Hearing and Believing God's Voice

There are many voices in the world. Many people say one thing, and others say another – it is impossible to know ‘What is truth?’, as Pilate asked Jesus Christ. But we know what Christ said to His father, during His prayer in John Chapter 17: “Sanctify them with your truth, YOUR WORD is Truth”. The Word of God is the only valid truth in the whole world. And God’s Word is not only a Book, but it is a Person: Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Word of God that became flesh, and dwelt among us. Jesus Christ was the last and definitive Message that God was speaking to the world. As it says in Hebrews 1:1-2: "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world."

What the writer of Hebrews means is that God used to speak to the world in many times and in various ways through His prophets in the past, but in these last days, He sent His only begotten Son to speak His perfect and definitive word to us. Jesus Christ and His life, death and resurrection – the Gospel – was the last Word that God had to say to this world that is dead in sins. And it is by hearing, believing and following this Word of God made flesh, Jesus Christ the Gospel, that a sinful man is saved, and is given everlasting life.

The reason why God has made hearing and believing in the Gospel as the only way of salvation is because sin originally sprang forth from the rejection of the voice of God for the voice of others. Eve sinned first by listening to the voice of the devil, who spoke the lie to her, and she believed that voice, and followed that voice over God’s. But in Genesis Chapter 3:6, we can see that she did not just do what the devil told her to do, but she also followed her own thoughts, which were influenced by the devil, and followed the desire of her own heart. Thus sin is never the Satan's fault alone, but equally our fault. And Adam listened to the voice of his wife over God’s, and believed her when she preached her own thoughts to him. He fell in sin, and the entire human race was subjected to sin, pain, death and eternal condemnation – all because he rejected the voice of God for the voice of another.

So we see that there are 3 voices that are hindering us from listening to the voice of the one True God: the voice of the Devil, the voice of our own mind, and the voice of world or man. These three led the entire human race astray, making all of them do the will of the devil, the will of self and the will of man, over God’s good and perfect will.

Let us ask for ourselves, even as Christians: What is it that makes us to sin against God? What is the main sin that leads us to all other ‘fruits of sin’, such as lusting, lying, anger, hatred, etc. Is it not listening and believing and following these other three voices? When we were lost, and had not the Holy Spirit living in us, there were only these three voices in us, making us only to do those things which we are ashamed. We were slaves of sin, listening to our own desires, obeying the voice of our flesh, which was influenced by the devil and encouraged by fellow sinners. Sin was the only choice for us.

But what happened, that led us out of the darkness into the light of God? Was it not the voice of Jesus Christ? Was it not the Word of God which preached to us the Good News of Jesus Christ? We listened to this voice, and we knew that this was the voice of Jesus Christ, the Creator of the world. It killed these other three voices that were in us, and led us into God’s marvelous light, and we believed joyfully in what Christ has done for us. And we were led by this voice, the voice of the Spirit, and became the sons and daughters of the Almighty God!

But what happened during the way, which made us stop walking this good Way? What has made us back-slidden from this Way? Was it not listening to and believing and obeying these other voices, to the voice of the Devil, to the commandments and doctrines of man, and to the voice of the world that teaches us lusts of the flesh, lusts of the eyes and the pride in possessions? We have committed spiritual adultery against God, by listening to these other voices rather than God’s.

In the bible, revival always came when people stopped listening to these wicked voices and began to listen to the voice of the Almighty God again. When the King Josiah found the book of the Law which had been buried in the temple, and read the book of the Law, His heart was torn, and He repented before God with weeping. And what did God say to him about that?:

2 Kings 22:16-20: "Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD. Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.'" And they brought back word to the king."

God said to Josiah “I also have heard you”. When we repent before God and are willing to listen to His voice alone, and we reject all these other voices, then God also begins to listen to our prayers. Until we are listening to Him, God will not listen to us. And we see how Josiah afterwards brought a total revival upon the land. Why? Because he listened to the voice of God that was written in the Scriptures and not any other voices:

2 Kings 23:1-25: "Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. And the king went up to the house of the LORD, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD. And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.

