The Story Isn't Over

[Walter and Deborah]

Friday 9-23-22 6th. Day Of The Weekly Cycle, Elul 26 5782 2nd. Fall Day

The Story Isn’t Over

Read: Matthew 6:9–13 | Bible in a Year: Song of Songs 1–3; Galatians 2
Download MP3
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Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10

When British drama Line of Duty concluded, record numbers watched to see how its fight against organized crime would end. But many viewers were left disappointed when the finale implied that evil would ultimately win. “I wanted the bad guys brought to justice,” one fan said. “We needed that moral ending.”

Sociologist Peter Berger once noted that we hunger for hope and justice—hope that evil will one day be overcome and that those who caused it will be made to face their crimes. A world where the bad guys win goes against how we know the world should work. Without probably realizing it, those disappointed fans were expressing humanity’s deep longing for the world to be made right again.

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus is realistic about evil. It exists not only between us, requiring forgiveness (Matthew 6:12), but on a grand scale, requiring deliverance (v. 13). This realism, however, is matched with hope. There’s a place where evil doesn’t exist—heaven—and that heavenly kingdom is coming to earth (v. 10). One day God’s justice will be complete, His “moral ending” will come, and evil will be banished for good (Revelation 21:4).

So when the real-life bad guys win and disappointment sets in, let’s remember this: until God’s will is done “on earth as it is in heaven,” there is always hope—because the story isn’t over.

Why do you think we hunger for hope and justice? How can praying the Lord’s Prayer help you face evil and disappointment?

Heavenly Father, may Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!

INSIGHT

In Matthew’s gospel, the Lord’s Prayer is a key part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Jesus’ teaching on prayer particularly challenged the religiosity of the day because He indicted both the hypocritical religious leaders who used their worship of God as a means of drawing attention to themselves (6:5) and the pagans who used their prayers as a means of binding their gods with “babbling” incantations or heaped up words (v. 7).

Jesus offered instead an alternative that’s both intimate and submissive. The Lord’s Prayer is a quiet and private conversation between the one praying and God Himself. It doesn’t seek to toss a bridle around the Creator of the universe but positions the one praying in trusting submission to the compassionate Father. Prayer in Jesus’ teaching is an expression of trust, devoid of pride and pretense.

By Sheridan Voysey |September 23rd, 2022

In Justice Matthew Six:9-13

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Read full chapter

Love, Walter and Debbie

[AdHoc]

1 hour ago, Walter and Deborah said:

Friday 9-23-22 6th. Day Of The Weekly Cycle, Elul 26 5782 2nd. Fall Day

The Story Isn’t Over

Read: Matthew 6:9–13 | Bible in a Year: Song of Songs 1–3; Galatians 2
Download MP3
Subscribe to iTunes

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10

When British drama Line of Duty concluded, record numbers watched to see how its fight against organized crime would end. But many viewers were left disappointed when the finale implied that evil would ultimately win. “I wanted the bad guys brought to justice,” one fan said. “We needed that moral ending.”

Sociologist Peter Berger once noted that we hunger for hope and justice—hope that evil will one day be overcome and that those who caused it will be made to face their crimes. A world where the bad guys win goes against how we know the world should work. Without probably realizing it, those disappointed fans were expressing humanity’s deep longing for the world to be made right again.

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus is realistic about evil. It exists not only between us, requiring forgiveness (Matthew 6:12), but on a grand scale, requiring deliverance (v. 13). This realism, however, is matched with hope. There’s a place where evil doesn’t exist—heaven—and that heavenly kingdom is coming to earth (v. 10). One day God’s justice will be complete, His “moral ending” will come, and evil will be banished for good (Revelation 21:4).

So when the real-life bad guys win and disappointment sets in, let’s remember this: until God’s will is done “on earth as it is in heaven,” there is always hope—because the story isn’t over.

Why do you think we hunger for hope and justice? How can praying the Lord’s Prayer help you face evil and disappointment?

Heavenly Father, may Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!

INSIGHT

In Matthew’s gospel, the Lord’s Prayer is a key part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Jesus’ teaching on prayer particularly challenged the religiosity of the day because He indicted both the hypocritical religious leaders who used their worship of God as a means of drawing attention to themselves (6:5) and the pagans who used their prayers as a means of binding their gods with “babbling” incantations or heaped up words (v. 7).

