VERSE-BASED SERMONS
Here, you'll find articles that explain a certain statement in the Scriptures.
GOD WILL ARISE AND HAVE MERCY UPON ZION
In Psalms 102:13, David the Psalmist stated, “Thou shall arise, and have mercy on Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.” There are three main parts - Zion, God will arise, and Having Mercy. We have to understand all the parts in detail in order to understand the full meaning.
Zion is the House of God. “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills: and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of Jacob: and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 2:2-3). It is from there that Jesus Christ will be ruling. “The LORD said unto my LORD, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.” (Psalms 110:1-2). That is also where our safety and deliverance comes from. “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For out of Zion and Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.” (Joel 2:32).
Then, we also have to understand what it means for God to arise. “For the LORD shall rise up as in Mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.” (Isaiah 28:21). When God says he’s arising to do something, it means he’s turning his attention to us (Exodus 3:1-14, 8). And when he says he’s going to arise, there’s absolutely nothing we can do to stop or prevent that (Isaiah 14:27, Daniel 4:34-35, Isaiah 2:2).
Then, there’s actually having mercy. The only reason why God is having mercy on Zion, or the reason why anybody would have mercy on anything, is simply because we sinned, and fell short of God’s glory (Romans 3:10-11, 23, 6:23, Genesis 3:16-19). However, God has decided to rescue us, and forgive us of our sins. He’s answering our prayers, like in the time of old (Exodus 2:23-25, Matthew 6:9-10 / Luke 11:2-4). And God has appointed Jesus Christ as Head and King of his Glorious Government in order to kick and destroy all enemies and traitors so that righteous ones can be rewarded by God Almighty (Isaiah 63:1-6, 9-14, 42:13-16, 49:7-11, 33:2, 22, Jeremiah 51:20-23, Ezekiel 36:6-12, Revelation 12:1-12, 19:11-21, etc).And what he’s doing is going to last forever (Daniel 2:44, Psalms 145:10-13, Isaiah 65:17-25, Revelation 21:1-5, etc).
We have to repent to God in order for us to get our fair share in all of God’s blessings. We must be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:18-20, Job 36:9-10, Acts 3:19-21, etc). That is when his lovingkindness will really show on us. “How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O LORD! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shall make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.” (Psalms 36:7-9 - see also Isaiah 63:7, 4:3-6, 52:2 and 26:2-4).
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JEHOVAH: A STRONGHOLD IN THE DAY OF TROUBLE
This was a statement made by Nahum the prophet: “The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.” (Nahum 1:7). There were other statements made by people about that same topic too. “The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” (Proverbs 18:10). “They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.” (Psalms 125:1-2). Because God, the Almighty God (Genesis 17:1, Deuteronomy 10:16-17, 1 Corinthians 8:5-6) lives from everlasting to everlasting (Psalms 90:2, 93:2) and can do anything (Genesis 18:14, Jeremiah 32:17, 27, John 10:29) but, at the same, time, is longsuffering, gentle, and humble (Psalms 86:15, Romans 15:5, 1 Corinthians 10:11, Isaiah 63:7-9, Psalms 103:8-14, etc) we should trust in him, and walk in his ways (Isaiah 26:4, Psalms 36:7-9, etc).
There are many examples of when God protected people in days of trouble. For example, in 2 Chronicles 20:1-30, Jehoshaphat had to battle against Moab and Ammon. It was a great multitude. When he prayed to God, he sent Jahaziel to tell Jehoshaphat that this wasn’t his battle to fight, but God’s battle. And he was right. Jehoshaphat and his army didn’t need to do anything. God sent Mount Seir to battle Ammon and Moab, and when they finished that, they simply destroyed themselves. All Jehoshaphat and his army needed to do was to invade the land and collect all the spoil, which took three days because there was so much of it. This just proves the power of God, and that he can save his children, and provide a stronghold in the day of trouble.
Another example of God providing help on the day of trouble is in Daniel 3, when the three Hebrew men had gone against Nebuchadnezzar’s rule that they had to bow down the statue he’d built. They were thrown into a furnace of fire as a result. However, none of them died; in fact, none of them even smelled burnt at all, and neither did their clothes. God had sent an angel to protect them from being harmed, which was why Nebuchadnezzar was surprised to see 4 men, when he’d only recalled throwing in three. God can do these things to us if we trust in him and keep his commandments.
As a result of man’s fall (Genesis 3:16-19, Romans 3:10-11, 23, 5:12-19, 6:23, etc), humanity as a whole has had days of trouble. We are as flowers, fragile flowers, before God (Job 5:6-7, 14:1-2). And in these last days, things are only getting more dangerous, as the wrath of God is hitting some people with a very heavy hammer, and he’s pronouncing judgment on people who certainly weren’t expecting it (Matthew 24:44-51, Isaiah 28:21, etc). However, God’s children are going to be kept under his canopy; the barn, while the other things are burnt. (Matthew 13:24-30). “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.” (Joel 2:32 - see also Romans 10:13 and Isaiah 26:20-21).
We should never be looking up to witches and wizards, necromancers, or other people like that for help. Rather, we should look to God (Isaiah 8:19-20, 2:19-20, Deuteronomy 18:10-12. “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” (Psalms 146:3-4). “Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.” (Psalms 62:10 - see also Psalms 20:7, Luke 16:9, 1 Timothy 6:7-10 and Ecclesiastes 7:12). We should always remember King Ahaziah in 2 Kings 1:1-17, and how he’d tried to pray to the god of Ekron for deliverance, and how he ended up dying, and Pharaoh in Exodus 7-11, and how Moses proved them useless when God gave him power to release the ten plagues.
It is our prayer, therefore, that God protects us from all the challenges that we may face in our lives, both physical and spiritual. Not one hair of our head will fall down without God noticing it (1 Samuel 14:45, Matthew 10:30), meaning that God always has his eyes on his children. “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” (1 Peter 3:12).
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"LET MY PEOPLE GO"
God has always had a plan for humanity. A plan of peace, restoration and true service towards him. Ever since the sin of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:1-6, humanity has been turning to themselves from the control of Satan the Devil in order to “pursue their dreams” (Ecclesiastes 7:29). This has gone on for thousands of years. However, God is currently restoring the world back to its former condition so they may serve him in peace and happiness (Isaiah 43:21). And, even though the wicked will always hold the people fast, God rescues his people nonetheless (Jeremiah 50:33-34).
However, what do the lines above have to do with the title?
During the preparations and waiting period of God’s plan, the wicked do their wickedness (Daniel 12:10) and rule over the righteous. When God is ready to execute his plan, he sends people to preach (Jeremiah 3:15). And their statements can be summarized in one phrase: “Let my people go”.
And, in the Bible, there are prototypes of this concept.
The story of Egypt is one of them because that’s where the statement, “Let my people go”, comes from. In Exodus 5:1, Moses told Pharaoh this, and he gave the reason why: “that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.” God had made a promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 that he would make a nation out of him. However, God told him it would be a natural phenomenon for his children to fall under the Egyptians’ clutches, and serve them for 400 years (Genesis 15:13-14). However, when the time was ready, he would rescue them, hence Moses’s statement, “Let my people go” (Exodus 5:1, 7:16, 8:1, 8, 20-21, 9:1, 13, 10:3-4).
One technique he’d used to free the Israelites was the flipping concept. Before God’s intervention, the survival of the Egyptian kingdom depended on the workforce. In Exodus 1, we see the kind of oppression the Israelites suffered. However, God flipped the situation with the plagues. Now, the survival of the Egyptians depended on the freedom of the Israelites from their power, hence Pharoah sending them away (Exodus 12:31-33).
The second prototype is the time of Jesus. God has had it in mind to free humanity of death (Job 33:21-24, Hosea 13:14), and Jesus eventually came down. When he was here, he summarized his entire mission with what Isaiah the Prophet stated in Isaiah 61:1-3, which led to a new religion and the salvation of many Gentiles: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19 - see also John 12:47 and Matthew 18:11). No matter what people did - shutting down the preaching of the gospel, murder (John 11:45-53, Acts 5:17-42), Christianity spread all over the world, in fulfillment of prophecy (Matthew 13:31-32).
In the last days, the time we are living in, the remnant of the saints are preaching the gospel of the Kingdom (Isaiah 66:19-21, Matthew 24:14). People prayed for deliverance through the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-10). Currently, the monarchs have been defeated, therefore giving humanity freedom of expression, action, etc (Revelation 12:7-12, 13:1, etc). Then, democracy came out of that (Revelation 13:1-4). Now, children of God have liberty to exercise themselves in righteousness, a true blessing from God.
However, the deliverance isn’t finished. There are still strands of autocracy, and the righteous are still being persecuted. God is changing that now (Psalms 147:3), as Jesus is testing the nations, weakening their abilities (Daniel 2:43), so that the wicked have no power to become leaders and lead in their evil, being a reproach to everyone (Proverbs 14:34). Jesus is doing so by denouncing leadership to make it worthless (Isaiah 3:6-7, 34:12). It will no more be an honour to rule the world. God did that to the Israelites, so that being a king of Jerusalem in Zedekiah’s time was nothing compared to being a king in David’s time.
It’s important we have faith in God’s deliverance, and patiently wait it out (Romans 8:24-25). “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” (James 1:4). God’s deliverance for his children is a gradual process, so we have to patiently wait for its completion (Luke 21:19). We should never adapt to the deliverance of false prophets in this world (1 John 4:1-3, 1 Thessalonians 5:21), because their so-called, “gospel of deliverance”, only brings us closer to bondage (2 Peter 2:19, Matthew 23:15).
God has gifted us freedom, so we have to use it wisely. People are using their freedom to do all kinds of unrighteous things, the way Abiram, Dathan, Korah, On and the 250 princes used their freedom to show their true colors and oppose God’s plan (Numbers 14, 16). Rather, we should use our freedom to serve God more faithfully than before. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 5:1).
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This was a fantastic question asked by a jailor in Acts 16:30. Here’s the account: “And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And then the answer was given: “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved, and thy house.” (Acts 16:26-31).
Now, what salvation are we talking about here? Salvation from death. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23). We are being saved from the death sentence that was issued on Adam, in Genesis 3:16-19. Jesus Christ died so we might live through him (Matthew 20:28, Hebrews 9:22, 28, Isaiah 53:10-12, etc). “ I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.” (Hosea 13:14). He will be giving this to his righteous ones (Psalms 3:8).
