Today's Passage - Matthew 23:13-15

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Matthew 23:13-15   "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are."   The Lord condemned the sins of the Pharisees by saying that they had drawn people to convert, but once people converted they hindered them from entering into heaven. It essentially means that it's easy to bring people into our faith, but it's hard to bring people before God, and that's because religion is simply a set of rules and it's easy to find gratification in self-righteousness. The reality is that such self-righteousness will not stand before God. It's like a person cleaning a room in the darkness; regardless how much or little he cleanses it, the room will look nice the clean. When light shines into the room, however, you'd see spider web and dust everywhere! This is the condition of the human soul - People think they are righteous when they are in sin, but when the light of the Holy Spirit shines in, they'd see how dark they really are inside. It's the same when we are leading others; we easily bring people into the religious doctrines by telling do this and not do that, but we don't really them into the life of Jesus Christ.   What really saves us is that our behavior, but the life of Jesus Christ. The power for a life to be changed can only come to a person when the person acknowledges his sins before God, accept the salvation brought by Jesus Christ through the cross, and receive His new life. May God help us, not to just bring people into doctrines, but into the spirit of freedom. We often impose our own experience or ways of the church onto others without introducing Jesus Christ - the one who sets us free - to them. Today, what people need is not more legal doctrines, but rather Jesus Christ who sets people free. James 3:1 says that "Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." When we are teaching others, may God help us to avoid the mistakes made by the Pharisees, and truly brings the hearts and souls of people before Jesus Christ!   Pray with Pastor Tong     Lord, we thank you because in you we have the spirit of freedom. Open our eyes and help us see that people will be truly delivered and satisfied when they are brought into the freedom in you. Help us to avoid the behavior of the Pharisees and honor your name in our daily life. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, thanks!