" God is love, and he/she who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him/her " - 1 John 4:16 -

Now if Christ raised from the dead is what has been preached, how can some of you be saying that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, Christ himself cannot have been raised and if Christ has not been raised then our preaching is useless and your believing it is useless; indeed, we are shown up as witnesses who have committed perjury before God because we swore in evidence before God that he had raised Christ to life. - 1 Corinthians 15:12-15 -

In plain words - if you can accept them as plain - Christianity is the life and death and resurrection of Christ going on day after day in the souls of individual men/women and in the heart of society. Amen.

The word apostle has a wider meaning in the letters of the Apostle Paul. It includes people who like himself, were not included in the Twelve but who saw the risen Lord Jesus Christ and were specially commissioned by Him. Paul's claim to be an apostle was questioned by others. He based his apostleship, however, on the direct call of the exalted Lord Jesus Christ who appeared to him while he was on Damascus and on the Lord's blessings of his ministry in winning converts.

"Well then, in the first place, I taught you what I had been taught myself, namely that Christ Jesus died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; and that he was raised to life on the third day in accordance with the Sacred Scriptures; that he appeared first to Cephas (Peter Simon) and secondly to the Twelve. Next he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still alive though some have died; then he appeared to James and then to all the apostles; and last of all he appeared to me too; it was as though I was born when no one expected it.

I am the least of the apostles; in fact, since I persecuted the Church of God, I hardly deserve the name apostle; but by God's grace that is what I am and the grace that he gave me has not been fruitless. On the contrary, I, or rather the grace of God that is with me, have worked harder than any of the others; but what matters is that I preach what they preach and this is what you all believed.

Now if Christ raised from the dead is what has been preached, how can some of you be saying that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, Christ himself cannot have been raised and if Christ has not been raised then our preaching is useless and your believing it is useless; indeed, we are shown up as witnesses who have committed perjury before God because we swore in evidence before God that he had raised Christ to life.

For if the dead are not raised. Christ has not been raised and if Christ has not been raised, you are still in your sins. And what is more serious, all who have died in Christ have perished. If our hope in Christ has been for this life only, we are the most unfortunate of all people. - 1 Corinthians 15:3-19 -

What do we mean when we say that Saint Augustine lived the theology that he write? Are we implying, for instance, that other theologians have not lived up to their principles? No. That possibility is not what concerns us here. It is more than a question of setting down on paper a series of abstract principles and then applying them in practice. Christianity is more than a moral code, more than a philosophy, more than a system of rites.

Although it is sufficient, in the abstract, to divide the Catholic religion into three aspects and call them creed, code and cult, yet in practice, the integral Christian life is something far more than all this. It is more than a belief; it is a life. That is to say, it is a belief that is lived and experienced and expressed in action. The action in which it is expressed, experienced and lived is called a mystery. This mystery is a sacred drama which keeps ever present in history the Sacrifice that was once consummated by Christ Jesus on Calvary.

It is this Christ-life, this incorporation into the Body of Christ, this union with His passion, death and resurrection as a matter of conscious experience, that Saint Augustine wrote of in his "Confessions." But Augustine not only experienced the reality of Christ Jesus living in his own soul. He was just as keenly aware of the presence and action, the Birth, Sacrifice, Death and Resurrection of the Mystical Christ in the midst of human society.

So now we must ask explicitly: is Christian faith also for us today a life-changing and life-sustaining hope? Is it "performative" for us - is it a message which shapes our life in a new way, or is it just "information" which, in the meantime, we have set aside and which now seems to us to have been superseded by more recent information?

In plain words - if you can accept them as plain - Christianity is the life and death and resurrection of Christ going on day after day in the souls of individual men/women and in the heart of society.

" God is love, and he/she who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him/her " - 1 John 4:16 -

These words express with remarkable clarity the heart of the Christian faith; the Christian image of God and the resulting image of mankind and its destiny. In the same verse, it also offers a kind of summary of the Christian life: " We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us."

We have come to believe in God's love; in these words the Christian express the fundamental decision of his and her life. Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter and experience with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction. Saint John's Gospel describes that event in these words; " Yes, God so loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him may not be lost but have eternal life " - John 3:16 -

In acknowledging the centrality of love, Christian faith has retained the core of Israel's faith, while at the same time giving it new depth and breadth. The pious Jew prayed daily the words of the Book of Deuteronomy which expressed the heart of his existence; " Listen, Israel: Yahweh our God. You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. Let these words I urge on you today be written on your heart." - Deuteronomy 6:4-6 -

Jesus Christ united into a single precept this commandment of love for God and the commandment of love for neighbour found in the Book of Leviticus; " You must not exact vengeance, nor must you bear a grudge against the children of your people. You must love your neighbour as yourself. I am Yahweh. " - 19:18 - ; cf. Mark 12:29-31 - Since God has first loved us; This is the love I mean: not our love for God, but God's love for us when he sent his Son to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away. - 1 John 4:10 - Thus, love is now no longer a mere "command"; it is the response to the gift of love with which God draws near to us.

Conversion of heart involves turning away from evil deeds and false worship and turning towards serving and worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ. The initial change of attitude and will that brings a person into right relationship with God. Conversion of heart marks a person's entrance into a new relationship with God, forgiveness of sins and his/her new life as a part of the fellowship of the people of God.

Closely related to conversion are repentance and faith. Repentance is turning from sin; faith is turning to God. Thus, conversion of heart is more than the exchange of one set of beliefs for another; it is a wholehearted turning to God. The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible is filled with the examples of persons who experienced conversion of heart, especially in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible (New Testament).

The fullest description of conversion of heart occurs in the words spoken to Saul [Paul] of Tarsus at his own conversion of heart: To open their eyes and turn them from the darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share in the inheritance of the sanctified.

The experience of conversion of heart may differ with various individuals. The apostle Paul's conversion of heart was sudden and radical, while the conversion of heart of Lydia was apparently gradual and gentle. - Acts 16:14-15 - But the results of conversion of heart are always a clear change of attitude and a new direction for life. And always have faith, hope and love in God. Amen.

The acts and deeds of Jesus likewise make sense only in the larger context of proclaiming the kingdom of God. When John the Baptist asked whether Jesus was "the Coming One", or the Messiah, Jesus answered by recounting some of His deeds of healing.

