After this Jesus goes up to Jerusalem for the feast and teaches there. Why did Jesus perform miracles? As with the Old Testament, the New Testament miracles are essentially expressions of God's salvation and glory. Indeed, Jesus' miracles were signs of the presence of the kingdom of God.

The Lord Jesus Christ always declared that His miracles were the fulfilment of the promises of the Messiah's/Christ's [The Anointed One] kingdom as foretold by prophet Isaiah.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
the ears of the deaf unsealed,
then the lame shall leap like a deer
and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy. - Is. 35:5-6 - 61:1-11 -

'Go back and tell John the Baptist's what you hear and see; the blind see again, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised to life and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor; and happy is the person who does not lose faith in me.' - Matt. 11:4-5 - Luke 7:18-23 -

Once, when Peter and John were going up to the Temple for the prayers at the ninth hour, it happened that there was a man being carried past. He was a cripple from birth; and they used to put him down everyday near the Temple entrance called the Beautiful Gate so that he could beg from the people going in.

When this man saw Peter and John on their way into the Temple he begged from them. Both Peter and John looked straight at him and said, 'Look at us.' He turned to them expectantly, hoping to get something from them, but Peter said, 'I have neither silver nor gold, but I will give you what I have: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!' Peter then took him by the hand and helped him to stand up. Instantly, his feet and ankles became firm, he jumped up, stood, and began to walk, and he went with them into the Temple, walking and jumping and praising God.

Everyone could see him walking and praising God, and they recognised him as the man who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple. They were all astonished and unable to explain what had happened to him. - Acts 3:1-10 -

Jesus' miracles were performed, and He consciously brought the salvation of God upon the most unlikely people and also to those who were rejected. In other words, the outcast. The Lord Jesus Christ healed the lame, the dumb, the lepers, and all incurable illness, diseases, and the dead are raised to life.

Jesus understood His miracles as evidence of the presence of the kingdom of God, and every miracle story was a sign that God's salvation was present. But not only did the kingdom come; it came in great power because the dead were raised and Satan was bound.

The seventy-two came back rejoicing. 'Lord,' they said 'even the devils submit to us when we use your name.' The Lord Jesus Christ said to them, 'I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Yes, I have given you power to tread underfoot serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of the enemy; nothing shall ever hurt you. Yet do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.' - Luke 10:17-20 -

Finally, do we gain a deeper understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ in His miracles, Truly, He is Lord over nature and death. Amen! Jesus' miracles do give evidence that He was divine and human, that He was the "Son of the living God, the Christ or the Messiah." [The Anointed One] This tread of continuity is seen in His apostles, prophets, disciples, believers, and all those who God loves;  miracles which paralleled those of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In fact, God began His universal Church with a powerful display of miracle. At "Pentecost" the Holy Spirit came on the people with great power, leading to conversions. That very day about three thousand were added to their number.

In accordance with the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, and through my personal profound encountered and experienced with God, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, revealed by God's grace, on and in what I have learned and understood, that the utmost miracles, is without doubt was: "The Miracle Of The Loaves" / "The Bread Of Life" because by encountering and experiencing God, the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ  through the "Holy Mass, or Holy Eucharist, or Holy Communion." in my daily life, contains Love, Joy, Peace and Hope and is always profound.

Jesus went off to the other side of the Sea of Galilee or of Tiberias - and a large crowd followed him, impressed by the signs [miracles] Jesus gave by curing the sick. Jesus climbed the hillside, and sat down there with his disciples. It was shortly before the Jewish feast of Passover.

Looking up, Jesus saw the crowds approaching and said to Philip, 'Where can we buy some bread for these people to eat?' Jesus only said this to test Philip; he himself knew exactly what he was going to do. Philip answered, 'Two hundred denarii would only buy enough to give them a small piece each.' One of Jesus disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said, 'There is a small boy here with five barley loaves and two fish; but what is that between so many?'

Jesus said to them, 'Make the people sit down.' There was plenty of grass there, and as many as five thousand men sat down. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and gave them out to all who were sitting ready; Jesus then did the same with the fish, giving out as much as wanted. When they had eaten enough he said to the disciples,'Pick up the pieces left over, so that nothing gets wasted.'

