Take heed, beware of living your life on religious "food."

By now you have certainly forgotten the five loaves that fed the five thousand, with twelve baskets left over, or the seven loaves that fed the four thousand and the plenty that remained. But I am not speaking to you about earthly food. No, I have come to warn you against feeding on the ideas and false teachings of those who market religion.

In vain such people worship me, teaching as doctrines what are merely the inventions of men. They're so busy clinging to their own superstitions that they have forgotten the commandments of God.

Beware of false teachers who stand before you wearing sheep's clothing. Beneath the disguise hides a ravenous wolf. They follow their real leader, the devil, and do what he wants. He was a murderer from the beginning, and never told the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks in character, for he is a liar, and the father of lies.

To these swindlers who set themselves up to be your judges I say: Judgment upon you, false religious leader and teachers, hypocrites! You bar the doors of the kingdom of heaven, closing the way to those who truly wish to enter. You don't enter yourselves; and you barricade the way to those who long to go in. You steal from poor widows; and then, to conceal your true intentions, you make long pious prayers. You will inherit great damnation.

You travel across land and sea to gain one proselyte; and when that person is won, you make him two times more the child of hell than yourselves.

You preach: "The temple is unimportant. What is important is the treasury of the temple!"

Which is greater: the gold in the treasury, or the temple that sanctifies the gold?

And you say: "The altar is not important; but the gift that is upon it is important."

You are both foolish and blind. Which is greater: the gift on the altar, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

Whoever honors the altar, honors it and all things upon it. And whoever honors the temple, honors him who dwells within its walls. And they who honor heaven, honor the throne of God, and he who sits upon it.

You make ceremonial offerings of even the mint and herbs that grow in front of your house. At the same time you have forgotten the weightier matters of the law: judgment, mercy, and faith, that which should concern you.

Your vision doesn't extend one inch in front of your face. You strain a gnat from your wine, and proceed to swallow a camel. Then you clean the outside of your cups and bowls, while inside there remains a thick coat of extortion and the filth of excess. How blind can you be! First take care of the mess within; and then the outside will be clean.

You false teachers! In your hypocrisy you are no better than whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of death and dead men's bones. You may impress people by your outward show of righteousness, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and sin. How can you believe, you who live for your colleague's praise, and never seek the praise that comes from God alone?

You build monuments to the prophets, and put flowers around the tombs of the righteous, and say: "If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would never have allowed their innocent blood to be shed."

Witness your own inconsistency! You are the children of those that killed the prophets, and now you even surpass the deeds of your ancestors.

You snakes, generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell? Behold, I will send you prophets, and wise men, and teachers: and some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will beat, and persecute from city to city.

Such hypocrisy! Isaiah was right when he prophesied of you, saying: "These people approach me with their mouths, and honor me with their lips; but their hearts are far from me."

You justify yourselves in front of your congregations; but God knows your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed by man in repulsive in the sight of God.

Take heed: Many will come from the east and west, and sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But those who should have entered the kingdom will be banished to the darkness outside. Unless your righteousness exceeds the pseudo-righteousness of the so-called religious, you will never set foot in the kingdom of heaven.

Here lies the supreme test: that such a brilliant light has come in to this dark world. Yet the inhabitants of this earth love darkness more than light, because their actions are blinded by selfishness and greed. So it is, those that give their lives to evil hat the light of truth, fearful that their actions will be witnessed and condemned; while they that do the truth step freely into o the light that their actions may be seen, for their works are pleasing to God.

Once, you went out into the wilderness to see the prophet, John the Baptist. He witnessed to you of the truth. He was a burning and shining light: and you were willing, at least for a while, to rejoice in his light. But I have a greater witness than John; the work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, proves that he has sent me.

If I do not do the works of my Father, then you are free to disbelieve. But, if I do his works, even if you don't believe in me, believe in the works that I do; that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in him. I must do the work of him who sent me while it is day: because the night is fast approaching when no one will be able to work.

The lamp of the body is the eye: if your eye is sound, your whole life will be filled with light, but if your eye be preoccupied with evil, your whole life will be infected with darkness; and if what illuminates your life is darkness, how great and terrible is that darkness.

Aren't there at least twelve hours of daylight? If you walk by day you don't stumble, because of the natural light around you. If, however, you walk by night, you will fall, because there is no light to guide you. Believe in the light that you may become "children of the light." Walk while you have the light, for the darkness is rapidly falling. They that walk in darkness are lost. If the blind are leading the blind, then both are destined to fall.

You don't light a candle and then cover it with a vase, or place it under a bed; instead, you set it on a candlestick, so that when you or your guests enter your house there is light to see by. Neither do you light a candle and then place it under a basket, instead, you set it on a candlestick to give light to all that are in the house. Don't you realize that you are the light of the world? You are like a city built on a hill that cannot go unnoticed. Let your light shine brightly before all people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. For that which you do in secret will eventually be revealed, and that which seems to be hidden will one day be broadcast far and wide. What I am telling you now in private, proclaim publicly, and what you hear whispered by the Spirit, should from the housetops.

I did not come seeking my own glory; but there is One who seeks to exalt me, and he is the judge of those who reject me.

It is written in your earthly laws that the concurring testimony of two witnesses is true. Accordingly, I bear witness of myself, and the Father who has sent me also bears witness of me. I know that the witness that he has given of me is true. Because of this, I do not require the endorsement of any earthly authority.

He who speaks only his own ideas, does so to gain honor for himself. But he who works for the glory and honor of the One who has sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.

I have not come to you on my own behalf, but have been sent by the One who is the truth. I have not come down from heaven to do my own will but the will of the Father who sent me. I was born and came into the world for this purpose: to be a living witness to the truth. Those who love the truth follow me.

I and my Father are one. In his name I have come to you that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly.

All authority is given to me, both in heaven and on earth. I give you eternal life, the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and power over all the powers of the enemy. So don't let your heart be troubled or afraid; my peace I give to you, a peace for surpassing that which the world is able to give. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free; and if the Son of God sets you free, you will be free indeed. I tell you this that you might have faith to believe, and be transformed.

This is the will of God who has sent me: that everyone who looks to the Son, and believes in him, receives everlasting life; and if you believe in me I will raise you up on the last day. Do you believe in the Son of God? It is he that is speaking to you.