|
[ Back ] [ Home ] [ Up ] [ Next ]
Feast of Tabernacles 2009─Day Three
Kingdom of God in the Gospels #2
Fred R. Coulter—October 5, 2009
Printer Friendly Version - PDF
Greetings, brethren, and welcome! Let’s pick up where we left
off last time, because what we’re going to do, we’re going to cover one of the
most essential things concerning how one attains to the Kingdom of God in their
own personal conduct. Let’s begin right where we left off because too much of
Protestantism says you don’t have to have works, all you have to have is faith.
And, as a matter of fact, Lutheranism is based upon faith alone. However, if you
read in Heb. 11—which is called the faith chapter—everyone of the
patriarchs, by faith, did something. They had works! They had good works!
There’s a difference between self-works that you would do on
your own, which may be religious or may be whatever. But, there are good works
that God wants us to do. And we will see today what those works are and how
important that they are.
Notice Matthew 5:16—that’s where we left off yesterday. “‘In the
same way also, you are to let your light shine before men, so that they may see
your good works…’” These are not works that you would do as an individual
separate from God; because Eph. 2:10 says that we are His workmanship created in
Christ Jesus unto good works, which God before has ordained that we should walk
in them.’
God expects works.
He expects faith.
He expects love.
He gives us His hope.
We are to hope in God.
We are to trust in God
—and all of these things together. The problem with religions in
the world, and they’re all lies. Every religion in the world is a lie from Satan
the devil—you need to understand that! And for the life of me, I cannot figure
why ministers in the Church of God run off to the Protestants to understand—‘How
do you understand grace? How do you understand love? Oh, you have
the trinity, oh, well tell us about it.’ Look what happened to the Church when
they did that! And look what happened to the brethren when that was done! We
left the good works of God!
“‘…and may glorify your Father Who is in heaven’” (v 16).
Because someone is going to see your good works, then which equate to Godliness
in your life. That’s important. What is the standard for this good work? Well,
Jesus defines it right here; and we can understand this: When the Kingdom of God
is here, they’re all going to keep the laws and commandments of God the way that
Jesus has defined here in Matt. 5 So I think this is really profoundly important
for us to understand. And this is the heart and core.
Now, if you want to hit a bull’s-eye on what is absolutely wrong
with Protestantism and Catholicism and other religions of this world—v 17 on
tells you exactly why. Most people what God to do something for them, as they
remain in the condition of life that they are living. That’s why it starts out:
repent! You can have no blessing from God unless you repent first. Now,
in your sins you may be rewarded by Satan for a time.
We had a perfect example of that this summer, and his name is
Michael Jackson; an entertainer who had the world in the palm of his hands Who
made hundreds of millions, perhaps billions of dollars, and yet, died at 50. He
was rewarded tremendously, but what was his life? He went with the way of the
world, and the rest of his life is a testimony on how people are devoured by
their own sins and wrong-doing and cutoff in the midst of their lives.
Here’s the key, right here—v 17: “‘Do not think… [‘Do not think’
means don’t let it enter into your mind. This thought is something you
never want to accept; because what Jesus was going to teach from here on—and
what He is teaching us today—is this: The commandments of God, in the
spirit and the application of the laws, are the requirements to enter the
Kingdom of God.] (That’s why He said): …Do not think that I have come to
abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For
truly I say to you, until the heaven and the earth shall pass away, one jot or
one tittle shall in no way pass from the Law until everything has been
fulfilled’” (vs 17-18).
But someone is going to say that when you fulfill them you end
them. Well, not necessarily, because what Jesus is going show here is that for
everything that in the letter is fulfilled, there is a spiritual requirement
that goes above and beyond the letter of the law. Let’s notice what He says here
concerning this. Now, ‘fulfill’ means to bring to the full. It doesn’t
mean to abolish. It means fill to the full to give a greater standard; a
greater application; and where the source of how obedience and love to God has
to begin. And what we need to do to please God. So this is going to be quite
astounding when you read it; when you really understand it.
Verse 19: “‘Therefore… [this is Christ speaking—God manifested
in the flesh. This is God speaking. This is God’s new law—spiritual law—based
upon the foundation of the Ten Commandments and the laws in the Old Testament.]
…whoever shall break one of these least commandments…’” What commandment do you
think is least? Well, I’ll tell you two commandments that religions think are
least:
Sabbath—because they keep Sunday.
no idols—because they fill their churches and cathedrals
with idols.
And then, that means all the rest of the commandments fall into
a least category because they don’t esteem them at all—unless someone
attempts to murder them; unless someone steals from them; unless someone commits
rape against them. Then they say, ‘Oh, he broke the law!’ Now, don’t you think
it’s borderline insanity for people who claim to be religious to stand in the
pulpit and say ‘God has done away with His laws and commandments.’ And as a
matter of fact, one man said that all 613 commandments in the Old Testament in
the Law, have no forensic value for Christians today. That is wild
lawlessness! An absolute lie! preached in the name of God!
So now, let me ask you a question: Which law do you think is
least? Because within the Church of God what do we have?
We have people who don’t keep the Sabbath in the way that
they should.
We have people who don’t keep the Holy Days.
We have people who don’t tithe.
Those are just to name a few. Do you still hold resentment? Do
you have hate and bitterness in your heart? Which commandment? Because, you see,
even in the Old Testament it says you ‘shall not hate your brother in your
heart.’ So as we go through here—and I’m talking about how the religions of the
world do. What I want you to do is examine your own life and see how you measure
up to what Jesus said, because these are the qualification to enter into the
Kingdom of God. He tells you so right here.
“‘Therefore, whoever shall break one of these least commandments
and shall teach men so… [all ministers, pastors, elders and teachers, listen up!
