How To Go To Hell

Introduction

Got a good reason for taking the easy way out
Got a good reason for taking the easy way out now

She was a day tripper, a one way ticket yea
It took me so long to find out, and I found out

She’s a big teaser, she took me half the way there
She’s a big teaser, she took me half the way there now

Tried to please her, she only played one night stands
Tried to please her, she only played one night stands now

She was a day tripper, a Sunday driver yea
Took me so long to find out, and I found out

Day tripper
Day tripper yea
The last time I taught Sunday School, I was talking about why we are not Willow Creek Community Church. Before that I talked about why we aren’t the Christian Reformed Church. Before that I talked about why we aren’t the Roman Catholic Church. So, I figured I was being excessively negative and decided to give a positive lesson instead. Today I’m going to talk about How To Go To Hell.

MT 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. 14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. 15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. 16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! 17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? 18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. 19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? 20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. 23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. 25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, 30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. 32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

When Jesus said these things, we have to remember whom he was talking to. He was talking to the Pharisees. He did not address the Sadducees. They did not believe in the resurrection. Therefore the Sadducees did not believe in Hell. The first thing to remember when you want to know how to go to Hell, is you have to believe in Hell.

History of the Pharisees

The Pharisees were named after the Hebrew word perushim comes from the word parash, meaning to separate. They lived in the Second Temple Era of Israel, that is roughly 536BC to 70AD. After that they became known as Rabbinic Judaism and then simply as Judaism.

Their name, Pharisees, tells us they were separatists. But what were they separated from? For most of their history, Pharisees defined themselves in opposition to the Sadducees. The Greeks were into Philosophy and worldly wisdom. The Sadducees embrace of Greek thought could probably get them called “liberals” by today’s standards. The Pharisees also resisted the Greek cultural influences that the Sadducees embraced.

These are the sorts of people that Jesus was talking to in this passage.

Hypocracy

MT 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

Jesus characterizes the Pharisees as hypocrites. What does the word “hypocrite” mean?

Main Entry: hyp·o·crite
Etymology: Middle English ypocrite, from Old French, from Late Latin hypocrita, from Greek hypokritEs actor, hypocrite, from hypokrinesthai
: a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion

The Greek word “hypocritEs” means actor. An actor plays a role, assuming an identity that is not his own. On Babylon 5, when the Vorlons inquired into the righteousness of a person, they asked “who are you?” Each of us should ask ourselves, “who am I?” A girl I knew in High School wrote a book where she talked about “Christian identity” but what does that mean? I tell folks I used to teach Sunday school and I used to be a Deacon. Is that who I am? What does that mean? Who am I?

The first thing to know about the Pharisee is that his identity is not the same as the role he plays. He plays the role of the man of God, but when you see him playing moral “whack a mole” on everyone around him you see who he really is: someone who puffs himself up by tearing those around him down. Guilt manipulation is the favorite blood sport of the Pharisee. I will not give any examples though a few come to mind.

What is the identity of one who keeps God’s law? Jesus said so a few verses back:
MT 22:34 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

How then does one keep this law to love God and one’s fellow man?

1CO 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Jonathan Edwards said love means giving the other the benefit of the doubt. It is the opposite of the censorious attitude of someone who plays moral whack-a-mole.

Religious Abuse

14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

Does this remind you of anyone? Over Labor Day, we heard sermons that encouraged and challenged us to give more. Walking to the dining hall, a thought occurred to me and I said to Mary. “I’d feel more comfortable if the people who encouraged me to give weren’t in the business of accepting offerings.”

Have you ever seen someone who purports to pray, but doesn’t talk to God--just preaches a sermon while he expects everyone to keep their eyes closed and so on? I mentioned this to my friend Joe and he just shrugged, "That's not praying. It's preaching," he said.

False Evangelicalism

15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

Think about a witnessing situation. Are you trying to describe the benefits that you have derived from your encounter with God? Or are you trying to convince some guy to quit drinking, smoking and chewing tobacco, and then become a Baptist, Republican, pro-life, creationist, and home-schooler?

Rapaciousness

16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! 17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? 18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. 19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? 20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

I had some difficulty figuring this passage out, so I called one of my lifelines. And This is what John Calvin had to say:

Matthew 23:16. Woe to you, blind guides, As ambition is almost always connected with hypocrisy, so the superstitions of the people are usually encouraged by the covetousness and rapacity of pastors

Calvin was concerned with Rome and its use of superstitions like relics and indulgences and foolishness like that. That’s what it looks like Jesus is condemning here. We can’t get superstitious about things and symbols and confuse the symbol for the substance.

The world has, indeed, a natural propensity to errors, and even draws down upon itself, as if on purpose, every kind of deceit and imposture; but improper modes of worship come to gain a footing only when they are confirmed by the rulers 1 themselves.

Here Calvin is talking about rulers in the church, the pastors, teachers, priests.

And it generally happens, that those who possess authority not only, by their connivance, fawn upon errors, because they perceive that they are a source of gain to them, but even assist in fanning the flame. Thus we see that the superstitions of Popery were heightened by innumerable expedients, while the priests opened their mouths for the prey; and even now they daily contrive many things by which they delude still more the foolish multitude. And when minds have once fallen under the darkening influence of the enchantments of Satan, nothing is so absurd or monstrous as not to be eagerly swallowed.

