Support for Christianity
Matt chap. 5, 6, 7 {5:1} And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: {5:2} And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, {5:3} Blessed [are] the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. {5:4} Blessed [are] they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. {5:5} Blessed [are] the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. {5:6} Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. {5:7} Blessed [are] the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. {5:8} Blessed [are] the pure in heart: for they shall see God. {5:9} Blessed [are] the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. {5:10} Blessed [are] they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. {5:11} Blessed are ye, when [men] shall revile you, and persecute [you,] and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. {5:12} Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great [is] your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. {5:13} Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. {5:14} Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. {5:15} Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and itgiveth light unto all that are in the house. {5:16} Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. {5:17} Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. {5:18} For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. {5:19} Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach [them,] the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. {5:20} For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed [the righteousness] of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. {5:21} Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: {5:22} But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. {5:23} Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; {5:24} Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. {5:25} Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. {5:26} Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. {5:27} Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: {5:28} But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her[1] hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. {5:29} And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast [it] from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not [that] thy whole body should be cast into hell. {5:30} And if thy right hand offend thee, cut if off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not [that] thy whole body should be cast into hell. {5:31} It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: {5:32} But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. {5:33} Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: {5:34} But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: {5:35} Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. {5:36} Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. {5:37} But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. {5:38} Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: {5:39} But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. {5:40} And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have [thy] cloke also. {5:41} And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. {5:42} Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. {5:43} Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. {5:44} But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; {5:45} That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. {5:46} For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? {5:47} And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more [than others?] do not even the publicans so? {5:48} Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. {6:1} Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. {6:2} Therefore when thou doest [thine] alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. {6:3} But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: {6:4} That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. {6:5} And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites [are:] for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. {6:6} But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. {6:7} But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen [do:] for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. {6:8} Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. {6:9} After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. {6:10} Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as [it is] in heaven. {6:11} Give us this day our daily bread. {6:12} And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. {6:13} And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. {6:14} For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: {6:15} But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. {6:16} Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. {6:17} But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; {6:18} That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. {6:19} Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: {6:20} But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: {6:21} For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. {6:22} The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. {6:23} But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great [is] that darkness! {6:24} No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. {6:25} Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? {6:26} Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? {6:27} Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? {6:28} And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: {6:29} And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. {6:30} Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, [shall he] not much more [clothe] you, O ye of little faith? {6:31} Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? {6:32} (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. {6:33} But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. {6:34} Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof. {7:1} Judge not, that ye be not judged. {7:2} For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. {7:3} And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? {7:4} Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam [is] in thine own eye? {7:5} Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. {7:6} Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. {7:7} Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: {7:8} For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. {7:9} Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? {7:10} Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? {7:11} If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? {7:12} Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. {7:13} Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: {7:14} Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. {7:15} Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. {7:16} Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? {7:17} Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. {7:18} A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. {7:19} Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. {7:20} Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. {7:21} Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. {7:22} Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? {7:23} And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. {7:24} Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: {7:25} And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. {7:26} And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: {7:27} And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. {7:28} And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: {7:29} For he taught them as [one] having authority, and not as the scribes. 