7. What is written in the Revelation of John regarding the two resurrections and the thousand years, and what may reasonably be held on these points.

The evangelist John has spoken of these two resurrections in the book which called the Apocalypse but in such a way that some Christians do not understand the first of the two, and so construe the passage into ridiculous fancies. For the Apostle John says in the foretold book, "And I saw an angel come down from heaven... Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power; but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years" - Rev. 20:1-6 -

Those who on the strength of this passage have suspected that the first resurrection is future and bodily, have been moved, among other things, specially by the number of a thousand years, as if it were a fit thing that the saints should thus enjoy a kind of Sabbath-rest during that period, a holy leisure after the labours of the six thousand years since man was created and was on account of his great sin dismissed from the blessedness of paradise into the woes of this mortal life, so that thus, as it is written, "One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" - 2Peter 3:8 - there should follow on the completion of six thousand years, as of six days, a kind of seventh-day Sabbath in the succeeding thousand years; and that it is for this purpose the saints rise, viz, to celebrate this Sabbath.

And this opinion would not be objectionable if it were believed that the joys of the saints in that Sabbath shall be spiritual and consequent on the presence of God; for I myself, too, once held this opinion. - Serm. 259 - But, as they assert that those who then rise again shall enjoy the leisure of immoderate carnal banquets, furnished with an amount of meat and drink such as not only to shock the feeling of the temperate but even to surpass the measure of credulity itself, such assertions can be believed only by the carnal. They who do believe them are called by the spiritual Chiliasts which we may literally reproduce by the name Millenarians[Milliarii]. It were a tedious process to refute these opinions point by point: we prefer proceeding to show how that passage of Scripture should be understood.

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself says, "No man can enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man" - Mark 3:27 - meaning by the strong man the devil, because he had power to take captive the human race; and meaning by his goods which he was to take, those who had been held by the devil in divers sins and iniquities but were to become believers in Himself. It was then for the binding of this strong one that the apostle saw in the Apocalypse "an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a chain in his hand. And he laid hold" he says, "on the dragon that old serpent which is called the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years" - that is, bridled and restrained his power so that he could not seduce and gain possession of those who were to be freed.

Now the thousand years may be understood in two ways, so far as occurs to me: either because these things happen in the sixth thousand of years or sixth millennium (the latter part of which is now passing) as if during the sixth day which is to be followed by a Sabbath which has no evening, the endless rest of the saints, so that, speaking of a part under the name of the whole, he calls the last part of the millennium - the part, that is, which had yet to expire before the end of the world - a thousand years; or he used the thousand years as an equivalent for the whole duration of this world, employing the number of perfection to mark the fulness of time.

For a thousand is the cube of ten. For ten times ten makes a hundred, that is, the square on a plane superficies. But to give this superficies height and make it a cube, the hundred is again multiplied by ten which gives a thousand. Besides, if a hundred is sometimes used for totality, as when the Lord said by way of promise to him that left all and followed Him, "He shall receive in this world an hundredfold" - Matt. 19:29 - of which the apostles gives, as it were, an explanation when he says, "As having nothing, yet possessing all things" - 2Cor. 6:10 - for even of old it had been said, The whole world is the wealth of a believer - with how much greater reason is a thousand put for totality since it is the cube, while the other is only the square? And for the same reason we cannot better interpret the words of the psalm, "He hath been mindful of His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations" than by understanding it to mean "to all generations"

"And he cast him into abyss" i.e. cast the devil into the abyss. By the abyss is meant the countless multitude of the wicked whose hearts are unfathomably deep in malignity against the Church of God; not that the devil was not there before but he is said to be cast in thither, because, when prevented from harming believers, he takes more complete possession of the ungodly. For that man is more abundantly possessed by the devil who is not only alienated from God but also gratuitously hates those who serve God. "And shut him up, and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled". "Shut him up" i.e. prohibited him from going out from doing what was forbidden. And the addition of "set a seal upon him" seems to me to mean that it was designed to keep it a secret who belonged to the devil's party and who did not.

For in this world this is a secret, for we cannot tell whether even the man who seems to stand shall fall or whether he who seems to lie shall rise again. But by the chain and prison house of this interdict the devil is prohibited and restrained from seducing those nations which belong to Christ but which he formerly seduced or held in subjection. For before the foundation of the world God chose to rescue these from the power of darkness and to translate them into the kingdom of the Son of His love, as the apostle says. - 1Cor. 1:13 - For what Christian is not aware that he seduces nations even now, and draws them with himself to eternal punishment but not those predestined to eternal life? And let no one be dismayed by the circumstance that the devil often seduces even those who have been regenerated in Christ, and begun to walk in God's way.

