LIVING SMYRNA CHURCH OF CHRIST

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19 March 2023

Scripture Reading: Matthew 10:33 (KJV)

But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

As we all are aware, there are many ‘combustible’ questions concerning certain Bible doctrines. These ‘combustible’ questions often could act as catalyst to potentially cause problems in Christian community that may threaten unity among church members or even church itself. It is not uncommon to hear that because of differences in interpreting certain Bible verses good friend can turn into enemy, churches are split, name-calling by among church leaders because they could not agree or even agree to disagree these questions. It often – either “I win” or “You lose”. I have heard of a real story of a well-known Bible teacher-cum-church pastor had to resign from an evangelical church that he was pastoring because he felt that churches should not practice child-baptism. However, the church that he was pastoring thought otherwise. In fact, child-baptism was (and I believer still is) widely practiced in that church as child-baptism is a one of the significant parts of its doctrinal beliefs. The matter escalated to a point that he was called to face a disciplinary tribunal because he refused to perform child-baptism. He then decided to resign.

Let me take the liberty to give some of these ‘combustible’ questions and I believe you can add many, many more:

In my message this week, I am not trying to address these ‘combustible’ questions and for one very good reason. I believe these questions should be discussed and/or debated among theologians. I want to admit, I am not a theologian. For that matter, I have never attended any bible college and I hold no diploma or degree in theology.

Well, prayerfully my personal confession will not turn away some readers and avoid my messages in this website because they may think that “After all he in not trained in theology!” But remember, most of Jesus’ disciples received no formal theological training and they simply followed Jesus when Jesus commanded them to “Follow me”. We can also note that there were quite a number of Jesus disciples who were were fishermen! They were ordinary men doing extra-ordinary work for Jesus. Indeed, this dozen or so disciples had indeed turned the world “downside-up”. Without them, we would not have the gospel. The Good News of Jesus would never be known and all of us will perish into eternality.

Another reason is that we must fully accept that the Bible is the sole and final authority. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us to give us discernment and to provide to us clear answers to on things that concern the Kingdom of God. All we need is to search deep into the Word of God and the Holy Spirit will guide us as we dive into the Word with prayer and fasting.

Having clarify myself, I like to address that my message this week is not to debate with you all on those ‘combustible’ question because I understand some Christians who read the verse Matthew 10:33 felt that once you have been through a baptism and publicly confessed your sins before men, you will be saved – forever. Rather, my message this week is to urge believers to boldly proclaim to the world that, we, as God’s children, should stand up and hold our heads up with confidence that Christ is our Lord and Saviour, and Jesus is the Way, Jesus is the Truth and Jesus is the life and no one comes to the Father but by Him (John 14:6). We should therefore take every conceivable opportunity to tell people about who Jesus is and that He is coming very soon to take His Bride, the Church to the Kingdom in heaven and invite them to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savour. We must not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps, the word ‘ashamed’ may sound too blatant or give a very unpleasant connotation for many of us. For new Christians, in particular, they can be quite shy when they first became Christian and perhaps tried to openly tell people they are now Christians. Let me give my personal testimony. When I just accepted Jesus about 40 years’ ago and as a young and new Christian, I seldom openly gave thanks when I had meals with non-Christian colleagues and friends. Before I got saved, I was somewhat an agnostic and I did participate worshipping of idoIs because my parents were idol worshippers. Like many children, you tend to follow your parents when it comes to religious belief. Hence, when I became a Christian, I felt quite shy to even let people know that “I am now a Christian”. I tried actually to hide my new found ‘religion’ in Christianity and always tried to avoid giving thanks when having meals. However, I acted like a hypocrite when I had meals with fellow church members as we often had our meals together after the church service. I also gave thanks before we ate our food as we took turn to give thanks to God during each meal. But I was very shy to openly to give thanks when I had meals with my non-Christian friends and colleagues. In retrospect and quite unknowningly, I had passively denied Christ before men. Giving thanks for the food in fact is a form of public confession before men and our Lord will also confess before His Father who is in heaven (Matthew 10:32) (Note: Thankfully and by the grace of God, both my parents later became Christians and they had given up idol worshipping.)

I am so grateful now as I am absolutely not ashamed to be a Christian let alone being shy. I am now putting much efforts to tell people whenever I see doors are open for me to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Given the messy and the fallen world that we are now witnessing, my urgent appeal to all the brothers and sisters-in-Christ is not to hide your identity that you (as well as me) are the citizens not of this world but we are citizens of God’s Kingdom. We are here in this world right now as strangers before our God and sojourners just like our fathers, and our days on the earth are like shadow, and the world we live now in is without hope (1 Chronicles 29:15). We must therefore tell people of the Blessed Hope that our Lord Jesus is coming to take us home very, very soon as we can read in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

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 INVITATION TO RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOUR

Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for Him. (Isaiah 30:18)

If you are willing to accept God’s invitation to be His child, just pray this prayer right now because tomorrow is not promised. God is waiting for you.

Dear Heavenly Father
I admit that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I ask of You that You give me the power to repent and to turn away from my sin. I believe that Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ died for my sins and He rose after three days. I confess my faith in Your Son Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, and He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no man can come to You, but by Your Son Jesus Christ. I accept Your gift of forgiveness from sin. Please accept me as Your child.

I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and my life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. I want to thank you for the blood of Jesus who has shed for me and by His blood I can now be redeemed and be reconciled to You.

I sincerely and faithfully pray all these in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

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12 March 2023

Scripture Reading: John 14:1-3 (KJV)

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

MESSAGE

The verses we just read in John 14:1-3 are some of the most beautiful and comforting verses in the Bible. These verses speak about the promises that God has promised to His disciples. These promises made by Jesus were in response to Apostle Peter who asked Jesus where He was leaving to. Apostle Peter then asked Jesus whether he could follow Him not knowing that Jesus was going to be hung on the cross at Calvary. Apostle Peter didn’t seemingly want to be left alone without Jesus.  As we read through the verses and chapters that followed, it was very obvious why Jesus could not let His disciples followed Him. This was because Jesus, the only begotten Son of God was to be hung on the cross and this was the job that He and He alone can do in order to save all the sinners of the world. God sent His only begotten Son to die so that we shall not be perished is God’s ultimate plan reflecting His immense love for His children. (John 3:16)

God does not give empty promises. As we read through the scripture, we can see that God gave many promises in both the Old and the New Testaments. For examples, He promised the children of Israel a land where there would be milk and honey and He promised a Messiah to be born of a virgin to save all sinners. It may take a while or even a long time to fulfill but they were eventually fulfilled no matter how “ridiculous” the promises may be! And the “most ridiculous” in my opinion is: God became a human man! Thankfully, it is this “most ridiculous” promise that we are now able to look forward to be in heaven with our Creator forever. This promise of God became man was fulfilled 2,000 years’ ago by our Lord Jesus. There were countless times in the Old Testament that God promised His only begotten Son would be born to a virgin and and to dwell on earth. This promise was fulfilled to the minutest details two thousand years’ ago.

As in John 14:1-3, we have another, perhaps, the last promise before we are all taken up to meet Him in heaven and that is God promises that He is coming back to this world to bring us back to Him. This promise is that at the appointed time, true believers will be taken up to be with Him forever. It has been over 2,000 years and will His promise that He is coming will come to pass? The answer is a resounding “Yes!” As you all may be aware, in my previous postings, I have written several messages of faith, hope and love concerning the imminent return of our Lord Jesus. I wrote those messages because we are now very much in “the days of Noah” and in “the days of Lot”. Jesus often pointed to us that He will come back when we are “in the days of Noah and in the days of Lot.” We see today, indeed the world in not falling apart but the world today is falling in place for His return because we are now “in the days of Noah and in the days of Lot”. Just look around us, evil and wickedness is every where. And shouldn’t we be glad that He is coming soon when we are living now in such conditions? Sadly, many of us are not. Instead many of us are having troubled hearts and frankly they are all with valid reasons.

There are a lot of world events going on and they are not pretty, rather they are very ugly. These ugly events are the sources that cause us to have troubled hearts. Just only read about the geopolitical conflicts between Israel and Iran because it seems that Israel is going to bomb Iran to destroy Iran’s nuclear plants is not “if” but “when”, the conflict between U.S./Nato and China/Russia is heightening especially after the “Balloon Gate” incident, the Ukraine-Russia war is now in its second year with no end in sight for any peace to take place and conflicts between China and Taiwan and they will give many of us sleepless nights. When any one of this is materialized on at full-scale like when China started the invasion of Taiwan, all hell will break loose! It will likely cause a total collapse of the world economy resulting all our savings in the banks will become worthless. The value of our assets like shares and even real estates will be wiped out, international trade will come to a complete halt causing massive unemployment. There will be global food shortages resulting hyperinflation and severe famine all over the globe. State of emergency will likely be declared in many countries and the military will take over from the elected government. All our freedom will disappear and we must all obey the orders from the military rulers. Disobeying military orders could get you executed.

But then, one may ask: “We all know that we as Christians are not supposed to worry about things.” Honestly, that’s easier said than done. Heart-trouble is the commonest thing in the world since the day Adam and Eve were decieved by Lucifier. No one can keep it out. Heart-trouble can due partly from inward causes and partly from outward causes; partly from the body and partly from the mind; partly from what we love and partly from what we fear or hate. Our journey of life is full of trouble. Even the best of Christians have many bitter cups to drink between grace and glory. Even the holiest saints find the world a valley of tears and the smartest persons find walking in the shadow of death cannot be prevented. Even our Lord Jesus cannot keep away from the heart-trouble! He was so troubled before He went to the cross and this caused Him to pray: “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42) (Note: When Jesus prayed this prayer, He was fully human and this underscores that trouble-heart has not boundary. It can even happen to Jesus who is God and became man in order to carry not just our sins and obviously also our troubles! Hence, if you are praying for a trouble-free life, this is simply wishful. We need to pray instead for God’s strength when we are in trouble. (Psalm 46:1-3).

No where in the Bible has promised us that we will not have trouble. Quite the contrary, in John 16:33, Jesus has told us that in this world we will have trouble but we are told to take heart because He has overcome them. (Note: I want to add again that when Jesus said this He was saying as a man to underscore that even though He is God-Man is still face trouble). We thus need important antidotes to overcome our troubled hearts and these antidotes are faith and believe in the Lord Jesus. These are very important antidotes and they are sure spiritual medicine for us to overcome our trouble. Hence, we need greater faith in Christ Jesus and to believe more thoroughly that He is the only answer to our troubled-hearts because He, in human form, has overcome the world. This will put us at rest more unreservedly, lay hold of us more firmly, and let us lean back on Him more completely. Faith and believe are the prescriptions which our Master urges on the attention of all His disciples. The disciples had proved the reality of their faith by giving up everything for Christ’s sake. They followed Him unreservedly (although at certain point some did lose faith like Peter denied Him and many of His disciples fled leaving on Apostle John to witness His crucifixion).

Let’s us reflect again on the verses in John 14:1-3 and let’s claim His promises that He will come again to bring us to where He is now – and obviously He is now in His Father’s house in heaven.  It’s been 2,000 years’ since He made this promise and I am very confident that He is coming to bring us back to the mansion that He has prepared for us. We must at the same time be prepared too – a prepared mansion will only welcome a prepared owner! Hence, let us prepared ourselves to be received by Him and not to look at the world events with troubled heart. Let us look at the world events as the signs that pointing to us that He is coming back very soon. Let us look forward to Him to receive us. We are not going to Him. He is coming back to receive us! Remember, Jesus was a carpenter when He was on earth and thus He knew the kind of materials and the design we desire. It took God seven days to create the heavens and the earth and it is taking Jesus 2,000 years to prepare and build the mansions for us. Can you imagine how magnificent our mansions will be. They will be custom-made to suit all our desire. These mansions are not spiritual mansions but real mansions and their magnificence can only be expressed in heavenly term! The Bible does give us a glimpse of what heaven is like such the streets are made of gold, the heaven’s gates will be of great pearl but we have never been told what our mansions would be. This is because it cannot be expressed in human terms! So, let not our heart be troubled. Let’s keep looking upward because He is coming soon. You too must be prepared and may I humbly invite you to accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour so that He too can receive you to the magnificent house that He has prepared for you.

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INVITATION TO RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOUR

Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for Him. (Isaiah 30:18)

If you are willing to accept God’s invitation to be His child, just pray this prayer right now because tomorrow is not promised. God is waiting for you.

Dear Heavenly Father
I admit that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I ask of You that You give me the power to repent and to turn away from my sin. I believe that Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ died for my sins and He rose after three days. I confess my faith in Your Son Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, and He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no man can come to You, but by Your Son Jesus Christ. I accept Your gift of forgiveness from sin. Please accept me as Your child.

I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and my life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. I want to thank you for the blood of Jesus who has shed for me and by His blood I can now be redeemed and be reconciled to You.

I sincerely and faithfully pray all these in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

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5 March 2023

Scripture Reading: Matthew 24:37 (KJV)

But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

MESSAGE

When I first became a Christian, I couldn’t understand why Lord Jesus would frequently tell His disciples about “as in the days of Noah (and also “as in the days of Lot”) each time His disciples asked Him: Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the world? (Matthew 24:3b). The signs that Jesus referred to are: wars and rumours of wars, nation shall raise against nation (such as internal, ethnic or civil war within the country), and kingdom against kingdom (these are geopolitical wars among countries), there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diver places (Matthew 24:7-8). My question to all of us is: Are we right now witnessing these signs? (Breaking news: When it comes to famine, we normally assume it only happens to countries like Somalia, Nigeria, Sudan and most part of Africa. But today, U.K. is suffering from severe food shortage so much so that supermarkets are limiting customers from buying common items like potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers. Each customer is allowed to buy only few of each item. This is simply unthinkable that this can happen in U.K.! You can watch this in this Youtube: https://youtu.be/0c4uNZKxG6M. We pray this will not happen in our country and let us claim God’s promise that He can supply all our need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19).

I like to humbly take the liberty to outline the state of affairs during Noah’s day in my message below and, prayerfully, we can learn some godly lessons from what we are being warned by our Lord and Saviour, Jesus: “as the days of Noah were so shall coming of the Son of man be”. The lessons we learnt prayerfully would help us to achieve our godly motive to walk closer to our Lord and Saviour, to trust Him more and more and to be more like Christ Jesus while we wait for our Saviour to come.

Are you still in doubt that Jesus and only Jesus can save? You have to fully understand, tomorrow is not promised. Come to Jesus now so that you can escape the wrath of God which is going to come to this world very, very soon! This is how you need to do. All you need to do is to accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour so that you can also be caught up to meet Him when He descend from heaven to take all the believers to be with Him forever (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
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INVITATION TO RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOUR

Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for Him. (Isaiah 30:18)

If you are willing to accept God’s invitation to be His child, just pray this prayer right now because tomorrow is not promised. God is waiting for you.

Dear Heavenly Father
I admit that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I ask of You that You give me the power to repent and to turn away from my sin. I believe that Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ died for my sins and He rose after three days. I confess my faith in Your Son Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, and He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no man can come to You, but by Your Son Jesus Christ. I accept Your gift of forgiveness from sin. Please accept me as Your child.

I sincerely and faithfully pray all these in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and my life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. I want to thank you for the blood of Jesus who has shed for me and by His blood I can now be redeemed and be reconciled to You.

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We are going home soon! All signs are pointing to the imminent coming of our Lord and Saviour to meet us in the air!
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (KJV) – For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

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26 February 2023

Scripture Reading: Exodus 14:14 (KJV)

The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

MESSAGE

As we read the daily news from the international news media and also those that we can easily search from Google and Youtube, three topics will always surface up currently – the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, the conflicts between the NATO nations and China-Russia, and Russia-Ukraine war. Sadly, the news on the multiple earthquakes in Turkey and Syria that are still raving the two countries are not seriously discussed as it should be. Instead, the other two geopolitical conflicts are dominating the news. By all accounts, the world, especially the rich nations, should focus greater attention on the situations in Turkey and Syria and how to provide more assistance to elevate the people’s suffering. Instead, the news on the possibility of a large-scale or a full-blown war is now a hot topic in the news we can hear them. It has overtaken even the Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the China’s ‘Balloon-gate’ has, in my opinion, blown out of proportion! Due to the ‘Balloon-gate’ the U.S. has suspended indefinitely their high-ranking visit to China that was supposed to take place in March. It was leaked that China’s high level officials including the President himself were preparing to ‘entertain’ the delegates and thus giving the world the much needed assurance that the relationship between the two countries is “not so bad” after all. This is now blasted away by the balloons!

When (and not “if) the World War Three is going to start? This is a million-dollar question in the lips of many people. I pray that WWIII will never start and prayerfully, all conflicts – U.S./NATO-China/Russia, Ukraine-Russian, Israel-Iran, China-Taiwan can be resolved amicably but I believe we all know this is a wishful thinking. In fact, many are expecting Russia could launch a nuclear attack on Ukraine at anytime as Russia, as many think, must “win” the war. At the same time many are expecting Israel is going to launch missiles to destroy Iran’s nuclear plant and China is going to attack Taiwan. There are too many wars and rumors of wars and we can hear them “Every hour on the hour.”

Frankly, we all have no control over all these. My message this week is not about the wars and rumors of wars as we can see and hear them every minute. . Exegetically-speaking, the geopolitical battles among all the nations: U.S.-Russian/China, Israel-Iran, China-Taiwan, Russian-Ukraine and so on are about the battles between God and Satan and we know very well that God will prevail and He will come to rule the world and all the evil inhabitants will be condemned in hell fire forever.

Hence, in this week’s message it is not about the current military conflicts and battles that we are hearing them every minute from the new . Rather, I am sharing with the readers about own battles and how God will fight for us our battles and hence our victory is assured when God is fighting the battles for us as we can read in the Bible. From cover to cover, when God is fighting the battle of us, our victory is already won even before it has begun.

Thankfully and by God’s grace, I came across a message on “God Will Fight Your Battles” which I like to share with all my dear readers here. The message is very inspiring to me and it sends a very strong message to me that I must “Hold my peace” regardless of my situations knowing that God will fight the battles for me. I pray that this will also encourage you that God too will fight for your battles no matter how big your battles are.

(Acknowledgement: I was trying to find the identity of the author so that I can give due credit to him or her. However, I couldn’t find the source of this message neither his nor her name. I pray that the writer can forgive me for sharing this message without his or her permission. Should there be any ‘inconsistency’ of the message and what the Bible taught, which I don’t believe there is any, I will, nonetheless take full responsibility of any ‘inconsistency’ since I have taken the liberty to post this message).

 Inspiring Message On “God will fight your battles”
Author – Unknown

That God will fight our battles mean we do not have to anguish, be anxious, or be discouraged when bad things happen in our lives. When it seemed a situation is hopeless or the matter at hand is too overwhelming, we may be tempted to doubt God. But Christians must remember that no problem is beyond the scope of God’s sovereign care for His children. He has promised to take care of us (Philippians 4:19), make good plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11), and love us beyond measure (Romans 8:37-30).

In Exodus 14:14 Moses tells the children of Israel, “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” At that moment, they were standing at the edge of the Red Sea, hemmed in by the sea before them and the Egyptian army behind. The Israelites are in a seemingly impossible situation, but it was a situation brought on by the Lord Himself. It was God who had hardened Pharaoh’s heart to pursue the fleeing salves (Exodus 14:4-8). Why would God do such a thing? The Bible gives some of the reasons: because God wanted to make it crystal clear to Egypt that He is LORD so that He got the glory over Pharaoh (Exodus 14:4). And because God wanted to teach Israel that He is their Deliverer (Exodus 6:6) and their Salvation (Exodus 14:13). They were incapable of escaping the situation on their own – they needed only to wait for God to move on their behalf (Psalm 27:14). The battle that appeared to be between the Egyptians and the Israelites was in reality between the Egyptians and the Lord (Exodus 14:4).

The lessons believers can learn from the Exodus account can be powerful and life-changing. When Christians trust God to fight their battles, it enables them to circumvent what often accompanies conflict, i.e., panic, fear, and hopelessness (Exodus 14:11-12). There are times when we can see absolutely no way around a problem, just like Israel when they were cornered. It’s quite probable not one of the Israelites ever imagined that the massive sea was going to split down the middle, providing their way of escape. When Christians believe God’s Word (2 Chronicles 20:17), they learn that no battle is too formidable or monumental for God to handle (Joshua 1:5).

Moses gives a review of some of Israel’s history in Deuteronomy 1. In his recap he reminds them of the importance of having courage and trusting God at the edge of the Promised Land. Forty years earlier, the Israelites had spied out the land and concluded that they were unable to go up against the Canaanites, who were too big and too strong (Number 13:31-33). Due to that generation’s lack of faith, they were not allowed to enter the Promised Land. Moses tells the new generation to avoid their fathers’ lack of trust: “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes” (Deuteronomy 1:9-30). As God’s people obeyed in faith, they would find triumph at every turn. “Victory rests with the LORD” (Proverbs 21:31).

Israel, like many Christians today, had forgotten the previous battles God had fought for them all along the way (see Deuteronomy 2:7). The Israelite spies had seen “giants” in the land (Numbers 13:33, NKJV), just like Christians today see “giant” obstacles, complications, and problems that seem too large to conquer. To let the “giants” steal our faith only leaves defeat and a lack of assurance in the God who is in control of every problem, in spite of its size (Romans 8:28).

God is in control, but that does not mean Christians get to avoid the battles – in fact, the Bible states the opposite (2 Timothy 3:12). “Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3-4). In order for a believer to live a life of endurance, character, and hope, we must put on our armor (Ephesians 6:10-17) and trust the Deliverer. We “put no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3). Our confidence is in God, who will fight our battles and bring us safely home (Jude 1:24-25). “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God” (Psalm 20:7).

—————–End of Message: God Will Fight Your Battles ——————

Let’s Pray
[This prayer is based on Psalm 23]

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for being our good and wonderful Shepherd. We know that with You around us, we will never lack of anything because You will provide for us all of our physical, mental and spiritual needs.

Thank You Lord for leading me to lie down in green pastures and leading me to the fresh waters. The waters that You provide for us will quench our thirst and we will never be thirst again.

Thank You Lord for restoring our soul because we are cleansed by the redemptive blood of Your only begotten Son, Jesus.

Thank You Lord for leading us to the paths of righteousness so that Your Name can be glorified.

Thank You Lord that when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death in this sin-sick world of trials, of temptations and of life uncertainties that often come along our way, we will fear no evil for You are always with us.

Thank You Lord for comforting us with Your rod and Your staff and therefore we do not need to be fearful because You will fight for us all the battles with Your rod and Your staff and You will win all the our battles no matter big or difficult they are.

Thank You Lord for preparing a table for us so that we can dine with You in the presence of our enemies.

Thank You Lord for anointing our heads with Your holy oil that overflows over our whole body from our head to our toes.

Thank You for Your goodness, Your mercy, Your loving kindness and the peace that surpasses all our understanding and they will follow us all the days of our lives.

Thank You Lord Jesus for preparing for us the mansion that one day we will dwell in Your glorious mansion for ever.

We pray all these in the Mighty Name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen!
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19 February 2023

Scripture Reading: John 16:33 & Matthew 24:21-22 (KJV)

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. (Matthew 24:21-22)

MESSAGE

Greetings to all readers of the Living Smyrna Church of Christ messages. I pray that my message this week can set straight the record that ‘tribulation” which we read in John 16:33 and the “great tribulation” which we read in Matthew 24:21 are completely different. And here are my reasons based on what I read from the Word of God.

Let’s be honest, there isn’t a human being, past or present, who had lived or who are still living in this planet who isn’t acquainted with troubles (or tribulations). Times of difficulty arrive unexpectedly, often remain indefinitely, and the sorrowful memories are always lingering on our mind no matter how hard we tried to forget. The best we could hope is that those sorrowful events of the past will never happen again. Sadly, often we are disappointed and I am speaking from my own experience.

It is no wonder why Jesus’s promise in John 16:33 is commonly used by preachers and Christian counsellors to remind us that our living Lord and Saviour is aware of the difficulties or tribulations that we are confronted with so frequently because He too had suffered them all. The life history of our Lord was not pretty. For that matter, was very “ugly” and extremely tragic. For examples, He was rejected by His own people – the Jews, He was betrayed by His own disciple, Judas Iscariot, for thirty silver coins, all His disciples abandoned Him at the time when He needed them most, the Roman governor, Pilate although had found Jesus innocent as He did not commit any crime, yet He was unjustly condemned to hang on the cross, He was abandoned by His Father when He was hung on the cross so much so that He cried out “My God, My God, Why hast thou foresaken Me?” Even though our Lord Jesus knew all along, even before they happened, yet He still gave us very comforting advice for us: “But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Our Saviour Jesus didn’t just say this an walk away. Instead, He told His disciples we will not be alone to face the tribulations because the Father will send the Comforter in His name to strengthen them and He will leave with the peace, the peace not as the world gave (John 14:26-27). We are so thankful to God that we can pray to the Holy Spirit for comfort and for strength in times of our trials and tribulations.

We all know it is not pretty to receive a pink-slip from the Human Resource Department and tells us that this is our last pay cheque and we don’t need to turn up for work tomorrow, or to receive a call from the hospital and inform us that the medical tests we did earlier shown signs of stage four cancer. These are real things that can happen to anyone and often in the most unsuspected manner or time when we feel everything is fine and said to ourselves: “I am doing great!”

I am a living example of an unsuspected trial. Due to poor business, I got a call from my supervisor who was stationed overseas and told me that my job had been made redundant. I was given two months’ notice period. Thankfully, I was not in debt and I could get by financially while I was searching for a new job. Even though, the feeling of being made redundant, be unemployed and having to wait and to ask myself when would my next job come was really a big ‘trial” or “tribulation”. I had never expected this and I had taken for granted I could work until I retired or until I resigned on my own accord. Never in my dream I got ‘sacked!’ But I am not alone. Everyone has to go through some sorts of trials and tribulations and of course we are all going through them in different situations. It is very difficult to “be of good cheer” when we are in one of these circumstances (and sometimes they come like production lines!)

Now, let’s examine the verses in Matthew 24:21-22 concerning the “great tribulation.” What Jesus was telling us is that there will be a terrible time during the period of great tribulation and this great tribulation is going to be far worse than anything the world has ever seen and this is going to be a one-off event and never to occur again. This great tribulation will happen before His return to this earth to take all believers to meet Him in the air. This great tribulation is going to be so terrible that unless God cut short the days no flesh will be saved. These apocalyptic events, among others, will be marked by an earthquake that will make all mountains (sorry Mt. Everest!) and every island (sorry Singapore!) disappeared (Revelation 16:20). Unlike what we just read in John 16:33 which Jesus told us to “be of good cheer” for those tribulations we are facing routinely but we don’t hear from our Saviour, Jesus said to us “be of good cheer” because the events during great tribulation is going to be very, very different as can we read them in Revelation 16:20 and also throughout the book of Revelation. It is quite clear that the two events are very different: (a) tribulations in John 16:33 (for examples: due to sickness, lost of job, lost our hard-earned savings because of scam, etc) that we routinely face and (b) the events of great tribulation referred by Jesus in Matthew 24:21-22, the details of these can be found in the book of Revelation. These are eschatological events that will never to be repeated. It is important that the great tribulation is the end-time God’s wrath to administered justice and to punish all unrepentant sinners. The great tribulation will only occur after all the believers have been caught up to meet our Lord in the air. Known as the rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ, this rapture event is going to shake the world beyond anyone could imagine. Followed by the rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ, all hell will break loose, so to speak. Those people left behind are the one who have missed the rapture and they have to go through the great tribulation. Would you like to be one of them. Take heed – this is not going to be pretty!

This brings my thought to the very sad earthquakes that happened in Turkey and Syria couple of weeks ago. Any person of a sound mind will never tell the people there “be of good cheer in this world we shall have tribulation.” To the people of Turkey and Syria, this is a great tribulation! This disaster is of such magnitude that the governments of both Turkey and Syria are quite helpless. Thankfully, there are many international relief organisations that are now actively pouring in the aids from rescue operations to food to temporary accommodations to medicine and so on. For us as individual, all we can do is to continue to uphold the people of Turkey and Syria in prayers and all these aids – food, medical, lodging and every conceivable supports – are delivered to them as fast as possible because the victims are fighting against time. Many of them are going without food and clean water for many days and have to endure the cold winter weather. Perhaps, the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria could give us a glimpse of what is like in a great tribulation as written in Revelation 16:20. Comparing to the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, this is going to be many, many times far worse. As we read further in the Book of Revelation, cosmological destruction of the earth is only one part. All people who refused to worship the Anti-Christ will be persecuted and prosecuted and those who refused to take the Mark of the Beast will not be able to buy and sell. There are only two options: ‘At best’ they will die of hunger and ‘at worse’ they will be killed for refusing to worship the Anti-Christ. [Note: I have written in my previous posts on the dire dangers of taking the Mark of Beast and worshipping of Anti-Christ. If you want to read them you can search for them in this website].

Thankfully, God has prescribed for you a perfect solution for us to escape the great tribulation. All you need to do is to accept Jesus as your Saviour so that you can also be caught up to meet Him when He descend from heaven to take all the believers to be with Him forever (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

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Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for Him. (Isaiah 30:18)

If you are willing to accept God’s invitation to be His child, just pray this prayer right now because tomorrow is not promised. God is waiting for you.

Dear Heavenly Father
I admit that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I ask of You that You give me the power to repent and to turn away from my sin. I believe that Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ died for my sins and He rose after three days. I confess my faith in Your Son Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, and He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no man can come to You, but by Your Son Jesus Christ. I accept Your gift of forgiveness from sin. Please accept me as Your child.

I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and my life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. I want to thank you for the blood of Jesus who has shed for me and by His blood I can now be redeemed and be reconciled to You.
I sincerely and faithfully pray all these in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

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12 February 2023

Scripture Reading: Matthew 24:3-9 (KJV)

And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

MESSAGE

The Bible verses Matthew 24:3-9 which we just read were the replies that Jesus gave to His disciples when they asked Him when would be the sign of His coming and of the end of the world. Besides Matthew 23:3-9, we can also read similar replies in the books of Mark 15:6-9 and Luke 12:6-9. I would like to summarise these signs and how and why they are relevant to the current world events which clearly point to us that we are very, very close to His coming. Thankfully, the appearance to our Lord Jesus will first appear to us in the air and we will be then taken up to meet Him (that is the rapture of the church will then occur) and seven years’ later after we have been taken up He will come down to subdue all satanic forces and to set up His kingdom on earth for one thousand years. This is the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus which is different from the Rapture of the Church who is His Bride.

Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war almost exactly one year ago, many countries especially those countries with nuclear capabilities are stepping up their military spending in order to better defend their countries as they are fearing that the Russia-Ukraine war will be escalated into major global conflict. This is very real and not unthinkable as China is also threatening the use military force to bring Taiwan back. These are some of the clear signs that countries around the world are all preparing for an all-out war. Whether they like it or not, countries have to choose to either fight alongside with the U.S. or fight along side with China and Russia. The world now is torn into two blocks – U.S.Nato block and China/Russia block.

As we have read, for the last 2 weeks, the military conflict arising from the shooting down of Chinese balloons by the U.S. is yet another area of a major conflict that will start a New Cold War between U.S and China. It is now a daily news that major nuclear-capable countries are threatening one another and they are showing very little or no sign of retreat or compromise. The big showdown is going to happen sooner than probably most of could expect and War World Three is not “if” but “when” will it happen. We must not also forget the on-going regional conflict in the Middle East. This Middle East conflict between Israel and its neighbours is dragging so long that it will mutate into ways that even the most experienced politicians could not foresee. To put it simply, an all-war world between Israel and its Arab neighbours can happen and will happen anytime. Iran is threatening to wipe Israel out of the world map and Israel is warning that it will destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities and has warned that it will never allow Iran to possess any nuclear weapon. A sad new is that the world is now hanging on a thread because these military conflicts are not piece-meal unlike the previous conflicts but they are all converging at all the same time of ‘nuclear’ proportion. The paper tiger, the United Nations is powerless to cool down the situation other than making some motherhood statements calling for restrain and no one is listening. This may perhaps have prompted the Doomsday Clock to move just 90 seconds to midnight indicating the time is ripe for a nuclear war at anytime. We all don’t need to google, just flip through our newspapers or just tune to CNN, Fox, BBC channels, we can read or listen to the news of wars and rumours of wars “every hour on the hour”.

“Today, the world stands on the brink of unprecedented famines. About 30 million people are experiencing alarming hunger, severe levels of food insecurity and malnutrition in north-eastern Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen” This statement was made by Oxfam, an international organisation focusing on the alleviation of global poverty on the food situation in just four countries. Yet, as many other countries like North Korea, Myanmar, Ethiopia and Kenya are also suffering from severe food shortage. The situation is going to get much worse this year and it will even spread to wealthy nations which just three years ago they have taken for granted that food shortage will never happened in their countries. But all these have now changed. Food and energy prices are sky rocketing in every country from the poorest to the richest. The catastrophic drought and severe flood of 2022 has destroyed million acres of farmland across the world and this will severely impact food production this year. Will we end up having to pay a day’s pay just to buy a loaf of bread as foretold by Apostle John in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 6:6)?

This is a very scary word and we don’t normally hear this word in the news even though disease like bubonic plague had spread in many countries in Africa had known to have killed more than 25 million people in the past. Instead, a much watered-down term pandemic is used. The term pestilence is used to mean a deadly and overwhelming disease that affects an entire community and this term is seldom used because it will create chaos in the society. However, as we look at Covid-19, it was (and it’s still is) affecting not just an entire community but the whole world, the correct term pestilence should be more relevant to better reflect the Covid-19 situation. From 2020 to the most part of 2022, the world came to a complete halt – many people died of Covid-19 infection, schools were closed, businesses were halted, unemployment was at all-time high, all international travels were frozen, and the list goes on. Sadly, this is not going to be the last pestilence. We are warned (and of all the people by Bill Gates and the President of the United States, Joe Biden) of a new pandemic (or rather pestilence) and they had sounded the alarm on the formality of more pandemic to come. Is the world heading for another meltdown that could be far greater and severe than Covid-19? I think we need to address this question to the two ‘prophets’ – Prophet Bill Gates and Prophet Joe Biden.

As noted by some geologists that there are many earthquakes occurred in the last decades. The latest earthquake in Syria and Turkey that resulted many thousands of death and injuries has sent a cold spine to many of us. This is especially so for those earthquake-vulnerable countries. It is very heart-wrenching to read of a report that a family of four comprising the husband, his wife and two children died in the quake. Many scientists are asking a very disturbing question: Why so many earthquakes occurred this decades?  

As we examine the list of signs on the wars, rumours of wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes, many people will tell you that these are not new and they have had always been. For example, the world has only experienced two weeks of peace immediately after World War Two and wars have been raging in many countries since then, famines and severe food shortages is extremely common in many African countries, plagues known to have raging communities and killed people by the millions had occurred many times and earthquakes are very common too. So, what is the difference?

The big difference is that such events occurred piece-meal in the past. Eschatologically-speaking, because we now see all these events are converging at the same time and with greater severity and intensity and on a global scale (rather than limiting to just a community or region) give us clear indications that the end is near as foretold by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. For example, before the World Health Organization has proclaimed that the world has achieved complete victory over Covid-19, severe famine and shortage of food and fuels has come alongside with the Covid-19 pandemic and the famine is so wide-spread that even people from wealthiest nations like the U.S. and many Western European countries are finding hard to live because the food and fuel are too expensive. While these are still going on with no sign of slowing down, militarily conflicts involving nuclear powers like Russia, China, U.S. France and Britain are escalating to the point that the Doomsday Clock is now at 90 seconds to midnight. Unlike in the past, today we don’t hear them coming to engage in any peace talk. Quite to the contrary, they are threatening one another and sending threatening messages that they are all war-ready and will go nuclear without hesitation. The dire consequence of the Doomsday Clock at 90 seconds to midnight has pointed to the world that World War Three could start at anytime and the use of nuclear bombs is not an option but a necessity in order to win the war. It must be emphasised that no one is going to gain from any war even conventional one let alone a nuclear war. It is obvious that the main beneficiary is the Evil One as he would like to see as many of God’s precious children died as possible and in the shortest time because he knew that his hour has come. Once he is subdued by our Lord and Savour, Jesus Christ, he would not be able to carry out his evil plan to destroy God’s creation. [Note some politicians and historians have even said that World War Three has already begun since the start of Russian-Ukraine War in February 2022.]

But do not be disturbed by what is happening as they are already foretold by our living Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ two thousand years’ ago because we will be brought to safety that only God Himself can provide. As we all know, when the earth shakes be it due to wars, famines, pestilences or earthquakes there is a dramatic sense that there is no place to hide nor to flee. In all disasters, the earth is the only thing that stands firm when these prophetic signs turned into real events that are going to ravaging the whole earth. But the big question is: Where and who do you turn to when the whole earth itself is unsafe? As pointed out above, the answer is obvious: Only God can provide you the safe refuge (Psalm 46:1-11)

We have to remind ourselves the events that are taking place today: wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes are all miniscule when compared to the real one that is yet to come as prophesised in the Book of Revelation. Well, I may sound politically-incorrect or even rude to say that what is happening today is just a dress rehearsal to warn us of the impending wrath of God that is to come sooner that you can expect. The real and final events when they occur will be many, many times in severity and intensity and God got to shorten those days otherwise no flesh will be saved (Matthew 24:22). For example, there will be earthquake that will make all the islands disappeared and all the mountains will be levelled (Revelation 16:20).

Thankfully, as born-again Christians we are prophetically told that because we have kept God’s word, His commandments, we will escape the wrath of God that will bring forth wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes (and many more; if God willing I will write about them in my later message) ravaging the world’s inhabitants because of their sinfulness and wickedness (Revelation 3:10).

Let us turn to God and to encourage one another for God Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and we will be Him forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

It is thus very important that we all must come to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. If you still hesitate, this is the time now that you must believe that two thousand years’ ago Lord Jesus Christ was born to a virgin, Mary, to save all sinners (like you and me), was crucified and rose again after three days. May I plead to you to please come to Him and acknowledge Him as your Lord and Saviour. He is waiting for you! God wants you to His children! This is the only answer – only God can remove you from what is to come and to escape His wrath.

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Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for Him. (Isaiah 30:18)

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If you are willing to accept God’s invitation to be His child, just pray this prayer right now because tomorrow is not promised. God is waiting for you.

Dear Heavenly Father
I admit that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I ask of You that You give me the power to repent and to turn away from my sin. I believe that Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ died for my sins and He rose after three days. I confess my faith in Your Son Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, and He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no man can come to You, but by Your Son Jesus Christ. I accept Your gift of forgiveness from sin. Please accept me as Your child.

I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and my life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. I want to thank you for the blood of Jesus who has shed for me and by His blood I can now be redeemed and be reconciled to You.
I sincerely and faithfully pray all these in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

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5 February 2023

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 64:6 (KJV)

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

MESSAGE

As we dived deep into the Bible, often we are comforted by God’s holy word. At times when we are in distress and feel like giving up, we would go to seek comforting words from our Creator and inevitable we look for verses like: “I will never forsake you nor leave you” or “in the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world”. These verses may sound simple but they have the power to change the way we look at our situation. God understand our situation and He is in control and we can always count on Him to help us to overcome our life challenges. Nothing happens to us by accident because all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting in His plans (Romans 8:28). Often when I faced difficult situations and felt a great sense of lost and hopelessness as some of them seem unbearable, I will try to recall comforting words that God will never leave us nor forsake. There are two verses from Isaiah would then jump up before my very eyes: “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ ”Behold, all those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced; They shall be as nothing, And those who strive with you shall perish.” (Isaiah 41:10-11)

Praise be to God for His faithfulness.

On the other hand, as we explore further into the Bible, we too can read many scary and frightening verses depicting God’s disappointment with His children. As He is a holy, loving and merciful God, He is not going to close His eyes and pretending nothing happened. Instead, He has given very stern warnings and pleaded with us to put our ‘house in order’ or else we will face His wrath sooner or later. Each time when I read these ‘stern-warning’ verses, I would inevitably get cold sweat because they cut deep into my very flesh! At times, I started even to question my own salvation: Am I really saved? I am but a source of great disappointment to my Saviour after taking a hard look at myself of what I did. And I am not talking of those things I did years ago. I am talking about those things I did perhaps only even yesterday. I am talking to those things that perhaps I did just hours’ ago! They were indeed a great disappointment to my Saviour and I cannot hide them because the great clouds in the skies are God’s witnesses of what I did. (Hebrews 12:1).  

In additional to Isaiah 64:6 which we just read, I like to bring to us seven scary and frightening verses and if they don’t scare or frighten you, nothing will!

As you might already know that the verse Isaiah 64:6 we just read is taken from the Old Testament which was first written for the Jews approximately 2,300 years’ ago and hence this verse was quite specifically meant for the Jews and for good reasons. We also know that Prophet Isaiah’s most well-known prophecies (in my opinion) was his prophetic proclamation of the birth, the crucifixion and the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. In fact, most of his writings are prophetic in nature and many of them had already been fulfilled like the birth, the death and the resurrection of Lord Jesus. It must be noted that Prophet Isaiah also wrote many horrific situations that he had personally witnessed. For example, he observed that people there were calling evil good, and good evil as we can read in Isaiah 5:20 – Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (As a side note: I don’t think today we are no any difference! You can read them in the news, in the internet, watch them in the Youtube and perhaps you have personally witnessed yourselves horrific situations that we can only find in movies. Indeed, we are now living in the days of Noah, in the days of Lots and in the days of Isaiah, and this is not an understatement! I can recall a gospel message from Rev. Dr. Bill Graham, one of the world’s greatest and influential evangelists, and this was what he said in one of his evangelistic outreaches: If God doesn’t punish America, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.)

As I explored further deep into the word “righteousnesses” that is found in the above verse, I came to a realisation that this was referring to the people who were performing many religious practices and rites that Prophet Isaiah had witnessed and the people who performed these religious practices and rites thought that by performing these ritual practices they could stand before God and God would be very pleased for what they had done. Quite to the contrary, instead, Prophet Isaiah warned that these religious practices and rites could just be abomination to God as they were performed for the sake of seeking attention and to impress others rather than God and they have no intention to seek repentance for their evil and wicked deeds and strive to live holy lives and be pleasing to God. These practices and rites were but as filthy rags!

This gives us very important lesson as believers of Christ. Remember the very last word that Jesus cried out when He was hung on the cross before He gave up His spirit: It is finished (John 19:30). Transactionally-speaking between God and us, sinners, our Lord Jesus has fully paid all the debts of every sinner (including you and me) and there is nothing each of us need to do in order to be righteous before our Holy God. The debts of our sinfulness and wickedness from the biggest to the tiniest, of the past, the present and the future had already been fully paid by the blood of Jesus. All we need is just to obey His commandments. And, frankly, this is not easy because it involves our total being: our mind, our heart and our soul. It has nothing to do with performing any religious practices or rites. The rites of “doing this or doing that” is perhaps just to show our outward appearance of how religious or righteous but they are “as filthy rags” in the eyes of our holy and righteous God. This is not to imply that we, as believers, can’t be righteous. Our righteous come not from our work of any kind but by the blood of our resurrected Christ who has made us righteous in God’s sight and we are now made as clean and as white as snow as we are told by Prophet Isaiah (1:18) – “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet. They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.

Referring to my seven scary and frightening verses (and there are many more if you care to search further into His Word), I like to humbly summarise what we can and should learn from these verses:

If we continue to sin and sin, a time will come when God will just give us up for He is not going to strive with us anymore (Genesis 6:3a). Put it plainly, God is going to tell us: “Go and do what you want. I don’t care.” Since the fall of Adam and Eve at the Garden of Eden, man continues to live in a state of lawlessness, and lawlessness is sin (1 John 3:4). Even to this day, we are still a people of lawlessness and we can see there are people doing inconceivable evil deeds that only Hollywood could conceive. Many people disregard the welfare and well-being of others so long they can profit from these deeds. This can best be described in Genesis 6:5: That every intent of the thoughts of our heart is only evil continually.

And God knows we always tried to conceal our evil deeds and our transgressions but no matter how hard we try, we will not be able to hide them from God and be mindful, those who tried to hide their transgressions will not proper, and I believe this is taken to be spiritually, mentally, materially and physically (Proverbs 28:13a). Hence, we must not hide our transgressions and instead we need to repent of our transgressions and our repentance must come from our heart (Luke 13:3). Repentance can never be done though outward appearance by doing religious practices and rituals and even good works as we are told in Matthew 7:21-23. In the judgment day you may tell our living God, I do this, I do that, I go around preaching the gospel, my church that I started has grown from 10 to 10,000 people, I attend church service on every sabbath day, I perform miracles and wonderful things, I cast our demons but our Lord and Saviour, Jesus, will tell you: Depart from me. You who practice lawlessness and in 1 John 3:4 we are warned that lawlessness is sin.

In my opinion, I think Matthew 7:21-23 is the most frightening verses in the whole Bible. Hence, we should avoid at all cost the practice of lawlessness and avoid doing evil deeds and sinful things in the sight of God because the wages of sin is death, both physically and spiritually (Romans 6:23a). Whether we like it or not, we have to account to God for all the things we do, all the words we spoke and all our thoughts (Roman 2:5) when we stand before our righteous God during the judgment day and we would be in dire danger of facing His wrath if we continue to practice lawlessness. But thanks to be our God. As true and born-again Christians, we will be righteous before our God all because the blood of Jesus has been made us righteous as our sins though are red like crimson, they are now as white as snow and they shall be as wool. Praise be to God. But please be warned: The blood of Jesus is not a license for us to continue to live in lawlessness! Remember, when Jesus preached to the world, His first message to the world was: “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17). Till today, nothing have changed. Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus wants nothing from us because He has finished all the works on the cross that the Father has commanded Him to do – “Not my will, but yours be done (Luke 22:42)”. He is simply pleading us to repent and turn away from all our wicked ways!

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour and I like to sincerely thank you for all the blessings you have given me. I bow down before you, to ask for forgiveness of my sins. Show me the way to repentance. Cleanse my body and my spirit and renew my mind each and every morning I woke up. Heal me the hurt that others had inflicted on me and also heal others whom I have inflicted the hurt on them. Lord, sometimes I don’t even know myself who I have hurt but I ask of You for the forgiveness. For those who have inflicted any hurt or wounds onto me, Lord I want to forgive them all.

Lord Jesus, cover all my friends, my relatives and my family with Your precious and holy blood. Lord bless and protect everyone who seeks You. With no exception, without You we are nothing. Every breath that we breathe is from You and only You can sustain our lives whether here on earth or when we have departed from the earth. I love You, Lord Jesus and I need You. Help me not to be ashamed of your Gospel and that I will tell people about You. More importantly, help me to repent daily and show me all my transgressions. Help me not to hide them. Again, without fail, no matter how hard I try, there is always something that I do every day that are not right in Your sight. Please Lord, help me not to grieve the Holy Spirit because of my follies. So, Lord, please point them to me and pray that You will help me to repent.

In the Mighty Name of Jesus we pray. Amen!

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My Dear Readers-in-Christ,
I am very encouraged to note that my messages are read by people from many countries. Thank you for your encouragement. This has provided me great motivation to continue writing weekly God’s message and post it here. I may just plead with you that if you think the messages that posted here have in some way encouraged you to get closer to our living Lord and Saviour, Jesus, please help to send the following the web-link to your friends and relatives:
http://livingsmyrnachurchofchrist.com
If, however, you find any messages that are not what exactly the Word of God is teaching, please provide me your feedback to me at the email address: kttanlscc@gmail.com. I am prepared to learn from all my beloved Readers, whether you are a believer or not. In fact, I am looking forward to your feedback because I want all my messages to biblically and doctrinally correct.
May God Bless everyone of you the reading of the messages. Amen!

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29 January 2023

Scripture Reading: Revelation 3:20 (KJV)

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

MESSAGE

As most Christians are aware the verse that we just read in Revelation 3:20 is commonly used in evangelism outreach to spread the Gospel of Good News to non-believers. However, many Christians, including myself, think that in reality, these words that were written by Jesus in a letter to the church of Laodicea is a stern warning to all believers (rather than to non-believers) especially for those who have fallen away or backslide from their faith. Specifically, our Lord Jesus’ words vividly depicted a scene that He was knocking at the door of the church of the Laodiceans pleading them to open the door for Him to have fellowship and communion with them. Many people who read this verse thought Jesus was knocking at a home of an unbeliever. This is a misinterpretation of the verse.

A little background of the church of Laodicea would, hopefully, give us the reason why our Lord Jesus wrote these words in His letter to the church of Laodicea. Laodicea was positioned in a heavily rich-resource area and because of the rich resources the people there were very wealthy and had very comfortable lives. They prided themselves on their abilities to provide for themselves and hence they arrogantly felt there was no need to depend on God for anything. They were fully self-sufficient in everything and nothing was impossible for them that they could not do, so they thought. For example, the people in Laodicea were so wealthy so much so that when an earthquake destroyed their city in 60 A.D. they refused help from the Roman Empire insisting to pay for the rebuild of the city themselves. The pride and arrogance of their wealth did not go unnoticed as we can read in verse 17 which said: “Because you (referring to the church members of Laodicea) say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’. As the verse continues, Jesus reminded them they were indeed wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. The people though seemed to be self-confidence and worshipping money and wealth as their ‘gods’ instead of worshipping the Creator of the Universe. They were, in the words of Jesus, had become lukewarm, neither cold nor hot and because they were neither hot nor cold, He would spew them out of His mouth. As we all know, hot and cold water are good and useful, but when it becomes lukewarm, it is good for nothing.

In the eyes of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus, the circumstances surrounding the church of the Laodiceans were so horrific to the point that Christ was appealing to them that they were in need for His fellowship and communion in order to put the church to where the church supposed to be: Holy and pleasing to God. We can infer that the fellowship among the Laodicean church members were just among themselves and Jesus was completely absent in the fellowship. Perhaps they were just making business deals, praising one another for all their worldly achievements and pursuits instead of worshipping God. Obviously, our Holy God would not want to be part of the fellowship in such situations. The love for Him at the church of the Laodiceans had grown cold due to their worldly pursuits and this had led Jesus pleading them to open the door and let Him come in! This also serves to remind us that Jesus too will chasten and rebuke us when we have lost our first love and want nothing to do with Him (Hebrews 12:5-6).

It is sad to note that in Matthew 18:20 it tells us: “For where two or three are gathered (for fellowship or for praying) in my name, I am there among them”. But yet, as we read in Revelation 3:20, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus was standing outside the church building knocking at the door. He was pleading them to open the door so that He could have fellowship and communion with them.

