The Spiritual Hope

Scripture : James 1:17

” Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. “

The apostle James wrote, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning”

(James 1:17) God is the Father. As the Father, He loves to give gifts to us His children. There are two kinds of the Father’s gift: The good gift and the perfect gift. The good gift is the gift for temporal use while the perfect gift is the gift for eternal use.

Why is God called the Father of lights (James 1:17)? The picture that the apostle James used to describe God is the sun. The sun is the source of all lights for the earth (the light of the moon is actually from the sun). The sun gives its light freely to the earth. God is the source of every good gift and every perfect gifts for us (the good gifts that we receive from people are actually from God). God freely gives His gifts to us because He is the Father who loves us so much. The apostle Paul wrote, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

The sun which is used by the apostle James to give the picture of God as the Father of lights is not the sun in the morning until noonday or the sun in the afternoon until the evening, but the sun at its zenith at noon. When the morning turns into the afternoon, there is variation in the position of the sun, resulting in the turning of the shadow on the ground. But when the sun is at its zenith, it shines in its strength and there is no variation nor shadow of turning. Unlike man who is fickle, who easily changes in his heart from so ready to give to not so ready to give, God is always so ready, even eager to give. There is never any shadow from God that will make us feel that He is not always so ready to give His gifts to us.

The apostle Paul wrote, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) The gift of God is not something that we are entitled to receive or we can work for; but it is His grace, something that He freely gives to us out of His great love and mercy for us. The nature of this gift is spiritual although it can have a physical manifestation. Forgiveness of sins, eternal life, the Holy Spirit, are examples of the gifts of God that are purely spiritual. Healing and provision are examples of the gifts of God that are spiritual but have physical manifestations.

As the Father of lights God has given  two greatest gifts for us. One is His own Son whom He gave about two thousand years ago. When Jesus asked for a drink from a woman of Samaria  at Jacob’s well, He said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” (John 4:10) Jesus referred to Himself as the gift of God. The other is the Holy Spirit whom He has been giving since about two thousand years ago. When Simon Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, he  said to the people, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39) Simon Peter said that the Holy Spirit was the gift that God promised to give to the people in every generation, as many as He would call.

The only begotten Son of God Jesus Christ is the greatest one time free gift ever from God because this gift is eternal life. The apostle Paul wrote, ” For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) He is the greatest gift because He opens the way for us to receive all other free gifts from God. The apostle Paul wrote in another place, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32) How do we receive this greatest gift from God? Because God actually gave this gift about two thousand years ago, so we do need to ask for it. All we have to do is believe that God has given this gift for us. When we believe this, we shall receive this gift. What about if we have believed and received this gift? We should be thankful and continue to believe.

The Holy Spirit is the greatest  continuous free gift from God ever because this gift is divine nature. The apostle Peter wrote, “by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2 Peter 1:4) He is the greatest  gift because He opens the way for us to receive other free spiritual gifts and His manifestations. The apostle Paul wrote, “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:” (1 Corinthians 12:7) How do we receive this greatest gift from God? Because God gives this gift continuously, so we can ask for it at any time. The Lord Jesus said, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:13) If we have never received the Holy Spirit, then we should ask God to give us the Holy Spirit. If we have received the Holy Spirit, then we should continue to receive the Holy Spirit by continual asking. To always receive the Holy Spirit every time we ask God, we must have a fully surrendered heart.

God gave us His Son, so that by believing in Him we pass from death to life. The Son of God Himself said, “Most assuredly, I say to you,  he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment,  but has passed from death into life.” (John 5:24) God has been giving us His Holy Spirit, so that by receiving Him we experience abundant life. In another place, the Son of God said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) When we are in death, we are slaves of the devil. Spiritually, we are poor and miserable. When we are in life, we are free. Spiritually, we are prosperous and happy. When we are in abundant life, we reign. Spiritually, we are very rich and overflowed with joy.

Does God as the Father of lights also give us physical and material gifts, such as food, clothing, money? Yes, He does. They are God’s good gifts for temporal use. But, God gives the physical and material things as “spiritual” gifts from Him. It is like the Lord Jesus. He is a Man, but He does not come from men. He is God who became a Man. He is the perfect spiritual gift from God that manifests physically. So, the physical and material gifts from God may come through men, but they do not come from men. They will be given as free gifts, not as the things purchased by money or obtained by works.

