Thursday, April 25, 2019

4.25.2019 Commentary on THE BEATITUDES OF JESUS (written in the Gospel of Matthew 5.3-10) in the Bible Commentary of the New Testament by R.C.H. LENSKI (1943)

'beatitude - supreme blessedness; exalted happiness; from 'bless - to bestow good on.

*183  V3 *(note - each verse # preceded by V)  BLESSED THE BEGGARLY IN SPIRIT; FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF THE HEAVENS.
*(note - Lenski's translation of the original Greek words of each verse will be capitalized.)
the Beatitudes read like a Psalm;

Makarios*(note - every Greek word from the Original manuscript, in the case of  the Book of Matthew, by one of Jesus' 12 original disciples, will begin with a Capital.) at once recalls the 'ashre' (Hebrew) of Ps. 1.1 Blessed! intoned again and again, sounds like bells of heaven, ringing down into this unblessed world from the cathedral spires of the kingdom inviting all men to enter. the word, like it opposite Ouai 'woe', is neither a wish regarding a coming condition, nor a description of a present condition, but a judgment pronounced upon the persons indicated, stating that they must be considered fortunate. the form is almost exclamatory: 'O the blessedness of those who,' etc! and it is Jesus who renders this judgment, which is, therefore, absolutely true although all the world may disagree.each of the 8 judgments is at once established by revealing in what the blessedness actually consists and the 8 judgments is at once established by revealing in what the blessedness actually consists; and the 8th judgment is even doubled and its blessedness is unveiled in 2 strong statements.  all this blessedness is spiritual, each part of it coming from the great Messianic kingdom, true soul-blessedness,  a rich possession now but with a glorious promise of still greater riches - the very opposite of the word's happiness which is poisoned already in the bud and soon blasted forever. 'Blessed' means joy for those concerned. but this is

*184  the heavenly way:  the great gifts of the kingdom are ours, insuring a constant flow of joy, so that even if for a moment we be sad and sorrowful, the joy will again well up in our hearts. John 15.11 ('these things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you  and that your joy might be full.')

the word PtOchos (long sound greek letters are capitalized). it is stronger than 'poor',  it is 'cringingly, beggarly poor'....Robertson (translates)..'beggarly poor with respect to the spirit'...Isaiah 66.2 'But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word'  the poverty here referred to is not one against which the will reels but one under which the will bows in deep submission. it is more than a state or condition, it is the attitude that grows out of the profound realization of utter helplessness and beggary as far as any ability or possession of self are concerned. these wretched beggars bring absolutely nothing to God but their complete emptiness and need and stoop in the dust for pure grace and mercy only. this is the condition and attitude of True Repentance preached by the Baptist and by Jesus as basic for all who would come to God and to Hi kingdom. the disciples had attained it and the Twelve gave the special evidence i that they forsook all and followed Jesus looking to Him and receiving from Him alone.

the astonishing thing is that Jesus should pronounce people such as this 'blessed', fortunate in the highest degree. Pharisees, Sadducees, and the world generally would do the very opposite. but the coin of all such is counterfeit, never passes with God, who accepts

*185  no coin from men but only beggars' empty hearts and hands. and thus it is not at all astonishing that such beggars, stooping before God, are 'blessed'.  'For theirs is the kingdom of heavens', 'theirs' in the sense of 'theirs alone', barring out all others who come before God with a different attitude.

the text reads: 'is' = is Now; yet some interpreters would tell us that this refers to a Future possession because the following verses have future tenses. but how about  v10? others make the copula timeless and refer to the Aramaic where the copula is omitted and they consider 'the kingdom' eschatologic: 'the world as it well be when it has again become god's in the regenerated world of the future', but this is contrary to all that the gospel reveals concerning God. He feeds and satisfies the poor, Luke 1.53; he does it the instant they come to him and does not only promise future bread; we are to eat now and we do eat the Bread of Life, possess the treasures of the kingdom. for the kingdom which the Baptist and Jesus proclaimed as being at hand is 'within you' Luke 17.21, and actual Present Possession. Christ's kingdom is one of grace and glory combined; the grace is now here, the glory has not yet been revealed, I John 3.2. 
'Kingdom'  (compare the exposition in 3.2) must not be taken in the sense of an outward realm as we speak of earthly kingdoms, thinking of land and of people. this 'kingdom of the heavens' centers in the king, Jesus Christ and in the powers of grace,might and glory that go out from Him. where he is, there the kingdom is because there he exercises grace and power. the rich and proud in spirit resist that exercise as it would work in and over them for salvation. the poor in spirit cry out for that exercise of saving grace and help. it is impossible that the King should let them go on crying - He at once fills their

*186  hands and their hearts. whatever He may have in store for them in the future, already now he has a vast abundance. thus the Poor in spirit become Rich toward God, Luke 12.21. their royal riches consist in Christ's grace, pardon, adoption, sanctification,  'all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ', Eph.  1.3 not that these gits now end the attitude of the beggarly in spirit , so that this term no longer describes them. the case is this:  as long as we live in this world of sin and in spirit of all grace 'sin daily', so long our poor hands are stretched out to God's grace in Christ, daily receiving grace for grace. and the flow of God's rich grace goes out and ca go out to us only as long as we keep that attitude to which God Himself has brought us  and in which His grace works to keep us. thus the kingdom is ours Now and, being ours, in its progress it will bring us all that God still has laid up for us.

v4  BLESSED THEY THAT ARE MOURNING; FOR JUST THEY SHALL BE CONSOLED.

this second pronouncement is as paradoxical as the first. the verb denotes loud mourning such as the lament of the dead or for a severe, painful loss.  the sorrow for our sins in true contrition should not be excluded from this mourning. do our sins inflict no loss upon us?  do they not rob us of what is dearer than relatives, money or other goods? instead of excluding sorrow for sin, this is the chief part of the lament. but, of course, we must include all other grief and sorrow due to the power of sin in the world as this inflicts blows, losses and pain upon the godly. it includes every wrong done us, as well as every painful consequence of our won wrongdoing. it is almost self-evident that this mourning is not like that of the world which howls loud enough when its sins find it out:  'but the sorrow of the world worketh death' II Cor. 7.10

*187  behind this sorrow of the godly lies the recognition of the merciless power of sin and of our helplessness to ward it off and to escape. hence this mourning is a constant cry to God in their distress. the substantivized participle is the present tense and thus characterizes the godly as mourning constantly.  as far as contrition is concerned , let us keep in mind the first of Luther's famous 95 Theses, that OUR ENTIRE LIFE MUST BE A CONTINUOUS CONTRITION AND REPENTANCE.   as far as other sorrows are concerned. 'we must through much Tribulation (def - grievous trouble;  severe trial or suffering.  'distress - mental suffering, affliction, trouble)  Enter the Kingdom of God. Acts 14.22;  in fact, all the passages that speak of tribulation belong here. God's people are, indeed, a mournful lot! (note - and a Joyful one too!)

