Learning to Live for Christ from God’s Servant
Rev Tan Kian Sing
(Pastor, Berean Bible-Presbyterian Church)
We have only one life. How are we making this one life count for Christ?
Consider the example of the Apostle Paul in living for Jesus. Before he was saved by the grace of God and called to serve the Lord, his life was ruled by his pursuit in life for personal gain and with fleshly confidence (see Phil 3:5-6). But after his dramatic conversion and call, he was devoted fully and completely to serve the Lord (see Phil 3:7-10). Ever since the Lord called him, the Apostle Paul had this principle of life: “for me to live is Christ.” So he would “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Nothing else could satisfy him. Can we say of this of ourselves?
Are we prepared to match our one life with that of the Apostle Paul? It is truly a high calling, but surely we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Many of us should remember the Rev Dr Timothy Tow as one who had followed the exemplary life of the Apostle Paul in refocusing and redirecting his life to live for God and be very fruitful for Christ.
If you have read about the life of Rev Tow, you would know that he was on his way to London to study law. And that could have put him on a high pedestal in life here on earth. He could have become a great lawyer in Singapore, or even a judge in the Supreme Court. Some people did say that his teacher in Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) thought if he had gone into the law profession, he would have eventually become CJ.
But God raised Rev Tow not for that purpose. And so the Lord switched his course in life and led him to Nanking instead to study Theology. So he “ended up” becoming a pastor. What a pity and waste, some people might think. But the Almighty God had a good plan for Rev Tow and used him mightily. Rev Tow as God’s faithful servant yielded his life to the Almighty – fulfilling his mother’s vow to God that he should be a pastor.
If you wish to live your one life for God, then you should desire to emulate the lives of godly men who had followed Christ their Master. When we compare our liveswith such great men of God, how do we fare? Before becoming a believer we might have lived a worldly life, pursuing our own gain, endeavouring to achieve great fame, wanting to become rich, famous and powerful in the world and in this life. Now that we have become a child of God – what then is our goal in life? Is it “for me to live is Christ?” Are we yielding ourselves wholly to God? It does not mean that all of us have to give up our jobs and serve the Lord in full-time ministry, like the Apostle Paul and Rev Tow. As Christians we can serve the Lord wholeheartedly in whatever we are doing – whether as a businessman, a housewife, or a student. In whatever we do, whether we eat or drink, we are to do all to the glory of God. This is our life’s chief end.
Should we not be grateful to our Creator and Redeemer for having saved us from our sins and trespasses, and for having given us this wonderful life to live for Him? Are we resolved to live this one life for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and to serve Him truly and faithfully?
We praise God for Rev Tow, who was our beloved and humble pastor and teacher of God’s Word of life, and spiritual mentor to many, who set for us a good example on how to live for Jesus and to serve Him. “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord…: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them” (Rev 14:13).
Oftentimes in his lectures at the Far Eastern Bible College (FEBC), Rev Tow would remind his students on how they ought to conduct their lives so as to be good and faithful servants of God. Although he is no longer here, he continues to speak to us! Here are some well-known sayings of Rev Tow:
“Galilee that gives and gives is ever full. The Dead Sea that gets and gets is dead empty.”
“Do not be afraid to give. As a well gives of its water it is soon refilled by lively springs.”
“One blessing of giving is that it brings you joy unspeakable and good health.”
“Money is very secondary to spirituality.”
“No one who uses his hands will ever starve.”
“I do not give you a fish, I teach you how to fish.”
“If everyone will do his best, God will take care of the rest.”
“Do not sit in your room to pray for bananas. Go downstairs to the garden and changkol, and manna from the heaven will come down.”
“If you eat a big dinner tonight, drink only water the next morning.”
“Self help with God’s help is the best help.”
“Economy is the mother of prosperity.”
“Dispensational theology is like taking a lift up a seven-storey building stopping at every level. Covenantal theology is like going up from ground to top floor at one stretch.”
“Without the horizontal there is no vertical: he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen (1 John 4:20).”
“Quoting Calvin, ‘the first three rules of theology are humility, humility, humility.’”
“The four Chinese sins are womanising, gambling, drinking, smoking. The four temptations of a Christian minister are money, sex, pride, idleness.”
“Every Church is a missionary society and most cost-effective at that.”
“The Great Commission is a full-four Commission: missions, evangelism, church organisation, indoctrination.”
“Decentralisation, not centralisation, is the key to Church growth.”
“To theorise on Church growth is like sowing seed on the classroom cement floor.”
“I am training you students to be lions, but not after the king lion who sleeps 17 hours a day.”
“Even student should learn to be an elephant—his docility.”
“The trend is toward the trained.”
“After false Christs, false spirits, false apostles, false brethren, false witnesses, false prophets, false teachers, the principal has discovered an eighth variety: false students.”
“Gardening is one occupation that is without sin, because that was man’s occupation in the time of his innocency.”
“God uses a man and a movement, not a machine and a monument.”
“Live as if Christ is coming next Monday, but today is Sunday!”
“A Christian will never say, die!”
“Be prepared to die, if you want to serve God.”
“Music is next to theology – Martin Luther. Music is half of John Sung’s sermons.”
To illustrate the mystery of predestination the principal tells his banana skin story: “Suppose I invite you to dinner and you break your knee cap on the way by tripping on a banana skin.
Who is liable?”
“To pick up litter on the College grounds for Jesus’ sake is as sacred as preaching from the pulpit.”
“The half of knowledge is to know where to find it.”
“Do something good for Jesus everyday.”
“Not tongues in confusion, but tears in confession.”
“Darkness can never fight against light. If your life is light, no dark power can harm you.”
“The meek shall inherit the earth. So do not be a go-getter.”
“He who wants to build God’s House must have clean hands and a pure heart. (Psalm 24).”
“Prayer is the hardest lesson to learn, so it is a lesson from which I have not graduated.”
“Quoting John Sung on the baptism question: ‘More faith less water, less faith more water.’”
“A higher law overrides a lower law, e.g. the law of necessity takes precedence over the law of Sabbath.”
“As for me I do not want to buy a little house for retirement because I believe a Christian minister should die in harness.”
“No loss, no gain, no cross, no crown.”