The physical and material things that we have can either be given to us as spiritual gifts from God or as the things that we buy because we have money and we have money because we work. If we have them because we buy them with money or we work for them, then they are not gifts from God. God’s gifts are given in God’s ways and God’s way is always the spiritual way. He gives supernaturally and freely. Like it has been quoted before, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

Scriptures : 1 Corinthians 6:19; Romans 12:1

” Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ” I Corinthians 6:19

” I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. ” Romans 12:1

The apostle Paul wrote, “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” (1 Cor 6:19) Before the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we use our body for work. However, after the Holy Spirit dwells in us, our body has become the temple of the Holy Spirit and God wants us to use it for prayer.

If we use our body for work too much, although we may not be aware of it, we shall increasingly depend on ourselves. And, when we depend on ourselves, we unconsciously allow the spirit of the world to enter our lives. However, if we use our body for prayer much, we shall increasingly depend on God. We are open to the Holy Spirit and God will fill us with Him.

Before the Holy Spirit dwells in us, our body is our own. We use it as we please, fulfilling its desires and needs. However, after the Holy Spirit dwells in us, our body is no longer our own. Our body belongs to God and we must use it according to His will.

What is the will of God for our body? The apostle Paul wrote, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” (Rom 12:1) God wants our body to be presented to Him as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to Him. How do we present our body as a living sacrifice to God? By denying its desires and controlling its needs for His sake. The apostle Paul wrote, “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection.” (1 Cor 9:27)

The temple is the place of prayer and the lamb is the sacrifice in the temple. Our body is both the temple and the sacrifice. Therefore, we must use our body as a place of prayer as well as present it as a sacrifice of prayer.

What will happen if we use our body as a place of prayer, but we do not present it as a sacrifice of prayer? Our prayer will be without the spirit of sacrifice. It will either be carnal, that is, focusing too much on the things of the body, or religious, that is, with no fervency of the spirit. It is like doing service in the temple without a sacrificial offering. Praying without the spirit of sacrifice will never be answered by fire from God.

Prayer and fasting is the basic form of prayer with the spirit of sacrifice. We use our body for prayer and we deny our body of its basic need for food. We use our body as the temple of God by praying and we present our body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God by fasting. When we pray and fast, we shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire. Our body will become a holy temple for the Lord as well as a sweet smelling sacrifice to God. Our body will become a vessel for honor, set apart (sanctified) and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work (2 Tim 2:21). Our life will be holy and we shall be on fire for God.

Scripture: Exodus 5:1

” Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness. “

God told Pharaoh the king of Egypt through Moses and Aaron to let the children of Israel go from Egypt. The children of Israel are God’s people by the covenant He has made with their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But at that time they were in bondage as slaves to the Egyptians. God had promised to give them the land of Canaan, the land which is flowed with milk and honey, as their inheritance. But they would not be able to go to that land if they were not set free first from their bondages in Egypt.

The church are God’s people by the covenant He has made with their head who is Jesus Christ. We were all enslaved by sins in the world. God has promised to give us abundant life as our inheritance. However we will not be able to receive this abundant life if we have not been set free from our bondages to sins in the world.

To be set free from the bondage of sin means to be set free from the consequences of sin. The consequences of sin are all forms of death, which is separation from God: dead spirit, demonized soul, sick body, and lack of provision. Therefore, freedom from the bondage of sin is the destruction of death by life. It means dead spirit becomes revived spirit, demonized soul becomes liberated soul, sick body becomes healthy body, and lack of provision becomes enough provision.

To be set free from the bondage of sin we cannot only be set free from the consequences of sin but we must also be set free from the strength of sin. If not, then we will get the consequences of sin again after we are set free from it. What is the strength of sin? It is something that makes sin powerful, which is the law (1 Cor 15:56). To be set free from the strength of sin is to be set free from the law to be under grace. It means we no longer live by what we must do and what we must not do according to God’s laws but by what we love and what we hate according to God’s nature in us.

