St Matthew, Chapter 16, verse: 2 - 4, The Test: Reading the signs.

Our paragraph topic is: (The Pharisees and Sadducees ask a sign) Part 2 
 
The Pharisees and the Sadducees came to Christ to ask for a sign.  They had devised a test for him.  They said they wanted to believe.  They said they wanted to know.  They said that they wanted to see for themselves that Christ was the Messiah and a sign from heaven would convince them that he was the one.  Yet evil had conspired with them.  Evil had devised a plan with them.  Evil had conferred with them to test Christ.  And the evildoers were in agreement that they would come to Christ and ask for a sign.

And Christ saw through them.  Christ saw their evil.  Christ knew of their test but the evildoers were blind.  They did not know.  They could not see who was before them for they could not see the evil that was within them.  But they claimed that they wanted a sign from heaven that they might believe.  Yet they knew how to read.  They knew how to interpret.  They knew how to explain the changes that were taking place but evil was with them and they were blind.  Christ gave them their explanation.    But answering them he said , ''When it is evening you say, 'The weather will be fair, for the sky is red.'  And in the morning you say, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and lowering.'  You know then how to read the face of the sky, but cannot read the signs of the times!   

Christ gave them an example.  He showed them how to use their senses.  He told them that they could read, they could see, they could know if they only use their natural senses.  But the Pharisees and the Sadducees were blind.  They could see but did not want to believe.  They were filled with the darkness that would not allow them to know the truth of Christ.  But he gave them an example that they would know.  He gave them a riddle that would open their minds.  He gave them natural knowledge that they could use to open their hearts and see the truth of the signs that were being worked before their eyes.  But evil consumed them, darkness was within them, and it covered their knowledge of who they were in Christ.

Where are we today?  Are we consumed with darkness?  Are we blinded by the world?  Can we not see the signs that are before us.  Can we not know the truth of who we are and let Christ open our eyes that we may see, and open our hearts that we may know and heal us.  He came to suffer for our wrongs.  He came to die for our sins.  He came that we may have life eternal for without him we are dead.  And through him we have life if we only believe and turn from our evil ways.  The world does not want us to change.  The world would keep us in chains and dead to the life that Christ gives us.  The world would have us not believe.  The world have us partially believe so that we may sit on the fence, living in the world and thinking that we believe in Christ. 

The Father asks us to turn from the evil in the world and to obey his commandments.  The commandments are not meant to harm us, to block us from living.  If you tell a child not to touch the flame because it will burn and cause harm, that child does not know the truth of your words.  But it accepts that truth and does not touch the flame.  Our Father tells us to follow his commandments because to do otherwise would bring harm to us.  And yet we do not obey. 

I did not obey.  I followed the ways of the world, because everyone else followed.  Everyone else was in the world.  Everyone else was consumed with the world and I followed.  I tried to live in the world.  I tried to do as the world said.  I tried to make it work in the world, to have the riches and the desires of the world.  It only led to my destruction.  It only led to my downfall.  It only led me to be tested, to cross over to the darkness. 

Thank you Father for holding my hand.  Thank you Father for not letting go of me for not even sparrow falls to the ground except by the Father's leave.  Thank you Father for giving me your peace when I was a child that I would know how to find you.  Read the signs of the times.  Know the truth of who you are.  Follow the example that is given you as Christ gave to the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  Read the signs of the times!  Christ awaits you.  Christ is holding your hand.  Come back to him and know the joy and the peace that his love gives to all those who know him.  I did and I know the peace and the love that he gives me daily. 

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 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, verse: 4, The Transgression.

Our Paragraph topic is:  ( Christ refutes the Scribes and Pharisees)
Part 3.

The Pharisees questioned Christ.  Within themselves they believed that they had the authority to question him.  They believed that they were the enforcers of the law and that it was their duty to demand correction where they saw wrong.  For the disciples of Christ had taken food without washing.  The disciples had made an error and did not follow the laws and tradition laid down by the Pharisees.  So in their arrogance they questioned Christ about the behavior of his disciples.

Christ saw into their hearts.  Christ saw into their minds.  Christ saw the evil within them that they did not know.  Christ knew who they were and he knew the evil that was in them.  He knew the evil that persuaded them to come and speak about the behavior of the disciples.  For this evil had transgressed the commandments of God before. The evil within them decided that they were to rule mankind.  This evil decided that they were to control man and decide his destiny.  The evil inside decided that mankind would worship them and not the one true God.  The evil within the Pharisees decided that they would turn mankind away from God.  So they persuaded the Pharisees to question Christ.  But Christ saw their evil and he knew who they were.  His question to them was:   "And why do you transgress the commandment of God?"

The Pharisees were only vehicles through which the evil worked.  The Pharisees were only instruments through which the goals of evil were accomplished.  For evil was suggested to them.  Evil worked within them.  Evil made their plans with the Pharisees and the goals of evil were completed through the workings of men.  The Pharisees did not know why they transgressed the commandment of God, but evil knew.  The Pharisees did not know why they believed that they had authority to change the laws of God but evil knew.  For evil wanted to turn man away from God.  Evil hated the commandments of God and evil wanted to deceive mankind so that they could control his behavior and not God.   For God said, 'Honor thy father and thy mother '; and, 'Let him who curses father or mother be put to death.'

