Living Authentically: Fear God, Not Hypocrisy

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"Meanwhile when a crowd of many thousands had gathered so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying, 'Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.'" [00:00:33]

"I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him." [00:01:08]

"Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God." [00:01:28]

"And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When you are brought before synagogues, rulers, and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say." [00:01:19]

"Jesus had spoken to these Pharisees and he'd said to them, you know, you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. And he has some very striking things to say to these religious phonies. One of the reasons that some may not have been in church for some time is because you've been greatly concerned about the phony religion of some that you have known." [00:07:52]

"Jesus is not giving them a warning about something they need no warning about. Religious hypocrisy was prevalent and remains prevalent, and all of us understand the sting that comes by way of this exhortation. Well, from that word of warning, he then provides a word of encouragement in the face of intimidation." [00:12:39]

"Don't allow any fear of what men might say or do to silence your voices or to conceal your allegiance to me. And when you take this exhortation and encouragement in light of all that we've read, he presumably has in mind what he refers to in verse 11 there, concerning the ecclesiastical courts of the Jews." [00:13:43]

"Fear him who after the killing of the body has power to throw you into hell. Now this is a staggering statement that it is not unique to this passage of scripture. The Bible makes it perfectly clear that there is a kind of fear which is continually emphasized as a necessary ingredient to instill in the believer a right living." [00:18:09]

"Now it is surely not that to sin against one member of the trinity is less grave than to sin against another. It can't be that, for they are equally God and it is equally offensive. It would seem that we begin to scratch something of the surface of it when we consider the fact that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, who is of course invisible." [00:25:21]

"Those who are most concerned about it need to have no concern about it at all. It is often said, and I think quite helpfully, that if we are anxious that we have committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, then we need not fear because that blasphemy is always accompanied by a complete indifference to that notion." [00:27:38]

"It is a sin which recognizes that God has revealed himself and his grace in Christ. He has done so by the Holy Spirit, and yet the individual seeing something of that revelation in Christ, out of hatred to it and out of hostility towards it, ascribes it to the devil and to the evil one." [00:28:48]

"Thank God for Professor Bevink and for those that he has raised up in every generation who are so profoundly in tune with the word of God and so intellectually gifted that they can leave this to the likes of me and others like me. Do you understand that it's worth getting the tape for that quote?" [00:34:46]

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