The apostle Paul wrote, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” (Rom 6:14) The key to overcoming sin is not to be under the law of God. Not to be under the law does not mean to be lawless but not to focus on it. The law demands us to live according to its commandments. We should not try to do them. Instead we should focus on God and His love, especially the love that He has shown through His Son who died for us on the cross. As we receive this love in our hearts, we shall love God and our neighbor, which is the fulfillment of the law. This is what it means to be under the grace of God.

As sons of men when we are in bondages we have no power to set ourselves free. We can try to help ourselves to get better but we just cannot get out of our bondages. Likewise, when we see people in bondages we have no power to set them free. We can try to help them and they may get better but we just cannot get them out of their bondages. Why? What is the problem? Because in ourselves we only have the knowledge of good and evil, and this knowledge cannot make us or the people free. Only truth can make us or the people free. The Lord Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)

The Lord Jesus said, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36) The sons of men cannot give freedom because they do not have the truth in their lives. They only have the knowledge of good and evil which can only give some help but cannot give freedom. Only Jesus the Son of God can give freedom because He is the truth (John 14:6). The freedom that Jesus gives is true freedom, like a slave released from the bondage slavery and becomes a free man. It is freedom indeed.

The knowledge of good and evil does not bring freedom, only the truth does. But what is the truth? The truth is actually not a thing but a person. So, the right question is not ‘what is the truth?’ but ‘who is the truth?’ Jesus is the Truth (John 14:6). Because the truth is a person, Jesus, then we need to come Him to receive freedom in our lives and then to have relationship with Him to receive more freedom in our lives. Therefore, if we do not come to Jesus, we will not be made free from our bondages. If we have come to Jesus and have been made free from our bondages but we do not have relationship with Him, then we will be back in our bondages again.

Scripture : Revelation 2:4

 ” Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”

The Loveless Church

One of the seven churches in Asia which the Lord Jesus told John the Apostle to write to is the church of Ephesus (Rev 2:1). The church of Ephesus had some virtues which the Lord Jesus commended. Firstly, they could not tolerate evil and those who were evil (Rev 2:2). Secondly, they had the ability to discern true ministers from the false ones as they had tested those who said they were apostles and were not, and had found them liars (Rev 2:2). And thirdly, they had the patience and perseverance to labor for the sake of the name of the Lord and had not become weary (Rev 2:3). Nevertheless, the Lord had something against them. He was not pleased with them because they had left their first love (Rev 2:4).

The First Love

First love is the love that the people of God have and feel as soon as they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for the first time. It is the spontaneous love for the Lord Jesus springing up in our heart as we come to know Him. This first love for the Lord is like the love that we feel when we fall in love with someone for the first time. We always want to be with the person we fall in love with. We keep thinking and seeing this person in our mind. We always want to show this person how much he or she means to us and to do those things that pleases him or her. We are quick to say that we are sorry when we feel that we have hurt him or her. This person becomes the focus of our attention and our life revolves around him or her. We were like that when we first came to know the Lord Jesus. He became the focus of our attention and our life centered and revolved around Him. Thoughts of the Lord Jesus were always in our mind. We always wanted to spend much time with the Lord Jesus and showed Him how much He meant to us by doing those things that are pleasing to Him. Whenever we felt that we sinned against the Lord, we were quickly to repent and asked His forgiveness. When these things are missing from our life, then we have left our first love for the Lord.

The Danger of Leaving the First Love

Having the first love is very important for us because the Lord Jesus considers His people who have left their first love as having fallen although they still possess some virtues. Moreover, the Lord also warns that leaving our first love will eventually cause our lampstand to be removed from its place, meaning that we shall lose our testimony as His people (Rev 2:5). We may still have some forms of godliness, knowledge of the truth and diligence of labor for the Lord, however, the Lord will no longer use us as His testimony. People will not see God in us, let alone, come to Him because of us.

