The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, explicitly told, and it is believed that only the Lord, not the pagan gods, had control over the rain. This belief is strikingly confirmed several times in the Old Testament. Rain is a liquid precipitation that provides essential moisture for plants, animals and human beings.

Yahweh said to Noah.......For in seven days' time I mean to make it rain on the earth for forty days and nights, and I will rid the earth of every living thing that I made. Noah did all that Yahweh ordered. - Gen. 7:4, 10-12 -

Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He stretched out his hands to Yahweh and the thunder and the hail stopped and the rain no longer poured down on the earth. When Pharaoh saw that rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned yet again. - Exodus 9:33-34 -

Stand here, then, and watch the great wonder Yahweh will do before your eyes. It is now wheat harvest, is it not? I will call on Yahweh and he shall send thunder and rain. - 1Sam. 12:16-18 -

Elijah said to Ahab, Go back, eat and drink; for I hear the sound of rain. While.......'Go back seven times.' Elijah said, The seventh time, the servant said, 'Now there is a cloud, small as a man's hand, rising from the sea.' Elijah said, 'Go and say to Ahab, "Harness the chariot and go down before the rain stops you." And with that the sky grew dark with cloud and storm, and rain fell in torrents. - 1Kin. 18:41-45 -

In addition to these special occasions, God promised to send rain at the proper time, a promise which applied to all nations. The rain was a sign of God's blessing, although He could also hold back the rain, either as a warning or as an expression of His judgment. - Lev. 26:4; Deut. 11:14, 28:12; 1Kin. 17:1; Jer. 3:3; Amos 4:6-7; Matt. 5:45 -

We are only human beings like you. We have come with good news to make you turn from these empty idols to the living God who make heaven and earth and the sea and all that these hold. In the past God allowed each nation to go its own way; but even then he did not leave you without evidence of himself in the good things he does for you: he sends you rain from heaven, he makes your crops grow when they should, he gives you food and makes you happy. - Acts 14:15-17 -

Belief in God's power to send the rain was not easy in a area like Palestine, where the timing, quantity, and distribution of rainfall were uncertain. The rainy season was synonymous with winter, but it could begin any time from mid-October to January. It generally ended in April or early May. The early and latter rains were especially significant in the Old Testament period. The people longed for the rain and waterless clouds were the source of frustration and irritation. - Song 2:11; Prov. 25:14, 26:1; Deut. 11:14; Joel 2:23; Jer. 14:4; Jude 12 - This truth is reflected in Jesus' parables - Matt. 7:25, 27 -and in the experiences of Elijah - 1Kin. 7:25 -and Ezra - Ezra 10:9-13 -

The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible sometimes speaks of the rain as a sign of God's judgment, when He might rain down hail, fire, or brimstone. Rain is often considered of abundance. This abundance is compared with the effectiveness of 'God's Word' with the righteousness and peace of God's kingdom, and with God's provision of food in the wilderness. But rain could also be destructive.

The flood lasted forty days on the earth.......Everything with the breath of life in its nostrils died, everything on dry land. Yahweh destroyed every living thing on the face of the earth, man and animals, reptiles, and the birds of heaven. He rid the earth of them, so that only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. - Gen. 7:17-24 -

After the great flood, God blessed Noah and his children, saying to them, 'Be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth.......' 'As for you, be fruitful, multiply, teem over the earth and be lord of it.' God spoke to Noah and his sons, 'See, I establish my Covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; also with every living.....
There shall be no flood to destroy the earth again.' God said, 'Here is the sign of the Covenant I make between myself and you and every living creature with you for all generations: I set my bow [Rainbow] in the clouds and it shall be a sign of the Covenant between me and the earth. When I gather the clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, I will recall the Covenant between myself and you and every living creature of every kind. And so the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all things of flesh. When the bow [Rainbow] is in the clouds I shall see it and call to mind the lasting Covenant between God and every living creature of every kind that is found on earth.'
God said to Noah, 'This is the sign of the Covenant I have established between myself and every living thing that is found on earth.' - Gen. 9:1-17 -

Rainbow is an arch of colours in the clouds/sky, where it serves as a sign of "God's Covenant." This Covenant was a promise by God to the world that it would never again be destroyed by a flood. The rain clouds and the rainbow were never again to be regarded by man as a threat of ultimate judgment, but as an unchanging indicator of God's mercy. The other references to the rainbow in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible occur in passages where judgment is to be announced, notably in Book of Revelation 4:3-4 and 10:1 in connection with God's judgment of the world. - Ezek. 1:28 -

In all these cases, however, the rainbow is a sign of the glorious presence of God. It is a reminder that His mercy and grace will finally triumph.

