Matthew Chapters 6 and 7

Matthew Chapters 6 and 7 - 2011-05-20

First I would like to briefly discuss the manuscripts upon which translations of Matthew are based. In my notes, I have only 8 handwritten pages for the first 7 chapters of Matthew, which deal with variations in the Greek among the different ancient manuscripts. Nearly all of these are absolutely immaterial when it comes to articles of our Christian faith, and the rest are quite trivial. None of them have really been worth mentioning so far in these presentations, so far as I am concerned.

Last week discussing Matthew Chapter 5 we saw clear connections between Christ's word in the New Testament, and the promises to Israel recorded by Isaiah in the Old Testament. Christ had come for those who sit in darkness, for the prisoners, for the captives, for those very people of the children of Israel divorced from their God centuries beforehand, in the very days of Isaiah! So it is evident that an honest study of scripture reveals precisely what Jeremiah prophesied to be: that the New Covenant was made by God with those very same people with whom He made the Old Covenant: the literal, physical, children of Israel.

We also saw that most of the things which Christ taught in this Sermon on the Mount can also be found in the Old Testament. In reality, He was teaching nothing new, even if He was explaining much of it it differently, for there is nothing new under the sun. Today with Matthew chapters 6 and 7, we shall continue to see that these things which Christ taught His students are timeless, and existed in the Old Testament as well. If our race obeyed His Word, we would have heaven indeed.

VI “1 Now offer your righteousness not to do before men, for them to behold, yet otherwise, you have no reward from your Father who is in the heavens. 2 Therefore when you should do an act of charity, you should not trumpet it before you, even as the hypocrites do in the assembly halls and in the streets, that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they receive their reward! 3 But upon your doing an act of charity, your left hand must not know what your right hand does, 4 that your act of charity would be in secret, and your Father who sees would repay you in secret.

Alms-giving in the ancient world was with all certainty seen as a way of asking forgiveness from God for one's sins. However the alms-giving had to be without fanfare. If alms-giving was accompanied with fanfare, it was for the benefit of the giver, and not truly for the recipient, and therefore God will not reward it.

Septuagint, Sirach 40:24: Brethren and help are against time of trouble: but alms shall deliver more than them both.

Septuagint, Tobit 4:5-11: 5 My son, be mindful of the Lord our God all thy days, and let not thy will be set to sin, or to transgress his commandments: do uprightly all thy life long, and follow not the ways of unrighteousness. 6 For if thou deal truly, thy doings shall prosperously succeed to thee, and to all them that live justly. 7 Give alms of thy substance; and when thou givest alms, let not thine eye be envious, neither turn thy face from any poor, and the face of God shall not be turned away from thee. 8 If thou hast abundance give alms accordingly: if thou have but a little, be not afraid to give according to that little: 9 For thou layest up a good treasure for thyself against the day of necessity. 10 Because that alms do deliver from death, and suffereth not to come into darkness. 11 For alms is a good gift unto all that give it in the sight of the most High.

Septuagint, Tobit 4:16-17: 16 Give of thy bread to the hungry, and of thy garments to them that are naked; and according to thine abundance give alms: and let not thine eye be envious, when thou givest alms. 17 Pour out thy bread on the burial of the just, but give nothing to the wicked. [The primary difference between Christianity and Communism or compulsory Socialism.]

Proverbs 21:13-14: “13 Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard. 14 A gift in secret pacifieth anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath.”

“5 And when you pray, do not be as the hypocrites, because they love to pray in the assembly halls and standing at the corners of the streets, that they should be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward! 6 But when you would pray, go into your closet and closing your door you shall pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees shall yield to you in secret.

