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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.
  • What’s a Hypocrite to do?

    What’s a Hypocrite to do?

    It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.

    (It is a Higher calling, though.) It is a higher calling as Jesus pointed out also given to the Pharisees, whose hypocrisy was frequent target of our Lord.

    We should not think for one instant that we (because we are not Pharisees or teachers of scriptures) are not also call to the higher calling of Christ Jesus to REPENT of our hypocrisy.

    Proverbs 25:4-5

    Take away the dross from the silver,
    and the smith has material for a vessel;

    take away the wicked from the presence of the king,
    and his throne will be established in righteousness.

    How can Christ Jesus claim His Throne of righteousness without taking away the dross of hypocrisy from His church?

    Are you the dross?

    OR do you REPENT and as a disciple seek once more to be “like his teacher” and as one who witnesses Jesus as Lord, “the servant like his master?”

    HYPOCRISY is a warning of Christ Jesus even in this teaching of scripture (which we will reach in a moment). CHRISTIANS (disciples and servants of Jesus Christ) are NOT to live like the world we seek to convert to join us as one of the forgiven sinners of His church.

    Matthew 10

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

    21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death,22 and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

    tolerencecoexistWhy are you, dear brother or sister, trying for tolerance, though our Lord calls for you to be hated for His Name’s sake?

    IF those we would win to Christ Jesus see christians as “just like us” they see hypocrisy when we try to pluck the speck of sin from their lives while we witness the tree branch in our own.

     24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.

    25 It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.

    If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

    You and I are NOT above Jesus. We call Him LORD.

    Neither are we like Jesus (in many ways), but by establishing His continual righteousness in our hearts as His servants we represent the household of the King of Heaven and earth as ambassadors to those He would bring into the church family along side us (miserable sinners that you and I have been).

    To be continued…

     

  • The Mirror of Hypocrisy

    The Mirror of Hypocrisy

    As I left the busy area of the mall wearing my brand new ‘Jesus’ tie I had just purchased as witness to family members far from Christ, I hurried onto the main freeway. Morning traffic was still dense, but I had time to merge; BUT the car in the lane next to the ramp was not making room for me.

    It breezes by as I braked rather than merging. The woman driver had a cell phone up to her right ear. She never saw me.

    So (of course) I followed my gut reaction as I squeezed into traffic behind her. As she blew by the ramp, phone to her ear; I tried my best to get her attention back on traffic with a long blast on my horn.

    And you guessed it. What was the first thing I noticed?

    Her bumper sticker:

    PRAY

    Yes, this brother in the Lord (with the log in his eye) noticed clearly this sister in the Lord with the speck in hers.

    I had to laugh. (And pray that nobody would notice that the car honking his horn had a bumper sticker on the back from his daughter’s Christian college.)

     Matthew 7:3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

    Want to witness to an unbeliever? (For they are hypocrites, too.)

    Tell them you are a sinner. I am!

    When I look in the mirror I do not see Christ; I see a sinner.

    Even unbelievers see the sins of OTHERS, including ours.

    Look in the mirror and remove the log of hypocrisy from your eye. THEN, confess your sin and witness Christ Jesus.

    Even the unbeliever will see clearly: the truth of your witness or the lie of our hypocrisy.

     

     

  • Hypocrite ‘christian’ & Hypocrite Unbeliever

    Hypocrite ‘christian’ & Hypocrite Unbeliever

    You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. – Luke 6:42b

    HARSH words from Jesus!

    Would you of the church (who call yourself “christian”) deserve the rebuke of the One we call Lord?

    It so happens that the same thing that unbelievers do not like in ‘christians’ is the same thing that I do not like: hypocrisy.

    True followers of Christ Jesus must be pure in our faith and truthful in our witness.

    (As a reminder to any who have not followed my Lenten series of posts, now (the 40 days prior to Resurrection Sunday) is a time for Christians to put down our mask of hypocrisy and put on the righteousness of repentance – a returning to Christ Jesus, who suffered the penalty for our sins and was crucified as Perfect Sacrifice for those who believe.  We will get to the message of hope and the redemption of the Cross closer to Easter, God willing.)

    hypocriteAn earlier part of this series on Covenant and Truth concluded with an introductory thought on christian hypocrisy.

    covenant definition

    We then proceeded to examine the witness of christian marriage and of christian families (including teens).

    Today we will take on a couple of issues as they relate to hypocrisy by BOTH christians & non-Christians.

    Let’s begin, however, with the entire scripture of Jesus on the ‘log in your own eye.’

    Luke 6:39  He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man?

    christian hypocrite: Can you lead a non-believer to Christ while you remain blind to your own sin?

    Will they not both fall into a pit?

    Are you BOTH not destined to the pit of Hell if you do not repent?

    40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

    Are you “fully trained,” dear brother (sister) in the Lord? Are you like Jesus, whom we call Lord? 

    God knows the truth and others witness the truth of your proclaimed purity.

    41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

    An unbeliever will be the first to ask this question of christian hypocrites. The unbeliever ALSO sees the darkness and sin in others, while failing to acknowledge the sin in their own life.

    No difference (except that their hypocrisy is not also witness against Christ).

    42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye?

    A reminder: our responsibility to a Christian brother, member of the family of Christ Jesus, is higher than to an unbeliever. No need to point out the sins to the unbeliever, while failing to bring to light your own.

    You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

    A Tree and Its Fruit

    43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

    What is the fruit of Christian marriage?

    A lasting covenant, witness to Christ’s love for us.

    What is the fruit of Christian parents?

    Godly children; godly teens; godly sons to marry and godly daughters to be given in marriage.

    HOW ARE WE DOING?

    • As a church?
    • As a husband or wife claiming Christ?
    • As a child or teen under the roof and authority of a Christian household?

    Truth is (as you can see from our previous articles and statistics) christians are failing miserably in our witness of Christ.

    The fruit is rotting.

    To be continued…