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Category: 4 Gospels + Good News of the NEW Testament

What are the Gospels?

FOUR Gospels:

GOOD NEWS! (That’s what Gospel means.)

Matthew, Mark, Luke & John begin the New Testament proclaiming the Good News of Israel’s long-awaited Messiah and talk of JESUS Christ.

The four Gospels are first hand witness + proclaiming GOOD NEWS

  • by two Jewish Apostles of the Messiah JESUS, Matthew & John
  • Two gentile (non-Jewish) followers of THE WAY of Jesus Christ, Mark & Luke, who proclaim the GOSPEL recorded from witness of Peter, Paul and other Apostles and disciples of JESUS in the first century.

READ the Good News of the Messiah and Savior Jesus from accounts of His twelve Apostles & others witnessing the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the four Gospels of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

SHARE the Gospel

  • with your Christian friends and those who do not yet believe in JESUS CHRIST.
  • Comment on a Talk of JESUS post and SHARE in your social media world.

  • so also are those who are of the dust

    • flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
    • whoever does not believe is condemned already. John 3:18b

    As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. – 1 Corinthians 15:48 ESV

    1 Corinthians 15:50 NIV

    I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

    Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed–

    Death & Life of our Body & Soul

    My dear fellow mortal,

    You will die, as will I. Living cells will falter on that appointed day.  The spirit of life will no more enter your lungs or pump renewal through your once fast-beating heart.

    And what of the flesh they discard as a worn-out sock? Your body will be buried or burned. You will perish in the earth or be consumed in the fire.

    They may say a few last kind things about you… a few kind words as your soul rests at last… rest in the peace of death… comforting words your ears will not hear… words to your mourners finally considering the awakening and the judgment of your soul… and theirs.

    burial of a KingForasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed, we therefore commit his body to the ground;

    earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust;

    in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be like unto his glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself. – 1662 Book of Common Prayer

    Your death is certain; your resurrection from death is not.

    Yet there is one certain hope. (What were the words?)

    “through our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body.”

    Yes, the death and decay of our body is certainly a vile thing. Yet followers of the Way, believers in the Truth, the living body of the Life we have in Christ Jesus cling not to this failing flesh, but to the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, though Christ our Lord and Savior.

    The burial ceremony from the Book of Common Prayer points back to the original and continuing sin in all of us.

    Genesis 3:19 ESV

    By the sweat of your face
    you shall eat bread,
    till you return to the ground,
    for out of it you were taken;
    for you are dust,
    and to dust you shall return.”

    Jesus, the Son of God, Messiah in the flesh, was crucified for our sins. He died and was buried [Good Friday, we call it] and rose from the dead on the third day [Easter, as we celebrate].

    Christ paid the highest price for our sin. Do we not owe Jesus an unpayable debt? This is why Christians call Christ Jesus, our Lord. He IS our Saviour.

    NO other religion offers forgiveness of our sins or eternal life in a resurrection body! Yet Jesus spoke of who He came to save [John 3] and NOT ALL will be saved.

    18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

    • everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

    19 And this is the judgment:

    the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

    Sinners do not obey God and humble their flesh before Jesus their Lord; He IS the Christ, judge of all mankind.

    Flesh failing or taken can no longer proclaim the glory of God and grace of Christ Jesus.

    Are you a sinner, captured in failing flesh?

    Can your sorry soul stand before Almighty God? Can you endure the wrath we deserve for our many many sins? Will you not faint at the judgment seat of Christ?

    *

    Lent is a time of preparation for the resurrection of the dead, a time of consideration of those who will be raised either to the terrible face of our sin or the loving grace of Christ Jesus whom we have honored as our Lord. You may not have even until Easter, in the year of our Lord, 2016; for some will be suddenly taken and breathe no more.

    Ashes to ashes, we are reminded on Ash Wednesday. Repent of your sin and prepare your heart to bow down to Jesus Christ as Lord over you life, Jesus who IS and will return. Jesus Christ who will embrace only those He loves, we who call Him, “Lord.”

    Amen.

