-  From Inquiry to Paradise  - 

I call upon you, O my God, my Mercy, who made me and who did not forget me, though I forgot you. I call you into my soul, which you prepare for your reception by the longing you inspire in it. Do not forsake me now as I call on you who anticipated me before I called, and urged me with many kinds of repeated calls, that I should hear you from afar, be converted, and call upon you, who called me.

Lord, you blotted out all my evil desserts, not recompensing the work of my hands, by which I have acted rebelliously against you. And you have anticipated all my good desserts, so as to repay the work of your hands by which you made me, because before I came to be, you were, and I was not anything to which you might grant being. And yet, behold, I am - out of your goodness, anticipating all that you made me to be, and all out of which you made me. For you had no need of me, nor am I such a good one as to be helpful to you, my Lord and God; not in serving you, as though you were fatigued in working, or lest your power may be less if it lacked my assistance. Nor is my service to you like the cultivation of land, that you should go uncultivated if I did not cultivate you. But it is that I may serve and worship you to the end that I may have well-being from you, from whom I am one capable of well-being.

For the fullness of your goodness your creation exists so that a good which could not benefit you in any way might be. That creation is not out of you nor equal to you, but it was given existence by you. For what did heaven and earth, which you made in the beginning, deserve from you? Let those spiritual and material elements which you made in your Wisdom declare what they deserve of you to make a claim - even in their inchoate and formless state, whether spiritual or physical - ready to fall away into disorder and complete unlikeness to you. The spiritual, though without form, was superior to the physical, though formed, and the physical, though without form, was better than if it were altogether nothing. Thus they would hang upon your word in formlessness unless they would hang upon your word in formlessness unless they were brought back to your Unity by the same Word, endued with form and all made very good by you, the one Sovereign Good. How did they deserve you to be even without form, since they could not even have been this except from you?

How did corporeal matter deserve you to be even invisible and without form? It would not even have been this if you had not made it, and therefore it was not and could not deserve to be made by you. Or how could the inchoate spiritual creation deserve you even to ebb and flow in darkness like the abyss and unlike you? - unless it had been turned to that by the same Word who made it and unless it had been so enlightened by that Word that it became light. Even so, it was not equal to you, yet confronted to that Image which is equal to you, yet confronted to that Image which is equal to you. For to be a body is not the same as being beautiful - else it could not be deformed. So, likewise to a created spirit, to live is not the same as living wisely - for then it would be wise unchangeably. But it is good for it always to hold fast to you, lest it should lose by turning away from you the light it has obtained by turning to you, and thus relapse into a life resembling the dark abyss.

For even we ourselves, who in respect of the soul are spiritual creatures, having turned away from you, our light in that life was sometimes darkness; and still we work amidst the relics of our darkness until in your only Son we are made your righteousness, like the mountains of God, for we have seen your judgements, which are like the great deep.

What you said in the beginning of the creation. Let there be light, and there was light, I understand to be the spiritual creation, because there was already a sort of life which you might illuminate. But just as it had no claim on you for a life that could be illuminated, so neither when it already existed, had it any claim to be enlightened. For its formless condition could not be pleasing to you until it became light. And it became light not merely by existing, but by beholding the illuminating light and cleaving to it. It follows that it owes its living, and its living happily to nothing but your grace, being turned by a change for the better toward that which cannot be changed for better or worse. That, you alone are, because you alone simply are. To you it is not one thing to live, another to live happily, because you, yourself, are your own blessedness.

What would be lacking to your goodness which you yourself are, even if things had never existed or had remained without form? You made them, not out of any need of them but out of the plenitude of your goodness, shaping them and turning them to form as though your joy were not perfected in them. For since you are perfect, their imperfections were displeasing, and so they were perfected by you, and were pleasing to you. But it was not that you were imperfect, and were to be perfected by their perfection yourself. For indeed your good Spirit moved over the surface of the waters, not borne up by them as if he rested upon them. For he causes to rest in himself those on whom your good Spirit is said to rest. But your incorruptible and unchangeable will which in itself is all-sufficient for itself was borne upon that life which you had created. To that created life, living is not the same as living blessedly, since it lives ebbing and flowing in its own darkness. There it remains, wanting to be converted to him by whom it was made, and to live more and more by the fountain of life, and in his light to see light, to be perfected, given light and made happy.

Behold, now the Trinity appears to me in a glass darkly, which you, my God, are: because you, O Father, created heaven and earth in him who is the Beginning of our wisdom, who is your Wisdom, born of yourself, equal and co-eternal with you, that is, in your Son. We have said much about the Heaven of heavens, and about the earth invisible and without form, and about the dark abyss in reference to the wandering defects of its spiritual deformity. When the heaven of heavens turned to him from whom it had its first degree of life and was illuminated by him, it became a beauteous life, the heaven of that heaven which afterwards was set between water and water.

Under the name of God, I now understand the Father, who made these things; and under the name of the Beginning, I understand the Son, in whom he made these things; and believing, as I did, my God as the Trinity, I searched further in his holy words, and lo! your Spirit moved above the waters. Behold the Trinity: my God, Father Son and the Holy Spirit, Creator of all creation!

But why was it, O true-speaking Light - I lift up my heart to you: do not let me vanities; dispel its darkness and tell me, I beseech you, by your mighty charity, tell me the reasons, I beseech you - why was it that your Scripture should then at long last refer to your Spirit after the mention of heaven and of the earth invisible and formless, and darkness upon the abyss? Was it because it was appropriate that he should be spoken of as 'moving above', and this could not be said unless that were first mentioned upon which your Spirit could be understood to have moved? For he did not move over the Father nor the Son, and he could not have been described as moving above [or upon] if he were moving upon nothing. First, then, that over which he might move was described, and then he was mentioned, whom it is not proper to describe otherwise than as moving upon. But why was it not fitting that our knowledge of him should be conveyed otherwise, than as moving upon?

Let him who is able, now follow with his understanding the words of your apostle, where he says, Because your love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us, and where, concerning spiritual gifts, he teaches and shows us a more excellent way of charity; and where he bows his knee to you for us, that we may know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. Thus from the beginning he who is above all moved upon the waters.

To whom shall I tell this? How can I speak of the weight of evil desires, pressing downwards to the steep abyss? And how charity rises up again through your Spirit who moved upon the waters? For we are not immersed in space nor emerge from it. What can be more similar, and yet more dissimilar? They are the feelings, the love of cares, that we may lift our hearts to you, is your Spirit moving upon the waters, that we may come at last to that surpassing rest, when our soul shall have passed through the waters which are without substance.

