In the Name of The Father and of The Son and of the Holy Spirit .
One God . Amen
It is written … , It is also written …
+ Volume 1 [Part 1] +
+ Introduction
This beautiful series of "It is written, it is also written", is a group of articles or booklets on various and separate subjects, their aim is to clarify some verses and their use. They explain a verse by another one and the other one by a third one if necessary. So they target to make us understand verses rightly, know how to perform and apply them, and have the right feeling of the verse that suits the time and place we are at, the person we are dealing with and all other circumstances surrounding us. They were not meant to be a research about a certain subject but to help us overcome all temptations, spiritual wars and troubles which we may face in our life, but still we must always bear in mind that to overcome these things we must mainly depend on God's power and grace, not on our own strength or wisdom, for He, glory be to Him, said "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit." (Zech. 4:6), and "Without me you can do nothing" .
- It was the Lord who taught us this method of dealing with verses, when He used it when Satan tempted Him misusing a verse from the bible, and when He used it with those who misunderstood or misinterpreted some of God's commandments and misapplied them, as He did with the scribes and Pharisees (Mt.12: 1-8).
- Satan and his followers always tempt believers in different ways, with those who study the bible they mislead them with wrong verses or with wrong interpretation of verses. / The best and clearest example of all this is when Satan tempted the Lord Christ, and the first example was when Satan tempted Eve, at that time, the time of Eve, the commandment of the Lord was not yet written but was delivered orally, so Satan did not say "It is written" but said "Has God indeed said" then he started to misconstruct the verse, but he found that Eve remembered the verse exactly right, so he misinterpreted it and added some evil thoughts, so Eve sinned and Adam sinned with her.
- On the other side, our Lord Jesus Christ overcame Satan and his temptations, for our Lord certainly understood every verse and every word correctly, for He is Lord of lords, and His understanding is infinite. / No wonder that false apostles, false prophets and false christs in both testaments deceive many using the same way as Satan did. So I pray to God that He may deliver us from every evil and always guide us and give us all the best understanding.
It is written It is also written
1 "He shall give His angels charge concerning you, and, in their hands they shall bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone" (Mt. 4: 6 / Lk. 4:10-11) "You shall not tempt the Lord your God" (Mt. 4:7 / Lk.4:12)
2 "I Discipline my body and bring it into subjection". (1Cor.9:27) "No one ever hated his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes it". (Eph.5:29)
3 "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity… grasping for the wind… and no profit under the sun" (Ecc.1,2). "Therefore I turned my heart and despaired… . This also is vanity and a great evil" (Ecc.2: 21, 22)
4 "Mt.8:3 , Ps.1:15 unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" "1Cor.14:20 do not be children in understanding , however in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature"
5 "Mt.6:7 do not use vain repetition as the heathen do" "Lk.18:1 men always ought to pray and not lose heart" "Mt.26: 44 and prayed the third, saying the same words" "Lk.18: though He may not rise and give to him because he is His friend , yet because of his persistence He will rise and give him as many as he needs"
( 1 ) It is written: "He shall give His angels charge concerning you, and, in their hands they shall bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone" (Mt. 4: 6 / Lk. 4:10-11)
It is also written: "You shall not tempt the Lord your God" (Mt. 4:7 / Lk.4:12)
Our Lord Jesus overcame Satan in all temptations, not only after He had fasted forty days, but also during His fast (Lk.4:1, 2), and even more in all His life on earth, for He was always without sin, as He said it plainly "Who can convict me of sin", and no one could accuse Him of a sin or charge Him with an offence.
The Lord overcame Satan by using God's words; He used the right commandment at the right time and with the exact meaning and understanding.
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Satan tempted our Master during His forty days fast as we read in (Lk. 4: 1, 2), but surely our Lord triumphed over him, then at the end of the fasting Satan thought that He may be proud of Himself and that because of His hunger and tiredness He could easily fail, so he tempted Him with food and pride by doing a miracle and changing stones to food but our Lord said "Man shall not live by bread alone" (Mt. 4: 4).
So the devil started to use God's words, but falsely and deceitfully saying "It is written", but Jesus knowing his deceit answered saying "It is also written", for , Satan took Jesus onto the pinnacle of the temple in the holy city and said to Him "If you are the Son of God , throw Yourself down, for it is written: "He shall give His angels charge concerning you, and, in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone" (Mt. 4:4-6).