If you do not teach the Word of God truthfully, rightfully—as
interpreted by the Bible—you are causing people to sin and God is going to judge
you severely. Understand that!] (Notice!): …shall be called least in the kingdom
of heaven… [if they ever get there] …but whoever… [Notice this, all you anti-law
people] …shall practice and teach them, this one shall be called great in
the kingdom of heaven…. [Then He gives you a standard that He wants you to know
and understand and realize, which is right here in v 20]: …For I say to you,
unless your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees, there is no way that you shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven’” (vs 19-20). Let me read that again! “‘For I say to
you, unless your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees, there is no way that you shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven.’”—it’s not going to happen! It’s not going to be
done!
Then He amplifies and tells you what He means. And the rest of
this chapter is going to tell you how your righteousness can exceed that
of the scribes and the Pharisees. The scribes and the Pharisees were ‘letter of
the law’ only. And plus, most of their righteousness was based upon their own
traditions. And their own traditions then were their own works—not the works of
God. They were the evil works which looked good in the eyes of men. But they
were not the good works which come from God. And most people can’t discern
between the two unless they understand the teachings of Jesus Christ. So that’s
a pretty profound statement. There’s no way you’re going to enter into the
kingdom of heaven.
Verse 21—Jesus defines it now: “‘You have heard that it was said
to those in ancient times, ‘You shall not commit murder… [one of
the Ten Commandments—right? Yes! Now what He’s going to do is show where
murder begins. And I think it’s very interesting that He talks about this,
because murder goes all the way back to Cain and Abel—does it not? Yes!
And where did it start with Cain? It started right here in his mind and in
his heart; and hatred and bitterness toward Abel; and hatred and
bitterness toward God!—because Abel was righteous and gave his offering
according to the commandments of God. Cain came and brought his offering—what he
thought was good in his heart—but contrary to the commandments of God. He got
mad and angry and bitter and hostile and hateful! and he killed Abel, his
brother. So I think it’s interesting that He starts out here with murder—right?
Yes!] …it was said to those in ancient times, “You shall
not commit murder but whoever commits murder shall be subject to judgment.” But
I say to you, everyone who is angry with his brother without cause shall be
subject to judgment’” (vs 21-22).
There’s a cause of righteous indignation or anger because of
some wrong; but don’t hold onto it and don’t keep it because we find the
spiritual solution to that in Eph. 4: ‘Do not let the sun go down on your
wrath.’
“‘…Now you have heard it said, “Whoever shall say to his
brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be subject to the judgment of the council.” But
I say to you, whoever shall say, “You fool,” shall be subject to the
fire of Gehenna’” (v 22).
What this is telling us: ‘to fulfill the law’ means to
complete it with its full spiritual intention and impact. And in order to do
that, it’s got to be from within; not like the Pharisees who cleanse the
outside; but as Jesus said, ‘within you’re full of the dead men’s bones and
rottenness.’ And after all, wasn’t it the righteousness of the scribes and
Pharisees and priests that killed Christ? Yes, it was! Because they had
hatred in their heart. So this is something! This is quite a thing!
And the next one also covers a problem that is really a big
problem between people even within the Church of God. So let’s read it. So as we
go through this I want you to understand that let’s apply it to ourselves. Let’s
not think: oh, well, Matt. 5, we’ve been through that a thousand times!
Maybe, but do you really get it?
Verse 23: “‘For this reason, if you bring your gift to the
altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you.’” That’s
when they had the temple, and they would come to the temple and bring a gift. We
have a temple, and that’s the temple in heaven above. And we have an altar, and
that altar is the altar of incense (Rev. 7) where the prayers of the saints
ascend to God. You can apply this to yourself: if you go pray and you have a
problem and you have hatred in your heart towards someone in the Church, towards
someone in your family, you better go get it resolved. Because let’s see what
Jesus said:
Verse 24: “‘Leave your gift there before the altar, and go
your way; first be reconciled with your brother, and then come
and offer your gift’”—because your heart is not right. And the whole purpose of
entering into the Kingdom of God—
through what the New Testament is
through the Spirit of God
through repentance
through forgiveness
through keeping the laws of God spiritually
—is the most important thing. So we’ve got to have our hearts
and minds cleansed! That’s what He’s talking about here. So, ‘go be reconciled!’
Now then, you can go and read all the other Scriptures which
talk about brotherly love and helping one another and serving one another and
doing what is right. All those tie together!
Now He gives some advice if you’re caught by the officials of
the land—and you’re guilty and you know you’re guilty. Verse 25: “Agree with
your adversary quickly, while you are in the way with him; lest your adversary
deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be
cast into prison.’” Now, if you’re not guilty, you don’t have to agree. And
there are ways of doing that. So this is a civil matter here. But, if you’ve
done something wrong, agree with your adversary, pay the fine and go your
way—get it over, because you may come before a hostile judge and he’ll put you
away.
Now, I know that almost everyone in prison says, ‘Well, I’m
innocent.’ And I’ve visited a lot of people in prison and almost everyone tells
me the same story. So the only thing I can conclude is: there are a lot of liars
in there and there are some who are honest. There are some who have been
convicted and shouldn’t be in there, because there are lying prosecutors, there
are lying witnesses, there are incompetent judges, incompetent attorneys—all of
those things are true. But you see, if we are living the way God wants us to
live, how many times are we going to have problems with the authorities? Very
little!
So He says here, if you get in there and that happens: “‘Truly I
say to you, there is no way that you shall come out of there until you have paid
the very last coin” (v 26). So pay it first.
“‘You have heard that it was said to those in ancient
times… [Here comes the next commandment]: …“You shall not commit adultery”
(v 27). Murder and adultery—How does it start? Where does it begin?