So they picked them up and filled twelve hampers with scraps left over from the meal of five barley loaves. The people, seeing this sign that Jesus had given, said, 'This really is the prophet who is to come into the world.' Jesus who could see they were about to come and take him by force and make him king, escaped back to the hills by himself. - John 6:1-15 -

'If you make My word your home
you will indeed be my disciples,
you will learn the truth
and the truth will make you free.' - John 8:31-32 -

'As long as the day lasts
I must carry out the work of the one who sent me;
the night will soon be here when no one can work.
As long as I am in the world
I am the light of the world.' - John 9:4-5 -

As Jesus went along, He saw a man who has born blind from birth. Jesus disciples asked Him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, for him to have been born blind?' 'Neither he nor his parents sinned' Jesus answered 'he was born blind so that the works of God might be displayed in him.' - John 9:1-3 -

As we know, in the Old Testament, and in the Book of Genesis chapter 3 shows God's response to human sin, and because of its sin, God cursed the world or the earth which He had just created. But at the end of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, the Book of Revelation chapter 22:3 announces there will no longer be a curse.

All that happens between Genesis 3 and Revelation 22 is related to God's efforts to reverse His curse and redeem His creation. Thus, this illustrates that eschatology is related to salvation. Eschatology reveals the end of history and how God reverses His curse upon the world by separating the good and the bad, the holy and the evil, and finally, God dominated the Satan.

The curse of God plunged the world into a long conflict. This conflict-strewn path leading up to God's final act in history can be traced from the Garden of Eden to Revelation. Just as God can revoke the curse. God has chosen to revoke one aspect of the curse and its conflict through an event known as the "the Day of the Lord."

The process that would eventually end with all of God's enemies in defeat. Victory of evils was promised through the conflict between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. This conflict forms the guidelines for eschatological events throughout Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, especially for the end-time itself.

The point of Eschatology..........

                                                                                Page 32
Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. 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 institution of the Lord's Supper" in which Christians partake of bread and wine with the purpose of remembering Christ Jesus, receiving grace, strength, and rededicating themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ cause. The Last Supper probably was the 'Jewish Passover' meal, first instituted by God in the days of Moses. - Ex. 12:1-51, 13:1-22; Num. 9:1-23 - John 11:55 -

The Sacrament of "The Holy Eucharist or The Holy Communion or The Holy Mass is instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ to be practices and observed by "His Church" until the Lord Jesus Christ returns. Thus, through active participation in the Holy Eucharist and Holy Mass and through the reception of Holy Communion at the Eucharistic celebration, they are filled with the "presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore sent to be Christ's presence in the world until He returns."

When the hour came Jesus took his place at table, and the apostles with him. And Jesus said to them, 'I have longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; because I tell you, I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.'

Then, taking a cup, Jesus gave thanks and said, 'Take this and share it among you, because from now on, I tell you, I shall not drink wine until the kingdom of God comes.'

Then Jesus took some bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body which will be given for you; do this as a memorial of Me.' Jesus did the same with the cup after supper, and said, 'This cup is the New Covenant in my blood which will be poured out for you.' - Luke 22:14-20 -

Do not work for food that cannot last,
but work for food that endures to eternal life,
the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you,
for on Him the Father, God Himself, has set His seal. - John 6:27 -

Just as God originally inspired the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, He has used this means to preserve His Word for future generations. But behind the writing lay periods of time when these messages were circulated in spoken form. [Oral Tradition] The stories of the patriarchs were passed from generation to generation by word of mouth before they were written. [Written Tradition] The messages of the prophets were delivered orally before they were fixed in writing. Narratives of the life and ministry of Christ Jesus were repeated orally for two or three decades before they were given literally form.

'You study the Sacred Scriptures,
believing that in them you have eternal life;
now these same scriptures testify to Me [The Lord Jesus Christ],
and yet you refuse to come to Me for life!
As for human approval, this means nothing to Me.

Besides, I [The Lord Jesus Christ] know you too well:
you have no love of God in you.
I have come in the name of my Father
and you refuse to accept Me;
if someone else comes in his own name
you will accept him.

How can you believe,
since you look to one another for approval
and are not concerned
with the approval that comes from the one God?

Do not imagine that I am going to accuse you before the Father:
you place your hopes on Moses,
and Moses will be your accuser.
If you really believed him
you would believe Me too,
since it was I that Moses was writing about,
but if you refuse to believe what Moses wrote,
how can you believe what I say?' - John 5:39-47 -

Then they said to Christ Jesus, 'What must we do if we are to do the works that God wants?' Jesus gave them this answer, 'This is working for God: you must believe in the one He has sent.' So they said, 'What sign will You give to show us that we should believe in You? What work will you do? Our fathers had manna to eat in the dessert; as scripture says: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' 

Jesus answered:

'I tell you most solemnly,
it was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven,
it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven,
the true bread;
for the bread of God
is that which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.'

