Knowing God - Hebrews 1

I prepared this message some time back and I just think that sharing some of these may be helpful and encouraging to others. Here is a simple message about Hebrews 1.

Hebrews 1 reveals two ways for us to know God and we'll see how God reveals Himself in the following verses. As we go through this chapter together, I hope that you will be encouraged to know God on a deeper and more intimate level.

1. Knowing God through Jesus Christ
a) Jesus is the radiance of His glory (v3)
b) Jesus is the exact representation of His nature (v3)
c) Jesus upholds all things by the word of His power (v3)
d) Jesus' throne is forever and ever (v8)
e) Jesus laid the foundation of the earth (v10)
f) Jesus is the same (v12)

2. Knowing God through angels
a) Let all the angels of God worship Him (v6)
b) Angels are ministering spirits (v14)

This is just a brief outline. In the future, each point will be elaborated on and the whole message presented out.

Anatomy of the church

Today, we will continue on the series of the Bible. This will take some time as there are many aspects to this topic, so stay with us and I believe that this series will be beneficial to all.

'Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.' (1 Corinthians 2:13)

Here, Paul made the point that God's revelation came to us in words. This counters the contention of some that inspiration only relates to the thoughts that God wanted us to know, but not to the words in which those thoughts were expressed. Holding such a view relieves one of holding to the inerrancy of the text, for one could supposedly have truthful thoughts (God's) conveyed in erroneous words (man's). But Paul insisted that God's message came in the words of the text.

To sum up, 1 Corinthians 2:13 teaches us that the actual words of the Bible was inspired.

Anatomy of the church

Today, we continue on the series of the Bible. This will take some time as there are many aspects to this topic, so stay with us and I believe that this series will be beneficial to all.

'For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.' (2 Peter 1:21)

The Holy Spirit moved or bore the human writers to produce the Bible. The use of the same verb in Acts 27:15 illuminates our understanding of what is meant by 'bearing' or 'moving' the human writers. Just before the ship that was taking Paul to Rome was wrecked on the Island of Malta, it ran into a fierce storm. Though experienced men, the sailors could not guide it, so they finally had to let the wind take the ship wherever it blew.

In the same manner as that ship was driven, directed, or carried about by the wind, God directed and moved the human writers He used to produce the books of the Bible. Though the wind was the strong force that moved the ship along, the sailors were not asleep and inactive. Similarly, the Holy Spirit was the guiding force that directed the writers who played their active roles in writing the Scriptures.

But this verse also makes another important point. It declares that the wills of the human authors did not direct the writing of the Bible. The same verse, 'moved' or 'bore', appears in the latter part of the verse as well. Thus prophecy was not borne of the will of man. The Spirit did it, not the will of man. This statement bears in an important of the inerrancy of the Bible.

Man's will, including his will to make mistakes, did not bring the Scriptures; rather, the Holy Spirit, who cannot err, brought us the Scriptures. To be sure, the writers were active in writing, but what they wrote was directed, not by their own wills with the possibility of error, but by the Spirit who is true and infallible.

To sum up, 2 Peter 1:21 states that God used men and gave us a completely truthful Bible.

Anatomy of the church

Today, we will begin on the series of the Bible. This will take some time as there are many aspects to this topic, so stay with us and I believe that this series will be beneficial to all.

To begin with, the Bible is inspired by God. If the Bible is not inspired by God, it is no longer the infaliable and inerrant Word of God. This is a claim that the Bible teaches and we will examine one of three verses today. And whatever one may think of the Bible, it, like any other witness, has the right to testify on its own behalf. Some take exception to the validity of such evidence on the grounds that it is self-testimony and therefore may not be true. Granted, self-testimony may or may not be true, but it needs to be heard.

'All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:' (2 Timothy 3:16)

Le me begin with the definition of 'scripture' and 'is given by the inspiration of God'.

'Scripture'
akin to grapho, "to write" (Eng., "graph," "graphic," etc.), primarily denotes "a drawing, painting;" then "a writing,"

- of the OT Scriptures (those accepted by the Jews as canonical) and all those of the NT which were to be accepted by Christians as authoritative, 2Ti 3:16.

