OUR FATHER WHOSE SON CAME FOR SINNERS

The book of Mathew chapter 9 verses 9 - 13, records the  calling of Mathew himself and also records Mathew's millieu.

9 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

10 Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

The testimony of Mathew, one of the disciples of Jesus, was that he was called by Jesus directly out of his work place at a tax office.

In response, Mathew invited Jesus and his other followers to his home for dinner (as per other translations. NKJV does not identify where the dinner was held)

Others who were invited to the dinner were other tax collectors and people outside the religious establishment's acceptance.

When this came to the attention of the religious leaders, they asked why Jesus, if He were a true man of God, would eat with tax collectors and sinners.

Jesus's irrefutable response was that if a physician came to a location, those who were in good health would not need to associate with him but those who were sick needed to get close to the one who could cure what ailed them.

Referencing Hosea chapter 6 verse 6, which reads;

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Jesus told the religious  leaders to learn what the prophet meant by the phrase, "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice."

This revelation rebutts the sanctimony of the religious enforcers by highlighting that God's primary concern is love and mercy for people over the offerings of sacrifices and religious practices and observances. The verse goes on to include the idea that getting to know God supercedes the presentation of burnt offerings.

With God being represented as One who was focused on the redemtion and reclamation of human beings, it should have been clear to the religious leaders that the One sent from God would be found interacting with sinners as a physician would interact with the sick.

Amen.

7

OUR FATHER WHOSE SON HAS THE POWER TO FORGIVE SINS

Mathew chapter 9 begins with Jesus' departure from Gergesenes and His return to His home base in Capernaum.

1 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. 2 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

3 And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!”

4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

7 And he arose and departed to his house.

8 Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

Upon arrival, a paralysed man lying on a bed was brought to Him and the Lord, seeing the faith of those who brought him, spoke to the paralyzed man and told him to be encouraged because his sins had been forgiven.

Among the witnesses of the event were some scribes who responded within their hearts with an accusation of blaspheme against Jesus because He was dispensing forgiveness as though He were God.

Detecting their inner thoughts, Jesus addressed the scribes with an incisive revelation of what was in their hearts. He then asked them a question that inverted the accusation of blaspheme into a challenge on their presupposition of Jesus' identity.

He asked them the question, "What was easier  to say, 'Your sins are forgiven' or to say 'Arise and walk?'"

If Jesus was a blasphemer, the answer to the question is that neither is harder because saying phrases like these is easy if nothing of substance was going to happen.

However, Jesus was not a blasphemer because He had the ligitimate right to forgive people of their sins being God Himself.

To demonstrate that this was true, Jesus told the paralyzed man to arise and grab his bed and go home.

The man, paralyzed from a neck injury or a nerve disease or a brain disorder, was immediately able to get up and pick up his bed and go home.

Jesus' ability to speak a phrase and cause a miraculous healing validated his ability to forgive sins.

The observers of these things glorified God for showing such power through men but they did not know that God himself was doing these things right there with them in person.

Amen.

2

OUR FATHER WHOSE SON CAME TO SET THE CAPTIVES FREE

Mather chapter 8 verses 28 - 34 records the arrival at the other side of the Sea of Galilee and encounter with two demon-possessed men.

28 When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. 29  And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

30 Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. 31 So the demons begged Him, saying, “If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine.”

32 And He said to them, “Go.” So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.

33 Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.

In the country of the Gergesenes, two belligerent men possessed by demons occupied a grave yard and terrorized the area so that people avoided passing by there.

Recognizing Jesus as the son of God, they reacted to His arrival by asking why He had come there when He had no business with them and then they concluded that He must have come there to torment them before the appointed time of judgement.

Realizing that the Lord intended to free the men from their grasp, the demons pleaded that if they were to be cast out, they be permitted to enter a herd of swine that was feeding a distance away.

The Lord said one word. "Go".

The demons came out and swarmed into the herd of pigs and the pigs rushed down a steep embankment into the Sea of Galilee  and drowned.

The caretakers of the pigs ran back to their city and reported the events that had just  occurred  at the sea and all the people of the city came out to meet Jesus and they, seeing the high cost of His activities, begged Him to leave them.