Restoring the First Love

The Lord wants us to always have our first love for Him. However, if we find ourselves that we have left our first love, how then can it be restored? There are three things in our part that we must do (Rev 2:5). Firstly, we must remember from where we have fallen. We need to look back at our life when we still had our first love. We should ask the Holy Spirit to revive those memories until they can stir our emotions so that we want that love again. Secondly, we must repent before God. As the Spirit brings to remembrance those memories into our mind and we realize how deep we have fallen, then we should humbly acknowledge that we have left our first love and we are sorry for that. Thirdly, we must do the first works again. These first works are the works that people are supposed to do as soon as they come to know the Lord for the first time. We must spend a lot of time in the presence of God waiting on Him, reading and meditating on the Word of God, praying and worshipping God until we receive the fresh revelation of His love for us. We must stop being like Martha, busy with much activities (including serving), worried and troubled about many things, and be like Mary, sitting at Jesus’ feet and hearing His word (Luk 10:39-41).

The Love of God

The only thing which can restore our first love is God’s love. We cannot generate our love for God by ourselves. Instead, we must receive His love because our love for Him is actually the response of His love for us that we feel. Therefore, this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us (1 Jhn 4:10). We love God because He first loved us (1 Jhn 4:19). In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the world and laid down His life on the cross for us while we were still sinners that we might live through Him (1 Jhn 3:16; 4;9; Rom 5:8). Thus, we must receive the revelation of God’s love at Calvary and the pouring out of this love in our heart by the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5) in order to restore our first love for him.

The apostle John wrote, ”For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.” (1 John 5:7) God is The Trinity: The Being of God, the Word of God and the Breath of God. When God is silent, He is one. When God speaks, He manifests Himself in three. From His Being proceeds His Word and through His Word comes out His Breath.   

The Father is God who is in heaven. He is invisible, intangible and unreachable. He is the God who is above us. Nevertheless, the Father wants to come to us and be with us. He wants to show and tell us about Himself. He wants to communicate with us because He wants to have relationship with us. So, He sent His Word to us. The Word of God is God who became a Man and dwelt among us. The apostle John wrote, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life.” (1 John 1:1) He is visible, tangible and reachable. He is the God who is with us.

God does want only to be with us to have a relationship with us, but He wants to become one with us as well. He wants us to become like Him. He wants us to feel what He feels, to think what He thinks, to speak what He speaks, to do what He does. He wants us to have His life. So, God sent His Spirit to abide in us and to fill us. The Spirit of God is God who is breathed into us. He is invisible, but He can be sensed and felt. He is the God who is in us. The apostle John wrote, “By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.” (1 John 4:13)

The Lord Jesus is our perfect example as man. He shows us what we must receive in our lives as man.  He received the Spirit of God and the word of God in His life. In his gospel, Matthew wrote, “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17) So, we also need to receive the Word of God as well as the Spirit of God in our lives.

The Lord Jesus is The Word of God who became a man. When He lived on earth, He always spoke God’s words to the people, telling them about God and inviting them to come to Him so that they might have a relationship with God. When He spoke to the people, He always told them to believe in Him and to abide in His word. Why? Because He is the Word of God and by abiding in His word, they would know the truth that would set them free. In his gospel, John wrote, “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  (John 8:31-32)

To have a strong and deep relationship with God, falsehood must not be found in our lives. Our heart must be free from hypocrisy and insincerity if we expect to have this strong and deep relationship. To experience this, we must know the truth and to know the truth we must abide in the word of God. What does it mean to abide in the word of God? It is to hear and to do the word of God in our lives. The apostle James wrote, “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in  it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:25)

The Holy Spirit is God’s breath that He wants to breathe into the lives of the people like He did in the beginning when He created man. It is written, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7) When the people of God receive the Holy Spirit, they will be made alive and have the life of God in them. This life of God will bring freedom and then transformation in their lives. So, God expects them to be open to the Holy Spirit and to surrender to Him. The apostle Paul wrote, “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)

The Holy Spirit will set us free from demonic bondages and from human limitations. When we have bondages in our lives, we cannot do what we want to do. The things which are possible become impossible for us. When we have limitations, we can only do what we naturally can do. The things that are naturally possible are possible for us but the things that are naturally impossible are impossible for us. However when we are free, we can do what we naturally cannot do. The things which are impossible become possible for us. All things become possible for us.

