Work in Secret
READ Matthew 6:1-4
What
is recognition for your good works and service to others?
The recognition is your reward or payment.
What
are the only ways to reserve for yourself a blessing in heaven for serving
others?
Serve anonymously.
Or be reviled, hated or persecuted by
others for serving; i.e. serve or give when it is a cultural violation to do so.
Does
this mean you should not serve if these conditions are not met?
No, you should still serve, as service
helps the person served.
But it should give us pause and make us
reflect about why we serve.
What
does “doing alms in secret” test?
Our desires or motivation for doing the
service – your heart is being tested.
Where do we want our reward – in heaven
or on earth.
Or do we want a reward at all, or are we
serving because we love with no thought of receiving anything back.
Who
does the beneficiary thank and praise when service is done anonymously?
The Lord or “the Universe” – there is no
other choice.
READ Matthew 6:5-6
Who
are those who pray “to be seen of men” praying to?
Those men who are listening to them pray
or to themselves.
They are using the pretense of prayer to
call attention to themselves.
What
do these verses about service and prayer teach us about the journey back to
God?
It is a private journey.
It is an inner journey; it takes place
primarily within the heart (e.g. when the Prodigal Son “came to himself”, no
one who might have been with him would have really known what was happening
inside).
Others should never really see or at
least appreciate the magnitude of the things you have put on the altar in
sacrifice to God or notice the mighty wrestle you are having with Him; they
wouldn’t truly understand anyway because these experiences with God are
anecdotal and completely personal or each individual.
Why
must you go to God directly for some things?
Great things can be learned but not
taught.
The Lord will not commit great things to
those who will not keep them confidential.
Do not ask from another what can only be
given by the Lord at the sacrifice of your own soul.
The Lord’s Prayer
READ Matthew 6:7-8
What
is vain repetition and why is it bad?
It is praying without a sincere heart,
real intent and faith in Christ (see Moroni 10:4).
It is thoughtless prayer.
It is prayer without the intent to have
communion with God.
It is prayer with the intent to bend
God’s will to yours, rather than visa-versa.
If
God already knows what we are in need of before we pray, then why should be
pray?
Obedience – God has asked us to pray
(there is some good in it for us).
Devotion – showing our submission to Him.
Companionship – take time to be
with/commune with Him.
Knowledge – obtain His will.
Strength and capability - ask for our
hearts to be softened and our faith to be strengthened that we might be able to
do His will – not to convince Him of the rightness of OUR desires. Our biggest problem is that we don’t know
what to pray for.
Why
does God give us weaknesses and afflictions?
Our cares are merely the tiniest of
obstacles given to us to remind us to pray.
And when the Lord finally has our attention such that we are praying
with real intent, He has a lot more to give us than the solutions to OUR
problems – e.g., Brother of Jared (interior lighting vs. redemption from the
fall) or Joseph Smith (which church to join vs. entering the presence of God).
READ Matthew 6:9-15
Whose
will is done on earth?
Not God’s.
Satan’s or mankind’s.
How
can the Father’s will be done on Earth?
When Christ comes to reign in glory as
King of Kings.
When we seek to do His will, while we
live here on the earth.
What
is the relationship between forgiving others and receiving forgiveness from
God?
It is a direct relationship – cause and
effect.
It is not just “wise counsel”.
Will
God lead us into temptation?
No.
Satan will find us and the natural man is
predisposed to sin – so it will happen, but God is not leading us to be tempted.
So,
what does this phrase mean?
This is a petition which reminds us to be
willing to be led.
We are literally to ask the Father to
help us to be led by Him.
Does
mankind, or in this case Christ, confer the kingdom, power and glory upon God?
No, but we should acknowledge His
ownership of the kingdom, His power and His glory – it helps us to have
confidence in Him – the greater our recognition of His power is, the more faith
we can have in Him.
He is the sovereign and we are the
willing to subject our wills to His.
Your Treasure
READ Matthew 6:19-21
What
in this world will endure?
The truth we learn and teach – as long as
it is not forgotten or suppressed/changed.
The light/intelligence we collect while
here on earth.
How
can you tell what is treasured in the heart?
By where you choose to spend your time.
By what is meditated or pondered on in
idle moments.
READ Matthew 6:22-23
What
is your “eye”?
Your mind’s eye – what you meditate on or
what fills you.
Your spiritual eye – the eye that allows
you to “see” spiritual things, even in the flesh.
The “eyes” of your spirit – as your
spirit is more refined, it can see things that are more refined.
How
does one fill themselves with light or fill themselves with darkness?
What thoughts you entertain.
Words and actions follow thoughts.
Remember that the natural man is on a
scale from degenerate to honorable man/woman of the earth. The cares of this world is all that is needed
to keep you from acquiring light.
