St Matthew, Chapter 16, verses: 5-6, The Leaven: The Warning.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees) Part 1. 

The Pharisees and the Sadducees came with their demon conceived plans to trick him.  They wanted a sign from heaven to make them believe, so they said.  And Christ told them how they could understand.  He gave them a sign that they already had.  But the demons inside wanted their plans put into action.  They were the evil inside the evil doers.  They were the influence that spoke to the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  They were the ones.  Christ warned them that he would visit them and that would be their sign.  He would come to hell for three days and bring destruction to their plans.  For their sign was the sign of Jonas in the belly of the whale.  And with this he left them.  He left the presence of evil in the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

And while they were crossing the sea, Christ warned his disciples of the plague.  He warned  them of the leaven of the evildoers.  For Satan had influenced the Pharisees and the Sadducees and they in turn spread the plague.  They spread the leaven to the people and throughout the world.  They were contaminated first.  They received the leaven.  They held the 
original strain and were the carriers of the resident evil.  Yet many were not aware.  Many did not know.  And the evil spread amongst the people without hindrance.  And Christ warned his disciples to be on guard.    And when his disciples crossed the sea, they found that they had forgotten to bring bread.   And he said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees!"

Are you aware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees today?  What are the influences that they play in our lives?  We see it everywhere, on the TV, in the movies, in magazines, on the Internet, in the news, on billboards, wherever we look, we see, hear, and accept the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  It is accepted as a part of our lives.  It is a constant assault on the spiritual purity of our souls.  It is handed down to us as we are children.  It is fed to us  as we become teens.  It becomes our desires as we mature.  And yet it is not until we face destruction in our lives that we wake and become somewhat aware of the leaven that has become a part of us.

Save the children!  Protect the teens!  Guard the mature against the leaven that we live with in our lives.  If the destruction of the world came today many would be lost to the leaven.  Many would face damnation.  Many would not know the love and the gift that God, our Father, has provided to us through Christ Jesus.  For without belief in him we are dead, without life, without the light of new life that comes through Christ.  Are there no alternatives to leaven?  Are there not antidotes?  Is there no solution to what has become so much apart of what we accept today as ordinary and common?  We go to church on Sunday and neglect the other six days of the week to return to the leaven of the world.  Wake up my brothers and sisters!  We have work to do.  Open your minds and your hearts that you may be saved and be born again in Christ.  For without new birth we are dead inside.  We have no life.  We have not the light of Christ within us but only darkness.  Here is a trail to follow.  Christ awaits you.  Come receive the light of the Holy Spirit and be born again.

Read the signs of the times!  Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ.  Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself.  Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding.  Read it for knowledge.  Read it for faith.  Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ.  The Holy Spirit awaits you.  Christ seeks to know you.  Open the door and let him in! 

St Matthew, Chapter 16, verse: 1, The Test: Request for a sign.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The Pharisees and Sadducees ask a sign) Part 1.

And the word spread.  Like wild fire the word spread and people talked about Jesus.  They spoke of his miracles.  They spoke of his teachings.  They spoke of his words.  They spoke of his peace.  They spoke of his love for all man.  And then the Pharisees heard.  They heard and disliked.  They heard and hated.  They heard and plotted how to stop the word from spreading.  For they were filled with evil.  They were consumed with darkness and darkness did not like the teachings of Christ.  Evil did not want to hear of goodness.  Evil did not want peace.  Evil wanted to do away with Christ.  So they plotted with the Pharisees as to how they might do away with him and his teachings.

So the Pharisees and the Sadducees came to Christ with a test.  They had planned their strategy and came to Christ to test him with a question.  They had heard of his miracles.  They had seen others who were cured.  They had known those who were blind, crippled, possessed, lame, and filled with leprosy but they still did not believe.  So despite all the signs and wonders, they wanted a special request.  They wanted a special sign for themselves so that they could say that they could believe.  But evil was with them.  Evil could not work on its own but only through a person.  So the evil doers came to Christ and asked for a sign.   And the Pharisees and Sadducees came to him to test him, and they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

Where are we today?  Do we need a sign to believe?  Do we need a cure to understand and believe?  The evil within does not want us to believe.  The evil within would have us blind.  The evil within would have us deaf.  The evil within would keep us as unbelievers or at worst deceive us to think that we believe yet continuing to do the things that indicate we do not believe. 

