Fulfilled without delay

Fulfilled without delay

Scripture: But I the LORD will speak what I will, and it shall be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, you rebellious people, I will fulfill whatever I say, declares the Sovereign LORD.’” Ezekiel 12:25

Observation: In Ezekiel’s early ministry to the people to Israel, he was often scorned and people were typically of the opinion that the prophesied judgment was far away, unlikely to be in their lifetimes. They ridiculed Ezekiel, saying “the days go by and every vision comes to nothing” and “the visions he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future.” However, the Lord was quick to correct them and tell them that there would be no more delay, and all He said through Ezekiel would be fulfilled.

Today, in the last days, despite the signs that are taking place, many people still do not believe that the end is coming soon. Yet, the escalating numbers of earthquakes and natural disasters around the world is God’s warning to mankind to repent and turn from their rebellion. God has spoken through His Word, and we would do well to study it and pray for wisdom. He has spoken at length through the Gospels and the books of Daniel and Revelation about the things that will happen and the coming wrath upon the world.

Many of us shun end time learning because of fear, but if we are not prepared, we will be caught in surprise. Personally, I am deeply concerned by the Pre-tribulation teaching which teaches that Christians will be raptured before the Great Tribulation when the Anti-Christ comes upon the earth. For the rapture to be such an important event, it must have been mentioned clearly by the Lord in His teaching about the end times in Matthew 24. Instead, referring to His disciples, He told them that they would be persecuted and hated by all nations because of Him and went on to talk about the coming of the Anti-Christ, the abomination of desolation. After that only was His coming in the skies and the gathering of the elect.

Imagine if you had hoped to be “raptured” before the persecution starts, but find yourself still on earth. Deep disappointment would fill you and you would not be prepared to stand up for your faith. Speaking against pre-tribulationism may not be popular, but it is the truth that matters.

Application: Examine our hearts often to see if there are any rebellious ways in us. Ask God to give us a soft heart towards Him, that listens to His Spirit, and loves the Lord Jesus Christ. Consider the end times prayerfully, and prepare ourselves for the coming days.

Prayer: Lord, I praise You that You are great and sovereign, and You will fulfill all Your words according to Your perfect time. Have mercy on us, dear Lord, and prepare us for the coming days. Help us in the day of trouble we pray, and enable us to be able to stand before You. In Jesus name, Amen.

Seek….

Seek….

This Friday, we were privileged at FGB Chapter Jaya One to have Pastor Benjamin from India share with us.

Speaking from the well known call of Jesus to “Seek ye first the kingdom of God”, Pastor Benjamin explained to us that “seek” in Hebrew means to eagerly hunt after. The picture is given of a hunter eagerly seeking to hunt down and capture his prey.

When we eagerly seek God, when we eagerly seek Jesus, all these things will be added unto us. God knows all that we need, but we are to seek Him first, and the rest will follow. Pastor Benjamin went on to speak of a dog chasing its own tail. No matter how much it tries, it can’t really latch on to it. The principle is “if you run after a thing that should run behind you, you will not be successful”. We are to run after those things that God wants us to run for. The things we need will just follow us.

In the state of Tamil Naidu, Pastor Benjamin spoke of a rich, Christian friend called Mani, who came to the city in simple clothes and a few hundred rupees. Upon arriving, he vowed to God “Make me prosperous and I will make you number 1”, and his path from poverty to riches has been amazing, coming from nothing to becoming a millionaire selling sweets. In the process, Mani has bought a lot of land, and helped a lot of men of God, building churches. Almost every shop in Tamil Naidu has his sweets. He made God his no.1, and God has honored him greatly, and he still wears his simple clothes.

Indeed, if we put God first in everything, He will lift us up higher than we could ever imagine. We need only make Jesus our complete Master and Lord. Whilst we struggle and rack our heads for great ideas and plans, one idea from God is enough to take over the world. 

In Luke 5, we saw Peter, a fisherman and businessman struggle to catch fish the whole night but with no result. Tired out, he saw the Master ask him for his boat, and he humbly allowed the Lord to preach from his boat to the people. After Jesus finished preaching, the Lord asked Peter to put the boat out to deep water and let down his net. Peter, in exasperation, exclaimed that he had worked hard all night but caught nothing. Still, he said he would do it in obedience to the Master, and lo, the catch was so great, it needed two boats to haul it in. Jesus took Peter to the right strategic place and he found unimaginable success. The boat represents our life. The net represents our skill. Let Jesus tell us where to use the net.