Jesus answered, 'Go back and tell John what you hear and see; the blind see again and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised to life and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor, and happy is the man/woman who does not lose faith in me. - Matthew 11:4-5 -

The reference in these words to the expectation of a MESSIAH, especially of the true prophet Isaiah, - Isaiah 29:18-19- "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". - Isaiah 35:5-6, 61:10 - could not have been missed by Apostle John. At the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus read a passage from Isaiah 61 about the coming messianic age and then made the astonishing announcement, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." - Luke 4:21 -

All that Jesus did is related to this claim that the kingdom of God has dawned through His ministry. His healing were manifestations of the presence of the kingdom. In these deeds there was a direct confrontation between God and forces of evil, or Satan and his demons. Summarizing His ministry, Jesus declared, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven". Satan and evil are in retreat now that the kingdom of heaven has made its entrance into human history. This is an anticipation of the final age of perfection that will be realized at the Lord Jesus Christ return.

"The seventy-two came back rejoicing. 'Lord', they said 'even the devils submit to us when we use your name'. He 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 that your names are written in heaven'". - Luke 10:17-20 -

Although the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John focus on the present aspect of the kingdom of God, it is also clear that the kingdom will be realized perfectly only at the SECOND COMING. The kingdom that comes through the ministry of Jesus dawns in the form of a mystery. Although it is physically present in the deeds and words of Jesus, it does not overwhelm the world. The judgment of God's enemy is postponed. The kingdom that arrived with Jesus did not include the triumphal victory so longed for by the Jews. It arrived secretly like leaven, inconspicuously like a mustard seed, or like a small pearl of great value that can be hidden in one's pocket.

Jesus put another parable before them, 'The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the biggest shrub of all and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and shelter in its branches'. He told them another parable, 'The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through'.

In all this Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables; indeed, he would never speak to them except in parables. This was to fulfill the prophecy: I will speak to you in parables and expound things hidden since the foundation of the world.

Then, leaving the crowds, he went to the house; and his disciples came to him and said, 'Explain the parable about the darnel in the field to us'. He said in reply, The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed is the subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them, the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels. Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time.

The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Listen, anyone who has ears!

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he/she hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he/she finds one of great value he/she goes and sells everything he/she owns and buys it. - Matthew 13:13-46 -

Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven -- God's rule of grace in the world, a future period foretold by the true prophets of the Old Testament and identified by Jesus as beginning with His public ministry. the kingdom of God is the experience of blessedness, like that of the Garden of Eden, where evil is fully overcome and where those who live in the kingdom know only happiness, love, peace and joy.

This was the main expectation of the Old Testament true prophets about the future. John the Baptist astonished his hearers when he announced that this expected and hoped - for Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven was 'at hand' in the person of Jesus Christ.

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew were described as God's elect. The New Testament speaks of Christ as God's Chosen One and God's new chosen people. "When God acquits, could anyone condemn? Could Christ Jesus? No! He not only died for us - He rose from the dead, and there at God's right hand Jesus stands and pleads for us." - Romans 8:33-34 -

The gracious and free act of God by which He calls those who become part of His kingdom and special beneficiaries of His love and blessings refers to Elect or Election. Election sometimes refers to the election of Israel and the Church as a people for special service and privileges. It may also refer to the election of a specific individual to some office or to perform some special service. Still others passages of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible refer to the election of individuals to be children of God and heirs of eternal life.

The anointed person belonged to God in a special sense. The phrases, "the Lord's anointed", "God's anointed", "My anointed", "Your anointed", or "His anointed" are used of king Saul - 1 Samuel 26:9,11 - king David - 2 Samuel 22:51 - and king Solomon - 2 Chronicles 6:42 - Priests, kings and prophets were anointed. Oil was poured on the head of the person being anointed. - Exodus 29:7 - Kings were set apart through the ritual of anointing which was performed by a prophet who acted in God's power and authority. - 1 Samuel 15:1 - The Old Testament also records two instances of the anointing of a prophet. - 1 Kings 19:16; Isaiah 61:1 -

In the New Testament all who are Christ's disciples are said to be anointed; they are God's very own, set apart and commissioned for service. Remember it is God himself who assures us all, and you, of our standing in Christ, and has anointed us, marking us with his seal and giving us the pledge, the Spirit, that we carry in our hearts. - 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 -

Jesus the Messiah is described as "anointed". This description is found in the Psalms of the Old Testament which prophesy the coming of Christ Jesus and in the preaching of the Apostle Peter in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. Anointing was frequently used in connection with healing. The Holy Spirit's activities in a believer's life are pictured in terms associated with anointing. Jesus' disciples anointed the sick.

So they set off to preach repentance; and they cast out many devils and anointed many sick people with oil and cured them. - Mark 6:12-13 - James instructed the elders of the church to anoint the sick with oil in the name of the Lord and pray over him. - James 5:14 - This anointing was for the purpose of healing. Anointing in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible (New Testament) also refers to the anointing of the Holy Spirit which brings understanding and knowledge.

Those rivals of Christ came out of our own number, but they had never really belonged; 

if they had belonged, they would have stayed with us;
but they left us, to prove that not one of them
ever belonged to us.
But you have been anointed by the Holy One,
and have all received the knowledge. - 1 John 2:19-20 -

But you have not lost the anointing that he gave you,
and you do not need anyone to teach you;
the anointing he gave teaches you everything:
you are anointed with the truth, not with a lie,
and as it has taught you, so you must stay in him. - 1 John 2:27 -

This anointing is not only for kings, priests and prophets; it is for everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. The anointing occurs physically with a substance such as oil, myrrh, or balsam. But this is also a spiritual anointing, as the Holy Spirit anoints a person's heart and mind with the love and truth of God.

Imprisonment of Paul and Silas 

One day as we were going to prayer, we met a slave girl who was a soothsayer [Lit. 'who had a Python-spirit', so called from the serpent Python of the ancient Delphic oracle.] and made a lot of money for her masters by telling fortunes. This girl started following Paul and the rest of us and shouting. 'here are the servants of the Most High God; they have come to tell you how to be saved!' She did this everyday, until Paul lost his temper one day and turned round and said to the spirit. 'I order you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to leave that woman'. The spirit went out of her then and there. 

When her masters saw that there was no hope of making money out of her, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them to the law courts in the market place where they charged them before the magistrates and said, 'These people are causing a disturbance in our city. They are Jews are advocating practices which it is unlawful for us as Romans to accept or follow.' [The practices referred to are Jewish, cf. 6:14; 15:1; 21:21; 26:3; 28:17; John 19:40: the accusers make no distinction between Christian and Jew. The precise charge is proselytism: though the Jews were allowed to practise their religion, they had no right to proselytise Romans. Christian propaganda was therefore against the law.] 

