COMMANDS OR BEATITUDES?

Important concepts: offences, faith, duty, and glorification. Now read excerpts from Jesus’s discussion about those things:

KEY VERSES:

¹ Then said he (Jesus) unto the disciples, “It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come;” ^!5 The apostles said unto the Lord, “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5);  Jesus said, ¹⁰ “When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do;” and ¹⁵ One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God (Luke 17:5,10, & 15)

  Jesus frightened the apostles. In verse 1, Jesus told them that some would offend Him. Offending God is sin. For there to be an offence, the Law must still be valid. There are 611 Mosaic Laws and the Pharisees had expanded them with regulations and rituals. Although Mosaic Laws are still the Will of God, they are trivial when compared with God’s Laws. I make a distinction because Moses wrote his laws on material that would perish with time, but the “finger of God” (Exod 31:18) wrote God’s Laws on stone for perpetuity.
  God manifested to mankind is Jesus. The finger of God is God manifested. Jesus wrote the Ten Commandments with His own hand. That Jesus wrote the Ten Commandments is clear by their introduction:

¹ And God spake all these words, saying, ² “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Exod 20:1-2)

  First, the Lord identified Himself as God, then reminded them that it was He who had kept them safe from sin and also identified the forthcoming Words as His. The apostle John identified the Word as Jesus (John 1). Not only were the Ten Commandments spoken by Jesus but also it was Jesus who saved them from the god called “Pharaoh.” Yes, Pharaoh considered himself a “god,” and truly was an emissary of the Devil. Hence, Jesus had kept the Jews safe from the Evil One.

(Note that I write safe rather than saved because the exodus is about Hebrew safety. Few were saved and perished in the wilderness which represents the world. Likewise, our own exodus from sin is about safety until we endure to the end, but that is another subject for another day.)

  The point is that the Ten Commandments are Jesus’s Words as Jesus vocally spoke to Moses. Jesus spoke them as He wrote them with His finger.
  Jesus came not destroy the Law but to fulfill it (Mat 5:17). Why would Jesus destroy what He had written? How did He fulfill the Law? He explained what He meant. The Law is love, according to several verses among which among them are: “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law,” (Rom 13:10) and “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Gal 5:14).
  Note that the Ten Words, not the Ten Commandments, are fulfilled with only “one Word” and that is to love others. And how much? As intensely as you love yourself. How intense is that? That they should never perish which is, by the way, how much God loves you (John 3:16).
  The Hebrew for “commandment” is tsavah. As with many words, there are either multiple definitions or degrees. In the case of tsavah, the intensity level is all the way from “send a message” to “make a command” (Strong’s Dictionary). In the Greek, Jesus asked, What did Moses entello you?” (Mark 10:3). Likewise, entello, translated “command” has degrees. In this case “enjoin” is another possibility (ibid).
  Perhaps the Ten Words (Exod 20:1; and called that by Jews) were meant to be just that! Jesus enjoined them to have the demeanor to be that Way. The Ten Commandments, or Ten Words, are Jesus’s message to mankind wherein He enjoins them to do His Will rather than their own.
  From the key verses (Luke 17:1), Jesus called them “offences.” Not only would disregard for some of the Ten Words offend Jesus, but many would offend others. Violations for offences are not damning but results in “skandalon” (Greek; “impediments”). Rather than commands, the Ten Words should, perhaps, be the Ten Things which most offends the Will of God. If they are considered as only stumbling blocks to healthy spiritual living, and that they are not damning, that makes them obtainable. How so? Because if taken as offensive to Jesus, then they are not coercive, but Ways to please God!
  But Jesus said, “Woe to them” (verse 1) who offends. The Third Word explains that attitude — taking Jesus Words in vain. Look at that saying,  “Thou shalt not take God’s Name in vain.” Does that not apply to taking all Jesus’s Ten Sayings vainly? Thus, those who have an attitude of apathy to God will be in danger of perishing. Looking at Jesus’s Will apathetically is what is damning. God will not make Christians do those things, but our will must be in harmony with Jesus’s Will, and that is summarized by those metrics of Law of Love.
  The apostles, wanting not to offend Jesus, said, “Increase our faith” (key verse 15). They were asking what to do to limit them offending Jesus. With that request, Jesus spoke about the healing of the leper. However, before doing so, Jesus chastised on their own attitudes; ““When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” (key verse 10). Therein, where “commanded” is translated, Jesus said, diatarasso, meaning “trouble” them with (ibid). Is it not ironic that Christians consider the Ten Words as troublesome rather than opportunities for glorifying God?
  Jesus basically cautioned them that merely DOING those troublesome things would not be beneficial. That was their “duty.” The troublesome things should not be troublesome but as Christians they should be willing workers. Again, it is attitudinal. They should love glorifying God by DOING the things Jesus said and wrote in the Ten Words during the exodus. The attitude must not be, I must oblige God, but I want to out of respect and gratitude. The Ten Words are what the Lord’s disciples should want to do. They are not for atheists nor pagans, but for God’s people. Hence, they are not soterial but ordinances, which is another meaning whereat “commandments” are translated.
  Then how were the apostles to increase their faith? It was simple! Jesus used the example of the leper: “When he (the leper) saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God” (key verse 15).  In gratitude for Jesus’s healing of his malady, the leper “glorified God.” It is clear here, in the context of commandments, that they are not things Christians must do, but how they are to “glorify God.” Jesus healed me from perishing by dying instead of me. Great! What should be my response for that extreme healing? Like the leper, those who Jesus eternally “heals” should glorify Him. How can Christians glorify God? By doing what He says we should do! He wrote them on stone so that we would never forget just how to glorify Him.
  Mankind — Adam with his first sin — diminished God by sinning. Jesus died for Adam’s sin, and thus all Adam-kind must, rather than diminish, glorify God. Adam would do that by obedience, although he would stumble many times (Books of Adam and Eve).  The Ten Words are ten ways that Adam stumbled. He stumbled but he did not succumb to rebellion. Iniquity is when the Law becomes frivolous, and apostasy is when Christians care not whether they please Jesus or not! That is the “woe” unto the unprofitable disciples who only do the minimum as any servant would do, but never take the extra step of loving the Master as any profitable servant would.
  Note that the leper did nothing in gratitude. He merely glanced back, and that glance of appreciation glorified God, and also testified to those who saw him turning, to look around who it was that healed. And who he glorified. Heartfelt emotions mean so much more than doing things. Doing what we consider as commands that servants must do glorifies nobody. Considering them as privileges in gratitude says so much more!

