Topic: The New Year Message of 2013
Today is Vision Sunday. This is the day where God sets the theme for the church this year.
God works through the local church. The theme God has for the church is for everyone in the church.
The theme does not mean that is the only thing that will happen for us this year. God knows we are focused at only one thing at a time. We don't leave Restful Increase just because we have a new theme this year. In fact it is added on. You look back to see that God works in many ways for the past year.
So what does God has for us this year 2013?
Pastor sought the Lord while patting Justin to bed one afternoon and coincidentally flips to the bible passage, Isaiah 22:23-24, which speaks about "The key of David". In this context found in Revelation, there is one church which God does not rebuke. The seven churches existed during the time of John. The sixth and seventh churches should exist concurrently.
Revelation 3:7-8
Verse 7: "... He who is holy". We can look away from all the filth of this world and look to Jesus who is altogether holy. Holy means you stand out, you have charisma. God wants His people holy, separated from the world.
"... He who is true". How great to know He is always true, unlike the world who works in evil ways. Money is a servant, not a master. Believe in what you are doing. In the world full of pretence, you can know you got someone whom you can rest in.
To one church, God appeared with eyes on fire. It is because the church lacked the eyes of discernment.
"... the key of David...". This is the Philadelphia church which God did not rebuke and Pastor wants NCC to be like.
"He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens". God reveals to us that this year, when God shuts the door to evil, no one can open. When God opens doors of favour, no one shuts it.
Go to Isaiah 22:22, God revealed the verse about the key of David to Pastor. The number "22" is very dear to Pastor because 22Media Pte Ltd is his ministry. In the biblical representation, "22" represents "light".
Back to Revelation 3:7-8
Verse 8: God has set before us an open door, and no one can shut it.
In essence, God is telling us this year is going to be a year of many open doors.
In the end times where there will be a rise of anti-Christ, they are not anti-God but anti-Christ.
This year there will be trials, but at the end of the service, Pastor will pray for the church for promotions, protection and having no trials. There are some things God will protect you from but there are also things He allows you to go through, not just go through, but with victory.
This year He will open doors no one can shut and close doors no one can open. Do not expect a physical door, it's a spiritual door. God will put in the key, open the door to a brand new world for you. It doesn't matter if you lack the certs or smarts, when God opens, no critics can shut it.
Acts 14:27
Verse 27: God had opened the door of faith.
Jesus holds the key with His nail-pierced hands and He will never use it against you.
There was a time where the world is created for men to live in forever. That was God's dream. But Adam and Eve sinned and their sin brought forth sickness, diseases and death. That is why sin became God's greatest enemy. When Jesus came, He went about healing. Satan once had the power of death in Hebrews 2. So who held the power of death now? Look to Revelation 1:16-18. God says He has the keys of Hades and of death in Verse 18. No one can send you to hell. This also means you cannot even lose your salvation. The devil can never call your number anymore. In context, God was telling John this truth.
Pastor then shares about the story of John who was thrown into a pot of boiling oil by the greatest anti-Christ king in the Roman history. He came up of the boiling oil and continued preaching. When the whole city saw that, they all submitted theirs lives to God. It's like God saying to John, "I have the key, I will protect you."
Look at it this way, God has the key to your life. When He opens the door of protection for you, no one can shut it.
This key of Hades is not the key of David. That's a different key and a different message altogether. Jesus is holding the key of David and He will open doors for you. If you lack great faith, ask God to open the door of faith for you.
2 Corinthians 2:12
"... a door was opened to me by the Lord". So who opens the door for you? It is God who opens, not you who opens. We are so dependent on Him. Those who bow their knees to God are the people who stand high above all men with power.
1 Corinthians 16:9
Verse 9: Paul is saying a great and effective door is opened for him. He also mentions about the many adversaries. There are many who are jealous and full of critics. Don't expect yourself not to have any adversary when God opens doors for you this year.
Pastor reveals that he always makes this prayer before he preaches. Look at Colossians 4:3-4.
Verse 3: ".. open onto us a door of utterance..". If our words are anointed with the power of the holy spirit, our words that goes out are blessed. Pastor has prayed this prayer all these years for his ministry to speak life to people. In your career, you can also pray that. God can open the door of utterance to you before an interview or presentation. A few words carry more weight than paragraphs.
God also revealed to Pastor that this year will also be a year of open wombs. Many babies will be born this year.
Genesis 30:22
Verse 22: God remember Rachael, listened to her and opened her womb.
"But Pastor, how can a womb be a door?"
Turn to Job 3:10, "... the doors of my mother's womb." There you have it, it's a spiritual door.
Back to Genesis 30:22, God listened to her. If you want God to use the key, pray and tell God to do it. The fact God listened to her meant that she prayed. Look at Colossians 4:3-4, "Withal praying...". She prayed too.
One of the secret for God to use the key of David is to pray.
Prayer is an expression of grace. It literally means I cannot, only God can. In situations where you are cornered, God will open to you the door of utterance.
If you do not like your children mixing with a bad group of friends, pray to God knowing that you have influence to God. We have influence with God. Don't be surprised there are people who don't pray and only pray when they cannot. When man opens a door, it comes with many conditions. When God opens, it comes with love.
It's a brand new world for you when God opens the door for you.
"But Pastor, you don't understand la, I'm at the age which I can't conceive."
"Hey you don't understand the spirit of Sarah. Sarah became fruitful at the age of 90 and yet a king wanted her".
God does not force His blessings on you. Do you choose to be? If you do, He will open doors for you just by asking.
You will hear more stories about David this year. Today's message is just an introduction of what God will do for us this year.
Let's look at an example of a closed doors in the bible.
Acts 16:6-7
Verse 6: Asia is referring to "Turkey", not present day Asia. "... they were forbidden by the holy spirit to preach the word in Asia". That is a time where God knows it is not time yet.
Verse 7: Holy spirit did not allow them to preach in Mysia too. God know it's not time for the gospel revolution at Mysia yet.
God doesn't guide a parked car. God guides through your desires. If it grows within you, it means it is God's direction for you. If the desire shrinks or faints, it is an indication that it is not for you. Use this gift for major decisions such as which job to take up or which schools to enrol for.
Acts 16:14
Verse 14: "... who worshipped God. The Lord opened her heart...". The governing factor of David's life is worship. Don't put yourself in the place of judge. We do not know God's plans. God will send somebody to spread the gospel to him. God works through mighty ways.
In closing,
Acts 16:23-34
Verse 24: "inner prison" back in those days are the lowest level of the prison where poo comes down from the top. Paul and Silas were in the lowest part of their lives.
Verse 25: "At midnight". Is it a midnight time in your life? Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns to God at their darkest hour and lowest pit in life.
The second secret to the key of David is praise.
Paul and Silas were singing songs of praise to God and even "the prisoners were listening to them". What do you think will happen if you sing praises to God on your way to work? Surely it will do more good than bad.
Verse 26: "Suddenly". Suddenly your situation turns around. Suddenly you were healed. There was a great earthquake, the doors opened and all chains broke loose. What kind of chains are holding you now? If there is, seek God to open the door of liberty for you.
Verse 27: What man shuts, Jesus can open.
Verse 28: When God's grace is on you, you give love to other people. Just like Paul telling the guard not to kill himself. Isn't that great. This is the grace of God.
Verse 32: People still need to hear the word.
Verse 33: Baptism doesn't just save you. It cause your addictions to die off. If you are a believer for some time, it's good to be baptised. You will be surprised how a changed person you become.
Verse 34: You and your household will rejoice. This is what will happen to you and your household in 2013.
The world says not to raise your hopes. Jesus says raise up all your hopes because all your hopes will come true in 2013.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Sunday, December 16, 2012
16 December 2012
Topic: Forgiven Once and For All
Today marks the last live service in the Rock auditorium. Video showcasing how the church has grown from year 1999 to 2012. It was a touching moment.
Pastor highlighted the defining moment in 2003 where SARS broke out. One of the Sundays in year 2002, the Lord arrested Pastor to have him preach on Psalm 91 for God's complete protection.
In year 2000, during one of the midweek services, the chimes started playing by itself. That happened after Pastor preached the verse from Acts 13:35.
Jessica was born in 1998 and we moved in to Rock. This year Justin was born and we are moving in to the Star.
Jesus revealed to Pastor yesterday that He is bringing us from the earthly realm - The Rock to the heavenly places - The Star.
Matthew 1:1-16
Why are there 4 gospels? It takes 4 gospels to reveal Jesus to us in many ways.
Matthew gospel portrays Jesus as King of Israel. It's primarily for the Jews.
Luke gospel portrays Jesus as fully man.
Mark gospel portrays Jesus as the tireless labourer. It's all about Jesus working. Even the last verse tells us that.
John gospel has no genealogy. The gospel portrays Jesus as God. It talks about Jesus becoming flesh for us.
The very first name in the first and last verse in the bible is Jesus.
In Matthew,
Verse 1-15: Talks about all the genealogy.
Verse 16: It did not say "Joseph begot Jesus". It says "of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ". Here is the kingly title. Christ here is the anointed one.
Verse 17: "So all the generations...". Notice we have 3 sets of 14 generations written in this verse. It has significance and is the link to heaven. Notice the first set has "all", but from the rest, you don't find the word "all". During the Abraham generation, all names are mentioned. For David generation, some names are purposely left out. Those left out are those people who were cursed. They were the evil kings.What does this show? The scripture is so accurate.
This genealogy is an archive of names of the kingly line.
Israel was called upon because they were few in numbers, not because they were great in numbers. We magnify God's grace through Israel.
In A.D 70, all archive records were all destroyed in a fire. But today, the records are found in the world's best selling book - the bible.
Matthews line goes all the way to Joseph. Luke goes all the way to Mary. Both converge to King David. King David's other son brought forth Mary. King Solomon's son brought forth Joseph. So now, God has 2 lines in the genealogy. Pastor shares that tax collectors in the bible were worst than prostitutes; they were the greatest sinners. Despite that, God chose Matthew who was a tax collector to start the New Testament. Look at Matthew 9:9-12 for the story of Matthew.
Matthew 9:9-12
Grace is what God is to you. Law is what you are to God. When you are eye conscious, you are reasoning earthly works.
Law is what you are to God. Grace is what God is towards you.
He has revealed Himself as a saviour.
When God brought Israel out, it was what God is to Israel. As long as they depended on Him, even though they murmured, time and time again, God still showed grace to them. They were not under law at that time yet. It is a question of what you want to be before God. Back then, Israel wanted to score points based on their own efforts. That was when the law was introduced.
Jesus stepped into Matthew's life, knowing so well who he is. Matthew just followed Him. This reasoning is how to be under grace. If he reasoned and questioned his own self, he will not be under grace.
Peter's response to God was to ask Him to depart away from him because he felt he was a sinful man. That was Peter's reasoning.
Verse 10: Jesus sat down with many tax collectors. This Jesus called the greatest sinner. If we preach the gospel of grace, sinners will come to Him. If we preach religion, people will be focused on their own efforts.
