Romans 05:12 - The Human Problem

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 8am Service, 2005-04-10

Text: Romans 5:12

Last Sunday we began a new series of messages on the theme, 'Making Known His Glorious Salvation.' In order to make God's salvation known, we first need to understand the need for salvation. We need to know why this salvation was necessary in the first place. During an evangelistic campaign held by a certain church there was a banner placed in front of the church that read, 'Jesus is the Answer!' One person who happened to pass by the church saw the banner and said to his friend who was with him, 'This banner says that Jesus is the answer. But what is the question?' 

That is one of the most fundamental things that we need to ask in this life: What is the question or problem that Jesus is the answer for? Some may even question whether there really is any problem at all. But I think that most thinking people who are aware of what is happening around them will not doubt that there is a problem to solve because of all the misery and strife in the world that is plain for all to see. This world would obviously be a better place to live in if there were no wars, crimes and conflicts. And it is evident that much of the suffering of mankind is caused not by nature, but by man himself. 

There is never a day that goes by without some news reports of robberies, murders, cheating, kidnappings and immoral activity. Not too long ago a Singaporean couple in Australia was convicted for trying to poison their own children. Just yesterday, we had a shocking revelation from the front page article in the Today newspaper about clubs in Singapore for unbridled lust and sexual sin. The fact that every country in the world has courts of law and prisons, and every bank has a security guard and closed circuit TV cameras, and every home has a gate that can be locked securely reveals to us that a problem really exists. 

And this is a problem that is found only wherever human beings can be found. Therefore, it is a human problem. That is certainly quite obvious to all. But what is not so obvious to all is the nature of this human problem. Where does it come from? What is the real cause behind it? And what is the extent of this problem in man? Not all are able to answer these questions, and hence not all are able to understand the exact nature of this human problem. Many people, when confronted with some wrongdoing, refuse to admit that they have a problem. They try instead to find something or someone else to bear the blame for it. Some blame their upbringing or their circumstances. 

Some would even try to excuse themselves by saying in a most flippant manner, 'The devil made me do it.' As long as the nature of this human problem is not understood, no remedy to it can ever be found. It is just like medical care: as long as a raging sickness is not properly and accurately diagnosed, it can never ever be cured. And so we first need to diagnose the problem, and find out exactly what its nature is and how bad it really is.

As we look now into the Word of God, we will find that the diagnosis of the human problem is summed up very nicely in Romans 5:12 'Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.' The first thing that is revealed here about the human problem is:

I. Its Origin

'as by one man sin entered into the world' And the first thing we can learn from this is that the human problem was originally non-existent in this world. It began to exist only at the point when sin entered into the world. But before sin entered, the world was as perfect as it was on the day that God created it. It was a perfect world without the slightest defect. 

But the world did not remain in this original state for long. As our scripture text mentions, there came a distinct point in time when sin entered into the world. Just like a dreadful infection, sin made its entrance into the world, and brought an end to its original perfection. And just as an infectious disease is often introduced by a vector or carrier, sin infected the world through the agency of one man. 

That man was of course Adam, the first man whom God had created out of the dust of the ground. Now, Adam was not alone, for God had made a helpmeet for him called Eve. And they lived in the Garden of Eden which was truly a Paradise where they could fellowship freely with God without any fear at all. And as they exercised the dominion God gave them over His creatures, their hearts would glorify God for all the marvellous things they discovered in God's handiwork and enjoy sweet communion with God as they walked with Him.

This was God's plan when He created man in His image. But that plan was not fulfilled because man fell into sin. Adam and Eve, given the absolute freedom of choice to exercise their own wills, chose to disobey God by eating the forbidden fruit. 

This single act of disobedience brought the perfection of Creation to an inglorious end, because by deliberately choosing to break the commandment that God had given to him, man had now introduced sin into the world. This original sin is the ultimate source of all the present sorrows that we see in the world today. Every thing that is unpleasant in man's life, every agonizing loss that man endures, every corrupting process that overpowers him, can be traced to this one source - the Fall of man. Dear friends, there has never been any event in all human history that has had such a damaging impact on the world, than the Fall of Man! 

II. Its Impact

We shall now proceed to examine its impact under two categories. Firstly,

A. On All Men

Our scripture text in Romans 5:12 says that, 'as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.' The emphasis that is placed on the word 'all' in this verse brings out the universality of the infection - sin has infected every single man, woman and child who has ever lived! This is because Adam's fall has brought all his descendants into a state of sin. The Bible bears witness to this: Not long after Adam's fall, Cain murdered Abel (Genesis 4:8), and a few generations later, Lamech married two wives and slew a man. Two chapters later, the situation was so bad that drastic measures were needed to stem the infection. God had to send a worldwide Flood to deal with the fast-multiplying problem of sin. 

And even after that Flood, when mankind was given a second chance to start all over again through Noah's family, sin soon reared its ugly head again as his descendants attempted to build the Tower of Babel. God had to stop their rebellion by confusing their speech so that they would disperse throughout the world. And as mankind settled in every corner of the world the same sinful nature was soon manifested in every place. It became a permanent feature of the human race - wherever man is found there would be sin. Today we see it in daily life anywhere in the world - you will always find the same hatred, anger, jealousy, greed, pride and lust.

The prophet Isaiah described the universality of sin like this: 'All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way.' (Isaiah 53:6) And even from the time a person is born, he already begins to manifest the sinful nature. King David testified in Psalm 51:5, 'Behold I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.'

Dear friends, what this means is that everyone, you and I included, are born in sin. Now, the impact of sin is not only in the fact that it affects all men. We are now going to examine the impact that sin has:

B. On Each Man

What is the extent of sin's impact on the life of each individual person? The Word of God informs us that it is actually total! Man became a totally depraved creature. Genesis 6:5 records, 'And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.' 

Jeremiah 17:9 reiterates the total depravity of man, 'The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it?' Now, when we speak of man as being totally depraved, we do not mean that each and every person is as totally or as completely corrupt in his actions and thoughts as he can possibly be. It does not mean that every person will commit every form of sin that can be committed in his lifetime. Instead the word 'total,' indicates that man's sin problem has adverse effects upon every aspect of his being (physical, mental, moral, social and emotional). We shall now examine its effects on some key aspects of man's being:

III. Its Effects on Man

A. On The Will of Man

Man is still free to choose - every person makes choices through life and we are not robots. But inasmuch as all men are born with sinful natures, they have no ability to choose spiritual good over evil. The will of man is now dominated by sin. As Jesus said in John 8:34, 'Whosoever committeth sin is the servant [Greek: doulos = slave] of sin.' Now, besides the effects of sin on the will of man, there are also its effects:

B. On The Mind of Man

Because of the power of sin, all men are blind and deaf to spiritual truth. They are unable to comprehend it because their minds are darkened by sin. The Apostle Paul in Romans 3:11 says, 'There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.' In Ephesians 2, Paul says that we are dead in trespasses and sins (v.1 'And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins' v.5 'Even when we were dead in sins'). Now, things that are dead have absolutely no ability to hear and respond. 