We live in a world that is not eternal.  Yet we believe that it is forever.  We believe that tomorrow is given, next week is planned for, next year we will be here to enjoy the pleasures of this life.  Do we need a sign?  Do we need death to come and knock on our door to tell us to wake up?  Do we need sickness to come into our lives to open our eyes.  The thief comes in the night when least expected to steal from us.  Thank you Father for not letting go of my hand.  Thank you Father for not giving up on me.  Thank you Father for keeping death away until I came to know you.  For I faced death on many occasions.  I walked the line with evil and was tempted to cross over.  Yet I knew deep down inside that evil was not with me.  I knew from the peace that you gave me when I was a child that this was your peace.  I knew that the love that you showed me was not the hatred and anger that I faced when tempted by evil. 

Thank you Father for touching me with your love and your peace.  Now I know who I am and who you are.  I know that your Holy Spirit is with me each day.  I know that I am your child and you are my loving Father who wants to care for me and provide for me.  To those who do not know or who do not believe, I am a witness for his love and his peace.  Come, seek the truth of who you are and the knowledge of your Father.  Christ wants to heal you.  Christ wants to protect you.  Christ wants to love you.  And the Father will provide for you if you only believe. 

Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ.  Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself.   Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding.  Read it for knowledge.   Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ.   The Holy Spirit awaits you.  Christ seeks to know you.   Open the door and let him in!

St Matthew, Chapter 15, verses: 20, Understanding: Awareness

Our paragraph topic is: (Christ explains what defiles a man) Part 4.   

Christ has revealed, to his disciples and the people, understanding of what defiles.  He has opened the minds and the hearts of the people so that they now know, so that they now see, so that they now understand truth.  For this is not the truth of the Pharisees that want the people to hear their truth.  This is not the truth of the world that wants the people to be confused, misled, and blind.  This is the truth that comes from the father of truth through Christ.  This is truth that comes from the creator of truth that knows no lie or falsehood or deceit.  This is the truth that comes to mankind from all eternity, the truth of God.

Christ spoke the words of truth and truth came to the people.  Christ explained the words of truth that there would be no doubt in the people.  Christ elaborated on the truth that all would understand.  And today we read and hear the truth and do not understand, do not comprehend.  He has said to us,   "These are the things that defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."

These, defile a man when they enter the hearts of men.  These, defile a man when they come forth from the mouth of men.  These, are the things that are evil,the things that occupy the hearts and men and allow darkness to enter the heart.  For from the heart comes evil thoughts.  For the heart thinks.  The heart believes.  The heart knows.  The heart is.  "I praise thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and prudent, and didst reveal them to little ones."  Become like a little ones and not like the wise and the prudent that profess the knowledge and the wisdom of the world.  Hear the words of the truth of eternity and know that it comes from the father of wisdom and truth.

Let not the heart be opened to evil.  Let not the heart become dark with passion.  Let not the heart know adulteries and immorality.  Let not the heart give false witness or blasphemies.  Let not the heart conceive of murder.  For these are the things of evil.  These are the things that lead down the path of destruction and death.  These are the things that defile, corrupt, and kill the life that Christ came and died that we might have.  And these are the things that the evil one brings to us that we may fall to him.  Yet we live in a world where these things are all around us.  We live in a world where these evils present themselves to us on a daily basis.  We live in a world where these things a accepted as common occurrences. 

But we know not how to protect ourselves.  We know not how to fight against these things.  We know not how to guard our hearts that we may not succumb to the temptations of these things.  For this is not a part of our world.  We are not taught how to avoid these things.  We do not see and hear and understand the truth of the advocate that was given to us.  For Christ came that we may have life and have it more abundantly. 