In Acts 16:31, Paul said that we have to believe in Jesus Christ. And he’d said it himself: “He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” (John 6:47). However, belief comes with some crucial things that we have to consider:
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Our belief has to be based on the knowledge of the truth. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17). We have to study it in order to believe in it. “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” (James 1:25 - see also 2 Timothy 2:15).
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Our belief has to be supported by Christ-like attributes, works of righteousness. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23 - see also 2 Peter 1:5-7).
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Our faith and belief must be kept to the end. “For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. (Hebrews 3:14). “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” (Matthew 24:12-13 - see also 1 Peter 1:9, Philippians 3:14 and Hebrews 10:35-36, 38-39).
The ability to inherit eternal life is very good and wonderful indeed (Isaiah 65:17-25, Hosea 2:18-20, Revelation 21:1-5, etc). As a result, we should trust God and keep his commandments. “Open ye the gates (the gates of salvation - Matthew 7:13-14), that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.” (Isaiah 26:2-4).
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IF A MAN DIES, SHALL HE LIVE AGAIN?
This is a question that has existed for thousands of years, and Job wondered about it in Job 14:13-14. “Oh that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past (that wrath being the wrath that God has in these last days, according to Isaiah 28:21, Ezekiel 38:19-20, etc), that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again?”
To understand resurrection, we should go to the life of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ had proved it when he demonstrated resurrection in Matthew 9:18-26, by resurrecting the girl, and in John 11:32-45, with Lazarus. It’s worthy of note that Jesus Christ didn’t see people who were dead as really dead, but more like sleeping. The people he really called dead were the Pharisees, but I’ll get to that in a bit. When Jesus Christ resurrected people, it was like he was just waking them up, and God sees it the same way. In Luke 20:38, it says that “all live unto him”, meaning that being dead is more of sleep; something that He can wake you up from.
But the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the first resurrection, because he was resurrecting to live eternally. “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” (Revelation 1:18). He is partaking in the first resurrection, him and his firstfruits. Those firstfruits are the saints of God. “But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.” (1 Corinthians 15:23). The idea of firstfruits is a very simple analogy to understand it. There are always fruits that come down before all the others. Those ones are for the priest. Then, it would be the rest of the fruits that would go to the congregation being ruled by the priest, or the leaders, generally. Same goes with the resurrection. Jesus Christ promised that after Jesus Christ and God himself would prepare the place, they would be taken up there. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:1-3).
And then there is the general resurrection, for both the just and unjust. It includes the righteous and the unrighteous. “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” (John 5:28-29 - see also Daniel 12:2 and Acts 24:15).
Now, like I said before, I would go into what it means to be spiritually. To be dead spiritually is for God to see you as somebody who cannot inherit eternal life. Usually, it’s when you don’t know God, but sometimes people who know God are also seen as dead before him simply because they don’t keep his commandments. “The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.” (Proverbs 21:16). Such people will not live again.
What I have already said makes it clear that it is possible for a man who dies to live again. Job himself gave the answer as well. “O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shall call, and I will answer thee: thou will have a desire to the work of thine hands.” (Job 14:13-15). Job also demonstrated such knowledge in Job 19:25-26. “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And thou after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.”
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RECEIVING THE KINGDOM LIKE A CHILD
In Matthew 18:1-4, Jesus Christ used children to help us understand the way we should approach and worship God. Children are innocent, and they trust that their parents have the best say in all matters. We have to behave like children, because those attributes are the same ones that God has always said we need to have. That doesn’t mean we should do childish things, though. “Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.” 1 Corinthians 14:20 - see also 1 Corinthians 13:11).
For example, there is humility. Children are generally humble and meek, not proud and know-it-alls. And God deals with both children and adults who behave like this. “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabited eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revei the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” (Isaiah 57:15). “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” (James 4:10 - see also 1 Peter 5:5-6, Proverbs 22:4 and Matthew 11:25-26).
There is also obedience. Thousands of years ago, and even today, the main law that God has set up isn’t offerings and sacrifices, but rather that we should obey him, and keep his commandments. “For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.” (Jeremiah 7:22-23 - see also Exodus 19:5). When we obey God, we will spend our days in property, and our years in pleasures (Job 36:9-11). Disobeying God brings the opposite. (Job 36:12).
Sincerity is another important virtue. Most little children are sincere. You know where they belong. It has to be obvious that we worship God, to ourselves and to others. “Four rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.” (2 Corinthians 1:12). Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth.” (Joshua 24:14). The opposite of this attribute is hypocrisy, and that isn’t righteousness. “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20 - that leaven being hypocrisy - Luke 12:1).
And finally, there’s trust. Children trust that what their parents tell them to do is correct, and it is therefore in their own interest to obey. We must see God and somebody who can provide a great future for us. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.” (Proverbs 3:5-7). We should be like Abraham, who trusted God to the extent that he left his own country, and went into the direction God showed him, to a land he wasn’t aware of (Genesis 12:1-3). We should be like Hezekiah, or king Jehoshaphat, because both those kings trusted that God could deliver them from losing battles and being taken over (Isaiah 36-37 and 2 Chronicles 20:1-30 respectively). And when we pray to God, we must trust that he has the ability to answer us. “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” (Matthew 21:22).
There are still more attributes to cover (e.g. forgiveness) but those 4 are already pretty strong. Such attributes are especially necessary in these last days, because these days are very troublesome, and we need a strong foundation, the truth, built up by attributes of Christ, such as the ones above, in order to fight through this (2 Corinthians 10:3-6, 2 Timothy 3:1-5, etc). We should never be envious, set in our ways, filled with malice, or any other kind of bad attributes, preventing us from having God’s rewards (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21, 1 Peter 2:1-3, etc). Rather, we should be babes before God, and put all his ways and principles first. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33).
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This was a very important warning made by Jesus Christ in Luke 17:32. “Remember Lot’s wife.” The story is in Genesis 19:1-30. The only reason why Lot even ended up in Sodom and Gomorrah was because of grazing rights. Both Lot and Abraham were rich, and their servants and shepherds were having many arguments. So they split up. Abraham went west, while Lot went east. That east was where Sodom and Gomorrah were.
Sodom and Gomorrah were well fertilized cities, but the people who lived there were anything but righteous. They indulged in very wicked sins, and God wanted to get rid of them. But he’d previously had a conversation with Abraham in Genesis 18, and God wanted to save Lot from the calamity that was going to happen to Sodom and Gomorrah. That was why he sent an angel to meet Lot and his family, and warned them that they had to get things ready and escape to the mountains.
Lot tried to encourage other people to go with them; after all, the angel didn’t put a limit to how many people could leave. But nobody believed him, and they just wanted to continue what they were doing. And so, as a result, it was only Lot, his wife, and his two daughters that could leave the city.
Then, here’s where the warning of Jesus Christ comes in. The angels warned Lot and his family that they could not turn back, otherwise they’d be punished. Lot’s wife, however, disobeyed the instruction by turning back while escaping. She immediately became a pillar of salt.
This story is symbolic because in the last days, we have to spiritually flee to the mountains (Matthew 24:15-16, Luke 21:20-21. This means we have to study the truth, and we are therefore being gathered together by God into this fold (John 10:16, Zephaniah 2:3, Matthew 13:24-30, etc - similar to the Cities of Refuge). It’s the Mountain of the Lord’s House as well (Zechariah 8:3, Isaiah 2:2). Lot’s family, as a whole, represents the people who, by the grace of God, have the ability to be called by God to come and worship him. Few people have that opportunity. Lot’s wife represents those people who take the opportunity for granted, and decide to misuse it. Such people will not be saved.
There are some very important distinct lessons that we have to learn from this story.
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God doesn’t like disobedience. Lot’s wife was disobedient because she, and the rest of her family, were strictly told that they couldn’t look back. But she died, and was penalized by God as a result (2 Peter 2:6-7).
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We should never take God’s grace for granted. It’s sinning against the Holy Spirit in the last days. And if we do that, there is no other opportunity to worship God (Matthew 12:31-32, Hebrews 6:4-6, 10:26-29, 2 Peter 2:20-22, etc).
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We should never love the world. It was clear Lot’s wife loved the world, because she turned back as a result of missing what she was going to leave behind in Sodom and Gomorrah. Not really her belongings, but her way of living, and traditions. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” (1 John 2:15-17 - see also Luke 12:15-21).
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God’s judges, and sometimes, he can judge speedily. Many times, he gives a long rope, but disobedience against God can pull the cord of punishment closer to us. However, the time at which he can bring judgment isn’t guessable - but we should do what we can to prevent it from coming to us. (Matthew 24:36).
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When we put our hands to something, we should never give up, or turn back. In the last days, when we say we want to worship God, and we start doing that, we can’t turn back, for any reason. “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” (Hebrews 10:38-39).
It’s important we understand that worshipping God isn’t about turning back, but about making it to the end. “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62).
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In Matthew 13:44, Jesus Christ used a treasure hidden in a field to signify the importance of the power of the gospel message. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is the like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.”
The most important part of this is the treasure itself. The treasure is the word of God, a precious thing to humans (1 Samuel 3:1 - people liked having something to do with it). The word of God / the gospel message will be understood by few people, who will come trembling from the west (spiritually - Hosea 11:10). The Bible has also described the word of God as a precious thing. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33). “How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!” (Proverbs 16:16- see also Job 28:12-20, Proverbs 8:10-11 and Colossians 2:2-3). That was why we are advised should study it (2 Timothy 2:15, James 1:25).
The parable also talks about hiding the treasure. The Bible has talked about this physically; for example, Hezekiah did not hide his treasures in 2 Kings 20:12-21, but rather showcased them to Babylon, which become a target and motivation for invade their kingdom. And spiritually, the same concept applies. We don’t let anything from Egypt steal the treasure, the word of God and its power, away from us. We get rid of friends that would do so (1 Corinthians 5:9-13, 2 Corinthians 6:14-18), and the iniquities that trouble our hearts (James 4:1, Matthew 15:18-20, Galatians 5:19-21, Romans 1:28-32), and any conversation that would convince us otherwise (Colossians 2:8, Titus 3:9).
