Date archive for February, 2008
-
Sermons – 2008 Week 08 – Feb Wk 4
Restoring Fallen Believers
Galatians 6:1-2
Christians are not immune to temptations and they too fall into sin. Restoring fallen believers and families goes beyond the usual spiritual needs. The church has sometimes been accused of shooting its own wounded and abandoning those who are less than exemplary. The church must act responsibly to those who have failed the Lord in some way.
Who should work towards restoring fallen believers? Should it be church leaders or should it be church members?
How does the church carry out the process of restoring?
There are three common approaches to avoid.
a. Cast the sinner out
b. ignore the sinner
c. forgive and forget -then restore the sinner to the previously held positionAll are not true biblical restoration. What then is the way?
What to so?
To restore is to bring back to their place of usefulness to Christ. His relationship with God and his fellow believers should be set right.
Who to do it?
“You who are spiritual” (Gal 6:1). Those who are spiritual and walk in the Spirit (Gal 5:16). Those Christians who are spiritual should be the ones to do it.
How should it be done?
Three things can happen when the fallen believer is approached.
a. He or she may not repent and may even justify the sin
b. He or she may feign repentance and receive pseudo restoration. Some churches contribute to this by the “forgive and forget” fix. But, in such a case, the so-called restoration is superficial. Many lapse into sin again.
c. The person may repent and is truly restored.True biblical restoration cannot happen until the sinner opens his heart to God’s discipline, grace and mercy. It cannot happen unless a spiritual person guides him. A truly repentant person will feel the pain that he has sinned against God. Repentance is possible only after confession. Paul urged gentleness in the approach. Do not go with a self-righteous attitude. But for the grace of God, we, too, can fall into the same sin.
Restoration is not a single act – unlike at the point of salvation. It is a continuous act – not accomplished overnight. It is not to be done with a harsh, self-righteous, condemning attitude.
Steps to restoration
1. Have clear established goals
2. Pray
3. Work towards conviction of sin
4. Confront sinners gently
5. Look for biblical evidence of genuine repentance.
6. Lead the repenter to biblical confession of sin -let the person talk to God
7. Lead him to make restoration
8. Guide him through the period of testing – the temptation is still there during this period.
9. Bring restoration to a closure
10. Re-assign offender to God’s serviceMr and Mrs ET Chua
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)
-
Contact Form Improved
-
Sermons – 2008 Week 07 – Feb Wk 3
The Messages of Christ Crucified (Part 5)
James 1:2-4
Adam’s fall began with Satan’s attack by way of temptation. Satan’s attack
is clothed in insinuations and lies. He insinuated that God did not love
Adam and Eve. If He did He would not have forbidden eating any fruit. He
lied that surely God will not let them die, “You will not surely die”
(Genesis 3:4).Temptation by itself is not sin. It is wrong to think that a soul cleansed
cannot be tempted. It is a means needed for the saints’ development. Every
temptation is meant by God to be a means of grace and an opportunity to
prove to Him that we love Him supremely. It is something we overcome and
not to flee from.If God is forgiving then why can’t He forgive our sins every time we commit them?
Since we cannot be sinless, why don’t we live our lives as we are and ask for forgiveness at the end of each day?
In this manner, we will be able to enjoy our lives! Such fallacious thinking is not biblical. It is Satan’s way of lying and tempting the Christian into carnality and believing that God will forgive the sins repeatedly.
To be tempted, man does not need to have a sinful nature. He is tempted
through his natural desires. There are three fundamental desires. There are
the natural desires to enjoy things, the desire to get things and the
desire to do things. There is a desire to accomplish things for self, for
the world or for God. It is wrong if it leads to pride.One must remember that in our temptations, we have Christ to help us and to
depend upon for strength. For Christ was tempted by the devil and never
succumbed even when tempted to receive the utmost benefits, power and
glory. (Luke 4:1-13). We have Him to intercede for us as the High Priest.
Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with
our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”Temptation is the incitement of our natural desires to go beyond the bounds
set by God. The result of the Fall is alienation from God-ward – resulting
in physical and spiritual death. There was a self-ward manifestation with
condemnation and corruption. The inner nature was defiled. There was also a
Satan-ward manifestation in being enslaved by the crafty fold.However, Calvary meets our basic needs. God forgives those who repent their
sins. (The key here is repentance, not mere declaration or admitting to
sins and expecting God to forgive, and then repeating the sin daily for God
to forgive.)Through His blood, cleansing is possible. We are no longer defiled. 1John
1:7, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from
all sin.”Through the indwelling Spirit and consequent power for daily living, there
is deliverance from the devil.There is a positive element in temptation. It is to make us strong and
allowing us to prove our love and devotion to Christ, even though we are
perfectly free to do the opposite.James 1:14-16 warns of what happens when temptations get the better of us.
“But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and
enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin,
when it is full-grown, brings forth death.Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.”How do we deal with temptations?
When we are conscious of sin, flee and go to Christ. Confess right away, seek His Word and walk in the light.
Mr and Mrs ET Chua
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)
-
Sermons – 2008 Week 06 – Feb Wk 2
Removing the Clutter
Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
Today’s sermon centred around our cluttered lives. We have desks or rooms
where we keep piling things up until such time we are unable to see beyond
the clutter or are unable to find the things we want in our rooms.Does this sound familiar? Are we unable to see beyond the clutter? Are we unable to find what is really important to us?
