Jesus of Galilee or Bethlehem?

John 7:50–52

⁵⁰ Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, ⁵¹ “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” ⁵² They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

I am very frustrated and upset with this kind of argument the Pharisees is rejecting the divinity of Christ based on the fact that the promised Messiah is from Bethlehem, however the common knowledge and notion of Jesus is that he’s from Galilee just because he grew up there. But nobody rebutted or clarified that Christ was actually born in Bethlehem (as David was born in Bethlehem), not in Galilee. He just grew up in Galilee. Why didn’t somebody dispute those Pharisees at that time?

I sometimes can’t help but wonder would history have been rewritten to the favor of Jesus in his dispute an argument with the Pharisees who were constantly trying to kill him. There were seeking for a reason to nail him to the cross. And finally they got one confession of the betrayer of one of the 12 disciples of Jesus himself! OK they got it, I guess this is just to fulfill what has been written of Christ he had to die on the cross to pay for the price of the sins of the world.

But my contention is always that for the sake of the Jewish people today that  John 7:52 will go down as one of the most misleading words of all time. In fact I would take it that is the stumbling block of the Jewish nation at that time. Because you see in verse 50 Nikodemus, who is himself one of the priests, has contended that “ our law does not judge a person unless he hears from him and what is he doing.” Nicodemus is already speaking up to defend Jesus in a way that he deserves a free trial. But nonetheless the most crucial point is the way the Pharisees shut down Nikodemus is of utmost heresy and scandalous.

You know that applies to today context, we are seeking to establish the true Messiah in this world, who Jesus Christ really is, based on our faith in him through the word of God the holy scripture. However people are using false premises to discredit him. Like the scholastics, and also the enlightenment. In Europe, they completely removed anything supernatural from the gospels that Jesus performed miracles! They tried to de-divinize who Jesus is and call him as a good person, or a good guru. Essentially they tried to humanize the divine.

 To change divinity to humanity is the biggest evil in the universe. That’s what the devil did to Eve, tempting her to take the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Eat it, you will be fine, you will be like God. The devil mislabeled the fruit from “you will die” to “you will be like God”. You see the mis-labeling here again? You see the power of education? The power of brain washing?

So in today’s context what do we do with this person Jesus? This question deserves our utmost attention. Folks drop everything you are doing, figure out this question in your life in your family in your city in your country in our world together. Unless this question is settled there is no peace no Shalom in our hearts. We’ve got to get to the bottom of where is Jesus from! The fact that the Pharisees say no prophet rises from Galilee shows such flipping ignorance or intentional denial of the truth. And the most dangerous part of it, that statement in itself is true. No prophet comes from Galilee, but Jesus is born in Bethlehem!

It’s convenient to call him from Galilee in a way to label him and knock him out of the throne of the universe. It is the same way today society we see forces to relabel what is true and reconstruct it to be something else to mislead and to condemn the truth itself. We face a constant struggle and we need to do some soul searching in our society. In our community society, there needs to be a clearer and honest confession and admission that we have missed it, if we have not looked at who Jesus really is in the face. In a metaphoric way, if we look at Jesus as from Galilee and therefore he is not our Messiah, there were missed the whole truth!

We missed everything! Because Jesus is actually born in Bethlehem not in Galilee. He simply grew up in Galilee but he was actually born in the city where David was born. This completely fulfilled the scriptures.

Micah 5:2–3 (ESV)

2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return
to the people of Israel.

to the people of Israel.

Luke 2:4–7 (ESV)

⁴ And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵ to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. ⁶ And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

That’s our Christmas story!!

How convenient for the Pharisees to remove that as his birthplace and to nail in his growing up place, this is re-labelling!!  

Today we are bombarded with mass media, books, talk shows, they do not honor the reality and the truth of who Jesus is. Our society has made Jesus into a religious guru, devoid of the divinity power and glory that he has. People refuse to talk about his divinity, just like the Pharisees refuse to talk about his birthplace which is Bethlehem. They focus on Galilee. And today we see people focus on the religiosity of Jesus, and the liberals even adopted his good ethics teachings from him. Like helping the poor ,don’t marginalize the deprived and be kind to the refugees. What the world today has done is selectively choose what they like and reject what they don’t like from the Bible.

They don’t like the fact that for example you shall trace your life comes from birth and psalms says “in my mother’s womb you see me in my mother’s womb”.

Psalm 139: For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.

You see me! Is me a person? No, it’s not a person? I would debate that according to your conscience.

it’s time for us to go back to the Jesus of Bethlehem. Stop tagging Jesus as a man or prophet from gallery. He is actually from Bethlehem the same birth town of King David. Jesus absolutely fulfilled the scriptures that prophesized the savior come into the world being born in Bethlehem. Jesus fulfilled the scriptures as a Lamb of God who was sacrificed for the nations when he died on the cross. Jesus fulfilled the scripture as he was born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s look at all this with good conscience and honesty and with humility. And to know our God.