Another time, when Jesus went with His disciples to Capernaum, the temple tax collectors came and asked them for their taxes. Jesus told Peter to go and throw a line into the lake and catch a fish. In its mouth would be a 4-drachma coin, enough for both Jesus and Peter. When God is for us, we can draw gold from a beggar. We can indeed find abundance in the most unexpected places. God is not a God just for church on Sunday. We must take Jesus wherever we go, to our homes, to our businesses. He must be Lord of all. Let Him decide for you.

Prophecies and predictions from the Bible: Are they being fulfilled?

Prophecies and predictions from the Bible: Are they being fulfilled?

Dear friends, a very good afternoon to you. It is indeed a wonderful pleasure to come here to IOI and see all of you again.

Ok, friends, today’s topic is about prophecy and prediction. But before we begin, perhaps, can I have a show of hands, how many of you think the world is going to end soon? How many more years would you give the world? 100 years? 50 years? 10 years? 1 year? How many of you have seen the movie 2012? Interestingly, friends, the premise for this movie is taken from the ancient Mayan civilization in South America, which has a very sophisticated long count calendar, which so happens to end at the end of 2012, which is next year! Wow!

And friends, I wonder how many of you have heard of the Tunku Abdul Rahman prophecy? In the late 1980s, I heard a curious rumor concerning the name of Malaysia’s first prime minister, RAHMAN. It was said that each alphabet of his name would correspond to a Malaysian prime minister in the future and then the end of the world would come. And amazingly, fast forward to 2011, just check out our 6 Prime Minister’s names. R is for RAHMAN, A is for ABDUL RAZAK, H is for HUSSEIN ONN, M is for MAHATHIR, A is for ABDULLAH BADAWI and N is for NAJIB! RAHMAN! Interesting, isn’t it?

Well friends, curiosities aside, logically speaking, I think most of us sort of get the feeling that time is running out for planet earth. Just the other day, I was talking to my very wise friend Dr.Chow, and he was telling me “we should invest in commodities, food, agriculture. The population on the earth is getting too big, (7 billion by the way according to UN Statistics) and more and more agricultural land is being taken away. So the price of food can only go higher.” Friends, the underlying truth behind Dr.Chow’s statement is that our planet simply cannot sustain the development of the human race for very much longer.

Now coming back to the Bible, friends, we are here today to have a glimpse of what the Bible says the future holds for us. The Bible is an amazing book with hundreds of prophecies from start to end, but before we go into that, let’s just have a brief overview of this marvelous book itself.

Basically, friends, the Bible is a collection of 66 books, divided into two sections, the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament has 39 books while the New Testament has 27. And incidentally, the Old Testament is held as sacred scripture by both the Christians and the Jews. These books were written by many different authors through many different time periods, ranging from 1,450 B.C. to 95 A.D. By the way, friends, B.C. stands for Before Jesus Christ, and A.D. stands for After Jesus Christ. So the year now is 2011 A.D., approximately 2000 years after Jesus Christ.

So, we see friends, the Bible is indeed an ancient book, a very old book thousands of years old, but one of the reasons it is still so relevant today is because of prophecy. What is prophecy? It is simply foretelling in the future what is going to happen. And friends, the Bible has approximately 2,500 prophecies, about 2,000 of which have already been fulfilled.

And now let us look at a few examples of fulfilled prophecy, a lot of which centers around the country of Israel. You see, friends, Israel is very important in the Bible, and basically the Bible says that when Jesus comes back again, He will make Jerusalem in Israel the headquarters of His kingdom. Does everyone know where Israel is today? It is in the Middle East, near Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iran and Iraq and is constantly in the world news, and will continue to be more and more so, as the end of days comes closer. So friends, point no.1 is that we must watch Israel very carefully to see what is happening there.   

