the SERMON on the MOUNT

[murjahel]

FOOD LAWS ARE FULFILLED IN JESUS


Many foods were considered ‘unclean’ and unlawful in the old covenant. Yet, this ‘uncleanness’ was a ceremonial uncleanness. The defiled, of that which was ceremonially unclean, could be ‘cleansed’. This was done with the garments of priests, with the Temple items, and finally Jesus did it with ‘ceremonially’ unclean animals. In the New Testament time, we find that the defilement, the uncleanness, and the unlawful nature of foods was removed.


In type, Jesus showed that the defilement of the world, that contaminates, can be cleansed. Jesus fulfilled this by cleansing from sin. We enter into Jesus and are cleansed. The uncleanness of foods was also cleansed to show us illustration of the cleansing nature of Jesus.



PSALMS 51:7
"PURIFY ME WITH HYSSOP, AND I SHALL BE CLEAN."


The defilement was shown to be removed and made clean.

Priests whose garments were ‘unclean’ could have them washed, and they could themselves bathe, and be able to again be pronounced ‘clean.’ Food, meats, were unclean in the Old Testament, but after Jesus, and with prayer and the Word of God, these too were pronounced ‘clean’ by God. Jesus came and fulfilled the Old Testament types, the ‘sabbath’ was not done away but was fulfilled in Jesus, and in the rest we find in Him from our labors. Circumcision was fulfilled in the baptism of the believers. And likewise, food, is now clean with prayer and the blessing of the Word.
　

Let’s look at what the Bible teaches.​

I Timothy 4:1-6
"NOW THE SPIRIT SPEAKS EXPRESSLY THAT IN THE LATTER TIMES...

(We are definitely in that age, for the signs are undeniable, so this message is for us.)

SOME SHALL DEPART FROM THE FAITH, GIVING HEED TO SEDUCING SPIRITS, AND DOCTRINES OF DEVILS...

(‘Seducing’ comes from the Greek word ‘planos’ meaning misleading, deceiving’ and ‘doctrines’ is from the word ‘didaskalia’ meaning ‘teaching, giving information’. The source of these teachings is clear, it is from evil spirits, and devils.)


SPEAKING LIES IN HYPOCRISY,...

(The word ‘lies’ is the Greek ‘pseudologos’ meaning ‘erroneous teaching’. Many claim to be teachers in our day, and many do not have the discernment to recognize the false one, and some will not study the Word to verify or challenge teachings. The word for ‘hypocrisy’ means in the Greek, ‘acting a feigned part’. The perpetrators of false doctrine can act, pretend, imitate something real.)


HAVING THEIR CONSCIENCE SEARED WITH A HOT IRON....


(The conscious minds of some are calloused and cauterized from listening to every wind of doctrine, and filling their minds with fanciful new dogma devils can conjure.)


FORBIDDING TO MARRY,...


(The word ‘forbidding’ means ‘to hinder or to check’, with not the idea of commanding or outlawing marriage, but discouraging marriage, degrading and denigrating marriage as an institution.)


AND COMMANDING TO ABSTAIN FROM MEATS...


(The word for ‘commanding’ in the Greek is ‘apecomai’, and means ‘to hold oneself off, to refrain from.’ The idea is that they will tell others that they should not eat ‘meats’. Some go so far as to make it sinful, some just teach that certain ‘meats’ are deadly, and some just want to waste time teaching ‘diet’, and get some healthy bodies to go to hell, rather than an unhealthy one to go to heaven. The over-emphasis of such things, to the neglect of winning souls, is a trick of the devil. The Bible calls it being taken up with the ‘cares of this life’.)


WHICH GOD HATH CREATED TO BE RECEIVED WITH THANKSGIVING OF THEM THAT BELIEVE AND KNOW THE TRUTH...


(God has created all food to be taken and enjoyed. The garden was filled with foods, Jesus ate meats, and Peter was told to bring in the Gentiles to the church who ate pork and other meats considered ceremonially unclean. The reason we are to eat such with ‘thanksgiving’, is that God gave them for mankind, for his diet.)


FOR EVERY CREATURE OF GOD IS GOOD, AND NOTHING TO BE REFUSED...


(The word ‘creature’ means ‘created thing’. All creatures of God are made to be eaten. Some way, cooked in some way, every creature of the animal world is edible, beneficial, and can be delicious. Some may ‘frown’ at the thought of eating oysters, or snails. The word ‘refused’ is from the Greek word ‘apobletos’ meaning ‘cast off, rejected’. We do not need to ‘cast off’, nor ‘reject’ any kind of meat.)


IF IT BE RECEIVED WITH THANKSGIVING...


(The word for ‘thanksgiving’ is the Greek word ‘eucharistia’, meaning ‘gratefulness.’ Lack of gratitude at the ‘diet’ of God for mankind, is an insult to God.)


FOR IT IS SANCTIFIED BY THE WORD OF GOD AND PRAYER...

(The word for ‘sanctified’ is the Greek word ‘hagiazo’ and means to be ‘made holy’, ‘purified’. The Word of God and prayer will bless and cleanse any meal. We are to entreat God to bless our food, we are to speak the Word of God over it in such blessing.)


IF THOU PUT THE BRETHREN IN REMEMBRANCE OF THESE THINGS, THEN SHALT THOU BE A GOOD MINISTER OF JESUS CHRIST."


(The word ‘remembrance’ is the Greek word ‘hupotithemi’ meaning ‘to place underneath, to suggest, to remind." The Lord wanted us to not only know that the Spirit is ‘expressly’ and adamantly speaking this message, but that we are to carry such message too, and if we do, we are ‘serving’ the Lord Jesus. We are not to fight about what food to eat, but we are not to allow a false doctrine, that certain foods are sinful, certain foods would damn a soul if eaten. This false doctrine, this heresy needs condemned.)



In that passage, you notice that it says that one of the doctrines of devils, one of their seducing teachings will involve ‘commanding to abstain from meats...’ The word for ‘meats’ is the Greek word ‘broma’. It means ‘food’ in general. It refers to food items that are either forbidden or allowed by the Jewish law. It means victuals, in general. The root word is ‘bibrosko’ which means ‘that which is eaten."


One of the ‘twistings’ of the devil and those who follow the demonic obsession, is that this word means ‘food ceremonially pronounced clean’. That is a perversion of the meaning of the word, and yet, many follow that interpretation of the Greek. That way, they justify their pronouncing of pork, ham, bacon, etc. as sinful in our day, as much as it was in the Old Testament. They are twisting the meaning, and I have witnessed some ‘evangelistically gifted ministers, follow that false teaching, without doing some Bible study to verify.


Peter was given a vision of a large cloth, holding meats, animals of both the clean and unclean. Peter refuses to partake of that which had been taught to him to be ‘unclean’.


Acts 10:14-15
"PETER SAID, NOT SO, LORD, I HAVE NEVER EATEN ANYTHING THAT IS COMMON OR UNCLEAN... WHAT GOD HATH CLEANSED, THAT CALL NOT THOU ‘UNCLEAN’."


The word for common means ‘defiled’ or ‘forbidden by the law.’ Peter was protesting his innocence, and his reluctance to ever do what he had been taught to be evil. God says that He can ‘cleanse’ that which is ‘unclean’.

For there to Peter (Acts 10:15), it says, ‘what God hath cleansed’. The word for ‘cleansed’ is the Greek ‘katharidzo’ meaning ‘to make clean’, ‘to purify’, ‘to ‘purge.’

And God lets us know that what He has cleansed is not to be called ‘common’ or ‘unclean’. That is a command, not a suggestion.

Some today are disobeying that command, and calling some foods to be ‘unclean’ and ‘common.’ The law prohibited certain foods as unclean. Jesus cleansed the unclean, so we are not breaking the law, rather Jesus fulfilled what that law was to show, that the unclean can be made clean.

We, as Christians, were once unclean in sin. We were cleansed, and the formerly unclean foods are now clean, that once were unclean. When we pray a blessing over our food, we are not cleansing it truly, we are thanking the Lord for cleansing it.


The word ‘common’ is from the Greek ‘koinos’, meaning ‘shared by all’, and refers to the ‘ceremonially unclean, the profane, the defiled, the unclean, the unholy.’ The word ‘unclean’ is from the Greek ‘akathartos’, which means ‘uncleansed, impure, ceremonially or morally lewd, demonically foul or unclean.’ So, since ‘broma’ means ‘food in general’, and God can cleanse all that once was called ‘unclean’, we should not, we must not, condemn any food as sinful.

How is food to be ‘cleansed’? Any food can be made holy, pure, and clean. And it is to be done by ‘prayer’ and the ‘Word of God.’


I Timothy 4:5
"SANCTIFIED BY THE WORD OF GOD AND PRAYER..."