Verse 11: The Pharisees spoke indirectly and questioned Jesus when they saw Him sitting with the sinners.
Verse 12: What Jesus is saying, your diseases qualify you for healing.
Back to 3 sets of 14, they all add up to 42. Each number has a significance. It represents "rest after trial".
The people who wandered in the wilderness, do you know how many stations they stopped by to rest? 42.
In the book of Revelation, 42 months (3.5 months) were the duration of the great tribulation.
Matthew 1:16
Verse 16: Sinful life is in the blood according to Leviticus. Jesus cannot receive sinful blood. So that's why Joseph was the husband of Mary and not involved in this verse. Woman's ovum cannot produce a baby. Only when the sperm meets, a foetus is formed. The woman's placenta does not bring the blood to the baby. It only brings all the good nutrients to the baby. All the baby's waste are transferred back. In other words, Mary was a virgin. All the blood of Jesus came from God who later on will be the sacrifice for all mankind.
Matthew 10:2-4
Verse 3: Notice how Matthew introduced himself. He called himself "Matthew the tax collector". He is not ashamed to show his past to everyone. He loves to glorify Jesus. If we have a testimony of our past, we should magnify God and never be afraid to do so.
1 John 1:9 says if we confess our sins, Jesus forgives us. If you say this verse is for the sinners, then there is a problem. Pastor comes against this verse and reiterates that this is a salvation verse for non-believers. If we believers have to do so by confessing our sins, we will never be in rest. Matthew can be open with his sins because he knows he is already forgiven.
People tend to fight back whenever others point out their weaknesses. They don't understand grace. Actually when they point out to you, they just want you to know. They still love you. People just don't have this assurance. Our defensiveness shows our lack of understanding of grace. Honestly, your friends still love you despite your weakness.
Supposedly you are a businessman and you are in serious big debt. You let your accountant see and handle your bookkeeping but you dare not see the debt yourself. One day, your old school friend found you and now he is a billionaire. He tells your accountant to hand him the bookkeeping book and pays off your debt, in return deposits 5 million to your bank account. Now your ledger is cleared and if you were to look at the ledger for the first time, you will see how much your debt has been cleared. You finally realise the truth and it makes you even more grateful to your saviour isn't it.
Pastor shares that he is not perfect. He shares that he was with Jessica on the road and suddenly someone cuts in his lane. You can say "Pastor, how come all your examples are related to cars?" He reveals that this is because this is something he gets rather easily agitated. At that moment, he actually wanted to give chase til he was reminded he was already forgiven.
Many of times we like to point to other's fault. We hardly apologise and acknowledge our own fault because we are afraid to look at the "ledger". If you are not sure you are forgiven, you always feel you have a right to be angry. It's wonderful to know you are forgiven.
Pastor feels that Matthew must have had tears in his eyes when he wrote the genealogy. Why? It is because he did not mention Sarah and Rebbecca. He mentioned only the other 4 women.
First, it was Ruth, who was a righteousness woman. The other 3 were involved in sexual scenes, Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba. In essence, Matthew was magnifying God's grace.
Pastor shares the story of Tamar to show what previous background she had. Refer to Genesis 38 for the story of Judah and Tamar.
Genesis 37:36 was the story of Joseph. The last we saw him was him being sold as a slave. Then the story ends here and went with the story of Judah. Why? Jesus came from the tribe of Judah. Many Israeli still wonder why this story is here right after the story of Joseph.
Genesis 38: 1
Judah mixed with non-Gentiles, Shuwa Back then, they mixed with the people who are known for wealth. Because of time, you can study this on your own.
Back to Matthew 1:1-6
Verse 5: Rahab was the prostitute. She wore the red robe which is a picture of trusting in the blood of Jesus. And Rahab was mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus.
Verse 4: Nahshon was a hero and his son Salmon married Rahab.
Verse 5: Salmon married Rahab and brought forth Boaz. What Jesus says here is that He does not care about your past. Boaz is like a half breed isn't it. Half Gentile. Out of the 4 ladies, 2 are Gentiles and 2 are non-Gentiles.
Ruth placed her trust in God and went to Moab.
Verse 6: "... wife of Uriah." Why is it wife of Uriah here? It is to magnify God. God is saying to us He does not care about your past. It doesn't mean you have forfeited your blessings. God always places you in a better place as long as you put your trust in Him.
In closing,
Know that your sins are forgiven, you don't have to be defensive. You don't have to act like you didn't do it and be defensive all the time. If you do that, you are not a recipient of God's grace. We don't have to step into His presence because He first stepped into our presence. God didn't wait for man to invite Him. God cared and sent His son, knowing well His son will suffer for us. Jesus paid the price to give us heaven's best. There is a price; it's not free. He came knowing He will suffer.
Love has a degree of suffering involved. Jesus suffering began when He was born. He chose where to be born but yet He chose the manger. Mary didn't have domestic helper and He was born poor. The offering Mary brought was a pair of pigeons was an indication they were poor.
What a wonderful saviour we have. Even though He is high and lifted up, He knows to come to us to lift us up. He just says to us "Let me heal you. Let me be there for you. Allow me to love you".
Once you know you have been forgiven, you can look at your ledger and laugh about it. Trust Him and live life to the fullest. In Him, there is no condemnation.
Today marks the last live service in the Rock auditorium. Video showcasing how the church has grown from year 1999 to 2012. It was a touching moment.
Pastor highlighted the defining moment in 2003 where SARS broke out. One of the Sundays in year 2002, the Lord arrested Pastor to have him preach on Psalm 91 for God's complete protection.
In year 2000, during one of the midweek services, the chimes started playing by itself. That happened after Pastor preached the verse from Acts 13:35.
Jessica was born in 1998 and we moved in to Rock. This year Justin was born and we are moving in to the Star.
Jesus revealed to Pastor yesterday that He is bringing us from the earthly realm - The Rock to the heavenly places - The Star.
Matthew 1:1-16
Why are there 4 gospels? It takes 4 gospels to reveal Jesus to us in many ways.
Matthew gospel portrays Jesus as King of Israel. It's primarily for the Jews.
Luke gospel portrays Jesus as fully man.
Mark gospel portrays Jesus as the tireless labourer. It's all about Jesus working. Even the last verse tells us that.
John gospel has no genealogy. The gospel portrays Jesus as God. It talks about Jesus becoming flesh for us.
The very first name in the first and last verse in the bible is Jesus.
In Matthew,
Verse 1-15: Talks about all the genealogy.
Verse 16: It did not say "Joseph begot Jesus". It says "of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ". Here is the kingly title. Christ here is the anointed one.
Verse 17: "So all the generations...". Notice we have 3 sets of 14 generations written in this verse. It has significance and is the link to heaven. Notice the first set has "all", but from the rest, you don't find the word "all". During the Abraham generation, all names are mentioned. For David generation, some names are purposely left out. Those left out are those people who were cursed. They were the evil kings.What does this show? The scripture is so accurate.
This genealogy is an archive of names of the kingly line.
Israel was called upon because they were few in numbers, not because they were great in numbers. We magnify God's grace through Israel.
In A.D 70, all archive records were all destroyed in a fire. But today, the records are found in the world's best selling book - the bible.
Matthews line goes all the way to Joseph. Luke goes all the way to Mary. Both converge to King David. King David's other son brought forth Mary. King Solomon's son brought forth Joseph. So now, God has 2 lines in the genealogy. Pastor shares that tax collectors in the bible were worst than prostitutes; they were the greatest sinners. Despite that, God chose Matthew who was a tax collector to start the New Testament. Look at Matthew 9:9-12 for the story of Matthew.
Matthew 9:9-12
Grace is what God is to you. Law is what you are to God. When you are eye conscious, you are reasoning earthly works.
Law is what you are to God. Grace is what God is towards you.
He has revealed Himself as a saviour.
When God brought Israel out, it was what God is to Israel. As long as they depended on Him, even though they murmured, time and time again, God still showed grace to them. They were not under law at that time yet. It is a question of what you want to be before God. Back then, Israel wanted to score points based on their own efforts. That was when the law was introduced.
Jesus stepped into Matthew's life, knowing so well who he is. Matthew just followed Him. This reasoning is how to be under grace. If he reasoned and questioned his own self, he will not be under grace.
Peter's response to God was to ask Him to depart away from him because he felt he was a sinful man. That was Peter's reasoning.
Verse 10: Jesus sat down with many tax collectors. This Jesus called the greatest sinner. If we preach the gospel of grace, sinners will come to Him. If we preach religion, people will be focused on their own efforts.
Verse 11: The Pharisees spoke indirectly and questioned Jesus when they saw Him sitting with the sinners.
Verse 12: What Jesus is saying, your diseases qualify you for healing.
Back to 3 sets of 14, they all add up to 42. Each number has a significance. It represents "rest after trial".
The people who wandered in the wilderness, do you know how many stations they stopped by to rest? 42.
In the book of Revelation, 42 months (3.5 months) were the duration of the great tribulation.
Matthew 1:16
Verse 16: Sinful life is in the blood according to Leviticus. Jesus cannot receive sinful blood. So that's why Joseph was the husband of Mary and not involved in this verse. Woman's ovum cannot produce a baby. Only when the sperm meets, a foetus is formed. The woman's placenta does not bring the blood to the baby. It only brings all the good nutrients to the baby. All the baby's waste are transferred back. In other words, Mary was a virgin. All the blood of Jesus came from God who later on will be the sacrifice for all mankind.
Matthew 10:2-4
Verse 3: Notice how Matthew introduced himself. He called himself "Matthew the tax collector". He is not ashamed to show his past to everyone. He loves to glorify Jesus. If we have a testimony of our past, we should magnify God and never be afraid to do so.
1 John 1:9 says if we confess our sins, Jesus forgives us. If you say this verse is for the sinners, then there is a problem. Pastor comes against this verse and reiterates that this is a salvation verse for non-believers. If we believers have to do so by confessing our sins, we will never be in rest. Matthew can be open with his sins because he knows he is already forgiven.
People tend to fight back whenever others point out their weaknesses. They don't understand grace. Actually when they point out to you, they just want you to know. They still love you. People just don't have this assurance. Our defensiveness shows our lack of understanding of grace. Honestly, your friends still love you despite your weakness.
Supposedly you are a businessman and you are in serious big debt. You let your accountant see and handle your bookkeeping but you dare not see the debt yourself. One day, your old school friend found you and now he is a billionaire. He tells your accountant to hand him the bookkeeping book and pays off your debt, in return deposits 5 million to your bank account. Now your ledger is cleared and if you were to look at the ledger for the first time, you will see how much your debt has been cleared. You finally realise the truth and it makes you even more grateful to your saviour isn't it.
Pastor shares that he is not perfect. He shares that he was with Jessica on the road and suddenly someone cuts in his lane. You can say "Pastor, how come all your examples are related to cars?" He reveals that this is because this is something he gets rather easily agitated. At that moment, he actually wanted to give chase til he was reminded he was already forgiven.