     

  • Follow After Me -4-Evangelist

    I looked then, and saw a man named Evangelist coming to him, and he asked, “Wherefore dost thou cry?”

    He answered, “Sir, I perceive, by the BOOK in my hand, that I am condemned to die, and after that to come to judgment, and I find that I am not willing to do the first, nor able to do the second.”

    John Bunyan, “The Pilgrim’s Progress

    “I am condemned to die and after that to come to judgment,

    and I find that I am not willing to do the first,

    nor able to do the second.”

    The crux of our dilemma, the eternal choice of our mortality. You will die. Your life will end. You will breathe your last breath!

    Then what… O, tortured mortal soul?

    Are you willing to die?

    Are you able to come to the Judgment of Almighty God?

    We are condemned to die! AND what if, as the Good Book says, ‘we must face the Judgment.’ Are you prepared for eternity?

    This, of course, is one of the questions of the evangelist, the unwavering believer in Christ Jesus who stands before you with a Bible in hand and asks, ‘Do you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?’ (For the gravity of Hebrews 9:27 weighs as heavily on his heart as your sin for a time burdens yours.)

    The Heart of the Evangelist

    Our Eternal God broke with tradition and chose to live among us as a humble Son of man for a brief three decades two millennia ago. Jesus chose twelve Apostles to witness the last three of his life on earth. They heard his teaching and knew his love for them first hand.

    After our Lord rose from the defeat of the grave, Jesus appeared to the eleven remaining Apostles and to many followers several times. Christ, now risen from the dead, the Son of God who had walked on water and worked many miracles among the people had words of rebuke for the eleven followers. Jesus cautions us against unbelief and against hardness of heart.

    Mark 16:

    The Great Commission

    14 Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. 15 And he said to them,

    “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

    +

    Jesus rebuked the closest of his earthly friends for the hardness of their hearts for not believing He IS. The Lord then sends us into all of the world to preach the Good News to others, that they might also be saved from death and judgment.

    Preachers and Bishops are nothing more than mortal men and nothing less than God reaching out though scripture, faith and love to embrace new souls into the arms of Jesus Christ.

    Perhaps an evangelist has come to you and asked an uncomfortable question or two about your eternity. Maybe it was a simple as, “Do you think that ____ (so & so, a loved one who has just died) will go to heaven?”

    Maybe someone asked you to come to church with them. Or possibly another “member” of your church commented something like, “We haven’t seen you on Sunday for a while.”

    Do you have a hard heart when it comes to mention of Jesus Christ or church or Christians?

    Are quotes from the Bible anathema to your social circles?

    Is the written word of Scripture hidden away in your home and lost to your heart?

    The evangelist loves you as he loves all souls hidden in selfishness and lost in sin. One who cares for the very future of your soul reaches out to you with the very word of God from the Bible and offers eternal hope for your salvation.

    Who else has cared so for your soul as the one who embraces you with the love of Jesus Christ?

    Do you have any hope of heaven, for an eternal life of joy, for love after the death of your failing flesh?

    The evangelist or Christian mentor pointing you in the way of Jesus Christ wants your love to blossom and live beyond your days.

    Matthew 7:

    13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few…

    15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits… 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire…

    21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord… 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

    +

    Do you follow the crowds or will you follow Christ?

    “For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. – Matthew 7:13b

    The Apostle Peter, who had denied knowing Jesus three times just prior to the crucifixion of our Lord on the Cross, received Christ’s forgiveness, commission and new covenant for all who will believe. Peter writes in a letter to the church for us to read and believe scripture.

    2 Peter 1:

    19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

    An Evangelist come to one in darkness, Bible in hand and as a light in the darkness. Peter, John, Paul; others including Stephen, Lydia and Timothy, all quoting the truth in love from scripture, have been evangelists to the generations. Is it not also your calling in Christ Jesus?

    Second Letter of Paul to Timothy

    Preach the Word

    4 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

    3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

    5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering,

    do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

    +

    Beloved believer, dear lost soul seeking the solace of Christ,

    Will you not come nearer to Jesus in these hurried last days approaching the judgment of the world and all souls? Will you only believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and our Savior, your only way to eternal life? Follow Him, by whose love for you, He ransomed your soul by the Blood of the Cross.

