Pr Michael Koh
03-09-2016
1) Teaching or preaching does not transform.
Only God transforms.
2) Listening to the sound. Teaching and
preaching as hearing from God. Tune in to God.
3) Open up the Word in such a way that the Word
brings freshness and in season. To make it applicable in a particular situation.
Psalm 27 - behold the beauty of the Lord and enquire in His temple.
Isaiah 60New International Version (NIV)
The Glory of Zion
60 “Arise, shine, for your
light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth and
thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
3 Nations will come to your light, and
kings to the brightness of your dawn.
What is it that makes us qualified to teach or
preach? It has to do with the light that shines upon the information or the
word. The shining of God makes the word come alive = the Living Word. It
becomes a personal word, to reflect and reach out to people's hearts. It is a
high calling to shine like a light that is not like any other light. Be the
person of the Lord to share the Word, to break the yoke.
The ministry of Paul:
2 Corinthians 1:3-7New International Version
(NIV)
3Praise to the God of All Comfort
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ,the Father of compassion and the God of all
comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can
comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from
God.5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so
also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it
is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your
comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we
suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as
you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
Teaching is not about just information but it is
a blessing that includes the heart of God. It is the thing that God puts into
the valley to fill it up with the things of God. Witness in and of itself does
not minister. It is the comfort and power of God that we experience when that
happens. When we minister to people, there is an anointing there. We minister
out of God's comfort, not the brokenness.
2 Corinthians 2:12-17
Ministers of the New Covenant
12 Now when I went to Troas to preach
the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for
me, 13 I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my
brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.
14 But thanks be to God, who always
leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the
aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are to
God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those
who are perishing. 16 To the one we are an aroma that brings
death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a
task? 17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On
the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent
from God.
Teaching is about Godly sincerity. It is about
genuine ministry. Paul would distance himself from the type of teaching that
sounded impressive but not from God, that is not fragrance that comes out of
the crushing. The minister of God has the work of the spirit that has crushed
his ego.
2 Corinthians 3:1-6New International Version
(NIV)
3 Are we beginning to commend
ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to
you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our
hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 You show that you are a letter
from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the
Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of
human hearts.
4 Such confidence we have through
Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to
claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 He
has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but
of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
When we speak, God writes on our hearts. What is
ministry of the Spirit is what is written by the Holy Spirit. It is not about
commendation or titles (doctorate, PhD, etc). God writes on the teacher or
preacher's heart. God brands our hearts. He has more for us. So when we
minister or teach, things get written. Allow ourselves to have a high vision of
teaching.
Minister in such a way that the Holy Spirit is
writing. The fellowship with the Holy Spirit is very important.
2 Corinthians 3:12-18New International Version
(NIV)
12 Therefore, since we have such a
hope, we are very bold.13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil
over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was
passing away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day
the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been
removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.15 Even to this day when
Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone
turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is
the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
freedom.18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate[a] the
Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with
ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
The ministry of Moses is the ministry of death.
Moses' face "shot out light." It was scary. When God shows Himself,
He allows us to see Him and He disciples us. When the people of God saw Moses
like that, they told Moses to put a veil over his head. The thing that
separates us from God is removed. He wants us to have a direct experience with
Him. We are transformed from glory to glory to make spiritual truths more
palatable and easy to understand.
Instead of meeting God, we have so many books
nowadays. Books can point to God but can also be a veil.
We are to be one with God. Choose God and not
ministry. Choose God and not books. Do not teach to please men and be more
concerned about how people sees us. Get into the habit of immersing ourselves
in the presence of God.
What is the nature of the Word of God? The
scriptures are words inspired by God. The Holy Spirit breathes into the
scriptures and activates the Word. When we read the scriptures in such a way
that we are coming to the Living God, the scriptures become real and begin to
touch us. The Living Word speaks to us, transforms us. The Word includes the
scriptures as well as the presence of God. It becomes relevant in a particular
time, moment of dynamism, and it resonates with people. When we are looking at
God, He is looking back at us even more. We are in the presence of Someone who
is active. We have not acted upon Him but rather He has acted upon us.
The Word of God is not just about facts. It
energises us. Faith comes by hearing. A teacher has to hear the sound of the
Word. The nature of the Word is living and more active than us.
How we are as teachers depends on how we are
before God.
Psalm 27:4
4 One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I
seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to
gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.
To dwell in the house of the Lord is to be
hospitable to God, to be familiar with God, to know the Lord's heart so that we
understand where He's coming from. It is long term. Our instincts are shaped
and formed so that we are in line with God. When temptations come, we hate
evil. When we honour the anointing, we become bold.
