The foolishness of God is wiser than men

There is but one only,living, and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts,or passions; immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, (Of God, and of the Holy Trinity -WCF Chapter II -I)

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 1 Cor 1:30-31

When I look at the enormous range of God’s creative works; vast and deep oceans, lofty mountain peaks, grand canyons, thunderous falls, swift and powerful rivers, gentle and meandering streams, mirror lakes, deep jungles and lofty trees, colors and scent of floral, creatures both great and small, ….I am always truly awed at the Wisdom of God: “O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” Psa 104:24

The wisdom of God is graciously and amazingly manifested in God’s Way of Salvation of sinners through the perfect redemptive work of Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son. This wisdom of God is clearly stated by Paul in Eph 3:8-11 , “To me, .., this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, ..” Jonathan Edwards said, “One end of revealing God’s counsels concerning the work of redemption, is making known God’s wisdom. It is called manifold wisdom because of the manifold glorious ends that are attained by it. The excellent designs, hereby accomplished, are very manifold. The wisdom of God in this is of vast extent. The contrivance is so manifold that one may spend an eternity in discovering more of the excellent ends and designs accomplished by it, and the multitude and vast variety of things that are, by divine contrivance, brought to conspire to the bringing about those ends.”

God’s wise plan and eternal purpose for perfect redemptive work through Jesus Christ is “a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.”1Cor 2:7. Yet the Gospel of Jesus Christ seems foolish to the intellectual atheist and skeptics, the scripture says in 1Co 1:18, 20 “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. …..Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

Why did God, in all wisdom, choose the way of Cross through Christ as the only Way, the only Truth and the only Life to Him ? Why ? The answer is simply this: so that no man standing before God can boast, I was saved because I…………… There will be no boasting of what I was. There will be no boasting of what I did. No boasting of meritorious works. There will no boasting of familial privileges. Here is the clear answer from scripture, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” 1Co 1:27-29

The only appropriate responses are these “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Ps 90:12 and “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 1Co 1:30-31

God is only and most wise ! “To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.” Rom 16:27

An Almighty God

There is but one only,living, and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts,or passions; immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise,(Of God, and of the Holy Trinity -WCF Chapter II -I)

When the Bible declares that God is Almighty, it simply mean that God is all powerful and unlimited in power and He has absolute power over all. He is not limited in any way. He alone has unlimited authority and influence, He is omnipotent. In all of creation, there is no power like His for He alone is The Creator. No other power, seen and unseen, able to or can withstand Him. No power, before or now or that to come, can oppose Him. He is not weary and He does not fail for nothing can thwart what He purposes to do. God is the supreme power, He is LORD and there is no other: For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. (Ps 95:3).

It is interesting to note that the word Almighty, with reference to God, occurs no less than fifty seven times in the Bible. An Almighty God revealed to Abraham and declared to him in Genesis 17:1, “the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;..”

The Apostle John saw and heard and recorded for us : “And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”” Rev 4:8

In the book of Job, the reference to God as Almighty occurs 32 times, Job was humbled and learned anew that God is God and He is The Almighty God: Job 37:23-38:1-2,4 The Almighty–we cannot find him; he is great in power; justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate. Therefore men fear him; he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? ''...... "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Job 37-38

As we enter a new year of where many storms of uncertainties are still brewing in the horizon, lets always keep in view, our faith is in the God of the Bible who is ALMIGHTY and He is also Good, Faithful and Unchangeable.

What if Jesus had never been born? “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

Someone asked: What if Jesus had never been born? Would most of the world celebrate the winter solstice?

If Jesus has never been born, my reaction would be very much be like Paul when he said hypothetically for a believer in Christ if there is no resurrection. Paul said in 1Co 15:19, 32 “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. ….If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”" Because if Jesus has never been born, there is no Gospel, there is no life with God after. A Christian has no hope for this life and the life to come. So what should I as a Christian then do, I will just eat, drink and really be merry.

As Christians, by the grace of God we know that our Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten of God the Father, has come!

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isa 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

As Christians, by the grace of God we know Jesus Christ is now ascended and glorified and will return. And everyone, yes everyone including those who do not accept or reject Him now will have to bend our knees to worship Him : Php 2:9 -11 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Oh Come, Let us adore Him !

Baby filled with the Holy Spirit, leap for joy !

John the Baptist as a baby filled with the Holy Spirit, leap for joy !

Joy to the World !

The Lord Has Come.

Let Earth Receive Her King

Luk 1:39-45“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, ….” Gal 5:22

Jesus Christ is Immanuel, God with us

700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, the prophecy came to Prophet Isaiah:Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

The Annunciation

Rogier van der Weyden 1399/1400 – 1464

oil on panel (86 × 92 cm) — ca. 1440
Musée du Louvre, Paris

Rogier van der Weyden biography

Luk 1:26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
Luk 1:27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
Luk 1:28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
Luk 1:29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
Luk 1:30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Luk 1:31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
Luk 1:32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
Luk 1:33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Luk 1:34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
Luk 1:35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy–the Son of God.
Luk 1:36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
Luk 1:37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Persecution: A price to pay for being a Christian ?