(picture credit: FreeBibleImages.com)

THE REAL DEEP STATE

  Some people prefer not to talk politics and religion. Indeed, both arouse dissension. However, because people prefer not to hear political opinion does not make either less important. Today, I must speak of the “adversaries.”
  Civil governments are civilized. All types of governments have deficiencies. Civil governments are not bad, but corrupt governors make them bad. Like it or not, the era of the judges was a period of “just” governing. Because righteous Moses could not judge every case because he was only one man, Jethro, his father-in-law, suggested that Moses share that responsibly with hand-picked men. That suggestion years later resulted in judges when Israel was finally established. God Willed that judges decided the Law. The people wanted kings so they could be like the pagan nations. Hence, autocracies are institutions of the Devil. Here and there, Israel had righteous kings, and they were ruled with benevolence because their own “King” was God.
  Good government must always have God as King because God is the source of righteousness, love, charity, justice, and so forth. Only God is good; all men have some degree of fault and will fail. Only God never fails.
  God’s theocracy consisted of Himself as King and with some major patriarch as judge. In the beginning, Moses judged all cases using God’s Law as the metrics for justice. After Moses died, Joshua was the lead judge. Moses and Joshua were types of Jesus as they were hand-picked by God to lead the people. Many of the Mosaic judges who helped Moses are unknown, but the Bible lists most of the later judges. They were usually very righteous men. Those judges were the military leaders, the governors, and the judicial system all in one. Perhaps there were lesser judges but if so, they were not named. They, however, were not “kings,” but God was their King.
  Eventually, as Israel became unrighteous, there were no judges. Scripture says that everyone did “what was right in their own eyes” (Jud 17:6). A country without a governor is libertarian and a government without regulation is liberalism. Liberalism depends on people to judge for themselves what is right and what is wrong. Liberals often judge with different metrics; one for others and one for themselves. Liberalism is enticing because most people prefer liberty to regulation. However, the result of unfettered liberty is chaos because different people seeking different liberties infringe on the liberty of others. Israel had become chaotic because everyone did as they wished. That is Aleister Crowley’s (a Satanist) motto, “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole law.” God’s Will of Love is the Divine Law.
  Crowley’s Satanic motto describes quite well the law of sin. It could as well be written, You are your own God; do as you please. TO BE as God is the root definition of sin (Gen 3:5). The metric for liberalism, is do what pleases yourself. When Christian people are “liberal” what pleases them is charity unto others because they are operationalizing God’s Will. What pleases non-Christians is doing for others for the common good. The “common good” is the hallmark of liberalism, but those who decide what is the common good makes the difference. Is it the good for them as they see it, or for the good of the common people? Liberalism does have good intentions! Jesus was the most generous, charitable, and gracious Man ever to live and is the ideal for Christian liberalism. His Doctrine is one of spiritual liberty.
  Spiritual liberty is freedom from Divine rule. Rather than perceiving God as a Divine Autocrat, He is perceived as a Generous Benefactor. The fact that He alone is the Ultimate Judge is secondary. Christians do what is right (or are supposed to) not because of justice but because of virtue. If worldly kings were righteous men, then autocratic theocracies would be the ideal, but unfortunately all men have sinned against God; all men purport to be God at some time.
  Likely, for the most part, David as a man after God’s own heart, was the best king ever, but he still failed. As a result, the Kingdom of David had its own “Deep State” — “a state within a state… made up of networks of power operating independently of a state's political leadership in pursuit of their own agenda and goals” (Wikipedia).
  The Deep State in David’s time was led by his own son. Note that Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, was the rightful heir to King Saul, but Abner, the general, chose Ishbosheth. God had chosen David and ordained him to be king. Ishbosheth was assassinated by his own army guards, Rachab and Baanah, thinking that they would please David. They did not because David was patient and became king God’s Way. Rachab and Baanah, therefore, were plotting insurrection against a legitimate government and because they held power, they were an early version of Israel’s Deep State.
  Governments always have a “Deep State.” Common to all of them is a disregard for God’s Will. Absalom, not even the legitimate heir to David’s throne, rebelled against him. He was David’s adversary, and his government resulted from pretention to the throne. Over the years, the Kingdom of David was split asunder because of intrigue on who would be king. Pretenders to the throne always have a shadow government within the legitimate government. David, a man of virtue, refused to do things as a shadow government would do. He was graceful to King Saul, and merciful to him on several occasions. He would eventually be king but on God’s terms.
  Never are their true conspiracies led by one chief conspirator. One man’s heart gone awry is not enough. Many need to conspire to achieve their goals. However, there is always one who is behind the scenes causing chaos. The Supreme King is Jesus, and the supreme conspirator is “the Adversary,” Satan. Lucifer is his name, and Satan his title of kingship in the “Deep State” of the world wherein Lucifer is “prince of the power of the air” (Ephes 2:2). He rules mankind from  deep dark state using the law of sin — everyone doing what is right in their own eyes; people thinking they are their own gods, rulers of their own domains, but the actual process is manipulation by deception.
  The Satanic Deep State is identified by Isaiah:

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. (Isa 14:12-14)

  Satan is head of the true Deep State. His is the government within the legitimate government. Satan is even so presumptuous that he would offer the legitimate King Jesus what is already His. The True Government belongs to Jesus as King of kings. Lucifer is merely the main pretender to God’s throne and position. As such, all pretenders to thrones use Lucifer’s devices. One “personality” of Lucifer was the cunning Serpent, and another the deceptive Beast who in the end will seem benevolent but be tyrannical. When Satan ascends the throne, he will seem to be loving, charitable, and just but he will be the most tyrannical autocrat ever in existence. “Off with their heads” will be how the Antichrist Beast will judge. He will be THE Antichrist, but until then there will be many who use Lucifer’s techniques.
  Jesus respected authority and taught that mankind should be respectful followers of the True King. Like David, long before, Jesus knows that He will rule for a thousand years on Earth. Jesus is the legitimate Heir of God. He was the One who ascended above the heights of the clouds; not Lucifer. Lucifer, in the end will be thrown into the Bottomless Pit; “Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit” (Isa 14:15).
  The Kingdom of God is not a state within a state. It is the True Kingdom whose Law is the Law of Love. Just as David respected Saul and Ishbosheth, Jesus respected Caesar with the Words, “Render… unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s” (Mat 22:21).
  Caesars had their own Deep States. Augustus Caesar had his Deep State led by Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus. Nearly ever “Caesar” thereafter had his “Deep State.” All the Russian caesars (tsars) had those who pretended to their thrones. Nicholas II of Russia was deposed by those who represented democracy, but soon democratic-socialists would by intrigue overthrow democratic rule. Vladimir Lenin portended to be a democratic-socialist but knew that only by violent revolution would socialism win out. To that end, Lenin’s heart was a revolutionary. Jesus had respect for Caesar but Lenin had no respect for the Tsar. He and his entire family were shot and destroyed by acid. Even little Anastasia who fainted, was shot in cold-blood. Socialism claims to be for the “common good” but the Tsar surely argued about that. After seventy-some years of the worst oligarchy ever, the autocrat Stalin finally died. Thereafter, Krushchev sought a more “humane” method of control. He built a virtual prison which the West called an “Iron Curtain.”
  Court intrigue has always existed. Most of the time, it has turned to violence. The Deep State could never gain power quickly unless somehow, they could impeach the legitimate government. Sometimes they “impeached” with some type of rigged process and at other times, they “impeached” with the sword or guillotine. Whoever overthrew the government always convinced stupid people that was for the common good, knowing full-well it was for their good. That’s the case with Lucifer, and the case for all adversaries. Satan wants adversaries to destroy institutions, especially the Church. Intrigue is not God’s Will.
  Autocracies have existed from the earliest of times. God disavowed their government but honored their existence. Most were run by tyrants, and tyranny is just a consequence of original sin. When Adam was expelled from the Garden he was to work by the “sweat of his face” (Gen 3:19). It didn’t take long for men to realize that it was easier to rule over men so that they could live by the sweat of others’ faces. Slavery was born, and with slavery, autocracy. Kings came into existence so that others would do their work for them.
  Europe, before the Age of Reason (The Enlightenment), was merely a group of autocracies with kings, princes, and nobles living off the sweat from others. The masses came to understand that subjugation was unreasonable, and that kings allied with the religious institutions, were cruel and unfair. The pursuit of democratic government with parliamentary representation was on fire in Europe. Democracy was thought to be for the common good, but it was usually for the common good of the most powerful since mostly the clergy and landowners could vote and hold office. “Democracy” is basically the majority doing what is right in their own eyes, and republics are to allow the masses to be represented since everyone could not be parliamentarians. Elected officials became crooks who represented their own interests rather than the people’s; thus, the modern “Deep State” was born. Crooked politicians, bureaucrats, and the hidden powerful elite have always been the Deep State. Shady elitists are always the government within the government.
  Throughout history, democratic-socialists have always used their version of Christian Utopia for the common good of the people. However, those from which things are taken, to give to others, notice that what is for the good of others is not for their own good. With that paradox, force is required to “persuade” people to relinquish what they worked hard to obtain. With that, “benevolent socialism” turns to repressive communism. It has always worked that way because people love their freedom!
  In Europe, the trend was always the same  — from well-meaning democratic-socialists in a quick transition to oligarchical socialism, and when one person becomes the new “king” the common good is transformed into the “Chairman’s” good, and a new Caesar comes into power with the same evil realm with new nobles and gentry. Karl Marx knew and wrote that all along; that socialism and communism are the same. Benevolent socialism must always end up totalitarianism because of human nature. Inherently, everyone wants to be their own ruler, but everyone can’t be. Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory is what the most powerful use to rationalize that they are the ordained because they are the most special. Inevitably, the transitions are always the same — autocracies to deep states to chaos — with democracy and the promise of benevolent republics which end with just another form of malevolent Roman Imperialism.
  Marx said in advance that the United States would be difficult. Why would he think that? Because we had much liberty, and were well-satisfied with capitalism. He knew that would be a slower process and that truly educated people would see the cunning required of socialism. Krushchev, too, understood that Soviet Russia would never defeat Americans, but we would be defeated by ourselves. It is happening with the US Deep State at the present.
  It is not really conspiratorial,  but based on the general hatred of capitalism, democracy, and Donald Trump. Who has organized the conspiracy” Was he George Soros? No; he is an antichrist, but not THE Antichrist. The chaos in the US and the world is led cunningly by Lucifer. This is the “Age of Aquarius” as the song goes. It is the Age of the Antichrist, and what we are seeing today is due to his behind the scenes maneuvers. God has allowed plagues, tornadoes, earthquakes, and such to create the serious crises that the socialists require for their initiatives. Lucifer, as “prince of the air of the world,” releases things that plague mankind.
  Soros may think that he is leading that revolution, or even Obama, but all the while it is Lucifer who is instilling chaos and rebellion in the hearts of men for his good. Socialist revolution has never been about the common good but Satan’s strategies for the end-of-time government. Read scripture about the Apocalypse; what will you see? A transition from benevolent socialism to tyrannical communism worldwide in just 3-1/2 years. And yet, you are afraid of covid19! How well the Serpent deceives.

