The sermon emphasizes the importance of being genuine and warns against hypocrisy, using the example of the scribes and Pharisees from the Gospels. The speaker stresses the need for personal authenticity, especially in one's faith and relationships, urging believers to be the same person both in private and public life. Hypocrisy, seen as an outward show without inward truth, is condemned by God, and sincere faith is encouraged. The sermon contrasts the scribes' desire for public praise and their exploitation of the vulnerable, like widows, with the genuine faith of a poor widow who gave all she had. The speaker calls for repentance from hypocrisy, highlighting that true faith is seen by God, who will judge the hypocritical but reward the sincere. The sermon draws parallels between the scribes' actions and the temple's impending destruction, urging a choice between seeking the approval of men or God, and concluding with the message of redemption and authenticity through Jesus Christ.

I don't want to be a phony father. I don't want to be a phony husband. I don't want to be a phony father. I don't want to be a phony husband. I don't want to be a fake pastor, or a phony shepherd.

I want, with all my heart, to be real. I want with all my heart for my daughters and my wife to go to bed at night and they might wonder about a whole bunch of things. They might think that daddy is pretty silly. They might wonder that father is a little strange. My wife Carissa might even think that her husband's taste and appetite for Chipotle is a little bit overblown.

But never, oh I have prayed never will they ever think daddy doesn't love Jesus with all of his heart, soul, mind and strength. Never I pray will Carissa think he's a phony, he's a hypocrite. Father, Lord, may it never be. Rather, my prayer is that they would say he's real. The guy up there on Sunday morning is the same guy on the carpet playing tickle meister on Monday night.

And I so badly want that for you fathers and mothers, for you husbands and wives, brothers and sisters in the home, on the job, in the workplace, over the stove, in public and in private, with your spouse, apart from your spouse, with your children away from your children real real that Sunday Wouldn't be the day that the cardboard cut out of daddy and mommy gets placed in the seat and Then Monday through Saturday the real you comes out no No cardboard cut out Christians, but real Christians. Born again, regenerated, filled with the spirit, children of God. No phonies, No hypocrisy, no fakeness, but by the grace of God, for the glory of God, real. May God work that in each of us, beloved. Honesty, sincerity, genuineness, faithfulness, all of the opposites of hypocrisy.

Hypocrisy is talking one way and looking one way on the outside, but being somebody completely different on the inside. Hypocrisy is looking nice and looking pretty on the outside, but within being a tomb of death, a whitewashed tomb. And you know what God thinks of that? God hates it. God hates it.

Jesus, God in the flesh, says in our passage this morning, beware of the scribes. Why? Because of their hypocrisy. That's right. Beware of hypocrisy.

God hates hypocrisy. Matthew's Gospel has this same event that we just read. Matthew records it in his Gospel in Matthew chapter 23. And in Matthew 23, Jesus pronounces woe. Jesus pronounces deep and very great judgment, woe upon hypocrites.

In particular, the hypocrisy of the scribes and the Pharisees. Eight times Jesus, in just one chapter of Matthew's gospel, Matthew chapter 23, eight times Jesus pronounces woe and doom and damnation upon those who outwardly appear righteous before men, but inwardly are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. They will be condemned to the greatest degree. Woe to those who clean the outside of the cup, but within are full of poison. Woe to those who polish the outside of the home, but inside there is only decay.

Beware of hypocrisy. God hates hypocrisy, and God will not let hypocrisy Go unchecked. Hell will be to pay for those who do not repent of their hypocrisy. This morning I want to urge you at the beginning of the sermon and I will urge you again at the end. Friend, this morning, this day, while you have today, repent of your hypocrisy.

Run to Christ with your cardboard cut out of a heart full of sin and ask Him to nail it to the cross, and He will. And cry out that He would make you new, to make you real, and He will. Eight times, Jesus pronounces woe upon the hypocrites among the scribes and the Pharisees in Matthew 23. And Mark, in our passage this morning In chapter 12, sums those eight woes in Matthew 23, he sums those up with three summary verses beginning in verse 38. Here's the summary according to Mark in verse 38.

Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, And like respectful greetings in the market places, And chief seats in the synagogues, And places of honor at banquets, who devour widows' houses and for appearances sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation. We are told to beware the phony scribes. Again, Matthew's Gospel tells us that hypocrisy is the issue here. There's nothing inherently wrong with walking around in a long robe.