but HOW can they be called BLESSED, emphatic (AUtoi), 'they, THEY ALONE!'?  because THEY ARE THE ONLY ONES who 'shall be consoled'.  the passive implies that God is their consoler. and this Is a future tense. Chiliasts (def - believers of a 1000 year reign of Christ on earth at the end of time) interpret:  'shall be consoled in the glorious earthly Messianic Millennium, when all the forces of evil are crushed, when all the Christians shall at last be triumphant'. until that time these mourners must remain comfortless save for the prospect of that distant comfort must Christ says  'i will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.' John 14.18 and when  he came, we read, 'Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord'. John 20.20. No; this chiliastic comfort kingdom is but a mirage. the future tense is future to the mourning: THE COMFORT ALWAYS AT ONCE FOLLOWS THE MOURNING. cf. II Corinthians 4.15f  (for all things are for your sakes,that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.  for which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish,  yet the inward man is renewed day by day. for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things that are seen, for the things that are seen are temporal,  but the things which are not seen are eternal.) remember the 'little while' in John 16.16 ('a little while and ye shall not see Me and again,  a little while and ye shall see Me, because I go to the Father.)  the greatest of all comfort is the absolution pronounced upon every contrite mourning sinner. without this all other comfort is vain. and in tribulation God's Word, God's deliverance and help, God's support, cheer and uplift us as nothing else could do. finally, God's promises of

*188  future deliverance from all evil in the heavenly kingdom fill us with abounding comfort. as our mourning rises unto God in this vale of sin and tears, so his constant comfort flows down to us. thus we who mourn are of all men most blessed,  for we, indeed, are comforted.

v.5 BLESSED THE *MEEK;  FOR JUST THEY SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH.
(* Gentle; Endure injury with patience) the best commentary is Psalm 37.11 - but the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace'. ) 'The meek'  are the mild, gentle, patient. the word refers to an inward virtue exercised toward persons. when they are wronged or abuse they show no resentment and do not threaten or avenge themselves. the opposite are the vehement, bitter, wild and violent. Jesus is the greatest example of meekness.
the paradox is again startling, the fact that people of this kind 'shall inherit the earth'. Jesus does not say,  'the new earth', yet many regard his word as a reference to the millennial earth or to Rev.  21.1. and Jesus says 'shall inherit', namely with Christ, the heir of all the earth. this lot is theirs in accordance with their Lord's will and testament. Read psalm 37:  the wicked shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb - evildoers shall be cut off - yet a little while and the wicked shall not be; yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place and it shall not be - and so the story of the wicked goes on. there is not much inheriting of this earth according to the Psalm. but look at the anavim Heb. (also in Isa.  61.1), the meek'. Jesus is merely repeating Ps.  37.11,22.  they are cautioned not to vex themselves when the wicked grow haughty and appear mighty and great. they may suffer, but the divine blessing constantly follows them also in This life and on This earth. it will not do to day that the temporal  blessings promised to I (Heb) Israel in the old covenant are not to be regarded as being promised also to those living in the new covenant. the Christian Church has fared even better than Israel fared.

*189  the idea that in the Psalm 'earth' signifies Canaan and thus the heavenly Canaan in Jesus' beatitude, is specious (def- superficially pleasing though lacking real merit); for Jesus indicates no difference of this kind. it will always be true (v16):  'a little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked,' for his little has God's blessing and their much God's curse. our meekness, however, often shines by its absence; our covetousness, pride and other faults necessitate God's discipline,who always follows higher aims that reach beyond temporalities. Chemnitz writes that God let His children find a little nest on the house that is intended entirely for them. Luther agrees that this beatitude adds the promise of 'temporal life and goods on earth'.

v6  BLESSED THOSE HUNGERING AND THIRSTING FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS; FOR THEY SHALL BE FILLED.

in verses 5,6 the order is the same as in the Lord's Prayer: first the Fourth petition for bread, then the Fifth for forgiveness of sins. hunger and thirst are very commonly used to express strong spiritual desires and needs. both participles are durative present tenses,  for this hungering and thirsting continues and , in fact, increases in the very act of being satisfied. daily weary for forgiveness and daily God satisfies us. we are blessed just because our hunger and our thirst continue. if they should cease, Jesus could no longer satisfy us. Perfectionism finds no support here.

'Righteousness', dikIosUnA, is one of the cardinal terms of the gospel,fundamental for the entire Scriptures. it is the quality of one who is pronounced 'righteous' by the eternal Judge according to His norm of right.  the term is always forensic. (def - art of argumentation...in this case 'at law') always back of it stands the divine Judge and his judgment bar;  always it embodies his judicial verdict of acquittal.  No man, however wise and powerful, has ever discovered a way to turn a guilty, sinful soul into a righteous one.

*190  men Justify and declare themselves righteous, but this amounts to no more than the criminal's denial of his crime and never stands before the court which has the full evidence of his guilt. but what is beyond all human ability is brought about by Christ who by His holy life an sacrificial death met the demands of God's norm of right, met them in our stead and now transfers His perfect righteousness to us through faith and thus wins our pardon and acquittal before the divine judgment bar. 'Righteousness' cannot here mean the power of right in human affairs in the world of men generally; for the passive 'shall be filled' denotes a gift of God to certain persons, rendering  them 'righteous' in His sight. it cannot denote a virtue, the so-called acquired righteousness,when men live righteously and do what is right. the passive verb shuts out also this. this word cannot be translated 'goodness'. DikIosUnA is never agathOsUnA. (on all similar Greek terms in both secular and religious uses , are never anything but forensic (law), a verdict pronouncing righteous.

'Shall be filled' is again future, the verb matching the figure of hunger and thirst. but this is not a distant future in a supposed millennium or in heaven but one that at once feeds the hungry and gives drink to the thirsty. the moment faith in Christ is wrought, at that moment righteousness is declared without even the interval of a second. and ever and ever as we yearn to be righteous in god's judgment, His Word in a 1000 places declared us so. with these declarations, all of them advance pronouncements of the final verdict at the last day, every contrite and believing sinner can satisfy and fill his soul. the verb ChortadzO (shall be filled) is strong.  it is used to express the feeding and fattening of cattle with fodder and grain and men with abundance of

*191 food. he who is daily fed with Christ's righteousness is blessed indeed!

v7  BLESSED THE MERCIFUL; FOR JUST THEY SHALL BE TREATED MERCIFULLY.  the first 4 beatitudes look toward God, the next 3 toward men. these treat of 3 virtues which mark the godly as blessed. 'the merciful' are, of course, the same persons as those referred to in the previous beatitudes. Luther well says that in all the beatitudes faith is presupposed as the tree on which all the fruit of blessedness grows.  this, then, is not mere natural mercy as it is occasionally found among men generally but the mercy growing out of our personal experience of the mercy of God. God's mercy toward us always makes us likewise merciful,  18.21, etc. the noun eleos and its derivatives always deal with what we see of pain, misery and distress, these results of sin and Charis, 'grace',  always deals with the sin and guilt itself. the one extends relief, the other pardon; the one cures, heals, helps, the  other cleanses and reinstates. with God Charis (grace) is always first and eleos (mercy) second.
the agent back of the passive 'shall be treated mercifully' is again God and again the future means at once as we show mercy. in this future tense we ought to see the impossibility of a reference to the hereafter. there will be no misery there and thus no possibility of merciful treatment on the part of God. God first makes us merciful and then even blesses us for being merciful. this beatitude has stimulated God's people to do all manner of eleemosynary (def - of or pertaining to alms, charity  or charitable donations; charitable.) work.  it is well known how absolutely bare of even the idea of mercy many heathen religions are. the mercy of unchristian men about us, such as it is, disjoined from Christ, relieving only physical distress, is one of the indirect results of Christianity, never an outgrowth of the natural heart as such. the fearful cruelty which slumbers in the unregenerate heart, when occasion brings it out,

