THE GOSPEL OF PEACE

This world is embroiled in constant warfare and conflict since the dawn of civilization. Mankind is disobedient to God's law and His way of government. Whether man's form of government is democracy, monarchy or communism - they are doomed for conflict and are in constant preparation for war, in a state of war or recovering from war. How true this is throughout the history of mankind, when preachers and truce sayers that there will be 'peace, peace, when there is no peace' - Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11,15; Ezekiel 13:10. The increasing number of anti-government and anti-establishment protests worldwide bear testimony to such truth.

The Lord Jesus Christ came almost two millennia ago to announce the gospel of the kingdom of God to mankind (also known as the kingdom of heaven - NOT kingdom in heaven). This good news is brought by the Son of God commissioned by the Heavenly Father in heaven, as shared by Jesus Christ to His chosen disciples on many occasions including some of His parables.

The Apostle Paul also mentioned it as the gospel of peace (Romans 10:15; Ephesians 6:15) which is the same gospel as the kingdom of God and NOT another gospel - otherwise he would be pronouncing a curse upon himself (Galatians 1:8-9). He taught that it was God who entrusted the Apostles with the gospel (1 Thessalonians 2:4).

Jesus Christ is the only One who is authorized by God the Father to define what is the gospel - the gospel of the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15; Matthew 24:14) and not any other gospel defined by organized religion or any church other than the true church of God that Jesus founded (Matthew 16:18)!

In two of his epistles, Paul states, 'How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things' - Romans 10:15. 'And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace' - Ephesians 6:15. Since the Bible must interpret the Bible, we found similarities in Isaiah 52:7, 'How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bring good tidings, that published peace; that bring good tiding of good, that published salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reign!'  What all these mean is that only God is able to bring true and lasting peace on earth when Jesus Christ is reigning on His throne; and the rewards of His true disciples will reign together with Him - Daniel 7:14, 18, 22, 27; Revelations 2:26-27; 3:21; 11:15.

True believers walk through life having their feet covered with the knowledge of how the true gospel spells the only way to final world peace. They know what lies ahead for this world. God's plan to shake world events moves on His timetable. Sadly, few have the faith to believe that only God has the power and authority to bring about true and lasting world peace (Isaiah 53:1; Romans 10:16) and not through any human government!

Most organized religion believe that the Person of Jesus Christ is the gospel. Although Jesus' role is of paramount importance, He is not the gospel (John 7:16-18; 12:49-50)! Jesus Christ is the only way to the gospel and that He has to be preached in conjunction with the gospel - Acts 8:12; 28:31. Preaching the true gospel will encompass Jesus Christ but making Him as the gospel will ignore the gospel of the kingdom of God. It is like saying that all Jews (of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin) are Israelites but not all Israelites are Jews.

The good news is that God in His eternal wisdom and Plan had chosen men, and not the angels, to govern with Jesus Christ in the world to come! - Hebrews 2:5. This makes the angelic hosts curious to find out what is hidden in the mystery of the gospel of the kingdom of God - 1 Peter 1:12. Born again true believers will be given the reward to rule and reign as kings and priests with their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ  in the kingdom of God on earth - not in heaven ! - Revelation 5:10. Under the reign of Jesus Christ and His saints, world peace, harmony, prosperity and healing of all sicknesses and diseases will take place.

Christ, together with the born again saints of spirit composed beings endowed with power and authority, will bring all these about to make earth a paradise - restitution of all things that had been lost to Satan and his demons (Acts 3:19-21). All of mankind who had ever lived but were not called in the earlier ages will be resurrected (Acts 24:15) as reconstituted human beings (Ezekiel 37) towards the end of the millennium age to be taught the truth of God (Isaiah 65:17-25). Under the government of God, 'at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth and things under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father' - Philippians 2:10-11.

When Jesus was crucified on the cross, one of the condemned men told Jesus to remember him when He come into His kingdom (meaning when He returned to reign in the kingdom of God). To which Jesus replied that he shall be with Him (Jesus) in paradise - towards the end of the millennial age with the restitution of all things completed and Satan incarcerated (Revelation 20:1-3) to turn earth into a paradise (Luke 23:42-43)!

When the whole world is being governed under the kingdom of God, there will be no need for ministry of defence, military academy or any army, navy or airforce as universal peace will prevail throughout the earth. All military assets will be converted to productive use for the benefit of everyone on earth - Isaiah 2:4; Psalm 119:165. The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea - Isaiah 11:9; Habakkuk 2:14.

THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS

The common belief of Christendom is that Jesus Christ was crucified on a Friday, commonly known and celebrated worldwide as the 'Good Friday' and resurrected on 'Easter Sunday', justifying the Sunday worship as the 'Lord's Day' or the 'Sabbath Day'. But is this what the Lord Jesus and His Apostles taught and written down in the Holy Bible? The truth is that what is being preached and practised worldwide is of pagan origin - primarily initiated by the Roman Emperor Constantine during the fourth century A.D.