There's nothing wrong with sitting in a nice seat. There's nothing wrong with long prayers in and of themselves. But there is everything wrong with those things being fake. With those things being abused. Everything is wrong when you put on the robes and sit in the nice places in the synagogues and get the nice greetings when you're a phony hypocrite.

Everything's wrong about that. God sees right through you and there will be hell and condemnation to pay unless you repent. And so in our passage this morning, Jesus is very clearly teaching about hypocrisy. I hear you. And by the way, Jesus is still teaching in the temple.

I want you to continue to notice that. This has all been around in and about the temple from chapter 11 of Mark's Gospel. Jesus is teaching in the temple to beware of the scribes because of their hypocrisy. Now, we need to keep in mind that just prior to this passage there was a scribe who came to Jesus with a question, right? And that scribe came to Jesus with an honest question it seems.

And what did Jesus say about that scribe? Do you remember? Just a few weeks ago, Jesus said to this scribe, you are not far from the kingdom. So our passage today is not a pronouncement that every single scribe and every single Pharisee is a hypocrite. You hear me saying that?

Our passage is in teaching that every single soul that's a scribe or a Pharisee is a hypocrite. The scribe in Mark 12, 28 through 34, wasn't a hypocrite as far as we can tell. The Pharisee Nicodemus wasn't a hypocrite. We see that at the end of John. This isn't a pronouncement of judgment upon each and every scribe and Pharisee individually.

But this is very much a summary, A summary warning and condemnation. Beware the phonies of Israel. Beware the corruption of Israel's religious establishment. Beware the temple leaders of Jerusalem who by and large are hypocrites. They're fake.

They look good on the outside but are phony within. So what does this corruption, what does this hypocrisy look like? How do we see the scribes and the Pharisees' phoniness coming out? Well, we're told in our passage that the scribes, and again, Matthew's gospel tells us the Pharisees too, that these religious leaders like to walk around in long robes. These long robes were probably similar to what priests would wear in the temple, signifying deep religious devotion, and they desired that that devotion would be seen by others.

Why? So that the scribes, our text said, would receive respectful greetings in the marketplaces. And according to Matthew 23 those greetings involved getting the big titles like rabbi and father, teacher, praise from men. And That praise and recognition from men would then result in what? In chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets.

Those high titles would result in a high social position for these men. And in doing so, what are these men guilty of? Our text tells us these men robbed widows. They devour widows' houses. Mark doesn't tell you how they do that Yet, but that's what we're going to end up looking at in just a second, but that's what they are doing.

They are robbing widows for all their external show of piety. They pray on widows and for appearances sake they offer long prayers. Are you seeing the corruption and the hypocrisy yet? Again there is nothing wrong with wearing the robes. In fact the robe was mandated for many in the temple.

There's nothing wrong with being called by certain titles. Rabbi or father or teacher or pastor. You know, Jesus was called some of those things. There was nothing wrong with sitting in certain places of honor at church or in the homes of people. Jesus says that He Himself will give places of honor to those in His Kingdom.

And though Jesus did very much teach us not to heap up empty prayers, There is nothing necessarily wrong with long prayers in and of themselves if they are not vain repetition Jesus himself prayed for quite some time in the garden. Did he not? So minus the clear evil of devouring widow's houses, which is wrong all the time. Minus that, there is nothing necessarily wrong with any of these other things that Jesus lists here. I want you to hear that very clearly.

There's nothing wrong with them unless the long robes and the good seats and the nice titles and the long prayers are only for appearances sake and the praise of men. There's nothing necessarily wrong with any of these things unless these things don't come from a heart of sincerity to God, but rather from a heart that wants to impress men. There is something wrong with all of these things when underneath them is only hypocrisy. It's all wrong if It stems from an evil heart. What does Jesus say?

From within? Proceed the things that defile the man. Those things here aren't wrong. Unless it's all fake. So that in public, you get praise from men for looking pretty good.

But in private, you destroy the vulnerable, like widows. And you get condemnation from God for the evil within. That's the contrast here. And I want you to really clearly see it. It's obvious.

These men receive high social status, privileged seats, and titles they get praise from men and yet what do they get from God great condemnation beloved I need you to hear this there are times when praise from men and praise from God will happily go hand in hand. And yet there are more times that praise from men and praise from God Don't go in the same direction. And in those moments, you must choose which direction will you take. Whose smile will you choose? Whose approval will you choose when you may only have one or the other?

