St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verse: 10a; Those who leave.

 Our paragraph topic is: (He tells them of trials and hard times to come) Part 4.  

It was like a movie.  Christ was foretelling the future and the disciples were visualizing it all taking place before their eyes.  Christ seeing what the Father was seeing and knowing what he knew walked through time as all these things were happening.  It was like he was standing still and time was fast forwarding around him.  He could see and understand all that was happening.  He could stop, reverse, go from one point in time to another, move from one place to another to see and hear all that occurred at that point at that place in time.

And he spoke to his disciples about all that happened.  Reading a book only gives a general idea of what happens and is incapable of describing in detail what is happening.  But if you are there at the time and place that an event took place you are able to give detail information that would take many pages to describe.  This is why Christ wanted to tell his disciples what would happen because he was able to see first hand in detail the events that would take place.  So he told his disciples after all the tribulation and their deaths, he said:  "And then many will fall away."

Christ could see the great increase in the number of new members coming into the church.  But after the church suffered torture and death of the disciples, many of the so called believers would turn from the church for fear.  They did not have the same belief, the same hope, the same faith, the same spirit as those who were first to experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  And so as the persecutions began to spread the members began to scatter for fear of same.

Today we live in a different world where we do not have religious persecution in most of the free world.  However, in some parts of the world religious persecution is still practiced.  Freedom to believe and practice your choice of religion is not allowed in those parts of the world and must be hidden and practiced underground away from the public.

Most religions as a whole are free to practice in the open, free from persecution.  But there is also internal persecution or pressure from within our society as a whole.  Ask a person to attend church with you and you might get push back or even disassociation.  We evangelize everywhere in an attempt to bring new members into our churches.  This is what we are given to do by our religious leaders, to go out and carry the message to others so that they can become new members, new believers. 

Christ came to spread the good news.  He went from village to town talking about the kingdom of heaven because the people did not know during those times.  They knew that there was a God but did not fully believe in life after death and the kingdom of heaven.  He came to show us the truth of who we are and to demonstrate to us the truth of our Father in heaven.  So today we have witnesses to the truth.  We have knowledge of the truth.  We have faith and trust as to the truth of his words.  Today we are the children of the light created in his image.  Ours is the kingdom of heaven if we choose to accept and believe in the word.

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: 27-28; The Resurrection and the wife.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The Sadducees question Christ) Part 4.  

They did not believe in the resurrection but they structured their question around it.  The Sadducees came to Christ with this question of marriage they constructed based upon what Moses had given them concerning a widow and the issue of an heir.  They stretched their question so that it would seem almost ridiculous in that it concerned seven brothers who had the task of inheriting a widow from one of their brothers.  They were not concerned about the question of heirs but only about the question of resurrection.  So this is how they structured their question to seek an answer from Christ.

They did not believe in resurrection after death.  And they wanted to question Christ on this issue so that they could take issue with his answer with the rest of the Sanhedrin about his teachings.  So they put the question to him:  "And last of all the woman also died.  At the resurrection, therefore, of which of the seven will she be the wife?  For they all had her."  

Husband, wife, son, daughter, mother, father, all earthly names that we give to the earthly flesh that we live with here on this rock.  What will we be when we leave it?  What will we become when our flesh is returned to the dirt from which it was formed and our souls go to another place?  Are we just the flesh that we see or are we more?  Who are we?  Where do we come from?  What are we now?  These are all questions that we can ask ourselves.  We seek to find something more than just the flesh that we are in this world we live.  The flesh is pain.  The flesh is weak.  The flesh is vulnerable.  The flesh grows old and dies.  Is this all that we are?  Or are we more than the flesh?  Our search will lead us on a path of discovery to find the truth of who we are.

There are many paths to discovery in life.  Much has been written on the subject.  And there are many established institutions that we can follow.  There is but one established institution , however, that claims to have God that came down from heaven to walk among the people of the earth to teach them how to live.  And Christ came to open the doors to heaven so that anyone and everyone could have the opportunity to enter the kingdom of heaven. 

The choice is yours.  The directions are laid out, the path is clear for those who want to follow.  Seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you, ask and it shall be given to you.  These are the words that were spoken and written for us to read, for us to follow, for us to understand today.  They are simple and clear.  Seek them and you will know for yourself.  The truth awaits. 

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:28-29; Work in the Vineyard.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Parable of the two sons) Part 1. 

Since they did not want to incriminate themselves, Christ told them that he could not answer their question as to his authority.  He gave them the opportunity to become open to the truth.  He gave them the chance to receive that which he was about to give, but they were blind.  They could not see or hear the opportunity that was available to them.  So he gave them another opportunity to understand.

He told them a parable that maybe would help them to see and be open to the truth.  He told them the parable of the two sons.  He asked:  “But what do you think? A man had two sons; and he came to the first and said, ‘Son go and work today in my vineyard.'  But he answered and said, 'I will not'; but afterwards he regretted it and went.

