Godly commitment provokes persecution.

“You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution.”ⁱ

“God blesses those people who are treated badly for doing right. They belong to the Kingdom of Heaven. God will bless you when people insult you, mistreat you, and tell all kinds of evil lies about you because of me. Be happy and excited! You will have a great reward in heaven. People did these same things to the prophets who lived long ago.”ⁱⁱ

“PERSECU'TION, n. The act or practice of persecuting; the infliction of pain, punishment or death upon others unjustly, particularly for adhering to a religious creed or mode of worship, either by way of penalty or for compelling them to renounce their principles.”ⁱⁱⁱ

“In all ages, in one form or another, the people of God have had to suffer persecution. In its earliest history the Christian church passed through many bloody persecutions. Of subsequent centuries in our own and in other lands the same sad record may be made.”^iv

“Happy are you, when men have hate for you, and put you away from among them and say angry words to you, turning away in disgust at your name, because of the Son of man. Be glad in that day, and be lifted up for joy, for your reward in heaven will be great: for their fathers did these same things to the prophets.”^v

“Be exceeding glad - Αγαλλιασθε, leap for joy. There are several cases on record, where this was literally done by the martyrs, in Queen Mary’s days.”^vi

“Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven - They have evidence that they are Christians, and that they will be brought to heaven.”^vii

The ultimate persecution of the righteous was suffered by Jesus Himself. The great reward is that some of us have chosen to give our lives to Him.

There's a lot more on the subject of persecution of the righteous, some of it will be included in other posts.

I have referred to several English translations of the Bible in writing this which is made easy by e-sword, a free downloadable program. For further information I recommend reading the Bible.

© Ken Glasgow 2010

This post was written using Open Office 3.2.1, open source software from the www.openoffice.org this software is available to download for free.

iMark 5:10a "The Message" paraphrase of the Bible.

iiMark 5:10-12 Contemporary English Version of the Bible.

iiiWebster's 1828 Dictionary.

ivEaston's Dictionary of the Bible.

vLuke 6:22-23 The Bible in Basic English.

viAdam Clarke's commentary on the Bible.

viiAlbert Barnes' notes on the Bible.

Christianity in brief.

In the beginning, God created all things.¹

The first humans, Adam an Eve though God had said not to, they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, at that point sin entered the world.²

Every person has sinned³. There is a price for sin, death. “Sin pays off with death. But God's gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 Contemporary English Version of the Bible) Sin can not remain in the presence of God.

At the right time God sent His Son,⁴ Jesus Christ born to a virgin named Mary.⁵ Jesus lived without sin⁶, was crucified and died⁷ to pay the price for the sins of all.

On the third day Jesus was raised⁸ and seen by many witnesses⁹ before being taken up¹⁰ into Heaven (Jesus also appeared to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus¹¹ after His ascension to Heaven), giving us an assurance that those of us who believe in Him as the Scriptures say will be raised and go to Heaven for ever.

“You see, God loved all the people in the world. He loved everyone so much that he sent them his only son, his special son. God sent him to die instead of them, so that if anyone trusts him God will not finish them up, but they will live with him for ever.” John 3:16 Plain English Version

For those who would like to get right with God I suggest a simple prayer:

• God I admit that I have sinned and fallen short of your standards.

• Thank you that you sent your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to die for me, paying the price for my salvation from sin, to be raised on the third day and to later ascend to Heaven. as an assurance

• I choose to place my faith in your Son, Jesus Christ.

• Thank you that Jesus' ascension to Heaven is my assurance that you will take me to live with you there forever after my life on Earth is over.

You should now develop a habit of reading the Bible and talking to God every day. You should also join a Bible believing church (that does not add any other books to it) and fellowship there regularly¹².

I have refered to several English translations of the Bible in writing this which is made easy by e-sword, a free downloadable program. For further information I recommend reading the Bible.

© Ken Glasgow 2009 Last edited 11 March 2021

This page was written using Open Office 3, open source software from the www.openoffice.org this software is available to download for free.

