Matthew 6:1-4 " Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly." Let me begin by reminding us all that Jesus is still addressing His disciples. This is still within His discourse that we call the Sermon on the Mount. He lays out what true blessings look like. He gives us a spiritual aspect to the keeping of the law. He gives us instruction on how, as His disciples, our behavior and attitude should differ from others. Here we are instructed to pay attention to the manne...
Ephesians 4:7-10 "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. (8) Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (9) (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? (10) He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)" "He led captivity captive." We were held in the clutches of sin and could not free ourselves. Let me quote the Apostle Paul in the Roman letter. "For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." (Romans 7:5-6) We saw in Ephesians 2, those beautiful words "But God..." N...