For "the Lord knoweth them are His" - 2Tim. 2:19 - and of these the devil seduces none to eternal damnation. For it is as God, from whom nothing is hid even of things future, that the Lord knows them; not as man who sees a man at the present time (if he can be said to see one whose heart he does not see) but does not see even himself so far as to be able to know what kind of person he is to be. The devil, then, is bound and shut up in the abyss that he may not seduce the nations from which the Church is gathered, and which he formerly seduced any man" but "that he should not seduce the nations" -meaning, no doubt, those among which the Church exists- "till the thousand years should be fulfilled" i.e. either what remains of the sixth day which consists of a thousand years or all the years which are to elapse till the end of the world.

The words, "that he should not seduce the nations till the thousand years should be fulfilled" are not to be understood as indicating that afterwards he is to seduce only those nations from which the predestined Church is composed, and from seducing whom he is restrained by that chain and imprisonment; but they are used in conformity with that usage frequently employed in Scripture and exemplified in the psalm, "So our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until He have mercy upon us" not as if the eyes of His servants would no longer wait upon the Lord their God when He had mercy upon them. Or the order of the words is unquestionably this, "And he shut him up and set a seal upon him, till the thousand years should be fulfilled" and the interposed clause, "that he should seduce the nations no more" is not to be understood in the connection in which it stands but separately, and as if added afterwards, so that the whole sentence might be read, "And He shut him up and set a seal upon him till the thousand years should be fulfilled, that he should seduce the nations no more" i.e. he is shut up till the thousand years be fulfilled, on this account, that he may no more deceive the nations.

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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 -

5. The passages in which the Saviour declares that there shall be a divine judgment in the end of the world.

The Saviour Himself, while reproving the cities in which He had done great works but which had not believed and while setting them in unfavourable comparison with foreign cities, says, "But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you" - Matt. 11:22 - And a little after He says, "Verily, I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee" - Matt. 11:24 -

Here He most plainly predicts that a day of judgment is to come. And in another place He says, "The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the words of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here" - Matt. 12:41-42 -

Two things we learn from this passage that a judgment is to take place and that it is to take place at the resurrection of the dead. For when He spoke of the Ninevites and the queen of the south, He certainly spoke of dead persons, and yet He said that they should rise up in the day of judgment. He did not say, "They shall condemn" as if they themselves were to be judges but because, in comparison with them, the others shall be justly condemned. Again, in another passage, in which He was speaking of the present intermingling and future separation of the good and bad - the separation which shall be made in the day of judgment - He adduced a comparison drawn from the sown wheat and the tares sown among them, and gave this explanation of it to His disciples: "He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man" - Matt. 13:37-43 - Here, indeed, He did not name the judgment or the day of judgment but indicated it much more clearly by describing the circumstances and foretold that it should take place in the end of the world.

In like manner He says to His disciples, "Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the generation, when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" - Matt. 19:28 - Here we learn that Jesus shall judge with His disciples. And therefore, He said elsewhere to the Jews, "If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges" - Matt.12:27 - Neither ought we to suppose that only twelve men shall judge along with Him, though He says that they shall sit upon twelve thrones; for by the number twelve is signified the completeness of the multitude of those who shall judge. For the two parts of the number seven (which commonly symbolizes totality) that is to say, four and three, multiplied into one another, give twelve. For four times three or three times four, are twelve.

There are other meanings, too, in this number twelve. Were not this the right interpretation of the twelve thrones, then since we read that Matthias was ordained an apostle in the room of Judas the traitor, the Apostle Paul, though he laboured more than them all - 1Cor. 15:10 - should have no throne of judgment; but he unmistakably considers himself to be included in the numbers of the judges when he says, "Know ye not that we shall judge angels? - 1Cor. 6:3 - The same rule is to be observed in applying the number twelve to those who are to be judges. For though it was said, "judging the twelve tribes of Israel and not on the other nations. And by the words "in the regeneration" He certainly meant the resurrection of the dead to be understood; for our flesh shall be regenerated by incorruption, as our soul is regenerated by faith.