Angels fell, the soul of man fell, and by this they have pointed out the abyss in that dark depth. That abyss was ready for the whole spiritual creation, if you had not said from the beginning, let there be light, and there was light, and if every obedient intelligence of your heavenly City had not clung to you and rested in your Spirit-moving unchangeably over everything changeable. Otherwise, even the heaven of heavens would have been in itself  a dark abyss; but now it is light in the Lord. For even in that miserable restlessness of the spirits who fell away, and when stripped of the garments of your light, discovered their own darkness, you sufficiently reveal how noble you made the rational creation, to which nothing less than you will suffice to produce a happy rest. It is not a rest even to itself. For you, O God, shall lighten our darkness. From you shall come our garments of light; and then our darkness shall be as the noonday.

Give yourself to me, O my God. Restore yourself to me. Behold I love you, and if it be too little, let me love you more strongly. I cannot measure my love, so that I may know how much love there is yet lacking in me before my life can run to your embrace and not to be turned away, until it is hidden in the secret place of your Presence. This only I know: that woe is me except in you - not only outwardly, but also within myself. And all plenty that is not my God is poverty to me.

But were neither the Father nor the Son moving upon the waters? If this means in space, like a body, then neither was the Holy Spirit. But if it means the unchangeable supremacy of Divinity above all changeable things, then both the Father and Son and the Holy Spirit moved upon the waters. Why, then, is this said of your Spirit only? Why is it said only to him, as though he had been in space, who is not spatial, or whom only it is written that he is your gift? In your gift we rest. There we enjoy you. Our rest is our place. Love lifts us up to it, and your good Spirit lifts up our lowliness from the gates of death. In your good pleasure lies our peace. The body by its own weight gravitates towards its own place. Weight does not bring it necessarily to the lowest place, but to its own place; fire tends upwards, a stone downwards. They are propelled by their own weights; they seek their own places. Oil poured under water rises above the water. Water poured on oil sinks under the oil. They are propelled by their own weights, they seek their own places. Out of order, they are restless; restored to order, they are at rest.

My weight is my love. By it I am carried wherever I am carried. By your Gift we are inflamed and carried upwards. We glow inwardly and go forwards. We ascend the upward way in our hearts and sing a song of degrees. We glow inwardly with your fire, with your good fire as we go, because we go upwards to the peace of Jerusalem; for I was glad when they said to me, "We will go up to the house of the Lord." There your good pleasure has placed us, that we may desire nothing else but to dwell there for ever.

Blessed creation! [The spiritual heaven of heavens.] Although it was not what you are, it never had the experience of being anything else. It would have been something else if it had not, as soon as it was made, without any interval of time, been exalted by your Gift, the Spirit, which is borne aloft above all changeable things. In virtue of that call you said to it, "Let there be light," and so it was made light.

On the other hand, this process took place in us at different times - in that we were once darkness, and now have been made light. But of that heaven of heavens the only thing said is what would have been if it had not been illuminated. And this is so spoken as if it had been unsettled and dark before, so that the cause by which it was made to be otherwise might be clear, namely, that being turned to the unfailing Light, it became light. 

Whoever is able, let him understand this. Let him ask of you. Why should he trouble me, as though I could enlighten any one who comes into this world?

Which of us understands the almighty Trinity? And yet who does not speak of It, if it really is It he speaks of? It is a rare soul who knows what he is speaking of when he speaks. Men contend and strive; yet no one sees that vision without peace. I would wish that men would consider the trinity they have in themselves. These three are indeed far different from the Trinity, but I merely tell them so that they may exercise and test themselves, and see how far they are from that Trinity.

Now the three things I speak of are, To be, to know, and to will. For I am, and I know and I will; I am knowing and willing; I know myself to be and to will; I will to be and to know. In these three, then, let him see how inseparable a life there is - yes, one life, one mind, and one essence; yes, finally, how inseparable a distinction there is - and yet a distinction. Surely a man has this distinction in front of him. Let him look into himself and see, and tell me. But when he discovers and can say anything about these, let him not think then that he has found that Trinity which is above these, the Unchangeable who is unchangeably, and knows unchangeably and wills unchangeably; and whether on account of these three (being, knowing and willing) there is also a Trinity, or whether these three are in each Person (so that the three belong to Each), or whether both things are true at once, wondrously, simply and yet diversely, in It self a limit unto Itself, yet illimitable (so that the trinity is, and is known to Itself, and suffices in Itself, unchangeable, the Selfsame in the abundant greatness of Its Unity) - who can readily conceive? Who could in any way express it? And who would in any rash way make a pronouncement on it?

Proceed in your confession, my faith. Say to the Lord your God, "Holy, Holy, Holy, O Lord my God; we have been baptized in your name, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; in your name we baptize, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, because among us also God in his Christ made heaven and earth, namely, the spiritual and carnal people of his Church. Yes, and our earth, before it received the 'form of doctrine', was invisible and without form, and we were covered with the darkness of ignorance For you chastened man for iniquity and your judgements were a great abyss. But because your Spirit moved upon the waters, your mercy did not forsake our misery, and you said, "Let there be light!" And because our soul was troubled within us, from the land of Jordan we remembered you and that mountain - high and holy but lowly for our sakes - and displeased with our darkness we turned to you, and there was light. And behold, we were sometimes darkness, but now we are light in the Lord. 

But as yet we walk by faith and not by sight, for we are saved by hope; but hope that is seen is not hope. As yet deep calls unto deep, but now in the noise of your waterfalls. As yet Paul who says I could not speak to you as to spiritual ones, but only as unto carnal, even he does not think himself  to have apprehended, but forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those things which are before, groans being burdened. And his soul thirsts after the living God, as the hart after the water brooks, and says, "When shall I come?" desiring to be clothed upon with his house which is from heaven. And he calls upon this lower deep, saying, Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,.......  -   P A G E   O N E   -

BY  SAINT  AUGUSTINE  OF  HIPPO

-   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 -

John is the author of the Book of Revelation, in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. Apostle/Saint John first vision is of the Lord Jesus Christ standing in the midst of His Church with eyes like fire, that is, All-Seeing, and feet like fine brass, that is, All-Powerful, and hair like wool, white as snow, that is, Eternal and All-Knowing and with a sharp two-edged sword coming out of His mouth, that is: The Word of Truth.

Very soon now, I (The Lord Jesus Christ) shall be with you again, bringing the reward to be given to every man/woman according to what he/she deserves. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Happy are those who will have washed their robes clean, so that they will have the right to feed on the tree of life and can come through the gates into the city. - Revelation 22:12-14 - 

Hence, the Book of Revelation begins with the words: This is not a book of revelations, but of one revelation - The Lord Jesus Christ -  "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" - Revelation 1:1 -

The early Universal Church, however, held to the conviction that Moses wrote the first book of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. Placed at the opening of the Hebrew Scriptures, Genesis is the first of the five Book of Moses, known as the PENTATEUCH. Moses may have finished writing the Book of Genesis not long before his death on Mount Nebo. - Deuteronomy Chapter 34 -

In such a crucial historical context, the message of the Book of Genesis would have been of tremendous spiritual help to its first hearers. That is: the 'creation of the world', 'the beginnings of sin and disobedience', 'the principle of judgement and deliverance', the scattering of the nations', 'the call and covenant God made with Abraham', and 'the checkered careers of the first descendants of Abraham'.

