Tag Archives: Religion

Matthew 14- Feeding the Multitude

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When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. Matthew 14:13-17

The feeding of the 5,000 is a story that is documented in all four of the gospels, this story really demonstrates how Jesus is the Christ and the New Covenant is a Better Covenant (Hebrews 8) Notice the location of this event, it’s in the wilderness. Now thinking back to the Old (Mosaic) Covenant what happened in the wilderness? Well Moses led the Israelites through the Wilderness, and God provided the Bread from Heaven and the Living Water

Well as Moses prophesied, there will be One greater than Moses, (Deuteronomy 18:15) Moses was prophesying about Jesus, and Christ was demonstrating how He is greater than Moses, Christ is greater than all, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. While Moses relied upon God to provide for the Israelites, Jesus provided for the 5,000 in the Wilderness, Christ was revealing his deity as God in the flesh (John 1:14)

He said, Bring them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children. Matthew 14:18-21

 Christ blessed the bread, broke the bread , and distributed it among the multitude, does this sound familiar? Jesus was revealing that He is the Bread from Heaven (John 6) , Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), this was a revelation of Communion, the breaking of bread is a reminder of Christ sacrifice

But also it is important to understand Jesus is the Bread from Heaven, Christ is the Manna that came down from Heaven, to give us eternal life. Without the sacrifice of Christ , there is no atonement for our sins. Jesus paid it all for us on the cross, on the 3rd day, he rose from the dead defeating sin and death forever!

Are you hungry for righteousness? Are you thirsty for salvation? Come to Jesus Christ and you shall be saved Amen!

Matthew 14- Death of John The Baptist

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At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him. For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife. For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. Matthew 14:1-5

So you want to be a prophet? Many people today and throughout time claimed to be a prophet of God, but be careful what you wish for. Throughout history it’s been well documented the true prophets of God faced intense persecution and usually death. This was the same fate for John the Baptist, as Jesus called him “The greatest of all prophets” (Matthew 11:11)

So why was John the Baptist imprisoned and killed? Because he was preaching the true gospel of Jesus Christ, everyone needs to Repent and become Born Again. Herod didn’t like this message of repentance, when John called out his immoral and invalid marriage he had with his brother’s wife. Most people don’t like to be called out on their sin, this is why Jesus and the Apostles and Prophets received heavy persecution and death.

It’s interesting that Herod believed Jesus was John the Baptist risen from the dead, which makes us understand Herod knew John was a Holy Man from God, but Herod loved his sin more than He loved God, so he killed the messenger of God. This is the same evil spirit and mentality most people have today. People love their sin more than they love God

But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger. And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath’s sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her. And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus. Matthew 14:6-12

Now to show you how depraved Herod was , we see this bizarre birthday celebration where the “daughter of Herodias” who is also Herod’s step daughter, dances for him and pleases him to the point he will give her whatever she wants. Now we don’t have to go into detail that this is an immoral and depraved event. Now the girls mother, Herodias, uses this situation as a “power grab” to eliminate John the Baptist, because he has been calling her out on her sin and her conscience is probably pricked. The show Desperate Housewives has nothing on the Bible!

So Herod, knowing John the Baptist is a prophet of God, goes ahead and orders his execution anyway because Herod loves his sin and wants to please people more than fearing God. Many of John’s disciples or students must have witnesses all of these events and then went back and told Jesus what had happened

What can we learn from this story? The love of sin is greater than the love of God in most people. If you want to know why Jesus said we must be Born Again to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (John 3:3) just look at the depravity of the human heart and understand why we need to be reborn

Matthew 13- Hometown Hero?

