Red Letter Analysis

By Arthur Harper

Why should I care about the past? What does it have to do with me? What difference does it make and what is the difference? Is it relevant today?

Want to know why things are happening the way they are? All that is going o

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Oct 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685565459

Arthur Harper

Being from California, Arthur Harper loves the ocean but resides in Arizona now. Past military; attempted singing career but now into writing about his passion. He started writing in fifth grade and is now back at it. Arthur was married forty-seven years until January 2021, when his wife was called to be with the Lord. Just an everyday guy serving the Lord.

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Trilogy Christian Publishers

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Tustin, CA 92780

Copyright © 2022 by Aurthur Harper

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) taken from The Holy Bible, King James Version. Cambridge Edition: 1769.

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Manufactured in the United States of America

Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-68556-544-2

ISBN 978-1-68556-545-9 (ebook)

Dedication

To honor my Lord Jesus.

Dedicated to my beautiful wife Rozanne Harper of 47 years who passed on to be with the Lord on January 6, 2021.

Inspired by our true friend Anne S. and sister to my wife.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

Beginning History

God’s Work

Great Things

Repenting

Temptations

Life of Jesus

Giving

Judging

Diseases

As Believers

Reasons for Jesus

Teachings of Jesus

The Compassion

Jesus Speaks

The World Today

Traditions

The Many Beliefs

The Voice of God

Remembering

Commitment

Spending Eternity

Thinking About God

Invitations

Where Are The Leaders

The Happenings

New Life in Christ

Is He Who He Says He Is

Blaming Others

Foreword

Art Harpers book, A Red Letter Analysis, is for anyone who has not yet made a decision in their minds to follow Christ and also for those who have already done so. Whether you question God’s moral laws, His judgement, forgiveness, or God’s purpose for you in this chaotic world, it’s time to give your heart, mind, and soul to the One who gave His physical life that we may have eternal life. Truly a comprehensive summary of the importance of the words of Christ.

— Bob Dillon, Hope City Chapel

Kingmen, Arizona

Preface

In 2005 my wife and I joined a dance studio to learn how to perform classic ballroom dances such as the waltz, foxtrot, cha-cha, samba, and some country western styles. After a year or so we met a woman by the name of Anne, and we hit it off as we enjoyed each other’s company. Anne and my wife became very close and over the years became as sisters. In 2017 Anne moved up to Tucson from Sierra Vista, Az. We were able to spend a lot of time together. During this time Anne and I began singing together at karaoke places when Anne wanted to sing a new song called The Red Letters since we were all Christians Anne, and I went ahead and practiced this new song and performed it the next time we went out. Anne had been concentrating on the Red Letters in her bible studies and I started doing the same. Anne was battling breast cancer and on December 28, 2019, Anne went to be with the Lord. Anne was the inspiration to me to begin writing these books as we find most Red Letters in the first four books of the Bible. The first book in the New Testament is Matthew and this is where I started. I did not use all of the Red Letters in Matthew but what I did use I tried to relate them to what is happening in our lives and the world today.

