THE BIBLE

I INTRODUCTION

SOMEONE has called the Holy Bible “the divine library”, and this is a true statement. Although we think of the Bible as one book, yet it is made up of sixty-six separate books.

These books, beginning with Genesis and ending with Revelation, are divided into two main sections. The first section is called the Old Testament and contains thirty-nine books. The second section is the New Testament and it has twenty-seven books.

At the beginning of each Bible is an index which lists the names of the books, and tells the page number on which each book begins.

II WHO WROTE THE BIBLE?

From the human stand point the Bible was written by not less than thirty-six authors over a period of about sixteen hundred years. But the important thing to remember is that these men wrote under the direct control of God. Go guided them in writing the very words. This is what we mean by inspiration. The following Scriptures clearly teach that the Bible is inspired by God.

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 2 Peter 1:21

All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, the reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Thus the Bible is the Word of God. It is not enough to say that the Bible contains the Word of God. This might imply that parts of it are inspired and parts are not. Every part of the Bible is inspired. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.”

Another important point to remember is that the Bible is the only written revelation which God has given to man. In the last chapter of the Bible, God warns men against adding to the Bible or taking away from it. Revelation 22:18-19.

III WHAT IS THE SUBJECT OF THE BIBLE?

Although the Bible is made up of sixty-six books, yet it has one main subject. Christ is the grand theme of Scripture. The Old Testament contains many predictions, or prophecies, concerning Christ. The New Testament tells of His coming.

IV WHAT DOES BIBLE CONTAIN?

The Bible is the record of the world from the beginning of the time until the future when there will be a new heaven and a new earth.

Genesis tells of the creation of the world, the entrance of sin, the flood, and the beginning of the nation of Israel. From Exodus to Esther we have the history of Israel up to about 400 years before the birth of Christ. The books from Job to the Song of Solomon contain wonderful poetry and wisdom. The rest of the Old Testament, from Isaiah to Malachi, is prophetic, that is, these books contain messages from God to Israel concerning its present condition and its future destiny.

The New Testament opens with four Gospels, each of which presents the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts tells the story of the Christian movement in its infancy and the life of the great apostle Paul. From Romans to Jude, we find letters to churches and individuals, concerning the great truths of the Christian faith, and practical instruction concerning the Christian life. Revelation gives us a glimpse into the future, to events that will yet take place in heaven, on earth, and in hell.

V CONCLUSION

“This book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be saved, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter. Here Paradise is restored, Heaven opened, and the gates of Hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It will reward the greatest labor, and condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents. It is the Book of Books, God’s Book, the revelation of God to man.” Selected

What Christians Believe
Chapter 1: The Bible
Copyright, 1949, 1951, by Emmaus Bible School
Chicago, Illinois

Reason or wishful thinking?

Strategic Perspective -- By René B. Azurin

Voters who choose presidential candidate Noynoy Aquino are discarding reason for wishful thinking. I certainly empathize with their wishes for better governance, but I think that placing their bets on a candidate who has achieved essentially nothing in his public career, who has shown no interest whatsoever in any reform issue, and who is funded by big business and other vested interests is the height of foolishness. Such an unthinking vote can only end in collective frustration and dashed hopes.

On her provocative talk show on DZRH radio yesterday, host Dr. Cora Claudio posed the question of how voters should make their choices as to whom to vote for. My answer was that choices should be made on the basis of two factors: i) a candidate’s public record of achievement, and ii) the sources of funding being used by a candidate in his campaign. For me, those are the more solid bases we voters have for discerning what candidates would do and achieve once elected. Campaign rhetoric is worthless for this purpose.

As perennial victims of empty political promises, we should all be acutely aware of how politicians will say anything while running for office and how they will then develop Alzheimer’s about what they promised once voted into office. I said on Dr. Claudio’s program therefore that we should ignore what candidates say during the campaign and, instead, look at what they have actually done or achieved in their lives prior to that period. A particular record of accomplishment is a far better indicator of a candidate’s performance in office than anything he actually says while campaigning for votes. It is a reasonable basis for us voters to judge if he will do what he says he will do. More importantly, it is a reasonable basis for us voters to judge if the candidate can do what he says he will do. "Can" addresses capability; "will" speaks only of intention.

In addressing capability, a candidate’s sources of campaign funding indicate, at the minimum, his constraints and, at the maximum, his agenda. Major funders of political campaigns are not known to be altruistic individuals who will part with sizable portions of their fortunes simply to satisfy an unrelated third party’s political ambitions or to achieve a public good. These funding sources naturally expect private gain from their financial contributions and invariably demand that their financed candidate either protect their economic fiefdoms from competition or use government power to bestow on them lucrative rackets. "Rackets" do not mean just jueteng, drugs, and smuggling, although operators of such rackets are now the biggest contributors to political campaigns. Rackets also include the corralling by favored cronies of overpriced importations of coal, rice, and other major commodities, the massively padded construction of selected public infrastructure, and assorted "sweetheart" government deals.

