30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 14 1-6 The evil of hypocrisy 06 Testing God
📖 Luke 14:1-6
17Nov19 - Testing God - _Luke 14:1-6_ - Bible reading: _Exodus 17:1-7_
_Luke 14:2-6 And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy. (3) And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" (4) But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go. (5) Then He answered them, saying, "Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?" (6) And they could not answer Him regarding these things._
We understood that the problem of the religious leaders of Jesus’ time, was the problem of hypocrisy. The Lord made it clear that hypocrites will go to hell. We therefore began to look into the problem of hypocrisy and its symptoms in our own lives. The symptoms that we have seen thus far are,
1. Our heart is seeking after its own gain.
2. Giving importance to outward rituals, traditions, rules and formats and not giving importance to love God, be loved by Him and to love people.
3. Seeking glory from men.
4a. Appearances before men.
4b. Outwardly appearing righteous before people.
5. Seeking for signs and wonders.
The symptom of hypocrisy that we will look at today, is the symptom of testing God. The religious leaders often tested Jesus. We see an example in _Matthew 22:17-18 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" (18) But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?_
How do we understand this symptom of testing God? We see here that these religious leaders were not humble and genuine. There was wickedness in their heart. Their plot was to entangle Christ. We see another example of testing, when a lawyer tested Jesus. _Luke 10:25-30 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"_ This lawyer was not wanting eternal life, though his question seemed personal but it was only asked to test Jesus and to also justify himself. But from this test question came the story of the Good Samaritan. _(26) He said to him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?" (27) So he answered and said, "'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND,' and 'YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'" (28) And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live." (29) But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" (30) Then Jesus answered and said: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead._
The Lord knows, if our response to Him is out of trust and dependence on Him or is it only to satisfy our own interests or justify ourselves. The Israelites tested God in the desert. _Exodus 17:1-2 From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. (2) The people quarrelled with Moses, and said, "Give us water to drink." Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?"_ They were testing God but not trusting and depending on Him. _Exodus 17:7 He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarrelled and tested the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"_
The warning is clear. _I Corinthians 10:9 nor let us tempt_ (test) _Christ, as some of them also tempted,_ (tested) _and were destroyed by serpents; I Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come._
*Thought to ponder*
```When we test God, we will not trust Him and without trust, we cannot please God.```