In 1 Samuel chapter 1, we see that Anna's prayer was answered when her lips moved, but she spoke it not, having prayed in her heart. Likewise, the prophet Daniel prayed alone in his room, and it was not necessarily his intention that he be seen through his window by his enemies, as it is related in Daniel chapter 6. Daniel and Anna, while seen by others, were both praying privately. The apostles often prayed together, but they prayed privately, and not to make a show in front of others. Christians who insist on public prayer, or that others must pray with them, are simply looking for a crutch. They want others to see how “pious” they are, that they may justify themselves. Real Christians do not need crutches, nor do they need outward displays of piety, which are pretentious. We should have no need to be seen praying publicly or with others. We should seek our God with our hearts and display our love through good deeds for our brethren, and not merely in the pretense of exhibition.

“7 And those praying should not babble on repeatedly just as the heathens, for they suppose that by their many words they shall be heard. 8 Therefore do not become like them, for your Father knows that which you have need of before you ask Him! 

This is a direct rebuke of what we see in Roman Catholicism, where for so-called “penance” one is instructed to repeat the same prayer any number of times, or where beads bearing idols are used to do the same. Yahweh knows what we need, what we have done, and what we need to repent of, as well as what we shall be rewarded for. When we pray, it should be for our benefit, that we are able to walk in His will and to be guided by His Spirit, rather than after the ways of the flesh and the world. We should pray that His Will be done – even if we certainly should know that it shall be, while at the same time we should pray that we are able to “stand in the evil day” as Paul put it at Ephesians 6:13.

Ecclesiastes 5: “1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. 2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.” Do not “babble on repeatedly just as the heathens”, for it is absolutely vain.

9 Therefore thusly are you to pray: ‘Our Father who is in the heavens: Your name must be sanctified; 10 Your kingdom must come; Your will must be done, as in heaven also upon the earth! 11 Give to us our bread sufficient for today, 12 and remit for us our debts, as we also have remitted for our debtors. 13 And do not bring us into trial, but deliver us from the Evil One.’

Prayer is simple and direct: we express that the will of our Father in heaven be done, and ask that life's basic needs be provided for us as we seek His will on earth. Yahweh tries no man, as the apostle James tells us. Yet Yahweh allowed Job to be tried by the Adversary. Yahweh tempts no man, but allows us to be tempted by the world. This seems to be a paradox, yet it is rather simple.

James 4:1-7: “1 From where are battles, and from where are fights among you? Is it not from this: from your pleasures making war among your members? 2 You desire, and you have not. You murder and strive and are not able to succeed. You fight and battle. You do not have for reason that you do not request. 3 You request and do not receive for reason that you request evil, in order that you may be consumed in your pleasures! 4 Adulterers! Do you not know that the love of Society is hatred for Yahweh? He therefore who would desire to be a friend of Society establishes himself as an enemy of Yahweh! 5 Or do you suppose that vainly the Scripture says: “With envy yearns the spirit which dwells in us”? 6 But more greatly He gives favor, on which account it says: “Yahweh opposes the arrogant, but He gives favor to the humble.” 7 Therefore subject yourselves to Yahweh, but stand against the False Accuser and he shall flee from you. 8 Draw near to Yahweh and He shall draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners! And purify your hearts, double-minded! 9 Endure hardship and lament and weep! Your laughter must turn into grief and joy into sorrow! 10 Humble yourself before the Prince and He shall exalt you.”

1 John 2:15-17: “15 Do not love Society nor the things in Society. If one should love the Society, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 Because all which is in Society, the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the pretense of life, is not from of the Father but is from of Society, 17 and the Society passes on, and its desire, but he doing the will of Yahweh abides forever.”

James 1:12-15: “12 Blessed is a man who endures trial, because being approved he shall receive the crown of life which He promised to those who love Him. 13 No one being tried must say that “From Yahweh I am tried”! For Yahweh is not able to be tempted by evil, and He tries no one, 14 but each is tried by his own desires being drawn out and enticed. 15 Then the desire conceiving gives birth to error, and the error being accomplished brings forth death.”

