1st service of 11 January 2009
as noted by Yeo Choon Meng Terence
Terence in front of a boat outside Ein Gev fish restaurant on 9 Nov 2008 at the Galilee. Jesus told the Parable of the Sower and the Seed at the Galilee.
Edwin, a Christian, in Australia was afflicted with 4th stage cancer. Edwin persisted with Holy Communion and faith in Jesus Christ for his healing. The doctor treating Edwin was a Christian. The doctor exclaimed that it was a miracle when Edwin recovered subsequently. No more traces of cancer or any tumour. Edwin took Holy Communion throughout this episode and even now.
Health is the greatest gift apart from salvation. If you lose your wealth, and still have your health, you can get the wealth back.
It was Deacon Matthew Kang’s birthday on 10 January.
Deu 30:19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;
When you choose life, you choose blessing. When you choose death, you choose cursing.
In Deu 30:19, the Hebrew word for life is transliterated as chay (pronounced as hai, Strong’s 2416 )
When a Jewish person proposes a toast before drinking the wine, he says, To Hayim (to Life).
John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
LIFE AND LIFE MORE ABUNDANTLY
The Greek word translated into English is zoe. [Editor: We find in the Septuagint Greek translation of the OT that zoe is used to translate the Hebrew chay (e.g. as found in Deu 30:19).]
There are varying degrees of life. Imagine plant life at the foot of the pyramid, then insect, followed by the larger animals on top, then man, but at the apex of the pyramid is God’s life — the God-kind of life i.e. zoe eternal life. Nearer the foot of the pyramid, life is not so precious. In fact, we swat flies, mosquitoes etc without a thought. Near the top, when a human being’s life is taken by another. The murderer has to pay with his life.
When there is an abundance of a subject in the bible, we often don’t investigate the meaning of the word carefully.
Eternal Life = the Quality of Life that God has.
Whenever the bible mentions that He gives us life, it is also stating that we are given that kind of life that sees us triumph over all sorts of death i.e. sickness, disease, aging, etc.
Deu 8:3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.
Deu 8:3 was quoted by Jesus in the Wilderness Temptation (Luke 4:4) in rebutting the devil. In Luke 4:4, the Greek word translated into “lives” is zao (the verb and root word of zoe).
(a) to live
(c) live forever
(e) be quickened from sickness, discouragement, faintness and death
The life that Jesus is giving is John 10:10 is definitely NOT mere human physical life as Jesus was already speaking to an audience which possessed this kind of life. He was offering them ETERNAL zoe life — the God-kind of life.
How to step into that zone of eternal life? Reject tiredness and sickness etc and confess your faith in God’s promise of life and continue into that task.
LIFE IS IN THE BLOOD
More accurately, the resurrection zoe eternal life is in Jesus blood shed for us which cleanses us from all sin.
That’s why when we take communion, we must stop and think and remember that we are drinking royal blood in the cup of wine.
You cannot be MORE righteous. You, however, can have more life (John 10:10).
The question to ask instead is: Whether are you righteous or not?
INCREASE IN THE FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
How? By listening to sermons etc and believing the Word.
Jesus Christ did not come to give us rules. He came to give us life and life most abundantly. Life can be measured. Some have it more — 60% life, 40% death. Some have it less — 60% death, 40% life.
It is sad when money becomes your god. Make money your servant. Order it around.
It is sad when millionaires, who serve money, commit suicide because they have lost their fortune in this economic downturn.
JESUS, THE WORD, IS LIFE – JOHN CHAPTER 1
John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
ALIVE AND REMAIN
Progression of death: Feeling faint, chronic fatigue, sickness, diseases, etc then heart finally stops beating and death.
Jesus at the Cross already conquered spiritual death and we have the full manifestation of that. Jesus at His resurrection also testified that He has conquered physical death. We have also obtained this victory but are only waiting for its manifestation at the Rapture. The last enemy to be put under our feet by Jesus is physical death (1 Cr 15:26). God hates sin as sin brings about death (“… The sting of death is sin …” 1 Cr 15:56). There is going to be a generation in the land soon which has the power over death (” …. we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord …” 1 Th 4:15) and can choose to live or depart from this earth.
Thank God our sins are truly and completely forgiven.
Be assured that the punishment of sin is also remitted.
Reject those doctrinal or scholarly musings of forensic or positional righteousness. God does not play games with this. Jesus Christ paid for all of our sins to secure our complete righteousness with the Father.
John 6:47 Most assuredly [Editor: In the Greek, "Amen, Amen"], I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.
John 6:49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
John 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.
John 6:53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly [Editor: In the Greek, "Amen, Amen"], I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
John 6:55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.
