PASTORAL CHAT
My Dear Readers
How quickly our Annual Bible Camp at Mersing, June 7 – 10, 05 has come and gone! The messages were given not only by Pastor and Dr. Jeffrey Khoo but also by Hien from Brisbane and Rev Errol Stone from Perth.
Rev Errol Stone and his people have been worshipping at St. John’s Ambulance Headquarters until this week when they have to shift to another location further north though their home remains the same.
Our Camp this time was full of children. A special programme was prepared for them. They sang beautifully two songs at the worship service. Hien preached an appropriate message titled “Jesus Christ, Our True Life” which touched many hearers.
One special feature of the Bible Camp was an outing to a nearby island where they had a swim. My message to the Camp is Our Church Has Seven Roots. Our First Root is French. It comes from Calvin from which is the Reformed Faith. We are Protestants. Luther’s teaching is, The Just shall live by faith. Lutherans on the other hand cannot be sure of their salvation but followers of Calvin are very sure. “Once saved, always saved.” Even I was not sure until I studied at Faith Seminary in America. I was so gladdened by Calvin’s teaching that I abridged Calvin’s Four Books which are treasured to this day.
The Second Root is English. Being Presbyterians we are not Anglicans with their bishops and Archbishop. We believe in the government by Elders.
The Third Root is Scottish. There was a strong English Presbyterian Mission, its representative was William Chalmers Burns, a Scotsman (1815 – 1868). He came to China in 1847 and founded the Teochew Church in Swatow. Under him my maternal great grandfather was converted in 1859 and ordained first pastor in 1882.
The Fourth Root was German. Though the English Presbyterians were the first to establish the Teochew Church in Swatow, there was one fishing village called Iam Tsau, 25 miles from Swatow, earlier occupied by Dr. Rudolph Lechler of the Basel Missionary Society. Dr. Lechler persisted in planting a church in Iam Tsau (1848–1852), although he was banished from his Iam Tsau station at the behest of changing Prefects. Nevertheless, he was able to baptise 13 believers from whom a church was established. The Tow and Lim (Joshua) clans have descended directly from this remote Teochew village church so that, as a matter of fact, our B-P Church has also a little German Root!
Years later, Rev Tan Khai Lin my maternal great grandfather, became superintendent pastor of Iam Tsau Church. What Lechler planted, William Burns and Tan Khai Lin watered, but God gave the increase (I Cor. 3:7).
Dr. Lechler moved inland to work with the Hakkas and founded the Basel Church.
In 1935 Singapore, Aug – Sept, was visited with a Pentecost through the ministry of Dr. John Sung whereby 2,000 nominal Christians were soundly converted. Rev Quek Kiok Chiang, pastor of Faith B-P Church, I and my brother, Dr. S. H. Tow, pastor of Calvary B-P Church were also converted and fired with a zeal for evangelism. In Dr. John Sung we have our Chinese Root.
When I your pastor now serving True Life Church was called to study for the ministry, I went to Faith Seminary in USA. I soon heard Dr. Carl McIntire calling for a 20th Century Reformation because the 16th Century Reformation was now undermined by modernism and liberalism. My heart was so touched that I became his disciple. Here is our American Root.
Our Seventh Root is the founding of an English Service for Life Church, Prinsep St. and how Elder Quek Kiok Chiang, I and Deacon Hsu Chiang Tai became The Three Musketeers and followers of McIntire. Of the Seven Roots, American Root has led us to become Bible-Presbyterians.
Your affectionate pastor
T. T.
JESUS CHRIST, OUR TRUE LIFE
(Message delivered by Pr Hien Nguyen at the True Life Church 10.30 am Service, June 12, 05)
Text: John 15:1-8
(1) What is Our True Fruit, True Life?
We know that our Father is the Husbandman, or the Farmer, the Gardener (v 1). His purpose is that the branches must bear fruit, bear more fruit (v 2) and bear much fruit for His glory (vv 5, 8). There is no other way, if we do not bear fruit, we shall be taken away (v 2). Then what is our true fruit?
We can see many artificial flowers and fruits, but they are not real and have no life, only for decoration. Many believers nowadays also profess that they are Christians. They also preach the Bible, they also believe the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, and they also believe that the Bible is the Word of God, but are they true Christians? Are you and I true Christians? Then we must look into the Bible, the Word of God, to determine what is our true fruit or our true Christian life.
(a) It is true obedience to God, His will and His Word. Jesus says, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt 7:21-23). This is for the branch in the Lord without bearing any fruit (v 2). They claim to trust in the Lord and appear to do many things for the Lord but they do not submit themselves to the Lord and to the authority of His Word. They do not obey God nor do God’s will, and theywill be taken away.
