Dear Brethren,

London Olympic Games 2012

The London Olympic Games 2012 had just ended. It brought together about 10,000 athletics in the world to compete to be the world’s best in their respective sports. Singapore has done fairly well with 2 bronzes. Every athletic has trained extremely hard to compete in the Olympic and for those who won the gold medals to be champion of their sports, the years of sacrifice, training and commitment are worth every bit of it. You can watch their tears of joy and uncontrollable emotion when they won their gold medals. Are there spiritual lessons we can learn from the Olympic Games? Let me share to you in this weekly.

Olympic Games History

History tells us that the Olympic Games began in the 776BC in Olympia Greece, and that they were held every fourth year, almost continually, for 1,200 years. During that time period, the Greeks even marked their calendars in four-year periods called Olympiads. In 393 AD, the Roman Emperor Theodosius declared the Games corrupt and ended them. Olympia and the Temple of Zeus were eventually buried by centuries of earthquakes and floods, and remained buried until 1870 when German excavations unearthed the site of the ancient Greek Games.

Hence, it is not surprising that the New Testament written during the 1^st century AD contains words and phrases concerning the Olympic games of Biblical times, because they were familiar household terms that powerfully communicated God’s truths by comparing the known and familiar terms of the Olympic Games to the spiritual truths of God’s Word. Here are some verses for our learning:

Spiritual Truths using Olympic Terminology

1 Corinthians 9:24-27, ‘Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.’

• The word “race” in 1 Corinthians 9:24 is the Greek word “stadia.” “Stadia” was used for the “stadium”, in which the foot race events were held, and also as a unit of measure, for about 220 yards, the length of the track in the “stadium”.
• In verse 25, “striveth for the mastery” in Greek is “agonizomos” which means “training for the Olympic games”.
• In verse 25, the word “crown” is the Greek word “stephanos”, which meant the awards, medals, and wreaths that the athletes won in the Olympic Games.
• In verse 26, Paul “fights”, “pukteuo”, the Greek word for “boxing”, from which we get our English word “pugnacious”. Paul is saying that our “fight” or “boxing match” is not as one who “shadow boxes”, but our “boxing match” is real.
• In verse 27, the word “castaway” is the Greek word “adokimos”, which in this context means “disqualified” from receiving rewards for not following the rules. God’s Word is the “rules” for our “race.”

2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”

The Christian’s final judgment is described in 2 Corinthians 5:10 and the “judgment seat” of Christ is a “bema”. The “bema” in New Testament times was a raised platform at the Olympic Games, where the chief of the games stood and placed awards around the neck of all the winners.

1 Timothy 4:7, ‘But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.’

The word “exercise” that Paul used is the Greek word “gumnasia”, our English word for “gymnasium”. “Gumnasia” means “strenuous exercise”, the kind an athlete uses to strive to be world class. Paul used this phrase to communicate to his Greek speaking listeners how we should use the same diligence to train ourselves to please God.

For an Olympic gold medal, the athletics of the world can give up everything to train and obtain it. As Christians, we are also running a race that God has placed us in. How much have we sacrifice to want to win this Christian race and to obtain the heavenly crowns that God will reward us? Do not be weary in your race and neither should you quit. Let the Word of God encourage your hearts in Hebrews 12: 1-2, ‘Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.’

Elder John L.

How Can We Glorify God?

Be Born-again with a Godly Desire and Purpose to Glorify God Alone: Due to human totally depraved, corrupt, rebellious, deceitful, sinful and wicked nature, you and I naturally do not have any purpose, motive, goal or desire to glorify God in our heart, mind and life. Non-believers naturally just think of themselves and how to promote themselves and to get glory and praise from men. The Lord Jesus exposed the self-centred hearts of the Jewish leaders in His days, “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?” (John 5:43-44). Even when they knew God and were taught and commanded to glorify God, they did not glorify God, but rejected their Messiah whom God sent and crucified Him on the cross! You and I can never glorify God if we are not saved and born again. Why? “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Only when you and I are saved and born again can we have a godly desire and purpose to glorify God alone and pray to God like David, “I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore” (Psalm 86:12). You and I must thank God and give all glory to Him for His grace and mercy and His great salvation, “Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified” (Romans 8:30).