many passages I omit because though they seem to refer to the last judgment, yet on a closer examination they are found to be ambiguous or to allude rather to some other event - whether to that coming of the Saviour which continually occurs in His Church, that is, in His members, in which He comes little by little and piece by piece, since the whole Church is His body or to the destruction of the earthly Jerusalem. For when He speaks even of this, He often uses languages which is applicable to the end of the world and that last and great day of judgment, so that these two events cannot be distinguished unless all the corresponding passages bearing on the subject in the three evangelists, Matthew, Mark and Luke, are compared with one another - for some things are put more obscurely by one evangelist and more plainly by another - so that it becomes apparent what things are meant to be referred to one event. It is this which I have been pains to do in a letter which I wrote to Hesychius of the blessed memory, bishop of Salon, and entitled. "Of the End of the World" - Ep. 199 -

I shall now cite from the Gospel according to Matthew the passage which speaks of the separation of the good from the wicked by the most efficacious and final judgment of Christ: "When the Son of Man" he says, "shall come in His glory,... then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" - Matt. 25:34-41 -

Then He in like manner recounts to the wicked the things that they had not done but which He had said those on the right hand had done. And when they ask when they had seen Him in need of these things, He replies that, inasmuch as they had not done it to the least of His brethren, they had not done it unto Him and concludes His address in the words, "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous into life eternal". Moreover, the evangelist John most distinctly states that He had predicted that the judgment should be at the resurrection of the dead.

For after saying, "The Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgment unto the Son; that all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father: he that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent Him" He immediately adds, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word and believeth on Him that sent me, Hath everlasting life and shall not come into judgment; but is passed from death to life" - John 5:22-24 - Here He said that believers on Him should not come into judgment. How, then, shall they be separated from the wicked by judgment, and be set at His right hand, unless judgment be in this passage used for condemnation? For into judgment, in this sense, they shall not come who hear His word and believe on Him that sent Him.

6. What is the first resurrection and what the second.

After that He adds the words, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself' - John 5:25-26 - As yet He does not speak of the second resurrection, that is, the resurrection of the body which shall be in the end but of the first, which now is. It is for the sake of making this distinction that He says, "the hour is coming and now is." Now this resurrection regards not the body but the soul. For souls, too, have a death of their own in wickedness and sins, whereby they are dead of whom the same lips say, "Suffer the dead to bury their dead" - Matt. 8:22 - that is, let those who are dead in soul bury them that are dead in body.

It is of these dead, then-the dead in ungodliness and wickedness- that He says, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live" "They that hear" that is, they who obey, believe and persevere to the end. Here no difference is made between the good and the bad. For it is good for all men to hear His voice and live, by passing to the life of godliness from the death of ungodliness. Of this death the Apostle Paul say, "Therefore all are dead and He died for all, that they which live should henceforth live unto themselves but unto Him which died for them and rose again" - 2Cor. 5:14-15 -

Thus all, without one exception, were dead in sins whether original or voluntary sins, sins of ignorance or sins committed against knowledge; and for all the dead there died the one the one only person who lived, that is, who had no sin whatever, in order that they who live by the remission of their sins should live, not to themselves but to Him who died for all, for our sins and rose again for our justification, that we, believing in Him who justifies the ungodly, and being justified from ungodliness or quickened from death, may be able to attain to the first resurrection which now is. For in the first resurrection none have a part save those who shall be eternally blessed; but in the second, of which He goes on to speak, all, as we shall learn, have a part, both the blessed and the wretched. The one is the resurrection of mercy, the other of judgment. And therefore it is written in the psalm, "I will sing of mercy and of judgment: unto Thee, O Lord, will I sing"

And of this judgment He went on to say, "And hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man." Here He shows that He will come to judge in that flesh in which He had come to be judged. For it is to show this He says, "because He is the Son of Man." And then follow the words for our purpose: "marvel not at this: for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment" - John 5:28-29 -

This judgment He uses here in the same sense as a little before when He says, "He that heareth mu word and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment but is passed from death to life; "i.e. by having a part in the first resurrection by which a transition from death to life is made in this present time, he shall not come into damnation which He mentions by the name of judgment, as also in the place where He says, "but they that have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment" i.e. of damnation. He, therefore, who would not be damned in the second resurrection, let him rise in the first. For "the hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live" i.e. shall not come into damnation which is called the second death; into which death, after the second or bodily resurrection, they shall be hurled who do not rise in the first or spiritual resurrection.

For "the hour is coming" (but here He does not say, "and now is" because it shall come in the end of the world in the last and greatest judgment of God) "when all that are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth." He does not say, as in the first resurrection, "And they that hear shall live." For all shal not live, at least with such life as ought alone to be called life because it alone is blessed. For some kind of life they must have in order to hear, and come forth from the graves in their rising bodies. And all shall not live He teaches in the words that follow: "They that have done good to the resurrection of life" - these are they who shall live; "but they that have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment" - these are they who shall not live, for they shall die in the second death.