This verse is originally written in (Ps. 91:11,12), and if we contemplate on this psalm we shall find that this verse was said to the one who had been in trouble and surrounded by evil and so to comfort him and make him feel safe, being certain that the angels of God will keep him and deliver him. So for sure this verse that the devil used does not mean at all that one puts himself in trouble or in an unordinary situation waiting for God's miracles.
It is also good to mention here that this psalm 91 is against Satan himself, for the verse that is next to the verse he used says "You shall tread upon the lion ... and the serpent ..", and Satan is that serpent (as in Rev. 20: 2) and that evil lion (1Pet.5: 8)
Anyhow, Satan wanted to deceive our Lord Jesus and let Him throw Himself down, but of course no creature could ever deceive the Lord, for Jesus is God, He is the Word of God and the Wisdom of God , He is, if we may say, the writer of the holy bible, He knows every verse and every word in it. So Jesus answered the devil with a brief and clear answer which no living being could contradict or resist, saying "It is also written 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God'." (Mt. 4:7).
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What is meant by "You shall not tempt the Lord your God" ?
1) Here in the way Jesus used it, it means not to tempt God by getting yourself into temptation or trouble or by bringing evil upon yourself, but we should be away from every evil as much as we can and pray saying "Lead us not into temptation", and if it happened that any evil came or was brought to us against our will, then God will send His angels to save us.
2) This verse was said for the first time in (Deut.6: 16 / Ex.17:2), when the people murmured against God and against Moses because of the lack of water in Massah.
3) And In (Acts15: 10) St. Peter considered the minister who puts a heavy burden or yoke on believers is tempting God, saying "Why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?".
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Satan the Tempter
Still Satan uses the same ways to tempt us, he lets people murmur against God, lie to God or put hard burdens on others. Someone may unwisely fast over his strength thinking that God certainly will help him because fasting is one of His commandments, forgetting or ignoring or misunderstanding all other commandments of God related to humbleness, discernment and wisdom that should exist with all virtues and righteous deeds. Someone else may exceedingly study the holy bible and other books without rest not knowing that the commandment of rest is the forth commandment in the Ten Commandments and not knowing that the holy bible itself says "Much study is wearisome to the flesh" (Ecc.12:12).
Thus, we must always bear in mind the verse "Do nor tempt the Lord your God", knowing that God does not perform miracles or supernatural powers with the one who tempts Him or who challenges the natural laws that He Himself has made, and knowing that Jesus Himself during His life on earth was subject to these natural laws and did not perform miracles just for fun but for good and righteous reasons and purposes.
The bad point we need to be aware of, is that devils tempt the children of God everywhere, even in the holy places, as Satan tempted our Lord Jesus in the holy city and on the pinnacle of the temple. It may be surprising to know that it was Satan who chose that place and took Jesus onto it, as we understand from (Lk.4: 9 /Mt.4:5).
The devil and his followers in their war against God's children choose the seminarians, those who study God's word, those who fast, those who minister in the church and those who try to be righteous and perfect in the sight of the Lord.
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Opposite Use of the Verse:
A devil may come one time to a person who, for instance, pays his tithes or fasts or does any good, giving him any evil thoughts and saying to him "Don't do so and so , for it is written 'Do not tempt the Lord your God'.", but we should be able to answer him with other verses or stories from the holy bible that suits the situation and proves what is write.
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To Sum up, we need to know, understand and perceive every verse and story in the holy bible as much as we can, be able to do God's will wisely, stay away from every evil and pray to God to deliver us from all the evil powers and thoughts, and must have faith that the word of God, if used correctly, is powerful and sharper than any two edged sword.
( 2 ) It is written: "I Discipline my body and bring it into subjection". (1Cor.9:27)
It is also written: "No one ever hated his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes it". (Eph.5:29)
Two nice verses, may seem, at the first moment to be contradicting each other, but actually they complement each other, and even more they almost have the same meaning, and both of them are very important to every spiritual person.
A person may understand the first verse that one should overload his body with burdens hard to bear , by working hard or fasting severely.
First we must know that all God's commandments are for man's good and that God created the body to be pure, unspotted and perfect and to be a holy temple for His Holy Spirit (1Cor.6:19), and God wants us to glorify Him by it (1Cor.6:20), and so we should take care of it, and this comes by fasting and working , but wisely lest we harm it. So if Satan tempts someone saying "It is written 'I Discipline my body and bring it into subjection'.", and brings to him unsuitable thoughts , that person should answer him saying "It is also written 'No one ever hated his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes it'."
