Experiencing God in the Heart

“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43). 
    Here we see the importance of avoiding occasions of falling into sin or of getting lost and finding ourselves far from God. Whatever scandalizes us and is an occasion for falling away from God, we should cut off and sacrifice. It is better to enter into life maimed, lame, or with only one eye than to be thrown into hell with two hands, two feet, and two eyes. We are to make sacrifices and lose things, friends, opportunities, and honors to keep from falling away from God. This is how a Christian is to act. A foolish person, however, protects himself, refusing all sacrifices, and in his foolishness he falls continually. He is not careful about his life. He lives carelessly and negligently. He is not vigilant. A foolish person does not try to live soberly and piously in this age (Titus 2:12). The world is full of things that cause us fall away from God and forget him. In the area of food there are, for example, delicacies that harm our health and are eaten only for pleasure. These are also occasions for forgetting God, for putting something into our heart that competes with God for our attention. This is why the Desert Fathers and strict monks during the most fervent periods of their history renounced such things. They made this sacrifice in order to live only for God in every aspect of their life. They wanted to keep the love of their heart for him alone. So they cut off their hand and foot and plucked out their eye in order not to fall away from him. Television and movies are also an occasion for falling away from God, for they show every kind of image that fouls our mind, memory, and imagination and distracts us from God and from a sober, just, and pious life in this age (Titus 2:12). They cause us to fall away from a life that renounces ungodliness and worldly desires (Titus 2:12) to live in eager expectation and preparation for the appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13). St. Paul tells us that we are “to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Tim. 6:14). Imprudent friendships are another occasion for falling away from God. They are dangerous because the heart can fall in love and thus become divided and thereby be in great anguish and agony. If one is celibate, he loses the joy and benefit of his celibacy, which is having an undivided heart, reserved for the Lord alone. A person can lose all his peace on this dangerous road and be separated from God. A wise person will sacrifice imprudent friendships. It will be a difficult sacrifice, like cutting off a hand, a foot, or plucking out an eye, but it is necessary to protect the heart from this danger and to enter into the fullness of life. Useless trips undertaken without need or purpose but simply for the pleasure of wandering about and spending time are another occasion for falling away. We are to sacrifice this too if we want to have an undivided heart in our relationship with God. This is why stability is one of the most important monastic vows. Monks always live in same place and furthermore live within a monastic enclosure. They are not to needlessly wander about. 18 God is everywhere. He is within our hearts. Why then do so many people not experience him? It is because they do not hide themselves with him in their heart, but rather are always outside, wandering about through the world and its pleasures. To experience God in the depth of our heart, we have to hide ourselves in our heart with him and leave the world and its pleasures behind, for they only distract us from him. We must sacrifice the pleasures and delights of the world and hide ourselves in silence. The good things of the world are important in the first step of a spiritual life. They reveal to us the goodness of God. But to advance further in our quest of God, we must take the path of sacrifice of the good things of this world and seek God within, sacrificing unnecessary external pleasures as distractions which only divide our heart from an undivided love of God. Contemplative prayer is a whole way of life and includes every aspect of our life. It includes how we spend our time, and how we live in this world. It includes our whole lifestyle. It includes all the sacrifices that we make to be contemplatives. It includes cutting off our hand and foot and plucking out our eye that scandalize us. Contemplative prayer also includes hiding ourselves in silence with God, seated in darkness in the prayer of the heart. If we live in this way, we will experience God in the depth of our heart, and we will not have to wander about, looking for him outside. So “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43).

Blessed Are the Poor

Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.… But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation” (Luke 6:20, 24).
   The Beatitudes present us with a whole way of life, a new way of living in the world. It is the way of the anawim of the Old Testament, the blessed poor who lived only for God. They are the true blessed ones. Jesus tells us that the rich who live a luxurious life are cursed, for they have had their consolation in the pleasures of the flesh and of the body, in worldly pleasures. “But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation” (Luke 6:24). “Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Matt. 19:23-24). It is better to be among the poor of this world who live only for God. “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20). If we are not poor by birth, we can still accept Jesus’ invitation to become poor by voluntarily renouncing the world and its pleasures for the sake of the kingdom of God. This is the call to perfection, to renounce the pleasures of the world for the sake of the kingdom of God. To the rich young man, Jesus said, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (Matt. 19:21). The rich glutton, “who feasted sumptuously every day” (Luke 16:19), heard in hell (where he went after death) that he has already had his consolation in the luxurious life he led on earth (Luke 16:25). “Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things” (Luke 16:25). Now is the time to decide. Will you live in the future for God or for yourself? Will you live a radical life of evangelical poverty, or will you continue living a life of worldly pleasure? Will you accept Jesus’ invitation to be one of the anawim who live only for him, or will you have your consolation here below in the pleasures of the world? Jesus invites us to a new way of living, to be one of the poor of Yahweh, to accept evangelical poverty and renounce the world and its pleasures to have our consolation in him and in the kingdom. St. Paul invites us to live a risen life in the risen Christ and seek the things that are above, not those of the world. “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Col. 3:1-2). He also warns us not to be like many who “live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things” (Phil. 3:18-19)
   