Many of times we like to point to other's fault. We hardly apologise and acknowledge our own fault because we are afraid to look at the "ledger". If you are not sure you are forgiven, you always feel you have a right to be angry. It's wonderful to know you are forgiven.
Pastor feels that Matthew must have had tears in his eyes when he wrote the genealogy. Why? It is because he did not mention Sarah and Rebbecca. He mentioned only the other 4 women.
First, it was Ruth, who was a righteousness woman. The other 3 were involved in sexual scenes, Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba. In essence, Matthew was magnifying God's grace.
Pastor shares the story of Tamar to show what previous background she had. Refer to Genesis 38 for the story of Judah and Tamar.
Genesis 37:36 was the story of Joseph. The last we saw him was him being sold as a slave. Then the story ends here and went with the story of Judah. Why? Jesus came from the tribe of Judah. Many Israeli still wonder why this story is here right after the story of Joseph.
Genesis 38: 1
Judah mixed with non-Gentiles, Shuwa Back then, they mixed with the people who are known for wealth. Because of time, you can study this on your own.
Back to Matthew 1:1-6
Verse 5: Rahab was the prostitute. She wore the red robe which is a picture of trusting in the blood of Jesus. And Rahab was mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus.
Verse 4: Nahshon was a hero and his son Salmon married Rahab.
Verse 5: Salmon married Rahab and brought forth Boaz. What Jesus says here is that He does not care about your past. Boaz is like a half breed isn't it. Half Gentile. Out of the 4 ladies, 2 are Gentiles and 2 are non-Gentiles.
Ruth placed her trust in God and went to Moab.
Verse 6: "... wife of Uriah." Why is it wife of Uriah here? It is to magnify God. God is saying to us He does not care about your past. It doesn't mean you have forfeited your blessings. God always places you in a better place as long as you put your trust in Him.
In closing,
Know that your sins are forgiven, you don't have to be defensive. You don't have to act like you didn't do it and be defensive all the time. If you do that, you are not a recipient of God's grace. We don't have to step into His presence because He first stepped into our presence. God didn't wait for man to invite Him. God cared and sent His son, knowing well His son will suffer for us. Jesus paid the price to give us heaven's best. There is a price; it's not free. He came knowing He will suffer.
Love has a degree of suffering involved. Jesus suffering began when He was born. He chose where to be born but yet He chose the manger. Mary didn't have domestic helper and He was born poor. The offering Mary brought was a pair of pigeons was an indication they were poor.
What a wonderful saviour we have. Even though He is high and lifted up, He knows to come to us to lift us up. He just says to us "Let me heal you. Let me be there for you. Allow me to love you".
Once you know you have been forgiven, you can look at your ledger and laugh about it. Trust Him and live life to the fullest. In Him, there is no condemnation.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
9 December 2012
Topic: The Secret to Prayers
Pastor is going to share today about praying before the trial happens. Jesus taught us in the bible and said, "Pray that you enter not into temptations and testings (referring to trials)".
It is possible not to walk into temptations. He tells us the best thing we can do is to pray to not enter into temptations.
Pastor leads us to pray a prayer of protecting us from temptations for the coming week, and from the evil one.
Pastor was reminded of the old sermon in 2004 titled "Just a groan will reach the throne" after Pastor Mark asked an interesting question. He asked how come Jesus allowed the children of Israel to be under the bondage even though they were under grace?
If the shadow of the lamb can heal everyone and not feeble, how much more we today have the substance of the broken body of Christ to be fully healed!
So back to the question of Pastor Mark. Before that, Pastor shares that the part within us that is fallen. That is the flesh but that is not you. The flesh makes you irritated or moody. But as much as a splinter is in your flesh, it does that make you a wood. When we believers fall asleep, we step out of our body and Jesus clothes us with the same just like how He rose up. The Lord is returning and we know the end is near. Jesus said the waves and seas will roar, great earthquakes will happen. When you see these happen, the end is near. We just need to lift our heads and Jesus is coming.
So back to that question. There is something mystical about the flesh that rules your heart. For example, people show a front that they can handle it with words like "so far so good". God always wants man to depend on Him. The greatest blessing you have is when you depend on God. The flesh says you can handle it. Many people with innocent intentions at first always end up listening to the flesh. You may think that it's fine to send the lady home. But who knows what happens 10 minutes later. Pastor says he has no self confidence at all. He only has Christ-confidence. One is the power of the spirit and the other is the power of the flesh. Which one do you want. There is always a strong anointing on you when you depend on God.
Joseph had favor with Pharaoh. He gave the the land of Goshen to him. In this land, there was light. You may not even know you are shining but the world sees the light in your land.
Exodus 2:23-25
Verse 23: God heard their groaning.
Verse 24: God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Jacob and Isaac.
Verse 25: God looked upon the children of Israel and God acknowledged them.
There is just something about the covenant. Man makes contracts because man don't trust each other. With a contract, no one can change their minds.
With God, He made covenant not for His sake. God makes a covenant so that you will have an assurance and know He will not change His mind forever. We are no more under the covenant of Sinai. We know that God will remember our sins no more because God in His holiness has remembered our sins on the cross. God has already imputed all our sins on Jesus. He took our place, used His blood to wash away all our sins. If there was one speck on sin on Jesus, He would not raise His son from the dead. What does it mean? Your sins have been washed away. Jesus gave us this grace. God meant He will not remember your sins to punish your children. We are under the covenant of grace. In the new covenant, He gives us all the unconditional conditions. We just have to believe. It's all based on Christ.
Back to Exodus 2, that groaning is not a groan to God. It was never in the bible that the children of Israel groaned to God. The people cried out, notice they cried out because of the bondage. They didn't cry out to God.
God says to forgive, if cannot forget, just forgive. Many of times the pain is gone when you forgive.
Fast forward the story:
When the children of Israel came out to river Jordan and to the promised land, Joshua was their new leader.
Joshua 24:14-15
Verse 14: Joshua told the people to serve the Lord. Notice here that they were all worshiping other Gods. Look here, even though they did that, God still remembered His covenant and acknowledged them! Just look at the heart of our God.
Verse 15: Joshua says for he and his house, he will serve the Lord.
Don't think for one moment that when someone criticizes you, God can make your past never to haunt you. He can even make people easy to forget what they criticized.
God is so good that even your cry, will cause Him to activate/execute His covenant for you.
God allows what man allows. It does not mean that it is God's will. If the pastor decides to teach on law and the people believes, God still allows. It is never God's will. But He will hold the pastor accountable. If you believe God allows disease to be on you to punish you, then disease comes. Just like the children of Israel who rejected God, He still allows.
Romans 8:26-27
Verse 26: "The Spirit also helps in our weaknesses". This weakness refers to physical too. Don't just take it as it is for the mind.
There is a purpose for Jesus going through the whipping and lashing by the roman soldiers. It is because where there are wounds, there is healing. Why did He do that. It is because by His strips, we are healed. Jesus says, if we do not discern His body, we become sick, weakly and die before our time. Likewise if we discern His body and know His body brings us healing, we become strong.
Joke:
Ladies, if you want to have a good argument, marry a lawyer. But if you want man to appreciate you when you get older, marry an archaeologist.
Back to Verse 26:
"Groaning" means stenagmos in greek which means "cannot be uttered" (love secrets). That word "groaning" means words that cannot be uttered in a language. Is the groaning of the children of Israel the same as stenagmos? If it was, then it is a perfect match. But no because the Old Testament is in Hebrews. Now refer to Acts next.
Acts 7:3
Verse 34: It says that "I heard that groaning (stenagmos) and have come down to deliver them".
In essence, it is referring to speaking/praying in tongues. So when you pray in tongues, you become worry free. You don't have to run to Pastor Henry or any pastors to ask them to pray for you. You just need to let loose and pray in tongues, Jesus will perfect your prayer.
Acts 2:1-4
Verse 4: It says they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues and the Spirit gave them utterance. This word "utterance" in greek means apophthheggomai - to speak out a language not in everyday life. All you need to do is to speak in tongues.
Back to Acts 2,
Verse 1: The Day of Pentecost came and it was 9 o'clock in the morning.
Acts 2:11
Verse 11: They heard them speaking in their own tongues the wonderful works of God.
Under grace, no one talked about the law. If you talk about the good works of God, we just get happy. Forget our own doings, remember His doings.
Solomon's problem was his flesh. Everything was about what he did. Solomon says "I built this and that...". "I" shall never be the center of you life. The flesh revolves around the "I".
Whenever you pray in tongues, you are actually making intercessions of our behalf. Aren't you glad you may be praying for an urgent need which you are not even aware and yet able to concentrate on what you are doing presently? No wonder the devil is fighting so hard to take away this gift from God.
Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 14:18, I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all. He actually gathered all Corinthians and told them he spoke in tongues more than all of them added up in numbers.
He must have spoke in tongues in the morning, afternoon and nights. He must have prayed in tongues all day long.
John G. Lake says speaking of the tongues is the making of his ministry.
Acts 2:25-27
Verse 25: Peter is quoting Psalms. Sin is defined as forfeiting God's glory according to Romans 3:23. In Isaiah 43:7, God says He made you for His glory.
Verse 26: "Therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue is glad". Look to Psalms 16:8-9, it says my heart is glad, my glory rejoices.
Look in detail here, Peter says "my tongue was glad" while Psalms says "my glory rejoices". We have found the answer. The key is back in your tongue.
In closing,
Proud people will never pray in tongues. Man always wants God to prove to man. Man is subject to failure but yet we trust man.
God being perfect, how much more we can trust in Him with our worries and concern, for Him to bring us back home to safety.
Pastor is going to share today about praying before the trial happens. Jesus taught us in the bible and said, "Pray that you enter not into temptations and testings (referring to trials)".
It is possible not to walk into temptations. He tells us the best thing we can do is to pray to not enter into temptations.
Pastor leads us to pray a prayer of protecting us from temptations for the coming week, and from the evil one.
Pastor was reminded of the old sermon in 2004 titled "Just a groan will reach the throne" after Pastor Mark asked an interesting question. He asked how come Jesus allowed the children of Israel to be under the bondage even though they were under grace?
If the shadow of the lamb can heal everyone and not feeble, how much more we today have the substance of the broken body of Christ to be fully healed!
So back to the question of Pastor Mark. Before that, Pastor shares that the part within us that is fallen. That is the flesh but that is not you. The flesh makes you irritated or moody. But as much as a splinter is in your flesh, it does that make you a wood. When we believers fall asleep, we step out of our body and Jesus clothes us with the same just like how He rose up. The Lord is returning and we know the end is near. Jesus said the waves and seas will roar, great earthquakes will happen. When you see these happen, the end is near. We just need to lift our heads and Jesus is coming.
