Saturday, December 21, 2024

Negotiation And Hardened Hearts

After that, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Let My people go, so that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.'"
But Pharaoh replied, "Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go."
(Exodus 5:1-2 BSB)

Did God ask Moses to lie when He asked Moses to request for a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to Him, implying that the Israelites will return after that? No. If the Pharaoh had accepted the request, it would be so.

So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. "Go, worship the LORD your God," he said. "But who exactly will be going?"
"We will go with our young and old," Moses replied. "We will go with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the LORD."
Then Pharaoh told them, "May the LORD be with you if I ever let you go with your little ones. Clearly you are bent on evil. No, only the men may go and worship the LORD, since that is what you have been requesting." And Moses and Aaron were driven from Pharaoh's presence.
(Exodus 10:8-11 BSB)

But God hardened the Pharaoh's heart, and he kept negotiating with Moses about the terms of release. But finally, after the ten plagues, he expelled all the Israelites from his land.

This is God's pattern of negotiation. First, He will give the best offer. For those whom God did not call, their hearts will be hardened, and they will reject the best offer. Then the offer will get worse and worse until everything is taken away.

In 1948, they were offered 50% of Palestine, but they rejected the offer and fought. They would have retained Gaza and West Bank if they had not fought again in 1967. Today they are still trying to negotiate for the two-state solution. Eventually, they will have nothing.

The Gospel offered a 100% redemption if we just believe. But many hardened their hearts and refused the offer because they thought it was humiliating to admit that they are sinners and can do nothing to save themselves. But God is merciful, and some will believe and accept the offer and be saved.

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12 NLT)

Monday, December 9, 2024

The Call of Abram

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. (Genesis 12:1-4 KJV)

Abraham is our father in faith. Although he was commended for his faith, he did not receive what was promised. He waited and waited and finally got to own a piece of the promised land which he had to buy it from the Hittites for use as a permanent burial place.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going. (Hebrews 11:8 BSB)

Sunday, December 8, 2024

Languages And Nations

Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. They said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly." And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. They said, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. The Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another's speech." So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth. (Genesis 11:1-9 NASB95)

It seemed that after the flood, technology had improved rapidly. It took the descendants of Cain seven generations before Jabal built tents. But soon after the flood, the people learnt how to make bricks instead of stone.

To slow down the rapid modernisation of the world, God confused the languages. We have to wait for a few millenniums before we reach today's technology.

When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. They were completely amazed. "How can this be?" they exclaimed. "These people are all from Galilee, and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! (Acts 2:6-8 NLT)

Saturday, December 7, 2024

Vegetarian Diet and Capital Punishment

Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth. All the animals of the earth, all the birds of the sky, all the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the fish in the sea will look on you with fear and terror. I have placed them in your power. I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables. But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it. And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person's life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. If anyone takes a human life, that person's life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image. Now be fruitful and multiply, and repopulate the earth." (Genesis 9:1-7 NLT)

If anyone is on a vegetarian diet for health reasons, I have no comment since I am not a doctor or a dietician. But if anyone is on a vegetarian diet for religious reasons, I wish to point out that God, in His covenant with our ancestor Noah, had given permission for Noah's descendants to eat animals after the flood. God also authorised capital punishment for those who murder.

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. (1 Timothy 4:1-3 ESV)

Friday, December 6, 2024

No Climate Change

In the six hundred first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water that had covered the earth was dried up. Then Noah removed the ark's cover and saw that the surface of the ground was drying. By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was dry. Then God spoke to Noah, "Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons' wives with you. Bring out all the living creatures that are with you - birds, livestock, those that crawl on the earth - and they will spread over the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." So Noah, along with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives, came out. All the animals, all the creatures that crawl, and all the flying creatures - everything that moves on the earth - came out of the ark by their families. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, he said to himself, "I will never again curse the ground because of human beings, even though the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth onward. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease." (Genesis 8:13-22 CSB)

God had promised that long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease. We do not have to worry about climate change.

They have not said in their hearts, 'Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest.' (Jeremiah 5:24 BSB)

Thursday, December 5, 2024

The Flood

The Lord said to Noah, "You and your entire household go into the ark, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me among this generation. Take with you seven each of every clean animal, the male and its female, and two each of every unclean animal, the male and its female, and seven each of birds of the air, the male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth. In seven days I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will destroy from the face of the earth."
And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him.
Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came upon the earth. And Noah went with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives into the ark because of the floodwaters. Everything that creeps on the land from clean and unclean animals and birds came in two by two, male and female, to Noah into the ark, as God had commanded Noah. After seven days, the waters of the flood were on the earth.
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the same day, all the fountains of the great deep burst open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.
On the very same day Noah and the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark.
(Genesis 7:1-13 MEV)

Quote from Sweeping gene survey reveals new facets of evolution

QUOTE
[PARIS] Who would have suspected that a handheld genetic test used to unmask sushi bars pawning off tilapia for tuna could deliver deep insights into evolution, including how new species emerge?
And who would have thought to trawl through five million of these gene snapshots -- called "DNA barcodes" -- collected from 100,000 animal species by hundreds of researchers around the world and deposited in the US government-run GenBank database?
That would be Mark Stoeckle from The Rockefeller University in New York and David Thaler at the University of Basel in Switzerland, who together published findings last week sure to jostle, if not overturn, more than one settled idea about how evolution unfolds.
It is textbook biology, for example, that species with large, far-flung populations -- think ants, rats, humans -- will become more genetically diverse over time.
But is that true?
"The answer is no," said Stoeckle, lead author of the study, published in the journal Human Evolution.
For the planet's 7.6 billion people, 500 million house sparrows, or 100,000 sandpipers, genetic diversity "is about the same," he told AFP.
The study's most startling result, perhaps, is that nine out of 10 species on Earth today, including humans, came into being 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.
"This conclusion is very surprising, and I fought against it as hard as I could," Thaler told AFP.
That reaction is understandable: How does one explain the fact that 90 per cent of animal life, genetically speaking, is roughly the same age?
Was there some catastrophic event 200,000 years ago that nearly wiped the slate clean?
UNQUOTE

A global flood that destroyed all living things on land must have left evidence. The question is, do we recognize this evidence? Can a secular scientist, who think that religions are myths, recognise them?