Someone may say "The second verse was said on the occasion of marriage and about wife being one flesh with her husband, and that every husband must love his wife and be nice to her. Yes, that is true, yet still St. Paul uses this similarity as an evidence to prove that every person must take care of his real body and nourish and cherish his own flesh.
How then can I understand both verses together?
By "discipline my body" was meant that man should bring fleshly lusts into subjection to God's will, for the bible says "The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh". (Gal.5: 17), so I bring my body into subjection if it lusts sinful things. As for my body , as we said, I should nourish and cherish it according to God's commandments and do everything wisely, pray to God, and humble myself before Him and He will do the best for me.
How can I nourish and cherish my own flesh?
About fasting, I need to know how to eat and how to fast, when to eat and when to fast, what to eat and from what I should fast. About all this, the holy bible is full of stories and verses, one of which is what St. Paul said "I have learned both to be full and to be hungry" (Phil.4:12). Also the writer of this book wrote another book about how to fast and how to eat, titled "How to fast", full of useful details and wise counsels.
About working, God commanded us to rest every week and on feasts, so we need to obey Him.
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We can conclude from all this that to everything there is time, a time to discipline my body and a time to nourish and cherish it, a time to fast and a time to eat, a time to work and a time to rest. I should do everything in its proper time, and should always put into consideration that everything should be for edification, for the salvation of many and for the glory of God.
( 3 ) It is written: "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity… grasping for the wind… and no profit under the sun" (Ecc.1,2).
It is also written: "Therefore I turned my heart and despaired… . This also is vanity and a great evil" (Ecc.2: 21, 22)
We notice here that both verses were said by one person, Solomon the king, who wrote them in "Ecclesiastes", the book which contains brief important notes about his life and extracts from his wisdom and his experience in his life.
Solomon was king over Israel in Jerusalem, he asked wisdom, knowledge and understanding from God, and God granted them to him, and so he set his heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven, but then he said that all was vanity and grasping for the wind (1:12-14). He communed with his heart saying that he had gained more wisdom, knowledge and understanding than all who were before him in Jerusalem (1:16-18).
He built himself houses and planted himself vineyards. He made himself gardens, orchards and water pools. He acquired male and female servants and singers and whatever his eyes desired he did not keep from them, but again he said that all was vanity and grasping for the winds and there was no profit under the sun (2:1-11).
And although he was sure that wisdom excels folly, yet he perceived that what happens to the fool, happens also to him, so he said that this also is vanity (2:12-15).
After he had perceived all this, he hated life and all his labor in which he had toiled under the sun (2:17, 18). And so, he turned his heart and despaired of all the labor in which he had toiled under the sun…, but then he found out that this also is vanity and a great evil (2: 20,21)
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It is good , here , to speak about two main points:
[1] The first point is that , when he said all is vanity , he meant all earthly things not the heavenly things , this is very clear in all this book , the book of Ecclesiastes , specially the first 2 chapters , where he repeats "under the sun" , so it is only our life on earth where everything vanishes even the earth itself , and even more , this first heaven "Mt.24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away" "Mk.13:31 , Lk.21:33" , as for our life in the kingdom of heaven , over the sun , everything is completely different , for everything there will last forever in the everlasting life . This lets us love God and fear Him and do His commandments as Solomon also commands us in the conclusion in the end of this same book.
So , does this mean not to do anything here waiting for the eternal life , of course not , we must do every good thing here and do it honestly , but while doing anything here we need to keep in mind our eternal life , or in other words we should think how will it benefit us in the eternal life .
[2] The second point is that the Holy Bible speaks a lot about hope , joy , honesty and about working hard [not to be lazy] . Here he says that if anyone hated life , it is a great evil "2:21" , great evil because it is against God's commandments and against the good of that same person who despaired , and despair is vanity as all other things. As we know , hope is as important as love and faith "1Cor.13:13" , and spiritual joy is also very important "Phil.4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always" , and , our Lord teaches us much about honesty and says that laziness is wickedness , in the parable in "Mt.25:14-30" where He described the lazy servant that he is wicked .
So , briefly , all is vanity for everything under the sun that will not benefit us in the everlasting life , but , what will continue there or be useful to us there will not vanish.
And let us here the conclusion of the whole matter as Solomon himself said in this book [the Ecc.] "Ecc. 12:13,14 Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, whether good or evil.