To gaze on the beauty of the Lord is to have a
grateful heart and to appreciate the beauty of God. When God is doing the small
things which is the beginning of big things, we see it. We hear the tone
differently. When He rebukes, we hear love. We know whether it is from God or
just something that's just interesting. Wait upon the sweetness of the Word to
come. Without thankfulness, we can't hear the texture of what God is saying. We
become tone deaf. When we are thankful to God, He blesses us. Appreciation is
instinctual and more than cognitive.
Train our spiritual instincts to wait for a Word
that becomes freshness from God. It becomes a revelation.
Psalm 91:1-2New International Version (NIV)
Psalm 91
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the
Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my
refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
God treats us according to how we treat Him.
As a teacher or preacher, He calls us to a
secret dwelling place where others don't go.
In the long term, God changes our desires and He
shapes us as we allow ourselves to be open to Him. God becomes our everything.
Does the space in our hearts have space for
other things as well? Is our dwelling compromised?
As a teacher or preacher, we want to see more of
the precious things of God. These things are so powerful that can change
people's lives. Allow God to drop little particles as we pray in the Spirit and
let spiritual things to form. To have a mind of God is to be still before God
and be sensitised to the things of God. Some thoughts are seeds that God have
for us or little whispers that we hear from God.
Don't be intimidated by the noise. As we praise
the Lord, there will be a stillness. After a period of waiting, when the Word
comes, faith erupts, joy erupts. The love of God in our hearts overflows. It is
all a process of the Spirit rising.
How we are before God determines how we are
before people.
Isaiah 50:2
When I came, why was there no one? When I called,
why was there no one to answer? Was my arm too short to deliver you?
Do I lack the strength to rescue you? By a
mere rebuke I dry up the sea, I turn rivers into a desert; their fish rot
for lack of water and die of thirst.
The logic of the exile was there was no one in
Israel to hear from God.
God wants to speak and He wants us to hear. He
does speak to us on a regular basis. We have to be willing and expect to hear
from Him.
Isaiah 50:4-8
The
Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word
that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to
listen like one being instructed.
5 The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears;
I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away.
6 I offered my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking
and spitting.
7 Because the Sovereign Lord
helps me, I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I
know I will not be put to shame.
8 He who vindicates me is near.
Morning by morning, God will speak to us. It can
go on for weeks.
Isaiah has the tongue of someone who's been
taught.
Hear from God in the scriptures instead of from
impressions or visions.
There's much more in the heart and mind of God.
God is shaping and forming us. It is these things that we teach. As we breathe
out the Word of God, we bear so much fruits.
Sometimes, praying in tongues can lead us to be
disconnected from the heart. It becomes mechanical. Praying in the Spirit is
about us lifting out our hearts to God and He shapes and transforms us in the
process. If our hearts are not stretching out to God, we get distracted. If we
go off track, bring it back. Keep our minds as close to God as possible and
bring our hearts and pour it out to God in the spirit.
We are committed to the Word that comes. We are
loyal to speaking the Word from God, not using someone else's sermon or
recycling from old notes. The gold standard is having the Word in season.
Question to ask from God:
1) "What do You have for me?"
Isaiah 28:9-15
“Who is it he is trying to teach?
To whom is he explaining his message?
To children weaned from their milk, to
those just taken from the breast?
10 For it is:
Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for
that; a little here, a little there.
11Very well then, with foreign lips and strange
tongues God will speak to this people,
12 to whom he said, “This is the resting
place, let the weary rest”;
and, “This is the place of repose”—but they
would not listen.
13 So then, the word of
the Lord to them will become:
Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for
that; a little here, a little there—so that as they go they will fall backward;
they will be injured and snared and captured.
14 Therefore hear the word of
the Lord, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15 You boast, “We have entered into a
covenant with death, with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement.
When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it
cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood[b]our
hiding place."
The people want quick results. They have
neglected the presence of God. The priests are not able to distinguish between
the flesh and the spirit. It's all vomit there. It's a product of drunkenness.
It is not to have an immature knowledge. We need
to have a deeper knowledge of God. The Word of God resonates with us. God lays
the foundation, line upon line, precept upon precept. He builds up layer by
layer, principle by principle. There is a certain order.
Isaiah is saying that we have to be aware of
what God is speaking. Be attentive, sensitive, awake and alert when God drops
something--particles of truth-- in our hearts.
2) "What is it about my attitude that
prevents me from getting this?"
He shows us that sometimes we don't pay
attention to things that are trivial.
3) "What should I do differently then?"
When God gives an answer, it is something that
can be done.
In summary:
1) Only God transforms, not the teaching in
itself.
2) Learn to hear from Him. His Word is active
and He speaks to us.
3) Dissect it up to make it fresh again even
though we'd read it before or heard it before and this new revelation is
relevant to our present situation and is in season.
That's how we approach teaching. It is a
blessing that includes the heart of God. It applies to us as parents imparting
knowledge and discipline to our children or as home fellowship
teachers/facilitators giving lessons to members.
