Manna 55 What Really Matters
http://www.facejesus.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=90:manna-55-what-really-matters&catid=69:articles-english&Itemid=82
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Wisdom Regarding Kingship
Pr Vuthy Nol-Mantia
Praise and thank God sixteen people received the Holy Spirit in Hawaii recently. This means almost everybody in the church who did not have Holy Spirit received it. A lot of members in Hawaii have their hearts on fire. Truly they were able to touch God during the spiritual convocation. So we know when we have the heart to serve God and worship God, He will always be there for us, just like He was with the brothers and sisters in Hawaii. This morning we are sharing the topic Wisdom Regarding Kingship.
Revelation 1:6-7 " To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen."
Here John realizes that Jesus is King of Kings. He is the king to all the people on earth. Since he loves us so much that he washed us with his own blood. Because of this he made us king and priest to all the other. As kings how do we rule the kingdom and what is the kingdom? Because we need to glorify his name with the kingdom. Verse 7 said behold he's coming with the clouds and every eye will see him. Of course the first time when he came to the world he brought grace and truth. When he comes the second time he will bring judgment throughout the whole world. Those of us who can truly reign in our kingdom can inherit the kingdom of heaven. As for those who can not reign over our kingdom, we will spend an eternity in everlasting destruction.
So what is the kingdom that we need to reign over? We know in the book of revelation the end days there will be a great battle-the Battle of Armageddon. We sometimes think battle of Armageddon is in the East some where but actually it is in the spirit. The battle of Armageddon exists between us and the people of the world. The kingdom is our heart to reign over. If we allow the world to reign over our heart, then that kingdom will be destroyed. That's why it's so important for each of us to be able to reign over ourselves.
There are a lot of things in this world which influence us. So far one week into the religious seminar we can see already see many young people are beaten by Satan. Their kingdoms have been destroyed. Their hearts conform to this world. So because of this they feel very hopeless. They shared how lonely they are and how many commit sin against God each day. Some are addicted to pornography. Some cannot stay off the computer. Because of this they feel so weak.
You can see if you go on their Facebook even some of them drink and get drunk. They posted these things on their Facebook. Some of them date outside of church kiss and that and post on Facebook. Some of them go dancing, drinking, shake their body and put on Facebook. The Battle of Armageddon has already started. Older generation need to pray for them. All of us are kings. When one king is weak the others must help out. When one kingdom is destroyed then others must build it up. First we must realize all this is happening. Our enemy is destroying our younger generation so we must pray to God to help us see all these things. That's why it's so important for us to build the wisdom to reign over that kingdom.
Proverbs 25:2 "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of king." It is why for us as kings we must see what's going on around us. We must see that Satan is destroying our kingdom. It is our duty as king to notice all these things. Many youths I speak to, their parents have no idea what they are going through. If their parents have no idea what they are going through how can their parents help them?
For me when I hear these stories I can't help but to shed tears, because many of them feel so isolated and there is no one there to help them. Why? Because many of us don't know all these things are going on. When there is opportunity to work with younger generation we must search and seek out what is going on with their lives and develop relationships with them. We know the younger generations are the future to this kingdom. It's to the glory of God to conceal a matter. Of course God can reveal everything to us but we need to do our part because every miracle and sign is performed through a person.
As kings we are to reign as Lord Jesus Christ, so we should work with him closely. That's why in Proverbs 25:3 "As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable." So once we search out the matter of God, we can truly understand the things of God. "As the heavens are high and the earth is deep" means our hearts as kings should also be unsearchable. We should have great wisdom just like the four living creature in the book of revelation. They have eyes within and without in the front and back. This means they can see things very clearly. This is the kind of wisdom we need to have in order to reign over our kingdom.
Proverbs 20:26 "A wise king winnows out the wicked." Of course in every kingdom there are some evil people there. Just like in our hearts there are some kind of wickedness. But we should not let this kind of wickedness reign in our kingdom. Those who are wise will destroy it. That's why we need to reflect upon ourselves.
Of course it's not easy to reign over the kingdom because Satan also have his kingdom. He has many kings too and those are our enemy. That's why if we allow our hearts to contain wickedness inside and do not kill the weaknesses we have, sooner or later it will take over the kingdom. We can see it in our younger generation. Some think that sex before marriage is nothing wrong and some support abortion and homosexuality. Their hearts are filled with things in this world and their hearts are confused with what is right from what is wrong.
When they come to church, the church teach them one thing. But going to the world, the world teaches them another thing. We come to church once a week. Those of us who are strong in reigning our kingdom must truly help our brothers and sisters because we don't want their kingdom to be destroyed. We must help them to return back to God. The only way to do that is to get rid of sin in our kingdom and theirs.
Proverbs 29:4 "The king establishes the land by justice, But he who receives bribes overthrows it."
Every kingdom must start with justice. But if any kingdom receives any bribes, the kingdom will be overthrown. So what does this mean for us? When we reign over our kingdom we cannot compromise with the things of this world. Like the book of revelation and the 7 churches. The compromising churches are corrupt. After they become corrupt they become a dead church.
For us we sometimes think we preach too strict on the pulpit. Many of the teaching we teach are very strict to the point we feel that we are so self-righteous. The reason we preach what we preach is because we don't want our kingdom to compromise with the kingdom of Satan. So nowadays why are we so weak in our faith? Because we are compromising too much with the things of this world. For example, Sabbath is from Friday night to Saturday night. But why so so few of us come to Friday night services? Because we are compromising our kingdom. We feel that it's enough to come to church on Saturdays. If you think like this, Satan is slowly taking over your heart bit by bit.
On Saturdays we should not do anything pertaining to this world. A couple I know, on Friday night and Saturday night they don't even kiss. They truly want to observe Sabbath. They feel that kissing is of this world. Sabbath is worship God under grace. At the same time we should not take his grace for granted. Sometimes we compromise with too many things of this world. For example, we have children they want to take to piano lesson, violin, and Chinese school. All these things if we allow to do on Sabbath days, we are teaching them it's ok to do worldly things on Sabbath. Because of this the foundation of their kingdom is weak. When Satan comes upon them they cannot keep their kingdom pure. As we reign over our kingdom, we should not compromise with the things of this world. Because the minute we compromise sooner, or later our kingdom will be destroyed.
Not only should we not conform with the things in this world we should also not commit any wickedness. Proverbs 16:12 "It is an abomination for kings to commit wickedness, For a throne is established by righteousness."
Matthew 7:21-23 "'Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"
Lord Jesus Christ told his disciple not everyone calling me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On the day of judgment many people will come and say to Lord Jesus, "Have we not prophesied in your name? Have we not cast out demons in your name? Have we not performed signs in your name?" Jesus will be clear to them, "I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers." That's why all of us need to get rid of sin in our heart, and only then can we reign the kingdom with Jesus Christ.
The minute we sin against God, that is the time God will not reign in us. That is the time Satan will come and reign in us. Sooner or later our kingdom will belong to him and not God. It is an abomination of king to commit wickedness. We truly must clean our kingdom. We must truly be king over our hearts.
A testimony from NYTS (National Youth Theological Seminary). This youth before coming to NYTS was very sinful. The first week he prayed to God he sees that Jesus Christ want to come to his heart, but his heart is filled with things of this world. Jesus showed him the things in his heart. His friends from college partying with him. There is no room in your heart for me. The brother sees Jesus standing in the corner of the room and said I want to come closer to you. The brother continues to pray and his college friends started to disappear. At the end of the NYTS, he was sitting with Jesus Christ in his room. This is the goal you want to reach. If we have righteousness in our heart for sure Lord Jesus Christ will be in our hearts.
Proverbs 25:5 "Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness."
So can we establish a kingdom full of righteous. If we have any wickedness in us we must get rid of it. Maybe if it is outside our kingdom we must take it away. We know this world is full of sin. It's difficult to reign a kingdom filled with purity. We must get rid of sin.
Proverbs 31:8 "Open your mouth for the speechless. In the cause of all who are appointed to die."
When we clean all the wickedness from our heart, we can do good for other people. The bible say here to open your mouth for the speechless and open your mouth for the cause of those who will die. The people in this world will die. Only us have the authority to preach to them. If we cannot even reign over our kingdom, how can we save those who are to die? So we truly need to reign over our kingdom. For sure God will give us the power to preach the gospel. Many people out there are reign by Satan. We must make the kingdom of Satan become a kingdom of God. Only way to do this is to be strong ourselves. We know as a king it is not easy to reign over our kingdom. That's why we always need our Lord Jesus Christ so he can reign over us and reign with us. Only when we get to the point when we can reign with Him, then we can reign our kingdom. May God bless all of you and strengthen one another. So we can truly have the wisdom to reign over our kingdom. So the name of God can truly be glorified.
Praise and thank God sixteen people received the Holy Spirit in Hawaii recently. This means almost everybody in the church who did not have Holy Spirit received it. A lot of members in Hawaii have their hearts on fire. Truly they were able to touch God during the spiritual convocation. So we know when we have the heart to serve God and worship God, He will always be there for us, just like He was with the brothers and sisters in Hawaii. This morning we are sharing the topic Wisdom Regarding Kingship.