So back to that question. There is something mystical about the flesh that rules your heart. For example, people show a front that they can handle it with words like "so far so good". God always wants man to depend on Him. The greatest blessing you have is when you depend on God. The flesh says you can handle it. Many people with innocent intentions at first always end up listening to the flesh. You may think that it's fine to send the lady home. But who knows what happens 10 minutes later. Pastor says he has no self confidence at all. He only has Christ-confidence. One is the power of the spirit and the other is the power of the flesh. Which one do you want. There is always a strong anointing on you when you depend on God.
Joseph had favor with Pharaoh. He gave the the land of Goshen to him. In this land, there was light. You may not even know you are shining but the world sees the light in your land.
Exodus 2:23-25
Verse 23: God heard their groaning.
Verse 24: God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Jacob and Isaac.
Verse 25: God looked upon the children of Israel and God acknowledged them.
There is just something about the covenant. Man makes contracts because man don't trust each other. With a contract, no one can change their minds.
With God, He made covenant not for His sake. God makes a covenant so that you will have an assurance and know He will not change His mind forever. We are no more under the covenant of Sinai. We know that God will remember our sins no more because God in His holiness has remembered our sins on the cross. God has already imputed all our sins on Jesus. He took our place, used His blood to wash away all our sins. If there was one speck on sin on Jesus, He would not raise His son from the dead. What does it mean? Your sins have been washed away. Jesus gave us this grace. God meant He will not remember your sins to punish your children. We are under the covenant of grace. In the new covenant, He gives us all the unconditional conditions. We just have to believe. It's all based on Christ.
Back to Exodus 2, that groaning is not a groan to God. It was never in the bible that the children of Israel groaned to God. The people cried out, notice they cried out because of the bondage. They didn't cry out to God.
God says to forgive, if cannot forget, just forgive. Many of times the pain is gone when you forgive.
Fast forward the story:
When the children of Israel came out to river Jordan and to the promised land, Joshua was their new leader.
Joshua 24:14-15
Verse 14: Joshua told the people to serve the Lord. Notice here that they were all worshiping other Gods. Look here, even though they did that, God still remembered His covenant and acknowledged them! Just look at the heart of our God.
Verse 15: Joshua says for he and his house, he will serve the Lord.
Don't think for one moment that when someone criticizes you, God can make your past never to haunt you. He can even make people easy to forget what they criticized.
God is so good that even your cry, will cause Him to activate/execute His covenant for you.
God allows what man allows. It does not mean that it is God's will. If the pastor decides to teach on law and the people believes, God still allows. It is never God's will. But He will hold the pastor accountable. If you believe God allows disease to be on you to punish you, then disease comes. Just like the children of Israel who rejected God, He still allows.
Romans 8:26-27
Verse 26: "The Spirit also helps in our weaknesses". This weakness refers to physical too. Don't just take it as it is for the mind.
There is a purpose for Jesus going through the whipping and lashing by the roman soldiers. It is because where there are wounds, there is healing. Why did He do that. It is because by His strips, we are healed. Jesus says, if we do not discern His body, we become sick, weakly and die before our time. Likewise if we discern His body and know His body brings us healing, we become strong.
Joke:
Ladies, if you want to have a good argument, marry a lawyer. But if you want man to appreciate you when you get older, marry an archaeologist.
Back to Verse 26:
"Groaning" means stenagmos in greek which means "cannot be uttered" (love secrets). That word "groaning" means words that cannot be uttered in a language. Is the groaning of the children of Israel the same as stenagmos? If it was, then it is a perfect match. But no because the Old Testament is in Hebrews. Now refer to Acts next.
Acts 7:3
Verse 34: It says that "I heard that groaning (stenagmos) and have come down to deliver them".
In essence, it is referring to speaking/praying in tongues. So when you pray in tongues, you become worry free. You don't have to run to Pastor Henry or any pastors to ask them to pray for you. You just need to let loose and pray in tongues, Jesus will perfect your prayer.
Acts 2:1-4
Verse 4: It says they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues and the Spirit gave them utterance. This word "utterance" in greek means apophthheggomai - to speak out a language not in everyday life. All you need to do is to speak in tongues.
Back to Acts 2,
Verse 1: The Day of Pentecost came and it was 9 o'clock in the morning.
Acts 2:11
Verse 11: They heard them speaking in their own tongues the wonderful works of God.
Under grace, no one talked about the law. If you talk about the good works of God, we just get happy. Forget our own doings, remember His doings.
Solomon's problem was his flesh. Everything was about what he did. Solomon says "I built this and that...". "I" shall never be the center of you life. The flesh revolves around the "I".
Whenever you pray in tongues, you are actually making intercessions of our behalf. Aren't you glad you may be praying for an urgent need which you are not even aware and yet able to concentrate on what you are doing presently? No wonder the devil is fighting so hard to take away this gift from God.
Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 14:18, I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all. He actually gathered all Corinthians and told them he spoke in tongues more than all of them added up in numbers.
He must have spoke in tongues in the morning, afternoon and nights. He must have prayed in tongues all day long.
John G. Lake says speaking of the tongues is the making of his ministry.
Acts 2:25-27
Verse 25: Peter is quoting Psalms. Sin is defined as forfeiting God's glory according to Romans 3:23. In Isaiah 43:7, God says He made you for His glory.
Verse 26: "Therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue is glad". Look to Psalms 16:8-9, it says my heart is glad, my glory rejoices.
Look in detail here, Peter says "my tongue was glad" while Psalms says "my glory rejoices". We have found the answer. The key is back in your tongue.
In closing,
Proud people will never pray in tongues. Man always wants God to prove to man. Man is subject to failure but yet we trust man.
God being perfect, how much more we can trust in Him with our worries and concern, for Him to bring us back home to safety.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
2 December 2012
Topic: The Light of Christ In Your Life
A testimony of a woman of 44 years old who had her first menses. She recalled and thought that it was the prayer she made when she was in the elementary school not to have menses. However, the doubt was cleared after knowing God's will for mankind.
Pastor pointed out to the testimony saying that it is never God's will for mankind to suffer. It is the evil forces that took advantages of such.
John 1:1-12
Verse 1: So in the beginning there was the word. The word "trinity" is not in the bible. However, in the bible it showed the Father speaking, the Holy Spirit coming and the birth of Jesus.
Verse 3: All things were made by God. Scientists cannot understand why atoms are held together. We know in the word that Jesus holds everything about you. Disease is the manifestation of dis-ease. When Christ came, He held you together so that disease has no power over you. Jesus is the super glue in your marriage. If it is really problematic, give up and let God. Not referring to divorce here.
Verse 4: In Christ there is zoey life. Jesus revealed to Pastor a pyramid during his younger days. The top layer was vegetable life; the lowest form of life. Food does die, you understand that they do have a life. The next layer was insect life, followed by animal life and at the base, it was human life. When you are born again, you have eternal life. You do not rely on the other parts of the pyramid. Believers do not become an insect after they die. Man can never cease to exist. God breathe into man and so man never dies. Only the body turns to ashes and so there must be a place to store the spirit. Salvation is not progressive. It is instant and the effects are eternal. You are a spirit and it came from God. Your body is a house, not part of you. When a believer sleeps, he steps out of the body and he lives forever in heaven. He has a bodily body which can touch and feel Jesus. Those countries where the gospel has not come, they are still under the darkness. Look at Bach or Mozart. They all believe music is from God. That is why when you listen to their music, you become intelligent. If you need light in your business, Jesus can be your light. You can have knowledge but have no light. One who has the light, knows more than a theologian. The first time God spoke was when He brought forth light. In greek, His name (Yah) was the first character He spoke as He called forth light. That is not referring to His son as Jesus was mentioned in the fourth day. The bible calls our bible the glorious gospel. The devil has blinded the minds of people from the glorious light of the gospel. For example, you can think that by smoking, you can still live long. Somewhere along the way, you can have that belief. When you belief that, the devil has blinded you from the glorious truth. The bible defines God as love and light in 1 John.
Pastor shares a story of Jesus which is not recorded in the bible. You may choose to take it or throw it away. We call it biblical truths.
Jesus walked past a well and saw a dog in it. The people around the well spoke nothing good about the dog and when they saw Jesus, they all kept quiet to see how Jesus would react. Jesus looked at the dog and spoke, "Pearls are not as white as the teeth of the dog". Our God only sees our good.
When one is in darkness, he would not want to be in the light because they think it's too painful. They do not want the light to expose their uglyness. No, Jesus see your perfection in Jesus. God does not judge you by looking at you. As He is, so are you in this world.
Pastor joked that that was just the introduction to today's sermon.
Exodus 10:22-23 (Story of the plague of darkness)
Verse 22: This darkness here is not referring to natural darkness. It is judicial darkness. If it was natural darkness, the Egyptians would have used candles or lamps to light up and avail themselves of it. It was a punishment from God.
Verse 23: If the darkness is not natural, then this light this verse is talking about has to be supernatural light.
Some of you may have a dark belief. Let the light shine into your belief. You don't curse darkness like no tomorrow. Follow God's system. How? Turn on the light!
Back to John 1:1-12
Verse 6: There is a ministry called John in the second coming. John was not the light. The light that came gave men inspirations, life, ideas and prosperity. If people comes to you and ask if you believe in prosperity, say yes. Even the government believes in that. Prosperity is a servant, it is not being materialistic. Prosperity is a danger when it becomes a master. Ask God to give you light in every situation. Some people says they see it when others talk. What does it mean? It means they understood. Keep coming to church to see God's truth. God's light shines into your belief each time you come to Him.
In ancient Israel, there are 3 kinds of light:
In the Tabernacle: Our lives surround the church. In the bible, it says that each tribe faced the tabernacle. In the natural, it looked like a dangerous position isn't it. That's man's logic. But God says He will take care of your back. Each flag/banner represented different tribes. As long as they all faced and lifted up Jesus, Jesus takes care of their back.
Pastor shows a video: First, in the open, the tribes then followed by the priests killing the lambs (to cover their sins). The light outside here is sunlight- natural light. Next, the video continued to go into the tabernacle. In there there are candlesticks - referring to the 7 churches in Revelation. Each one signifies a local church. The light inside here is the light of the church.
Read Leviticus 24:1-3
Verse 3: Aaron is a picture of Jesus Christ, who takes care of the candlesticks. When your light goes out, Jesus does not say to you that your light is not as bright as Pastor Henry's or will He ever reject you. In ancient days, it is the priest who tends the candlesticks. He will pull up the wick to stop it from burning out. (Usually the light starts to go out the moment it starts to submerge into the oil) Jesus will not crush a bruised wick. When you have lost your song and lost your song of tune, He will not throw you away. He has a strong and big army for you to rely on. He comes and sit beside you and walks with you. He will walk with you through the darkest valley. Aren't you glad the church is the light. Your part is to declare, preach and share the light. He will explain for you on your behalf.
Many of times, you will only understand only after you accept Christ. Don't be like the world who says you need to understand first. Just like there are many who do not understand how the air-con works but yet they enjoy and utilise the capabilities of the air-con.
Jesus said in Ephesians 2.
Look to Revelation 2:1-2.
