Has World War 3 started yet? (CW55)

     World War 3 is at Hand

While we wait for the fall and destruction of Iran to start World War 3, let's check our own Christian faith, doctrine and knowledge of Him and His words.

Scoffers in the Last Days

2 Pet 3:3-4  knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."

   Most Christians, having seen the recent end time signs of heresies and abominable practices easily accepted in churches and the great depravity of men, believe that they are now living in the last days and may even witness Rapture.

   Our Lord prophesied that unlearned, sinful and carnal Christians will be scoffers, who will try to distract Christians from preparing themselves to be his elect at the coming of Jesus.

   To a timeless and eternal God, a thousand years is just like the blinking of the eye. It may seem that He is slow in fulfilling His promise but actually, He is patiently waiting for us to repent and comes to His salvation before His judgment and damnation.

2 Pet 3:8-9  But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Cleansing of His Church

1 Pet 4:17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God.

   Today, it looks like World War 3 may not happen or be delayed. God is also patiently waiting for sinful and worldly Christians to repent before He uses it to judge His church by removing the sinful, heretics and abominable so-called Christians. God can then prepare the cleansed church to be His bride ready for Rapture.

Rev 21:8 "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

 

Fervent Love for One Another

1 Pet 4:7-8  But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins."

    In the last days when we come before God in prayer we must be

1. Be Serious for it is a matter of life and salvation or death and damnation.

   Check your faith against the Apostles Creed whether you are the wheat or the tare for many so-called Christians have believed wrongly the watered down and heretic gospel.

   Check your doctrines if they have contradicted God's attributes, Jesus' truth and the Epistles of the Apostles.

2. Be Watchful of the times and seasons, fulfillments of each prophecy, and what God expects of us.

3. Fervent love for one another

1 John 3:16-17  By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.

Christian's Love (CW54)

     World War 3 is at Hand

While we wait for the fall and destruction of Iran to start World War 3, let's check our own Christian faith, doctrine and knowledge of Him and His words.

A New Commandment

John 13:34  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

   This is the new command given by our Lord Jesus - to love one another as He had loved us. Will this new commandment fulfil the Old Covenant's love:-

1. Love the Lord with all your heart....

2. Love your neighbour as yourself.

Mat 22:37-40  Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

Perfect Love of Jesus for God

Phil 2:8-9  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,

   Jesus obeyed every  command and words of the Father, even the command for Him to suffer and die on the cross. No obedience or Love for the Father is greater than this. We are to love one another as Jesus had loved us.

John 14:15  "If you love Me, keep My commandments."

Fulfillment of the Law

1 John 3:16  By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

   Jesus obeyed God and suffered the crucifixion for our redemption. He set an example for us to sacrifice ourselves for the salvation, encouragements and benefits of others. Thus, this new commandment of loving God with all your hearts, with all your soul and with all your mind was fulfilled by Jesus at His death on the cross.

Love for the Neighbour

John 15:12-14  "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you."

   Brethren, we have to love one another as our Lord Jesus loved us. He was lashed thirty nine times for our healing and died on the cross for our propitiation. Out of His great love for us, He suffered and died. Please see the love of Jesus in 'Passion of the Christ', as an example for us to follow. We too, can show our love to our brethren, by suffering and dying for one another.

Heb 2:9  But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.

   Since all men fear death, our Lord Himself tasted death on our behalf so that we will not taste the horror of death

   Through His death, He destroyed the devil's power of death, to release Christians from the fear of death.

Heb 2:14-15 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

   

The New Covenant

Mat 26:27-28  Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

   On the eve of His crucifixion, Jesus made this new covenant of His blood. At His death on the cross, this new covenant became effective making the old covenant obsolete. Both Jews and Gentiles need the grace of Jesus to be saved.

  We thank God that Christians are set free by Jesus. We are not like the Jews under the bondage of the Law.

Heb 9:16-17 For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.