The Holy Spirit will transform us into another man. Without the Holy Spirit we are helpless to change ourselves. Even if we try hard, the most that we can be is a better person. It is like a slave who tries hard to become a master, but the most he can be is a slave of a better master. But with the Holy Spirit we shall supernaturally be transformed, not into a better person, but into a completely different person. It is like a worthless slave whose life is miraculously transformed and he becomes an honorable king.

Scriptures : Luke 24:49; 10: 18

” Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” Luke 24:49

And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” Luke 10: 18

Spiritual Atmosphere of the World

The spiritual state of people is affected very much by the spiritual atmosphere in which they live. A certain spiritual atmosphere will set a certain course of thought pattern and conduct. An atmosphere of lust will produce a lustful thought pattern and behavior. It works very much like how the natural weather determines greatly about how people live every day. People who live in a very cold weather where the temperature was very low will think of how they can warm themselves. They will then wear sweaters and switch on central heating in their homes. On the other hand, people who live in a very hot weather where there is much sun will think of how they can cool themselves and protect their bodies. They will switch on the air-con in their homes and put on some sunscreen and wear sunglasses when they go outside the house. In general, the spiritual state of people who live on this earth is dead in trespasses because of their lustful thought pattern and fleshly conduct which is according to the spiritual atmosphere of the world created by the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:1-3).

Spiritual Atmosphere of the Believers

We who have believed in name of the Lord Jesus Christ, though still living on this earth, have a new atmosphere within created by the Holy Spirit who abides in us (1 Jhn 3:24). This new atmosphere sets an opposite course of thought pattern and conduct from the course of the  world. It produces in us life and peaceful thought pattern (Rom 8:6) and holy conduct (1 Pet 1:15). This new atmosphere of the Spirit inside will protect us from the influence of the atmosphere of the world outside. It is like the cool air from the air-conditioner protecting us who are inside the house from being affected by the hot weather outside.

Maintaining the Atmosphere of the Spirit Inside Us

The atmosphere of the Holy Spirit inside us must be maintained if we expect to keep the atmosphere of the world from coming into us, just like the air-con must be kept running if we expect to keep the hot air outside from coming in. The atmosphere of the Spirit inside us is maintained through daily prayer and meditation of the Word. Once we neglect these, the lustful atmosphere of the world will immediately infiltrate.

The Atmosphere of the Spirit Around Us

The atmosphere of the Spirit inside only serves as our protection from being infiltrated by the atmosphere of the world. It cannot change the atmosphere of the world around us. The air-conditioner in our house cannot make the hot weather in the neighborhood become cool. It requires the force of nature to change it. The strong wind must blow and the clouds must somehow cover the neighborhood from the heat of the sun. In the same manner, the atmosphere of the world around us can only be changed by the power from on high (Luk 24:49). When this power from heaven is released, it will hit the prince of the power of the air and destroy his force (Luk 10:18). The atmosphere of the world around us which comes from the devil will be replaced by the atmosphere from heaven. Heaven is on earth. This atmosphere from heaven is the atmosphere of the Spirit around us.

Creating and Maintaining The Atmosphere of the Spirit Around Us

The atmosphere of the Holy Spirit around us must be brought forth and then maintained if we expect to simultaneously bring heaven on earth around us and keep the atmosphere of the world away. To do this, we must first be baptized with the Holy Spirit so that we can release power from on high. When we are baptized with the Holy Spirit, we are given the position of authority in heaven (Eph 2:6). We are given the keys of the kingdom of heaven that whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven (Mat 18:18). Then, in practice, this heavenly atmosphere is created and maintained through ongoing worship, crying out of the heart to God and prophetic decree.

When Abraham went with the three men who appeared to him (one of them is the Lord) to send them on their way toward Sodom, the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” (Genesis 18:20-21) Where did the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah come from? Certainly not from the people of Sodom and Gomorrah because they all had given themselves to sexual immorality and gone over strange flesh (Jude 1:7). The outcry might have come from the people who had visited Sodom and Gomorrah and had seen the gravity of the sins committed there or it might have come from the lands of Sodom and Gomorrah themselves. Jeremiah the prophet wrote about the land mourning for the wickedness of those who dwell there (Jeremiah 12:4)

John the apostle wrote, “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4) Sin is lawlessness and it demands punishment by the law. Every sin cries out to God, demanding punishment from Him. Every sin also produces a terrible sound. The sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was very grave that it produced a very deafening terrible sound in God’s ears. He could not tolerate it anymore. Therefore, He wanted to silence this terrible sound that had been deafening His ears.

