J.C. Ryle On The Eternality Of Hell

As I was reading this morning I found this by J.C. Ryle talking about Hell being eternal. This is something that we all should think about daily, because we all know many people who do not know Jesus Christ and if they die in this state, this is their end.

Jesus said:

"The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to the man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born."

Matthew 26:24

Of this verse J.C. Rule wrote:

Let us learn... from [this] verse, the hopeless condition of all who die unconverted. The words of our Lord on this subject are peculiarly solemn. He says of Judas, "It would have been better for that man, if he had not been born." This saying admits of only one interpretation. It teaches plainly, that it is better never to live at all, than to live without faith, and to die without grace. To die in this state is to be ruined forever more. It is a fall from which there is no rising. It is a loss which is utterly irretrievable. There is no change in hell. The gulf between hell and heaven is one that no man can pass. This saying could never have been used, if there was any truth in the doctrine of 'universal salvation'. If it really was true that all would sooner or later reach heaven, and hell sooner or later be emptied of inhabitants, it never could be said that it would have been "good for a man not to have been born." Hell itself would lose its terrors, if it had an end. Hell itself would be endurable, if after millions of ages there was a HOPE of freedom and of heaven. But universal salvation will find no foot-hold in Scripture. The teaching of the word of God is plain and express on the subject. There is a worm that never dies, and a fire that is not quenched (Mark 9:44.) "Except a man be born again," he will wish one day he had never been born at all. "Better," says Burkitt, "have no being, than not have a being in Christ."

Let us grasp this truth firmly, and not let it go. There are always people who dislike the reality and eternity of hell. We live in a day when a morbid charity induces many to exaggerate God's mercy, at the expense of His justice, and when false teachers are daring to talk of a "love of God, lower even than hell." Let us resist such teaching with a holy jealousy, and abide by the doctrine of Holy Scripture. Let us not be ashamed to walk in the old paths, and to believe that there is an eternal God, an eternal heaven, and an eternal hell. Once depart from this belief, and we admit the thin edge of the wedge of skepticism, and may at last deny any doctrine of the Gospel. We may rest assured that there is no firm standing ground between a belief in the eternity of hell, and downright infidelity.

J.C. Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels Vol 1: Matthew & Mark pg. 354

No One Knows That Day And Hour

This morning I was reading Matthew 24 which includes the following verses:

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
 

“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 24:36-51

Here are some thought on this passage from the pen of J.C. Ryle:

The... thing that demands our attention, is the dreadful separation that will take place when the Lord Jesus comes again. We read twice over, that "one shall be taken and the other left."

The godly and the ungodly, at present, are all mingled together. In the congregation and in the place of worship--in the city and in the field--the children of God and the children of the world are all side by side. But it shall not be so always. In the day of our Lord's return, there shall at length be a complete division. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye; at the last trumpet, each party shall be separated from the other forever more. Wives shall be separated from husbands--parents from children--brothers from sisters--masters from servants--preachers from hearers. There shall be no time for parting words, or a change of mind, when the Lord appears. All shall be taken as they are, and reap according as they have sown. Believers shall be caught up to glory, honor, and eternal life. Unbelievers shall be left behind to shame and everlasting contempt. Blessed and happy are they who are of one heart in following Christ! Their union alone shall never be broken. It shall last for evermore. Who can describe the happiness of those who are taken, when the Lord returns? Who can imagine the misery of those who are left behind? May we think on these things and consider our ways...

[We also see that] True Christians ought to live like watchmen. The day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. They should strive to be always on their guard. They should behave like the sentinel of an army in an enemy's land.

They should resolve by God's grace not to sleep at their post. That text of Paul deserves many a thought--"let us not sleep, as the rest do, but let us watch and be sober." (1 Thess. 5:6.)

True Christians ought to live like good servants, whose master is not at home. They should strive to be always ready for their master's return. They should never give way to the feeling, "my Lord is delaying his coming." They should seek to keep their hearts in such a frame, that whenever Christ appears, they may at once give Him a warm and loving reception. There is a vast depth in that saying, "Blessed is that servant whom his master finds doing so when he comes." We may well doubt whether we are true believers in Jesus, if we are not ready at any time to have our faith changed into sight.

J.C.Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels Vol 1 Matthew and Mark pg 327-329

It is my prayer that you will take a few minutes today and think about what Jesus said in these few verses.

The Danger Of False Prophets

Here is another excerpt from J.C. Ryle's Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, this time warning us about false teachers and showing us how we are to guard ourselves from the "wolves in sheep's clothing"

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?"

Matthew 7:15-16

Of these verses J.C. Ryle writes:

We are to "beware of false prophets." The connection between this passage and the preceding one (Matthew 7:12-14)) is striking. Would we keep clear of this "broad way?" We must beware of false prophets. They will arise. They began in the days of the apostles. Even then the seeds of error were sown. They have appeared continually ever since. We must be prepared for them, and be on our guard.

 

This is a warning which is much needed. There are thousands who seem ready to believe anything in religion if they hear it from an ordained minister. They forget that clergymen may err as much as laymen. They are not infallible. Their teaching must be weighed in the balance of Holy Scripture. They are to be followed and believed, so long as their doctrine agrees with the Bible, but not a minute longer. We are to try them "by their fruits." Sound doctrine and holy living are the marks of true prophets. Let us remember this. Our minister's mistakes will not excuse our own. "If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the ditch."

