~
God Warns: Do Not Be Deceived! ~
God,
The Father, Condemns False Religion (idolatry) ~ “You shall have no other gods before Me. You
shall not make for yourself a carved image — any likeness of anything that is
in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under
the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord
your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but
showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments” (Exodus
20:3-6). “You shall not make anything
to be with Me—gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves”
(Exodus 20:23).
“You shall
have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved
image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to
them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth
generations of those who hate Me” (Deuteronomy 5:7-9).
God’s
law condemns idolatry because it is only a form of false religion.
Jesus
Condemns False Religion (the
Pharisees) ~ Jesus
said, “‘Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your
inward part is full of greed and wickedness.
Foolish ones! Did not He who made
the outside make the inside also? But
rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean
to you.
‘But woe
to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint
and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving
the others undone.
‘Woe to
you Pharisees! For you love the best
seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
‘Woe to
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are
not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them.’ Then one of the lawyers answered and said to
Him, ‘Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also.’
“And He said, ‘Woe to you also, lawyers!
For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not
touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
‘Woe to
you! For you build the tombs of the
prophets, and your fathers killed them.
In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers;
for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore the wisdom of God also said, “I
will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill 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 to the
blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of
this generation.
‘Woe to
you lawyers! For you have taken away
the key of knowledge. You did not enter
in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered’” (Luke
11:39-52).
Jesus
condemns form without substance as being a false religion.
Jesus
Condemns Works without Faith (without
His power) ~ Jesus said, “‘Not
everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but
he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in
Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your
name?” And then I will declare to them,
“I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”
‘Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine,
and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that
house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine,
and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the
sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on
that house; and it fell. And great was
its fall.’
“And so it was, when Jesus had ended these
sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as
one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:21-29).
Jesus
warns of the danger of works without faith—another form of false religion.
The Core Issue ~
Jesus said, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make
the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good
things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his
heart brings forth good things, and
an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men
may speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and
by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:33-37).
Jesus
warns that the words we speak reveal the condition of our heart.
~
Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT
LIFE NOW
NOTES:
(1) The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very
bottom of this home page.
(2) There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by
scrolling down the left column.
(3) You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own
blog or website.
(4) You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by
prominently displaying the following statement: Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free
blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid
Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/
.
