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Well said Ralph . 

Our bodies decay, as our spirit soars, when I think about
Our Lords plan for humanity, I feel like Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah’s
couch. 

Christ will do greater things spiritually in us and through us than he physically did while he was on Earth.

John 14:12-14
12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

The spiritual aspects of scripture are paramount.

John 6:63
63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

Helping people is a blessing. I will do so whenever I have the means or opportunity, but feeding someone with spiritual food and riches is of much greater importance and value.

This exactly Pamela! Ray made it abundantly clear from the Scriptures that our righteousness should “…exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisee's” (Mat_5:20). It's no secret that the Scribes and Pharisee's excelled in the physical law of Moses. The Apostle Paul (back when he was named Saul) was a Pharisee himself, and he practiced the law to near perfection, over and above all the other Pharisees.

The commandment of “thou shall not commit adultery” that Pamela brought up gives us the perfect opportunity to see how we can apply that spiritually or internally so that our righteousness can exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees. It's really as simple as not lusting or fantasizing after another in our hearts and minds. By doing this, as Pamela pointed out, the outside will become clean. In other words, if you nip this sin of physical adultery in the bud by resisting the cause of it that starts in the heart when we fantasize about it, you won't do it physically. This principle can be applied to all the physical law of Moses because as Paul said: “…the law is spiritual” (Rom_7:14).

There is another layer of spiritual truth within the commandment of thou shall not commit adultery. This truth will really show us how truly dark the spiritual sin of adultery is. It's like the darkness has a whole new level of darkness, and it points to the sin of the world. It's a lust like no other and gives a new meaning to having faith or being faithful to Jesus. Ray has already expounded on this in the free will series of his papers. If I could condense it down to a few words, I'd start with the first commandment of — “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” from Exo 20:3.

Jesus is not only God, but He is also the Churches promised Husband. Rather than waiting for Jesus and remaining faithful to Jesus by remaining a “virgin”, the Church commits adultery by obeying Satan (albeit through deception) and worshiping themselves. It gets worse. Once we realize that the spiritual sin of adultery is the same as every other sexual sin mentioned in the bible, we might start to feel pretty gross about it. I mean, it's supposed to make our skin crawl, to inspire the change I was talking about before. That's what these spiritual laws do. Here's the sad truth of the matter.

Joh 3:19  "This, then, is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.
Joh 3:20  For everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed.

There is hope, and that is why Christ has brought us together.

Act 26:18  to open their eyes that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.'

Matt 12:46-50——— While He was still speaking to the multitudes, behold
His Mother and His brothers stood outside, asking to speak to Him.
Then one said,” look , your mother and brothers are standing outside.”
But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “ WHO IS MY MOTHER AND WHO
ARE MY BROTHERS “ ( caps mine for emphasis, not yelling  )
And He stretched out His hand toward His DISCIPLES and said” HERE ARE MY
MOTHER AND MY BROTHERS, for whoever does the Will of My Father in heaven
is My brother and sister and mother.”

Matt. 5:21…. You have heard that it was said to those of old( the many) you shall
not murder and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.

Christ is talking to His disciples here in Sermon on the Mount, not to the
multitudes.

V22 …. But I SAY unto you ( under the Spiritual Law of Jesus which is a much
higher standard of obedience as you say Octoberose) everyone who is angry
with his brother will be liable to judgement .Whoever insults his brother will be
liable to the council, and whoever says” you fool” will be liable to the hell
Gehenna) fire.

Did Christ ever call anyone you fool? Read Matt 23.

Christ is speaking to HIS DISCIPLES, on the Mount not to be angry with their
brothers and in Matt. 12: 46-50 tells us who our brothers are.

These are parables once again of the many called and the few chosen.
The few are are admonished not to insult, be angry with, or call a brother fool.

Ray said the Ten Commandments are spiritual.  Thou shalt not covet requires
sinning in the mind . Everyone covets ( LUSTS after) before they physically carry
out the sin, hence the reason that the carnal mind has got to go, and is enmity
against God. So while the commandment to not commit adultary is the law of the
OT Christ says ( and don’t even THINK ABOUT IT) in His Spiritual Law.
Thou shalt not COVET ( don’t even think about it) your neighbours wife etc)

In the teaching of the Two Loves we understand that we should agape our neighbours and our enemies. We are to see beyond their carnal nature to
what God has determined for them after judgement. All will be brought to
obedience and as Ray said” a smiling face for all 

Rom. 7:14… for we know that the law is Spiritual.

All this or most of this is in the teaching on The Two Loves and also The Sermon
On The Mount.

I hope this helps.
In Christ, Pamela

Jesus is telling them to love your neighbor and giving to those who are hungry and thirsty and in need is giving to Jesus.  Everything we do for the least of these goes to our Lord.  And if you think it’s spiritual, well ok but I’ll try to give to the actual hungry.
 When Jesus talks about the law he is telling them it is impossible to keep the law. It is impossible. He upped the anti - not only you don’t kill your neighbor but you aren’t even angry.  There’s no getting there.  The law is impossible - Jesus made it clear. Jesus is the only way for a taste of redemption in this life and then in the next we can experience what it’s like to be like Him.  I can hardly wait for that.

I’m not sure if you’re saying in Matthew 25 that we spiritually discern those who need to be clothed and fed - that it’s not with real clothes and real food ?

No, I'm not saying it, Jesus is. The answer from “the righteous” in Jesus' parable gives it away. The righteous never saw Jesus in the condition of being hungry, naked, thirsty, as a stranger etc. So it can't be literally true. So then it must be spiritually true only. Jesus is saying, if you did these good things for “the least” of all His Brothers, you did it to and for Him.

For the record, I was actually afraid of the knife man because he seemed a little unhinged. The Christians weren't a threat like the knife man was, but the threat was that I was in danger of Gehenna judgment in the lake of fire if I didn't love the Christians. The parables below are where I got this idea from.

Mat 5:21 Ye have heard, that it was said, to them of olden time,—Thou shalt not commit murder, and, whosoever shall commit murder, shall be, liable, to judgment.
Mat 5:22 But, I, say unto you, that, every one who is angry with his brother, shall be, liable, to judgment,—and, whosoever shall say to his brother, Worthless one!, shall be, liable, to the high council; and, whosoever shall say, Rebel!, shall be, liable, unto the fiery gehenna.

Mat 10:28 And do not fear those who are killing the body, yet are not able to kill the soul. Yet be fearing Him, rather, Who is able to destroy the soul as well as the body in Gehenna."
Mat 10:29 Are not two sparrows selling for a penny? And not one of them will be falling on the earth without your Father.

I couldn't have known any of this until I experienced it and looked back at that experience and remembered Jesus' words above.

Well, referring to what you mentioned earlier Porter, I’ll take the Christians and you can take the knife man.  I understand the Christians- I’ve been with them in one way or another for over fifty years and i know how to talk with them.  It’s the ministry God has given me for now.
 I’m not sure if you’re saying in Matthew 25 that we spiritually discern those who need to be clothed and fed - that it’s not with real clothes and real food ?
 I think one reason i understood Ray most of the time was that he talked like a roofer and even a simple person , like me, could understand him.  God knows he hasn’t given me the ability to see much beyond the simple.

WOW PORTER…………FIRE ANYONE

Good find and an excellent point, Pamela.

Rose, I think you do understand, near perfectly in fact. The problem isn't with doing these “external” works, the problem is in the heart. More specifically, who or what rules the heart.

Jas 1:26  If anyone thinks himself to be religious (piously observant of the external duties of his faith) and does not bridle his tongue but deludes his own heart, this person's religious service is worthless (futile, barren).
Jas 1:27  External religious worship [religion as it is expressed in outward acts] that is pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world.

I said you understood “near” perfectly because you said we cannot determine the state of one's heart. However, I believe we can determine the state of another's heart. I believe that because as Jesus is, so are we (1Jn_4:17). I can judge another's heart, as long as I first judged myself in the same way. So I better be merciful to myself.

Mat 15:18  But whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this is what makes a man unclean and defiles [him].
Mat 15:19  For out of the heart come evil thoughts (reasonings and disputings and designs) such as murder, adultery, sexual vice, theft, false witnessing, slander, and irreverent speech.

Jesus did many wonderful outward works of healing people, forgiving people, feeding people, praying for people, being merciful and raising the dead. He could do this because His heart was clean from understanding that He could do nothing of His own self (Joh_5:30). Not only that, but Jesus didn't do these things to prove in the sight of all that He was righteous, like the many who do these things for that very reason. He did these things because He truly loves His neighbor, but who is His neighbor?

Eph 5:29  For no one ever hates his own flesh, but provides and cares for it [Look at the birds of the sky: they don't sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. — Mat_6:26], just as Christ does for the church,
Eph 5:30  since we are members of His body.

If His neighbors are members of His body, whom He is taking care of, who are the members of His body?

1Co 12:12  For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body--so also is Christ.
1Co 12:13  For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
1Co 12:14  So the body is not one part but many.

Can you see how every one of the verses I cited must be spiritually discerned? When we spiritually discern Jesus' words, we can see that it is all one in meaning. His neighbors, the members of His body, and even the widows and orphans are one and the same.

Lam 5:2  Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners.
Lam 5:3  We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are widows.

Here's another parable in the same vein as the previous parables.

Mat 25:35  For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
Mat 25:36  I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; I was in prison and you visited Me.'
Mat 25:37  "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink?
Mat 25:38  When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or without clothes and clothe You?
Mat 25:39  When did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You?'
Mat 25:40  "And the King will answer them, 'I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.

All these works of taking care of our neighbor can and should be done in the heart, and in the spirit. In this way, we are obeying and loving Jesus. I mean, what are the chances that we're going to see one another naked so that we can clothe each other? It is by Jesus' words that many are fed, clothed, healed and made alive, in the spirit. If we are as Jesus is, then it is also by our words that any are provided for.

1Co 1:21 …it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

We may not know with absolute certainty that any one of us might be one of the few chosen, but we can at the very least know that we are of the many called. Like Ray said, it's a very high calling, and one we should aspire to if we love Jesus. The table is being set, provisions have been made, the neighbors have been invited. Let's eat and drink the Lord's supper in a worthy way. Oh, and pass the salt! 

From Keeping Sabbath

Matt.11:28……. Come to me all you who LABOR and are heavy laden
and I will give you rest.

Who labor( doing your works , of churchosity) and I will give you rest.

Peace and rest for all in Christ Octoberose, no one will be left out.
All your kind and generous neighbours will be made complete
and whole in God’s plan. I just read that in the last paragraph of
Keeping Sabbath teaching. Those who labor…are those who have not yet have
come out of the shadow, but they will in Gods own timing.
Isn’t our Lord wonderful.


The reality is found in Christ .

God Bless You and those you love.