                                                                      Page 1

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

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

Sunday, May 24, 2009

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

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

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

According to Saint Paul, all promises of God are "Yes" and "Amen" in Christ. - 2Cor. 1:18-22 - Paul's used the metaphor of the temple to express the unity of the new people of God that God is bringing about through the preaching of the Gospel. The believers and followers of this new race are Jews and Gentiles who formerly were separated by the 'middle wall of separation' and the 'ordinances' that forbade them to mix. Jesus abolished those ordinances in order to create one single New Man in himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace through the cross, to unite them both in a single Body and reconcile them with God.

I say, that you had no Christ and were excluded from membership of Israel, aliens with no part in the covenants with their Promise; you were immersed in this world, without hope and without God. But now in Christ Jesus, you that used to be so far apart from us have been brought very close, by the blood of Christ. For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into one and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart, actually destroying in his own person the hostility caused by the riles and decrees of the Law.

This was to create one single New Man in himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace through the cross, to unite them both in a single Body and reconcile them with God. In his own person he killed the hostility. Later he came to bring the good news of peace, peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near at hand. Through him, both of us have in one Spirit our way to come to the Father. So you are no longer aliens or foreign visitors: you 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 its main cornerstone. As every structure is aligned on him, all grow into one holy temple in the Lord; and you too, in him, are being built into a house where God lives, in the Spirit. - Eph. 2:12-22 -

In a similar way, Saint Peter used the word house to describe baptized Christians as of a new spiritual temple. Once you were not a people at all and now you are the People of God; once you were outside the mercy and now you have been given mercy. - 1Pet. 2:4-10 -

In addition to understanding the Church as the new spiritual temple of God on earth that replaced the temple of Jerusalem, the New Testament alludes to a heavenly temple in whose life the Church participates. - John 1:51, 14:2; Gal. 4:26; Phil. 3:20 - Saint Paul and John, both allude to the heavenly temple, can be found, and it is the most developed in the Book of Hebrews and Revelation.

The author of Hebrews was concerned to demonstrate that Christianity is better than Judaism. Among other things, Christians have a better Covenant, a better Sacrifice, a better High priest, and a better temple/Church. The Temple in Jerusalem was only a copy and shadow, a type, of the true temple which is in heaven. Therefore the true, heavenly sanctuary into which Christ has entered on our behalf is better than its earthly copy. Because Christ our High Priest dwells in this heavenly sanctuary , we can enter the heavenly Holy of Holy and participate in the worship of the heavenly temple. The author appears to define the heavenly temple as 'the Church of the first-born.' 'But what you have come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival, with the whole Church in which everyone is a 'first-born son' and a citizen of heaven.' - 

According to Saint John, the author of the Book of Revelation, there is a celestial Mount Zion, a heavenly Jerusalem, and a heavenly temple. Christians who overcome temptation and trails are made pillars in the heavenly temple of God. From this heavenly temple God will issue His judgments on the nations during the Tribulation. The martyrs of the Tribulation will serve God day and night in His [heavenly] temple. The temple in Jerusalem will be measured and judged during that time.

In the New Jerusalem there will not be a temple because 'the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.' In that perfect city [The City of God] nothing will come between God and man, and we shall see God face. In the new heaven and earth 'the tabernacle of God' will be 'with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.' '

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had disappeared now, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, and the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, as beautiful as a bride all dressed for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice call from the throne, 'You see this city? Here God lives among men. He will make his home among them; they shall be his people, and he will be their God; his name is God-with-them. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness. The world of the past has gone.'