And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels made forBaal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations and all the host of the heavens. And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people. And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah. And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from Geba to Beersheba. And he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the gate of the city. However, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech.And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts. And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. And the altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, he pulled down and broke in pieces and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south ofthe mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And he broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.

Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned, reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah. And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the LORD that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things. Then he said, "What is that monument that I see?" And the men of the city told him, "It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel." And he said, "Let him be; let no man move his bones." So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria. And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that werein the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the LORD to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel. And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

And the king commanded all the people, "Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant." For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the LORD in Jerusalem.

Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him."

But here is the issue with listening to God’s voice that plagues modern Christianity today: how do you know that you have heard from GOD? For everyone claims that they are hearing from God. We have heard so many times “God told me this, and God told me that”. But how do we know for sure?

As Jesus Christ said to His Father, “YOUR WORD is truth”, His Scriptures is the Word of God. Josiah did not listen to his own voice and thoughts and ripped His clothes in repentance. He read the SCRIPTURES! Listening to and believing in and following the Scriptures what brought about revival in His heart.

Also listen to what Jesus did:

Luke 4:3-13: "The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." And Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone.'" And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, "To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." And Jesus answered him, "It is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'" And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, "'He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,' and "'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" And Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time."

Every time the Devil wanted to start a conversation with Him, Jesus Christ only replied with “IT IS WRITTEN”. The Scriptures are the definitive voice of God. It is the living Word of God. If Jesus Christ listened to the Scriptures, believed the Scriptures and followed the Scriptures, what makes us to think that we can listen to anything else as the true Word of God? What makes us think that we can listen to our voice or imaginations and call that the "Word of God"? Are we saying our thoughts and our words have more authority or equal authority to the Holy Scriptures? God has spoken all that He needs to speak through His Bible. There are no more prophesies, no more revelations than what has already been revealed to us in Bible through Jesus Christ. The truth has already come through Jesus Christ. There are no more profound truths to be found anywhere else but in His Gospel, which has already written in the Bible, which has been proclaimed first by Christ’s eyewitnesses and subsequently by those who have believed through them.

But is not the Church today ravaged by wolves who lead Christ’s sheep astray, who say “God says…” but instead they speak their own minds and their own thoughts? God has not spoken to them in any voice – for God has already spoke all things through His Son and Christ’s Apostles – but they still say, “Thus says the Lord…”, making their own voice to be more important than the voice of God speaking through the Scriptures. They make themselves to be more important than Christ, who is the Word of God in flesh. They justify their own thoughts by mis-interpreting and misquoting Bible verses, not realizing that in doing so they have become as the devil. They have become thieves of God’s word, as Jeremiah said. Is not God speaking to today's Church through this passage in Jeremiah?

Jeremiah 23: 16-40 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, 'It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, 'No disaster shall come upon you.'"

For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD
to see and to hear his word,
or who has paid attention to his word and listened?
Behold, the storm of the LORD!
Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
The anger of the LORD will not turn back
until he has executed and accomplished
the intents of his heart.
In the latter days you will understand it clearly.

"I did not send the prophets,
yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.

But if they had stood in my council,
then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,
and they would have turned them from their evil way,
and from the evil of their deeds.

"Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD. I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, 'declares the LORD.' Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD.

"When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, 'What is the burden of the LORD?' you shall say to them, 'You are the burden, and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.' And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, 'The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his household. Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, 'What has the LORD answered?' or 'What has the LORD spoken?' But 'the burden of the LORD' you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man’s own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. Thus you shall say to the prophet, 'What has the LORD answered you?' or 'What has the LORD spoken?' But if you say, 'The burden of the LORD,' thus says the LORD, 'Because you have said these words, "The burden of the LORD," when I sent to you, saying, "You shall not say, 'The burden of the LORD,'" therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'"

If we want to live again, we must stop listening to the voice of these false shepherds and false prophets, who speak not the words of God, but words of man, and we must listen again to the voice of the Son of God: John 5:25 "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

Many times God has been speaking to us, through the Scriptures that have been delivered to us by the Spirit, or by the preaching, or by godly friends or family who were near us. But we have ignored the voice of God, and suppressed the truth of God’s word by our unrighteousness. Therefore we have heaped upon ourselves judgements because we have suppressed God’s voice, while listening, believing, following and obeying other the voice of false prophets, who only spoke the words that were smooth to hear. Thus we have trampled the glory of God underfoot.