Love Your God (CW53)

     World War 3 is at Hand

While we wait for the fall and destruction of Iran to start World War 3, let's check our own Christian faith, doctrine and knowledge of Him and His words.

Man was created in God's image

Gen 1:26a   Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;

    God is Spirit. Of all the living things on earth, only man was created with the spirit.

   God is love. Man was also created with the love of God to fellowship and love Him.

Free Will Given to Man

Gen 2:16-17  And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

    God created men to love Him but gave them the free will to choose. The best test of the genuinity of man's love for Him is our obedience to His commandment.

   So God forbid Adam and Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in order to test their love for Him. They sinned by disobeying His only command.

John 14:15  "If you love Me, keep My commandments."

Love the Lord your God

Deu 6:4-5  "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength."

     His perfect love was shown by His death on the cross for men's sins. Having created this great love in men, He desires every man to love Him with all his heart, with all his soul and with all their strength by willingly and joyfully keeping His commandments.

   This same commandment of loving Him with all their hearts was first given to Adam and his descendants and later to Noah and his descendents and then the Israelites or Jews.

   With the commandments and covenants given to men, God can judge men's love for Him .

Mosaic Law for the Lawless

1 Tim 1:9  knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

   Throughout history men were found to be wicked, covetous, adulterous and lawless, so God gave the Jews the Mosaic Law in great detail for them to follow so that they have no excuse.

On these 2 commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets

Mat 22:37-40  Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

   All the commandments, teachings and instructions of the Law and Prophets are based on these two commandments.

   Anyone who has kept these two commandments

1. Love God with all your hearts....

2. Love your neighbour as yourself

has fulfilled the Law and the Prophets.

Lev 19:18b  but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Hypocrisy of Jewish Leaders

Mat 23:23  "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone."

   Unfortunately, the wicked Jews kept only part of the law but neglected or rejected the weightier parts of the law. Please read Mat 23

Worship God in Spirit and Truth

John 4:24  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

    We must worship God in Spirit (with complete love for Him) and in Truth (complete obedience to His words and commandments). Worships of the wicked and heretics with their distorted and false denominational doctrines of men are not acceptable by Him.

Mat 15:8-9  'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' "

Love Your Neighbour (CW52)

    World War 3 is at Hand

Love Your Neighbour

Rom 13:9-10  For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

   When a Christian loves his neighbour as himself, he has already fulfilled the Law.

    God is love, and since the creation of man, God showed His love to Adam and Eve and also to all their descendants.

    Enoch pleased God so much that He took him back to be with Him without Enoch tasting the pain and fear of death. Similarly, all Christians who love Him by keeping His words will not taste death.

John 8:51-52  Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death." Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'"

Deu 9:7  "Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord."

   God loved the Israelites and ensured that when they were brought out from Egypt they saw His power of making Pharaoh to set them free, parting the Red Sea and the destruction of the whole Egyptian army. They also saw His ability to feed the two million souls in the wilderness for forty years.

    God gave them the Mosaic Law so that they had no excuse that they were not aware of sin. Out of His great love for the Israelites, He dwelled amongst them. He encouraged them to believe and love Him and to keep the Law by allowing them to see a column of cloud in the day and a column of fire at night above the tabernacle of God during His presence.

    Yet they murmured and rebelled against Him and even threatened to kill Moses.

   

Jer 5:23, 30-31  But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart; they have revolted and departed... "An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?"

    The final straw came when the rebellious Israelites loved lies of the false prophets and the abominations committed by the priests. So God allowed the Babylonians to raze Jerusalem and the temple of God to the ground and the complete destruction of Israel.

    Similarly in the last days, if Christians have lost their love for God and for brethren by becoming worldly, covetous, carnal and wicked and are rebellious to His words by believing lies and false prophecies and accepting wrong doctrine and heresies, then God will allow World War 3 to judge Christians.

2Tim 4:3-4  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

Some Other Scriptures of Fulfilment of the Law

Mat 7:12  "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

   Our Lord Jesus told us that to fulfill the Law and Prophets we only need to do this;  whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them which is the sign of care, concern, mercy, compassion and love for one's neighbour (friend).