(picture credit of Brutus: Biography.com) Note Adam Schiff's resemblance of him!

REALISTIC SELF-VIEW

KEY VERSES: ¹¹ For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted... ²⁶ If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:11,26-27)

  Jesus’s words were giving His listeners the proper perspective about themselves. What seems odd is that Jesus seemed to say that children should detest their own family. Many words have different values in various contexts. For instance, the word “judge” extends all the way from merely having an objective opinion to condemnation. The Greek word translated “hatred” is one of those. It extends from love less to despise (Strong’s Dictionary). Of course, children must never despise their families because the Fifth Commandment is to honor father and mother. In context, therefore, children must love families less than Jesus, and furthermore, must love themselves less than Jesus.
  Self-love is a given. It is the standard for loving others. Examine that claim:

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. (Matthew 22:36-40)

  First off, love is imperative. It is the whole Law. The Satanist slogan is, “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law” (Aleister Crowley). That slogan is included for a comparison. The key word is “wilt” and that means to do what is right in your own eyes without judgment. That is the cardinal and original sin of mankind; Adam did what he willed to do rather than what God willed. Satanism is trivializing God.
  Christianity is doing what Jesus wills for us to do, and what is that? Love God with our very being, and that is the whole Law. That contrasts with Satanists encouragement to love oneself as the whole law.
  If loving God with our entire existence is God’s Will, then how can we love others? Divine love is demonstrated by loving others, even enemies.
  What is Divine love? Desiring that “none should perish” (John 3:16). What must we desire? That none, not even our enemies, should perish. Do sane people want that for themselves? Truly so! Loving others, since we desire not to perish, is desiring that they not.
  The metric for loving God is with the intensity that we love ourselves and that is attitudinal, spiritual, and cognitively. We should esteem God as we esteem ourselves. Self-esteem is a given and is mankind’s problem. Christ-esteem is the ideal and is the solution to our problem.
  Do people have self-love? “For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it…” (Ephes 5:29a). Everyone esteems themselves. But what about those who feel poorly when they look in the mirror? “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal” (John 12:25).
  Loving the things of the world is wrong. “Life” is our existence in the world. Those who cherish the flesh shall lose it; it shall indeed perish. If someone hates this life in the world, they shall never perish. The goal, then, is to love ourselves less than we love God, and certainly to love the things of the world less than the prize in the Kingdom of God!
  Likewise, Jesus expects His disciples to love family less than Him. Not despise the family, but honor and love them, but less than we love Him. It is a given; everyone loves themselves. We must love others that intensely. Don’t confuse disappointment in the world with hating oneself. I submit that even those who commit suicide don not hate themselves but despise their condition and relationships in the world.
  Ironically, even those who can no longer care that they exist still want to live forever. Why do most depressed Christians who are suicidal not kill themselves? Because they desire never to perish.
  Ironically, everyone loves themselves so intensely that they want to live forever; not necessarily here in tribulation, but in bliss elsewhere. That’s how much we love ourselves. We must love others to that extent.
  If we love God with our entirety, how is that demonstrated? “Bear His cross, and come after Me,” as Jesus said. How is that done? By crucifying our own flesh as is written, “They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Gal 5:24). We are to die vicariously. Jesus made our own crucifixion easy. God experienced death wholly: His Flesh died, His Spirit suffered along with the Flesh, and His Mind agonized over the loss of His own Flesh and Blood. We need not do that; only our flesh must be sacrificed as we, “bear His cross.”
  What must we hang on the Holy Cross? Our affections and lusts — the things that we desire and what we covet — “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). We need not kill our souls, but our flesh must vicariously die. How is that done? With changes in attitudes and desires. A new countenance emerges. The old person is buried, and the new person arises and becomes like Christ (2 Cor 5:17). Christians seem to miss the transformation half of rebirth!
  The change in countenance is rewarded: Those who exalt themselves (esteem themselves too highly) shall be diminished, and those who humble themselves shall be exalted. With that done, the meek, not the exalted one, will be blessed with eternal life (Mat 5:5).
  Since we are own problem, then truth about that must be realized. We must repent for being human because we all have sinned (Rom 3:23). “Sin” is essentially desiring TO BE our own gods as Satan very well knew (Gen 3:5). All want to be as gods and do what they will to do. Alleister Crowley understood scripture very well? Why do Christians not understand? Because if we deny the truth about ourselves, we can go on pretending to be gods.
 Gods work miracles. God’s generate substances from nothing. God’s create time and space. God’s heal and repair. Rebirth is coming to understand that we are not gods, cannot control our own destinies, but the Almighty God can! (John 3). When we come to realize that, then that is the first step in picking up the Cross of Jesus. Christians depend on Jesus’s death for our eternal life. Anything short of that is US doing the works. Christians understand that all their good works are for naught if there is not love. Loving God seems ambiguous, but is easy. It is honoring God for Creating, Preserving, and for the promise of Re-creating His disciples entirely at the General Resurrection.

