We pray, amen.
Amen.
Okay, we're in Matthew chapter 23 this evening.
And the title of my sermon tonight is The Scribes.
I'm going to preach on the subject of The Scribes.
Now, Matthew chapter 23 is a very familiar portion of Scripture for us
because we often associate it with Jesus' condemnation on the Pharisees.
It's a very popular sermon that he preached against the Pharisees.
And when we often read it, we focus on the Pharisees and rightfully so.
But sometimes we forget that he's also addressing the scribes, right?
He actually says, woe unto you scribes and Pharisees.
In other words, the Pharisees were very much guilty of all the things that Jesus was saying here in Matthew 23.
But we also see that the scribes were equally guilty of that as well.
And we're going to go through this chapter and just kind of highlight some of the sins and hypocrisy of the scribes
as highlighted here in Matthew 23.
Now, hold your place there. Let's go to Jeremiah chapter 36, if you would.
Jeremiah chapter 36.
Before we get started on Matthew 23, let's talk about the office of a scribe.
What is that referring to?
What did these men do in the Bible?
Because it's an office that we see not just in the New Testament,
but we see also pretty prevalent in the old.
Now, by the time we get to the 1st century AD, when dealing with the scribes,
they're actually pretty wicked. They have a really negative connotation attached to them.
They are false prophets. They're being preached against.
They are often conspiring with the Pharisees and the chief priests against Jesus.
And when we look at what the scribes or who the scribes are referring to in the Noom,
it's often used interchangeably to describe the lawyers, right?
The lawyers who have the scribes and then you have the Pharisees.
But here's the thing. When it comes to the scribes as compared to the Pharisees,
the scribes was actually somewhat of a legitimate office
that had somewhat of a practical function behind it.
The Pharisees did it. There's no need for Pharisees in the Bible at all.
There was no practical functionality when it came to the office of a Pharisee.
In fact, you could scour the Old Testament.
You'll never find a mention of Pharisees, right?
You'll never find a mention of God's sanctioning Pharisees or deigning Pharisees.
Now, you do find the office of a Sadducee because the Sadducee
were essentially the ones responsible for the tasks of the temple.
They're the sons of Zadok and they're the ones who are essentially carrying out the duties of the temple.
So that is a legitimate office.
That was a legitimate responsibility that they were supposed to uphold.
Now, obviously, we can see the Sadducees in the New Testament and they're apostate.
So even though it's a legitimate office, even though God sanctioned it in the Old Testament,
by the time we get to the New, they've already gone apostate.
How do we know that?
Because they're denying angels and demons. They're denying the resurrection.
So even though God sanctioned for that specific office to be held in Israel
to oversee the duties of the temple,
by the time we get to the 1st century A.D., they've already transgressed the doctrines of Christ.
They've rejected the Lord. They're super apostate.
And at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter.
Why? Because by the time Jesus Christ dies, the Old Testament transfers into the New.
There's no longer a need for a physical temple where the Sadducees are serving
because we are the temple of the Holy Ghost, which you have of God in your and not your own.
We are that priesthood, that holy nation and so forth.
So the Sadducees, though sanctioned in the Old Testament, it's kind of null and void in the New.
Pharisees, on the other hand, you won't find that mention.
Now what does Pharisee mean? It actually means the separated ones.
And when you look at it from a historical perspective because you actually have to go to history
to find the origins of a Pharisee because you're not going to find it in the Bible.
It's like you're reading throughout the entire Bible.
You get to the book of Matthew and you just hear Pharisees like, where do these guys come from?
These guys are in charge. They're in charge of the synagogues.
They have a lot of authority. They have a lot of power.
They can excommunicate people. People hold them in high regard.
And you kind of just want to go back in time and say, excuse me, sir, where'd you come from?
Like, apparently you're like really important in the nation of Israel.
But how did you gain this influence and importance to the point where, you know,
people look to you as being a legitimate religious authority in the nation of Israel?
Well, when you look throughout history, you see that they actually arose
after what's referred to as the Maccabean Revolt.
They're the second temple institution of religious zealots of Jews
who are essentially trying to preserve Jewish identity.
So they're trying to preserve it from Hellenization.
Hellenization meaning that they didn't want Greek culture to infiltrate
and they didn't want to lose their ethnic identity
and essentially become obsolete as a Jewish people.
So what they did is they formed this group known as the Pharisees, the separated ones,
in order to preserve that.
And you can think to yourself, well, that's kind of legitimate.
They're trying to preserve their ethnic identity.
They're in Babylon.
And they're just trying to preserve what their forefathers were,
what they did, their customs and so forth.
And, you know, arguments can be made as to why,
if it was legitimate for them to be an actual group of people
that were needed in the nation of Israel.
The problem is this, is that after that group arose to prominence,
somewhere along the way, by the time we get to the 1st century AD,
they somehow seized power over the synagogues.
And the synagogues, again, are not institutions that are sanctioned by God.
They're just kind of like a necessary evil.
And the reason I say necessary evil is because it's really for people
who can't make it to the temple.
So they have these groups where they get together,
they read the scriptures, they pray, they sing hymns.
And so it's like a chapel, so to speak, right?
You ever heard of a chapel service?
It's like, those are like chapels.
And so somehow the Pharisees ended up seizing power over these synagogues.
And then by the time you get to the 1st century AD,
the culture of synagogues and Pharisees is so embedded
into the history of Israel, no one really questions
whether it should be a legitimate institution.
Okay?
It's just kind of like accepted, these are the guys in charge.
These are the ones we need to look to.
We want to be a part of the synagogues,
even though there's already a temple there.
Because keep in mind, the synagogues were an alternative to the temple.
Not a replacement for the temple,
an alternative if the person could not physically make it to the temple.
So it's just like, oh, we live too far to make our pilgrimage to the temple.
We'll let's join the synagogue.
We can hear the law of Moses and so forth.
And this is why when you read the Book of Acts, for example,
you'll hear about synagogues in Asia Minor
and a lot of different Greek-speaking areas
because these synagogues were started as an alternative
for the temple if people couldn't make the pilgrimage to that temple.
And so 1st century AD, you have the Pharisees.
They are in charge of it.
They have political power.
They have religious power.
And they're the ones who essentially spearheaded the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Now here's the thing though,
but they have no practical functionality.
There's no need for them at all within Israel.
There's a need for the Sadducees,
even though they suck and they're apostate,
but it's okay.
They're going to go away soon.
But there is some sort of need for them
because God needed someone.
He sanctioned people to oversee the temple, you understand?
Whereas the Pharisees are like, you guys are here
and all you guys are doing is just lording over the flock of God.
