If You Love Me, You Will Keep My Commandments

Fifty-Two Commands Of Jesus Christ

If we truly love God with all of our heart we should know what pleases Him, and what displeases Him!

This book was written for this purpose; to show God's will in a clear light.

 Old Time Publishing Co.

1900 Banks Pisgah Road

Smithville, TN  37166 

Contents

(In this web page version the pages are not listed)

Introduction

Jesus Christ was sent from God to save us, this was His mission. When asked how we may obtain Eternal Life He said in Matthew 19:17  . . .  “but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." In this day that we live in, preachers jump out of their skin at just the mention of trying to keep the commandments of Jesus, but here, our Savior, when asked how we may obtain Eternal life replied, “Keep the commandments.”

Jesus had many things to say about His commandments, for instance, Matthew 24:35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away.”  And, John 14:15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. “

Let me get this one point cleared up in front, I don’t teach and neither does the Bible, that we are saved by works or keeping the commandments of God. When we are un-regenerate there is not a thing in this world that we can do that is right, we are a virtual fountain of sin. Even when we try to be “good” we don’t end up doing anything that God considers good!

Now after saying all of this understand that the Bible does teach that AFTER we are converted we should and must keep all of what God shows us to do, we must obey Him in all things, here are a few Scriptures that show this clearly.

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Another aspect of keeping or breaking His commandments is shown in these two verses, John 14:21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him."  John 14:24 "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me.”

It is an interesting thing that the beloved Apostle John gave us a test; please notice that his test was wrapped around keeping or breaking the commandments of God. 1John 2:3-6 And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. I don’t feel any necessity to comment on these Scriptures I believe that they are clear enough.

Some people teach that we just can’t keep His commandments, even in a regenerated state, but, that is not what the Bible teaches on this subject, Luke 1:5-6 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. 

John 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.

John 15:10 "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love.

Some one might say that some of the above Scriptures were really the “Old Testament rules.” But these next Scriptures were given after the Church was born! 1 Corinthians 7:19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.

1 Thessalonians 4:1-2 Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that, as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you may excel still more. For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

1John 5:2-4 “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith.”

2John 6 “And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments.”

Revelation 12:17 “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

Revelation 14:12 “Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.”

In the last twenty-five years or so, preachers and the most of the people that make “Christian movies” started to warn us not to rely on our “good works” to obtain our salvation. This is of course correct and good. But unfortunately, they do not go on and tell you that after God sanctifies you He will expect you to be rich in good works. Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” This is a command of God; it is one of the reasons that God saves us from our unregenerate state. He wants us to be a light in this very dark world. In order that others can see by our lives that they are not living right, and need something that they do not have – salvation!

In short, don’t be afraid of doing good works, God created us in Christ Jesus in order that we can do good works! Ephesians 2:10

Many things have happened in Christianity since it's birth. Satan has been very busy. For an example, Jesus said in John 13:35 "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." Today we have more denominations than we have days in the year, (we only have 365 days in a year!)

The meaning of the word denominational is "Under the control of a

religious denomination." A denomination is any church organization that holds itself separate from the rest of the Church. This division may be on account of a doctrine, a difference of opinion, or for many other various reasons.

           The meaning of the word denomination.

                a) Denominational principals

                b) A denominational system.

                c) Acceptance or support of such principal or system.

                d) Division into denominations.

   And lastly the meaning of the word "divisions."

        a) Being divided

       b) A difference of opinion; disagreement.

       c) A separation into groups.

       d) Anything that divides; partition; boundary.

       e) Anything separated or distinguished from the whole.     

          Splits: "The condition of being divided, as in opinion. "

         (Webster’s College Dictionary used for word meanings.)

What does God’s Word have to say on this subject?

The problem of denominations started off early in the Church.

Please take note of the fact, that this is the first letter to the Corinthian Church that God has kept for us to learn from. In this letter, in the first chapter of this letter, the Apostle Paul addresses the question of divisions (denominations). To God and the Apostle Paul this is a very serious problem! In the fifth chapter of this book of the Bible 1Corinthians 5:1 the Apostle Paul addresses a different problem "It is reported commonly [that there is] fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife." One would think that a problem such as this would be on top of the list, but to the Lord this problem, however bad, was not as important as the problem of divisions (denominations), for you see the Apostle started off in the first chapter verse ten with the problem of divisions (denominations).

As can be seen the Apostle Paul orders "that there be no divisions among you." A denomination is above all things a division of the Church of the living God! Observe how God dealt with the problem "Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. (Today you might hear I am "Baptist", I am "Pentecostal", and I am "Church of Christ"!) Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” Did the Lord think that division was "OK", No! Divisions (denominations) are a separation of believers, Again, allow the Lord Jesus to tell us how the people in the world will recognize His disciples, John 13:35 “By this shall all [men] know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

If honesty prevails we who have ever had anything to do with a denomination will have to admit that love doesn't cross denominational boundaries very well, not the kind of love God expects from us, "oneness" doesn't cross well either! One distinguishing trait of denominations is an attitude of "our doctrines are correct, the other denominations are a little off" etc.

Again, this is just one of the problems we face today, but this is a major problem because Satan's forces are not divided, they all join together along with the world and our flesh against the Throne of the Living God! When someone wants to get right with God, wants a change in their lives, the first hurdle is which Church is right, where should I go. My brethren these things ought not to be! I have seen this happen many times, and unfortunately sometimes the person goes off disgusted with the whole Church thing. Instead of being of one mind, the Church is at war with itself because of Denominationalism!

You might ask what can be done when each and every denomination believes it, and it alone contains the ”real” truth, “what can be done,” “what should I do?” I believe we can all start by not having a sectarian spirit, to start looking at all of the people that confess Jesus Christ as the Lord of their lives, as brothers and sisters. Yes, we must start somewhere, and this is about as good a start as I know of. Also, start praying and ask God to direct your feet into a path of truth. Let me state this here and now, I am not trying to join all denominations into some sort of ecumenical union, a world church; we must only join together under the Lordship of Christ. We must have the mind of Christ!

As stated in Philippians 2:2-4 “Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

And again in Romans 12:16“Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.”

1 Corinthians 1:10 “Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree, and there be no divisions among you, but you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

As you can see this theme of being of one mind is throughout the Bible, we are not to come under the control and influence of a denomination, but under the Lordship of Jesus Christ! We are not to propagate a particular denomination, but the true Church that Jesus founded.

For many, this concept would be unthinkable, but I believe that this is a greater problem and hindrance in the evangelization of the world. Yes, this is the worst of the modern problems that Satan has caused!

Just think for a moment, if the Church was still like it was in the days of the Apostle Paul, this world would have been converted long ago, but instead of being of one mind, of being on the same team, we are in the process of competing with one another! How this must make God sad, He came down from glory to die for us in order for us to be of one mind and heart, and now look at us, it’s a mess!

Most people professing to be Christians have not read the Bible through from Geneses to Revelation, even one time! This, my friends is a fact, in over forty-five years of asking Church going people if they have read the Bible through cover to cover, the next person to say, “yes,” will be the first! If you don’t believe me, try asking for yourself.

Most people professing to be Christians have not led even one soul into the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. I believe the reason for this is that they themselves are not even sure if they are really converted. They are not living with a pure conscience before God and man.

Most people professing to be Christians do not deny themselves very much, nor do they pick up their cross, and this is the reason they don’t truly follow Jesus Christ, the reason they are not fruitful for the Kingdom of God!

I am not nit picking in what I have said here, all of this is the will of God for our lives.

Remember, when Jesus says “DO NOT, or DO  . . .” HE IS GIVING US A COMMANDMENT TO FOLLOW.

A quote from our Savior Jesus Christ:

"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

Fifty-Two Commandments Of Jesus Christ

Command # 1 Repent!

What Can Stop Us From Having Faith

When sin is ruling in our lives it is just about impossible to exercise faith, this is always true, because sin is rebellion against the very Throne of God! How can you exercise confidence in a God that, at that very moment, you are at war with?

A pure conscience is the first step toward a faith that can move mountains. Do you have trouble believing the promises of God? Would you like to walk in faith like the men and women of old did? You can, but you must begin with a real repentance, a breaking down of your rule over your life; you must have a broken heart that looks up to God with contriteness. When you see the rebellion and stubbornness that is in your heart (your 'will') then, and only then, can you repent in a way that will be real! The Scripture tells us: “For godly sorrow works repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world works death.” This Godly sorrow is brought about when we see the real state of our hearts; this and this alone can bring a Godly sorrow into our hearts. Until this happens we will be like the dog in the street going around and around in circles very fast, chasing its tail, but never catching it! In Scripture words, “Ever learning, but never coming to the knowledge of the truth.”