The thanksgiving given at the table was the ‘Word of God.’

Some use a passage from the Bible as their ‘blessing’ upon food.
Such as:
Psalms 145:15-16
‘THE EYES OF ALL WAIT UPON THEE, AND THOU GIVEST THEM THEIR MEAT IN DUE SEASON. THOU OPENEST THINE HAND AND SATISFIETH THE DESIRE OF EVERY LIVING THING.’

It was a common thing for people to have
a man of God bless the food before they ate. ​

In I Samuel 9:13, it says:
‘FOR THE PEOPLE WILL NOT EAT UNTIL HE (Samuel, the man of God) COME, BECAUSE HE DOTH BLESS THE SACRIFICE, AND AFTERWARD THEY EAT THAT BE BIDDEN."

Christ Jesus blessed the loaves and fishes.
(Matthew 14:19, 15:36).



Paul, on the ship, gave thanks for the meal that the seamen ate.
(Acts 27:35).​

The ‘law’ that condemned and pronounced certain meats to be unclean was a ‘shadow of good things to come, until the time of the reformation.’

We have come to the ‘reformation’ and gone past, and to go back to the former things, the former laws that were but a ‘shadow’, would be a ‘departure’ from the current commands of God.

Jesus said that He came to ‘fulfill the law’. (Matthew 5:17-18). The ‘law’ was to be prophesied ‘until John’ the Baptist came and announced the ‘kingdom’ that had then come. (Luke 16:16)

 

[murjahel]

THE LAW IS NOW FULFILLED IN JESUS.


WE SERVE HIM WITH LOVE FLOWING FROM OUR BEING.


ALL COMMANDS ARE FULFILLED BY WE WHO HAVE ENTERED INTO JESUS.


Luke 24:44
"ALL THINGS MUST BE FULFILLED WHICH WAS SPOKEN IN THE LAW OF MOSES."


Hebrews 7:12
"FOR THE PRIESTHOOD BEING CHANGED, THERE IS MADE A NECESSITY OF A CHANGE ALSO OF THE LAW."


The law has been ‘fulfilled’, completed, brought to an end, expired, finished, and has served its purpose. Many false doctrines, and false emphasis, are due to an effort to re-institute a law that has been fulfilled, and now the shadow does not need to be our attention, but what the fulfillment of that shadow has done.



Ephesians 2:15
"HAVING ABOLISHED IN HIS FLESH, THE ENMITY, EVEN THE LAW OF COMMANDMENTS... TOOK IT OUT OF THE WAY, NAILING IT TO HIS CROSS."


The law was a ‘schoolmaster’ to teach us some things. The necessity of cleansing, of needing the blessing of God, of a change to make the unclean to be clean, was the purpose of laws regarding meats. When that lesson was taught and fulfilled on the cross, the way to cleanse the unclean is now shown, and we enjoy the benefits. Some flunk the course that the ‘schoolmaster’ has been teaching.


Matthew 5:17-18
"THINK NOT THAT I AM COME TO DESTROY THE LAW OF THE PROPHETS, I AM NOT COME TO DESTROY, BUT TO FULFILL, FOR VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU, ONE JOT OR ONE TITTLE SHALL IN NO WISE PASS FROM THE LAW, TILL ALL BE FULFILLED."


The law has not passed away, but is FULFILLED BY JESUS.


The Sabbath was a part of the law, but Jesus fulfilled that law. Circumcision was a part of the law. In the early church, there was much disputing about whether this should remain mandatory. The law of circumcision was fulfilled in Christ in baptism. (Acts 15:5-25)

In our day, we are to have our ‘hearts’ circumcised, and the former circumcision was only a schoolmaster to teach us toward that truth. The laws about ‘clean’ and ‘unclean’ meats, in the Old Testament, were to bring us to certain truths of the cleansing of Jesus.


Hebrews 10:1
"FOR THE LAW HAVING A SHADOW OF GOOD THINGS TO COME, AND NOT THE VERY IMAGE OF THE THINGS, CAN NEVER WITH THOSE SACRIFICES WHICH THEY OFFERED YEAR BY YEAR, CONTINUALLY MAKE THE COMERS THERE UNTO PERFECT."


But Jesus can and does.

 

[murjahel]

OUR RELATIONSHIPS
WITH CHRISTIAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS
THAT WE HAVE WRONGED.


Sermon on the Mount


RELATIONSHIPS

Matthew 5:23-26 (KJV)
23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. ​

Jesus mentions a ‘gift’ brought to an ‘altar.’ There has recently been far too many twistings of the word ‘gift’ and ‘offering’. When Jesus speaks here of ‘gift’, it refers to the sacrificial lamb, ox, or turtledove, which represented the offering of our Lord of His life to be given for us. This is not a monetary offering to be left on a church altar. The word ‘Gift’ is the Greek word "doron" meaning a sacrificial offering of especially the lamb.


The word ‘altar’ is the Greek word "thysiasterion" and refers to "a place of sacrifice". This ‘altar’ appears 433 times in Scripture, 24 are in the New Testament It refers to "a place of sacrifice", "a place to meet with God" via the grace of the ‘Gift’ that provided us grace.

Jesus is our Sacrificial Gift for our sins. We have Him to take our death, and to pay for our sins. When we come to God, and offer not our own righteousness as reason to approach God, but we offer the sacrificial death of Jesus as reason we may approach the throne of grace, we should first check our relationships with Christian brothers and Christian sisters. If we have wronged any of them, we need to settle that first, and then come via Jesus’ death for us to God.


Many think, ‘well, I am saved, and no matter who I have wronged, what I have done, I am still under grace.’ Well, hopefully you are under grace, but it is not permissible, according to Jesus, to take benefit of that grace, until you right the wrong you have done to your brother or sister in the Lord.


Does that sound harsh, caustic, and sharp-worded? Well, take it up with Jesus, I am only doing the exegesis of His words.
Jesus tells us here that the necessary thing to do, before coming in prayer, expecting mercy from God, is to "reconcile". This is the Greek word ‘diallasso’. It comes from two Greek words, (G1223) ‘dia’ and (G236) ‘allasso’; meaning ‘to change thoroughly’.

However the wrong is to be corrected, the end result of the correction needs to be a thorough change between oneself and the brother or sister in the Lord. Jesus sets a high standard of requirement here. This is not a passing ‘sorry’, or a ‘joking hallmark card in the mail. This is a absolute and extensive mending repair of the relationship.


Jesus then invites the one mending the damage to feel free then to approach the throne of grace, knowing of assurance that the grace to do so is there, the altar and sacrifice upon it is noted. We need that kind of merciful audience with God. We want close fellowship and conversation with Him.

The ill will caused by our wrong to a brother or sister, needs resolved, so that close fellowship is maintained with God.


Now, if one is ‘adversarial’, and opposed to us in a negative way, we are to attempt agreement. The word ‘adversary’ is the Greek word ‘antidikos’, meaning an opponent in a lawsuit; one with whom we have a legal dispute. Under Roman law an adversary, an opponent in a legal dispute, could force one to go before the judge. If the person would settle on the way to the judge he would not be tried in court. Jesus tells us to be ready to settle, to avoid the heathen court system, if possible.
　

DEALING WITH BROTHERS AND ADVERSARIES​

This is not as easy as it sounds. Most of us have had trouble dealing with those in a church, or with legal disputes.


Christian brothers and sisters do not always behave in Christian ways. Many times it is misunderstanding, sometimes it is blatant carnality. Sometimes, they are not truly even brothers or sisters in the Lord, but are tares, and false prophets.


Dealing with church people on this earth is very difficult to do. If we can effectively deal with them, we would find the devil to be easy in comparison. We know he is out to harm us, and are not surprised by his attacks, and deceit. However, in the church, the behavior of "saints" toward one another is shocking and often unexpected. They can catch us off guard and do more harm than can be imagined.


In many homes there is child abuse, and in some, there is abuse of a mate. These ought not to be, yet they do happen. In most churches, there is SPIRITUAL ABUSE. Some "saints" are nit-pickers, some are quarrelers, gossips, complainers, fault-finders, scornful, bickerers, finger-pointers, judgmental persons, apostates, etc. These people can do much harm to the Christian witness. They can cause many to leave the church. Others who have left the church, may never return to it - because of these abusers.

WE ARE ALL TO BE PART OF THE BODY of CHRIST​

The church is likened unto the "body of Christ." (I Cor. 12:13-27) All Christians are like parts of the body. Some are like the hand, others are like the foot, the heart, the eyes, etc. Together we are to be a functioning body, able to serve the Lord in a useful manner. The problem is that also on this body are parts the Lord did not put there. The "cancers" are deadly, and must be removed or the body will die. God wants a healthy "body" of believers. Yet, in most, if not all, churches - we find destructive, abusive, cancers. These abusive people will chase Christians from the church. They will hurt feelings, insult, berate, attempt to control, belittle, stir up dissension, etc.