Amen.

馬可福音 9:17-18 7 人群中有人回答他說：“老師，我帶我的兒子到你這裡來，因為他有靈使他啞口無言。 18 每當它抓住他，就把他摔倒，他就吐沫沫，磨牙，變得僵硬。所以我讓你的門徒把它趕出去，但他們不能。21 耶穌問他的父親：“他發生這種事有多久了？”他說：“從小。 22 常常把他投入火中，投入水中，要毀滅他。但如果你能做任何事，請同情我們並幫助我們。” 23 耶穌對他說：“‘如果你能’！凡相信的人，凡事都能。” 24 孩子的父親立刻喊著說：“我信；幫助我的不信！” 25 耶穌看見一群人跑來跑去，就斥責那污鬼，說：“你這聾啞的鬼，我吩咐你從他身上出來，再也不進去了。” 26 大聲叫喊，把他抽得厲害，就出來了，孩子像一具屍體，所以大多數人都說：“他死了。” 27 耶穌拉著他的手，把他扶起來，他就起來了。

有一天，我將不得不從這段經文中宣講這篇講道。前幾句我在做我的奉獻時，我偶然發現了這段經文。作為一個一直為我的孩子祈禱的父親，我和我妻子所經歷的掙扎，這段話真的讓我很受打擊。

看到孩子受苦或走上錯誤的道路，沒有什麼能讓父母心碎。這位父親這裡有個孩子，經常會投身於火和水中，要毀了他。是惡魔的精神造成了折磨。

弟子們無法趕出那個孩子裡面的惡魔。首先，在繼續我的主要觀點之前，我想向世人強調，惡魔是存在的，周圍有被惡魔壓迫的人，甚至一些基督徒中也有。問題是辨識力。在我早期的事工中，我親身經歷過從一個女人、一個男人和其他幾個人身上趕鬼。我告訴你，這個存在與否，爭論神學觀點是沒有用的，我可以告訴你，我個人已經拋棄了。這有點可怕，而且是真實的。自從我搬到城裡服事後，我突然不再看到這種壓迫。我想這不太明顯，因為它非常狡猾。沒有多少人知道有這麼多的精神壓迫、抑鬱，甚至寫了這麼多文章，包括福音聯盟，就像這樣：關於心理健康你應該知道的 9 件事——福音聯盟。雖然我從以福音為中心的觀點非常欣賞他們的觀點，但我嚴重質疑為什麼沒有關於超自然觀點的文章，畢竟，我們的信仰是非常超自然的，不像人文主義所描繪的那樣 4 鼓勵基督徒的真理精神疾病。我很欣賞所有鼓舞人心的筆記，比如“你並不孤單”、“這不是你的錯”、“上帝會幫助你度過難關……”等等，但是在這里拉一些屬靈的肌肉並且不打拳怎麼樣？給妖靈重重一拳！這就是耶穌所做的！他狠狠的給了魔靈一拳，命令魔神出去！！

25 耶穌看見一群人跑來跑去，就斥責那污鬼，說：“你這聾啞的鬼，我吩咐你從他身上出來，再也不進去了。” 26 大聲喊叫，使他劇烈抽搐後，它就出來了，這孩子就像一具屍體，

這就是我要說的。除了五旬節派和靈恩派教會外，基督教文章中很少看到、談論或寫過這種奇蹟，也很少在教會中教導這種奇蹟。

因此，如果有一個類別，我們現在是否也將耶穌歸類為“五旬節派”？如果我們基於諸如說方言、驅魔、醫治“五旬節派”或“靈恩派”之類的分類，那麼正如我們在四福音書中所讀到的那樣，耶穌可能是 95% 的五旬節派和靈恩派！！你好？

然後我們現在有一個特別的警告。稱它為奇蹟已經停止。它只為耶穌，上帝的兒子和 12 使徒。你沒有讀過上帝通過他的僕人以耶穌基督可畏之名祈禱的幾個世紀以來所行的奇蹟嗎？許多癌症治癒了，盲人甚至可以看到，殘廢走路，我不知道是否死了。但可以說，我們不能僅僅排除現代時代的超自然現象。聽起來我們改革宗或福音派受到了世俗人文主義的影響，他們想要基督教的價值觀，但拒絕基督教對耶穌的信仰。不是同一個分類嗎？

父親喊道：“我相信，幫助我的不信”