How to Stay in the Light

                                             “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing” (John 9:7).
 Christ anointed our eyes; and by washing in him, we now see. What happened to the man born blind also happens to us when we believe in Jesus Christ. This is a lesson for the catechumens that will be baptized during the Easter Vigil. Their eyes will be opened, and they will see a whole new world, a new reality, the world of faith, and the new creation of Jesus Christ. In being thus renewed by baptism, they themselves will become a new creation, new men, new creatures, persons renewed by Jesus Christ. We are those persons because we have been baptized in Christ. When we come to have faith in him, we are remade and renewed. We have been anointed by Christ. He anointed our eyes, for as the natural children of Adam we were blind from birth. He anointed us, and we bathed in the pool which is Christ. In doing this with faith, we return seeing. Christ opens our eyes. “Once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord” (Eph. 5:8). “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). For this, Christ came into the world, to be its light, to illuminate us, to bring us the splendor of heaven, the heavenly light from which he came, the light in which he lives eternally with the Father. If we believe in him and follow him, we will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. Christ has given us a promise and a condition. In order to receive the promise, we have to fulfill the condition. To walk in the light (the promise), we have to follow him (the condition), we have to do his will. When we fail to do his will, we fall out of his light, for we have not kept the condition, and we are once again in darkness until we repent and receive his forgiveness anew. How important it is then to always clearly know God’s will and do it exactly. By doing so, we will walk in the light of Christ; and he will shine in our hearts (2 Cor. 4:6). How different was the life of the man born blind after believing in Jesus. And this is only a symbol of the much greater difference in our life after we believe in Jesus Christ. Everything changes for us. We now have a clear goal in life, a purpose for which we live and work. But more important than that, we now live in the light, whereas previously we lived in darkness. We are now light in the Lord, as once we were darkness (Eph. 5:8). We have awakened and risen from the dead, and Christ shines on us (Eph. 5:14). We now proclaim the wonders of him who called us “out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9). We now see his splendor within us. He reveals his light to us, and we walk in it. He makes us sons of light. We are “sons of light and sons of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness” (1 Thess. 5:5). Many do not walk in the light, for they do not know God’s will. They do not follow it. Nor do they know Jesus who can save them from the darkness. There is a Savior. With faith in him, we can get out of the darkness and walk in the light of Christ. So what is God’s will? He will reveal it to us if we listen to him. The details of his will are different for each person, and he reveals them to us individually. But in general, his will is that we love him with all our heart. This is Jesus’s first and greatest commandment (Mark 12:30). This means not dividing our heart among the unnecessary 8 delights and pleasures of this world but rather living simply, in evangelical poverty, a life detached from worldliness and recollected in him. Such detachment is necessary if we want to love God with all our heart, without any division of heart. Those who live like this and follow the personal indications that he gives them are fulfilling the condition that Jesus laid down for walking in the light. They follow him with all their heart. He who does this will receive the promise. He “will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Christ came into the world to die on the cross so that we might walk in the light, for his vicarious death substituted for us on the cross and served our death sentence for our sins in our place. When we fall out of the light by sinning or by falling into an imperfection, we can once again invoke the merits of his vicarious death and be saved from the pit of darkness into which we have fallen. God knows our condition and weakness and saves us from darkness when we believe in him and invoke the merits of his death on the cross. Then we should try harder in the future to remain in his will in order to remain in the light. In this way we will also remain in his love, for he said, “Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love” (John 15:9-10). To remain in his light is to remain in his love.

The Ascetical Message of Jesus

“So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing, with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, ‘Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you’” (1 Kings 19:19-20). This is the call of Elisha to be Elijah’s follower. Elisha asks permission to first say farewell to his parents. He then slew the oxen and cooked them on the wood of their yoke, indicating thereby his intention to leave his former life behind him and begin a new life as a follower of Elijah. The call which Jesus gives us is similar but still more radical. He does not even allow a would-be disciple to say farewell to his family. One said to him, “‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God’” (Luke 9:61- 62). We see here the radicalism of Jesus’ call. It implies a radical renunciation of our former way of life, a sharp break with ordinary life. It is a call to a completely new and different way of living. Most people try to eliminate this radicalism and compromise with ordinary living. They try to serve two masters (Matt. 6:24), accommodating themselves to a comfortable but compromised life, divided between God and the pleasures of the world. They do not like to hear Jesus’ radical teaching that we have to renounce a worldly life to be his disciples. But Jesus’ call is clear. “If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple … So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26, 33). There is more than one way of doing this, but to try to follow Jesus without this radicalism and renunciation is to misunderstand his call. Many today would like to remove asceticism from Jesus’ message. They want to be his followers in everything but this. There are even those who would like to remove asceticism from monastic and eremitic life. Yet asceticism is the foundation for mysticism and contemplation. Renunciation of the world and its delights is the first step, the foundation upon which everything else is built. This is how one loves God with all his heart, with an undivided heart. Without this sacrifice, this first step, it is impossible to serve only one master (Matt. 6:24) and love God with all one’s heart, mind, soul, and strength (Mark 12:30). Nowadays this is the message most people need to hear, for most have rejected it, and so they are building their house on sand. They lack a foundation. We need to remember what The Imitation of Christ is constantly saying: “The more you withdraw yourself from the consolation of all creatures, the sweeter and more blessed consolations you will receive from your Creator” (3.12.5).