How was that possible, one may ask? Why Jesus was not inside the church which is supposed to house His believers, His Bride? We can come to just one conclusion and that is, inside the Laodicean church there was, at the very most, only one true believer because if there were two or more believers our Lord Jesus would be there. What a tragic situation! Lord Jesus was not inside the church! This brings us to a another very important lesson: Is our Lord and Savour, Jesus, in the church in which we are attending? Although we see many members attending the services “week in and week out”, are all the members really believers? Are they really His disciples? Are they really His Bride? We need to seriously think about this because Apostle John also warned us that if we do not abide in Him (behaving like the Laodiceans, self-sufficient, prideful) and refuse to draw the power from our Lord Jesus, we will be in danger of casting down like branches into the fire (John 15:1-8).

Let’s reminder ourselves that Revelation 3:20 is not referring to the case of Jesus pleading an unbeliever to come and to have fellowship with Him. Rather, it is about how we ourselves as His Bride and that if we are not careful and just solely focusing on worldly pursuit and ignoring who our Creator is, we could also become lukewarm and this will push the door of our heart of unrepentance out of Jesus and leaving Him standing outside the door of our unrepentant heart. We have become bankrupt, spiritually-speaking. Revelation 3:20 vividly painted a picture that Jesus is standing outside the door of a Christian’s heart, prayerfully not yours and not mine, who perhaps has gone neither hot nor cold. And our merciful and loving Lord and Saviour, Jesus, is pleading to us to open that door, the door of our heart for Him to come in so that He can have fellowship and communion with us. We must not let our self-sufficiency and our pride spilled over the church. This is more so for those who are in church leadership positions as they are accountable to God. As we can note one pidgin-style saying: “Monkey see, monkey do” and thus it is important that church leaders should avoid at all cost not to lead their sheep to go astray. Let’s remind ourselves that Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. We need to abide in Him and He in us in order to bear much fruit. Without Him we are nothing (John 15:5).

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

We bow down before You to confess and to sincerely acknowledge that without You, we are nothing. You are our strength, our lives and our salvation. We surrender our all to You and we pray for You to guide us to live and to walk towards Your righteousness and holiness. We want to confess that You are the reason why we are still breathing and no matter how wealthy we are, how educated, how talented we are, every breath that we take is from You.

Lord Jesus, we know that time is running out and help us to spread Your Gospel of Good News to our friends and relatives. Help us not to be ashamed of Your Gospel. Like You, we too want all Your precious creation, the human kind to be with You into eternality and none should be lost.

In Your Mighty Name we pray. Amen!

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22 January 2023

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:50-53 & 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (KJV)

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:50-53)

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)

MESSAGE

Greetings to all my Dear Readers-In-Christ. Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year (aka the Lunar New Year). This is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the Chinese calendar. This festival is also referred to as the Spring Festival and it marks the end of winter and the beginning of the season of spring. This Spring Festival is the most celebrated festive event in China and in countries where the people there are predominately Chinese like Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau as well as Chinese people living outside China.

Longing for things that are new whether is a new car, a new house, a new job or a new born baby, we all welcomed each of them with great joy and with high expectation. For example, we pray that our new born babies are going to be healthy or our new job is going to give us better career opportunities. The Festival of Spring brings special meaning because it gives people great sense of peace, tranquility, joy and hope and these just come naturally as the season begins. It signifies a new beginning to a new and a better life. The old has passed away, so to speak.

For the message today, I like to extend a very blessed Lunar New Year to all of you and to pray that this New Year (and for all the years to come) will bring our heart’s desires to fruition:  the desires to have good health, free of sickness, have sufficient provision for our daily needs, have peace – emotionally, mentally and spiritually, and more importantly our desire to know our living Lord and Savour, Jesus more and more each day and to be more like Him. This new season of spring should also remind us that when we are in Christ, we are a new creation, the old things have passed away, and all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Unlike seasonal changes from spring to summer to autumn to winter and back to spring, when Christ is in us, He is going to stay in us indefinitely. He will never leave us nor forsake us. This is one of the God’s promises that we can find them from cover to cover both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.

I believe we are fully aware that a new season of spring typically preceded with preparations. It is very common that before Lunar New Year many people would embark on “spring cleaning” of homes and even offices. This practice of spring cleaning is still commonly practiced by many people of different cultural background around the world. This term “spring cleaning” is sometimes used metaphorically by people for any kind of heavy-duty cleaning to clear out old items and perhaps to replace them with new one like a new set of sofas, a new set of curtains or to put on a new coat of paint on their houses. During this period, hair salons and department stores are very busy. Ladies (and men too) would go for a new hair-cut or change to a new hairstyle to make them “look new”. Many would march to department stores to buy new clothes or shoes and to wear them during New Year. As this is an auspicious festive, everyone wants to look good and to have a fresh start to welcome the New Year. Not just adults, children love new things too. I remember when I was a very young child and I too was looking forward to have new clothes or a new pair of shoes. As my parents could afford to buy me new clothes or a new pair of shoes only during the Lunar New Year, they would allow me to wear them only from the first day of the New Year as they believed that wearing new clothes or new pair of shoes during this auspicious time would bring better luck and blessing for the coming year.

As we know, seasons come and go because they are strictly scheduled by our Creator. In the next three months after the season of Spring, it will be replaced with a new season, Summer. Everything will then goes back to “Business As Usual” so to speak. And when we look back of all the things we did – the spring cleaning, the new items we bought and so on, we will soon realise that there is no new thing under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). What we acquired in the beginning of the year – whether during the 1st January or during the Spring Festival started to turn old. Perhaps it’s time to replace them again!

In this New Year, I have very good news to share with you. As we just read in the scriptural verses above 1 Corinthians 15:50-53 and in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-19, they are telling us that a time will come we will have an “Everlasting Spring” and we don’t need to buy any new clothes or new shoes or go to a hair salon for a new hair cut as God Himself will transformed us from our present corrupt state into our original state when He first created Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Our present corrupt bodies will be fully transformed into incorruptible and immortal bodies. These new transformed bodies are the only bodies acceptable by God for us to enter His Kingdom. No disease nor sickness of any kind can enter or inflict our new transformed bodies. But before we are transformed, we too need to prepare and to embark on our Everlasting Spring cleaning to prepare ourselves to meet our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Are we ready for this transformation? Are we ready to change from our current corrupt and mortal bodies to incorruptible and immortal bodies? Are we now doing our Everlasting Spring cleaning and to prepare ourselves to meet our Lord Jesus in the new season of Everlasting Spring? All our past that we encountered in this corrupt world in which we are living right now is going to pass away and never to return because soon we are going to live in the heavenly mansions that Jesus has prepared of us (John 14:2).

Let me humbly offer the following suggestions for us to prepare and be ready for His appearance and to take us to meet Him in the air:

Let us pray.

Dear Lord,

Thank you Lord for everything you have done for us. Help us to prepare for Your coming. Help us to await patiently that we will soon be changed from our present corruptible body to incorruptible and immortal body. Let us continue to prepare and be ready for Your coming. We Thank You Jesus and we want to honour You with the prayer that You have taught us to pray:

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.
Amen.

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15 January 2023

Scripture Reading: Revelation 13:16-17 (KJV)

And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

MESSAGE

Due to the increase in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 7% to 8% from 1 January this year, the government two weeks’ ago disbursed to each household $ 300 as subsidies for the 1% GST increase. The money came at a right time because many of us can use the money to buy items to celebrate Chinese New Year. As you may already notice, this amount of $ 300 that was given to each household was in the form of digital money.

In my message today, I am writing to explain what is digital money (or digital currency) is and its relationship with the Mark of the Beast that is mentioned in Revelation 13:16-17. I want to emphasise that I am not against the use of technology of any sort or for any purpose. The primary motive of today’s message is, hopefully, to enlighten you on the current development of digital currency and the relationship with the Mark of the Beast, and why you should not take the Mark of the Beast. The second motive is to ask you to now accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour.

Perhaps, I am “jumping the gun” to mention that when the digital currency is fully developed, it will be in a form of implantable microchip that all people will be forced to take. This implantable microchip (or the Mark of the Beast), according to Revelation 13:16-17, will be injected into your right hand or your forehead and without this microchip your cannot buy or sell. (NOTE: The technology of implantable microchip is already in use in some European countries, and they are using this not just for business transactions but also for many other uses: for example, this microchip that link to other network could allow a user to start his car, open his office doors, making payments at supermarkets and many other financial and non-financial uses. In fact, the application is endless. (See: A vaccine passport on a microchip implant ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnuJgvQB7kU ). I have also posted a message that describes what is Programmable Digital Money in this website on 2 May 2022. You may scroll down to read the message.)

Is Singapore preparing the launch of digital currency? The answer is a resounding “Yes”. Our central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is actively testing and finalising this digital currency platform and I am not making this up. You can search the internet. All you need to do is just key in words like “Singapore digital currency”, “Central Bank Digital Currency” or “CBDC” and the following news headlines will pop up:

I believe that the Community Development Council (CDC) digital vouchers that we all just received is a trial run and give us a glimpse of what digital currency is. You will observe that in order to use these digital vouchers, you need to have numbers (your NRIC number, your telephone number), use of the vouchers can be restricted, for example, you cannot use to buy things like liquor, cigarettes, lottery tickets; there is an expiry date – you must use by 31 December 2023, you can only use in selected merchants, and so on. In some way, these vouchers are programmed with algorithm of what you can buy, what you cannot buy, which merchants you can use the vouchers to buy your items, when you must use them.

As you can read from the headlines, it is very obvious that MAS is actively developing the digital currency and I am very sure that there will be a lot of initiatives taken by MAS and the government to entice the general public to participate the use of digital currency. This is very likely to prepare the general public to eventually accept this digital currency platform when it is implemented to replace completely paper currency. On this I would like to point out that not just Singapore. Digital currency is now being developed by central banks across the globe and today there are over one hundred countries dong what our central bank, the MAS is doing. In the initial stage, this digital currency is decentralised and each country’s central bank will decide what is the best for their country. Overtime, as some Bible scholars predict that it will be centralised into one “Super Central Bank” which will give rise to One World Currency System that will be controlled by the Antichrist and to enforce the taking of the Mark of the Beast.

It is important to note that a full-blown digital currency (which comes in several names like the Central Bank Digital Currency, Programmable Digital Dollar, Programmable Digital Money, etc) will be able to do much more than just simple buying and selling. It can be programmed with complex algorithm to control both financial transactions and non-financial activities. The ultimate objective is to control all aspects of people’s lives. For example, you can be forced to comply the mandates or narratives issued by the authority and if you failed to comply their mandates or the narratives all they need to do is to just turn-off your digital account and you will not be able to do any transactions or activities. Furthermore, this digital system has the capabilities to track all your movements to the minutest details like what you buy, what you sell, what you eat, what is your weigh at any point in time, the level of your carbon footprint in the name of controlling climate change, where you go, how many times you visit cinemas, what is your monthly income, how much you saved a month, what is your monthly loan repayment amount, and so on. All your privacy and your freedom will be taken away. Everyone will allow only to have one digital account issued by the “Super Central Bank.” The details of this digital account will be encrypted into the implantable microchip and inject into your hand or forehead. Put it another way, it is like a tiny SIM card no bigger than a grain of rice and instead of inserting into your phone, it will be inserted into your hand or your forehead.

This brings me to the next question is: How did Apostle John get the inspiration to prophecise the need to have a number in order to buy or sell. What Apostle John mentioned clearly describes e-commerce and virtual banking that will lead to cashless economy? Are we not in the situation now. I think the answer is obvious. Apostle John was given several prophetic visions and this is one of them. People just 100 years’ ago would never able to imagine that you could buy or sell just by scanning a plastic card or just press few numbers on a hand-held device but when Apostle John who wrote Book of Revelation 2,000 years’ ago and yet he knew that a number would be needed during the period of Great Tribulation in order to buy and to sell. We can conclude that this is can only be made through God’s revelation to Apostle John.

It is time for you now accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour and get prepared to meet Him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Once all Christians are taken away or raptured and those who left behind will have to decide between a rock and a hard place and that is if you refused to take the Mark of the Beast (the implantable microchip) in your right hand or in your forehead, you will be killed and if you will to take the Mark of the Beast you would have effectively pledged your complete alliance to the Antichrist and you will lose your salvation for ever! (Revelation 14:9-11).

If you are willing to accept God’s invitation to be His child, just pray this prayer right now because tomorrow is not promised. God is waiting for you.

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Dear Heavenly Father

I admit that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I ask of You that You give me the power to repent and to turn away from my sin. I believe that Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ died for my sins and He rose after three days. I confess my faith in Your Son Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, and He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no man can come to You, but by Your Son Jesus Christ. I accept Your gift of forgiveness from sin. Please accept me as Your child.
I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and my life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. I want to thank you for the blood of Jesus who has shed for me and by His blood I can now be redeemed and be reconciled to You.
I sincerely and faithfully pray all these in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

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8 January 2023

Scripture Reading: Revelation 3:10 (KJV)

Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

MESSAGE

We are now moving into the year 2023. As we all are aware, the last three years (2022, 2021 and 2020) proved to be extremely extraordinary and they were all for the wrong reasons. Globally, the whole world was rampaged by the coronavirus. To make matters worse, many countries were devastated by intense floods, drought, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, wild forest fires, wide-spread domestic violence of ethnic groups, high inflation and not forgetting Russian-Ukraine war that brought the price of petrol to all-time high. I believe many of us are indeed very fearful what will come tomorrow and our fear is not unfounded. To put it in psychological term, because of the near-apocalyptic events of the yesteryears of 2022, 2021 and 2020 many of us could be suffering from “chronophobia” which is defined as “the persistent and irrational fear of the future”. I am afraid I cannot totally agree that our fear is irrational. The fear that we are confronting now is both very real and rational because we know that history often repeats itself. Due to the sinful nature of human, it has the natural tendency to prevent us to learn from our past mistakes and take steps to correct them. Human history of atrocities recycled all over again and again and often from bad to worse! Perhaps, psychologists need to come out with another term to define “fear that is persistent and rational”. We are now indeed facing a rational fear – a fear that history is going to repeat and it is very likely to be even worse than the previous one. For example, when World War II ended, it was thought that this “mother of all wars” would bring everlasting peace to the world. It had never and it will never be! As a historical fact, the world since then had experienced only two weeks of ‘complete’ peace in the early years when World War II had just ended. Since then, wars have been rampaging throughout the world, non-stop. These wars are now more frequent and more destructive. Many people are now wondering when World War III is going to start. The question is: “WHEN” and not “IF”!

According to the Word of God, the worst is yet to come and we can read them in the book of Revelation which gives a lengthy account of what is to come before our Lord Jesus Christ return to this world. As I had mentioned in my last week message, the Bible has prophesized events that are going to be much more serious and destructive and it will be so great that unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved (Matthew 24:22). In fact, comparing the prophetic events which we can read in the book of Revelation to the near-apocalyptic events that we encountered over the previous three years, it was just a simple rehearsal and was meant for us to prepare ourselves and to wake us up that the only way to escape these devastations is to put our trust in our living Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. And thanks be to God, there is, indeed, a very good news of how we could do this. Our Lord Jesus Christ will be returning to this world very, very soon to take His church (that is the Body of Christ comprising all born-again Christians) to meet Him in the air. What I am referring to is known as the doctrine of pre-tribulation rapture of the believers. To put it simply, this doctrine tells us that Jesus will come a take all the believers to meet Him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17) before the biggest and the most devastated events strike this world. Hence, we can take comfort because as truly born-again Christians, we will not be going through these events of great tribulation. This great tribulation is God’s wrath that will be poured out to all unbelievers who have missed the rapture of the church and also to the Jews who rejected Jesus as their Messiah.

If you doubt what I am telling you, please look closely at what our Lord Jesus has told us in Revelation 3:10-11 (NKJV) – “ Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial (that is the great tribulation) which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.”

From the verse we just read above, it is undoubtedly clear that the church will not go through the hour of trial (which is a reference to the “Great Tribulation – a seven-year period of intense distress and it is the subject of much of the book of Revelation). As you explore further into these verses in Revelation 3:10-11, we can also come to a conclusion that the hour of trial (or the great tribulation) is coming on the whole world, not on the church. The judgments unleashed during this seven-year period of the great tribulation will fall on “those who dwell on earth” – that is, on those whose home is the world, not heaven. Jesus by then had already taken all truly born-again Christians out of the world. Many Bible scholars who have done serious studies on the book of Revelation has come to a convincing conclusion that “those who dwell on earth” during the period of the great tribulation period are the unbelievers who were left behind after the rapture and also those Jews who have rejected our Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah. The rapture of the church will kick start the most extraordinary evangelistic event the world has ever known. Many who are left behind will wake up and realize why only Christians disappeared from the earth and unless they too accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah, as their Lord and Saviour, they will face eternal damnation and they will be confined in hell throughout eternality. (Note: I know what I am saying here is insensitive, politically-incorrect and offensive but this is what God’s truth is all about. Truth always hurt and it can hurt deeply. For those who are hurt by what I mentioned, I like to sincerely extend my apologies.)

Sadly, it will not be easy for anyone to be converted to be a Christian during the seven-year period of great tribulation. The world during this seven-year period of great tribulation will be ruled by the Antichrist and together with the beast who will rise up out from the sea (Revelation 13:1) their primary calling is to do the will of their father, Satan. They will do everything possible to stop people from accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour and to stop people from worshipping Jesus as their God. Among other things, people will be forced to worship the beast instead of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Those who refused to worship the beast will be killed (Revelation 13:15). Together with the Antichrist, they will force all people to pledge their allegiance to them by requiring people to take the Mark of the Beast and without the Mark of the Beast they cannot buy or sell (Revelation 13:17). Put it another way, people will be killed if they refused to worship the beast or they will die of hunger if they refused to take the Mark of Beast as they would not be able to buy or sell.

It is thus very important you must come to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour right now. You must now believe that two thousand years’ ago Lord Jesus Christ was born to a virgin, Mary, to save all sinners (like you and me), was crucified and rose again after three days. May I plead that you please come to Him. He is waiting for you! God wants you to His children!

Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for Him. (Isaiah 30:18)

If you are willing to accept God’s invitation to be His child, just pray this prayer right now because tomorrow is not promised. God is waiting for you.

Dear Heavenly Father

I admit that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I ask of You that You give me the power to repent and to turn away from my sin. I believe that Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ died for my sins and He rose after three days. I confess my faith in Your Son Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, and He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no man can come to You, but by Your Son Jesus Christ. I accept Your gift of forgiveness from sin. Please accept me as Your child.
I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and my life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. I want to thank you for the blood of Jesus who has shed for me and by His blood I can now be redeemed and be reconciled to You.
I sincerely and faithfully pray all these in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

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1 January 2023

Scripture Reading: Lamentations 3:22-23 (KJV)

It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

MESSAGE

Greetings to all my Readers-in-Christ. Today is the First Day of the Year of Our Lord Jesus Two Thousand Two Hundred and Twenty-Three (AD 1st January 2023). May the good Lord bless you all with special blessings from His Heavenly Throne of Grace.

I want to thank you all for your encouragement by your reading of the messages posted here. I am very pleased to note that the messages are read by Christian brothers and sisters from several countries and it is my sincere prayer that you can help to send the link to your friends and relatives for them to read as well. It is my sincere hope that the messages can reach to all four corners of the earth. As you may already notice, most of the messages are relevant to the current world events that I tried to connect them to the end-time events as foretold in the scriptures. More importantly, I pray that the messages can help all of us to watch and to prepare to meet our Lord Jesus. Lord Jesus is coming very, very soon to bring us back to His heavenly home. What a blessed hope we have! All glory to God!

As we all are aware, the last three years 2022, 2021 and 2020 were exceptionally abnormal in almost every inconceivable way that no one could have imagined! And we all know that it was due mainly to the coronavirus that rampaged the whole world. Since the discovery of this nasty virus sometimes in late 2019 the world was turned upside down. Before this plague struck, we were in a state of constant interaction with our friends, colleagues and relatives be it in restaurants, cinemas, recreation parks, factories, shopping malls, schools, churches, or at sporting and festive events but very unexpectedly all our interactions came to a complete halt. We became a people in either self-imposed or under forced house arrest and leaving home to do even simple chores like buying food for our family could run the risk of getting a heavy fine or even jail when we are caught without proper authorisation or without valid reasons. It was not just our city state. It permeated throughout the whole world. No country was spared from this invisible enemy. Sadly, it is still not completely settled as we read about the situation in China today. It is estimated that China is experiencing 1 million Covid infections and 5,000 deaths every day and we are warned that there is now a threat of new ‘Chinese’ coronarius variants that are more transmissible and deadly. I am personally not very convinced with the news and I am reading this news with a pinch of salt. I pray that I am right.

Our life that we took a lot of things for granted like going to places wherever and whenever we like, meeting people whom ever we like, inviting as many guests to our house as we like and oh, yes, exercise as much freedom as we like. Everything has now been changed. We have to face the reality that the pre-covid freedom we enjoyed can be in great jeopardy at any moment because it simply may not be there tomorrow.

We are now living in a changed world and all for the worst because we do not know what holds tomorrow. The only question is whether that change is short-term, long-term, or going to be permanent. I don’t want to repeat like broken records the details of those near-apocalyptic events of the yesteryears as many of us would like to forget what we all had been through – lockdowns, forced vaccination of clinically untested vaccines, job losses, unexpected death of the loved ones due to the nasty virus, mandatory wearing of masks, routine covid-antigen testings, voluntary and forced closure of businesses, voluntary and forced confinement at home and so on. During those three years – 2020, 2021 and 2022 – we found ourselves stuck in a loop of endless terrible headlines and bad news and many of us were suffering from Covid news fatigue. I believe all of us would just like to simply forget about them and to move forward with our lives.

But can we? This is the one million-dollar question that no one can answer. Nevertheless, we must acknowledge one plain truth and that is we all just have to accept uncertainties and extreme chaos of biblical proportion can occur at any moment and in the most unsuspected manner. Hence, we have to be prepared head-on as they come along because the worst is yet to come as prophesized in the Bible, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament!  

On this New Year’s Day, I like to extend a message of comfort to the readers here that although the Bible has prophesized that the worst is yet to come, thankfully, the Word of God also provides blessed hope for those who place their trust in our Creator. Thankfully, the very fact that you are reading this message indicates you are still living well and you are one of the blessed children of God spared from the life-tsunami of the yesteryears of 2022, 2021 and 2020. All glory to God. So, let’s continue to pray that our omnipotent God will continue to spare all of us and our family members and that He will fully protect us regardless of what the future may hold. We must continue to seek God, to place our complete trust in Him and to claim His promise that He will renew His compassions every morning. Let us fully acknowledge of His goodness; His faithfulness and that His mercy endured forever (Psalm 107:1 and Lamentations 3:22-23). Our Lord is great and greatly to be praised and He is be feared above all gods (1 Chronicles 16:25).

In this New Year message, I also like to share a love letter from God and it is my prayer that this love letter will encourage and inspire all of us to fully trust and rely upon Him for His care even when the circumstances surrounding us may look utterly bleak and hopeless. For those who are yet to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, it is my sincere prayer that this Letter of Love from God will inspire you to accept Him as your Lord and Saviour right away because tomorrow is not promised.

A LETTER OF LOVE FROM GOD TO YOU
(Please note that I am not the original author of this Letter; I like to thank and to give full credit to the original author. This Letter of Love has inspired me in a very personal way to continue to live a life to please Him, to trust Him, to fear Him, to pray and to praise to Him always.)

MY CHILD

You may not know me, but I know everything about you. (Psalm 139:1)
I know when you sit down and when you rise up. (Psalm 139:2)
I am familiar with all your ways. (Psalm 139:3)
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. (Matthew 10:29-31)
For you were made in my image. (Genesis 1:27)
In me you live and move and have your being. (Acts 17:28)
For you are my offspring. (Acts 17:28)
I knew you even before you were conceived. (Jeremiah 1:4-5)
I chose you when I planned creation. (Ephesians 1:4)
You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book. (Psalm 139:15-16)
I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live. (Acts 17:26)
You are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14)
I knit you together in your mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13)
And brought you forth on the day you were born. (Psalm 71:6)
I have been misrepresented by those who don’t know me. (John 8:41-44)
I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love. (1 John 4:16)
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you. (1 John 3:1)
Simply because you are my child and I am your Father. (1 John 3:1)
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could. (Matthew 7:11)
For I am the perfect father. (Matthew 5:48)
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand. (James 1:17)
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs. (Matthew 6:31-33)
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)
Because I love you with an everlasting love. (Jeremiah 31:3)
My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore. (Psalm 139:17-18)
And I rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)
I will never stop doing good to you. (Jeremiah 32:40)
For you are my treasured possession. (Exodus 19:5)
I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul. (Jeremiah 32:41)
And I want to show you great and marvellous things. (Jeremiah 33:3)
If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. (Deuteronomy 4:29)
Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)
For it is I who gave you those desires. (Philippians 2:13)
I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine. (Matthew 19.26);(Ephesians 3:20)
For I am your greatest encourager. (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17)
I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you. (Psalm 34:18)
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart. (Isaiah 40:11)
One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes. (Revelation 21:3-4)
And I’ll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth. (Revelation 21:3-4)
I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus.  (John 17:23)
For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. (John 17:26)
He is the exact representation of my being. (Hebrews 1:3)
He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you. (Romans 8:31)
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you. (1 John 4:10)
I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love. (Romans 8:31-32)
If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me. (1 John 2:23)
And nothing will ever separate you from my love again. (Romans 8:38-39)
Come home and I’ll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen. (Luke 15:7)
I have always been Father, and will always be Father. (Ephesians 3:14-15)
My question is … Will you be my child? (John 1:12-13)
I am waiting for you. (Genesis 3:9); (Luke 15:11-32)
Love, Your Dad.
Almighty God

If you are willing to accept God’s invitation to be His child, just pray this prayer. God is waiting for you.

Dear Heavenly Father

I admit I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I ask of You that You give me the power to repent and to turn away from my sin. I believe that Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ died for my sins and He rose after three days. I confess my faith in Your Son Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, and He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no man can come to You, but by Your Son Jesus. I accept Your gift of forgiveness from sin. Please accept me as Your child.

I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. I want to thank you for the blood of Jesus who has shed for me and by His blood I can now be redeemed and be reconciled to You.
I pray all these in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

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25 December 2022

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 9:6 (KJV)

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

MESSAGE

Blessed Christmas to all the Readers-in-Christ! Time flies and we are exactly one year nearer to our Lord Jesus then we were at the last Christmas. The birth of Jesus is celebrated all over the world even by non-Christians. It is an irony that 25 December is also a public holiday in quite a number Muslim countries (including several countries from the Middle East) where many professing Christians were severely persecuted and some even got executed because of their faith in Jesus Christ. These persecutions and executions of Christians are routinely occurred in many Muslim countries.

The birth of Christ has, indeed, turned the world upside down (or downside up – depending how you want to look at it). Even the calendar used globally is divided into two distinct periods – B.C. (or Before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini which is a Latin phrase meaning “In the year of our Lord Jesus”). Hence, today is 25th December in the Year of Our Lord Jesus Two Thousand Two Hundred and Twenty-Two or A.D. 25 December 2022. This is a testimony that the Birth of Christ has indeed divided the world into two halves: Between those who accepted Jesus as their Saviour and those who rejected Jesus their Saviours; Between those who called evil good and good evil, and those who called good good and evil evil. Thankfully, we belonged to those who called “good good and evil evil” all because we are the children of God and have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour.

The birth of our Lord Jesus was not a surprising event. It was foretold in the Book of Isaiah and also in several other books of the Old Testament several hundreds of years before He was born. Among the events foretold of His first coming were: Jesus would be born to a virgin, the exact name of the city He would be born, He would be rejected as a Messiah by His very own elect, the Jews, the precise manner how He would suffer while He was on earth, the precise manner how He would die on the cross (when at the time of this prediction, execution by using the cross not even known to have existed) and the prediction that He would be resurrected three days after His death. We praise God because the resurrection of Jesus indeed culminated God’s final victory over death, good over evil, total defeat of the Evil One and more importantly that we too will be resurrected and to be with Him forever.

Anyone can make predictions or can make prophecies but whether how they are fulfilled will make all the difference. If one were to conceive just ten specific prophecies about a person in the future, whom one would never meet, just what’s the likelihood that this person will fulfil all these ten prophecies in exact manner that were so prophesied? There are critics who claimed that the prophetic events of Jesus were planned hundreds of years ago and were later choreographed into actual events hundred years later! But they failed to understand that just the events of the Christ’s birth, of His life, of His death and of His resurrection would require to be meticulously “arranged” such as How does one “arrange” to be born in a specific city in which their parents don’t actually live? How does one “arrange” their own death and specifically by crucifixion which at the time of prediction death by crucifixion was not even existed? How does one “arrange” to have their executioners gamble for His clothing? How does one “arrange” to be betrayed in advance by His close friend? Perhaps it may be possible for someone to fake two or three ‘prophetic’ events and choregraphed at later date to seemingly have fulfilled the prophecies, but it would be totally impossible for any one person to arrange and to precisely fulfil or choregraph all of just ten or even five of these events.

The prophecies that fulfilled by Jesus were not five, ten, twenty, thirty or fifty. According to many Bible scholars, in total, Jesus had fulfilled over 250 prophecies! It defiled the science of probability. To prove this, a professor at Westmont College has calculated what is the probability of one man fulfilling just eight major prophecies made concerning our Messiah, Lord Jesus. He calculated the probability and conservatively estimated that the chance of one man fulfilling just eight of the Messianic prophecies predicted in the Old Testament was one in 10 to the power of 17 – that is 1 over 1 followed by 17 zeros! To illustrate how large the number 10 to the power 17 is, the professor gave this illustration that one has to take 10 to power of 17 (or 100,000,000,000,000,000) silver dollars and lay them on the face of state of Texas (which is approximately 695,000 square metres). These billions upon billions of silver dollars will cover all of the state of Texas two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up the one silver dollar that has the special mark on it. What chance would he have of getting the right one? The chance is obvious – that is 1 over 10 to the power 17. This works out that the chance to pick out that marked silver dollar is 0.00000000000000001. This is the probability to just fulfil eight Messianic prophecies and Jesus had fulfilled over 250 prophecies that were prophesised by the Old Testament prophets!

We want to thank God that God indeed had meticulously planned and executed the prophetic events for His only Son to fulfil all the 250 prophecies, and the very first prophetic event fulfilled was the birth of His only Son on “Christmas Day.” Many of us know that 25th December is not the actual day when Jesus was born but thankfully we can set aside this date as a date of blessed hope that the first coming of Jesus will soon be followed by His second appearance to take us home. In Jesus very own word that we can read in John 14:1- 3: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

The question is: How then our Lord Jesus going to take us to be with Him when He comes again? The answer to this question can be found in the messages written by Apostle Paul and I like to first share a message found in 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 – “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

Let us look earnestly to our Jesus appearance to bring us back to Him by claiming prophetic message as we read above and also another one which we can read in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 – “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus

Thank you for this day of Christmas. This may not be the actual day of Your birth but we all know that You indeed came and died for the sin of all the human race. Lord help us to continue to remember You and to make every day a “Christmas Day”, a day of remembrance, a day of atonement, a day will not pass by without us acknowledging that You are our Saviour and our Lord.

Lord Jesus, we pray that as the year 2022 is coming to an end and a New Year 2023 will start in a week’s time, we ask that You continue to bless us especially the children who are proceeding to their next level of studies. Help them to prepare their school terms and help the parents to be their “guarding angels” to encourage them and to give them all the necessary support as they proceed to the next level of their education. We all know that it is impossible to do all these by our own efforts and hence we ask that You send the Holy Spirit and Your angels to help us to educate, to teach and to discipline our children and remind ourselves that all that we do must be done in accordance to Your will. Help us not to harbour any envy, jealously, covetousness and continue to pursuit holiness and righteous living. Thank Lord for always standing besides us because we know that You will never leave us nor foresake us.

In Your Mighty Name we pray. Amen!

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INVITATION TO ACCEPT JESUS AS YOUR SAVIOUR

If you feel led and want to accept Jesus as your Saviour, just pray this sincerely with your heart. Accepting Jesus as your Saviour is as easy as ABC.

A – Admit: Admit to God that you are a sinner. Repent, turning away from your sin.
B – Believe: Believe that Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son, He died and rose after the third day.
C – Confess: Confess your faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, and He is the way, the truth, and the life and no man comes to the Father, but by Him, and accept God’s gift of forgiveness from sin.

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18 December 2022

Scripture Reading: Genesis 18:32 (KJV)

And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.

MESSAGE

One of the most famous (or infamous) historical Bible records is the history of Sodom and Gomorrah. It depicts an important piece of human history that the depravity of man will be finally punished – sooner or later. It clearly depicts that God just cannot close His eyes on sin and His judgment will come whether you like it or not. We may plead for His mercy and oh, yes, He will listen but within strict limit. Beyond this limit, we will all have to face the consequences and the worst consequence is the wrath of God.

As we read further into this piece of history we will soon realise that, among others, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah had committed five grievous sins against God. They were: homosexuality, the practice of this was the order of the day, widespread gangs seeking young men to rape, the poor and the needy were ignored, people were partying like there “is no tomorrow” and the people there were living like there was no God.

When Jesus was asked by His disciples what are the signs of His coming and His reply was always unequivocal by pointing them to the days of Noah and the days of Lot. The big question that is confronting us right now is: Are we also now living like in the days of Noah and Lot? Are we now seeing the signs of Jesus coming? In the days of Noah, people refused to Noah’s preaching of righteousness and they were mocking Noah for building the huge boat in the middle of the desert. And in the days of Lot, people were living in extreme sexual perversion.

The history of Sodom and Gomorrah is something we all seem to very scare and pray that this history of God’s wrath will not be repeated – or at least not in our nation. However, for me as a born-again Christian, this is quite to the contrary because unless Lot and his family left Sodom, God would not rain sulfur and brimstone from the skies to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. As the history goes, God is prepared to withhold His wrath for the sake of just ten righteous men. But, alas, there were only three and these were too few for God to withhold His wrath. Another consoling point is that God poured out His wrath after Lot and his family were removed away from the city of Sodom. God had to send angels and to tell Lot that he and his family must leave the city and escape to another city Zoar. We do not know the actual population of Sodom and Gomorrah but many Bible scholars believed there were few hundred thousand and yet Abraham could not even find ten righteous men. If only Abraham could find ten righteous men, God would have spared the cities from the destruction. Tragically, Abraham could only find three – Lot himself and his two daughters.

This is a great lesson for us to take note as a nation. As mentioned above, we don’t know the actual population of the two cities of Sodom and Gomorrah but perhaps there were few hundred thousand and even with such population Abraham could not find ten righteous men. How about our beloved country? We now have a population of over seven million. If God were to ask for fifty or one hundred righteous men (or women) are we able to show to God who they are and will God in His sight consider them as righteous? Can we ourselves be counted as one of them? I don’t know about you but I would like to exclude myself – count me out! How about you? Can you honestly say: Yes! I can be counted as one of them.

As we pondered over our beloved country just over the last 3 years, I think we should thank and praise God that our beloved country has not encountered severe calamities like other countries which we can read or watch them in the internet. These calamities are earthquakes of 5 Richter scale or higher occurring in several countries, floods of unprecedented proportion across all continents, frequent volcanic eruptions, intense heat of over 40 degrees Centigrade (or over 100 degrees Fahrenheit), uncontrollable wild forest fires, severe drought in many countries destroying  thousands upon thousands of farmland and I believe you may also have your list to add. They are occurring all over the globe and all at the same period.

Our God is a merciful God and He is willing to listen to the plea of the righteous men and women to spare their land from calamities even they may represent only a small number of the general population as we can read from the history of Sodom and Gomorrah. In this history, Abraham, the father of many nations who was loved by God for being godly, faithful, obedient and righteous and thus God was willing to listen to his plea to spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah from destruction provided he could find ten righteous men (down from the fifty that initially demanded by God). Abraham, however, couldn’t even find ten but only three – his nephew, Lot and Lot’s two daughters.

As a nation, we have never had struck with major calamities. Even our so-called ‘severe flood’ that occurred now and then because of heavy rainfall, they were just too insignificant by comparison to those that we knew about. We are so blessed as a nation and I want to boldly say that we have men and women of God who governed our country since our nation became an independent nation some 60 years’ ago.  I am very proud of our first-generation leaders such as Mr. Lee KY, Dr. Goh KS, Dr. Toh CC, Mr. Lim KS, Mr. Chua SC, Mr. S. Rajaratnam, Mr. Ong PB and several more. They were paid pittance but they willingly sacrificed for the nation. If any of them were caught for taking bribes, they were need to face the full force of the law. In the process, these first-generation leaders had left a very rich and godly legacy of the importance of clean and corrupt-free government. They had worked tirelessly and had significantly succeeded in eliminating organized crimes that were rampant when they just assumed power, taking care of the people’s welfare by providing good housing, education, credible healthcare system, bringing in foreign investors to create jobs for the people, promoting wholesome living and so on. We are indeed very blessed that they have successfully instituted the very tenets of what good government is all about. Again, I want to boldly say that when God looked at our beloved nation He must have remembered what He told Abraham: Just produce ten righteous men and I will not pour out my wrath on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. I believe, God too has so far spare our beloved nation from His wrath because of these few righteous first-generation and also their successors who too followed their godly footsteps.

I want to cautiously admit with a heavy heart. What would God think of our nation now? Prayerfully, the people that are governing this nation of ours are as righteous and godly as those of the first-generation leaders. Is the repeal of Section 377A going to be a final draw for God to conclude that this nation of our is now going to a slippery road towards Sodom and Gomorrah? Does the repeal of Section 377A also implied that we have stolen and perverted the rainbow covenant that God has established with Noah? Are we now living in the days of Lot? Are we going to see banners and flags peppered with rainbow colours displaying at the shopping malls, lampposts, schools, commercial buildings? These rainbow flags and banners are now used as symbols of the gay pride, of the victory of LGBT movement, of perverting God’s creation that clearly condemns homosexuality. Are we going to surrender obediently to legislate the recognition of same-sex marriage should the LGBT community later demanded? Are we treating God’s moral laws like moving goal-post to cater for the whims and fancies of wicked people? Remember, the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses are crafted in stone-tablet and are now sealed in the Ark of Covenant. Have we forgotten what Jesus has said in Matthew 24:35? – “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” We must remind ourselves that treating God’s laws like moving goal-post is going to effectively remove God’s patience out of His holy equation of mercy and grace. I am taking a courage to give the audacity of the warning that at the rate of the changing moral compass of our nation, God is not going to continue to withhold His wrath which can come in a very unsuspected manner. We must pray that this changing of moral compass will not cross God’s red line and we must continue to pray that our national leaders stop treating God’s laws like moving goal-post! In Matthew 24:36-39, Jesus said: “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

May I humbly invite you to please come and accept Jesus as your Saviour because you do not know the day or the hour that Jesus will come to take us home as we read in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

You must get into the ark by accepting Jesus as your Saviour so as to escape the wrath of God that will only be poured out to those who still have not accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. The wrath of God during the Great Tribulation will only come when the believers are removed from this world and to be with Jesus in heaven. Remember what the angel told Lot that unless he and his family left the city of Sodom and flee to the city of Zoar, he cannot do anything to cause fire and brimstone from the heaven to punish the wicked people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Thankfully, not the angelic hosts but Jesus himself will come and remove us from this wicked world so that we can meet Him in the air as we had just read in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.

May I just remind you that to be in the ark you need to be a child of God by accepting Jesus as your Savour and it’s as simple as ABC:

A – Admit: Admit to God that you are a sinner. Repent, turning away from your sin.
B – Believe: Believe that Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son, He died and rose after the third day.
C – Confess: Confess your faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, and He is the way, the truth, and the life and no man comes to the Father, but by Him, and accept God’s gift of forgiveness from sin.

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank you for dying on the cross for me. Your death has brought eternal life to countless sinners and I want to confess I am one of these sinners. Thank you Jesus for Your redeeming blood of love and mercy. I know I don’t deserve it by You do it because You love me and also all Your precious children so much. In the Mighty Name of Jesus we thank you and we praise You. Amen.

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11 December 2022

Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 3:3-4 (KJV); Jude 1:18 (KJV)

2 Peter 3:3-4 – Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

Jude 1:18 – How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

MESSAGE

In my last week message, I have taken a bold step in posting a very controversial message relating to the “Repeal of Section 377A”. This repeal of Section 377A that was eventually voted in favour by the Singapore Parliament has effectively made sex between two consenting male adults not illegal (or legal, depend how you want to interpret it). As we read the news, it has correctly and factually pointed out that Section 377A was a decades-old law. Indeed, this piece of legislation was very, very old as it was enacted when Singapore was under the British rule. So, the question now is: Why over these decades everyone could accept this law as legally and morally sound but why now so much “hue and cry” not just by the LBGT community but also by many people demanding to repeal this piece of legislation. The cry seems to be too loud for the Members of Parliament (MPs) to bear to the point that 90% of the MPs have obediently surrendered to the will of the minority. (Actually, I am quite confused myself which is the correct expression should be used: minority or majority.)

For record purposes, the date 29 November 2022 is the day we must always remember that as a nation it too is prepared to pervert Noah’s rainbow covenant of God’s promise that He will not destroy the earth the same way He did in Noah’s time. The flags and the banners peppered with the rainbow colours also known as the pride flag, is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) pride and LGBT social movements. But remember while God has promised not to destroy the earth by flood, the earth will be destroyed by fire during the last days as we are told in Malachi 4:1 – “For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” Says the LORD of hosts, “That will leave them neither root nor branch.

I want to admit. I am a person least qualified to write on topics or subjects concerning holy and righteous living because we are told in Isaiah 64:6 that all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. Admittedly, I am one of these filthy rags! Let’s be honest. We all have skeletons in our closet. Outwardly, many of us as Christians may seem to be living like godly people but inwardly we often failed in our pursuit of godly holiness and His commandments (2 Timothy 3:2-5) and live like there is no God. Again, I want to confess that I failed time and again to please my Saviour, Lord Jesus. I cried often to God for forgiveness but sadly my old sinful nature kept popping up now and then to a point that I felt that I am not progressing well in living a life pleasing to God. If I were to pile up all my sins that I committed, they could literally reach up to heaven! By the grace and mercy of God, I am forgiven because of the precious blood of Jesus that He has so willingly shed for me (and you) at the Calvary Cross two thousand years ago. Praise be to the Son of God, Jesus! But take heed. The death of Jesus and His resurrection is not a license for us to live in unrepented lifestyle. When Jesus first preached His very first sermon, He preached “Repentance” as we can read in Matthew 4:17- Repent: for the kingdom of hand, and also as in Mark 1:15 – The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel. Exegetically-speaking, Jesus is putting repentance above all else.

I like to emphasize that the message this week is not so much about human righteousness. Rather, I am writing this message to share with all my dear readers-in-Christ of what is happening today in this perverted world that is awaiting for God’s final judgment. The primary message is to seriously warn all readers-in-Christ here that we are indeed living in the last days. Jesus is coming very soon and the door of salvation is going to close soon. Time is running out. Remember, when Noah, his family and the animals went into the ark, our merciful God did not immediately send the flood. Instead, He still gave the people another seven days to repent but no one repented neither any one bothered to get into the ark. After seven days, the floodwaters came on the earth (Genesis 7:10) and all the inhabitants were perished except Noah and those with him in the ark. (Genesis 7:21-23)

Let me repeat. Many of my previous messages posted here were concerning the end-time events that we are witnessing today. These events are now converging both in multitude and at global scale of apocalyptic proportions all at the same time. This is extra-ordinary. They are clearly the warning signs that Jesus is coming very, very soon. Let me boldly list these events of eschatological significance which are not merely emerging but many of them are already happening right before our eyes and many of them are escalating at the speed of light. Let me try to list them as comprehensive as I possibly could. They are:

As we can read the above, we must acknowledge that they are already prophesied in the Bible particularly in the books of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation many thousand years ago. We are truly living in the last days because the convergence of the above events are totally extra-ordinary in the history of mankind. Please take this as a serious warning: Jesus is coming very, very soon to bring His Bride to meet Him in the air as we can read in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 – Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

We know that You are coming very soon, sooner than many of us could realise. The world is full of wickedness and there is no lack of unsaved people who continued to reject You as their Saviour. We pray that You can help us to be Your instrument to spread the Good News and Your imminent coming to bring us to meet You in the air.

Lord Jesus, for those who are reading the message here, by the power of the Holy Spirit, inspire them to send this message to all their friends and relatives. As You have told us in Peter 3:9 that You are patient with us and not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

We thank you Jesus for Your patient because You are a merciful God. But Lord Jesus, help us to take full cognizant that time is short; we are running out of time and we know You are coming soon to take us home. We pray that as many as possible can escape Your wrath that is to come before the period Great Tribulation began.

Jesus, we love You. Please help us.

In Your Mighty Name we pray. Amen!
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4 December 2022

Scripture Reading: Genesis 9:11-13 (KJV)

And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

2 Peter 3:3-4 – Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

Jude 1:18 – How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

PLEASE SHARE THIS MESSAGE WITH YOUR RELATIVES AND FRIENDS

Noah’s flood is a well-known historical account of a global flood that God poured His wrath to destroy all the living creatures on earth leaving only eight inhabitants alive – Noah, his wife, their three sons and their three daughters-in-law and together with the animals that Noah brought to his Ark. Even non-Christians have heard of this historical account and it is taught in almost every Christian Sunday Bible school. This historical account of Noah’s flood is recorded in Chapter 7 of the Book of Genesis.

My message this week is not so much about Noah’s flood. Rather, it is about a covenant that God has set with Noah, all his descendants (including you and me) and every creature that Noah’s brought to the ark immediately after this global flood. Suffice to just add that this great flood was God’s wrath upon the people in Noah’s days because, with the exception of Noah’s family, the people were living in unrepented lives of extreme debauchery and wickedness. After the flood had subsided, God set up a rainbow covenant with Noah and every creature that He will not destroy the earth by flood. This rainbow covenant is extra-ordinary and unique when we compared with other God’s covenants that He later established with His people. In this rainbow covenant, God promises Noah that He will not destroy the earth with water and there is nothing that Noah was required to do unlike other covenants that God has established, such as:

This rainbow as a cosmic symbol that God established is an absolute property that belongs to God and He and only He is the True Owner. But what the rainbow covenant that God has set is now stolen and perverted. I believe many of us have seen the rainbow banners and flags that are now flying all over the globe by the LGBT community and their supporters. It can even be seen in some government buildings. These rainbow banners and flags are the striking expression to immorally define the secular celebration of ‘gay pride’ movement which is permeated across the globe. This gay pride movement has succeeded in stealing and perverting God’s holy covenant that He has established with Noah. When we look in the sky we can often see rainbow appearing at the sky and it reminds us of God’s covenant that He will not destroy the earth with a flood. We thank and praise for His patient determination to extend salvation to a sinful humanity. Remember, Noah took more than one hundred years to build the ark and while building the ark, he the preached righteousness of God, day and night, to the people but no one listen to him. We must also be reminded that God is not going to sit and do nothing while we continue to live in extreme debauchery and wickedness!

As we can now see around the globe, these seven rainbow colours painted on banners and flags are now used as symbol depicted by the LGBT community and their supporters of destructive sexuality – homosexuality, same-sex marriage, acceptance of gays and lesbians as church priests, transgenderism that is telling people there are more than two genders – male or female. The waving of the rainbow banners of “pride” over perverted lifestyle choice is transparently sinful and wicked and is a direct and wicked confrontation with God’s laws. God has the sovereign right to dictate the attitudes of our heart because He created us in His image. God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Christians are now living in unprecedented days of debauchery and wickedness since the days of Noah and the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. The world is celebrating what God condemns and the world is condemning what God celebrates. Our call as Bible-believing Christians in these upside-down days is to turn it all right-side up: Condemning what God condemns and celebrating what God celebrates.

Coming back to our beloved country. Just few days ago, on Tuesday, 29 November a news headline appeared in our local newspaper: “Parliament on Tuesday voted to repeal a decades-old law criminalising gay sex.” It was reported that 93 Members of Parliament (MP) or 90% of the MPs voted in favour of the move. As MPs represent people, hence by crude extrapolation, 90% of the people also have agreed to decrimalise same-sex! The LGBT community has indeed won big time – so to speak but thankfully we still have not seen them waving of the rainbow flags and banners to express their “pride” of victory. Perhaps not yet!

So what shall we do as individual Bible-believing Christians in this fallen world?

May I humbly offer my suggestions. We need to fill the gaps of what many churches have left vacant. Our Christian responsibility in a confused culture is not to whine, complain, rant, worry, or run. Our responsibility is to stand on the truth of the Word of God and on the grace of Jesus himself. We are to work so that all that has been corrupted is to be restored, to labour so that all that has been lost would be found, and to strive to clarify every instance of sexual confusion. This may be a wishful thinking but we have to try. Prayerfully, this can slow down to something that is even more scary that is to come like legalizing same-sex marriage in our beloved country and so on. We just need to be God’s witnesses as this is exactly what Jesus has in mind when He calls us to be His witnesses throughout the world (Acts 1:8). We want just to be His witnesses. We want to tell people that time is running out. We want to tell people that Jesus is coming very, very soon. We want to tell people: GET READY FOR HIS RETURN! RAPTURE OF THE CHUCH OF CHRIST CAN HAPPEN ANYTIME!

More importantly, we want to tell people going to the seven years of Great Tribulation is not a child-play. You may end up beheaded for your faith during this period of Great Tribulation. During the Great Tribulation it will be very difficult for you to live as Christians because the most hated people during this Great Tribulation period (and also now) are the Jews and the Christians. Christians during the Great Tribulation period are those people who have missed the rapture. The Antichrist will be given all the power by Satan to do everything possible to persecute and prosecute the Jews and the newly converted Christians as they are the arch-enemies of Satan. You will be forced to take the mark of the beast and without the mark of the beast you cannot buy and sell. Once you have taken the mark of the beast, you are doomed. Is this true? As I have said before in the blog here, never just accept what you read from the internet especially when it comes to God’s word and God’s message. The best source is to check them yourself is to go to the Bible, the only inspired Word of God. Read Revelation 13:15-17; 14:9-10 and 16:2. These verses give serious warnings of the dire consequences to the people when they take the mark of the beast and I like to summarise these dangers as follows:

 (Note: Please note this is just a wild speculation which may or may not be the case. However, time will tell. While I strongly believe that the mRNA Covid vaccine is not the mark of the beast, I do believe what some Bible scholars said. The mRNA Covid vaccine is a precursor for the final development of the mark of the beast to be implemented world-wide. They will be implanted, by force, to all the people during the Great Tribulation period. It is an open secret that mRNA is a gene therapy and it is not really a vaccine in traditional pharmaceutical sense. mRNA technology is developing very fast – in fact some said that it is already here – that is wicked globalists who are relentlessly involved in transhumanism are now experimenting microchips that have the abilities to penetrate into our God-given DNA and alter God-given genetic code of life. These microchips can be programmed to target specific area or areas to change our God-given DNA code and made human less human. For example, it can be targeted to make people to surrender their God-given free-will so that those who took the mark of the beast can only obey strictly what the Antichrist tells them to do. A word of caution: I am just a freelance gospel writer and I am not trained in science or medicine so what I have written here, please read the message with an open mind. You must check this out yourself.)