John 6:57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.
When we say bread, it carries the idea of being, EATEN.
How to increase in life? Eat Jesus.
When you eat Jesus, you are very alive. In fact, you will literally live forever (John 6:51, 6:58 ) physically. We arrive at this conclusion by parity of reasoning. In John 6:49, Jesus is talking about the physical death of the Jewish forefathers who ate manna. Therefore, when He talks about eating Him as the living bread and living forever. It is literal physical life.
In any case, you cannot separate physical life from spiritual life. When you receive the spiritual life of Jesus, it impacts your physical life as well.
We all want more life. We more life to regenerate our minds and memories, bodies, etc.
Death in all its forms would have been swallowed up if only the Church — the body of Christ – had kept this truth down the centuries.
The Greek word translated as “eat” in John 6:53 is transliterated as estheo / esthio (Strong’s 5315) and this Greek word can refer to literal taking of food or figurative eating.
As per Thayer, trogo, means to chew, crunch (through the idea of a crunching sound).
It is therefore clear that John 6 is not the mere spiritual imbibing of His body. John 6 is about Holy Communion!
The word translated in John 6:57 (NKJV) as “feeds” is also trogo.
CONTINUOUS LIFESTYLE OF CHEWING
HOW OFTEN?
1 Cr 11:24 and when He had given thanks, He broke [it] and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
1 Cr 11:25 In the same manner [He] also [took] the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink [it], in remembrance of Me.”
Take the communion as often as you want life and life abundantly manifesting in your life.
If the children of Israel feasting on the roasted lamb (the OT shadow of the NT communion) on Passover night resulted in them being completely healthy (Psa 105:37), what more we under the New Covenant who partake of the true body of Jesus Christ in the bread of the communion.
If we respect the words of man and we take the medication as per the frequency prescribed by the doctor, then we ought to respect God’s Word and take Holy Communion often as well !
1 Cr 11:27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
1 Cr 11:29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
The expression “unworthy manner” refers to the action and not the person / actor (1 Cr 11:27 and 1 Cr 11:29) and is an ADVERB. An adverb (by its nature in the rules of grammar) modifies or changes the verb (“eats and drinks” 1 Cr 11:29) and not the pronoun (“he”).
Rather, we must examine ourselves, thereby partaking in a worthy manner.
1 Cr 11:29 talks about partaking unworthily and not discerning the Lord’s body and thereby drinking judgment. This is explained as follows: If you do not see Jesus punished for you on the Cross, whether directly or indirectly, you will receive punishment for your sins, self-inflicted psychologically or otherwise.
Folks who don’t see Jesus’ complete work at the Cross in the Communion are merely allowing the natural course of the world to work its sentence of death on their bodies. 1 Cr 11 is essentially telling us that partaking unworthily is merely going with the flow of the sentence of death already working its effect in the bodies of all human beings.
However, by making a stand and seeing Jesus in the Holy Communion when partaking will sometime produce results which are so quietly supernatural, that they are not spectacular.
However there are instances of instant and spectacular miracles. One lady, Su-wen had fallen into a coma caused by deep-vein thrombosis. The pastors took communion on her behalf and she recovered fully in a few days. Su-wen’s case is the exception rather than the norm.
The parable of the sower and the seed. This parable is placed in 3 Gospels by God to tell us not to give up.
Mark 4:1-20 http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Mar&c=4#1
It is applicable not just for holy communion but in any area where you are exercising faith for.
The are 4 Grounds which symbolise 4 types of hearts.
2nd ground — stony ground
3rd ground — thorns
Matt 13:23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
It is not the responsibility of the sower to ensure where the seeds fall. It is our part to ensure that our hearts are the good ground. Preacher’s etc are God’s sowers of the Word.
Matt 13:4 speaks of the birds devouring the seeds sown by the wayside. Matt 13:19 explains that the birds are the evil spirits who catch away the Word sown in hearts who don’t understand the Word. When you don’t understand the Word, the devil comes to take it.
There is power in God’s Word. That is why the devil is so afraid that if the Word is going to take root, he will be defeated. That is why he tries to snatch it straightaway.
Matt 13:20 explains the stony ground of Matt 13:5-6. These are those with hearts who hear the Word and receive it immediately with joy. However, because the Word does not take roots in their hearts, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the Word, immediately he falls away or stumbles.
It is important to note here that the persecution or tribulation comes BECAUSE OF THE WORD and not because the individual did wrong.
Example: A man could be filled at the onset with enthusiasm with the idea of taking communion earnestly and regularly after a sermon on the subject. He in fact does so for a week. Then the excitement fades off when there are no results or he may he face setbacks i.e. persecutions and tribulations.
