St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verse: 10c; Those who hate.

 Our paragraph topic is: (He tells them of trials and hard times to come) Part 6.  

To them he looked like an ordinary man, but that was far from appearances.  He was more than what he appeared to be.  He saw more, he knew more, he understood more than ordinary man.  And he told his disciples more.  Hard times were to come and he wanted them to know, to be prepared.  The sheep would scatter.  The leaders would be persecuted.  The believers would become martyrs.  Many would turn against one another and dark times would prevail.  

Christ didn't have a crystal ball to tell the future, he knew it.  It was as if he could see what would happen in the future, as though time stood still and he walked through the future to see it all unfold.  He knew that there were many true believers who would become saints.  They sacrificed themselves for their beliefs.  He also knew that there were those who professed to believe but were hypocrites.  They were the ones who would turn and run for their lives.  He told his disciples, their would be those who would deny their belief:  "And will hate one another."

They had to hate in order to survive.  Survival was important to them because it was what they knew.  They did not know the Word.  They did not hear the message.  They did not accept the Word of God that there was more to life than just the physical.  Christ came to testify to the spiritual.  He came that we would have life, true life beyond just the physical.  And many missed the message of the kingdom of heaven that he came to give us.

Today we have the Word.  Today we know that there is life after death.  Christ came and conquered death.  He arose from death and ascended into heaven back to his Father where he sits at his right hand until the time comes for judgment.  We have a choice today.  We can choose life or we can choose death.  We can choose to believe or choose not to believe.  We can choose to love or choose not to love.  We can choose to be with Christ and have life eternal or death eternal.  This is what we are given today.

There is so much love and joy and happiness waiting for us in heaven.  All we have to do is accept and believe that we have a father who loves us.  Belief opens the door.  Love fills the heart.  Faith allows one to see the truth of his hand at work in your life.  Prayer speaks to him of our weakness, our fears and doubts.  It shows him that you seek his mercy and his love.  Open your heart.  Open your mind.  Open your soul and let him in.  For he is the fulfillment of all your dreams.

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 24, verse: 9b; Put to Death.

 Our paragraph topic is: (He tells them of trials and hard times to come) Part 2.  

The disciples are all sitting around listening to the things that Christ is recounting to them of the events to come as though he was telling them a bedtime story.  Their minds intently absorbing all that is said without understand fully the meaning of how it will impact their lives.  It is almost as if they are in a dream listening to him speak not knowing what he is saying but taking it in for later reference.

Christ spoke to their souls.  He spoke to things that would happen in the future.  He spoke of things that they did not completely understand.  Yet they listened, they heard, they remembered, they recalled all that was said and put to written word what they witnessed, saw, and what was said.  The spirit works in ways that they did not understand yet it was within them and came forth from them for us today.  He told them they will deliver you:  "And will put you to death."

And death was the word that brought them back to reality because it was something that they all understood.  They lived it daily.  They saw it regularly.  They knew it at the hands of the Romans frequently.  It was something that brought both anger and fear.  Anger because it came at the hands of an outside invader and fear because no one wanted to suffer the brutal consequences of death by Roman torture.

This was the way of life during the life of Christ.  The people did not know or believe in life after death.  They did not completely believe in heaven and the God of their ancestors.  They read the Torah on Sundays as part of their ritual and heard from their elders but mostly were forced to follow the Law by the scribes, the elders, the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  Christ came to change all that.  He came to bear witness to the truth, to open the gates of heaven, to allow all the waiting souls to enter, to pay the price for the sins of the world.  He was the sacrificial lamb, the innocent one, the one born without sin.

Today we live our lives in pursuit of happiness.  We seek to have those things and those ones in our lives that will give us pleasure and joy and make us feel good about ourselves.  We care not about others as long as we are satisfied in our own world.  We seek to surround ourselves with like individuals of the same mindset to create a circle of friends that make up our world.  And as long as our world is complete we are happy.  Death is the final goal in life and time is the gate keeper.  And when that time comes the door opens and we must enter whether we are ready or not. 

So life ultimately is about a choice.  We have so many years to come to a knowledge and to make a decision based on that knowledge of who we are.  Christ came that we would have the truth of that knowledge.  He came that we could have life and have it more abundantly.  For life is temporary here and permanent, eternal, there.  Which we choose is up to us.  Death is only the doorway to the truth.  Christ awaits our choice.  He has open arms for those who love him and want to be with him for eternity.  The choice is ours to make.  Make the choice to accept his open arms of 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 22, verses: 30b; Angels in Heaven.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Christ's answer) Part 3.  