(Note: For your convenience, I have reproduced applicable these verses from the Book of Revelation (NJKV)
Revelation 13:15-17 – He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Revelation 14:9-10 – Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
Revelation 16:2 – So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.)

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

We thank and praise You for your redeeming love. You were hung on the Cross all because You love us so much. Your precious blood that You had shed for us cleanses all our sins and unrigheousness and without the shedding of the blood there will be no redemption.

Lord Jesus, please help those who read this message and give them the wisdom to search Your Truth because the truth will set them free.

In Your Mighty Name I pray. Amen!

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27 November 2022

Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:5-8 (KJV)

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

MESSAGE

We all are aware that even today the performing religious rites through animal sacrifices (or even human sacrifices) is still practiced widely by almost every culture around the world. The practice of animal sacrifices has been around since the beginning of human history. Depending on each culture, typically domestic animals are used to sacrifice to the gods and/or to the dead ancestors. They are usually goat, sheep, chicken, duck, pig or cow. Certain religious rites demand the animals to be slaughtered in strict compliance with their religious rules. These slaughtered animals would display at the altars and they are symbolic acts of thanksgiving, appeasement to their gods or their dead ancestors, to ask for good health and fertility, or to just simply appease their gods or their dead ancestors, or to ask for spiritual protection and other material wealth.

In the Old Testament that there was a lot of blood shed on the Jewish altars so much so that some people would call the Old Testament a ‘bloody religion’. Yes, indeed it is. This too were the religious rites found in the Jewish religious tradition and the blood of the goats and sheep that shed on the Jewish altars was for sins and that the animal blood was symbolic of life that was leaving the animal that was only made good when Christ laid down His life upon the Cross.

Moving forward years later, the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, God’s only begotten Son, Jesus had made all the Jewish religious sacrifices we observed in the Old Testament made them good and acceptable to God. The shedding of blood of animals performed by the Jewish religious rites was purely symbolic of that was to come in Jesus Christ because Christ’s death was planned before the foundation of the world. God could look forward and see you and me as law breakers and sinners in need of a Saviour and He was offering His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ to die on the Cross as our substitute acceptable to God, the Father.

In the New Testament, God’s plan for the death of Jesus had been fully accomplished at the Calvary Cross where Christ was hung and bled to death. He shed every drop of His blood for all the sinners of the world and without the shedding of the Blood of the Lamb there is no forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22). Jesus, the Lamb of God who became Man, sinless and without spot or wrinkle, unblemished and His death is fully accepted by the Heavenly Father as the perfect and ultimate blood sacrifice for all sinners, once and for all. Thus, the death of the Son of God, Jesus has now rendered all forms of sacrifices completely unnecessary and useless. The death of Jesus on the Calvary Cross is final as it has fully reconciled mankind with our Creator, God the Father, provided we are willing to accept this gift of redemption. As we read in John 19:30 “IT IS FINISHED”. These three words that Lord Jesus cried out in His very final hour before He gave up His spirit tells us that we don’t need to “do this” or to “do that” anymore because everything needed to be done has already been done in perfect satisfaction to the God, the Father by the Son of God, Jesus: IT IS FINISHED!

The sacrifice that our Lord Jesus willingly carried out is truly far beyond human comprehension. First, Jesus, as the Son of God but He was willing to give up His heavenly glory and made Himself even a little lower than the angels so that He could be made a scapegoat to take away our sins, past, present and future. Second, He took all our suffering of death while on earth and tasted death for all sinners (Hebrews 2:9). He knew exactly those things that we are going through in our lives because, remember, He was made flesh like you and me and He dwelt among us (John 1:14). No human flesh can escape trials, troubles and temptations and Jesus was no exception. He too went through many trials, troubles and temptations but He had overcome them all. Thirdly, at the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus knew he has already finished all the works which the Heavenly Father has given to Him to do and He chose to humble Himself to carry all the works given to Him by God, the Father and He became obedient even to the death on the cross (Philippians 2:8). When He had finished all the works that God, the Father had given Him, He knew it was time for Him to face death (John 17:4; Matthew 26:39). These events of Jesus praying at the Garden of Gethsemane and preparing Himself to walk to the Cross to be crucified for our sins can be found in all the four books of the gospel: Matthew 26:36-56; Mark 14:32-50; Luke 22:39-53; John 18:1-12).

The death of Jesus was the very beginning of our blessed hope because death could not hold Him as He resurrected three days later. This resurrection of Jesus is a clear message to us that He has defeated man’s greatest enemy – death – once and for all.

After His resurrection, Jesus continued to be on earth for forty days. During these forty days hundreds of people including all His disciples saw Him. They witnessed that there were nail holes in His hands and He even asked one of His disciplines, Thomas, to put his finger into the side of His body to examine the wounds pierced by the Roman guards (John 20:27). This is in fact one of the reasons Jesus stayed on earth for 40 days after His resurrection instead of ascending immediately into heaven so as to demonstrate to His apostles that He was indeed alive. After witnessing Jesus was alive, the lives of all the apostles were changed – literally from cowards to heroes. Other than Apostle John who was banished to the Island of Patmos where he wrote the Book of Revelation and he later died of old age, all the other apostles were killed because of their faith in Christ Jesus. They were persecuted and prosecuted by the Romans. Most of them were killed in horrific situations but they willingly accepted it because they believed Jesus is truly the Son of God and He has risen from the dead. This is the greatest miracle of all human history: Jesus Christ was alive right before the eyes of the apostles when they thought He was already dead. During those 40 days, He appeared to various groups of disciples and followers, proving beyond any doubt that He had been raised from the dead by the power of God. This prompted the Apostle Paul wrote two decades later that Jesus appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom were still living at the time Apostle Paul wrote this testimony (1 Corinthians 15:6).

Before Jesus was ascended to heaven, He commanded His disciples to go to preach the good news to all nations and to every creature (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:47). Let us too obey this commandment and use whatever resources that are available to us and together as a body of Christ preach the good news to the unsaved and to share the blessed hope that He is preparing a mansion for each of us and He will come again personally to bring us to Him as we read in John 14:2-3 – In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

In these verses, the pronoun “you” are used five times. Are you one of the “you” that Jesus is referring to? If you are not, today, you can be one of the “you“. It’s very simple. Accept Jesus is the only begotten Son of God and He died for your sins and accept Him as as your Saviour; confess your sins; asking Him to forgive you for all the sins you have committed; acknowledge that the blood of Jesus is bled for you and that the blood has the redeeming power to reconcile you to God, the Heavenly Father.

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank you for Your precious blood that You have so willingly shed for us. Without the shedding of Your blood, there shall be no forgiveness. Lord, we are now made righteous all because of Your blood. There is nothing we can do to make us righteous because the righteousness of man is as filthy rags as we are told in Isaiah 64:6 – But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Dear Lord, thank you for comforted scripture by Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 1:18): Though our sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, the shall be as wool.

We thank you, Jesus as this can only be accomplished because of Your shed blood. Thank you Lord Jesus for loving us so much. Let us realize that it was not the nails that hang You on the Cross. It was LOVE that hang You on the Cross because the nails that hang you have no match to your supreme power. You were hang on the cross all because of your LOVE for the world.

Again, Jesus, we thank you.

In Your Mighty Name we pray. Amen!

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20 November 2022

Scripture Reading: Genesis 1:26-27 (KJV)

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

MESSAGE

As Bible-believing Christians, we are all familiar with the creation account as written in the of Book of Genesis 1:1-27. This is an historical creation account that God created the heavens and the earth and all things around them – living and non-living. We can also realise that at the point of His creation, God separated His creation into two distinct types: He separated the darkness from light; He separated the waters above from the waters below; He separated the dry land from the water below; He separated the day from the night. No one can dispute this gospel truth, not even the most sceptical atheist scientists.

However, God’s truth is now under serious siege when you tell people that God created mankind and separated into two distinct types: Male and Female. Many people especially supporters of LGBT are now questioning this historical creation account. It is very frightening that top global politicians and government leaders, scientists and educators especially those from the western countries are telling you that whether you are a ‘male’ or a ‘female’ it is a matter of your belief system, your perception. This gives rise to a whole new global cultural revolution of transgenderism which is taking place, not just in the western world but across the globe. Yet, many people are still not fully aware of it. (Note: “transgenderism” simply means a state of condition in which a person’s sexual identity does not conform unambiguously to conventional ideas of male or female gender.) Prayerfully, you are not and will not be a victim or casualty of this new cultural revolution of transgenderism that is now relentlessly led by the western world to deceive the world and hence put God’s truth under siege.

Interesting to also take cognisant why this only applies to mankind and not to the animal kingdom at large? No one would dispute that in the animal kingdom for example we all accept that peacocks are male and peahens are female, and dogs are male and bitches are female. Is it just because peacocks, peahens, dogs, bitches could not think or could not perceive and just because man could think so the conventional ideas of male or female should conform unambiguously and exclusively to the animal kingdom and not mankind? The gender of peacocks, peahens, dogs, bitches are strictly binary, either male or female and no one is going to dispute that. Think about this carefully as it will allow us to come to a very safe conclusion that this cultural revolution of transgenderism is truly satanic and the one behind this cultural movement is, of course, none other than Satan himself. He will never give up to upsurge God’s truth. He will relentlessly pervert and deceive the world and put God’s truth under siege.

Remember, Satan is the master of lies, everything he says and he does is opposite to what God is telling us and what God is doing. Satan has perfected this skill of lying having practiced it for over six thousand years. In Genesis 3:5 when Satan told Eve “For God knows that in the day you eat of fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.” Since that day when Eve was deceived together with her beloved husband, Adam, when they ate of that fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the whole creation fell and Satan assumed his control over all God’s creation. We need however to come to God’s Word and it is very clear that we are told in John 8:32 – And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free – free from the bondage of sin; free from satanic deception. We must stick to God’s truth at all cost. Do not continue to be deceived by the evil one. We must not compromise God’s truth. The satanic movement of this cultural revolution of transgenderism is one of the many deceptive arsenals that Satan has launched against all God’s people, you and me! Satan knew his days are numbered and he will try and try very hard to send delusions and deceptions and his motive is only but one: to deceive us into believing that there is no God, and if there is one, you too can be one of the gods ; deceiving us into believing that there is no hell and there is no heaven and that Jesus is not the Son of God.

My message this week is to make you aware that this cultural revolution of transgenderism (and some would call this global cultural wars but for this message I will use the term “cultural revolution.”) is super extra-ordinary because it does not involve the military or the police. This cultural revolution is about hijacking the way of life that God has sacredly instituted exclusively for mankind only as we read in Genesis that He created mankind in His own image – that is to be holy because God is holy (1 Peter 1:16). This sacred institution of marriage that God established is strictly between a man and a woman.

In many western countries, this cultural revolution of transgenderism is in full swing and anyone who opposed to this cultural revolution and spoke the truth that God created mankind and separated them into ‘male’ and ‘female’ and marriage is only between a man and a woman will be in dire danger of being labelled as bigot, imbecile, intolerant and racist. Very soon, I believe, many western countries will pass legislation to criminalise those who spoke against transgenderism and to criminalise people who evangelise to others that humans are created in the image of God and there are only two genders: you are either a male and a female at birth and the definition of marriage is between a male and a female. If this legislation is passed here, I for sure will be one to be criminalised and perhaps ended in prison! By God’s grace, I am not a citizen of the western countries and I think I am safe – for now!

But why the binary gender identity of male and female is such an abomination to this sinful world now is simply beyond my comprehension and the comprehension of many Bible-believing Christians when it is a medical and scientific fact that we are born either male or female. We are all aware that when we were born the doctors who delivered us from our mother’s womb would write on our birth certificates that we were either ‘Male’ or ‘Female’ based on our genitalia. This is simple binary distinction of male or female whom the doctors certified and wrote our on our birth certificates will be permanent imprinted. You may by deed poll change your name but you cannot change your gender identity from ‘male’ to ‘female’ or vice versa and request the court to re-certify according to your wish. And this has been the position of all countries’ legal system relating to birth registration – once a male always a male; once a female always a female. Sadly, this changing or rather has already allowed in some western countries.

Many western countries are now relentlessly trying to indoctrinate young children and teens that although they were born into as one gender biologically either male or female, they can identify as the other gender if they so wish. This evil transgenderism agenda that tells children and teens whether they are “male” or “female” is a matter of perception, a matter of choice and is not to be determined at birth. It has nothing to do with biology, so they tell our kids. This is giving many parents nightmare because it has caused much confusions and many young children who are now asking questions like “Who am I” or “What am I” and “Can I change my gender”. It was reported in the mass media that there were instances where teens were changed from ‘male’ to ‘female’ or vice versa and some without parental consent. Schools just sent these teens who had innocently agreed to the School Board to hospitals to perform sex-changing treatments or even surgical operations in some cases. In a 2012 CBS News told of a growing number of teens and even younger children who ‘think’ they were born the wrong sex and got the support from parents and asked doctors to give them sex-changing treatments. And this was ten years’ ago! Can you imagine the situation now? Is the world going insane? We can safely come to the conclusion this cultural revolution movement is satanic and the one behind this is none other than, of course, Satan himself. We are indeed fighting not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heaven places (Ephesians 6:12)

As Bible-believing Christians we must share God’s truth. However, many churches are in very difficult situation because some ministers don’t really want to speak up. They are not prepared to defend God’s truth especially on topics like lesbian, gay bi-sexual and transgender (collective known as LGBT), same-sex marriage, allowing gay people or lesbians to assume church leadership like pastors or Sunday School teachers to a point that they even passively twisted and distorted the messages in order not to offend the LGBT community. Some churches will just simply ignore this cultural revolution of transgenderism completely. But remember this: Silence means consent.

But why churches are playing such a low key or keeping silence on this important topic of cultural revolution of transgenderism,, LGBT and same-sex marriage? Like me try to offer my reasons (and these are also the reasons from some Bible-believing churches). Churches don’t preach such sermons in order not to offend the congregation and government authority and hence many so-called pastors twisted and distorted the Word of God to appear as if they were from the genuine men of God when it was in fact not. If we are not careful, we may end up falling prey and may unconsciously became a victim of this cultural revolution of transgenderism. Everyone knows, truth hurts and it can hurt very deeply. To keep the congregation happy (and perhaps to ensure constant supply of financial resources from tithes and offerings) it is better not to preach the true message of God and what can be more effective than to passively twist and distort God’s truth and hopefully congregation can accept this ‘neutral’ message that their churches are neither agree nor disagree to this cultural revolution of transgenderism. In other words, if their works are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, our Living God, Lord Jesus will vomit out of His mouth (Revelation 3:15-17).

Let’s pray that our church ministers here are truly men and women of God and they must be prepared to stand up and to speak up God’s truth that the cultural revolution of transgenderism is satanic. We are all created in the image of God; male and female He created us; marriage is only between a male and a female.

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father,

We want to acknowledge that the world has indeed gone insane! We need Your help to put things in right perspective in accordance with Your laws and Your commandments. We are now in a situation where the laws of the land is replacing Your Laws and Your Commandments.

Dear Lord Jesus, we pray that you can give the church ministers great courage to speak the truth and to uphold Your Laws and Your Commandments and never allow the laws of the Land to take precedent over what You have written in Your Holy Word, the Bible.

In the Mighty Name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

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13 November 2022

Scripture Reading: Genesis 1:1 (KJV)

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

MESSAGE

One of the most controversial verses in the Bible is the very first verse in Genesis 1:1 – In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. I would even go further to say that this in fact is the most controversial verse among the science community. Genesis 1:1 tells us that it was God created the universe but many scientists refused to accept this. Well-known atheist scientist like Professor Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist and a professor at the Oxford University is a strong believer of Darwin theory of evolution. In this theory it postulates that living organisms evolved from a tiny living cell which changes in its characteristics over millions of years and progresses into much more complex organism. As the complexity increases over this incomprehensible time period of millions of years, this tiny living organism finally developed into very complex living creatures like you and me and all other living creatures around us. It is interesting that this theory of evolution never covers or postulates how non-living organism evolved into living organism. The question on how “a rock turned into a frog” is never answered. This is one the biggest unsolved questions and no scientist can offer any explanation other than offering a flimsy ‘explanation that given time everything can be turned into anything!’ As far as possible, they try to avoid this question when it is being asked.

On the other hand, we have world renown scientist and mathematician Professor John Lennox who is a Professor of Mathematics at University of Cambridge strongly thinks otherwise. He subscribes strongly to the believe that God created the universe and everything around it. He fully subscribes to what is recorded in Genesis 1.1 – In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

This very first verse of the Bible in the Book of Genesis is a litmus test of our faith in creation in general and our Christian faith in particular. If you cannot accept or pass by this verse – Genesis 1:1 – and have serious doubt, you are putting not just the Book of Genesis, but the whole Bible in doubt and hence your Christian faith. The Word of God, the Bible, is the living Word of God and all that is written centered on God’s truth that He is the Creator of the Universe and all the things around them, both living and non-living. There is nothing is new because God has already created everything.

Please note that the message this week is not to debate about the subject – creation versus evolution – but rather to send you a message that human beings are indeed created by God and for one and one purpose only and that is: For His Glory. We are told in the Bible we are the children of God and joint-heirs with Christ. We share in His suffering in order that we may also share in His glory as we read in Romans 8:16-17 – The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Joint-heirs of the begotten Son of Jesus is bestowed to only His priced creation – man kind who are created in His own image – male and female He created them (Genesis 1:27). Even the angelic hosts, the angels, are not included. Joint-heirs are exclusively for us and us only. What a mighty God we have! Praise be to God for His love and His priceless inheritance that has no set limit!

Think of all what “joint heirs” means. This simply means that everything that God owns belongs to us as well because we belong to Him. Our eternal inheritance as joint-heirs or co-heirs with Christ is the result of the amazing grace of God. That trillion of stars and planets with their spectacular beauty and awe that God created are waiting for us to explore. While science today has failed even to send a rocket to land on a planet beyond Mars, we will be able to explore the universe far, far beyond our solar system very soon when Christ meets us in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:51-54). The beauty of the universe, all its stars and all its planets knew no limit and no human mind can now comprehend its awesome beauty. When we are fully redeemed and when we started to explore the true wonder of God’s creation then we will come to perfect realization that the heavens indeed declare His glory and the firmament shows His handiwork (Psalm 19:1).

How then do we need to do to share His glory and be joint-heirs of His begotten Son, Jesus? This is very simple. It is possible for us to share His glory and God’s inheritance with His only begotten Son, Jesus when we are fully redeemed. And the grace and mercy of redemption is possible when you just accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God, died on the Cross and resurrected after three days and accept Lord Jesus as Your Saviour. The blood of Jesus that He bled on the Cross has absolute cleansing power to remove our sins – past, present and future – so that we can be reconciled to God, the Father and to dwell with Him forever (John 3:16).

In John 14:2-3 Jesus said – “In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am that you may be also.”

Do you know where Jesus is now? He is in heaven seated down at the right hand of God and making intercession for us (Mark 16:19; Romans 8:34). In John 14:2-3 which we just read we are told that He will come again to bring us to “where?” Heaven, of course. And for what purpose? To share with Him the inheritance of the Father. This is a blessed hope bestowed to all born-again Christians. Let’s wait patiently and continue to live our life pleasing to our God and never to do anything foolish to grieve the Holy Spirit because our redemption is drawn near. He can come at any time. Let us all be prepared to meet Him and to be the joint-heirs of the begotten Son of God, Christ Jesus.

Let’s Pray

Dear Heavenly Father,

I thank you You for the Your inheritance that I can co-share with Your Son, Jesus. While I am waiting to enjoy Your splendid inheritance, Father help me to share this good news to people to all four corners of the earth, in particular, the precious blood of Your Son, Jesus that He bled for all of us at the Calvary Cross. Through His blood, sinners are able to fully reconcile with You and to enjoy the immense beauty of the heavens You have created. More importantly, Father, we will be able to have fellowship with You, Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit throughout eternality.

Right now, Father, remind me that I am indeed a great sinner and ask for Your forgiveness. Help me and strengthen me that I will not do anything foolish to grieve the Holy Spirit. Like what Prophet Isaiah has so humbly declared: For I am a man of unclean lips (Isaiah 6:5), I too want to humbly declare myself to You, Father, that I am no different from Prophet Isaiah! Indeed, not just my lips, but also my hands, my heart and my mind. They are all unclean as they often do foolish things, speak foolishly and have harboured unwholesome and sinful thoughts that are truly not pleasing to You and hence grieve the Holy Spirit. But thank you, Father, by the blood of Jesus, my sins are washed away and You have now transformed me to be as white as snow. Help me to repent daily and not to repeat the sinful things whether by actions, by deeds or by thoughts.

In the Mighty Name of the Father, the Son, Jesus and Holy Spirit, I pray. Amen.

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WHO WE ARE?

Living Smyrna Church of Christ (LSCC) is an independent house-church located in the western part of Singapore. The main objective of LSCC is to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ as part of the Great Commission which our Lord Jesus has commanded all His followers to go and make disciples of all nations. (John 3:16 and Mathew 28:18-20)

Please note that LSCC does not accept gifts nor donations in any form as LSCC strongly believes by faith that Lord Christ Jesus will provide all the necessary resources for this mission of Great Commission. LSCC, however, prays that you can help to share this website with your friends and relatives and prays that the messages and all the information posted here will encourage all readers-in-Christ to get closer to our God, Christ Jesus. More importantly, it is the sincere prayer of LSCC that the messages posted here will prepare born-again Christians to meet our living Saviour, Lord Jesus when He appears in the air to take us to be with Him.
(1 Thessalonians 4:17-18)

STATEMENT OF FAITH

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LSCC takes no credit of the messages posted here as some parts of the messages were copied or extracted from other godly authors. LSCC, however, takes full responsibilities if the view expressed here are offensive, or in your view, not in accordance with the Word of God, the Bible. LSCC welcomes all feedback, comments and covets your holy counsel and will take every effort to humbly learn, correct and edit the messages where necessary in order to reflect God’s absolute truth as LSCC strongly believes in sharing only the absolute truth of God’s Word because His Truth shall make us free (John 8:32).

Any comments and suggestions will be appreciated. You can send them to:
kttanlscc@gmail.com
livingsmyrnachurchofchrist@yahoo.com

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PLEASE SHARE THE MESSAGES WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES

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6 November 2022

Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (KJV)

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

MESSAGE

My message this week is to share with you the conditions and the characteristics of the world in the last days as told by the apostles of Jesus Christ, in particular by Apostle Paul. These prophetic words are not about the things that are going to take place in the future of our times. Rather they are the things we are all very familiar with as they are happening everywhere right now. Indeed, we have no trouble recognizing them because we are all in the midst of such conditions. Right now, we are living in perilous times; times that are very hard to bear. Let’s examine some of these conditions and the characteristics in which we are living in as prophesised by Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 two thousand years ago but is happening right before our eyes.

Paul began these lists of characteristics with “lovers of self”. This is because all the other characteristics that followed find its source in this particular description – “love of self” which has permeated the whole society from magazines to cell phones when we can see so many people are taking selfie to tell people how wonderful they are, how good or great they look; they want to be loved (and rather than to love); they want to be admired; they want to boast about their look; they want to tell people, “Hey, I am now at such and such a place vacationing”. It’s all I, me and mine. It’s all being getting ourselves boastful and be proud of who we are. The moral and social collapse of the family, of the nation and of the world is largely due to “love of self” and it is with deep regret that the world has evolved (or rather devolved) to the point that we always want to “self-love”. “Self-love” is all we need in order to survive and thrive in the present loveless world. “Self-love” is now a key for the “survival for the fittest” element that human must acquire in order to thrive and to succeed. Nothing is now more important than ‘self-love’.

This is no wonder our Lord Jesus has spoken many times that we need to watch and to be ready because He will come back very unexpectedly to take us to meet Him in the air. We have to be careful, to be ready and be watchful in order that we do not become victims of ‘self-love’. Let’s examine some of these warnings that spoken by Jesus himself:

Examining these verses spoken by Jesus together with the prophetic words of events (2 Timothy 3:1-5) although spoken two thousand years ago but they are now permeating throughout the whole world today, we can come to an exegetic understanding that we have to do exactly the opposite what the world is doing in order to save us from eternal damnation. Hence, we must not be lovers of ourselves neither be lovers of money nor lovers of pleasure; we must not be boasters neither should we be proud and haughty perceiving ourselves to be the best of the best and there is no close second; we are to obey our parents and be thankful to our Heavenly Father in all circumstances; we are to live a holy life and be loving and kind especially to those who are poor and those who are in the need; we are not to bear false witness and we are to be truthful in our speech; we must not call evil good, and good evil; we are to be as meek as a lamb and not be arrogant; we are to exercise self-control in order not to fall into sinful temptations; above all, we are not to use any blasphemous words such as taking the name of God in vain; we are to love our God with all our heart and our soul and with all our mind; and we are to take heed of Apostle Paul’s warning: Avoid and do not associate with those people who constantly failed to observe the warnings in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 we read above. It is important that we don’t just turn away from such people but we ourselves must continue to live a repented life of not committing those things and that others will not turn away from us for our rebellious behaviour towards our God. We must be the light of the world and to shine in this time of utter darkness. As the world gets darker, the light of God will shine even brighter as we can read in Isaiah 60:1-2: Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.

We are now living in the darkest times in the human history that the world has ever known. We are indeed living in a godless and satanic age. Even non-believers can acknowledge this as we often heard people saying to one another: What kind of the world are we living in today!” We can read from the news that many country leaders especially those from the superpowers. These superpowers are threatening one another like sanctioning of trade to artificially create food shortage, sending warship to block sea-route to create economy hardship to other countries, threatening the use of nuclear bombs, leading in cybercrimes to steal sensitive information and using the stolen information to cause havoc, creating regional groupings similar to what secret societies are doing in order to control certain territories and to extort and bring other countries into submission to their evil agenda, and so on. This reminds me of a Chinese idiom: 上梁不正下梁歪. It simply means that when the leader is wicked, unrighteous and behaved like thugs, you don’t expect his followers to be righteous and behaviour like god-fearing people. Looking at what countries’ leaders are doing and we can safely come to a conclusion that many of them have indeed lost their moral rights to govern. The list of characteristics that we read in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 apply to the country leaders inasmuch as they apply to individual people like you and me. Let’s be honest. Every one of us is guilty of displaying these unholy characteristics in one form or another, perhaps on a daily basis. It is thus important that we continue to seek God’s help by our earnest prayer so that our Lord Jesus can strengthen us to overcome our weakness and not to conform to this sinful and wicked world but be transformed by renewing of our mind than we will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:2). Doing what Apostle Paul warning us in 1 Timothy 3:1-5 is blatantly rebellious towards our holy God. We must do exactly the opposite in order to please our Heavenly Father. Let us all take head, be watchful, get ready because our redemption is drawn near. Jesus is coming and He is coming very soon!

Let’s pray.

Dear Lord Jesus,

We come before You to pray and to ask of You to give us the strengths for us avoid conforming to this godless and sinful world we are now living in. Lord we ask of You to help us to transform our mind to be more like You and to live a godly life so as to be pleasing to You more and more each day. Help us to be a living sacrifice for Your Namesake. We pray earnestly that we will stand firm and not to do anything that will grieve the Holy Spirit. We pray right now, for those who are in need of comfort, comfort them, those who are in need for medical help due to sickness, heal them, those who are in need for spiritual awakening, send Your Holy Spirit to stay with them always. We thank you and we praise you for Your redeeming love and sacrifice and for Your precious blood that You have shed for us on the Calvary Cross. Please help us to stay watch and be ready in season and out of season. Amen.

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30 October 2022

Scripture Reading: John 16:33 and Matthew 24:21-22 (KJV)

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. (Matthew 24:21-22)

MESSAGE

In my message last week, I wrote about life challenges. Our own past experiences tell us that without any exception, we all encounter these life challenges on a continual basis and our Lord Jesus called these life challenges “mountains”. I believe right now many of us may be feeling the heat of life difficulties and wish they could just disappear soonest. I am one of them and pray that this mountain of mine can be removed right away. Besides the mountains that are giving us life stresses, affecting our mental and physical well-being, it can also hinder our spiritual growth as we may question why God is still not answering our prayer to move our mountain. Don’t give up! We just need to pray always and Lord Jesus will command the evil one to release the mountains from his hands and we will then able to taste the peace that our Lord Jesus has always intended for us. Remember the story of Job. Satan must get permission from God if he wants to do any harm to him and Satan has no option but to obey God’s command. God commanded Satan not to take away Job’s life although he can inflict him with other afflictions. We know in the end, God restored everything back to Job. We thus must endure as God’s hand is always upon us in good times and in bad time.

There are many expressions of this term – mountain – but all point to just one theme: In life we shall have tribulation (or trouble). Even Jesus himself had gone through life tribulation when He was on earth but be of good cheer, he had overcome them all as we can read in John 16:33. The life tribulations indeed come one after another with no end in sight and Jesus himself was not spared from them either. Our own past experiences can testify that before we could really get by one, another one would just come out from nowhere. Before we knew it, it is already right at our door steps. They come like production lines producing not physical goods but troubles.

It is interesting to note that the terms “tribulation” and “trouble” are used quite interchangeably. Some versions like KJV and NKJV use the term “tribulation” whereas versions like NIV and International Standard Version use the term “trouble” and yet there are other versions use terms like “trials and sorrows”. But none of them have used the “great trouble” because to Jesus all our recurring life challenges are “trivial” (unlike the events of the great tribulation which is going to be an one-off event that will bring unspeakable calamities unknown to the world until this time of great tribulation). In Matthew 24:21-22, I discovered that most ‘popular’ versions of the Bible use the term “great tribulation” as do in KJV and NKJV versions. It clearly followed that the term ‘great tribulation’ as spoken by our Lord Jesus simply distinguishes the biblical significance between “tribulation (aka trouble)” and “great tribulation.”

Let me offer my perspectives on the biblical significant differences between these two terms and I pray that the message here can provide clarifications between these two terms: tribulation (aka trouble) and great tribulation. As you might already know that the term “great tribulation” is first used by none other than our Lord Jesus himself in his Olivet Discourse which we can read in Matthew 24:21. This great tribulation that Jesus referred to will be so destructive to all living creatures that unless God shortened this period of great tribulation no flesh will be saved. Many theologians believe that this great tribulation relates to a 7-year period when the earth will experience unprecedented and unspeakable apocalyptic events. This 7-year period of great tribulation will end when Lord Jesus return to rule the earth as King of kings and Lord of lords. As you can realise, great tribulation is an one-off event whereas tribulation (or trouble) is the recurring life challenges we all faced every day. So, what is so important that we need to know about “great tribulation” that Jesus is referring? Indeed, it is extremely important because it concerns our eternal destiny.

Before I proceed, I want to mention that this message is not to frighten your nor to scare you, neither it is meant to discourage you nor to hinder your spiritual growth. Rather, it is the opposite as it brings blessed hope to all truly born-again Christians. Among others, this bless hope consists of (a) we will be caught up – raptured – to meet our Lord Jesus in the air; and (b) we will not go through this 7-year period of great tribulation as we will be raptured before the start of the great tribulation. These are the prophetic words and I pray you can check them out yourself. Don’t believe what you read or hear – including the message here. The only source of God’s truth can only be from the Word of God, the Bible. We must, however, remember that all prophecies in the Bible when read in the right context will produce faith and hope to the believing Christians. Prophetic words are meant to strengthen and not weaken our faith especially those relating to end-time. They are the most important teaching that point to the glorious day when we will eternally dwell with our Creator. God has said very presciently this in the Book of Revelation 3:10 – “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial (that is the great tribulation) which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” Many theologians who studied the Book of Revelation can testify to us that the Book of Revelation relates to end-time and it follows that “the hour of temptation (KJV)” as written in Revelation 3:10 is referred to the temptation associated with the 7-year period of great tribulation. In other words, the “hour of temptation (or trial) ” that we read in Revelation 3:10 is synonymous with “great tribulation.

Although the events of the great tribulations are prophesised in several books in the Bible, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, but the Book of Revelation provides the most complete and vivid descriptions of these apocalyptic events that will come to the world. They can be found from Revelation chapters 6 to 16. The intensities and the severities of apocalyptic events given in the Book of Revelation from chapter 6 to chapter 16 read like Hollywood movies. These events which progress in intensities and severities will include catastrophic events like great global famine, extreme violent super-volcanoes and earthquakes with intensity perhaps higher than 10 Richter scale will occur in many parts of the whole world and will flatten mountains and move islands (Note: Until now the highest seismic records of the intensity of earthquakes have never been higher than10 Richter scale), stars falling from the skies which could be giant asteroids or even nuclear explosions due to nuclear war, world-wide plague that will be many, many times more severe than Covid-19, acres upon acres of farmland will be consumed by locusts affecting global food supply chain resulting in extreme food shortage around the world so much so that you need a day’s wage to buy just a loaf of bread, rivers and springs of water turned into blood. But that’s not all. In Revelation 13, a beast will arise and demand to be worship as god. This is because the beast will be able to provide solutions to calm and solve the world’s problem that no world leader nor any human being could (other than the beast himself), and hence people are convinced that he is ‘god’. He will control the entire planet, and goes to war against the believers (whom I believe are the repented Jews who had rejected Jesus as their Saviour and also those non-Jews who are being converted to Christianity during the period of great tribulation. They are those left behind after the rapture when true believers are already taken up to meet Jesus in the air. This beast which resembles a lamb (that is false Christ) is given authority and power by the dragon (aka Satan). He will exercise his satanic authority and power and cause great and miraculous signs to deceive and convince people that he is god. There will be another beast, also known as false prophet and forces all to receive the Mark of the Beast on their right hand or forehead and declaring that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark. (Note: I have posted several messages on One World Government, One World Religion and One World Economy. The Mark of the Beast could perhaps be in a form of Programmable Digital Dollar/Currency which is a subset of One World Economy will forcefully implemented and those who refused to take will be beheaded. You may want to search for these messages here if you are interested to know more about these topics.)

These are scary thoughts! And, indeed, yes! They are but only when you are not a child of God. The good news is that you have a way to escape and that is, if you are not already a child of God it’s time to accept Lord Jesus as your Saviour right now believing the blood that He shed on the Calvary Cross can save you and that He is the only true God of the Universe. As a child of God who obeyed God’s commandments to live a holy and righteous life you will be spared from this hour of great tribulation – Revelation 3:10.

Let’s pray

Dear Lord,

We love You and we are in need of Your help. At times we don’t even know how to pray but Lord Jesus you know the things of our need even before we ask. All we can do now is to say: Jesus we love You, we thank you for all the mercy and love You have so richly endowed to us. No words can express our gratitude. Help us to always worship You in spirit and in truth. Help us to preserver and to continue to pursue our righteous living to please You more and more each day.

In the Might Name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

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23 October 2022

Scripture Reading: Matthew 17:20-21 and Mark 10:27 (KJV)

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. (Matthew 17:20-21)

And Jesus looking upon them saith, with men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible. (Mark 10:27)

MESSAGE

Without any exception, everyone of us encounter life challenges on a continual basis. Jesus called these life challenges or anything that blocked our physical, mental or spiritual growth “mountains’. Although many of our life challenges (or mountains) are quite unpredictable but there are just as many of them predictable. For example, it is a predictable time when most parents with school-going children are encountering ‘school examination mountain’ because their children are taking important examinations like PSLE, O-Level or A-Level during this period from October to November each year. Thankfully, we have responsible parents who are very concerned about their children’s education. Just go to any shopping mall with tuition centres, you will see dozens of parents brought their children to the tuition centres. As these examinations are crucial that could determine which schools the children would later go or which university courses they can later be enrolled to and hence most parents are not leaving anything to chance. They put every effort to help them such as bringing their children to tuition centre, checking their school work, taking leave to coach them, getting personal tutor to teach them and so on. You might think that this is a ‘small mountain’ or parents are making a mountain out of a molehill and parents should not be too worried. Well, this is easier said than done because I am one of the parents who are very worried about my child’s year-end examination. It is indeed a huge mountain especially when you have only one child and would feel the whole world is falling apart when examinations results are not too good. Thankfully, the mountain (or the molehill) will be removed very soon when it comes to later part of November and prayerfully all children can do well in their examinations.

However, in life the real mountain of life we are facing is far bigger than just worrying children’s education and I am no exception. I am now encountering a mountain that is giving me sleepless nights. I tried to fast and pray as frequently as possible and I am very pleased that God has so far ‘partially’ answered my prayer and I know that in His good time He will answer my prayer by completely remove this mountain that is standing right in front of me. I pray hard, day and night that Jesus will remove this mountain as soon as possible and I know He will. There are two very encouraging promises that we must not forget: (a) In God’s eyes, there is no such thing as a mountain that He could not see because if He can create the tiniest thing like an atom, nothing is too small for Him; Jesus can see everything and He knows even the number of hairs we have; and (b) if He can be raised from the dead, nothing is impossible to Him to the one who believed; He commanded us to say to this mountain, “Move from here to there, and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20).

We must note that mountain refers to in Matthew 17:20 is not literal physical mountain but life challenges and difficulties we encountered frequently. Unfortunately, due to the burden we are now carrying, it may seem too heavy for us to carry alone. At times when we prayed to God to remove our mountain that is hindering our spiritual growth we could be at a loss for words. Even Jesus disciples also find it is difficult to pray as we can read one of them asked Him: Lord, teach us to pray. (Luke 11:1). Waiting for deliverance or removing life problems may be a wishful thinking for some especially after a prolonged period of praying to our Lord for deliverance. We may often feel discouraged because our circumstances still have not changed for the better even with our most earnest prayer. As we keep repeating the same words again and again, day after day, night after night to a point we could loathe the sound of our own voice. We may come to a point that we are suffering from ‘praying-fatigue.’ But never give up! And to this real moment, all we can is to just say: I love You, Jesus. Please Help. These may just be only six simple words, but we must believe that it is as good and as effective as praying lengthy prayer because remember what Jesus told us: I know your the things you need even before you ask (Matthew 6:8). These six words if spoken sincerely out of our heart is our calls on heaven that our heart is full of love for Him and we are now in need of help. In all our real moments that we seemingly have encountered immovable mountains, our calls on heaven will lift our eyes to our Heavenly Father who loves us so dearly that He sent His only begotten Son to die for us. The birth, the death and the resurrection of our living Son of God have collectively and effectively lifted our face to see Him in our darkest moment and lifted our voice to call out to Him for help when no other person seem to care. We must claim His promise that He is ever ready to respond to our need when we call Him: I love You, Jesus. Please help.

We must acknowledge that we are living in a generation that is dark. We are living in world that is no better or even worse than in the days of Noah or in the days of Lot. We are living in a time when evil is becoming (or has become) good, and good is becoming (or has become) evil, and people are ungrateful and lawlessness is the order of the day. It is thus obvious we are going to encounter life challenges in these dark hours. Admittedly, sometimes these mountains were due to our own faults and sometimes they came out of nowhere. For example, our routine medical screening may turn out to be something very unexpected when we received a medical report that indicated there are cancer cells in our lungs or liver. The world will seem to be collapsing upon reading this report and most us would inevitably start to ask friends for advice and to recommend the best cancer doctor. How many of us will go to the Lord first and cry before Him for help? Often many will seek man first and if everything fails, then they will come to God. I must admit I used to be one of the faithless culprits.

Let us learn to reverse the order when calling for help. We must go to God first. Our God is every ready to listen to us. Our daily labour of loving Him, of trusting Him, of praising Him, of serving Him, of doing His will, will never go in vain. God keeps a record of all our activities especially our thoughts and our heart’s desires. We must continuously delight in Him and when we do just that He will give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4). Jesus is here to hear our cry no matter how soft our cry is and how tiny our mountain is. Humble ourselves before our Lord Jesus. Only He and He alone can deliver us from our life problems and challenges we face. To God, nothing is impossible! Let’s look up for His coming to deliver us to be with Him as we can read in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 – For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

Pass me not Jesus. Be with me always. Please hear my humble cry when I am calling: Jesus help! Let me seat at Your throne of mercy so that I can find a sweet relief. Help me Jesus to trust You and heal all my short-comings. Jesus, help me to remove all the mountains of my life, the present and the future but in Your perfect time. In the Mighty Name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

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16 October 2022

Scripture Reading: Exodus 20:12 & John 19:26-27 (KJV)

Exodus 20: 12 – Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

John 19:26-27 – When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

MESSAGE

As born-again Christians, we are familiar with the Ten Commandments but we may not be able to recite them in strict order from the First to the Tenth. Nonetheless we know “the Do’s and Don’ts” of the commandments like the 1st Commandment which warns us not to have other Gods and the 10th Commandment that tells us not to covet our neighour’s house and our neighour’s wife.

Another of the ‘Don’ts” which we are familiar with is that we should not kill which is the 6th Commandment. Yet, as we continue to read in the Book of Genesis, we soon discovered that the first recorded murder in the Bible was between two brothers when Cain killed his brother, Abel (Genesis 4:8). They were sons of Adam and Eve, the very First Family created by God in the Garden of Eden.

Just imagine that if a murder could occur right inside the First Family of God, it can be inferred that lawlessness outside this First Family of God must be worst then we could ever imagine. We can safely conclude that immediately after the fall of man, the whole society must be in the state of anarchy with unimaginable wickedness. This is no wonder we read in Genesis 6:5 that “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

It is therefore unsurprising that to date from January 2022 to August 2022 just in the U.S. alone there were hundreds of indiscriminate shooting and dozens of them were of mass-shootings defined as shootings resulted 10 people either injured or killed. Often we heard that these perpetrators after taking the lives of innocent people ended their horrendous shooting spree by killing their own family members and finally turned the gun onto themselves or fatally killed by the police. These shootings are still counting by the day and is going to be worse and worse. Hence, in the U.S. it seems that indiscriminate shooting of innocent people is now the new normal and many people are just wondering whether they could be back home to see their loved ones when they left to do their shopping at the malls or just simply walking or exercising in parks.

Moving closer to our home, thankfully we have not encountered such horrendous crimes and prayerfully this will not happen to our country. But this is not so to our neighbor which we heard from the news few days ago of a mass-shooting in a childcare centre in Thailand. The shooting resulted in more than 35 dead, many were children. We pray that this was just an isolated case and it will never happen again.

Besides violent crimes that are now run rampant everywhere, domestic violence is equally a major concern especially for families with young children. In the message this week, I would like to share my thought on a ‘domestic violence’ – violence against our parents and I don’t really mean physical violence but emotional and psychological violence that some elderly parents have to endure with.

As we all know, honouring our mother and father is one of the most important basic duties of children. It is so crucial that God has divinely revealed and crafted as one of the Ten Commandments on the table of stones to Moses (Exodus 24:12). In the 5th Commandment God has commanded us to honour our mother and father. Traditionally, our country is closely associated with Asian culture and value and honouring our mother and father is culturally so entrenched in our society that it would be unthinkable for anyone not to take care of their parents. It has never been a serious issue or concern in the past as the children of elderly parents were willingly supporting and taking care of by their children. Sadly, not until the 1990s. Elderly parents in the 1990 started to seek help from government as well as from non-government voluntary organisations that provide voluntary social services to the needy. One of main grievances was that their children refused to provide them financial assistance and other support. These were vulnerable elderly parents and many have some form of infirmities. The situation became a frequent talking point so much so that Members of Parliament had to go to the parliament to air their concerns. They called for legislations to ensure aged parents who are unable to provide for themselves could turn to the court and obtain court order to require children to provide to them basic support. After due considerations by a parliamentary committee specially setup to deliberate on this issue, a legislation which is known as the Maintenance of Parents Act was enacted and came into effect on 1 June 1996. Under this law, it provides legal avenue for any parent who are above 60 years of age and who is unable to maintain himself or herself adequately may apply to the court for an order that one or more of the person’s children to pay for his or her maintenance. Some may view this as a battle won by the elderly – in legal sense – but this indeed reflects serious societal flaw of gross failure of good conscience since basic tenet of looking after one’s own parents would need to be intervened by court rather than by good conscience that God has given to all His beloved children.

Thankfully, we don’t often hear parents took children to court. This could be due to parents who would rather suffer in silence than to shame their children by going to the court to ask for maintenance. We must remind ourselves that suffering in silence only brings pain and misery.

Admittedly, it is also quite difficult for court officials to make a fair decision regarding family matters. There is a Chinese saying: “清官难断家务事” which can literary be translated to: “It is difficult for a righteous and fair court official to intervene family dispute.” This really gives us an idea that family dispute is very difficult to resolve and that even a righteous and fair judge would find it difficult to make a fair decision. Hence honouring (or dishonouring) parents boils down to one’s conscience and the heart of the children. As children, we must remember that there are two most important persons on earth we have to remember and honour them – the one that will purposely lose everything for our sake so that we can win – that’s our father and the one that will always with us when we are in pain – that is our mother.

I want to admit that it is with a heavy heart that I wrote this message regarding obeying God’s 5th Commandment (Exodus 20:12): “Thou shall honour thy father and thy mother.” This is because I want to admit that I had a fair share of not honouring my parents at times. I should have always honour the way I should when they were alive. I have failed quite miserably on this! As parent myself, I can now understand their sacrifices that I would not have really understood before I became a parent myself. I want to write this message as a form of my deep regret (but alas! – It’s too late!). We thus need to honour them when they are alive and not when they are not more with us and feel regret. It’s too late!

In John 19:26-27, it was recorded at the site of crucifixion, Jesus entrusted His mother to Apostle John to take care of His mother, Mary. This truly illustrates to us Jesus who is the Son of God even obey this commandment to honour His mother. Worried that His mother would be left uncared for, Jesus asked His disciple, Apostle John, to take care of His mother and Apostle obeyed and took Jesus’s mother to his home to care for her. If Jesus, the Son of God worried about the well-being of His mother, isn’t it more so that we should honour our parents no lesser than the Son of God, Jesus? If Apostle John was so willing to take care of Jesus’ mother, Mary, although she was not her own mother, how much more we need to honour and take care of our parents? We must also be convicted one day we too might need the same care and attention. Aging is a process that everyone of us as to go through and as we aged we are going to experience infirmities in one form or another. We need to be taken care of by others too.

This is too real and we have to be prepared to face any uncertainty. For example, quite sadly, one of my beloved friends whom I have known him for about 40 years has sent me a message just yesterday that he got stroke and is recovering in a hospital. We do not know why this has happened to him as, in spite of his age of over 70, he is still serving in a church as pastor. We may think we are in the best of our health now but we never know what holds tomorrow; not even the next hour.

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord,

I am very sad to hear my elderly dear friend of 40 years who is still serving as a pastor in a church has stroke and is recovering in hospital. We do not know why this happens to him even though he is a very faithful servant of yours. But we trust God that as a Miracle Healer, You will extend Your hands to heal him. I like this morning to dedicate this pray that Jesus may you have mercy upon this dear brother and heal him completely. In the Mighty Name of Jesus I pray. Amen!

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9 October 2022

Scripture Reading: Judges 21:25 (KJV)

In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

MESSAGE

Often when we read about news that really bother us like frequent mass-shooting; children are being ‘educated’ to pervert God’s truth as they are told you can call yourself anything you like that effectively promotes neutrality of gender and resulting some young school boys and girls confused about their gender identities; a U.S. supreme court judge nominee doesn’t even know how to define what a woman is and so on, we lamented quite unjustifiably that these only happened in the western or developed countries like the U.S., Britain, France or Germany. While it is true that western countries and the U.S. have reached to a point of no return as headlines like these appeared too often in their news media: “Violent, unprovoked attacks have New Yorkers on edge”; “There is something profoundly wrong”, we need to be fair that countries outside the U.S. or the western countries are also regressing to a point of no return but perhaps at a slower pace.

It is true that we read the news of the mass-shooting mostly or seemingly occurred in the U.S. and other horrible news that will cause severe collapse of the society in the western countries largely because the news from CNN, Fox News, BBC are widely accessible. We must take cognizant that there were also mass-shooting in other countries as well as news that will bring discomfort to the society. For example, some of these killings were not by the criminals but by the leaders of the countries, often to eliminate their opponents. We don’t hear much of them because their news are not as widely accessible as those from the western countries. For example, same-sex marriage is now being illegalized in many countries in Asia and no one seems to be bother with this. It has become a new normal. In fact, mass-wedding of same-sex marriage is now a celebrated event in some countries. Marriage between a male and a female is over – so to speak.

It was very sad indeed to hear from the news that just couple days ago when that a mass-shooting happened in a childcare centre in Thailand leaving more than 35 dead, mostly children. Just imagine the parents of those children and I think no words can express their sorrow. Many are wondering will this copycat shooting that we read so much in the media like CNN, Fox News and BBC is now being ‘copied’ by some irresponsible people to shoot and kill unprovoked victims. Pray this will not happen in our country.

Mass-shooting indeed is a very horrific crimes because victims are usually provoked, innocent people and unknown to the killers. As we read the news or go to Youtube, we can see video clips that displayed activities that we just couldn’t really understand what is going on. Indeed something is profoundly wrong in the world today as a headline in a U.S. media has rightly pointed out. As we can read or watch from Youtube, homosexual activities (including same-sex marriage) are now being celebrated, cybercrimes have gone rampant, world leaders who are supposed to be role models are threatening one another with nuclear weapons, killing of politicians run rampant mainly to claim control of the government or to continue to be in power and this occurred especially during election season, corruptions at high places are now the norms and when it comes to election people are literally electing their leaders among the devils and the list goes on.

As we read the Book of Judges, we are told that before the first king of Israel was anointed, the Isrealite tribes had formed a loose and informal confederation. Essentially, no central authority existed but in times of crisis, the people would have been led by ad hoc chieftains, known as judges. Spiritually-speaking, God was (and it is also today) their King but they rejected Him even to this day. Instead, the judges would administer the judiciary and some of judges themselves were just as corrupt. So, instead of turning to God as their King, they asked for earthly king. King Saul then became the first king of Israel. Whether King Saul or King David was indeed the first anointed King of Israel we will leave this for the Bible scholars to figure out but this is not really important to me. The most important point here we need to take notice of is like the Israelites, many people too don’t want our Creator to be their King. Instead, people prefer earthly king and on a personal level many of us want to be god ourselves just like what we read in the Book of Genesis 3:5 when the serpent told Eve:  For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Since that day when we were deceived that we can be like god, human beings have customized their world view to suit our worldly desires and lifestyle as if we are god ourselves and in the process we fell into what Judges 21:25 has rightly described where we were then and where we are now: “Every one of us is doing what is right in our own eyes”. In fact, since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, man is doing what is right in our own eyes even to this day and many of us behave like god and act like god leading us to a state of lawlessness as we can read in 2 Timothy 3:2-4: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

In this regard, let me try to put this plainly: We are now living in a society without restraints. The hearts of people have not changed. We always look into the lens of “me, myself, I”. People still want to do what they want, when they want and how they want disregard what others think and what others feel. They strive to find ways to get around the laws, around ethics, around morality and to justify what they do. They try to justify and justify even though they know these activities are wrong. People would justify their actions and we often heard people would say: After all everyone is doing.