(Picture credit: Doug Lawrence - WordPress.com)

ENTERING INTO PARADISE

KEY VERSES: ¹⁸ Then said He, (Jesus) “Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it?” … ²² And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. ²³ Then said one unto him, “Lord, are there few that be saved?” And He said unto them, ²⁴ “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. ²⁵ When once the Master of the House is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and He shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are…”  ²⁷ But he shall say, I tell you, “I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity…”  ³² And he said unto them, “Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected…”  ³³ “Nevertheless, I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.” (Luke 13)

 
  Unlike theologians and archeologists, I contend that the Kingdom of David is the bounds of the Garden of Eden, and that “Israel” by Divine decree includes the territory from the sea to the Euphrates and from Egypt to what is now Turkey. As such, I also believe that Jerusalem is the center (midst) of the Garden wherein the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge stood (Gen 2:9). God’s Garden cannot be found because the explorers are looking for a physical place resembling the Garden, and they are focused on geography rather than scripture. One day, I will write all the evidence of what I write.  Today, I will focus on the evidence in the key verses. Jesus provided the knowledge to recognize the resemblance (v. 18).
  Let me start with “perfection” (v. 32). From the Hebrew, the Garden of Eden was not merely “very good” as translators have it, but entirely good. The Kingdom of God (i.e., the Garden of Eden) is the only place on the globe which is perfect. Of course, the entire Creation was perfect, but God dwelt in the Garden. Therefore, the perfection of the Garden was the Presence of God therein. When in the Presence of God, the condition is glorification (Exod 16:10). From that passage, it is God who has the “Glory” and those in His Presence are in Glory. The apostles at the transfiguration, saw the glory of the Lord in Jesus. After the resurrection of the dead, those who lived for Christ will be glorified as Jesus was:

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. (2 Cor 3:18); That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Tim 3:17)

  Hence, “glorification” is the final condition of those who behold the Lord “as in glass.” The throne of God in “Glory” sits upon the transparent sea of glass. (Rev 4:6 & 15:2). Glorification seems to commence with the ability to see God in the Creation and is finished when those who endure to the end, stand on the sea of glass in His Presence. “Heaven” is where perfection (i.e., glorification) is finally accomplished, and it must be a perfect place. It is in the midst of Paradise, standing under the Tree of Life in the Garden. Of course, as I have written before, the Tree of Life is possibly an ancient olive tree, but also a metaphor for the Holy Trinity with the “vine” (trunk) representative of Jesus (John 15:5).
  Point #1 is that perfection exists in Paradise alone, but “Paradise” is both in earth and in heaven simultaneously, as is perhaps implied when Jesus said to pray thusly, , “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven”(Mat 6:10). Why would that be the way to pray? Perhaps because “in earth” is material, and “in heaven” not of material.
  I believe that Heaven and Earth (now with capital letters) co-exist at the same place, and that place is Israel, and that God’s throne sits where it did from the beginning of the Creation — in Jerusalem. It is perhaps in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus agonized over His Purpose.
  For Point #2 Jesus asked, ““Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it?” (v. 18). To what would He compare it? Then in the key verses, it is noted that Jesus, somewhere in Galilee, was headed to Jerusalem (v. 22). He was going “home” to die, as He said that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets would be seen in the Kingdom of God, and themselves (other than them) cast out (Luke 13:28). Isaac, and Jacob were in “Abraham’s Bosom” as Paradise is called (Luke 16:23). It seems that Jesus was facing Jerusalem and referring to the Kingdom of God.
  Point #3 is the that the subject matter was salvation; how many will be allowed in. They asked, “Then said one unto Him, Lord, are there few that be saved?” (v. 23). Where is the place of salvation? Heaven, also known as Paradise. I submit that the midst of Paradise is Jerusalem.
  Jesus responded, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (v. 23). Where has that subject been brought up before? “So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life” (Gen 3:24). (A sword in scripture is the Word, Jesus). Jesus was walking the Way toward Jerusalem. It was there that redemption would be accomplished. Jesus was going home to die, just as the first animal, likely a lamb, died so that Adam and Eve would live. Jesus was going home to the midst of the Garden to resume His place as the Tree of Life on the River of God in the Garden of God:

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” (Rev 2:7); In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Rev 22:2); Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. (Rev 22:14).

  Jerusalem is that “city” — the City of God is called New Jerusalem. Why would it be called that? Because it is at the place of Old Jerusalem. Perhaps New Jerusalem is right there, and it need not come down, but be transformed on the very “foundation of peace” — that is what Jerusalem means. Jesus was headed toward Jerusalem to provide Peace ON Earth, and so that things “in earth” would be as “in heaven” (both will small letters); that Paradise would be revealed to the world.
  When Jesus said to the malefactor on the Cross, “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43), it was already late in the evening. I believe that they were already there, and death translated them from one existence to another. They didn’t travel, but Jesus “gave up His Ghost” and His Ghost was with the thief in another world which coincides with this one. “Thus saith the Lord, ‘The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?’” (Isa 66:1). “The heaven” is again in small letters, as is “the earth.” They are not places, but existences. God’s throne is in the supra-natural, and His footstool in the natural.
  The Holy Cross on Calvary in Jerusalem identifies the Way between the natural and the supra-natural. The Cross’s footrest is God’s footstool and the sign above, “King of the Jews” points toward His Kingdom in another realm. I have written a blog before that the Cross is representative of the “Decision Tree.” In the Paradise of the Garden, which Tree to stand under was the question. Temptation led the two to make the wrong decision; as they stood under the Wisdom Tree and neglected the Tree which provides eternal life (i.e., the Jesus Tree).
  Adam and Eve were cast out into the world because they ate of the wrong tree. In the world, they were given reprieve. Because they trusted God, and kept safe by wearing His coat, they endured to the end. My book, The Skull of Adam, identifies how Melchizedek took Adam’s bones to Calvary  — the place of the skull — and buried them there awaiting regeneration thanks to Jesus. Melchizedek is believed to be Jesus. (More on that in the Book of Hebrews). Adam was taken “home” to be redeemed, and that was the Edenic Covenant.
  If Genesis 3:24 is examined closely, the gate to Paradise was the straight (v. 24) Gate that only a few would enter. The iniquitous could not enter-in because the gate to Paradise was guarded by cherubim. It’s that same “gate” which guards the entryway to the heavenly Paradise. Is the Cross the “Gate” to Paradise? It seems as if it is! The narrow Way to get to Paradise is by the blood and water of Jesus. To get through that Gate, the cherubim must recognize that people who try are Jesus’s. That is determined by who has worked iniquity and who has not. That’s the strait part of which Jesus spoke.
  Jesus said, “It cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem” (v. 33). In other words, according to John 3:16, those who trust in Jesus will never perish. At the Rapture, they will be “transported” to Jerusalem to never perish. Us “prophets” will be the royal priests, who will not need to travel anywhere for any length of time but translated “home” in the twinkling of an eye, just as the thief was.
  The dead in Christ will not arise, but be translated to Jerusalem, and transformed into Glory as the Holy Cross takes them from one realm to the next; from the visible Kingdom to the Invisible one! Heaven is not “up” because “up” is infinite directions. Therefore, it must be toward Jerusalem where Jesus was translated.  The last point, therefore, is that Christians are near “heaven” wherever they are so long as they are right with Jesus. As is written, “To live is Christ; to die is gain,” (Phil 1:21) means that if we walk toward the Cross with Jesus, entry into Paradise is obtained. It is the “prize” of which Paul wrote.
  The last “last point” is that the password for the cherubim to allow those without iniquity to enter in is “Jesus.” The key verses say, “When once the Master of the House is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and He shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are…”  (v. 25). You must know and trust Jesus to for your soul to re-enter Paradise, and He, not you, decides who gains entry.

