more about these men.

 

3. Third, He tells us about their character. About their character

 

Jesus says, they like the chief seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets. (Matt 23:6-7)

 

These are prideful men. These are men who were filled with pride. The chief seats there that that Jesus is talking about are the most important seats. And in those days, it would be a bench that faced the congregation in the synagogue. And the bench would be placed in front of the ark, or the chest that contained the sacred scrolls, they would have the scrolls that would sit in there and inside of this chest and there would be a bench then that would sit in front of there. And it was only the scribes, the Pharisees, those guys would be the ones who could come and sit on this bench. And as they sat there, then they faced the congregation so that everybody could see them.

 

We still have that in churches today -- platforms with seats on them. Or the pastors and the elders of the church go up and they sit, and they face the congregation to let them know who they are. We're the religious men around here. We're the ones in authority around here. They want everyone to see who they are. And that was these scribes. They wanted the attention the scribes also like the places of honor at banquets. I don't have time to go into how the seats would be arranged at these banquets that they would go to but it would essentially be equivalent to our modern day head of the table position. That they would have places for honored guests to go and sit. You come and sit here, or you think about at our even modern day banquets, where you have people that are sitting up on the stage at the tables looking out over the rest of the people so that as they sit down below, the ones who are getting all the awards and all the attention. They're all up here and the scribes loved those seats. They walked into a banquet, they wouldn't go and sit with the common people. No, they wanted the seats up in front so that everybody could see who they were. They love those seats. They love the honor, and they loved the attention to these false teachers where Jesus goes on and He tells us what they did.

 

4. Fourth, He talks about their care for others or lack thereof. And He says that they devour widows' houses, and for appearances sake, offer long prayers. (Matt 23:14)

 

Notice who these false teachers preyed upon… the hurting... the vulnerable...the defenseless widows. That's who they went after. Remember what James tells us in James 1:27, "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this:" Are you ready? You want to be a religious person. Here it is... "to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world."

 

There it is. God tells us that we are to take care of the orphans and the widows. And we see this all throughout the Old Testament about God's care and His love for the orphans and the widows. The most defenseless of society, the ones who needed to be cared for the most, care for them, love them. That was God's heart for them.

 

We are to care for the vulnerable, and the defenseless, and make sure that they are taken care of and protected. That's our job as believers, but that's not what these false teachers do. That's not what the scribes and these Pharisees did.

 

In fact, one commentator gives us some insight about what these guys did. He says this,

"People often left their whole fortunes to the temple. And a good part of the money went finally to the scribes and the Pharisees. The scribes were employed to make out wills and transfer of property. They enticed widows to give their homes to the temple, and then took the proceeds of the sale for themselves." 

These men are evil. They're agents of Satan. False teachers, and while they thought that they were religious, the religious elite of the day, they were not practicing true religion. They didn't care for the orphans and the widows. Instead they devoured the widows.

 

Notice Jesus also says that "they offer long prayers." They offer long prayers. Now this, this may mean that they stood outside and offered long, repetitive prayers so that everyone could see them. Just as Jesus spoke about in Matthew 6:5, where He says, "When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites," in which Jesus called the scribes and the Pharisees, what? Hypocrites. They were the hypocrites of the day. But He says, "You're not to be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full."

 

So, Jesus might be referring here to the scribes who would stand out in the street corners and in the synagogues, and offer these long prayers, long, repetitive prayers so that everybody could see them. But most likely, what Jesus is referring to here is these long prayers that the scribes would offer, as they would go to widow's homes, to convince them to will all of their property over to the temple. You see, what the scribes would do is they would show up to a widows home. And in order to convince them, they would begin to pray over them, and over their house, and they would offer up all of these long prayers for these widows. And then afterwards, after they've done this, these long, repetitive prayers for these, these women, these women would think, Wow, he must really care for me. That's right, I really, really do care for you. By the way, just sign right here, and everything will be ours. And they convinced these women through their long prayers to offer everything over to the temple. And then the scribes and the Pharisees would take the proceeds from these poor women. And they would divide it up amongst themselves, they would become rich off of these poor widows, and that's most likely what Jesus is referring to here.