Verse 1: Angels refer to messenger. It can be representative, not necessarily a reference to God's angels. Whatever doctrine that comes in to the church, the Pastor is responsible. Jesus will only remove the candlestick if the doctrine is harmful. The seven stars represent the seven pastors. A beautiful revelation here of Jesus holding them.
Verse 2: Whenever the church meets, Jesus is there. He is never outside. Works, labour and patience is mentioned by Jesus to the pastors. Works in the natural are activities done by the church. Refer to 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 to look at how works of faith, labour of hope and patience of love mentioned.
Back to Revelations 2:2, the Ephesus church lost the 3 fruits, faith, hope and love.
To lead a successful life, you need to have faith, hope and love. It makes people want to surround you. Make sure your endurance is of expectation of good.
Numbers 8:1-3
Verse 1: Aaron is the high priest. Jesus takes care of the candles during the darkest hour. What does it mean, when you are in your darkest hour, Jesus lifts you up. He will not quench your smoking flags. When the candle starts to smoke, it means it is about to burn out. He takes you and removes the burnt parts in your darkest times. For the candle stand, the lights must all point to the center light. It means to glorify Jesus Christ. Jesus is the center stick. If you want to have a successful marriage, put Jesus in the center. Don't put your husband in the center because he does not make a good god. Don't let your happiness be in the mere mortal who breathes through his nostrils. Never let a new addition like your baby be the center of your life.
Acts 3:11-13
Verse 11: A man who was lame in the womb healed.
Verse 12: Peter asked why looked at us in awe or marvelled at us when the man was healed?
Verse 13: Peter pointed to God being the healer. What he was doing was to point to the center of the candle stand. Some of you come to church to find out how to become rich or to drive a ferarri. That's shining the light on yourself. God does not care what tin with wheels you are driving on. He has chariots with fire in heaven.
1 Thessalonians 5:8
Verse 8: Why is it Christians these days are losing hope? Read on to know that you need to have hope. Bible hope is the confident expectation of good in your future. Salivation is health and wholeness in every area.
1 Timothy 1:12-14
Verse 14: Faith and love in Christ Jesus. Who wants faith and hope in Christ Jesus? In KJV, it shows faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. In other translation, it says faith and love which are (singular verb) in Christ Jesus. That "are" is a singular verb. So where do you find faith and love? In Christ Jesus. Talk to Him every morning and have an intimate relationship with Him.
Pastor shares how his son knew where the portrait of Jesus is hung at home. Whenever Pastor asks where is Jesus, he will turn his head to the painting and make noises of "hmm hmm". In Matthew 21:16, it says "... Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?" In essence, Jesus revealed that babes refers to infants who are still suckling (breast feeding) and they have their way of praising God.
In closing,
The keyboardist starts to play while Pastor asks the church to tell God,
Jesus, be the center stage of my marriage, career and my life. I promise to give back all praises to you who is the source of my blessings in time to come.
You may say Pastor, my marriage is fine. It is not fine because it is built under man's efforts.
Praise and worship continues...
A testimony of a woman of 44 years old who had her first menses. She recalled and thought that it was the prayer she made when she was in the elementary school not to have menses. However, the doubt was cleared after knowing God's will for mankind.
Pastor pointed out to the testimony saying that it is never God's will for mankind to suffer. It is the evil forces that took advantages of such.
John 1:1-12
Verse 1: So in the beginning there was the word. The word "trinity" is not in the bible. However, in the bible it showed the Father speaking, the Holy Spirit coming and the birth of Jesus.
Verse 3: All things were made by God. Scientists cannot understand why atoms are held together. We know in the word that Jesus holds everything about you. Disease is the manifestation of dis-ease. When Christ came, He held you together so that disease has no power over you. Jesus is the super glue in your marriage. If it is really problematic, give up and let God. Not referring to divorce here.
Verse 4: In Christ there is zoey life. Jesus revealed to Pastor a pyramid during his younger days. The top layer was vegetable life; the lowest form of life. Food does die, you understand that they do have a life. The next layer was insect life, followed by animal life and at the base, it was human life. When you are born again, you have eternal life. You do not rely on the other parts of the pyramid. Believers do not become an insect after they die. Man can never cease to exist. God breathe into man and so man never dies. Only the body turns to ashes and so there must be a place to store the spirit. Salvation is not progressive. It is instant and the effects are eternal. You are a spirit and it came from God. Your body is a house, not part of you. When a believer sleeps, he steps out of the body and he lives forever in heaven. He has a bodily body which can touch and feel Jesus. Those countries where the gospel has not come, they are still under the darkness. Look at Bach or Mozart. They all believe music is from God. That is why when you listen to their music, you become intelligent. If you need light in your business, Jesus can be your light. You can have knowledge but have no light. One who has the light, knows more than a theologian. The first time God spoke was when He brought forth light. In greek, His name (Yah) was the first character He spoke as He called forth light. That is not referring to His son as Jesus was mentioned in the fourth day. The bible calls our bible the glorious gospel. The devil has blinded the minds of people from the glorious light of the gospel. For example, you can think that by smoking, you can still live long. Somewhere along the way, you can have that belief. When you belief that, the devil has blinded you from the glorious truth. The bible defines God as love and light in 1 John.
Pastor shares a story of Jesus which is not recorded in the bible. You may choose to take it or throw it away. We call it biblical truths.
Jesus walked past a well and saw a dog in it. The people around the well spoke nothing good about the dog and when they saw Jesus, they all kept quiet to see how Jesus would react. Jesus looked at the dog and spoke, "Pearls are not as white as the teeth of the dog". Our God only sees our good.
When one is in darkness, he would not want to be in the light because they think it's too painful. They do not want the light to expose their uglyness. No, Jesus see your perfection in Jesus. God does not judge you by looking at you. As He is, so are you in this world.
Pastor joked that that was just the introduction to today's sermon.
Exodus 10:22-23 (Story of the plague of darkness)
Verse 22: This darkness here is not referring to natural darkness. It is judicial darkness. If it was natural darkness, the Egyptians would have used candles or lamps to light up and avail themselves of it. It was a punishment from God.
Verse 23: If the darkness is not natural, then this light this verse is talking about has to be supernatural light.
Some of you may have a dark belief. Let the light shine into your belief. You don't curse darkness like no tomorrow. Follow God's system. How? Turn on the light!
Back to John 1:1-12
Verse 6: There is a ministry called John in the second coming. John was not the light. The light that came gave men inspirations, life, ideas and prosperity. If people comes to you and ask if you believe in prosperity, say yes. Even the government believes in that. Prosperity is a servant, it is not being materialistic. Prosperity is a danger when it becomes a master. Ask God to give you light in every situation. Some people says they see it when others talk. What does it mean? It means they understood. Keep coming to church to see God's truth. God's light shines into your belief each time you come to Him.
In ancient Israel, there are 3 kinds of light:
In the Tabernacle: Our lives surround the church. In the bible, it says that each tribe faced the tabernacle. In the natural, it looked like a dangerous position isn't it. That's man's logic. But God says He will take care of your back. Each flag/banner represented different tribes. As long as they all faced and lifted up Jesus, Jesus takes care of their back.
Pastor shows a video: First, in the open, the tribes then followed by the priests killing the lambs (to cover their sins). The light outside here is sunlight- natural light. Next, the video continued to go into the tabernacle. In there there are candlesticks - referring to the 7 churches in Revelation. Each one signifies a local church. The light inside here is the light of the church.
Read Leviticus 24:1-3
Verse 3: Aaron is a picture of Jesus Christ, who takes care of the candlesticks. When your light goes out, Jesus does not say to you that your light is not as bright as Pastor Henry's or will He ever reject you. In ancient days, it is the priest who tends the candlesticks. He will pull up the wick to stop it from burning out. (Usually the light starts to go out the moment it starts to submerge into the oil) Jesus will not crush a bruised wick. When you have lost your song and lost your song of tune, He will not throw you away. He has a strong and big army for you to rely on. He comes and sit beside you and walks with you. He will walk with you through the darkest valley. Aren't you glad the church is the light. Your part is to declare, preach and share the light. He will explain for you on your behalf.
Many of times, you will only understand only after you accept Christ. Don't be like the world who says you need to understand first. Just like there are many who do not understand how the air-con works but yet they enjoy and utilise the capabilities of the air-con.
Jesus said in Ephesians 2.
Look to Revelation 2:1-2.
Verse 1: Angels refer to messenger. It can be representative, not necessarily a reference to God's angels. Whatever doctrine that comes in to the church, the Pastor is responsible. Jesus will only remove the candlestick if the doctrine is harmful. The seven stars represent the seven pastors. A beautiful revelation here of Jesus holding them.
Verse 2: Whenever the church meets, Jesus is there. He is never outside. Works, labour and patience is mentioned by Jesus to the pastors. Works in the natural are activities done by the church. Refer to 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 to look at how works of faith, labour of hope and patience of love mentioned.
Back to Revelations 2:2, the Ephesus church lost the 3 fruits, faith, hope and love.
To lead a successful life, you need to have faith, hope and love. It makes people want to surround you. Make sure your endurance is of expectation of good.
Numbers 8:1-3
Verse 1: Aaron is the high priest. Jesus takes care of the candles during the darkest hour. What does it mean, when you are in your darkest hour, Jesus lifts you up. He will not quench your smoking flags. When the candle starts to smoke, it means it is about to burn out. He takes you and removes the burnt parts in your darkest times. For the candle stand, the lights must all point to the center light. It means to glorify Jesus Christ. Jesus is the center stick. If you want to have a successful marriage, put Jesus in the center. Don't put your husband in the center because he does not make a good god. Don't let your happiness be in the mere mortal who breathes through his nostrils. Never let a new addition like your baby be the center of your life.
Acts 3:11-13
Verse 11: A man who was lame in the womb healed.
Verse 12: Peter asked why looked at us in awe or marvelled at us when the man was healed?
Verse 13: Peter pointed to God being the healer. What he was doing was to point to the center of the candle stand. Some of you come to church to find out how to become rich or to drive a ferarri. That's shining the light on yourself. God does not care what tin with wheels you are driving on. He has chariots with fire in heaven.
1 Thessalonians 5:8
Verse 8: Why is it Christians these days are losing hope? Read on to know that you need to have hope. Bible hope is the confident expectation of good in your future. Salivation is health and wholeness in every area.
1 Timothy 1:12-14
Verse 14: Faith and love in Christ Jesus. Who wants faith and hope in Christ Jesus? In KJV, it shows faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. In other translation, it says faith and love which are (singular verb) in Christ Jesus. That "are" is a singular verb. So where do you find faith and love? In Christ Jesus. Talk to Him every morning and have an intimate relationship with Him.
Pastor shares how his son knew where the portrait of Jesus is hung at home. Whenever Pastor asks where is Jesus, he will turn his head to the painting and make noises of "hmm hmm". In Matthew 21:16, it says "... Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?" In essence, Jesus revealed that babes refers to infants who are still suckling (breast feeding) and they have their way of praising God.