For too long Christians have tried to ignore, and pretend that the cancers of the body don't exist. These cancers have kept churches small, or split churches, or caused periodic and sudden drops in attendance. They have hindered revival. The Lord has been unable to give the type of revival and blessing that He has desired. The blessing has been sapped from churches by these malignant parts of the body. We must be very careful not to become one of the cancers. Jesus addresses the righteous way to deal with wrongs we have committed. In this righteous way, we are examples to the church.



1 Peter 5:3 (KJV)
3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.


We all answer directly to Jesus and God. The ones who want to look down on some as inferior Christians are in opposition to God's plan. We need to find a group of like-minded believers to stand with us in prayer.

Hebrews 10:24-25 (KJV)
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.


We are here in the church, with a duty to exhort, encourage to love and good works. If we allow wrongs to take place, if we refuse to mend the fences we have broken, we will lose the close fellowship with the Lord we could have had.


Our pain and disappointment can allow us to wrong others, thinking we are justified. Yet, it is never right. There is an appropriate way to confront and change those wrongs that have been committed. God's way will result in your growth, be based on Biblical truth. Don't get drawn into a course of action that will bring regret and necessitate more repentance than is already due.


Galatians 5:9 (KJV)
9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.


We must seek out the leaven, and effect change. So we need to effect change by changing the system whereby we were able to do the wrong to another child of God. The message and emphasis of the church must be altered to put God back into control. When God sits upon the throne of the church, anyone who would hurt another loses their power. A revival of love and worship to the Lord, Who is now back on the throne, will cause the the church to be ‘peculiar’ compared to the world, but it will be the church the Lord desired to empower.


This restoration process requires much intercession. Many Christians are not up to it. Many will pack and run, rather than to do the hard thing as Jesus demanded. Yet, the alternative is far too horrible. The ‘troubling’ saint who does not do as the Lord commands in the sermon on the mount, will be judged by the Lord, no matter who he is. What that judgment is will vary, for the Lord is the decision maker on that. Yet, it does not sound desirable, to say the least.


Galatians 5:10 (KJV)
10 I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

laughing with a sad laughter... you are excused from class though...

Sorry to interrupt your monologue...

Thanks for the contributions!

 

[murjahel]

Some of the worst of these are described by Peter and by Jude.

2 Peter 2:1-6 (KJV)
1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;


Jude 1:4 (KJV)
4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
　


Matthew records Jesus parable of the tares, speaking of ones who unrepentantly do harm to the saints.


Matthew 13:41-42 (KJV)
41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.


We all want to see our ‘wrongs’ as minor, and then see how the Bible speaks of those who wrong God’s own as being major, and to be harshly judged. We need to take these passages to heart, and realize that Jesus here in the sermon on the mount, is showing how to avoid such disasters.


A little ‘leaven’, i.e. sin, can be greatly damaging. I recall a wrong I did to another young person while I was a teenager. The harsh words I spoke may have done great harm. I have repented, and repented. I have prayed and prayed, but I still horribly regret what I said. The harm I may have done with thoughtless and cruel words is scary to consider.


Matthew 13:33 (KJV)
33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.


If we take the Lord’s words to heart, if we manage to obey them, though it be difficult, we will bring forth fruit that is good. If we disobey the Lord’s instructions here, we are in grave danger.


Matthew 18:6-7 (KJV)
6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
7 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!

 

[murjahel]

THE BODY IS TO WORK TOGETHER


I Corinthians 12:15-20
If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? And if the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet one body."


The church is likened to a body, with each member being one part. The Lord is the Head, but still the body exhibits sickness, even disease. The Lord wants the part of the body to work together to get rid of disease and sickness. The state of the church in our day, as it was in Paul’s day in Corinth, is very poor in spiritual health. Paul spoke the above passage to those in Corinth. They were fighting over who was the greatest preacher. They had misuse of the gifts of the Spirit. They lacked love. They were accepting a man who was living in sin with his step-mother. And the list could go on and on. Today, we too can look around at churches, and see various spiritual sicknesses. The health of the church, right now, is very poor.


The church, not the multitude of denominations, but God's church as a whole is made up of the whole company of regenerate persons in all times and ages. Now all of the church is the "body of Christ."


Christ is again in the flesh, He is in us. Every cell in the "body church" is an extension of Jesus. Each cell has the Christ-life dwelling within. As cells in the body have a duty to multiply and cause more cells to become part of the body, so we are to allow the Spirit to use us in the life-giving ministry. The Spirit gives gifts to the cells within the "body" in order to empower them to do the work that God wants done. Each cell is to use its Spirit- empowered gifts to extend life to more and more cells. Each of us is a ‘cell’ of that large body called the ‘church’.


Groups of these cells may choose to worship and serve the Lord as part of a body church. Each body church is to do a part of the work of the whole true church. We see various denominations, various buildings, each containing a part of the church.


Just as the human body needs many parts with different functions, so the "body of Christ" needs people with various ministries. If these various parts function correctly, we have spiritual health. If one ceases to function, if some function improperly, the body is sick. Eyes are needed to function properly to see, and some in the body church are needed to have spiritual vision. The hands of the body lift and help, and many helpers are needed in the body church. The nose is needed to smell and detect odors, and some are needed in the body church to detect evil. The ears of the body attune to the sounds about them, and in the body church the Lord is trying to speak, and some need to attune themselves to the voice of God and hear His message. The feet can be swift to carry the body to various places, and some of the body church need to be ready to carry the gospel message outside the four walls of the building of worship.


Many ministries are needed in the body church. Too often the church has been many "pew fillers" and a few "ministers". This is not God's plan. Every cell of the body has a purpose, and when they gather in a body church, each should do its ministry in a way that aids the body church.


Each member of the "body of Christ" is considered such a CELL. Each cell is a "called out one." Thus, each cell is a "church." A cell of the body is the smallest form of life in the body. All cells are to have purpose and work. This local, organized congregation is made up of many cells that each function. The cell church is to be a part of a local body of uniting believers, if possible.


Paul, Barnabas, Silas, and John Mark formed a cell church in Antioch. They ministered there in the body church of Antioch. Later, Paul separated from Barnabas and formed two separate cell churches, able to go out and help separate body churches.
Jesus had a cell church of 12, and another group of 70 people.

He had them help Him as He ministered to sometimes thousands of others. The 70 were split up into 35 cell churches and sent from city to city. If any rejected them, they were to shake off the dust of that city, and go to the next city. From the going forth of that group of cell churches, many body churches eventually came into being. Jesus' purpose in His cell church was to train the disciples so they could go out and be separate cell churches after His ascension. The Great Commission that He gave them, authorized them to do the same thing for others.



The purpose of a living cell is to grow, and then divide and then again grow, and divide. This reproduction of cells is what keeps the body functioning. Therefore, the cell church is in no way in competition with the body church. The purpose of the cell church is to use a ministry in aid to the body church. No body church will survive without the reproduction of cell churches within it.


When a new convert is saved, it becomes a cell of the "body of Christ." It is sometimes nourished by the "cell church" that helped bring them to existence in the body. Soon, it is given a ministry by the Lord. It will shortly be expected to have fruitful ministry, by bringing new cells of growth into the body.
Andrew found the Lord Jesus, and almost immediately ran to his brother Peter, and brought him to Jesus. We all know of the fruitful ministry of Peter after that. This is the plan of God. He has a "body church" that maintains life and grows by the individual cells doing their job of witnessing and leading others to Jesus. These new converts are to be cells in the body and do the same.


The congregations within the worship buildings in this world may call themselves "churches", but they are only small parts of the "true church". These congregations of cells are to worship together as parts of the body, until we are all summoned to the throne room of heaven on the day of the rapture of the church. There the cells, and local congregations of such cells will unite as the "body of Christ" to worship our Savior, the Father, and the Spirit in wondrous unison.
The cells of the body, the parts of the body, all need each other. We must learn to work together, to get done what the Lord wants done. A sick body cannot do the work. The body must get into health.


Ephesians 4:12
"for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."


The word "perfecting" is from the Greek word, "katartismos". This is a cleansing healing, a mending of the broken, a restoration to usefulness.


