Jesus- God's Son revealed God's love. All He revealed He revealed of the Father and nothing that wasn't of the Father. The Ten Commandments were given by God and in that Jesus reaffirmed that to Love God with all your heart and soul and love your neighbor embodied the entire law and indeed the first 4 commandments were directed to the relationship between God and man and the last 6 commandments were directed towards man and his relationship with man.
Exodus-
Commandments 1-4
{20:1} And God spake all these words, saying
{20:2} I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
{20:3} Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
{20:4} Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth
beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth
{20:5} Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me
{20:6} And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
{20:7} Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. {20:8} Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
{20:9} Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
{20:10} But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates:
{20:11} For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is,] and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Commandments 5-10
{20:12} Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
{20:13} Thou shalt not kill.
{20:14} Thou shalt not commit adultery.
{20:15} Thou shalt not steal.
{20:16} Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
{20:17} Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that [is] thy neighbour’s.
Jesus revealed the law in its fulness to us--
Matthew
{5:1} And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him
{5:2} And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying
{5:3} Blessed [are] the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
{5:4} Blessed [are] they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
{5:5} Blessed [are] the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
{5:6} Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
{5:7} Blessed [are] the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
{5:8} Blessed [are] the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
{5:9} Blessed [are] the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
{5:10} Blessed [are] they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
{5:11} Blessed are ye, when [men] shall revile you, and persecute [you,] and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
(((Blessed-
the poor in spirit
they that mourn
the meek
they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness
the merciful
the pure in heart
the peacemakers
they which are persecuted for righteousness sake
ye, when [men] shall revile you, and persecute [you,] and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
This doesn't say blessed are the beautiful, blessed are the sweet ones, blessed are they that are smart, blessed are the talented, blessed are the arrogant, blessed are the brilliant, blessed are the beautiful in voice, blessed are the healthy-- it doesn't say any of that does it?
Blessed-
the poor in spirit
they that mourn
the meek
they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness
the merciful
the pure in heart
the peacemakers
they which are persecuted for righteousness sake
ye, when [men] shall revile you, and persecute [you,] and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
People who believe they are blessed in all things that have nothing to do with the words of Jesus spoke really aren't blessed at all. Their seeming blessings are curses in disguise, seriously. They have to overcome those supposed blessings to find the Lord. Am I say that all beautiful, talented, smart people are doomed? No. And they'd probably be the first to tell us that their blessings aren't all they're cracked up to be- not that they'd give them up- but the road of the the falsely blessed comes with it's own price.))))
{5:12} (((Rejoice)))), and (((be- exceeding glad)))) for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
{5:13} Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
{5:14} Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
{5:15} Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. {5:16} (((Let - your light so shine)))) before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
{5:17} Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
{5:18} For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be
fulfilled.
{5:19} Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach [them,] the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
{5:20} For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed [the righteousness] of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
{5:21} Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
{5:22} But I say unto you, That whosoever (((is- angry)))) with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever (((shall- say)))) to his brother, Raca,...
[[[Raca, or Raka, in the Aramaic of the Talmud means empty one, fool, empty head.]]]
... shall (((be- in danger)))) of the council: but whosoever (((shall- say, Thou fool,)))) (((shall be- in danger)))) of hell
fire.
{5:23} Therefore if thou (((bring- thy gift)))) to the altar, and there (((rememberest- that thy brother hath ought against thee))));
{5:24} (((Leave- there thy gift)))) before the altar, and (((go- thy way)))) first (((be- reconciled to thy brother))), and then (((come- and offer thy gift.))))
{5:25} (((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.
{5:26} Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
Rejoice
Be exceeding glad
Let your light so shine
Bring thy gift
Rememberest thy brother
Be reconciled to thy brother
Come and offer thy gift
Agree with thing adversary quickly
God first in all things- yes? We are to be exceeding glad in Christ, letting the light of Christ shine through us. We are to bring our meager offerings to Christ but not if we are at odds with any about us. Christ would have us love our fellow man as one of His great commandments. We can't think that if we seek only God and are at odds with those about us that this is how God wants it to be. Yes, there will be persecutions, we will be falsely accused and revivled, but any contention we foster- any contention we can have reconciled by our own actions we have to take that action of reconcilation not hold that grudge. We are NOT to purposely contend with others. We are to speak as the Spirit moves us to speak- not shout out or own opinions, our own beliefs just to prove we are right. God knows our hearts and He knows that to be His we will be *meek* not overtly causing strife in His name. We will stand up for our beliefs but we will not purposefully cause agitation. By agreeing with our adversaries we are better off agreeing to DIS-agree rather than press home our points just to be able to pat ourselves on the back claiming we are standing up for Christ when in truth we are taking the proud stance of self congratulations for defending our principles and that proud stance isn't something Jesus would condone- it's easy to see how He'll say in that day He never knew so many who profess to know Him.