Being a teacher of management and a former practicing manager (although, admittedly, not a very good one), I am more aware than most of how effective or ineffective management spells the difference between what is achieved and what is not achieved by an organization. I am also more aware than most that management skills are acquired skills (not inherited ones) and require management experience to actually develop.

This is why -- for me -- presidential candidate Aquino is not a "reasoned" choice but a "wishful thinking" choice. In the private sector, selling Nike shoes or handling security at his family’s hacienda or lending his name to a security agency set up to obtain government service contracts does not constitute management experience of any consequence. In Mr. Aquino’s 12 years in Congress, filing a tiny handful of bills and not being able to get any of them passed indicates laziness, ineffectiveness, disinterest, or all of the above. It is pure wishful thinking -- of the sort indulged in by schoolgirls who imagine that a "Prince" on a white steed is not in fact a self-absorbed and vacuous pomposity -- to even consider that such an underachieving individual is going to be the "savior" who can rescue this country from bad governance and raise all of us peasants up out of our economic sinkholes.

My bias is for demonstrated achievement because intentions (no matter how noble) are -- until they are realized -- merely scratches on paper or noises in the wind. To achieve a group objective -- and governance is a group activity -- requires the ability to manage. Given multiple objectives and the variety of competing interests, the task of managing government is particularly difficult. Translating good intentions into concrete achievements is not something reasonably to be expected from someone inexperienced, lazy, uninterested, or weak.

In this light, Mr. Aquino’s campaign slogan of "Kung walang korap, walang mahirap" is -- without commenting on the logic of the slogan itself -- essentially meaningless if one is not convinced that Mr. Aquino has the abilities to achieve either the elimination of corruption or the elimination of poverty. It’s a squeak in the wind.

The government of former President Cory Aquino, Mr. Aquino’s mother, offers the perfect illustration of what I mean. Lacking management expertise, Mrs. Aquino’s (presumed) good intentions never had a chance of being realized. In fact, her government was certifiably a mess because she simply did not have the skills to control what was called Kamag-Anak Inc. and the other competing interests in her own coalition. She was also incapable of installing a management system that would enable her to determine that her programs (assuming she had them) were being implemented and that her subordinate managers were progressing toward congruent goals.

I don’t bother to respond to hate mail from rabid Aquino supporters because I find it useless to engage in a discussion with individuals whose holier-than-thou attitudes only manifest closed minds. But to those who appear to be open to reason even as they might question my preference for presidential candidate Manny Villar, I say basically that our respective decisions proceed from different sets of assumptions (as well as different information sets).

We all make basic assumptions when we cast our vote. Those for Mr. Aquino assume that he will -- despite his glaring lack of achievement and a public record distinguished only by his congressional defense of the Hacienda Luisita massacre and his vote (supporting Gloria Arroyo) against the playing of the "Hello Garci" tapes -- be a good leader. Those for Mr. Villar, like me, assume that -- having already raised some P23 billion from the sale of his company’s stock in New York -- Mr. Villar is after a psychic return and not a monetary return on the maybe P2 billion he is spending on this campaign and that he will, if he wins, apply his demonstrated managerial abilities and first-hand understanding of the problems of the poor to reform this country and actually lift it out of the economic cellar.

Most voters, I am certain, want their vote to lead to a better future for this country. As best they can, these voters should apply reason to the making of their choice. To vote on the basis of wishful thinking would be irresponsible.

'Noynoy kin, allies behind Pulse, SWS'

By Jose Rodel Clapano (The Philippine Star) Updated May 06, 2010 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Relatives and close associates of Liberal Party (LP) presidential candidate Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino are directing behind the scenes the surveys being conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia, according to Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) senatorial candidate Francisco “Kit” Tatad.

Tatad, citing a research paper and documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said members of the Aquino clan and former associates of the late President Corazon Aquino are directors and stockholders of SWS and Pulse Asia.

Among those named in the SEC documents and research papers were Rafael Cojuangco Lopa and Antonio “Tonyboy” Cojuangco.

Lopa, according to Tatad, was director and president of Pulse Asia until last year when he resigned to camouflage the firm’s support for Aquino’s bid for the presidency, while Cojuangco bankrolled the setting up of Pulse Asia in 1990.

Tatad said it is unusual that former Public Works secretary Jose de Jesus (under the Aquino administration) is an incorporator and director in both Pulse Asia and the SWS.

“This suggests that there was a plan from the beginning by the Aquinos to control public opinion polling in the country,” he said.

Tatad added that with respect to survey practitioners in SWS and Pulse Asia, there is an overlapping of names in the ownership.

He said Felipe Miranda, Rosalinda Miranda, Gemino Abad and Mercedes Abad appear in the SEC records as founders and/or stockholders of both firms.

“Mercedes R. Abad is the president of TRENDS-MBL, which has been conducting the field research for both SWS and Pulse Asia until recently,” he said.

Tatad also divulged that the details of the interlocking directorships in the survey firms was first disclosed by Prof. Alfredo Sureta in a paper released in December 2009, but only brought to light in the Internet last week.

He said Sureta called for the establishment of polling firms not owned by an avid Aquino supporter or relative to “enhance not only the credibility of the science of polling in the country, but also to allow a better flow of information to the voting public on the agenda and platforms
of the candidates.”