Introduction

When considering the subject, I was directed in my heart on how to discuss it. My first thought was to simply present the recorded word of Jesus in the form as they were written. But there would be no relationship to be comparable to what is happening in the world today. I determined that I would bring about the situations that are going on around the world and our nation as they relate to the teachings of Jesus. The only book in the world that contains the words of the Father and the Son recorded for the benefit of the people of the world. Why would anyone write about a Creator God that so many in the world do not concern themselves with believing in? Why would a bunch of normal or common people gather together to write about one man? Another point to make is did all of those who participated in the writings have the abilities to predict the future of not only their nation but of the world. If we compare the writings of the Old Testament and the New Testament we find they are similar in the fact that both talk about a God. Normally this would not be of concern since there are so many beliefs in the world. Beliefs ranging from the worship of so-called deities to idolizing animals to the worship of man. The question needs to be asked "does the worship of anything, animal, mineral or vegetable, do any good for the person doing the worshipping? The worshipping has many benefits for not only the physical mind but for the spiritual being within each of us. All beings are made up of two beings, the physical which we all can see, touch and talk with. While the spiritual being, also referred to as the soul. The soul is the part of our being we cannot see but we can feel and talk with. The soul guides us in our decision-making process in whatever context we live our lives. If we are concerned with the self, the physical being, then the decisions we make are for our own person. Whereas if we have devoted our lives to the spiritual self then what we do, we do for others first and accept the rewards for our soul’s growth. Our physical beings have limitations, and our souls are designed to live for eternity. Why is this acceptable, because this book although written by man it is the inspiration given to those doing the writing by the Creator. This is how this God teaches His creations the differences between what is good and bad, right and wrong, moral and immoral. So how do we know there is this Creator? All we have to do is look at ourselves and those around us. We are the product of His creation process as is all that is in our world for all things were created by Him. Now because mankind has decided to rebel against this Creator for one reason or another we do things that cause hurt to Him that has created us. This has been termed as sin. Sin is everything mankind does in rebellion and rejection of our God. Even when we establish a belief in anyone or anything and turn to the worship or idolization of it has cause to disrupt the love He has for all mankind. The world of mankind had gotten to the point when all were immersed in the sins that our Father, our Creator, determined to establish a way for mankind to be able to turn from their sins and become close to their heavenly Father. He determined to have His Son come to earth as a man to teach the laws and commands of a life without sin that had been refuted by most at the time. His Son, by the name of Jesus, wanted to follow His Fathers will so He came to earth as a man, lived for 30 years learning the way we lived and teaching. At the age of 30 Jesus began a ministry for and to the people. In this ministry Jesus not only taught but healed many of their sicknesses and malformations, cast out the demons that had taken control of a body and even raised some from death. Finally, Jesus accepted the command from His Father to give of Himself as payment for the worlds sin. He did this by being nailed to a cross, shedding His blood, the only thing that could pay the price for our sin. But Jesus went a step further as after His death and three days later He was raised from the tomb, appeared before His disciples and a group of over 500 just prior to His return to the Father. Jesus now resides at the right hand of God, the Father but has promised to return and call all those who have accepted Him as their Savior from sin. This is the reports written by those in a close relationship with Jesus while He was on the earth. Most were with Jesus during His time on earth and received teachings directly from Him. So, their writings were inspired by God and through the teachings and personal relationship with Jesus.

Our world has been following in the same manner that the world of the past was acting, and it led to captivity and a dissolving of their nation since they were spread throughout the known world. We are repeating their sins or wrongs and will in the end become as cast outs just prior to the return of Jesus. People have said that this nation will be destroyed before that since this nation is not mentioned in the predictions of the Bible. This could be true, but it could be that this nation is the nation talked about in the last book of the Bible. That being that this nation will become the Mystery Babylon that is predicted in the book of Revelations. In ways it matches the description of this Mystery Babylon in many ways and this nation is becoming just as bad as that one predicted in the book. Another prediction of the last days is that no one knows just when that will happen, except the Father but we are given indicators throughout the Bible that many of them have come to pass. We need to be alert to the signs of the return of Jesus as He promised and for most, as it stands today, will not be ready. We need to have accepted and committed to Jesus as our Lord and Savior before He returns, or we will go through the worst times the world will have ever known and as it is stated if the Father had not cut the duration of the worst of times short all of mankind will vanish from the face of the earth. Want to know more? Read this book answer the questions that are in it and you will understand what it is all about!