They knew not the scriptures nor the power of God.  This is why they erred in their beliefs about the resurrection and life after death.  The Sadducees did not believe in life after death.  But they were curious as to what Christ had to say on the subject.  They were certain of their beliefs.  Their belief is what they had taught and known all their lives but Christ spoke of something different.  He spoke of a father in heaven and life after death that made them curious.

This is why they came to him with the question of the widow and the seven brothers.  They posed a question that would address the question of the resurrection.  Christ told them that they were wrong in their thinking because they did not know the power of God.  He told them:   "But they will be as angels of God in heaven."  

And there we have it from the living word of God himself as to what we will be in heaven.  Christ has given us a picture of the shape and form of our future selves in heaven.  We will be as angels of God. 

Many people wander about the afterlife, what it will be, how it will be, where it will be.  Here in the spoken words of the Messiah himself he tells us what we need to know of our future selves.  A new type of form, other than the physical form.  He tells us of a new being other than the mental.  He tells us of a new type of spirit other than the soul that we know of today, a spiritual form of the angels given by the power of God our creator.  Eye has not seen nor has the mind conceived of the things that God has prepared for those who love him.  This is the power of God our creator.

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 21, verses: 45; To whom do I speak.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Application of the parable) Part 7.  

Christ came to the conclusion of his parables and the chief priest and the Pharisees consider all that he has said.  They ponder the meanings.  They seek the understandings.  And they finally know that Christ has spoken of them and directly to them.  There is no doubt that all that was spoken was spoken of them. 

There is a part that denies what was spoken and there is a part that knows what was spoken to them.  Finally the word breaks through that which was concealed, that which was hidden and brings to the surface that which is known to the conscience mind.  They were blinded and could not see.  They were deaf and could not hear.  They could not understand the Word and refused to allow meaning to enter.  But now the words were clear, the meaning was unmistakable, and the reaction came forth.  And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them.  

We see, we hear, we taste, we touch, we know.  These are the faculties that we use to determine meaning.  Often times we hear something spoken by someone and we do not know if the person is talking about us or if they are speaking in general.  In our houses of worship we listen to the homily by out pastor and imagine that the sermon applies to us or not.  When we allow for the words to sink end we find that there is meaning, there is a lesson that can and does apply.  

How do we hear?  How do we make meaning of what we hear?  How do we understand?  We use comparisons to relate.  We refer to our history to make sense of what we hear.  We translate meanings in order to use them for future use.  Above all to survive in this world we must have meaning in our lives.  Things must make sense.

But how can we make sense of that which the world claims does not exist?  How can we make sense of that which all society ignores.  We stand on the outside trying to compare the world with the spiritual, the non-world.  Christ gave us a key.  He opened a door so that we would not be left alone.  He built an institution that would help us, guide us, protect us in our daily lives.  And he provided a written testament to the journey that we would face in this world.

Within us is the key.  Within us is the knowledge.  Within us is the tool that we must use to transcend that which is physical to that which is spiritual.  The journey requires a leap.  The path is broken and we must cross a deep gorge.  The only way to the other side is through the belief and the faith that Christ has given us through his life here on earth.  Many times did he tell us to not be afraid.  Many times did he scorn us for our lake of faith.  And many times did he tell us that a mustard seed of faith would move mountains.  Ours is the opportunity.  Ours is the journey.  Ours is the joy in knowing that he lives and is with us at all times.  Take the leap.  Reach the other side.  Know the true meaning of who you are in Christ and yours will be the reward of heaven.

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 20, verse: 6a, Standing Idle.

Our paragraph topic is: (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard) Part 6. 

We were listening to Christ telling his disciples the parable of the laborers in the vineyard.  He had previously told them how riches would hinder one from entering the kingdom.  He is teaching his disciples about a new place.  He wants them to understand that the kingdom is different from anything that they know.  It is not like what they know here on earth.  One cannot think about heaven in the same light as one would think of a place here on earth.  Heaven is a spiritual place.  It is a place of peace.  It is a place of glory, and majesty, and love.  And the human imagination has no reference to compare with.

There are rules to entering.  We entered the earth through our parents.  They brought us into the physical world.  Yet we are given spiritual life through God our Father.  He gave us life for a purpose.  He loved us enough that he wanted to share his love.  And he is merciful enough that he forgave our trespasses.  Christ tells his disciples of this parable of the laborers because he wants us to understand our part.  He wants us to know what we have to do to participate in the kingdom of heaven.  As he told his disciples:  "But about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing about." 

Are we standing about with nothing to do?  Are we idle workers seeking work?  Have we been called to work in the vineyard?  What is your purpose?  What is your job?  What has the spirit given you to do in the vineyard?  Are you collecting the grapes?  Are you picking the grapes?  Are you the one that carries the grapes to the wine press?  Or are you the one that works the press to tamp out the wine?  We all have a purpose.  We all have an assignment.  We all are workers in the vineyard if we are believers.