Jesus foretold of His death and resurrection and that He will be in the tomb three days and three nights as a sign that He was the Messiah (Jonah 1:17; Matt 12:40). But the Good Friday-Easter Sunday story simply does not add up to three days and three nights. It is more like one day (Saturday) and two nights (Friday's and Saturday's). Sadly, most would prefer to believe deceived men rather than the very words of our Lord Jesus Christ!

After Jesus died, His body was quickly placed in a tomb before sunset as the Sabbath begins from sunset on the day He died (biblical counting of a day). However, that was an annual Sabbath day and not the usual weekly Sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, for it was a high day - John 19:31. The high day or high Sabbath falls on a Thursday, which was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread for that year in 31 A.D., which immediately follows the Passover (see Leviticus 23:5-7). The Passover was a preparation day for the annual Feast, which lasted for seven days.

Unlike the weekly Sabbath which occurs from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, the annual Sabbath day can fall on any day of the week. Jesus was crucified and died on the Passover day, which falls on a Wednesday, as prophesied that 'the Messiah be cut-off in the midst of the week' - Daniel 9:26-27.

According to Jewish calendar, Jesus was crucified and died on Wednesdy, 25 April  A.D. 31. Let's do the math - Wednesday sunset to Thursday sunset is one day and one night, adding Thursday sunset to Friday sunset makes two days and two nights, then adding Friday sunset to Saturday sunset makes three days and three nights. This was precisely what the Lord Jesus foretold as a sign that He was the Saviour of the world - nothing more and nothing less.

When Mary Magdalene went to the tomb on the first day of the week (Sunday) before the break of dawn ('when it was yet dark' ), the Lord Jesus Christ had already risen! - John 20:1. Many were mistaken into believing that Jesus rose on Sunday, the first day of the week based on a wrong understanding of Mark 16:9. It simply states that early on the first day of the week when Mary Magdalene went to the grave, Jesus had already risen - not to mean that He rose on Sunday. Anything other than what He said and recorded in Scriptures is a denial of Christ and of the truth!

So how did the Good Friday-Easter Sunday tradition comes about since it does not fit into Scriptures ? (Note: Acts 12:4 - the Greek word pascha should be translated as Passover as in all other cases). The answer can be found in 325 A.D. during the Council of Nicaea. Only the Christian Passover - not Good Friday, Easter Sunday tradition - was celebrated by Jesus, His disciples and the early church and is also relevant for the church today!

Constantine held an assembly of some 250 bishops in Nicaea ( near Istanbul in northerwestern Turkey) in the year 325 A.D., known as the Council of Nicaea. Under the dominance of Constantine and people of similar persuasion, the Council replaced many Biblical truth with man-made doctrines and practises, including changing the times and laws of God as prophesied in Daniel 7:25. The Good Friday-Easter Sunday tradition was just one of many Biblical truths being replaced! The dispute over the Christian Passover is known in history as the Paschal Controversy.

The Roman Emperor drew his sword to quench any dissent from adopting the teachings and practices of the universal church - the church of Rome. Those who opposed were martyred and the true church of God had to flee from 325 A.D. until 1585 A.D. when England was free from Catholic dominance after winning the war over Spain who had attempted to militarily impose the Catholic faith on England.

Interestingly, this period of 1,260 years fits in with the prophecy in Revelation 12:1-6 when the true church (represented by a woman) had to flee persecution for 1,260 years (one day represents one year in Biblical prophecy - Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6).

Jesus ate the Passover feast with His disciples shortly before His crucifixion. He also prophesied that He will eat the Passover feast with them when He returned (Second Coming) to establish His kingdom on earth (Luke 22:15-16). Certainly, no where in Scriptures did the Lord Jesus or any of His disciples mentioned or celebrated the pagan Good Friday-Easter Sunday tradition as practised by most organised religion the world over.

True believers of Christ are commanded to worship God in spirit and in truth - John 4:23-24. Only the truth will set you free (John 8:31-32) from wrong ideas and practices which are snares to entrap the unwary and gullible into evil. Any worship of the teachings and traditions of man is worshipping God in vain - Mark 7:7-9.
 

THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST

Most Christians believe that the Gospel of the Bible is about the Person of Jesus Christ. However, the Bible records that the Gospel (meaning 'good news') of Jesus Christ is the message that He came to preach. Christ was sent by God the Father as a Prophet (Deut 18:15) and the Messenger of the covenant (Malachi 3:1) to proclaim the Gospel of the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14; Matt 4:23; Luke 8:1,4:43). Jesus Christ categorically states that He came from the Father with a message and it is not about Himself - John 7:16-18.

All who are called to be His disciples are commanded to hear Him - the Gospel message of Christ which is the kingdom of God (Matt 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35). One has to believe this same Gospel to be saved!

Christ's first commandment, after overcoming the temptations of Satan in the wilderness is 'repent ye, and believe the gospel' - Mark1:15. The Apostle Paul affirmed that the Gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jews first and also to the Greek (meaning all the 'Gentiles') - Romans 1:16.