Ascetical Homilies

                             Does Fun Have a Place in a Hermit’s Life?
 When recently asked whether fun has a place in a hermit’s life, I had an immediate negative reaction until I remembered the saying of monastic wisdom that if you keep a bow always taut, you will ruin it. If a hermit is always tense, he will ruin his health. This is part of the story about a visitor to the desert who found a famous anchorite talking to his pet parrot and was scandalized that he took the time for such frivolous recreation. The famous monk then told his visitor about the taut bow. Yes, we do need some recreation in our lives even though we are trying to live a hermit life. Carthusians have a weekly hike in the woods with conversation and a Sunday afternoon recreation for conversation. We need time for conversation with others, perhaps around a daily or weekly meal. I have only one meal per day at noon, but I take it with the other retired priests and brothers who live with me in this retirement residence of my order. I look forward to eating and sharing with them in conversation. It refreshes me and renews my spirit, for I spend the rest of my day in solitude. It is also a time for me to love Christ in others. We also need some physical exercise, so I take a daily twenty-minute walk by myself—in all seasons—around our beautiful grounds. Other than that, though, to be perfectly honest, I avoid recreation and worldly fun for the sake of the joy and peace of Christ that I find when I purify my heart and senses from worldly distractions and pleasures such as Television, movies, radio, secular music, DVD’s, videos, novels, and the delicacies of the table. I eat only plain food without meat, seasoning, or oil, without sauces, nothing fried, and nothing made of white flour, white rice, sugar, or artificial sweeteners. Except for meat, these are mostly things designed primarily to give pleasure, with little or no nutritional value. In fact, they are usually harmful to your health, for the most nutritious part is removed to give greater pleasure at the expense of nourishment (e.g. white bread, white rice, cakes, cookies, etc.). It is my belief that by thus reducing unnecessary pleasure, we are able to have a more undivided heart in our love of God, and thus come to experience him more profoundly in the great peace and joy he gives. To me, it is foolish to jeopardize this greater peace and joy of spirit—the reason for which I am trying to live a hermit life—by pursuing worldly fun. To the degree that we can sacrifice worldly pleasure, to that degree we are normally more able to enter into the deep spiritual joy and peace of Christ with an undivided heart and love him with all our heart, which is Jesus’s first commandment (Mark 12:30). Thus we have to lose our life in a worldly sense in order to save it in a deeper spiritual sense (Mark 8:35; John 12:25). We must renounce the things of the world to obtain the buried treasure and the pearl of great price (Matt. 13:44-46). We are to serve but one master only, not God and mammon (Matt. 6:24), and we are to have only one treasure (Matt. 6:19-21). We are to be crucified with Christ to the world (Gal. 6:14), and this means to be crucified to a life of worldly pleasure. Since we have been raised with  Christ, we are to seek the things that are above, where Christ is, not the things of the earth (Col 3:1-2). We are not to be like the rich surrounded by their pleasures, whom Jesus curses as already having received their reward. “Woe to you that are rich, for you have already received your reward” (Luke 6:24). Those who live surrounded by pleasures are like the seeds that “fell among the thorns. They are those who hear, but … they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature” (Luke 8:14). Instead of the broad and easy path of the many that leads to destruction, we are to take the narrow and difficult path of life (Matt. 7:13-14).

