A Prediction

A Prediction

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.  
And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’  
So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.  
Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers! 
“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?  
Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.  
And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  
I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation. 
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.  
Look, your house is left to you desolate.” 
Matthew 23:29-38

Jesus here tells how the religious leaders of his day claim they wouldn’t act like their forefathers and kill the prophets.
Yet he say that they would. They did took offence to Jesus and to his followers. They seen to it that Jesus was put to death
They seen to it that the young church was persecuted. We just have to read the first part of the book of acts to see how the teachers of the law in the time of Jesus and the apostles persecuted the church.
It was to the point that the church was forced to separate from Judaism taking with it the proclamation of the good new of Jesus Christ, that had first come to the Jews.
By the end of the second century the church was almost entirely made up of non Jews.
As a church today we must be careful to see that our message does not waver. That we do not come against those within our midst who are truly preaching the word of God.
Our message must be pure. We cannot allow those who are teaching the scriptures incorrectly to take the message over.
Paul writing to Timothy states,
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 
2Timothy 4:3,4
I believe all believers, church congregations and denominations must take a look from time to time at what we believe and what we are teaching. We must take careful stock, then if we find error in our teaching be humble enough to take corrective action and turn back to the correct teachings of the Bible.
Think about it