The word Messiah comes from a Hebrew term that means "anointed one." Its Greek counterpart is Christos, from which the word Christ comes. Messiah was one of the titles used by early Christians to describe who Jesus was. In Jewish thought, the Messiah would be the king of the Jews, a political leader who would defeat their enemies and bring in a golden era of power, peace and prosperity. In Christian thought, the term Messiah refers to Jesus' role as a spiritual deliverer, setting His people free from sin and death.

Jesus Christ is the one anointed by God, the Father, and empowered by God's spirit to deliver His people and establish His kingdom. As the Messiah, Jesus is the divinely appointed king who brought God's kingdom to earth or the world. - Matt. 12:28; Luke 11:20 - Jesus way to victory was not by unjust war, physical force and violence, but through humility, faith, hope, and love.

Jesus Christ - the human - divine Son of God born of the Virgin Mary; the great High Priest who intercedes for His people at the right hand of God; founder and the head of the Universal Christian Church, and central figure of the human race.

Christian is an adherent or follower of Christ. The word 'Christian' occurs three times in the New Testament. Christians were loyal to Christ. The designation of the early followers of Christ as Christians was initiated by the non-Christian population of Antioch. Initially, it may have been a term of derision. Eventually, however, Christians used it of themselves as a name of honor and its original meaning is a noble one.

It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called "Christians." - Acts 11:26 -

King Agrippa, do you believe in the prophets? I know you do. At this Agrippa said to Paul, 'A little more, and your arguments would make a Christian of me.' - Acts 26:28 -

None of you should ever deserve to suffer for being a murderer, a thief, a criminal or an informer; but if anyone of you should suffer for being a Christian, then he is not to be ashamed of it; he should thank God that he has been called one. - 1Peter 4:16 -

Prior to their adoption of the name, the Christians called themselves believers - Acts 5:14 - brothers - Acts 6:3 - saints - Acts 9:13 - names which also continued to be used as today.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a town about ten kilometers south of Jerusalem, toward the end of Herod the Great's reign as king of the Jews ( 37-4 B.C. ) Early in His life Jesus was taken to Nazareth, a town of Galilee. There Jesus was brought up by His mother, Mary, and her husband, Joseph, a carpenter by trade. Hence Jesus was known as "Jesus of Nazareth" or more fully, "Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." - John 1:45 -

Joseph apparently died before Jesus began His public ministry. The one incident preserved from Jesus' after His infancy was His trip to Jerusalem with Joseph and Mary when He was 12 years old. - Luke 2:41-52 - Since Jesus was known in Nazareth as 'the carpenter' - Mark 6:3 - He may have taken Joseph's place as the family breadwinner at an early age.

Jesus began His public ministry when He sought baptism at the hands of John the Baptist.

The next day, seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, "Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptizing with water." John also declared, "I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptize with water had said to me, "The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptize with the Holy Spirit." Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God." - John 1:29-34 - Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22 -

In the Old Testament, it is indicated that Jesus was Israel's anointed King, destined to fulfill His kinship as the Servant of the Lord or Servant-Messiah described centuries earlier by the prophet Isaiah. - Is. 11:2, 42:1, 52:13, 61:1 -

Apparently, Jesus ministered for a short time in southern and central Palestine, while John the Baptist was still preaching. - John 3:22-4:42 - However, the main phase of Jesus' preaching, and proclaim God's Good News began in Galilee after John the Baptist imprisonment by Herod Antipas. Jesus proclamation of the kingdom of God was accompanied by works of love, humility, mercy, power and miracle, including the healing of the sick and those whose were demon possessed. These works proclaimed the arrival of the kingdom of God, and when evil spirit, or demon possessed were cast out from the peoples, this proved the superior strength of the kingdom of God.

Jesus' work of miracle and healing aroused great popular enthusiasm throughout Galilee, but the religious leaders, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and teachers found much of Jesus' activity disturbing because at time, Jesus did not bound by their religious ideas, for instance, He befriended social outcasts, He cure a man on the Sabbath and put questions to them: Is it against the law on the Sabbath to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to destroy it? Jesus forgive sins too, to prove that He has authority on earth to forgive sins. - Luke 5:17-26, 6:6-11 -

This attitude brought Jesus into conflict with the scribes, the elders, the official teachers of the law, and because of their influence, He was soon barred from preaching in the synagogues. But this was no great inconvenience. He simply gathered larger congregations to listen to Him. Jesus regularly illustrated the main themes of His preaching  by parables. These were simple stories from daily life which would drive home some special point and make it stick in the hearer's understanding.

From among the large number of His followers, Jesus selected or chosen 12 men to remain in His company for training that would enable them to share His preaching and the proclamation of the kingdom of God. They are later known as disciples to apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is an echo of those visions recorded in the Book of Daniel [The Old Testament] when Jesus announced that the kingdom of God was drawing near. Jesus' announcement indicated the time had come when the authority of this kingdom would be exercised.

In the time of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not pass into the hands of another race: it will shatter and absorb all the previous kingdoms, and itself last for ever - just as you saw the stone untouched by hand break from the mountain and shatter iron, bronze, earthenware, silver and gold. The great God has shown the king what is to take place. The dream is true, the interpretation exact. - Daniel 2:44-45 -

The Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus unleashed the kingdom of God in full power. Only by Jesus passion, death and resurrection could the divine rule be established. Jesus actually injected new life into the ethical principles of the Law of Moses. But He did not impose a new set of laws that could be enforced by external sanctions; He prescribed a way of life for His followers, believers, disciples, and apostles.

Treat others as you would like them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks can you expect? For even sinners do that much. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back without any hope of return. You will have a great reward, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. - Luke 6:31-35 -

Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured out into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back. - Luke 6:36-38 -

The doctrine of the person of Christ, or Christology, is one of the most important concerns of Christian theology. The various aspects of the person of Christ are best seen by reviewing the titles that are applied to Him in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible.

The title Son of Man was Jesus' favorite way of referring to Himself. He may have done this because this was not a recognized title already known by the people and associated with popular ideas. This title means essentially "The Man" but as Jesus used it, it took on new significance. He used the title in a general way, almost as a substitute for the pronoun "I" The Son of Man appeared to speak and act in the appended below cases as the representative man. If God had given man dominion over all the works of His hands, then He who was the Son of Man in this special representative sense was in a position to exercise that dominion.