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And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence. And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. Matthew 13:53-57

As the Bible says “The Word (Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14) Jesus is God in human form, the incarnation of Christ is a revelation that is sometimes difficult for our human minds to comprehend. However, imagine if Jesus Christ grew up in your hometown, and you knew him from a child. This was the response from the people of Nazareth, they rejected Jesus as the Christ because they already knew who he was

Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is this not the son of Mary? It’s amazing how our human minds can reason with any little doubt we can grasp. We still see this today, many people reject Jesus as the Son of God, because they can’t comprehend the incarnation of Christ, they can’t comprehend the resurrection of Christ, they can’t comprehend how Jesus can be fully God and fully man (Philippians 2) Even if our human minds can’t comprehend these things, we can’t deny the truth that Jesus is the Son of God

But as Jesus said “ A prophet has no honor in their hometown” this really shouldn’t be a surprise to us, knowing the history of God’s prophets being persecuted and killed, why would we think it would be any different when the Messiah came? They killed the Messiah just as they killed their prophets and apostles, the heart of man is wicked beyond belief and needs to be Born Again

And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Matthew 13:58

Notice Jesus didn’t perform many miracles in Nazareth because of their lack of faith, their lack of belief in who Jesus truly is. Anything is possible with God, but nothing will be possible without faith. Without faith we can’t please God (Hebrews 11:16) Faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation, Amen!

Matthew 13- Judgement Day

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Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. Matthew 13:47-51

Here we see Jesus describing “Judgement Day” with a parable of casting a giant net into the sea and separating the good and the bad. As we talked about the Wheat and the Tares, so it’s the same concept here, the saved and unsaved will be gathered together and then separated to their eternal destinies.

Jesus said “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a Net cast into the Sea and gather all kinds” again Christ is using the analogy of fishing, but notice not everyone will be saved for the Kingdom, the bad will be “cast away”. As Christ said “so shall it be at the End of the World “ this is the judgment day of Christ. The angels will come forth and separate the wicked from the just, the saved from the unsaved, the Born Again from the spiritually dead

Notice again here Christ describes Hell fire, “They shall be cast into the furnace of fire”, “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” Again this is not “Soul sleep” this is not Annihilationism, this is eternal conscious torment in the furnace of fire. This is why we need to tell people about Jesus, their eternal souls rely upon it, this is not forcing your beliefs upon someone, this is about a war on souls, this is about pulling people out of the fire

Jesus asked his disciples, “Do you understand all these things”? They answered him Yes, but I doubt the modern day Church understands these things , otherwise we would see Christians preaching on every street corner. The fact we see virtually no evangelism from the Church today, shows they really have no understanding of what is at stake in eternity. Souls could be lost forever, as the Bible says “How will they hear without a preacher” (Romans 10:14)

Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. Matthew 13:52

Jesus ends this teaching with an interesting statement, what I believe Christ is saying is that the entire Bible (Old and New Testament) is a complete revelation of the Kingdom of God and Christ himself. As Jesus said “ Everything must be fulfilled, that is written about Me (Christ) in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44) Jesus was affirming the entire Bible is about him and Gods Kingdom

The Net will be cast soon, Christ is returning again, are you Born Again or are you one of the wicked that will be cast into Hell Fire? 

Matthew 13- Kingdom of God

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Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Matthew 13:44-46

Again we see Jesus using more parables to try and describe the Kingdom of God, he relates it to someone finding treasure in a field, and then buying that entire field because they were so overjoyed with what they discovered. This begs to question today, do people really value eternal life? When you talk to most people, they have no interest in spiritual things, all they care about are the worldly things of this present life.

This is the point I think Jesus is trying to make, why did you become saved? Why do you want to be a Christian? I don’t think the majority of people, including Christians, understand the ramifications of their salvation. In today’s Christianity, we have watered down the concept of Hell so much that in many people’s view it doesn’t even exist. Why would people fear death when there are no consequences for their sin? 

Liberal theology is leading millions to Hell , if people understood the true consequences of their sin, then they would be rejoicing when they understand Jesus saved their soul. They would be like the man who found treasure and was “all in” because he understood the value of his salvation. Jesus never said your going take a peaceful nap when you die, no Christ said there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth for the unsaved

Again the next example is of a man who found a pearl that was so valuable , he sold everything he had to keep it. This is talking about the value of your salvation, do you genuinely care about your eternal soul? Most people these days don’t even believe in the concept of a soul, they don’t believe in an afterlife, many don’t even believe in God, this is why the majority of the world is totally deceived and headed for Hell

The Apostle Paul said “The natural man doesn’t understand things from the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:14) This is why people need to become Born Again to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (John 3:3) Without Christ the world is lost , with no hope and no discernment, but they can be saved and they Repent and Obey Christ, Amen!