You're just kind of, you know,
just kind of usurping authority, hating on Christ,
trying to undermine biblical authority,
teaching for doctrines, the commandments of men,
just perverting scripture.
You hate God's people, you know?
And at the end of the day,
the Pharisees ended up being the progenitors to modern-day rabbinic Judaism.
Okay?
So, you know, you have the Sadducees
and once the temple was destroyed in 70 AD,
they're out of a job.
Like there's no more temple, right?
So either get with the program, become a Christian,
or just join the Pharisees.
Because the Pharisees didn't really need the temple
in order to function as a group of religious Pharisees, right?
Judaism doesn't really need the temple.
Because after the temple was destroyed,
they can simply go into what?
Their synagogues and just continue with their authority,
ruling over the people.
And that's why Judaism ended up evolving into what we have today
because of the Pharisees.
Okay?
So they have no practical, you know, functionality to them.
There's no need for them whatsoever
other than what they did after, you know,
the Second Temple and the Maccabean Revolt
to preserve Jewish identity.
But after that, there's no need for them.
Now, the scribes, it could be said the same thing
of the scribes that it wasn't an office
that was instituted by God,
but it did serve some sort of practical functionality.
Why?
Because a scribe, and we're just talking about generally
what a scribe is.
A scribe is someone who is a copyist, okay?
They are a recorder.
They're like a secretary.
And not even in religious matters.
It could be for, you know, governments
and magistrates if they need to copy documents,
genealogies.
These are people who are very skilled in writing
because you've got to keep in mind,
you know, a lot of people back in those days
didn't know how to read or write.
Now, I'm not going to ask for a raise of hands,
but I'm assuming a lot of you know how to read and write,
at least, you know, read the Bible, okay?
You know, I can read, I can write.
Now, I do write like a doctor
and you can't really understand my penmanship
and I'm working on that.
But, you know, the ability to read and write
wasn't as prevalent back then as it is now.
So, you have these scribes who were very skilled
in reading, writing, and copying accurately.
Very important, right?
They didn't have a copy machine.
They didn't have a printer.
They needed literal people to get the scriptures
and they would just copy it over and over again.
It's a very functional office, very needed, right?
Now, transfer that over to the Bible.
It's very needed when it comes to the scriptures, okay?
So, you have these scribes
who are assigned to governments and magistrates
in order to copy documents, legal things and such,
but then you also have scribes
who serve the purpose of dictating
or writing down what the prophet is dictating.
So, the prophet who is inspired by God
to preach the word of God, he's ripping face
and the scribe is just like, you know,
all right, oh man, whore, okay?
All right, you know, okay, whoa, you know?
And he's pending that down.
He's transcribing what the prophet is saying.
Very much needed, right?
So, you could even say that, you know,
some scribes are providentially inspired by God
because they've got to be accurate in their,
you know, preservation of the words of the prophet
that is coming from God, okay?
But then, you also have other scribes
who are simply responsible for copying the Bible,
okay, which is also important.
So, you have the prophet, he preaches the word of God,
the scribe pens it down, and then you have
another scribe whose responsibility
is just to copy that thing over and over again
so that people can have copies of the word of God, okay?
You think of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts chapter 8
when he leaves Jerusalem, he has a copy
of a chapter of the book of Isaiah.
How did he get that?
I'll tell you how.
There was a scribe who penned that down
and then sold that copy, you understand?
So, you can see how important that is
in the nation of Israel.
So, yeah, it's not necessarily an office
that was sanctioned by God,
but it was very much a necessary function
in the nation of Israel because we need the word of God,
people want a copy of the scriptures,
and it's important to just be accurate
when you're copying them down.
So, you know, there's a lot of good scribes in the Bible.
Now, if we were to just have the New Testament
and be like, man, all scribes are bad,
like these guys are just conspiring against Christ
or against Christianity,
but they didn't start off that way, okay?
Now, the first time a scribe is mentioned in the Bible
is actually in 2 Samuel chapter 8, all right?
Sarah Aya is a scribe under the rule of King David.
That is the first time a scribe is mentioned.
It doesn't mean that that's the first scribe there is.
It's just the first scribe that is talked about in the Bible.
Because, again, you have people in the Old Testament
who probably have this job.
They're copying the word of God and so forth.
Look at Jeremiah chapter 36, if you would,
and verse 13, it says,
then Micaiah declared unto them all the words that he had heard
when Beirut read the book in the ears of the people.
Therefore, all the princes sent Jehudai,
the son of Nathanaim, the son of Shalamaya,
the son of Kushai, unto Beirut saying,
take in thine hand the role wherein that has read
in the ears of the people and come.
So Beirut, the son of Nathanaim,
took the role in his hand and came unto them.
So we see that Beirut is not only responsible
for penning down the Scriptures,
he also has the skill of reading the Scriptures, right?
Skip down to verse number 16.
It says, now it came to pass when they had heard all the words.
They were afraid both one and another
and said unto Beirut, we will surely tell the king
of all these words.
And they asked Beirut saying, tell us now,
how does thou write all these words at his mouth?
So they're like, so tell us.
You know, you're reading the words of Jeremiah the prophet,
how did you do that?
How did you get this?
All right, you guys ready for the process here?
Verse number 17 or verse 18,
then Beirut answered them,
he pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth
and I wrote them down in the ink of the book.
Now, I don't know if he's just being facetious
or whatever, he's just like, well, get this.
He spoke it and I just wrote it down.
Big wow, right?
But this is showing us the responsibility
of this important scribe here
is that Jeremiah is preaching the word of God
and he's penning them down.
Now, there are instances in the Bible
where the Scriptures were recorded as such,
meaning that a prophet preached
and there was a scribe there alongside that prophet,
such as Beirut, who actually penned down what was being said.
But not all the time, okay?
Because, you know, sometimes people think,
well, you know, someone was following Matthew around
and Mark and Luke and as they were, you know,
as Jesus was, or excuse me, not following Matthew,
Matthew was following Jesus around,
Luke was following Jesus around,
and as he was preaching,
they're just painting this down from around the corner.
You see, do people really believe that?
I mean, that's what that stupid show is showing.
The chosen shows, like Matthew around the corner or John,
he's like in some dark corner
as Jesus is preaching to Nicodemus
and he's just like, oh, this is good, you know?
But no, that's not what happened.
And in the minds of these scholars, modern-day scholars,
they think that's how it had to happen
because in their minds, like, well,
in order to have an accurate translation,
in order to have an accurate depiction of what's being said,
the person had to be present.
Well, no, because at the end of the day,
all scripture is given by inspiration of God,
meaning that holy men of God is fake
as they're removed by the Holy Ghost,
meaning that someone can preach a sermon
and then years later,
God can supernaturally impose the content of that sermon
in the mind of the person who's writing it down
and he can be accurate when he writes it.