Revelation 1:6-7 " To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen."
Here John realizes that Jesus is King of Kings. He is the king to all the people on earth. Since he loves us so much that he washed us with his own blood. Because of this he made us king and priest to all the other. As kings how do we rule the kingdom and what is the kingdom? Because we need to glorify his name with the kingdom. Verse 7 said behold he's coming with the clouds and every eye will see him. Of course the first time when he came to the world he brought grace and truth. When he comes the second time he will bring judgment throughout the whole world. Those of us who can truly reign in our kingdom can inherit the kingdom of heaven. As for those who can not reign over our kingdom, we will spend an eternity in everlasting destruction.
So what is the kingdom that we need to reign over? We know in the book of revelation the end days there will be a great battle-the Battle of Armageddon. We sometimes think battle of Armageddon is in the East some where but actually it is in the spirit. The battle of Armageddon exists between us and the people of the world. The kingdom is our heart to reign over. If we allow the world to reign over our heart, then that kingdom will be destroyed. That's why it's so important for each of us to be able to reign over ourselves.
There are a lot of things in this world which influence us. So far one week into the religious seminar we can see already see many young people are beaten by Satan. Their kingdoms have been destroyed. Their hearts conform to this world. So because of this they feel very hopeless. They shared how lonely they are and how many commit sin against God each day. Some are addicted to pornography. Some cannot stay off the computer. Because of this they feel so weak.
You can see if you go on their Facebook even some of them drink and get drunk. They posted these things on their Facebook. Some of them date outside of church kiss and that and post on Facebook. Some of them go dancing, drinking, shake their body and put on Facebook. The Battle of Armageddon has already started. Older generation need to pray for them. All of us are kings. When one king is weak the others must help out. When one kingdom is destroyed then others must build it up. First we must realize all this is happening. Our enemy is destroying our younger generation so we must pray to God to help us see all these things. That's why it's so important for us to build the wisdom to reign over that kingdom.
Proverbs 25:2 "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of king." It is why for us as kings we must see what's going on around us. We must see that Satan is destroying our kingdom. It is our duty as king to notice all these things. Many youths I speak to, their parents have no idea what they are going through. If their parents have no idea what they are going through how can their parents help them?
For me when I hear these stories I can't help but to shed tears, because many of them feel so isolated and there is no one there to help them. Why? Because many of us don't know all these things are going on. When there is opportunity to work with younger generation we must search and seek out what is going on with their lives and develop relationships with them. We know the younger generations are the future to this kingdom. It's to the glory of God to conceal a matter. Of course God can reveal everything to us but we need to do our part because every miracle and sign is performed through a person.
As kings we are to reign as Lord Jesus Christ, so we should work with him closely. That's why in Proverbs 25:3 "As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable." So once we search out the matter of God, we can truly understand the things of God. "As the heavens are high and the earth is deep" means our hearts as kings should also be unsearchable. We should have great wisdom just like the four living creature in the book of revelation. They have eyes within and without in the front and back. This means they can see things very clearly. This is the kind of wisdom we need to have in order to reign over our kingdom.
Proverbs 20:26 "A wise king winnows out the wicked." Of course in every kingdom there are some evil people there. Just like in our hearts there are some kind of wickedness. But we should not let this kind of wickedness reign in our kingdom. Those who are wise will destroy it. That's why we need to reflect upon ourselves.
Of course it's not easy to reign over the kingdom because Satan also have his kingdom. He has many kings too and those are our enemy. That's why if we allow our hearts to contain wickedness inside and do not kill the weaknesses we have, sooner or later it will take over the kingdom. We can see it in our younger generation. Some think that sex before marriage is nothing wrong and some support abortion and homosexuality. Their hearts are filled with things in this world and their hearts are confused with what is right from what is wrong.
When they come to church, the church teach them one thing. But going to the world, the world teaches them another thing. We come to church once a week. Those of us who are strong in reigning our kingdom must truly help our brothers and sisters because we don't want their kingdom to be destroyed. We must help them to return back to God. The only way to do that is to get rid of sin in our kingdom and theirs.
Proverbs 29:4 "The king establishes the land by justice, But he who receives bribes overthrows it."
Every kingdom must start with justice. But if any kingdom receives any bribes, the kingdom will be overthrown. So what does this mean for us? When we reign over our kingdom we cannot compromise with the things of this world. Like the book of revelation and the 7 churches. The compromising churches are corrupt. After they become corrupt they become a dead church.
For us we sometimes think we preach too strict on the pulpit. Many of the teaching we teach are very strict to the point we feel that we are so self-righteous. The reason we preach what we preach is because we don't want our kingdom to compromise with the kingdom of Satan. So nowadays why are we so weak in our faith? Because we are compromising too much with the things of this world. For example, Sabbath is from Friday night to Saturday night. But why so so few of us come to Friday night services? Because we are compromising our kingdom. We feel that it's enough to come to church on Saturdays. If you think like this, Satan is slowly taking over your heart bit by bit.
On Saturdays we should not do anything pertaining to this world. A couple I know, on Friday night and Saturday night they don't even kiss. They truly want to observe Sabbath. They feel that kissing is of this world. Sabbath is worship God under grace. At the same time we should not take his grace for granted. Sometimes we compromise with too many things of this world. For example, we have children they want to take to piano lesson, violin, and Chinese school. All these things if we allow to do on Sabbath days, we are teaching them it's ok to do worldly things on Sabbath. Because of this the foundation of their kingdom is weak. When Satan comes upon them they cannot keep their kingdom pure. As we reign over our kingdom, we should not compromise with the things of this world. Because the minute we compromise sooner, or later our kingdom will be destroyed.
Not only should we not conform with the things in this world we should also not commit any wickedness. Proverbs 16:12 "It is an abomination for kings to commit wickedness, For a throne is established by righteousness."
Matthew 7:21-23 "'Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"
Lord Jesus Christ told his disciple not everyone calling me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On the day of judgment many people will come and say to Lord Jesus, "Have we not prophesied in your name? Have we not cast out demons in your name? Have we not performed signs in your name?" Jesus will be clear to them, "I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers." That's why all of us need to get rid of sin in our heart, and only then can we reign the kingdom with Jesus Christ.
The minute we sin against God, that is the time God will not reign in us. That is the time Satan will come and reign in us. Sooner or later our kingdom will belong to him and not God. It is an abomination of king to commit wickedness. We truly must clean our kingdom. We must truly be king over our hearts.
A testimony from NYTS (National Youth Theological Seminary). This youth before coming to NYTS was very sinful. The first week he prayed to God he sees that Jesus Christ want to come to his heart, but his heart is filled with things of this world. Jesus showed him the things in his heart. His friends from college partying with him. There is no room in your heart for me. The brother sees Jesus standing in the corner of the room and said I want to come closer to you. The brother continues to pray and his college friends started to disappear. At the end of the NYTS, he was sitting with Jesus Christ in his room. This is the goal you want to reach. If we have righteousness in our heart for sure Lord Jesus Christ will be in our hearts.
Proverbs 25:5 "Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness."
So can we establish a kingdom full of righteous. If we have any wickedness in us we must get rid of it. Maybe if it is outside our kingdom we must take it away. We know this world is full of sin. It's difficult to reign a kingdom filled with purity. We must get rid of sin.
Proverbs 31:8 "Open your mouth for the speechless. In the cause of all who are appointed to die."
When we clean all the wickedness from our heart, we can do good for other people. The bible say here to open your mouth for the speechless and open your mouth for the cause of those who will die. The people in this world will die. Only us have the authority to preach to them. If we cannot even reign over our kingdom, how can we save those who are to die? So we truly need to reign over our kingdom. For sure God will give us the power to preach the gospel. Many people out there are reign by Satan. We must make the kingdom of Satan become a kingdom of God. Only way to do this is to be strong ourselves. We know as a king it is not easy to reign over our kingdom. That's why we always need our Lord Jesus Christ so he can reign over us and reign with us. Only when we get to the point when we can reign with Him, then we can reign our kingdom. May God bless all of you and strengthen one another. So we can truly have the wisdom to reign over our kingdom. So the name of God can truly be glorified.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
A Jar of Oil
Pr Vuthy Nol-Mantia
Do you ever fear younger generation cannot be pillars of our church? Those who were zealous and fervent, many of them are wounded. Some of them even die. This means for us as the older generation, we truly need to take the time to pray for them. We must take this task very seriously because without the youths, there is no future for TJC. We as the older generation must be a part of the revival. That's why I hope and pray that every single one of us pray for this matter.
2 Kings 4:1 “Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.”
There was a woman. This woman had two sons. Even though she had two sons they are to become slaves. She was afraid and cried to prophet Elisha. What does this tell us? Satan is about to make many of our youths to become slaves of this world. We as parents must see very clearly and understand what they are going through. Because if they are not careful, truly Satan will make them become his slave and go against the older generation. They will go against their parents.