“We have to wonder, given this new information, whether the plan to elect Noynoy Aquino to the presidency was one big plot from the beginning,” Tatad said.

IS YOUR EYE CLEAR BY PAUL WASHER

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Matthew 6:19-24 The previous is one of the most important passages in the Scriptures with regard to Christian priorities and missions. According to this Scripture, the Christian is to be on constant guard in order not to stray from eternal priorities. Two choices are always before us. One choice offers immediate rewards that are temporal and deceptive. The other is a narrow road which may cost us everything, but the rewards are eternal and beyond the ability of even Scripture to describe.

GOD’S TREASURE
If we know that which is most treasured by God, then we will know that which should be most treasured by us - God’s treasure and ours should be the same. This is the very thing that made the life of Jesus so different from the life of every other man. He treasured only what His Father treasured. May God grant us the grace to do the same. What is it that God most treasures? With only a cursory reading of the Scripture, we quickly discover that God’s priority is His own Glory. He desires that every aspect of His being, attributes, and works be made known to creation and that all praise and honor be ascribed only to Him. Consider the following Scriptures: “For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations.” Malachi 1:11 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’” Matthew 6:9-10 It is God’s great desire or treasure to see His Name held in highest esteem among the nations, and among all creatures in heaven and on earth. At first sight, this may appear selfcentered, but first sights are often very deceptive. For God to seek His glory above all else is the greatest demonstration of His love. The depth of one’s love is often demonstrated by the costliness of the gift he/she gives. If someone was to give you a twig or a small fragment of gravel, it would not be an overwhelming demonstration of love. You would not rush out to alert the media, nor would you gather your friends about you to tell them of this great love that has been shown to you. It would not be something that you remembered very long, much less, that you held close to your heart all the days of your life. However, if someone gave his life that you might live, this would indeed warrant such a reaction. It would be a story worth the media’s attention, and your friends would most likely want to hear all about it. You would treasure such a selfless act of love all the days of your life. So then, the measure of one’s love is often manifested by the greatness of one’s gift. Now we must ask ourselves a question: “What is the greatest gift that God could ever give?” It is not prosperity, health, or even heaven. He Himself is the greatest gift. The most loving thing that God can do for His creatures is to work in such a way so as to reveal or demonstrate the fullness of His glory to them - to take center stage and call all creatures to fix their eyes and hearts upon Him. For this very reason, when God does what He does for His own glory, it is the greatest demonstration of His love toward the creature. The adverse of this is equally true. The most destitute and pitiful of all creatures are those who do not know God, who are unaware of His glory, and cut off from His truth. The Scriptures declare that God has set eternity in the hearts of men (Ecclesiastes 3:11). This infinite aspect of the heart can only be filled by the infinite. Man may pour into his heart all the fame, wealth, power, and pleasure that this world has to offer, but he will still be empty. Eternity cannot be filled up with the temporal, nor can infinity be satisfied by the finite. Man’s heart was made for the full measure of God’s glory. Apart from this, man is destitute, miserable, and empty. In summary, God’s treasure, His greatest desire and purpose is that His Name be great among the nations, that His Name be hallowed (highly esteemed), that His Kingdom come, and His will be done! However, we must ask ourselves, “Is this our greatest purpose and passion?” We lay awake at night and worry about so many things. We fret and are anxious about so many things. We desire things passionately, fanatically, even to the point of obsession: houses and lands, jobs and promotions, fame and reputation, needs, and wants, and countless other things. But when was the last time that sleep escaped us because of our concern for the nations that have not heard? When was the last time that our hearts broke in two because there are places on this earth where God’s Name is not hallowed, His kingdom advances ever so slowly, and His will is not foremost in the hearts of men? We fret and sweat about so many things, but do we ever give any thought to that which is most on the mind of God?

CHRIST’S WARNING
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” In this verse, Jesus is calling for a radical decision on the part of His disciples to repent of their earthly materialism and turn their hearts toward God and His kingdom. Although the Scriptures speak of wealth as neither good nor bad, it does warn us that the love of wealth is a great evil (I Timothy 6:10) and that the seeking and hoarding of wealth will only lead to loss and shame on the day of judgment ( James 5:2-3). Regardless of the warnings that run throughout Scripture, it seems that the desire for wealth is God’s greatest competitor for the hearts of men. It is ironic that although most people spend most of their time, “treasuring treasures,” very few ever really “possess treasures.” And those rare individuals who actually do obtain their treasures here on earth quickly grow tired of them once they are obtained. Is it not a very foolish thing to trade the glorious gifts of God for earthly treasures that we rarely do obtain, and if by chance we do obtain them, we quickly grow tired of them? Name one thing on this earth that is highly coveted by men and we can quickly assess its true value with one simple question: “Is it eternal?” If it is, it is worthy of being obtained even at the expense of all other things. If not, its worth is equivalent to the dust into which it will turn. To seek for it is a pathetic waste of a human life and fool’s errand.

