If you lack these things you are spiritually blind.

2Pe 1:1-21  Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:  Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.  And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;  And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me. Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:  Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

*******

TRUTH.

 'And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;  And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. '

*******

Give ALL diligence.

ADD to your FAITH- VIRTUE.

ADD to VIRTUE-KNOWLEDGE.

ADD to KNOWLEDGE-TEMPERANCE.

ADD to TEMPERANCE-PATIENCE.

ADD to PATIENCE-GODLINESS.

ADD to GODLINESS-BROTHERLY KINDNESS.

ADD to BROTHERLY KINDNESS-CHARITY.

Do you have faith?

Do you have virtue?

Do you have knowledge?

Do you have temperance?

Do you have patience.

Do you have godliness?

Do you have brotherly kindness?

Do you have charity?

If we LACK these things we are BLIND and cannot see afar off, and have forgotten that we have been purged from our old sins.

Daily we must lay down our old life as we daily must ask for forgiveness, seeking to be purged from our old sins. 

It's no secret that we have sins that we are partial to, presumptuous sins. And these sins must be laid at the feet of our Savior. We must seek the Holy Spirit's power to overcome through our LORD.

We are told what makes us Spiritually blind, having no faith, no virtue, no knowledge, no temperance, no patience, no godliness, no brotherly kindness, and no charity. 

Like the Pharisees who could not see their own spiritual blindness, we can suffer the same fate. We have to open our hearts, our minds to the Holy Spirit who can give us these things. We have to recognize our NEED, realize our state of blindness, of being poor, of being naked. No one who believes they see will comprehend their blindness. Our sight needs to be God's sight, spiritual sight.

Please Lord, Please heavenly Father, please...help us to see!  Forgive us!  Forgive us. In the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, forgive us.

We Must Recognize Our Need

Joh 9:1-41  And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,  And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.  The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?   Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he. Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.  Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.

 They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind. And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.  Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see. Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them. They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet. But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight.  And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see?  His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind: But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself. These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him. Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner.  He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.  Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?  He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples? Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples.  We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.  Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.  And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

*******

Jesus said FOR judgment I am come into the world.

That they which see not- might see.

And they that which see- might be made blind.

Are we blind also?

Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin

but now ye say, We see- therefore your sin remaineth.

*******

They KNEW they were blind by the standards of this miracle working man that was disrupting their lives so horrifically. They weren't physically blind and in need of a clay salve upon their sightless eyes placed their by a savior. They weren't in need of the miracles being performed upon the masses. They were self-sufficient and full of themselves, believing they were superior to all others by the very fact they were the leaders of the temple of God. Their hearts were hardened stones compassion-less.

When the miracle worker told them that He came into the world so those who cannot see- will be able to see, He was talking about the truth of salvation.  Those who believe they have no need of a Savior- will not be saved. The Pharisees, the scribes-hypocrites all believe they are saved already and in no need of a Savior. They believe they see and they do not, their sin remains. If they were blind they'd want to see, they'd want a miracle worker, they'd want a Savior.  Their blindness is spiritual and deadly because they refuse to realize they have a need.

Do you see Your need?

Do you want Eye Salve?

We need eye salve soooo desperately. We are in NEED of a SAVIOR.

We must recognize our need, if we don't realize we have a need we will never seek someone to fulfill that need.

Please, Father, we would know our need and know that our Savior is the only One who can heal us, who can save us.

All by YOUR GRACE! YOUR LOVE! 

Cleanse first that which is within

Jesus said-

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

*******

Again, a 'WOE UNTO YOU', given by our Savior to the scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites. This time Jesus tells them they are making sure everything looks good on the outside, appearances are being kept up, they are looking every bit the way they are supposed to be the truth is another story. They are extorting and filled with excesses, more than they need.  This is truth! Jesus saw through their display of righteousness to the corruption underneath and He didn't hesitate to tell them He knew their hearts. They could lie to each other and all others but He knew and now they would know He knew.

Jesus said-

Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

*******

He was telling them what they needed to do to be right with God. Clean the INSIDE, clean their hearts. It wasn't pointless to clean the outside when the inside was filthy.

Jesus said-

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's, bones, and of all uncleanness.

*******

Imagine for a single moment, Jesus telling us that we are full of dead men's bone and uncleanness!  We don't want to hear that do we? I know I sure don't! Yes, when our hearts are corrupt we are like a sepulchre, we are filled with uncleanness, with dead men's bone, there is nothing good in us. The scribes, the Pharisees, hypocrites were exactly like that! Unclean!