The parable also talks about a man selling all he has to buy that field. Selling all we have had been talked about literally, especially by Jesus Christ. For example, in Mark 10:17-25, Jesus Christ told a rich man to sell all he had and come follow him. He didn't’ though, because he had great possessions. It’s physically hard to sell everything you have just to buy something. The Christians converted by Peter’s speech did do that though, because of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:45). Spiritually, those great possessions are the things that we had in Egypt (a term used to describe people who don’t know God and don’t worship him, based on the Israelites were seen to the Egyptians they’d left behind - Exodus 19:4-6) before; all our investments in loving the world, and competing against others for it (1 John 2:15-17). Those things have to be forgotten, and we have to make every sacrifice to secure the treasure (Matthew 19:29, Luke 14:26).
Once we do all of that, we can buy the field. The field is very pricy, but the man managed to purchase it, because he sold everything he had. Similarly, the word of God is very pricy to keep, but when we secure everything, so that we are pure, and it is only God that has access to ourselves, our families, our relationships, etc, we have secured it with us, and have bought it. “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possessions, unto the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14 - see also Joshua 1:8).
There are some examples of people in the Bible who had dome as the man in the parable had done. Abigail had done it, because she protected David from killing Nabal and possibly offending God, risking her life, the way the man in the parable had risked all his possessions to buy that field (1 Samuel 25:25-31). St. Paul had done all that he could to win Christ (Philippians 3:7-9). Jonathan had done all he could to protect David, ignoring his future position of king and staying where God himself was, which was with David (1 Samuel 18:2-4, 23:16-17). There’s also Moses (Hebrews 11:24-26), Obadiah (1 Kings 18:2-4, and Lot (Genesis 19:1-30).
It’s very important that we understand what the parable of Jesus Christ in Matthew 13:44 means. It may be a short parable, but the meaning is big in our time. In Proverbs 2:1, 4-6, King Solomon, telling us the value of God’s word and what happens when we seek it, had stated, “My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of GOd. For the LORD giveth wisdom: Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.”
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Most of the Bible’s history is covered by Jews, and the covenant that they had with God at the time. To be a Jew meant you were a child of God, and to be a Gentile means you weren’t. At least, that’s what most people thought.
However, the New Testament brought a new idea, which wasn’t actually new, because it was the backbone of all the covenants and treaties that God had made with Israel at the time. But, we have to ask ourselves: “What does it really mean to be Jew?” Not all Jews were saved, after all, so then what makes a Jew a Jew?
Well, this idea of classification had commenced in our time. In the Old Testament, for example, Abraham had been praying to God for a son, and when he had Ishmael from Hagar, Sarah’s handmaid, Abraham thought that this was going to be the special son that he was promised. However, God said that that’s not the son, because it didn’t come from Abraham’s lineage (Genesis 17:20-21). And St. Paul later came to explain in Romans 9:6-8 that the true Jew would come from Abraham, not from the bowels of a slave, having to do with a true Jew coming from a certain formula, not just from anywhere.
The proportion of true Jews from the spirit and Jews from the flesh is also very small, because true Jews are a minority compared to ones in the flesh. Out of the millions of people who had left Egypt at the time (Numbers 1:45-45, which wasn’t including women, children or seniors, it was only Moses, Joshua and Caleb that God really recognized as true Jews (Numbers 12:3, 14:24, 32:10-12). Abiram, Dathan, Korah and the 250 princes wanted to pretend that they were in that category, but they weren’t, because they were people of rebellion, like Satan the Devil (Isaiah 14:12-15, Numbers 16:1-50, for their story).
In the New Testament as well, people who were true Jews were expressed. When the apostles were preaching, there were people that who were pricked in their hearts (Acts 2:37, 41, 4:4, etc). Those people were called by God. That’s why, in that Acts 2:37, when God touched their hearts, they received the message with open arms.
In these last days as well, true Jews are going to be sought out by God. They are the ones that will recognize the significant and yet unique message of God, and follow its directions (Matthew 24:15-16, Hosea 11:10). The people that fit the new covenant explained in Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Hebrews 8:8-12 will not be forced to worship God, but will hear the gospel message, know it’s the truth, and humble themselves to follow it to the end. Such people can come from any country, race, gender, in the world, because God calls who he wants, whether poor or rich (Matthew 11:25-26).
It’s also important to understand that the signature of the covenant made with the Israelites, which is circumcision, can only be done in full by him that is a true Jew, because the physical circumcision doesn’t really mean anything (Galatians 6:12-16, 1 Corinthians 7:19)It is the circumcision of the heart, that is important (Jeremiah 4:4, Deuteronomy 10:16), because that is what gets rid of the evil, and inclines our hearts with God’s.
When we understand this, when we see what St.Paul said in Romans 2:28-29, it makes more sense: “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise of not of men, but of God.”
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WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR?
In Luke 10:25-37, a person had asked Jesus Christ, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus Christ then used the parable of the Good Samaritan to tell us who our neighbour really is.
From verses 30-37, there was a man travelling that was spotted and beaten up by thieves, and wounded , so that, as the account says, he was half-dead. A priest walked by him, and did nothing, and so did a Levite. But it was a Samaritan who picked him up, helped him, and even supplied money for further care.
The story made it clear that the Samaritan’s neighbor was the man that he’d helped cure. But who are our neighbours? And once we identify them, how do we aid them?
Our neighbors are people who we influence, and people who are interested in God’s word. The Pharisees weren’t neighbors of Jesus Christ at all, because, though they were both vast in the Scriptures, they had completely opposite opinions on what was righteous, and what wasn’t. And the Bible has told us that we should love our neighbors, and not do evil against them (Romans 13:9-10, Galatians 5:13-14, Hebrews 13:1, James 2:8-9, Matthew 22:37-40, Mark 12:33, etc).
There are examples in the Bible of good neighbourliness. For example, Jonathan was a neighbor of King David, because he loved him as his own soul (1 Samuel 18:1-4, 20:17). Same goes with Jesus Christ, who loved his disciples, and made sure that the group was still intact when he was to die, and afterward (John 17:12). Jesus Christ is also a good neighbour to all Chistians because he died for them (2 Corinthians 8:9, Philippians 2:1-11).
There are also examples of people who hated their neighbours, even if they pretended not to. The BIble has told us that we cannot hate our neighbors, simply because of their spiritual weaknesses (Proverbs 14:21, 3:29, 29:5, etc). The churches in these last days that don’t obey Jesus christ are in that category, because they exploit from them, and they don’t wish good for them. Whether they believe in God, or love God, or can solve spiritual problems, is of no worth to them. They don’t tend the flock (Matthew 24:48-51, Isaiah 56:10-11, Matthew 7:15-24, Ezekiel 34:1-11, etc), but they just want your tithes every service. Such people are hating their neighbours, because they are destroying them (Isaiah 9:16, Habakkuk 2:15-16, etc). Anybody who talks to their neighbours with care but don’ feel good about them, and just want their money, is somebody who hates his neighbour (Psalms 28:3).
The Bible has explained to us what it means to love our neighbours. It has to do with the sacrifice that we make for our neighbours (Romans 14:21). All it is is living a life that people can benefit from. There are certain things that won’t shift our spirit relationship with God, but we can still stop doing them for the sake of overs. This is not only true charity (1 Corinthians 13:1-13), but it is a good way of helping people come to the faith. For such reasons, in Romans 15:1-2, St.Paul had said, “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.” (see also Roamns 14:15, 1 Corinthians 10:24, 8:11-13, etc). We are being the light of the world (Matthew 5:13-16, Philippians 2:12-18), by living a life that can be of great benefit to other people with good spirits. We should also forgive our neighbours, not being bitter against them (Colossians 3:13, Matthew 18:21-35).
It is important that we understand who our neighbors are, and how we can show love to them. In Psalms 15:1-3, David the Psalmist was talking about who will be able to dwell in God’s tabernacle, and who qualifies to dwell in God’s Estate, being a righteous person. He’d stated, “Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.” (Psalms 15:1-3) One of the requirements to qualify as a righteous person is respecting your neighbour.
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BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED
A big pillar of Christianity is the doctrine that grace is the beginning and end of our worship with God. God calls us, and he forgives all our sins, and when we do anything bad, we are entitled to forgiveness. And, to support this, people use Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” However, did St.Paul really mean that Christians don’t have to do anything when worshipping God?
Grace can be divided into two levels: Opportunity and Ability. Opportunity is the kind of grace that allows us to know about our iniquities. It isn’t what brings us from iniquity to righteousness, but it allows us to be aware that we were formerly in iniquity before knowing God. The apostles had continuously thanked God for ability to understand our iniquities, and be called to live better lives (Colossians 1:12-14, 1 Peter 2:9-10, Philippians 2:1-10, etc). Not everybody gets such opportunities (Matthew 13:10-16, Matthew 22:14), and for such reasons, it is grace.
Zedekiah King of Judah was given such grace, because in Jeremiah 38:14-28, he was told by Jeremiah the Prophet what would happen to him if he escaped, and if he surrendered. Not many kings had such grace. But, he’d wasted it, because he still decided to flee, and Nebuchadnezzar caught up with him, killed all his family before his eyes, and then plucked his eyes and took him to Babylon (Jeremiah 39:1-7).
Then, there is the second level of grace, which is ability. In these last days, the gospel message is being preached (Isaiah 52:7, Matthew 24:31, 14, Revelation 14:6-7, etc). And, there are people who will hear it, and understand the message, and that is opportunity. But, there is also the grace that allows us to take that message and use it to cleanse the bad spots in us, the sins (Galatians 5:19-21, Isaiah 1:16-20, Ephesians 5:26, etc). The grace is God giving us the Holy Spirit to do so (Romans 8:9, 14), but we still have to put in the work and effort to make such things happen.
St.Paul can also be used, because it was by God’s grace that he could have the abilities to be the successful apostle that he was. “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” (1 Corinthians 15:10). St.Paul also thanked God for the grace that he had given to the people of Thessalonica, which is why they didn’t oppress Paul, but they took care of him (2 Thessalonians 1:3, 2:13).
