It is a life of abiding peace.

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27)

The growth of a Christian comes through conquest and conflict, and peace through conscious victory in Christ. The spiritual Christian enjoys abiding peace, which is deepening joy and satisfying rest in the Lord.

It is a life of habitual victory.

1 Cor 15:57.
Victory over sin is a gift through Christ.
Rom 8:37 – we are more than conquerors. We do not live on the ragged edge of victory.
2 Cor 2:14 – we always triumph in Christ.
It is not that the spiritual man is not able to sin, but he is able to NOT sin.
Continuing sinning is not the practice of the spiritual man. Real victory never obliges one to conceal what is inside. Psalm 51:6, 10; 2 Cor 7:1, John 8:36, Rom 8:2

It is a life of constant growth into Christ-likeness.

2 Cor 3:18. A Spirit-filled man need not be reminded to do all the things that are right. There is to be a progression of our likeness to Christ – from glory to glory.
John 15:2, 5, 8; Gal 5:22-23 (fruit of the Spirit, not fruits of the Spirit).

It is a life of supernatural power.

John 14:12. The achievements of the fisherman, Peter, were not through human effort. We should be doing greater things.
Acts 1:8. It is not about our dream but it is about whether we obey.

It is a life of devoted separate-ness.

1 Thess 4:3, Heb 7:26
A carnal man is secular in his views, whereas a spiritual man is spiritual, and walks with Christ. A spiritual man also aspires to a separate-ness in his attitude.
A carnal man fights for control, but a spiritual man is separate from the world. He yields himself to the influence of the Holy Spirit.
John 17:16; John 15:19-20; Gal 6:14.

It is a life of devoted holiness.

1 Peter 1:15.
Every Christian is called to a holy life, but not every Christian wants to be. They want to be spiritual but are afraid to be holy. Holiness is not sinless perfection nor eradication of sinful nature, nor faultless-ness. But it is blameless in the sight of God.
1 Thess 5:23; Jude v 24.

It is a life of submissiveness to the Truth.

A carnal man is stubborn to the Truth, while a spiritual man is submissive to the Truth. He wants God’s will and will receive His blessings.

It is a life that is scriptural in outlook.

A carnal man is sectarian in outlook, but a spiritual man sees things through the looking glass of God’s Word. Loyalty to God is more important than loyalty to man.

It is a life filled with a burning passion for souls.

There is a conscious appreciation for our own salvation. We will see lost men as they are – lost! We will have a burning desire to share Christ.

Mr and Mrs ET Chua

Introduction

Carnality is a spiritual cancer. Although we have the eternal inheritance, many children have been wayward and rebellious, and have gone into spiritual wilderness. Sin widens this gulf.

Why do you feel so alone when you backslide?

Carnal Christians and non Christians are not the same. If you are not a Christian, you cannot backslide.

1. It is a Life of Unceasing Conflict (Romans 7:22-23, Galatians 5:17)

There are two kinds of Christians, carnal and spiritual. The two natures, fleshly and divine, contest for control. Though saved, the carnal Christian still lives the worldly way.

2. It is a Life of Repeatedly Defeated (Romans 7:15-19)

Sins of both commission and omission are in view here. Romans 7 describes the defeated life while Romans 8 the victorious life. We need to be more focused. Things we want to do are left undone. Things we resolve not to do are repeatedly done. There is a divided control over a carnal Christian’s life.

3. It is a Life of Protracted Infancy (1Cor 3:1-2)

When a Christian never grows up, he remains a mere babe in Christ. The Corinthian church should have been strong, but they were still milk-drinking Christians in Paul’s days. Some characteristics of babies:

a. Babies are helpless and depend on others. Hebrews 5:12-14 - instead of teaching others, the carnal Christian needs to be taught.
b. They follow human leaders esteeming human solutions more than God’s. The carnal Christians do not go to the Bible for food. They are spiritual parasites living on predigested food, thus they are open to all sorts of spiritual diseases.
c. They expect attention and expect to be the centre of the world.
d. They live in the realm of their feelings
e. Upset over the smallest things
f. Always ready to explode.
g. Receives, not a giver - selfish.

4. It is a Life of Barren Fruitlessness (John 15:2)

The influence of a carnal Christian is always negative. He is unable to win others to Christ because of his inconsistency. There is no fruit of the spirit.