*192  is often appalling and its worst feature is 'man's cruelty to man'.

v8 BLESSED THE PURE IN HEART; FOR JUST THEY SHALL SEE GOD.

some regard 'the pure in heart' as a reference to sanctification, either in the wider sense (pardon plus good works) or in the narrower (good  works);  although only perfectionists think of complete sinlessness or 'total sanctification'. the Beatitudes are a perfect chain not a loose aggregation.  placed between mercy to our fellow-men and peacemaking, purity in heart must denote a single virtue. a glance into the Old Testament shows us the bar lebab (Heb), the exact counterpart to katharos tA kardEa in Ps.  24.4 ('he that hath clean hands and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up  his soul unto vanity , nor sworn deceitfully.) compare

Psalm 73.1- Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.
Genesis 20.5-6  - (Abimelech) said he (Abraham) not unto me, She is my sister? and  she, even she herself said, he is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this. (Abim had taken Abraham's wife Sarah into his harem based on what Abraham had said. and God said unto him in a dream, yea, i know that thou didst this in the integrity of they heart; for I also withheld thee from  sinning against me:  therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.'
I Tim. 1.5 - now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and of faith unfeigned;
II Tim. 2.22 - Flee also youthful lusts:  but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
I Peter 1.22 - seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heat fervently...

and Zahn's conclusion is evident :
'Pure in heart' = sinceritas (Latin), singleness of heart,
the honesty which has no hidden motive, no selfish interest, and is true and open in all things.
nothing is lost by thus specifying this virtue, for t is possible only in a heart that is justified and sanctified by God.
as the virtue, so the reward of grace;  'just they shall see God'. whatever may be said regarding seeing God in His Word by faith and regarding seeing him spiritually in communion with him in this life, 'shall see God' must here be the visio Dei in the other world, promised to the glorified saints,

I Corinthians 13.12 -  for now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face:
now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

I John 3.1-2  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.
beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.

between God who is pure and the pure in heart...an affinity exists, the consummation of which is reached in heaven. the greatest joy of heaven will be the vision of God. we need not think of looking into the unfathomable essence of God; for As God's presence delights the angel hosts and fills them with ineffable blessedness, so His presence will be made manifest to the pure in heart. blessedness will flood them like light in the beatific (def - to make blissfully happy) vision of the All-pure.

*193  V9  BLESSED THE PEACE MAKERS; FOR JUST THE SHALL BE CALLED GOD'S SONS.

Compare
Ephesians 4.3 - Endeavouring  to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Romans 14.19 - for as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
I Corinthians 14.33 - for God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
Hebrew 12.14- follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord...

at peace with God and thus themselves filled with sweet peace, they live in peace, if possible, with all men and work to keep and to make peace wherever peace is threatened  or lost.  theirs is the work of true Christians who follow in the footsteps of the Prince of Peace. nor is this 'peace at any price',  which ignores confessional principles and is unwilling to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 3) these are not unionistic peacemakers who combine contrary doctrines by agreeing to disagree. Truth of God comes first, peace with men second. friends are dear, the Word of our greatest Friend dearest. no 'blessed ' was spoken by Jesus upon the disrupters of the church who insist on their false views, nor upon those who regard the peace and the fellowship of their brother-confessors as being of slight value, so that they may run after other fellowships. the true peace of the church is a blessed possession,  we cannot guard it too closely. contentious , stubborn, obstreperous church members - this beatitude ought to make them impossible. also in the world, wherever strife arises, the followers of Christ work for peace in the spirit of their Master.

the passive 'shall be called' implies 'by God', for He alone can bestow the title 'God's sons' in truth and in reality. here, too, the future tense means that God shall call them His sons now when they prove their relation to Him by their peacemaking. Chiliasts  again think of their future mirage kingdom and others of the world to come. 'God's sons, UiOY, shall they be called; the title is not Tekna,  'children'.  the latter carries rather the connotationof tender affection, the former that of dignity and high standing. hence also 'they shall be called ' God's  sons; this high distinction

*194  shall be accorded to them and by God Himself. God Himself shall own them as sons of His. He who sent His Son to make peace between God and man will acknowledge as His sons those who in the spirit of His Son also make peace.

v10  Strange to say and a general paradox to all the designations of the godly thus far used, in particular also of the last, peacemakers, these people, loving and working for peace, shall themselves  be accorded the opposite of peace in this warring world.
BLESSED THEY THAT HAVE ALLOWED THEMSELVES TO BE PERSECUTED FOR THE SAKE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS; FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF THE HEAVENS.

in this final beatitude 'blessed' occurs twice, but the second is evidently only a repetition and thus marks an emphatic conclusion of the entire line of the beatitudes. this full elaboration of the final beatitude casts a special glamour over it, making one welcome persecution when it comes.  come it will as the Lord here intimates. in the previous beatitudes present participles are used, only here we have a perfect participle and that passive. it cannot here. this passive perfect  be equal to a present:  'are persecuted' (A.V.)
and it seems to be more than just the ordinary perfect passive:  'have been persecuted'. in all the previous beatitudes the designations indicate more than just inflictions, they show an inner attitude.  this seems to be the case with regard to DediOgmenoi.  this passive perfect may e regarded as permissive:  'who have allowed themselves to be persecuted' or : 'have endured persecution'.  the idea is that they did not flee from it but willingly submitted to it when it came to them. thus the perfect

*195  tense is explained; they held out under persecution and are now people of this kind, martyrs who have stood firm in just trials.
they endured 'for the sake of righteousness', 'Hneken DikIosUnA. the same term that was used in v6,  and it has the same forensic ( def - pertaining to, connected with,  or used in courts of law or public discussion and debate) sense.  it is God who as the great Judge pronounces His verdict upon them and thus accords them the quality of righteousness. these are true believers and as such righteous in God's eyes. they confess their faith and live up to it in their lives and thus prove obnoxious to the world which visits persecution upon them. ''For the sake of righteousness' thus means more than that they suffered innocently, although this, too, is included. they suffered  because of what they were in their character and their lives, for the divine approval that rested upon them. God adjudged them righteous, the world, in flagrant opposition to God, adjudged them abominable. because their whole character and their life, s approved of God constituted a standing rebuke to the world, indicating God;s judicial disapproval of the character and the life of the world, the world turned gains them and thus persecuted them.
having stood firm under the test of persecution in the righteousness they attained by God's grace, their great blessedness is that 'theirs is the kingdom of the heavens', all the grace, gifts and glory that go with the rule of the Messiah and King....whatever the world may take from them is more than made up by this heavenly possession which no one can take from them. to have Christ and all that Christ bestows by his kingdom and rule is more than life, liberty or earthly goods.

