My Dear Readers
I have good news for you. We had an attendance of 200 last Lord’s Day, filling the two big classrooms. This has necessitated our calling on RELC for wider accommodation.
Praise the Lord, RELC has just finished renovating its ground floor Auditorium with seating for nearly 500. It is available for us this very week, Oct 12. This saves queuing up by lift to the fifth floor.
And saving of much leg work is Wendy Teng’s discovery of a short cut from a bus stop on Stevens Road to RELC.
In the Steps of Our Saviour
(Message delivered by Pastor at the RELC 10.30 am Service, Oct 5, 03)
Text: Lk. 4:16-24, 28-32; Matt. 13:57, 58
There is a Cantonese saying, “Local ginger is not hot,” the equivalent to Jesus’ observation of people of His hometown Nazareth, being contemptible of Him because of familiarity so that “He did not many mighty works (miracles) there because of their unbelief (Matt. 13:58). Jesus, being a Preacher of Righteousness touched on the sins of many who became His enemies, especially the Pharisees and Sadducees. These were they who tried to push our Lord down a hill.
Why are we not at Life Church today but worshipping at RELC? It is my being taken lightly by the majority of Life
Church Session and their lambasting without a drop of brotherly love left that I have to run here, following our Saviour’s
example:
1. We must continue to preach the gospel to the poor. Hitherto the greatest accomplishment in spreading the gospel by
Life Church has been by three Korean graduates from FEBC and Surish. In 6 years they have established at least 20
stations and baptised 2000, because being poor they humbly come to Christ. They have received 10 containers of food and clothing worth tens of thousands of dollars. Recently we went to inaugurate a 40-room new project built by Rev David Koo. The poor in spirit in Singapore who come to RELC similarly will receive the gospel and find life everlasting.
2. To heal the broken-hearted. Divorce which claims one broken marriage in two in Western countries is catching up steadily in Singapore. Even in our churches, happy couples outwardly, but with first love gone, are crying inside. A born again couple with clashing temperament broke up after a few years. The husband remarried a non-Christian girl. Happily in another few years he won her to Jesus. That is the saving feature.
3. To preach deliverance to the captives from being glued to the T.V., to pornographic websites. Yes, they want to be delivered.
4. Recovery of sight to the blind. Who are these but Bible carrying Christians to church and back home but leaving them on the shelf. We hope to open their eyes through expository preaching and helping them to study it systematically.
5. To set at liberty them that are bruised – those that are offended from coming to church to return to church.
6. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. All these six points are recorded in verses 18 and 19. Now that 2000 years have passed the year of our Lord’s second coming is our concern. Matt. 24:3 says, “end of the world” and its signs, which are false Christs and prophets, pestilences and famines, wars and rumours of wars and earthquakes have already appeared and significantly betrayal in the church and disappearance of brotherly love. Rev. 9:13-16 predicts the last World War to break out from Iraq again. This, Dr Walvoord of Dallas Seminary, USA identifies to be WWIII which may happen in our lifetime. Nuclear bombs will kill one third and finally two thirds (Zech.13:8). Therefore Christ must come to deliver us by catching us up to heaven. This is called the Rapture. Will you go up?
This Lord’s Day, I am resuming my Sermons from Matthew, the story of a rich young man who wants both earth and
heaven.
Your affectionate pastor
T T
HOW JESUS TAKETH PUNY MEN IN THEIR OWN CRAFTINESS
XI. Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days or to do evil?
“And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea, And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him. And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him. For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues. And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.” (Mark 3:1-12)
Commentary
By healing one on the Sabbath day, it resulted in multitudes being healed. “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.” (Mark 2:27) Shorter Catechism Question 60 – How is the Sabbath to be sanctified? Answer –The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; spending the whole time in public and private exercises of God’s worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy. Under “works of necessity and mercy” come Jesus’ healing of the sick and casting out demons on the sabbath day.
XII. Jesus demolishes a strongly-held Pharisaical Tradition
“Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand: There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” (Mark 7:1-23)