The whole book of Proverbs is filled with many places about the
problems of seductive women. And everyone bewails and moans and groans about the
pornography. Well, you need to know that 30-million women are hooked on
pornography, 30% of all pastors in Protestant churches are hooked on
pornography, and 70% of the men who attend are hooked on pornography. And, when
you go through the checkout stand at your local supermarket, you see the
pornography right in front of you. Now here, what He does, He says what a man
must do first. A man must protect his mind, protect his heart—as Job said, ‘I
made a covenant with my eyes.’ See, men, God made you to be drawn to a beautiful
body of a woman. And women know that! That’s why so many women debase themselves
by posing for porn. Whether it’s still photo or whether it is in movies. And
it’s out there today like never before. And how many of the clergy are
involved—not only in porn but also in adultery, fornication and
homosexuality—even within the Church of God!
Here’s what He says—this is what you need to do: “‘But I say to
you, everyone who looks upon a woman to lust after her has already committed
adultery with her in his heart’” (v 28). That’s where it begins. God wants the
conversion of the heart. But you cannot have the conversion of the heart and the
soul until you start keeping the laws and commandments of God according to the
Spirit. And in doing so, you need the Spirit of God.
Let’s go back to the book of Psalms, v 19. This tells us about
the laws and commandments of God and what they do. Let’s remember the Scripture
about the New Covenant which says—through the Spirit of God: ‘I will write into
their hearts and into their minds My laws and My commandments and I will not
remember their lawlessness anymore. Because not only do you do what is right,
but we also follow (as we’ll see a little later) that Jesus said we are to
daily ask God for forgiveness of our sins and trespasses.
For all of you who this is shocking material for you to hear the
first time, and how you have heard ministers in the pulpit stand up there and
tell you the laws of God have been done away, all you have to do is just see
what a lie that is by looking at the world; what has happened to America and the
world, because that has been preached and taught. Huh? Is it better? or is it
worse?
Psalm 19:7: “The law of the LORD is perfect… [So, what they have
done, they have cast out that which is perfect in order to bring in a
satanic version. So the truth of the matter, if you really understand it,
Protestantism is in the grips of anti-Christ doctrine.] …The law of the LORD is
perfect… [If it’s perfect, why throw it away? You wouldn’t do that with a brand
new watch that ran perfectly—would you? Of course not!
Are not the laws of God far more important?
Don’t they have meaning and bearing on our lives?
Are we going to enter into the Kingdom of God without
keeping the laws of God?
Of course not!
“The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul… [your very
inward being] …the testimony of the LORD is sure… [all the testimonies of God;
and some of the testimonies of God are contained in the Proverbs] …making wise
the simple.” And that’s the whole reason for the book of Proverbs:
to give knowledge
to give wisdom
to give understanding
And the book of Proverbs shows that these are universal laws of
God and express very clearly in the book Proverbs that apply to anyone anywhere
in the world at anytime, in any generation.
Verse 8: “The precepts of the LORD are right… [Every thought and
every way of God is right and good and Holy and true!] …rejoicing the heart…
[because there’s no sadness, there’s no hang-up, there is no penalty for sin
against you. You understand that, huh?] …the commandments of the LORD are pure,
enlightening the eyes.” And that means enlightening your mind so that you know
and understand the Truth.
Verse 9: “The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever… [So
all of these things combined together. What it is to be a Christian is a whole
package—not part of this, not part of that, not part of the other thing, not
part of something else, no mixing in of Buddhism or Hinduism or Islamism or any
other religion; and amorism or spiritism that we have today. I know on the radio
interview I had this summer, one man called up and he wanted a quick sure
fix—almost like driving thru MacDonald’s and you order your cheeseburger and now
‘I’ve got the answer to God.’ Never happen! Can you imagine what it would be if
you drove thru MacDonald’s and said, ‘Oh give me the verse for today, would you
please, so I can be saved.’ Listen! Salvation is a difficult situation!
as all of you probably know. So that’s something!
“The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments
of the LORD are true and righteous altogether… [Now, what are they worth?] …More
to be desired than gold, yea, much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the
honeycomb” (vs 9-10). Does this not concur with what Jesus is teaching? Yes,
indeed! So, there are the teachings of God the same in the Old Testament as
well as in the New Testament.
Notice, v 11: “Moreover by [keeping] them Your servant is
warned… [If you have all of these things in your mind, you’re going to be
conducting your life in the way that God wants you to do. And coupled with the
Spirit of God, He is molding and creating in you the very character that comes
from Him—Godliness—then which leads to the mind of Christ. And that’s the
ultimate goal! The truth is this: Once you start you’re not to look back,
take your hand off the plow! Your Christian life is never finalized
until you’re faithful ‘unto death.’ Never forget that!
Let’s read on because this gets better: “Moreover by them Your
servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward…. [not monetarily, but
it can bring you peace of mind; it can bring you health; it can bring you, most
of all the greatest blessing that you can possibly have in this life: that is
spiritual contact, and a spiritual relationship with God the Father and Jesus
Christ in heaven above. And that is the greatest reward that you can
get—correct? You see, lots of times when we read things like this in the Bible,
our minds tend to go to physical things. Physical things are fine. God says He
will take care of us. Don’t worry about those things. Cleanse the inside with
the Spirit of God! Great reward! And what is a great reward? Rev. 22:14 says
‘blessed are those who keep His commandments, that they may have the right to
the tree of life.’ Is that not a great reward? Is that not a great blessing?
You’ve got to think on these things! You’ve got to know! That’s why
you have to study the Bible and you have to know the Bible so that
you can think with the Word of God
you can live by the Word of God
you can direct your life by the Word of God
And yet, we have the whole Bible and how many people, ‘Oh well,
I just don’t have time for Bible study.’ But they expect God to be on fulltime
for them—right? Doesn’t work that way!
