Articles
Report from Sri Lanka - June 2022 (Part 2)
I had another study with a Pentecostal who believes that Christians are still bound by the Old covenant. I started the study with two words and explained the difference between them. The words “Unilateral” and “Bilateral”. I explained that the Unilateral is the covenant that God made with the nation of Israel only. And it is not bilateral to include us. But God made a bilateral covenant with the whole world in the NT.
- Exodus 34:27 – Unilateral
- Jeremiah 31:33, 34 – Bilateral
“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel (unilateral) after that time”, declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. (under the New covenant, which was bilateral). No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying ‘Know the Lord’, because they will all know me, (by this time all the people in the OT and NT) from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
I explained to him that if we study and gain a complete understanding of these two words, it is easy to understand that those two covenants are different covenants at different times. I asked him to read and understand the books of Romans, Galatians, and Colossians. I told him that there is no way to obtain knowledge without doing a lengthy study on any subject because there are no shortcuts to gaining spiritual knowledge. All these studies are done on Zoom (two hours). But I missed several studies because of this queue problem. For three days I had to cancel my studies because I had to stand in the queues. And another one was cancelled because he had to stand in the queue to buy gasoline.
I had lessons to the congregation about “How to recognized Messianic prophecy”. I explained to them if the NT writer does not mention a particular OT scripture the NT concerning Christ, then it is not a Messianic prophecy. Because some believed that Zephaniah 3:14-20 is a Messianic prophecy. For example, the Messianic prophecies in the book of Isaiah 53 are mentioned by the NT writers in several NT books. In this way, we can be sure what are the correct Messianic prophecies.
I had another study for them about “The key to the NT evangelism” from the book of Zechariah 8:20-23 (especially verse 23). My point was that if we live according to the law of God, the world will see the difference in us and they will recognize that we have something that they do not have. And if we impress them by the laws of and teachings of our Lord. They will want to follow in the same way the heathen nations decided to follow the God of Israel.
This Sunday (3rd of July) the attendance was poor. The reason was due to the diesel and gasoline problem. Some could not find a way to come. Brother Anton’s family came walking and I really appreciated that. Brother Udaya and his wife could not come because of a lack of transportation and it is too far for them to walk. My son came on his bicycle but his wife and my grandson Adam could not come. He has a car but it was parked at home because of no gasoline. And it is also long distance for all of them to walk. The bicycle prices have gone up. People are repairing their old bicycles and the bicycle repairing places also have a queue. It is better for us to change our country name from Sri Lanka to “Queue Lanka”.
And this Sunday Zoom studies for Matara girls also had to cancel. I have planned to start a new series of studies on “Messianic Prophecy”. But they called me just before the study time and said there is a three-hour power cut at Matara. The power cut at Hendala is from 5 am to 8 am. But sometimes they change times without giving any notice. This study is also two hours. Too bad.
The devil is playing havoc in my country. PLEASE PRAY FOR SRI LANKA.
In my personal studies, I have completed the books Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, and Jonah. And have begun to study from Micah.
Now it’s time for appreciation. I and my wife thank all the elders and the sisters and brothers who contribute to my salary, especially in this time of devastation in the country. I have witnessed many sufferings of people losing jobs because of this crisis. Let me tell you one more thing to explain how some people are suffering without money to buy food. One of my friends told me that one day they had gone out and came home in the night and they recognized the kitchen door was broken. They realized at once thieves had entered the house. They had rushed to the places where they keep their valuables and money. But nothing was missing. They were totally confused and went to the kitchen and realized that all the foodstuff in the refrigerator and in the cupboards was missing. The man who entered the house was not a thief but a hungry man or probably looking to bring some food for his family. Therefore, how much I have to appreciate your support for me and my family!
We all pray for you and for your families that God will provide for all your needs and protect all of you from harm.
Brother in Christ,
Joe Mannapperuma
4th of July 2022