Ok, friends now for the first example of fulfilled prophecy which is prophecy that has come true. Around 500 B.C., or 2,500 years ago, history tells us that Jerusalem, the capital of Israel was in ruins, and most of the Jews had been taken away to Babylon. Babylon is where Iraq is today, and it was the world power at that time as many of us have learned in Sejarah Dunia. One of the Jews in Babylon called Daniel rose to a very high position in the kingdom, just under the King. He was a prophet and his life and prophecies are recorded in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament.

One of Daniel’s first notable prophecies was in interpreting the dream of the great King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Here Daniel interpreted that after Babylon, there would be 3 other great world empires, the Persian empire (Iran), the Greek empire under Alexander the Great (Greece), and the Roman empire, where we have the famous Julius Caesar (Italy). And of course, as we know in history, all this came true just as Daniel said.

Besides that, friends, Daniel also predicted that there would be a royal order to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. At that time, the great temple of Jerusalem, built by King Solomon, who was the wisest man in the world, had been destroyed by the Babylonian army. And sure enough, friends, during the reign of the next empire, the empire of Persia, King Cyrus the Great ordered the temple to be rebuilt.

Moreover, friends, Daniel also predicted at the same time that 483 years after the king’s order, the Messiah, or Savior would begin his ministry but be later killed before the second destruction of the temple. And friends, sure enough, all this came true when Jesus Christ came and was killed on the cross and the temple of Jerusalem was destroyed again in 70AD by the Romans.

Friends, another reason, this temple is so important is that according to the Bible, one of the key last day events involves a man coming to the temple and declaring himself to be God. Therefore, the end of the world cannot happen yet until the temple has been rebuilt. And for 2,000 years, there has been no temple. In fact, today, there is a mosque, the Dome of the Rock, which is the 2^nd most important mosque in the world situated there in Jerusalem. Interestingly, there has recently been some dialogue between Jewish and Muslim leaders on the rebuilding of the temple, which should not take more than 1 year. So let’s watch and see when this temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt.

Another very recent fulfillment to prophecy is the rebirth of the nation of Israel in 1948. Before that, friends for almost 2,000 years, the former land of Israel was in ruins, and the Jews were scattered all over the world and millions of them killed by Hitler, by Stalin, by the Spanish Inquisition. Then, in the mid-1900s, which is in the lifetime of most of our parents or grandparents, the Jews started coming back to Israel from all over the world and started rebuilding the cities. In just 60 years, Israel has come from nothing to become a very rich, modern, powerful nation. Amazingly, in the Old Testament,  prophets predicted that “Israel will one day be restored, Israel will become rich again, trees will grow in the land again.” For the past 2,000 years, the land in Israel was dry and barren because there was not much rain. Today, the Jews who returned have built a network of irrigation systems that have made the land fertile and fruitful. Furthermore, it was also prophesied about 2,500 years ago that Israel’s fruit would fill the world, a prophecy that can be taken physically and spiritually. Physically, Israel has become a leading producer for many agricultural products, exporting to countries all over the world.  Spiritually, Christianity, which began with Jesus Christ, has given birth to more than 2 billion Christians around the world today.

Ok, friends, there are many, many more amazing examples of fulfilled prophecy but let’s now move on to some of those prophecies that are happening now and those that have not happened yet, which I’m sure are of far more interest to us here today.

The first 4 books of the New Testament are called the gospels and record what Jesus Christ did and said when He walked on the earth. In the first book, the gospel of Matthew, there is a very interesting passage in Chapter 24 where the disciples came to Jesus and asked “What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

Here, Jesus firstly told his disciples “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, saying I am the Christ, and will deceive many.” This is the first sign, friends. Human men telling other people “I am Jesus Christ, follow me.” Just do a quick search on Google by typing  “false Christ”, and you will see quite a number of these men. Today, in the Philippines, in Puerto Rico, in South Korea, there are men who claim to be Jesus Christ and have followers numbering into millions.  So we see, friends, the first sign has come.

Secondly, Jesus said “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Since the start of the 20^th century, we have already seen two world wars and numerous civil, ethnic and international wars. Since 1990, there have in fact been more than 50 wars. The current unrest in the Middle East, Libya, Bahrain, North and South Korea, which we increasingly read in the papers everyday continue to tell us that war is looming in many places.  And so, friends, the second sign which are wars and rumors of wars has come.