Be Controlled by the Holy Spirit and Bear His Fruit: When you and I are born again, we are partakers of God’s divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), but our sinful nature or our old man is still there. We shall have a conflict between the new man and the old man in our heart. The new man desires to do what is good and right to glorify God, but the old man, like the force of gravity, always pulls us down to sin. You and I can only overcome this spiritual warfare through the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:24-25) and “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2). If you and I are so weak and dying, we cannot stand up, raise up our hands, or move around, but lie down due to the force of gravity. However, if you and I are healthy, lively and strong, we can overcome the gravity and stand up, move around and work. Spiritually speaking, if you and I are spiritually strong and healthy by God’s Word and by the Holy Spirit, we can overcome our old man or sinful nature to do God’s will to glorify God. This truth reminds you and me to humble ourselves and depend on the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit moment by moment like the branches on the Vine. The Lord Jesus confirms that the Holy Spirit has come to glorify Him, “He (the Holy Spirit) shall glorify me” (John 16:14), and “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples” (John 15:8). Therefore, the more you and I submit to the control of the Holy Spirit, the more we bear His fruit and are used to glorify God and the Lord Jesus Christ, “be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). Are you and I filled with or controlled by the Holy Spirit with His fruit of “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” for God’s glory (Galatians 5:22-23)? If not, we can never glorify God by our own strength or efforts.

Seek God and His Glory First and Love Him above All: God commands you and me to seek Him first and to love Him with our all heart, soul, mind, and strength, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:23) and “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37). If you and I fail to seek God first and love Him above all, we can never glorify God as we have turned His glory into shame, “O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing?” (Psalm 4:2).

Do God’s Will and Word: The Lord Jesus Christ came to do His Father’s will and Word, “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 6:38), so he could prayed to His Father, “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4). If you and I fail to do God’s will and Word, we can never glorify Him. The Lord Jesus still challenges you and me, “My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it” (Luke 8:21).

Give All Thanks, Praise and Glory to God: Truly acknowledging God’s sovereignty, grace, love, and His blessings, we shall give thanks, praise and glory to God alone. When others praise us or thank us, we can sincerely say to them, “Thank God for His grace and mercy,” giving all glory to God alone. If you and I fail to thank God in all things but always complain or murmur, we can never glorify God, “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me” (Psalm 50:23), and “That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15:6). You and I shall glorify God more when we can thank and praise God in our troubles or trials like Job.

Be Faithful to God and His Word in All Things even in Persecutions: You and I can never glorify God if we doubt God and His Word and are not faithful to God and His Word unto the end, even in persecutions, “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified…Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf” (1 Peter 4:14, 16).

Pray to God and Bring Others to God’s Salvation: You and I do need the Holy Spirit to help us live a victorious life and give thanks and praise to God in all things. Knowing this truth, you and I shall humbly pray to God, depend on Him and submit to Him like our Lord Jesus Christ, “Father, glorify thy name” (John 12:28). Jesus encourages us to pray, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). You and I shall glorify God more when we pray for others and bring them to God’s salvation. The purpose and motive of our evangelism are for God’s glory. We must feel God is insulted when others fail to seek Him, love Him, worship Him, keep His Word and glorify Him, and then pray for their salvation, “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you” (2 Thessalonians 3:1), and God will be glorified when we receive one another in Christ, “Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God” (Romans 15:7).