This was the first command Jesus gave us; let's look at it carefully. “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."  Matthew 4:17

If a person reads the Bible and then comes away thinking that God doesn’t mind us having a practice of sin in our lives, then I would say that he, or she, has missed the main, no, the entire point of this Holy Book. John the Baptist and Jesus both started their ministries with these words, “REPENT, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The meaning of the word repent in the Greek is: “Turn from sin!” In the Aramaic it meant simply “Stop Sinning!” All four Gospels were originally written in Aramaic and then later translated into Greek.

God will not receive any sinner into His power and virtue, unless that sinner truly wants to turn away from all of his or her sins (repents), and enters into God with all of their desire. God will never cast out those that come to Him in this manner. There is no other way to God, but of receiving a renewed mind, which turns from wickedness, and enters into repentance for the sins it has committed. Christ said, "Except you turn and become as children, you shall not see the kingdom of God." The mind must become as wholly new, as in a child that knows nothing of sin. You see, it is not for individual sin only that we are to repent, but for the fountain of sin that continually flows forth from us, and that fountain of sin is called self-will!

Your first thought of repentance, or desire of turning to God, is your first discovery of this true light and Spirit of God that is within you. It is the voice and language of the Word of God within you, which is beginning to preach within you, the same things that Jesus first preached in public, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." God will never receive anyone into Himself unless that person turns away from all of his or her sins (repents), and enters with all of his or her desire into God. And then, God will never cast out those who come to Him in this manner.

We truly need to see the wickedness of our own hearts. Not until we understand how evil and wicked we really are, will we turn in disgust from our selfishness and self-will.

This is repentance, when we see and hate the wickedness of our own hearts! This is why Jesus said, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23 One of the first requirements for us to become disciples of Jesus Christ is to deny ourselves. To truly deny ourselves, we must deny our own thinking, and our reasoning, for how can a person deny self, without denying their reason, unless reason is not a part of themselves? We must die to ourselves in everything, or we have not truly denied ourselves in anything!

The very root of all sin is selfishness! The fact that we deny ourselves is a proof that we have been born again, to a new life, the very life of Jesus. When we aren’t denying ourselves, we are denying the Lord, the very moment we start denying ourselves, that is the moment we stop denying the Lord! When we do as we please, instead of doing the things that God directs us to do, when we live our lives the way we want to, instead of the way God has directed us to, we are proving that while we profess to be a Christian, in reality, in practice, we are actually practicing atheists.

This subject of denying ourselves is the very heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Selfishness is the root of all sin, a desire to deny ourselves is the one great thing that Jesus came to put in our hearts, and until it is in our hearts, it will never be in our lives. The book of Revelation portrays our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as standing at the door of our hearts, knocking and asking to come in. The very thing that He wants to accomplish in us is this humanly impossible change of heart, a change from being selfish continually, to having a desire to deny ourselves continually, so that His will can be done!

In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells us a very important secret, it wasn’t meant to be a secret, but listening to today’s preachers, this great truth has become a secret! Jesus said in John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.” Bearing fruit can only be accomplished by abiding in Christ; we do not improve, and we will never get to a point in our lives where we can live a holy life, apart from Jesus. He said apart from me you can do NOTHING! This will be forever true, He must become our very life, because apart from Him we can’t bear fruit, we can only and always do NOTHING! Except, sin every day in word, thought, and deed!

Let Your Light Shine

Jesus said in, Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. "Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lamp stand; and it gives light to all who are in the house. "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Do you want to be a light in this world? Jesus commands us to let our light shine! You might ask, “What is this light that is to shine forth from us? And how do we receive this light?” It is the very life of Jesus Christ that is born in the believer. Listen again to Jesus, John 14:12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father.”

Do you believe that He was telling us the truth? If you say, "Yes" then you must look for the doing of the "greater works" because if we are not doing the greater works of Jesus, it can only be that we don't believe in Him. Christ said. "You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." If you profess to be the subject of God's government, a disciple of Jesus; then in all your conduct, manifest His Spirit. Let your light shine for the glory of God; do not misrepresent the Christian religion, do not falsify the character of God and the benevolence of His government. In other words, don't be a stumbling block to others! Remember, 1 John 3:6 tells us, "No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him." And 1 John 3:9 “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”
 

Command # 2 Be Reconciled To Your Brother

"If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.” A Christian must always have forgiveness in his or her heart towards everyone at all times. You must guard your heart and mind against any hatred or a desire to get revenge, after all, look at all of the things that God has forgiv­en you. If you have wronged anyone you must first make it right with that person, (if that is possible,) and then you may serve and worship the Living God. If things be­tween you and God are wrong, all you have to do is ask him with a repen­tant heart and God will always forgive. We must copy Him in this attitude and practice.

God wants us to live in Him, that is, in His Holy Spirit; His Holy Spirit is always forgiving. Remember, the Bible tells us to always be led of His Spirit, Romans 8:14 “All that are being led of the Spirit of God, these are the children of God.”  Whenever un-forgiveness is in your heart, you are walking away from God; you have gone back into self-will. If you find even a small amount of bad feelings toward someone, stop, repent, ask God for His love to flow through you once again.

Command # 3 Everyone Who Looks On A Woman To Lust For Her Has Committed Adultery With Her Already In His Heart.
 

"You have heard that it was said, `You shall not commit adultery'; but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Sin is always in the heart of the un-regenerated person, it doesn't matter if you actually commit the sin or not, if you take satisfaction in the thoughts of any sin, you have truly committed it in God's sight! You would be surprised at the real results of allowing your mind to dwell on un-Godly things. This is a good place to introduce Philippians 4:8-9 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” When we choose to live our lives with our minds out of control, we will pay the price, we testify to everyone around us that we do not believe the Bible, and that we have more confidence in ourselves, and in our ability to reason, than we have in God! We are saying, "Lord I don’t need your help, I’m a proud person and I can handle this myself!"

Now let's analyze what the Apostle Just said -

·       Whatever is true. Do not let imaginations run wild in your mind, they are not true!!! Have you ever thought about a person, perhaps about something they said, and started to imagine the worst, becoming a little angrier, at each and every thought? Don't do this.

·       Whatever is honorable. If the thought is not an honorable thought, don't think on it. You can control the thoughts in your mind, it takes a little discipline to do it, but you can do it!

·       Whatever is right. If the situation you are thinking on is not right, stop thinking about it. You will end up angry or depressed, depending on your personality.

·       Whatever is pure. If your thoughts are not pure, you will be thinking on things that can destroy your soul. The Devil loves for you to violate this commandment of God.

·       Whatever is lovely. This word in the Greek means pleasing, agreeable. All of your thoughts should pass this test also.

·       Whatever is of good repute. Don't think on things that are not sound, not proper.

·       If there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. If the thoughts in your mind do not pass the test of Philippians 4:8, all of it, reject them. Remember, we as children of God are to take every thought captive to Christ. If you will do this, the Devil is

defeated  in planting the seeds of sin and defeat in your life!

Every one of these requirements are important; your thoughts must pass this very important test that God has given us.

Look again at the first thing on this list, ”Whatever is true” the first test for the things that we allow to be in our minds is that they must be true! Many, many people live in the imaginations of their minds! When you live this way you open up your life to all sorts of problems, if you are married you will have problems because of this. The main reason people live in their imaginations is that they are not being fulfilled in the reality of what their life truly is, and so they build sand castles in the sky.

The next thing on the list is whatever is honorable; do not allow thoughts to occupy your mind that are not honorable. Then comes whatever is right, yes, all of the thoughts we have must be right! Don't ever dwell on things that you know are not right. Next comes whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, all of our thoughts must be pure, lovely and of good repute or the Devil will have a pulpit set up in your mind to play over and over mean, ugly things that should never be in the mind of a person who has a testimony of being holy, in other words, of a person who professes to be a Christian, Christ-like. Our thoughts must be worthy of praise, they must be excellent all of the time, or we will be taken captive by the Devil. You might think I'm going overboard here, but I'm not. What I have said is true, start living this way in the thoughts of your mind and things; all things will start to change for the better for you. Always apply the test of Philippians 4:8 to the thoughts of your mind.

Obey this little verse and your whole life will be changed!

Command # 4 “If Your Right Eye Makes You Stumble, Tear It Out

And throw it from you, for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to go into hell.”

Do not make excuses for your sinful habits, truly look at the sin and then consider if this sin is worth losing a part of your body. Would you trade a hand or eye for it; is it worth that much to you? Wouldn't it be better for you to stop sinning? Can you see with Eternal eyes the true importance of stopping all sin and most important of all, stop making excuses for your sin. It will be much better for you in Eternity, to have done without an eye or hand here on earth than to spend Eternity in Hell! 

Better yet, allow Jesus to save you from all of your sin, without the loss of any body parts!