Receive the life of Christ and open the heart to the advocate that he may live within.  Christ has told us how we may know that we have the Holy Spirit.  He has give us the guide.  He has opened the door that the Holy Spirit may come in.  Yet few accept.  Few know.  Few receive the truth of eternal life that is ours for the asking.  Read the words of the good news.  Study the words of the gospel of the New Testament.  Read it like you read a book and not as a study guide.  Receive the truth of the light of Christ.  Then, you too will know that you have received the light of the Holy Spirit.  And your heart will rejoice in his presence and his consolation.

St Matthew, Chapter 15, verse: 14, The Lesson: Blind Guides

Our paragraph topic is:  (Disciples warned to shun the Pharisees) Part 4.  
    

Christ had spoken and the Pharisees heard and took offense.  Christ called the people to himself.  He called their attention to what he was to say.  He told them to hear and understand, and his words opened the eyes and the hearts of the people.  For he told them that what goes into the mouth does not defile a man as had been preached by the Pharisees.  He told the people that it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a man.  It is what is spoken that indicates that a man is defiled and unclean.  And the Pharisees had taken offense for this was against their teachings.

And the disciples heard the murmurings of the Pharisees.  The disciples listened to the Pharisees and they were upset that the Pharisees were upset.  The disciples were concerned that the Pharisees had taken offense to the words of Christ for they did not know the evil that possessed the Pharisees.  And Christ calmed their minds.  Christ spoke to his disciples and reminded them of the power and majesty of his father who did not plant seeds in the Pharisees.  He reminded them of outcome of those seeds that were planted by evil and what will happen to them in the final days.  They would be rooted up and thrown into the fire to burn.  And finally he spoke to his disciples in a way to let them know that the Pharisees were blind.   Let them alone; they are blind guides of blind men.  But if a blind man guide a blind man, both fall into a pit."

And so it was spoken that the disciples could understand.  And so it is written that we, today, may understand.  Who is blind and who is sighted?  How do we know who we follow?  Are we being led by blind men, the blind guide?  Or are we being lead by the teacher, the Advocate, that Christ promised?  We go to church, we perform our religious duties, we pray, we fast, we do all the things that we are taught to do.  But who is teaching?  Who is leading?  Who is our guide?  Christ has given us instructions.  He has left us his words.  He has provided us a path to follow that we may not be misled.  Hear and understand, he commanded us, that we may know.  Every plant that the heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.

Will you continue to follow an uprooted plant?  Will you continue to believe in the words that come from the seed not planted by the Father?  Will you continue to follow the blind guide that will lead you into the pit?  Seek and you shall find the true guide that leads to the Father.  Knock and it shall be opened to you that you may have sight beyond your earthly vision.  Ask and it shall be given to you that you may have the wisdom of heaven to understand that which is given you.   For those who seek will find, those who knock will have doors opened to them.  And those who ask the Father, it will be given to them that they may see.  The true teacher seeks to teach you.  The true guide seeks to lead you.  The true spirit of Christ seeks to dwell within you that you may know your Father in heaven and yield fruit a hundred fold. 

St Matthew, Chapter 15, verse: 12, The Lesson: The Pharisees take offense.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Disciples warned to shun the Pharisees) Part 2.  

 Christ had called the people unto himself that he may give them instructions.  He called their attention that they may hear, that they may listen, and that they may understand the lesson being taught.  He told the people that it was not what they put into their mouths that defiled but what came out of the mouth that made a man defiled.  And the Pharisees heard and understood.  And the Pharisees heard and were angered.  And the Pharisees heard and took offense.  For they, the Pharisees, had taught, for hundreds of years, that a man was unclean and defiled if he did not wash before eating.  They, the Pharisees, had impressed upon the people that they were unclean if they did not follow the traditions as they were taught.  And many people felt and believed in the teachings of the Pharisees.  Many people believed that they were unclean.  Many people, because of the limited availability of water, believed the teachings of the Pharisees.  