CHRIST’S ADMONITION
“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.” The Scriptures do not speak against treasure or the pursuit of treasure, but it does speak against foolishly wasting the life God has given us in the vain pursuit of things that have no eternal value and can never fill the infinite desire of a heart made for eternity. In Isaiah 55:2, the Scripture shakes its head in bewilderment at men who seek for the temporal at the expense of the eternal: “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?” Nothing except the person and will of God can fill a man. The only treasure worth having is that which is eternal and comes from God. Such treasure is found only by doing His will, living for His glory, and seeking after His Kingdom. Has God not promised to care for us? Has He not promised to meet our every need? Has He not shown Himself capable and willing to fill His children with blessing and to not withhold from them one good thing? Why, then, do we put earthly pursuits ahead of the pursuit of God and God’s pursuits? Our one obligation is also our only means of truly living an abundant and satisfied life - “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). Heaven and earth shall pass away, the inferior products of this world will burn up in the fire as hay, wood, and stubble (I Corinthians 3:12-15). However, the man who does the will of God will abide forever and his works will stand throughout eternity (I John 2:17). There will be no regrets in heaven for having lived “too much” for the kingdom of God, but we can be assured that there will be great regrets for having lived “so little.”

THE UNDENIABLE TRUTH
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Ever so often in Scripture, we are confronted by certain statements that open our hearts and reveal the truth about our character and desires. The verse above is one of those statements. Regardless of how often or forcefully we declare that God and His Kingdom are our greatest desire, the true desire of our life can be revealed by smallest and simplest of questions: Where is our heart? What occupies our thoughts above all other things? What do we long for? Can we say in truth that God and His Kingdom are our passion? What if a stranger who did not know of our Christian confession watched our lives and read our thoughts? Would he be convinced that God and His Kingdom are our two greatest priorities? Would he hear almost constant conversation about the mercies of God and the advancement of His Kingdom? Would he hear us pray with passion for the unevangelized nations? Would he see us passing a sleepless night because God’s Name is not highly esteemed among all peoples, because His Kingdom has not covered the entire earth, or because His will is not obeyed or even known by the great majority of men? If most were honest, we would be forced to admit that he would hear us speaking about houses and lands, cars and toys, recreations and hobbies. He would see us obsessed with worldly worries, wants, and pleasures. He would hear very little about God in our daily conversation, would see little activity directed toward the advancement of the Kingdom, and would think it preposterous for us to claimed that our treasure is in heaven!

CLEAR EYES
“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” In saying that the “eye is the lamp of the body,” Jesus is not giving us instructions in human physiology, but rather is teaching us about the great influence that our desires have on our lives. Our body goes where our eyes are focused, and our eyes focus on what our heart desires. If our heart desires worldly things, then worldly things will be our focus and the very things we pursue. However, if our heart truly desires the things of God, then our eyes will be fixed on them, and we will pursue them with a passion. The clear eye has a single vision without confusion or duplicity. A.T. Robertson writes, “If our eyes are healthy, we see clearly and with a single focus. If the eyes are diseased (bad, evil), cross-eyed or cockeyed, we see double and confuse our vision. We keep one eye on the hoarded treasures of earth and roll the other proudly up to heaven” (Word Pictures). As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to singleness of heart and purpose. We are called to seek first the Kingdom of God and entrust all our worldly needs to the Master. He knows what we need before we ask Him and is disposed to do good things for His children.

TWO MASTERS
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Jesus taught a great deal about money. The reason is simple - In this fallen world, money seems to be God’s greatest competitor for the hearts of men. If by grace, a man has freed himself from the love and pursuit of wealth, he has opened himself to the possibility of undivided devotion to God. Fallen man is a slave to someone. The question is not whether or not a man is a slave, but whose slave is he? Some men are enslaved to other men, some to themselves, and others to things such as money, security, and respectability. Other men are given to vain pursuits, deceitful pleasures, or something as “harmless” as a hobby. The list is almost endless, but Christ calls us to turn away from such slavery and turn wholeheartedly and without reservation to Him. Although the above Scripture teaches us that it is IMPOSSIBLE to serve God and wealth, the application is far reaching. There can be no competitors in the heart of the believer. We must constantly survey our lives and search out competing loyalties. When we find them, we must be careful to deal with them severely. We must not show them even the slightest compassion. If we spare them, they will become barbs in our eyes and thorns in our side (Numbers 33:55). We can never truly serve God while such things are hanging around our hearts. Even those things most precious to us must not be excused from our censure. Jesus taught that it is better for our right hand and right eye to suffer violent mutilation than for them to become stumbling blocks to the upward call of true discipleship (Matthew 5:29-30). We must put away anything that deters us from Him and His pursuits. Our lives are on the line and eternity is at stake! The Expositor’s Bible Commentary concludes: “Both God and money are portrayed, not as employers, but as slave owners. A man may work for two employers; but since ‘single ownership and full time service are the very essence of slavery’ (Tasker), he cannot serve two slave owners. Either God is served with a single-eyed devotion, or he is not served at all. Attempts at divided loyalty betray, not partial commitment to discipleship, but deep-seated commitment to idolatry.”