THE OBJECTIVE SUPERIORITY OF THE CONSECRATED LIFE IN THE CHURCH’S MAGISTERIUM

FAMILARIS CONSORTIO, 16, Apostolic exhortation of Pope John Paul II Virginity or celibacy, by liberating the human heart in a unique way, “so as to make it burn with greater love for God and all humanity,” bears witness that the Kingdom of God and His justice is that pearl of great price which is preferred to every other value no matter how great, and hence must be sought as the only definitive value. It is for this reason that the Church, throughout her history, has always defended the superiority of this charism to that of marriage, by reason of the wholly singular link which it has with the Kingdom of God. In spite of having renounced physical fecundity, the celibate person becomes spiritually fruitful, the father and mother of many, cooperating in the realization of the family according to God's plan. VITA CONSECRATA, 18; 32, Apostolic exhortation of Pope John Paul II In the countenance of Jesus, the “image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15) and the reflection of the Father's glory (cf. Heb 1:3), we glimpse the depths of an eternal and infinite love which is at the very root of our being. Those who let themselves be seized by this love cannot help abandoning everything to follow him (cf. Mk 1:16-20; 2:14; 10:21, 28). Like Saint Paul, they consider all else as loss “because of the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ”, by comparison with which they do not hesitate to count all things as “refuse”, in order that they “may gain Christ” (Phil 3:8). They strive to become one with him, taking on his mind and his way of life. This leaving of everything and following the Lord (cf. Lk 18:28) is a worthy programme of life for all whom he calls, in every age. The evangelical counsels, by which Christ invites some people to share his experience as the chaste, poor and obedient One, call for and make manifest in those who accept them an explicit desire to be totally conformed to him. Living “in obedience, with nothing of one's own and in chastity,” consecrated persons profess that Jesus is the model in whom every virtue comes to perfection. His way of living in chastity, poverty and obedience appears as the most radical way of living the Gospel on this earth, a way which may be called divine, for it was embraced by him, God and man, as the expression of his relationship as the Only-Begotten Son with the Father and with 2 the Holy Spirit. This is why Christian tradition has always spoken of the objective superiority of the consecrated life. Nor can it be denied that the practice of the evangelical counsels is also a particularly profound and fruitful way of sharing in Christ's mission, in imitation of the example of Mary of Nazareth, the first disciple, who willingly put herself at the service of God's plan by the total gift of self. Every mission begins with the attitude expressed by Mary at the Annunciation: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). (Pope John Paul II, Vita Consecrata, 18) 32. Within this harmonious constellation of gifts, each of the fundamental states of life is entrusted with the task of expressing, in its own way, one or other aspect of the one mystery of Christ. While the lay life has a particular mission of ensuring that the Gospel message is proclaimed in the temporal sphere, in the sphere of ecclesial communion an indispensable ministry is carried out by those in Holy Orders, and in a special way by Bishops. The latter have the task of guiding the People of God by the teaching of the word, the administration of the sacraments and the exercise of sacred power in the service of ecclesial communion, which is an organic communion, hierarchically structured.As a way of showing forth the Church's holiness, it is to be recognized that the consecrated life, which mirrors Christ's own way of life, has an objective superiority. Precisely for this reason, it is an especially rich manifestation of Gospel values and a more complete expression of the Church's purpose, which is the sanctification of humanity. The consecrated life proclaims and in a certain way anticipates the future age, when the fullness of the Kingdom of heaven, already present in its first fruits and in mystery, will be achieved, and when the children of the resurrection will take neither wife nor husband, but will be like the angels of God (cf. Mt 22:30). The Church has always taught the preeminence of perfect chastity for the sake of the Kingdom, and rightly considers it the “door” of the whole consecrated life. She also shows great esteem for the vocation to marriage, which makes spouses “witnesses to and cooperators in the fruitfulness of Holy Mother Church, who signify and share in the love with which Christ has loved his Bride and because of which he delivered himself up on her behalf” (Pope John Paul II, Vita Consecrata, 32). OPTATAM TOTIUS, 10, Vat. II, decree on priestly training 10. Students who follow the venerable tradition of celibacy according to the holy and fixed laws of their own rite are to be educated to this state with great care. For renouncing thereby the companionship of marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven (cf. Matt. 19:12), they embrace the Lord with an undivided love altogether befitting the new covenant, bear witness to the resurrection of the world to come (cf. Luke 20:36), and obtain a most suitable aid for the continual exercise of that perfect charity whereby they can become all things to all men in their priestly ministry. Let them deeply realize how gratefully that state ought to be received, not, indeed, only as commanded by ecclesiastical law, but as a precious gift of God for which they should humbly pray. 3 Through the inspiration and help of the grace of the Holy Spirit let them freely and generously hasten to respond to this gift. Students ought rightly to acknowledge the duties and dignity of Christian matrimony, which is a sign of the love between Christ and the Church. Let them recognize, however, the surpassing excellence of virginity consecrated to Christ, so that with a maturely deliberate and generous choice they may consecrate themselves to the Lord by a complete gift of body and soul. They are to be warned of the dangers that threaten their chastity especially in present-day society. Aided by suitable safeguards, both divine and human, let them learn to integrate their renunciation of marriage in such a way that they may suffer in their lives and work not only no harm from celibacy but rather acquire a deeper mastery of soul and body and a fuller maturity, and more perfectly receive the blessedness spoken of in the Gospel. PRESBYTERORUM ORDINIS, 16, Vat. II, decree on the ministry and life of priests: 16. (Celibacy is to be embraced and esteemed as a gift). Perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, commended by Christ the Lord and through the course of time as well as in our own days freely accepted and observed in a praiseworthy manner by many of the faithful, is held by the Church to be of great value in a special manner for the priestly life. It is at the same time a sign and a stimulus for pastoral charity and a special source of spiritual fecundity in the world. Indeed, it is not demanded by the very nature of the priesthood, as is apparent from the practice of the early Church and from the traditions of the Eastern Churches. where, besides those who with all the bishops, by a gift of grace, choose to observe celibacy, there are also married priests of highest merit. This holy synod, while it commends ecclesiastical celibacy, in no way intends to alter that different discipline which legitimately flourishes in the Eastern Churches. It permanently exhorts all those who have received the priesthood and marriage to persevere in their holy vocation so that they may fully and generously continue to expend themselves for the sake of the flock commended to them. Indeed, celibacy has a many-faceted suitability for the priesthood. For the whole priestly mission is dedicated to the service of a new humanity which Christ, the victor over death, has aroused through his Spirit in the world and which has its origin “not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man but of God” (Jn 1:13). Through virginity, then, or celibacy observed for the Kingdom of Heaven, priests are consecrated to Christ by a new and exceptional reason. They adhere to him more easily with an undivided heart, they dedicate themselves more freely in him and through him to the service of God and men, and they more expeditiously minister to his Kingdom and the work of heavenly regeneration, and thus they are apt to accept, in a broad sense, paternity in Christ. In this way they profess themselves before men as willing to be dedicated to the office committed to them-namely, to commit themselves faithfully to one man and to show themselves as a chaste virgin for Christ and thus to evoke the mysterious marriage 4 established by Christ, and fully to be manifested in the future, in which the Church has Christ as her only Spouse. They give, moreover, a living sign of the world to come, by a faith and charity already made present, in which the children of the resurrection neither marry nor take wives. For these reasons, based on the mystery of Christ and his mission, celibacy, which first was recommended to priests, later in the Latin Church was imposed upon all who were to be promoted to sacred orders. This legislation, pertaining to those who are destined for the priesthood, this holy synod again approves and confirms, fully trusting this gift of the Spirit so fitting for the priesthood of the New Testament, freely given by the Father, provided that those who participate in the priesthood of Christ through the sacrament of Orders-and also the whole Church-humbly and fervently pray for it. This sacred synod also exhorts all priests who, in following the example of Christ, freely receive sacred celibacy as a grace of God, that they magnanimously and wholeheartedly adhere to it, and that persevering faithfully in it, they may acknowledge this outstanding gift of the Father which is so openly praised and extolled by the Lord. Let them keep before their eyes the great mysteries signified by it and fulfilled in it. Insofar as perfect continence is thought by many men to be impossible in our times, to that extent priests should all the more humbly and steadfastly pray with the Church for that grace of fidelity, which is never denied those who seek it, and use all the supernatural and natural aids available. They should especially seek, lest they omit them, the ascetical norms which have been proved by the experience of the Church and which are scarcely less necessary in the contemporary world. This holy synod asks not only priests but all the faithful that they might receive this precious gift of priestly celibacy in their hearts and ask of God that he will always bestow this gift upon his Church. LUMEN GENTIUM, chap. 5, par. 42, Vatican II, decree on the Church Likewise, the holiness of the Church is fostered in a special way by the observance of the counsels proposed in the Gospel by Our Lord to His disciples. An eminent position among these is held by virginity or the celibate state. This is a precious gift of divine grace given by the Father to certain souls, whereby they may devote themselves to God alone the more easily, due to an undivided heart. This perfect continency, out of desire for the kingdom of heaven, has always been held in particular honor in the Church. The reason for this was and is that perfect continency for the love of God is an incentive to charity, and is certainly a particular source of spiritual fecundity in the world. 5 SACERDOTALIS COELIBATUS, 20-23, Pope Paul VI, encyclical on priestly celibacy Matrimony and Celibacy 20. Matrimony, according to the will of God, continues the work of the first creation; and considered within the total plan of salvation, it even acquired a new meaning and a new value. Jesus, in fact, has restored its original dignity, has honored it and has raised it to the dignity of a sacrament and of a mysterious symbol of His own union with the Church. Thus, Christian couples walk together toward their heavenly fatherland in the exercise of mutual love, in the fulfillment of their particular obligations, and in striving for the sanctity proper to them. But Christ, “Mediator of a superior covenant,” has also opened a new way, in which the human creature adheres wholly and directly to the Lord, and is concerned only with Him and with His affairs; thus, he manifests in a clearer and more complete way the profoundly transforming reality of the New Testament. Christ's Example 21. Christ, the only Son of the Father, by the power of the Incarnation itself was made Mediator between heaven and earth, between the Father and the human race. Wholly in accord with this mission, Christ remained throughout His whole life in the state of celibacy, which signified His total dedication to the service of God and men. This deep concern between celibacy and the priesthood of Christ is reflected in those whose fortune it is to share in the dignity and mission of the Mediator and eternal Priest; this sharing will be more perfect the freer the sacred minister is from the bonds of flesh and blood. The Motive for Celibacy 22. Jesus, who selected the first ministers of salvation, wished them to be introduced to the understanding of the “mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,” but He also wished them to be coworkers with God under a very special title, and His ambassadors. He called them friends and brethren, for whom He consecrated Himself so that they might be consecrated in truth; He promised a more than abundant recompense to anyone who should leave home, family, wife and children for the sake of the kingdom of God. More than this, in words filled with mystery and hope, He also commended an even more perfect consecration to the kingdom of heaven by means of celibacy, as a special gift. The motive of this response to the divine call is the kingdom of heaven; similarly, this very kingdom, the Gospel and the name of Christ motivate those called by Jesus to undertake the work of the apostolate, freely accepting its burdens, that they may participate the more closely in His lot. 23. To them this is the mystery of the newness of Christ, of all that He is and stands for; it is the sum of the highest ideals of the Gospel and of the kingdom; it is a particular manifestation of grace, which springs from the Paschal mystery of the Savior. This is what makes the choice of celibacy desirable and worthwhile to those called by our Lord 6 Jesus. Thus they intend not only to participate in His priestly office, but also to share with Him His very condition of living.

