Why Jesus the Christ? A transcript of the live radio show: part 1

Tonight we are going to talk about Jesus the Christ; why Jesus, throughout history there have been stories of gods and the gods who mate with humans and have children who do amazing things as half god/half human. There are creation stories and there are flood stories as well as so-called resurrection stories, so why should we believe that Jesus is true God and true man? How is it that out of all of the stories that are told we should believe that Jesus is the true story? This is what we are going to talk about in this series. At this particular time we are not going to compare the other stories with this one, that will happen in due time, but for this particular series we are going with the idea that Jesus is the true story because it is this understanding that must be known at first for the salvation of our very soul.

If we are to understand; Why Jesus? We must start with the creation for He was there from the beginning. Now in starting at  creation we are not going to discuss the creation in any great detail that will be a topic for later discussion and also while going through the history leading up to Jesus the Christ we are only going to skim because again the topic is not history in detail but Jesus the Christ, yet even in this skimming we may not even get to Jesus Himself in this first show.

 In going to Genesis we first see;

1 In the beginning God created heaven, and earth. 2 And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters. 3 And God said: Be light made. And light was made. 9 God also said; Let the waters that are under the heaven, be gathered together into one place: and let the dry land appear. And it was so done. The story continues with other verses regarding animals and fish and vegetation and in all of these we see these words; and God said.

Looking at these few verses we see Almighty God being revealed in a couple of different ways. First we see that God created heaven and earth, this is Almighty God the Father; Creator of all that is seen and unseen. After this we see that the earth was void and empty and that there was darkness upon the face of the deep, but notice what is written next; the spirit of God moved over the waters.

The spirit of God is called out separately, moving separately and yet not separated from God, so understand as the spirit of God this spirit is God. God’s spirit does not think separately from God because it is His spirit sent out from Him to do His work, there is one mind; God’s mind and the spirit performs a specific job as an entity unto itself in a manner of speaking but yet is not separate from God because it is His spirit. Now this is important in true Christian understanding, we are not going to get into a discussion of creation itself because that would be an entire talk in and of itself but we need to understand some fundamentals of the creation to understand why we need Jesus the Christ and that there is none other in the creation who can do what he has done and still does for us.

I am going to do my best to speak about this in very basic and simple terms for those who may have never heard. I am not a brilliant theologian but a very simple man myself but in this I must be careful because in centuries past when these ideas were first being vocalized, some stepped into heresy by trying to explain simply, this of course was not intentional but in the path of understanding and discussion one can without realizing add to or take away from this understanding. I do not wish to do this but yet I do wish to help those who have never heard to understand as simply as I can.

So far we have seen that in the beginning; God created and we have seen that the spirit, distinctly called out separately from God Himself moved over the waters and yet as His spirit it is also God. What else do we see in these very same verses that we have called out? 3 And God said: Be light made. And light was made. 9 God also said; Let the waters that are under the heaven, be gathered together into one place: and let the dry land appear. And it was so done. 

When God speaks things happen. God’s word is an active force, it accomplishes things, creation happened because God spoke and His word accomplished what was spoken. God created through His word and being His word it is also God, it acts as God directs, it acts as an entity unto itself but yet is not truly separate from God because it is God as His word acting on God’s behalf. As it is with the spirit so it is also with the word; each one is acting on and within the will of God, one mind but each having a separate function so to speak in performing the will of God without separate thought, only separate function in performing the one will.

Again, this understanding is very important in true Christianity and the concept and reason will unfold as the story of humanity and salvation unfolds.  So why is it important for humanity to understand God, (in as much as we can), the spirit of God and the word of God? Let’s go now to man himself, his creation and the downfall which is why this understanding is important.

Genesis chapter 1: 27 And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. 

What does it mean to be created in the image of God? Well we can say that God does not have a physical body in the flesh as we do so it is not our flesh that is in the image of God but it is in our spirit. Man was created in communion with God; Genesis 3: 8 And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise at the afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God, amidst the trees of paradise. 9 And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him: Where art thou? 10 And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid.

