29-03-2020
Fear Not for I AM with you
Elder Liew Hoi Foo
29-03-2020
As we face the challenges before us, our God is with us. His desire is that He will see us through this difficult period and we will come out victorious.
Just like the Israelites when they see the problem before them, God led them through the desert by Moses. They come to a dead end, facing the Red Sea and they blamed Moses and were angry with God that they were brought to a dead end to be slaughtered by Pharaoh's army. But God has a plan for them.
God knows what is ahead and God has a solution. The Israelites focused on their problem but God sees beyond what He has already planned for them. All God was looking for was for the Israelites to repent and seek the LORD, and to submit to His Lordship and put their trust in Him and Him alone. When Moses cried out the LORD, God says, "Move on. Tell the Israelites to move on." In other words, we shouldn't be wasting time asking the LORD because the LORD has a solution [so] just obey His direction and His instruction. In the next verse, God says, "Moses, stretch out your hand over the sea and raise up your staff." Moses did just that and the water rolled up to the left and right and opened a way for the Israelites to cross, not on wet, muddy ground but, on dry land.
Can you imagine? When you face the Red Sea and [all it takes is] a simple obedience unto the Lord. If Moses had chosen not to obey Him, the Israelites would not be able to cross the Red Sea.
Let us focus upon God and not the problem before us today--not over the pandemic, not over the economic crisis. Let us focus on God and what His plans are for us.
Jeremiah 29:11 New International Version (NIV)
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Let us hold onto God's Word and trust God that out of this crisis and challenging time, there awaits us like the Israelites were in Goshen during the time of famine in Egypt that there was [an] abundance of food.
In the case of crossing the Jordan, the Israelites again faced a problem of trusting their leader, Joshua. Moses has passed on and Joshua is now the new leader. Will they accept a new leader? God wants the people to know that He has appointed a new leader for them and they are listen to him and his instructions. Early in the morning in Joshua 3, Joshua instructed the Israelites to break camp and get ready to cross the Jordan River. But God will go first. He's represented by the priests carrying the ark of God. The moment their feet touched the edge of the Jordan, the water stopped flowing from 20 miles upstream. God stopped the water and then it became a dry ground/land. And the whole nation of Israelites crossed over. Many of the older generation that were with Moses when they crossed the Red Sea had passed on because God had said that those who were 20 years and above during Moses' time would not see the Promised Land. So this is the younger generation who may not have the experience of crossing the Red Sea. This is something that is new to them, yet God wants the new generation to put their trust in God. And God is leading them on by asking the priests to go first. As they stand in the Jordan River, God push the water upstream and downstream. And the Israelites crossed over. They crossed over on dry ground. Again, it was not on slimy, wet and muddy ground.
God does not want the Israelites to focus on their problem. What the Israelites see as an obstacle, God sees it as an opportunity. God led the Israelites through and as the priests came out of the water, the Jordan River started to flow again. It was a season of harvest where the Jordan River was overflowing; there was flooding.
In the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the fiery furnace in Daniel 3, the Babylonians had captured the Israelites. The three young men together with Daniel were selected by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to serve in the palace. They were given special food but they had [refused to eat the royal food and wine.] King Nebuchadnezzar set an idol and [decreed] that everyone should bow and worship. These three young men had solid foundations on the Word of God and they stood firm even in facing death at this point of them. The King had said they only needed to obey, bow down and worship the statue and their lives would be spared. But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego chose to stand firm and put their trust and belief in God. They did not focus on the problem before them. They said, "Even if our God does not come to save us, we will still not bow down to the statue." That is a firm foundation of their faith, that even in times of criss, they would not let go of their lifeline. For they know that their future, eternity and destiny is with God. Nebuchadnezzar got so angry that the fiery furnace was heated up seven times stronger to the extent that the soldiers who were manning it were killed by the fire. When the three young men were bound and thrown in lock, stock and barrel in their clothing, Nebuchadnezzar leapt to his feet [in amazement] to see four men inside. Three went in an four were walking. They were found to be unbound and unharmed. God says, "I am with You; I will not forsake you." The three young men put their trust in God and believed in God and their faith did not waver. Nebuchadnezzar called out to them and asked them to come out and there were no burn signs on them at all. That is the God that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego trusted in. They went through the crisis and came out victoriously. Nebuchadnezzar then promoted then and declared that the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego shall be the God for the people of Babylon. What a glorious ending for a test/trial of this nature.
