Dr. Terry Threadwell's Blog

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ‘ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Mat 6:12-15 NIV)

 Forgiveness is a two-way street, to be forgiven you need to forgive—unconditionally and with grace and mercy.  That shouldn’t be difficult seeing that we are made in the image and likeness of God.  I believe that when man(kind) was in the garden, God provided man(kind) with all that he/she would ever need, and that had they continued to eat from the Tree of Life, they would have enjoyed the fullness of abundant life. However, they chose to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.  Having done so, the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever “– (Gen 3:22 NKJ)  The problem was not so much that man now knew good and evil, it was the fact that knowing the two he would put himself as both judge and jury, neither of which he would do with the same sense of justice with which God judges. Man made his choice; he chose ‘godlessness.’

 That’s why Jesus tells us to ask God’s help when we hear the serpent speaking to us, and not to fall for or listen to his advice.  The Devil will tell you to judge, condemn, criticize, and give you ten reasons why you shouldn’t forgive your enemies. Jesus wants us to not only forgive but to love our enemies, so that we may be debt free and forgiven.

“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (Mat 6:9-13 NKJ)

“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. (Matt 6:25-29. MSG)

The writer to Hebrews tells us, “In the past, God spoke through the prophets to our ancestors in many times and many ways. In these final days, though, he spoke to us through a Son. (Heb 1:1-2 CEB) In the past, God spoke to a society and a people that were patriarchal in their culture, and their religion. So, it is not surprising that when the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, he gave them an accepted model. Today, we live in a society that is working towards true equality, and we need to understand that God is not just ‘Father.’ In fact, Genesis tells us, “God created humanity in God’s own image, in the divine image God created them, male and female God created them. (Gen 1:27 CEB) So the divine image is both masculine and feminine.

I say all that because we need to realize that God who is holy, awesome, creator of the heavens and the earth, loves you, protects and provides for you and desires to nurture you. Whatever you have need of today or this week, God has already made plans and provision for you. The storms of life may try and sink you, but God has made way for you to walk on water.  Just fix your focus on God.

“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (Mat 6:9-13 NKJ)

Having instructed us about where we should pray, Jesus now instructs on how we should pray.  Let me point out that prayer in conversation.  In the same way that I used to have a conversation with my earthly father (he passed away 37 years ago), I should be able to have that same conversation with my heavenly father.  I can call Him Father because I have been brought into the family of God by adoption made possible by Jesus Christ. I need to be mindful that all, because I am adopted, does not mean I am his equal.  My Father in heaven is Holy, and as such, I should reverence Him.

Now we know from Job that the sons (angels) of God present themselves before the throne, even Satan, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” (Job 1:6-7 NKJ) Revelation calls him the accuser of the brethren.  We too have access into those heavenly realms where God dwells.  Who do you think God listens to most, Satan or His Children?

“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things, you have need of before you ask Him. (Mat 6:5-8 NKJ)

The hypocrite was far more concerned about being seen praying than they were about the reason and the content of their prayers.  T,hey assumed that people would think they were spiritual and righteous.  Jesus tells them that they are fake and have already received their reward.  They give nothing and will receive nothing.  And don’t keep on repeating or chanting vain words, God is neither deaf nor is He ignoring you.

Where do you pray? Well, I’ve heard people talk about going into a ‘prayer closet,’ or getting down in your knees, but I don’t have an empty closet and getting down on my knees is out of the question these days. Just find a place where you’re alone with God, after all, prayer is about the relationship.  That relationship means that God knows what you have a need of even before you pray one word.  God is not afar off, closer than you think, so draw near to God, and God will draw near to you.

“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. “Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, “that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. (Mat 6:1-4 NKJ)

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. (Mat 5:16 NKJ)

How many realize that when Jesus said, “Letting your light shine before men.” He was not telling us to put our name on display with neon lights?  We have all seen celebrities and heard of a business tycoons that donates huge sums of money to this cause or that charity.  The cameras are flashing; television is present, and everybody is amazed at such large donations. Jesus would tell us, “I say to you, they have their reward.” The Message translation puts it this way, “When you help someone out, don’t think about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.”  Thank God for His grace!