So man was in communion with God in the beginning, out of all of the creatures created on earth man alone is created in the image of God; man’s soul has intellect and wisdom, we are in a sense a reflection of God on the earth, containing elements of God in which two of them I have just mentioned. Another element of God which our Creator gave to us is eternal life, man was not created to die and so in this sense we actually do not know if the flesh of man was as it is now or was it originally as it will be at the resurrection, a new flesh which may be the old flesh of creation.

Eternal life, this is for man whether for the good or for the bad it is eternal. In another way that man is in a sense a reflection of God is that we had a job to do; Genesis 1: 28 And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth. So while in communion with God and as a reflection of God on earth (which really we are a reflection of Jesus the Christ as we will see later and Jesus the Christ is the only true reflection of God, so really we reflect the reflection so to speak), we were to be caretakers of this earth, have dominion over it and to subdue it, not just dominion over the earth itself but of all things created on the earth and the only way that we can do this properly is to be in communion with God and doing His will in all things.

 So this being in God’s image and His reflection on earth and having this job to do is a very basic understanding of creation, what happened? Why are we not in communion with God and acting on His behalf in being caretakers of this world and in being His reflection? Let’s continue the story;

In Genesis 2: 16 we find this command from God to Adam; And he commanded him, saying: Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat: 17 But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat. For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death. 

In this Adam had the one thing that he could not do in all of Paradise, this was his limitation and his testing of obedience because in being created in God’s image, Adam had freewill, man was not to live by instinct alone but by intelligence, wisdom, and freewill. Man could listen and obey or choose to ignore and disobey. He had the freedom to choose with understanding and logical thought, with full knowledge of the choice. What happened?

Let’s look at Genesis 3: 1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you that you should not eat of every tree of paradise? 2 And the woman answered him, saying: Of the fruit of the trees that are in paradise we do eat: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God hath commanded us that we should not eat; and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we die. 4 And the serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not die the death. 5 For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil. 

In these verses we see truth and a lie mixed together, Eve said that they were commanded not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil nor could they even touch it or they would die. We did not read where it is said not to touch, Eve has added a touch of her own. The next lie; the serpent said that they would not die. This was in direct contradiction to what they were told by God. Then he gave her a truth that their eyes would be opened and that they would be as God knowing good and evil. He also neglected to speak on the effects of knowing evil.

6 And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave to her husband, who did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened: and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig leaves, and made themselves aprons. 

These next two verses we have already seen; 8 And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise at the afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God, amidst the trees of paradise. 9 And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him: Where art thou? 10 And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. 11 And he said to him: And who hath told thee that thou wast naked, but that thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat? 12 And Adam said: The woman, whom thou gavest me to be my companion, gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

So, the sin has begun along with passing the buck, Adam immediately blames his wife for his own sin, Adam alone was responsible for his sin, no one forced him to eat what he knew not to eat. It doesn’t matter what someone else has done, we alone are responsible for what we do unless it happens through some way of force against our wishes.

 13 And the Lord God said to the woman: Why hast thou done this? And she answered: The serpent deceived me, and I did eat. 

Yes, again we have the passing the buck, Eve knew full well that she was not to eat, the fruit wasn’t shoved down her throat either, she willingly partook of the eating through lust of the eye, she saw that it was good to eat and delightful to behold and gave in to the lust.

14 And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because thou hast done this thing, thou art cursed among all cattle, and beasts of the earth: upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. 15 I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: it shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for his heel.

In these two verses we have punishment and prophesy, the serpent is punished for his part in the deed, even though he did not force anyone but only tempted; the tempter is as cursed as the one who gives in to the temptation. We also see the promise of the war that will take place between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman, there will be war between the two, the serpent is prophesied to come out on the losing end, he will get the heel of the woman’s seed but it is his head that will be crushed.

16 To the woman also he said: I will multiply thy sorrows, and thy conceptions: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thou shalt be under thy husband’s power, and he shall have dominion over thee. 

Now we have pain and suffering entering into the picture, obviously this was not part of creation and never meant to be but became so through disobedience, we also see now that one is to have dominion over the other because of this sin and turning from the commandment of God.

