ANGLICAN COMMUNION DAILY FOUNTAIN DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY.
The Topic of Daily Fountain Devotional for 16th February 2023 Is ”WOE TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES”
TEXT: Matthew 23:14-end(NKJV)
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
ANGLICAN COMMUNION DEVOTIONAL OUTLINE FOR 16TH FEBRUARY 2023.
Our text today contains seven layers of the condemnation by Jesus of the religious leaders of His era. Each condemnation was introduced with the word,”Woe.” Pronouncing God’s judgment on the men, He repeatedly described them as “blind” and “hypocrites.”
Convincing others of their views only adds victims to hell. They follow the letters of man-made laws, but miss the real meaning of Scripture: God’s heart for justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Their outer appearance of righteousness hides inner lives full of greed, self-indulgence, hypocrisy, and lawlessness.
We shall pick two of the acts of the Scribes and Pharisees (i)“For you devour widows’ houses”; that is, their goods, leaving but little to support them and their children; (ii) “And for a pretence make long prayers”: As if they were very holy, or pretended that the substance of those widows, was a reward for their long prayers.
Jesus declared on them, “therefore, you will receive greater condemnation”; both on account of their plundering and distressing the poor, the widows, and the fatherless; and also because of their hypocrisy in doing this under the cover of religion and holiness. Relations of husbands of widows who afflict widows should beware! Treat widows kindly.
PRAYER: Father, help me to show mercy to the needy, oppressed and voiceless. Amen.
The Anglican Communion is the fourth-largest Christian denomination. Founded in 1867 in London, England, the communion currently has 85 million members within the Church of England and other national and regional churches in full communion. {.…Read more...}
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