For John the Baptist comes, not eating bread, not drinking wine, and you say, "He is possessed." The Son of Man comes, eating and drinking, and you say, "Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners." Yet Wisdom has been proved right by all her children. - Luke 7:33-35 - Luke 9:58; Mark 8:31, 9:12, 14:21, 14:49 -

Jesus was acclaimed as the Son of God at His baptism. - Mark 1:1 - He was also given this title by the angel Gabriel at the annunciation: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you" the angel answered "and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. - Luke 1:35-36 - The Gospel of John makes it clear that the Father-Son relationship belongs to eternity - that the Son is supremely qualified to reveal the Father because He has His eternal being. "No one has ever seen God; it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father's heart, who has made  him known." - John 1:18 -

When Jesus is presented as the Son of God in the New Testament, two aspects of His person are emphasized: His eternal relation to God as His Father and His perfect revelation of the Father to the human race. Jesus' perfect revelation of the Father is also expressed when He is described as the Word (logos) of God. - John 1:1-18 - As the Son of God in a special sense, Jesus made Himself known to the apostle Paul on the Damascus Road. - Gal. 1:15-16 - In fact, the proclamation of Jesus as the Son of God was central to Paul's preaching.

After he had spent only a few days with the disciples in Damascus, he began preaching in the synagogues, "Jesus is the Son of God." - Acts 9: 20 -

Do you really think that when I am making my plans, my motives are ordinary human ones, and that I say Yes, yes, and No, no, as the same time? I swear by God's truth, there is no Yes and No about what we say to you. The Son of God, the Christ Jesus that we proclaimed among you - I mean Silvanus and Timothy and I - was never Yes and No: with him it was always Yes, and however many the promises God made, the Yes to them all is in him. That is why it is 'through him' that we answer Amen to the praise of God. - 2Cor. 1:18-20 -

"Jesus is Lord" is the ultimate Christian creed. "No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit." - 1Cor. 12:3 - A Christian, therefore, is a person who confesses Jesus as Lord. The title "Lord" in the Christological sense must have been given to Jesus before the Church moved out into the Gentile world. The evidence for this is the invocation "Maranatha" or "O Lord, Come!" - 1Cor. 16:22 -

If Jesus is called Lord in this supreme sense, it is not surprising that He occasionally is called God in the New Testament. Saint Thomas, convinced that the risen Christ stood before him, abandon his doubts with the confession, "My Lord and my God!" - John 20:28 -

Thus, Jesus Christ is presents as altogether God and altogether man/human - the perfect mediator between God and mankind/humankind because He partakes fully of the nature of both.

                                                                          Page 1

If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

GENESIS, the first book of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. Placed at the opening of the Hebrew Scriptures, Genesis is the first of the five books of Moses, known as the PENTATEUCH. ( Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy )

Genesis is the book of beginnings. The word Genesis means "the origin, the source, the creation, or coming into being of something." The Hebrew name for the book is bereshith, the first word in the Hebrew text which is translated as "in the beginning."

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the deep, and God's spirit hovered the water. - Gen. 1:1-2 -

Genesis describes such important beginnings as the Creation, the fall of man, and the early years of the nation of Israel/Jacob. The beginning of salvation history - the story of God and man, sin and grace, wrath and mercy, covenant and redemption - also begins in the Book of Genesis. These themes are repeated often throughout the rest of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. As the Book of Revelation is the climax and conclusion of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, so the Book of Genesis is the beginning and essential seed-plot of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. Thus, Genesis is an important book for understanding the meaning of the entire Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible.

The Book of Genesis may conveniently be divided into four major parts: ( 1 ) the Creation and the early days of mankind. - Gen. 1-11 - ( 2 ) the story of Abraham and Isaac. - Gen. 12-25:18 - ( 3 ) the story of Jacob and Esau. - Gen. 25:19-36:43 - ( 4 ) the story of Joseph and his brothers. - Gen. 37-50 -

The first major part of the Book of Genesis chapters 1 to 11 contains five great events: ( 1 ) the history of creation and a description of life in the Garden of Eden before the Fall. ( 2 ) the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden: the temptation and fall of man. ( 3 ) the story of Cain and Abel. ( 4 ) the story of Noah and the Flood: the wickedness and judgment of man. ( 5 ) the story of the Tower of Babel: the proud presumption of man, the confusion tongues [languages] and the scattering of mankind upon the earth. Each of these events relates to the whole of humanity, and each is filled with significance that continues throughout Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible.

The rest of the Book of Genesis chapters 12 to 50 relates the narrative of the four great patriarchs of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. The theme of these chapters is God's sovereignty in calling out a CHOSEN PEOPLE who would serve and worship Him.

The Book of Genesis gives no notice about the author. In the Old and New Testament, the early Church, however, held to the conviction that Moses wrote the book, as did the Jerusalem Talmud and the first century Jewish historian Josephus. In spite of the number of modern scholars who reject the Mosaic authorship of Genesis, the traditional view has much to commend it. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament contain frequent testimony to the Mosaic authorship of the entire Pentateuch. It would be difficult to find a person in Israel's life who was better prepared or qualified than Moses to write the history recorded in the Book of Genesis. A man who 'was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.' Moses was providentially prepared to understand and integrate, under the inspiration of God, all the available records, manuscripts, and oral narratives. Moses may have written the book during the years of the wilderness wandering to prepare the new generation to enter the land of Canaan.

As a prophet who enjoyed the unusual privilege of unhurried hours of communion with God on Mount Sinai, Moses was well equipped to record for all generations this magnificent account of God's dealings with the human race and the nation of Israel.

