Date archive for June, 2008
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Sermons – 2008 Week 26 – Jun Wk 5
God’s Discipline
Hebrews 12:4-11
Bro. Chung HoweYou have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
“ My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the LORD loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect.
Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?
For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Many of us approach God’s truth from our own perspective. We are looking through our own lenses. All too often we view God’s truth through tinted lenses and choose to be blind when they do not suit us.
It is necessary to have a biblical view of discipline. God’s discipline helps us to adjust our spiritual glasses.
Definition of discipline
In the passage, the word used is ‘chastening’. This is equated to discipline, which most of us would also equate with punishment. At the same time, the word ‘discipline’ also means training or teaching, as in
‘what discipline do you belong to?”
Privilege of Discipline
As sons and daughters of God, we are His heirs. One must remember that as parents, we discipline our children, our loved ones. As fathers, we do not discipline other people’s children. And that is exactly what God is doing. He disciplines His own children, not those outside of His kingdom.
Purposes of Discipline
1. Purpose of Life – We gain life by submitting to God.
Do we submit to things of this world or to God?
2. Purpose of holiness – 1 Peter 1:16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy”. God desires that we be holy. While our earthly parents chasten us until the time we are able to decide for ourselves, God constantly chastens us. Although our earthly parents may sometimes be wrong, God is always right. Discipline and trials may be seen as a wall in our life, but God gives us a glimpse over that wall. We need to realize that God gives us a purpose in everything.
Response to Discipline
1. Endure discipline and suffering. We should look to the One who saved us.
2. Remember God’s Word as we are disciplined. God’s discipline is not to be taken lightly, and we should not be discouraged when rebuked by Him.
3. We should not see the lack of hope in our trials, but remember God’s love when he chastens us. Our response to God’s discipline is a practical one.
4. The discipline is to be expected, as children of God. It is not if, but when, God disciplines us.
Mr and Mrs ET Chua
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Sermons – 2008 Week 25 – Jun Wk 4
Jehoshaphat’s Prayers
2 Chronicles 20:1-17In the military encounter of Judah with the people of Moab and Ammon, King Jehoshaphat was faced with overwhelming forces of his enemies. His people gathered together to listen to the King. He was to address them.
Would it be a military solution, a “strategy to defeat the enemies”?
Would it be “clever plan” to outwit the enemies?
Would it be “terms of surrender” on their part?
Instead he came up with a prayer!
In Jehoshaphat’s prayer. three rhetorical questions were asked.
Are You not?
2Chronicles 20:6
The question was, rhetorically, “Are You not” the God who is in sovereign control?”
Of course! If God cares for us, we need not worry. We are, in fact, victors, not victims of our circumstances. The circumstances are there for our growth. God gives us a steady compass.
Isaiah 40:31
But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.This verse states clearly that those who wait on the Lord, those who seek Him and depend upon Him, will be answered by the Lord. In the earlier verses, in Isaiah 40:27-30, the people of Israel were losing heart and felt that God did not care for them. On the contrary, Isaiah was telling them that God is everlasting and never wearies but will answer those who trust and seek Him.
Did You not?
2Chronicles 20:7
The question was asked,
“Did You not drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?”
God’s faithfulness in our lives should give us confidence in every situation. Here, one should claim the promises of God as He had given it to the descendants of Abraham so God will protect His people. Likewise, we should also claim the promises of God in the Scriptures.
Will You not?
2Chronicles 20:12
The third rhetorical question was, “Will You not judge them?
For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” In essence, God will protect us and deliver us in all our trials. In Psalms 121:5, “The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand.” While our shield is held in our left hand and our sword in the right, in Psalm 121:5, the description is God will protect even our most vulnerable position on the right. He is always with us.
The prophetic proclamation in verse 15, “‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s”, clearly tells us that if we trust God, the battle is not ours but God’s. Leave it to Him during your darkest hour. He will do battle for you, if only you would let Him.
When Peter attempted to walk on the water he lost his focus and started sinking (Matthew 14:24-33).
What did Jesus do?
He could have willed Peter to walk back up again. He could have changed nature so that Peter will not sink; He could have frozen the water so that Peter will stop where he was. Instead, Christ reached out his hand to grab Peter. This is what our God will do. He will lovingly take care of us when we show our faith and depend upon Him wholly.
Mr and Mrs ET Chua
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Sermons – 2008 June Evangelistic Meeting
Evangelist Mark Herbster
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Sermons – 2008 Music Workshop
BFC
Music Workshop
Evangelist Mark HerbsterPodcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)
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Sermons – 2008 Week 24 – Jun Wk 3
Fervent But Fake
Proverbs 26:23
Bro. Mark HerbsterEveryone struggles with the issue of hypocrisy. In our lives we are often wearing a lot of masks. It makes us look better than what we are. The sin of hypocrisy is acting and going through the motion in our Christian lives.
How do we know we have hypocrisy?
Why do we want to know about hypocrisy?
To wake you up if you live a live of hypocrisy.
To warn you not to let it happen if you do not live such a life.The three characteristics of hypocrisy are:
1. Someone who hears God’s Word but does not heed God’s warning.
An illustration is listening to a good concert. At the end of it, one applauds the performers, but the next morning, one would have forgotten about the performance except that it was good and, after a few days, even that memory fades away. Similarly, we should not be taking in God’s Word with rapturous attention and then, the moment we step out of the worship hall, let it all fade away without impacting our lives.
In James 1:21-25, God’s Word is likened to a spiritual mirror. We sometimes look at the mirror, know the problem, but we don’t do anything about it. Similarly, we may know what God says, but do nothing about it.
In the Sermon on the Mount, the concluding statement alludes to this issue exactly. Jesus described the building of a house on the strong foundation of the rock or on sand. It is upon the foundation of the rock that we should build our lives. We should be hearing His Word and heeding it, impacting our lives and building upon it.
2. Someone who professes with the lips but does not practise what he professes.
In Isaiah 29:13, “Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,”
This statement was used by Jesus to refer to the Pharisees and that was exactly what they did. They paid lip service and never practised when they preached. One should not merely pay lip service but life service to all that is in the Word. Your life must not contradict your talk.
It would be a great disservice to our mission field and our witnessing if we do not walk what we say. One often hears the statement, “I do not want to go to church because it is full of hypocrites.” Life must match the lips or one is living in hypocrisy.
3. Someone who focuses on outward action but forgets the inward attitude.
In Isaiah 58:1-7
They were doing a lot of good religious deeds, but for the wrong reasons. They want men to honour them. They want people to be pleased with their ritualistic actions. They gave no true heart for God. The focus is on outward action but they forget the inward attitude.
We must have a heart for God. It is not enough to do right, but we need to be right.
The story is told of the Boston marathoner, Rosie Ruiz who created a scheme to cheat the system, running only the last mile of the 26 mile run. She did it in a “world record time”. Running the marathon is a discipline of both the mind and body, and our lives is like this race. We do not want to “win” at the end, running only the last mile. We want to complete the whole race with focusing on God. We want to face God at the end of the race of Life to hear Him say “well done”. No laurels from man could ever compare.
Mr and Mrs ET Chua
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Sermons – 2008 June Camp
Theme: Developing a Heart for God
Sermon Notes in Camp Book available over here.
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Sermons – 2008 Week 23 – Jun Wk 2
Pray for the Unsaved
Matthew 16:19; 28:18-20Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)
