Weightier Matters of the Law

• Weightier Matters of the Law
• Matthew 23:23
• Weightier matters ...
• Matt 23:23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.

• Hypocrisy of the Pharisees.. Seven woes
• Justice, Mercy, and Faith...
• God requires justice …
– Deuteronomy 16:18-19 "You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates, which the Lord your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment. 19 You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

• To Kill a Mockingbird..
• Justice, Mercy, and Faith...
• Psalms 89:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.
• Isaiah 5:7 He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.
• Isaiah 5:20-23 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness..23 Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away justice from the righteous man!

• Mercy (compassion, kindness)..
• Proverbs 14:31 He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, But he who honors Him has mercy on the needy.
• Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.
• Romans 12:6-8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

• Faith (trust,confidence in God)
• Hebrews 11:5-6 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
• Why are these weightier?..
• These principles are the foundation of the whole law of God …
• Why are these weightier?..
• Isaiah 1:10-18 "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?" Says the Lord. "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, Or of lambs or goats. 12 "When you come to appear before Me, Who has required this from your hand, To trample My courts?
• 13 Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies — I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. 14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them.
• Why are these weightier?..
• Isaiah 1:16-18 "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, 17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow. 18 "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the Lord, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.
• Why are these weightier?..
• Amos 5:21-25 "I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred assemblies. 22 Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings. 23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs, For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments. 24 But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream.
• David’s penitent psalm ..
• Psalms 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart — These, O God, You will not despise.

• What God requires..
• Micah 6:6-8 With what shall I come before the Lord, And bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, With calves a year old? 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, Ten thousand rivers of oil?
• 8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly,To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
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• Where they had failed..
• Matthew 23:16-19 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.' 17 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? 18 And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.' 19 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

• Meticulous outward, superficial inwardly
• Matthew 23:25-26 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
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• The weightier matters today..
• God has not changed ..
– Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all.
– Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
• What God requires ..
• John 14:23-24 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.
• What God requires ..
• Matthew 12:33-35 "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit...For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
• What God requires ..
• James 1:26-27 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
• Weightier Matters of the Law
• Matthew 23:23