3899. The subject in the verses prior to these in this chapter of Matthew was the progressive ruination of the Church. That is to say, first of all people ceased to know any longer what good or truth was, and instead began to argue with one another about these; after that they treated them with contempt; then in a third phase they did not acknowledge them; and in a fourth they profaned them, see 3754. But now the subject is the kind of doctrine that is taught generally in the Church, and especially by those whose worship is outwardly holy but inwardly profane; that is, those who with their lips praise the Lord in holy and reverent ways, but in their hearts they worship self and the world, so that for them worshipping the Lord is a means by which they gain position and wealth. When this is what their worship becomes, then to the extent they have come to acknowledge the Lord, the heavenly life and faith, they profane the same. This state of the Church is the subject now, as may be seen more clearly from the internal sense of the Lord's words quoted above, which is as follows:
