To the Chinese, they celebrated the News Years Day (quite recently) and now the Lunar New Year had just arrived.

It such joyous occasions, it is actually a good period for us to feast and be happy, its a time for us to reflect on the year and to plan for the new. It is joyous, that I remember when the stroke of midnight came, there were loud sounds of fireworks and fire crackers.

But in the sharing, my friend was saying that similar to the Chinese, the Jews had 2 new years that are significant in their lives as well.  The Jews generally celebrate their new years very differently from the rest of the world.

To Illustrate it, I have created a chart that identifies the feast and festivals of the Israelites as describe in the bible, (I have left out the other nationalistic festivals as I would like to highlight those that are written in the bible)

1.Passover (Feast Of The Unleavened Bread)

The Jews begin their new year doing something that is very different from our usual feasting and enjoyment. They begin by purging their house of all leaven. It was said that as a training to young Jewish children, the parents will deliberately leave some leaven behind and see if their children can find it.

After that comes the feast of the Passover, while we would have a feeling that it is as sumptuous as our reunion dinner of the Chinese. But these are the things that were eaten.

1. Unleavened Bread

These are plain bread made without yeast, also known as “Bread of Affliction”. It is a    very tasteless and hard bread. It is called Matzo by the Jews

2. Bitter Herbs
The Passover lamb has to be eaten with bitter herbs, the typical herbs use are horse-radish and romaine lettuce,  It is called Maror by the Jews

3. Roasted Lamb

Interestingly, the bible records that God instructed them to eat this meal in a haste, with belt on the waist, sandals in the feet and staff in the hand (Ex 12:11)

The purpose of the Passover is to remember the deliverance of God to the Israelites in Egypt where he sent the angel and killed the firstborns of all Egypt. The angel will pass over any of the Israelite houses as they have smeared their doorpost with the blood of the lamb.

1.1 Significance Of This New Year Celebration

The Passover sacrificial lamb is a Jesus, (1 Cor 5:7) and when Jesus had the last Passover meal with his disciples, he instituted the Holy Communion one that day (Mattt 26:26-29) . He told his disciples do this in remembrance of him (1 Cor 11:23-26)

Although a Christian can hold holy communion at any time of the year, but there are a few spirits of this old testament festival that we must take note.

a. Removing Of Leaven

Jesus once said
“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.” – Jesus (Lk 12:1-3)

Let us be careful how we live our lives as Christians, let us not be hypocritical in what we do, let us learn to be sincere and truthful in whatever we do. For we must remember that eventually God will judge us for everything we do.  Let us take note of what King Solomon said

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
  For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.” – Solomon (Ecc 12:13-14)

b.  Eat in Haste, Belts On The Waist, Sandals on the feet, Staff In The Hand

If Egypt symbolises the world and everything that is in it, then we must be prepared not to long for things in the world. The night of the Passover is the night where God will save his people out of Egypt.

The bible depicts our Christians walk as like “Days in the wilderness” On that night the Israelites has to be prepared to leave Egypt immediately.

This is a solid reminder to us that we are not of this world, and that we are only a pilgrim waiting for our heavenly home. So like the ancient Israelites, let us be willing to start our journey with God and not to carry our cross daily to follow God.

Let us remember that the words of Jesus

““If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,and follow Me. ²⁴ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. ²⁵ For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?” – Jesus (Lk 9:23-25)

But we know that that generation did not managed to get into the promise land because of their unbelief (Heb 3:16-19)

Therefore, let us also bear that in mind and to believe in the words of Jesus. Following all his commands in faith, just like the how the first Israelites believed and kept the Passover while in Egypt.

2. Feast Of The Tabernacles

The beginning of the Jewish civil year is the second new year that is significant to the Jews. It started out with the feast of the trumpets, the day of atonement and the feast of the tabernacles.

It is pretty interesting to see that the first new year celebration is about the salvation of God in Israel and now its about atonement for sins. In general, the Jews will do the following

1. Blow the shofar (trumpet) to announce the new year.

2. Gather together on the day of Atonement to sacrifice for the sins of the nations

3. Stay in tents for 7 days.

It is hardly what the rest of the world will do on a new year isn’t it?

2.1 Significance Of This New Year Celebration

This new year celebration is one that is very different from ours, it tells us of many important things we ought to do in the new year.

a. Reflection and Repentance.

Generally at the Rosh Hashanah (Feast of the trumpets) The Jews and Samaritans alike would reflect on the sins, this is to prepare for yom kippur (the day of atonement) . While as Christians we know that we have a compassionate high priest, which is Jesus (Heb 4:14-16)

We must still repent and come before him for forgiveness. How often have we failed to do so, so I will say that this is a very good practice for all of us to do to constantly examine ourselves to see if we have fall short of Gods mark.

If we find that we have strayed from God, it is a good time to realign ourselves and to have a change of heart. To return to God as God is just like the father of the prodigal son who waited staring at the horizon for the sons return.

b. Staying in Tents

The staying in booths down during the feast of the tabernacles serves as a reminder to the Jews about their wanderings in the wilderness. It serves likewise to us as a reminder that we are on our way to a better world.

Though the modern Christians no longer needs to follow these feasts, we ought to keep the spirit of the festival, as they hold good teachings for us to learn from.

The modern wilderness is one where we withdraw from the daily rush of the world and to study the word of God.  They can also mean the church camps where we give up the comforts of our home to concentrate on prayers and learning the word of God

Staying in tents reminded us of that building that we would eventually receive from God

Just as what Paul tells the Corinthians

“For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.  Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.” – Paul (2 Cor 5:1-6)

Therefore, let us be constantly reminded of that permanent home God is given us, and may we all have a blessed new year.