For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. (2 Corinthians 13:8 ESV)

Wednesday, December 4, 2024

Technology Came From Cain

And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. (Genesis 4:19-22 ESV)

Tents, musical instruments and metallurgy came from the descendants of Cain. Did the descendants of Noah learn from them, or did they start afresh after the flood? After all, there was a bronze age followed by iron age after the flood, which means iron technology was lost for a while.

The Lord said to Moses, "See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. (Exodus 31:1-5 ESV)

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

What Had Adam Done?

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:15-17 ESV)

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. (Genesis 3:1-7 ESV)

Adam sinned and sin and death entered the world because of him. But what did Adam do? Did he break any of the ten commandments? He cannot. They did not exist then. So, what did Adam do that caused sin and death to enter the world?

He ate something.

Dietary issues are so important that it cause sin and death to enter the world?

No. Action and performance do not count. It is his belief, or unbelief, that caused sin and death to enter the world.

Adam did not believe. Adam did not believe the Truth, the Word of God. He chose to believe in the lie, the word of the serpent. Because of his unbelief, sin and death entered the world. So, God made provision for the salvation of men by making His Son Jesus the propitiation for our sins that whosoever believe in Him shall have everlasting life.

For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:19 ESV)

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2 ESV)

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26 ESV)

Monday, December 2, 2024

Project Completion

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. (Genesis 1:31-2:3 ESV)

God created the heavens and the earth in six days, not in one big bang.

For those who had been in IT (information technology) projects, we know that when a project completes and go live, the next business day we have to standby anxiously, hoping that there will be no trouble.

For God, when the project was completed and went live on the sixth day, it was very good. The following day was a day of rest.

Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:9-11 ESV)

Sunday, December 1, 2024

In the Beginning

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 NIV NLT BSB CSB ASV CEV)

The heavens and the earth have a beginning and will also have an ending. But the Word of God will never pass away.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. (Revelation 21:1 ESV)

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. (Matthew 24:35 CSB NIV)

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

The Word Outlast the Creation

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. (Matthew 24:35 CSB NIV)

The Beginning
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 NIV NLT BSB CSB ASV CEV)

The New Beginning
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. (Revelation 21:1 ESV)

The first book of the Bible begins with the creation. The last book of the Bible ends with the new creation and the passing of the old creation. The Word outlast the creation.

I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. (Revelation 22:18 CSB)

Monday, November 18, 2024

The Unjust Shall Die By Faith

Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. (Habakkuk 2:4 KJV)

It is written, "The just shall live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:7, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38)". This is repeated four times in the Bible, once by Habakkuk in Old Testament, and quoted three times by Paul in the New Testament.

In reality, everyone lives by faith. We all have faith in the usual. We just take for granted that everything will just happen as per normal. Nothing extraordinary will happen and nature will take its course. When we take our next step, we never fear that the ground will give way and swallow us up. When we sleep, we assume we will wake up. When we sit on a chair, we do not expect the chair to give way.

We cannot live without faith because we are not all powerful (omnipotent), all knowing (omniscience) and all-present (omnipresent). We have no time and no means to prove everything. We just have to trust that the information we have is true.

The Bible never teaches that doing good will save you. The Bible teaches that you are saved by believing in the truth, the saving truth, the historical event that Christ had died for our sin.

What you do will not save you. What you put your faith in will determine whether you have eternal life or eternal death.

The just shall live by faith. The wicked shall die by faith.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6 NIV)

Sunday, November 17, 2024

God Spared Donald Trump For a Reason

Then there will be a fourth kingdom, one strong like iron. Just like iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything, and as iron breaks in pieces all these metals, so it will break in pieces and crush the others. In that you were seeing feet and toes partly of wet clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom. Some of the strength of iron will be in it, for you saw iron mixed with wet clay. In that the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, the latter stages of this kingdom will be partly strong and partly fragile. And in that you saw iron mixed with wet clay, so people will be mixed with one another without adhering to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. In the days of those kings the God of heaven will raise up an everlasting kingdom that will not be destroyed and a kingdom that will not be left to another people. It will break in pieces and bring about the demise of all these kingdoms. But it will stand forever. (Daniel 2:40-44 NET)

"Thus says the Lord God: On that day, thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme and say, 'I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will fall upon the quiet people who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates,' to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and the people who were gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell at the center of the earth. (Ezekiel 38:10-12 ESV)

From Trump: 'God spared my life for a reason -- to save our country and restore America to greatness' | The Times of Israel:
QUOTE
"God spared my life for a reason," Donald Trump says in his victory speech, referring to the two assassination attempts he survived on the US campaign trail.
"And that reason was to save our country and restore America to greatness. And now we're going to fulfill that mission together," he says.
UNQUOTE

I think God spared Donald Trump to do two tasks:

  1. To revive the Judeo-Christian civilization to prepare for the Roman Empire 2.0.
  2. To bring peace to the Middle East so that Israel can live securely, creating the conditions for Gog and Magag to invade Israel.