What’s even worse about this doctrine is that it makes people want to feel entitled towards God. Once they get told that God is somebody who will always forgive the sins of people, quoting Psalms 130:3-4 and Isaiah 63:7, they start to feel entitled to sin continuously, and be forgiven. Will we say that, because Judas was called by Jesus Christ, he will be saved, though he betrayed him and ended up hanging himself? (Matthew 27:1-5). Would we say then that the Pharisees would be saved, because they knew the Bible, though they killed jesus Christ? Jesus Christ even asked for forgiveness on their behalf (Luke 23:24), but God still went with his judgment in AD.70 and AD.135).
For such reasons, we can’t interpret St.Paul’s statements in Ephesians 2:8-9 as to mean that grace covers everything. St.Peter and St.Paul said that if we have the grace of God to come and know the truth, but we continue in our evil ways, God is going to come after us (Hebrews 10:26-29, 2 Peter 2:20-22). We have to repent and change our ways (Romans 6:3-4, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, Ephesians 4:17-32). Anybody who can’t change their ways doesn't have the grace of God, but anybody who can does, and will be blessed for doing so (Ezekiel 3:19, 2 Kings 17:13).
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BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT
Poverty is an undesired condition in this world. People with established positions think that it’s simply because of money, and that poor people don’t have the money to ride rich vehicles, and buy houses with 10 acres of land. But we have to understand, it’s a lot more than that, and that helps us to understand the spiritual poverty, which, when aided by God, leads to eternal happiness.
When people are poor, it’s not really about their poverty that makes them depressed. It’s still possible for them to survive. However, it’s when they see other people doing better than them, cruising through life, and not even having to think about the next meal, that makes ones of poor fortunes become depressed. It’s that feeling that makes them want to do anything they can to build themselves up.
This yearning is the same idea that Jesus Christ was talking about in Matthew 5:3, 6: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” But what does it mean to be poor in spirit? And what does it mean to be taken from that poverty?
There are many examples in the Bible of people were poor in spirit. For example, in Job 13:15, Job demonstrated his yearning to remain with God, and be humble before him. “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.” Also, in Daniel 1:8, Daniel demonstrated his will to stay with God and his yearn to be righteous when he didn’t accept King Nebuchadnezzar’s food. He’d also demonstrated this humility and nature when, though being threatened by those generals under King Darius, still continued to worship God and follow his normal routines (Daniel 6:10-28). They valued their relationships with God, and yearned to make them better.
The reason why Jesus Christ said that people who are poor in spirit are blessed is because they end up being the ones to know stuff. Whether in the workplace, or in spiritual matters, people who have convinced themselves that they already know everything, simply because they were born in a family where such things were known and practiced, etc, will never yearn to build any strong relationship with God. The Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, and everybody else in that category, were a part of such group. They didn’t believe that Jesus Christ could teach them about God, but they remained in their blindness as a result (John 9:39-41), and that gradually led to their collapse in 70 CE (Luke 19:41-44).
The Bible has told us that it is the poor in spirit that God will feed, both with his knowledge and understanding. “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed.” (Isaiah 65:13). The poor in spirit will accept everything God has to offer, and will never feel hungry for worldly tastes anymore. “I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.” (Psalms 81:10). The water and bread that Jesus Christ was talking about, that will never make you thirsty or hungry again, is the same idea (John 6:35, 51, Isaiah 55:1-2, etc).
However, it is important we understand, not everybody who calls himself a Christian is now poor in spirit, because they think that you having Christian in your nickname means you believe in him. It is only people that are converted by God himself (John 6:44), that are poor in spirit, because they yearn for God’s kingdom, and they yearn for a better, stronger and more peaceful relationship with God. It is only such people that God will raise up, so that their poverty can become riches, riches that will never cease (Matthew 6:19-21). “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to receive the heart of the contrite ones.” (Isaiah 57:15).
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TEACH US TO PRAY
In Luke 11:1, the disciples of Jesus came to him and asked him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” Then, in response to this question, Jesus Christ taught them the Lord’s prayer (verses 2-4, and Matthew 6:9-10).
Prayer is important because true Christians come to God needing God. We acknowledge our problems, and prayer is what allows us to make our requests to God, to fix those things and bring us closer to God. We see this is Job 36:9-12, Matthew 5:3, 6 and 6:1-8. People who are poor in spirit, who acknowledge their iniquities, and want to fix them, will use prayer to fix those problems to be close to God.
Jesus Christ answered it with that prayer because many people pray for their own lusts. They don’t come to God because of God, but because of themselves. This isn’t being nice. “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” (James 4:3). Jesus Christ didn’t pray for the world, neither for person lusts, but for matters that concerned God (John 17:9). Jesus Christ had even told us not to worry about the things of the world, but focus on God’s laws, concerning our prayers and what we take to God (Matthew 6:25-33, Deuteronomy 8:2-3, Matthew 4:4). In Psalms 101:4, David the Psalmist, not wanting to be like such ones who care about themselves, had stated, “I will reject all selfishness and stay away from every evil.” (Living Bible - TLB).
An example of something that we should pray for when we want to bring God closer to us is for God to give us the Holy Spirit. It is a requirement to worshipping God (Romans 8:9), because it is what opens the Bible to us, helps us understand it, and what gives us the strength to live our lives accordingly. This is why David the Psalmist had stated, “Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.” (see also Romans 8:26).
When we want to be closer to God, and we don’t have many companions, asking God for people who believe in him to have as friends is something God wants us to pray for. After all, once we fulfill 1 Corinthians 5:11 and 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, some of us might want friends to help build our faith, and God answers such prayers for his children. For David, God gave him Jonathan, who was a true supporter and friend (1 Samuel 18:2-4, 23:16-17). Jesus Christ, after praying, was given the disciples (Luke 16:12-13). The apostles wouldn’t have to told us to look for people with like minds in 1 Peter 3:8 and 1 Corinthians 1:10 if that wasn’t something God liked.
Another thing that people can pray for is the wisdom of God. God is very open to such prayers, because it is about him, instead of about the person who’s asking it. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” (James 1:5 - see also Proverbs 2:1, 4-6). King Solomon, when given the opportunity to pray for whatever he wanted, chose wisdom, because he valued the kingdom of Israel being ruled according to God’s principles. God was pleased by this (1 Kings 3:3-15). Daniel also prayed to know the plans of God at that time, and to also let others hear it (Daniel 2:17-23).
If we also have people who influence us, we can pray for such ones to live longer. “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.” (1 Timothy 5:17 - see also Ephesians 6:2, in the light of children). A part of that honour is the prayer(s) that we make for such ones, whether it be elders, our parents, or others, who have the knowledge of God and use it in a pure way. We want Psalms 71:17-18 to fulfill on them, considering living long and God not forsaking them. Because we want to walk and be with wise people (Proverbs 24:5-6, 13:20), God likes prayers of people who wish well for their parents, or others with the wisdom of God.
Expanding on the last point, God also likes it when we pray for friends, and others who might need spiritual help, because it shows God that we are interested in others coming to be soldiers for God. Jesus Christ prayed for the apostles and all the people that they would recruit (John 17:6-26). Daniel prayed for the children of Israel at the time (Daniel 9:14-19), and so did Ezra (Ezra 9:16-15). Abraham even prayed for the righteous ones of God that were in Sodom and Gomorrah, cities that would be destroyed by God (Genesis 18:20-33).
It is important that we understand what we should be praying for. God doesn't want people who come to him because they heard from somebody who said that God can answer prayers. He wants people who will come to him and pray to him because they want to be closer to him, and be better for him. And it is only such people that really believe that God can answer their prayers, because it is God they want. “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” (Matthew 21:22).
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This statement is drawn from Matthew 6:33. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
To understand how people seek something first, let’s look at the children of this world (ones who love and believe in the world).
People are raised to have an understanding of what the standards are. There are community standards, national standards, international standards and, of course, universal standards. Western education, for exampole, is a universal standard, because parents worldwide use their lives to work that out for their children. They love talking about it. They think about how to achieve it. People who help them achieve such goals are very “nice” and “thoughtful” and will be their bosom friends. It’s where their heart and soul is.
However, “children of God” don’t understand their place. They know God is the god of gods (Psalms 95:3), and that Jesus is their redeemer (Job 19:25-26), and fewer know that the Kingdom of God has been set up (other articles in our website explain this). However, they want to get a mix of both God and the world. They go to church, read the Bible, but they worry about the standards of this world, and how to fit in (Matthew 6:25-32). They trust in the world to give them happiness and fulfill their dreams (which Christians shouldn’t do - Psalms 146:3-4, Jeremiah 17:5-6). And Jesus warned us that such conditions don't earn us rewards. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24). The Israelties were like this, because though they were the children of Abraham, they would “look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans.” (Hosea 3:1 - NKJV).
Because of this lack of understanding that children of God have that unbelievers don’t, Jesus stated, “for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” (Luke 16:8).
True Christians should seek God the way children of this world seek to meet the world’s standards. We should have interest in God’s will and desire to build a relationship with Him, all the time. “Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually.” (1 Chronicles 16:11). Talking about God and worshipping Him delights us. “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.” (Psalms 122:1). We should seach for God and His Kingdom like treasures (Proverbs 2:1, 4-6). And, knowing that iniquity doesn’t fly with God, we would avoid it wherever possible. “Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.” (Proverbs 4:14-15). And, just like people are proud of their achievements in the world, we boast about what we’ve achieved in our worship to God (Jeremiah 9:23-24). All of this doesn’t mean we don’t seek things in the world; it is that we seek God “first”.
There are people in the Bible who sought God first. King Josiah sought to build a better relationship with God by repairing the temple so it could be used to attain love and protection from God (2 Chronicles 34:1-7, 14-32). Remember, King Josiah’s father, Amon, was a wicked king who brought pagan idols to God’s temple and made his subjects worship them. Josiah spent much time removing all of it and breaking certain relationships that Judah might’ve had with other nations due to religious ties, because he was interested in keeping God by his side.
Josiah can be contrasted with King Saul, who never showed interest in God. He killed 85 priests at Nob (1 Samuel 22). He ignored God’s instruction to kill all the Amalekites, and decided which ones should be killed and which cattle should be spared (1 Samuel 15). He deemed it good to offer the offering before war instead of Samuel (1 Samuel 13). From his life history, it’s apparent that the desire and hunger for righteousness and holiness wasn’t with him. He was a “natural man”, because he had no value for spiritual things (1 Corinthians 2:14).
