"..but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not...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." In the Sermon on the Mount, all of our character and conduct both toward God and men is supposed to be a reflection of our Father, that men may see!
BSP; That is such a profound statement! Hypocrisy is "stage-playing," giving an outward appearance intended to conceal one's true motives, nature, or actions. That then is become a false and spurious "religion" based on deceit and fraud, driven by pride, envy and selfishness. Our religion is as David describes in the 5th Psalm; of setting in order before Him, and allowing no place for the devil.
When Jesus said for us" call no man father save your father witch is in heaven. He was talking about religious father like Catholics call there priests father. He also said that we should not refer to religious leaders as rabbi because it means teacher and we only have one teacher and that is God.
@Pearl when I was young we called ours dad not father. That was not allowed at our house. We were told you have only one Father and he is the one above.
Pearl; Honoring our father and mother is one of the Ten Commandments. Jesus condemned the hypocrites for teaching that by one's keep of religious observance he would be exempt from honoring his parents. I believe that Jesus is here referring to Titles, as if any man could be our Supreme Leader, or Master over the other's life and faith; for only our Father in heaven and Christ have those roles.
From the day that the Lord Jesus came into this world, the devil's seed was after Him to destroy Him; and throughout His Ministry He was pursued by hateful and hostile hypocrites, who were deaf as an adder, and would never humble themselves to receive His good and wholesome teaching. In the last few days Jesus has come right to Jerusalem to speak to their face, and it cost Him His life. We follow!
There is only One Father and He is the Heavenly Father and the Creator of Heaven and earth and the fullness thereof. The Bible tells us in the book of Timothy to " Study to shew ourselves approved of God. Rightfully dividing the Word of Truth ". Reminder, The Word of God is to be discussed not argued over. It doesn't matter how we may think or feel, God's Word will always stand.
v. 9 - Jesus here is speaking of pastors, preachers, ministers of Christ, of which some are referred to as - 'father'. He's NOT referring to our earthly fathers who sired us. Isa. 1:18, "Come now, let us REASON together, ..... "; The Lord Jesus isn't unreasonable; He's appealing to our common sense.
Jambita: Yes! Most churches today are in a sea of darkness. They don't know their lost headed for the lake of fire. They have a lot of social activities and functions. They think they are looking great for Christ,but have spiritual anorexia. They don't know the father is calling John 6:44, washed 1John 1:9, will be Baptized with the Holy Ghost and fire Matthew 3:11, Will know! 2 Corinthians 5:17.
The truth is slowly but steadily becoming isolated from the brethren. I witnessed a night vigil yesternight whereby I 'accidentally' carried a bible to a church function, only to be welcomed by a diversity of culinary products on the table.
We ate to our fill then the preacher gave a sermon that dwelt much on the contemporary life with scarce reference from the bible. Come Lord Jesus come.
Over the years, and there have been many. I have had 85 revs around the sun and hope to have quite a few more. During that time I studied myself out of 2 'Christian Churches'. I just couldn't abide by what they were teaching. If anybody asks me, "What am I" I would answer, I am a Son of the Living Creator God. If someone were ask me, "Prove there is a God", I would reply, prove there isn't.
The Word of the Lord is the truth and the only truth. If we look around we can plainly see the actual Pharesees, the modern ones, doing the same things their ancestors did. I believe with all my heart and soul, there is one and only one father. Our Father and Lord, our creator...!
commenting on v9 when God speak is words are truth if he say something we should listen we should do as he said because he is God. for example the pope people called him holy father only one holy father and is God almighty. People need to to worship God and not man.
Matthew teach us not to said one thing and then do another thing. we should not live an double stander in life. if we teach and peach the word of God to our fellow labors we should set the same standard in our life.
Our lord Jesus in this chapter emphasize the faults of the Pharisees and scribe. Most importantly,the truth about the FATHER, and mans true identity. Verse 12 . And they even block those who seek the truth and salvation. But he also advise that should you want to be great you should humble yourself. With the only one Father, the Jews and the Israelites knew that we are spiritual and we only have one Father. The Father in heaven but they are worshipping other entities. In wisdom of Solomon you will see what we really are
In response to the comments regarding Scripture reference "call no man Father... " - most of which are disparaging remarks directed at Catholics who address their Pastors as "Father "! Who among you have not referred to your own biological male parent as being "your father ". So what does Lord Jesus have reference to in this passage? I would suggest that we need to look at the overall context in which our Lord makes the statement. Peace be with you!
What you've got to remember is that Jesus wept over the holy city and what had become of her .so taking this into account i personally believe the verse is saying .that Israel has to come to repentance. Because we know that they saw Jesus again at his trial and cried, "we want Barbabas." They rejected him and as we know Jerusalem had been a holy city.
According to the gospel, the meaning is clear. Jesus said that he is the only shepherd, teacher, poimen, pastor. He said this again in John 10:16. He also said much about hired shepherds in John 10:11-13. I find it ironic that just above these comments there is a paid ad that says, "Ready to be a Pastor? Click here "
Verse 37 "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! " brings to mind how we parents feel when we see our beloved children making decisions to disrespect the rules of their parents while wanting to remain living in their parents ' house....
what it means by call no man your father on earth is that those who put their trust in their pastors or religious leader calling them their spiritual fathers is what Jehovah hates. making a man your father whom you consult instead of speaking to God our heavenly father through.
We ate to our fill then the preacher gave a sermon that dwelt much on the contemporary life with scarce reference from the bible. Come Lord Jesus come.
We live, breathe, and have our being through Christ our Lord and Saviour. Because HE lives I can face another day. Amen!!!