Matthew: Spiritual Deception, Rejection and Doom

Matthew 23.13-28: Spiritual deception is real, even for those who are sincere in their religious convictions. This was evident last week as Jesus exposed the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders. The leaders were sincere in their practices and devout in the things of the law. This is why last week’s text and this week’s as well offers all a serious caution. We must listen carefully and let the Lord search our hearts and operate on us as we hear and study what Jesus says about the sincere religious. So, here is a question, Is it possible for you and me to believe genuinely that we are doing God’s work, obeying God’s Word, and accomplishing God’s will, yet to be deceived and to experience eternal damnation? From the observations in today’s text it is definitely possible and therefore we need God to come and expose our blind spots, uncover our hearts and save us from ourselves. Pride is the ultimately the sin that must die. Let’s listen to Jesus today and let Him operate on our own heart.