(b) It is a true holy life. God purges us so that we may bear more fruit (v 2). When God chastises His children because of His love, He wants them to be partakers of His holiness (Heb 12:10).
(c) It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. God expects us to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance or self-control (Gal 5:22-23).
(d) It is a Christ-like life. God has called us and saved us so that we might be conformed to the image of His Son (Rom 8:29).
(2) Who Can Produce True Fruit, True Life?
God chose Israel as His own people, and gave them the law, the promises, and the covenants. God had done whatever He could for them and expected them to bear good fruit. Sadly, they only brought forth bad fruit: “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?” (Isa 5:4). This proves that man cannot produce any true or good fruit by himself due to his corrupt and sinful nature. Then, who can help us to produce true fruit? In verse 1, the Lord Jesus says, “I am the true Vine.” And this statement reminds us of some precious points:
First, this is the covenant Name of God, the LORD, Jehovah, I AM THAT I AM (Exod 3:14). Then, the Lord Jesus is not only Perfect Man but also Perfect God, the LORD Jehovah Himself.
Second, the Lord Jesus wants to use this statement as a metaphor to tell us that He is our true Source of life because it is the Vine that supports the branches. The present tense of the words “I am” and the definite article “the” speak of the eternal truth that the Lord Jesus alone is the Source of life. The word “true” tells us that Jesus is the living and true God, and the Lord Jesus is our true Saviour, and our true Lord. God’s Word is true from the beginning (Ps 119:160), and God is seeking true worshippers, who will worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). My dear friends, “Let God be true, but every man a liar” (Rom 3:4). God expects us to bear true fruit for His glory.
Finally, our true Source of life is the Lord Himself, a living Person, a Divine Person, and not a thing. If we now have fellowship with Him, we have His life. And if you are not sure that you have this life in you, you can open the door of your heart and receive the Lord Jesus into your heart (Rev 3:20). Then only the Lord Jesus can produce true fruit in us. Only the Lord Jesus Christ in us can produce true peace and true joy that the world and the pleasures of the world cannot give to us. And no one can take this true life away from us.
How can we live a true godly life in this sinful world? The apostle Paul shares his experience in Romans 7 when he struggles greatly in his battle against sin and temptation. Then he cries, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” So, only the Lord Jesus Christ Himself can produce a true holy life, a true godly life in us. All glory unto Him!
(3) How CanWe Live a True Christian Life?
There are two conditions for a Christian to bear true fruit:
(a) Full dependence on the Lord: abiding in the Lord Jesus (vv 4, 5, 7). This means we need to trust and depend on Him fully all the time as the branch must depend on the Vine to have life.
(b) Full submission to the Lord and His Word. The Lord Jesus came to serve, not to be served. He died for our sins, but He rose again. The Bible says that God has made Him both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36), and that God has exalted Him to be a Prince and a Saviour (Acts 5:31). How about us? Do you and I exalt the Lord Jesus as our Lord, our King? If we still do what we like, speak what we like, watch what we like, read what we like, or go wherever we like regardless of the Lord and His will and His Word, we are still a king of our own heart, not the Lord! The Lord Jesus says, “But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me” (Luke 19:27). The Lord Jesus must be our King, our Lord, and we must be submissive to His control and guidance. We are to be submissive to the authority of His words as verse 7 says, “and My words abide in you.” How can we truly submit ourselves to the authority of God’s Word if we do not believe that we have God’s Perfect Word, which is without any mistakes, inerrant, infallible, 100% inspired and 100% preserved for us today?
My dear friends, do not be deceived by anyone. The Lord Jesus is our true life, and He can produce a true Christian life in us, and change us and transform us day by day, and His words can make us clean (v 3), and regenerate us (1 Peter 1:23) and sanctify us (John 17:17). If we question, or doubt, or criticise God’s Word, we have not truly submitted ourselves to the authority of His Word, and we can never bear true fruit because when we despise God’s Word, we do despise God Himself!
Conclusion
My dear friends, the Lord Jesus Christ is our true life. His grace is sufficient for us when we are willing to walk alone with God and determined to listen to His voice alone. That is enough! God will see us through all situations and help us overcome Satan and the world, temptations and our sinful nature because if God is in us and for us, no one can be against us, neither Satan can harm us. The Bible says, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory” (Col 3:3-4).
May God help us trust in Him and depend on Him all the time and always submit ourselves to Him and to the authority of His Perfect Word so that we may bear much fruit for His glory. I do thank God for His providence that He brought me from Trinity Theological College to FEBC to study His Word with sound doctrines so that I may bear good fruit and stand before you this morning and share His Word with you.
All glory to the Lord. Amen.