Saint Paul identified the new temple with the Church, but Saint John identified it with the heavenly realm where Christ dwells. [The City of God] Further more, just as there was no temple before the fall, so Saint John anticipated a new heaven and earth without a temple. These different ways of understanding the relation of the temple to the new 'People of God' are complementary, not contradictory.

                                                                    Page 1

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

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

Sunday, May 24, 2009

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

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

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

The New Testament uses two words for Temple. One of these words refers to the collection of buildings that made up the Temple in Jerusalem, while the other usually refers to the sanctuary of the Temple. In the New Testament, Jesus related to the Temple in four distinct ways:

First, as a pious Jew who was zealous for the Lord, Jesus showed respect for the Temple. He referred to it as "the house of God" - But he said to them, 'Have you not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry - how he went into the house of God and how they ate the loaves of offering which neither he nor his followers were allowed to eat, but which were for the priests alone? - Matt. 12:4 - and "My Father's house" - Just before the Jewish Passover Jesus went up to Jerusalem and in the Temple he found people selling cattle and sheep and pigeons, and the money changers sitting at their counters there. Making a whip out of some cord, he drove them all out of the Temple, cattle and sheep as well, scattered the money changers' coins, knocked their tables over and said to the pigeon-sellers, 'Take all this out of here and stop turning my Father's house into a market.' - John 2:13-16 -

Jesus taught that "everything in the Temple was holy and sacred because of the sanctifying presence of God." - Alas for you, blind guides! You who say, "If a man swears by the Temple, it has no force; but if a man swears by the gold of the Temple, he is bound." Fools and blinds! For which is of greater worth, the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? Or else, "If a man swears by the altar it has no force; but if a man swears by the offering that is on the altar, he is bound." You blind men! For which is greater worth, the offering or the altar that makes the offering sacred? Therefore, when a man swears by the Temple he is swearing by that and by the One who dwells in it. - Matt. 23:16-21 -

Second, Jesus' zeal led Him to purge the Temple of the money changers and weep over it as He reflected on its coming destruction. The Book of Malachi 3:1 prophesied the cleansing of the Temple as something the Lord and His Messenger would do, Jesus' act implied His deity. Consequently, the Pharisees, Scribes and the chief priests sought how they might destroy Jesus. - Mark 11:15-18, 13:1; Luke 19:41-47; John 2:16 -

Third, because Jesus was the Son of God incarnate, Jesus taught that He was greater than the Temple. 'Or again, have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath day the Temple priests break the Sabbath without blamed for it? Now here, I tell you, is something greater than the Temple. And if you had understood the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the blameless. For the Son of Man is master of the Sabbath. - Matt. 12:5-8 - Jesus' teaching that if the temple of His body was destroyed in three days He would raise it up, likewise affirms His superiority to the Temple building. 'Jesus answered, 'Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.' - John 2:19 - That saying of Jesus may have provided the basis for the claim of the two false witnesses at His trail who stated that Jesus said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.' - Matt. 26:59-61, 27:40; Mark 14:55-59, 15:29 -

Finally, Jesus taught that the Church is the new temple. 'When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, 'Who do people say the Son of Man is?' And they said, 'Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' '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. - Matt.16:13-18 -

At the moment of Jesus' death, the veil of the Temple was torn from top to bottom. - Matt. 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45 - By His death, Jesus opened a new way into the presence of God. A new order replaced the old. No longer was the Temple in Jerusalem to be the place where peoples worshiped God. From now on they would worship God 'in spirit and truth.'

Sir, said the woman. 'Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, while you say that Jerusalem is the place where once ought to worship.' Jesus said:
'Believe me, woman, the hour is coming
when you will worship the Father
neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
You worship what you do not know;
we worship what we do know;
for salvation comes from the Jews.
But the hour will come - in fact it is here already -
when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth:
that is the kind of worshiper
the Father wants.
God is spirit,
and those who worship
must worship in spirit and truth.' - John 4:20-24 -

The first Christians were converted Jews. They continued to worship at the Temple as Jesus had. - Luke 24:52; Acts 2:46, 3:1, 5:12, 20:21, 42 - As they began to understand the meaning and significance of Jesus' person, work and teaching, they realized they were the new people of God, infused by God's Spirit. As such, they were a new, living Temple. A new order had replaced the old. Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, a Christian of Gentile background was the first person to understand that the Church had replaced the Temple as the place where God's presence was manifested in a special way among His peoples.