The people of the city had discounted the value of the restoration of the possessed-men to their right minds and return of security to area of the cemetary and adjacent roadways. Instead, they only considered the economic impact of the loss of the herds of pigs and they asked Jesus to leave.

8

OUR FATHER WHOSE SON MODELLED THE LIFE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD FOR THOSE WHO WOULD BELIEVE

Mathew chapter 8 verses 23 - 27 captures an incident that occured on the sea of Galilee as the Lord Jesus and His disciples crossed in a boat.

23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

As they sailed across the open water, a sudden and violent squall struck the boat that caused huge waves to engulf it.

At the time, Jesus was asleep in the boat and His disciples, in a panic, woke Him up to get Him to save them because they were certain that they would not survive the storm.

The Lord, having been teaching His disciples about the ways of the kingdom of God, awoke to find them stricken in terror.

He asked them why they were fearful. After all, he had been teaching them not to worry and that their Father in heaven cared for them more than any other creatures and would protect them.

He had also shown them the power of faith by demonstrating the power to heal and evict demons but when they were subjected to the test of the storm, the disciples had lost their composure and frantically awoke the Lord.

The Lord was about to show them that the way of the kingdom was one of power over the elements and He rebuked the winds and the sea and the storm was immediately quelled and calm was restored.

Witnessing this, the disciples had to revise their understanding of who Jesus was.

His sphere of control (which up to that point had touched on healing and deliverance),  now included the forces of nature and they were astounded.

The scope of the kingdom of God was larger than they had comprehended but they would have to expand their understanding to include all of creation because, as Romans chapter 8 verse 19 says;

For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.

Amen.

12

OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO INITIATE THE KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH

Mathew chapter 8 verses 8 - 22 says this;

18 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.

19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”

20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

Crowds of people surrounded Jesus and He instructed his disciples to set sail to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

Before they left, two men wanted to join Him and approached him. To the one who declared “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go”, Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

This enigmatic statement points to the natural realm on the earth where residences are given to all creatures but when a scribe from the established society decided to follow Him, Jesus let it be known that to follow Him meant that he had to be prepared to abandon his residency among the comforts and accoutrements of this world and be as a vagabond in the same way that Jesus was.

Another man decided to follow Jesus but only after he attended to the funeral of his father and Jesus said to him that to be part of the kingdom of God meant abandoning the engagements of the perishing world and putting all his attention on seeking first the Kingdom of God.

In both cases, a serious decision to following Jesus meant an immediate detachment from their lives bound to the earth in order to ascend into the spiritual life of the kingdom of God.

Amen.

3

OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO FREE US AND HEAL US

From Mathew chapter 8;

14 Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. 15 So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.

16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

“He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”

 The Lord visited the house of His disciple Peter and Peter's mother-in-law was laying down with a fever and Jesus, operating in the authority of the kingdom of God, saw her in that condition and He touched her hand and the condition left her.

Later that evening, other people, stricken by demon-possession and sickness, were brought to Jesus  and with a word, He cast out demons and healed the sick in keeping with the prophet Isaiah's  prophecy about Him that he would take our infirmities And bear our sicknesses.

Amen.

2

OUR FATHER WHOSE KINGDOM IS ONE OF AUTHORITY AND FAITH

5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him,         6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”

7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! 11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.        12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

The Lord Jesus, upon entering the northern town of Capernaum, was approached by a Roman soldier of the rank of centurion ( this rank is  a commanding officer in the Roman army over roughly 100 men ).

The centurion, begging Jesus, told Him about a servant who was at home paralysed and in agony. Jesus, hearing this, proposed that they go to the centurion's house to heal the sick servant.

The centurion then counter-proposed with his understanding of what was possible in the situation.

He explained that it would be innappropriate for someone of such great rank as Jesus to enter his humble house but instead, all that Jesus would need to do was say the command of healing and the servant would be healed remotely.

Being in the Roman army made the centurion familar with the mechanics of authority and from what he had heard of Jesus, had inferred that Jesus's power was a function of authority and therefore, in the same way that he could issue a command to his unit and that command would be carried out at a distance, Jesus could issue a command and that command could be fulfilled even without immediate proximity.