In closing,
The keyboardist starts to play while Pastor asks the church to tell God,
Jesus, be the center stage of my marriage, career and my life. I promise to give back all praises to you who is the source of my blessings in time to come.
You may say Pastor, my marriage is fine. It is not fine because it is built under man's efforts.
Praise and worship continues...
Monday, November 5, 2012
Announcement
I am on vacation in Europe and will be back in SG on 21 Nov 2012.
Sermon messages will return on 25 Nov 2012.
May God's goodness hunt you down like never before. Be blessed!
Sermon messages will return on 25 Nov 2012.
May God's goodness hunt you down like never before. Be blessed!
Sunday, October 28, 2012
28 October 2012
Topic: Truths About Family Life
Testimony of a lady (known as L.D) who suffers from a sharp pain in the neck. She watched Pastor's broadcast on TBN and was delivered from the pain.
Pastor asks everyone to say "In Christ I'm ageless".
Romans 6:6
Our sinful nature was nailed on the cross. But Pastor, I still sin, how? God does not look at your self which you are disappointed in, as it is already on the cross. As far as God is concerned, your sins are already no more. He died not only for our sins, He died for us. He did not go to the Father for Himself. He came, died for us, rose for us, sat next to the Father for us. God is looking at Christ who is perfect. We should look away from self to the same object of delight with God and say "This is who I am". Christ is beautiful in any ways you turn Him.
Even before you start the day, know for sure God is looking at you like Christ Himself. Christ is our common object of joy and delight. It is only when we feed, we have true holy communion. You may have your own interpretation of holiness but yet not close to God.
Pastor is going to share today something that has been burning in his heart. He is sure it's going to bless you. Today's topic will be on family's life. Recently, Jesus revealed to him that his children ages are widely spread so that he can be relevant to everyone. Pastor joked that his life is "messed up" because of us.
Pastor shared a "Permission to date my daughter" form which her daughter showed to him this week. Questions like "What does late means to you?", "Write in less than 50 words about yourself", etc.
Family is your greatest treasure. No point being a public success but a private failure. We don't want our house and children to be in order because of your pride. Children know and will pick them up. All children want to live for something greater. Children become resentful if they know you do things for your pride. Don't let other people educate your children. This is your children, your family. Fathers have more privileges than mothers in bringing up children in the bible.
Deuteronomy 11 talks about speaking God's word to your children. It's got to do with the way you father your children. In the bible, fathers are always mentioned about bringing up children.
If you are a single mother, don't feel discouraged because Jesus restores many times more anointing than you can ever imagine.
In Old Testament, people work before the sun comes up. In those days, they were working long hours.
Whatever you/fathers allow, you are responsible for it. You cannot blame your wife when bad happens; you are responsible for the consequences because you allowed it.
Adam fell because he does not speak up. We cannot keep quiet and allow the rain to continue to fall. God will never allow things with no anointing over you. You should never always be passive just because you are embarrassed. It is to be cool to be authoritative, not being aggressive. These are 2 different things.
You have the authority. Don't just keep quiet. God's heart is for the family. Don't think that God only just saves you. He want to save you and your whole family.
One time on earth where the everything is perverted because man lived with demons and produced giants. Noah was the only man left who was righteous.
Genesis 7:1
Verse 1: "you and all your household". Notice God did not say his wife or sons were righteous. Noah's family benefited from Noah's righteousness. God's heart is that when the father is saved, the blessings are going to affect the whole family. It literally means because of you, Jesus will do things because of YOU. This is the covenant God has with you. Jesus can touch your family because of you. His heart is for you and your household.
Luke 19:9-10
"Today salvation has come to this house". Notice it is the entire household that is blessed.
Genesis 18:16-19
Verse 17 & 18: We know Abraham is not a perfect man.
Verse 19: This verse talks about the criteria that God is looking for in man whom He can trust.
Acts 11:13-14
Verse 13 & 14: Notice the angel said "tell you words by which you and your household will be saved". Angels are not ordained by God to preach the gospel. Notice "you and your household" mentioned by the angel.
Acts 16:31
Verse 31: God says believe in The Lord and you will be saved, you and your household.
Verse 34: Once he believed, it becomes easier for the rest of the household to believe.
Pastor is very thankful for the Benjamin generation. They are facing more temptations that those we went through during our time. It is time for you to speak with authority. Your children find it more cool to hear you speak rather than hearing praises from their friends.
Don't be a parent saying that my 9 year old doesn't want to go to church. We cannot make our children into anything. God taught us to train them and the rest is up to God.
Parents remember this: Children always want to do right. Many children are swept by their friends. Maybe it's a wild party and your children dare not reject the offer. Tell your children "no" so that they can just blame it on you. Friends who hear that you have a authoritative father will step back and look for another prey.
Don't think for a moment that by saying "no" will lead them to grow up with a warped personality or appear on Oprah Winfrey show saying my father deprived me from this and that.
1 Kings 5-6
Verse 5: This man is full of pride. Why? Look at next verse.
Verse 6: "His father had not rebuked him anytime". They grew up thinking the world revolves around them. God tells us to train our children based on His wisdom, not based on psychology.
We always think never to displease our children means to be nice to them. That's nonsense!
Never think that your children is too young to be taught. Parents need to teach when they are young. He shared an example of how Justin likes to take the remote control and puts it in his mouth. Pastor as a father said "no" to him a few times and it could be seen that he actually understood - by lowering his hand with remote control.
Facebook is an open-book to parents. Leave it this way. Kids love to say things like " Don't you trust me?" As a father, say "no". Say "I don't trust my flesh too". "Do you want me to send a lady, not your mummy home?"
Pastor shared how back then an older boy attempted to date her daughter. This older boy sent mobile messages with words that was coated with so much with honey that pastor joked whoever reads it may turn diabetic. Pastor called the boy and told him not to contact her daughter anymore. At the same time asked him to inform his parents that Pastor Prince called. This is your child. This is yours.
Don't let others educate your children. Do it yourself. When you see your child reading things not good, tell her.
Adultery always started innocently. It doesn't work by directly going to bed. It doesn't work that way. When you start to feel flirtatious, curb it. It started by sending them home. Next time give them taxi fare. That's being wise.
Proverbs 22:6
Verse 6: Train up a child in the way she should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
Pastor shares what it really means in Hebrew. The word "train" means chanak. It is to place something into the mouth for tasting. In essence, it means to give your child a taste of God. There comes a time your children needs to taste God. Don't deprive your children from the youth ministry. They may not like it. Lead them, train them in a way he should go. The word "go" in the verse above means peh - mouth. When they look back, they will remember their first encounter with God, or even that church camp. Until today, Pastor still remembers the first time he encountered Jesus and the first song he learnt during Sunday school - Silent Night.
Don't think for one moment that children cannot sense things. Train them to speak well, the language of the promised land. If you leave it to them to speak unpleasant words, next time when they are angry, these words comes out automatically. This is being demon-controlled - don't misunderstand it with demon-possessed because this never happens to God's child.
Another scripture that's going to blow your mind.
2 Timothy 3:15
Verse 15: Paul told Timothy this verse. "Salvation" means wise in handling your health, finances. Don't always think that salvation only just means saviour.
2 Timothy 1:5
Verse 5: It was Timothy's grandmother who taught this to his mother, Eunice. It has to be taught.
Back to 2 Timothy 3:15, the word "child" is brefos which actually means foetus, or a new born child. It is used on babies, not for toddlers. With that in mind, from a baby, they hast known the holy scriptures. Don't care if they understand or not, sing scriptures over your child. They can sense the blessings of the scriptures.
Pharaohs in the bible is a picture of satan. Moses is a type of Christ. There are 4 objections of satan. The 4th one is for children.
Exodus 10:7-12
Verse 9: "We will go with our young, our sons and daughters, because we must hold a feast to the LORD."
Let your children taste Jesus.
Verse 10: This is how the satan talks according to this verse. Satan says, since you believe in the Lord, then you go, leave the children behind.
Since you enjoy the things of God, you should also let them have a taste and not deprive them. Do you want to leave them in Egypt?
Don't allow the PG13 rating become the license for your child to watch the movie. You be the parent.
Even though your teen has been led astray, you know they have already tasted Jesus before and will always come back. God will always restore what the locusts have taken. Dare to displease your children. Don't think that children are stupid, they can sense your sincerity. God has already given you the charisma, wisdom and authority. So you don't have to shout at them. Speak like a man of God and your words will carry weight.
Be like godly Caleb, even though he was 40 years old, he was able to take the land. People of faith don't grow old. Even when he was 85 years old, he drove the giants away. This inheritance is yours to take. Don't say the social media is too much to take. Take the land like the mighty Caleb.
In closing,
Pastor will say a prayer for everyone to possess a spirit of honour and weightiness to come upon everyone present.
Testimony of a lady (known as L.D) who suffers from a sharp pain in the neck. She watched Pastor's broadcast on TBN and was delivered from the pain.
Pastor asks everyone to say "In Christ I'm ageless".
Romans 6:6
Our sinful nature was nailed on the cross. But Pastor, I still sin, how? God does not look at your self which you are disappointed in, as it is already on the cross. As far as God is concerned, your sins are already no more. He died not only for our sins, He died for us. He did not go to the Father for Himself. He came, died for us, rose for us, sat next to the Father for us. God is looking at Christ who is perfect. We should look away from self to the same object of delight with God and say "This is who I am". Christ is beautiful in any ways you turn Him.
Even before you start the day, know for sure God is looking at you like Christ Himself. Christ is our common object of joy and delight. It is only when we feed, we have true holy communion. You may have your own interpretation of holiness but yet not close to God.
Pastor is going to share today something that has been burning in his heart. He is sure it's going to bless you. Today's topic will be on family's life. Recently, Jesus revealed to him that his children ages are widely spread so that he can be relevant to everyone. Pastor joked that his life is "messed up" because of us.
Pastor shared a "Permission to date my daughter" form which her daughter showed to him this week. Questions like "What does late means to you?", "Write in less than 50 words about yourself", etc.
Family is your greatest treasure. No point being a public success but a private failure. We don't want our house and children to be in order because of your pride. Children know and will pick them up. All children want to live for something greater. Children become resentful if they know you do things for your pride. Don't let other people educate your children. This is your children, your family. Fathers have more privileges than mothers in bringing up children in the bible.
Deuteronomy 11 talks about speaking God's word to your children. It's got to do with the way you father your children. In the bible, fathers are always mentioned about bringing up children.
If you are a single mother, don't feel discouraged because Jesus restores many times more anointing than you can ever imagine.
In Old Testament, people work before the sun comes up. In those days, they were working long hours.
Whatever you/fathers allow, you are responsible for it. You cannot blame your wife when bad happens; you are responsible for the consequences because you allowed it.
Adam fell because he does not speak up. We cannot keep quiet and allow the rain to continue to fall. God will never allow things with no anointing over you. You should never always be passive just because you are embarrassed. It is to be cool to be authoritative, not being aggressive. These are 2 different things.