I once told this to a man who was having a great deal of trouble looking at women and having sinful thoughts, he said that it wasn't his fault, it was the women’s fault because of the way they dressed! I told him if this was the case he needed to go home and sharpen a stick, and poke out his eye. He looked at me and asked if I was serious, I told him that I was deadly serious. He looked at me thoughtfully and then said, “But I would be blind.” I then told him it would be better to live out the short time that was left in his life, blind, rather than having sight and then ending up in Hell! He agreed with me, but again asked if I really meant for him to do this, I again said, “Yes.” Later on in the evening the phone rang, it was this man of whom I've been speaking. I asked if he had made the stick and poked his eye out? He said that an amazing thing happened as he thought on what I said, and realized that it was in accord with what Jesus taught; he gained an assurance that he could live the rest of his life “No longer according to the flesh, but for the will of God. “

We always favor our flesh, but, when we are brought to a point of focus, we can see the truth; this man was blaming God for making him the way he was. The truth of the matter is that God is calling all of us out of this life of flesh and selfishness, and into a life of love, a life of giving and sacrifice! Yes, Jesus really meant what He said in this verse, but He said it for the same reason that I repeated it, to bring all excuses to an end.

Command # 5 Everyone Who Divorces His Wife, Except For The Cause Of Unchastity, Makes Her Commit Adultery

"And it was said, `Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce'; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the cause of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” This command is being broken by a majority of people today. Again in Romans 7:2-3 “For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then if, while her husband is living, she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress, though she is joined to another man.

(The word "fornication" means any sexual act, outside of the marriage bed, and outside of the purpose God intended the sexual organs to be used! This word includes, but is not limited to adultery, homosexual activity, and sexual acts between people that are not married.) Today, this command of Jesus is not very popular, but then, it has never been popular.

Unfortunately, I must point out a very sad fact. A number of years ago I interviewed fifty different pastors, from some fifteen different denominations, in Phoenix, Arizona. The subject was on what the Church should do about protecting the un-born babies in the world around us. After my presentation I asked each pastor this question, which was off of the subject  “Can a woman re-marry if her husband that she is divorced from is still alive?” I was very much surprised to find that all of them said “yes,” some with reluctance, but all said that she could re-marry, When I asked about the words of Jesus, they said one thing or the other, but the fact remained they felt at ease about going along with the opinions of the world, and did not think it important to obey the Son of God! The results were unanimous; all fifty said it would be OK!

It has become very popular in the world to divorce your spouse for just about any reason; I understand that the world has no light, only darkness. But, what about the “Church,” what has happened here? In just eighty-five years it has changed its opinion! Yes, eighty-five years ago it would have been just about impossible to find a minister to perform a marriage between two people, one of which had been divorced!

Remember the trouble John the Baptist got into, he lost his head because he stood in the way of King Herod marrying his brother's wife! Matthew 14:3-4 For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put [him] in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. For John said unto him, it is not lawful for thee to have her.  Later this cost John his head.

 Command # 6 Remarriage

It is important to allow the Holy Spirit to be our guide in this process, for He will never disagree with the Scriptures. Today as in divorce, remarriage is oftentimes void of a scriptural footing!  If you forget everything else, please remember this, Jesus said in Matthew 5:32. "But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the cause of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a di­vorced woman commits adultery." And again in Matthew 19:9 "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery." And again in Mark 10:11-12 And He said to them, "Whoever di­vorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery." Notice that there is nothing in what Jesus just said that is confusing or difficult to understand; it is a simple matter of totally disregarding what Jesus Christ is teaching us, or rather commanding us!

The Lord also taught us in Romans 7:2-3 through Paul, "For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then if, while her husband is living, she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress, though she is joined to another man." This Scripture is teaching us a spiritual principal; it applies to all flesh as does all Scripture, not just to the Church. So then if, while her husband is living, she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulter­ess; Notice that the Apostle Paul didn't add anything new or different, but only agreed with the teachings of Jesus Christ, our Savior, on the subject of marriage and divorce.

Here is a Scripture that is sometimes used to defeat the words of Jesus, 1 Corinthians 7:14-15 “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace.” We are told by some, that if we were married or divorced before we became a Christian then we don't have to obey the words of Jesus. But look how Paul ends this chapter, 1 Corinthians 7:39

A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.

Now some may still feel comfortable in disobeying this very clear commandment of Jesus, but I believe they are in danger. It is a case where the flesh is usurping the will of God! Truly we can relate to what Ezekiel said in Ezekiel 12:2 "Son of man, you live in the midst of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house."

Having come to the conclusions as stated above, I must say that I wouldn't know how these very clear and concise Scriptures could possibly be misunderstood! 1 Corinthians 8:2 states, “If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know.” Simply stated, this Scripture is telling us that when we think we know something, we might still be lacking in understanding. In other words, are you sure that you have the Spirit of God on this subject; make certain that you are not wrong. If you are doing the opposite of what the Scripture says to do on this subject, be concerned, you are WRONG!

Conclusion

I know that in this day and age this does not sound like a palatable solution. But God’s Word is ageless; it is always right. Look back in time, divorce has increased over 500 percent in the last two generations. Note the change in our thinking, and the correlation with the divorce rate. We listen to the world, turn our backs on God's teachings, and we pay the price - broken homes, children without a father and mother, gross unhappiness on all fronts! Husbands, remember your responsibilities, Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; Your love must be more sacrificial than your wife's love!

Command # 7 Make No Oath At All

"But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet. But let your statement be, `Yes, yes' or `No, no'; and anything beyond these is of evil.” Again, this is very clear. Jesus is telling us not to make Oaths. It is interesting that our laws ask us to violate this law of God in many situations. We are a nation that has outlawed the Bible and Prayer in the school houses of our nation and yet in the court systems we are asked to place our hand on a Bible and violate the Bible by making an oath while our hand is on the very book that tells us not to do this! Can you smell something fishy about this? 

Command # 8 Whoever Slaps You . . .

"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 him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.” The only way you would consider taking revenge by hitting someone, or saying something that cuts them very deeply is if wrath was in your heart instead of meekness. Jesus is telling us a secret about those who truly abide in Him; they are abiding in His meekness, gentleness and humility. You can know for a fact that you need to be born from above if meek­ness, humility and patience are missing in your life! Wrathfulness, meanness, hatred, or any other fruits of our fallen nature can’t come out of us, unless they are already in us. If we are truly born of God, we will be meek, humble, and patient with others; it will be the practice of our lives. We only have these virtues if when tested, we pass the test! This is what being born again does for the believer, it transformed him or her into a new creation formed in Christ. It doesn't leave them in their old fallen state! Just think, if we were just the same in our disposition after we were “converted” as before, what would be the difference between a Christian and a pagan? In what way could we be a light in this dark world? If no true change were present in our lives we would only be contributing to the darkness that is already in this world!

This was the commandment that stopped me when I first came to the Lord. When I read this commandment, I thought that it would be next to impossible to obey Jesus in this “turning of the other cheek!” I prayed and told the Lord that I would in all probability get killed if I didn't “protect” myself. I finally gave in to the Lord and told Him that I would obey this very difficult commandment. What happened next really surprised me, I found that since my attitude had changed, there just weren't any confrontations to worry about; I found that the problem had been ME, not the other people I came into contact with, I was the one with the “chip” on my shoulder.  Wrathfulness is such an intricate part of our fallen nature that we don't even know that it is on board. When we are born from above, anew, this wrathfulness is taken out and replaced with meekness.

Command # 9 Let Him Have Your Coat Also.

"And if anyone wants to sue you, and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. And whoever shall force you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.”

Here we have the meek heart of a true Christian being explained, this sort of meekness can only be found in someone that has truly been born again from above! Only selfishness can and will always prevent this, only being born again from above can bring about this new behavior in a man or woman! It always amazes me to listen to the preachers on the radio; they preach a “Gospel” that essentially leaves a person the way it found them, in bondage to their flesh, the world, and the Devil! The only difference is that they have “accepted Jesus.” Now accepting Jesus is a thing the Bible with all of the prophets and Apostles, never commanded us to do; instead, the Bible, Jesus, John the Baptist, and the Apostles commanded us to repent; in other words stop sinning against God. This and this alone brings us into that new relationship with our God.

Command # 10 Love Your Enemies . . .

"You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax-gatherers do the same?”

Again the heart of God really shines through the true believer when they obey the Lord in this. When you have been truly forgiven of your sin and know it, you will be willing, no, compelled to always forgive others. On the other hand, if your Christian experience is only a pretense, you will find this command of Jesus just about impossible to keep!

The teachings of Jesus Christ are not philosophic; they are life, peace and power! In order to obey the Lord from our heart, a real change must have taken place in your life; you must truly see your vainness, your uselessness, and your nothingness. Until this happens you will always be “trying” to obey the commands of God, but will not be consistently successful; failure will be the eventual hallmark of your life when it comes to true Spiritual things!

The Secret

The real importance of obeying the commands of our Lord and Savior is to find out something that is kept a secret, and that is this: the reason we don't obey His commandments is because we are self -willed and selfish! We always look out for number one! I said that this is a secret, but inwardly we all really know this.

