Journey to see God: See His Righteousness

Romans 3

English Standard Version (ESV)

God's Righteousness Upheld

3 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? ² Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. ³ What if some were unfaithful?Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? ⁴ By no means! Let God be true thoughevery one were a liar, as it is written,

“That you may be justified in your words,
    and prevail when you are judged.”

⁵ But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) ⁶ By no means! For then how could God judge the world? ⁷ But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? ⁸ And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

No One Is Righteous

⁹ What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, ¹⁰ as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;
¹¹     no one understands;
    no one seeks for God.
¹² All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
    no one does good,
    not even one.”
¹³ “Their throat is an open grave;
    they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
¹⁴     “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
¹⁶     in their paths are ruin and misery,
¹⁷ and the way of peace they have not known.”
¹⁸     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. ²⁰ For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

The Righteousness of God Through Faith

²¹ But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.²⁶ It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
²⁷ Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. ²⁸ For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. ²⁹ Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,³⁰ since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. ³¹ Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
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1. Daniel 4:27
   Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.”
2. Daniel 9:7
   To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you.
3. Daniel 9:18
   O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.
4. Daniel 9:24
   [ The Seventy Weeks ] “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
5. Daniel 12:3
   And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many torighteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
6. Revelation 19:11
   [ The Rider on a White Horse ] Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.

Journey to see God: See the riches of His goodness

Romans 2

New King James Version (NKJV)

God’s Righteous Judgment

2 Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. ² But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.³ And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? ⁵ But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, ⁶ who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: ⁷ eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; ⁸ but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath,⁹ tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; ¹⁰ but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹¹ For there is no partiality with God.

¹² For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law ¹³ (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; ¹⁴ for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves,¹⁵ who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) ¹⁶ in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

The Jews Guilty as the Gentiles

¹⁷ Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, ¹⁸ and knowHis will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, ¹⁹ and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, ²⁰ an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.²¹ You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? ²² You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? ²³ You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? ²⁴ For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.

Circumcision of No Avail

²⁵ For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. ²⁶ Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision?²⁷ And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with yourwritten code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? ²⁸ For he is not a Jew who is oneoutwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; ²⁹ but he is a Jew who is oneinwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

End times church countdown: God wants these two things

God is consuming fire

As 2012 had closed and 2013 is well on its way to closing the first quarter, the watchman sees more signs more clearly. Looking through old notes he noted many prophetic words, signs, dreams, and visions from the Lord had indeed come to pass. Reading the Bible as a whole, he realized that this Book speaks more to spiritually discerning Christians than those who continue to walk in the flesh (not discerning spiritual things).

The latest message is: Revelation time is here. Even the world has described significant extreme weather related events and phenomena as ‘almost Biblical’ or simply ‘Biblical’. People round the globe are asking what all these signs mean. Do churches have an answer? What churches (or individuals rather) should now ask is, as questioned by Apostle Peter: “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness”? (2 Peter 3:11)

“Holiness” and ‘Godliness” are the two things that God looks for. Are end times churches and Christians who attend church ready in these two characteristics? How may one attain such divine qualities?

2 Peter 3:10-13

English Standard Version (ESV)

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

¹¹ Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, ¹² waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God,because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! ¹³ But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

HOLINESS: SANCTIFIED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

1 Peter 1:2

English Standard Version (ESV)

² according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:

May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

1 Peter 1:13-16

English Standard Version (ESV)

Called to Be Holy

¹³ Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, ¹⁵ but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶ since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

1 Peter 2:9, 11

⁹ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

¹¹ Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

GODLINESS: GIVEN BY GOD; OBTAINED BY FAITH

2 Peter 1:1

Greeting

1 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

2 Peter 1:3-4

Confirm Your Calling and Election

³ His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, throughthe knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, ⁴ by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

2 Peter 1:10-11

English Standard Version (ESV)

¹⁰ Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. ¹¹ For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

THE LORD JESUS HAS THUS COMMANDED US

Luke 21:32-36

English Standard Version (ESV)

³² Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. ³³ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Watch Yourselves

³⁴ “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. ³⁵ For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

OUR PART IS TO PAY ATTENTION AND OBEY, JOINED TO THE LORD, BE OF ONE SPIRIT WITH THE LORD, MADE HOLY BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

Hebrews 2:1, 4

Warning Against Neglecting Salvation

2 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

⁴ while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

Hebrews 3:12-13

English Standard Version (ESV)

¹² Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. ¹³ But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

1 Corinthians 6:11

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹¹ Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you weremade right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

1 Corinthians 6:17

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹⁷ But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

PAUL’S ADVICE TO TIMOTHY: AVOID AND FLEE FROM UNHOLINESS AND UNGODLINESS!  DRAW NEAR TO THOSE WHO CALL ON THE LORD FROM A PURE HEART.