1Genesis 1-2

2Genesis 3

3Romans 3:23

4Galatians 4:4

5Luke 1:26-38

6Hebrews 4:15

7John 19:16-30

8John 20-21

91Corinthians 15:6-7

10Acts 1:6-9

11Acts 9:3-6

12Hebrews 10:25

© Ken Glasgow 2009

This page was written using Open Office 3, open source software from the www.openoffice.org this software is available to download for free.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Christianity is unique, being the only religion which celebrates the death of it's leader, Jesus Christ.

When sin entered the world, death and destruction came with it. Jesus died to pay the price for the sins of the world. Before His death Jesus predicted that He would rise on the third day.ⁱ

After Jesus' death His body was taken, wrapped in clean linens and placed in a new tomb freshly cut out of stone with a large stone across the entrance. While they did this Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb, watching where they placed Jesus' body. Then they went away and prepared sweet smelling spices for His burial. On the Sabbath they rested as commanded by the Law of Moses. After sundown the High Priests and Pharisees had a meeting with Pilate, they said that Jesus had claimed He would rise from death on the third day and requested that the tomb be guarded so that the disciples could not steal the body and claim that Jesus had been raised from the dead. So Pilate said to take some soldiers and secure the tomb the best they could. So they sealed the tomb and placed soldiers there to guard it.ⁱⁱ

When the Sabbath was over Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Salome bought spices to embalm Jesus' body. On the Sunday morning they went to the tomb. On the way they were wondering who would roll away the stone from the tomb. Suddenly there was an earth quake. An angel of the Lord rolled the stone away from the tomb and sat on it. The guards shook with fear and fell like dead men. When the women arrived they walked straight into the tomb and saw an angel (who looked like a young man) sitting on the right side wearing a white robe. They were frightened.ⁱⁱⁱ

The angel said to the women “ Do not to be afraid. Jesus isn't here because God had raised Him to life, look here is the spot where Jesus' body was laid. Go quickly, tell His disciples that Jesus has been raised to life and is going ahead of them to Galilee. They will see Him there. The women hurried off to tell the disciples the good news. Matthew records Jesus appearing to the women at this time. At first the disciples did not believe them.^iv

Peter and John took off running to the tomb. John got there first, stopped outside, looked in and saw the linen cloths laying there but didn't go in. Peter arrived and went straight in. Peter saw the cloths lying there with the cloth that had been around Jesus' head rolled up separate from the others. John went in also. Then they walked away wondering what had happened.^v

More information on this can be found in the final chapters of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

For those who would like to get right with God I suggest a simple prayer:

• God I admit that I have sinned and fallen short of your standards.

• Thank you that you sent your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to die for me, paying the price for my salvation from sin, to be raised on the third day and to later ascend to Heaven. as an assurance

• I choose to place my faith in your Son, Jesus Christ.

• Thank you that Jesus' resurrection and ascension to Heaven are my assurance that you will take me to live with you there forever after my life on Earth is over.

You should now develop a habit of reading the Bible and talking to God every day. You should also join a Bible believing church (that does not add any other books to it) and fellowship there regularly¹.

I have refered to several English translations of the Bible in writing this which is made easy by e-sword, a free downloadable program. For further information I recommend reading the Bible.

© Ken Glasgow 2009 edited 11 April 2021

This page was written using Open Office, open source software from the www.openoffice.org this software is available to download for free.

1Hebrews 10:25

iMatthew 16:21, 17:23 & 20:19; Mark 8:31 & 10:34; Luke 9:22, 18:33 & 24:6 See also: Matthew 26:16, 27:40; Mark 14:56-58, 15:29; John 2:18-22

iiMatthew 27:57-66, Mark 15:42-47, Luke 23:52-56, John

iiiMatthew 28:1-6, Mark 16:1-6

ivMatthew 28:7-10, Mark 16:7-11, Luke 24:1-11

vLuke 24:12, John 20:2-10

How sin, death and destruction entered the world.