You have the authority. Don't just keep quiet. God's heart is for the family. Don't think that God only just saves you. He want to save you and your whole family.
One time on earth where the everything is perverted because man lived with demons and produced giants. Noah was the only man left who was righteous.
Genesis 7:1
Verse 1: "you and all your household". Notice God did not say his wife or sons were righteous. Noah's family benefited from Noah's righteousness. God's heart is that when the father is saved, the blessings are going to affect the whole family. It literally means because of you, Jesus will do things because of YOU. This is the covenant God has with you. Jesus can touch your family because of you. His heart is for you and your household.
Luke 19:9-10
"Today salvation has come to this house". Notice it is the entire household that is blessed.
Genesis 18:16-19
Verse 17 & 18: We know Abraham is not a perfect man.
Verse 19: This verse talks about the criteria that God is looking for in man whom He can trust.
Acts 11:13-14
Verse 13 & 14: Notice the angel said "tell you words by which you and your household will be saved". Angels are not ordained by God to preach the gospel. Notice "you and your household" mentioned by the angel.
Acts 16:31
Verse 31: God says believe in The Lord and you will be saved, you and your household.
Verse 34: Once he believed, it becomes easier for the rest of the household to believe.
Pastor is very thankful for the Benjamin generation. They are facing more temptations that those we went through during our time. It is time for you to speak with authority. Your children find it more cool to hear you speak rather than hearing praises from their friends.
Don't be a parent saying that my 9 year old doesn't want to go to church. We cannot make our children into anything. God taught us to train them and the rest is up to God.
Parents remember this: Children always want to do right. Many children are swept by their friends. Maybe it's a wild party and your children dare not reject the offer. Tell your children "no" so that they can just blame it on you. Friends who hear that you have a authoritative father will step back and look for another prey.
Don't think for a moment that by saying "no" will lead them to grow up with a warped personality or appear on Oprah Winfrey show saying my father deprived me from this and that.
1 Kings 5-6
Verse 5: This man is full of pride. Why? Look at next verse.
Verse 6: "His father had not rebuked him anytime". They grew up thinking the world revolves around them. God tells us to train our children based on His wisdom, not based on psychology.
We always think never to displease our children means to be nice to them. That's nonsense!
Never think that your children is too young to be taught. Parents need to teach when they are young. He shared an example of how Justin likes to take the remote control and puts it in his mouth. Pastor as a father said "no" to him a few times and it could be seen that he actually understood - by lowering his hand with remote control.
Facebook is an open-book to parents. Leave it this way. Kids love to say things like " Don't you trust me?" As a father, say "no". Say "I don't trust my flesh too". "Do you want me to send a lady, not your mummy home?"
Pastor shared how back then an older boy attempted to date her daughter. This older boy sent mobile messages with words that was coated with so much with honey that pastor joked whoever reads it may turn diabetic. Pastor called the boy and told him not to contact her daughter anymore. At the same time asked him to inform his parents that Pastor Prince called. This is your child. This is yours.
Don't let others educate your children. Do it yourself. When you see your child reading things not good, tell her.
Adultery always started innocently. It doesn't work by directly going to bed. It doesn't work that way. When you start to feel flirtatious, curb it. It started by sending them home. Next time give them taxi fare. That's being wise.
Proverbs 22:6
Verse 6: Train up a child in the way she should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
Pastor shares what it really means in Hebrew. The word "train" means chanak. It is to place something into the mouth for tasting. In essence, it means to give your child a taste of God. There comes a time your children needs to taste God. Don't deprive your children from the youth ministry. They may not like it. Lead them, train them in a way he should go. The word "go" in the verse above means peh - mouth. When they look back, they will remember their first encounter with God, or even that church camp. Until today, Pastor still remembers the first time he encountered Jesus and the first song he learnt during Sunday school - Silent Night.
Don't think for one moment that children cannot sense things. Train them to speak well, the language of the promised land. If you leave it to them to speak unpleasant words, next time when they are angry, these words comes out automatically. This is being demon-controlled - don't misunderstand it with demon-possessed because this never happens to God's child.
Another scripture that's going to blow your mind.
2 Timothy 3:15
Verse 15: Paul told Timothy this verse. "Salvation" means wise in handling your health, finances. Don't always think that salvation only just means saviour.
2 Timothy 1:5
Verse 5: It was Timothy's grandmother who taught this to his mother, Eunice. It has to be taught.
Back to 2 Timothy 3:15, the word "child" is brefos which actually means foetus, or a new born child. It is used on babies, not for toddlers. With that in mind, from a baby, they hast known the holy scriptures. Don't care if they understand or not, sing scriptures over your child. They can sense the blessings of the scriptures.
Pharaohs in the bible is a picture of satan. Moses is a type of Christ. There are 4 objections of satan. The 4th one is for children.
Exodus 10:7-12
Verse 9: "We will go with our young, our sons and daughters, because we must hold a feast to the LORD."
Let your children taste Jesus.
Verse 10: This is how the satan talks according to this verse. Satan says, since you believe in the Lord, then you go, leave the children behind.
Since you enjoy the things of God, you should also let them have a taste and not deprive them. Do you want to leave them in Egypt?
Don't allow the PG13 rating become the license for your child to watch the movie. You be the parent.
Even though your teen has been led astray, you know they have already tasted Jesus before and will always come back. God will always restore what the locusts have taken. Dare to displease your children. Don't think that children are stupid, they can sense your sincerity. God has already given you the charisma, wisdom and authority. So you don't have to shout at them. Speak like a man of God and your words will carry weight.
Be like godly Caleb, even though he was 40 years old, he was able to take the land. People of faith don't grow old. Even when he was 85 years old, he drove the giants away. This inheritance is yours to take. Don't say the social media is too much to take. Take the land like the mighty Caleb.
In closing,
Pastor will say a prayer for everyone to possess a spirit of honour and weightiness to come upon everyone present.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
14 October 2012
Topic: Panoramic View of God's purposes
A testimony of a man in New Jersey who was removed from addiction to pornography.
Another testimony of a couple who was healed from cyst in one of her ovaries.
Pastor to share a panoramic view of God's plans and purposes for us. Pastor asked how many have actually noticed that the world is not perfect and is a fallen world? Jesus will return. Only when He returns then it will be a perfect world. This earth we are in is not what God ordained it to be. Man wasn't meant to feel bored. That is why the bible calls death as an enemy. The last enemy to be put under Jesus feet is death. Something in us, the image of God, tells us that death is not meant to be. That is why we cry at funerals.
The prayer: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven in essence means abundance, peace, healing that is in heaven will also be present on earth.
When God made man, He said it was very good. The rest He created were just good. God created man last so that we can enjoy all the good. Our bible says God supply all our needs and we shall not want. Whereas the world says He supplies our needs but not wants.
God gave an oversupply of blessings when He just created Adam and Eve, because it is just 2 of them. He is always a superabounding God. He instructed man to eat all trees and told man not to eat from the only tree. So why did God created that tree? This was a demonstration for man to have a free choice. It is just like tithing. It is to recognise Him as your source. This is the secret which the world doesn't understand. The 90% goes further than the 100% of the world. When you acknowledge God, He blesses you more and more, you get richer and richer.
If God were to use His power to stop Adam from taking from that tree, it would not be a free choice. Just like many men dream of being able to control his wife. In reality, this will not last because we are not created to enjoy robots.
You can say you have the free choice and not be bothered about the consequences. It's true you have a free choice. But if you place your finger in the fire, it does not mean that you will not face the consequences.
God is love. But He is also justice. If there is no justice, there will be no order. Therefore sin must be punished. It is just like you hating the disease in your baby. How much you hate the disease is how much you love your baby. It is the same way as how much God hated sin. He hates sin just as much as He loves you. So, somebody has to pay for sin. Adam and Eve wanted to pay for their own sins by demonstration of covering themselves with "salad dressing". It was God who clothed them with coats of skin. It was a beautiful picture of His son dying for our sins. The covering Adam provided is not perfect because it was through man's effort. The covering provided by God is perfect.
God then said to the snake that the woman's seed will crush your head. God was actually prophesying the virgin birth. It was not too long ago that it was found out that the placenta of the mother does not go to the baby. Sin is in the blood but Jesus came through royal blood. It is only through innocent blood that the guilty can be forgiven. In the past, the blood of bulls and goats last only for a year. Jesus blood last eternally. We love Him much because we are forgiven much.
Ever since sin came forth, depression, sickness, poverty and ultimately death came in. But the devil does not know when Jesus is coming. That was why he instigated the fight between Cain and Abel. Its ultimate purpose is to stop Jesus from shedding the blood for all mankind.
The negative effects of the earth are still present today. Some may think that it is God's will not to heal anyone today. But it that is true, definitely the bible will show at least there is someone who wasn't healed when Jesus walked on earth.
God will never force good righteous life, blessings and other good things in your life. He respects your free choice.
Romans 5:20
The verse says that law entered. This word "entered" is pareiserchomai - come alongside, come in by stealth. This shows that it was not God's agenda. However, man was proud and challenged God that they are able to keep the law. The law came on the side. It was not given for man to obey. Law was given so that sin (offense) will increase. So at the end of the Ten Commandments, God provided man to bring sacrificial animals. David, Solomon and other great man of God were blessed because they offered burnt offerings. It was only when man started to worship other gods and stopped burnt offerings that caused the blessings to stop. You know these burnt offerings were only temporal. Jesus' blood takes away all your sins and lasts a lifetime.
Do you think you need grace in this life? When Jesus saved you, do you think you were really good? If that's what you think, it's very likely you are not saved.
We still need laws to govern nations. But how many know that it is only to guard the outward manner of man. We believers are under grace. If you have to command someone, it means that person is lacking of that thing. God wants you not to commit adultery and love your wife. God wants you not to steal because He will provide. Adam and Eve were led to believe that God doesn't love them.
The logic of unbelief is really stupid comparing with the simple belief of a little child. Many of us don't stop and think about it. How beautiful is the belief of child-like faith. All along God's main agenda is to save man.
God did not give up His arch angels for you but instead He gave His most precious. See how valuable you are to God.
Pastor jokes that the sermon just started.
People may claim that why does the good suffer? There are no good people that suffer. We do not really know who is really good. Some may appear good for an ulterior motive. The very fact that you ask this question means that you think that there are some good. But Jesus said there are none good. Jesus came to make dead people live. There's no degree of goodness for anyone, just like no degree of bad.
A drowning man is only ready to be saved when he gives up. We interpret events in life like how can the righteous suffer? The bible says the days will only get worse and worse. It is the presence of the church that prevents more crisis that are happening.
Luke 13:1-17
Verse 1: During that time, Galileans were killed. The Romans must have came to Jesus and "told" Him of that.
Verse 2: Then Jesus answered them by asking if those Galileans were the worst sinners? What He means is that all man are all the same - sinners.
