Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible ® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission.
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MATTHEW CHAPTERS 17 & 18
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1-3 Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. 2 And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
Mat 17,1-21
(112b) Thy kingdom come >>
Faith >> Light
>> Jesus’ light overcomes darkness >>
The light of His power
--
Although Jesus shone
like the sun when almost no one was watching, He returned from the mountain and demonstrated His power before the masses.
The power of God emanated from Him because He was the light of the world. The Son of God came to show us the way to the
Father.
Mat 17,1-5
(67a)
Authority >> Lordship of Christ >>
Jesus’ authority >> The glory of His authority –
Born-again believers are witnesses of God’s Truth and of His light, just as
Peter, James and John were witnesses of Jesus at His transfiguration, and now
we are witnesses of His light, though not the origin of it. We possess the light
of Christ, who is the origin of all things through the Father, for all things exist through Christ,
who speaks the word of God and the Father
does His works through Him. This is the
hierarchy of authority in heaven. We will be light bearers of His Truth; we
will teach the creation about God. An authority figure doesn’t need to do anything,
because the power of his actions is in his words. The president is the
authority of his nation as God is the authority of His creation, and
everything He does He performs through His word, and now Christ has given us
His word and made us a link in the chain of His authority that He disseminates
to His creation.
(140d) Temple >>
Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >>
Living in the spiritual revelation of the word
-- Peter wanted to build a house for Christ and His guests, but Jesus already
had a dwelling place that Peter did not know. Jesus was living in the revelation of God's word. He is the tabernacle that was made without
hands in the sense that He had no earthly father, which is the embodiment of
all truth and wisdom from God.
Mat 17-2
(245c) Kingdom of God >>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Literal manifestations >> Literal manifestation
of Jesus Christ >> Jesus is the light of the
world –
The Transfiguration was a literal manifestation of Jesus Christ being the
light of the world. He is divine, being the source of all Truth from God. In
eternity the Lord will shine like the sun because of the Truth that is in Him.
We could attribute the light to His righteousness or to His holiness or to His
deity, but He shines as the embodiment of God’s Truth, and the Truth
accounts for all things. A person can say something that corresponds with the
facts, such as 2+2=4; that is a fact, but it is not the Truth, suggesting that
there is a difference between facts and truth. Truth is greater than facts as
light trumps darkness. Technically, darkness does not have an existence of
its own, for it can only exist in the absence of light, and light is the epitome of all that exists,
as Satan is the antithesis of all that exists. He “was and is not” (Rev 17-8). This phrase describes the dragon as it
describes darkness. Darkness simultaneously is and is not. When we look at
darkness, we can see it, but at the same time we can’t see it. All we can
really see is the absence of light, but we can’t see darkness itself. In
contrast, light exposes all things.
When a person finally understands a math problem the light bulb appears over his
head. He has been
transferred from ignorance to knowledge, as “from the domain of darkness…
to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Col 1-13), but we can only know God’s
Truth as He gives ability. Truth is more than facts about God; Truth is
the life of God, as Jesus said in Jn 6-63, “The words that I have spoken to
you are spirit and are life.” An unbeliever can read the Bible and learn about God, but he cannot know the Truth until God enlightens him,
imbuing him with His Spirit. When he believes the facts to the point of
obeying them, the light switches-on and he can see God (Mat 5-8).
4 Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
Mat 17,4-8
(237i)
Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >>
Transferring the kingdom >> The Church is
transferred to the kingdom >> The ascension >>
Believers’ spiritual ascension –
It could be that Peter heard some of the teachings of Moses and Elijah that
they would return in the last days, but those teachings are false. Elijah
never died; He was received into heaven in a chariot of fire, and though it
says Moses died, no one has ever discovered his bones. He walked up a
mountainside without an escort and died alone in an undisclosed location, and
the Scriptures speak nothing more about the details of his death, except that
Jd-9 says, "Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" Some
say that Moses too was taken alive into heaven, and because they presume he never formally
died they say He will return as one of the Two Witnesses of Revelation chapter
eleven, quoting Heb 9-27 to support their theory, “Inasmuch as it is
appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” There is a
passage in Revelation that says the Two Witnesses will die and then be raised
from the dead, just what Moses and Elijah need to be complete, but none of this is
true. If it were true, the Two Witnesses would be Elijah and Enoch,
for they are the only two men who never died, and if people are going to be so
dogmatic about the idea that every man must die, then what about the Rapture
that promises to take millions of people to heaven who never died?
Mat 17,4-6
(17g) Sin >>
Judging in the flesh >> Evaluating
circumstances with a carnal mind
– The disciples were used to
seeing Jesus as the person who had special abilities, but they were unwilling to accept some of the ramifications
of His deity. In
order to see Him the way they wanted they had to dismiss many things
He said about Himself, but when His face shone so bright they could not look
upon Him, it made them take a closer look at Him.
They misunderstood Jesus throughout His ministry as much as they
misunderstood their own part in this advent. They wanted to participate in some
way, but their place was merely to witness His glory, and later they would
participate in His glory after Pentecost.
(175k) Works of the devil >>
The religion of witchcraft >>
Ignorant of what God means >> Ignorant of the
meaning of God’s works
--
It's a hard statement but a true one that much of what we do for God in ignorance
resembles witchcraft. Apparently, Jesus can
transfigure His body to the glory that is to come and we still wouldn't get
it, according to the example of these three guys. Obviously,
Peter didn't know what to do after the person He had been following turned
into something so powerful that He could not rest his gaze upon Him. His
understanding of the Old Testament was minimal; he mostly knew what the
Scribes and Pharisees taught him. The only thing he could think to do was
build a temple, since they did that in the old days and he was good with his
hands. No less, it was the wrong answer, because it was contrived from human
initiative and not from divine inspiration.
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Mat 17-4
(224ha)
Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >>
Description of heaven >> The joyful kingdom >>
We will recognize our family members in heaven –
If Peter recognized Moses and Elijah, two men he had never previously met, how
much more will we recognize our family members in heaven whom we knew
intimately? Peter instinctively knew them, and we will instinctively know our
family members in heaven, though they may not appear the same as they did on
earth. We know that Moses and Elijah did not bodily meet with Jesus on the
mount, because the First Resurrection had not yet occurred, and so their spirits
were made visible to the disciples, which is something that is beyond our
comprehension, the paradox that we can visibly detect a spirit. God can do
anything, and He made these two spirits of Moses and Elijah visible to Peter,
James and John, and if they could recognize them as spirits, how much more will
we recognize our family members in heaven with bodies after the First
Resurrection?
5-13 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!" 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified. 7 And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, "Get up, and do not be afraid." 8 And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone. 9 As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead." 10 And His disciples asked Him, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" 11 And He answered and said, "Elijah is coming and will restore all things; 12 but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." 13 Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.