The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but will receive ruling authority as kings with the beast for one hour. These kings have a single intent, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. (Revelation 17:12-13 NET)

Therefore prophesy, son of man, and tell Gog that this is what the Lord GOD says: On that day when My people Israel are dwelling securely, will you not take notice of this? (Ezekiel 38:14 BSB)

Sunday, November 3, 2024

Son of Man

In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. (Daniel 7:13 BSB)

And Jesus said, "I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." (Mark 14:62 ESV)

Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and one like the Son of Man was seated on the cloud, with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. (Revelation 14:14 CSB)

Unlike many religious leaders and founders of religions who popped into history without warning, the coming of Jesus was predicted in advance in the Old Testament. He came to fulfil the prophecies in the Old Testament (Psalm 40:7-8, Hebrews 10:7). He came to be King, as prophesied by Daniel. Jesus Himself also quoted Daniel's prophecy.

He is the Son of Man, who will be seated on the cloud when He comes again.

Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. (Revelation 19:11-16 CSB)

Saturday, November 2, 2024

Saved By Luck - 2

Then he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." (Acts 16:30-31 ESV)

When told of the good news of the salvation by Jesus Christ, many people like to ask, "What about those who have never heard of Jesus?" They feel like God is so unfair.

If you strike the first prize in lottery, would you ask questions like, "What about the other people who did not strike first prize? God is so unfair! I strike first prize and others don't. Maybe there are those who are dying of cancer and may need the money more than me!" You would never ask this question, right? You just accept the money! And you will thank whatever god, gods or good luck charms that you believe in, right?

Here we are offering something better than money, which you cannot bring beyond the grave. You are offered eternal life. So why is this question asked? Is it not the same for all religions and how they spread? The gospel, religions, ideas and diseases spread in the same way. It depends on population density, geographic location, communication technology and the fullness of time.

Today we have handphones and communication is so easy. Five hundred years ago, even a person as privileged as the emperor of China cannot communicate like us. And neither would he have the chance to hear the gospel.

But you are so lucky today. You heard that Jesus saves! Now is the time of God's favor. Now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). Accept it now! Don't wait till tomorrow. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow (James 4:14). Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household (Acts 16:31).

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)

I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all. (Ecclesiastes 9:11 BSB)

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. (Proverbs 16:33 ESV, NIV)

For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One. (Ephesians 1:4-6 BSB)

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. (Revelation 4:11 KJV)

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29 BSB)

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:4-5 ESV)

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Gods of the Gaps

Thus shall you say to them: "The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens." (Jeremiah 10:11 ESV)

Secular humanists believed that gods were created to fill our gaps in knowledge. When they did not know how rain was made, they created a rain god. When they could not explain the thunder, they created a thunder god. As our knowledge increase, there will be less and less requirement for divine explanation. Eventually, when we know everything, god or gods will cease to exist.

And this is exactly what the Bible said about the so-called gods who did not make the heavens and earth. They will vanish from the earth and from under the heavens (Jeremiah 10:11). And exactly as the Bible said, there is one God who stubbornly refused to go away. This is the God that created the heavens and the earth. Till today, science could not come up with a satisfactory answer to creation. So, the God that created the heavens and the earth is still keeping His job.

For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), "I am the LORD, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:18 NASB95)

Monday, October 7, 2024

Father-in-Law

My father-in-law passed away today at 6 pm Singapore Time 5 pm Vietnam Time in Saigon.

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Israel Knows Your Every Move

The king of Aram was enraged because of this matter, and he called his servants and demanded of them, "Tell me, which one of us is for the king of Israel?" One of his servants said, "No one, my lord the king. Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel even the words you speak in your bedroom." (2 Kings 6:11-12 CSB)

The king of Aram was very angry because all his moves were pre-empted by Israel. As it was, so it is. This time, Israel will never be uprooted again. The LORD has spoken. So, it is not wise to quarrel with your Creator.

I will plant them on their land, and they will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them. The LORD your God has spoken. (Amos 9:15 CSB)

"Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making?' Does your work say, 'The potter has no hands'? (Isaiah 45:9 NIV)

Sunday, September 22, 2024

Why Science Come from Europe

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. (Psalm 19:1 KJV)

Why didn't modern science develop in China? Why didn't it develop in India? Why did it develop in Europe and why did these men come after 16th particularly 17th century? Why not in the 15th century? This YouTube video gave this answer. Only those with a Christian mindset would believe in these three things that will set the conditions for scientific inquiry:

  1. The universe can be understood (intelligibility)
  2. We can understand it (capability)
  3. It is good to understand it - the intrinsic goodness of knowledge (desirability)

While we take these conditions for granted, societies with a non-Christian mindset may not possess all the three conditions.

Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them. (Psalm 111:2 ESV)

Saturday, September 21, 2024

Prophecy Proves God is God

I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, 'My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.' (Isaiah 46:10 BSB)

In this YouTube video, Richard Dawkins admitted in an interview with Peter Boghossian that no evidence could ever convince him that God exists, even if God spoke to him audibly and wrote a message to him in the stars.

So how did God prove Himself to be God? God proved that He is God by establishing the nation of Israel and foretelling their history in His revelation to His prophets. Anyone can do a miracle or write a book. Only God can create a nation and tell its history in advance.

