16 November 2014

10 Key paths to Heaven! - Part 2

  More of the 10 Key paths to Heaven!  -  Part 2  Thieves?

Have you ever thought what makes a thief?

It is of course when someone takes something from another; but to what extent?

Whenever something is stolen or taken - weighter it be: an idea, credit for some else's work, an actual item or thing, or even words - no matter how small -  it remains still remains stealing!

So what are some of the ways we steal?


 “When you kill a man, you steal a life.
You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father.
When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness.”
Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner


Matthew Henry, a Bible expositor and commentator, wrote that the:
 Eighth Commandment forbids us to " rob others by removing the ancient landmarks, invading our neighbor's rights, taking their goods from them, or house, or field, either forcibly or clandestinely, over reaching in bargains, not restoring what is borrowed or found, withholding just due debts or rents or wages.."

 
“Personal and relative duties must be done in obedience to his commands, with the aim at pleasing and honoring him, from the principles of holy love and fear of him.
 But there is an express and direct duty also that we owe to God;  namely, belief and acknowledgement of his being and perfections, paying him internal and external worship and homage - loving, fearing, and trusting in Him - depending on Him, and devoting ourselves to Him - observing all those religious duties and ordinances that He has appointed - praying to Him, praising Him, and meditating on His word and works.”
Matthew Henry
Friedrich Schleiermacher  said:  "Before you think of being benevolent and supporting the needy, be just, set aside all injustice, however secret...  A society from which all injustice of this kind is not banished is not honored but shamed by even the most generous philanthropy."  
   **  because even a generous gift of " stolen" money does make a Godly gift.
Some examples show that which runs deeper -
The Ten commandments are not just set of free floating moral principles; they are the summery of all Laws that the Lord God has given to His people after He redeemed them out of Egypt {the World}...   ** remember Deut 15:15...
 **  Deuteronomy 15:15    Remember that while you were yet slaves in the land of Egypt {the world}and the Lord your God redeemed you.
 That is why I give you this command today. 

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So what good are the 10 Commandments?



June 05, 2005  
Christian Crusaders
What's the Purpose of the Ten Commandments?
TEXT: Galatians 3:19, 23-25
What, then, was the purpose of the law?

It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. 
The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. 
   
** 
The Faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah   Heb 11:6
5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND 
BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was
 pleasing to God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God
 must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. 
7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark 
for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of
 the righteousness which is according to faith.

Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be
 revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.
 Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.

What good are the Ten Commandments? 

This is a much discussed question that solicits many 
answers. Let us consider some of the answers.

A popular answer in this post-modern culture is, “The commandments are of little or no value in 
our society where people think everything is relative. There are no absolutes for all situations.
 It is astounding to hear someone say, “Stealing and lying are not always wrong if these acts 
benefit a good cause.” Unfaithfulness in marriage might not always be wrong if the relationship
 between the husband and wife is already gone.”

Because this is the conviction of millions of people in our society, we have a very confused 
society.

  **
A second answer to the question, “What good are the Ten Commandments?” comes from the
 more moralistic or legalistic religions. Live obediently with God’s rule and you will win his favor.
 “The golden rule is my religion. What a world this would be if only people would live with the ethic – 
Do unto others as
 you would have them do unto you.”

While the Golden Rule does not summarize the Christian faith, many people prefer: 
 Matthew 7:12, 
“So in everything, do unto others what you would have them do to you,” to: 

John 3:16 - 17, 
 For God So Loved
16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that 
whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  
17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the 
world might be saved through Him.  
18 "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been
 judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten 
Son of God.…
    
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Since the Law was given by God, what does his Word claim is the purpose of the Ten 
Commandments? 

 Paul raises this question. He writes, “What then is the purpose of the Law?”
  God had established a covenant with Abraham that he would bless him and make him a 
blessing to many. From Abraham would come the Jewish people and from these people would 
come the Savior who would offer salvation to all in the world who would believe in him. 
 The relationship between God and his people would always be built on faith and not the
 obedience to the Law.   

  **  have you got this  idea? 
 The relationship between God and his people would always be built on faith and not the
 obedience to the Law.   


  This was the way the Almighty wanted them to live.

 These were the absolutes, the rights and
 wrongs. But the Law had another purpose.
 Paul writes, “So the law was put in charge to lead  us to Christ, that we might be saved 
through faith.”

According to the Bible, the law reveals who I am. I am a sinner. I cannot never keep these laws. 
I need a Savior to forgive my sins.

 Jesus did for (me) you what you could never do for yourself!

 This Savior is Christ, who is my only hope. When I trust Christ and his grace takes over and 
builds a relationship between God and me, I am saved and  am his child forever. 


  ** 
Rev. Dr. Homer Larsen

Christian Crusaders

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10 Key paths to Heaven! - Part 1


More of the 10 Key paths to Heaven!  -  Part 1 Love thy neighbor!


 The Parable of the Good Samaritan  
Luke 10:27 NIV

26   And He said to him, "What is written in the Law?
 How does it read to you?"  
27  And he answered, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."  
28 And He said to him, "You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE."…   {Live Forever in heaven - added for clarity}

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So what does this mean?