Yahweh called Moses, and from the Tent of Meeting addressed him, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel; say to them - Leviticus 1:1; Exodus 25:1 -

At that time they were reading from the Book of Moses to the people, when they found this written in it - Nehemiah 13:1 -

Then Jesus said to him, 'Mind you do not tell anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering prescribed by Moses, as evidence for them.' - Matthew 8:4 -

So Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became a man with power both in his speech and his actions. - Acts 7:22 -

But I was blessed with God's help, and so I have stood firm to this day, testifying to great and small alike, saying nothing more than what the prophets and Moses himself said would happen. - Acts 26:22 -

Moses may have finished writing the Book of Genesis not long before his death on Mount Nebo. - Deuteronomy 34:1-12 - During this time the children of Israel now, led by Joshua, were camped east of the Jordan River, poised for the invasion of Canaan. In such a crucial historical context, the message of the Book of Genesis would have been of tremendous spiritual help to its first hearers or readers. The creation of the world, the beginnings of sin and disobedience, the principal of judgment and deliverance, the scattering of the nations, the call and covenant God made with Abraham, the checkered careers of the first descendants of Abraham - all of these accounts would bear directly on the attitudes and faith of the new community.

The first readers or hearers, of the Book of Genesis were the covenant community, the Chosen People of God. Like Abraham, they were on a journey - a great venture of faith into the unknown. - Gen. 12:1-9  - Like Abraham, they needed to respond to God in wholehearted faith and in the fear of the Lord. - Gen. 22:1-19 - They needed to hear such words as were spoken to Isaac:

"I am the God of your father Abraham.
Do not be afraid, for I am with you.
I will bless you and make your descendants many in number
on account of my servant Abraham." - Gen. 26:24 -

The Book of Genesis is a primary source for several basic doctrines of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. The book focuses on God primarily in two areas: He is the Creator of the universe, and He is the one who initiates covenant with His people. Genesis ties creation and covenant together in a stunning manner: the God who initiates covenant is the same God who has created the entire universe. The eternal God and almighty Creator enters into covenant with His people!

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. - Gen. 1:1 -

In the beginning was the Word:
the Word was with God
and the Word was God. - John 1:1 -

God's covenant with Abraham is the basic plot of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. God's work from that day forward was to accomplish His plan for the nations of the world through His people Israel, the descendants of Abraham. God's covenant with Abraham contains a number of personal blessings. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. But the climax of the text is in the words of worldwide import:

I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing.

"I will bless those who bless you:
I will curse those who slight you.
All the tribes of the earth
shall bless themselves by you." - Gen. 12:2-3 -

The promise is realized in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, His Church, through whom peoples of all nations and families may enter into the joy of knowing God. Indeed, God has kept his promise.

And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all men to myself. - John 12:32 -

All baptised in Christ, you have all clothed yourselves in Christ, and there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Merely by belonging to Christ you are the posterity of Abraham, the heirs he was promised. - Gal. 3:27-29 -

Does this mean that God has failed to keep his promise? Of course not. Not all those who descend from Israel are Israel; not all the descendants of Abraham are his true children. Remember: It is through Isaac that your name will be carried on, which means that it is not physical descent that decides who are the children of God; it is only the children of the promise who will count as the true descendants. - Rom. 9:6-8 -

Genesis presents the creation of man as male and female in the image and likeness of God - Gen. 1;26-27, 9:6 - man's fall and ruin, his judgment, and his possible triumph in God's grace. In this context of man's judgment came the first whisper of the gospel message of the final triumph of Christ over Satan:

The woman replied, 'the serpent tempted me and I ate.' Then Yahweh God said to the serpent. 'Because you have done this, I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. It will crush your head and you will strike its heel.' - Gen. 3:13-15 -

To lead a sinful life is to belong to the devil,
since the devil was a sinner from the beginning.
It was to undo all that the devil has done
that the Son of God appeared. - 1John 3:8 -

This prophecy was fulfilled by the death of Jesus on the cross, a sacrifice that destroyed the works of the devil, and Jesus' Resurrection was about breaking out into an entirely new form of life, into a life that is no longer subject to the law of dying and becoming, but lies beyond it - a life that opens up a new dimension of human existence. In Jesus' Resurrection a new possibility of human existence is attained that affects everyone and that opens up a future, a new kind of future, for mankind.

Saint Paul was absolutely right to link the resurrection of Christians and the Resurrection of Jesus inseparably together: "If the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised... But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep." - 1Cor. 15:16, 20 - Christ's Resurrection is either a universal event, or it is nothing, Saint Paul tells us. And only if we understand it as a universal event, as the opening up of a new dimension of human existence, are we on the way toward any kind of correct understanding of the New Testament Resurrection testimony.

In the Book of Genesis chapter 3, the apostle Paul referred to the story of Adam's fall by comparing Adam to Christ. Christ is portrayed as a second Adam who, by His atonement, reverses the effects of the Fall. God, in order to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve ( symbolic of sin, guilt, and disobedience ) killed an animal ( thereby shedding blood ) and made tunics of skin with which to clothe them. - Gen. 3:21 -

In fact, according to the Law almost everything has to be purified with blood; and if there is no shedding of blood, there is no remission. - Heb. 9:22 -

Well then, sin enter the world through one man, and through sin death, and thus death has spread through the whole human race because everyone has sinned. Again, as one man's fall brought condemnation on everyone, so the good act of one man brings everyone life and makes them justified. As by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous. - Rom. 5:12,18-19 -

The Book of Genesis takes the reader or hearer to the moment when the Creator spoke into being the sun, moon, stars, planets, galaxies, plants, moving creatures, and mankind. Those who seek to discredit the Book of Genesis by pointing to alleged discrepancies between religion and science are blind and arrogance to the exalted Spiritual content of this work. If any readers or hearers expects to find in Genesis a scientific account of how the world came into existence, with all questions concerning primitive life answered in technical language, he or she will be disappointed. Genesis is not an attempt to answer such technical questions.

The Book of Genesis is marked by exquisite prose, such as chapter 22 ( the account of the binding of Isaac ) and chapters 37-50 ( the Joseph narrative ). Literary critics often point to Genesis 24, the story of a bride for Isaac, as a classic example of great narrative style. Genesis also has poetic sections such as the solemn curses by God ( Genesis 3: 14-19 ) and the prophetic blessing of Jacob ( Genesis 49:3-27  ) Genesis 1, the history of creation is written in a highly elevated prose with a poetic tone.

