Islam, Abortion, Satanocracy

Islam, Abortion, Satanocracy (Democracy is in fact from Satan, when the majority are immoral you will have immoral laws and a lost nation, simply look around you.)

Islam and abortion cannot be fought by an ungodly people.

Islam will never be checked by a nation that kills it's own children. Far too many people say that there are no early church teachings and nothing in Holy Scripture (Bible) regarding this.

There was in fact much written;


ABORTION

       “You shall not murder a child, whether by [procuring its] abortion or killing it once it is born.” Didache (2:2)

This question has been asked by modern Christians who should know better without even asking; “What does the Holy Scripture (Bible) say about abortion?” We live in a time when just about 46 million babies are aborted in the world each year. Yet very little is said from the pulpit. There is little understanding from the church at large and the people regarding the teaching on abortion, or worse use Holy Scripture (Bible) as a justification for permitting limited abortions. We need a clear understanding about what the Early Christians thought concerning this atrocity - the Didache is helpful in providing one such voice.

      The Didache is very clear in its denunciation of abortion and infanticide. In Chapter 2:2 the Didachist instructs the faithful – those who have chosen “The Way of Life” not to abort their children or kill them after they are born. By contrast, the people who have chosen the “Way of Death,” are described as “…child murderers, who abort what God has formed” (Did – 5:2).

In the first century, there was a number of methods used to end an inconvenient pregnancy or get rid of an unwanted infant; including induced, chemical and surgical abortion for the unborn, and “exposure” of newborn infants. It is astounding that the practice of surgical and chemical abortion, (a kind of “morning after” drug), was so common that the Early Church Fathers had to address the issue in their writings.

There exists, in the writings of the early church, an unbroken chain of condemnation for the practice of abortion and condemnation was for both women and the fathers. When combined with Holy Scripture (Biblical texts) and writings such as the Didache, which are in agreement with the Patristic writings, there exists an unbroken chain of teaching which extends from the early 1st Century Church and on into our modern era – challenging the church today to gain understanding. Some of the Holy Scripture (Biblical texts) regarding abortion can be found below;

        Exodus 21:22-25. Here the Law of Moses is clear; whether intentional or not the premature birth of an infant which results in its death will be punishable by death; “and if men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she has a miscarriage [resulting in its death]…then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life.”

       Psalms 139:13-16 shows God intimately involved in the conception and development of the individual in the mother’s womb. “For you have possessed my reins: you have covered me in my mother’s womb…. My substance was not hid from you, when I was made in secret…Your eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in your book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”

       Also Jeremiah 1:5 indicates that God is aware of the potential of His people from conception. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I sanctified you…  There can be little doubt the OT served as a foundation for the Patristic writings of Tertullian and the Didache with regard to abortion.

The 1st and 2nd Century writings of the Early Church Fathers regarding abortion is staggering! Early Church documents as early as 70 A.D. are extensive on the subject – this does not include the writings of Holy Scripture or the Didache. Below are some examples;

“You shall not kill a child by obtaining an abortion, nor, again, shall you destroy him after he is born.” – Barnabas (c.70-130)

“We say that those women who use drugs to bring on abortion commit murder… We also teach that it is wrong to expose an infant. For those who expose them are guilty of murder.” – Athenagoras (c. 175).

“Among surgeons‟ tools there is a certain instrument that is formed with a nicely-adjusted flexible frame for first of all, opening the uterus and then keeping it open. It also has a circular blade, by means of which the limbs within the womb are dissected with careful, but unflinching care… (the next comments are omitted due to graphic nature)… ...they give it, (the surgical tool), the name, “killer of the infant” – which infant, of course had once been alive.” – Tertullian (c. 210).

“Indeed the Law of Moses punishes with appropriate penalties the person who causes abortion. For there already exists the beginning stages of a human being. And even at this stage, [the fetus] is already acknowledged with having the condition of life and death, since he is already susceptible to both.” Tertullian (c. 210)

Why then is this still allowed and practiced by many in the church? If you want to defeat an enemy you must yourself defeat the enemy that is within you first.

In Christ,
Monk Michael

Web Page;

http://www.monkmichael.com

Live Radio call in show;

Coffee with Monk Michael

For Monk Michael's videos; http://www.youtube.com/user/HieroMonkMichael

Monk Michael's 'Spiritual Christianity for Today! on Kindle; http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009ZCIF4M

Monk Michael's 'Spiritual Christianity for Today! paperback; http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&field-author=Rev.%20Fr.%20Michael%20Valentine%20Sweet&page=1&rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ARev.%20Fr.%20Michael%20Valentine%20Sweet

Do we actually believe that today's church can change the world?

My Friends,

To those who love Jesus the Christ, to those who claim to love Jesus the Christ but whose life does not reflect this and to anyone else who wants to hear;

The world and the church are in a serious mess. There are Apostolic churches who claim the creed, there are breakaway from the mainstream Apostolic churches who still claim Apostolic succession while attacking the mainstream churches they broke away from and also attack other breakaway groups as non-canonical.

