Sunday, November 24, 2013

Spirit of the Law or the Law Written in Stone.

My Friends,

How much does the Father love us? Look at mankind from the beginning until now, what a disaster we are and always have been and yet we are still here, being born every day, living, dying, and of course sinning; doing everything possible that goes against creation. What did I hear you say? Not me? I don’t steal, I don’t cheat, I don’t, I don’t, I don’t.  Friends, it’s time to look at what we do and as well as what we do not do and in saying to look at what we do not do I am not speaking about the sin that we claim we do not commit, I am speaking about the thing that we should do and do not. Almighty God has had a lot of patience with us. Our Father will not give us presents in order for us to love Him, we are to love Him because He gave us life and this life will last for an eternity and it is up to us where we spend this eternity.

We are all sinners in thought, word, and deed by what we do and by what we do not do. The Father loves us so much that He gave His Only Begotten Son to us as a sacrifice. Now remember this; the sacrifice was not a command, our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ gave His life willingly, He did not have to do this, he could have simply said that mankind was not worth the price; but He did not.

So what have we done my friends to repay this? Since the beginning Almighty God has dealt with us with mercy, the ground that we walk on, the world that we live in is corrupt because of man, it is us who allowed the deceiver in and it is us who allow him to reign in this world because we allow him to reign in our heart. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak and it wages war against the spirit. This spiritual struggle, this war, is not simply an external battle that is waged against us, we ourselves in the flesh are a universe unto ourselves made up of spirit and flesh and the war rages inside of us, some fight the good fight and some do not. The Father has placed His law in our heart so that we have no excuse but since the beginning we fight against it.
Friends, did not Noah understand the law in his heart and live accordingly? How could he have known? 

Remember Noah’s great grandfather Enoch; Enoch walked with God, and he was no more; for God took him. The writer of Hebrews says this about Enoch; "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." How did Enoch please God without Holy Scripture to read and interpret? The epistle of Jude says this about Enoch; “Now of these Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying: Behold, the Lord cometh with thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to reprove all the ungodly for all the works of their ungodliness, whereby they have done ungodly, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against God”. How could Enoch know this without Holy Scripture?

Friends, the law existed since the beginning, how could Abraham know to worship Almighty God when the rest of the world was worshiping other gods? Abraham was also before the Law of Moses, where could he acquire this knowledge? Was Abraham not the eighth generation from Shem the son of Noah? If you look at the ages of Shem after the flood and the years of his life and compare them to the years of Abraham you will find that Shem actually outlived Abraham by just over 30 years. Shem knew not only Abraham but also his sons Ishmael and Isaac. The teaching and understanding of God and what He expected, the law of God has always been known. 

This is how Enoch could know that the Lord would come with thousands of His saints to judge mankind even before the flood; do you imagine that Enoch taught his descendants these things? Of course he did because Enoch is quoted in our New Testament saying just this very thing.  Almighty God has not changed from the beginning. These things were handed down, if Abraham was the only true man in his day where did Melchizedek come from? Ancient Jewish understanding says that Melchizedek was Shem, there is at least one other understanding of Melchizedek but not for this article. Melchizedek blessed Abraham and Abraham paid him a tithe, Melchizedek was a king and a priest, our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ is a priest in the order of Melchizedek and not in the order of Aaron, why?

So what is my point of these things? The law was lived and those who lived it and knew Almighty God did so without a written Holy Scripture. The early church survived and thrived, grew in the face of persecution long before there was a written Christian Holy Scripture. How could all of these things be? My friends, God should be in our hearts, not just simply in our minds and written on paper as a law to abide. “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God; as God saith: I will dwell in them, and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people”. We have the law within us, we have the law surrounding us, it permeates us if we allow it, we have to listen, so what is this finally all about?

It is about the love of God for us and the love of God from us. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the law and what did He teach? Love one another, again “for God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son”. It is about love, when that last of the apostles, the apostle St. John was near the end of his life and yet still teaching, he was so sick with age that the Bishops would bring him out already seated on a chair and he would speak, everyone was quiet, all of the people, the Bishops ad Deacons, all were silent waiting for the last of the great ones to speak, St. John’s last homilies were always the same; “Brothers and Sisters, remember to love one another”. The Bishops finally asked him; ‘sir, we and all of the people wait to hear words of wisdom from you and all that you ever say is; “brothers and sisters, remember to love one another”. Why is that all that you say? 

This apostle, the apostle of love, the one who laid his head on the breast of Jesus listening to His heartbeat, responded; “if you have pure love, there is nothing else”.

Pure love my friends fulfills all of the law, there is nothing that is not covered if you have pure love. Pure love comes from the heart and it does not need to be written on stone or paper, it is a living love, it is a part of everything that is. So back to an earlier question; why did Jesus as a king and a priest come in the order of Melchizedek and not a priest in the order of the established priesthood through Aaron? It is because of the law of love my friends; Enoch, loved the Father, he walked with the Father and he was no more, Noah and his sons and families loved the Lord and walked with the Lord and were saved from the flood. Abraham loved the Lord and was chosen, Melchizedek; king and priest of Salem which was to become Jerusalem, worshiped and served out of love, Moses was given a written law because the law was no longer on the heart of men because of the hardness of their heart.

The law of love will always be greater than the written law. It is on our heart, it guides us, the written law is always subject to interpretation, this is obvious in the manner in which Jesus the Christ attacked the keepers of the law in His day for their mistreatment of the law, it is obvious today in the many divisions of the church through private interpretation of the law and scripture. This twisting is done for the benefit of the twister, the one who is in power. Pure love, if it is pure, is guided by the Father because it can come from nowhere or no one else but the Father. It is imperative that we understand this pure love. How do we acquire it?