THE CROSS OF CHRIST BY PAUL WASHER

One of my greatest burdens is that the Cross of Christ is rarely explained. It is not enough to say that “He died” - for all men die. It is not enough to say that “He died a noble death” – for martyrs do the same. We must understand that we have not fully proclaimed the death of Christ with saving power until we have cleared away the confusion that surrounds it and expounded its true meaning to our hearers - He died bearing the transgressions of His people and suffering the divine penalty for their sins: He was forsaken of God and crushed under the wrath of God in their place.

FORSAKEN OF GOD
One of the most disturbing, even haunting, passages in the Scriptures is Mark’s record of the great cry of the Messiah as He hung upon a Roman Cross. In a loud voice He cried out: “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”1 In light of what we know about the impeccable nature of the Son of God and His perfect fellowship with the Father, it is difficult to comprehend Christ’s words, yet in them, the meaning of the Cross is laid bare, and we find the reason for which Christ died. The fact that His words are also recorded in the original Hebrew tongue tells us something of their great importance. The author did not want us to misunderstand or to miss a thing! In these words, Jesus is not only crying out to God, but as the consummate teacher, He is also directing His onlookers and all future readers to one of the most important Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament - Psalm 22. Though the entire Psalm abounds with detailed prophecies of the Cross, we will concern ourselves with only the first six verses: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; and by night, but I have no rest. Yet You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel. In You our fathers trusted; they trusted and You delivered them. To You they cried out and were delivered; in You they trusted and were not disappointed. But I am a ,worm and not a man, a reproach of men and despised by the people.” In Christ’s day, the Hebrew Scriptures were not laid out in numbered chapters and verses as they are today. Therefore, when a rabbi sought to direct his hearers to a certain Psalm or portion of Scripture, he would do so by reciting the first lines of the text. In this cry from the Cross, Jesus directs us to Psalm 22 and reveals to us something of the character and purpose of His sufferings. In the first and second verses, we hear the Messiah’s complaint - He considers Himself forsaken of God. Mark uses the Greek word egkataleípo, which means to forsake, abandon, or desert.2 The Psalmist uses the Hebrew word azab, which means to leave, loose, or forsake.3 In both cases, the intention is clear. The Messiah Himself is aware that God has forsaken Him and turned a deaf ear to His cry. This is not a symbolic or poetic forsakenness. It is real! If ever a creature felt the forsakenness of God, it was the Son of God on the cross of Calvary! In the fourth and fifth verses of this Psalm, the anguish suffered by the Messiah becomes more acute as He recalls the covenant faithfulness of God towards His people. He declares: “In You our fathers trusted; they trusted and You delivered them. To You they cried out and were delivered; in You they trusted and were not disappointed.” The apparent contradiction is clear. There had never been one instance in the history of God’s covenant people that a righteous man cried out to God and was not delivered. However, now the sinless Messiah hangs on a tree utterly forsaken. What could be the reason for God’s withdrawal? Why did He turn away from His only begotten Son? Woven into the Messiah’s complaint is found the answer to these disturbing questions. In verse three, He makes the unwavering declaration that God is holy, and then in verse six, He admits the unspeakable - He had become a worm and was no longer a man. Why would the Messiah direct such demeaning and derogatory language toward Himself? Did He see Himself as a worm because He had become “a reproach of men and despised by the people”4 or was there a greater and more awful reason for His self-deprecation? After all, He did not cry out, “My God, my God, why have the people forsaken me,” but rather He endeavored to know why God had done so! The answer can be found in one bitter truth alone - the Lord had caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him, and like a worm, He was forsaken and crushed in our stead.5 This dark metaphor of the dying Messiah is not alone in Scripture. There are others that take us even deeper into the heart of the Cross and lay open for us what “He must suffer”6 in order to win the redemption of His people. If we shutter at the words of the Psalmist, we will be further taken back to hear of the thrice-holy7 Son of God becoming the serpent lifted up in the wilderness, and then, the sin bearing scapegoat left to die alone. The first metaphor is found in the book of Numbers. Because of Israel’s near constant rebellion against the Lord and their rejection of His gracious provisions, God sent “fiery serpents” among the people and many died.8 However, as a result of the people’s repentance and Moses’ intercession, God once again made provision for their salvation. He commanded Moses to “make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard.” He then promised that “everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” At first, it seems contrary to reason that “the cure was shaped in the likeness of that which wounded.”9 However, it provides a powerful picture of the cross. The Israelites were dying from the venom of the fiery serpents. Men die from the venom of their own sin. Moses was commanded to place the cause of death high upon a pole. God placed the cause of our death upon His own Son as He hung high upon a cross. He had come “in the likeness of sinful flesh,”10 and was “made to be sin on our behalf.”11 The Israelite who believed God and looked upon the brazen serpent would live. The man who believes God’s testimony concerning His Son and looks upon Him with faith will be saved.12 As it is written, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”13 The second metaphor is found in the priestly book