2 Timothy 3:1,2, 5

English Standard Version (ESV)

Godlessness in the Last Days

3 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

² For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

 

⁵ having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

2 Timothy 2:22

English Standard Version (ESV)

²² So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 

Extreme weather is here to stay: “almost Biblical”

almost biblical weather ; what is going on?

Angry summer Australia

Weather Gone Wild

Excerpt quoted: “Rains that are almost biblical, heat waves that don’t end, tornadoes that strike in savage swarms—there’s been a change in the weather lately. What’s going on?

“What’s going on? Are these extreme events signals of a dangerous, human-made shift in Earth’s climate? Or are we just going through a natural stretch of bad luck?”

stormy

(National Geographic, September 2012)

stormy

flood

is our weather getting worse?

freezing

(The New York Times: Jan 10, 2013) Excerpts Quoted: “Britons may remember 2012 as the year the weather spun off its rails in a chaotic concoction of drought, deluge and flooding, but the unpredictability of it all turns out to have been all too predictable: Around the world, extreme has become the new commonplace.”

“China is enduring its coldest winter in nearly 30 years. Brazil is in the grip of a dreadful heat spell. Eastern Russia is so freezing — minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and counting”

“Bush fires are raging across Australia, fueled by a record-shattering heat wave. Pakistan was inundated by unexpected flooding in September. A vicious storm bringing rain, snow and floods just struck the Middle East. And in the United States, scientists confirmed this week what people could have figured out simply by going outside: last year was the hottest since records began.”

“The heat wave in Australia; the flooding in the U.K., and most recently the flooding and extensive snowstorm in the Middle East — it’s already a big year in terms of extreme weather calamity.”

“in Britain, people are used to thinking of rain as the wallpaper on life’s computer screen — an omnipresent, almost comforting background presence. But even the hardiest citizen was rattled by the near-biblical fierceness of the rains that bucketed down, and the floods that followed, three different times in 2012.”

“The same thing is true in Australia, where bush fires are raging across Tasmania and the current heat wave has come after two of the country’s wettest years ever. On Tuesday, Sydney experienced its fifth-hottest day since records began in 1910, with the temperature climbing to 108.1 degrees. The first eight days of 2013 were among the 20 hottest on record.”

“To the north, the extremes have swung the other way, with a band of cold settling across Russia and Northern Europe, bringing thick snow and howling winds to Stockholm, Helsinki and Moscow. (Incongruously, there were also severe snowstorms in Sicily and southern Italy for the first time since World War II; in December, tornadoes and waterspouts struck the Italian coast.)

“China is enduring its worst winter in recent memory, with frigid temperatures recorded in Harbin, in the northeast. In the western region of Xinjiang, more than 1,000 houses collapsed under a relentless onslaught of snow, while in Inner Mongolia, 180,000 livestock froze to death. The cold has wreaked havoc with crops, sending the price of vegetables soaring.”

“Way down in South America…The summer has been punishingly hot. The temperature in Rio de Janeiro climbed to 109.8 degrees on Dec. 26, the city’s highest temperature since official records began in 1915.”

“At the same time, in the Middle East, Jordan is battling a storm packing torrential rain, snow, hail and floods…”

“Israel and the Palestinian territories are grappling with similar conditions, after a week of intense rain and cold winds ushered in a snowstorm that dumped eight inches in Jerusalem alone.”

“In Beirut on Wednesday night, towering waves crashed against the Corniche, the seaside promenade downtown, flinging water and foam dozens of feet in the air as lightning flickered across the dark sea at multiple points along the horizon. Many roads were flooded as hail pounded the city.

Several people died, including a baby boy in a family of shepherds who was swept out of his mother’s arms by floodwaters…”




extreme weather

 

end times church countdown: Revelation 13 signs here and now

This is a record of events experienced by a brethren in Christ during and after a recent Esther fast (three days ultimate fast without food or water). 

