Monthly Archives: July 2022

Matthew 23- Woe to False Religion Part 2

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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. 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. 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. 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! Matthew 23:13-16

As we continue to look at Jesus rebuke of false religion , we must understand the word “Woe” in the Bible is the greatest condemnation you can receive. The word Woe can mean wretchedness or trouble, it basically means judgment is coming upon you. We often think of the Woes of Revelation, it’s the final judgment. So when Jesus is announcing Woe unto the religious leaders and their system, it’s an act of judgement and condemnation

Continually Jesus calls the religious leaders hypocrites, they don’t practice what they preach. They don’t truly love God and they don’t truly follow the Torah, they use man-made rules and religion to elevate themselves. Notice Christ said the religious leaders will receive “greater damnation” , so much for “soul sleep” as false prophets will receive a greater judgment in Hell than others, why? The Apostle James said “Many should not become teachers, because a greater judgment will be upon you” (James 3:1) There is a great duty and responsibility to be a servant of Christ, many have abused this calling and will suffer eternal consequences

Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. Matthew 23:17-22

Jesus continually calls the religious leaders “blind”, they are spiritually blind because they don’t have the Holy Spirit. As the Apostle Paul said “The natural man does not  receive the things from the Spirit of God, because they are foolish to them” (1 Corinthians 2:16) Even though the religious leaders know the scriptures and have dedicated their lives to studying the scriptures, they couldn’t properly discern them because they don’t have the Holy Spirit or received Christ as their Lord

People might say “Jesus is being harsh to these religious leaders” these are the same men who crucified The Lord on a cross! If you are going to be a religious leader than you need to make sure you are filled with the Holy Spirit, the false prophets and false teachers of the  Churches today will receive the same condemnation as the religious leaders of Israel, there is a great cost to be a disciple of Christ, make sure you are willing and able to pay that price! Amen!

Matthew 23- Woe To False Religion Part 1

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Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. Matthew 23:2-7

In this Chapter, Jesus goes off on the religious leaders of Israel. Much of this can be applied today in Christianity. There are many people who love their religion but they don’t truly love God. They are hypocritical , not bearing the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Alot of religion today has become a show or an organization, people are more concerned about numbers and titles, rather than saving souls

Jesus starts off by saying the religious leaders “Don’t practice what they preach” They love to quote the Torah, they love to wear their fancy garments, however they don’t follow the same scriptures they are reading. They continually make up man-made rules and religion, to keep people burdened under a yoke. However Jesus came to set us free, that’s why Christ died on the cross, to set us free!

The religious leaders love to put on a public show for people, they love their title and money, they abuse their power of being a spiritual leader of the congregation. However these same people, as Jesus said are “White washed tombs” (v27), they are dead to sin, their hearts are still hardened, they have no love of God inside of them

But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. Matthew 23:8-12

Jesus said “Nobody should be called Rabbi, for Christ is your Teacher” so much for Judaism, and Jesus also said “Nobody should be called Father, for God is your Father” so much for Catholicism. As we see, man-made religion doesn’t follow the Will of God. They make up their own agendas with their own rules to profit themselves. The religious leaders of Israel are guilty of abusing God’s word and people, to make an organization for themselves.

The greatest among you shall be your servant! Nobody should be exalted except our Lord Jesus Christ, because The Lord is the head of the Church, The Lord is King of Kings, everyone else is just brothers and sisters in Christ , Amen!

Matthew 22- Jesus Is God

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While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. Matthew 22:41-46

People will often say “Jesus never said He is God” however Christ really tried to make it easy for people to understand this, it just seems like many either misunderstand Jesus or just simply don’t want to believe him. Here we see Jesus asking the religious leaders “Who’s Son is the Messiah”? Hint, hint…..This reminds you of when Jesus asked his own disciples “Who do you think I am” (Matthew 16)

The Christ, was standing right in front of the religious leaders asking them about himself, but they still didn’t get it. Even though these men were to be considered the “experts” at scripture and The Law, they didn’t even recognize the Messiah was standing right in front of them. The religious leaders answered that the Messiah would be the biological Son of David. This was based on their knowledge of the Messianic Prophecy of Psalm 110, so it confirms they know Jesus is asking them about the Messiah. 

Jesus said “David in Spirit called him Lord” , When David was prophesying about the coming of the Messiah , he was filled with the Holy Spirit, this was confirmed by Christ. As Jesus was trying to point out, if David was talking about his biological son, he would not be calling his son “Lord” It’s obvious David was actually prophecying about Jesus , and Christ is the Son of God, not the biological  Son of David

A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Psalm 110:1

When we look at the original Hebrew it says “Yahweh said unto my Lord” Meaning the Father is talking to the Son to sit as his right hand. Can a human sit at the right hand of God? Can a human die for the sins of the world? Absolutely not, Jesus is God in the flesh (John 1:14, Isaiah 9:6) Jesus was trying to point this out to the religious leader , but they just didn’t get it, even though they were experts of the scriptures

Today, Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God the Father, Jesus Christ reigns from his throne as King of Kings and Lord of Lords , Amen!

Matthew 22- The Greatest Law

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But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 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. This is the first and great commandment And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:34-40

When we study the Old Testament, it can be overwhelming and sometimes difficult to decipher how this applies to us today. So what was the purpose of the Mosaic Law? What is the purpose of the Ten Commandments? We first need to understand that God’s Law, the Ten Commandments, is the nature of God. God is Holy and his nature is revealed through His Law. Our sinful nature is what separated us from God, and Christ has reconciled us back to the Father on the cross

Secondly, to understand what is sin, we need the Law of God. Jesus came to save sinners, but how do we know if we are a sinner? To understand our sinful nature we need to understand what is sin. The Bible says “ Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4) Sin is lawlessness, what is lawlessness? It’s the violation of God’s Law, its disobedience to God. The Bible also says “The Law of God is like a mirror, we should examine ourselves” (James 1:23) So when we look at God’s Law, the Ten Commandments, and compare it to our lives, we quickly realize we are all sinners and need the grace of Jesus Christ

The religious leaders, who claimed to be experts of God’s Law, again decided to challenge Jesus, by asking him “Which is the greatest commandment in The Law”? We have to remember the religious leaders of Israel kept adding to God’s Law, so at this point there was over 600 laws , so they believed this was another trick question to trap Jesus. 

Jesus answered “You should Love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, and mind,” This totally destroys the legalism of the religious leaders. Why? Because none of them truly loved God in their heart, they loved their religion, they loved their power, they loved their legalism, but they didn’t have the love of God inside of them. A new heart, as prophesied by Ezekiel (Ezek 36:26) is what separates the saints from the sinners, it’s what make us Born Again, then the Law will be written on our hearts. It all comes back to truly loving God, with all our heart, soul, and mind. 

Then the second commandment is to Love Your Neighbor, these are a fulfillment of the entire Law of God. The religious leaders didn’t do either of these, they didn’t love God and they didn’t love their neighbor, therefore their religion was worthless. Jesus simplified the Mosaic Law of 600 commandments to just two “Love God and Love your Neighbor” however the religious leaders were unable to fulfill this, why? Because they didn’t have a New Heart, they were not Born Again through Christ

We can go down many theological rabbit holes of what is God’s Law or how can we keep God’s Law, but remember this, Jesus Christ said “Love God and Love Your Neighbor”, you don’t have to have a PHD in theology to understand that, all you need to do is repent of your sins and submit to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savoir, Jesus paid it all on the cross, Amen!