(Picture credit to Blog: The Times of Israel)

GOD'S PURPOSE FOR THE FAMILY

About Jesus’s forthcoming birth, the angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14). Jesus purpose is to bring peace. Peace on Earth shall come when the Thousand Year Millennial Reign of Jesus arrives. Until then, there will be little peace and negligible good will. Although Jesus came to unite mankind, not even those in one home shall be united as a family:

KEY VERSES: ⁴⁹ I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled? ⁵⁰ But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished! ⁵¹ Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: ⁵² For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. ⁵³ The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. (Luke 12:49-53)

  The Baptism of Jesus of which He spoke was baptism in blood — His own blood. Jesus’s “house” was not only His family, but His apostles and the world. Imagine if you will, how Jesus dreaded dying, and even agonized over it in the Garden of Gethsemane, knowing that He had few heirs. Jesus’s baptism in blood was to provide an estate; and the estate of Jesus is Christianity and the true Church.
  Jesus's agony was because, as the Master of the House, He remained unloved. He was going to His death with a great burden. He came to bring peace, but that was not to be; families would be torn apart and there was nothing that He could do other than die that the discord might end. Finally, after Jesus died, His Holy Ghost returned when His House was of one accord (Acts 2:1). It was His “Jewish” House, but not for long. Discord would soon come when Paul was led to turn to the Gentiles since the Jews had rejected Jesus. With that change, the Church became Gentile but not genteel. That House soon became divided and is to this day and will be until the Millennial Reign.
  Today, I want to focus on one of the earliest institutions, if not the oldest, in existence. After God Created heaven and earth, He soon created man, woman, and children. The family was of paramount importance to God since He commanded them to replicate. Jesus, as the Word, first agonized over Adam and Eve, but had mercy, and covered their decadent flesh with the innocent flesh of an animal which gave its life. Adam and Eve learned at that moment what death entailed.
  Soon after, Cain killed Abel in a situation wherein Cain was covetous of Abel’s relationship with God. For the first time, a person had killed another living soul, and it was his own brother. That act was the epitome of hatred (1 John 3:15), and that is followed in the same passage by, “no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” Hatred is a form of murdering because it is demonstrative of discord. Before, God’s Holy Ghost came, His disciples had to be of ONE accord. There had to be unity, no begrudging, no animosity, but mutual love. They had to take Jesus’s Words to heart, and love others. The family system is metaphoric for God’s family – The Groom, the Bride, and the adopted children. Jesus is the Groom, the Church the Bride, and “whosoever” (John 3:16) the lost children available for adoption in the Family of God.
  First off, the Father and Mother must be honored. That is God and the Church. Parents are representative of that. When the Word said to honor parents, and gave a promise of a long life, He was indicating that we should honor God and others to have eternal life. Our earthly parents are representative of that relationship. If children do not love and honor parents, how could they love and honor God and others? The commandment does not distinguish between good parenting and poor parenting, but ANY parental relationship at all. At one time I scolded one of my brothers for not honoring our Dad. He finally saw that in a proper light, and I am certain that he is now enjoying a long life in Heaven!
  Satan has a strategy; that is to divide divine institutions. The family system is one of the most divinely ordained of them all. Not by coincident, godless Marxism exploits that weakness. Their goal is to diminish the family and replace it with the “common good” which in practice, is for the good of the government. With the family divided, people are ripe for further division. Soon communism expects children and siblings to inform on each other.
  This is not, however, about socialism, but that the family is under attack. Marriage is almost a dying institution, the first… and the first to go, and soon followed by the family. Even if people do get married, it is civil marriage only, and not Holy Matrimony because that institution is forever. Likewise, families are forever! or are meant to be.
  Satan undermines God by the prevention of marriage, by divorce, and by dissolution of the family system. He wants Cains to hate Abels, and he wants Cains to hate Aclimas — brothers and sisters. In Genesis 4:6, God asked Cain, “Why are you incensed?” Indeed, why would Cain be incensed against a brother who loved him? Why would he be incensed against his sister? Cain seemed to hate his family, but mostly rebelled against God!
  Jesus, speaking of incense, said, “Henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father,” and so forth. I know of a divided household that fits that perfectly well. It started with divorce of the parents but did not stop there. The system was to be in harmony but is now out-of-balance due to discord. One family member has been incensed against the father for years and incensed against the mother for quite some time. Now he is incensed against his brother and sister; all five family members are in discord.
  Now there is discord between another brother and his sister, and even the other brother to the father. Through it all, the father and mother have loved all the children. Satan has not got to them yet because the father and mother depends on God. Sometimes they seem to be harsh, but because of the intellectual dishonesty and mind-games of Satan, love is often tough. Sometimes, children do not want to hear things that they need to hear, and sometimes even well-meaning parents don’t hear the “silent scream” of children. Even good parents do things wrong, but God still wants them to be honored so much that He commands it!
  Adam still loved Cain even after Cain hated Abel. However, God cast him out to the land of Nod. There are consequences to incense; Cain became more like Satan and Seth, the righteous brother, remained true, at least until Satan go to his family years later.
  Jesus wants there to be Peace on the Earth and goodwill toward each other. When the people were in discord with each other and God, God destroyed what they had built and babbled their language. Finally, after Jesus came, some did get peace, there was accordance among the brethren and Jesus’s Holy Ghost came down. When there is discord, the Holy Ghost of Jesus is still there, but he agonizes when He can’t Comfort us. Jesus agonized when He was here in the Flesh, and still does in the Spirit. How can we as individuals cease Jesus’s weeping? Unity — to be of one accord and to love each other. “Toughlove” is that we are even to love our enemies. How can that be when God’s people don’t love their neighbors nor even their own families?
  We people called “Christians” must self-examine? Are we doing God’s Will? If not, and probably we aren’t, there must be change; and discord must be changed to accord.

(picture credit: 123RF.com)

HIS CUP BROKEN FOR OURS

KEY VERSES:

³⁸ And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner.

³⁹ And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. ⁴⁰ Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? (Luke 11:38-40)

  “Cup” herein is a metaphor for the soul which is inside. With that said, the outside of the cup is the flesh. Jesus was chastising the Pharisees for keeping the flesh clean, but the soul going unwashed. Before we move on, rebirth is the washing of the inside of the cup, and baptism the outside, but testifying that the inside has been washed clean from sin. Of course, water and blood cleanses ALL the cup, but what is inside is Spirit.