It is important that we discover this secret, and the only way we can come to the knowledge of this particular truth is to try and obey all of the commandments of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Only in this way will we discover just how vile, self-willed, selfish, envious, proud, wrathful, and vain, we really are. That underneath the veneer of our fleshly life we have the malice of devils, guile in abundance, falseness, covetousness, and we are very worldly-minded; our lives contain every form of corruption and earthly desires; our true and continuous love is, the love of self-esteem! 

The Conclusion Of What Jesus Taught In Chapter Five Of Matthew

Command # 11 The Most Important Commandment!

“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

About now, you might be thinking, I can't be perfect! No one can live that way! But, your Bible tells you that nothing is im­possible with God! This impossible-looking thing is the very situa­tion that brings us to see our need for prayer. We cannot live the Christian life without a birthing of Christ.

I'm going to repeat this very important fact, We can't live the Christian life with­out a birthing of Christ.

This is why Jesus said, “You must be born again,” Until we experience the new birth of Christ in our souls, and not just in theory but in reality, until we are willing to sell all that we have in order to buy this pearl of great price, and most important of all, until we are endued with His power from on high; we truly can't do anything that requires righteous­ness, or good­ness.

We must always abide in the Spirit of God.

Now to the point, this perfection Jesus tells us we must have, is a command coming from the one who was sent to save us, Jesus Christ the Son of God! Each of the previous commands in Matthew chapter five is a demonstration to us of the differ­ence be­tween true and false religion. Each and every commandment is a magnifying glass to show us the lack of Holiness in our lives, the lack of a true desire for Holiness in our lives. God com­mands us to be perfect; the perfection called for here is heart per­fection. Do not let any Pastor, preacher, or devil tell you that you can't be perfect, because they are simply allowing Satan to speak through themselves. How do I know this, because they are contradict­ing our Savior!

The perfection required by this commandment is not in human things like knowledge, strength, or anything like this; it is in heart perfection; it is simply keeping your heart pure, all of the time towards God and man; it is walking with a pure conscience, always purifying ourselves as He is pure. This word perfect used in this verse also means mature, but this is the same thing. God created us finite, not infinite, and never requires us to be infinite. The perfection He requires from us is always possible when we are truly born of His Spirit from above!

Command # 12 Strive To Enter

Be certain that you strive to ac­complish these commandments of Jesus, in so doing you will come to understand another command of Jesus: “Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” This striving makes no sense in this modern world of the meaningless “all you have to do religion,” but when you discover that God intends to form us into the very image of our Holy Jesus, you will understand it.  Romans 8:29  “For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestine to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

If you can see the awesome job that God has, He intends to conform us to the very image of Jesus Christ; He wants us to be just like Jesus was when He lived in this world. He wants to restore to us the Holiness that Adam and Eve had before their fall. This is why Jesus told us in John 14 that “The works that He did we shall do, and greater works shall we do because He went to the Father.” And also in John 3 “You must be born again!”

When we try to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in His task of conforming us to Holiness, we will find resistance from just about everything, especially our flesh, the world, and the Devil. We must strive in this or we will never succeed, if you don't find yourself striving, it is because you don't see the importance of this very important commandment of Jesus!

True religion is only found when you “Search for God with ALL of your heart. This is very important to understand; this is a great part of the striving that Jesus told us about.

Command #13 Beware Of Practicing Your Righteousness Before Men . . .

Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them, otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.”

Jesus mentions many ways we can be hypocritical:

·       When giving things to others.

·       When praying.

·       When fasting.

When you give things to others, do it without fanfare, don't let anyone else even hear about it. For if this happens it shows the real purpose in your doing of the deed, that others might applaud you for being so generous, this is Hell rising up in your heart, this is the feeding of your self-esteem, this is darkness, this is nothing but unabashed selfishness. This is only a pretense on your part. That is why Jesus calls it hypocrisy.

When you pray never make a show of it. Prayer is a private intimacy between you and God, keep it that way and you will be blessed. What a thing to brag about, what must God think when you do this! When you fast, oh yes, fasting is intended for all believers, do not fast for the approbation of others, fast in such a way that only your Heavenly Father will know about it. Do not “let it slip” that you are fasting. When you brag on fasting, truly you have your reward, and that reward is only that others may think that you are sincere, when in reality you are not sincere at all, only hypocritical.  

Command # 14 Laying Up Treasures

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for your­selves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

In the first place, do not save money or anything for your future, or for an emergency. When you practice “saving for a rainy day,” you are living in unbelief; you are thinking that God is not on the throne, that He might let you down in a time of need. What a lack of faith, what an absence of confidence we show in our Heavenly Father when we do this! You must learn to consider that all of your posses­sions are in reality God's possessions, that He has placed in your care. He wants us to trust Him in every­thing, and not to put our trust in money, or possessions! I believe that it would be all right to “save” for a purchase that you need, but not all right to accumulate money, stocks, or anything of value that we are counting on to get us by in case something “bad” happens. This would be placing our trust in something of this world instead of God!

In the second place, if we consider any of the possessions that God has entrusted to our care as being our own, we might not be willing to share or give them to someone that is in need, if God directs us to give them to them. (Selfishness?)

And, silly person, don't you know that anything you accumulate for your future:

·       Can disappear overnight!

·       That someone can steal it.

·       That inflation can make it worthless in time.

Jesus recommends that we put all of our treasures in Heaven. His reason is this, nothing can destroy it there, and no thief can steal it there. But, the main reason for storing our treasures in Heaven is that wherever our treasure is, that is where our heart will be. How do we deposit our treasures in Heaven? We do so by giving them to others, by helping the needy, the poor, and the helpless.

Luke 14:33 "So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.” This may seem like a hard saying, but it’s not, selfish­ness does not like to give up any thing it owns; we must also give up being selfish. Possessions can have a great hold on us, think of something that you really like, and then let the thought of giving it up to someone else enter your mind; if the thought is painful; you own that item, not the Lord. Look carefully at this command of Jesus “no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.” Now tell me what is it that you would trade Heaven for, because if you are not willing to give up everything for the Lord, you can't be His disciple! Selfishness has a hold on all of us, until Jesus Christ sets us free. Remember, we can't take anything of this world into Heaven, and if we are truly His disciples we won't want to.

Command # 15 We Cannot Serve Two Masters

Jesus then goes on to explain to us that, “We cannot serve two masters; for either we will hate the one and love the other, or we will hold to one and despise the other. We cannot serve God and riches!” A great number of people have this problem; they have their trust in money. They really believe that if they have enough money; they won't have any real problems. This is just the opposite of the truth!

Allow me to illustrate this important truth; over the years I have counseled with a great number of people, and some were very rich. I started to notice some years back that the more money people had, the more problems they seemed to have. To start with, if you have a large amount of money, you will have many more problems than people of a poorer state would have. People will be trying to get your money; it is sometimes impossible to know if people are really your friend, or if they like the things you can do for them. You won't know for instance, if you like a person and want to marry them, if they really love you, or just want to be well off financially! I have had so many problems expressed to me from rich people, that it boggles my mind. But the main problem is always this, if you are rich; you will trust to your money and not to God, Bottom line, money doesn't solve problems, it creates problems! You might say as I did many years ago, “If I had a lot of money I could really serve the Lord, I could help people more; this is not true, it's only an excuse to chase after money! Look at what Jesus said to the twelve and the seventy when He sent them out.

Matthew 10:7-10 (The twelve:) "And as you go, preach, saying, `The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons; freely you received, freely give. Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, or a bag for your journey, or even two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support. “

Luke 10:3-9 (The seventy:) "Go your ways; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way. And whatever house you enter, first say, `Peace be to this house.' And if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him; but if not, it will return to you. And stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. And whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat what is set before you; and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, `The kingdom of God has come near to you.'”

Notice in both cases Jesus actually instructed them to “Not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts,” And “Not to acquire an extra tunic, or sandals, or a staff and to the seventy  “Carry no purse, no bag, no shoes.” It is plain that Jesus wanted His “sent ones” to walk in the faith that they were preaching, to demonstrate their faith by living it!

Command # 16 Do Not Be Anxious For Your Life

Jesus commands us not to worry about the necessities of life. He points us to the birds that fly in the Heavens; they do not worry and are always fed. Then He asks a ques­tion, “Are you not worth much more than they?”  Jesus wants us to understand the great love that our Heavenly Father has for us. When we fret and worry about the necessities of life, we are living in unbelief. "But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you, Oh men of little faith?” This is another reason we should not lay up treasures on earth. When your faith in God is right, you won't feel the need to save up in case of trouble; you will have confidence that God will take care of you!  The entire world comes against this concept, don't follow the world; follow Jesus and the things He taught. Again from the time we are little children, we are instructed to save for a rainy day; we are instructed to prepare for our old age by having money, stocks, or something tangible saved up so that we can count on it. But, this is what Jesus is teaching against, He tells us that “The birds do not sow or gather into barns and Yet our Heavenly Father feeds them, of how much more value are we?” Yes, God will always provide when we look in faith and trust Him. Let no one say from this Scripture that God is telling us we don't have to work; all God is instructing us here is not to WORRY about our provision, that He will truly provide. Do you believe this? Can you rest in God's great care?