Mat 5:43-44  "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you"

   The Jews must love his neighbour but can hate his enemies. Our Lord commanded us to love our enemies which is a higher calling.

Resurrected Jesus (CW51)

    'World War 3 is at Hand'

   

Jesus the Sinless Jew

   Jesus was born into the tribe of Judah. On the eighth day He was circumcised to be a Jew.

   He kept the Law and His works, teachings and doctrines were given to Him by the Father, so He was sinless at His death.

John 5:19  Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

Jesus Fulfilled the Law and Prophets

Luke 24:44  Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."

    Immediately after His resurrection, He taught His disciples how He had fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. Every Jew who has believed the Gospel of Christ must not keep any of the Law for he too has fulfilled the Law in Christ.

   Any converted Jew (or Christian) who keeps any part of the Law is cursed for he has not believed that Christ Jesus had fulfilled the Law for his sake.

Gal 5:4  You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.

Luke 24:45  And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

    For 40 days our risen Lord was with His disciples. He opened up their understanding of Scriptures and the knowledge of truth in His gospel, teachings, words, commands and parables.

   He taught the truth of the New Covenant of His blood and why the Old Covenant was obsolete:-

1. The Gospel

   Our Lord Jesus in the flesh kept the Law by preaching, "Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand"

so that repented Jews would believe the Gospel of Christ and be saved.

   Our resurrected Lord Jesus sent out His disciples to preach the Gospel of Christ and no longer the Repentance and the Kingdom gospel of John the Baptist.

Luke 24:46-47  Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

2. Eternal Ordinances

Exo 12:14   'So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.'

   In the Old Covenant there were many sacrifices, feasts and Sabbaths with everlasting ordinances. If the Old Covenant was obsoleted by the destruction or rejection of the Temple of God at the death of Jesus without the New Covenant, then the Jews will not be able to keep those everlasting ordinances.

     Our eternal Lord Jesus Himself fulfilled this everlasting ordinances in the law so that every Jew in Christ Jesus has also fulfilled all these ordinances.

Rightly Dividing the word of Truth

2 Tim 2:15  Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

    We must be able to rightly divide the word of truth of Jesus for some of them were meant for the Jews and others for Christians. The teachings, doctrines and works of Jesus while in the flesh must not contradict the Law.

Calling of Apostle Paul

Acts 9:15-16  But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake."

   On the road to Damascus Jesus miraculously saved Paul. Jesus, having taught him personally for three years, sent him to reach out not only to Jews but to Gentiles and kings and to disciple them.

Brethren, just like the four Gospels, all the Epistles of the Apostles in the Bible are also the teachings of our Lord Himself and are inspired by the Holy Spirit. Read, meditate and keep them, for in Christ, they will help you mature.

Do You Know Jesus? (CW50)

   World War 3 is at Hand

While we wait for the fall and destruction of Iran to start World War 3, let's check our own Christian faith, doctrine and knowledge of Him and His words.

 

Jesus the Man

John 1:14  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

   As predestined before the foundation of the world that men would be adopted as sons of God, the Almighty God Creator of heaven and earth must come as a human being. Jesus was the Word made flesh to become a Man.

    Jesus was born of virgin Mary of the tribe of Judah in a stable amongst the animal as the sacrificial Lamb of God (wrapped in swaddling cloths). He was placed in the manger as folders (Bread of Life) for His sheep.

Luke 2:7  And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Circumcised as a Jew

Luke 2:21  And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

    Jesus' Jewish parents decided that Jesus should grow up as a Jew, so on the eighth day by faith Jesus was circumcised (just as by faith we have our children baptized into the body of Christ).

    Jesus had to live the rest of His life keeping the law and the Prophet in order to stay sinless, so that He would be worthy to be the perfect sacrificial Lamb of God for the remission of the sins  of men.