If we continue to not listen to the voice of Christ, then we plainly show that we are not the sheep of God. We plainly show that we are goats, having never been chosen by God from the foundation of the world:

John 10:1-6 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

See what Christ is saying: “The sheep hear His voice… and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice… a stranger they will not follow … but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers”. Let us examine ourselves: do we know Christ’s voice? Do we know when Christ speaks to us through the Scripture, through the Holy Spirit? Do we have the ears to hear? If not, we are found reprobates, and bastards, goats who were never the sheep of His pasture. If you don’t know Christ’s voice, or have never heard Him speaking to you, you are not His sheep. Do we follow Him? If we claim to know His voice, we WILL follow Him, is what Christ is saying. Do we follow what He says to us? Do we live according to His will? Or do we do our own will? Do we follow His Words and commands or do we follow our own heart? Following Him does not MAKE US His sheep, but it is the evidence that we are His sheep and we hear and know His voice.

Do we follow strangers’ voice? Look what Christ says: “A stranger they WILL NOT follow”. If we are following the false Christs, the false Messiahs and the false gods of this world, then we clearly prove that we are not His sheep, nor we do we have ears to ear, and that we are not following Him. If we are following another god, let us repent, and turn back to the voice that called us from the darkness. Lastly, we do flee, run away, from other people’s voices? Do we run from these false prophets and false christs and false teachers with their false gospels? Or do we run straight into their arms as though they are our shepherds? Do we love the voice of the devil, of man, and of our own selves more than Christ’s voice? When we are led astray by these things, do we run away and straight away cry after our Shepherd? If not, we are not Christians. We have not been chosen. We are lost. We are goats. Or worse yet, we may be the wolves in sheep’s clothing ourselves, who have led many astray. Hell awaits us if that is the case.

Let us run into the arms of Jesus Christ. If we have refused to listen to Him, and have listened to the million voices of the world, and have lost the way, let us cry after Christ our Shepherd as David did in Psalm 119:176: I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.

Let us ask Christ to seek after us. If we are not the sheep of God, and we do not know His voice, then let us become the sheep of God by asking God to make us a New Creation in Christ. God is able to make us into His Sheep. He is able to give us ears to hear Christ’s voice. He is able to grant us the faith to believe in His voice, and the faith to follow and obey His voice. Let us run after Him and stay with Him, as Peter said: John 6:68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,

Let us listen to God’s voice in this passage, in which He pleads that we listen to His voice, and not our own thoughts:

Psalm 81:8-16

Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
There shall be no strange god among you;
you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
I am the LORD your God,
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

"But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel would not submit to me.
So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
to follow their own counsels.
Oh, that my people would listen to me,
that Israel would walk in my ways!
I would soon subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.
Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward him,
and their fate would last forever.
But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

When Jesus Christ took Peter, John and James on the Mount, Jesus Christ was transfigured and there appeared two great men of God beside them: Moses and Elijah. But see what it is written:

Luke 9:28-36 "Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah"— not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!" And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen."

See what it says. God spoke from the clouds. God’s voice was actually heard from heaven! Yet what did God’s voice say? “This is my Son, my Chosen One, listen to HIM!” God’s voice said: “Listen to JESUS!” And look what happened, Moses and Elijah disappeared. Why? To stress that Jesus Christ alone is the only natural Son of God. And secondly, to stress that HIM ALONE IS THE ONLY ONE WORTH HEARING. Moses was great and Elijah was awesome, but without God’s grace they are nothing but worthless sinners. Only Christ remained on the mount. And see Peter, who uttered silly words in the presence of God, but as he was saying those things, the cloud overshadowed Him, and what was God’s answer “LISTEN TO JESUS CHRIST MY SON!” And see what it says: “they kept silent”.