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, (2Ti 3:12)

John Macarthur:

"I am absolutely 100% convinced that the weakness of the church in America, the superficiality of the church, the shallowness of the church, the hypocrisy of the church is directly related to the absence of any cost or any price to be paid to be a Christian. If you don't have to pay a price, heh, just jump on the bandwagon. If persecution came to America, you see a very different kind of Christianity. A whole lot of people who are really good to talk about Jesus won't be talking about Jesus any more. Who profess to know Jesus and to be part of the church, they will stop talking very fast if the price was as high as it is for some people."

A testimony of Dr Daniel Wong, a professor at Master's College, who faced persecutions as a Christian first hand from Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution in China.

Dr. Daniel K. Wong- Professor of Biblical Studies B.S., Swatow University M.Div., Th.M., Talbot School of Theology Ph.D., Dallas Theological Seminary

Dr. Wong has received awards for excellence in thesis writing and in eschatology. His specialties include Johannine literature, parables, and Old Testament prophecy and its use in the New Testament. He has served as pastor of a Chinese church in Los Angeles since 1984, and prior to joining TMC, he was president of Chinese for Christ Theological Seminary. In 2002, 2003-2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007, he was recognized in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. Dr. Wong has published a number of journal articles, periodical articles, and songs. He is currently writing a nineteen volume New Testament Commentary Series with Kregel Publications.

Source: http://www.masters.edu/academics/profiles.asp?depname=95

An Everlasting and Eternal God

There is but one only, living, and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions; immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, ......(Of God, and of the Holy Trinity -WCF Chapter II -I)

Psa 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Isa 57:15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity
Psa 93:2 Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting.
Jer 10:10 But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King.

From everlasting to everlasting, God is God. He is always there, He is the ever existing one. Nothing causes God into existence, He alone creates all things. This concept of everlating is very hard for finite minds like ours to grasp, we are used to see the cycles of birth and death: man and beasts and plants. For these living things, some sort of parents gave out the seeds (with all the genetic code) for the next cycle of life for that creature. For inert things made by man, there is a someone, with a level of intelligence, who did some thinking and causes it to be made.We also know that inert things just don't last forever, things we make with our hands will crumble after a while whether they be made of stones or metal. It is thus very hard for us to grasp something or someone Who has no beginning and no end, such is the nature of God. Just focus our thinking about the eternal nature of God will cause our minds to go into a vortex of infinity.

God is not like us, time has no hold on Him. He is not subjected to the ravages of time or decay. He does not grow weary or weak with age, He is the "King of Ages", He is constant for all eternity and His mighty strength remains the same: Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable (Isa 40:28)

We ought to remind ourselves from Hab 1:12 "Are you not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One?". When our thoughts and meditations and focus is on Him, we can trust and rest upon His everlasting arms. The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms (Deu 33:27). When our faith in our God, it is great joy and comfort to know that He is the eternal God with the everlasting arms. We can rest, for our peace, security and assurance comes from God and not in our finite selves.

Yes, Lord ! You are the eternal and everlasting God. As finite creatures, our only appropriate responses are summed by these verses:

To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1Ti 1:17 )

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen. (Psa 41:13)

How Big is God ?

There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, ……..(Of God, and of the Holy Trinity -WCF Chapter II -I)

The God of the Bible is a big God. He is not contained by space, scripture is clear even “the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain” Him (1Ki 8:27). God fills His entire creation, they cannot contain Him (Jer 23:23 - 24). It is important to keep in mind, God is immensely bigger than anything existing or what you can even imagine. This truth about the attributes of God offers great peace and comfort when we are seized with doubt or fear, we must remember that no one or anything is bigger than God. AMEN - God is BIG. God is near, never fear !

When God is near, who else but God do we need to fear ? If God stands on our side, do we need fear anything ? It gives great joy, peace and comfort to know that this immensely big God, Jehovah my God is near His people and hears the prayer of those who cry out to Him (1Ki 8:28-30). Scriptures says “And You shall listen to the cry of Your servant” and “and hear in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and when You hear, forgive!”.

Never Fear! He Is Near!
Never fear! He is near!
Look to no man, Care not what the world may plan;
Only trust in the Lord, All the way to Beulah Land.

不要怕只要信

不要怕，只要信，不要看人，不看环境与外面，

只要仰望耶稣，一路跟主到天家。

John Sung Choruses, trans. by Tow

1Ki 8:27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this house which I have built?

Jer 23:23 - 24 “Am I a God near, says Jehovah, and not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him? says Jehovah. Do I not fill the heavens and earth? says Jehovah.”

1Ki 8:28 -30 Yet, O, Jehovah my God, You have turned toward the prayer of Your servant and to his request, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today; for Your eyes to be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, My name shall be there; to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place. And You shall listen to the cry of Your servant, and of Your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place, and hear in Heaven Your dwelling-place, and when You hear, forgive!

An Unchangeable God

There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable,.. ……..(Of God, and of the Holy Trinity -WCF Chapter II -I)

Our God is immutable. God is not capable of or susceptible to change. He is an unchangeable God. He does not change. Mal 3:6 “For I the LORD do not change;…”.

While everything else change around us, God remains the same. Everything around us can fall apart, God is still the same. When our bodies grow weak with age and sick with pain, we look to our unchanging God who has promised sufficient grace to meet our every need. There is real peace and joy that God does not change what He has promised. What a comfort that our unchanging God is on our side.