Sometimes in that day, this word was used to refers to the "mending of fishing nets." If a fishing net has holes, it loses many of the catch. In the same way, there are problems within the church that cause many to backslide, apostatize, and/or leave the church. God places all of us in the church to "mending the nets." This is a very difficult task. The work of the church is to be like a fishing net. We are to bring in a catch of fish for our Lord. We need the various ministries to work together at mending the holes that allow some to slip away from the church. We need to straighten out the problems within the "body of Christ." The mission of the church is to evangelize the world with the good news of the redemption through Jesus Christ. The church is to also glorify God, and to edify one another. The destiny of the church is to be resurrected and/or raptured by Jesus. Then we will rule and reign with Christ for all eternity

 

[murjahel]

So, in the restoration of health to the church, we need some spiritual Body building. Wrongs need to be made right. Apologies, restoration, reconciliation, will bring the body back to health and to strength.


Ephesians 4:12
"... build up the body of Christ."

Unhealthy congregations cannot effectively evangelize. When there is sickness in a body church, (such as prejudice, hypocrisies, spiritual abuse, grudges, bitterness, etc.) the congregation is made unfit for the work of the Lord. These sins, and many others, afflict many congregations. They struggle to survive as a body, like a sick patient in intensive care. It will be a wonder and miraculous, if this kind of congregation can just survive till the rapture.


The sickly, anemic, body churches will never see sustained growth, revival, and ministry development. They may try programs, contests, crusades, and other outward programs, but the church will always go from crisis to crisis. They may seek someone to blame for the crisis, but the reality of the problem is the anemic, sickly condition of the congregation.

The congregations face the same kind of problems today that they faced in the early church. There are still church cliques.

Immorality is still rampant in the congregations. There is immaturity, doctrinal error, marriage troubles, abuse of spiritual gifts, misused liberty, rule adding, judgmentalism, hypocrisy, etc. The admission of these kinds of problems in the church congregations of today bring embarrassment, discouragement, misunderstanding, and opposition from the ones who suppose to lead the congregations.


The Lord is more embarrassed than any of us. He has made it possible and easy for the church to function properly, but we as a church have failed to heed His way, and have attempted to create dogmas, rituals, and denominational structure to accomplish what they can never accomplish. The congregations will never become healthy by neglecting the path that Lord has directed us to take to find spiritual fitness.


Physical health is shown by measuring blood pressure, heart rate, amount of weight lifted, speed, endurance, etc. Spiritual health in a congregation can be measured by KOINONIA. This Koinonia is the fellowship, close intimate friendships, the bearing of the burdens of others, the confessing of faults, the intercession (not gossip and judgmentalism), the exhorting, ministering, loving and caring of the cell churches for each other. The reconciliation Jesus commands in the sermon on the mount is key to koinonia fellowship. This is the measurement of spiritual health of a body church. Koinonia is the test of a healthy church, in the same way that a physical exam is the measurement of the conditioning of an athlete. Koinonia proves the existence of true love. Love proves spiritual health.


John 13:34-35
"A new commandment, I give unto you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another."


This kind of concern of Christians for each other makes the world marvel. They stand in awe when they see a healthy church body at work. The love is so evident, and so different from the love they see on the soap operas, at work, or in their own homes. Jesus is the divine example and prototype for this kind of love. The Holy Spirit deposits this same kind of love into the hearts of believers. Believers can either allow the love to develop and shared with others, or can allow it to be self consumed. It is so vital to the church, to have this love in operation, that the Lord Jesus made it a commandment.

Galatians 6:2
"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."

John 13:34
"A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another."

In some congregations, the love is absent, grudges and wrongs, angers and judgmentalism has done damage, and the damage is unhealed. Many such congregations cannot admit to their unhealthy lack of love. This is why the Word of God so emphasizes the confessing of weaknesses. The Bible also encourages the intercession of one saint for another. This fault confession with intercession will bring a sickly church into a healthy condition of love and koinonia.

James 5:16
"Confess your sins one to another, and pray one for another that ye may be healed."

Pride shows weakness. The proud congregation that wants to hide its lack of love, cover over its hypocritical judgmentalism, and escape listening to any sermons on its own sins, will die a sickly body church in these last days. Humility and admitting the need of help shows the strength necessary for the body church to undergo the surgical removal of the cancers that have kept the body sick.

The world teaches that one should reject or ignore one's faults.

Some Christians have also taught to only confess the positive, and never admit a fault. This is nearly as un-Scriptural as one can get. Some of these, who won't admit their own faults, will try to blame others for the problems. This creates bickering, anger, and grudges. Some of them will try silence, and think that if the sins are not admitted, they will go away. They will "put on airs", and hide their faults.

Ignored cancer will not go away, and neither will ignoring the lack of love and the lack of koinonia make the associated weakness of the body go away. The congregation can only get into right standing with the Lord by confessing their weaknesses.

The second part of confession of faults, is the interceding of one saint for the other. Whenever a fault is admitted to another, the proper response is to pray for them. The next verse after the one encouraging confession and intercession says:

James 5:17
"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."


Problems are quickly solved in body churches once admission starts, and reconciliation continues. When a body church starts to openly admit their failures and weaknesses, healing reconciliation will take place like never before.

Galatians 6:1
"Brethren, if a man is overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual restore him in a spirit of gentleness."

The early church came to this kind of accord and love in the upper room. They went from a few sickly, scared members hiding during the crucifixion, to 120 in the upper room. Then suddenly when the body became healthy, 3000 were added with the first sermon. In seventy years, the number of saints in the body grew to over half a million. Then in the next hundred years, the number grew to over 2 million. In the next 100 years, the number again more than doubled to 5 million.


When the body churches become healthy again, the church will astound the world with its growth and blessings. The healing begins when the words of Jesus, of making reconciliation with anyone we have wronged in the church body.

 

[murjahel]

MAKING PROMISES, GIVING OATHS


Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5:33-37 (KJV)
33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said
by them of old time,
Thou shalt not forswear thyself,
but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all;
neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool:
neither by Jerusalem;
for it is the city of the great King.
36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head,
because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
37 But let your communication be,
Yea, yea; Nay, nay:
for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. ​

In the verse ‘Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths...’ we are to understand that the word ‘forswear is the Greek word: epiorkeo (G1964), meaning ‘to swear falsely’. Making vows by heaven, earth, or any other thing that we have no power to change is forbidden. To make a vow promising to speak the truth, is always right.

This passage has often been misconstrued to mean one cannot take an oath in a legal setting, and not supposed to take an oath between persons. This is an incorrect understanding.


An oath in those days is an affirmation, or resolution, made by asking God to affirm its truth by imprecating His vengeance, and renouncing his goodness, if what is spoken is false. A false oath is called perjury; or, as in this place, forswearing.



According to the history of that time, many had begun to add a number of oaths into their common conversations. These oaths they did not consider as binding. For example, they would swear by the temple, by heaven, by the earth. As long as they did not swear by the name Jehovah, they seemed to consider all others as allowable. This is the sin which Jesus is preaching about, and He wanted to correct that errant thinking. It was the practice of swearing to be telling the truth, but were mistaken in thinking if they swore by ‘created things’ rather than by God, that the swearing was unsinful if broken..


Jesus said that they were mistaken in their views of the sacredness of such oaths. The oaths, no matter what they swore by, were oaths, and their words were lies, and therefore to be judged so, if they broke them. To swear by created things, was to treat irreverently the things created by God; and was sinful.



Jesus was not speaking of judicial oaths. It was wicked habit of swearing in private conversation, not meaning to bind oneself to the truth of what was sworn.

Jesus, Himself, did not refuse
to take an oath in a court of law.​

Matthew 26:63-64 (KJV)
63 But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Paul often called God to witness his truthfulness,
which what an oath is.​

Romans 1:9 (KJV)
9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;

Romans 9:1 (KJV)
1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,

Galatians 1:20 (KJV)
20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.


God, the ever Truthful One, even uses ‘oaths’.

Hebrews 6:16-18 (KJV)
16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

Oaths are in the law of Moses,
and Jesus did not repeal those laws. ​

Exodus 22:11 (KJV)
11 Then shall an oath of the LORD be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbour's goods; and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good.

Leviticus 5:1 (KJV)
1 And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.

Numbers 5:19 (KJV)
19 And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse:

Deuteronomy 29:12-14 (KJV)
12 That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the LORD thy God, and into his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day:
13 That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
14 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;

We are commanded by Jesus here
in the Sermon on the Mount,
and by the law in the Old Testament,
not to swear falsely in an oath.​

Leviticus 19:12 (KJV)
12 And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

Numbers 30:2 (KJV)
2 If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.

Deuteronomy 23:23 (KJV)
23 That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the LORD thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth.


When the Lord says ‘Swear not at all’, He is referring to the false swearing, and the taking of oaths, with the thought that certain phrased oaths were allowed to be broken. Jesus is saying to swear not in the profane ways customary then.



To swear by heaven, is to profane, to blaspheme heaven; when it is the throne of God. To swear by it, was to swear by Him that sat thereon.

