The Saints Gospel 95

Fear Not Little Flock

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Meanwhile, as the crowd gathered in its tens of thousands, so that they were trampling one another, He began to speak first to His disciples: “Guard yourselves against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, or hidden that will not become known. Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken into the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. I tell you, My friends, do not fear those who kill the body and after that have nothing more they can do. But I will show you whom to fear: fear the One who, after killing, has authority to cast into Gehenna. Yes, I tell you, fear Him. Are not five sparrows sold for two assaria? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Indeed, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are worth more than many sparrows. And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges Me before people, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever denies Me before people will be denied before the angels of God.

“And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and authorities, do not be anxious about how or what you should say in your defense, or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what must be said.”

Someone from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But He said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or divider over you?” And He said to them, “See to it that you guard against every kind of greed, because a person’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Then He told them a parable: “The land of a certain rich man yielded abundantly. And he reasoned within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have nowhere to gather my crops?’ And he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will pull down my storehouses and build larger ones, and gather all the grain and my goods there. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Rest, eat, drink, be glad!”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This very night they are demanding your soul from you. And the things you have prepared—whose will they be?’ So it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

And He said to His disciples, “For this reason I tell you: do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, and they have neither storeroom nor storehouse, yet God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his span of life? So if you cannot do even the smallest thing, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass that is in the field today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, you of little faith! And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not be unsettled, for the nations of the world seek after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them.

“But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, because your Father was pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give alms. Make for yourselves purses that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in the heavens, where no thief draws near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, and be like people waiting for their own master to return from the wedding feast, so that when he comes and knocks, they may open to him at once. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds keeping watch when he comes. Amen, I tell you: he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and come and serve them. Whether he comes in the second watch or in the third and finds them so, blessed are they. But know this: if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man comes at an hour you do not expect.” Peter said, “Lord, are You telling this parable to us, or also to everyone?” And the Lord said, “Who, then, is the faithful steward, the prudent one, whom his master will appoint over his household staff to give out their ration of grain at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds doing so when he comes.

“Truly, I tell you, he will appoint him over all his possessions. But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master is taking a long time to come,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and become drunk, the master of that slave will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in two and assign his portion with the unfaithful. That slave who knew his master’s will and did not prepare or act according to his will shall receive many blows. But the one who did not know and did things deserving blows shall receive few. From everyone to whom much was given, much will be required; and from the one to whom they entrusted much, they will ask all the more.

“I came to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am constrained until it is accomplished! Do you think I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. For from now on five in one house will be divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A rainstorm is coming,’ and so it happens. And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. Hypocrites! You know how to assess the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how is it that you do not know how to assess this time? And why do you not also judge for yourselves what is right?

“For as you go with your adversary before a ruler, make an effort on the way to be released from him, lest he drag you before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you will certainly not come out from there until you have paid even the last lepton.”

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Saints Translation · The Saints Gospel · a harmony of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts 1 · words of Christ in red · working draft awaiting specialist review.