At times attention is focused on the male/men, but female/women of major significance also appear in the Book of Genesis: Eve is the mother of all living - Gen. 3:20 - Sarah had a faith that was complementary to Abraham's - Gen. 21:1-7 - and Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpah are the mothers of the 12 patriarchs of Israel. - Gen. 29:31, 30:24, 35:23-26 -

Genesis is also a book of firsts. Genesis records the first birth - Gen. 4:1 - the first death - Gen. 4:8 - the first musical instruments - Gen. 4:21 - and the first rainbow - Gen. 9:12-17 - Genesis is indeed the book of beginnings. As the children of Israel read this book in the wilderness, or after they crossed the Jordan River, they knew that their encounters and experiences with God were just beginning.

                                                                           Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

The next subject which engaged the attention of Christ Jesus, the Savior the night of His agony, was the Holy Spirit. The prophet Ezekiel had long before foretold that a new Spirit would be given to the world:

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. I will put mu spirit into you and make you conform to my statutes, keep my laws and live by them. - Ezekiel 36:26-27 -

Adam's body was made when God breathed the spirit of life into him. Israel's tabernacle and temple had to be built before the Shekinah and the glory of God came to take possession of it; so there had to be a renovation within man as the condition of God's own Spirit dwelling there. With the coming of Christ, the fulfillment of the prophecy of Ezekiel began to take place. The Spirit had played a very important role in His life. John the Baptist had foretold two things about Christ: first, that He was the Lamb of God and would take away the sins of the world: and the other, that He would baptize His disciples with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The shedding of the blood was for the sinful; the gift of the Spirit was for His obedient and loving followers. When Our Lord Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, the Holy Spirit came upon Him. He was baptized in the Spirit; but He must suffer before giving that Spirit to others. That is why, the night when His Passion began, He spoke most profoundly of the Spirit. In His conversation with the woman at the well, He said the time was come when true worshipers would worship:

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. - John 4:23 -

His words "in Spirit" did not mean a contrast between an internal or sentimental religion as contrasted with external observances, but rather a contrast between worship inspired by the Spirit of God as opposed to a purely natural spirit. "In truth" did not mean "sincere and honest" but rather in Christ, who is the Word or Truth of God. later on, when Our Blessed Lord Jesus promised to give His Body and Blood under the appearance of bread and wine, He implied that He must first ascend to heaven before the Spirit would be given.

What if you see the Son of Man ascending to the place where he was before? The spirit alone gives life; the flesh is of no avail; the words which I have spoken to you are both spirit and life. - John 6:63-64 -

He began by telling them that His death would happen on the following day; they would see Him no longer with eyes of the flesh. A little more time must pass, that is to say, the interval between His death and His Resurrection when they would see Him glorified with their bodily eyes. His loss, he assured them, would be compensated for by a greater blessing than His presence in the flesh. The Apostles could not understand what Jesus was saying about the short interval between His death and Resurrection during which their eyes were to be dimmed.

A little while, and you see me no more, again a little while, and you will see me... Because I am going to my Father. - John 16:16 -

He was now down to the level of the Apostles' mentality, for their principal concern was what would happen to Him. But in two hours they would have a better understanding of these words, for within that time interval the Apostles would momentarily lose sight of their Master, after He was arrested. Because Our Lord Jesus said that He was going to the Father, the Apostles were extremely troubled, for that meant His absence from them, they said:

We do not know what he means. - John 16:18 -

Our Lord Jesus knew that they were eager to question Him further on this point. Their sorrow and wonderment was not just because He said that He was about to leave them, but also because of the disappointment of their hopes, for they had looked to the establishment of some kind of an earthly messianic kingdom. He assured them that while they were presently cast down with grief, the hour would be very brief, just long enough for Him to prove His power over death and to go to His Father. When He passed into the Hour, they would be sad, while His enemies or the world would rejoice. The world would believe that it had done away with Him fore ever. The grief of His chosen ones, however, would be transitory, for the Cross must come before the crown.

In very truth I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will be glad. But though you will be plunged in grief, your grief will be turned to joy. - John 16:20 -

Their passage from sorrow into joy is symbolized by the analogy of the pains and the bliss of motherhood:

A woman in labor is in pain because her time has come; but when the child is born she forgets the anguish in her joy that a man has been born into the world. So it is with you: for the moment you are sad at heart; but I shall see you again, and then you will be joyful, and no one shall rob you of your joy. - John 16:21-22 -

Providence had wisely ordered that the pangs of the mother are compensated for by her joy in her child. So too, the Cross-pangs are the precursors of Resurrection-joys. There must be fellowship with His sufferings before there can be fellowship with His glory. At present, they had sadness because they would no longer see Him in the flesh, but their joy would come through a spiritual quickening, and that joy would have a permanent character about it which the world could not take away.

The nature of this ultimate joy that was to be theirs, the Savior explained in terms of the Comforter or Paraclete whom He send.

I will ask the Father, and he will give you another to be your Advocate, who will be with you for ever - the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive him, because the world neither sees nor knows him; but you know him, because he dwells with you and is in you... In a little while the world will see me no longer, but you will see me; because I live, you too will live; then you will know that I am in the Father, and you in me and I in you. - John 14:16-20 -

There would be another Comforter or "Another to befriend them." "Another" is not a difference in quality, but rather a distinction of persons. He had been their Comforter; He was at their side; He had been One with them and in His Presence they had gained strength and courage; but their trouble was that He was going. He now promised them another Comforter or Advocate. As He would be the Advocate with God in heaven, so the Spirit dwelling within them would plead the cause of God on earth and be their Advocate. The Divine secret that He gave was that their loss would now have the greater blessing of the coming of the Spirit. The Father had given a twofold revelation of Himself; the Son was His image walking among men, reminding them of the Divine original and also the Model to which they were to be restored. In the Spirit, the Father and the Son would send forth a Divine Power, Who would dwell within them and make of their bodies a temple.

It was better that He go away, for His return to the Father was the condition of the coming of the Spirit. If He remained among them, He would have been only an example to be copied; if He left and sent the Spirit, He would be a veritable life to be lived.