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

Pentateuch is a Greek term meaning 'five-volume' which refers to the first five books of the Old Testament, (1) Book of Genesis, (2) Book of Exodus, (3) Book of Leviticus, (4) Book of Numbers and (5) Book of Deuteronomy. The Jews traditionally refer to this collection as 'the Book of the Law' or simply 'the Law'. Another word for this collection, 'Torah' apparently means 'instruction, teaching or doctrine.' It describes such basic sections of the Pentateuch as Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy.

This ancient division of the Law into five sections is supported by the 'Septuagint' a third century B.C. translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek, and also by the Samaritan Pentateuch which is even earlier. The five books together present a history of humanity from creation to the death of Moses, with particular attention to the development of the Hebrew people. The activity of God receives special emphasis throughout, and the Pentateuch reveals a great deal about God's nature and His purposes for mankind.

The Pentateuch is generally divided into six major sections: (1) the creation of the world and its inhabitants - Book of Genesis: Chapter1 to Chapter 11 - (2) the period from Abraham to Joseph - Book of Genesis: Chapter 12 to Chapter 50 - (3) Moses and the departure of the Israelites from Egypt - Book of Exodus: Chapter 1 to Chapter 18 - (4) God's revelation at Sinai - Book of Exodus: Chapter 19 to Book of Numbers: Chapter 10 - (5) the wilderness wanderings - Book of Numbers: Chapter 11 to Chapter 36 - (6) the addresses of Moses - Book of Deuteronomy: Chapter 1 to Chapter 34 -

From the time it was written, the Pentateuch was consistently accepted as the work of Moses. His specific writing or compiling activity is mentioned in the Pentateuch - Book of Exodus  Chapter 17:14; 24:4; 34:27 - while in the post-exilic writings the Law or Torah, was often attributed directly to Moses. - Book of Nehemiah 8:1; Book of 2 Chronicles Chapter 25:4; 35:12 - This tradition was supported by Christ Jesus in the New Testament times.

Now about the dead rising again, have you never read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the Bush, how God spoke to him and said: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is God, not of the dead, but of the living. You are very much mistaken. - Mark 12:26-27; Exodus 3:6 -

Jesus answered, 'One work I did, and you are all surprised by it. Moses ordered you to practice circumcision - not that it began with him, it goes back to the patriarchs - and you circumcise on the Sabbath. Now if a man can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses is not broken, why are you angry with me for making a man whole and complete on a Sabbath? Do not keep judging according to appearances; let your judgment be according to what is right.' - John 7: 21-24 -

The Pentateuch was also called the Law of the Lord - 2 Chronicles 31:3; Luke 2:22-24 - and the Book of the Law of God. - Nehemiah 8:18 - The word book should not be understand in its modern sense, for several different writing materials were used by Old Testament scribes, including papyrus and leather scrolls or sheets, pieces of broken pottery, clay tablets and stone. The word book has two important usages in connection with the Law. First, it indicates that the material referred to was in written form at an early period. Second, it shows the combination of divine authorship and human transmission that gave the Law its supreme authority and made it The Book for the ancient Hebrews.

The Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch was accepted without question for centuries by both Jews and Christians. Occasionally, the account of Moses' death was questioned - Deuteronomy 34:5-8 - but in the Jewish Talmud, a collection of rabbinical laws and interpretations of the Torah, the section was said to have been written by Joshua. In the Middle Ages Jewish and Christian scholars began to point to supposed contradictions and insertions in the Law, some of the latter being credited to Ezra.

In spite of these objections, most people believed unquestioningly in Moses as the author. However, in the 19th century the Book of Deuteronomy began to be regarded as the Law Scroll found in the time of Joshua and written about that period. - 2 Kings 22:3-10 - The view of the compilation of the Pentateuch has had its critics at every stage. The Ebla Tablet discoveries show that a sophisticated language was in use in the ancient world about 2500 B.C. And it is now known that all priestly pronouncements dealing with social organization in the ancient world are always early rather than late, because priests were originally responsible for such matters. Furthermore, exhaustive comparative studies have shown that no other composition of the ancient Near East was assembled in the manner that liberal scholars claimed was the case with the Pentateuch. Archaeological and linguistic studies have confirmed many old customs recorded in the Pentateuch. These discoveries have provided an excellent background against which we can understand the Law of Moses.

To date, no articles that would prove the existence of such persons as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have been recovered. But if the traditions about nature and location of the cave of Machpelah are correct, we know the actual burial place of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Jacob. Studies in Genesis have shown that the book was compiled from genuine literary sources. But these are vastly different from those imagined by liberal scholarship. Generally speaking, the liberal view has failed to take account of ancient methods of compiling and transmitting information. Liberal scholars have supposed that Western editorial methods can be applied equally well to Near Eastern compositions which is simply not true.

Whereas the 19th century critics relied heavily upon the handing down of material by word of mouth [oral and written tradition] subsequent studies have shown that anything of importance in the ancient world was written down when it happened or shortly afterward. Furthermore, this record was quite independent of any verbal accounts passed on to later generations. Not all written or spoken material survived, of course; but it is enough to provide us with the Pentateuch, as well as other Sacred Scriptures. Any suggestion that the five books of Moses are basically fraudulent in nature, not actually having been compiled or written by Moses, is contrary to Jewish tradition, as well as the nature of God as revealed in the Torah.

The true of all scriptural/biblical prophecy, God's Word comes to a particular situation; but it yields a harvest to now and latest generations as they receive it. Therefore, 'Revelation' assures us that God is present, purposeful, and powerful today, tomorrow and days to come; no matter what forms the beast may take.

The Beast or Satan influence in earthly and worldly affairs is clearly revealed in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible and in our everyday, earthly and worldly lives/life. Indeed, Satan is permitted to afflict God's people. But he is never permitted to win an ultimate victory over them. Satan nature is malicious. Satan leads people into sin by various methods, and of the method used by Satan in carrying out his evil work, none is more characteristic than 'Temptation'. Satan brings disorder into the physical world by afflicting human beings. At times he opposes the work of God by violent means, and disguise themselves as messengers of God. Along with his work of tempting mankind, Satan delights in deception. The great falsehood which Satan uses so frequently is that, good can be attained by doing wrong or sinning, that is, sin against God. As a great deceiver, Satan is an expert at falsifying truth.

As God permitted: Strength for a Christian's victory over sin has been provided through the death of Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Now my soul is troubled.
What shall I (The Lord Jesus Christ) say;
Father, save me from this hour?
But it was for this very reason that I have come to this hour.
Father, glorify your name!