Jas 1:17 “.. the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
“Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.”

There is but one only living and true God

There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, …… (Of God, and of the Holy Trinity -WCF Chapter II -I)

Oh God, as finite creatures, it is our desire to know you and to know your attributes. We look into your Word, for your Word declare who you are: there is but one only living and true God. We worship thee, the only living and true God who is perfect and infinite.


Deu 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

1Co 8:6 “there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”

1 Th 1:9 ” the living and true God“

Jer 10:10 But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King.

1Ti 1:17 To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Job 11:7 -9 “Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than heaven–what can you do? Deeper than Sheol–what can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.”

Joh 4:24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Act 14:15 “a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.”

“So Send I You” Missionary Hymn of the Twentieth Century

So Send I You

So send I you to labor unrewarded,
To serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown,
To bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing-
So send I you to toil for Me alone.

So send I you to bind the bruised and broken,
O’er wand’ring souls to work, to weep, to wake,
To bear the burdens of a world aweary-
So send I you to suffer for My sake.

So send I you to loneliness and longing,
With heart ahung’ring for the loved and known,
Forsaking home and kindred, friend and dear one-
So send I you to know My love alone.

So send I you to leave your life’s ambition,
To die to dear desire, self-will resign,
To labor long, and love where men revile you-
So send I you to lose your life in Mine.

So send I you to hearts made hard by hatred,
To eyes made blind because they will not see,
To spend, tho’ it be blood, to spend and spare not-
So send I you to taste of Calvary.

History

This hymn, So Send I You, has been called the greatest missionary hymn of the twentieth century. The hymn has been labelled by many evangelical leaders as the finest missionary hymn of the twentieth century. It was first published in 1954 after having been written sixteen years earlier by a Canadian school teacher, Margaret Clarkson.

“Margaret Clarkson, who was born in 1915, was a teacher in a gold-mining camp in northern Ontario, Canada. It was a lonely life for this woman, but she also knew that this is where God wanted her to serve Him. She had a great desire to be a missionary on a foreign field but because of her health was unable to go. One day she was reading again the verse John 20:21, “Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.” While meditating on this verse she wrote the words to a hymn that has become a favorite during missionary conferences, “So Send I You.”

“In 1935 teaching jobs were so scarce that I had to take my first job as a teacher in a lumber camp some 1400 miles from home, out in the Rainy River District of northwestern Ontario. From there I moved to the gold mining camp of Kirkland Lake, 450 miles north of Toronto. In all, I spent seven years in the north. I experienced loneliness of every kind; mental, cultural, but particularly spiritual, for in all of those seven yeaars I never found real Christian fellowship - churches were modern and born-again Christians almost non-existent.

I was studying the Word one night and meditating on the loneliness of my situation and came in my reading to John 20, and the words ‘So send I you’. Because of a physical disability I knew that I could never go to the mission field, but God seemed to tell me that night that this was my mission field, and this was where He had sent me. I was then twenty-hree, in my third year of teaching. I had written and published verse all of my life, so it was natural to put my thoughts into verse.”

Sources:

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/c/l/a/clarkson_m.htm

http://songsandhymns.org/people/detail/e.margaret-clarkson

http://www.wheaton.edu/learnres/ARCSC/exhibits/clarkson/

Raging Financial Storm: Does Jesus Care ?

We are now in a midst of a frightening global financial storm in a scale never seen before , billions of dollars disappear as the stock market continue to slide downward. Suddenly, no one has absolute confidence in their banks anymore. When you could not trust your bank anymore, you suddenly demand politicians you don't trust to provide guarantee to your banks . As believers, God's word is clear that we do not pursue and long after worldly things (Matt 6:18-19). We should fixing our eyes upon Jesus (Heb 12:2) and knowing that God will take care of us and we should not lose faith that He is in control of our lives, as the storm rages on and on, many personal fortunes including my own savings from years of frugal living and prudent investment evaporated into thin air, we often think within ourselves: Does Jesus Care?

In the Gospels, we have another storm raging in the Sea of Galilee. Jesus asked his disciples to get into the boat, they obeyed Him and set sail to cross the lake. Jesus, weary from the day activities, left the disciples to themselves and rested at the stern of the vessel. Just then, the weather turned adversely and quickly into a "windstorm": very strong winds and raging seas. The boat was swallowing up water and tossed from side to side and was in real danger of sinking, the disciples were hanging on to their dear lives as they fought the risk of drowning in this storm.

Mar 4:35-41
"On that day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." And leaving the crowd, they took Him with them in the boat, just as He was. And other boats were with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion."

At that point, they looked to their leader for direction and when they saw Jesus sound asleep, they woke and questioned Him: "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" Mar 4: 38. RC Sproul commented, "Their question was not really a question. It was an accusation. The suggestion was thinly veiled. They were actually saying, "You don't care if we drown", they were charging the Son of God with a lack of compassion. This outrageous attack on Jesus is consistent with mankind's customary attitude towards God. God has to listen to complaints like these from an ungrateful humanity every day. Heaven is bombarded with repeated charges of angry people. God is called "unloving" "cruel", and "aloof", as if He has not done enough to prove His compassion for us." (page 51 - The Trauma of Holiness, The Holiness of God).