While it may not have been the case with Job, most often when men are tempted it is due to their own lusts which they give in to, and this leads us to trial. Obeying the will of God, we would not give in to such worldly desires, and we would have a far less chance of being subjected to the trials of this world. From the Septuagint, Psalm 18:30: “As for my God, his way is perfect: the oracles of the Lord are tried in the fire; he is a protector of all them that hope in him.”

“14 For if you would remit for men their transgressions, your heavenly Father shall also remit for you. 15 But if you should not remit for men their transgressions, neither shall your Father remit your transgressions.

This goes hand-in-hand with the fact that all Israel shall be saved, that all Israel shall be justified, that every Adamic soul shall ultimately share in the salvation of the tree of life. (The citations for these statements are Romans 11:26, Isaiah 45:25 and Genesis 3:22.) If we judge our brother harshly, Yahweh shall judge us harshly. We have done, or thought to do, many of those same things for which we judge our brother.

But to remit, or forgive, a man's transgressions, the man must be repentant in the first place, and repentance includes a cessation of the sinful activity we are repenting from. One need not forgive a sinner who is unrepentant. For this reason Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 6: “9 … Do not be led astray: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminates, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor railers, nor rapacious shall inherit the kingdom of Yahweh. 11 And these things some of you may have been, but you have cleansed yourselves; moreover you have been sanctified, moreover you have been deemed fit, in the name of Prince Yahshua Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.” Paul also explained in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 that unrepentant sinners are to be put out of our community. However once a brother repents, he can find forgiveness with God, and we must also forgive him.

“16 And when you should fast, do not be like the sullen-faced hypocrites, for they obscure their faces that they may appear to be fasting to men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. 17 But you fasting anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that you should not appear to be fasting to men, but to your Father to whom it is in secret. And your Father who seeing shall repay you in secret.

Again, we see that outward displays of piety are scorned. That is because they are used as crutches by the weak, or as pretenses by the ungodly. The godly man will naturally manifest his piety through actions on behalf of his brethren, and not through nice speech and feigned displays. Christ said of the Judaeans that “these people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me”, where He was quoting Isaiah 29:13. It is easy to pray and to fast and to look good doing it, but it means nothing. It is harder to give to one's brethren even one's life, and to expect nothing in return.

From Isaiah chapter 58: “3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. 4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? 6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?” So we see that Yahweh would rather have us act justly, than to act unjustly and attempt to justify ourselves through prayer and fasting.

“19 Do not store up for you treasure upon the earth, where moth and corrosion obliterate and where thieves dig through and steal. 20 But store up for you treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor corrosion obliterate and where thieves do not dig through nor steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there also shall be your heart.

Remember the words from Tobit chapter 4 cited earlier: “7 Give alms of thy substance; and when thou givest alms, let not thine eye be envious, neither turn thy face from any poor, and the face of God shall not be turned away from thee. 8 If thou hast abundance give alms accordingly: if thou have but a little, be not afraid to give according to that little: 9 For thou layest up a good treasure for thyself against the day of necessity. 10 Because that alms do deliver from death, and suffereth not to come into darkness. 11 For alms is a good gift unto all that give it in the sight of the most High.” If we give to our brethren when we have, we see hope that we ourselves shall receive when we are in need.

From Isaiah 51:8: “For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.“ And from the Wisdom of Sirach, chapter 29: “10 Lose thy money for thy brother and thy friend, and let it not rust under a stone to be lost. 11 Lay up thy treasure according to the commandments of the most High, and it shall bring thee more profit than gold. 12 Shut up alms in thy storehouses: and it shall deliver thee from all affliction. 13 It shall fight for thee against thine enemies better than a mighty shield and strong spear.” We see that all the words of Christ are from the beginning. If they were new to their hearers, they were new only because the religious authorities of the time had kept them from the people.

