St. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses: 36; This Generation.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their persecution of religion) Part 14.  

And the kingdom of heaven came upon them and they were not ready.  The opportunity for repentance came before them and they did not repent.  The day of judgment was there in their presences and they dismissed it as another hoax.  They were blind and could not see, deaf and could not hear, dumb and could not understand the changing of events taking place around them.

Farmers could read the change in the weather.  Politicians could read the change in the moods of the people.  Priest can understand the spiritual needs of their parishioners.  But the Scribes and the Pharisees were so engrained in their beliefs that they could not see the light of Christ that stood before them despite all the signs that were shown.  And Christ told them: Amen, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."

Theirs was the endpoint of their time.  Christ had come to offer redemption.  They had rejected redemption and instead choose to fight it.  So the time had come to close the books, to end the persecution, to write the names of all those who were persecuted and all the names of those who persecuted the just.  Judgment day had come and their names were written in the judgment book along with all the others who had persecuted the just.

Thank you Father for the opportunity for redemption.  Thank you for the mercy you have shown us in giving me the chance to repent of my sins.  For I know not when or how or where I may be called upon to surrender my life and come before you for judgment.  But that the life I have lived at least I have had the opportunity to change my ways and repent of my sins.  I pray that if I may die tomorrow that you will have mercy upon my soul and not condemn me to hell.

My desire is to be with my savior Lord Jesus Christ in his kingdom that I may be fulfilled by his presence.  For he is my be all and end all.  There is nothing on this earth that can fill me more than his presence.  Thank you Father each day for the love and the protection that you give me and my family.  May we continue to walk the path that leads us to your kingdom. 

 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.