Let’s finish here, let’s show what it does: “Who can understand
his errors?…. [In other words: How are you ever going to know what is right and
wrong without the laws and commandments of God? Then it becomes all subjective,
it becomes all ‘lawless’ inasmuch as that you become an authority unto yourself,
a god unto yourself, to decided what is right and wrong and you are living in
the ranks of Adam and Eve. They rejected God’s definition of right and wrong,
and good and evil, and they wanted to decide for themselves.
That’s exactly where this world is today! That’s why we keep the Feast of
Tabernacles, so that we know. We want God to be with us. We want God to dwell in
us. That’s one of the most important factors of the Feast of Tabernacles.] …Oh,
cleanse me from my secret faults” (v 12). And in the New Testament (Eph.
5) we have the ‘washing by the water of the Word’—to cleanse us! That is God’s
Spirit with God’s Word, works in us
—and all your secret faults you know! You haven’t
told other people some of the evil thoughts and secret things that come into
your mind—have you? But God knows! So that’s how you get rid of
them, you see.
“Oh cleanse me from my secret faults; and keep back Your servant
also from presumptuous sins… [Because if you are obeying in the spirit of the
laws and commandments of God, you’re not going to commit presumptuous sins.]
(notice, here’s New Testament doctrine (Rom. 6): …do not let them rule over me…
[Sin shall not rule over you. That’s what it says.] …then I shall be blameless,
and I shall be innocent of great transgression…. [Notice v 14 also helps sum up
and add to what Jesus said.] …Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my
heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer” (vs 12-14).
Let’s come back to Matthew, the fifth chapter and see. Is that
New Testament teaching in the book of Psalms? Yes, indeed! Does that not
agree with what Jesus is teaching here? Yes!
Let’s read the next one. Here’s one that is hard to understand.
You would be better off, if there’s no other recourse, if you did this. But the
true recourse is to repent, to keep the commandments of God so that you don’t do
this—Matthew 5:29: “So then, if your right eye shall cause you to offend, pluck
it out and cast it from you; for it is better for you that one of your members
should perish than that your whole body be cast into Gehenna. And if your
right hand shall cause you to offend, cut it off and cast it from you;
for it is better for you that one of your members should perish than that
your whole body be cast into Gehenna” (vs 29-30). Now, what’s harder to change
than cutting off a hand, plucking out an eye? The mind, the heart! God
wants that converted. But He’s still saying, there it is!
Notice how these are practical, everyday things that occur. In
this world today, the next series of verses in what Jesus said is absolutely
untenable with people today. Notice, it was the same in His day. It was the same
in the days before, because of the carnality and hardness of heart in men and
women.
Verse 31: “ It was also said in ancient times, ‘Whoever
shall divorce his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement.’ But I say to
you, whoever shall divorce his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality,
causes her to commit adultery; and whoever shall marry her who has been divorced
is committing adultery” (vs 31-32). In order to be able to understand it in
today’s promiscuous and sinful world, that takes another set of sermons which we
have on divorce and re-marriage.
That’s the truth! Look what has happened! What is wrong with
marrying one man or one woman and staying married for you whole life? Because,
you see, the heart and core is you have to change, you have to grow within the
marriage estate, and you have to become one flesh; regardless of the
circumstances that come along. Now today, so many marriages are not marriages
because there’s so much adultery and fornication, homosexuality and illicit sex
going on that that’s another whole question.
Verse 33: “Again, you have heard that it was said to those in
ancient times, ‘You shall not forswear yourself, but you shall perform
your oaths to the Lord.’…. [Here’s the standard. Instead of just performing your
oaths to the Lord, here’s what Jesus said concerning swearing.] …But I say to
you, do not swear at all, neither by heaven… [and people do that: ‘Oh for
heaven’s sake.’] …for it is God’s throne… [‘I think it’s very righteous, I am
going to bow by the throne of God.’ What makes you think God is going to be
indebted to you because you say that? He’s not!] …nor by the earth, for
it is the footstool of His feet; nor by Jerusalem, because it is the city
of the great King. Neither shall you swear by your head, because you do not have
the power to make one hair white or black. But let your word be good…
[He’s talking about everything that you say—‘let it be good’] …your ‘Yes’
be yes and your ‘No’ be no…” (vs 33-37).
Have you ever said something in your heart, you promise God in
your heart, you wouldn’t do it? and you say, ‘Oh well, God will understand’?
Yes, He will! You can repent of that, but what He wants you to do is
this—and this is part of the conversion experience that we all go through. To
truly make your ‘yes’ be yes—and that means every commitment, everything
you say. Now if you say yes, I will do it conditionally, based upon if
I can do thus and such, then you have qualified it. But if you say ‘yes’ let
it be yes. Because Jesus gave the example of the son who was asked by his
father, ‘Will you go work in the field today?’ And the son says ‘Yes, I’ll go
work in the field today’—but he didn’t do it. Then the other son he asked, ‘Will
you go work in my field?’ No, I’m not going to work in your field today.
But then he repented and went and did it. And Christ asked the Pharisees: ‘Who
did the will of the Father?’ The one who did what He said—though the
first time he rejected it. But he repented and did it. Likewise, with you.
Notice, because here’s what happens: You give opportunity for
Satan the devil: “…for anything that is added to these is from the
evil one”—because Satan is right there to say, ‘Well, you really don’t need
to do this, do you? Why don’t you look for a way around it.’