If you believe in your heart that Christ is the son of God our Father and that he came down from heaven to sacrifice for our sins, then you are a worker.  The question is, are you working or are you idle.  Do you only work on Sundays or are you a 24/7 worker?  Do you feed the hungry when the opportunity arises or do you pass them over?  Do you lend a helping hand or do you turn the other way when a hand is needed?  Do you have the love of Christ within you or is that something that comes out only with church members?  Do you share the love that is within you with those who are down and out without hope? 

Being a worker in the vineyard only means that it is in your heart.  Being a worker in the vineyard means that the love and the spirit of Christ is within you.  Being a worker in the vineyard means that the passion that Christ has for each and every one of us, is seen in the drunk on the street, to the dope addict, to the beggar, to the thief, to the ones who has lost their way, to the prostitute.  We are all children of our Father in heaven.  He gave us life from nothing.  We did not exist.  We had no form or shape or life or purpose until that moment when he commanded that we have life. 

And here we are today, living in this physical form that we may experience the physical realm and choose who we are.  Are we the children of God our Father or are we just the physical embodiment of ourselves?  The spirit lives within.  But the physical is what we experience.  In that spirit lives the life that is given us by our Father.  In that physical body lives the spirit of who we are.  And in that body lives that light of the life that we are, waiting for that time when we transition into the glorious beings that our Father has given life to. 

The work of the spirit is within us.  The acknowledgement of the spirit is upon each of us.  The knowledge of who we are is open to each of us.  And that knowledge will open our eyes to the beings we are, transforming us to workers in the vineyard of Christ.  When the truth of who you are in Christ comes upon you, the light of life shines within you.  And your light glows from the love that comes from God our Father.  For from him, and through him, and with him we are transformed into more than just the physical.  We become the lights of the world that shine for others to see in the darkness.  Open your heart to the truth!  You are the light of the world.  Let your light shine for all to see. 

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 and 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 19, verse: 17c, Keep the commandments?

Our paragraph topic is:  (The rich young man speaks to Jesus) Part 3.

One there is who is good and he is God.  The Father created us.  The Father gave us life.  The Father protects us and guides us and provides for us.  And he is good.  He is great.  He is wonderful.  He is glorious.  He is above all and is all.  And he is good.  But we live in a world where our actions indicate that there is no belief in God.  Our actions demonstrate that we are our god.  We believe that we must do for ourselves.  We believe that we must provide for ourselves.  We believe that we must protect ourselves in any and all circumstances.  And when the world demonstrates that we are not in control, we do not know how to make sense of it.  We loose control rather than surrender the control to our Father.  We believe through our actions that we are the ones who are great and wonderful and glorious.

The young rich man questioned Christ to get an answer to his question.  He wanted to know what he must do.  And behold he came.  Of all the people who followed Christ and sought his teachings, this young man appeared and asked the question that could have set him on the right path as he stood at the crossroad seeking to know which direction to take.  He asked:  "What must I do to attain heaven?"  And Christ told him:  "But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." 

Keep the commandments.  Simple, easy, straight to the point: "Keep the commandments."  Is it just that simple.  Is it just that easy, to just keep the commandments.  As we are children our parents command us to follow their rules.  Looking out on the world and seeing what it has to offer, we rebel.  Our society commands us to follow the laws that are set before us, we do not.  We adapt them to fit our own needs as we see fit.  Our God gives us commandments to follow as a guide to life, but we create our own guide to follow as we choose.  There are those who would believe and would attempt to follow the commandments.  We are not perfect so we make some effort to obey.  Yet in the world we live in, we are compelled to disobey, to set aside, to rationalize our actions to fit the situations we face.  Our society motivates us to turn away from the commandments and to follow the norm of today.

Keep the commandments.  Keep the rules that are given to us and do not go astray from them.  They are the boundaries that separate us from the protection that our Father provides and the evil that wants to lead us away from our Father.  The choice is ours.  Choose to follow the commandments or choose to cross over and be led by that which will lead you astray.  What do we loose?  What do we gain?  If we only knew the peace, and the joy, and the happiness, and the glory that is ours, we would not make the choices that we make today.  We sacrifice our heritage simply for the glitz and glamour of the moment. 

Our Father does not dictate to us.  He merely sets guidelines to follow.  He is good and he knows what is best for us.  He sees the truth of the choices that we make.  He knows the path down which our decisions will lead us.  And he is compassionate and merciful to forgive us if we awake from the influences of evil and turn back to his protection.  But if we knew the truth of our decisions and the treasures we give up for the passion of the moment, we would not make the decisions that we make.  We would rejoice in the commandments, if we knew.  We would celebrate the gifts of the Father, if we knew.  We would be overwhelmed with the path that we walk, if we only knew the treasures we forsake.  We have a choice.  And the choice is ours to make. 