May God Bless and Keep us in Him now and always by His unfathomable grace!
Amen.
8/29/10
Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Partakers of the heavenly calling--- US.
We are partakers of the heavenly calling. You and I are partakers if we choose to seek eternal life and not be of this world. The heavenly calling is salvation though Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. We need to consider the APOSTLE and HIGH PRIEST of our profession- Christ Jesus.
Consider.
Consider
CONSIDER, v.t. [L., to consider, to view attentively, to sit by; to sit. See Sit. The literal sense is, to sit by or close, or to set the mind or the eye to; hence, to view or examine with attention.]
1. To fix the mind on, with a view to a careful examination; to think on with care; to ponder; to study; to meditate on.
We have to fix our mind on our Savior.
We have to carefully examine our Savior.
We have to think on our Savior.
We have to ponder our Savior.
We have to meditate on our Savior.
All those things will have us considering our Savior. We can't just give him a cursory examination from time to time. We can't box Him into five minutes here, a half hour there, an hour whenever. We have to have Him a part of ALL we do, not just some of what we do. We can't set our Savior aside or tell Him to close His eyes and turn around for a bit when we want to do something sinful. When we sit down to watch our favorite tv show He needs to be on our mind- not put in a corner while we get our laughs in.
Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Heb 3:2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
Our Savior- who was faithful to HIM that appointed HIM. Faithful to His Father. Isn't that beautiful? He was faithful to His Father in all that He did.
Another who was faithful was Moses. But our Savior was MORE worthy of glory than the faithful Moses. When people have leaders and those leaders lead well they tend to revere them, they tend to give them honor and respect for being such great leaders. Moses was a great leader, by the power of God he set free God's people and led them to the promised land- being used of God to reveal the ways of God to man- God's laws, the Sanctuary service and much more. It's no surprise that Moses is consider a great man, a faithful man. But as great as Moses was, Jesus was much, much greater. To say that there is a man more worthy than Moses to those who hold Moses to be their greatest leader is saying a lot!
We have in our more modern history some great leaders- Washington, Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. -- these are men that have impacted history and we've set them us as being worthy of remembrance. If was say this man is greater than Lincoln ever was, that's saying a lot. If someone comes along and people say he's greater than Martin Luther King Jr. instantly we understand that this newcomer has to be amazing.
Our Lord and Savior is worthy of more honor than Moses- worth more immeasurably.
Heb 3:3 For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.
Heb 3:4 For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.
God built ALL THINGS. You cannot be greater than that, you can't. You cannot be more worthy.
Heb 3:5 And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after;
Heb 3:6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
We are of Christ's house, He is Son over His house, He is ruler over us, caretaker over us, as any head of household Christ reigns over us IF WE LET HIM! We are in His house willingly, not as underage children forced to live in a household good or bad. We aren't kept in Christ by force. We are not hostages to Him. People come and go all the time, but it's best to remain in HIM- HOLD FAST in Him. The Bible tells us to hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the HOPE firm unto the end. Christ is our hope, our ONLY hope.
I was talking with someone the other day who suffers with chronic pain and they mentioned how death would be preferable to the pain (no they aren't suicidal). The subject of death and the life after death had come up and so on. We talked for a bit and what we fail to realize a lot of time is the fact that our lives here are so temporary, so short. Even if we live till 100 it's short compared to eternity. All the pain we feel now can consume us, can ruin us. This temporary life can ruin us and WILL ruin us if satan has his way. Satan stops at NOTHING to ruin us- if it's not one thing it's another, if it's not with bad things he'll use good things- yes, satan uses good things as well as bad to entrap us. Our only hope is in Christ, remaining firmly in Christ with all our confidence and hope in Him.
We are Christ's house-- IF we hold fast.
IF.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord we will Hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope in CHRIST! Firm unto the end.
Amen.
8/29/11
To him that overcometh
Rev 2:6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest
the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Jesus
commends His people in Ephesus for yet another thing - Hating the deeds of the
Nicolaitanes. It didn't say hating the Nicolaitanes, but hating the deeds of
the Nicolaitanes; deeds that Jesus himself hates. What are some things Jesus
hates?
Heb.
{1:9} Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated
iniquity; therefore God, [even] thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil
of gladness above thy fellows.
Deut.
{16:21} Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of
the LORD thy God, which thou shalt make thee. {16:22}
Neither shalt thou set thee up [any] image; which the LORD thy God
hateth.
Ps.
{5:5} The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou
hatest all workers of iniquity.
Ps.
{45:7} Thou lovest righteousness, and
hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the
oil of gladness above thy fellows
It's
easy to see what God hates- sin, graven images, worship to other gods,
wickedness, workers of sin.