What is the best safe-guard against false teaching? Beyond all doubt the regular study of the word of God, with prayer for the teaching of the Holy Spirit. The Bible was given to be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. (Psalm. 119:105.) The man who reads it aright will never be allowed greatly to err. It is neglect of the Bible which makes so many a prey to the first false teacher whom they hear. They would have us believe that "they are not learned, and do not pretend to have decided opinions." The plain truth is that they are lazy and idle about reading the Bible, and do not like the trouble of thinking for themselves. Nothing supplies false prophets with followers so much as spiritual sloth under a cloak of humility.

May we all bear in mind our Lord's warning! The world, the devil, and the flesh, are not the only dangers in the way of the Christian. There remains another yet, and that is the "false prophet," the wolf in sheep's clothing. Happy is he who prays over his Bible and knows the difference between truth and error in religion! There is a difference, and we are meant to know it, and use our knowledge.

J.C. Ryle

We would do well to remember this warning and we should always pray for the Holy Spirit's guidance whenever we open our Bibles or sit under the preaching of the Word. After all, Jesus warned us that we are to be aware of the false teachers, and if we are led astray by them it is as much our own fault as it is theirs.

That We Were All Like John The Baptist

I have been reading through J.C. Ryle's Expository Thoughts on the Gospels and this morning I came to Matthew 3:1-12 where Bishop Ryle wrote about John the Baptist. The thing that I like about his writings is that he makes them so practical for our everyday application, and today was no different. In this section he looks at the ministry of John the Baptist and uses it to say that this is what a Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ should look like, but I think we can also apply this to ourselves as well and say that when we witness this is what we should look like.

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,
          “The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
          ‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’ ”
Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” 

Matthew 3:1-12

Of these verses J.C. Ryle wrote:

These verses describe the ministry of John the Baptist, the forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a ministry that deserves close attention. Few preachers ever produced such effects. "There went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan." None ever received such praise from the great Head of the Church. Jesus calls him "a burning and a shining light." The great Bishop of souls Himself declares, that "among those who are born of women there has not arisen one greater than John the Baptist." Let us then study the leading features of his ministry.

John the Baptist spoke plainly about sin. He taught the absolute necessity of "repentance," before any one can be saved. He preached that repentance must be proved by its "fruits." He warned men not to rest on outward privileges, or outward union with the church.

This is just the teaching that we all need. We are naturally dead, and blind, and asleep in spiritual things. We are ready to content ourselves with a mere formal religion, and to flatter ourselves, that if we go to church we shall be saved. We need to be told, that except we "repent and are converted" we shall all perish.

John the Baptist spoke plainly about our Lord Jesus Christ. He taught people that one far "mightier than himself" was coming among them. He was nothing more than a servant--the Coming One was the King. He himself could only "baptize with water"--the Coming One could "baptize with the Holy Spirit," take away sins, and would one day judge the world.

This again is the very teaching that human nature requires. We need to be sent direct to Christ. We are all ready to stop short of this. We want to rest in our union with the church, regular use of the sacraments, and diligent attendance on an established ministry. We ought to be told the absolute necessity of union with Christ Himself by faith. He is the appointed fountain of mercy, grace, life, and peace. We must each have personal dealings with Him about our souls. What do we know of the Lord Jesus? What have we got from Him? These are the questions on which our salvation hinges.

John the Baptist spoke plainly about the Holy Spirit. He preached that there was such a thing as the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He taught that it was the special office of the Lord Jesus to give it to men.

This again is a teaching which we greatly require. We need to be told that forgiveness of sin is not the only thing necessary to salvation. There is another thing yet; and that is the baptizing of our hearts by the Holy Spirit. There must not only be the work of Christ FOR us, but the work of the Holy Spirit IN us. There must not only be a title to heaven by the blood of Christ, but a preparedness for heaven wrought in us by the Spirit of Christ. Let us never rest until we know something by experience of the baptism of the Spirit. The baptism of water is a great privilege. But let us see to it that we have also the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

John the Baptist spoke plainly about the dreadful danger of the impenitent and unbelieving. He told his hearers that there was a "wrath to come." He preached of an "unquenchable fire," in which the chaff would one day be burned.

This again is a teaching which is deeply important. We need to be straitly warned, that it is no light matter whether we repent or not. We need to be reminded, that there is a hell as well as a heaven, and an everlasting punishment for the wicked, as well as everlasting life for the godly. We are fearfully apt to forget this. We talk of the love and mercy of God, and we do not remember sufficiently His justness and holiness. Let us be very careful on this point. It is no real kindness to keep back the terrors of the Lord. It is good for us all to be taught that it is possible to be lost forever, and that all unconverted people are hanging over the brink of the pit.

In the last place, John the Baptist spoke plainly about the safety of true believers. He taught, that there was "a barn" for all who are Christ's wheat, and that they would be gathered together there in the day of his appearing.

This again is a teaching which human nature greatly requires. The best of believers need much encouragement. They are yet in the body. They live in a wicked world. They are often tempted by the devil. They ought to be often reminded, that Jesus will never leave them nor forsake them. He will guide them safely through this life, and at length give them eternal glory. They shall be hidden in the day of wrath. They shall be safe as Noah in the ark.