96. THE IMAGES OF PULLING OUT THE EYES, CUTTING OFF THE HANDS AND THE EATING AND DRINKING OF THE FLESH AND BLOOD OF THE LORD [1] SIMON Judah said: “Lord and Master, I still have something. Actually from the time of Your famous sermon on the mount, and honestly, I am ashamed to bring it forward because my foolishness will become clearer by that.” [2] I said: “Well then, what did I say in that sermon on the mount that is still not well digested in your mind?” [3] Then Simon Judah said with a little voice: “O, there was that speech about the pulling out of eyes and the cutting off of hands if one or the other should irritate us, for it would be better to be accepted into Heaven with one eye and with one hand than to descend in Hell with two eyes and two hands. [4] I surely know, o Lord and Master, that You only meant this spiritually, but despite the explanation that You gave us, we still could not thoroughly grasp the spiritual and we still hung on for certainly three quarters to the always still somewhat strange sounding literal meaning, and we did really not understand how we should handle it to just pull out the eye in case an eye should irritate us. Making one eye blind would be easier in every respect but to cut off a hand would in most cases be much more difficult, for firstly one does not always carry a sharp axe, and secondly cutting off a hand would be especially very difficult if in case I should have to cut off my right hand, because I am really clumsy with my left hand in this activity. [5] I know, o Lord and Master, that I brought forward something very stupid and worth to be laughed at, but what is the use to say those things in Your sermon on the mount if I was not able to understand its true spiritual meaning, just like I did not well understand Your sermon in Capernaum in which You also explicitly ordered to eat Your flesh and drink Your blood because otherwise one could not receive eternal life and enter Your Kingdom? [6] That parable was clarified to us by the clever innkeeper, which clarification was confirmed by Yourself to be good and true. And we were all completely satisfied with that, but we still did not succeed to understand the mentioned mutilation of the body. And when we will spread Your sermon on the mount further among the people, there really could be here and there weak people who could literally execute that teaching. The wiser part of the people would then call that teaching cruel and unwise and we will not reap many good fruits by that. [7] It finally could happen that by that a completely weak congregation will become one-eyed and one-handed , and that very blind pious parents would perhaps out of precaution execute such mutilation on their children to prevent them later from being irritated by that one eye or that one hand.” [8] On this I said to Simon Judah: “Regarding this, you should go to My dear John who, already immediately after the sermon on the mount, was able to explain the spiritual truth of that image. And then you also will clearly realize that I did not command any physical mutilation with that but only to seriously watch over the always free will of man and his mind. Do you understand that?” [9] Now Simon Judah said: “O Lord and Master, with Your last two words You have clarified the matter to me, and so I can leave brother John alone because it stands now clear before my eyes that the mind of man is the eye of the soul and the will the active hand. [10] But man has two eyes and two hands and thus also two minds and two wills, namely a good and a bad mind and therefore also a good and a bad will. [11] If the bad mind irritates the good one, one should recognize it and forever give up the bad mind, and so also one should do the same with the will. And it is of course also better to enter the Kingdom of Heaven with your good mind and will than go to Hell with two minds and two wills. For I believe now that if someone, according to the condition of his love for the world, will let himself be tempted to all kinds of actions, one time by his bad mind and his bad will and another time by his good mind and good will, is already an arch devil on this world. For if some other person, as a result of his early education, has only a bad mind and a bad will and who can therefore also not act any differently than badly, is basically not an actual evil devil but rather a foolish devil for whom can still be prayed to You: ‘Lord, forgive him and make him better, for he did not know up to now what he did.’ O Lord and Master, be so merciful to tell me if this perception of mine is now good and correct.” [12] I said to Simon Judah: “Now your perception is good and correct, but you also will have noticed that it was not your flesh who inspired you to this but only My Spirit in you. Therefore, you also should try to completely get rid of your worldly mind and worldly will, then the heavenly understanding of the spirit and the power of the heavenly will, will be completely your own. [13] If you still have something in connection with the teaching that I gave to the people, let it hear, for today I am disposed to make all things straight that seem uneven to you.” (GGJ Book 24) 97. HOW TO APPLY THE COMMANDMENT OF NEIGHBORLY LOVE [1] THEN Simon Judah said: “Yes, Lord and Master, there are still a few things which are not completely straight in my mind. But I think by myself: since that which seemed most uneven to me became straight very easily, in time the less uneven lines of my mind will become completely straight by itself.” [2] I said: “Then bring forward what still seems somewhat uneven to you.” [3] Simon Judah said: “Lord, this I want to do, but not so gladly, because with that I will show the other disciples that I am maybe in every respect dumber than they are. But since You wish it, I also will speak and humble myself before all my companions. [4] Look, on the occasion that You taught us and the people about the love for God and the neighbor, You also indicated that we even should love our arch enemies and bless those who curse us, do good to those who treat us badly, and to the one who slaps us we should turn our other cheek instead of slapping him in return. [5] I perceive that by this way of acting, the neighborly love that is taught by You, and Your advice to put it into practice, will assume its true heavenly form. For if we human beings have to do all that – namely to wish and will for others which under the same circumstances they also will do for us – then it is of course also completely justified to even love our enemies, pray for those who curse us