We have another excellent Scripture that echoes what Jesus commanded in Matthew 6:25-34.

Philippians 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

The word ‘anxious’ in Philippians 4:6,  is the Greek word  ‘merimnao’ Mer-im-nah-o (Strong*s reference # 3308) and has the same approximate meaning as the following words; “worry,” “anxiety,” “distress,” “uneasiness,” and “care.”

What is Gods instruction to us on the subject of worry?

1)   Don’t worry!

2)   Pray with supplication

3)   Pray with thanksgiving, (believe that God will answer your prayer)

4)   Let your request be known to God.

1)   Don’t worry!

When we choose to worry, we testify that we have more confidence in ourselves, and in our ability to reason, than we do in God! We are saying, "Lord I don’t need your help, I’m a proud person and can handle this myself!" Now watch what happens when we Pray instead of worry. First, we acknowledge the Lord in our life. Second, we demonstrate our confidence in God. Third, we open up the power of the living God in our lives, and can now expect that the God of all love will aid us in the solution to our problem.

2) Pray with supplication

When we pray with supplication we are making an appeal to our Heavenly Father. When supplication is in our prayers we are humbly looking to God for our help. We are showing our dependence on the Lord. The Lord wants us to depend on Him, as any father delights when his child depends on him. Where else in time of trial can we find any help, where else is hope to be found?  The Lord is good!

3)  Pray with thanksgiving, believing that God will answer your prayer

When we pray with thankfulness in our heart, we are demonstrating our faith. We believe that the problem has been conquered, and we are going to overcome. We have so much confidence in Almighty God, that we can smile in the midst of the storm!  If on the other hand we can't pray with thanksgiving, we are demonstrating that we do not have confidence in God's ability to fix the problem. As we pray with thanksgiving, our hearts are lightened, we begin to realize that our problems with the things of earth just aren’t that important, especially when compared with eternity.

A Test

If the problem won't matter to us five hundred years from now, it really isn't much of a problem! If we won't be troubled five hundred years from now about the problem, whatever it may be: losing our job, having an accident with our car, not getting an advancement on our job, so on, and so forth, then it really isn't much of a problem! If however, our lives are not right with God, it will still be a problem five billion years from now. We will regret that we have not taken the time, and committed our lives in true sincerity to God. Yes, our walk with the living God is the real problem. The Lord Jesus said, "Do not be anxious and say, `What shall we eat? or `What shall we drink? Or `With what shall we clothe ourselves? For all of these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you."

Here is a good place to introduce Romans 8:28.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.

Do you know this? That all things work together for good, If you believe this, you can rest!  In fact, you are resting!  If you can't rest, let me ask a question,  "Do you love God?"  Remember, the promise is "to them that love God",  Read John 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words:  and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Do you "keep my words" Jesus asked, if your answer is no, this may be the problem. Jesus said this is the proof of our love to God; Keeping His words!

4) Let your request be known to God

Even though the Lord knows all things, He expects us to make our requests known to Him. In this way, we acknowledge the Lord God, as our heavenly Father. We let Him know that we trust and depend on Him. Praying gives us a close communion with the living God!  What a privilege, to be able to carry our problems to a God who loves us, and is able (unlike idols) to help us! If you choose to worry instead of praying, you only cheat yourself! If you obey Philippians 4:6, then you can expect to see the reality of Philippians 4:7 in you’re life, which is this “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Watch this, the problem is still laid out in front of you, it didn’t change, but somehow you have a deep abiding peace that is guarding your heart and mind. It is difficult to understand this peace from the world's point of view in fact you can’t understand it. It is flowing all over you, and it is wonderful. This peace that passes understanding is from God, and it is the result of trusting in God as our Father.

If after getting up off of your knees; you do not sense this peace, and you are still worried about the problem. You didn’t exercise faith!

You didn’t follow the instructions! If you are still worrying this is a positive proof that you are not trusting the Lord, you are not believing His promise!  

Now watch what happens when we pray instead of worrying.

·       We acknowledge the Lord in our life.

·       We demonstrate our confidence in God.

·       We open up the power of the living God in our lives, and can now expect that the God of all love will aid us in the solution to our problem.

Command # 17 Jesus Encourages Us To Pray

Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened. Or what man is there among you, when his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he shall ask for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your chil­dren, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

Jesus is telling us that if we ask, we shall receive. Many might say, “Well, I prayed and nothing hap­pened.” I know that this happens a lot of the time with some people, but you must understand that there are always condi­tions to God's promises, and the conditions must be met! For instance, are you obeying the commands that we have just gone over? There is only one prayer that God will answer for you if you are living in disobedience to Him, and that is the prayer of repentance.

You must believe and exer­cise faith, Jesus said: “Truly I say to you, if you have faith, and do not doubt, you shall not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, `Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it shall happen. And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive." Do you understand these simple conditions, if you do, and if you truly have faith in God, nothing shall be impossible to you from this moment on! 

One reason people do not pray as often as they should is that they are very confident in their own provision. They believe that they can “handle it” and so they don't pray. Our prayer life is like one of our muscles, if we don't exercise it, it will diminish; if we exercise it, it will grow. When we see the true state of our abilities and talents, when we learn and understand that John 15:5 is true, that “. . . Apart from Him we can do nothing,” then and only then will prayer become important to us.

Prayer is an indication of the level of humility in our lives. When we go for hours or even days without feeling the need to pray, we demonstrate our total ignorance of our true state! We demonstrate our pride and confidence that we have in ourselves! In the Bible we are instructed to pray without ceasing, when our lives are in a healthy Spiritual state, we will always pray without ceasing, prayer will become to us like breathing!

One last defining thing about prayer is that it, true prayer, is only and always the longing of our heart. When we go to pray and try to think up things to say to God, we are only pretending to pray. Prayer is the need of our hearts and nothing else, and we of all people know intimately what that is. Everyone knows what he or she wants. When we see that we are far from the place God wants us to be, we have material for prayer. Do not lie to God, many people tell God what they know He wants to hear, and yet this is not the true state of their hearts and so God doesn't answer that prayer. Tell God the truth, (He already knows it) always and only speak truth to God in prayer, no matter how ugly it is. He will bless your prayers if you do this, and as a side issue, humility will truly start to grow strong in you, when you speak truth to God in your prayers. Remember, when we live in the truth, instead of fantasy, humility is always the result. This is because, when we live in the truth we learn the true state of our soul, this is what brings humility into our lives!

Command # 18 The Narrow Gate

"Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.” There are two gates, one is wide and opens up to a road that is broad, but in truth leads us to hell and after that, the lake of fire. The other gate is strait and narrow, and opens up to a road that leads to Heaven, the Lord Jesus, and our Heavenly Father.

Take note of the fact that it is easy to end up in hell, (the wide gate) it is difficult to end up on the right road! (The narrow gate.) We have many things working against our being on the right road. I personally believe that modern religious denominations are, and will be the main vehicle that the Devil will continue to use to that end! For example, the Lord, John the Baptist, and all of the apostles: John, Peter, James, and Paul, just to name a few, taught that a man must repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ in order to receive the forgiveness of sin and be restored with our heavenly Father. Today the word repentance is played down or not used at ALL; instead, you will hear “You need to 'Accept' the Lord, where is this in the Bible? Without repenting, you will get nowhere with God! Almost all modern evangelism has stopped using the word "repentance" I think that the Devil has done his job well, getting the various denomi­nations to stop using the very act that God demands, REPENTANCE.          

The only way Jesus can save you is for you to obey Him; even a child should understand this! We must become a new creation in Christ. The new birth, a life from heaven, the new creature, called Christ in us, is the one and only salvation of the fallen soul. Nothing can enter into heaven, but this life which is born of, and comes from heaven.

The apostate, self-idolatrous nature of the old man must be put off, or there can be no new creature in Christ. And this we will be unwilling to do until we discover how When Jesus tells us that the “Road is narrow” He is telling us that we must do things His way, not ours, He is telling us that unless we stay on that narrow road we won't reach Heaven. And it is for this reason that all of this is so true, Jesus is the door, the only door to life Eternal. His ways are the ways of life, and if we don't follow Him in His ways, on His narrow road, we will not have a chance of arriving at the portals of Heaven! When you truly believe this, your life will change; you will truly strive to enter in by that narrow gate. These truths are evident in the parables that Jesus taught, the treasure in the field, the pearl of great price, etc. When you come to have eyes that can see and ears that can hear, you will understand this. Notice that it always takes our ALL to purchase these treasures.

Command # 19 Fruits Contrasted

"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they?”

