WALKING IN THE SPIRIT ON THE INVISIBLE ROAD TO HEAVEN

04-16-23 This message may be viewed live streaming video at youtube.com or tabernacleofmoses.org commencing at 11:00 am today and repeated 24/7 thereafter. The video, audio, and study notes are archived.

FOLLOWING THE GOLDEN RULE

(Matt 7:12) Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is [“sums up” Amplified Bible] the law and the prophets [i.e., this sums up the Bible]. 

AND ENTERING INTO HEAVEN (A WARNING, WATCH OUT)

(Matt 7:13,14) Enter ye in [an act of will] at the strait [Gk: narrow (from obstacles standing close about)] [1,2] gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way [Gk: road: journey, highway], that leadeth to destruction [Gk: ruin or loss: damnation, die, perdition, waste], and many [syn: countless] there be which go in thereat [which go into Hell, and thereafter, into “the lake of fire" Rev 20:14]: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life [unto Heaven, eternal life with God, i.e., eternal Love], and few [Gk: puny, tiny, small (in extent, degree, number, duration or value)] there be that find [Gk: get, obtain, perceive, see] it [find salvation, eternal life with God, i.e., eternal Love, Heaven]. 

1.      strait = “contracted [squeezed] by pressure” (Amplif. Bible).

a.      tribulation = Gk: pressure: affliction, burden, persecution, troubles.

b.     tribulation = Heb: narrow; a tight place, trouble, an opponent (as crowding): adversary, affliction, anguish, distress, enemy, foe. [is anybody here “in a tight place”?]

2.      obstacles = Dict.: anything that gets in the way or hinders; impediment; obstruction; hinderance.

Commentary: We are students in the the School of Godliness, walking on the invisible road to Heaven.

THOSE WHO ARE UNSAVED (not traveling to Heaven)

Mar 4:13  And he [Jesus] said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?  Mar 4:14  The sower soweth the word. Mar 4:15  And these are they by the way side [unsaved persons], where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts [Gk: minds] [in their thoughts]. Mar 4:16  And these are they likewise [i.e., suffering the same fate as the latter group of “by the way side” folks who refuse to come to school] which are sown on stony ground [unsaved persons]; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; Mar 4:17  And have no root [of Jesus Christ] in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended [Gk: entrapped, enticed to sin]. 

1.    Commentary: those “on stony ground” come to School but fail the class. Why? They do not study.

2.    (2 Tim 2:15) Study [read the Word of God, and then think about what you have read] to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth [i.e., rightly dividing the different levels (classes) of understanding (of revelations)]. 

THOSE WHO ARE SAVED (traveling to Heaven)

Mark 4:18  And these are they which are sown among thorns [saved sheep] [i.e. they have the “root” of Jesus Christ in themselves]; such as hear the word, Mark 4:19  And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful [e.g., Gideon’s 9,700 support troops]. Mark 4:20  And these are they which are sown on good ground [saved shepherds]; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit [Gideon’s 300 combat troops], some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred. 

1.    (Mark 4:18) And these [sheep, saved lay believers] [a] are they [the people, the laity] which are sown [seeded] among thorns [among evil Satanic thoughts (thorns) sown among the already existing thorns of the people, (we are “born in sins” John 9:24 inherited from Adam and Eve); sown among the poisonous penetrating thoughts of fallen angels, i.e., unclean spirits, devils, demons (Satan’s angels, i.e., Satan’s thoughts)]; such as hear the word [God’s pure and perfect Thoughts], (Mark 4:19) And the cares [Gk: distractions] of this world [Gk: aion] [in particular, versus employing “of this world” Gk: kosmos, “cosmos” universe] [suggesting perhaps that there are other alien “cares” in the universe, e.g., the pilots of those very real flying saucers], and the deceitfulness [Gk: delusions] [false promises of happiness] of riches, and the lusts [“pleasures of this life” Luke 8:14] of other things [the lusts of even more unclean thoughts] entering in [piercing into their minds], choke [Gk: strangle completely, crowd out] [through pressure, through  tribulations] the word [of God], and it [the receiving ground (the fertile soil) of the minds, the thoughts of these people] becometh unfruitful [“bring no fruit to perfection (Gk: (not) to be a bearer to completion (maturity), (not) to ripen)” Luke 8:14] [these saved people bear fruit buds, but no mature fruit, thereby representing a believer’s incomplete transition from sheep into shepherd, i.e., a classroom “progression” of spirituality]. 

a.      lay = Dict. (not priestly, the people) 1. of or consisting of the laity, or ordinary people [the sheepfold, the congregation], as distinguished from the clergy [priests, shepherds, “the good ground”].

A SPECIFIC WARNING: THE ETERNAL DANGER OF FALSE PROPHETS

(Matt 7:15-20) Beware [Gk: pay attention to: take heed] of [watch out for dangerous to your eternal spirit] false prophets [Gk: pretended foretellers or religious impostors] [1], which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of [from] thorns, or figs of [from] thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down [Gk: cut down], and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 

1.    (2 Cor 11:13-15) For such are false apostles [Gk: pretended preachers] [actors], deceitful [lying] workers, transforming themselves [Gk: disguising] [masquerading, cloaking themselves] into [seeming to be] the apostles of Christ [i.e., good Christians]. And no marvel [Gk: wonder]; for Satan himself [who is a fallen angel and the chief minister (chief false prophet) of “darkness” (Gen 1:2) of this world] [a] is transformed into [appearing and sounding as] an angel of light [of illumination, of righteousness]. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers [the other fallen angels of “darkness”] also be transformed [to appear to be] as the ministers of righteousness [as the good guys]; whose end shall be according to their works [i.e., no forgiveness]. [b]

a.     (Gen 1:1-3) In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [Heb: fig. misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness] was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light [Heb: illumination (happiness): bright, clear, day, sun]: and there was light. 

b.    (1 Pet 2:9) But ye are a chosen [Gk: selected] generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth [Gk: publish, celebrate] the praises of him [Father God] who hath called you out of darkness [Heb: fig. misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness] into his marvellous light [illumination]: 

Amen