( 4 ) It is written "Mt.8:3 , Ps.1:15 unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven"
It is also written "1Cor.14:20 do not be children in understanding , however in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature"
How nice and pure is the life of little children , they are simple and pure in heart , they play joyfully , laugh and weep , run and sleep and do everything with love and without deceit , they love all and forgive all , they are full of great virtues rarely found in adults [in old people] . And so our Lord Jesus said it clearly that if we don't covert and become as little children we shall not enter His kingdom in heaven . Not only this but even more , our rank and position and greatness in heaven will depend on how much we are like little children , for in "Mt.18:4" when His disciples asked Him saying "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" , He said "whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven"
Now , all this is great , but does this mean that we should become as little children in understanding , knowledge and wisdom? Surely not , for even our Lord says "Jn.14:21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." , and St. Paul says "1Cor.14:20 do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature" , "1Cor.13:11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things" and "Eph.4"11-14" . From all this , and , because Jesus wants us to be perfect , we conclude that , we must be like little children and like babes in malice , and never do any bad thing , but at the same time we must love our Lord and keep His commandments and do all what He wants us to do , but do them by good wisdom and right understanding .
( 5 ) It is written "Mt.6:7 do not use vain repetition as the heathen do"
It is also written "Lk.18:1 men always ought to pray and not lose heart" "Mt.26: 44 and prayed the third, saying the same words" "Lk.18: though He may not rise and give to him because he is his friend , yet because of his persistence He will rise and give him as many as he needs"
It is very important for every believer to pray , and pray much , in every time and persistently , this is the Lord's commandment as in the previous verses . We can also add "Mt.7:7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" "Mt.26:41 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? , watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation" see also "Mk.14:38 , Lk.22:40 , 21:36" . And we can also add His parables about prayer , like the parable of the widow and the Judge in "Lk.18:7,8" in which the widow kept asking the judge to get justice for her [avenge her] until he did all what she wanted , and at the end of the parable the Lord said " shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? , I tell you that He will avenge them speedily" . And the parable of "the midnight friend" in "Lk.11:5-8" where the friend persisted taking what he wanted , until he got them , so Jesus said "I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs". So we should have faith in God that He will give us as many as we need.
So I think that those who don't like to repeat their prayers depending on "Mt.6:8" , should change their mind and their understanding , and never teach others to stop praying . The key word in verse "Mt.6:8" that can give you the right understanding , is "vain" , by it we know that our Lord meant , not to repeat the bad prayers as the heathens do. Also another point which is more important is that the heathens asked from idols not from God .
Someone may ask , saying "sometimes God does not give to the one who asks from Him , even if he kept asking continually , so why is that ?" From "James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures" , we understand that sometimes we don't take because what we ask for , is not good , whether it is not good in God's eyes or it is not good for us [for the person who prays] . So the most important thing is that we must be sure that God always do the good for those who love Him and for those who ask from Him . But also He does all things together , for He answers my prayers and yours and theirs , and He fulfills His Justice together with His mercy and He deals with us as our Father and at the same time He acts as our Master and Lord … and so on.
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And Jesus , although He is God , but still He Himself prayed much and in all times and repeated His prayers three times in the same time . He prayed all night long "Lk.6:12" , in the early morning "Mk.1:35" , in a deserted place"Lk.11:1" , on a mountain "Mt.4:23 , Lk.9:38" and among the multitude to teach them how to pray "Mt.6:5-15 , Lk.11:1-13" . So , can , after all this , anyone say [don't pray much]
Another point about prayer : we notice that in "Lk.18:1" He said "Don't lose heart", which means that sometimes we may despair or hate praying without taking or get bad feelings with different bad thoughts , and even more some may stop praying . But first we need to know that we must pray for all this , we must pray for our prayers , that God may teach us how to pray and give us joy and help us not to lose heart … . Second , it is good to notice that when anyone does anything , when he starts doing it and he is new in it , it takes time for him to love and that it becomes part of his life , so the same thing is with prayer , in the beginning you pray 5 minutes , then after a while it will be 10 minutes and gradually you will be like our Lord , be able to spend the whole night … and pray every time good prayers , as He commanded us .
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We now have a very important question , How can I always pray [pray every time]? And how can I pray good prayers?
1] First , we need to do as Jesus our Lord did , pray whenever we can according to our circumstances , if we are busy in the morning , pray at night , if we are tired and want to sleep much at night , we pray when we wake up , in the morning at noon …, when we are busy or driving a car or at work … we pray in [with] our hearts , we pray at home and in the church and we pray whenever it is possible .