Beginning History

Throughout the history of the world, there has been mankind; God has used His creations, humans, in His image to fulfill His work on earth. He has used all sorts of people from the weakest to the strongest and from those who would be leaders to those who would be common workers. He has used ordinary people such as you and me to be prophets, kings, tax collectors, disciples, writers, and the list goes on. The writers are those who have heard His voice as He spoke to them through the Holy Spirit or directly, such as Moses. The prophets were used to guide people and nations for the fulfillment of His divine plan for the people of earth. All the while, God was developing His plan to bring His people back to Him. Others He used to teach the world about His laws and requirements for right living. As life continued to grow, He would use others to write and record some of the events that occurred by His hand. Those were chosen by Him, and He inspired them as they wrote the… what we now know as the Old and New Testaments. The difference being the Old Testament was prior to the appearance of His Son, Jesus, and the New was after Jesus came to earth. The Old Testament told the history of things that happened bc (before Christ), and the New Testament told of the history during and after the presence of Christ, ad (after death of Christ). The Old Testament gives predictions of what is soon to be in the near and far future of mankind. The predictions that were made in the Old Testament, as they were passed on by God to the writers, have been partially fulfilled at a rate of 100 percent completion according to what was written. God always keeps His promises and fulfills all truths given to man. According to our timeline (ad), the greatest promise was His Son coming to earth as a man to establish a way for mankind to return to the Father to receive forgiveness for our sinful way of life. This sin we inherited from the original couple that God created and set upon the face of the earth to take care of what was created. It being the couple was a man and a woman; they were told to multiply and fill the world with their offspring. The problem was the offspring turned against God and established their own gods to worship. This plan of the Father was to redeem the people from their sin through His Son, Jesus. This was for all people past, present, and future. And yes, all will pay the price of sin, but because the Creator loves all people and wants them to return to Him through the sacrifice of His Son, we have been redeemed through the actions, teachings, and sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus was born of woman, so He was fully human, but the seed was from God, so He was also divine and God and without the sin inherited by the world. Yes, Jesus was tempted in virtually every way we are being tempted every day. The difference is He never accepted any of the temptations; therefore, He never sinned. Another difference is no man, woman, or child has ever lived their life without committing sin. It is not possible for our physical beings to live without contradicting any of God’s laws. We stand convicted of accepting temptations from Satan and/or his demons. Sometimes we accept a temptation even though we are not aware of it being a temptation. We are given options all through life, and the decisions we make or the options we take may not be what God wants for us. We have been given the right and the will to choose our direction in life. It is up to us whether we choose to follow God or our own will. Yes, there will be times when we are committed to follow Him since the task we are given will be extremely hard. Unless we include Him in the beginning, middle, and end, the possibility of failure is far greater. Now you may question about demons being real. Yes, they are real, and they do follow Satan. When Satan decided to place his throne above the Father’s, caused by his great pride in himself, he was cast out of the heavenly realm. He was a great archangel, and when he was cast out, there were those who followed him. The number was about a third of all angels. So, there are demons under the command of Satan. All people who decide to rebel against or reject Christ and the Father will suffer the same punishment. So, angels do exist, and their job is to pass on messages from God to people on earth. Have you ever heard an inner voice and wonder where it came from? Or maybe a gut feeling about something as if it were a warning something is about to happen. It could be an angel urging you to be alert or maybe encouraging you or guiding you in a certain direction. More than likely, it is an angel sent to you by God. Remember, He is in control and knows all that we do or say. We must be careful, though, and weigh the feeling or action being called for since it could be something that could cause you harm. When we become believers and commit our lives to follow the Lord, we are given the Holy Spirit to dwell in and with us. Through the Holy Spirit, Christ is with us 24/7, 365. We must be careful not to avoid doing something that is the right thing to do because of the possibility of what others think of us. We are committed to Christ and need to obey Him rather than seek the approval of others. How are you doing in your commitment and service to Jesus? Since He gave us the best He has to offer to us, Himself, we should be willing to give our best to Him.