And the last example I will use will be Ananias and Sapphira in
Acts 5, where they told the apostle, ‘We’re going to sell our property for
thus-and-such and will give it all to the advancement of the New Testament
Church—we’ll bring it to the apostles.’ And they got way more than they expected
so they said, ‘We’re going to keep back part of it and we will tell the apostles
that we sold it for thus-and-such.’ So there’s an example of let your ‘yes’ be
yes and your ‘no’ be no.
(go to track #2)
Let’s continue on in the Gospels where it shows about the
Kingdom of God; and we have seen that in order to enter into the Kingdom of God
(and we’ll see that a little later here) that you must develop the character of
God through keeping the laws and commandments spiritually—and then other
parts of the New Testament show that it is a relationship between you and God
the Father and Jesus Christ.
Now, let’s continue on where we left off. Matthew 5:38: “You
have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a
tooth for a tooth’; but I say to you, do not resist evil; rather, if
anyone shall strike you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also…. [Did
not Jesus do this when He was arrested? Did He not do this also when He was led
away to be crucified and scourged and beaten? Yes! He did!] (Then
He also says): …And if anyone shall sue you before the law and take your
garment, give him your coat also…. [in other words, make a fair
settlement—that’s what it’s talking about.] …And if anyone shall compel
you to go one mile, go with him two…. [In other words, whatever you do, go above
and beyond.] …Give to the one who asks of you… [this means you give if
someone is need and they need help. Someone got a call, ‘would you like to
give your organs, when you die, to the organ bank?’ Well, you don’t give that
kind of thing. It’s not talking about that at all. But it means with someone
in need.] …and do not turn away from the one who wishes to borrow from you”
(vs 38-42).
That ties right in with also the James 2—that if your brother or
your sister had need you help them out; the stranger has need, you help them
out. You have to use wisdom. You’re not to just give and let them take and take
and take and take—and they’re really not willing to do what they need to do.
Because Jesus said, ‘You always have the poor with you.’ And some today, what do
they do? They make a living out of begging for money. So you have to use
wisdom and discernment in it, as well.
Here is a very complete change from the Old Testament, v 43:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your
enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good
to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute
you.” Why? Because this way you’re putting them into God’s hands.
If there’s something that you need to do that’s right and good,
that you need to do to alleviate the situation, by all means. But you don’t take
it into your hands with revenge. You pray for your enemy, especially this
way—this is my prayer: God, keep them from me. And if they do cause you
problems and difficulties, pray for them that they’ll change their minds; pray
for them that they will see what is right; pray for them that they will
understand what they’re doing that is not right. And if God would lead them to
do it, of course, on their part they need to come to that. But you see, even God
is able to work and change the mind of carnal-minded people to give you grace
and favor in their eyes. So, that all applies here.
Notice, here’s why we do this; and this also tells us that even
though God has called us, even though He’s given us the knowledge of what He
wants us to do, even though He’s granted us His Spirit, we’re not to be exalted
above other people. We’re not t be exalted above other people. We are not to
think we are better than anyone else. If God has called you, that’s probably a
good indication that you’re the ‘weak of the world’—right? He hasn’t called the
mighty; He hasn’t called the strong—He’s called the weak. So He says the reason
that you do this is because:
Verse 45: “So that you yourselves may be the children of
your Father Who is in heaven…” That’s what God wants you to understand.
Now, just put in your margin: 1-John 3:1-3—that we are called ‘the children of
God.’ Same thing here. Not that we belong to a nation, and as the scribes and
Pharisees said, ‘We have Abraham for our father, we’re Israelites, and because
we are God has got to be with us. We are Jews and we are the favored people.’
Well, it kind of seems if you examine the true facts of what’s in the world
today, you may reconsider that maybe you’re not! How can you be if you reject
Jesus? Now you may have rewards from the god of this world Satan the devil. But
you surely don’t have the blessings of God! Because if you don’t know
Christ, you don’t know God!
Here’s why—we’re not to be lifted up: “…for He causes His sun to
rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the
just and on the unjust…. [So everybody receives that blessing from God.
As a matter of fact, that’s necessary just to live.] (He also says): …For if you
love those who love you… [You just have your little, close circle of friends, or
your little club, or your little church, or whatever it may be; if you only love
them and you hate everybody else, you despise everybody else]: …what reward do
you have? Do not the tax collectors practice the same thing? ”…. [There’s
plenty of that in the world. Or ‘if you belong to our club we accept you and
here’s our secret handshake so we know that you belong to us.’ Or you have a
badge, or you have a banner, or you have a ring, and yes, everybody accepts
you—but what is your reward?] …And if you salute your brethren only, what have
you done that is extraordinary?…. [that’s going to happen anyway] …Do not
the tax collectors practice the same thing? ” (vs 45-47).
Now, here’s the sum of it—and this is perhaps the most important
verse in chapter five, outside of vs 17 & 18: “Therefore, you shall be
perfect… [and that means you shall be in the process of becoming
perfect by overcoming these things with the power and Spirit of God,
so that you can have the mind of Christ
so that you can develop the righteousness of God from
within, from the heart
—that’s what God wants.] …you shall be perfect
even as your Father Who is in heaven is perfect” (v 48). Now that’s the
goal! That’s what we are to have our minds on. That’s how we are to look at what
we are to do with all the teachings that we have from the New Testament; the
teachings of Jesus Christ out of the Gospels and also the whole teachings of God
because they all come from God. Is that not correct? Yes, indeed! There
it is, that’s the goal. That’s why what God is doing within us is such a
tremendous work! Because he’s taking the weak; He’s taking the despised; He has
taken the hated; He is taking those who have problems and difficulties and
now—through the process of conversion, and through this kind of change of way of
living from within; because the way you live is from within, regardless of what
you practice. So then He is doing this to convert you what? What is the goal?
“…To become perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
Now, how can I do that when I’m in such a mess?
How can I do that when I am confronted with so many
problems?