1. King Saul (1 Sam 15, 1618)
2. Judas Iscariot (Jn 12,13, Matt 26,27)
3. Ananias And Sapphira (Acts 5)

The Background of Saul

Saul started out as the first king of Israel, God chose Saul because he is handsome in apparence and at the same time he is very humble, it could be seen in his conversation between himself and Samuel

“Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak like this to me?” – Saul (1 Sam 9:21)

On the day of his coronation, he was so embarrassed that he was hiding among the equipment, it was God who told Samuel where to find him, this was what happened as narrated by Samuel

“Therefore they inquired of the LORD further, “Has the man come here yet?”
And the LORD answered, “There he is, hidden among the equipment.”  – Samuel (1 Sam 10:22)

It is very interesting to see someone taller than all Israelites, yet can go hiding unnoticed (1 Sam 10:23-24)

Saul was famous for his battle at Jabesh Gilead where he lead the Israelite armies to save Jabesh Gilead.

In the beginning of his reign, Saul was on the right track, he also did things that are right in the eyes of God , he put chase out mediums and spiritist(1 Sam 28:3 ).

Yet at the last part of his life, the bible painted a very sad picture of him

“But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the LORD troubled him” – Samuel (1 Sam 16:14)

Before we proceed, let us not go off with an impression that God sends a evil spirit to trouble Saul. In fact, the evil spirit is not send by God, but rather when Gods spirit departed from Saul, the evil spirit now has free hold over him.

How did Saul allow the devil to work within him? Let us take a look at a few incidents

Battle Against The Amalekites  (1 Sam 15)

Initially God sent King Saul on a mission, to punish the Amalekites, for the sins they have committed against Israel during the time of Moses,  they set up ambushes and killed the weak and staggering Israelites lagging behind (1 Sam 15:1-3 )

God gave a specific instruction to Saul to not spare anything from the Amalekites, they are to spare no woman and children and they must utterly destroy all that they have, every animal and every thing that breaths.

Saul went out with an army of 210 000 soldiers and God granted him victory, He did most of his command but he decided to do the following  (1 Sam 15:7-9)

1. He killed everybody except for Agag the king of the Amalekites
2. He destroyed everything that are worthless, but kept the best of the animals

Understanding Saul’s Sins 

It is noted that the decision to do so is a consensus between the armies and him (1 Sam 15:9 )

While many people will claimed that to love riches and to conserve resources is a virtue of thriftiness, but our virtues should not supersede the command of God.  Especially when Saul is suppose to execute the judgement of God in this battle. Therefore to disobey the order of God is despising the words of God in his face.

Though its a matter of debate to see whether Saul was keeping the good things for himself or if he indeed wanted to sacrifice to God in Gilgal (1 Sam 15:15) If he indeed wanted to offer these animals before God , he is committing a greater evil before God.

Can you imagine taking something which God tells you specifically to destroy, and yet offer them up as a burnt offering to God. Wouldn’t that notion be mockery to the command of God? Gods command was specific, to kill and destroy every thing that is alive but yet Saul decides to disobey and still wanted to take the things God hates t and sacrifice them to God.

It is no wonder that God is grieved badly over the actions of Saul and it especially grieved Samuel, who was the one who anointed him over Israel

God told Samuel

“I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.”  -YHWH (1 Sam 15:11)

Therefore he sent Samuel to counsel him, in his last attempt to bring Saul back to him.

The Defence Of Saul

When Samuel first visited Saul, he first enquired about the bleating of the sheep he heard . When Samuel told Saul that he had committed a great evil for stooping down for the plunder, this is Sauls response

“ But I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.  But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.” – Saul (1 Sam 15:20-21)

Then Samuel gave Saul his charges which are namely

“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” – Samuel (1 Sam 15:23)

Saul defended himself once again

“I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.  Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD.”  – Saul (1 Sam 15:24-25)

Saul started to hold on to Samuel so tight that it torn his robe, it is at that point of time when God judged Saul once and for all

“The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.” – Samuel (1 Sam 15:27)

It is only at this point of time did God decided to give up on him

Yet he made one desperate plea

“I have sinned; yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD your God.” – Saul (1 Sam 15:30)

He was still concern about his honour more than the fact that he had sin against God.

It is only after the incident, the devil started to distress him (1 Sam 16:14)

The Failure of Saul

From here we can see a very insightful lesson on why the devils can have a chance to bring harm to a the Christians.

Saul repeatedly pushes the blames to someone else for his own disobedience to others  and was unwilling to repent before God. Only when he did that, the devil started to gain a foothold into his life.

The devil will only have a chance to hit us when

1. We are unwilling to follow the commands of God (the Sin of Rebellion)
2. We are unwilling to repent despite Gods repeated attempts to counsel and advice. (the Sin of Stubbornness)

Later on his situation got worse as the chapters process

“And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house” – Samuel (1 Sam 18:10)

At this point of time, he started to be speaking uncontrollably and is no longer making sense. Let us look at what happened that clause this to happen

Saul’s Anger Against David

The bible recorded that Saul started to target David after his victory over goliath .  When the Woman sang

“Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands.” (1 Sam 18:7 )

Saul was angry and did not control his anger , he was mindful that his glory is taken, it was at that opportunity, the devil managed to gain a greater foothold into his life. This is the time the devil was able to control his action and clause him to hurl his javelin at David

It is at this point of time the words of Paul continue sound out loud ““Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.” – Paul ( Eph 4:26)

This is a very practical example of that.

The final act that killed Saul

Saul’s last actions, led him to the point of no return, he started to consult Mediums. which is written in 1 Sam 28.

While we are looking at this end, let us be mindful that the fall of Saul is not a sudden affair. It started with Saul allowing Satan to find the foothold in his life. As the result, when the sin is fully conceived. Death was brought forth.

Sometimes we are surrounded with many temptations, where we run into trouble and we were hoping that we can resolve our issues based on the occult. The New age religions now turns Ouija board to be something that is cool, and Geomancy tells us how we can change our fate by rearranging the house, we can even change our fortune by buy special stones that had magnetic properties.