They have done evil because their life has been evil' and their life has been evil because it has not been renewed in the first or spiritual resurrection which now is or because they have not persevered to the end in their renewed life. As, then, there are two regenerations, of which I have already made mention - the one according to faith and which takes place in the present life by means of baptism; the other according to the flesh and which shall be accomplished in its incorruption and immortality bu means of the great and final judgment - so are there also two resurrections - the one the first and spiritual resurrection which has place in this life, and preserves us from coming into the second death; the other the second which does not occur now but in the end of the world, and which is of the body, not of the soul, and which by the last judgment shall dismiss some into the second death, others into that life which has no death.

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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 -

3. What Solomon, in the book of Ecclesiastes, says regarding the things which happen alike to good and wicked men.

Solomon, the wisest king of Israel who reigned in Jerusalem, thus commences the book called Ecclesiastes which the Jews number among their canonical Scriptures: "Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he hath taken under the sun?" - Eccles. 1:1-3 - And after going on to enumerate with this as his text, the calamities and delusions of this life, and the shifting nature of the present time, in which there is nothing substantial, nothing lasting, he bewails, among the other vanities that are under the sun, this also, that though wisdom excelleth folly as light excelleth darkness and though the eyes of the wise man are in his head while the fool walketh in darkness - Eccles. 2:13-14 -

Yet one event happeneth to them all, that is to say, in this life under the sun, unquestionably alluding to those evils which we see befall good and bad men alike. He says, further, that the good suffer the ills of life as if they were evil-doers and the bad enjoy the good of life as if they are good. "There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked: again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous. I said, that this also is vanity" - Eccles. 8:14 -

This wisest man devoted this whole book to a full exposure of this vanity, evidently with no other object than we might long for that life in which there is no vanity under the sun but verity under Him who made the sun. In this vanity, then, was it not by the just and righteous judgment of God that man, made like to vanity, was destined to pass away? But in these days of vanity it makes an important difference whether he resists or yields to the truth and whether he is destitute of true piety or a partaker of it - important not so far as regards the acquirement of the blessings or the evasion of the calamities of this transitory and vain life but in connection with the future judgment which shall make over to good men good things and to bad men bad things, in permanent, inalienable possession. In fine, this wise man concludes this book of his saying, "Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is every man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every despised person whether it be good or whether it be evil" - Eccles. 12:13-14 -

What truer, terser, more salutary enouncement could be made? "Fear God" he says, "and keep His commandments: for this is every man". For whoever has real existence, is this, is a keeper of God's commandments; and he who is not this, is nothing. For so long as he remains in the likeness of vanity, he is not renewed in the image of the truth. "For God shall bring into judgment every work" - that is, whatever man does in this life - " whether it be good or whether it be evil, with every despised person" - that is, with every man who here seems despicable and is therefore not considered; for God sees even him and does not despise him nor pass him over in His judgment.

4. That proofs of the last judgment will be adduced, first from the New Testament and then from the Old Testament.

The proofs, then, of this last judgment of God which I propose to adduce shall be drawn first from the New Testament and then from the Old Testament. For although the Old Testament is prior in point of time, the New Testament has the precedence in intrinsic value; for the Old Testament acts the part of herald to the New Testament. We shall therefore first cite passages from the New Testament and confirms them by quotations from the Old Testament. The Old Testament contains the laws and the prophets, the New Testament, the gospel and the apostolic epistles. Now the apostle says, "By the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; now the righteousness of God is by faith of Jesus Christ upon all of them that believe" - Rom. 3:20-22 -

This righteousness of God belongs to the New Testament and evidence for it exists in the old books, that is to say, in the law and the prophets. I shall first, then, state the case and then call the witnesses. This order Jesus Christ Himself directs us to observe, saying, "The scribe instructed in the kingdom of God is like a good householder, bringing out of his treasure things new and old" - Matt. 13:52 - He did not say "old and new' which He certainly would have said had He not wished to follow the order of merit rather than that of time.

                                                                    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 -

CONCERNING THE LAST JUDGMENT AND THE DECLARATIONS REGARDING IT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE NEW TESTAMENT.

1. That although God is always judging, it is nevertheless reasonable to confine our attention in this book [The City of God] to His last judgment.