It was on this account that the Jews had more reverence for the gold of the temple, and for the sacred offerings, than for the temple and the altar. But the sacredness of the offerings depended on the temple and the altar, and was only something inferior and accessory. It may readily be believed that this dream proceeded from the scribes and priests, because it was a scheme well fitted for collecting prey. And this was not only a foolish but a highly dangerous error, because it led the people into ridiculous fancies. There is nothing to which men are more prone than to fall away from the pure worship of God: and therefore, under the covering of this veil, it was easy for Satan to withdraw from the contemplation of God those who were too strongly inclined to foolish imaginations. This is the reason why Christ so severely chastises that error. And yet the Papists were not ashamed to prostitute the sacred name of God to a mockery still more detestable; for they reckon it of more importance to touch a morsel of a stinking carcass, than to peruse the sacred volume of the Old and New Testaments, or even to raise their hands towards heaven. And in this way arises a carnal worship of God, by which the proper fear of God is gradually obliterated.

It is nothing. By this phrase he does not mean that they entirely took away the honor of the temple, but he speaks comparatively. For when they represented in extravagant terms the sacredness of offerings, the common people were led to entertain such veneration for them, that the majesty of the temple and of the altar was undervalued, and they reckoned it a less heinous crime to violate it by perjuries than to swear by the sacred offerings with too little reverence.

18. And whosoever shall swear by the altar. Here our Lord does what ought to be done in correcting errors; for he leads us up to the source, and shows, by the very nature of an oath, that the temple is far more valuable than the gifts which are offered in it. He accordingly assumes this principle, that it is not lawful to swear but by the name of God alone. Hence it follows that, whatever forms men may employ in swearing, they must give to God the honor which is due to him; and hence also it follows in what manner and to what extent we are at liberty to swear by the temple, namely, because it is the residence or sanctuary of God; and by heaven, because there the glory of God shines. God permits himself to be called as a witness and judge, by means of such symbols of his presence, provided that he retain his authority unimpaired; for to ascribe any Divinity to heaven would be detestable idolatry. Now so far as God holds out to us a brighter mirror of his glory in the temple than in offerings, so much the greater reverence and sacredness is due to the name of the temple. We now perceive, therefore, in what sense Christ says that we swear by him who inhabits heaven, when we swear by heaven itself. His design is, to direct all forms of swearing to their lawful end and object.

Though Calvin condemns the Papists of his day, I think that every time we encounter a religious person or group who has a strong attraction to money, and a strong desire to separate he faithful from their money, then this is the same sort of blindness Jesus and Calvin condemn here.

Distortion

23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

Here the Pharisees make a big deal of something small, and make short-shrift of something big. Remember above we talked about what God things are the biggest commandments.

Back in college I was talking to Jim Phipps, a speech professor. He said something that made little sense at the time. He said that you WANT to have more jobs to do than you have time to finish. That way you get to pick the ones you work on. Otherwise, you’d have to do them all.

Let’s suppose you’re Saul Pharisee. You’ve got 10 Commandments you can’t or won’t keep. What do you do? Make up a whole ton of EXTRA commandments that you can busy yourself with keeping while you blow off the big 10. OK, we’ll add

1. no dancing on Sunday
2. no going to movies
3. no smoking
4. no drinking
5. no two-piece bathing suits
6. no hair over your ears
7. no blue jeans before suppertime
8. no granny glasses like the ones John Lennon wore
9. no playing cards (except Rook that doesn’t have face cards)
10. no loud rock music.
    

Do these commandments appear in the Bible?

I don’t have any love in my heart for legalists, because I love God’s law. Legalists can never keep God’s law and they’re always substituting their own little rulebooks for God’s law.

Calvin has this to say at this point:
Christ charges the scribes with a fault which is found in all hypocrites, that they are exceedingly diligent and careful in small matters, but disregard the principal points of the Law.

Externalism

25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

Look back at those goofball commandments I mentioned above. They’re all external things. They all make you look respectable. But God looks upon the heart. When we’re talking about ignoring the core important parts of God’s law, and emphasizing trivialities, we’re talking about ignoring internal law-keeping in favor of external-show-law keeping.

27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Christ piles this on again and again. Externalism is bad. Externalism is bad. A show of righteousness is no substitute for a heart of righteousness consisting of mercy, judgment and faith.

False Hero Worship

29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, 30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. 32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

I go back to Calvin again. “The scribes endeavored to gain the favor of the ignorant multitude, and indeed of all the Jews, by this additional hypocrisy, that they cherished with reverence the memory of the prophets; for while in this manner they pretended to maintain their doctrine”

Which is better, to praise the name of Christ or to live what he taught? To praise the name of the Apostles or to follow their teaching? To praise Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Calvin, Luther, John Bunyan, Robert Ketchem, and M.R. De Haan, or to do what they said to do?

The Pharisee engages in hero worship, but doesn’t bother about what made the hero heroic!