Some Bible scholars and writers believe that the Gospel of the kingdom of God is meant only for the Jews - this is absolutely false. Those who do not believe the Gospel are not called to be Christ's true disciples and will not be in the first resurrection when He returns (1 Cor 15:23; Hebrews 11:35)!

But what exactly is the 'kingdom of God'? Countless millions are confused. It is not the church, neither is it about the Person of Jesus Christ nor the millennium age. Some believe that it is 'in the heart and in the mind' when one says the 'sinner's prayer' and place his/her trust in Jesus Christ. The kingdom of God is the government of God which Christ was commissioned by God the Father to restore that which was lost to Satan (2 Cor 4:4) because of sin - first of Lucifer and his fallen angels, and then of Adam and his descendants.

The second Adam - Jesus Christ - had to overcome Satan at the wilderness to regain the right to the throne as 'King' of God's coming government on earth! But the Jews mistakenly thought that His first advent then was to restore the kingdom to Israel. They all looked and hoped in vain!

The dreams of prophet Daniel about the coming kingdom of God (Daniel 2:44) and prophet Isaiah's prophecy that 'the government shall be upon his (Jesus Christ) shoulder...the increase of his government...and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth even for ever. - Isaiah 9:6-7 - bear testament to this fact. The prophet Jeremiah had also recorded a similar prophecy - Jeremaih 23:5-6. This is corroborated by what the Archangel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary, He (Jesus Christ) shall be great...and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David... and of his kingdom there shall be no end - Luke 1:32-33.

The confusion arises partly from the mistranslation of Luke 17:21- the kingdom of God is within you. A more appropriate translation should be 'in the midst of you' - as given on the margin in the NKJV. In that context, Jesus Christ was speaking to the Pharisees telling them that the kingdom of God cannot be seen with human eyes, so it is pointless looking around to find the kingdom of God.

It is a spiritual kingdom that can only be seen and enter (inherit) when one is 'born again' as an immortal spirit being upon resurrection when He returns (John 3:3, 5-6; 1 Cor 15:50). Christ was making the point that He is the Divine Representative of the coming kingdom of God. No way was Jesus Christ telling the Pharisees that the kingdom of God was within them when He strongly condemned their hypocrisy with strong words (Matt 23:16-33)!

Jesus Christ preached the Gospel wherever He went, often accompanied with healing and casting of demons - Matt 10:7; Mk 1:38. In addition, he sent out His twelve and later seventy disciples to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick (Luke 9:1-2; 10:1,9). The Apostle Paul preached the Gospel of the kingdom of God - Acts 19:8, 20:25, 28:31; and so did Peter (Acts 3:19-24) and Philip (Acts 8:12). In fact, Paul and Philip differentiated the Gospel of the kingdom of God from the Person of Jesus Christ (Acts 8:12, 28:31).

Does that mean the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind is redunctant? By no means - Jesus Christ's role is very important as He is the way to the kingdom and He is to be preached in conjuction with the Gospel as shown in Acts 8:12 and 28:31.

Christ commanded His true disciples to 'seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness' - Matt 6:33 - and the first item on the Lord's prayer is to pray for 'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven' - Matt 6:10; Luke 11:2. In this time and age, God's government is ruling from His throne in heaven. God's Plan is to restore it on earth starting with the Millennial Age when Christ returns to restore His kingdom (Rev 11:15) when all human government will be forcefully evicted to make way for Christ and His resurrected saints - Rev 2:26, 3:21, 5:10; Daniel 7:13-14, 18,22,27.

Almost all the parables of Jesus Christ is about the kingdom of God. He even warned His disciples not to be deceived by preachers who will come to preach about the Person of Jesus Christ and ignoring His message - saying 'I am Christ' - Matt 24:5. Such blantant disobedient to the commandment of Christ is so serious that Paul warned of a 'double curse' on anyone who preached a different Gospel - Gal 1:8-9!

There are four element for a kingdom - land (which is planet earth - Matt 5:5), King (the Lord Jesus Christ - Zech 14:9), laws (the righteousness law and commandments of God - Isaiah 11:9, Habakkuk 2:14, including those taught by Jesus Christ at the sermon on the mount - Matt chapters 5-7) and people (all human beings who survived the Great Tribulation - Zech 14:16).

It is God's divine Plan for those whom He called to enter and inherit the kingdom of God - 1 Thess 2:12; Hebrews 2:9-13. However, they need to bear fruits of the Spirit, the righteous character of Christ-likeness in this mortal life before they qualify - Gal 5:22-26. Only a small group are now called (John 6:44) and lesser still will qualify (firstfruits) -  Matt 20:16, 22:14; Luke 12:32; James 1:18 - with the rest of mankind who had ever lived called towards the end of the millennial age - Isaiah 65:20. When there are firstfruits, there will be subsequent ones to follow. Those who refused to conform will not inherit the kingdom of God - 1 Cor 6:9-10; Gal 5:19-21; Eph 5:5.