Intending to speak, in dependence on God's grace, of the day of His final judgment and to affirm it against the ungodly and incredulous, we must first of all lay, as it were, in the foundation of the edifice the divine declarations. Those persons who do not believe such declarations do their best to oppose to them false and illusive sophisms of their own either contending that what is adduced from Scripture has another meaning or altogether denying that it is an utterance of God's. For I suppose no man who understands what is written and believes it to be communicated by the supreme and true God through holy men, refuses to yield and consent to these declarations whether he orally confesses his consent or is from some evil influence ashamed or afraid to do so; or even, with an opinionativeness closely resembling madness, makes strenuous efforts to defend what he knows and believes to be false against what he knows and believes to be true.

That, therefore, which the whole Church of the true God holds and professes as its creed that Christ shall come from heaven to judge quick and dead, this we call the last day or last time, of the divine judgment. For we do not know how many days this judgment occupy; but no one who reads the Scriptures, however negligently, need be told that in them "day" is customarily used for "time". And when we speak of the day of God's judgment, we add the word last or final for this reason because even now God judges and has judged from the beginning of human history, banishing from paradise, and excluding from the tree of life, those first men who perpetrated so great a sin. Yes, He was certainly exercising judgment also when He did not spare the angels who sinned, whose prince, overcome by envy, seduced men after being himself seduced. Neither is it without God's profound and just judgment that the life of demons and men, the one in the air, the other on earth, is filled with misery, calamities and mistakes. And even though no one had sinned, it could only have been by the good and right judgment of God that the whole rational creation could have been maintained in eternal blessedness by a persevering adherence to its Lord. He judges, too, not only in the mass, condemning the race of devils and the race of men to be miserable on account of the original sin of these races but He also judges the voluntary and personal acts of individuals.

For even the devils pray that they may not be tormented - Matt. 8:29 - which proves that without injustice they might either be spared or tormented according to their deserts. And men are punished by God for their sins often visibly, always secretly, either in this life or after death, although no man acts rightly save by the assistance of divine aid; and no man or devil acts unrighteously save by the permission of the divine and most just judgment. For, as the apostle says, "There is no unrighteousness with God" - Rom. 9:14 - and as he elsewhere says, "His judgments are inscrutable and His ways past finding out". - Rom. 11:33 - In this book [The City of God] then, I shall speak, as God permits, not of those first judgment, nor of these intervening judgments of God but of the last judgment when Christ is to come from heaven to judge the quick and the dead. For that day is properly called the day of judgment because in it there shall be no room left for the ignorant questioning why this wicked person is happy and that righteous man unhappy. In that day true and full happiness shall be the lot of none but the good, while deserved and supreme misery shall be the portion of the wicked and of them all.

2. That in the mingled web of human affairs God's judgment is present, though it cannot be discerned.

In this present time we learn to bear with equanimity the ills to which even good men are subject and to hold cheap the blessings which even the wicked enjoy. And consequently, even in those conditions of life in which the justice of God is not apparent, His teaching is salutary. For we do not know by what judgment of God this good man is poor and that bad man rich; why he who, in our opinion, ought to suffer acutely for his abandoned life enjoys himself, while sorrow pursues him whose praiseworthy life leads us to suppose he should be happy; why the innocent man is dismissed from the bar not only unavenged but even condemned, being either wronged by the iniquity of the judge or overwhelmed by false evidence while his guilty adversary, on the other hand, is not only discharged with impunity but even has his claims admitted; why the ungodly enjoys good health while the godly pines in sickness; why ruffians are of the soundest constitution while they who could not hurt any one even with a word are from infancy afflicted with complicated disorders; why he who is useful to society is cut off by premature death while those who, as it might seem, ought never to have been so much as born have lives of unusual length; why he who is full of crimes is crowned with honours while the blameless man is buried in the darkness of neglect. But who can collect or enumerate all the contrasts of this kind? But if this anomalous state of things were uniform in this life, in which, as the sacred Psalmist says, "Man is like to vanity, his days as a shadow that passeth away" so uniform that none but wicked men won the transitory prosperity of earth while only the good suffered its ill - this could be referred to the just and benign judgment of God.

We might suppose that they who were not destined to obtain those everlasting benefits which constitute human blessedness were either deluded by transitory blessings as the just reward of their wickedness or were, in God's mercy, consoled by them and that they who were not destined to suffer eternal torments were afflicted with temporal chastisement for thier sins or were stimulated to greater attainment in virtue. But now, as it is, since we not only see good men involved in the ills of life and bad men enjoying the good of it which seems unjust but also that evil often overtakes evil men and good surprises the good, the rather on this account are God's judgments unsearchable and His ways past finding out. Although, therefore, we do not know by what judgment these things are done or permitted to be done by God, with whom is the highest virtue, the highest wisdom, the highest justice, no infirmity, no rashness, no unrighteousness, yet it is salutary for us to learn to hold cheap such things, be they good or evil, as attach indifferently to good men and bad, and to covet those things which belong only to good men and flee those evils which belong only to evil men.