Was God not aware that the storm was raging and His disciples greatly feared for their lives ? Was God the Father also "aloof" and "unloving" thus did not ensure that His elect will be cushioned from the going through storm? "And He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" We see our Lord Jesus woke up and merely told the wind: stop ! The "wind ceased" and the sea stopped raging and "there was a great calm" However Jesus appeared to be disappointed with the level of faith that His disciples had in Him: Where is your faith?

Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). It can be inferred that Jesus telling us through these verses : Do not look at the raging storm, have faith, turn and look at me ! I am in control. You are my sheep, I am the good Shepherd. I have already laid down my life for my sheep, I will take care of you. I am in control. Just let go and trust me fully.

Can we take comfort from Jesus' miracle of calming the storm and His rebuke and heed His disciple , Peter's exhortation: "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." 1 Peter 5:7. Does Jesus Care ?

Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
As the daylight fades into deep night shades,
Does He care enough to be near?

Oh yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.

Jesus Christ the “Root of Jesse”

Who was Jesse ? King David’s father was “Jesse” or Yishai (Hebrew: יִשַׁי, Yíšay, meaning “God’s gift”). King David was sometimes simply referred to as “Son of Jesse” (Ben Yishai) - (Luke:3:31-32). Jesse was the son of Obed, and the grandson of Ruth (Luke 3). Jesse was a Bethlehemite.(1 Samuel 16:1). God specifically told Prophet Samuel to choose a king from the sons of Jesse.

David, son of Jesse, was anointed by God to be the second King of Israel. In 1 Sam 16:1: And the LORD said unto Samuel, ….fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. God guided Samuel to David, His choice. Unlike man, looking at the outside, the “LORD looketh on the heart.” 1 Sam 16:12-13 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. ….”. With and through David, God established the Davidic Covenant whereby God established the Kingdom through David and his seed forever. (see here What is the Davidic covenant?)

More than 700 years before the birth of Christ in David’s home town in Bethlehem, the prophet Isaiah revealed the prophecy on the “Root of Jesse” ? In Luke 3, we see the genealogy of Jesus Christ traced down through Joseph (Jesus’ earthly father) and then right down to King David (Luke:3:31-32)- “David, Which was the son of Jesse”. In Isaiah 11, we see clearly the “Root of Jesse”, Jesus Christ as King, will rule and reign over the earth with righteousness, justice and power.

Isaiah 11:1-5, 10
1. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins……..In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

“Root of Jesse” stood as a sign for the people. All people, Jews and Gentiles will look to Jesus Christ, “of him shall the nations inquire”.

Paul re-stated Isaiah in Romans 15 and pointed to Jesus Christ as the “Root of Jesse”. In Rom 15:12 “And again Isaiah saith, “There shall be a Root of Jesse, and He that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in Him shall the Gentiles trust.” Paul reminded Christians, as non-Jews were not the original receivers of the Abraham’s Covenant, by faith trusting in the “Root of Jesse”, we are now saved from His wrath and graciously grafted by Jesus Christ to into His body: “you,although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree” Rom 11:17. All born again Christians are baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ and are the spiritual children of Abraham and by God’s sovereign grace enjoy God’s blessings promised to Abraham.

Rom 11:8 “Now I say, that Jesus Christ was a minister of the Circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy; as it is written: “For this cause I will confess to Thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto Thy name.” And again he saith, “Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with His people.” And again, “Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and laud Him, all ye people.”

Lets be always thankful to God for His Grace in revealing and giving us the faith in the “Root of Jesse”: our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

When the Holy Spirit Moves and Brings Revival

When the Holy Spirit moves and brings revival, people are found turning away from their selves, they are found humbling themselves before a Holy God, there will be much prayers, tears, repentance, confession and forsaking of sins and souls will be saved. Evangelist John Sung, the anointed servant of Jesus Christ, knew from his own experiences that these sovereign works of the Holy Spirit in convicting sinners are clearly evident in the 1931 Nan-Chang revival when the Holy Spirit came mightily to draw men and women to Him and revived the churches in China.

During that revival, he recounted an occasion when one of the teachers brought five students who had already heard about the Gospel to see him .While their hearts were prepared but they had yet to come before God in faith to repent and believe. He wrote, “I asked everyone to kneel and pray, and said: “Lord, you have greatly suffered for us on the Cross, and they have doubts or are still unwilling to accept this unprecedented salvation. Those who are proud or doubtful are but seeking their own demise. Who can enter the Kingdom of God but he who is like a child? As I prayed, I felt that my “self” had died, and it was the Lord who was speaking to them. At that hour, the Holy Spirit descended upon us and Li Yun Ding started to cry bitterly as she felt heavy with sin. All five of them finally turned to the Lord.”

Clearly the message that John Sung was saying to every sinner that is seeking salvation, with a child-like faith you must humble yourself and look to the Lamb of God on the cross and cry out to God for mercy and grace and be born again. Through the preaching of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit calls the sinner, convicts him of his sins and draws him to Calvary. The sinners saw their sins and they saw Jesus Christ, the pure and perfect Lamb of God, offered as their atoning sacrifice and their only hope.