In fact, the Gospel was preached to the people of the Old Testament (Heb 4:2) and by almost all the Old Testament prophets (Acts 3:24). The same Gospel was also preached to Abraham (Gal 3:8) - probably by Melchizedek. Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah, is the seventh preacher of righteousness (the coming kingdom)  for the period between Adam and the Flood (Jude 14). Noah was the eighth preacher of the one and only Gospel - 2 Pet 2:5. So the Gospel of the kingdom was consistently preached by all true servants of the Almighty God - both in the era of the Old Testament and in the New!

The Gospel is a mystery as it involved the salvation of all mankind (starting with the church as the firstfruits), God's divine family (for those born again) and much more - according to the Plan of God as spelt out in His Holy Days (see Leviticus chapter 23). Jesus Christ told His true disciples that He spoke in parables so that only those who are called will understand its mysteries, all the rest will not! - Matt 13:11; Luke 8:10. It is a mystery of the Gospel which things the angels desire to look into - 1 Peter 1:12. If the Gospel is only about the Person of Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection, all these would be plain milk doctrine and the preceding verses would make no sense as there is 'no mystery'!

The true Gospel had not been preached for some nineteen centuries since the first century AD when there was a conspiracy to suppress it because the powers that be then were fearful of a higher power and authority that the people will hold allegiance to. They substituted the Gospel with the Person of Jesus Christ instead! In fact, Jesus Christ was crucified because the spiritual leaders then were afraid that their power and authority will be lost because of the Gospel that the Lord preached. Worse, they could be accused of treason and even lost their lives as they were subservient to the Roman authorities.

 The Lord Jesus Christ prophesied that this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come - Matt 24:14. Since we are all living in the last days, it is high time that the true Gospel be preached to fulfill of the Great Commission. Had it been preached in the preceding centuries, Christ would have returned to restore His kingdom.

The issue simply is this - do we really love God and His truth enough (2 Thess 2:10) to lay hold of His promises. Sadly, as it was in the days of the prophet Isaiah and the Apostle Paul, so it is today when one can resonate their cry to God  - 'Who hath believed our report?' - Isaiah 53:1; Romans 10:16. Satan, the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2), had deceived the whole world (Rev 12:9). For those who had overcome the odds to believe the real truth, the promise from God is incredible - But as it is written, 'Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him' - 1 Cor 2:9.

The Millennial Age of a thousand years will be a time for 'restitution of all things' (Acts 3:21) that had been lost due to the rule of Satan and his demons. God's Plan probably extend beyond planet earth to include the whole universe and hence 'Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end' - Isaiah 9:7; Luke 1:33.


 

THE SPIRIT OF MAN

The world's religions believe in the concept of the immortal soul, and so do most of those who called themselves Christians. Such concept has it origin from Greek philosphers, particularly Plato who is a chief proponent with Aristotle followed closely behind. These Greek philosophers were in turn influenced by Babylonian and Egyptian mythologies. The doctrine of the immortal soul teaches that a person's soul will live on after death, either in heaven, purgatory or in hell. All these are pure philosophical and human speculations which appealed to the intellectuals and the Gnostics of that time.

Theologians like Justin Martyr (A.D 100-167),Tertullian (A.D.150-220) and Origen (A.D. 185-254) were either Platonist or neo-Platonist with some blended Catholic theology to write extensively on trinity and the immortal soul. All of these are either Greek, Babylonian or Egyptian in origin and has no biblical basis!

Most Protestant churches adopt a doctrine of heaven or hell after death largely because it was handed down through the founding fathers who were themselves influenced by Greek philosophers. A novel titled Divine Comedy written by Dante Alighierly sometime in the 14th century A.D. about heaven and hell was made popular by preachers and evangelists down through the centuries, albeit with dramatic effect, helped to seal such belief in the church fraternity. But such a position is not the teaching of the Holy Scripture.

When Adam was created, God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life: and man became a living soul - Genesis 2:7. Scripture is unequivocal in stating the soul that sinneth, it shall die - Ezekiel 18:4 & 18:20. Since all have sinneth, all souls of man will die, regardless of their faith. It is not that man has a soul, man is a living soul. For the true believers, it is the hope of resurrection to immortality and eternal life. But what is it that makes man different from animals? - it is the human spirit given by God at birth of every person dwelling in his/her brain! Animal has none of this.

Man and animal are made of dust and all dies (Eccl 3:19-20). But man is inherently different. Since man is created in the image of God, man has a spirit in him (1 Cor 2:11) which makes him different from any animal (God too has a Spirit which is known as the Holy Spirit). Hence, the theory of evolution of man according to Charles Darwin is absolutely false!

While the spirit of man differentiates a human being from an animal which does not possess a spirit, the leading of the Holy Spirit in a regenerate man distinguished a true believer as the son of God (Rom 8:14, 16) from an unbeliever. Without the human spirit in a man/woman, he /she is simply living life not much different from an animal. But with the presence of the Holy Spirit, the true believer has far more wisdom in understanding the things of God and deep spiritual truth, (1 Cor 2:14) like the mysteries of the kingdom of God - Matthew 13:11!

