It Was the Hypocritical Pharisees That Jesus Condemned Most Severely

‘No man taketh it from you.’ Of course, that refers primarily to the opposition and actual hostility of the persecuting world, which that handful of frightened men were very soon to face; and our Lord assures them here that, whatsoever the power of the devil working through the world may be able to filch away from them, it cannot filch away the joy that He gives. But we may extend the meaning beyond that reference… In the celestial battle between good and evil, these people are traitors to their own side.  They claim to be following Christ but every with footstep they walk a few paces behind the devil.  The devil likes to operate with any sinner but, for the devil, a traitor is the most useful sinner of all.  A man who pretends to be god-fearing but lives a…

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