This is the assurance and promise that we have in our God thy in our present crisis, we will continue to put our faith and trust in our God. We look not to the left or right but we look unto our LORD God Almighty to deliver us and to lead us through this crisis that we shall all come out victoriously.
Father, in Jesus' name, thank you that we can put our trust in You. Help us, O God, in our weaknesses and in our shortcomings, that as we place our trust in You, You will lead us through this challenging time and we will come out victoriously, just like the Israelites in crossing the Red Sea, just like the Israelites in crossing the Jordan River to the Promised Land, and just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego coming out of the burning, fiery furnace. We thank You that we have a God in You and that You will not forsake us and that You will not leave us. This we give thanks in Jesus' name. Amen. God bless you.
29-03-2020
As we face the challenges before us, our God is with us. His desire is that He will see us through this difficult period and we will come out victorious.
Just like the Israelites when they see the problem before them, God led them through the desert by Moses. They come to a dead end, facing the Red Sea and they blamed Moses and were angry with God that they were brought to a dead end to be slaughtered by Pharaoh's army. But God has a plan for them.
God knows what is ahead and God has a solution. The Israelites focused on their problem but God sees beyond what He has already planned for them. All God was looking for was for the Israelites to repent and seek the LORD, and to submit to His Lordship and put their trust in Him and Him alone. When Moses cried out the LORD, God says, "Move on. Tell the Israelites to move on." In other words, we shouldn't be wasting time asking the LORD because the LORD has a solution [so] just obey His direction and His instruction. In the next verse, God says, "Moses, stretch out your hand over the sea and raise up your staff." Moses did just that and the water rolled up to the left and right and opened a way for the Israelites to cross, not on wet, muddy ground but, on dry land.
Can you imagine? When you face the Red Sea and [all it takes is] a simple obedience unto the Lord. If Moses had chosen not to obey Him, the Israelites would not be able to cross the Red Sea.
Let us focus upon God and not the problem before us today--not over the pandemic, not over the economic crisis. Let us focus on God and what His plans are for us.
Jeremiah 29:11 New International Version (NIV)
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Let us hold onto God's Word and trust God that out of this crisis and challenging time, there awaits us like the Israelites were in Goshen during the time of famine in Egypt that there was [an] abundance of food.
In the case of crossing the Jordan, the Israelites again faced a problem of trusting their leader, Joshua. Moses has passed on and Joshua is now the new leader. Will they accept a new leader? God wants the people to know that He has appointed a new leader for them and they are listen to him and his instructions. Early in the morning in Joshua 3, Joshua instructed the Israelites to break camp and get ready to cross the Jordan River. But God will go first. He's represented by the priests carrying the ark of God. The moment their feet touched the edge of the Jordan, the water stopped flowing from 20 miles upstream. God stopped the water and then it became a dry ground/land. And the whole nation of Israelites crossed over. Many of the older generation that were with Moses when they crossed the Red Sea had passed on because God had said that those who were 20 years and above during Moses' time would not see the Promised Land. So this is the younger generation who may not have the experience of crossing the Red Sea. This is something that is new to them, yet God wants the new generation to put their trust in God. And God is leading them on by asking the priests to go first. As they stand in the Jordan River, God push the water upstream and downstream. And the Israelites crossed over. They crossed over on dry ground. Again, it was not on slimy, wet and muddy ground.
God does not want the Israelites to focus on their problem. What the Israelites see as an obstacle, God sees it as an opportunity. God led the Israelites through and as the priests came out of the water, the Jordan River started to flow again. It was a season of harvest where the Jordan River was overflowing; there was flooding.
