Jehoshua is on the throne of David in New Jerusalem and He is the King of a New Israel
Part 3 of my sermon on the mount study, the constitution of the Kingdom
Matthew 7:1-2 1Judge not, that ye be not judged.2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you. Jehoshua here is not getting rid of "judging" all together but rather judging in hypocrisy as we shall see in the following verses. Jehoshua's words here should cause to always examine ourselves first before we seek to examine our brothers and sisters. Matthew 7 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye; and lo, the beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother`s eye. If we judge others and yet have a beam of sin in our own lives then we will be guilty of what Jehoshua is talking about and we will be judged at the last day with the same measure of judgment that we meted out. Matthew 7:6 "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine, lest haply they trample them under their feet, and turn and rend you." Jehoshua says not to cast pearls of knowledge to those who have no respect to that knowledge. He says that they will turn and tear you to pieces likely meaning they will will rail against you. That which is holy is the gospel of the Kingdom taught by Jehoshua. Matthew 7:7-8 7Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:8for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Jehoshua eliminates any idea of Calvinism and says that it is those who seek, knock and ask that shall find the blessings of the Kingdom. There is clearly free will taught here. Jehoshua was not a Calvinist. Matthew 7:9-10 9 Or what man is there of you, who, if his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone;10 or if he shall ask for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? This is a very important analogy because shows the goodness of the Father. There are so many misrepresentations about God's character in the churches as many denominations make Him out to be a tyrant yet Jehoshua reveals His true character. We, being evil, as human fathers to not hesitate to give good gifts to our children yet we should expect much more from our Father in heaven who is good and is love. By the way many Christians represent God they unintentionally make Him more unrighteous than us human fathers. Again, this shows that Calvinism is false as men can ask God and they will receive. Matthew 7:12 "All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them: for this is the law and the prophets." This sums up the law of Jehovah to do to others what we would want done unto us. Many in the Hebrew roots movement have forgot this simple command have put the other things of the law before it. Matthew 7:13-14 13Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:14Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. This is one of the most ignored passages in scripture and that is remarkable being that they come out of the mouth of the Son of God. We are told to enter the strait (narrow) gate in order to find eternal life. The word "strait" comes from the Greek word "stenos" (strongs 4728) and means "narrow (from obstacles standing close about): - strait". Jehoshua's statement here indicates that there will be obstacles in our path to the Kingdom however we are commanded to avoid those obstacles, squeezing ourselves into the strait and narrow gate that paves the way to the Kingdom. This means that obstacles will always be close to us as we walk out our faith and will attempt to get us off that narrow road. What's alarming is that those obstacles are very near to the narrow gate showing that they can easily distract us from the Kingdom. What's amazing and alarming at the same time is that the Son of God says very few people will find the narrow gate hence few will find eternal life in the Kingdom. This goes in stark contrast to what the pulpit preachers of Christendom teach. The pulpit preachers and their followers completely disobey Jehoshua by teaching that as long as you say a sinners prayer you don't have to obey Jehoshua in order to inherit eternal life but that you now have a free pass to heaven no matter how you live your life. They even teach you can never lose your salvation i.e. the deadly once saved always saved doctrine. They pretty much open the door to the Kingdom to people that Jehoshua has shut the door on. These are the people that do not pick up their cross to follow the actual commandments of the Son of God. The Pastor's of Christendom give these one's a free pass by saying that salvation is by faith alone and that keeping the commandments of Jehoshua is not a salvation requirement. Even the so called fundamentalist groups completely ignore Jehoshua's command to pick up their cross as American Christians promote building wealth and moving up the corporate ladder and even shame the poor who are the very one's Jehoshua came to preach the gospel to. The Pastor's themselves live lives unworthy of their calling as they have no problem living rich off the gospel so it behooves them to make the narrow gate a wide one. Revelation 3:7 "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth." The denominations of Christendom including their heroes like Martin Luther have no right to open the door that Jehoshua shuts yet they have attempted to do this very thing by stating that obedience to the commandments of Messiah are not required to enter into the Kingdom and all you have to do is have "faith" which in their understanding