Finding light requires a deliberate effort. But when we are filled with light, the
heavens notice – even from afar (a “city that is set on a hill cannot be hid!”).
Are
you your thoughts or feelings?
No – if you can think about your thoughts
or choose your feelings, you are separate from them.
You are the “observer” – you are a being
of light while your thoughts are generated by your physical brain and are part
of the veil of forgetfulness we are born into here; to the degree to which you
“think therefore you are”, you are caught in “maya” or the illusion of this
world and you don’t know who or what you are at all – i.e. not of this
world.
Why
is this vital to realize?
You have the ability to choose your
thoughts, feelings, actions, etc.
You are not determined by them – you can
choose to be a being of light or a being of darkness (see D&C 50:23-25).
You have the ability to transcend or rise
above your thoughts and feelings – in fact, you must do this to be born again.
READ Matthew 6:24
How
many Masters do you have?
One.
You CANNOT serve two or more.
The Lord deals in absolutes because that
is His Way – He can accept nothing less than all. The adversary knows this and is content with
getting even a little of you – because with the Lord it is all or nothing. Satan desires your “whole soul” not to be the
#1 priority.
So,
is it a matter of priority?
No - you have one Master.
It’s not a question of ranking priorities
or situational changes.
The bride and bridegroom only have room
for each other – other lovers are not allowed, even if “loved less” than the
spouse.
What
is “mammon”?
It is a temporal thing.
Money is the currency of temporal things
that allows them to be gained or traded.
You cannot separate temporal things from
spiritual – all things are spiritual to the Lord (see D&C 29:35); the
temporal things are ALL to be used for His purposes and according to His desire.
How
is the Sermon on the Mount a call to a much higher way of life?
It is much more demanding that the Law of
performances and standards because it moves the battleground into your heart.
He is asking you to surrender your soul
so that it can be transformed into something you cannot imagine (and the
natural man may not like or value).
READ Matthew 7:1-5 and 12
What
is the law of reciprocity?
Whatever you do to others comes back to you.
Applies to either good or bad things.
Also applies to blessings from God
including judgment, forgiveness, mercy.
It is “karma” and must be worked through
or resolved, either in this life or the next.
The
JST gives us more insight - how should we judge each other?
Righteously or in other words, EXACTLY as
God would judge us – requiring direct revelation or a fullness of the Holy
Spirit (mind of God).
And failing that, judge leniently. Judge
with compassion. Assume good intent.
So that the Lord will be able to judge
you the same way – as He is merciful and uses the standard we use with others
to judge us.
What
is our inherent problem with regards to our ability to judge?
We are blind.
We have a massive “2x4” beam of wood
sticking out of our eyes – we can’t see a thing – at least not as things really
are.
The way we see the world is not correct. We are biased in our assumptions and limited
in our perspective.
Matthew 7:7-11
Who
is allowed to ask, seek and knock at the Lord’s door?
Everyone.
What
will happen if you do not ask, seek and knock?
You will not be given, find or have the
Lord’s door opened unto you – it is a law of heaven that our free agency must
not be violated – if we don’t knock, He can’t give, because to force things
upon us that we haven’t asked for is a violation of our agency.
God is no respecter of persons – the laws
of heaven are the same for everyone, regardless of “birthright”, priesthood, calling
or wealth.
What
might delay you from receiving some blessings from the Lord after you’ve asked
to receive them?
You aren’t ready to receive them.
You must be prepared first – it could
take time, but WILL happen if we are faithful – there is no fairy dust – we
must change or be changed by submitting to the Lord’s inner work with us.
What
does the word “findeth” suggest?
Effort on our part.
Something is lost or not in our
possession.
We must search for it.
What
does “it shall be opened” imply?
It is not opened now – it is shut.
Open implies not just a view but
something that can be entered through.
What
kind of gifts does God always give?
Good gifts – bread, fish and eggs.
Does
God know the difference between stones and bread?
Yes.
We’re the ones who sometimes don’t know
the difference, because He looks at stones and bread from an eternal
perspective while we look at them from an earthly one.
What
happens if we don’t like the certain kind of “bread” that God has given us when
we asked?
We had an expectation of a certain kind
of blessing but God did not meet our expectation.
We are supposing we know better than God.
We are not asking for His will but our
own to be done.
We can take the good gifts He gives and
turn them into stone, serpents and scorpions.
Matthew 7:12
Following
on this discussion of giving gifts, what does the Golden Rule imply?
If we want to receive good gifts, we need
to give good gifts ourselves.
If
we truly believed that the Golden Rule was a Law of Heaven and that to abide by
it would then deliver the blessing, how would we act?
We would treat others exactly how we
would want to be treated.
We would love others with compassion,
patience, forgiveness and intercession.
