Talk of JESUS . com

Tag: Gospel

The Gospel is Good News to all who will humbly accept Jesus and listen to His teaching.

We refer to the four books of the Bible which tell the story of Jesus Christ as the Gospels. These books are named for their authors: Matthew, a Jewish Apostle; Mark, a disciple of the first generation who recorded accounts of Peter and the Twelve; Luke, a gentile Physician and disciple of the first century; and John, one of the Twelve Jewish Apostles chosen by Jesus.

  • Rest for the wicked; hope for the weary

    Rest for the wicked; hope for the weary

    It so happens as the Lord had planned it that the launch of http://talkofJesus.com -+- CHRISTIAN SOCIAL WITNESS coincides with the American holiday: Labor Day.  We will have picnics, parades and some much-needed family time.  No school.  Post offices, banks and many not-so-greedy businesses closed to give their employees a rest from their labor – something all of us need at times.

    A prior post began with this same thought. It is about Sabbath rest – a related, but different reference to the word of God in the Bible.  We’ve likely heard the expression:

    ‘NO rest for the wicked and the good don’t need any.’

    NOT true; NOT Biblical.

    We ALL need rest and we all need work.

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    American’s inherited this Labor Day idea of rest though the long-standing culture of the King James Bibles so much apart of our Christian heritage.  The original call for rest comes from Jesus.

    “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. – Matthew 11:28

    At one time Americans realized the importance to honor God through our labor and to honor labors as God’s own workers.  Sadly, in a 21st c. America (or Europe, Asia or any other place) we don’t get that, do we?  (Jesus tells us why – which I will reveal in a moment.) The world has two approaches to labor:

    Work hard for your SELF. (More work, more reward: right?) God doesn’t really need that “offering AND tithe” to honor Him — after all, the Government gets plenty of our required monetary support.  Our Country will take care of us.

    OR

    I don’t need to labor because Uncle Sam* takes care of me and will always help me.

    *  ‘Americanized’ personalization of our impersonal ‘representative’ Government.

    God never intended for ANY to have a rest from the work they will NOT do.  (We won’t go there today. That’s a different scripture.)

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    Getting back to talk of Jesus:

    The crowds had flocked to hear Jesus on the hillsides of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.  Jesus traveled from city to city on His northern tour.  Everywhere Jesus traveled, He was expected.

    Matthew 11: When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

    Imagine the excitement of the promised Messiah of God coming to your city.  Jesus was predicted by the Prophets.  Jesus was proclaimed by the greatest prophet their contemporary, John the Baptist.

    John was a ‘hell-fire and damnation’ kind of preacher: popular with the people, but imprisoned by the religious establishment.

    REPENT! And be baptized (changed permanently). Cleanse your sins before you must stand before the HOLY ONE.

    Yet our Lord is also calling the people of the cities to hear Him and obey.

    20 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.

    Jesus? … Preaching ‘hell-fire and damnation’ like John?

    Read what He said comparing the disobedient to the people of Sodom.

    Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest

    25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will…

    28 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

    What is Jesus saying about our labor?

    Jesus is illustrating a picture of manual labor.  He doesn’t say to just give it all to Him and He will take care of it.  (I’m not saying this about prayer.  We are talking ‘labor’ here.)

    • Take my yoke upon you a picture of the collar of two doing the work of one.
    • learn from me – a direct reference to learning from the example of His life.
    • I am gentle and lowly in heart [Jesus is kind and humble. Have you learned this from His Perfect Example?]

    and [IF you will do this, according to our Lord]

    • you will find rest for your souls. 

    30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

    Jesus didn’t say ‘Take a break and I will do it all for you.”

    Jesus actually called out the people who refuse to repent and listen to Him for their wickedness.

    Our Lord knows how weary we become in this world.

    Do we remember: disobedience was punished in Eden.  Unpleasant work became part of our sinful heritage for having knowledge of good and evil.

    Jesus offers to share in our work in this world.

    Will you work with Him on that?

    Though we are wicked sinners

    Because of the Cross of Jesus 

    Weary laborers have hope.