The crowd joined in and showed its hostility to them, so the magistrates had them stripped and ordered them to be flogged. They were given many lashes and then thrown into prison, and the gaoler was told to keep a close watch on them. So, following his instructions, he threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. - Acts 16:16-24 - 

The miraculous deliverance of Paul and Silas  

Late that night Paul and Silas were praying and singing God's praises, while the other prisoners listened. Suddenly there was an earthquake that shook the prison to its foundations. All the doors flew open and the chains fell from the prisoners. When the gaoler woke and saw the door wide open he drew his sword and was about to commit suicide, presuming that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted at the top of his voice, 'Don't do yourself any harm; we are all here.'  

The gaoler called for lights, then rushed in, threw himself trembling [This new fear comes from his realising that he has treated as criminals men who are envoys of God.'] at the feet of Paul and Silas, and escorted them out, saying, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' They told him, 'Become a believer in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, and your household too'. Then they preached the word of the Lord [Var. 'the word of God'] to him and to all his family. Late as it was, he took them to wash their wounds, and was baptised then and there with all his household. Afterwards he took them home and gave them a meal, and the whole family celebrated their conversion to belief in God. 

When it was daylight the magistrates sent the officers with the order: 'Release those men'. [Var. When it was daylight the magistrates met in the market place: remembering the earthquake that had taken place they were afraid and sent the officers to say: 'Release the men you arrested yesterday.'] The gaoler reported the message to Paul, 'the magistrates have sent an order for your release; you can go now and be on your way'. [Add. 'in peace'.] 'What' Paul replied 'They flog Roman citizens [the lex Porcia forbade (under heavy penalties) the scourging of a Roman citizen.] in public and without trial and throw us into prison, and then think they can push us out on the quiet! Oh no! They must come and escort us out themselves.' 

The officers reported this to the magistrates, who were horrified to hear the men were Roman citizens. They came and begged them to leave the town. [Alex. (and Antiochene) Text 'They came to apologise, and when they had taken them out they asked them to leave the town'. Western Text 'And going with a number of friends to the prison, they urged them to go out, saying: We had not realised what you wanted and that you were holy men. When they had taken them out, they begged them: Get out of this town in case those who shouted against you get another mob together.'] From the prison they went to Lydia's house where they saw all the brothers and gave them some encouragement; then they left. - Acts 16:25-40 -  

*** How do you think of God?

Do you think of God as Someone on a throne who sulks and pouts and becomes angry if you do not worship and glorify Him and who is happy and grateful to you when you go to Church and pray to Him?

Or do you think of God as a benevolent grandfather who is indifferent to what you do so long as you enjoy yourself?

If you hold either of these two views of God you cannot understand either why you should worship God or how God can be good if He does not let you do as you please.

Let us start with the first difficulty: Why worship God?

The word "worship" is a contraction of "worthship". It is a manifestation of the worth in which we hold another person. When you applaud an actor on the stage, or a returning hero, you are "worshiping" him. Every time a man takes off his hat to a lady, he is "worshiping" her. Now to worship God means to acknowledge in some way His Worth, His Power, His Goodness, and His Truth.

If you do not worship God, you worship something, and nine times out of ten it will be yourself. If there is no God, then you are a god; and if you are a god and your own law and your own creator, then I am an atheist. The basic reason there is so little worship of God today is because man denies he is a creature. But we have not yet answered the question: "Why should you worship God?" You have a duty to worship God, not because He will be imperfect and unhappy if you do not, but because you will be imperfect and unhappy.

If you are a father, do you not like to receive a tiny little gift, such as a penny chocolate cigar, from your son? Why do you value it more than a box of Corona Coronas from your insurance agent? If you are a mother, does not your heart find a greater joy in a handful of yellow dandelions from your little daughter, than in a bouquet of roses from a dinner guest? Do these trivialities make you richer? Do you need them? Would you be imperfect without them? They are absolutely no utility to you! And yet you love them. And why? Because by these gifts your children are "worshiping" you; they are acknowledging your love, your goodness, and by doing so they are perfecting themselves; that is, they are developing along the lines of love rather than hate, thankfulness rather than ingratitude, and therefore they are becoming more perfect children and happier children as well.

As you do not need dandelions and chocolate cigars, neither does God need your worship. But if their giving is a sign of your worth in your children's eyes, then is not prayer, adoration, and worship a sign of God's worth in our eyes? And if you do not need your children's worship, why do you think God needs yours? But if the worship of your children is for their perfection, not yours, then may not your worship of God be not for His perfection, but yours? Worship is your opportunity to express devotion, dependence, and love, and in doing that you make yourself happy.

A lover does not give gifts to the beloved because she is poor; he gives gifts because she is already in his eyes possessed of all gifts. The more he loves, the poorer he thinks his gifts are. If he gave her a million, he would still think he had fallen short. If he gave everything, even that would not be enough. On of the reasons he take price tags off his gifts is not because he is ashamed, but because he does not wish to establish a proportion between his gift and his love. His gifts do not make her more precious, but they make him less inadequate. By giving, he is no longer nothing. The gift is his perfection, not hers. Worship in like manner is our perfection, not  God's.

God would still be perfectly happy if you never existed. God has no need of your love, for there is nothing in you, of and by yourself, which makes you lovable to God. Most of us are fortunate to have even a spark of affection from our fellow creatures. God does not love us for the same reason that we love others. We loves others because of need and incompleteness. But God does not love us because He needs us. He loves us because He put some of His love in us. God does not love us because we are valuable; we are valuable because He loves us.

God thirsts for your love, not because you are His waters of everlasting life, but because you are the thirst, He the waters. He needs you only because you need Him. Without Him you are imperfect; but without you, He is still Perfect. It is the echo that needs the Voice, and not the Voice that needs the echo.

Now we come to that other misunderstanding concerning God which interprets His Goodness as indifference to justice, and regards Him less as a loving father than as a doting grandfather who likes to see His children amuse themselves even when they are breaking things, including His commandments.