You may scream as loud as you can at a dead body, pinch it, shake it and still not get the slightest response from it. That is what sin has done to us - it has made us spiritually unresponsive. In this state, man is absolutely helpless in spiritual matters, and so whatever he attempts to do in order to gain eternal life through his own human efforts are in vain. This brings us to the next effect of sin:

C. On The Works of Man

Now, many unsaved people, when judged by human standards, do possess admirable and remarkable qualities and do perform virtuous and selfless heroic acts. (There are many accounts of human kindness, heroism and self-sacrifice.) But in the spiritual realm, and when judged by God's standards, the unsaved sinner is incapable of doing good. As the prophet Isaiah says, 'But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags' (Isaiah 64:6).

It is because of this incapability to do what is good and righteous in God's sight that no one can ever be saved by his own good works. This is the very point where all the world's religions fail - they all assume that man can perform enough good works to gain him some merit in God's sight. E.g. in reforming himself, turning over a new leaf, donating to charity, self-denial.

There are some who think that a good education can change a man enough to put an end to sin in his life. But we know today that even the best educated person can be guilty of the worst crimes. Six years ago, there was a well-known kidnapping case in Singapore. The kidnapper turned out to be a man who had earned several university degrees! 

Others believe that well-planned rehabilitation programmes for criminals will deliver society from the evils of sin. But various studies have shown that the success rate of such programmes is not very encouraging. Many who go through them go right back to their old sins and crimes again, after they are released from prison. In fact, sometimes they are much worse than before - as they tend to gather new contacts with other die-hard offenders while undergoing these programmes.

The bottom line is that whatever works man may use to try to remove his sinful nature eventually fail. Why is this so? Because sin has already removed man's capability to gain any merit before God. As long as his heart remains sinful, whatever man does will always turn out to be defiled with sin. Jesus made this clear when He said, '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 7:21-23)

I am sure that when you see this effect of sin together with all the other two effects of sin ' its effects on the will, and on the mind, we can now better appreciate the awful extent to which sin has affected our life in this world. What terrible effects sin has had on each of us! And that is not all. We shall now see that sin not only affects our life, it also destroys our life, for the ultimate, end result of sin is death!

IV. Its Ultimate Result

This can be seen in the two occurrences of the word 'death' in our scripture text in Romans 5:12 that says, 'Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.' This death is not merely a physical one, but also a spiritual and eternal death. The ultimate result of sin in every sinner's life is to die a horrible never-ending death in a place called Hell. Our Lord Jesus described hell in the most unpleasant terms: 'it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.' (Mark 9:47-48). 

What a terrible end of untold suffering and pain awaits every sinner because of sin! Dear friends, if you have not turned to Jesus Christ yet, I have this to tell you: This will definitely be the ultimate result of all your sins. You will suffer alone for ever in the eternal flames of hell (hell is a place of separation, so there will be no 'fellowship' with fellow sufferers there!). If you could only have just a glimpse of the horrible pain and suffering that sin will cause to those in hell, I assure you that you will want to do everything you can, and give everything you have, just to find a remedy for your sin. 

V. Its Remedy

Can such a remedy be found? Yes! The remedy is revealed 3 verses later in our text of Romans 5. Look at v.15 'But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.' The complete remedy for the human problem of sin came by one man - Jesus Christ. 

Since sin had come into the world through just one man - Adam, so salvation also came into the world through just one man - the man Christ Jesus! There is really no one who can provide a better remedy for your sin than the Lord Jesus Christ. He will remove your sin from you and replace it with His own righteousness. He will cleanse your soul completely from all sin, so that you will be able to stand faultless before God. He will take away the turmoil and fear that sin produces in your life, and replace them with the peace of God that passes all understanding. The remedy that Jesus gives is so effective to deal with sin that those who are treated with it are completely delivered. Sin can never claim their lives anymore with hellfire. 

Dear friends, if you are still in your sins, I really want to urge you to avail yourself of this remedy right now. Why do you still want to wait? You have the guarantee of God Himself that it will work most effectively to deal with the impact, the effects and the ultimate result of sin in your life. Come to Him right now. 

And if you have already received the remedy for your sin from Jesus then you must now live for Him who died on the cross for you, and trust Him for grace to live a life that is no longer yielded to sin, but yielded fully to Him.

Romans 03:10-20 - Just How Sinful is Man?

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published LifekBPC Evening Svc, 2009-08-16

Text: Romans 3:10-20

Our sermon this evening is all about sin. With all the crimes, scams and fraud reported in the news everyday, everyone will agree that there is a problem called sin. And most people will also agree that at least some people are sinful, like terrorists, chronic criminals in prison, gangsters and greedy loan sharks. But not all will agree that most people are sinful. They will say, 'How about all those law-abiding citizens out there? I know a lot of people who are nice and helpful, and who would go out of their way to help the poor and underprivileged. How can you call them sinful?' 

If we were to conduct a random poll on the streets and ask one simple question, 'Is man good or bad?' we would get a variety of answers. Some will probabl9 say, 'Man is basically good, except for a few deranged people who need some corrective help.' Others will say, 'Man is mostly good, but all of us are a little bit bad. Nobody's perfect.' Some others will say, 'Man is naturally neither good nor bad. It is his upbringing and social environment that makes him either good or bad.' And probably very few people who are asked that question will say, 'Man is naturally bad, and he needs all the help he can get to become good.' 

One reason why there are such widely differing opinions on this is that people define good and bad very differently. How do we know what exactly is good and what is bad? Is there some fixed standard that we should follow? Some would take their country's laws as their standard of good and bad. Hence, as long as I keep myself within the law, I'm good. But if I break the law, I'm bad. 

But we all know that the law of any nation has limits. It can only deal with outward acts of evil, like stealing, cheating, slander or murder. It cannot deal with evil thoughts, evil attitudes and evil motives. And so if you really hate someone but you somehow manage to express your hatred in ways that do not break any law (e.g. avoiding him or gossiping about him) then according to the laws of the land, you have not done any evil to him. You are still a good law-abiding citizen. By the same token, a person who is very proud, selfish or unloving may also be considered to be good as long as he does not break any law of the land. 

Now, if it is then assumed that such attitudes are not bad, then parents should not scold a selfish child when he does nothing but cry, mope and sulk to get whatever he wants. Neither should they frown when the child refuses to share his toys with his siblings. But if parents truly love their child, they will correct such attitudes because they want their child to grow up not only to be a good citizen, but to be of good character as well.

And so, the very fact that we do take the trouble to correct our children when they manifest bad attitudes shows that we believe in a higher standard of good and evil - one that applies not only to outward acts, but to inward thoughts, attitudes and motives as well. And if we want to know what that standard really is, we must turn to God. He who made us in His image knows exactly what is good and what is bad and thus, He must have the final say on this matter.

So let us now take that same random poll question that we began this message with, 'Is man good or bad?' and let us find out how God Himself would answer it: 

Romans 3:10-20 - "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."
You will notice that the passage begins with the words, 'As it is written.' This tells us that what follows after it has been permanently recorded for us in the Bible. They are truths that God has revealed many centuries ago through His prophets, and they are still as true and as applicable to us now as when they were first written. And what they generally tell us is that man is sinful. But just how sinful is he? 