⁶ This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. ⁷ For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. ⁸ And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. (1 John 5:6-8)

  The Pharisees did the ritual cleansing according to Mosaic Law. So far, so good. Jesus did not need to do that because He was pure inside and out. Jesus demonstrated that he didn’t come to clean the outside of the cup, but the inside! That cleansing was the fulfillment of the Law of Moses, according to the passage, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil” (Mat 5:17). The Jews washed the outside of the cup, but Jesus washes it within.
  Yesterday, I wrote about the Ten Commandments. They wash the outside of the “cup” and they are still binding (Mat 5:18). Jesus came to “fulfill” the commandments — to wash the inside of the “cup.”
  Jesus, speaking of his accuser and crucifixion said, “He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.” What was Jesus speaking of the psalm, “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.” (Psalm 41:9), but was alluding to another saying: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen 3:15).
  Jesus first act of grace, or the Adamic Covenant, was that the Serpent’s heel would be bruised. (I believe that Jesus heel was bruised for the Serpent’s).  That may be metaphoric but could be reality as well. My book, The Skull of Adam, explains that literally, but for now take it metaphorically. Genesis 3:15 was the start of the covenant from which all the other covenants are substantiation. The Adamic Covenant was finished when Jesus died (John 19:30) and shed blood and water (John 19:34).
  The psalmist wrote about Jesus saying, “My familiar friend, in whom I trusted” would “lift up his heel against me.” That seems as if Jesus was speaking of Judas. Judas was a disciple, and by then, he was known quite well by Jesus, but was Jesus really speaking of Judas? I submit that He was not; He was speaking of the angel, Lucifer, who was once His friend in the beginning, but became His adversary. Jesus was speaking of the familiar Serpent who Lucifer had entered Judas as Satan: “And after the sop Satan entered into him (Judas Iscariot). Then said Jesus unto him, ‘That thou doest, do quickly’” (John 18:27).
  If Adam is indeed buried under the rock of Calvary, as Jews and I believe, then Jesus was referring to the Devil’s seed, sinful Adam, who would lift up his heel against Jesus and be bruised, as Genesis 3:15 indicates. Adam and the Serpent would exchange injuries on Calvary. At that time, the Word’s Covenant would be fulfilled, and the promise finished. The water and the blood would become available as it gushed forth from Jesus’s abdomen. Why is that significant? Because Eve did not come from Adam’s rib, but gushed from his side, if the original Hebrew is examined. Eve sinned first, and Adam paid for it.
  When Jesus died, the sacrfice was complete; it was no longer by water only as had been the case with Moses, but by the water and the blood. Jesus’s propitiation of His own blood (1 John 2:2) was the efficacious sacrfice, the blood of animals being insufficient (Heb 10:4).
  Moses regulations merely cleaned the outside of the “cup” but Jesus blood the inside. Afterwards, then the third substance imbues the cup then clean on the inside — the Holy Spirit.
  Some believe that the “water” means baptism. That is an ordinance, just as the Pharisees did. It is okay to clean the outside of the cup, but futile if the inside is not cleansed first. Rebirth (John 3:7) cleanses the inside, but baptism merely the outside. When is the Spirit imbued? When the inside is cleansed. Then the formality (ordinance) of washing the outside of the “cup” is done. Baptism without the cup being cleansed inside is an effort in futility and is like the Pharisees clean on the outside but not on the inside. (To be honest, neither internal cleansing nor baptism imbues sotiria, but rebirth is the commencement of the process for those who endure to the end, according to Arminian doctrine.)
  When Jesus breathed life unto Adam, yes, He IS Jesus who did that, Adam’s “cup” was filled. When he sinned his “cup” was broken. Jesus death and resurrection was the fix for Adam’s broken “cup” as Jesus provided His own cup in exchange for Adam-kind.  As Peter started to protect Jesus from persecution, “Then Jesus asked of Peter, ‘Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” (John 18:11). He was speaking of sacrificing His entire cup: blood, water, and Spirit. In His agony, Jesus prayed, “O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done” (Mat 26:42). Jesus “cup” was to experience death of the flesh, of the mind, and of the Spirit — His entire cup and contents.
  Of course, Jesus’s cup was a triune death, but it was also His purpose. It was He who Satan would lift-up his heal against Jesus. Judas with Satan in him, just as the Serpent had Satan in him, turned Jesus into the authorities. Judas had his head bruised when he hung himself. It was not Judas (the Serpent) whose “cup” fulfilled the Covenant but Jesus’s “cup.” (Some sects of Islam accept Judas Iscariot’s sacrfice as efficacious but deny Jesus’s death at all.)
  Judas worked to relieve his conscience, but to no avail. Jesus asked of His disciples, “Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” (Mark 10:38). Jesus “cup was His own sacrificial death. Judas’s cup was not effective, and neither would none of the others be. Jesus “baptism” was God washing His Son’s entire cup within and without and emptying the “cup” of His Holy Ghost. They couldn’t do that; Judas tried but could not; only Jesus “cup” could be broken to save the cups of mankind. His cup was soon restored, and as His was, Adam-kind can have life breathed back into all the broken “cups” again.

(picture credit: MyStock)

PRESCRIPTION FOR ETERNAL HEALTH

  Yesterday my video for Facebook Live was about eternal healing. Herein is both the video and the text of the commentary. If you misunderstand the Ten Commandments, and why they remain significant to this day, Jesus somehow got a lawyer to persuade himself.

KEY VERSES:

25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said unto him, “What is written in the law? How readest thou?” 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And He said unto him, “Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.” 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” (Luke 10:25-29)

  In the key verses, there we have a lawyer who wanted to do what lawyers are noted for. The lawyer tempted Jesus. Lawyers want to trip-up those who testify to the truth. I have said before, in college lawyers surely have a course in “Trip-up 101” followed by “Advanced Tripping-up.” Fo  r what purpose would they lawyer want to do that? To prove to himself and standers-by that Jesus is a fraud; that He is not God in the Flesh.
  The lawyer knew Mosaic Law and God’s Law. I make a distinction because Moses wrote the regulations for righteous living, but God wrote His Law with His own finger (Exod 31:18).
  It is to be noted, that God’s “finger” is Himself manifested, and it was Jesus who wrote the Ten Commandments. That is validated by His speaking the Word encompassed in the Ten Commandments. We should know by now that the Word is Jesus (John 1-3,14).
  The Law is introduced by, “And God spake all these words, saying…” (Exod 20:1) then the sayings of the Words are written. They were what we call the Ten Commandments.
  Jews rightly call the subsequent precepts “The Ten Words.” As “precepts,” they are the Ten Prescriptions for eternal life. The “Ten Prescriptions” are for the healing of the soul and are the way to unify the spirit and the flesh; “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mat 26:41b).  Rather than commandments, the Ten Words should be looked on as ten things that Christians are willing to do in gratitude to God. Philemon wrote, “… that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly” (Phil 14b). Hence, the Ten Words should not be done by compulsion, but voluntarily. That is what the lawyer should have understood and Christians as well!
  To get the idea across, Jesus tested the lawyer. He basically asked, “What does the Law say about that and what is your understanding of it?  The lawyer was bright and well-studied. He referred to God’s statutes, just as any lawyer would in modern times. He could have merely answered, “God’s statutes in Deut 6:5-6 and Lev 19:9-18,” and us modern readers would have understood. Face it, most of us thought that Jesus was the first to pronounce the Greatest Commandment and the one like unto it. Another lawyer, or possibly the same one asked,

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. (Mat 22:36-40)

  Jesus told that lawyer that “all the Law” is about loving God and loving others. The Greatest Commandment is broken into two parts: God-centered and people-centered. If the Ten Words are examined the first four sayings of Jesus are God-focused, and the last six neighbor-focused. The point is that Jesus said those sayings millennia before. God wrote them down for Moses and Moses wrote them down for us in Deut 6:5-6 and Lev 19:9-18, and made them statutes as well as prescriptions. Again, they are Ten Prescriptions for eternal well-being. In the key verses, Jesus said to the first lawyer, “This do, and thou shalt live,” in reference to loving God and neighbors.
  To lawyer number two, Jesus said, “On these two commandments hang all the Law and Prophets.” Jesus stated that the Law always was reverence for God and compassion on others.
  Lawyer one, getting technical, sought to trip-up Jesus more. Just who is a neighbor? With that, Jesus operationalized “neighborliness” with the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The lawyer likely understood it before he troubled Jesus to repeat it in the process of tripping Him up. The lawyer quoted scripture. Scripture at that time was the Law and the prophets. He turned to the Old Testament Law, commencing with,

⁵ And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. ⁶ And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: (Deut 6:5-6)

  Love must be from the heart, not from rules, and it should be with the entire being. After that follows a repeat of the first four commandments using much the same words. Then after he asked who “neighbors” are, he should have, and likely did know, the answer to that, and continued Advanced Trip-up:

⁹ And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.