Thirdly, Jesus said “there will be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in various places”. Friends, I am sure you are familiar with the increasing number of earthquakes in the world in recent times – Japan, New Zealand, Indonesia. Whenever there is an earthquake or tsunami or floods, the survivors, especially in poorer countries, are often exposed to terrible famine and disease. Besides that, there have also been great pestilences, epidemics and pandemics in the world recently like the SARs virus, Bird Flu and H1N1. And so friends, the third sign is also here.

Now friends, Jesus described these events will occur like birth pains. How do birth pains work? They become stronger and stronger as the time draws closer for the baby to be born, right? So, friends, you will see that False Christs, Wars, Earthquakes, Natural Disasters and Diseases will become more and more frequent around the world.

So these are happening, now, but what will happen that has not happened yet?

Next Jesus told his disciples that all the nations will turn against them and He went on to quote from Daniel about the “abomination of desolation”, which is a man, called the Anti-Christ  who will go to God’s temple in Jerusalem and say he is God, and force everyone everywhere to worship him or die. Remember, friends, there is no temple in Jerusalem yet, but once it has been rebuilt, watch and see when the Anti-Christ shows himself there.

Further expanding on the prophecy of Daniel in the Old Testament, it is written that the Anti-Christ, the one against Jesus Christ, will form a peace treaty with Israel for 7 years. However, after 3 ½ years, he will break this treaty. Currently, friends, in the world today, all the problems with terrorism, like September 11, all come down to the Israel-Palestine conflict. All the Middle-East countries are against Israel and do not recognize Israel as a state but the Israeli army is very powerful and defeated all her neighbors in the 6-day war in 1967. Somehow, the anti-Christ will be a world leader who will successfully solve this problem through a treaty with Israel for 7 years. However, 3 ½ years into the treaty, he will break it, and bring terrible suffering on the Jews and the true Christians for 3 ½ years.

In the book of Revelation, the prophecy further explains how all the kingdoms of the world will come under the control of the Anti-Christ, and there will be only one economy, one currency, one religion. If you look around the world today, so many governments everywhere are weak, with opposition beginning to overthrow long established rulers. All this is setting the stage for the Anti-Christ to take over control of the whole world under one government. Bible scholars interpret that somehow the world will be divided into 10 super-nations and give their authority to the Anti-Christ. Revelation also speaks of the Anti-Christ having a fatal wound but be healed, which could mean, he dies and come back to life and that’s why he amazes the world.

Now focusing on the one world religion, recently there has a lot of interest in a new concept called “Chrislam”, a merger between Christianity and Islam that is said to be supported the ex-Prime Minister of Britain, Tony Blair and the ex-US President Bill Clinton. Apparently on June 26 last month, more than 70 churches all over America held a Chrislam service, where Muslims and Christians had a joint service and read from each other’s sacred scriptures. This too is a definite sign of the world moving towards a one world religion. 

Moving on, it is further written in Revelation that under this one world religion, everyone will be forced to worship the Anti-Christ and his image, most likely an idol, and to receive a 666 mark on his hand or on his forehead. Without this 666 mark, friends, no one will be able to buy or sell anything. And friends, recent developments tell us that this 666 mark will most likely be on a microchip with a bar code that can be implanted inside your hand or your forehead. This microchip is already here, being produced by the millions every year by Motorola and is being used in your Mykad and many countries around the world. There are many people who believe that every bar code has a 666 number. If you look at the bar code on the screen, you will see two double lines at beginning, centre and end. Every bar code has them. They are like borders for the other numbers to fall in. Every number has a particular pattern and the pattern for the number 6 has two lines which coincidentally look just like the borders. Therefore, in every bar code, you will see 666 standing out.

The weakness of the microchip on the card is that the card can be lost and information on the chip can be altered. However, if the chip is inside your body, it can never be lost. And in fact, Motorola has created the biochip and it is used in pets as a tracking device.   

Imagine, without this chip, its probably like you don’t have an I.C., and you don’t have any money. How will you pay for food, clothes, electricity, water? How can you work or your children go to school?