But how do we seek God’s Kingdom in particular? What even is it?
God’s Kingdom is a project God initiated in our time to restore the world to righteousness (Acts 3:19-21). The desire of all nations - peace, freedom, love, lack of war - is championed by the Kingdom of God from heaven. “For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.” (Haggai 2:6-7 - see also Isaiah 33:24, 60:1-22, 65:17-25 and Revelation 21:1-5).
This project requires peple who will give “a cup of cold water” (Matthew 10:42), which is talking about it and living our lives according to it. While others run after the world’s standards, people who understand God’s Kingdom celebrate it by obeying the king, Jesus, who is ruling God’s Kingdom (Ecclesiastes 8:1).
There are disavantages and advantages to not seeking God and seeking God respectively. When we don’t seek God, God won’t bless us. For example, when the Israelites sinned against God, God didn’t bless them, or protect them, or show His love to them until they sought God’s face. “I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.” (Hosea 5:15).
When we seek God, He will reveal Himself and His wisdom to us. “The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.” (2 Chronicles 15:2). Our prayers will always be heard by God. “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” (Matthew 7:7). Jesus was somebody who was granted everything he asked for because he sought God and showed interest in his Father’s purpose (John 11:41-42). And in our time, the day of God’s anger, when we seek God’s face, he won’t humiliate us like He’s doing to false pastors (Ezekiel 29:4, 34:1-16). “Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger.” (Zephaniah 2:3).
From what’s been said, seeking God’s Kingdom first is important for Christians because people who seek and hunger for it with all their heart will be filled with peace and love that can’t be found in the world. “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:3, 6).
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This statement is drawn from Genesis 39:7. “And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.”
The whole story is in Genesis 39:1-20. Joseph was exalted to the position of manager over all Potiphar’s belongings. Potiphar’s wife admired Joseph, and wanted to sleep with him, though already married. Joseph refused, though, because adultery was against God’s law (Exodus 20:13). She tried to force him, but Joseph didn't yield, and she lied against Joseph to her husband so he was thrown into prison.
Potiphar’s wife is like Satan, who seduces people into having a taste of his wickedness. Remember, just as how Potiphar’s wife was covetous - she wasn’t content witb Potiphar - Satan isn’t satisfied with his own people, who he’s blinded (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). He is covetous and desires God’s people to forsake their integrity and join him in sin. This was illustrated in Revelation 17 by a woman who sits upon many waters (political, social and economic systems), and is a harlot because she (Satan’s Organization - Satan, demons, wickedness) lures people into her fold, only to end in misery, and not righteosuness (Proverbs 7:4-27 - an illustration of this concept).
Satan did this to humanity in Genesis 3:1-6. God created humanity for Himself (Isaiah 43:21), and not for Satan, but Satan wanted to have humanity for himself, and he lured Adam and Eve into eating the apple, and therefore into sin (Genesis 3:1-6). And ever since then, the world has been under his clutches (1 John 5:19, NKJV). One major group of people he uses for this job are false prophets. They twist their doctrines to lure/seduce people to give them money (Ezekiel 13:10, 2 Timothy 3:13, Mark 13:22). They make doctrines that will suit the itching ears of ignorant Christians (2 Timothy 4:3-4, Isaiah 30:10), to lure them into following them (Isaiah 9:16). They are like Satan himself (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).
However, we shouldn’t fall in Satan’s hands. We do so by not loving the world, because Satan uses that to lure us into his fold. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. (1 John 2:15-17).
We shouldn’t be lured in by seducing doctrines (1 Timothy 4:1), or have a lust to fit in with the world. After all, “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” (John 15:19). Neither should we defile ourselves with the world and its temporal standards. “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” (2 Corinthians 6:17 - see also Isaiah 52:11). And to do this, we have to be proud of worshipping God and keeping His commandments. Feeling ashamed of it is dangerous, as Satan can pounce on that and satisfy us with worldly things. We should be like St.Paul, who said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16).
When we retain our integrity, though, persecution is inevitable. “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Matthew 11:12). Because we live in a world that Satan rules in (2 Corinthians 4:4 - the god of this world - John 12:31, 14:30 - prince of this world) there will be consequences for those who don't love it. But we must understand those consequences and endure them, knowing that it won’t last forever. “But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” (1 Peter 3:14, 4:13).
If we know Joseph’s story, we will realize that everything that was just discussed fulfilled on Joseph’s life. Potiphar’s wife attempted to lure him into sin (and by the way, Satan was ontop of all this), and Joseph refused, and persecution quickly followed. But he wasn’t the only one in this case.
Satan wanted to lure Job into declaring unbelief in God. He did so by destroying all his riches. However, because Job had an idea of why he was suffering, he vowed to retain his integrity (Job 27:2, 4-6), and he did. As a result, his riches were restored.
Jesus faced similar conseqences. He proved to the Pharisees and Satan that he wasn’t interested in what they had to offer (Matthew 4:1-11). He didn’t gang up with the Pharisees because they were of the devil (John 8:44). He suffered major persecution, namely his crucifixion in Matthew 26-27. But in the end, he was resurrected (Revelation 1:18), and his prayer in John 17:4-5 for glorification was answered, as his prophecies regarding the destruction of Jerusalem (Matthew 23:33-38, 24:2, Luke 19:41-44, 21:20-21, etc) were fulfilled, and he was exalted (Philippians 2:5-11).
Satan wanted to lure David into sinning against God and turning from His commandments. He made sure Bathsheba was naked in an area where David would see it. David lusted for her, and he sinned against God by committing adultery and killing Uriah (2 Samuel 11). However, he repented of his iniquities and rebuilt his integrity in God, and eventually his kingship was restored.
It’s clear now that when we don’t give in to what Satan wants, there will be persecution, but in the end, we win. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).
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THE SIGNS OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM
The disciples listened to Jesus talk about a kingdom a lot, but they wanted to know when it would come. “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3).
It’s worth mentioning that there are many signs proving the coming and establishment of Christ’s kingdom; this article will review several.
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Globalization is a sign that Christ’s Kingdom has come. Jesus said that all nations would be gathered before him (Matthew 25:31-32). This has been done with social media (the whole world uses it), and other things. God wants the world to work as one, to share standards, to believe in the same things. And the world is gradually moving to be completely secular, all over the world. With that kind of system controlling the world, when God makes something occur that dismantles that system, the whole world will be affected and judged (2 Corinthians 5:10).
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The abomination of desolation is another sign of the time. Jesus Christ warned us of it in Matthew 24:!5-16). The abomination of desolation is the political system in this world which is God’s “whip” for spirituality, as it doesn’t represent what God wanted. The abomination of desolation does not regard God (that’s why it’s an “abomination”) and it takes apostate Christianity out under God’s control (Revelation 17:16-17). But, we must remember, the abomination of desolation itself will be taken out by Jesus Christ, too, because it’s wicked and doesn’t regard God (Revelation 19:11-21).
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Another sign of the time is that the heavens have been shaken. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.” (Matthew 24:29). The monarchical leadership that used to dominate the earth has now been replaced (through war) with a more liberal kind of hierarchy. And the Egyptians faced the same fate. The Pharaoh, the astrologers, prognosticators and magicians were the heavens in that time, but God shook them with the ten plagues, and the Israelites were set free (Exodus 7-12). They even went with much spoil. This was all in fulfilment of a promise from God to Abraham in Genesis 15:13-14.
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Another sign of Christ’s Kingdom is that people and governments have a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof (2 Timothy 3:5). The constitutions of various nations sprinkle Bible laws and traditions, like a prohibition of murder and theft (and these are from Exodus 20:13-17). However, they don’t honour or worship God. They take people to themselves, and not to God.
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The general society is included, too. Many people go to church, but they don’t seek after God’s will or honour Him. They deem it more important to pay more attention to worldly things than God’s plans. And the Israelites were like this, as they would perform the burnt offerings, celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles and annually do the Day of Atonement, but mercy, faith and loyalty to God was not present in the land (Hosea 6:6, Matthew 23:23).
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Another sign of Christ’s Kingdom is that people love their own pleasures more than God (2 Timothy 3:4). 300 years ago, everything was about God. If a woman wanted to buy an expensive dress, it was for church. People were excited to go to church and attend Bible meetings. A big chunk of the money made was spent on that, and there was deep glory in it. But now, football and other sports seized such honours. This is a fulfillment of Philippians 2:21. “For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.” And this is a sign of Christ’s Kingdom, because the abomination of desolation drives people to care more about worldly things than spiritual things.
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The fact that a great, spiritual famine is raging in our time is a sign of the time, too. And this is explained in Amos 8:11. “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.” The interest that people used to have in God has decreased dramatically (Matthew 24:12 - iniquity has decreased people’s love for God) to the point where people feel celebrate being secular (Revelation 11:10). This is a sign of Christ’s Kingdom because Jesus is controlling the abomination of desolation to do that to people, to eliminate Satanic Christianity.
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One more sign of the time is the abundance of false prophets. “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” (1 John 2:18). Jesus has come to take down Apostate Christianity (Revelation 19:11-21, 18:1-24), and Satan is using wealthy false prophets, who change their doctrines into smooth sayings to suit the ears of society (Isaiah 30:10, Jeremiah 23:17, 2 Timothy 4:3-4), to make Christianity still look appealing. False pastors also take advantage of this time of ignorance (people don’t know what’s going on, spiritually) to make as much money as possible, with clever snares (Jeremiah 5:26).
The signs of Christ’s Kingdom aren’t just things we know, though. We have to utilize such knowledge by rejecting the concepts from the abomination of desolation (enumerated in 2 Timothy 3:1-5), soberly and prayerfully, so that we can escape these things, and be judged by Jesus Christ as righteousness and worthy of eternal life (Romans 14:10-12). “”And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” (Luke 21:34-36).