¹⁰ And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them (the crops) for the poor and stranger: I am the Lord your God.

¹¹ Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.

¹² And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord.

¹³ Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.

¹⁴ Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord.

¹⁵ Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

¹⁶ Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour; I am the Lord.

¹⁷ Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.

¹⁸ Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord. (Lev 19:9-18)

  My point is that the commandments should not be seen that way; they should be seen more as privileges or ways to please God. The concept of “cheap grace” is believing in God without honoring Him for it. The Ten Words are essentially how to show gratitude to God for recreating. Lawyer one asked, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus was surely thinking; Marvel not; ye must be born again! And what would be the new person’s attitude at that simple thing? Show gratitude by willingness to live the Ten Words as a demonstration to God that your person has been transformed!

BLIND LEADING THE BLIND

KEY VERSES:

⁹ “As long as I AM (Jesus) in the world, I AM (Jesus) the light of the world.” ³⁸ And he (the previously blind man) said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshipped him. ³⁹ And Jesus said, “For judgment I AM come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.” ⁴⁰ And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto Him, “Are we blind also?” ⁴¹ Jesus said unto them, “If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, ‘We see;’ therefore your sin remaineth.” (John 9:9; 38-41)

  Of course, Jesus came into the world to save, but he also came to judge. Those who He judged as innocent, would be saved, and those who were judged guilty would perish. The Pharisees were very righteous, but far from innocent. Rather than the humility to admit that Jesus healed the blind man, and rejoice, they accused Jesus of having a demon, and the blind man to be liar. In the story of the blind man who was healed from congenital blindness by Jesus, Jesus broke the Sabbath by molding the mud into a ball and heal. The Pharisees seemed to have a larger problem with remolding the blind man than molding the clay.
  Jesus came into the world to thresh-out the seed of Adam from the seed of God. Generally, judgment was done on the “threshing floor” of the Temple in previous times, whereon the good seed was threshed from the tares, and God winnowed the chaff from Ornan’s threshing floor into the abyss below.
  In this example (of the blind man) Jesus used a different tactic to persuade the Jews to believe. Jesus was in Galilee and would cross Samaria into Jerusalem. The Temple was in Jerusalem, and there was no threshing floor in Galilee. Hence, Jesus used spiritual vision as the test for who should be saved.
  Those who have great sight see things from a rational standpoint. Those who have been born blind cannot be convinced by observable things. Faith is believing in things unseen as is written, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11:1).
  The blind mand had faith because he could not see Jesus but called him the “Son of God.” The Pharisees could see Jesus but called Him “demon.” You see, their sight not only failed to convince them, but confounded them as well. It is irrational to believe, as it had never been done before, to make a congenital blind man see. Because Jesus made the blind man see, and kept the Pharisees in darkness, He calls Himself, “The Light of the World.”
  The “Enlightenment was an era in the western world in the 17^th and 18^th centuries. That was a period when the philosophers began to persuade the people that the Church was the cause of darkness and philosophy the way of the enlightened ones.  They laid claim that they were the light and Jesus was not. Since that time, the vain philosophies of men have blinded people. Of course, there is scientific proof for things seen, but science disregards things they cannot see or detect. The Enlightenment was also called the, “Age of Reason” because faith, for them is unreasonable, and logic is reasonable. Logic depends on cognition, and that is a sorting of the body of knowledge in two categories: reasonable and unreasonable.
  Now look at what happened — FACTS: (1) They all knew the blind man had been born blind, (2) The skeptical Pharisees could plainly see that the man was no longer blind, (3) A man born blind had never been able to see before, (4) The blind man was impartial; he only knew that he had been blind but now could see, (5) The man gave Jesus credit, finally, as the Son of God, (6) and that Jesus  claimed to be the True Light. Rational people would consider the evidence, and the preponderance of it points to Jesus as able to heal the blind, and God, they should admit, is the only one that can Heal. Those “enlightened” Pharisees failed to see the truth and were spiritually blind.
  Now consider that some were more unbiased. They looked at the evidence and were persuaded. However, the “blind” Pharisees persuaded, using Mosaic Law, that what they believed was true, was truly false, because healing the blind could only be by God, and this “man” broke Moses’s law of keeping the Sabbath. Again, they were more offended that Jesus had formed clay than healed the blind man. Is that rational thinking?
  They also failed to admit that a “man” who they knew could do what only God would be able to do, although there was evidence that Jesus did it. They had no faith because faith is believing that an unseen Power healed, and by not crediting God, they blasphemed Him; albeit they perceived that Jesus was the one who was blasphemous. Cognitive “enlightenment” is false because is disallows the supra-natural. Spiritual Enlightenment is truthful because it allows for things unseen as reality.
  There are two types of real “substances” in the universe: the seen and the unseen. Skeptics rule out half the substances in existence by denying that there are things unseen. Scripture calls seen things “earth” and the unseen, “heaven.” Because the Pharisees were so blind that they could only see earth, they could not see the heaven. They were blind to half of existence because they refused to believe Jesus is indeed the Light of the World.
  Jesus came to sort out the two countenances of people: the spiritually astute from the spiritually blind. Some believed, and certainly the blind man understood, as he finally credited Jesus as God. However, the spiritually blind Pharisees convinced those who saw the truth to be blind with them. Jesus by that one miracle, caused a sorting to occur, and his miracle served the same purpose as the threshing floor which was then by then the Temple.
  Jesus’s purpose was, “that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.” Jesus came in the Flesh so that men could either walk with Him or deny Him. The Pharisees had great vision, except they could not see the truth. And the truth is… that there is more than meets the eye. There is an unseen existence that only a few can see because the world blinds them so. Is that not true? Do not Christians to this day accept the “enlightened” scientists as more credible than God? Scientists deny what they cannot see; are they really the enlightened ones, or are they confounded into believing that what is seen or can be measured is all there is?
  As a Christian, do you believe in evolution? If you do, you are blind to the greatest miracle that God ever performed. Do you believe in the general resurrection? If not, that will be an even better miracle. How about those who believe they will be made whole at the Re-creation, but do not believe in the Creation? You deny the Creation because men who are blind to the truth, in what they cannot see nor understand, have persuaded you… and you claim that you are free-thinkers who rely on observable evidence. In fact, even if you claim to be a Christian, you are blind to truth. Jesus came to sort those out from the previously blind who now see the truth.
  The blind man was born again. How so? He never re-entered his mother’s womb, but he saw the Light of Jesus. He knew not how, but he believed that only God could work that wonder, and he sensed Jesus there when he was came to see, and with sight he saw that Jesus had healed him. He surely heard of Jesus’s miracles before but did not believe before He experienced Jesus. He did not see Jesus, but felt the virtue flowing out of Him as he received his sight. The Pharisees just could not believe that, even though they believed in God. Hence, they failed the test, and Jesus’s miracle had made them blind to truth.
  The Pharisees were so blind-thinking that they only believed what they had been taught to believe. Free-thinkers would allow, that just maybe, Jesus healed the blind man. Most free-thinking people in this Age of Reason are blind to ultimate truth. Jesus will sort them out in the end.