 

What's His final conclusion of these evil false teachers? Notice what He says "these will receive greater condemnation."  at the end of verse 40. These will receive greater condemnation. We can say this, hell will be hotter for these false teachers. Are there degrees of punishment in hell? Yes, there are. Yes, there are. Jesus shows it right here. There are degrees of punishment in hell, Jesus says their condemnation will be greater.

 

A greater condemnation upon these false teachers. Why? Because they have the light revealed to them. They knew the Scriptures, they had the Scriptures in their mind, they were able to repeat the Scriptures, they should have known exactly what it was that God was saying. They had the light revealed to them, they had the knowledge of the Scriptures, and yet they used it for their own personal gain. And they lead other people to hell with themselves. Jesus calls them in Matthew 15:14, they are the blind leading the blind. They thought that they were able to see but Jesus says, No, you are blind. You're blind to the truth of God's Word. And you are the blind who are leading the blind. They wanted to be the ones who had sight that were leading the blind, don't worry, we'll take you to where you need to go. And Jesus says, No, no, no, you don't have sight. You're blind yourself. And you're leading the blind with you.

 

They were responsible for the teaching that they had. They were responsible to teach the truth. But instead, they created their own false system, and they deceived others into believing it as well. Jesus says, their condemnation will be greater.

 

This is why James warns us in James 3:1 "let not many of you become” what? “teachers, my brethren. Knowing that as such, we will incur a stricter judgment." There will be a stricter judgment on those who preach and teach The Word of God. These false teachers here are warned, they're warned by Jesus Himself, that they will have a stricter judgment and their condemnation will be greater.

 

These scribes here, these men are false teachers who are not working for God. Instead, they're working for Satan. How do we know? Well, Mark actually gives us an example of this.

 

The Exploitation of False Teachers

 

Which leads to our second point, point number two, the exploitation of false teachers. Look at verse 41. "And He (Jesus) sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury. And many rich people were putting in large sums." (Mark 12:41)

Now the scene changes for us here. As Jesus goes over to where the Treasury is there in the temple, the scene changes. But I want you to notice, you might have a heading and your Bible that says the widow's mite, that's often what this little passage is called here, maybe a new paragraph there.

 

In the Greek, they didn't have verses in paragraphs like this, it would just be continually going along. And so, you would be reading from verse 40, they will receive greater condemnation. And he sat down opposite the treasury and began observing how the people were putting in money. So, there's the context for us to help us to understand what's going on. But the scene does change here a little -- Jesus is still there on the temple grounds. But he's over now looking at the treasury in the temple.

 

See picture of the temple

 

And this would be the inner courts of the temple, which would be called the Courts of the Women, the Courts of the Women. This here was the next inner part of the temple. You had the outer walls, and then you had the Court of the Gentiles. And then you had another wall then inside of that. And that next little section then that people could go into, within that wall, was called the Court of the Gentiles. And it would continue to go in until you have the Holy of Holies right in the middle. This here was called the Court of the Women because Jewish men and women could go there. But that was as far as the women could go.

 

The gentiles couldn't go into this portion of the temple. In fact, there was a sign right on the outside of these gates that said, basically, any gentiles who come in and are found in here, their life is in their own hands. Basically, you're going to die. It's a life sentence, you don't come in this part of the temple. This is for Jewish men and women only. And this is as far as the women could go into the temple grounds.

 

And in this part of the temple, the Court of the Women, there were 13, what we could call treasure chests. They were called the trumpets because they look like trumpets or shofars. And the people would come, and they would take their money, and they would put it into one of these 13 trumpets, one of these 13 treasure chests that were there. And each one of these trumpets was labeled with what the money was given for. It would tell them what kind of sacrifice this was for... what they were offering. 9 of them were mandatory offerings, and 4 of them were voluntary offerings. So they would walk into this portion, this part of the temple, and they could go in and they could find there were 13 jars, treasure chest trumpets, and they could go in and drop their money then into these treasure chests.