But when we shall have come to that judgment, the date of which is called peculiarly the day of judgment and sometimes the day of the Lord, we shall then recognise the justice of all God's judgments, not only of such as shall then be pronounced but of all which take effect from the beginning or may take effect before that time. And in that day we shall also recognise with what justice so many or almost all, the just judgments of God in the present life defy the scrutiny of human sense or insight, though in this matter it is not concealed from pious minds that what is concealed is just.

BY SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO

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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
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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 -

All crimes were sins or offenses against God's law. Under God's law, all of life was religious but some crimes were considered especially directed against the worship system which God had established. Conviction in these crimes resulted to be cursed or in death because such crimes struck out pointedly against God and life itself.

Crimes against God, Crimes against society, Crimes against sexual morality; Fornication, Adultery, Homosexuality, Prostitution, Incest, Bestiality, Transvestiture, Crimes against an individual's person; Murder, Abortion, Rape, Seduction, Oppression, Slander, Kidnapping, Stealing, Cheating, Bribery...All crimes were sins or offenses against God.

These crimes against God included worshiping lifeless and false gods or worshiping other gods alongside God; seeking to control other people and predicting future event by deception, magic, sorcery, fortune telling, fallacy, envy, false prophecy and deluding oneself into thinking God can be cheated. But certain crimes struck society as a whole. Among these were the perversion of justice through bribery, abuse of power, torture of witnesses, false testimony and perjury.

Biblical law relating to sexual morality protected and sanctified the family. The sexual union of two persons [male and female] made them one flesh and this was the only such union were to experience.

In the Old Testament and in Israel the sexual union was most sacred. A newly married woman charged with premarital sex with a man other than her husband was to be put to death if the charge was proven. If the charge was not proven, her husband had to pay a large fine and keep her as his wife. Also, he could never divorce her. Under God's law adultery was a serious crime because tearing apart the two who had become one body amounted to murder. Those convicted of adultery were to be put to death.

Sodomy or male homosexuality was pointedly condemned and prohibited. It brought death under God's law. By implication, the same penalty was also meted out for female homosexuality or lesbianism. Prostitutes of every guise (male or female, cultic or non-cultic) Incest. Sexual union with one's own offspring. Bestiality. Having sex with a beast (a common feature of Canaanite) was an offense punishable by death. The distinction between the sexes was to be retained in their outward appearance. Hence, transvestiture (wearing the clothing of the opposite sex) was forbidden.

Crimes of violence against others were serious criminal offenses. Murder. The willful and premeditated taking of a human life was punishable by death. Accidental killing, killing as an act of war and lawful executions were not considered murder. - Book of Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy -

God's people were to preserve and study the Lord's law and obey, revere His name. Serve Him and love the Lord, your God with all your soul, heart, strength and mind. In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ said: 'Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved. - Matt. 5:17-18 -

Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves. You will be able to tell them by their fruits. Can people pick grapes from thorns or figs from thistles? In the same way, a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit. A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit nor a rotten tree bear good fruit. Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire. I repeat, you will be able to tell them by their fruits. - Matt. 7:15-20 -

A good man draws what is good from the store of goodness in his heart; a bad man draws what is bad from the store of badness. For a man's words flow out of what fills his heart. - Luke 6:45 -

Let me put it like this: if you are guided by the Spirit you will be in no danger of yielding to self-indulgence since self-indulgence is the opposite of the Spirit, the Spirit is totally against such a thing and it is precisely because the two are so opposed that you do not always carry out your good intentions. If you are led by the Spirit, no law can touch you. When self-indulgence is at work the results are obvious: fornication, gross indecency and sexual irresponsibility; idolatry and sorcery; feuds and wrangling, jealousy, bad temper and quarrels; disagreements, factions, envy; drunkenness, orgies and similar things. I warn you now, as I warned you before: those who behave like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. What the Spirit brings is very different: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control. There can be no law against things like that, of course. You cannot belong to Christ Jesus unless you crucify all self-indulgent passions and desires.
Since the Spirit is our life, let us be directed by the Spirit. We must stop being conceited, provocative and envious. - Gal. 5:16-26 -