Men Can condemn for a little while? God will condemn for an eternity The praise of men the commendation of man, oh it will it will feel good and it will last for a vapor. It will last for a moment, and then fall away like smoke. But the praise and commendation of God lasts forever and it echoes into eternity. This day, today, you need to choose, you must choose whose smile will you be resolved to have.

It's going to come tomorrow. You step up in that workplace. It's coming. Whose smile will you choose? Well, which smile have the majority of the scribes chosen?

They've chosen the smile of men. And therefore, God lists them as phony. For instead of honoring Him, God, they are honoring themselves at the expense of those for whom God has said to honor, like widows. This is corruption, this is hypocrisy. And to be a teacher of the Scriptures, and to get all of the benefits of that, and yet believe and obey none of it, great is their condemnation.

To build your social status on the backs and at the expense of those for whom you should be serving Beware such people God says beware of those who devour widows houses and what is that? What's Jesus got in mind when he says they're devouring Widows houses Are they literally taking the house up and eating them? Children, is that what they say? They have huge bellies. It's not what they're saying.

It's kind of a fun picture. I want to answer that question. What's Jesus saying when he says, devouring widows' houses? And in anticipation of you asking that very question, Mark anticipates that you don't know what he's saying. In anticipation of you asking that question, Jesus brings on the scene what?

A widow. It's not an accident. What does it mean for them to be devouring widows' houses? And Jesus says, let me show you a widow. We see a poor widow next.

The poor widow in verses 41 through 44. And Jesus, 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 a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins which amount to a cent 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, 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." Beloved it is no coincidence that Jesus condemns the actions of the scribes for their hypocrisy and corruption in devouring widows' houses and that immediately turns to watch a widow give all that she has. It's not a coincidence. Widow, widow.

If you want to know what Jesus had in mind when he said that the scribes and the Pharisees are robbing widows, They're eating up their houses, verses 41 through 44. Jesus is sitting down opposite the treasury in the temple. Now most likely, this treasury was in the court of the women, where both men and women could be, and they could come and they could put their money into what was probably a series of trumpet-shaped receptacles. Thirteen receptacles shaped like trumpets, and they would place their money to go into the temple treasury. What does Jesus see?

Well, He sees, it says in our passage, He sees many rich people putting in these receptacles large sums of money. He sees these large sums from the rich. And I just have to say, that's a good thing. It's good for the rich to give. Beloved, if God has so blessed you financially with prosperity, I exhort you, seek to use it to further his kingdom by giving to the church and meeting others' needs.

It's a glorious thing to do. This is no condemnation of being rich. Jesus sees the rich put in large sum. And without a doubt, others would have seen the same. Some would have marveled, I'm sure you can imagine, some would have marveled at some of the great sums of money that were given.

A whole sack of coins is falling into these receptacles mark wants you to see it many some were putting in large sums and many would have noticed that whoa look at how much he gave look at how much she gave Look at that bag that was just emptied into the receptacle. But, what does Jesus notice even more? Look in verse 42. He sees a poor widow who comes and puts in two small copper coins which amount to a cent. The Greek word there is to lepta.

To lepta. Which would have been the price for about a handful of flour. One handful of flour. Her offering amounted to a palm full amount of common flour. You're supposed to see the contrast in the amount of giving that Jesus is observing.

All these large sums and then two lepta. Sums that could buy entire households and some that can buy a palm full of flour. Supposed to see the contrast. You seen it? You're supposed to see the contrast in the amount of giving and then You're supposed to see the contrast in the amount of giving and then you're supposed to see the contrast in how God views the giving and how God views this woman in contrast to the way he views the scribes.

What did Jesus say of the scribes? Stay with me here. They do all that they do. The scribes do all that they do to be seen by men for the sake of appearance, for the praise of men. And they will only receive condemnation from God.

Praise from men but condemnation from God. But this widow, verse 43, truly I say to you, the God man says this, truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury. 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. Nobody, nobody who has seen this poor widow woman giving her sent to the temple treasury, Nobody in the temple is heaping any title upon her, are they? Except for perhaps beggaring.

Nobody is inviting her into the best seats or the best banquets. Nobody is praising her. Well, nobody but God. Her praise is not from men, It's from God. You see the contrast?