We can summarise what God says here on how sinful man is in 4 points. Firstly, man has repeatedly failed to reach the expected mark (vv.10-12). Secondly, every part of man's being is permeated with sin (vv.13-15,18). Thirdly, man's sin produces devast!ting results (vv.15-18). And lastly, God's Law convicts every man of sin (vv. 19-20). Let us begin with the first point:

I. Man has repeatedly failed to reach the expected mark (vv.10-12).

This is the sad, sad verdict that God gives when He looks down from heaven at the whole world in every age of history. He says in v.10, 'There is none righteous, no, not one.' How utterly disappointing it is that He cannot find even one exception! Every single onekof them has failed to reach the mark of righteousness God expects from us - even the most saintly person in the world fails in this. For other than our Lord Jesus Christ who is both God and man, every person has his own sins. The Bible is full of examples.

Noah, who built the Ark is described as 'a just man and perfect in his generations.' (Genesis 6:9) But after the Flood, he got himself so drunk he shamefully exposed himself in his tent (Genesis 9:21). Moses, the great deliverer of Israel, is described as being God's faithful servant. He had the pr)vilege of receiving the Law from God on 2 stone tablets and giving it to Israel. But in a moment of folly he did not honour God in the sight of the people - he struck the rock twice to get water instead of speaking to it. For that blemish in his record he could not enter the Promised Land (Numbers 20:10-12). David was the man after God's own heart, but when he was tempted, he fell into the sin of adultery and then committed murder to cover up that sin (2 Samuel 11:2-4).

In all these examples, we see the truth of God's verdict 'There is none righteous, no not one.' And besides that, God also says in v.11, 'There is none that understands.' Sin has created such a great rift between man and God that man is unable to understand God on his own, even to the extent that many even doubt that God exists. Professing themselves to be wise they became fools (Romans 1:22). And according to Psalm 14:1 'The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.'

In addition to all that, God also says in v.11, 'There is none that seeketh after God.' And this really shows just how sinful man is: He is so sinful that he is dead to God and to the things of God. That must surely grieve God tremendously, because according to Acts 17:26,27, God had made all the nations of men to dwell on this earth, 'they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us.'

And God also says in v.12 that 'they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good.' This means that man has become utterly useless to the One who made him. Let us turn to Isaiah 5:1-4 to see an illustration of this 'Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, andkalso made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 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?'

In the same way God has done everything that could possibly be done to make man a useful creature, a profitable creature. But instead of producing all the good things that God was looking for, man produced what God dislikes the most - all the awful sins that He hates! What a disappointment this creature has proven to be - one that fails time after time to reach the expected mark. And that's not all. We have not fully plumbed the depths of man's sinfulness yet. According to the next 3 verses of our text-

II. Every par4 of man's being is permeated with sin (vv.13-15,18).

Here you will notice the mention of body parts: The throat, tongue and lips are mentioned in v.13. The mouth and feet are mentioned in the next 2 verses, and the eyes are mentioned in v.18. These are some of the equipment God gave to us for the purpose of praising Him and doing His will. But what do we do with them? We turn them into factories that mass-produce sin.

In v.13 God says that the throat of men is like an open sepulchre - an uncovered grave that reeks with the awful stench of rotting flesh. Then He says that their tongues are devices for deceit. James 3 elaborates that the tongue is an unruly evil that no man can tame. God also says here that the lips of man conceal the poison of asps - the deadly venom of a snake that kills anyone who is bitten by it. These 3 body parts - the throat, tongue and lips all work together whenever we speak. The vocal cords in the throat produce the sound while the lips and tongue shape that sound into recognizable words. However, when all these 3 parts are permeated with sin the damage produced when they work together is unimaginable.

Verse 14 says that the mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. What is your mouth normally filled with when you go for a meal? Food which invigorates your body. Psalm 103:5 tells us that God 'satisfies our mouth with good things so that our youth is renewed like the eagles.' But when that same mouth is permeated with sin, its use is reversed to vomit out streams of cursing and bitterness that infuriate others. 

Verse 15 speaks about feet that are swift to shed blood. The picture is that of a man using his feet to pursue someone in order to hurt him or kill him. What a great contrast this is to the use of feet mentioned in Romans 10:15 'How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!'

Now, all the things listed here in vv.13-15 happen because sin permeates body of man. This list is not exhaustive. Sin also affects the mind of man to think evil thoughts. Sin affects the emotions of man to react to situations in the most inappropriate ways. Sin affects the appetites of man and desires - it distorts them way out of proportion and it makes us lust after strange flesh. And sin affects the will of man - to make the wrong moral choices when we are tempted. Dearly beloved, there is no aspect of your life that has not been affected by sin. This is what we mean by the term total depravity. 

And this shows us just how sinful man is: He is like a vehicle that needs a complete overhaul - every part of it needs to be refurbished or replaced. And this need becomes especially urgent when we consider the devastating results that man's sinfulness is producing. This is the next point we will consider as found in vv.15-18.

III. Man's sin produces devastating results (vv.15-18).

In v.15 the shedding of blood is mentioned. In today's world, gory scenes of violence and killing have become lucrative entertainment - the gorier the better! Last week it was reported that a host of a TV show in Brazil ordered the murders of 5 people just to boost ratings of his crime show - so that he could televise the grisly murders for people to savour! It may be that Brazilian viewers love to watch this. Many youths are now addicted to video games that depict bloodshed and violence. They are learning to find pleasure in acts that ought to repel them with horror. 

We go on to verse 16 which speaks about the destruction and misery caused by sin. The word 'destruction' literally means calamity or ruin. That's what sin always leaves in its wake. Lately we heard of the great devastation left behind by the worst typhoon to hit Taiwan in 50 years. It has claimed at least 125 lives and left 15,000 people without homes, not to mention the billions of dollars worth of damage it has done. 

This is an apt illustration of the awful damage that sin can cause. Incidentally Hosea 8:7 likens the ruin that sin brings to a whirlwind 'For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.' One example of this is David's sin of adultery which cost him dearly - he lost 4 of his sons and had to go through times of great distress where he was almost overwhelmed. Adultery definitely has far-reaching consequences - it destroys the marriage. It also leaves permanent scars in the lives of the children. 

Many other sins also leave a dreadful trail of destruction in their wake. Telling lies breeds distrust and broken relationships. An unforgiving spirit leads to bitterness, resentment, revenge and conflict. Slothfulness or covetousness leads to gambling, which in turn leads to being in debt and bringing the whole family into financial ruin. 

If you want to know just how sinful man is, all you need to do is to take a hard look at all the grief and misery that sin has bred and multiplied in the world today: Strife, violence, wars, conflicts, divisions, broken homes, broken families, poverty, disease, suicides and death. And verse 17 tells us what the outcome of all this is: 'The way of peace have they not known.'

Verse 18 tells us of one of the worst results of man-s sin - It removes the fear of God from before the eyes of men. The fear of God here refers to the dread or terror of God's judgment. This dread is actually useful as it acts like a barrier that restrains man from falling headlong into sin. Even though a sinner may not know God at all, he may at least have a nagging fear that he may one day face God-s wrath for doing evil and will suffer eternally in hell. And this fear restrains him to some extent from commiting more sin. But when sin blinds him to such an extent that he no longer fears any future judgment from God, he will then give himself to sin with total abandon. 