'Is given by inspiration of God'
All this is expressed in the original by one word - Θεόπνευστος Theopneustos. This word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It properly means, God-inspired - from Θεός Theos, “God,” and πνέω pneō, “to breathe, to breathe out.”

So, we can conclude that all scripture, that is the entire Bible is inspired by God, in other words, God-breathed. This means that the Bible is teh result of the breath of God. Our English word 'inspire' carries teh idea of breathing into something. But this word tells us that God breathed out something, namely, the Scripture. To be sure, human authors wrote the texts, but the Bible originated as an action of God who breathed it out.

The entire Bible is profitable. This expresses the purpose of inspiration. Its profit consists in teaching, reproving, correcting, restoring and training in righteousness in order that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. The Bible is not to be put in a museum to be admired; rather, it is to be used in our lives.

To sum up, 2 Timothy 3:16 teaches us that the whole Bible came from God in order to show us how to live.

Pitfalls and Protection for Leaders

There are 10 principles taken from a sermon preached by John Piper. Today, I'll continue with the second principle.

Pitfall #2: A lost of horror of offending the holiness of God through sin
'Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.' (Psalm 51:10)

The verse above was penned by David after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba. We bring our focus on 'renew a right spirit in me'. In the past, David had a right view of sin in his life, which was why he was referred to as a man after God's own heart. He was a man who walked uprightly and lived a righteous life. But there came a point in his life when he lose the horror of sin. There came a time when he begin to take sin lightly and did not realise how gross his sins were before a holy God.

In the same way with us, we can become casual with sin if we are not careful. Our values become corroded and we begin to lose a fear for God. We start to take God lightly and then we don't really care how our sins look like before a holy God. When this happen, we become vulnerable to the temptations of the evil one and fall into sin. It doesn't matter how spiritual and holy you are today, because this is an area that will cause many to fall. I'll end with a warning from Paul.

'Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.' (1 Corinthians 10:12)

Protection #2: Meditate on the biblical truth that all our acts are God-centered and not man-centered
'Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Everything that we do either glorify or dishonour God, there is no in between. Every simple and small thing we do must be God-centered. Every major decisions and big things we do must be God-centered. Our lives are meant to please God. We were made to glorify Him. To protect ourselves from falling into this pitfall, we need to realign our thoughts and remember that all our acts, all our thoughts, all our words, all that we do must be God-centered. God must be our focus everyday!

Pitfalls and Protection for Leaders

There are 10 principles taken from a sermon preached by John Piper. Today, I'll begin by sharing one principle.

Pitfall #1: Falling in love with the present world
'For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.' (2 Timothy 4:10)

It is easy for leaders to fall into this trap. Sometimes due to our position as leaders, we are lifted up and we start to lose our focus on God and start to turn our eyes on the things of this world. We start to envy the world and crave for the things of the world. We read of people being successful in this world and there is a little tug and pull in our heart to want to be like them. The moment we allow our eyes to feast on worldly things and our heart to be lured into desiring the world, we start to fall.

Protection #1: Think hard about the mountains and fountain spring of the beauty of God
'Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.' (Nehemiah 9:6)

Sometimes we need to take a time out to just sit and soak in the goodness of God through admiring and appreciating what He has created. God made nature for us to enjoy and relax in it. In order for us to not fall in love with the world, we need to fall in love with what God has made. Take some time, go for a walk, feel the breeze as the wind blows, smell the fragance of the freshly bloomed flowers, hear the sound of the flowing water in a river, see the intricate movement of an animal, taste the sweetness of biting into an apple.

Daily Digging

'For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.' (Proverbs 2:6)

Anatomy of the church

Stay tuned for our next part of the series on 'The Bible - The infaliable and inerrant Word of God'!

Anatomy of the church

I was listening to a message by John MacArthur on the same series entitled 'Anatomy of the church'. I thought that that was a good way of looking at what the church really is all about. The church is often referred to as the body of Christ, so it is fitting to call this series 'Anatomy of the church'. This is going to be a long series, as there are some many ares to cover. Some of the information will be taken from John MacArthur's messages, some would be from various books and references, some would be me digging through the Word. I hope that as we study this series together that it will be a blessing to you and me.