Now, this is very important, friends. The book of Revelation clearly says that we must not let this 666 mark, this chip to be implanted on us. Once you receive it, it means you belong to the Anti-Christ, the devil. Later, it is written that the Anti-Christ and all who belong to him will be thrown into the lake of fire, where there will be burning, suffering forever. This is the most important part of today’s talk, the Bible says if you worship the Anti-Christ and receive his mark, you will suffer for eternity, that means forever and ever. If you don’t, it is very likely, you will be killed or thrown into prison. Tough choice! But friends, we have to look long term!

Ok, now what happens next? Immediately after three and a half years of the Anti-Christ’s reign, there will be a great earthquake and the sun will become dark, the moon will not give its light and stars will fall from the sky, and Jesus Christ will come back in the clouds with great power and glory. Jesus basically told his disciples, “If anyone tells you, Jesus is here, or Jesus is there, don’t believe him. When I come back, it will be in the sky.” Revelation describes the moon as turning to blood. Does anyone remember reading in the papers just last month, when the moon turned red like blood? All these signs are reminding us to look to Heaven and know that Jesus is coming back again soon.

And when Jesus comes back, it is written that He will gather His elect from the four winds. That means all those who were loyal to Jesus and did not receive the 666 mark or worship the Anti-Christ will be taken up to be with Jesus in the sky, and after that, there will be a terrible seven bowls of judgment that will be poured out on the Anti-Christ and those who received his mark. These seven bowls talk about great hailstorms, large stars or asteroids falling on the earth causing great disasters and destroying a lot of the land, sea, animals and people. This will be the most terrible sequence of disasters ever in history and will end the whole world as we know it.

After that, the Bible says Jesus Christ will reign in Jerusalem for 1,000 years with His saints. After the 1,000 years, there will be one more battle, whereby Satan will be released to deceive the people from the four corners of the world to come together and fight against Jerusalem. However, God will send fire from heaven to destroy them all. And thereafter, will come the time for judging where books will be opened and all the dead, small and great will stand before God. The Bible says each one of us has a book where all the things that we did on earth are recorded. And there is a book of life. Whoever’s names are not found in the book of life will also be thrown into the lake of fire, where there is everlasting suffering and burning forever and ever.

And then there will be a new heaven and a new earth and there will be a new Jerusalem coming down from Heaven. This new city is made of pure gold, and precious stones. God will live with His people in this city and be with them forever. From then on, everything will be perfect and there will be no more tears, no sickness, no death, no suffering, no evil. So finally, there is a great happy ending for those who make it to the end, even though there may be terrible suffering for a while along the way.

Now, friends, I understand that for most of us this is very heavy and it’s a very general overview of the future. However, just to round off this talk, I want to revisit a few key points.

Firstly, even though the Bible is more than 2000 years old, the Bible’s prophecies have come true so far and we believe that those that have not happened will also come true.

Secondly, watch out for news about Israel. If the Bible is true, the temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt, a man will come to the temple and declare himself to be God, the whole world will be forced to worship him and take the 666 mark on the hand or on the forehead. In this respect, watch out at the same time for the whole world coming under one government, one currency, one religion. This is a definite sign that the end is very near.

Thirdly, don’t take the 666 mark or that microchip, no matter what. If we don’t take it, we will suffer for a while, but if we take it, we will suffer forever. And don’t worship the Anti-Christ who is the man who calls himself God.

Finally, start thinking about the big picture. Reexamine what you belief and make important choices. To believe the Bible or not, everyone has to choose. Its all up to you.

A mark on their foreheads

A mark on their foreheads

Scripture: Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the LORD called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.” Ezekiel 9:3-4

Observation: In an interesting picture in chapter 9 of Ezekiel, we see the Lord call out to a man clothed in linen who has a writing kit. This man is asked to go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament at the detestable things that are being done. Other angels are asked to follow the man and kill everyone except those the man in linen marks.

Who are these who will be given the mark of salvation? They are those who do not delight in evil but abhor it and grieve that such terrible things are done. In today’s world greatly influenced by Hollywood, we see violence, immorality and greed being desired by the people of the world. Even Christians have grown to enjoy watching movies with all of these. Even horror and murder is greatly enjoyed by people everywhere.