Let these things sink down deeply into our hearts. We live in a day of much false teaching. Let us never forget the leading features of a faithful ministry. Happy would it have been for the Church of Christ, if all its ministers had been more like John the Baptist!

J.C. Ryle

Think how different our churches would be if our pastors spoke plainly about sin, about the Lord Jesus Christ, about the Holy Spirit, about the dreadful danger of the impenitent and unbelieving, and about  the safety of true believers instead of spending week after week trying to entertain us. And I am not laying the blame of the current state of the church on our pastors alone, we are just as much to blame because we have allowed the church in America to become what it is today; we are the ones who attend and who support them with our offerings. If we would embrace the message of John the Baptist in our own lives, and live it out, we would see a dramatic shift in the modern church, and we would see a return to this kind of Biblical teaching.

And that is my prayer today.

What Does Your Worship Look Like?

Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table.

Matthew 26:6-7

In this passage we see a woman anoint Jesus with a bottle of expensive perfume as He reclined at the table for dinner. This is another passage that we usually read and then just move on, but there is a lot going on in this passage and we need to pause and take note of what is happening here. In the parallel passage in the Gospel of John we learn that the woman mentioned here in Matthew 26:7 Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus who Jesus raised from the dead (see John 12:1-3).

As we read this passage we see that there were three different views of what was taking place here: first we have the view of Mary, then the view of the Disciples, and finally the view of Jesus. It is very interesting to look at what was happening here from each of these perspectives, at the individuals involved, and at the role each played in this encounter.

First we have Mary. Mary is only mentioned 3 times in the New Testament and in each of these occurrences she is found at the feet of Jesus. Warren Wiersbe writes:

She sat at His feet and listened to the Word (Luke 10:38–42); she came to His feet in sorrow after the death of Lazarus (John 11:28–32); and she worshiped at His feet when she anointed Him with the ointment (John 12:1).

There is a great deal we can learn from Mary; what a great compliment it would be if every time we were seen it was at the feet of the Savior. And what was she doing here? She came to Jesus with what the text calls a "very expensive ointment" and she anointed His head with it. In this passage we are not told the value of the ointment, only that it was valuable, but in the parallel passage in the Gospel of Mark we are told that it was worth more than 300 danarii (Mark 14:5). John MacArthur writes "Since a denarius was a day’s wage for a common laborer, it represented almost a year’s work for such a person." When was the last time any of us gave a whole years wages as an offering to Jesus in an act of worship?

Let's move on.

Next we have the disciples. The disciples watch this event take place, and instead of admiring Mary for the profound act of worship they have just witnessed, verse 8 tells us that they became indignant at wha they perceived as a colossal waste. Matthew tells us that it was the disciples who became indignant, but John tells us that it was one in particular who led the charge, and while all of the disciples may have joined in, it was Judas who in John 12:5 said , "Why was this ointment not sold for 300 danarii and given to the poor?" Then John goes on to tell us that Judas was not really concerned with the poor, but that he wanted to steal the money (John 12:6). Judas pretends to be concerned about what he perceives as waste, but Warren Wiersbe points out that it was Judas who was guilty of waste; he writes:

While we can never fully understand the mind and heart of Judas, we do know that he had every opportunity to be saved. He was often warned by Jesus: in the Upper Room, Jesus even washed Judas’ feet. Probably, Judas saw in Jesus the hope for Israel’s political freedom. If Jesus established His kingdom, Judas, as treasurer, would have had an important position. When Jesus repeatedly refused to become a political Messiah, Judas turned against Him. Satan found a willing tool in Judas. Satan put the ideas into Judas’ mind (John 13:2) and then entered into Judas to use him to betray Jesus to the enemy (John 13:27).

Judas’ life is a warning to those who pretend to serve Christ but whose hearts are far from God. He is also a warning to those who waste their opportunities and their lives. “Why this waste?” asked Judas when he saw that expensive ointment poured out on Jesus. Yet Judas wasted his opportunities, his life, and his soul! Jesus called him son of perdition (John 17:12) which literally means “son of waste.

So we see that Mary was performing and act of worship, and the disciples (at least Judas) saw it as a waste of money, but how did Jesus view this encounter? We get the answer to this question in verses 9-13.

Jesus comes to Mary's defense; He tells the disciples that what she had done was a beautiful thing; she has anointed His body in preparation for His burial (which we will see in the next chapter). Jesus didn't view this as a waste, He saw it as an act of love and devotion. Again, Warren Wiersbe reminds us,

Nothing given to Jesus in love is ever wasted. Her act of worship not only brought joy to the heart of Jesus and fragrance to the house, but also blessing to the whole world. Her devotion encourages us to love and serve Christ with our very best.

So my question for all of us today is this, what is our worship like? Are we giving Jesus our best, or are we indignant when we see true worship taking place perceiving it as a waste? We are not to ignore the poor, but we should take every possible opportunity to pause and worship our Savior with everything we've got.

What Are You Doing With Your Talents?

