[continued from previous message]
They presumed to make nice distinctions between the comparative guilt of
various sins, passing over some lightly, assigning as an excuse that the end
justified the means, while errors of perhaps less consequence were treated
as unpardonable. These blind guides so confused the minds of their followers
in regard to sin and the proper standard of holiness, that they were
destined to eventually perish with their leaders.
The Pharisees took upon themselves the responsibility of deciding
concerning the burdens and duties of others according to the judgment of
their own carnal minds. They accepted money from persons in return for
excusing them from their vows, and in some cases, crimes of an aggravated
character were passed over in consideration of large sums of money paid to
the authorities by the transgressor. At the same time these hypocritical
priests were exact in the matter of sacrifices and ceremonies, as if it were
possible for cold forms to blot out the unrepented sins of their daily
lives.
The Lord said unto Samuel, "Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt
offerings and in sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to
obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." No
outward service, even in that which is required by God can be a substitute
for an obedient life. The Creator desires heart service of his creatures.
God has said through Hosea, "For I desired mercy and not sacrifice, and
the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. But they like men have
transgressed the covenant; there have they dealt treacherously against me."
The many sacrifices of the Jews and the flowing of blood to atone for sins
for which they felt no true repentance was ever repugnant to God. He spoke
through Micah saying, "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow
myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my
transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath showed
thee, O man, what is good; and what doeth the Lord require of thee, but to
do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"
Costly gifts and a semblance of holiness cannot win the favor of God.
He requires for his mercies a contrite spirit, a heart open to the light of
truth, love and compassion for our fellow men and a spirit refusing to be
bribed through avarice or self-love. The priests and rulers were destitute
for these essentials to God's favor, and their most precious gifts and
gorgeous ceremonies were an abomination in his eyes.
The Pharisees built expensive monuments to the dead prophets,
pretending to deplore the sins of their fathers in rejecting, persecuting
and slaying the chosen servants of God. At the same time they were burning
with rage against the greatest prophet the world had ever seen, simply
because he revealed and reproved their sins. They not only manifested the
same spirit of hatred which had actuated their fathers, but were doing
ten-fold worse than they in opposing and plotting against the divine Son of
God.
Jesus exposed in so unsparing a manner should be a warning to those who
reject the light of truth. They had gone step by step into darkness,
rejecting the evidences that Jesus was the true Messiah, until the obscurity
of their minds was so great that they called righteousness sin and sin
righteousness. They evinced the same malice that actuated Satan against
Christ in heaven, and for the same reason, because of the superior goodness
of the Son of God. They were indeed the children of Satan. They condemned
the acts of their forefathers in persecuting the prophets, and assumed to be
the representatives of those holy men of God who died for their faith; they
built the tombs of the prophets and garnished their sepulchers, and said one
to another, If we had lived in those days we should not have been partakers
with those who shed the blood of God's servants, yet at the same time they
were planning to destroy the Son of God, and would not have hesitated to
imbrue their hands in his blood if they had not feared the people.
The condition of the Pharisees should be a lesson to the Christian
world of the present day. It should open their eyes to the power of Satan to
deceive human minds when they once turn from the precious light of truth,
and yield to the control of the enemy. Many who make exalted professions
today are following in the track of the Pharisees. They zealously cherish
the memory of the prophets, even as the Pharisees were zealous in building
and decorating their tombs. They declare that, had they lived in the days
when Christ was upon the earth, they would have gladly received his
teachings and obeyed them. But if these very persons had been placed in a
similar position with the Jews, they would have done no better than they who
crucified the Saviour.
Unpopular truth is no more acceptable to Pharisaical, self-righteous
hearts today than when Christ walked the earth, a man among men.
If Christians were to be tested now as were the Jews at the first
advent of Christ, few would accept him wrapped in his garment of humanity,
living a life of humiliation and poverty. The Christian world can accept
Messiah as a King at the right hand of God in heaven, but their hearts
reject a Saviour of humility and self-sacrifice; they shrink from the cross
of Christ, even as did the haughty Pharisees. Few indeed imitate the example
of Jesus and follow his teachings in their daily lives. He has exhorted his
disciples to follow in his foot-steps. Many are in as great blindness
concerning the plan of salvation as were the Pharisees, who professed
obedience to God while they rejected Him who came to work out their
salvation, that their efforts to gain a righteous character should have
virtue with God through the sinner's Advocate and substitute.
If man sacrifices righteous principles and truth because he can thus
avoid persecution and trial in this life, he may obtain the friendship of
the world, but will lose the favor of God. He barters his eternal welfare
for trifling considerations. But he that obeys the requirements of Christ,
neither looking nor planning for his own convenience, preferring even to
sacrifice his temporal life rather than turn from the light of truth will
secure the reward of the future immortal life. Jesus has said, "He that
loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world
shall keep it unto life eternal."
In our Lord Jesus Christ's love and service,
Donna
-
"Eliyahu" wrote in message
news:7332f93b.0401251917.5f6e6f77@posting.google.com...
> Bs'd
>
> An excerpt from my Daniel 9 page, to be found here:
> http://www.geocities.com/Metzad/Daniel9.htm
>
> Who was the messiah? In order to understand this we first have to
> understand what is a messiah. Messiah comes from the Hebrew word
> 'meshiach' which means 'anointed one' It was the custom to anoint
> kings with oil before they came to power. There were already many
> anointed kings in Jewish history. Read for instance I Samuel 9:27
> to10:1; Here Saul is anointed by Samuel the prophet. And thereby he
[continued in next message]
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
|