Jesus offered instead an alternative that’s both intimate and submissive. The Lord’s Prayer is a quiet and private conversation between the one praying and God Himself. It doesn’t seek to toss a bridle around the Creator of the universe but positions the one praying in trusting submission to the compassionate Father. Prayer in Jesus’ teaching is an expression of trust, devoid of pride and pretense.

By Sheridan Voysey |September 23rd, 2022

In Justice Matthew Six:9-13

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Read full chapter

Love, Walter and Debbie

Many are the good points in this contribution. They are worthy of enlargement. But lest an incorrect perception creep in, I would like to introduce the thought that (i) evil exists in men, (ii) evil exists among the angels, (iii) evil exists in heaven and (iv) evil exists among the demons. In fact, evil started in heaven when an angel, Lucifer, assumed to leave his estate and be elevated to an illegal level of rank. When the seventh, 1,000 year period is over, and our Lord Jesus has subdued all God's enemies, God purges not only earth, but heaven as well. A "NEW" heaven is introduced. The meaning of the Greek for "new" means "made pristine". And God only does this when something has been sullied.

The so-called Lord's Prayer from Matthew 6 contains in itself the proof of evil. The Lord Jesus prays for God's will to be done on earth "as it is in heaven". This does not mean that there is a utopia in heaven. It just means that when evil raises its ugly head, it is dealt with according to God's Laws. And it is not as if the evil is erased quickly. In Job, who lived at the time of Abraham, Satan is a very real presence in heaven, and remains so until the rapture of the Overcomers in Revelation 12 - that is, some 4,000 years.

Man inherited Adam's nature which the Book of Romans calls "sin" (singular). One third of the angels followed Lucifer in his rebellion. Demons abound. And of all this latent evil, ONLY Lucifer is bound and in prison for the next age. The Nations will resent Christ's righteous rule, angels will need to be judged, demons are only dealt with at the White Throne, and our Lord Jesus will need to rule with "the rod of iron". 1st Corinthians 15:23-26 shows that between Christ's return and the resurrection of "the rest of the dead", Christ will be very busy SUBDUING all God's enemies. Some of our brethren, having not carefully read the scriptures, have a picture of the Millennium in which mankind frolics through meadows with soft heather while stroking a tiger.

It will do us well to drop such fantasies and appreciate why God sets such a high standard for those Christians who would be co-kings with Christ in the Millennium. God cannot afford His Kingdom to have an ounce of corruption or rebellion. His name is attached to it. Many Christians today think of heaven as the place where all problems are eradicated. No! The Christian is saved FOR THE PROBLEMS ON EARTH. And failure is not an option. Three times, when addressing "children of the Kingdom", does our Lord Jesus threaten them (not the unbeliever) with "outer darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth" if they prove to be unworthy of the kingdom. In Revelation 2:11, while addressing a Church, our Lord Jesus warned that Christians could be "HURT of the Second Death" - SOBERING!

[Dennis1209]

1 hour ago, AdHoc said:

Many are the good points in this contribution. They are worthy of enlargement. But lest an incorrect perception creep in, I would like to introduce the thought that (i) evil exists in men, (ii) evil exists among the angels, (iii) evil exists in heaven and (iv) evil exists among the demons. In fact, evil started in heaven when an angel, Lucifer, assumed to leave his estate and be elevated to an illegal level of rank. When the seventh, 1,000 year period is over, and our Lord Jesus has subdued all God's enemies, God purges not only earth, but heaven as well. A "NEW" heaven is introduced. The meaning of the Greek for "new" means "made pristine". And God only does this when something has been sullied.

The so-called Lord's Prayer from Matthew 6 contains in itself the proof of evil. The Lord Jesus prays for God's will to be done on earth "as it is in heaven". This does not mean that there is a utopia in heaven. It just means that when evil raises its ugly head, it is dealt with according to God's Laws. And it is not as if the evil is erased quickly. In Job, who lived at the time of Abraham, Satan is a very real presence in heaven, and remains so until the rapture of the Overcomers in Revelation 12 - that is, some 4,000 years.