For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

Matthew 25: 14-15

Today we come to another parable that Jesus used to teach us the truth of the kingdom of heaven. This parable, known as the parable of the talents, teaches us the necessity of making the most of our spiritual opportunities. In this story we see a man who is going on a journey so he calls together his slaves and gives each of them some money before he leaves. The text tells us that he gave the first one five talents, the second two talents and to the third he gave one talent. According to one source I looked at, a talent is a very large sum of money. Each talent is equal to about 6,000 denarii , and a denarii is the equivalent of one days wages for a laborer.

While the man was gone two of his slaves put his money to work and they doubled what they had been given, but the third took the one talent that he had been given and he hid it in the ground, doing nothing with it. When the man returned he called all of his slaves together and examined what they had done with what had been given to them. The first two were praised for what they had done, but the third who only returned what he had been given, because he had done nothing with it, had his one talent taken away and he was thrown out. He was not able to share the joy of his masters kingdom with the other slaves who had used their talents to enrich their masters kingdom.

So what does this mean for us today? Each of has has been blessed beyond measure by our Heavenly Father, and as His bond-servants (slaves) everything that we possess belongs to Him. He has entrusted each of us with varying degrees of ability, talent, and money. These are all gifts from Him and they are given to us to use to advance His kingdom. But are we using what God has given us to advance His kingdom, or are we consuming it all for our own comfort and pleasure? Or even worse, are we just hiding it away and not doing any good for anyone with what God has given us?

We cannot earn our salvation, but God does expect us to use the gifts and talent He has given us to bring Him glory. Are you doing that today?

The Parable Of The 10 Virgins

"Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour."

Matthew 25:13

Today we come to a passage known as the parable of the ten virgins. Jesus begins this parable with the familiar words "the kingdom of heaven will be like..." We have already seen this several times in the gospel of Matthew, and have pointed out that when Jesus is telling a parable He is taking something that everyone hearing Him would have understood and He is using it to teach a spiritual truth. This parable is no different.; Jesus has just finished answering the disciples questions about His second coming and the end of the age, and now He is going to use a parable that will show them (and us) the need of being prepared for His return.

Jesus begins by telling us that there were 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom, and right away He tells us that five of them were sensible and five were foolish. He then tells us what it was that made them sensible or foolish; Jesus says that the sensible ones took oil for their lamp and the foolish did not. What is the significance of this? Jesus had just finished saying that no one knows when the day will be, not the angels, not Him, but only the Father in heaven (Matthew 24:36). So He is now using this parable to illustrate that point.

The Jewish wedding ceremony in Jesus time was much different than ours is today. At this time the bride and groom were betrothed to each other, but they did not set a date for the wedding. The groom would return to his fathers house and construct a room for he and his bride to live in, and when the father decided that the room was ready he would say to his son "go get your bride." Then the son would go get her, bring her back to the fathers house, and the wedding would begin.

In this parable Jesus is telling us that the 10 virgins represent those waiting on the return of the groom, and that some of them are not prepared. In this parable the virgins represent those professing to be Christians. We can see this by the fact that all 10 of them took lamps with them. But only 5 were actually prepared for the Bridegroom's return; those were the 5 virgins who had oil for their lamps. I believe that the oil here is a picture of the Holy Spirit who is inside of all true believers.

Speaking of this parable, John MacArthur writes:

The evidence that some of the bridesmaids were unprepared despite their outward appearance was the fact that they took no oil with them. They carried torches that looked exactly like those of the others, but they had nothing to burn in them, nothing that would give light and significance. A torch without fuel is obviously worthless, and a profession of faith in Jesus Christ without a saving relationship to Him is infinitely more worthless, because one is left in spiritual darkness.

Remember that Jesus said He would come back at an hour that we do not expect, so as you reflect on the parable of the ten virgins today, take a few minutes and make sure that you are ready for the Bridegroom to come.

My Words Will Never Pass Away

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away."

Matthew 24:35 (NASB)

Jesus tells us here that Heaven and Earth will pass away. This is nothing new to the Christian; we have all been taught that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and the letter to the Romans tells us that this creation groans and is waiting to be remade (Romans 8:18-22). 2 Peter 3:10-12 tells us that the heavens will pass away with a roar and will be burned up, as will the earth. But we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:13).

But the promise that Jesus makes here is not that the heavens and earth will pass away. The promise that He makes is that even though everything we know in this world will be burned up, we can depend on His word because it will never pass away. This promise should give us security and hope because this means that all of the promises of God's word will endure forever. Here are just a few of them:

• God says, "I will never leave you or forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)and His word will never pass away.

• God says, "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:13) and His word will never pass away.

• Jesus said, "I am going to prepare a place for you." (John 14:2) and His word will never pass away.

• Jesus said, "I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me." (Revelation 22:12)and His word will never pass away.

• It is written, "What no eye has seen and no ear has heard, and what has never come into a man's heart, is what God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). And His word will never pass away.

These are just a few of the many promises in the Bible, so the next time you are feeling discouraged, or feel like there is no hope, open your Bible and read the promises that God has made to each and every one of us who has put our faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Heaven and earth will pass away, but His words will never pass away.

Don't Be Deceived

Then Jesus answered them: "See that no one leads you astray."

Matthew 24:4

In my last post we saw that the disciples had some questions about what Jesus was teaching, and they asked Him privately when these things would take place, what are the signs of Your coming, and what are the signs of the end of the age. In Matthew 24:4-31 Jesus is going to answer these questions.

