Views: 2<\/p>
[Note: <\/strong>This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 1<\/strong> page.]<\/span><\/p>\n Pharisees and scribes once came to Jesus, chastising Him for not honoring the traditions of their forefathers (Mat. 15:1\u20132). He responded by accusing them of violating God\u2019s commandments by their human traditions, and cited one of their traditions as proof (vv. 3\u20136). He then excoriated them as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people honoreth me with their lips; But their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men (vv. 7\u20139).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Upon reading His scathing rebuke of such hypocrisy among His contemporaries, it is only natural to inquire if such hypocrisy exists today. If so, Jesus\u2019 rebuke of its modern versions is no less powerful and appropriate. Notably, those against whom Jesus originally railed were religious leaders.<\/span><\/p>\n They professed orally<\/strong> to be servants of God, but their behavior proved that their hearts were far removed from their lips. They were \u201ctalking the talk,\u201d but not at all \u201cwalking the walk\u201d of true religion. Things have changed little from then to now.<\/span><\/p>\n Modern religious leaders<\/strong> routinely \u201chonor with the lips\u201d the God and Savior Whose authority they despise by flouting His revealed will. For example, religious leaders<\/strong> say:<\/span><\/p>\n Likewise, political leaders <\/strong>often honor God only \u201cwith the lips.\u201d They may be shameless fornicators, drunks, thieves, and blasphemers, but around voting time they can glibly say, \u201cGod bless you,\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m praying for you\u201d\u2014a terrible mockery.<\/span><\/p>\n God will uproot all such blind guides (Mat. 15:13\u201314).<\/span><\/p>\n [Note:<\/strong> I wrote this article for and it was published in the Denton Record-Chronicle, <\/em>Denton, TX, June 5, 2015.]<\/span><\/p>\n Attribution: <\/strong>From TheScripturecache.com<\/em>; Dub McClish, owner, curator, and administrator.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Views: 2[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 1 page.] Pharisees and scribes once came to Jesus, chastising Him for not honoring the traditions of their forefathers (Mat. 15:1\u20132). He responded by accusing them of violating God\u2019s commandments by their…<\/p>\n\n
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