Man inherited Adam's nature which the Book of Romans calls "sin" (singular). One third of the angels followed Lucifer in his rebellion. Demons abound. And of all this latent evil, ONLY Lucifer is bound and in prison for the next age. The Nations will resent Christ's righteous rule, angels will need to be judged, demons are only dealt with at the White Throne, and our Lord Jesus will need to rule with "the rod of iron". 1st Corinthians 15:23-26 shows that between Christ's return and the resurrection of "the rest of the dead", Christ will be very busy SUBDUING all God's enemies. Some of our brethren, having not carefully read the scriptures, have a picture of the Millennium in which mankind frolics through meadows with soft heather while stroking a tiger.

It will do us well to drop such fantasies and appreciate why God sets such a high standard for those Christians who would be co-kings with Christ in the Millennium. God cannot afford His Kingdom to have an ounce of corruption or rebellion. His name is attached to it. Many Christians today think of heaven as the place where all problems are eradicated. No! The Christian is saved FOR THE PROBLEMS ON EARTH. And failure is not an option. Three times, when addressing "children of the Kingdom", does our Lord Jesus threaten them (not the unbeliever) with "outer darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth" if they prove to be unworthy of the kingdom. In Revelation 2:11, while addressing a Church, our Lord Jesus warned that Christians could be "HURT of the Second Death" - SOBERING!

This topic has always been an internal conflict of mine. The churches I have attended have preached the doctrine of once saved, always saved. Of course, that is not a license to sin and live a carnal life. The principle is that if you fall away, you are not truly saved, to begin with (saving faith).

As you are aware, there are two major doctrines in this soteriology. The fraction between the two is.

·         We can lose our Salvation with our free will if we apostatize, walking away from our faith, belief, and trust.

·         Nothing and no one (including ourselves) can pluck us out of the Father’s hand.

As with your reference to Revelation 2:11 and other scripture, conditional clauses are attached. There are several “if’s” and to the end as qualifiers to enter the Kingdom of God.

In your example, talking of the second death, being cast into the Lake of Fire. It appears Jesus is warning all the churches (believers). Some believers through the ages faced persecution and martyrdom, especially when this letter was written during the rule of Rome. This warning is in effect for the entire church age.

He that overcometh ^hshall not be hurt of ⁱthe second death.^[1] The “second death” can be none other than the Lake of Fire.

Overcome: to win in the face of obstacles, be victor, conquer, overcome, prevail, intr.^[2]

I get the sense the end means the end of our physical life, not to recant our faith to save our life, not to apostatize, fall away, backslide, or change direction, but to remain faithful to the end. If not, hence the warning of the second death. I also get the perception that is what the author of Hebrews chapter six is addressing.

I know the Bible does not contradict itself, period. It is my interpretation that I cannot reach a definite conclusion.

 

---

^h Comp. Matt. 10:28.

ⁱ See ch. 20:6.

^[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Re 2:11.

intr. intr. = intransitive

^[2] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 673.

[missmuffet]

What does it mean to pray, “Thy will be done”?

https://www.gotquestions.org

ANSWER

“Thy will be done” is one of the requests in the Lord’s Prayer. In part, Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9–10). Jesus Himself pleaded for God’s will to be done in the Garden of Gethsemane. Prior to His crucifixion, He prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). Jesus was committed to seeing God’s will accomplished, and the prayer “Thy will be done” was a theme of His life.

Most simply, to pray, “Thy will be done,” is to ask God to do what He desires. Of course, we’re praying to the God who said, “Let there be light,” and there was light (Genesis 1:3), so we know that His sovereign decree will be accomplished, whether or not we pray for it. But there is another aspect of God’s will, which we call His “revealed” will or “preceptive” will. This is God’s “will” that He has revealed to us but that He does not force upon us. For example, it is God’s will that we speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) and that we not commit adultery (1 Corinthians 6:18) or get drunk (Ephesians 5:18). When we pray, “Thy will be done,” we are asking God to increase righteousness in the world, to bring more people to repentance, and to further the cause of the kingdom of His Son.

When we pray, “Thy will be done,” we acknowledge God’s right to rule. We do not pray, “My will be done”; we pray, “Thy will be done.” Asking that God’s will be done is a demonstration of our trust that He knows what is best. It is a statement of submission to God’s ways and His plans. We ask for our will to be conformed to His.