Too many assume that God is good only when He gives us what we want. We are like children who think our parents do not love us because they do not give us revolvers or because they make us go to school. In order to understand goodness, we must make a distinction between getting what we 'want' and getting what we 'need'. Is God good only when He gives us what we 'want' or is He good only when gives us what we 'need' even though we do not want it? When the prodigal son left the father's house he said, "Give me." He judged his father's goodness, by the way the father satisfied his 'wants.' But when he returned a much wiser young man, he merely asked for what he 'needed': a restoration of his father's love; and hence he said: "Make me."

The thief on the left judged the goodness of Our Lord Jesus by His power to take him down from his cross; that is what he 'wanted.' The thief on the right judged the goodness of Our Lord Jesus by His power to take him into Paradise; that is what he 'needed.'

The Goodness of God means that God gives us what we 'need' for our perfection, not what we 'want' for our pleasure and sometimes for our destruction. As a sculptor, He sometimes applies the chisel to the marble of our imperfect selves and knocks off huge chunks of selfishness that His image may better stand revealed. Like a musician, whenever He finds the strings too loose on the violin of our personality, He tightens them even though it hurts, that we may better reveal our hidden harmonies. As the Supreme Lover of our soul He does care how we act and think and speak. What father does not want to be proud of his son? If the father speaks with authority now and then to his son it is not because he is a dictator, but because he wants him to be a worthy son. So long as there is love, there is necessarily a desire for the perfecting of the beloved.

And that is precisely the way God's goodness manifests itself to us. God really 'loves' us, and because He loves us He is not disinterested. He no more wants you to be unhappy than your own parents want you to be unhappy. God made you not for His happiness, but for yours, and to ask God to be satisfied with most of us as we really are is to ask that God cease to love.

Think of the thousands you have met whom you could never love. You may even wonder how their mothers could love them. But God loves them! He even loves them more than He loves us who look down on them with disdain and scorn.

If you want to know about God, there is only one way to do it: get down on your knees. You can make His acquaintance by investigation, but you can win His love only by loving. Arguments will tell you God exists, for God's existence can be confirmed by reason; but only by surrender will you come to know Him intimately.

That is one of the reasons why so many professors in secular institutions have no religion. They know about God, but they do not know God. And because they do not 'love' what they already know, because they do not act on their belief, even the little they have is taken away. They rattle the milk cans of theology but they never drink the milk. Atheism is born from the womb of a bad conscience. Disbelief comes from sin, not from reason.

This is not a broadcast about God, it is a plea to love God. Worship Him because He is your perfection, more than knowledge is the perfection of the mind. Love Him because you cannot be happy without love. Love Him quite apart from all you are, for you have the right to love Him in your heart, even though you do not always succeed in loving Him in your acts. Think a little less about whether you deserve to be loved by Him; He loves you even though you are not deserving - it is His love alone that will make you deserving. It is love that confers value. "Nobody loves me" is the equivalent of being valueless. Hence the more important the person who loves you, the more precious is your value. You are infinitely precious because you are loved by God. Most of you are unhappy because you never give God a chance to love you. You are in love only with yourself.

*** BY  VENERABLE / ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN  ( 1895 to 1979 ) 

-     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

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/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -

Your generous contribution and support is profoundly cherish. I sincerely pray that: God blessing be upon you, always. Amen! Bank transfer: Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah - Public Bank Berhad account no. 4076577113 - Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.     

PENTECOST - It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak foreign languages as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech.   

Hence, Christianity is unique among all the religions of the world. Most of them or if not all non-Christian emphasize the life of the founder, but Christianity is based on or about the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Not only is the death of Christ absolutely essential to Christianity. So is Jesus Christ Resurrection and Ascension. 

It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called 'Christians'. - The Acts of the Apostles 11:26 - In each instance, the word Christian assumes that the person called by the name was an adherent or a follower of Christ Jesus. The designation of the early believers/followers of Christ as Christians was initiated by the non-Christian population of Antioch. 

Barnabas then left for Tarsus to look for Saul, [Paul] and when he found him Barnabas brought Saul to Antioch. As things turned out they were to live together in that church [Meaning doubtful. Possibly 'they worked together', 'they were received (by the church)', that is, were guests of the church.] a whole year, instructing a large number of people. It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called "Christians". - The Acts of the Apostles 11:19-26 - 

Originally it may have been a term of derision. Eventually, however, Christians used it of themselves as a name of honour, not of shame. Prior to their adoption of the name, the Christians called themselves believers. No one else ever dared to join them, but the people were loud in their praise and the numbers of men and women who came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ increased steadily. - The Acts of the Apostles 5:12b-16 - 

* THE EARLIEST MISSIONS * About this time, when the number of disciples was increasing... - The Acts of the Apostles 6:1-7; - The Acts of the Apostles 9:1-19 - 'Christian' names which also continued to be used. In this impressive way the word of the Lord Jesus Christ spread more and more widely and successfully. - The Acts of the Apostles Chapters 6 to 19 -

They all [Here, it seems, not the apostles but all the faithful] used to meet by common consent in the Portico of Solomon. No one else ever dared to join them, but the people were loud in their praise and the numbers of men and women who came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ increased steadily. [Rather than 'More and more joined (the community) as believers in the Lord'. Cf. 11:23-24]  "The church in Jerusalem heard about this and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. There he could see for himself that God had given grace, and this pleased him, and he urges them all to remain faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ with heartfelt devotion; for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith. And a large number of people were won over to the Lord Jesus Christ." - Acts 11:22-24 - So many signs and wonders were worked among the people at the hands of the apostles that the sick were even taken out into the streets and laid on beds and sleeping-mats in the hope that at least the shadow of Peter might fall across some of them as he went past. People even came crowding in from the towns round about Jerusalem, bringing with them their sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and all of them were cured. - The Acts of the Apostles 5:12b-16 - 

Christianity is unique among all the religions of the world. Most of them or if not all non-Christian emphasize the life of the founder, but Christianity is based on and about the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Not only is the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ absolutely essential to Christianity. So is Jesus Christ Resurrection and Ascension.        