In the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the fiery furnace in Daniel 3, the Babylonians had captured the Israelites. The three young men together with Daniel were selected by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to serve in the palace. They were given special food but they had [refused to eat the royal food and wine.] King Nebuchadnezzar set an idol and [decreed] that everyone should bow and worship. These three young men had solid foundations on the Word of God and they stood firm even in facing death at this point of them. The King had said they only needed to obey, bow down and worship the statue and their lives would be spared. But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego chose to stand firm and put their trust and belief in God. They did not focus on the problem before them. They said, "Even if our God does not come to save us, we will still not bow down to the statue." That is a firm foundation of their faith, that even in times of criss, they would not let go of their lifeline. For they know that their future, eternity and destiny is with God. Nebuchadnezzar got so angry that the fiery furnace was heated up seven times stronger to the extent that the soldiers who were manning it were killed by the fire. When the three young men were bound and thrown in lock, stock and barrel in their clothing, Nebuchadnezzar leapt to his feet [in amazement] to see four men inside. Three went in an four were walking. They were found to be unbound and unharmed. God says, "I am with You; I will not forsake you." The three young men put their trust in God and believed in God and their faith did not waver. Nebuchadnezzar called out to them and asked them to come out and there were no burn signs on them at all. That is the God that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego trusted in. They went through the crisis and came out victoriously. Nebuchadnezzar then promoted then and declared that the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego shall be the God for the people of Babylon. What a glorious ending for a test/trial of this nature.
This is the assurance and promise that we have in our God thy in our present crisis, we will continue to put our faith and trust in our God. We look not to the left or right but we look unto our LORD God Almighty to deliver us and to lead us through this crisis that we shall all come out victoriously.
Father, in Jesus' name, thank you that we can put our trust in You. Help us, O God, in our weaknesses and in our shortcomings, that as we place our trust in You, You will lead us through this challenging time and we will come out victoriously, just like the Israelites in crossing the Red Sea, just like the Israelites in crossing the Jordan River to the Promised Land, and just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego coming out of the burning, fiery furnace. We thank You that we have a God in You and that You will not forsake us and that You will not leave us. This we give thanks in Jesus' name. Amen. God bless you.
Our Roles in Christ (Colossians 3:18-4:6)
Elder Saw Lip Hean
22-03-2020
Before marriage, ladies, choose your husbands carefully. If you choose a guy whom you cannot respect or be your best friend, you will have a problem. After marriage, don't expect to change your husbands. So choose carefully before marriage.
Proverbs 31:10-31 New International Version (NIV)
Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character
10 [a]A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still night;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her female servants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
Always look to Proverbs 31. If you understand your role as a wife and a mother, you'll realise that you have a very onerous task. Through discussions and advise, you will not have any problems with submissions because your husband will make decisions based on the advice you give your husband. Do not manipulate. Be careful of manipulation. Whenever disagreement arises, God's order is that the man wears the trousers in the family.
Husbands, because of your propensity for preoccupation with careers and presumption that certain things are your right, men, we always have a lot of problems dealing with our wives and children. Very often the harshness and discipline and the double standards that we exercise is a manifestation of our fear and vicarious living that we are indulging in. Husbands, you know yourselves where you are lacking.
Children, obey your remembers. Always remember, only if you have hindsight in everything. Well, your parents do. Your parents have gone through it. That is why they tend to nag you a bit. But they nag you a bit because they love you and they want the best for you. And if you ignore their advice and their plans for you, very often it works out to your detriment.
We are not to curry favour. We are to work with integrity and loyalty because we have two forms of reward. Firstly, we are rewarded by our earthly masters. Secondly, we are rewarded by God who sees everything. So, employees, don't try to be too smart for your own good.
James 5:4 New International Version (NIV)
4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.
Masters, on the other hand, act fairly. If you withhold rightful remuneration to your workers, the justice that calls out from the earth reaches the ears of heaven. No doubt there's differing values of the workers' contribution. Workers tend to think too much of their contribution. Bosses tend to think too little of their contribution. Here we need to strike a balance. However, what is important is that the attitude and treatment towards employees must be right. At the end of the day, you have a master also.