The Lord’s Prayer begins by acknowledging God as Father in heaven. Jesus then models petition, presenting three requests to the Father: 1) That God would cause His name to be hallowed; in other words, as Albert Mohler explains, “that God would act in such a way that he visibly demonstrates his holiness and his glory” (The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down: The Lord’s Prayer as a Manifesto for Revolution, p. 61). 2) That God would bring His kingdom to earth; that is, that the preaching of the gospel would convert sinners into saints who walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and that God would rid the world of evil and create the new heavens and new earth where God will dwell with His people and there will be no more curse and no more death (see Revelation 21—22). 3) That God’s will would be done “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). In heaven, the angels perform God’s desire completely, joyfully, and immediately—what a world this would be if humans acted like that!

As a point of clarification, “Thy will be done” is not an impassive prayer of resignation. Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane was not passive or fatalistic in the least; He bared His heart before the Father and revealed His ultimate desire: for God’s will to be accomplished. Praying, “Thy will be done,” acknowledges that God has more knowledge than we do and that we trust His way is best. And it is a commitment to actively work to further the execution of God’s will.

Romans 12:1–2 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Understanding who God is, we submit ourselves to Him and allow Him to transform us. The more we know God, the more readily our prayers will align with His will and we can truly pray, “Thy will be done.” We can approach God in confidence that “if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1 John 5:14–15).

By faith, we know that praying, “Thy will be done,” is the best thing we can ask for. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20–21).

Edited September 24, 2022 by missmuffet

[AdHoc]

21 hours ago, Dennis1209 said:

This topic has always been an internal conflict of mine. The churches I have attended have preached the doctrine of once saved, always saved. Of course, that is not a license to sin and live a carnal life. The principle is that if you fall away, you are not truly saved, to begin with (saving faith).

As you are aware, there are two major doctrines in this soteriology. The fraction between the two is.

·         We can lose our Salvation with our free will if we apostatize, walking away from our faith, belief, and trust.

·         Nothing and no one (including ourselves) can pluck us out of the Father’s hand.

As with your reference to Revelation 2:11 and other scripture, conditional clauses are attached. There are several “if’s” and to the end as qualifiers to enter the Kingdom of God.

In your example, talking of the second death, being cast into the Lake of Fire. It appears Jesus is warning all the churches (believers). Some believers through the ages faced persecution and martyrdom, especially when this letter was written during the rule of Rome. This warning is in effect for the entire church age.

He that overcometh ^hshall not be hurt of ⁱthe second death.^[1] The “second death” can be none other than the Lake of Fire.

Overcome: to win in the face of obstacles, be victor, conquer, overcome, prevail, intr.^[2]

I get the sense the end means the end of our physical life, not to recant our faith to save our life, not to apostatize, fall away, backslide, or change direction, but to remain faithful to the end. If not, hence the warning of the second death. I also get the perception that is what the author of Hebrews chapter six is addressing.

I know the Bible does not contradict itself, period. It is my interpretation that I cannot reach a definite conclusion.

 

---

^h Comp. Matt. 10:28.

ⁱ See ch. 20:6.

^[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Re 2:11.

intr. intr. = intransitive

^[2] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 673.

The full salvation of man is a wondrous thing. Most Christians have half a page on salvation and it ends with either going to a utopian heaven or a cavern - who knows where because they believe the universe is destroyed - where people tumble down to a future of torment. But through the 1,200 odd Chapters of the Bible a glorious plan of man's fall and recovery by an exceptional Savior is revealed. Man has more than one problem and more than one part to be recovered, and Jesus Christ is revealed to be the solution to all that must be recovered by a God Who has immutable rules. Man must ...

1. Have his sins lawfully atoned for
2. Have his human spirit enlivened with the presence of the very Triune God
3. Have His soul transformed from enmity with God to a soul that functions like that of Jesus
4. Have His body changed as it is, in its present state, unfit for Christ's Kingdom on earth
5. Be found, by his Master, at a stringent assize, to be counted righteous enough to be a co-king with Jesus
6. Be found to be worthy to be included in Christ's Wedding Feast as BOTH Guest and Bride

Points numbers 1, 2, and 4, are the result of a work done by Jesus Christ and are applied and fulfilled through faith in Christ. Point #3 is a joint effort of the man and the Holy Spirit (e.g. Phil.2:12-13). Point #5 is achieved by the willingness of the Christian to deny his flesh and soul in all matter that pertain to righteousness and obedience. Point #6 is achieved by an intimate walk along the same road as Christ walked - a heavenly love affair.

