2/09/07
<1Timothy
4:1-16>
WHAT DIFFERENTIATE US FROM ORDINARY
BELIEVERS?
· We
may be facing some difficulties now. However, we only need to be successful in
seeing that the Lord is with us. Blessed are those who see the unchanged truth
· Today
is our church’s thanksgiving service. It is exactly one year since we’d shifted
to this location. God had given us many different experiences in this past one
year
· As
we prepare ourselves for this thanksgiving service, our church was broken into
this week. It is easy for everyone to give thanks for good things. However, God
wants us to give thanks in a different manner
· We
can give thanks for the things which others wouldn’t give thanks for. We must
give thanks in Jesus Christ
· All
the problems we face are challenges
· Our
church is located in the darkest region of Singapore. However, we need not be
afraid because, God has given us the conviction that we will have victory over
the enemies’ gates
· God
wants us to have a strong and courageous spirit
· God
wants to ask us, “What is in your life that is worthy for me to give you, a
family or a ministry of an era?”
· In
fact, we don’t have anything. However, we have acquired all things because of
Jesus Christ
· God
wants us to be different from other Believers. However, our differences must
not be imaginary. It must have a foundation. And we must really give thanks
with concrete reasons
Read <1Timothy 4:1-16>
· v1 “The Spirit clearly says” – God has
been talking to us from generations to generations
· v3 Their teachings focus only on actions,
which have no foundations at all
· Satan
uses different methods and problems to deceive men in every era. Therefore, we
must open our spiritual eyes. Satan deceives men so that they cannot see God
· v7 Training ourselves to be godly is
important
· v16 We
must strive to hold on to Jesus Christ’s teachings and foundation
· The
most frightening thing is the thing that causes a person’s heart to be shaken
and causes him not to be able to see God
· Men’s
words and civilisation are always changing. And men’s hearts are shaken along
with them
· We
are living under deceptions all our lives on Earth. Satan deceives us daily
with new things, people or situations
· People
are deceived from generations to generations. Therefore, men are not able to
fix their hearts in God’s truth
· Our
feelings fluctuate very quickly. Men are not able to quiet down to ponder
because nobody is able to overcome Satan’s bondage
· Men
are bound by their own creations or dreams. Men are being bound by their
knowledge. The more knowledgeable a person is, the more he will be deceived by
his own thoughts
· No
matter how the world is changing, God’s eternal covenant will never change
· And
because of this covenant, God’s love and ways will never change
· God’s
covenant is the Four Gospelization (4G)
1. The firm covenant =
Four Gospelization Centred = Immanuel
1) Covenant is the
start = covenant is the foundation of all things <Gen 12:1-3; Col
2:6-7; Php1:12>
· Covenant
is the starting point. It is the start of our perspective and purpose. We
should not use covenant only when we face problems
· Covenant
should become the foundation for us to face everything. Therefore, we are able
to give thanks for everything
· A
lot of believers do not understand the covenant clearly. Therefore, the more
they know, the more they will suffer
· Believers
need not try to fulfil God’s covenant diligently because God’s covenant has
already been fulfilled
· Therefore,
we need to perceive everything with the fulfilled covenant
· All
our experiences are for the purpose of 4G
· Everything
that God has given us are beyond our expectation
· A
lot of believers try very hard to gain God’s blessings. In fact, God’s
blessings are already on us. God has already loved us
· We
need not try hard to accomplish anything for God because God has already done
everything for us
· Believers
are disheartened because they do not see that God is working. They do not know
God’s timetable or what God is doing
· Men are anxious or disappointed because
they are “hitting the air”. Even though we are very busy, we will not get
disheartened if we know there’s a result for our hard work
· Our
belief is not done by endurance. Very often, we will compare ourselves with
others. We have not used God’s covenant to view our conditions
2) It is not about
knowing everything first. We must know ourselves first <Eph 1:15-23>
· We
must know ourselves before knowing anything else
· Everyday
we must know ourselves better. We are very royal, glorified and valuable
because God has said so
· We
are valuable not because people look up to us. Very often, our self-perspective
is wrong
· We
should not be joyful simply because people praise us. We must be joyful because
of God
· We
are already successful regardless if we are wealthy or not, or whether we have
accomplished anything
· Paul
said, “I have learnt to…” Paul’s self-perspective comes from
God
· We
can only be strong and courageous, and sustain our lives when we get this right
· Our
children are blessed even if they misbehave sometimes. The reason? Because they
are born by us
· Very
often, we are hurt by others’ views or comments on us, because our
self-perspective is incorrect
3) It is not about
learning the wisdom of this world but learning the ideology of Jesus Christ
<Php 3:7-21>
· We
do not live for being wise. We must learn to have Jesus Christ’s ideology
· We
will not be able to defeat Satan by our wisdom no matter how wise we are
· The
ideology of Jesus Christ will protect us
· Our
belief isn’t about “God will give me more blessings when I have greater faith
in Him”
· God
is looking out for, whether our lives have been “covenanized”?