Well, I don't know if John really wrote John.
Who cares?
Now, I do believe that John wrote John.
I believe Matthew wrote Matthew, you know,
but at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter
because at the end of the day,
the actual person itself doesn't matter.
Now, to the unsaved scholar
who knows more Bible than you and me, apparently,
because they're resting their faith upon history,
that is important because what?
Because they want to make sure that the apostles
were the only ones responsible for writing down scripture,
but at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter
because who's the author, Scott?
And you know what?
God can supernaturally take the content
that he places in the mind of a prophet
and then supernaturally place it in the heart
and in the mind of a writer who's unknown,
unnamed and be accurate in his transcription.
Obviously, he's going to write it with his personality,
his writing style, but whatever it is that God says
is going to go down on that, you know,
that piece of paper, not paper, but you know,
that animal skin or whatever, that parchment.
The point being here is that we have an example of Beirut
who, yeah, you know, he did pen down the scriptures,
but let me just remind you later on,
those scriptures are thrown into the fire.
But it doesn't mean those scriptures are not preserved
because they're rewritten again, you know,
and so forth.
And so it's important for us to realize that Scribes,
you know, they did play an important role,
as noted here, that, you know,
he is following the prophet,
he's writing down the scriptures,
he's accurately depicting what is being said,
and even though Beirut is a sinner like everyone else,
you know, God is supernaturally leading him
to write down what needs to be put in the Word of God.
Okay?
Now go to Ezra chapter 7, if you would.
Ezra chapter 7.
So in the Old Testament, Scribes played a functional role.
They were godly people.
They were righteous individuals.
They played a necessary role.
Even though it wasn't an office that was sanctioned by God,
you know, they did a lot of great works.
God used them in a great way.
And in fact, if you remember back in Matthew 23,
what does Jesus say?
I sentence you wise men and Scribes.
So keep in mind that a scribe, you know, in the Bible,
even in the Old Testament,
is not just someone who just writes down the Bible
and does nothing else.
Because we have an example here of Ezra,
who is a scribe, but he's also a priest.
So this is showing us that just about anybody
who can read and write can be a scribe,
whether it's a priest, maybe it's a high priest,
it's a prophet, it's just some regular Joe Shmo in the Old Testament.
If they have this capability, they can do so.
But Ezra is an example of someone who actually knew how to read.
He knew how to write, but he was also a high priest.
Look at verse 7, or verse 6, excuse me, of Ezra 7.
It says, this Ezra went up from Babylon
and he was already scribe in the law of Moses,
which the Lord God of Israel had given
and the king granted him all his requests according to the hand
of the Lord his God that was upon him.
So here we see that Ezra, though he's a high priest,
though he's a priest, he is a ready scribe.
Now what does that mean?
It doesn't mean that he's just ready to write things down.
This is referring to the fact that although he's a scribe
who copies, he writes things down with accuracy,
he's also someone who's ready to describe and teach
what's in the Word of God.
So we see here that this became, you know,
the scribe ended up being a transitional office
where they're not just penning down the scriptures,
but they're also teaching them.
And this is just the natural flow of things, is it not?
If you're constantly writing something down,
you're constantly writing that down over and over again,
you're eventually going to memorize what's being written down,
you're eventually going to internalize that which is being written down,
and you're going to end up studying that which is being written down.
Because folks, you know, the more you write something down
over and over and over again,
the more it's just going to be internalized
and you're going to think about it.
That's why I don't remember any phone number anymore.
I literally just started memorizing
my wife's phone number recently, you know what I mean?
Just because, you know, I think I just needed to for some reason.
I'm like, do I know my wife's number?
I'm like, I don't think I know her, you know?
Just because I'm so accustomed to just calling someone on the phone.
But let me tell you something,
when I was eight years old though, you know,
my memory was keen.
I had a lot of phone numbers memorized,
you know, because we'd write them down,
we'd mark them on the phone all the time.
Now we don't mark numbers, what do we do?
We just like call so, we don't even like dial,
we don't even press a button to, you know,
we just say, hey Siri, call so and so, you know,
and it just calls them, right?
And so, you know, the more you mark down those numbers,
the more you write it down, the more you're constantly,
it's before you, the more it's just going to be internalized.
And if you ask my wife right now, like,
hey, what was your phone number as a child?
She'll be able to tell you what the phone number was.
She remembers that.
And I'm sure some of you can probably do so the same.
Same thing with addresses, right?
You know, some addresses, they just kind of stay in your mind.
You know, but nowadays people don't really know addresses,
you know, because of GPS.
You know, some of you, if your phone was removed
from your pocket, you wouldn't be able to make it to church.
No joke, you know that's true.
If there was, if you had no phone
and you were expected to be in church,
you'd freak out.
You're like, I don't know where I'm going.
You know, just because you require GPS,
you just mark it in and you just follow that blue line,
it can lead you off a cliff and you would go off a cliff.
It can lead you to a liberal church
and you would freaking go to that liberal church
because you're so reliant upon that.
You know, if I were to just place you anywhere
in Southern California without a phone,
you probably wouldn't be able to find your way home.
You probably don't know your freeways.
You know, you're like, what's a 7-10?
You know, what's a 22?
I don't know what that is.
But it's because of the fact that technology
obviously has done that to us.
When, you know, in times past,
analog was more of an important thing
and people would write things down.
I mean, I remember like my mom, for example,
would give me an address
and she'd just write it down on an envelope
and she'd be like, just go here.
You know, this is this street right here.
Or if she couldn't remember the street,
like there's a tree, there's a store that says this
and you're like a pirate, you know, just looking for treasure.
You know, and I remember just like
in the early 2010s, okay, using MapQuest.
You know, printing out MapQuest
and being in an old IP church
having to visit new people
and I have like 10 sheets of MapQuest
and I'm just like, you know, where am I going here?
You know, and just trying to find the address or whatnot.
And so obviously a lot of people are spoiled now
because of GPS.
But the point that I'm making here
is the more you use something,
the more it becomes internalized.
So you have these scribes
whose job is it to just write down the Old Testament,
write down the Book of Leviticus,
write down Deuteronomy
over and over and over again,
what's going to happen?
They're going to end up internalizing that.
Why? Because they're constantly reading it.
Side note here, this is why it's important
to constantly read the Bible.
You don't have to write down the Bible,
though it would help to write down scriptures
on a three by five
and keep it with yourself
and read it over and over again.
But just reading the scriptures
every single day,
reading the Bible every single day
helps you to internalize the truths of God's Word.
When the Bible says,
let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly,
we could apply it to just reading the Bible
every single day.