During the NYTS, we stress so much to younger people to obey their parents because we realize the younger people disrespect their parents. They do not honor their parents and the reason of this is because they have fallen slowly to the side of Satan. So we should be just like this mother. Know the situation that's going on with her children. If Satan is about to turn them into slaves, we must pray for them. This woman cried out to Elisha.
In Asian culture we might not want to speak out much especially when our child has weaknesses, because we are afraid to lose face. Might as well lose face then lose your child. Every single one of us are brothers and sisters, so we can share our situation with each other. This woman shared with Elisha, a man of God. Every single one of us in here must be a man or woman of God so when our brothers and sisters have problem with their children, they can come and share with us.
Of course we do not always trust one another. We know sometimes rumor spread very quickly in our church. During RHTS many youth pour out their heart to us. Conclusion is that they have no idea where to go. If they tell their faith then their parents might not be able to communicate with them. If shared with brothers and sisters, they are afraid rumors will spread. God's house should not be like this.
This woman she seemed to have no way to rescue his sons from becoming slaves, but at least she knows that the creditor will make her son to be slaves. Sometimes we as parents we have no idea what's going on with our children. So knowing our children's situation it is the first step. This woman cried out to Elisha, then Elisha said to her in verse 2. “And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? Tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.”
She said your maid servant have nothing except a jar of oil. Even though she had a jar of oil in her house she said as if it was nothing significant. We know because of the jar of oil she was able to multiply it and sell it also. What does this mean to us? We have the spirit of God. Through the spirit of God we can transform the younger generation. Sometime we do not have the faith. For it seems like for many years we pray for them without much success. Maybe they are still in church because of all the prayers for them.
Do you know the situation in Hawaii? In Hawaii, the members are very weak. For the last several years we preached and encouraged but saw nothing happening. Praise and thank God our brothers and sisters do not lose hope in Hawaii. That is why during the recent retreat, during this spiritual convocation when they come and listen to the word of God they opened their heart. Because of this God poured His blessing on them. Sixteen people received the Holy Spirit. Everybody was completely in shock including myself.
Sometimes we don't know when God is going to work. Even if the younger generation seems like they are weak now, we can not kick them to the side. We must continue to pray for them, because we have the spirit of God inside of us--the jar of oil. Verse 3 “Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.” At that time Elisha knew what God will do for her. Go and borrow any empty vessels you can get. Not only a few, try to get many.
For us we have so many brothers and sisters, we must gather together just like the mighty army of God to pray for the younger generation. We can see when we pray, God will send blessings to the younger generation. But how many of us take the time to pray for the younger generation? Of course we are sometimes busy praying for everything else already, but we must not neglect the younger generation. Get as many people as we can and pray for children that have problem.
Verse 4. “And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.” Shut the door behind you and your sons. Sometimes our children have problems and we pray for them. More importantly, they must pray for themselves. We must be beside them. If we pray for them, then their relationship with God will not come close.
My two nieces came to live with my wife and I. The nieces are not easy going because in Boston they grew up in a very bad neighborhood. Even though they are only 15 years old, they can do whatever they want with their friends. My wife and I say to one another when they came to live with us it will be difficult for them. We prayed about this situation, because one of them has a really bad temper. When she gets mad she just wants to punch everyone around her. When she gets mad her face looks demonic. Another one is very depressed. She always lock herself in the bathroom crying. Of course they miss their parents.
But praise and thank God. My wife and I know we cannot do much for them. My wife works and we have a little nephew too to take care of. My parents are very old already. What can we do for these nieces? Their bedtime used to be anytime. Now their bedtime is 9 pm. They can only spend 1 hour with media (tv, internet). Every single morning we get up at 6 am and pray together as a family. We pray half an hour and study half an hour bible. Because of this my nieces transformed themselves. We cannot take any credit at all, but all credits go to our lord Jesus Christ. They themselves get up and pray to Lord Jesus Christ.
Last month my wife came to Hawaii for 10 days and we were afraid the nieces will not get up and read the bible since it's summer and there’s no school. Praise and thank God they got up to pray and read the bible together because their relationship with God is connected. The one who was sad and could not smile before is always smiling. God is almighty.
We as human beings are very limited. What we do have, we have the jar of oil and the word from Lord Jesus Christ. When children have problem ask them to pray with us so their heart can touch God himself. 2 King 4:5 “So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out” Pray with them and even force them to come to church. When they get older they will truly thank all of you. They will realize how precious it was when you force them to come to church.
As younger generation, we are of age and do not need others to tell us to come to church. We should be able to do it ourselves already. Just like when we are hungry we eat, thirsty we drink. Just like spiritually we know what we need. Like this woman and two sons. This time her husband had already died. The husband feared the Lord very much. It was hard for this woman by herself, but she had a jar of oil.
Verse 6. “And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.” Both the woman and the son saw the miracle in front of them. We must pray with them, pray for them. All the jar were full of oil. The oil from the one jar ceased. She came and told the man of God. What did the man of God tell her? Go sell the oil and pay your debt and you and your son will live on what is left.
Verse 7 “Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.”
For us if we can truly pray for the younger generation. They do not need to be under bondage to Satan. They do not need to conform to the things of this world. It's not easy to be a slave to this world for one day they will die. We must take this task very seriously. Through our prayers we can transform the life of this generation. Become strong and take over the church and together can glorify God.
http://www.facejesus.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=123:a-jar-of-oil-&catid=69:articles-english&Itemid=82
Do you ever fear younger generation cannot be pillars of our church? Those who were zealous and fervent, many of them are wounded. Some of them even die. This means for us as the older generation, we truly need to take the time to pray for them. We must take this task very seriously because without the youths, there is no future for TJC. We as the older generation must be a part of the revival. That's why I hope and pray that every single one of us pray for this matter.
2 Kings 4:1 “Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.”
There was a woman. This woman had two sons. Even though she had two sons they are to become slaves. She was afraid and cried to prophet Elisha. What does this tell us? Satan is about to make many of our youths to become slaves of this world. We as parents must see very clearly and understand what they are going through. Because if they are not careful, truly Satan will make them become his slave and go against the older generation. They will go against their parents.
During the NYTS, we stress so much to younger people to obey their parents because we realize the younger people disrespect their parents. They do not honor their parents and the reason of this is because they have fallen slowly to the side of Satan. So we should be just like this mother. Know the situation that's going on with her children. If Satan is about to turn them into slaves, we must pray for them. This woman cried out to Elisha.
In Asian culture we might not want to speak out much especially when our child has weaknesses, because we are afraid to lose face. Might as well lose face then lose your child. Every single one of us are brothers and sisters, so we can share our situation with each other. This woman shared with Elisha, a man of God. Every single one of us in here must be a man or woman of God so when our brothers and sisters have problem with their children, they can come and share with us.
Of course we do not always trust one another. We know sometimes rumor spread very quickly in our church. During RHTS many youth pour out their heart to us. Conclusion is that they have no idea where to go. If they tell their faith then their parents might not be able to communicate with them. If shared with brothers and sisters, they are afraid rumors will spread. God's house should not be like this.
This woman she seemed to have no way to rescue his sons from becoming slaves, but at least she knows that the creditor will make her son to be slaves. Sometimes we as parents we have no idea what's going on with our children. So knowing our children's situation it is the first step. This woman cried out to Elisha, then Elisha said to her in verse 2. “And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? Tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.”
She said your maid servant have nothing except a jar of oil. Even though she had a jar of oil in her house she said as if it was nothing significant. We know because of the jar of oil she was able to multiply it and sell it also. What does this mean to us? We have the spirit of God. Through the spirit of God we can transform the younger generation. Sometime we do not have the faith. For it seems like for many years we pray for them without much success. Maybe they are still in church because of all the prayers for them.
Do you know the situation in Hawaii? In Hawaii, the members are very weak. For the last several years we preached and encouraged but saw nothing happening. Praise and thank God our brothers and sisters do not lose hope in Hawaii. That is why during the recent retreat, during this spiritual convocation when they come and listen to the word of God they opened their heart. Because of this God poured His blessing on them. Sixteen people received the Holy Spirit. Everybody was completely in shock including myself.
Sometimes we don't know when God is going to work. Even if the younger generation seems like they are weak now, we can not kick them to the side. We must continue to pray for them, because we have the spirit of God inside of us--the jar of oil. Verse 3 “Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.” At that time Elisha knew what God will do for her. Go and borrow any empty vessels you can get. Not only a few, try to get many.
For us we have so many brothers and sisters, we must gather together just like the mighty army of God to pray for the younger generation. We can see when we pray, God will send blessings to the younger generation. But how many of us take the time to pray for the younger generation? Of course we are sometimes busy praying for everything else already, but we must not neglect the younger generation. Get as many people as we can and pray for children that have problem.
