Both stared immensely towards the far horizon. They saw the dark clouds illuminated by the thunderous flashing lighting, resulting in patches of random cotton flashing over the entire sky. The wind was strong and spiraling, very much like it may evolved into a bigger scale of whirlwind.. While it lifted the fallen leaves off the ground, that very sight before them stirred urgency in their hearts.
They knew the end (of this world) is near. One of them turned to his partner and said "Are you ready?" His partner looked at him in blank. For a moment, his partner was speechless. His mind started to flash back what he had accomplished over the years and all of the sudden, all of these things doesn't seem to matter anymore. If the rapture is happening that very day, then none of his accomplishment, achievements and acquisitions on earth, is going to follow him to heaven.
Obviously, the rapture did not take place. But it was a wake-up call. It happened in the 1990s. This is exactly what my boss experienced that day. He and his partner saw such dramatic weather and thought it was the end of the world. My boss challenged this question to his partner ;" Are you ready?"
He never knew that his question had made such an impact on his friend that day. It was a "kairos" moment for his friend. He eventually gave up his secular career and become a full-time pastor till today.
Lately, I've been hearing this phrase "Are you ready?" I thought I should just slip in this story. Never know some one out there need to listen to this. My boss, in the spirit at that moment, spoke a word in season to his friend and led him into full time ministry. Likewise, I am just flowing in that spirit. I am not suggesting we should give up our career now and serve God full time. But, let's be mindful of the things that are eternal than the things that are temporal. Because at the end of the day, what we bring along with us from this world are those of eternity. Amen!
Last week, we mention that Jesus died on the cross due to heart ruptured. Medical experts cited that His heart had failed, the blood and water clogged in the area of His heart and as a result, when the Roman soldier pierced His side with a spear, blood and water flowed out.
John 19:33-34
33 But when they came to Jesus and they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.
34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came (flowed) out.
Why are we so concern about the every little details that happen on the cross? Derek Prince, a great man of God who specialized in demon-deliverance, explain in one of his sermon:
"One of the great basic truths of revelation is that on the cross there was divinely ordained exchange. I believe this is central to the entire gospel message. If we do not understand this much about what took place when Jesus died on the cross we really have no anchor for our faith, no stability, no solidity. On the cross by the fore ordained purpose of God there was an exchange, very, very simple in its basic nature. Jesus the sinless, obedient Son of God took upon him all the evil that was due by divine justice to all our rebellion and disobedience that in return through faith we might receive all the good that was due to the perfect obedience of Jesus. More simply, Jesus took all the evil that was due to us that we might receive all the good that was due to him. This was the exchange. You can work this out in every aspect of what took place on the cross.
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So when we read Matthew 27:46 "My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me [leaving Me [l]helpless, forsaking and failing Me in My need]?", we know Jesus is taking our place... Because for the first time in the Bible, Jesus addressed His Father as "My God". No where else in the Bible did Jesus called His Father "My God"! So today in exchange, we shout "My Father, My Father, why have You so blessed me!" Hallelujah! Amen!
It’s not my purpose to do that tonight but here is one main aspect of the exchange. Jesus was made a curse — what’s the opposite of a curse? Blessing. —that we might receive the blessing. There’s the exchange. The curse was due to our disobedience but Jesus as our representative and our substitute took the curse upon him that we might have what? The blessing. Jesus took the curse that we might receive the blessing. Say that. Jesus took the curse that we might receive the blessing. The evidence that Jesus was made a curse was that he hung upon the cross. "
For further reading of this sermon, go to:
Clearly, at the cross of divine exchange, Jesus took all our curses so that we can receive all the blessings from God. Amen!
Following so far? Let's go one step further.... When judgement of our sins was exhausted in the body of Christ, Jesus shout "It is finished!" Do you know that Jesus actually quoted the first verse and the last verse of Psalms 22 in the Old Testament?
Psalms 22:1
1 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?
Psalms 22:31
31 They shall come and shall declare His righteousness to a people yet to be born—that He has done it [that it is finished]!
At the cross, Jesus took on the pain, the suffering, the judgement, the curse, and at that very hour He quoted Psalms 22. Lets think for a moment and put ourselves in His shoe, with all the pain and punishment taken so far, would anyone quote the verses in the Bible? I doubt I would. I don't think I am composed enough to quote the Bible verses. The pain would have overwhelmed me!
Yet, our Lord Jesus quoted Psalms 22.... What is the significance? Question: What come after the last verse of Psalms 22? Psalms 23! The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want..... Familiar?
What is Psalms 23 all about? If you read and digest the entire passage, you will realize this passage is the covenant of Grace! Jesus died on the cross so that He can bring forth His covenant of Grace! Hallelujah! Jesus took on the pain and sacrifice at the cross and He quoted Psalms 22, so that today we can confidently say that the Lord is my Shepherd! The One who hang on the tree, took on all the judgement of our sins, paid for all of us the penalty of sins, He is our Shepherd! Hallelujah!
When we remind ourselves in this manner, we are telling the devil to stay away from us. We are reminding him that he has already been defeated at the cross! The devils may around like a roaring lion, but he is not going to devour us, who declare the Lord is our Shepherd! Amen!
I am thankful on our recent trip to Paris. It was by the Grace of our Lord. For many years, I felt God prompting for me to go to Paris... But, I did not act upon it until this year because to me it didn't make much sense. I've been to Paris in 1994 and my impression then was I don't really like it. I would rather spend the money to go to some other places like Japan, Korea or even Israel.
Nevertheless, some time before making the decision to go Paris, I received in my spirit that by going to Paris, God would want to commission me in sharing the Gospel of Grace. With the encouragement from my wife, Shao Qing, we decided to go Paris by faith.
I've shared my story on this trip in the previous blog so I won't go into it. But, this is something I received from the Lord in this trip. Right underneath the Eiffel Tower, I saw a tag that indicates the year which this tower was built. It was from 1834-1923. Didn't quite make much sense about it then but throughout the trip, we know we were blessed by His Grace. Everything was smooth and flow easily like a river.
Some time later after we return from the trip, while listening to a sermon, all of a sudden, I jumped out of the bed. 1923 is actually Psalms 23! Psalms is the 19th book in the Bible! It is the passage on the covenant of Grace! Hallelujah!
God is good! And the amazing thing is He gave me another confirmation about this trip through my dear friend, Mac! After returning back from the trip, I had coffee with Mac and found out that while we were away during that period of time, he fasted for three days three nights and at the end of the fast, he kept seeing the word "Amazing Grace"! Right then, I knew in my heart it was a confirmation from God. Hallelujah!
Since then, I have decided to memorized and meditate on Psalm 23. I have made Brielle memorized as well and I would encourage you to do so. Once you memorized and start to meditate on it, you will be surprised how beautiful this passage is!
Ok, glad we manage to share this message this week. For the next few weeks, most likely we won't be doing any sharing. Just want to take some time off to consolidate before we move forwards to more sharing in the future.
I have actually compiled all the previous sharing into a blog website.
Feel free to go through those sharing during this period of time. Still doing a bit of touch up here and there, but good to go. So, feel free to go to this blog website.
Grace and peace be with you!
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