17 And to Adam he said: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee, that thou shouldst not eat, cursed is the earth in thy work: with labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life. 18 Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herbs of the earth. 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth out of which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return. 

Wow, the man is truly cursed, because Adam listened to his wife rather than to God, the whole earth is now cursed, all of his work will be toil and hard labor, nothing will come easy now, sweat and hard work is his fate, thorns and thistles will come forth, or in other words, there will be obstacles in his way for his entire life even unto this day.

20 And Adam called the name of his wife Eve: because she was the mother of all the living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skins, and clothed them. 

Even now, from the very beginning of the sin and the cursing of mankind, God is already working on the plan of recovery. The first physical death, an animal, occurred at the hands of God. The skins were used for clothing for Adam and Eve, a new covering to hide their nakedness and shame, the very beginnings of the plan of salvation wherein through Jesus the Christ and His voluntary sacrifice we will receive a new covering to cover our sin and our shame; the blood of Jesus.

22 And he said: Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and evil: now therefore lest perhaps he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever. 23 And the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of pleasure, to till the earth from which he was taken. 24 And he cast out Adam: and placed before the paradise of pleasure Cherubims, and a flaming sword, turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

This is the beginning of man’s life through turmoil, kicked out of Paradise, subjected to hard labor for life, living on a corrupted earth and with a corrupted nature in man, no longer in communion with God and for the moment no way back to Paradise.

In spite of this our Father, our Creator still had a way back for us, through the history of man there have been those very few who somehow still walked with God in spite of the sinful world in which they lived; why just a chosen few? Because the rest of the world was living in sin and chasing after false gods. So who were these chosen?

In the fifth chapter of Genesis we read about Enoch; And Henoch walked with God: and lived after he begot Mathusala, three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Henoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And he walked with God, and was seen no more: because God took him.

In the sixth chapter of Genesis we read; But Noe found grace before the Lord.  In the twelfth chapter of Genesis we read; And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father' s house, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed.

In the fourteenth chapter of Genesis we come across a name; Melchisedech, But Melchisedech the king of Salem, bringing forth bread and wine, for he was the priest of the most high God.

Almighty God still had a high priest on the earth in the man Melchisedech. We see several others; we have Isaac and Jacob through Abraham because of the promise. Now keep in mind that these people that have been mentioned as being chosen by God lived before the Law of Moses was written, how is it that they could have been living correctly before the law?

I’m going to tell you that the law has always existed in the heart, the law was not new to mankind, these were those people who still lived according to God’s law written in the heart, there was a bloodline from Adam to Noah and from Noah all of the way to Jesus the Christ that remembered God when the rest of the world did not.  And then we have Moses, In  Exodus chapter 3 we see: And when the Lord saw that he went forward to see, he called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said: Moses, Moses. And he answered: Here I am.

Now isn't that the way we should all be answering the call? Here I am Lord, how is it that I may serve you? This should be our response when we are called, how may I serve you? In spite of that Moses still argued against his call yet eventually went on to do God’s will. Moses led his people out of captivity and became the law giver, if you have ever read the whole law you will know that it was quite extensive basically about impossible to live up to but then the law was never meant to bring someone to salvation; just take a quick look ahead in the book written to the Hebrews chapter 7 verses 16 - 19 Who is made not according to the law of a carnal commandment, but according to the power of an indissoluble life: For he testifies: Thou art a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedech.  There is indeed a setting aside of the former commandment, because of the weakness and unprofitableness thereof:  (For the law brought nothing to perfection,) but a bringing in of a better hope, by which we draw nigh to God.

This is the end of part 1.

In Christ,

Monk Michael

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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

 

Epistle to the Philippians chapter 1

Today we are looking at a few verses in the Epistle to the Philippians

Chapter 1

27 Only let your conversation be worthy of the gospel of Christ: that, whether I come and see you, or, being absent, may hear of you, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind laboring together for the faith of the gospel. 28 And in nothing be terrified by the adversaries: which to them is a cause of perdition, but to you of salvation, and this from God: 29 For unto you it is given for Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him. 30 Having the same conflict as that which you have seen in me, and now have heard of me.