Matthew 13- The Parable of The Tares Explained

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Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Matthew 13:36-43

Here Jesus actually explains his own commentary on the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, the disciples had no idea what Christ was talking about. Jesus begins identifying himself (Son of Man) as the sower. The field is the world, the good seed are those who are Born Again in Christ, the tares (weeds) are the unsaved (Children of Satan), the enemy is Satan and the harvest is the end of the world or judgment day, and the reapers are the angels of God

Now that Jesus had made this teaching very clear, there are only two paths in life, Children of God or Children of Satan. Again as I talked about previously, you can only be a Child of God if you become Born Again through Jesus Christ. Everybody is not automatically a Child of God, we are all made in the image of God, but unless you are Born Again you are dead in your sin, and your father is Satan

The world is a battlefield, there is a war for your soul, Christ is spreading the seed (The Gospel) to lead people to Christ, but the Enemy (Satan) is fighting hard to deceive people, to discredit the Word of God, to take away the Word of God from the hearts of people. Jesus came to bring eternal life, while Satan is prowling like a roaring lion looking to devour people (1 Peter 5:8) 

The harvest is the end of the world, judgment day, when Christ returns time is up! The Son of Man will send forth his angels and gather all the tares (weeds) the unsaved, from the world and cast them into Hell (Furnace of Fire). Those who say the Bible doesn’t teach about Hell would have a hard time explaining this teaching by Christ. Jesus said “And they shall be cast in the a furnace of fire, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” This isn’t describing “Soul Sleep” or “Annihilationism” this is describing eternal Hell Fire

Jesus said “The righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father” These are the wheat, these are those Born Again through Jesus Christ. Time is running out, whose side will you be on? Victory is already ours through Jesus Christ, because Christ has already overcome the world (John 16:33)

The harvest is coming! Are you ready? Are you a Child of God or a Child of Satan? Those who have spiritual discernment let them hear! Amen!

Matthew 13- Parables of The Kingdom of God

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Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. Matthew 13:31-32

Today we are going to take a look at two parables, one about the mustard seed and another about the leaven, however both of these parables are about the same thing, the Kingdom of God. Jesus starts out by saying “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed” So to understand how the Kingdom of God is being created Jesus uses the analogy of the mustard seed.

Jesus point here is “the mustard seed is the least of all seeds” , Christ point is the mustard seed is very small, however when it’s planted and grown, it becomes a large tree. This is essentially describing the ministry of Christ. Think about it, Jesus came down from Heaven, born of a virgin, grew into a man, and started his ministry on Earth with just 12 Apostles. Eventually over time it’s become the largest religion in the world, with Billions of followers. 

But also we can look at this from another perspective, the Kingdom of God is continually growing today, everyday the gospel is being preached to the world, and everyday souls are becoming Born Again and reconciled back to the Father into the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is continually expanding and it’s essential we fulfill the Great Commision (Matthew 28:19) as commanded by Christ himself

Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. Matthew 13:33

Jesus uses another illustration here to prove the same point, this time its about using a little  leaven (yeast) to make a whole loaf of bread, it’s the same with building God’s Kingdom, it started small (Christ ministry) and has expanded into what it is today. Again the point is God’s Kingdom is continually growing , even today until the fullness of the Gentiles

Preach the gospel to everyone! (Matthew 28:19) Jesus commanded these words for a reason because the Kingdom of God is still expanding as souls are being Reborn everyday! Amen!

Matthew 13- The Wheat and The Tares

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Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Matthew 13:24-29

When we look at Christianity today, there is a such a division and difference between many denominations and “Christians” in general, so how did this happen? Well it’s simple because many of the people in the Churches today are the tares or false converts. Not everyone in your Church or denomination is saved, why? Because Satan planted tares among the wheat, Satan is planting demonic people in Churches to corrupt and destroy them.