Jesus was astonished at the incisive perception of the Roman soldier and informed those who were with Him that the Roman soldier's faith was the greatest deposit of faith He had ever encountered on earth and that included all those who operated in faith in Israel.

The Lord Jesus then opened a glimpse into a reality of the kingdom of God that had just made itself manifest at that moment: The kingdom God was going to include people from every direction, race and tribe who would, by faith, gain seats in the kingdom of God while others who were born into the kingdom would be disqualified from authority in the kingdom (with intense regret) by their lack of faith.

The Lord Jesus then released the Roman soldier to go and said to him that what he had believed would happen, would indeed happen.

The sick servant was healed.

Amen.

9

OUR FATHER SENT HIS SON TO RESTORE US FROM EXCLUSION

The Lord Jesus, having completed the teaching series on the hillside, descended into crowds of people who were following Him.

Mathew chapter 8 verse 1 - 4 captures a moment when from among the many people, a man with the skin disease of leprosy approached Jesus and worshipped Him;

1 When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

This passage starts with a man with leprosy worshipping Jesus and in doing so said that if it was Jesus' will, the disease could be removed from him.

Jesus touched the man with His hand saying that He was indeed willing and commanded that the man be cleansed of leprosy and the man was cured immeadiately.

The Lord then commanded the man to maintain secrecy over the how he got healed but to go present himself to the priests in order to be examined and ceremonially cleansed which was part of the elaborate procedure of being restored from quarantine back to regular life as prescribed in the book of Leviticus chapter 14.

The Lord also told him to take a gift to the priests as a sacrifice in accordance with the law of Moses concerning the ceremonial cleansing from leprosy. The sacrifices required are described in Leviticus chapter 14 verses 10 - 11 with a modified prescrition for those who were poor a s could not afford in verses 21 - 22.

10 “On the eighth day they must bring two male lambs and one ewe lamb a year old, each without defect, along with three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, and one log of oil. 

11 The priest who pronounces them clean shall present both the one to be cleansed and their offerings before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

The man's healing and submission to the ceremonial cleansing rituals along with the gift of his sacrifice was to be a testimony to the priests that the healing power of God was now active in land and that people who were excluded from their lives in the family of Israel were now being restored.

Amen.

16 

OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 23

24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."

28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Reaching the end of His discourse on the hillside, the Lord Jesus advised His listeners to put into practice the things He had taught them because what He had taught them was the solid rock of truth. A person who based his life on these teachings would be like a house built on solid rock that could not be undermined by the erosive forces of weather and would remain standing through rain, floods and winds.

On the other hand, hearing the words of Jesus and rejecting them or failing to put them into practice would result in a great fall because that person, by basing their lives on other foundations, would be like a house built on a sandy foundation that is easily undermined by rain, floods and winds.

Even if a person were to use engineering intelligence and strong materials to build a solid house, if the house was constructed on a sandy foundation, when water flooded or wind blew around the base of the house, the particles of sand would be individually swept away until the house was no longer evenly supported and it would break apart.

The words of the Lord are the definitive explanations of the basis upon which a person can successfully establish their lives in the kingdom of God because they are a unitary whole that cannot be washed away piece by piece.

If a person cobbles together the principles of living in the kingdom of God from sources other than the Lord Himself, that person will find that the bits and pieces of their founding philosophy will be eroded away under the different pressures in his environment and his life in the kingdom of God will collapse.

The people listening to the Lord Jesus were astounded by how authoritatively and powerfully He delivered His words. 

They were used to the uncertain and hedged way the scribes taught them while Jesus, a master of the subject matter, spoke with the conviction of one who established the principles.

Amen.

6

OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 22

Being part of the kingdom of God requires that we do the will of the Father who is in heaven.

Citizens of the kingdom of God are imbued with the power and authority of that kingdom but the Lord Jesus emphatically taught His followers  in Mathew chapter 7 verses 21 - 23 that the requirements for being classified as operating lawfully in the Kingdom of God while using its resources is that all such activities must be those aligned with the will of the Father.

