Oivet Church October 19, 2008.
By Candidate Nathan Cole
Cleansing the Inside and Outside
CL527
...
everyone has imputed to him evil or good in accordance with
the nature of his will in these and in accordance with the nature of
his understanding regarding them.
[3] I am able to confirm this by
the following account. In the spiritual world I have encountered many
spirits who, in the natural world, had lived like others - dressing
grandly, dining elegantly, doing business like others at a profit,
attending theatrical performances, joking about the actions of lovers
in a seemingly lustful manner, and other like things. And yet angels
attributed these things to some as sinful evils, and did not
attribute them to others as evil, declaring the former guilty, but
the latter innocent. Upon my asking the reason for this, when the
people had done much the same things, the angels replied that they
regard everyone in the light of his purpose, intention or end, and
make distinctions accordingly; and that they therefore excuse or
condemn those whom the end either excuses or condemns, since an end
for good is the end of all in heaven, and an end for evil the end of
all in hell.
Matthew 23:25-27
25Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
26Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
1 And before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that His hour had come that He should travel out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, loved them to the end.
2 And supper being ended, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, of Simon, to betray Him;
3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and went to God,
4 rises from supper, and lays aside His garments, and taking a cloth, girded Himself.
5 Then He pours water into the basin, and began to wash the feet of the disciples, and to wipe them with the cloth with which He was girded.
6 Then He comes to Simon Peter, who says to Him, Lord, dost Thou wash my feet?
7 Jesus answered and said to him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know after these things.
8 Peter says to Him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, Unless I wash thee, thou hast no part with Me.
9 Simon Peter says to Him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.
10 Jesus says to him, He who is washed has no need except to wash the feet, but is wholly clean;
AC 4353.3
Act precedes, man's willing follows; for that which a man does from the understanding, he at last does from the will, and finally puts it on as a habit; and it is then instilled in his rational or internal man. And when it has been instilled in this, the man no longer does good from truth, but from good; for he then begins to perceive therein somewhat of blessedness, and as it were somewhat of heaven. This remains with him after death, and by means of it he is uplifted into heaven by the Lord.
It is not what is outside that matters
We cannot judge people or even ourselves based on outward actions. A good action can come from and evil motive or a selfish motive.
HH 531
[IF]he does all this merely for the sake of himself and the world, to keep up appearances; while inwardly such a person is the direct opposite of what he appears outwardly, since in heart he denies the Divine, in worship acts the hypocrite
What is outside does matter
HH 528 to receive the life of heaven a man must needs live in the world and engage in its business and employments, and by means of a moral and civil life there receive the spiritual life.
AR 49.5 He that is washed, needeth not save to wash his feet, and the whole is clean (John 13:10). "To wash the feet" is to purify the natural man; and when this is purified, the whole man is also purified;
When a marriage is going through a hard time sometimes the answer is to just act as loving and respectful as you did in the beginning, even if you don't feel very loving. Then the Lord can revive the feeling of love and make it stronger. (See CL 277)It is not hypocrisy to act nicer than you feel if you are doing it to strengthen your marriage. It is hypocrisy if you act nicer than you feel to fool or cheat someone else.
Cycle
We need to create a place for the Lord to flow into our lives. If we order our actions according to the Lord's Word we are washing our feet-making our lives clean. But this is not enough. We still need to go back and evaluate our motives.
A natural example: you want to get up early in the morning. If you start by just wishing you were and early riser it won't work. The first thing to do is set an alarm. When the alarm goes off you know you will not be very happy to wake up. But if you get in the habit of rising early you can become more cheerful rising with the sun. And you start to wake up without the need of an alarm. Last you need to evaluate you motives. Do you enjoy getting up early only to impress you boss and get promotions or do you enjoy that you can be more productive and useful?
Conclusion
It is not enough to act good if our hearts are full of anger and greed. And it is also not enough to believe our hearts are full of love if we never do anything good. But we can know where we are headed if we examine our motives:
AC 3796.3
But if anyone wishes to know the
ends he himself has in view he has merely to take note of his feeling
of delight - whether it is on account of his receiving praise and
glory, or whether it is on account of his performing some unselfish
service. If it is the latter delight which he feels, genuine
affection is present in him. He ought also to take note of the
varying states he passes through, for those states cause his feelings
to vary considerably. A person is able to find these things out in
himself, but not in others, for the ends in view to anyone's
affection are known to the Lord alone. This is why the Lord said,
Do not judge, lest you are judged; do not condemn, lest
you are condemned. Luke 6:37.
The Lord said “And all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the kidneys and hearts; and I will give to each of you according to your works.” Jer. 17:1
Amen
Children's Talk:
Joseph was hated by his brothers.
They didn't kill him but they were still guilty of breaking the commandment against murder because they hated him.
The didn't murder Joseph only because they were afraid they might get in trouble or they thought they could get money if they sold him instead of killing him.
This is what the Lord says about the commandment not to murder. If you hate your brother that is the same as wanting to murder him.
When you have hate in your heart that is letting the evil spirits inside. Think about being the ruler of a strong city or a castle. If there was a big army outside you can stay safe if you don't let them in. If you let just one in he will let his friends in too.
The Lord wants you to know that being angry is very dangerous. Evil spirits always want to hurt and kill other people.
If you let the evil spirits put anger in your heart they are getting inside the walls. And when you are angry they can can make you hurt other people by hitting them, or saying something mean and hurting their feelings.
Joseph's brothers were angry and they let the evil spirits make them so angry that they almost killed him. And then they threw him in a pit so he could be sold as a slave. Whenever we let the angry evil spirits in they can make us hurt someone.
The Lord wants to treat each other well, especially family members. We don't want the evil spirits to make us angry. We don't want even one evil spirit to get inside our hearts We want to love each other.
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity PS. 133.1
Readings:
Genesis 37
1And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.
2These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.
3Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
4And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
...
12And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem.
... And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.
18And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
19And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
20Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
21And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.
22And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.
23And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;
24And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
Matthew 5
21Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
22But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment:...