Unlike other western countries, we are fortunate that churches have not fallen into the same pattern as mentioned in Judges 21:25. But not so for other countries, especially the western countries. Many in the church have also fallen into the same pattern as the Israelites. They want to do whatever they want to do with no regard to God and His commands. It is common to see open sin accepted and even promoted inside a church. People do not care about what God wants or desires. Some do this out of ignorance of God’s commands, while many do it ignoring God’s commands. Some even go to the extent to say that the Bible is outdated and is now irrelevant but remember these words from our Lord Jesus: Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. (Mark 13:31).

In the U.S. God has been completely kicked out – in the government – displaying the Ten Commandments is not allowed in all government buildings, in the judiciary, in public places, in public schools, in offices. Praying in public school is not allowed and praying in public is a crime and you can be arrested! So is preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is now an “occupation hazard” for anyone who try to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in public because people can either turn violent and beat you up or you can be arrested by police.

The world we are living today has gotten to a place where it is now believed that we do not need God’s intervention. Thankfully, we as children of God still believe that we need a leader to guide us correctly and to point us to walk to the right path. And that leader is none other than our King Jesus who will guide us in good times and in times of crisis. While it is tough and at times we felt it is quite impossible to do what is right in the eyes of our King, we are however, assured by the Word of God in 1 Peter 3:12 – “For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”

Let us remember this important God’s instruction of truth: To do what is right in the eyes of God is just one prayer away! We must pray to ask God to give us strengths, to do only what is right in His eyes, to remember the scripture verses in 2 Timothy 3:2-4 we just read and to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God which is our true and proper worship. (Romans 12:1)

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

We pray today that we want to thank God that we know Jesus as our Savior and King; that we will know what God wants of us; that we will not live as the world does; that we will be led by the Holy Spirit; and that we will serve God with all of our lives. Lord Jesus, create in us a great faith that in times of uncertainty especially when we try to walk the way you want to walk and when we want to do only those things that are right your eyes that all these can be done with just one prayer away. Lord we seek Your help for strength and wisdom. Help us to count our blessings and help us to thank and praise You always. We pray all these in the Mighty Name of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour. Amen!

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2 October 2022

Scripture Reading: Revelation 14:9-11 (KJV)

And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

MESSAGE

As we are all aware, when the Covid-19 was first detected in December 2019 and soon after, governments from all over the world mandated Covid-19 vaccination which initially seemed to be an holy grail to save the world from a pandemic. I was one of those who praised the scientific community to have ‘developed’ the vaccines – the Covid-19 mRNA vaccines – in double quick time. Historically, it took 6 to 8 years at least to develop and approved a vaccine but in the case of Covid-19 mRNA vaccine, the first one took less than 24 months to ‘develop!’ Very, very few people have heard about what the biological term “mRNA” and what it meant let alone understand how it could help to prevent the spread of Covid-19 or eliminate the pandemic. I believe you know that the rests are history but moving fast forward, many Christians then started to ask this question: Is Covid-19 vaccination “the Mark of the Beast” as mentioned in Revelation 14:9? One of the reasons why this question was being asked was the way the vaccine manufacturers and governments all over the world were pushing and mandating the vaccination and soon the mandate to enforce the vaccination was infamously associated with labels like: No vaccination no jobs; No vaccination no school; No vaccination no shopping; No vaccination no dine-in; No vaccination no church service, and new labels came to the news one after another like a fast moving train with all intent and purpose to get people vaccinated at all cost. To make matter worse, people were being punished very heavily for failing to wear masks which was thought to be able to control the spread of Covid. But, it is now questioned by many medical experts of its effectiveness, and worst that wearing of masks is doing more harm than good, so they claimed.

As we just read the scripture verses 14:9-11, we are warned that those who took the mark of the beast will be tormented with fire and brimstone and they will have no rest day nor night. This warning from the Word of God is very frightening and scary and the questioning whether Covid-19 vaccination or even any other marks forced upon us by authority will inevitable draw us to a state of panic. Hence, the question that was being asked whether Covid-19 vaccination is a mark of the beast is not unreasonable.

I want to put things in perspective that I am not against vaccination of any sort because this is a very personal choice but I want to admit that I have personally refused to take the vaccination. The reason that I am not taking the vaccination has nothing to do with the “mark of the beast.” I refuse to take the vaccination after serious considerations as I did quite substantial reading on what mRNA technology is all about. Furthermore, I am very mystified by why manufacturers (and governments) are pushing so hard to get people vaccinated with the vaccines although these vaccines were (and I believe still are) not fully clinically tested. When we are injected with drugs that are not fully clinically tested we are being used as guinea pigs for clinical experimentation. That’s is my very reason for not taking the vaccination because they were experimental drugs and they were approved for emergency use by the U.S. government. Furthermore, manufacturers are fully protected by law from any lawsuit in the events of vaccine injuries. In plain language, take the vaccines at your own risk and there will be no recourse whatsoever.

I want to make it clear that your opinions or reasons for taking or not taking Covid vaccination may be quite different from mine and I fully respect your opinion. For those who opted for the vaccination, I sincerely prayed that these vaccines really worked for you. There are now hundreds of such mRNA Covid vaccines available in pharmaceutical stores and many countries now know how to manufacture these vaccines. And for myself, I too pray that opting out is my best choice and nothing serious will happen to me when I got infected with the Covid-19 virus. I trust my Creator who has given me the natural immunity and I have faith strong enough that this God-given natural immunity can fight against the virus – not just Covid-19 but others illnesses like the common-cold as well. (Note: I am an elderly man and I am over 65 years of old. Indeed, I got infected with Covid-19 in March this year. Although I was not vaccinated but by the grace of God, my symptoms were very mild like coughing coupled with low-grade temperature at around 37.8 to 38 degree C. I went for a PCR test and it was confirmed that I had contracted with Covid-19 virus. I recovered about a week later with no medication. I then received a notification from MOH that I am exempted from vaccination for six months. I thank God that I recovered from Covid in about a week! My Covid vaccination exemption status, unfortunately, just expired in September. As I understand, due to my infection, I should have now developed natural immunity against Covid virus. I pray this is indeed the case. Thank God for His mercy.)

Again, I want to emphasize, the main message of this week is not to tell you whether you should take or you should not take the Covid vaccination. Rather my message is to tell you that, in my most humble opinion, Covid-19 vaccination is not the mark of the beast. Our rejection or acceptance of Covid-19 vaccines should be based on medical ground rather than from the biblical approach that because it is the mark of the beast we should reject the vaccination.

Another objective for this message is to warn all those who might have left behind after the raptured when all born-again Christians are taken up to meet the Lord in the air regarding the mark of the beast. The warning: YOU MUST NOT TAKE THE MARK OF THE BEAST when you are left behind. How then do you discern the true nature of the mark of the beast versus what is not. My suggestion is this. Common-sense dictates that the mark of the beast can only be forced onto people to take it when the identity of the “Beast” is revealed. At this moment, we still do not really know the identity of who the beast is. It therefore follows: How then could there be the ‘mark of the beast’ when we don’t even know who the beast is!

As the world is approaching and approaching fast to the One World Government, One World Religion, One World Economic System (aka One World Currency) as mentioned in the Bible, the identity of the “Beast” will be revealed to the world very soon. It is generally believed that the identity of the beast will be revealed when all born-again Christians are raptured to be with Jesus in the air as we can read in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 – “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them – referring to those who died earlier – in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

We must note that when the rapture takes place, millions of people will just disappear all around the world and this will cause the world to be in absolute chaos. This will then be the time for the beast to appear and he will provide all the answers to the chaotic world of unprecedented scale that no government leader can fix and bring the world to “business as per normal”. Literally, everything will come to a complete halt when millions of believers just disappeared. It will then be the perfect time for the beast to appear as he would have all the answers to the disappearance of the masses. He will have the capabilities to revive and bring the world back to “business as per normal.” His answer to the disappearance of the masses is going to be so convincing that many who left behind after the rapture will worship him as god! This will be the time the mark of the beast will be implemented – by force, of course.

Another question about the mark of the beast is: Is this going to be a physical mark or just a spiritual mark. There are differences in its interpretation among Bible readers whether the mark of the beast is a physical mark or just spiritual mark that, by definition, spiritual mark will not be visible to human eyes as it will not be on the flesh but will be “within inside our spirit”. I like, however, to express my interpretations which are also the opinions or views of many other Bible scholars and that is the mark of the beast will be a physical mark that it will be visible to those who have taken the mark. The mark will divide all the people around the world into two distinct groups: Those with the mark and those without the mark. (Note: I am not in any way a Bible scholar but I have very strong interest on eschatology which, among other subjects, deals with topics like the End of the Church Age, the Rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the raise and the fall of False Prophets, Antichrists, the Beast, the Mark of the Beast, Final Judgment of the Wicked. The reason for me to have such strong interest on eschatology is very simple: Time is running out. Jesus is going to appear very soon and we must all be ready to be caught up with Him in the air! Especially for Christians, we must pray very hard and ask Jesus to help us to live our lives acceptable to Him so that we will not be left behind to go through the Great Tribulation.)

This brings us to the next question which is also often raised regarding the mark of the beast is: If it is a physical mark, would it be just a tattoo that we often see on people’s bodies as we walk along the streets or do our shopping at the malls, or would it be a specially-programmed digital microchip that would be embedded under the hand or the forehead. My response to this question is quite clear based on the scriptural verses. It is going to be a physical mark like a microchip the size of a grain of rice which we can found in all mobile-phones and iPads and will be force to implant into our hand or forehead. We are also told in the Bible that those who took the mark of the beast will be inflicted with a foul and grievous sore (Revelation 16:2) which clearly implied that the mark of the beast is a physical mark and not a spiritual mark. Those who refuse to take the mark of the beast or to worship the beast will be killed.

As this is a contentious topic but I sincerely believe it is important that we need to share our own interpretation as the Holy Spirit leads us. It is vitally important to understand and take serious considerations of the differences in opinion, and prayerfully, the Lord will lead us to the correct Biblical interpretation. In studying the mark of the beast, we must not be afraid that our message can offend people. We must pray hard and when we speak or write about this topic on the mark of the beast, it must be guided the Holy Spirit and pray that He will help us to write the messages accordingly to His percept of truth and not to our own because the God’s truth will set us free. Although this is not a popular subject and churches are not very actively preaching this topic, I like to take a bold step to share my thoughts after studying into this subject with much prayer and guidance from the Holy Spirit. I have come to the conclusion that the mark of the beast is a physical mark.

After diving in depth into the scriptures concerning the mark of the beast – physical or spiritual, I can safely come to the view that the mark of the beast is a physical mark that will incorporate with the state-of-the-art microchip technology. This technology will have the ability to control all the aspects of our lives. In addition to control our financial and economic affair ‘that no one can buy or sell unless they had the mark (Revelation 13:17)”, it will incorporate with man-made DNA that will interfere with or alter our God-given DNA hence transforming “human to be less human”. It will give rise to a whole new technology known as transhumanism and this is openly discussed in the World Economic Forum. This microchip with man-made DNA has the capacity to hack human DNA just like those people who wrote computer virus programs that hacked into our computer system rendering our system useless or use the virus programs to steal our personal data like bank account number, social security account number, addresses and so on. Once our data is in the hands of these cyber-terrorists they could literally cause great damage. We may wake up one morning and find all the monies in our bank account disappeared into the thin air. It has happened to many unsuspecting people who have lost all their life-savings. I don’t think I need to go further than to just to say that these made-man DNA when injected into our bodies will have the ability to hack our God-given DNA and alter human to be less human. Those people whose hands or foreheads are implanted with this microchips will be transformed into part-human and part-machine! Arising from this, a new scientific technology of transhumanism will be implemented with full force by the beast so that he can control everyone and in all aspects of their activities. Through this process of transhumanism it will destroy God’s most precious creation, the human race which God has created us to be in His own image. Transhumanism will transform people not just human into part-human and part-machine, it will have the ability to make those who have the mark to only accept Satan as their creator instead of the God of the Bible. Those who have become ‘transhuman’ will be, by implication, pledging absolute allegiance to Satan and they can have the will or the ability to accept only Satan as their god. They will not be able to exercise their ability to accept Jesus as their Saviour. In other words, they have lost their free will that God has given to His precious creation – the human race – at the Garden of Eden. When those people whose free will is hacked and replaced with the will forcefully acted upon them, they will only accept Satan as their god. They will never able to understand the Gospel of Jesus (John 3:16) “That for God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believed in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

As we read the verses above taken from the Book of Revelation – “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name” – it clearly mentioned that those who have taken the mark will be forever lost. Thus the message here to you is a very serious one: DO NOT THAT THE MARK OF THE BEAST under any circumstances! Hence, the best way to avoid taking the mark of the beast is to come to Jesus right now so that when Jesus appears to rapture His children you can be counted as one of them and you would not need to face the dire consequences of deciding whether to take the mark or not. If you still refuse to come to Jesus right now and you will be left behind to decide whether to take the mark of the beast or not. If you refuse to take the mark, you will not be able to buy or sell and if you chose to take the mark, you would have pledged complete allegiance to the Devil. Once you have taken the mark of the beast, God’s free will given to you will have no effect because it will be hacked by the mark of the beast. Put it another way, you have surrendered your free will to Satan.

It’s now or never! Come to Jesus right now as time is running out! This is the only way to get out from the beast system of governance.

(Note: For your information, among others, I believe the mark of the beast will be in a form of micro-chip that will be programmed to control your banking transaction plus all your personal activities. It will also give raise to what now is openly known as Programmable Digital Money (or Currency). If you want more information on this, you can google this in the internet. Alternatively, I have written several messages in the blog here regarding Programmable Digital Money.

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank you for giving me the courage to share this contentious and offensive message to the world. I come to claim Your promise that the truth will set us free. I like to commit myself to speak nothing but the truth and to obey Your commandment to preach to the world according to Your will that all should be saved and none to be perished and that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Help me Lord to continue this ministry of spreading the news that You are coming very soon and help all of us to get ready to meet You.

In the Mighty Name of Jesus I pray. Amen!                                                                                                                                                                         

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25 September 2022

Scripture Reading: John 19:38-40 (KJV)

And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

MESSAGE

For the past two weeks the world has witnessed one of the most celebrated and choreographed events and that was the funeral service of Queen Elizabeth the Second. It was reported that between 2 million to 3 million people had been to watch the funeral procession when the news of her death was first broadcasted. Although most of these great multitude of people who paid their last respect to the Queen were mainly from the United Kingdom, many of them in fact had travelled from other parts of the world as far as America, Australia and New Zealand. Admittedly, she deserved this great honour having had on the throne for seventy years performing her duties as the Queen of Britain and as Head of the Commonwealth with flying colours. She was loved by many people, including by the enemies of her country.

Interestingly, we seem to have a mind-set that when a king, a queen or an emperor died their funeral services were as elaborate as that of Queen Elizabeth. History has shown this was not always the case. For example, in China they were funerals of emperors shrouded in great mystery, notably, the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Although Emperor Qin Shi Huang died in 210 BC, nobody knew where his tomb was until it was accidentally discovered in 1974, almost 2,200 years after he had died. We can therefore deduce from here that, if any, only a handful of people were at his funeral or burial service otherwise the news of his tomb’s location would have been discovered much earlier. Another good example is the tomb of Genghis Khan, a Mongolian emperor who later conquered almost all of China and became its emperor. He died in 1227 and for almost 800 years still no one know the precise location his tomb even to this day. By the same deduction, his funeral and burial service must have been shrouded in mystery. According to some historians who speculated that the tombs of some emperors were kept in secret because they were fearful of grave robbers to go and steal the imperial treasures that buried with the emperors. Another theory was because specific decreed by the emperors that their tombs were to be kept in absolute secrecy perhaps due to political, cultural, religious or superstitious reasons. It was believed that those who took part in the construction the tombs were ordered by the emperors to be buried alive in the tombs so that the locations of the tombs can be kept secret indefinitely. (Note: The discovery of the tomb of the first emperor of China was a historical find of the century and even now, almost 50 years after the discovery, several of the tomb’s compartments still remain unopened by Chinese archaeologists).

This brings me to the above scriptural verses (John 19:38-40) which we just read. Although only three verses, they described the funeral and burial service of our Lord Jesus in quite vivid details. These verses provided concise but clear manner that set out the burial scene of our Lord Jesus which can be summarised as follows:

Our Lord had indeed left this world virtually with nothing, completely empty-handed, not even the very last piece of garment He worn. The garment that He worn while He was still hanging on the cross was taken by the soldiers and divided among them (John 19:23) and the burial cloth that used to wrap His body belonged to Joseph of Arimathasea. Our Lord Jesus possessed and owned absolutely nothing while He was on earth! He has one and only one mission – He came so that all sinners can be reconciled to the Father. Praise be to God!

When comparing the funeral and burial service of our Lord Jesus and Queen Elizabeth the Second, we can see how elaborate the coffin of Queen Elizabeth on the one hand and the simple burial service of our Lord Jesus. It took eight well-built soldiers to carry the Royal Coffin but the body of Jesus was taken down by only one person, Joseph of Arimathaea and assisted by Nicodemus for our Lord’s burial.

Furthermore, we don’t know exactly how the body of Queen Elizabeth was dressed but an educated guess would tell us that she must have been dressed with the finest linen. Her coffin was specially made to keep out moisture and preserve the body for longer and prevent smells and toxins from her body to escape. It must have taken much efforts and money to build this custom-made royal coffin. By comparison, there was no coffin for our Lord and I believe this was by divine design because the Heavenly Father who sent His only begotten Son to die knew that He will be resurrected and nothing could hold the resurrected body of our Lord. Hence, putting the body of Jesus in a coffin would be counterintuitive. We know that the tomb of Jesus was empty as He rose up three days later. It was the empty tomb of Jesus that gives us the blessed hope that death cannot also contain us because our risen Lord has defeated human’s the greatest enemy and that is death! (Note: There are scientific proved that the burial cloth of Jesus that was discovered many hundred years’ ago which is now popularly known as The Shroud of Turin is indeed the actual cloth used to wrap our Lord Jesus. You can google if you want to know more of The Shroud of Turin to find out some very amazing facts which were scientifically verified that the authenticity of The Shroud of Turin was truly the actual burial cloth that wrapped the body of Jesus.)

As we had just witnessed the funeral service of Queen Elizabeth few days ago, and at the final moment when her casket entered the hall for the closing service before it was lowered to the vault that reserved for kings and queens and their princes and princesses, we could see that everything from the the military uniforms worn by the new king, King Charles III, the princes, the princesses, the soldiers, the priests who delivered the funeral message, the elaborate hearse, just about everything were meticulously planned and choreographed. Besides the great multitude of people attending the funeral possession, millions of people around the world were watching the service over the television at the same time. One of the greatest attractions was her Crown that was decorated with the famous Kohinoor diamond weighing105 carats. I believe kings and queens of other nations must be very envious about it. By comparison, a woven crown of thorns was placed on the head of our Lord Jesus during the events leading up to His crucifixion. This crown of thorns was one of the instruments of Passion, employed by the Jews and the Romans both to cause Him pain and to mock His claim of authority as “King of the Jews.” Imagine the excruciating pain that Lord Jesus had to endure when those thorns were pinned onto His head. He had to wear this for many hours and had to walk all the way to the Calvary Cross with this crown that pinned on His head. Along the journey to Calvary, He was mocked, spitted at and He was whipped with flagellum attached with sharp hooks and iron balls. This flagellum was designed by the Romans to inflict maximum pain to condemned criminals. As we can also read from the scriptures, the two men who crucified together with Jesus were not wearing any ‘crown.’ The crown of thorns worn by our Saviour was made to humiliate our Lord to the extreme! To add injury to the insult, Pilate had prepared and fastened a writing and put on the cross and it read: JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. (John 19:19).

What we can see here is a complete contrast of two funerals – one attributed to a queen and the other attributed to the Son of God, the Creator of the Universe. As we compared the two, we can come to a realization how much our Lord loves us, how much He had bond us through His death. He knew all along this would happen even before the creation, before we were born yet He willingly came to this world to be crucified, to wear the crown of thorns and to be humiliated that even the worst criminals were not subjected to!

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for loving us so much! Help us not to take for granted for all the wonderful things you have done for us. Even though we keep repeating things that are not pleasing to You, yet You never giving up on us.

The death and the funeral service of Queen Elizabeth the Second has taught us a great lesson: If You as the Son of God was so prepared to be humiliated compared to the ‘glory’ that had been given to an earthly queen, how much more we need to humble ourselves and to be more like You! Lord, help us to be more like You each day.

Hence, Lord help us to humble ourselves and to look up to the Cavalry Cross, the crown of thorns that the Roman soldiers had forced on Your head, the broken body of Yours because of the scorching and whipping, the shedding of every drop of Your precious blood in order to redeem us from eternal destruction and help us not to forget that in Your final hours of suffering and tortured You still cried out to the Heavenly Father to forgive those people who had mocked and scorched You. Your cry to the Father “Father, forgive for they know not what they do” tells us Your bonding of love for all the sinners cannot be described in human term. At the same time, help us not to take for granted that we can still continue to sin and sin even though You are prepared to forgive us again and again. Help us to always remember that the very first time You preached to the world with these words: “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

In the Mighty Name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

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18 September 2022

Scripture Reading: Matthew 7:21-23 (KJV)

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

MESSAGE

Many of us as born-again Christians are very familiar with many comforting verses that we can find them in the Bible such as John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, whosoever believed in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life; Matthew 7:7 – Ask, and it will be given; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you; 1 John 1:19 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness; Psalm 23:4 – Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me; Revelation 21:4 – And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.

Like most Christians, I too like to read comforting words from the Gospel of Jesus Christ because it is the power of God and it comforts us especially in the time of trial and life challenges. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the very power of God that saves men from His holy wrath against our sins. When given in full, it sets people free from captivity to sin and death, breaks people free from a pointless and purposeless worldly pursuit, and allows for a powerful Christian life that exhibits the authority and likeness of Christ. For this we want to thank and praise our living God, Lord Jesus because they are only made possible for us only through Him and Him alone.

Often we search and search for verses of God’s promises and we erroneously take it for granted that God is always with us regardless of what we do so long we have signed a 3-inch x 6-inch gospel card and “confess our sins and acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God”. Just a reminder – the altar-call that we had responded in an evangelistic meeting or a “3 x 6” gospel card we have attested one or ten years’ ago is not a licence for us to go to the world and behave like the pagans or, worst, behave like we have never knew who our God is yet expect God to just close His eyes! Never! God never close His eyes but keep watching the true believers who are His temple which was bought with a price. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). In Hebrew 12:1-2, we read: “We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” This verse clearly indicates to us that God is always looking at us and ‘His eyes are as big as all the clouds in the sky put together.’

The influence of social media today to ensnare us with worldly pursuit has numbed us to the point that we find everything we hear and read is but normal. It is totally impossible to control the information flow from the internet. Nevertheless, let’s be honest. Some information are good. In fact, social media we have today is like fire – it can be destructive and it can be also constructive, especially to young children who are still developing in all aspects of their lives. It all depends what you search and how you use and apply the information.

When it comes to the subject on religion in general and Christianity in particular, all you need is just googled from your mobile-phone, iPad or PC and you will find many sermons preaching the Word of God. When we listen or read these messages, we need to be discerning as it is well-known that there are preachers do not really preach the message of the true Gospel. They have watered the Gospel down to a point that these preaches are mouth-piece and Agents for Satan. They preached about things that the degenerated hearts already want. At the same time they don’t preach what the degenerated hearts really reject like holiness, godly virtue, kindness because it would be politically-incorrect because they just want to make their members happy and politically-incorrect message will chase away members. One way to make their congregation happy is to water down the Gospel to the point that the message is not from God but rather from the world, or worse from the Evil One. Seldom these preachers preached about hell, sin, humility, brokenness, penitence, godly virtue, worship, sacrifice, selfishness. Instead, they centered their messages on health, wealth and worldly success which are material, temporal and can perish suddenly with no warning. These are what the degenerated hearts like to hear – wealth, health and worldly achievements more than anything else. However, take heed. The story in the Book of Job is a great testimony with regard to this topic – our heath and our wealth can be vanished in a “twinkling of any eye” so to speak. We have to be discerning to what we hear from the pulpit because watered down gospel will lead to condemnation as it provide a platform to the degenerated hearts with only all the good news like God’s forgiveness but discard God’s warning on the impending judgment and His wrath that is to come. The final effect of watered-down gospel masks the true nature of God – God forgive but because He is God, He has to judge the world and all (including Christians) must face His judgement. Thankfully, the penalty of death because of sin is imputed and already assumed by Christ at the Calvary Cross and so we will not need to face eternal condemnation.

Many Christians today make the wrong assumption that they’re saved simply because they are so loved by God no matter what they do, God will never forsake them. Is this true? While it’s true that salvation is made available through God’s loving act of giving up His one and only Son for our sakes, we need to realise that we have an important part to play in that: Receiving His gift of salvation in Christ means turning away from sin and coming under the Lordship of Christ. We do that by faith. The Cross of Christ is God’s power to those who are being saved. As such, we must not water it down. Only the full power of the pure Gospel can save us, and watered-down crosses will never do.

Comforting Bible verses are effective to bring hope to the believers. Hence, every one of us likes to read Psalm 23 because is so comforting and I can safely say that this is one of the most commonly quoted verses by Christian counsellors to those who are facing trials and life challenges. In fact, I think you can find Christian posters with this Psalm sold in almost every Christian bookstore. Just go to any Christian bookstore, you will also find them selling posters with Bible verses like: John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, who shall ever believe in Him will not die but have everlasting life; Psalm 23:1 – The Lord Is My Shepherd; Psalm 37:4 – Delight Yourself In The Lord and He Will Give You The Desires In Your Heart; Matthew 28:20 – I Am With You Always.

This brings me to an interesting observation. I am yet to see one poster selling in bookstores with this message: Matthew 7:23 –” I Never Knew You; Depart From Me You Evil Doer.” Nor have I seen a poster with this message: Matthew 4:17 – “Repent, For The Kingdom Is At Hand”.

If you were to give one of these posters as birthday gift to your friend who is celebrating his or her birthday, I guaranteed you, this would be your last birthday party invitation from your friend!

A true Gospel message is all about repentance, godly virtue, sacrifice, about heaven and certainly about hell. Instead, watered-down gospel repackaged the true Gospel of Jesus Christ in order to attract people to their ‘church’. Sadly, many of these people who lack the knowledge of the true Gospel were hookwinked because they were promised that they would become healthy and wealthy if they keep giving more and more to the ‘church.” In the process they were scammed and were victims by giving their hard earned monies to the ‘church’ or rather their so-called ‘anointed pastors’. It is not uncommon to see how these water-down gospel preachers have enriched themselves, owning big houses, private jets, luxury cars, traveling on first-class air-tickets, big fat bank account all acquired quite literally by stealing the hard-earned monies from the ‘church’ members.

In concluding today’s message, I like to summarise the following ways how to discern and distinguish between watered-down sermons from these so-called ‘anointed-pastors” and sermons from the true Church of Jesus Christ:

My dear brothers and sisters-in-Christ, we are now very, very close to the rapture and we need to take full knowledge that time is not our side. Rapture can take place at any time and in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet sound the true-believers who are still alive will be changed into incorruptible body and we will be caught up in the clouds and to meet the Lord in the air. (1 Corinthians 15:52-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:17). There is only one place for the true Gospel – The Bible. Anything from man (including all the messages posted in the blog here) has to be read with utmost discernment which we can only get from the Holy Spirit. Do not trust every word you read or hear whether it is from the internet, TV stations, Youtube, newspapers, secular magazines, Christian journals and so on. Only the Word of God, the Bible can provide the true Good News of Jesus Christ.

Let’s us pray

Dear Lord,

The time has come and we are anxiously waiting for You to return and to meet You in the air. Lord, I know, Lord, You aware this because You are all-knowing that the wickedness and evilness that we are witnessing now are indeed worse than those in Noah and Lot’s day.

Thank you, Lord and please help us to share Your Gospel – the true Gospel of Yours – to those who still have not come to know You. We pray that this message can reach out to many people and the message can be a message of hope for them. More importantly, we covet the Holy Spirit to help us to discern and distinguish the true message of Yours and those watered-down messages from the Agents of Satan. Jesus, please help!

In the Mighty Name of Lord Jesus we pray. Amen!

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11 September 2022

Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:10-11 (KJV)

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Message

Just few days ago, television stations all over the world were interrupted and they were immediately followed by news telecasting that Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch, aged 96 has died, after reigning for 70 years.

Indeed, this is a very sad news especially for the people of Britain who, in spite of her very old age, would like to see her beloved Queen lived longer. To a certain extent for the people of the Commonwealth countries of the past and the present which traditionally have had the great honour of Elizabeth the Second as their Head of the State, they too feel sad for her demise. I remember that in my childhood days all the classrooms in my school hang a copy of her portrait as our country was then a member of the Commonwealth until 1959 when our country became Internal self-government which, by constitution, required our nation to have its own head of state.

Many of us today do not really know much about Queen Elizabeth II in some intimate manners unlike the British, yet just as many are are aware of her immense popularity around the globe. She is loved by everyone – even by the enemies of her country. Given the tributes that were paid by the world leaders as well as the general public across the world, I can confidently say that to live a life with such good reputation is extraordinary. There is not an iota of word that discredits her reputation. If anything can go by, every word spoken by the ordinary citizens to all government leaders around the world has only but praises about the Queen. If I were to list those words of praises given by just the world leaders alone, I would be running out of space here to contain them! By illustration, India which was governed by Britain for many years and it was liberated from Britain in 1948. The liberation was not totally violent-free yet the President of India has announced a day of mourning for the death of the Queen. It has prepared to put aside the past grievances because they loved this Queen even though it has to struggled very hard for many years for its liberation and achieved eventual independence in 1948. This is how well-loved she is!

Well, quite unlike her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, who had some controversies surrounding her life during her sixty-three years of reign. Among these controversies were such things like she was short-tempered, never found much pleasure in motherhood, somewhat disgusted at children, even her own children, enjoyed partying, and interfered government administration too much. For the last ‘controversy’, let’s be fair to her, kings and queens before Queen Elizabeth II era was unlike today. The position of the queen (and now king) of Britain today is of ceremonial in nature whereas in the past they wielded great administrative and executive power. This reminds me of a quote by an English historian, Lord Aston in a letter to Bishop Mandel Creighton about how historians should judge the abuse of power by past rulers, especially popes, and the quote goes like this: “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  This truly reflects the sinfulness and wickedness of human race, and I must add, not only just the pope or country leaders! It could be you or it could be me. One of the best ways to test the true character of a person is to give him great power and great wealth because he will never be the same – for better or for worse! (Note: I speak more about this in one of my messages, if God willing).

To the British people, 8th of September 2022 marked the “Death of the Queen”. This is the day will be remembered not only by the British but also by the people living today and for many years to come. Britain is indeed very fortunate and very blessed to have her as their Queen. Sadly, she has departed from this world forever and prayerfully, she will continue to remain in the hearts of the people – both the British and the non-British, and at the very least her good name be always remembered: Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Britain. Her death also reminds me of a Chinese Proverb: 豹死留皮人死留名 which can literary be translated to: “When a leopard dies, he leaves his skin. When a man dies, he leaves his name.” QE II has left her well-deserved good name which I have uncannily ‘awarded’ her the title: “The Most Beloved World’s First Lady!”

The death of QE II has also reminded me of “the day my God died.” Since the death of our Dear Lord Jesus two thousand years’ ago, yet His name is always remembered by Christians and non-Christians. The Georgian Calendar which was introduced about 440 years’ ago and is still used in almost all part of the world, has labelled this calendar into two periods: Before Christ and After Christ. (Note: The world could not stand keep calling this as the name Chirst is indicated and thus rejected these labels. Since 2020 the labels were revised to “Before Common Era” or BCE and “After Common Era” or ACE). Glory to God – the name of Christ will never be blotted out no matter what! Though BCE and ACE are now the nomenclatures, very often people are still preferred to use the terms “Before Christ” and “After Christ”.

As we can see, after two thousand years since Jesus was born, books upon books have been written about this Man called Jesus Christ than any other books. There is no close second! Hundreds if not thousands of the books about Jesus, His birth, His death, His resurrection, His walk on earth, His work, and more importantly His teachings and sermons are still being written every year today and there is no end in sight. His greatest claim, in my most honest biblical opinion, is when He said to His disciples: I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me (John 14:6). This is a statement that no other religious leaders had ever dared to claim – not even Mohammad; not even Buddha, not even Lord Krishna.

Jesus has been a ‘popular’ and ‘unpopular’ figure since the time He was born and remains so tile these days. A quick search on the internet will give you a vast array of opinions and points of view about Jesus. When it comes to Jesus, the opinions and views expressed are almost without end. Some people (like me and prayerfully you too) see Him as God, Creator of the universe, others say He was simply a good teacher, and still others deny that He ever existed. Whatever names, opinions or points of view given to our Saviour, there is one fact we cannot deny – His name will live forever as long as the earth continue to exist. To the Christians, the Name of Jesus is a Mighty Tower! He has left His name, and His name gives hope to the hopeless. The Name of Jesus gives not just hope in this world but hope into eternality provided we truly belief that the Name of Jesus can save us from eternal destruction as we read in Romans 10:13: For whosoever call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

But are all opinions about Jesus are just that? We must therefore search for the truth and it is only in the Scripture that we find objective insight into the truth about Jesus – who He is, what He did, how He did it, and so forth. The reliability of the Scripture which has stood the test of time, and its testimonies about Jesus continue to be at the centre of all Christian faith, in particular the death and resurrection of Jesus. As born again believers, we know the Scripture speaks only the truth, and it reveals to us God’s truth about us (and honestly, everything about us is not pretty, in fact very ugly (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:23)), about our universe which reveals handiwork of our Creator, Lord Jesus (Psalm 19:1), and about His immense and unyielding love for His children by dying on the cross for all sinners (John 3:16). We must remind ourselves that one of the reasons so many professing Christians are carried away into false doctrines (such as we can become god, there is more than one ways to heaven, we are all good people, etc) is because they do not know what the Scripture says. The nature, attributes and the truth about Jesus can only be obtained from one and only one source – the inspired scripture which is the Holy Bible that God has written for His children.

Unlike earthly figures, Jesus was born two thousand years ago not to come and seek ‘popularity.’ He did not come to this world to be popular. Quite the contrary, Jesus, the God-incarnate, came to this world to be a curse for us and to die willingly for our sins so that we can live. He didn’t have to! But He did it because all in the name of “I love you too much!” Through His death, we are able to be reconciled to our Creator. This is very reason for Him to be born as a human and to die so “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11). The Name of Jesus will never be known to us without Him being born as a human on earth.

While we are all waiting for our Dear Lord to return, in the meantime, let’s us continue to uphold the people of Britain especially members of the royal family that the death of their beloved Queen is a beacon of light shines to show the world that Britain was indeed truly blessed with the “Most Beloved World’s First Lady.”

A great lesson for us too. If we have to leave this world there is nothing could stop it as life and death is in the hand of our Creator, Lord Jesus. There is however one thing we can do which is totally within our control and this is also recorded in the Bible: A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold (Proverbs 22:1); it is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth (Ecclesiastes 7:1).

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

We come before You to ask for your help us that we can mourn sincerely with the people of Britain for the death of their Queen, Elizabeth the Second. Although she was no more our head of state, but our country has benefitted a lot from the Britain. Through its governance, we were inherited free education, decent judiciary, good healthcare system, creditable police force and most importantly educating our children up to the 1950s with proper English education system. Lord, help us to be grateful and not to take these for granted. Britain has indeed given this country a basic but extremely essential foundation for subsequent governments to build and to become one of the more admired countries in the world today. And all these are the result of Your loving grace. Help us to be grateful, Lord Jesus.

The death of the Queen truly reminds us of Your sacrifice for all the sinners. Dear Lord, we know that from the very beginning to the end, You are already in existence because You are the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega. But Lord, You chose to born to be human and to willingly die for us, not that You have to but You had willingly chosen to in order to give us eternal life. We thank you for giving us the blessed hope that one day we will dwell with You forever.

Thank you Lord for Your unyielding love. In the Mighty Name of Yours we pray. Amen!

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4 September 2022

Scripture Reading: Genesis 18:32 / Proverbs 29:2 (KJV)

Genesis 18:32 – And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.

Proverbs 29:2 – When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.

Message

The story (or rather the history) of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah can be found in chapter 19 of the Book of Genesis. As we read this story, we discovered that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was preceded by God’s demand that if Abraham could find just ten righteous men, God would spare the two cities from the destruction. As the story continued, Abraham could only find three.

One great lesson of this story is that destruction came only after Lot and his two daughters had left the cities. So long they were inside the cities, God would withhold His judgments upon these two cities. We must take note that while our God is merciful and is prepared to withhold His judgment, this is only true provided we are sincere in our repentance and turn away of our wicked ways. If the people are unrepented and living in constant wickedness calling evil good, and good evil, they are going to face the same fate just like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

We can actually connect this episode we just read above to the imminent rapture or the catching up of the Church of Jesus Christ. From the story of Sodom and Gomorrah we can safely conclude that it is only after all truly-born again Christians who are redeemed by the blood of Jesus will be caught up with the Lord in heaven then the Great Tribulation would begin. We can further conclude that God will not allow His beloved children to go through the severe punishments during this 7-year of Great Tribulation which is going to be so severe that God got to cut the period short otherwise no flesh would have been saved (Matthew 24:22). It is very comforting that as children of God, like Lot and his two daughters, we are not going to suffer those severe punishments during the Great Tribulation as we will be raptured to part-take the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in heaven. The Great Tribulation is meant for the wicked people who refused to accept the precious blood of Jesus to redeem themselves from their wickedness and sin. It is only through the blood of Jesus we are made righteous in the sight of our Creator.

According to Bible scholars, the most prevalent sin in Sodom and Gomorrah was homosexuality when men were engaging in sexual relations with other men and boys. Sodom is where we get the term “sodomy and sodomites” named after this widespread sin of the town and the medical term for the venereal disease gonorrhoea perhaps come from the city name of Gomorrah.

Although Abraham tried to intercede and attempted to ask God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah from destruction, he failed because he could not find ten righteous men which God had demanded. God indeed had compromised His initial demand of fifty men. We do not know exactly the population size of these two cities at that time. Perhaps there were hundreds of thousands or few million living in these two cities. Let’s assume few hundred thousand yet Abraham could not find ten righteous men. He could only, however, find three and they were his nephew Lot and Lot’s own two daughters. Interesting to note that God was not demanding any specific people nor God was interested in their social or political status. God simply asked for righteous men regardless whether they were of noble family or whether they were rich or poor and yet Abraham could not find them, but only three.

Let’s ask ourselves, if God today is going to destroy our country and is willing to spare our country from destruction provided there are fifty righteous men living among us, an important question to ask is: Can we really find fifty righteous men in our city? Given that we now have over seven million people living in the country, it shouldn’t be an issue. So we thought! Will you and I can be the one whom God is willing to count as one of these righteous men? For me, my answer is very simple. Certainly not me! God will reject me outright because I am too wicked and sinful (and perhaps shameful) to be counted as one of the righteous men! How about you? How confident are you that you think God can accept you as one of the righteous men? Will we end up with just only three or even none?

This bring me to the next verse we just read: When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn (Proverbs 29:2). Thankfully, over the last 57 years, our country had been governed by good leaders even to this day when we compared to other countries. We are what we are because of our past and present country leaders. In spite of the fact that we have virtually zero natural resources and we need to import almost everything. Even though our drinking water need to be imported, we are one of the most prosperous, safest and united countries in this globe. Many countries all over the world admire us and wish their countries could be like ours! If this is not miracle; if this is not by the grace of God; and if you think this comes by accident, then something is very, very wrong with you. For me personally, my worry and concern for this beloved country of ours is: Can we continue to have good leaders? Can we continue to sustain the moral standard and the rule of law that has been justly administered in our court of law during the last 57 years. Although there were couple of ‘black-sheep’ in the past, by and large, our country leaders always put the people first rather than their personal interest and bank account unlike corrupt leaders of many countries that we can read in the news. These corrupt high ranking officials disregard the welfare of their people and can only enrich themselves by stealing and looting from their national treasurers. The stolen monies were then use to build palaces, luxury villas, to acquire top quality jewelries, ultra-expensive sports cars and provide expensive gifts to beautiful models in order to obtain gratification from these models to satisfy the desires of their flesh. The countries might be rich with all kind of natural resources but their people are living like beggars. In one country which has plenty of natural resources yet their people have to search food from the land-fields. (Note: I am not making this up. You can just google and you will find video clips of people searching for food in land-fields. Every morning many people were all waiting for garbage trucks to unload wastes and once the wastes were unloaded into the land-fields, they would start to search for the discarded items which include leftover or expired food discarded by some wealthy people! Some were so hungry that they just eat the food on the spot they thought was still edible to eat. You won’t believe what you see!).

As Christians, we need to pray that our national leaders can live their life pleasing to our Saviour and obeying His commandments when governing this nation. In 1 John 5:2-4, we are told that the commandments God required of us to keep are not burdensome. By keeping His commandments, we can overcome the world. This applies to the society and the nation as well as to individual people like you and me when we keep God’s commandments.

Sadly even some of the simpliest commandments that God requires us to keep can sometimes be very contentious and could potentially divide nations. Remember what Jesus said: Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. (Matthew 12:25).

By illustrations, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, God has commanded His children with this simple commandment: Stay away from the sexual sin of homosexual. As we read in the above passage the people of Sodom and Gomorrah refused to obey this simple commandment and the cities were completely destroyed by fire and sulphur because of this heinous sin of homosexuality. From the beginning of recorded human history, almost every country of every denomination from communist country to democratic country, from every religious faith – Muslim, Hindu, Buddhism, Christianity, etc. sex between men has never been tolerated. Such act is commonly classified as unnatural sex and even for a country like us, the punish is ten years of imprisonment if they are caught practicing homosexuality. Today, we are told that the government is prepared to repeal Section 377A which will decriminalize sex between two men. But do we know anything about Section 377B? This Section 377B prescribed punishment for up to ten years of imprisonment for people who caught practicing unnatural sex (which defines as sex between men and sex with animals). It is puzzling that for such strict law that punishes offenders up to ten years, why there isn’t there a need to have a more serious discussions or debates like forming a Select Committee to hear the arguments from people of all walks of life before a final decision to repeal or not to repeal, to enforce or not to enforce Section 377A. Prayerfully, we are not falling into this idiom saying that “If you can’t beat them, join them.” Once this has become the approach to guide our nation-building, it’s going to open up a can of worms and we will most probably going down into the slippery road of destruction.

I pray that the message today will inspire Christian brothers and sisters that we must continue to pray to God that our country can continue to be endowed with godly leaders that they will not be too compromising especially when it comes to transforming our nation into what our God has commanded and intended – a godly nation. Let’s hope that this is not just a dream but a reality.

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

We come before You to thank you for the peace and unity that You have bestowed to this country. We are all blessed by You for giving us good government that the people can rejoice. We know this is a very difficult time to govern during the last days when we are all waiting for Your return. We know that Satan is running out of time and he is trying to upset the very creation of Yours. The Evil One is taking not effort, showing no mercy and do as much harm to the people, to Your creation as much as he could possibly do. One of his greatest weapons of this Evil One is to pervert everything You have made. Lord Jesus, we trust You and by Your power, we can conqueror and bring this message of yours to non-believers and to accept and acknowledge that You are the Saviour. For Your beloved children of God, we pray Lord You give them the strength and speak to them through this message that they need to pray very fervently to spare this country from severe destruction. In the meantime, we, your beloved children are waiting earnestly for Your return to bring us up to part-take the Marriage Super of the Lamb in heaven.

In the Mighty Name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

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Sermon – 28 August 2022

Scripture Reading: Matthew 7:17 / Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)

Matthew 7:17 – Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Proverbs 22:6 – Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Message

In this week message, I would like to share with you a message which was written for Sunday school children. Though this message was written for Sunday school children, I believe adults can learn some good lessons from this message too:

Sunday School Message:

An important question that we frequently ask ourselves is: What is sin and are we all taking sin seriously?

Actually, the word “sin” is very easy to define when you define it in relations to what the Bible tells us. It simply means doing something that failed to meet the mark of God and hence displeases our living God, Lord Jesus. This is no difference from our parents. When we misbehave, our parents feel sad or even angry at us too. Depend on the seriousness of our misbehavior, our parents may punish or even cane us!

As we look at ourselves, we know there are bad habits we need get rid of just like in a garden if the gardener doesn’t get rid of the weeds, very will soon the weeds will consume much of the nutrients from the soil depriving good plants from consuming the nutrients. Once the nutrients are consumed by the weeds, these good plants around the weeds will not be able to grow healthily. Hence, in order for the good plants to thrive, gardeners have to remove weeds regularly and it is not easy to remove weeds. Unfortunately, weeds can grow without any help or efforts. They just simply grow and grow as weeds thrive on neglect. It is thus important for the gardeners to stop weeds from spreading if they wants their good plants to grow.

A good analogy to this is that mentally and spiritually we have “weeds” inside us and unless we take an effort to remove these weeds inside us we too will not grow spiritually and mentally or even physically. The weeds inside us comprise things like thinking how to hurt people, thinking how to steal from other people for those things we cannot afford to buy, doing things in secret like hoping our friends failed their examination, belittle or made fun of others just to make ourselves happy, disobedience to people who have authority over us like our parents, teachers and those elderly people, destroying intentionally to our environment such as not disposing of our unwanted items in a proper manner. I believe there are many more you can list them. When we keep doing all these things whether consciously or unconsciously, it is like weeds consuming all the good part of us and very soon we will be destroyed – spiritually, mentally and even to our physical body. In a worst scenario, we will end up with being caught by others or even by the police – for example – when we cultivate a bad habit of stealing it is a matter of time that we will be caught and put into prison. Unless we take conscious efforts to remove our bad behaviors, these bad behaviors are like weeds which will grow and grow! Just like weeds in a garden, weeds within us also thrive in neglect and hence we need to pay close attention to remove them without delay. We must always pray to God to help us to start off on the right path so that when we are old, we will not turn away from the right path (Proverbs 22:6).

End of Sunday School Message

Although the message above was written for Sunday school children, it is as relevant to us as adults as it is to the children. As adults, we need too to get rid of all the weeds within us and is never too late as the saying goes: Is better to be late than never!

When Jesus first preach to the world, His very first message was about “Repentence” as we read in Matthew 4:17 when He preached: Turn away from your sins! The kingdom of heaven has come near.

Repentance or turning away from sin is a very serious Bible teaching so much so that Lord Jesus places this as His utmost important teaching and He repeated this in Luke 3:3: There he preached that people should be baptized and turn away from their sins.

Repentence is a very important condition that God demands of us in order for sins to be forgiven. A person’s salvation could be put in jeopardy or even in danger of being taken away if he or she continued to live in unrepented life. A key lesson is that to wipeout the weeds within us we must repent and turn away from all our evil ways. This is not an one-off effort. We have to continuously and consciously turn away from all our wicked ways. Just like a gardener, he has to work very hard to remove the weeds from his garden and we, too, need to work very hard to remove those weeds within us by continually turning away from our sinful ways. It’s all boiled down to mental attitude – always think about doing good to others and never let those unwholesome thoughts lingering in our mind. Remove these unwholesome and wicked thoughts is like removing weeds out from our mental garden. It is not easy but with God’s help nothing is impossible so long we put sincere efforts and pray to God for His strength and we will be victorious in removing our weeds.

We must be reminded that removing weeds is not just a personal matter for each individual. In every country, there are laws legislated and the primary intent of these laws is largely to remove ‘weeds’ out from the society so that people can live in unity and peacefully. However, these human weeds are everywhere. People of great influence and authority are, unfortunately, can be our most dangerous weeds. These people of influence and authority are now calling evil good and good evil just like what we read in Isaiah 5:20: Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

No matter how strict a country law is, criminals will always still be around to kill, to cheat and to steal. Sadly, many senior government officials today (and even in ancient times) are societal weeds themselves. These few elites comprising senior government officials and their inner circle members have great influence over people with authority especially over the military, the police and the judiciary. As a result they acquired huge indirect power to bully, to extort, to kill, to unjustly take away people’s assets such as farmlands and to influence the judiciary to rule unjustly favouring only the rich and the powerful.

Ironically, government officials are the one whom people should rely on them in times of need but sometimes they do exactly the opposite such as intentionally creating crisis for their people in order to enrich themselves. It was reported in China that one senior government official had accepted so much of the corrupt wealth that when the police went to his house, the police got a rude shock as they saw the kind of wealth this corrupt official had. Virtually, the house was like a bank vault! They could find money and treasure hiding in every corner of the house. The house was full of the ill-gotten money and treasure comprising gold and silver ingots, very high quality jewelries and banknotes. Many millions dollar worth of money currencies were found to have kept even in refrigerators because the corrupt official simply run out of space in his house to store them. In fact, police were unable count the money on site even with the help of banknote counting machines which they brought with them so much so that the police had to estimate the amount by weighing the banknotes! More than ten military trucks were needed to take away those ill-gotten wealth! I believe you can google this and you will be shocked to see the number of military trucks there to confiscate these ill-gotten wealth.

Are we living in the last days when corruption is so widespread that we all are now immune to the news of what is really happening around us. Societal weeds are all around us and the tragedy is that there are very few good ‘gardeners’ willing to remove these societal weeds. We can’t blame them. Trying to wipeout these weeds of deceits requires heavy sacrifice and many good people are unwilling to take up the responsibility leaving these weeds to just grow and grow incessantly. For obvious reasons, those good officials who tried to remove the weeds were sometimes found dead, or jailed for crimes that they had never committed and some of time have to run for their lives by escaping to other countries to seek asylum because they have offended corrupt high ranking officials.

Let’s admit, we are all fighting a losing battle. As one saying goes like this: If you can’t beat them, join them. Over the last couple of weeks there was a discussion of our government’s intention to repeal Section 377A of the Penal Code which currently made sex between two men a crime – on paper! The police have already taken the position that it will not enforce this law. Giving this as the legal position of the police, the government has already openly announced that it will repeal the law. To be more precise, this law will be removed out from the Penal Code. Perhaps in the next couple of months or even just weeks, our Parliament will start the process to repeal this legislation to remove this piece of legislation from the Penal Code and this in effect will decriminalize sex between two men. The question, from the legal language – by removing Section 377A will this become ‘legal’ or ‘not illegal’ for two men to have sex. Let’s leave this to the legal expert to decide what is the best legal terminology to use. To me, it doesn’t matter!

