John 11:40
"Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?"
John 8:34-36
Jesus answered them,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."
John 2:23-25
Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.
But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
Luke 21:25-28
“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Luke 19:37-40
As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives— the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”
He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
Luke 18:11-14
The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.
Luke 16:27-31
Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’
But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’
The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’
But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’
Luke 12:24
Consider the ravens:
they neither sow nor reap,
they have neither storehouse nor barn,
and yet God feeds them.
Of how much more value are you than the birds!
And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
The Lord's Prayer.
This is the 'Traditional Ecumenical Version' from The Book of Common Prayer used by the Church of England in the late 70's when I learnt it in school.
There is a timelessness and a poetry to this version that is lost in others, I feel.
Matthew 6:9-13
Luke 11:2-4
Luke 10:13-16
The one who hears you hears me,
and the one who rejects you rejects me,
and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.
Luke 4:1-4
Satan's bid to tempt Jesus is risible. At any moment Christ could call upon the almighty power of His divinity to sate His hunger; bring about His earthly kingdom; summon Angels to lift Him. But that time is not yet. Scripture suffices.
Luke 3:7-9
Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.
And do not begin 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.
And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'
As D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones reminds us in his Studies on the Sermon on the Mount, we Christians, we who are 'poor in spirit' have no birthright claim on anything pertaining to the kingdom of God.
Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and shall call his name Immanuel.
Mark 12:43-44
Not the size of the offering, but the size of the sacrifice...
For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had.
Mark 12:34
And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him,
"You are not far from the kingdom of God."
And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Mark's record of Jesus and the scribe's discussion about the greatest commandment is interesting on multiple levels. But Christ's response to the scribe's agreement is most profound, and worth thinking on:
"You are not far from the kingdom of God."
Mark 10:43-45
But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Mark 4:21-25
Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
Mark 3:28-29
"Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin" —
Matthew 28:18-20
The Great Commission.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you"
The great and first commandment:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
And a second is like it:
You shall love your neighbour as yourself.
Matthew 22:35-40
Luke 13:29-30
And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.
Some are last who will be first,
and some are first who will be last.
This lesson is one which I find extraordinarily deep. Particularly the application in Matthew 20:16, which always confused me as a child.
Faith; not works.
Luke 24:18,25-27
Jesus meets two disciples on the road to Emmaus.
"Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?"
