St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verse: 14b; Witness.

 Our paragraph topic is: (He tells them of trials and hard times to come) Part 12. 

And so the story is told for all to hear.  Christ predicts the future and what will happen in the end of times.  He told his disciples and those in the crowd of people who would listen, those who heard and believed.  And they told their friends and their friends told their friends and so on.  And the word spread that Christ predicted the end of times and the people were afraid.  The leaders were in an uproar because they could not have the people in such a panic.  They wanted sheep, not panicked lambs running all over the place spreading rumors about the coming doom of the end of times.

But it was Christ who foretold it.  It was the Messiah who gave the word to the people.  It was the Son of Man that came down from heaven who performed many miracles who told the disciples and the people of the trials and tribulations to come before the end of times.  The disciples feared but they knew his words were true.  Some believed in him.  Some were skeptical.  Others only partly believed.  And then there were those who just had no faith or belief in him at all.  But he said to all who could hear his words that this gospel shall be preached to the whole world:  "For a witness to all nations."

Indeed, today we have it written in stone for all to see and know when the time will come.  The gospel of the kingdom is a witness to the truth of his telling of what is to come that when it happens all will know.  All will see the prediction that was made two thousand years ago of the coming of the end.  Step by step it was told what would happen.  Step by step it was written the words that all could see and compare the truth of what would happen.  Step by step it will be known upon the conscience of mankind the truth of his words as a witness of what was said.

And it is further written in later books the detail of how this will happen.  It is further written the witness of the tribulations and woes that are to come.  It is further written in books predicted by Christ to mankind the wrath of God that will come upon those who have practiced evil and injustice against his children.  All will want to know.  All will want to see.  The whole world will come back to these words of the gospel of the kingdom in search of the truth of what is to come.  And they will know the truth of it all. 

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: 12; Iniquity abound.

 Our paragraph topic is: (He tells them of trials and hard times to come) Part 9.  

It was a recipe for disaster.  All that could happen would happen, Christ told his disciples.  They should know what was to come.  They should be prepared for any and all outcomes during the trials and tribulations that Christ was telling them.  They were not prepared for all the things that were to come but he put the fear of what was to happen in them to test their faith and belief. 

Did they believe in him?  Did they really accept him as being the Son of Man, the Messiah?  Did they believe all that he was telling them or was this just another tale he created like so many other stories he told to the crowds?  But these were his disciples he spoke with, he said:  "And because iniquity will abound, the charity of the many will grow cold."

Iniquity, injustice, sin, lawlessness, all will abound and love for the many will cease and grow cold.  What will tomorrow bring?  What will this time in history look like?  Will there be war, famine, pestilence, disease?  What will happen to humankind?  What will become of the good qualities of mankind?  Will they cease to exist, will man return to the dark ages?  Even today these are some questions that we can ask ourselves in the present political and civil climate.

What will our God do during such a time?  Can we still rely upon his grace?  Can we still believe that he will provide for us, protect us, show us the way forward in spite of all that occurs around us?  Or should we become afraid for our lives not trusting that our God and Father will provide?

Iniquity my abound.  Lawless may increase.  Sin may become common place in and around us but all this is no reason for us to waver in our faith and trust in our Father who has given us life eternal.  We are but clay vessels in this earthly realm, waiting for the time to be called to our permanent home.  

Christ came to let us know that we are more than just human beings, flesh and blood, skin and bones.  He came to open the door for us that we would know that there is a heavenly kingdom awaiting us when we leave this earthly realm.  He came to let us know that we are spiritual beings given eternal life by the sacrifice he paid on the cross for our sins.  He came to give us eternal life everlasting that no one can take from us except us.  

So despite what is happening around us, our faith and knowledge in who we are should not waiver.  We are children of God, created in his image and likeness given life eternal through Christ Jesus.  Iniquity begone!  Sin begone!  Lawlessness begone!  In the name of Jesus Christ we command you begone!  We are the children of the almighty, ever living God.

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:25b, Authority over the Gentiles.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Humility according to Christ's example) Part 3.

