St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verse: 14c; The End.

Our paragraph topic is:  (He tells them of trials and hard times to come) Part 13.  

They asked him to tell them of these things, when they would happen, the signs of their coming, and when the end would come.  Curious minds wanted to know what would happen.  They wanted to know details.  They wanted to be aware of the coming doom.  Little did they know that they would not see the day that it would happen.  They would be long dead and buried before the end came.  Yet Christ gave the word that the gospel of the kingdom would be told throughout the world before the end would come.

Nations would know of his words of the coming of the end before it would happen.  The disciples were the witnesses who would relay the message of the coming doom so that all would know of his words.  They would put to words his message so that all would have the opportunity to read and know the prophesy of Christ of the coming end of the world.  He told them that the gospel would be preached in the whole world:  "And then will come the end."  

We today still wait for the end.  We do not know, even though we have heard of the gospel of the kingdom of heaven.  We still wait for the coming of the trails and tribulations predicted by Christ.  Some do not believe that they will come and go about their lives as though nothing will happen.  Others have not made any preparations for its coming.  They ask no forgiveness nor seek no thoughts of the wrongs they have committed against God and their fellow man.  Yet the clock ticks and time marches on minute by minute second by second.

The message has been given to those who would listen, those who have ears to hear, who hearts to believe, who have blood to fear.  It is available for all to read and know.  Their is no excuse, no escape.  God is patient for he wants all to have the opportunity to receive his grace.  But there is a limit to his mercy.  There is a limit to his patience.  There is a limit to what he will allow to pass without his judgement.  The end will come weather now or in the future, weather for the living or for those who have passed on.  All will see and all will know of it's coming, when it is happening.  Pray for God's mercy. Pray that we may not be caught up in the storm.  Pray that his love will save us from the trials and tribulations to come.  In Christ's name pray.

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself.  Do not study it in parts reading one passage nd then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ .   The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.

St. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses: 35c; Between the Temple and the Altar.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their persecution of religion) Part 13.  

How could they escape the damnation of hell, the doers of evil who in cooperation with Satan's minions were the perpetrators of the murders of the prophets and the messengers of God.  They refused to repent.  They refused to believe.  They refused to open their eyes and see the evil that was within them.  Instead they agreed to go along with that which influenced them.  They agreed to believe that they were right in what they were doing.  

They continued to believe that they were right in persecuting the religion of God and suppressing the messengers and the prophets he sent.  They were lost and could not see.  They were blind and had no understanding of who they were, even though the opportunity was given them to change.  They could not change.  They continued to scourge and persecute from town to town, to pursue from village to village every messenger sent to proclaim the good news.  They even pursued Zacharias: "Whom you killed between the temple and the altar."

They were blind in their sight.  They had no understanding of what they were doing.  Evil led they to commit murder in the most sacred of places.  The evil within led their blind rage to commit sin in the Temple before the altar without thinking of what they were doing.  And yet they will suffer the consequences of their actions and have the blood of all the just to pay.  These words were spoken by Christ from his father God upon the Scribes and the Pharisees to the evil generation of spirits that influenced them. 

What a heavy burden to bear to be a part of such a group that must carry such a sin to pay such a price.  Adam and Eve made the ultimate sin that stained all mankind with mortal sin that no man could pay the price to lift.  It took the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, to come down from heaven to save mankind from the stain of mortal sin.  We now have an opportunity to become new.  We can now have new life because before we were dead with mortal sin but Christ paid the price for our sin and gave us the chance to have new life.

To have new life all we have to do is believe in him.  All we have to do is believe that he is the Son of God and that we have a Father in heaven who is our creator.  Belief opens the door for us.  Belief creates the spark of life.  Belief gives us a new soul that allows us to have eternal life instead of continuing to be dead.  Do you believe?  Do you know?  Do you understand who you are?  The Bible says seek and you will find, knock and it shall be opened to you, ask and it shall be given.  Believe!  Ask for your new life and receive it.

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage nd then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ .   The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.

St. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses: 35b; The Blood Abel to the BLood of Zacharias.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their persecution of religion) Part 12.  

The pronouncement of judgment continues upon the Scribes and the Pharisees of the crimes they have committed against the just.  The list of the blood they have spilt is long.  Yet that list can only include those evils they have done during their lifetime.  God speaks of the blood that was shed long before they were born and how that blood will be accounted to their list of crimes.  How can this be?  How is it that the Scribes and the Pharisees are responsible for those evils before they were born, before they were conceived, at the beginning of the history of mankind?