Matthew 7:13-14
A
better translation of this verse is “narrow is the gate and difficult is the
way…” so what does a narrow gate imply?
It is harder to notice – to see it.
It does not look important or well used –
it looks more like a back alley.
It is hard to fit through if you are “big”
(you’re kind of a big deal or arrogant) or carrying a lot of “baggage” (both
physical possessions or emotional or spiritual issues).
Why
would many go in at the wide and broad or easy way, as it leads to destruction?
It doesn’t appear to lead to destruction
– you can’t see any destruction from the beginning of the gate.
It looks official – like it’s “The Gate”.
Many others are following in – it is
popularly validated by peers and leaders.
It is relatively easy to walk this path –
it requires no real effort.
Why
is the Lord’s Way difficult?
It requires light to comprehend
light/truth and gaining light takes work (and risk).
Truth challenges – it requires change.
It is an unpopular route, so there aren’t
many companions on the way, and will make you unpopular if you take it.
Is
it true that only a “few” will find it?
Yes, and it is few in an absolute sense,
not a relative sense.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ has
laid out what we must be like to inherit eternal life or in other words, what
HE is like. And we must be “precisely”
like Christ to be saved. But few there
are that will rise up, repent and attempt to become the people He describes in
this sermon – few will find the gate.
READ 2 Nephi 9:41
Who
is the Gatekeeper?
Christ Himself – He employs no servant
there.
In ancient times, you had to be known
personally by the gatekeeper to be allowed in to the walled (or defensed) city
because of the risk to the city itself; if the gatekeeper didn’t know you, you
were by definition a stranger. Christ’s
ministry to us is to get to know us – to get us to know Him – so that when we
come to the gate, we will be met by a friend (Christ, the gatekeeper) and have
a joyous reunion as a “citizen” of that heavenly city.
Matthew 7:15-20
What
does sheep’s clothing enable the false prophet to do?
Appear to be legitimate and authentic.
By adhering to a stereotype that the masses
will accept as real.
The sheep’s clothing enables the wolf to
deceive the masses – to placate them – not to frighten them by coming as he
really is.
But the intent is to destroy the sheep.
What
makes a prophet false?
They do not have a message given to them
by the Lord (directly).
They are on their own errand…they pretend
to be His messenger.
But this does not mean that they are
utterly “bad” or that their message is “evil”, only that they have not been
sent by the Lord.
However, the fact that not coming to us
as a true messenger is called “false” by the Lord, regardless of the intent of
the would-be prophet (and if we assume good intent, perhaps they come to help
people), should be a huge red flag to us; only those who know God and come with
His message are true prophets – all others should be seeking the Lord as their
only desire, which journey necessitates helping others, but not coming as a
prophet to instruct them.
How
can we tell the true sheep from the wolves in sheep’s clothing?
By the fruits or results.
What
are the fruits of a false prophet?
Vanity, corruption, evil,
arrogance/self-righteousness, popularity, wealth, success in the world’s
measures.
What
are the fruits of a true prophet?
Repentance.
And a return to Christ by those who will
listen.
The way that the true prophet shares
actually leads to Christ in this world – there is an empirical proof of the
legitimacy of their message.
Matthew 7:21-23
What
is required to enter the kingdom of heaven?
Doing the will of the Father.
Submitting one’s whole soul to Him.
How
is it possible that people will claim to prophesy, cast out devils and do many
wonderful works in Christ’s name and yet He never knew them?
They genuinely claim to have done these
things – Christ does not say that they falsely claim.
Yet their hearts are far from Him.
They are assuming He is accepting or
consecrating their acts, which they do (vainly or assumptively) in His name BUT
THEY HAVE TAKEN NO EFFORT TO COME TO HIM THAT HE MIGHT KNOW THEM AND AUTHORIZE
THEM.
In reality they are profiting on His name
and setting themselves up for a light – they are practicing priestcraft.
It is interesting that some might
actually be able to do these “many wonderful works” in reality – they are
spiritually gifted people and the acts they do are real because the physical
world is determined by the spiritual or unseen world, but that still doesn’t
mean that they are doing God’s will.
What
will happen to those who actually do prophesy, cast out devils and do many
wonderful works in Christ’s name – but do not really know Him?
They are inviting the Lord to say to them
“depart from me.”
While doing good works is good, claiming
divine authority without having it is taking God’s name in vain.
READ Matthew 7:24-29
Who
is the “wise man”?
One who is saved.
What
is the “house”?
The eternal family, continuation of seed,
or eternal life.
What
is the “rock”?
Christ.
What
is the “sand”?
The unstable and shifting “truths” of the
world.
What
is the “flood”?
God’s judgment on mankind – but really it
is karma or the earned and just consequences of our actions.
Who
chooses where to build the House?
We do – that decision is fully within our
power.