Saint Stephen insight was carried forward by Saint James, who identified the Church with Amos' prophecy about the 'tabernacle of David, which has fallen.' According to Saint James application of Amos' prophecy about the end times, the restoration of David's tabernacle, the Temple, would serve as the rallying point for Gentiles wished to come to the Lord.

That day I will re-erect the tottering hut of David,
make good the gaps in it, restore its ruins
and rebuild it as it was in the days of old,
so that they can conquer the remnant of Edom
and all the nations that belonged to me.
It is the Yahweh who speaks, and he will carry this out. - Amos 9: 11-12 -

Saint James understood the Church as the new temple that fulfilled that prophecy.

When they had finished it was James who spoke. 'My brothers' he said 'listen to me, Simeon has described how God first arranged to enlist a people for his name out of the pagans. This is entirely in harmony with the words of the prophets, since the scriptures says:
After that I shall return
and rebuild the fallen House of David;
I shall rebuild it from its ruin
and restore it.
Then the rest of mankind,
all the pagans who are consecrated to my name,
will look for the Lord,
says the Lord who made this known so long ago. - Acts 15:13-18 -

                                                                       Page 2

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

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

Sunday, May 24, 2009

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

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

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

Temple is a building which a god or gods is worshiped. The Old Testament describes temples as some of man's oldest buildings. The Tower of Babel - Gen. 11:4 - is the first recorded example of a structure that implies the existence of a temple, although this tower was not a temple itself. A temple was thought of as the building where the god manifested his presence, so the place the temple occupied was holy or sacred. Because the god was thought to dwell in the temple, the Old Testament had no specific word for temple. It refers instead to the 'house' of a deity.

Abraham was from Mesopotamia where each city had a temple for its patron god. The Mesopotamia believed that the god owned their land, that the king was the vassal of the god, and that the land had to be blessed by the god in order to be fruitful. Their religious practices were, in part, designed to win the god's favour. Several Canaanite temples are mentioned in the Old Testament. They include the temples of the god Berith in Shechem - Judg. 9:46 - Dagon in Ashdod - Judg. 16:23-30 -; 1Sam. 5:2-5; 1Chr. 10:10 - and Beth Shan on Mount Gilboa. - 1Sam. 31:12 -

The patriarchs such as Abraham and Jacob did not build temples because they were wandering herdsmen. However, they did have shrines and altars in places where God had revealed Himself to them, at Bethel and at Beersheba. - Gen. 12:6-7, 33:20, 21:33, 26:23-25 - Even after Solomon's Temple was completed, rival sanctuaries at Bethel and Dan competed with it. - 1Kin. 12:28-33 - Later the Samaritans had a temple on Mount Gerizim. - John 4:20 -

Solomon's Temple: Once the land was fully conquered and all the tribes were properly settled, it was important that the worship of God be centralized. David, the Israel king was a man of war, because of that he was not allowed to build the temple, but he was allowed to gather the materials for it and to organize the project. - 1Chr. 22:1-19 - The actual work began 'in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel.' - 1Kin. 6:1 - Solomon began to reign about 971B.C. so his fourth year would have been about 967B.C. The temple was completed about 960B.C., seven years later. - 1Kin. 6:37-38 -

In biblical times three temples were built on the same site: Solomon's, Zerubbabel's and Herod's. Solomon built the temple on the east side of Jerusalem on Mount Moriah "where the Lord had appeared to his father, David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite." - 1Chr. 21:28; 2Chr. 3:1 - The highest part of Mount Moriah is now the site of the building called 'The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.'