V11  the fact that this is still the same beatitude although 'blessed' is repeated is evident from the applicatory second person which is now used and from the description of the persecution just mentioned.

*196  'Blessed are you' shows how the disciples are to apply all these beatitudes, although they are couched in the third person, to themelves, including in particular the last. the intimation in Hotan, 'whenever', is that many cases of the kind now specified will occur. the 3 plural verbs have indefinite subjects: 'whenever they shall revile you', etc. no need to say ho is referred to. they are the enemies of Jesus and his disciples who oppose the kingdom. the three aorists express actuality. men will actually 'revile ' the disciples , upbraid them with violent language; 'persecute' or inflict injury upon them and ever afterward 'will say everything wicked against you' whenever they mention you. these certainly are painful inflictions. 2 important modifiers are added: PseUdomenOI 'by lying', for which we should use an adverb: 'falsely' and Heneken emU,  'for Mysake'. these 2 modifiers expand what emU,  'for My sake'.  these 2 modifiers expand what the phrase 'for the sake of righteousness' contains, namely the innocence of teh disciples and the real cause of this persecution, their adherene to jesus and to His teaching. on this subject jesus spoke fully to his disciples at various times and especially on the night before his death, John 15.18,  etc. jesus nevr held out ny false prospects fo his followers. 

VS 12  BLESSED ARE YOU WHENEVER THEY SHALL REVILE YOU AND PERSECUTE AND SAY EVERYTHING WICKED AGAINST YOU BY LYING, FOR MY SAKE.

instead of grieving and lamenting in view of this persecution or under the distress it inflicts, Jesus tells his disciples to 'rejoice and exult'. the 2 imperatives are durative: their gladness is never to leave them, no matter what they are called on to endure. an example of how the 12 lived up to this injunction is found in acts 5.41: 'rejoicing that they we accounted worthy to suffer shame (v40, beating)  for His name' ;add ll the painful experiences of Paul and the martyrdom of so many. 'Rejoice' is not enough, 'exult' or 'skip and shout for joy',  (agaliasthe), is added.

at once the adequate reason for the rejoicing under such circumstances is added:  'for your reward is great

*197  in the heavens'. this Misthos is 'pay', but never in the sense of something earned by works or sufferings of ours but as something unearned and freely bestowed by grace by the generous hand of God (19. 29). for He is ever a God who will let no man do a thing for Him and for His Son unless he reward it with an abundance that comports with his own greatness and glory. this 'pay' is 'great',  not according to our merit, which does not exist, but according to him who bestows it beyond any merit of ours.  it is 'in the heavens', laid up for us there like a wonderful capital drawing interest, to be paid out to us in due time. it consists, not in salvation, which becomes ours by faith before we ever do or suffer anything for Christ's sake, but in the greater glory that shall be ours in heaven.

with Gar an explanation is added:  'for thus they did persecute the prophets before you', namely in the old dispensation. here Jesus points to the most illustrious martyrs of the past  (23.34), etc.) , so many of whom gave up even their lives for God. He ranges the Twelve and His other disciples alongside of these prophets. in one and in only one way may we join this most illustrious company in heaven ; by joyfully suffering persecution for Christ's sake. beyond question the highest glory in heaven belongs to the martyred prophets and next to them stand in due order all others who in their various stations suffered for Christ. not in spit e of our persecutions are we to rejoice, but because of our persecutions. the wounds and hurts are medals of honor. thy attest that we belong to Christ not to the world. in war promotions rapid and the war of Christ never ceases. II Tim.  4. 7,8,
'I have fought the good fight,
I have finished my course,
I have kept the faith.
Henceforth  there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me in that day
and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.'

yet  (note - 'I') ..am afraid of a few scars for His sake.

the Beatitudes are not a string but a circle or circlet, for the last, like the first, bestows the whole kingdom. all are paradoxical but strikingly true. together they cover the whole life of the Christian.

*198 the first 4 in regard to God, the second 4 in regard to men. the main features of life are selected and combined in a grand whole. from the second to the seventh pertinent parts of the kingdom are assured, but no disciple ho has such a part can have it without having the whole. yet, whatever  our experience in the disciple life - for that experience the kingdom has a corresponding blessing. 

 











Wednesday, April 24, 2019

4.24.1019 TELESCOPES AND THEODICY* BY MARVIN OLASKY (World Magazine, 4.27.19)

*Theodicy - a vindication - Vindicate - to clear as from an accusation, imputation, suspicion or the like.        a vindication of the divine attributes, particularly holiness and justice, in establishing or allowing the existence of physical and moral evil.



From Dark Matter and Energy To the Prince of Darkness

if you haven't taken a science course since high school or college decades ago, here's some news: we know a lot less now about the basic makeup of the universe than we thought we did then.
several decades ago scientists Knew the universe was expanding .
the believed the expansion had to slow down.
no astronomer had observed such slowing but it had to happen because
the universe is full of matter,
matter has gravity and
gravity pulls things together.

in 1998, though , the Hubble  Space Telescope let us look at very distant stars.
it became apparent that the universe was expanding faster and faster, not slower.
Why? no one knew,
but it seemed that something else we couldn't see or measure had to be present.
theorists named the mystery stuff 'dark matter',
possibly made up of some subatomic particles
and 'dark energy', maybe made up of something else for which we have no name.

to explain the behavior of what we perceive through telescopes and other instruments,
scientists now guesstimate that 'dark energy' makes up 68% of the universe and
'dark matter' makes up 27%.
that adds up to 95%, which means we can see or measure only 5% of reality,
a humbling number indeed. again, we know of the dark stuff only because of its effect on visible matter. let's apply this to one of the hardest theological problems, theodicy,
which literally  means 'justifiying God'.
Christian theodicy attempts to explain why an omniscient, omnipotent and omnibenevolent God 
allows evil to exist and even -as with Nazi and Communist butchers - expand.

theologians over the centuries have proposed many explanations.
the most popular hinge on man's free will: God could have made us like robots or Stepford wives,
only able to obey orders -
but how then would we be in the image of God?
he could have kept bad things from happening to us,
but it's often those things that make us realize how desperately we need His grace.

many people understand that some suffering is educational and tratgedies affecting other families may warn us. I remember as a whitewater  rafter on the Nantahala River in North Carolina hearing  that 3 people out of 14,000 going down the river had droned,
So If You Fall Out Of Your Boat Don't Try To Walk And Possibly Get Your Foot
Snagged On A Rock And Fall Facedown: Float Downstream,Feet First.
a California Newspaper editor ran a photo of a mourning family standing over the corpse of a child who entered a lake Against Parental Instructions and Drowned:
readers protested, but that alert may have saved other lives.