1. The fast was urged by the Spirit of the Lord, whose urgent prompting was received around 23-24th February. But there was a delay in the intended fast from 25th until 28th due to unforeseen reasons.

2. The fast was finally instituted on 1st March to 3rd March. Throughout the fasting there was no serious discomfort except for body aches especially around the lower back. A bit of dullness was felt in the head (possibly due to not drinking coffee). But the dullness did not affect normal functioning. He could still drive long hours and spent most of his time reading or listening to the audio Bible.

3. On the third day he had the usual Lord’s Day worship. They listened to a powerful recorded sermon on the true meaning of Holy Communion and Passover instead of the usual preaching by the brethren.

The brethren then received news of a strategic place under siege by a group of armed men from another nation that same afternoon. he was asked to intercede for the Christians (including a watchman intercessor prophet) there. The prophet had earlier prophesied of impending persecution during peace time.

4. That night he was led to listen to the book of Daniel and Hosea.

5. At midnight the brethren completed his fast and was prompted in his spirit to read a book which someone had put on a coffee table during a recent spring cleaning. He had seen this book before but never paid attention to it. The book is David Pawson’s “Come with me through Revelation”. But he obeyed and read up to Revelation chapter three. Then he put it aside.

6. Later that day, he helped a senior citizen to attend to a banking matter. Their country had devised a smart card which chip stored all essential information about an individual. The problem is the senior citizen’s fingers had become so smooth that her prints could not be read and verified by the computer! They waited for a long time during which the elderly lady was asked to try numerous times alternating her left and right thumbs under the scanner to no avail. She was treated as if she had no identity unless the computer confirmed her ‘true’ existence. She could not access her account! No one had any authority to over-ride the computer system. She was asked to sit and wait until they could give her another try. After a long time, the bank staff allowed her to try once more. This time the brethren and the senior lady decided to pray as she press her thumb on the screen of the scanner. The computer managed to verify her finger this time. However she was told that since her accounts were all joint accounts she needed to come back with all her grownup children in order to apply for a replacement ATM card. So the lady left without further ado. Her children lived quite a distance away. 

7. The shocking thing was that the the brethren was led in his spirit to bring the above mentioned ‘Revelation’ book along to read during waiting. He originally brought another book on end times strategy but was turned back at his front door to bring this book instead. He continued to read this book while waiting in the bank. At the exact time when the computer was rejecting the senior citizen’s identify, the brethren was reading the part covering Revelation chapter six, which passage recorded a remark from a Christian to the writer pointing out that we were already under the control of numbers (digits), for unless we had a series of numbers that could be accepted by the computer, we could not use any public transport system, buy stuff etc. and indeed such days are already here!

When the brethren read this passage and witnessed the immediate enactment of such a scenario before his eyes, he felt the chill in his spirit. The appearance of this book on the third day of his fasting, the bringing and reading of the book at the bank, and the appearance of this exact passage when the senior’s smart card could not be accepted by the computer compiled an urgent message from the Lord. 

The siege of a hitherto peaceful haven and the computer incident in the bank are end times signs. The signs are here. At this time. Are watchmen all over the world seeing these signs? What are you doing about the signs?

Everyone needs to examine whether the Lord has words for you and your loved ones at this time. The increasing quantity and intensity of signs says something to the one who is discerning in his spirit. When the day comes to make a clear demarcation between you and the worldly system, are you able to stand and hold fast to your faith just as Jesus has commanded?

There is no corner in the world where there is no opportunity for anyone to access the Good News of Jesus and for any believers of Jesus to follow Him as disciples. Disciples are ordinary people. God is merciful and know who we are. He does not give us difficult messages or laws which we cannot understand and follow. The watchman has witnessed illiterate housewives, vegetables sellers, fish mongers, rubber tappers, people living in the remotest corner of the world who have faith and live by faith. The words of God become real to them as the Holy Spirit enables them to understand His words. They witness and experience the mighty power of God in their daily lives.

2 Peter 1:3-4 clearly states that God’s divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness and we may become partakers of His divine nature! This is a powerful start for any Christian. You can live the victorious life that Jesus has promised.

Mark 11:22 English Standard Version (ESV)

22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God.

2 Peter 1:3-4 English Standard Version (ESV)

Confirm Your Calling and Election

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.