However, despite such widespread evidence of man-s sinfulness, there will invariably be those who will claim, 'I am different from the rest. I am not that sinful.' Many Jews in Paul's day would make claims like these. After all, God had favoured them as a nation, and specially given them the Law at Mount Sinai. It is to such people that God now speaks in v.19 'Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.' This brings us to our 4th and final point:

IV. God-s Law convicts every man of sin (vv. 19-20).

God's law here refers to the moral law, also known as the Ten Commandments. They were not given to save man, but to convict him of his great need of salvation. For when they are correctly understood and applied, they will convict man of how sinful he really is. Anyone who claims to be good will see how flimsy his claim is, when he puts himself under the search light of God's law. Now, perhaps you may be thinking right now -

'The 10 commandments - Oh, I know what they are. I don't think they are that hard to keep.' Well, listen to this: There's much more to them than meets the eye. For instance the commandment, 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me' has been broken by every one of us. Whenever we are proud or selfish, we have dared to made ourselves a god. 

Jesus explained that the commandment, 'Thou shalt not kill' is broken whenever we get angry with someone for no good reason, or we call him an idiot. He also said that the commandment, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery' is broken every time we look lustfully at someone we are not married to, and that includes those we watch on a screen in the privacy of our room. Similarly, the 9th commandment is broken whenever we are hypocritical or dishonest. And the 10th commandment is broken whenever we are not content with what God has given to us, and we crave for what others have - it may be their good looks, their popularity, or their success. 

The bottom line of all this is that all of us are guilty before God. We are sinful creatures who fully deserve to be condemned to hell. How sad our state is! And if this message has made you realize this, be very thankful. It is far better to know the true state of your soul than to carry on living in blind ignorance. The one who does not know the true state of his soul is just like a person who has fourth stage cancer and does not know it. 

But while it is good to realize how sinful you really are, you must not stop there and leave things as they are. If you were to do that, you would be just like a man who looks in the mirror, sees all the awful blemishes on his face that he was not aware of before, but after that he turns away and does nothing about them at all! What's the use of knowing how sinful you really are unless you do something about those sins in your life? What should you do? If you have not been saved, God commands you to repent of your sins and turn to Jesus Christ right now. How can you stand being covered with all that filth one moment longer? Get rid of them. Go and wash in the fountain of blood - the blood that Jesus shed for sinners at Calvary.

But if you are already saved, and God has convinced you that you are sinful, then confess your sins right now before Him, and plead for His grace to walk in newness of life with His help. And He will help. Let us listen now to the last word from God to all of us: 

'Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.' (Isaiah 55:6-7)

Romans 14:8-13 - The Final Accounting

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 10:45 am service, 2004-12-12

Text: Romans 14:8-13

We are almost at the end of our series of messages on the theme, 'Looking to the Coming of Christ.' And in the last few messages, our focus has been on how the soon return of Christ should affect our stewardship. This morning we want to focus our thoughts on the fact that there will be a final accounting of our stewardship. And this final accounting will be carried out by the Lord Jesus Himself. 

I. Every Believer is Accountable to God for Himself

In v.12 we are told 'So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.' Now this truth is given within the context of a specific problem in the church - the problem of having a judgmental spirit. You can see this in V.10 'Why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother?' You can also find it in v.13 'Let us not therefore judge one another any more'

A judgmental spirit is not desirable at all, because it often leads to misunderstandings, and unnecessary strife. Christians are sometimes too quick to criticise or find fault with others for something they did or said. Now, of course if you see a brother in Christ clearly breaking any of the commandments of God you have a duty to give him some loving admonishment for his own good. There is nothing wrong with this, so long as it is done with a humble spirit. But if the issue has to do with the motives and intentions for doing or saying something, we must be careful not to become judgmental, for if we do, we would be usurping God's authority. 

Now, among the Christians in Rome, there were some who were judging others according to doing things like eating only vegetables, and celebrating certain days of the year. 14:2,3,5 'For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.'

Today, this might be like someone who says to you: 'Do you celebrate Christmas? I don't. I think that all Christians who celebrate Christmas are very unspiritual. Perhaps they are not even born again.' Or likewise it may be the one who celebrates Christmas who judges the Christian who does not celebrate Christmas to be spiritually unsound. There may also be some Christians who are persuaded that it is wrong for them to eat out on Sundays, and who end up judging Christians who do. And conversely Christians who eat out on Sundays may end up being unjustly critical of those who don't. Although God has commanded us to exercise good spiritual discernment in the last days, because of all the false teachings that will arise and abound in the last days, some have overdone their discernment and become unreasonably critical of everyone who is even slightly different from them. This is no longer sound discernment, but judgementalism. It is not good. 

According to our text, God is the only one who is qualified to make judgments of that nature. He alone can see the true motives and intents of the heart. If we take it upon ourselves to make such judgments, then we would be putting ourselves in the place of God. We would be making ourselves the Judge to whom everyone must give an account. And if they owe us an account or explanation for everything that they do, the end result is that they will be living to please us all the time, instead of living to please the Lord and to glorify Him alone. How can we put ourselves in the place of God like that?

Instead of being judgmental, we must realise that every one of us is accountable to God Himself. Let us really understand this truth well for when we do so, we will no longer have a judgmental attitude toward others. Instead of watching constantly for faults and failures in others, we will watch out for our own faults and failures. We will be more ready to examine our own motives and intentions, to see if we can account well for all that we have done with our lives. How will we give an account to God for them? Have we done all that the Lord has required of us? And have we done anything with the wrong motives?

II. Believers Will Give Account at the Judgment Seat of Christ

Now, there are some who mistakenly believe that there will never be a need for them to stand before God and give an account to Him. They would reason in their hearts, 'Since we are already saved and we have a place in heaven, what relevance would there be to bring up what we have done in the past? Only those who are not saved need to worry about having to stand before God and be judged for their sins.'

This is where we need to be informed from the scriptures that all who are saved will also go through a judgment, but one that is different from God's judgment of the unsaved. According to Revelation 20:11-13, all the unsaved will be judged at the Great White Throne of God. And all their sins will be brought up against them. There is therefore only one possible end result of facing the Great White Throne judgment, and that is eternal death. 

But those who have believed in Jesus Christ, whose names are written in the Book of Life will not have to go through this awful great white throne judgment. Instead they will go through one that is called 'the judgment seat of Christ'. Shortly after the second coming of Christ, when the saints will be resurrected from the dead this special judgment of all who are saved will take place. Verse 10 of our text says that, 'for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.' The word 'judgment seat' in this verse refers to the 'bema' or the raised platform where the judges of athletic events would sit. After the end of the sports events, the victors would ascend up the steps of the bema to receive their prizes from these judges.

Unlike the Olympic games of modern times, participants in those athletic events did not receive gold, silver or bronze medals. What they received were special circular wreaths woven from leaves, and they wore these on top of their heads. The Bible refers to these wreaths as 'crowns', like what Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:8 'Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.' The day that Paul mentioned here refers to the judgment seat of Christ!

