St. Matthew, Chapter 21, verse:16a; The Sounds of Praise.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Anger of the Jewish leaders) Part 3. 

They were angry.  They were furious at him.  They did not know what to do.  They were fearful of losing the power and influence obtained through their positions.  They were never praised as he was.  They were never sought after as he was.  They were never brought the sick and the lame and the cripple to be cured.  They were only the keepers and enforcers of the Law as handed down by Moses.

The chief priests and the elders saw what Christ did for the people.  He helped the poor.  He cured the blind and the lame.  And he did this in the temple for all to see.  He taught them.  He showed love to them.  He cared for them as no other elder or priest had before.  And all loved what they received from him.  Even the little ones felt his influence.  And the priests could not understand:  And said to him, "Dost thou hear what these are saying?" 

Even the little ones were giving praise to him.  They understood.  They knew.  They saw with their on eyes and they believed.  Yet those with knowledge and experience did not believe, did not know, did not understand.  How was it that the babes could see and believe yet those with years of experience and knowledge could not see or believe?  Even today with all the beauty and wonder in the world, how is it that we do not see what is plainly before our eyes?  Are we blind?  Can we not see the wonders of this world and where they came from?  Do we not breathe the air?  Do we not feel the warmth of the sun?  Do we not have food to eat that comes from the ground itself?  Are these not miracles and wonders for us to see and know that we did not create these things?

Our God provides.  Our God protects.  Our God gives us bountiful gifts to demonstrate his love for us.  Yet we cannot see.  We cannot believe.  We cannot know because we are blinded by the world before us.  Science and industry have turned the world around such that we no longer believe that which we are given.  We have devised a system that turns us away from the wonders of the natural world we were given and turns us toward the world that is created by man.  For man, through his own ingeniousness, has changed the world.  Man has created his own world.  Man has made anew a world inside the natural world and now calls this the new world that we live in.

And with this new world comes the influence of evil and evildoers.  With this new world doors are open that should be closed.  Behaviors are common that once were forbidden.  Acts are accepted as commonplace and necessary that were once frowned upon as outside the norm and unacceptable.  And these same acts and behaviors are permeated throughout society for all to see as normal or necessary to succeed.  Black, brown, blue, green, yellow, white, we are all the same, no one above another.  For God is our creator and it is he who judges and punishes for their sins.

We are all created in his image and his likeness.  We are all spirits.  We are all his children.  God is not a physical being with blue eyes, or black or brown, with colored skin.  He is spirit and we are spirit just as he is, not physical.  He gave to us this form that we might live and exist in this physical realm.  But upon our death, we are transformed into the true beings that we are, spirits, and our lives begin on a different plane, a spiritual plane.  And those that have gone before us await our coming.  Even the little ones that were called early are there to greet us.  They were the ones who saw.  They were the ones who believed.  They are the ones who know the truth more than we do today. 

Christ has said that the little ones make up the kingdom of heaven and that no one can enter unless they become like them.  Let us give shouts and praise like the little ones.  Let us see the coming of the kingdom as the little ones.  Let us know the truth of who we are like the little ones.  For theirs is the true knowledge of the kingdom, theirs is the true glory of the kingdom,  theirs is the gift that God has given us to follow and believe.

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 11, verse: 25, The Revelations.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Jesus draws men gently to himself) Part 1.  

Christ is mournful as he looks back at the towns and villages that did not repent.  He sees their damnation in the day of judgment and calls them out.  Yet, he is mournful at the sorrow of their condition.  Attempts were made to open their eyes, to open their ears, to help them understand the signs of the times, but they remained impenitent.  They were a hard lot.  The devil had infiltrated their defenses and turned them, so that, they could not see, or hear, or understand with their senses.  So they will face the consequences in the day of judgement.

Christ goes on to give praise to his heavenly father for the decisions that were made.  For these things were not revealed to the wise.  They were not revealed to the prudent.  They were revealed to the laborer, to the field hand, to the street sweeper, to the farmer.  They were revealed to the little ones, those who were without hope, without faith.  Christ says,   "I praise thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and prudent, and didst reveal them to little ones."  

For it was God's knowledge that the wise rejected.  It was God's wisdom that the prudent refused to believe.  They knew of the existence of God but refused to believe.  They knew of the power and majesty of God but rejected him and replaced him with gods fashioned after human likenesses and the likeness of animals.  They knew of the glory of God but refused to give glory but instead set themselves up to receive glory from the people.  And this was Christ's revelation of the will of the father to hide the mysteries of the kingdom from those who were wise and prudent and to reveal them only to the little ones.

Do you consider yourself wise?  Do you think of yourself as prudent?  God looks for the little ones to reveal his mysteries.  He seeks the clean of heart to whom he will show himself.  Blessed are the clean of heart for they shall see God.  For the wise do not know him.  Their earthly wisdom is a stumbling block.  The prudent do not know him.  Their worldly knowledge prevents them from having faith.  The rich do not know him.  For their riches blind them.  The famous do not know him for their arrogance make them unworthy to receive him.  But the little ones believe.  The little ones know.  The little ones open themselves to the wisdom and the knowledge of God.  For it is by God's grace that the little ones receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit from God.  Wisdom comes from the mouth of babes and fools.  Faith is the belief in the desire to be one in Christ as Christ is one in the Father.  Are you wise in the world or a fool?  Are you a baby in the world but a child of God?  We are all his children!!!