Then I saw the beast with all the kings of the earth and their armies, gathered together to fight the rider and his army. But the beast was taken prisoner, together with the false prophet who had worked miracles on the beast's behalf and by them had deceived all who had been branded with the mark of the beast and worshipped his statue. These two were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur. All the rest were killed by the sword of the rider which came out of his mouth and all the birds were gorged with their flesh. - Rev. 19:19-21 -

I am the true vine,
and my Father is the vinedresser,
Every branch in me that bears no fruit
he cuts away,
and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes
to make it bear even more.
You are pruned already,
by means of the word that I have spoken to you.
Make your home in me, as I make mine in you.
As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself,
but must remain part of the vine,
neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine,
you are the branches.

Whoever remains in me, with me in him,
bears fruit in plenty;
for cut off from me you can do nothing.
Anyone who does not remain in me
is like a branch that has been thrown away
-he withers;
these branches are collected and thrown on the fire,
and they are burnt.
If you remain in me
and my words remain in you,
you may ask what you will
and you shall get it.
It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit,
and then you will be my disciples. - John 15:1-8 -

                                                                                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 -                                                                   

Joseph was sold into slavery and later rose to an important position in the Egyptian government. Joseph was the first child of Rachael, the 11th son of Jacob - Gen. 30:24 - and Jacob's favourite son. - Gen. 37:31 - This is most clearly shown by the special coat which Jacob gave to Joseph. This favouritism eventually brought serious trouble for the whole family. Joseph's ten older brothers hated him because he was Jacob's favourite and also because Joseph had dreams which he interpreted to his brothers in a conceited way. It is no surprise that Joseph's brothers hated him enough to kill him. - Gen. 37:4 -

The account of Joseph's life is found in Genesis 37-50 - He and his family were shepherds in the land of Canaan. One day Jacob sent him to search for his brothers who were tending the flocks in the fields. When Joseph found them, they seized upon the chance to kill him. The only opposing voice was Reuben's but they finally sold Joseph into slavery to passing merchants. To hide the deed from their father Jacob, Joseph's brothers took his coat and dipped it in animal blood. When Jacob saw the coat, he was convinced that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal.

Joseph was taken to Egypt where he was sold to Potiphar, an officer of the ruling Pharaoh of the nation. Joseph good conduct soon earned him the highest position in the household. Potiphar's wife became infatuated with Joseph and tempted him to commit adultery with her. When he refused, she accused him of the crime and Joseph was sent to prison.

While in prison, Joseph's behaviour earned him a position of responsibility over the other prisoners. Among the prisoners Joseph met were the Pharaoh's baker and his butler. When each of them had a dream, Joseph interpreted their dreams. When the butler left prison, he failed to intercede on Joseph's behalf and Joseph spent two more years in prison. When Pharaoh had dreams that none of his counselors could interpret, the butler remembered Joseph and mentioned him to the Pharaoh. Then Joseph was called to appear before the Pharaoh. He interpreted the Pharaoh's dreams, predicting seven years of plentiful food, followed by seven years of famine. he also advised the Pharaoh to appoint a commissioner to store up supplies during the plentiful years.

To Joseph's surprise, the Pharaoh appointed him as food commissioners. This was a position of great prestige. Under Joseph's care, many supplies were stored and the land prospered. - Gen. 41:37-57 - Joseph was given many comforts, including servants and a wife. He was called Zapenath-Paneah which means "revealer of secrets". When the famine struck, Joseph was second only to the Pharaoh in power. Peoples from all surrounding lands came to buy food from him. Many years passed between Joseph's arrival in Egypt as a slave and his rise to power in the nation during the famine. The famine also struck Canaan and Joseph's brothers eventually came to Egypt to buy grain. When they met Joseph, they did not recognised him but he recognised them and decided to test them to see if they had changed. He accused them of being spies. Then he sold them grain only on the condition that Simeon stay as a hostage until they bring Benjamin, the youngest brother to Egypt with them.

Upon returning to Canaan, the brothers told Jacob of their experiences. He vowed not to send Benjamin to Egypt. But the continuing famine forced him to change his mind. On the next trip Benjamin went with his brothers to Egypt. When they arrived, Joseph treated them royally, weeping openly at the sight of his youngest brother. Simeon was retuned to them. After purchasing their grain, they started home. On the way home, however, they were stopped by one of Joseph's servants who accused them of stealing Joseph's silver cup. The cup was found in Benjamin's bag where Joseph had placed it. The brothers returned to face Joseph who declared that Benjamin must stay in Egypt. At this point Judah pleaded with Joseph, saying that it would break their father Jacob's heart if Benjamin failed to return with them. Judah's offered to stay in Benjamin's place is one of the most moving passages in the Old Testament.

