Matthew 23
Seven Woes
1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5"Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries[a] wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.'
8"But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 9And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ.[b] 11The greatest among you will be your servant. 12For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
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.[c]
15"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
16"Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.' 19You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.
23"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
25"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
29"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!
33"You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation.
37"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. 38Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'[d]"
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion:
Numbers 14:1-5
Numbers 14
The People Rebel
1 That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! 3 Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" 4 And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt."
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there.
Numbers 14:26-27
Listen to this passage
26 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: 27 "How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites.
March 3, 2008
An Impossible Challenge?
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READ: Num. 14:1-5,26-27
Do all things without complaining and disputing. —Philippians 2:14
A pastor in Kansas City gave what seemed to be an impossible challenge to his congregation—to go 21 days without complaining (the amount of time some say it takes to develop a new habit). Special bracelets were distributed to participants as a reminder to live complaint-free lives. A movement was started, and millions of bracelets have been distributed all over the world.
The biblical principle “Do all things without complaining and disputing” (Phil. 2:14) is an important one. The ancient Israelites discovered this when, because of their constant complaining in the wilderness, they were judged by God and not allowed to enter the Promised Land (Num. 14).
How can we learn to develop a noncomplaining, positive attitude that will please the Lord?
• By disciplining our thoughts (Rom. 12:2). We need to meditate on Scripture and remember our blessings.
• By confessing our critical spirit and committing ourselves to obedience each time we fail (1 John 1:9).
• By enlisting God’s help and the help of others. The Spirit will empower us as we depend on Him (John 14:26). — Anne Cetas
Because God helps us, doing all things without complaining is not an impossible challenge.
Lord, help me stop complaining
When things don’t go my way;
Instead, give me a thankful heart
For all You do each day. —Sper
A complaining Christian is a contradiction in terms.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers:
March 3, 2008
His Commission to Us
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READ:
Feed My sheep —John 21:17
This is love in the making. The love of God is not created— it is His nature. When we receive the life of Christ through the Holy Spirit, He unites us with God so that His love is demonstrated in us. The goal of the indwelling Holy Spirit is not just to unite us with God, but to do it in such a way that we will be one with the Father in exactly the same way Jesus was. And what kind of oneness did Jesus Christ have with the Father? He had such a oneness with the Father that He was obedient when His Father sent Him down here to be poured out for us. And He says to us, "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you" ( John 20:21 ).
Peter now realizes that he does love Him, due to the revelation that came with the Lord’s piercing question. The Lord’s next point is— "Pour yourself out. Don’t testify about how much you love Me and don’t talk about the wonderful revelation you have had, just ’Feed My sheep.’ " Jesus has some extraordinarily peculiar sheep: some that are unkempt and dirty, some that are awkward or pushy, and some that have gone astray! But it is impossible to exhaust God’s love, and it is impossible to exhaust my love if it flows from the Spirit of God within me. The love of God pays no attention to my prejudices caused by my natural individuality. If I love my Lord, I have no business being guided by natural emotions— I have to feed His sheep. We will not be delivered or released from His commission to us. Beware of counterfeiting the love of God by following your own natural human emotions, sympathies, or understandings. That will only serve to revile and abuse the true love of God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft:
Copying Daddy - #5516
Monday, March 03, 2008
Our daughter was always a curious little thing, and she asked endless questions, especially when it was time to go to sleep at night. And she liked to look into things that she found, even trying them at times. Most of those little explorations were harmless. Not the day she got into a drawer in the bathroom and pulled out some stuff she saw Daddy using to get ready in the morning. Deodorant - no problem. Toothbrush, toothpaste - no problem. My razor - problem. She'd seen her father run that razor up and down his cheeks, so she decided to do what she saw Daddy do. Bad idea! Scratches and cuts on her face. No permanent damage, but not something she did twice.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Danger of Copying Daddy."
Not everything daddies or mommies do are a good thing to copy. Unfortunately, all of us grown up children have copied some things from our mommy or daddy that never should have been copied. And if we don't do something about it, it's going to leave not just some scratches and cuts, but some permanent scars.
Maybe you grew up around a temper that left scars on you, and now that anger is showing up in you. Maybe you have a heritage of selfishness in your background, a selfishness that hurt you and hurt others. But now you're seeing some of those same selfish ways in you. If you grew up around a parent where lying was a way of life, you may well have begun to see that pattern of deceit showing up in you and leaving that same trail of tears. So many wrong ways that we can pick up from where we grew up: destructive attitudes toward sex, controlling or manipulating ways, abusive behavior, a negative or critical spirit that tears people down, a runaway mouth, a tendency to run from problems and let them grow into monsters. And the list goes on.
Stuff we hated when we were growing up. Stuff we swore we'd never do when we got older. Stuff we're doing and stuff we're becoming in spite of ourselves. And now, another generation is about to experience the same kind of hurt and damage that you did because you can't stop what you can't stand. But there is Someone who can. And the chain-breaking miracle He does is spelled out in our word for today from the Word of God.
There's so much hope in these words in 1 Peter 1:18. "You were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers ... with the precious blood of Christ." There is in the death of Jesus Christ for your sins, the power to break the cycle of sin and hurt that has infected every one of us! In a later verse, the Bible says "He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed." Man! That is such incredible news! You don't have to be what your father or mother were and probably others before them. You don't have to be what you have been if you'll get yourself to the cross where Jesus gave His life to remove the guilt and break the power of sin in your life. He then came out of His grave to prove that He has the power to conquer anything, including the darkness that has always conquered you!
Which brings you to a crossroads in your life with a cross right in front of you. You have a decision to make about what Jesus did for you. Either you walk right on by, or you drop to your knees there and give yourself to the Man who gave His life for you. Who alone can liberate you from the long darkness; who alone can enable you to live so you don't hurt the people you love the most. Why don't you tell Him, "Jesus, I want to turn from my sin. You died for that sin, and I'm trusting you as my personal Savior from that sin."
If you're ready for that step, I want to invite you to go to our website. You'll find there some information that's helped a lot of other people at this important crossroads moment. It's yoursforlife.net. I hope you'll go there right away today while you're thinking about it. Or if you'd like me to send you the booklet Yours for Life, just call toll free for it at 877-741-1200.
The darkness has already hurt too many people, and you know what? It can stop with you, with the life-changing power of Jesus Christ!
To find out how you can begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, please visit: yoursforlife.net or call 1-888-966-7325.