The spirit of man enables a person to have the power of intellect which is absent in all animals. The Holy Spirit is residing in the frontal lobe of the brain where cognitive abilities operate. The heart is the seat of emotions that works out one's behavior in coordination with the mind. Those who are led by the Spirit of God will exhibit the gifts of the Holy Spirit namely, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance (Galatians 5:22-23) to reflect Christ-likeness in their daily lives.

Upon death, the spirit of the true believers return to God in heaven but is itself not conscious of anything (Eccl 3:21; 12:7). The spirit of man is the spiritual mold that encapsulates all the character qualities and experiences of the person up to the point of death ready to be made perfect in heaven (Hebrews 12:23) to be resurrected to immortality and eternal life into God's divine Family when Christ returns. Since man is a soul, not that he has a soul, it dies with him at death. It was Satan that deceived Eve at the Garden of Eden into believing that man has an immortal soul - Ye shall not surely die (Genesis 3:4).

However, while the soul of man will die a physical death, it cannot be destroyed by man - only God has the power to destroy the human soul at the lake of fire. While physical death is only a temporal departure - to await resurrection - the second death (Rev 20:14) at the lake of fire is total and final with no possibility of resurrection!

The dead - whether in Christ or without Christ - remains dead and has no sense of consciousness of anything (Psalm 6:5,146:4; Eccl 9:5). The next second of consciousness of the dead is resurrection - the first resurrection for all true believers in Christ to immortality and the rest of humanity who had ever lived, it will be the second resurrection into reconstituted physical human beings - literally where they last left off at the point of death.

The true value and potential of the human life is the human spirit, which dwells within the human brain to give the human mind - the seat of knowledge and intellect. Animal has no spirit and hence no such intellectual prowess, they operate mainly by instinct. With the human spirit working inside the human brain and the human mind working in collaboration with God's Holy Spirit, man has incredible potential far beyond this physical lifetime (1 Cor 2:9). For all of humanity, one lifetime is too short to harness its full potential, with more in store in the life to come!

True believers when empowered with God's Holy Spirit, for those who are willing to obey Him (Acts 5:32), will have the ability to understand and discern spiritual knowledge and truth with Godly wisdom. The Holy Spirit connects with the spirit in man to make him a son of God which will someday judge the angels! - 1 Cor 6:3.

The spirit in man is innately selfish because of our fallen nature. But God's Holy Spirit can change that to a higher level - the 'give way of life' as opposed to the 'get way of life'. The human spirit is limited to understanding of the physical and material aspects but not the spiritual realm. Since most problems of this world have their root causes in the spiritual dimension, man cannot find adequate solutions to solve them. Man can at best find solutions to deal with the symptoms but not the underlying root causes of most, if not all the problems of this world!






 

WHAT EXACTLY IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?

The doctine of trinity which most Protestant churches embrace as a tenet of Christianity is never in the Bible. Millions of Christians the world over assume that God is a trinity. But when asked to explain what that means most would reply that they have no clue, even the most learned theologians and preachers. Their most common reply is to 'take it by faith' or 'if I know, I would be God'  - what a response. But God would not want His true disciples to be ignorant of Who He actually is - He wants them to know Him personally. When we fail to get the correct doctrine of Who God is, our faith is built on a wrong foundation and will not stand up to scrutiny when the real tests come!

The true God of the Bible consists of the two Supreme Spirit Personality - God the Father Who is the Head of the God Family and His Son Jesus Christ. The idea of One God is that they are of one mind, united in purpose. The Apostle Paul explains this in 1 Corinthians 8:6, 'But to us there is but  one God, the Father of whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.'  When asked to show them the Father, Christ replied that when they see Him, they see the Father.

Some may contend that it was the spirit of God that moved upon the face of the waters at creation (Geneses 1:2) and hence has to be a 'Spirit Being'.  But Jeremiah 27:5 explained that while the spirit of God originates from God, it is not a separate distinct spirit personality like the Father and Son. In that verse, it states, 'I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.'

In his Psalm of repentance, David begged the Lord not to take away the Holy Spirit from him - Psalm 51:11. If the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the trinity, he would have asked the spirit being directly to not leave him!

In the Old and New Testaments, there are many prophecies about the coming of Christ to earth. However, there is not a single prophecy in the Old Testament about the coming of the Holy Spirit. Although Christ told His disciples that He will send His Spirit to them after His departure to heaven, they only understood the Holy Spirit to be some kind of 'breath' that will fall upon them at Pentecost. Throughout Scriptures, the Holy Spirit is typified as the 'anointing oil', 'running water', 'wind' and 'dove' among others, never as a separate distinct personality.

Since Jesus Christ was born of the Holy Spirit, rightfully Christ should be called the Son of the Holy Spirit if the latter is a Spirit Being. Instead, Christ was named the Son of the Heavenly Father - Luke 1:32.

If the Holy Spirit is a spirit being, then it should be called 'Quadnity' and not 'Trinity'. When Christ was on earth, the Spirit of the Heavenly Father was upon Him. When He ascended to heaven the Spirit of Christ is upon all His true believers.