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

It is possible for people to be given access to the kingdom of God and once there, find themselves able to deploy the utensils and powers of the kingdom under their own volition. They discover that they can invoke the powers of the kingdom to prophesy, cast out demons and perform signs and wonders and in doing so, come to believe that they are qualified to be admitted into the kingdom of heaven.

However, admittance to the kingdom of heaven is based on the close knowledge and love that is cultivated with the Lord and this relationship is predicated on adherance to the will of the Father and failing to do so is judged as lawlessness and disqualifies us from being with Jesus in the kingdom of heaven.

Once admitted into the kingdom of God by systematically selecting to go through the narrow gate and difficult path, we now must grow in the kingdom by seeking the will of the Father and doing it in the authority and power of the kingdom of God.

This is the lawful way of the kingdom of God that the Lord Jesus demonstrated as He declared in John chapter 5 verse 19;

Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in the same way.

Amen.

14

OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 21

The Lord Jesus continued His teaching regarding the kingdom of God and in this passage in Mathew chapter 7 verses 15 - 20, He revealed a hazard that exists for those operating in the eco-system of the kingdom of God;

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

The phenomenon of false prophets is a dangerous reality that requires us to shed naivete and be on constant watch for attempts to infiltrate the associations of believers.

Sent by the kingdom of darkness as agents of personal and corporate destruction, these false prophets dress up in attire, language and culture that mimics the servants of God and they bring with them false and toxic doctrines and foster strife and disunity.

Out of their ministrations come sinful conduct, discouragement, introduction of idols, ruined relationships, loss of direction, loss of connection to God, divided and scattered flocks and a myriad of other pathologies that weaken the assemblies of believers.

The Lord cautions us to be alert for such actors trying to inveigle their way into positions of influence among the believers who are ensconced  in the kingdom of God.

Their deceptions and disguises are often sophisticated and we can easily mistake a wolf dressed in a sheep's garment for an actual sheep but the Lord tells His followers that even if the agents of darkness manage to get past the first screen, it will soon become evident whose kingdom they serve because they will involuntarily yield bad fruit that is impossible to disguise and when identified, the infrastructure supporting the ministry of the agents of darkness can be spiritually cut down and consigned to the fire.

Amen.

4

OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 20

Mathew chapter 7 verses 13 - 14 continues with the elucidation of the characteristics of citizenship in the kingdom of God and in this passage,  the Lord Jesus decribes what access to the kingdom of God entails.

13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 

14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

The Lord Jesus provides a key for when we want to migrate into the kingdom of God by letting us know that we will encounter two gates. One gate will be wide and the roadway through it will be broad and easy to traverse. The other gate will be narrow and the roadway through it will be difficult to travel on.

The secret that the Lord is presenting here is that as we navigate our way towards the kingdom of God, there will be options that we will run across along the way and that we should select the difficult and hazardous way rather than the easy and straightforward route.

If, for example, we arrive at a scenario where someone needs our help and to do so would put us into a bind because we would be delayed or our resources would be tapped out while alternatively, we could refer that person to other people and move on unencumbered by the inconvenience, the Lord's counsel is that those who are seeking to enter the kingdom of God should pick the option that is challenging and hazardous over the easier way because the kingdom of God has a screen that selects for those who are inclined to undertake the difficult options rather than gravitate towards shortcuts.

This screening process results in only a few finding the entry point to the kingdom of God and it is the remnant that stumbles into the kingdom of God that discover the abundant life that the salvation of the Lord acquired for them.

As John chapter 10 verse 10 says, 

10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Amen.

2

OUR FATHER WHOSE MERCY ENDURES FOREVER

From Psalm 118

I shall not die, but by the Lord I shall live

And declare with praise the works of the Lord

His mercy shall ever endure 

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

The stone which the builders turned away

Has now become the chief cornerstone

God is the Lord and He gave us His light

This is truly the day that the Lord has made

We rejoice and are glad in it

Psalm 118 

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever.

2 Let Israel now say,

“His mercy endures forever.”

3 Let the house of Aaron now say,

“His mercy endures forever.”

4 Let those who fear the Lord now say,

“His mercy endures forever.”

5 I called on the Lord in distress;

The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.

6 The Lord is on my side;

I will not fear.