They did not have flowing water available to them as the rich, and the wealthy, and the powerful.  They could not wash before every meal, as the rich, and the wealthy, and the powerful were able to do.  They could not follow the traditions as handed down by the Pharisees, as the rich, and the wealthy, and the powerful.  So they believed that they were unclean.  But Christ came and made a change.  Christ came and taught differently.  Christ came and made the people clean, for he taught that it is not what is put into the mouth that makes one unclean but what comes out of the mouth that makes one unclean.  For from the mouth the heart speaks.  And many, spoke evil from their mouths and were unclean because of what came from their heart through their mouths.  The disciples came and told Christ .  Then his disciples came up and said to him, "Dost thou know that the Pharisees have taken offense at hearing this saying?"

The disciples listened to the Pharisees.  The disciples heard the talk of the Pharisees.  The disciples believed in the teachings of the Pharisees because they did not know.  The disciples did not know that if the heart is clean and pure then the mouth speaks no evil.  The disciples did not know that what is put into the mouth does not make one clean or unclean.  And so Christ had to teach.  Christ had to inform.  Christ had to give a lesson to his disciples and to the people gathered around him.  And Christ had to offend the evil in the Pharisees.  For the Pharisee took offense to what was spoken by Christ.  The evil within the Pharisees arose and brought forth the anger against the teachings of Christ.  The evil within made the Pharisees spoke against the teachings of Christ and took offense.

Christ taught a lesson 2000 yrs ago and it still rings true today.  The Pharisees objected.  The Pharisees were compelled to speak.  The evil within them had to come out.  Is this still true today?  Are you compelled to speak?  Does your mouth speak before you have had to time to think about what you are to say?  Does your heart know what comes forth from it or not?  Defilement comes out of the mouth.  Unclean words are an indicator of what lies within.   And when the words of truth are spoken to us the unclean spirits come forth.  For we do not speak of and by ourselves.  We do not know what is to be said in the heat of an argument.  Only the evil that is within us comes out and we are made unclean.  Only the darkness that hides within our hearts comes out and is spoken through and by the mouth giving evidence of the state of our being. 

God is love and within his being is love.  We are created in his likeness.  We are created in his image.  Yet we can be infested with evil.  We can be filled with evil.  We can be taken over by the darkness that is in and of the world.  But there is a choice.  Christ came, a light into the world.  Christ came that we may not walk in darkness but in the light of his life.  The choice is ours.  Which do you choose?  Do you choose darkness or do you choose the light?  It is a conscious decision.  It is a decision that requires action.  It is a decision that means walking a different path than what the world would have us walk.  Come!  Walk the path with Christ.  He will walk with you and give you the light of life to walk with you.  And you will know the treasures of the kingdom of heaven in your walk.  

St Matthew, Chapter 15, verses: 10 - 11, The Lesson: Hear and Understand.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Disciples warned to shun the Pharisees) Part 1. 
         
Christ was in the land of Genesar.  And the people heard of him through word of mouth.  There was no Internet.  There was no radio.  There was no television.  There were no anchor people giving the news hourly or live as it happened.  There were no reporters in the field.  There was only the local person who kept the latest news and spread it to the appropriate people like himself that would carry the message throughout the land.  They were paid for good news.  They were rewarded for keeping up with hot topics that the rulers wanted to know about.  And the Pharisees wanted to know about Jesus.

He was a miracle worker.  He healed the sick.  He made the lame walk.  He opened the eyes of the blind.  Some called him a prophet.  Some said he  was a great man of God.  And some knew that he was the Messiah.  So the Pharisees had to find out who this man was that performed miracles.  If all that was said about him was true then they had to win him over to their side that he might bring the people under their authority and their rule.  But Oh!, were they shocked when they heard the things that he preached and taught the people.  They were compelled to confront him.  They were moved to action.  They had to do something before the people were led astray.  For this man, this miracle worker, taught the people against the Pharisees.  This Christ allowed the people to go against the teachings of the forefathers.  This Rabbi was wrong in their eyes and they had to stop him.