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GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER
This statement is drawn from 2 Corinthians 9:7, which reads, “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
A cheerful giver is someone who willingly gives to God. The person sees the need in contributing to God’s work. The amount doesn’t necessarily matter; it is the value that we have for it, especially in comparison to what we have, and the way we feel about it. That is why Jesus Christ said that the widow gave more than rich men who donated large gifts (Luke 21:1-4). After all, God is a spirit (John 4:24), and therefore judges wth the heart (1 Samuel 16:7), and our value for what we give. In fact, the way we feel about God also affects what we give. Cain gave something to God that he wouldn’t even want for himself, but Abel gave something very valuable to him (Genesis 4:1-4). Anyone can use that to decode a cheerful giver from one that’s not.
In the time of the Israelites, there was an offering called “freewill offering”, which was optional for those who wanted to give to God. There were regulations, though. You couldn’t just give an eagle or a wounded goat. You could only bring certain animals, and they had to be without blemish (Leviticus 22:17-25). And there were other things involved, too (Numbers 15:1-10). Those were only in place so that the offering could be within what God wanted.
There were also times when the children of God donated to God’s work. When His taberacle was to be built in Exodus 35, people willingly and generously offered gold earrings, blue, purple and crimson clothing and other things that were needed. In 1 Chronicles 29:1-9, 14, 17, people willingly offered gold, silver, iron, etc. to build God’s temple in David’s time.
Now, let’s look at individuals who willingly gave to God.
Joseph of Arimathaea donated the tomb he prepared for his own burial to bury Jesus (John 19:38-40). He wasn’t begged or encouraged to contribute and be a donor to God’s will. He saw the need in giving Jesus Christ, a special man in his eyes, a decent burial.
The Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4:8-10 is another great example, becaus she fed Elisha anytime he passed by, and even saw the need to make a place for him to be staying. Remember, she was never asked to do that; as you’d see in 2 Kings 5:15-19, Elisha’s not the kind of person who goes around, asking people for stuff. But the Shunammite woman saw the need in giving/contributing to God, through helping Elisha.
A third example is Obadiah in 1 Kings 18:2-4. When Jezebel was killing God’s prophets, Obadiah hid 100 of them, feeding them with bread and water. Once again, nobody asked Obadiah to do that. He saw the need and reason to spend his money feeding those prophets.
All the instances that have been given above are physical, because physical things were donated to God. But remember, God is a spirit (John 4:24), and obviously doesn’t really glory in physical things. So, it’s not only physical things we can give to God.
Our bodies are offerings to God, too (Isaiah 66:20 - it’s no more physical bulls, but ourselves, in a spiritual light). We worship God in the spirit, and in the heart (Philippians 3:3) by giving God our hearts (Deuteronomy 6:5). Our heart is what makes us love things, hate things, pursue things, etc (Proverbs 4:23), and it’s what devises wicked things (Matthew 15:18-20). But when we give it to God, that’s very valuable, because Satan the Devil has set up many tricks to try to get that from us. And that’s what St.Paul spoke about in Romans 12:1. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
Something wrong with this world (especially done by false pastors) is that they’ve turned the concept of giving to just money. Pastors try to make you give your money to them by telling you that it’s for God, because they “do God’s work”. Too bad it’s in vain (Matthew 15:7-9). They aren’t satisfied with willing donations and gifts. They want to extract it from you, because they are greedy (Isaiah 56:11). Some pastors try to honour people who give, and shaem the ones who don’t. They make rich people sit at the front, the way the Pharisees would make people who give gifts escape important biblical laws (Mark 7:11-13). Some pastors even make plaques for those who give, so that those who don’t will give so that they too can be on the podium. These people are like the sons of Eli in 1 Samuel 2:12-17, who wanted to take everything you’re sacrificing, instead of just what comes out of the fork, and they’re forceful, not wanting you to give willingly. What such people don’t understand is that the honour goes to themselves, and not to God. They still get the money, but God doesn’t get anything because it’s the willingness and the value that the people have for their gifts that’s important to Him. “For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.” (1 Corinthians 9:17).
Giving, especially to God, is a very good thing, and He never leaves such ones empty-handed (Matthew 10:42). He will make sure that they don’t lack any “good thing”. “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.” (Psalms 34:10). “For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” (Psalms 84:11). You can also read Isaiah 32:8, Proverbs 11:25 and 2 Corinthians 9:6.
One blessing that people who give to God get is honour. When you support God’s work, like what Joseph of Arimathaea or the Shunammite woman did, you will never be forgotten, both by God, and in my cases, the world, too. “God is not unfair. He will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for him in the help you gave and are still giving to other Christians.” (Hebrews 6:10 in the Good News Bible). When what God is doing succeeds and blossoms, you will be known to have contributed to it. The Shunnamite woman got a child because of her giving (2 Kings 4:8-37). And the list goes on and on.
If we want to be blessed by God, we have to give to Him. If we give very little because of no motivation or enthusiasm, we get very ltitle, but if we give very much, from loving God, we get very much. “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” (2 Corinthians 9:6).
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THE LOVE OF MONEY
The world we live in is built around money. Those who have money get many benefits over those who don’t have as much. Honour, glory, influence, praise - even godliness, sometimes - is based on how much money you have. All the “good” stuff in this world can only be achieved by money, and those who have money just seem like better people than those who don’t have as much. The rich dominate over the poor and are like powerful leaders to them (Proverbs 22:7). Those who have a lot of money have many friends (Proverbs 14:20). The list goes on and on.
Satan the Devil, the “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4; see also 1 John 5:19, John 12:31 and 14:30) set up the world to be like this. Money is what belongs to the “other man” (Satan the Devil is that “other man”; see Luke 16:12). He is the enemy of God and man, so by setting all of this up, people can take their focus away from God and just pay attention to how to achieve glory for themselves and be wealthy, because with wealth comes influence, glory, power, authority, etc. People end up living worldly lives because if they don’t incessantly seek after worldly things such as money, the world will leave them behind and they’ll be looked down upon. And most people don’t want that.
That is the world we live in today, and that is why so many people, including Christians, love money. But in this article, we are going to see what the love of money is, what it might make us do, and how it wrecks our spirituality.
To begin, loving money is something that every person in this world - child, adult, parent, wife, husband, senior, etc. - can do. To love money is to look at the world through money, and how to gain more of it. What money can gain is what’s most important in your life, and you are constantly in competition with others to secure for yourself a good amount of it. Also, you’d most likely be talking a lot about how to invest, retire, etc.; a lot more than studying about God and His will. And when you love money, you can go against spiritual (or even physical) civility to gain it.
Now, we can look at some things people do when they love money, and what the Bible has said about such acts.
Some people who love money take bribes. A bribe is usually an amount of money that one gives to a person to do something bad for them. The wicked use it “to pervert the ways of judgment” (Proverbs 17:23). That’s what the sons of Eli were doing in 1 Samuel 8:2-3. However, the Bible makes us know that this is ungodly. “For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.” (Job 15:34).
Others who love money might steal/covet other people’s money. Judas was stealing money from the money bag in John 12:6. But one of the Ten Commandments is “Thou shalt not steal.” (Exodus 20:15; see also Leviticus 19:11), and covetousness obviously isn’t a godly attribute (Hebrews 13:5, 1 Corinthians 5:11, etc).
Many who love money are also greedy. Money isn’t satisfying (Ecclesiastes 5:10), so when you love money, you will always want more, and the more you have of it, the more you’ll want more. One person in the Bible who was greedy was Achan, in Judges 7. What belonged to Jericho was “accursed” to God, and Joshua warned people against taking some of it’s belongings, but when Achan saw the money and luxury that they had, he couldn’t resist. What he took was listed in Joshua 7:21: “When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.”
However, the love of money can even be considered “sinful” because of its effects on our spirituality. You see, the head can’t be split in half; it can only pursue one target. God and Satan the Devil are two different beings with separate agendas, and to love one of them, you need all your heart, soul and might. Moses told the Israelites that you need to worship God “with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” (Deuteronomy 6:5). The way people love and seek money is the way we need to love and seek God (Matthew 6:33). And it is because you can’t love Satan’s things (like money) and God’s things (such as holiness, righteousness and His wisdom) at the same time that Jesus Christ said, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24; see also Luke 16:13).
Therefore, if we love money, it will wreck our spirituality. like smoking does to your physical one. In Mark 4:19, Jesus Christ had something to say about this matter: “And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.”
If you look at the lives of the Pharisees, how your spirituality is wrecked by the love of money is evident. They were lovers of money (Luke 16:14), and because of that, thye cared more about tithes and offerings than God’s principles, such as love, mercy and judgment (Matthew 23:23). They inflated the concept of giving to God so that caring for your parents was less important than giving the temple and those who work in it your tithes (Mark 7:11-13).
It should be noted, though, that this does not mean we can’t get a job, or if we’re rich, we can’t be saved. St. Paul told us that we should make our own living (2 Thessalonians 3:8-12). It may be more difficult to worship God if we have a lot of money (Mark 10:25), but worshipping God is about the heart (John 4:24, Romans 2:28-29, Philippians 3:3). So if we give our hearts to God in full, and not to the world, then no matter how much money we make, it won’t really affect us that much. If we give our hearts to God, we’ll most likely use that money to further God’s purpose, anyway, and build a better relationship with Him and Jesus Christ (Luke 16:9).
Ergo, Christians shouldn’t fall in love with money. King Solomon said in Proverbs 23:4, “Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.” We shouldn’t be covetous (Hebrews 13:5). Rather, we should build a sense of contentment (1 Timothy 6:6), and only work for what we need to live a decent life and be comfortable. King Agur only prayed for what would be “convenient” for him, and for a life neither poor nor rich, in Proverbs 30:8; he didn’t pray for what would enliven his life and make it very luxurious. And St. Paul said in Philippians 4:11, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”
There are a couple of reasons why Christians shouldn’t love money. One, money is vanity. The rich fool in Luke 12:15-21 acquired so much of it, only to have to die that night. It won’t deliver us from trouble, either (Proverbs 11:4). No matter how much money we acquire, it won’t satisfy our lusts. “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 5:10). In fact, King Solomon even said, “There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.” (Proverbs 13:7).
And the second reason is complemented by Proverbs 13:7. The Bible makes us know that physical wealth isn’t the only kind of wealth that exists, and neither is it the most profitable. There is spiritual wealth, sometimes even called “true riches'' (Luke 16:12), which people can’t steal from you (Matthew 6:19-21), and which can help you get eternal life. Jesus told us that we should “make to ourselves friends'' (those friends being himself and God Almighty) “of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” (Luke 16:9). We have to seek for that wealth, and receive it (Proverbs 8:10-11). Doing this will give us peace that the world can’t provide (Matthew 11:28-30, John 14:27, Philippians 4:7, Revelation 14:13, etc.).