What
is sin?
1
John {3:4} Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the
transgression of the law.
Transgressing
the law.
What
is the law?
Matthew
{22:36} Master, which is the great commandment in the law? {22:37} 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. {22:38} This is the first and great commandment.
{22:39} And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself. {22:40} On these two commandments hang all the law and the
prophets.
So
Jesus hates the actions of those who hate God and those who hate others
treating them as they would not want to be treated.
Any
actions that hurt others are sinful.
There
is a lot to hate in our world, a lot of sinful acts. The fact God's people
hated those who were wicked -committing wicked deeds- was a good thing, because
Jesus hates sin.
The trouble
people run into a lot of times is hating what God hates and believing God would
have them act on that hate in ways that Jesus condemned over and over . While we
are to hate sin, while we are to hate what God hates whether it's Nicolaitanes
or any who love what is sin to God, we are NOT to judge them, but judge their
deeds. Hating the DEEDS that God
hates is what we need to focus on, not on the individual who commits those
deeds. God will judge them, we cannot. We can't cast that first stone because we
are NOT without sin. We are not to strike out-physically, verbally, mentally, or
emotionally - Jesus would not have us do this-- not even to save His life. When Peter went to defend Jesus as the
soldiers were taking Him away to be tried Jesus stopped Him.
We are NOT to judge people, we are to judge actions and if their actions
are against God's will as we know it from His word to us, then we are to hate those actions they commit just as
those of Ephesus hated the deeds of the Nicolaitanes.
Rev 2:7 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.
'He
that hath an ear'
Don't
we all?
'let
him hear'
Can
we choose not to hear? Yes. We can choose not to hear, we don't have to listen,
we aren't forced to listen. We who have ears need to hear, we need to choose to listen.
What
are we to listen to? 'let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches' We
have to listen to what we are being told! What the Spirit is relating to us
through His prophets. And a promise is given...
'To
him that overcometh...'
Overcomes
what? Overcomes that which would bring us down- losing our first love.
'To
him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the
midst of the paradise of God.'
If
we keep to our first love, if our first love is Christ we will eat of the tree
of life, a tree that is in the midst of God's paradise!
If
we eat of the tree of life we will have life forever in Christ. How beautiful is
that promise? How wondrous is that knowledge!
Let
us ALL overcome! Let us all hear! Let us all keep our first love in Christ! By
His amazing grace, by His mercy unlike any other mercy.
Amen.
Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Partakers of the heavenly calling--- US.
We are partakers of the heavenly calling. You and I are partakers if we choose to seek eternal life and not be of this world. The heavenly calling is salvation though Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. We need to consider the APOSTLE and HIGH PRIEST of our profession- Christ Jesus.
Consider.
Consider
CONSIDER, v.t. [L., to consider, to view attentively, to sit by; to sit. See Sit. The literal sense is, to sit by or close, or to set the mind or the eye to; hence, to view or examine with attention.]
1. To fix the mind on, with a view to a careful examination; to think on with care; to ponder; to study; to meditate on.
We have to fix our mind on our Savior.
We have to carefully examine our Savior.
We have to think on our Savior.
We have to ponder our Savior.
We have to meditate on our Savior.
All those things will have us considering our Savior. We can't just give him a cursory examination from time to time. We can't box Him into five minutes here, a half hour there, an hour whenever. We have to have Him a part of ALL we do, not just some of what we do. We can't set our Savior aside or tell Him to close His eyes and turn around for a bit when we want to do something sinful. When we sit down to watch our favorite tv show He needs to be on our mind- not put in a corner while we get our laughs in.
Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Heb 3:2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
Our Savior- who was faithful to HIM that appointed HIM. Faithful to His Father. Isn't that beautiful? He was faithful to His Father in all that He did.
Another who was faithful was Moses. But our Savior was MORE worthy of glory than the faithful Moses. When people have leaders and those leaders lead well they tend to revere them, they tend to give them honor and respect for being such great leaders. Moses was a great leader, by the power of God he set free God's people and led them to the promised land- being used of God to reveal the ways of God to man- God's laws, the Sanctuary service and much more. It's no surprise that Moses is consider a great man, a faithful man. But as great as Moses was, Jesus was much, much greater. To say that there is a man more worthy than Moses to those who hold Moses to be their greatest leader is saying a lot!
We have in our more modern history some great leaders- Washington, Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. -- these are men that have impacted history and we've set them us as being worthy of remembrance. If was say this man is greater than Lincoln ever was, that's saying a lot. If someone comes along and people say he's greater than Martin Luther King Jr. instantly we understand that this newcomer has to be amazing.
Our Lord and Savior is worthy of more honor than Moses- worth more immeasurably.