2] We pray with joy and with tears . We pray with a loud voice and calmly with our hearts . We pray with the spirit and pray with the understanding "1Cor.14:15" , which means that we have to understand what we pray for or what we say as much as we can , although we shall never get perfect understanding and the Holy Spirit intercedes for us "Rom.8:26 the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" , but still we have to do our best . This is a general rule with God in all things in our life , He always wants us to do our best [our human role] and then He does all what we can't do .
3] We pray to the Holy Trinity as one God , and we pray to each hypostasis [person] , according to His role with men . For instance we pray to the Holy Trinity saying "O Holy Trinity , please , have mercy on us" and of course any prayer can be said to the Holy Trinity as one God . And we can pray to the Father saying "Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be Thy name …" , we can pray to the Son saying "Lord Jesus , please give us Your peace ,as You gave it to Your holy disciples …" , and , we can pray to the Holy Spirit saying "O heavenly King our God , please , help us , comfort us , guide us into all truth and glorify our Lord Jesus [Jn.16:7-14]"
4] In our prayers we can make good relations with the saints and angels of God , ask their pleading [intercession] [that they ask from God for us] and that they may help us .
5] We pray for ourselves and pray for others , for our parents , for our families , for our church , for our government and nation , for all believers , and even , for unbelievers that God may bring them to His right way , that in this , we may be like our Father in heaven who makes His sun shines on the righteous and the evil and sends rain on the just and on the unjust..
6] We pray kneeling down on the ground while our face is between our knees as Elijah did "1kings18:42" , and pray while standing , we pray while kneeling as Daniel did "Daniel 6:10" and pray while sitting if we have to . In other words if I want to always pray , how can I keep standing for many hours , it is impossible , so for sure I'll have to change my position every now and then , for a while I stand then I kneel and then I kneel down and then I sit for a while … and so on . And of course with all this , I need to rest , have some time to walk , to take a nap , to read the Holy Bible or any good book , or , do anything I like .
7] We ask God to forgive us our sins , and , to forgive those who trespass against us.
8] We pray according to circumstances , we repent of our sins , we give God thanks , we ask Him to give us what we need , we ask honor for His angels , we praise Him and glorify Him and even pray and ask Him that He glorifies His glorious name in all Heavens and on all the earth "Ps.72:18-20"
9] We repeat the prayers that should always be repeated , like the prayers we pray in churches , and , we pray new prayers according to the new circumstances that may occur.
10] And , we pray persistently and every time as we said in this part of the book.
-- So now if we know all this and do them , we can always pray with joy , and for sure we will bring forth much fruits and receive a lot of good things on earth and in heaven .
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Opposite use of the verse :
Now this time someone may say [I'll pray much , I'll never stop because it is written ""Lk.18:1 men always ought to pray and not lose heart"] , and he starts to pray more than he can bear , without experience or knowledge and right understanding and without enough respect and love to God and His angels . So here we say to him , brother , it is also written "Ecc.3:1,2 to everything there is a time" , so there is a time to pray and another time for everything else . And it is good to take everything gradually [step by step] whether it is religious or not . Also , you are still on earth living in this world , and you need to "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's" . And if you brother , fear the time of rest and the time of spiritual cold , about which Jesus said "Mt.24 pray that your flight may not be in winter nor on the Sabbath", you can be in one unity with friends, so that you all pray for each others , when you are busy , they will be there praying for you and when they are busy or are lukewarm [away from God] , you will be there praying for them .
+++ May God grant us all to always pray good prayers according to His will , and glorify His holy name forever . Amen.
+ Volume 2 [Part 2] +
--- Now , after we all have known the idea of the series "it is written … / it is also written ...." , which our Lord taught us , and how we should apply it while studying the Holy Bible and in life in general , in the following verses , I am just going to mention the verses and say the conclusion and what they mean together , but you can contemplate and meditate as much as the Holy Spirit gives you .
It is written It is also written
1 "Mt.9:13 go and learn what this means: "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" "12:7 if you had known what this means, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless " "Rom.12:1 present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God"
2 "Mt.3:7 , Mt.12:34 , Lk.3:7 "Brood of vipers" , "tell that fox" "Mt.5:22 whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire"
3 "Mt.6:26-28 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns , yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? . So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow , they neither toil nor spin" "2Thes.3:10 If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat"
4 "Rom.8:26 we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" "1Cor.14:15 I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding."