In Ecclesiastes, Solomon described how he had acquired great wealth and
built all he wanted, he could plant all kinds of fruit trees and made water
pools to water them. He had generations of servants.What more did he need?
The answer is “more of everything”.
And so he gathered more, silver and gold and special treasures,
entertainers at his door step. Not only more physical things but even his
renowned wisdom was still with him. Still he needed to have more!While this is an extreme statement of having “more than enough”, is there a balance for people who barely have enough to survive? Is this a true statement or “enough” has no absolute scale?
Whatever his eyes desired, he did not keep from them. He did not withhold
his heart from any pleasures. Yes, his heart even rejoiced in all his
labour. However, the point came where he looked on all the works that his
hands had done and on the labour in which he had toiled. Then he said, “And
indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under
the sun.” (2:11b)How often does one hear, “I would like my children to have what I did not have?”
This is the typical statement that encourages one to toil
incessantly for a better life for one’s children, and yet neglecting their
spiritual needs. As the saying goes, one cannot light the candle at both
ends in all our toiling. It will run out too quickly on you.The question here is not of abandoning one’s life or work ,but to find quiet time with the Lord and to place Him even in our work life. How does one do it?
In other areas, we seek the pleasures of life in our selfish worldly
pursuits. But, pleasure is but a moment. One cannot bottle up pleasure and
cannot keep it. In fact, it is so addictive it leads to more time and money
spent in pursuing it. Alcohol, drugs, smoking, illicit sex, pornography
are some addictive pursuits that keep requiring more of one’s life.
Proverbs 21:17 tells us that “he who loves pleasure will be a poor man; he
who loves wine and oil will not be rich.” It is not just monetary poverty,
but spiritual poverty as well.How then does a leisurely pursuit of fishing or a game of football come in? Does this imply one cannot pursue such activities? It is a really matter of quantity or extent.
We need the Christ-like life that is dependent on the Spirit. In these
verses in Ecclesiastes, “I” is used 26 times. Me, my and myself are used 24
times. Yes, this self-centeredness reflects the futility of it all. In the
fruit of the Spirit, self control is one of them. Self control in all that
we do, not “Self controlling” all that we do.The consequence of this cluttered life is the meaninglessness of it all.
Verse 17 and 18 reveals that ultimately, when one realizes too late what
has happened, one only hates the missed opportunities;” Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was
distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I
must leave it to the man who will come after me.”Finally, have we left the Lord out in all our clutter?
Are we unable to see him through the clutter of our desks? Are we missing Him when our room is too full of clutter?Clear the desk, clear the room because all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
Ecclesiastes concludes thus:
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.Mr and Mrs ET Chua
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)
-
Sermons – 2008 Week 05 – Feb Wk 1
The Messages of Christ Crucified (Part 4)
Various texts
Eternal Purpose – Christ Crucified As Us
God created man after His own image. God has not deviated from His purpose of creating man. God gave man free will so that man may glorify God. Adam, the first man, sinned and brought the downfall of man, being the federal head. Redemption for man is not an afterthought. Before creation, provision for redemption was already made by God.
In these few sentences, we get only a glimpse of the depths of the richness of the wisdom and knowledge of God, but it is summarized here to give us a further understanding of the Cross.
In 1Corinthians 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” We fell in Adam, but we have been redeemed in Christ, because Christ’s position as the head of the redeemed race exactly parallels Adam’s position as the head of the fallen race.
In Romans 5:18-19, we are then told that Christ has, by His death and resurrection, redeemed us,” Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”
We have been redeemed but we have to exercise our faith to accept this free gift resulting in justification of life. This is because we have righteousness imputed to our account and sin imputed into Christ’s.
And when Christ died on the Cross, we were also crucified with Him. And when He was resurrected, we too were resurrected. We have died to sin. We are not dead in sin. Having died to sin, we are resurrected renewed. “I am born crucified.”
What would one write at the tomb of Jesus?
To the Romans, the epithet would be,” Here lies the king of the Jews.”
To the Jews, “Here lies the imposter.”
To Satan “Here lies Jesus of Nazareth whom I have overcome.”
To God, “Here lies the sinful human race.”It is thus the death of our sinful self that allows us to be born anew. We should, being reborn, live the victorious life that we now have. We associate with Christ’s death in an experiential way. Romans 6:4 describes this, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
The new birth is by faith. But we can certainly fall again! The spiritual level is not a stage from which we cannot fall but we need not fall. Salvation is not lost but fellowship with God is.
Romans 8:14, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” The Spirit of God will not lead us into sin, but into holiness. 1John 2:6 tells us that if we abide in Him, we ought ourselves to also walk just as He walked. Truly, our lives would have changed if we walk just as He walked. Anyone who is outside of Christ lives on a carnal level, as some Christians do.
Is there such an entity as a carnal Christian? See 1Corinthians 3:1-3.
Redemption must be individually appropriated. For without faith, it is impossible to please God. Christ’s redemption is greater than Adam’s fall. There is supra-abundant grace, not only for forgiveness of sin but enough grace for a victorious life without sin.
Is it possible then to walk on the spiritual level?
Some people try to live a victorious life by themselves. Christians defer in their idea of how much God can do. One cannot walk at the spiritual level without faith.
To sum up, one must deny oneself, one’s sinful self, in order to be able to lead the victorious life. It is not impossible. It is possible!
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.’” (Matthew 16:24.)
Mr and Mrs ET Chua
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)