Let us not be led astray by the influences of the world.  Fear not the loss of the flesh, for the spirit is alive and cannot die.  Fear not the death of the body for the body is dust and must return to dust.  For worse than death is the one who can kill the body and kill the soul in hell.  We have the life that has been given us by Christ.  We have the life that is within us.  We are the children of our father, created in his image and likeness.  Yet we live in the flesh not knowing the truth of who we are in the spirit.  Keep the commandments!  Seek the truth of who you are in Christ and you will know and see the light of life that is within you.  The Holy One will come and abide with you.  The Holy One will teach you.  The Holy One will guide you, protect you and be with you at all times.  Then you too will know the truth of who you are.  And with that truth no one will be able to lead you astray.  For your light shines within, and that light is the life that Christ has given you that you will know where you are from.  Open your mind.  Open your heart.  See the truth that is within you.  For you too are a child of God, your Father.

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 and 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 16, verse 25, The Cross of Man: Life!

Our paragraph topic is: (The doctrine of the cross) Part 2.   

Death was in the minds of the disciples.  Death was the fear of the disciples.  Death was the unknown factor that all feared, for no one knew except Christ what happened after death.  But death was upon them, for Christ had spoken to them of his impending fate.  As they were going up to Jerusalem Christ instructed his disciples as to his fate.  He told them that he would suffer at the hands of the Gentiles and that he would face death.  And the disciples knew what kind of fate that death meant.  It meant death on the cross, a fate too horrible to imagine or to think of.  And they were fearful.  They were in doubt.  They did not know what to do.

Simon Peter spoke up to Christ but only out of fear.  He spoke because evil had entered into his heart and wanted to persuade Christ to change his mind and his heart.  Evil again wanted to interfere into the plans of God to redeem man from death.  And it was through fear of death that it sought to stand in the way.  But Christ rebuked the evil of fear and moved Satan from his path.  And his path led him to walk through death into his destiny.  And it was this destiny that Christ instructed his disciples to follow.  As horrible as it seemed and as fearful as it appeared to them, Christ gave them the instructions to follow him.  Take up your cross, he said and follow me.  For he instructed them:  "For he who would save his life will lose it; but he who loses his life for my sake will find it."

Two thousand years ago, those were his instructions to his disciples.  And today these are his instructions to the church.  Life is good.  We are born into it.  We experience it as children.  We love it as toddlers.  We are amazed by it as young children through our formative years.  We grow with it as teenagers not fully comprehending it yet wanting to experience more of it.  We spring forward and dive headlong into it as young adults wanting to conquer it to the fullest.  And as mature adults we seek to be on top of it as we are given to believe what we must do to have it to the fullest.  Then, as time marches forward, we embrace it or we struggle with it as age begins to take hold of our physical bodies.  For life is to be experienced and we want to experience it all, especially in these modern times when we have the technology that shows us all that we are able to have with the fullness of physical life.  

So we struggle to hold onto life.  We struggle to have more life.  We seek to save the life we know that we may experience it for all eternity.  For we hope that as time marches on that, through our own intelligence, we will conquer death and live eternally in this physical realm of life.  We seek to save our physical life.  But the will of God has spoken and death will overcome us.  Attempt to save your physical life and you will loose your eternal spiritual life is what Christ told his disciples.  But if one saves his spiritual life through Christ, then he must loose his physical life to death.  Christ is our example.  He walked through death and came out again into the physical and spiritual life of eternity.  He gave us the example so that we may know the truth of who we are.  We are life eternal in Christ.  But, if we are not life in Christ then we loose that eternal life to death. 

It fills my heart with joy to hear those who have died and experienced heaven to come back and say that they did not want to come back to this physical life.  They went home to Christ.  They went home to their loved ones who came before them in Christ.  They went home to peace and love and joy and happiness, all the things that we search for here on earth and can only find temporarily.  But, in heaven, they are permanent. 

Why would one want to come back?  Why would one, after having experienced the truth of eternal life, want anything other than eternal life in heaven?  Yet we fear death and cling to physical life as though it is the ultimate that we have to live for.  Embrace death, for through it we go home.  Embrace, what death has to offer, for with it we come to life.  Seek the truth of who you are in Christ and death no longer has fear within you for you know that through death you will live.  Christ came that we will have life and have it more abundantly.  For it is through Christ that comes the truth if who we are.  And it is through that truth that we begin to experience true life here on earth and abundant life in heaven.  Come!  Follow the path set before you and begin to experience the truth of who you are in Christ. 

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 and 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!