What can man do to me?

7 The Lord is for me among those who help me;

Therefore I shall see my desire on those who hate me.

8 It is better to trust in the Lord

Than to put confidence in man.

9 It is better to trust in the Lord

Than to put confidence in princes.

10 All nations surrounded me,

But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.

11 They surrounded me,

Yes, they surrounded me;

But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.

12 They surrounded me like bees;

They were quenched like a fire of thorns;

For in the name of the Lord I will [a]destroy them.

13 You pushed me violently, that I might fall,

But the Lord helped me.

14 The Lord is my strength and song,

And He has become my salvation.

___________________________

15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation

Is in the tents of the righteous;

The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.

16 The right hand of the Lord is exalted;

The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.

17 I shall not die, but live,

And declare the works of the Lord.

18 The Lord has chastened[b] me severely,

But He has not given me over to death.

19 Open to me the gates of righteousness;

I will go through them,

And I will praise the Lord.

20 This is the gate of the Lord,

Through which the righteous shall enter.

21 I will praise You,

For You have answered me,

And have become my salvation.

22 The stone which the builders rejected

Has become the chief cornerstone.

23 [c]This was the Lord’s doing;

It is marvelous in our eyes.

24 This is the day the Lord has made;

We will rejoice and be glad in it.

25 Save now, I pray, O Lord;

O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.

26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.

27 God is the Lord,

And He has given us light;

Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.

28 You are my God, and I will praise You;

You are my God, I will exalt You.

29 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever.

OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 20

Mathew chapter 7 verses 7 - 12 continues with the Lord Jesus explaining the mechanics of accessing the  kingdom God;

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 

12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

After having faith that leads to salvation, the new believer needs to progress towards gaining citizenship in the kingdom of God for which our salvation qualifies us for.

In this passage, the Lord Jesus explains the principles of asking, seeking and knocking. The kingdom of God is only made accessible to those who want it enough that they repeatedly ask for access, look for access and knock on the door to be let in.

The Lord assures us that those who press for access to the kingdom of God will be granted access and for comparison, He asks us if any of us on earth, though fallen in nature, when pressed by our children for a piece of bread, would instead give them a stone? He then lets us know that God in heaven is all the more willing to grant the good things of His kingdom to His children who persistently pressure Him.

This line of thought ends with the Lord telling those of us who would seek the kingdom of God that the elementals of how to decide what conduct to cultivate are found within us. 

If we consider our own matrix of preferences on how we want to be treated, this is the acceptable standard on how we are to treat others. 

It is this baseline of our patterns of conduct that, when we have them established in our lives, we are prepared for access to the kingdom of God.

When we persistently ask and seek and knock, we will find ourselves being transformed in such a way that we begin to behave as we would have others behave towards us and this makes us ready to be admitted into the spiritual kingdom of God.

(Retroactively written after commenting on verse 13 - 14)

Amen.

5

OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 19

Mathew chapter 7 verse 6 carries two injunctions from the Lord Jesus along with three consequences for failing to uphold the injuctions.

6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

The two injuctions are;

• Do not give holy things to the dogs
• Do not present pearls (precious items) to pigs

The consequences for doing so are;

• The holy and precious things are trampled
• The pigs and dogs turn against you
• The pigs and dogs tear you apart

This teaching reveals a dynamic that exists when people in the kingdom of God are interacting with those who are not.

The holy and precious things are articles that are revealed to those who frequent the corridors of the kingdom of God.

Holy things are spiritual impliments and instruments that spiritual people employ to facilitate transactions betweeen the realms of the spirit and the realms of the temporal.

Pearls represent valuable spiritual treasures that can be traded for by sacrifice and labour in the natural realm. Revealed spiritual mysteries and spiritial knowledge are examples of pearls.

Dogs represent those people who are in the household of God but have not  ascended beyond the life of the flesh and have returned to their vomit.

Pigs represent those who are dominated by demonic spirits and operate as functionaries of the kingdom of darkness.

When walking in the spirit as is the requirement of citizenship in the kingdom of God, disernment must be utilized when interacting with people to distinquish between those to whom holy and precious things can be given lest the holy things be defiled and the precious things be devalued.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 19

The Lord, continuing in Mathew chapter 7 verses 3 - 4, teaches His followers the principles of self-awareness and self-alignment.

