With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray, 41

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color.

‘If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?’—Luke xi.
 
IN the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord had already given utterance to His wonderful
HOW MUCH MORE?  Here in Luke, where He repeats the question, there is a difference. Instead of speaking, as then of giving good gifts, He says, ‘How much more shall the heavenly Father give THE HOLY SPIRIT?’  He thus teaches us that the chief and the best of these gifts is the Holy Spirit, or rather, that in this gift all others are comprised  The Holy Spirit is the first of the Father’s gifts, and the one He delights most to bestow.  The Holy Spirit is therefore the gift we ought first and chiefly to seek. The unspeakable worth of this gift we can easily understand.  Jesus spoke of the Spirit as ‘the promise of the Father;’ the one promise in which God’s Fatherhood revealed itself. 

The best gift a good and wise father can bestow on a child on earth is his own spirit.  This is the great object of a father in education—to reproduce in his child his own disposition and character.  If the child is to know and understand his father; if, as he grows up, he is to enter into all his will and plans; if he is to have his highest joy in the father, and the father in him,—he must be of one mind and spirit with him.  And so it is impossible to conceive of God bestowing any higher gift on His child than this, His own Spirit.  God is what He is through His Spirit; the Spirit is the very life of God.  Just think what it means—God giving His own Spirit to His child on earth.

With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, 35

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color.

To see what this childlike living is, in which childlike asking and believing have their ground, we have only to notice what our Lord teaches in the Sermon on the Mount of the Father and His children.  In it the prayer-promises are imbedded in the life-precepts; the two are inseparable.  They form one whole; and He alone can count on the fulfilment of the promise, who accepts too all that the Lord has connected with it.  It is as if in speaking the word, ‘Ask, and ye shall receive,’ He says: I give these promises to those whom in the beatitudes I have pictured in their childlike poverty and purity, and of whom I have said, ‘They shall be called the children of God’ (Matt. v. 3-9):  to children, who ‘let your light shine before men, so that they may glorify your Father in heaven:’  to those who walk in love, ‘that ye may be children of your Father which is in heaven,’ and who seek to be perfect ‘even as your Father in heaven is perfect’ (v. 45):  to those whose fasting and praying and almsgiving (vi. 1-18) is not before men, but ‘before your Father which seeth in secret;’ who forgive ‘even as your Father forgiveth you’ (vi. 15); who trust the heavenly Father in all earthly need, seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (vi. 26-32); who not only say, Lord, Lord, but do the will of my Father which is in heaven (vii. 21).  Such are the children of the Father, and such is the life in the Father’s love and service; in such a child-life answered prayers are certain and abundant.

Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 38

What are Christ’s commandments?

Many of them are found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Some of the commands in that Sermon are to keep our motives pure – don’t even want to commit adultery or murder; be reconciled to others, and forgive them; turn the other cheek; love even your enemies; don’t draw attention to your good deeds; don’t be anxious about worldly possessions; judge yourselves before judging others; beware of false prophets.

The Golden Rule is found in Matthew 7:12 “Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.”

Christ also told us to live the summary of the Old Testament Law:

Matthew 22:37 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.”

Note – Here is the first of the two commandments, in context:

Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one. 5 You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. 6 These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart; 7 and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the door posts of your house, and on your gates. 10 It shall be, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, great and goodly cities, which you didn’t build, 11 and houses full of all good things, which you didn’t fill, and cisterns dug out, which you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive trees, which you didn’t plant, and you shall eat and be full; 12 then beware lest you forget Yahweh, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 13 You shall fear Yahweh your God; and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name. 14 You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are around you; 15 for Yahweh your God among you is a jealous God; lest the anger of Yahweh your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. 16 You shall not tempt Yahweh your God, as you tempted him in Massah. 17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you. 18 You shall do that which is right and good in Yahweh’s sight; that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, 19 to thrust out all your enemies from before you, as Yahweh has spoken.

The second part of what Jesus said is taken from Leviticus, which is more inclusive than the part quoted in Matthew 22:39:

Leviticus 19:17 “‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.

18 “‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.

33 “‘If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.

In Mark 12:14-19, Jesus commanded His listeners to honor the government, including paying taxes. We should remember that this was an occupying government, and its head was a Roman pagan emperor.

There is an implied command, sometimes called The Great Compassion, to help unfortunate people:

Matthew 25:34 Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. 36 I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or thirsty, and give you a drink? 38 When did we see you as a stranger, and take you in; or naked, and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?’

40 “The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

There are other commands, but one more, often called The Great Commission, is found in the last words of Matthew’s gospel:

Matthew 28:19 Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20a teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

The above material is an excerpt from my self-published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.

The previous post in this series, on the characteristics of a true Christian, is here. God willing, the next post in this series will continue the topic of this post, discussing Christ's commandments. Thanks for reading.

Christ's commands -- what are they?

What are Christ’s commandments?

There are a lot of them, and I'm not going to list them all, but this post is an attempt to present some of the most important ones.

Many of Christ's commandments to us are found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), which includes commands to let our light shine; keep our motives pure – don’t even want to commit adultery or murder; be reconciled to others, and forgive them, especially before you try to worship; turn the other cheek – that is, don't retaliate when others do evil to you; don't pledge that you will do something, just do it; love even your enemies; don’t draw attention to your good deeds; don’t be anxious about worldly possessions; judge yourselves before judging others; beware of false prophets; treat other people as you would like to be treated yourself.