Verse 4. “And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.” Shut the door behind you and your sons. Sometimes our children have problems and we pray for them. More importantly, they must pray for themselves. We must be beside them. If we pray for them, then their relationship with God will not come close.
My two nieces came to live with my wife and I. The nieces are not easy going because in Boston they grew up in a very bad neighborhood. Even though they are only 15 years old, they can do whatever they want with their friends. My wife and I say to one another when they came to live with us it will be difficult for them. We prayed about this situation, because one of them has a really bad temper. When she gets mad she just wants to punch everyone around her. When she gets mad her face looks demonic. Another one is very depressed. She always lock herself in the bathroom crying. Of course they miss their parents.
But praise and thank God. My wife and I know we cannot do much for them. My wife works and we have a little nephew too to take care of. My parents are very old already. What can we do for these nieces? Their bedtime used to be anytime. Now their bedtime is 9 pm. They can only spend 1 hour with media (tv, internet). Every single morning we get up at 6 am and pray together as a family. We pray half an hour and study half an hour bible. Because of this my nieces transformed themselves. We cannot take any credit at all, but all credits go to our lord Jesus Christ. They themselves get up and pray to Lord Jesus Christ.
Last month my wife came to Hawaii for 10 days and we were afraid the nieces will not get up and read the bible since it's summer and there’s no school. Praise and thank God they got up to pray and read the bible together because their relationship with God is connected. The one who was sad and could not smile before is always smiling. God is almighty.
We as human beings are very limited. What we do have, we have the jar of oil and the word from Lord Jesus Christ. When children have problem ask them to pray with us so their heart can touch God himself. 2 King 4:5 “So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out” Pray with them and even force them to come to church. When they get older they will truly thank all of you. They will realize how precious it was when you force them to come to church.
As younger generation, we are of age and do not need others to tell us to come to church. We should be able to do it ourselves already. Just like when we are hungry we eat, thirsty we drink. Just like spiritually we know what we need. Like this woman and two sons. This time her husband had already died. The husband feared the Lord very much. It was hard for this woman by herself, but she had a jar of oil.
Verse 6. “And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.” Both the woman and the son saw the miracle in front of them. We must pray with them, pray for them. All the jar were full of oil. The oil from the one jar ceased. She came and told the man of God. What did the man of God tell her? Go sell the oil and pay your debt and you and your son will live on what is left.
Verse 7 “Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.”
For us if we can truly pray for the younger generation. They do not need to be under bondage to Satan. They do not need to conform to the things of this world. It's not easy to be a slave to this world for one day they will die. We must take this task very seriously. Through our prayers we can transform the life of this generation. Become strong and take over the church and together can glorify God.
http://www.facejesus.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=123:a-jar-of-oil-&catid=69:articles-english&Itemid=82
Monday, February 8, 2010
Work Out Your Own Salvation with Fear and Trembling 2
Elder James Wu
Philippians 2:12 “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
This is the theme for our service this morning. If we cannot attain salvation then our other only destination is judgment in hell.
Isaiah 66:24 “And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.” The worms do not die and fire does not quench. It is not easy to enter the kingdom of heaven. Lord Jesus himself tells us it is not an easy task. Gate of salvation is narrow. The road is difficult. There are few who enter through it. How do we enter through this very difficult door? Now we will seek the answer to this question.
The four gospels explain how we are to enter the kingdom of heaven. There are eight categories. The first 3 or 4 items we talked about in the past. The first is the message of rebirth. In John 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” the Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus unless you are reborn you cannot be in the kingdom of God. Lord Jesus said this is the corner stone of salvation--to be born of water and the Spirit.
The rebirth of water and the Spirit will wash away the sins of Adam and Eve. The second birth is the birth of the spirit. This is the renewal of the spirit. We have discussed this in the past. We must make every effort so the spirit will perfect us and make us holy. Matthew 7: 21 “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, this is a very serious matter. All Christians call Jesus Lord Lord. All the Christians in the world called Jesus Lord. But Lord Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven.”
What is the will of God? The will of God is to do good. Thessalonian tells us we need to be holy. It also mentions we are to be joyful always for this is the will of Lord Jesus Christ. There are many passages in the bible that define what the will of God is. It is not enough to be called a Christian. We must obey the will of God. There are matters we must conquer.
What is the will of God for you? Have you ever considered this point? Why are you an Asian in America? Most of us are Asians. Why is it that we are Asian and here in the U.S.? When I was in my 20’s, I came to the U.S. I failed my exams. It was only 9 years later that I finally arrived in the U.S. This helped me realize my footsteps are guided by God.
I moved to San Diego some time ago. At the time Canoga Park church was very unhappy. Because after a deacon established the church, he immediately leaves. Actually, I didn't want to live in San Diego. I wanted to live in Simi Valley with my son. We realized that two family bid for the house we were going to buy so the owner increased the price by $10,000. My son said to offer $1500 more to win the bid and I thought it was a good idea and told my agent to go ahead. One Sabbath morning I was coming to church, I called the agent to tell him I will offer $1500 more. My agent said it is not necessary for he is my friend. He said that if both buyers bid the same asking price he'll give it to me. So surely don't worry about it. The same price offer went in. The other person went to talk to the agent in the morning. The buyer and seller were involved. The talk went well with them and even though the asking price was the same, I could've added $1500 but ended up I couldn't purchase it. We kept looking and looking at the houses in San Diego. Later on it was only then that I realized it is God's will for us to be in San Diego to establish a house of prayer. For some are baptized at the San Diego house of prayer.
We really have no control over where we live. It all depends on God. We must reflect deeply why God brought us from Asia to U.S. Why God brought us to Baldwin Park, San Francisco, & New Jersey. God has already pre-determined the places where we are to live. He sent us there.
There was a couple. A sister was married to an American and he was brought to believe in Christ. After he left the military he moved to Tampa. There were no churches there. Both the husband and wife attend spiritual convocation in Garden Grove. They went to inquire an elder. Should we move here or stay there. Elder said to live in Tampa might be the will of God to establish a church there. He obeyed and stayed there. Now there is a church there in Tampa and this was started by a couple.
Therefore, wherever God allows you to live it's His will. Hence we must do the will of God and consider what it is. Is the place where I live now where God's work can be done? Is this God's will for me? If this is the will of God, you must follow through with the will of the heavenly father. Luke 10:25-28 “On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."”
This is one method to attain eternal life. Someone came to test Jesus. “What must I do to receive eternal life?” Lord Jesus said, “What did the law say?” His answer was to love God with your all and your neighbor as yourself. Do this and you will live. Therefore we must love the Lord our God with all our strength and mind. How do we do this? How do we love the Lord our God with everything? This is the standard the Lord Jesus set. His standard is recorded in Luke 14:26. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.”
This is the standard of Lord Jesus. Do you love God more than your parents, brothers and sisters, children, your wife, your own life? If you can accomplish this than you truly love God. The Lord Jesus said if you love me in this matter than you will receive life. Therefore you must make every effort to do this. When we have chance to decide. It is our choice to come here to Sabbath or go out to have fun.
In San Diego there is a sister she have been demon possessed for 13 years. Last year she received baptism and was released from her boundage. Her husband does not believe in Christ. Her husband is in the navy. He spends half the time abroad and half the time at home. When he is home he is only free on the weekends. Her husband wants her to accompany him rather than going to church. Her husband is not a believer and wanted his wife to stay with him at home.
According to this bible verse it is very clear. Lord must be placed first in priority. If you cannot love this way you cannot love God at all. It is this simple. This is why the Lord Jesus said it is not easy to enter kingdom of heaven. Unless, both husband and wife are believers.
Matthew 19:17-19 "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
"Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'”
The Lord Jesus instructs us in order to receive salvation we must follow the ten commandments. Another man asked him what he must do to attain eternal life. Whoever will enter life will obey the commandments. It is essential that we obey the ten commandments. Because Lord Jesus said this is directly related to our salvation. Even in the Old Testament in Deut. 6:1-2 states “These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.”
This is the instruction of God. To enjoy long life is to observe God's law. If we revere God and obey his commandment we will have long life.
Matthew 19 says if we obey God’s commandments we will obtain eternal life. Are we obeying the commandments? We must obey the one True God, no worshiping idols, do not use the Lord's word in vain, observe the Sabbath.
This is where we have problems. How many of us can observe the Sabbath? Sabbath starts from Friday night until Saturday night. In San Diego there is a truthseeker who in April said he wanted to be baptized at Irvine church. We recommend he study the truth six more months before he gets baptized. Friday nights we gave him a course on the basic doctrine. Two weeks ago I was assigned to speak on the topic of Sabbath.
Isaiah 58 states on Sabbaths we cannot do our own activities.
When he came on Sabbath he said. “Before I would watch movies at night. After I heard your doctrine I did not watch movies but read the bible.” He dared not to watch movie Friday nights because it's the Sabbath. You should not speak your own words. We must examine if we observe Sabbaths. Fifth commandment, have we honored our parent? I believe the youth raised in America need to work on this point. Sixth item do not kill. Lord Jesus said to hate someone is to kill someone. It is easy to hate a person. Someone has offended you and you are unhappy. Some might wish for them to be struck by a car. This is an evil thought that comes from hell.