Devote yourselves to prayer. We need to pray. That is without exception. The practical issues of time, place, tongues and human weakness need to be dealt with. We must realise we have to have time to pray each day to commune with God. This is when you speak to God. When you speak to God, God speaks to to you. All of us need to spend time daily and regularly to pray. Find for yourselves a place where you can commune with God in privacy. Do we pray only in tongues or with understanding? All these practical issues have a lot to do with human weakness. Sometimes we are so rush for time that we forget to pray. Or we tend to be lazy and we just indulge in praying in tongues without praying intelligently. Praying intelligently is important because it develops spiritual mentality. Praying in tongues is wonderful; it uplifts us spiritually; there are many things we do not know how to pray and praying in tongues helps a lot. If you only pray in tongues, yes, your spirit man benefits but your mind and your heart do not. While we live on earth, the soul part of us--our minds and our hearts--needs to develop and mature. Therefore, in praying intelligently, we are engaging God in a conversation and in a discussion. In so doing, you will find that you learn a lot. You learn and develop your spiritual understanding. While it is important to pray in tongues, it is equally important to pray intelligently and in so doing, it develops our spiritual understanding and our spiritual mind.
In praying corporately, we have theology vs practice vs technology. The theology of corporate prayer is very simple: God is everywhere. God hears you where ever you are. God is timeless. The practice of coming together at a particular fixed time to pray helps to overcome the human weakness of being lazy or not being able to pray. However, all these can be overcome with the use of modern technology. With Zoom, now we can meet in the comfort of your home without going through the traffic jams every day. Think about it. Sometimes, due to our own human weakness, we tend to take the easy way out. We try to make up for our ignorance and laziness by just giving an item of prayer. Eg. Let's pray for the nation. You start praying in tongues and you get everybody to pray in tongues as well. By itself, this is not wrong. But to you as a prayer leader, may I humbly suggest that you are not doing the body of Christ any favour if you lead in prayers like this. You need to be aware of what's happening in the country and you need to be able to explain what is happening to the country to the body of Christ so that they can pray intelligently, with wisdom and faith so that when God answers, they will know that their prayers have been answered. As prayer leaders, we have tremendous responsibility in how we lead in prayer. If we understand and explain to the body of Christ what we are praying about, it builds up faith because when we pray intelligently and we know what we are praying for and the Spirit of God leads us in our undertanding and in our mental development and when we see how God answers, we mature and develop in our faith.
We need to act with urgency. There is a need for new proactive strategies for evangelism. The old ways sometimes do not work anymore and we will fail miserably. It's not because the gospel is irrelevant; it's because we engage irrelevant means. There is a lot of self-defeating practices being exercised by our church. We do not think how we do church. You spend so much time in church--and this is to be commended--but do you have enough time to spend with your family and children, and spend time with your friends to build friendships with them and bring them to Christ so that you earn the right to speak into their lives? Do you even have time for yourself to do quiet time and commune with God? We need a paradigm shift. We need to preach the gospel in an effective manner. We need to understand where your friend is coming from and be more sensitive. We are there to save souls. We need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and to the person that we are brining the message to.
In conclusion, the reason why we do the Book of Colossians is for us to be better disciples. In this movement control order period, this is a very good time to develop our discipleship. How can we be helpful and compassionate to our neighbours? How can we pray for our country? If the church of God does not step up to the plate and hit the home run, we will end up losing the game.
RELATED:
A Holy People in the Kingdom of Light (Colossians 1:1-14)
The Supremacy of Christ (Colossians 1:15-23)
How Should We Serve Christ (Colossians 1:24-2:5)
Completeness in Christ (Colossians 2:6-15)
Freedom in Christ (Colossians 2:16-23) The Attack on a Christ Centred Life
Mentality in Christ (Colossians 3:1-17)
Our Roles in Christ (Colossians 3:18-4:6)
22-03-2020
Before marriage, ladies, choose your husbands carefully. If you choose a guy whom you cannot respect or be your best friend, you will have a problem. After marriage, don't expect to change your husbands. So choose carefully before marriage.
