do you believe this?

 

DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?

 

The most widely held belief today is that the advances in science, medicine, and genetics, might be able to prolong life. The quest for the so called fountain of life where there would no longer be death is never ending. Yet God’s Word definitely declares that it is appointed unto man once to die,  and after this the judgment.(Hebrew 9:27)

Death came into this world because of sin. And this is not speaking only of physical death, but spiritual death as well. Man is already dead spiritually, before he died physically. It may be possible to prolong life but will it be  worth living? Increased   life span is of little value unless it is worth living. St. Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles, did not see prolonging life as a major objective. Indeed as servant and follower of Christ, he regarded death as something of even greater worth.

Let me quote this great Apostle, he said, “For to me living means living for Christ and dying is even better.” (Philippians 1:21)

To this man of God Christ had made his life profoundly worth living, and dying in Christ is even better because nothing can ever separate him from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. For St. Paul those who live for Christ have eternal life. St. Paul’s purpose in life is in sharp contrast with what drives so many people today. Some are driven by the desire for money, worldly possessions, and the apparent security they bring.  Others are driven by the desire to be famous, to have power, others are driven by the quest for significance and success. But for St. Paul, he said, for me to live is Christ.

The question my dear friends is what is it in Jesus Christ which St. Paul and all the Christians after him, that compelled them to affirm with great conviction their faith and belief in Him?

As a Christian allow me to speak the very Words which the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Gospel of John 11^th Chapter. In this passage Christ declared in no uncertain terms that He is the Giver of Eternal Life, and let me quote verse 25, He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me though he dies, yet shall he live and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

So we see Jesus' power over death.  I think this to be an essential message dealing with a critical theme.  We're living in a dying world where all of us face the inevitability of death.  We are deteriorating humans in a deteriorating world.  Our world is marked by tragedy.  Our world is marked by sorrow.  Our world is marked by sadness.  Our world is marked by death and dying.  Since the Fall of man is recorded in Genesis, chapter 3, there has been a curse on the earth.  And that curse has sent the earth and all of its inhabitants careening and spiraling into tears and disasters and pain and sickness and death.  In fact, we face these things incessantly.

Can Jesus overcome death?  What a message that is.  G. B. Hardy, the Canadian scientist, one time said, "When I looked at religion, I said I have two questions.  Question No. 1:  Has anybody ever conquered death?  Question No. 2: If they did, did they make a way for me to conquer, too?"  He said, "I checked the tomb of Buddha, and it was occupied; and I checked the tomb of Confucius, and it was occupied; and I checked the tomb of Mohammed, and it was occupied; and I came to the tomb of Jesus, and it was [What?] empty.  And I said, 'There is One who conquered death.'  And I asked the second question, 'Did He make a way for me to do it?'  And I opened the Bible, and He said, 'Because I live [What?], ye shall live also.'"  That's the question:  "Jesus, can You conquer death?  Are You the One who can reverse the curse?  Do You, as it says in Revelation 1, hold in Your hand the keys of death and hell?  If You are that One, show us, demonstrate it." The same Jesus who stood at the grave of Lazarus and groaned, who wept with Mary, was the same Jesus who said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life.  He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.  Do you believe this?"

The question to us this evening is Do you believe this? (Settle this issue between you and the Lord while you still can). We are bringing this message of hope, this message of God’s love, this Good News for no other consideration but of the compelling love of Christ. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Death is a dreadful thing if one does not have Jesus Christ in his life. The Bible describes death as an enemy.  What is amazing is that this enemy cannot bite God’s people. 1 Corinthians 15:55-557, “O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Let me end by going back to the great Apostle St. Paul who speaks to us this evening, and let me quote the inspiring words  he said in his Epistle to the Romans the 8^th chapter, he said in verses 31-39,”Who then will condemn us? No one. For Christ died for us and was raised to life for us… Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity or destitute or in danger or threatened with death? No despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow- not even the powers of hell can separate s from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below-indeed nothing in all creation will ever able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Amen.