A. Not to Account for Sins

The wonderful thing about this judgment seat of Christ is that our sins will not be held against us there, since it is not a trial to decide whether we will go to heaven or hell. There are some who believe that there may still be some sins brought up by Christ against us at the bema judgment - especially those sins that were never confessed during a believer's lifetime. But Hebrews 10:17 'And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.' This is a quotation from the prophecy Jeremiah made of the New Covenant '�And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.' (Jeremiah 31:34) The New Covenant is an unconditional covenant - Hence the forgiveness of sins by God is not conditioned upon the confession of the sins and iniquities. 

But some still think that there will be an accounting made for sins for believers because of what Jesus said in passages like Matthew 12:36-37 'But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.' I believe that the judgment here refers not to the judgment seat of Christ, but to the great white throne judgment which is meant only for unbelievers.

There is however, an accounting we must give, as mentioned in our text in Romans 14. The context of this passage is not of sin, but rather the true motives for the things that we have done (see vv.2-5 - we have no right to judge each other's motives). Whatever good works we have done will be thoroughly assessed by Christ who can see our motives for doing them. Wrong motives would only reduce their value.

B. But To Account For Our Works

The Bema judgment is an assessment of all our works to see whether we are deserving of rewards or not. It will be like the Parable of the Talents where each servant was rewarded by the master according to how well he had managed the master's assets he had been entrusted with (Matthew 25:14-30). Let us read how this parable begins in v.14 and 15 'For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one He gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightaway took his journey.'

We notice that the man did not give his three servants the same amounts. The first servant received 5, the second received 2 and the third received only 1. This does not mean that he was being unfair in his treatment. He was merely recognising that each individual has different natural capacities. Similarly, when God bestows us with gifts, abilities and possessions, He knows us well enough to determine how much we can handle. Some who can handle more receive more, and others who cannot handle so much, are given less. Of course, this also means what God expects from each of them are different. Christ said in Luke 12:48 'For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.' The point therefore, is not how much we have received, but how much we make out of what we have received. 

In the parable the first two servants did well - they both doubled their capital. And so they enjoyed the privilege of entering into joy of their Lord. But the third servant did not work at all. He could have used his talent and done what the other two have done. And all he would really have to do is just make one more talent, to double his capital. His work was relatively easier than the others. But In v.18 we read, 'But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.'

This shows how he regarded what belonged to his master. He could have simply gone to a bank and kept the money safe there. Instead of doing this, he buried it. What are the things that people usually bury? Things that are dead! The servant regarded that one talent with contempt, like a dead object worthy only to be buried in the ground. That reveals that he had no love at all for his Master. Even the reply that he gave in vv.24 and 25 shows that he rebelled against his Master. And the Master therefore had him cast into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

The question then comes - What is this place of outer darkness and gnashing of teeth? Is it somewhere on the outskirts of heaven? In order to understand what it is, we can look at another parable - the Parable of the Marriage feast in Matthew 22:2-14. Toward the end of the parable there was a man at the feast who did not have a wedding garment 'And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' (vv.11-13)

Here we see that this man who did not have the wedding garment is cast into the very same place where the third servant of the Parable of the Talents was cast. Now, in the wedding parable it is clear that the man who did not have the wedding garment represents those who are unsaved but who try to get into God's Kingdom. 

In those days, the host would actually provide the wedding garment to his invited guests. This guest had apparently refused to wear the garment provided by the host. This aptly symbolizes salvation that is given to us by God's grace. If anyone tries to get into God's kingdom without receiving God's offer of salvation, he may be able to fool men, but he cannot fool God. (See also Matthew 13:42,50; 24:46 - hypocrites)

Coming back now to the Parable of the Talents, we can now see that the place of Outer Darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth is definitely not a place anywhere in heaven, or even close to it, but it is rather a description of eternal punishment in Hell. Hence, the Parable of the Talents is not so much a description of what takes place at the Bema Judgment, but of the faithfulness that is required of God's People. And those who are not faithful may turn out to be false disciples who will be shocked to find themselves facing the Great White Throne judgment instead of the Bema judgment!

C. And To Receive Rewards For Works That Are Proved

So the Bible is clear that we who are saved will have to give an account for our works at the judgment seat of Christ. And He will assess the true value of these works according to the motives we had when we did them. And there will probably be some interesting surprises on that day! Some may have a very impressive record of many good works before men, but all were carried out with evil or selfish motives. And they may not receive any reward, though they are still saved. On the other hand, some may not have done as many good works but all were done with the very best selfless motives and intentions. Great is their reward in heaven!

May this instruct all of us that what the Lord really wants to see in our life and service, is not so much quantity, but quality. This is stated quite clearly in 1 Corinthians 3:12-14 'Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.'

Do you look forward to receiving rewards at the judgment seat of Christ when He returns soon from heaven? I hope you are. And I hope that you are giving as much dedicated quality service to the Lord as you can right now, in the hope of receiving a better reward up there. Please do not be like some people who say, 'I won't really bother about trying to obtain the rewards. Just being in heaven and receiving eternal life is already more than enough, and it is good enough for me. I don't need to strive to do good works for the Lord.' Those who live by such a policy may actually have a false profession of faith, since James says, 'faith without works is dead' (James 2:26)

Let me assure you that the heavenly rewards are definitely worth striving for. Although the Scriptures do not give us specific details about these rewards, 1 Corinthians 2:9 assures us 'Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.' From this we know that the rewards will be most glorious! Let us therefore make sure that we do not lose our rewards. Live your life now in such a way that you will be able to give a good account of yourself at the judgment seat of Christ. This brings us to the final point of this message:

III. Consecrated Living Enables Believers to Give a Good Account

Verses 8,9 of our text brings out the idea of consecrated living 'For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and living.' We must live right now for the Lord Jesus Christ, and for Him alone! Our lives ought to be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God; not conformed to the world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds, proving what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God and doing it diligently (cf. Romans 12:1,2). If your life is fully consecrated to the Lord, it will become a powerful tool in His hands. There is no better way to live a life that is worth living than to let Him use it fully. The Lord will take the life you consecrate to Him and bring out its fullest potential to produce the greatest and glorious works of righteousness in this world.

Dearly beloved, as we come to the end of this message I would like you to think deeply about this question: Will you be able to give a good account of yourself at the Judgment seat of Christ. Will you be able to say at the end of your life, like the apostle Paul, saying, 'I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day' (2 Timothy 4:7,8). 

Will this be the kind of account you will give of yourself when you stand before your Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema judgment? Will you have the joy of hearing the words of approval from the mouth of Jesus saying, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant. thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.' (Matthew 25:21)? May the Lord help each of us to consecrate ourselves to live for Christ now so that we can one day rejoice to hear these blessed words said to us by Him!

Romans 13:11-13 - Awakened from Being Spiritually Comatose

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 8 am service, 2000-09-24

Text: Romans 13:11-13

It is a joy and privilege once again to be able to bring the Word of God to all of you. Our topic for this morning is 'Awakened from being Spiritually Comatose.' What is Spiritual Coma? A spiritual comatose state can be likened to physical coma, a condition which is somewhat like being asleep. If you were to visit a comatose patient in a hospital bed he looks just like someone who is asleep. He is inactive and unconscious, but he is still alive, since his heart still beats and he is still breathing. But unlike a sleeping man, the patient does not wake up after many hours. He remains in that state of unconsciousness for a few days or weeks, and in rare cases, even for years! It is normal for us to sleep as our body needs sufficient rest, but it is abnormal for a person to remain asleep for too long for that means that he is comatose. 