Walking very closely with God, John Sung himself fully immersed with the Word of God and prayers before God. He shared with foreign missionaries and teachers, “I read 11 chapters of the Bible every day. After each chapter, I will ask the Lord to reveal to me my sins. The Bible is His Precious Blood meant to cleanse my sins. I cannot leave the salvation brought about by His Precious Blood for even one minute.” He urged foreign missionaries and teachers to attend a particular meeting to be held in the night and he revealed “as this was the day the Holy Spirit would descend upon us mightily.”

In the afternoon before the meeting, it was already evident that the Holy Spirit was already working amongst attendees, he wrote “Many were tearing amongst the audience even before the service was due to begin that afternoon.” John Sung pointed them to the Savior, the perfect Lamb of God dying on the cross for the transgressions of sinners. He wrote,”I preached from Luke 23:26-46. Before long, the entire congregation and I were in tears and everyone raised their hands. The hall was reverberating with heartfelt prayers.”

In a meeting with the teachers and preachers just prior to start of the meeting, he pleaded with

them, “If a preacher could not identify his own sins and empty himself, he would lack the power to penetrate the strong citadels in other people’s hearts. Destroy not what the Holy Spirit has wrought in your heart, lest God be grieved. God loves to work with him who has an obedient heart.” He stated “There is now a spiritual revival amongst the students, and the leaders will be guilty of a great sin if they themselves do not experience a spiritual revival.” Surely, John Sung clearly understood that a preacher of the Gospel must have spent much time before the Lord praying and preparing his heart and dealing with known sins and seeking to rely and call upon God’s power to bring forth the Gospel to illuminate sinners who are spiritual dead and blind. He mentioned, “In my prayers, I lamented the fact that I do not even have a tiny fraction of His Love, and begged for His forgiveness. May He give me His love and save all the prodigal sons who have been led astray. During the meeting that evening, John Sung recorded the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit: “At that hour, the Holy Spirit came upon us …… broke down and cried as she confessed and gave her heart to the Lord.” Sins were confessed, lives and focus priorities of leaders were aligned.

He believed that The Holy Spirit will sustain the revival already begun but it was important that weekly prayer meetings be held for people who are saved to come together to pray and ask for God’s “cleansing by the Blood of the Lamb”. Weekly prayer meeting were the focal points where people of God come together to seek His face and seek His interventions in their lives and for the work at hand. On 7 March 1931 in another meeting, he delivered a sermon warning about hypocritical attitudes will take over if people who are saved do not come often before God. He wrote, “I asked the audience to pray when I had finished. At this juncture, I heard the sound of the Holy Spirit descending in my left ear. More than 50 people continued to pray incessantly, confessing their sins in a deluge of tears, and were unable to continue with their prayers. All but three girls from the high school accepted salvation on that day.”

When hearts of God’s people are prepared and they earnestly seek His presence, He will come !

Feed The Lord’s Sheep With The Truth: Declaring all the counsel of God

The world out there says there is no such thing as absolute truth. Today, it is much more popular and politically convenient to the world to say no religion has the monopoly to the Truth. However, Truth is absolute. Truth cannot be relative or it becomes meaningless. So when a Christian says that there can only be one and only one Truth from God, a Christian is often labeled as unloving, narrow-minded, closed-minded, arrogant and bigoted. As a result, in Churches where the teachings emphasize a need on love for and acceptance of the world, both Churches and Christians become conscious of offending the world and opt for toning down declaring “all the counsel of God”

Every disciple of the Jesus Christ has to know and believe Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Truth: “Jesus said unto him, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” John 14:6. The Gospel is a very exclusive message pointing to one God and the only Way for sinners to be reconciled to God and be spared from God’s wrath. The Gospel is very clear: Jesus Christ is the only way to God, there is no other way. The Truth to God is found in the person of Jesus Christ alone, there is no other Truth. Eternal life is the gift of God through Jesus Christ, there is no other way to be with God in heaven.

People of God who heard and believed the Gospel must live it and declare it faithfully. We know that “God is Love” (I John 4:8) and it is true. It is very important to know that Love “rejoices with the truth” (1 Cor 13:6). Apostle Paul loved the Lord’s sheep and he wants to present the Church as the chaste bride to Christ the Bridegroom (2 Corinthians 11:2). Paul lived the Truth and wholly preached and fully declared everything he has received from the LORD Jesus Christ. He said, “for I have not shrunk from declaring unto you all the counsel of God.” (Act 20: 27).

Paul recalled, “in all seasons,…and how I kept back nothing that was profitable for you, but have shown you and have taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying…..repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Act 20: 18-21). The focus of his ministry, his joy and his life was very clear to him. The Apostle Paul said, “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the Gospel of the grace of God.” (Act 20: 24).

While Paul’s ministry and purpose is to preach, convert and disciple believers for the Lord Jesus Christ, he is well aware that Satan will always be there to try subverting what God has purposed to do. The “wolves” will present a perverted Gospel: watered down Gospel, half Gospel, twisted Gospel. As an under-shepherd who has watered and fed God’s sheep, he reminded the “overseers” of God’s flock to “take heed” because the “grievous wolves” shall enter in amongst the sheep. He was saying very clearly that there will be “wolves” amongst the sheep within the professing believers in the visible church.

He pleaded and urged the “overseers” to do their duty to God: “to feed the church of God” (Act 20: 28). He commended the “overseers” to feed the sheep on “God and to the word of His grace”. Overseers of God’s sheep must desire and work very hard to ensure that every sheep in their care “that they received the Word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily to see whether those things were so” (Act 17: 11).