Proverbs 31:10-31 New International Version (NIV)
Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character
10 [a]A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still night;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her female servants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
Always look to Proverbs 31. If you understand your role as a wife and a mother, you'll realise that you have a very onerous task. Through discussions and advise, you will not have any problems with submissions because your husband will make decisions based on the advice you give your husband. Do not manipulate. Be careful of manipulation. Whenever disagreement arises, God's order is that the man wears the trousers in the family.
Husbands, because of your propensity for preoccupation with careers and presumption that certain things are your right, men, we always have a lot of problems dealing with our wives and children. Very often the harshness and discipline and the double standards that we exercise is a manifestation of our fear and vicarious living that we are indulging in. Husbands, you know yourselves where you are lacking.
Children, obey your remembers. Always remember, only if you have hindsight in everything. Well, your parents do. Your parents have gone through it. That is why they tend to nag you a bit. But they nag you a bit because they love you and they want the best for you. And if you ignore their advice and their plans for you, very often it works out to your detriment.
We are not to curry favour. We are to work with integrity and loyalty because we have two forms of reward. Firstly, we are rewarded by our earthly masters. Secondly, we are rewarded by God who sees everything. So, employees, don't try to be too smart for your own good.
James 5:4 New International Version (NIV)
4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.
Masters, on the other hand, act fairly. If you withhold rightful remuneration to your workers, the justice that calls out from the earth reaches the ears of heaven. No doubt there's differing values of the workers' contribution. Workers tend to think too much of their contribution. Bosses tend to think too little of their contribution. Here we need to strike a balance. However, what is important is that the attitude and treatment towards employees must be right. At the end of the day, you have a master also.
Devote yourselves to prayer. We need to pray. That is without exception. The practical issues of time, place, tongues and human weakness need to be dealt with. We must realise we have to have time to pray each day to commune with God. This is when you speak to God. When you speak to God, God speaks to to you. All of us need to spend time daily and regularly to pray. Find for yourselves a place where you can commune with God in privacy. Do we pray only in tongues or with understanding? All these practical issues have a lot to do with human weakness. Sometimes we are so rush for time that we forget to pray. Or we tend to be lazy and we just indulge in praying in tongues without praying intelligently. Praying intelligently is important because it develops spiritual mentality. Praying in tongues is wonderful; it uplifts us spiritually; there are many things we do not know how to pray and praying in tongues helps a lot. If you only pray in tongues, yes, your spirit man benefits but your mind and your heart do not. While we live on earth, the soul part of us--our minds and our hearts--needs to develop and mature. Therefore, in praying intelligently, we are engaging God in a conversation and in a discussion. In so doing, you will find that you learn a lot. You learn and develop your spiritual understanding. While it is important to pray in tongues, it is equally important to pray intelligently and in so doing, it develops our spiritual understanding and our spiritual mind.
In praying corporately, we have theology vs practice vs technology. The theology of corporate prayer is very simple: God is everywhere. God hears you where ever you are. God is timeless. The practice of coming together at a particular fixed time to pray helps to overcome the human weakness of being lazy or not being able to pray. However, all these can be overcome with the use of modern technology. With Zoom, now we can meet in the comfort of your home without going through the traffic jams every day. Think about it. Sometimes, due to our own human weakness, we tend to take the easy way out. We try to make up for our ignorance and laziness by just giving an item of prayer. Eg. Let's pray for the nation. You start praying in tongues and you get everybody to pray in tongues as well. By itself, this is not wrong. But to you as a prayer leader, may I humbly suggest that you are not doing the body of Christ any favour if you lead in prayers like this. You need to be aware of what's happening in the country and you need to be able to explain what is happening to the country to the body of Christ so that they can pray intelligently, with wisdom and faith so that when God answers, they will know that their prayers have been answered. As prayer leaders, we have tremendous responsibility in how we lead in prayer. If we understand and explain to the body of Christ what we are praying about, it builds up faith because when we pray intelligently and we know what we are praying for and the Spirit of God leads us in our undertanding and in our mental development and when we see how God answers, we mature and develop in our faith.