It is interesting to note that when we trace back to this piece of legislation to criminalize sex between two men, this legislation was incorporated into our Penal Code when the Penal Code was enacted in 1984. However, the law to criminalize sex between men was already part of Singapore legislations in 1939 when we were under the British rule. For almost 85 years, no one has protested and it had never been brought up for discussion. It would be a shame if anyone were to have brought this up for deliberation let alone trying to get it removed from the legislation. So the question now is: For almost 85 years since the law was legislated, why people now comprising individual as well as interest groups and institutions are crying out aloud to remove this piece of legislation and to decriminalize sex between two men? And they are not ashamed of it. In fact, they are all very proud because they thought they are now winning the battle!

I can guess and I am quite confident to mention that this an important fulfilling of end-time prophecy that the whole earth will be witnessing evilness and lawlessness of unprecedented scale. Legalizing homosexual has gone global and to be fair to Singapore, we are “late”. Perhaps the government may feel that it’s better to be late than never. Perhaps the pressure are building up and the government simply go by the saying: If you can’t beat them, join them!

We need to come right now to seek Jesus as time is not on our side – Jesus is returning to take us home – the Rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ – and unless we truly repent, we may miss this once-a-life-time event of the universe. When you are left behind after all the truly-born again Christians are removed from this earth to be with our Lord Jesus in heaven, you are going to be left behind and you are going into the period of Great Tribulation! This is not a joke! Is real!

(Note: I have written several messages in the post here concerning the Rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ, the Second Coming of Jesus and the Great Tribulation. You may want to scroll down to read them.)

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

We come before You to ask of You to give us the strength to do good, to behave well and to help others whenever we can. Let us sincerely cry out to You and said: Jesus help me to repent and to remove all the weeds that are within us. We want to do things to please You. We know You are coming very soon to take us to Your heavenly kingdom and thus help us to share Your gospel of good news to others so that they can be saved by Your precious blood.
We pray all these in the Mighty Name of Jesus. Amen.

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Sermon – 21 August 2022

Scripture Reading: Matthew 24:22 / Revelation 6:5-6 (KJV)

Matthew 24:7 – For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Revelation 6:5-6 – And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

MESSAGE

Thankfully and by the grace of God, our country is not facing any severe environmental calamities which are currently ravaging in every part of the continents from America to Asia. Intense heatwaves, severe flooding, drought, hurricane, tornadoes, hailstones the size of golf balls, earthquakes, uncontrollable wild forest fires, lakes and rivers are drying up are now the order of the day. Here are some examples: England is facing a heatwave with temperature to over 40 Celsius (or more than 100 degree Fahrenheit). England is very well-known for its weather. Even during summer, temperature seldom exceeds 25 degree Celsius. In my early days and due to my work, I travelled to England very frequently and I really enjoyed my weekends because all I need was just walk around the beautiful English parks and enjoy its cool weather. But now you can even fry eggs on the streets in London! In U.S. many important rivers in the American West is drying up. The Colorado River is the lifeblood for the south-west, supplying over 40 million of Americans with water and generating hydro-electric power plants is drying to a dangerously low level. The lakes that depend on these rivers to supply the water are closed to “dead pool” levels, the point at which water stops flowing downstream from the dams with have huge implication to hydro-electric plants. In China, many provinces are facing severe flooding destroying dams and causing huge flooding to homes and farmlands. In India, it was reported that the temperature has reached 50 degree Celsius! Japan and South Korea are not spared too with the severe flood! In continental Europe there are many uncontrollable wild forest fires raging homes and farmlands. In Australia, almost the whole state of New South Wales was nearly destroyed by floods in July. African and South American are also facing extreme weather very similar to those described above.

Many of us might not be aware that canned-food that we bought from the supermarkets now are manufactured from last year 2021 harvests and the live-stocks. Due to the extreme environmental crisis this year that are causing severe destructions of thousands acres of farmland and countless lost of live-stocks like cows, sheep and all kinds of poultry, it is estimated that in 2023 there will be 40% to 50% reduction of the agricultural harvests ranging from barley to wheat to potatoes to tomatoes to corns compared to 2022. To further compound the problem, the cost of fertilisers are skyrocketing due largely to the war in Ukraine and many farmers across the globe just have to give up planting in 2022 because the high cost of fertilisers will drive up the price of the produce which farmers will find hard to sell. Hence, in 2023, there will be serious shortage of food as manufacturers will find it very hard to buy raw produce to support their productions and this will drive up the prices of food. As we are warned in Revelation 5:6 – “a measure of wheat for a penny, and a three measures of barley for a penny” is widely interpreted by theologians that it will need to take a day’s wages in order to buy food just to feed your family for only one day. If this is not what food shortage, inflation or famine is, then nothing can explain what famine or inflation is!

The following headlines which appeared in the mass media that you can easily find in the internet are just tip of an iceberg of how precarious our earth is now:


The key to this message is to help all believers to prepare for the return of our Lord Jesus. To the unbelievers, the world is falling apart when they look at the environment crisis of this magnitude. However, for us as born-again Christians, the events are indeed putting in place for the return of our Lord Jesus to take us home. We must be prepared and we are urged to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to our God which is our reasonable service. We are further urged not to be conformed to this world, but be transformed by renewing of our mind, that will prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:1-2).

In the heart of the book of Revelation, John watches as the Lamb opens the first of seven seals. This is a very dark period of human history – the darkest ever. The breaking of the first seal sets in motion a period of time known as the Great Tribulation. This timeframe, also mentioned in the book of Daniel, is the moment when the Antichrist will arrive and great destruction will be ushered in on a global scale – famine, war, economic calamity, persecution, lawlesness.

Why would God share these details with us? Far from being afraid, Jesus said in Luke 21:28 ”When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” 

In fact, the world has not really seen anything compared to what is to come in spite of the events we are witnessing now. The events in the Great Tribulation will be many times more severe so much so God has to cut short the period otherwise no life would have been saved but for the sake of some believers who acknowledge the Jesus is their Saviour, those days will be cut short. (Matthew 24:22)

As we are drawn closer and closer to the return of our Lord Jesus, we may even become more thrilled in making every minute of our lives count to prepare for that great day that we will be taken up for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Note: If you want to read more about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, you may go to my 14 August posting below).

Let’s Pray|
Dear Lord Jesus,

I praise You, God, for Your grace and mercy, Your patience and love. Thank You that Your perfect love drives out fear even though we are now living in a period of unprecedented severe environmental crisis. Help us Lord to continue to put pur trust in You and You only. We thank you for Your promise of deliverance. Help me share this precious with those You put in my path. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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Sermon – 14 August 2022

Scripture Reading: Revelation 19:7-10 (KJV)

Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

MESSAGE

Note: May I suggest before you read today’s message you watch the video “The Galilean wedding traditions & how it applies to the bride of Christ, specifically, the Rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ”
Please click here to watch:
https://youtu.be/qrDjOAHWYW0

Every year on 9 August Singapore celebrates its National Day. Fifty-seven years’ ago, Singapore became a fully independent country and had just celebrated its 57th National Day. By comparison, Singapore is a very young country unlike countries like Britain, China or India which have thousand years of history. By God’s grace, we are what we are today where people can live in peace, unity and harmony. This is due to our good, effective and clean government over the last 57 years since our independence. We pray God will continue to bless us with righteous national leaders. In the Bible we are told in Proverbs 29:2 – “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rules, the people groan.” Nothing can depart from this biblical truth. Just google for world news and you will find countless news of corruptions and injustices committed by people in high positions that are permeated in many countries and as a result their people are groaning. This is exactly what the Bible has told us in Proverbs 29:2. We therefore need to pray vehemently that our country continues to govern by righteous men and women of God.

Like Singapore, many countries have also set a date specifically dedicated to celebrate their historical milestones. These could be in the form of being liberated from foreign occupation, or change of government because the previous corrupt government was kicked out and a new one installed. For example, we now see the people of Sri Lanka has toppled its government because the people who ruled the country misappropriated the nation’s treasury and bankrupted the country and a new government will be formed. Prayerfully the leadership of Sri Lanka’s new government consists of righteous men and women of God. In India it celebrates its independence from the United Kingdom annually on August 15 when India was liberated from British rule and became an independent country in 1947, and in China, it celebrates annually on 1 October when the Chinese Communist Party proclaimed China the People’s Republic of China in 1949 after it had ended decades of civil war as well as wars with foreign occupation.

Many people rejoice during national day celebration and perhaps for obvious reason – it’s a holiday and young working adults and students are looking forward to this day. However, not all people can fully rejoice as it brings memories of distraught. This is especially the case for those who were adults when the national holiday was first declared because it reminds them of the high price the people had to pay for the historical milestone. Many of the adults who witnessed the first national day declaration would remember the sufferings they had to go through during the tumultuous period. Thankfully, it finally ended with the proclamation of an historic milestones and people could now enjoy freedom and peace. For example, people who born during the period of turmoil would remember that family members or close friends were captured and tortured to death, their own daughter or daughters of their relatives or friends were raped or their personal assets and properties were unjustifiably confiscated that literally turning them from millionaires to beggars overnight! I was not born when Singapore was colonised by the Japanese but my parents had shared with me the tumultuous time that they had to endure during the Japanese occupation. By the grace of God, both my parents were unharmed and managed to escape from the Japanese atrocities. Living conditions then were very tough. Everyone, especially young girls and young men were living in constant fear. They were the targets of the Japanese soldiers and the people of Singapore (as well as Malaya) were living in trembling fear. They were not sure whether they would be dead or alive tomorrow! Thankfully, Japanese occupation lasted relatively short period of only three years and eight months compared to some other countries that took decades to end their tormented years of foreign occupation or gross injustices and corruptions that caused the people to groan incessantly.

As we are the children of God, we are told to forgive our enemies but honestly I just couldn’t forget what my parents had told me. When we see the war news over TV or Youtube like what we are now witnessing in Ukraine and the Middle East, we can now understand better what our parents or grand-parents had gone through during the Japanese occupation.

Sadly, corruptions at high places, gross injustices and wars are not going to go away any sooner. On the contrary, they are going to be intensified as we can read from the pages of the Bible because people continue to live in sin since the fall of man. In 2 Timothy 3:1-4 we read: But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

Thankfully, I have an extremely wonderful news to tell you! Everything on earth that we are witnessing now is a foreshadow of what is to come. We, the children of God, are chosen as the Bride of Jesus Christ, and we are meant to dwell with Him for eternity. The Father’s house in the Galilean wedding that you can watch on the Youtube https://youtu.be/qrDjOAHWYW0 is the perfect picture of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. The Groom gathers His Bride, brings her to the Father’s house for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Married forever. This video of Galilean wedding mirrored closely the event that Jesus, the Bridegroom will return to bring His Bride (that is the Church) to the heavenly home that He has prepared for His Bride (John 14:2-4).

As we are in the last days it is therefore very important to understand what lies ahead is not going to be pretty. The “last days” I am referring to here is not so much about wars, rumours of wars, apocalyptic cosmic destructions of the earth that turns everything to ash or anything to do with the events of the Great Tribulation like taking the mark of the beast before you can buy or sell, hyperinflation that you need one day’s wages in order to buy just for your daily meal and so on. What I am referring here is that the end of Church Age will culminate upon all believers are invited to attend the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in heaven and be presented to our Lord Jesus as His Bride. Doctrinally-speaking, this is the rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ and it is the blessed hope. Just like in a Jewish wedding, we must therefore be prepared at all times because Jesus, our Bridegroom is coming at any time to bring His Bride to the mansion that He has prepared for us. This will occur at the time when we are least expected. We are, therefore, commanded by Lord Jesus to keep watch (Matthew 25:13).

The national holidays around the world are specifically made to celebrate historical milestones of the countries and may perhaps this year may be the last time for the countries because of the on-going conflict and uncertainty of international politics. Remember, tomorrow is not guarantee as the world is heading towards chaos that may be the precursor to world war. It is very disheartening to hear that countries with nuclear bombs are threatening and warning one another that they are prepared to use them should war broke out. Such warnings by the nations which have the nuclear bombs are unprecedented. Once the nuke is used on a global scale, it will literally blow up the earth into pieces. The question is not “if” but “when” will this happen as the use of nuclear bombs is now a reality. Thankfully, for the born-again Christians, we will not be here when nuclear war begins because Jesus will gather us to be with Him and we will be invited and delivered to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in Kingdom of God. It will be the time that commensurate the timeless celebration of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb! Our Lord Jesus will be our Bridegroom and we will be His Bride, for ever!

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

We want to thank you that You have preserved our country to be what it is today that we can live in peace, unity and harmony with our fellow citizens. We like also to thank you for sending us righteous men and women governing our city-state. Unless we are ruled by the righteous, people will groan and suffer.

Lord Jesus, we pray for Your hasten return so that we can participate in the Marriage Supper that the Father has prepared. We ask Lord that You help us to share and to warn others that when You return, on that day, You will set up the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. Hence, they must come to You right now because tomorrow is not promised. We pray that they can come to confess their sins and acknowledge that You are the Christ without delay.

In Jesus Name we pray. Amen.

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Sermon – 7 August 2022

Scripture Reading: Proverbs 26:20-23 (KJV)

Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth. As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife. The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver dross.

MESSAGE

Adding fuel to fire is a common expression used on someone who intentionally attempts to cause dispute and strife of others through their malicious words. It is used as an analogy to a person who ignites negative and hostile relationship between two or more persons. Sadly, often the people that this evil person trying to intentionally ignite more negative and hostile relationship is usually also their acquaintance. Put it blatantly, this person who put fuel to the fire to create more fire often enjoys watching people “fighting and quarrelling”. He or she is an evil spectator love watching live or real (vs reel) movie of discord. The greater the fiery the quarrel and the fight the more he or she would enjoy watching. Of course, the opposite of this is a peace-maker who will consciously try to console the disputing parties by pouring “water (instead of fuel) to the fire”. As we know, water is one of the greatest enemies of fire and pouring water to fire will put out the fire and cool the surrounding. Sadly, peace-makers do not come by easily but still there are few we can find them among our circle of friends – thanks be to God and God will bless these peacemakers as they shall be called the children of God (Matthew 5:9). On the other in the Book of Proverbs we just read that one of the six things that God hate is a person who has a lying tongue, a heart that devises wicked plans and one who sows discord among people (Proverbs 6:-16-19). In fact, adding fuel to the fire in order to further destroy the already-fragile relationship of the disputing persons is synonymous with someone with lying lips who sows discords among people. They are also known as talebearers.

In this fallen world that we are living, sowing discord (aka adding fuel to the fire) is a principle works in any setting – whether in school, in work place, in social network, in church or even at home. In school, students are supposed to be trusted friends but sometimes they sow discords to create friction with one another. In the work place and I don’t think I need to say much about this especially for working adults. I would not be surprised that you might now be in the middle of such situation and wondering how to get out of it. Perhaps, you might have just carelessly mumbled a few ‘not so kind words’ about one of colleagues or it might just be due to a slip of your tongue. Unfortunately, this was over-heard by one of your talebearer colleagues who took this as opportunity to sow discords with the one whom you had ‘bad-mouthed’. You regretted for being so careless but, alas, too late as the matter might have escalated to a point that could cause you great miseries. Prayerfully, if you had been in this situation before you should learn your mistake and be more careful in your daily conversations. Admittedly, I was in one of these situations before! I learnt a hard truth of who are the friends you can actually trust and learnt to be more discerning in our conversations. This is just an illustration and it can happen anywhere and in any setting – even at home when family members may sow discords to create tense relationship in the family.

Over the last couple of weeks, the news of the visit by the Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the United States House of Representatives to Taiwan dominated the headlines all over the globe’s mass media. Constitutionally, the speaker of the House is second in the United States presidential line of succession, after the vice president. Hence, her view and her action has sent very strong connotation to the policies of the United States, especially in foreign relations. As we all know, almost all countries have acknowledged that there is only One China and that is the People’s Republic of China (PRC). With the exception of few handful countries, most countries around the world have established full diplomatic ties with China (or PRC) and accept that China represents all the Chinese in China and in Taiwan. These countries also accept that Taiwan is a province of China and the principle of One China is key to political stability in East Asia. Dismantling this understanding and acceptance of One China is a formula for potential military conflict and who knows this better than the U.S.! This attempt to dismantle of One China policy can be done by words and/or by deeds. The visit of the House speaker, Pelosi was a blatant action to both words and deeds perhaps with a hidden agenda to dispel that the One China policy is not what the U.S. can accept and, I believe this is what China thought to be the case based on the furious reactions of the government of China. To doubt the One China policy is a recipe for destabilising East Asia. When One China policy is not universally accepted by the world, especially when it is not accepted by the super-powers and the rich nations of the west, all hell will break loose. Although U.S. still openly maintains the One China policy as their political commitment but action speaks loudly than voice – so to speak. The visit of Pelosi to Taiwan may have sent a different signal to China and to the world at large.

(Please note: I am not a political writer. I am just stating political facts which you can check easily from google. I am not pro-China neither am I pro-Taiwan; also I am not anti-China neither am I anti-Taiwan. But I am anti-talebearers. I am a servant of Jesus Christ and I pray that my messages in the post here will inspire you to get closer to our Lord Jesus who is returning to this earth very soon. My sincere apologies to the Chinese people of China and of Taiwan if you have found some of the messages here offensive. For your information, I am a Chinese myself. My father was born in China and my mother a Taiwanese and she was born in Singapore. I love both China and Taiwan and I had visited both countries several times. Both my parents are with the Lord now. Praise God!)

As mentioned, the visit by the speaker, Nancy Pelosi dominated news coverage all over the world over the last few weeks but all for the wrong reasons. We read headlines like these: Nancy Pelosi begins controversial visit to Taiwan amid tension with China; Nancy Pelosi ‘shot herself in foot’ with Taiwan visit; China to ‘punish’ and ‘isolate’ Taiwan for Nancy Pelosi visit; Nancy Pelosi meets Taiwan’s president in her visit condemned by China; China’s military response after Pelosi’s Taiwan visit; China’s military launches air and sea exercises near Taiwan amid Pelosi’s visit.

And there are many more of such headlines in the news and some of them seem to incite more tension thus adding more fuels to the fire of the already tense China, Taiwan and the U.S. relationship even before the news of the visit. Indeed, the visit by the speaker is really unwarranted which both the U.S. President and the U.S. Army Chief had admitted and had advised Nancy Pelosi that it was not the right time to visit Taiwan. The last time that a U.S. house speaker visited Taiwan was 25 years ago! So, why the visit now after 25 years when the conflict between China, Taiwan and U.S. is at the highest since the cold war? Furthermore, why the visit when we are all now threatened with the possibility of Third World War since the war in Ukraine started and also when the on-going military conflict in the Middle East is now intensifying? Is just doesn’t make any sense other than the visit is to intentionally create chaos in East Asia! U.S. knew very well that Taiwan has no choice but to welcome the speaker with red-carpet as part of the diplomatic protocol! And the U.S. certainly knew China cannot accept a red-carpet welcome of the house speaker.

As we continue to watch the news and pray for our understanding and discernment, we can very quickly come to one conclusion – U.S. is playing and toying with fire, quite literally and intentionally, to destabilize the already poor China and Taiwan relationship. Perhaps, the real intent is to create a regional war in the Far East and with the war in Ukraine and the intensifying of armed conflict in the Middle East it will very likely signify the start of the Third World War if and when China really went ahead to attack Taiwan. Thankfully, as part of China’s hostility, it did not aim its military missiles directly at mainland Taiwan and instead did (and still doing) live firing around the sea of Taiwan. I believe, the last thing China want now is to have war as it is now facing heavy flooding in several provinces, the on-going Covid pandemic, fragile banking system, mass housing problems created by property developers and threats of economic recession, among others. For the time being, I believe the people of the Far East can sleep quite peacefully in spite of the tension of China, U.S. and Taiwan. Thankfully, many countries took a neutral stand and manage not to add any more fuel to the fire. Even in the U.S., some senate members were quite unhappy with the speaker’s visit to Taiwan – whether this is just staged or not we don’t know but let’s give them the benefit of the doubt that there are indeed good people in the U.S. high places who really want peace and stability. Praise be to God. We need however to also remind ourselves what the China had warned the U.S. – Those who play with fire will perish by it! This warning can also be a warning to us: Don’t play with fire; God hates talebears.

Let us all put our heart, mind and soul and pray that the current tension between China and Taiwan can be defused and pray that some good souls can come to be peacemakers can help to reduce the tension of China and Taiwan. This perhaps may be a wishful thinking but our God is God of Peace and all-powerful and nothing is impossible to Him. As we read that wars and rumours of wars is one of a very significant apocalyptic events that will happen before the imminent return of our Lord Jesus and catch us up to His Kingdom, we pray that many will come to acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God and that His precious blood will save us from all our sins and lead us to everlasting life. (John 3:16)

As we all can see, the world is now set for Jesus to return because wickedness and evils are everywhere. We must continue to stay awake and be watchful all the times and one of the most effective ways to do this is to pray always, to read often God’s word and to be thankful always to God in whatever circumstances we are in. We must fully acknowledge that the word of God will give us the knowledge of peace and wisdom and will teach us to know what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad, what is pleasing to God and what God hates. As we know that the age of the Church is coming to an end, let’s us live in expectation like Jesus could return today. The worst thing that could happen to anyone of us is when Jesus return to take us up is when we are caught doing things that are not pleasing to Him. And it would really be tragic when we meet Lord Jesus and he said to us: Depart from me, you evil doers! (Luke 13:27)

Let’s Pray

Dear Father God

Help us to be peace-makers as we are Your children (Matthew 5:9) and we like to thank and praise for Your love and mercies. Lord Jesus lifts our eyes always to remember Your kindness and know that our real help comes from You alone and only You are worthy of our praise. Lord Jesus, we acknowledge that You are the Maker of the heavens and the earth. We are now heading towards the end of the church age and while we are earnestly waiting for You to return, help us not to be fearful but to be endowed with the spirit of courage to make You the centre of our lives. Help us not to be disturbed or stressed by what we hear, by what we see and by what we read from the news just because it brought to us all but the bad news. The world is not falling apart. Quite to the contrary, the world is now falling into place for You to return! Lord Jesus, help us to share Your gospel of Good News to the unbelievers. This is the only News we need! Dear Lord, give us the strength – mentally, spiritually and physically – so that we can continue to carry out Your Great Commission of spreading Your Good News to the whole world.

In the Mighty Name of Jesus we pray. Amen!

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May I suggest before you read further to the messages in the post here, it would be good if you could view this Youtube
https://youtu.be/QuL3wlodJC8
This Youtube was a presentation given by Dr. Yuval Noah Harari who is the Chief Advisor at World Economic Forum. In particular, please note that he is telling the world that human beings are now hackable animals just like a computer! The topic of his presentation is:
Transhumanism and Eliminating Free Will

As we all know, Free Will is the most prized gift given by God to human so that we can exercise all our choices at will and be responsible for all our actions. Taking away free will will make us robots. This is what the New World Order (aka One World Government) attempts to do: “Do what we tell you. Worship what you are allowed to worship – only Satan and reject Jesus as your Lord and Saviou!“
Quite to the contrary. Unless we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, believing that Jesus died for our sins, admit that we are sinners and that the blood of Jesus is the only source to redeem us to the Father, we will perished into eternality!
John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believed in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

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Sermon – 31 July 2022

Scripture Reading: Romans 3:23 & 6:23 (KJV)

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23); For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).

MESSAGE

Death is a very frightening word. None of us want to consciously think about it because somehow we normally relate this word to be synonymous with someone who had deliberating and incurable diseases like when someone got cancer, heart-attack, brain-stroke or other serious illnesses. Hence, we all assume death would not happen to us and neither will we be inflicted with one of these deliberating and incurable diseases – at least not in the near future. Many of us pretend that we can go living forever but we need to honestly take cognisant that we are all born to die one day. This may sound quite offensive to many people but this is just the plain truth – death is inevitable! No one can escape death. Sadly, not even God Himself! As we read in the Book of Mark 15:37 –  we read that the Son of God, Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up His spirit. He literally died but we all know the Son of God died in order to give us the gift of eternal life (John 3:16; Romans 6:23b). But who killed Jesus? It was not the Roman soldiers, it was not the Jews, it was not King Herod, it was not the high priest Caiaphas and it was not Judas Iscariot. Jesus was killed by you and me because of our sins!

If man is created in the image of God, why he (and also God!) has to die? Why do people have to struggle with so many problems? Why do people have so much trouble getting along with each others? Why do people never seem to satisfy what they have already had and wanted more and more? Why are there so many wars? Why are people so selfish and care only for themselves? These and many similar questions of conscience tell us there is something wrong, very wrong with man. Hence, the next question is: Who are responsible for all these and how all these started? Thankfully, we can find the answers in the Holy Book, the Bible.

The first big question many have is: Why death is necessary? Philosophers and scientists may come up with many reasons but the most honest answer we can find is in the Bible verses which we just read: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; for the wages of sin is death.

The word “die” first appeared in the Bible in Genesis 2:17 when God warned Adam and Eve not to eat from the fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and evil for the day they eat they shall surely die. Tragically, they disobeyed the warning. The death of Adam and Eve was not just physically but also emotionally and spiritually. Both Adam and his wife Eve were so emotionally dislodged after they ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil that they felt ashamed when they were naked even though they were husband and wife. No one was around them except God who created them and they were still so ashamed of their nakedness that they hid themselves from the presence of God among the trees of the garden. The death of Adam and Eve and all their descendants (which include you and me) is but a deserving destiny because sin has become the prime source of human’s desire. Sin in strict biblical sense is an immoral act against the Holy God and is a serious transgression of the divine law which causes us to continuously act against the will of God. From this disobedience of just one restriction laid down by God not to eat of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, man became less than he was created to be. Before the fall, man desired to know and follow God. Afterward, man’s attitudes were hostile towards God (Romans 8:5-8) and man started to commit all kinds of wickedness.

As we can read in Genesis 6:5, God saw that the wickedness of man was great and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil continually. Our mind is pre-occupied with evil thoughts continually and God knew all about it. As we read the Bible just into the first few chapters of the book of Genesis, we will soon discover that all kinds of human perversions started to take place. To survive, we need to kill animals for food. In fact, man need to kill and destroy in order to survive. The first recorded murder was committed when the second son of Adam who killed his brother out of jealousy (Genesis 4:8); unrighteous behaviour started to infiltrate to the whole society and people in Noah’s time ignored the preaching of Noah who was called the preacher of righteousness even though Noah kept preaching about the need for righteous living for hundred and twenty years (2 Peter 2:5); sexual immorality was widespread as we read the history of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:20; Genesis 19:5); relationship among people eroded to the point that betraying one another has now become the order of the day and now we don’t know who we can trust. Man always wanted to be gods and also started to worship idols that man himself created (Exodus 32:1-8) instead of worshipping the Creator, the One True God. When God saw all these, God regretted that He had made man on earth, and His heart was deeply troubled and grieved (Genesis 6:5-6). Very sadly, in order to put every back to what God has originally intended – that is a perfect, sinless and holy environment so that sinless man that God created could dwell with Him forever – God himself has to pay His life for the sin of man by becoming man himself to die on the cross. The death of God on the cross at Calvary reverses what Adam and Eve had done and perverted the God’s original creation. Through the death of Jesus, we are now able to be redeemed to the Kingdom of God. However, this is only possible if we are willing to confess our sins, to believe that Jesus, the Son of God died and rose again on the third day, to accept the atoning blood of God’s only Son and to repent of all our sins. We must believe what is written in the Bible, John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believed in Him should never perish but have everlasting life.

As we are now marching towards the end of the Church Age, I like to continue to emphasize that our Creator is sparing no effort to bring His crown creation – that is human race – to His Kingdom. We are living in the most exciting period of humanity – the period that our Lord Jesus has promised to return to bring us back to His Kingdom. We must continue to be alert to the nearness of the rapture of the Church. We are told by our Lord Jesus himself (John 14:2-5): In my Father’s house are many questions if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

Although the wrath of God against sin and idolatry will intensify and expand as we approach towards the return of Christ and His Second Coming, no truly born again Christian will be the object of it. We will be preserved and we will be eternally safe and secured. God has sealed all His children with the Holy Spirit and no amount of suffering or hardship can separate us from the love of God in Christ. Amid all the argumentation over the rapture of the Church of Jesus may we never lose sight of the imminence of the return of our Lord Jesus (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). Lord Jesus could return anytime. It could be the next hour; it could be the next day. We don’t know but we know He is coming back very, very soon! This is our blessed hope!

There is a complete global paradigm shift right now and we are already told and warned time and again the Great Reset (aka One World Government) that is so evident and prevalent with the abounding lawlessness is paving the way for the lawless one, the Antichrist, to rule the earth. I don’t own a crystal ball to tell you the exact day of the rapture but the Bible is crystal clear on the convergence of end time apocalyptic signs of chaos, the rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ will occur before the 7-year great tribulation takes place when the lawless one, the Antichrist will take complete control of this earth once the Church is removed out of this earth (2 Thessalonians 2:6). We must be alert and see the foreshadowing of these endtime apocalyptic signs of chaos that are happening right before our very eyes then look up and lift up our heads because our redemption draws near! (Luke 21:28). These are very comforting words which will bring positive feeling that we have blessed hope in Christ Jesus and it completely negates our ill feelings of the word “Death” because death is sorrowed up in victory when our Lord Jesus rose up from the grave (1 Corinthians 15:51-57). Thanks be to God we now have the victory and the marvellous gift of God of eternal life for the salvation of our souls through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

You are indeed my good Shepherd. Lord Jesus thank you for making me to lie down in green pastures and give me the lead me to drink Your living water of life. Help me Lord. Give me the strength to repent daily and to walk in the never-ending path of righteousness for your namesake. Thank you Lord for the blessed hope that very soon we will be able to dwell in Your house forever.

Help me Lord to spread your good news to those who still do not know You. Give me the courage not to be ashamed of your good news gospel, your birth, suffering, death, resurrection, your ascension to heaven and now sitting at the right hand of the Father. Lord, give me the courage to share all these with other people that they might come to know and accept You as their Saviour.

MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL THE READING OF THE MESSAGE.

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JOHN 3:16
FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.

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Please note that Living Smyrna Church of Christ (LSCC) do not accept gifts or donations in any form as LSCC strongly believes by faith that Christ Jesus will provide all the necessary resources for this mission of Great Commission. It is our prayer that the messages posted here can bring you closer to our Lord Jesus and get ourselves ready to meet Him.

May God Bless You All the Reading of the Messages

All comments are welcome! You can send your comments to:
kttanlscc@gmail.com
livingmyrnachurchofchrist@yahoo.com

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Sermon – 31 July 2022

Scripture Reading: Romans 3:23 & 6:23 (KJV)

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23); For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).

MESSAGE

Death is a very frightening word. None of us want to consciously think about it because somehow we normally relate this word to be synonymous with someone who had deliberating and incurable diseases like when someone got cancer, heart-attack, brain-stroke or other serious illnesses. Hence, we all assume death would not happen to us and neither will we be inflicted with one of these deliberating and incurable diseases – at least not in the near future. Many of us pretend that we can go living forever but we need to honestly take cognisant that we are all born to die one day. This may sound quite offensive to many people but this is just the plain truth – death is inevitable! No one can escape death. Sadly, not even God Himself! As we read in the Book of Mark 15:37 –  we read that the Son of God, Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up His spirit. He literally died but we all know the Son of God died in order to give us the gift of eternal life (John 3:16; Romans 6:23b). But who killed Jesus? It was not the Roman soldiers, it was not the Jews, it was not King Herod, it was not the high priest Caiaphas and it was not Judas Iscariot. Jesus was killed by you and me because of our sins!

If man is created in the image of God, why he (and also God!) has to die? Why do people have to struggle with so many problems? Why do people have so much trouble getting along with each others? Why do people never seem to satisfy what they have already had and wanted more and more? Why are there so many wars? Why are people so selfish and care only for themselves? These and many similar questions of conscience tell us there is something wrong, very wrong with man. Hence, the next question is: Who are responsible for all these and how all these started? Thankfully, we can find the answers in the Holy Book, the Bible.

The first big question many have is: Why death is necessary? Philosophers and scientists may come up with many reasons but the most honest answer we can find is in the Bible verses which we just read: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; for the wages of sin is death.

The word “die” first appeared in the Bible in Genesis 2:17 when God warned Adam and Eve not to eat from the fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and evil for the day they eat they shall surely die. Tragically, they disobeyed the warning. The death of Adam and Eve was not just physically but also emotionally and spiritually. Both Adam and his wife Eve were so emotionally dislodged after they ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil that they felt ashamed when they were naked even though they were husband and wife. No one was around them except God who created them and they were still so ashamed of their nakedness that they hid themselves from the presence of God among the trees of the garden. The death of Adam and Eve and all their descendants (which include you and me) is but a deserving destiny because sin has become the prime source of human’s desire. Sin in strict biblical sense is an immoral act against the Holy God and is a serious transgression of the divine law which causes us to continuously act against the will of God. From this disobedience of just one restriction laid down by God not to eat of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, man became less than he was created to be. Before the fall, man desired to know and follow God. Afterward, man’s attitudes were hostile towards God (Romans 8:5-8) and man started to commit all kinds of wickedness.

As we can read in Genesis 6:5, God saw that the wickedness of man was great and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil continually. Our mind is pre-occupied with evil thoughts continually and God knew all about it.  As we read the Bible just into the first few chapters of the book of Genesis, we will soon discover that all kinds of human perversions started to take place. To survive, we need to kill animals for food. In fact, man need to kill and destroy in order to survive. The first recorded murder was committed when the second son of Adam killed his brother out of jealousy (Genesis 4:8); unrighteous behaviour started to infiltrate to the whole society and people in Noah’s time ignored the preaching of Noah who was called the preacher of righteousness even though Noah kept preaching about the need for righteous living for hundred and twenty years (2 Peter 2:5); sexual immorality was widespread as we read the history of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:20; Genesis 19:5); relationship among people eroded to the point that betraying one another has now become the order of the day and now we don’t know who we can trust. Man always wanted to be gods and also started to worship idols that man himself created (Exodus 32:1-8) instead of worshipping the Creator, the One True God. When God saw all these, God regretted that He had made man on earth, and His heart was deeply troubled and grieved (Genesis 6:5-6). Very sadly, in order to put every back to what God has originally intended – that is a perfect, sinless and holy environment so that sinless man that God created could dwell with the Him forever – God himself has to pay His life for the sin of man by becoming man himself to die on the cross. The death of God on the cross at Calvary reverses what Adam and Eve had done and perverted the God’s original creation. Through the death of Jesus, we are now able to be redeemed to the Kingdom of God. However, this is only possible if we are willing to confess our sins, to believe that Jesus, the Son of God died and rose again on the third day, to accept the atoning blood of God’s only Son and to repent of all our sins. We must believe what is written in the Bible, John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believed in Him should never perish but have everlasting life.

As we are now marching towards the end of the Church Age, I like to continue to emphasize that our Creator is sparing no effort to bring His crown creation – that is human race – to His Kingdom. We are living in the most exciting period of humanity – the period that our Lord Jesus has promised to return to bring us back to His Kingdom. We must continue to be alert to the nearness of the rapture of the Church. We are told by our Lord Jesus himself (John 14:2-5): In my Father’s house are many questions if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will taken you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

Although the wrath of God against sin and idolatry will intensify and expand as we approach towards the return of Christ and His Second Coming, no truly born again Christian will be the object of it. We will be preserved and we will be eternally safe and secured. God has sealed all His children with the Holy Spirit and no amount of suffering or hardship can separate us from the love of God in Christ. Amid all the argumentation over the rapture of the Church of Jesus may we never lose sight of the imminence of the return of our Lord Jesus (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). Lord Jesus could return anytime. It could be the next hour; it could be the next day. We don’t know but we know He is coming back very, very soon! This is our blessed hope!

There is a complete global paradigm shift right now and we are already told and warned time and again the Great Reset (aka One World Government) that is so evident and prevalent with the abounding lawlessness is paving the way for the lawless one, the Antichrist, look to rule the earth. I don’t own a crystal ball to tell you the exact day of the rapture but the Bible is crystal clear on the convergence of end time apocalyptic signs of chaos, the rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ will occur before the 7-year great tribulation takes place when the lawless one, the Antichrist will take complete control of this earth once the Church is removed out of this earth (2 Thessalonians 2:6). We must be alert and see the foreshadowing of these endtime apocalyptic signs of chaos that are happening right before our very eyes then look up and lift up our heads because our redemption draws near! (Luke 21:28). These are very comforting words which will bring positive feeling that we have blessed hope in Christ Jesus and it completely negates our ill feelings of the word “Death” because death is sorrowed up in victory when our Lord Jesus rose up from the grave (1 Corinthians 15:51-57). Thanks be to God we now have the victory and the marvellous gift of God of eternal life for the salvation of our souls through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

You are indeed my good Shepherd. Lord Jesus thank you for making me to lie down in green pastures and give me the lead me to drink Your living water of life. Help me Lord. Give me the strength to repent daily and to walk in the never-ending path of righteousness for your namesake. Thank you Lord for the blessed hope that very soon we will be able to dwell in Your house forever.

Help me Lord to spread your good news to those who still do not know You. Give me the courage not to be ashamed of your good news gospel, your birth, suffering, death, resurrection, your ascension to heaven and now sitting at the right hand of the Father. Lord, give me the courage to share all these with other people that they might come to know and accept You as their Saviour.

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Sermon – 24 July 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 118:8 (KJV)

It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.

MESSAGE

As we are all aware, we are now living in one of the most confusing periods of human history – perhaps the most confusing, if I may say. When the first case of Covid-19 infection was discovered in December 2019, the world was initially told that it was spread by bats in Wuhan wet markets in China. Weeks later political leaders and scientific community around the world started to blame China because Wuhan wet markets were selling bats as part of the local food delicacies. So they thought.

The story then quickly changed by the weeks. Not too soon, fingers started to point at U.S. that the virus was man-made bio-weapon. We were later told that U.S. had indeed funded Wuhan Lab research programme to create man-made viruses for military purpose. Whether Covid virus is one of them is still not clear. No one, just no one can confidently tell us what is the real story behind the Covid-19 virus. Was this a man-made virus or was it transmitted by eating bats?  This is a one million dollar question that no one has the answer yet. While we are still wondering the ‘origin’ of the Covid-19 virus and the source of the viral transmission from human to human remains unclear, we are now confronting with the tens of Covid-19 variants as well as latest scare of monkeypox virus which is spreading quite badly in some countries. Will there be another forced mass vaccination of some sort or locked down? Worst, will there be some more directives from influential institutions like WHO or America CDC to mandate compulsory mass vaccination? Will these influential institutions trying to do all they can to destabilize the world by creating fear in order to achieve their evil motives like using this so-called pandemic to bring about the Great Reset (aka One World Government)? Your guest is as good (or as bad) as mine!

We also know that not soon after Covid-19 was spreading like wild fire, major pharmaceutical companies came out with vaccines in double quick time. Typically, for a vaccine to be effect, it normally takes an average of 6 to 8 years to develop, Covid-19 vaccines, however, took less than two years to develop by-passing many clinical trials that are normally required in a typical vaccine development. We know even for HIV vaccine, there is still no effective vaccine after over 40 years of medical research. How then could the Covid-19 vaccines be produced in less than 24 months. Well, these big pharmaceutical companies started to cook up their scientific claims that the Covid vaccines were developed by using a new bio-technology known as mRNA. (And I was wondering why didn’t they use the same technology for the HIV virus?) So, gone were the days that a vaccine needs to take 6 to 8 years to develop. Now vaccines could be produced in less than 2 years or perhaps within few months with this new mRNA technology! But doctors and medical community seemed to ignore the plain truth that the vaccine is approved only for emergency use and the manufacturers are protected by law from any lawsuits in the event the vaccines cause injuries. This is unprecedented and now the pharmaceutical companies which manufactured these vaccines are laughing all the way to the bank!

I don’t think I need to go further than to just say that we are just simply confused (and frustrated) – confuse whether these Covid vaccines are really effective or even safe, confuse whether these big pharmaceutical companies are really taking the advantage of Covid pandemic as money generating machine at the expense of human lives, confuse whether some governments are involved in some hidden agenda to depopulate the world because conspiracy theory tends to indicate that very influential top politicians felt that the world’s resources cannot sustain the current level of population and hence have to be depopulated to a managing level. We are confused whether reports provided by both the government and the pharmaceutical companies regarding the efficacy and the safety of the vaccines are the true state of the affair. We are confused whether Covid vaccines are actually used as a mean to cause mass death of people as part of the depopulation agenda, and so on. We just don’t know what to believe and who we can trust; who is telling the truth and who is not!

Thankfully, Covid-19 has taught us one great biblical lesson: We just can’t trust anyone to tell us anything! We can only get the truth from the word of God as we read in John 8:31-32 when Jesus told his disciples to abide in His word and His word will set them free. That’s a wonderful promise that we all must take it seriously, especially when we feel the need for some sort of healing – whether difficulty in illness, injury, financial hardship, a troubled relationship, or anything else. We can now be assured that reading the word of God, the Bible, will lead us to absolute truth. What we need now is nothing but the truth! And that we can only get from the word of God, the Bible.

Pestilence is a very scary event and history has shown that it can kill millions of people. When we examine the books of the Bible, we will notice that pestilence (among others such as lawlessness, great falling away of the faith of believers, gross immorality, etc) is one of the end-time events that must happen before the appearance of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. (Note: As you might be aware, I have posted here quite a few end-time messages which include the Rapture of the Church (that is we will be caught up to meet our Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17) and the second coming of Jesus to start His one thousand reign on this earth (Matthew 24:31; Revelation 19:11-12; 20:4-5). You might want to scroll further down to read these messages.)

My message today is to encourage readers how we as born-again Christians need to continue to live confidently and assuredly that we can fully trust our Holy God (Psalms 118:8). To the unbelievers, the world is now falling apart. But to all born-again Christians, all the events that are happening now is a resounding fulfilment of the prophecies for the appearance of our Lord Jesus. Hence, we should not be perturbed by all these events. Quite the contrary, these end-time events that we are witnessing now are putting in place for our Lord Jesus to appear and to catch us up to meet Him in the air.

While we are waiting for His appearance, let’s admit we are living in a very uncertain world and any uncertainty will cause us to be fearful. We must, however, remind ourselves not to be fearful. There are hundreds of verses in the Bible that tell us “Fear not for I am with you”. All we need is to cry out to God, and God will hear us when we cry out to Him (Psalms 54:2). God is our Helper in all our needs. Let us also dedicate this message of prayer to cry out to our Living God, Lord Jesus in season and out of season because the current world situations really demand us to fully trust Him. He will bring good tithings and holy blessings to everyone of us who trust in Him.

Let’s us pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

Help me:

In every need. Let me come to you with a humble trust saying,
Jesus help me.
In all my doubts, perplexities and temptations,
Jesus help me.
In hours of loneliness, weariness and trials,
Jesus help me.
In failure of my plans and hopes, in disappointments, troubles and sorrows, Jesus help me.
When other fail me and Your grace alone can assist me,
Jesus help me.
When I throw myself on Your tender love, as my Lord and Saviour,
Jesus help me.
When my heart is cast down by failure at seeing no good coming from my efforts, Jesus help me. When I am ill and my head and hands cannot work, and I am lonely,
Jesus help me.
Always, always, in spite of weariness, falls and shortcomings of every kind, Jesus help me and never forsake me
Almighty Lord, before You I come with my faith, begging You for comfort in my difficulties. Do not forsake me, My Lord. Open Your doors, that Your Almighty Arms will open and close as You design to give that tranquility that I so desire.
Oh my God! Receive my supplication from a wounded heart that is always fighting for me with your divine power. Never let me scramble for want of help.
Almighty Lord, assist me to find shelter in Your celestial bounty forever.
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I seek Your Help. Amen

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Sermon – 17 July 2022

Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 3:3-4 (KJV)

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

MESSAGE

I believe some of you all might have heard of this slogan: The Great Reset. This is the slogan that was used during the 50th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) held in June 2020. The WEF was founded by Prof. Klaus Schwab who is currently the Executive Chairman. At the forum this was what he said: “The pandemic represents a rare but narrow opportunity to reflect, reimagine, and reset our world”. What he said is that the current system of governance by individual country’s elected politicians is not working. We need a global government. The pandemic is now the best opportunity to bring about the Great Reset. It has to be done right now.

The ‘pandemic’ that he spoke about is the Covid-19 when the world trickled a total and unprecedented global panic. The rest is history as we all know – the compulsory wearing of masks, people were locked down, factories couldn’t function and the list goes on. His message is not so much of Covid virus. Rather, he was telling the world to prepare for a Great Reset which will herald a system of global government (aka One World Government) and the Covid-19 is the best opportunity to convince the world that we need to move to One World Government in order to control any global crisis.

I am writing this message to let you all know that every effort is now taken by the WHO and WEF to bring about the Great Reset and why we should be very concerned.

Thankfully, I have read quite a bit on these topics both from Christian sources and secular sources. This global Great Reset is a precursor to herald for the Anti-Christ to come and to take full control of the world by enforcing individual country’s government to submit its authority to this One World Government. Many people believe that WEF is the main catalyst to the formation of this One World Government.

Notably, among other agenda, this One World Government will implement the mark of beast which is likely to be in the form of injectable micro-chip. The mark of the beast, as we can read in Revelation 13:16-17 that unless you take this mark of the beast, you will not be able to participate in all financial activities. (I have written several messages on the “mark of the beast” in my blog here. You can scroll down if you like to find out more about the “mark of the beast.)


The technology to produce this injectable micro-chip is already here. Hence, implementing this can be at any moment. This injectable micro-chip will be made compulsory and those who refused to take this mark of the beast (or the injectable micro-chip) will be killed (Revelation 13:15-17). This micro-chip is a very powerful digital tool for the One World Government to control our finances as well as all aspects of our lives. For examples, when this micro-chip is implanted into our hand (or forehead) and you will just need to scan your hand (or forehead) when you check-out from grocery stores and the amount will be deducted from your digital currency account; also depending on your traveling needs, your money which may be programmed in such a way that you can only pump up to 250 litres of petrol per month. Once this limit is reached, you will not allow to buy anymore petrol. You will have to request for a new allocation and your travelling patterns are captured in the digital chip will let them determine how much petrol you will be allocated; your paper currency will be totally eliminated. All transactions will go digital and deposited in a central bank. The government will have full control of your money. The purchasing power of your $100 and my $ 100 are not the same. It can be programmed for you to buy certain things which will be different from one person to another. For example, unless you have very young children, you might not be able to use the money to buy milk powder. These are just examples of what this micro-chip is capable of doing. All your hard-currency will be converted into programable money which may restrict or allow you from buying only certain things, depending on your family needs.

Thankfully, we can escape all this before this mark of the beast system (aka injectable micro-chip) is implemented. In 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 we are told that Jesus will return to catch us up to meet Him the air. Once all believers are taken up to meet Jesus, it will be the end of the Church Age. The implanting of the mark of beast (aka micro-chop) will only happen after the Church is taken up (raptured) to meet our Lord Jesus. After this rapture, all hell will break loose. The Anti-Christ who will receive the authority from Satan will start to implement this mark of beast. Those who are not raptured to meet our Lord Jesus will be left behind and they will have only two choices – to take the mark of beast (aka micro-chip) or refuse to take and be killed by the Anti-Christ. This is because taking the mark of the beast will signify that you have accepted the Anti-Christ as your god and to worship the Anti-Christ. Those who refused to take the mark of the beast will be beheaded! But be warned, if anyone have taken the mark of the beast, he or she will not be accepted into the Kingdom of God! Please, in the event you are left behind, DO NOT TAKE THE MARK OF THE BEAST!

As we look into the world events today, we are closer that the Church Age is coming to an end very soon when all believers are raptured and taken out of this world. This will be time when the Church is completely removed out of this world.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, please take this as a serious warning! As we read the scripture in 2 Peter 3:3-4, Apostle Peter already anticipated that in the last days there will be many scoffers and said where is the coming of the Lord and many continue to live with no expectation that Jesus is coming. Do not scoffer or make fun of this warning.

Let us all get ready to meet Living God, Jesus. We need to live a repented life, to turn away from our sin, to thank Him, to praise Him daily and to do our part to share the Good News of Jesus with others. More importantly, pray that we can escape from the wrath of God that is coming very soon and we are taken out of this world.

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank you for carrying me in good and in bad times. I know You are always with me and I am safe in Your Mighty Hand at all the times. You are the God of Miracles, God of the Healer and a very faithful and loving God that I can fully trust. I truly like to confess my sin and ask for Your forgiveness. Help me Lord to live according to your will, please forgive me for all the sins that I have committed – the past, the present and those that I may commit. Help me to repent and not to commit anymore sins. Lord, I know You are always with me regardless of my situation. I know we are all living in a world full of corruptions, wickedness and injustices but Lord I want to thank You that You will give me the strength to race forward. I want to thank you for the blessed hope of meeting You very soon.  Help me not to lose sight of Your imminent return to take up to be with You.

In the Mighty Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen

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10 July 2022
Scripture Reading: Luke 17:34-36 (KJV)

I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

MESSAGE

Just three days’ ago, many of us were astonished when news broke out that former Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, was shot with critical gun wounds and many people were trying to piece together what was happening. Japan may be not be near to some of us, but for this to happen in Japan is unheard of because Japan pride itself to be one of the safest countries in the world, if not the safest. Unlike America, private ownership of guns in Japan is near impossible. I don’t think we have heard of any gun robbery in Japan! So, how did the assailant get hold his deadly weapon. Preliminary investigation indicated the assailant had a home-made gun.

Later in the same day, news broke that Mr. Abe could not survive the gun shot. Political leaders around the world started pouring in their condolences. India in fact has announced a day of mourning as the Prime Minister of India held very high regard to the late Shinzo Abe for his leadership.

Regardless of the reasons, violent should not and must not be tolerated. No one should take the law in their own hands. But, alas! This is just a utopian ideology that society can be violent-free and disagreements can be resolved peacefully through proper channels. It is very sad and tragic for us to hear that the rich are bullying the poor, the powerful are bullying the helpless, and the list can go on. Indeed, the world is now on edge of total collapse due to corruption at high places, gross injustices, terrorism, catastrophes, economic and financial turmoil, food and energy turmoil, religious turmoil, social turmoil, environmental turmoil, wars and rumours of wars. The Middle East is a hot bed for possible nuclear war when terrorists could get hold one of the nuclear bombs. The war between Russian and Ukraine is a potential flash point for another world war which could see the use of nuclear bombs. All hell will break loose in the far East and perhaps the whole world when China invades Taiwan and when U.S. and Nato are involved in the military conflict. This is a high possibility as China’s top leadership has been given frequent warnings it does not rule out the use of military force to unite Taiwan.