If overseers are not vigilant or do not care to “take heed” and are not preaching and teaching “all the counsel of God”, then God’s sheep are not fed. If God’s sheep are not fed, they will likely follow “wolves”. The character of these wolves is as such: “among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them”.

Paul warned and warned God’s sheep for THREE years DAY and NIGHT. This part of the ministry is no small matter to Paul. “Therefore watch, and remember that for the space of three years I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears.” Act 20: 31 Today it appears that this “take heed” and “to warn” aspect of an overseer’s ministry is a small matter to many “overseers” within the visible church ? Why ? Why the neglect of “all the counsel of God ” ?

Paul’s plead is that overseers must feed and warn the sheep all the time. All believers must fix our eyes upon God by immersing in His Word seriously “And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

Guide me, O thou great Jehovah: Family Worship Time

Everyday we all live in this cold and hostile world controlled by the prince of this world. It is a sensual and carnal world. This world does not know God and has no desire to acknowledge or worship Him.

God warned us not to love the world and the things that are in the world. He reminded us that if we love the world, we really don't love Him. I John 2: 15-16 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world -- the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life -- is not of the Father, but is of the world.

How can our family find the grace and help to live out our testimonies and remained faithful and true to God. God know we need to guide and remind our family, he commands that we have a responsibility to Him that we should be faithful to teach our children. Ps 78: 4 We must point our children to Him daily, showing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done.


There is a need for time and place where a believer can retreat daily with his family to gather together, feed on his words, pray and focus on God. Where the thirsty souls can come to the One who can give a drink of the the living waters. (John 4: 14) Where the wounded soldiers of Jesus Christ gather to hear His words and receive the balm for their pains and rest. Where we can feast to our heart's content on God's Words:


Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but thou are mighty,
Hold me with thy powerful hand;
Bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more.


Psalm 78: 1-7
Give ear, O my people, to my law; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done.For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded to our fathers, that they should make them known to their children;that the generation to come might know them, even the children who should be born, who should arise and declare them to their children,that they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments; and so might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God. KJ21®

Holy Spirit's work in convicting all sinners before God

From his diary, John Sung revealed the key to the 1931 revival in Nanchang, China . In any true revival, he confirmed the vital works of Holy Spirit in convicting men and women of their sins. John Sung wrote then: “Suddenly, I felt deeply touched to speak on sin and salvation”. God must prepare the hearts of his messengers in a revival.

This distinct aspect of the Holy Spirit's work in convicting all sinners before God is clearly stated by our Lord Jesus Christ in John 16:8 – 11 : “And when He is come, He will reprove the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment: concerning sin, because they believe not in Me; concerning righteousness, because I go to My Father and ye see Me no more; concerning judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”

It is evident that John Sung was convinced that for evangelism to be effective, God must send the Holy Spirit to open the hearts of men and women through the clear preaching the Gospel. John Sung was sure that those“who have not been touched by the Holy Spirit are not aware of sin.' and those “who are not aware of sin cannot accept salvation from the Lord”

This is an important point in any effort to evangelise to sinners. It is not about the making the message more “seeker friendly”, toning it down to the “unchurched” or “pre-believers” and relying on the man-made method to claim “decisions for Christ”. God centred evangelism is to sinners and must faithfully declare the Truth as proclaimed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the Spirit of Truth who will show sinners their sinful and lost state and point them to their only hope and Savior.

John16-13-15 “However when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak from Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak; and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are Mine; therefore I said that He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you.”

“I have come to understand more clearly than ever that the Lord did not come to teach us or set an example. Indeed He came to take away our sins and die for sinners. A sense of great guilt burned within me as I recalled that my past sermons were ineffective for lack of emphasis on confession and salvation. Henceforth, I shall be a fisher of men! The Lord will only glorify the teachings of those who spread His Truth. As the Lord loves me, He allowed me to experience the many weaknesses of the ministry workers and showed me the path to church revival. I knew in the past that the Lord had come to cleanse our sins, but I knew not that He had come to do just that. A miss is as good as a mile indeed! One who is truly born again can spot sin with ease and repent because he knows what sin is. He will surely be concerned for the salvation of those around him.” Pg 119 “The Journal Once Lost”

There is NONE that does good or seek after God, not even one.

There is NONE that does good or seek after God, not even one. ALL have sinned.

“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Rom 3: 10-12

If God’s sovereignty offers you Mercy and Grace, it is God’s gift. No one ever deserve it, God shows mercy to whom He chooses.

Without God’s righteousness through the finished work of His only Savior, given freely and at God’s will to those He called, no sinners will ever be saved.

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Rom 3:22-24

You can’t save yourself, only God can save. You don’t choose God, He chooses to save who He calls. Neither you or anyone deserve any mercy from God, He saves by His Grace. A saving faith to trust and believe in Him is the only through God’s mercy and mighty power.

Lets turn to God and take Him on His word and call upon Him for mercy:
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” John 3:36

And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
I John 5:11-12

Rom10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Holy Spirit Fell on All Present

William E. Schubert in his book “I Remember John Sung”.wrote this account of the NanChang China Pentecost when the power of the Holy Spirit came mightily during a John Sung led revival meeting.