Hold your place here because we’ll be coming back. Come to
Philippians, the third chapter. Let’s see how we are to do this. That’s why in
another place Jesus said, ‘sufficient for every day is the evil of it’ (we’ll
see that in a little bit). But here is what Paul tells us how we are to become
perfect—as we overcome sin; as we, through God’s Spirit, put His laws in our
inward parts and in our mind and our heart; and use that as a motivation for how
we think and how we do and how we act and behave. We’re going to have problems.
We’re going to have difficulties. We’re going to have things that we need to
overcome. So here’s what the Apostle Paul wrote about in Phil. 3. Now, as far as
the Pharisee, he was about as perfect as you could be. He was a Hebrew of
Hebrews, and the strictest sect of it. They were punctilious. He was so working
for the high priest that what did he do? Well, he got warrants of arrest, and
warrants to persecute, and enchain and throw into prison Christians. He was
out there, as you recall, zealously doing the work of the high priest when God
said to Himself, ‘That’s enough! I want Paul! I’m going to convert him!’ BAM! He
was knocked to the ground, humbled greatly, instantly!
Now, as he looked back on his life and everything that he
did—Philippians 3:6: “With respect to zeal, persecuting the Church… [the highest
calling of Judaism at that time. Getting rid of those renegade Christians.]
…with respect to righteousness that is in law, blameless.” No fault; ‘no
one could come against me. I had all my phylacteries filled with the merit
badges of my good deeds. And I had quite a reputation.’ So this was the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees that Jesus was talking about. Is that
love toward neighbor? No! That was hatred toward neighbor, but it was the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees—was it not? Yes, indeed!
So notice how Paul looked at these things. Let me just rehearse
something to you that Jesus said if you’re going to follow Him. He says, ‘Anyone
who comes to Me and wants eternal life and does not hate his father and mother…
[now that means loved Him more than father and mother] …brother and sister,
husband and wife, children and lands, and yes, his own life also, he cannot be
My disciple.’ And that means you cannot be saved.
So, here’s how Paul did that; notice how he expressed it, v 7:
“Yet the things that were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss
for the sake of Christ.” We must give up the world. We must give up the things
in the world. Because even as John wrote, ‘love not the world; for the things in
the world—the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pretentious
pride of life—are all of the world and they are not of God!’ All that
was gain!
What do you have to give up?
What have you had to sacrifice?
What is it that you have had to leave behind to serve
Christ?
And remember this: In the Kingdom of God, in attaining that,
you are going to have abundance of the best of everything spiritually and
physically forever! So we need to take the same attitude that Paul had
here. When we understand what God has called us to—and as we just read, to
become perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect—that way then we
understand what we need to do.
So he says he counted them but ‘loss’—“But then truly, I count
all things… [all things in the world; everything about what people thought about
him; all the prestige; all of the power, all of the authority that was given to
him as a Pharisee, he says, ‘I count it all but loss] …to be loss for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; for Whom I have suffered
the loss of all things, and count them as dung; that I may gain
Christ” (vs 8).
So you see, now we can come from the Gospels and into the
Epistles of Paul and see how Paul applies those. This is how you become
spiritually perfect—by growing and changing and overcoming and really loving God
the Father and Jesus Christ with all your heart, mind, soul and being. And then
you can come to these kinds of spiritual (I hate to use the word attitudes)
but spiritual thoughts which form our spiritual attitudes. Counts them as dung;
counts it all loss “…that I may gain Christ and may be found in Him…” (vs 8-9).
And Jesus said in another place, ‘What if a man gains the whole
world, but looses his life?’ What does he have? Nothing! “…and may be
found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is derived
from law… [just as Jesus said, ‘now your righteousness must exceed that of the
scribes and Pharisees’] …but that righteousness which is by the
faith of Christ…
…—the righteousness of God that is based on faith…
[That’s what God wants!] …and may be found in Him, not having my own
righteousness… Not what I think is good. Not what I think is right—no!] …that
righteousness which is by the faith…. [v 10]: …That I
may know Him… [And that means at the resurrection! You may know Him has
He is.] …and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His
sufferings, being conformed to His death… [That’s why we have baptism, which is
a symbolic death—but you have to be faithful to the end. And always remember
this: It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish! Paul always
kept that in mind.] …If by any means I may attain unto the resurrection of the
dead” (vs 9-11).
Everything that we find in the teachings of the New Testament is
what?
Become perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Attain to the resurrection.
Attain to the righteousness of Christ.
Those are the spiritual goals, but they are all rooted in the
Gospels as the Gospels lay the foundation and tells us about the Kingdom of God.
Verse 12: “Not as though I have already received… [the
resurrection hasn’t come yet] …or have already been perfected… [because
perfection takes place over a lifetime; and that perfection requires a lot of
work on your part and on God’s part with His Spirit:
to mold you
to shape you
to help you
…but I am striving… [There it is: we must strive, we must go
forward, we must work, we must put out all the effort that we can; and as God
gives us the effort and gives us the strength to do it,] …so that I may also lay
hold on that for which I also was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, [he
says] I do not count myself as having attained; but this one thing I
do—… [this is how we are perfected spiritually, day-by-day through our whole
life.] …forgetting the things that are behind… [That’s why (we’ll
see in a little bit) with the daily prayer, that Jesus tells us to forgive our
sinners that sin against us, and we ask God to forgive us our sins—on a daily
basis. And I think when you do that, you will begin to understand the depths of
deception and evil that really lurk deep in the hearts and the minds of each one
of us. We’re no different that all other human beings except God has called us
and given us His Spirit. He’s giving us the opportunity right now!] …forgetting
the things that are behind, and reaching forth to the things that are ahead”
(vs 12-13).