God’s Work

If you have never heard of the great things He has done and the unbelievable way He does them, you need to read about the birth of Jesus and when He came into life as a human being. Remember when we talked about God using common people to do His work on earth? Here we have a relatively poor young lady who was taught about God as a child and how she worshipped Him and obeyed Him. One day she became engaged to a man, and they were planning their wedding. One night prior to the wedding, an angel came before her and told her God had chosen her to become pregnant with His Son. She asked how that was possible since she had never been touched by man. She was told the Holy Spirit would come upon her, and she would become pregnant with the Son of God. Her response was, "I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled (Luke 1:38, NIV). (Hereinafter, emphasis added.) After a time, Joseph, the man she was engaged to marry, noticed she was with child and decided to quietly divorce her. That night the angel spoke to Joseph, telling him to marry her as the child she was carrying was the Son of God, and when He is born, he was to name Him Jesus. Just prior to the birth, a call went out throughout the kingdom that all men were to return to their hometown and register (kind of like a census of today) and, in doing so, to pay the temple taxes. When they arrived in Bethlehem, there were no vacancies, but they were given a place to stay in—with the animals. The night Jesus was born is the reason we celebrate our Christmas season. That night God used more common people, shepherds in a nearby field, and guided them to see the newborn baby, Christ our Lord, the Messiah. When they located them in the place where the animals were, He was lying in a manger (a feeding troth for the animals). The shepherds worshipped Him and went out shouting the Savior had been born. It is suggested that a couple of years later, three wise men came from far away (another miraculous hand of God working) to see the baby Jesus. How did they know if not by the hand of God guiding them? The three wise men stopped to ask the king, Herod, and asked, Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We have seen his star when it arose and have come to hip him (Matthew 2:2, NIV). The Herod told them, When you find him come and tell me so I can go and worship him myself (Matthew 2:8, NIV). Herod was fearful that such a new king could dethrone him, so he wanted to kill the baby in order to save his position. The star that guided them to Bethlehem continued to guide them to where the baby Jesus was; they arrived to worship the newborn King, Jesus. They were guided by a special star; guess who created the star and for this reason. Those who are wise today and are called to follow Him respond with joy, worship, and gifts. If Jesus is the Son of God, dare we not sit idly by ignoring and rationalizing the truth without any action on our part? Should we not honor and worship Jesus as the King, Lord, and High Priest of our lives? Should we not give whatever is most valuable to us, acknowledging the fact that He is God, Creator, Father, Just, and Almighty. Should we not be willing to give Him the best we have in answering the call to follow Him and be aware that our life is about to change for the better. Not only physically but emotionally and spiritually. Now you live for Him and receive eternal life as a reward. Have you accepted His call? Has your life changed? Are you receptive to His guidance by answering, Here I am, Lord, and be willing to go forth into the world to witness and to tell the world what He has done for you? Today the problems with people are they fear that what they have will be lost to others. But what we receive from Him is of far greater worth than anything we can acquire in the physical realm. In the physical realm, we only live a few years in comparison to the eternal life we have with Him. Jesus tells us, Do not be afraid, for I am with you always" (Isaiah 41:10a, NIV). This should console and give us rest from the fears that build up in us until we can build our faith and trust in Him. Give Jesus the throne of your life and receive the greater gift of eternal life, the greatest of gifts.

Great Things

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 3:2, NKJV) was spoken by a man God had chosen to announce the coming of the Lord Jesus. This task was predicted many years ahead of time, and the fulfillment of the prediction had finally come. This prophecy said, "Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him" (Matthew 3:3, NIV). Here we are talking about Jesus. The man that was born of a virgin through the conception of God and the Holy Spirit. So, Jesus was God born in human form by woman. There was no man involved, so there was no sin in Him. On His thirtieth year, He stood before John the Baptist to be baptized, although since He had no sin in Him, He did not need to be baptized. He did this as an example of what we need to do for the cleansing of the guilt of our sin. Also, to proclaim our commitment to follow Him and as a public show of repentance and acceptance of Him as our Lord and Saviour. To repent means to give up our old bad habits, sins, and wrongful ways such as cheating, stealing, lying, gossiping, indulging in immoral sexual acts, and any of the other laws of God. Thusly taking a 180-degree about-turn from the rebellious ways we have done in the past. God accepts us as we are, sinners, then gives us the Holy Spirit to help and guide us in our turnaround, for we cannot do it on our own. Once we have made the commitment to follow Christ, He does two things: 1) He sends His spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit, to help us and guide us in our new life, and 2) He gives us eternal life to dwell with Him in heaven eternally. This is a promise He made not only to the disciples but to all future followers when He said,

Do not let your hearts be troubled, you believe in God believe also in Me. My Father’s house has many rooms and if it were not so would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am. You know the place where I am going.