'Sir,' they said 'give us that bread always.' Jesus answered:

'I am the bread of life.
He/she who comes to Me will never be hungry;
he/she who believes in Me will never thirst.
But, as I have told you,
you can see Me and still you do not believe.

All that the Father gives me will come to me,
and whoever comes to Me
I shall not turn him/her away;
because I have come from heaven,
not to do my own will,
but to do the will of the one Who sent me.

Now the will of Him Who sent me
is that I should lose nothing
of all that He has given me,
and that I should raise it up on the last day.

Yes, it is my Father's will
that whoever sees the Son and believes in Him
shall have eternal life,
and that I shall raise him/her up on the last day.'

Meanwhile the Jews were complaining to each other about Jesus, because He had said, 'I am the bread that came down from heaven.' 'Surely this is Jesus son of Joseph' they said. We know his father and mother. How can he now say, "I have come down from heaven"?' Jesus said in reply, 'Stop complaining to each other.

'No one can come to Me
unless he/she is drawn by the Father who sent me,
and I will raise him/her up at the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They will all be taught by God,
and to hear the teaching of the Father,
and learn from it,
is to come to Me.

Not that anybody has seen the Father,
except the one Who comes from God:
He has seen the Father.

I tell you most solemnly,
everybody who believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your fathers ate the manna in the desert
and they are dead;
but this is the bread that comes down from heaven,
so that a man/woman may eat it and not die.

I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever;
and the bread that I shall give
is My flesh, for the life of the world.'

Then the Jews started arguing with one another: 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' they said. Jesus replied:

'I tell you most solemnly,
if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man
and drink His blood,
you will not have life in you.

Anyone who does eat My flesh and drink My blood
has eternal life,
and I shall raise him/her up on the last day.

For My flesh is real food
and My blood is real drink.
He/she who eats My flesh and drinks My blood
lives in Me
and I live in him/her.

As I, who am sent by the living Father,
myself draw life from the Father,
so whoever eats Me will draw life from Me.

This is the bread that come down from heaven;
not like the bread our ancestors ate:
they are dead,
but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.'

Jesus taught this doctrine at Capernaum, in the synagogue. After hearing it, many of Jesus followers said, 'This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?' Jesus was aware that His followers were complaining about it and said, Does this upset you? What if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?

It is the spirit that gives life,
the flesh has nothing to offer.
The words I have spoken to you are spirit
and they are life.

'But there are some of you who do not believe.' For Jesus knew from the outset those who did not believe, and who it was that would betray him. Jesus went on, 'This is why I told you that no one could come to Me unless the Father allows him/her.' After this, many of His disciples left Him and stopped going with Him.

Then Jesus said to the Twelve, 'What about you, do you want to go away too?' Simon Peter answered, 'Lord. who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God.'

Jesus replied, 'Have I not chosen you, you Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.' He meant Judas son of Simon Iscariot, since this was the man, one of the Twelve, who was going to betray Jesus. - John 6:28-71 -

                                                                Page 31
Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. 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 -

As we know, the title "Lord" in the Christology 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!" - 1 Cor. 16:22 - If anyone does not love the Lord, a curse on him/her. 'Maran atha.' -

The apostle Paul's, writing to Gentile Church in the Greek-speaking world, assumed that its believers and followers of Christ were familiar with this Aramaic phrase. It was an early Christian title for Jesus. It bears witness to the fact that from the earliest days of the Church, the one who had been exalted as 'Lord' was expected to return as 'Lord.'

If Jesus is called Lord in this supreme sense, it is not surprising that Jesus occasionally is called God. Thus, truly, truly, Jesus is fully human and fully divine. Since the Lord Jesus Christ partakes in the nature of both God and humanity, He occupies a unique status with regard to them.

The work of Jesus has often been stated in relation to His threefold, that is, Prophet, Priest, King. As Prophet, He is the perfect spokesperson of God to the world, fully revealing God's will. As Priest, Jesus has offered to God by His passion and death, it is sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the world. As King, He is the ruler over the kings of the earth/world.

Accept  the strength, my dear son, that comes from the grace of Christ Jesus. You have heard everything that I teach in public; hand it on to reliable people so that they in turn will be able to teach others.

Put up with your share of difficulties, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. In the army, no soldier gets himself mixed up in civilian life because he must be at disposal of the man who enlisted him; or take an athlete - he/she cannot win any crown unless he/she kept all the rules of the contest; and again, it is the working farmer who has the first claim on any crop that is harvested. Think over what I have said, and the Lord will show you how to understand it all.