There are times in my life when i met with severe issue and I almost wanted to adopt a wait and see attitude by trying out numerology and palmistry. While i will not be surprised that the devil will work very mightily through this to deceive us, but what is scary is the idea that we may be opening up a huge hole for the devil to attack us.

Therefore we should be mindful not to allow the devil opportunity to mislead us. and by so doing slowly disqualifying us from salvation.

As A Conclusion

As you can see the points of failure on Saul how he

1. Started out being disobedience to God
2. Being stubborn and unrepentant of his sins
3. Allowing anger to go unchecked into his life
4. Relied on the occult when all fails

You can see the devil like a lion, slowly going close to his prey, and slowly entrapping him until he reach the point of no return.

Let the story of Saul serves as a reminder that we should always be diligent not to give a foothold to the devil.

“nor give place to the devil” – Paul (Eph 4:27)

Resisting the devil seems to be the lifelong work of every Christian in his daily walk with God. In fact, Apostle Peter once said

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” – Peter (1 Pet 5:8)

Sometimes we may be wondering, why does the devil need to walks about among us in order to devour Christians. Do you know that when you come under the protection of Christ the devils are not allowed to touch you?

Let us see what Apostle John had to say about it,

“We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself,and the wicked one does not touch him.” – John (1 Jn 5:18)

This is the reason why whenever satan wanted to harm the believers, he needs the permission of God, just like in the case of Job .

It is because satan is unable to harm us on the spot, which is why he needs to look at us from the distance, and observe us to see if he can detect our witness and tempt us.

This is the reason why Elder James said this

“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. ¹⁴But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” – James (Jas 1:13-15)

Very often than not, the process of sin is one which takes times, James used the term “conceive” to describe this.  Every doctor will tell you that a pregnancy process take about 10 months from conception before the baby is born.

There is a similarity to the process of sinning, because it started up small and it slowly grow bg. The difference is that when sin is full grown, it will lead to death.

The process of conceiving sin, started by members giving a foothold for the devil to work. As the days go by the sin gets greater and greater.. and finally the person will make a great mistake and sin against God. Falling out of his protection.

Therefore we should study the battle plan of satan as a warning to all of us not to give place for the devil to work. 

we will look at 3 bible characters in the bible to learn from their mistakes, and to understand the circumstances in which they gave place for the devil.

The three characters that we would be looking at the next few blog post are.

1. King Saul (1 Sam 15, 1618)
2. Judas Iscariot (Jn 12,13, Matt 26,27)
3. Ananias And Sapphira (Acts  5)

Year 2011 has been a very eventful year, its marks the second year of me trying to live in a foreign place. As the year draws to the close, I was doing a quick recall of everything that has happened.

Generally I thank God that he had made this year relatively peaceful. Though there are also times of difficult trials, I wonder what’s Gods scorecard for me is like? Have I been passing his expectations of me in trials? I certainly hope so though i am sure there must be a few that i have failed to do what God would want me to do.

But at the same time, as per my previous post, I am aware of the many challenges that lies ahead for me. I am sure that God will have lined up new trials and new test to help me see my own faith.

In as much as the world want to believe that God only dispenses good things, but then we know that God often gives trials to Christians to test us and to help us see the part of our faith that needs conditions. Just as what Moses describes how God trained and taught the Israelites for 40 years in the wilderness

“As an eagle stirs up its nest,
  Hovers over its young,
  Spreading out its wings, taking them up,
  Carrying them on its wings,

  So the LORD alone led him,
  And there was no foreign god with him.” – Moses (Deut 32:11-12)

This journey was never meant to be easy, thats why Paul describes that heavenly walk as a race and he describes his attitude in life is just like one who disciplines himself to train for the rest (1 Cor 9:24-27)

No one who ever undergo training will say that it is a enjoyable feeling, Jesus once said this

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,and follow Me. “ – Jesus (Lk 9:23 )

Just when we think that it is impossible, that is when we have to study the scripture and read about the many who had gone before us in that path,  just as the Author of Hebrews said

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” – Author of Hebrews (Heb 12:1-2)

This is the verse which is quoted in this hymn, let us enjoy the hymn together.

Title : 感恩
Artist :王子音乐

让我们背起自己的十架 奔向那摆在前头的路程 仰望创始成终的主耶稣 脱去缠累放下重担	ràng wǒ ​men bèi​ qǐ​ zì ​jǐ dì​ shí jià​ bēn​ xiàng nà​ bǎ zài ​qián​ tóu dì lù​ chéng​ yǎng ​wàng chuàng ​shǐ chéng zhōng dí​ zhǔ Yē ​sū​ tuō ​qù chá lèi​, fàng ​xia zhòng​ dàn​
许多人成为我们的见证 他们像云彩围绕着我们 单单存着一颗感恩的心 时时感恩 每时感恩	xǔ ​duō rén chéng ​wéi wǒ ​men dì​ jiàn ​zhèng​ tā ​men xiàng yún ​cai wéi ​rào zhe wǒ​ men​ dān ​dān cún​ zhe yī kē​ gǎn​’ēn dì​ xīn​ shí​ shí gǎn​’ēn měi​ shí​ gǎn​’ēn​
(Chorus) 感谢主即使天色未常蓝 感谢主纵然路旁有荆棘 感谢主因为主已经应许 日子如何力量也必如何	(Chorus) gǎn ​xiè zhǔ jí ​shǐ tiān ​sè​ wèi​ cháng lán​ gǎn ​xiè zhǔ zòng ​rán lù​ páng yǒu jīng​ jí​ gǎn ​xiè zhǔ ​yīn​ wéi ​zhǔ yǐ ​jīng​ yīng ​xǔ​ rì ​zi​ rú ​hé lì​ liang yě​ bì rú ​hé​
(Repeat From Top) (Repeat Chorus) (Repeat Last Line)	(Repeat From Top) (Repeat Chorus) (Repeat Last Line)