Jesus Preached Repentance

Mat 4:17  From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

    Not only did Jesus submit to the baptism of repentance of John the Baptist, He even preached John's kingdom message. He knew that unless the Jews repent and keep the Mosaic law, they would not believe Him as their Messiah and be cast into damnation.

   God had said that all those Jews who repent and believe Moses will believe Jesus after His resurrection.

John 5:46  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.

The Sinless Man Jesus

John 8:28  Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things."

    All the doctrines and teachings of Jesus are given by God Himself. Jesus did not violate the Law nor the Prophets. He was sinless and the perfect sacrificial Lamb of God which was pleasing to God.

John 7:16  Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me."

 

Jesus Fulfilled the Law

Mat 5:17  "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill."

   Jesus at His death and resurrection fulfilled the Law and the Prophets in all the Feasts, Sabbaths and religious laws, rites, sacrifices, offerings, etc. so that all Jewish converts in Christ Jesus have also fulfilled them.

Luke 24:44  Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."

Immediate Evidence of the Fulfillments of the Law and the Prophets by Jesus

Mat 27:52-53  and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

    Jesus at His death, immediately, became the sacrificial lambs offered by the saints of old, who had kept the Mosaic Law (Moses, Samuel - please read 1 Samuel, Daniel, etc.) and the Prophets (Abel, Enoch, Noah, etc.) so that their sins were also cleansed by Jesus' blood, and just as the repented and faithful Christians, they too were made righteous and holy by His blood. Only then, they were worthy to be raised from the depths of the earth and follow our resurrected Lord back to heaven.

Do you know God? (CW49)

     World War 3 is at Hand

While we wait for the fall and destruction of Iran to start World War 3, let's check our own Christian faith, doctrine and knowledge of Him and His words.

Knowledge of God

Eph 1:17  that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him

God is Spirit

2 Cor 4:18  while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

  The physical body of man can be seen and is only temporary. The spirit of man living within his body cannot be seen and is eternal.  

   God is Spirit, so are His angels and the spirits of man. The devil, demons and the fallen angels are also spirits.

John 4:24  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

Mat 25:41  "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:"

    While those in Christ will forever be with Him in heavenly bliss, those departed spirits of rebellious, wicked and merciless men will be cast into the everlasting fire along with the devil and his fallen angels.

The Word was God

John 1:1-3  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

   In the beginning the Word was with God and the Word was God. God and the Word were Spirits from the very beginning and they are part of the Godhead.

Rom 1:20  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

The Word made Flesh

John 1:14  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

   Jesus was the Word made flesh. The Spirit of Jesus was the Word and His Spirit was 100% God. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, so His physical body was 100% human.    

   Jesus, while He was living among us on earth, was the only begotten Son (2nd Man) of the Father because His Spirit was the Word, a member of the Godhead but His physical body was human.

1 Cor 15:47  The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.

The Triune Godhead

   Though God is One but He reveals to man as the Triune Godhead or Trinity. This will help mankind to enjoy the harmonious family values.

God reveals Himself:-

1. As the Father so that we as fathers follow from the OT His attributes of love, mercy, provision, delivery, salvation, teaching, protection, healing, comfort, care and chastisement. Whoever comprehends and practices the Father's perfect love, he too will be able to find the unity and harmony within his own family and also in the family of God.

2. As the Son - in complete obedience to every word of the Father just as Jesus did when He was on earth.

3. As the Holy Spirit or Helper - to teach us all things, guide us into all truth, and tell us things (end-time events) to come thereby freeing us from all worldly fears, bondages and heresies, and helping us overcome the deceptions and temptations of the evil one.

John 14:26  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

The above verse John 14:26 is one of many showing the existence of the Triune Godhead of the Father, the Word (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost).

   Unfortunately many modern translations left out 1 John 5:7 as recorded below, which is found in the original Greek Bible used in the Greek Orthodox church and the Latin Vulgate Bible used in the Roman Catholic church.

1 John 5:7  For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. (KJV)