Indeed, ask now from one end of the heavens to the other about the days that long preceded you, from the day that God created man on earth: Has anything as great as this ever happened or been reported? Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking out of the fire, as you have, and lived? Or has any god tried to take as his own a nation out of another nation - by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors - as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, before your eyes? You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides Him. (Deuteronomy 4:32-35 BSB)

Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen. (Isaiah 44:7 ESV)

Everything I prophesied has come true, and now I will prophesy again. I will tell you the future before it happens." (Isaiah 42:9 NLT)

Tell us the coming events, then we will know that you are gods. Indeed, do something good or bad, then we will be in awe when we see it. (Isaiah 41:23 CSB)

All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and show us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right, and let them hear and say, It is true. (Isaiah 43:9 ESV)

Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Truth Veracity and Democracy

For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. (2 Corinthians 13:8 BSB, ESV, NIV)

Truth can only be proven. Truth cannot be determined by vote. Even if everyone voted against truth, it is still true. However, truth can be accepted or rejected. If you accept truth, you shall be free. But woe to those who reject truth. Believing in lies is their only alternative.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32 ESV)

Monday, September 2, 2024

Sowing And Reaping, Time and Chance

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Galatians 6:7 KJV)

I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all. (Ecclesiastes 9:11 BSB)

Sunday, September 1, 2024

The Mystery of Christ

When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. (Ephesians 3:4-6 ESV)

The mystery of Christ is that the Jews and Gentiles can be members of the same body through Christ. Paul was chosen to fully proclaim the mystery of Christ, that was hidden for ages but is now revealed to those who are chosen.

I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning. (Ephesians 3:9 NLT)

I became its servant by the commission God gave me to fully proclaim to you the word of God, the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations but is now revealed to His saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:25-27 BSB)

Now to Him who is able to strengthen you by my gospel and by the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery concealed for ages past but now revealed and made known through the writings of the prophets by the command of the eternal God, in order to lead all nations to the obedience that comes from faith - to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen. (Romans 16:25-27 BSB)

Wednesday, August 14, 2024

Two Types of Religions

More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith. (Philippians 3:8-9 BSB)

But more than that, I count everything as loss compared to the priceless privilege and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord [and of growing more deeply and thoroughly acquainted with Him - a joy unequaled]. For His sake I have lost everything, and I consider it all garbage, so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him [believing and relying on Him], not having any righteousness of my own derived from [my obedience to] the Law and its rituals, but [possessing] that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. (Philippians 3:8-9 Amplified Bible)

There are only two types of religions in the world.  One type believed we are saved by our own righteousness derived from our obedience of the law. The other type believed that we saved by the righteousness from God through faith in the faithfulness of Christ. If you want to believe in the first type of religion, you have many choices. If you want the second type, it is only found in the Bible.

He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21 CSB)

I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. (Galatians 2:21 KJV)

Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Live Normally But With Christ In Mind

A Christian should just live life normally, like everyone else, but with Christ in mind. How do we live with Christ in our mind? Two things - give glory to God and give thanks to Him.

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV)

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18 KJV)

Before we do anything, we ask, does it glorify God? If we always ask ourselves this question each time before we do anything, it will help to put a lot of things into its proper perspective.

And for everything that happened to us, we give thanks to God. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), the great Bible scholar who wrote a six-volume commentary on the Bible, was once robbed of his wallet. Knowing that it was his duty to give thanks for everything, he found, not one, but four reasons to give thanks to God for being robbed. He recorded in his diary the following:
"Let me be thankful, first, because he never robbed me before; second, because although he took my purse, he did not take my life; third, because although he took all I possessed, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed."

When we live our lives in this manner, we will be gradually transformed to be like Christ.

We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18 CSB)

Monday, August 12, 2024

Is Believing Work?

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31 KJV)

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)

We are saved by believing that Jesus died for our sins and not by good works. But is believing work? According to Jesus, believing is work and the only work required by God. This is God's only KPI.

They replied, "We want to perform God's works, too. What should we do?"
Jesus told them, "This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent."
(John 6:28-29 NLT)

Sunday, August 11, 2024

The Prisoners

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's chains came loose. When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison standing open, he drew his sword and was going to kill himself, since he thought the prisoners had escaped.
But Paul called out in a loud voice, "Don't harm yourself, because we're all here!"
The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. He escorted them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your household."
(Acts 16:25-31 CSB)

The prisoners did not escape.

When daylight came, they did not recognize the land but sighted a bay with a beach. They planned to run the ship ashore if they could. After cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and headed for the beach. But they struck a sandbar and ran the ship aground. The bow jammed fast and remained immovable, while the stern began to break up by the pounding of the waves. The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners so that no one could swim away and escape. But the centurion kept them from carrying out their plan because he wanted to save Paul, and so he ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. The rest were to follow, some on planks and some on debris from the ship. In this way, everyone safely reached the shore. (Acts 27:39-44 CSB)

The prisoners did not escape.

I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, putting up with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3 NET)

The prisoner did not want to escape.

Saturday, August 10, 2024

Christian Living - Two Things

After we are saved, how should we live our Christian life?
Two things - give glory to God and give thanks to Him.

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV)

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18 KJV)

What happen to people who do not give glory to God nor give thanks to Him?

