Andrew Murray
And God Created Woman
Difference between Anabaptists and Evangelicals
Kingdom
Mysteries
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The Writings of Ulrich Stadler
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The Anabaptist Voice
08/26/2009
Proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God: Love, Joy and Peace in Jesus.
Dear Friends,
We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for this day
and for you, faithful friend. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray you are
well under the love of our Heavenly Father. We are all fine and enjoying our
yard flowers and bird visitors, as shown in these photos. Praise God.
We are still learning to keep our minds open to the Lord at all times.
The more we spend our time with the Lord, the more we experience His Love. We
are learning to follow the WAY and the TRUTH of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Every one of us here is busy with what God has given us to do. Naomi’s
bi-weekly physical therapy sessions are over for now, and so she is working on
writing a children’s story and also crocheting. She goes to Mary’s house to
crochet and it is a joy for her. Also our friend Kris has been taking her out,
sometimes for shopping, sometimes for bowling. Naomi is very happy that she
could go out with her. Thank you, Kris.
Last Sunday, we heard about a young 24 year old Korean woman who was born
crippled. She has only two fingers in each hand and no legs beneath her knees.
With only four fingers, she has become a famous piano player. Her name is Hee
Ah Lee. You can listen to her play on the Internet. How can she play with four
fingers? It is amazing. One of the songs she played was from Beethoven’s
symphony 9. We think she is a wonderful example of being an over-comer.
Our son David lost his job when Microsoft fired a large number of
employees last May, but praise God, he is going back to work at 
Microsoft
next week. It seems his new job is better and more challenging than the old
one. We pray that he will enjoy his new job.
Our oldest son Mike also lost his job,
but got a new one shortly afterward. He calls us every Monday evening to let us
know how he and his family are doing. His daughter Eryn is now at college in
New Mexico. Her high school classmate Samantha lost her mother not too long ago
and she is now living at Mike and Arlene’s home until her college starts in a
few weeks. So Mike and Arlene are slowly adjusting to the empty nest syndrome.
We have been thinking about visiting the James Valley colony in Manitoba,
Canada, to see our son Patrick and his family. We have not made a schedule yet,
but praying and thinking to also go to Washington state and visit our sons there
and also our friends in the Hutterite colonies in eastern Washington. We are
praying that God will guide us.
May
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of
the Holy Spirit be with you. (2 Cor 13:14)
Your brother and sisters in Christ,
Don, Michi & Naomi Murphy
Tucson, AZ, phone 520-297-1639
www.AnabaptistChurch.org
Jesus said, “People will know that you are my disciples
by your love for one another.” (John 13:35)
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Obeying The Commands of
Jesus
By Don Murphy 03/29/2005
Our Friday evening Bible study subject was the Lord’s Prayer which
contains these words to God: "may your will be done on earth as it is in
heaven.” Since we pray that God’s will be done here on earth, a very lively
discussion began when someone asked if it was a sin to disobey Jesus. Everyone
appeared to agree that it was. But when asked about specific commands of
Christ, then we had some different opinions. It seems that most all Christians
accept Jesus as Savior but not all, perhaps only a few, see the need to accept
Him as their teacher, as the one who tells them how to live.
Perhaps this is a growing process. Jesus said, "If you love me, you will
obey my commands.” (John 14:15) As our love for Jesus grows, our desire to
please Him and obey Him also grows.
That Friday evening Bible discussion about obeying Christ made me ponder
about this subject for the next few days. During this period I received two
emails about obeying Jesus. The first one was from my friend Miguel de Luis in
the Canary Islands who wrote concerning a conversion that he had with an
Independent Baptist about salvation and in the course of the conversation the
man said that Paul’s ministry was to establish a new dispensation for the
Gentiles, and that the teachings of Jesus was primarily for the Jews. This
false belief is not unusual, a popular radio evangelist teaches that the
commands of Jesus are not for now but are for the Thousand Year Reign of
Christ.
The next day I received an email from a pastor of a Baptist church in
Smithfield, NC, which listed 127 commands to believers that the pastor found in
the New Testament. Only 16 of the 127 were from Jesus and none of the 127 would
make a visible impact in the lifestyle of the believer. The commands of Jesus
listed in the Sermon on the Mount were not included.
The idea that the teachings and commands of Christ are not for today is
associated with a theology called Dispensationalism. The popular Scofield
Reference Bible is a leading teacher of this deprived theology, which in one
form or another is probably the predominant theology in today’s Christianity.
This evil theology claims that salvation is not based on living as Christ taught
but by accepting Him, that Christ’s teachings were only for the Jews.
Martin Luther was a leader in leading people away from the commands of
Christ. He emphasized the teachings of Paul over those of Christ but distorted
them to the extent that he said, "Be a sinner, and sin boldly, but believe more
boldly still. Sin shall not drag us away from Him, even should we commit
fornication or murder thousands and thousands of times a day" (Luther, M. Letter
of August 1, 1521 as quoted in Stoddard, p.93). Don’t many people today think
like that?
