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 24, verse: 9c; For my name's sake.

 Our paragraph topic is: (He tells them of trials and hard times to come) Part 3.  

The Bible is but a short story of what happened some two thousand years ago.  We live our lives today and can imagine the multitude of things that can happen in a day's time.  But to think about all the things that were happening during the life of Christ in a day's time and to have all of that written down would be immense.  Yet there they were, the disciples, walking with the Lord our God, talking and being in his presence.  It must have been the joy of a lifetime.  We only hope for what we desire to have in our future.  They lived in his presence in the past.

One can only imagine the effect he had upon their lives, their being, their souls, during his stay here on earth.  To walk with him, talk with him, touch him, feel him, hear his voice, then to see the torture and sacrifice he made would have been unimaginable.  But even more unbelievable would be to see him again after death and to know that he was alive again, that death had no power over him.  What power and majesty that must have given those who were witnesses to his glory.  And he told them: "And you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake."

We think today of the honor and prestige of working and being in the presence of men and women of power such as presidents and kings, and ceo's, billionaires, etc.  We seek to be like them to attain traits that they have so that we might become like them.  There is but one God and one Lord of all and no other.  There are powers and dominions in heaven and angels and saints but only one God and one Lord of all.  

Christ came and walked among us.  He spent time with mankind.  He loved us so much that he gave up his kingship and became like us.  He took up physical form that he might be with us.  And the disciples and many others had the opportunity to be with him during his stay.  But that was not the end of the story.  

He came that we might all have the opportunity to be with him, to walk with him, talk with him, hear him, see him, feel him, know him.  He came and opened the door for each and everyone of us to have that chance to be with him as the disciples did, if we choose.  The choice is ours.  All we have to do is ask him to come into our lives and believe that he will.  God is our Father.  He gave us life.  He loves us and wants us to be with him.  Come!  The door is open.  Let us go home and be with our 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 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: 9b; Put to Death.

 Our paragraph topic is: (He tells them of trials and hard times to come) Part 2.  

The disciples are all sitting around listening to the things that Christ is recounting to them of the events to come as though he was telling them a bedtime story.  Their minds intently absorbing all that is said without understand fully the meaning of how it will impact their lives.  It is almost as if they are in a dream listening to him speak not knowing what he is saying but taking it in for later reference.

Christ spoke to their souls.  He spoke to things that would happen in the future.  He spoke of things that they did not completely understand.  Yet they listened, they heard, they remembered, they recalled all that was said and put to written word what they witnessed, saw, and what was said.  The spirit works in ways that they did not understand yet it was within them and came forth from them for us today.  He told them they will deliver you:  "And will put you to death."

And death was the word that brought them back to reality because it was something that they all understood.  They lived it daily.  They saw it regularly.  They knew it at the hands of the Romans frequently.  It was something that brought both anger and fear.  Anger because it came at the hands of an outside invader and fear because no one wanted to suffer the brutal consequences of death by Roman torture.

This was the way of life during the life of Christ.  The people did not know or believe in life after death.  They did not completely believe in heaven and the God of their ancestors.  They read the Torah on Sundays as part of their ritual and heard from their elders but mostly were forced to follow the Law by the scribes, the elders, the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  Christ came to change all that.  He came to bear witness to the truth, to open the gates of heaven, to allow all the waiting souls to enter, to pay the price for the sins of the world.  He was the sacrificial lamb, the innocent one, the one born without sin.

Today we live our lives in pursuit of happiness.  We seek to have those things and those ones in our lives that will give us pleasure and joy and make us feel good about ourselves.  We care not about others as long as we are satisfied in our own world.  We seek to surround ourselves with like individuals of the same mindset to create a circle of friends that make up our world.  And as long as our world is complete we are happy.  Death is the final goal in life and time is the gate keeper.  And when that time comes the door opens and we must enter whether we are ready or not. 

So life ultimately is about a choice.  We have so many years to come to a knowledge and to make a decision based on that knowledge of who we are.  Christ came that we would have the truth of that knowledge.  He came that we could have life and have it more abundantly.  For life is temporary here and permanent, eternal, there.  Which we choose is up to us.  Death is only the doorway to the truth.  Christ awaits our choice.  He has open arms for those who love him and want to be with him for eternity.  The choice is ours to make.  Make the choice to accept his open arms of 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.