Holy Spirit Fell on All Present
(NanChang, China - March 1931)

“That evening, instead of the six or eight or ten coming, there were 250 to 300 present in the Baldwin School chapel. The place was filled. Dr. Sung had us sing some choruses about prayer. Then he told us to pray. But nobody prayed. It was rather embarrassing at first. Then two little high school girls stood up and began to pray at the same time. I can still see their double braids. We had never had that; never more than one person prayed at the one time. ……….

Just then the Holy Spirit fell on everybody. All began to pray at once. There was no rushing wind, and there were no tongues that I know of. But God spoke to everyone in Chinese, and it seemed the natural thing to pray in Chinese, with utterance beyond what I had ever experienced. God spoke to me in Chinese, and I prayed in torrents of Chinese.

At first, Dr. Sung was very much surprised, and not pleased. He called out for us to stop: “We don’t want any fanaticism here.” I don’t think he had ever been in a place where all prayed at one time, though later in his meetings it often happened. Later, it became common, and still is practised in Taiwan and among most evangelical Chinese groups everywhere. But at the time we had never seen or heard it before. The whole outburst was unplanned and spontaneous — a moving of the Holy Spirit. But that night in March 1931 Dr. Sung stopped us.

He asked all to go to their rooms and pray quietly. He said, “Now I’ll pronounce the benediction.” But as he prayed, the Holy Spirit fell the second time, and everybody began to pray a in chorus again. Again he stopped us: “You didn’t understand; I didn’t say to pray here.” I later asked him why he stopped us, and he told me, “I didn’t want the missionaries to say `That crazy Sung made all the students crazy.”

Then, as he began to pronounce the benediction again, the Holy Spirit fell upon the whole congregation the third time. So he finally let us go on, and the spontaneous prayer must have continued forty-five minutes to an hour. Christians got under conviction and confessed their sins. There were about seven or eight communist students, who later confessed that they had been paid to come there to school to cause trouble.

These communist students were in the center of rows, scattered throughout the audience where they could make the most disturbance. When they got under conviction, they tried to get out, but the Christian students wouldn’t let them out of the rows. The Christian students had been praying for them. I can remember seeing the Christian students beating their own knees for joy when the young communists got so under conviction. All the agitators could do was to stand up and beat their breasts and cry out, “Oh, my unspeakable sins.” They all became earnest Christians.’

John Sung - God's Evangelist for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Chinese in China and Asia

God in His grace will see to it that the Gospel of Jesus Christ will be transmitted and preached by His messengers to every tongue and tribe in the entire world before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ at His 2nd coming. God raised up one of the greatest evangelists of all time to reach out to the Chinese people in China and those scattered outside of China.

William E. Schubert in "I REMEMBER JOHN SUNG" said, "Dr. Sung was probably the greatest preacher of this century. I have heard almost all the great preachers from 1910 until now, including R. A. Torrey, Billy Sunday, Henry Jowett, the great holiness preachers, the Methodist bishops, including Bishop Quayle, even Harry Emerson Fosdick, who set a great example of the homiletic art, though I did not agree with him, and finally Billy Graham. Yet John Sung surpassed them all in pulpit power, attested by amazing and enduring results, ....."

Today, many Chinese churches outside of China (in South East Asia and Taiwan) had their original roots through the ministry of this worthy servant of the Lord: John Sung Shang Chieh (traditional Chinese: 宋尚節; simplified Chinese: 宋尚节; pinyin: Sòng Shàng-Jíe; (29 September 1901 – 18 August 1944) was a faithful Chinese Christian evangelist who was greatly used by the Lord in the revival movement among the Chinese in Mainland China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia during the 1920s and 1930s.

Our Almighty and Everlasting God has been merciful and gracious to the Chinese. He sent His servant John Sung to shine the glorious light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to reach millions of Chinese. John Sung sowed a lasting legacy of faithful believers who have reaped more than hundred folds many times over.

Though, I was came into this world long after John Sung has passed away, I came to know the Lord through the ministries of faithful believers who came to the Lord through the preaching of John Sung in the past.

Thank You Lord for John Sung !

Asian Awakening

I Remember John Sung

John Sung My Teacher

http://articles.christiansunite.com/article2573.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sung
http://www.bdcconline.net/bdcc_stories/c...
http://www.evanwiggs.com/revival/portrai...
http://wapedia.mobi/en/John_Sung
http://www.armourpublishing.com/armour/site/products/NEW_TITLES/Christian/9789814222082

I hear my risen Savior say: "Follow me, follow me, follow me"

God sent His only begotten Son: my Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. God alone freely gave His mercy out of His Sovereign Grace and Love. Our Lord has given so much for me, I can’t repay Him neither does He expect me to. My only appropriate response is just to simply receive His Grace, to love and enjoy Him, to obey and do His words, serving Him and bringing Glory to Him. Lord Jesus, my Lord and my God, I hear thee and I will follow thee, .

Words by George D. Watson
Harmony by Herbert G. Tovey

http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php?t=h&n=1030

1. I hear my risen Savior say:
“Follow me, follow me, follow me”;
His voice is calling all the day,
“Follow me, follow me, follow me;
For thee I trod the bitter way,
For thee I gave my life away,
And drank the gall thy debt to pay,
Follow me, follow me, follow me.”