That’s what we need to look to. That’s why (as we will see)
Christ says, ‘Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.’ So that’s
quite a thing, the teaching there—isn’t it?
Be perfect!
Seek the Kingdom of God, first!
Trust God in faith.
Look to Him in everything.
Verse 14: “I press toward the goal for the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus…. [always going forward; always doing these
things; always doing what God wants done] …So then, let as many as be
perfect be of this mind…. [That’s how we fulfill the Scripture: Be perfect as
your Father in heaven is perfect. And here Paul also shows the process by
which we go through and do that.] (Now, here’s something else, another promise):
“And if in anything you are otherwise minded, God… [Who has
given you His Spirit] …will reveal even this to you” (vs 14-15).
So that you can change; you can grow; you can overcome; you can repent. That’s
what God wants! So all of these things we find that Jesus laid the foundation in
the Gospels about how to attain to the Kingdom of God.
Now, let’s come back here to Matthew 6—we’re not going to go
through every verse here in chapter six, but we’ll go through those that we need
to so we can understand what we need to do. He talks about praying. Don’t stand
out at the corner and do it to be seen of men. He says, when you pray—here’s how
we are to pray; and we are to pray every day. Let’s understand this: In
praying—he talks about vain repetitions here—but a vain repetition
is one that is over and over and over and over again. There are needed
repetitions which are this: prayers that still need to be answered that have not
yet been answered. You continue praying for and continue asking day-by-day-by
day until the answer comes. So He says here:
Matthew 6:6: “But you, when you pray, enter into a private room;
and after shutting the door, pray to your Father Who is in secret; and
your Father Who sees in secret shall reward you openly.” Because God has
promised hear your prayers. As a matter of fact, the prayers that come from the
saints are the delight of the Father. And why is it that people have a hard time
praying? Have a hard time studying? Because they just really don’t understand
how important that it is.
I know, I talk to some people and I see them maybe once a years,
maybe twice a year, and they keep telling me: ‘Well, you know, I’ve got the same
old problem. I still am having a hard time praying. I’m still having a hard time
studying.’ God is not going to come down and do it for you. You have to ‘strive
to enter in through the straight gate.’
So He says, ‘Don’t use vain repetitions’ This is an outline as
we know, and these are the elements which are to be in every one of your
prayers. What I’d like you to do is this: Make a special Bible study, take this
prayer—which is called the Lord’s Prayer; but it’s not the Lord’s Prayer; the
Lord’s Prayer is in John 17—this is the model prayer. You take this model prayer
and you outline all the aspects of it and then you go back and study the Psalms.
And I think you’re going to see—they may not all necessarily all follow in this
same order—but I think what you’re going to see is they all follow this outline
because these are prayers from David to God; and this is what we need to
realize. Some Psalms will have some of the elements, and other Psalms will other
of the elements; but when you take the full picture of all the psalms contained
in the book of Psalms, they all fit into what Jesus said here.
Verse 9: “Therefore, you are to pray after this manner: ‘Our
Father Who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name.”
God is Holy.
You are righteous
You are true
You are perfect
You’re a God of love
You love us
You care for us
You are there for us
Hear us
Help us
Notice the next thing you are to do: “Your kingdom come…” (v
10). That’s the goal—isn’t it? Also, that means God’s rule daily in your life;
coming from God—where the Kingdom of God is now—down to you. Because Paul wrote
to those in Colossians that we have been transferred from the power of Satan the
devil unto the Kingdom of His dear Son. So it has a personal application to you.
As well as praying continually for the Kingdom of God to come. That is the goal!
“…Your will be done… [that means in your life; that means in the
world] …on earth as it is in heaven… [It’s all being done according to
the will of God, without a doubt! It’s happening every day] …Give us this day
our daily bread… [That doesn’t mean that we’re not to watch and be wise and see
that there are times when we need to have more than just the food we need
daily.] …And forgive us our debts… [and as He says in Luke 11: ‘Forgive us our
sins we forgive those who sin against us.’ That’s part of it. Everything that’s
necessary for your Christian growth is laid right out in this prayer. As a
matter of fact, you could take this prayer and you could also outline Matthew 5,
6 & 7—couldn’t you? Yes! So this is pretty powerful what Jesus is telling
us here.] …as we also forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation…
[don’t lead us into trial and temptation—that’s why you need to have your sins
forgiven. And isn’t it interesting that we ask for forgiveness so that we won’t
be led into temptation, because we haven’t repented. So if you repent, you’re
not going to be led into trial. But if you don’t repent, you can be guaranteed
you’re going to have a trial—without a doubt!] …but rescue us from the evil
one…. [You can put in your margin: Eph. 6; 1-Pet. 5; James 4—resist Satan the
devil in the faith and ‘he will flee from you.’ So ‘rescue us’—we need to be
rescued! Not just ‘deliver us’—it is rescue us.
While we were doing the video, there was a plane wreck off the
coast of East Africa, and there was one 14-year-old girl who survived. And the
thing that was so amazing was, she didn’t know how to swim. But she clung for
30-hours to a piece of the crashed plane. She was rescued!
Now, look at your life in relationship to coming out of the
world and out of Satan the devil that you need to be rescued!
That’s what it says there in Colossians 1—that ‘God the Father Himself has rescued us’ from Satan the devil!
Then notice how the prayer finishes; just like we read in Phil.
3—“…For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen” (v 13).
So we start out with the kingdom and we end up with the kingdom—right? All of
these things are basic foundations for us to know what we need to look to. How
we need to set our lives. How we need to live our lives. And Christ laid it out
for us—didn’t He? The rest of the Bible agrees with it.
Verse 14—there’s something also to remember; and we need to
understand this again and again and again, and understand it: “For if you
forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if
you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses” (vs 14-15). Why? Because you’re to become perfect like the
Father Who is in heaven.