Mat 17-5
(79h) Listening to
the
Word (Key verse)
(79j) Thy kingdom come >>
Know the word >> Listen to the word >>
Listen to Jesus –
Jesus in the flesh was the Friend and Master of His disciples, but God in His
power and glory was someone to fear. The Father witnessed to His Son, who spoke
independent of Him to reveal that there are multiple aspects of God. Jesus came
as the exact representation of the Father, and the Father spoke in the cloud to
show the disciples that there was an entity of God that was separate from
Christ. This was to prove that the Father sent His Son, that He did not come on
His own initiative. They heard the voice of God, a person they had never known,
except that Jesus taught that those who have seen Him have seen the Father (Jn
14-9). This suggests that the one who hears Jesus hears the Father, for He spoke
the words of God. We have a clear example of the Holy Spirit and the word of God
operating together to establish the power of God in those who heard. The Father
spoke, but it was the word of His Spirit they heard. All three members of the trinity
were working in tandem in this event, which made it such a powerful experience
for the disciples, and the message He brought was to simply listen to
Jesus, for to listen to Him is to listen to God. When the Father told the disciples to listen to Jesus, the word of God, He was
telling us to do the same. We listen to Jesus in the Bible and do what He says
in order for His Spirit to speak to us as He spoke to His disciples on
Mount Transfiguration. Jesus spoke to them about many things, but they weren’t
listening, but interpreted His words according to the religious beliefs of the day. God told them
on the holy mountain that they should abandon what they had previously known and
accept what Jesus was telling them and let His perspective on the truth become
theirs. This was a daunting command in that unlearning
something is very difficult, and it was a command they failed to keep, until
later. When
Jesus rose from the dead, then they let go of all
personal beliefs and accepted the one Truth that
Jesus delivered to them. When He ascended to the Father and sent the Holy Spirit
and anointed their understanding of God’s word, they went back in their minds
and recalled the things Jesus said and did over their three-year journey with
Him, and they began to understand everything according to the Spirit they were
given, the same Spirit they heard on the holy mountain.
Mat 17-6,7
(23l) Sin >>
Poverty (Oppression) >> Fear of the unknown >>
Fear of miracles
--
People in general are not good at accepting paradigm shifts. Peter, James and
John were frightened of Jesus because they had previously made up their minds
about Him. When the transfiguration occurred, though, it shattered their
perception of Him, and proved that He was truly not of this world. They perceived that He was a being from another dimension far greater than their
own to whom they could not entirely relate. All they knew for sure at this
point was that He did not fit the image they painted in their minds of Him.
Mat 17-9
(214k)
Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >> God Has
Good Timing >> God synchronizes events in His time --
There were so many miraculous things that
happened in Jesus day, they didn’t report half of them. Jesus told His
disciples to keep it a secret what they had just witnessed, having said this
many times, sternly warning the people not to say a word,
suggesting that there was a risk of too much popularity. Jesus knew He would be
crucified making the great confession that He was the Son of God, so it
seemed this is what He didn’t want getting around, but He didn’t want to die before the
time, for everything has its time. Our eternal God who has all the time in the
world, is extremely time oriented when it comes to scheduled events. If everyone
spouted everything that happened, His popularity would grow to the
point of stifling his ministry.
Mat 17,10-13
(50dc) Judgment >>
Last Days >> Jewish Led
endtime revival >> Israel prophesied to restore the gentiles to salvation
(193d)
Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >>
Repent >> Turn from your evil ways >> Turn from sin to God –
John’s purpose was to prepare the way for Messiah and to “restore all
things” (Mat 17-11). His ministry was to break the ice, so when Jesus came
they would already be expecting Him. John testified about the light so that all
might believe in Jesus through him. We know that Israel at the time was
spiritually in tatters, and they got that way from many centuries of
disobedience. It wasn’t through their unbelief in the laws of Moses that led
them astray but through their disobedience, which changed their beliefs that in
turn changed how they lived. They began to believe His laws according to
the way they lived. What they believed about the law changed, not the words
themselves but their interpretation. This happened over a course of many centuries,
until their understanding of the law was skewed beyond remedy. Then John the
Baptist suddenly entered the scene with his message of repentance and his
account of the light that was coming, and Israel’s understanding of the law
suddenly became clear again. Hundreds of years of misuse of the law was restored, so
when Jesus came, He didn’t have to start from scratch. The same thing will
happen in the last days through the Two Witnesses and the 144,000 Jews, who will
come to restore the Church to the obedience of faith in a Great Endtime Revival.
Mat 17,10-12
(59a) Paradox >>
Two implied meanings >> Spirit of Elijah is
coming / John the Baptist was like Elijah
-- These verses are key to understanding end-time prophesy. The ministry of Elijah
is referring to the Two Witnesses in the book of Revelation. (Whether Elijah
is actually one of the two witnesses is unlikely.) All we have to do is study John the Baptist
having the ministry of Elijah, and add a figure like Moses to have a snapshot
of the Two Witnesses. One of the Two Witnesses will be like Elijah, wielding
the power of God, fighting the false prophets of his time, and the second of
the Two Witnesses will lead the Church into the promise land. Jesus said about
him that the goal of his ministry is to restore all things. That means things must not be going too
well for the Church if the two witnesses have a ministry of restoration.
14-17 When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, 15 "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill ; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 "I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him." 17 And Jesus answered and said, "You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me."
Mat 17,14-21
(45m) Judgment >>
Spiritual warfare >> Subjecting your flesh >>
Satan VS the saints >> Demons are subject to the Church through Christ
(146f) Witness >>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> Deliverance from demon
possession >> Casting out
violent demons –
Jesus told us to pray when casting out stubborn demons, in that prayer literally communes with Christ,
which is something demons cannot endure for long. The
Bible teaches that demons actually rule of the
world, and Satan is ruler of the demons. Demons are disembodied spirits that
possess people for the purpose of tormenting them and for directly interfacing with the world, but all
they ever accomplish is to steal, kill and destroy. They don't love
this world; in fact, they are incapable of loving anything. Jesus’ disciples asked Him, why
they couldn’t cast out the demon,
and He said, “This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
There are stubborn demons that don’t come out quite so easily; they bring
resistance, but their resistance is just another lie. Their resistance says we don’t have authority to
exorcise them, when in fact we do. Jesus didn’t say we could cast out some
demons and not others, but He did say that there are certain kinds of demon
possession that doesn’t get resolved except through prayer and fasting.
Perhaps it depends on the power of the demon, but how is stubbornness related
to power? Every demon is stubborn. Jesus didn’t have to pray or fast to cast out
this demon, not even
the ones He exorcised in the country of the Gerasenes (Mk 5,1-13). They upset
the entire town, being so strong that no one was able to bind them, breaking
their fetters and running among the tombs, but we must pray and fast to
exorcise these powerful demons, because of the littleness of our faith.
Mat 17,14-18
(138b) Temple >>
Building the temple (with hands) >> Reproof >>
Jesus reproves His disciples for their unbelief
--
These were strong words used against the disciples for their inability to
perform miracles, but this was Jesus' standard for His disciples. They needed
to get used to performing miracles on a daily basis, until it became a normal
part of their lives, even as it was for their Master. Jesus knew that if they
were not able to perform miracles through the hand of God, their own hands in
a couple generations would pick up swords and spears in the name of God as
tools for spreading the gospel. "O unbelieving and perverted
generation," He said to His disciples; what did He say of the generations
that followed, and what is He saying about us today?
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Mat 17,15-21
(241e) Kingdom of God >>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Hindering the kingdom >> Obstacles in the way of
the kingdom >> Ask but don’t receive because of unbelief –
The Bible teaches that believing the wrong thing is the same as unbelief in
the truth. Although Jesus had been talking to them for months and years, still
Jesus could not shake their preconceived notions from them. They were waiting
for Jesus to conquer the Roman government that enslaved Israel and the world,
and to set up His own kingdom, according to the teachings of the
Old Testament and of the Scribes and Pharisees. He could not shake them from this hope, because
it had been so deeply engrained into their Jewish tradition. For this reason,
they weren’t that interested in preaching the gospel to every creature
casting out devils and healing the sick by the authority of Christ. They
considered these things peripheral to the kingdom they were expecting Him to establish under the nose of Pontius Pilate, Herod and Caesar. In
other words, they were trying to taste apples in the orange juice Jesus was
serving. Once He began to roll out His kingdom, the things He had been
teaching them would have a secondary function at best, and for this reason the
disciples were chronically conflicted between the kingdom they were expecting
and the kingdom Jesus was trying to teach them.