Give attendance to reading,
to exhortation, to doctrine,
making sure that the Word of God
is being hidden in our heart,
making sure that we're thinking about the Word of God.
That's so hard.
Not if you read it every single day at all.
And not if you read large quantities
of the Bible throughout the year.
On a daily basis,
you end up internalizing the truths of God's Word.
The Bible says,
if any man speak,
let him speak as the oracles of God.
You're like,
how can I speak about the Bible so naturally
and with fluid power?
How do I do that?
By just reading the Bible every single day.
Because as you're reading it,
yeah, you're not writing it down
because it's already written down for you.
It's printed for you.
But as you read it more and more and more,
you end up embedding the content
of the Bible into your heart.
And so that's important.
And you have Ezra here
who the Bible says is a ready scribe.
It doesn't mean that he's ready to pin it down.
He's ready to talk about and teach
what's already been pinned down.
Skip down to verse number 10.
It says,
for Ezra had prepared his heart
to seek the law of the Lord
and to do it
and to teach in Israel
statutes and judgments.
So this is a very spiritual man.
He's a very spirit-filled man.
Ezra is not just your run-of-the-mill scribe.
He knows how to read.
He knows how to write.
But he also knows how to seek the Lord.
He also knows how to prepare his heart
to seek the Lord, right?
To teach the statutes and judgments.
So we have the example of Sarah Aya
as being the first scribe mentioned
in 2 Samuel chapter 8.
You have Baruch,
who is in Jeremiah,
particularly in chapter 36.
We have him describing the process
by which he would pin down
what the prophet is saying.
But then we also have Ezra,
who's a ready scribe,
meaning that he not only knows
how to keep track and records
of the genealogies,
keep track of all the documents
of those who went into exile,
but he can also get the Word of God
and preach it as well.
Go to Nehemiah chapter 8.
Nehemiah chapter 8, if you would.
Nehemiah chapter 8.
Nehemiah chapter 8
in verse number 1 says,
And all the people gather themselves together
as one man into the street
that was before the water gate,
and they spaken to Ezra the scribe
to bring the book of the law of Moses
which the Lord had commanded to Israel.
And Ezra the priest brought the law
before the congregation,
both of men and women,
and all that could hear with understanding
upon the first day of the seventh month.
It goes on to say in verse number 4,
And Ezra the scribe stood upon
a pulpit of wood which they
had made for the purpose.
Beside him stood Mattathiah and so forth.
So we see here that when Israel
wanted to hear the Word of God,
who did they call? They called the ready scribe.
And how can we apply this?
Well, we need to make sure
that we're ready scribes as well.
Not necessary to pen down the scriptures
because we already got it,
but just be ready to teach
what the Bible actually says.
Meaning that you should be ready
to preach the gospel at any given moment.
No matter where you are,
no matter who asks you,
you're not like, well, let me get my tab Bible
real quick. Let me make sure I get my
which, you know, if you're a brand new soul winner,
that's what you got to do. That's what you got to do, amen.
But you want to get to the point where you
use the Bible so much
preaching the gospel that
your Bible already kind of works with you.
You know what I'm talking about?
We're like, you have that soul winning Bible
and you use it so much that right when you open it,
it already goes to Romans 3.
You know what I'm talking about? It's just like kind of already
accustomed to go into
Romans 3-23, Romans 6-23,
Romans 5-8, it goes to Revelation 21-8,
it goes to Acts 16,
it goes to John 3,
it's kind of like an extension of you, right?
It's like already,
you're like a ready scribe
ready to preach the Word of God at any given moment.
But you know what? That also indicates that
you should be ready to preach the gospel
even if you didn't have a physical Bible.
Right?
Be ready to give an answer
always of those who are asking
the faith that is in you with meekness and fear.
Meaning that, you know,
if you are presented
with an opportunity to preach
the gospel to someone, maybe not in church
in a different type of atmosphere
but you don't have the Word of God,
you should be able to quote scripture.
So yeah, you want to know how you can go to heaven
when you die? I can show you, I can quote the scriptures to you.
You know, this is what the Bible says
and preach with confidence. That is a ready scribe.
Okay?
So these people are asking
for the understanding
of the Word of God. Look at verse 8 if you would.
It says,
So they read in the book
in the law of God distinctly
and gave the sense
and caused them to understand
the reading. Ezra played an important role
in teaching those
who came back from exile the Word of God.
He was responsible
for being a skilled writer,
a copyist of the genealogies
making sure he's checking everything
to make sure it's accurate,
but on top of that he was just accurate
in his explanation of the Word of God
and so forth. Go back to
Matthew chapter 23.
So you can see why
the office of a scribe
though not sanctioned by God
is an important office.
These are the printers
of the
Old Testament. These are the individuals
who are making
sure the Word of God is
abounding in the synagogues.
These are the reasons
why the law of Moses
is being read in Thessalonica.
They're being read in Asia Minor.
They're being read in various parts
of the world outside of Israel
because there was a ready scribe,
a very skilled writer and copyist
who was pinning these things down.
Here you go. Here's a copy
of the Word of God and so forth.
So they were very much important, but here's the problem though.
You have these scribes.
They're pinning down the scriptures
and because they're pinning them down so much
they're intaking the Word of God.
They're internalizing it.
Now look folks, the more you read the Bible
the more your faith has increased
in the Bible.
Faith coming
by hearing, hearing by the Word of God.
But what if you give the Word of God
to someone who's just not saved?
What if you're just giving
the Word of God to someone
and they're just writing it down
they're pinning it down
they're copying it over and over
and over again, but they're just
completely rejecting what's being written down.
What's the danger there?
Apostasy is what's the danger
because this person is supposed to be a ready scribe
they're internalizing the Word of God
they're giving it to other people
but they themselves are rejecting the Word of God.
Well this is what happens
by the time we get to the New Testament
because by the time we get to the New Testament
the office of a scribe
is no longer some sort of
a humble lowly position
of an individual who's just skilled
in reading and writing
so that others may have the Word of God
now they're like the upper class
of scholars
because by the time we get to the New Testament
you hear scribes
but they're not necessarily pinning anything down
they're just interpreting the law for you
but hold on a second
you're writing the Scriptures down over and over again
so why aren't you believing on Christ?