This is a great word; Canonical, it is used to discredit those that someone else deems as unworthy of being called true Christian. It is used by many to attack others while they themselves claim some sort of succession yet are also called non-canonical by those who they have attacked. We have Eastern Orthodox with Eastern Rite liturgy and we have western Orthodox with Western Rite liturgy and each having issue with not only the opposite but also with others claiming the same rite as being non-canonical. Again this great word in use.  Along with this Orthodoxy we have the Roman church which claims Orthodoxy and yet Rome and the Orthodox church do not get along.

We have those reformed groups or Protestants who some claim Apostolic succession while others scoff at the idea and ridicule the very thought of it. These groups are also divided among many doctrines and not only attack one another but also attack those of any type or sort of Catholicism or liturgical worship. The teachings and doctrines, the theological surmising, the rites and the style of worship differ so much that it is in fact putrid. The correct rite, the canonical status, the once saved always saved, we are working out our salvation day by day, written prayer non-written prayer, we have the Messianic Jew with it's legalism, I'm the only true church no we're the only true church, again this is putrid.

Do we actually believe that we can change the world? The world sees the church just as I have it written above. To add to that it includes the commercialized institution that is called church that demands money to stay in business while it preaches what it does not practice. The church in general is full of corruption; homosexuality, pedophilia, so called men of the cloth who claim celibacy and yet have women on the side, married men of the cloth who have women on the side, or they have young girls or young boys while declaring the world to be corrupt. This is what the world sees.

Yet, we all claim to be followers of the Christ awaiting His return.

Pray my friends and pray hard. The stench of corruption must be removed from the church, all of the corruption from all of the church, we fool only ourselves, I cannot believe that we are nothing more than stench in the nostrils of Almighty God.

Think what you want about me and what I have written, but you had better open your ears and eyes and pray like your life depended on it because it does.

May Almighty God have mercy on us all!

In Christ,
Monk Michael

Seeking a True Church?

My Friends,

Sadly the world is full of serious matters, life and death struggles, haters and attackers of Jesus the Christ and His followers. Many people are seeking Jesus the Christ in truth but do not know where to turn. How many different denominations are there who all claim to be Christian? There are those who claim the one and only true Apostolic succession and yet do not simply disagree on minor issues but disagree on major issues regarding man's salvation as well. Sadly all denominations make the same claim; they are guided by the Holy Spirit. There are those who say that it does not matter where you go as long as you go and "get saved".

Everyone wants a dollar. Some say give what you can and others will outright demand 10% of your earnings before taxes. Understand though, buildings cost money as well as heating and air conditioning so if you worship in a building that has these things then you must understand that these bills do have to be met. The day is coming though when these large places will no longer be truly Christian, they will become state churches with diluted understandings. Sadly, again, this is already true of many. Truth is truth, eventually speaking the truth will become a death sentence. Where will you stand when this happens?

The United States federal government is suing one of it's own states over border protection. The U.S. President is a traitor to the Constitution as well as are most of the elected and appointed officials.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/tsH8xvjTAlo


Where do we go from here? Stay close to Jesus the Christ; very close. Never cease asking for the absolute truth. Seek wisdom and understanding and never tire in asking. Contact me if you would like to talk, pray, ask questions or have suggestions. Remember, verbal abuse through this will simply be deleted.


In Christ,
Monk Michael

Web Page;

http://www.monkmichael.com

Live Radio call in show;

Coffee with Monk Michael

For Monk Michael's videos; http://www.youtube.com/user/HieroMonkMichael

Monk Michael's 'Spiritual Christianity for Today! on Kindle; http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009ZCIF4M

Monk Michael's 'Spiritual Christianity for Today! paperback; http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&field-author=Rev.%20Fr.%20Michael%20Valentine%20Sweet&page=1&rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ARev.%20Fr.%20Michael%20Valentine%20Sweet

Pray, repent, pray or just forget about it.

My Friends,

What will it take for all of Christianity to become Christian rather than Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Independent Orthodox, Baptist, Southern Baptist, Pentecostal, Seventh Day Adventist, Lutheran, Anglican and on and on and on.

Do you truly believe that there is One Father, One Lord Jesus the Christ, One Holy Spirit that is recognized within just these groups that I have mentioned above? If you believe that they are represented the same way as the same persons among the groups then you are wearing blinders. As long as this continues there is no hope. There will truly be a remnant saved. Each group, regardless of doctrine will argue with me that they indeed are the true Apostolic church and continue the teachings from the Apostles and yet all are different and claim that the others are in error.