Mat 17,15-18
(198j) Denying Christ >>
Man exercises his will against God >>
Frustrating the grace of God >> Frustrating
Jesus through unbelief –
The disciples had a problem believing in Jesus, and He considered their
unbelief to be perverse because they had everything they needed to believe in
Him: the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, signs, wonders and miracles,
and Jesus Himself, the very embodiment of God’s word. Even with all these
the disciples had difficulty believing in Him, but after the
resurrection and Pentecost that all changed. The resurrection tuned their
whole world upside-down and actually righted it, so that they were finally open
to the teachings of Christ, once their own ideas had been dispelled. After the
resurrection, for the first time they realized, ‘Okay, Jesus has a plan
different from ours.’ In lieu
of the Kingdom of God suddenly appearing (Lk 19-11), it never entered their
minds that He would be nailed to a cross, their secret hopes intensifying the
horror of it all. The problem is, we have the same flawed hope of the kingdom
suddenly appearing that misled the disciples in the erroneous doctrine of the
pre-tribulation Rapture.
Mat 17,16-20
(203b) Denying Christ >>
Dishonor God by your unbelief –
The disciples were so distant from God’s plan; all their preconceived
notions were wrong; they had to abandon them. So, when are we going to abandon
our presumptions that get in the way of understanding God’s plan and purpose
for the Church in the last days? The moment they saw Jesus standing in front
of them after the horrible whipping He received, blood streaming from His body
from deep wounds, the image of Him hanging on the cross exhaling His last
breath still vividly imprinted on their minds, all their preconceptions
vanished like a lifting fog at first light. Then when He ascended to the
Father and sent the Holy Spirit and they received the power of God at
Pentecost through an anointing, that is when they were able to carry out
God’s plan by His strength. It empowered His disciples to both
believe and obey the truth. Before the resurrection and Pentecost they could
hardly believe what Jesus told them, but afterward they understood the truth
by revelation, and by that revelation they performed miracles to establish a
spiritual form of God’s kingdom on the earth through the preaching of the
cross.
Mat 17,17-20
(20h) Sin >>
Doubt replaces faith
Mat 17-17
(69d) Authority >>
Righteous judgment (outcome of discernment) >> Righteous anger >> God is angry at sin
–
This statement depicts the fact that it was the Father’s love that brought
Jesus here, that it was not His own idea to be clothed in human flesh
wrangling with His disciples, His choice of words making that evident. He was getting tired of the disobedience and
unbelief that was all around Him; sometimes it was a little overwhelming,
though His disciples no doubt believed in Him more than
anyone.
In our day no one is expecting miracles anymore.
Jesus couldn’t
wait to finish with this life so he could go back to heaven with his Father
in a resurrected body. This life is a pain in the neck compared to heaven.
(70e) Authority >>
Sin of familiarity >>
Familiarity-enemy of discernment >> Spirit
grieves over sin
--
Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are one and the same in that Jesus responded
like to the Holy Spirit does under similar
conditions. We have heard the saying, "Familiarity breeds
contempt." This was the problem with the
disciples on the mountain during the transfiguration a few verses back and it
was their problem with curing the demoniac. The battle rages between spending
time with Jesus and that time breeding contempt. The Spirit grieves over our
contempt for Him after we have spent time searching the Scriptures and in
prayer.
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18-23 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not drive it out?" 20 And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. 21 ["But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."] 22 And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; 23 and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day." And they were deeply grieved.
Mat 17,18-21
(107b) Thy kingdom come >>
Faith >> Hearing from God >> Word creates faith >>
Jesus’ words create faith
-- Jesus' three closest disciples just descended with Him from Mount Transfiguration,
and already they found a demon they couldn't expel. The way to cure the demoniac
(and the way to impart new life into our
ministry) is through the word of God and prayer. But the verses above indicates
that it is also the way to become familiar with Jesus, and that
familiarity can breed contempt if we are not careful. There is a cycle of
familiarizing ourselves with Jesus through the word of God and prayer, that familiarity
revitalizing your ministry, and then that familiarity breeding contempt, so that
we need to go back to the word of God and prayer to become more familiar with Him to
combat the contempt, and thus revitalize our ministry. How to rise above this vicious cycle
is to set checks and balances and overpower familiarity it before it overpowers
us.
Mat 17-18
(216a) Sovereignty >>
God controls time >> Suddenly >>
Being healed without delay –
God was starting the age of grace through His Son, and He had to get
people’s attention before He could communicate His will to mankind. Without
being a miracle-worker Jesus
could have talked until He was blue in the face, and people would not
have listened Him, but considered Him another would-be cult leader, attempting
to start a new sect, and He wouldn’t have gone beyond that point.
Likewise, had Jesus performed miracles all day, yet without ever speaking the
word of God, He would have become a carnival grandmaster of a wild and unusual
entertainment show, but nothing more. His miracles would have been mentioned a
few times in passing for a couple years and then faded into obscurity, forever
forgotten. Go to a magic show and see unexplainable things happening
before our eyes; it is amazing but forgettable.
However, when Jesus combined these two: the word of God and divine
power, He created something that would never be forgotten. He got their
attention to hear the word of God through of His miracles, requiring them to
seriously consider what He said. They could blow off what He was doing, and
they could blow off what He was saying, but they could not blow off what He was
doing and saying.
Mat 17-19,20
(162e) Works of the devil >>
Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >>
Bondage >> A slave to unbelief >>
Bondage to an inability to believe –
The disciple's faith was too small, like a mustard seed; He meant that the mustard seed
should grow. When Jesus mentioned the littleness of their faith, He referred to it as diluted with disobedience. If we have faith and show disobedience at the same time, how do we
know if we believe or if we don’t? Who’s to say which is real? This is why
it is necessary to strain out the leaven in our faith so that we become a
single lump of unleavened dough (1Cor 5-6,7). The fact that Jesus accused His
disciples of having little faith, unable to cast out the demon, they were operating in
unbelief (worldliness). We need to remember that the
disciples back then didn’t know Jesus’ purpose, which was to establish a covenant with man by which He could
establish His Kingdom on a spiritual level before He came a second time and set up His physical kingdom. His disciples were unaware of this
until Jesus rose from the dead, and then they finally understood what He was intending to do. He tried to explain it to them earlier many times but
they couldn’t hear it over the internal chatter of their previous learning.
The disciples didn’t want a spiritual kingdom; they wanted a physical one,
and don’t we all? We groan in our flesh by the fact that God’s kingdom is
not yet physical, and the physical is allowed to reign in this life with
unredeemable qualities.
Mat 17-20
(54c) Paradox >>
Opposites >> Weak faith
(213b) Sovereignty >>
God is infinite >> God is all powerful >>
All things are possible with God
-- Jesus set the carrot before the horse and told us to go after it, that if
we pursue it with all our hearts we will find this level of faith. So where
is it? It is unattainable to one
person, but as the Church we can set faith as a goal and
attain it together. What could one person do with that kind of
faith, or what would society do to one person who had that kind of
faith? As a church we could confide in each other, for there is safety in
numbers. God is not interested in raising up one person; He wants to raise up
the entire Church to a level of faith that can relate to God where nothing is
impossible to them. This is His standard, and He expects us to seek it.