Some are surely going to say: ‘Well, what if they don’t come and
repent to me?’ You always be in an attitude ready to forgive. And ask God to
forgive them maybe God will reach down and touch their heart. But why does God
expect you to do this? Because you want God to forgive you your sins—don’t
you? Yes, indeed! Never heard anyone say: ‘I don’t want God to forgive me
my sins. But that person over there, I’m never going to forgive.’ I’m talking
about people in the Church! Because what happens? If you harbor this in
your mind, it eats away and takes away the spiritual character that you have
already built. It destroys it because you are following the way of Satan the
devil. So you better forgive! God will forgive you. Remember what He
said here concerning if you have somewhat against your brother. If you have
unfinished business, take care of it. God will bless you for it!
Now, He talks about fasting. Don’t do like men so that you’re
fasting to men. He says, ‘wash your face, anoint your hair and fast to God in
secret.’ Don’t have treasures on earth, but have spiritual treasures in heaven.
And your reward is coming.
Now, let’s continue on, v 22: “The light of the body is the
eye…. [That is absolutely a true statement that Jesus gave. You look at those
who are purveyors of evil and their eyes are dark and evil and hateful. Someone
who has love; someone who has kindness; someone who has hope—their eyes are
alive and alert! Likewise with health and with sickness. So the eye reflects
everything in your whole body. Your attitude. Your health. Your thoughts. You
don’t even have to project your thoughts out because it’s all reflected in your
eyes because that’s directly connected to your mind.] …Therefore, if your eye be
sound, your whole body shall be full of light.” And it’s also true this
way, that if you have good thoughts; and if you are getting rid of the evil
thoughts out of your mind and the hatred and the anger and the bitterness,
you’re going to be more healthy! It’s a truism.
Now, Jesus makes the comparison spiritually: “But if your
eye be evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. Therefore, if the
light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness!” (v
23). The greatest two that’s going to happen to will be the Beast and the False
Prophet. Filled with evil. Out of their mouths come lies one after the other!
Full of darkness!
Now then, He ends this section here by telling us something that
is very true. You cannot be ‘double-minded’ as James said. Anyone who is
‘double-minded is unstable.’ So maybe in overcoming some of the problems that
you have had, maybe you need to ask the question: If these are such
long-standing problems, have I really desired to completely overcome them, or
have I wanted to kind of keep some of them close to my heart. Get rid of the
obvious ones that people see, but in my heart and mind, not get rid of all of
them.
Here’s the principle—here’s what Jesus said: “No one…
[that means absolutely not anyone] …is able to serve two masters; for either he
will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to the one and
despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (v 24). Now
‘mammon’ means the things that are in the world: wealth, riches, pride,
prestige, all of that. It also means the worshiping of people. That also
means putting anything before God. You cannot do it. We are to be
single-minded to God the Father and Jesus Christ. You can’t serve two masters.
So then He says: “…do not be anxious about your life as to
what you shall eat and what you shall drink; nor about your body as to
what you shall wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than
clothing?” (v 25). How you are going to live. That doesn’t mean that we don’t
get out and work and don’t do the things that Jesus said, because the Proverbs
says, ‘If you don’t work, you won’t eat’—so you’ve got to work. You’ve got to
provide for your family. You have to provide for yourself. You have to provide
for others. You have to do as God desires. But what He wants you to understand
is: God is going to help you in every one of these things. And every time you go
out and you see a beautiful flower, as He talks about the lilies of the
field—that ‘even Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed’ like those. But if
God takes care of those little flowers, which are ‘here today and gone tomorrow,
cast into the oven’ or the heat of the sun—will He not take care of you; will He
not provide for you? Yes, He will! That’s what He says here:
Verse 31—after He says: “…O you of little faith?
Therefore, do not be anxious… [Don’t be worried, don’t be frustrated] …saying,
‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we be
clothed?’…. [God will take care of it, one way or the other. You have to go
work. You have to go look. You have to go find and all of that. But you do so
with the blessing of God. You do so asking God to help you and prosper you in
it.] …For the nations seek after all these things… [Yes, they want everything!
But they don’t want God! It’s another good example that you can’t live in sin
and you can’t live in religion and expect the blessings of God.] …And your
heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But as for
you… [Here’s the final instruction, summing up this section.] …as for
you… [Here’s what you’re to do]: …seek first… [that means
seek and keep on seeking] …the kingdom of God and His righteousness…
[not the righteousness of a religion or the righteousness of the scribes and
Pharisees, but the righteousness of God!] …and all these things shall be added
to you…. [in the proportion that God sees that you need] …Therefore, do
not be anxious about tomorrow; for tomorrow shall take care of the
things of itself. Sufficient for the day is the evil of that day”
(vs 31-34).
There are things that take place every day that we need to work
on and overcome. Problems that arise that we don’t expect. So don’t worry
about tomorrow and don’t stew about yesterday. Take every
day—day-by-day—
serve God
love God
keep His commandments
grow in the things that Jesus said here
seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness
—then everything will be added to you, especially at the
resurrection.
Scriptural References:
-
Matthew 5:16-28
-
Psalm 19:7-14
-
Matthew 5:29-48
-
Philippians 3:6-15
-
Matthew 6: 6, 9-15, 22-25, 31-34
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
Hebrews 11
Ephesians 2:10
Ephesians 4
Revelation 7; 22:14
Ephesians 5
Romans 6
Acts 5
James 2
1 John 3:1-3
Luke 11
Matthew 5, 6 & 7
Ephesians 6
1-Peter 5
James 4
Colossians 1
[ Back ] [ Home ] [ Up ] [ Next ] | 