當我讀到這篇文章時，我感受到了這位父親的痛苦，因為他的兒子被惡魔驅使，被扔進火裡，嘴裡吐出泡沫。是的，它非常形象，而且很真實。我在為自己的孩子祈禱時多次向上帝呼求

上帝每天。我沒有看到我想要的那麼多答案，但我正在努力。但我的意思是，這個被惡魔附身的兒子的父親，至少有一位光榮的超越神的兒子，站在他面前。父親試過使徒，但無濟於事。然後他奮力去見耶穌，這是他對被寵壞的兒子的最後也是唯一的希望。當他對耶穌說“如果你能……”時，耶穌立即回擊說：“如果你能？那人凡事都能 23 耶穌對他說：“如果你能？凡信的，凡事都能。”！

然後父親喊道：“我相信，幫助我的不信！” .耶穌像往常一樣發表了驚人的普遍性聲明，只有上帝才能做出這樣的普遍性聲明。耶穌說，在信的人，凡事都能。”然後耶穌趕走了惡魔，釋放了男孩！

我的問題是：雖然聽說過基督作為醫治者和解放者的名聲，但那個帶著年輕被惡魔附身的兒子的人可能甚至不是基督的信徒。正因為他生活在耶穌在世的時代，在同一個城鎮，他很幸運能夠親自接近神的兒子。當耶穌當場趕鬼，釋放男孩時，他得到了極大的祝福！

現在想想，重生的基督徒，與主同行，甚至改革，現在面對生活中一些嚴酷的現實，一些孩子的生活問題，離開耶穌，或者一些疾病或抑鬱，我們還沒有看到來自主的回答，並持續了多年。在他們遇見耶穌之前，這個男孩可能已經多年遭受如此扔進火裡的痛苦。 I 一旦他們遇見耶穌，他們的祈禱在一分鐘內就得到了回應。你覺得如何？如果耶穌在一分鐘內回答了你為你的孩子從壓迫中祈禱？

我感覺以利沙用以利亞的斗篷敲打水面，問道：“以利亞的神在哪裡？”

是的，來吧主耶穌。這個世界上有太多的破碎，請回答我們的祈禱。為什麼需要這麼長時間？那位父親什麼時候花了幾分鐘？因為耶穌在那裡。現在耶穌在哪裡？他在天堂，為我們基督徒祈禱。

我們需要幫助，我們現在在地上沒有他，但我們有神的靈，這裡有聖靈。會發生同樣的事情嗎？我們已經看到立即趕鬼是的，但為改變祈禱需要時間。甚至在保羅、彼得的時代，他們也禱告了很長時間，持之以恆。即使是早期的教會，基督徒也為耶穌的名殉道，他們為基督的名光榮地殉道。

不同的年齡，不同的目的，讓我總結一下。
我們向我們的上帝主耶穌基督祈禱，“因為國度、力量和榮耀都是你的，即使是阿門”。

Nothing breaks the hearts of parents like seeing their child suffering or going down the wrong path. This father here had a child who would often throw himself into fire and water, to destroy him. It’s the demonic sprit that does the tormenting.

Mark 9:17–18 7 And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 18 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.21 And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” 25 And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.

The disciples couldn’t cast out the demon inside that child. First of all, before I go on to my main point, I want to emphasize to the world that demons exist, and there are demon oppressed people around, and even among some Christians. The problem is discernment. I have personally experienced in my early days of ministry in casting out demons from a woman, a man, and a couple of others. Let me tell you this, there is no use to argue over theological views on if this exists or not, I can tell you I cast out personally. And it’s somewhat scary, and its REAL. I suddenly ceased seeing this kind of oppression since I moved to the city for ministry. I suppose it’s less obvious, because it’s very cunning. Not many people know that there is so much mental oppression, depression, and even so many articles been written, including the Gospel Coalition, like this: 9 Things You Should Know About Mental Health—Gospel Coalition. While I appreciate so much their views from a gospel centered view, I seriously question why nothing has been written about the supernatural perspective, Afterall, our faith is very supernatural, not like what humanism painted it to be like this 4 Encouraging Truths for Christians with Mental Illness. I appreciate all the encouraging notes like , “You are not alone”, “It’s not your fault”, “God sees you through..” etc., but what about pulling some spiritual muscles here and pull no punches? Give a big punch to the demonic spirits! That’s what Jesus did! He gave a BIG punch to the demonic spirit, and he commanded the demonic to get out!!

25 And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse,

That’s what I am talking about. Such miraculous is rarely seen and talked about or written about in Christian articles and taught in church, except the Pentecostal and charismatic churches.