He also told us to live the summary of the Old Testament Law: Matthew 22:37 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.” (Bible quotations are from the World English Bible, which is public domain.)

In Mark 12:14-19, Jesus commanded His listeners to honor the government, including paying taxes. We should remember that this was an occupying government, and its head was a Roman pagan emperor.

There are other commands, but one more is found in the last words of Matthew’s gospel: Matthew 28:19 Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

*   *   *   *
I updated this by adding a couple of items that I had forgotten, and by rewording, on August 25, 2012. See also a post on Jesus and the Ten Commandments.

The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I recently read The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It is the most challenging book I have ever read. Why so? Well, first, I know something of the story of the author. Bonhoeffer was a young theologian, with a superior intellect. He stood up for traditional Christianity against the influence of Nazism in Germany, and, in fact, was one of the leaders of the Confessing Church there. He was well received in Britain and the U. S., and could have stayed in either place, until the end of World War II, but he chose to return to Germany, saying that he would have no right to be a spiritual leader among the Germans, after the war, if he had not experienced what they were experiencing. He was imprisoned and eventually executed in a concentration camp.

Bonhoeffer's life was a challenge, but the contents of the book are, if anything, more so. What are the contents?

The book begins with a biography of Bonhoeffer. Then, there's what is probably Bonhoeffer's best-known chapter, a chapter on costly grace. He also writes about cheap grace:

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. (44-45)

. . . Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.
Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace becaus it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995. (Translated from the German Nachfolge, 1937, by R. H. Fuller. Some revision by Irmgard Booth.) Copyright 1959 by SCM Press Ltd.45)

There are five chapters on Discipleship.

Then, Bonhoeffer expounds on the Sermon on the Mount, in 15 chapters, each one about a short section of Matthew 5-7. He writes about such matters as love, hiding your gifts, and the role of Christians in politics. These chapters would make great short devotionals, and did so for me.

I had my only disagreement with the late Bonhoeffer in this section. It wasn't over a critical doctrine. On p. 147, Bonhoeffer claims that the Old Testament "tells us more than once that we must love [our enemies]" He says that Ex. 23:4-5, Prov 25:21-22, Gen 45, 1 Sam 24:7, II Kings 6:22 teach this. I checked, and I don't think so. They do teach to be fair and generous to enemies, but I don't think these passages require and teach love of enemies. The New Testament certainly does, whether Bonhoeffer is correct or not.

Bonhoeffer closes with two sections, six chapters each, on "The Messengers," and one on the church.

The entire book, covering so many topics, but yet only one, namely the Christian life, is well written, challenging -- do I measure up? -- and doctrinally sound. It's a great read for the Christian. I commend it to you.

Thanks for reading. A couple of days ago, this blog used a quote from Bonhoeffer as the basis of a poster.

Added August 2, 2013: I have now posted on a biography of Bonhoeffer, here. 

Added June 10, 2014: See here for a chart, based on Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship. 

Mourning, in Matthew 5:4

Matthew 5:4. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted--This "mourning" must not be taken loosely for that feeling which is wrung from men under pressure of the ills of life, nor yet strictly for sorrow on account of committed sins. Evidently it is that entire feeling which the sense of our spiritual poverty begets; and so the second beatitude is but the complement of the first. The one is the intellectual, the other the emotional aspect of the same thing. It is poverty of spirit that says, "I am undone"; and it is the mourning which this causes that makes it break forth in the form of a lamentation--"Woe is me! for I am undone." Hence this class are termed "mourners in Zion," or, as we might express it, religious mourners, in sharp contrast with all other sorts (Isa 61:1-3; 66:2). Religion, according to the Bible, is neither a set of intellectual convictions nor a bundle of emotional feelings, but a compound of both, the former giving birth to the latter. Thus closely do the first two beatitudes cohere. The mourners shall be "comforted." Even now they get beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Sowing in tears, they reap even here in joy. Still, all present comfort, even the best, is partial, interrupted, short-lived. But the days of our mourning shall soon be ended, and then God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes. Then, in the fullest sense, shall the mourners be "comforted." Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, by Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown. (Public Domain. Emphasis added.)

In church yesterday, the pastor said that the mourning of Matthew 5:4 is not to be taken as mourning for, say, the loss of a loved one. I decided to check this out, and found that, according to the commentary quoted, he was correct. This, to me, is a powerful passage.

Commandments in the Sermon on the Mount

The Sermon on the Mount (link to ESV, all scripture quoted below from ESV, which allows use in blogs, with proper attribution), Matthew 5-7, has a lot of the teachings of Jesus. Inspired partly by a sermon I heard, I decided to look at those three chapters for commands. I already knew that Jesus amplified two of the Ten Commandments profoundly in 5:21-28. I found these 14 new commandments:

5:15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (From the context, He seems to have been talking about perfection in love, including loving your enemies. Surely He was not talking about, say, perfection in house painting or balancing a checkbook.)

6:3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

9 Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

As Matthew put it: 7:28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,

They should have been. So should we. Perhaps I missed some more, but these are enough to point toward a radical life, a life that needs supernatural help to live.

Thanks for reading.