Jesus said-

Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

*******

Appearing righteous unto men, but NOT unto God! God sees past everything we see of others and others see of us. God sees all our hypocrisy and iniquity, every single bit of it. We CANNOT hide the truth of ourselves from God! Not one single thing about us is hidden from God, not one.

Jesus said-

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?  Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

*******

They were LIARS! They believed they were better than their fathers and they were worse by far!

All too often we like to think we wouldn't do the evils of those in our past generations known for their evils and yet we do them. Our hypocrisy, our blindness keeps us from seeing the truth of ourselves and we LOVE our blindness! We don't want to see our evil! We want that coat pulled over all the evil in us, hiding it so no one can see it, and we want to forget it is even there blind to our own evil.

Jesus said-

Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.  For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

*******

Enough was enough. Those who were God's chosen time and time again refused Him and this time they refused God's begotten Son, their Savior, Jesus Christ. Their uniqueness was past. They refused to be God's preferring their blindness, their hypocrisy. We must NOT do the same. We must loath our blindness, detest our sightlessness, despise our inability to see as we need to see through the Holy Spirit! We must hate our own hypocrisy. We must seek forgiveness, we must seek our Savior's forgiveness, we have to pray for the Holy Spirit to enlighten us. We NEED EYE SALVE for our blind eyes!

Please SAVIOR, please FATHER GOD, please HOLY SPIRIT, we need all of YOU to help us to be ONE with YOU, in full agreement with YOU all as YOU all are with each other! We would be YOURS. Please, we would be YOURS.   Thank You, thank You so much.

(Matthew 23)

We would see...

Jesus said-

Woe unto you, ye BLIND guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!

Ye fools and BLIND: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?

And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.

Ye fools and BLIND: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.

And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.

And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

*******

Truly getting caught up in the *things* that where commanded by God to be made is wrong. The Pharisees started to believe the *things* were holy outside of God. They began to believe their holiness was in and of their existence and not because God declares them holy. THAT is where the holiness is, with GOD and not with the things. God is the power. If God left the temple, it would NO longer be holy! If God is not there it means nothing!

Jesus said-

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

*******

The believe their money earned them God's favor, that God was concerned with their money more than the HUMANITY, the COMPASSION.  More important was God's LAW, more important was God's JUDGMENT. More important, was God's MERCY, and more important was God's FAITH.  To pay tithe and do no more is NOT acceptable to God. To pay tithe AND live in HIS law, HIS judgment, HIS mercy and HIS faith is acceptable but all too often people don't want to go beyond their wallets. They want to believe they can pay their way into God's favor but it does not, no amount of tithe can garner God's favor if it is void of His LOVE.

Jesus said-

Ye BLIND guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

*******

Straining at a gnat- wanting to pick at the least important things, while swallowing a camel- ignoring the weightier matters.  The spiritual BLIND do this! They refuse to see and live truth, preferring a lie.

Spiritually BLIND- unable to see the truth!

Spiritually BLIND- unwilling to see the truth!

Spiritually BLIND- purposely sightless!

We NEED to buy of our SAVIOR-  EYESALVE for our blindness.

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Please we would buy of YOU eyeslave so we may see! We do not want t be spiritually blind, Lord, please, anoint our eyes! We would see spiritually and know You and be known of You!

All by YOUR LOVE in YOUR NAME!

Woe to the Hypocrites!

Jesus said-

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

*******

He was very ADAMANT as He spoke these words and Jesus wasn't speaking just to the scribes and Pharisees… but the HYPOCRITES as well! A hypocrite- one who is preaching one thing and turning around and doing another.  The scribes and Pharisees were hypocrites for sure, but hypocrites are not only scribes and Pharisees but many others. You do not need to be a scribe or Pharisee in order to be a hypocrite.  Yes, I'll concede that our Savior was pointing out the scribes as Pharisees as being hypocrites and rightfully so. He was preaching the TRUTH to all those listening to Him, the multitudes listening to His words. And He wasn't tippy toeing around the truth. Jesus told these men who were supposed to be bringing the people closer to God that they were SHUTTING UP THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN!  He told them that they would NOT go into heaven themselves and they were preventing others from going in too. And He said -  WOE unto you.  And that WOE does not bode well at all for them.

Jesus said-

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

*******

WOE to them again! Why? Because they devoured widow's houses.  What does that mean? It means the very ones they were supposed to be helping they were hurting! 