Christ told the chief priest and the elders this parable so that they would understand authority.  You see, they understood the parable of the father and the sons because they could understand the authority of the father and the need for obedience of the sons.  So what did they think of the son who was disobedient to the wishes of the father but later thought about his disobedience and repented?

Was that the right thing to do?  Did the son regret his mistake in telling the father that he would not do his will but later repented?  Would they, could they understand the meaning of this parable and come to repent to the will of God their father?  Or were they so far gone that nothing could open their minds and their hearts to repent?

We live in a world that hides the truth of the father.  It may be that only through adversity that we come to realize the truth of who we are and to understand the majesty and glory of God our Father.  There are many things that we do not understand or try to reason to our own understanding as to the why and wherefore.  Why are there accidents that take the lives of innocent children?  Why do some die so young?  Why do the children suffer with crippling diseases?  Why must we live with debilitating pain in our lives that make us despair and want to end it?  Why is there war and not peace in the world?  Why are there natural disasters that take the lives of so many people?

All these whys and yet no answers.  Who knows the mind of God and who are we to question it?  I thank him, myself, that I was not so far gone that I did not open myself and my heart to his calling to repent.  I thank him that I am able to repent and to know that he is a merciful God.  I was lost and headed down the road to destruction.  Even considered the whisperings of depression and despair.  My life was lost and I had no where to turn.  I asked for forgiveness.  I asked for direction.  I asked to know the truth.  I asked to know him, to know his love for me.  And he touched me and filled me with a knowledge and understanding that lets me know that he is with me all my days.  He is inside of me, he is the life within.

If you are tired and do not know where to turn, turn to him.  Ask for his forgiveness.  Ask to know him.  Ask to feel him in your life.  Ask him to walk with you everyday that you may not know the despair and depression that you have lived with for so long.  Believe that he will be with you and seek to see the little miracles that happen in your life each and every day that are signs of his presence.  He is love.  He is faithful.  He is with you, always.

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 19, verse: 17b, God is good?

Our paragraph topic is:  (The rich young man speaks to Jesus) Part 2.  

And behold there appeared a young man from nowhere with a question for Christ.  The young man was innocent.  He was perplexed.  He was without a sense of direction with this question that he sought to find an answer but the answer eluded his understanding.  The question was, what must one do to obtain the kingdom of heaven.  What must one say, or think, or behave, or be to assure that he would enter the kingdom of heaven.

Christ came into this world and preached to the people the coming of the kingdom of heaven.  He told them that they must repent and be renewed in the spirit.  He spoke to them of the old ways.  He spoke to them of the new ways that must come into play.  He spoke to them of attitudes, of behaviors, of love, of hate, of good and of evil.  He wanted them to know the truth of what was taking place here on earth.  He wanted them to see for themselves the light of life that was before them that they would know who they are.  And then comes this young man seeking knowledge of what was good.  And Christ told him:  "One there is who is good, and he is God."

The young man was filled with the question of what was good.  He was driven by the need to know what was good,  what was right, what was wrong, or what was bad.  And he sought the one person that he thought was good.  He placed a label upon that person who he thought was good.  So he called Christ the good master.  He asked Christ what good works must he perform to assure that he would attain the kingdom of heaven.  But deep within him was the unknown.  Within him was the innocence and the desire to fulfill.  Yet also within him was the slight tinge of evil that was hidden.  And Christ saw and corrected him that he would not be allowed to think that he was the source of all goodness.

Only one who is good and that is God our Father.  This is a statement that is true, in and of itself.  Yet our concept of God is not real.  Our concept of our heavenly Father is not tangible to us as the world is tangible, as our physical bodies are tangible, as our need for food, clothing and shelter is tangible.  For these are the things that occupy us.  These are the things that consume our daily consciousness.  These are the things that we strive to overcome, to obtain, to master, to assure that we have enough of.  And our Father is good.  Our Father is all powerful.  Our Father is protective.  Our Father is loving and merciful, and forgiving, and good.  But to our understanding this is not tangible to us as the world is tangible.  Or is it?

For our understanding tells us that we must provide for ourselves.  Our understanding tells us that we must be a success unto ourselves.  We are the be all and end all of who we are.  And this is how we are programed to think and believe and be in the world.  For is the world is good?  Is the world caring?  Is the world loving if we just embrace what it has to offer?  This is what we are told.  This is what we are given to believe.  This is what we love by and not by the goodness of our Father.  How deceived we are.  How misled we are.  How unknowing we are of the truth of who we are in Christ.  The truth will come to you.  The truth will knock at your door.  The truth will set you free.  The truth will open the eyes of your heart and fill it with the love of the Father so much so that nothing else on earth can compare.  All you have to do is open your heart and accept what the Father has to offer.  He offers love!  Open up and let him in.  God is good. 

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.