Earthquake in Turkey! I found that many modern Christian pastors don't understand the Old Testament at all! Many Christians deliberately separate the Old Testament from the New Testament. The "Bible" is the Bible, and there is no distinction between the New Testament and the Old Testament in the Bible. If we really want to understand Christianity, we must understand the Old Testament! The Old Testament is the foundation of the New Testament! Paul, the apostles and Jesus all studied the "Old Testament"! We must understand; without the Old Testament, there is no New Testament Christianity! As Jesus said: I have come to fulfill the law! While the Old Testament is the basic version of Christianity, the New Testament is the supplementary version of Christianity! Jesus did not abolish the Old Testament, but Jesus "supplemented and simplified" the Old Testament!
Jesus did two things: 1. Jesus simplified the Old Testament! It is Jesus who makes us not need to "sacrifice", our "sacrifice" became "prayer"! 2. Jesus supplements the Old Testament! The object of the Old Testament is the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but because of Jesus, Gentiles can also be redeemed! Therefore, Jesus added more saved people into the new covenant era! The real difference between the "Old Testament" and the "New Testament" lies in the "ages", but the "values" of the "Old Testament" and the "New Testament" will never change! The biggest difference between different ages is "values"! But the "values" of the "New Testament" and "Old Testament" will never change! The most important value in the entire Bible is "love"! And Jesus told us more directly: (Mark 12:30) And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.(31) And the second is like, specifically this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as myself. There is none other commandment greater than these. ~Jesus directly told us the two greatest commandments: first, "love God"! The second is to "love your neighbor as yourself"!
Christians of our generation are funny! How do we often recognize Christians? We often ask people if they have been baptized? Is "baptism" a Christian? Not necessarily! Jesus said: You must "love one another", and the world will know that you are my disciples! Jesus never told us to use "baptism" to recognize Christians, but to use "mutual love" to recognize each other as Jesus' disciples! It doesn't matter if you are a Christian or not! Whether you have been "baptized" or not is even more unimportant! But if we are disciples of Jesus, we must "love one another"! "Love one another" is the only criterion for disciples of Christ, and it has nothing to do with being "baptized" or not! A friend asked me: Why do you stand outside on Saturday? Because it was very cold that day! I attended my sister’s ordination ceremony that day. I didn’t intend to attend, but the sister invited me the day before, so I did! I arrived at the venue early and asked her what help she needed? She said: Go down and help me stand at the door and guide people up! I didn't even think about it and said: OK! I completely forgot that it was minus 10 degrees that day! Just very uncomfortable! I prayed to God: please let me sleep well! Because I'm going to be very busy today! Thank God! He is always so faithful!
I prayed to God, and I said: I am not trying to test God, but the sister was in need! It is true that there was no sign at the gate downstairs that day, and there was another sister who did a different job from me. She guided people who took the elevator, and I was responsible for guiding people who walked the stairs! In addition, there were still some English-speaking brothers and sisters who need guidance! I really didn't think I'd be standing outside for 40 minutes that day, and I wasn't fully dressed! Thank God! God understands my heart! As long as we are "loving people", God is the one who "turns water into wine" and does miracles alone! Just like Paul said: "Love covers mistakes"! I didn't take into account the temperature at that time, but I did it out of "love", so God is willing to heal me!
We all know the two greatest commandments of Jesus: "Love God" and "Love your neighbor as yourself"! "Love God" guides us to walk on the path of "Truth"! "Love God" is definitely the most important foundation for us to conduct ourselves! If we love the devil, we will go astray! "Magic power" and "money" are devils! And today I want to challenge the more advanced "love" with everyone! What is a higher love? "Love God" must always come first! We must "love one another" for the world to recognize us as disciples of Jesus! And the higher love is: love others more than love ourself! Have you ever wondered why so many missionaries are willing to sacrifice their lives, time and money? Because they are realizing a higher love! Just like Hudson Taylor said: I have a thousand gold pounds, and China can withdraw them all! I have a thousand lives, and I will never leave one to China! This is a higher love! As long as we love God rightly, our higher love will not be wrong! There are many people who will do anything in order to make money, and many people even do the business of beheading in order to make money! But these people can't achieve a higher level of love, because they love money and profit more than anything else! As long as we love the real God, we know that being able to achieve a higher level of love is the most beautiful blessing in the world and life! The most important thing in life is not why "die"? But why do we "live"? Those who can clearly understand why they live and have the courage to live for their "lover" are the happiest people! Because they are people who live in "love"!