Solomon contacted Hiram, king of Tyre, to supply workmen and materials to help construct the Temple. - 2Chr. 2:3 - First Kings 5:6 calls those workmen Sidonians. Additional, Solomon 'raised up a labour force out of all Israel' of 30,000 men to assist Hiram in the forests of Lebanon. - 1Kin. 5:15 - Solomon had seventy thousand who carried burdens and eighty thousand who quarried stone in the mountains. The Gebalites also helped to quarry stones. - 1Kin. 5:18 - Those who quarried stones were overseen by 3,300 of Solomon's deputies. - 1Kin. 5:16 -

Solomon's Temple is described, though incompletely, in 1Kings 6-7 and in 2Chronicles 3-4. The description of Ezekiel's Temple, an elaborate version of Solomon's may supplement those accounts. - Ezekiel 40-43 -  Solomon's Temple was in the shape of a rectangle that ran east and west. Like Ezekiel's Temple - Ezek. 41:8 - it may have stood on a platform. The accounts in the Book of Kings and Chronicles suggest that there was an inner and an outer courtyard. Three main objects were situated in the inner courtyard. The bronze altar that was used for burnt offerings measured 20 cubits square and 10 cubits high. - 1Kin. 8:22, 64, 9:25; 2Chr. 4:1 - Between that and the porch of the Temple stood the bronze laver, or molten sea, that held water for the ritual washing. It was completely round, 5 cubits high, 10 cubits in diameter, and 30 cubits around its outer circumference. - Twelve bronze oxen, in four groups of three, faced outward toward the four points of the compass, with the bronze laver resting on their backs. - 1Kin. 7:23-26 - But Ahaz removed the bronze laver from the oxen. - 2Kin. 16:17 -

Finally, at the dedication of the Temple, Solomon is said to have stood on a 'bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high' that stood in the middle of the courtyard. - 2Chr. 6:12-13 - The interior dimensions of the Temple were 60 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. - 1Kin. 6;2 - The ten steps to the porch of the Temple were flanked by two bronze columns, Jachin and Boaz, each 25 cubits high and 12 cubits in circumference. - 1Kin. 7:15-16; 2Chr. 3:15 - The porch was 10 cubits high, 20 cubits wide, and supposedly 120 cubits high. - 2Chr. 3:4 -

To the west of the porch was the Holy Place, a room 40 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high where ordinary rituals took place. Windows near the ceiling provided light. In the Holy Place were the golden incense altar, the table for the show-bread, five pairs of lamp stands, and the utensils used for sacrifice. Double doors, probably opened once a year for the high priest on the Day of Atonement, led from the west end of the Holy Place to the Holy of Holy, a 20 cubits cube. In that room two wooden cherubim, each ten feet tall, stood with outstretched wings. Two of the wings met above the ark of the covenant and two of them touched the north and south walls of the room. - 1Kin. 6:27 - God's presence was manifested in the Holy of Holy as a cloud. - 1Kin. 8:10-11 -

The outside of the Temple building, excluding the porch area, consisted of side chambers or galleries that rose three stories high. - 1Kin. 6:5 - The rooms of the Temple were paneled with cedar, the floor was cypress, and the ornately carved doors and walls were overlaid with gold. - 1Kin. 6:20-22 - Not a stone could be seen.

Shishak, king of Egypt, took away the Temple treasures during the reign of Rehoboam, Solomon's son. - 1Kin. 14:26 - Asa used the Temple treasure to buy an ally and to buy off an invader. - 1Kin. 15:18; 2Kin. 16:8 - Manasseh placed Canaanite altars and a carved image of Asherah, a Canaanite goddess, in the Temple. - 2Kin. 21:4-7 - Ahaz introduced an altar patterned after one he saw in Damascus. - 2Kin. 16:10-16 - By about 640B.C. Josiah had to repair the Temple. - 2Kin. 22:3-7 - After robbing the Temple of its treasures and gold during his first attack in 587B.C. the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar looted, sacked and burned the Temple - 2Kin. 24:13, 25:9, 13-17 - but people still came to the site to offer sacrifice. - Jer. 41:5 - There are 'Ezekiel's Temple' - Ezek. 40-43 - 'The Second Temple' and 'Herod's Temple.'

The New Testament uses two words for Temple.......