The Lord is making it clear that we can determine what spirit is truly in us, because the fruit of our lives spells out which spirit is guiding our lives, what we really believe and what we don't. Yes, the fruit of our lives will make it clear who we are born of, whom our father is!

“Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.”

Every Good Tree

Take note of the fact that the Lord said “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit;” God means what He says, “every good tree bears good fruit.”  What kind of fruit are you bearing?

Every Tree That Does Not Bear Good Fruit

What light we have here, “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit,” All one needs to do to see if he or she is on the right road is to look honestly at the fruit they are bearing. If you are self-willed, and have selfishness in your life, if you have envy, pride, wrath, hatred, vanity, malice, sensuality, guile, falseness, covetousness, or if you are world­ly-minded­, then you can know with certainty that you are definitely a bad tree. (Galatians 5:19 and 1John 2:15) Jesus tells us clearly that we are on our way to Hell if we are a “bad tree.” (Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.) For instance, are you patient with your spouse, all of the time! Many people think that they have some degree of patience in their lives. The truth is that it is only when your patience is tried that you can find out if in fact you are patient. We fool ourselves on this point, many times something happens and we are in a good mood and don't react to the situation badly and then we are very pleased with ourselves. But, it is when everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, goes wrong and we bear it patiently, that we can know that the fruit of God's Spirit is truly in us. You see, patience is really a fruit of the Spirit of God and is truly in us only when we are abiding in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Good Fruit

The good tree always bears good fruit. Let's look at what good fruit is: The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

Is this the fruit of your life? This is truly good fruit; you can know that you are on the narrow road if this is the fruit that is manifested in your life! Pay attention to the things that you do, what kind of fruit do they produce? Also look at the things that you value, what kind of fruit do they produce? Don't trick yourself in this; you can easily trick yourself, but this will be to your hurt. The good tree, Jesus said, can't bear bad fruit, if you seem to bear good fruit some of the time and bad fruit the rest of the time you are confused. Jesus said, and it is true, “A bad tree can't bear good fruit, and a good tree can't bear bad fruit,” don't get confused about this very important point.

Command # 20 Depart From Me!

“Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who DOES the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” Jesus is telling us a vital truth here, I say vital because we will perish forever in Hell if we hear Him say this to us! Take note of the fact that it is not what we profess with our mouths, but what we DO that determines God's judgment. He who DOES the will of My Father who is in heaven.  Jesus said “Many will say to Me on that day, `Lord, Lord” But He will be looking at the practice of their lives, not what they say! `I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness. This can be a “heart stopper” if you understand what He is saying; it doesn't matter how many miracles or good deeds that you have done, what always matters with God is this: ARE YOU OBEDIENT TO HIM?

1John 2:3-6 And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, in him truly is the love of God perfected: and hereby we know that we are in Him.  He that says that he abides in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked. You won't want to hear the Lord of Glory say to you

 “DEPART FROM  ME!”

Command # 21 The Two Foundations

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall.  

We Have Two Foundations Which We May Chose

·       The first is to listen, but not put into practice the things that Jesus taught.

·       The second foundation is to act on what He has taught us.

Which foundation you chose to stand upon will demonstrate your wisdom, or lack thereof! You are acting wisely this very moment, or you are not. Do you put into action the teachings of our Lord and Savior, or do you just listen and say that you agree, but never consistently act on it? Notice in this Scripture that the two foundations are delineated by what you do with what you hear! Jesus didn't say all of these things to receive our approval, but so that we would receive His instruction by acting on what He said and doing it! Agreeing with Jesus and not allowing His words of holy glory to change ours lives is the most foolish thing a man or women could do.

I will tell you another secret, WE CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT GOD! We will fall into all sorts of problems that we can't solve.

The second part of this secret is that no matter what we learn or know, without the actual birthing of Jesus Christ in our souls we will continue to come up against problems that we can't solve. We must become a new creation in Christ Jesus in order to enter the Kingdom of God. This and this alone is our salvation; we must truly partake of the Lord Jesus Christ, not just in theory, but in actual practice.

Which foundation are you on? Has the great “me,” “mine,” “my” and “I” been dethroned, or is selfishness still alive and well in your life? Are your thoughts on others, or yourself the majority of the time?

Command # 22 Follow Me

“And another of the disciples said to Him, 'Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.' But Jesus said to him, 'Follow Me; and allow the dead to bury their own dead.'"

We are to follow Jesus in everything that He teaches and commands. Someone may say, “That attitude is over the edge; we don't have to follow Jesus in everything.” Times change, the world has changed, this is true, but the changes are bad, and they are here because we deviated from God's will! This is the un-spoken attitude of the majority who call themselves “Christian.” That is why things are the way they are today.

Notice that Jesus told this man to “Allow the dead to bury the dead.” Don't permit anything to get in the way of you serving the Lord, nothing!

This is because God and God alone knows what is important for us to be doing; He and He alone knows how to show us the narrow road; He and He alone can help us stay on the narrow road! To be born of God is a great thing, but, if we desire to go back into the world by lusting after the flesh pots of Egypt, what has truly been gained. We will lose the birth of God in our souls, it will die just as it did when Adam and Eve sinned in desiring to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil!

Command # 23 What Kind Of A Man Is This?

And when He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm in the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves; but He Himself was asleep. And they came to Him, and awoke Him, saying, 'Save us, Lord; we are perishing!' And He said to them, 'Why are you timid, you men of little faith?' Then He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and it became perfectly calm. And the men marveled, saying, 'What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?'”

I have added this Scripture just to illustrate that all of nature always obeys the commands of Jesus.  But my question is “Do you?”

Command # 24 Devils must obey The Lord Jesus Christ

And when He had come to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs; they were so exceed­ingly violent that no one could pass by that road. And behold, they cried out, saying, 'What do we have to do with You, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?' Now there was at a distance from them a herd of many swine feeding. And the demons began to entreat Him, saying, 'If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.' And He said to them, 'Begone!' And they came out, and went into the swine, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters.

This Scripture was also added to demonstrate that devils obey perfectly, all that Jesus says! And yet, God's special creation, man, in general, doesn't obey Him! This is the reason that even though God is not willing for any to perish, many, and I mean many are perishing and multitudes will keep on perishing.

Command # 25 He Gave Them Authority

“And having summoned His twelve disciples, He gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.”

This is not only a command of Jesus, but He has given all of His disciples this authority, to cast out demons and to heal the sick. Some believe that this power to do miracu­lous things was only given to the Apostles, but read in Mark 16:15-18 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation. 'He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it shall not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

This Scripture shows with great clarity that these “signs” will accompany those who believe the message of the Apostles, not just the Apostles.

1 Corinthians 12:7-11  “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.” You can see that it is God's intention that each and every believer has some manifestation of His Spirit, some Spiritual gift. We must have His gifts, for ours are of no value in the Spiritual realm! Look carefully at how the men of God did things in the book of Acts, you will find all of the Spiritual gifts present and in full operation.

Have you obeyed Jesus in this commandment, is it in your heart to go into all of the world to preach, heal and cast demons out of people? The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not just words, it is power! Don't just “play Church,” be about your Father's business!

Command # 26 Come To Me

'Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.' 'Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.' 'For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.'"

Christ's yoke is truly easy and unencumbered by anything of the flesh. This is because Christ's yoke is formed and moved by love. The yoke we are all under in this life is truly wearisome and very difficult, because pride is the dictator of our life and makes us keep up a front. When we are without the Divine presence of God, when we are not led by His Holy Spirit, we can only move in self-love, everything we do has for its motive selfishness. When we do something wrong or despicable, pride moves in and tries to make it look like it was someone else's fault, if that fails then pride tries to show the reason why we had to do this wrong and unholy thing. Pride never admits being wrong; it never comes into God's light! This is what makes us weary and heavy-laden; until Christ is formed in us, we have nothing good in us, and yet at times we try to do good things, but it's always from a selfish motive, that is why Jesus, our Savior said that we can do nothing good, that only God is good. He also said in John 15:5  "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.” And now you know what makes our yoke so very difficult, it's because we are very self-willed and proud, but don't realize it!

You might be tempted to say, “I'm not very self-willed,” and in so doing, you will have told me that you don't know yourself very well. You don't know the inner workings of your own heart; they are a mystery to you! We are all self-willed until we are born again from above, of the Spirit of God. We always secretly want our own way in all things! Why are we all self-willed? Good question, the answer can be found in the book of Genesis. We are told that Adam was created by God in God's own Image and Likeness, a living reflection of the Divine Nature; God brought forth His very own nature in Adam in a finite (limited) way.  God is love, and because He is the only Good and they had just died to all love and all goodness; you can now truly understand the words of Jesus in John 15:5 Jesus tells us this very important truth, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.” Why is this so, it is because they (the father and mother of all human beings) had died to all love and all goodness, and we were in them as a seed; how can we do anything of value without God's love in us?