The scribes, the temple leaders, they get praise from men, adoration from men, a name among men, honor from men, and yet from God they get woe. They get promised judgment unless they repent of their hypocrisy. Commendation from men and yet greater condemnation from God. And yet this woman, This beautiful woman, this widow, she receives no praise from men in the temple, except the praise from the God man. And two thousand years later, we're still talking about her.

Here is a woman who is the opposite of a hypocrite. She has done nothing for appearances sake. She is poor And Jesus has just told us that she gave up all that she owned for God. For God's worship in the temple. And for two millennia, great has been her reward.

You need to see the contrast between the scribe and this poor widow. The scribes and this poor widow, it's so clear. God sees what man cannot see. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at what? The heart.

This widow really is the foil to the rich young ruler from Mark chapter 10. What did Jesus say to that young man who wanted to receive eternal life? Jesus said to this rich young man, give up all that you own, and come follow me. Make me your treasure. And yet the rich young ruler went away sad.

He wouldn't do that, would he? And now here, two chapters later, is this widow woman who has done just that. She's given up all that she owns. God is her treasure. And we know that by the way that she gives.

By the way that she gives. By the way that she gives. Verses 41 through 44 give us a glimpse at what giving should look like for the Christian. I want you to hear that. Verses 41 through 44 should very much influence the way that you and I approach giving to this church and to one another.

Beloved, let us be like this woman. That is definitely an application of the text. It is a lesson in giving, yes, but far more than being a lesson for giving, Mark is not writing these verses just to give you a lesson on giving. There is a lesson there to be sure, but he is writing this section so that you would see the difference between hypocrisy and faithfulness a lot of people will approach 41 through 44 and rip it out and say that's what it means to give it that's fine it does teaches about giving but you have to put it back and say what's the main idea here? It's a contrast between hypocrisy and faithfulness You're supposed to see that He's writing in verses 41 through 44 so that you would see how the religious leaders of Israel have become corrupt and how they've been outdone by the poorest in Israel.

The first and the last. Didn't Jesus say something about that? Switching places. He's supposed to see that. So what will God do?

What will God do to those who with their mouths offer praise and with their hands offer sacrifice in the temple but their hearts are far from him. What will he do? He will judge them. He will break them. He will shatter hypocrites like these leaders of Israel unless they repent.

The scribes and all the temple leaders are shown here to be faithless. And their corruption is robbing the faithful. I'm going to finally answer the question that I asked earlier. What are they doing to the widow? Have you seen it yet?

What has the widow given to? What has she given to? She's been given to the temple. She's given to the worship of God in the temple. She has given all that she had to the temple.

And yet what are these temple leaders doing with this money? They're doing verses 38 through 40. They're doing chapter 11. They're taking the money and robbing the Gentiles of their place of worship. They're taking the money and walking around in long robes and going to good banquets.

They're robbing widows. You're beginning to see what Mark means when he says, they are eating widows' houses. They take all that this widow gives in faithfulness and they splurge it away on vain things. Forgetting what God has always said regarding true religion, visiting orphans and the widow. That's an Old Testament concept, you know, that James repeats.

Pure and undefiled worship is visiting orphans and widows and their need and distress and meeting those needs. And Instead of embracing true religion that honors God, these leaders take from those who are faithful, like this widow here in our passes, and they use it in unfaithfulness. They devour God's people. The widow is commended but the temple is condemned. And that's exactly what Jesus promises in chapter 13.

Chapter 13, the promised judgment. Having just made the comparison between the disobedient temple leaders and their condemnation and this faithful, obedient widow and her commendation, Jesus pronounces clear judgment on Jerusalem and her temple. Look in verse 1 and 2, we'll see that. As he was going out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him teacher behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings and Jesus said to him do you see these great buildings not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down. You need to remember what has happened up to this point.

Jesus has come to Jerusalem in chapter 11. I'm going to put everything together here. Stay with me. Jesus has come into Jerusalem in chapter 11. He's entered the temple.

You remember that? He sees what they're doing in the temple. Is he impressed? Go ahead and say it. No.

He exits the temple. He curses the fig tree. Then he overturns the tables in the temple the next day, and when he leaves, the fig tree that he cursed is withered. Remember all that? Why did Jesus curse the fig tree?

Because of its hypocrisy. It appeared to be bearing fruit but upon inspection it had no real fruit. And all the appearances of bearing fruit you come to say, oh it must have fruit. It doesn't have fruit. It's a hypocrite of a tree.