The Translated Hymn is like this

Title : Thanksgiving
Artist: Prince Music

Let us all take up our own cross
and run the path that is set before us
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,
to lay aside every weight, and the sins that ensnares us

For we have many witness that went ahead of us
They are like clouds that surrounded us
All we need is a heart of thanksgiving
To give thanks in all circumstances

(Chorus)
Thank you God,  even though the skies are all gloomy
Thank you God , even though there are thorns at the wayside  
Thank you God, for you have given your promise to us
“As your days, so shall your strength be” (quoted  from Deut 32:25) 

(Repeat From Top)
(Repeat Chorus)
(Repeat Last Line)

New Challenges For The Year : Facing The “New” face of Christianity

So i was sharing with them that the modern works of satan are much more dangerous  than demonic possession. The reasons is because when we see a demonic possession, we know we are face to face with the devil but yet now he no longer wants to confront and fight against Christians directly.

Nowadays he choose a much more subtle strategy, to come into the church as ravenous wolves, deceiving Christians into not follow God. He appears as sermons speakers who teaches destructive teachings to the members though on the outside they appears meek and humble, serving God but yet if we were to look carefully into their actions, you will detect hypocrisy and malice. Sometimes they even had signs and miracles  accompanying them.

They worked by guiding the church into believing that social justice is more important than the reward in heaven, they teach that it is shameful for Christians to be suffering or to suffer need and that they can always ask God for material blessings and only in the abundance of such blessings can God be glorified.

They offer a modern theology which is “allergic to the term bible study” and can only take it positive message. they attacked Christians who chose to follow the instructions of Jesus by  by branding them as “faithless” , “practicing asterism”,  “blindly following the book” and “denying the saving power of God”.

From the look of it, perhaps keeping the faith would be more and more difficult, and sometimes perhaps we would have more and more thorns along the way.

New Challenges For The Year : Facing The Apocalyptic Fanatics

Not forgetting that the year 2012 is the favourite doomsday cult year, with the Mayans, Hopi Indians and other new age wannabe. Hence there will be alot of talks of giant comets hitting earth, Aliens descending.

At the same time, there will be Daniel and Revelations Wannabes who goes around predicting more and more about the famous beast and his 666.

I am pretty sure that the next year they will be really all fired up in their research on the internet and unfortunately this tide will also affect the church.

Of course, I do not intend to turn this blog entry into a long discourse about the end of the world, and I do not intend to contradict any new age believers and their doomsday theory

At End Of The Day

Nonetheless, I do believe that the end times is a times of great peril and destruction. Hence I would just like to share some of the words spoken by Jesus and the Apostles about the challenges I was talking about

“For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. “ -  Jesus (Matt 24:5-6)

“For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  See, I have told you beforehand” – Jesus (Matt 24:24-25)

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father   only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” – Jesus (Matt 24:36-39 ) 

“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,  and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,  that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” – Paul (2 Thess 2:9-12)

“For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. ⁸ Look to yourselves, that we^[b] do not lose those things we worked for, but that we^[c] may receive a full reward.
⁹ Whoever transgresses^[d] and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son” – John (2 John 1:7-8)

Conclusion

In face of these new challenges, it is necessary for all of us to be grounded in the truth in the bible. Let us not be “allergic” to bible studies but rather study the word of God and understand it.

Remembering that we search the scriptures, for the same let us not receive the same comments spoken by Jesus to the Jews who persecuted him and wanted to kill him

“But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.  You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” – Jesus (Jn 5:38-40)

Let us hold fast to the word of God, for it it through it can we be saved (1 Cor 15:1-2)  let us follow the exhortation from Paul

“Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good.  Abstain from every form of evil.”  – Paul (1 Thess 5:19-22)

Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.” Paul (2 Thess 2:15)

this is a hymn that talks about the True Peace Of Jesus as well

Title: 祂給你真平安
Lyrics : 盛曉玫

The Translation are as follows

Title: He gives you true peace
Lyrics : Sheng Xiao Mei

As we come before the Lord
Looking Onto the grace of the Lord
Though we face difficulties in this world
But we have peace within the Lord

So wipe your tears dry
and to entrust everything to him
He could calm the wind and the seas
He can give you true peace

Giving you his true peace
Giving you his true peace
Though there are violent storms and huge waves
Whenever the Lord is present
There will be peace

Giving you his true peace
Giving you his true peace
though the dark clouds hinders your path
Whenever the Lord is present
There will be peace

Narrative:
Jesus could calm the winds and the seas
Likewise he could calm
the storms in your life
The peace that Jesus gives to you
Is not what anyone can give.
It is something the world cannot take away
Narrative ends

Jesus could calm the winds and the seas
He can give you the true peace

Recently a friend shared an article on Face book entitled “ I didn’t get where I am today by being nice…”

It talks about the fact that good natured and nice people earns £4500 less than their more ruthless counterpart. And it gave the readers a whole list of “Bosses from Hell”

I remember a friend of mine who gave up his comfortable live back at home, and choose to demote himself and work in a place less ruthless than his home town. Indeed, in the world of corporate greed and globalisation, it has turn the workplace into a place where the ruthless survived better.

There was another buddy of mine who lost his managerial job because he choose not to engage in corporate blame pushing . Finally he was overwhelmed by the blame and he ended up burnt out and left his workplace. He would rather lose his job than to direct the blame on his subordinate and to treat them unfairly.

As I was reading the bits and pieces of what the “bosses from hell” is capable off, and the achievements that they have achieve. I cant help wondering how many people are suffering under them. In fact, if one is working long enough we know that people that are unreasonable usually survive longer than the others.

Indeed, the modern office does not like qualities such as, fairness, justice and honestly. They are quick to push blames to others, busy writing emails saying “I did not do it, its not my fault” and the modern office rewards the people who do not work by giving them good performance rating (as you cant screw up if you never did anything) while persecuting the rest who are trying to do duties by pushing the blame onto them and starting massive email wars with others.

