Be of Good Cheer - We know Where We are Going

I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.' (Isaiah 46:10 NIV)

The world faces uncertainty. As 2018 comes to a close, there are so much uncertainty - politics, economics, climate, religious tensions. The world do not know what is ahead in 2019.

But it should not be so with the Christians. Our God knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). And He had told us what is going to happen (Amos 3:7).

At the macro level, we know how the end is going to be. From the prophets Ezekiel and Daniel and also the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John, we know that Israel will be restored (done), there will be seven years of tribulation (coming) and followed by the millennium rule by Jesus the Anointed One (coming).

At our personal level, we know we have eternal life if we die (1 John 5:12). If we do not die, we will be raptured before the seven years of tribulation (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33 KJV)

Meaningless

Found that I wrote this in my Facebook last year:

Christmas is meaningless without Christ. Christ is meaningless if people can be saved without Him.

Everlasting Gospel

And I saw another angel flying through the sky, carrying the eternal Good News to proclaim to the people who belong to this world - to every nation, tribe, language, and people. "Fear God," he shouted. "Give glory to him. For the time has come when he will sit as judge. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all the springs of water." (Revelation 14:6-7 NLT)

This is the eternal Gospel:

1. There is a God;
2. He created all things;
3. He will judge all men;
4. Fear, glorify and worship Him.

My interest in God started when I read the Bible for the first time. I became aware of the fact that there could be a God who created the heavens and the earth. And I thought that the Bible describes this God appropriately. But I did not become a Christian straightaway. I became a Buddhist instead. It would be another few months before I became a Christian.

But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: "Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. In the past, he let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." (Acts 14:14-17 NIV)

So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: "Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: 'To an Unknown God.' This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I'm telling you about.
"He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn't live in man-made temples, and human hands can't serve his needs - for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.
"His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him - though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' And since this is true, we shouldn't think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.
"God overlooked people's ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead." (Acts 17:22-31 NLT)

Birth of Jesus - Predicted And Fulfilled

Now listen and understand! Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler - the Anointed One - comes. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, despite the perilous times. (Daniel 9:25 NLT)

Then I said, "Look, I have come. As is written about me in the Scriptures: (Psalm 40:7 NLT)

Long Jesus was born, the Old Testament predicted His time of birth (Daniel 9:25), His place of birth (Micah 5:2) and His special birth by a virgin (Isaiah 7:14). His life was written before He was born (Psalm 40:7).

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. (Micah 5:2 KJV)

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14 KJV)

God's Dealings With Men

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, (1 Timothy 2:5 ESV)

People are ignorant; need Word of God through prophets;
People are guilty; need to offer atonement for sin through priests;
People are rebellious; need enforcement of law through kings.

Under the old covenant, God gave temporary prophets, priests and kings.
Under the new covenant, Jesus is the true prophet, priest and king.

Prophets are called; priests are consecrated and kings are crowned.

From Rev Stephen Schaefer, JSM Church Camp 2018.

Praying For Salvation of Loved Ones

How come we can pray for the salvation of our loved ones and for all people? On what basis can we do that?

1. Because God desires all people to be saved
Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? (Ezekiel 18:23 ESV)
Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?' (Ezekiel 33:11 NIV)
What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish. (Matthew 18:12-14 NIV)
This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:3-4 ESV)
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 ESV)

2. Because God had made provision for all to be saved
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)
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. (Titus 2:11 NIV)

Nature of Sin - Transactional or Infectious?

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned. (Romans 5:12 CSB)

Is sin transactional or infectious?

Some people believe that sin is transactional. Good works can cancel bad works. At the end of life on judgement day, somebody will place your good works and bad works on a balance and see which is heavier.

The Bible see sin as infectious. Sin spread like a disease. If someone with SARS enter a crowded lift and sneeze, he will infect all the people in the lift with the disease. Some may die from the disease because of the sneeze, and many more will be infected by those infected in the lift.

Just as a disease need a cure, sin also need to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.

But there is a great difference between Adam's sin and God's gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:15 NLT)