2. “Though thou hast sinned I’ll pardon thee;
Follow me, follow me, follow me!
From every sin I’ll set thee free;
Follow me, follow me, follow me!
In all thy changing life I’ll be
Thy God, thy guide on land and sea,
Thy bliss through all eternity,
Follow me, follow me, follow me!”

3. “Come, cast on Me thine every care;
Follow me, follow me, follow me!
Thy heavy load I will upbear;
Follow me, follow me, follow me!
Come, look to Me—dismiss thy fears;
And trust Me through eternal years;
My hand shall wipe away thy tears;
Follow me, follow me, follow me!”

1. 我听我的救主吩咐：『跟从我，跟从我，跟从我；』
   祂的声音终日招呼：『跟从我，跟从我，跟从我；
   为你，我走艰辛路途，为你，我曾性命不顾，
   并尝苦胆免你重负，跟从我，跟从我，跟从我。
2. 你虽有罪，我必宽宥，跟从我，跟从我，跟从我；
   脱离捆绑，你必自由，跟从我，跟从我，跟从我；
   人事变动不甚长久，我作你神引导无休，
   作你喜乐直至千秋，跟从我，跟从我，跟从我。
3. 带你罣虑到我这里，跟从我，跟从我，跟从我；
   你的重担放我手臂，跟从我，跟从我，跟从我；
   你的疑惧息我胸臆，你的将来向我依倚，
   我必亲手拭你泪滴，跟从我，跟从我，跟从我。』

Everyone who thirst, Come To Me and Drink!

John 7:37-39 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

The feast mentioned here is the Jewish festival of Sukkot and there is a ritual of the drawing of water from a spring and bringing it to the altar as an offering to be poured out. The “Pouring of the Water” (nisuch hamayim) was an important feature of the festival of Sukkot. It was already at the end festival of Sukkot, when all the celebrations including the ritualistic pouring of the water at the altar of the Temple are already finished, our Lord Jesus Christ stood up and cried out …..EVERYONE WHO THIRST, COME TO ME and DRINK !

Background to the Jewish festival of Sukkot and “Pouring of the Water”
“When the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem, the “Pouring of the Water” (nisuch hamayim) was an important feature of the festival of Sukkot….; .. The drawing of water for this purpose was preceded by all-night celebrations in the Temple courtyard, with music-playing Levites, torch-juggling sages and huge oil-burning lamps that illuminated the entire city. The singing and dancing went on until daybreak, when a procession would make its way to the Shiloach Spring which flowed in a valley below the Temple. A golden pitcher, holding three lugim, was filled from the Shiloach Spring. When they arrived at the Water Gate, the shofar was sounded…. [The priest] ascended the ramp [of the altar] and turned to his left … where there were two bowls of silver … with small holes [in their bottom], one wider and the other narrower so that both should empty at the same time–the western one was for the water and the eastern one for wine…” - The Taste of Water-Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe; adapted by Yanki Tauber

From what the Lord said, there are three things to happen : you must thirst, you must come to Him and you must drink from Him.Unless you thirst after righteousness of God, why would you go and get a drink ? Would any man or woman “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph 2:1) thirst after God’s righteousness and seeks after God ? Rom3:11 says it: “there is none that understandeth; there is none that seeketh after God.”. No no one will seek after God unless God draws him or her to Him. Our Lord said in John 12:32 “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”

Can we claim our drink from Him on the basis we earned it by our “works of righteousness” ? Simply put, can we seek to claim salvation from God on the basis that we have always striven to live better and behave better. No! Why would you come to the Divine Physician unless you acknowledge that you are sick in sins and it is incurable and terminal without God’s remedy and power? “But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.” Matt 9:12 Every one has to humble himself or herself, leaving behind all our “self righteousness” claims, come to Jesus Christ and ask Him to give us a drink. In our Lord’s encounter with the Samaritan woman, he revealed that it is “the gift of God” and she will only ask if she really knew who Jesus Christ is. Yes, Jesus Christ is greater than Jacob, only Jesus Christ can give us the gift of the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can give us living water of eternal life through born again and regeneration because Jesus Christ has provided the only Way to God and the only Truth to come to God and the only Life Everlasting.

John 4:10-13Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”"Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Only By His Grace, God the Father upon His begotten Son’s victorious work on the cross has raised Him from the dead, sent the Holy Spirit into all who come and believed in Him. Our rebellious kneels and hearts must have bowed to the our Sovereign who is absolutely Holy and absolutely Just. Our faith must be in Him as our sin-bearer, the Lamb of God. We have to look to Lamb of God lifted up and live. We in our bodily temples are cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb, the Holy Spirit comes and lives in us.

All life on earth needs water, without water, all life will die sooner or later. Without water, we will die ! The Holy Spirit is the living water of eternal life, we have to come to Jesus Christ to drink of the Holy Spirit. He alone can quench our spiritual thirst and will continue to abide with us and give us “the rivers of living waters” ! He will be a “spring of water welling up to eternal life”. The Holy Spirit will do His mighty works of righteousness in us. The Holy Spirit is the gift of our risen Lord Jesus Christ to all who heard Him stood up and cried out, we have come to Him and we have drank and we have Life Everlasting. Hallelujah ! To God be the Glory !

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