Seventh commandment is do not commit sexual immorality. Do not steal in eight commandment. Do you take things from work? Do you take things from the hotel. Strictly speaking, that is stealing. Do you steal from the government? For example, asking for improper elderly assistance.
Ninth commandment, do not lie. Can we say that we do not lie? Lying is a very easy thing to do. Don't think that lying is a smaller matter. Lying is very serious. Revelation 21:8 “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."”
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice lies. Liars are categorized in the same group as murderers. Therefore we must be careful about not lying because this is God's standard. Lying and murdering are on the same level. Tenth Commandment -- Do not covet. Why did King David sin? Because he coveted other person's wife. Because of his greed he asked for her. He committed sexual immorality and killed her husband. That sin started from greed. He knew the woman was someone else’s wife. Do not covet anyone's possession that does not belong to you.
Matthew 5:20 “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
This is a serious statement. If your righteousness do not surpass the righteousness of Pharisees you will not enter kingdom of heaven. What were the Pharisees’ shortcoming? Matthew 23:1-7 “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.'”
You must be able to teach and practice it. If you can practice what you preach you are better than the Pharisees. The Pharisees just speak but do not do it. We should not only say things, but just do it. We should not seek status but seek to be humble. If we are humble we are better than the Pharisees. The Pharisees are very self-righteous and seek their own glory. We need to give glory to God and not to ourselves. Then we will be more righteous than the Pharisees. If we are no better in righteousness than the Pharisees’ we will not enter heaven. John 6:53-55 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.”
Receiving the holy commandment is important. If we eat his flesh and drink his blood he will abide in us. In 1 John 3:24, “Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”
We know that God abides in us and we in him because of Holy Spirit. We receive Holy Communion and God abides with us. If we receive Holy Communion we will have eternal life. Therefore, we must participate in Holy Communion during spiritual convocations. We must partake in Holy Communion. Remember you must believe. John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
The Lord Jesus is the pathway to heaven. He said he is the way the truth the life. No one comes to the father except through me. John 5:24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”
Whenever the Lord Jesus said something important he would say I tell you the truth. Whoever hears the word of God and believes in him will receive eternal life. This is the foundation of Christianity. We are here today because we believe in the Father and listen to the word of God. This is why we encourage everyone to study the bible and pray. Bible is the word of God. Word of God is life and truth. Reading the Bible has many benefits. For if we believe in the Father we will receive eternal life. We must endeavor to do this everyday. Our church encourages us to build a daily bible reading habit, to read at least one chapter every day. If you study one chapter a day you will finish in 3 years. I read 3 chapters a day and finish the bible in 1 year. A few years ago we encouraged if you finish reading bible within one year you'll receive a hymnal cd. Truly spend time reading the bible will help your faith to be more holy. This will help you to reach eternal life. Hope all of us can do this because it is directly related to our eternal life.
Matthew 18:3 Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
We must be like little children to enter the kingdom of heaven. Why must we be like children? Babies are so cute, innocent. They do not lie, do not speak curse words, nor have evil thoughts. They are very simple and pure. Lord Jesus wants us to be as honest as children--not like adults that engage in evil things, lies, deceit. They speak of lies as if they are truth.
Some are very good at deceiving people. There's a person who was in the stock market. He cheated people out of over $50 billion. They were so deceived. Many celebrities and insiders were also deceived by him. They said he will be in prison for life. Think about all the money he cheated others. Children will not do this. God want us to return and be like children. Do no evil and not harm others. We must be like children. Lord Jesus said if we do not change and become like little children we will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
John 3:3-5 Must be reborn in water and Spirit.
Matt 17:21-23 He who does the will of God. Must abide in the will of God. Come to an understanding of His will for us.
Luke 10:10-28 Love God all our strength and mind, and love others as ourselves.
Matt 19:17-19 If you wish to enter the eternal life, you must keep the 10 commandments and not neglect any one of them. In James it says if we transgress one we transgress all. We should not overlook any one of them
Matthew 5:7 Our righteousness must surpass the Pharisees. We must practice our faith.
Luke 22:14-20 Partake in Holy Communion.
John 14:6 Jesus is the truth, the way, the life.
John 5:24 Jesus said if you listen to me then you will receive eternal life.
Matthew 18:3 Change and be like the little children to enter the kingdom of heaven.
This is the word of God. If we can accomplish these eight items with a heart of fear and trembling, then our name will be recorded in the book of life. 1 Peter 4:17 “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
This is a terrible warning--If it is hard for the righteous to be saved. After we are baptized we are righteous, but it is difficult to accomplish all 8 items. Here Peter is describing that the righteous are barely being saved. It is not easy to be saved but we must make an effort. May we continue to pray, read the bible, and gather to worship God. Apply what we have learned so that each of our names is recorded into the book of life. On the day of judgment, when the book of life is opened and our name is called we will enter the kingdom of heaven. It will be so wonderful and joyful.
http://www.facejesus.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=125:work-out-your-own-salvation-with-fear-and-trembling-2&catid=69:articles-english&Itemid=82
Philippians 2:12 “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
This is the theme for our service this morning. If we cannot attain salvation then our other only destination is judgment in hell.
Isaiah 66:24 “And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.” The worms do not die and fire does not quench. It is not easy to enter the kingdom of heaven. Lord Jesus himself tells us it is not an easy task. Gate of salvation is narrow. The road is difficult. There are few who enter through it. How do we enter through this very difficult door? Now we will seek the answer to this question.
The four gospels explain how we are to enter the kingdom of heaven. There are eight categories. The first 3 or 4 items we talked about in the past. The first is the message of rebirth. In John 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” the Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus unless you are reborn you cannot be in the kingdom of God. Lord Jesus said this is the corner stone of salvation--to be born of water and the Spirit.
The rebirth of water and the Spirit will wash away the sins of Adam and Eve. The second birth is the birth of the spirit. This is the renewal of the spirit. We have discussed this in the past. We must make every effort so the spirit will perfect us and make us holy. Matthew 7: 21 “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, this is a very serious matter. All Christians call Jesus Lord Lord. All the Christians in the world called Jesus Lord. But Lord Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven.”
What is the will of God? The will of God is to do good. Thessalonian tells us we need to be holy. It also mentions we are to be joyful always for this is the will of Lord Jesus Christ. There are many passages in the bible that define what the will of God is. It is not enough to be called a Christian. We must obey the will of God. There are matters we must conquer.
What is the will of God for you? Have you ever considered this point? Why are you an Asian in America? Most of us are Asians. Why is it that we are Asian and here in the U.S.? When I was in my 20’s, I came to the U.S. I failed my exams. It was only 9 years later that I finally arrived in the U.S. This helped me realize my footsteps are guided by God.
I moved to San Diego some time ago. At the time Canoga Park church was very unhappy. Because after a deacon established the church, he immediately leaves. Actually, I didn't want to live in San Diego. I wanted to live in Simi Valley with my son. We realized that two family bid for the house we were going to buy so the owner increased the price by $10,000. My son said to offer $1500 more to win the bid and I thought it was a good idea and told my agent to go ahead. One Sabbath morning I was coming to church, I called the agent to tell him I will offer $1500 more. My agent said it is not necessary for he is my friend. He said that if both buyers bid the same asking price he'll give it to me. So surely don't worry about it. The same price offer went in. The other person went to talk to the agent in the morning. The buyer and seller were involved. The talk went well with them and even though the asking price was the same, I could've added $1500 but ended up I couldn't purchase it. We kept looking and looking at the houses in San Diego. Later on it was only then that I realized it is God's will for us to be in San Diego to establish a house of prayer. For some are baptized at the San Diego house of prayer.
We really have no control over where we live. It all depends on God. We must reflect deeply why God brought us from Asia to U.S. Why God brought us to Baldwin Park, San Francisco, & New Jersey. God has already pre-determined the places where we are to live. He sent us there.
There was a couple. A sister was married to an American and he was brought to believe in Christ. After he left the military he moved to Tampa. There were no churches there. Both the husband and wife attend spiritual convocation in Garden Grove. They went to inquire an elder. Should we move here or stay there. Elder said to live in Tampa might be the will of God to establish a church there. He obeyed and stayed there. Now there is a church there in Tampa and this was started by a couple.
Therefore, wherever God allows you to live it's His will. Hence we must do the will of God and consider what it is. Is the place where I live now where God's work can be done? Is this God's will for me? If this is the will of God, you must follow through with the will of the heavenly father. Luke 10:25-28 “On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."”
This is one method to attain eternal life. Someone came to test Jesus. “What must I do to receive eternal life?” Lord Jesus said, “What did the law say?” His answer was to love God with your all and your neighbor as yourself. Do this and you will live. Therefore we must love the Lord our God with all our strength and mind. How do we do this? How do we love the Lord our God with everything? This is the standard the Lord Jesus set. His standard is recorded in Luke 14:26. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.”