The outcry against Sodom and Gomorra is like the indictment while the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are the accused in the court of God. The two men who went toward Sodom are actually angels (Genesis 19:1). After they had come to the city, they would appear as witnesses in the court of God to give account of what they had seen there with their own eyes. The judge is God Himself and Abraham is chosen to be like a defense lawyer for Sodom and Gomorrah in this court.

Why did God choose Abraham to be like a defence lawyer in His court? A defence lawyer must know how the justice system works according to the law. God chose Abraham because he had known the way of the Lord, His righteousness and justice. God Himself said about him, “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord , to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” (Genesis 18:19)

After God made known to Abraham the indictment against Sodom and Gomorrah was great because their crime was very grave, and the two angels went toward Sodom, Abraham began to make his defence for Sodom and Gomorrah before God. He came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:23-25) He asked God to spare the whole city for the sake of the righteous who were in it.

God is the righteous Judge. As the righteous Judge in His court, He will justify the righteous but will punish the wicked. He will preserve the dwelling place of the righteous but destroy the dwelling place of the wicked. What God will do if the righteous and the wicked dwell together in the same place? If the place is good or it has not become so wicked, God will certainly preserve it. Even if the place has become so wicked, still God actually does not want destroy it for the sake of the righteous because He knows the righteous need a place to live. However, He needs somebody who can make a strong defence for the place according to His law. Otherwise, He must destroy the place because He is the righteous Judge. Abraham understood this.

How did God respond when Abraham said to Him, “Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?” God replied, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.” (Genesis 18:24, 26) Then, Abraham asked God whether He would still spare the city if there were only forty-five righteous within it. He answered, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.” (Genesis 18:27-28) Abraham kept asking God whether He would still spare the city if there were forty, then thirty, then twenty, then ten righteous within it. Everytime Abraham lowered the number of the righteous within the city as the condition for the city to be spared God agreed (Genesis 18:29-32). Why would God spare Sodom that had become so wicked for the sake of only a few righteous within it? Not only because the righteous need a place to live but the righteous are the salt of the city. The Lord Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth.” (Matthew 5:13) Salt has the ability to preserve food from spoiling as well as gives flavor to the food. The righteous does not only have the ability to preserve the city from becoming more wicked but to change the city to become righteous as well.

The reason why God would not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of the righteous even though their sin was very grave is because God actually did not want to punish the wicked. He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. What He wants is the wicked turn from their wicked ways and live (Ezekiel 33:11) But how will it be possible for the wicked to turn from their sins? Only if there are the righteous among them. Like the Lord Jesus said, the righteous are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13) Like the salt, the righteous can prevent the wicked from becoming more wicked and turn them  from their wicked way. If there is not the righteous among the wicked, then there is no hope for the wicked. The wicked will only become more wicked and eventually God will have to destroy them.

Like a defence lawyer in the court Abraham tried to make a defence for Sodom and Gomorrah in the court of God. He asked God if He would spare  the city for a certain number of the righteous who dwell in it. From fifty he lowered the number until ten. He was thinking about Lot and his family and may be some of Lot’s neighbors and friends, so there would be at least ten righteous found there. Unfortunately, the number of the righteous found within Sodom and Gomorrah is less than ten. Therefore, God eventually destroyed the city but saved Lot who was righteous and his family.

Abraham as a defence lawyer or an advocate in the court of God is actually a picture of Jesus Christ as an Advocate in the court of heaven. The apostle John wrote, “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” (1 John 2:1-2) Abraham was qualified as an advocate in the court of God because he himself was righteous and he understood God’s righteousness and justice. Jesus Christ is even more qualified as an Advocate in the court of heaven because He is more righteous than Abraham and understood God’s righteousness and justice more than Abraham.