The apostle John wrote: "Anyone who does not follow the teachings of Christ
does not have God. Anyone who follows the teachings of Christ has both the
Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you who does not accept that, do not
welcome him for fear of sharing in his wickedness.” (II John 9-11)
How can a person accept Christ if they are not willing to live as Christ
taught? His way of living is called The Way of the Lord eight times in the Book
of Acts. (Acts 18:25 "he had been given instruction in the Way of the
Lord...". Also Acts 9:2, 18:26, 19:9, 23, 22:4, 24:14, 22. In II Peter 2:2 it
is called the Way of Truth.) Jesus said, "I am the Way… No one can come to the
Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
One of the commands of Christ that we discussed during the Bible study last
Friday evening was the command of Christ not to swear an oath (Mt 5:34). The
apostle James said that above all, do not swear oaths or you will be condemned.
(James 5:12).
This command is a good example of the way that today’s Christians think
about His commands, often completely ignoring them. For example the Catholics
teach: "When the name of the Lord is invoked through the swearing of an oath,
God's entire being is invoked- His Person, Presence and Power are invoked- to
help us so that with Him, in Him and through Him, we may be strengthened to
carry out our duties honorably.” (As quoted on the web site CatholicMil.org,
Catholics in the Military) This sounds so good but it is a false teaching,
quite contrary to the teaching in the New Testament!
Another example is this Protestant teaching: "Calling upon God's Name by
swearing an oath in His presence is an act of worship. When performed
reverently, appropriately, and bindingly, it is an act which publicly calls
upon, and honors, the Name of the Lord. Confirming truth and promise by
swearing an oath is foundational to order in society and church - it underlies
witnessing in court, assuming a public office, entering marriage, making
confession of faith, and having one's children baptized. Its use is to be
limited to solemn acts of church or state required by those in authority, or to
important matters in private life in which an oath is needed to establish a
crucial agreement or settle a serious controversy.” (As quoted on the web site
www.HolyBible.com) Oh how the devil twists the Bible to make it say exactly the
opposite of what Christ teaches!
It appears that neither the Catholics nor the Protestants take the
teachings of Jesus very seriously. Why is that? The Great Commission at the
end of the Gospel of Matthew requires that ministers are to teach their people
to obey all of the commands of Christ. Is that being done by the Catholics or
the Protestants? Have you have heard a Catholic or a Protestant minister go
through all of the explicit commands of Christ and teach their people to obey
them? Who can answer "Yes"?
There is much talk about the Great Commission but they, the Catholics and
the Protestants, always, always, leave out the last part, the part about obeying
the teachings of Christ.
Do you think that Jesus considers them to be His followers if they are not
willing to follow His teachings? Has a person fully repented of his sins if he
is not willing to obey all of the commands of Jesus and His apostles?
Another question asked at the Friday evening Bible study was "Is it a sin
to disobey the command of Jesus not to resist an evil man?” (Mt 5:39) If this
command and the command not to swear an oath were obeyed by people who call
themselves Christians, then they would not be able to take any government job
that requires the swearing of oaths or the use of force. Nor could they support
any such activities so as not to participate in that sin.
There seems to be a great deal of difference between beliefs and practices
of the Catholics and Protestants of today and that taught by Jesus and His
apostles. Who tries to follow all of the teaching of Jesus and His apostles?
His followers do, of course. Otherwise they are not His followers.
The Anabaptists, who are neither Catholic nor Protestant, do teach
obedience to Christ. Peter Riedeman, a 16th century Anabaptist leader wrote:
"Christ wants to dwell in those who have allowed all the roughness or sin to be
cut away, who are measured by the plumb line and level of Christ, and who have
brought their hearts to Him, to love Him. Whoever builds in any other way
builds with nothing but hay and straw. This building will be beautifully built
to please Him who should dwell in it. Nothing but pure love will be within, and
He Himself is this love. Thus all God’s commandments will be fulfilled, for
Christ Himself says, ‘Whoever loves me, keeps My commandments.’ But the power
to love, God himself, who is love, gives to us. Hence, it is clear that those
who transgress His commands and continue to sin, do not belong to His temple.
John says, ‘Whoever sins and does not abide in the teaching of Christ has no
God, but he who is true to Christ’s teaching has both the Father and the Son.’
In another passage he says, ‘Whoever says he loves God and does not keep His
commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him.’ It is thus undeniable
that people who continue to sin do not belong to the house of God.” (Confession
of Faith, page 176-177)
What a narrow path it could be if we were to make every attempt to
carefully follow all of the teachings of Christ and His apostles. But then
Jesus did tell us, "Try your hardest to enter the Kingdom of God through the
narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to
destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and
the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Mt
7:13-14, Luke 13:24)
Only a few will enter the Kingdom of God? How many people survived the
flood during the time of Noah? How many Jews who escaped from Egypt actually
entered the Promised Land? Only a few…
Jesus said, "Why call me Lord if you do not do what I say? Not all who
call Me Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven but only those who do the will of
My Father in Heaven.” (Mt 7:21-23, Luke 6:45-49)