Nehemiah 9:19-37

Nehemiah 9:19-37

Some quick notes on the sermon, which I translated, but unfortunately abit too tensed to write down more notes! :P

Pastor Tang mentioned that the theme next year thought up by the Zion Church committe is "Together, strive for Unity in Love".

The means to a revived life is through God's Word. Through God's Word, we know him more. This God who loves us. His love is ultimately manifested in sending His son who He loves to die for our sins on the cross. One might be willing to die for the good or righteous, but dying for sinners? Paul himself said that he was the sinner of sinners. THe question to us is, how much do we know our God?

Do we want to be one of the masses below Mt Sinai asking Moses to go up?
Do we want to be one of the seventy elders who went to the middle of the Mount?
Do we want to be Joshua who went even closer to the peak?
Or to be Moses, face to face with God.

In the new testament,
Do we want to be one of the masses enjoying Jesus 5 loaves and 2 fishes?
Do we want to be one of the seventy sent out in pairs by Jesus?
Do we want to be one of his 12 disciples following him?
Do we want to be one of the three inner disciples closer to him?
Or the one disciple who is closest to the heart of Jesus, the one whom Jesus loved.

From this passage, we can know more about God. Seeking to meet him face to face, to be close to his heart.

v27 "But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies."

God is merciful. What we ought to receive but did not.
Time and again, the Israelites rebelled against God. Hence God's punishment was upon them. But they cried out and God was merciful with them.
The world with their constant rebellion of God's law, ought to receive God's judgement and punishment but God has withhold his immediate judgement. That they might not perish but be saved. God's mercy is manifested here.

v31 "But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God."

v25 "they reveled in your great goodness. '

God is gracious. What we ought not to receive, but we did. We are sinners who ought to receive punishments in hell, but by God's grace can enjoy eternity with him.

v30 "For many years you were patient with them."

God is patient. God is patient with the Israelites, though repeatedly sinning against him, He still spares them time and again in the hope that they will turn to him. God is patient, waiting for people to be saved before He executes his order of the end times.

As a conclusion, in Nehemiah 9, we learn 10 attributes of God. We have to know our God who loves us so much through His revealed Word. Our God is a God who hears, who acts, reveals his heart to his people, who is sovereign, mighty, gracious, merciful and patient.

Q & A God finds Man

Is it that there is only true God but man in his own various culturals picture the true God differently?

God has proclaimed that He is the one true God. God cannot be seen and by the religious nature of man, man forms his own opinion of his revelation of God.
A peacock, cow, giraffe, horse would think that God would look like them respectively. False gods are invented by man. False gods are man-made, man 's product, man's imagination.

True God finds man, false god are found by man.
True God creates man, false god are created by man.
True Man looks towards God, false gods look towards man.
If one really wants to know God, have to look to His revelation. The only way to understand is to go back to God's revelation, the bible.

Q & A (from Rev Tong)

Believing in Jesus, only then you gain salvation, isn't this claim outrageous?

Because that Jesus is the only salvation is the truth. Example, 2+2=?, 5,6,7 ? 2+2=4. No! I don't believe! But no matter what, its the truth.
Air speaks to a man, "breathe me and you will live". The man replies, "No I won't! So outrageous, you asking me to breathe you. I purposely will not!" And what happens?
A doctor tells a patient, "This is the only cure for your disease. Take this and be cured." The patient replies "No I won't! Such outrageous claims that only your medicine can cure me, I will not use it!"
Man's subjective absoluteness has errorneously made him say that Jesus's claim is outrageous!
Jesus claim that other than through him, no one can get to the Father.
This is simply the TRUTH. Amen.

Q & A with simple answers (I hope)

Why do we not accept that the relevation of angel Gabriel to Muhammed is from God? That is the Kuran.

Because God will not reveal two contradicting revelations.
The revelation to Muhammed is that God is the one true God and Jesus wasn't His son but just a prophet.
In Luke 1, Gabriel appeared to Mary proclaiming that the son in her womb that is Jesus, is the Son of God.

We have the bible, revealed, completed, way before Muhammed was born. So there you have it =)