Today, I'll begin with the skeletal system. Just as the skeletal system in the human body gives us our shape and support the body, the skeletal system of the church refers to the fundamentals of the faith. These are the foundation of the church. It is what makes Christianity Christianity. As long as any of these fundamentals are wrong, the Christian faith is not valid.

'Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.' (1 Corinthians 12:27)

For the skeletal system, there are various fundamentals of the faith that I will address, but today, I'll begin with the trinity.

1. The unity of God.
'Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:' (Deuteronomy 6:4)

'Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.' (Deuteronomy 4:35)

'Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.' (James 2:19)

2. The threeness of God
a) God the Father
'Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.' (John 6:27)

'Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.' (1 Peter 1:2)

b) Jesus Christ
Jesus is revealed in the following verses as God due to the qualities that He possesses.
Omniscience - 'And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?' (Matthew 9:4)

Omnipotent - 'And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.' (Matthew 28:18)

Omnipresent - 'Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.' (Matthew 28:20)

c) Holy Spirit
'But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.' (Acts 5:3-4)

3. The triunity of God
'Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:' (Matthew 28:19)

'And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' (Matthew 3:16-17)

'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.' (Genesis 1:1-3)

I'll end with two simple illustrations. Water may serve as a 'three-in-one' illustration since it retains its chemical activity whether in solid, gas, or liquid state. There is also a triple point of water, a condition under which ice, steam, and liquid water can coexist in equilibrium. All are water, yet distinct from each other.

The sun, its light, and its power may help illustrate the Trinity. No one has actually seen the sun, just as no one has seen the Father. Yet we learn a great deal about the sun by studying the sunlight, just as we learn about the Father through Jesus Christ the Son who is the radiance of His glory (Hebrews 1:3). We see the power of the sun as it is involved in the growth of seeds and trees and plants, and when asked what makes things grow, we say the sun does. The Holy Spirit is like the power of the sun, and He is God.

Whatever usefulness or limitations illustrations have, we say again that we are faced with a mystery.

The Stone Cutter's Lesson

There was once a stone cutter who was dissatisfied with himself and with his position in life. One day he passed a wealthy merchant's house. Through the open gateway he saw many fine possessions and important visitors.

"How powerful that merchant must be!" thought the stone cutter. He became very envious and wished that he could be like the merchant.

To his great surprise, he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever imagined, but envied and detested by those less wealthy than himself.

Soon a high official passed by, carried in a sedan chair, accompanied by attendants and escorted by soldiers beating gongs. Everyone, no matter how wealthy, had to bow low before the procession.

"How powerful that official is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a high official!"

Then he became the high official, carried everywhere in his embroidered sedan chair, feared and hated by the people all around. It was a hot summer day, so the official felt very uncomfortable in the sticky sedan chair. He looked up at the sun. It shone proudly in the sky, unaffected by his presence.

"How powerful the sun is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the sun!"

Then he became the sun, shining fiercely down on everyone, scorching the fields, cursed by the farmers and laborers. But a huge black cloud moved between him and the earth, so that his light could no longer shine on everything below.

"How powerful that storm cloud is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a cloud!"

Then he became the cloud, flooding the fields and villages, shouted at by everyone. But soon he found that he was being pushed away by some great force, and realized that it was the wind.

"How powerful it is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the wind!"

Then he became the wind, blowing tiles off the roofs of houses, uprooting trees, feared and hated by all below him. But after a while, he ran up against something that would not move, no matter how forcefully he blew against it - a huge, towering rock.

"How powerful that rock is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a rock!" Then he became the rock, more powerful than anything else on earth. But as he stood there, he heard the sound of a hammer pounding a chisel into the hard surface, and felt himself being changed.

"What could be more powerful than I, the rock?" he thought. He looked down and saw far below him the figure of a stone cutter.

It is most important for us to remember that we are right now in exactly the right place, to learn exactly what we need to learn, and that we have every tool necessary with which to learn it.

~ An Old English Fable ~

God has placed you right where you are for a purpose. What are you doing about it?