We are called to think about whatever is noble, true, right, pure, lovely, admirable, about anything excellent or praiseworthy. However, the opposite if often true.

In the end times, there will be a marking as well. The Anti-Christ will mark his own by the number 666, and those who have the mark will receive the wrath of God and ultimate judgment for eternity in the lake of fire.

Application: We need to be more aware of what we think about. The mind is the battlefield, and we need to be alert and guard our minds in Christ Jesus. We would do well to fill our minds with Scripture and listen to worship songs rather than listen to ungodly tapes or watch television shows or movies that glorify evil.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me for the times when I have let my mind stray and seek the things of the world, and become desensitized to evil. Create in me a pure heart and mind O Lord, that detests evil and desires for Your goodness, love and purity to come upon the earth. Bless You, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen

They will throw their silver into the streets

They will throw their silver into the streets

Scripture: “‘They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean. Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’s wrath. It will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs, for it has caused them to stumble into sin. Ezekiel 7:19

Observation: This verse from Ezekiel reminds us again of the futility of placing our desire in accumulating a lot of money and wealth. In the day of God’s wrath, all the wealth in the world is of totally no value at all. This does not mean money and wealth is wrong. In the hands of a godly man, wealth can do a lot of good and extend the kingdom of God. However, money and wealth is a dangerous thing. If one is not careful, it can easily corrupt the heart and cause one to think he is greater than he is.

In the book of James, it is written that the rich man should take pride in his lowly position as they fade away even as they go about their business. This verse refers in particular to the man who is always thinking about making more and more money. He works hard, and his head is always full of worry that he might lose his money or opportunity to make money.

Instead, Jesus asks us to seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto us. When we place our trust in the Lord, we will always have more than we need.

Application: If we do not have wealth, do not worry or be envious of the rich. Instead be faithful with what we have, and be generous and kind to others where we can. If we have wealth, we should humble ourselves at the responsibility given us, and ask God to help us use this wealth for His glory and purposes.

Prayer: Lord, with all that You have given me, help me to be faithful. Lead me my heart away from the temptation of money and wealth, but let me be a good steward of all that you have given me. Enlarge me that I might glorify thy name, and help extend Your kingdom. In Jesus name, Amen.

I have made you a watchman

I have made you a watchman

Scripture: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.  Ezekiel 3:17

Observation:- In the days of Ezekiel, the Lord appointed him as a watchman for the people Israel. His task was to hear the word that God said and give the people of Israel a warning. The heavy responsibility laid upon him was that if he did not speak out, Ezekiel would be held accountable for their blood.

When Jesus left the earth, He gave the great commission to His disciples to “Go forth into all the world and preach the good news to all creation”. Throughout the centuries, the church has done well to send forth missionaries, with great works initiated from the West. However, now, in today’s world, there is a great shift in Christian dynamics, with many in the east coming forth to evangelize the gospel even back to the West.

Application: For many of us, evangelism is a difficult thing to do. We fear to offend people, we fear the rejection and ridicule that might come upon us. However, the great commission is for every believer and not just a select few. Fear is one thing, but many times, it is not so much fear, but we ourselves being pre-occupied with our own lives that we don’t have time for others. “In order to save their life… “ the Lord told Ezekiel. The first step we require is the desire for lives to be saved. In our homes, at work, at play, with whomsoever we come into contact with, first have that desire for them to be saved. From that desire, pray for their salvation, and pray for opportunity to show Christ to them, in one way or other. How beautiful are the feet of them that bring good news.

Prayer: Lord, You have appointed me a watchman in my home, my place of work, my place of leisure. Give me a desire to love others and greatly desire for them to be saved. Open doors for me to reach out and touch them with Your love as I pray for them. In Jesus name, Amen.

Counter Culture

Counter Culture

This Sunday, I was privileged to hear a message from Pastor Lim of PJEFC on Counter Culture based on 1 Kings 18.

In those days, it was the reign of the evil, corrupt king Ahab and Elijah the prophet was the only one who stood up against him. In Ahab’s idolatry, he led the whole nation of Israel astray and there was worship of the pagan gods Baal and Asheroth in the land. Because of this, God sent a terrible drought upon Israel and there was no rain in the land for 3 years.

