RELIGIOUS POISON

 Matthew 23:13,15,28

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!

Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.

It was really some grievous things Christ accused the religious leaders of doing. How they lead many to hell with their wrong interpretation of scriptures, selfish desires, and severe hypocrisy. 

Reading through Matthew chapter 23, you see the examples Christ stated about their ills. 

Let us look at tithing, yes the law gave them the command to tithe, which is good and Christ re-emphasized that. However, there are more weightier laws which are neglected:

Matthew 23:23

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.

Justice, Mercy and Faith are more weightier than tithing, remember:

Matthew 5:23-24

“So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.

For your giving remains unacceptable till your heart is right. 

1 Corinthians 13:3

If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

Evil is displayed because love is missing or forgotten. Selah

For they esteemed the riches and glory of this world more than the eternal glory. The lust for the world's goodies make them twist scriptures:

Matthew 23:16-22

“Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear ‘by the gold in the Temple.’

Blind fools! Which is more important—the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred?

And you say that to swear ‘by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear ‘by the gifts on the altar’ is binding.

How blind! For which is more important—the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

When you swear ‘by the altar,’ you are swearing by it and by everything on it.

And when you swear ‘by the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it.

And when you swear ‘by heaven,’ you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne.

We must be reminded that the temple of God now is our bodies! 

You CANNOT talk of good actions if the heart is full of evils thoughts. You could go visit all the wonderful religious sites in the world, you could travel to various temples and so called holy places, your heart is still where the worship is. 

See how Jesus stated the most important commandments to them:

Matthew 22:37,39

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’

A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

The heart, the soul and the mind. . . 

1 Samuel 16:7

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the lord looks at the heart.”

The sins of these religious leaders were many, there is still more:

Matthew 23:24-27

Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence!

You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity.

What is the summary of these:

Matthew 23:28

Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Serious hypocrisy. 

I feel so overwhelmed by the weight of the evils of these Pharisees and teachers of the law. 

Well the question is, do we see these same attributes in our spiritual leaders today? 

All things may end pretty soon, today, this year, next year, ten years from now or maybe a hundred year from now. We do not know, Christ says that the knowledge of the exact date and time is in the exclusive knowledge of the Heavenly Father. Our own duty is to be ever ready. 

Are our religious leaders keeping the flock ready, are they feeding them rightly with the word of God. 

Are we all working on the right path, or are we repeating the errors of those Pharisees and religious rulers? 

Jesus said, that it is the truth that sets us free. Are we in the truth or have we preferred to hold on to a lie?

Christ called "woe" to these people, what will He say to us? 

It is time to get rid of all these spiritual poisons. It is time to make sure the heart is pure. 

Matthew 5:8

God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.

What is the condition of our hearts?  No day like today to check the condition of our heart and make it right. 

You have helped us Good Lord. 

He calls us blessed. 

Love

@the watcher