We do well to shut our mouths like Peter and stop saying silly things, and listen alone to Jesus Christ. This is the command of God. Be still and know that Jesus Christ alone is GOD! We don’t need to listen to anyone else. We don’t need to make smart comments. It is God’s will that we listen to Jesus Christ and follow His commandments. Martha had a lot to say about how Jesus should do many things, but Mary humbly listened to Christ’s voice, and thus she was praised over Martha. Let us listen to Christ! For in listening, believing and obeying Christ is the sum of our Christian life. By this, God will begin to listen to our prayers, and revival shall come. Let us give our undivided attention to Christ alone, and obey Him.

Image by Ambro

Why some professing Christians give up on Christ

Isaiah 46:1-4 "Bel bows down; Nebo stoops; their idols are on beasts and livestock; these things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts. They stoop; they bow down together; they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity. "Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.""

There is a sister at the Church that I attend who became a Christian after her boyfriend introduced her to the faith. When I first heard it, I thought that it was great, since she was from a country where Christianity is illegal, and praised God for His providence. Naturally, I thought that this man was a man of great faith, to be able share his faith to his girlfriend and convince her to become Christian. But after a while later, I found out that one day this boyfriend suddenly told her that he is no longer Christian, throwing the sister into confusion no doubt. I was also shocked at this boyfriend's sudden announcement.

Why do some professing Christians give up so easily from following Jesus Christ? Is it because there was not enough discipleship or counselling? Is it because they did not try enough? Is it because the environement around them made them difficult to continue believing? There may be many reasons, but the above scriptures tells us one of the main reasons why professing Christians give up believing in Christ: It is because they never believed in Christ.

Bel and Nebo were famous idols during the times of Isaiah, and God teaches children of Israel the main difference between idols and the only true God. He says "their idols are on beasts and livestock, these things are borne as burdens on weary beasts". He is saying, 'Look at these idols. You need to carry them on your beasts, like burdens". Idols are a heavy burden to carry to its believers. Look at all the religions of the world. What heavy burdens do they have to carry around their gods with them. Their gods do not do anything for them, but they need to do everything for their gods. They need to sacrifice so much and do so much for their gods to be with them, that they may carry them in their pockets like heavy stones. The laws they need to keep, the rituals they need to follow are like burdens that crush them. And they do these for their gods, that their gods may have favour for them. They need to build houses and temples for their gods to dwell in, for they themselves are homeless, and have no arms or hands to build houses for them. Their worshippers must do everything for them. Their gods are like their babies, having to be carried by them, to be fed by them! What an abomination are these things to the eyes of the One true God who needs NOTHING from men:
Psalm 50:9-12 "I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine."

But how many professing Christians carry around Jesus Christ like an idol, as a burden upon them too hard to carry? It is no wonder that they give up Christ, for they try to carry this Rock around in their pockets. Jesus Christ cannot be carried by any man, for it is like carrying a great mountain that fills the whole earth:
Daniel 2:35 "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth."

Try carrying Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ will end up crushing you and grounding you into powder. You cannot carry God, who is larger than the heavens and the heavens of the heavens. The one who thinks he can carry Christ is one who has never felt the weight of the glory of God. He is one who knows not God. No wonder people stop following Christ, because they become crushed under the burden that is Christ. It is like a gazelle trying to carry a lion. Likewise he who tries to carry his Christianity by his own strength will torn apart and eaten alive by the Lion of the tribe of Judah. We have forgotten the greatness and the terror of our great God. Let us pray that we may have revelation of both.

What is then the difference between Jesus Christ and the gods of other religions? Jesus Christ is the one carrying us. Read what God says: "Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you." What God is saying is that He will carry His people like a baby, unto the old age, even unto our death. Read what He says in another place:
Deuteronomy 1:31 "and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.'"
He carried Israel all the way from Egypt, through the wilderness, and carried them all the way into the promised land. Likewise, Jesus Christ will carry His people all the way to the end.