“22 The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore if your eye should be sincere, your whole body shall be bright. 23 But if your eye should be evil, your whole body shall be dark. Then if the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

From Deuteronomy 15:9: “Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee.” From the Wisdom of Sirach, 14:10: “A wicked eye envieth his bread, and he is a niggard at his table.” So again we see that here Christ is telling us to be fair with our brother to justly give him what he is due, to share our blessings with our brethren, and to do so with sincerity.

“24 No one is able to serve two masters. For either he would hate the one and would love the other, or he would endure the one and despise the other. You are not able to serve Yahweh and riches!

Mammon is the name of the Syrian god of wealth. Here it is translated, riches. One cannot strive to amass wealth, and have a care for the will of God. While working to become rich, what are you doing for your brethren, or to your brethren?

In the German language we have a word which admirably expresses this underlying spirit of all work: It is Pflichterfüllung, which means the service of the common weal before the consideration of one's own interests. The fundamental spirit out of which this kind of activity springs is the contradistinction of 'Egotism' and we call it 'Idealism'. By this we mean to signify the willingness of the individual to make sacrifices for the community and his fellow-men ... To this kind of mentality the Aryan owes his position in the world. And the world is indebted to the Aryan mind for having developed the concept of 'mankind'; for it is out of this spirit alone that the creative force has come which in a unique way combined robust muscular power with a first-class intellect and thus created the monuments of human civilization.

- Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, Murphy, page 169

The man who loves his nation can prove the sincerity of this sentiment only by being ready to make sacrifices for the nation's welfare. There is no such thing as a national sentiment which is directed towards personal interests. And there is no such thing as a nationalism that embraces only certain classes. Hurrahing proves nothing and does not confer the right to call oneself national if behind that shout there is no sincere preoccupation for the conservation of the nation's well-being. One can be proud of one's people only if there is no class left of which one need to be ashamed. When one half of a nation is sunk in misery and worn out by hard distress, or even depraved or degenerate, that nation presents such an unattractive picture that nobody can feel proud to belong to it. It is only when a nation is sound in all its members, physically and morally, that the joy of belonging to it can properly be intensified to the supreme feeling which we call national pride. But this pride, in its highest form, can be felt only by those who know the greatness of their nation.

- Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, Murphy, page 239

“25 For this reason I say to you: Do not care for your life, what you should eat or what you should drink, nor for your body what you should wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of heaven, that they do not sow nor harvest nor gather into storehouses, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than them? 27 Who caring from among you is able to add one cubit to his stature? 28 And what do you care about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They do not toil nor spin yarn. 29 But I say to you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed as one of these! 30 Now if the grass of the field exists today and tomorrow it is cast into a furnace Yahweh clothes thusly, how much more you, you of little faith? 31 Therefore you should not have care, saying ‘What should we eat?’ or ‘What should we drink?’ or ‘What should we wear?’ 32 For all these things the heathens seek after. Indeed your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all of these things. 33 But you seek first the kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore you should not have care for tomorrow, for tomorrow shall care for itself. Sufficient for the day are its vices.

This does not mean that we should walk around naked and hungry and thirsty. This boils down to whether or not we should put our trust in ourselves, how we can magnify ourselves or make ourselves appear before men, or whether we want to put our faith in God, how He shall care for us and whether He shall make sure that we are provided for, not caring for what men think of us.

Psalm 37 is quite long, but it is entirely in concert with the message of Christ here, and therefore I will read it: 

1 Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. 2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. 3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. 6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. 7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. 8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. 9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. 10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. 11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. 12 The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. 13 The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming. 14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. 15 Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. 16 A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. 17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous. 18 The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever. 19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. 20 But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away. 21 The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth. 22 For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off. 23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. 25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. 26 He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed. 27 Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore. 28 For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. 29 The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever. 30 The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment. 31 The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide. 32 The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him. 33 The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged. 34 Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. 35 I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. 36 Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. 37 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace. 38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off. 39 But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble. 40 And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.