Throughout His ministry on earth, the Lord Jesus Christ only mentioned of the Holy Spirit shortly before His ascension to heaven, stating that He must leave for heaven before the Holy Spirit can come. In addition, He told His hearers that He and the Father are one - John 10:30, equating Himself with God. This is corroborated in John 1:1 when the Apostle John wrote that Christ was known as 'The Word' before His incarnation as Jesus Christ, and that He and the Father together form the God Head - none else!

Just before His crucifixion, Christ prayed to His Father in heaven and the Holy Spirit was never mentioned in His prayer all night (John chapter 17). This is also seen in Hebrew chapter 1, a brief record of the conversation between God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son regarding God's Master Plan for mankind!

In the Lord's prayer, Christ taught His disciples to pray to the Heavenly Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 6:9-13), there is no mention of praying to the Holy Spirit! If the Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity living in the lives of millions of believers as Trinitarians believe, then He must have been the most neglected spirit personality in all of the universe!

Almost all the epistles written by Apostle Paul begin with the greetings of  'Grace and Peace' from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no mention of the Holy Spirit - Rom 1:7; 1Cor1:3; 2Cor1:2; Gal 1:3; Eph  1:2; Phil 1:2; Col 1:2; 1Thess 1:2; 2Thess 1:2; 1 Tim 1:2; 2Tim 1:2; Tit 1:4; Philemon 1:3. Similar greetings can be found in the epistles of James (James1:1), Peter (1 Pet 1:3; 2 Pet 1:2) and John (1 Jn 1:3; 2 Jn:3) and Jude 1.

In an end-time vision recorded by prophet Daniel (Daniel 7: 13-27), the Ancient of Days (God the Father) handed the kingdom of God over to Jesus Christ to rule and reign as King of kings on earth, together with the resurrected saints (as kings) from the first resurrection, there is no mention  of the participation of the Holy Spirit.

The Book of Revelation reveals the end-time prophecies which God the Father handed to Jesus Christ Who then instructed the holy angel to reveal to the Apostle John to be written down - Rev 1:1. There is no mention of the Holy Spirit's involvement.

The moot point for many is found in Matthew 28:19 when it is stated that true disciples are to be baptised in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This commandment is for true believers to be baptised into the Divine Family that bears the name of the Heavenly Father (Eph 3:14-15). Jesus is the Saviour who died for the sins of man and believers are saved by His life (Rom 5:8-9) when resurrected and born again as immortal spirit beings.

We are baptised in the name of the Holy Spirit because it is by the power of God's Spirit that begettal happens when resurrected saints are born again as immortal sons and daughters into the Family of God (Rom 8:16). When God's Seed - the Holy Spirit - (1 John 3:9) is implanted in a believer upon conversion, he or she is begotten but not yet born, much like human pregnancy with the church as the "Mother" feeding the new believer (Gal 4:26). The believer becomes an heir of God (Rom 8:17) awaiting to inherit God's kingdom when the time comes for Christ to return, resurrection happens and the saint is then born again (1 Cor 15:50-54).

Then again in 1 John 5:7-8, a passage that seem to support the concept of the trinity. However, a closer examination in the NKJV in the margin shows that many of these words were added by trinitarian Bible Translators! The words from verse 7 starting "in heaven" all the way to verse 8 ending "on earth" were not found in the ancient Greek manuscripts and appear in the Latin Vulgate version much later sometime in the eighth century.

The fact of the matter is that the triad deity originated from Babylon when the followers of Nimrod, his wife Semiramis and their son Adonis were being immortalised as deity. The politics of the Roman Empire in the first few centuries after the death of Christ also played a part in conceiving the doctrine of the trinity. But all the arguments for trinity are human concoction and presuppostion that has no biblical basis.

Throughout the centuries since then, different civilisation, culture and language groups have borrowed the idea and created their own triad diety known by different names throughout the history of mankind. God is dishonoured when some truth is mixed with much falsehood and judgement will come upon all who rebelled against His truth. True believers are warned to come out (Rev18:4) of the Babylonian Mystery religion (Rev 17:5) before it is too late!









 

PROPHETIC SIGNS OF CHRIST'S SECOND COMING

In the light of a flurry of events unfolding fast and furious across the world's news in recent years, many may be wondering what on earth is happening. From a Biblical perspective, all these happened for a reason according to God's timeline on the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the ushering in of God's kingdom on earth to replace all the governments of man.

According to Christ's teachings on the Olivet Prophecy, the prophetic signs given by Him as recorded for us in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 are in respond to a question from His disciples (Matt 24:3), 'And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world (age)?' Revelation chapter 6 parallels that of Matthew 24, depicting in symbols what to expect of the trends and events set to occur shortly before His return.

With about 750 thousand words and one-third prophecy, the Bible is the only source of news broadcast in advance, well before they are set to happen. Some of these signs in the end times to look for can be summarised below.