of Leviticus. Since it was impossible for one single offering to fully typify or illustrate the Messiah’s atoning death, an offering involving two sacrificial goats was put before the people.14 The first goat was slain as a sin offering before the Lord, and its blood was sprinkled on and in front of the Mercy Seat behind the veil in the Holy of Holies.15 It typified Christ who shed His blood on the Cross to make atonement for the sins of His people. The second goat was presented before the Lord as the scapegoat.16 Upon the head of this animal, the High Priest laid “both of his hands and confessed over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins.”17 The scapegoat was then sent away into the wilderness bearing on itself all the iniquities of the people into a solitary land.18 There, it would wander alone, forsaken of God and cut off from His people. It typified Christ who “bore our sins in His body on the cross,”19 and suffered and died alone “outside the camp.”20 What was only symbolic in the Law became an excruciating reality for the Messiah. Is it not astounding that a worm, a venomous serpent, and goat should be put forth as types of Christ? To identify the Son of God with such “loathsome” things would be blasphemous had it not come from Old Testament saints “moved by the Holy Spirit,”21 and then confirmed by the authors of the New Testament who go even further in their dark depictions. Under the inspiration of the same Spirit, they are bold enough to say that He who knew no sin, was “made sin,”22 and He, who was the beloved of the Father, “became a curse”23 before Him. We have heard these truths before, but have we ever considered them enough to be broken by them? On the Cross, the One declared “holy, holy, holy” by the Seraphim choir,24 was “made” to be sin. The journey into the meaning of this phrase seems almost too dangerous to take. We balk even at the first step. What does it mean that He, in whom “all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,” was “made sin?” We must not explain the truth away in an attempt to protect the reputation of the Son of God, and yet, we must be careful not to speak terrible things against His impeccable and immutable25 character. According to the Scriptures, Christ was “made sin” in the same way that the believer “becomes the righteousness of God” in Him.26 In his second letter to the church in Corinth, the Apostle Paul writes: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”27 The believer is not the “righteousness of God” because of some perfecting or purifying work upon his character that makes him like God and without sin, but rather as a result of imputation by which he is considered righteous before God through the work of Christ on his behalf. In the same way, Christ was not made sin by having His character marred or soiled, thus actually becoming depraved, but as a result of imputation by which He was considered guilty before the judgment seat of God on our behalf. This truth however, must not cause us to think any less of Paul’s declaration that Christ was “made sin.” Although it was an imputed guilt, it was real guilt, bringing unspeakable anguish to His soul. He took our guilt as His own, stood in our place, and died forsaken of God. That Christ was “made sin,” is a truth as terrible as it is incomprehensible, and yet, just when we think that no darker words can be uttered against Him, the Apostle Paul lights a lamp and takes us further down into the abyss of Christ’s humiliation and forsakenness. We enter the deepest cavern to find the Son of God hanging from the Cross and bearing His most infamous title - the Accursed of God! The Scriptures declare that all humankind lay under the curse. As it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the Book of the Law, to perform them.”28 From heaven’s perspective, those who break God’s Law are vile and worthy of all loathing. They are a wretched lot, justly exposed to divine vengeance, and rightly devoted to eternal destruction. It is not an exaggeration to say that the last thing that the accursed sinner should and will hear when he takes his first step into hell is all of creation standing to its feet and applauding God because He has rid the earth of him. Such is the vileness of those who break God’s law, and such is the disdain of the holy towards the unholy. Yet, the Gospel teaches us that, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us -- for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’”29 Christ became what we were in order to redeem us from what we deserved. He became a worm and no man, the serpent lifted up in the wilderness, the scapegoat driven outside the camp, the bearer of sin, and the One upon whom the curse of God did fall. It is for this reason the Father turned away from Him and all heaven hid its face. It is a great travesty that the true meaning of the Christ’s “cry from the cross” has often been lost in romantic cliché. It is not uncommon to hear a preacher declare that the Father turned away from His Son because He could no longer bear to witness the suffering inflicted upon Him by the hands of wicked men. Such interpretations are a complete distortion of the text and of what actually transpired on the Cross. The Father did not turn away from His Son because He lacked the fortitude to witness His sufferings, but because “He made Him whom knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”30 He laid our sins upon Him and turned away, for His eyes are too pure to approve evil and cannot look upon wickedness with favor.31 It is not without reason that many Gospel tracts picture an infinite abyss between a holy God and sinful man. With such an illustration, the Scriptures fully agree. As the Prophet Isaiah cried out: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save, nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear” (Isaiah 59:1-2) It is because of this that all men would have lived and died separated from the favorable presence of God and under divine wrath unless the Son of God had stood in their place, bore their sin, and died “forsaken of God” on their behalf. For the breach to be closed and fellowship restored, “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things?”32