A voice came from heaven, 'I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.' People standing by, who heard this, said it was a clap of thunder; others said, 'It was an angel speaking to him.' Jesus answered, 'It was not for my sake that this voice came, but for yours.'

'Now sentence is being passed on this world;
now the prince of this world is to be overthrown.
And when I am lifted up from the earth,
I shall draw all men to myself.' - John 12:27-32 -

By these words Jesus indicated the kind of death he would die. - John 12:33 -

I (The Lord Jesus Christ) have told you all this
so that you may find peace in me.
In the world you will have trouble,
but be brave:
I (The Lord Jesus Christ) have conquered the world. - John 16:33 -

Many people have trouble admitting the existence of such an enemy as Satan. Thus, many people wonder why God would allow Satan, this great embodiment of evil, to exist in His creation. No completely satisfying answer to this question has been found. Perhaps God allows it to show that evil and wrongdoing do not provide the key to the ultimate meaning of life which man/woman so desperately desires.

In the Old Testament, Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:11-19 furnish a picture of Satan's original condition and the reasons for his loss of position. These passages were addressed originally to the kings of Babylon and Tyre. But in the long range implications, they were refer to Satan himself. They tell of an exalted angelic being, one of God's creatures who became proud and ambitious. He determined to take over the throne of God to himself. Hence, God removed him from his position of great dignity and honour. Building up upon this foundation - Revelation Chapter 12 sketches the further stages in Satan's work of evil. In his fall from God's favor, Satan persuaded one third of the angels to join him in his rebellion.

How did you come to fall from the heavens,
Daystar, son of Dawn?
How did you come to be thrown to the ground,
you who enslaved the nations?
You who used to think to yourself,
"I will climb up to the heavens;
and higher than the stars of God
I will set my throne.
I will sit on the Mount of Assembly
in the recesses of the north.
I will climb to the top of thunderclouds,
I will rival the Most High."
What! Now you have fallen to Sheol
to the very bottom of the abyss! - Isaiah 14:12-15 -

Demons is another name for fallen angels who joined the kingdom of Satan in rebellion against God. The New Testament speaks of the fall and later imprisonment of a group of angels. The group that participated in the fall apparently followed one of their own number, Satan. The fall occurred before God's CREATION of the world, leaving Satan and his evil angels free to contaminate the human race with wickedness. - "When angels sinned, God did not spare them: he sent them down to the underworld and consigned them to the dark underground caves to be held there till the day of Judgement." - 2 Peter 2:4 - 

Next let me remind you of the angels who had supreme authority but did not keep it and left their appointed sphere; God has kept them down in the dark, in spiritual chains, to be judged on the great day. The fornication of Sodom and Gomorrah and the other nearby towns was equally unnatural, and it is a warning to us that they are paying for their crimes in eternal fire. - Genesis Chapter 3 - 

I should like to remind you - though you have already learnt it once and for all - how the Lord rescued the nation from Egypt, but afterwards he still destroyed the men who did not trust him. Next let me remind you of the angels who had supreme authority but did not keep it and left their appointed sphere; he has kept them down in the dark, in spiritual chains, to be judged on the great day. The fornication of Sodom and Gomorrah and the other nearby towns was equally unnatural, and it is a warning to us that they are paying for their crimes in eternal fire. - Jude 6-7 -

"The great dragon, the primeval serpent, known as the devil or Satan, who had deceived all the world, was hurled down to the earth and his angels were hurled down with him." - Revelation 12:9 - "Next God will say to those on his left hand, "Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." - Matthew 25:41 - 

Thus heaven and earth were completed with all their array. On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing. God rested on the seventh day after all the work he had been doing. God blessed the seventh day and make it holy, because on that day he had rested after all his work of creating. Such were the origins of heaven and earth when they were created. 

- The second account of the creation. Paradise - At the time when Yahweh God made earth and heaven there was as yet no wild bush on the earth nor had any wild plant yet sprung up, for Yahweh God had not sent rain on the earth, nor was there any man to till the soil. However, a flood was rising from the earth and watering all the surfaced of the soil. Then he breathed into his nostrils a breath of life, and thus man became a living being.

Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden which is in the East, and there he put the man he had fashioned. Yahweh God caused to spring up from the soil every kind of tree, enticing to look at and good to eat, with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden. A river flowed from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided to make four streams. The first is named Pishon, and this encircles the whole land of Havilah where there is gold. The gold of this land is pure; bdellium and onyx stone are found there. The second is named the Gihon, and this encircles the whole land of Cush. The third river is named the Tigris, and this flows to the east of Ashur. The fourth river is Euphrates. Yahweh God took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden to cultivate and take care of it. Then Yahweh God gave the man this admonition, 'You may eat indeed of all the trees in the garden. Nevertheless of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you are not to eat, for on the day you eat of it you shall most surely die. 

Yahweh God said, 'It is not good that the man should be alone, I will make him a helpmate.' So from the soil Yahweh God fashioned all the wild beasts and all the birds of heaven. These God brought to the man to see what he would call them; each one was to bear the name the man would give it. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of heaven and all the wild beasts. But no helpmate suitable for man was found for him. So Yahweh God made the man fall into deep sleep. And while he slept, God took one of his ribs and enclosed it in flesh. Yahweh God built the rib he had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man. The man exclaimed:

'This at last is bone from my bones, 

and flesh from my flesh!

This is to be called woman,

for this was taken from man.'

This is why a man leaves his father and mother and joins himself to his wife, and they become one body. Now both of them were naked, the man and his wife, but they felt no shame in front of each other. - Genesis 2:1-25 -

Pagan worship is also related to demon activity in the Old Testament. Demons and devils delight in making heathen idols the focus of their activities. "Serving the pagans' idols, they found themselves trapped into sacrificing their own sons and daughters to demons." - Psalms 106:37 - Hence, "Yahweh God commanded Moses and imposed 'The Law Of Holiness' Yahweh spoke to Moses; God said: They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the satyrs in whose service they once prostituted themselves. This is a perpetual law for them and for the descendants." - Leviticus 17:7 - 

The New Testament accepts the Old Testament teaching about demons, evil spirit and advances the doctrine significantly. Demons are designated in a number of different ways in the New Testament. Quite frequently they are called 'unclean spirits'. Another descriptive phrase for them is 'wicked or evil spirit'. Apostle/Saint Paul calls them 'deceiving spirits'. John refers to 'the spirit of falsehood or error' and in Revelation it is refers to 'demons spirit'. Satan himself is never referred to as a demon, is the one called Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek and he was a fallen angelic leader. Legion is probably a collective name for a group of demons, devils and evil one rather than the name of a single one. 