First, there is a breakdown of character worldwide. People are getting more violent and immoral. Man's brutality against fellow humans just know no bounds and others are even advocating adultery as a way of life. Protest marches are happening everywhere and some opposing camps are resorting to violence to get what they want. This was recorded for us as a warning in 2 Timothy 3:1-6 about perilous times of the last days - for which we are now living.

Be forewarned for it is written, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." - 2 Tim 3:12-13.

Second, the proliferation of false teachings is going viral with different Christian groups, sub-groups and cults sprouting out everywhere. Each denomination with its sub-groups are not in unity and many are at odds with one another teaching different doctrines and practices - but all proclaiming in the name of Christ - just as He prophesied that it would. "For MANY shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many" (Matthew 24:5). Such trend is set to get worse causing all kinds of confusion - both inside and outside the church fraternity.

The false Christ is portrayed as the first in the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Revelation 6:2 - 'And I saw, and behold a white horse; and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.' The true Christ wields a sharp sword that proceeds out of His mouth and not a bow, and has many crowns upon His head (Rev 19:2), not just one. His name is also known as the Word of God (Rev 19:13) - Christ's pre-incarnate name at the very beginning with the Heavenly Father before He became Jesus Christ (John 1:1).

Third, there will be wars and rumours of wars (Matt 24:6). The second horseman riding a red horse symbolises wars and killings which are prevalent in our times. Wars and civil wars, gun and drug violence have become a frequent occurence that it surprises nobody any longer. Such is the scenario when 'power was given to him (the red horse rider) ...to take peace from the earth' . When peace is absent, war and terrorism are inevitable, with many parts of the earth turning into killing fields!

Fourth, the consequences that follow after warfare are famines and pestilences (Matt 24:7) as depicted by the black horseman of the Apocalypse (Rev 6:5) when the third seal was opened. The world is facing food shortage in many parts of the world. Bacteria are mutating faster than ever and that the most powerful antibiotics are losing its potency in the fight against certain diseases.

With shortage of food and under-nurishment, pestilences and diseases inevitably break out. This will spread quickly and engulf nations on a mass scale like those of the Bubonic Plague in the 20th century where one-fourth to one-half of Europe's population were wiped out, an estimated 75 million people died. The fifth seal of the pale horse will gallop along to strike the earth and even wealthy nations of the world are not spared!

Fifth, Christ warned that 'there shall be ...earthquakes in divers places' - Matt 24:7 - and this could apply to tsunamis as well, often caused by earth's movements under the sea bed. Several nations like Indonesia, Japan and recently, Philippines have suffered severely from earthquakes and tsunamis.

Could these be some of the 'beginning of sorrows' (Matt 24:8) as warned by Christ with more to come as the clock ticks towards the midnight hour? Though we can never be absolutely sure, one thing we do know is that all these natural disasters seem to be happening more frequently and with greater intensity than the ones before, with scientists pointing to global warming as the main cause. Whatever the cause, the Olivet Prophecy does provide us the signs to watch and pray (Luke 21:36).

Sixth, while all these are happening, there will come a time of the seventh resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire with a confederation of ten nation states known in the Bible as "The Beast" that will be controlled by a religious organisation headed by a "False Prophet", also known as the "man of sin" - 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4. The symbolic Beast is a political union of ten states in Europe controlled by a two-horned religious beast that will set to dominate the world, just before Christ's Second Coming. Daniel chapters 2 and 7 with Revelation chapters 13 and 17 prophesied of the coming Beast and False Prophet at the time of the end - which is quietly taking place right now!

Finally, Christ foretold that when the true Gospel of the kingdom of God is being preached, the end will come - Matthew 24:14. It has not been preached for over 1900 years, otherwise the end of the church age would have been upon us with the ushering in of the kingdom of God - thy kingdom come!

Satan is well aware that his reign as god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) is coming to an end and he knows that he has only a short time left (Rev 12:12) before making way for Jesus Christ to usher in God's kingdom Who will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev 19:16). Hence, he is lashing out on the inhabitants of planet earth with such humongous disasters and problems like never before, for he came to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10).










 

WHAT EXACTLY IS THE GOSPEL?

When one walks into any evangelical church, invariably the preacher will stress the importance of preaching the gospel. Most Christians when asked what is the gospel will reply that it is the gospel about Jesus Christ coming from heaven to earth to die for the sins of mankind. While this is true, it is not the gospel. Others may say it is about the gospel of grace, or it is about God's blessing in the arena of health and wealth. Yet some will preach a social gospel of doing good in this mortal life.

Although these have noble objectives, they are not the gospel. The gospel is not about the Person of Christ but the message of the kingdom of God. Christ was known as the Word in His pre-incarnate Being, together with God the Father (John 1:1). Christ was sent by the Heavenly Father as the Prophet Messenger (Deut 18:15; Malachi 3:1; Acts 7:37) to earth to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God to mankind (Mark 1:14-15; Luke 4:43).  In fact, it was the same gospel that was preached by all the prophets of the Old Testament (Acts 3:21)! No prophet ever came to preach about himself, always preaching the message given from a higher authority. For the true gospel it was a message from the Heavenly Father Himself.