Remeber when Christ said:
Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
And when He said:
Matthew 11:30 "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Jesus Christ's burden is light because He is carrying the whole load. Have you ever carried a heavy load with another person, but the other person was doing all the carrying, and the burden was so light on your arms? That is how it is with Jesus Christ. He not only carries our burdens, but He carries our whole self. Our job is to be carried by Jesus Christ all the way. This is what it means to believe in Jesus Christ. To believe in Jesus Christ is to throw our whole burden of our weight into His arms, and continue to be carried until He carries us to heaven. This is what faith is. It is to give ourselves away into the His arms, and just letting God carry us as a father carries a baby. It is to throw ourselves unto His shoulders as heavy loads unto His strong shoulders.

Why do some professing Christians give up on Christ? Because they never became converted and became little chilren, that they may throw themselves upon Christ. They never trusted in Christ. They never believed in Christ. They try for a season to do this 'Christian thing' with all their might and all their strength, but they become tired and burdened and sick of it, because they realized not that it is not by strenght, nor by might, but by the Holy Spirit. They never leaned with their whole weight unto Christ. Their trust is in themselves, in their own strength of following Christ. These are those who try to be a believer for a while, but realize that it is too difficult to continuously keep up with the boundaries and the high standards. They are those who burn away after a season, as Jesus described:
Matthew 13: 20-21 "As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away"
They receive the word of God at first joyfully, but when trouble comes because of the word, they immediately fall away. They feel like Christianity is a restriction to their life. They try to endure for a while in the name of piety, but further trials reveal that they never believed in the first place. Why is this? They have "no root in themselves". They have no root to uphold them. Their roots have not launched deep into the ground to get the nutrients from the earth. They have no Root to help them, who is Christ. They never trusted in Christ, but their trust was actually in themselves. These were not believers of Christ, but believers of themselves. And they fall away.

Let us pray that we believers may see what our faith is in. Is our faith in our own strength? Is our faith in our own faith? Or is our faith in Jesus Christ? Only completely entrusting of self to Christ like a child is what will save a sinner. WE are the images made in the likeness of God, who are to be carried by Christ. Here what God says: "I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save." He is the one who made us as His images, and He is the one who will bear us. He is the one who will save us. No other God is so alive and powerful to do this. There is nothing we can do for God to help God. He must help us, or we will all be forever lost. It is He who does everything, and the best thing we can ever do as human beings is to trust in Him. Let us pray that we would trust in Him, and not even in our own faith.

Sean Kong

The Missing Gospel

Romans 1:1-4,15-17 (KJV)
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, [2] (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) [3] Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; [4] And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
[15] So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. [16] For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. [17] For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (ESV)
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, [4] that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

The biggest problem, I feel, facing the church is not immorality, lack of zeal, complacence or love of the world - although these are evident problems. The biggest problem is the neglect Gospel of Jesus Christ. The biggest problem is that we are greatly ashamed of this Gospel, though we think that we are not. Christianity has become anything but about this great Gospel, which has power to save anyone who hears and truly believes it. The biggest trick that the Devil has pulled in evangelical Christianity in the modern era is to either dumb down the Gospel or to present the Gospel as though it is not the most important thing of Christianity. Yet this Paul said the Gospel was "of first importance", and he was ready to preach it to even those were saved.

See, the Gospel is not only for the unbelievers, but it is also for the believer who have known the Lord for the longest time. Paul says in the passage above that he is ready to preach the gospel to believers in Rome; why? Because Gospel saves the believers, he says. But they are already saved! you ask. Salvation is not a one-time thing. Belief is not something we Christians do once. We must continue to believe, from the moment we are saved, until the moment we enter into glory. Faith that believes for a season and falls away is not real faith, but a dead and counterfeit faith. We were saved by the Gospel, by believing in it, and we continue to be saved by this great truth and announcement of God, by continuing to believe.

