St. Matthew, Chapter 21, verse:23a; Christ's teachings.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The authority of Jesus) Part 1. 

Lesson 1, Christ had given the disciples their lesson on faith and the power within it.  He demonstrated with words and example and he instructed the disciples to do the same without wavering.  Little did they know that what they had seen and heard from him, they would be able to do the same because he had told them so.  Believe and do not waver in your belief and it will be done for you.

The disciples had a lot to learn and little time to grasp all that they needed, to carry on the legacy of Christ.  They followed him because they believed.  They stayed with him because of the miracles that he performed.  They knew that they were being prepared for something special but did not know what.  Even the people who listened to his teachings knew that they were special in the message that he gave.  Even the leaders wanted to know.  And when he had come into the temple, the chief priests and elders of the people came to him as he was teaching. 

They wanted to know.  They wanted to hear for themselves what he was saying, what he was teaching.  They were the rulers of the people.  They were the teachers of the people, the ones who set down the rules, interpreted the laws of Moses, and enforced the Law.  Christ came and taught something different.  He came and gave something new.  He came and told the people to love one another, to forgive and do not hate, to be at peace.  But the chief priests and the elders did not like that their teachings were being taught by one who did not follow their practices and principles.

What do we have today?  We have fear.  We have chaos.  We have anger and hatred.  We have the uncertainty of the future after all the talk that was given us over the last two years as to what will come.  Upheaval and change stare us in the face.  And we know not how to handle that which is uncertain, that which is unknown. We are anxious.  We forget though that we are children of another and that we are not of this realm.

Christ saved us from damnation.  He is our savior, our king, our protector, our provider.  Our trust is in him.  Our faith is in him.  Our belief for our future is in his hands and not in the hands of those who would lead us today.  God, our Father,  rose Pharaoh up so that he could demonstrate his power and his majesty to all the world that he is the one and only true God.  His will and his purpose is higher than our purpose and it is our trust and faith in him that must carry us through good times and bad.  As Christ demonstrated to his disciples, have faith and do not waver for it shall be done.  Know that your Father in heaven loves each and every one of us and he will see us through.

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: 12c, Who can accept His teachings?

Our paragraph topic is:  (Continence preferred to marriage) Part 5.

Not all can accept this teaching except those to whom it has been given.  Has it been given to you?  Are you one of the ones to whom this teaching is meant for?  Christ gave his disciples this teaching concerning the bonding of male and female as created by God.  He wanted them to know and to understand the history of this teaching.  So he told them that from the beginning God had a plan for them to come together and for them to stay together.  And yet that has not been the case.

For man was so bitter that Moses gave them a rule by which they were able to put away their wives and marry again.  They were captives.  They were slaves under another master.  They had lived under the house of Egypt for over four hundred years.  So the customs and the habits of the Egyptians had become theirs by proxy, even though they were Jews with laws handed down by God.  Yet they wanted to do as they saw the Egyptians do.  They wanted to divorce their wives as the Egyptians did.  Who can follow this teaching?  Only those to whom it has been given and to those who wish to follow the teachings of Christ.  For he told them:  "And there are eunuchs who have made themselves so for the sake of the kingdom of heaven."

Are you a eunuch?  Have you made yourself one for the kingdom of heaven?  Can you follow this teaching?  It is only meant for those who have been chosen.  Have you been chosen?  It is only through belief and knowledge that one is able to understand.  We were created male and female.  We were created separate, not one without the other.  Our goal is to bond.  Our purpose is to create.  Our mission was set from eternity that we would create the physical beings that would come after us.

But evil has other designs.  Evil would have us not create.  Evil would have us lust.  Evil would have us desire.  Evil would have us live in the pleasure of the physical flesh and discard the plans of God.  We were created separate, male and female.  But to bond we must come together and become one.  Our bonding is physical in nature but spiritual in purpose.  Each male and female must decide.  Each male and female must understand the purpose.  Each male and female must know the truth of who they are in Christ and resist the temptations of the world. 

Christ came that we would know.  He came that we would understand.  He came that we would have life.  For we were dead until he came.  We were without spirit.  We were devoid of spiritual life according to God's judgment.  But that judgment was set aside.  That judgment was delayed in its execution until the coming of Christ.  And when he came, he paid for our sins, he died on the cross, and we were given new life.  The life of Christ shines within us, if we seek to know.  The life of Christ shines in our souls.  The life of Christ that is within us brings us back to the Father.  Do you know who you are?  Can you see the life that is within you?  Can you accept this teaching, man?  Can you accept this teaching, woman?  Become one with each other, one with Christ and one with the 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 19, verse: 12b, Who can accept His teachings?

Our paragraph topic is:  (Continence preferred to marriage) Part 4.

Who can accept this teaching of marriage without divorce?  Christ told his disciples that not all can accept it.  But for those who would try he set the ground rules that they should follow.  Man and woman should stay together.  There should be no separation except in the case of immorality.  And marriage to one who has been put away by written notice, is considered adultery.  These were the ground rules that Christ gave his disciples that they would know the will of the Father as he created them from the beginning.

God our Father had a purpose when he created them male and female.  He had a plan that would allow man to participate in the creation of physical life and spiritual life.  But there was evil that also had a plan.  Evil wanted to change man.  Evil wanted to make man for itself.  Evil wanted to have man participate in the creation for the worship of evil.  So the examples were set.  The participants were allowed.  And the beginning of the change took place and has remained throughout time.  For who can accept this teaching.  Christ told his disciples:  "And there are eunuchs who were made so by men." 

Eunuch made so by men, these are they who can accept this teaching.  These are they who have been changed by man.  These are they who have no say in the creation of the physical and the spiritual.  But for the rest of mankind, what do they say?  Can they accept this teaching?  Can they believe in God's plan?  Can they come together, stay together, and become one flesh, become one spirit?  Is this the will of God that we abide by?  Can we agree to this teaching in a world that isolates us if we accept this teaching?

Eunuch can abide by this teaching.  Why can we not abide by it?  Acceptance is the key.  Obedience is the rule.  Knowledge is the foundation.  Love is the food that keeps us together and allows us to grow beyond the physical into the spiritual.  Physical love is love of death.  Physical love is love of passion.  Physical love is love of that which is decaying.  Yet we are given the physical each and every day.  Even though we live and abide in the physical we are spiritual in nature and it is the love of the spirit that will elevate us to a new where we can accept the teachings of Christ.  Are you ready, both male and female, to accept?

He came that we would have life.  He came that we would not die.  He came that we would have knowledge of the Father and have insight into the Father's will.  And it is through the will of the Father that we live, breathe, and exist.  He made them male and female and it is the choice of both male and female to know the will of the Father.  With this knowledge we can live.  With this knowledge we can survive.  With this knowledge we can succeed and accept the teachings that Christ has given us.  But it takes both male and female.  Both must know.  Both must believe.  Both must see the truth of who they are in Christ.  Both must open their hearts to the consolation of the Holy Spirit that they may have the knowledge of who they are in him.  For in Him and through Him and by Him we become one with the 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.