For decades the Pharisees had taught that a man was defiled if he did not wash before eating.  For years they preached that one should wash before eating to prevent from becoming unclean.  All they had to do was to watch the gentiles who were unclean, defiled men, women, and children that eat without washing.  They, the gentiles, were below the chosen people because they did not follow the traditions set by the Pharisees.  And then Christ comes along, after years of traditions, and he teaches the people how not to be unclean.  He allows his disciples to eat without washing.  They, the disciples, set the example for all the followers of Christ.  And if this example was not corrected it would corrupt and defile all of Judea, according to the thinking of the Pharisees.  But Christ taught them differently.  Christ,  then he called the crowd to him, and said to them,'' Hear, and understand.   What goes into the mouth does not defile a man; but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a man."

A new lesson!  A change in direction from the teachings of the past.  For it was taught that every man was unclean unless they washed.  Every man, according to the Pharisees, was unfit unless they followed the traditions handed down by them.  Every man did not have water to wash before eating.  Every man did not have flowing water into their homes as did the Pharisees.  Every man was not wealthy enough to be able to bath and clean up two to three times a day.  So only the wealthy and the well to do and the rich, and the politicians and the rulers and the Pharisees had access to this privilege.  So this tradition made all men who were not able to follow the teachings, unclean.  And all were made unclean and defiled.  But Christ came and changed all that.

He taught people that they were clean.  He taught the people that it was not the washing that made them clean but what came from the mouth that made them unclean.  For out of the mouth the heart speaks.  And if the heart is evil and possessed of evil, then from the heart comes all manner of evil.  For the heart is concealed from man and no one knows what is in the heart of men except Christ.  And it is from the heart that evil takes possession of men.  Christ  wiped away the teachings of the Pharisees and opened the eyes of men that they may see the truth of who they are.  The door to the soul is through the heart and the heart must be protected against the evil that wants to posses it. 

Hear and understand!  Christ told the people around him and he tells us today to understand that the mouth is the gateway through which evil comes.  The mouth is the archway from which man is defiled and made unclean.  For the mouth only speaks what is in the heart.  And if the mouth speaks defilement then the heart is unclean. 

Hear and understand!  Protect the heart.  Open the heart to the love of Christ and he will protect it.  Open the heart to Christ and he will send the Advocate to guide it.  For the Advocate will protect.  The Advocate reside in it.  The Advocate will counsel with it.  The Advocate will fill the heart with the spiritual love of God.  And it is this spiritual love that provides understanding and wisdom to the kingdom of heaven. 

Christ has given us a way to know that we have received.  He has told us what to look for.  He has provided a light that we may follow.  But it is our decision to follow.  It is our decision to seek.  It is our decision to wake up from the drug induced sleep of the world and become lamps unto the world.  Christ has opened the door.  He has provided a way.  He has set forth a path for us to follow.  Seek and ye shall find!  Knock and it shall be opened to you!  Ask and it shall be given to you!  Come!  Receive the Holy Spirit and all will be revealed to you.

St Matthew, Chapter 15, verse: 9 , Vain Worship

Our paragraph topic is: (Christ refutes the Scribes and Pharisees)
Part 6.

Christ gave the Pharisees a wake up call.  He called them hypocrites.  They had changed the Commandments of God and preached and practiced the precepts of their own making in place of the just Commandments of God.  Arrogance guided them.  Evil was their companion.  Power was their love and rule of the people was their passion.  For they were the Pharisees.  They knew the Law.  They studied the Law; they were the keepers of the Law. Everyone had to obey their words and their commands or suffer punishment as metered out according to the wisdom of the Pharisees and suffer the wrath of God as they professed it.  They knew not mercy.  They knew not compassion.  They knew not love.  They only knew the law according to their own interpretations.  And the Law was for the people.  The Law was not for the Pharisees.  For behind closed doors the Law was interpreted differently for them.