I tell you the truth: it is for your good that I am leaving you. If I do not go, your Advocate will not come, whereas if I go, I will send him to you. - John 16:7 -

The return of His human nature in glory to heaven was a necessary preliminary to the mission of the Spirit. His going would not be a loss but a gain. As the fall of the first man was the fall of his descendants, so the Ascension of the Son of Man would be the ascension of all who were grafted unto Him. His atoning death was the condition of receiving the Spirit of God. If He did not go away, that is to say, unless He died, nothing would be done; the Jews remain as they were, the heathens would remains in their blindness, and all would be under sin and death. The corporal presence had to be removed in order that the spiritual presence might take its place. His continued presence on earth would have meant a localized presence; the descending of the Spirit would mean that He could be in the midst of all men who would be incorporated unto Him.

The indwelling of the Spirit would mean more than His physical presence among them. So long as Our Lord Jesus was with them on earth, His influence was from without inward; but when He would send the Spirit, His influence would radiate from within outward; those who possessed it would have the Spirit of Christ Jesus on earth.

There would be a twofold glorification of Himself: the one by the Father; the other by the Spirit; the one would take place in heaven, and the other on earth. By the one, He is glorified in all who believe in Him:

He will glorify me, for everything that he makes known to you he will draw from what is mine. All that the Father has it mine, and that is why I said, Everything that he makes known to you he will draw from what is mine. - John 16:14-15 -

Jesus Christ would be glorified when His human nature would be seated at the right hand of the Father. But this heavenly spiritual glory could not be truly apprehended unless He sent the Spirit Who reveals the glory of Christ in them by dwelling and working within. Though they knew Christ by the flesh, they are now reassured that they would know Him so no longer.

Obedience was described as the necessary condition of receiving the Spirit:

If you love me you will obey my commands; and I will ask the Father and he will give you another to be your Advocate, who will be with you for ever - the Spirit of truth. - John 14:15-16 -

The Spirit came to Christ in the Jordan after His thirty years of obedience to His Heavenly Father and to His foster father Joseph and His mother. His second act of obedience was accepting the command of the Father to bear the Cross in response to the Divine "must." It was only after obedience that the Spirit would be given to the Apostles. As He sent His Spirit because of His obedience to His Father, so His believers would receive the Spirit through obedience to Him. God dwelt in the temple of Jerusalem because they obeyed His instruction in building it. In the last two chapters of Exodus, eighteen times the expression had been made that all was done as the Lord had commanded. So now as Our Blessed Lord Jesus prepared to make human bodies the temples of His Holy Spirit. He too laid down the same condition that they obey His commandments.

Peter himself would speak of this immediately after Pentecost:

Exalted thus with God's right hand. he received the Holy Spirit from the Father, as was promised, and all that you now see and hear flows from him. - Acts 2:33 -

He next explained that the Spirit would teach them new truths by recalling the old truths, and would recall the old truths in the teaching of the new. Christ had communicated a germinal form of truth, but not its fullness. When He sent His Spirit, there would be an extraordinary refreshment of memory and a conviction of truth which would surpass even the preparatory knowledge.

Your Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and will call to mind all that I have told you. - John 14:26 -

As a light shone on the Old Testament through the coming Christ, so a light would shine on the life of Christ through the Spirit. The strengthening office of the Spirit was thus brought into immediate connection with Christ's illuminating office of a Teacher. Those who would get back to the pure form of the Gospel forget that the Master of the Gospel, Christ Himself, spoke of the development, the evolution, the unfolding of His Truth through the Apostles. As the Son had made known the Father, so the Spirit would make known the Son; as the Son had glorified the Father, so the Spirit would glorify Christ. It was indeed only after the Resurrection and the Descent of the Holy Spirit that the Apostles remembered the things that He had said to them, and also came into full comprehension of the meaning of the Cross and Redemption.

There were two trees in the Garden of Paradise: the tree of Divine Life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was God's plan to have man remain with Him through communion with the tree of life which he should eat and thereby live for ever. Satan assured man that the way to peace was through the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But man forgot that when evil is in him, it begins to take possession of him. By the false path of the knowledge of good and evil, man was led to destruction. Now the tree of life is erected on Calvary and given again to man. The tree of life then became the tree not of the knowledge of good and evil, but the tree of Truth itself through the Spirit.

When he comes who is the Spirit of truth, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but will tell only what hears; and he will make known to you the things that are coming. - John 16:13 -

He said that the Spirit of Truth that comes from the Father and Himself would cause truth to enter the soul in such a way as to make it a reality. Natural truth is on the surface of the soul, but Divine truth is in its depths. To know the Father one must know the Son; to know the Son, one must have the Spirit, for the Spirit will reveal the Son who said:

I am the truth. - John 14:6 -

If all mankind needed was a teacher, man would long ago have been holy, for he has had teaches from the Indian sages up to this very hour. But it takes more than the spirit of man to make a man holy, or to know the truth; it requires the Spirit of Truth. Human truths can be known only by living them and Divine truths can be lived only by living in the Spirit.

In His promise of the Spirit, Our Lord Jesus affirmed four truths concerning Himself. First, He said that He had "come out from the Father" in other words, He is generated from all eternity as the Word or the Son of God. Next He said, "I am come into the world" which referred to His Incarnation and the revelation of His Godhead to men.

Third, "I am leaving the world" which meant His rejection by the world, His sufferings, His Passion, and His death. Now He told His Apostles, "I go to the Father" which referred to His Resurrection from the dead, His Ascension to the Father and glory, and the Descent of His Spirit. What effect these basic truths would have on the world He now proceeded to elaborate.

When he comes, he will confute the world, and show where wrong and right and judgment lie. He will convict them of wrong, by their refusal to believe in me; he will convince them that right is on my side, by showing that I go to the Father when I pass from your sight; and he will convince them of divine judgment, by showing that the Prince of this world stands condemned. - John 16:8 -

This is the description of the triple victory which the Holy Spirit would gain over the world through the Apostles - a victory not physical, but moral. On the one side, there would be Divine truth, on the other, the false spirit of the world. The mission of the Spirit would be one of convicting and proving the world wrong in three areas: the world's view of sin, the world's view of righteousness, the world's view of judgment.