So it was condemned and subsequently destroyed. Jesus then goes into the temple. It appears to be bearing fruit. There appears to be worship and sacrifice there. But upon inspection, It has no real, true, good fruit.

There's only thievery and hypocrisy. It's a hypocrisy of an institution. And so what will happen to the temple? What will happen to Jerusalem? The same thing that happened to the fig tree.

It will be destroyed due to its hypocrisy. And now here in our passage, once again, what do you see? You see the hypocrisy of the scribes and the Pharisees, of the religious establishment, on the outside they appear to be bearing good fruit. Oh, they must be very religious. They must be very godly.

They must really honor God. They appear to be those things, but upon closer inspection, there is no good fruit, only corruption and the fleecing of widows." I want you to think about something. What did Jesus think about the fig tree that was a hypocrite. He cursed it. He cursed the fig tree.

A tree. How much more a people who will use his temple and his law as a means to look good before men while using it as a cover for evil. If he did it to the fig tree, What's he going to do to the temple? Judgment. Beware of hypocrisy.

God sees. And God will not be mocked, beloved. The religious establishment of Israel is engaged in mockery within that temple. And God will not be mocked. And so just as both the fig tree in chapter 11 and the story of the vineyard in chapter 12 inferred the judgment of God upon Jerusalem and its temple and the temple leaders.

So even more so now in chapter 13, 1 and 2, in case you didn't quite catch it yet, Jesus makes things very explicit. This temple will fall. The disciples have just had the contrast made very plain to them between the phony scribes and the poor widow in the temple and now as they leave the temple they look back and what do they say? It's amazing. It's amazing text.

What do they say? They look back at the temple. They just saw the phony scribes and the faithful widow. The contrast. They're leaving the temple.

They look back and what do they say? Look at the outside of that building. You see it in there? What are they pointing out? They're pointing out the externalities.

Look how beautiful those buildings are. What beautiful stones and wonderful buildings. It's an amazing scene that Mark is painting here. They're looking at the outside of the temple. They're marveling at how nice it looks on the outside.

And doesn't that sound just like the scribes? How nice they look on the outside. How wonderful they are in their nice robes and places of honor How wonderful the scribes are look at how wonderful these buildings are and? Jesus says to them You see those great buildings None of them will remain standing It will all be torn down Judgment is coming That temple it might look beautiful on the outside, and it used to be beautiful on the inside, but now, look at what's happening within. The temple, for all of its beauty on the outside, is phony within.

Men, young men, this is an aside, but it's an important aside. When you are looking to marry a young woman, young men, and young women, same applies when you're looking to marry a young man, You need to be sure that you are not marrying for mere externalities. Do you know what the seductress looked like? She looked so beautiful and wonderful. And you know what is inside of the seductress?

Death! She'll kill you! Come to my bed, and I'll stab you in the heart. Brothers and sisters, when you look for that mate, stop looking at mere externalities. You need to be able to look at this young woman and this young man and say, he is beautiful, she is beautiful, inside and out.

That when the wrinkles begin to come and the muscles droop, and where muscle used to be, now there's only fat and flab. Some of us never even had the muscles there in the first place. When that happens, for you to be able to look at that precious partner in the gospel that is your spouse and be able to say, you are more beautiful now than 30 years ago when I married you. You wanna be happy in your marriage? Do that.

Seek for that which is not just beautiful on the outside, but that which is beautiful on the inside. And let me tell you, I have seen it time and time again when a young lady and a young man is converted He might not be Beautiful on the outside But when he is converted things begin to change and he begins to have this radiant joy and this radiant beauty that he never possessed in the first place. Get the inside right, outside will take care of itself. People in this congregation are living proof of that. I'm one of them.

I'm not saying I'm pretty. The temple here in our passage is phony. Beautiful on the outside, wonderful on the outside. But Jesus says look within. It's hypocrisy.

Chapter 13 verses 1 and 2 sums up hypocrisy. This is the temple in a nutshell. Verses 1 and 2 are the religious establishment of Israel in a nutshell. Having beautiful outer garments, looking wonderful on the outside, while being full of sin within. It's exactly what Jesus said in Mark chapter 7.

These people honor me with their lips. It appears beautiful to men, But their hearts are far away from me. What only God can see is deceit. And the apostle Paul would go on to later say the same thing. For they have the appearance of godliness, but deny its power.