And Christ called them hypocrites for what was in their hearts was not of God.  The evil of arrogance had taken them.  The evil of self deception had guided them.  The evil of the world was with them and they were with the world.   For they believed that they worshipped the one true God.  They believed that they followed the commandments.  They believed that the love in their hearts was that for the love of God.  And they believed that their actions demonstrated that love.  But arrogance had blinded them.  Evil had deceived them.  And deceit had filled them with hypocrisy that they might maintain their belief in themselves.  Christ repeated to them the prophesy of Isaias saying,   "In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine the precepts of men."

Hypocrisy had led them to believe that the worship that they garnered was for God when in actuality they brought worship to themselves.  They loved to receive honor and praise.  They loved to have influence.  They filled themselves with pride for their positions over the people.  For the people honored them.  The people respected them and their positions.  The people praised them as they were taught that it was praise given to God.  But hypocrisy had deceived the Pharisees and the Pharisees deceived the people by leading them to vain worship.  For praise was not given to God but to the Pharisees.  Honor and glory was expressed to the Pharisees and not to God.  The heart was filled not with the love of God but was filled with love of the Pharisees in exchange for the power and privilege that they held. 

And so, worship became vain and empty and the people followed the traditions and precepts as handed down by the Pharisees.  We worship today out of tradition.  For it has been handed down from parent to child that we should go to church and worship God.  It is the right thing to do, we have been told.  We know not the purpose of our worship.  We have not a reason for our worship.  We believe not the love that is missing from our worship for we have missed the truth of worship.

God our father has given us life eternal through our Lord Jesus Christ, a precious gift that we value not.  For one does not value a gift until it is taken away.  One does not value life eternal until one experiences death eternal.  Yet, in that utter despair and loss of hope, does one realize the true value of the gift that was given.  We try, today, to grasp the value of that gift, without experiencing the despair and loss of hope, by expressing praise and worship to the giver of that gift of eternal life.  But in our attempts, our expressions are in vain.  Why??  Because our expressions of praise and worship do not come from the heart. 

How does one express love if there is no understanding of spiritual love?  We know physical love because that is what we are and what we know through our experiences.  And that is the basis of our expression of love.  But spiritual love is beyond the physical and requires the input of the spirit to understand.  Spiritual love comes from and through and with the human heart and the heart of man is in the world.  It is only through the input of the spirit of eternal love that one realizes that spiritual love comes from and through the Holy Spirit.   Then one begins to understand and know and experience the eternal spiritual love of God our Heavenly Father. 

Christ came that we may have life.  Christ came that we may have the spirit.  Christ came that we may know the love of God our father.  Yet today, we know not the spiritual love of God.  We worship the father weekly, daily, hourly but without the fruit of the spirit.  For over time the fruit dies on the vine.  Over time, the worship that we express to the father, dies and does not produce.  Over time, the world takes hold and entraps us, deceives us, and turns us into hypocrites and we become like Pharisees, clean on the outside and dead on the inside.

Seek the love that comes with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  You can know Him!  You can see Him!  You can be with Him, everyday, every minute, every hour.  A transformation will take place.  The ways of the world will leave you.  The passions of the world will seek to capture you again but you will only know the passion of the kingdom of heaven.  Christ came, a light into the world.  He gave us instructions how we might find our light.  Seek it!  Find it!  Know it!  For it is within you that you may know the truth of who you are, children of our creator, God.

St Matthew, Chapter 15, verses: 7- 8, The Transformation into Hypocrisy

Our paragraph topic is:   (Christ refutes the Scribes and Pharisees)
Part 5.  

Christ called them hypocrites.  The Pharisees were the keepers of the law.  The Pharisees were the educated of the people.  The Pharisees were the elite of the people.  They had money, they had power, they had influence, and they knew the Law, handed down by God to Moses.  But in their arrogance they opened the door to evil and allowed evil to come into their hearts.  And in the arrogance of evil they changed the Commandments of God and preached and practiced their own precepts.  Evil persuaded them.  Evil helped them.  Evil came to them little by little until they became evildoers, the agents of evil.  But justice prevailed.