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:21 NIV)

Friday, August 9, 2024

Church versus Bar

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32 ESV)

Happen to see this on the internet by chance:

QUOTE
A man went to church. He forgot to switch off his phone and it rang during prayer. The pastor scolded him. The worshippers admonished him after prayers for interrupting the silence. His wife kept on lecturing him on his carelessness all the way home. One could see the shame, embarrassment and humiliation on his face. After all this, he never stepped foot in the church again.

That evening, he went to a bar. He was still nervous and trembling. He spilled his drink on the table by accident. The waiter apologized and gave him a napkin to clean himself. The janitor mopped the floor. The female manager offered him a complimentary drink. She also gave him a huge hug and a peck while saying, "Don't worry man. Who doesn't make mistakes?" He has not stopped going to that bar since then.
UNQUOTE

Profit motivation seems to work better than gratitude-motivation.

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (Colossians 3:12-13 ESV)

We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19 ESV)

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

The First Negative

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:17 KJV)

We have heard of positive thinking and all its benefits. Yet in the perfect world of the garden of Eden, God introduced the first negative. He said, "thou shalt not".

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Karma Is False - 2

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. (John 9:1-3 ESV)

Many people believe in karma because it seems so just. Even the disciples of Jesus believe in karma. When a man is blind, it must be caused by some sin.

Karma is false. But this is true.

  1. All sin will be punished.
  2. Good deeds cannot cancel out sin.

Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. (James 2:10 BSB)

Monday, July 8, 2024

To The Jews First

Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: "It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. (Acts 13:46 BSB)

Before resurrection
Jesus sent out these twelve after giving them instructions: "Don't take the road that leads to the Gentiles, and don't enter any Samaritan town. Instead, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' (Matthew 10:5-7 CSB)

After resurrection
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. (Romans 1:16 NIV)

Sunday, July 7, 2024

Son of Man Return Before Missionaries Reach All Israel

You will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. For truly I tell you, you will not have gone through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. (Matthew 10:22-23 CSB)

And all nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. I tell you the truth, the Son of Man will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel. (Matthew 10:22-23 NLT)

The listeners thought that this will happened during their lifetime. It turned out that before Jesus can return, He was crucified, resurrected and ascended to heaven. Israel was dispersed and returned after nearly 2000 years. And after 2000 years, Christian missionaries still have not reached all the towns of Israel and not all the Jews believe (but Jews have heard of Jesus during their diaspora). But when Jesus returns, they will all believe in a single day (Isaiah 66:8).

The gospel goes west from Israel to Macedonia (Acts 16:9) and Europe, go one round the earth and comes back to Israel from the east. So the Arabs and Iranians will believe in Christ first before the Jews.

For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. (Matthew 24:27 NLT)

Monday, June 3, 2024

God And Men; Good And Bad

But Job replied, "You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?" So in all this, Job said nothing wrong. (Job 2:10 NLT)

Have you ever been in adversity, sometimes even to the point of death? Job said that since we receive good from God, we should also accept the bad. Just grit your teeth and bear it.

But what about the other side of the story? What is God receiving from us for all His benefits He has given to us? He does not get recognition. Unbelievers attributed all His benefits to amoral nature. Many of those who believe in Him does not have enough faith in His goodness and faithfulness and always resort to trusting themselves.

He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:45b BSB)

What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me? (Psalm 116:12 ESV)

Sunday, June 2, 2024

God is Faithful

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23 ESV)

He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:24 ESV)

But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. (2 Thessalonians 3:3 NLT)

We are not saved by our faith. We are saved by God. We believed that He is faithful and true to His promise that He will save us to the uttermost.

It is because of the LORD'S lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, Because His [tender] compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great and beyond measure is Your faithfulness.(Lamentations 3:22-23 Amplified Bible)

For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. (Malachi 3:6 KJV)

But you are the same, and your years will never end. (Psalm 102:27 CSB)

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8 NLT)

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:13 NASB)

For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day. (2 Timothy 1:12 BSB)

Saturday, June 1, 2024

Saved By Grace Through Faith

For by grace are ye saved through faith; (Ephesians 2:8a KJV)
God saved you by his grace when you believed. (Ephesians 2:8a NLT)
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith (Ephesians 2:8a NIV)
For by grace you have been saved through faith. (Ephesians 2:8a ESV)
For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, (Ephesians 2:8a BSB)
For by grace you have been saved through faith; (Ephesians 2:8a NASB95)
For you are saved by grace through faith, (Ephesians 2:8a CSB)

We are saved by grace through faith. What does that mean?

We are saved by God's grace. We are saved by God because of His grace. The grace of God puts you in a position to hear God's message of salvation. Either we are born in the right time at the right place, or we travel to the right place at the right time with our hearts are ready to receive the message. We are saved because of God's sovereign will, predestined before the foundation of the world. We are saved because God provided the means of salvation. And we are saved when Christ died for our sins.

We are not saved by our faith. We are saved through our faith. Our faith is the response to God's grace. We accept the fact of our salvation by faith. There is no other way. We are already saved by God and now we have to believe that we are saved and act accordingly. We have to trust that God is faithful, and that He is able to save us to the uttermost. It is our part to believe and to have faith in God's faithfulness.

For those who have never heard of the good news of God's salvation or have rejected it, they are not saved. God has not extended His grace to them.

So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided." (Genesis 22:14 NIV)

He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:24 ESV)

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:13 NASB95)

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. (Hebrews 11:6 NLT)

For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. (Ephesians 1:4 CSB)

They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their departure made it clear that none of them belonged to us. (1 John 2:19 BSB)

Thursday, May 30, 2024

Putting God On Probation

When Jacob's parents bade him to go to Haran to get a wife, he had a dream of a ladder leading to heaven. He was thoroughly awed by this dream but did Jacob accept God straightaway? No. Instead, he set God a KPI.