Today, the wicked are elevated, and they occupy the places that we see as our own. In reality, our people are being punished, because we have followed the ways of the wicked, and therefore they have become our gods, our judges and rulers. If we did not follow their ways, this could not possibly have happened to us. We must put away all of the idols of the jews and the aliens – television and sports, movies and novels, Hollywood and Nashville, consumerism, credit and usury, and every other evil, and put our trust in Yahweh, and He will see to it that our necessities are at hand. The simple truths of Psalm 37 are so readily evident in today's society, yet our people cannot see it because they are blinded by the idols of the jews.

VII “1 Do not condemn, in order that you would not be condemned. 2 For with the judgment by which you condemn, you shall be judged, and with the measure by which you measure, it shall be measured with you. 

This is a condemnation of hypocritical judgement. Job 27: “1 Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, 2 As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment [Job ruled over a magnificent household, and was an outstanding member of the community, but now he was humbled]; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul; 3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; 4 My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. 5 God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me. [Job was rejecting the unjust words of Bildad the Shuhite, found in chapter 25. If Job had agreed with these words, he would have been justifying Bildad. Many pastors foolishly take the words of Job's friends as Scripture, not realizing that in the dialogue they were all found wanting.] 6 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live. 7 Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous. 8 For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul [meaning his life]? 9 Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?” Our hope of personal gain may lead us to judge hypocritically. For instance, we are told to separate ourselves from other peoples. That is easy, when those other peoples are of low estate, and we are doing well. But what happens when an alien offers us a great business deal, or the jew a low-interest loan, in our time of need and weakness? That is a form of hypocritical judgement.

Another form of hypocritical judgement is the condemnation of our brother or sister for wrongs that we ourselves may have once committed, or thought of committing. Or perhaps we would condemn our brother or sister today, but another day we may accept someone else who had done such a thing, because we like that person or that person is close to us. Because only Yahweh is perfect, only Yahweh can be our judge. Job chapter 34 discusses the righteous judgement of God, and verse 30 expresses the hope: “That the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared.” In the old kingdom, the role of the king was as the ultimate judge of the people, and we see as much in the prayer of Solomon upon his becoming king, at 1 Kings 3:9 where he said: “Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?” It says at 1 Kings 7:7: “Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other.”

When our people rejected Yahweh as King, we invited hypocritical human judgement upon ourselves, and have been naturally punished by it ever since. One of the promises of Christianity is that Christ be our judge, and then we shall all be judged fairly, before God who knows all, and not before man whose judgement is clouded and partial and whose knowledge is incomplete.

3 Now how do you see the stick which is in the eye of your brother, but the beam which is in your own eye you do not perceive? 4 Or how do you say to your brother ‘Let me extract the stick from your eye’, and behold, the beam is in your eye! 5 Hypocrite! Extract first the beam from your eye, and then you will see clearly to extract the stick from the eye of your brother!

When you are without fault, perhaps then you may judge your own brother righteously. This does not mean that we do not recognize and condemn sin. It is the Christian's duty to recognize and condemn sin, and to inform our brethren when they are seen in sin. Paul said in Galatians 6:1: “Brethren, even if a man should already be caught up in some transgression, you, those of the Spirit, restore such a man in a spirit of meekness, watching yourself lest also you may be tested.” When a sinner is unrepentant, we are to put him out of our community. As Paul advises in 1 Corinthians 5 to “deliver such a wretch to the Adversary, for destruction of the flesh, in order that the Spirit may be preserved in the day of the Prince.” Putting a man out of our community forces him over to the Adversary – to non-Christians and aliens – and God will use them to judge the sinner, as Paul says further on in that chapter “What is it to me to judge those outside? Not at all should you judge those within you [or among you]. 13 But those outside Yahweh judges; 'you will expel the wicked from amongst yourselves.'” We do not condemn our brethren, those Christians among us, but we separate ourselves from unrepentant sinners and pray that Yahweh judges them.

“6 You should not give that which is holy to the dogs, nor should you cast your pearls before swine, lest they shall trample them with their feet and turning they would rend you to pieces!