Christ came with justice.  Christ came that the scales of justice would be balanced and all mankind would be justified before God.  He was the sacrifice.  He was the propitiation for the sins of man.  He was the lamb, the innocent one.  He was the gift to mankind that God gave that all would be saved.  But hypocrisy had come in.  Hypocrisy had taken over the minds and hearts of the Pharisees.  They were the givers of the Law.  They were the enforcers of the Law to the people.  But, they did not live by the Law nor did they believe in the Law, for their hearts were not in and of the Law.  And Christ came and told them who they were.  Christ said to them, Hypocrites, well did Isaias prophesy of you saying, 'This people honors me with their lips, but
their heart is far from me.'

They pretended to be religious.  They pretended to believe in the Law and the Commandments of God.  But inside, their hearts were of the world.  Inside, their hearts sought after the power, the influence, the wealth of the world.  Inside, their hearts did not belong to God but to the world.  The arrogance of evil had persuaded them to follow.  The arrogance of evil had moved them along the path of self deception and denial that made them believe in themselves.  And the Pharisees believed in their authority to rule the people according to their own precepts.  So they transformed themselves into hypocrites.  They became the face of religion for the people and the face of the world to themselves.

Where does your heart lie?  Are you of the world or of Christ?  Does the world draw you to watch football on Sunday or does Christ draw you to his supper on Sunday?  The world is subtle.  It entices you with all its charm and fun and activity that you may slip into darkness without knowing how difficult it becomes to return to the light.  For the battle is not in the mind.  The battle is not in the actions.  The battle is for the heart of men that they may follow good or follow evil.  For out of the mouth the heart speaks and the actions of men speak to where lies their hearts. 

Can you stop in the middle of a great football game, turn the TV off and pray?  Can you stop in the middle of a good mystery or romance, turn the TV off and pray?  The enticement of the world is subtle.  It captures the mind.  And through what we see and what we hear the door is opened so that control of the heart follows. 

We go to a movie and our hearts are moved by what we see and hear.  Yet the control is so subtle that we are not aware of the change that is taking place.  And we like the control that has taken place so we go back for more and more until now our hearts are addicted to the control.  We see violence.  We see murder.  We hear language that is accepted as normal.  And our hearts are controlled by the upbeat of the music that we hear.  The beat of the music is set to the beat of the heart and the control is subtle.  So we go in to the movies being mindful of the things of God and come out being mindful of the things of the world.  And the decent into hypocrisy is a slow decline that takes place and we become transformed, our hearts become addicted.  Sex and violence and murder become accepted in what we see and hear in our entertainment.  It's not real.  It's only make believe, we say to ourselves.  Is it?  It may be make believe but the battle for the control of the heart is real.  And we slide a little further along the path of hypocrisy.

Christ called the Pharisees hypocrites.  It was a wake up call for them, a slap in the face that they may look in the mirror and see who they had become.  What have we become today?  Can we look in the mirror and say with true confidence that we are for Christ?  If there is doubt then there is hope.  If there is denial then the heart is lost and the control of the world has taken over.  How can you know the difference?  It is a difficult task to continue to deceive and deny to oneself who or what we are day in and day out.  Evil will continue to persuade us that we are disciples of Christ when we live in the world.  Only those who know the Advocate will be able to withstand the tricks and traps of the devil.  Many want to know, many want to believe, many want to find, want to see, but are misled.  Seek the truth!  Ask Christ for guidance.  Believe that he will come!  Be delivered from hypocrisy and live the life that Christ gave us to live.  Christ said, "I am the light of the world.  I came that those who believe in me will no longer live in darkness."  Step out of the darkness and into the light and welcome the Holy Spirit into your life.  I did!!