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you." (Genesis 28:20-22 ESV)

Did God respect Jacob's KPI? 

Monday, May 6, 2024

Man Sought Their Own Righteousness

Because they were ignorant of God's righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. (Romans 10:3 BSB)

For they don't understand God's way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God's way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. (Romans 10:3 NLT)

Men were ignorant of God's righteousness. They sought to establish their own standard of righteousness and they created many religions.

Sunday, May 5, 2024

Seventy Weeks

Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city to stop their transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. Know and understand this: From the issuance of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until the Messiah, the Prince (מָשִׁ֣יחַ נָגִ֔יד mā-šî-aḥ nā-ḡîḏ), there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of distress. Then after the sixty-two weeksh the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed. And he will confirm a covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of the temple will come the abomination that causes desolation, until the decreed destruction is poured out upon him." (Daniel 9:24-27 BSB)

Bible prophecy is very focused. It is about Yeshua Hamashiach and Israel. The theme of the Bible is about God and what He do for Israel. The seventy weeks of Daniel (Daniel 9:24-27) gave a broad outline of what will happen to Israel and its King, Yeshua Hamashiach. It is foundational to our understanding of the sequence of events that will happen to Israel.

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you; he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9 CSB)

Saturday, May 4, 2024

The God of Jacob

Esau replied, "Is he not rightly named Jacob (the supplanter)? For he has supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing. Have you not reserved a blessing for me?" (Genesis 27:36 Amplified Bible)

I was glad that I am not a righteous man with a strong sense of justice. When I read how God allowed Jacob to steal Esau's blessings, I did not say, "What kind of God is this, accepting the cheater and rejecting the cheated!" Instead, I said, "If God can accept Jacob, He can surely accept me!"

And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. (Luke 15:2 KJV)

Sunday, April 7, 2024

Abraham Our Father In Faith

Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6 BSB)

What did Abram believe? He believed that God would make a great nation out of him. He believed and he became the father of all who believe.

Then the LORD said to Abram, "Leave your country, your kindred, and your father's household, and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:1-3 BSB)

Do we have something to believe like Abraham? Yes. God wants us to believe that we will reign with Him for a thousand years. Do we believe in this? Or do we believe in climate change and artificial intelligence and the end of the world? Things will get worse, but the world will not end. Ultimately, Jesus will come and rule.

Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:6 BSB)

Be like Abraham. Believe in Him who is faithful.

He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:24 ESV) 

As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the presence of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not yet exist. (Romans 4:17 BSB)

Saturday, April 6, 2024

Christian Life - How to Keep It

There is a chapter in a book written by C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, where there is a chapter with the title, "Christians - Nice People or New Men". The link is a summary of the chapter and I think it is a good read for anyone who want to understand Christians.

I also quote from this sermon, "Sermon: C. S. Lewis on Christianity & atheism | Idler", which reflect on Christian life.

QUOTE
Do not think I am setting up baptism and belief and the Holy Communion as things that will do instead of your own attempts to copy Christ. Your natural life is derived from your parents; that does not mean it will stay there if you do nothing about it. You can lose it by neglect, or you can drive it away by committing suicide. You have to feed it and look after it: but always remember you are not making it, you are only keeping up a life you got from someone else. In the same way a Christian can lose the Christ-life which has been put into him, and he has to make efforts to keep it. But even the best Christian that ever lived is not acting on his own steam-he is only nourishing or protecting a life he could never have acquired by his own efforts. And that has practical consequences. As long as the natural life is in your body, it will do a lot towards repairing that body. Cut it, and up to a point it will heal, as a dead body would not. A live body is not one that never gets hurt, but one that can to some extent repair itself. In the same way a Christian is not a man who never goes wrong, but a man who is enabled to repent and pick himself up and begin over again after each stumble - because the Christ-life is inside him, repairing him all the time, enabling him to repeat (in some degree) the kind of voluntary death which Christ Himself carried out.

That is why the Christian is in a different position from other people who are trying to be good. They hope, by being good, to please God if there is one; or - if they think there is not - at least they hope to deserve approval from good men. But the Christian thinks any good he does comes from the Christ-life inside him. He does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a greenhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it.
UNQUOTE

Sunday, March 31, 2024

In Death All Are Equal

One man dies full of vigor, completely secure and at ease. His body is well nourished, and his bones are rich with marrow. Yet another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, having never tasted prosperity. But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both. (Job 21:23-26 BSB)

All men are equal at death. He might have been a rich man, a powerful dictator, a beggar, a murderer or claim to be a god, a buddha, a prophet or whatever, at death, they are all equal. They do not come back again. Almost nobody came back to prove that he is more equal than others. But there is one exception, only one who came back from death.

Today is Resurrection Sunday. We commemorate a unique event in history - the resurrection of Christ. All men are born of two parents and died. Jesus was uniquely born of a virgin, crucified to death, and then resurrected on the third day. This event serves as evidence of Jesus' divine nature, setting Him apart from others who simply made claims that they are gods or buddhas or some other supermen, without any proof to support them.

Why do we listen to men, born of one man and one woman, fusion of sperm and egg, who after speaking great things, claiming to be somebody great, die and return to dust, like all men before and after him? He who cannot conquer death is like me, and no better than me. Why should I listen to him?