Chapter 2

1 If there is therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the spirit, if any affection and mercy: 2 Fulfill my joy, that you may be of one mind, having the same charity, being of one accord, agreeing in sentiment. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, let each esteem others better than themselves: 4 Let each one look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

My Friends,

How often do we work or live around others who at some point speak of the church that they belong to having some bake sale or flea market to raise money and we are shocked to discover that they belong to a Christian church? The language that comes out of their mouth on a daily basis, the gossip, the lifestyle, nothing that we have seen in our daily dealings with this person has ever led us to suspect that they were Christian.

The words written here in chapter 1 verse 27 are not peculiar to this letter but are repeated throughout all of scripture. Our speech, our daily actions, all of our dealings with people should make them think, if nothing else, that there is something peculiar about this person, this one is not like most people that I deal or work with. This should be the least that others see in us, granted on a day to day basis life can get pretty rough and we may not always be at our best but in a daily sense on a general basis, people should see Jesus Christ in us by our speech and our actions, or at the least recognize that we are different from others because of our integrity, our work ethic, our avoiding gossip and slander. This should be our way of dealing with everyone.

As the verses continue we see that we are not to be afraid of our adversaries, we must live Christ every day; this does not mean that we go around browbeating everyone on accepting Christ into their lives, we are to live Christ in our life always ready to bear witness when asked or questioned. As the verses continue notice St. Paul states that we will suffer for the name of Christ and that this is for salvation, over and over again throughout the writings of the New Testament we see that it is Christian privilege to suffer in Christ as He also suffered for us. This is not punishment as some would attempt to lead us to believe but in suffering we know that we belong to Jesus Christ and are being tried, tested and purified.

It is through these trials that we are to come closer to Him and more and more forsaking the things of this world.

The entertainment, the luxuries, the easy living are not for us in the flesh, having these things makes us turn our backs on Almighty God, we develop the attitude of; look what I have achieved, I am a self-made person, I did not need God to accomplish this great life that I live. This idea spills over into chapter two.

We are not to be filled with conceit or selfish ambition, but to be of one spirit, one mind, working for the betterment of others, each of us looking to help others and by this everyone will help everyone. All will be of a like mind, worshipping and praising God through Jesus Christ and insuring that no one is in desperate need of anything.

This is the way of Jesus Christ, it is the resounding message throughout all of scripture, love or charity which is love in action, charity is an action word, something that is taking place, is love doing something and not simply expressing itself in word alone.

Think on these things.

May Almighty God fill our hearts with all charity so that even if we tried, we could not even deny the Christ in word without someone calling us a liar, this should be what fills our heart.

In Christ,

Monk Michael

monkmichael.com 

A Study in Ephesians chapter 6 (conclusion)

A Study in Ephesians (conclusion)

Chapter 6         

Children and Parents Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Bondservants and Masters (Employee/Employer) 5 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.

The Whole Armor of God 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

  Final Greetings 21 So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. 22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage your hearts.

23 Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.

My Friends, Right from the beginning of this chapter we have misunderstanding, it is of course right for children to obey their parents, that is their job. Yet these verses are not about simple do what I said and don’t ask questions; this attitude is in truth the opposite of the meaning, the word obey as used here is from a word that means to listen attentively, this of course carries the same understanding as in marriage, it is not a master/slave relationship but rather one of a teacher and student. It is the command to the children but it is also a command to the parents, if a child is to listen attentively; a parent must be teaching, to listen, hear, and obey means that someone is speaking, teaching, and explaining.

The next section teaches us about employee/employer relationship, this seems to be severely lacking in the world, far too many employers treat their employees as slaves, there are many hard working people who do not make enough money to even pay rent in the area where they are working unless they work sixteen hour days and far too many companies are way understaffed in order to save money in benefits and taxes on their employees, this allows major corporate boards to increase their own bottom line, instead of making, say, ten million in profit, they can make fifteen million in profit, this is nothing more than a modern form of slavery.