If you read the Bible you know that these have been foretold several thousands of years ago. In particular, the books of Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation have prophesied them – global calamities of every conceivable kind from political, economic, social to cosmic enviroments – will happen. Such events are clear signs that our Lord Jesus will come to intervene and put an end to this in-sicked world and to begin His righteous rule of a new earth.

There will be two very important events that are also prophesied in the Bible of how the world would be ended. These two events will affect all our lives more than anything else in the recorded history of mankind. They are:

However, it must be noted that once the Church is removed, the seven years of great tribulation will start and those who are not raptured will have to go through this seven years of great tribulation. (I have written quite a few messages in the post here concerning the great tribulation and if you want to read them, please scroll further down).

In the verses we read in Luke 17:34-36, Lord Jesus told His disciples that only those who are true believers will be caught up to meet Him in the air and those who rejected Him will be left behind to face the wrath of God (aka the great tribulation). This will be the period when Satan unleashes his power in full force and he will try every conceivable attempt to stop all those left behind who rejected Jesus earlier to accept Lord Jesus as their Messiah and to worship Jesus as their God. It will be the time of untold miseries! Prayerfully, you will not be here and be raptured to be with our Lord Jesus.

When you have missed the rapture and left behind, you have two and only two choices – one, acknowledge and to worship the Antichrist (which is Satan’s presentative on earth) by taking the mark of the beast, or two, reject the taking the mark of the beast but accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. If you chose, to accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour and refuse to take the mark of the beast and worship the beast you will be killed! (Revelation 13:15-17).

What is the “mark of the beast?” Well, I am not speculating but accordingly to some people including scientists, the mark of the beast is a injectable micro-chips which not only allowed you do all the essential financial transactions, like buying and selling, the micro-chips will have the capabilities to control your bank accounts and to track all your activities. Depending on how you behaviour, the micro-chips can be turned on or turned off depends on whether you complied or failed to comply with the narratives of the few elite cult leaders. Once your implanted micro-chip is turned off, for example, your bank account will be completely frozen and you cannot buy or sell (Revelation 13:17). This is one of the many ways that the micro-chips can do to you and there are many more ways that can be used to control all aspects of your lives. But the most scary part, according to some scientists, is that the micro-chips will have man-made modified DNA incorporated into them so as to alter your genetic makeup when injected into your bodies. In other words, the micro-chips will have the capabilities to hack your DNA (perhaps using the man-made modified DNA as the tool to hack and alter human DNA). Dr. Yuval Noah Harari, the Chief Advisor to the World Economic Forum (WEF), has openly said: Human beings are now hackable animals. Together with WHO and United Nations, this unholy trinity comprising World Economic Forum, World Health Organisation and the United Nations are controlled by few elite cults (notably Executive, Klaus Schwab, , his cronies including Yuval Noah Harari and several multi-billionaires businessmen) are going to herald the New World Order (aka One World Government) and to in implement these injectable micro-chips (aka the mark of the beast). Once you are injected with the micro-chips which have the capabilities to hijack you and eliminate your free-will to choose who is going to be your god or God. You will only be left with one choice – that is to only accept Antichrist as your god. THIS IS A STERN REMINDER: SHOULD YOU BE LEFT BEHIND, NEVER, NEVER TAKE THE MARK OF THE BEAST (THE INJECTABLE MICRO-CHIPS)! Once you have taken, you will be destined for eternal destruction because you are Satan worshipper. (Revelation 14:9-10)

(Please note that I am not making this up when I mentioned that human beings are now hackable animals and the free-will will be eliminated. You may want to google for Yuval Noah Harari, World Economic Forum and you can listen to his presentation. Of course, whether the micro-chips will be incorporated with man-made modified DNA is a matter of speculation. (https://youtu.be/QuL3wlodJC8 for presentation by Dr. Yuval Noah Harari).

I therefore urge all readers here, especially Christians to take a very serious view that our Lord Jesus is coming very soon to rapture us to meet Him in the air. This is not a matter for you to mock or scoffer because when you started to mock or scoffer on our Lord Jesus’s return to rapture us and live like the days of Noah or the days of Lots, you may be left behind. Remember, Satan hates Christians and you will be the target for him to torture. Furthermore, Satan’s main motive since he was cast out from heaven is to bring with him as many of God’s children to eternal destruction as he possibly could. For the non-Christians, I sincerely pray that you can come to accept Jesus as your Saviour in three simple steps:

As we read the news of Late Shinzo Abe, we must realise that tomorrow is not guaranteed. Right now is the time to come to Jesus. We do not know what will happen to us tomorrow or even the next hour! Where will you when you leave this earth? Please think about this! Jesus is the way and the truth and the life. No man come to the Father but by Him. (John 14:6)

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

We like to thank and praise You for giving us the blessed hope of meeting You and to be with You forever. Please give us the discerning spirit to know that time is running out. We see evil everywhere. We see turmoil and cruelty of all inconceivable kinds are converging by the hours. We just simply cannot keep up with the news. As You have told us that when we see all these things, our redemption draws near. We ask You help us to prepare, to live our lives pleasing and acceptable to You.

Thank you, Lord Jesus. We praise You in the Your Mighty Name of Yeshua. Amen!

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3 July 2022

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 12:1-3 (KJV)

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint of your minds.

MESSAGE

As I read Hebrews 12:1a (NKJV): “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by the great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us” it reminds me of a Chinese idiom ”人在做天在看” and a literal interpretation could simply mean: “Whatever we do heaven is watching whether we are doing good deeds or bad deeds.” As we ponder further this Chinese idiom and the Bible verse Hebrews 12:1a we can note that their meanings are quite similar: Be careful! Whatever we do, heaven is watching and heaven will be our witness to all those deeds that we do on earth – both the good one and the bad one.

The great cloud of witnesses which we just read in Hebrews 12:1a, we are not told exactly of their identities but we know the clouds appeared all over our heads wherever we go. Their identities may be obscured but they are there to stand as witnesses before our God on the judgment day. As we look up into the skies we will notice several of their characteristics. Clouds never stayed still. They are always moving, sometimes slow, sometimes fast and their shape never stayed the same. They seem to be always looking at us. The changing of the shape of the clouds seems trying to tell us or teach us something important in order for us to improve our relationship with God.

As we understand that in the court of justice in every country, what does a witness says is more important and his or her identities. If a witness can convince the judge what is being said and proved to be ‘nothing but the truth’ his or her identity is the least not important. The judge will believe regardless of the identity.

In Hebrews 12:1, it simply said it’s “great a cloud of witnesses” and we don’t know of their exact identities or their names. We know, however, clouds are created by God. We must therefore assume this great cloud of witnesses are created by God to watch over us and to be the witnesses when we stand on the judgment day. This is perhaps the only single most important divine assignment that God has assigned these clouds to do and that is to document everything we do so that on judgment day they will testify as divine witnesses for God. They are to stand as witnesses whether we put our very effort to run the race, to complete the race and to fight a good fight (2 Timothy 4:7). We can be very sure that that they will say “nothing but the truth” before our Creator who will judge the living and the dead. (2 Timothy 4:1;1 Peter 4:5). This is good news for those who follow Christ and of course bad news for those who rejected Him (Matthew 25:46). Are we are running the race and could prove beyond any reasonable doubt that we could pass with flying colours when we stand before our Creator? Can we truly said in front of these cloud of witnesses that “Yes. Jesus was always the centre of my life.” Can we truly said in front of these cloud of witnesses that “Yes. I had never asked for more than what God had already me.” Or were we be just staring at the cloud of witnesses and found ourselves dumbfounded when we were being asked to answer such questions? Remembers, the cloud of witnesses have no rest day and take no breakfast, lunch nor dinner, not even tea-break. They would see everything we did and they would hear every word we uttered! Nothing could escape their eyes and their ears.

When I think of the judgment day, it can be very scary. What would my answers be to these cloud of witnesses? Will they say you had not lived like Jesus and He was never the centre of your life? Will they say you have never praised Him enough to show your gratefulness? Will they say you have not prayed enough and when you prayed you always asked for material things? Will they say your character was not genuine, you look good from the outside but inside you have the heart of a viper? How were they described us: as humble or as proud man? Will they say you never lifted up a single finger when people needed your help?” Will they say you only prayed when were you were in trouble? Will they say you always wanted more and more no matter how much you were given? Will they say you always wanted others to forgive you but you always harbored unforgiveness and hatred against others? Will they say your heart was never filled with gratitude for all the things that God had blessed you? Will they say my eyes were filled with greed and envy? Were they said you were full of arrogance and pride? Will they say you always put other people down? Will they say you always discouraged others no matter how much others had tried? Will they say what you did in private were very unpleasing to God? Will they say what you did in public was only for show? Will they say you were a cheat and a hypocrite? Will they say your walk with Christ was non-existence? Will they say you have never open and read the word of God and meditate on it?   

These are very scary questions and I have no answers to them! Our actions, our decisions, our thoughts do really matter. The cloud of witnesses are watching us day and night, in season and out of season. We thus need to guard our mind against our negative and unholy seeds of thoughts, against envy, jealousy and guard our eyes, our ears, our mouth against anything unholy. I pray that the Holy Spirit will give each and everyone of us strength to fight the good fight. Above all, I pray that God’s grace is upon our life.

The mere thought of standing before these cloud of witnesses to testify me before our Holy God can give me sleepless nights. As Christians, we often look like disciples or would like to look like disciples of Jesus. Look can be as far as it goes but it can go without substance. On the outside, we may look like Christ but on the inside our hearts are far away from the Lord. This is a very scary thought as we can read in Matthew 7:21, 23 – Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of God. Then I will say to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers. And we also read in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 – “In the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” I am scared, very scared because will the cloud of witnesses proclaim to our Divine Judge that I was indeed one of these people!

The big question is: Are we living in the last days? Many church pastors who are very concerned about the end-times will undoubtedly say “Yes, we are now living in the last days and we must all prepare for the appearance of our Saviour.” I personally subscribed to this without any reservation. We are right now at the epic centre of what Prophet Isaiah has said: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20-21). Nothing can depart what Prophet Isaiah has prophesied even though these written over 2,700 years’ ago. The moral standard of the world can now best be explained as follows:

·      Then we permit evil.

·      Then we legalize evil.

·      Then we promote evil.

·      Then we celebrate evil.
·      Then we persecute or even prosecute those who call evil evil.

Dear Readers, regardless of whether you a believer or not a believer, tomorrow is not promised. We all need to come to our Living Saviour, Lord Jesus right away to ask Him to forgive our sins. Time is running out! We are all running at the last leg of the race and Lord Jesus is coming very, very soon. As one end-time preacher has commented: We are not in the last days. We are indeed in the last day of the last days! We are just few seconds away before Jesus’ return to this earth!  It is very important that we need to persist to live pleasing to God. Please do not take this lightly. Our Lord Jesus is coming. Remember what the Bible says: “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sowed, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7). Remember that when Noah, the preacher of righteousness took virtually all his times to just do two things – building the Ark as commanded by God (Genesis 6:14) and preaching righteous living to the people but no one believed him (2 Peter 2:5). Thankfully, he did not waste his time in building the Ark which saved him and his family from the catastrophic floods. Sadly, his preaching of righteousness was totally in vain because people just ignored him and continue to live like nothing would happen. In fact, the people around him mocked at him for building the huge boat right in the desert. No one had ever seen rain let alone was told a catastrophic flood would come, so they thought. I don’t think I need to go further because the story (or rather the history) of Noah and the flood is well-known to many people as we can read in the Book of Genesis.

Likewise, we must not let our Saviour Jesus died in vain on the cross. Every drop of His blood that He shed for us is precious without which we cannot be redeemed and be reconciled to God. He is going to deliver His promise and to come and catch us up to be with Him forever and ever! (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). May I appeal to you and to humbly to say that this is not a message of hopelessness. Quite to the contrary, this is a message of comfort as we know that our next eternal destination is to be with our Lord Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 4:18). The is our Blessed Hope.

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus

Help me to live my life so that I can provide to You satisfactory answers to the questions when ask by Your divine witnesses. We know it is difficult but help me. Let me come to You with a humble and trusting heart saying: Lord Jesus, I confess my sins and I ask for Your forgiveness. Help me also to forgive others and not to harbour any hatred for whatever things people had done to me. Help me to be grateful to You and to people around me who have given me help and encouragement. In all my doubts, perplexities and temptations, Jesus help me that I can only find comfort with You and to search You to help me to do all the things that are pleasing to You and to do the right decisions.

Dear Lord Jesus, I know You are always with me and You will never forsake me when my heart is cast down by failure at seeing no good coming from my efforts. Almighty Lord Jesus, I come before with my faith, begging You for comfort, guidance and counsel during the time of trials. Above all, help me to be grateful to You and always express my deep sense of gratitude for all the things You allow in life. Help me to fully understand that all things can only happen to me with Your permission (Job 1:12). As we read in Isaiah 43:19 and 1 Corinthians 10:13 we know Lord Jesus You will always make a way for me when there is no other way. In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I seek Your Help. Amen

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LIVING SMYRNA CHURCH OF CHRIST

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OR
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Living Smyrna Church of Christ (LSCC) is an independent house-church located in the western part of Singapore. The main objective of LSCC is to spread the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as part of the Great Commission which our Lord Jesus has commanded all His followers to go and make disciples of all nations.
(Mathew 16-20).

Please note that LSCC do not accept gifts or donations in any form as LSCC strongly believes by faith that Christ Jesus will provide all the necessary resources for this mission of Great Commission. LSCC pray that the messages and all the information posted here will encourage all brothers and sisters to get closer to our God, Christ Jesus. More importantly, it is the sincere prayer of LSCC that the messages posted here will prepare you to meet our Living Saviour, Lord Jesus when He appears in the air to take us to be with Him.
1 Thessalonians 4:17-18

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STATEMENT OF FAITH

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MISSION

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LSCC takes no credit of the messages posted here as some parts of the messages were copied or extracted from other authors. LSCC, however, takes full responsibilities if the view expressed in the messages are offensive, or in your view, not in accordance with the Word of God, the Bible. LSCC welcome all feedback, comments and covet your holy counsel and will take every effort to learn, correct and edit the message, if necessary, in order to reflect God’s truth as LSCC strongly believes in sharing only the absolute truth of God’s Word because the truth shall make us free. (John 8:32)

If you so wish, you are encouraged to send your feedback to:
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3 July 2022
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 12:1-3 (KJV)

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint of your minds.

MESSAGE

As I read Hebrews 12:1a (NKJV): “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by the great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us” it reminds me of a Chinese idiom ”人在做天在看” and a literal interpretation could simply mean: “Whatever we do heaven is watching whether we are doing good deeds or bad deeds.” As we ponder further this Chinese idiom and the Bible verse Hebrews 12:1a we can note that their meanings are quite similar: Be careful! Whatever we do, heaven is watching and heaven will be our witness to all those deeds that we do on earth – both the good one and the bad one.

The great cloud of witnesses which we just read in Hebrews 12:1, we are not told exactly of their identities but we know the clouds appeared all over our heads wherever we go. Their identities may be obscured but they are there to stand as witnesses before our God on the judgment day. As we look up into the skies we will notice several of their characteristics. Clouds never stayed still. They are always moving, sometimes slow, sometimes fast and their shape never stayed the same. They seem to always following and looking at us. The changing of the shape seems to tell us they are trying to teach or correct us on something that is important in order for us to improve our relationships with God.

As we understand that in the court of justice in every country, what does a witness says is more important then his or her identities. If a witness can convince the judge what is being said and proved to be ‘Nothing but the truth’ his or her identity is the least not important. The judge will believe regardless of the identity.

In Hebrews 12:1, it simply said it’s “great a cloud of witnesses” and we don’t know their exact identities or their names. We know, however, clouds are created by God. We must therefore assume this great cloud of witnesses are created by God to watch over us and to be the witnesses when we stand on the judgment day. This is perhaps the only single most important divine assignment that God has assigned to these clouds to do and that is to document everything we do so that on judgment day they will testify as divine witnesses for God. They are to stand as witnesses whether we put our very effort to run the race of living righteous and holy lives, to complete this race and to fight a good fight even though we are very likely to encounter difficulties (2 Timothy 4:7). We can be very sure that that they will say “Nothing but the truth” before our Creator who will judge the living and the dead. (2 Timothy 4:1;1 Peter 4:5). This is good news for those who follow Christ and of course bad news for those who rejected Him (Matthew 25:46). Are we are running our race to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that we are indeed sincerely running to win a prize from our Heavenly Father? Can we truly said in front of these cloud of witnesses that “Yes. Jesus was always the centre of my life.” Can we truly said in front of these cloud of witnesses that “Yes. I had never asked for more than what God had already given to me.” Or were we be just staring at the cloud of witnesses and found ourselves dumbfounded when we were being asked to answer such questions? Remembers, the cloud of witnesses have no rest day and take no breakfast, lunch nor dinner, not even tea-break. They would see everything we did and they would hear every word we uttered! Nothing could escape their eyes and their ears.

When I think of the judgment day, it can be very scary. What would my answers be to these cloud of witnesses? Will they say you had not lived like Jesus and He was never the centre of your life? Will they say you have never praised Him enough to show your gratefulness? Will they say you have not prayed enough and when you prayed you always asked for material things? Will they say your character was not genuine, you look good from the outside but inside you have the heart of a viper? Will they describe me as humble or proud man? Will they say you never lifted up a single finger when people needed your help?” Will they say you only prayed when were you were in trouble? Will they say you always wanted more and more no matter how much you were given? Will they say you always wanted others to forgive you but you always harbored unforgiveness and hatred against others? Will they say your heart was never filled with gratitude for all the things that God had blessed you? Will they say my eyes were filled with greed and envy? Were they said you were full of arrogance and pride? Will they say you always put other people down? Will they say you always discouraged others no matter how hard others had tried? Will they say what you did in private were very unpleasing to God? Will they say what you did in public was only for show? Will they say you were a cheat and a hypocrite? Will they say your walk with Christ was non-existence? Will they say you have never open and read the word of God and meditate on it?   

These are very scary questions and I have no satisfactory answers all of them! Our actions, our decisions, our thoughts do really matter. The cloud of witnesses are watching us day and night, in season and out of season. We thus need to guard our mind against our negative and unholy seeds of thoughts, against envy, jealousy and guard our eyes, our ears, our mouth against anything unholy. I pray that the Holy Spirit will give each and everyone of us strength to fight the good fight. Above all, I pray that God’s grace is upon our life.

The mere thought of standing before these cloud of witnesses to testify me before our Holy God can give me sleepless nights. As Christians, we often look like disciples or would like to look like disciples of Jesus. Look can be as far as it goes but it can go without substance. On the outside, we may look like Christ but on the inside our hearts are far away from the Lord. This is a very scary thought as we can read in Matthew 7:21, 23 – Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of God. Then I will say to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers. And we also read in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 – “In the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” I am scared, very scared because will the cloud of witnesses proclaim to our Divine Judge that I was indeed one of these people!

The big question is: Are we living in the last days? Many church pastors who are very concerned about the end-times will undoubtedly say “Yes, we are now living in the last days and we must all prepare for the appearance of our Saviour.” I personally subscribed to this without any reservation. We are right now at the epic centre of what Prophet Isaiah has said: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20-21). Nothing can depart from what Prophet Isaiah has prophesied even though these were written over 2,700 years’ ago. The moral standard of the world can now best be explained as follows:

And these are happening in many western countries! You are not allowed to call women women but people with ovaries! If you call a woman a woman you may be prosecuted. I wonder what men should be called! What a world we are living?

Dear Readers, regardless of whether you a believer or not a believer, tomorrow is not promised. We all need to come to our Living Saviour, Lord Jesus right away to ask Him to forgive our sins. Time is running out! We are all running at the last leg of the race and Lord Jesus is coming very, very soon. As one end-time preacher has commented: “We are not in the last days. We are indeed in the last day of the last days!” If I may add, we indeed are just few seconds away before Jesus’ return to this earth!  It is very important that we need to persist to live pleasing to God. Please do not take this lightly. Our Lord Jesus is coming. Remember what the Bible says: “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sowed, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7). Remember that when Noah, the preacher of righteousness took virtually all his times to just do two things – building the Ark as commanded by God (Genesis 6:14) and preaching righteous living to the people but no one believed him (2 Peter 2:5). Thankfully, he did not waste his time in building the Ark which saved him and his family from the catastrophic floods. Sadly, his preaching of righteousness was totally in vain because people just ignored him and continue to live like nothing would happen. In fact, the people around him mocked at him for building the huge boat right in the desert. No one had ever seen rain let alone was told a catastrophic flood would come, so they thought. I don’t think I need to go further because the story (or rather the history) of Noah and the flood is well-known to many people as we can read in the Book of Genesis.

Likewise, we must not let our Saviour Jesus died in vain on the cross. Every drop of His blood that He shed for us is precious without which we cannot be redeemed and be reconciled to God. He is going to deliver His promise and to come and catch us up to be with Him forever and ever! (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). May I appeal to you and to humbly to say that this is not a message of hopelessness. Quite to the contrary, this is a message of hope and comfort as we know that our next eternal destination is to be with our Lord Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 4:18). The is our Blessed Hope that God has promised to us. Praise God!

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus

Help me to live my life so that I can provide to You satisfactory answers to the questions when asked by Your divine witnesses. We know it is difficult but help me. Let me come to You with a humble and trusting heart saying: Lord Jesus, I confess my sins and I ask for Your forgiveness. Help me also to forgive others and not to harbour any hatred for whatever things people had done to me. Help me to be grateful to You and to people around me who have given me help and encouragement. In all my doubts, perplexities and temptations, Jesus help me that I can only find comfort with You and to search You to help me to do all the things that are pleasing to You and to do the right decisions.

Dear Lord Jesus, I know You are always with me and You will never forsake me when my heart is cast down by failure at seeing no good coming from my efforts. Almighty Lord Jesus, I come before with my faith, begging You for comfort, guidance and counsel during the time of trials. Above all, help me to be grateful to You and always express my deep sense of gratitude for all the things You allow in life. Help me to fully understand that all things can only happen to me with Your permission (Job 1:12). As we read in Isaiah 43:19 and 1 Corinthians 10:13 we know Lord Jesus You will always make a way for me when there is no other way. In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I seek Your Help. Amen

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26 June 2022
Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18 (KJV)

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

MESSAGE

In 1 Thessalonians 4:17 which we just read is one of the most debated scriptures within the church community and I am very puzzled why should this verse cause so much disagreements among church leaders even school children can easily understand the meaning of the message of this scripture verse that Apostle Paul was conveying to us. A simple reading of the verse would give us a clear message that God will come down at an appointed time from heaven and will catch up all the believers – both the dead and those who are still alive – to be with Him in the air. This catching up of the believers referred to as the Rapture of the Church has caused disagreements within the church to the point that it is in a dire danger of dividing the church.

Those of us who believe in the rapture have been called everything from a conspiracy theorist to a rapture-nut looking aimlessly (and hopelessly) to the skies for the appearing of the Blessed Hope of the return of Jesus. I am absolutely sure that a day will come when the trumpet sound of Jesus’ return sounded and catch up all the believers to meet Him in the air then it will put to a final end to any disagreement once and for all! Thankfully, we are going to hear this trumpet sound very soon as the world is now perfectly set for our Lord’s imminent return to remove His Church out of this world. The scripture verse we just read: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them (that is those who already died) in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air” paints a picture worth a thousand words because this will tighten the grip on the lives of many people who are wondering what on earth is going on and asking the question: Is the world is fallen apart?” Quite to the contrary, for believers who are strong in their faith, the world is not falling apart. Rather it is now putting in place for our Lord Jesus to deliver His promise to remove His Church out of this world as He has promised when He told his disciples: In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:2-3)

As we look at the current events we can easily relate that these chaotic events are happening everywhere are converging for the rapture to take place. This prophetic convergence of world’s chaotic events is happening not on a daily, weekly nor monthly basis but it is converging on an hourly basis. These are the signs indicating to us that we are closer than ever before for Lord Jesus to return. The prophetic convergence of the world events is sending to us very urgent message that we are running the last leg of the race towards the Blessed Hope that Jesus Christ will come at any moment to take His Church to be with Him. This convergence of the world events is like a desert mirage that depicts the signs of the great tribulation awaiting to scorch the earth but not until the Church is removed from the world. The wait for our oasis which is the rapture of the Church will bring us to meet our Lord in the air is going to take place very soon. It is no wonder why we often find ourselves sympathetically overwhelmed by the love of our friends and relatives to see why they are still living like in the days of Noah and in the days of Lot when we see people are just living like nothing would happen. It is my sincere prayer that we all can come and view through a divine telescope that we are indeed in the last days of the church age. I don’t really mean that our beloved friends and relatives are living in wickedness or gross sinfulness like the people in Noah and in Lot’s days. What I mean is that many people are living like our lives will be back to normal of the pre-Covid of 2019. It’s a dream we all would like to have – back to normal – but, alas, this is not going to happen. The Covid-era that started in 2020 is heralding a completely new world and a global organisation, the World Economic Forum (WEF), is very open about it. The few elite leaders (and many people would prefer to call them “ the few cult leaders”) of the World Economic Forum (WEF) comprising mainly kings, presidents and prime ministers of major countries and the super-rich business billionaires has started their evil agenda of “Covid-19 Great Reset”. This Covid-19 Great Reset is nothing more than to operationalise all available digital tools (like implementing digital currency to control global economy; micro-chipping to track people of our every movement including but not limiting to what we buy, what we sell, what we eat, where we go; issuing of health/medical mandates enforcing compulsory ‘vaccination’ (or rather gene therapy), punishing people who refused to take in this gene therapy (which is simply controversial and dangerous). The effect of the health/medical mandates is to control the world population by creating fear into people that unless you take this ‘vaccination’ you are going to lose your job, you cannot go to attend classes, you are going to be very sick and many more. This is just a beginning. The WEF together with the World Health Organisation (WHO) are now quite shamefully assuming the self-appointed leadership of a world government and they will escalate with full force into something beyond our wildest imagination. Their ultimate goal of the Covid-19 Great Reset is put in place tools that will allow these few elite cult leaders to exercise absolute control of the population to ensure all their demands must be strictly complied with no matter what the demands are! In fact, the work of the Covid-19 Great Reset (which is an internationally political vehicle used as a cover for the formation of One World Government) is already at an advanced stage. Christians who have dived deep into the Book of Revelation are not surprised by all these because the “person” behind the Great Reset is the Evil One, Satan. This is Satan’s final all-out war to gain absolute control of the earth. From the very beginning when Satan was cast out of heaven after he had successfully deceived and tempted Adam and Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil at the Garden of Eden, he is working day and night, 24/7, 365 days to deceive God’s children. Let’s be honest to ourselves, the world is a place full of evil since Adam and Eve had disobeyed God to eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. It is time now for God’s to fully intervene by ending the church age – that is remove His Church out of this world – because as believers of Jesus we are told that God has not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:9). The removal of the Church will fulfill this prophetic message that, we as God’s children, will escape the wrath.

Thankfully, the precious blood of Jesus that He shed for us on the Cross of Calvary cleansed us from all our sins and unrighteousness and while waiting for our Lord Jesus to return, we can now live holy, just, pure, and blameless life in obedience to God’s commandments. At the same time, we must remind ourselves that we are to live as sojourners or pilgrims of this world. Hence, we do not conform to this fallen world (Romans 12:1-2) neither do we “fit in” among those who are worldly (I Peter 4:1-5).  Sure, there are a lot of reasons for us to find ourselves vexed as we are still living in this sin-sick world (but not of the world) (John 15:19). We thus need to equip ourselves with the word of God that gives us peace, comfort and the Blessed Hope of His imminent return.

When our Lord Jesus was asked by His disciples when He would come again, our Lord Jesus would always point to the days of Noah and the days of Lot. In fact, we are now living in the same (or even worst) evil situations compared to that of Noah and Lot’s days! These remind us that during Noah’s day, God sent a catastrophic flood that destroyed all the earth’s inhabitants, except Noah, his family and those animals that God had commanded Noah to bring to the Ark, because the people rejected Noah’s preaching of righteous living and refused Noah’s warning that there would be a catastrophic flood. Likewise, in Lot’s days God sent fire and brimstones to Sodom and Gomorrah and turning the cities of Sodom or Gomorrah into ashes except Lot and his two daughters whom God had found them to be righteous. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah were living in great sins and extreme wickedness so much so that the word “sodomy” is etymologically associated with gross perversion of sexual activities and the sexual disease of gonorrhoea is also etymologically associated with the name Gomorrah.

We can now see many countries are inundated with floods of unprecedented scale and earthquakes in many places. Take heed, this is a stern warning for us to truly repent so that we can be caught up with the Lord before the next prophetic cosmic and geologic events start that will result in extreme destruction of the earth. The next prophetic events will bring much sufferings to all the inhabitants such as the destructions of the earth by fire (very likely giant asteroids falling from the skies that will cause huge inferno across the globe), great earthquakes in diverse places which will result in global tsunami, much of the forests will be burnt up, countless crops will be destroyed by locusts, many rivers will turn into blood and so on. It will be a terrible time of untold suffering, worse than any other from the beginning of the world and there will never be anything like it again and the suffering is so great that God has to cut it short otherwise no one would survive (Matthew 24: 21-22).

So, what can we all do about this? Nothing! Absolutely nothing because the prophetic clock of God’s wrath is ticking fast! So, please realise that tomorrow is not promised. Rapture of the Church could take place at any moment. Today, right now is the time for each of us to turn to our Saviour in order to escape the wrath of God because God did not appoint us to His wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:9); for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son whosoever believed in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).

Let’s us pray.

Dear Heavenly Father,

We come before You to ask of you to forgive us our sins. We believe You are the resurrected Christ and through Your resurrection, You have conquered the greatest of all human enemy – Death.

We acknowledge and thank you for Your love by sending Your only Son, Jesus to die for us on the cross and took away our sins. We pledge to repent and to walk in accordance with Your will. We know that the prophetic clock of Your wrath is ticking fast and we urgently ask of You to spare us from the Great Tribulation by including us as your children in Your Church when You come to take us to meet You in the air.

Lord Jesus, help us to repent daily and help us to be well-equipped with Your holy words as we continue to be vexed by life challenges that we face each day. Your holy words always bring comfort to us and we truly want to thank and praise You for Your holy words.

In Your Mighty Name we pray. Amen!

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19 June 2022
Scripture Reading: Psalm 90:10 (KJV)

The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

MESSAGE


According to the World Health Organisation, the average global life expectancy in 2019 was about 73. It is amazing that this level of life expectancy is very close what was recorded in the Bible many hundred years’ ago! Most scientists estimate that the average life expectancy just one thousand years’ was less than 40 years. So, how did Moses know that the world population’s life expectancy would be around 70 to 80 towards the close of the church age (and we are now at the end of the church age)? Common-sense dictates that Moses who wrote this must have been led by the Holy Spirit because God is omniscient and He knows everything including how long we can live at any point in time.

Is this ‘bad’ news?” Certainly not! On the contrary, for many of us as Christians we should take comfort that we don’t need to live to few hundred years like many ancient people that we are told in the Book of Genesis. In this Book we are told that people lived to many hundreds of years. For example, Methuselah died at age 969, the longest person ever lived as recorded in the Book of Genesis, Jared died at age 962, Noah lived to 950, Adam 930 as well as many people who lived to several hundred years old. Before the Noah’s flood, it was very common for people to live to few hundred years.

Can you imagine you can go on living for another 250 years? And assuming that you can still stay healthy and continue working, would you really like to live that long? Think again! Do you seriously want to continue to do what you are now doing for another 200 years? Regardless of what job or occupation you are engaged in, it’s too common to hear from people that it will be their most wonderful day if they could just retire right away. Without exception, everyone of us is looking forward to retirement. Life is too stressful (and meaningless as we read in Psalm 90:10) on earth and almost every one of us is praying hard that we could just simply retire right away. But will retirement solve our problems? Will getting another big promotion will solve our career problems? When our children grown up, will this take away all our family problems? When our investments have doubled or even quadrupled will this solved all our financial problems? Obviously, these will not solve our life problems no matter what circumstances we are in. Quite to the contrary, we will face other life problems and challenges when we have grown up children, when we got our dreamt promotion, when our investments had doubled or quadrupled. We may be happier when some of these events materialised but usually for a short while, and we are back again the where we started – questioning the meaning of life.

As we all know, the longer we are on this earth, the more life challenges we are going to face and often they came with greater intensity and in a very unexpectedly manner. Even today when we are living in a relatively peaceful country, we are all still struggling for a ‘better’ life which no one can give a single and convincing explanation of what constitutes ‘better’ life. We may be the fortunate minority to live in a relatively peaceful country compared to many other countries. For this, we want to thank and praise God but we must not take it for granted that it will be the same for many years to come. And let’s face it, many of us are questioning the “meaning of life” when we encountered unexpected life tsunami. Our life will be totally devastated when a phone call from our doctor informed us that we have a stage four cancer and the chances of surviving is very slim, or a police visit and tell us that one of our children got into a very serious accident, or our boss called us into his office and told us that today is our last day of our work, and we still have young school-going children and also have a housing mortgage to pay, or we have just lost all our savings when we are about to retire because the company that we invested our money in has gone bankrupt, and this list can go on. Many of these situations can happen to us in a very unexpected way! I am sure some of us may have already encountered situations like these in one form or another but prayerfully we can pray to our living God for His mercies and that He will pull us through. Nonetheless, when we face situations like these, the question on “the meaning of life” will vociferously pop up – what is happening to my life? How could this happen to me?

The questions as well as the answers to “the “meaning of “life” can be found in the word of God, the Bible. King Solomon the wisest men who ever lived (and he is also considered by some as one of the most foolish having married 700 wives and 300 concubines!) and with all his riches he too had also questioned the meaning of life as we can read what he wrote in the Book of Ecclesiastes 1:1-10:

The Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem says: Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun? One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever. The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, And hastens to the place where it arose. The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit. All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again. All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing. That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us.

In plain language, we can summarise from these verses that from the very day we were born our life can simply be described as follows: We wake up, we eat, we got educated, we got a good job, we go to work, we get married, we have family and we grow old. This is the cycle that everyone will have to go through and it will bring us to our final destination, and that is – death which no one can escape. Regardless of who we are, this is just simply everyone has to go through and the longer we live, the longer we will have to go through our seemingly never-ending cycle of catching up our daily activities – eat, sleep, work and back to the same cycle. Thankfully, as children of God, we don’t need to go through this for the next 250 years! If we are in our 40s, we just need to go through this for perhaps another 30 to 40 years and prayerfully our body is still healthy for us to endure our life struggle. Sadly, many people who retired in their 50s or 60s are finding it hard to barely survive, let alone to live a meaningful life. These may be due to sickness, finance, relationship and a host of other difficulties.

As children of God, we will be able to live much, much longer than the oldest man has ever lived, but not in this corrupt world. Thankfully, we are now a stranger and pilgrims on this earth and as we all know our days on earth are as a shadow and without hope. (1 Chronicles 29:15). As we continue to dive more deeply into the word of God, the Bible, we will soon discover that God has a wonderful plan for all of us when we have ended our earthly pilgrimage. Our next destination – and a permanent one – will be the heavenly destination which Jesus has promised to take us to as recorded in John 14:1-3: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

These are the very words from Jesus himself, and He will deliver His promise. He never fails. Eschatologically-speaking, for true-believers of Jesus Christ, our life on this earth is going to end one day and we will proceed to the journey of eternal life. We will all be changed into an incorruptible bodies that are going to last forever as we can read In 1 Corinthians 15:51-55:  Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

Similarly, Apostle Paul has again given this message to comfort us that after we have completed our earthly pilgrimage our next journey will be the everlasting life that our Creator has promised to us: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

As we can just read in 1 Corinthian 15:51-55 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, what Apostle Paul was referring to is that Jesus will come to catch (or rapture) us up to meet Him in the cloud and to bring us to our heavenly home that He has prepared for us. It is very comforting that Jesus is coming personally to receive us. He is not sending His angels to receive us. What a glorious and blessed hope we have!

Let us get ready and get prepared to meet our Lord. You may say: Oh, yes. I have said a sinner’s prayer 5 years’ or 10 years’ ago and now I am saved. Really? Is this sufficient to achieve salvation? We must also continuously doing all we can to build closer relationship with our Living God, Jesus. These are: our daily repentance – confess our sins and sincerely turn away from all our evil ways. This is not a choice but a commandment from God; daily reading of the word of God to get to know God more each day in order to understand His will; spread the Good News of the Birth of Jesus, his Trial, his Death on the Calvary Cross and his Resurrection, and thanking and praising Jesus always for His redeeming blood that He has shed for us on the cross at Calvary. It is only through the blood of Jesus that we are redeemed so that we can spend our stress-free life in heaven with our God forever and ever! (John 3:16).  

As we can read in the news or watch on the TV, the world events are all heading towards a total chaos of biblical proportion – politically, socially, morally, economically, geologically, cosmically, just about anything and everything. What we are seeing now – pestilence, floods, wildfires, volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, food shortage, high inflation, wars, rumours of wars, riots in many countries, sexual perversion, immorality, gross corruption in high places, formation of one world government, formation of one world religion, formation of one global economy coupled with the implementation of programmable digital currency, mandatory vaccination (or rather forced gene therapy) and so on are only a tiny glimpse compare to those apocalyptic catastrophes that are coming to this earth once the church is removed (or raptured) out of this world. For those who left behind, they will see more catastrophic global tsunami events which will inflict untold suffering to human on earth! For those Christians who are familiar with the Book of Revelation I am sure you all know what I am referring to. This will be the seven-year period of Great Tribulation. Time is running out. We all must get ready to meet Jesus by our daily repentance, and continue to spread the Good News of Jesus. Jesus is coming very soon! Repent and be saved! (Matthew 3:2; Mark 1:15). It is my sincere hope that we all can come to acknowledge Jesus as our Saviour and that we can be spared from the Great Tribulation that is going to come very soon!

Let’s us pray.

Dear Lord Jesus,

We come before You to ask for Your forgiveness and help us that we repent of all our sins daily. We ask that You will come soon to deliver us from this corrupt world. Sadly, there are now many scoffers just like those in Noah’s day. Those scoffers whom Noah had reached out to them refused to listen to live a righteous life but still continue to live a life of debauchery. They scoffed at Noah’s for building the huge Ark in the middle of the desert. Lord, this also reminds us of Your message in 2 Peter 3:3 – 4 that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”

Dear Lord, we know that we are now living in the last days because we are witnessing the present-day global chaos that are very, very similar to what You have told us in 2 Timothy 3:2-4 that in the last days “for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”

Lord, it is thus very important that You send only right people to us so that we can have holy communion and fellowship with the people You sent to us. Help us to tell people that we are living in the last days and You are coming very soon. In the Mighty Name of Jesus we pray. Amen!

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12 June 2022
Scripture Reading: Revelation 1:3 (KJV)

Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

MESSAGE

As a Christian for over 40 years, it is interesting (and quite puzzling) for me to realise why the Book of Revelation is not preached as often as it should be in the church pulpit. Unlike the four Books of the Gospel: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John that collectively known as the Good News they are frequently used in church worship services. We like, therefore, to thank and praise God for these four Books of the Gospel which God has given to us this unquestionable biblical truth of how we all can be reconciled to our Creator. Another interesting point I have noted is that even fervent Christians who are called to evangelise and share the Good News to unbelievers used primarily Good News of Jesus (and rightly so) but very, very rarely shared the prophetic words that are written in the Book of Revelation. Needless to say that the messages in four Books of the Gospel are the most powerful messages that have changed the life of many sinners including myself. It has stood the test of time! All glory to Your Name, Lord Jesus.

As a Christian for over 40 years, I can testify that I have seldom heard about the preaching on the Book of Revelation. Those preachers who are very concerned about the end of the church age which is the main prophetic message written in the Book of Revelation who often preached these prophetic words written in the Book of Revelation are the minority. They too find it hard to understand why this prophetic message is not frequently preached by their fellow preachers even though this is the only book in the Bible that God has promised to bless those who read it (Revelation 1:3). Sadly, the messages in the Book of Revelation are also seldom read to the congregation.   

I do not know exactly why these prophetic messages concerning the end of the church age as written in the Book of Revelation are not being preached or shared as often as it should be but let me give my personal reasons having researching into this topic for quite sometimes.

First, when people open the Book of Revelation and begin to read, they are likely to become frightened and perhaps confused because most of the messages, unlike the four gospels, are apocalyptic message that will lead to terrifying and horrifying destruction of the world and its inhabitants. For example, Revelation 6:13 tells us events like great earthquakes and stars (most probably asteroids) falling from the skies with destructive powers unknown to mankind and in Revelation chapter 9 it tells us that that there will be great intense cosmic chaos that will burn up one-third of the earth, one-third of the river will turn into blood and the drinking water will become bitter and poisonous, locusts coming up out of the bottomless pit with destructive power comparable to that of scorpions to torment people. And in Revelation 13:16-17 it tells us that unless you take the mark of the beast you will not be able to buy and sell and there will be hyper-inflation that caused the prices of essential items like food to be very expensive (Revelation 6:6). Due to the combination of these events billions of people are going die. So, what is your chance of survival when two-third of the population are going to die resulting from these events? These are frightening and terrifying pictures and reading the prophetic messages as written in the Book of Revelation can be the thing of nightmares for many of them.

Another reason is that many people have said it is very difficult to understand because the messages are symbolic in many aspects but I have to disagree. It is not difficult to understand but rather it is difficult to accept as the prophetic messages in most chapters of this Book tell us all but terrifying and horrifying news. Many simply cannot accept it but they failed to understand that this Book was written two thousand years ago. Even though this was written two thousand years ago but the pictures as depicted in this Book are telling us in advance that towards the end of the Church Age (and we are now at!) there will be wars that will use weapons with destructive power that of nuclear bombs (which today we read that Russia is now threatening Ukraine and the world that it does not rule out the use of nuclear bombs); a digital economy that requires the use of numbers to buy and sell (which today we all know this as virtual banking that we all are now so dependent upon), the prices of basic essentials are going to be very expensive (which we are already experiencing hyper-inflation of petrol and many food items), the rise of one world government (which we now hear very often the the term New World Order from world leaders at the World Economic Forum),one world religion (which we now see Pope Francis trying to gather all religious to prepare for the one world religion). Anyone will find it very uncomfortable to read such things especially when these are from most popular book the world has ever printed – The Bible where hundreds of prophecies have come to pass with pin-point accuracy like the birth, the trial, the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus, the establishment of Jewish nation Israel in May 1948, severe shortage of food causing world-wide famine and many more. For example, just read Revelation 6:6 and it will send cold chill into our spine because it is really happening right now in many parts of the world! In this message, it tells us that towards the end of the church age many will need one day’s wages just to buy enough food to feed our family for only one day! Imagine a loaf of bread cost $ 10 and your daily wage is also around $10 dollar!

And, Oh yes! This is very bad and terrifying news that you would only expect to see in movie. But these are terrifying only when you are non-believers of Jesus Christ and refuse to accept His gift of salvation. For believers, they should not be afraid. This is because the messages in the Book of Revelation are God’s end-time restoration plan to bring about a new Earth devoid of all sins and sicknesses. It will be a place of perfect peace. Who then are the inhabitants of this new Earth? Answer: All truly born-again Christians who have accepted His gift of salvation and acknowledge that Jesus is the Saviour.

It is God’s redemptive plan for Christians who are truly born-again will first be taken out of the earth (or raptured). Those terrifying events as described in chapter 9 will only occur after the Church of Jesus Christ is raptured out of this earth. This doctrine of the rapture is clearly given in apostle Paul’s epistle in 1 Thessalonian 4:15-17: “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep (that is those who already died). For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up (that is raptured) together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

Praise God! We like to thank and praise God because we will be spared from those apocalyptic events described in the Book of Revelation, in particular chapter 9. Just like in Noah’s day when it was only until Noah’s family entered into the Ark then the flood came. Also in Lot’s day when it was until Lot and his two daughters had left the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, God then started to send sulfur and fire to destroy the two cities where all sinful and unrepented sinners were turned into ashes. Similarly, the apocalyptic events at the close of the Church Age that we read in the Book of Revelation will start to pour out to this earth only after God has removed His Church (that is all the true believers of Christ) out of this world as we can read in 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8: “And now you know what is restraining, that he (that is antichrist) may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He (that is the Holy Spirit) who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless (that is the anti-christ) will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.”

In the above message of 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8, apostle tells us that once the Restrainer (that is the Holy Spirit and the Church of Jesus Christ) is completely taken out of this world all hell will break loose, so to speak. This is because without the presence of the Retrainer, the antichrist which receives the authority and power from Evil One will be able to advance his satanic plan to bring untold suffering to those who are left behind, namely the unbelievers. Sadly to say that even ‘Christians’ who either don’t believe in the rapture and scoffered at when they were told about the impending appearance of our Lord and Saviour to rapture the Church will also be subject to the wrath because they are like the people in Noah’s day refused to believe that God will come and deliver them from the flood. Even though the people during Noah’s time had witnessed Noah building the huge Ark, they were indifferent. They continued to live a life of wickedness (Genesis 6:5-8) but Noah as a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5) and also lived a righteous life and God found grace in His eyes. The flood finally came and destroyed all the inhabitants except Noah, his family and those animals that God had commanded Noah to bring to the Ark.

Concerning the rapture of the Church, take heed, if you missed this event, you are going to miss it forever because it will not be repeated. Once the Church is removed from this world, the antichrist will be revealed (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8) and he will begin to operationalise his evil plan to torture the inhabitants who are left behind in full strength and full force. This will be the period known as the Great Tribulation. During this period of Great Tribulation which is expected to last seven years, the antichrist with the power and authority given to him by the Evil One will control, rule and torture God’s most precious creation – human – at will. No one can stop him. This is Satan’s ultimate goal to torture human and to bring them to eternal destruction. The only way for all of us to escape from this Great Tribulation is for Jesus to come and catch us up to be with Him. Unless you are also a member of the Body of Christ (that is the Church), you will be left behind to go through the Great Tribulation. You can read all the Great Tribulation events in greater details in the Book of Revelation. But don’t be afraid. In fact, God has promised to bless those who read the prophecy written in this Book. The greatest blessing after you have read and understand this prophetic book, I believe, is that you will come and acknowledge Jesus is your Saviour and live a life with full expectation from His coming to rapture you out of this world. The Book of Revelation initially may seem to be horrifying and terrifying but it ends with a very important message of God’s everlasting love for His people. It is truly a message of redemption and reconciliation to God. It is never meant to frighten or scare you. I now know why God has categorically told us that all who read the prophetic words in the Book of Revelation will be blessed!

I like to conclude this message by sharing with you the following Bible verses found in 2 Peter 3:1 – 7: Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”

I plead with you all that the doctrine of rapture this is very real. I plead with you all that do not mock or scoffer what I have told you! Jesus is coming very, very soon! May God bless you the reading of the Book of Revelation!

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank you, for giving us so much. Even though we know that when we piled up our sins that we have committed they can reach as high up into the heaven! Yet, Lord Jesus, You have already laid out the plan for us to reconcile us to You even before we were born. We want to say, THANK YOU with all our hearts. Often, we have taken for granted that since the fall of Adam and Eve, You are taking every minute of Your time for the last six thousand years to bring us back to You. You have put in a complete redemptive plan for us to reconcile with You. We know Jesus that the time is now ripe for You to take us to be with You before the start of the Great Tribulation. Help us to wait patiently for You and while we are waiting, help us to live our lives holy and acceptable to You. Help us to go to your word, the Bible and read them as often as the time permits. Help us to pray always, thanking and praising You.

In the Mighty Name of Jesus we pray. Amen!

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5 June 2022 – Scripture Reading: Mark 4:35-40 / Psalm 55:15 (KJV)

Mark 4:35-40 – And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

Psalm 55:17 – Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.

MESSAGE

Over the last three years almost everyone is facing unprecedented life challenges largely due to a new virus – corona virus, notoriously known also as Covid-19 virus. Initially we were assured that the transmission was from bats to human and was very unlikely that the virus could be transmitted from human to human. Those who worn masks to prevent transmission of the virus were ridiculed even by senior government officials! But not too long later, we were told a completely different story. The virus was discovered to be very infectious and can be transmitted from human to human. All hell broke loose!  So to speak. Government across the world mandated that wearing of face masks and is compulsory. Those who failed to wear the face masks were fined quite heavily and repeated offenders could be jailed.

The story started to develop from bad to worst and we were (and still are) unable to really know who is telling the true or who is not. But we all know that hardly six months into the Covid-19, it later became the worst global pandemic the world has ever seen for the last hundred years. The virus is still spreading quite uncontrollably in other countries.

The situation became more dire when the “vaccine” that was supposed to prevent the infection was mandated. Unless we take this highly questionable mRNA vaccine (which many scientists said is more of gene therapy than a vaccine), our daily life will be severely disrupted. For example, we could lose our jobs, we could not go to do our shopping or marketing, college students who were not vaccinated were not allowed to attend classes, we were not allowed to visit our sick relatives in hospitals when they were admitted to hospitals (even though they might be our parents or children), we could not have any visitors to our home – not even our parents, we were not allowed to eat in food-courts and many, many other restrictions placed on the people. Quite literally, for those refused to take the vaccination, they were all like under “house-arrest!”

This Covid-19 storm caught everyone one of us by surprise and no one could expect that such a storm could happen on such a global scale. Was (or rather is) this a conspiracy theory and is it a pre-cursor for something bigger to come? Is this a global conspiracy by governments as part of their plan to control the people? Many thought that this Covid-19 storm is just a rehearsal for the world’s elite few to form a One World Government. I think your guess is as good as mine. But let’s not speculate further except for one thing we are very certain about. As we are told in the Bible, towards the end of the church age our days will be like Noah and Lot’s days (Matthew 24:37-39; Luke 17:28) and we would be facing huge storms that could wipe out all unrepented sinners just like the flood in Noah’s day and the fire and brimstone poured out from the sky as in Lot’s day destroying all the wicked inhabitants in Sodom and Gomorrah.

As born-again Christians, we have the Good News from the Word of God, the Bible. There were many times that God provided protection for His people from natural storms. While we still seek shelter from physical storms today, we can look to scripture for encouraging words during the storms of our life regardless of the nature of the storms. Times of grief and despair can be represented by storms as moments to endure and our endurance will not be in vain because Jesus has promised to come and take us up to be with Him (John 14:3).