This is the standard of Lord Jesus. Do you love God more than your parents, brothers and sisters, children, your wife, your own life? If you can accomplish this than you truly love God. The Lord Jesus said if you love me in this matter than you will receive life. Therefore you must make every effort to do this. When we have chance to decide. It is our choice to come here to Sabbath or go out to have fun.
In San Diego there is a sister she have been demon possessed for 13 years. Last year she received baptism and was released from her boundage. Her husband does not believe in Christ. Her husband is in the navy. He spends half the time abroad and half the time at home. When he is home he is only free on the weekends. Her husband wants her to accompany him rather than going to church. Her husband is not a believer and wanted his wife to stay with him at home.
According to this bible verse it is very clear. Lord must be placed first in priority. If you cannot love this way you cannot love God at all. It is this simple. This is why the Lord Jesus said it is not easy to enter kingdom of heaven. Unless, both husband and wife are believers.
Matthew 19:17-19 "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
"Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'”
The Lord Jesus instructs us in order to receive salvation we must follow the ten commandments. Another man asked him what he must do to attain eternal life. Whoever will enter life will obey the commandments. It is essential that we obey the ten commandments. Because Lord Jesus said this is directly related to our salvation. Even in the Old Testament in Deut. 6:1-2 states “These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.”
This is the instruction of God. To enjoy long life is to observe God's law. If we revere God and obey his commandment we will have long life.
Matthew 19 says if we obey God’s commandments we will obtain eternal life. Are we obeying the commandments? We must obey the one True God, no worshiping idols, do not use the Lord's word in vain, observe the Sabbath.
This is where we have problems. How many of us can observe the Sabbath? Sabbath starts from Friday night until Saturday night. In San Diego there is a truthseeker who in April said he wanted to be baptized at Irvine church. We recommend he study the truth six more months before he gets baptized. Friday nights we gave him a course on the basic doctrine. Two weeks ago I was assigned to speak on the topic of Sabbath.
Isaiah 58 states on Sabbaths we cannot do our own activities.
When he came on Sabbath he said. “Before I would watch movies at night. After I heard your doctrine I did not watch movies but read the bible.” He dared not to watch movie Friday nights because it's the Sabbath. You should not speak your own words. We must examine if we observe Sabbaths. Fifth commandment, have we honored our parent? I believe the youth raised in America need to work on this point. Sixth item do not kill. Lord Jesus said to hate someone is to kill someone. It is easy to hate a person. Someone has offended you and you are unhappy. Some might wish for them to be struck by a car. This is an evil thought that comes from hell.
Seventh commandment is do not commit sexual immorality. Do not steal in eight commandment. Do you take things from work? Do you take things from the hotel. Strictly speaking, that is stealing. Do you steal from the government? For example, asking for improper elderly assistance.
Ninth commandment, do not lie. Can we say that we do not lie? Lying is a very easy thing to do. Don't think that lying is a smaller matter. Lying is very serious. Revelation 21:8 “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."”
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice lies. Liars are categorized in the same group as murderers. Therefore we must be careful about not lying because this is God's standard. Lying and murdering are on the same level. Tenth Commandment -- Do not covet. Why did King David sin? Because he coveted other person's wife. Because of his greed he asked for her. He committed sexual immorality and killed her husband. That sin started from greed. He knew the woman was someone else’s wife. Do not covet anyone's possession that does not belong to you.
Matthew 5:20 “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
This is a serious statement. If your righteousness do not surpass the righteousness of Pharisees you will not enter kingdom of heaven. What were the Pharisees’ shortcoming? Matthew 23:1-7 “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.'”
You must be able to teach and practice it. If you can practice what you preach you are better than the Pharisees. The Pharisees just speak but do not do it. We should not only say things, but just do it. We should not seek status but seek to be humble. If we are humble we are better than the Pharisees. The Pharisees are very self-righteous and seek their own glory. We need to give glory to God and not to ourselves. Then we will be more righteous than the Pharisees. If we are no better in righteousness than the Pharisees’ we will not enter heaven. John 6:53-55 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.”
Receiving the holy commandment is important. If we eat his flesh and drink his blood he will abide in us. In 1 John 3:24, “Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”
We know that God abides in us and we in him because of Holy Spirit. We receive Holy Communion and God abides with us. If we receive Holy Communion we will have eternal life. Therefore, we must participate in Holy Communion during spiritual convocations. We must partake in Holy Communion. Remember you must believe. John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
The Lord Jesus is the pathway to heaven. He said he is the way the truth the life. No one comes to the father except through me. John 5:24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”
Whenever the Lord Jesus said something important he would say I tell you the truth. Whoever hears the word of God and believes in him will receive eternal life. This is the foundation of Christianity. We are here today because we believe in the Father and listen to the word of God. This is why we encourage everyone to study the bible and pray. Bible is the word of God. Word of God is life and truth. Reading the Bible has many benefits. For if we believe in the Father we will receive eternal life. We must endeavor to do this everyday. Our church encourages us to build a daily bible reading habit, to read at least one chapter every day. If you study one chapter a day you will finish in 3 years. I read 3 chapters a day and finish the bible in 1 year. A few years ago we encouraged if you finish reading bible within one year you'll receive a hymnal cd. Truly spend time reading the bible will help your faith to be more holy. This will help you to reach eternal life. Hope all of us can do this because it is directly related to our eternal life.
Matthew 18:3 Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
We must be like little children to enter the kingdom of heaven. Why must we be like children? Babies are so cute, innocent. They do not lie, do not speak curse words, nor have evil thoughts. They are very simple and pure. Lord Jesus wants us to be as honest as children--not like adults that engage in evil things, lies, deceit. They speak of lies as if they are truth.
Some are very good at deceiving people. There's a person who was in the stock market. He cheated people out of over $50 billion. They were so deceived. Many celebrities and insiders were also deceived by him. They said he will be in prison for life. Think about all the money he cheated others. Children will not do this. God want us to return and be like children. Do no evil and not harm others. We must be like children. Lord Jesus said if we do not change and become like little children we will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
John 3:3-5 Must be reborn in water and Spirit.
Matt 17:21-23 He who does the will of God. Must abide in the will of God. Come to an understanding of His will for us.
Luke 10:10-28 Love God all our strength and mind, and love others as ourselves.
Matt 19:17-19 If you wish to enter the eternal life, you must keep the 10 commandments and not neglect any one of them. In James it says if we transgress one we transgress all. We should not overlook any one of them
Matthew 5:7 Our righteousness must surpass the Pharisees. We must practice our faith.
Luke 22:14-20 Partake in Holy Communion.
John 14:6 Jesus is the truth, the way, the life.
John 5:24 Jesus said if you listen to me then you will receive eternal life.
Matthew 18:3 Change and be like the little children to enter the kingdom of heaven.
This is the word of God. If we can accomplish these eight items with a heart of fear and trembling, then our name will be recorded in the book of life. 1 Peter 4:17 “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
This is a terrible warning--If it is hard for the righteous to be saved. After we are baptized we are righteous, but it is difficult to accomplish all 8 items. Here Peter is describing that the righteous are barely being saved. It is not easy to be saved but we must make an effort. May we continue to pray, read the bible, and gather to worship God. Apply what we have learned so that each of our names is recorded into the book of life. On the day of judgment, when the book of life is opened and our name is called we will enter the kingdom of heaven. It will be so wonderful and joyful.
http://www.facejesus.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=125:work-out-your-own-salvation-with-fear-and-trembling-2&catid=69:articles-english&Itemid=82
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Work Out Your Own Salvation with Fear and Trembling 1
By Elder James Wu
We must first understand why are we sitting here today. Other people may be at the beach today. Some are at home. But why is it we come here to church to worship God. What is the main purpose of us as Christians? There are many people with different reasons and goals in coming to church.
I remember one of my relatives in Taiwan came to believe in Christ because his daughter cried too much. And so his mother-in-law suggested to him that if you bring her to church she'll cry less. We all know that when the child is young, they tend to cry a lot. But as the child grew up and no longer cries anymore, he no longer comes to church.
There are also some brothers who came to church to find a wife. There was a sister of ours that met her boyfriend. The boyfriend asked her for marriage. The sister said the requirement is you come to church and be baptized. So he replied sure he'll come to church. He was baptized. But after he got married he stopped coming to church.
So we all must have a firm understanding of what is the purpose of coming to church. One of the most important reasons to come to church is for the sake of our salvation. From the bible we can see what is the reason why we need to pursue our salvation.
Adam and Eve committed sin against God and disobeyed God in eating the forbidden fruit. God said a very important verse in the bible. Genesis 2:17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Here God gave only one command to Adam and Eve. The tree of knowledge of good and evil you should not eat, for the day you eat of it you will surely die.