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

One must realize that joy is unlike happiness. There is happiness in this world that comes and goes like other earthly feelings. But joy is a permanent feeling and leaves a deeper sense of peace in Christians. However, in the midst of trials, Christians can lose sight of the real reason for their joy. Let us be reminded that as Christians, we have the ability to rejoice and have joy that the world knows nothing about. We can and we should rejoice in the Lord always. Here is why, it is :

1. Because of our eternal salvation in Jesus Christ

Through Christ, we enter into a special relationship with God whereby we call God, our Heavenly Father. Having salvation in Christ also means that one is cleansed from his sins; 1 John 4:10, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”  It also means that we are to be changed and are no longer what we once were, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

2. Because of our eternal security in Jesus Christ

Jesus says, “Rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”  The Lord Jesus Christ has also given another promise in Revelation 3:5, “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”

3. Because of our eternal satisfaction in Jesus Christ

The Living and True God is with His people, so is the Lamb of God, “He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God” Revelation 21:3 and in John 14:3, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

Everyone will have their share of trials and difficulties because it is part of living in a fallen world. But we do not despair when we consider what the Apostle James says. He mentioned that through trials, the purpose of God is that we may learn to endure with patience and to be perfect and complete in Him. There is joy amidst the trials of life. We are to look to the Lord’s promises to have joy and not to our circumstances. However, sin can rob us of our joy. A believer who lives in willful disobedience to God, will not have joy that only obedience to God brings. Joy will only return to those who humble themselves and turn back to the Lord. If we are saved to rejoice, we rejoice simply because we can do so, by the grace of God.

Elder D. Ho

Dearly Beloved Brethren,

Serving the Lord begins with a Burden and Concern

The Lord has laid in my heart the burden to serve in mission especially to help the poorer countries in our region. This burden for the Lord grows stronger in each passing year and the Lord also opens more doors in each passing year. As for Nias mission, the last trip that we went was in 2009 when we organized a VBS camp for the children. Since we left in 2009, there was no VBS as no one has gone there to help. I met Rev. Famachoic who is in-charge of the Nias children ministry last year 2011 when he came to Singapore. He requested for help to come to Nias in 2012 to organise a VBS camp for the children. I was sad to hear of no VBS in Nias since we left in 2009 and my heart was burdened by it.

Serving the Lord is to Pray unceasingly

I told Rev. Famachoic last year that we will pray about the VBS in 2012 and let the Lord lead us into it. It is easy to say “pray about it” and then forget the whole matter. Or we can pray for a while but the busyness of life will cause us to think we have no time for it. The Lord granted His grace upon me to keep praying and committing the mission trip to His Hand. Not my will but what God wants me to do. It is in praying that I know the Lord is working and preparing the way for us to go.

Serving the Lord is Teamwork

I know I cannot go alone to Nias mission as the VBS camp requires a few helpers to run it. I pray and commit the matter to the Lord to touch hearts willing to go. Who will commit their time for the Lord? When we do God’s work in God’s way, He will provide the manpower resources for it. Thank the Lord for 4 willing brethren to join me to Nias mission. In the service of the Lord, it cannot be my compulsion. Thank God also for other willing brethren who contributed to prepare the art & craft materials for the VBS.

Serving the Lord entails Preparation

As we trust God to provide and lead us, the Lord also wants us to be responsible to do our part by preparing for the trip. The VBS camp programme has to be planned, the duties to be allocated, the messages and related activities to be prepared, the art & craft materials to be ready, the games to be thought through etc. Yes, even the air tickets have to be bought at a good price flying by budget air. As we prepare, the Lord enables and blesses.

Serving the Lord is Hardwork

Going for a mission trip is not a vacation trip. With all the preparations done, the real work begins with the flight to Nias. I only bought 20kg of check-in luggage while we have to carry the rest of luggage in the plane including the laptop, projector and guitar. The Lord saw us through the flight from Singapore to Medan and then the domestic propeller plane flight to Nias island. After that, it was a narrow pothole car journey of slightly more than 2 hours from Nias airport to the Church kindergarten where the VBS is held. We learned to bathe and brush teeth with rain water and sleep on bed with mosquito net. Needless to say, mosquitoes are everywhere and been bitten is common. I supposed the hardwork is to stay strong and active running the VBS programme from 7.30am to 9.30pm. After the VBS programme is over, we need to wash up and then prepare for our lessons in the following day. I literally drop dead on the bed every night when I sleep. A lot of hardwork but we serve with no complain. God’s grace is sufficient for us.

