Edit 1.

Edit 2.

Hi B11ng00,

The reason Jesus instructs the believers to do as the scribes & pharasees say, is that what they are actually saying is right & proper. The caution, not to behave like them, is because they only "talk the talk", and Jesus wants the believers to "walk the walk".

Those who just "talk the talk" are used by satan to attract like-minded individuals, who embrace the gospel as a means of acquiring power and position. These recruits then become the focus of well-intentioned non-believers who are legitimately pointing out hypocrisy, but because they are blind to the distinction between the real followers of Jesus and these pretenders, they also become the unwitting allies of satan in his quest to destroy the gospel.

It doesn't matter what arguments you employ to avoid the issue, we all have to choose a side!

Edit 3.

Hi b11ng00,

Jesus makes it very clear that the believers are not to be defiant ("All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do"), and instructs them not to act in the same hypocrital way as the Pharisees ("but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not."). So, even though Jesus recognises that their demands are unreasonable ("For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers."), the believers, by their good behaviour and obedience, are to be the evidence of God's presence in the world ("Ye are the salt of the earth").

How are the believers expected to cope with these unreasonable, burdensome demands?

Edit 4.

Lo b11ng00,

The Pharisees weren't false teachers. They were just an influential group within Jewish society that held the notion that strict observance of the law made them acceptable to God. Jesus' anger was directed at them because they had reduced the relationship with God to a complex checklist of "dos and don'ts".

Prayer is the means by which man talks to God, but they only used it for pious public display. Scripture is the means by which God talks to man, but they only used it for pious public display. They didn't want to know God, they only wanted to use what he had given them as a means of acquiring status.

Cheers,
enegue

Edit 6.

Yeah B11ng00, Christmas is the same here in Australia. December is the first month of summer, so it gets pretty hot around Christmas day. New Year's Eve has become a spectacular event with a huge fireworks display on Sydney Harbour. We hit 2005 about 19 hours before the US West Coast does, so if you are watching TV around 5 am on the 24th you will probably see the Sydney celebration.

Cheers,
enegue

Hi B11ng00,

Sorry, that should have been 5am on the 31st of December, not the 24th. I was thinking about Christmas Eve, silly me

Cheers,
enegue

Hi cg,

Quote:

This makes me feel badly too...I don't like it when my walk is, uh, less than lovely, and pure. I thank God, that He is not finished with me yet. I am always sorry that my faults makes Jesus look bad to non believers...it is so not fair to Him...