The world mocks the name of Jesus the Christ even more because of this, whether you like it or not this is true. There is in fact One Father, One Lord Jesus, and One Holy Spirit but where are they to be found? The church has become a place of complicated laws with lawyers who represent the Canon Law. Basic understanding is not taught, sin is not spoken against in many places, the church has a message of feel good about yourself no matter who you are as long as you come here on Sunday and make your tax exempt donation to us and we will be kind and smile and never speak on sin, this is our promise.

Again, there will truly be only a remnant saved. The United States is a land of diluted preaching, Jesus the Christ hating government, race baiting politicians making millions of dollars from corporate sponsors to keep the game alive for profit. The entertainment industry hates the Lord Jesus the Christ regardless of how many may try to deny it. This country of the United States, it's government, it's entertainment, and it would appear that many within the church are a cesspool.

There is only one way out. prayer, prayer from the heart, spouting verses of scripture, displaying degrees from theological institutes, formulating profound doctrine is all meaningless. If your heart is not attached to Jesus the Christ, if you refuse to recognize the sin within yourself and work to have it removed, if you are not in daily communion with our Lord from the heart then what you know intellectually is meaningless except to only further condemn yourself, for if you know then you should act. Be doers of the word; is this not the command?

A man who prays from the heart all day and has little more than this intellectually will have much more effect than 10,000 scholars.

Pray, repent, pray and love. There is no other way.

In Christ,
Monk Michael

Web Page;

http://www.monkmichael.com

Live Radio call in show;

Coffee with Monk Michael

For Monk Michael's videos; http://www.youtube.com/user/HieroMonkMichael

Monk Michael's 'Spiritual Christianity for Today! on Kindle; http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009ZCIF4M

Monk Michael's 'Spiritual Christianity for Today! paperback; http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&field-author=Rev.%20Fr.%20Michael%20Valentine%20Sweet&page=1&rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ARev.%20Fr.%20Michael%20Valentine%20Sweet

In what is found riches?

My friends,

What is your treasure? In what does your heart trust? Is your faith lost because of affliction? It is by this very affliction that we come to know Almighty God through Jesus the Christ. There is a path one walks and when one comes to a fork he makes a decision either to the left or to the right. Treasure is not in this physical world where g.o.d. (gold, oil, diamonds) rules.

Treasure is in the heart where God rules, Holy Scripture tells us that treasure is in salvation and the riches of salvation are wisdom and knowledge. Isaiah the Prophet tells us this is so and the Apostle Paul tells us where this can be found. Jesus the Christ is the wisdom and knowledge, these are the riches that we should seek and until we learn this we will have nothing, all worldly riches will be burned in the last day and if we do not have this wisdom and knowledge found in Jesus the Christ then we will be lost for eternity for we will have nothing.

Physical riches burn, spiritual riches can never burn nor deteriorate but are for eternity. Do not be dismayed at this world and those who would persecute and abuse you, constantly seek the riches found in the wisdom and knowledge of Almighty God of which these things are found in Jesus the Christ and therein lies salvation.

Isaiah 33

1 Woe to those who distress you, though no one is causing you distress, and he who deals treacherously with you, though no one is dealing treacherously with you! Those who deal treacherously will be conquered and handed over, and like a moth in a garment they will be defeated. 2 O Lord, have mercy on us: for we trust in you: be our arm in the morning, and our salvation in the time of trouble. 3 At the voice of the angel the people fled, and at the lifting up of Yourself the nations are scattered. 4 And your spoils shall be gathered together as the locusts are gathered, as when the ditches are full of them. 5 The Lord is magnified, for he has dwelt on high: he has filled Sion with judgment and justice. 6 And there shall be faith in your times: riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge: the fear of the Lord is his treasure.

Colossians 2

1 For I would have you know, what manner of care I have for you and for them that are at Laodicea, and whosoever have not seen my face in the flesh: 2 That their hearts may be comforted, being instructed in charity, and unto all riches of fullness of understanding, unto the knowledge of the mystery of God the Father and of Christ Jesus: 3 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

In Christ,
Monk Michael

Web Page;

http://www.monkmichael.com

Live Radio call in show;

Coffee with Monk Michael

For Monk Michael's videos; http://www.youtube.com/user/HieroMonkMichael

Monk Michael's 'Spiritual Christianity for Today! on Kindle; http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009ZCIF4M

Monk Michael's 'Spiritual Christianity for Today! paperback; http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&field-author=Rev.%20Fr.%20Michael%20Valentine%20Sweet&page=1&rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ARev.%20Fr.%20Michael%20Valentine%20Sweet

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

Web Page;

http://www.monkmichael.com

Live Radio call in show;

Coffee with Monk Michael

For Monk Michael's videos; http://www.youtube.com/user/HieroMonkMichael

Monk Michael's 'Spiritual Christianity for Today! on Kindle; http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009ZCIF4M

Monk Michael's 'Spiritual Christianity for Today! paperback; http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&field-author=Rev.%20Fr.%20Michael%20Valentine%20Sweet&page=1&rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ARev.%20Fr.%20Michael%20Valentine%20Sweet

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