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Matthew 15

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1 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, who were of Jerusalem, saying,

2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

3 But he answered and said to them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

4 For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.

5 But ye say, Whoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatever thou mightest be profited by me;

6 And honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.

7 Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,

8 This people draw nigh to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

10 And he called the multitude, and said to them, Hear, and understand:

11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

12 Then came his disciples, and said to him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended after they heard this saying?

13 But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be extirpated.

14 Let them alone: they are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leadeth the blind, both will fall into the ditch.

15 Then answered Peter and said to him, Declare to us this parable.

16 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?

17 Do ye not yet understand, that whatever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?

18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the territories of Tyre and Sidon.

22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same territories, and cried to him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously afflicted with a demon.

23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.

24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

25 Then came she and worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me.

26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.

27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crums which fall from their master's table.

28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it to thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

29 And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh to the sea of Galilee; and ascended a mountain, and sat down there.

30 And great multitudes came to him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them:

31 So that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.

32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.

33 And his disciples say to him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to satisfy so great a multitude?

34 And Jesus saith to them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.

35 And he commanded the multitude to sit on the ground.

36 And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and broke them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

37 And they all ate and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that were left seven baskets full.

38 And they that had eaten were four thousand men, besides women and children.

39 And he sent away the multitude, and took a boat, and came into the borders of Magdala.

   

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True Christian Religion # 483

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483. V. Without free will in spiritual matters the Word would not be of any use, nor in consequence would the church be.

It is well known throughout the Christian world that the Word is, broadly speaking, the Law, that is, a book of laws in accordance with which a person must live, in order to be granted everlasting life. Is there anything it says more often than that man must do good and not evil, and he must believe in God and not in idols? The Word is also full of commands and exhortations to these actions, with blessings and promises of rewards for those who do so, and curses and threats of punishment for those who do not. Unless man had free will in spiritual matters, that is, in matters concerned with salvation and everlasting life, what would all this be but empty words serving no use? And if anyone were to cling to the idea that he lacked any power or freedom in spiritual matters, so that he was without any will-power in these matters, would not Holy Scripture look to him like a blank piece of paper with no letters on it, or like a piece of paper over which a whole pot of ink had been emptied, or just serifs and dots with no letters, that is to say, a book with nothing in it?

[2] There would hardly be any need to prove this from the Word, but since present-day churches have plunged so deeply into mental inanity in spiritual matters, citing certain passages in support which they have wrongly interpreted, I am obliged to quote some passages which tell men how to act and believe. These are:

The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that produces its fruits, Matthew 21:43.

Produce fruit worthy of repentance; at any moment now the axe is put to the root of the tree. So every tree which does not produce good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire, Luke 3:8-9.

Jesus said, why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and not do what I say? Everyone who comes to me and listens to what I say and does that is like a man building a house upon rock. But one who listens and does not do it, is like a man building his house on soil with no foundation, Luke 6:46-49.

Jesus said, My mother and my brothers are these who hear the Word of God and act upon it, Luke 8:21.

We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone worships God and does His will, He listens to him, John 9:31.

If you know these things, you are blessed if you act upon them, John 13:17.

He who possesses my commandments and does them is the one who loves me, and I will love him, John 14:21.

In this is my Father glorified, by your bringing forth much fruit, John 15:8.

You are my friends, if you do whatever I bid you. I have chosen you to bear fruit, and for your fruit to keep, John 15:14, 16.

Make the tree good; by its fruit the tree is known, Matthew 12:33.

Produce fruit worthy of repentance, Matthew 3:8.

The one who sowed seed on good land is the one who hears the Word and bears fruit, Matthew 13:23.

He who reaps receives his wage, and gathers the fruit for everlasting life, John 4:36.

Wash yourselves, cleanse yourselves, put away the wickedness of your deeds; learn to do good, Isaiah 1:16-17.

The Son of Man is to come in the glory of His Father, and He will then deal with each according to his deeds, Matthew 16:27.

Those who have done good deeds will go forth to be resurrected to life, John 5:29.

Their deeds accompany them, Revelation 14:13.

Behold, I come soon and my reward is with me, so that I may give to each according to what he has done, Revelation 22:12.

Jehovah, whose eyes are open, to give to each in accordance with his behaviour; He deals with us according to our deeds, Jeremiah 32:19; Zechariah 1:6.

[3] The Lord teaches the same lesson in the parables, many of which imply that those who do good are accepted and those who do evil are rejected: as in the parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 21:33-44), that of the talents and minas, with which they had to trade (Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:13-25). Likewise Jesus said about faith:

He who believes in me shall never die, but live, John 11:25-26.

This is the Father's will, that everyone who believes in the Son should have everlasting life, John 6:40.

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; he, however, who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him, John 3:36.

God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life, John 3:15-16.

Furthermore:

You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And you are to love the neighbour as yourself. The law and the prophets depend upon these two commandments, Matthew 22:37-40.

These are a minute selection from the Word and like a few pints of water drawn from the sea.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

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Matthew 22:37-40

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37 Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 A second likewise is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

40 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."