The Millennium and the New Earth

This is our ultimate hope. After the end of our present world, God will create a new heavens and a new earth. St. Peter tells us that “according to his promise we wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13). This will happen after the destruction by fire of the present heavens and earth, as St. Peter affirms, saying, “The day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up” (2 Pet. 3:10). St. John had a vision of this new heavens and new earth and said, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more” (Rev. 21:1). When he saw this, he also saw the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven. This is our final eternal state where we will live forever with God after our resurrection. John said, “I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God” (Rev. 21:2). The prophets often mix as a single event things which in reality are distinct and separated by many years. Isaiah does this here. He begins by speaking of the new heavens and the new earth, and then he speaks of the millennial earth (which precedes the new earth), saying that in that day someone who dies a hundred years old will be regarded as only a child or as someone who was cursed (Isa. 65:20), and that “they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit” (Isa. 65:21). In the eternal state, there will be no death at all nor will we need to plant or eat anything. This time of longevity and abundant food is a description not of the new earth (that is, the eternal state) but rather of the millennial earth. St. John says that after Christ’s second coming (Rev. 19:11-21), he will reign with the saints and martyrs upon the earth for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4) while Satan will be bound and sealed in a deep pit (Rev. 20:1-3, 7). After the millennium, the eternal state will be established—that is, the new heavens and the new earth; and the new Jerusalem will come down from heaven (Rev. 21:1-2, 10). It is during the millennium that we are to understand the prophecy of Isaiah that “the wolf and the lamb shall feed together, [and] the lion shall eat straw like the ox” (Isa 65:25). On that day, says Isaiah, “be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy” (Isa. 65:18). The conditions of Eden will then return when all creatures will once again eat only plants (Gen. 1:30), and all carnivorous animals will become peaceful and friendly to man and to each other (Isa. 11:6-9). For that day and that time we now hope, a time of glory and righteousness and great changes upon the earth, a time of splendor and light. Christ will reign in glory among us, and Satan will have no more power over us—he will be bound and sealed in a pit so that he can tempt us no more (Rev. 20:1-3). At that time, perhaps those who are resurrected will live already in the new Jerusalem, which has not yet come down upon the earth; but in any case, they will live in glory and light with Christ for a thousand years and in some way be associated with Christ’s millennial kingdom of righteousness on earth.

SIN, REBUKE, REPENTANCE, AND FORGIVENESS

Scripture quotations are from the RSV unless otherwise noted.

"And he said to his disciples, ‘Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin'" (Luke 17:1-2).

Jesus warns us today of the wickedness of causing others to sin. This is such a serious evil that Jesus says that it would be better if such a person were killed than that he should live and cause others to sin. It would be better "if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin" (Luke 17:2).

So serious is temptation that not only would it be better for the one who causes it to be drowned, but even if our own eye causes us to sin by what we see, we should pluck it out, for it is better to get to heaven missing an eye than to go to hell with both eyes. "Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the man by whom the temptation comes! ... If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire" (Matthew 18:7, 9).

What kind of temptation and what kind of sin is Jesus talking about? In another context Jesus mentions adultery of the heart in connection with plucking out our eye. "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell'" (Matthew 5:27-29).

So serious does Jesus consider adultery of the heart that he says that the strongest measures must be taken to prevent it, and the greatest sacrifices must be made to avoid it. He even recommends plucking out the offending eye and cutting off the offending hand, a hyperbolic expression meaning that no sacrifice is too great to make if it will keep us from falling into this sin.

Basically there are two sources that Jesus mentions that bring us this temptation: 1) other people, and 2) ourselves. Other people cause us to commit adultery of the heart by the way they dress and present themselves. Jesus says that it would be better if people who do this be drowned. Then we ourselves, by looking at these people, are the other cause leading us to commit this sin. The solution to that problem is to pluck out your eye so that you can't see them; that is, stop looking at them.

We see that Jesus is very strict and serious about sin. Why? Because sin separates us from God, our lifeblood, the source of all our life and happiness, and it will ultimately send us to hell, and prevent us from realizing the purpose for which we were created. This is what sin does to us. We should therefore make great sacrifices to avoid temptations to sin. Certainly plucking out an eye or cutting off a hand is a great sacrifice. Although Jesus doesn't want us to actually pluck out our eye or cut off our hand, he does want us to resolutely turn our back on temptations to sin, on occasions that divide our heart from an undivided love of the Lord alone.