We have thus coined the term 'spiritual coma' to denote an abnormal spiritual state of slumber. This figurative use of slumber is found in our Bibles. One example of this can be found in Romans 11:7,8 where it is used to describe the present state of Israel 'What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.' 

According to this, the Jews as a whole are unresponsive to God and the Gospel of Christ. For almost 2000 years they have refused to acknowledge that Jesus is their Messiah - what a long sleep they have had! And what a vast difference this is from the days of the Old and New Testaments when they were the most spiritually alive nation in the world. As a result of their spiritual coma, many Jews in Israel today are totally secular in their outlook, and even deny the Lord. But the latter part of the same chapter has a promise that one day the nation will be awakened from their long slumber - they will be saved when the Lord returns. 

Another is in the passage we read for our responsive reading: Ephesians 5:14 'Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.' This time the idea of sleep is used for individuals rather than for a nation. And this is the same use of sleep that us found in our text, Romans 13:11 'And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep'

So then, how can we describe spiritual coma as applied to individual believers? A believer in a comatose state has lost consciousness of God in his life. He becomes an inactive Christian, and is no longer involved in Christian service, or in fellowship with other believers. He no longer reads his Bible or does his quiet time. Having fallen spiritually asleep, he does not respond to the Word of God when he hears it. I have known of Christians who remain in such a backslidden condition for weeks, months and even years. But the worse part of it all is that they themselves do not know how serious their condition is. They do not feel that any thing is wrong with them. And that is not a good sign at all. For just like a physically comatose patient, the comatose Christian is in a most dangerous condition and urgently needs treatment, but he may not even be aware of the awful state he is in. 

Dearly beloved, perhaps this may also be true of you. Please examine yourself to see if you are in a spiritually comatose state. Perhaps there was a time when you used to be more spiritually very responsive, more conscious of God's work in your life, and fervently serving the Lord than you are now. Perhaps there was a time when you lived your life more fully for the Lord Jesus Christ than you do now. Perhaps there was a time when you loved Him with all you heart, soul and mind and your first love was burning brightly. But as the years went by and you got more involved with the things of the world, your love has grown cold. Other things have crowded their way into your life and demanded your time and affections. And you have lapsed deeper and deeper into spiritual slumber. 

When a doctor deals with a comatose patient one of the first things he does is to make a quick assessment of the depth of the patient's coma. Now in medical terminology there are four levels of coma. In coma one the patient is drowsy, but he can still speak and respond to external stimulus. In coma two, the patient is asleep, but he can still open his eyes when someone speaks to him or touches him. In coma three, the patient will not respond to sound or touch, but only to painful stimulus, such as pressing one of his nerves against a bone. The deepest type of coma is coma four, where nothing at all can arouse the patient from unconsciousness. The deeper the level of coma, the worse his condition is. 

There are also different levels of spiritual coma. Some professed Christians may have gone so deep into spiritual coma that they have well nigh turned completely away from the Lord, and do not believe in Christ any more! They have fallen away from the faith completely, and that shows that they were not saved at all to begin with. The Bible teaches us that the Lord knows those who are truly his - who are truly saved and who are not saved. Those who are saved can never successfully fall away from the faith. But they will eventually awaken from their spiritual coma and come back to the Lord. 

But the Bible also teaches that there are some who never wake up at all because they were never saved, even though earlier on they may have looked as if they were saved. Hebrews 6:4-6 refers to them as 'those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,' but all that is nothing because of the end result - they have fallen away and cannot be renewed again unto repentance. They are like patients who have been so long in Coma level four that the doctor certifies them to be brain-dead. There is no life in them and it is impossible to revive them. 

Let this therefore be a warning to us therefore to make sure of our calling and election by self-examination. If you realise that you have already started to descend into a state of spiritual coma, please do not let the process continue. Take measures immediately to come out of it. You must seek for spiritual revival now, before you descend any further. Before you reach the death-like condition from which there is no awakening. This brings us to the first point of our message: 

I. Realise the Urgency of waking up from Spiritual Coma

Let us look at our text in Romans 13:11 'And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.' It is high time to awake out of sleep. Dearly beloved, how long has it been since you last had real quality quiet time with the Lord? How long has it been since you last experienced God's presence in your life in a wonderful way? How long has it been since your Bible study was a great delight to you and were discovering marvelous gems from God's Word that thrilled your soul? How long has it been since you were moved to tears by the thought of the grace of the Lord to you, a sinner?

If it has been a long time and cannot even remember when it was, it is certainly high time for you to wake up from your spiritual slumber. Please do not say to yourself that you can wait a little longer, after all, the Lord is so patient and with His children. It is true that the Lord is longsuffering toward us, but that does not give us an excuse to try His patience, and expect Him to wait a little longer. According to Romans 2:4, the goodness, forebearance and longsuffering of God must lead us to swift repentance.

Now there is another reason why there must be no thought of delaying. Verse 11 of our text tells us that 'for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.' This does not mean that we not saved yet, for salvation is already an accomplished fact for the believer (Eph 2:8 - by grace ye are saved through faith) - if you are born again we already have a place in heaven reserved for you. But salvation also has a continuing and a future aspect as well, as God's Word here mentions. And that is the salvation not just of our souls, but of our bodies. This will be effected when Jesus our Lord descends the clouds in His glory and transforms our bodies in the twinkling of an eye to be make like unto His own body. We call this great event the rapture of those who are living and for those who have died it is called the resurrection. 

And dearly beloved that day of Christ's return may be coming soon. With every passing moment, we are brought one step closer to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The stage is already being set in world events - We hear the news of the move toward globalisation, which must exist for a one world government to exist. We hear the news of conflicts in Israel �- the peace which the Jews are looking for never seems to materialize. This will set the stage for the Antichrist one day to gain world admiration when he successfully mediates an effective 7-year peace settlement! Time does not permit us to list more of these signs of the times. 

But the point is this: As we see these events taking place we should know that the coming of Christ is near. 'Our salvation is definitely nearer than when we first believed.' This hope must now motivate us to live with an attitude of lively expectancy. Brethren, this is not the time to be spiritually asleep, but the time to be fully awake and alert. The sense of his imminent return should fill us, both with a sense of gladness, as well as a sense of fear - gladness that He is coming to save us out of this wicked world, and fear that we might be caught unprepared to meet Him.

Jesus Himself told some parables on the perils of being unprepared for His return: In Matthew 24:43-44 - 'But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.' 

In the next chapter of Matthew Jesus told the parable of the 10 virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) also to bring out the perils of being unprepared. In this parable 5 of the virgins were wise and took spare oil with them. But 5 of them were foolish and did not take any extra oil at all. They all waited and waited for the bridegroom to come, but he delayed for a long time, and so they all slumbered and slept. When he finally came the wise virgins were prepared to receive him, but the foolish virgins found that their oil had run out and so they had to go and buy oil. By the time they were ready for the bridegroom, it was too late. Only the wise virgins were able to enter in and enjoy the marriage celebrations. 

Dearly beloved, are you going to be like the wise virgins or foolish virgins of this parable? Let us realise realise how close we are living to the time of Christ's coming and awake from our spiritual slumber. Now comes the question what should be do to awake from a spiritual comatose state? 

