The Internal Testimony And Illumination Of The Holy Spirit

First Chapter Of Westminster Confession Of Faith

“The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man, or church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.

We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the church to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture. And the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is, to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man’s salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God: yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.”

Over the years, I have studied on the amazing fulfillment of prophecies, the correlation of science with the content and doctrine of Scripture, and the astonishing unity and consistency of Scripture.  Though all these had helped me to a higher and more reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture, I have noticed that all such knowledge do not necessarily lead one to believe the Holy Scripture to be the infallible Word of God. Unless God the Spirit helps to bear witness to one’s spirit that it is God Himself speaking through the Word.

As we live out our faith,  we will surely notice that the faith of those with tremendous knowledge on apologetics does not necessarily tower over those who do not know much persuasive arguments. That is amazing grace.  The Holy Spirit will bear witness with our spirit that the Holy Scripture is the infallible Word of God and will also illuminate it for our understanding. 1 Cor 2:9-11.  If my dad called me over the phone and said,”Hi, son…”, I could immediately recognize his voice though anyone could have said such on the other line.  The sheep of our Lord Jesus will surely recognize the voice of their Master and have no doubt their Master is the One speaking.

He will help us to understand the Bible as some passages are difficult and to apply the contained truths in our lives.

 

 

Self Sustaining Agricultural Enterprise Ministry

Since the completion of the initial pilot programs of training some pastors to have self sustaining agricultural enterprise conducted by Alfa Omega Ministry,  JC’s Manifesto is pleased to continue this program to train another 4 Myanmese pastors this month.

The training costs of Pastor Awm Ha Awm, Pastor Om,  Pastor Tam and Pastor Aung were kindly sponsored by their host, Brother Arnold and his fellowship group.

They will be trained in organic chicken rearing and making of fertilizer from chicken waste in particular.

All thanks and honor to our Lord Jesus.  May our good Lord bless their hands when they return back to Myanmar after the training.

The Impending Euro-zone Financial Crisis

The following article gives an easy-to-understand explanation of the impending financial crisis faced by the Eurozone without any solution in sight.

As we have witnessed in the last six or seven years,  Greece has received up to 4 bailouts.  The next few debtor nations – Italy, Spain and Portugal – have bigger debt problems than Greece which will similarly threaten the collapse of the euro.

Unless these debts are forgiven, the bailouts of all these debtor nations will continue unabated. And it will not be possible to continue such bailouts without any repercussion.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-05-30/why-eurozone-and-euro-are-both-doomed

 

Apparent Bible Difficulties

Matt 22:29
But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.”

The Sadducees came with a question to Jesus our Lord intending to make certain doctrines in the Bible look silly. But our Lord answered that they were wrong because they neither knew the Scriptures nor the power of God. Matt 22:23-33.

How often we meet sceptical unbelievers who believe they have come across the insolvable discrepancy or illogical occurrence in the Bible in such examples as in disputing on the age of the earth vis-à-vis the short history of man, the 7 day creation story, or apparent discrepancy of different Scriptural accounts for the same event.

Firstly these people do not know the Scriptures.

Because Scriptures are sometimes silent on certain issues, it does not imply the continuation or discontinuation of these issues.  As in this issue brought out by the Sadducees in Matt 22:23-33, just because the scripture is silent on the husband and wife relationship in heaven, it does not imply it will be the same in heaven as on earth.

Secondly these people do not know the power of God.

If God can create man from dust, why can’t God resurrect those who have died and give them glorified bodies ?  For all the apparent discrepancies like the age of the earth vis-à-vis the short history of man, why can’t God accelerate the aging of the earth and change the geology of the earth within the period of the great flood ?  After all, in the future, God will renew the new heaven and earth, and will He do so in billion of years or in an instant ?

 

Testimony (18)

I believe all healing is divine healing because God is sovereign.  He can heal in several ways :

  1. Through the immune system of the body.
  2. Through the timely advancement in medical science.
  3. Through deliverance.
  4. Through miracles.

(For further reading at http://www.jcmanifesto.org/?s=divine+healing)

I had sweaty palms since birth.  After I believed in the Lord in 1976, one of my frequent prayer requests was to pray for a miracle healing of this impairment.  My palms were so sweaty that I could not write on paper without damaging the paper unless I had a handkerchief to place in between.  I worried about going to social gatherings for I would feel very awkward and embarrassed when I shake hands with another person.

Since young, I was told that there was no cure. Nevertheless, I continued to seek specialist treatment every now and then while praying for a miracle cure for I believe God can heal through timely advancement in medical science.  There were some treatments which include electrolysis and applying corrosive chemicals to dry up the skin on the palms but I was often briefed that there was no cure up till then.  It helped for a few days and then I had to repeat the process again.  These treatments merely treat the symptoms and not the root cause.

That miracle came in 1996.  One evening while watching the news programme on TV, a neurosurgeon explained that he could treat sweaty palms by burning off the nerve which caused this condition but it was a dangerous surgical procedure. The next day, I booked an appointment to have this surgery.

By the grace of God, He had answered my persistent prayer for a miraculous cure.