The first thing that Jesus tells them is that they need to be careful that they are not lead astray - that they are not deceived. He tells them that there will be many who claim to be the Christ, and that they will lead many astray. Later in the passage He tells them that these false prophets will will perform miracles and if possible would lead even the elect astray. Jesus warns them that no matter what they hear about these men they are not to believe it.

Jesus tells them that there will be wars and rumors of wars, and that nation will rise against nation. But they are not to be alarmed; this is not yet the end. He tells them that there will be famines and earthquakes, but these are just the beginning of birth pains. He tells them that they will be persecuted for their faith, they will be betrayed and hated, but that it is the one who endues to the end who will be saved. He tells them that the gospel will be preached throughout the whole world, and then the end will come.

Jesus then describes the Great Tribulation. I know there is a lot a debate about when this event will take place, and if Christians will go through it or not, but what I want you to see here is that Jesus is telling His disciples what the tribulation will be like, and He tells them that when they see these things taking place they should not even go back into their houses to gather up their belongings, but flee to the mountains.

Jesus then concludes this passage by saying that after all of these things take place He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet and they will gather together the elect; those that have chosen to follow Jesus.

No matter what your position is on the sequence of end time events, the thing that you need to take away from this is that God is sovereign, He is in control, He has a plan, and that no matter what happens He will not be not taken by surprise. And when it is all said-and-done it is those who chose to put their faith in Jesus who will live forever with Him.

Take some time today and read Matthew chapter 24 then spend some time in prayer thanking Your Heavenly Father for letting us know what we could expect in this world, and for the promise of eternal life when it is over.

Ask Jesus

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?”

Matthew 24:3(ESV)

Jesus has just concluded His condemnation of the Pharisees where we saw that He called them hypocrites for the way they twisted the law and made themselves appear to be righteous, yet all the while they remained as evil as ever on the inside. Jesus concludes by saying that this is the reason prophets were sent to them, but they chose to kill the prophets instead of heeding their warnings. Now Jesus tells them that the blood of these prophets is on their hands, and that the generation that was hearing these words would be judged for all of these things.

Jesus then tells them that His desire was to gather them up and protect them as a mother hen does with her chicks, but they are not willing to submit. Because of their attitude of self righteousness, judgment is passed on them and Jesus tells them that their house will be left desolate. All of these things happened in 70 A.D. just as Jesus said they would, but that is not where I want to focus our attention today.

The disciples were also here and they have witnessed this exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees; they are confused by what they have just seen, so they come to him privately and they ask Him 3 questions: When will these things take place, what is the sign of Your coming, and what is the sign of the end of the age? Again, I am not going to deal with these questions today; today I want us to focus on the fact that the disciples came to Jesus privately and asked Him questions about what they didn't understand from His teaching. This is what we, as disciples of Christ should be doing as well. How often de we read something in the Bible that we do not understand and our first inclination is to find our favorite commentary or study Bible to see what Dr.so-and-so has to say about the passage instead of seeking the answer from God Himself.

I realize that the disciples had Jesus physically with them, but we have the Holy Spirit with us and we can ask Him questions just like they did with Jesus. So today, I want us to take some time to think about the fact that the disciples asked Jesus questions, and that He answered them. Then remember that in John 16:7, Jesus said that it was to their advantage that He go away, because then the Holy Spirit would come, so the next time you are reading the Bible, or listening to a sermon, and think "I don't really understand this" go get alone with God, and asked Him to give you the answer? Remember, we have an advantage that the disciples didn't have (at least at that time); we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us.

Ask Jesus, He does answer.

Woe To You

So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Matthew 23:28 (ESV)

"Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees." Jesus says this phrase eight times in Matthew 23:13-33. He calls the Jewish leaders hypocrites, He calls the snakes, He calls them blind guides, whitewashed tombs, and tells them that they are fit for hell. This dialog is a continuation of the passage that we looked at in my last post, and once again we need to examine ourselves to make sure that we are not doing the same things that the Pharisees were doing.

According to this passage some of the practices of the Pharisees were: they "locked up the kingdom of heaven from the people." What they were doing here was ignoring what God said and making up their own lists of rules for the people to follow. Their legalism was keeping both themselves, and those who followed them out of heaven. We need to be sure that we are not making up rules for people to follow that have noting to do with the gospel of grace. We cannot earn our way to heaven, and we shouldn't be trying to make others do this either.

Another thing they were doing (which goes along with the one above) was to pay a tithe on everything while ignoring the rest of the law. Jesus was not condemning them for their observance of the tithe; He was making the point that they needed to also observe the more important parts of the law: mercy, justice, and faith. The problem was that they were so concerned with how they looked to men (their outward appearance) that they were neglecting the way the looked to God (the inner man). Jesus tells them that they were outwardly clean, but inwardly they were full of greed and self indulgence. He told them they were like whitewashed tombs, beautiful to look at, but full of dead men's bones.

We need to pay attention to this ourselves, because it is easy to appear righteous to men, but we cannot fool God. Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again (John 3) and this applies to us as well. We cannot keep the law externally and earn our place in heaven. That is what the Pharisees were trying to do and Jesus condemned them, and this is what we try to do today as well. We must humble ourselves before God and allow Him to transform us from the inside out.