In other words, the trouble arises because of the act of taking communion with revelation. The devil cannot allow communion to be taken too often as the results will soon start manifesting. Therefore, the devil sends lying symptons or other trouble, to cause the individual who has not allowed the Word to have depth, to stumble. These are the devil’s attacks to reverse the effect of God’s Word.
Communion is powerful, or else, the devil would not attack ! Trouble comes, as an attempt to remove the Word.
Matt 13:21 (KJV) Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.Matt 13:7 speaks of some of the seeds falling amongst the thorns. Matt 13:22 (NKJV) Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
We could understand the “cares of this world” as representing the cares of the people outside the church for 2009, for the economy or in other areas. But as Believers, we know that Jesus took our stress and cares when He wore that crown of thorns on the Cross.
One powerful way to combat stress is to pray in tongues.
Good Ground
Matt 13:23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.Mark 4:20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.
The key to being good ground as revealed in Mark 4:20 is to hear the Word and understand it. Say Amen to the Word. Then the Word will produce fruit: some 100 fold, some 60, some 30
So don’t be in despair when you are still in pain, you are probably at the 30 fold stage. Keep on believing the Word and you will receive, the 60 fold (more relief than pain) and then 100 fold healing (no pain at all).
Matt 4:27 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;Matt 4:28 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
Matt 4:29 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear
The seed of God’s Word can be applicable for any area you are facing a challenge. Marriage for instance. After the inspirational message at Church, you may start off resolving not to crticise your spouse. Then on the 2nd day, a huge quarrel erupts. Persevere Christian ! You will get the 30 fold, 60 fold than 100 fold manifestation in your marriage!
The Bible guarantees that we will see results when you take communion long enough.
Again, after radically taking communion, you may still be 30 fold healed but 70 fold still in pain.
Keep exercising faith. Don’t dig up the seed to examine the seed after a few days. The seed will sure die without results this way. Remain in faith. Let the seed ‘die’ within the ground. Don’t retrieve it. Say Amen to God. It is God’s business to transform that seed. That seed will return to you in a different shape and form of harvest.
When you reach 60 fold, you are still 40 per cent in pain. Keep on feeding on Jesus in the Holy Communion. Do not be offended and keep persisting until the full manifestation of the results of Communion are in your body.
Luke 8:15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
The English word translated into English as patience is hypomonē (Strong’s 5281) and it means endurance and perserverance.
It means that in the face of contradicting and adverse symptons, you keep persisting. Eventually with patience, you will bring forth the 100 fold fruit.
Whatever it is, don’t get offended by the adverse circumstances, keep persisting in communion and the seed will bear fruit. The devil is attacking as he knows God will prevail. Adverse circumstances are an indication that you are on the right track.
In other words, when there are adverse circumstances e.g. negative or contrary symptoms. When everything seems to scream that the Word is a lie, keep on exercising patience, you are on the verge of the breakthrough.
The fact that Luke 8:15 exhorts us to exercise patience is an indication that there are adverse circumstances coming against us enroute our way to eventual full victory.
The Seed / Word will resurrect in us in this year !
This will be the liveliest year yet.
George Muller (English, philanthropist and Christian evangelist) lived to 93. He is recorded to have said that before he died, he had no aches, pains or rheumatism and he thanked God for it. We also want this. We want this life and life most abundantly.
Don’t accept sin. Jesus bore our sin.
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: THE ABOVE NOTES WERE DRAFTED BY, DEVELOPED, COMPILED AND ORGANISED BY YEO CHOON MENG TERENCE IN HIS PERSONAL CAPACITY ON 9 F EBRUARY 2009 AND ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS ARE HIS ALONE. THE ABOVE NOTES ARE NOT REPRESENTATIONS OF, ATTRIBUTABLE TO OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH NEW CREATION CHURCH OR JOSEPH PRINCE MINISTRIES.
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By: Hello Brothers and Sisters in Christ! « Tycm’s Blog on March 16, 2009
at 5:28 pm
Thank you, thank you for having this blog. This is fantastic. I watch Josheph at 4am. and not always am I up. I love his teachings and preachings. He has such knowledge of the word. I have been blessed by his ministry, but I never get enough. I will use your website to take notes that I didnt get, or lesson I didnt hear. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart, and I pray that you keep it up. God Bless you for this is a blessing to the people. Brenda
By: Brenda Hathcoat on May 19, 2009
at 8:55 pm
Thank you for this. I have been taking communion regularly and then it seemed that many things started coming against me. now i know its cause i am on the right track.
THANK YOU SO MUCH
Joh 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
By: michael rutalo on August 29, 2009
at 3:59 am