In the Book of Mark 4:35-40, it provides us the wisdom and guidance to get through the storms of our lives and follow the path of God through the times of trial, of great storm. In this message here, we can see even when Jesus was just sleeping next to the disciples they were not spared from storm. We can indeed learn a lot about Jesus, about ourselves, and about the storms we face in life.

In this “Storm Theology” when a crisis comes into our life, we undoubtedly raised two questions: Is God a good God or a bad God for allowing it to happen? For many of us as believers, we may start to pray and cry out to God but we often don’t seem to hear anything from God. Is God sleeping just like what the disciples thought Lord Jesus was sleeping when the sea water coming to the boat was about to sink the boat. (Mark 4:35-40). Like the disciples, we often don’t seem to see that our God as caring when we are facing our storm of life.

One thing to really learn about storms in life in these verses is that is has the ability to bring to the surface what’s really inside of us. Storms will reveal to us whether we live by fear or by faith. Storms will reveal to us if our heart is full of trust or doubt. The way we react to God during a storm reveals the truth about ourselves, whether we want it to or not.

There are six lessons we can learn from the verses we just read – Mark 4: 35-40:

Number one, storms are test.

Storms are unique to each of us and sadly sometimes it due to no fault of us.
It is during the storms of life we discover who or what we really believe. Storms have a way of revealing the truth about us. After all, the hearing of God’s Word is intended to produce faith (Romans 10:17) and faith must always be tested. It is not enough for us merely to learn a lesson or be able to repeat a teaching. We must also be able to apply that lesson by faith, and that is one reason why God allows for trials, difficulties, and storms to come into our lives. Storms are the tests and opportunities to demonstrate our trust in God.

Number two, storms can happen suddenly.

This fierce and violent storm happen suddenly. That’s the way life is. One moment you are doing fine and the next the bottom falls out. One phone call and we find ourself in the middle of storm. One doctor’s visit or one conversation and we could in a storm. God does not try to trick us with this. He is not trying to hide something. God is upfront and honest about the storms of life.

Number three, storms can cause us to doubt God.

In verse 38 which we just read, it says, Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a pillow. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Master, don’t you care that we’re going to perish?” There is a fierce and violent storm occurring. The sea is being shaken. The hurricane like winds are blowing the boat all directions, the waves are crashing over into the boat, the boat is filling up with water, the disciples (who are experienced fishermen and know the sea) are yelling do this and do that. They are in a panic. They are thinking they are about to die. And where is Jesus? He is “sleeping at the back of the boat on a pillow.” We often too felt that God is not responding to our trials or just don’t care. This is absolutely not true as we can read below.

Number four, storms can teach you about God.

In verse 39 it says, When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Peace, be still.” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. This is an incredible picture of the incarnation of God, where we see both aspects of Jesus. We see the humanity of Jesus – as He was totally exhausted and He needed rest like all human – and we see the deity of Jesus – He can calm the storm by His spoken word: Peace, be still. Jesus has displayed His omnipotence and power over the nature as the Creator of all things (Colossians 1:16).

Number five, storms can teach us about ourself.

In verse 40 it says, Jesus asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” A fierce storm comes out of nowhere during the night. Jesus was sleeping from exhaustion. The waves start crashing up against the boat. The sea starts pouring in the boat. The disciples have lost control. They begin to fear. They can’t believe Jesus is still asleep through this so they go to Him shouting at him to wake Him up and when He awakens they say, “Master, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” Jesus immediately rebukes the wind and waves. They obey, the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Jesus then turns and says, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Our concern about drowning in difficult challenges is actually normal and reasonable. But Jesus rebuked them not so much about their reaction to the storm, but their reaction to Jesus in the storm. They called Jesus “Master” and not Lord impliedly questioning the Lordship of Jesus and Jesus that might not be able to help them as the circumstances they were facing required the help from God (and not from a teacher or master). Instead, they should have asked: Lord, can you help us?  So when Jesus has calmed the waves, He has truly demonstrated His Lordship.

Number six, storms will stretch your faith. 

In verse 41 says, The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!” Up to this point, the disciples knew Jesus was special and unique with divine power and authority. Again, many of us are no different from the disciples. We want to see results – tangible results and we want the results fast. Unless we see the results, we may not be convinced that Jesus can help or answer our prayer.

Let’s Pray

Lord Jesus,

We come to your Throne of Grace to seek Your help. We pray that:

When crisis comes into our life, we undoubtedly started to pray and cry out to You, O God but we often don’t seem to hear anything from You. Often, we feel like You are sleeping and You are not concerned with our cry just like what the disciples thought that You were sleeping when the sea water crashing in was about to sink the boat. Lord Jesus, help us to have great faith in You no matter the nature of storms we are facing. Lord Jesus, help us to always be prepared and to pray to You each day, and not to wait for the storms to hit us. Help us to practice sincerely and faithfully and to dedicate to You, our Holy God the following prayer as frequently as time permits us:

Dear Lord Jesus,

I come to your Throne of Grace to seek Your help. I pray that:

In every need, remind me come to You first and with a humble heart crying out,
Jesus, help me.

In all my doubts, perplexities and temptations,
Jesus, help me.

In hours of loneliness, weariness and trials,
Jesus, help me.

In failure of my plans and hopes, in disappointments, troubles and sorrows, Jesus, help me.

When other fail me and Your grace alone can assist me,
Jesus, help me.

When I throw myself on Your tender love, as my Lord and Saviour,
Jesus, help me.

When my heart is cast down by failure at seeing no good coming from my efforts or from the efforts of others, Jesus help me.

When I am ill and my head and hands cannot work, and I am lonely,
Jesus, help me.

Always, always, in spite of weariness, falls and shortcomings of every kind, Jesus help me and never forsake me.

Almighty Lord, I come with my faith, begging You for comfort in all my difficulties small or big. Do not forsake me, My Lord. Open Your doors and Your Almighty Arms and give that tranquility and great calmness that You so desire to give me.

Almighty Lord, assist me to find shelter in Your celestial bounty forever. Only Your holy shelter could provide me all the safety that I need.

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I seek Your Help. Amen!

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28 May 2022
Scripture Reading: Exodus 20:7 (KJV)

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

MESSAGE

It is important to know that our name does define who we are. When our friends call us name that is not our actual name and perhaps just to make fun of our name we can feel upset or even angry. And rightly so because our name is very personal to us and there is no better way to express the importance of a person’s name than a quote from a Chinese Proverb: When a leopard dies he leaves a skin; a man dies, he leaves his name (aka reputation).

Furthermore, our name is given by our parents and no one has the right to call us any other name. Anyone would be upset or even angry when other people called his name just to make fun of him. Besides people, names given to things also defined or said something about them. For example, when we go to a library, often borrow books that are written by the names of the author that we like them or choose certain titles that we were told they are very good. When we go shopping, we often have an idea of what brand we are looking for. For example, when you bring your children to buy their school stationeries like pencil-case, water-bottle or a school-bag they will be delighted to look for name (or brand) that they like. They feel very happy when they are given a pencil-case or a bottle-water with brand like SMiggle. This is because the name SMiggle reflects that the quality of the pencil-case or water-bottle. Because of the brand, their prices are usually more expensive than those that are not so well-known. In fact, it is an offence to make a pencil-case and paste the label “SMiggle” and put in a store to sell. This is because the label “SMiggle” is already owned by the someone and only that owner has the exclusive right to use it on their products. Hence, names are really important because they defined who we are or what they are. Just by mentioning certain names, it may stir some emotional reactions – for better or for worst.

In the Ten Commandments that God has given to us through Moses is extremely crucial, scripturally-speaking, because they established for us essential rules which we all must live by. By obeying the Ten Commandments, we are drawn closer to God. A very effective way to completely keep us out of trouble is to faithfully obey the Ten Commandments, and if only everyone obeys the Ten Commandments, we don’t need policeman to keep us safe. Almost every country, Christian and non-Christian countries, the Ten Commandments are the cornerstone in which the laws are made. For example, one of The Commandments is “You shall not kill” (Exodus 20:13) and it is well-understood that every country has laws against murder. Similarly, every country has laws against stealing because in Exodus 20:15 says “You shall not steal.”

For us as Christians, we are seriously told not to misuse the name of God and this Commandment is enshrined in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:7a – Do not misuse the name of the LORD, your God). To show our love to God we are required to honour and obey Him and one of the ways to do this is to obey God’s Commandment by not misusing His name. Every conscious attempt must be made that in our everyday speech, our prayer and in our daily living we must respect and honour God’s name. Whenever we use God’s name, we should do so with utmost respect and reverence. We must not make promises by invoking the name of God unless we have every intention to deliver our promises. We must not speak abusively of things or people that God has created such as using the words like “Gosh,” “Oh My God” or acquire a habit of calling the name of Jesus for no reason. By so doing we are dishonouring His name.

As God wants first to be in people’s lives, He also wants people to honour Him appropriately. Hence, whenever we pray, we always start with an appropriate salutation like “Dear Lord Jesus”, or “our Heavenly Father”. It is important to know that if we address our God foolishly or not appropriately, we are openly sinning against our Living God. As written in the Bible, “The name of the LORD is like a strong tower. Godly people run to it and are safe” (Proverbs 18:10). Let us strive with all our efforts to keep this Commandment of not misusing God’s name and to only use God’s name with utmost respect. Before we call out the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus, we must remind ourselves that we do it with utmost respect and reverence. We must also remember that in addition to this Commandment of not misusing God’s name, all other the Ten Commandments given by God must also be obeyed to the fullest extent. These Ten Commandments can be found in Exodus 20:3-17:

Let us pray:

Dear Lord Jesus,

I come before you to ask you to forgive me if I had misused Your Name previously. Your Name is a Mighty Tower and there is no other name greater than Yours. I pray Lord Jesus that I will sincerely and consciously try not to misuse Your Name from now on. Help me Jesus to be aware that Your Name is holy and sacred and I must only use Your Name with utmost respect and reverence.

In Your Mighty Name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

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22 May 2022
Scripture Reading: Psalm 46:10 (KJV)

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

MESSAGE

Nasty and unpleasant physical noises can be very irritating and distracting especially when we are in the midst of doing our work or engaging in a serious conversation. As we all know that when our house is located next to a construction site and the noises that generated by this construction site next to us can be deafening. We just wish that the construction can be completed as soon as possible. It is a medical fact that prolonged exposure to physical noise above certain level or decibel can cause damage to ear-drums and over time this may affect our sense of hearing.

However, there are certain ‘noises’ that are not quite like the physical noises from the construction sites. These noises are not the audible sonic blast like the one we heard from construction sites. The deafening effect of these non-sonic noises can be equally damaging to us, metaphorically speaking. What I am referring to here is that we often heard of noises whispering us to do this or to do because everyone is doing it. For example, people may whisper to us to send our children to this tuition centre or that tuition centre because the tuition centre can guarantee outstanding school performance, or to buy this or to buy because these items are cheap, better than others, etc. Some items are just meant for us to keep up with the Joneses to ensure we are not losing out to others. Concurrently, we are bombarded with similar noises generated by attractive commercials in the internet, TV, newspaper, etc. These commercials are trying to entice us to spend our money on items that often we have not thought of them buying them until we saw the commercial. I must admit. I am a victim quite a few times buying things that just ended in garbage bins the very minute I received them! They are useless and the quality and specifications are not according to what they advertised. While I am writing this, I pray that I will continue to be wise and not to fall into victim to these noises and to buy things that are absolutely necessary.

Our dependent our mobile-phones, tablets, personal computers which almost all of us glued to them like super-glue are given manufacturers unlimited opportunities to reach their products right into our door-step. For example, when watching Youtube we are intermittently interrupted with advertisements so much so that Youtube allows viewers to subscribe to a paid-service to turnoff the broadcast of advertisements. These marketing promotions that we received so often from Youtube, TVs and newspaper are not really deafening to us physically but they have very negative mental and spiritual effects on us as these noises will take our focus away from God because it will distract us from the things that are really matter to us – our constant pursuit of Christian living – instead of spending our time pursuing the things of the world. Quite often, we may also end up spending a lot of times exchanging messages with our friends on these marketing gimmicks to help us to decide which one to buy, and so on. In a worst scenario we may end up incurring huge credit card debts. This is not unreal. “Buy first, pay later” is now a common marketing tactic used by credit-card companies. These credit-card companies are making a lot of money by charging service charges, financial charges and interest on overdue accounts. Now you can even take a vacation and pay later only after you have come back from your vacation! In fact, the use of credit card to purchase things or services has the same effect – “buy first and pay later.” Many people fall into the scheme and have to seek financial counsel of how to pay of their debts. Once we are in this situation, it is very difficult to be still.

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus tells us to put God’s kingdom first rather than seeking material things and to live righteously. These are the two conditions if we want God to take care all of our needs. This is because Jesus knows that there is a strong tendency for us to stay away from what actually God wants of us – that is seeking God’s kingdom by spending more time in doing things that are pleasing to our God. Impliedly, the verse in Matthew 6:33 warns us that worldly noises can separate us from God’s truth if we are not careful. It is hard to be on a silent mode away from unwanted noises that tempted us to acquire material things and just let God rules our heart, mind and soul for His glory. Instead of spending time to read the Bible and pray, we often just simply spent a lot of time google for non-essential stuff like watching TV drama, attending ‘Get Rich Quick Seminar”, how to improve your look, etc.

In Psalm 46:10 which we just read, it advises us to be still so that we can truly know who God is and what God wants from us. It is a spiritual discipline to take our eyes away from worldly pursuit by worshipping our one true God as often as our time permits. Godly pursuit towards God is a pre-requisite in order to have the peace of God that surpasses all understanding as it will also guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippines 4:6). Thus, in order for the Holy Spirit to fill us, we must first be empty ourselves from the worldly pursuit. As fallen human, we have limited physical and mental space and hence we must give plenty of space for the Holy Spirit in its place. There is no escape to this reality – noises whether physical, audible or inaudible are always around us. Just like a full cup filled with the earthly liquor has no room for the wine of God, so our mind that fill with all the worldly thoughts will not have space for God to occupy. The modus operandi of the stillness is to empty as much of our earthly liquor as possible so that there is room for God to fill us from the table of God’s love that is set before us. Let Jesus speaks to us and let us open our ears to hear of His words because the Word of God is a lamp to our feet, and a light which will guide us to His righteous path (Psalm 119:105-106). It is a blessing that we all get drunk and filled by the spirit of God instead of earthly wine. (Ephesians 5:18).

 Let’s Us Pray

Dear Heavenly Father,

We thank You for this day that You have kept us save and give us abundant life. We will continue to trust you.

This day and many days to come, we need Your help to continuously calm by Your spirit. We submit fully to what You have told us: Be still and know that You are God and to seek first the kingdom of His righteousness. Lord, admittedly, this would not come naturally and we pray that You can give us the desire and the discipline to seek Your kingdom and Your righteousness on a daily basis. We know it is not an easy task to close our eyes or ears to shut off from these noises that can be a stumbling block to pursue Your Holiness, we therefore ask of You to send to us Your Holy Spirit to help us to made this as our daily modus operandi. Nothing is impossible with You.

We pray all these in the Mighty Name of Jesus. Amen!

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15 May 2022
Matthew 27:46 (KJV)

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
 

MESSAGE

Jesus came to the earth as a lamb and to take our harsh and brutal punishment. In His final hours when He was hung on the cross, Jesus cried out: My God, my God, why has thou forsaken Me (Matt. 26:46). This cry is a fulfillment of Psalm 22:1, one of many parallels between that psalm and the specific events of the crucifixion. It is certain that this is God’s divine plan of the work of His only begotten Son. It is certain that He was innocent – holy, harmless, undefiled, and obedient. God’s love towards Jesus can be heard loud and clear during Jesus’ baptizing by John the Baptist when the Spirit of God descending like a dove and a voice from heaven, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matt. 3:16-17).

It must be noted that the cry of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 26:46 does not in any way diminish His deity. Jesus does not cease being God before, during, or after this. Jesus’ cry does not divide His human nature from His divine person or destroy the Trinity. Nor does it detach Him from the Holy Spirit. Both the Father and Son knew from all eternity that Jesus would become the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. There is no other alternative way and this is the one and only way in which the Son of God must go through in order to reconcile all sinners to God the Father so that sinners shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Many people who read Matthew 26:46 were puzzled why Jesus called His Father, ‘God.’ In fact, this is the only time we read in the Bible that Jesus called His Father, ‘God’. Jesus has all the time called the heavenly God as Father. For example: when Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, Jesus addresses God as “Our Father in heaven (Matt. 6:9); in John 10:30, He said: I and my Father are one; in Luke 23:34 when He was crucified on the cross He expressed great sorrows towards the soldiers who pierced Him and He prayed: Father forgive them; for they do not know what they do; in John 14:2-3, Jesus comforted his disciples with this promise: In my Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to be with me, that where I am, you may also be with me.”

So, why did Jesus call the Father “God?” in His final hours before He gave up His spirit? Here are three possible explanations:

First, when Jesus was crucified on the cross and when God looked down and saw His Son bearing the sin of the world, He didn’t see His Son. Instead, God the Father saw all the sins that Jesus was bearing. And in that awful moment, the Father turned away. Not in anger at His Son. No. Not even a single moment. He loved His Son as much at that moment as He ever had. God the Father is always well pleased with His Son (Mark 1:11).

When God the Father turned away from Jesus, He turned away in sorrow and in deepest pain when He saw what sin had done so much so that He has to sacrifice His only begotten Son. He turned away in complete revulsion at the ugliness of sin. When God, the Father did that, Jesus was alone. Completely forsaken. Abandoned. Deserted. Disowned. It was through this that the Son of God, Jesus, make complete identification with the sinners. Jesus became a curse for us. He died in our place. All our sins were laid on him. It was for that reason – and only for that reason – that God the Father forsook His beloved Son. That was the lowest point of Jesus’ life when He was forsaken by God the Father.
 
Second, Jesus isn’t merely God. He is truly God and truly man. He is the God-man. As the God-man, He is a perfect man, who worships, honours, obeys and prays to God the Father. In fact, the incarnate Son is dependent on the Father (John 5:30). How could the Son be dependent if He is God? The apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives us a glimpse into the Son’s humiliation (Phil,2-6-8): Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross and also by His obedience, Jesus has fulfilled God’s Commandment: Honour your father and mother (Exodus 20:12).

Third, the Father and the Son have different roles within the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. There is equality in nature, but subordination in their personal roles. For instance, the Son submits to the Father, but not vice versa. Therefore, when God the Son calls God the Father “my God,” in the incarnation, the Son sets aside His independent authority and heavenly glory. Instead, He humbled Himself by taking on a human nature. God the Son, Jesus is affirming relationally as subordinate role without denying His full deity.

Christianity is the only religion (and I can’t think of another religion) that God came all the way from heaven to search man. From the very beginning since man sinned against God, God has always been trying to seek His prize creation – that is human being. In Genesis, when Adam and Eve hid themselves because they were ashamed that they had disobeyed God but God was still searching for them and God called out “Where are you?” Adam answered “I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” (Genesis 3:9-10). Ever since the fall of man, like Adam, man has been hiding away from God but God never gave up. God is always searching for man to save them and to reconcile to Him so much so that God was willing to give His only begotten Son, Jesus (John 3:16)

Are you still hiding away from God? God is calling you and is knocking at your door – Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me. (Revelation 3:20)

Let’s Pray

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for sending Your only begotten Son to die for us. Please remove all out doubts that You will stand with us no matter what our situation is. Help us to thank you each day and to praise You for your unyielding love even though we continue to do many things that are not in accordance with Your will. Although we continue to sin all the time, Lord Jesus, You still keep searching for us. Lord Jesus, give me the courage to tell those who are still hiding from You of your wonderful works. I thank you for all the marvelous works You’ve done on my behalf by taking the brutal and harsh punishments on the cross.

Lord, please continue to keep us strong – physically, mentally and spiritually so that we can continue to pursue the work to evangelize to other because time is running out. We know You are coming very soon. We want to make sure that we can put in every effort to tell people about Your sacrificial love so that Your sacrifice for us will not in vain.

In the Mighty Name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

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8 May 2022
Scripture Reading: Psalms 86:5-7 (KJV)

For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.

MESSAGE

In many motivation seminars we often heard instructors encouraging the participants with these words: “The sky is the limit” and “The world is your oyster.” These two motivational statements are meant to encourage participants to excel. The key lesson is that there is nothing prevent us from achieving the impossible and the opportunities to excel are endless. For personal development, these are statements can be very effective to encourage participants to keep pressing on to achieve what is important to them. These can be their career, their hobbies, their relationship which may require restoration.

However, we must admit that while “the sky is the limit; the world is our oyster”, we all have limitations of what we can do. For example, for occupational safety reason, it is strongly recommended that the maximum weight men should lift should not be more than 25 kg although a trained weight lifter can carry much heavier weight. Still, then there is a limit how much we can lift or carry even for a world-class weight lifter. In the Guinness Book of Records, it was reported that a weight lifter has broken World Records of lifting 2,840 kg. Whatever his achievement, it is clear to us that there is a limit on human weight lifting ability – at 2,840 kg.

We can learn an important lesson here: We need to be humble and admit that we as human has limitation. For example, we can’t fly like eagles neither can we swim like dolphins. But how about the non-physical aspects of our well-being like our emotion, our creativity, our ability to handle stress?

Thankfully, the Bible has a lot to teach us on how to rely on God’s strength instead to be self-reliant to conquer our trial, pain, disappointment and hardships that we encounter almost on a daily basis. The Holy Scripture makes it clear that God actually wants us to always be reliant on Him because God helps those who cannot help themselves (versus what we are mistakenly told: God helps those who help themselves!) Scripture also shows us that when we are weak, we need to cry out to God for help. And the best part? God actually listens, and He actually helps. When our knee is down to God, He stands up for you and when God stands up for you no one can stand against you! God’s help is only just a prayer away! All we need is to go down with our knee!

I like to share a list of five powerful prayer of help which we can use during our quiet time or when we are confronting hardships that we felt we can barely able to handle.

1. A Prayer For God’s Help in a Time of Trouble

“Father,

You let Your Son die a brutal death on the Cross, paying the penalty for our sins, and through his resurrection, You’ve given us eternal life and access to Your glory. Oh Lord, thank You! In every situation in our lives, may we remember that You are sovereign over all. May every trial we go through in this life bring us closer to You. Our prayer today is for our enemies, our conspirators, and our foes. We are all imperfect, and You love us all equally. Help us to leave justice at Your feet, seeking peace and the Spirit’s sensitivity before lifting the gate on our emotions.

Dear Lord Jesus, bless our minds to run to You for solutions to problems that put our backs up against walls. When we are in trouble, help us to remember the cross and to remember that You and only You have done this impossible – Christ conquered death. We’re not promised this world will be easy or fair, but You guarantee Your presence and Your love. Grant us the courage to stick to Your standards. You are good, all the time. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
 
2. The Psalms Prayer of H.E.L.P

H. “Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.” (Psalm 27:7)
E. “Establish my footsteps by Your word, And let no iniquity have dominion over me.” (Psalm 119:133)
L. “Let, Your merciful kindness be for my comfort, According to Your word to Your servant.”  (Psalm 119:76)
P.  “Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust.” (Psalm 16:1)

3. The Prayer for the Help that Comforts

“Dear God, some days I feel too hard. I’m hurting, struggling, fighting fear and worry at every turn. But in the midst of it all, you haven’t left me to fend for myself. Forgive me for doubting You are always with me. Forgive me for thinking you’ve forgotten me. Forgive me for believing that I somehow know there is a better way. You are fully trustworthy. You are all-powerful. You are able. You are Lord over every situation no matter how difficult it may seem. You are Healer and will never waste the grief I carry today. Anything is possible with You. I pray not only for my own grief but also for those who grieve today. I ask for Your comfort to surround those who weep. I pray for the peace of Your presence to cover our minds and thoughts, as you remind us, the enemy can never steal us out of Your hands. Amen.”

4. Psalm 86:1-3

Bow down Your ear, O Lord, hear me;
For I am poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for I am holy;
You are my God;
Save Your servant who trusts in You!
Be merciful to me, O Lord,
For I cry to You all day long

5. A Prayer for Help During Illness

“Dear Jesus, Divine Physician and Healer of the Sick, I turn to You in this time of when we have physical, mental or emotional discomfort. Dearest Comforter of the troubled, alleviate our worry and sorrow with Your gentle love and grant us the grace and strength to accept this burden. We place our worries in Your hands. We ask that You restore Your servant to health again. Above all, grant us the grace to acknowledge Your Will, even when we don’t understand it. Amen.”

Let’s us pray

Merciful God,

Help us to be steadfast in our faith in You that You are always with us and Your will never forsake us. Help us not to doubt of Your promise that when we call upon your name, You will answer us. We pray that this day we will take up our cross and follow You. Holy Spirit, we pray that this day You will fill us with Yourself and cause Your fruit to ripen our life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In Your Mighty Name of Jesus we pray.

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Prophetic Message – The Signs of End Times
2 May 2022

Programmable Digital Money
[One World Economy]
THE MARK OF THE BEAST IS COMING VERY SOON!

REVELATION 13:16-18b – And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark on their right hand, or in their foreheads: and no man might buy or sell, save that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. ……… For it is the number of a man; and his number is 666.

I want to begin and say that I am NOT a prophet. I will never be one. I write this because of my great love for the people and to fulfil God’s command to tell the world about redeeming love of God towards sinners like you and me. Waste no time! Jesus is coming back to remove the Body of Christ, that is, the Church. Once the Church is removed from the earth, all hell will break loose and those who are left behind will face the full wrath of God. If you think that the world is now evil, you have not seen anything! Wait until the Church is removed from this earth and when Satan takes full control of the earth, you will know what evilness and lawlessness really is.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7, we are told that when the Restrainer, that is the Holy Spirit and the Church, has departed from the earth, Satan will have full and absolute control of the earth. He can do anything and everything he likes and no one can stop him! (2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 – And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is taken out of the way.)

Here is my message and I will continue to share with you end times messages as often as the Holy Spirit leads me. Bless you all the reading of this message.

The Book of Revelation is not a very ‘popular’ book in the Bible. One of the reasons, I think, is that, unlike the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John which bring good news that a Savour is born and He will save sinners from eternal destruction. The Book of Revelation is quite the opposite. Many chapters are concerning the end times and they are all but bad news. For example, in Revelation 6:6 we read: “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages” and this signifying a hyper-infliction that many people will need to work a whole day just to be able to pay for their food due to hyper-inflation. Can you imagine a loaf of bread cost $ 15 when the daily wages of a worker may be only $ 20! And in Revelation 13:16-17 we read: “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” In fact, this is my message here which expounding on these verses. After reading this message, you can then decide for yourself whether this is good or bad news.

As you can see, anyone who reads Revelation 13:16-17 would easily come to some kind of a conclusion that this is about transacting money using electronic means and like all electronic fund transfer, a number is required in order to complete the fund transfer. Indeed, we are right in this business transaction platform in many ways. Just ask yourself, when was the last time you wrote a cheque to make payment? I believe many people can’t even remember when was the last time they wrote a cheque. Almost all our business transactions are done electronically from paying our taxi fare to buying a computer. All we need is our phone number, credit-card number or bank account number. We are in a ‘number-driven’ payment system for virtually most of our buying or selling which will open the door to a cashless economy.

It must be noted that apostle John wrote this 2000 thousand years’ ago when paper was not even invented. How did he get the inspiration to write about this which is clearly about e-commerce, internet banking or even cashless economy? I think the answer is obvious. Apostle John was given several visions and this is one of them. People just 100 hundred years’ ago would never able to imagine that you can buy and sell just by scanning a plastic card or just press few numbers on a hand-held device let alone for apostle John who lived 2000 years’ ago to write about the need to use numbers to do your buying and selling. Our Heavenly Father must have revealed this knowledge to apostle John.

Let’s examine this is in greater details. Instead of using our credit card, internet banking or our PDA to make payment, a new technology of using an implantable microchip that will be encoded with all our personal information will be implanted into our hand or forehand. This implantable microchip will allow user to buy or sell. All we need to do is just to scan our hand to a scanner and the transaction is done.

The technology of implantable microchip is already here and some European countries are already using this not just business transactions but in many other ways. This microchip could even allow user to start his car, open his office doors that are linked to the system and of course to buying and selling things. In fact, the application is endless. (See: A vaccine passport on a microchip implant ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnuJgvQB7kU )

This microchip technology is a harbinger of what is to come before the end of the age when Jesus will come and take us to His Kingdom. It will be developed with applications that many of us could never imagine in our wildest dream. It is going to be used to create a special digital money (or currency) known as “Programmable Digital Money (PDM).” I am sure many of us have not heard of PDM as all mass media have self-censored this news for wherever reasons known only to themselves. Let me share with you what this Programmable Digital Money (PDM) is all about and if you are interested, you can actually find out more by searching the internet.

So what is Programmable Digital Money (PDM)?
After years of using credit cards like VISA, MasterCard and also internet banking, we are getting use to the digital transactions and many of us dream that this system could further be improved. Our dream is going to come true very, very soon and all for the wrong reasons. This new payment system known as Programmable Digital Money (PDM) is going to be so perfect that governments around the world is going to love it. Unfortunately, this system will be an accursed tool to the people as the government will be able to exercise absolute control on all the aspects of people’s activities which are not just restricted to buying and selling.

PDM is money that is going to be digitised with in-built rules and that comes with constraints for the users. With these rules, money could also be programmed to have an expiration date or be restricted for buying certain goods or services. In a worst scenario, a user’s right to use this digitised money can be revoked if they failed to comply with, say, government policies, by just pressing a button at the ‘Control Centre” which will be controlled the government – let me underscore this – not by your bank! It will be controlled by the government!

Where are we at now with regard to PDM?
Could it be possible that the rise and popularity of cryptocurrency is a vivid foreshadow, precursor and forerunner of the end time Bible fulfillment of cashless state-controlled “666” totalitarian society as mentioned in the Book of Revelation? The answer is a resounding “Yes” – very much so and it has far more implications to the society than just transforming the economy into cashless. It is much more than just to use for business transactions or replacing paper currency. It is meant to achieve complete control of all spectrum of our personal activities – from what we must eat to how or what we must think! Furthermore, the PDM has ability to remove ALL our privacy and MUCH, MUCH MORE. The main objective is not to make your life easier but to satisfy a totalitarian regime that wants to have absolute control over its citizens. Quite to the contrary, your life and my life will be in absolute quandaries once this system is fully implemented and when all the people are implanted with this microchip. In the end, this implantable device will not just hold our money but all our digital identity, health data, spending habits, etc. It will in turn include all the information about me, about you. It will double up as a surveillance system that connects to a super-computer controlled by the government. As your passport, air-tickets and travel itineraries are captured electronically, they know all your travel plans to the most minute details! All activities will be done electronically and data will be captured in this super-computer. This is just an example of the power of this system. The word ‘privacy’ will soon be dropped out from the dictionary.

The system is now at an advanced stage of its development. It was reported that in 2021 a well-known credit card company has filed a patent for a digital U.S. Dollar to replace the current paper currency (or fiat dollar). (Note: The term “fiat” is Latin, and it is used in money circles to refer to the central bank-printed currencies such as the U.S. dollar, Japanese Yen, Chinese Yuan or Singapore dollar that are not backed by gold or anything else. Hence, it can be “declared” into non-existence making using them not legal and replace with PDM. This can be easily done when lawmakers, legislature or parliament just passed a law to replace this fiat money with digital money.)

So, what’s the difference? We are already in the e-commerce platform?
Well, you might say, VISA and the bank transfer using internet are already handling ‘digital’ dollars? So, what is the difference? Oh no. Not even close. This new PDM is a kind of computer software that will put existing paper dollars completely out of circulation. The new digital dollars will be programmable – hence the term Programmable Digital Dollar (PDM). For example, if some of these programmable digital dollars are put into your account from, say, a welfare organisation, they can be programmed such that these digit dollars can only be used for designated purposes like buying toilet papers, tissues or certain medicines. This is not limited to the digital dollars from a welfare organisation that sent the digital dollars to you. Even your own money (or digital dollars) can be programmed for you to buy only certain things and prohibit you to buy other items. Moreover, these digital dollars can be programmed to downgrade or upgrade your digital dollar and effectively affect the purchasing power of your money. Your one hundred dollar might worth more (or less) than my one hundred dollar. For instance, before you are allowed to use the digital dollars, you may be asked a question like: Do you support abortion law? Your digital dollars will be upgraded or downgraded (that is worth more or worth less) depending on your answer. In other words, you can also be rewarded or punished depending on whether your answer ‘danced’ in accordance to the government’s policies. Sound ridiculous! Yes! It is and is going to happen. It is not “if” but “when” will it be implemented. The main objective of this system is to allow the government to take full control of the people’s life and this is absolutely evil and perverted and we know evil and perversion always go hand in hand. It has the potential for the government of the day to be in power indefinitely! That’s why all governments will love this and they can’t wait to implement it.

Is this science fiction?
The answer is a resounding NO! There are hints and there are real evidences that the PDM is indeed in an advanced stage of its development but the mainstream media is keeping silent and have self-censored this news. This is because many of these mainstream media are part of the evil group and want to ensure this is finally implemented in a way that the general public will be caught by surprise. As we can expect, at the start of the implementation, there will be a lot freebies and ‘carrots’ given to the citizens to ensure united and undivided support of the PDM by the people. Eventually, the true colours of the government will reveal the real intent of the PDM – to give the government absolute control over its citizens so that they can be in power indefinitely.

The implementation of the PDM is going to be a child-play because the experience and knowledge that countries acquired over the last 30 months arising from the Covid-19 vaccine mandate is going to be very valuable for them to strategically and operationally plan the implementation of PDM. The main objective of PDM is going to be far beyond contact-tracing like the TraceTogether Apps. PDM is a computer software and is used in conjunction with a very advance microchip miniaturized to the size of a grain of rice. It is implantable into the hand or forehead to control all aspects our activities. This is unquestionable that once this is implemented, we know the mark of the beast has arrived in full swing.

So how or what can we do about this?  
Nothing. Absolutely nothing! The only way is not to be in this system. But, how? You have asked a very good question and you are going to hear a very good news how you can avoid this microchip implant. If you think I am suggesting to hold mass protest or sign petitions to government, you are completely wrong! In any event, none of these will help. It is a done deal and we just have to wait for the government to implement the system.

In fact (and thankfully), all this must happen in order for the Bible scriptures to be fulfilled. This is in line with Bible prophecy that as the end times approach, there will be a one world government, one world economy (or currency) and one world religion and under the control of “the beast”. All these must take place before the Second Coming of Jesus (which is not the same as the Rapture when Jesus will come in the sky to remove His Church. Doctrinally, this is known as Pre-Tribulation Rapture which I strongly believe in.)

And who is behind all this? It is obvious. The answer is in the Bible and we just need to turn to the pages of the Bible. As we can read in the Book of Revelation, this is the ultimate system Satan has been planning for a long time and he is not going to wait any longer. He knows that he is running out of time as he will be thrown into the eternal lake of fire very soon! Hence, he must get this implemented in the quickest possible manner. Satan’s motivation is for as many people to receive the mark of the beast as possible before Jesus come to rapture His Church. By taking of the implantable microchip (aka mark of the beast), you are have surrendered your soul to Satan and that’s why he is very anxious to have as many people taking the mark as possible.

Thankfully, Jesus will come and rapture all true Christians to His Kingdom before the mark of the beast is implemented. Unfortunately, there will be days when many people including those ‘Christians’ who are not raptured and will be left behind to face the quandary of whether to take the mark or not. If they refused to take the microchip implant they will either die of hunger or be killed. Sadly, these are Christians (and even non-Christians) who are now scoffing and mocking when they are told about the imminent return of Jesus to remove His Church to heaven. Once Jesus came and removed the Church from the earth, it will be too late and they will need to pay a dear price for scoffing and mocking on the rapture message. Remember, this is what the people in Noah’s time did. They mocked at Noah when Noah warned them of the imminent flood and they were all drown except Noah’s and his family.

Taking of the microchip is compulsory and we can read in Revelation 15:13: “The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.” The taking of the microchip implant is not just allowed you to buy and sell but is pledging allegiance to Satan. By taking the microchip implant, you acknowledge Satan to be your god and you have rejected Jesus Christ as your Saviour. You now have only two choices: to take the mark of the beast (microchip implant) and lost your salvation forever, or refuse to take the mark and be martyred by the beast. Your choice of the latter will make you a tribulation saint in the eyes of God and you will be able to spend eternality with God in heaven. But, be warned. This is not going to be easy! Believe Jesus and be saved now!

Let us band together, and pray especially for those Christians who are scoffing and mocking on the coming of Jesus to rapture His Church and to those who still have not accepted Jesus as their Saviour. Time is running out and Jesus is coming to take His Church away from this earth. Please don’t be scoffers and mockers because to be persecuted during the great tribulation will carry very high risk of you pledging allegiance to Satan and to lose your eternal life. Take no chance. For those non-believers, this is the time now for you to accept Jesus and you can do this in four simple steps:

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LIVING SYMRNA CHURCH OF CHRIST

1 May 2022
Scripture Reading: Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

MESSAGE

A very blessed holiday to all my dear brothers and sisters-in-Christ. Indeed, we are very blessed because when we are in Christ we are gifted with the Holy Spirit, enabling us to bear fruit. When you read the list of the fruit in Galatians 5:22-23 you will quickly discover that they seem to be quite self-explanatory with commonly used words like love, joy, peace and so on which we can find them in the English dictionaries. However, when you examine in more details and read in conjunction with other texts in the Bible, they provide us crucial doctrinal teaching of these seemingly nine simple words. In fact, they are the fundamental building blocks of Christian virtues.

In today’s message, I would like to share how we can cultivate, grow and bring the fruit of the Spirit to maturity. I must admit I am struggling very hard to achieve this myself and find it very challenging to live by these virtues. I may want to add that the fruit of the Spirit is not a simple moral teaching which moral society teaches. It’s not just nine ways to live a better life. It is not just a call to live an upright, good, moral life. It is much more than this when you read in conjunction with other biblical texts.

The fruit of the Spirit was written by apostle Paul to the Christians in Galatia and he summed up nine visible attributes of a true Christian life. If you checked other versions of the Bible such as KJV, New KJV, ESV, RSV, NIV, you will notice that the word ‘fruit’ is singular and not plural. In other words, the ‘fruit’ is used as collective noun. They are not individual ‘fruits’ which we can cherry pick only those that we like. The fruit of the Spirit is one ninefold fruit. Either you have them all or none at all. One of our foremost objectives as children of God is to produce this one ninefold fruit of the Spirit so that we can be transformed to be in God’s image. It is only through Christ living in us that we are able to display the fruit of the Spirit in our daily living. Unless the Holy Spirit helps us, it is futile to do this by our own efforts. Hence, this demands our constant close relationship with Jesus. This is possible only if we spend time with Him through prayer, reading of His Word, put into practice what God is tell us through His Word and continuously reflecting on it whether we are in conformity to His image. The fruit of the Spirit is an effective checklist for us to check whether we are in conformity to these Christian virtues.

Although the words seem to be quite self-explanatory at first glance, I would like to share with you the biblical meanings and definitions surrounding them. They have much deeper doctrinal significance than what some moral societies are teaching.

Love:
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him (1 John 4:16). Through Jesus Christ, our greatest goal is to do all things in love. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

Joy:
 “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

Peace: 
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understand will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7),

Patience/Longsuffering:
We are “strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that we may have great endurance and patience and longsuffering with joyfulness” (Colossians 1:11). “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2). “Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality” (Romans 12:12-13).

Kindness:
We should often attempt to speak kind words to people particularly to people who are worried because “worry makes the heart heavy. But a kind word cheers it up” (Proverbs 12:25).  We should live “in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left” (2 Corinthians 6:6-7).  

Goodness:
“Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of faith with power” (2 Thessalonians 1:11). “For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth” (Ephesians 5:9).

Faithfulness:
“O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name; for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvellous things; things planned long ago” (Isaiah 25:1). “I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (Ephesians 3:16-17).

Gentleness:
“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.” (Galatians 6:1). “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” (Ephesians 4:2).

Self-control:
“Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city” (Proverbs 16:32). “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love” (2 Peter 1:5-7). As we are all endow with the Holy Spirit to decide to do only what is right in the sight of God we should be able to accomplish with His help: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

Let us pray.

Dear Lord,

We pray that this day You will fill us with Yourself and cause Your fruit to ripen our life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. As you have warned that “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all (James 2:10). We understand, Dear Lord, that we are to keep all Your commandments and breaking one is sufficient to make us guilty of breaking all Your commandments. Likewise, Lord, help us to live a Spirit-fruit filled life to all this one ninefold spiritual fruit because if we have failed in producing just one, we have failed to produce all the others. We pray. It is imperative that conforming to Your image should be our foremost purpose of our living and what better way to do this than to live our lives than to journey towards becoming a Christian who has the mind of Christ and able to produce all the fruit of the Spirit.

In the Mighty Name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

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A BLESSED EASTER SUNDAY

24 April 2022
Scripture Reading: Mark 13:35-37 (KJV)

Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

Message

What time is it? And where are we now in relations to the Biblical timescale of our Lord’s return to take us home?

The responses that you get from people for asking these questions are going to be very different. If you asked the people in Ukraine now, everyone will tell you this is the worst times of their life. And if you asked people from Africa where famine, drought, corruptions and organized crimes run rampage, the answer is not going to be any different – It’s a terrible time! And if you ask people who read about Bible prophecy, most of them will tell you that we are approaching the end of our church age. Indeed, we are because there are many books in the Bible such as the books of Daniel, Matthew and Revelation can tell you that we are indeed at the end of the church age because of world events we are witnessing and these events were already foretold in the Bible many thousand years’ ago.

It is quite obvious that when you are facing the devastation of wars, famine, drought, corruptions, wide-spread of crimes and lawlessness the answer to these questions can be summarised in just these few words: “It’s a terrible time!”

After two years of global covid-19 turmoil and before this covid-19 situation could hardly under control, a new turmoil has started. This new turmoil is the result of war between Russia and Ukraine. There is great anxiety not only for the people in Russia and Ukraine but people all around the world because this war affects everyone. Some said the worst is yet to come because should Russia decide to use its nuclear device on Ukraine the world would just wake up and witness the start of World War III!

Even though World War III is still not here (and prayerfully this will not happen!) we are still facing the darkest times since World War II came to an end on May 1948 when many thought that this “Mother of all wars” will bring long-lasting peace to the world. Sadly, we are all wrong! In fact, there were only few weeks the world without a war since the World War II ended seventy-five years’ ago! Since then, the world has been enraged with wars in one form or another every day. Technically-speaking, North and South Korea are still at war as no peace treaty has ever been signed between these two countries after World War II has ended. China is adamant to unite the island of Taiwan and it has told the world categorically that military action is an option. This would be a very serious regional conflict in East Asia should China invades Taiwan as U.S. is likely to be heavily involved in the conflict. When this really happens, it will be the darkest day for the people of East Asia since World War II!

If anything can go by, let us be honest and admit ourselves that the world will never be able to “return to normal.” Hence, we just have to accept whatever apocalyptic events that come along, be it global pandemic due to new viruses or diseases, widespread social unrest, famines, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunami or major military conflict among nations. The war between Russia and Ukraine has complicated the already complicated world politics and it is now taking the world to a very dangerous plane of strategic uncertainty and instability since the Cold War. Whether we like it or not, we have to just trust the government that it will take care of us although we all know from the past this is going to be “a hopeless hope!” If anything could go by, we need to only trust God as we can read in Psalm 118:8 – It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.

Economically-speaking, besides oil and food price that are now skyrocketing, rumours of an impending global financial crisis is now on the lips of many people as the US dollar is losing ground to other major currencies, especially the Chinese Yuan. Politically-speaking, many governments are forced to take side – to support Russia of its invasion of Ukraine or to condemn it. This has created serious global divide. Hence, it will make things simply impossible to “return to normal”, not for many years to come. It is a grave concern because the world is dealing with a country that has the most nuclear bombs. Russia has over 7,000 nuclear bombs and it could literally blow up the globe if these bombs are exploded at the same time.  And Russia has warned that it is prepared to use it if necessary to ensure victory in Ukraine. To Russia, there is no turning back. By hook or by crook, it is going to take back Ukraine even it may mean to only take part of Ukraine. Russia military is not going to come back empty-handed!

Biblically-speaking, everywhere we look, it seems the end of the world (or rather the end of church age) is near. How close are we? Is the rapture of the church going to happen at any time soon? What does the Bible say? Is our Saviour, Lord Jesus coming back soon in a most surprising way like a “thief in the night?” The warning given to us by Jesus and his disciples is very clear and explicit. We must stay awake and watch because the King of kings and the Lord of lords can come anytime. (Matthew 24:42-44).

Fortunately, we don’t have to second guess the season of when Jesus will come back. Jesus himself told us how to recognize specific signs that will signify of His return. When the disciples asked, “Tell us the signs of your coming and the end of the age” (Matthew 24:3), and Jesus told them a number of things to look for. These, He said: “When you see all these things – referring to apocalyptic events that are already happening now like people are lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. (2 Timothy 3:2-4) you can know my return is near. I’m right at the door” (Matthew 24:33). He also said, “When all these things begin to happen, look up for your salvation is near!” (Luke 21:28).

This means the number one sign of Jesus will return soon to remove His Church from this earth is when all the apocalyptic events described in 2 Timothy 3:2-4 as well as events like global pandemics, famine, social unrest, etc as listed above are all converged at the same time. These apocalyptic events are happening right before our very eyes. As the world stage is now set for Jesus to return, we must continue to stay awake and watch and one of the most effective ways to do this is to pray always and to read God’s Word as frequently as our time permits. We must fully acknowledge that the Word of God will give us the knowledge and wisdom of discernment. As we know the time is near, let’s us live in the expectation like Jesus could return today. The worst thing that could happen to us is when Jesus return to take us up, we are caught doing things that are not in accordance with His will.

Prayerfully, we must also not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We are compelled to share the gospel to others and to share with them what really matter – our eternal life which we can read in Mark 8:34-38 when Jesus said to his disciples: Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

Let’s pray

Father God,

You are the rock of our salvation, our refuge and our strength. A very present help in times of trouble. You are the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Our redeemer, our shield, our protector, our provider, our peace and our best hope. I will lift up mine eyes to the hills, from whence comes my help. My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth (Psalm 121:1-2)). Your word is ever with us in our hearts and in our mouths and we lift our eyes to the hills and know that our help comes from you. Lord, you are the Maker of heaven and earth, who commands us to be strong and of good courage, not to be afraid for You are with us wherever we go and You will never leave us nor forsake us. Lord God, strengthen us, comfort us and empower us through your Holy word. We further acknowledge that only Your begotten Son, Jesus, through the power of the Holy spirit that we always prevail in righteousness, overcome and endure all fiery trials. Lord God, help us to pull down every stronghold in our lives and cast out all fear for You have not given us the spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind. Heal us Lord and we’re healed. Save us Lord and we’re saved. For You and only You are worthy of our praise. In the Mighty Name of Jesus we pray. Amen!

(Note: There are many good Bible teachers and preachers that you can hear them in YouTube. Search for preachers like Derrick Prince, John MacArthur, David Jeremiah, Charles Stanley, Jimmy Evans, Perry Stone, Jan Markell, Amir Tsarfati, Jack Hibbs. However, you have to very careful and discerning because there are a lot of false prophets and prosperity TV evangelists who are more concern in building treasure on earth – and of course more treasures for themselves – rather than to store them in heaven! For these people, have nothing to do with them.)

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17 April 2022
Scripture Reading John 11:25 (KJV)

I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.

MESSAGE

Many churches are celebrating Easter Day today. As part of the traditional celebration, it would include eating of Easter cakes, Easter eggs and singing Easter songs, partaking of Holy Communion and preaching messages concerning crucifixion, the death and the resurrection of Jesus. As we joyfully celebrate the risen Christ in this Easter season, it is worth to remember that we must always remind ourselves the suffering and sacrifices of our Lord Jesus must be the central theme of the Easter message. Yes, this is the day we need to rejoice because Jesus has risen from the dead two thousand years’ ago and because He has risen, we can now have eternal life. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the tomb is God’s final victory over our greatest enemy – Death. The empty tomb has proved beyond all reasonable doubts that Jesus has risen!

We must, however, be very cautious not to make the gospel truth of Easter sound like a simple story of triumph. Take away the resurrection of Christ, there will be no hope; take away the resurrection there will be no gospel; take away the resurrection our faith in Christ will be useless. The story of Jesus may be simple but yet very profound. Jesus underwent great suffering and died. Three days later the tomb that Jesus was buried was empty. Over a period of many days, the risen Jesus appeared to many people including His disciples and they saw His resurrected body carried the physical wound marks. Not only did the risen Christ carry the wound marks on His hands, His feet and the side of his body, it was through these wounds that He was known to His disciple Thomas (John 20:24-29).

The physical wound marks of Jesus provide us an incredible historical narrative of Jesus’s suffering at Easter though this narrative may sometimes sound to others like we have been given a neat, tidy and ‘happy’ ending, nothing else. This is far from the theological truth. The resurrection of Jesus is not the end of a ‘happy’ story. Rather it signifies a new beginning and the start of the Church Age. The Crucifixion of Christ is not a single isolated and independent event but rather it was God’s divine plan from the birth of Jesus to His resurrection. We can summarise this God’s divine plan as follows:

The redeeming love of Jesus which resulted Him being crucified in the manner described above was used by the Roman to only punish the criminals who committed the most serious crimes. There was no other death punishment or crucifixion that was worse than the one that was used by the Roman to crucify Jesus in recorded Roman history. Jesus knew all this from the very beginning even before the creation and He willingly went through this punishment for us for one and only one reason – His redeeming love for the sinners is so deep that nothing could stop Him from doing it. He knew the road to Calvary was going to be very difficult and He would face untold suffering along the way. In fact, the worst suffering of Jesus was when He took all our sins – past, present and future and the Father in heaven couldn’t bear to see His only begotten Son was carrying all the sins of the world and had to turn His eyes away. Unable to bear to see that His Father had turned away from Him, Jesus then cried out: My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (Matthew 27:46). He finally cried out victoriously with these words: It is finished. (John 19:30) and He gave up His Spirit. The finished work of Jesus now removes all our sins as far as the east is to the west. It is finished, done, signed, and sealed by the blood of Jesus.