The disciples have expressed their anger and their frustration at James and John.  They want to sit with Christ also.  They want to be at his right and at his left also.  They want to be first also and that is the problem.  James and John did not express these wants, these desires.  Their mother came forth and spoke to Christ about what she wanted for them.  She came forth and spoke what was in their hearts.

What she did not realize was that her words opened the door to the hearts of the disciples.  Her words exposed them to anger.  He words exposed them to injustice.  Her words exposed them to jealousy.  And Christ had to speak to their hearts to help them understand what they were doing.  He had to speak to the jealousy, and their anger and their heartfelt injustice.  So he gave them an example.  He told them of the lords of the Gentiles.  He told them of their practices.  He told them how they would become like the Gentiles, how the rulers of the Gentiles lorded their power over them.  "And their great men exercise authority over them." 

They wanted to be great.  They wanted to be known throughout the land.  They wanted to be like the lords and rulers of their time.  This was the example that they knew.  This was what they saw in their time.  The rulers would parade through the streets with their guards and their attendants.  They would receive privileges everywhere they went.  The people would give them special recognition and this was what they thought that they would become being disciples of Christ.

Yet Christ wanted to give them a different image.  He wanted to give them a different understanding of who they were and who they would become through him.  For he was a lord.  He was a king.  He was the ruler of all the world.  Yet he did not come to be a king.  He did not come to be a lord, a ruler.  He gave up all his royal trappings to become like an ordinary man.  He gave up his crown and his glory and his majesty to become the pauper among us.  And this was the example that he wanted his disciples to understand.

For without the power and without the glory, one does not assume a position of greatness.  Without the majesty and the privilege one does not become haughty,  and aloof and assume an attitude of being special.  And without the attitude of feeling special the heart is closed to jealousy, and anger, and injustice.  For Christ came to right the injustices of the world, he came to act as a sacrifice for the injustices.  He came that the punishment may be lifted.  He came that what was lost may now be restored.  He came that his love for man would be established for all eternity.

We are here today to be witnesses to the love and the mercy and the forgiveness of our God and Father.  We are here today to testify to his love.  We are here today to become living examples of the life that is within each of us that others may see and know that they are our brothers and sisters in Christ.  For he came and gave that we would have life.  He came and walked among us that we would know the truth.  He came and gave us an example, a history, and a path to follow that would lead us to him.  He came to demonstrate his passion for us that would last throughout all eternity.  It is that passion that carries us.  It is that passion that guides us.  It is that passion that leads us to him each day.  And it is that passion that is available for all to know, to see, to feel, to become a part of their lives today.  His love is there for the asking.  His love is there for those who seek it.  His love is there for all to receive it even if they do not know him.  All you have to do is open the door to your heart and let him in.   

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 20, verse:25a, Lords of the Gentiles.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Humility according to Christ's example) Part 2.

The mother of James and John had spoken the words that were in the hearts of the other disciples but were not spoken.  The others heard the words and their hearts were opened to Indignance.  They were angry.  They were mad.  They felt slighted that others would ask, through another, their mother, what was in their hearts.  They felt injustice in their hearts that others would speak their desires that they would be able to sit at the right hand of Christ in his kingdom.  Yet there it was in plan hearing, Indignance.

All wanted to be considered special.  All wanted to be number one with Christ.  But no disciple spoke these words that lay within their hearts.  No one knew where they stood with Christ.  Their model was what they saw in the real world.  Their representation was what they knew with the rulers of the day.  They knew how the rulers treated them.  They knew how they were regarded by the lords of the day.  They knew how they felt about the current lords and they wanted to be first at the table with Christ.  But Jesus called them to him, and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them."

They all wanted to be lords.  They all wanted to kings in Christ's kingdom.  And they knew that by following him that they would receive a reward.  Their example was what they saw in their time.  Their understanding was what they knew of the leaders of the day.  They knew who the leaders were.  They saw them everyday.  It was not a big town or a big city with millions of people.  The rulers of the day had special privileges.  They wanted to be special.  They wanted to be known.  They wanted the rewards that came with following the Messiah. 