    Jesus Christ IS.

    Though I am a mere mortal, I proclaim the grace of God’s love though Christ.

    Dearly beloved soul looking to Jesus, won’t you follow after Him?

    Amen.

    To be continued…

    NEXT: Obstinate

  • Follow After Me – a series on Christian life in the 21st c.

    Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

    – Matthew 16:24

    Who do you follow?

    It seems in this 21st century that following Jesus is NOT the thing to do. Worshiping GOD seems to be a thing of the past. Tolerance for other religions (even those with no tolerance for our beliefs) seems to be an inviolable standard for a post-modern morality without standards. Christianity is on the outs.

    Those living in a European Union of atheist existence no longer challenge the communist for their opposition to God, but for their competition to our greed. Suppressed peoples of Africa, Asia and the Middle East are ignored for their needs, yet exploited for their resources.

    In the United States, a nation founded after a great awakening to the glory of God and hope in Jesus Christ, freedom of speech has digressed into irresponsible sound bites. And in a post-Christian U.S., religion in our former nation under God, has fallen into a frenzy of preservation of a lost way of life. We are no longer a safe haven for the tired, the poor and huddled masses. Even the language of future leaders would gamble on a ban of immigrants.

    Who in this world would you follow?

    A strong dictator with guns and oil and young men who will die for him? A billionaire who would buy the Presidency of a powerful nation? A robed Arab prince who beheads Christians? Perhaps an autocratic zealous religious leader of a long-gone false and violent prophet? Who would you trust with your life and your family?

    Who would you follow today?  Who would you trust with your present and your future, even sins of your past and hope for your eternity?

    Jesus Christ,

    a Savior for every century, a Redeemer for every sinner

    You probably don’t live in Israel. You are not likely the owner of a fishing fleet or dishonest tax collector. I know you don’t imagine that a dozen poor men, a few hundred common and poor Jews and women with no stake in a Roman district on the Mediterranean 21 centuries ago have anything in common with you.

    In fact, if you believe in God; in fact, if you believe in Christ Jesus; in fact, if you live in this day as a follower of the Way of Jesus you don’t have much in common with those who compete with you in the workplace and challenge you in your everyday 21st century life.

    You may only be looking for some answers to a life that matters – your life, even the souls of those you love. Where do you look? Who do you trust?

    Who would you learn from? Whose example would you follow? After all, you and I are sinners – failed sinners in a fallen world which digresses quickly toward the destruction of all we value.

    Why Jesus? Why do the words of the Gospel, the Good News of the Messiah of God coming to mankind, resonate with us?

    Read the story of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Man of 21 centuries ago, who IS raised from the dead and rules over powers and principalities we cannot understand and you will see that He is the only man in history who IS exactly who He says He IS.

    Jesus Christ IS God Incarnate!

    He came to mankind in love for the cost of our sins. He came to save us from death and punishment. He will come again in judgment of those who have hated God and their fellow man. Jesus came to the world to establish His Kingdom in love. The LORD GOD, who has called for us to follow after Him in word and in deed, will celebrate the glory of His creation for all eternity in the fellowship of those who love and worship Him.

    Challenges of a 21st c. Christian life

    This NEW series will address our challenges of living as followers of Jesus Christ in a world of selfishness and obeying God in a world corrupted by godlessness. At any time in these last times, following Jesus in the footsteps of love through the darkness of days seems difficult at best.

    The Name of Jesus and glory of God are maligned by the headlines of hateful souls and agendas of prideful sinners.

    Yet read the Bible: understand the Law of God, praise the glory of the LORD, hear the writing on the walls, experience the hope of the Gospel, embrace the letters of love and heed the revelation of God’s will. Know the beginning and the end. See that the LORD has come to you and to me, because we are sinners in need of a Savior.

    I pray that the encouragement of this series might help you to see yourself as a fellow sinner who would like to flee this world, yet by our witness to the light of eternal hope we choose to listen to the Son of Man, Christ Jesus, who calls out to each of us:

    “Follow after me.”

    To be continued…

    NEXT: Hope for the Guilty