5 "Jn.8:32-36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed" "Gal.5:13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty, only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."
6 "Prov.24:13 eat honey because it is good, And the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste" "Mt.3:4 , Mk.1:6 he ate locusts and wild honey " "Prov.25:27 is not good to eat much honey" "Lk.24:42 they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb "
7 "Ecc.10:16 Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes feast in the morning " "Lk.24 Jesus ate in the early morning"
8 "Mt.15:4, Mk.7:10, Lk.18:20, Eph.6:2 , Col.3:20 Honor your father and your mother" "Mt.10:36 , Michah7:6 a man's enemies will be those of his own household" , "Mt.10:37 37He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me"
9 "Acts10:15 What God has cleansed you must not call common"
"Acts15:29 abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well "
10 "Prov.26:4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him." "Mt.15:3 , Mk.7:6" "Prov.26:5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes"
11 "1Tim.6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" "Malachi3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open"
12 "Lk.22:15 With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you "
"Dan.10:3 I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth" , "Prov.23:1,2 When you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you" , "Rom.14"
13 "Mt.2:8 Go and search carefully" , Lk.1:1-3 it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things" "Eph.5:15 "
"2Cor.3:6 not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" , "Mt.23:23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone".
14 "Rom.6:23 For the wages of sin is death " "1Jn.5:16 a sin which does not lead to death … There is sin leading to death"
15 "Lk.9:3 Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece. "
"Lk.22:35,36 when I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything? So they said, 'Nothing' , Then He said to them, 'But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one "
16 "Mt.12:30 , Lk.11:23 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters " "Mk.9:40 , Lk.9:50 he who is not against us is on our side"
17 "Ex.20:10 the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work" , "Deut.5 , Mt.9:13, 12:7 I desire mercy and not sacrifice" "Jn.5:16 , Mk.2:37 , Lk.6:1-5 the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath"
18 "1Jn.4:2 Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God" "Gal.1:8 , Mt.24 false apostles and false christs"
19 "Eph.2:8,9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast", "Rom.3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law " "Rom.3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law" , "Jam.2:17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead"
1] It is written : … / It is also written : …
"Mt.9:13 go and learn what this means: "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" "12:7 if you had known what this means, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless " / "Rom.12:1 present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God"
Briefly these two verses together mean , that God desires mercy for all of us , He wants us to understand His mercy on us and make use of it , and He also desires that we may have mercy on each others , and also that every one of us does what is good for Himself , even if it may appear to be against God's commandments , but still there is a big possibility that it will be according to His commandments in an indirect way . But all this does not contradict with what "Rom.12:1" says , that every one should sometimes present his body as living sacrifice , whether in ministry [church service] or in fasting or in any other good thing , you know why , because it will also be for his good in an indirect way whether on earth or in heaven.
2] It is written : … / It is also written : …
"Mt.3:7 , Mt.12:34 , Lk.3:7" "Brood of vipers" , "tell that fox" / "Mt.5:22 whoever says to his brother, "Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, "You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire"
Some say , if Jesus Himself insulted , why do you tell us not to insult , and why do you say it is a sin? We say , First it is not us who say it is a sin and who say don't insult , it is Jesus Himself , as it is clear here in "Mt.5:22" , also , from "1Cor.5:11, 6:10" we see that those who insult will not inherit the Kingdom of heaven" . Ok , so why then did Jesus and John the Baptist insulted saying for instance "Brood of vipers" . See , they don't insult because of hatred , they only describe . Can we then describe the same way ? no of course not , because , not everything that suits someone or is permitted to someone to do it , is suitable for everyone else , not every one can do everything , for example , the judge can decide if a criminal be put to death or be sent to prison , but no one else can do this . So Jesus who has all authorities , and everyone given permission from Him , can describe this way , but the rest cannot do it
3] It is written : … / It is also written : …
"Mt.6:26-28 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns , yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow , they neither toil nor spin" / "2Thes.3:10 If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.
Briefly , all these verses together mean that we should work every work given to us, and work honestly , but while we are working we must depend on God before all others , and we need to have our eternal life as our goal .
4] It is written : … / It is also written : …
"Rom.8:26 we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" / "1Cor.14:15 I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding"
These verses together mean that we have to pray , pray much , always do our best to understand what we say and what we pray for , but keep in mind that we will never understand every thing as it should be , and so the Holy spirit always intercedes for us , and so God always hears , answers and fulfills our prayers much better than we think or expect.