You're like
you're writing it down
you're writing the prophecies
it's right before you
but then Jesus the Word of God
in the flesh comes to you
and now you're conspiring to kill him
this is an example
of someone who has the Word of God
they possess the Word of God
but they don't possess salvation
so the point that I want to make
aside from what we're going to look at
here in Matthew 23
is that just because God uses
a group of people
to preserve the Bible
to pass it down
to generations
it doesn't lend veracity to the righteousness
of that group of people
look scribes
thank God for the scribes amen
scribes of the Old Testament
great job, thank you for preserving the Old Testament
thank you for doing a good job
for being spear filled
great job
but hold on a second
once you begin to deviate from the Bible
that you've copied
that you have accurately interpreted
or accurately copied
and then you actually reject the Gospel
I have no need for you anymore
because now a printer
can do exactly what you're doing
and just because
they were used to preserve it
just because they copied it a hundred times over
doesn't mean anything if you rejected the Christ
now
how do we interpret this
how can we apply this today
well Matthew 23
is a major condemnation
of both scribes and Pharisees
and if we were to compare
who the Pharisees were
to people today
we would say the Pharisees are like Catholics
because they teach for doctrines
the commandments of men
they wear the long robes
they have to be called father
we're going to go through these passages
here in chapter 23
and it's just like man
that's like a picture perfect example
of Roman Catholicism
scribes are a perfect picture
of Eastern Orthodoxy
of the Orthodox Church
so just as the Pharisees
fit the description of Catholics
the scribes fit the description of Orthodox people
okay
and when you read this you're like
well they're kind of one of the same
yeah amen
Orthodoxy is kind of the same
I know you guys are at war with one another
one has a Pope one doesn't
you both are heretics
you both are not saved
okay
and you know what
both of you have been used by God
yes for positive things
but the positive things that you've done
doesn't lend veracity
to your beliefs
because think about Catholics for example
and you know I don't hate Catholics
I absolutely
abhor Catholicism for sure
and I'm not ashamed of that
but I don't hate Catholics
we win Catholics for the Lord every single week
but you know
they've done some good things though
you know for example
if you've ever been to a hospital
it's likely that it was started by a Catholic
so how do you know
St. Mary's
St. Jude's
a lot of these hospitals
were started by Catholics
did you guys know that? I hope you know that
unless you're illiterate or something
that's an interesting name for a hospital
I want to
you know
no it's part of you know
they give to charity
they start these hospitals
you know as a kid I was stitched up
in a Catholic hospital
a lot of babies were born in Catholic hospitals
now I was born in a Presbyterian hospital
so at least I have that going for me
in that regard you know
but you know they started a lot of hospitals
and you know that's something Catholics like to point to
you know how many hospitals we started
you know
Catholics are responsible for
giving you know
millions of dollars to charity
and starting hundreds of hospitals
and it's like oh so that just
automatically lends veracity to your institution
no it doesn't
because we don't look at what they've done
to demonstrate whether they're saved or not
we look at what they believe
because it doesn't really matter
how many good works they've done
it doesn't really matter
how many good institutions they've started
if they rejected the biblical gospel
they're not saved
because they're still teaching for doctrines
the commandments of men
and look maybe we could look at the Pharisees
in the Bible and say hey but you know
they kind of helped start these synagogues
where people have gone to
they've heard the law of Moses
they're worshiping God
and make no mistake about it
there are people in the synagogues
during this time that were saved
we can point to people
and instances in the book of Acts
and throughout the Bible
where people were saved
and they were in the synagogues
they were attending the synagogues
because this is just an institution
where they were going to
where they were hearing the law of Moses
a scribe came
a wise man
an evangelist came and won them over
and they just kept attending the synagogue
but here's the thing
just because that happened
it doesn't lend legitimacy
to the Pharisee
because bro is still a flaming heretic
because he rejects the gospel
and we need to make sure
we're not respecter of people
in that regard
yes synagogues were started
it was a great alternative in case people could
make it to the temple
but you know what Jesus Christ is here now
the churches have been started
it's time to throw out the synagogue
it's time to throw out the Judaism
it's time to get with the program
and get with first century Christianity now
I think I'm going to stick with the synagogue
because that's the original
that's where it all started
you know
but hold on a second
the New Testament supersedes that though
and at the end of the day
upon this rock I will build
my church
not my synagogue
okay
and so
you have Catholics of course
they've done good things
but guess what just because they've done good things
means nothing
because you know what the false prophet in Matthew 7
did many wonderful works
right
he cast out devils
he prophesied in his name
he did many wonderful works
and the Lord wasn't like oh man why didn't you mention that
why didn't you say so
I didn't know that
get out of the way guys let him in
this guy did many wonderful works
he's just like and
and
depart from me, ye that work iniquity
I never knew you
because your works don't justify you
in the eyes of God
as demonstrated clearly by
Matthew chapter 7
which is funny because people use Matthew 7
as a way to prove oh see
belief is not enough
that guy never even mentioned belief
the one thing
necessary to be saved is the one thing he just left out
let's talk about
how great he was
what do we see from Matthew 7
he's just a self righteous person which is exactly
what the Pharisees are
what does it mean to be self righteous
it means that you believe you married eternal life
based upon your own righteousness
it's just like the guy
who went down to the temple
and he's praying
and he's just like I thank God
that I'm not as other sinners
you know I fast twice in a day
and you know he talks about
all his exploits that he's done
and the other guy went home justified
rather than the other guy
the other guy is in hell right now
so he
talk about tithing and fasting
twice in a week
that really didn't do him any good
because works can't save you
but here's the thing
is that you know Orthodox they did some good things too
and if we were to look at this
in a carnal perspective
I would even say
that the Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox probably did more good
than Roman Catholicism
believe it or not
you're like how so
well in 330 AD
you know you have the Byzantine empire
and they had
what was called the scriptoriums
in what's referred to as
Constantinople
and these scriptoriums existed
for a thousand one hundred years
up until 1453
when the Ottoman Empire took over
and destroyed them
but you say well what's the deal with that
well for those thousand one hundred years
in these scriptoriums
these Eastern Orthodox
scribes what are they doing
they're just copying the Greek New Testament
over and over again
just making tons of copies
of the Greek New Testament
and not just of the Greek New Testament
also of other Greek literature
sermons
liturgy
just all types of things
hymns just whatever
content that was out there during that time
they were doing that in the scriptoriums
but the most important thing that they were copying
was the Greek New Testament
so
during this particular time
they're copying this and they're very accurate
because not only are they
copying the Greek New Testament
they're speaking the language of the Greek New Testament too
so it's not like
so and so down the road
that pronounces Kini Koine
I'm copying
Koine Greek or something
no like they're actually speaking the language
they're living the language
they're communing with people
in Kini Greek
like they're very much
involved in the language of that day
so that when they're copying
the Greek New Testament in these scriptoriums
it's accurate
and they have a thousand one hundred years
of just constantly
copying constantly copying
and you know what? Praise God for that
right
now let me tell you something though
it doesn't lend veracity to orthodoxy at all
because God uses evil people
for his own purpose
he does
he used the diligence
the hard work
the intelligence
the scholarship of orthodox
for a thousand one hundred years
so that when they were taken over by the Ottoman Empire
they would eventually take those scriptures
go to Italy
it would go into the hands of Erasmus
and then we would have the underlying
Greek text that makes up the texas receptors
which is why we have the King James Bible today
and you know, riddle me this
you know, if orthodoxy
was so favored by God
then why did God allow him to be taken over?
the Ottoman Empire
just destroyed them
took it over, ran them out
well it doesn't look like you have God's favor
on your life
doesn't look like God is with you
because you got ran out
even though you were faithfully
transcribing the New Testament
over and over again
you know what it was, it was basically God saying
alright, I think we have enough copies here
right?
