What Sorrow Awaits You…Twice the Child of Hell | Matthew 23:13-22

“…and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!”

Mat 23:15  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

FROM Albert Barnes Notes on the Bible:

A proselyte is what we might call a convert today. It is someone who comes over from a foreign nation, religion, or sect to us – a convert. Among the Jews there were two kinds of proselytes:

1. “Proselytes of righteousness,” or those who wholly and fully embraced the Jewish religion, who were baptized, who were circumcised, and who conformed to all the rites of the Mosaic institutions.
2. “Proselytes of the gate,” or those who approved of the Jewish religion, renounced the pagan superstitions, and conformed to some of the rites of the Jews, but were not circumcised or baptized.

Twofold more the child of hell – That is, twice as bad. To be a child of hell was a Hebrew phrase, signifying to be deserving of hell, to be awfully wicked. The Jewish writers themselves say that the proselytes were “scabs of Israel,” and “hindered the coming of the Messiah” by their great wickedness. The Pharisees gained them either to swell their own numbers, or to make gain by extorting their money under various pretences; and when they had accomplished that, they took no pains to instruct them or to restrain them. They had renounced their superstition which had before somewhat restrained them, but the Pharisees had given them no religion in its place to restrain them, and they were consequently left to the full indulgence of their vices.

Well then! What bad people those Pharisees were…I mean come on! They went out and made a convert so they could add ’em to the church membership list and then dropped ’em like hot rocks and used ’em for money and glory. Us Christians…we would never do anything like that..would we?

Cheap Grace, Love is Everything, Prosperity Gospel, New Age Religion and Dancing with Snakes…Oh My!

Christianity suffers today from the same problem the Pharisees had when spreading their religion…twisted truth based on a twisted understanding of the character of God. They twisted it in order to make it acceptable to the people they wished to “feed” off of. But we don’t do that…do we?

You can be part of any Christian based religion and be subject to misleading ideas, feel good motivational speakers, hypnotic music, messages of hope for a new car, grand schemes to build a stadium sized church, or small schemes to create a commune for those who wish to hide from the world.

• You’ll be told that grace covers everything, even the sin you treasure, because God loves you so much that He just doesn’t care about that.
• You’ll be convinced that if you can just love your fellow man a little more, God will love you back.
• You’ll be assured that God is interested in the size of your bank account and what kind of car you drive, and when you have both in abundance you can be sure that God loves you.
• You’ll feel good when you hummm sounds and connect with your ‘sssspiritual’ side. It will be God touching your heart and calling you good.
• You’ll experience the joy of dancing with poisonous snakes, because when you survive you can know beyond the shadow of a doubt that your religious fervor is strong enough to please God.

None of us are immune to this contagious disease, unless…

“Unless what!?”, you say. “Now you’re gonna tell me what I have to do to be saved? What makes you more knowing than the rest of them?”

Yes, I am going to tell you what you need to do to gain a knowledge and understanding of the God you seek….here it is….

READ YOUR BIBLE. DAILY. PRAY. DAILY. ASK FOR GOD’S WISDOM. DAILY. SEEK HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART SOUL AND MIND. DAILY.

“Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Mat 6:33

…and as a bonus offer! Today, one time only, I will tell you what NOT to do to be saved.

LISTEN TO MEN. JOIN A COMMUNE. HUMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. GIVE ALL YOUR MONEY TO A TV PREACHER. DANCE WITH SNAKES. LET YOUR BIBLE GET DUSTY. LISTEN TO MEN. GIVE YOUR HEART TO A CHURCH. JUMP UP AND DOWN TO THE BEAT OF THE MUSIC AND LET YOUR MIND EMPTY. LISTEN TO MEN. GIVE YOUR MIND TO ANOTHER MAN. GIVE YOUR HEART TO ANOTHER MAN.

Where you listening? I hope not..instead, I hope that you went to your Bible and sought the Lord on His terms.

Learn of Him from His Word. Let Him teach you. Let Him guide you. Let Him fill you. Let Him love you. Let Him save you…….now, stop listening to me and go get your bible.

Prayer:

Dear Lord,

As we spend time together I feel that instead of knowing You more I feel like I could never understand You enough. It is hard to face You. You are so Holy. You are so Good. My sin makes me turn from You…but I don’t want to. Forgive me Lord. Wash me clean and make me able to even just hold Your hand. Thank You for Jesus. Praise is Yours alone. Thank You for Your Grace and Your Love. Help me, on this beautiful Sabbath day to walk in Your presence. Fill me with the Holy Spirit and give me the Mind of Christ.

Thank You for all that You provide. I ask for wisdom today and strength for tomorrow and I ask for all these things in Jesus Name…Amen.

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