And so it is today.  Loving and godly parents lay down the law to their children.  Parents provide for their children.  Parents protect their children, care for them, educate them, give the love and nurturing that the body and soul needs to come forth and be a witness to the will of God.  But then the world takes over.  The world gets into the children.  The world draws the children into the darkness and without hesitation they become lost in the world.  For as the children grow and become older they rebel from the ways of the parents.  The children want the desires and the passions that the world has to offer and regard parents and being old and outdated not in tune with modern times.  And the world calls them to their death.

What makes us transgress the commandments of God?  How do we decide to go against his will?  Do we instantly make the decision to do so?  Do we see a lie and decide to lie?  Do we know dishonor and decide to dishonor?  Do we feel adultery and decide to be adulterous?  Or are we the pawns of the evil that is within us?  Are we whispered to, talked to, have visions from the evil that comes to turn us away?  Are we drawn into the transgression through the simple daily prodding of the world around us?  For evil is in the world.  Evil is through the world.  Evil is the heart of the world and it will not let us go until death comes. 

Do not be taken by evil!  Do not live in the evil of the world believing that it is the reality of life.  For the world is inclined towards death and has no life.  The world is darkness and leads to destruction.  Christ came into the world to bring life.  Christ came into the world that there may be light and not darkness.  But we must choose.  We must be aware of the darkness.  We must awaken from the deceit of the world and open our hearts to the light of Christ.  We are not of this world but of the kingdom of heaven.  For our treasure is in heaven and not in the world.  There lies our home.  There, in heaven, will we find eternal peace and the eternal joy that the world cannot give.  There in heaven will we see ourselves as we are in Christ.

COME!  Find your peace.  Find your truth.  Find your eternal joy and know the truth of the commandments.  For they were given to us to keep us on the path of life, the path that leads us to our eternal home.  Be not persuaded by the urgings of the world to transgress the commandments of God.  For God is our father, our creator, our protector, our provider.  He has prepared great and wondrous things for those who love him.  But for those who transgress, the wrath of the justice of God awaits.  Turn away from the suggestions of the evil that is in the world and live by the commandments of God.  Come!  Have eternal life in Christ!

St Matthew, Chapter 15, verse: 3, The Commandments of God vs Worldly Traditions.

Our paragraph topic is: (Christ refutes the Scribes and Pharisees) Part 2 

The Pharisees questioned Christ about the practices of his disciples.  They did not wash before eating as the Pharisees had practiced and preached to the people.  For it was the Law that the people should wash before eating and it was the authority of the Pharisees to enforce the law.  So they witnessed this transgression and questioned Christ about why he did not enforce this tradition.

But Christ saw their plan.  Christ knew their intentions.  Christ understood the hearts of the Pharisees as they came forth to question him.  For the Pharisees were men of education.  The Pharisees were men of influence.  The Pharisees were the authority on the Law.  They were the enforcers of the authority for the people of Israel.  They were the final source of what should and should not be, the ultimate authority.  And in their arrogance and their power they opened their hearts to the evil one.  The Pharisees changed the commandment of God.

Christ did not address the question of the Pharisees.  He did not speak to the traditions that they sought to enforce.  Christ saw them for who they were.  He saw their hearts and knew that they were not followers of the laws of God.   But he answered and said to them "And why do you transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?"

The influence of power and the suggestions of the evil one had infected the hearts of the Pharisees.  For they had held the seat of power for many years.  They had ruled over the tribes of Israel for decades.  Their minds and their hearts were filled with the intoxication of power that they knew no wrong.  And the arrogance of power opened the door for Satan to come in and turn them.  For through his influence the laws were changed.  Through his influence men placed themselves above the commandments of God and made their own decisions.  How would it hurt if we lusted just a little?  How would it hurt if we lied just a little?  How would it hurt if we stole a little?  How would it hurt if we committed adultery just a little?  And how would it hurt if we influenced the people to do the same things just a little?

And so it is today.  We are entertained.  But through our entertainment we are influenced.  We see, through our entertainment, stories of lies, deceit, lust, adultery, murder, false witness, and all manner of evil.  And it is accepted as entertainment, entertainment that influences the mind and the heart.  For what we see, we practice.  For what will it hurt to lie a little?  What will it hurt to steal a little?  What will it hurt to commit adultery a little, to deceive a little, disrespect our parents a little, to worship idols a little?  And the world draws us into its web, we fall asleep, and we become the lost sheep not knowing or wanting to know that we are children of light and children of love. 

God is our father and he gives to us things that will keep us away from the evil that is in the world.  His love is our protection and our provision.  To know him is to love him.  To love him is to want to do the things that he has given us that will protect us.  Be not conformed to the world but be transformed out of the world.  Though we live in the world we do not belong to the world.  Our treasure is in heaven,  Your peace is in heaven. our eternal joy awaits us in heaven.  Do not fall asleep with the temporary fixes of this world.  Satan wants you to loose your treasure.  He wants you to forget about your eternal joy.  He wants to steal your everlasting peace.  Awake!  And know the true love of Christ.  Open your heart to his spirit and you will know the truth of who you are.  Experience the abundant life of Christ , here and now and awaken from the sleep of death offered by the world.