One teaching that is important to Christianity is that all people have sinned and fallen short of God's standards.¹

God created Adam (the first man)² and Eve (the first woman). Both husband and wife were naked but they felt no shame.³ God told Adam that he was allowed to eat from any tree except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because when you eat from it you will die.⁴

Adam and Eve already knew good, because all that God had created was good.⁵

There was a snake, it came to Eve and tricked her into believing that she would not die if she ate the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. Eve ate the fruit, gave some to Adam and he ate it also. When they ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil Adam and Eve realised they were naked and made themselves clothes from fig leaves.⁶ At this time they died spiritually⁷ and were in need of a saviour to put them back in a right relationship with God. Until this time there is no record of death, disease or destruction in the Bible.

That evening God came strolling in the garden. Adam and Eve heard him coming, and hid themselves. God called out to Adam: “Where are you?” Adam replied that he was hiding. God asked who told him that he was naked and whether he had eaten the forbidden fruit. Adam said the woman God had made had given him the fruit (this is the first recorded instance of passing the buck), Eve blamed the snake and the snake didn't have a leg to stand on.⁸

God cursed the snake and put enmity between it and the woman. He also said that the woman's offspring would crush the snake's head and the snake would wound His heal (this is the first prediction of Jesus' death on the cross). He said to Eve that her trouble in pregnancy and child birth would be increased but that she would still desire her husband and that he would rule over her. To Adam He said that the ground would be cursed and that he would have to work hard for it to produce enough food for him. You were formed from the soil and you will return to the soil. God made clothes from animal skins for Adam and Eve then sent them out of the Garden to prevent them eating the fruit of the tree of life and living forever.⁹

I have referred to several English translations of the Bible in writing this which is made easy by e-sword, a free downloadable program. For further information I recommend reading the Bible.

© Ken Glasgow 2009 last edited 9 May 2021

This page was written using Open Office, open source software from the www.openoffice.org this software is available to download for free.

1Romans 3:23

2Genesis 2:7-8

3Genesis 2:21-25

4Genesis 2:16-17

5Genesis 1:12, 18, 21 31

6Genesis 3:1-7

7Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible & John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

8Genesis 3:8-13

9Genesis-3:14-24

The basics of Christianity.

In the beginning, God created all things.¹

The first humans, Adam an Eve though God had said not to, they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, at that point sin entered the world.²

Every person has sinned³. There is a price for sin, death. “Sin pays off with death. But God's gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 Contemporary English Version of the Bible) Sin can not remain in the presence of God.

At the right time God sent His Son,⁴ Jesus Christ born to a virgin named Mary.⁵ Jesus lived without sin⁶, was crucified and died⁷ to pay the price for the sins of all.

On the third day Jesus was raised⁸ and seen by many witnesses⁹ before being taken up¹⁰ into Heaven (Jesus also appeared to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus¹¹ after His ascension to Heaven), giving us an assurance that those of us who believe in Him as the Scriptures say will be raised and go to Heaven for ever.

“You see, God loved all the people in the world. He loved everyone so much that he sent them his only son, his special son. God sent him to die instead of them, so that if anyone trusts him God will not finish them up, but they will live with him for ever.” John 3:16 Plain English Version

For those who would like to get right with God I suggest a simple prayer:

• God I admit that I have sinned and fallen short of your standards.

• Thank you that you sent your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to die for me, paying the price for my salvation from sin, to be raised on the third day and to later ascend to Heaven. as an assurance

• I choose to place my faith in your Son, Jesus Christ.

• Thank you that Jesus' ascension to Heaven is my assurance that you will take me to live with you there forever after my life on Earth is over.

You should now develop a habit of reading the Bible and talking to God every day. You should also join a Bible believing church (that does not add any other books to it) and fellowship there regularly¹².

I have refered to several English translations of the Bible in writing this which is made easy by e-sword, a free downloadable program. For further information I recommend reading the Bible.

© Ken Glasgow 2009 Last edited 11 April 2021

This page was written using Open Office 3, open source software from the www.openoffice.org this software is available to download for free.

1Genesis 1-2

2Genesis 3

3Romans 3:23

4Galatians 4:4

5Luke 1:26-38

6Hebrews 4:15

7John 19:16-30

8John 20-21

91Corinthians 15:6-7

10Acts 1:6-9

11Acts 9:3-6

12Hebrews 10:25