The way of survival in modern office is to ignore everything and be mediocre in what you are doing.  Not doing anything will usually prolong your job, as you are less likely to be a target of Corporate blame pushing.

However, this is contrary to what the scriptures tells Christian workers.
“Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,” – Paul (Col 3:22-23)

However, to be able to do that mean that you would not be able to live long in your workplace

I remembered the words of Paul

“Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” –Paul 2 Tim 3:12-13  

The Descendent Of Cain and Seth

Looking at the achieve the article wrote about the “bosses from hell” I cant help but refer to what Moses wrote about the descendent of Cain in Gen 4:16-24.

Just a quick summary of what is going on in Gen 4. After the death of Abel, God gave Cain a mark, and from then on, mankind is divided into 2 fractions. The descendent of Cain and the descendent of Seth. These descended are described in Gen 4 and Gen 5.

Lets take a look at the descendent of Cain. Here are the summary of some of the descendants of Cain

1. Enoch : The first person who build city, a master city planner builder.
2. Lamech: The first person who practice polygamy, violent in nature. .
3. Jabal: The first entrepreneur, as he dwells in tents and keep livestock
4. Jubal: The first musicians celebrity
5. Tubal-Cain: The first blacksmith and metal worker

Ironically, many of what they were doing were against the commands of God, God wanted the people to populate the world, and they started to use music for secular purpose and they all life full of excitements, they went against the rules of one man and one wife.

They all led lives that had big impact on mankind isn’t it? AT the same time, you if you are looking at the descendent of Seth, there is only did a few thing

1. They are born
2. The have children
3. They died.

Please do not misunderstand that Christians are not suppose to be musicians, city builders, tradesman or entrepreneur. But what i was trying to say is that, the people of God did not glorify in their achievements in life. They lead a simple life following the commands of God and they are not at all bothered about, getting to the top.

what does this had to do with us in the present world? So far i can think of a few points.

What do we want to be remembered for?

The news article, Gen 4, all talks about the big achievements of the people of the world. They are remembered for their glorious achievements, but yet they all seems valueless in the face of God. At the same time, the people in Gen 5 were remembered by God as his truth followers. and they became the line of Godly people remembered by God.

God once spoken through Prophet Malachi

“Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another,
  And the LORD listened and heard them;
  So a book of remembrance was written before Him
  For those who fear the LORD
  And who meditate on His name.
  “ They shall be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts,
  “ On the day that I make them My jewels.^[a]
    And I will spare them
     As a man spares his own son who serves him.”  
  Then you shall again discern
  Between the righteous and the wicked,
  Between one who serves God
  And one who does not serve Him.” – Malachi (Mal 3:16-18)

So let us learn to be valuable in the eyes of God.

Many of the Chinese hymns written in my hymnbook are the results of the first believers who were moved by the Holy Spirit, they reworded some of the popular Christian hymn of their time and there were also occasions where they took tunes from Chinese folk music and and wrote the lyrics.

Sometimes we are  unable to figure out where did they get the tune from or was the tune composed by them.

One of the hymns that is like that is titled  “主赐真平安”. Our modern hymnbook translated the title as “Jesus gives me peace” but as I was looking at the lyrics written, it seems to me that the translation is very far away from the intended meaning.

The first believers who wrote the hymn was singing about the things that happen when they chose to follow Jesus, and how some of the problems were more than what they can bear. They were in fact singing about how how they receive their peace from Jesus.

The lyrics of the hymns was not a fantastically worded.. but it is written so that anyone can easily understood the meaning conveyed. One does not need to be a literacy talent in order to understand what our first believers wrote.

As I was singing this, I remembered the time when I was feeling all alone in my work for God, and i was facing countless of oppositions from other members of the church.. and i was despairing and I asked God to comfort me.

So that morning when i was reading through the hymnbook.. i suddenly started to sing the words of this simple hymn.. and when I sing it with my heart. I realised that the peace of God is not one that is like this world, it is not about escaping from suffering, but rather it is to give us strength to face it.

I just would like to post this simple lyrics out. I have decided to re-translate the hymn so that the English speaking brothers and sisters can understand the original lyrics better.

Title: 主赐真平安zhǔ cì​ zhēn píng​’ān
Inspired Verse: Jn 14:27

Stanza 1

Stanza 2

Stanza 3

*Chorus

Title : The True Peace From God
Inspiration Verse : Jn 14:27

Stanza 1
To be  persecuted for my belief,
that’s more than I can bear
But whenever I recall the stripes of my Lord
I found peace within my heart

Stanza 2
To lose my possession for the sake of following God,
that’s more than I can bear
But when I recall my Lord without a place to rest his head
I found peace within my heart

Stanza 3
To suffer for the sake of preaching the gospel
that’s more than I can bear
But when I recall my Lord nailed on the cross
I found peace within my heart

*Chorus
My Lord blessed me with true peace
My Lord blessed me with true peace
The peace which the Lord blessed me with
has nothing to do with material blessings on earth
To be preserved in the grace of the Lord
will be peace forever.

As the tune of this hymn is unique to my church, there is no way i can find a youtube that sound similar to it, hence I can only share the lyrics.

1. From Adam To Noah : Generations Before The Flood
2. The Timeline of the lives of Isaac, Jacob and Joseph
3. The Outline of Pentateuch books

Apparently some of you might have notice that one chart is missing, which is talking about the   timeline between Noah to Isaac.

Initially I was hesitant to attempt this due to the following reasons

1. The amount of calculations required  are very numerous and not straight forward
2. There’s a need to ascertain deaths, as there are patriarchs who are dead before their ancestors died

But there were some questions raised when i presented the outline of the Pentateuch books. The questions are usually asked on how do we know that death of Joseph = 2308 years after creation)

Therefore, this round i went through the calculation of the genealogy written in Gen 11 to come up with the chart that will link the 3 blog entries up.