The Lord Jesus Christ summoned his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, the one who was to betray Jesus. - Matthew 10:1-4 -

'Come out of the man, unclean spirit'. 'What is your name?' Jesus asked. 'My name is legion,' he answered 'for there are many of us.' And he begged Jesus earnestly not to send them out of the district. Now there was there on the mountainside a great herd of pigs feeding, and the unclean spirits begged him, 'Send us to the pigs. let us go into them'. So Jesus gave them leave. With that, the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs, and the herd of about two thousand pigs charged down the cliff into the lake, and there they were drowned. - Mark 5:9-13 -

"It was just then that he cured many people of diseases and afflictions and of evil spirits, and gave the gift of sight to many who were blind. Then Jesus gave the messengers their answer, 'Go back and tell John the Baptist what you have seen and heard: the blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the dear hear, the dead are raised to life, the Good News is proclaimed to the poor and happy is the man/woman who does not lose faith in me.'" - Luke 7:21-23; 8:30 -   

"A disciple called Ananias who lived in Damascus had a vision in which he heard the Lord say to him, 'Ananias!' When he replied, 'Here I am, Lord', the Lord said, 'You must go to Straight Street and ask at the house of Judas for someone called Saul, who comes from Tarsus. At this moment, he is praying, having had a vision of a man called Ananias coming in and laying hands on him to give him back his sight.'

When he heard that, Ananias said, 'Lord, several people have told me about  this man and all the harm he has been doing to your saints in Jerusalem. He has only came here because he holds a warrant from the chief priests to arrest everybody who invokes your name.' The Lord replied, 'You must go all the same, because this man is my chosen instrument to bring my name before pagans and pagan kings and before the people of Israel. I myself will show him how much he himself must suffer for my name'. Then Ananias went. He entered the house, and at once laid his hands on Saul/Paul and said, 'Brother Saul/Paul, I have been sent by the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on your way here so that you may recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit'. Immediately, it was as though scales fell away from Saul's/Paul's eyes and he could see again. So he was baptised there and then, and after taking some food he regained his strength." - Acts 19:10-19 - 

The Spirit has explicitly said that during the last times there will be some who will desert the faith and choose to listen to deceitful spirits and doctrines that come from the devils. - 1 Timothy 4:1 - 

As their leader they had their emperor, the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, or Apollyon in Greek. And in fact were demon spirits, able to work miracles, going out to all the kings of the world to call them together for the war of the Great Day of God the Almighty. - Revelation 9:11, 16:14 -

A prime purpose of Jesus' earthly ministry was to overcome the power of Satan. This included His conquest of the demonic realm. This explains the fierce conflict between Jesus and these demons, devils, evil and unclean spirits while He was on earth or in the world. "Knowing what was in their minds Jesus said to them, 'Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin; and no town, no household divided against itself can stand. Now if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; so how can his kingdom stand? And if it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils, through whom do your own experts cast them out? Let them be your judges, then. But if it is through the Spirit of God that I cast devils out, then know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you. Or again, how can anyone make his way into a strong man's house and burgle his property unless he has tied up the strong man first? Only then can he burgle his house." - Matthew 12:25-29 - "So Jesus called them to him and spoke to them in parables, 'How can Satan cast out Satan?....... 'I tell you solemnly, all men's sins will be forgiven, and all their blasphemies; but let anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and he/she will never have forgiveness: he/she is guilty of an eternal sin.'" - Mark 3:23-30 - "Others asked Jesus, as a test, for a sign from heaven; but, knowing what they were thinking, Jesus said to them, 'Every kingdom divided itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses. So too with Satan: if he is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand?.............. He/She who is not with me is against me; and he/she who does not gather with me scatters." - Luke 11:17-23 - 

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

Yet Jesus' enemies accused Him of being in alliance with Satan kingdom. The same accusation was made against His forerunner, John the Baptist. But Jesus' works of goodness and righteousness showed that these claims were false, distorted, deceptive and unfounded.

Following the resurrection of Jesus and His return to heaven, these demonic principalities and powers have continued their warfare against those who are His apostles, disciples and followers. In all certainty, Satan and his allies will finally be overthrown by God. After Christ Jesus returns, the devil and his false angels will be defeated and thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone. This is a doom with which demons are quite familiar. God will be the ultimate victory in this conflict which has been going on since the beginning of time. In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ had already won and overcome death [the Satan] through His Passion, Death, Resurrection, Ascension, and by sending the Holy Spirit to dwells among His chosen one and allows us [the baptized] to be in His Presence through the institution of 'The Holy Eucharist'.

'But you,' he said 'who do you say I am?' Then Simon Peter spoke up, 'You are the Christ,' he said, "the Son of the living God". Jesus replied, 'Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. - Matthew 16:16-18 -

For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:38-39 -

Finally, grow strong in the Lord, with strength of his power. Put God's armour on so as to be able to resist the devil's tactics. For it is not against human enemies that we have to struggle but against the Sovereignty and the Powers who originate the darkness in this world, the spiritual army of evil in the heavens. That is why you must rely on God's armour or you will not be able to put up any resistance when the worst happens or have enough resources to hold your ground. - Ephesians 6:10-13 -

When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive all the nations in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, and mobilise them for war. His armies will be as many as the sands of the sea; they will come swarming over the entire country and besiege the camp of the saints which is the city that God loves. But the fire will come down on them from heaven and consume them. Then the devil who misled them, will be thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet are, and their torture will not stop, day or night, forever and ever. - Revelation 20:7-10 -

According to the Holy Bible/Sacred Scripture: Only part of the fallen angels took part in the wickedness at the time of the Flood. - Genesis 6:1-4 - These were the ones who were imprisoned. God left the rest to try to undermine the cause of righteousness in the world. A symbolic view of this 'initial' fall appears in Revelation 12:3-4 where the dragon (a symbol for Satan) 'its tail dragged a third of the stars from the sky and dropped them to the earth' (a symbol for angels) Thus, Satan has his own angels, presumably these demons. - Matthew 25:41; Revelation 12:9 -

The Old Testament contains little information about demons because the Jews believed God's power was unlimited, infinity. The primitive status of the understanding of demons during this time is perhaps reflected in the way the Old Testament relates the fallen angels to God. It was a "distressing spirit from God" - 1 Samuel 16:15-16, 23 - that brought great distress to Saul the king. It was a 'lying spirit' from the Lord about whom Micaiah, the prophet of the Lord, spoke. - 1 Kings 22:21-23 -

-   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.

*** UNLESS SOULS ARE SAVED, NOTHING IS SAVED; THERE CAN BE NO WORLD PEACE UNLESS THERE IS SOUL PEACE. World wars are only projections of the conflicts waged inside the souls of modern men and women, for nothing happens in the external world that has not first happened within a soul. During World War II, His Holiness, Pope Pius XIII said that postwar humanity would be more changed than the map of postwar Europe. It is this postwar frustrated human or the modern soul, who interests us in this volume.