- The institution of the Seven - Acts 6:1-7 -

About this time, when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenists made a complaint against the Hebrews: in the daily distribution their own widows were being overlooked. So the Twelve called a full meeting of the disciples and addressed them, 'It would not be right for us to neglect the word of God so as to give out food; you, brothers, must select from among yourselves seven men of good reputation, filled with the Spirit and with wisdom; we will hand over this duty to them, and continue to devote ourselves to prayer and to the service of the word'. The whole assembly approved of this proposal and elected Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolaus of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 

The word of the Lord Jesus Christ continued to spread: the number of disciples and ordained lay faithful and believers in Jerusalem was greatly increased, and a large group of apostles, deacons, disciples, servants, or ministers made their submission to the faith. - The Acts of the Apostles 6:1-7 -       

- Stephen's arrest - Acts 6:8-15 - Stephen's speech - Acts 7:1-60 - The stoning of Stephen. Saul as persecutor - Acts 7:55-60, 8:1-3 - 

Stephen  was filled with grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among the people. But then certain people came forward to debate with Stephen, some from Cyrene and Alexandria who were members of the synagogue called the Synagogue of Freedmen, and others from Cilicia and Asia. They found they could not get the better of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said. So they procured some men to say, 'We heard him using blasphemous language against Moses and against God.' Having in this way turned the people against him as well as the elders and scribes, they took Stephen by surprise, and arrested him and brought him before the Sanhedrin. There they put up false witnesses to say, 'This man is always making speeches against this Holy Place and the Law. We have heard him say that Jesus the Nazarene is going to destroy this Place and alter the traditions that Moses handed down to us.' The members of the Sanhedrin all looked intently at Stephen, and his face appeared to them like the face of an angel. - The Acts of the Apostles 6:8-15 -

The high priest asked, 'Is this true?' Stephen replied, My brothers, my fathers, listen to what I have to say. The God of glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham, while he was in Mesopotamia before settling in Haran, and said to him. "Leave your country and your family and go to the land I will show you". So Abraham left Chaldaea and settled in Haran: and after his father died God made him leave Haran and come to this land where you are living today. God did not give him a single square foot of this land to call his own, yet he promised to give it to him and after him to his descendants, childless though he was.......... Then God made the covenant of circumcision: so when his son Isaac was born he circumcised him on the eighth day. Isaac did the same for Jacob, and Jacob for the twelve patriarchs.

The patriarchs were jealous of Joseph and sold him into slavery in Egypt. But God was with him, and rescued him from all miseries by making him wise enough to attract the attention of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who made Joseph governor of Egypt and put him in charge of the royal household. Then a famine came that caused much suffering throughout Egypt and Canaan, and our ancestors could find nothing to eat....... Forty years later, in the wilderness near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a bush that was on fire. Moses was amazed by what he saw. As he went nearer to look at it the voice of the Lord was heard, "I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob", Moses trembled and did not dare to look anymore........ While they were in the desert our ancestors possessed the Tent of testimony that had been constructed according to the instructions God gave Moses, telling him to make an exact copy of the pattern he had been shown....... 'You stubborn people, with your pagan hearts and pagan ears. You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Can you name a single prophet your ancestors never persecuted? In the past they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, and now you have become his betrayers, his murderers. You who had the Law brought to you by angels are the very ones who have not kept it.' They were infuriated when they heard this, and ground their teeth at him.

But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God's right hand. I can see heaven thrown open' he said 'and the Son of Man standing at the right of God.'.... As they stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit'. Then he knelt down and said aloud, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them'; and with these words Stephen fell asleep.  - The Acts of the Apostles 7:1-60 -  

But Stephen filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God's right hand. 'I can see heaven thrown open' he said 'and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.' At this all the members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with their hands; then they all rushed at Stephen, sent him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit'. Then he knelt down and said aloud, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them'; and with these words he fell asleep. Saul entirely approved of the killing. 

That day a bitter persecution started against the church in Jerusalem, and everyone except the apostles fled to the country districts of Judaea and Samaria. There were some devout people, however, who buried Stephen and made great mourning for him. Saul then worked for the total destruction of the Church: Saul went from house to house arresting both men and women and sending them to prison. - The Acts of the Apostles - 7:55-60; 8:1-3 -

 - The generosity of Barnabas - Acts 4:36-37 - There was a Levite of Cypriot origin called Joseph whom the apostles surnamed Barnabas (which means 'son of encouragement'). Barnabas owned a piece of land and sold it and brought the money, and presented it to the apostles. - 

- Foundation of the church of Antioch - Acts 11:19-26 - 

Those who had escaped during the persecution that happened because of Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, but they usually proclaimed the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, who came from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch where they started preaching to the Greeks, proclaiming the Good News of the Lord Jesus to them as well. The Lord helped them, and a great number believed and were converted to the Lord.

The church in Jerusalem heard about this and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. There he could see for himself that God had given grace, and this pleased him, for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith. And a large number of people were won over to the Lord. - The Acts of the Apostles - 11:19-26 - 

- Philip in Samaria - Acts 8:4-8 - 

Those who had escaped went from place to place preaching the Good News. One of them was Philip who went to a Samaritan town and proclaimed the Christ to them. The people united in welcoming the message Philip preached, either because they had heard of the miracles he worked or because they saw them for themselves. There were, for example, unclean spirits that came shrieking out of many who were possessed, and several paralytics and cripples were cured. As a result there was great rejoicing in that town. - The Acts of the Apostles - 8:4-8 -

- Philip baptises a eunuch - Acts 8:26-40 -

The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, 'Be ready to set at noon along the road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza, the desert road.' So Philip set off on his journey. Now it happened that an Ethiopian had been on pilgrimage to Jerusalem; he was a eunuch and an officer at the court of the kandake, or queen, of Ethiopia, and was in fact her chief treasurer. He was now on his way home; and as he sat in his chariot he was reading the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit said to Philip, 'Go up and meet that chariot'. When Philip ran up, he heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, 'Do you understand what you are reading?' 'How can I' he replied 'unless I have someone to guide me?' So he invited Philip to get in and sit by his side. Now the passage of scripture he was reading was this: 

                       Like a sheep that is led to the slaughter-house, 

                       like a lamb that is dumb in front of its shearers, 

                      like these he never opens his mouth. 

                      He has been humiliated and has no one to defend him. 

                      Who will ever talk about his descendants, 

                      since his life on earth has been cut short! 

The eunuch turned to Philip and said, 'Tell me, is the prophet referring to himself or someone else?' Starting, therefore, with this text of scripture Philip proceeded to explain the Good News of Jesus to him.