Now, God sets aside judgment to give man TIME to achieve. That tie is the life-time of any Christian for judgment comes after death and resurrection (Heb.9:27). The PRIZE for points 3, 5 and 6 is (i) to be reckoned as worthy to rule with Christ in the Millennial Kingdom on earth, (ii) to we reckoned as worthy to be a guest at Christ's Wedding Feast, and (iii) be reckoned worthy to be part of a REPRESENTATIVE Bride for Christ. By all accounts, few Christians will achieve this. Be that as it may, the burning question is; "what happens to the remaining bulk of Christianity?"

The answer is first that God is truly ALL-mighty and cannot be swerved from His plans. Romans 8:29 says that Christians are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. This will happen. God will not be thwarted and no one will go lost. But if the Christian, through laziness, sloth, fleshly pursuits and disobedience, is judge NOT WORTHY of his calling, he will come under a period of chastisement IN THE NEXT AGE - the Millennial age. The slothful Christian will be barred from the PRIZE of co-kingship with Jesus, be barred from His presence, feel the pain of this great loss and learn, by pain, the road to glory. God's dealings with the infidel and rebel are destructive. He exacts vengeance for offenses. But God's dealing with His People are always to correct and restore. Israel is the prime example. Despite their awful crimes and infidelity, they are recovered to god's favor, testimony and glory.

The most common objection to this scheme of things is that I teach purgatory. I will not spend much time on my defense for scripture, in multiple examples, shows the Christian who is slothful and sinful, experiencing God's chastisement. The parables of the Kingdom show it. It is stated in plain language in 1st Corinthians 3 and 5, and shown plainly in Christ's letters to the seven Churches of Revelation. Since judgment comes for all men AFTER resurrection, the process of chastisement I speak of must be ON EARTH. Purgatory is supposedly UNDER the earth. Purgatory teaches that a man must pay for his sins. The Bible teaches that a wayward Christian's sins are still taken care of by Jesus Christ. It is his CHARACTER that must be dealt with! But how?

The Second Death is used interchangeably with "perdition", "destruction", "Gehenna" and/or "the Lake of Fire". The Second Death is defined in Matthew 10:28.

 28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in GEHENNA

The threat here is that men can kill the body. that is the first death, or physical death. But God has the resources to inflict much greater suffering on BOTH body and soul for as long as He likes. The word in the Greek for "destroy" is "apollumi". It does not mean extinction or annihilation. It means "exquisite lack of well-being". It has the sense of the Titanic. She is a ship made to sail the waves. She is still a ship, but lies useless beneath the waves. It is used often in scripture like the wineskins that "perished" and the sheep who get lost (Lk 5 and 15). Added to this, it is our Adamic nature that causes physical death and our bodies to cease to function (Rom.5:12-17, 6:23). The Second Death is God's vengeance for our TRESPASSES - our sins. The wayward Christian suffers the same vengeance for his affront to God as the unbeliever, BUT IT IS LIMITED to the Millennium. The chastised Christian is EXERCISED by the Secod Death and it ends. It is not like the heathen who suffer it FOREVER. This, scripture uses the word "HURT".

The word "HURT" is complicated in English. It means, "an action that needs an object". E.g., "He sneezed the paper napkin off the table." Strong and Vine give it the meaning of the Greek as, "doing hurt, or doing injury that should not be". The threat against a Christian is NOT that he loses his salvation. It is that he misses the goal that he was saved for. The threat against a Christian is that he misses, or is found incapable of God's purpose and must be chastised for it. "Chastised" is defined as "making  a certain road bitter". But chastisement is never to destroy. Hebrews 12:11 gives the effect of God's chastisement;

11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby

The wayward Christian CANNOT LOSE his/her salvation. It is issued based on a work done by Christ and approved by the Father. It is eternal (Heb.5:9). A man cannot be "unbirthed" ether physically or spiritually. The born again Christian has God's life intrinsically. It cannot be extinguished. But a Christian can lose his/her INHERITANCE. This inheritance is the earth (Rom.4:13, Gal.3:29). He cannot lose his calling, but can be ejected from the wedding feast. He has a Father, and a Father cannot be changed or made to disappear. But His Father can strike him out of his will.