Such a person is, as the Holy Father predicted, unlike the people of earlier periods. For one thing, the modern soul no longer looks to find God in nature. In other generations, man, gazing out on the vastness of creation, the beauty of the skies, and the order of the planets, deduced the power, the beauty, and the wisdom of the God Who created and sustained that world. But modern man, unfortunately, is cut off from that approach by several obstacles.

He/She is impressed less with the order of nature than he is with the disorder of his/her own mind, which has become his/her main preoccupation; atomic and nuclear [warfare] has destroyed his awe of a nature that can now manipulated so as to destroy other people or even to commit cosmic suicide; and, finally, the science of nature is too impersonal for this self-centered age. The old approach not only makes a man a mere spectator of reality, instead of its creator, but also demands that the personality of the seeker after truth shall not intrude itself in investigation. But it is the human personality, not nature, that really interests and troubles people today.

This change in our times does not mean that the modern soul has given up the search for God, but only that is has abandoned the more rational - and even more normal - way of finding Him. Not the order in the cosmos, but the disorder in themselves; not the visible things of the world, but the invisible frustrations, complexes, and anxieties of their own personality - these are modern humanity's starting point when people turn questioningly toward religion. In happier days, philosophers discussed the problem of man; now they discuss man as a problem.

Through his scepticism the modern man/woman is thrown back upon himself/herself; his/her energies flow toward their source and wash to the surface those psychic contents that are at all times there, but lie hidden in the silt as long as the stream flows smoothly in its course. How totally different did the world appear to medieval man! For him, the earth was eternally fixed and at rest in the center of the universe, encircled by the course of a sun that solicitously bestowed its warmth.

Men/Women were all children of God under the loving care of the Most High, who prepared them for eternal blessedness; and all knew exactly what they should do and how they should conduct themselves in order to rise from a corruptible world to an incorruptible and joyous existence. Such a life no longer seems real to us, even in our dreams. Natural science has long ago torn this lovely veil to shreds. That age lies as far behind as childhood, when one's own father was unquestionably the handsomest and strongest man on earth.

Formerly, humanity lived in a three dimensional universe where, from an earth one inhabited with one's neighbour, one looked forth to heaven above and to hell below. Forgetting God, a person's vision has lately been reduced to a single dimension; one now thinks of one's activity as limited to the surfaced of the earth - a plane whereon one moves nor up to God or down to Satan, but only to the right or to the left. The old theological division, of those who are in the state of grace and those who are not, has even way to the political separation of rightist and leftist. The modern soul has definitely limited its horizons; having negated the eternal destinies, it has even lost its trust in nature, for nature without God is traitorous.

Where can the soul go, now that a roadblock has been thrown up against every external outlet? Like a city that has all its outer ramparts seized, a person must retreat inside himself. As a body of water that is blocked turns back upon itself, collecting scum, refuse, and silt, so the modern soul (which has none of the goals or channels of the Christian) backs upon itself and in that choked condition collects all the sub-rational, instinctive, dark, unconscious sediment that would never have accumulated had there been the normal times.

People now find that they are locked up within themselves, their own prisoner. Jailed by self, they now attempt to compensate for the loss of the three dimension universe of faith by finding three new dimensions within their own mind. Above their ego, their conscious level, they discover, in the place of heaven, an inexorable tyrant whom they call the superego. Below their consciousness, in place of hell, they substitute a hidden world of instincts and urges, primitive longings and biological needs, which they call the id.

This conception of the human person as consisting of three layers or regions has been emphasized by Sigmund Freud. It forms an essential element in the psychoanalytic doctrine of human nature. The most important feature of this doctrine is the belief that one's conscious mental life, one's experiences, and one's conduct are determined, not by what one knows, feels, or intends, but by forces largely hidden from one's consciousness. The ego, or consciousness, is only the battlefield where an incessant war is fought between a person's biological, primitive urges and the powers embodied in the superego.

These power take the place of conscience, they originate, not in an awareness of a natural law and of a person's obligation in face of the divine law, but from social pressure, environmental influences brought to bear on the plastic mind of the small child. Because the fulfillment of the primitive urge is placed under control by society (as in the training of toilet habits), this urges become "frustrated."

Their original aims cannot persist in our consciousness because of their intolerable conflict with environmental standards. Thereby, they become "repressed." The child thus takes over all laws, viewpoints, and values of the adult world when he accepts these standards as his own. He does this by identifying himself with the person whom he would view as an antagonist in a primitive society. Thus, the superego arises and acquires its contents - the rules, taboos, and ideals that happen to be those of the child's surrounding world.

According to such a modern conception of the subjective life, the human appears as a captive within his own mind and as a victim of forces that he or she cannot recognize. To free themselves, if that be possible, the person must know more about their prison. This is one reason for the great popularity psychiatry enjoys today. This science promises to explain humans to themselves, to enable them to cope better with their tragic situation. A certain type of psychiatry tries to explain man by a theory that the conscious is devoid of value, that only through the unconscious may modern man/woman hope to discover a way out of his/her unhappiness.      

*** BY  VENERABLE  FULTON  J.  SHEEN 

God has made Himself known to all people everywhere in the marvel of nature and in the human conscience which is able to distinguish right from wrong, truth from false and sin, because this knowledge is universal and continuous, by it God has displayed His glory to everyone. "The heavens declare the glory of God, the vault of heaven proclaims his handy works; day discourses of it to day, night to night hands on the knowledge. No utterance at all, no speech, no sound that anyone can hear; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their message to the ends of the world. High above, he pitched a tent for the sun, who comes out of his pavilion like a bridegroom, exulting like a hero to run his race. He has his rising on the edge of heaven, the end of his course is its furthest edge, and nothing can escape his heat." - Psalms 19:1-6 -

Some Christians think that only believers can see God's revelation in nature, but the Apostle/Saint Paul/Saul said that the unbelievers, the unrighteous and sinful man/woman know the truth about God too and they 'clearly see' it but they 'suppress' the truth; knowing God, hence, they fail to worship Him as God; they alter the truth; they do not retain God in their knowledge and knowing the righteous judgment (moral law) of God, they preferred to disobey it. The reason the ungodly are 'inexcusable' before God's righteous judgment is that they possessed it but rejected the truth which God gave them. 

- God's anger against the pagans - The anger of God is being revealed from heaven against all the impiety and depravity of men/women who keep truth imprisoned in their wickedness. For what can be known about God is perfectly plain to them since God himself has made it plain. Ever since God created the world his everlasting power and deity - however invisible - have been there for the mind to see in the things he has made. That is why such people are without excuse: they knew God and yet refused to honour him as God or to thank him; instead, they made nonsense out of logic and their empty minds were darkened. The more they called themselves philosophers, the more stupid they grew, until they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for a worthless imitation, for the image of mortal man/woman, of birds, of quadrupeds and reptiles. That is why God left them to their filthy enjoyments and the practices with which they dishonour their own bodies, since they have given up divine truth for a lie and have worshipped and served creatures instead of the creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen!