Matthew 23:22 (KJV)
22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.


To swear by the ‘earth’ is to swear by God’s footstool, and we have no right to swear by anything that belongs to God.

Jerusalem is the holy city, it truly belongs to God. To swear by it, thinking it is just a city, it cannot take vengeance on me, if this is a lie, is to discount that God owns Jerusalem, and He hears that false swearing, and knows the heart and intent is just to find a way to ‘swear’, to affirm one’s truthfulness, but seek to have an out, so one can do the swearing knowing it is a lie.


see part 2

 

[murjahel]

part 2

To swear falsely ‘by heaven’ is an insult to God.
To link His heaven to a lie, is a horrible sin.​

Matthew 23:16-22 (KJV)
16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.


James 5:12 (KJV)
12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.


A common oath in that day was to ‘swear by thy head’.


Matthew 5:36 (KJV)
36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

Jews and Gentiles of that day used this oath. To swear by the head was to swear by one’s life. It was the same as saying: I will give up my life if what I say is not true. God is the Author of the life, and to swear by one’s life is the same as to swear by God. For we have no authority over even one hair, etc. We belong to God, with no right over our own life. God has all control; and it is profane to pledge what is God's property.

Our communication, our word; what we say, should be Yea, Yes. This means we should simply affirm, or declare that a thing is so. Profane oaths are evil.


They come from evil. They proceeds from some evil purpose.


We need to remember, as Jesus pointed out in the sermon on the mount, that profane swearing is always the demonstration of a depraved heart. To trifle with God’s name, or any of His works, is proof of depravity.



When a person swear to a thing, using some created thing, or even his own life, as evidence of it being truth, it is pretty good evidence that what he is saying is false. Corrupt swearers are seldom believed. The man who is always believed, is one whose character is beyond suspicion in everything. One should seek to be one whose simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is enough. If we are truly Christ-like, we do not need oaths to be believed.



No person is wiser, or happier for lying via swearing by one’s life. It is insulting to the Lord, and awful in His sight of God. God will not hold the lying swearer guiltless. Wantonly to call His vengeance down, hoping to fool others as to the veracity of what one swears, is blasphemous, and a sin not to be ignored by God.

ALL FORMS OF LYING, BEARING FALSE WITNESS,
TALEBEARING ARE FORBIDDEN​

　


The ‘false oaths’ are a method of lying with seeking to not feel guilty for it, and also not to be dis-believed. We are told to "not bear false witness", for all forms of tale-bearing, slander, and lying, not only injures the victim, but also the liar.

We are commanded by the Lord to "not forswear", meaning not to lie via a ‘swearing oath’. Those ‘oaths of lies’ dishonor God.

Swearing in court matters has become so common that the dread of God’s vengeance on those who would lie in such has been utterly. Any oath, is to be performed to the Lord. Some of the Jews of that day in which Jesus preached this sermon on the mount maintained that they could swear a lying oath with their lips, and annul it in their heart.


That the Jews were notoriously guilty of this lying form of swearing oaths. The Lord express strong disapproval of them, and warns His disciples against ever thinking that form of lying was allowed by God.


In Jesus’ first coming, the Jews of that day could swear falsely, but were not to be too abundant in it. The Lord says ‘SWEAR NOT (falsely) AT ALL!
　
Zechariah 8:16-17 (KJV)
16 These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
17 And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.


Peter swore with an oath, fearing for his own life, he tried to make the lie sound more truthful. Many use oaths in that manner.


Matthew 26:69-74 (KJV)
69 Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.
70 But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest.
71 And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.
72 And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the Man.
73 And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech betrayeth thee.
74 Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the Man. And immediately the [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] crew.


The habit of ‘swearing’ makes it very easy to ‘fall into condemnation’, for the purpose of it easily becomes to deceive. Oaths should be used only rarely, and when the truthfulness of such is without question.

James 5:12 (KJV)
12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

Paul used an oath in Romans 9:1-3 (KJV)
1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:


"I say the truth in Christ, I lie not" is one of the most sincere oaths a man can possibly give. Paul entreats Jesus to search his heart that he tells the truth. Paul promises that his conscience was free from all deceit. The Holy Spirit was inwardly bearing him confirmation that he spoke truth. The testimony of one’s own conscience, and the confirmation of the Holy Spirit, are different things, and Paul claims to have both.

 

[murjahel]

THE DIDACHE,
THE FIRST DOCTRINAL BOOK
OF THE EARLY CHURCH
SHOWS THE CHURCH UNDERSTOOD
THE DANGER OF FALSE OATHS.​

　

Didache 2:
3. You shall not perjure thyself, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not speak evil, you shall not nurture a grudge,.
4. You shall not be unstable or changeable, and do not break your promises; for the breaker of his oaths shall find an entanglement of death.
5. Your word shall not be found worthless, but must be fulfilled by action.
　

The Lying Tongue will often use ‘oaths’
to convince others that their lies are true.​

Psalm 120:2 (KJV)
2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.


Sins that flow through the lips, sins of deception and deceit, do damage. The tongue is a sharp sword that can damage the soul of the speaker, and likewise damage the one that is victim to the lies.


Proverbs 25:18 (KJV)
18 A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.


Lying ranks high among the common vices of mankind. A poll of many Americans revealed that 97 out of 100 admitted that they lied. Human depravity reveals itself in mankind's lies. We have grown so accustomed to lies, we rarely get startled.

Salesmen lie, television commercials lie, politicians lie, employees lie, bosses lie, and even a baby lies to a degree, when after a few weeks old, the baby learns that if it cries as though hungry or in pain, it can gain desired 'attention'.


Proverbs 12:22 (KJV)
22 Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.

Colossians 3:9
"Lie not one to another, seeing ye have put off the old man, with his deeds'
　
Some Christians do not put off the 'old man', it seems. Lies pass through the lips of even those who call themselves Christians. Too many Christians even regard lies as inconsequential.

Among the seven things
that God says He hates
in Proverbs 6:16-19,
three regard lying.​

Proverbs 6:16-19 (KJV)
16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
　

The ninth commandment tells us to not bear false witness against our neighbor.

Exodus 20:16 (KJV)
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Lying has many forms,
and yet, its essence is 'deception'.



Lying is the telling of an untruth,
with the intent to deceive.


False oaths are a form of lying.​

Cain lied when asked about Abel's whereabouts. Cain said 'I know not'.

Joseph's brothers lied when they said they found Joseph's coat, and did not know where he was.

Many advertisements are lies. The sales pitch of many a salesman is a lie. The politicians have lied and lied. Many do not hang their heads, when after election they do not do what they promised to do, and they do what they promised not to do. Many lie to get elected.
　
Mankind destroys his character by lies. The devil, being the ‘father of lies’ is behind many lies we see in this world. He does not have to inspire all lies, for mankind has a bent toward evil, and easily decides to lie, following the example of the ‘father of lies’. Lying put Jesus on the cross. The devil was behind those lies, but the pharisees, and religious leaders did not want the kind of Messiah that Jesus is, and they wanted Him to be of no effect to their community.
　

John 8:44-45 (KJV)
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

 

[murjahel]

TRUCE BREAKERS
ARE THOSE WHO DO NOT KEEP THEIR OATHS


2 Timothy 3:3 (KJV)
3 Without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,


Truce-breakers comes from two words, one meaning ‘not’ and the other meaning a libation, because in making treaties, in swearing oaths, libations both of blood and wine were poured out in that day.

Some people will make promises, swear oaths, but never intend to do. There are many ‘truce breakers’ in this world today.

False oaths and lying
are contrary to a Godly nature. ​

Lying is serious. We need to watch our lips so that what comes from them, is truth. Lies have caused many an innocent person to be convicted of crimes. They have caused many a saint to suffer persecution, even martyrdom.


Lying though does more harm to the liar, than the lie does to the one lied about. We have all likely been victim of the lies of another, and it can hurt deeply to hear what another has said of us. Yet, the one who lied has deeply scarred their soul, has offended the Spirit of Truth, has distanced themselves from the Lord. Jesus is known as the 'Truth'. The more we know Him, the more we will want to tell the truth.


The Holy Spirit is called the 'Spirit of Truth', and He is cleansing lies from the church. This cleansing process found going on in the church today, is not just a dusting off of our sword. it is a restoration of real truth into the mouths of the saints. As with Ananias and Sapphira in the former rain revival, great judgment will come on liars in the church. So, lies need to be repented, not hidden. Lies need to be expunged from our words. Truth needs spoken.The lies need ‘revealed’ to be the untruths that they are. Someday, all lies, un-repented, will be revealed.

CLEANSING THE FALSE OATHS’ DAMAGE​

Isaiah 6:5-8 (KJV)
5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
6 Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.