is a mental ascent in knowledge and a belief in the heart. How does one enter into the strait gate? In the context of Jehoshua's statement about the narrow gate the sermon on the mount and following it's instructionsns is how one enters. Do you now see why Jehoshua says few be that find it? It's because few want to deny themselves in order to keep the tough sayings that Jehoshua gives here. It would mean that these Western American Christians would have to give up building wealth, chasing corporate success, taking people to court to fight for what is theirs, defending their property and rights including their own person. The wide road is found by many and the Pastor's of Christendom have made that road wide disobeying the Lord Jehoshua. Matthew 7:15-16 15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Notice that Jehoshua's warning of false prophets come right after His statement on the strait and wide gate. He is obviously making a connection with false prophets and the wide road indicating that false prophets will make the road to the Kingdom a wide one. This implicates most of Christendom in America including their Pastors and theologians. The false prophets do not bear fruit but rather thorns and thistles. The fruit here that Jehoshua mentions is connected with the sermon on the mount teachings which are the requirement to enter into the Kingdom by the strait gate. These false prophets will not bear the fruit of Jehoshua's teachings as they will not obey them and because of this they will make the gate to the Kingdom a wide one by teaching others that they also don't have to obey the teachings on the sermon on the mount. Hence they their fruit will be thorns and thistles due to their false "faith alone" doctrine. John 2:9-11 applies to these false prophets 9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.10If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:11For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds. However, it isn't just the faith alone teachers that are false prophets but this also includes the Hebrew roots movement who teach that you don't have to follow the literal teachings of Jehoshua because you need to understand them in light of Moses thereby you have a right to defend yourself physically, a right to defend your property with physical force, take people to court and build wealth. This also applies to denominations like Jehovah Witnesses, Seventh day Adventist ls and Mormons who put their respective prophets teachings on par with those of the Messiah and many times even disregarding teachings by the Messiah in order to agree with their prophets. What do all these movements have in common? They have to set aside certain teachings of Jehoshua that are not conducive to their organizational structure in order to prop up what their false prophets teach. Matthew 7:17-20 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.18A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.19Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.20Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Good trees are those that teach and follow the instructions of the Son of God taught here on the sermon on the mount. Their fruit will be the result of obeying those instructions. The bad trees are those who disobey the sermon on the mount instructions and teach others to do so. Those trees are bad no matter how much bible they know and how often they go to Church or if they were raised as a Christian. The sermon on the mount is absolute standard in terms of being a good tree that bears fruit. What happens to these fruitless or rotten fruit trees? They don't enter the Kingdom just because they said a sinners prayer and say "faith alone", they actually are cut down and burned in the fire which is an obvious reference to the lake of fire. Jehoshua makes it clear that unless you obey His teachings here on the sermon on the mount you will absolutely not have eternal life. Matthew 7:21 "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." Again, the context of Jehoshua's statement is in regards to the commandments He is giving here on the sermon on the mount. These ones above are those who didn't not enter in at the strait gate by following Jehoshua's self denying commandments here in the sermon on the mount. Instead, they decided to listen to their Pastor's that salvation is by faith alone and that tryjng to actually follow Jehoshua's teachings is legalism. These will be they that relied on the sinners prayer and once saved always saved doctrine. The ones in verse 21 are professing Christians. Matthew 7:22-23 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. These false professing Christians did many seemingly mighty works in the name of Jehoshua yet the chose the wide road of denominational man made doctrines rather than the self denying commandments of Jehoshua Messiah. When you look at today's Church world in America you see mega churches, celebrity Pastors and theologians. They boast of their Church membership numbers, their seminaries, their huge ministries but unless they actually lived out the teachings of Jehoshua and taught others to do the same they will end up being told by Jehoshua that He never knew them as they practiced iniquity (lawlessness). In the context of this passage and the overall sermon lawlessness is defined by those who don't keep Jehoshua's sayings outlined in chapters 5-7. The next several verses prove that it is Jehoshua's sermon on the mount teachings