As an advocate in the court of God Abraham asked God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of the righteous. He tried to save Sodom and Gomorrah to the uttermost by lowering the number of the righteous from fifty to ten as the condition for God to spare it. Likewise, as an Advocate in the court of heaven, Jesus Christ continues to ask the Father to spare the cities of the world that have become so wicked for the sake of the church. He will do His utmost to save these cities from being destroyed. How will He do that? By reviving the church to be the salt there or by sending the righteous to build the church in these cities if there is no church there.

Why do we pray? Because we want to depend on God. Why do we fast? Because we do not want to depend on ourselves. Why do we pray and fast? Because we want to change our dependence from ourselves to God.

When we pray, our spirit will be strengthened. When we fast, our body will be weakened. By strengthening our spirit and weakening our body, it will be easier for us to turn our heart from our self to God. Thus, we will depend on ourselves less and on God more.

When we pray, we do not always have to fast, but when we fast, we must always pray. Why? When we pray, our spirit is made strong. As long as it is strong enough to control our body, we do not need to fast. When we fast, our body is made weak. If we do not pray, then our spirit will also be weak. A weak spirit cannot control a weak body.

What will be the difference for us if we just pray and if we pray with fasting? If we do not pray, we will only be aware of the physical realm. We will not be aware of the spiritual realm. If we pray, we will be aware both of the physical realm and the spiritual realm. If we pray and fast, our awareness of the physical realm will decrease so that we are more aware of the spiritual realm than the physical realm.

Most of the time when we pray, we pray for ourselves about the things of this world. We may pray for others, but our prayers for them will primarily be for the things of this world. We seldom pray for the things of God for them. When we pray with fasting, we will be led to pray not just for ourselves nor for the things of this world, but for others and for the things of God because it will no longer be us who pray. It will be the Holy Spirit who prays in us. We will pray by the Spirit of prayer.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.” (1 Cor 15:56) Death is the wages of sin (Rom 6:23), sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4) and the law is God’s commandment (Rom 7:12). Death stings by sin. Without sin death has no power. Sin becomes strong because of the law. Without the law sin is weak.

Death kills, sin deceives and the law demands. How does death kill us? By sin. Death cannot kill us without sin. How does sin deceive us? By the law. Sin cannot deceive us without the law. What does it mean sin deceives us by the law? It means by knowing God’s commandments we think we will have power to overcome sin, but what happens is by knowing God’s commandments we become weak and have no power to overcome sin.

The apostle Paul wrote, “For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me,” (Rom 7:11)

The apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Rom 5:12) Because Adam sinned, sin entered the world. The world is now under the dominion of sin. Because Adam sinned, death spread to all men. Men become separated from God. This condition causes men to have no power at all to overcome sin. Even men were conceived and born in sin. The Psalmist wrote, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” (Psa 51:5)

God gave His commandments to us (the law) and we tried to obey them. But strangely, the more we tried to obey the law, the stronger sin in our lives becomes and the weaker we become. Why? Because we are in the state of death. We have been separated from God that we become utterly helpless and powerless. The apostle Paul wrote, “And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.” (Rom 7:10-11)

We think that God gave the law for us to keep. So we try to keep it. But instead of keeping it we break it. Then we try harder to keep the law but we still break it. But we keep on trying and we keep on failing. What’s wrong? We do not understand that God’s purpose in giving us the law is not so that we keep on trying to keep it, but on the contrary so that we stop trying to keep it. The purpose of the law is just to make us know what sin is, not to give us power to overcome sin. The apostle Paul wrote, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” (Rom 7:7)

God’s purpose in giving the law is to make us realize that we are so sinful, sold under sin that it is impossible for us to keep it. Does this mean that it is okay for us to break the law because we have no power to keep it? Certainly not, for if we break the law and continue to do so we will become devils that we have no more place for repentance. The Lord Jesus said that Judas Iscariot had become a devil, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” (John 6:70)

God gave us the law so that we realize that we are sinful and that we have no power at all to keep the law. The law demands our obedience and we have disobedient and rebellious nature. Therefore, we should not try to keep the law. Neither should we be  careless about the law and become lawless. What we should do is turn to the grace of God. The grace of God is Jesus Christ has met the demands of the law for us. The grace of God is the Holy Spirit has been given to us so that what Jesus Christ has done meeting the demands of the law for us becomes a reality in our lives. The apostle Paul wrote, “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Rom 8:3-4)

The apostle Paul wrote, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor 5:21) When Christ lived, He lived in righteousness for our sake. When Christ died, He died for our unrighteousness bearing our sins. We are the ones who sinned but He is the One who bore the penalty of our sins. He is the One who lived in righteousness but we are the ones who received the reward of His righteousness. This is the grace of God.