Lying, in whatever form, needs to be ‘purged’. We need ‘iniquity... taken away.’ Too often the lies go un-repented to God. The ‘tongs’ of the Lord need to purge our lips, and lies need to never again flow from those lips.


The coal on Isaiah’s lips cleansed the iniquity of his lies from His soul. This represented the cleansing we all need from lies we have spoken. We now see that the type of that ‘coal’ is fulfilled in the ‘blood of Jesus’ that was shed for us. We need to get our lies washed by the blood, cleansed from our person, and then ‘obey the truth’. That is the simple healing process that the Lord has given us. Following that kind of cleansing, we find the Spirit of truth will be with us, making us more and more sensitive to lies. We will feel His conviction if we speak, or think to speak the lie. We will hear a word of knowledge, sense the ‘discernment’ of lying in others, by the Spirit.


1 Peter 1:16-23 (KJV)
16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.


The purification of our tongues is to have the precious blood of Jesus to cleanse us.

That purification, like the coal on Isaiah’s lips, can cleanse us from lying lips, untruthful oaths.

 

[murjahel]

NARCISSISM,
SEEKING GLORY FROM OTHERS​

Sermon on the Mount​

Matthew 6:1-4 (KJV)
1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men,
to be seen of them:
otherwise ye have no reward of your Father
Who is in heaven.
2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms,
do not sound a trumpet before thee,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues
and in the streets,
that they may have glory of men.
Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3 But when thou doest alms,
let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4 That thine alms may be in secret:
and thy Father which seeth in secret himself
shall reward thee openly. ​

Jesus begins this section of the sermon on the mount, with the words ‘take heed’.

This is from the Greek word ‘prosecho’ (G4337) meaning ‘to hold the mind to the attention of....’

Jesus wants the following to be applied to one’s self.

The phrase ‘take heed’ is found 28 times in the New Testament.

There are many things we need to apply to our lives, many things we are to hold our attention to, so that we please our Lord.

Jesus had noticed that many were doing things, such as charitable giving, so that others would give them ‘glory’.

Jesus corrects their thinking. Many do not give with ‘simplicity’, with ‘liberality’, nor with ‘cheerfulness.’

Rather, they give ‘to be seen of men’, and give to gain the ‘glory of men.’

In that day, some even had one proceed them with a trumpet blaring, to announce the arrival of the person wanting to be noticed for their charitable giving.


"Alms" were acts of charity and greatly needed, and appreciated by the unfortunate.

God also appreciates the charitable giving of the more endowed.

Matthew 10:42 (KJV)
42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

One named ‘Tabitha’, or ‘Dorcas’ was one in the early church known for her loving generosity and care for the less fortunate.

Acts 9:36 (KJV)
36 Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and alms deeds which she did.


God rewards good deeds, if done with the right motive.


1 Corinthians 9:17-18 (KJV)
17 For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.
18 What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.

2 Timothy 4:14 (KJV)
14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:


The ‘hypocrites’ that Jesus speaks of in this passage of the sermon on the mount, are ones who are ‘actors’, feigning goodness, generosity, to the poor, but with the real goal of self exaltation. Jesus says that ‘they have their reward in receiving that ‘self exaltation’. The ‘reward’ is paid in full by that adulation of the crowd, that applause of man, the fame that is sought. The loss they suffer is the loss of God’s reward.


Jesus then advises that we should not ‘let ... thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth. This was an ‘idiom’ of real humility.

　


PRIMARY NARCISSISM
vs
PATHOLOGICAL NARCISSISM​

　


We are not to hate ourselves, nor berate any good thing we may do, but though there is a ‘primary narcissism’ that is a healthy ‘self love’, there is also an unhealthy elitist narcissism that was common in Jesus’ time, and also now in our times.


Matthew 19:19 (KJV)
19 ...Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.


There is much ‘spiritual narcissism’ today amidst the Christians, and blatantly demonstrated often in the clergy.


Narcissism is a term derived from Greek mythology, where a young man named "Narcissus’ was in love with a young girl named Echo. She spurned his advances, and so he fell in love with his reflection in a pool. He pined away the rest of his life obsessing about his image, and turned into a flower called now the ‘narcissus’. This, of course, is a myth, untrue, and foolish. Yet, the vanity, the egotism, the self-obsession, the ego-mania in many forms, and in varying amounts, plagues even the church of today.


In the sermon on the mount, Jesus speaks of narcissistic attitudes in warning us not to do things to ‘be seen of others’, and not to do things for the ‘glory of men’.


Paul speaks in Philippians about this ‘vainglory’ seeking of some.

Philippians 2:3 (KJV)
3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.


Peter also refers to the narcissism problem.

1 Peter 5:5-6 (KJV)
5 ... Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time:


Narcissism is selfish ambition, putting one’s own needs and desires about others. It will lead to discord, strife, and evil.


James confirms that in:
James 3:13-18 (KJV)
13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

SPIRITUAL NARCISSISM​

Spiritual narcissism describes religious persons who turn their religious behavior into ego building, endeavors that uplift themselves, and present themselves as holy, special, anointed beyond what all others are. They believe that they are enlightened, gifted, blessed, and deserving of respect, awe, and admiration of others.

I have recently witnessed a number of these spiritual narcissists pray for judgment, pain, and suffering to be upon all who do not recognize their ‘superiority’ of ‘faith. They are oversensitive to the slightest criticism, and see any questioning of their superiority as attack. They assume God is ready to physically attack any who would not put them on a spiritual throne alongside His own.


Spiritual narcissists think they are superior to others. Their view of themselves is greatly exaggerated. They present their calling, their work, their program as unique, special, and deserving, (demanding) of the support of all who come into the hearing of their demands. The glory is given to themselves, in self-enhancement testimonials.

T.S. Eliot wrote:
"Half the harm that is done in this world, is due to people who want to feel important. They don’t mean to do harm, but the harm does not interest them... or they do not see it, or they justify it.. Because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves."

Our mission in this world is to do good. Our mission is not to win popularity contests, not to be in the ‘who’s who’ of the Christian world.

James and John were self promoters. With the aid of their mother, they sought to have the prime positions in the kingdom they expected Jesus to set up quickly. They turned that narcissistic hope of fame and power to become totally committed to Jesus, and to uplifting only Him.

D. L. Moody’s biography says:
‘The world has yet to see what God can do with one man who is totally committed to Him.’

Having ambitions is good, but if the ambitions involve self aggrandizement, then the work is not blessed, authorized, or lawful to God.

Mark 9:35 (KJV)
35 And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.

We are to pursue the showing of the world the greatness of Jesus. Our fame, our talents, our gifts and blessings only get in the way of uplifting our Lord and Savior. I see ministries often that have the name of the pastor or leader of the group in far larger letters than the Lord’s. The ministry is named after the leader, regardless of his/her obvious failures in the past, and the name of Jesus is slipped in somewhere to be found only after a diligent search.

How many people follow the person on twitter? How many read the ‘blog? How many attend the church? How big is the offering? How many buy the pastor’s book, with His picture in it dozens of times? How many friends on facebook? How many partners send monthly gifts? Are the monthly newsletters, the weekly bulletin, the web page, the sign on the front of the building promoting the minister or Jesus?

THE LAODICEAN NARCISSISTS​

The church of Laodicea is described as a church that felt rich, but were spiritually poor, for their glory was in themselves, not in the Lord, Whom they had not noticed yet was absent from their services. The Laodicean church is ‘self centered’, ‘thinking’ they have it all, when in reality, their riches are carnal treasures, and the spiritual sight, and spiritual blessings are not present at all. They are blind to seeing their need to do Christ’s works, they have locked doors, and glorying in what they have. They do not realize that Jesus Himself is not there with them.

Revelation 3:17-18 (KJV)
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see.


The Laodiceans were ‘wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked’ when Jesus was not there with them.

All Christians are, when without the Lord. We need Him to clothe us in His righteousness, not our own, we need eye salve to see things as they really are.

The narcissism in Laodicea made them not realize they were boasting in their own righteousness, claiming a wardrobe of righteousness that were their own works. They were blind to their real state of wretchedness. They were poor of real spiritual riches, and had only the world’s mammon of which to boast.

THE RICH YOUNG RULER
WAS A NARCISSIST​

Imagine the wealth possible for the rich young ruler, had he parted with his worldly possessions, in trade for the eternal treasures that our Lord offers. He died, and unless he had been saved at a later date, is now in the eternal poverty of hell. He could have been enjoying the true riches of heaven. He wanted things for himself, and could not give to the poor what was the true treasure of his life.

more to come...

 

[murjahel]

NARCISSISTS NEED A ‘KENOSIS’ OF SELF
　


Philippians 2:5-7
"Let this same mind be in you, as was in Christ Jesus... made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Himself the form of a servant."