He will convict them of wrong, by their refusal to believe in me. - John 16:9 -

The first conviction of the Holy Spirit or demonstration would be the truth that man is sinful. Sin is never understood fully in terms of a law that is broken; evil is revealed when there is seen what it does to one who is loved. The unbelief which produced the Crucifixion was, therefore, sin in its essence. Sin in its fullness, is the rejection of Christ. The usual way to win men to truth is by some popular appeal. But the Spirit will win men to truth by convincing them of their sinfulness; in doing this, there would be revealed the fact that Christ was primarily a Redeemer or Savior from sin.

The ministry of the Spirit would convict the world of sin from another point of view, because it refused to believe in Him. By unbelief or by refusing to accept the deliverance from sin which Christ brought, antagonism to the Divine is affirmed. The very unbelief which men would show toward Him would unveil sin in its hiding place. Nothing but the Spirit could convince man of sin; conscience could not, for it can sometimes be smothered; public opinion cannot, for it sometimes justifies sin; but the gravest sin of all which the Spirit would reveal not be intemperance, avarice, or lust, but unbelief in Christ. It is this same Spirit of God which renders the sinner not merely conscious of his state, but also contrite and penitent, when he accepts Redemption.

To reject the Redeemer is to prefer evil to good. The crucifix is an an autobiography in which man can read the story of his own life, either to his own salvation or his own condemnation. So long as sin was regarded only from a psychological point of view, the Cross of Christ appeared as an exaggeration. The sand of the desert, the blood of a beast, or water could just as well purify man. But once sin was seen under the sight of Infinite Holiness, then the Cross of Christ alone could equal and satisfy for this tragic horror.

The second indictment of the Spirit had to do with righteousness.

He will convince them that right is on my side, by showing that I go to the Father when I pass from your sight. - John 16:10 -

At first it seemed far fetched to see how Christ could say that His Ascension to the Father would have anything to do with uprightness of heart. But He here added to what was said about sin. As the world sometimes sees sin only in acts of transgressions and not in unbelief, so it often sees righteousness in acts of philanthropy but not in the justification which man has at the right hand of the Father through Christ. Once Our Lord Jesus ascended into heaven, the Spirit would show how wrong the world was in regarding Him as a criminal and as a malefactor. The Ascension upset all the world's standards of right and wrong. The fact that the Father exalted Him at His right hand would prove that all the charges against Him were false. It was the world that was unrighteous in rejecting Him.

Once man is convinced of his own sinfulness, he cannot be convinced of his own righteousness; once a man is convinced that Christ has saved him from sin, then he is convinced that Christ is his righteousness. But one cannot talk righteousness to one who is not a sinner. The Pharisee in front of the temple was convinced of his own righteousness; the temple leaders put Jesus to death were convinced of their own righteousness. Good Friday seemed to ascribe sin to Christ and righteousness to His judges, but Pentecost and the coming of the Spirit would assign righteousness to the Crucified and sin to His judges. To those who rejected Him, righteousness would one day appear as a terrible justice; to the sinful men who accepted Him and allied themselves to His life, righteousness would show itself as mercy.

He will convince them of divine judgment, by showing that the Prince of this world stands condemned. - John 16:11 -

The last of the three convictions had to do with judgment. When sin and righteousness collide, there will be judgment in which sin will be destroyed. The one who is judged here is the "one who rules the world" or Satan, the prince of the world. The judgment of the prince of the world was effected by the Cross and the Resurrection, for evil could never do anything mightier than slay the Son of God in the flesh. Defeated in that, it could never be victorious again. Adam and Eve, after their sin, were confronted with the righteousness of God, and the judgment was exile from paradise; in the Deluge, the sins of mankind were confronted with the holiness of God, and the flood came as judgment; when Israel  came out of Egypt, the Exodus was accomplished by a Divine judgment; so now when the Spirit of Truth is come, He will bring home to the hearts and minds of men the judgment that was inherent in Our Lord Jesus's life and death and His ultimate victory over evil. The world would not be convicted in its own eyes, but it would be convicted in the eyes of those whose vision has been purged by the Cross. The Holy Spirit would reveal to men the true nature of the great drama that was consummated on the Cross.

BY  ARCHBISHOP  FULTON  J.  SHEEN  ( 1895 to 1979 )

                                                                        Page 2
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

The words of the Master flowed more freely once the restraint of the traitor had been removed. Furthermore, the departure of Judas Iscariot on his mission of betrayal brought the Cross within a measurable distance of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He now spoke to His Apostles as if He was feeling the crossbeams. If His death would be glorifying, it must have been because something would be done by it which was not accomplished by His words, miracles, and healing of the sick. All through His life He had been trying to communicate His love for mankind, but it was not until His Body, like the alabaster box, would be broken, that the perfume of His love would pervade the universe. Jesus said also that, in His Cross, God the Father was glorified. This was because His Father did not spare His own Son, but offered Him to save peoples. He put a new meaning into His death, namely, from His Cross would beam forth the pity and the pardon of God.

Jesus Christ now addressed His Apostles in two different ways: as a dying parent to His children, and as a dying Lord to His servants.

My children, for a little longer I am with you. - John 13:33 -

Here Jesus was speaking in terms of the deepest intimacy to those gathered about Him, answering their childish questions one after another, because they were infants in understanding His sacrifice, He used simple analogy of a road they could not presently travel:

Where I am going you cannot come. - John 13:33 -

When they would see the clouds of glory enveloping Him in His Ascension into heaven, then they would know why they could not presently go with Him. Later on, they would follow Him, but first they needed the schooling of Calvary and of Pentecost. How little the Apostles understood Jesus life was revealed by Peter's question:

Lord, where are you going? -  John 13:36 -

Even in his curiosity, the beautiful character of Peter was revealed, for he could not bear separation from His Master. Our Lord Jesus answered him:

Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but one day you will. - John 13:36 -

Peter was yet unfit for the deeper realization of the Resurrection. The Savior's Hour had come, but Peter's had not. As on the Mount of the Transfiguration, Peter would have had the glory without the death, so now he would have the company of the Divine Master in heaven without the Cross. Peter considered the answer of Our Blessed Lord about following Him afterward as a reflection upon his courage and fidelity. So he made another request, and declared his bravery:

Lord, why cannot I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you. - John 13:37 -

Peter's emotion at that second was to follow His Master; but when the occasion to follow presented itself, Peter would not be at Calvary. Peering into Peter's heart, Our Lord Jesus foretold what would happen when there would be a chance to follow Him.