So if there is a category for this, are we also categorizing Jesus into a “Pentecostal” now? If we base on such categorization like speaking tongues, casting demons, healings as “Pentecostal” or “Charismatic”, then Jesus is probably 95% Pentecostal and charismatic as we read in the 4 gospels!! Hello?

Then we have a special caveat built in now. Calling it miracles have ceased. Its only for Jesus, the Son of God, and the 12 apostles. Have you not read the miracles that God had performed through the centuries through his servants who prayed in the awesome name of Jesus Christ? Many cancers healed, blinds even see, crippled walk, and I don’t know if dead raised. But suffice to say that we can’t just rule out the supernatural in our modern age. It almost sounds like we reformed or evangelicals have been influenced but secular humanism, who wanted the values of Christianity, but rejected the faith of Christianity in Jesus. Isn’t that the same category? See Joe Carter’s good article on Secular Humanism.

The father cried out , “I believe, Help my Unbelief”

When I read that I felt the anguish of this father for his son being thrown into fire and foam in his mouth driven by the demon. Yes, it’s very graphic, and its real. I cried out to God many times in my prayers for my own children in my prayers to God daily. I haven’t seen as much answers as I want to, but I am pressing on. But my point is that this demon possessed son’s father, at least, had the glorious transcendent incarnated Son of God, standing physically right in front of him. The father tried the apostles but to no avail. Then he pushed his way to see Jesus, his final and only hope for his ravished son. When he said to Jesus “If you can…” Jesus immediately shot back, ‘If you can? All things are possible for one who believes.”!

Then the father cried out “I believe, help my unbelief!” . Jesus made a stunning universal statement, as he always does, and only God can make universal statement like that. Jesus said, “All things are possible for those who believe”. Then Jesus cast out the demon and set the boy free with a sentence right on the spot!!

The question I have is: The man with the young demon possessed son, was probably not even a believer in Christ, albeit heard of the fame of Christ as a healer and liberator. And just because he lived in the time when Jesus was around in this world, and at the same town, he was very lucky to have access to the Son of God personally. And he was supremely blessed as Jesus cast out the demon on the spot, and freed the boy!

Now think for yourselves, being born again Christians, walking with the Lord, even reformed, now facing some harsh realities in life, some with kids’ live problem, departed from Jesus, or some sickness or depression, and we haven’t seen an answer from the Lord, and been going on for years. It probably been years the boy suffered such throwing into fire, until they met Jesus. I Once they met Jesus, their prayer was answered in like a minute. How do you like that? If Jesus answered your prayers for your children from oppression in one minute?

I felt like Elisha saying by using Elijah’s cloak to strike the water and asked, “Where is the God of Elijah?”

Yes, come Lord Jesus. There is so much brokenness in this world, and answer our prayers. Why does it take so long time? When it took that father a few minutes? Because Jesus was there. Now where is Jesus now? He’s in heaven, praying for us Christians.

And we need help, we don’t have him on earth now, but we have the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit here. Can that happen the same? We have seen immediate casting out demons yes, but the prayers for changes takes time. Even in times of Paul, Peter, they prayed for a long time too, persevering. Even the early church, Christians were martyred for the Name of Jesus and they did it gloriously for the Name of Christ.

Different age, different purpose, let me conclude.

We pray to our God the Lord Jesus Christ, “For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory for even Amen”.”

歌罗西书 2 (ESV)
2 因为我要你们知道，我为你们和在老底嘉的人，以及所有没有与我面对面见过面的人，有多么大的挣扎，2 好叫他们的心得到鼓励，在爱中凝聚在一起，接触到所有的人对神的奥秘，就是基督的理解和知识的充分保证，3 一切智慧和知识的宝藏都藏在祂里面。

保罗对老底嘉和歌罗西教会的热情和负担得到鼓励，在爱中团结在一起，达到完全理解和认识上帝奥秘的确据。

神的奥秘是什么？

奥秘就是基督，智慧和知识的一切宝藏都藏在祂里面。
属肉体的知识毁灭。但是敬虔的知识会建立你。但是，所谓敬虔的圣经知识，如果应用在错误的诠释学和/或精神中，同样会导致教会分裂甚至毁灭！正如我们在伯利恒教堂看到的那样，以前由著名的约翰派博本人领导。你看那是圣经的知识，但圣经的知识可以被错误地应用或不平等地应用而没有正确的细微差别，它不再是智慧和知识的宝藏，因为它只能从基督那里获得。任何分裂的精神都不能从基督的宝藏中拉出来。因为基督祈求“使他们合而为一，正如我们一样”。

约翰福音 17：20-21（NASB 2020）
20 “我不是单为这些人祈求，也为那些因他们的话信我的人祈求， 21 使他们都合而为一；父啊，正如你在我里面，我也在你里面，使他们也可以在我们里面，好叫世人相信你差了我来。

基督希望我们合而为一，正如父在祂里面，祂在父里面，使我们可以在父和子里面。整体上多么一致！

基督的奥秘和丰富应该如此迷人，以至于每个基督徒的心思都应该被它俘获。不了解基督的丰富和奥秘，就会开辟道路，让我们走上小而浪费、徒劳且实际上具有潜在破坏性的道路。作为基督徒，我们希望被基督的丰富所俘获，丰富不是在物质财富方面，而是在基督里所有荣耀的无限遗产中。如果我们没有被基督对你的丰富和迷雾所吸引，就会有一些东西潜伏在周围试图绊倒我们。

理查德·巴克斯特 (Richard Baxter) 说，对于站出来宣讲基督荣耀丰富的改革宗牧师或教授来说，没有什么比这更可悲的了，但他自己仍然没有被他所宣扬的信息或教师所成圣。最重要的是，每一个传道人都吸收神的话语，并被它成圣，被抓住，但要达到基督的这一点。

那么什么是基督的丰富呢？

基督的丰富是他对他的慈悲、恩典、能力、荣耀、奇迹的迹象的无限爱，他的人格威严。如果我们每天都生活在基督的丰富中，我们就会做得很好，避免这个世界上这么多陷阱的悲剧结局。即使是这个世界上的大人物也面临着巨大的挑战，因为你的脚稍有滑倒就会使你远离对基督和单单基督的关注。相反，我们会看到我们的眼睛专注于完全浪费但在外面看起来很有吸引力的东西。我们将开始主修外围。而这种外围已经造成了教会牧师、酋长和领导等的混乱、辞职。我们必须选择让自己沉浸在基督的丰富中。

所以现在下一个问题确实是针对基督徒的。日常的基督徒也应该不断地被基督的丰富所吸引。问题是我们怎么做。问题是那看起来像什么。需要每天的纪律来保持沉浸在基督的爱中，克服我们周围的所有环境。在我们日常生活中的所有思想、行动和计划中找到基督的真实性和他的能力以及他的相关性真的很重要。如果我们不留在基督的丰富中，我们就会陷入争论中。基督有很多东西可以提供给我们，基督希望我们住在他面前。这就是为什么耶稣说我是葡萄树，你是枝子。

约翰福音 15：4-5。 4 留在我里面，我也留在你里面。正如枝子不能自己结果子，而必须留在葡萄树上，你也不能，除非你留在我里面。 5 我是葡萄树，你们是枝子；留在我里面，我在他里面的那一位会结出许多果子，因为离开了我，你什么也做不了。

住在我里面或留在我里面，你就多结果子。我们若不常在或常在祂里面，就不会多结果子。住在他里面就是花时间与他一起敬拜祷告，默想神的话语。我们必须每天为基督留出时间。我们必须花时间与他交流，学习神的话，因为神的话就是生命。当我们阅读圣经时，生命就会流入我们的生命。

约翰福音 1:4 4 生命在他里面，这生命就是人类的光。

正是这种生活让我们继续前进。因此，我们必须与世界其他地方分享这种生活或福音的力量。实际上，我们必须开始阅读更多具有奉献性质和神学性质的书籍。昨晚我和妈妈分享了基督在我们救恩中的恩典。由于我无法用普通话交流，她似乎能听懂我说的大约 20% 的内容，其余的听不懂。我变得沮丧，但我仍然充满希望并等待与她分享。很多福音派基督徒的想法是“我会跟随主，我会努力做好事，因为他爱我，这将能够转化为救赎之路。”他们的简单理解是“如果我在接受基督之后行善，如果我继续阅读我的圣经，我一定会去天堂。”我一直说，不是你做了什么他们把你带到天堂，而是你相信基督拯救了你！感谢上帝，他仁慈地拯救了我们。

当然，悖论是在你蒙神的恩典得救之后，必须表达对基督的信仰，对基督的信仰

对基督的信仰和信心会逐渐转化为一颗改变的心。一夜之间什么都不会发生，但它肯定是一种稳定的转变方式，行为的改变不是我们通往天堂的门票。而是我们对基督的信仰拯救了我们。对基督的信仰会自动为圣灵打开大门，这样我们就会想要阅读圣经，我们会想要逃离罪恶，我们会想要更多地祈祷，但这只有在我们相信上帝之后才会给予我们的心为他。

罗马书 11 33 哦，神丰富的智慧和知识！他的判断何其难测，他的路径何其无法追寻！

Colossians 2 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Paul’s passion and burden for the church in Laodicea and Colossae to be encouraged, knit together in love, to reach full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery is our study!

What’s God’s mystery?

The mystery is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Carnal knowledge destroys. But godly knowledge builds you up. But the so called godly bible knowledge, if applied in the wrong hermeneutics and/or spirit, can equally cause division and even destruction in church! As we see that in Bethlehem church, formerly led by the famous John Piper himself. You see that’s knowledge from the bible, but the knowledge from the bible can be wrongly applied or unequally applied without correct nuance, it is no more treasures of wisdom and knowledge, because that can only be obtained from Christ. Any division spirit cannot be pulled from the treasure of Christ. Because Christ prayed that “that they may be one, as we are one”.

John 17:20–21 20 “I am not asking on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in Me through their word, 21 that they may all be one; just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

Christ wants us to be one, just as the Father are in Him and He in the Father, that we may be in the Father and Son. What a unison in totality!

The mystery and the richness of Christ should be so captivating that every Christian’s mind should be captured by it. Failing to understand the riches and the mystery of Christ will open up the way to go into petty wasteful unproductive and in fact potentially destructive paths. As Christians we want to be captured by Christ richness, richness not in terms of material wealth, but rather in the immensity all the glorious inheritance in Christ. If we are not captured by the richness and the mystery of Christ, there will be something lurking around trying to trip us.

Richard Baxter says it beautifully there’s nothing sadder for reformed pastor or professor standing up to preach the glorious riches in Christ , but he himself remain unsanctified by the very message he preaches or teachers. It is of utmost importance that every preacher absorbs the word of God and be sanctified by it and be captured by the richness and mystery of Christ.

So what is the richness of Christ?

The richness of Christ is the immensity of his love of his compassion, grace, power, glory, signs & wonders and majesty of his personhood. If we dwell in the richness of who Christ is on a daily basis, we would do well and avoid the trap tragic ends of so many trappings in this world. Even big names in this world faces tremendous challenges because a slight slip of your feet can begin to pull you from the focus on Christ and Christ alone. Instead we will see our eyes focusing on something that is totally wasteful yet seem to be appealing on the outside. We would begin to major on the peripheral. And this peripherals has caused the disruption, resignation of churches pastors and the chiefs and leadership etc. We must choose to immerse ourselves in the richness of Christ.

So now the next question really is for Christians. Everyday Christians should also be captivated by the richness of Christ on a continual basis. The question is how do we do it. The question is what does that look like. It takes daily discipline to stay immersed and enveloped by the love of Christ overcoming all the circumstances surrounding us. To find the reality of Christ and his power and his relevance in all our thinking’s, actions and planning’s in our daily life is really important. We would be sucked into controversy arguments if we do not stay within the richness of Christ. Christ has so much to offer to us and Christ wants us to dwell in his presence. And that’s why Jesus said I am the vine and you are the branch.

John 15:4–5. 4 Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Abiding in me or remaining in me and you were bear much fruit. We will not bear much fruit if we don’t abide or remain in him. Abide in him is to spend time with him in the worship in prayer and meditating upon God’s word. We have to have time for Christ daily. We have to invest in time to communicate with him to learn from the word of God for the word of God is life. When we read the Bible, life flows into our beings.

John 1:4 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind.

It is that life that keeps us going. We must therefore share that life, and the gospel power to the rest of the world. Practically speaking, we must begin to read more books of the devotional nature and theological nature on top of the Bible of course. I was sharing the grace of Christ in our salvation last night with my mum. For the heck of my inability to communicate in Mandarin, she seemed to get about 20% of what I said and could not get the rest. Frustrated I became but I remain hopeful and waiting to share with her again. A lot of evangelical’s Christian’s thinking is that “I will follow the Lord and I would try to do good deeds because he loves me and that will be able to translate into path to salvation.” Their simplistic understanding of “if I do good after I received Christ and if I continue to read my Bible, I will sure be on my way to heaven.” I kept saying it is not what you do they bring you to heaven but rather you have believed in Christ that saved you! Thank God He graciously saved us.

Of course the paradox is after you received salvation by the grace of God, there got to be an expression of that belief in Christ, faith in Christ.

That belief and faith in Christ will translate into a changed heart progressively. Nothing is going to happen overnight period but it was it has certainly be a steady committed way of transformation and that change of behavior is not our ticket to heaven. Rather it is the of our belief in faith in Christ has saved us. And that belief in Christ opens the door automatically for the Holy Spirit working this so that we will want to read the Bible we will want to run away from sins we will want to pray more but that is only after we believed in God who then gives us the heart for him.

The righteousness of God must be fulfilled and that’s only in Christ who died on the cross and resurrected on the third day by defeating death!

Romans 11 ³³ Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!

Amen!