(229b) Kingdom of God >>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Kingdom
grows by itself >> Growing In Numbers
Corresponds With Spiritual Growth >> Kingdom
grows in strength
Mat 17-21
(82d) Thy kingdom come >>
Three elements of prayer >> Our approach >>
How to pray
(189j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >>
Separation from the old man >> Masochism
(Self-made martyr) >>
Fasting >> Fasting
simulates dying to self –
We know that fasting represents dying to self, conveying the message that we
care less about our physical existence and more about the will of God. It conveys that our faith in Jesus
is more important to us than our food. So the fasting aspect
of this was for the disciples to separate themselves from their earthly
existence, making some distance between themselves and the demons they were
trying to exorcize and to identify with the Kingdom of Heaven. While they
were fasting they were also praying and remaining in communication with God,
so when they returned to cast out the demon, they had a recent session with
Lord, while expressing their indifference to this life through
fasting. They became more spiritual than earthly, thus
able to cast out the demon. They had to make a contrast between themselves
and the demon they were exorcizing, as opposed to the story of the seven sons of Sceva.
The demon said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but
who are you?” The demon-possessed man pounced on the men, and they ran for
their lives naked and wounded (Act 19,13-16).
They made no contrast between themselves and the demons, and for that reason
they could not control them.
(206i) Salvation >>
God makes promises on His terms >> Conditions to
promises >> Conditions to doing the works of
Jesus
Mat 17-22,23
(168i) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> The world has
deaf ears to God >> Deaf to the word of God from
a lack of understanding –
The disciples were deeply grieved, meaning they actually heard what Jesus said, yet
the next time He told them, they acted as though it were the first time they
heard it, and when the time came for Him to die, it came to them as complete
surprise, as though He never forewarned them about it. Although
Jesus force-fed them the word of His suffering, it never resonated with them,
and they shortly after forgot what He said. It goes back to
the parable of the seed sower when it says that some seed fell beside the road
and the birds of the air ate it; the seeds never had a chance to grow. This is
exactly what happened to the words that Jesus spoke to His disciples about his
ensuing death. They didn’t want to hear it and refused to believe it, and the
devil stole it from their hearts.
KJV
NAS
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24 When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, "Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?"
Mat 17,24-27
(1f) Responsibility >>
Avoid offending God >> become all things to
all men >> Conform without compromise --
Jesus
was a native of the land and was therefore exempt from the tax, but to keep
from arguing with the people He just paid them. He conformed to their view of Him without
compromising the truth of His identity to avoid an unnecessary confrontation
with the authorities of that region. He kept the door open for those who He may have otherwise offended by defending His legal status as a son
of Israel; perhaps Jesus was fishing for tax gatherers.
(9b) Responsible
>> Prevent being blamed for
something you did not do >> Prevent the appearance
of evil –
Jesus paid the tax for Peter and Himself, but what about the rest of the
disciples? They weren't concerned about it. Jesus did it to ease Peter's
mind, not to pay taxes. Jesus along with His disciples were citizens of
heaven first. They were citizens of Israel, but were not recognized as
citizens by their own country. Had Jesus not paid the tax, He
may have been
thrown in jail. Had He argued with them, He would have offended God, so He paid the tax, not with His own money, but with His Father’s
money.
(35j) Gift
>>
God gives Himself to us >> Gifts from the Holy
Spirit >> Spiritual gifts >> Knowing the mind of God –
Unfortunately, the vast majority of people in the Church are not open to the
gifts of the Spirit; in fact, there are some whole denominations that completely shun the
gifts as a matter of their religion. They don’t want anything to do with
them; they don’t even want to talk about them; in fact, they hardly if ever
read First Corinthians chapter twelve. There are hoards of ministers who would
love to have a dynamic ministry, and would do almost anything to achieve it,
except believe in God for the gifts of the Spirit, which involves a highly
intimate relationship with Him. This is the kind of relationship that God
would love to have with us all, but most of us are unwilling. God expects us
to obey Him but leaves it to us whether or not we will walk in the gifts of the
Spirit. However, walking in the fruits of
the Spirit is not our choice. Many a Christian has lost his soul resisting the
Holy Spirit on the level of bearing fruit, but no one has lost his soul
refusing to walk in the gifts.
Mat 17-24,25
(70b) Authority
>> Righteous judgment (outcome of discernment) >> Sensitivity To The Spirit
–
Jesus was highly sensitive to the Holy Spirit, which made Him appear as
all-knowing. Although He was God in human flesh, He laid aside His infinite
power and knowledge and dwelled among us in our finite limitations. Jesus only knew what the Holy Spirit
told Him, who informed Him about the conversation Peter had with a
tax collector. Most of us are not this sensitive to the Holy Spirit. If we are open to Spiritual
discernment, He will enable us to
effectively operate in this realm when needed. The gift of discernment is just one of many gifts that God
would like us to add to our arsenal of ministry tools.
(152f) Witness >>
Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the
father >>
Jesus is a prophet >> Jesus prophesies to the Church
25-27 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?" 26 When Peter said, "From strangers," Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are exempt. 27 "However, so that we do not offend them, 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 shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me."
Mat 17,25-27
(78e) Thy kingdom come
>>
Sincerity >> Taking God to heart >>
Having pure motives and desires –
There are magicians nowadays who can do some pretty amazing things. Most admit
they have no special powers, calling themselves illusionists. Would it be
possible for a magician to recreate this situation, use a bare
hook, a line and a pole to catch a fish with money in its mouth? David
Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear, but Jesus could raise a known
dead person back to life. If one of Jesus’ miracles were a hundred
percent valid, it would validate all his miracles, for why would a
miracle worker use trickery? Jesus said to His disciples, “nothing will
be impossible to you” (v20).
(217j) Sovereignty >>
God overrides the will of man >> God’s will
over man >> I never knew you >>
Because you are not of His sheep
-- Since the tax gatherers did not recognize Jesus and His disciples as citizens, how could God recognize those tax gatherers as citizens of
heaven? Obviously
Jesus walked in all the gifts of the Spirit, and then He turned to his
disciples and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the
works that I do, he will do also” (Jn 14-12). However, we almost never see
the gifts in practice because of gross disobedience, not just with individuals but
with the Church
as a whole, like Israel in Jesus' day. When it comes to manifesting the Kingdom of Heaven,
there needs to be a high level of obedience and faithfulness; an entire
infrastructure must be present.
Mat 17-27
(1a) Avoid
offending Man (Key
verse)
(30b) Gift of God
>>
God is our source >> His creative ability
supplies our needs –
Peter was a fisherman, so Jesus had Peter solve his problem according to his
profession. Also, Jesus was addressing Peter’s concerns, not the concerns of
the tax collector. Jesus probably would not have paid this tax had Peter not
brought it to His attention; but after Peter mentioned it, He had Peter pay
it. He was asking Jesus His opinion on the matter; ‘Should Christians pay
taxes, or should we fight for exemption?’ The Lord’s answer was that we
should pay our taxes (Rom 13-6). Note that Jesus had twelve disciples, not
just Peter, yet the other eleven didn’t pay this foreigner tax (If a gentile
visited Israel to worship there, he was charged a foreigner tax). Note also
that this tax didn’t cost Peter anything; basically God paid the tax, and it
was a tax on strangers. Jesus and His disciples were Jews, legal citizens of
Israel; they weren’t strangers; for a tax collector to make this request was
ridiculous. What was this tax collector thinking when he demanded a foreigner
tax on Peter, an obvious citizen of Israel, knowing he was a Jew just by
looking at him? He wasn’t required to pay the tax, so why did Jesus have
Peter pay it? Jesus wasn’t going to argue with the tax collector; instead,
He gave him what he wanted, and the man probably pocketed the money. The fact
that this tax collector considered Jesus and His disciples to be foreigners
says something about Christians in this world. Heb 11-13 says that we are
“strangers and exiles on the earth,” so this tax collector actually made
an interesting observation. Although they were Jews, they appeared to be
foreigners; they looked like Jews but they didn’t act like citizens of any
country in this world.