But the Gospel to the modern church has become something you give only to be unbelievers. 'Let's preach the Gospel to the pour lost souls', we say, not realizing that we ourselves need it every day to live. The Gospel becomes some sort of a ritual that a Christian must go through in order to enter into the Kingdom of God, and afterwards Christianity becomes to be about other things: spiritual gifts, moral living, social justice, etc. But nothing could be further than the truth.

Why is the Gospel so important? Why can't we just have Christianity that puts the Gospel as an accessory? Why can't we have a Christianity like that? First of all, as Paul says in Romans 1:2, it is because the entire Bible is about the Gospel. There was no other central topic that transcends ALL the pages of the Bible. Go back to Genesis, and read the chapters about Abraham, how he almost offered his only begotten son, only to be stopped by God who provided him a Lamb instead to be killed. Read how Joseph was sold and betrayed by his own brethren, and became a slave, only that through his suffering he may save his brethren when God exalted him to be king. Or read Exodus and see how the Passover Lamb was slain and its blood was applied to the door posts that by the blood Israel may be saved. Or read when Israel was bitten by serpents for their sins but was saved when they simply looked to the bronze serpent that was lifted up. How about Samson through whose death did more good than while he was living? How about David, through whose psalms he prophesied Christ's life, death and resurrection? The whole scriptures is about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet what is our problem? That we try to find other things in bible and we teach them. Sure, bible is good for moral and wise instruction and is the manual for living our life. But primarily it does not exist for this purpose. Do we want wisdom in how to be good and successful in this life? Go read other books written by clever men, but don't read the bible. What sets the bible apart from other books? It is that the bible is the testimony of what God has done through Jesus Christ in His Son. Read what Jesus said:
John 5:39-40 (ESV)
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, [40] yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
The bible testifies of Jesus Christ, not of man. The bible is about God. But we the Church has chosen to teach from the Bible other things than Jesus Christ and His good news, as if they were of either equal or more significance. It is no wonder there is no faith among the people of God, since faith comes by hearing the word of God, and this word is about Jesus Christ and His gospel. Let us pray that the Church will begin to see the Gospel, Christ and God in the scriptures, and not the things of man.

The second reason why the Gospel is so important is because the Gospel is concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, as Paul says in verse 3. You can't know Jesus Christ without knowing the Gospel. You can't claim to preach Jesus Christ without centrally preaching He did on the cross and the resurrection. If the Gospel is missing from our churches, that means that Jesus Christ Himself is missing from our churches. Jesus Christ's whole being was consumed with fulfilling the promises made by the prophets of the Gospel. Read:
John 12:27 (ESV)
"Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ''Father, save me from this hour''? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.
The main purpose why Jesus Christ came to the earth was to fulfill word of God, which is primarily His Gospel. His whole life's purpose was to die for sinners and rise again on the third day. The Gospel was who He was, and what He thought about during His 33 years of living on this earth. Christ Himself is our Gospel. See how Paul makes no distinction between Christ and the Gospel. Both are one:
2 Corinthians 4:3-5 (KJV)
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: [4] In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. [5] For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
Therefore if the Gospel is neglected in the Church to be a secondary thing, that means that Jesus Christ Himself is neglected as a secondary thing. The Gospel is what defines who Jesus Christ is. The Gospel is what shows who God Himself is. We will not get a better revelation of what God is like, except through what He did for us on the Cross. Let us pray that the Gospel will again be the centre of our churches, so that Christ, and God will be the centre. If the Gospel does not become the central thing of Christianity, what will happen? As Paul says, there will be nothing but the preaching of men. There will be nothing but preaching about great Christians, but not Christ Himself. There will be nothing but preaching of doctrines of men, made by men, made for man. The Church without the Gospel is nothing but a man-centred institution, existing only for the glory of men. Isn't all this what is already happening now? Why? Because the Gospel is hidden in our churches as much as in the world. Let us pray that the Gospel be revealed in the church, so that God may get the glory in it, not man.