Joseph was overcome with emotion. He revealed himself to them as their brother whom they had sold into slavery years earlier. At first Joseph's brothers were afraid that Joseph would take revenge against them but soon they were convinced that Joseph's forgiveness was genuine. Judah's plead on Benjamin's behalf was evidence of the change that Joseph had hoped to find in his brothers. He sent them back to Canaan with gifts for his father and invited the family to come to live in Egypt.

The grace of God working in the family of Jacob is evident in the way Joseph dealt with his brothers. Joseph did not want revenge against them. He realised that his personal suffering had preserved the family as an instrument of God's will. Joseph also was aware that his rise to power was for the good of his family, not for his own glory. - Gen. 45:7-8 -

Jacob accepted Joseph's offer and moved his entire family to Egypt. During the journey, God appeared to Jacob at Beersheba, blessing him and renewing His promised that the family would return to Canaan some day. The families of Jacob settled in the land of Goshen where they tended the Pharaoh's herds. They remained here until Joseph's death.

After the EXODUS of the Hebrew people from Egypt years later, Joseph's faithfulness was rewarded by God. His two sons, Ephraim and Manassah were counted as ancestral fathers of two tribes of Israel, although their mother was an Egyptian woman.

                                                                           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 -

Doing the will of the Father is Jesus' nourishment and Jesus does nothing apart from the Father's will. Gospel of Luke 22:42-44 confirms this and the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God belong to those who does God's will.

'It is not those who say to me, "Lord, Lord", who will enter the kingdom of heaven but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. When the day comes many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?" Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, you evil men!' - Matt. 7:21-23; Luke 13:26-27; James 2:14-17; 1John 3:18 -

The entire ministry of Jesus, and His behaviour, acts and deeds is understood in relation to this important declaration of the presence of the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God. Jesus ethical teachings, for example, cannot be understood apart from the announcement of the kingdom of heaven; the perfection to which they point makes no sense apart from the present experience of the kingdom of heaven. Participation in the new reality of the kingdom involves a follower of Jesus in a call to the highest righteousness and holiness.

'Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock. But everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!' - Matt. 7:24-27 -

Brothers, I have the very warmest love for the Jews and I pray to God for them to be saved. I can swear to their fervour for God but their zeal is misguided. Failing to recognise the righteousness that comes from God, they try to promote their own idea of it, instead of submitting to the righteousness of God. - Rom. 10:1-3 -

I am no longer trying for perfection by my own efforts, the perfection that comes from the Law but I want only the perfection that comes through faith in Christ, and is from God and based on faith. - Phil. 3:9 - Luke 16:1-15 -

The beggar in Jesus' story about a very rich man and a very poor man. The wealthy man despised the beggar, paying no attention to his needs when he passed him each day. After the death of Lazarus, the poor man, he was carried by angels to Abraham's bosom, where he found comfort. But the wealthy man at death found himself in Hell or Hades, in eternal torment.

This story was not intended to praise Lazarus, and condemn the wealthy and rich. It shows the dangers of turning away from the needs of others. It teaches that our behaviour and attitude on earth or in this world will result in an eternal destiny that parallels our behaviour and attitude. This note is sounded frequently in the teaching of Jesus Christ.

There was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and feast magnificently everyday. And at his gate there lay a poor man called Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to fill himself with the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Dogs even came and licked his sores. Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried.

In his torment in Hades he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off with Lazarus in his bosom. So he cried out, "Father Abraham, pity me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in these flames." "My son," Abraham replied "remember that during your life good things came your way, just as bad things came the way of Lazarus. Now he is being comforted here while you are in agony. But that is not all: between us and you a great gulf has been fixed, to stop any crossing from your side to ours."

'The rich man replied, "Father, I beg you then to send Lazarus to my father's house since I have five brothers, to give them warning so that they do not come to this place of torment too." "They have Moses and the prophets," said Abraham "let them listen to them." "Ah no, father Abraham," said the rich man "but if someone comes to them from the dead, they will repent." Then Abraham said to him, "If they will not listen either to Moses or to the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead." - Luke 16:19-31 -

Jesus said to his disciples, 'Obstacles are sure to come but alas for the one who provides them!' It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone put round his neck than that he should lead astray a single one of these little ones. Watch yourselves! - Luke 17:1-3 -

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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 -