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Matthew 7

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1 Be not judges of others, and you will not be judged.

2 For as you have been judging, so you will be judged, and with your measure will it be measured to you.

3 And why do you take note of the grain of dust in your brother's eye, but take no note of the bit of wood which is in your eye?

4 Or how will you say to your brother, Let me take out the grain of dust from your eye, when you yourself have a bit of wood in your eye?

5 You false one, first take out the bit of wood from your eye, then will you see clearly to take out the grain of dust from your brother's eye.

6 Do not give that which is holy to the dogs, or put your jewels before pigs, for fear that they will be crushed under foot by the pigs whose attack will then be made against you.

7 Make a request, and it will be answered; what you are searching for you will get; give the sign, and the door will be open to you:

8 Because to everyone who makes a request, it will be given; and he who is searching will get his desire, and to him who gives the sign, the door will be open.

9 Or which of you, if his son makes a request for bread, will give him a stone?

10 Or if he makes a request for a fish, will give him a snake?

11 If you, then, being evil, are able to give good things to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who make requests to him?

12 All those things, then, which you would have men do to you, even so do you to them: because this is the law and the prophets.

13 Go in by the narrow door; for wide is the door and open is the way which goes to destruction, and great numbers go in by it.

14 For narrow is the door and hard the road to life, and only a small number make discovery of it.

15 Be on the watch for false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inside they are cruel wolves.

16 By their fruits you will get knowledge of them. Do men get grapes from thorns or figs from thistles?

17 Even so, every good tree gives good fruit; but the bad tree gives evil fruit.

18 It is not possible for a good tree to give bad fruit, and a bad tree will not give good fruit.

19 Every tree which does not give good fruit is cut down and put in the fire.

20 So by their fruits you will get knowledge of them.

21 Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will go into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the pleasure of my Father in heaven.

22 A great number will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, were we not prophets in your name, and did we not by your name send out evil spirits, and by your name do works of power?

23 And then will I say to them, I never had knowledge of you: go from me, you workers of evil.

24 Everyone, then, to whom my words come and who does them, will be like a wise man who made his house on a rock;

25 And the rain came down and there was a rush of waters and the winds were driving against that house, but it was not moved; because it was based on the rock.

26 And everyone to whom my words come and who does them not, will be like a foolish man who made his house on sand;

27 And the rain came down and there was a rush of waters and the winds were driving against that house; and it came down and great was its fall.

28 And it came about, when Jesus had come to the end of these words, that the people were surprised at his teaching,

29 for he was teaching as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 838

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838. Let everyone beware of the heresy therefore that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. For someone caught up in the heresy, who does not fully turn away from it before the end of his life draws near, is after death associated with demons of hell. Indeed, they are the goats of which the Lord says,

Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41)

For the Lord does not say of the goats there that they did evil things, but that they did not do good ones. And they did not do good ones because they say to themselves, "I cannot do good of myself. The Law does not condemn me. The blood of Christ purifies me and liberates me. His suffering of the cross has taken away the guilt of sin. Christ's merit is imputed to me through faith. I am reconciled to the Father, in a state of grace. He looks upon me as His child, and He regards our sins as frailties, which He instantly forgives for the sake of His Son. Thus He justifies us through faith alone, and no mortal could be saved if it were not the sole means of salvation. For what other end did the Son of God suffer the cross and fulfill the Law except to take away the condemnation due our transgressions?"

These and many more like them are the things they say to themselves, and so they do not do goods that are good. For their faith alone, which is nothing but a theoretical one, being in itself a faith they are taught and consisting therefore only of knowledge, does not produce any good works. Indeed, it is a lifeless faith, into which no life or soul enters unless the person turns directly to the Lord and refrains from evils as being sins, and this as though of himself. The good things that the person does then as though of himself are from the Lord, and are thus in themselves good.

On this theme we find the following in Isaiah:

Woe to a sinful nation... laden with iniquity, the offspring of evildoers, corrupted children! ...When you spread out your hands, I hide My eyes from you; even if you make many prayers, I will not hear... Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good... (Then) if your sins be like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; if they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:4, 15-18)

And in Jeremiah:

Stand at the gate of the house of Jehovah, and proclaim there this word..., "Do not trust in the words of a lie, saying, 'The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah are these (the church of God, the church of God, the church of God is where our faith is).' ...Will you go stealing, murdering, committing adultery, and swearing falsely..., and then come and stand before Me in this house on which My name is placed and say, 'We are rescued,' while you do these abominations? Has this house... become a den of thieves...? 'Behold, I, even I, have seen,' says Jehovah. (Jeremiah 7:2-4, 9-11)

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

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Matthew 4:17

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17 From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, "Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."