I made use of Excel to help prevent calculation error, as the calculation required are so numerous, I would not be surprised if I made a mistake or two.

Generally the timeline between Noah to Isaac should look like this

Here are some interesting facts I gathered while working on the chart.

1. Noah was in fact still alive when Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldeans
2. When Abraham left Ur at the age of 75 (Gen 12:4) , Noah died  18 years earlier.
3. Shem is alive and well when Isaac was born
a. In fact, he is even alive when Esau and Jacob were born
b. Shem died 20 years before Jacob fled his house to stay with Laban
c. Shem was the last person who had seen the pre flood world.

Out of curiosity, I decided to include the birth of Joseph to the timeline to see if any of the pre-flood characters were still alive when Joseph is born, but the answer is a straight no.

Counting the time from Creation

Personally i am just compiling this time-line base on the assumption that the bible genealogies written in Genesis are complete and accurate, I am in no way suggesting that the reading i gathered here are absolute and can be scientifically proven.

However, we know that sometimes when the bible reports genealogies, there are records where names are left out or summarised. (For Example: The genealogy of Jesus in Lk 3:23-38 is an example of a Genealogy with names left out )

So I just urge readers to have a open mind when reading this.

1. From Adam to Noah entering the ark  = 1656 years from creation
2. After the flood, Noah lived for 350 years = 2006  years from creation
3. From Death of Noah to the Birth of Isaac 43 years = 2049 years from creation
4. From Birth of Isaac to the death of Joseph is 260 years = 2309 years from creation

Now assuming if the 430 years of Israel in Egypt (Ex 12:41)  started when Jacob moves to Egypt. we must take out 53 years

2309 –70 = 2239 years from creation

By the time the Israelites left Egypt it should be

2239+430 years  = 2669 years from creation

That will mean at the end of the 40 years in the wilderness its

2669 + 40 = 2709 years from creation

To those who are wondering why then is there a discrepancy of 1 year, that is because i am still unsure if the age of Shem is 102 or 103 when his son was born.

Hope it clarifies how the numbers are derived.

As this is the last post on the warriors of David, I decided to list out the entire series.

Part 1: Talks about why we should learn from the warriors of David
Part 2: Talks about the historical setting as well as David’s way of leading the nation
Part 3: Talks about the common traits in the warriors of David
Part 4: Warriors who are not afraid of numbers as well as those who will not retreat.
Part 5: A Warrior With Incredible Faith, Benaiah
Part 6: The Warriors By The Well Of Bethlehem
Part 7: The Warriors Of The Tribe Of Benjamin

Part 8 & Part 9 : The Warriors Of The Tribe Of Gad
Part 10 : The Warriors Of The Tribe Of Benjamin, Judah and Manasseh
Part 11: Warriors From The Tribe Of Benjamin, The Kinsman of Saul
Part 12: Warriors From The Tribe Of Issachar
Part 13: Warriors From The Tribe Of Zebulun (the current Post)

The final group of warriors that we are covering today comes from the tribe of Zebulun. They are being describe in 1 Chron 12:33.

The warriors of Zebulun had 3 special characteristics

1. They are experts in war with all weapons of war
2. They could keep ranks
3. They are Stout hearted Man

1. Experts in War with All Weapons Of War

When picturing the warriors from the tribe of Zebulun, one could easily imagine a soldier who is able to use a spear as well as a sword, using bow and arrows as well as the javelin. These soldiers could fight with virtually any forms of weaponry that they could lay their hands on.

They are talented and are able to do anything. Those who are working wil understand that if one had the abilities to handle all matters, he is able to excel in whatever he does and work becomes a simple matter to him.

Regardless of the situations, these solder are able to go into battle using any weapons that is issued to them.

1.1 Knowledge In All Wisdom

Likewise for the present soldiers of Christ, we must be conversant in all kinds of weapon used in our warfare. Paul stressed that the purpose of teaching the gospel is to present every man perfect before Christ. (Col 1:28-29)

This is an easy task if the target we are preaching to has the heart to seek God, but if we were to encounter a people who wants to oppose the truth and are constantly looking for pitfalls and mistakes in the word of God, it will be hard to bring him to God.

Sometimes we may find this battle difficult, as he can use all kinds of arguments and rebuke to rebut you. That is when our "competency" in using the various weapons of war comes into play. If we are good with tit, we can teach and bring that person before God.

Paul encourage the us that in order to be successful in our work for God, we need to have more than just a willing heart to preach. but at the same time we need to warn and teach every man in all wisdom. Not just only with the knowledge of the bible, but knowledge in every area.

Paul often say that as he rely on the holy spirit, he also labour, that he can gain wisdom, to warn and to teach every man in all wisdom, so that they can be presented perfect before Christ.

Similarly we must be experts in all kinds of weapons, the most important weapon in the Christians arsenal is the bible, there are 66 books in the bible, consisting of the Law, History, Prophetic Books. There are some who emphasise the righteous judgement of God, while some talks about the grace and salvation of the Lord. There are instances where the bible criticize  the sins of man, there are also times where it talks about the mercy of God and it encourages people.

They are all important and must not be ignored.

1.2 The Usefulness Of Old and New Testaments

While some modern Christians feels that the Old Testament has past and is irrelevant to the new era that we live in, unless one is fond of history. Nowadays the market  demanded a new type of Bible to be printed, consisting of New Testament and the Psalms and Proverbs.

This is a testimony that many Christians wanted only to concentrate on the New Testaments and Psalms and Proverbs.

Jesus wanted all Christians to learn the New Testament as well as the Old. The scriptures that exist during the time of Christ consist only of the Old Testament . Jesus once said this

"You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me." -Jesus (John 5:39)

The scriptures that Jesus is referring to is the Old Testament moreover Jesus said it again

"Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old." – Jesus (Matt 13:52)

The scribes are people who hand copied the Old Testament and they know it well, if they were to accept Jesus and learn the New Testament, they are like a master who is full of wisdom, keeping the good things from the old and adding the new and better things in them.