Practice What You Preach

“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you — but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice."

Matthew 23:2-3(ESV)

Jesus is once again speaking about the Pharisees, and here he tells those listening to Him that the Pharisees, who were their teachers, were not to be looked to as examples because they didn't practice what they taught. Notice in this verse that Jesus did not tell the people that they should not listen to the Pharisees; He actually told them to observe, or to do, whatever they told them to do. This means that what the Pharisees were teaching the people was correct and accurate, the problem was not with their doctrine, it was with the application in their own lives. In other words, do what the tell you, but don't follow their example, because they don't listen to their own teaching and follow it themselves.

Are we guilty of the same thing today? How many times do we tell someone else how they should live but not live that way ourselves? How many time have we tried to remove a splinter from our brothers eye while ignoring the plank in our own? Jesus says that the Pharisees do everything to be observed by others. They do things to show everyone how religious they are, they love to be honored for their piety, they love to receive honors and have dinners called in their name. They love to show you how much knowledge they possess, they love to be called "Pastor" and "Dr." and "Teacher", but they are hypocrites when it comes to following their own advise. They expect others to live by rules and regulations that they are not willing to live by themselves.

Does this sound like anybody you know? Does it sound like you? I think there is a little bit of this in each of us. It is so easy to see what everyone else is doing wrong, but it is so hard to admit it in our own lives. We all like to receive the praise of men; we all like to be honored for our achievements, but what Jesus is telling us here is that it is much more important to be right before God than it is to be praised by men.

Jesus then says in verse 12, "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled , and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." So, the question we must ask ourselves is this: would I rather be exalted here on earth by men, or exalted in heaven by God? The choice is yours and Jesus has told us how.

Who Do You Love?

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 22:37-40

The Pharisees were always trying to trap Jesus by asking what they thought to be trick questions. They reasoned that if they could ask Him a question, and then show by His answer that He was either violating either the law of Rome, or the Law of God, they would finally be able to get rid of Him. In every case Jesus was able to show them that they were wrong in their assumptions, and that their testing Him showed their own ignorance. This passage is no exception.

The Sadducees had tried to trap Jesus with a question about marriage and the afterlife. The interesting thing about their question is that the Sadducees didn't believe in an afterlife or in a resurrection. When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees they got together and one of their experts then asked Him which commandment was the greatest.

Jesus didn't even hesitate in His answer; He immediately said, "Love the lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind." The interesting thing here is that this answer that Jesus gave covers the first four of the ten commandments. If you love God with your whole being, you will not have another God before Him, you will not have any idols, you will not misuse His name, and you will keep the Sabbath day. Then Jesus adds that the second greatest commandment is to "Love your neighbor as yourself." This covers the next six of the ten commandments; a person who loves their neighbor will honor their parents, they will not murder, they will not commit adultery, they will not steal, or lie, or covet their neighbors possessions, because each of these thing will cause harm to their neighbor.

In these four short verses we see not only the wisdom of Jesus when dealing with the Pharisees, we also see a pattern for us to live by today. Take some time today to ask God to show you anything that is causing you to not love Him with your whole being, or anything you may be doing that is not showing love to your fellow man. When He does, repent, ask His forgiveness, and make the necessary corrections in your life. You will be glad you did.

A Wedding Invitation

Matthew 22:2 "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son."

In Matthew 22 we come to another parable that Jesus told to the people in order to teach the truth of God in a way that they would easily understand. In this parable Jesus uses the illustration of a wedding banquet, and He tells them that is what the kingdom of heaven is like, so let's go through these few verses and see what we can learn.

The first thing we see here is that there was a king who was giving a wedding banquet for his son, so he sent out his slaves to summon those he had invited. When the slaves told the invited that it was time for the banquet they didn't want to come. The king then sent his slaves out a second time to again ask then to come, but they paid no attention because they had other things to do. Enraged, the king sent his army to destroy those men and their city.

He then sent out his slaves again telling them that those he had invited were not worthy, so go now to the places outside of that city and invite everyone you can find. The slaves did as they were told and they invited everyone, whether good or evil, and the kings banquet was filled with guests. But when the king came in he found one guest who was not dressed for the wedding, so he asked him how he got in, but the man couldn't answer the king, so he was bound and thrown out; for many are invited but few are chosen.

There you have a quick paraphrase of the parable, but what does this mean for us today?

This king in this story represents God the Father. He is planning a wedding feast for His Son and He invited the nations of Israel to the feast. But they rejected their Messiah, which in essence was a rejection of the invitation to the banquet. So our first lesson from this parable is that we need to be sure that we do not reject the invitation of God by rejecting Jesus the Messiah.

Those who were invited second are the Gentile nations; when the Jews rejected Jesus the Gospel was taken to the rest of the world and now we are invited to the feast. The banquet was full and the king was pleased, but then he saw a man without a wedding garment. This man represents someone who is in the church but who has never really experienced salvation.