· When
Satan tempted Jesus Christ a few times, the Lord was not deceived but triumphed
Satan with His ideology
· If
our ideology is incorrect, we will fall easily when Satan uses new methods to
deceive us
· Therefore,
our ideology must be “covenanized”.
· Our
ideology differs from that of other religions. Religious people will think that
men will receive blessings only when they do good deeds
· There
will be times when we are weak too. However, we will receive answers when we
quiet down and this comes from our “covenanized” ideology
· We
will see Immanuel when our ideology is “covenanized”
* Therefore, a
person can enjoy all good things in the covenant that come after he had
established a covenant with God
· We,
as individuals, and our families must establish a covenant with God. Our
families will serve the Lord throughout our lifetime
· Establishing
a covenant means to think about God in all things
· My
establishment of the covenant with God means, I proclaim to God that I want to
receive His blessings all my life
2. Testing of the
covenant
<Mat
7:24-27; James 1:2-8; 2Cor 11:16-33; Php 4:10-13; 2Ti 2:1-10>
· Believers
must use the covenant after knowing it. Therefore, they need to test it
· We
can only use God’s covenant through the process of testing
· The
Bible asks us, what soil is our houses are built upon?
· It
is all right that we might be blown down by the wind. We just need to stand up
after that
1) Problems
· We
test using problems (e.g. we are tested by our family, by our children, etc)
· Parents
will only become real fathers or mothers after experiencing children’s problems
· It
is only after experiencing problems will we realise that the we will receive
different answer when we hold on the covenant
· We
will only have the authority to share the message on family healing, after we
have experienced family problems ourselves
· Everyone
experiences different problems and difficulties because the people whom God
wants us to bless next time are all different
· We
will not only get back what we lose today. We will receive more than we have
lost
· God
doesn’t want us to learn to be better or wiser after we have experienced some
problems. God wants to know whether, or not, did we rely on Him in the process
of facing our problems
· We
should not aim to resolve our problems easily. We must overcome problems by
relying on God’s covenant
2) Prosperity
· We
can be tested when we are prospering too
· Are
we able to pass the test, when we are rich or when we have found our lifetime
partner?
· What
was David’s main concern after defeating the enemies? He wanted very much to
bring the ark of covenant back to Jerusalem
· How
should we live on after getting the partner whom we have been dreaming for? Are
we able to glorify God better?
· God
tests us throughout our lifetime in order to make us receive the much better
things
· God
will not necessarily give His ministries to the person who can simply triumph
over problems or is successful
· It
is not difficult for most believers to give thanks and respond to God after
having prospered
· A
believer’s failure is determined from his daily living
· Thus,
God is watching how we live our lives everyday
3) Our daily living
· A
lot of believers know how to fight for the Lord but they do not know how to
sustain. Therefore, they will start doing foolish things when they prosper
· God
uses different events (either problems or prosperity) and time to test
believers
· Events
will pass after some time
· The
more difficult test is the test using time. It is most difficult for believers
to triumph the process of “waiting”
· E.g.
The test on Joseph was the time he had spent waiting in prison
· E.g.
David had to wait till God had removed King Saul from the throne, before he
could become the King
· Our
Christian living is not about waiting. We must follow God closely
· We
have already failed or become disheartened when we need to wait
· God’s
work is in our daily life. We are not following God’s timetable if we keep
waiting
· We
must triumph over ourselves and write psalms in our daily living
· How
should we deal with our family members daily? What is the schedule I must have
daily?