(62c) Paradox >>
Anomalies >> Responding cleverly to your enemies >> Cheat them
--
Essentially,
the Spirit of God broke the laws of men when He had Jesus say to Peter, ‘In
order not to offend them pay the tax, but don’t give them our money.
Instead, give them money that came from a fish.’ Jesus had Peter go fishing
to ease his mind, not to pay taxes. God paid the tax; therefore, God was the
stranger. Normally, Jesus never performed miracles to flaunt His power or to feed
freeloaders.
In this case, though, Jesus made an exception; He performed a miracle without
really needing to (He could have paid the tax gatherers out of their treasury, or just not paid them at all). The purpose of this miracle, among
other things, was to secretly scoff at the people who did not
recognize them as citizens of Israel, and thus did not recognize
Jesus as their Messiah.
(119a) Thy kingdom come >>
Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >>
Law of the spirit >> Freedom from the law
--
Jesus no doubt was a law abiding citizen of Israel, yet He didn't
live by the law of the land, but by the law of the Spirit of freedom.
Living by the law puts you in bondage to it, but living by the Spirit put you
in bondage to Him, while inadvertently fulfilling the requirements of the law. Jesus in a way was demonstrating His freedom from the law by
paying taxes without any cost to Himself. He drew the money from the
storehouse of His Fathers infinite reserves.
(147d) Witness >>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> God exercises authority
over every living thing –
Being this was a miracle, how did it happen? First, the shekel
was dropped in the ocean at some point; then the fish scooped it up with its
mouth; then Peter went fishing, hoping to catch that particular tax-paying
fish. There was no mention of any bait; Peter was fishing for a fish with the
pica eating disorder, presumably a northern pica. It decreases the odds all
the more that he used no bait. Through this miracle we can see God in charge
of many miniscule details. Is this the God we serve, someone deeply involved
in tiny facets of life? According to this miracle, apparently so! The next question, did Jesus order this miracle or did the
Father speak to Him that this was prearranged? The Bible teaches that Jesus
was not in control but the Father, and Jesus was merely followed orders. Jesus
didn’t cause these things to happen; He only told Peter to dip a hook in the
ocean and pull a shekel from a fish’s mouth. It was His Father behind the
scenes who caused the miracle. God works the same way with us.
_________________________________
Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible ® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission.
www.Lockman.org
MATTHEW CHAPTER 18
KJV NAS
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1-5 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 "And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me;
Mat 18,1-4
(56f) Paradox >>
Opposites >> Humble yourself for the right
motives –
In this day and age some children are not very humble, so we can’t very well
look to them for examples of heaven. Jesus chose an obedient child who minded
his parents and respected adults. In the last days as society continues to
disintegrate, it will fulfill
Isaiah 3-12, “As for my people, children are their oppressors, and
women rule over them.” Generations ago, children were taught to be seen and
not heard, attend family visits, listen
to the conversations of adults without shifting attention to themselves. In that way
they learned humility and knew their
place. They didn’t have the same freedoms that adults had; they were
instructed to mind their manners and be polite. This is the kind of child
Jesus chose to represent the Kingdom of Heaven, humble in heart, whose place
in life was to learn and grow to become upstanding
adults. They were recently babies; their parents worked around the clock
feeding them and changing their diapers, and they are still serving their
children, providing a roof over their heads and food on their plates and
teaching them good attitudes and values, caring for their needs just as God
cares for us. We too know our place with God. He is our heavenly Father and we
are His children. He is greater than us, and our place is to humble ourselves
and become a blessing both to Him and to those around us. The more we humble
ourselves and serve others, the greater we are in the eyes of God, the
more we will be rewarded in heaven and the more privileges and authority God will bestow on
us in heaven. If children want to be the boss now, they may never see the
Kingdom of Heaven, and if they do, God will show them the last chair, and they
will
be least of all because they sought to be greatest.
Mat 18,3-5
(33d) Gift of God >>
God is our Father >> Kingdom belongs to the
children of God
(192c) Die to self (Process of substitution) >>
Result of putting off the old man >> Gain by
losing >> Life for life >>
Losing your identity to gain God’s identity
-- The
Kingdom of God belongs to children, not to adults. Children are born with
faith in God. The definition of an adult is someone who has forgotten his
origin. Adults come from childhood and children come from God. Forget
everything you learned in the world as an adult and remember how you once
believed. We were closer to the truth at the beginning of our lives without
even seeking it than we are now after so long pursuing what we have assumed to
be reality.
(224i) Kingdom of God >>
Illustrating the kingdom >> Description of
heaven >> The people of heaven >>
Traits of the people who make it to heaven
6-8 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 "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! 8 "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 to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire.
Mat 18,6-10
(5f) Responsibility >>
Discipleship tested >> God tests your faith
through hardship –
God has no intention of removing stumbling blocks in this life, but He will permanently remove them in the next life. Stumbling blocks are
inevitable because of the sheer number of them, like going into the woods in
summer and getting bit by mosquitoes. Most of us would prefer that
God removed the stumbling blocks of this life, but God wants us to face them to see how we will react. He wants to
use them to prove how much we love Him. He wants to give us an opportunity
to struggle in our faith, because in the life to come there will be no sin to
test us. Why should God remove
stumbling blocks if they accomplished the very objectives He has in mind for us? He
wants us to obey Him in the face of adversity! We are fulfilling His vision and serving His desires, but
there are many so-called Christians these days who have it backwards. They
want God to serve them.
(28i) Gift of God >>
God is our advocate >> God crushes those who
make us stumble –
Jesus was talking about stumbling blocks,
referring to unbelievers in the Church who would cause His
children to stumble. We know there are stumbling blocks in the
world, and we know that a true Christian would do anything to
avoid becoming one. Nevertheless, Jesus is talking to the Church, warning
individuals in assembly not to be a
stumbling block, saying if they do, they could be cast us
into hell with the unbelievers. Crude as it sounds to cut off our hand or
pluck out our eye, if a
person committed himself to this extreme to avoid becoming a stumbling block,
he would repent long before this.
Mat 18-6
(241f) Kingdom of God >>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Hindering the kingdom >> Obstacles in the way of
the kingdom >> Obstacles that keep you from
Jesus
Mat 18,8-10
(47c) Judgment >>
Hell is a place of sorrow >> Hell is to be
avoided at any cost –
God has the power to stop those who would hurt His people, but He often allows
travesty to continue, knowing that eternal judgment is just up the road for
them. If God is this intimate with His people and so
intently watching the activities of men, then He is also recording them. When
this life is over and mankind enters into judgment with God, He will pull out
their records and address every time they caused one of His little ones to
stumble, and He says that it would be better if a heavy millstone were tied
around their necks and drowned in the depths of the sea!
When we add up all the cases, imagine the judgment that will befall them. If
they cause His children to stumble a hundred times, it would be better to be
drowned, brought back to life and drowned again a hundred times with a millstone
dragging them into the depths. Hell and eternal damnation is worse than this, far worse.