That is why God abandoned them to degrading passions: why their women have turned from natural intercourse to unnatural intercourse practices and why their menfolk have given up natural intercourse to be consumed with passion for each other, men doing shameless things with men and getting an appropriate reward for their perversion.

In other words, since they refused to see it was rational to acknowledge God, God has left them to their own irrational ideas and to their monstrous behaviour. And so they are steeped in all sorts of depravity, rottenness, greed and malice, and addicted to envy, murder, wrangling, treachery and spite. Libellers, slanderers, enemies of God, rude, arrogant and boastful, enterprising in sin, rebellious to parents, without brains, honour, love, and pity. They know what God's verdict is: that those who behave like this deserve to die - and yet they do it; and what is worse, encourage others to do the same. - Romans 1:18-32 - 

- The Jews are not exempt from God's anger - So no matter who you are, if you pass judgement you have no excuse. In judging others you condemn yourself, since you behave no differently from those you judge. We know that God condemns that sort of behaviour impartially: and when you judge those who behave like this while you are doing exactly the same, do you think you will escape God's judgement? Or are you abusing his abundant goodness, patience and toleration, not realising that this goodness of God is meant to lead you to repentance? Your stubborn refusal to repent is only adding to the anger God will have towards you on that day of anger when his just judgements will be made known. He will repay each one as his/her works deserve. For those who sought renown and honour and immortality by always doing good there will be eternal life; for the unsubmissive who refused to take truth for their guide and took depravity instead, there will be anger and fury. Pain and suffering will come to every human being who employs himself/herself in evil - Jews first, but Greeks as well; renown, honour and peace will come to everyone who does good - Jews first, but Greeks as well. God has no favorites. - Romans 2:1-11 -

God's universal revelation makes it clear that God exists and that God, the Creator of heaven and earth and of the mountains, oceans, vegetation, animals, and mankind is wise and powerful. People aware of their own moral responsibility who know the difference between right and wrong conduct and who have a sense of guilt when they do wrong, reflect the requirements of God's moral law that is written on their hearts.     

- Hymn to the lord of the storm - Pay tribute to Yahweh, you sons of God, tribute to Yahweh of glory and power, tribute to Yahweh of the glory of his name, worship Yahweh in his sacred court. The voice of Yahweh over the waters! Yahweh over the multitudinous waters! The voice of Yahweh in power! The voice of Yahweh in splendour! The voice of Yahweh shatters the cedars, The Yahweh shatters the cedars of Lebanon, making Lebanon leap like a calf, Sirion like a young wild bull. The voice of Yahweh sharpens lightning shafts! The voice of Yahweh sets the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of Yahweh sets the terebinths shuddering, stripping the forests bare. The God of glory thunders. In his palace everything cries, 'Glory!' Yahweh sat enthroned for the Flood, Yahweh sits enthroned as a king forever. Yahweh gives strength to his people, Yahweh blesses his people with peace. - Psalms 29:1-11 -

- The majesty of God - Yahweh is king, robed in majesty, Yahweh is robbed in power, he wears it like a belt. Yahweh have made the world firm, unshakeable; your throne has stood since then, you existed from the first, Yahweh. Yahweh, the rivers rise, the rivers raise their voices, the rivers raise the thunders; greater than the voice of ocean, transcending the waves of the sea, Yahweh reigns transcendent in the heights. Your decrees will never alter; holiness will distinguish your house, Yahweh for ever and ever. - Psalms - 93:1-5 -     

- The glories of creation - Bless Yahweh, my soul, Yahweh my God, how great you are! Clothed in majesty and glory, wrapped in a rope of light! You stretch the heavens out like a tent, you build your palace on the waters above; using the clouds as your chariots, you advance at the wings of the wind; you use the winds as messengers and fiery flames as servants. You fixed the earth on its foundations, unshakeable for ever and ever; you wrapped it with the deep as with a robe, the waters overtopping the mountains. At your reproof the waters took to flight, the fled at the sound of your thunder, cascading over the mountains, into the valleys, down to the reservoir you made for them; you imposed the limits they must never cross again, or they would once more flood the land. You set springs gushing in ravines, running down between the mountains, supplying water for wild animals, attracting the thirsty wild donkeys; near there the birds of the air make their nests and sing among the branches. From your palace you water the uplands until the ground has had all that your heavens have to offer; you make fresh grass grow for cattle and those plants made use of by man, for them to get food from the soil: wine to make them cheerful, oil to make them happy and bread to make them strong. The trees of Yahweh get rain enough, those cedars of Lebanon he planted; here the little birds build their nests and, on the highest branches, the stork has its home. For the wild goats there are the mountains, in the crags rock-badgers hide. 

You made the moon to tell the seasons, the sun knows when to set: you bring darkness on, night falls, all the forest animals come out: savage lions roaring for their prey, claiming their food from God. The sun rises, they retire, going back to lie down in their liars, and man goes out to work, and to labour until dusk. Yahweh, what variety you have created, arranging everything so wisely! Earth is completely full of things you have made: among them vast expanse of ocean, teeming with countless creatures, creatures large and small, with the ships going to and from and Leviathan whom you made to amuse you. All creatures depend on you to feed them throughout the year; you provide the food they eat, with generous hand you satisfy their hunger. You turn your face away, they suffer, you stop their breath, they die and revert to dust. You give breath, fresh life begins, you keep renewing the world. Glory for ever to Yahweh! May Yahweh find joy in what he creates, at whose glance the earth trembles, at whose touch the mountains smoke! I mean to sing to Yahweh all my life, I mean to play for my God as long as I live. May these reflections of mine give him pleasure, as much as Yahweh gives me! May sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked exist no more! Bless Yahweh, my soul. - Psalms 104:1-35 -

Sinners who were not subject to the Law will perish all the same without that Law; sinners who were under the Law will have that Law to judge them. It is not listening to the Law but keeping it that make people holy in the sight of God. For instance, pagans who never heard of the Law but are led by reasons to do what the Law commands, may not actually 'posses' the Law, but they can be said to 'be' the Law. They can point the substance of the Law engraved on their hearts - they can call a witness, that is, their own conscience - they have accusation and defense, that is, their own inner mental dialogue. .....on the day when, according to the Good News I preach, God, through Jesus Christ, judges the secrets of mankind. - Romans 2:12-16 -

What is the result of divine revelation in nature? If anyone lived up to that knowledge by loving and obeying God everyday of his/her life, he/she would be right with God and would not need salvation. However, no human beings loves God absolutely with his/her whole being and his/her neighbours as himself/herself. With the only exception of Jesus, truly man and truly divine. Generally, people worship and serve things in creation rather than the Creator. The problem does not lie with the revelation which like the Law is holy, just and good; the problem is with the sinfulness of human lives. The best human being (other than Jesus Christ) comes short of the uprightness God requires. The Law is sacred and what it commands is sacred, just and good. 

