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Commands of Jesus
Go and teach all nations..
Teaching them to observe all the things that I have commanded you.
This web site's purpose is to show you how to observe (obey) all his commands,
through being freed from sin by receiving grace through the cross.
or
- Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
- I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Luke 13:3
- Believe in the light, that you may be the children of the light.
- Do not resist an evil person.
- If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
- And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
- If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
- Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
- Love your enemies
- pray for those who persecute you,
- Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Notice, Jesus has left no wiggle room for the definition of be perfect, which he has commanded us to become.
Not be kind of perfect. Not perfect as you can. Not as perfect as humanly possible while trying.
Perfect - as your heavenly Father is perfect - a definitive qualification of perfect, an unarguable perfection.
Perfect that is impossible without divine grace: to change us, to purify us, to make us like Him, perfect.
Now, Jesus doesn't lie; Jesus doesn't exaggerate. So, if he told us to be perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect, then it must be possible, and it is possible. So kill (deaden, deprive of power) the evil desire lurking in your members: sexual vice, impurity, sensual appetites, unholy desires, and all greed and covetousness, for that is idolatry. Col 3:5. For by mercy and love, truth and fidelity, iniquity is purged out of the heart, Pro 16:6; — with obedience leading to righteousness. Rom 6:16.
The only way you are ever going to be perfect is to abide in Jesus; whoever continues to feed on Me shall live through and because of Me.
Let his Word and Light search your heart and show its defects to you; you repent, and He changes you by grace - one defect at a time.
- But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment; and whoever says to his brother, 'Raca,' [in contempt] shall be in danger of the council; but he who says, 'you fool,' shall be in danger of hell fire.
Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and remember that your brother has something against you;
Leave your gift there before the altar and go your way; and first be reconciled to your brother, then come and offer your gift.
Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him;
lest at any time the adversary delivers you to the judge, and the judge delivers you to the officer, and you are cast into prison.
Truly I say that you shall by no means come out, [of Hell] until you have paid the last penny..
Only God can remove hate, anger, and resentment from your heart - to be replace by love.
- anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ,
and in the very next verse Jesus tells us how consequential such lustful looks are:
If your right eye offends you, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your body parts should perish, rather than your whole body should be cast into hell. .
Only God can remove the lust from your heart - to be replaced by love.
- Then he spoke a parable to them, "Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into a ditch?
The disciple is not above his master, but everyone who is perfect will be like his master.
Why do you look at the spec that is in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the log that is in your own eye?
Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the spec that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the spec that is in your brother's eye.
Notice! Blind leaders cannot lead. A blind leader is anyone who has not been perfected.
But everyone who is is perfected will be like his master (Jesus). Perfection takes the log out of your own eye.
So he wants us freed from sin and purified so we can help our brothers, but until then, we can't even see how to help - and if we think we can, we are more blind than those we are trying to help - we have a beam in our eye, and he only has a spec - who is more blind? Only when Christ has perfected us, has removed that spec; only then can we preach or teach, after we are readjusted, restored, perfected and set to rights, and authorized; then we can help - until then we just harm those we try to correct. To be restored, is to be renewed into the image of God, as was man before the fall in the Garden - which is Christ's job with all of us - to reconcile the whole creation back to God, as it was, even better, than before it fell due to the disobedience of Adam. For we cannot be reconciled back to God in our fallen state, we must be purified, restored, perfected before union can take place - union that is only possible between two like beings. Only then can we teach or preach, or witness, or reprove, our brothers.
In the next three verse, Jesus emphasizes the necessity of perfection, before reproving others or speaking about God:
For a good tree does not bring forth corrupt fruit; neither does a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
For every tree is known by his own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorn bushes, nor do men gather grapes from a bramble bush.
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil. For out of the overflow of the heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:43-46
And in Matthew, Jesus tells us that those with corrupt fruit, (those unperfected disciples), are false prophets that call him Lord, but still sin,
James echoes the same message: My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment; For we all err in many things; and if any man does not err in his words, he is a perfect man...
(James is saying, until you are perfected, what you teach will have errors; and errors will be strictly judged.)
It is the Lord who is supposed to appoint by gift his preachers, teachers and evangelists, whose sole purpose is the perfection of the saints. .
No unperfected person can fulfill the ministry's function, which is the perfection of the saints; any unperfected teacher/preacher has not been appointed or gifted by God.
- So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. - strive to always obey this.
- Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
- If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.
And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.
(He doesn't want us to maim ourselves. He is only illustrating how serious sin is.
Jesus is desperately trying to tell us that to enter the Kingdom and escape Hell, sin is not allowed, period. He knew false prophets with false gospels promising freedom to continue to sin would arise after he left. Changes in our heart through the missing cross to purity can take away the desire of the hand, foot, and eye to cause us to sin.
- Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
You make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within are full of extortion and excess.
You are blind, first cleanse the inside of the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
You are like whitewashed tombs, outwardly beautiful, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
So you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
- As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
- Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.[Hypocrisy is talking about God, with conduct and conversation of a godly manner. Pretending to be a godly person, while practicing: greed, lying, pornography, drunkenness, slander, rage, lusts, etc. He tells us any hypocrisy will eventually exposed and shamed.
Hypocrisy is talking about religion while living in sin. And he answered and said to them, "Well has Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.]
- You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place.
- Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
- You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin .. by committing sexual immorality...Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
- Only hold on to what you have until I come. To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations.