Christ would have them understand what their desires meant.  He would have them know that they were different.  He was different and not like what they knew and saw in their times.  His kingdom would be different.  His Lordship would be unlike what they knew in their times.  So they would have to be different.  They could not be like the current rulers.  They could not walk with pride.  They could not expect to be privileged as those they knew in their times.  They could not lord their authority over the people as the rulers they knew in their times.  They had to be different.

Christ gave up his kingship to come to earth.  He gave up his divinity to become like man.  He came to walk among us that we would know him.  He came to teach us the ways of the Father, to be an example that we could follow.  He came that we could know the love that the Father has for us, just as the Father loves his son.  He came out of love.  And the love that he brought to us is still available today.  As we go about our daily lives we can see before us the love of the Father .  The air that we breathe, the sun that we feel, the things that we are able to see are all manifestation of his love.  They show us his might and his majesty.  They show us that his glory is available for all to see, for all to feel and to taste, if we just open our hearts.  Take a moment to know him.  Take a moment to see him.  Take a moment to let him into your hearts.  He will come if you ask him.  He will speak if you call him.  He will touch you if you let him.  and in his touch is a lifetime of goodness and mercy, and forgiveness, and love.  The choice is your.  Pick up the phone and call 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 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 20, verse: 13a, No Injustice.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard)
Part 18.

The last laborers who were first to be hired felt that they were not treated fairly.  They felt that they deserved more.  They felt that they had worked the whole day and deserved more than what the others received.  They saw the others come into the vineyard.  They saw how little work that completed.  They saw the amount that they received for the work that was completed.  And they believed that they did more work than the others.  This is why they believed that they deserved more.

Yet they agreed to work for a denarius.  They thought that to work for that amount was fair.  They believed that a denarius was a fair wage for a days work, so they agreed to do the work.  Yet when others came and when others did less work and when others received the same amount, they were dissatisfied, they grumbled, they murmured, they were angry.  And when they spoke to the house-holder about this perceived injustice, the house-holder did not agree with their perception.  "But answering one of them, he said, 'Friend, I do thee no injustice."  

Where did it all start?  Where did the concept of injustice begin?  Who brought up the thought?  Who spoke of the idea?  How did it enter the minds of the laborers as they worked in the vineyard?  Was there some outside influence that they did not know about?  Was there some outside idea that came to them as they worked that made them think that they should receive more than they agreed to? 

Here we are today living in the world seeking to be who we are.  What are we?  Who are we?  What do we believe?  Our thoughts and ideas come to us from outside ourselves fed by the electronic media that we live by today.  Who decides what that media will say?  Who decides what that media will do?  Who makes the decisions as to what is sent through that media and what is not sent, what we see and what we do not see, what we perceive and what we do not perceive?  We accept what is given us.  Some is discarded and some is retained.  Some is stored for future use and some is used immediately.  Do we filter?  Do we reject?  Do we block out all that comes in?  Yet the media continues to come and we continue to perceive.

Even when the media is off we continue to perceive.  We continue to think about what is given us as we seek to utilize the functions of our brains to sort through all that is given us.  What was given the laborers?  They did not have the media of today.  They did not have others making decisions and sending out thoughts and ideas and facts, and all kinds of information for them to take in.  Where did their thoughts come from that they would consider themselves done an injustice.  Did it come from the air?  Did it come from space?  Did it come from the netherworld?

We are imperfect beings trying to live in a world not our own.  How do we live, how do we survive, how do we protect ourselves in such an environment.  Christ said:  "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  His saying is contradictory to what we live by today.  We are given to be rich.  Our every being our every desire is influenced by the thought that we want to be rich and not poor.  And yet the riches of this world that we seek do not satisfy, they do not complete, they do not fulfill.  What is there that will complete us?  What is there that will fulfill us?  What is it that our hearts desire that will gives us lasting joy, lasting happiness, lasting peace?  Knock and it shall be opened to you, seek and you shall find, ask and it shall be given to you. 