we might say what does not kill us makes us stronger, but
what about all those who die suddenly without the opportunity to learn lessons?
what about hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes  that kill both innocent and guilty?
what about diseases that take the lives of children?
what about the scale of disaster?
6,000,000 Jews gassed or shot in the Holocaust, along with 6,000,000 others?
Tens of millions in China, the Soviet Union, Cambodia and elsewhere?
Tens of thousands year  after year in Syria, Yemen and other venues of war.
Why so Lord?

dark energy and dark matter:
Scientists can't see or measure any of it,
but they believe it exists because of its effect on what they can see and  measure.
the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus in the fourth century,
Bernard of Clairvaux in the 12th century and
John Milton in the 17th century also
had a name for what they could not see or measure,
except by its effect on the visible:
they wrote about Princeps Tenebrarum, the Prince of Darkness.

we don't tend to talk about Satan these days,
except in weak, semi-joking excuses ('the devil made me do it')
or Rolling Stones songs:
'Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
I've been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man's soul and faith...
when the blitzkrieg raged and the bodies stank'.

yet , as Jeffrey Burton Russell writes in Satan,
'the depth and intensity (of evil) exceeds and transcends what could be expected in an individual human.
...No theodicy that does not take the Devil fully into consideration is likely to be persuasive'

Dark matter. Dark energy. Dark supernatural power. 


Tuesday, April 16, 2019

4.17.2019 OTHERS MAY , YOU CANNOT by G. D. Watson (www.BulletinInserts.org


'if anyone wishes to come after me. he must deny himself, and TAKE UP HIS CROSS  and FOLLOW ME.  for whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Matthew 16.24,5

IF God has called you to be truly like Jesus in all your spirit,
HE WILL DRAW YOU INTO A LIFE OF CRUCIFIXION AND HUMILITY. HE WILL PUT ON YOU SUCH DEMANDS  OF OBEDIENCE THAT YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO FOLLOW OTHER CHRISTIANS. he seems to let other good people do things which he will not let you do.

others who seem to be very religious and useful may push themselves, pull wires and scheme to carry out their plans, but you cannot.
if you attempt it. IF YOU ATTEMPT IT, YOU WILL MEET WITH SUCH FAILURE AND REBUKE FROM THE LORD AS TO MAKE YOU SORELY PENITENT.

others can brag about themselves , their work, their successes, their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such things.


others will be allowed to succeed in making great sums of money or having a legacy left to them or in having luxuries, but God my supply you only on  a day-to-day basis, because He wants you to have something FAR BETTER THAN GOLD,  A HELPLESS DEPENDENCE ON HIM AND HIS UNSEEN TREASURY.

 the LORD may let others be honored and put forward while KEEPing YOU HIDDEN IN OBSCURITY BECAUSE HE WATS TO PRODUCE SOME CHOICE, FRAGRANT FRUIT FOR HIS COMING GLORY WHICH CAN ONLY BE PRODUCED IN THE SHADE.

GOD MAY let others be great, but KEEP YOU SMALL.  He will let others do a work for Him and get the credit, but HE WILL MAKE YOU WORK AND TOIL WITHOUT KNOWING HOW MUCH YOU ARE DOING. then , to make your work still more precious, HE WILL LET OTHERS GET THE CREDIT FOR THE WORK WHICH YOU HAVE DONE ;  this to teach you the message of the Cross, humility and something of the value of being cloaked with His nature.
THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL PUT A STRICT WATCH ON YOU  AND WITH A JEALOUS LOVE  REBUKE YOU FOR CARELESS WORDS AND FEELINGS , OR FOR WASTING YOUR TIME, which other Christians never seem distressed over.

SO MAKE UP YOUR MIND THAT GOD IS AN INFINITE SOVEREIGN  AND HAS A RIGHT TO DO AS HE PLEASES WITH HIS OWN ,  and that he may not explain to you 1000 things which may puzzle you r reason in his dealings with you.

GOD WILL TAKE YOU  AT YOUR WORD.
IF YOU ABSOLUTELY SELL YOURSELF TO BE HIS SLAVE,
HE WILL WRAP YOU UP IN A JEALOUS LOVE
AND LET OTHER PEOPLE SAY AND DO MANY THINGS THAT YOU CANNOT.
SETTLE IT FOREVER,
YOU ARE TO DEAL DIRECTLY WIT THE HOLY SPIRIT,
HE IS TO HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF
TYING YOUR TONGUE OR
CHAINING YOUR HAND OR
CLOSING YOUR EYES
IN WAYS WHICH OTHERS ARE NOT DEALT WITH.
however, KNOW THIS GREAT SECRET OF THE KINGDOM:
WHEN YOU ARE SO COMPLETELY POSSESSED WITH THE LIVING GOD
THAT YOU ARE,
IN YOUR SECRET HEART,
PLEASE and
DELIGHTED OVER
THIS
PECULIAR,
PERSONAL,
PRIVATE,
JEALOUS
GUARDIANSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
OVER YOUR LIFE,
YOU WILL HAVE FOUND  the vestibule of heaven,
THE HIGH CALLING OF GOD.



4.13.2019 NOT ENOUGH PLUNDER - Stephen Patton (World Magazine)

as April 15 , income tax day, approaches, Congressional Democrats are proposing significant increase in taxes to fund new programs. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, has proposed a 70% federal income tax on incomes above $10 million. other Democrats have proposed similar levies. proposals such as providing Medicare for all and the Green New Deal would require significant new expenditures and revenue to support them.
is it really possible to tax the rich to fund fully such new initiatives?

Many Democrats certainly think so. new York Mayor Bill de Blasio says. 'Here's the truth, brothers and sisters, there's plenty of money in the world.  plenty of money in this city. It's just in the wrong hands! Ocasio-Cortez says, 'a system that allows billionaires to exist' is immoral. US Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., says, 'we are the wealthiest nation in the history of the world - of course we can afford these investments'.
let's try some hypothetical exercises  to test out the theory. the Trump administration has asked for $4.7 trillion in spending for fiscal  year 2020. one way to raise this revenue in a progressive manner would be to confiscate all income, starting with the wealthiest Americans. based on the latest Social Security wage statistics tables from 2017, raising $4.7 trillion starting at the highest income levels would require all the taxable earnings of over 35 million Americans. the government would have to take away completely all taxable income of individuals earning over $65,000 in 2017 in order to cover the proposed spending for fiscal year 2020.
If, on the other hand, we were to 'outlaw billionaires',  a good place to start would be the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans. so what if we confiscate billionaires' money until we have funded the 202 federal budget? surely that would cover years of federal spending and leave plenty left over for new programs. or would it?
the budge proposal of $4.7 trillion annually represents $13  billion daily. if w star  with Forbes billionaire No. 1,  Jeff Bezos, with $160 billion in net worth, we can fund the federal government for 12 days. now who's next? Bill Gates and his $97 billion can take us about out to Jan. 27. this isn't going very well. we have reduced the 3 wealthiest Americans to food stamps and we are not even out of January yet!
it is obvious where this leads. take all the wealth of the Forbes 400 (a total of $2.9 trillion) and we can only fund the federal government for 225 days , or into the middle of August. now all those billionaires are a welfare expense to the government rather than a revenue source for the government. and we also have bankrupted state and local governments that are equally dependent on the success of these wealthy Americans.
progressives might protest and say corporations are not paying their fair share. when they lobby for tax loop-holes and then use those loopholes or when cronies in government give them preference over competitors, they deserve criticism. many reforms are worth discussing, but remember: Corporations provide the majority of the income to the working American s paying the individual income tax.  the stocks and bonds of corporations are central parts of the pension, investment and college funds of many Americans. IMPAIRING  OR CONFISCATING THOSE INVESTMENTS WILL ONLY INCREASE DEPENDENCE ON GOVERNMENT.