When a doctor deals with a comatose patient there are two things he has to do: First he needs to identify the cause of the coma - Is there a underlying pathological condition that must be resolved? For example, when a person receives a hard blow on the head and suffers a concussion, he may seem to look all right at first. But later he may get drowsy, and progress all the way from coma I to coma IV. The doctor at the hospital would suspect that the coma is caused by internal bleeding in the skull. Surgery must be carried out swiftly to drain out the blood and stop the hemorrhage.

After the cause of the coma has been removed, and the patient regains consciousness, the doctor's job is not finished yet. He cannot immediately discharge the patient. A patient who has awakened from coma must be monitored and kept from falling into another coma. Hence he will be kept in hospital for a few more days, and given suitable treatment to strengthen him.

To deal with spiritual coma, we should apply the same two-pronged approach that is applied to comatose patients: First, the underlying cause of the spiritual coma must be removed. Second, safeguards against spiritual coma must be put in place. Let us consider each of these two measures: 

II. Remove the Causes of Spiritual Coma

Looking at our text again we see this measure mentioned in vv.12,13. 'let us therefore cast off the works of darkness; Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.' Darkness is a well-known symbol for evil and sin. The works of darkness therefore refer to any sinful habits or wordly lifestyles that must be radically eliminated from our lives.

The terms 'rioting and drunkenness' refers to the wild intemperate behaviour, such as the drinking parties that the Greeks and Romans loved to indulge in at night. If you have been immersing yourself in the night life that many people indulge in, you must cut yourself off from it. Whether it is gambling or entertainment, participation in bubble-bath parties, or in making the rounds of all the famous nite spots and eating places at midnight and into the early hours of the morning, or socializing at karaoke lounges, discos, and movie houses, you must cast them off and have nothing more to do with them, now that you are resolved to live your life for the Lord Jesus Christ.

The next two terms 'chambering and wantonness' refer to immoral behaviour, such as the cohabitation of unmarried people. If you have been indulging secretly in reading or viewing pornographic material or visiting pornographic web sites and places, or involved in any kind of sexual sin, you must cut yourself off from them. The end of v.14 tells us not to make provisions for the flesh. That means you must get rid of any filthy magazines, videotapes, or pictures you have that will stir up the desires of the flesh. Feeding your mind with them is like pouring petrol onto fire. You can't keep feeding the lust and enjoy it, and expect it to remain unexpressed. The lust will want to seek expression through some form of release. This eventually leads to experimenting with an immoral practices such as adultery, and fornication. If you have you are easily tempted to fall into these sins, I would like you to resolve before the Lord right now that you will cast them off with His help.

The last two terms in v.13 is 'strife and envying' and these refer to intolerant behaviour, such as quarreling and backbiting. Some time ago there was a case of one brother who was so upset by certain unwise remarks made by another that he went all out to circulate anonymous letters to all friends of that brother, that put him in the worst possible light. Christians should never do such things. If you have been trying very hard to gain the advantage in a bitter rivalry with someone, or scheming to take revenge on others who have upset you, such attitudes and actions must be put away. If you have an uncontrollable temper and raise your voice often at others and at the slightest provocation, you must not simply say, 'I can't help it.' But you must seek to subdue your temper with God's help, and not give up until you have done it.

Dearly beloved, whatever besetting sin you have cannot be allowed to stay in your life. Hebrews 12:1 tells us that we must 'lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.' These besetting sins are spiritual deadweight. They slow you down tremendously. They hinder your spiritual growth. You cannot make progress. And if you do nothing about them, they will keep you in a spiritually comatose condition. That is why you must get them removed from your life. Regard them the way that God regards them - as things that are abominable and hateful, something that must be quickly disposed of!

And when you have disposed of these things, you must implement one more measure and that is to:

III. Restore the Safeguards Against Spiritual Coma

Now the safeguards are described at the end of v.12 as 'the armour of light' which we must put on. If we do not put on this armour of light as a safeguard, then we might fall back into our old ways and sins, and lapse into spiritual slumber again. An analogy can be found in what the Lord said in Matthew 12:43-45, where he described how a man got rid of an unclean spirit, but because he did not take the precaution to fill his life with the things of God, the unclean spirit came back found his heart all nicely swept and cleaned, and brought seven other spirits that were more wicked than him. So the last state of the man was worse than the first.

What we must do then to prevent ourselves from falling back into spiritual coma is to put on the armour of light. But what is this armour of light? This armour is amplified in Ephesians six (10-18) where Paul called it the 'whole armour of God' The spiritual armour which consists of the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the footware of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.

In a nutshell what this means is that the old things must be replaced with new and better things that can protect you against temptation. After all sinful habits and unedifying and questionable activities have been removed from your life, fill up your time with Bible study, and with Christian fellowship. Fill your mind with memorized verses. Come to the Lord's house often, like the psalmist who said, 'One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in His temple.' (Psalm 27:4).

The thing that is most important of all is that you must fill your life with Jesus Christ. Restore to Him the first place He deserves in your heart. Spend much time developing a close intimate relationship with Him, in your daily devotions. If you keep walking with the Lord every day of your life, you will have the most powerful safeguard against spiritual coma. It is interesting to note that in v.14 of our text we are told to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Dearly beloved we have seen three things in today's message which we must now act upon. Firstly, let us Realise the Urgency of waking up from our Spiritual Coma, Secondly, Let us Remove whatever Causes of Spiritual Coma there is in our live. And thirdly, Restore to our lives, the Safeguards Against Spiritual Coma, and especially to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord help each one of us this morning to do these three things without delay.

Romans 14:13-23 - Doubtful Actions are Sinful

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 8 am service, 2002-05-05

Text: Romans 14:13-23

We are currently on a series of messages on Christian Living. Let me say that the topics in this whole series deserve your attention, because they will affect not only our own life, but also the lives of people around you! None of us should say, 'I don't care what others think or say, I do whatever I want, and live for myself alone.' The fact is, you can't live for yourself alone!

The way that you live, from day to day, at home, or at work, or even at play, is bound to exert some kind of influence on those who are around you. In fact, you are exerting an influence every moment of your life that is somehow going to affect the eternal destiny of the people around you: your family, your friends and the ones you work or study with. By the way that you live, you are making an impact on them, an impact that will either help them, or hinder them. 

You know, there are many unbelievers today who are very difficult to win to Christ, because they have been hindered by the awful testimony of some Christians that they know. When we attempt to share the Good news of salvation with them, they shut their ears and don't want to listen at all, because they have been stumbled by things that were done or said by Christians.

Besides that, there are also many young Christians today who have compromised their testimony and conduct, all because they followed certain things that were being done or said by older Christians. For instance, an elder in a certain church invites some young Christians to his home for fellowship, and while they are there, they notice that he has a large showcase with bottles of expensive liquor with wineglasses displayed there. 

Now this elder sees them looking at his showcase, and he immediately explains to them that he is not an alcoholic, but sees no harm in taking a little sip once in a while, and especially on cold days to keep himself warm. Little does he know that among those young Christians who came to his house, one of them had been struggling very hard to oppose the temptation from his working colleagues who have all been constantly persuading him to join them in drinking. And because of what he sees and hears in that elder's home, that young Christian yields to temptation, and soon stumbles into an uncontrollable drinking habit, which ruins not only his testimony, but also his life!