God speaks beyond the physical to the spiritual evil that is within them.  He speaks to the evil that has taken over the Scribes and the Pharisees to posses them to do the murders.  He speaks to Satan's minions.  They are the ones who will suffer the wrath and the judgment for the blood that has been shed since the beginning of time.  He tells them upon their heads will come all the just blood shed on the earth:  "From the blood of Abel the just unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias."   

What gives life to the body?  Is it the blood that pumps through our veins?  is it the heart that pumps the blood through the veins to all parts of the body such that if it stops life ceases to exists?  Or is it the electrical impulses that comes from the brain that tells the heart to pump the blood, that tells our muscles to work, that causes our eyes to see, that allows us to feel sensations and taste food?  What gives life to the body?  In all of this is it the soul that comes from God that starts the entire process of life as we know it that allows us to experience reality.

We live through the experience of life.  We have knowledge of the world around us.  We explore it.  We dissect it.  We seek to know it and control it to make it our own.  But this is life for us, this is how we come into this world and how we will leave it.  We are given a history and a reality that tells us there is good and there is evil in our experience.  We can choose either to know as our own.  Where does that take us?  We are led to search for a deeper knowledge of either experience which will reinforce our belief systems of who we are and who we will become.  We will either have good experiences or evil experiences and produce lifestyles that result from those. 

Christ came that we might know the truth of who we are in him.  He came that we would see, that we would hear, that we would have real life experiences to follow.  His was the way of enlightenment, the way of knowledge, the way of belief, the way of hope and faith, that opens the doors to a new way of life.  He came to show us that we are not just the physical but also the spiritual.  He also let us know that there is also the real evil that wants to posses and lead us astray.  

God is ever-living.  He is the God of the living and not of the dead and we have the opportunity to live beyond the flesh if we believe.  Call upon Christ and he will come.  Believe in Christ and he will hear.  Open your heart to Christ and he will fill it with his love. 

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage nd then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ .   The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.

St. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses: 34b; Scourge and persecute.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their persecution of religion) Part 10.  

In the previous part God speaks to the Scribes and the Pharisees through Christ Jesus to let them know his judgment upon them.  God and Christ are one.  But we know that God speaks simply through the use of the pronoun I.  He says " I send you."  Christ does not speak this but God speaks this through Christ to the Scribes and the Pharisees.

Christ has offered them opportunities to repent of their ways.  He has opened the door for them to repent of their persecution of their religion but they are not open to the idea of repentance.  They are set in their ways, completely possessed of the evil within them.  This is why Christ calls them a brood of vipers.  They cannot change.  God tells them that the prophets and the wise men he will send them:  "And some you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from town to town."

How did he know what they would do?  How did he foresee their actions?  Would they fight and continue to persecute the spread of God's religion from town to town?  Were they that zealous in their beliefs against the spread of God's love for his people?  

Christ came to establish a new covenant with man.  He came to build his church on earth, to teach his disciples how to love, how to live, how to spread the words of the kingdom of heaven.  In order to do that he had to suffer the sacrifice for our sins and pay the price for our deliverance.  The Lamb of God shed his blood for us.  He died, was buried, and rose again on the third day declaring his deliverance over death and the grave.  And God took him into his arms up into heaven where he sits at his right hand waiting for the coming of judgment day.

Do not be afraid Christ told his disciples many times.  His last words were that he will be with us always, even until the end of the world.  Let us remember that we have a Father in heaven who is the creator of all things who is in control.  When things do not go the way that we expect or would like and we get disappointed, always remember that God is in control and it is he who has the ultimate say.  It is his plan that will work out and not ours.  We must be thankful that he is in control and not us.  Thank you Father for the blessings that you have given us this day.  Keep us in your grace. 

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage nd then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ .   The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.

St. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses: 31b; Those who killed the prophets.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their persecution of religion) Part 5.  

Christ is speaking directly to the Scribes and the Pharisees on how they are destroying the religion of the people.  The things they are doing and the rules and the laws they enforce have little to do with increasing the faith of the people but instead destroying their belief in their God.  Why is it so difficult on the people at this time in their lives?  Why do the leaders proclaim so many laws that they have to follow?  Why are they treated like slaves where every move is watched over by the religious leaders to make sure they are doing no wrong?  Why is there no mercy in the Lord?