Unfortunately, our ancestors did not listen to God. God said the day you eat of it you will surely die. Adam and Eve did not die right away. If you look into Genesis, Adam lived 900+ years. What does it mean they will surely die? We have the spirit that comes from God. Each of us has a soul. Paul calls it the inner self. There is the outer self that is our physical body. According to the bible, our physical body is made from dust. In the bible, only two people did not go through death. The rest died. Our physical body will return back to earth. We have an earthly body and also an inner self. So when God said “the day we eat of it you will surely die” he is referring to the soul.
One time Jesus said to someone, “You come follow me.” So the man reply to Lord Jesus, “Let me go back and bury the dead.” What did Jesus say? Jesus said, “let the dead bury the dead.” Here Jesus refers to two dead people. The dead people to be buried is the one that’s physically died.
So let us first realize if we have not yet been baptized through the blood of Jesus Christ you are still a dead man. There are only two destinations for the soul. Soul does not die. Soul only returns to two places. One is heaven and the other is hell. So when we talk about salvation, it is in reference to our soul going to heaven and not hell. Revelation 20: 11-15 “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done . Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
Here says that in the end day there is great judgment. According to the bible, the universe will be destroyed. Everyone will stand before the throne of God and be judged. As we have mentioned before, our physical body may be destroyed but our spiritual soul will be judged. This soul will stand before the throne of God to be judged. No matter how you die or whether you die in the sea. Here the scripture said the sea will throw out the dead. No matter how you die, you will still have to stand before God. Your soul will stand before God to be judged.
There are two books. One book contains your conduct while you live in this world. The other is the book of life. Verse 15 said clearly anyone not found in book of life is cast into lake of fire. That means if our name is not found in the book of life we cannot enter the heavenly kingdom of God. The only place for us to go is the lake of fire -- hell. So why is it we need to work out our salvation? Simply put, for the sole purpose to have our name included in the book of life. Main purpose of our belief is so our name can be included in the book of life. Only if our name is recorded in the book of life can we enter the heavenly kingdom. This is what we need to strive toward.
Now let us look into why we must work at our salvation with fear and trembling. Have you ever seen someone fear and tremble before? When I was a teenager during the time of World War II. There was a time when the American fighter planes were going to bomb Taiwan. At the time I was growing up in a village. Because we were quite poor I went to work instead of school. Then while I was working the emergency siren turned on and we hid ourselves in the shelter. As I was sitting down I felt someone tapping. I look over and there was this man in his 20’s trembling and shaking in his body. That was when I first realize someone who was afraid would tremble. Fear to the point that you shiver.
So why is it that we need to work our salvation with fear and trembling? Two reasons. One is to be saved, which is not easy. This is the words from Jesus Christ. Luke 13:23-24 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.”
You need to strive to enter through the narrow gate. For there are many who try to enter but are unable to enter. So from this we can understand it is difficult to enter the heaven of God. Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Here are Jesus own personal words. We hear people say in my church we have congregation with thousands of members. I would point them to this verse. Broad is the way that leads to destruction. Those who find it are few. Do not be discouraged by few members, because there are few that are saved. So from these few verses from Lord Jesus Christ it is very difficult to enter the kingdom of God. Because it is very difficult therefore we must work at it with fear and trembling.
Second, why must we work with fear and trembling? We know that Satan is the enemy of God. He initially was the archangel but he became proud and wanted to be equal with God. So God cast him down to the earth, and so he became an enemy of God. Thus he tries his very best to stop those who will receive salvation. He knows he will one day be kept in everlasting fire. But he is unwilling to see others receive salvation. Therefore Satan uses many tactics to make us fall.
1 Peter 5:8 “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Here states Satan walks about looking to devour the people of God. He uses whatever ways he can to tempt us to sin against God.
There are three weapons he uses most often. One is wealth. He knows there is greed in the heart of men and use material things to tempt us away from God. Have we not seen fellow brothers and sisters who have fallen? They had earned a lot of money but not enough so they work even more. Because of wealth they stumbled into the pit.
Other people my have started business and get too busy to come to church. They devoted all their own time into business until something terrible happens. This happened to a brother who was a millionaire whose son died. When he was a millionaire, although he was a member of our church he never came to church service. Only when his only son died that he suddenly awoke, but it was too late because his son has already died. Let us not be tempted by the pursuit of wealth.
Second weapon is that of the relationship between man and woman. Even pastors have stumbled in this matter, so we must be even more careful. Satan may very well use women to tempt you. There is an Asian saying that brave warriors cannot overcome female seduction. It is true. It’s hard for me to resist temptation of women. Therefore, we must be very careful in relationships. This is one of those greatest weapons Satan uses.
The third is the pursuit of fame and status. All these tricks are ones that Satan use to make us stumble. We must be aware that Satan constantly wants to take us away, so we must be careful. Therefore, Paul himself said 1 Cor. 9:27 “No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
Here even though Paul was very careful with his actions and plainly said “I discipline my body so not to be disqualified for the prize.” He warned us to be even more careful.
1 Peter 4:7 “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.” We have come to realize that we are at the end of the last days. Whether it be famine, pestilence, earthquake. These are all signs of the last day and it is becoming more serious.
Many years ago we talk about bird flu, but now recently we have swine flu. Back then we remember bird flu. People were worried it would become pandemic, but now we see swine flu becoming widespread. So we do not know what will happen next day. Therefore, Peter says here the end of all things is at hand. Thus we need to be serious and be watchful in our prayers.
So why must we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. If we are not saved and end up in hell, it is very fearful. Let's look at one thing Jesus said to us. Mark 9:43-48, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where “ ' their worms does not die and the fire is not quenched.'”
Here Jesus tells the difference between heaven and hell. Jesus tells us we must strive hard to enter the kingdom of heaven. To the point Jesus put into an analogy if your hand sins, cut it off. For it is better to go to heaven with one arm than with two arms and in hell. Of course this is a parable. What Jesus said is whatever matter that causes us to sin we must cut it off. It is better to have one eye and in heaven than two in hell.
Why is it so fearful to be in hell? Verse 48 There the warm does not die and the fire is not quenched. Here’s a testimony from a deaconess in China. When she was 82 years old she had severe illness and was sick for 12 days. Every night while she was sick around 6 to 7 pm, she would lose consciousness and wake up around 3 in the morning the next day. During those times she saw heaven and hell. First 12 days she saw heaven. On the 13 day the angel took her to see hell. She said in hell there is this great pit. In this great pit there's great fire. Within the great lake of fire there's another pit. In another pit there's filled with worms. Those who sin against God were thrown into the fire and after burning in the lake of fire then put into lake of worms.
She said the gnashing and crying were very horrifying. Someone who was thrown into pit of worms was trying to kill the worm in his hand. Here the worm does not die when he smash that one worm it becomes ten. So what she saw was exactly as Lord Jesus described. Here Jesus said in hell the worm does not die and the fire does not go out.
This deaconess Wang saw this vision had seen the worm and unquenchable fire. So this is why we need to tremble and fear. Because if we do not enter the kingdom of God we will be in hell fire and worms. And this is not just for a period of time but for an infinite amount of time. So while we are still living and breathing we have this opportunity to make sure we enter the kingdom of God. We must work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
We must be aware that if we are not saved, our end result will be in hell. Therefore we must try our very best to enter the kingdom of God. Hence everyday we must work hard to ensure our salvation. This afternoon we will study further how will we work out to ensure our salvation. From the four gospel, Jesus Christ give us eight requirements.
When I talk about the 20 year old youth in San Diego that caught the swine flu. In the morning she started to cough, the night she died. Our body does not have the defenses for it. The body does not know how to react today. There is no medication for it. One day she has the illness and she died. How feeble and weak is our life. I remember the words of my father in law. The coffin is not for the old, but for those who died. In other words, it is not for certain our time of death. Therefore, it is very important for us to take hold of every opportunity to work on salvation. You and I do not know how long we'll live. Even though Acts 17:26 “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.”
God knows the life span we have and not ourselves. One month, 85 years? No one knows, so we must prepare because that last day can be tomorrow. We do not know if tomorrow will belong to you. Bible said you do not know what will happen tomorrow. Therefore we should say if God is willing, let me do this. We must know our lives are in the hands of God. So while we still have this chance we must work and make sure our name is in the book of life. Let us pray for this in our prayers.
http://www.facejesus.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=124:work-out-your-own-salvation-with-fear-and-trembling-1&catid=69:articles-english&Itemid=82
We must first understand why are we sitting here today. Other people may be at the beach today. Some are at home. But why is it we come here to church to worship God. What is the main purpose of us as Christians? There are many people with different reasons and goals in coming to church.
I remember one of my relatives in Taiwan came to believe in Christ because his daughter cried too much. And so his mother-in-law suggested to him that if you bring her to church she'll cry less. We all know that when the child is young, they tend to cry a lot. But as the child grew up and no longer cries anymore, he no longer comes to church.
There are also some brothers who came to church to find a wife. There was a sister of ours that met her boyfriend. The boyfriend asked her for marriage. The sister said the requirement is you come to church and be baptized. So he replied sure he'll come to church. He was baptized. But after he got married he stopped coming to church.
