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Gossip is so easy to do. It makes the gossiper feel superior, even special, because he knows secrets. God condemns gossip. It is the opposite of love. Jesus said, “…the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:34-37 (NIV) You have been very hurt, and we are sad for you. But if you are able, you have an opportunity to be an example of a true Christian. You can be the “salt of the earth” by walking away from gossip. Do not even be in the same room. Instead do or talk about good things. Your relatives will feel reproved. Of our Lord Jesus it was said that no treachery was found in his mouth. “Grace is poured into thy lips;” and again, “All bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth.” (Psa. 45:2; Luke 4:22.) Jesus said, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” (John 6:63.) So wise, just and true were the Lord’s words, that, though his enemies were continually seeking to find some fault, it is said, “They could not take hold of his words before the people; and they marveled at his answers and held their peace.” (Luke 20:26.) And others said, “Never man spake like this man.” – John 7:46. Thus our Lord left a worthy example to his people, which the Apostle urges all to follow, saying, “Let your speech be always with grace [with manifest love and kindness], seasoned with salt [a purifying and preservative influence].” (Col. 4:6.) Again, it is written, “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile [deceit].” “Whoso keeps his mouth and his tongue, keeps his soul from troubles.” “The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious words: but the lips of a fool [an unwise, reckless talker] will swallow up himself. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.” – Psa. 34:13; Prov. 21:23; Eccl. 10:12,13; 5:2. The Psalmist puts into the mouth of God’s consecrated and tried people these words of firm resolution: – “I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue. I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked [who tempts and tries the righteous] is before me.” – Psa. 39:1.

Psalm 16:11 (NKJV), “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Whenever someone is at God’s right hand, it means that one is in a position of favor. In the Lord’s presence, no matter where we are, is fullness of joy. Let us grow closer and closer in our relationship to God. We do this by drawing near to Him in prayer and by studying His precious Word. We rejoice in His lovingkindness as we meditate upon all His goodness, His providential care, the marked manifestations of His grace in our own individual experiences. We claim God’s precious promises which are sure through Christ Jesus. Thus “draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you” (James 4:8). God will manifest Himself to you. As Jesus taught, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” John 14:23 (NKJV) It is indeed the will of God that all His children should be happy in Him, that they should be always rejoicing; and if any one lack this blessing, he is living below his privileges.

John 19:18-20: (NIV) “There they crucified him, and with him two others – one on each side and Jesus in the middle. Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin (INRI) and Greek.” What does INRI stand for? INRI is the Latin acronym for “Iesus (I) Nazarenus (N) Rex (R) Iudaeorum (I).” INRI means “JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

Jesus and His Apostles celebrated the Passover, according to the Law, on the evening (or beginning) of the 14th. of Nissan. While Israel was in slavery in Egypt, God commanded the Jews to roast and eat a young lamb. The lamb’s blood was to be brushed on the top and sides of the frame around the outside door. Then angel of death passed over the marked Jewish homes, but killed all the first born in unmarked homes, both of men and domestic animals, in all the rest of Egypt. The slaying of the lamb was a type of Jesus’s sacrifice. Returning to Jesus’s day, after Jesus celebrated the Passover, He instituted a memorial of His sacrificial death. (Today, some churches call the memorial, communion.) The Jewish day begins at sundown and ends the following sundown. Thus, Jesus could both partake of the passover lamb (symbolizing Himself) and fulfill the type as the actual passover lamb on the same day of Nissan 14. Jesus was crucified and buried on Friday afternoon of Nissan 14. John19:31 (NIV), “Now it was the day of Preparation (Friday, Nissan 14), and the next day (beginning after sunset on Friday, Nissan 15th.) was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath (Friday night Nissan 15), they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down.” However, Jesus had already died and his legs were not broken. Jesus was resurrected early Sunday morning (Nissan 17th.). Matthew 28:1-2, 5-6 (NIV), 1 “After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. … 5 The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.’ ” Jesus never instructed His followers to celebrate His resurrection; however, He did establish the memorial of His death to replace the yearly Passover type. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 (CSB), “…For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us observe the feast, not with old leaven or with the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