5. It is a life of Adulterous infidelity (James 4:4)

Satan’s lure to the unsaved and to the saved is to keep them from God. A Christian’s relationship with the world is found in his relationship with Christ. Indulging in the pleasures of the world is “adulterous” (to one’s relationship with God). 1 John 2:15-16 - worldliness is all that is not of the Father.

6. It is a Life of Dishonouring Hypocrisy (Ephesians 5:8; 1Cor 3:3)

A carnal Christian’s walk is in darkness. Ephesians 5:8 - “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” Walk as children of light. Otherwise, the walk is a pretext and is hypocrisy.

7. It is a Life of Isolation from Christian Fellowship (Hebrews 10:23-25)

When one does not feel like going to church, this is often another sign of carnality. Much value in a fellowship is what one brings into it and not just what one gets out of it.

8. It is a Life of Stubbornness to the Truth (1 Cor 3:2; Hebrews 5:11)

A carnal Christian refuses to be taught, and rejects the Truth. “I can never get any truths from what the preacher says.” He is dull of hearing and does not want to quit what he is doing. A carnal Christian bathes in sin while a committed Christian who sins will confess to God and ask for mercy. He does not continue to wallow in them.

Mr and Mrs ET Chua

What is missing in our churches today are disciples. There are so many Christians but there is little impact on the community.

Victory Declared

Matthew 29:18,”And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” The term “authority” is given by the Greek word “exousia” which is power, right or jurisdiction. It is power in a rightful hand. God’s people are a model of heaven on earth.

We don’t need to live defeated lives. Jesus has defeated Satan and Death. Death and the grave cannot claim us anymore. (1Cor 15:55). What we need do now is to obey the Great Commission. The goal of the church is not to just add number to its congregation, but to make disciples. (Luke 14:26)

Victory Multiplied

We are to make disciples of people in every country.

How often do we judge a church by the size of its membership?

It is not the number that matters, but the number of disciples. We need people with a burning desire to share Him and shake up their community.

Victory Strategised

Phase 1 GOING (Reaching)

We are told to ‘go’, but we like ‘staying’ better. The Pastor of a church is like the quarterback. He brings people together. In the analogy using the American Football game, the players are all huddled together in conference. However, this is not the end of the game. They need to play to win. Similarly, the church members are the players and the pastor the quarterback. He needs so pass the ball too and the church members need to reach out. Things don’t always work the way they are supposed to. Some ‘players’ prefer to sit on the bench unfortunately.

Phase 2 BAPTISING (assimilation, ministering)

We are to baptize new believers in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Baptism is like wearing a wedding ring. It is the external reminder of an internal happening.

Phase 3 TEACHING

We are to teach others how to live, as Jesus had taught us. We are not only to know and teach the Bible, but, having known it, it must impact our lives. There are 2 reasons why there are so many churches, but so few outreach:

· People are not being taught how to live;
· People refused to be taught.

Victory Guaranteed

God wants disciples to conform to Christ’s image. (Romans 8:29) We Christians are the ‘preview’ to the show ‘Millenium’. People look at us.

Are we willing to be a disciple of the Lord, Jesus Christ?

Mr and Mrs ET Chua

Equipping or Discipleship

What is a disciple?

What does a disciple look like?

A disciple is a learner, who learns the life-teaching of his Master. As a church, we are to reach out to people for Jesus, and to teach them to be like Him.
Discipleship equals discipline. The goal of discipleship is to make disciples, so that they, in turn, make disciples of others. (Eph 4:11-12, Eph 4:13-15)

3 principles in Discipleship

Relationship

It is the most critical principle today, yet most neglected. Most people are intimidated by the word ‘discipleship’. We need friendship with a Christ-centred focus. We are all called to be disciplers. Only 2 types of people who cannot be disciplers:

a. Someone who is not a disciple himself;
b. Someone who disobeys God’s command and refuses to disciple.

(Prov 27:17, 1 Cor 10:12, 1 John 3:10, Prov 18:24)

Discipleship is a partnership. Mentorship is part of the disciplinary process, but is not equal to discipleship itself. It comes long after relationship-discipleship comes to fruit.

Teaching

Faithful disciples must be committed to teaching others (as with Paul and Timothy). 2 Tim 2:1.

In many instances, we learn by experience. But in some others, we need to learn before we make any move. The only purpose of teaching is to move hearts so that they will obey.

To serve the Lord, we need to have patience to follow. Personal obedience reveals our love for Christ. 2 Peter 3:18.

