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Matthew 16

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1 The Pharisees also and the Sadducees came, and, tempting, desired him that he would show them a sign from heaven.

2 He answered and said to them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.

3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to-day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh for a sign; and there shall no sign been to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah. And he left them, and departed.

5 And when his disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.

6 Then Jesus said to them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.

8 Which when Jesus perceived, he said to them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?

9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spoke not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

12 Then they understood that he did not caution them against the leaven of bread, but against the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

13 When Jesus came into the borders of Cesarea Phillippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I the Son of man am?

14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.

15 He saith to them, But who say ye that I am?

16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

17 And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed art thou, Simon-Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven.

18 And I say also to thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church: and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

19 And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven; and whatever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.

20 Then he charged his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

21 From that time forth Jesus began to show to his disciples, that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be to thee.

23 But he turned, and said to Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offense to me: for thou savorest not the things that are of God, but those that are of men.

24 Then said Jesus to his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

25 For whoever will save his life, shall lose it: and whoever will lose his life for my sake, shall find it.

26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

27 For the Son of man will come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; and then he will reward every man according to his works.

28 Verily I say to you, There are some standing here, who shall not taste death, till they shall see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

   

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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 23

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1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples,

2 saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees sat on Moses' seat.

3 All things therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do, but don't do their works; for they say, and don't do.

4 For they bind heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them.

5 But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad, enlarge the fringes of their garments,

6 and love the place of honor at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,

7 the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called 'Rabbi, Rabbi' by men.

8 But don't you be called 'Rabbi,' for one is your teacher, the Christ, and all of you are brothers.

9 Call no man on the earth your father, for one is your Father, he who is in heaven.

10 Neither be called masters, for one is your master, the Christ.

11 But he who is greatest among you will be your servant.

12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

13 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

14 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you don't enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter.

15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much of a son of Gehenna as yourselves.

16 "Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.'

17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold?

18 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated?'

19 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

20 He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by everything on it.

21 He who swears by the temple, swears by it, and by him who was living in it.

22 He who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it.

23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.

24 You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!

25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness.

26 You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also.

27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the righteous,

30 and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn't have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'

31 Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets.

32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.

33 You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?

34 Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city;

35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar.

36 Most certainly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.

37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!

38 Behold, your house is left to you desolate.

39 For I tell you, you will not see me from now on, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'"