Sheep should not even communicate with dogs and swine. To communicate, in the orignal sense of the word, means to share things in common. When we communicate we are sharing with one another. We should not ever go into the presence of aliens and share the Word of our God with them! Nowhere in the Scripture are we told to share the Truth with swine, dogs, or beasts – and those who do are doing us a great disservice. From the Wisdom of Sirach, 12:5: “Do well unto him that is lowly, but give not to the ungodly: hold back thy bread, and give it not unto him, lest he overmaster thee thereby: for else thou shalt receive twice as much evil for all the good thou shalt have done unto him.” Even if we pretend to teach aliens the truth, they will only use it against us.

“7 Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened for you. 8 For each who asks receives and who seeks finds and for him knocking it shall be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you whose son shall ask of him bread, shall give to him a stone? Or would ask also for a fish, would give to him a serpent? 11 Therefore if you being base know to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in the heavens give good things to those who ask Him?

He who looks for the truth with an open mind and heart shall find it. But it must be in harmony with the Word of God, or he is deceived. That is why we must ask of our Father, and not from of man. He is telling us, in verse 11 here, that He expects us to ask of our Father. The only way to find God is in the Word of God, guided by His Spirit. One without the other is of no use to us. Christ always challenged the people of His time, to “search the Scriptures”.

Now if we ask for a fish, our Father will not give us a serpent. Therefore if we turn to the serpents and beasts of this world, how should we be rewarded for that? Yahshua told us that He came only for the sheep. Therefore we should also go only to the sheep! We have no need to deal with swine and dogs, and since He would not give His pearls to them, they have nothing for us. When those among us who claim to be of us insist upon going to reveal the truth to aliens, they show their fruits, that they are not truly of us. Rather, they are infiltrators and usurpers seeking to scatter the sheep. Indeed, the dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow that is washed to wallowing in the mire.

“12 Therefore all things whatever you may desire that men should do for you, thusly also you do for them: for this is the law and the prophets. 

This goes back to the discussion of alms-giving at the beginning of Matthew chapter 6. We should expect treatment from others as we have treated others. The law says at Leviticus 19:18: “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.”

13 Enter in through the narrow gate, because wide is the gate and broad is the road which leads to destruction, and they are many who are entering in through it! 14 But because narrow is the gate and distressed the road which leads to life, then they are few who are finding it.

Of course, most of us would rather believe the comfortable lie than the uncomfortable truth. We would rather walk the easy road than the hard path. We would rather listen to those who have appointed themselves over us than take up the responsibility into our own hands and study the Word of God for ourselves. This is why Luke in Acts 17:11 said of the men of Beroia, that “These were of more noble a race than those in Thessalonika, who accepted the Word with all eagerness, each day examining the writings, if these things would hold thusly.” Those seeking to enter in through the straight gate, seek to do so through the Word of Yahweh.

In the apocryphal 1 Esdras from the Septuagint, which is clearly a better copy of the Book of Ezra than what we have in the Masoretic Text, we see a striking example in chapter 7: "6 And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and others that were of the captivity, that were added unto them, did according to the things written in the book of Moses. 7 And to the dedication of the temple of the Lord they offered an hundred bullocks two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; 8 And twelve goats for the sin of all Israel, according to the number of the chief of the tribes of Israel. 9 The priests also and the Levites stood arrayed in their vestments, according to their kindreds, in the service of the Lord God of Israel, according to the book of Moses: and the porters at every gate. 10 And the children of Israel that were of the captivity held the passover the fourteenth day of the first month, after that the priests and the Levites were sanctified. 11 They that were of the captivity were not all sanctified together: but the Levites were all sanctified together. 12 And so they offered the passover for all them of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves. 13 And the children of Israel that came out of the captivity did eat, even all they that had separated themselves from the abominations of the people of the land, and sought the Lord.”