Proverbs 15:1–4

¹ A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger. ² The tongue of the wise makes knowledge pleasant, But the mouth of fool’s spouts foolishness.³ The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Watching the evil and the good. ⁴ A soothing tongue is a tree of life, But perversion in it crushes the spirit.

In a world where we come from different personalities, cultures, background, and above all, different stage of walk with the Lord, when folks meet in church or outside and there is a difference of opinions or even worse frustration when things are done in different ways, we need to learn especially the gems from proverbs. Prov 15: 1 says a gentle answer turns away wrath. That’s a beautiful way of communication, whether we agree with the other party or not. So that should be our basis of communication. A gentle answer. However, gentle answer can be frustrated and exasperated when answers are not forthcoming after a prolonged period. That’s when the other dynamic needs to come in, and that’s clear communication. Poor communication causes misunderstanding, and murmuring at the back. Therefore communication clearly with good faith is really important. Sometimes, we can leave the issue and not deal with it, it will foster fermenting morally, spiritually. Therefore its best to deal with it and take actions. Either way, counselling approach in a pastoral way will be best.

You see v1 says a harsh word stirs up anger. That’s when people call it politically correct speech. I disagree here. I call it speaking forth truth in love. When we speak the truth in love, even though it may hurt or cause disagreement, at least we speak the truth not to harm, but to restore. One cannot not be restored, without repentance of the wrongs. Repentance must be part of the conversation in a holistic spirit of godly love for one another. But the very important words behind is “in love”. It’s not just what we say, but rather how we say it.

The tongue of the wise makes knowledge pleasant

The tongue of the wise makes knowledge pleasant. People love a pleasant conversation. No one likes a harsh conversation. But notice here, the wise tongue or speech makes knowledge pleasant. Sometimes we can share the right knowledge, but it’s not pleasant. But a wise tongue communicates it, and makes it pleasant, and when that happens, the recipient will be at ease to receive with good spirit. Of course, we need humility on both sides to receive what’s good and right. It’s the righteousness of the Lord we are pursuing in brotherly love. Wow! Wisdom makes it pleasant.

NASB says: The tongue of the wise makes knowledge pleasant, ESV says: The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,NIV says: The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge, KJV says: The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright:

What’s to be communicated is knowledge, counseling, wisdom. That needs to be communicated. That’s exactly the truth on how you say it.

A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but perversion in it crushes the spirit.

Finally a soothing tongue is a tree of life. In other words, a non-soothing or brash or sharp tongue can be a tree of death. It can destroy relationship, or bring forth life, energize and brings healing. We need healings in this broken world.

ESV ⁴  A gentle tongue is a tree of life, NIV ⁴ The soothing tongue is a tree of life,

Again it goes back to a soothing tongue. Soothing tongue is not a compromising tongue. It’s not just pleasing people tongue. It’s a tongue that comes with the intent of life to all parties concerned. With no ill intent. Just wants to bring healing and restoration. Its sometimes not easy to accomplish as the bible is also full of church discipline to rectify the wrongs. Forgiveness comes with a repentance required to go with it. Without forgiveness, there is no restoration. One cannot go on a soothing tongue or gentle tongue, without the intention for healing and restoration.

Don’t ever use a perverse tongue which crushes a spirit. Christians should never slander others, let along brothers and sisters in Christ in the family of Christ. Such spirit must be disciplined, corrected for the good of the soul of the offenders and bring healing to the offended. Don’t let any spirits in church be crushed, and simmer.

Finally the Lord watches over us all

³ The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Watching the evil and the good.

Above all, we must know be conscious that the Lord watches over us all. Our hearts intent, motives, are all weighed before His sight. He knows everything that we do, or don’t do. God rewards, reprimands, disciplines, corrects us with all power and authority for our good. No one can hide from God.

This is a very beautiful exhortation:

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ¹⁶ All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷ so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work.

All scripture is inspired by God and beneficial to teach us, to rebuke us, to correct yes! For what purpose? For the purpose of training us in righteousness.

Training? Training in what? In righteousness of God. This is tremendously important. Again, we are shooting for the righteous of God, not man’s standard. What’s the end goal?

So that man or woman may be fully capable, equipped for every good work. Church will never have a revival, without us being capable, being equipped for every good work.

Teaching is not enough; character trimming, shaping must go with it as a result of the scripture. Then we are ready for every good work.

Amen! Let the Spirit of God come!