- Rouse yourselves and keep awake, and strengthen and invigorate what remains and is on the point of dying; for I have not found a thing that you have done meeting the requirements of My God or perfect in His sight. [Jesus not only wants works, he wants perfect works. ]
- Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and not do [practice, obey ] what I tell you?
Whoever comes to me, and hears my sayings, and does [practices, obeys] them, I will show you whom he is like.
He is like a man who built a house, and dug deep, and laid the foundation securely built on a rock; and when the flood arose, the torrent beat violently upon that house, but could not shake it because it was founded upon a rock.
But he who hears, and does not [practice my teachings], is like a man who built a house upon the earth without a foundation; against which the torrent struck violently, and immediately it collapsed; and the ruin of that house was great."
So, you must go to him. You must wait on him - listen silently, with the humility of a sinner in need of his changing power - grace.
You must listen, hear, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. .
So seek, listen, obey..seek, listen, obey.....seek, listen, obey.
- He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice."
(the spoken Word of God, the Voice of the Lord, the Living Word, the Word of Truth, the Word of Life, the Voice of Christ)
- "There is only one thing needed.
Mary has chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her" —
to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear his word. .
The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63.
- Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Mat 11:29.
What yoke? The yoke of obedience, and the humility of learning, which requires waiting, silently, listening for his voice —
which your brain does not want to do and will tell you you are wasting your time.
But do not be discouraged if you don't hear for some time. Even your waiting is to your credit: Let your mercy, O LORD, be upon us, in proportion to our waiting and hoping on you. For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by ear, nor has the eye seen a God beside you, who acts for the one who waits for him. .
You will eventually hear. Blessed is the man who hears me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. .
- Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.
- Take heed what you hear; with what measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.
For he who has, to him more will be given; and he who does not have, from him will be taken even that which he has.
- Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.
- Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and have sat with my Father in his throne. .
See that you do not refuse him who speaks. For if they did not escape, who refused him who spoke on the earth, how much more will we be liable, if we turn away from him who speaks from heaven.
- So call to mind theheard; continually lay them to heart and obey them, and repent.
- All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
What end? The end of your journey to salvation. Faith is a journey, authored and finished by Jesus personally — one-on-one.
Authored, when you hear him speak to you from within your heart, and you believe it to be him -
this is the beginning as you received him who stands knocking at the door of your heart.
Finished, when you experience and see him free you from all sin as he brings your salvation and eternal life.
- Do not swear at all: either by heaven, or by the earth, or by Jerusalem.
Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.
let your Yes be Yes, and your No, No; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
- Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. .
- Then said someone to him, "Lord, are there few who will be saved?' And he said to them, Strive to enter in at the narrow gate for many, I say to you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able to. Luke 13:23-24
- Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
By their fruit you will recognize them. Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
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Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
- whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.
- Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them.
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.
- when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.
do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
- When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting.
when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
- Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.
For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
- Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
- Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
- Ask and it will be given to you
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
- Preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.'
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.
Freely you have received, freely give.
- Go and learn the meaning of this: I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
- Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad,
You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.
But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.
- But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean'.
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
These are what make a man 'unclean';
- For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.
All these evil things come from within and defile a man.
- Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.
- But beware of the leaven (ferment) of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (The yeast of the Pharisees, is hypocrisy - the attitude of pretending to be godly, but still being subject to lust, anger, slander, greed, etc.
It is called a leaven or a yeast, because such an attitude can spread throughout your entire spiritual life, like a cancer that spreads throughout the body.
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- Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
- If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
- He who does not take his cross, and follow after me, is not worthy of me.
[To follow Christ you must humbly get quiet to listen for his word within your heart, then you must wait to hear Him, then you must obey Him. Self-denial occurs by obeying the Lord's voice instead of your will, (His will, not your will); this is the cross.]
- He who finds his life shall lose it; and he who loses his life for my sake shall find it. [When you continually deny yourself and obey the Lord's commands, you will eventually lose your selfish life, and thereby save your soul to live Life in union with God.]
- Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If any man desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever will save his life, shall lose it; and whoever will lose his life for my sake, shall find it.
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And whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
- So likewise, whoever does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:33
- If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you.
But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
- Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
- But you are not to be called rabbi (teacher), for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers.
And do not call anyone on earth father, for you have one Father, Who is in heaven.
And you must not be called masters (leaders), for you have one Master (Leader), the Christ.
Any title: reverend, doctor, father, master, teacher, preacher, pastor, is wrong - we are all brothers and only brothers.
- Woe to you, Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and to be greeted [by flattering title] and bowed down to in the marketplaces.
- Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! you have neglected justice, mercy and faithfulness.
- First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. You clean the outside of the cup
and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
- What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!' Watch for the Light to expose the thoughts and conditions of your heart.
- When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.
- Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
- Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
- When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
- When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.
- If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. We cannot let our concerns for (or criticisms from) our mother, wife, children, brothers interfere with our efforts to please God and be obedient to his commands that we hear from Him.
- For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
- Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”
- You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother. "All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
- By your patience possess your souls.
- "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."
- Pray that you will not fall into temptation.
- Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
- Sin no more.
- To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
- The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
- Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.
- A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
- If you love me, you will obey what I command.
- Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.
- Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
- You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
- I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
- If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.
- My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.
- This is my command: Love each other.
- When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching,
because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
This web site's purpose is to show how to become
free from sin
by benefiting from the changing power of God through the cross,
which leads to union with God in his Kingdom.
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