This is called the "kenosis" of Christ. "Kenosis" is from the Greek word "Kenoo" which means "to empty or to drain." He emptied Himself (temporarily) of:
His equality with God, His divine body (to take human form),
the glory He had in heaven,
His authority that He had in heaven (to become a servant of mankind on earth),
His divine attributes (He did His miracles by the power of the Spirit, and He used God's power of attorney to pray),
and His riches of heaven to be born in swaddling clothes and live a the child of a carpenter.


This willingness to live His earthly life without all these things, and the riches of heaven, was His choice. And we are to choose to "let this same mind be in" us. It is a choice, but it is the choice that we are commanded to make by our Lord, by the Word of God.

II Corinthians 8:9
"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes, He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich."

Because the Lord chose to give up His riches for 33 years, and suffer and die for us, we can likewise now choose to be poor in earthly riches so that we can be rich eternally in heaven. He chose not to allow Himself to be a narcissist, though of all ever, He deserved to be glorified, honored, self uplifting. Yet, in taking the role of mankind, He lived as we are to live. He emptied Himself of all narcissism.

Proverbs 23:4-5
"Labor not to be rich; cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven."

In the parable of the sower, the Lord described some of the hearers of the Word, as soil that has thorns growing upon it. These thorns choke out the true seed from growth. Look at what these thorns represent!

Luke 8:14
"And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection."

Thus our concern should not be to gain, to hoard, to be rich, to have vast stores of abundance, nor to uplift ourselves as though we were important, vital to the Lord, and indispensable to God’s plan. If we are given much to do, and success is granted to our efforts, it is to be to the glory of God, not to the glory of self.


Reward will come, in heaven, for what we do for others. Shame will come for what we do to bring acclaim to ourselves.


Matthew 10:42
"And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward."

VAIN GLORY IS NARCISSISM​

　

Philippians 2:3 (KJV)
3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.


The word for ‘vainglory’ is ‘ken-od-ox-ee-a’ meaning ‘empty glorying’ and ‘self conceit.’ It is a self-centered egotism, it is narcissism. There is much of this ‘vainglory’ amidst the church of today, and it is a struggle for us to overcome the temptation to be acting in ‘vainglory. We need to ‘esteem others’ and not be fighting for esteem for ourselves.


Narcissism is a concern for oneself. Of course, the reason we eat, comb our hair, go to a doctor, take vitamins, etc. is because of concern for ourselves. Therefore, a measure of that is fine. Yet, sometimes there is an overindulgence that is easily overwhelming to our concern for other important things, and to others.



Matthew 22:36-40 (KJV)
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.


The Bible tells us to ‘love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbor as we do ourselves.’ Therefore, love for God is to be supreme, over all other concerns, we are to look to His desires and wishes in our behavior. Secondly, we are not to put our own concern above that of others, but equal to that of others. This is hard to maintain, unless we find help from the Lord.


If Jesus had reversed the command, and said ‘love yourself as you love others’, too many would have to then ‘gossip about themselves, criticize themselves unfairly, and cuss out themselves for tailgating another person. Of course, often Christians love their neighbor that way, and if we were commanded to love ourselves in that way, the behavior would be comical. Yet, many love their neighbors in that way, instead of loving them as they love themselves.


Narcissism is putting our own ego as central in our minds, and looking only to what is good for self, what uplifts us. This is an egomania, self-absorption, and selfishness. When that kind of lifestyle and manner of living is allowed, it becomes an addiction.


Mankind often has allowed and condoned the craving for attention, with overwhelming compulsion to get notice from others, having no ability to control the desire to get praise, and living a life having damaging consequences to such behavior and thinking.


In our culture, narcissism is an everyday, everywhere event to behold. We see movie stars boast of their greatness, politicians tell us they are the only one who can rule the nation, preachers have inside tracks to God to tell us what God somehow couldn’t get us to hear unless that one ‘prophet’ was there to tell us how much money God wants us to send him. Their egos are immense, their manner of appearing show great pride in self.


We find road rage on the highway when someone feels ‘blocked’ from doing their 90 miles per hour and someone doing the speed limit has the nerve to be in their way. We can look at the court system and see people suing each other for silly reasons, like suing McDonald’s because they spilled their hot coffee on their lap. There are people who think they deserve more than they can earn, so they cheat insurance companies, rob their employer, and watch television on their neighbor’s cable. These are self-centered, think-the-whole-world-revolves-around-them people.


We are all part of the problem, and we all battle narcissism. It is like the old saying: "I have found the enemy, and it is us."


We are very vulnerable, as are all of mankind, to this narcissistic behavior. We must learn to ‘esteem others’ but ‘self esteem’ came with us at birth.


The intoxication of power felt by politicians, the corruptness of those thinking they are the lone sanctified one in the church, the pride of those who have more money than they can ever spend, the anesthetic of applause to performers, the smugness of those with degrees and titles, are all insidious lures of the devil to get us into narcissism.

 

[murjahel]

OUR TREATMENT OF OTHERS REVEALS
IF WE ARE NARCISSISTS


God is very concerned with how we treat others. He wants us to realize we are here to finish the work of Jesus. We are told that ‘the works that I do, shall ye do, and greater works than these.’


John 14:12-13 (KJV)
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father.
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.


It is the work of the Lord, Who left all His glory in heaven, to come to earth and be a ‘servant’ to die for our sins. He says we are to finish His work, and be willing to ‘take up a cross and follow Him.’ It is God that Jesus glorified, and what we do ‘in Jesus’ name’ should glorify Him and God. This self exaltation we see even on Christian television is evil. It is narcissism at the expense of our Lord’s true commission.


Jesus did not avoid suffering when He came to do His works. When ‘saints’ of today claim to be doing His works, but have to wear $5000 suits to do it, have three jets, and three pilots to fly them, have 5 mansions scattered around the nation, and spend most of their ministry begging for money to continue, they are narcissistic. The works of the Lord are to be done with simplicity and humility. We are to give, not receive, we are to bless to be blessed. We are here to show ‘love’ not boast in ourselves.

CAIN’S NARCISSISM​

Genesis 4:3-8 (KJV)
3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.



Cain resisted the way the Lord told them to offer sacrifices for their sinfulness. God had shown that ‘blood of a lamb’ needed given until the ‘Seed of woman’ would come to bruise the head of the enemy. Cain, however wanted his own works, the fruit he had grown himself, to be the gift that God would accept and say that he had earned his salvation. That self-righteous denial of God’s ways was the sin of Cain. Abel stood for ‘God’s ways’, and sacrificed for his sins, as God had commanded. He was loving God and respecting God’s ways, not making up his own ways. Narcissism was the downfall of Cain.

BALAAM’S NARCISSISM​

Numbers 22:21-31 (KJV)
21 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.
22 And God's anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.
23 And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.
24 But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.
25 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he smote her again.
26 And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.
27 And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.
28 And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?
29 And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.
30 And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay.
31 Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.


The donkey had more sense than Balaam. He had been offered money to curse the nation of Israel. The money would allow him to buy what he wanted, to supply his desire for a wonderful life. He lost sight of the fact that God had promised victory for Israel, a land for them to call their own, the land given to Abraham and his descendants.

The egomaniac prophet named Balaam could not curse what God has blessed, but he could bring down judgment upon himself if he tried. Yet, the egocentric thinking of this false prophet allowed him to assume he had a power that he could never have had. He had no thought for what God would do to him if he tried to curse Israel. Narcissism brought a spiritual blindness to Balaam, and to all the narcissists of today.

 

[murjahel]

THE PHARISEE’S NARCISSIM


Luke 18:9-14 (KJV)
9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

The pharisee thought highly of himself. He saw his ‘righteousness’ and bragged on it. He saw all the bad ones of the world and despised them. He was not doing the works of the Lord for others, he was claiming a greatness that others did not have. The publican received forgiveness and promise of exaltation, but self-centeredness brought rebuke, and was promised to be abased. God plans to abase all those that are self-centered. It is a dangerous sin with which to tamper.

THE Devil’S NARCISSISM​

Isaiah 14:12-15 (KJV)
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.


Lucifer thought he could be like God. He thought he could claim one of the thrones of God, and exalt himself. He was egotistical to think he could claim what is only due to our God. That pride and self-importance brought him a fall, and did weaken the nations. He had no way to ‘be like’ God. He only chose a path that is leading him to hell-fire and the abyss.

MANKIND TENDS, IN THE FLESH,
TO BE NARCISSISTIC​

Jeremiah 17:9-11 (KJV)
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
11 As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.