3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

The tendency for us to look askance upon those around who have issues in their lives while ignoring our own shortcomings is a very real phenomenon that stems from our familiarity with our own moral ecosystem that makes us blind to our own proclivities.

The Lord calls this hypocricy and advises us to examine our own lives objectively and endeavor to extricate harmful behaviour patterns enmeshed in us before we start looking into the lives of others to correct their foibles.

Living in the spirit requires clarity in perception to be able to assist others and thus it is imperitive that we remove obstacles and contaminants in our lives that muddy our ability to correctly perceive the issues our brothers are entangled in.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO LOVES US

From Psalm 117

How great is our God's love for us

His faithfulness never comes to an end

Extol Him who saved us and called us His friends

All you nations and peoples, let's all Praise His Name

All you nations and peoples, Let's all praise His Name

Psalm 117

Praise the Lord, all you nations;

    extol him, all you peoples.

2 For great is his love toward us,

    and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Praise the Lord.

OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 18

Mathew chapter 7 verses 1 - 2 record the Lord's teaching on passing judgement on other people.

1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Jesus' counsel to us on this subject is to avoid judging other people altogether because of the hazards that accompany undertaking judgement over other people.

First, if we step up to judge others, we qualifyl ourselves to be judged as well.

Second, when we judge others, our own methodology of judgement will be used to judge us. If, for instance, we discriminate on how we pass judgement based on people's social standing, this bias will be used against us.

Third, the same harshness or severity that we mette out against other people when we sit in judgement over them will be used against us.

The gold standard is not to judge other people but if judgement is forced upon us, we must be as carefull and impartial as possible when examining cases we are adjudicating and we must also be as merciful as we can be.

In the kingdom of God, adherance to the guidance of the Spirit of God on matters of judgement will exempt us from being judges ourselves.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 17

Mathew chapter 6 verses 28 - 34 continues the lessons of prioritization of the things of the kingdom of God over concerns for temporal things. The Lord Jesus tells His followers that they are far more precious than flowers of the field that God clothes in splendor.

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 

31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 

34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

The Lord assures His people that worrying about the things like food, clothes and shelter would be fruitless. Instead of worrying, we should instead seek God's kingdom and His righteousness and those things that are needed will be provided along with the things of God's kingdom and righteousness. 

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 16

The Lord Jesus, in Mathew chapter 6 verses 25 - 27, continued teaching His followers about how to live as citizens of His kingdom and expounds on the previous lesson that touched on the impossibility of serving both God and mammon (money) at the same time.

He adjures His people not to expend energy worrying about how they would survive in the world. If they were to primarily concern themselves with the things of the kingdom of God, all the things they require will be provided to them by their Father in heaven;

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 

26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 

27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

This passage has tones of the verse that Jesus used to reject the temptation to turn the stones to bread in the wilderness in Mathew chapter 4 verse 4;

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

This refutation alludes to the fact that life is more than bread and the fulfilment of physical needs but is, in fact, rooted in the spiritual provision that comes from the utterances of God.

Jesus tells His followers that in the same way that our Father provides food for the birds of the air, we, who are of much greater concern to the Father, would be provided for. 

If we attend to the things of the kingdom of God, we do not need to server mammon and we need not worry about how we will nourish and clothe ourselves because our Father will take responsibility to provide the things we have need of.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 15

The Lord Jesus, in this verse, establishes the axiom of the hazards of split loyalty.

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Have two masters brings about the conflict of love and devotion versus hate and resentment.

In trying to serve two masters, inevitably, situations will arise that will result in the servant having to chose between the fulfillment of service to one master over the other.

One master will rebuke the servant even though the failure to please one master  was impossible to mitigate. Hate and resentment against that master begins to fester making life unbearable.

In the verse, the Lord gives an example of two masters who some people would try to serve concurrently but would fail at doing so: God and money.

Those who would serve God have requirements on their time and resources. Those who would serve money must render time and resources to acquire and manage it.

