Jesus our Model(This is a series of essays on various teachings of LORD/Jesus other than Sermon on the Mount, and on how Jesus lived his life on Earth.) |
Jesus : Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the LORD what you have sworn.' But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil. [Mt 5:33-37]
LORD : You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. And you shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your GOD : I am the LORD. [Lev 19:11]
LORD : You shall not utter a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man, to be a malicious witness. You shall not follow a multitude to do evil; nor shall you bear witness in a suit, turning aside after a multitude, so as to pervert justice; nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his suit. [Ex 23:1-3]
LORD : You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour. [Ex 20:16]
LORD : For I will leave in the midst of you a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the LORD, those who are left in Israel; they shall do no wrong and utter no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue. For they shall pasture and lie down, and none shall make them afraid. [Zeph 3:12-13]
LORD (to the ancient Israelites, but true to us too) : Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do, because of my people ? Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully; with his mouth each speaks peaceably to his neighbour, but in his heart he plans an ambush for him. Shall I not punish them for these things ? says the LORD; and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this ? [Jer 9:7-9]
LORD : These are the things that you shall do : Speak the truth to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace, do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, says the LORD." [Zech 8:16-17]
LORD : therefore love truth and peace. [Zech 8:19]
LORD (to the ancient Israelites) : There is no faithfulness or kindness, and no knowledge of GOD in the land; there is swearing, lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds and murder follows murder. Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field, and the birds of the air; and even the fish of the sea are taken away. [Hosea 4:1-3]
Jesus : He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. [Luke 16:10]
Jesus spoke of Nathanael : Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile ! [John 1:47]
Jesus : GOD is spirit; and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. [John 4:24]
LORD : Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail, but the righteous shall live by his faith (or faithfulness). [Hab 2:4]
LORD (spoke well of Job, a righteous man in ancient times) : Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears GOD and turns away from evil ? [Job 1:8]
LORD (to the prophets in ancient Israel) : But in the prophets of Jerusalem, I have seen a horrible thing : they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evil-doers, so that no one turns from his wickedness; ....
They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, 'It shall be well with you'; and to every one who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, 'No evil shall come upon you.' [Jer 23:14-17]
LORD (spoke about the behaviour of some Israelite women in ancient times) : And you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own minds; prophesy against them and say, Thus says the LORD GOD : Woe to the women who sew magic bands upon all wrists, and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature, in the hunt for souls ! Will you hunt down souls belonging to my people, and keep other souls alive for your profit ? You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, putting to death persons who should not die and keeping alive persons who should not live, by your lies to my people, who listen to lies. [Eze 13:17-19]
(Note : we should not listen to lies, no matter how pleasant they may be. We should prefer to know the truth, no matter how unpleasant they may be. Also, we should speak out of our own heart, and not be men-pleasers, which will ruin listeners in the long run.)
... for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter"; therefore thus says the LORD GOD, "Behold, I am laying in
Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation; 'He who believes will not be in haste.' And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter." [Is 28:14-17]
(Note : the precious cornerstone is Jesus)
LORD : He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his GOD and he shall be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. [Rev 21:7-8]
But a man named Ananias with his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property, and with his wife's knowledge he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God." When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.
After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, "Tell me whether you sold the land for so much." And she said, "Yes, for so much." But Peter said to her, "How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the LORD? Hark, the feet of those that have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out." Immediately she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
(Note : from here we may see that LORD has little regard for material things : what LORD demands of us is honesty. Hence even Ananias offered to LORD a majority of his property - he has every right not to offer even a cent ! but he lied, and LORD took away his life. Honesty is a basic requirement for human, and much more for Christians. Church may tolerate a member who lies because of weakness and shame (but this must not be habitual), but should not let a member remain in the Church if he understands not the basic requirement of honesty.)
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