When we let our deceitful heart build us up on pride, and become self-centered, we are being fools. Seeking the welfare of our own person is very ‘anti-Jesus’ like. We are to be ‘like Him’. We need to beware of losing that focus, our purpose as Christ-like ones.

Hebrews 3:12-14 (KJV)
12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

In departing from the path the Lord has given for us, in seeking of things, and in seeking of acclaim from the world, we will lose our mission. The ‘deceitfulness’ of narcissism will harden us, will make us lose much of what we could have partaken in Christ.
　

Narcissism brings changes to people. The narcissist person becomes shameless of the sin. They actually see the pride and self seeking as good traits. The narcissist thinks their self seeking is faith put into action, when actually is overbearing arrogance. Then they begin to debase, degrade, and belittle others who do not notice the superiority they claim. The narcissist will have unreasonable demands of favorable treatment from others, due to their feelings of superiority. If denied this superior treatment, they react with rage and disdain. The narcissist will exploit those who do see them as superior. They gladly put the other in the subservient position, and assume compliance to their every thought and whim. These traits are common in the narcissist personality. Jesus saw this in the first coming, and instructed often about this dangerous pride.

 

[murjahel]

THE LORD’S INSTRUCTION
ON PRAYER

Sermon on the Mount
​

　

Matthew 6:5-15 (KJV)
5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.



Prayer is a vital subject for all Christians.​

​

We love the Lord, we love His blessings, and He asks so little in return. Yet, we were created to give Him worship, we are in a world where we have many needs to request, we have a Lord Who desires fellowship. Hence, prayer is not just beneficial, not just profitable, but it is the atmosphere of the soul and spirit.

Prayer is the key to living for Jesus.


Jesus had just taught against the ‘self-centered, self absorbed, narcissistic lifestyle. In this passage on prayer, He reiterates that we are not to make prayer to be a ‘showy’, braggadocios, attention getting part of our lives. The hypocrites were doing that in the day in which Jesus preached this ‘sermon on the mount’, and Jesus speaks to this problem first, in dealing with prayer.


Jesus rewards obedience. The hypocrites receive the only reward for their prayers in the ‘attention’ they received for praying them. Jesus wants to give far more reward for our praying than that. He ‘rewards’ the ones who find a private place to talk to pray. The conversation is between ourselves and God, it is not to just remind hearers that we are on speaking terms with God, it is private communion with the Lord. Those prayers, Jesus rewards.


Matthew 6:5-6 (KJV)
5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father Who is in secret; and thy Father Who seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

God is omniscient. ​

​

The Father hears all prayers, of the good, of the bad, of the hypocrite, of the saint, of the narcissist, of the humble publican. He not only hears them, He knows what we are going to be asking, before we ask. Yet, He wants us to come humbly, expectantly, and ask.


Matthew 6:8 (KJV)
...your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.

Matthew 6:32 (KJV)
your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

THE LORD’S DESCRIPTION
OF WHAT OUR PRAYERS
SHOULD CONTAIN ​

After this manner pray ye.


We are not commanded to pray these exact words, but we are shown in the sermon on the mount, an example of a simple, condensed prayer that embraces the basic truths, and methodology of prayers we make to the Father.

Jesus teaches the disciples, and all hearers, then and now, of the sermon on the mount, that we can approach God with confidence. He is ‘our’ Father, and we are not only allowed to worship Him, we are also commanded to pray to Him. Jesus said ‘after this manner, pray ye.’ That is a command. We cannot cease our prayers, without sinning. Samuel, when shunned and told the people wanted a ‘king’, and not his direction, told the people that it would be a ‘sin’ if he would ‘cease’ to pray for them. We are not here to live comfortably, and pray only in desperation. Our prayer life is the oxygen our spirit breathes, and is vitally necessary.


There are seven petitions in the Lord’s prayer. Three are in respect to God, and four pertain to man’s good, and benefit. If we want to pray, we need to be in subservience, in relationship with God, adoring His Person, and accepting His will. If we are not, there is no use asking for oneself. Disobedient, disrespectful lips to a holy, loving God, should not utter ‘give me’ prayers.


The invocation of ‘our Father’ begins the prayer sample we are shown in the sermon on the mount. We address our heavenly Father, and pray ‘in Jesus’ name’, in the power and with the assistance of the Holy Spirit. This is the Biblical way we are shown by Jesus to pray. It is not wrong, ever, to address the other two of the Godhead, it is a unity of three Persons, Who are all omniscient, and able to hear our prayers. Jesus has made a way for us to enter the throne room, and there address the heavenly Father, where Jesus is seated at the right hand. The Holy Spirit is filling us, and also there to hear and answer.


Our Father which art in heaven


The name ‘Father’ denotes His nearness of relationship with us, the words ‘in heaven’ denote the distance we are from His manifest presence. Yet, being omnipresent, He can hear, He can know us in a way that the physical distance to heaven is no handicap.

The contrast between God as our ‘Father’ and our earthly ‘father’ is quite noticeable even for the best of earthly fathers. God is not like many ‘fathers’ of this earth, and the best can only try to come a bit close to His nature, but we are in a family relationship with God, and His ‘Fatherly’ nature is unsurpassed. It is with a smile and with warmth we can utter these words of relationship when we speak to the Holy God, Whose righteousness makes ours look like ‘filthy rags’. The paternal relationship He has offered us is a magnificent blessing.


As we enjoy this blessed relationship, we are being changed into the same image, becoming more and more like our heavenly Father.

2 Corinthians 3:18 (KJV)
18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.


Hallowed be Thy name


What we are praying here is, ‘may I hold You (God) in reverence, treat you as the Holy Being You are.’ God has revealed Himself in history to be worthy of reverence, deserving of devotion. We cannot pay too much attention to His awesome righteousness. His ‘name’ is a word that we use to speak of His nature, and His name reveals a facet of that nature to us.



Thy kingdom come


The spiritual and moral kingdom that God has been making for us is one of total grace for a fallen, unworthy world. It consists of all who choose to accept His offer of forgiveness through the blood of Jesus, Who died in our stead, taking our sins upon Himself.


This kingdom has always existed, but we have only recently entered it, accepting the merciful blessing of Jesus’ sacrifice for our entrance fee. When John the Baptist announced the Messiah (Jesus), he said the ‘kingdom of heaven is at hand’. Jesus continued that message in the first coming sermons that He preached, and at the end of that coming, He gave His life on calvary to bring the kingdom to us.


We enter it at salvation, and it is an ‘everlasting kingdom’ in which we serve our Lord and Savior.


2 Peter 1:11 (KJV)
11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.


Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven


God’s will is done in heaven. It is not so well done on earth. We are to pray that the obedience to God’s will be obeyed far better. The full answer to this request will not come until the devil and his cohorts are totally defeated. Their defeat is assured, but until the last eruption of his rebellion is destroyed at the end of the millennium, we do not have a full answer to this prayer.


Some people teach we are to get answers to our prayers immediately, if not sooner. Well, this prayer for ‘God’s will to be done on earth as it is done in heaven’ has at least 1007 years of waiting for it to come. The Bible assures us it will come, we know we are praying God’s will. Yet, the full answer is still to be awaited, and we will pray this prayer multiple times more, while we wait for the full answer.


Till that complete answer comes, God wants us to do our part in making it closer, and nearer an answer. We ask in this prayer for God to make the ‘will’ be done, but God is going to do His part, by enabling us to be obedient to Him, making us able to stand stronger, understand His will better, and wiser in accepting His will.


In praying this prayer, we are uttering forth the desire to have obedience from all of mankind. Yet, we are ‘our brother’s keeper’, and we are to preach God’s revealed will, and preach that it is to be obeyed. We take stands on moral and ethical issues. We vote ‘pro life’, we preach holy separation from sin to a loving God. We do not vote for those who ask us to compromise our faith, nor for those who want us to violate our standards originating from the Word of God.


Give us this day our daily bread


The word translated ‘daily’ is a compound word that makes the translation to mean ‘give us this day the bread of tomorrow.’ Luke’s words are translated ‘give us, day by day, bread’. The idea is a steady supply of nourishment, in the same way that ‘manna’ fell in the wilderness.


This does not contradict Matthew 6:34:
Matthew 6:34 (KJV)
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.


That passage is telling us not to worry nor fret over tomorrow’s supply. We are to trust and be confident that the Lord is giving us daily provision. We live in faith, we do not worry or need to think in questioning manner if the Lord is going to daily make provision.


The ‘bread’ is the necessities of life, the subsistence of physical and spiritual need. There is a ‘meat’ (food) that perishes, i.e. the food of the mortal body. There also is a ‘meat’ that does not perish but that endures, and continues to give to our spirit, eternal life.


John 6:27 (KJV)
27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

more of the prayer to come.... stay tuned...