And He said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. (Luke 11:46-52)
Jesus sharply, and deservedly so, rebuked the scribes, the Pharisees, and the lawyers, who so wrested the Scriptures to their own destruction that they burdened the people with grievous burdens they could not bear. They were proud of their memorials and whited tombs, but the graves were the graves of the prophets their fathers had killed for preaching and prophesying the Word of God. All those who were killed for their witness of Christ testify of Him who stood before them and they not only did not believe, but kept others from seeing Him through their teachings and interpretations.
The teachers and interpreters of the Law had so added to the Law of God that they had made it on none effect. Their burdens upon a Law which was never meant to save, kept many people from seeing the Truth of Scripture and trusting in the Messiah as well as seeing Him when He came. Those that erected the vaults over the tombs of the prophets were of the same heart and mind of their fathers who killed those prophets because of their witness of Christ and His Word. Their self-righteousness not only kept them from seeing Jesus as the Messiah of God when He came, but also kept others who followed their errors by addition from believing and seeing Jesus as the Christ.
No matter what false gospel is put forth or follow, morality, social justice, or an easy believism, which presents the wrong Jesus and the wrong gospel, it is not only gives a false assurance but leads those seeking hope and Truth away from God. Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with repentance and faith in Him and His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary, can save and give eternal life. God does not care how moral lost people are if they are lost, for while this world may call us good, God says there is none that is good except God and no one can be good enough. God does not care how many people are made better in this life, if His church does not warn them of Hell and preach the Gospel. Their existence may be healthier, richer, and wiser, in this life, but the lost are still bound for destruction. God especially hates when His children do not preach His Word that whosoever will may receive Him, but water down the Scriptures to add numbers to the roles, without true repentance and saving faith. God’s people are to take the whole Word to the whole world that all might hear and believe. We are to reach the lost with Salvation, teach the nations all that He commanded, and preach His Word until He is done with us.
Until then, God sends those of us who are His saints and know Him out into this world to reach the lost that they might be saved from sin. He desires that His people strive to be holy and obedient unto Him that we might minister to those around us who are hurting and in need as He provides. We serve others, equipped with the Word of reconciliation and righteousness, rightly divided and fitly spoken, that they may see Christ in us, the hope of Glory. Our God has commanded us to love one another with an unfeigned love, even as He first loved us, and to disciple one another in the Word of God so that we may all grow in grace and in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Our Lord has commissioned those who are His with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to go where He sends us in the power of the Holy Spirit. As we go, we are to proclaim the Good News of forgiveness through repentance and reconciliation with the Father through faith in His Son, that those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah of God might have life in His Name.
God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and the knowledge of the Truth. Jesus loves you and wants to establish a covenant relationship with you that is real and personal. Surrender to Him on His terms and He will give you a brand new life of discipleship and fellowship with Him that is abundant and everlasting. God calls you to faith in Christ and His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary to pay your sIn debt. He has provided the only way of reconciliation with God, forgiveness from God, and Salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of God who is God the Son, to give you a new life in Christ. Turn away from yourself and your sIn and turn to Him alone for eternal Life, now and always.
In Christ,
Jefferson Sweet
The teachers and interpreters of the Law had so added to the Law of God that they had made it on none effect. Their burdens upon a Law which was never meant to save, kept many people from seeing the Truth of Scripture and trusting in the Messiah as well as seeing Him when He came. Those that erected the vaults over the tombs of the prophets were of the same heart and mind of their fathers who killed those prophets because of their witness of Christ and His Word. Their self-righteousness not only kept them from seeing Jesus as the Messiah of God when He came, but also kept others who followed their errors by addition from believing and seeing Jesus as the Christ.
No matter what false gospel is put forth or follow, morality, social justice, or an easy believism, which presents the wrong Jesus and the wrong gospel, it is not only gives a false assurance but leads those seeking hope and Truth away from God. Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with repentance and faith in Him and His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary, can save and give eternal life. God does not care how moral lost people are if they are lost, for while this world may call us good, God says there is none that is good except God and no one can be good enough. God does not care how many people are made better in this life, if His church does not warn them of Hell and preach the Gospel. Their existence may be healthier, richer, and wiser, in this life, but the lost are still bound for destruction. God especially hates when His children do not preach His Word that whosoever will may receive Him, but water down the Scriptures to add numbers to the roles, without true repentance and saving faith. God’s people are to take the whole Word to the whole world that all might hear and believe. We are to reach the lost with Salvation, teach the nations all that He commanded, and preach His Word until He is done with us.
Until then, God sends those of us who are His saints and know Him out into this world to reach the lost that they might be saved from sin. He desires that His people strive to be holy and obedient unto Him that we might minister to those around us who are hurting and in need as He provides. We serve others, equipped with the Word of reconciliation and righteousness, rightly divided and fitly spoken, that they may see Christ in us, the hope of Glory. Our God has commanded us to love one another with an unfeigned love, even as He first loved us, and to disciple one another in the Word of God so that we may all grow in grace and in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Our Lord has commissioned those who are His with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to go where He sends us in the power of the Holy Spirit. As we go, we are to proclaim the Good News of forgiveness through repentance and reconciliation with the Father through faith in His Son, that those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah of God might have life in His Name.
God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and the knowledge of the Truth. Jesus loves you and wants to establish a covenant relationship with you that is real and personal. Surrender to Him on His terms and He will give you a brand new life of discipleship and fellowship with Him that is abundant and everlasting. God calls you to faith in Christ and His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary to pay your sIn debt. He has provided the only way of reconciliation with God, forgiveness from God, and Salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of God who is God the Son, to give you a new life in Christ. Turn away from yourself and your sIn and turn to Him alone for eternal Life, now and always.
In Christ,
Jefferson Sweet
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