We need to act with urgency. There is a need for new proactive strategies for evangelism. The old ways sometimes do not work anymore and we will fail miserably. It's not because the gospel is irrelevant; it's because we engage irrelevant means. There is a lot of self-defeating practices being exercised by our church. We do not think how we do church. You spend so much time in church--and this is to be commended--but do you have enough time to spend with your family and children, and spend time with your friends to build friendships with them and bring them to Christ so that you earn the right to speak into their lives? Do you even have time for yourself to do quiet time and commune with God? We need a paradigm shift. We need to preach the gospel in an effective manner. We need to understand where your friend is coming from and be more sensitive. We are there to save souls. We need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and to the person that we are brining the message to.
In conclusion, the reason why we do the Book of Colossians is for us to be better disciples. In this movement control order period, this is a very good time to develop our discipleship. How can we be helpful and compassionate to our neighbours? How can we pray for our country? If the church of God does not step up to the plate and hit the home run, we will end up losing the game.
RELATED:
A Holy People in the Kingdom of Light (Colossians 1:1-14)
The Supremacy of Christ (Colossians 1:15-23)
How Should We Serve Christ (Colossians 1:24-2:5)
Completeness in Christ (Colossians 2:6-15)
Freedom in Christ (Colossians 2:16-23) The Attack on a Christ Centred Life
Mentality in Christ (Colossians 3:1-17)
Our Roles in Christ (Colossians 3:18-4:6)
Mentality in Christ (Colossians 3:1-17)
Elder Saw Lip Hean
15-03-2020
@ YouTube
Jeremiah 17:10 New International Version (NIV)
10 “I the Lord search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”
Jeremiah 17:9 New International Version (NIV)
9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
Jeremiah 29:13 New International Version (NIV)
13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 24:7 New International Version (NIV)
7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
Jeremiah 32:39 New International Version (NIV)
39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them.
Jeremiah 31:33 New International Version (NIV)
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
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.
God will always help you in the direction you want to go.
Remember the story of Pharaoh? God gave him plenty of chances when he was dealing with Moses. Pharaoh hardened up his heart and refused to listen to what God was trying to tell him. So many times God gave him a chance; he hardened up his heart. After the fifth time, God hardened up his heart. The sixth and seventh time, God hardened up his heart. If a man chooses to go in one particular direction, and the direction is away from God, initially God will give him a chance to come back to Him. But if he continues to seek after that and refuses to obey God, God will even help him to go in that direction as well.
If you desire to seek God with all your heart, God will help you along this line. Do not fear. Do not think that it is beyond you. God will always help you in the direction that you go. When He tells you to seek the things that are above and set your heart on things that are above, He is going to help you. He wants you to focus your entire being on things above and no more on things below. You have been made complete in Christ. You have no more fear. You are not bound by the superstitious misconceptions anymore. You have complete freedom not to sin and and to walk a holy life. That's the theological implications of Chapters 1 and 2.
Now God is saying through Paul that the first practical thing that you need to do is, you need to focus on things above.
Matthew 6:22-23 New International Version (NIV)
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[a] your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[b] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Our destiny is to live a holy and fruitful life--a life of faith, hope and love. That is called living in the light. If our eyes are focused on living in the light, our body will be full of light. But if we are focused on things of the earth, then our body will be full of darkness.
2 Corinthians 5:17 New International Version (NIV)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!
Matthew 13:44-46 New International Version (NIV)
The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
Have you bought that pearl? The Christian's life is all about buying that pearl because that pearl is a pearl of great price, everything else pales into insignificance. When Christ is your life, everything else doesn't matter because we will come with Him again.
Colossians 3:4 New International Version (NIV)
4 When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
When Jesus comes again to this earth, those of us who have fallen asleep or who are dead will rise from the dead and come together with Him. Those who are alive at that time will rise up to the clouds together with Christ. And for the next one thousand years called the millennium, you will rule together with Christ. During that time, the lion and the lamb will sit together. The lion will eat grass and the little child will lead them. All the soldiers will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. You will then enjoy the beauty that God has created.