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

4.2.2019 EAT WELL, GET WELL, STAY WELL by Carlton Fredericks, PhD.

CHAPTER 10 - THE CONVENTIONAL LOW-CALORIE REDUCING DIET

*134  this diet will safely reduce a normal person at a rate of not over 2 pounds each week, it is a system of constructive  reduction which creates no deficiency, save in calories. the diet is balanced in protein intake and contains enough fat and carbohydrate to keep body function unimpaired. by the code system employed and the lists of foods, the need of set menus is eliminated and there is no need for counting calories.
every effort  has been made to keep vitamin-mineral intake as high as possible. however, a diet below  2,400 calories is very likely to be deficient in vitamins and minerals - a risk inherent in reducing the gross intake of food. it is recommended therefore that this diet be supplemented. this will not interfere with weight reduction but will help to avoid deficiencies of the type which have made reduction hazardous in the past.
a good way to die young is to reduce too quickly. on this diet, which permits much more generous meals than most,  a normal person should lose about 6 pounds a month. on it, some of the author's readers and radio listeners have lost a much as  150 pounds - safely, sanely and without discomfort.

*135  Breakfast

1 serving of fruit
1 egg or egg substitute
.5 slice (thin)whole wheat toast with .5 level tsp. butter
or
1 glass of skimmed milk
1 cup of coffee or tea (optional; no sugar, cream or milk)

Eggs and Egg Substitutes

Prepare your egg in one of the following ways:
Plain omelet
Poached
Soft-boiled
hard-boiled
Raw
Substitutes for 1 egg:
Cottage Cheese (4 Tbs)
Lamb chop  (1 small, lean
Lamb chop (1 small, lean)
Lamb kidney(10
Calves Liver (2OZ)
Mutton Chop  (1 small, lean)
Buttermik (1 glass)
Skimmed milk (1 glass)

Lunch

1 helping of lean meat, fish, fowl or meat substitute
1 vegetable from Vegetable List A
1 salad (from salad list
1 serving of fruit or dessert
1 glass of skim milk or buttermilk
1 cup of coffee or tea (optional; no sugar, cream or milk)

*136  Meat Substitutes

Cottage cheese (2/3 cup)
1 helping of lean meat, fish, fowl, or meat substitute
2 vegetables from Vegetable List A plus 1 from Vegetable list B
                                           OR
1 vegetable from vegetable List A plus 1 from Vegetable List B
                                         PLUS
1 helping of salad (Salad List)
1 portion of fruit or dessert
Coffee or tea (no sugar, cream or milk)

Soup List

Consomme
Clear vegetable soup
Beef broth
Chicken, mutton broth
other clear soups
note: no creamed soups, none with milk or containing vegetables, meat or cereals.

*137  Fruit List

orange (small)
Grapefruit (1/2 medium)
Apple (1 small)
Pineapple (2 average slices)
Peach  (1)
Cantaloupe (1/2 medium)
Melons (2 in. section of avverage-size melon)
Tangerines (1 large)
Berries (1/2 cup)
Apricots (2 medium)
Grapes (12)
Cherries(10)
Pear(1 medium)
Plums(2)
Nectarines(3)
Persimmon(1/2 small)

Fruit Juices: Grapefruit, Orange (unsweetened;  6 oz or 3/4 of water glass)

Vegetable list A

Asparagus (fresh or canned; 8)
Stringbeans(1/2 cup)
Wax beans (1/2 cup
Beet greens (2 heaping Tbs.)
Broccoli (1 5" stalk)
Brussels sprouts (1.2 cup)
Cabbage, cooked (1/2 cup)
Cabbage, raw (3/4 cup, shredded)
Cauliflower (1/2 cup)
Celery (5 stalks)
Chard (1/2 cup)

*138  Chicory (1/2 cup)
Eggplant (1/2 cup)
Endive(10 medium stalks)
Green pepper (1 medium)
Kohlrabi (2 heaping Tbs)
Leeks, chopped (1/3 cup)
Lettuce (10 leaves)
Radishes (5 medium)
Sauerkraut (1/2 cup)
Spinach (1/2 cup)
Tomatoes, fresh (1)
Tomatoes, canned (1/2 cup)
Tomato juice (4 oz.; 1/2 cup)
Watercress (10 pieces)

Vegetable B

Beets (2 heaping Tbs.)
Carrots (e heaping Tbs.)
Chives (6)
Dandelion greens (3 heaping Tbs)
Kale (2 heaping Tbs.)
Onion (1 , small size)
Parsnips (2 heaping Tbs.)
peas (2 heaping Tbs.)
pumpkin (3 heaping Tbs.)
Rutabaga (2 heaping Tbs.)
Squash (2 heaping Tbs.)
Turnips (2 heaping Tbs.)

Meat List

Lean beefsteak (1/4lb., about 1' thick, 2.5', square)
Roast beef (2 slices, about 3' square, 1/4' thick)
Beef liver ((1 slice, 3' square,  1/2 ' thick)

*139 Beef tongue (2 average slices)
Beef  kidney (1/4 lb.)
Hamburger (1/4 lb.)
Calf's liver (1/4 lb.)
Lamb kidney (2, average size)
Lamb chop (2, medium size)
Roast lamb (1 slice,  3 1/2' square,  1/4' thick
Mutton chop (2 medium size)
Boiled mutton (1 slice, 4' square, 1/2' thick)
Roast Veal (1 slice, 3'x2', 1/4' thick
Veal cutlet (1 average size)
Veal kidney (2, average size)
Chicken, white meat ( 2 slices, 4' square, cut very thin)
Chicken, broiler (1/2 medium size)
Chicken gizzards (2, average size)
(def - either the inner area of an animal that is involved in digestion of food or, more generally referring to innards)
Chicken livers (2 whole medium size)

Fish List

Sea bass (1/4 lb)
Bluefish  "
Cod, fresh or salt (1/4 lb. to 1/2 lb. )
Flounder (")
Haddock (")
Halibut (1/4 lb)
Kingfish ('')
Pike (")
Porgy )")
Red snapper (")
Scallops (2/3 cup, raw measurement)
Shrimp (")
Smelt (1/4 lb)
Weakfish (")
Clams, round (10-12)
Crabmeat (1 crab or 3/4 cup flakes)
Lobster (1/2 small lobster or 1 cup flakes)


*140  Mussels (4 large or 8 small)
Oysters (12 large)

Salads

Tossed greens Watercress, lettuce, tomato
Radish and watercress
Chef's salad
Pimento and greens
baked stuffed tomato, with cottage cheese and chopped celery
if butter is omitted from vegetables at lunch, 1 or 2 teaspoonfuls of salad dressing may be used, divide dressing between lunch and dinner salads. two daily are a good idea, for they increase your feeling of satiety.