 

 

AN EULOGY: DR. ERNESTO P. ADORIO, PH.D.,

Dr. Ernesto P. Adorio, Professor, University of the Philippines, NOHS CLASS OF 1972.  

AN EULOGY

By Judge Ray Alan T. Drilon

I cannot help but do a lot of reflection, after the unexpected departure from this earthly life, of Professor Ernesto Adorio, a classmate in the elementary and high school, childhood friend and playmate, with whom almost a year ago, I shared happy moments together talking about life, planning about retirement, thinking of projects and looking forward to the next school reunion which he never missed to attend. Ernesto was most happy when he saw his classmates. He made it as a personal pilgrimage to go home to be with his dear classmates and friends. He was a generous contributor to the alumni home coming activities. He loved to be with the class of NOHS 1972, of which he was a proud member. He loved to take photos of the event, would be jubilant to pose and to be photographed, smiling and beaming like a child. 

Ernesto was not the stereotype image of a University Professor. I would always remember him wearing casuals, cargo jacket, base ball cap, with bulky camera dangling from his neck. He looked more like a local tourist on a budget, or rugged reporter. He didn’t look like a stiff academic, of which he was, and a brilliant one.

We always talked about about many things, family, classmates, politics, life. We reminisce the days of our youth, of the transition we went through in our lives. Ernesto would talk sadly of schoolmates who had gone ahead, musing about the unpredictability of events in one’s life. With his mathematical mind it was as if he wanted to draw up an equation to divine the uncertainties.

This man is a deep and prodigious thinker yet, he kept whatever serious thoughts he had, hidden, beneath the surface of an easy going, happy personality. There is the artistic side to him, and compelling scientific curiousity driving him to take and collect pictures of people, places, nature, plants, flowers and birds. He introduced me to the hobby of photography. He collected and documented photos of indigenous plants, flowers, and insects. He created a Social Networking Group on Facebook known as the Philippine Handbook of Plants and Flowers,  a valuable reference to Botanists and students, documenting their finds.

I think his passion for nature was what kept him in balance. I suppose his teaching higher mathematics was exacting to the heart, too clinical, even impersonal, because it demands no less than perfection or accuracy.

There was also the spiritual side of Ernesto perhaps not known to many of his friends. As a man of science he did not wrestle with unbelief. He believed in God. One time he wrote me asking for an explanation of a difficult passage of our Lord’s Sayings. 

Our last time together was last year when we took coffee with classmate Rosula. It returned to me now, how our conversation drifted to questions of classmates and friends whom we had not seen for so long, who were ailing and who had gone ahead, followed by carefree  jesting how much longer we would last in our aging bodies as we enter the threshold of seniority. Ernesto would be the first to advise that we should take care of our health.  

We broke up, that afternoon with smiles in our faces, bidding goodbye, promising to meet again. It was to be our last.

This year February the 29^th, I was busy hearing my cases and my phone kept on ringing. I ignored it. After winding up the business that morning I opened the phone and saw it was Professor Hermie Siroy, of the USLS, a classmate, who had been calling. I returned his call. He gave the news. Ernesto had left us. In his sleep.

I could hardly describe the intensity  of this terrible news, terrible in the sense that it was utterly unexpected, jarring the nerves.  

Scottish author and Christian Minister George Macdonald aptly describes this feeling: 

“Sometimes a thunderbolt will shoot from a clear sky, and sometimes into the midst of a peaceful family-without warning of gathered storm above or slightest tremble of earthquake beneath-will fall a terrible fact and from that moment everything is changed. The air is thick with clouds and cannot weep itself clear.” 

Death is a dreadful enemy, and we mortals are terrified of it. I looked up to the heavens and thank God for the life of Ernesto, Doc Ernie to his colleagues in the academic community,  who had touched our lives. I had this nagging feeling that humans are connected to each other in a mystical way that one could feel the pain of the disconnection when another passes away.  

But God is merciful.  He has given us hope, because  death, will  not have the final say.  

As I wrestle with the question why, the cloud of shock, and the darkness of sorrow progressively dissipated by the illumination of God’s word. No question that the initial shock was like a sting, that leaves you reeling. The good news, however, is that death is only a shadow.