So fear not, my dear brethren. This is faith. When we understand our hope, everything we do is not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed to us.
Romans 8:18 New International Version (NIV)
Present Suffering and Future Glory
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Paul says it is inevitable when you try to make the mysteries of the universe known to the world, you suffer. And you suffer a lot.
Colossians 3:5-11 New International Version (NIV)
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[a] 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Even when we are doing things of God, we can be doing it out of our impure mind. Our motivation is because we lust after power and position rathe than our of love and affection for God. When we are slighted or not recognise for the things we do or we do not agree, we get angry and we desire evil for others. When Paul says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," he was actually talking to Christian workers because even as a servant of God, he was facing poverty and he had difficulties making ends meet. And when he had money, he spent his money on God's people and God's work. He was a spendthrift for God. That's the wonderful thing about Paul. We are misers with God and spendthrift for ourselves. Our richness in Christ us not meant for our own indulgence. We need to rethink our approach to Christian service and generosity, and understand when to be generous, when to aboud and when to abase.
Romans 1:18-32 New International Version (NIV)
God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
One of the wrong conceptions that we have is that Christians can continue to indulge in sin.
Galatians 6:7-9 New International Version (NIV)
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
As a Christian, if you continue to focus on things of the earth and continue to indulge in known sins instead of repenting from them, you will reap what you sow. God's wrath will descend. When you indulge in things that the world does, you will see therein lies the wrath of God. Psalm 91 doesn't make you bulletproof.
Colossians 3:10-11 New International Version (NIV)
10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
All of us need to put away the old self.
Matthew 5:29-30 New International Version (NIV)
29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
We are not talking about self-immolation or self-mutilation. The teaching in Matthew 5 is this: if something causes you to sin, use your common sense. Stay away from it. Stay far, far away from it. If you have a weakness for cigarettes, why do you always mix with people who smoke? If you have a weakness for alcohol, why do you insist on going and joining your friends during happy hour? You know jolly well when everybody is drinking beer, you cannot be just drinking your A&W root beer.
Psalm 1:1-2 New International Version (NIV)
Psalm 1:1-2
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
Not only you stay away, you keep away. That is the best way of putting to death all the evil desires. We need to take ourselves away from all delibitating influences that cause us to go back into the world.
Our freedom, completeness, destiny and the supremacy of Christ all lead us to this: stay away and keep away.
RELATED:
A Holy People in the Kingdom of Light (Colossians 1:1-14)
The Supremacy of Christ (Colossians 1:15-23)
How Should We Serve Christ (Colossians 1:24-2:5)
Completeness in Christ (Colossians 2:6-15)
Freedom in Christ (Colossians 2:16-23) The Attack on a Christ Centred Life
Mentality in Christ (Colossians 3:1-17)
Our Roles in Christ (Colossians 3:18-4:6)
15-03-2020
@ YouTube
Jeremiah 17:10 New International Version (NIV)
10 “I the Lord search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”
Jeremiah 17:9 New International Version (NIV)
9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
Jeremiah 29:13 New International Version (NIV)
13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 24:7 New International Version (NIV)
7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
Jeremiah 32:39 New International Version (NIV)
39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them.
Jeremiah 31:33 New International Version (NIV)
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
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.
God will always help you in the direction you want to go.
Remember the story of Pharaoh? God gave him plenty of chances when he was dealing with Moses. Pharaoh hardened up his heart and refused to listen to what God was trying to tell him. So many times God gave him a chance; he hardened up his heart. After the fifth time, God hardened up his heart. The sixth and seventh time, God hardened up his heart. If a man chooses to go in one particular direction, and the direction is away from God, initially God will give him a chance to come back to Him. But if he continues to seek after that and refuses to obey God, God will even help him to go in that direction as well.
If you desire to seek God with all your heart, God will help you along this line. Do not fear. Do not think that it is beyond you. God will always help you in the direction that you go. When He tells you to seek the things that are above and set your heart on things that are above, He is going to help you. He wants you to focus your entire being on things above and no more on things below. You have been made complete in Christ. You have no more fear. You are not bound by the superstitious misconceptions anymore. You have complete freedom not to sin and and to walk a holy life. That's the theological implications of Chapters 1 and 2.