Does that mean that something good killed me? Of course not. But sin, to show itself in its true colours, used that good thing to kill me; and thus sin, thanks to the commandment, was able to exercise all its sinful power. - Romans 7:12-13 -

The reason, therefore, why those who are in Christ Jesus are not condemned is that the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. God has done what the Law, because of our unspiritual nature, was unable to do. God dealt with sin by sending his own Son in a body as physical as any sinful body, and in that body God condemned sin. He did this in order that the Law's just demands might be satisfied in us, who behave not as our unspiritual nature but as the spirit dictates. - Romans 8:1-4 -

When Christians defend justice, honesty and decency in schools, homes, neighbourhoods, businesses and governments, they do not impose their special belief upon others. They merely point to universal principles that all sinners know but suppress in the unrighteousness. In other words, the Lord Jesus Christ has 'declared' God to us personally. 

The anger of God is being revealed from heaven against all the impiety and depravity of men/women who keep truth imprisoned in their wickedness. - Romans 1:18 - 

As valuable as general revelation is for justice, honesty and decency in the world today, it is not enough. It must be completed by the Good News of God's mercy and His gracious gift of perfect righteousness. Nature does not show God's plan for saving those who do evil, wicked and sin: that Jesus was the Son of God that He died for our sins and that He rose again among the dead. The message of salvation was seen dimly throughout Old Testament sacrifices and ceremonies. It was seen more clearly as God redeemed the Israelites from enslavement in Egypt and as God disclosed to prophetic spokesmen the redemptive significance of His mighty acts of deliverance. The full and final revelation of God has occurred in Jesus Christ. 

God who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds. - Hebrews 1:1-2 - To see Christ is to see the Father. - John 17:8 - At the cross Jesus revealed supremely God's self-giving love. There He died, 'the just for the unjust that He might bring us to God. - 1 Peter 3:18 -

- The Day of the Lord Jesus Christ; the prophets and the apostles - My friends, this is my second letter to you, and in both of them I have tried to awaken a true understanding in you by giving you a reminder: recalling to you what was said in the past by the holy prophets, and the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ, our  'Saviour' which you were given by the apostles. We must be careful to remember that during the last days there are bound to be people who will be scornful, the kind who always please themselves what they do, and they will make fun of the promise and ask, 'Well, where is this coming? Everything goes on as it has since the Fathers died, as it has since began at the creation.' They are choosing to forget there were heavens at the beginning, and that the earth was formed by the word of God out of water and between the waters, so that the world of that time was destroyed by being flooded by water. but by the same word, the present sky and earth are destined for fire, and are only being reserved until Judgement day so that all sinners may be destroyed.

But there is one thing, my friends, that you must never forget: that with the Lord, 'a day' can mean a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord is not being slow to carry out his promises, as anybody else might be called slow; but He is being patient with you all, wanting nobody to be lost and everybody to be brought to change his/her ways. The Day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then with a roar the sky will vanish, the elements will catch fire and fall apart, the earth and all that it contains will be burnt up. 

Since everything is coming to an end like this, you should be living holy and saintly lives while you wait and long for the Day of God to come, when the sky will dissolve in flames and the elements melt in the heat. What we are waiting for is what He promised: the new heavens and the new earth, the place where righteousness will be at home. So then, my friends, while you are waiting, do your best to live lives without spot or stain so that He will find you at peace. Think of our lord's patience as your opportunity to be saved: our brother Paul, who is so dear to us, told you this when he wrote to you with the wisdom that is his special gift. He writes like this when he deals with this sort of subject, and this makes some points in his letter hard to understand; these are the points that uneducated and unbalanced people distort, in the same way as they distort the rest of scripture - a fatal thing for them to do. You have been warned about this, my friends; be careful not to get carried away by the errors of unprincipled people, from the firm ground that you are standing on. Instead, go on growing in the grace and in the knowledge of our lord and saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory, in time and in eternity. Amen. - 2 Peter 3:1-18 -      

I saw that there was no temple in the city since the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb were themselves the temple, and the city did not need the sun or the moon for light, since it was lit by the radiant glory of God and the Lamb was a lighted torch for it. -Revelation 21:22-23 - Nothing unclean may come into it: no one who does what is loathsome or false, but only those who are listed in the Lamb's book of life. - Revelation 21:27 - Then the angel showed me the river of life, rising from the throne of God and of the Lamb and flowing crystal-clear down the middle of the city street. On either side of the river were the trees of life, which bear twelve crops of fruit in a year, one in each month, and the leaves of which are the cure for the pagans. The ban will be lifted. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in its place in the city; his/her servants will worship him, they will see him face to face, and his/her name will be written on their foreheads. It will never be night again and they will not need lampstand or sunlight, because the Lord God will be shining on them. They will reign for ever and ever. - Revelation 22:1-5 -

The angel said to me, 'All that you have written is sure and will come true: the Lord God who gives the spirit to the prophets has sent his angel to reveal to his servants what is soon to take place. very soon now, I shall be with you again.' Happy are those who treasure the prophetic message of this book. - Revelation 22:6-7 -

I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I had heard and seen them all, I knelt at the feet of the angel who had shown them to me, to worship him; but he said, 'Don't do that: I am a servant just like you and like your brothers and sisters the prophets and like those who treasure what you have written in this book. It is God that you must worship.' - Revelation 22:8-9 -

This, too, he said to me, 'Do not keep the prophecies in this book a secret, because the Time is close. Meanwhile, let the sinner go on sinning, and the unclean continue to be unclean; let those who do good go on doing good, and those who are holy continue to be holy. Very soon now, I shall be with you again, bringing the reward to be given to every man/woman according to what he/she deserves. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and last, the beginning and the End. Happy are those who will washed their robes clean, so that they will have the right to feed on the tree of life and can come through the gates into the city. These others must stay outside: dogs, fortune-tellers, and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters, and everyone of false speech and false life.' - Revelation 22:10-15 -

- EPILOGUE - I, Jesus, have sent my angel to make these revelations to you for the sake of the churches. I am of David's line, the root of David and the bright star of the morning. The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come'. Let everyone who listens answer, 'Come'. Then let all who are thirsty come: all who want it may have the water of life, and have it free. This is my solemn warning to all who hear the prophecies in this book, God will cut off his/her share of the tree of life and of the holy city, which are described in the book. The one who guarantees these revelations repeats his promise: I shall indeed be with you soon. Amen: come, Lord Jesus. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. - Revelation 22:16-21 -  

- 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.