Mat 18-8,9
(21d) Sin >>
Disobedience will condemn you to hell
–
Salvation
is a free gift, but what if someone for the sake of the gospel plucked out
his eye, for instance, if he couldn’t stop watching pornography or cut off
his hand if he couldn’t stop sinning; wouldn’t that constitute
sacrificing a body part for his faith in Jesus. Salvation wouldn’t seem so
free after that, yet how many people have actually done this? If a person
were to make such a commitment to this degree, by the time he drew
the sword to remove the appendage, he would have repented of the sin. It
goes back to the story of Abraham and Isaac. God told him to take Isaac to
Mount Moriah and there sacrifice him to God. Abraham didn’t know what else
to do, so he took Isaac and a bundle of sticks and whatever else he needed,
got situated and took out his knife and was about the plunge it into his
only son when the angel of the Lord stopped him just as he learned that
Abraham would have gone through with it. God wanted to know if Abraham loved
God more than His gifts. Jesus was saying that this was the level of
commitment God wants from us, only not to do ourselves any harm, for to
pluck out our eyes and cut off our hands would sabotage God’s plan for our
lives, since He wants to use us in His service.
(63e) Paradox >>
Anomalies >> Sarcasm >>
Exaggerate the truth to make a point
--
Anyone who was committed enough to cut off his arm or gouge out
their eye for the sake of abstaining from sin would be committed enough
to simply quit sinning short of mutilating himself. Jesus was serious about
abstaining from sin, but whether He was actually advocating that anyone
should dismember himself to stop sinning is doubtful. He was more
trying to slam home the seriousness of sin.
(248l) Priorities >>
God’ s preeminence >> Values >>
The Highest Values >> The life to come is more
important than this one
-- There are countless instances in the New Testament alone that encourage
us to sacrifice this life for the life to come. In these verses,
Jesus was referring to a more literal manifestation of that sacrifice. When the Bible speaks more realistically
about sacrificing our life, it is in line with denying our sinful passions
and desires in the process of "Dying to Self."
KJV NAS
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9-11 "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 to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell. 10 "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. 11 ["For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.]
Mat 18-9,10
(135g) Temple >>
Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the
body >> Abortion >>
Consequences of abortion >> Do not despise one
of these little ones
-- People do just the opposite of what Jesus said. He told us to cut our body parts and throw them from us, so
we cut from a woman her fetus and throw it from her, but instead of the act
keeping us from hell, it plunges us further into its bowls. Man hopelessly distorts
every commandment of God and destroys everything that is beautiful for a sense of
personal gain. The angels of those fetuses, "continually behold the face
of God in heaven." Too bad their parents are unaware of
it.
Mat 18-9
(22i)
Sin >>
Lust (craving pleasure) >> Lust of the eyes
Mat 18-10
(15c) Servant >>
Ministering spirits >> Angels give help in
time of need –
Every
child of God has at least one angel assigned to him or her. Jesus described angels as
having the capability of ministering to
people and seeing the face of God at the same time. This implies
that heaven is here, all around us; we just can’t perceive it. This eliminates the notion that heaven is myriads of miles away, replacing it
with the very viable plausibility that heaven is simply shifted to another
dimension, similar to being unable to perceive some colors of the light
spectrum that our eyes were not designed to see. For us there
is a great chasm between the spirit realm and us, but that chasm does not
exist for those in heaven; they can see us but we can’t see them. This also paints a far more
vivid picture of man sinning directly in the face of God, just as the Bible
says. The context of this verse is the persecution of God’s children.
Jesus states very graphically that whatever the wicked do to His elect will
be done right under His nose; therefore, how much more likely will it be
recorded, and not forgotten, unless they repent?
(73d) Authority >>
Respect Positions Of Authority >> In the Church
Mat 18-11
(207l) Salvation >> Salvation verses >>
The kindness of God >> God is kind to sinners >> He seeks and saves that
which was lost –
Anybody who feels lost in this world is a candidate for heaven, but those who
don’t feel lost cannot be saved. Many people could have a
conversation about Jesus and would never see
their need to be saved. Many condemn the Bible, arguing that it is not the
word of God, but these are ideas and thoughts of men that have no authority. We remind them that the world is
disintegrating before their very eyes because there are too many people
just like them who don’t believe in God. He knew that man would do this to himself, and so He
brought gospel to us, commanding us to love one another, to humble
ourselves and become like children, to become least of all and servant of all,
if we want to be great in the eyes of God. If everybody did this, the world
would be a better place. We need to be the salt of the earth and influence those around
us, so the wicked don't feel free to misbehave, but when believers become disobedient,
unbelievers flourish until lawlessness dominates the land and mankind
becomes self-destructive. Man’s biggest problem is his
unwillingness to see his need to be saved, and his biggest obstacle keeping him
from faith in God is a sense of belonging in the world. That is, they
don’t feel lost, and this is their
downfall. Psalm 69-22 says, “Let their table
become a snare before them, and their well-being a trap.” They
feel comfortable in their skin, like the family who sits to a
well-prepared meal; they have everything they need, and they feel
happy. They don't see their need to be saved; they don’t feel lost in the
world. People who can’t find enough food to fill their bellies and regularly go
hungry, sometimes they resist the gospel too, and it is a travesty. Frankly, they should feel lost in the world, and maybe they do, yet
they still resist the gospel, and nobody knows why. It is the mystery of
lawlessness at work, explaining why man resists God in the face of need, hunger,
nakedness and a lack of shelter. Some say that the poor man resents God for his
circumstances? This indicates that circumstances are not an aspect of
feeling lost; rather, we have a spiritual need to be saved. We feel lost, not just in the
world but also within ourselves. There was something
missing in us, something personally wrong, and we were never
able to put our finger on what we were lacking until finally we met Jesus
Christ, and He put His Spirit in us and we became complete. We can hear his
voice speaking in our hearts, and we now feel full, even when our belly isn’t.
12-17 "What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? 13 "If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. 14 "So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish. 15 "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 "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. 17 "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 collector.
Mat 18,12-14
(161a)
Wander (Key verse)
(161g) Works of the devil >>
Essential characteristics >> Satan’s attitude
determines our direction >>
Wandering from the fold of the sheep
–
Sheep
are not wild animals; they have been domesticated and cannot survive in the wild
without a shepherd to care for them. Likewise, Christians cannot live in the
wild; God has domesticated us; we belong to Him and are no longer of this world.
(207d) Salvation >>
God makes promises on His terms >> Eternal
security? >> You can get lost again --
These verses go with
verses 23-35
Mat 18-14
(206j) Eternal
Security? (Key verse)
– Eternal security is a hot topic in
Christendom. Mostly embraced by the Evangelical community, this doctrine has a chance in hell of being
biblical. For starters, what about the person who decides he no longer wants to spend the rest of eternity in heaven with a lot of born again
Christians who can’t think of anything better to do but stand around and worship
God, and decides he would be happier in hell? Would God keep him against his will? God never does anything against our
will, yet many believe we cannot lose our salvation even if we wanted to. That sounds like God holds us in
bondage to our salvation. Can you imagine God saying, 'Too late you already made your decision; you are mine now and there is nothing you can do about it!'
That sounds more like something the devil would say to us. There are many Scriptures to support eternal security, but there are
far more verses to support the opposite. This whole subject should not alarm the person who intends to live for Jesus to the very
end. God is not a heavy handed tyrant, waiting to wield His mallet at the first sign of weakness, but He did make man with a will, and man can do
what he wants with it. If
we no longer want to be saved, God will accommodate us, but if we have a change
of heart, we cannot be born again, again.