Before the start of World War II, the Prime Minister of England Neville Chamberlain together with leaders from France and Italy made the Munich pact with Adolf Hitler of Germany agreeing to cede certain territories in Czechoslovakia to Germany so that Germany would stop their aggressive territorial expansion. This negotiation treaty, known as appeasement, backfired shortly when Hitler broke it and went on to conquer the rest of Czechoslovakia and proceeded to attack Poland in 1939. Neville Chamberlain stepped down and Winston Churchill became the new Prime Minister of England in a time of war and proved to be the perfect man for the job. The lesson here is that you can’t compromise or negotiate with evil, but you have to confront it and do away with it.

Another similar but fictional story is of a bear running towards a hunter aiming a gun with him who suddenly stops and says “let’s negotiate, what do you want?” So they sat down and the hunter said “I want a fur coat to keep warm” and the bear said “I need to fill my stomach because I am hungry”. And both got what they wanted. The hunter got a fur coat and the bear got the hunter for dinner. Again, like the bear, we can’t negotiate with evil.

In those days, the king had great power and influence, and if the king was a corrupt leader, the people would also become corrupt. Some politicians dabble in Black Magic to gain power and popularity and by drawing power from dark forces, they too become evil and do evil things.

Idolatry had to be cut off totally before Israel could come back to God. We cannot serve both God and idols. Either Jesus is Lord of all or He is not Lord at all. There can be no compromise in this.

Elijah proceeded to ask Ahab to bring all the Israelites to Mount Carmel and all the priests of Baal and Asheroth. Mount Carmel although used before as a place of worship to God in Heaven had become the primary site of Baal worship. All the priests of Baal went, all 450 of them while Elijah was just one. This was a confrontation between God and evil. However, although the odds seemed to be stacked heavily in favor of Ahab’s prophets, it was really no contest at all.

Looking at the people, three responses are recorded. Firstly, Elijah challenged them, “How long will you waver between two opinions, if Yahweh is God, follow him, if Baal is God, follow him?” The word “waver” in Hebrew gives the picture of jumping from one stance to another. It is the same word to describe how the prophets of Baal danced. The people wanted blessing from both, and could not make up their minds. Their response was silence, indicating their apathy, their indifference. Then Elijah proposed the challenge to see which God would respond by fire, and the people responded, “that is good”. And so the prophets of Baal danced around their altar from morning till noon, cutting themselves, but nothing happened. Baal was purportedly the storm god, the god of lightning, but nothing happened. Then it was Elijah’s turn. He repaired the altar of God and prepared the sacrifice and after He prayed, fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifice, the altar and even the soil. The people fell down and exclaimed “The Lord is God, the Lord is God!”

Then Elijah ordered for all the prophets of Baal to be exterminated, and a great source of evil was cut off from the land. One man standing up for God brought a great revival in the land. Just one man made a great difference.

Another lesson we learn by looking at this event is that the spiritual precedes the physical. In the battle against the Amalekites, Moses was lifting up his hands towards heaven as Joshua and the Israelites battled below. When Moses’ hands grew weary and came down, the Israelites were losing but when Aaron and Hur helped lift Moses’ hands up, the Israelites were winning. Lifting hands to heaven symbolize prayer, and the spiritual had great impact on the physical. That’s why it so important for us to pray and engage in spiritual warfare for breakthroughs to happen in our lives.

During the Roman rule, watching gladiator fights were a favorite past time of the Romans, and the people enjoyed the blood and gore and death that came with it. But all that changed during the reign of Emperor Honorius who had become a Christian. The Gladiator fight had been arranged as a celebration for a Roman victory against the Goths. However, as they were about to begin, a devout monk named Telemachus came and called out to the Emperor to stop the fight crying “Do not dishonor God who has given you victory”. Despite the boos of the people, this holy man refused to allow the fight to continue and was killed. Shortly after, the Emperor published a decree outlawing gladiator fights. One man gave his life and by doing so, saved many by ending a cruel, senseless entertainment.