Satan made his temptation one that would appeal to them, he was watching and saw that they were curious about the forbidden tree. Satan lied to the woman; he told her what she wanted to hear and this was the result - “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.” Genesis 3:6.

Even though God had warned them that they would die if they disobeyed, they did it anyway! By the way, this wasn't just any old sin, this was the granddaddy of all sins, and the reason is this, the greatest part of this sin was not in the taking and eating of the tree, but in placing their “OWN-WILL” over the will of God! Yes, it is sin to disobey God. Yes, touching or eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge was a sin, without doubt; but all of this is insignificant in view of their choosing to deny God's will and do their own will instead. This was the proof that pride had already entered into their lives; they thought their will to be better than God's will, their reasoning better than God's rea­soning! This is the real fall of mankind and nothing will help but humbling ourselves and with a broken and contrite heart going to God and asking Him for mercy. Yes, this and this alone, can fix the fatal disease of mankind, which is pride and exaltation!

And now you might better understand why the invitation that Jesus gave, is only to those that are “weary and heavy-laden,” all others will not recognize their need for salvation. It seems that we must come to this knowledge of our unrest, before we realize our deep need of salvation. When we are in this state it can truly be said of us that we “Have eyes to see, and see not; we have ears to hear, and hear not: for we are a rebellious house.”

Command # 27 The Unpardonable Sin

"He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come.”

Many people do not understand why Jesus said  “But blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.” The reason why this is so is because we have had four dispensations, they are listed below:

1.    At first we were allowed to do “What seemed right in our own eyes.” 

2.    Then we were given God's law, which is generally called the Law of Moses.

3.    Then Jesus Christ, God's Son, walked among us.

4.    We now live in the last dispensation, the dispensation of God's Holy Spirit.

There will not be another dispensation. If you blaspheme against the Holy Spirit no other “chances” will be given. You might say this is the “Last train” don't miss it; don't blaspheme against the Holy Spirit!

Acts 1:5 For John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

Acts 1:8. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

Acts 2:4. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

Acts 2:38. And Peter said to them, "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 5:32. "And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him."

Acts 7:51. "You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.

Acts 13:2 And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." 

Romans 5:5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

1 Corinthians 6:19. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

Ephesians 1:13. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the Gospel of your salvation having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.

Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Titus 3:5-6 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.

2 Peter 1:21 For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Jude 1:20. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith; praying in the Holy Spirit.

These are the different things that the Holy Spirit accomplishes in our lives

·       We should be baptized with the Holy Spirit.                  Acts 1:5

·       The Holy Spirit brings power into our lives.                   Acts 1:8

·       We should be filled with the Holy Spirit.                         Acts 2:4

·       We must repent to receive the Holy Spirit.                     Acts 2:38

·       God gives His Holy Spirit to those that obey Him.          Acts 5:32

·       We should not resist the Holy Spirit.                               Acts 7:51

·       The Holy Spirit tells us what to do.                                  Acts 13:2

·       God pours His love into us through the Holy Spirit.       Romans 5:5

·       Our bodies are to be the temple of the Holy Spirit.       1 Cor. 6:19

·       We are sealed by the Holy Spirit.                                    Ephesians 1:13

·       We should not grieve the Holy Spirit.                              Ephesians  4:30 

·       The Holy Spirit washes, regenerates and renews.       Titus 3:5-6

·       The Holy Spirit brings prophecy.                                     2 Peter 1:21

·       We are to pray by and through the Holy Spirit.             Jude 1:20

This is just a few of the things the Holy Spirit brings and does, in our lives.  Isaiah the prophet, truly shows in the following Scripture the results of not allowing the Holy Spirit of God to have His perfect way in our lives.

  "You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, `This people honors Me with their lips, But in vain do they worship Me.

I stand in amazement listening to people talk about the Lord, sometimes I start to think a person is really sincere, but then I find out that they are living out of wedlock with someone, living and practicing fornication, and see nothing wrong with doing this!!!!!

Command # 28 The Heart Of Man

"But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. 'For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man."

Sin is in the heart, not just in our actions, our actions are simply the fruit of our heart, (our will); sin and righteousness are a physical picture of that which fills our hearts (our will)!

Yes, out of the heart comes each and every kind of sin. Again, if the heart (tree) is bad, the fruit will be bad also, but, if the heart (tree) has been converted, the fruit will always be 'good fruit.' This thought is not palatable to some, because they want to think that they are all right even though they know that they are in bondage to certain sins; they don't like to face the fact that sin has dominion over them and not the Lord Jesus Christ! Don't be like this, face the truth; have you been set free from the power of sin or not? Jesus came to set us free from the power of sin, John 8:36. "If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” Have you been set free?

God always looks at our heart; He can see into our hearts, He knows our every thought. Before we are born of God nothing would appear more dreadful than to have your heart fully discovered to the eyes of all that looked upon you. Very few people in this world would not rather choose to die; than to have all their secret follies, the errors of their judgments, the vanity of their minds, the falseness of their pretenses, the frequency of their vain and disorderly passions, their uneasiness, hatred and envies made known to the world.

Is it possible for pride to be allowed in a heart conscious of its own miserable behavior? Shall a creature in such a condition that he cannot support himself under the shame of being known to the world in his real state; shall such a creature, because his shame is known only to God, to holy angels, and to his own conscience, shall he in the sight of God and holy angels dare to be vain and proud of himself? I think not!

Command # 29 Let Him Deny Himself

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it. For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his deeds.

Here we are told in very plain words what we MUST do! Let's go back to Luke 14:33. "So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

Does this sound like a “No sweat thing” a little simple, 'all you have to do thing?' Not to me, Jesus is demanding a complete overthrow of all selfishness in our lives. Are you starting to see that the Gospel is only “Good news” to those that are truly tired of the life they now live, and are sincerely willing to give up their life as Jesus demanded in Matthew 16:25 "For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it.

These are the very words of our Redeemer. Unless we deny our “self-life” we will lose our chance of gaining His “true life.” The reason for this is simple, and if you have really studied the Word of God you already know the answer to this question. Galatians 5:16-17 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” You can see by these very clear words, that the old nature, or flesh, sets its desire against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; for they are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. The Scripture tells us here that as long as we have not died to the self-life “We cannot do the things that we please, the things that will please God!” This experience becomes known to everyone who tries to follow the will of God, without truly denying themselves and having a birthing of the Lamb of God take place in their lives. All you will find happening is the experience that the Apostle Paul describes in Romans chapter seven; I call this the “Romans seven” experience. This experience ends in our coming to the knowledge that we are wretched, and truly looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that verse 4 in chapter 7 of Romans tells us the object that God had in mind when He had Paul pen this chapter. Romans 7:4 “Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God.”

This verse shows us what is wrong when we try to obey God while in a state of being unregenerate and fallen. Apart from the nature and virtues of God there is not a thing that requires Godliness that we can do. This is the essence of our fall, we fell from the Divine essence of God, and this is why we MUST BE BORN AGAIN FROM ABOVE!

The law is only a schoolmaster to lead us to see our absolute need for Christ! Until we see our true fallen state, we don't need to be born from above, we don't need Jesus Christ. The law, when we try to keep, it shows us what is wrong in our very essence.

Let's follow what God teaches in chapter seven,

Verse 6-8 “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, "You shall not covet." But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.”

In verse 12 He says, “So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”

Now in verses 14-18 God starts to show us the real problem, for we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not wish to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that it is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which indwells me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.”

Here is the experience of everyone who tries to live a “good” life without truly being born again from above, verse 19. “For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish.”

The learning process

Verse 21-22 “I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good. For I Hypocrisy           30- 84Hypocrisy     30- 84fully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.” Why is evil present in us, and why is it that we find this out when we are in the very process of wanting and trying to do good? It is because we have confidence that WE CAN DO GOOD ALL BY OURSELVES! But when we actually try to do good by making a conscious effort at doing good, that is when we find out that there is a law of sin in our flesh, that we are, in fact, a prisoner of the law of sin and death!

But, this is a good thing, for we find out that we are truly in a state of wretchedness. At this point many people find a need in their lives for a real Savior, and look up shouting to God; “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” Romans 7 verse 24-25.

In the very next verse, verse 25 we are given the answer to this question: It is Jesus and only Jesus Christ that can take us out of our state of wretchedness and into the reality of being children of God. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” This 25th verse also tells us another important fact: We will always serve the law of sin with our flesh (our old man) that is why the Bible tells us to deny ourselves, and forsake our lives.

Here is a better answer as to how to live, and truly deny our “old man.” Nothing but a full birth, a continual breathing and inspiration of the Holy Spirit in us, can be our deliverance from all that which is earthly, sensual, and devilish in our fallen nature.