One thing which always gives me comfort as I reflect upon life and death on this earth, are the powerful words of St. Paul in his Letters to the Corinthian Christians. 

He said:

 “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”(1Corinthians 15:51-57)

Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning. 

Prof good night, see you in the morning.

WHOEVER WOULD LOVE LIFE AND SEE GOOD DAYS

WHOEVER WOULD LOVE LIFE AND SEE GOOD DAYS

When we look at how we live in today’s world, we realize how little some people really enjoy or love life that God has graciously imparted to them. Many  struggle through everyday living, without knowing that there are Biblical principles which instruct us to  lead the kind of life that would give us joy and good days, if we apply them in day to day living. God’s Word is  the only perfect guide to godly living. It is practical, and one fascinating passage in the Book of St. Peter, gives us this awesome message:

1 Peter 3:10 For "He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking guile.

Another rendition:

1 Peter 3:10-12

For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it ! For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers:............

From this short passage we are given the following practical points of application:

To love life and have good days we are taught to refrain:

a. our tongue from evil

b. our lips from speaking guile

The meaning of the word “Guile”  is  treachery or deceit. Keeping one’s tongue from evil refers to evil speaking, speaking ill of others as to injure or harm them.   St. Peter teaches us that we should be very careful with the words we speak that our spoken words are not full of deceit or treachery. We should further control our tongue from speaking evil.

It has been observed  that people who are naturally inclined to verbal abuse, bad language  evil speaking, insults, ridicule and cursing  are themselves full of hate. They are offensive and are angry at life. They are bitter, arrogant proud and terribly uncouth. They even hate their lives, are discontented,    that they want to make everyone as miserable as themselves. 

There is a wonderful promise here given to God’s people, who heed this instruction. If we want to love living the life God has given to us, and see good and better days then we need to restrain our tongues from evil speaking and deceitful speech.

We want to see good days, we love life, don’t we?

Jesus said in John 6:63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

There are some people who treat the book of Proverbs in the bible as simply a collection of wise sayings similar to the sayings of philosophers and learned men of great intellect.  As a Christian I believe that the wisdom in the Book of Proverbs is no ordinary saying which one may only take under advisement.  These are divinely inspired words. There is death and life in our words as the Scripture declares. There should be no doubt about it.

St. Peter said that in order to see good days we have to keep our tongue under control and not speak deceit. The promise is for those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit, that their lives bear the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control and from their speech we find no deceit or evil speaking.

In times of weakness, when the troubles of life come to visit us we may murmur, whine and complain, even utter contempt against anyone, anything, or worst blame all except one’s self.

One common theme we learn from the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ is His parable of sowing and reaping. He gives us a picture of seeds being sown. The seed is God’s word. In similar manner if we are to think and consider the words we speak as seeds which we plant or sow, the lesson is easy enough to grasp that what we sow, we reap. Sowing seeds of evil and deceit would not produce in us a good and life giving harvest.  There is nothing good from evil speaking. There is great wisdom in the common saying: If we have nothing  good or better to say about someone or anything, then better to be quiet.

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

God’s word is a sure reminder, that if we are to enjoy the gift of life and live out to see good and better days, we should be very careful with the utterances which proceed from our mouth. What we say in one way or another affects us. And I would like to believe  that it is not only in what we say with our mouth but in what we communicate through other forms.

St. Peter goes farther by reminding the Christians that we should not be careless in giving our word. We have to honor and commit to the things that we say. This is another side to what the Apostle is saying about refraining from speaking guile. There is deceitfulness when we give our word and willfully not follow it. The effect could be grievous in all types of relationship or situations.  Translated in matters of faith, one’s profession of faith is tested by one’s act of faithfulness.

Deuteronomy 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;

This awesome declaration ties up with the Apostle Peter’s instruction. God the Almighty has set before His people life and death, blessing and cursing. We are given the choice: to choose words of blessing which leads to life, or to choose cursing, which leads to death. Choose therefore life.