Remember the Good News that I carry, 'Jesus Christ risen from the dead, sprung from the race of David'; it is an account of this that I have my own hardships to bear, even to being chained like a criminal - but they cannot chain up God's news.

So I bear it all for the sake of those who are chosen, so that in the end they may have the salvation that is in Christ Jesus and the eternal glory that comes with it. here is a saying that you can rely on:

If we have died with Him, then we shall live with Him.
If we hold firm, then we shall reign with Him.
If we disown Him, then He will disown us.
We may be unfaithful, but He is always faithful,
for He cannot disown His own self.

Remind them of this; and tell them in the name of God that there is to be no wrangling about words: all that this ever achieves is the destruction of those who are listening. Do all you can to present yourself in front of God as a person who has come through His trials and a person who has no cause to be ashamed of His life's work and has kept a straight course with the message of the truth.

Have nothing to do with pointless philosophical discussions - they only lead further away from true religion. Talk of this kind corrodes like gangrene, as in the case of Hymenaeus and Philetus, the men who have gone right away from the truth and claim that the resurrection has already taken place. Some people's faith cannot stand up to them.

However, God's solid foundation stone is still in position, and this is the inscription on it: 'The Lord knows those who are His own' and 'All who call on the name of the Lord must avoid sin.'

Not all the dishes in a large house are made of gold and silver; some are made of wood or earthenware: some are kept for special occasions and others are for ordinary purposes. Now, to avoid these faults that I am speaking about are for ordinary purposes. Now, to avoid these faults that I am speaking about is the way for anyone to become a vessel for special occasions, fit for the Master Himself to use, and kept ready for any good work.

Instead of giving in to your impulses like a young person, fasten your attention on holiness, faith, love, and peace, in union with all those who call on the Lord with pure minds. Avoids these futile and silly speculations, understanding that they only give rise to quarrels; and a servant of the Lord is not to engage in quarrels, but has to be kind to everyone, a good teacher, and patient.

He/She has to be gentle when he/she corrects people who dispute what he/she says, never forgetting that God may give them a change of mind so that they recognize the truth and come to their senses, once out of the trap where the devil caught them and kept the enslaved.

You may be quite sure that in the last days there are going to be some difficult times. People will be self-centred and grasping; boastful, arrogant and rude; disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, irreligious; heartless and unappeasable; they will be slanderers, profligates, savages and enemies of everything that is good; they will be treacherous and reckless and demented by pride, preferring their own pleasure to God. They will keep up the outward appearance of religion but will have rejected the inner power of it. Have nothing to do with people like that.

Of the same kind, too, are those people who insinuate themselves into families in order to get influence over silly women who are obsessed with their sins and follow one craze after another in the attempt to educate themselves, but can never come to knowledge of the truth.

People like this defy the truth just as Jannes and Jambres defied Moses: their minds are corrupt and their faith spurious. But they will not be able to go on any longer: their foolishness, like that of the other two, must become obvious to everybody.

You know, though, what I have taught, how I have lived, what I have aimed at; you know my faith, my presence and my love; my constancy and the persecutions and hardships that came to me in places like Antioch, Iconium and Lystra - all the persecutions I have endured; and the Lord has rescued me from every one of them.

You are well aware, then, that anybody who tries to live in devotion to Christ is certain to be attacked; while these wicked impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and deceived themselves.

You must keep to what you have been taught and know to be true; remember who your teachers were, and however, since you were a child, you have known the Holy Scriptures - from these you can learn the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

All Sacred Scripture is inspired by God and can profitably be used for teaching, for refuting error, for guiding people's lives and teaching them to be holy. This is how the person who is dedicated to God becomes fully equipped and ready for any good work.

Before God and before Christ Jesus who is to be judge of the living and the dead, I put this duty to you, in the name of His Appearing and of His kingdom: proclaim the message and, welcome or unwelcome, insist on it. Refute falsehood, correct error, call to obedience - but do all with patience and with the intention of teaching.

This time is sure to come when, far from being content with sound teaching, people will be avid for the latest novelty and collect themselves a whole series of teachers according to their own tastes; and then, instead of listening to the truth, they will turn to myths. Be careful always to choose the right course; be brave under trails; make the preaching of the Good News your life's work, in thoroughgoing service. - 2 Tim. 2:1-26, 3:1-17, 4:1-5 -

"The Institution Of The Lord's Supper" in which Christians.......

                                                                    Page 30
Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. 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 -