Mat 18,15-20
(116d)
Thy kingdom come >> Faith
>> Working the grace of God >>
Through worship >> Through His authority
Mat 18,15-18
(138d) Temple >>
Building the temple (with hands) >> Reproof >>
Reprove your brother in the right spirit
KJV NAS
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Mat 18,15-17
(10a) Responsibility
>> Bring order to the Church >> Dealing with problems in the Church – There are some people who think they believe
in God without showing any evidence of their faith. For this reason Jesus has given us a
method of discipline in a sequence of
increasing levels of severity by which we should approach our brother in
regard to his sin. Each level of severity pertains to more public attempts to
correct his behavior, if not to shame him into compliance. If he listens and
repents, we have won our brother, but if he doesn’t, then we are to advance
with a second more public mode approach and bring another witness or two, so that every fact may be confirmed (Deut 19-15).
Finally, if he will not listen to them, then tell the whole Church and warn
everybody about him that he is an unrepentant sinner, capable of exploiting others
for personal gain. Taking the man’s sin to the Church is a test to see if he
has any reverence for God; if he shows no respect for the Church, then neither does he fear God. This
suggests that he is not a Christian and to treat him as such, as a gentile or
a tax collector, a man of the world, someone who is “of no account in the Church” (1Cor 6-4). This does not mean to ostracize
him but to shun him, and he will probably leave on his
own accord. The biblical concept of shunning is physically allowing the person in
the church doors, but not giving him the right hand of fellowship; that
is, refuse to treat him as an equal, but as someone who needs to be saved.
Unfortunately however, a person who deserves to be shunned is probably not
open to the gospel, and is well on
his way to a reprobate mind.
(21f) Sin >>
Disobedience opposes unity in the Church --
Sin has a corrosive effect on the Church that erodes unity. It is important to arrest sin within the body of
Christ before it causes any damage to the people who
are striving to serve God, since the Church is meant to be a place that offers
protection and safety from the world and its evil influences.
(172b) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> Tares among the
wheat >> Devils among the saints >>
Unrighteous among the righteous – It is interesting that Jesus told us to treat
him like a gentile or a tax collector. This means to treat him like a common sinner. At the very onset of the Church, every saint was a Jew, thereby defining the gentile as an
unbeliever, but later Paul taught that every believing gentile was a spiritual
Jew.
Their flesh may have originated from Germanic or Norwegian roots or any of the nations, but
their faith is Jewish. Conversely, every unbelieving Jew is no different from a
dog or an unbelieving gentile. Therefore, anyone who believes in Jesus is a Jew at
heart, and anyone who would persecute the Jews cannot be a Christian. That is,
any so-called Christian who would persecute the Jews might as well
persecute his own faith, for he is proving that he doesn’t know God, that he
is a liar of the worst kind, and we are
not to respect his opinion of the Bible, making him utterly devoid of truth.
18-20 "Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. 19 "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. 20 "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."
Mat 18,18-20
(83b) Thy kingdom come >>
Receiving from God through prayer >> Ask and it
shall be given
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Mat 18-19,20
(67k)
Authority >> Jesus delegates authority >>
Praying in Jesus’ name –
The group that is in agreement with God will receive their answer to prayer
according to their unity. Moreover, Jesus said that
those who gather in His name, “I am there,” meaning that He will not be
present in name only,
but also in person via the Holy Spirit.
(129n) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Unity >>
Being in one accord >> Having one mind –
There are no promises that Jesus made that don’t involve unity at its root. We need to be unified in the truth as God sees it, not as we see it.
Without unity God is unwilling to do anything for anybody, but where there are two
or three in agreement, Jesus is among them, but we must be in agreement with
Him and with each other. If we ask Him for something that is not in His will,
it cancels the promise,
but if we ask according to His will, He will do it.
That sounds like the easy part, yet whom can we find that will agree with us
about anything nowadays? This promise seems almost tailor made for the married
couple, because the husband and wife are more likely to be in agreement with
each other than anyone else. Perhaps, then, what Jesus was saying was not so much about the
request we should make, but the premise upon which they make it, which
is unity. We must be in agreement with the truth before we can expect
to receive anything from the Lord (Jm 1,6-8). James added “without any
doubting.” When we are trying to agree on
something other than the truth, we fight an uphill battle that expectedly runs
into doubt.
(206g) Salvation
>>
God makes promises on His terms >> Conditions to
promises >> Conditions to the gifts of God >>
Conditions to the promises of God –
Unity also happens to be the method of cult leaders forcing their members to
agree with them about their version of the truth, and it is very effective. If
he can get the group to believe and agree on his ideas, he can be very abusive to them. He can demand their money; he
can demand that they re-mortgage their houses and give him the proceeds, and
on and on the list goes of what cult leaders can do once they get their
congregation in a state of unity upon his version of truth. Jesus is trying to
accomplish the same thing, only to glorify His Father and benefit the people.
He wants us to agree on His truth. He says that if we are willing to do this,
then He will give us whatever we want as a group. Consequently, the lack of
unity accounts
for all the false doctrines and denominations that are in the world today. The
devil knows that if God’s people agree around
God’s truth in a state of unity, they will be unstoppable, but if he
introduces confusion, they will flounder.
Mat 18-20
(254k) Trinity >>
Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >>
Jesus is equal with the Holy Spirit >> Power of
Jesus’ Spirit
--
The
Father will answer our prayers, and it will be the presence of Christ
among us in the Holy Spirit. This accounts for all three members of the
trinity working together to reveal Himself to His people and to answer their
prayers. It is a wonderful thing that our prayers are answered from the perspective of
heaven, as we correlate our lives around His ways. That touch from heaven can be seen
and felt right here on earth as God personally receives our request. However, Jesus bodily can be in only one place at a time, so what if two pairs of
people are praying in different regions of the world? Jesus can not be in both
places at once? Jesus spiritually shows-up when we pray together, for He and the Holy Spirit are one and the same person, though
they occupy different
offices and work in perfect harmony.
21-27 Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" 22 Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. 23 "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 "When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 "But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. 26 "So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.' 27 "And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.
Mat 18,21-35
(120e) Thy kingdom come >>
Manifestations of faith >>
Forgiving your brother >> Don’t forgive your
brother and God won’t forgive you – In
verse 24 it says that the slave owed his master 10,000 talents, which was more money than a person could repay in a
lifetime. So, the slave fell down and begged forgiveness, and the slave owner
was gracious and forgave him the debt and basically set him free; but then a
fellow slave owed him nearly a third of a year’s wages, which is
a significant amount, but only a tiny fraction of the larger forgiven debt. His
friend entreated him for mercy, but his hands found his fellow slave’s neck
and threw him into prison. It is ironic to throw someone in prison for owing a
debt; how can we expect him to pay? The slave owner was enraged and said to
him, ‘Who do you think you are treating your fellow
slave this way when I was gracious to you?’ and the slave owner recanted His
forgiveness and re-imposed the debt, so he had to repay that monstrous sum to
his master, not in this life, for there is not enough time in the day, but in
the life to come.
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Mat 18,23-35
(24k) Sin
>>
Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Anger >>
Unforgiveness – This
is by far the strongest warning the Bible gives about unforgiveness. We
don’t have a choice but to forgive those who offend us. If we choose not to forgive, we
will live to regret it, so what choice is there, really? Sometimes forgiveness
can feel nebulous; how do we know when we have forgiven somebody? If our
version of forgiveness can be reduced to mental calisthenics, believing we
have forgiven someone when maybe we haven’t, perhaps rearranged a few
thoughts, we can be kind to the offender. If Jesus put in
practical terms the slave who choked his fellow and threw him in prison, then our forgiveness
should have the same tangible value. Therefore, if we have a hard time
forgiving someone or if we are unsure that we have forgiven a person, love is
the proof. There is always room and opportunity for kindness. What if the person we haven’t
forgiven is no longer alive? We can be kind to the family members. “Love covers a multitude of sins” (1Pet 4-8).
