November 29, 2014 Serious Sin

Serious Sin

Matt 23:14 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.” (NKJV)*

YOU will likely look at the title of this devotion and think, “All sin is serious.” Yes, that’s true. But Jesus teaches here that some sins are more serious than others.

     In this second of the eight “woes” Jesus condemns hypocritical Pharisees for taking advantage of widows. Apparently they defrauded widows of their property and homes due to them after their husbands had died. The dishonest Pharisees might be compared to an unethical money manager who advises people to take action that will put most of their money into his pocket. The Pharisees and scribes received no money for their work, and those who were dishonest would charge widows large sums of money for their “advice”.

     In addition, Jesus condemns here, as he does in Matthew 6:5, long prayers done more for show than for true worship of God. Jesus’ judgment takes sure aim at lying, unethical hypocrites, and he pronounces, “Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.”

     Is one sin more serious than another? Do not all sinners who do not repent receive the same punishment? One answer comes in James 3:1: “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” “More strictly” says there is strict judgment on those who teach falsely. Other scriptures point to more severe penalties for other acts against God and His people.

     As Christians we all have been given much responsibility to live faithfully in Jesus’ true teachings. I pray you will be serious about obeying Him so that Jesus will reward you one day with, “Well done, my good servant!” (Luke 19:17)

LIFE Link: Serious obedience.  

*The New King James translation of the Bible is one several translations that has this verse. I normally use the New International Version that does not have Matthew 23:14. This verse is found in Mark 12:40.

    

November 28, 2014 Invite In

Invite In

Matthew 23:13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”

WHEN Jesus says “woe”, He speaks with great grief over the Pharisees’ sin that they have “shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces.”

     I’m sure you become very upset, don’t you, when someone shuts a door in your face? You’re separated, locked out from where you want to be, and you wonder if the person who slammed the door will open it for you.

     In many ways, the religious system the Pharisees had built in Judea was slamming the door on God’s people. Ultimately, of course, God opens the door to all He chooses. But the Pharisees’ false interpretations of God’s laws, their judgmental approach over the general population, and their multitude of self-serving systems, had caused hopeless frustration among God’s people. They wondered, “How is it possible to get to God?”

     Jesus condemns the teachers for standing at the Kingdom door and refusing to enter themselves. Staying outside of God’s truths, they have turned people away from God’s extraordinary grace and promises.

     The Pharisees are the pastor who falsely teaches lies and half-truths to his church such as: “The gospel doesn’t matter.” “You only need to read of God’s love.” “You have to do specific works to be saved.” Such false teachers stand at the kingdom door and refuse to go inside. They prefer their words over God’s words, their glory over God’s glory. Such door-shutting actions will condemn them to eternal hell, and God will shut the door on them forever.

     In essence Jesus told the Pharisees to go into His true ways or to get out of the way.

    

LIFE Link: Enter in. Invite others.  

November 27, 2014 Thankful for God

Be Thankful for God

1 Chronicles 16:23-24 Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim His salvation day after day. 24 Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples.

DAVID and the Levite priests have established the ark of God in Jerusalem. Now it is time to celebrate! The words of verses 1 Chronicles 16:8 to 36 are also found in Psalms 96, 105 and 106. They proclaim praise and thanksgiving to the great power and l.ove of God. 

Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done. (Psalms 105:1)

Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever. (Psalms 106:1)

One of David’s great gifts was to form words into emotional poetry of praise, thanksgiving and celebration. David is repeatedly purposeful to call on the love in his heart to proclaim God’s enduring love.

            Thankfully, the celebration didn’t stop on that day. David gave to a priest named Asaph the responsibility of continuing the celebration. Asaph was a gifted lyricist and musician, too. Twelve Psalms are to his credit. (50, 73-83). They, too, ring with praise, worship and thankfulness for God’s great and glorious work.

            On this Thanksgiving Day and on each day, I hope and pray that as people ask you, “What causes you to be thankful?” that you will respond with, “I am thankful for my God, who loves me, for Jesus, who saves me and the Holy Spirit, who lives in me.”  Declare to God, to your family, to your friends and to your church, “My God saves. Praise His holy name!” Begin a celebration of thanksgiving, and may it endure forever.

LIFE Link: Thank God.

November 26, 2014 Woe

Woe

Matthew 23:13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”

THIS begins a series of what is referred to by some as “The Eight Woes”. These teachings are a severe judgment Jesus preached to the Pharisees to call them out of their sin. As all of Jesus’ truths, some of these teachings will be hard to receive because Jesus clearly draws the judgment line between right and wrong. And the Pharisees are on the wrong side. Our learning from this scripture will only come as we ask God to show us if we are as the Pharisees were. We must honestly listen to our Lord because we do not want to be on the wrong side of Jesus’ answer.

     To begin, we should know the impact of the word “woe”. This small word has great meaning in the judgment of God. To express woe is to exclaim great grief. Jesus exclaims in grief over the Pharisees lives as he knows judgment is coming upon their great sins.

     If a word is used three times in the Hebrew language, its meaning takes on great emphasis. “Holy” and “woe” are the only two words used this way in the Bible: And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." (Isaiah 6:3) and “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!” (Revelation 8:13)

     God’s holiness is sure. God’s judgment is sure. We’ll talk more tomorrow about Jesus’ woe upon the Pharisees “who shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces.”

LIFE Link: Woe to pretenders.

November 25, 2014 Exalted Lord

Exalted Lord

Matthew 23:11-12 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.   

THE one who lived into Jesus’ teaching more completely than anyone else in history is Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote about Jesus’ sacrificial humility:  though He was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  (Phil 2:6-8)

     One reason Jesus is the perfect teacher is that He perfectly lived Kingdom life. When you want to know good life habits, it helps to follow someone who lives that way. Someone’s good way of life gives you a good life way to travel, doesn’t it?

     As Jesus urged his disciples to humble living and rebuked the Pharisees for their prideful ways, His words prophesied His destiny. The humiliating cross was before Him. From the cross, the Father exalted the Son to heaven’s throne. That’s our Lord Jesus - humble to die and exalted to reign.            

     Oh yes, Jesus took that cross for you. Does it humble you to know that? As Paul said that Jesus was “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” he reminds us of Jesus’ horrible death, that He was humble to die in agony for us.

     What’s your response when someone does something nice for you? You’re grateful, aren’t you? What’s your response that Jesus has humbled Himself to excruciating suffering? What’s your response he has done something eternal for you?

LIFE Link: Jesus’ humility is your life’s way.