I think that's enough
got the Ottoman Empire
and just destroyed them
and ran them out
because you know what, God uses evil people
for the good
sometimes of the world
or just to help us
because you know, Bible-believing Christians
probably didn't have those resources to do that
right?
they don't really have the resources for that
you know, and so
the wealth of the wicked is laid up for the just
so God will often use evil people
in order to carry out his will
and his will was that
the Greek New Testament would be copied
over and over again
by these orthodox scribes
accurately because he knew one day
we would need
a
Greek New Testament
the textual receptors that would make up
what we have today for our King James Bible
okay?
and you know what, it's just like oh man
they were used in such a great way
God providentially used them
to preserve the scriptures
but once he was done with them
he was done with them
once he used the wisdom
and the knowledge
the diligence and the hard work
of those orthodox scribes
he's like alright, you guys are done
so the point that I'm making here
is that you know what, the scribes in the Old Testament
they had their place, they had their role
but you know we don't really need that anymore
and just because they played
an important role in the Old Testament
doesn't lend legitimacy to their position
in the New
oh no, these are the scribes though
these are the ones who are responsible
for penning down the scriptures
and copying the scriptures and preserving the scriptures
yeah but they're heretics
we don't got no beef with what they pen down
we don't have beef with
the scriptures that they pen down
we got beef with them
it's them
and you know what, if they're
so selected by God
if God is so pleased with them
then why are they so heretical even though they copy the Bible over and over
and over again
same thing with the orthodox
you know
the orthos had a thousand one hundred years
of just
penning down the scriptures
hearing about believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved
writing down John 3
16 over and over and over again
penning down he that believeth on the sun
hath everlasting life
just over and over and over
for over a thousand years
folks, think about that for a second
when you're
when you're penning down Ephesians 2
obviously they didn't have those references
but I'm talking about the actual passages
within these references
when you're penning down Ephesians 2 verse 8 through 9 over and over again
and you're just still unsaved
right?
when you're just penning down John 3 16 over and over again
you think God's not mad at that
it's like wow
a thousand one hundred years
and you guys can't seem to get your doctrine right about my son
you can't seem to believe
in the right salvation
you're still worshiped
you know a thousand
one hundred years listen to this
little children keep yourselves
from idols
and then you're just like
kissing the icons
right?
a thousand one hundred years of saying
keep yourselves from idols, flee from idolatry
and they're just like
what the heck
it's like it's insanity
oh man it was just the tragedy
what happened in Constantinople
no actually maybe God was trying to get a hold
of you know these eastern
orthodox people
and you know obviously he's working all things together
for good he knows that he's going to use
their hard work to eventually preserve
the scriptures so we can have it in our
English King James Bible
but you know he's also giving him a lot of time to just
hey you know did you think about
what you wrote down
what do you think about that verse
that says you know not to
not to have idols
what do you think about the verse about not
baptizing babies
you know hey those
times that you guys pen down the scriptures over and over again
did you see any babies getting
did you write about any babies getting baptized
and they're just like
you know
they write down the thief on the cross
they write down Roman 7
they write down
Matthew 28 and they're just like
because they do it like three times right
so it's just like
what in the world
so it doesn't really matter how they were used
because obviously they didn't
you know what they were used to do
didn't affect their belief system much
just like the scribes here
so the scribes they were prominent figures
in the New Testament
people respected them
they were well learned
they had wisdom
they were skilled in reading
and understanding
and so the Jews are just like wow these guys are just
these are the guys here
what does the Bible mean about this
you know you have King Herod calling over the scribes
to figure out information
about the Messiah
you know you have these people
just claiming to know the Word of God
understanding neither what they say
nor where they affirm
they're desiring to be teachers of the law
they don't know what they're talking about
and so they're held to a higher standard
because it's not that they were ignorant
of the scriptures they possessed them
but they never possessed salvation
you know what the same goes for
the Orthodox from
330 A.D. in Constantinople
to 1453 when they were taken over
by the Ottoman Empire
they were given a lot of time
I mean thousands and thousands and thousands of copies
of the scriptures are being penned down
and boom you know
it just didn't affect them at all
and so this is why he's preaching against them
so look at verse 1 if you would
that was all introduction
so let's get into the crux of the brass tax here
some of you chuckled nervously right now
then spake Jesus to the multitude
into his disciples saying the scribes and the Pharisees
sit in Moses' seat
all therefore whatever they bid you observe
that observe and do
but do not ye after their works
for they say and do not
now compare that
with Ezra the scribe
who he sought the word of God
and he sought to do it
whereas these scribes
we're not talking about the Pharisees
they're telling other people to do things
that they are not willing to do
you know what they call that? a hypocrite
they're talking about
the law of Moses says
they're talking about believing on the Messiah
and they don't believe it
hypocrites he says in verse 4
for they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be born
and lay them on men's shoulders
but they themselves will not move them
with one of their fingers
now specifically this is addressing the fact
that they're telling people
you need to keep the law of Moses
but they don't keep the law of Moses
you can't be a thief but they're stealing from the widows
you know oh covetousness
is a sin but yet they're
some of the most covetous people
in the New Testament
so what they're saying is not bad
what they're saying is actually true
right?