How do we deal with other people's sins against us? We should rebuke them for their sin. This will help them to see that they have sinned and need to repent; and then if they repent, we are to forgive them. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him; and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, and says, ‘I repent,' you must forgive him" (Luke 17:3-4). This is the logic of the gospel: sin, rebuke, repentance, and forgiveness. This we must do in our own personal life as well as in our pastoral ministry.

This is also the way God deals with us when we sin. His word and his voice in our conscience rebuke us for our sin, and we feel guilty and depressed because we have sinned and soiled our beautiful relationship with God - even in small sins. We have dimmed or extinguished the splendor of God's righteousness in us, reckoned to us because of our faith in Christ.

This leads us to repent in sorrow for our sin before God and beg his forgiveness, especially within the sacrament of reconciliation, which Christ has given us for this purpose (John 20:23). When we repent we are to entrust ourselves to the reparation-making merits of Christ's vicarious death on the cross to atone for our sins, propitiating God's righteous wrath against us for them by expiating them in his death, whereby he bore and suffered our punishment for them to set us free from it, acquitted, and declared righteous by God, thus reconciling us with him. Thus do we receive God's forgiveness, and his glorious righteousness is restored to us.

So we have gone from sin to rebuke to repentance to forgiveness. We need all these steps. We cannot leave out repentance. Someone who has no intention whatsoever of stopping committing his sin, cannot expect to receive forgiveness from God. It is false mercy and deception to tell people otherwise just to make them feel good and welcome in the Church.

If someone is living in a publicly proclaimed open state of constant mortal sin, he can only be given forgiveness and sacramental absolution if he first repents and stops committing this sin. "Christ died for our sins" (1 Corinthians 15:3) so that we could be forgiven in all justice and declared righteous by God; but for this to happen, we must put our trusting faith in him and repent of our sin by stopping committing it. When we stop committing this sin and repent, our faith is counted to us as righteousness, and God reckons his own perfect righteousness to us, blotting out our sin and forgiving us. God the judge pronounces us righteous, because of what Christ did for us on the cross, when we put our faith in him, repenting of our sin and promising to amend our life.

This is how God justly forgives our sins and makes us righteous in his sight. Those who have not stopped committing their sin and have no intention whatsoever of amending their life have not truly repented and no justification or forgiveness takes place in them. They remain in their sin, by their own free choice. Therefore sacramental absolution cannot be given to them nor may they receive the Eucharist, as long as they obstinately persist in grave and publicly proclaimed sin.

An Enemy of Everlasting Life (Full Episode)

Episode => An Enemy of Everlasting Life

    Happiness on earth—nearly everyone wants it. Then why are so many unhappy? What is wrong? Since almost everybody wants peace, why do nations go to war and why do people hate one another? Is there some guiding force that moves them to do bad things? Could it be that a common invisible power controls the nations?

        Many have wondered about this when they have considered the terrible cruelty of mankind—the fearful gases used in warfare to choke and burn persons to death, as well as the napalm bombs and the atomic bombs. Also, consider the flamethrower, the concentration camps, the mass murder of millions of helpless people, such as in Cambodia in recent years. Do you think that all these evils simply happened by chance? While man is capable on his own of committing terrible deeds, when you consider the wickedness of his acts, does it not seem that he has been influenced by an evil, invisible power?

        There is no need to guess at the matter. The Bible clearly shows that an intelligent unseen person has been controlling both men and nations to do bad deeds. In the Bible, Jesus Christ calls this powerful one “the ruler of this world.” 

         To help us to find out who he is, think about what happened at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry here on earth. The Bible tells us that after Jesus was baptized he went into the wilderness where he was tempted by an unseen creature called Satan the Devil. Part of that tempting is described this way: “Again the Devil took him along to an unusually high mountain, and showed him all the kingdom of the world and their glory, and he said to him: ‘all these things I will give you if you fall down and do an act of worship to me.’ “—Matthew 4:8, 9.

          Think about what the Devil offered Jesus Christ. It was “all the kingdom of the world.” Did all these world government really belong to the Devil? Yes, for how else could he have offered them to Jesus? Jesus did not deny that they were Satan’s world government, which he would have done if Satan did not own them. Satan is really the unseen ruler of all nations of the world! The Bible plainly says: “the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked ones.” (1 John 5:19) God’s Word, in fact, calls Satan “the god of this system of things.”—2 Corinthians 4:4

         This information helps us to understand why Jesus said: “my kingdom is no part of this world.” (John 18:36) it also helps us to understand why nations hate and try to destroy one another when it is the desire of all normal persons to live at peace. Yes, “Satan . . . is misleading the entire inhabited earth.” (Revelation 12:9) He would like mislead us too. He does not want us to receive God’s gift of everlasting life. So we have to fight to keep from being influenced by Satan to do what is bad. (Ephesians 6:12) We need to know about Satan and how he works in order to resist his efforts to mislead us.

    Episode 2 => Who the Devil is

    Satan the Devil is real person. He is not merely the evil in all mankind, as some person may believe. Of course, humans cannot see the Devil, for same reason they cannot see God. Both God and Devil are spirit persons, humans cannot see the Devil, for the same reason that they cannot see God. Both God and the Devil are spirit are spirit persons, forms of life higher than humans and unseen to our eyes.—John 4:24.

        ‘But if God is love,’ someone may ask, ‘why did he make the Devil?’ (1 John 4:8) The fact is, God did not create the Devil. ‘Yet if God created everyone,’ a person may say, ‘he must have created the Devil. Who else could have? Where did the Devil come from?’

         The Bible explains that God created many, many spirit person similar to himself. In the Bible, these spirits are called angels. Also they are called “sons of God.” (Job 38:7; Psalm 104:3; Hebrews 1:7, 13, 14) God created them all perfect. Not one of them was a Devil, or a Satan. The word “devil” means slanderer and the word “Satan” means opposer.