Why not believe in the only one in the world, who was born of a virgin, died and was resurrected, and will be returning again? Believe in Him who had conquered death, proving Himself to be different from all men.

He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. (1 Corinthians 15:4 NLT)

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Nothing Before the Rapture?

Jesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20 NLT)

And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. (Mark 13:10 NIV)

This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14 CSB)

No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (Mark 13:32 BSB)

For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. (1 Thessalonians 5:2 BSB)

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NIV)

Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52 CSB)

This website Is there anything that must happen before the Rapture? - AskBible.org says rapture can happen anytime without warning.
QUOTE
The answer is - nothing. There is nothing that must happen before the rapture - the rapture is imminent. We at AskBible.org believe this is what the Bible teaches. Let us see why.
UNQUOTE

The rapture is imminent. But something will precede the rapture. The gospel must first be preached to all nations. If Christians are raptured before that happened, who is going to preach? So, the rapture will only occur near the end.

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him: We ask you, brothers and sisters, not to be easily upset or troubled, either by a prophecy or by a message or by a letter supposedly from us, alleging that the day of the Lord has come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in God's temple, proclaiming that he himself is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 CSB)

Don't let anyone deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. (2 Thessalonians 2:3 CSB)

Monday, March 4, 2024

A Christian Testimony

Our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because you have created all things, and by your will they exist and were created. (Revelation 4:11 CSB)

Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God. (Hebrews 11:10 NLT)

All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. Now those who say such things show that they are seeking a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:13-16 BSB)

A Christian's ultimate testimony is to testify that God always has his or her good in His mind. It will not be about how holy the Christian is and how good he or she is. Good deeds do not save a Christian. Bad deeds do not damn them. It is how God transform them should be the focus because it glorifies God.

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Do We Need the Bible in the Millennium?

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. (Matthew 24:35 NIV, CSB)

LORD, your word is forever; it is firmly fixed in heaven. (Psalm 119:89 CSB)

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:8 ESV)

From Adam to Moses, there was no Bible. From Moses to John the Apostle, the Bible was work in progress. From John the Apostle onwards, we have the complete Bible.

During the millennium, the Word of God will dwell among men and rule the nations together with the saints. Do we still need the Bible?

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14 CSB)

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:3 CSB)

Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:6 ESV)

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jeremiah 31:33 ESV)

Sunday, February 25, 2024

Israel 1948 And Biblical Prophecy - 3

"Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign Lord: I am bringing you back, but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name, on which you brought shame while you were scattered among the nations. I will show how holy my great name is - the name on which you brought shame among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign Lord, then the nations will know that I am the Lord. For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land. (Ezekiel 36:22-24 NLT)

He began by saying to them, "Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled." (Luke 4:21 CSB)

Is Israel's existence today in the land of Canaan a fulfilment of God's prophesy? The Zionist Christians said yes, the Anti-Zionist Christians said no.

So how do we know who is right? Let us look into the past to see the future.

Is Jesus the fulfilment of God's prophesy on the Messiah? The Christians said yes, the Jews said no.

Why did the Jews object to Jesus as a fulfilment of God's prophesy on the Messiah? The Jews believe that the Messiah will come to rule Israel as the King. But Jesus came and partially fulfilled God's prophesy on the Messiah and then declare that He will fulfil the rest (becoming King) in a second coming. The Jews objected to the fulfilment God's prophesy on the Messiah by instalments. The Messiah must fulfil all prophecies in one go.

Why did the Anti-Zionist Christians object to Israel's existence today in the land of Canaan as a fulfilment of God's prophesy on the restoration of Israel? Anti-Zionist Christians believe that the Jews must fulfil the conditions given in Deuteronomy 30:2, that is, to obey God completely in one go before they can come back to the land of Israel. The Anti-Zionist Christians objected to the fulfilment God's prophesy on the restoration of Israel by a gradual process. It is obvious that today's Jews in the land of Canaan reject Jesus as the Messiah. They are not Christians and may even be anti-Christians since they were persecuted by European Christians for about 1000 years.

Sunday, February 18, 2024

Dating Palm Sunday And Good Friday

I just got this book from church, "A Resolved Chronology of Acts and Paul's Epistle" by Lim Seng Hoo. In it the date of Palm Sunday was given as 6 April 32 AD and 11 April 32 AD as Good Friday.

Let me also summarize my previous posts on this subject and the dates.

In Precise Date and Time of Jesus's Death, Jesus died precisely on 3 April AD 33 at 3:00 pm (Good Friday).

In Calculating Gabriel's Formula of 483 Years - Time of Messiah's Arrival, Palm Sunday was on 30 March AD 33, the very day of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. An alternate date, 6 April 32 AD, was given in Calculating Gabriel's Formula of 483 Years - Time of Messiah's Arrival - 2. This alternate date is the same as the date given by Lim Seng Hoo's book.

In Dating the End of Daniel's 69 Weeks, Palm Sunday is on 6 Nisan AD 33.

Finally, in Dating Palm Sunday, there is no date. Just an affirmation according to Barnes' Notes on the Bible that the triumphant entry and crucifixion will happen after the completion of 62 weeks.

Sir Robert Anderson (6 April / 10 Nisan and 11 April AD 32)
Dr Harold Hoehner (30 March and April 3 / 14 Nisan AD 33)
This book, Oxford Bible Church - Appendix 2: Anderson-Hoehner Interpretation (a Critique), said both Anderson and Hoehner were wrong.