they're actually sitting in Moses' seat
meaning they're coming in the authority of Moses
they're telling people what Moses said
but they don't really believe what Moses said
and it's not because they're confused about it
it's because inwardly they're trying to deceive people
you know they
hold to their traditions
more than they hold to the word of God
okay
it's essentially they're masquerading
is what they're doing
as righteous people
and why are they doing this
look at verse five but all their works they do
for it to be seen of men
they make brothel phylacteries
and enlarge the borders of their garments
love the uppermost rooms at the feast
and the chief seats and the synagogues
so why are they doing this
well because of the fact that they want other people
to esteem them as being righteous people
now look folks
we all to a certain degree want that
let your life so shine before men
we want to make a good impression before people
we want to be a good testimony
but here's the thing is that inwardly
we also want to please the Lord too
we love the Lord
we want to please the Lord
these are two things that we want to accomplish
we want to do right because we love the Lord
we also want to do right because
it's an example unto others as well
right
here's the difference between us and the Pharisees
they only want to do right before people
not because they want to help people
because they're just self-righteous
Pharisees
who want the admiration
of the multitudes
and so this is why they make
broader phylacteries they enlarge the borders
of their garments they wear the dresses
because they want to portray themselves
as being righteous people
this is what 2 Timothy 3 means when it says
that they have a form of godliness
but they deny the power they're of
meaning from the outside it's like
oh okay you got a long dress
got the wizard dress
or whatever seems like a righteous person
but they're only
outwardly appear such
in order to deter attention from the fact
that they're actual wolves
and in fact look at
go down to verse number
25
it says
which is within the cup and platter
that the outside of them may be clean
also won't you scribes and Pharisees
hypocrites for you're like unto
whited sepulchers
which indeed appear beautiful outward
but are within full of dead men's
bones and of all uncleanness
so what is he saying you know you guys
with your broad phylacteries
and your robes and your outward
appearance you're just like a really beautiful
sepulcher a casket
but inwardly you're just dead
and in fact they're twice dead
plucked up by the roots
oh Jesus Christ you're going to get across
you look alive on the outside
but you're actually dead on the inside
not even saved and they're more concerned
with portraying themselves
to be alive
trying to look like they're super spiritual
trying to have the garments of a spiritual
person but there's
no life inside
go back to
the beginning here
it says in verse seven
and greetings in the
markets and to be called of men rabbi rabbi
but
be naive called rabbi for one is your master
even Christ and all you are brethren
and call no man your father which is upon the earth
for one is your father which is
in heaven neither be called masters
for one is your master even Christ
but he that is greatest among you shall be your servant
so what is the motive
that these scribes have as to why
they're doing this well it says
here that they basically
love to have
the acclimations of the public
meaning that they want to have the titles
and they want to be called
rabbi they want to be called master
they want to be called father
now look folks
this is not prohibiting
these titles from people
who actually deserve them
for example
my dad deserves to be called father
because he's my dad
and in the bible
master is synonymous
with what boss
so it's not prohibiting
employees calling
their employer master
because we actually see in Colossians
chapter three to obey
your masters paul what are you doing
man hey what do you mean hey
didn't you read Matthew 23
so is this a contradiction
no it's just that you're too stupid to interpret
to understand is to know
that when Jesus says call no man
master rabbi or father
he's addressing spiritual leaders
not biological fathers
not employees
or employers excuse me
he's referring to spiritual leaders
who want these titles
this is why we should not go for
our masters of divinity degree
you know and we should not
be called father and so
you quote this to a catholic
you quote this to an orthodox
and they just like
I guess what do you call your dad
well I don't call him father because
I'm just you know that's just
2026 I was just like father
you know call him dad
or I call him pops
but this is referring
to spiritual leaders and you know
they'll they will up and down
quote verses from the bible
of people using the term father
but they'll never actually tell you what this verse actually
is
they'll never tell you like well okay
so what did Jesus mean by that then
what did he mean
they can't tell you
because they want to continue in their traditions
okay
skip down to verse number 13
it says
what is the same
so this essentially separates
the wickedness of a scribe
from the wickedness of just
your regular unsafe person
because an unsafe person
is wicked in the eyes of the lord
in the sense that he's unregenerated
he's walking according to the
course of this world
he's fulfilling the lust of the flesh
and of the mind right
he's just an unsafe person
the scribe on the other hand
not only has that
but they add on top of that
perverting the gospel
and hindering those
from hearing the gospel
or hindering people who already believe in the gospel
from going further into
their Christian growth
because when it says they're hindering those
who are entering in
it means that they're intentionally
trying to stop people who are saved
from doing the work of God
that's what it means
so make no mistake about it
if you are a person
who
you're attacking men of God
you're trying to stop people from preaching
the word of God
you're trying to stop people from preaching the gospel
you're wicked
you're a godless individual
who according to the Bible
you kind of fit the description of a scribe in a Pharisee
who was not saved
because look folks there's a lot of false prophets out there
that I don't like and I call out
but I don't spend my life
trying to stop their ministries right
I don't just spend my life trying to stop their ministries
you know you call them out
and then we just go with the program as usual
but there's people out there that do
there's people out there who think that we're false prophets
and they will do everything
humanly possible to try to stop the message of God
what are they
they're the ones who are not
entering into the kingdom of heaven
and are hindering those who are going in
from doing so
so they're trying to hinder the work of God
they're trying to turn
they're trying to turn the truth
of God into a lie and so forth
he says in verse 14
woe unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites
for you devour widows houses
and for a pretense
make long prayer
therefore you shall receive the greater damnation
what does it mean when it says pretense make long prayer
it means these Pharisees like we gotta look real spiritual here
so in order to look real spiritual
we just gotta pray for a really long time
in public
in order to demonstrate how spiritual we are
pretense means like as excuse
is like as a way to just
deceive people
they pray long
in order to make it look like they're actual righteous people
all the while
they're robbing widows
bless you
verse 15 says woe unto you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites
for you can pass see and land
to make one proselyte and when he is made
you make him two fold more the child of hell
than yourself
so aside from the fact that they're hindering people
from those who are entering into the kingdom of God
they're also
you know converting people
to become reprobates
so they're actively
trying to damn people to hell
so these are like the Mormons
right
oh they're so nice though
you know they're just so nice
and you know I just you know
they're not really rude about anything
yeah but they're dandle heretics though
they teach a false gospel
okay
no applause please
you know they're
dandle heretics that teach a false gospel
they teach in a cursed gospel
okay so it doesn't really matter how
nice they look
you know it doesn't really matter
how white they are
how blue their eyes are or whatever
you know how geeky
they look on their 10 speeder and innocent they look
the Bible says that they're actually
the workers of iniquity
you know these are the ministers
of Satan according to the Bible
because if they convert people to Mormonism
they're essentially making them two fold more child of hell
than themselves
okay
let's skip a couple parts here
go down to verse number
29
this is won't you
scribes and Pharisees hypocrites because
you build the tombs of the prophets
and garnish the sepulchers of the