— John 14:1–4 (NIV)

"I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him (John 14:6–7, NIV). So, Christ came to earth the first time to teach us, heal us, and let us know what lies ahead. Then He sacrificed Himself as payment for our wrongdoings. You may say, I have done nothing wrong, then you need to stop and consider your life. For instance, have you ever snubbed your nose up at a homeless person on the street and failed to stop and help them? Maybe, a person who does not meet your standards of dress, cleanliness, or sobriety. This is prejudging them, which is what we are told to not do. Or maybe you have indulged in gossip about someone or passed on information that was unproven about them without knowing the truth. This is talking falsehoods about them, which, again, is what we are told to not do. Or have you, by mistake or without thinking, ever taken something from school or workplace that was not yours. You may have used an item and, without thinking, put it in your pocket and not returned it. This would be considered stealing, referring to the commandment You shall not steal (Exodus 20:15). Maybe you have gone to a party, drank too much, and had sexual relations outside of marriage; this is sexual sin we are instructed to stay away from. This is talked about in several places in the Bible and is against the teachings of God. Perhaps during this engagement, the woman got pregnant, and you both decided to abort the fetus. (Fetus is the first stage of growth of the human being.) This is God’s creation; what authority do you have to take its life? This is considered murder by the commandments of God. Anytime you take the life of another or even think about it, according to Jesus, you have already committed the act. You say you have never done any of the things like these; then you consider yourself perfect? This is the sin of pride and is abhorred by God. (For your information, this Lucifer, the devil, otherwise known as Satan, was kicked out of the heavenly realm for the sin of pride.) No matter what age you are, you have sinned in one way or another since we are born with the inherent sin in our lives. This is the great sin inherited from the beginning of mankind. We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23, NIV). They were created in a perfect world with everything they needed to live and propagate the world, but they blew it, and everyone has suffered for it. The creation was so perfect all they had to do was take care of it, but… They only had two restrictions: they could not eat the fruit from the tree of life and the tree of good and evil. How hard could that have been? They did eat and caused rebellion against God, and He, in His wrath, kicked them out of paradise into a world that would turn into the evil, sinful world we have today.

There is a way we can return to a connection with God, that is, through His Son, Jesus. Jesus tells us, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6, NIV). Jesus came to earth as a physical man, though He had no sin, with the mind to sacrifice His life in order to pay the price demanded for our sin. In the meantime, we live in a world driven by sin, hatred, violence, and death of the physical body. Jesus said, No greater love has no man than to give his life for another" (John 15:13, NIV), and He fulfilled this to the ultimate degree. This was the first time He came to earth in order to save God’s people from spiritual death. His promise is that He will return a second time as Our King and Lord to claim what is His and all those that have committed their lives to Him. The rest He will judge for their sins and condemn them to hell. Yes, there is a hell and a heaven, just as there are angels and demons. Hell is eternal life without the light of God. It will be total darkness and solitary confinement with no sound or vision possible. Then comes the fire and damnation spoken about in the Word of God. So now the question becomes, have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour? And do people around you know it? If you have not, then you cannot lead others into a relationship with Jesus. If you have not changed, as the Holy Spirit will guide you in the change, your words and actions will confirm your noncommitment. You are living a lie since your commitment was not sincere and truthful. Every person created was born with a spirit along with the physical body. The spirit is eternal, while the physical body has a limited amount of time on earth. You cannot change that; it is set. That spirit cannot be extinguished by anyone, either physical or spiritual, that, too, is set by God. So eternal life is a given, and it is where we spend eternity that is in question. Now you might say something like, I want to sow my wild oats since I am still young. Okay, but let me ask you this, do you know when you are going to die? If you were to die today, would you say, Oh no, I did not know it would come this soon; I am not ready. Our death is only known by God, and He is not about to let you know when your time is come. So, you must decide whether you are going above or below, above with Jesus or below without His light. Next, you are living a lie if you say you are Christian and yet you are not fulfilling His command to witness to the world, not talking about what He has done for you and your commitment to obey Him, nor is your lifestyle saying anything that would show your love for Him or in reference to Him. You either have not fully committed your life to Him or have fallen away and rebelled against His laws. You need to stop and consider your life and how you are or are not serving Him. You need to become real