Serving the Lord is always a Joy

I always asked myself this question “Is it worth it?” The answer is always a resounding YES. There is great joy in serving the Lord despite the hardwork and long preparations. The joy of the Lord is our strength. The joy to see the children learning God’s Word and receiving Jesus Christ in their hearts and desiring to grow in the Lord outweighs all the difficulties and personal inconveniences we faced. Frankly we can only do so little for these children who are relatively poorer and whose future in Nias island is not promising at all. But the joy of giving “a cup of water” to them is worth the long journey there.

May everyone of us rise up to “be stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” 1 Corinthians 15:58.

Elder J. Leong

Sermon On The Mount – Salty & Bright Christians!

Scripture Text: Matthew 5:1-16 

1. The sermon on the mount is a message that Jesus preached to the multitudes as recorded in Matthew 5-7. It is basically telling the people how to be a Christian and the implications of being a Christian. There will be a real transformation in every area of our lives when we are saved in Jesus Christ. 

2. The messages begins with the 8 Beatitudes of blessing. Being blessed is not about having more physical goods and just being happy about it. He is one blessed by God who has a personal relationship with God. The blessings are all spiritual blessings. 

3. To be a Christian, one has to begin by being poor in spirit which is to know we are spiritually bankrupt and completely in sin like a poor beggar. Then we must mourn for our sins and be meek knowing by ourselves we cannot save ourselves. Finally we hunger and thirst for righteousness then are we truly saved in Christ who is our righteousness. As a Christian, we will learn to be merciful and be pure in heart with a right motive. We will preach the Gospel as a peacemaker and then stand up for Christ even in the midst of persecutions. 

4. As a Christian, we are to be the salt of the world. We are to retard decay of sin and immorality. As salt, we are to put flavor by being a good influence to unbelievers. If we lose our saltiness, we are of no use to Christ. 

5. We are to be light of the world to point people to Jesus Christ. The world is in sin and darkness. They need the light of Christ.

Scripture clearly teaches us that the remedy for the onslaught of carnality is preaching that confronts sin with burning words and bold rebuke. Consider the preaching of the prophet Isaiah. In the very first chapter itself, Isaiah delivered a startling rebuke of sin. Isaiah denounced the Israelites’ sacrifices as hypocritical. He boldly declared that God despised their oblations, the incense, their holy days and feasts. Then in no uncertain terms, he told them that God would not hear their prayers because their hands were full of blood. Again in that chapter, he denounced them for the oppression of the poor, for their rebellion against God, for their spiritual harlotry. He was unflinching when he remarked that their princes ran with thieves, everyone looked for bribes, and leaders did not give honest protection to widows and orphans. And that is only one example from many in the preaching of Isaiah. He preached gallantly against sins.

Consider Nathan, the prophet who rebuked David. He is a fine example of a God-honouring preacher, who preaches succinctly against sin. Even King David’s royal pomp was no hindrance to his preaching against sin. So Nathan boldly preached a sermon, using a parable to show the wickedness of David’s sin. Then when the anger of David was aroused against the hypothetical rich man who had taken his neighbour’s little ewe lamb, Nathan with crushing and powerful effect pointed his finger in the face of King David and said, “Thou art the man” (2 Samuel 12:7). Nathan showed David his horrible sin of murdering Uriah in order to take his wife, Bathsheba. Nathan did not fear the royalty of David. Therefore, he stood up for God and openly denounced David’s sin.

Consider John the Baptist. He sharply rebuked sin. He did not try to be tactful and mild in his rebuke. He firmly said to the Jews, “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance” (Matthew 3:7, 8). He made no exception for the Jewish leaders either. He told them they would be hewn down like fruitless trees to be cast into the fire of hell. He was just as bold when he faced Herod the king and told him plainly that he had no right to take his brother’s wife (cf. Matthew 14:3, 4).