Further along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, 'Look, there is some water here, is there anything to stop me being baptised?' He ordered the chariot to stop, then Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water and Philip baptised him. But after they had come up out of the water again Philip was taken away by the Spirit of the Lord, and the eunuch never saw Philip again but went on his way rejoicing. Philip found that he had reached Azotus and continued his journey proclaiming the Good News in every town as far as Caesarea. - The Acts of the Apostles 8:26-40 -  

- The conversion of Saul - Acts 9:1-19 -

- Saul's preaching at Damascus - Acts 9:20-25 -

- Saul's visit to Jerusalem - Acts 9:26-31 -

- Peter visits a Roman centurion - Acts 10:1-33 -

- Peter's address in the house of Cornelius - Acts 10:34-43 -

- Baptism of the first pagans - Acts 10:44-48 -

The mission sent out - In the church at Antioch the following were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. One day while they were offering worship to the Lord and keeping a fast, the Holy Spirit said, 'I want Barnabas and Saul set apart for the work to which I have called them'. So it was that after fasting and prayer they laid their hands on them and sent them off. - Acts 13:1-3 - Paul separates from Barnabas, 'Let us go back and visit all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord, so that we can see how the brothers are doing'. Barnabas suggested taking John Mark,... After a violent quarrel they parted company, and Barnabas sailed off with Mark to Cyprus. Before Paul left, he chose Silas to accompany him and was commended by the brothers to the grace of God. - Acts 15:36-40 - Lycaonia: Paul recruits Timothy - He travelled through Syria and Cilicia, consolidating the churches. - Acts 15:41 - 

Apollos - An Alexandrian Jew named Apollos now arrived in Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, with a sound knowledge of the scriptures, and yet, though he had been given instruction in the Way of the Lord and preached with great spiritual earnestness and was accurate in all the details he taught about Jesus, he had only experienced the baptism of John. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him speak boldly in the synagogue, they took an interest in him and gave him further instruction about the Way. When Apollos thought of crossing over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote asking the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived there he was able by God's grace to help the believers considerably by the energetic way he refuted the Jews in public and demonstrated from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. - Acts 18:24-28 - 1 Corinthians 1:12-13; 3:3-4; 4:6 - Titus 3:12-13 -"

Deacon generally refers to a disciple, servant, or minister; an ordained lay faithful and believer of the Lord Jesus Christ. The general concept and understanding of deacon as a disciple, servant, or minister is well established in both the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible and Church history. But the exact nature of the office is difficult to define because of changing concepts and varying practices among Church bodies through the centuries. Another problem is that the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible verses, passages associated with deacons are interpreted amazingly and a little differently. For instances: The contents and of names stated and written in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible: enclosed into and are called and titled 'THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.' 

Apparently and evidently, Stephen ( the deacon ) was the first "Christian" martyr. - The Acts of the Apostles 6:8-15, 7:1-60, 8:1-3 - It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called "Christians." - The Acts of the Apostles - 11:26 - Although these men were not called deacons at that time, the Greek word used to describe their work comes from the same Greek root word.

The Greek word diakonos from which it is taken, and in most cases diakonos is translated as 'servant' rather than 'deacon.' In the Greek world, diakonos was used to describe the work of a servant - a person who waited on tables or ministered as a religious official. When the office of deacon was established in the New Testament, Church, it may have paralleled the function of the Jewish synagogue assistant - an official who took care of the administrative needs of the assembly.

While these disciples, servants, ministers, or 'table servers' were appointed to relieve an emergency and their assignment may sound somewhat menial and unimportant or insignificant. If God's willing, these men may possessed the highest moral and spirited credentials. They are usually described as 'men of good reputation' full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. - The Acts of the Apostles 6:3 -

As a result of the selection of these seven, harmony was restored in the congregation and the Church continued to grow in number and spirit. Thus, the later evangelistic work of two of these original "deacons" Stephen and Philip, serves as a role model for the spiritual ministry of deacons today.

From Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, together with their presiding elders and deacons. We wish you the grace and peace of God our Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ. - Philippians 1:1-2 -

The work of Stephen and Philip confirmed that gifted deacons became a permanent part of Church outreach to the world very early in its history. [New Testament] So convincing were Stephen's words and miracles that they were not able to resist the wisdom and Spirit by which he spoke. While some responded in faith, Stephen's zeal for Christ Jesus stirred up powerful enemies. Undaunted by false witnesses, Stephen glorified the Lord Jesus Christ even as he was put to death for his convictions.

Philip's was also an evangelist who preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, after preaching to eager crowds in Samaria, Philip witnessed to a solitary Ethiopian in the desert and baptized him.

In the early years of the Church, a difference of opinion arose about the role of deacons. Some church officials argued that no spiritual function had been assigned to deacons. But others insisted that deacons were a vital part of a church's ministry, with official duties to perform. Through the centuries deacons generally have served as assistants to the clergy in the service of the sanctuary.

In the modern Church deacons exist as a distinct lower order of the clergy in the Universal Church, and deacons are ordained laymen or laity who carry out a variety of practical and spiritual ministries that assist the Bishop or Priest. Deacons are often given administrative and financial duties, such as budgets and recommending Church programs and personnel.

Here is a saying that you can rely on: To want to be a presiding elders is to want to do a noble work. That is why the president must have an impeccable character. He must not have been married more than once, and he must be temperate, discreet and courteous, hospitable and a good teacher; not a heavy drinker, nor hot-tempered, but kind and peaceable. He must not be a lover for money. He must be a man who manages his own family well and brings his children up to obey him and well-behaved: how can any man who does not understand how to manage his own family have responsibility for the church of God?

He should not be a new convert, in case pride might turn his head and then he might be condemned as the devil was condemned. It is also necessary that people outside the Church should speak well of him, so that he never gets a bad reputation and falls into devil's trap.

In the same way, deacons must be respectable men whose word can be trusted, moderate in the amount of wine they drink and with no squalid greed for money. They must be conscientious believers in the mystery of the faith. They are to be examined first, and only admitted to serve as deacons if there is nothing against them. In the same way, the women must be respectable, not gossips but sober and quite reliable. Deacons must not have been married more than once, and must be men who manage their children and families well. Those of them who carry out their duties well as deacons will earn a high standing for themselves and be rewarded with great assurance in their work for the faith in Christ Jesus. - 1 Timothy 3:1-13 -

I wanted you to know how people ought to behave in God's family - that is, in the Church of the living God, which upholds the truth and keeps it safe. Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is very deep indeed:

                                 He was made visible in the flesh,
                                 attested by the Spirit,
                                 seen by angels,
                                 proclaimed to the pagans,
                                 believed in by the world,
                                 taken up in glory. - 1 Timothy 3:15-16 -

So, all those who are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and learn and observe all the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ are citizens like all the saints, and part of God's household. You are part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself for its main cornerstone. As every structure is aligned on Him, all grow into one holy temple in the Lord Jesus Christ; and you too, in Him, are being built into a house where God lives, in the Spirit. Amen!