(184f) Works of the devil >>
The origin of lawlessness >> Abusing the grace
of God >> Spending His grace on your pleasures >>
Trying to take advantage of God’s kindness
(198c) Denying Christ >>
Man exercises his will against God >> Man
withers when he is in control >> Ungrateful
(207d) Salvation >>
God makes promises on His terms >> Eternal
security? >> You can get lost again --
These verses go with
verses 12-14.
In this parable we have a picture of a person getting saved (his sins forgiven) and then losing his
salvation. The Bible teaches that forgiveness is a
wonderful thing and that bitterness is equally terrifying, indicating that the stakes are high. We
know how the story goes; he ran down one of his debtors and threw him into prison. The master of the slave
leaned about it and said, 'I forgave you; why can't you forgive him?' The Lord handed him to the torturers until the debt was paid in
full... in hell. Since God forgave our debt, He expects us to forgive our
debtors (Mat 6-12). Jesus said that if we cannot forgive, God would change His
mind about forgiving us. To the degree that there is not enough time to
repay our debt to God in this life, so neither is there time in eternity to repay the debt in
hell. If we continue in sin, disobedience and unbelief will erode our faith until we no
longer believe in God. The man was on his way to hell
prostrated himself, God felt compassion and forgave his debt, but the man
continued unchanged, “Disobedient, deceived,
enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending [his] life in malice and envy,
hateful, hating one another” (Tit 3-3).
(225e) Kingdom of God >>
Illustrating the kingdom >> Parables >>
Parables about wealth >> Parables about a king
and his kingdom
Mat 18,25-27
(120a) Thy kingdom come >>
Manifestations of faith >> Curse of God is
broken >> Curse of God’s Judgment is broken –
The slave owed his master ten thousand talents (a talent was a measure of
weight used for precious metals representing about 75 pounds, so assuming the
metal was gold, ten thousand talents times 75 pounds times 16 ounces times
about 1500 dollars an ounce, approximates to $18 billion dollars!). His master would never
extract enough from what he had to ever pay the debt; Jesus was speaking
in terms of eternity, so when he ordered his servant and his family to be
sold, He was referring to hell, but then the man begged God for mercy and
received it. This parable is an illustration of a person getting saved, but
look what the man said to his Master, “Have patience with me and I will
repay you everything.” Even while he prostrated himself and begged for
mercy, he wasn’t being honest with God, instead asked for
a deal that he could never keep. He didn’t beg God for forgiveness, which
was the only real option he had, other than being sold into slavery. There
wasn’t enough time in the man’s life to earn that much money to pay off
the debt, and if interest was compounded on
the debt, by the time he paid 18 billion dollars, he would have owed $18
trillion! This is how God feels about sin; there is nothing we can do as
sinners to gain his favor, hence the
reason Jesus died for our sins. Without His blood sacrifice, we
would all be going to hell! Forgiveness was the Lord’s deal.
Mat 18-25
(3f) Responsibility
>> To the Family >>
Divorce because of your hardness of heart –
This verse goes with
verses 32-35.
We see a 50% divorce rate in the world today; in the Church it is very close
to the same! Jesus said it is because people won't forgive each other. He lost his wife and children and everything he owned, including his
soul. His bitterness reduced him to a flesh ball, and eventually he would lose
that too, and he would still owe his Master, introducing a new level of suffering,
all because he would not forgive his debtors.
28-35 "But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred
denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, 'Pay back what you owe.' 29 "So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you.' 30 "But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. 31 "So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. 32 "Then summoning him, his lord said to him, 'You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 'Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?' 34 "And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35 "My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart."
Mat 18,28-35
(175h) Works of the devil >>
The religion of witchcraft >> Ignorance >>
Dodging the issue (willful ignorance) >> Dodging
the issue to get what you want
Mat 18,29-35
(47h)
Judgment >> God Judges the world
>>
Hell >>
Prison of the bottomless pit – It
says that he was moved with anger and handed him over to the torturers until he
should repay all that was owed. Everybody who is bitter understands torture,
because bitterness is torturous. The question is, who are the torturers,
and what actually happened to this guy? Did he go to hell? The slave handed his
fellow slave to prison guards. We know that the Bible describes hell as a
prison, where many of the demons are held. We know that demons are much bigger and
stronger than humans. We also know that 10,000 talents is a considerably larger
sum than a measly 100 denarii. Jesus chose that vast amount because it was more
than the man could ever repay, and this is the case of everyone who goes to
hell.
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Mat 18,32-35
(3f) Responsibility
>> To the Family >>
Divorce because of your hardness of heart --
These verses go with verse
25
(21e) Sin >>
Disobedience does not understand God --
The man (fool) in the parable didn't gain any insight about God after being
forgiven or showed any gratitude toward Him, but acted like he was entitled to
a pardon as though he deserved it. Somehow in his self-centered reasoning the
person who owed him a couple dollars didn't deserve to be pardoned though his
debt was far less. He
couldn't see himself in the man who now needed his mercy because he never
mused on his Master's kindness. His mind was cluttered with all the events and concerns of the world to stop and consider how gracious
the king was to him. God's forgiveness didn't change his life!
(73e) Authority >>
Respect Positions Of Authority >> Respect Jesus’
Authority
Mat 18-34,35
(51g)
Judgment >> Judging
the Church with the world >>
No partiality between saved and unsaved
(65i) Paradox >>
Anomalies >> Satan Glorifies God – The
torturers are demons. Jesus said in Mat 25-41, “Depart from Me, accursed
ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his
angels.” They were placed among demons in the same hell, because they
committed the same sin of rebellion. There is a large debate whether demons
can torture humans in hell. The question is not whether their sin
is the same (rebellion in both cases), but whether their level of sin
is the same. We know that God gave the devil and his angels His entire
creation, the universe, by evidence that it is now cursed. It is not under
man’s curse, for God never offered the universe to Adam and Eve; He only
commanded man to subdue the earth. However, after Jesus shed His blood, God
has offered His throne to mankind through Christ. It seems likely that demons would be
allowed to torture human souls in hell who have rejected the free gift of
salvation and eternal life, who have been offered to sit on God’s throne
with Christ, whom the demons were never offered; in fact, that was their sin in the first place: they tried to take God’s
throne. God's throne was the devil’s temptation, his Tree of Knowledge of Good and
Evil, so ultimately God has given more to mankind than He gave to Lucifer,
which makes man’s sin worse than the devil’s. For this reason, man’s
punishment in hell will be worse than the devil’s, and what makes man’s
punishment worse in hell is the fact that demons can torture mankind.
(104a) Thy kingdom come >>
Purifying process >> Purified by circumstances >>
Purified through judgment – As a
very plain message of this parable, bitterness can keep us out of heaven. If
we do not forgive those who offend us, we cannot go to heaven, simply because
it is not possible to hold bitterness in our hearts and faith at the same
time. They are virtual opposites of each other. The product of faith is the
fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, etc. In contrast, observe
bitter people, that they do not exhibit any of these fruits, and without faith
it is impossible to please God (Heb 11-6). Without faith we can’t go to
heaven; faith is the
stipulation of salvation; we are saved by grace through faith (Eph 2-8,9). The
fact that Jesus died for our sins will make their judgment in hell far worse,
simply because He offered us a way to avoid hell through His blood.
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