 

And Jesus takes the disciples over to this part of the temple. And they observe how many people were putting their money into these trumpets -- into these treasure chests. And there were many rich people...notice there are many rich people putting large sums of money in there. What's interesting here is the Greek word for "putting" there is the Greek word "eballon" bolo. Which means throwing, they were throwing their money. And what Mark is doing here is he's painting a picture of the noise that these wealthy people would be doing, that they would be making as they're putting all of their money into these trumpets, clink clink, clink, clink, clink. Do you hear that? A lot in there. Do you hear how much I put in? That's the picture that he's painting there.

 

These rich people were coming, and they're putting all of this money in-- but look at what it says in verse 42. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. What did it sound like for her? Clink clink, that's it ... that's all she had. She put in here 1/64 of a denarius, a denarius was one day's wage... a 64th of a day's wage, that's all that she had left, and this woman came and put it in there.

 

One commentator says it's about 12 minutes worth of a daily wage, basically, next to nothing in value. But that's all she has. And she comes and drops it into the trumpet into the treasure chest. Look at verse 43.

 

 43 Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:43-44)

 

Now, you might think that I'm going to stop here and preach a sermon on giving. But I'm not going to do that. Many of you have probably heard sermons on this very text right here, all about giving. "God loves a sacrificial giver. Look at this poor widow. This woman was a sacrificial giver, and we should learn something from this woman..." But that's not what's going on here. That's not the lesson that we learn from this. That's not what Jesus is teaching. Why would Jesus all of a sudden give them a lesson about giving? What's He been telling them about? Judgment.

 

Beware of those men... judgment is coming upon them. Their condemnation is great. And what do they do? They devour widows. They devour widows. Jesus is giving them an illustration of this. He's not giving them a lesson about giving. Jesus doesn't even commend this woman for giving all that she had to live on. Now did she give everything? She did. She gave all that she had, but now this woman is broke. And she can't buy a meal. She's got to go back now and become a beggar and begin to beg for money so that she could find something to eat.

 

Is Jesus teaching us about giving here? Does He tell us that we are to give everything over to Him and live off of nothing? No. Jesus never tells us that. What does God tell us? Listen to 2 Corinthians 9:7

 

Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

 

But nothing in our passage here tells us that this widow was a cheerful giver, or that she gave out of a heart and a devotion to God. Or that she was a righteous woman even. It doesn't tell us that. It doesn't tell us that she had a right relationship with God. This is just a poor widow who was giving everything that she had over to the temple. Jesus didn't tell us that she did it because of her faith in God. Or that she gave all and now she just has to trust in God. Jesus doesn't tell the disciples go and do likewise. Learn from this poor woman... go and do just as she has done, in fact, they would have had money on themselves, they had a money bag. Jesus doesn't say go take the money bag and dump it all in. Because that's not what Jesus is talking about here.

 

In fact, Jesus never even commends this woman for her giving. Did she give more than the other guys? Of course, she did. She gave 100%. They gave 20% or whatever it was of all of their riches that they had; they just gave a portion of it. She gave 100%. She gave everything. Jesus here isn't giving a lesson to these disciples about sacrificial giving. It's not what he's doing.

 

What is He doing? He's showing them the results of the teaching of those false teachers. They exploit the rich, and even the poor who have nothing. This is what happens when people are deceived by false religion and false religious teachers. It's the outcome of what these scribes have created by their false system. This is what they have done. You want to see it on display guys? Come on over here and let me show you how wicked and evil these men are. You see that poor widow there? What would you guys do? Let me show you what the scribes do to her.