Mentorship for Service

The Timothy principle: the ultimate goal of leadership is to give our ministry away. God is interested in our obedience and faithfulness and not so much in what we can do.

Mr and Mrs ET Chua

To download, RIGHT-CLICK on link
If using Internet Explorer, click “Save Target As”
If using FireFox, click “Save Link As”
and follow instructions to save
DO NOT LEFT-CLICK if you can help it

Applies to: 2008 August sermons onwards.

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.

These are the concluding verses of Ecclesiastes.

But, what conclusion?

The conclusion that all men have sought through the Ages. It is all there in the Scriptures. Yet man seeks his own conclusions that suit his lifestyles, conclusions that he wants to hear, and conclusions that justify his means. Man does not want to hear the inevitable, that, by himself, he is nothing in the eyes of the almighty God.

What is man’s all?

The wholeness of man, which is what makes a man. It is the chief happiness of man. It is also a description of every man or the whole of Man.

Why fear God?

All too often, the modern day teaching is all about a God of love without the other aspects of God. It is a popular teaching, “super grace” where God is elevated to love without judgment. It is the all powerful, all knowing God who exercises justice tempered with mercy and love. To ignore this is to say God condones everything because He loves and does not judge.

Fearing God is the realization of His unchanging power and the insignificance of all that we have done and of what we are (Deut 8:18), the unchanging power that is able to deliver. It is a reverence for Him.

Fear is an emotion.

Why use an “emotion” to describe this?

Why not respect God or pay homage to God?

One must cultivate this emotion - Fear. Know the emotion that penetrates our life. Fear is an acceptance of what it is like to be human before God. (Luke 12:4-7)

We need to cultivate the right emotions. It comes from humility, which is an accurate, biblical view of God. Being humble is to know who you are in the presence of God. It is having an accurate view of God, yourself and others.

Without God we are nothing. We must remember that. Our works by ourselves are nothing. Solomon, who had everything, wealth and worldly wisdom, came to that conclusion.

The right emotion is also cultivated by worship. “Fear God and keep His commandments”.

What leads to keeping His commandments?

It is the right feeling that leads to obedience.

Are we in the Word daily?

To keep His commandments is to pay attention to them, not keep them under lock and key without knowing or using them. To keep is to obey carefully God’s commandments. All too often, people substitute the Word of God with the Philosophies of our World.

Finally, we come to the accountability of life, and God will judge justly. We are all managers of every gift of God - time, talent, money, possessions, everything. We are thus stewards of God’s gifts, everything given to us is a gift. We have varying gifts and how we make use of them is what we will have to be accountable for in the eyes of the Lord.

Galatians 6:7-8

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

We live in the reality of the judgment of our lives.

Mr and Mrs ET Chua

If we know that heaven and hell are real, why are we not spreading the Gospel?

The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) is not just about teaching or about winning souls. It is a combination of both. Every Christian’s role should be characterised by a passion to lead others to Christ.

The secret to soul winning is a love that yearns, a love that seeks, and a love that gladly suffers. Every Christian has a debt to discharge that cannot be repaid in any other ways. (Romans 5:10, Col. 1:21)

I. Love for Souls is Yearning Love

All we are and all we have, we owe it to God’s great love for us. God depends on us to pass on this love. The love of Christ creates in us a yearning for the salvation of souls.

When we look at people, do we have a compassion for their souls?

Great soul winners are those who long for and pray for souls.

II. Love for Souls is a seeking Love

Luke 15:11-32 – The love of the father for his son was what sent him going out to meet him on his return. Likewise, it was the seeking love that drove the good shepherd to look for the one lost sheep despite having another 99 which were with him.

Luke 15:6-7

And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

How can we sit still and not seek the lost?

It is either salvation or hell. Agape love drives us to seek out the lost. Rev 7:17; Rev 21:4, Nehemiah 1:4-11.

How to seek the lost most lovingly and effectively?

It is crucial to seek the unsaved quickly, and be totally dependent on the Holy Spirit in soul-winning.

III Love for Souls is a sacrificing love

(Matt. 10:37-38; Matt. 8:20)

Seeking love can be costly. We must be willing to deny self. Soul-winning involves Christ-like identification with the people. We feel their struggle against sin, their heartbreak and their woes.

Soul winning involves spiritual battles. These battles are not easily won. It involves not giving up, and involves a martyr’s death, Gal 6:17. It involves sacrifice.

2Corinthians 12:15

And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.

Mr and Mrs ET Chua