But what is this Gospel? What is the main purpose of the Gospel? As it is written in Romans 1:17, the Gospel reveals how sinful man can be righteous before God. How can a man be just before God's eyes? By working hard to be good? By attending church service and reading the bible and singing worship songs? By giving donations to charities and praying every day and avoiding sins? By going to different Christian meetings and serving in all kinds of ministry? No, these things are all great and good, but it does not satisfy God's perfect standard of righteousness. Even the greatest and most noble works of man are tainted with the putrefaction of sin. And even when our works are done with perfectly selfless motives, our good works do not outweigh our bad. We have committed eternal crimes against an eternal God. We have despised and offended our very Source of life, and therefore we must pay the fine in our death. No good work can conceal our wicked works we have already committed. It rather increases God's wrath against us because we, being blind to the sins we committed, think that we can earn a right standing with God. It is like a murderer, who says to the Judge, 'Yeah, I killed the man. But after I killed him I gave money to charity, went and did years of volunteer work, helped many people and even adopted orphans. Therefore I think I have the right to be cleared of my guilt'. The Judge would have none of it, and sentence him to life in jail. God the Holy judge will not hear the cries of sinners, and sentence them all to eternity in Hell.

How can man then be righteous before God? It is by faith. A man who is righteous before God is a man who lives by faith. But faith in what? Faith in God's righteousness revealed through Jesus Christ. It is by trusting in Jesus Christ as one's righteousness. It is by trusting in the works and the merits of the another Man who has perfectly pleased God. The Good News is that the Son of God became a man to fulfill the righteousness of God that no one could fulfill. Christ came to earth and lived a perfect life of obedience to all the commandments of God. There was never found in Him any sin, but His mind was full of doing the will of His Father. He satisfied God's perfect standard of righteousness. His good works were never tainted with self, but were perfectly for the glory of God and for the benefit of people. Though He was God, He hated self glory, but He denied Himself and never accepted the praise of men. His works therefore were the only good works that God has ever accepted from a man. God never had to show mercy or grace to Him, and all the blessings He received were all perfectly deserved.

Jesus also fulfilled God's righteousness by His death. God laid upon Him all the sins of the world, and He decided to die under the law for the punishment of the sins of His chosen people. He died so that whoever trusts in Him would be justified, as though having lived a perfectly pleasing life, and as though having died justly under the wrath of God. This is the great good news for us. And on the cross God vindicated His righteousness for all the times He overlooked the sins of His people in the past, and for all the forgiveness and mercy He will show to His people in the future. God was showing the world through the cross that though He is compassionate, He is righteous, and that death of His own Son was the ONLY way God could be pleased in forgiving sinners. God's wrath and just anger upon the head of His own Son was the only way that God could be satisfied to forgive us. There is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. But it is not the blood of animals or men that satisfied the wrath of God. But God would only accept the blood of His own Son. How can therefore be another way to salvation for man? God has provided the only way that sinful, murderous, immoral, deceitful, hateful and idolatrous and self-worshipping wicked men to be saved. How can anything else then satisfy God's vengeance against our sins, but our faith in His Son who lived and died for us?

This is Gospel of Jesus Christ that is missing from our churches today. The Gospel of today's church makes sin light and therefore God's glory light. Today's Gospel upholds the righteousness of man, over the righteousness of God. We make much of man's works, but make so little of what the Almighty God has done for us. We speak much of what the Gospel can do for us, and not for what it did for God's vindication of righteousness. How can the churches be saved? By believing again in the Gospel, and trusting afresh in the righteousness of God fulfilled on the cross of Jesus Christ. Let us pray that we have a revelation of God's holiness and His hatred for sin. It was because He despised sin so much that He killed His own Son and crushed Him with full force of His wrath. He was not satisfied to kill ten thousand angels for us, but it had to be His only begotten, beloved, all pleasing Son. Let us pray that we have the revelation of this Gospel which has power to save both from condemnation, and from the power of sin.

Sean Kong