God heard the cries and sighs of his people and sent his prophets to warn the leaders of their harsh treatment of the people.  He sent messengers to the Pharisees to tell them of their wrongs. The prophets proclaimed in the streets the message of God but the leaders would not have them stirring up the people with a different word than that which came from them.  To put an end to the messenger they killed the prophets, spilled their precious blood.   And the people were left without the message.  The new leadership followed in the same footsteps as their fathers maintaining the same rules, persecuting the religion as their fathers before them.

When Christ confronted them about their fathers, they tried to escape their heritage but they only convicted themselves by their own words.  He told them that they can not deny: "That you are the sons of those who killed the prophets." 


They, indeed, were the heirs of their fathers who killed the prophets.  As much as they might try to hide from that fact it would be part of their heritage.  Their fathers trained them, taught them how to rule the people.  They taught them the ins and out of leadership, and getting ride of the opposition was one of the key tools handed down to the children.  This was how they ruled the people.  Keep everyone in line.  

We see this even today, in every corner of industry, government, management, finance, business, etc.  As long as you stay in line with your leaders and do as they ask, keep your head down, don't make trouble, no matter what, you will be fine.  If you see something wrong, ask too many questions, speak up at the wrong time, you are subject to find yourself at the back of the line and out the door.  These are the rules of our society and they are enforced down to the man.

Ask yourself, where do you want to be in life?  On the inside or on the outside?  How far are you willing to go to achieve your goals?  What are you willing to do to get there?  Are you willing to lie, cheat, steal, slander, cause harm, murder, lower your moral standards, whatever? We are driven to get ahead.  We are motivated daily to have the things that we see that others have.  We want the same things and we will have them!  And then there is that little voice that sits on our shoulder that tells us how to get what we want if we only have the guts and the courage to take it.  Evil has come full circle.

Christ came to redeem us from the evil in the world.  He came to give us a new life, a life rich with all the joy and happiness that this world cannot offer.  He came that we might have peace within, knowing that we are already wealthy, rich beyond the worldly material of mankind.  Our joy lies with him.  Our peace is in him.  Our love is from him.  We are in him and he is in those who will accept him.  

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage nd then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ .   The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.

St. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses: 30; In the days of our Fathers.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their persecution of religion) Part 3.  

What was religion in those times?  God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and Moses gave them to the people, the Israelites.  They traveled through the desert with the Arch of the Covenant until they reached the promise land God gave them.  Their religion was then the Ten Commandments and the writings of Moses and the leaders that followed.  There were many situations that came up requiring resolution.  Those resolutions required new rulings to be handed down.  Thus as time pasted many more rulings were added to the commandments which became the Law for the Jewish religion.

Often times leaders went astray and prophets were sent by God to give warnings and guidance to the leadership to get back on the right path.  Many did not listen.  Many prophets were killed for the message they brought.  Yet God continued to send those messengers to his people that those who would listen would heed his warnings and return to their true God.

Centuries went by without any messengers and now Christ comes to save mankind from sin.  The Scribes and the Pharisees have spent years persecuting the people, keeping them in line for the Romans, fearing they would loose their positions of power and prestige.  They cared not for the religion of the people, only for their personal glory.  Christ called them hypocrites, they build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn the tombs of the just: "And say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been their accomplices in the blood of the prophets.' "  

Blood, is the essence of life.  It flows within and through every human being on this planet.  We are different on the outside, but our lifeforce is the same on the inside, blood.  The precious blood of the innocent children was shed for the Christ child that he might avoid the swords of Herod.  The precious blood of the prophets was shed to bring the message to the people of Israel to repent and change their ways.  The innocent blood of the lamb of Christ was shed for all mankind for the sins we have committed.  His blood cleansed the earth giving everyone new life, the opportunity to eternal life.

The Scribes and the Pharisees persecuted their religion, seeking to control the people.  Christ came to release the people from death that they might have new life.  For those who believe it is there for the seeking.  For those who want it is there for the asking.  For those who know it is there for the seeing.  The path is there for those who want to find it.  He has given us the way, the truth and the light.  All we need to do is reach out and grab it.  

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage nd then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ .   The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.