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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.
  • 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…

  • but from the beginning it was not so

    but from the beginning it was not so

    Teaching About Divorce

    3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?”

    4 He answered,“Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

    The question of the Pharisees is justification that could easily come from the deceitful tongue of an unfaithful 21st c. christian.

    ‘How can I get out of my marriage vows?’ one might ask.

    A ‘vow’ may be permanent or vows may have a clause of completion by a given date or event. Here is announced INTENTION of the marriage vow I made with my wife and she with me:

    DECLARATION OF INTENTION
    Pastor [sister in the Lord and mayor, Judith Piper] to the persons who are to marry:

    I ask you now, in the presence of God and these people, to declare your intention to enter into union with
    each other through the grace of Jesus Christ, who calls you into union with himself [as acknowledged in
    your baptism.]

    Pastor to the woman: 2
    Lissette, will you have Roger, to be your husband, to live together in holy marriage? Will you love him,
    comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to him as
    long as you both shall live?
    Woman: I will.

    Pastor to the man:
    Roger, will you have Lissette, to be your wife, to live together in holy marriage? Will you love her,
    comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to her as
    long as you both shall live?

    I will.

    Although we have spent some time in the Old Testament and marriage problems from the beginning, let’s take a brief look at the Law and perspective of marriage before these last days.

    As a reminder, a woman (virgin) was given in marriage from her father to another family, typically by agreement to the father for his son. (How different this is from the boiling emotions of attraction of the flesh of those choosing marriage in these last days as a confirmation of what has already taken place.)

    The Bible speaks to men, because by their authority from God men are to speak to and for the woman in their care and responsibility.

    For a brief look at this, see Numbers 30.

    Not only is it NOT Biblical that in most instances a man may NOT divorce a woman, it is NOT Biblical that a woman would even have the legal right to divorce her husband! (However, in these last days, the world and the church have allowed and condoned this.)

    Divorce by christian women ‘putting away their Christian husbands for any reason’ is all too prevalent and unconfessed by the church.

    A few startling statistics which ought to convict christians and those married claiming Christ:

    • Percent of men 15-44 years of age who have had 15 or more female sexual partners, 2006-2010: 21.6%
    • Percent of women 15-44 years of age who have had 15 or more male sexual partners, 2006-2010: 9.0% source

    I have confessed that the number of sexual partners in my life may be counted on one hand, but trends show that now many teens have had more sexual partners by their early 20’s, and that without marriage (in most cases), than I have had in over 40 years since first having intercourse (in my 20’s).

    • By age 18, 9% of women aged 15–44 in 2006–2010 had ever cohabited.
    • By age 20, 26% of women in 2006–2010 had cohabited, compared with 23% in 2002 and 19% in 1995.
    WhyGetMarried2Our 18 year old son will graduate from high school this year. These stats mean that 9 of the 100 young women graduates in his class have already lived with their boyfriend (possibly in the home of her parent).
    —
    I can guarantee you that our ‘christian’ sons and daughters (who often resist church participation at that age) are included in the parental hypocrisy of these well-hidden facts. (See the difference in christian marriages, below.)
    —
    In just two years, one of every four young women in his 2014 graduation class will be “in a relationship” with their boyfriend. (No need of marriage here.)
    One of four women by age 20.
    • By age 25, over one-half of women (55%) in 2006–2010 had cohabited. source

    So what is our Christian witness for marriage?

    We do not make a very good case for it by our witness.

    • adults (78%) have been married at least once, the Barna study revealed that an even higher proportion of born again Christians (84%) tie the knot.
    • 25% have gone through a marital split
    • In fact, when evangelicals and non-evangelical born again Christians are combined into an aggregate class of born again adults, their divorce figure is statistically identical to that of non-born again adults: 32% versus 33%, respectively. source

    Christian witness: Number of divorces is the SAME as non-christians.

    Continuing in what Jesus had to say to the Pharisees about divorce:

    Jesus said:  6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

    7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?”

    8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

    Is this not so with christians who divorce? Is this not so with christian wives who call themselves, ‘single moms?”

    9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

    And ought we also say, in these last days where the hardness of a woman’s heart will no more submit to her husband, than she will to the Lord:

    “Whoever divorces her husband, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

    From the beginning, it was not so.

    Marriage: to be continued?  … Next: Why Biblical marriage matters