Will you indeed lay down your life for me? I tell you in very truth, before the cock crows you will have denied me three times. - John 13:38 -

The Omnipotent Mind of Our Lord Jesus pictured the fall of the one whom He had called the Rock. But after the coming of His Spirit, Peter would follow Him. This significance of this is preserved in a beautiful legend which pictures Peter flying from the persecution of Nero in Rome. Peter met the Lord Jesus on the Appian Way and said to Him, "Lord, whither goest Thou?" Our Blessed Lord Jesus answered: "I go to Rome to be crucified again." Peter went back to Rome, and was crucified on the site where the Church of Saint Peter stands today. The Sacred Heart now looked beyond that dark Hour to the days when He and His Apostles and their successors would be one with Him in Spirit. If there was any moment calculated to take a mind away from the future, it was this awful present moment. But since He had already spoken of the unity between the Apostles and Himself through the Holy Eucharist, He would take up the theme again under the figure of the vine and the branches. This unity of which He spoke was not such as existed at that moment, from within an hour they would all desert Him and flee. Rather it was the unity that would be consummated through His glorification. The figure of the vine He used was a very familiar one in the Old Testament. Israel was called a vine, the vine that was brought out of Egypt; prophet Isaiah spoke of God having planted that chosen vine. Prophet Jeremiah and prophet Hosea be moaned and complained that it was not bringing forth fruit. As Our Blessed Lord Jesus, in contrast to the manna that was given by Moses, called Himself the "True Bread"; as in contrast to the brilliant lights of the Feast of the Tabernacles, He called Himself the "True Light"; as in contrast to the temple built by hands, He called Himself the "Temple of God," so now in contrast to the vine of Israel, He said:

I am the real vine, and my Father is the gardener. - John 15:1 -

This unity between Himself and His followers of the new Israel would be like the unity between the vine and the branches; the same sap or grace that flowed through Him will flow through them:

I am the vine and you the branches. He who dwells in me, as I dwell in him, bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing. - John 15:5 -

Separated from Him, a person is no better than a branch separated from a vine, dry and dead. The branch may bear clusters, but it does not produce them; He alone produces them. As He went to His death, He said that He lived, and they would live in Him. He saw beyond the Cross and affirmed that their vitality and energy would come from Him, and the relationship between them would be organic, not mechanical. He saw those who professed to be united outwardly to Him, but who nevertheless would be inwardly separated from Him, others He saw who would need a further purification by His Father through a Cross, which He speaks of in terms of a knife pruning and cutting.

Every barren branch of mine he cuts away; and every fruiting branch he cleans, to make it more fruitful still. - John 15:2 -

The ideal of the new community is holiness, the One Who holds the knife is His Heavenly Father. The object of the pruning is not the chastisement, but chastening and perfection - except in the case of those who are useless; these are excommunicated from the vine. When Our Lord Jesus first called the Apostles, He reminded them of all they must suffer for His sake. As He went to the Cross, He gave them a new understanding of His previous message that they should take up the Cross daily and follow Him. Unity with Him would come not merely from knowing His teaching, but principally from the cultivation of the Divine within them through the pruning of all that was ungodly:

He who does not dwell in me is thrown away like a withered branch. The withered branches are heaped together, thrown on fire, and burnt. - John 15:6 -

One of the effects of self-discipline to intensify this union between them and Himself would be joy. Self-denial does not bring sadness, but happiness.

I have spoken thus to you, so that my joy may be in you, and your joy complete. - John 15:11 -

Jesus talked of joy, within a few hours of the kiss of Judas Iscariot; but the joy He expressed was not in the prospect of suffering, but rather the joy of making an absolute and complete submission in love to His Father for the sake of mankind. Just as there is a kind of joy in giving a precious gift to a friend, so there is a joy in giving one's life for humanity. That joy of self-sacrifice Jesus promised would be theirs, if they kept His commandments as the commandments of His Father. The unhappy Apostles, who saw the dream of a purely earthly kingdom fade away, could not fathom His words of joy; they would understand it later only when the Spirit came upon them. Immediately after Pentecost, as they were before the same council which condemned Christ, their hearts would be so happy, because as branches they were pruned to be made one with the Vine:

So the apostles went out from the Council rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer indignity for the sake of the Name. - Acts 5:41 -

In addition to joy, a second effect of union with Him would be love.

This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you. There is no greater love than this, that a man should lay down his life for his friends. - John 15:13 -

Love is the normal relation of branches to one another, because all are rooted in the vine. There were to be no limits to His love. Peter once set a limit to love when he asked how many times he should forgive. Was it seven? Our Lord Jesus told him seventy times seven, which implied infinity and denied any mathematical calculation. There are to be no limits to their mutual love, for they must all ask themselves, what was the limit of His love? He had no limit, for He came to lay down His life.

Here again Jesus spoke of the purpose of His coming, namely, Redemption. The Cross is foremost. The voluntary character of it is emphasized when He said that He laid down His life; no one takes it away. His love would be like the heat of the sun: those who were nearest to it would be warm and happy; those who were farthest away would still know its light.

Only through death for others could He show love. His death would not be like the death of one man out of love for another, or like a soldier for his country, because the person who saves others must die eventually anyway. However great the sacrifice, it would be a premature payment of a debt that had to be paid. But in the case of Our Lord Savior, He need not have died at all. No one could take away His life from Him. Though He called those for whom He died "friends" the friendship was all on His side and not on ours, for as sinners we were enemies. John later on expressed it well when he said that He died for us while we were yet sinners.

