You brood of snakes...

Yesterday we looked at Matthew 15: 1-9...
Where Jesus exposed and rebuked the Pharisees, teachers of the law and the elders. I truly believe that the Lord is pleading with us to realize the urgency of His teachings!

God is NOT impressed with our outward show of religiosity, if you will. Our church attendance, our pious speech or our “so-called” holy clothing. God is looking right at our hearts, what's inside, what we REALLY feel and think!

1 Samuel 16:7 tells us this about God…
"...But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.'"

So to reinforce what Jesus said in the Scriptures we looked at yesterday, lets look at them again in the Amplified Bible…

Matthew 15:6...
“So for the sake of your tradition (the rules handed down by your forefathers), you have set aside the Word of God [depriving it of force and authority and making it of no effect].

You pretenders (hypocrites)!

Admirably and truly did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said: ‘These people draw near Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off and are far away from Me.’

(Let me add, that here Jesus is quoting directly from the Old Testament book of Isaiah, chapter 29 verse 13, which reads…

"And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips but remove their hearts and minds far from Me, and their fear and reverence for Me are a commandment of men that is learned by repetition [without any thought as to the meaning]..."

Okay, so continuing with Matthew 15:9...
"Uselessly do they worship Me, for they teach as doctrines the commands of men.

And Jesus called the people to Him and said to them, Listen and grasp and comprehend this:

It is not what goes into the mouth of a man that makes him unclean and defiled, but what comes out of the mouth; this makes a man unclean and defiles [him].

Then the disciples came and said to Him, Do You know that the Pharisees were displeased and offended and indignant when they heard this saying?

He answered, Every plant which My heavenly Father has NOT planted will be torn up by the roots.

Let them alone and disregard them; they are blind guides and teachers. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a ditch.

But Peter said to Him, Explain this proverb (this maxim) to us.

And He said, Are you also even yet dull and ignorant [without understanding and [unable to put things together]?

Do you not see and understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the abdomen and so passes on into the place where discharges are deposited?

But whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this is what makes a man unclean and defiles [him].

For out of the heart come evil thoughts (reasonings and disputings and designs) such as murder, adultery, sexual vice, theft, false witnessing, slander, and irreverent speech.

These are what make a man unclean and defile [him]; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him unclean or defile [him]."

So, I believe we can now see the detriment in this type of “fake” worship and I’ll conclude today with these Words of Jesus, AGAIN rebuking the Pharisees…

"You offspring of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil (wicked)? For out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks.

The good man from his inner good treasure flings forth good things, and the evil man out of his inner evil storehouse flings forth evil things.

But I tell you, on the day of judgment men will have to give account for every idle (inoperative, nonworking) word they speak.

For by your words you will be justified and acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned and sentenced."
Matthew 12:34-37 (Amplified Bible)

God says if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us… James 4:8

In His Name...
Mackenzie Crockett
A disciple of Jesus Christ
MyWordsAreSpirit.com