To try to serve both at the same time would degrade into a hopeless miasma of contrary interests and ultimately, a believer, pressured by the practicalities of survival like food and clothing, would have to decide between one or the other.

The Lord, in Mathew chapter 6 verses 31 - 33, gives us the way out of this connundrum with theses counterintuitive words; 

31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 14

The Lord Jesus gave an anatomy lesson in Mathew chapter 6 verses 22 - 23;

Vew International Version

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

English Standard Version

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

In this teaching, I believe that the Lord is speaking strictly of the spirtual eye and the bible versions e.g. ESV that refer to the eye as singular are the correct ones.

The physical body, having no perception sensors with which to detect things of the spirit, must rely on the proper functiong of the spiritual eye to know the things of the spirit.

If our spiritual eye is in good condition, our physical body is infused with light of the spiritual realm and spiritual entities that would try to inhabit our physical body are displaced by the light and we can live free of demonic influence over our bodies.

If our eye is bad, our bodies remain in darkness and it is in this condition that demonic entities  can thrive in our bodies.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN IS SOVEREIGN

From Psalm 115

Our God in heaven

Ever worthy of our praise

We will extol You

All our days

Our God in heaven

Sovereign are Your ways  

Glory and honor To Your name

Sovereign are Your ways  

Glory and honor to Your name

Psalm 115

1 Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.

2 Why do the nations say, "Where is their God?"

3 Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.

4 But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands.

5 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see.

6 They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell.

7 They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats.

8 Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.

9 All you Israelites, trust in the Lord' he is their help and shield.

10 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord' he is their help and shield.

11 You who fear him, trust in the Lord' he is their help and shield.

12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us: He will bless his people Israel, he will bless the house of Aaron,

13 he will bless those who fear the Lord' small and great alike.

14 May the Lord cause you to flourish, both you and your children.

15 May you be blessed by the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

16 The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind.

17 It is not the dead who praise the Lord, those who go down to the place of silence;

18 it is we who extol the Lord, both now and forevermore.

Praise the Lord.

OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 13

The Lord Jesus,  teaching His followers how to optimize their lives in His spiritual kiwangdom, cautions them against accumulating material wealth in the temporal realm. Mathew chapter 6 verses 19 - 21 reads this way;

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Whereas valuables on earth would be subject to degradation, corrosion, corruption and theft, the accumulating spiritual valuables in heaven is guaranteed not to depreciate because they are not subject to destruction and burglary.

If we fixate our minds to the accumulation of earthly wealth, our hearts will be entangled in the things of the earth and remain lodged in the things of the flesh. 

Conversely, if we set about deliberately doing the things that accumulate spiritual value in heaven, beyong a certain threshhold, our hearts will be elevated into heaven and will increasingly operate in the spiritual realm.

Let us heed our Lord's counsel and turn our eyes upon the things of His kingdom.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 12

Continuing on the theme of living a discreet spiritual life, the Lord Jesus teaches His followers to takes steps  to ensure that other people do not know that they are fasting.

Whereas the hypocrites make sure that their fasting is overt noticable to incurr admiration from others, Jesus advised His people to erase traces of fasting from their appearance so that only our Father in heaven knows about it.

Mathew chapter 6 verses 16 - 18 says this;

16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 11

The Lord Jesus, in Mathew chapter 6 verses 14 - 15, expands on a concept that was introduced in the prayer He had just taught His followers.

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

This corresponds to Mathew chapter 6 verse 12 that says;

12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

What the Lord was emphasizing here was that for forgiveness to be granted when requested, we who are requesting forgiveness will first have to forgive other people who had sinned against us.

The conditional nature of this provision places us in the same role as the Lord in that we can release other people from their debt towards us in the same way we are requesting to be released from our own debt.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 10

7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

The Lord Jesus, still teaching His followers the concept of living discreetly, paused on the subject of the secret prayer life to clarify some aspects of prayer itself.

The pagan practice of repeating words and phrases over and over again based on the belief that uttering many words would facilitate their prayers to be heard is advised against by the Lord Jesus because our Father in heaven knows what we need before we ask Him and certainly hears what we are asking for and so to repeat words over and over again is redundant.