Although Christ Himself is not the gospel, the Person of Christ has to be preached in conjunction with the gospel because of the important role He has played as the sacrifice for the sins of mankind, paving the way for true believers to see and enter the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God and Jesus Christ are two separate matters as recorded in 2 passages in Acts 8:12 and Acts 28:31 - 'Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God AND the name of Jesus Christ'... Paul taught likewise - 'Preaching the kingdom of God AND teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ'.

The kingdom of God is the supergovernment of God that will descend upon earth when Christ returns. It is about the rulership by government with authority set up by God over literal nations and literal people on earth (Daniel 7:27; Rev 11:15). When Christ was on earth, His main pre-occupation is teaching and instructing His disciples about the kingdom of God. In fact, most of His parables are pointing to the gospel of the kingdom. Similarly, the Apostle Paul was fervent in preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God (Acts 19:8; 20:25).

The prophet Daniel recorded what God revealed to him about the world to come - that there will be four kingdoms ruled by man and one after that will be the kingdom of God ruled by Christ (Daniel 2:31-35, 44). Chapter 2:44 reads, ' And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.' At the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the seventh angel sounded and with great rejoicing in heaven saying, ' The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.' - Revelation 11:15.

While on earth, Christ was in the wilderness for forty days and overcame the three temptations of Satan, qualifying Himself to rule as the King in the coming kingdom of God (Mark 1: 12-13). The first words of Christ after that was 'Repent ye, and believe the gospel' - Mark 1:15 - two key verbs that one must repent and believe in order to be saved! The gospel as stated in the preceding verse 14 is the kingdom of God - not something else as most churches are preaching and squabbling over every issue of doctrinal differences, mostly based on the interpretation of man. Only the Bible can interprets the Bible, and this has to be the basis for all interpretation of scriptural verses, including prophesies.

Christ Himself commissioned His twelve disciples to preach the kingdom of God. He also gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases (Luke 9:1-2). He later appointed other seventy, and sent them two and two to do likewise (Luke 10:1-9). In John 8:31, it was recorded that the Jews believed on Him. But that is not enough, Christ continued, If ye abide in my word (kingdom of God), then are ye my disciples indeed.' Then and only then,' ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.' 

Similarly, in the Lord's prayer, Christ taught us to pray beginning with Matthew 6:10  - Thy kingdom come . Follow on in Matthew 6:33, Christ taught us to 'seek ye first the kingdom of God (the gospel) and his reightousness (the laws of God)' . Many can memorise it verbatim, but few understand its meaning, let alone obey it.

At His trial before His crucifixion, Christ told Pontius Pilate that He was born to be King (of the coming kingdom of God), and it was for this purpose that He came into this world, 'that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth hearth my voice - John 18:37. Truth of the matter is that the THE TRUTH Christ spoke of is the gospel of the kingdom of God!

This is consistent with the prophecy of Isaiah recorded in Isaiah 9:6-7, ' For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the GOVERNMENT shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, the Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace...his government shall be no end...and upon his kingdom.' Similar prophecy is recorded for us in Luke 1:32-33, 'He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David... and of his KINGDOM there shall be no end.' The throne to the kingdom is currently occupied by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. It will make way for Christ - the King of kings and Lord of lords - when He returns. Those who are called and qualified will be amongst the kings and lords to rule and reign with Him - Daniel 7:22; Revelation 2:26, 3:21, 5:10.

Religionists of our day try to spiritualise it away saying that the 'kingdom of God is in your heart or that it is the church'. This is the result of misinterpreting Scripture taken from Luke 17:21. The translation 'the kingdom of God is within you' is incorrect - a better translation is the kingdom of God is in the midst of you as Christ is the Divine Representative of the coming kingdom standing in the midst of the Pharisees. No way Christ was telling them the kingdom of God is in them when He called them names of the derogatory kind.

The kingdom of God is not the church as Christ told Nicodemus that one has to be born again to see the kingdom of God - John 3:3. To be born again is to die physically and be resurrected as an immortal spirit being. That is why flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God - 1 Corinthians 15:50. If the kingdom of God is the church, then all humans who have eyes - believers or unbelievers - will be able to see and enter therein!

For centuries since the first century AD, the true gospel had not been preached until the mid 20th century with Herbert Armstrong broadcasting the gospel of the kingdom of God over radio and the magazine 'Plain Truth'. The Lord Christ prophesied that the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached to all the nations before the end will come - Matthew 24:14. Had the true gospel being preached before that, the end of the church age would have come with Christ returning to usher in the kingdom of God on earth.

These are all facts from the Bible that cannot be denied. Sadly, many would choose to believe in man rather than from the words of the Son of God, Jesus Christ and His chosen Apostles. Those who choose to follow man are worshipping and serving God in vain (Matthew 15:9; Mark 7:7). Choose wisely, for therein is the difference between life and death - for eternity!