                                                                  Page 1

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

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

Sunday, May 24, 2009

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

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

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

No one can ever fully develop his character who does not understand the law; to use is to have. The wise get wiser, the rich get richer and "those who have, get." Hence the general complaint at raffles is that it is always the man who has the automobile who gets the prize; those who do not really need money receive the inheritance. But it is not just windfall wealth that is received; rather, those who have capital are apt to put it out successfully for investment and thus double or triple their income. Treasure grows when it is used, but when hidden in the ground and not used it rusts. "To him who has, more shall be given."

Even in the higher realms of the moral order, the more one uses what is good, the more one develops and enriches it. The more the intellect is used for the high purposes to which it is destined, the more agile and profound it becomes. On the contrary, those who substitute eyes for the mind or looking at pictures for thinking, eventually reach a point where reading a solid work is a positive trial. When everything is made easy, the noblest parts of man wither through disuse.

In the moral order as well, when the voice of conscience is used, respected, obeyed and followed, it becomes more sensitive to duty, more sympathetic to the burdens of others and more solicitous about the aches and worries of neighbours. On the contrary, when the voice of conscience is thrust aside; when the carnal and the erotic are allowed to dominate it; when the animal instincts are used to the detriment of the God-like imperatives, consciences begins to dwindle until it becomes "seared as if with a hot iron. " Everyone is born with "moral capital" which is conscience. If he/she uses that capital he/she gets more of it, namely, an increase of goodness and honesty. Moral power is lost by inattention as the eyes of the mole lost their vision by groveling in the earth. Neglect has terrible penalties: talents are taken away and, after a while, one becomes like the profligate woman in the Book of Proverbs who "wipes her mouth and says: 'I have done no wrong.'"

This law explains why some intellectuals who seem to know so much have not always a virtue comparable to their knowledge. Some teachers know all the proofs of Aristotle for the existence of God, and yet they never say any prayers. Because they have not acted on the little knowledge of God they had, by deepening their communion with God, their knowledge atrophies like a parched tree, bearing no more fruit. It is the use of brains and not their mere possession to which the reward attaches. Any truth that is meant to influence life, if held lightly or indifferently, generally evaporates. The moral truths that we already know, if not followed through with discipline and effort, soon become unwelcome truths, because they are at variance with the way we live.

Every D.D. [Doctorate of Divinity] ought to be saint; every Ph.D. ought to be as good as Plato or Socrates but, as a matter of fact, there are more saints among the non D.D.s and more good moral pagans among the non Ph.D.s. If the mind, the will and the moral sense of duty are to grow, they must be pressed to the heart with hoops of steel, allowed to dominate us until they begin to produce their capital of a happy and a peaceful life.

What is true in the order of nature is true in the order of super nature or grace. Only those who use the graces they are given are given more. As in the order of nature, we get our second wind only when we have used up our first, so in the order of the spirit, as we exhaust ourselves in the pursuit of the Divine and the Kingdom of God, are we given increments and compound interest of new insights and energies.

The law is written in every heart: Whatever we cultivate, bestial or divine, will grow; whatever we repress or neglect will die. Disregarded truth becomes disliked truth; truth acted on grows more rapidly than money produces interest. It is up to us to choose - everyone is reaping what he/she sows.

BY ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN  ( 1895 to 1979 )

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

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

Sunday, May 24, 2009

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

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

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

Seven, Seventh is a sacred number to the ancient Hebrew people. The word is used often in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible to symbolize perfection, fullness, abundance, rest and completion. This number was also considered holy or sacred by other cultures of the ancient world. The first mentioned of the number seven occurs in Genesis 2:2-3. God created the world in six days, but on the seventh day He rested from His work, setting aside the seventh day as holy. The fourth of the Ten Commandments states: 'Remember the Sabbath day [that is, the seventh day] to keep it holy.' - Ex. 20:8 -