5] It is written : … / It is also written : …
"Jn.8:32-36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed" / "Gal.5:13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty , only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."
Yes sure , the Son has freed us from the bondage of sin and of Satan , and also gave us the freedom of grace instead of the curse of the Nomos [the Law] , but still as we all know , the testament of grace does not cancel the law but fulfills it , as Jesus said "I have not come to destroy but to fulfill" , and so our freedom from Satan should make us in bondage with God , and we must be submissive to God and do His commandments . And so freedom and liberty do not mean that we do whatever we want , but do whatever is good for us and do whatever God wants us to do , because they are also good for us.
6] It is written : … / It is also written : …
"Prov.24:13 eat honey because it is good, And the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste", "Mt.3:4 , Mk.1:6 he ate locusts and wild honey " / "Prov.25:27 is not good to eat much honey" , "Lk.24:42 they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb "
Sure , to eat honey is good for our health , the health of our bodies , and may be for our spirits too . A lot of articles wrote about its benefits . Our Lord , John the Baptist and the disciples ate honey and so it is really good . But here we have good information , it is not good to eat much of it , and really medical theories say that much sugar in not healthy.
7] It is written : … / It is also written : …
"Ecc.10:16 Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes feast in the morning" / "Lk.24" Jesus ate in the early morning
Jesus ate in the early morning with His disciples and we all do the same , while "Ecc.10:16" says that feasting in the morning is not good . Yes , for kings and princes and any one who has big authority and responsibilities , it is not good to ignore his responsibilities and feast in a bad way , this rule is not only in the morning but in any other time .
8] It is written : … / It is also written : …
"Mt.15:4 , Mk.7:10 , Lk.18:20 , Eph.6:2 , Col.3:20 Honor your father and your mother" / "Mt.10:36 , Michah7:6 a man's enemies will be those of his own household" , Mt.10:37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me"
Yes , for sure every one must honor his father and his mother , it is the fifth commandment in the ten commandments and it is the first one concerning men , for the first four are toward God [about our relation with God] . This commandment , if done , will be followed with many blessings from God . While we obey and honor them , we must have God first , if they want us to do anything against God's commandments , we must obey God first . Also it is clear here that a man's enemies will be his own household , if a son is trying to follow God with all his heart , his mother may deliver him to death … , so we need to obey our parents , but at the same time , if any of them is not righteous we need to be very careful .
9] It is written : … / It is also written : …
"Acts10:15 What God has cleansed you must not call common" / "Acts15:29 abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well "
Briefly , all kinds of food are clean , nothing defiled , because "Mt.15:11-19 , Mk.7:14-23 not what goes into the mouth defiles a man but what comes out of the mouth , this defiles a man" . As for the blood , it is not a kind of food , but because the soul is in the blood that is why it is forbidden . The same thing is the things strangled , in which we find some blood . As for the food offered to idols and the food in evil feasts , they are both considered kind of fornication , so whoever eat from them is considered participating in this evil. It is good to know that physicians say that the kinds of food that was forbidden in the Old Testament are harmful to our bodies , so it is good not to eat much from them.
10] It is written : … / It is also written : …
"Prov.26:4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him , Mt.15:3 , Mk.7:6" / "Prov.26:5 Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes"
Here , we should do what Jesus did , when He talked with unbelievers or fool men, He sometimes gave them the information they wanted and answered them according to what they wanted , if He had seen that this would make them repent or become good , but still He , in other times ignored what they said lest they would become worse.
- Prayer : Lord please , give us heavenly wisdom , good knowledge and right understanding and always guide us .
11] It is written : … / It is also written : …
"1Tim.6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" / "Malachi3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, 'If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it." "Prov.3:9,10 Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase , So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine" "Mk.12:42 , Lk.21:2"
Really , money is very important for our life , even Jesus said , money is master in this world . We all want a lot of money that we may live a better life . And even God Himself wants us to be rich and gave us the easy way to get a lot of money , which is to pay Him His tithes and honor Him with our money . So far , everything is great , but the wrong is to love money more than God and to try to get much money through evil ways .
12] It is written : … / It is also written : …
"Lk.22:15 With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you" / "Dan.10:3 I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth" , "Prov.23:1,2 When you sit down to eat with a ruler, Consider carefully what is before you" , "Rom.14"
God created a lot of good desires in us , each desire should be used the right way , so it is not sin to desire good things the right way but the sin is to desire what is not lawful for you . For instance , here , Jesus desired to eat with His disciples , and the food was the lamb of the Passover , so there was nothing wrong , but the wrong thing , is that because of your desire you harm others. We can say the same thing about any other desire.