CHRIST DIES UNDER THE WRATH OF GOD
To obtain the salvation of His people, Christ not only suffered the terrifying abandonment of God, but He drank down the bitter cup of God’s wrath and died a bloody death in the place of His people. Only then could divine justice be satisfied, the wrath of God be appeased, and reconciliation be made possible. In the garden, Christ prayed three times for “the cup” to be removed from Him, but each time His will gave into that of His Father.33 We must ask ourselves, what was in the cup that caused Him to pray so fervently? What did it contain that caused Him such anguish that His sweat was mingled with blood? It is often said that the cup represented the cruel Roman cross and the physical torture that awaited Him; that Christ foresaw the cat of nine tails coming down across His back, the crown of thorns piercing His brow, and the primitive nails driven through His hands and feet. Yet those who see these things as the source of His anguish do not understand the Cross, nor what happened there. Although the tortures heaped upon Him by the hands of men were all part of God’s redemptive plan, there was something much more ominous that evoked the Messiah’s cry for deliverance. In the first centuries of the primitive church, thousands of Christians died on crosses. It is said that Nero crucified them upside down, covered them with tar, and set them aflame to provide street lights for the city of Rome. Throughout the ages since then, a countless stream of Christians have been led off to the most unspeakable tortures, and yet it is the testimony of friend and foe alike that many of them went to their death with great boldness. Are we to believe that the followers of the Messiah met such cruel physical death with joy unspeakable, while the Captain of their Salvation34 cowered in a garden, feigning the same torture? Did the Christ of God fear whips and thorns, crosses and spears, or did the cup represent a terror infinitely beyond the greatest cruelty of men? To understand the ominous contents of the cup, we must refer to the Scriptures. There are two passages in particular that we must consider - one from the Psalms and the other from the Prophets: “For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, and the wine foams; It is well mixed, and He pours out of this; surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs.”35 “For thus the LORD, the God of Israel says to me, ‘Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.’”36 As a result of the unceasing rebellion of the wicked, the justice of God had decreed judgment against them. He would rightly pour forth His indignation upon the nations. He would put the cup of the wine of His wrath to their mouth and force them to drink it down to the dregs.37 The mere thought of such a fate awaiting the world is absolutely terrifying, yet this would have been the fate of all, except that the mercy of God sought for the salvation of a people, and the wisdom of God devised a plan of redemption even before the foundation of the world. The Son of God would become a man and walk upon the earth in perfect obedience to the Law of God. He would be like us in all things,38 and tempted in all ways like us but without sin.39 He would live a perfectly righteous life for the glory of God and in the stead of His people. Then in the appointed time, He would be crucified by the hands of wicked men, and on that Cross, He would bear His people’s guilt, and suffer the wrath of God against them. The perfect Son of God and a true Son of Adam together in one glorious person would take the bitter cup of wrath from the very hand of God and drink it down to the dregs. He would drink until “it was finished”40 and the justice of God was fully satisfied. The divine wrath that should have been ours would be exhausted upon the Son, and by Him, it would be extinguished. Imagine an immense dam that is filled to the brim and straining against the weight behind it. All at once, the protective wall is pulled away and the massive destructive power of the deluge is unleashed. As certain destruction races toward a small village in the nearby valley, the ground suddenly opens up before it and drinks down that which would have carried it away. In similar fashion, the judgment of God was rightly racing toward every man. Escape could not be found on the highest hill or in the deepest abyss. The fleetest of foot could not outrun it, nor could the strongest swimmer endure its torrents. The dam was breached and nothing could repair its ruin. But when every human hope was exhausted, at the appointed time, the Son of God interposed. He stood between divine justice and His people. He drank down the wrath that they themselves had kindled and the punishment they deserved. When He died, not one drop of the former deluge remained. He drank it all! Imagine two giant millstones, one turning on top of the other. Imagine that caught between the two is a single grain of wheat that is pulled under the massive weight. First, its hull is crushed beyond recognition, and then its inwards parts are poured out and ground into dust. There is no hope of retrieval or reconstruction. All is lost and beyond repair. Thus, in a similar fashion, “it pleased the Lord” to crush His only Son and put Him to grief unspeakable.41 Thus, it pleased the Son to submit to such suffering in order that God might be glorified and a people might be redeemed. It is not that God found some gleeful pleasure in the suffering of His beloved Son, but through His death, the will of God was accomplished. No other means had the power to put away sin, satisfy divine justice, and appease the wrath of God against us. Unless that divine grain of wheat had fallen to the ground and died, it would have abided alone without a people or a bride.42 The pleasure was not found in the suffering, but in all that such suffering would accomplish: God would be revealed in a glory yet unknown to men or angels, and a people would be brought into unhindered fellowship with their God. In one of the most epic stories in the Old Testament, the patriarch Abraham is commanded to carry his son Isaac to Mount Moriah, and there, to offer him as a sacrifice to God. “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”43 What a burden was laid upon Abraham! We cannot even begin to imagine the sadness that filled the old man’s heart and tortured him every step of his journey. The Scriptures are careful to tell us that he was commanded to offer “his son, his only son, whom he loved.” The specificity seems designed to catch our attention and make us think that there is more meaning hidden in these words than we can yet tell. On the third day, the two reached the appointed place, and the father himself bound his beloved son with his own hand. Finally, in submission to what must be done, he laid his hand upon his son’s brow and “took the knife to slay him.”44 At that very moment, the mercy and grace of God interposed, and the old man’s hand was stayed. God called out to him from heaven and said: “Abraham, Abraham! ...Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”45 At the voice of the Lord, Abraham raised his eyes, and found a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. He took the ram and offered him up in the place of his son.46 He then named that place YHWH-jireh or “The Lord will provide.” It is a faithful saying that remains until this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.”47 As the curtains draw to a close on this epic moment in history, not only Abraham, but also everyone who has ever read this account breathes a sigh of relief that the boy is spared. We think to ourselves what a beautiful end to the story, but it was not the end, it was a mere intermission! Two thousand years later, the curtain opens again. The background is dark and ominous. At center stage is the Son of God on Mount Calvary. He is bound by obedience to the will of His Father. He hangs there bearing the sin of His people. He is accursed - betrayed by His creation48 and forsaken of God. Then, the silence is broken with the horrifying thunder of God’s wrath. The Father takes the knife, draws back His arm, and slays “His Son, His only Son, whom He loves.” And the words of Isaiah the prophet are fulfilled: “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed... But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief.”49 The curtain is drawn to a close on a slain Son and a crucified Messiah. Unlike Isaac there was no ram to die in His place. He was the Lamb who would die for the sins of the world.50 He is God’s provision for the redemption of His people. He is the fulfillment of which Isaac and the ram were only shadows. In Him, Mount Calvary is renamed “YHWH-jireh” or “The Lord will provide.” And it is a faithful saying that remains until this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.”51 Calvary was the mount and salvation was provided. Thus, the discerning believer cries out, “God, God, I know you love me since you have not withheld your Son, your only Son, whom You love, from me.”52 It is an injustice to Calvary that the true pain of the Cross is often overlooked by a more romantic, but less powerful theme. It is often thought and even preached that the Father looked down from heaven and witnessed the suffering that was heaped upon His Son by the hands of men, and that He counted such affliction as payment for our sins. This is heresy of the worst kind. Christ satisfied divine justice not merely by enduring the affliction of men, but by enduring and dying under the wrath of God. It takes more than crosses, nails, crowns of thorns, and lances, to pay for sin. The believer is saved, not merely because of what men did to Christ on the Cross, but because of what God did to Him - He crushed Him under the full force of His wrath against us. Rarely is this truth made clear enough in the abundance of all our Gospel preaching!