It should be clear now what the love of money is and how the Bible views it. A summary of what has been said here is found in 1 Timothy 6:10, and then verse 6. “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But godliness with contentment is great gain.”
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"MAKE US GODS, WHICH SHALL GO BEFORE US"
This statement is drawn from Exodus 32:1. “And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.”
The ultimate questions that need answers are: who gets sovereignty, who should solve humanity’s problems, and who should take the credit? Is it God, who created the universe - “I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.” (Isaiah 45:12) - or is it humanity that sought out its own inventions and attempted to solve their issues? “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.” (Ecclesiastes 7:29).
Let’s start off with the story.
As said above, the Israelites had waited a considerable length of time for Moses to return from what he was doing in a mountain with God, and they got very impatient. As a result, they requested that Aaron make a god that would go before them. Aaron obeyed the people, and after creating them out of people’s pieces of jewelry, even said, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.”
God had seen everything that happened (Hebrews 4:13, Psalms 11:4), and informed Moses that the Israelites had “corrupted themselves”. And Moses certainly didn’t disagree; he called them “a stiffnecked people” (Exodus 32:9, Deuteronomy 9:6, 10:16). And after Moses had conversed with God, he came down and heard them singing and dancing, as if they were celebrating. When he realized it was for their god, he destroyed it, ground it into powder, strawed it on the water and even made the Israelites drink of it.
But what was wrong with what they did?
They were disobedient and stubborn. God had told them that they couldn’t create any gods that would replace Him (Exodus 20:3-6). However, they violated that law.
They dishonoured themselves by reducing their glory to simple handmade idols. “Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.” (Psalms 106:20). “Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.” (Jeremiah 2:11). The Egyptian gods were proved worthless by God testing them with various plagues, which ended up ravaging the land and proving His power as the true God (Exodus 9:14, 16). However, the Israelites reduced themselves to the level of those Egyptians by worshipping idols just like them.
They showed a lack of belief and trust in God. When such a situation comes up, the first thing that should be done is to pray to God, the person Who delivered them in the first place and entered into a covenant with them (Exodus 19:4-5). However, instead of doing that, they rejected God (1 Samuel 8:8), and seized the opportunity to walk in their own ways. They took laws into their own hands, and without consulting God, set up false religion and even enjoyed it (Exodus 32:6, 18).
This story is also similar to others in the Old Testament. For example, King Saul took Samuel’s delay (as a problem) into his own hands and solved it by disobeying God’s commandment that it is a priest that makes the offering before war. King Jeroboam had an issue where people were going to Jerusalem to serve God, which wasn’t in his land to rule. Instead of consulting God, he created false religion for his people, casting God out of the equation. And in 1 Samuel 8:1-8, the Israelites were having serious trouble with their leaders, but instead of coming to God, they counselled themselves and requested that a king be given to them, to compete with other Gentile nations (1 Samuel 8:19-20).
In our time, the last days, this story applies. As the world was being formed from a developed system of monarchies and autocratic rulers to dictatorships to democracies, a constitution was built to suit the needs and desires of the people. Instead of coming to Jesus, the author of the immense defeat of power (the whole point was to answer the Lord’s Prayer and clear Satan the Devil’s powers on this world - Matthew 6:9-10, Revelation 12:7-12, Jeremiah 51:20-23)), humanity as a whole took laws into their own hands and set up a new way of living, supervised by an elected government. This entire system has been called “the beast”, which people are worshipping (Revelation 13:1-4).
Just as God tested the power of the Egyptian gods and proved them worthless, God is letting people use the constitution to attempt to solve humanity’s problems - corruption, poverty, war, etc - but it will ultimately fail. The powerful angels in heaven, with the power to make plagues and other devastating things for the world (Revelation 11:6), will ultimately prove the gods humanity set up for themselves worthless, so that they may be removed. “Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.” (Jeremiah 10:11). “ For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth.” (Exodus 9:14).
However, how do we act otherwise?
It is beneficial that we trust in God’s plan and let him lead us. When we have problems, we shouldn’t try to solve them ourselves, to prove to God that we know more than He does. Rather, we should trust that, as our Father, he knows best. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.” (Proverbs 3:5-7). We should acknowledge that our ways (absent of God’s influence) will always be corrupt and influenced by Satan’s forces. “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” (Jeremiah 10:23 - see also Proverbs 20:24). “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.” (2 Corinthians 3:5).
It is only when we as God’s creation are humble and obedient towards Him that he can lead us to success. “Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” (Isaiah 66:1-2).
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THE WORLD AND THE LOVE OF IT
This article is based on the statements of John the Apostle in 1 John 2:15-17, where he said, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”
The world that we live in is a physical place. Therefore, to be of the world is to think carnally; to care more about carnal things than spiritual principles and values. St. Paul said in Romans 8:5, “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.” Things in the world aren’t permament, and people who are worldly are unstable, and in many cases greedy, because the empheralness of the world drives people to want to gain as much of the world as possible. To worldly people, life is about physical benefit and pleasure. These standards and ways of living are held up by political leaders, who worldly people trust. That’s what the Bible calls, “making flesh your arm” (Jeremiah 17:5-6). Most importantly, though, because the world is carnal, while God is spiritual, worldly views are distinct and in opposition to God’s principles, and those of one side are not those of the other. They don’t have hope in God’s plans. That’s why people who are “natural” or worldly, can’t discern or understand spiritual things (1 Corinthians 2:14).
The world, as a whole, including those who are “of it” are headed by Satan the Devil because he is the “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4), and the world is under his “sway” (1 John 5:19, NKJV).
But to really understand the world, we have to look at examples of people who loved the world, and were “of the world”.
The story of the twelve spies in Numbers 13:27-33 and chapter 14:1-19 is a good story to understand the world. It’s noteworthy that Egypt, as a nation, had held them in bondage (Exodus 2:23-25) so the “world” in their case was heavily based on what they saw in Egypt (e.g. their gods). And “Egypt” was used in other places in the Old Testament to represent the whole world in our time (like in Zechariah 10:11).
Joshua and Caleb had given a positive report of the land. “And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.” (Numbers 13:30). Caleb was thinking spiritually, because he had hope in God’s Promised Land and knew that He had the power to lead them to it.
But the other ten spies who’d went with them had a “worldly” view of the matter. They thought about it carnally. They knew that their “physical” strength wasn’t to the caliber of the Anakims. They had no hope for the future, which was to go to the land of Canaan. Their view was in opposition of a righteous report, and this relfects what was said above, about how the worldly view is always in opposition of a righteous view.
Another story which helps us understand the “world”, and those who are “of it” is the story of Job’s wife in Job 2:9-10. Job was in a bad situation, but he was thikning through it spiritually, and this is evident by what he said in Job 1:21. “And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” He was looking at his situation in the perspective that God is Almighty, and that what has happened is just one of the things that God does.
But Job’s wife looked at it carnally, and we can see this in her statement, “Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.” (Job 2:9). Her statement was not only in oppsotion to that of Job’s, a spiritual man, but her thoughts were void of spiritual understanding and hope. She just thought that if you’re suffering, why not just forget about God and die? At least you don’t have to bear the pain.
One more example that we can use to understand the world is the story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10:38-42. While Jesus Christ was teaching, and Mary listened, Martha thought it was better she cooked for the guests. The food they would eat was a carnal matter, but the Word of God was a spiritual matter.
Martha’s worldliness didn’t stop there. She not only decided to cook while Jesus Christ was preaching, but she even wanted Mary to leave Jesus Christ and cook with her. That’s when Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42). Marth was worldly, because she valued carnal things, and not spiritual things. Therefore, she was “worldly”. But Mary knew the importance of God’s Word, and Jesus Christ as a person. If there was any opportunity to hear the Son of God, especially when he’s preaching God’s Word, she wasn’t going to miss out.
These examples help us to understand what it means to love the world/be of the world. But how does the opposite work?
To not love the world is to hope in God’s future, and not restrict your life to worldly and carnal things. When you want to make a decision, or live a certain way, you will make the decision based on God’s laws and principles, not based on what the govenrment says, or what will earn you more money, fame, etc. What you seek the most is God (Matthew 6:33), and you trust in Him (Proverbs 3:5-7, Jeremiah 17:7-8). You use your physical resources, like money, to learn about Jesus Christ and God Almighty, and become their friend (Luke 16:9). To know more about how not being “of the world” works, we can look at a couple biblical examples.
The lives of Jesus Christ and the apostles are good examples of how to not be worldly. In Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus Christ rejected all the worldly power and authority that Satan the Devil wanted to offer him. When his family members wanted to talk with him in Matthew 12:46-50, because he wasn’t worldly, he prioritized the Word of God and let family matters come after. Also, in Acts 6:1-6, when there was an issue with the daily ministration (widows were being neglected), instead of the twelve apostles geting enveloped with the matter, and creating all kinds of clubs and business meetings, and making the whole ministry about that (as many pastors turn the Word of God to), they just appointed seven people of “honest report” to take care of that business, and that was the end of the matter. The ministry of God’s Word moved on without disturbance.
One main reason why any of this is relevant is because the world is passing away (1 John 2:17, Matthew 24:35; the world being referred to, as you’d know by now, is not the physical planet we live in). The way the world has always worked is coming to an end, because the leaders who would keep worldly things steady are becoming weak (Isaiah 34:12, Revelation 6:15-17), and the unreliability of many worldly things in our time are being exposed (Luke 12:2). A new system is being put in place, called in the Bible, “new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 65:17-25, 66:22, 2 Peter 3:13, Revelation 21:1-5). It’s a new way that the world will work; people will not be running after money all the time, nor will life be about meeting personal standards and caring just about yourself and your success. The benefit of others will be considered by everyone, and currently, that kind of society is being installed, as new organizations and institutions are coming up and reworking the world to how God wants it to be.
The only way we can inherit the new world God is creating is if we are meek (Matthew 5:5, Psalms 37:11) and if we act spiritually, instead of acting carnally and being of the world. As St. Paul was speaking about carnality, he said, “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6).