Sinners can show a love for one another by taking the punishment which another deserves. But Our Blessed Lord was not only taking the punishment but also taking the guilt as if it were His own. Furthermore, this death that He was about to die would be quite different from the death of martyrs for His cause, since they have the example of His death and the expectancy of the glory which He promised. But to die upon the Cross without a pitying eye, to be surrounded by a multitude who mocked Him, and to die without being obliged to die - such was the peak of love. The Apostles could not understand such depths of affection, but they would later on. Peter, who then understood nothing about such sacrificial love, later on, seeing his sheep go to death under Roman persecution, would tell them:

For it is a fine thing if a man endure the pain of undeserved suffering because God is in his thoughts. What credit is there in fortitude when you have done wrong and are beaten for it? But when you have behaved well and suffer for it, your fortitude is a fine thing in the sight of God. To that you were called, because Christ suffered on your behalf, and thereby left you an example; it is for you to follow in his steps. - 1Peter 2:19-21 -

John too, would paraphrase what he heard that night, as he leaned against the heart of Christ:

It is by this that we know what love is: that Christ laid down his life for us. And we in our turn are bound to lay down our lives for our brothers. - 1John 3:16 -

After having finished His discourse about the unity existing between His Apostles and Himself, Our Lord Jesus passed to the next subject which logically followed, namely, their separation from those who did not share His Spirit and His life. He was  referring not just to a condition or opposition that would exist between His followers and the world immediately after His leaving the world, but rather to a permanent and an inevitable condition. The contrast was between the great mass of unregenerate and unbelieving who would refuse to accept Him, and those who would be united to Him as branches to vine. The world of which He spoke was not the physical universe or the cosmos but rather a spirit, a Zeitgeist, a unity of the forces of evil against the forces of good. The Beatitudes set Him in immediate opposition to the world, and therefore prepared for His Cross. Now He warned them that they too would have a Cross, if they were really His disciples. To have no Cross would make one suspect of lacking the indelible brand of being one of His own.

If the world hates you, it hated me first, as you know well. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, because I have chosen you out of the world, for that reason the world hates you. - John 15:18-19 -

Seven times during this discourse on the world, Jesus used the word "hate" - a solemn witness to its persistence and enmity. The world loves the worldly; but to preserve its codes, practices, and mental fashions, it must hate the unworldly or the Divine. Let the Apostles or any of His followers join a sun cult or an Oriental sect; will they find themselves hated? No, that is because the world knows its own. Let them be one in Christ following rigorously His commandments; will they be hated? Yes, "Because I have singled you out of the midst of the world." For the moment, the Apostles could not understand this hate; even after Christ Jesus Resurrection they were unmolested and permitted to go back to their nets and boats. But once He ascended into heaven and sent His Spirit, they would experience the full malignity of the world's hate. James, who heard these words at the Last Supper, would later repeated them from knowledge and experience:

You false, unfaithful creatures? Have you never learned that love of the world is enmity to God? Whoever chooses to be the world's friend makes himself God's enemy. - James 4:4 -

John, too, would remind his people that the world is antagonistic to Christ.

Do not set your hearts on the godless world or anything in it. Anyone who loves the world is a stranger to the Father's love. - 1John 2:15 -

Our Lord Jesus gave no hope of converting everyone in the world; the masses would be won by the spirit of the world than by Him. To share His life was to share His fate. The world would hate His followers, not because of evil in their lives, but precisely because of the absence of evil or rather their goodness. Goodness does not cause hatred, but it gives occasion for hatred to manifest itself. The holier and purer a life, the more it would attract malignity and hate. Mediocrity alone survives. Perfect Innocence must be crucified in the world where there is still evil. As the diseased eye dreads the light so an evil conscience dreads goodness which reproves it. The world's hatred is not innocent or guiltless:

If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin; he who hates me, hates my Father... However, this text in their Law had to come true: They hated me without reason. - John 15:22-25 -

Their hatred for Jesus revealed their hatred for the Father. Evil has no capital of its own, it is a parasite on goodness. Pure hatred draws its blood from contact with goodness; this makes hell begin on earth, but it does not make it end here. His Gospel, He said, would in one way aggravate men's sin by their willful rejection of it. There had been sin and evil throughout history; they were Cains who killed Abel, the Gentiles who persecuted the Jews, Saul's who sought to kill David's, but all that evil was a trifling thing compared, the Lord Jesus was saying, to the monstrous evil that would be done Him. He had taught that there would be degrees of punishment meted out to those who were lost; now He added that the degree would be determined by the degree of light that they had sinned against. His coming had brought a new standard of measurement into the world. It would be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the Day of Judgment than for Capernaum, because the latter had turned its back upon the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

This spirit of enmity against Him would not be only while He lived or while the Apostles lived, but as long as time endured. When Alexander the Great died, no one raised clenched fists over his grave; hatred against any tyrant perished with the tyrant. But hatred against Jesus would live on, because He lives - "the same, yesterday, today, and for ever." To be forewarned was to be forearmed.

The time is coming when anyone kills you will suppose that he is performing a religious duty. - John 16:2 -

From uncharitable censures, men would pass even to taking the lives of His followers. And they would do so under the persuasion that they were acting religiously, as the Scribes and Pharisees did, and as Paul [Saul] too did, before the Lord Jesus Christ called him, that is, before his conversion to Christianity. What He predicted for His followers came to pass: Matthew suffered martyrdom by the sword in Ethiopia; Mark was dragged through the streets of Alexandria unto his death; Luke was hanged on an olive tree in Greece; Peter was crucified at Rome with his head downward; James was beheaded at Jerusalem; James the Less was thrown from a pinnacle of the temple and beaten to death below; Philip was hanged against a pillar in Phrygia; Bartholomew was flayed alive; Andrew was bound to a cross, and he preached to his persecutors till he died; Thomas had his body pierced; Jude was shot to death with arrows; Mathias was first stoned and then beheaded. It is very likely when these things happened, they recalled the words of Our Lord Jesus Christ at the Last Supper:

I have told you all this so that when the time comes for it to happen you may remember my warning. - John 16:4 -

The counsel that he was giving to His Apostles about the expectation of the Cross in their own lives was a proof that the Cross was paramount in His own. To His followers, He promised in this world no immunity from evil, but He promised victory over it:

I have told you all this so that in me you may find peace. In the world you will have trouble. But courage! The victory is mine; I have conquered the world. - John 16:33 -

The enjoyment of peace was not inconsistent with the endurance of tribulation. Peace is in the soul, and comes from union with Him, though the body may feel pain. Trials, tribulation, anguish, anxiety are permitted by the very One Who gives peace.

The next subject which engaged the attention of the Savior the night of His agony, was the Holy Spirit...

                                                                        Page 1
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -