In the previous lesson we studied about the Bible being the lamp that lights our path. There is no book like the Bible, which had a great effect on man throughout history. The Bible was the most read and studied book in history and is still the number one best seller. However, there are people that think of the Bible as only being a book of morality and ethics, but the Bible is more than a book that teaches how to live one's life or a book that has proverbs. Rather it is a priceless book with great value. It is the book that can change a man's eternal destiny.  

 

 

  The Scriptures is the Book of 66 different records. The first 39 books of the Bible are known to be the Old Testament and the 27 other books are known as the New Testament. The Old Testament is a historical record of the Israelites and the will of God before the birth of Christ. The New Testament is a record of God's will through the life of Jesus. Simply, the Scriptures show the unconditional love of God towards men from the beginning of the world to the end of the world.

The Old Testament was recorded mostly in Hebrew and part of it in Aramaic and the New Testament was recorded in Greek. There are about 30 different people who participated in recording the Old Testament including Moses and 10 different people who left records for the New Testament. The people who wrote the Scriptures include: a great monarch, respectable political leaders, public officers, military officers, scholars, doctors, farmers, shepherds, and fishermen. The time period of the recording of the Old Testament was from 1500 B.C. to 400 B.C. and the New Testament was written in 50 years from 50 A.D. to 100 A.D. The recording of the Scriptures from the first chapter of the Bible, Genesis, to the last book of the New Testament, Revelation, took about 1600 years.

 

 

  The Book of Moses or the Pentateuch is the first five books of the Bible and were recorded about 3500 years ago by a prophet named Moses. It is also known to be the book of the law and it includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. It contains the laws of the ancestors and instructions of God. When we read the book of Genesis we can clearly see that it is not a work of man but a work of God. When we read the book of Genesis with a clear mind and soul we know that it is not a made up story or a fairy tale.

The instructions found in these books of Moses were practiced not only by the Jewish nation but also by the rest of the world. We can see that the first five books of the Bible is one of the most influential books in the world.

 

 

  After Moses, the prophets of Israel recorded messages from God. They too were inspired and instructed by the Holy Spirit.   

They are the 5 books of Major Prophets and 12 books of the Minor Prophets, which were published in B.C. 400 and became a part of the Old Statement.  

Therefore, they are called in the New Testament, 'Prophet' or 'the writings of the prophets.'

 

 

  The Pentateuch and the Writings of the Prophets are recorded in the Old Testament, but there is also poetry and literature. The Books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles record the history of the Israelites. We can see that when the Israelites obeyed God's Commandments they were blessed and when they disobeyed His commands they were punished. In the world it is the same. We are rewarded when we follow the rules and punished when we don't. This method gives us warning and makes us perceive the truth.  

It is about people who have had surprising experiences by God's grace, even in the beautiful garden or in the humble, thorny field, sing songs of praise and glory to God.  

These are the songs and poems of Psalms and Songs of Solomon. In addition, there are Proverbs of the great Solomon and Ecclesiastes that is about the philosophy of life and great teaching. Job is about the theory of the universe, and Ruth and Esther are stories about the passionate love for the nations or simplicity of human nature.  

In all of the stories above, we can see how God protected and saved his people from disaster and difficulty, and we can accept the Bible as a solemn and noble reflection of God's deep love.

 

 

  What about the New Testament?  

It is the record of the Jesus' life and the proof of who he is. The first four books are named Gospels, filled with good news and are the records of his life and teachings that His disciples wrote. Second, Acts is the record of His disciples' experiences. It is also about Peter who was the first disciple of Jesus and Paul who changed his religion to be a preacher for God.  

There are Letters that were written by Paul and others. The last book is Revelation, filled with prophecy by the inspiration of Jesus.   

Therefore, the Bible that starts with "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth"(Genesis 1:1) ends with "Yes, I am coming soon"(Revelation 22:20).

 

 

  As we said above, the Old Testament is the story of Israel. So in the Christian church, they think it is not proper and worthy in the New Testament age. But, Jesus said "This is what I told you while I was still with you; everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms"(Luke 24:44).

All the ceremonies and worship in the Old Testament age symbolize the redemption of Jesus for us while all the prophecies of the prophets are about Jesus' coming. Without the keys of the New Testament, we can't understand the Old Testament and vice-versa. They go hand in hand. Therefore we must study both testaments to understand completely; we can find the truth by comparing them.  

 

 

  We said that the Pentateuch and prophecies were recorded by the instruction and inspiration of God. Actually, the Bible was not created by human hands but by God's will.   

Therefore, Jesus said, "The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes"(Psalm 118:22,23). 

All the books in the world say something about human knowledge and thought, but "All scripture is God-breathed"(2 Timothy 3:16), as the New Testament said strictly.   

And it said, "For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit"(2 Peter 1:21).

In the beginning, it is recorded in Revelation that "The revelation of Jesus Christ"(Revelation 1:1), which reveals that it was not written by John.  

Further, the writers of the 66 books of the Bible always said "God said", " The word of the Lord", and something like that, they are repeated more than 3,800 times in the Old Testament. These expressions are not found in other religious scriptures.  

If it were artificial, the Bible would not have been respected as a great book for thousands of years.

 

 

  For what and for whom was the Bible written? "The Holy Scriptures are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.(2 Timothy 3:15-17).

"You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me.(John 5:39).

The former is John's word, and the latter is Jesus'. We can conclude from these two sentences that the Bible is edifying men through Jesus Christ for them to be saved. Through the Bible, we can understand human nature and can know the key to salvation. In other words, God has given us the Bible because He wants us to believe in Jesus, the Savior of men and the embodiment of love.  

John said, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life"(John 3:16).

We can see God through Jesus because this is how He has shown his love.  

There is no way to reach God except through Jesus. Therefore, Jesus said himself, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me"(John 14:6).

So how valuable is the Bible, which makes us know about Jesus?

 

 

  Time goes by and the age changes. Everything changes. Things that are true today will be wrong tomorrow. Knowledge and ideology can become worthless.   

Fame is not permanent, but all the teachings and truths in the Bible are glorious forever.  

Peter said, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever"(1 Peter 1:27).

The wealth and the power of human being wither and fall like the flowers. Look at the remains in the Babylon. Look at the coliseum of Rome. The remains of power that made Israel and Christian church endure such hardship. Christianity spreads into the world, and the Bible is known to all the nations. There is nothing that can be compared to the Bible. Voltaire, a French atheist, said, "The bible will be thrown away." Ingersoll, an American skeptic said, "In 10 years later, there will be no one who reads the Bible."   

During the French Revolution the Bible was abused and burned, but after four years the Bible helped straighten French society. When England was suffering from poverty and chaos, John Wesley started the Methodist Movement with the Bible and went to different parts of the country and spread the Gospel, which helped reconstruct the country. The fact that the Bible and not politics and education changed the cannibals of Africa and the Pacific islands into pure people is something to keep in mind.   

In the Bible it is recorded "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God"(1 Peter 1:23).

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to the dividing of soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart"(Hebrew 4:12).

The Bible is the word of life, which can inspire our souls and spirits. Anyone who reads the Bible and becomes inspired will be a new man and will taste the sweetness and beauty of the word. A long time ago, a researcher of the Bible was inspired and wrote a poem, "How sweet are your words to my tongue, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"(Psalms 119:103).

We are more inspired and interested as we read and study the deep meaning of the Bible.

I ask that you search for the deep meaning and sweetness and beauty of the word while you are studying these books.

 

  It has been the question and interest in the minds of many how the world was created. How the plants and animals were put on this earth and how man was created. The question was not just out of curiosity. It set a foundation on how to view the world and how to live the right life. We will study the three ways that men interpret this question.

 

 

  First, there is Thomas Henry Huxley who claimed "agnosticism" which meant, How do we know what happened in the past? Secondly, there was Charles Darwin who created and claimed the evolution theory, which claims everything was created from a single form or from a chaotic status (Big Bang). Thirdly, as said in the Bible, God created the heavens and the earth. Scientifically the third theory is impossible to prove. Natural science relies on facts and but how are we to prove the fact that Superior being just created the universe from nothing, with nothing? God said "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand." (Job 38:4) How are we to prove the creation of the earth when we were created before we had any kind of scientific tools? The creation of the world is not something that can be studied in a lab by scientists using the scientific method. The only way to understand the creation of the universe is by using inductive or deductive reasoning, but it cannot be guaranteed that it will conclude with a precise and correct answer.

 

 

  The evolution theory was studied back in the Hellas era; but was released by an English biologist named Charles Darwin, who wrote the book, "Origin of the Species." The evolution theory is based on assumption and believes in the survival of the fittest which means creatures that can adapt and survive with its natural environment continues on with life and others just disappear. We can only say that evolution is just another theory and cannot be proven. "The trends of the evolutionary theory" are recorded in the encyclopedia published by the Pyungbum Co. in Japan and it says " The evolutionary theory is not accepted widely by people in the field of biology. There are many people who believe in the theory who still research the work but find the data to prove the evolution theory is insufficient to be proven fact." We must be aware that the evolution theory is not truth. It only claims that an unexplainable organism evolved into a human being. In the matter of the origin of the world, claiming agnosticism we don't even have to consider the matter nor can we find a satisfactory conclusion in the theory of evolution. Then there is only one more matter to research about which is the theory of creation by God in the Bible. It is a more reasonable method to find the truth about creation through a religious or philosophical way rather than through a scientific method.

 

 

  In Genesis 1:1 it says "God created the heavens and the earth." It is simple, clear and to the point. Also, in the book of Psalms it says, "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth"(Psalms 33:6). There is no contradiction. It only accepts and claims the truth.  Let us see how long it took for the world to be created. In Genesis 1:2 it says, "Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the water." We reckon that before there was earth it was a dark, empty space and a lot of water.

 

 

  In the first day God said "Let there be light" and there was light. "God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning- the first day"(Genesis 1:4,5). The concept of this morning and evening, day and night is a result of the rotation of the earth in a 24 hour time period. However, some scholars claim that a day in the creation week actually signifies thousands or millions of years, so that the creation story may be in harmony with the evolution theory.  This kind of understanding, however, is contradictory to the Bible, and seems caused by the doubt of God’s creating power, and by the lack of confidence on the Bible as the word of God.

 

 

  "So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it"(Genesis 1:7). God created the air and separated the water from the earth. There was an evaporated water band, so the temperature was same all over the world without any separation of the tropics and the frigid zones. The water band that surrounded the earth is supposed to have disappeared after Noah's flood. (One piece of evidence is a body of the mammoth that was found in Siberia. The mammoth is a tropical elephant and it was found frozen under an ice field).

 

 

  God set the water under the sky and water was put to one side and on the other was dry land appeared and the land produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees.

 

 

  "And let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth"(Genesis 1:15). On this day the sun, moon, and stars were created to give light to the earth.

 

 

  God created the fish of the sea and birds of the air.

 

 

  God created living creatures of land: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals. God created the wild animals according to their kind, the livestock according to their kind, and all the creatures that move along the ground. (Genesis 1:25) This proves Mendel's law, which claims that living creatures do not change into another species; it only changes to a certain extent.

 

 

  God said; "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground"(Genesis 1:26-28). Man was created to be the most valuable, created as example of God's love. When we are aware of this fact our view of life changes.  

 

 

  God created the world in six days. "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning- the sixth day"(Genesis 1:31). God created the heavens and the earth in six days and God set aside the seventh day as a memorial of creation. The seventh day was given to man to remind them of God's work, worship Him and be blessed through praising Him. Therefore if man had kept the Sabbath, holy distrust and theories such as atheism or evolution would never have been brought up.

 

 

 

  We need to remember that Genesis is not a man made story but a recorded facts. There are recorded dates, real places and people even the genealogy of the time. Every record expresses its fidelity in it.

 

 

  As the field of science developed and materialism grew, the evolution theory and atheism have spread widely all over the world. People even came up with an idea that religion is a superstition and said " God is just a man made idea and is only imaginary." In the history of materialism, their belief is that they do not believe in things that they can't see. However, a lot of undeniable evidence points out, that God really exists.

 

 

  First of all, the human conscience acknowledges the existence of God. Furthermore we, the Korean people accepted and believed God to be the Ruler of the world because we know that our minds feel satisfaction only when we trust in the Lord almighty. Every human being has the spiritual knowledge to distinguish and understand God. In the New Testament it is said, "Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them"(Romans 1:19). There are experiences in life that cannot be seen through the naked eye, but can be felt in our hearts and thought about in our minds. Through these experiences we cannot deny the existence of God.

 

 

  Secondly, by looking at the world around us, we cannot deny that God exists because there is no result without a cause and there is nothing without a Creator. There was once a man named Robert Ingersoll, a believer of agnosticism who visited the home of Henry Wad, a famous preacher. Inside the living room was a celestial globe in which the heavens were drawn and the man asked the preacher, " This is fantastic, who made this?" and the preacher said, " It came into being by itself." Ingersoll was not clear about the answer, but later he answered his own question. It is difficult to comprehend that the awesome and perfectly created heavens just came into being one day, but a reasonable explanation is that a Superior Being, God created the heavens and the earth. "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities have been clearly seen- being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse"(Romans 1:20).

"Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all this? He who brings things out the starry host one by one, and called them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing." (Isaiah 40:26) As said in these two verses, when we see all the wonders of the universe we cannot deny God's divinity and unlimited power.

 

 

  In the first verse of the Bible there is a solemn record; "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"(Genesis 1:1). Does this verse set a firm foundation of belief for our confused minds? This verse establishes a clear view of life and a view of the world for all Christians.

 

 

  We as Christians must seek for the true God and worship Him only. There are many gods in this world, which is the true God?  "But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God-the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath. Tell them this: These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens. But God made the earth by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding"(Jeremiah 10:10-12). There are many gods in this world, but if their gods did not create the heavens and the earth it is not a true God and does not deserve respect nor does it need to be worshipped.

  Men were made in God's image and endowed with a dignity and dissimilarity with animals according to God's special management. We were created with a mind to understand God's will and character and with a sturdy appearance. Then what has corrupted our minds? What happened to the world that God saw to be good, and why is the world full of pain, sorrow and misery? This is because sin has entered into this world.

 

 

  How did sin enter into this world, and by whom? Jesus said to Jew, "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44) John also said, "He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning"(1 John 3:8). Sin entered the world through the devil and those who are sinful are of the devil, those who lie, hate one another and have too much greed are of the devil's followers. People these days who respect science and follow materialism claim atheism and believe that there is no good God or an evil God. However, but the Bible clearly states that there is a God and also an evil god, the devil. In the New Testament the word devil is recorded 34 times, and the name Satan is recorded 37 times so he was mentioned a total 71 times! Therefore we cannot deny the existence of God or the existence of an evil god, Satan. In the book of Psalms, King David said, "The fool says in his heart there is no God"(Psalms 53:1). It says those who deny the existence of God cannot be regarded as wise men.

 

 

  Jesus said, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven"(Luke 10:18). In the book of Isaiah it is written, "How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, " I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. But you are brought down to the grave, to the depth of the pit"(Isaiah 14:12-15).

In the verse above it says the name Lucifer meant "morning star, the son of the dawn." Lucifer was the most beautiful angel in heaven and received Gods utmost love and was the leader of the angels, but he became unsatisfied and rebelled to be in a higher position. His rebellion changed his name from Lucifer, which meant the morning star, to Satan and was cast down to earth along with 1/3 of the angels in heaven. "And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down- that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him"(Revelation 10:7-9). In the verse above Michael is Christ, the Son of God. Lucifer was jealous of His position and complained, but God admonished him and searched into his heart for repentance of his immorality, but his complaints grew bigger which led to betraying God. Michael could no longer tolerate Lucifer's complaints, which broke the peace and harmony of heaven and drove Lucifer and his angels out of heaven. The fact that this all happened is very puzzling. We must remember the fact that God created everything man as well as angels with a gift of choice. God wants us to obey and follow him because we choose to and not because we are forced to. To know how to love others and obey is a value and a privilege that can make a society truly happy. Therefore, in heaven the most fundamental principles are freedom and love and in Satan's world oppression and oddness is the fundamental principles.  

 

 

  Our God of love made a beautiful garden to show his love and affection to the first human beings, Adam and Eve. The garden was created for them to enjoy and live happily together. As parents who visit their child's home to see if they are living happily and wish them to, God also promised his love forever to them and truly wished for their happiness. In the Book of Genesis it says, "Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground- trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four major tributaries. The Lord God took man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And He commanded him, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die"(Genesis 2:8-10, 15-17). God prepared the garden for the couple to be truly happy and satisfied. God told them, "You must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil;" not because He spared the tree, nor because the fruits were poisonous. He commanded them because God wanted them to recognize the relationship between God and man that He is the Creator and the Lord of all things in the universe.

 

 

  Adam and Eve were not loyal to God and were disobedient. Satan, who was banned from heaven tricked Adam and Eve. In the Bible it is recorded, "Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, "You must not eat from any tree in the garden?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, "You must not eat from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die." "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it"(Genesis 3:1-6). The serpent that appears here is the ancient serpent mentioned in the book of Revelation, which was the devil or Satan who wanted to take over the universe. After being banished from heaven, Satan lied and said "You will not surely die." trying to bring man into his side and interfere with God's administration. Satan transformed into a serpent, which was a beautiful creature before it was cursed, and tricked Eve in disobeying God and believing his false words. Satan still deceives us, and the entire world trying to make us disobey God also. How many of us are fooled and deceived by Satan, being kept away from God!

 

 

  Betraying God, disobeying Him, who created the Garden of Eden for them and trusting Satan was a great treason against God. Breaking their vow to God was like cutting the cord of God's love. As a result of their sin, man was cursed, the road of eternal life was blocked, and pain and misery was to follow them the rest of their lives. In Genesis it is recorded, "To the woman he said "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you. " To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it.' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return. (Genesis 3: 16-19)

"After he drove man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life"(Genesis 3:24). As a result of their disobedience Adam and Eve lost their privilege to live in the Garden of Eden and eat from the Tree of Life. They realized that the world became mortal when they saw the flowers wither and the leaves fall from the trees. Falling farther and farther away from God made man wicked and his body weak. This was not a result of evolution but a result of degeneration. Satan came into power to rule the earth and rule over man. Jealousy, war, misery, starvation, fear, disease, and death, became the fate of man and their hearts were filled with lies and evil. Such a phenomenon was far from God's plan when he created man and He was not going to let this continue. So God cleansed the world of sin to changed it to a world full of love and righteousness as he planned.

 

 

  These days there have been many bus and airplane accidents. Many people go on trips not knowing they are inevitable to accidents. It is man's nature to see what's ahead of him, but God has the ability so see the future. God foresaw the terrible result of sin and planned to save man from sin. God the Father and the Son had the "peace discussion"(Zechariah 6:13). As man committed sin and became depraved, the Son of God came into the world personally in the appearance of man, and served the human race to save us from our fate of death. He was nailed to the cross to give man another chance at eternal life. The salvation of man was in God's plan. Jesus will be born as a man to conquer Satan, "the offspring of a woman will crush the head of the serpent"(Genesis 3:15). God also taught man to sacrifice a lamb and one day the Creator will come to be sacrificed. Through this practice will show our faith towards our Savior. John the Baptist said about Jesus, "Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"(John 1:29). The apostle John said, "all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world"(Revelation 13:8). The innocent lamb, which had been sacrificed to God for the atonement from the beginning of the world, was a symbol of Jesus being nailed to the cross. Therefore, those who offered sacrifice to a deity in the Old Testament meant that they believed in God and were forgiven.

 

 

  Repentance is walking on the new and correct path and turning from the past. In Christianity, repentance is the first step in becoming a Christian.  The prophets asked their people to repent in the olden days. Jesus also said, "repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near"(Matthew 4:17). He commanded his disciples to preach this to the people when they left for their evangelistic missions. The path to enter heaven is by repentance and to recognize yourself a sinner and then stop sinning.

The prophet Isaiah said, "Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins"(Isaiah 58:1). If we want to be good people, we have to recognize our guilt and sins first. Without knowing what these things are we cannot fix them.

  But, most of us dont try to recognize our faults, today. We are too self-confident, and proud. We never think of ourselves as sinful, so we feel bad when we are called sinners. Most people want to be flattered. However, there is nothing better than to see our faults so that we can make our lives bright and beautiful.

 

 

  Jesus was resurrected three days after he died on the cross, and He rose to heaven 40 days later. The disciples of Jesus gathered in an attic in Jerusalem after Jesus ascension and prayed with unified hearts to receive the Holy Spirit from above. As a result of this, all 120 people who prayed there all received the Holy Spirit.

  Among them, was Peter the one who had been the first disciple but had denied knowing Jesus three times. He repented and prayed one and received the Spirit to prove the power of Jesus in front of a multitude of people in Jerusalem. "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this; God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witness to this"(Acts 2:36, 3:14,15). When the people heard this, their hearts were touched and they said to Peter; "Brother, what shall we do?"(Acts 2:37).

  His warning and pointing out of their sins touched their hearts. Peter answered, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit"(Acts 2:38). In the afternoon, Peter said in the synagogue, "Repent then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that a time of renewal may come from the Lord"(Acts 3:19). In this phrase, a time of renewal means the day of salvation when we can be released from our sins. The conditions for having this are faith and repentance.

 

 

  As was said before, repentance is not just an awareness of sin. Repentance is an act of turning away from sin. Turning away from the past is called rebirth. Repentance and rebirth are two aspects of the same experience. However there is a little difference between them. Repentance is the work of humans; rebirth is the work of God. Jesus told His disciples, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven"(Matthew 18:3). It sounds very strange to tell adults to be like little children.  "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil"(Jeremiah 13:23).

  Can we expect to be better by repenting by our own efforts or with our own strength? We have already learned that our pledge and determination are not strong at all. A real repentance is beyond the reach of our own power. Some people believe that we can be changed by education or training. They believe that we can change a sinner into a righteous person. But we can't change our real characters.

The apostle Paul who was a well-educated and moral person lamented his weakness and imperfections.

 

 

  There is only one way. It is the experience of rebirth. Once Nicodemos, a Jewish leader, visited Jesus. He was a very good and well educated person and was working as a member of the ruling council. He wanted to receive Jesus teaching.

Unlike the apostle Paul, he seemed to think that his own life was perfect and his character was good. Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth; no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, you must be born again, and the wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit"(John 3:5-8).

  According to this saying, true repentance is rebirth, which is, being a new person. But we can't experience a rebirth by our own efforts. Only Gods grace provides us with the way to rebirth by his great power.

Paul recorded his experience, "At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared...He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit"(Titus 3:3-5). Paul tells us that rebirth is only by the Holy Spirit, not by us. Therefore, if a sinner wants to live right, he has to receive new life from the Holy Spirit through an experience of rebirth. When we say that we believe in Jesus and repent, it means two things. First, we receive forgiveness for all our sins. And second, we receive new life from Jesus. Without these two things, we can never be saved. This experience is like a breath of fresh air blown into our hearts. No one can feel it except the repentant person himself.

 

 

  There are some steps that we must take to experience rebirth. First, we must know our sins. Once, someone asked Grotdustin, an English prime minister. What do we need in modern life? He answered, knowing our sins.

Awareness of sin is very important thing if we want control our personal and social life. But these days many people dont realize that they are sinful even though they commit sins every day.

What a pity it is, if we dont know when we are living in the sin! Every one of us is born sinful since Adam, and is living in sin, so there is no one who has no sin.

Something to consider is that among all sins, the biggest sin is not knowing and believing in God. If a child doesn't know his parents or ignores them, he is a sinner. Like this, if we don't honor our Heavenly Father who gave us life, we also sin. Not keeping the Commandments and being disobedient are also sins. Having wrong thoughts in our minds is also a sin. Not doing righteous things even though we know how to is also a sin. So there is no one who is not sinning.

  Second, we must repent. If a person realizes he is a sinner and he is doing wrong, he has to repent with a sincere heart. Paul mentioned in a letter to the Corinthian church, "yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance... Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death"(Corinthians 7:9-10). Sorrow means being sad about doing our sins and being contrite. This sorrow, which can lead us to salvation, is a turning point to a new life. It's not just being sorry or full of regret. It must be a much bigger feeling. When we think of God's infinite love and the suffering that Jesus experienced, when we realize His suffering was from our transgressions, we start to feel great inspiration in our hearts and we start to hate sin like we hate our enemies. "This is the sorrow we must feel in our hearts. Paul said; God's kindness leads you toward repentance"(Romans 2:4). Nothing but the Holy Spirit can make us experience this. This is the work of God.

Third, we must confess our sins. The thing to comfort us, when we suffer through repentance, is confession of our sins. John said in his letters, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness"(1 John 1:9). It is very easy for us to receive forgiveness for our sins. We should only admit that we have sinned and confess what we have done. Then God will forgive all our sins. So when a person confesses all his sins faithfully, his concern will turn into peace and his sorrow into gladness.

  When we confess, we need wisdom and courage. We must not confess without wisdom. If the sin is private, we have to confess only to God who can forgive us. But if we have offended our neighbors, we must admit the wrong and beg their pardon. If it is property damage, we must pay for it. If we can't do it, we must explain our circumstances and make a compromise. And if we commit sin in public, we must confess the sin before those people. But if we expose a personal secret, it is not right at all and of course, it is opposed to Biblical principles.

Forth, we must separate ourselves from sin.

The last thing is to be separated from sins. According to Paul, this means to turn away from sinning:  "they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds"(Acts 26:20). We now need to walk on a new path in our new life after we turn away from the sinful and passionate way we were. We do this by being baptized. Baptism is a symbol that shows our forgiveness and rebirth and our desire to enter the Christian Church to live as a Christian.

 

 

  Lets think about life after repentance. Are we really free from sin after we have an experience of repentance? No. Satan still wants to tempt and test those who have repented.

  How can we overcome his temptation? This is the most important thing for those who have experienced rebirth. The secret is to overcoming Satan's temptation is this-to make Jesus Christ, who is the power of our life, live in us.

"Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him"(Colossians 2:6). We must accept Jesus as our Lord, and crucify ourselves. In other words, when we suppress all our passions and give ourselves to Jesus each day, we can live our lives in triumph.

 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them"(Matthew 5:17).

  "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!"(Romans 6:14,15).

  What is the Law?  What is the Gospel? Law is a term to distinguish the Law of God from the law of earth; it means the Law in the Bible, The Ten Commandments. Gospel is a 'fortune word' in Korean. It means as written in the Chinese letters 'fortunate words,' 'good news', it tells us that human beings will be saved by the redemption of Jesus.

 

 

  First, let's think of the law. Why do we need the law? Today we see many traffic accidents on the news everyday. Why do they happen so often? Well, because we don't keep the traffic rules. We need the rules to drive and walk safely.

Not only traffic rules but also all other rules are needed for us to live happily, therefore there is no nation without laws and rules. Without it, nations can't be ruled properly. God also gave us the Law so that we can live happily and comfortably by following His word.

Since laws always refer to the mind of the legislators, earthly laws show the minds of the politicians, the Law of God shows the mind of God.

The Laws that are made by human beings can be corrected or abolished because they may have some contradictions and faults. But the Law of God can't be changed, because we can't find any fault in it. It is the Law that must be accomplished, the Law of love.

God taught our forefathers this Law of love in the beginning and they have taught their descendants, age after age. By this way this Law has been a common law in the people's hearts. But people started to break it and sin, so it was necessary to write this Law in physical letters so that humanity would not forget it.

Therefore God recorded this Law on the stone Himself and gave it to Moses to proclaim it in front of the people of Israel so they wouldn't forget it.

 

 

  Then what are the Ten Commandments, the everlasting law of His love, that God wrote by his own hand in stone?

  We can divide it into 2 parts. The first four deal with the relationship between God and man. The last six deal with the relationship among men.

  One day, a Jewish rabbi tried to test Jesus. He asked pretending to be gentle. "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might, this is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it; Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hand on these two commandments"(Matthew 22:37-40). This definitely shows the basis of the commandments is love. It tells us how to love the Lord our God and how to love other people. The First four commandments tell us how to love God and the others, how to love our neighbors.

 

 

  Some Christians think Salvation comes not by keeping the Law but by believing in Jesus. The Law is abolished. So we need only believe. Why do we have to keep the difficult Law? Is the Law really abolished and done away with? Is it true that Jesus came to this world to abolish the Divine Law?

Okay, let's think of what Jesus said; "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least of the stroke of a pen, will by ay means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished"(Matthew 5:17, 18).

  If the Law could be changed or abolished, He wouldn't have had to come to this humble world and be crucified. But because it couldn't be changed, He came in the form of a man and He fulfilled the Law completely. He died for us who broke the Law. This fact tells us that the death of Jesus is the biggest evidence to prove the unchangeability of the Law.

  It is hard to understand the people who insist that this important Law is useless. They needed the Law two thousand years ago, why don't we need the Law today? Our sin is not changed. It's even worse than before. We can see a lot of crimes getting more cruel and increased. The worse this world becomes, the more we need the Law. If all human beings had obeyed the Law of God, what would the world be like now? It is an interesting thought. There would be no crime that destroys our happiness. There would be no war or anything like that. We must make the Law the standard of our lives now more than ever.

The relationship between the Law of God and humanity is the same with the one of a railroad and a train.  A train can run safely only on its tracks. If it runs off the railroad, it can cause a big accident. In the same way, we as believers have to base our lives on the God's Commandments. The apostle Paul said "everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God and everyone who loves the Father loves his children as well. This is how we know that we love God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God to obey His commands. And his commands are not burdensome"(1 John 5:1-3).

  In other words, those who believe Jesus, the Son of God and experience the rebirth can't think keeping the Law is burdensome. But there is a phrase that seems to be opposed to this; so many people misunderstand God's commandments. In Galatians Paul says, "Know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law. Because by observing the law no one will be justified. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law. Christ died for nothing"(Galatians 2:16, 21).

  When reading this we may think that there is no need to obey God's command if we believe in Jesus. Is this true? Otherwise, do we have to obey them according to word of John? First, we have to solve this problem.

 

 

  The people who say that we don't have to keep the Law take this phrase from the Bible, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast"(Ephesians 2:8-9).

  If this is true, being saved from our sin is not by keeping the Law or by doing right. It is definitely a gift from God. But it doesn't mean that we can break the Law. Paul who wrote the book of Ephesians said in Romans, "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but grace? By no means!"(Romans 6:14-15).

  'Under Law' doesn't mean that we are under duty of keeping the Law but that we are under the judgement of the Law. 'Under grace' means that the blood of our Savior, Jesus, washes us as sinners. Therefore that phrase means that we are saved by the death of Jesus and we are baptized after realizing His grace so the Law does not judge us. Does it tell us that we don't have to keep the Law any more? Paul said, "By no means!"

Let's assume that a criminal is captured by the police. He is under the law of the country now. He is sentenced and goes to prison. After a few years, he is released under special amnesty. Now he is not under the law, he is under the grace of the country. Then what? Can he commit another crime again because he was set free?

  If he commits another crime, he will go to prison again. His freedom will be taken away. He can be under grace only while he is keeping the law. His committing another crime is betraying the grace that made him free.

  The life of Jesus is the same thing. It isn't a guarantee that we won't sin again. However we can be free forever under His grace by living with obedience. Therefore the Gospel is not opposed to the Law, they stand together. In other words, the Law is a mirror that makes sinners become aware of their sins and leads them to salvation. The Gospel makes the sinners be free by their faith and it also gives them the strength to keep the Law and do the right thing. So the Gospel does not abolish the Law, on the contrary, it completes and establishes it. Paul said, "Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law"(Romans 3:31).

  Therefore Gospel and the Law must be together. They cannot be separated.

  In addition, the abolished law that people usually misunderstand is not the Ten Commandments; it is the ceremonial law that symbolized the redemption of Jesus. The symbol was abolished when Jesus came. When Jesus was crucified, the curtain of the temple was torn in two: it meant the abolishment of meaningless worship.

  "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work... For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day..."(Exodus 20:8-11).

  From olden days, we have the custom of the seven-day system in Korea. For example, to keep something holy for God or to do something important, we choose the day, called the first seventh day, third seventh day or seventh seventh day and so on.

But we have adapted the western custom, and nowadays follow the week system. Moreover, according to it, we don't work on Sunday after we accepted use the solar calendar. It became more widespread after Christianity was introduced to Korea and Sunday was kept as a day for divine worship. Therefore Sunday is a very important and joyous day for modern people to rest and relax.

But there are few people who know the origin of Sunday. Some Christian churches have their divine worship on Sunday. Others have theirs on Saturday. Most people dont understand what the difference is between them. So lets learn about the week system and the origin of the Sabbath.

 

 

  The week system can be understood as a part of the calendar, but it is not related to the movement of a celestial body, the sun or the moon. The solar and lunar systems were made by observing the movement of the sun and the moon and each term was just 24 divisions of a year. But the seven-day system has nothing with them. It is strange that we think it a part of the calendar. According to the Great Britain Encyclopedia, A week is a period of seven days, a unit of time artificially devised with no astronomical basis. The origin of the term is generally associated with the ancient Jews and the biblical account of the Creation, according to which God laboured for six days and rested on the seventh. Evidence indicates, however, that the Jews may have borrowed the idea of the week from Mesopotamia. According to Genesis, the one who made the week system and ordered us to rest on the seventh day is God. It is said in Genesis chapter 2, "thus the heavens and the earth were completed in their entire vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done"(Genesis 2:3-5).

  The fourth of Ten Commandments says, "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy"(Exodus 20:8-11).

 Therefore the Sabbath is a memorial of Creation that God made at the beginning. He commanded us to remember this day and to rest on it. He told us to especially remember it because God had already known that people would forget the meaning of the day.

 

 

  God prepared the Sabbath so that after we work hard for six days we can rest on the Sabbath day. But it's not only for rest primarily. Today we need to relax our bodies but those days they didn't get tired because there was no sin as yet. Though Adam and Eve were perfect creatures they had to rely on God as children do on their parents. They enjoyed their daily lives knowing themselves as just creatures of God and relying on a powerful God for everything. And God loved them sincerely. He wanted them to communicate with him and contemplate the love and wisdom of their Father for one day of the week. "Therefore Sabbath is the day for the relationship between God and human beings. God said this through the prophet Ezekiel; Keep my Sabbaths holy, that it may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God"(Ezekiel 20:20).

It means that Sabbath is a sign that God made us holy as His children. By keeping the Sabbath holy, we can be the precious children of God and God can be our Holy Father. Sabbath was the day of blessing from the beginning. Moreover, in this complicated and noisy world, how can we make our lives plentiful and more fulfilling but by keeping the Sabbath holy?  What a beautiful scene it is when the whole family goes to church and contemplates Gods word together! If we had lived with doing that, there would be no skeptics or atheists. And there would be no horrible things that happened to those who are not afraid of God.

 

 

  Those who believe in God sincerely have distinguished the Sabbath as a holy day. But there was a time when even the Israelites, the chosen people forgot this Holy day. It was those days when they were mistreated in Egypt. Therefore God lead them from Egypt through Moses in order for them to teach God's word and commandments to their descendants. They wandered for 40 years, dwelling in the wilderness. In Exodus chapter 16, it is recorded that God gave the Israelites manna, a kind of bread, and He used it to show three miracles every week.  The first was that, they could have manna for six days but not on the seventh day. The second was that, if manna that was gathered for the first five days was left until the next day, it spoiled. However, the two portions of manna that were gathered for the seventh day never spoiled; which was the third miracle.

Some people went to gather Manna on the Sabbath; but they came back with nothing. At that time God said, "how long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions?"(Exodus 16:28). And when He gave them Manna, He said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions"(Exodus 16:4). The Sabbath was a test of His people's faithfulness.

 A few warnings about the Sabbath were given to the Israelites throughout the ages. The most serious one was the warning of Jeremiah when he said they would be captured and destroyed by Babylon.  "But if you are careful to obey me, declares the Lord, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it, then kings who sit on David's throne will come through the gates of this city with their officials.  They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. But if you do not obey me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses"(Jeremiah 17:24, 25, 27).

  The rise and fall of the country depended on whether Israel kept the Sabbath holy or not. But they ignored the warning so Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylon and the people were captured as slaves. At the end of their 70 years of slavery, some of them still didn't keep the Sabbath. Therefore Nehemiah said, "In those days I saw men in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, together with wine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads. And they were bringing all this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Therefore I warned them against selling food on that day. I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, What is this wicked thing you are doing-desecrating the Sabbath day? Didn't your forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity upon us and upon this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath"(Nehemiah 13:15, 17, 18).

  Nehemiah thought all those things happened because they didn't keep the Sabbath holy. So he closed the gates of Jerusalem to prevent people from going in and out. After that Jewish rabbis made the detailed rules to keep Sabbath more efficiently. For example, the people of that time couldn't have a piece of clothing or a needle with them or couldn't have a handkerchief in their pockets on Sabbath and so on. This way, the people came to keep the Sabbath as a matter of form and it became just an uncomfortable and difficult day for them.

 

 

  When it comes to the New Testament Age, Jesus showed a sample with manifest opinion about the Sabbath. He had the divine worship at the synagogue on Sabbath according to the rule. And He said this to change their misconceptions. "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath"(Mark 2:27, 28). Actually because of the 39 rules and other detailed things, the Sabbath was a burden to them. But Jesus is the one who made the Sabbath at the Creation and the Sabbath belongs to him. So the seventh day that he kept is the real Sabbath and the way he kept it is the right way to keep it.

  One day people asked Jesus this question in an attempt to accuse him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" Jesus replied, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath"(Matthew 12:11, 12).

  But it didn't mean that we can disregard the Sabbath. He also gave them this encouragement to be ready for the destruction of Israel that would happen 40 years later.

  "Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath"(Matthew 24:20).

  We can know how he thought of keeping the Sabbath when we see this phrase. Therefore a person who insists that the Sabbath was changed or abolished by Jesus is far from the teaching of Jesus. Luke recorded; The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. (Luke 23:55,56, 54)

  The great Apostle Paul also recorded, As his custom was, "Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures"(Acts 17:2). "Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God"(Acts 18:4, 11). Like this, Paul kept the Sabbath holy wherever he traveled all the time and tried hard to teach people to keep it.

  Therefore the Sabbath that Jesus and His disciples kept and that the apostle Paul kept and that Jews have been keeping until today is Saturday. So, why do the Christian churches keep Sunday as a God's day?  It's not a simple question nor is its answer. We will study it in the following lesson.

  We studied Jesus' second coming in the previous chapter. We learned how and why He will return. In this chapter, we are going to study when He is planning to return. In the Bible it is recorded, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father"(Matthew 24:36). Why didn't God reveal the date of His coming? This may be because God always wants us to be prepared. Even though He did not tell us the exact time, He has prophesied that He's coming soon.

 

 

  Jerusalem was once the capital of Judea, and it was also a political religious center. In Jerusalem, there once stood a temple, and when Jesus lived on the earth, it was where people came to worship. This temple was built by thousands of people for more than 40 years. It was said to be made of marble, 21.2 meters long, 10.6 meters wide, and 15.9 meters high. God foresaw the destruction of this temple and wept, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left desolate"(Matthew 23:37,38). When the disciples heard this, they pointed at the temple and asked Him what He meant, and Jesus answered, "Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down"(Matthew 24: 2). When the disciples heard this they were shocked. They weren't able to imagine the temple being in ruins, and if that did happen they thought it would happen in the end of the world and they asked Jesus, "Tell us, when will this happen and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"(Matthew 24:3). Jesus answered them concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, "When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment if fulfillment of all that has been written... They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled"(Luke21:20-22, 24). The Word is so clear that it needs no explanation. It clearly warned them to flee when armies surrounded Jerusalem. Was this true? A famous English philosopher named Dr. Samuel Clark (1675-1725) recorded "In the 12th year of the reign of Nero, Cestius Gallus, invaded Jerusalem with many troops." Josephus(37-97), a historian living in Jerusalem of the time recorded, When Cestius surrounded Jerusalem and was ready and prepared to take over Jerusalem, he retreated without no reason. This happened in 66 A.D. and it was really hard to understand. Anyhow, all the Christians in Jerusalem took advantage of this chance and fled from the city. In 70 A.D. the Roman general, Titus surrounded Jerusalem and attacked it. In this invasion, 1 million Jews were slaughtered, and died of starvation and infection and not one stone of the temple remained on top of another. Dr. Clark wrote that it is quite surprising that no Christian was killed in the war. From this we can learn the importance of studying the Bible and its prophecy.

 

 

  1. The sun will be darkened.   

Jesus continued to tell his disciples regarding their questions about the end of this world as following:

"For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now-and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken"(Matthew 24:21,22,29).

A very strange event occurred around New England in America on May 19, 1780. Suddenly the sun got dark during the day. The Webster Dictionary published in 1869 explained this event as follows, describing that day as the dark day.  

"In some place, residents who were outside couldn't read any prints. After having sung their night songs, birds soon disappeared and got quiet. Hens went to roost and livestock began to look for barns. People rekindled candles. The darkness started from about 10 a.m. and kept going on until that night. No one knew the reason why this had occurred."  According to a record, the front surface of the moon became red like blood that night. People were so afraid that they tended to feel it was the end of this world at last.  By the way, according to the Bible "after the great distress, immediately, the sun will be darkened," The great distress could apply to Christians who live on the basis of faith in Jesus, having been from 538 to 1798, for 1260 years.(Reference section: Daniel 7:25, Revelation 12:6, 14)  But Jesus said, "those days will be shortened," according to history, freedom of Religion was given to the public about the middle of 18th century. His words were proven true and the dark day actually occurred in 1780 after the Persecution ceased.  This showed the prophesies in the Bible are true.

2. The stars will fall from the sky  

Another sign after the dark day is "the stars will fall from the sky". According to Revelation in the Bible, "and the stars in the sky fell to the earth as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind"(Revelation 6:13).

This prophecy was fulfilled on November 13, 1833. Omsthet, a professor of Yale University, wrote this happening in the name of shooting stars in the American encyclopedia, "Those who could see the shooting stars on the morning of November 13. 1833 saw the most surprising shooting stars since the dawn of history. And the scene could be seen all over North America. Those who saw this magnificent scene compared these shooting stars to snow flakes or rainbow drops."  

Charles Young wrote his opinion about this scene in his book 'Manual of Astronomy," Of all the rains of shooting stars on the earth, there has never been a wonderful star show like this. It kept going for about 5 or 6 hours, and they could imagine that they counted about 2 billion shooting stars." Since the beginning of history, the shower of stars is surely one of the signs of Jesus' second coming. In this way, God shows us that this world is going to end.

 

 

  The most tangible feature of this age is increasing knowledge. The Bible indicates that this is one of the signs of Jesus' soon second coming.  

In the Bible, Daniel said, "But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the end time. Many will go here and there and increase their knowledge"(Daniel 12:4). 

The prophecies of Daniel in the Bible hadn't been understood up to recently as well as this one. But people could solve the keys of those prophecies in the 19th century. As a result, knowledge of the Bible has rapidly increased. In addition, knowledge of Science has also developed; we are now in the atomic and cosmic age. All things that we are using very conveniently today were hardly invented before the 18th century. We can also travel in space thanks to the advance of technology, but the one fact that scares us is that morality and courtesy can't catch up with the advance of technology. Whenever we think about nuclear power and space rockets, we might also think about nuclear weapons and are scared of the result of the misuse of these things.

Then, what does the Bible predict about wars?

 

 

  “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars"(Matthew 24:6).  

In the end time of the world, we'll be able to hear of rumors of wars more than ever. B.A. Sorokin, a professor of Harvard University presented some very interesting statistics about wars.  

According to his study, 902 wars and 1615 civil wars had occurred in the past 2500 years. Since the 20th century, the number of wars and civil wars is 8 times as much as before. Today, the scale of wars is inclined to be larger and larger while the number of wars is increasing. Jesus predicted, "Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world"(Luke 21:26). This word expresses very well the fear of nuclear weapons that people have today.

 

 

  Amid fear of nuclear weapons, peace movements have spread. Regarding peace movement, we can't help thinking about the armament reduction conference after World War II. At that time, 58 countries took part in this conference and the number of each country's representatives was about 2,500. But because there were no good results, World War II broke out. Since World War II, through the United Nations, the International Security Council was organized. Conferences for armament reduction have been held from time to time.  But we know they haven't gotten good results until now.  

 Religion is going to be the last step to make this world peaceful, eventually. Then, the religion will have the most important role making it happen. All religions in this world will push for the union of religions. They will propose taking steps to keep in step with the peace movement.  

Isaiah predicted this situation, "In the last days, many people will come and say. Come; let us go up to the mountains of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning books.  Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more. (Isaiah 2:2-4) But Paul said, "While people are saying 'peace and safety,' destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape"(1 Thessalonians 5:3).  In other words, both the peace movement and the movement of union of religions are going to be the last efforts of human beings. When we think the world is peaceful, destruction will come suddenly, and quietly.   

Those who haven't been taught by the Holy Spirit can't know these movements had the secret of Satan who wanted to destroy this world and "those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus"(Revelation 12:17) Therefore, we as Christians who live in this age must receive the true light of prophecy.

 

 

  "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places"(Matthew 24:7).

Though there have always been many conflicts, and power games among nations, nations will rise. This is regarded as another sign of the end of the world.   

Joel predicted, "Let the weakling say, I'm strong"(Joel 3:10).

Since World War II ended in August 1945, many small and weak countries declared their independence. From the start of Indonesia's Independence, they said, "We are independent, each country is independent. One doesn't belong to another." Isn't the prophecy really true that "each of them says he's strong"?

 

 

  "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them"(2 Timothy 3:1-5).

These words are talking about how godless people will be in the last days. Jesus also said, "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man"(Matthew 24:37-39).

A flood once destroyed the world about 4,300 years ago. "Then God saw how great man's weakness on the earth had become.... and his heart was filled with pain. So the Lord said I'll wipe mankind, whom I created from the face of the earth"(Genesis 6:5-7).

Those days, people were so degenerate and corrupted, they threw away justice. That's why God couldn't leave them alone. Jesus said the situation in the last days is the same as in the days of Noah.  

Today, we know that we are in the same trouble. This world is filled with corruption. Prodigality prevails in this age. These days, teenagers disregard sex principles and live immoral lives. As a result, they are destroying both their bodies and spirits. Values of morality have dropped more rapidly than ever before. Sexual immorality fills this world to the brim. People are so selfish and cold that they even break their own families so easily; people even tend to look down on and despise God. We can know from these things that the most serious crisis is coming and this world is coming to its end.

 

 

  "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19,20)  

According to this command, the good news of the kingdom has surprisingly spread.  

First of all, in Bible terms. In olden days, people regarded the Bible as a very valuable book, because they had to copy each Bible by hand. Today, thanks to development of the printing press, we can get the Bible easily.   

The United Kingdom Bible Society was organized in 1804 and the United States Bible Society was organized in 1816.   

They have distributed the Bible all over the world, which was translated into more than 1,431 languages and dialects. This has lead many into a better understanding of the Holy Spirit and a full knowledge of Jesus Christ. In addition to that, in terms of activities of Seventh Day Adventist church which has proclaimed Jesus' second coming, has spread the good news into 197 countries in the world, though it was organized only 100 years ago.  The Seventh Day Adventist church is taking advantage of very various kinds of methods to preach the good news of Heaven; by word of mouth, communication, radio, TV, etc.  "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come"(Matthew 24:14). The rapidly spreading of the good news is the most tangible sign of Jesus' second coming. Jesus also said natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, tidal waves, storms, famines, epidemics etc. are all signs. Today, these things happen more and more. Each of them is warning us that the end of this world is very near and we should repent of our sins and be alert.  

"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door- so you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him"(Matthew 24:32, 33, 44).

  We studied the Second Coming of Jesus and signs in the previous chapters.  We studied that all the accidents in heaven and all the disasters on earth are signs that the Advent day of Jesus is very close. So what will the world be like when Jesus comes? What will happen during the period of a thousand years after the Advent? This is the content we will study in this lesson. Interestingly enough, there are some Christians who are contending this world will have the happy golden age of a thousand years when the culture of this world develops and the good news spreads into the world. But it doesn't concede with the teaching of the Bible.

 

 

  On the day of Jesus' Advent, all the people of this world will see God descending in glory with numerous angels from heaven. But the brilliant glory of the Advent will destroy all the hateful things of villains and the wicked world.   

"And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming"(2 Thessalonians 2:8). Without the favor of the salvation of Jesus, nobody can live according to the words of Jeremiah.  "At that time those slain by the Lord will be everywhere-from one end of the world to the other. They will not be mourned or gathered up or buried, will be like refuse lying on the ground"(Jeremiah 25:33).

After that all the righteous men, who died from Adam the ancestor of human beings to the day of the Advent, will resurrect. All the living wicked will be destroyed and only the righteous will live. And the remained righteous will be changed to immortal bodies, as resurrected righteous will. Therefore, death will be defeated forever.

"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever"(1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17). 

"Listen, I tell you a mystery; we will all be changed-in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable clothed with imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory'"(1 Corinthians 15:51-54). We have to know that there are two kinds of resurrections. As we know the righteous will resurrect, ascend and live with Lord forever, and almost all of them are dead who died once and resurrected the Jesus' Resurrection. They died by the first death and revived by the resurrection. But those wicked people who died by the glory of the Lord on his Advent or who died in disease or accidents before that time will not revive at the first resurrection. They will resurrect at the end of the era of one thousand years. It is the second resurrection. We call it the second resurrection that is different from the first one. Therefore John said "Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection"(Revelation 20:6).

 

 

 

 

  During the era of One Thousand Years, what will become of the dead evil and righteous ones who ascend to heaven and what will they do?

1. The evil will continue to sleep in a state of unconsciousness and the earth will be in a state of desolation because there will be nothing living on it. Jeremiah, having seen the situation of that time through God's revelation, recorded, I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty; and at the heavens, and their light was gone. I looked at the mountains, and they were quaking all the hills were swaying. "I looked, and there were no people every bird in the sky had flown away. I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert; all its towns lay in ruins before the Lord, before his fierce anger"(Jeremiah 4:23-26).

2. The devil will be confined, which means that he will be imprisoned in the desolate world on which no living thing will exist. The apostle John wrote about this, And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years."He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations any more until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time"(Revelation 20:1-3). The record tells us that the angel from heaven will seize the devil, bind him and throw him into the Abyss and lock and seal it for a thousand years. The Abyss means the desolated earth. And "to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore" means that there being no one to be deceived in the world, it will be as if he were imprisoned and confined.

3. The saints will ascend to heaven, where they will reign with Jesus.

The apostle John wrote blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. "They will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand of years"(Revelation 20:6).

Reign with him is to judge all evils deeds, that is, investigate them. John recorded, "I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given the authority to judge"(Revelation 20:4). Paul also recorded; "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? Do you not know that we will judge angels?"(1 Corinthians 6:2, 3).

 

 

  When the era ends, Jesus will come to this world with the delivered righteous again. And New Jerusalem will descend on this earth from heaven.

"On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be spilt in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south"(Zechariah 14:4).

When Jesus' feet stand on the Mount of Olives, the mountain will be spilt from east to west, divided into north and south. In the center of it there will be a great plain and the New Jerusalem will be settled there as a capital of New World.

Resurrection of the wicked.

Jesus will wake up all the wicked; this is the second resurrection. Jesus said, "For a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out-those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned"(John 5:28-29). It will be accomplished at that moment. The number of the wicked will be uncountable because He will wake up the wicked from the beginning of history for humanity. Among them, there will be giants who lived before the flood and famous generals or warriors.

Satan who is raised by evil angels will have ambition when he looks at the wicked and Jesus Christ with a lot of righteous beings and angels.

 

The release of Satan

"When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison. (Revelation 20:7).

After one thousand years Satan will be released again. Satan will have a chance to act because the wicked will be resurrected. He will organize the people to fight-the evil angels, generals and warriors of the wicked. They marched across the breadth of the earth and "surrounded the camp of Gods people, the city he loves"(Revelation 20:9).

Second Death

It is foolish to betray God. The result of this battle was that "fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, which had deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever"(Revelation 20:9-10). It is an everlasting death from which they will never be revived. Every one of us is doomed to die, but if we can be part of the first resurrection, "the second death has no power over us"(Revelation 20:6). So we have to believe in Jesus with all our hearts and obey His commandments to participate in the first resurrection.

 

 

 

 

  In Malachi it says, "surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire"(Malachi 4:1).

The wicked will be exterminated. When they are thrown into the fire, their statements vary from case to case because Jesus judges them according to their deeds done in the body. Some will be burning for a while and others will be thrown into everlasting fire. But at the last moment, they must admit and confess their sins and destruction and agree that God is patient and just. And the reason why it is called everlasting fire or burn for ever and ever is that fire will burn out all the roots of sins and it will burn until the wicked admit their sins.

 

 

  "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea"(Revelation 21:1).

The fire that consumes the wicked purifies the earth. Every trace of the curse is swept away, and the new world will be established.

Peter wrote in his letter, "In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness"(2 Peter 3:13).

It means that the world will be recreated. John recorded the following, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away"(Revelation 21:3-4).

"A religious author who was inspired described the new world; In the Bible the inheritance of the saved is called a country. (Cf. Hebrews 11:14-16.) There the great Shepherd leads His flock to fountains of living waters. The tree of life yields its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the service of the nations. There are ever-flowing streams, clear as crystal, and beside them waving trees cast their shadows upon the paths prepared for the ransomed of the Lord. There the wide-spreading plains swell into hills of beauty, and the mountains of God rear their lofty summits. On those peaceful plains, beside those living streams, God's people, so long pilgrims and wanderers shall find a home"(Ellen G White, The Story of Redemption, 430p).

What should we prepare to be citizens of this new world?

"The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to like holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and see its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heaven by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him"(2 Peter 3:10-12, 14).

 "Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many"(Matthew 24:11).

  In the last lesson we learned that if man is dead, he has no consciousness and is separated from the world. The Bible is very clear and plain so we can't deny the fact with our intelligence. But why do we have feelings of doubt? This is because of remnants of past traditions, ideas, and stories about strange phenomenons of the dead to remain and experiences related to that.

The spiritual world usually suggests the world of the dead to our minds. However, the communication of the spirit of the dead was more popular in the uncivilized age. In a primitive religion, when a witch performs an exorcism and a blind person chants a sutra it is thought of as a connection with god or the spirit.

Nowadays, a modern being possessed of a spirit like spiritualism or mediumism is done extensively. But the method is changed to suit the moderns who set a high value on science.

In America there was an event like this. There was a patient with a tumor that was operated on by the spirit of a dead man. Whenever a spirit connects with a man there is a spirit medium, like in this case. Although there were no medical instruments or supplies on the spot, the locus was removed safely and he recovered. He said that during the operation, it seemed that hands touched his stomach.  The tumor removed was used for a sample after a pathological experiment in a certain famous hospital.

 

 

  "The dead know nothing...never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun"(Ecclesiastes 9:5,6).

According to this phrase, it wouldn't be possible for the spirit of the dead to appear. So even though it seems that a spirit did a strange thing-that isn't the spirit of the dead. The Bible says, "he is a liar and the father of it"(John 8:44), indeed it points to the devil.

In the beginning of the world God said, "You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die"(Genesis 2:17).  But the devil deceived Eve by talking against God like this: "You will not surely die"(Genesis 3:4). Since then the devil has been trying to implant in minds of men this thought:  If man would die, his spirit will live.  Indeed he is not only an advocate of the immortality of the soul but also spiritualism. He had many followers when he was banished from Heaven for revolting against God.

  "The great dragon was hurled down, that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him"(Revelation 11:9).

Jesus said that there were angels to care for each man, and it is sure that followers of the devil disturb the salvation of Jesus(Cf. Matthew 18:10). Therefore, if the dead, through spiritualism or mediumism, are imitating features and voices, it is nothing but an evil angel interfering. He knows all sorts of situations well, so he can imitate of the dead by copying them. It is not the appearances of the spirit of the dead, but actions of the devil's followers to confuse the truth.

 

 

 It's not only to please people and to arouse their curiosity to do strange things. What the so-called spirit of the dead is talking about, not a statement being used to uplift of the character of man. Showing voices, manners, hobbies, habits of the dead that arouse an affection with them just leads to a thought that man never disappears after death. Then man is deceived after that they get to believe whatever may happen. The devil, that knows this fact well, tries to deceive them. Also, he made out an eternal hell. It is said that if man does die, a good man goes to Heaven or paradise and a bad man goes to a hell and falls into a pain forever. This makes people misunderstand God to be a cruel and wicked king; so many honest men become skeptics and atheists.

 

 

  Mediumism was the one of the superstitions of that permeated the world in olden days. When God inspired Moses to write in what is now the Bible, it was very popular so God gave serious warnings. Nevertheless, this effect spread so far through Israel that even the king came to indulge in the superstition. In those days the Philistines gathered their forces to fight against Israel. The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunem. When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid: terror filled his heart.

So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to a woman who was a medium. Then he asked her to bring up Samuel, because he thought that Samuel had been a very faithful prophet during his life. So he could see God's plan for Israel through him. When the woman saw Samuel, she said to Saul, "I see his spirit coming up out of the ground."  So, Saul asked, "What does he look like?"  The woman said; "an old man wearing a robe is coming up."  Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.

Samuel:  "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?"

Saul:  "I am in great distress. The Philistines are fighting against me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do."

Samuel:  "Why do you consult me now that the Lord has turned away from you and become your enemy? The Lord has done what he predicted through me. The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors-to David because you did not obey the Lord. The Lord will hand over both Israel and you to the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also hand over the army of Israel to the Philistines"(Cf. 1 Samuel 28:1-19).

At the first glance this fact seems that he had communication with the spirit of the dead, but if you take a good look at it, these contradictions are discovered.

 

1.	If God stopped answering Saul, he never brought out the dead Samuel intentionally and make him answer.
2.	If it ware the real spirit of Samuel, it wouldn't have accepted worship from Saul that only God deserves.
3.	What the  spirit of the dead person said didn't with the teaching of the Bible.
4.	Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me, that is, a prophecy of death wasn't correct. Actually their deaths happened a few days later, and that was just the death of three sons, the remaining son died on another day.

Therefore Saul did not have communication with the spirit of Samuel but fell for a trick of the devil. In Korea, from olden days it is heard that witches and blind fortunetellers have brought up the spirits of the dead, but that is just a fraudulent act. So God already warned us not to be deceived by that kind of thing.

 

 

"Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritualists, for they will defile you"(Leviticus 19:31).

"A man or woman who is a medium or spiritualist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them"(Leviticus 20:27).

"When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritualists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?"(Isaiah 8:19)

Here spiritualist or mediums are those who have communication with the dead, that is, they are those who have communication in different ways. The Bible says of them:  "Don't allow them to live."

 

 

  March 1848, a modern mediumism was begun at John. D. Fox in New York, America.

Originally another man lived in the house but he moved to another place because he was disturbed by the sound of knocking sometimes. After the Fox moved to this house, they soon heard the strange sounds.

In March 1848, that sound could be heard inside of the two daughters' bedroom, Margaret(15) and Gate(13). Gate thought it strange so she knocked in the direction where the sound came from and said, Ghost, do as I do, then in response there came to a knocking sound.

One day Mrs. Fox said, if it is a mischief of man, make a sound in return, but there was no answer. After that, she said: If it is a Ghost, make a knocking sound twice, then sounds were heard twice. Mrs. Fox was very interested in this strange communication and continued. One day she took some information from the spirit of Charles B. Rosma. According to it Rosman was the man who had been murdered before the Fox family moved in and his body was under the floor. So they dug there, and they found a skeleton.

After that those two daughters sometimes had communication with the spirits. News of it spread widely because people came to ask them for help finding something that they lost. This is what made Europe and the whole world know about spiritualism and they founded many organizations.

In 1882, at Cambridge University under the leadership of an ethics professor, Henry Sidgwick, a physical research society was formed and in 1893 a spiritualism society was organized in America. It was true that an English physicist Oliver Lodge(1851-1940), a Liverpool University professor and the president of Birmingham University and who held an important post in the Royal Institute for Science, held an additional office as the president of an England Physical Research Society and was concerned about spiritualism or mediumism. After he talked with the spirit of his son Raymond who was killed in World War 1, he became focused on it. This shows us how strongly spiritualism attracts people.

It is not said that these organization are in Korea but it doesn't mean that similar groups don't exist.

The devil is trying to get a lot of intellectual persons on his side throughout the world and make his plan a reality. It is the time for those who seek the truth and try to live in it to be more careful than ever.

 

 

  In the beginning, God predicted a big battle between Christ and Satan.

 "He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel"(Genesis 3:15), this battle has been ongoing. The devil attempts to confront it finally by using a weapon, spiritualism. He says; though man does anything, his spirit never dies.  But Christ said, "The wages of sin is death"(Romans 6:23). "Sin is lawlessness"(1 John 3:4).

The consequence of breaking the law, which is that anyone who breaks the law and commits a crime is dead, counts for nothing to millions Christians who do not attach great importance to the law.

Christ said this about the last days, "For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect-if that were possible"(Matthew 24:24), "Satan himself will masquerade as an angel of light"(2 Corinthians 11:14), "He performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of man"(Revelation 13:13), "In every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing"(2 Thessalonians 2:1).

When we see these things occurring, we must know that this is the last revilement. There is a prophecy like this; "The spirit clearly says that in the latter days some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons"(1Timothy 4:1), it is possible for many Christians to fall for spiritualism. It is because almost all Christians neglect the law of God and believe in ascension after death. Then which one shall we choose on that last day?  Shall we follow God's word or follow the deceptions of the devil?

In Old Testament days there were many ceremonies. But in New Testament days the representative ceremonies were Baptism by immersion and the Holy Communion. These are what Jesus ordered personally and gave us examples of. The word 'baptism' is translated into 'christening' in the Korean Bible. We correct the word christening to Baptism by immersion, because the word christening doesn't express its initial meaning well. Well explain in detail later.

Jesus did die and was resurrected, and before he ascended into Heaven, he gathered his followers and gave them the commission.

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age"(Matthew 28:19, 20).

He gave this great commission not only to his followers at that time, but also to all his followers in the future. Therefore Christians of each era according to this order run the risk of all types of danger and persecution all over the world when baptizing those who believe in the Father and the Son. This is a very important ceremony to enter the church.

 

 

  You teach and remember everything that I said to you is from Jesus Christ. Therefore one who is baptized has to study all truth of the Bible sufficiently first, accept the teaching of the Bible as it is, and believe Jesus is our Savior.

"It says, Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned"(Mark 16:16). So believing is the first condition to be saved. It means that you should believe the fact that Jesus took our place and paid the price for our sins and He is our Savior. The second one is to repent of your sins and to turn away from it.

"Peter replied, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit"(Acts 2:38).

Repentance is to know, repent, confess and turn away from one's own sins. This repentance isn't only to God. If you do harm to someone, you should confess your sins and beg his pardon. If there is someone who knows the truth of the Bible well, and believes in the salvation of Jesus and gets to the age to repent his sins, and he decides to be baptized, a pastor can baptize him.

But there are some examples of infants or newborn babies being baptized. This was a sort of the custom among the heathens and hundreds of years later the Roman Catholic Church adopted it, so it isnt in accordance with the teachings of the Bible. It's right that the life of an infant who can't distinguish good thing from evil one is in the hands of Jesus.

 

 

  "One Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all"(Ephesians 4:5,6).

In this phrase we came to know that there is only one pattern of baptism. Then how was the baptism of Jesus? Matthew recorded this; "Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? Jesus replied, Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.  Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and landing on him. And a voice from heaven said, This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased"(Matthew 3:13-17).

This is the correct and only pattern of baptism; the baptism of Jesus was to go to the Jordan and to be immersed in the water. When he went up out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove and, also a voice from heaven said; "This is my son, whom I love; with him I'm well pleased"(Matthew 3:17).  It was a sign to validate his baptism. Therefore where we hold the right baptism, there is to be plenty of water.

"Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized"(John 3:23). Therefore the christening that many churches hold nowadays, dropping a few drops of water on one's head, isn't a biblical or valid ceremony.

 

 

  A few days after Jesus went to heaven, an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road, the desert road, that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza"(Acts 8:26). So he started immediately, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, who was an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man went to Jerusalem to worship, and was on his way home. When Philip came near to the chariot, he was reading the book of Isaiah the prophet.

Phillip tried to get on the chariot and asked; "Do you understand what you are reading?"  He said, "how can I understand it unless someone explains it to me?"  And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Then the eunuch read this passage; 

"He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearers are silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth"(Isaiah 53:7,8). The eunuch reading the Bible asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?"(Acts 8:34). Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?"(Acts 8:36).  Philip said "if you believe with all your heart, and with all your might." The eunuch answered, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God"(Acts 8:37). And he ordered to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.

This pattern is the same as the pattern of Jesus in the Jordan. That is to say, the pattern is immersion of the whole body. In the Korean Bible, the original word baptism is translated into christening; it is not right because the meaning of baptism is immersing not sprinkling. Therefore sprinkling a few drops of water isn't the right way. This started with infants and the sick in the Catholic Church from the 8th century, and was generalized after the 12th century.

 

 

  The apostle Paul described the meaning of baptism like this. "Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus"(Romans 6:3-7, 11).

Baptism symbolizes the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. So a man who believes and is baptized also symbolizes the death, burial and resurrection with Christ. Or, whoever is baptized is forgiven all his sins in the past and gets clean from all the dirt and has only to believe that the Lord died for his sins. Also, as being buried with him through water, we get to be the dead to sin and the world and we will never be the slaves to sin. Therefore when he is raised from the water, he is a newborn man. In the same way Baptism is to proclaim in front of other people that a sinner was buried then is going to live as a newborn man.

 

 

  Baptism is a symbol of revival and an experience of it. So one's life after baptism should be different from the past one. As the old self died and you're renewed so you should live renewed lives. "Then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:  sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love"(Colossians 3:1, 2, 5, 12, 14).

Like this, a man who was baptized and entered a church must live his daily life with the proper nature as a follower of Jesus. He should be careful of his choices of clothing and his body."I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds appropriate for women who profess to worship God"(Timothy 2:9. 10).

Clothes express the mind of the man who is wearing them. Therefore it's not good to be dressed too shabbily or luxuriously. Christians should not set fashion trends or be so behind the fashion that it attracts people's attention. Your clothes should show your clean, noble and devout nature. Also you should not entertain yourself or have hobbies that have a bad influence upon nature or make you waste time or weigh on your mind, always do things to give God glory.

In reading, you should avoid dangerous ideologies that deny God or novels and magazines to make your nature be vulgar and avoiding plays and movies that do the same. It is safe to live in the right way. Also, if you are not selective with the TV or radio programs that you watch or listen to, they can influence you negatively. They can be very useful means not only to evangelize but also to propagate the guilt of the devil.

If those things aren't suitable for the life of Christian, it's easy to think of the life of Christian as very sorrowful and prosaic, but this is not the case at all. Great hope, delight and pleasure such as unbelievers can't image capture the mind of a Christian.

 

 

  The last question to those who are baptized and enter a faith is how to lead a religious life. Paul who succeeded in this field explained the secret of success like this.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me"(Galatians 2:20). The fact that Christ lives in me and stays with me is the secret that makes me victorious and faithful.

A religious American author, Ellen G. White, said like following.  A soul thus kept in possession by the heavenly agencies is impregnable to the assaults of Satan. But unless we do yield ourselves to the control of Christ, the wicked one shall dominate us. We must inevitably be under the control of the one or the other of the two great powers that are contending for the supremacy of the world. It is not necessary for us deliberately to choose the service of the kingdom of darkness in order to come under its dominion. We have only to neglect to ally ourselves with the kingdom of light. If we do not co-operate with the heavenly agencies, Satan will take possession of the heart, and will make it his abiding place. The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness. Unless we become vitally connected with God, we can never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love, self-indulgence, and temptation to sin. We may leave off many bad habits, for the time we may part company with Satan; but without a vital connection with God, through the surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome. Without a personal acquaintance with Christ, and a continual communion, we are at the mercy of the enemy, and shall do his bidding in the end. (The desire of the Age v.2, 324)

We must pay attention to these things to keep our relationship with Christ:

First, dont neglect private prayer.

Second, study the Bible everyday.

Third, share the grace of Christ with others every day.

Forth, attend all assemblies of the church diligently.

And try to have close fellowship with friends who live with the same faith and hope. If you keep company with people who don't truly believe in God, although they attend church, because of the strong power of evil, it is easy to fall into the temptation and for faith be weakened. And the other thing is, if you have a sudden realization that this is right or this is the truth. Enter the faith immediately because there is no need to be a slave of the devil anymore. So as soon as you realize the truth, and decide to obey the truth-enter the faith by being baptized. Entering a faith is taking part in the big military of God, so we get to have courage, ability and the faith to oppose the devil effectively. As Baptism and the Holy Communion are the two important ceremonies to commemorate, Christ engraved the name of the true God on these ceremonies. Christ made Baptism a sign to enter his Spiritual kingdom.