Deserts

other than low-carbohydrate fruits such as strawberries and most of the melons, there is no such thing as a low-calorie dessert which a nutritionist with a conscience can recommend. (I'm not about to feed you on gelatin, colored with coal-tar dyes, artificially flavored and sweetened). whole gelatin, with added low-carbohydrate fruits, may occasionally be used. if you wish to chance occasional use of saccharin, you will find that low-calorie gingerale  added to nonfat mild powder will help slake the sweet tooth. but if you must use artificially sweetened desserts and drinks, do it with discretion, for abuse of saccharin, in the light of all the evidence, is gambling, particularly for me. if temptation is the only thing you can't resist, some of the following devices for controlling appetite should help you.

*141  Hunger Halters

there are nutritional techniques to cope with the yen for sweets and there are effective behavior modifiers which help to keep you from overeating. in the heath food stores, you will find unsweetened protein powders and tablets. you will note that I did Not mention the protein liquids. the omission is thoughtful. many (I think virtually all) of these are 'collagen' - which is a fancy disguise for gelatin. gelatin is not a complete protein and doesn't really slake appetite. (if it did, the French Revolution might have been averted, for they tried to satisfy the starving public with gelatin and necessarily failed.)
the protein concentrates are sometimes 'sweetened' with vanilla flavor .  this does give the illusion of sweetness, if you must have that .  a small amount of the powder in water or, better yet, the Chewing of a few protein tablets between meals will do double duty in controlling appetite, for it satisfies the urge to snake non something and tends to keep the blood sugar from sagging - which is the trigger for appetite in many people.
another nutritional aid is bran.  500 mg of bran in a tablet - again, chewed - yields a surprising satiety effect and adds the dividend of avoiding the constipation which sometimes occurs when food intake is sharply reduced. See 'Diet versus Constipation in appendix C for explicit instructions on using bran, for other supplements see chapter 12.
a technique of major benefit to dieters is behavior modification. certain characteristics of overeaters make reduction of food intake difficult for them. they don't chew enough ;  they gulp;  they don't really taste food;  they tend to read or watch TV or listen to radio when they eat. CHEW THOROUGHLY AND SLOWLY.  direct your attention to what you're doing, which means bypassing TV and other diversions while eating. COUNT 10  BEFORE YOU MOVE YOUR FORK FROM PLATE TO MOUTH, AND CHEW EACH MOUTHFUL 10 TIMES.  really concentrate on tasting what you're eating. as simple as these measures are , they help.
finally, Don't use the appetite-depressant drugs. I don't want to write a whole chapter, which would be required, to give you

*142  all the reasons for this piece of advice and will confine myself to the reasons for this piece of advice and will confine myself to the note that a good part of the action of these dangerous medications comes from their depressing effect on the sense of smell.  (when your sense of smell is acute, you're more inclined to overeat.) if you must interfere with that, use an inhaler containing one of the amphetamine-type drugs. there is not point in upsetting the whole body when your target is your nose alone.

CHAPTER 11  - THE LOW-CARBOHYDRATE DIET

 lesson #1:  a low carbohydrate diet is a real economic threat to bakers of bread and processors of sugar, cereals. and grains. when you read hysterical descriptions of such diets as being radical or dangerous, be sure to ascertain the credentials of the critics.  you'll find  many of them associated, directly or indirectly, with manufacturers of high-carbohydrate foods ranging from cornflakes to soda pop and candy. a conventional 1,200-calorie reducing diet contains 150 grams of carbohydrate.  a low carbohydrate diet contains about 60 grams. that difference doesn't license hysteria.

Lesson #2: your first step is to provide yourself with a handbook listing the carbohydrate values of foods. I've published one and there are many others available, most of them in inexpensive paperback form. you need this for the break-in period when you are learning to hold your carbohydrate intake down. i know you think you're  are hidden traps in today's marketplace. few would suspect the high sugar content of ketchup or the presence of sugar in canned green peas or the fact that Shake 'n Bake is about 50% sugar. most people are astonished to learn that the nondairy 'creamers' are 65% sugar and

*144  that there is sugar added to some brands of salt. take nothing for granted, for what you miss will surface on your hips. get the handbook.

Lesson#3:  count your carbohydrate grams before each meal, your objective is to stay within range of 60 grams of carbohydrate a day. that isn't as easy as it sounds, util you begin to learn and can select foods 'by reflex'.  early you will discover that a glass of pineapple and other fruits which are astonishingly high in sugar, you will learn to eat open-faced sandwiches, thereby avoiding one slice of bread and doubling up on the protein  - the cheese, meat, fish, fowl, or whatever constitutes the 'filling' of the  sandwich. and 'filling' is a well-chosen word, for adequate protein intake, rarely provide by ordinary sandwiches, does 'stick to the ribs'.  (Would you accept the ham in a ham sandwich as a portion, say for lunch,  if it were served without bread?) you will learn to reach for a bit of cheese instead of a cookie and you will drop breakfast cereals in favor of protein foods at breakfast.
the 60 gram figure isn't critical; it's a starting point and reflects my conservative approach. some people thrive on less; some grow weak and irritable when intake goes down to 20 or 40 grams, and some require more than 60.
the diet specifies  5 teaspoons of vegetable oil daily. some people take it like medicine, by the spoonful and some try to use capsules, though that will call for an inordinate number of doses. most find the vegetable oil enjoyable in it normal habitat - on salads. this intake is a Must, for reasons I've already explained. don't use the oil fro frying. while there is nothing wrong with properly fried food as such, the heat may change the oil chemically, depriving you of the property for which it is being recommended: that of expediting weight loss and directing the loss toward the problem areas.

this diet is for healthy people. it isn't intended for those whose physicians have ordered low-fat menus. it is divided into 6 meals for the good reason that this helps weight loss and weight control,

*145  and aids in normalizing the body's handling of both sugar and fats. it is also a formidable help for those who can resist anything but temptation, for there is little incentive  to cheat when you are never fare away in time from a snack or a meal.
when first i experimented with the low-carbohydrate diet about 15 years ago, i specified margarine as a spread since it's made from vegetable oil. however, my good friend Dr. Richard Passwater has pointed out that there is an abnormal concentration of an abnormal type of fat in modern margarine which actually harms rather than protects the arteries. if you elect to use margarine, I'd prefer that you confine yourself to 1 teaspoonful daily, using vegetable oil  to make up the rest of the 5-teaspoon-quota. when you buy vegetable oil, be sure it is free of BHA, BHT  and other additives. while there is no essential difference in supermarket versus health food store oils (they are all over-processed, those in the heath food stores usually are additive-free.

