Matt. 24

This chapter has Jesus sharing about the end times. Although the events and occurrences are frightful, He instructs us to “Not be alarmed,” when we see them happen. He then says, “He that endureth to the end shall be saved.”

What does it take to endure to the end? You can’t wait until the end gets near to buck up and resist. You must accumulate and maintain God’s strength on a daily basis. The consistent reading of God’s Word and the consistent daily prayer life of the wise believer will provide a spiritual foundation to stand upon.

Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but MY WORDS will NEVER pass away.”

Matt. 23

As Jesus was identifying the hypocrisy and heresy of the legalistic standards imposed by the Jewish religious leaders, He pointed out that the truly important elements were shrouded. He clarified them; justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

God is just – acting of being in conformity to what is morally upright or good.

God is merciful – love that responds to human need in an unexpected or unmerited way, forgiving.

God is faithful – the fact or quality of being true to one’s word or commitments.

Matt. 22

When Jesus told the parable of a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. It was a lavish occasion for which he spared no expense to honor his son. He sent out his servants to invite guests to participate in the banquet.

This is a clear picture of the Gospel – the good news that God has prepared a life in eternity with Him. The invitation has gone out. Born again Christians are like the servants who circulate the invitation to the Great Marriage Supper of the Lamb in Heaven. The table is set. The food has been prepared. The banquet is ready.

Who wouldn’t want to go to a feast like that?

Matt. 21

Christ gives us the option; fall on Him willingly or He will fall upon us. To fall means to humble one’s self and bow to Christ. Christ Himself became humble for us. He therefore requires that we come to Him in like manner.

He said it’s harder for a rich man to enter Heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Eye of a needle was an expression referring to gates in Biblical times. Yes, it WAS possible for a camel to go through a gate, but it must bow low to pass through … no walking through.

We too must humble ourselves to come to Christ, the Gateway and Door to Heaven.

Matt. 20

When Jesus and his disciples were on their way to Jerusalem, they heard two blind men outside Jericho shouting, “Lord, have mercy on us.” He stopped, laid His hands upon them and healed their blindness. After having their eyes opened, they began following Him.

For a person to entirely give up their goal in life and follow Christ, they must have seen something much better in the life Christ offers. For one thing, it’s the abundance of healing power Christ liberally shares with His followers.

A short testimony. I recently was hospitalized for large blood clots in my lungs. They could have taken my life. Since then, my breathing has been extremely shallow. I got winded VERY EASILY. In the past three days since being back in my home town to bury my mother who passed on Tuesday, the Lord has graciously healed my breathing. The shortness of breath is GONE. It’s a natural benefit for those who walk with Jesus. He’ a HEALER.

Matt. 19

Jesus was always saying, “Follow Me.” He made fishers of men out of fish-ermen. He made a church and disciple maker out of a tent maker. He made an apostle out of a tax collector. He made a preacher out of a testy fisherman.

When we begin following Christ, He calls us to displace our value system with His. He instructs us to live by His code of behavior rather than our former family core values. He actually told one rich young ruler to sell all that he had, give it to the poor, and follow the Messiah.

God will NEVER take anything from you but that He will replace it with something of greater value. He is no man’s debtor.

Matt. 18

Jesus said such extreme things regarding Hell like; ” And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, … it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.”

He knew something about hell that we didn’t. He was fully aware of hell’s torment and tragedy. He needed to get the attention of His hearers to rock their thinking to make His point. Do we get it?

I revert to my “blue light” experience once again. Being exposed to the pre-cancer eliminating facial treatment called blue light and the torment 16 minutes of it subjected me to, I am a believer that WHATEVER MEANS necessary should be used to help people avoid hell. If you love them, you will help them avoid hell by giving their life to Christ and be SAVED from the fire of hell.

Matt. 16, 17

When visiting Galilee, you will find that most restaurants have a dish called St Peters fish. This of course refers to the fish that had a coin in his mouth with which Jesus instructed Peter to pay his taxes. It is inconsequential what kind of a fish it was. The most important point is that Jesus provided for Peter to pay his taxes

The Lord wants us to be complicit in tax matters and legal compliance. God gives us Grace to do the right thing always.

Matt. 14, 15

Wherever Jesus went, great crowds followed Him. He had no PR agency or slick advertising campaign to announce His appearances. He simply, yet profoundly displayed the power God had given Him by healing the sick and teaching truth with Heavenly authority. His secret; He spent much time in prayer and communion with His Heavenly Father.

I will never forget a Sunday at Trinity many years ago. My son-in-law, Mark Anthony was preaching and the power went out. As was his practice, he had an effective power-point on the overhead screen. Zap … no power-point. I looked at him and said, “You don’t need power-point when you have the Power.” It humorously made the point … God’s Holy Ghost Power is what we REALLY NEED.

Matt. 12, 13

Sad to say, we cohabit this earth with bad people. Jesus described them as weeds sown among good seed in a field. He also likened them to bad fish which were discarded by fishermen when they collected their nets. Of course, God knows the difference and will pronounce judgement upon evildoers in the end.

And yet, Christ sent us out as sheep among wolves and simply instructed us to love everyone and treat them fairly. When He prepares for His final judgement, He will separate the wheat from the chaff once and for all. His children will enter into eternal life with Him. The others will, sadly, be eternally damned.

It’s good to be SAVED.