We already know the steps, we need only to obey them; love Jesus, this is covered in the commandment to love God first and then to love your neighbor as yourself. Worship and pray, if we do not worship and pray to the Father how will we be His? Jesus said; “Not every one that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven”. “Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in thy name, and cast out devils in thy name and done many miracles in thy name? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity”.

How can one cast out demons in Jesus name and not be known by Him? How often did Jesus heal and say to the one healed; go your faith has made you whole? And Jesus said to him: I will come and heal him. And the centurion making answer, said: Lord, I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof: but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed. And Jesus hearing this, marvelled; and said to them that followed him: Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel. And Jesus said to the centurion: Go, and as you have believed, so be it done to you.

Faith in the Lord which can only come with love for the Lord is the key; love is the key to all things. Love is the key to faith. So what are the steps? Love; love God and love your neighbor as yourself, worship and praise of Almighty God, these things are necessary; Jesus said: You believe that there is one God. You do well: the devils also believe and tremble.  

Do you understand what this means? Simply believing and leaving it at that is the same thing that the demons do, they know who He is but they will not worship, they have fallen. These things are the key; Love God first, love your neighbor as yourself, contained within these two things is; worship, we worship Almighty God through our Lord and savior Jesus the Christ, we pray; this is communion with our Lord, prayer is formal and informal, without prayer, without communion with the Lord how can we expect Him to know us?
Is there more? Yes! Confession and repentance, these two things cannot be left out and they need to be done every day. How often do we sing praise to God in the morning, confessing our faith and then we go out during our day and sin? We sin everyday whether in thought, word, or deed.  If we truly love our Lord we will worship, praise, confess, and repent. Love my friends is the key. For God so loved the world, remember that verse? The Apostle St. John, the apostle of love is known for preaching the love of Christ.

In his very old age and being very sick, the people still wanted to hear him speak as he was the last of the Apostles, the Bishops would carry him out seated on a chair and he would speak; brothers and sisters, remember to love one another. The Bishops finally asked him; sir, we and all of the people continually wait to hear words of wisdom from you and when you speak all that you say is; brothers and sisters remember to love one another. Why is that all that you say? The great Apostle St. John simply replied; because if you have pure love there is nothing else.

My friends it is really this simple but unless you have this love of Almighty God in you then you can never fully grasp the meaning. This is why confession and repentance is so important. Praise, worship, pray, confess, and repent and then the last thing; the Body and Blood, partaking of the Eucharist is very important, in this we receive the Holy Spirit , we receive grace and by receiving these things we obtain wisdom and understanding. Here it is simply put; worship, praise, confess, repent, Body and Blood.

So earlier on I asked a question; why in the order of Melchizedek and not in the order of Aaron and the Levitical Priesthood? It is my humble opinion that since the teachings were continually handed down from generation to generation from before the flood to after the flood that  this was done out of love for Almighty God Creator of all that is seen and unseen, this was through the law of love written on the heart . The Law of Moses was a law written in stone that showed mankind how that without Almighty God in the heart and leading us we can never be what we were created to be. The law written in stone is unbending, unyielding and condemns us in our sins. Such was the Law of Moses and the Levitical Priesthood making sacrifices for God’s people.  Thus did Jesus the Christ condemn those in His day for judging by the letter of the law and forgetting about the spirit of the law.

Jesus the Christ came and explained the spirit of the law, He spoke of the love of the Father and then in a most amazing and utterly astounding manner; He demonstrated this law of love written on the heart by the surrendering of His life, voluntarily for the sake of all mankind. This is the ultimate proof of love.
There will be a day when owning a Bible will be illegal, what will all of the people do then? How will the people and the church survive when there is no Bible to read? So I return to Melchizedek, I mentioned that there was another view of where Melchizedek was from but it was not for this article. You see, it doesn't matter who Melchizedek was or where he was from, if it did this would have been revealed to us, Melchizedek  was from a time when the law was written on the heart, Aaron and the Levitical Priesthood was during a time of the law being written in stone as well as words on parchment because man refused to live according to what is imprinted within him. In this manner we live the same today, Holy Scripture is words on paper, the written word that man attempts to live up to and man has forgot the word written on the heart.  
Jesus the Christ came to remind us of this law of the heart, he admonished those of His day for chasing the letter of the law and not the spirit of the law, he lived the spirit of the law and he gave His life to demonstrate this spirit, He defeated death and sin so that we can have eternal life with Him but just as in the past we have taken the law and removed the spirit from it. Do you think that this isn’t so? Just look at the church that has descended from the apostles, different branches yet both claiming apostolic succession and being spirit led yet having differing theologies and doctrine, add to them the many protestant denominations and doctrines with all claiming to be spirit led and what have we? There is not one that is not full of corruption, is it any wonder that the world spirals down and down?

It is time, now, to begin to learn and live this law of love in the heart. With all of this am I saying that the written word is of no consequence? Heaven forbid that I would say this, what I am saying is that without the law of love in our heart it is impossible to live the written law or word, again just look at the state of all who call themselves the Christian church and see, without the pure love there is nothing but division, power struggles, decisions made regarding subjects that we truly cannot know about and that cause splits and schisms all for the sake of control.

Think of me what you will, but I tell you a truth, learn the law of the love of the heart, seek and find wisdom and understanding, become one with the Christ, you can only do this through; prayer, praise, confession and repentance, and not forsaking the body and blood. Faith will only grow in this manner, there is no other way. Without faith there is no hope; not in the end times and certainly not in that dreaded Day of Judgment.  The Law of Love, written on the heart, without it there is no understanding or discernment.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal have mercy on us. Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal have mercy on us. Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal have mercy on us.

May Almighty God have mercy on us all.

In Christ,
Monk Michael