On the other side there are far too many employees who do not dedicate themselves to their job, they do only the bare minimum to prevent themselves from being fired, they have no respect for their employer or for themselves much less any respect for our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ, ‘for in all things that you do, do so as if unto God’, this working attitude applies  even if your employer who is not Godly. It is Jesus Christ whom we represent everyday of our life and in everything that we do.

We are to put on the ‘Whole Armor of God’: truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, and faith. We will be given the strength to endure if we would allow ourselves to be completely guided by the Holy Spirit in all things, admittedly this at times can seem very difficult but it is what we are to do, regardless of our living conditions. This is our faith, this is how we represent our Lord and Savior, this is our life now and ever and unto the ages of ages.

As the Apostle St. Paul stated; the reward is for those who persevere unto the end.

May Almighty God grant to all of us this perseverance that we need, may we be blessed with faith and understanding, when we fall may we reach a hand unto our Lord and Savior who will never not reach down and pick us up, and in doing so may we be blessed with the knowledge that in picking us up we are to also ourselves rise up with Him who gave His life for us and stand strong in His Most Holy Name.

Many blessings and peace upon all who call on His name.

In Christ,

Monk Michael
monkmichael.com

Continuing Study in Ephesians chapter 5

A Study in Ephesians (continuing)

Chapter 5

¹ Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children ² and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

³ But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. ⁴ Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. ⁵ For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. ⁷ Therefore do not be partners with them.

⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) ¹⁰ and find out what pleases the Lord. ¹¹ Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹² It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. ¹³ But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. ¹⁴ This is why it is said:

“Wake up, sleeper,
    rise from the dead,
    and Christ will shine on you.”

¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. ¹⁸ Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Instructions for Christian Households

²¹ Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

²² Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸ In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— ³⁰ for we are members of his body. ³¹ “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh.” ³² This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³ However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

My Friends,

It is obvious that the world and many who call themselves Christian have absolutely no clue what this life entails, the first seven verses alone make this painfully obvious. Our Lord knows that we will sin, the Father in heaven understands this and it is through the Son that we can have forgiveness for the sin that we commit but does this mean that we can completely ignore instruction and the nature of design? Never recognizing our sin while we continue to worship God through Jesus the Christ as if nothing is wrong? No, should I repeat this word? NO and again NO!

  ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.  And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

Many of today’s so called Christian church members no longer care for the words of Jesus Christ.  

The first twenty verses of this chapter tell us how we are to live, if we claim Jesus Christ then we are obligated to walk as Jesus Christ, obeying His commandments and letting the world see Him through us, we are to be living examples of Christ on earth. What is the job of the church? Is it not to unite all true Christians to one another? Is it not also to re-unite all of mankind to our Creator? How do we do our job if we do not walk in the footsteps of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ? We are no longer to walk in darkness but in light. Yet far too many choose to be each his/her own shining light, agreeing with the society of darkness while fooling ourselves by worshiping the Lord.

The next verses; 21 - 33 cause much contention in the church and in the world, why is it that we in the church refuse to submit to each other out of reverence for Christ? Is this not what we are told, today’s woman seems to despise the verses; ²² Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Yet these women attend worship and claim Jesus Christ. This is pride and ego, the sins of Satan and yet the other side of the problem is the men.

Many of today’s men are no longer men; I have heard this time and time again from women in the church when they marry a man outside of the church, they say that they did so because they are looking for am man, one who can do things and who has a strong character. This my friends is lacking in the church today. What does this chapter tell us regarding the husband? Are the men not commanded to love their wives as Christ loved the church? A holy love, Jesus gave his life for his bride; the church, in this manner men are to love their wives.

Many men attempt to carry this instruction out as if they are some sort of dictator, they attempt to make this a master/slave relationship, this is not loving your wife. The man needs to be strong in the Lord, his life needs to be a life that reflects Jesus Christ and his actions need to be of nurturing and caring, ready to give his life for his wife, all decisions that he makes should be based on sound reasoning and consulting the Lord for guidance. This does not mean the opposite of the master/slave relationship either, every whim of his wife does not need to be met because in practice there may be no end to the whims. Decisions should be made as partners, where did our Creator create the woman from, a bone in the foot so that she is kept under, no, from the side of the man, a partner working together, by separating the two God not only removed a rib but He split the personality as well, the man and the woman contain all aspects of personality but some are greater in the one than in the other and it is for this reason that the two become one, a marriage or the uniting of man and woman is the bringing together of the separated parts so that they work together as one.