Facing the GIANTS!

From the award winning producers of FLYWHEEL, comes an action-packed drama about a Christian high school football coach who uses his undying faith to battle the giants of fear and failure. In six years of coaching, Grant Taylor has never led his Shiloh Eagles to a winning season. After learning that he and his wife Brooke face infertility, Grant discovers that a group of fathers are secretly organizing to have him dismissed as head coach. Devastated by his circumstances, he cries out to God in desperation. When Grant receives a message from an unexpected visitor, he searches for a stronger purpose for his football team. He dares to challenge his players to believe God for the impossible on and off the field. When faced with unbelievable odds, the Eagles must step up to their greatest test of strength and courage. What transpires is a dynamic story of the fight between faith and fear. Facing the Giants is a powerful experience for the whole family inspiring viewers to live with faith, hope, and love!

A Shocking Preacher with a Shocking Message

Paul David Washer (born 1961) is Director of the HeartCry Missionary Society that supports indigenous missionary work. He is also a Southern Baptist itinerant preacher who is known for his controversial preaching. Washer became well known when a video clip of him preaching what has been called a fire and brimstone message at a youth conference in 2002 surfaced on the internet. Washer's sermons tend to have a particular focus on the Gospel and the doctrine of Assurance of salvation, and he frequently speaks out against practices such as Altar calls, the Sinner's prayer, and church growth. Washer has cited George Muller, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Charles Spurgeon, Leonard Ravenhill, John Wesley and A.W. Tozer, among others, as influences. He has frequently appeared on Christian radio and television discussing the Gospel.

Washer became a Christian while studying to become an oil and gas lawyer at the University of Texas. Upon graduation, he attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and achieved a Master of Divinity degree. He then moved to Peru to become a missionary for 10 years, after which he returned to the United States. Today, Washer resides in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where he lives with his wife and three children.

Maniwala ka pwede ka maging Kung Fu Fighter

Last semester naging abala ako sa project namin sa humanities about movie making. Natuwa ako nung malaman ko na ito ng project namin kasi matagal ko ng trip na matuto ng after effects, at timing din na nagretire na ang luma kong cpu at ayun bago na at pwede ko na ma-install ang mahiwagang adobe creative suit 3. Ako ung nakaisip ng story na actually based sa movie na ginawa namin ng mga barkada ko nung highschool. Di sya ganun kaganda. Nangangapa pa kasi ako sa AE pero sana matawa akyo kc sa comedy na lang namin dinaan. "Kung Fu Go" title nya. Bakit kung fu go? tamad kasi ako magisip ng title eh, nagkukung fu kasi sya at Go pangalan ng bida kaya yun. Heto panuorin nyo na lang kung sakaling mabilis internet connection nyo at wala kayong magawa kaysa nman magsasayang kayo ng oras sa farmville, edi ito na lang.

Tung-aw Production Presents


Kung Fu Go Episode 1


Kung Fu Go Episode 2


Kung Fu Go Episode 3


Kung Fu Go Episode 4


Kung Fu Go Episode 5


Kung Fu Go Episode 6


Kung Fu Go Episode 7


Kung Fu Go Episode 8