The Spiritual Hope

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.