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MATTHEW CHAPTERS 7 & 8 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel See previous page Mat 7,1-5 (17m) Sin >> Unrighteous judgment >> Discerning by the flesh >> Judging the sins of others that you practice -- False judgment is ghoulish behavior, exasperated by its prevalence in society, suggestive of demonic activity, and it should not be an aspect of any Christian's life. False judgment is a form of witchcraft, in that the only right God has given us is the gift of discernment, but those who pass judgment with evil intent invariably practice the same sins that they are judging. This is extremely destructive behavior, especially when the people guilty of this think they are serving God. See also: Unrighteous judgment; 178i (178i) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Hypocrisy >> Hypocrisy of the Church is rebuked >> The Church is rebuked for making false judgments – If we judge people, how can the things we accuse them be true? Even when people do us wrong, we are not to judge them. It is inevitable that some of our judgments accurately reflect the circumstances, but that does not change the fact that our judgment is false in the eyes of God. We consider injustice to be one of the worst possible fates. No one enjoys being falsely accused or shamefully treated. No matter how we accuse our oppressors we are wrong in the eyes of God, in that He has previously commanded us to love our enemies; but if we are busy accusing them, then we have denied God's justice. What is Jesus’ remedy for this? We are to view our enemies as sinning against God and not against us. Regardless of how they have treated us, we are not to judge them. If we condemn our enemies, we are condemning the gospel that teaches we are all equally sinners. God doesn’t want us picking fights and squabbling over rights that our country has given us, but stay true to Christ, who has given us the right to become the children of God. If we lower ourselves to their level, we will bear their image and set aside the will of God. If we appeal to God’s grace and mercy we must accept being victims of our enemies and not their judges. See also: Unrighteous judgment; Mat 7-1,2; 48g Mat 7-1,2 (11g) Servant >> God’s standard is in proportion to our output (37a) Judgment Of God (Key verse for the entire chapter) – The Bible does not view God's judgment as negative, but as a positive attribute of His divine nature. The Bible depicts God judging the sin of the world through the purification of Christ's sufferings to qualify Him as a prince and judge of mankind. This chapter will help the reader understand the symbiotic relationship between God's judgment and His mercy through the cross, as the instrument that God uses to forgive those who seek His favor, or else to judge those who reject His grace. This chapter has a twin, "Authority", which elucidates God's willingness to delegate His authority to the Church. (48d) Levels Of Judgment (Key verse) (48g) Judgment >> Levels of judgment >> Judged according to your standard of measure – If we insist on being judgmental, God will in turn judge us according to our own standard of measure by which we judge others. This means we have some control of how much God judges us. It is an act of mercy that God should judge us now, rather than getting it after we die, after it is too late to repent. See also: Unrighteous judgment; Mat 7,3-5; 169d Mat 7,3-5 (169d) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world is blind to God >> Blinded by Satan’s thoughts >> Blinded by false judgments -- Those who see a speck in our eye and want to help us extract it cannot see past the log in their own eye. Likewise, if we pass false judgment, God sees us as the one with the log in our eye. Paying more attention to other people's sins than to our own has a blinding effect, so we cannot accurately see our own flaws, being masked by the flaws of others. If we are the children of God, and if we view those who oppress us as ignorant sinners, then we should expect them to oppress us, since darkness is naturally in conflict with light, as it is written, “Prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world” (Phi 2-15). Darkness hates the light; so worldly people have further reason to hate us. God is in the background watching everything that happens and weighing the motives. If we do His will and live our faith in the presence of our enemies, God will be able to use us to change the circumstances in His favor, of which we become beneficiaries, so others may see the light within us and be saved, that the Kingdom of God may grow and overtake darkness. See also: Unrighteous judgment; Mat 7,1-5; 17m Mat 7-6 (222a) Do Not Give What Is Holy To Dogs (Key verse) (222b) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Do not give what is holy to dogs >> God does not entrust his treasures to dogs >> God retrieves his treasures when sheep revert to dogs – Jesus said to the Scribes and Pharisees in Mk 2-17, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” This statement has a backward meaning, like nodding “yes” and saying no. Jesus was never forthright with the Pharisees; He never spoke plainly to them (except about His deity), simply because they didn’t deserve the truth or His respect. Psalm 18-25,26 says, “With the kind You show Yourself kind; with the blameless You show Yourself blameless; with the pure You show Yourself pure, and with the crooked You show Yourself astute.” Astute means: of keen penetration or discernment (Dictionary.com). What He meant was virtually the opposite of what he said. When He said “righteous”, He meant sinners, and when He said “sinners”, He meant those who would become righteous through faith in Him. Mat 7,7-11 (35e) Gift of God >> God is willing to Give >> Ask to receive -- The process of receiving from God is simple, just ask. Putting ourselves in a right state of mind and body so we can receive from Him is the hard part. (83b) Thy kingdom come >> Receiving from God through prayer >> Ask and it shall be given (227a) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Rewards of heaven >> God rewards us for obeying Him >> God rewards what we do for Him in secret -- A large part of obeying Christ is seeking Him as the sole source of our daily needs (being that He is the true source of everything). There is a firm foundation already laid in the hearts of those who trust God in this way. There are many people who ask God for things but don't expect to receive from Him from a lack of faith. Remember, Jesus' analogy was about a father and his son. The implication was that the son had a relationship with his father. That is why the son felt confident he would receive what he asked. His relationship with his father also helped him pick things that he thought his father would like him to have, increasing his confidence that he would receive his request. Mat 7,9-12 (208g) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being the friend of God >> Father & son relationship KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 7-11 (16b) Sin >> Man’s nature is instinctively evil >> Man is an enemy of God – Jesus made an assumption that everyone present at His hearing was evil. He knew every man and would know whether they were evil or not, but what would be the odds that every man, woman and child present was evil, unless there was a spiritual law stating that all mankind is evil? To say that there are some evil people and some good people, and that only evil people were there listening to Jesus would be very unlikely, especially when we wonder where all the good people were who would have wanted to listen to the Lord teaching? The only way to make sense of verse 11 is to declare all mankind evil. That is, everyone present was evil because there are no "good people," only faithful. (16d) Sin >> Man’s evil nature >> Disobedient to the will of God (83b) Thy kingdom come >> Receiving from God through prayer >> Ask and it shall be given Mat 7-12 (1b) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God/man >> Follow the golden rule (124e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love >> Acts of love >> Do to others as you would have them do to you – The Golden Rule was taken from Leviticus 19-18, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” It is a summary of the Old Testament, but it is not the only summary of the Old Testament that Jesus offered. Another is like it: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Deuteronomy 6-5), which summarizes the Ten Commandments. Most people would say that this is the first commandment delineated in Exodus chapter 20, but it isn’t. Rather, the first commandment goes like this: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (v3), which speaks of idolatry. It is the first commandment because idolatry is first in God’s mind as to what most offends Him. Jesus not only summarized the Old Testament, He also fulfilled it. In other passages when He was arguing with the religious establishment of His day, he asked them, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” The lawyer answered, “You shall love the lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself” (Lk 10,25-28). The question for us, then, is this: Did the lawyer come to this conclusion on his own, or did he borrow it from Jesus’ teachings that had no doubt been circulating by then? It is unlikely the lawyer derived this summary on his own, simply because Israel was not heading in this direction. The lawyer was a legalist and cared little to nothing about loving God and man, and so the lawyer quoted the Lord to appease the Lord, and Jesus answered him, “Do this and you will live” (Leviticus 18-5), but the lawyer wanting to justify himself said, ‘and who is my neighbor?’ which prompted Jesus to tell the story about the Good Samaritan. Not only did Jesus summarize and fulfill the Law and the prophets, He used them as a foundation for His ministry. In all His teachings, stories and parables He never once sidestepped or contradicted the Old Testament. Instead, He taught the intent of the Law. He didn’t have to explain the intent of the prophets, since their purpose was to show the intent of the Law in ancient times, and Israel refused to learn from them, so Jesus refocused Israel on the intent of the Law and fulfilled the prophets by giving Himself a holy sacrifice for the sins of the world. Mat 7-13,14 (47d) Judgment >> God Judges the world >> Hell is a place of destruction – Jesus used the word “destruction” here, and then in Mk 9-44 He said, “Where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.” Although it is a place of destruction, it is not a place of extermination or extinction. Rather, it is a place of perpetual destruction, a place where people continually die, meaning body and soul will forever ebb closer to death without ever dying. Here on earth we have bad situations and we eventually grow accustom to them, but in hell there will be no accommodating the conditions. Someone on his deathbed might take six months to die, getting worse and worse until he finally expires. In hell the same thing happens, only they never die. This continual death process is a bodily condition, plus it reflects their conscience continually tormented by memories of their past life regarding their unwillingness to worship and serve God, and regarding things they have said and done to other people. The permanence of hell will become a continual revelation and a forever deepening reality of never ending torment. In a billion years hell will be more terrifying than when they first arrived. (91l) The Narrow Way (Key verse) (92g) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> What kind of trail is this? >> Gate is small and few are those who find it -- It is easy to weave into the ways of the world, but it is much harder to find our way into the will of God. All of His commandments require us to put our flesh under subjection, except the very first commandment in Genesis, where God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. That commandment has been hardwired into our bodies, so it comes naturally. The rest of His commandments unfortunately oppose our sinful nature. For example, the greatest commandment is love, which is intrinsically selfless; but this flies in the face of our natural predisposition to be selfish. Most people simply follow the proclivities of the flesh, which inherently leads them away from the will of God. Therefore, if we want a relationship with Christ, we will have to swim against the current of the devil and his world, and against our fleshly inclinations. (93m) Thy kingdom come >> Following Jesus >> Exception >> Following evil along the broad way – This is probably the one verse in all the Bible that really puts in perspective who goes to heaven and who doesn’t. Many people confess Jesus as their savior. They pile into church every week, and they seem destined for heaven, but Jesus said the way is broad that leads to destruction and many are those who enter by it, and the way is narrow that leads to life and few are those who find it. They figure they are meeting their social needs and at the same time going to heaven when they die because they regularly attended church. Although going to church is a good thing, it is not how we get to heaven. 2Pet 1-10 says, “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble.” Paul said it too, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-unless indeed you fail the test?” (2Cor 13-5). (208d) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >> The expectations of God >> God expects us to follow Him – The narrow way has faith on one side and works on the other, and we need to balance these things, not going too far to the left where we trust in our faith with no works, or going too far to the right where we go through the motions of Christianity without believing in Jesus. Walking on that narrow way is both about believing and behaving as a Christian. If we do that Peter said, “In this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you” (2Pet 1-11). Salvation is like traversing a vast ocean; if we have been paying attention and diligently watching the sun by day and reading the stars by night, even if we run into a squall, we will find the milestones that we would expect to see, in this case a gate that is open wide to us. However, there are many who start from a distant harbor, and they don’t pay attention where they are going, and when they get to the other side, they see no gate that is open wide to them. Mat 7,15-23 (180d) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >> Be shrewd as wolves and more innocent than they appear >> Wolves in sheep’s clothing -- Beware of the works of the devil, which manifests through practicing the religion of witchcraft, performed by wolves and reprobates, who live as tares among the wheat, being zealous without knowledge through the wisdom of the world, which they use to excuse their sinful nature. Therefore, be shrewd as wolves and more innocent than they appear, who try to operate the Spirit without the word, because they are unwilling to obey the revelation from heaven or walk in God's ability. They are wolves in sheep's clothing, talkers among the walkers, whose resolution is without relationship. They have a religion against God, but in a vain do they strive to avoid hell. See also: False prophet; Mat 7,15-20; 128m KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 7,15-20 (128m) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Bearing fruit >> Evidence of your fruit >> Good fruit is proof that God is working in you -- People can argue our theology, but it is hard to argue with fruit. They might argue about the source, but good fruit is proof that something good is in us. A disciple of Jesus who has a sincere heart cannot produce bad fruit. That doesn’t mean he never sins, but in a way, that is what John was saying in his epistle, “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1Jn 3-9). Even a righteous man who loves God sins, but he doesn’t practice sin. Plants practice a certain fruit from year to year and never deviate from it. The apple tree produces apples and not cherries or grapefruit. A healthy cherry tree produces healthy cherries, but will occasionally produce an inedible one, representing the occasional sin, but all the rest of his works are righteous before God, which represents the vast majority of his fruit. However, none of the fruit of a false prophet is good, “for the bad tree produces bad fruit.” A good tree can produces an occasional bad apple, but a bad tree cannot produce an occasional good apple. See also: False prophet; 179f (157g) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being hell-bound >> Deceiving and being deceived >> Deceiving (179f) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >> False prophets >> False prophets preach works and deny Christ – What makes someone a false prophet? Most people maintain the criterion that if a person prophesies falsely, he is a false prophet, but Jesus didn’t mention the words of a false prophet; instead, He spoke about his works. Their works of darkness guarantee they have nothing to say that we need to hear. Jesus did not give us the daunting task of trying to discriminate between true prophets and false prophets, but gave us the very simple task of inspecting their fruit. Visually inspecting the apple, squeezing the orange, tapping on the melon and the false prophet is exposed. He could easily prophesy things that come to pass, but his unbecoming behavior reduces his fortune-telling to mere guessing. People are very shrewd when it comes to deceiving people, especially when the unrighteous mammon is