- Acts 9:1-19 - The conversion of Saul / (Paul is his another Latin/Greek name) - According to the Acts of the Apostles, Saul was a Roman citizen. As such, he bore the Latin name "Paul". - "Elymas Magos - as he was called in Greek - tried to stop them so as to prevent the proconsul's conversion to the faith. (Christian) Then Saul, whose other name is Paul." - Acts 13:8-9   **God didn't change the apostle's name from Saul to Paul when the man from Tarsus became a Christian.**    

In modern times the name Christian has been somewhat emptied of its true meaning as a follower of Christ. To some today, Christian means little or nothing, however, its original meaning is a noble one.

***If the modern mind were asked what thing in the world it would like most to discover, it would probably answer: the missing link. Every now and then we hear of its discovery - but it is only a rumour. The most annoying feature of the missing link is that it is missing.

There is nothing wrong in seeking the missing link, but it does seem to be a rather absurd emphasis on the wrong thing. Why should we be so concerned about the link which binds us to the beast, and so little concerned about the link which binds us to God? Why should the deep secrets of man's being be sought in the slime of the earth, rather than in the rarefied atmosphere of the Kingdom of Heaven? Even though the link were found, it would only tell us the source of that lower part of our nature, which we have in common with beasts; but it would tell us nothing about the higher part which we have in common with God. A thing is to be judged not by that which is lowest in its makeup, but by that which is highest and noblest. So it is a far more profitable quest not to seek the link imprisoned in the dust which binds us to an animal, but rather the link suspended from Heaven, which binds us unto God.

A link or bond there must be between God and man. Human being/Man/Woman is sinful, God is holy; and there is nothing common between the two. Man/Woman is finite, God's is infinite; and there is nothing common between the two. Man is human, God is Divine; and there is nothing common between the two. By my own power I am not able to touch the ceiling of my room, but the link of a ladder would effect a union between the two. In a like manner, if there were ever to be a real communion between Heaven and earth, between God and man, there would have to be a link between the two. Those who seek the missing link between man and the animal say that the link must have something common to both. In a like manner, we who seek the link between God and man, say that the link must be both human and Divine.

Where to seek that link? In a cave? Yes! The world is right, the Cave man, but it is seeking him in the wrong cave. If we are to find the prototype of man we must seek it not in the cave of Moulin, but in the cave of Bethlehem, and the name of that Cave Man is not Pithecanthropus but Christ; the light shinning in his eyes is not the light of a beast coming to the dawn of reason, but the light of God coming to the darkness of men; the animals in the cave are not wild beasts shrieking at one who came from them, but the ox and the ass bowing down to one who came to them; the companions in the cave are not wild creatures with lifted clubs as a sign of war, but Joseph and Mary with folded hands as a symbol of peace.

In a word, Christ is the link between the finite in His human nature, infinite in His Divine, and one in the unity of His Person; missing, because men have lost Him; Pontiff, because the Bridge-Builder between earth and Heaven, for such is the meaning of Pontiff; Mediator, because the High Ambassador of God amongst men. All these names are only other ways of saying that which we forget was the life of Christ above all things else - the life of a Priest.

What is an ordained Priest? An ordained Priest is an intermediary or link between God and man. His mission is to do two things: to bring God to man by the infusion of Divine Life; and to bring man to God by redeeming man from sin. This Our Lord Jesus Christ declared was the double purpose of His coming into this world: "I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly." - John 10:10 - and "The Son of Man came, not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." - Matthew 20:28 -

The first purpose of the Priesthood of Christ is to bring God to man or Divine Life to human life. We have no right to say there is no higher life than ours, any more than the worm has a right to say there is no higher life than its life. The very fact that man is never satisfied with his mere earthly life is a proof of something beyond. Like a giant, imprisoned bird, his wings beat uneasily against the gilded cage of space and time. He has always sought to be more than he is: that is why he has ideals; that is why he has hopes; that is why the Roman emperors called themselves gods; that is why man, when he forgets the true God adores himself as god. But man can never acquire that higher life by his own power, anymore than he can change a stone into a serpent.

If he is to be possessed of a higher life, it must be given to him from above. If the animal is to live the higher life of man, it must surrender its lower existence and be reborn in man, who comes down to it to take it up as food. If man is to live the higher life of God, he must die to his lower life of the flesh and be reborn to the higher life of the Spirit who comes down to him with that Divine Life. This is the message Our Lord Jesus Christ gave the carnal minded Nicodemus who, hearing it, said: "How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he can't go into his mother's womb and be born a second time?" - John 3:4 - The Saviour replied that He meant not a fleshly birth, but that spiritual regeneration of water through which man was reborn as a child of God.

And yet how few there are who want to live it! The sweet complaint of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ at the beginning of His public life is true of our own day: "And you don't want to come to Me that you may have life... I've come in my Father's name, yet you don't receive Me." - John 5:40-43 - The result is that while the body of the modern man is fed, his soul is left to starve. Starve it will until the great inspiration of life ceases to be economics, or the science of earthly goods and begins to be theology or the science of the life of God.

The second function of the priestly life of Christ consisted not only in linking the life of God to man, but also in reconciling man to God by redeeming him from sin. Many of the emasculated lives of Christ today picture Him merely a mortal reformer, a teacher of humanitarian ethics, or a sentimental lover of birds and beasts. Our Lord Jesus Christ is primarily none of these things. He is the first and foremost a Redeemer. In that He breaks with all reformers and preachers whoever lived. Take any of them: Buddha, Plato, Confucius, Socrates, Lao-tsze - why did they come into this world? Each and everyone of them came into this world to live. But why did Our Lord Jesus Christ come into this world? He came into this world to die. It was the supreme business which engaged Him from the day of His birth: "The Son of Man" He said of Himself, "came to seek out and save what was lost." - Luke 19:10 -

Socrates, on the contrary, came into the world to teach. Hence the greatest tragedy of his life was the cup of hemlock juice which interrupted his teaching. Death was his greatest stumbling block, the one supreme obstacle and annoyance which spoiled his conversations about truth. But the Cross was not to Christ what the hemlock juice was to Socrates. It was not the interruption of His life - it was the very beginning. His teaching was not stopped by His death that proved His teaching, true.