When Jesus was taken down from the cross He was wrapped with an expensive fine linen burial clothe that was fit only for rich people. This fine burial clothe which belonged to a wealthy man named Joseph of Arimathea and he was also a Roman official. Besides the burial clothe, Joseph of Arimathea allowed Jesus’ body to be buried in his tomb. These provide answers to very important theological and historical truths that prove crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus were all real. If Jesus was really a criminal and had committed horrendous crimes that deserved the crucifixion, would Joseph of Arimathea wanted to be so involved? But Joseph of Arimathea knew that Jesus was completely innocent and He was put to death because it was a plot by the High Priest Caiaphas who wanted to kill Him. Common-sense dictates that no one would like to be so closely associated with such criminal let alone gave Him an expensive burial clothe and also allowed the dead body to bury in his tomb. It must be noted that Joseph of Arimathea was a man of great honour and influence and he would run the risk of getting himself implicated and brought himself serious trouble with the Roman authority. But he knew from the very beginning that the crucifixion of Jesus was nothing but politically and religiously motivated. Both King Herod and the High Priest Caiaphas wanted Jesus dead.

For us, we now know that this was the divine plan of God to save all sinners from eternal damnation. Jesus was sinless but He was made sin so as to redeem us to the Father. There is no other way and this has always been the original plan of God since the beginning of God’s creation. There is no alternative way and this is the only way to bring sinners back to our Heavenly Father – Jesus must die sacrificially as a lamb unblemished and spotless in order for God to accept the blood of His only begotten Son as atonement for the sin of mankind.

The crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus give us the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is His teachings. To experience salvation, come to Jesus, repent, and forsake sin. Hence, Easter does matter because it indicates that Christ is alive and He will come again to take us to be with Him. Both the dead in Christ will be raised and transformed and we who are alive and we shall all be changed and shall be caught up to meet our Lord in the air and we shall all with the Lord forever (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).

While we are setting aside Good Friday and Easter Day to remember the death and resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ, let us not to forget that we must not live our lives in vain. We must faithfully and fervently continue our personal relationship with Him by studying the Bible, give thanks and pray always for His redeeming love, His grace and His mercy.  

Let’s Pray:

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for dying on the cross for us. By Your strips we are healed and in You we have redemption through Your blood, the forgiveness of our sins. You are the Resurrection and the Life. We acknowledge that it is only through Your Resurrection and the shedding of Your precious blood that we are now able to meet You and enjoy Your heavenly inheritance. Help us to remember not only during the Easter but every day and to always give thanks for Your redeeming love, mercy and grace. Lord, please remind us that every day is an Easter Day – that You have risen!

In the Mighty Name of Jesus we pray. Amen!

Note: The YouTube below was an interview with an expert on the subject of the Shroud of Turin. This expert has studied the Shroud of Turin for many years from many scientific angles. He is convinced that the Shroud of Turin is a real burial cloth that used to wrap Jesus’ body. I pray that this YouTube can bring you closer to truly believe that the Resurrection of Jesus was a historical fact and not a myth that many sceptics are telling us. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxrdTgcx3Ek

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HAVE A BLESSED GOOD FRIDAY AND EASTER DAY!

THE KING IS COMING!
BE READY, BE PREPARED TO MEET OUR SAVIOUR!
HE CAN COME AT ANYTIME!

Pray that this YouTube will motivate you to stay awake and be sober while waiting to meet our King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjZ2vDqfBg4

If you have not accepted Jesus as your Saviour, all you need is just to follow these three simple steps:

[If you don’t have a copy of the Bible, you can download from Android or Apple Apps. You just need to search for Bible. They are many free Bible Apps.]

Dear Brothers and Sisters-in-Christ,

This is the last hour! We are very much near the end of the church age. Perhaps, it’s overdue but our Living God, Jesus, is patient and kept delaying His coming. But we know the situation is not pretty. Evils, wickedness and lawlessness are everywhere and it has come to the point that God is saying enough is enough!

Today is indeed a very, very Good Friday! This was the day two thousand years’ ago when Jesus gave up His Spirit and died but was resurrected three days later. His resurrection has defeated our greatest enemy, DEATH, once and for all. We must, however, continue to remain in relation with the Father, His Son, Jesus and Holy Spirit so as to have Eternal life that God has promised us (John 3:16 KJV – For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life).

Tragically, we lost our eternal life that God has always intended for us after God created the first human, Adam. But due to Adam’s disobedience, and since that day six thousand years’ ago, sins started to creep into His creation. The following three statements show clearly the current state of conditions of the world we are in today:

Indeed, Prophet Isaiah wrote similar message 1,300 years’ ago when, I believe, the condition that time was just as bad as today: Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! (Isaiah 5:20-21)

When we disregard the absolute standard of right and wrong set by God and started to measure against our own standard, the final result is clear: Destruction. This is where we are today. We have witnessed all kinds of crimes, perversions, corruptions at high places, we now don’t know who is telling the truth and who is telling lie and the list goes on. To put it bluntly, we are now living in a hopeless world in need of complete restoration that only God can do!

Thankfully! We have a Blessed Hope. The Blessed Hope that Jesus will come and take all the repented sinners to His Heavenly Throne. Jesus has made this promise in John 14:2-3 – In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

What follows this will be the restoration by God to the condition that He first created at the Garden of Eden. There will be a new heaven and a new earth so spectacular that is going to be beyond all our imagination (Isaiah 65:17; Revelation 21:1).

We all must therefore be prepared for our Lord Jesus to receive us to His Kingdom.

There are many verses in the Bible telling us or warning us to be prepared, to continue to be awake and get ready to meet out Lord Jesus. Here are some of them:

May God Bless You All Reading of This Message and Watching of the YouTube on the Coming of our Lord Jesus who is the King of kings and Lord of lords


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10 April 2022

Scripture Reading: James 4:8,10 (KJV)

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

MESSAGE

One of the most frightening verses that we can read in the Bible can be found in Matthew 7:22-23. In these verses, Jesus told some people who were supposed to be God’s children why they were not allowed them to enter to God’s kingdom. They were puzzled because they thought they had done many things that were pleasing to Jesus but this was what Jesus said to them: “I never knew you. Get away from me, you evildoers!” In fact, these people had told Jesus earlier that they did prophesy in His name and in His name drive out demons and perform many miracles.

It is interesting to note that normally non-believers don’t call Jesus Lord. This implied that those who called Jesus Lord were supposed to be believers. They may even be church leaders like pastors, elders, deacons or evangelists. Then the question we now have to confront with is: Why did Jesus refuse to let them enter His Kingdom.

There are very important lessons we can learn which are consistent with regard to our salvation and what good works are all about. First, we cannot enter the Kingdom of God just by our own efforts, no matter how hard we to try. We are saved only by the Blood of Jesus, a faith we must always adhere – Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.  In reality, good works only reflect our faith in Christ because faith without good works is dead (James 2:14). God has warned us that all good works must be done not to impress people but they are done as our constant pursue to trust in the Lord (Psalm 37:3) and we can also read in Matthew 5:16: Let our light so shine before men, so that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven. This is how we can purify our hearts and be drawn nearer to God.

We may speculate that those people who were utterly surprised by the plain rejection of Jesus must have thought that the standard by which others judge them was based on their abilities to perform wonderful things like performing miracles, driving out demons. The crowd who had witnessed these miracles must have greatly impressed and applauded these people who performed the miracles.  But they failed to understand that the standard by which God judges humans is very different from what the world judges. God looks beyond our outward actions. God looks at the heart and the motives of all our actions – are we doing all these good works to please man or God? There are many verses in the Bible about this plain truth that we must all set our heart to be right with God in order to see God as you can read them in: 1 Samuel 16:7; Psalm 26:2; Psalm 51:10; Proverbs 21:2; Jeremiah 17:9; Matthew 5:8; Acts 15:8; Thessalonians 2:4; Ephesians 6:6.

Unless we are constantly seeking God’s holy word and pray earnestly and put into practice of doing good works with the right motives, drawing us closer to God can be a huge challenge for several obvious reasons. First, we have inherited the sinful nature from the first man, Adam. Our tendency is to do what sinners would do – proud, unforgiving, inconsiderate, ungrateful, unloving, unholy, lovers of money and the list goes on (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Second, we are living in a sinful world and that the world calls “evil good” and “good evil”. The world now celebrates evil more than ever before, condemns good, persecutes good and even some governments are prosecuting people who are doing good for the Kingdom of God. Third, the Word of God, the Bible, is mocked and treated as fairytales and they are irrelevant to the ‘modern’ world. Fourth, many churches are sugar-coating God’s messages and most of us can hardly hear church leaders preaching the most essential part of what the Bible:  Sin, Repentance and the Return of the Jesus to this world again. Fifth, this is exactly what the Bible has already prophesy to us that in the last days there will be many false prophets to deceive many and many will be falling way from their faith in Christ Jesus. (Matthew 24:24; 2 Timothy 4:3-4).

We thus need the Word of God and pray to the Holy Spirit to strengthen us so that we can help to fill the gaps that some churches have fallen short of preaching the truth. We must not be ashamed of the gospel and prepare our heart to focus all our attentions on Jesus calling all sinners to repent and to prepare for His imminent return. It is not the time to sugar-coat God’s messages but rather to endure affliction and to evangelise to the world the true Gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 4:5). Our ultimate goal is for us as born-again Christians that one day when we meet our Saviour, Lord Jesus, He can say to us: Well done. You are my good and faithful child.

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

We all know that we are always behind what You really want of us – to be Your good children. We are playing catching up but we know Jesus you are here to lift us up, to walk with us and to run the race with us no matter where we are and in whatever circumstances we are in. Help us to pick up the cross and follow You all the days of our life. We thank you You and we praise You again for this day. Keep us safe and help us to bridge and the fill the gaps that churches may have failed or fallen short of. Help us not be ashamed of Your Gospel. Many have mocked the Gospel and Your messages are often sugar-coated just to please the people. Lord, help us to come to the knowledge that this is not the time to sugar-coat Your message. It is the time to tell people that You are coming very soon and Your imminent appearance can take place at anytime. In the Mighty Name of Jesus we pray. Amen!

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WHAT A GLORIOUS DAY!
We may not know the day or the hour our Lord Jesus will return, but we are assured that His Coming to receive us is imminent. We must be prepared for this Glorious Day!

Bless You All The Reading of This Message

I am sure many of us are waiting earnestly for the Second coming of our Lord Jesus. His coming is imminent and nothing could stop Him. There are more prophecies written in the Bible concerning the Second Coming of Jesus than any other prophecies!

All the prophesies concerning the Birth of Jesus, His Crucifixion and His resurrection were fulfilled to pin-point accuracy. Yet in the Bible, for every one verse that prophesied His First Coming, there are eight verses that prophesied His Second Coming. This is a ratio is 8:1!  Prophetically speaking, the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus if anything can go by, is going to be fulfilled with precision no lesser than His First Coming!

But do you also know that 17 of the 39 books in the Old Testament and 23 of the 27 books in the New Testament have written about the Second Coming of Jesus?  A detailed analysis by some Bible Scholars has discovered that 1 out of 30 verses in the Bible tells us the Second coming of Jesus! In fact, Jesus referred Himself to His return 21 times! The Second coming of Jesus seems to be the most dominant teaching of Jesus outside His teaching of repentance and salvation of sinners.

History has proved that when it comes to prophetic words, the Bible is extremely accurate and reliable as many of these prophecies were foretold by the Prophets and they were later fulfilled with pin-point accuracy. In 1 Thessalonians 4:17, Apostle Paul has told us that a day will come when we who are alive will meet in our Saviour in the air and to live with our Lord Jesus for ever more. The prophetic words are going to come to pass very soon. Time is coming to a close. We all must now come to Jesus because this Glorious Day of His Return in drawing nigh!

I have done some readings and I have discovered eight intriguing differences between the First Coming and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

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2 April 2022
Scripture Reading: Psalm 23:1 (KJV)

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

MESSAGE

In Psalm 23:1, God is revealed in the Bible as our Good Shepherd. This revelation can be found in both the Old Testament and the New Testament of the Bible. One of the most well-known verses pointed to us that God is our Good Shepherd can be found in the Old Testament, Psalm 23. It is interesting to know that Psalm 23 was written by King David who himself was a humble shepherd before he became King of Israel. Due to his background as shepherd he knew exactly the behaviour of sheep and the roles and responsibilities of shepherds. From a lowly shepherd, David later became a king. He was anointed by God to assume kingship for Israel. This was nothing short of a miracle from God. God can use anyone to bring glory to Him regardless of the background and this is one of the best examples.

In 1 Samuel 13:14, it was written that God has called David a man after God’s own heart. The reasons why God called David after His own heart was because when David sinned against God, he admitted he sinned and ask God to forgive him. He never put the blames on others as we can read in Psalm 51:1-5 – “God, have mercy on me according to your faithful love. Because your love is so tender and kind, wipe out my sinful acts. Wash away all the sinful things I have done. Make me pure from my sin. I know the sinful acts I have committed. I can’t forget my sin. You are the one I’ve really sinned against. I have done what is sinful in your sight. So you are right when you punish me. You are fair when you judge me. I know I have been a sinner ever since I was born.”

There are very useful lessons to learn from this Psalm: To be a child after God’s heart we have to admit our mistakes and sins that we committed and ask God for forgiveness. We must take responsibilities and we must not blame others for our actions. We must not justify our sinful actions like “after all everyone is doing.”


Let’s come back to the story about shepherds and sheep. Shepherds can tell you that how stupid and playful sheep can be and because of this the flock that each shepherd looked after need to be carefully attended to. The shepherd will protect and guide their sheep to safety from wild animals like snakes, wolves and wild dogs. Often, the sheep will just run around not knowing actually there are dangers around them. Even though a shepherd who will always carry a rod to hit and discipline them when they are disobedient, the sheep still can be quite stubborn and will continue to explore the valleys and the mountains which usually infested with predators and ever-ready to devour them. All shepherds know exactly how many sheep they have and even when one is missing, the shepherds will try every effort to find them. No shepherd will leave their lost sheep alone, not even one, because each sheep is very dear to him.

In the Bible, Matthew 18:10-14, Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep to show that the Kingdom of God is accessible to all, even those who are sinners or strayed away from God’s path. Jesus uses an example of a shepherd who has 100 sheep and later he noticed that one goes missing. The shepherd leaves the 99 others and searches high and low for that lost sheep. Jesus stresses that when the shepherd finds the lost sheep he rejoices over it more than the 99 who did not go astray. This parable tells how God, like a good shepherd is always looking out for sinners and He will really rejoice when even one sinner repents and returns to Him.

Like the shepherds looking after sheep, Jesus is our Good Shepherd and in parallel we can also infer that many a times, human beings are quite stupid – stupid not in the sense of lack of talents or skills or not being useful in doing our job but more of foolishly seeking pleasure of the world and often at the expense of other people without any due considerations to potential negative consequences around them. The results of such actions can bring serious negative consequences and griefs not just to ourselves but also other people like our family members or friends. For example, there are drivers who refuse to take the advice of the police and got themselves drunk but still driving their cars without consideration of other road users. In the process, they may get into accidents and get seriously injured or killed who may or may not be the driver himself or herself. Regardless of who got seriously injured or killed, the family members are going to suffer for such irresponsible and selfish act.

Jesus as our Good Shepherd gives life to us and protect us from the dangers. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, God has been protecting all His children to the point that He is willing to die for protecting and saving His children from eternal destruction. This was fulfilled in the New Testament when Jesus willingly went to the cross to be crucified. By so doing, He is able to offer life to His sheep and that is God’s beloved children. By offering security to those who believe in Him, we are protected from all kind of dangers and no one can snatch us away from God. Jesus paid a very dear price for this. He shed every drop of His precious blood so that our sins can be washed away and we can live with Him into eternality. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin (Hebrews 9:22).

As His flock we have certain duties that He wants from us. We must heed His voice [John 10:2-3] and follow Him by sharing His love to others. Whether we are just ordinary church members or in leadership position like serving as elders, deacons or pastors, we are to cooperate with all our brothers and sisters in Christ in sharing God’s Good News of Jesus’s death and resurrection to others. We are to pray for one another and maintaining the spirit of love and live in peace with one another. And always remember – Jesus paid a dear price because of our sin and His death will ensure we will be able to dwell in His house forever [Psalm 23:6].

Let’s Pray:

Dear Lord,

I fully acknowledge You are my Good Shepherd. You make me to lie down in green pasture and You provide me with the Living Water of Life. Through this Living Water, You have restored my soul and You lead me to the path of righteousness. At times I walked through the valley of darkness but Lord you always provide me the light and shine upon the darkness of the valley that I am going through that now I can see all the goodness You have given to me. Dear Lord Jesus, help me to obey Your commandments and follow Your teaching so that I can live my life pleasing to You. Help me not to go astray like some disobedient and playful sheep but continue to point to me the right way to go. Lord Jesus keep me away from all dangers and protect me from devoured by predators. Dear Lord, I am looking forward to follow You all the days of my life until we meet face to face with You so that I will dwell in Your house forever. Help me that when ever I have the opportunity I can share with others of Your great love.

I pray all these in the Mighty Name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus.

Amen.

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ARE WE NOW LIVING IN AN UPSIDE-DOWN WORLD?

Absolutely! A resounding “Yes!”
We are indeed living in an upside-down world and this can best be summarized in the following statements of truth:

Although there are only six statements, but they really depict the current position of the world especially those living in the west. Thankfully, countries in the east still valued the traditional culture. Sadly, the western influence is going escalated to the east and it’s going to be very fast!

I like to also share two verses, one from the Old Testament and One from the New Testament which reinforce our current state of affair in human affair.

Isaiah 5:20 (KJV) – Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

John 3:19 (KJV) – And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

Interesting to read that when Jesus was asked by His disciples when He is coming again, He replies are always: “As In the days of Noah” and “As in the days of Lots” as we can read in the Book of Luke:

Luke 17:26 (KJV): And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man.
Luke 17:28 (KJV): Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot.

I think we are in the situations that were very similar during the period of Noah and Lots!

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Are we ready to let our Living God, Jesus to receive us to His Heavenly Throne? He is coming very soon!

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John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son whosoever believed in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

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Jeremiah 17:7 – Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

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A VERY BLESSED DAY TO ALL THE READERS

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As we may be feeling the heat of life’s pressure and in some way we may feel a sense of insecurity and hopelessness, we must however remind ourselves that we can fully trust Jesus and we can rest upon His shoulder.

I like therefore to share with this very beautifully hymn that was written by an author who wrote this hymn at the time she was at her most difficult situation. Her beloved husband, the breadwinner, died in an accident trying to save a young boy from drowning. They had a 4-year old daughter. In spite of the situation, she wrote this hymn and it has inspired many to come and trust Jesus. May Lord bless you with this hymn. Amen!

AN URGENT MESSAGE!
ARE YOU READY TO MEET JESUS?
HE IS COMING VERY SOON
[For More Messages, Please Scroll Down]

We all know, life on earth is temporary. Is this ‘bad’ news?” Certainly not! On the contrary, for many of us as Christians we should take comfort that we don’t need to live to few hundred years. Are you really able to go on living for the next 500 years? Granted that you can, are you too not be too sick to continue working, are you willing to continue your life for the next 500 years? I am sure no one wants that. Life is too stressful on earth and some may wish they could retire now let alone working for the next 500 years. But will retirement solve your problem? Getting another big promotion will solve your problems? Your children have grown up and got married, will these solve your family problems? The longer we are on this earth, the more calamities we will have to face. Even today when we are in a relatively ‘peaceful’ situation, we are all still struggling and hope for a better life. Have we succeeded for a better life? We may and, alas!. Normally it’s very short and we are back to the same predicaments.

And let’s face it, many of us are now questioning the “Meaning of Life”.

The answer to this question: The Meaning of Life can be found in the Word of God, the Bible. As you explore the Bible, you will very soon discover that God has a wonderful plan for us and our life here is just a short journey. We are traveling this short journey to a much bigger things God has for us! Thankfully, our life on earth will one day come to an end. And God has much better plan for us in our next destination. Our next destination is in heaven which Jesus has promised to take us to as we can read in John 14:1-3:

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 

These are the exact words from Jesus. Apostle Paul also tells us that “Therefore we should comfort one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18).”  What Apostle Paul was referring to is that Jesus will come to catch us up to meet Him in the cloud and to bring us to our heavenly home that He has prepared for us we just read in John 14:1-3. Jesus is coming personally to receive us. He is not sending His angels to receive us. What a glorious and blessed hope we have!

Let us get ready and get prepared to meet our Lord. You may say: Oh, yes. You may say, I have said a sinner’s prayer 5 years’ or 10 years’ ago and now I am saved. Really? This is not enough. We must continuously be doing all we can to build closer relationship with our Living God, Jesus. These are: our daily repentance – confess our sins and sincerely turn away from all our evil ways. This is not a choice but a commandment from God; daily reading of the Word of God to get to know God more in order to understand His will; spread the Good News of the, His virgin birth, His death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, and thank and pray always for His redeeming blood. It is only through the Blood of Jesus that we are redeemed to be able to spend in heaven with our God forever and ever! This is the eternal life as we can read in John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son whosoever believed in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

As we read new on the TV, internet or newspaper, the world events are all heading to a total chaos – politically, socially, morally, economically, geologically, cosmically, just about everything. What we are seeing now – pestilence, floods, wildfires, volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, food shortage, high inflation, wars, rumours of wars, riots in many countries, sexual perversion, immorality, gross corruption in high places, and so on are only a tiny glimpse compared to a huge catastrophic tsunami of biblical proportion that is coming to this earth. These catastrophic global tsunami events of biblical proportion which will inflict untold suffering to human on earth is coming very, very soon! For those Christians who are familiar with the Book of Revelation I am sure you all know what I am referring to. This will be the seven years of Great Tribulation period. If you compare the events written in the Book of Revelation regarding the Great Tribulation and current events that you hear and see from the mass media, you have not seen anything yet! Time is running out. Get ready to meet Jesus. Jesus is coming very soon! Repent and be saved! May God bless you the reading of this message.

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27 March 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 92:1-2 (KJV)

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night.

MESSAGE

We are humans of habit. In fact, there is an old saying that we used to reflect this reality: “Old habits die hard.” At times we told by our friends that we were stubborn and refused to change certain habits that they find them irritating, and they would quote this saying to us: “We are creatures of habit.” Admittedly, this is quite true because it is quite difficult to change our habits. But not all habits are bad. There are people who have good habits as they are habitually considerate and caring towards other people. They put others first before themselves. They are unselfish and loving people. For example, some people would always be the last guest to join the queue in a buffet lunch or dinner. They would wait for all other guests to have their food taken first before they proceed to take the food for themselves and they would take the amount of food just enough because they didn’t want to waste them or in case others need another helping. For such considerate people, they need to be positively complemented for their good habits of care and concern. On the other hand, we have seen comics depicting inconsiderate people who piled up their buffet lunch like a “mountain”, much more than they actually need. It is very important that we need to cultivate good habits as it will affect how other people view us. Our habits whether good or bad will tell the world who we are. More importantly, good habits that we cultivate will please our Lord Jesus because our good habits reflect God’s image.

How we started our morning’s activities and how we closed up our evening activities have become our daily habits. Let’s examine what we really do the first thing in the morning after we have brushed our teeth and what we do before we go to bed. I believe many of you know the answers. For most working adults, after the usual routine (or habits) of brushing our teeth, washing our face and combing our hairs, they will proceed to have our breakfast, preparing to take our children to school and to office. For school-going children they will change to their school uniform, having their breakfast and prepare to go to school. This is the normal routine for most of us and there is nothing wrong. Everyone is doing the same because we wouldn’t want to be late for school or office. Likewise, we repeat our routine after our dinner. After washing our plates and perhaps go and watch our favourite TV show, do school homework and finally go to bed. Again, there is nothing wrong as all these have become our daily routine and we all do these quite automatically.

However, we must remind ourselves that as children of God, it is important to note that the very first thing we wake up in the morning and at night before we go to sleep, we must set our priority to thank and praise God and this is very pleasing to our God. Nothing can be more pleasing to God when we thank and praise Him especially at the very start in the morning and at the end of the day as we have just read in Psalm 92:1-2. We need to make thankfulness a key habitual practice because there is power in a thankful heart. The following are three ways to practice a daily attitude of praise and thankfulness to our Living God, Lord Jesus:

In Psalm 92:1-2 which we have just read, it tells us that there is no better way to start our morning routine then by thanking and praising God and there is no better way to show to God than expressing our gladness and thankfulness every night before we go to bed. Let us make these our habits of thanksgiving and praise in the morning and at night.  

It may be difficult at times to remember to praise and thank God because our mind can be preoccupied with many things but we can ask the Holy Spirit to remind us. We must realise that no matter how much we thank God, we can never out do what God has done for us. The suffering of God’s only begotten Son Jesus on the cross is too huge a price that we can never able to repay. Furthermore, we don’t deserve it but merciful God has willingly given His only begotten Son to die for our sins. Hence, at the very least, we have to remind ourselves every morning and at night to thank and praise our Heavenly Father for all the things He has provided to us throughout the day.

We are to rejoice always, pray continually and give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Cultivating our habitual attitude of thanksgiving and praise to our Saviour, Lord Jesus with cheerful heart will benefit us more than anything else as it is written in Proverbs 17:22: A cheerful heart is like a good medicine.

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord,

We like to sincerely dedicate this morning prayer to You that was used by Your faithful preacher and writer John Stott who have prayed this as his morning prayer for decades:

“Good morning, Heavenly Father, Good morning, Lord Jesus, Good morning, Holy Spirit. I pray that I may live this day in Your presence and please You more and more. Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow You. Holy Spirit, I pray that this day You will fill me with Yourself and cause Your fruit to ripen my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, three Persons in one God, have mercy upon me.”

I would like to also pray that Lord Jesus please keep reminding me to thank and praise You also every night before I go to bed for Your providence, sustenance and care throughout the day and if I have done things that are not pleasing to You today, I ask of You to forgive me and help me to walk in the path of righteousness for Your Namesake from thenceforth. Help me to repent of all my sins and sincerely turn to You for Your blessed counsel. Dear Lord, I am looking forward to Your provision and sustenance for many days to come. Amen.

LIVING SMYRNA CHURCH OF CHRIST

ALL COMMENTS ARE WELCOME!

You may want to send your comments to:
kttanlscc@gmail.com
OR
livingsmyrnachurchofchrist@yahoo.com

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John 3:16 (KJV) – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Dear Readers: Today is not promise. Come to Jesus and He will save you.

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TIME IS RUNNING OUT – JESUS IS COMING

What in the world is going on?

In the message below, I am going to share with you several Bible passages (Matthew 24:6-7; Matthew 24:37-39; Mark 13:7-10, Luke 17:28-29 and 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18) which prayerfully can answer the question: What in the world is going on?

In these passages, Jesus was responding to his disciples who asked Him what are the signs of His coming. Jesus then told the disciples that His coming will be preceded several catastrophic signs. In addition to sectorial, regional and international political chaos, Jesus also mentioned there will be great human sufferings due to pestilences (oh yes – Covid19), famines, floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, wildfires, droughts, hurricanes and not to mention widespread crimes, sexual perversion plus every other kind of human perversions we all can think of. All news media is never run out of such news so much so that many of these went unreported and only worst got into the news media. We are now so immune to these eschatological news that no one is talking about it.

For us as born-again Christians, we should not be surprised. Rather we should expect it because Jesus has already told to us two thousand years’ ago. In fact, these eschatological events are going to get more intense and the greater the intensity the closer we are to the return of our Lord Jesus to catch us up in the air as told by Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18:

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

As born-again Christians, we are told to bring Good News to other people, so let us do a little of our part to obey and share God’s Good News to the world. We can share God’s Good News through personal evangelism, using the internet tools or mobile apps.

May God Bless you the reading of this message.

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20 March 2022

Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 31:8 (KJV)

And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee, he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

MESSAGE

As we all know, feeling of being abandoned is very uncomfortable and distressing. This is especially so for children. For those children who are abandoned by their parents, their sense of hopelessness and loss is many times worst. Such feeling, unfortunately, may continue into adulthood. The negative effects of such feeling can be devastating to the children as they may live in constant fear of abandonment like when my good friends going to abandon me; can I trust my “Best Friend Forever?” or, constant fear of being alone, and so one. The prolonged period of having such feeling will affect his or her relationship with other people. Thankfully, this may not be common as most parents love their children just like how God loves us and they are also friends who stayed with us through “thick and thin.”  

It is thus a great blessing and we must thank and praise God for parents who are dearly taking care of their children and also for friends who are trustworthy and stayed with them through ‘thick and ‘thin’ regardless of situation. We must constantly pray to God to bestow good health to them and keep them safe all the times.

In the scripture verse we just read, Deuteronomy 31:8 it was about Joshua who was commanded by God to go and fight against the enemies in order to protect the people and defend their land. But Joshua was worried because the enemies’ soldiers were very strong and very well-equipped. Furthermore, Joshua was a new commander and he just took over from Moses and the soldiers handed by Moses to him were very poorly equipped. To comfort and assure Joshua, God then told Joshua not to worry because He will be with him and will not forsake him. Joshua listened and faithfully trusted and obeyed God. God fulfilled His promise and Joshua finally won the battle even though he was a new commander and he was fighting against a very strong and well-equipped army.

In our own life, we may not really have the kind of enemies like Joshua. We may, however, have different kinds of ‘enemies’ like sickness, death of a child, job loss and we are constantly living in fear whether such events will happen to us. These ‘enemies’ of us are very real but very different from that of Joshua. Just the thought of the possibilities of encountering one of these events will send a chill down to our spine and it will give us deep sense of insecurity. When one of these events occurred, we have indeed encountered some kind of abandonment. For example when our parents are sicked and unable to look after us is like we are being abandoned as now no one could take care of us or when we lose our job we will have the feeling that our company has said to us: “We don’t need you anymore.” We feel abandoned and betrayed especially for those who have worked in the company for many years. We must acknowledge that sometimes it is at no fault of anyone because the abandonment may due to unforeseen circumstances.  

It is very comforting to read Deuteronomy 31:8 that when we are abandoned for whatever reasons, God will never forsake and abandon us. He will always be with us. However, at times when we feel that we need God the most, He doesn’t seem to be with us and inevitable we ask the question: “Jesus, where are you? I really need You now.  

A beautiful poem below depicts to us how trustworthy, loving and faithful Jesus is to us. It tells us that at times when we were at the lowest point of our life and when we felt that our Lord Jesus was totally absent from us, He was indeed carrying us with His Hand. Jesus will never let us walk alone.

Footprints In The Sand

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking
along the beach with the LORD.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand:
one belonging to him, and the other to the LORD.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him,
he looked back at the footprints in the sand.
He noticed that many times along the path of his life
there was only one set of footprints.
He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest
and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he question the LORD about it:
“LORD, you said that once I decided to follow
you, you’d walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most
troublesome times in my life,
there is only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why when
I needed you most you would leave me.”

 The LORD JESUS replied:
“My son, my precious child,
I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you.”

Let us pray:

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank you for carrying me in good and in bad times. I know You are always with me and I am safe in Your Mighty Hand at all the times. You are the God of Miracles, God of the Healer and a very faithful and loving God that I can fully trust. While friends may abandon me and sometimes with valid reasons but I know under no circumstances Lord Jesus will never leave me nor forsake me. I truly like to confess my sin in the event that I still have doubt in You but please Lord, send your Holy Spirit to tell me that You are always with me regardless of my situation. As written in Psalm 73:26 – My body and my heart may fail and grow weak, but God you are the strength of my heart. You are everything I will ever need. Help us Lord Jesus that we can be like You and that we will not abandon our good friends who are in need of our help.

In Your Mighty Name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

13 March 2022
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 2 Corinthians 9:7 (KJV)

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. 

MESSAGE

We know, the most generous ‘person’ we have ever known in the whole universe is God who had given His one and only Son, Jesus to us knowing that, first, Jesus was going to die of a very horrible death and second, God did this in order to save us even though we have committed all kinds of sins.

We must always remind ourselves that besides sending His Son to die for our sins, God has created the earth that is capable of producing all kinds of foods for us to eat and we will never be lacking of food. But because of human sinful nature, we started to destroy the earth like burning the forest for planting instead of cutting down the trees by hands. Burning of forest not only destroyed the forest as this will also kill many animals. It will also pollute the air and people will get sick breathing polluted air. This is only one example. Another one is human is very inconsiderate. They just throw all kinds of rubbish and pollute the land and the sea. Many marine animals died because they ate these rubbish like plastic bags mistaken them as food.

Everyone now complaints we have not enough to eat and for those who can afford, may are unwilling to share all because we all have a sinful nature of being selfish.  

We must not just limit giving to only tangible things like money or sharing food with others. It is of course very good if we can do these. But besides money and food, we can also share with others in the following ways:

1) Generosity starts with gratitude. 

Be appreciative of things people give you or do something good to you, no matter how small. Always say thank you to people when they help you no matter how small and insignificant the help is.

2) Generosity doesn’t come naturally. Like a muscle you have to exercise and practice. 

In other words, generosity is something you can learn and grow into – it just means you have to exercise that generosity ‘muscle’ a bit more each time. If we express that generosity often, it will then become a habit and God will be very pleased with us

3) Generosity can be creative. You can share the sadness with other, or comfort them when they are in distress.

When you see your friends sad, go and ask him or her politely like are you alright; anything thing troubling you; and so on. Your friends will appreciate this gesture even though he or she may not really want to share with you why he or she is sad because some of their problems are too personal to share. We must respect their wish. This is another form of generosity. Just by asking them “what is troubling you”, “can I help you”, etc, your friend knows someone really care for them. Caring of people is one of the most important personal attributes and we must develop this as part of our character building

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

Help me to develop my character and be more like you. Each day help me to say some good things to my friends, show concern and where appropriate share something with my friends like a simple joke or a riddle to make my friends happy.

Amen.

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6 March 2022
Scripture Reading: Psalm 1:1-3 (KJV)

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditates day and night.And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

MESSAGE

Reading the Word of God, the Bible is very refreshing and beneficial. Why? This is because God is the Best Teacher. We can learn almost everything from the Bible because God created everything, the stars, the planets and all the living things. Thus, God knows exactly what they are made up of and for what purpose. Everything that God created serves a purpose. This includes ourselves. God created us for His glory because we are wonderfully and fearfully made (Psalm 139:14).

For example, just a simple and brief passage from Psalm 1 verses 1 to 3, we can learn so much about people. Just verse 1 of Psalm 1:  Blessed is the man who obeys the law of the LORD” already tells a lot about us. We will never need to be afraid of the police if we just obey the law of the LORD. In fact, the very first word of this verse actually gives us its main theme: “Blessedness”. The word “blessed” here means “happy” and “joyful”. This is what we always dream to have. You often heard people complain and said: I am so unhappy today because “so and so have spoilt my day, etc”. The people just complaints and complaints about other people, about things around them like nothing can made them happy.

But God tells us that real state of our well-being can only be achieved when we obey the law of the LORD which everyone should desire. People everywhere want to be happy and joyful, not sad but we just do the wrong things to make us happy and joyful.

The word “Blessedness” is somewhat abstract to describe. You cannot touch “Blessedness” but you can feel with your heart. One way to express “Blessedness” is indicated in the other verses like don’t do what sinners and evil people do; consider yourself like a tree planted by the river of fresh water that will produce fruits when the right time comes. For a tree to bear fruits, the most important thing is to ensure the tree is planted in a favourable location and what better location can it be when the tree is planted next to a river with fresh unpolluted water. Why this is important? It is important because its roots will always enjoy a good supply of fresh water that comes from the river located beside it. Trees especially fruit trees need a lot of fresh unpolluted water. As long as the tree remains at this river bank with abundance supply of fresh water, it will continue to thrive and grow well. The river is its source of life – and it represents the Word of God. Everyone needs the Word of God to help him or her to thrive and grow. Hence, all of us need to be nourished by God’s Word, day and night and as indicated in verse 2 which says, “his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law he meditates day and night.” We can easily achieve this by thanking and praising God whenever opportunity arises and this will provide an impetus for us to grow spiritually. Besides helping us to thrive and grow, God consider is very delighted each time we thank and praise Him.

Producing fruit is one thing and having good or bad fruit is another thing. What we are told is that when we read the Word of God, Jesus will help us to produce good fruit. In the same way that a person looks forward to seeing his plants bear good fruit, our Heavenly Father looks forward to seeing our lives bear much spiritual fruit for Him. He is glorified when we bear much fruit (John 15:8). The fruit refers to things like service to God, good works, virtues, honesty, godly and righteous living. God wants all of us to grow into fruit-bearing Christians. And the truth of this is so well illustrated in this Psalm is that you will bear much fruit as long as you keep receiving the good nourishment you need from the Word of God. Our whole being, whether we succeed in the things we do depend how much nourishments we receive from God through His Word. A believer will always remain spiritually strong and healthy even under the most difficult and tough situation when the Word of God is embedded or built into our heart. We will be able to weather through every storm of life. When circumstances knock us down, we will bounce back up. Once again, it is the nourishment that we receive from the Word of God that will give the believers of Christ the health and strength to cope even with the most trying circumstances of our life.

Let’s pray.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Help me to read and study Your Word and help me not to neglect Your teaching. It is through Your teaching that I can find comfort. Your Words are the living water of life. Dear Lord Jesus, nourish me with Your Word. Thank you, Jesus that You lead me to your spring of living water (Revelation 7:17).

Lord Jesus, please send only good people who desire to know You more and more to be my friends. This is because if I mixed with evil or wrong people, I may also become like one of them.

Lord Jesus, I know that You will keep me strong and healthy regardless of my situation. Just like other people, I am equally a sinful person, but Lord we know You are always with us and I like to thank you for dying on the cross at Calvary for me. Thank you, Jesus for Your precious blood that You have so willingly shed for me. Thank you, Lord Jesus for loving us so much. No word can let me thank you enough. All we can do is to continue be good fruit, to be honest, to share, to show concern to others, to help those that need our help. Lord Jesus I pray that I will continually yield to Your spiritual fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). 

I pray this in the Mighty Name of Lord Jesus, Amen.

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27 February 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 127:3 (KJV)

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

MESSAGE

Children are the best gift from God. No other thing can be more precious than children. We often are very proud to tell people “This is my daughter”, “This is my son” or “These are my children”. But remember, whenever we said all these, we must thank God because the children first belonged to God and by his grace, God has willingly given his precious possession to us. This is a gift that we must take extremely good care of.  

All our things here on earth are temporary and will never last forever. These include everything we had in our possessions like our house, our car, our money and so on. But there is one possession that we are going to be with us forever, that is, God’s most precious gift, his children that God has given us. We are given the children because God has entrusted them to us and trusted us to take very good care of his children. All parents can really admit, taking good care of the children is not an easy task. Besides nourishing our children with healthy and wholesome food so that they can be healthy both mentally and physically, providing them good education so that they can have the necessary skills to go and work when they grew up and more importantly providing them with good and holy examples so that they can be disciplined children of God. And the most effective way to do all these is to go to the Word of God because the Word of God, the Bible, can teach us all these things like what to eat, where to get our knowledge and how to discipline our children (and also ourselves as adults). We must therefore continually share and read our Bible together with our children and encourage them to read as often as they can. We must always take the knowledge that those of us who truly seek and obey God’s commandments and his teachings will live a peaceful, satisfying and fruitful life every day when we are on earth. In Psalm 37:37 we can read “Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright. For the future of that man is peace.” We should frequently pray with our children as praying is a major part of getting to let our children know God better. When we pray, we are in effect talking to God just like when we are reading the Bible, God is in effect talking to us. We must take cognisant that the Word of God provides all the information we need for daily living. In fact, if we take the letters in the word BIBLE, we come up with a phrase that can perfectly describe what exactly the Bible is: Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth.

As parents, we must always remind ourselves that there is only one possession that is permanent. that is, our children. All other possessions are not permanent. When we leave this earth, all our possessions are to be owned others. Even when we are alive, our material possessions can run the risk of being destroyed by fire, flood, worms, cheated or stolen by other people. Nothing is permanent here. However, for all children of God, just like their godly parents who have obeyed God’s commandments, they will be in heaven together with their parents forever after leaving this earth.

As responsible parents, we must truly acknowledge that:

Let us pray.

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank you for giving me abundant life here on earth and in heaven. Please help me Lord Jesus to continue to train me so that I can live worthily for you. Help all parents to be good and responsible parents to take care of your precious children that you have given them. Lord, we know that many parents are very busy working and there are some parents even need to take two or three jobs to earn enough money to buy food or medicine for their children, to pay for their expenses like school fee, school textbooks and so on. Lord, please provide all parents the necessary strengths and continue to remind them that Lord Jesus is always with them in times of troubles and you will never forsake them. Help the parents to keep the children safe because one of the most trying times for parents is to see their children sick. We know currently that all governments around the world require children to take vaccinations but we know these vaccinations may cause harm to the children in a long term. We ask of you that for those who have already taken the vaccinations please remove all the evil ingredients from their body and for those children who have not taken the vaccinations, we earnestly pray that you give the wisdom to the parents that they should avoid going to vaccinate their children. We trust that God you have given the children necessary natural protection for the virus. Help us Lord.

We know children also love their parents as much as parents love them. Through this love, we can realise exactly how much you love us so much so that you were willing to suffer the tortures on the cross two thousand years’ ago. We want to thank you for the suffering when you were beaten, scourged, pierced and nailed to the cross. Your suffering just simply cannot be put in words and we all know that you died on the cross for all our sins. The empty tomb that buried you proved you have been risen. Through your death, we are able to make whole by your precious blood that you bled for us when you were hung and died on the cross. Through your resurrection we know you are also able to raise us up when we died. We are look forwarding to meet you and to personally say to you: My Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for your redeeming love and now we can be with you forever in the heavenly mansion that you have prepared for us. In Your Mighty Name we pray. Amen.

LIVING SYMRNA CHURCH OF CHRIST

All comments are welcome. You may want to send your comments to:
kttanlscc@gmail.com
OR
livingsmyrnachurchofchrist@yahoo.com

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20 February 2022
Scripture Reading: Galatians 6:3-4 (KJV)

For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. [Galatians 6:3-4]

MESSAGE

One of the bad habits that we always displayed is to say something to someone and they could be our friends, our own family members or even our teachers is that we like to form an opinion of how ‘smart’ or ‘good’ we are. In actual fact, they are so much things to learn in this world and even though one of the smartest persons the world has ever known like Albert Einstein is nothing compared to the knowledge of God. After all God created everything, including Albert Einstein. Thankfully, as I understood, Albert Einstein was a very humble man. Even up to now, he is still considered as one of the most intelligent men on earth the world has ever known. The others are Issac Newton who discovered the principles of gravity (and also many other mathematical principles like laws of motion) and Leonardo da Vinci who painted the world’s most famous painting Mona Lisa. As I understood, they were all very humble people. One can really learn from these people: the more intelligent and smart they are, the more humble they had become. And the reason is simple. They know that their knowledge when to compare God’s creation is like comparing the size of an ant to that of an elephant. Their knowledge is so tiny compare to God’s bounty knowledge.

On the other hand, they are many people (and at times we too are like them) and sad to say that they will boast as if they have knowledge as big as an ‘elephant’ when indeed they know so little compared to Albert Einstein, Issac Newton or Leonard da Vinci. Besides bragging about our knowledge, we are also inclined to brag about our personal quality and wish others should do or behave like us. In their heart, they often think: You should have done this way instead of that way. Remember what God said: As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my thoughts are higher than your thoughts and my ways are higher than your ways. (Isaiah 55:8-9).

The habit of thinking about ourselves better than others can cause a growing sense of self-importance and self-pride which God hates as we read Proverbs 21: 4 “The proud eyes and hearts of sinful people are like a field not plowed. Those things produce nothing.” Unfortunately, this occurs naturally in all of us because we are sinful people and it will take a lot efforts and practices to remove this habit. Jesus will be very pleased with us when we remove this habit of “proud eyes and hearts”.

The man of little knowledge thinks he knows everything. As the heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1), we thus can witness the wide knowledge of creation reveals the awful vastness of the unknown to man and interestingly to note that only very humble people realised it.  Hence, what right have we to think much of ourselves when all we have comes from God – even our own natural abilities to think, to paint, to design are the gifts of God’s Providence.

We can conclude with one key word: Self-pride is self-deception. We are bluffing ourselves when we think we are good, clever, intelligent. Indeed we are nothing compared to great people like Albert Einstein, Issac Newton or Leonardo Di Vinci let alone compared with God! One of the dangerous and negative consequences of self-pride is it stifled our improvements because we thought we are so good and we thus refused to listen to others who often has a lot to teach us. Another consequence is that it can destroy the Christ-like grace of humility.

 
Let’s Pray

Dear Lord Jesus,

Teach me O Lord! Cleanse me of my haughty and pride eyes. Help me to remove these from me so that I can be more like You. I thank you Jesus for creating the earth, the stars, the planets, the plants and animals for our enjoyment. Even science has advanced to a very high level, no human, not even the greatest scientist is unable to create a tiny creature like an ant. Dear Lord, each day we wake up, help us to remember your Creation. Nothing can compare to Your wonderous work!

We love you O Mighty Lord! Amen.

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13 February 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 19:1 (KJV)

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

MESSAGE

Every time when we go outing and visit to places like a big garden or a fruit plantation, we can smell wonderful fragrance of flowers and fruits. We can also see a lot of beautiful flowers like roses, orchids and many fruit-bearing flowers. We can also see a lot honey bees and beautiful butterflies flying here and there to pollinate the flowers. These bees and butterflies are also enjoying the nectars that they could suck from the flowers. We will inevitably admire them enjoying their care-free life and ask ourselves: Who created all these; How could flowers turn into fruits; Why the butterflies are so beautiful; Where do all these come from.

Likewise, each time we look up into the skies whether during the day or at night, we marvelled at the creation. At the back of our mind, we will inevitably have questions like: How could our Sun give us so much light and energy and yet it seems it can go on forever. Scientists have in fact estimated it will take at least 5 billion years for our Sun to burn up all the fuel. Often, we also ask “why are there so many stars which we can see during a clear night?” Indeed, stars are distant “suns” and they are billions of kilometers away from earth. It is calculated that if we can travel at a speed of light which is 300,000 kilometres per second, it will take us over 4 years to reach the nearest star. Even though they are so far away, yet we can still see them. They must be very, very big! By comparison, our Sun which is one of the smallest “stars” in the universe and although our Sun (or star) may be very small by comparison to others, it is still very big compared to our earth. If our sun was a hollow ball, more than a million earths could fit inside it!  Again, when we look into the sky, we are very tempted to ask the same question: Who created all these?

For us as Christians, we know the answers. We know that all the stars, our earth and all the planets around our sun cannot come out from nothing. “Someone” must have created them. We are blessed because we have the Word of God, the Bible, and the Bible tells us these were all created by God as we can read in Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This is very logical and sensible because for such super-big objects, they cannot be created out of nothing and by no one. For example, when you see a painting with some of our favourite characters like Anime Characters or good animations, we know there must have an artist or painter who painted it. It cannot just come out from nowhere. When we walked along a beach and saw some words scribbled on the beach sands like” GOD LOVES YOU” we know someone must have scribbled these words on the beach sands. They cannot accidentally be created by the sea-wave! So, how could the flowers and the stars come out from nothing or nowhere, and by themselves without anyone created them. There must be a Creator to create them and that include ourselves, all the animals from the tiniest ant to the biggest whale, the planets, vegetation, water, soils and everything around us. This Creator is our God that we read in our Bible.

Among all these creations, human beings are the most unique and they are the crown of God’s creation. No other animal, except human beings are created in God’s image as written in the Bible, Genesis 1:26-27 – “Let us make human beings so that they are like us. Let them rule over the fish in the seas and the birds in the sky. Let them rule over the livestock and all the wild animals. And let them rule over all creatures that move along the ground. So, God created human beings in his own likeness. He created them to be like himself. He created them as male and female.”

Like all God’s creation from stars, planets, plants and animals which come in different shapes, sizes, functions and so on, every individual human being that God created is also different from one another. Some have great musical skills some have artistic talent and so on. No two persons are the same. Even identical twins have different personality traits, strengths and abilities. All these truly depict the glory of God’s creation. More importantly, God created human being to be able to think, to be able to decide what is good and what is evil. Unlike animals which can do very limited things, the mind of human beings is somewhat ‘unlimited’. So long we are prepared and willing, we can be trained to do many things. We don’t just do only one thing. But of course, some people chose to do one and only one thing like spent all their lives making furniture or teach children. And that’s perfectly alright because God gives us the right and freedom to choose what we want to do so long those things that we do not hurt people. Our God wants us do things that can benefits other people and bring joy and peace to others.

We can summarise that when we look up to the sky (or heavens) and when we look all the creations around us, they speak to us the mighty glory of God which can be summarised as follows:

  1. Mighty and Indefinite Power of God
    When we see all physical and material things that God has created from the tiniest ant to the biggest animal, from the most playful kitten to the most skilful musician, from the shortest grass to the tallest tree, from the biggest planet to the smallest star, we can marvel the mighty and indefinite power of God.

We must always keep in mind that God’s timing is so precise that even the most expensive watch cannot provide the same degree of precision that God is able to. For example, our sun rose and set exactly the time that God has set, not a second earlier nor a second late. This is extremely essential especially for the farmers who depend on the time and seasons to plant and harvest their produce. Even animals, for example, bees depend on God’s time schedule. They know when to go and collect nectar and when to come back to their hives to rest.

Look to the sky and the weather and these will remind us that we have no control over the weather, except God can. Everyday TV, radio and internet forecast the weather and it may go something like “There will be a heavy thunderstorm this afternoon”. But, alas, it can become a mockery because quite often these weather forecasts are not accurate. Instead of heavy thunderstorm, there were just some dark clouds and not a single drop of rain. It therefore follows that if man cannot predict the weather, how could man control the weather, only God can.

As we ponder over Psalm 19:1 – “Heavens tell about the glory of God” and when we look up into the skies and all the creations around us, we can truly relate the glory of God in His mightiness, power, wisdom, goodness, infinity, faithfulness, greatness, sovereignty. Nothing is too difficult for Him – Matthew 19:26 – Jesus said: “With people, this is impossible. But with God, all things are possible”. This realisation leads us to peace as we are now living under God’s wisdom, the hope of being blessed by His goodness, the hope of a glorious eternity, the hope of confidence in His faithfulness, the enjoyment of His greatness and the confidence of resting in His sovereignty. So, whenever we look up into the heavens and His creation around us, we are indeed invited by God to see His glory and to remind ourselves that we are under the care of our living God, Jesus who created all things (John 1:3)

Let’s Pray:

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank you for your constant love even when we have doubts and fear. Thank you for your patience and tender mercies that are new every morning. And Lord, thank you for your promise to be with us always. Lord Jesus, we know You will keep us save and will provide us all the daily bread we need (Psalm 23). We want to ask nothing more than You have already given us. We like to confess that when we have sinned against You, we will ask for Your forgiveness and You will forgive us because of your tender mercies. We pray Lord Jesus, please keep pointing to us the right paths that we should go. We truly want to follow your teachings and your commandments and to walk according to your ways for “Your ways are higher than our ways” (Isaiah 55:9). We truly want to live to please You. Help us, Lord Jesus. In Your Mighty Name

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