the typical low-carbohydrate menu which follows can be adapted to your own habits, so long as you stay within its limitations. this is to say that you can substitute any protein for any protein, but you can't replace a protein with a fat or sugar or starch. you can substitute one vegetable oil for another  and you can substitute one starch for another. (this doesn't contradict what i wrote before about different physiological effects of the same amounts of different starches. those differences are in your chemistry more than in the foods. )  you cant't use sugar as a substitute for starch and that includes any type of sugar. there is no form of that much abused food which isn't dangerous in high dosage and that includes white, yellow, brown, raw and turbinado sugars, as well as honey, fructose molasses and maple syrup. sugar is sugar.
in adapting the menu to your own life-style, keep in mind that limitation of gross carbohydrate intake is the active principle in this diet. 10 grams more or less of carbohydrate daily will not prove crucial,  but grater deviations from the  60 gram level may be significant, speeding weight loss if lower and retarding it if higher. your subjective feeling of well-being may vary with such

*146  changes. how you feel and the verdict on your scale will be the ultimate arbiters of the correctness of the diet for you.
consistency in using the diet is crucial. consistency in weight loss Isn't crucial. weigh yourself once a week, lest daily fluctuations unnecessarily plunge you into euphoria or depression.

Sample Low-Carbohydrate Menu

Breakfast
small orange or half grapefruit
poached egg with sausages (2; no BHT, BHA,  or other  preservatives) 1/2 slice of whole-wheat or other whole-grain  bread, with 1/2 tsp. of margarine or if preferred, 1 level tsp. mayonnaise

beverage of choice - coffee, decaffeinated coffee, herb or regular tea. cream if desired; no sugar.

Morning Snack
I cup skimmed  milk
1/4 cup creamed cottage cheese If bran is being used, 1 tsp. coarse bran may be stirred into cheese.

Lunch
Clear soup (optional)\Chicken or tunafish salad. use 4 oz.  protein food, 1 tsp. mayonnaise, romaine or bibb lettuce, chicory or escarole (unlimited amounts) plus chopped scallion, slice tomato.

any vegetable from approved list.
brown rice crackers (..equivalent to 1 slice bread) if you did not use margarine at breakfast,  1/2 tsp. can be used, in lieu of this, any nut butter can be used, 1/2 tsp.  don't overdo -nuts are high in protein and polyunsaturated fat, but contain considerable carbohydrate.

beverage of choice

Afternoon Booster

1/2 cup plain yogurt. if not using bran tablets, coarse bran may be stirred in.
cheese, natural, not processed, not cheese spread,  1 oz. on 1 small whole-wheat cracker

Dinner

Clear soup (optional)
4oz. tomato juice
steak or chops or hambuger or fish (1/4 lb. cooked weight)
approved vegetable
tossed salad, vinegar and oil dressing.
Strawberries, with Half & Half if desired
Beverage of choice

Evening Snack

1/2 cup skimmed milk or plain yogurt (bran addition optional in yogurt)
1 oz. any leftover chicken, cheese, met, fish or 1 tsp. peanut of other nut butter on 2 brown crackers.

Approved Vegetables

Vegetables marked with an asterisk are good sources of Vitamin C, often rich in other nutritional values and should be emphasized if they please your palate. of course, the vitamins in your multiple vitamin supplement will protect you even if you're determined not to eat anything that's good for you.

asparagus, avocado, *beet greens, *broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, celery, *chard', chicory, *collards, cucumbers , *dandelion, eggplant, endive, escarole, green pepper, green or wax beans, *kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, *mustard, radishes, sauerkraut, *spinach, string beans,  summer squash, tomatoes, tomato juice, *turnip greens, watercress.

Approved Fruits

take 2 servings of fruit daily, in amounts listed. those marked with an asterisk are good sources of Vitamin C. fresh, canned, cooked, or frozen fruits may be used, if they're free of added sugar - artificially sweetened fruit is okay, though. don't peel fresh fruit - peels are fiber sources.

apple (small), applesauce (1/2 cup), apricots, fresh ( 2 medium), Apricots, dried (4 halves)
banana (1/2 small), blackberries(1/2 cup), blueberries (2/3 cup), *cantaloupe (1/4 of 6 in. melon),
cherries (10 large), cranberries (1 cup), dates (2), figs, fresh (2 large), figs, dried (1 small), *grapefruit (1/2 small), *grapefruit juice (1/2 cup), grapes (12 large), grape juice (1/4 cup), honeydew melon (1/8 medium), honeydew melon (1/8 medium), mango (1 small), Nectarine (1 medium), *orange (1 small), *orange juice (1/2 cup), papaya (1/3 medium), peach (1 medium), pear (1 small), persimmon (1/2 small), pineapple((1/2 cup), pineapple juice (1/3 cup), plums (2 medium), prunes (2 medium), raspberries (1 cup), rhubarb (1 cup), *strawberries (1 cup), tangerine (1 cup), watermelon (1 cup)

all fruits and vegetables, whether served uncooked or cooked, peeled or unpeeled, should be thoroughly washed before consumption. pesticide residues help no one and can be reduced significantly by washing.
protein substitutions may be made as follows. a quarter of a cup of creamed or uncreamed cottage cheese, farmer cheese or pot cheese may be substituted for 1 ounce of meat. approximately 2 ounces of meat, raw weight, may be replaced with 1 egg. an ounce of cheddar or other American-type cheese, or the equivalent
*150  in other types, can replace about 2 ounces of meat, raw weight. peanut butter is a good source of protein, but it is also a good source of carbohydrate,and the commercial varieties contain saturated fat. even if it'[s one of your favorite snackfoods, eat no more than one tablespoon of peanut butter weekly.

CHAPTER 12 - SUPPLEMENTS TO REDUCING DIETS.

*151  multiple-vitamin-mineral supplements, frequently combined in the same capsule or tablet, are widely available from many manufacturers.
megavitamin potencies are not necessary, for our objective is to protect you against deficiency.  with such supplements, it is desirable to use an additional Vitamin B Complex concentrate. desiccated liver is  good choice. the carbohydrate content of brewer's yeast makes this ordinarily excellent supplement, undesirable with a low-carbohydrate or restricted calorie diet a Vitamin B Complex capsule or tablet will be a helpful addition...

Bran is more effective i the coarse rather than the finely ground form. either form may be obtained in tablets as well as 'loose'. a detailed description of the way in which to introduce bran (see p174...Brewer's Yeast, which I employ as a source of Vitamin B Complex, is available in powder and in tablet and capsule form.  be sure that what you buy Is brewer's yeast and not the Torula type.  if the label doesn't tell you, write to the manufacturer. the distinction is important, for the Torula type doesn't supply selenium, which Is in brewer's yeast. Selenium is regarded as a very effective preventive agent for may types of cancer. so much so that higher levels of human cancer in areas have been found where soil selenium  values are low...