Buddha came into the world to preach the philosophy of renunciation. He was a philosopher. His supreme business in life was solely and uniquely to explain defeat - in a certain sense of fatalism. Death spoiled his preachment about renunciation. But death to Christ was not what death was to Buddha. Both preached renunciation. Death was the end of Buddha's preaching about renunciation. Death to Christ was the renunciation. Death was the end of Buddha. But for Christ it was only the beginning.

Our Lord Jesus Christ did not walk about the earth forever telling people platitudes about truth. He was not just explaining truth, defeat resignation, sacrifice. Everyone else did this. The goal He was seeking was death. From the beginning to the end, only one vision was before His eyes - He was going to die. Not die because He could not help it, but die because He willed it. Death was not an incident in His career; it was not an accident in His plan - it was the one business He had to do. All during His redeeming life He looked forward to His redemptive death. He anticipated His blood shedding on Calvary by His circumcision at eight days of age.

At the beginning of His public ministry His presence inspired John to cry out to his disciples at the Jordan: "Here is the Lamb of God." - John 1:36 - He answered to the confession of His Divinity by Peter at Caesarea-Philippi that He "would have to suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and scribes, and be put to death and rise after three days" - Mark 8:31 - the leaden weighted days caused Him to cry out in beautiful impatience: "I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how apprehensive I am until it is accomplished!" - Luke 12:50 - To the member of the Sanhedrin who would seek a sign, Jesus foretold His death on the Cross. He answered: And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up so that everyone who believes in Him will not die but will have eternal life." - John 3:14 - To the Pharisees, who were as sheep without a shepherd, He spoke: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep... And I lay down My life for My sheep... No one takes it from Me; on the contrary, I lay it down on My own. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it up again. This is the command I've received from My Father." - John 10:11, 15, 18 -

To all men of all times who would forget that He came as Our Redeemer and Saviour, Jesus speaks the most tender words that were ever caught up on this sinful earth: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not die but have eternal life. For God didn't send His Son into the world to judge the world, but to save the world through Him." - John 3:16-17 -

But why did Death play such an important role in the Divine plan? How did Death bring man to God? Death brought man to God by blotting out the debt of sin. Man was a sinner. He could no more restore himself to the favor of God than a man who owes a million dollars can pay it with a cent, or a soldier who is mortally wounded can bind up his own wounds. Our Lord Jesus Christ willed to pay the debt of man by suffering for man, for death voluntarily undergone is the supreme proof of love. "Greater love than this no man has - to lay down his life for his friends." - John 15:13 - How can satisfaction be made, save by One whose intrinsic worth might tender some worthy offering from a boundless love to a perfect justice? How was a real reconciliation between God and man possible, unless the Reconciler had the capacity for mediating, unless He could represent God to man no less truly than man to God.

In other words He had to be a priest - a link between God and man because true God and true man. Being a man He could freely suffer and freely die but being God His suffering would have a infinite value. Sacrifice from the beginning of time has been through the shedding of blood, for sin in a certain sense is in the blood. Our Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, as man, resolved to pour it out, even to the last drop, to express at one and the same time God's hatred of sin and God's love of man. Only the righteous can adequately pay for injustice; only the perfect can discount the crimes of the brute; only the rich can cancel the debts of great debtors; only a God in His infinite Goodness can expiate the sins which man has committed against Him. Only Christ can redeem. But when He takes the Cross, the wants of the body are forgotten in the wants of love.

Why the darkened heavens? Why the rent veil in the Temple? Why the shattered rocks? Why do the dead come from their graves and walk the city of the living? Why did the sun hide its face? If Nature could have been given a tongue she would have answered that her Lord was crucified. But her convulsive homage before the Cross of Christ is as nothing when compared to a moral miracle of which the only sensible symptoms are a promise of pardon to a repentant sinner at His right. Not when Christ raised the dead, not when He rebuked the seas and the winds, not when He shone in His glory on Tabor, but when He was crucified, pierced with nails, insulted, spit upon, reproached, and reviled, did He show His power to change the heart of a thief, draw to Himself a soul that once was harder than the rocks, and in  an embrace of love promise: "Amen, I say to you, this day you'll be with Me in Paradise." - Luke 23:43 - That promise was the revelation of the depth and height of His Redemptive Power - a flash of the Eternal Lightning of the Godhead, illumining the true meaning of His humiliation as man.

He who is upright like a Priest and prostrate as a Victim is Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The day the Holy Spirit poured out the ointment of Divinity on His human nature in the sanctuary of the Virgin Womb was the day of His ordination; His teaching in Galilee and Judaea was His seminary - for what is a seminary but a place where seed is sown; the surrender of His Will in constant obedience to the Will of His Father was the offertory; the mount of Calvary where He performed the last and solemn act of His priesthood was the Cathedral; the cross suspended between Heaven and earth, in reconciliation of both, was His altar; the crimson that poured out from the precious wardrobe of His side was the royal vestment of sacrifice; the sun turning to red at the horrors it saw was the sanctuary lamp; the Body which He gave as Bread was the host; the blood which He poured out like water was the priceless wine; the separation of both by the crucifixion and the act of His will was the consecration; and His last words commending His soul to the hands of the heavenly Father was the Ite Missa est.

Would that our civilization would cease turning over the dust of the primeval jungles in search of the link that ties us to the beast, and begin to kneel before the uplifted cross on the rocks of Calvary in search of the link that binds us to God; would that the world ceased regarding Our Lord Jesus Christ only as a teacher and began to adore Him as a Priest, who brings God to man by the gift of Divine Life, and man to God by the gift of Divine pardon; would that men stopped building their bridges across the chasm of time to bind themselves to earth and began their bridges across the abyss of eternity to bind themselves to God. Then the crucifix would once more come unto its own. Then some broken heart would kneel before the crucifix even for a minute to learn the sweetest of all sweet messages - that regardless of how sinful he is, he must be worth something, since the God-Man died on a cross for love of him.

***BY  VENERABLE / ARCHBISHOP  FULTON  J.  SHEEN  ( 1895 to 1979 )

 -     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

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/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -

Your generous contribution and support is profoundly cherish. I sincerely pray that: God blessing be upon you, always. Amen! Bank transfer: Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah - Public Bank Berhad account no. 4076577113 - Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.