dangling in front of them as their prize. It is not that hard to study Scripture and become proficient in the nomenclature of churchianity, but they cannot hide their works from us; they have no choice but to parade them for all to see. They try to fake good fruit; they put on their best clothes, shine their shoes, prop their smile and shake people’s hand and make sure everything they say is kosher by religious standards, but don't eat their fruit or believe what they say, for they hope we will get caught in their web of deception and fall prey to their views and become proselytes of a quagmire belief system. See also: False prophet; Mat 7,15-17; 76h Mat 7,15-17 (76h) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Living by a double standard – Even if false prophets tell us the truth, we should not listen to them. If they act like our friends, we should not trust them, because inwardly they are scheming ways of taking advantage of us. Notice that Jesus used thorn bushes and thistles in His analogy of false prophets, plants with prickers. If we get too close, they draw blood, painful company. With the raspberry, for example, their fruit invites us to approach, while their needles send the opposite message not to come near. Therefore, the so-called fruit of the false prophet representing their words act like bait, while their thorns are what they do. We often leave with less blood in our veins. These are professionals, who know better than we do how to manipulate people to lose in their exchanges, the bigger the promises the greater the losses. See also: False prophet; Mat 7-15; 179c Mat 7-15 (179c) Wolves (Key verse) – Wolves infiltrate the flock appearing to be sheep, but beneath their woolen façade they are “full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness” (Mat 23-27). Even in the safety of the flock there is danger just by virtue of being a defenseless, tasty sheep. Therefore, we must beware of imposters and those who call themselves Christians (Rev 3-9). In the fold of the sheep with the shepherd overseeing, we still cannot let down our guard but must remain vigilant. What is the motive of a false brother who would enter the doors of the Church posing as a sheep of God’s pasture? Their only motive is control. They hope to obtain leadership positions so they can edit the doctrines and teach the people not to be wary of them, and make them believe they are true Christians who love the Lord, based on their doctrines. Eventually and ultimately a wolf’s goal is financial gain. They want to make a living at being a wolf. See also: False prophet; Mat 7,21-23; 181i Mat 7,16-20 (156a) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of salvation >> You will know them by their fruits >> You will know them by their productivity – Jesus was mostly talking about the fruits of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal 5-22,23). It should be noted that the fruits of the Spirit can be counterfeited for a season, and so Jesus was talking about producing the fruits of the Spirit on a consistent basis. Eventually the imposter will expose his inner person for all to see. It has been said that the only fruit of the Spirit that cannot be counterfeited is “Joy”. A person can pretend to be patient for a while, kind for a little while, exhibit self-control in isolated circumstances, but he cannot produce these fruits consistently for any length of time if it is not in his heart to do so, if God is not in his heart. His fleshly nature is to bear fruit that opposes this list, but the Jesus-smile cannot be replicated, because it is produced through the hope of eternal life. Although we are going through hard times now, facing difficulties, confronting unscalable hurdles, yet our Jesus smile manages to shine though it all. When we first meet somebody, we cannot know they are Christians right away; we must spend time with them to get a feel for the fruit they consistently produce. Those who consistently produce bad fruit are not Christians; that is what Jesus said. They claim to be Christian and believe in God, though they have inconsistencies in their lives, and they make excuses for themselves about their behavior. No doubt we all have bad days, and sometimes we react instead of respond. We do things we shouldn’t do and say things we shouldn’t say, and sometimes it happens in a flash before we even have a chance to think about it. These things are an exception to the rule, an exception to our lives, in that we generally bear good fruit. We prove our faith, not by being perfect but by being consistent. Nobody is perfect, though Jesus said, “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Mat 5-48). God’s definition of perfection is to be without sin, whereas His definition for us is: striving against sin. We consistently strive against sin, in that when we sin, we repent and continue, and in that way we are perfect like God, though we have a sinful nature and step out of line occasionally. What makes us perfect before God is our desire to be like Him through our acceptance of Jesus’ blood sacrifice as propitiation for all sin (1Jn 1-9). Mat 7,19-23 (209c) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Counterfeit relationship through religion >> I never knew you Mat 7-19 (47b) Judgment >> God Judges the world >> Hell is a place of sorrow >> It is a great fire prepared for the devil and his angels >> burning site where people are thrown away KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 7,21-23 (40a) Judgment >> Jesus is the judge >> Jesus judges the world’s unbelief – This is a passage about the White Throne Judgment. Many will say to Him on that day: “Did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?” Jesus’ verdict was, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” We know that the Church will always be with the Lord (1The 4-17), and by this we know that these people were not Christians. Jesus is depicting worldly leaders in the Church claiming to be prophets, exorcists and miracle workers, but in reality they were confidence men, charlatans and frauds. They convinced themselves they were miracle workers, yet somewhere in their crooked little hearts they knew they were hucksters. (172f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Tares among the wheat >> Hypocrites among the just >> Talkers among the walkers (173c) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >> Scripture that contradicts the catholic faith >> Catholic doctrine versus the Bible (176h) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Zeal without knowledge (Spirit w/o the word) >> Resolution without relationship (181i) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Self deception >> Imaginary perception of self >> Pretending to be someone you’re not – Many will believe they are Christians according to the things Jesus mentioned, meaning they will base their faith on their own deceptions. They claimed to have performed miracles, such as putting a perfectly healthy person in a wheelchair and having her stand among a throng of witnesses, and then using these examples in their defense at the White Throne Judgment, proving they had deceived themselves. Deceiving one's self is not hard to do. It seems difficult if not impossible to convince ourselves of something when we know it’s fake, yet people do it all the time; in fact the world itself is a mere interpretation of reality. People are very adept at convincing themselves that their lies are true; all it takes is motive, and then presto-chango, what was once a figment of the imagination is now truth, and they live by their own lies. What is spookier, this is not a rare occurrence. If it were rare, Jesus would not have mentioned it, but it found a place in Scripture because it is common, and therefore possible it has happened to us at some time. If we are not diligently monitoring our heart, our imaginations can take on flesh and look just like us with ulterior motives. There is a popular saying, ‘The best way to lie to someone is to believe it yourself.’ These are swindlers and scam artists deceiving those in the Church for fame and fortune. Paul said in 2Tim 3-13, “Evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” The fact that they were trying to deceive Jesus at their judgment says what they don't know about God; they were deceived to the very core of their being. They thought, ‘This is just another guy, we schmoozed hundreds of people; we can schmooze Him too,’ but it won't work. See also: False prophet; Mat 7,15-23; 180d (186a) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> Blasphemy >> Unwilling to obey the revelation from heaven >> Unwilling to walk in God’s ability (195j) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Lord, Lord >> Lip service (201c) Denying Christ >> Whoever is not with Jesus is against him >> You are against Christ when your unbelief materializes >> If your heart is not with Him your deeds are against Him (208j) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being married to God >> Knowing God >> Sharing intimacy with Him – Jesus answered them, “I never knew you;” they didn’t expect that answer; they didn’t know what He meant until they were ushered from His presence by strong angels and thrown into the abyss. The words they heard from the last sane person they will ever meet will forever ring in their ears, “I never knew you,” so now they get to spend eternity thinking about what that means. What does it mean that Jesus never knew them? He didn't know them in the sense that they were not His children; rather, they were children of the devil. The Church is called the bride of Christ; this level of intimacy refers to spiritual intercourse. Jesus was saying, ‘I never had spiritual intercourse with you. You are not a member of My wife’s body.’ This is the relationship that God has with His people. God created man and woman so that people could understand the relationship He wants with His people in eternity. (217h) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> I never knew you >> Because you never did His will -- People can hide in the Church and go unnoticed for years. They might go to every church meeting and be on the board of directors. They might believe certain things about God, but they don't actually believe in Him. Some people appear to have strong faith, while others are clearly in bondage to various hang-ups, which make them appear that they don't believe, but God knows those who are His (2Tim 2-19). We know that God is omniscient, yet Jesus is saying “I never knew you,” which suggests a type of knowledge that is different from knowing all things. He is saying, ‘I never had a relationship with you.’ Putting it in a sexual context “I never knew you” is like a man who knows a woman. The Bible says that God places His Spirit in us, like a man deposits his seed in a woman during sexual intercourse, which her body uses to conceive and bear children, so God places His seed in us that we might bear fruit for Him (1Pet 1-23), and they were unfruitful whom He did not know. (223i) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Miss God >> Missing the mark >> Miss heaven KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 7-22,23 (67f) Authority >> Jesus delegates authority >> Name of Jesus >> Performing miracles in Jesus’ name – There is a world of difference between what the Bible says about the name of Jesus and what many people believe about His name. Before we lay hands on another person in the name of Jesus, we need to understand that the power of God is in the person of Christ, not in His name. So long as everyone knows that we are casting out demons or healing diseases through the power of Christ and not through some other entity, it is not necessary to reiterate His name with vocal gestures. Many use the name of Jesus as it were a hammer on an anvil or a weapon in battle, expecting the demons to flee in fear, but what does Heb 1-3 say? “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.” The Bible speaks about the word of His power, not the ‘power of His word.’ To put the cart before the horse linguistically in this manner is to demonstrate our lack of knowledge of God’s truth. If the name of Jesus had intrinsic power, people would have destroyed themselves with it long ago. His name does not have power as though the letters and phonemes that compose His name produce the power of God when put together; the name only refers to the person of Jesus Christ, who is the repository of God’s infinite power. (154a) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> God bears witness against the world >> No excuse >> There is no excuse for rejecting Christ (217g) I Never Knew You (Key verse) Mat 7-22 (166d) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Wisdom of the world >> Man’s wisdom excuses his sinful nature >> Have a religion to avoid hell Mat 7-23 (20e) Sin >> Nature of sin >> Having a hardened heart – Some people have hearts of stone resembling a children’s game called “Living Statues.” The game is played with a leader in the middle with eyes shut and all the players dancing around her, until she cries “Stop!” Then all the players must stop in whatever position at that instant. According to the game, Christ is our leader and we are all dancing around Him, and on the day of our death we stop dancing and become like living statues, unable to change, and after this comes judgment. The wicked can say they are willing to mend their ways, but their life-choices have become an eternal decision they cannot change, and they will have to live forever in that state of rebellion against God that was their reality on the day of their death. See also: Hell; 47i (47i) Judgment >> God Judges the world >> Hell is the absence of God – Those in attendance at the White Throne Judgment will have no place in heaven. Hell has many descriptions and one of them is being outside (Rev 22-15). Hell is a place where all sinners are gathered, and “these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2The 1-9). Hell is God’s statement to the wicked, ‘If you don’t want me to rule over you, then I will give you a kingdom of your own without Me in it.’ That might sound exactly what they wanted, until they get there and discover their kingdom with every aspect of God removed. Then they will come to the realization that every good thing they enjoyed in this life came from the hand of God (Jm 1-17), and that heaven must be a wonderful place. Then the residence of hell will discover the true meaning of "angst", a short word for anxiety but is more than that. Angst is a state of depression that will never be resolved. They wouldn’t be happy in heaven and they won’t be happy in hell; sin is never happy anywhere. Hell is a place of great mourning and misery, but at least they got their way. Maybe that will make it all worthwhile. See also: Hell; 64a / Anxiety (angst); Mat 22,11-14; 222h (64a) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Limits of God >> God cannot tolerate sin >> He cannot allow unbelief in His presence – Many think that eternal suffering in hell is just too severe a sentence for God to impose on anybody, but what else is God supposed to do with those who hate Him? Some say that the damned should be annihilated, but God originally created man an eternal being in His image. Although hell is indeed a judgment from God, it is not something He institutionalized as much as it is a mere consequence of God removing Himself from an environment that He designated for the wicked. To make a place for them apart from Himself by definition implies sorrow, anguish and horror. People who go to hell have chosen not to be a part of God’s kingdom and not to live under His authority, having chosen instead to live by their own authority. The wicked who stand before Christ at the White Throne Judgment may voice that they were sorry for their sins and are willing to change their ways and be part of God’s kingdom, but they will discover that repentance is impossible for them and that God cannot remove sin from them without also removing their free will, which He is unwilling to do, for it would not fit God’s vision of a people He created to freely love and worship Him. See also: Hell; 20e KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 7,24-27 (106h) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Means of hearing from God >> Through His Son – All who hear the words of Jesus and act upon them, as Jesus said and as James said, are blessed in what they do (Jm 1,22-25). Since God never promised a life devoid of adversity to those who serve Him, He walks with us through tribulation, so we have God’s promise that we will emerge on the other side spiritually unscathed. However, when a person falls away from the faith, it ends differently. Tribulation is one thing, but the house that falls as a result of tribulation is another. What must we do to avoid falling away from our faith? A person can try real hard not to fall, but if he has built his house on the sand, its fall is inevitable. See also: Blasphemy; 114a (114a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Obeying the Holy Spirit >> Believing the Father by obeying the Son >> Obeying Jesus’ word – This is the reason people are afraid to interact with God: they doubt they would obey Him, and they instinctively know they would be safer at a distance. They are afraid to mature in the things of God and know themselves well enough that if they heard His voice, they wouldn't obey Him. To resist the Holy Spirit is spiritual suicide. God may have spoken to them many times, yet they never acknowledged Him. They do this to evade accountability, but this does not protect them from God, for He will judge them for evading Him. A person who resists the Holy Spirit is like someone who turns off the light and then stumbles over the furniture and blames the darkness. We should not harbor willful ignorance in our heart, and we cannot deny the the Holy Spirit without lying to God. These are things that destroy our faith. A person who is truly committed to God would never make these mistakes; rather, we obey Him because it makes us feel secure. All the people of faith in the New Testament lived and walked by the Spirit; in contrast, we know many people in our time whose faith collapsed, and we wonder what happened. Paul explained it to us; they resisted the Holy Spirit and suffered shipwreck in regard to the faith (1Tim 1-19). See also: Blasphemy; 137b / Denying the truth we know is from God; Mat 26-31; 37b (137b) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Jesus is the foundation >> Jesus is the rock of the Church’s foundation – Jesus promised that if we established our lives upon the rock of faith, we would not be moved. In contrast, those who read their Bibles and hear the voice of God but discount Him say they could not be sure it was Him. They could not commit their lives to something so nebulous as an inaudible voice, though it thundered in their hearts when He spoke. They had the experience, but they doubted and ultimately denied that these things ever happened, because they didn’t believe in the ways of God. His standpoint is this: they knew in their hearts it was He who spoke to them, because nobody else can speak to them the way He speaks (Jn 7-46). No other voice sounds like His. The devil is a counterfeiter, but He cannot counterfeit the voice of God, because he would never tell us what God would tell us. Jesus said that His sheep know His voice. When Satan counterfeits God's voice, he says things that God would not tell us. See also: Blasphemy; Mat 7-26,27; 207e (190da) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Masochism (Self-made martyr) >> Spiritual suicide (207g) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >> The Kingdom of God >> Investing in the Kingdom of God -- When Jesus referred to building your house on the rock, He was referring to making a life decision to follow Him, committing ourselves wholeheartedly, investing all. We can weather any storm if we do this, but if we don't, He promised the next storm will wipe out whatever we build on a half-hearted faith. Mat 7-24,25 (79h) Thy kingdom come >> Know the word >> Practice listening to God’s word so you can hear it – We must understand the Scriptures through the Spirit of God; if we don’t, the Bible is just another book. Men who wrote the words of the Bible were inspired by the Holy Spirit, yet when they penned the words, the anointing could not be transferred to the page. Since the Holy Spirit was involved on the writers’ end of the Bible, He must also be involved on the readers’ end. When God gives grace to His word and we understand it by the Spirit, He is able to speak to us and reveal His word and His will. “'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev 2-7,11,17,29; 3-6,13,22). If we obey Him, we will hear Him all the more. Mat 7-25 (165i) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Hardship >> Circumstances caused by the devil – Some people think that because they believe in God, He should give them preferential treatment that He should throw out the red-carpet for them and lead them around all the obstacles and difficulties and troubles, so they can lead a simple and easy life, full of joy and happiness, but in fact Jesus promised just the opposite. The rains will come and the winds will blow and the floods will slam against our lives; there is no avoiding it. The question is not whether these things will happen or should happen but whether we will stand victoriously against these forces. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 7-26,27 (167k) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Do not conform to the world’s unbelief – We need to build our faith on a solid foundation, but if the structure itself is no good, it could still be destroyed in a violent storm. When Jesus spoke this parable, He assumed that the builders knew what they were doing. Anybody who would attempt to build a house would give it their best effort, because nobody wants to live in a shabby house, and why would anybody invest the time, trouble and expense of constructing a house on shifting sand? If they knew anything about building a house, why didn’t they know the foundation needed to be sound? This is the first thing all construction workers must consider, yet Jesus said that this is a very common mistake that people make, maybe not in the construction business, but in relation to God. (186c) The fool (Key verse) (186d) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> The fool throws Jesus away for something better >> The world betrayed the Lord -- There are a number of ways to develop a reprobate mind (someone who cannot be saved). People are more convinced by their own thoughts than they are by the words of Christ. These are often industrious people who never stopped and do any serious thinking about the things that really matter. They see life as one dimensional, physical, what they see is all that exists. To them there is no spirit realm. They have tunnel vision and are locked into a worldly mindset, and everyone who thinks unlike them is wrong. Talk to someone like this about Jesus and we will get stonewalled. See also: Atheism, the Religion of unbelief (Secular humanism); Mat 12-30; 200l (201b) Denying Christ >> Whoever is not with Jesus is against him >> You are against Christ when your unbelief materializes >> Our disobedience is against Christ (207e) Salvation >> God makes promises on His terms >> Eternal security? >> God Himself will tear you down – The voice of the Holy Spirit is something that reverberates in our heart like an earthquake that causes structurally inferior buildings to collapse, so that only those buildings that were properly constructed on the rock of Christ will remain. The voice of the Holy Spirit can have the same effect as trials and tribulations if we don’t obey the Holy Spirit, but those which are properly built on a solid foundation of truth, faith and obedience will stand against any force thrown against it. When the trials and tribulations come to test us, our faith has already been tested by the voice of God. If His voice does not destroy us, then all of Satan’s power can never rattle our windows. Many people have heard the voice of God and it destroyed their lives, because “it was not united by faith in those who heard” (Heb 4-2). What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. See also: Blasphemy; Mat 7,24-27; 106h Mat 7-28,29 (239h) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Teachers >> Teachers are construction workers >> Jesus is a teacher (255d) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> God’s word is Spirit >> Jesus is the word of the Spirit >> Jesus is the authority of God’s word – The Bible teaches that Jesus is the word of God, and that the Holy Spirit reveals His word to us. When we put these together, we see that Jesus is the physical embodiment of the Holy Spirit, who is the spiritual equivalent of Christ. They are essentially one and the same; whatever the Holy Spirit says is what Jesus would say if He were with us. When He lived in the flesh, the Holy Spirit was greater than Jesus, but now that He ascended to the Father and is seated at His right-hand, Jesus now discloses Himself to us through the Holy Spirit. In one respect, when Jesus spoke about His Father, He was actually speaking about the Holy Spirit, but the fact that He called Him Father indicates that He was speaking about someone beyond the Holy Spirit. There is a third entity of the trinity whom Jesus called His Father, and we don’t know anything about Him, except that Jesus came to reveal Him. _________________________________ MATTHEW CHAPTER 8 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 8,1-3 (121f) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Hope >> Expectation >> Expecting good things based on God’s character >> Expectation based on God’s generosity -- Hope expects to receive from God based on our belief that He is willing to give personally to us. We will never be worthy in ourselves to receive anything from God, except that He has made us worthy. We need to realize this, so we can accept His truth and receive His gifts. Mat 8-1 (93l) Thy kingdom come >> Following Jesus >> The multitude follow Jesus (143l) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> It is popular to follow Jesus Mat 8-2,3 (144i) Healing (Key verse) (144j) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Healing >> Methods of healing >> Healed by Jesus’ touch -- These verses go with verses 14&15. The leprous man approached Jesus in a way that challenged