This is the whole labor of a preacher from the start to the end of the world. He has nothing to preach to sinners, but the absolute necessity, and the true way of being born again from above. If he doesn't do this one thing that is so necessary, but instead, starts disputing about words and doctrines, and teaching professing Christians to be zealously separated from one another, for the sake of being saved by different opinions of faith, works, justification, or election, etc., he has forgotten or has never known his errand, and has become a blind leader of the blind. For all that is called faith, works, justification, sanctification, or election are only different expressions of this restored, Divine life, and the things it does in us. It can have no existence in you, or in anything, until you have become a new creation in Christ. When preachers forsake the true Gospel and instead argue about doctrines this is what always happens.

Again we must give up ALL of our old fleshly, fallen life! None of it is worth anything; we MUST become a new creation in Christ Jesus! Nothing else will do in its place. Remember, if any of these fallen-nature types of things are in our lives we are Hell-bound!

Here is a small but incomplete list of the fallen-nature type of things.

·       A selfish, earthly, overbearing pride

·       Self-willed, earthly tempers,

·       Selfishness, envy and pride, (cousins)

·       Wrath, hatred, malice and guile (also cousins)

·       Vanity, sensuality and falseness

·       Covetousness, worldly-mindedness (cousins)

·       All forms of corruption and earthly desires

·       Wrathful, sensual,

·       Torment In The Soul;

·       False conceited and love of esteem

A man is not purified, born again from above until every earthly, wrathful, sensual, selfish, self-willed temper is taken from him. For self can have no motion, do no action, but that which is selfish. Wherever selfish desire is, there is all the evil nature of covetousness. Dismiss this and you dismiss all that the Gospel of Jesus Christ can do for you! 

Command # 30 Because Of The Littleness Of Your Faith

“Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, 'Why could we not cast it out?' And He said to them, Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Move from here to there, and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you.”

Faith is the one condition that is indispensable, the Bible states: “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” Here we are told that we can't please God without faith.

This is true because:

·       Faith is a confidence in God.

·       Faith is our heart trusting in God.

·       Faith is assurance.

·       Faith is resting.

If you lack this in your faith, you have no faith, in the Bible sense. Without true faith we will always doubt the Word of God, and the will of God. When reading the Bible, especially the promises in the Bible, doubt will always exist, when any of these above things are present on our thinking.

True faith will always bring an assurance into your heart right in the middle of a trial. We seem to have a rest during the very storms of life, and all of this is brought about because we have a deep-seated confidence in God!

Again the Bible tells us that: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is truly a substance, a reality of the soul. Whenever faith is present, confidence is present; victory is felt in our very being!

Command # 31 Lest We Give Them Offense

Matthew 17:24. And when they had come to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter, and said, "Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?" He said, "Yes." And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?" And upon his saying, "From strangers," Jesus said to him, "Consequently the sons are exempt. "But, lest we give them offense, go to the sea, and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a stater. Take that and give it to them for you and Me." Here we have the Lord telling us to not give an offense, and pay taxes that are due, even though it may not be fair. He even tells us that He will help by giving us a miracle if necessary.

Command # 32 Who Then Is Greatest

Matthew 18:1-6 “At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. "Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. "And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.”  What light we have in this, we must become as children in all humility and meekness; this is the true essence of a child of God, humility and meekness accompanied with patience. Jesus goes on to say that if we cause a little one, a humble and meek person, to stumble; it would have been better if we had never existed. Be careful what you say and guard the words that flow from your mouth at all times; we will give an accounting of every idle word that comes from our mouths!

Command # 33 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you . . .

Matthew 18:7-9 "Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! "And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the eternal fire. "And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into the fiery hell.”

The Lord of glory tells us the importance of living a pure life, of living a life void of offense before God. We sometimes just travel along through life doing whatever we want to do, and think “Well I'm only made of flesh, I can't live a life that is without sin; I'm just a sinner saved by grace.  After all everyone sins every day in word, thought, or deed, don't they?” The answer to this question is NO! Only sinners sin every day in word, thought, or deed; Saints do not; sin is the very rare exception to the true Christian life. Sin is the reason that Jesus Christ came into this world and suffered and died. In the words of the Angel, Matthew 1:21 "And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins." And again in the book of 1 John 3:5 “ And you know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.” And verse 8 “The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

The Scripture is very clear on this point; God hates sin and gave His very life to save us from SIN! This is a confirmed fact in the Bible, if you can read this Holy book and not understand that God wants us to live without sinning; you really missed the entire point of this very precious and Holy book.

Let's look at the different Scriptures that tell us the real difference between a Child of God and a child of the Devil.

1 John 3:10 “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.”

This verse is an open declaration of what the true children of God are really like! They will always practice righteousness, all of the time. Righteousness is the opposite of sin; sin is rebellion to God; righteousness is obedience to God; and it’s that simple.  

1 John 3:8-9  “The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”

Again, it is what the practice of your life produces, if you practice sin you are of the Devil; I didn't say this GOD SAID THIS! Sin is the reason that Jesus Christ came in the flesh; He came to save us from a practice of sin, and He came to do away with Satan's dominion in our lives.

1John 3:6 ”No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.”

Here again is a simple, but wonderful truth,  “No one who abides in Him sins” If we abide in Christ we won't, we can't sin. You might say, “Well I can abide in Christ and sin!” The truth is, if you think this you don't know the Lord of glory at all. The next part of this verse says it as simply as it can be said,  “No one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.”  If you are having trouble understanding all of this, let this be a proof that you have been brain washed as far as the truth of the Gospel is concerned.

1 John 2:3-6  “And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His Word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

“And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.” What light is contained in these verses! Coming to know God is proved by our obedience to Him! If we say that we know Him and don't keep His commandments we are simply lying.

The last part of these verses needs to be carefully understood, “The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” Yes, this is the desire and will of God, that we follow the example set forth by the way Jesus lived His life while on this earth. We are to imitate Jesus Christ.

These following verses put to death the notion that a “Sinning religion” is OK with God. Hebrews 10: 26-29 “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?”  If we continue to sin what does the writer of this book of the Bible tell us will happen? “There no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” The only thing that will remain is “ a certain terrifying expectation of judgment”

We are told that “If we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth” there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment.” Yes, something does remain if we continue to sin after coming to know Jesus Christ and His Gospel, “A certain terrifying expectation of judgment.” This doesn't sound like fun to me, what do you think? Be certain that you understand that He is talking about sanctified believers here, not just someone that is not really a Christian. Many people dismiss things like this by saying, “Well, he wasn't really saved.” You see that last part of these verses clearly says “And has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified.”

I know that all of this is so very different than that which most people are taught when they start going to “Church,” but if you have noticed I don't offer my opinion, but the Word of God, as the authority of my statements.

Command # 34 The Right Way Of Correcting

Matthew 18:15 "And if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer.”

Here, Jesus shows us two things; the first, we are responsible for our brothers and sisters. The second, we are to correct them in God's way, not the way it is generally done in today’s “Church” meetings. I have seen this happen often; today, someone hears about a sin that a believer has been practicing, and goes off telling as many people as they come in contact with but, never going to the person sinning and confronting them. They start the conversation off with this phrase, “We need to pray for ?????, I heard that he / she, ??????.” The problem with this is that Jesus told us to go and reprove the person, not tell everyone we come in contact with, everyone, except the person doing the sin! When this is not done according to the commandment of Jesus, we are doing nothing but gossiping, and this is sin. Another obvious point in this is that we must be a witness to the person’s sin, not someone who heard about it from someone else; who heard about it from someone else; who heard it from . . . !

I have a rule that I have lived by for many years now, and it will keep you out of trouble and in God's light. I don't engage in conversations about other people unless I am part of the problem, or part of the solution. Always live by this rule and you will be doing well.

Seventy Times Seven

Matthew 18:21. Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him?” Up to seven times? Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

This is a very important commandment. We are to always forgive others when they ask for forgiveness and even when they don't ask. We must treat others, as we want God to treat us. If we don't forgive others it is a clear sign that we are self willed and completely oblivious to our self-will. Again in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus covered this question in detail in Matthew 5:22-24.

Command # 35 Let The Children Alone 

Matthew 19:13 “Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

We were told by Jesus that we must all become like little children; remember, children have a child-like nature, and God wants us to go back to that very state of being like children in this.

Command # 36 What shall I do to inherit eternal life? 

Mark 10:17 “And as He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and began asking Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. "You know the commandments, `Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'" And he said to Him, "Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up." And looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But at these words his face fell, and he went away grieved, for he was one who owned much property. And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, "How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!" And the disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." And they were even more astonished and said to Him, "Then who can be saved?" Looking upon them, Jesus said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."

This is a very interesting portion of Scripture considering what is being taught today. Why did Jesus point the man to the commandments of God?  "You know the commandments, `Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'" Most people today will tell you to be careful not to engage in good works if you want to be saved. I have a large library of “Christian” films; in fact I don't own any films except films that are said to be Christian films. A large number of these films go way out of the way to warn against doing good works, in order to be pleasing to God!

I believe that this is a good place to inject a small tract called