    Come unto Him.

  • Closed on Sunday

    Closed on Sunday

    “Rest for the wicked; Hope for the weary.

    Where did that thought come from, I wondered.  Could it have anything to do with all of those early mornings and late nights on the internet? (So I looked it up on the internet… didn’t find it… looked for the quote from the Bible… didn’t find it.)

    My thought was actually concerning rest on the Sabbath, a Commandment. (Forgive us our trespasses.) Did our Father in heaven want us to rest for our own good and also worship the God of any of our goodness through Christ Jesus?  What do you think?

    Deuteronomy 5:11 “‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

    12 “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.

    13b On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

    “Observe the Sabbath… Did I remember that wrong? … (I’ll look it up on the internet.)

    I found it. I did remember it. (I think I saw it on someone’s coffee cup somewhere.)

    Exodus 20:8 KJV – Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 

    What I had failed to ‘remember’ about the sabbath is the depth of meaning ‘to keep it holy.

    qadash – to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate

    Pharisees had complained about Jesus not keeping the sabbath; but His explanation does not justify any failure of ours to observe the holiness and separation God our Father intended for us to rest… consecrate Sunday and separate ourselves from the world to worship the Lord our God.

    “Most Christians and most 21st c. christian families are guilty of NOT consecrating Sunday to be separate from the worldly and coming together before the Lord our God in holiness.

    (Just an hour of so of obligation to ‘go to church’ hardly counts as “observe” or “consecrate” Sunday, to keep it HOLY.)

    Have you and your 21st c. christian family also been as guilty of remembering to come together as a family of God and worship?

    Forgive us, Lord.  We repent and seek the holiness of Jesus Christ.

    In fact, God willing, I will take another day (after I have rested on Sunday) to talk about: “Rest for the wicked; Hope for the weary.

    Remember to SHARE Christ Jesus and worship the Lord on Sunday as part of our family of the Lord.

    Roger, your brother in Christ -+- Christian Social Witness

  • Look For The Good In People! – by Darrell “Coach D” Andrews

    Look For The Good In People! – by Darrell “Coach D” Andrews

    Unlike any time in modern history, people seem to focus on and highlight—the bad in people. Politicians now run their entire campaigns not on what they can do to fix things, but the faults of their competition. Many of the reality shows are rated and considered a success, based upon the vitriol people can spew about each other. I recently watched a cooking reality show and the chefs were bashing one another! I certainly will not eat at their restaurants! Lastly, I remember being in a Church years ago where the Pastor used to make jokes about a certain denomination for their still way of worshiping God. They were not overly emotional in their workshop so he called it, “The Church of the Chosen Frozen.” Yes, this even happens in ministry.

    My message to you today is not long, but please, try to look for the good in people. It is so easy to fall into the world’s system of negative thinking and fault finding, but work to do what the scripture says in Mark 12:31, “Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” Notice the scripture did not say you have an option to do this. It tells is that we “shall.”

    Fault finding most happens in families. In particular marriages. Some marriages grow cold and stale because someone is holding on to something to hate the other for. Something they said or did. The spouse can be doing 99 things right, but the other looks at the one wrong—and holds the other spouse hostage in their web of discontent. This is a tragedy when God tells us the opposite in Mark 12:31. This is why so many relationships end in divorce. Some parents do this to their kids, and kids to their parents. Some family members have not spoken in years due to faults they find in one another. A lifetime of disconnect, due to something they disagree with.

    Today, choose to go against the grain. Practice loving they neighbor as thy self, especially in our families. The world has given us enough hate to view on TV, lets not carry this into our personal life.

    Remember, the scripture tells us “Love never fails.”   Is it possible we are where we are today as a nation and world due to a lack of it?

     

    Darrell Andrews Enterprises’ mission is to transform individual and organizational perceptions with the goal of improving individual and organizational outcomes.

    Darrell Andrews Enterprises is a strategic motivational speaking, training and coaching firm.

    Please pray for his work with families and communities and share your Christian Social Witness with your friends. – Roger