So we all must have a firm understanding of what is the purpose of coming to church. One of the most important reasons to come to church is for the sake of our salvation. From the bible we can see what is the reason why we need to pursue our salvation.
Adam and Eve committed sin against God and disobeyed God in eating the forbidden fruit. God said a very important verse in the bible. Genesis 2:17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Here God gave only one command to Adam and Eve. The tree of knowledge of good and evil you should not eat, for the day you eat of it you will surely die.
Unfortunately, our ancestors did not listen to God. God said the day you eat of it you will surely die. Adam and Eve did not die right away. If you look into Genesis, Adam lived 900+ years. What does it mean they will surely die? We have the spirit that comes from God. Each of us has a soul. Paul calls it the inner self. There is the outer self that is our physical body. According to the bible, our physical body is made from dust. In the bible, only two people did not go through death. The rest died. Our physical body will return back to earth. We have an earthly body and also an inner self. So when God said “the day we eat of it you will surely die” he is referring to the soul.
One time Jesus said to someone, “You come follow me.” So the man reply to Lord Jesus, “Let me go back and bury the dead.” What did Jesus say? Jesus said, “let the dead bury the dead.” Here Jesus refers to two dead people. The dead people to be buried is the one that’s physically died.
So let us first realize if we have not yet been baptized through the blood of Jesus Christ you are still a dead man. There are only two destinations for the soul. Soul does not die. Soul only returns to two places. One is heaven and the other is hell. So when we talk about salvation, it is in reference to our soul going to heaven and not hell. Revelation 20: 11-15 “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done . Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
Here says that in the end day there is great judgment. According to the bible, the universe will be destroyed. Everyone will stand before the throne of God and be judged. As we have mentioned before, our physical body may be destroyed but our spiritual soul will be judged. This soul will stand before the throne of God to be judged. No matter how you die or whether you die in the sea. Here the scripture said the sea will throw out the dead. No matter how you die, you will still have to stand before God. Your soul will stand before God to be judged.
There are two books. One book contains your conduct while you live in this world. The other is the book of life. Verse 15 said clearly anyone not found in book of life is cast into lake of fire. That means if our name is not found in the book of life we cannot enter the heavenly kingdom of God. The only place for us to go is the lake of fire -- hell. So why is it we need to work out our salvation? Simply put, for the sole purpose to have our name included in the book of life. Main purpose of our belief is so our name can be included in the book of life. Only if our name is recorded in the book of life can we enter the heavenly kingdom. This is what we need to strive toward.
Now let us look into why we must work at our salvation with fear and trembling. Have you ever seen someone fear and tremble before? When I was a teenager during the time of World War II. There was a time when the American fighter planes were going to bomb Taiwan. At the time I was growing up in a village. Because we were quite poor I went to work instead of school. Then while I was working the emergency siren turned on and we hid ourselves in the shelter. As I was sitting down I felt someone tapping. I look over and there was this man in his 20’s trembling and shaking in his body. That was when I first realize someone who was afraid would tremble. Fear to the point that you shiver.
So why is it that we need to work our salvation with fear and trembling? Two reasons. One is to be saved, which is not easy. This is the words from Jesus Christ. Luke 13:23-24 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.”
You need to strive to enter through the narrow gate. For there are many who try to enter but are unable to enter. So from this we can understand it is difficult to enter the heaven of God. Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Here are Jesus own personal words. We hear people say in my church we have congregation with thousands of members. I would point them to this verse. Broad is the way that leads to destruction. Those who find it are few. Do not be discouraged by few members, because there are few that are saved. So from these few verses from Lord Jesus Christ it is very difficult to enter the kingdom of God. Because it is very difficult therefore we must work at it with fear and trembling.
Second, why must we work with fear and trembling? We know that Satan is the enemy of God. He initially was the archangel but he became proud and wanted to be equal with God. So God cast him down to the earth, and so he became an enemy of God. Thus he tries his very best to stop those who will receive salvation. He knows he will one day be kept in everlasting fire. But he is unwilling to see others receive salvation. Therefore Satan uses many tactics to make us fall.
1 Peter 5:8 “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Here states Satan walks about looking to devour the people of God. He uses whatever ways he can to tempt us to sin against God.
There are three weapons he uses most often. One is wealth. He knows there is greed in the heart of men and use material things to tempt us away from God. Have we not seen fellow brothers and sisters who have fallen? They had earned a lot of money but not enough so they work even more. Because of wealth they stumbled into the pit.
Other people my have started business and get too busy to come to church. They devoted all their own time into business until something terrible happens. This happened to a brother who was a millionaire whose son died. When he was a millionaire, although he was a member of our church he never came to church service. Only when his only son died that he suddenly awoke, but it was too late because his son has already died. Let us not be tempted by the pursuit of wealth.
Second weapon is that of the relationship between man and woman. Even pastors have stumbled in this matter, so we must be even more careful. Satan may very well use women to tempt you. There is an Asian saying that brave warriors cannot overcome female seduction. It is true. It’s hard for me to resist temptation of women. Therefore, we must be very careful in relationships. This is one of those greatest weapons Satan uses.
The third is the pursuit of fame and status. All these tricks are ones that Satan use to make us stumble. We must be aware that Satan constantly wants to take us away, so we must be careful. Therefore, Paul himself said 1 Cor. 9:27 “No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
Here even though Paul was very careful with his actions and plainly said “I discipline my body so not to be disqualified for the prize.” He warned us to be even more careful.
1 Peter 4:7 “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.” We have come to realize that we are at the end of the last days. Whether it be famine, pestilence, earthquake. These are all signs of the last day and it is becoming more serious.
Many years ago we talk about bird flu, but now recently we have swine flu. Back then we remember bird flu. People were worried it would become pandemic, but now we see swine flu becoming widespread. So we do not know what will happen next day. Therefore, Peter says here the end of all things is at hand. Thus we need to be serious and be watchful in our prayers.
So why must we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. If we are not saved and end up in hell, it is very fearful. Let's look at one thing Jesus said to us. Mark 9:43-48, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where “ ' their worms does not die and the fire is not quenched.'”
Here Jesus tells the difference between heaven and hell. Jesus tells us we must strive hard to enter the kingdom of heaven. To the point Jesus put into an analogy if your hand sins, cut it off. For it is better to go to heaven with one arm than with two arms and in hell. Of course this is a parable. What Jesus said is whatever matter that causes us to sin we must cut it off. It is better to have one eye and in heaven than two in hell.
Why is it so fearful to be in hell? Verse 48 There the warm does not die and the fire is not quenched. Here’s a testimony from a deaconess in China. When she was 82 years old she had severe illness and was sick for 12 days. Every night while she was sick around 6 to 7 pm, she would lose consciousness and wake up around 3 in the morning the next day. During those times she saw heaven and hell. First 12 days she saw heaven. On the 13 day the angel took her to see hell. She said in hell there is this great pit. In this great pit there's great fire. Within the great lake of fire there's another pit. In another pit there's filled with worms. Those who sin against God were thrown into the fire and after burning in the lake of fire then put into lake of worms.
She said the gnashing and crying were very horrifying. Someone who was thrown into pit of worms was trying to kill the worm in his hand. Here the worm does not die when he smash that one worm it becomes ten. So what she saw was exactly as Lord Jesus described. Here Jesus said in hell the worm does not die and the fire does not go out.
This deaconess Wang saw this vision had seen the worm and unquenchable fire. So this is why we need to tremble and fear. Because if we do not enter the kingdom of God we will be in hell fire and worms. And this is not just for a period of time but for an infinite amount of time. So while we are still living and breathing we have this opportunity to make sure we enter the kingdom of God. We must work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
We must be aware that if we are not saved, our end result will be in hell. Therefore we must try our very best to enter the kingdom of God. Hence everyday we must work hard to ensure our salvation. This afternoon we will study further how will we work out to ensure our salvation. From the four gospel, Jesus Christ give us eight requirements.
When I talk about the 20 year old youth in San Diego that caught the swine flu. In the morning she started to cough, the night she died. Our body does not have the defenses for it. The body does not know how to react today. There is no medication for it. One day she has the illness and she died. How feeble and weak is our life. I remember the words of my father in law. The coffin is not for the old, but for those who died. In other words, it is not for certain our time of death. Therefore, it is very important for us to take hold of every opportunity to work on salvation. You and I do not know how long we'll live. Even though Acts 17:26 “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.”
God knows the life span we have and not ourselves. One month, 85 years? No one knows, so we must prepare because that last day can be tomorrow. We do not know if tomorrow will belong to you. Bible said you do not know what will happen tomorrow. Therefore we should say if God is willing, let me do this. We must know our lives are in the hands of God. So while we still have this chance we must work and make sure our name is in the book of life. Let us pray for this in our prayers.
http://www.facejesus.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=124:work-out-your-own-salvation-with-fear-and-trembling-1&catid=69:articles-english&Itemid=82
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