St Matthew, Chapter 15, verses: 5 - 6, Man voids Commandments of God

Our paragraph topic is: ( Christ refutes the Scribes and Pharisees)
Part 4.   

Evil stands with the Pharisees as they challenge Christ about the law.  The Pharisees had witnessed the disciples of Christ breaking the Law by not respecting the traditions the Pharisees had implemented.  For the Pharisees were the keepers of the law.  They were the enforcers of the Law.  They were the learned in the law and no one knew more of the law, handed down to Moses, than they.   They held their office in high esteem and believed that they had the authority of God to command that the people follow the Law as they interpreted it.  So they challenged Christ, the author of the Law.  They did not know.  They did not understand.  They could not see because evil had taken them.

They had made void the commandment of God through their arrogance.  They had cancelled the judgement of the father of Justice according to their own designs, that they may maintain their enforcement upon the people and set aside judgement for themselves.  For they had no honor for their fathers and mothers.  They had no desire to obey the commandments.  They had set themselves apart from the people that they may set themselves above the law.  For this was the design of evil and the arrogance of man, to rule the people as they saw fit, without following the commandments of God.   For Christ said to them,  But you say ‘Whoever shall say to his father or mother, "Any support thou mightest have had from me is dedicated to God," does not have to honor father or his mother. ' So you have made void the commandment of  God by your tradition.

Man was with evil and evil was with man and together they were one.  The evil doer became evil, even though they were not made the same.  For evil resided with man but man was made from God and still had the spirit of God within him.  Yet evil came and took over man and he knows not what he does.  For evil persuades with convincing arguments and compelling evidence to the minds of men and man has no defense save to call upon the love of Christ.  Evil has no defense against the love of Christ and his Holy Spirit.  For Christ was the sacrifice that paid for all mankind to be free of sin.  Christ gave his life and his spirit so that man could be restored to salvation.  Christ came and died for our sins that man may be justified before God.  Yet evil still prevails and man knows not.

The Pharisees voided the commandment of God and replaced it with their own tradition.  Today man voids the commandments of God and replaces them with his own interpretation of how we should live.  We live in a world surrounded by the presences of evil.  Yet we know not that it exists and desire not to know that we are in a battle.  For evil tells us that we may set aside the commandments of God.  Evil tells us that we may live the life that we desire on this earth and not suffer the consequences of God's justice.  God is the ultimate judge and there is no other higher authority.  His justice is complete.  His justice is true.  His justice is honest and fair.  For he who transgresses the commandments subjects himself to God's justice, and this is what evil desires of man, that he suffers the justice of God and loose eternal life that is store for him in heaven.

So evil distorts, evil deceives, evil disguises truth, evil lies, and evil does everything that it can to turn man away from his true self.  For man was created in the image and likeness of God and his true place is in heaven.  But, changed by the designs of the world, man has lost sight of who he is.  Man does not know that he is the light of the world.  Man does not know that within him the Holy Spirit is to dwell.  Man has forgotten that Christ came, suffered and died for our sins that we may no longer live in sin.  Yet sin prevails and man continues to live, asleep in a world of sin, as evil grows in the minds and hearts of man.  

For the evildoer does the deeds of the evil one and man is not aware.  And the evildoer makes void the commandments of God that evil may prevail.  Guard your hearts!  Guard your minds!  Be vigilant of what you see and what you hear.  For evil is subtle in its attack upon the children of God.  Pray daily that the other advocate will come and live within you that you may be protected against the attacks of evil.  For you can know him.  You can see him.  You can carry him with you every minute, every second of the day that you will be protected and shielded from evil.  Seek him.  Ask for him to come.  Know that he will be with you for Christ has promised that he will send him.  And when he comes, Christ has said that you will be filled with his light that you will see and know the truth of who you are.  For the eye is the lamp of the body and if the eye is sound then the body will be full of light as though it shines from a lamp within.  Seek it!  Find it!  Know it, and you will see the spirit of Christ within.