His willingness to heal him. God sent His Son to preach the gospel, cleanse the lepers, heal the sick, give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf and raise the dead. The Old Testament Scriptures stated that it was the will of His Father that He should do this, and so Jesus said to the leper, "I am willing; be cleansed." It was His Father’s commandment to heal the sick, yet some of those whom He healed probably attended His crucifixion and cried with the crowd, “Crucify Him.” See also: Healing; Mat 8-3; 123e Mat 8-3 (123e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love >> Spiritual affection >> Compassion >> Being willing because you are able – Before He healed the leper, the man said, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." This was his declaration of faith. Question: which is more important, Jesus' willingness or His ability to heal? If He wasn't willing, it wouldn't matter if He was able; and if He wasn't able, it wouldn't matter if He was willing, and so they are equally important. Jesus fed over five thousand people with what few resources were available to Him at the time (Mat 14,13-21). The ability to keep pulling bread from a small basket enough to feed a multitude and His willingness to do it was the work of God. God can enable us to do great things for God, but unless we are willing to work with Him, nothing gets done. Our willingness to obey God is just as important as His ability. See also: Healing; Mat 8-16,17; 145c (248a) Priorities >> God’s priorities >> The will of God >> We play our part in the will of God >> Knowing the will of God -- See verses 1-3 for commentary. Mat 8-4 -- No Entries KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 8,5-13 (114a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Obeying the Holy Spirit >> Believing the Father by obeying the Son >> Obeying Jesus’ word – This is one of the greatest verses about faith in the Bible, though Heb 11-1 supplies the actual definition of faith. This passage illustrates the essence of faith in that the centurion demonstrated his knowledge of Jesus' relationship with His father, accentuating the fact that Jesus' submission to Him was the source of His power. What does that mean for us? If Jesus was submitted to His Father, how much more should we be submitted to Christ before we will see His hand move in our lives? Submission is the secret to faith and to the power of God, and there is no other act of submission greater than prayer, and there is no better way to pray than according to the word of God, and there is no other way to know the word of God than to study it for yourself. Therefore, if you want to see God's hand move in your life, submit to God, study His word and develop a life of prayer. (145a) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Healing >> Methods of healing >> Healed by speaking the word Mat 8,5-10 (13b) Servant >> Jesus serves His Father >> Jesus is under His authority – This is perhaps the single most revealing passage in the Bible, illustrating the power behind being a servant. When we are subjected to someone in authority we become a vehicle of that authority. Jesus was a perfect example of this; He submitted to the Father and became a vehicle of the Father's authority. These verses exemplify the Father's willingness to delegate His authority. People can do more when they organize a pyramid of authority through delegation, eventually getting the job done, as opposed to the top brass doing all the work themselves. Everything that gets done though a hierarchy of authority is ultimately attributed to the person at the top of the pyramid. We know that God could wave His hand and accomplish more than the whole world could do in a thousand years, but God does not want to work that way; he wants to get us involved in what He is doing, that we may share in His glory. Mat 8-11,12 (47g) Judgment >> God Judges the world >> Hell is a place of darkness (211b) Salvation >> Jews and gentiles are being saved >> Gentiles included >> God gives the Gentiles Israel’s place (221c) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> God hides from man’s ignorance >> God denies His kingdom to those who cannot find Him – Jesus made this statement in response to the centurion whose servant was sick, who told Jesus, you don’t need to come to my house, “Just say the word, and my servant will be healed,” telling Jesus that he was familiar with authority and was aware that Jesus operated under the authority of His Father (Mat 8-8). He answered in verse 10, “I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.” Jesus equated faith with understanding His position as under His Father’ authority. He was also prophesying that Israel would deny the purpose of God for themselves and would lose their position as leader of the nations in things pertaining to God. Many Jews would lose their souls, and the gentiles would take their place in managing the gospel throughout the age of grace. (224e) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Description of heaven >> The joyful kingdom >> The marriage supper of the lamb – People will converge on the Kingdom of Heaven from all directions and recline at the table that was set for them with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The fact that the gentiles came from east and west refers to the First Resurrection/Rapture, and the fact that they reclined at the table refers to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. What we have in this passage is the sequence of events that will occur in the last days, so if anyone asks when the Marriage Supper of the Lamb occurs, we can confidently say: after the First Resurrection/Rapture. Mat 8-13 (226k) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Rewards of heaven >> God rewards us for obeying Him >> Rewarded for believing in God Mat 8-14,15 (144j) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Healing >> Methods of healing >> Healed by Jesus’ touch -- These verses go with verses 2&3 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 8-16,17 (145c) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Healing >> Jesus healed them all – People want to be healed for the sake of being healed, but the healing itself must take a backseat to God’s purpose as a sign, and if a sign, then it must signify something specific and important. After a healing, people get excited to tell everybody what happened, but that doesn’t necessarily bring glory to God; what brings glory to God is the truth and souls being saved and the Kingdom of God advancing in the world. If healing will not accomplish these things, then the healing simply will not occur. This is why so few people have been healed over the millennia, because man has diverted from the truth; the gospel has been maligned; everyone believes in his own opinions, and we don’t know what to believe. There are so many denominations in the world; the last thing God wants is to do is glorify confusion. How do we know who to believe? Knowing the truth and performing signs and wonders seems all that is necessary, yet there is something lacking, a divine work of God in the world. For someone to know the truth and heal somebody is an isolated event and will not spark a movement of restoration. There is no one behind him or in front of him or beside him, and for this reason his work will go unnoticed, and eventually the miracle will be discounted and forgotten. See also: Healing; 209i (209i) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our sacrifice >> Jesus paid the price for us >> Jesus paid our ransom with His own blood – Jesus cast out demons and healed all who were sick as a precursor to His crucifixion, knowing that He would go to the cross and pay the penalty of man’s sin, which is the ultimate cause of his infirmities. Jesus was God in human flesh; He could do anything; nevertheless, forgiveness and healing were purchased on the cross. It says that He carried away our infirmities; He took them upon Himself on the cross, but once He died, the Bible teaches He temporarily went to hell, and while He was there He dropped His payload of all man’s sin, those who would repent and believe in Him and those who would not, so their sins are waiting for them in hell when they arrive, where sickness and disease belong. See also: Demon possession; Mat 8-17; 141e / Healing; Mat 8-17; 141e Mat 8-16 (66j) Authority >> Jesus’ authority >> His words are the authority of God -- This verse goes with verse 27 (146e) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Deliverance from demon possession >> Casting out spirits with a word Mat 8-17 (141e) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophesy about Jesus’ ministry >> Jesus as the healer – One of the complaints that some people have of others not being healed after much prayer is that they must be committing sin, but this is a bogus