The wise man know that both the old items and the new items have their values and uses. He will not stubbornly keep the old stuff and ignore the new additions, he is able to use both the old as well as his new items.

Jesus reminded us to place equal emphasise on the teachings from the Old Testament as well as the new testament, as the kingdom of heaven is prophesised in the old testament and established in the new. Apostles used the Old Testament as the basis and the teaching of Christ as a standard, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, they are able to preach Christ.

1.3 Reconciling Old Testament Laws And New Testament Teachings

We all know that circumcision was the mark of the old testament,and the people of the old testament kept the mosaic laws.

The New Testament only requires believers to believe and be baptised in the name Of Jesus, and to receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38)

Initially, when the church started, it was made up of mainly Jews who are circumcised and they observe the old testament law as their way of life. Hence everyone is able to keep their traditions of circumcision and share their way of life without a problem.

However, when Cornelius received the Holy Spirit and was baptised by Peter (Acts 10). A big question arose, "Is there a need for such new believers to be circumcised and follow the Mosaic law?" At one hand the Old testament rules seems to say yes, but the New Testament rules says other wise.

we can learn from the apostles on how they reconciled the old testament and the new testament. The bible had left us a detailed and valuable example how we should handle the issues between the old and new testament. The bible documents their decisions as well as the rationale behind their decision.

In summary , the Apostles based their conclusion from

1. The Teaching of the Old Testament
2. The Instructions Of Jesus
3. Moving Of The Holy Spirit

The incident is recorded in Acts 15:13-20. The conclusion is direct, that the Gentiles need not follow the Laws and Statutes of The Old Testament, but they have to abstain from Idols, Sexual Immorality and blood. I have written a detailed study of it in another blog entry.

Lets examine how they arrive to this conclusions. They based it on the writings of the Prophets, the scriptures as well as the moving of the Holy Spirit. All rules that resulted must be established based on the truth of the Lord. If one is not familiar with the old and new testament, he is able to understand it.

Only by being an expert in the Old and the New Testament can one be able to preach the gospel in a complete. To be an expert requires one to understand it line by line word for word. One could study the bible casually as if its a story, but important teachings can only be drawn through detail analysis and reading.

The deeper you go into the truth, the more precious the words become, the bible encourage readers to mediate and ponder over the words of God

1.4 Of Parchments And Books

Paul once gave an instruction to timothy.

"Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come-and the books, especially the parchments." – Paul (2 Tim 4:13)

Paul was imprisoned then when he wrote 2 Timothy, here he asked Timothy to bring him items. The Cloak is for benefitting his body, while the Parchments and Books are for benefiting his mind. There is a difference between the books and the parchments. The books contain worldly knowledge, while the parchments are scriptures.

Paul is the disciple of Gameliel, he is not just an expert in the scriptures at the same times he is knowledgeable of the books of the world. We tend to feel that spiritual knowledge is very important while treating worldly knowledge as minor compared to the scriptures.

But many great man of the bible are not like that, Moses is knowledgeable in all the wisdom of the Egyptians while Daniel is knowledgeable about the culture of Babylon. They are learned in the scriptures but at the same times they are knowledgeable of the things of the world.

As Christians we must place emphasis on bible knowledge, but we should also not be ignorant about the worldly knowledge. Paul thirst for knowledge is interesting, as Paul is nearing the end of his life, it is believed that he wrote the book of 2 Timothy during his second imprisonment in Rome, where he was killed by Emperor Nero. Church traditions holds that Paul was beheaded in Rome, which is a more humane way for a Roman Citizen to die (compared to Peter who was crucified upside down)

While some people may say that Paul had done much work for the church, and he should not labour so much, especially if he knows that he may not be able to get out of prison alive. But that is the part of Paul that move us, he knows that he will most likely die, though he is not sure when, but as long as he is alive, he will rather pursue knowledge and understanding, though he is imprisoned and have lost his freedom, he can use other means to serve God, it is in his term of prison where he wrote most of his epistles many of which is part of the new testament bible.

People who studied the lives of Paul knows that he wrote many letters, but many of it were in haste, they are not included in the scriptures, most of the books canonised into the scriptures are written by him during his 2 imprisonment in Rome. It is during these times of his imprisonment, he finally have the time to write about theology and to present them in a systematic way.

The work he had done in prison had long lasting effects, they are still being read by Christians daily. It help many churches and brought many Christians to God.

Even when he is about to die, he is still working hard to learn, serving God in this area. He did not just relax in a corner just because he is dying. He really lived to learn and adopted a lifelong learning attitude.

So we must learn from such warriors of God. to read the bible and to learn knowledge, be ready to battle for Jesus

2. Keeping Formation and Ranks

The warriors of Zebulun is able to obey rules and stay in formation. Order is essential to a army, these soldiers are mighty man, they used to be commanders, section leaders, junior and senior officers. But now when they are part of the army of David, they stayed in formation and did not complain saying "I used to be in command and now I am part of the rank and file"

These warriors are submissive and are in order. It is a small wonder that they are able to stay in formation, order and formation is very important in ancient warfare. The Romans form up into shield columns to advance in the fields.

The Chinese bible had a interesting translations to the word, keeping in ranks, it is described in 4 words 行伍整齐 (háng​ wǔ zhěng​ qí) (translated: being orderly in their 行 and 伍 )

The words 行and 伍 are ancient Chinese military terms, 行 consist of a squad of 25 soldiers (similar to a Platoon in the modern infantry) while 伍 consist of a squad of 5 soldiers. (Similar to Sections in the modern infantry).

So it doesn’t matter if you are assigned to a 25 men squad or a 5 man squad, you have to be submissive and to maintain order. You have to keep order within the church even if your church is large and full of talents and power. The church of Corinth was full of talents, but yet they came up with many rules for each other to follow.