I hear you asking, "why was this man thrown out, he came in just like everyone else?" The answer is it was the king who supplied the wedding garments, and the fact that this man didn't have one on means that he had rejected what the king had provided. Just like the wedding guests, each of us must be clothed in the righteousness of Christ to be allowed into the wedding banquet; this man represents someone who tries to get in on their own merit. The lesson here is that we cannot earn our way in and there is nothing within ourselves that will merit an invitation (Isaiah 64:6). We must come to the banquet by personal invitation of the king, and we must come dressed in the garments that he provides.

Take some time today to thank your Heavenly Father for not only inviting you to His Son's wedding banquet, but also for providing the "wedding garment" that we could not provide ourselves.

Are You Just Listening?

Matthew 21:45 When the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parable they knew He was speaking about them.

Imagine sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to Him teach and knowing that the parable He just told to show you the wickedness of men's hearts was directed toward you. And then doing nothing to change or repent. That is exactly what the Pharisees did, and that is exactly what we do every time we open the Word of God and ignore what it says.

But why did the Pharisees not respond to Jesus teaching? The verse above tells us that they knew He was speaking about them, yet they did nothing to change. In fact the very next verse tells us that they were looking for a way to have Him arrested, and that the only reason they didn't was because they feared the crowds. I think that one reason that they didn't follow Jesus' teaching and repent is that they believed that they were so righteous they didn't need to repent. But it was also because they didn't recognize Jesus for who He is. They hadn't recognized any of the prophets that God had sent to teach them, and had in fact they had had many of them killed. Now they have the very Son of God in their midst, and they are rejecting Him as well.

But are the Pharisees really that much different from us? Don't we look at ourselves as better than we really are, and at others as worse than they really are? Don't we ignore Jesus' teaching if we don't like what He said? Jesus tells the Pharisees that the kingdom of God will be taken away from them and given to a nation that is producing the fruit of righteousness, and that is exactly what happened. Because the Jewish people rejected their Messiah the gospel went to the gentiles and the Church was born.

I don't think we can apply this teaching to the church the same way that it applied to the nation of Israel, because Jesus taught that His Church would continue until His return. But I think we can look at this and apply the principles here to the individuals within the Church (by which I mean us). James tells us to be doers of the word and not just hearers who are deceived (James 1:19-25), and this is good advice. Spend some time today asking God to show you any area of your life where you have ignored what He has told you to do... And repent.

The Fig Tree

And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

Matthew 19:21 (ESV)

This has been one of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible. What was Jesus doing here, and what was He trying to tell us by cursing a fig tree? In this chapter we are shown three things about the nation of Israel, and each of these is also a warning to us today, so let's look at them and see what we can learn.

The first thing we see in chapter 21 is what is called the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. What we see here is a nation of people who are only interested in what Jesus can do for them physically; they want to make Him their king, but they don't want Him to be Lord. This could apply to many in the church today; they are only interested in staying out of hell, but they have no real desire to do His will.

Next we see the cleansing of the temple. In these verses Jesus is showing the Jewish people that even though they are religious outwardly they are corrupt on the inside. This is the second time during His ministry that Jesus has cleansed the temple which indicates that the leaders hearts never changed. This is a problem for us today as well. Jesus told Nicodemus that a person cannot enter the kingdom of God unless they are born again (John 3) and this still applies to us today. We have many in our churches who are religious, but that have never been born again.

This brings us to the fig tree. Jesus is now going to tie all of these events together in one picture so we can easily remember them. He walks up to a fig tree, sees that it has no fruit; He curses it and it withers. So again I ask, what is this showing us? Well, in this instance the tree represents the nation of Israel, and the leaves but no fruit on the tree represent that they are outwardly religious, but that inwardly there has not been a change (there is no fruit). By cursing the tree and the tree withering, Jesus is showing the nation that their unbelief has brought about their judgment. Because they have leaves (an outward show of religion) but no fruitfulness they are judged by Jesus, and isn't this the same thing we are warned about in Matthew 7:21 when Jesus says that not everyone who claims to be a Christian will enter heaven, but only those who do the will of His Father?

What Do You Want Me To Do For You?

Matthew 20:32-34 Jesus stopped, called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?" "Lord," they said to Him. "open our eyes!" Moved with compassion Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they could see, and they followed Him.

Have you ever thought about how you would answer if Jesus ask you "What do you want Me to do for you?" In our passage today that is exactly the question that Jesus asked these blind men. We don't know anything about them prior to this day, but they had to have heard about the miracles that Jesus had been doing in and around Jerusalem. We also get the impression that they knew who He was, by which I mean that they knew He was the Messiah, because in verse 30 they called Him "Son of David" which is one of the Old Testament titles for the Messiah.

So what can we learn today from these blind men? The first thing that we are told is that they were blind. This is talking about physical blindness, but we can draw a parallel here to our our spiritual blindness apart from Jesus. Just as they had their eyes opened physically, we all need to have our spiritual eyes opened.

The second thing we see is their faith. These men believed that Jesus could heal them, and they called out to Him for mercy. Again, just like these men we rely on the mercy of Jesus and we must also put our faith in Him and believe that He is the One that can open our eyes. Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God, because those who come to Him must believe that He exists, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.

The third thing we can learn here is the importance of persistence. The crowd tried to quiet these men, but the more the crowd told them to be quiet, the more they cried out. This too is a lesson that has application for us today; we are told in Jeremiah 29:13 that we will find God when we search for Him with all of our heart. These men didn't let anything stand in their way, not fear, not blindness, and not the crowd. They sought Jesus and they didn't give up until they found Him.