Heb 3:3 For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.
Heb 3:4 For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.
God built ALL THINGS. You cannot be greater than that, you can't. You cannot be more worthy.
Heb 3:5 And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after;
Heb 3:6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
We are of Christ's house, He is Son over His house, He is ruler over us, caretaker over us, as any head of household Christ reigns over us IF WE LET HIM! We are in His house willingly, not as underage children forced to live in a household good or bad. We aren't kept in Christ by force. We are not hostages to Him. People come and go all the time, but it's best to remain in HIM- HOLD FAST in Him. The Bible tells us to hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the HOPE firm unto the end. Christ is our hope, our ONLY hope.
I was talking with someone the other day who suffers with chronic pain and they mentioned how death would be preferable to the pain (no they aren't suicidal). The subject of death and the life after death had come up and so on. We talked for a bit and what we fail to realize a lot of time is the fact that our lives here are so temporary, so short. Even if we live till 100 it's short compared to eternity. All the pain we feel now can consume us, can ruin us. This temporary life can ruin us and WILL ruin us if satan has his way. Satan stops at NOTHING to ruin us- if it's not one thing it's another, if it's not with bad things he'll use good things- yes, satan uses good things as well as bad to entrap us. Our only hope is in Christ, remaining firmly in Christ with all our confidence and hope in Him.
We are Christ's house-- IF we hold fast.
IF.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord we will Hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope in CHRIST! Firm unto the end.
Amen.
8/29/11
To him that overcometh
Rev 2:6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest
the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Jesus
commends His people in Ephesus for yet another thing - Hating the deeds of the
Nicolaitanes. It didn't say hating the Nicolaitanes, but hating the deeds of
the Nicolaitanes; deeds that Jesus himself hates. What are some things Jesus
hates?
Heb.
{1:9} Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated
iniquity; therefore God, [even] thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil
of gladness above thy fellows.
Deut.
{16:21} Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of
the LORD thy God, which thou shalt make thee. {16:22}
Neither shalt thou set thee up [any] image; which the LORD thy God
hateth.
Ps.
{5:5} The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou
hatest all workers of iniquity.
Ps.
{45:7} Thou lovest righteousness, and
hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the
oil of gladness above thy fellows
It's
easy to see what God hates- sin, graven images, worship to other gods,
wickedness, workers of sin.
What
is sin?
1
John {3:4} Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the
transgression of the law.
Transgressing
the law.
What
is the law?
Matthew
{22:36} Master, which is the great commandment in the law? {22:37} 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. {22:38} This is the first and great commandment.
{22:39} And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself. {22:40} On these two commandments hang all the law and the
prophets.
So
Jesus hates the actions of those who hate God and those who hate others
treating them as they would not want to be treated.
Any
actions that hurt others are sinful.
There
is a lot to hate in our world, a lot of sinful acts. The fact God's people
hated those who were wicked -committing wicked deeds- was a good thing, because
Jesus hates sin.
The trouble
people run into a lot of times is hating what God hates and believing God would
have them act on that hate in ways that Jesus condemned over and over . While we
are to hate sin, while we are to hate what God hates whether it's Nicolaitanes
or any who love what is sin to God, we are NOT to judge them, but judge their
deeds. Hating the DEEDS that God
hates is what we need to focus on, not on the individual who commits those
deeds. God will judge them, we cannot. We can't cast that first stone because we
are NOT without sin. We are not to strike out-physically, verbally, mentally, or
emotionally - Jesus would not have us do this-- not even to save His life. When Peter went to defend Jesus as the
soldiers were taking Him away to be tried Jesus stopped Him.
We are NOT to judge people, we are to judge actions and if their actions
are against God's will as we know it from His word to us, then we are to hate those actions they commit just as
those of Ephesus hated the deeds of the Nicolaitanes.
Rev 2:7 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.
'He
that hath an ear'
Don't
we all?
'let
him hear'
Can
we choose not to hear? Yes. We can choose not to hear, we don't have to listen,
we aren't forced to listen. We who have ears need to hear, we need to choose to listen.
What
are we to listen to? 'let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches' We
have to listen to what we are being told! What the Spirit is relating to us
through His prophets. And a promise is given...
'To
him that overcometh...'
Overcomes
what? Overcomes that which would bring us down- losing our first love.
'To
him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the
midst of the paradise of God.'
If
we keep to our first love, if our first love is Christ we will eat of the tree
of life, a tree that is in the midst of God's paradise!
If
we eat of the tree of life we will have life forever in Christ. How beautiful is
that promise? How wondrous is that knowledge!
Let
us ALL overcome! Let us all hear! Let us all keep our first love in Christ! By
His amazing grace, by His mercy unlike any other mercy.
Amen.