complaint. Before Jesus came, sickness, disease, infirmities and demon possession were rampant, and after He went back to heaven, sickness and disease were still rampant, so we could say Jesus hardly put a dent in it. He may have helped Israel to a degree, but the rest of the world was still sick and infirm. The only reason Jesus healed anybody was because it was the Father’s will to fulfill prophecy and to prove Jesus’ identity. Without God’s willingness, nobody can be healed. It was the Father’s will that Jesus healed everybody who came to him. Signs, wonders and miracles come at a time when God is doing a work in the world. They don’t happen whimsically by the will of man, but sovereignly by the will of God. Throughout the ages God has sporadically healed people on a case-by-case basis, but when God performs a work, He will demonstrate His power and glory and authenticate His message and punctuate messengers and prove the work that God is doing in the world. When that time comes, His servants need only speak the word, and it will be done. They will lay their hands on people and they will be healed. The Father wanted Jesus to heal everyone who came to Him to authenticate Him as His Son and as Israel’s Messiah, and to authenticate the word of God that came from His lips, so people could believe in Him. See also: Demon possession; Mat 8,28-34; 46l / Healing; Mat 8-2,3; 144j KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 8-18 -- No Entries Mat 8,19-23 (5h) Responsibility >> Discipleship tested >> God tests your loyalty >> Your commitment to follow Jesus – Jesus said, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.” When the Lord calls, we are to follow Him immediately or not bother following him at all. When Jesus calls, we must be ready to go, like people who join the National Guard or the militia. They are on-call, and when they are called, they immediately drop everything and go. Jesus expects the same from His disciples. Mat 8-19,20 (232e) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >> Count the cost >> Assess the property before you buy it – When we think about this statement, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head,” birds don’t always live in nests, except when they are breeding. The mother and father bird mate and then build a nest; the mother deposits her eggs in the nest and then sits on them, incubating them until they hatch, and then they feed the baby birds until they mature enough to fly from the nest, and once that is complete, the parent birds abandon the nest. From then they sleep wherever they can find a convenient twig, and this is similar to Jesus occasionally sleeping in houses, whereas other nights he slept on the hard ground. He and His disciples must have carried a bag full of necessary items, traveling between houses and cities. They would get off the trail a ways, set up camp, roll out their beds, build a fire, eat dinner and tell stories until it was time for bed, but when they came to a city that received Him, they would stay in houses, perhaps have their own room and accommodations, and they stayed in that house the whole time they were in town, and when they moved on, they were back sleeping on the ground. Mat 8-21,22 (53c) Paradox >> Opposites >> Of life and death >> Die trying to live Mat 8-22 (25l) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> You’re walking in death if you’re not walking in Jesus (93f) Thy kingdom come >> Following Jesus >> Leaving everything behind to follow Him – God will sow a word in our heart and it will stay with us for life, and we will muse on it for years. It might be about making a commitment to follow Jesus and become His disciple. That spiritual revelation is in us, but sometimes we don’t know how to make it happen. We are essentially paralyzed; we have no direction or idea what we are doing, and even if we went to church and had the pastor explain to us what we needed to do, it might not help. Then the Holy Spirit returns one day and calls us into service, and we immediately respond, because He has the plan for our life. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 8,23-27 (5f) Responsibility >> Discipleship tested >> God tests your faith through hardship – Difficult times often accompany the follower of Jesus, like steel to a magnet. It comes with associating with the epitome of righteousness in a world of evil. There are certain things that God wants us to do, things that offend the world that has an evil tyrant residing over it, who hates God and anyone who loves Him. Our only safety is a closer walk with Jesus who made us enemies of the devil in the first place, and those who love God wouldn't have it any other way. See also: Rev 3,15-18; 94n for further commentary. (117d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Rest in Jesus (Sabbath) >> Let Jesus do the work >> Let Him work on your circumstances -- Sometimes we run into problems that require us to ask God for help; and although we prefer to solve our own problems, we are not big enough to solve them all. There are times when we must sit back and let God work on our behalf, but we must not enter the trap of waiting for God while He is waiting for us. Other times we ask God for help after we have exhausted all other options, thinking it is easier to believe when there is no other choice. That does not glorify God or increase our faith; we need to realize before we get to that point that faith is all we have. (126g) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Peace in the midst of the storm -- Jesus had peace that the world will never know, a peace that He died to share with His beloved disciples who believe in Him. Who else could be asleep in a boat in the midst of a storm? Jesus knew He was safe because His Father would never let anything happen to Him (except what He came to do), the fact was so deeply embedded into Him that He could lie down without any concern for His physical limitations. This is the level of peace that He wants to convey to us. (147c) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> God exercises authority over His creation – Ironically, Jesus never tried telling His enemies to be quiet because He had no control over them, but He could control the sea. People get mad at God because He allows tragedies, usually at the hands of their fellow man. People curse God for man's wickedness, though He had nothing to do with it, except to give man a will to do whatever He wants. If God stopped people from their actions every time they misbehaved, they would get in God’s face and scream for their freedom back. God will have no choice but to end the age of man's reign on earth when interfering is required, which will happen in the last days, and He will end it when the time comes and no sooner. This is what people don’t understand; when they ask God to intervene, they are asking Him to infringe on their God-given will, which is one of his attributes that characterizes man as being made in His image. God will not tamper with that, in that doing so would undermine His purpose of creating man in the first place. For God to physically stop people from their actions would turn them into robots. He can stop the storm from raging, but He can't stop man from rebelling without redefining him. In His heavenly kingdom we will have a perfected soul in a perfect body in a perfect creation where sin cannot exist, and we will retain the sovereignty over our own will without sinning against God. After many life-lessons God can give us a will to do whatever we want without using it against Him. We will know sin and choose not to partake of it, being more like God than what Adam and Eve could say. See also: Adam (Man is free); Rom 6-15,16; 161l (164f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >> Satan’s system of authority >> He is the prince of the power of the air -- The sea represents the world, and the wind is the devil; he is the prince of the power of the air. The waves represent people, the boat represents the Church, Jesus lying down asleep represents the Holy Spirit in our hearts prior to His second coming, and finally tapping Him on the shoulder and rousing Him from His slumber represents prayer. Therefore, when the world becomes volatile and threatens to exterminate both Jews and Christians to extinction, don't just fret about it, awaken the living one within you who can do something about it. See also: Last days (Martyrdom of the Saints); Rev 18,1-8; 160a (171l) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance of circumstances Mat 8,24-27 (245l) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations of the devil >> Manifestation of the prince of the power of the air – It would seem strange for God to finish with His creation, then come down here and be battered by it, but that is exactly what happened, not by the wind and the waves but by man. He wasn't going to let just anything beat up on Him, but limited His suffering only to the creation He came to save, and anything else that tried to take advantage of Him He used to reveal His glorious identity by overcoming it by the power of God. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 8-25,26 (90b) Thy kingdom come >> God convicts us >> Conviction leads us in the way of faith -- Conviction is one of the the ways God uses to awaken us to the Holy Spirit, and sometimes He uses adversity as a catalyst to speed up the process. Sometimes we won't pay attention to Him until we run into trouble; that is why Jesus was asleep. Mat 8-26 (20g) Sin >> Doubt is the consequence of the fear of death – The disciples were afraid for their lives though they had Jesus in their boat, asleep. Being fishermen, they wanted to show Jesus how to navigate the trepid waters, but they had never seen a storm like this. When they were soon to lose their boat and their lives, they turned to Jesus at the last moment. Swallowing water and their pride, they asked a carpenter to help them across the Sea of Galilee. Mat 8-27 (66j) Authority >> Jesus’ authority >> His words are the authority of God -- This verse goes with verse 16 Mat 8,28-34 (46l) Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Jesus casts out demons – Many people don’t believe in the existence of demons, but Jesus did, and He regularly wrestled with them, not only exorcising them from other people but wrestling with them in His own temptations. The professional arena is where probably the secular world most experiences demons in the fields of psychology and psychiatry, trying to help people find their way in this life after they have succumbed to spiritual bondage. There are too many accounts of demon possession to deny them all. Demons are opportunists by nature. What psychologists and psychiatrists say about those who appear to be demon possessed is that they are suffering from a brain malady, perhaps epilepsy or some other spastic disorder. There are all kinds of expressions of satanic possession, while their brains express the same descriptions that we read in the Bible regarding demon possession. The professional world treats the disease while the Church treats the underlying spiritual affliction. The fact that Jesus cast out demons from these two men doesn’t rule out a brain disease, and a person with a brain disease doesn’t rule out the possibility of demon possession; they both could be happening at the same time. Jesus’ answer to demon possession was to cast out the demons and then the person to obey the word of God and live for Jesus. Jesus denied the man's request to travel with Him and remained in his homeland and became a living testimony of the power of God to the surrounding region, so when Jesus returned, the man tilled the soil of people's hearts and made them ready to receive the word of God planted to save their souls. If they also had a brain malady, the Lord must have healed that too. Jesus gave them a sound mind, so the demons could not return. See also: Demon possession; 146f (146f) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Deliverance from demon possession >> Casting out violent demons -- If you ever wondered why these two stories were written back to back (Jesus calmed the sea and delivered the men from demon possession), casting out violent demons must be much like being on a lake during a bad storm; imagine what it must be like for the person who has the demons! The movie “The Exorcist” ended with the demon possessing the assistant priest. The Catholic clergy were having trouble making the demon leave the girl; the original priest was killed, and the assistant as a last ditch effort offered the demon to possess him instead of the girl, but it was a trick, for the man immediately jumped out the second-story window and committed suicide, being the only way he knew to help the girl, so the trick was on the man. This is similar to the story regarding the demons leaving the two men and entering the swine and rushing into the water to drown, which is no doubt where the show got their idea, but the point is that such things are real. When a demon is exorcised, the question in the demon’s mind is, ‘Where do I go from here?’ Demons don’t like being evicted from their homes without having somewhere else to go. Demons prefer living in a body. We need to remember that demons are disembodied spirits, and so are people who die. This is the reason for the First Resurrection. All spirits prefer a body, so they can manipulate the world around them. Our bodies are literally the house of our spirit. For a spirit not to have a body probably gives the feeling of being lost with nowhere to go in a big world or to be caught in the rain without a roof over their head. See also: Demon possession; Mat 8-32; 25f KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 8-28,29 (47a) Judgment >> God Judges the world >> Hell is a place of sorrow >> It is a great fire prepared for the devil and his angels >> The lake of fire Mat 8-29 (146d) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Demon possession >> Human state >> They know the Holy Spirit Mat 8-31,32 (65a) Paradox >> Anomalies >> God helps Satan >> Jesus answers the devil’s prayer -- It is puzzling why Jesus listened to the devil's request, let alone granted it, similar to God listening to the devil in the book of Job. There is a great lesson here about prayer: If God is willing to answer the devil's prayer, how much more is He willing to answer our prayers? This proves how moved He gets through entreaty and prayer; it is very effective because we are praying to a God who listens! Mat 8-32 (25f) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Satan and his children are murderers – When Jesus allowed these demons to inhabit the swine, they immediately ran down the steep bank and were drown. We would think they would appreciate living in a body, though it was a pig’s body; it is still better than nothing. When a demon possesses a body, it does not have absolute control over the individual whose body they have possessed; that is, the demons cannot completely override the will of the person; for this reason the two men ran to Jesus, exercising their will against the demons who possessed them. The demons were not interested in meeting Jesus at all, but they had no choice when the men came to the Lord. When they arrived in His presence, the demons spoke for the men, which we see as two wills fighting against each other, the demons being the mouthpiece in disregard of the men, and the men physically coming to Jesus in disregard of the demons. The two men must have recognized that the demons were afraid of Jesus when He landed onshore and saw hope of being delivered from these evil forces. Question: did the pigs run down the steep slope and drown to be rid of the demons or did the demons drown the pigs? We know that demons only know how to steal, kill and destroy, and so the demons would have a motive for drowning the pigs just for the fun of killing them. They lost their house, but their house wasn’t so great anyway; they probably didn’t enjoy living in a pig’s body. It is unlikely the mind of a pig would be much of a challenge for demons to override, so it was unlikely that it was the pigs’ idea to drown themselves. See also: Demon possession; Mat 8-34; 185i Mat 8-34 (185i) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> Blasphemy >> Responding with contempt to the Holy Spirit >> Evicting the Holy Spirit – Based on the town people's reaction, it is no wonder they had problems with demon possession in their region, after asking Jesus to leave. Demon possession is the result of the overall atmosphere and environment of the region where possession persists. Demon possession is activated by the rejection of God and His truth by the general public, with those who are most susceptible to possession being afflicted by the demons. This is exactly what has happened in our schools today; people have demanded that God leave our public school system and collage campuses, and it created a spiritual vacuum, and so the demons have entered these public settings to fill the void, and now we have demon-controlled people shooting up schools. In another rendition of this story, Mark chapter five, the once demon possessed man asked the Lord if he could come with Him, but the Lord told him to remain in his hometown and testify to everyone about the great things God has done for him, so when Jesus returned to that area, the people would be more receptive of Him. No one was able to reach the people like this man who was delivered from demons, not even Jesus could reach them. Everybody in town knew these men who were once possessed, and everybody was afraid of them, and they saw the difference after Jesus healed them. See also: Demon possession; Mat 8-16,17; 209i See next page