So avoid such men. Beware of such men at second Timothy 3. Their end is death. When you have the appearance of godliness but deny its power, you're a hypocrite, your end is destruction. And in chapter 13, Jesus promises the destruction of the temple.

Judgment is coming. And the entire chapter, beloved, that follows chapter 13 is a description of that impending judgment upon Jerusalem and her temple. You see the flow. The temple, the temple, the temple, the temple. It's full of hypocrisy.

Chapter 13. That hypocrisy will be judged. Indeed, this generation will not pass away, Jesus says, before God puts an end to it. Chapter 13 is the promise of coming condemnation upon Jerusalem. And again, I want to ask the question why.

Because of their hypocrisy. Beloved, I want to give you one final exhortation this morning. Please, beware of hypocrisy. Repent of such a thing. Have you not heard of the fig tree?

Have you not heard of this temple being torn down by brick by brick by the Romans in 70 AD? Now how much more will God shatter you? Will God crush you under the weight of His wrath for your sin, that you try to cover up with your own filthy fig leaves, and yet you parade around like you're somebody beautiful. Beloved, you need to hear this. The blood of Jesus cleanses sin.

The blood of Jesus Christ alone satisfies the wrath of God due even to hypocrites, if they will only but repent and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. Beware the scribe who profited off of the deep sufferings of his people, and then behold the Christ whose people profited eternally because of his sufferings. The scribes gain from the sufferings of their people, but you Christian, you have gained from the sufferings of the Savior Jesus Christ in His substitutionary death on the cross in your place. Jesus is the true priest. Jesus is the true temple.

Jesus is the true scribe. Jesus is the true Israel. Jesus is everything that Israel should have been. And oh the good news is that if you belong to Jesus by faith, no matter the depth of your sin, no matter the ugliness of your hypocrisy, your sin has been dealt with. For this, Jesus Christ was raised from the grave.

He has defeated sin for even the vilest offender who truly believes. The good news is that through repentance of faith in Jesus Christ, God the Father sees you as His own. He sees you dressed in the perfection of His Son. He sees you as an heir of the covenant of grace from Adam to Abraham to David to now. And He has set you free to go and be a hypocrite no more.

With new mercies every morning, God has given you, Christian, think about this, God has given you Christian things far better than what the scribes received. The scribes received robes and names and places of honor among men and they perished because of their sin. But, O Christian in Christ, infinitely better is your inheritance. For Christ went to a cross. He was betrayed for thirty pieces of silver from the temple.

And like the scribes, he was clothed with a robe, and yet unlike the scribes, his robe was a robe of scorn and a crown of thorns. They mocked Him and they called Him profane names. And they gave Him not the honorable place, but the most dishonorable place of death, death on a cross. Do you see friend how Christ came to take the place of hypocrites like these scribes, even you? Christian, you who have turned and kissed the Son, for you who have turned and kissed the Savior Jesus Christ by faith, you have the reverse.

You by grace through faith in Jesus, you have received A new robe of righteousness that will never wear out for that righteousness comes flowing freely minute by minute, moment by moment from Christ. It's forever perfect. You're clothed in a robe of righteousness that's not your own doing. You've received a new name, a new title, child of God, beloved, saint. You've received a seat in His church, and a place of honor at His table.

An honor that is indescribable. When you would have just gladly taken the crumbs. I'll just take the crumbs under the chair. Christ sets the table and He bids you come and welcome. And you may come this very day, Christian, when we partake together of that table.

Oh, the depth of Christ's mercies towards you who were once far off. How can such things be true? How can you have what the scribes had but infinitely better? How can you have the robe and the title and the place of honor? How can such things be true?

Because Jesus, in a way infinitely better than the widow, He came and gave all that He had, so that in exchange, you would be purchased at the cost of His blood, that you might then live to the glory of His name in your body. Beware the scribe, beware the hypocrite, and behold Jesus Christ, who takes away the sins of the world. Behold Him, and you will live, and you may go and sin no more. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven thank you for this your word.

I pray that it would have its intended effect for your glory among this people. Please make us a people that for every one look at themselves, that we would confess our sins in that one look, and then take a hundred looks to the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for Him and the truth that there is more mercy in Him than there is sin in us. That is our hope and such a wonderful promise that we know is yes and amen because Christ has risen and he has risen indeed. We thank you in his name.

Amen.