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Double Damnation
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte,
and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the
child of hell than yourselves." (Matthew
23:15)
Among the eight "woe's" in
Matthew 23
is this frightening possibility that false
teaching will produce double wickedness--a
multiplying effect that redounds to terrible
consequences. Jesus said that these self-righteous
and hate-filled Pharisees were of the devil (John
8:44)
and were so intent on resisting the truth that
they were ready to kill if they could silence the
message of liberty. Paul condemTed Elymas the
sorcerer as "full of all subtilty and all
mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of
all righteousness" (Acts
13:10).
During a great revival in Iconium, "the
unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made
their minds evil affected against the brethren" (Acts
14:2).
And they were not content with that. When Paul and
his fellow helpers fled to Lystra, the God-hating
group from Iconium followed them to Lystra and
"persuaded the people, and having stoTed Paul,
drew him out of the city" (Acts
14:19).
Make no mistake about this issue; those who hate
truth and God will turn their hate against the
people of God. "If the world hate you, ye know
that it hated me before it hated you
. . . because ye are not of the world, but I have
chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
hateth you. . . . If they have persecuted me, they
will also persecute you; if they have kept my
saying, they will keep yours also" (John
15:18-20).
Our country has enjoyed some 250 years of liberty
while centered on righteousness. But rising
atheistic and secular favor has given boldness to
the enemies of truth. May God grant us boldness to
speak His Word (Acts
4:29)
amidst "many adversaries" (1
Corinthians 16:9).
HMM III
Institute for
Creation Research
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