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WALKING IN THE LIGHT
Light can be defined as a source of illumination; something that makes things in the immediate environment visible. When there is light in an area, we are aware of everything that is in it, so we can’t stumble or get injured because we didn’t know something wasn’t around. But when there is darkness, we grope; we aren’t fully certain of where we are, or how close danger might be.
The Bible commonly uses the word “light”, though not in the physical sense. Today, we’re going to be exploring the spiritual “light”, and how we walk in it.
In 1 John 1:5, John the Apostle said that God is light. In the context of this discussion, what that means is that God provides the way that we can inherit eternal life and other blessings that endure. David the Psalmist made it clear that whatever God is involved in endures, and lasts. “But thou, O Lord, shall endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.” (Psalms 102:12; see also Psalms 135:13). In other words, when the principles we live by come from the Word of God, then we are walking in the light because the Word of God is the way by which we can live eternally.
The Bible makes it clear that the Word of God is like a light that guides us. For example, Psalms 119:105 reads, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” King Solomon also said in Proverbs 6:23, “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:”
The reason why the Word of God is considered light is that it allows us to understand the everlasting plan of God, and how we can be a part of it. When we walk in that light, we can serve God faithfully, not be captured by Satan the Devil’s craftiness, and inherit eternal life. St. Paul spoke about this in Romans 15:4, which reads, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”
But to understand how walking in the light works, we need to look at some examples.
For instance, Joshua and Caleb walked in the light. God’s plan to take the Israelites to Canaan would endure for thousands of years. He promised Abraham this in Genesis 13:15, where He said, “For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.” Joshua and Caleb decided to believe in that plan and wholly follow it, whilst other Israelites wanted to go against that (particularly when they wanted to return to Egypt in Numbers 14:4). The plan of the Israelites to return to Egypt had no future, and therefore those who believed in doing so walked in darkness. But Joshua and Caleb supported going to the land God promised them (Numbers 13:27-33, 14:6-9). And Caleb in particular not only inherited the land but though he was 85, he was as strong as when he was 40 (Joshua 14:6-13). This is walking in the light.
Another example of someone who walked in the light was Rahab. In Joshua 2, Joshua sent two men to spy on the land of Jericho. When they got there, they lodged in Rahab’s house. However, the king of Jericho got to know about the spies, and he sent men to take them from Rahab.
Now, Rahab could’ve just handed them over, and therefore not have taken any risks. But she decided not to because she knew that Jericho had no future in the hands of God. She supported the spies who were doing God’s will, and she knew that it was God’s will that stands (Isaiah 14:27, 55:10-11). And it was because of this that she and her family were spared (Joshua 6:17, 21-23, 25), while the other inhabitants of Jericho were killed.
Now, we’re going to zero in on Jesus Christ, because in several places, he called himself the “light of the world”. The most commonly cited one is John 8:12, where Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” He also said in John 9:5, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Jesus Christ called is the light of the world because it was through him that we know the way to eternal life. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” There was no other way we could be led to the Father and get eternal life than by Jesus Christ (Matthew 11:27, 2 John 1:9, etc.). He opens doors to obtain eternal life, and it is through him we have an everlasting future. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).
Furthermore, Jesus Christ brought the way people would worship God in the future. The Jews opposed the new system Jesus brought, but it came to overtake them (and if you look at the world, it is Christianity that dominates, not Judaism). That is how Jesus is the light of the world.
In John 3:19, Jesus Christ described himself as the light of the world, but he also mentioned darkness, which we will now examine. “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” When he said, “men loved darkness rather than light”, he meant that the end of the established Jewish system was near, but people would rather cling to Moses than transit to the new arrangement God was putting in place.
The concept of “walking in the light” is more important in our time, the last day. The last day is the last period of Satan's wicked rule over the Earth. In other words, Jesus Christ is erasing Satan's impact on this world. We have seen the warlords, kings, and queens come to an end, and the political leaders we see today don’t have much time, either. They are walking in darkness because they do not know that Jesus Christ is coming after them (Revelation 6:15-17, 19:17-18, Isaiah 34:12, etc.). Therefore, if we believe in them, we are also walking in darkness because we are putting our faith and trust in something that does not have a future. In Psalms 146:3-4, we are advised not to trust in them with these words: “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.”
The Bible makes it clear that everything humans are used to is going to change. The “new heavens’ and a “new earth” are in the making (Isaiah 65:17, 2 Peter 3:13, Revelation 21:1). The phrase "new heaven and a new earth" means a new way of thinking that represents what God wanted when he created man (unity, freedom, peace, etc.). That is what the establishment of God’s Kingdom in the period of the World Wars brought to humanity, and just like a mustard seed, it is growing (Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 6:24-33). Eventually, every institution, organization, etc., will have this ideology as its base (Isaiah 2:2, Daniel 2:44, etc.).
The information in the previous paragraph of what the "light" is in our time. This idealogy is what has a future. What used to rule the world does not. Therefore, if we want to walk in the light, we have to structure our lives so we have a future in the everlasting Kingdom when fully established. We do so by studying the Bible to understand what the Kingdom is doing in our time. This understanding must affect everything in our lives (who we marry, how we raise our children, who our friends are, etc.). Once it does, we are walking in the light because our lives align with the future God has for humanity. And if we sustain that, God will give us a portion of it to inherit in the future, as Daniel said in Daniel 7:27. “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.”
We hope that this article has encouraged you to walk in the light. To conclude, let’s look at Romans 13:12 and Ephesians 5:8, 11, verses that provide some encouragement concerning this matter: “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” (Romans 13:12). The Ephesians account reads, “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”
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PRAY FOR YOUR ENEMIES
The title of this article is drawn from Matthew 5:43-44, which reads, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
An enemy is a person who is actively opposed or hostile to someone or something. The enemies of a Christian are those who actively work to make their service to God difficult (Matthew 10:36, 22, 2 Timothy 3:12, etc.).
To pray for our enemies is to intercede on their behalf, and talk to God about them, so that He may help them and recover them from Satan’s captivity (2 Timothy 2:26), so they may serve God faithfully, and cease to oppose the righteous.
Therefore, the question is, why should we do so? Why do our enemies deserve our prayers?
One important thing we need to know is that not everybody who wants to make life difficult for us is “wicked”. Some people are just ignorant, and they don’t know better. They may also be persecuting us because they have no other choice (as in, others above them want that, and they can’t say no for fear of consequences). St. Paul, renowned for his eternally beneficial contributions to Christianity, started as a persecutor of Christians, but as he said himself, he did it out of ignorance. “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.” (1 Timothy 1:12-13). But in Acts 9, after Ananias laid his hands on Saul (his name later changed to Paul), he converted from his ways of ignorance to the faith of Jesus and did very well (1 Corinthians 15:10).
We all know that Jesus Christ was persecuted and killed by his many enemies. But as he was about to die, he said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” in Luke 23:34. Many of those who took part in his crucifixion had no choice, and others simply didn’t understand that it was the Son of God Almighty, the creator of the heavens and the Earth (Isaiah 45:12, 18) who they were killing. Many who were killed by Titus’s army in AD.70 were ignorant people, who would’ve done better had they known who Jesus was. And even some of the scribes and Pharisees contributed towards his death out of ignorance (Acts 3:17, 1 Corinthians 2:8).
Steven was in a similar situation to that of Jesus Christ. In Acts 7:54-60, people stoned Steven after he preached the truth, which wasn’t in their favour. As Steven was being stoned, he prayed to God for those against him, saying, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” (Acts 7:60). Some of them were stoning Steven out of careless zeal, and he decided to intercede on their behalf and pray to God to not punish them for it.
Similar to the last point, not everyone has the grace of God as we might have. They may not have been born in a Christian family, so they weren’t raised in the faith. Even if they have, God just might not have touched their hearts, and if God Himself doesn’t help you by giving you the Holy Spirit and opening your heart to the Word (like he did to Lydia in Acts 16:14-15), then there is no chance of salvation (Romans 8:9, 14, John 6:44). So if we were raised with the Bible, like Timothy (2 Timothy 3:15), we have to show mercy to those who haven’t gotten such grace and are weak (Romans 15:1-2) by including them in our prayers.
And no matter how bad we think our enemies are, we shouldn’t forget that God still created them; therefore, they are still the children of God (but not in the righteous sense). Therefore, as a way of showing love to our fellow human beings, if they are working against our will, and are therefore not doing God’s will, we should pray for them. After all, God Almighty is good to both the wicked and the righteous. “The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.” (Psalms 145:9; see also Proverbs 15:3). Jesus also said, “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45).
God also demonstrated true benevolence in Deuteronomy 2:1-6. God said that when the Israelites were passing by the land of the Edomites, they should respect their rights to life and property; therefore, they should buy water and food from them, like everyone else. Now, remember, the Edomites were enemies to the children of Israel, and based on what God had said about other lands (that the Israelites would eat what they didn’t plant, etc., according to Deuteronomy 6:11), the Israelites might’ve expected that they could do whatever they wanted. But because God respected certain rights of the Edomites, he gave His children that instruction.
But if we decide to pray for our enemies, what will our prayers do?
The Bible makes it clear that God Almighty hears the prayers of the righteous. “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.” (Psalms 34:15). And the prayers of the righteous can be powerful, so long as they believe in what they’re saying. “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16). This is why it was common for people to pray for the ministers of Christ (Philippians 1:19, 2 Corinthians 1:11, Acts 12:5, Philemon 1:22). “Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.” (Hebrews 13:18).
However, new generation churches have begun to advise people to pray against their enemies. They are specifically fond of calling “Holy Ghost Fire” on their enemies. Firstly, there is no Holy Ghost fire; that does not exist. The Holy Ghost (better called the Holy Spirit) is God’s spirit, which does His will (for example, His will is that people should be saved, and by sending it to people, they can do the right thing and be saved). Also, it is un-Christian to be wishing that God bring such judgment on their enemies.
The Bible makes us know that God Almighty does not enjoy the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:23, 32, 33:11); rather, it is His will that they should be saved. “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4; see also 2 Peter 3:9 and Jonah 4:2, 11). And Jesus said in Luke 15:7 that there is more joy in heaven when people repent of their sins than when they remain in them. “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.”
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