(picture credit: Shutterstock)

FACING JESUS

KEY VERSES:

⁵⁵ Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, “I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.” ⁵⁶ Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. ⁵⁷ Then said the Jews unto him, “Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?” ⁵⁸ Jesus said unto them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” (John 8:55-58)

  Jesus said in the Greek, “Ego Eimi,” or in English “I AM”.  In Hebrew that would be “Hayah,” and all those translations means that Jesus is the “Existence” from which grace comes;  “Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which Is, and which Was, and which Is To Come” (Rev 1:4) or “I Am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, saith the Lord, which Is, and which Was, and which Is To Come, the Almighty” (Rev 1:8). The Lord Is “Almighty God.” Jesus is “Lord.” Jesus is “Almighty God,” and when it is written “I Am,” Jesus lays claim to Being Almighty God, and He was crucified for that.
  The keepers of the Law brought a woman to Jesus to test him. By Law, she deserved stoning. By grace, the sinful woman was freed from her sin, and was told to not sin any more. No one condemned her although she had fornicated, and hence Jesus did not condemn her, but saved her mortal life, and gave her the incentive to sin no more. With that said, by grace, Jesus gave her the option of eternal life. She took it by not turning away from Jesus.
  No longer would she physically die but had the opportunity to live forever. Jesus bestowed “something” in her conscience that she would be willing to sin no more.
  Jesus also touched the conscience of those who condemned her, but they felt guilty and left. They too had sinned, and although they knew they were guilty, since their real “god” was not the True God, they would continue in sin. The accusers seemed to deserve grace because their conscious bothered them, albeit they did nothing to resolve their guilt. They were ashamed but turned their backs on Jesus. On the other hand, the sinful woman faced Jesus alone, just as we all will on judgment day, and by grace, although she did nothing but willingly face Jesus, Jesus forgave her sin, and then provided the opportunity to sin no more.
  What was the “something” that saved her? Since the accusers did not understand Abraham, perhaps she did. Perhaps she saw Abraham and Isaac as Father and Son, and perhaps she understood the true significance of Abraham whereas the accusers did not. They saw Abraham merely as one party to the Covenant with God, and the Law of Moses as the parts of the Covenant. I believe that the adulterous woman understood the Abrahamic Covenant better than her “jury” of peers.
  The key verses have meant much to me since the day I saw the light. I have written about it several times before, but one day, I understood the truth; “verily, verily” as Jesus said it. While riding alone in my car, listening to nothing more than my own thoughts, I came to understand the meaning of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his only remaining son (since Ishmael had been emancipated.). Abraham needed not to obey God’s command. The test was complete, and Abraham passed it when he was willing to make the sacrifice. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, and Isaac was willing to be sacrificed, but by grace God stepped in and provided a ram in Isaac’s stead.
  It seems that the woman’s accusers didn’t understand that, but the woman, just as I was, was alone with Jesus and came to know that. She said nothing and did nothing for the grace that Jesus bestowed upon her. She understood that this young “Man” had seen Abraham! When had He?
  When Jesus made the Covenant with Abraham (Gen 17:4-6), when Abraham remembered Jesus with the a pascal-type of bread (Gen 18:5-7), when Jesus provided a son for Abraham in an empty womb (Gen 18:3), when He promised Abraham a great and mighty nation, when Jesus blessed him with the promise of Himself (Gen 18:17-19), and when Jesus said for him and his children to keep the just and fair judgement of the way of the Lord (Gen 18:19). Let’s stop there for a minute. That last thing that “Jesus,” as the Word, said to Abraham was for his children — those who were truly children of Abraham — would keep the “Way” of Jesus and with fair justice.
  That applies to the accusers of the woman who claimed to be children of Abraham but were really children of the Devil. Jesus “Way” was by love and grace; their way was by harsh judgment. When Jesus made the Covenant with Abraham, it was a Covenant of Grace, with one contingency; that He will be their Lord if they would be His people. The accusers were not Jesus’s people (disciples) but judges who did not use the standard that they would use if they were the accused (Mat 7:1-4).
  That specific Will of the Lord was meant for that day far in the future when God’s so-called people would harshly judge another, not as they would judge themselves. Had those men sinned? Their conscience bothered them all; they had sinned but walked away from Jesus who would gladly have pardoned their sin if they had only understood that it IS HIM, who had made the Covenant with Abraham. I came to understand that; that the Lord of Abraham is the same Lord who died at Calvary for my sins.
  Of course, Jesus met Abraham many times, but showed Himself clearly one specific time. Think on this passage Paul wrote to the Jews:

¹ For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; ² To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; ³ without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. (Heb 7:1-3)

  “Continually” is that Melchisedec is “the Alpha and Omega; the Beginning and the end.” Melchisedec is the King of Righteousness as well as the King of Peace (Salem). As such, I believe, as King of Salem, Melchisedec was King of New Jerusalem, or the City of God. Melchisedec blessed Abraham. He gave Abraham prosperity in this life, and bliss in the next. How is that known? Abraham was already in Paradise when Lazarus was in his “bosom” (Luke 16:22). Better said was that Lazarus and Abraham were in Melchisedec’s (Jesus’s) Bosom.
  The accusers asked, “Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?” He sure had; and Abraham had seen Him! Abraham had even tithed to Jesus and was blessed by Him. Then what did the New Testament “Melchisedec” do? He let the accusers judge themselves, and they judged fairly, but didn’t “tithe” to Jesus. The adulteress “tithed” to Jesus by facing Him and awaiting fair judgment. Jesus didn’t seem to mind that she had sinned, because she was willing to sin no more. The accusers knew they would sin so more and convicted themselves for what they knew they would do again. They felt guilty but didn’t seek forgiveness because they were at least honest with themselves; they knew they would continue in sin.
  I have a problem with future sin. You do too. Jesus propitiated His blood to “declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past” (Rom 3:25). His blood covered all sins — past present and future — but remission of sins is continual. In other words, Christians must be willing not to sin in the future; to “sin no more,” as Jesus said to the accused. Each time I grievously sin, I promise to sin no more. My bet is that I am not alone in that. How are we to handle strongholds; those things that the Devil knows are effective? Keep our face on Jesus, and sin no more.
  Sin is a choice, and each time we sin, it says some things. Whose “way” shall we go? Whose “will,” will master us? Will we turn our backs on Jesus, or stand eye-to-eye with Jesus and not deny our sins? His grace is dependent on, not only our conscience, but facing Him to administer justice His Way.
  The accused woman’s judgment day was that day, but in the end, she shall face Jesus again at the Great White Throne Judgment. I suspect that on that great day, Jesus will say, Well done good and faithful servant. It seems probable that on that same terrible day, that Jesus will tell the accusers who judged harshly, and turned away,  I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (Mat 7:23). When the unfair accusers turned away from Jesus, perhaps their fate will be the terrible day when Jesus judges them fairly. They will have to turn away and die because they didn’t truly know Jesus, just as they had turned away from Jesus after accusing Him of never knowing Abraham. That is poetic justice, is it not?

(picture credit: Peter Bruegel; 1565; Courtland Gallery)