righteous and say if we had been in the days
of our fathers we would have not
been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets
so this is always a funny
funny passage of scripture when I read this
because what it demonstrates is like
false prophets will just tell you
what they actually believe
you just got to pay attention to what they're saying
you say what do you mean
well they're garnishing the
sepulchers of the righteous meaning they're trying to make everything
you know they're honoring
the prophets of the Old Testament they go to the
tombs and the sepulchers of the Old Testament prophets
and they honor them
and they put flowers there
and they honor them with their lips
and then they say this if we were there
in the days of our fathers
we would have not been partakers in the blood
of the prophets so basically
they are divulging
admitting
that they're related to
the dudes who kill the prophets
it's like so are you
saying that you're spiritually
like related to
these false prophets who killed
the righteous prophets that's basically what they're saying
they're a generation
of vipers
and look folks sometimes you just need to pay attention
to what people say
because out of the abundance of the heart
the mouth speaketh
a good man out of the good treasure of his heart
bringeth forth good things and evil man out of the evil treasure
of his heart bringeth forth evil things
by their words thou shalt be justified
by their words thou shalt be condemned
you know what that's why I'm not afraid
to just get up here and preach the word
of God with no notes because I know
that I believe the truth
and I'm not just have to read through a script
here just to make sure I don't say anything weird
or something because I'm just going to preach
to you the Bible
I'm just going to preach you what the word of God says
I'm going to speak as the oracles of God
but you know what these false prophets they have to have
like an entire script available for you
you know and obviously I have
notes sometimes and just to kind of help me
not deviate from you know the structure
of the sermon that's completely
normal and I'm not telling the new preachers to do
what I'm doing right now you need to be preaching
for another 10 years before you start doing that
but you know have notes but I'm talking
about people who literally will have notes
and they just read word for word everything
that's on those notes because
they don't want to give away to their false prophets
because you know what you know what's going to happen
they're going to eventually say something they're not
supposed to say they're going to preach
dandable heresy they're going to deny
the doctrines of Christ because
that's exactly who they are oh if we had been
the days of our fathers we would have not been partakers
of the blood of the prophets
and look what he says in verse number
31 wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves
that ye are the children of them
which kill the prophets
fill ye up the measure of your fathers
he's like fill up the shoes of your
dads you know if these are your
fathers if these are the people you associate
with then fill up the measure
of your progenitors
you serpents
you generation of vipers how can
ye escape the damnation
of hell this is why sometimes you need
listen to these pastors
and they preach something and it's just like
what did he say?
what did he say? you know he's just like
what? that's literally what they believe
and I'm not saying that sometimes
you know you're going to be up here if you're preaching
you might have a slip of the tongue
you might say something inaccurate I'm talking about like
weird stuff dandable heresy
that you know
essentially demonstrates that you are a wicked person
ok
you know this is what they do
verse 34 says wherefore behold I send unto you
prophets and wise men and scribes
and some of them ye shall kill and crucify
and some of them ye shall scourge in your synagogues
and persecute them from city to city
so what we have here
is the fact that
scribes played an
important role in Israel
but you know
because they didn't obey
or believe
the words that they were
penning down for others
they received the greater damnation
you understand
and this is showing us to whomsoever much is given
of him shall be much required
ok go to Jeremiah chapter 8 we'll finish off
in Jeremiah chapter 8
Jeremiah chapter 8
if you would
Jeremiah chapter 8
and you know if you walk away from the sermon
learning anything just learn just know this
just because an institution does something good
doesn't lend veracity to that institution
you know what
it lends legitimacy what do they believe
now if you get someone who believes right
and does right and does great works
it's a great combination
right
if someone believes the right gospel
they believe the right doctrine
and they're doing righteous works praise God for that
I'm just saying if there's an institution
who expects for you
to believe that their righteous based upon their works
but they believe something completely different
from the gospel of Christ
they are idolaters
they are
godless people and their doctrine
then you know what it doesn't matter what they do
they're unto every good work reprobate
yeah
because their works do not justify them
in the eyes of God
you know what it doesn't justify them in our eyes either
because at the end of the day
what you believe is actually the most important thing
look at Jeremiah 8
and verse 8
and let's see how this fits
this sermon about the scribes it says in verse 8
how do you say we are wise
and the law of the lord is with us
low
certainly in vain
made he it
the pen of the scribe
is in vain
so this is like oh man we're the scribes
we have the law
we know what the bible says we spent so much time
copying it
distributing it
but you don't believe it so it's in vain
those thousand
100 years of copying
the Greek New Testament in the Byzantine Empire
in vain
not in vain for us
we benefited from it
like thanks for doing the work for us
right
that's what it was
we'll go ahead and just take all that
and benefit from it
and look keep in mind in the bible
God does this all the time
he literally
just he's like Robin Hood
to a certain degree
he takes from the wicked
and he gives to us poor
really yeah look at Canaan land
he's like wipe them all out
and you guys take the houses that you did not build
wells that you did not dig
vineyards that you did not plant and just enjoy it
that's what he did
is that Canaan land it's yours
we'll call it Israel
right
does it all the time
what do you do with the lepers
you know he chased out
the army the camp there
and then just were able to go in and just eat all the food and just use it
gold, silver, everything
and by the way same thing in the millennial reign
the third temple
fourth temple whatever temple is going to be
that the anti that these
Zionists are making for the Antichrist
you know when Jesus comes
he's going to be like I'll take this
he's just like
flicks him into like a fire
and he's like
that's the temple of the Antichrist
that was the temple of the Antichrist
now it's now it belongs to the Lord
and so you know we're going to be able
also inherit things in this world
like you know whatever
mansions or whatever it's going to be ours
we just take over
you know it's just going to be ours
why because the Lord a principle in the Bible
is that he uses the wicked
now hopefully you know the wicked
when they are being productive
in these areas hopefully it moves them
to seek out the Lord
and then eventually get saved
that's the goal
but at the end of the day most of them will not
and so God's like okay
I'll you know I'll kill two birds
with one stone
I'll use this to try to reach you
but if it doesn't reach you
either way the product is going to be used for my people
as noted with what took place
in Constantinople in 1453
you know it
the pen of the scribes was
in vain
there was righteous scribes in the Old Testament
but unfortunately they didn't believe the words
that they were writing and therefore they went apostate
let's pray Father we thank you so much for your word
and we're thankful for the ready
scribes such as Ezra
righteous scribes and obviously
Beirut wasn't perfect but
he was used of the Lord
to pen down the words of the prophet
and Lord we're thankful
for how you use the wicked Lord
we're not to envy the sinners
because the sinners will be used by you
to accomplish your will
and Lord we're thankful for what took place
in Constantinople in 1453
were it not for it the scriptures wouldn't have gone
out and we would have
not had the underlying
Greek texts that makes up
the King James Bible
and so we're thankful for that Lord
I pray that you'd help us to be a ready scribe
to be ready to just not just
read the word of God on a daily basis
in order to internalize the truths of God's word
but also to expound upon it
when it calls for it Lord
and I pray you bless us as we go on our way
we love you we thank you pray these things in Jesus name
Amen