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  PHARISEES ARE STICKLERS FOR THE LETTER OF THE LAW
  by Zac Poonen
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Summary: The sermon emphasizes the importance of balance in teaching and
the dangers of the Pharisaical approach to the law, which majorizes on
minors and neglects the weightier provisions of the law.

Topics: "Legalism", "Spirit Led Ministry"
Scripture References: Matthew 4:17, Matthew 5:3, Matthew 23:23, John 4:24, 1 Timothy 6:10

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DESCRIPTION
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Zac Poonen preaches on the danger of majoring on minors, similar to the
Pharisees who focused on tithing minor things while neglecting the
weightier matters of God's Law. He emphasizes the importance of
preaching on foundational topics like repentance, poverty of spirit,
purity, love, humility, and other key teachings of Jesus, rather than
getting caught up in legalistic details or cultural preferences. By
studying the emphasis of Jesus in the gospels and the Holy Spirit in the
epistles, one can learn to prioritize essential teachings in their
preaching, leading to a balanced and Spirit-led ministry.

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CONTENT
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"You Pharisees tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the
weightier provisions of the law" (Matthew 23:23).

Pharisees take some small aspect of a commandment in Scripture, and
emphasise that. They "major on minors". There is a lot of preaching like
that today. Such preaching will make a church full of legalistic people
who are proud of their obedience in minor matters but who are
unconscious of their utter disobedience in major matters. Jesus did not
tell the Pharisees not to tithe dill and cumin etc. What He did say was
that the major matters in God's Law needed more emphasis than tithing.

I studied through the four gospels once and wrote down all the subjects
that Jesus emphasised: He preached on repentance, poverty of spirit,
gentleness, purity, mourning for sin, paying one's taxes, being born
again, worshipping God in spirit, love, humility, marital faithfulness,
breaking with human traditions, etc. But He never once spoke on how
people should dress or whether women should wear jewellery or veil their
heads. He did speak however on living a simple lifestyle and on not
loving money.

I then studied the epistles to see what subjects were emphasised much by
the Holy Spirit, and what subjects were emphasised very little, or not
mentioned at all.

Thus I discovered what I should emphasise most in my preaching and what
I should give less importance to. If you study Scripture like that, you
will be balanced in your teaching and you will avoid becoming a
Pharisaical preacher.

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/zac-poonen/pharisees-are-sticklers-for-the-letter-of-the-law/
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