Verse 3: Jesus said unless you repent, otherwise you may perish. The word "repent" means to change your mindset. We need to know and accept Jesus as our protection so that we will never have to perish.
Jesus wants to cover you under His wings, away from the bad of the world.
Before we judge or criticise anyone, we need to reflect. We like to criticise to look good ourselves. If not by the grace of God, that person could be you.
Verse 4: Siloam was where the blind man's sight was restored. The Romans despised the people of Galileans. When Jesus came, He levelled everyone in status and saved everyone.
Do you know how much powers of darkness are coming for you if not for God's mercy on you?
Verse 5: Unless you know the true God, you will not perish. Back then, no one believed.
Pastor points out that we really need God's grace. We should stop the criticism-of-others type of nonsense. We are all the same if not for His mercy and grace.
Verse 6: A certain man had a fig tree. It did not say who this man who planted it. In fact, it was planted by somebody. The fruits are grapes- wine.
Self righteousness comes about when you say why do good people suffer. These are the people who rather find fault with God than themselves.
A fig tree is a picture of the law and there were no fruits to be seen.
Refer to Deuteronomy 22:9 to read on the fig tree.
Verse 7: The keeper is Jesus himself. For three years God's ministry was on earth.
Verse 8: It is the fourth year. The word "fertilise" is dung in KJV. So what is dung?
In Philippians 3:8-9, dung is all your so called achievements people are proud of in the natural. In verse 9, it says it is only through the righteousness of faith. A lot of people are still holding onto their own righteousness. Jesus couldn't find enough "dung" to save Jerusalem.
There is no logic of you being 30% good and 70% bad kind of theory.
It doesn't mean we are perfect. It means our standing with God is perfect. Now that you are born again, your new identity is in the risen Christ. What good works you do cannot change your own self.
In closing,
How much of grace do you really need? Some always think they have a part to play. Even today, there are still people who are still hankering on their life. That is the reason you are disappointed. Look away outside your self, look at Christ.
From now on, you will not be judged on who you are, or through your thoughts. You are only judged by the death of Jesus Christ. Literally God is saying, start to identify yourself. The bad thoughts are not the real you. The real you has been crucified on the cross and is now at God's right hand.
Depression is being occupied with yourself while being happy is to be occupied with Christ.
The moment you realise that, you become Christ occupied. We need all of His grace. Many major events are now happening around the world. The world and the smarts are coming to an end.
In the bible, when the children of Israel yearned for quail eggs in the desert, God made quails flew low for them. When God breathes and sends His grace coming for you, things will happen for you. You don't have to strive or compete.
Many of times we thank God for the close encounters but we do not thank Him for protecting us from the unseen. We need His grace even for the air we breathe in everyday.
If you act like you only need Him in your life, Jesus will extend His wings. If you have something to do this week, trust in Him, He will bring you through. Do not worry about what is next to come because His manna comes fresh everyday. Jesus has already gone into your Mondays, Tuesdays and has already removed all the danger. What you need to say during your meetings or presentations and your feeling have already been well taken care of.
Be cool and rest in Him!
A testimony of a man in New Jersey who was removed from addiction to pornography.
Another testimony of a couple who was healed from cyst in one of her ovaries.
Pastor to share a panoramic view of God's plans and purposes for us. Pastor asked how many have actually noticed that the world is not perfect and is a fallen world? Jesus will return. Only when He returns then it will be a perfect world. This earth we are in is not what God ordained it to be. Man wasn't meant to feel bored. That is why the bible calls death as an enemy. The last enemy to be put under Jesus feet is death. Something in us, the image of God, tells us that death is not meant to be. That is why we cry at funerals.
The prayer: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven in essence means abundance, peace, healing that is in heaven will also be present on earth.
When God made man, He said it was very good. The rest He created were just good. God created man last so that we can enjoy all the good. Our bible says God supply all our needs and we shall not want. Whereas the world says He supplies our needs but not wants.
God gave an oversupply of blessings when He just created Adam and Eve, because it is just 2 of them. He is always a superabounding God. He instructed man to eat all trees and told man not to eat from the only tree. So why did God created that tree? This was a demonstration for man to have a free choice. It is just like tithing. It is to recognise Him as your source. This is the secret which the world doesn't understand. The 90% goes further than the 100% of the world. When you acknowledge God, He blesses you more and more, you get richer and richer.
If God were to use His power to stop Adam from taking from that tree, it would not be a free choice. Just like many men dream of being able to control his wife. In reality, this will not last because we are not created to enjoy robots.
You can say you have the free choice and not be bothered about the consequences. It's true you have a free choice. But if you place your finger in the fire, it does not mean that you will not face the consequences.
God is love. But He is also justice. If there is no justice, there will be no order. Therefore sin must be punished. It is just like you hating the disease in your baby. How much you hate the disease is how much you love your baby. It is the same way as how much God hated sin. He hates sin just as much as He loves you. So, somebody has to pay for sin. Adam and Eve wanted to pay for their own sins by demonstration of covering themselves with "salad dressing". It was God who clothed them with coats of skin. It was a beautiful picture of His son dying for our sins. The covering Adam provided is not perfect because it was through man's effort. The covering provided by God is perfect.
God then said to the snake that the woman's seed will crush your head. God was actually prophesying the virgin birth. It was not too long ago that it was found out that the placenta of the mother does not go to the baby. Sin is in the blood but Jesus came through royal blood. It is only through innocent blood that the guilty can be forgiven. In the past, the blood of bulls and goats last only for a year. Jesus blood last eternally. We love Him much because we are forgiven much.
Ever since sin came forth, depression, sickness, poverty and ultimately death came in. But the devil does not know when Jesus is coming. That was why he instigated the fight between Cain and Abel. Its ultimate purpose is to stop Jesus from shedding the blood for all mankind.
The negative effects of the earth are still present today. Some may think that it is God's will not to heal anyone today. But it that is true, definitely the bible will show at least there is someone who wasn't healed when Jesus walked on earth.
God will never force good righteous life, blessings and other good things in your life. He respects your free choice.
Romans 5:20
The verse says that law entered. This word "entered" is pareiserchomai - come alongside, come in by stealth. This shows that it was not God's agenda. However, man was proud and challenged God that they are able to keep the law. The law came on the side. It was not given for man to obey. Law was given so that sin (offense) will increase. So at the end of the Ten Commandments, God provided man to bring sacrificial animals. David, Solomon and other great man of God were blessed because they offered burnt offerings. It was only when man started to worship other gods and stopped burnt offerings that caused the blessings to stop. You know these burnt offerings were only temporal. Jesus' blood takes away all your sins and lasts a lifetime.
Do you think you need grace in this life? When Jesus saved you, do you think you were really good? If that's what you think, it's very likely you are not saved.
We still need laws to govern nations. But how many know that it is only to guard the outward manner of man. We believers are under grace. If you have to command someone, it means that person is lacking of that thing. God wants you not to commit adultery and love your wife. God wants you not to steal because He will provide. Adam and Eve were led to believe that God doesn't love them.
The logic of unbelief is really stupid comparing with the simple belief of a little child. Many of us don't stop and think about it. How beautiful is the belief of child-like faith. All along God's main agenda is to save man.
God did not give up His arch angels for you but instead He gave His most precious. See how valuable you are to God.
Pastor jokes that the sermon just started.
People may claim that why does the good suffer? There are no good people that suffer. We do not really know who is really good. Some may appear good for an ulterior motive. The very fact that you ask this question means that you think that there are some good. But Jesus said there are none good. Jesus came to make dead people live. There's no degree of goodness for anyone, just like no degree of bad.
A drowning man is only ready to be saved when he gives up. We interpret events in life like how can the righteous suffer? The bible says the days will only get worse and worse. It is the presence of the church that prevents more crisis that are happening.
Luke 13:1-17
Verse 1: During that time, Galileans were killed. The Romans must have came to Jesus and "told" Him of that.
Verse 2: Then Jesus answered them by asking if those Galileans were the worst sinners? What He means is that all man are all the same - sinners.
Verse 3: Jesus said unless you repent, otherwise you may perish. The word "repent" means to change your mindset. We need to know and accept Jesus as our protection so that we will never have to perish.
Jesus wants to cover you under His wings, away from the bad of the world.
Before we judge or criticise anyone, we need to reflect. We like to criticise to look good ourselves. If not by the grace of God, that person could be you.
Verse 4: Siloam was where the blind man's sight was restored. The Romans despised the people of Galileans. When Jesus came, He levelled everyone in status and saved everyone.
Do you know how much powers of darkness are coming for you if not for God's mercy on you?
Verse 5: Unless you know the true God, you will not perish. Back then, no one believed.
Pastor points out that we really need God's grace. We should stop the criticism-of-others type of nonsense. We are all the same if not for His mercy and grace.
Verse 6: A certain man had a fig tree. It did not say who this man who planted it. In fact, it was planted by somebody. The fruits are grapes- wine.
Self righteousness comes about when you say why do good people suffer. These are the people who rather find fault with God than themselves.
A fig tree is a picture of the law and there were no fruits to be seen.
Refer to Deuteronomy 22:9 to read on the fig tree.
Verse 7: The keeper is Jesus himself. For three years God's ministry was on earth.
Verse 8: It is the fourth year. The word "fertilise" is dung in KJV. So what is dung?
In Philippians 3:8-9, dung is all your so called achievements people are proud of in the natural. In verse 9, it says it is only through the righteousness of faith. A lot of people are still holding onto their own righteousness. Jesus couldn't find enough "dung" to save Jerusalem.
There is no logic of you being 30% good and 70% bad kind of theory.
It doesn't mean we are perfect. It means our standing with God is perfect. Now that you are born again, your new identity is in the risen Christ. What good works you do cannot change your own self.
In closing,
How much of grace do you really need? Some always think they have a part to play. Even today, there are still people who are still hankering on their life. That is the reason you are disappointed. Look away outside your self, look at Christ.
From now on, you will not be judged on who you are, or through your thoughts. You are only judged by the death of Jesus Christ. Literally God is saying, start to identify yourself. The bad thoughts are not the real you. The real you has been crucified on the cross and is now at God's right hand.
Depression is being occupied with yourself while being happy is to be occupied with Christ.
The moment you realise that, you become Christ occupied. We need all of His grace. Many major events are now happening around the world. The world and the smarts are coming to an end.
In the bible, when the children of Israel yearned for quail eggs in the desert, God made quails flew low for them. When God breathes and sends His grace coming for you, things will happen for you. You don't have to strive or compete.
Many of times we thank God for the close encounters but we do not thank Him for protecting us from the unseen. We need His grace even for the air we breathe in everyday.
If you act like you only need Him in your life, Jesus will extend His wings. If you have something to do this week, trust in Him, He will bring you through. Do not worry about what is next to come because His manna comes fresh everyday. Jesus has already gone into your Mondays, Tuesdays and has already removed all the danger. What you need to say during your meetings or presentations and your feeling have already been well taken care of.
Be cool and rest in Him!
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