The number seven also had a ritual importance to the Hebrews. Several of the religious acts of the Old Testament received a seven-fold repetition, for instance, the sprinkling of blood - Lev. 4:6 - or the dipping of Naaman the leper in the Jordan River. - 2Kings 5:10,14 - Periods of time composed of seven units are often used in the Old Testament. - Gen. 2:2; Dan. 9:25 - Within visions and dreams, the number seven often plays a prominent part. Pharaoh dreamed of two herds composed of seven animals each. These symbolized the seven years of famine and the seven years of plenty, as did the two groups of seven heads of grain. - Gen. 41:1-36 -

In the New Testament, Jesus cast seven demons out of Mary Magdalene and fed the 4,000 with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish. - Luke 8:2; Matt. 15:32-39 - The seven different utterances of Jesus while He hung on the cross:

( 1 ) "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." - Luke 23:34 - Jesus taught that we should forgive those who sin against us. How appropriate that His first words from the cross should be words of 'Forgiveness.'

( 2 ) "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." - Luke 23:43 - As He hung on the cross, Jesus certainly did not appear to be king. Yet, what faith and hope the repentant thief displayed when he asked, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." - Luke 23:42 - Jesus' reply was good news indeed to this dying sinner.

( 3 ) "Woman, this is your son" Then to his disciple he said, "This is your mother." And from that moment the disciple made a place for Mary in his home. - John 19:26-27 - In spite of His grief and pain, Jesus continued to think of others. His earthly father, Joseph, probably had died by this time. Jesus asked his beloved disciple, John, to take care of His mother, Mary.

( 4 ) "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?...My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" - Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34 - These words came from Jesus' lips about 3p.m. after He had hung on the cross for nine hours. Death was near, and Jesus was feeling the pain and loneliness that sin causes. But the sin in this case was our sin and not His. To express His anguish and grief, Jesus quoted the opening words of Psalms 22, using the same words that king David had used many years earlier. - Ps. 22:1 -

( 5 )  "I am thirsty!" - John 19:28 - The Old Testament had prophesied that Jesus would suffer for the sins of the world. In His death, that prophecy was being fulfilled. Jesus suffered spiritual torment as well as physical agony as He hung on the cross. His spirit thirsted to win the spiritual battle against evil while His body thirsted for water.

( 6 ) "It is accomplished!" - John 19:30 - This shows clearly that Jesus. victory has been achieved. It carries the understanding of perfection and fulfillment. God's plan of salvation had been accomplished through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

( 7 ) "Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit." - Luke 23: 46; Mark 15:37; Matt. 27:50; Ps. 31:5 - Jesus did not die a failure. He died a victorious Saviour. He finished His work triumphantly and entrusted His spirit to God His Father.

The number seven appears frequently in the Book of Revelation too.

                                                                   Page 1

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

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

Sunday, May 24, 2009

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

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

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

Sin is an offense against God, it is also interpreted as a breach of His laws/commandments. In the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible sin is viewed in several ways: as an offense against God, which requires a pardon; as defilement, which requires cleansing; as slavery, which cries out for emancipation; as a debt, which must be cancelled; as defeat, which must be reversed by victory; and as estrangement, which must be set right by reconciliation. However sin is viewed, it is through the work of Christ that the remedy is provided. Jesus Christ has procured the pardon, the cleansing, the emancipation, the cancellation, the victory, and the reconciliation.

The law of God, like law in general, involves penalties against lawbreaker. The apostle Paul, conducting his preaching along these lines, quoted one uncompromising declaration from the Old Testament: "A curse on him who does not maintain the words of the Law by observing them." And all the people shall say: Amen. - Deut. 27:26 - Paul goes on to say that Christ, by enduring the form of death on which a divine curse was expressly pronounced in the Law, absorbed in His own person the curse for us.

On the other hand, those who rely on the keeping of the Law are under a curse, since scripture says: Cursed be everyone who does not persevere in observing everything prescribed in the book of the Law. The Law will not justify anyone in the sight of God, because we are told: the righteous man finds life through faith. The Law is not even based on faith, since we are told: The man practices these precepts finds life through practicing them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by being cursed for our sake, since scripture says: Cursed be everyone who is hanged on a tree. This was done so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might include the pagans, and so that through faith we might receive the promised Spirit. - Gal. 3:10-14 - Deut. 21:23 -

When sin is considered as defilement that requires cleansing, the most straightforward affirmation is that 'the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin' - 1John 1:5-7 - The effect of Jesus death is to purify a conscience that has been polluted by sin. The same thought is expressed by the writer of the Book of Hebrews, and he speaks of various materials that were prescribed by Israel's ceremonial law to deal with forms of ritual pollution, which was an external matter. Then he asks, 'How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?' - Heb. 9:14 - Spiritual defilement calls for spiritual cleansing, and this is what the death of Christ has accomplished.