And what happened? Jesus opened their eyes and they followed Him. Do you see yourself in this story? I sure hope that you do.

Examine Your Motives

Matthew 20:1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.

Jesus has just had a conversation with the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16-22) and then told His disciples that it is harder for a rich man to enter heaven that it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. Peter then asks Jesus since he and the other disciples have given up everything to follow Him "what will there be for us?"

Jesus says that they will be rewarded for their labor, and tells them that many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. Then He tells them a parable; He says the kingdom of heaven is like a land owner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. Many have misrepresented this parable by saying that the wages paid to the workers represent eternal life, or that the wages represent rewards for service, but neither of these are what Jesus was trying to teach His disciples (or us).

First, He can't be talking about the wages being salvation because that would mean that they were earning their salvation, and the Bible clearly teaches that salvation is by grace and that we cannot work for it (Ephesians 2:8-9). Second, He couldn't have meant rewards either, because they all received the same amount, and the Bible teaches that God will reward us individually for what we have done (1 Corinthians 3:8). So what was the point of this parable?

I think that Jesus was trying to make us see that we need to watch our motives. Remember, Peter was asking what he was going to get in return for all he had given up, and Jesus was letting him know that he would be rewarded for his work, but just because he was one of the first to follow Jesus didn't mean that He would be first in the kingdom of heaven. The person who will be first is the one who serves Christ for the sake of serving Christ, not for what he will get in return.

Warren Wiersbe writes, "It is a solemn thing to realize that Christians whom we may admire today will be “last” at the final reckoning at the Judgment Seat of Christ because their motives were wrong."

So today remember that our motives are important and that our service to Jesus should be motivated by our love for Him and not what we will get for it.

Possessions, Or Eternal Life

Matthew 19:21 "If you want to be perfect," Jesus said to him, "go sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me."

The man we know as the Rich Young Ruler has come and ask Jesus what he needs to do to to have eternal life. If someone came to you and asked you that question what would you say? I bet it would not be what Jesus said here. First Jesus told this young man that if he wanted to receive eternal life he should keep the commandments. The young man responded, "Which commandments?" Jesus replied, "do not murder, do not steal, do not commit adultery, love you neighbor as yourself." The young ruler then replied that he had done all of this since his youth and asked what else he was lacking. So Jesus told him; if you want eternal life, sell what you have, give the money you make to the poor, and follow Me. And the man went away grieving because he had a lot of stuff.

So what we see here is Jesus sending away a man who genuinely wanted eternal life. The problem though was that he was not willing to give up his possessions and could not admit that he was a sinner. This man had made an idol out of his possessions; they had taken the place of God for him, and when Jesus confronted him on it he chose his stuff over eternal life.

The other thing that Jesus did was tell him that he needed to keep the commandments, which he said he had done since his youth. Jesus has been making the point throughout His ministry that keeping the commandments goes beyond mere outward obedience (see Matthew 5-7) and that even if a person keeps the law perfectly on the outside, we are all still guilty on the inside. The response of this man should have been, "I am a sinful man and I have broken these commandments in my heart, how then can I be saved?" But the mans pride would not allow him to do this.

The last thing that Jesus said was "follow Me." It is not enough to say that you believe in Jesus, or to just say a prayer asking Jesus to come into your heart, we need to follow Him. That means that we need to know Him, to study His word, and do what He did. This does not mean that we are earning our salvation, we could never do that - Jesus did it all. But if we are truly born again we will want to do everything that we can to please our Lord.

We Must Forgive

Matthew 18:21 Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?"

I think this is something we have to deal with on a daily basis on our lives, so how would you have answered this question? I think Peter genuinely wanted an answer; he wasn't trying to show how spiritual he was by saying that he would forgive up to seven times, he was looking for the answer. And Jesus answered him with a parable.

There was a slave who owed his master a debt that was so large he would never be able to repay it; in the parable Jesus says that he owed 10,000 talents. A Talent was worth more than 15 years wages for a laborer, so what this man owed would have taken him 15,000 years to repay. The master told the servant that he, his wife , and his children were to be sold to repay the debt, but when the servant begged his master for patience and said that he would repay the debt his master had mercy on him and forgave the entire debt. Then after being forgiven an unpayable debt this same man turned around and had a man who owed him a small debt thrown into prison because he cannot repay.

When you hear this story do you find yourself becoming angry? Do you ask yourself how a man could be forgiven such a large debt and then be so unforgiving to someone who is in a similar circumstance? Well, God asks us that same question every time that we withhold forgiveness. He has forgiven us a debt that all eternity would not be long enough to repay. We were so indebted to God for our sin that is cost Him the life of His Son to erase it, and yet we still hold grudges and withhold forgiveness to people who offend us.

Peter asked Jesus how many times we should be willing to forgive, and Jesus answered "not seven times, but seventy times seven." Jesus didn't mean that we are to forgive 490 times and that's all; He was making the point that we should forgive so often that we loose count. If God has forgiven your sins, you have no right to withhold forgiveness from anyone else; they could not have done anything that is as bad as what we have done to God.

Is there someone you need to forgive today?