** Jesus gives this parable to show the Principle that Love for another person should transcend all human barriers in life - including sex, race, religion, ethnic background or economic status - station...  **  This is not about any sexual relationships - rather it is about coming to the Aid of another; whom has been wronged or hurt! 

So it is more than just another nice story; or a practical parable -  and not even to just to make someone feel good?

Just as with all stories you really need to know the history and background of the Samaritans!

 Exactly who they were ??

   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**
The Samaritans:
 (Samaritan Hebrew: שוֹ‏מְרִים Samerim "Guardians/Keepers/Watchers [of the Law/Torah]",
 - Jewish Hebrew: שומרוניםShomronim,

- Arabic: السامريونSāmeriyyūn),

 were an ethnoreligious group of the Levant, descended from ancient Semitic inhabitants of the region.

The Samaritans are adherents of Samaritanism, an Abrahamic religion closely related to Judaism. Based on the Samaritan Pentateuch,[4]
  Samaritans say that their worship is the true religion of the ancient Israelites prior to the Babylonian Exile, preserved by those who remained in the Land of Israel, as opposed to Judaism..  Which they say is a related but altered and amended religion, brought back by those returning from the Babylonian exile.
Ancestrally...  Smaritans claim descent from the Israelite tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (the two sons of Joseph (son of Jacob)) as well as from the priestly tribe of Levi,[1] who have links to ancient Samaria from the period of their entry into the land of Canaan...  While some suggest that it was from the beginning of the Babylonian Exile up to the Samaritan polity of Baba Rabba. Samaritans used to include a line of Benjamin tribe...   Which went extinct during the decline period of the Samaritan demographics.

The split between them and their brothers; the children of Judah (the Jews) began during the time of Eli the priest, and the culmination was during the Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah when the Samaritans (then Kingdom of Israel) refused to accept Jerusalem as the elect, and remained on Mount Gerizim.[5]

The Samaritans say that Mount Gerizim was the original Holy Place of Israel from the time that Joshua conquered Israel. The major issue between Jews and Samaritans has always been the location of the chosen place to worship God; Jerusalem according to the Jewish faith or Mount Gerizim according to the Samaritan version.[6]

In the Talmud, a central post-exilic religious text of Judaism, the Samaritans are called Cutheans (Hebrew: כותים‎, Kutim), referring to the ancient city of Kutha, geographically located in what is today Iraq.[7] In the biblical account, however, Cuthah was one of several cities from which people were brought to Samaria,[8] and they worshiped Nergal.[9][10]

Modern genetics suggests some truth to both the claims of the Samaritans and the account in the Talmud.[11]

 - Once a large community of over a million in late Roman times, the Samaritans shrank to several tens of thousands in the wake of the bloody suppression of the Third Samaritan Revolt (529 AD) against the Byzantine Christian rulers and mass conversion to Islam in the Early Muslim period of Palestine.[12][13]

   *****

Under the Roman Empire, Samaria was a part of the Roman-ruled province of Judea.

Samaritans appear briefly in the Christian gospels, most notably in the account of the Samaritan woman at the well and the parable of the Good Samaritan.
 In the latter it is only the Samaritan who helped the robbed man, left on the road half dead. The priest and Levite walking past. The Samaritan helped a man who may, or may not have been, a Jew.

This period is considered as something of a golden age for the Samaritan community, the population thought to number up to a million.[47] The Temple of Gerizim was rebuilt after the Bar Kochba revolt against the Romans, around 135 AD. Much of Samaritan liturgy was set by the high priest Baba Rabba in the 4th century.
A building excavated on Delos, dating to the 2nd century BC, is commonly identified as a Samaritan synagogue, which would make it the oldest known Jewish or Samaritan synagogue.[48] On the other hand, Matassa argues that, although there is evidence of Samaritans on Delos.. 
There were some Samaritans in the Persian Empire, where they served in the Sassanid army.

   ****

 1920 -

   During the entire week following the Feast of the Passover, the Samaritans remain encamped on Mount Gerizim. On the last day of the encampment they begin at dawn a pilgrimage to the crest of the sacred mount. Before setting forth on this pilgrimage, however, the men spread their cloths and repeat the creed and the story of the Creation in silence, after which, in loud voice they read the Book of Genesis and the first quarter of the Book of Exodus, ending with the story of the Passover and the flight from Egypt
— John D. Whiting
  The National Geographic Magazine, Jan 1920
  

  {From Wikipedia between the dashed lines....}

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 So you can see that during the Ministry of Christ that the Jews and the Samaritans did not get along...  Therefore the personal exchange of the " Good Samaritan " for  Jews was very much out of character during this encounter! 

Where you can see the love or concern...
 Read this entire section of Luke to see the larger picture where some Jewish Lawyers were out to discredit Jesus...
Yet this parable showed the effective way of Christ teaching of the Truth of God for mankind to follow in this worldly existence!

 Are you getting this ?    If not reply and we will help you!