When sin is considered as slavery from which the slave must be set free, then the death of Christ is spoken of as a ransom or a means of redemption. Jesus Himself declared that 'He came to give His life as a ransom for many.' - Mark 10:45 - The apostle Paul not only spoke of sin as slavery; he also personified sin as a slave owner who compels his slaves to obey his evil orders. When they are set free from his control by the death of Christ to enter the service of God, they find this service, by contrast, to be perfect freedom.

The understanding of sin as a debt that must be canceled is based on the teaching of Jesus. 'One of the Pharisee invited Jesus to a meal. When he arrived at the Pharisee's house and took his place at table, a woman came in, who had a bad name in the town. She had heard he was dining with the Pharisee and had brought with her an alabaster jar of ointment. She waited behind him at his feet, weeping, and her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them away with her hair; then she covered his feet with kisses and anointed them with the ointment.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, 'If this man were a prophet, he would know who this woman is that touching him and what a bad name she has.' Then Jesus took him up and said, 'Simon, I have something to say to you.' 'Speak, Master' was the reply. 'There was once a creditor who had two men in his debt; one owed him five hundred denarii, the other fifty. They were unable to pay, so he pardoned them both. Which of them will love him more?' The one who was pardoned more, I suppose' answered Simon, Jesus said, 'You are right.'

Then he turned to the woman. 'Simon,' he said, 'you see this woman? I came into your house, and you poured no water over my feet, but she has poured out her tears over my feet and wiped them away with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she has been covering my feet with kisses ever since I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. For this reason I tell you that her sins, her many sins, must have been forgiven her, or she would not have shown such great love. It is the man who is forgiven little who shows little love.' Then he said to her, 'You sins are forgiven.' - Luke 7:36-47 -

This is similar to Saint Paul reference to God as having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands. Paul's words in Colossians 2:14-15 speak of the 'principalities and powers' as a personification of the hostile forces in the world which have conquered men and women and hold them as prisoners of war. There were no hope of successful resistance against them until Jesus Christ confronted them. It looked as if they had conquered Him too, but on the cross He conquered death itself, along with all other hostile forces.

He had overridden the Law and cancelled every record of the debt that we had to pay; he has done away with it by nailing it to the cross, and so he got rid of the Sovereignties and the Powers, and paraded them in public, behind him in his triumphal procession. - Col. 2:14-15 -

Sin is also viewed as estrangement or alienation from God. In this case, the saving work of Christ includes the reconciliation of sinners to God. The initiative in this reconciling work is taken by God. - 2Cor. 5:19 - God desires the well-being of sinners; so He sends Jesus as His reconciling grace to them. 'And all things to be reconciled through him and for him, everything in heaven and everything on earth, when he made peace by his death on the cross.' - Col. 1:20 -

Those who are separated from God by sin are also estranged from one another. Accordingly, the work of Christ that reconciles sinners to God also brings them together as human beings. Hostile divisions of humanity have peace with one another through Him. Apostle Paul celebrated the way in which the work of Christ overcame the mutual estrangement of Jews and Gentiles.

But now in Christ Jesus, you that used to be so far apart from us have been brought very close, by the blood of Christ. For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into one and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart, actually destroying in his own person the hostility caused by the riles and decrees of the Law. This was to create one single New Man in himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace through the cross, to unite them both in a single Body and reconcile them with God. In his own person he killed the hostility. Later he came to bring the good news of peace, peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near at hand. Through him, both of us have in the one Spirit our way to come to the Father. - Eph. 2:13-18 -

                                                                      Page 1

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

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

Sunday, May 24, 2009

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

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

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