Preparing for this program, I saw that this passage in Ezra was cross-referenced to Matthew 7:13 by the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece, 27^th edition, the Greek text which I use for my studies. I was quite surprised, because the cross-reference upholds the racial nature of the covenants, which are made only with Israel! And so it is, that the so-called churches which seek to include the whole world into the redemption of Christ cause destruction, and those who seek to enter in through the straight gate are those who realize that they must separate themselves from the abominations of the aliens, and that no alien shall get by the porters at the gate. As we saw in Matthew chapter 5, Christ came only for the “prisoners” who “sit in darkness”, for the children of the Israelite captivity.

“15 Keep away from the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are rapacious wolves. 16 You shall know them from their fruits. Does anyone gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles? 17 Thusly every good tree produces fine fruit, but the rotten tree produces evil fruit. 18 A good tree is not able to produce evil fruit, nor is a rotten tree to produce fine fruit. 19 Each tree not producing fine fruit is cut down and cast into the fire! 20 Indeed from their fruits you shall know them.

Wolves, foxes, dogs, they are all of the biological family named Canidae. Out of these, wolves and dogs are called Canini, and foxes are called Vulpini. Dingos, jackals, coyotes and hyenas are also of this family. They are all Canines, and to the ancients they were all basically dogs. Herod was called a fox by Christ. The Canaanite woman was called a dog. Psalm 22 prophesied that Christ was to be killed by the “power of the dog”, which referred to the Edomites in control in Jerusalem. By all of this, we know who the wolves are. Paul warned in Acts chapter 20, that after his departure “oppressive wolves shall come in ... not being sparing of the sheep”, and then he contrasted these to the false teachers who would arise among the people themselves. So we see that while not all false teachers are wolves, we certainly must be aware of and defend against the wolves first. Christ is warning us to do this, and we have no commission to be complacent regarding these wolves! We must spot and eject them – or at least sound the alarm - it is our duty!

“21 Not all who say to Me ‘Prince, Prince!’ shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he doing the will of My Father who is in the heavens. 22 Many shall say to Me in that day ‘Prince, Prince, have we not prophesied in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and have done many works of power in Your name?’ 23 And then shall I profess to them that ‘Never have I known you! Depart from Me, those who are working at lawlessness!’

No matter what men do or say, the covenants were made only with the children of Israel. Yahweh's words at Amos, where it was spoken to Israel that “you only have I known of all the families of the earth”, have never changed. Even if they seem to do well, the aliens cannot do well, since they can never honestly admit to Yahweh's exclusive relationship with Israel, and with His exclusive promises to preserve Israel. False teachers want to offer preservation to the aliens after the Second Advent, but the Bible makes it clear that only the children of Israel shall inherit the earth, as it has been illustrated here in the exposition of Matthew chapter 5 last week.

“24 Therefore each who hears these My words and does them, he shall be compared to a sensible man, who has built his house upon bedrock, 25 and the rain descends and the river comes and the winds blow, and they fall against that house, yet it does not fall, for it was founded upon the bedrock. 26 And each who hears these My words and not doing them, he shall be compared to a foolish man, who has built his house upon the sand, 27 and the rain descends and the river comes and the winds blow and they fall against that house and it falls, and great was its fall!”

Once we have the truth of the Word, and we follow it, we are unshakable in our convictions. Those who compromise in the Word of God, they stand upon foundations of shifting sand, and are easily rebuked for their lies.

28 And when it came that Yahshua had completed these words, the crowds were astonished at His teaching. For He was teaching them as if having authority, and not as their scribes.

Their scribes, afraid of offending the dragon and the beast which had gotten its power from the dragon, were afraid to speak the truth even if they could, and therefore they were double-minded, their words not having any authority. At John 11:48 they are recorded as having said “If we should leave Him thusly, they shall all believe in Him, and the Romans shall come and they shall take both our place and our nation!” They knew He spoke the truth, and yet they loved the world more.