New Life 新生命

January 16 Garden of Prayer and Sermon Summary

I want to praise the Lord for all of you. I am deeply impressed by each of your faith. It is a blessing to see you each Sabbath morning, and the smiles and kindness I saw you show for each brethren encourages me more to be of service for the Lord.

Here is the list of the prayer requests and thanksgivings.

Elizabeth – thanksgiving for the unexpected blessings she and her husband received the past week. She encouraged everyone to expect still greater blessing from our Father above, and cease not in praying for others too.

Rebeka – pray for Pilimi and her family; she went to New Zealand because her mother is in comatose condition. Please also pray for little Nedy because he met an bad accident in the kitchen before Pilimi left.

Sheldon – pray for the people of Haiti because of the recent devastating earthquake; the scenes of people mourning and dying are too much to bear; pray also for the people of ADRA and other volunteers who are working to save people under the rubble. He also requested for special offering be collected for the Haitians.

Jo – thanksgiving for the past final exam. Please pray that our students can make it through the tough times

Alice – thanksgiving that the orphanage that her brother and sister-in-law are ministering too in Haiti were not among those who were victims of the recent earthquake (praise the Lord!); also thanks to God that her brother and sister-in-law were saved by a delayed flight schedule (a double praise!)

Rofe – my friend Davy has already graduated from his MS degree, thanks for all your support and prayers; he is entering the military service for a year; let us continue to pray for him as he searches for the Lord Jesus. Let us also pray for other souls who have not a knowledge of the God we serve, and reach out for them by appealing to their hearts of the love of God in our Lord Jesus Christ. They are just around us, and sadly they are dying without hope, the hope that only we can share because God gave it to us. Let us not let them die in vain.

Sermon this Week: “Discover Prophecy: How Near is the End?”

If there is any so energizing sermon, I felt Brother Zach Timothy is a really moving one. It energized my sleeping spiritual nerves to action and made me understood my responsibility to proclaim the message of Jesus’ soon return.

Do we think we still have more years to look forward to? How far forward must we look to see the kingdom of God? How near is the end of all things?

Even in the secular world, people sense that there is something about to happen. The unbelieving and irreligious are thinking about the recent events and the intensity that is building up in both the natural and human worlds.

What does the Bible say? For centuries since Jesus left the earth, Christians have been waiting for His soon return. But how long must we wait. There were signs, surely they came. One by one they were fulfilling. They are the news yesterday, today and tomorrow. We, who are reading the prophecies, are expecting that it will get more intense as Jesus’ appearing draws near. Jesus Himself gave us the signs: false Christs and false prophets, wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences natural disasters, powers of heavens shaken, violence, pleasure seeking people (including idleness), and loss of family values. These nine signs are taking place before our very eyes. They are unmistakable evidences that indeed our Savior is coming back just as He said.

But there is still one that has not been fulfilled. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matthew 24:14) This is the last of the ten signs Jesus had mentioned,  the most encouraging nonetheless. But who will fulfill this last prophecy?

Jesus said, “All these are the beginning of sorrows (or birth-pangs).” (Matthew 24:8) “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh.” (Matthew 24:32) In the allegory of a woman giving birth and the changing of leaves by the fig tree, Jesus likened His appearing – it is definitely visible, progressive and climactic. It is both a message of hope and warning – hope for the faithful and obedient, while warning for the unrepentant and wicked.

As in the days of Noah so shall the coming of the Son of Man. We are to behold these things, and ponder, “Is it that near?” Yes. It is even nearer that we think, even at the door. We need to spring into action now. This is a wake up call for us. “Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon him while He is near”. (Isaiah 55:6) Let us search our hearts. Do we see Jesus there? Is the love of Jesus the one consuming us each our? Are our thoughts of that only to “seek and save the lost”?

Let me ask again: Who will fulfill the last prophecy? If we are pointing our fingers to our pastors and elders, we are definitely mistaken. We, who have the experimental knowledge of the Savior’s love, are the ones Jesus was pointing here. None but those who had an intimate conversation with the Master can truly proclaim the gospel. And this is the gospel: “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) Only those who had experienced the forgiveness that comes only through the atoning blood of Christ could fulfill this last prophecy.

My appeal to all is this: Open your heart to the Savior. He is knocking, let Him in. Let us have a closer and deeper relationship with our Creator. Let us lay down everything at His feet. Let us finish the work we are born and called to do. “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1) The enemy is gaining ground while we are sleeping. We should be watchful unto prayer, seeking the Lord with all our hearts until our whole soul is consumed by Jesus and Jesus alone.

If we think there is still much time left, we are deceiving ourselves.  Jesus is indeed coming and soon. “Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelations 22:20)