 

Remember, Jesus said about the scribes, back up in verse 40. "They devour widows' houses," and Jesus gives them now an illustration of this. Here's a picture. Those scribes should have taken the money out of those treasure boxes and given money over to this poor woman so that she could eat and so that she could feed her family. That's what should have happened. They would have been practicing true religion if those scribes and Pharisees would have done that. But instead, what did they do? They devoured that woman. And they didn't even care.

 

Examples of some of today’s false teachers

And that's what all false teachers do. It's what they do. They devour the poor, and they do it all for their own self-gratification and their own self-interest to make themselves money. This is the Benny Hinns and the Joel Osteens and the Creflo Dollars and the Joyce Meyers and all of those other false teachers that are out there. Listen, church, I'm here to warn you do not listen to them. Don't listen to them. They don't do their ministry to please God. They are agents of Satan. They're agents of Satan. And their condemnation will be great. Stay away from false teachers.

 

Don't give to someone on TV who is asking you to send in money. Don't give to them. They're after your pocketbook, and they want to make themselves rich. That's what they're after. false teachers are lovers of money, not lovers of people. And they will do all that they can to take from you. And when you give to them once, they're going to come back for more. That's what false teachers do. And they'll run you dry. And the worst thing about it is they do it all in the name of Jesus.

 

But what does Jesus say here? Their condemnation will be great.

 

Summary Application

So, what do we learn from Jesus here? in this passage, two things in closing here.

 

1. First, we must stay grounded in the truth. We must stay grounded in the truth. Follow only after those who teach and preach the truth. Only those who preach the pure and unadulterated Word of God. That's why it's so important to be a part of a church who preaches the truth. And you need brothers and sisters around you, who are being molded and shaped by the truth and who will speak truth into your life. That's what you need. You need that. You need to be grounded in the truth. And don't be led astray by these false teachers who are lying to you. Stay grounded.

 

2. Second, we must be discerning. We must be discerning. But listen, in order to be discerning, you must know what? The truth. You must know the truth, you must know your Bible. What did they say if it looks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck? It's a what? It's a duck. Jesus points out for us exactly what false teachers are like, this is who they are. This is what they look like. And this is what they do. And if you see them like that, guess what they are? False teachers. We must be discerning to know when to point out to others, and to who we love who the false teachers are. Don't follow after false teachers. Many of today who are (false teachers) they wear the long robes and the tassels and the $1,000 suits. And now it's gone to skinny jeans and expensive shoes. There's a website out there called preachers and sneakers. And it's all about how expensive these preachers shoes are. What do they do? They steal from the people... they take from the people for their own self-gratification.

 

We must be discerning...Church stay away from them. I love you, you know that. I love you. And I love you so much to warn you to stay away from false teachers, because they will lead you astray. And I don't want to see anyone here being led astray. And if you do become led astray or become deceived, guess what us as elders are going to do. We're going to come after you. Why? Because we love you. We want you to know and be grounded in the truth. Be on guard, be aware, and stay grounded in God's Word.

 

Let's pray. Father, thank You. Thank You for this warning that You've given to us. Thank You that You love us so much that You would warn us of these false teachers who do their work as agents of Satan, who do it all for their own self-gratification, who devour the poor widows, who don't care for people, but only care about themselves. Father I pray that You would guard and protect everyone here, against these false teachers and their false teaching. Lord, I pray that no one here this morning whatever be led astray,  but that You would help us to be guarded, that You would help us to be grounded, that You would help us to practice discernment, that we would know the truth, that we would desire the truth, that we would be able to spot untruth, and that we would lovingly call those who are deceived to come to the truth. Father, we thank You for Christ. We thank You for His sacrifice on the cross for our sins. We thank You that He died and was buried and rose again on the third day to offer us eternal life, to grant us, to secure for us, eternal life. And Father, I pray that if there's anyone here this morning that does not know You, Father, I pray that You would draw them to yourself, that they would repent of their sin and put their faith in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of their sins and eternal life with You. Father, may You do Your work in the hearts of Your people here today. For Your glory alone, we pray in Christ's name. Amen.