WOE to them because they used pretense making LONG prayers thinking this was a good thing, when it was all done SELFISHLY. They were DAMNED for their ways! And it is very safe to say that all who follow in their ways are damned along with them.

Jesus said-

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. 

*******

WOE to them yet again! Why? Because they go to great lengths to make another one just like they are and that person is even more damned than they are! Deceived!

*******

Jesus wasn't holding back at all He wanted the deceivers to KNOW HE knew they were deceptive. He knew their hearts! He knew their thoughts!

Just imagine how their hearts must have burned as they were confronted with the TRUTH.  Their hatred for Jesus is what burned inside them and it burned because they LOVED their darkness.

How often we deny our own fault because we love them. Seriously. We cherish our sins and try to call them GOOD, not evil. We don't want to be called out on our evil ways we'd rather they were just ignored so we can continue on in them unimpeded by our own conscience. 

The scribes and pharisees hated Jesus revealing their evil hearts and their hatred kept them from ever accepting truth.

We have to be careful our hatred of giving up our evils doesn't keep us from truth. We MUST want the truth over all as it reveals ALL our evil, so we may repent of that evil. Please LORD, PLEASE let us desire only TRUTH above all. Help us KEEP from cherishing sin, all sin!

We do NOT want to be like the scribes and pharisess, we do NOT want to be hypocrites.

Please LORD please keep us from all EVIL in all its disguises.

By the GRACE of GOD, bless us! All in Jesus' name!

They Say, and Do Not

Jesus SAID-

The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do NOT ye after their works: for they SAY, and DO NOT.

For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

*******

Jesus told those listening that their leaders- the scribes and Pharisees- were in their positions of power in Moses' seat where they were supposed to be performing the role given to them by Moses.  Jesus wants them to observe what they are taught to observe but Jesus does NOT want to live as the scribes and pharisees, and why? Because the scribes and pharisees would teach others what to do but NOT practice what they were preaching and teaching.  The scribes and pharisees asked TOO much of the people and refused to help them. Obviously these scribes and pharisees had NO heart knowledge of the Word of God, of the Will of God.

Jesus continued...

But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,  And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

*******

The Pharisees and scribes were in it for the accolades, not because they were God's. They wanted the glory, not to give the glory to God.

Jesus continued...

But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.

And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. 

But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. 

And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

*******

We can't presume to ever desire to be called teacher, to be called master ONLY our Savior should be called such things because HE is the only Master we need, the only TEACHER we need for things that truly matter- eternal things.  Our Father in heaven is the ONLY Father that can give us eternity. It truth the greatest is the servant, yet in our twisted world we account greatness on a much different level than God does.  We strive to be great in this world but it's not for this world we should live at all.  Until we truly comprehend that the great are the least, we won't understand anything. The scribes and pharisees could not fathom that a beggar could be greater than them. When we can't fathom that the least of all the least is greater than we are we don't know the love of our God.

Please Heavenly Father, please help us to know Your love, please! Help us to be the least of all, help us to be humble all by YOUR love and grace, YOUR mercy, YOUR power!

Jesus spoke....

Mat 23:1-39 

Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying,

The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do NOT ye after their works:

for they SAY, and DO NOT. 

For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

But all their works they do for to be seen of men:

they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,  And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.

And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. 

But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. 

And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. 

Woe unto you, ye BLIND guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!

Ye fools and BLIND: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?

And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. 

Ye fools and BLIND: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.

And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.

And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Ye BLIND guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.

Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? 

Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 

Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.  For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

*******

Imagine this taking place, imagine Jesus talking to the MULTITUDES and His Disciples, speaking out so harshly against the established RULERS of their people. There were the very powerful, important men who gave them their laws, their rules and established their way of life. These men did indeed put burdens upon people. These men did establish followers of their ways, not God's. These men abused their positions horrifically and they did it in the name of God.

These men were BLIND fools.  These men were blind to the TRUTH.  These were those who claimed to be closest to God. They preached and taught from the scriptures all the time. People were taught to admire these men, to revere them. Just as people today are taught the same. 

We are taught to believe in our leaders, our rulers, our pastors, priests, ministers whoever they may be. We assume they know the truth and are sincere about wanting to teach the truth but that's NOT always the case. We are accountable for following those we choose t follow. If you are following a deceptive liar you are accountable for that. We are to ONLY truly follow our Gods- The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit, and no other, no man.

More on this tomorrow. Our Savior gave these admonitions for a reason and they are very applicable for us today.

Please Father, please help us to understand to know Your truth, Your love in all things!