While rules are good for maintain order, but there are also bad rules that promote disorder rather than good. There are occasion where orders originated from bad judgement and erroneous beliefs and can be against the word of God, but because the congregation felt that it was a good rule, they continue with these erroneous rules.

2.1 Keeping To The Common Truth

Paul encouraged the believers in the church of Corinth,

"Let all things be done decently and in order." – Paul (1 Cor 14:40)

" For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints." – Paul (1 Cor 14:33)

For we share the same Holy Spirit and the same spirit will not contradict itself, although we may interpret the truth differently, but as the church is having the same spirit, there should not be a conflicts. We need to humble ourselves and to ponder over the words of God cautiously. For the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets (1 Cor 14:32)

Sometimes if we believe our view is the truth and all other perspectives are wrong, and because of that we are unable to accept questions, we retort, accusing the other party for not trusting us and not being submissive. Causing lots of dissensions and quarrels among the church members.

If we understand that the other individual had the Holy Spirit just like you, therefore we should respect and listen to what the other party is saying, ponder over it and consider his points.

Just as Paul said that a prophets spirit must be submissive to the prophets, let us not be hard hearted about our little discoveries and truth, and in our defence of it create more problems and chaos within the church.. God is not a God of confusion, let us learn to quieten ourselves and listen over the questions raised by other prophets, search from the scriptures for a better explanations. The church can only enter a deeper understanding of the truth through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Only by allowing the Holy spirit to work can the church progress in faith, and their understanding of truth.

If we always feel that we are the best and the most wise, you will often come into conflicts with others as we would feel that everyone is against us. Holding on to that view will only create more problems, the church of Corinth is like that, fortunately, not all were like that, some of the members understood, and changed for the better.

2.2 Keeping Order In The Church

Paul once told the church of Thessalonica

"But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us." – Paul (2 Thess 3:6)

It seems as if there are brothers in the church in Thessalonica that do not obey rules and not following church traditions, as if they have went against the truth. But it is not refering to the keeping of truth, Paul explained further in 2 Thess 3:11

"For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies." – Paul (2 Thess 3:11)

These brothers choose not to work but to become busy bodies. At that time the church provided food for the widows and orphans and these brothers came for free meals provided by the church. This not just increase the burden of the church but it also abuses the love of their fellow brethren. They are well away that it is against the teaching of the bible, but yet they choose to continue in their actions.

There are many brethren who saw it but choose not to rebuke them, they are afraid to stop them thinking "If we were to rebuke, they may lose their faith." but these brethren, who are full of love, allowed the problem to get bigger, more and more people came in saying "Why is he allowed to eat while I am denied?" As the crowd gets bigger, these people became busy bodies, disturbing the peace in the church.

2.3 The Boundary Of Disciplining

This is the reason why Paul gave a instruction for them to stay away from such  brethren. This would allow them to feel ashamed, staying away doesn’t mean abandon, but to carry out disciplinary actions, warning them not to take advantage of the church kindness, not allowing them to become busybodies that disrupt the church work.

There are some brothers and sister who had a wrong impression that they should completely ignore them. But let us take a step back and consider, if we were to take down his name and prevent him for taking his meals in the church, he may be forced to find food for himself.  Will that stop him from being a busy body? Disciplinary actions do have their boundaries, we should not completely ignore the person or to take him as an enemy. Paul told the church of Thessalonica to do this.

"Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother." – Paul (2 Thess 3:15)

The purpose of disciplining him is to allow him to wake up and to feel remorseful, to give him a chance to repent and return to the church. Not to cast him out of the church, the church of Thessalonica had a lot of work, but yet failed to keep order within the church. Disciplinary actions are important, to allow people to follow the instruction of God.

The church should not use organisation power to enforce order, but rather teach orderliness according to the teaching of Jesus. Our God is a God of Order as well as a God of peace, therefore we should learn to keep order within the church, so that the church will remain harmonious.

Only by being orderly in our formation can we win the battle for the Lord

3 Being Stout hearted

Some of us may wonder whats the meaning of being stout hearted. The Chinese bible uses the word "不生二心" (bù​ shēng èr​ xīn) (Translated : Not being double hearted) These man are very loyal.

The Chinese often use "一心一意" yī​ xīn​ yī ​yì (Translated: Single mindedness) to represent loyalty in marriage. The word ​心 represent a heart. When use in this context it is like devoting the entire heart to ones the husband/wife.

Paul once said to the church of Corinth

"For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." – Paul (2 Cor 11:2-3 )

Let us asked ourselves, being Christians who have received baptism and have made up our decisions to follow Jesus, while we are waiting for Jesus to come and bring us to heaven, have we started to love other things, have we started to choose someone else? There are many Christians who had chosen not to love Jesus that much, they started to fall in love with many other things, they think that they could love something else without being discovered. But Jesus already knew.

Jesus once caution his children

"No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." – Jesus (Lk 16:13)

We cannot serve God and mammon at the same time, are we still loyal to our God or have we chosen to serve another Lord? We all know that only Jesus could save us and forgive our sins. Perhaps mammon could get us physical comfort and status, but it cannot save from sin. We can never buy the tickets to heaven.

Who should our Lord be? Let us ask God to preserve us, let us all be stout hearted, fully devoted to Jesus

Concluding The Study Of The Warriors Of David

I am glad that we have finished this study. Although it is a long 13 part series. But I hope that by learning the qualities of the warriors of David, we could apply the principles that we have learnt into our daily lives. Let us learn to establish the kingdom of God by being mighty warriors, willing to serve God to the very end.

May God help us in all that we do,let us learn to be like the warriors of David. To fight the good fight for the Lord.

May we all be able be like Paul who could confidently say this before he completed his journey on earth.

" I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing." – Paul (2 Tim 4:7-8)

May we all be a brave warrior for Christ and to establish the kingdom of God together with him.