13] It is written : … / It is also written : …
"Mt.2:8 Go and search carefully" , "Lk.1:1-3 it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things" , "Eph.5:15" / "2Cor.3:6 not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" , "Mt.23:23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone."
There is a big difference between : 1] trying to get perfect understanding , study and do everything accurately and diligently. And 2] doing small things while leaving important things undone and to be literal . The second thing can be sin , while the first thing is very good . Our Lord wants us to do , both the important things first , like love , justice , mercy and faith , but then do also the small things , and while doing them we must be spiritual not literal , and must have the right understanding.
14] It is written : … / It is also written : …
"Rom.6:23 For the wages of sin is death" / "1Jn.5:16 a sin which does not lead to death … There is sin leading to death "
Yes , it is true that the wages of sin is death , it is part of Christian faith and doctrine . But to explain these two verses together , there are two ways , depends on what death we are talking about , for there are 2 kinds of bodily death : 1] the death we all know when the spirit [and soul] leave the body . 2] the second death is when the wicked men will be thrown into hell. [see Revelation21,22] and there is a third death concerning the spirit , when a man sins and so he becomes separated from God . so if we talk about this third [spiritual] death , these 2 verses will mean that there is a big sin and a small sin , the big sin is like Adam and Eve's sin against God or any other sin against God but a small sin is like the small human mistakes we all do . And if we talk about the second death we can say , that the only sin leading for sure to the second death is to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit.
15] It is written : … / It is also written : …
"Lk.9:3 Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece" / "Lk.22:35, 36 When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything? So they said, 'Nothing' , Then He said to them, 'But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one "
Jesus in the first time wanted to give them perfect faith and to let depend completely on God , but then after they had it, they should do all what they could , and be subject to natural rules and laws as Jesus Himself was .
16] It is written : … / It is also written : …
"Mt.12:30 , Lk.11:23 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters " / "Mk.9:40 , Lk.9:50 he who is not against us is on our side "
In " Mt.12:30 , Lk.11:23" Jesus speaks about Himself only [in singular] , but in " Mk.9:40 , Lk.9:50" He speaks in plural about Himself and His disciples [the church] with Him . So He puts clear to all of us in all generations , that if anyone is against Him personally , he is against all the church , but if anyone is with Jesus but not ministering with a certain group of believers , he still belongs to Jesus our Lord and so no one should stop him.
17] It is written : … / It is also written : …
"Ex.20:10 he seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work", "Deut.5 , Mt.9:13, 12:7 I desire mercy and not sacrifice " / "Jn.5:16 , Mk.2:37 , Lk.6:1-5 the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath"
All commandments of God is for the good to those who love and obey Him , and so the commandment of the Sabbath is for us to have rest and relax our bodies , and to worship God and spend some time with Him , and also to get rest for our souls and spirits. But if I have something important that I must do in my weekend [the Sabbath] I should do it, and then rest any other day.
18] It is written : … / It is also written : …
"1Jn.4:2 Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God" / "Gal.1:8 , Mt.24 false apostles and false christs"
Here I need to say something important : the false christ says and confirms that Jesus is God , but by this he is not confessing the right faith , but he says this because he says about himself that he is christ , because he wants all men to follow him for he wants the glory of God for himself.
19] It is written : … / It is also written : …
"Eph.2:8,9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves , it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" , "Rom.3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law" / "Rom.3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law" , "Jam.2:17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead"
Yes , we will be saved by the grace of God , but we must do good works , but this good works is also by the grace of God , He grants us to do them . Or , in other words , the grace of God is everything , He gives it to us freely , not because of our righteousness but because of His love and mercy , but still to be able to receive His grace and to continue receiving it , we must do good works and continue doing them. Even faith , is a grace from God , because "no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit" . In the same way , we can say that faith is the most important , but still the law is also important because it is what takes us to the right faith , and Jesus came to fulfill the law not to destroy it . We can now put them all together and say that the grace gives us the right faith and gives us to do good works, faith and works fulfill [complete] each other and the law , and , the law teaches us how to do good works and to show our faith to others through our good works , and so by this God grants us His grace more and more .
+++ May God give us all right understanding.
+++ Glory be to Him from now and forever and ever. Amen