and do good to those who treat us badly. But there are still a few things that are uneven to me. And this because in these cases self defense is completely set aside. We can apply this to people who are not going too far in their evilness against other people, but regarding people who stubbornly became true arch devils to their fellowmen, there should be a little exception in Your divine teaching. [6] I am not talking about the slap, and I really would not mind if on some occasion someone would slap me not too hard, and if in the end he would like to give me another one, to turn also my other cheek to him, so that there can be peace and unity between us. But what if my adversary almost beat me half to death with his first slap? Should I then not rather defend myself if this would be possible to me in one way or another, instead of letting this angry giant of a Samson beat me completely to death? [7] I think, o Lord and Master, that in the teaching that You established about neighborly love – of course only according to the opinion of my worldly reason – there are still a lot of things that are uneven which are not so easily to digest by the straight stomach of our mind. I do not know if I spoke wisely or unwisely, but since I still believe that my worldly reason is of a better nature, because otherwise I hardly would have recognized You as the Lord and Master, I also am of the opinion that exactly this better nature of my reason can also recognize such uneven things.” [8] I said: “You have asked a very good and right question, but I must nevertheless always make the remark to you that although you have a very sharp reason, you also have on the other hand a weak memory because of your advanced age. Therefore, you do not remember many things anymore of the explanations that I gave to the people on different occasions about the true neighborly love. [9] It is in itself very clear that one should not behave too friendly in front of an arch evil person in order not to give him more opportunity to let his evilness grow and become always more evil than he was before. [10] In this case, a continuous indulgence would mean nothing else than a true support for the too strongly growing evilness of the enemy. But for this reason I appointed at all times severe judges and gave them the right to chastise and to punish the people who became too bad and evil, this according to what they deserve. And that is why I also gave you the commandment that you should be submitted to the worldly authority, whether it is mild or severe. [11] So if someone has such terrible enemy, he should go to a worldly judge and report it to him. Then that one will drive out the evilness of the person who became arch evil. [12] If only physical chastisement will not help, it will finally help with the sword. And so it is the same with the slap. If you receive it from a less evil person who was tempted to it by a sudden impulse of his temper, do not resist, so that he will become milder by the fact that you did not slap him in return and you will then again easily become good friends again without worldly judge. [13] If someone comes to you in full anger with a murderous slap, then you also have the fullest right to resist. Look, if it were not so, I would not have told you to also shake off the dust from your feet in a place over those people who not only do not want to accept you, but moreover mock you and threaten you with all kinds of persecution. [14] O, be sure that with My preaching about neighborly love I did not abolish the might and the authority of the sword in the least, but I made it milder as long as the enmity among the people does not reach the degree which one could very rightfully call ‘hellish’. [15] With the elders who lived according to the law of Moses and with most of the judges it was said: ‘A life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’. But as for you, you should not take such laws too literally. And it was said that you should not forgive your enemies more than 7 times, about which I gave you already several times an explanation, which you also understood well. [16] But as said, with that I did not abolish the law of Moses, the judges or the prophets, but I only made it milder, because they took those laws too literally and punished with the same severity also the one who caused some harm to his fellowman but which in many cases happened more accidentally than of as a result of his evil will. [17] Since the judges adhered too strictly to the law, it also happened that the people in the time of Samuel, the last judge of Israel, wanted a king from Me because they were hoping that the laws would be milder compared to those among the judges. The people were greatly mistaken in this, especially with king Saul who chastised them even more severely than the former judges. But under David and also under Salomon things happened more humane than among the judges. [18] But under the later kings, especially when the kingdom was divided among several kings, it became worse than under the judges. And when it finally became too much, there was no other possibility than to submit all the Jews and also many of their neighboring tribes, with whom the Jews were in continuous conflict, to the united power of Rome, because in worldly respect Rome had the best, wisest and most efficient laws. And look, then at once there was complete rest and order among the Jews as well as among their neighboring nations. [19] But when the Jews will gradually become more rebellious and the priests of the Jews will more and more indicate that the laws of Rome are blasphemous and will curse the better Jews because they are friends of the Romans, then the Romans will rise again and enter this kingdom with great power and destroy it in such a way that no stone will stand unbroken upon another. After that, the Jews themselves will be scattered over the whole world, and then it will also happen what I told you beforehand, namely that the Jews should pray that the time of their flight will not take place in the winter and also not on a Sabbath, because then it will be worse for them than in another season or on a working day. That flight will be especially difficult for the pregnant women. [20] In that time, two Jews will also sleep in one bed, the one, who is a known friend of the Romans, will be spared and the stubborn Jew will be rejected. So there will also be two others grinding in one mill. Also there, for the same reason, the one will be spared, the other rejected. The one who works in the field, let him not return to his house to take his coat, and the one who repairs the roof of his house, let him not come down from the roof into his house to take something. It will be better for him to jump from theroof to the ground and try to safe his life by escaping, for if he will come down into his house, he will certainly lose his life. But if he will jump from the roof he can at best still keep his life and safe himself by escaping. [21] Look, My dear Simon Judah, I predicted already many times all these things to you and to many other Jews and Pharisees, and I am sure that in all these things you will not discover any uneven lines.” (GGJ Book 24) [1] Any woman... including own wife...
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