These are the words that come from our heavenly Father through Christ Jesus.  If you seek peace then ask.  If you seek joy then look.  If you want happiness then open the door to your heart and it will come to you who want to know eternal happiness in him who completes all.  Be satisfied.  Be content.  Be knowledgeable in who you are through the spirit that is within you.  All you have to do is look within.  The path has been prepared for you.  All you have to do is walk 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 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 17, verse: 26, Tribute to the kings of the earth: The Payment.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Paying the Temple tax) Part 4.   

Simon Peter was questioned by the tax collectors about the didrachma and he was angry.  The question opened a wound.  The question made him see red.  The question made him see the injustice of the system and it did not sit well with him.  For many years Simon did not like how the tax collection system was administered and he wanted to do something about it.  But Christ wanted to teach him a lesson.  Christ wanted to show him how to overcome the anger.  He wanted Peter to learn not to let the injustices of the world cause him to open the door to anger, to frustration, to hatred, and not to give evil a foothold into his heart.  

Christ saw how Peter was disturbed.  He knew the turmoil in his heart.  He felt the anger and the frustration in Peter so he wanted to help him to understand how to accept it.  Christ sought to question Simon on the injustice.  He sought to show Simon how to overcome.  And he sought to demonstrate to Simon the trust that he must have in the father to overcome all injustices.  So Christ sent Simon fishing.  He gave him a task that would bring him peace, a task that would take away the pain of injustice and bring calm into his mind and soul. 

Simon was a fisherman and that was the one thing that he knew.  And Christ sent him to fish that he might believe in the providence of God.  He told Simon:  But that we may not give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up.  And opening its mouth thou wilt find a stater; take that and give it to them for me and for thee."

What can we learn today from this lesson that Christ gave Simon then?  Simon was disturbed by this injustice.  This injustice had been with him for years and each experience made him feel worse.  He wanted to react.  He wanted to do something.  He wanted to find some solution.  We face the same situations today.  There are many things that would disturb us.  There are injustices that we face that would make us angry, disturb us, frustrate us, make us want to take action into our own hands to find a solution.  But God is our father and it is his to resolve, his to deal with, his to exact wrath and punishment.

How then do we find resolution?  How then do we cope with what we face daily?  How then do we allow ourselves to have peace with the pain and horror in the world?  Christ sent Peter fishing.  He gave him something to do to past the time until the issue would be resolved.  He gave Simon a task that would give him the time to trust in God's justice.  He gave Simon a task that would allow him the opportunity to practice patience.  And so it is with us today.  God's rule will prevail.  God's justice will be upheld and the wrath of God will be exacted upon those who practice injustice.  We must trust in God to fulfill his promise.  We must have faith in God's will for us that we do not open the door to the evil of hatred, fear, frustration, anger, and all manner of wrongs that are against the will of the father.

Christ gave us a commandment that we should love one another as he has loved us.  For we are all created in the image and likeness of our father.  We all have the spiritual life given to us by our father and it is that life within us that is most precious.  For our father loves each and every one of us and if we understood the love that he has for us we would know the truth of who we are in him.  That knowledge of love brings a peace that is not of this world and that peace is the joy of who we are in him.  Let not your peace be disturbed.  Let not your joy be overturned that you loose the inner peace that comes with the truth of who you are. 

For God so loved the world that he sent his only son that we would have life eternal in him.  And it is that precious gift of life that we must strive to protect from the destruction that comes through the open door of the injustices of this world.  Hatred, fear, frustration, anger, all are intended to disturb the peace that Christ has given us through the father.  Practice Perfect Patience and you will know the justice of God.  Practice Perfect Patience and you will see the miracles of the father.  Practice Perfect Patience and you will know the love of the father that will fill your heart and soul completely.  Be at peace.  Be with love.  See the truth of the light of the life that Christ has given you and you will see your brothers and sisters as they truly are in you.  Come!  Follow the path before you.  The truth is before you.  Seek it.  Follow it.  Find it and you will know.  Christ loves you.  The Holy Spirit awaits you.  God the Father be with you. 

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.