        The time came, however, when one of these spirit sons of God[angels] made himself  Devil, that is, a hateful liar who speaks bad things about another. He also made himself Satan, that is, an opposer of God. He was not created that way, but later became that kind of person. To illustrate: a thief is not born a thief. He may have come from a good family, having honest parents and law-abiding brothers and sisters. But his own desire for what money can buy is what may caused him to become a thief, just as Devil was not created a “Devil”. How, then, did one of God’s spirit sons make himself Satan the Devil?

       The angel that became the Devil was present when God created the earth and later the first human couple, Adam and Eve. (Job 38:4, 7) so he would have heard God tell them to have children. (Genesis 1:27, 28) He knew that after a while the whole earth would be filled with righteous people worshipping God. That was God purpose. However, this angel thought a great deal of his own beauty and intelligence and wanted to receive for himself the worship that would be given to God. (Ezekiel 28:13-15; Matthew 4:10) Instead of putting this wrong desire out of his mind, he kept thinking about it. This led to his taking action to obtain the honor and importance he desired. What did he do?—James 1:14, 15.

      The rebellious angel used a lowly serpent to speak to the first woman, Eve. He did this much as a skilled person can make it seem as if a nearby animal or a dummy figure is talking. But it was really this rebellious angel, the one called in the “the original serpent,” who was speaking to Eve. (Revelation 12:9) He said that God was not telling her the truth, and was holding back from her knowledge that she should have. (Genesis 3:1-5) this was a hateful lie and it made him a Devil. He thus became an oppose of God, or a Satan. As you can see, it is wrong to think of the Devil as a creature with horns and a pitchfork who oversees some underground place of torment. He is really a very powerful, but wicked, angel.

   Episode 3=> Source of World Trouble

       The lie the devil told Eve just worked as he planned. She believed it and disobeyed God. And she was able to get her husband to break God’s law also. (Genesis 3:6) The Devil’s claim was that humans can get along without God. He argued that people can rule themselves successfully, without God’s help. The Devil also claimed that he could turn away from God’s help. The Devil also claimed that he could turn away from God all those who would be the offspring of Adam and Eve.

       Of course, God could have destroyed Satan right away. But that would not have answered the question that Satan had raised, question that could stay in the minds of the angels who were watching. So God allowed time for Satan to try to prove his claims. With what results?

       The passage of time has proved that humans cannot rule themselves successfully without God’s help. Their attempts have failed completely. The people have suffered terribly under the governments of men, which, as the scriptures shows, have been controlled from behind the scenes by Devil. Also, God’s allowing time has clearly shown that Satan has not been able to turn all persons away from worshiping God. There have always been some who have remained faithful to God’s rulership. You can read in the bible, for example, that Satan tried, without success, to stop Job from serving God.—Job 1:6-12.

        Thus the claims of Devil have been proved false. He most certainly deserves destruction for having started a wicked rebellion against God. Happily, we have reached time for God to bring Satan’s rule to an End. Describing the first step in doing this, the bible tells of an important battle in heaven, which, of course, was not seen or heard by people on earth. Read carefully the following bible account:

        “War broke out in heaven: Michael [who is resurrected Jesus Christ] and his angels battled with the dragon, and the dragon and its angels battled but it did not prevail, neither was a place found for them any longer in Heaven. So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called the Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth and his angel were hurled down with him. ‘On this account be glad, you heaven and you who reside in them! Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time.’”—Revelation 12:7-9, 12.

          Since Satan knows his “short period of time” is about up, he is trying harder than ever before to keep persons from serving God. He wants to take as many persons as he can down into destruction with him. With Good reason the Bible describes him as a roaring lion that is looking for someone to eat. (1 Peter 5:8, 9) if we do not want to be caught by Him we need to learn how he attacks and also the ways in which he mislead people.—2 Corinthians 2:11.

  

    pls, watchout for another series

Jesus Christ-- Sent by God? (Full Episoode)

Episode 1 => Sent by God?

     Nearly everyone toady has heard of Jesus Christ. His influence on history has been greater than that of any other human. Indeed, the very calendar used in the most part of the world is based on the year he is thought to have been born! As the world book Encyclopedia says. “Dates before that year are listed as B.C., or before Christ. Dates after that years are listed as A.D., or Anno Domini (in the year of our lord).”

      So Jesus was not an imaginary person. He really lived as a man on earth. “in ancient time even the opponents of Christ never doubt the [actual existence] of Jesus,” notes the Encyclopedia Britannica. So just who was Jesus? Was he really sent by God? Why is he so well known?

   Episode 2 => Why He Came to the Earth

       Explaining why he had come to earth, Jesus told the roman governor Pontius Pilate: “for this I have been born and for this [purpose] I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.” (John 18:37) but what particular truth was Jesus sent to the earth to make known?  First, truths about his heavenly Father. He taught his follower to pray that his father name is “hallowed,” or held only. (Matthew 6:9, King James Version) and he prayed: “I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me.” (John 17:6)  Also, he said: “I must declare the good news of the kingdom of God, because for this I was sent forth.”—Luke 4:43.

        How important to Jesus was this work of making known his Father’s name and kingdom? He said to his disciples: “my food is for me to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.” (John 4:34)  Why did Jesus consider God’s to be as important as food? It was because the kingdom of heaven is the means by which God will fulfill his wonderful purposes for humankind. It is this kingdom that will destroy all wickedness and will clear Jehovah’s name of the reproach that has been brought upon it. (Daniel 2:44; Revelation 21:3, 4) so Jesus never held back from making God’s name and kingdom known. (Matthew 4:17; Luke 8:1; John 17:26; Hebrews 2:12) He always spoke the truth, whether it was popular or not. He thus provided an example that we should follow if we want to please God.—1 Peter 2:21.