The Lord then goes on to teach His followers the most well known prayer on earth as a model for how those who follow Him should pray to God.

This is a synopsis of the prayer model;

• As His children, address God as Father
• Honor His name as one honors a father
• Acknowledge fealty to God's kingdom
• Request spiritual supply for physical needs
• Confirm that all debts owed are forgiven
• Request forgiveness for debts incurred  
• Request exemption from tests with reasons
• Request exclusion from the grip of Satan

This chartered prayer model gives a guide to being succinct in prayer and it provides a checklist of the articles of spiritual practice that believers in Jesus need to incorporate into their lives in order to establish a robust interface with the kingdom of God.

Amen

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 9

Continuing to the second of the three spiritual practices that are to be pursued privately, the Lord Jesus urges His followers to undertake their prayer lives in secret.

Mathew chapter 6 verses 5 - 6 records the Lord's counsel on this matter.

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Describing the two ends of the exposure spectrum, Jesus starts with the side that seeks acclamation for the activity of prayer.

Labeled hypocrites, the people who publicize their pious prayers place themselves in strategic locations to maximize visibility.  Jesus said that the admiration they gain from other people for these practices is the extent of their reward.

At the other end of the spectrum is the practice of hiding away out of sight behind closed doors and praying to God in secret.  

In this secretive mode, we make contact with our Father who is Himself unseen and operates in secret and it is this intimate and sincere spiritual interaction for which the Father rewards His people.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 8

Moving to Mathew chapter 6, the Lord Jesus introduces to his followers the concept of living ones' spiritial life in secret. Three examples are given of spiritual practices that are nullified by displaying them before others to gain acclaim from other people: righteouseness, praying and fasting. 

Today we will look at the first of the three in Mathew chapter 6 verses 1 - 4;

1 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Part of living righteously in the spirit involves generously helping other people with what they are lacking  to live and the principle of secrecy guides us to offer such assistance as discreetly as possibly.

If we seek to aggrandize ourselves by announcing our actions when we render help to others, we short-circuit our generosity because the resulting honor we receive from men becomes the full extent of our reward.

The prescription the Lord gives us is to be so discreet that when giving to others, our left hand doesn't even know that our right hand gave anything such that we do not even acknowledge it to ourselves.

When we are acting as a conduit through which the Lord is providing help to people around us in need, we should be careful to remove any trace of our involvement so that the glory of provision goes strictly to God.

It is only when we are hidden parties to these transactions that our Father in heaven rewards us.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 7

The Lord Jesus, continuing with the discourse on the mountainside, taught His followers that even though they had heard it said that they should love their neighbours and hate their enemies, He had a different standard for them to follow.

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing The Community Rule begins by saying that members of the community should be taught to seek God and obey Moses and the Prophets so that "they may love all the sons of light, each according to his lot in God's design, and hate all the sons of darkness, each according to his guilt in God's vengeance." than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father's is perfect.

There is a biblical injunction that instructs us to love our neighbours but there is no injunction to hate our enemies and in this case, Jesus was referencing a cultural truism that had been hidden and only came to light after the Dead Sea scrolls were published and specifically, a document named "The Community Rule"

Douglas Ward, Ph.D., writting at www.JCstudies.com, points out the standard for loving ones' neighbours and hating ones' enemies that was recorded by a Jewish sect at Qumran.

The Community Rule begins by saying that members of the community should be taught to seek God and obey Moses and the Prophets so that "they may love all the sons of light, each according to his lot in God's design, and hate all the sons of darkness, each according to his guilt in God's vengeance."

The appearance of this document confirmed that there was an understanding in circulation during the time of Jesus that promoted hating ones' enemies.

The Lord, against this cultural backdrop, instructed His people to love their enemies instead of hating them as per such cultural prescriptions.

Being spiritual, praying for those who persecute us makes us children of our Father in heaven where we surrender our protection into His hands when we pray for our enemies and we endevour to love all people as our Father does..

To only love those who love us is easily done by even those who have no allegiance to God.

The standard that Jesus sets for us is that we are to be perfect even as our father is perfect pertaining to a universal and impartial love and goodwill to all people whether friend or foe. 

Amen.

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