Now God is saying through Paul that the first practical thing that you need to do is, you need to focus on things above.
Matthew 6:22-23 New International Version (NIV)
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[a] your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[b] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Our destiny is to live a holy and fruitful life--a life of faith, hope and love. That is called living in the light. If our eyes are focused on living in the light, our body will be full of light. But if we are focused on things of the earth, then our body will be full of darkness.
2 Corinthians 5:17 New International Version (NIV)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!
Matthew 13:44-46 New International Version (NIV)
The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
Have you bought that pearl? The Christian's life is all about buying that pearl because that pearl is a pearl of great price, everything else pales into insignificance. When Christ is your life, everything else doesn't matter because we will come with Him again.
Colossians 3:4 New International Version (NIV)
4 When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
When Jesus comes again to this earth, those of us who have fallen asleep or who are dead will rise from the dead and come together with Him. Those who are alive at that time will rise up to the clouds together with Christ. And for the next one thousand years called the millennium, you will rule together with Christ. During that time, the lion and the lamb will sit together. The lion will eat grass and the little child will lead them. All the soldiers will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. You will then enjoy the beauty that God has created.
So fear not, my dear brethren. This is faith. When we understand our hope, everything we do is not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed to us.
Romans 8:18 New International Version (NIV)
Present Suffering and Future Glory
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Paul says it is inevitable when you try to make the mysteries of the universe known to the world, you suffer. And you suffer a lot.
Colossians 3:5-11 New International Version (NIV)
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[a] 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Even when we are doing things of God, we can be doing it out of our impure mind. Our motivation is because we lust after power and position rathe than our of love and affection for God. When we are slighted or not recognise for the things we do or we do not agree, we get angry and we desire evil for others. When Paul says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," he was actually talking to Christian workers because even as a servant of God, he was facing poverty and he had difficulties making ends meet. And when he had money, he spent his money on God's people and God's work. He was a spendthrift for God. That's the wonderful thing about Paul. We are misers with God and spendthrift for ourselves. Our richness in Christ us not meant for our own indulgence. We need to rethink our approach to Christian service and generosity, and understand when to be generous, when to aboud and when to abase.
Romans 1:18-32 New International Version (NIV)
God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
One of the wrong conceptions that we have is that Christians can continue to indulge in sin.
Galatians 6:7-9 New International Version (NIV)
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
As a Christian, if you continue to focus on things of the earth and continue to indulge in known sins instead of repenting from them, you will reap what you sow. God's wrath will descend. When you indulge in things that the world does, you will see therein lies the wrath of God. Psalm 91 doesn't make you bulletproof.
Colossians 3:10-11 New International Version (NIV)
10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
All of us need to put away the old self.
Matthew 5:29-30 New International Version (NIV)
29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
We are not talking about self-immolation or self-mutilation. The teaching in Matthew 5 is this: if something causes you to sin, use your common sense. Stay away from it. Stay far, far away from it. If you have a weakness for cigarettes, why do you always mix with people who smoke? If you have a weakness for alcohol, why do you insist on going and joining your friends during happy hour? You know jolly well when everybody is drinking beer, you cannot be just drinking your A&W root beer.
Psalm 1:1-2 New International Version (NIV)
Psalm 1:1-2
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
Not only you stay away, you keep away. That is the best way of putting to death all the evil desires. We need to take ourselves away from all delibitating influences that cause us to go back into the world.
Our freedom, completeness, destiny and the supremacy of Christ all lead us to this: stay away and keep away.
RELATED:
A Holy People in the Kingdom of Light (Colossians 1:1-14)
The Supremacy of Christ (Colossians 1:15-23)
How Should We Serve Christ (Colossians 1:24-2:5)
Completeness in Christ (Colossians 2:6-15)
Freedom in Christ (Colossians 2:16-23) The Attack on a Christ Centred Life
Mentality in Christ (Colossians 3:1-17)
Our Roles in Christ (Colossians 3:18-4:6)
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