In closing, the call is for us not to compromise with evil but to get rid of it totally. When Jesus said to pluck out an eye or cut off a hand rather than let the whole body go to hell, He was not advocating it literally but for us to take every step possible to get rid of evil completely. It is also a call to relook our relationship with God which may have broken down like the broken altar and need to be repaired by coming back humbly to God. Finally, it is a call, to be determined and stand up for God, even if we are alone, for even one man can change the destiny of a nation.    

 

Whether they listen of or fail to listen…

Whether they listen of or fail to listen…

Scripture:- You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious people; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” Ezekiel 2:7-8

Observation:- The call to obey God is not dependent on the response of the people or the outward appearance of things. The call is only about whether we will respond or not. Ezekiel was called to speak to a rebellious people who would not listen in spite of whatever he said. Yet, he was still called to be faithful and say whatever God gave him to say. To not obey God is to rebel. Abraham left Ur, a sophisticated, powerful city for the unknown of the wilderness. Moses left his peaceful life as a shepherd for a seemingly insane confrontation with the most powerful man in the land. Mary accepted her call to bear the Messiah although it risked ruining her entire life and her marriage to Joseph. These heroes of old obeyed God even when they didn’t understand, even when things did not make sense.

In Ezekiel’s case, God knew that the people would not listen. However, Ezekiel was still called to speak as a testimony and a witness against them. Later his words and actions would go down as one of the most important prophetic books and also contained wonderful prophecies about the coming Messiah.

For us too, God may be saying “Others can say and do what they want, but as for you, obey Me, listen to what I say to you.”

The imagery of Ezekiel opening his mouth to eat the words of God is symbolic of the Holy Spirit being outpoured into our mouths and overflowing to say whatever God tells us. Jesus spoke of the Spirit as water that He gives us to drink becoming a well of water springing up into eternal life.

Application: If we are called by God into a specific area or task, it is for us to obey Him faithfully regardless of what our human mind may rationalize. This is where faith comes in, acting out of pure trust in God. Ask God to pour forth His Holy Spirit into us, and let it come out from us as a well springing up to eternal life!

Prayer:- Lord, help me be faithful even when others are faithless, to persevere and glorify Your name even when others fall away. Let Your Holy Spirit be poured out within me that I may have your well-spring of life coming out from within me. In Jesus name, Amen.

Man, lion, ox, eagle

Man, lion, ox, eagle

Scripture:- Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. Ezekiel 1:10

Observation:- At the very beginning of the book of Ezekiel, the Lord came to him and showed him great visions. And Ezekiel saw four great living creatures from God whose appearances were totally amazing. Imagine a creature in appearance like a man, but with 4 wings and 2 straight feet with ends like hooves and he had 4 faces - human being, lion, ox and eagle.

What do these four faces represent? The man represents wisdom and authority. He has more wisdom and knowledge than any creature in the animal kingdom. He also represents relationship for only man can have a meaningful relationship with God. The lion represents boldness and courage, and also gives us a sense of royalty. The lion is also typically aggressive and his powerful roar is enough to send the enemy fleeing in fear. The ox represents strength, perseverance and hard work. The eagle represents insight and perception, power and grace.  

In our Lord Jesus, we see the culmination of the qualities of each of the four. As a man, He showed wisdom and authority over all nature as God intended for man. As the Lion of Judah, He routed the enemy forces by His word alone. Like a strong ox, He worked hard as a carpenter into adulthood, and then served faithfully from town to town to minister to the people. Finally, He sacrificed Himself as the perfect burnt offering by dying on the cross that our sins might be forgiven. Like an eagle, He had perfect insight and perception into all things, knowing the heart of every man.

For those who serve God, the qualities of the four are important. As a man, it is important to exercise wisdom and knowledge. As a lion, we must exhibit courage and boldness and know we are part of God’s royal family. As an ox, we must work hard in service with strength and faithfulness. As an eagle, we can show insight and grace, perception and poise as we advance God’s kingdom.

Application: Think of the 4 faces, and write down some qualities we see associated with each. Ask God to build that quality in you, and make you stronger, better, braver and wiser.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I thank you for Your perfect example, as perfect Man, as Lion of Judah, as humble Sacrifice and in Your deep insight and wisdom. Let these qualities grow in me O Lord that I might serve you better. In Jesus name, Amen.