Consider the preaching of Stephen. Acts, chapter 7, tells the story of his rebuke of the sins of the Jews. He loudly declared to them, “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it” (7:51–53).

Though many more of God’s servants can be mentioned, let us look at just one more preacher, the Apostle Paul, for our consideration. On his first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas came to Paphos. When Elymas the sorcerer withstood them and tried to keep Sergius Paulus, the deputy ruler of the country, from being saved, Paul faced him, filled with the Holy Ghost, and said, “O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” (Acts 13:10).

Preachers who refuse to preach against sin, for fear of being negative, certainly do not follow the pattern of these great men of God. However, those who do preach against sin, hurt the feelings of their carnal hearers and make some of them angry, causing frustrations in the crowd. But they are faithful to God and to the Bible.

As much as preachers are called to preach about God’s love, they are also called to preach against sin. The Lord Jesus loved men, loved sinners enough to die for them, but how He hated sin! Remember how He made a whip to drive the traders from the temple, overturned the tables of the moneychangers, scattered the money on the stone floor! Preaching ought to be like that sometimes. With holy boldness, preachers ought to hate sin and expose it.

Jesus preached against sin! He preached against covetousness; He preached against unbelief; He preached against adultery or even looking on a woman to lust after her. He preached against grudges and said that if men did not forgive, neither would the Father in heaven forgive them. He said to the Pharisees and scribes, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do” (John 8:44). Men hated Jesus because He preached against sin. May God forgive us preachers, who do not preach like Jesus, because we fear the anger of men.

Today, we need preachers who refuse to be influenced by the sophistry of the popular preachers who do not preach against sin. It is true that preachers ought not to be cowards. They must be courageous to rebuke from the pulpit as well as privately if need be. The preacher who never has a word to say against immodest apparel, drunkenness, adultery, lewdness, covetousness and blasphemy is a dumb dog who cannot bark. He is a Balaam preaching for profit. He has fallen into the snare of the fear of man. We need preaching against sin, against particular sins. May God give us many youthful, vibrant and fearless preachers everywhere who will speak for God against the carnality that invades churches of our time.

I Know Whom I Have Believed

Text: 2 Tim 1:11-12

if we truly believe our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and truly know Him, we will not give up the faith or shy away from acknowledging our faith before the world. If we suffer because of the gospel of Christ, we can rejoice because God will reward us for that. 2nd Timothy is a letter of encouragement to Timothy. When Paul wrote it, he was in prison for sharing the gospel. The gospel changed Paul’s life, and he gave his life for the sake of the gospel. The day of Paul’s conversion was also the day God called him into the ministry of the gospel. Paul’s experiential knowledge of God made him a proclaimer and teacher of the gospel. Even in prison, Paul could look at his situation with hope and joy.

Are we ashamed of Christ? Does the world know us as joyful Christians? Are we deceiving ourselves when we say we know our Jesus? Our knowledge of Jesus may be a very superficial one: we know His name and what He has done for us, but there is no real change in our life. Although we do not experience the persecution that Paul did, we must not take our faith for granted. We must not only believe in Jesus. We must also be fully persuaded by the gospel. Then will there be a real change in our life. Doctrine is important but the application of it is important too. If we are fully persuaded, we will let go of our sinful self-will and desires and let God take control of our life.

In times of pain and sufferings, many will depend on their own wisdom and strength and not let God take control. But if we truly know our loving Lord Jesus, we will rely on Him and let Him take control. We will depend on Him.

Are we a blessing to the people around us and shining for Jesus? It is important that we shine for Him in this world of darkness. Paul was fully persuaded of who his Lord and Saviour was. Are we fully persuaded too? Have we committed our all to God, and even willing to suffer for the gospel’s sake?

Our soul is important. To whom have we entrusted our soul? Paul committed his all into the hands of God. If we are fully persuaded of what Christ has done for us, we will be fully committed to Him.

Have you truly and fully committed your all to Christ? May the Lord help us. Amen.