When Adam and Eve sinned, they (and all their children) began to walk down the Broad Way. Matthew 7:13 (CSB), “…the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it.” Proverbs 14:12 (ESV), “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” All people are born sinners on the Broad Way leading to death. It is easy to follow the desires of our sinful flesh, and we develop all kinds of reasoning to justify our behaviors. The way seems right, but it is not. The great majority of mankind prefer self-will instead of God’s will. Matthew 7:13-14 also identifies a second road, the narrow way. Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV), “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” What is this gate? It is the gospel. 2 Timothy 1:9-10 (NKJV), “(God) who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”. This way is hard because Christians have vowed to deny themselves, carry their crosses, and follow Jesus. (Matthew 16:24) The present evil world, our fallen flesh, and Satan all oppose us. Consequently, when we obey God’s will, we enter into Jesus’s sufferings. Romans 8:17 (NKJV), “and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” But the end of the narrow way is life and immortality. Romans 2:7 (ESV), “to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life”. Finally there is the Highway of Holiness. This highway will open during Christ’s 1,000 year kingdom with the resurrection of mankind. It will be a way of restoration to holiness and to everlasting perfect human life on Earth. Isaiah 35:8-10 (NKJV), “A highway shall be there, and a road, And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness…Whoever walks the road, although a fool, Shall not go astray. 9 No lion shall be there, Nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it;…But the redeemed shall walk there, 10 And the ransomed (all mankind) of the LORD shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads…And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

It was a movable tent (or temple) where the Israelites could be in contact with God’s presence as they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Exodus (25:8 NLT) says, “Have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them.” Imagine a small building surrounded by a large courtyard. The building was 15’ wide, 15’ tall and 45’ long, divided into two compartments called the Holy and the Most Holy. Only priests were allowed to enter the Holy and only the High Priest was allowed to enter the Most Holy, and only once a year. The Most Holy contained the Ark of the Covenant, a wooden box overlaid with gold. Inside were the two tables of the Law that God gave Moses, a golden pot filled with manna that never spoiled, and Aaron’s rod that budded. On top of this box was a golden lid with two angels at each end, with their wings outstretched and touching. In between the angels was a supernatural bright light, indicating God’s presence. The Holy contained three pieces of furniture: a Golden Candlestick, a Table of Shewbread, and an Incense Altar. The Candlestick provided the only light within the Holy. Sitting on the Table of Shewbread were twelve loaves of unleavened bread stacked in two rows of six, with incense on top of each stack. Incense was also burned on the Incense Altar continually. Outside the Tabernacle structure was the Court. It had two pieces of furniture: the Brazen Altar where sacrifices were burned and the Laver where the priests washed their hands and feet before entering the Tabernacle. To show that God was with them, He created a pillar of fire at night and a cloud by day.  If either started to move, the Israelites knew it was time to dismantle the temple, travel to the next location, and set it up all over again. Christians study the Tabernacle because it pictures concepts of the good things to come in God’s plan. It also symbolizes the Christian’s walk and the stages they go through when they decide to approach God by following His son Jesus.

1. Who is resurrected in the first resurrection? Jesus and the church are resurrected first.  Act 26:23 (NKJV), “that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead…” James 1:18 (NKJV), “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.” Revelation 14:4 (NKJV), “…These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.” 2. Why does the second death have no power over them? Because the saints are resurrected immortal – death proof. 1 Corinthians 15:54 (NKJV), “So when this corruptible (the saints’ human bodies are perishable) has put on incorruption (cannot decay), and this mortal (the saints’ present life) has put on immortality (cannot die), then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’” 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.” 3. Why are the saints priests of God and of Christ? The purpose of the 1,000 year reign of Jesus and the saints is to restore to mankind all that was lost when Adam sinned. Acts 3:21 (CSB), “Heaven must receive him (Jesus) until the time (Christ’s 1,000 year reign) of the restoration of all things, which God spoke about through his holy prophets from the beginning.” God’s law of love and righteousness will be written in mankind’s hearts. (Jeremiah 31:33-34)  Finally, God and man will be reconciled and live in harmony. This reconciliation process is the role of the saints as priests. We offer a Bible study booklet which explores what it means to be a Christian and what the Christian’s future kingdom work encompasses. Download the free PDF: “Why Are You a Christian?”