that are in view in terms of what defines lawlessness. Matthew 7:24-25 24Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. It's those who actually do the teachings of Jehoshua that will be among the wise virgins that enter into the Kingdom when the Bridegroom comes. Their spiritual house will be built upon a rock. Not only is Jehoshua our rock but His teachings are also our rock. The false prophets Jehoshua mentioned earlier will tell you that it is not necessary to follow Jehoshua's teachings especially for salvation, however the Son of God completely refutes them. What's scary is that these false prophets are generously littered throughout Christendom whether they be of the mainstream denominations or so called independent churches. To hear and do the sayings of Jehoshua is eqauted to being wise and building your spiritual foundation on a rock. Remember, it is the sayings of Jehoshua that are the standard here not the writings of Paul nor Moses. Being a Hebrew roots person will not mean anything if you don't keep the commandments of Jehoshua in a literal way. Using Moses as an excuse to strike back your enemies, take people to court, swear oaths and build your treasure here on earth by building wealth will get you an appointment in the lake of fire. Conversely, using Paul to dismiss the commandments of Jehoshua will also get you into the lake of fire. Matthew 7:26-27 26And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:27And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. Do you see what Jehoshua is saying here? He says that those who hear (or read) His sayings here in the sermon on the mount and don't do them are foolish hence they will be the foolish virgins who did not have oil in their lamps and will be shut out of the Kingdom at the parousia of the Son of God. Although its easy to pick on the antinomian evangelical churches as the foolish ones this also implicates the Hebrew roots movement that uses Moses to contradict the literal teachings of the Messiah. Both the antinomian party and legalist party will be the foolish virgins who did not keep the actual instructions of Jehoshua because they decided that Paul and Moses were to be adhered to over the Son of God. Matthew 7:28-29 28And it came to pass, when Jehoshua had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:29For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Many Christians and Hebrew roots people miss this important statement in verse 28. Matthew says that the sermon that we just read i.e. the sermon on the mount is the Son of God's doctrine (instructions) and that the people were astonished at it. This tells us alot, for one that the sermon on the mount is the core of the gospel of the Kingdom. Leaving out this sermon from the gospel message leaves the gospel without much meat. The prophesies of the Davidic King and His death, resurrection and ascension and Kingship wrap the gospel neatly around the core teachings of the sermon on the mount. Yes, it's important that we know who Jehoshua is and of course His death, resurrection, ascension and second advent are very important but without a constitution in which to live out these truths the Christian, Messianic faith is reduced to an intellectual head knowledge. Also, the fact that the sermon on the mount is referred to as Jehoshua's doctrine helps us understand 2 John 9-11: 9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. 10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: 11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds. The above passage is one of the most misunderstood and mangled parts of scripture by professing Christians. The above scripture commands us to not recieve those who bring not the doctrine (instructions) of Messiah. Mistakenly the Hebrew roots think this is talking about the law of Moses and mainstream Christendom think this is talking about Orthodoxy, however as we learned in Matthew 7 the doctrine of Messiah are His actual teachings from the sermon on the mount as Matthew says they were astonished at His doctrine after finishing the sermon. This is why John talks a lot about the commandments of God in his epistle's because those commandments were the very one's given by the Messiah in the sermon on the mount. Moses prophesied that Messiah would speak the commandments of Jehovah God (Deuteronomy 18:15-21). John the Baptist confirms that Jehoshua was speaking the very words of God (John 3:33-36). John the beloved speaks of God's commandments not being burdensome and that God's love is defined by His commandments. This leads up to his statement in 2 John 9-11 regarding the doctrine of Messiah because that doctrine is the commandments that God gave Him to speak and Matthew 7:28 confirm that the doctrine being spoken of in 2 John is the sermon on the mount. Verse 29 of Matthew 7, Jehoshua didn't teach as one of the scribes as they teach primarily from an intellectual mindset but rather He taught as one having authority. This is because unlike the religious leaders of His day He didn't complicate the commandments of God with all kinds of speculations and systematic theology but rather spoke plain words that wer direct and powerful. Just as today when we preach the doctrine of Messiah i.e. the sermon on the mount we preach with the authority of the Son of God. Today's pulpit preachers in Christendom by minimizing the teachings of the Son of God are akin to the scribes of Jehoshua's day.
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