One Great Multitude from Every Nation


Posted on

11/2/2014

by

Pastor Todd Frusti

in


Missions


Nigeria


Rev. Chuck Tesarro


All Saints Day

00:00/00:00

In speaking of the final judgment in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says: “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’” (Matthew 25:34) On All Saints’ Day, we rejoice in the blessings now being experienced by those who have completed their earthly journeys in faith and who now enjoy the eternal presence of God in His heavenly kingdom. We remember the blessed saints of times long past and of the recent times as well. As we think of their blessed state, we also rejoice that we are among the blessed as we live out our daily lives as the baptized children of God in this time and place. By God’s grace, we are numbered with the saints! We, too, are the blessed ones!

Bible Memory Verse:
1 John 3:2 (ESV) “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”
Digging Deeper Study:
Matthew 5:3-12 records what we know as Jesus’ “Beatitudes” (i.e. statements of the type “Blessed is/are”).  After re-reading these verses, read the following verses that are also considered “beatitudes”:
The word “blessed” in each verse of Matthew 5:3-13 is considered a misleading translation of the original Greek word.  More accurate words would be “happy,” “fortunate,” or “well off”.  Read again Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:3-13 replacing the word “blessed” with “happy,” “fortunate,” or “well off”.  How does this change your understanding of what Jesus is teaching?
Note the verb tense in the verses of each beatitude.  Verses 3 and 10 are in the present tense which indicate that these attitudes are present in the lives of disciples right now.  Each of the other Beatitudes are in the future tense.  Discuss this with some other Christians to explore what this means or implies.

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