“All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them.” (Mt 13:34)
Jesus spoke to the crowds only in parables. Parables are short stories or illustrations that Jesus drew from nature and life. Jesus most often used parables to describe the kingdom of heaven. In Matthew Chapter 13, Jesus spoke a series of seven parables concerning the development of the kingdom of God from its beginning, advancement, and to the final consummation.
“Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work’” (Jn 4:34)
Every time church service ends, we always seem to find ourselves spending a considerable amount of time thinking of where we should grab dinner. Food is a necessity and also something we look forward to when we’re about to eat something that we have been craving. But when we look at this passage, Jesus actually turned down the physical food that His disciples were offering Him to eat, and placed emphasis on the food that we should long for — doing the will of God by sharing the message of salvation. Have we ever felt that way about preaching? Is that something that we would “crave” to do?
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
Truth is rooted in the eternal God who is all powerful and unchangeable. Jesus Christ is the truth. He is the source of all truth. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to walk in the truth. Therefore, learning about Jesus and His words should be our top priority. The witness of His work and His words is preserved in the four gospels. If we listen to the audio along while reading the gospel books, we may feel that Jesus is speaking to us when He addressed the disciples as well as the multitudes of people.
A while ago, a Christian friend of mine and I were having a conversation about the church she attends and their doctrines. When I found out that she did not have a Bible of her own, I was very surprised. It turns out that she does not read the Bible on her own. So I asked her, “Don’t you at least have to use the Bible during church services?” She answered, “We don’t really need a Bible, the pastor preaches what it says! I don’t have to know the Bible verse by verse.” I stopped asking more questions, but in my heart burned the question, “What if your pastor is preaching a false gospel?” Continue reading