· We
just need to re-examine the areas that God has asked us to do so
· Men
can become self-indulgent easily as they live their daily lives
· Paul
told us to make the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. It
means we need to see God’s perfect will and Immanuel daily. It all comes from
the “covenanisation” of our life
* Therefore, the
testing of the covenant is dependent on the clarity of a believer’s prayers
3. The shortcut from
covenant
<Php
1:12-18; 4:10-20; 2Cor 12:1-10>
1) Covenant allows us
to receive God’s blessings in the shortest time
· Covenant
is the shortcut for us to triumph over problems. Covenant is the fastest way to
make our children behave themselves and the fastest way for us to get healed
· Covenant
is the fastest way for us to exit from our financial problems. Covenant is the
fastest way for us to receive fruits from our ministerial-serving
· Why
is it so? It is because covenant “makes God works”. Covenant allows us to move
God’s hands
· We
will only receive what God has promised us. A person who doesn’t follow his
Master’s instruction will see no result regardless of the efforts he had put in
his work
· God
has allowed Satan to deceive men. Thus, a simple person may acquire everything
whereas a complicated person loses everything that he had received
· We
read in the newspapers that the starting pay of a fresh graduate has increased
considerably over the last few years. However, they have difficulty buying a
flat because of the sky-high property prices
· People
who only rely on themselves will eventually lose everything that they have
acquired through hard work. The money they earned will go back to the society
· Only
those who rely on God need not be afraid of losing anything because God will
create the shortcuts for us
· The
child who gives us the most headaches today will give us the most comfort
tomorrow. This is something beyond our imagination
· A
person who receives God’s covenant is one who receives God’s blessings
2) Covenant allows us
to receive healing in the shortest time
· All
of us need healings. Unless a person sees how God has loved him, he will only
receive accusation for his weaknesses, be in self-denial and refuse to get
healed
· A
lot of believers love the Lord. However, their weakness makes them live in
agony
· Men
cannot convict God with their agony. Who, then, can convict God? Only God’s
children are able to do so
· We
can only be healed when we face God with the self-esteem, assurance and hope as
God’s children
· God
will heal us if we go to Him with the assurance of being God’s children despite
our agonies
· We
are already complete beings and are beloved by God
3) Covenant allows us
to receive doors of evangelism in the shortest time
· Our
church has not received many doors of evangelism now because we have yet to
live a covenant-centred life
· In
other words, our lives, our family and work are not led by the covenant yet
· We
don’t speak with assurance because we don’t know God’s covenant
· Thus,
when believers try to evangelise to non-believers, they would be asked, “aren’t
Christians same as us? They also have lots of problems”
· Some
might even be challenged, “If you are a Christian, why didn’t God heal your
illness?” Are we still able to share the Gospel when we are thrown with such
questions?
· A
person with covenant will answer, “Yes, Christians are weak but God still loves
us. Christians do have problems. Thus, we need God to help us”
· Evangelising
is not about showing all our good or successful examples to others only
· We
should use the ideology of absolute covenant, instead of our good conditions,
when we evangelise
· We
can testify, “the things I lose now, I will receive more in return”
· When
others challenge us, we have to counter their challenges with God’s absolute
truth and love
· We
will only have testimonies to share after our lives are “covenanised”.
Otherwise, we will only receive hurts from the talkings or questionings of
others
· No
matter how others try to oppose our belief, we will not be shaken when our life
is “covenanised”
* Therefore, to
enjoy the shortcuts from covenant, we must be God-driven
Sharing and Prayer Topics
1. Establish a covenant with God in
this thanksgiving week. Discover all the reasons for thanksgiving in my life.
Remember: there is a foundation for all our thanksgiving
2. How will God test our lives after
we have established a covenant with Him? How can I rebuild the areas in which I
have failed? How can I always sustain in the areas that I’m successful?
3. Covenant is the fastest way for us
to receive all blessings. Therefore, how can I pray and receive answers for all
my current concerns, worries and struggles?