You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete maturity of godliness in mind and character, having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matt 5:48. AMP)

The gospel is a paradox, a contradiction, that if you try to make sense of it using the world’s standards as a measuring stick, it will never make sense. We come to the end of this section of the Sermon on the Mount, during which Jesus turned their world upside down.  Today, the world has infiltrated the Church to the point that if Jesus were to return today, He just might sit us on a hillside somewhere to correct some ‘stinking thinking.’

People, family, will often ask me why I am pastoring where I am and not in some big church.  Alternatively, why I am not working for some big corporation and being successful., people say that I have talent and ability, and I have the qualifications? All I know is that when I signed up for the Kingdom, I did not sign up to know everything, just to know Him and the power of the resurrection.  Just before we left for the States in 1994, I received a prophetic word that said I was going to get a ‘coat of many colors.’  I fell into the same trap as Joseph, by thinking that I might be somebody only to realize that I am nobody.  There had been times when, like Joseph, I’ve said to those that I’ve helped along the way, “But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house.” (Gen 40:14 NKJ) The butler forgot, and Joseph remained in prison. 

Discontentment will come in life when you try to measure the things of God by the world’s standards.  Paul wrote, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Rom 12:2 NKJ) As for me, the world might think I am down, but I am up.  They might think I am out, but I am in, in the House, and whether I am the doorkeeper, the cupbearer or the butler, I have to say that it is well with my soul.  The world does not change us; we change the world.

“Furthermore it has been said, `Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ “But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.  (Mat 5:31-32 NKJ)

I want to spend some time on this text primarily because of the poor teaching, and pharisaical attitudes often expressed in the Church.  A great deal of damage was done in the very beginning by certain denominations that sought to make marriage a holy sacrament and thereby making divorce out of the question.  Scripture was taken out of context in order to bolster this teaching.  For many, marriage became a sentence and an environment for violence and abuse rather than a loving commitment.

Going back to the beginning, Jesus says that he had not come to abolish the Law of Moses, but rather to fulfill the Law.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is not changing or trying to correct the Law of God; rather he wanted to correct the misinterpretations of the Pharisees and scribes.

“When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, “when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife, “if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, “then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. (Deu 24:1-4 NKJ)

In the days of Moses adultery was not mentioned in the context of divorce—adultery resulted in a judgment of death.  However, because women were not regarded as equals to the man and more like property, divorce was becoming an issue.  Men were throwing out their wives for any reason they could find.  It should be mentioned that the very fact this issue comes after Jesus’ teaching on lust should not go amiss.  Wives were not to be divorced because the man had his eye on a newer model.  To regulate this trend, Moses introduced some controls.

1. A husband could divorce his wife if he found some natural, moral or physical defect in the wife. This had to be confirmed by two witnesses.
2. The wife was to be given a certificate of divorce. This would keep her from being stoned as an adulteress, and allow her to re-marry.
3. Should the second husband divorce her, the first husband was not allowed to re-marry her again, emphasizing the importance of marriage.

So Moses was not trying to lay down the law, merely trying to control a chaotic situation.  (Can I say, ladies, that anything that places the role of women as being anything less than equal is  abhorrent.)

“You have heard that it was said, `You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, “that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? “And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. (Mat 5:43-48 NKJ)

So where in the Bible will you find the quote, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy?” You won’t; it is not there.  The quote was taken from the teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees.  This question was put before Jesus by a lawyer in Luke 10:29, “But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” To the Pharisee, a neighbor was an Israelite or anyone that claimed to be Jewish. Anyone outside that category was worse than a dead dog.  So you can imagine their disgust when Jesus defined a neighbor by using the analogy of a Samaritan.

It’s easy to love those that love you, have the same likes and dislike and go to the same church. But what if your neighbor is Muslim or Gay? Jesus makes no exceptions.

Today the Jews hate the Palestinians so much that they have adopted the same spirit that was prevalent in Germany under Hitler’s plan to eradicate the Jew. Hatred has a life of its own and will consume you.  What would happen if the Israeli and the Palestinian practiced the words of Jesus and showed loved to their neighbor instead of aggression?