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

God's Will And Hardened Hearts

The Lord answered Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. You must say whatever I command you; then Aaron your brother must declare it to Pharaoh so that he will let the Israelites go from his land. But I will harden Pharaoh's heart and multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. Pharaoh will not listen to you, but I will put my hand into Egypt and bring the military divisions of my people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the Israelites from among them." (Exodus 7:1-5 CSB)

So Joshua took all this land - the hill country, all the Negev, all the land of Goshen, the foothills, the Arabah, and the hill country of Israel with its foothills - from Mount Halak, which ascends to Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and struck them down, putting them to death. Joshua waged war with all these kings for a long time. No city made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites who inhabited Gibeon; all of them were taken in battle. For it was the Lord's intention to harden their hearts, so that they would engage Israel in battle, be completely destroyed without mercy, and be annihilated, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. (Joshua 11:16-20 CSB)

Did God ask Moses to tell a lie when He asked Moses to ask the Pharaoh for a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to God? No. If the Pharaoh had accepted the request, it would be so. But it was God's will that the Israelites were to leave Egypt. So God hardened the Pharaoh's heart and he did not accept the request. Finally after the death of all the first born in Egypt, the Pharaoh expelled all the Israelites from his land.


Likewise when the Jews were offered about 50% of Palestine in 1947 by the United Nations, they accepted. If the Arabs had also accepted it, it would be so. But it is God's will that the Jews are to get all of Palestine. He stated it in the Bible and the Koran. So He hardened the hearts of the Arabs, who now called themselves Palestinians, to fight both the Jews and Allah, until they are driven out of the land.

The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. (Proverbs 16:4 ESV)

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Hirah the Adullamite

Later Judah asked his friend Hirah the Adullamite to take the young goat to the woman and to pick up the things he had given her as his guarantee. But Hirah couldn't find her. So he asked the men who lived there, "Where can I find the shrine prostitute who was sitting beside the road at the entrance to Enaim?"
"We've never had a shrine prostitute here," they replied.
So Hirah returned to Judah and told him, "I couldn't find her anywhere, and the men of the village claim they've never had a shrine prostitute there."
"Then let her keep the things I gave her," Judah said. "I sent the young goat as we agreed, but you couldn't find her. We'd be the laughingstock of the village if we went back again to look for her."
(Genesis 38:20-23 NLT)

We have brothers and we also have friends. Sometimes we share things with our friends that we do not share with brothers.

Judah had a friend named Hirah the Adullamite. After Judah went into what he thought was a prostitute, he got his friend Hirah the Adullamite to help him to send the payment.

About three months later, Judah was told, "Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has acted like a prostitute. And now, because of this, she's pregnant."
"Bring her out, and let her be burned!" Judah demanded.
But as they were taking her out to kill her, she sent this message to her father-in-law: "The man who owns these things made me pregnant. Look closely. Whose seal and cord and walking stick are these?"
Judah recognized them immediately and said, "She is more righteous than I am, because I didn't arrange for her to marry my son Shelah." And Judah never slept with Tamar again.
When the time came for Tamar to give birth, it was discovered that she was carrying twins. While she was in labor, one of the babies reached out his hand. The midwife grabbed it and tied a scarlet string around the child's wrist, announcing, "This one came out first." But then he pulled back his hand, and out came his brother! "What!" the midwife exclaimed. "How did you break out first?" So he was named Perez. Then the baby with the scarlet string on his wrist was born, and he was named Zerah.
(Genesis 38:24-30 NLT)

Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar). Perez was the father of Hezron. Hezron was the father of Ram. (Matthew 1:3 NLT)

Monday, January 22, 2024

Taking Up The Cross And Putting On Christ's Yoke

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it. (Matthew 16:24-25 CSB)

Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:29-30 CSB)

Some Christians believe that there are two categories of Christians, the ordinary believers and disciples. The ordinary believers are those who believe in Jesus and got saved but may not go to church or read the Bible. Disciples take religion seriously. They go to church, read the Bible and preach the good news. They are willing to suffer for Christ. So believers put on Christ's easy yoke while disciples take up their crosses.

Sunday, January 21, 2024

Take Up Your Cross And Take My Yoke

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it. (Matthew 16:24-25 CSB)

Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:29-30 CSB)

Following Jesus is both difficult and easy. We have to take up our cross, which is difficult, and put on His yoke, which is easy. Losing our life is difficult. But if we do not lose our temporal life, how can we gain our eternal life?

Saturday, January 20, 2024

God Always Has Our Good In His Mind - 3

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. (Hebrews 11:6 NLT)

We must always believe that God is good to us. This is fundamental in our relationship with God.

Whether it is Adam and Eve in a newly created, perfect and sinless world, or we in the current imperfect sinful world, or our descendants in a future restored sinless world in the coming millennium rule of Christ, we have to believe that God always has our good in His mind.

Past
But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:4-5 ESV)
Adam and Eve could not believe that God had their good in His mind. They chose to believe in the serpent who told them that God wanted to prevent them from becoming like God. Thus their unbelief caused sin to enter the world.

Present
We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 CSB)
Today we live in an imperfect world, where there is good in bad and bad in good. We have to believe by faith that all the things that happened to us, whether good or bad, is for our good.

Future
When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. (Revelation 20:7-8 NASB)
In the near future, the Anointed One will return to earth to rule for a thousand years in a restored perfect and sinless world with Satan locked in the bottomless pit and a whole generation will grow up without knowing what sin is. Then Satan will be released after a thousand years. It will then be the turn of the generation who know not sin to decide if God has their good in His mind.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11 BSB)

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?" (Luke 11:13 CSB)