The apostle Paul wrote, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Rom 10 :4) What does it mean that Christ is the end of the law? It means Christ fulfilled the law for us, when He lived as well as when He died. When He lived He kept the commandments of the law for us and when He died He bore the penalties of the law for us. By doing this He made us righteous in the eyes of God.  If we believe this, we will receive this righteousness and we are not under the law anymore.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.” (1 Cor 15:56) Because of the sin of Adam all men are already in death. However death stings, that becomes more painful, for men who live in sin. All men are in sin, but sin becomes more powerful for men who live under the law. On the other hand, sin becomes weak for men who live  under grace. The apostle Paul wrote, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” (Rom 6:14). Because sin becomes weak for those who live under grace, death loses its sting. Death is not painful anymore, but it is peaceful like sleeping. Hallelujah!

How do we know that we as believers are still living under the law or has been living under grace? If we often find that sin is too strong for us that we struggle to overcome it, then we are still living under the law. Likewise, if we often think that death will be painful for us that we are afraid of it, then we are still living under the law. However, if we often find that sin is getting weaker and weaker in our lives that it becomes easier for us to overcome it, then we have been living under grace. Likewise, if we are not afraid of death when we think about it because we know that death will be peaceful like sleeping for us, then we have been living under grace.

When we live under grace, we will be more conscious of righteousness than sin and of life than death. When we live under grace, it is easier for us to practice righteousness than to commit sin and it is easier for us to think about life than to think about death. When this grace abounds in our lives, we will only be conscious of righteousness and life that we will completely reign over sin and death. The apostle Paul wrote, “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” (Rom 5:17)

When we reign in righteousness over sin and reign in life over death, then we will enter the realm of incorruption and immortality where we can  completely destroy death in our lives. The apostle Paul wrote, “So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” (1 Cor 15:54-55)

Scripture : Proverbs 13:22

“The wealth of a sinner is kept for the righteous.”

In acquiring his wealth, sinners and righteous people do it differently. Sinners do it in dishonest way, while the righteous do it in honest way.

Dishonest way is robbing the rights of others, while honest way is keeping the rights of others. The dishonest way is actually illegal according to the moral law. Therefore, there is no guarantee of the security of the wealth obtained. On the contrary, the honest way is right and legal according to the moral law. Therefore, there is a guarantee of the security of the wealth obtained.

Wealth gained in dishonest way usually increase very quickly, but in the end the wealth cannot be kept (Job 20: 18-19). This wealth will certainly diminish and even can be exhausted (Prov. 13:11). At any time, it can suddenly be gone (Job 20:21).

Wealth obtained in honest way is usually slow to increase, but that wealth will be kept and will last (Prov. 13:11, Psa. 112: 1,3). Examples of honest ways are diligence (Prov. 13: 4) and hard work (Prov. 14: 4). These ways will make the wealth continue to grow and will not disappear.

Is it possible for the wealth of the righteous to increase quickly, not little by little? Yes, the increase can be accelerated! How? By working harder and harder? No, but by having compassion for the poor or the needy (Psa. 112: 5,9). How is it possible to increase wealth quickly? Not only it is possible, but it is sure. Where does this increased wealth come from? From the wealth of sinners who will be transferred to the righteous (Prov. 28).

How does this wealth transfer occur? Not slowly or in the normal way, but suddenly and miraculously, as it happened when the Egyptians gave up their wealth to the children of Israel (Ex 12: 35-36). This sudden and rapid wealth transfer has the element of spiritual warfare. Why? Because this thing will be like the plundering of the wealth from the enemy, such as when David and his people regained everything that had been taken away by Amalek from Ziklak (1 Sam 30:18 -20).

Gold and silver, the earth and all its fullness belong to God (Hag 2; 9; Ps 24: 1), but the devil has usurped them through sinners. Therefore, through the righteous God will take them back.