This is the design, there are times when one must have a final decision and as commanded by our Creator from the time of sin, the man shall be the one and the woman must yield. But for this to be so, a man must be a man and a woman must be a woman as we are created to be and each must conform to the likeness of Jesus Christ, each living his/her role in the scheme of creation. There is no other way.

May you be blessed with the understanding of the creation of man and woman, may you be blessed with all desire to fulfill each your role in Jesus the Christ realizing that there can be no other way that we can live if we are to call ourselves Christian.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In Christ,

Monk Michael

monkmichael.com 

A Study in Ephesians
(continuing)


Chapter 4

17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their
thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.


20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off
your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
24 and  to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.


25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful  with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.


29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave
you.


My Friends,


Today’s Christian Church suffers greatly, there is of course much persecution in much of the world; prison, torture,
mutilation, beheading. These things come from outside of the church but there is much that comes from inside the church itself. There are two things that work to destroy Christianity; one is the churchless Christianity, those who believe that an established church is not necessary or even that it is against Jesus Himself and then there are those within the church that seek to destroy that which is even basic teaching as handed down from the beginning, that faith that the martyrs died for.


In the first nine verses here (17 - 25) we see the old person and the ways of the world which many who call themselves Christians continue to live today and we see what we are to do. In verse 26 we see that we are to put off anger, what is this saying, never to be angry? By no means does it mean this, in the following verses we see how we are to be towards one another and to God and so we see that anger is not a part of how we are to be with one another.


Yet anger was given to us by Almighty God Himself, remember that we are told; “be angry but do not sin”, anger is in
itself not wrong so then why is it there? It is a weapon against Satan, it is not to be used against each other but against Satan, we should become angry when we see injustice, slavery and persecution. Angry when defenseless and innocent ones are attacked, the church does not exist for us to simply be members of a nice club, it exists to unite mankind to itself and to Almighty God, it has a higher calling than what it is used for today.


Heavenly Father, we pray that you continue in Your holy efforts to teach Your church its mission, far too many have left the ideal and have forgotten why we are here. We pray that you do not let us rest until we have been proven, try us in the fire of Your love that we may be made worthy. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

In Christ,
Monk Michael

A Study in Ephesians (continuing)

Chapter 3

8 To me, the least of all the saints, is given this grace, to preach among the Gentiles, the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 And to enlighten all men, that they may see what is the dispensation of the mystery which hath been hidden from eternity in God, who created all things: 10 That the manifold wisdom of God may be made known to the principalities and powers in heavenly places through the church, 11 According to the eternal purpose, which he made, in Christ Jesus our Lord: 12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. 13 Wherefore I pray you not to faint at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

14 For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened by his Spirit with might unto the inward man, 17 That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts; that being rooted and founded in charity, 18 You may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth: 19 To know also the charity of Christ, which surpasses all knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do all things more abundantly than we desire or understand, according to the power that works in us; 21 To him be glory in the church, and in Christ Jesus unto all generations, world without end. Amen.

My Friends,

We again learn important things here if we read and understand. We have seen already that principalities and powers in heavenly places are realms of angels. In verse 10 we see that not even the angels in heaven knew of Almighty God’s plan until they learned it from the church. The importance of the church to mankind cannot be overstated; we must understand our purpose and stop the nonsense that continues here. It is the job of the church, our purpose to reunite all of mankind to Almighty God, of course mankind must listen but how will anyone listen to a church that claims to be led by the Holy Spirit and yet is so divided and at odds with one another that makes the world ridicule the Most Holy Name of Jesus the Christ?

This must be the priority of the church.

How long Oh Lord before we awaken to our own destiny and purpose and stop the quarreling and infighting among those who proclaim the Most Holy Name? It is a disgrace, awaken all who proclaim your holy name to a proper understanding in order to proclaim Your Holy Name with all confidence in one voice and one spirit.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In Christ,

Monk Michael