You might say “Why would God allow this to happen”? Jesus said “If you remove the tares, you might uproot the wheat with them” This is an interesting statement implying some of the tares might become wheat! This is the grace of God, even though we don’t deserve mercy, God is patient in wanting everyone to become saved (2 Peter 3:9) Just as Jesus said “The rain falls on the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45) This is why fulfilling the Great Commision (Matthew 28:19) is critical for everyone soul and the return of Christ

Now some will say “A Tare (Weed) could never be in my Church” think about Judas, he was one of the original 12 Apostles, he witnessed Christs miracles, he listened to his teachings in person, he even broke bread with The Lord, yet Satan entered him and he sold his soul for 30 pieces of silver! The Tares are everywhere including your Church, be careful to be led by the Holy Spirit and not man

Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn Matthew 13:30

Jesus said “Let them grow together till the harvest” What is the harvest? Judgment day, when the wicked (tares) stand before Christ and are judged. What about the wheat? Gather them in my barn says The Lord, meaning there is no judgment for those in Christ (Romans 8:1)

For the Tares Christ said “Bind them in bundles and burn them, meaning Hell Fire. Repent and turn to Jesus before it’s too late! Amen!

Matthew 13- Preaching In Parables

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And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. Matthew 13:10-13

People often ask the question “Why did Jesus speak in parables”? In our scripture reading today, Jesus actually answers this question. This reminds me of when Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus in “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (John 3:12)

Jesus is saying to Nicodemus , I’m trying to explain things to you in an Earthly context and you can’t understand, how can you possibly understand things about Heaven, of course I’m totally paraphrasing this, but this is the point. People will often say “Why doesn’t Jesus just tell us things directly, well simply because our human minds couldn’t comprehend Heaven

Jesus is trying to “dumb” things down for us in a language we can understand. Think about if you ever taught a Sunday School class or taught children. You don’t typically speak to children like you do adults because they don’t understand what your saying. You have to water things down, use figurative language that children could understand, Jesus was doing the same thing with us. 

And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. Matthew 13:14-17

The Messiah speaking in Parables shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, this was foretold by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6) Jesus affirms this in his teaching. As the prophet Isaiah says “Be ever hearing, but never understanding, Be ever seeing, but never perceiving” Think about the religious leaders , they knew the scriptures from memory yet they didn’t know Christ. Without Jesus , you can never understand The Bible and never understand the Kingdom of God

When you read the parables of Christ, think about it from a spiritual perspective. Jesus is trying to reveal the Kingdom of God to you in a story, embrace the blessed parables Amen!

Matthew 13- Parable of The Sower

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And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Matthew 13:3-9

When we talk about evangelism, it’s interesting how different people respond or react to the same gospel message. Jesus explains this in a parable, he compares people to different soils. Some have stony ground, some let the seed fall to the wayside, some receive the gospel but let the world choke out its hope, and then some have good soil and the gospel message takes root

Now Jesus is referring to the Word of God to a seed. This is why we are commanded to “Preach the gospel to everyone” (Matthew 28:19) because the gospel is a seed, and for those elect it will take root and bring people to repentance and salvation. While others whose hearts are hardened will reject the gospel and it won’t take any root in them at all. Those who receive the gospel will also produce fruit (Matthew 7) the evidence of the Holy Spirit. Let those who have spiritual discernment hear!

Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Matthew 13:18-23

Jesus actually explains this parable for us, Satan is continually trying to make the Word of God irrelevant. Why? Because Satan knows the Word of God is truth and will set you free. So we see in today’s world, they want to say the Bible is “outdated” or the Bible is “hateful” or “offensive” As Paul said “The message of the cross is foolishness to anyone who is perishing” (1 Corinthians 1:18)

There are those who will receive the Word of God, but then they go through a hardship or trial, and then they blame it on God. So they reject the gospel message because they are not living their best life now, our best life is to come in Gods Kingdom. This is the danger and blasphemy of “Prosperity Gospel” generates more false converts than saves anyone

Then you have those who receive the gospel, but they care more about the world than they care about God. As Jesus said “What does it profit you to gain the whole world and lose your soul” (Mark 8:36) 

But there are some , the elect, who will receive the gospel and produce good fruit (Matthew 7) This is why it’s important we continue to share the good news of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19) even when the majority of the world will reject it, Amen!