(Matthew 23:13-14)
13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.TODAY'S TAKEAWAY:
The book of Matthew is written very much so for the Israelites, so that they could understand that Jesus was and is their Messiah. Understand that Jesus knew everything that was going to happen, and yet came to earth, born in flesh, specifically to make salvation possible through His death and resurrection.
Still, let it be known that at that point:
- had the Israelites, as an entire nation, believed in Him and accepted Him (which is to accept His spiritual peace through salvation)
- they would have entered the kingdom of heaven (aka, the Millennium)
- Jesus would have sat on the throne and ushered in worldwide physical peace
- and Jesus would have fulfilled all of their covenants (land, seed and blessings)
In fact, at any time during the Old Testament, right from when Israel received the Abrahamic covenant, IF they, as a nation, had all personally believed in the Lord, they would have had all of their covenants fulfilled. So, we can see the patterns of behavior over history. The more that Israel's priests and kings led the people in God's will, the more they got to enjoy their land, seed and blessings. But when priests and kings led the people astray, they would struggle. And now, here we see the Pharisees, leading the people astray, which prevented them from collectively experiencing the blessings of the kingdom of heaven.
In one's personal belief in the Lord, one's sins are completely forgiven, they are sealed with God's indwelling Holy Spirit, and covered by His righteousness. In this, and only in this, does God see us as perfectly obedient. And in this relationship with the Lord, we experience His blessings. The Lord God is rich with blessings, and therefore, the closer we grow to the Lord, the richer in blessings we become.
(FYI, this is not about earthly wealth through some sort of prosperity gospel, or some name-it-and-claim it kind of thing. Our treasures are in heaven! And while on earth, as we trust Him, He will see that we have what we need. But more than our physical blessings are the spiritual blessings, which are far more valuable!)
The only unforgivable sin is the sin of unbelief. And those who discourage and lead people away from the Lord, or attempt to keep people from going to the Lord, are doing the work of Satan, and will not be blessed. There are those people or groups of people who will do this with threats and force. Yet another type of dangerous person, is the hypocrite who says one thing, but does another. And the most dangerous hypocrite, is the person who goes through the motions, saying and doing what seems right, but does not believe. And therefore, when those, whose hearts are not right, even though they do good deeds, they have the wrong motives, and in that cleverly mislead others.
Our motives are critical. Therefore, as believers, we are to beware of those that lead others astray. We should also beware that we ourselves do not lead others astray by knowing and understanding God's truths, and asking the Lord for His wisdom, strength, guidance and help. The Lord will judge and reward good deeds that are done with righteous motives, those things said and done with God's love, because we love God!
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