This verse begins with “therefore” meaning it is the conclusion of an argument presented in Hebrews 11. Chapter 11 is all about the faith of those ancient men and women who lived before Jesus was born. It records acts of faith of Abel, Enoch, Abraham, Sara, Noah, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and many unnamed men and women who suffered for righteousness sake. Hebrews 11:13, 32-34, 38-40 (NKJV),13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth…And what more shall I say? …who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong,…They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy…And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.” The cloud of witnesses is the testimony of the lives of these faithful people of the Old Testament. What promises did these ancient worthies embrace but did not receive? Hebrews 11:10, “For he (Abraham) looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Symbolically, a city represents a government. The city whose builder is God is the New Jerusalem – the Kingdom of God. Those righteous martyrs believed God’s promises of the resurrection (Hebrews 11:19), the restoration of all things lost through the fall (Acts 3:21, Isaiah 35), and the Earthly peaceable kingdom to be ruled by Jesus and His church (Isaiah 11:1-12). Just an added note: What is the “something better for us”? The saints will receive a heavenly resurrection with immortal, spirit bodies. Whereas, the ancient worthies will be resurrected with perfect human bodies when the New Jerusalem is established on Earth.

Jesus had been crucified and his followers were devastated. Their hopes had been built up for 3 ½ years that Israel would become a restored kingdom with Jesus as king. They thought he had come to rescue the nation from their enemies, but here he had died. They didn’t seem to remember the Scriptures had prophesied (meaning, foretold) that he was going to die, and that God would raise him after three days. In Luke, (see 24:13-31) we read about two followers of Jesus walking from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus, a distance of about 8 miles (or almost 13 kilometers). Perhaps they wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and go somewhere quiet where they could talk, reason together, and try to understand. As they went along, they were very sad, discussing everything that had happened. Suddenly, another man was walking beside them, asking what they were talking about. The men told him about how Jesus, a mighty teacher, had been arrested and put to death. Some women had visited his tomb early that morning and found his body missing. They were having difficulty trying to make sense of this situation. The stranger said to them (Luke 24:25-27, NAS 77) “’O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures.” He taught in such a deep and meaningful way that the account says their hearts “burned within them” (see Luke 24:32) as they listened. Since it was getting late, the two men begged the stranger to stay with them for the night. As they sat down to eat, the stranger took some bread, asked for God’s blessing on it, tore off some pieces, and gave it to them. Suddenly, their eyes were opened and they recognized him as Jesus (see Luke 24:31) – and then he disappeared from their sight! Why couldn’t the disciples recognize Jesus in the beginning? And why did he temporarily hide his identity? Maybe God had prevented them from recognizing him (see the NLT translation of Luke 24:16). Or, perhaps Jesus, now a spirit being, had taken on a different human form because he had a bigger purpose in mind: had he revealed himself right away, they might not have been able to concentrate on his important words. This way, they could focus on the deep meaning of the Scriptures as he explained to them in disguise. So, what happened on the road to Emmaus? Two followers were walking along, very sad by the news of their Savior’s death. Jesus appeared and explained the Scriptures to them, but they didn’t recognize him at first. He reassured them that everything was going perfectly according to God’s plan.

While in the workplace, we are in the world. The challenges we will need to battle include subduing our own fallen flesh and responding wisely to the fallen tendencies of others. What are the characteristics or challenges of the fallen flesh? Galatians 5:19-21 (NLT), “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.” When we do sin at work, we will need to immediately confess our sins and pray for forgiveness through Jesus. Then we should apologize, try to correct the results of the sin, and change our ways. How do we learn to become more Christlike when confronted with sinful behaviors in others? We ask the Lord for wisdom. James 1:5 (NLT), “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” God’s wisdom is characterized in James 3:17: “But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.” Finally, when at work, we do our work as “unto the Lord.” Ephesians 6:5-8 (NLT) says “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free.”