箴言 15:1-4
1 温柔的回答可以驱散愤怒，
但一句严厉的话会激起愤怒。
2 智慧人的舌头使知识愉快，
但愚昧人的口吐出愚昧。
3 耶和华的眼目无处不在，
善恶观望。
4 安慰人的舌头是生命树，
但其中的变态会粉碎精神。

在一个我们来自不同的个性、文化、背景，尤其是与主同行的不同阶段的世界里，当人们在教堂聚会时，当人们以不同的方式做事时，会有不同的意见，甚至更糟的是沮丧，我们尤其需要学习谚语中的宝石。箴言 15：1 说温和的回答可以驱散愤怒。无论我们是否同意对方，这是一种美妙的沟通方式。所以这应该是我们沟通的基础。温柔的回答。但是，如果长时间没有得到答复，那么温和的答复可能会令人沮丧和恼怒。这就是需要其他动力的时候，这就是清晰的沟通。沟通不畅导致误会，并在背后嘀咕。因此，真诚地进行清晰的沟通非常重要。有时，我们可以抛开这个问题不去处理它，它会促进道德、精神上的发酵。因此最好处理它并采取行动。无论哪种方式，以牧师的方式进行咨询是最好的。

你看到 v1b 说一个严厉的词会激起愤怒。这就是人们称之为政治正确言论的时候。我在这里不同意。我称之为用爱心说实话。当我们在爱中说真话时，即使它可能会伤害或引起分歧，但至少我们说实话不是为了伤害，而是为了挽回。一个人不能不悔改，不悔改。悔改必须成为对话的一部分，本着对彼此敬虔之爱的整体精神。但背后很重要的一句话是“相爱”。这不仅仅是我们说什么，而是我们怎么说。

智慧人的舌头使知识愉快

智慧人的舌头使知识愉快。人们喜欢愉快的谈话。没有人喜欢激烈的谈话。但请注意，智慧的舌头或言语使知识变得愉快。有时我们可以分享正确的知识，但这并不愉快。但是智慧的舌头会传达它，并使它变得愉快，当这种情况发生时，接受者将很容易以良好的精神接受。当然，我们需要双方都谦虚以接受好的和正确的。这是我们在兄弟之爱中追求的主的义。哇！智慧让人愉悦。

NASB 说：智慧人的舌头使知识愉快，
ESV 说：智慧人的舌头称赞知识，
NIV 说：智慧人的舌头装饰知识，
KJV 说： 智慧人的舌头善用知识：

要传达的是知识，咨询，智慧。这是需要沟通的。

这正是你所说的事实。

抚慰人心的舌头是生命树，但其中的歪曲会粉碎心灵。

最后，抚慰人心的舌头是生命树。换句话说，不安慰人的、傲慢的或尖利的舌头可能是一棵死亡之树。它可以破坏关系，或带来生命，充满活力并带来治愈。在这个破碎的世界，我们需要医治。

ESV 4 温柔的舌头是生命树，
NIV 4 抚慰人心的舌头是生命树，

它再次回到舒缓的舌头。平滑的舌头不是妥协的舌头。这不仅仅是取悦人们的舌头。这是一种对所有相关方都带有生命意图的语言。没有恶意。只是想带来治愈和恢复。它有时并不容易完成，因为圣经也充满了纠正错误的教会纪律。宽恕伴随着悔改而来。没有宽恕，就没有恢复。如果没有治愈和恢复的意图，就不能继续使用平滑的舌头或温和的舌头。

永远不要使用压倒精神的邪恶舌头。基督徒永远不应该诽谤他人，更不要说基督家庭中在基督里的兄弟姐妹了。这种精神必须受到纪律处分，为了冒犯者的灵魂而得到纠正，并为被冒犯的人带来医治。不要让教会中的任何精神被压碎，并煨。

最后主看顾我们所有人

3 耶和华的眼目无处不在，善恶都鉴察。

最重要的是，我们必须知道主在看顾我们所有人。我们的心意、动机，都在祂的眼前权衡。他知道我们所做或不做的一切。为了我们的益处，上帝会用一切力量和权威来奖赏、谴责、惩戒、纠正我们。没有人能躲避上帝。

这是一个非常美好的劝勉：

2 提摩太前书 3:16-17
16 圣经都是神所默示的，有益于教导、责备、纠正、公义的训练； 17 使上帝的男人或女人可以完全有能力，装备好 或每一个好作品。

所有的经文都是神所默示的，有益于教导我们，斥责我们，纠正是的！ 出于什么目的？ 目的是为了在公义上训练我们。

培训？ 培训什么？ 在神的公义中。 这非常重要。 再说一次，我们是为神的义而不是人的标准而射击。 最终目标是什么？

这样男人或女人就可以完全有能力，装备好，做好每一项工作。 教会永远不会复兴，除非我们有能力，为每一项善工做好准备。

教是不够的； 人物的修整、塑造必须符合圣经，并且是圣经的结果。 然后我们准备好做每一个好的工作。

阿门！ 让神的灵降临！