        Yet, to make it possible for us to gain everlasting life under the rule of God’s kingdom, Jesus had to pour out his lifeblood in death. As two apostles of Jesus said: “We have been declared righteous now by his Blood.” “The blood of Jesus [God’s son] cleanses us from all sin.” (Roman 5:9; 1 John 1:7) so an important reason why Jesus came to earth was to die for us. He said: “The son of man came, not to be ministered to, but to minister and to give his soul [or, life] a ransom in exchange for many.” (Matthew 20:28).  

    Final Episode => Why Jesus Performed Miracles

      Jesus is well known for the miracle he performed. He had deep feeling for people who are in trouble, he was eager to use his God-given power to help them. For example, a person with the terrible diseases leprosy came to him and said: “if you just want to, you can make me clean.” Jesus “was moved with pity, and he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him: ‘I want to. Be made clean.’ ” and the sick man was healed!—Mark 1:40-42

       Consider another bible scene, and imagine Jesus’ tender feeling for the people described: “then great crowds approached him, having along with them people that were lame, maimed, blind, dumb, dumb, and many otherwise, and they fairly threw them at his feet, and he cured them; so that the crowd the crowd felt amazement as they the dumb speaking and the lame walking and the blind seeing, and they glorified the God of Israel.”—Matthew 15:30, 31.

        That Jesus really cared about these suffering persons and truly wanted to help them can be seen by what he next told his disciples. He said: “I feel pity for the crowd, because it is already three days that they have stayed with me and they have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away fasting. They may possibly give out on the road.” So Jesus, with just seven loaves and a few little fish, miraculously fed the “four thousand men, besides women and young children.”—Matthew 15:32-38.

        Yet the miracles Jesus performed were of only temporary benefit. People that he healed developed physical problems again. And those he resurrected from death later died again. But Jesus’ miracles proved that he was sent forth by God, that he was really God’s son. And they proved that, with God’s power, all human problem can be solved. Yes, they showed on small scale what will take place on earth under the kingdom of God. At that time the hungry will be fed, the dead will raised! And never again will sickness, death or any other troubles cause unhappiness. What a blessing that will be!—Revelation 21:3, 4;   Matthew 11:4, 5. 

Pls, watch out for another series

IS THE BIBLE REALLY FROM GOD? (Full Episode)

EPISODE 1 => IS THE BIBLE REALLY FROM GOD?

     HAS JEVOHAH GOD given us an information about himself? Has he told us whwt he done and what he purpose to do? A father who loves his children tells many things. And from what we have seen, Jevohah is indeed a loving father.

           How could Jehovah give information to human living in many parts of the earth and in different period of time? A fine way would be for him to have a book written and then see to it that it was made available to all. Is the bible such a book from God? How can we know if it is?

   EPISODE 2 => HOW THE BIBLE WAS WRITTEN

    ‘Yet how could the bible be from God when it was written by men?’ you may ask. True, about 40 men shared in writing the bible. The men did the actual writing of bible with the exception of the Ten Commandments, which  were written personally by God on stone tablet by the direct action of his holy spirit. (Exodus 31:18). However, this does not make what they wrote any less the word of God. The bible explains: “men spoke from God as they were born along by the holy spirit,”(2 peter 1:21). Yes, just as God used his powerful holy spirit to create the heavens, The earth and all living things, he also used it to direct the writing of the Bible.

       This means the bible has only one author, Jehovah God. He used men to write the information down, much as a businessman uses a secretary writes the letter. The secretary writes the letter, but the letter contains the ideas and thought of a businessman. So it is the businessman letter not the secretary’s,  even as the Bible is God’s book not the book of the men who were used to writes it. 

          Since God created the mind, he surely didn’t find it hard to get in touch with minds of his servants to provide them the information to write. Even today a person can sit in his home and receive messages from faraway place through the means of a radio or a television set. The voices or pictures travels over a long distance by the use of physical laws created by God. It is, therefore, easy to understand that Jehovah, from his place faraway in heavens, could direct men to write down the information that he wanted the human family to know.

      The result has been a marvelous Book. Actually, the bible is made up of 66 little books. The Greek word biblia, from which the word “Bible” comes, means “little books.”  These books, or letters, were over a period of 1600 years, from 1513 B.C.E. to 98 C.E. Yet, because of having just one author, all these bible books are in harmony with one another. The same theme runs throughout the whole, namely, that Jehovah God will bring back righteous conditions by his kingdom. The first book, genesis, tells how a paradise home was lost because of rebellion against God, and the last book, Revelation, describes how the earth will be made a paradise again by God’s rule—Genesis 3:19, 23. 

     FINAL EPISODE => IS THE BIBLE REALLY TRUE?

     Jesus Christ said in prayer to God: “your word is truth.” (john 17:17). But do the facts supports this? When the bible is carefully examined, do we find that it really is the truth? Students of history who have atudied the bible are often amazed at its accuracy. The bible contains specific names and details that can be confirmed. Consider some examples.

      Look at the pictures and writing on the temple wall at karnak, Egypt.

They tells of the victory, almost 3000 years ago, of pharaoh shishak over the kingdom of Judah during the rule of solomon’s son Rehoboam. The Bible tells about the same event.—1 kings 14:25, 26. 

      Look also at Moabite Stone.

The original can be seen in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. The writings tells of the rebellion by king Mesha of Moab against Israel. This event Is also reported by the Bible—2 kings 1:1;    3:4-27

      Yet the bible does not only contain only true history. Everything it says is true. Even when it touches the matter of science, it is marvelously accurate. To give just two examples: in ancient times it was commonly believed that the earth had some visible support, that is rested on something, such as on gaint. Yet in perfect agreement with scientific evidence, the bible reports that God is “hanging the earth upon nothing.”(Job 26:7)  And rather than saying that the earth is flat, as many believed in the past, the bible says that God “is dwelling above the circle of the earth.”—Isaiah 40:22. But the greatest proof that the bible really is from God is its perfect record in foretelling the future. No book by men accurately reports history before it happens; yet the bible does. It is filled with accurate prophecies , yes, of history actually written in advance. Some of the most remarkable of these are the regarding the coming to earth of God’s Son.      

    Pls, watch out for another series