I hope that these illustrations help us to understand the important principle I mentioned awhile ago: the principle that no one lives unto himself alone. God wants us be very careful about the things we say and do, the pleasures and pursuits we engage in, and about the choices we make in life, simply because all these have an impact upon others. What kind of impact is your life having upon others right now? Is your life a stepping-stone that enables people to draw closer to God, or is your life a stumbling block that is hindering people from coming to Him? 

The passage that we read from Romans 14 brings this out. Let us turn our Bibles again to Romans 14 and read v.13 'Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.' In this context, the issue was that of eating certain kinds of meat that had been prohibited by God in the Law of Moses, because they were considered to be ceremonially unclean. 

At that time, the church at Rome consisted of both Jewish and Gentile Christians. The Gentiles enjoyed their freedom to eat whatever they liked. After all, Christ and the apostles had revealed that these food restrictions no longer apply to the church. Some Jewish Christians knew this, but since they had been observing these food restrictions before they were saved, they still wanted to continue keeping these restrictions for themselves, regarding them now as part of their overall devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. 

But apparently there were some who went a step further - they passed judgment on the other Christians for eating food that was prohibited by the Mosaic Law (14:3). On the other hand, there were also Jewish Christians who were stronger in their faith because they had a better understanding of God's Word, had already stopped observing all these dietary laws, but they showed a despising attitude toward those who continued to observe them! All this contributed to an unhealthy situation within the church of Rome - Christians were at odds with Christians! As a result of the spiritually weaker members of the church were stumbled by the ones who were strong spiritually. 

Now, the apostle Paul states that the stronger Christians were actually right not to observe the food laws of the OT anymore: V.14 'I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.' Since the time that Jesus came into this world and fulfilled perfectly the ceremonial laws of the OT, all the food laws have been abrogated. This is confirmed by the vision that the apostle Peter received in Acts 10, where he saw a large sheet lowered from heaven with all kinds of animals in it - including those that were prohibited for consumption by the OT food laws. And yet God commanded Peter in the vision to kill and eat them. The message of that vision was that 'what God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.' (Acts 10:15). 1 Timothy 4:4 states 'For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving' 

But while the stronger Christians have already arrived at the right conviction that they can now dispense with all the food restrictions, they should not despise those who had not arrived at these convictions yet, nor should they compel them to do things they are not yet convinced about. Instead of despising them, they should lovingly help them. Instead of looking down upon them, and saying, 'We are better than you,' they should patiently take time to teach them God's Word and help the weaker Christians to see exactly why the food laws do not have to be observed by them any more. In other words, the approach that they should take to the weaker Christians should be constructive rather than destructive. As v.19 says 'Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.'

Now, if the stronger Christians at Rome were to force their own convictions on the weaker Christians, then they would be causing the weaker brethren to sin. This is because as long as the weaker Christian still sincerely believes that it is wrong for him to eat such meat, then eating that meat would violate his conscience and bring deep feelings of guilt upon him. 

V.23 of our text says, 'And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.' The word 'damned' here does not mean that the person is condemned by God, but only by his own conscience. Doubtful actions are actually those actions that go against one's own conscience. 

Now, every one of us has a conscience, and we must always ensure that we maintain a good conscience, because God has given it to us to serve a very useful purpose. It is like a built-in alarm system. Whenever we are being tempted to sin, the conscience is like a warning bell, indicating that there is danger. And if we fall into sin, it bothers us and urges us to confess the guilt of our sins before God. If we keep on ignoring our conscience deliberately, it will soon cease to be useful anymore. Do you know what will happen to a building that has its fire alarm system disabled? It will burn down and be completely destroyed! In the same way, when a Christian has a dead conscience, his life will show it, and his testimony for the Lord will be destroyed.

That is why we must always preserve a good conscience by obeying it at all times. Now while the conscience certainly helps us to make good moral judgments, it is effective only so far as it has been fully trained or programmed by the Word of God. Since the Fall of man, the conscience has not been as accurate as it originally was, and needs to be 'recalibrated', so to speak. Despite being faithful to his conscience, a person may sincerely believe that something is right, but as he learns more of God's Word he may discover that it is actually wrong in God's sight. So his conscience has now been re-programmed to make moral judgments that are according to God's standards, rather than his own. On the other hand, a person may sincerely believe that it is wrong to do something, but after he understands more of God's Word, he realises that he had been needlessly concerned about this.

This was the case with the weaker brethren in the church at Rome. They still thought that they must refrain from eating certain types of food. Their conscience needed to be reprogrammed by the Word of God to be freed from all their feelings of doubt and guilt. If only they knew well the fact that Christ has already fulfilled all the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament, they would no longer have to eat their food in doubt anymore, but in the glorious liberty that they can now enjoy in Christ! What they need then is to develop their own firm biblical convictions about these matters.

And so the determining factor to avoid doubtful actions is to have biblical convictions. We should live our lives with firm convictions from God's Word. And that is what the word 'faith' in this verse means. Look again at v.23 'And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.' The word 'faith' here should be taken in the sense of personal beliefs or convictions that are based on God's Word.

Convictions are the backbone of your spiritual life. They keep you from being easily swayed or moved away by any strong influence or social pressure. Convictions give you a stability and steadfastness that compels you to keep on going even when everyone around you has left the cause.

One clear example in the Bible of a man who had firm convictions was Daniel. He led his three friends in the Babylonian court in refusing to eat of the king's food probably because the food was offered to the Babylonian gods. God honoured their obedience, and after ten days, they were miraculously healthier and stronger than any other scholars in the royal academy. The key verse of this account is Daniel 1:8 which says, 'But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat.' The phrase, 'to purpose in our hearts' means to establish, set or fix something so firmly that it becomes permanent, unmoveable, and unshakeable. In modern English such a thing would be called a conviction. This word comes from the word 'convince.' And so convictions can be defined as truths and directions that we are so thoroughly convinced about that nothing can make us budge away from them.

If you do not want to live with doubtful actions, then strive to cultivate strong, firm and deep convictions that are entirely your own. Don't depend on someone else's convictions. Just before the nation of Judah went into captivity, there a strong revival movement under the godly king Josiah who had strong scriptural convictions, but it only lasted as long as Josiah was around. The people were most impressed with his zeal and obedience to God and thought that his convictions must be sound and good so they just followed him. But when he died in battle, all the old sins and idolatry came back almost immediately and eventually led them into captivity. All that happened because they depended in his convictions, but did not have their own. But how can we get these convictions? I would like to suggest three steps you can take. The first thing is to:

1. Understand it. Whenever you read, study or hear God's Word, you need to programme or discipline yourself to understand it. You must make every effort to absorb it and assimilate it into your life. Feeding upon God's Word is like eating food. Unless the food is thoroughly digested, absorbed, and assimilated into our bodies, it is no use to us. In the same way, unless we fully understand what we must believe and why we should believe it, it will never become a conviction for us. Psalm 119:34 says 'Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.'

If your understanding of a certain scriptural teaching is still quite vague and nebulous, it is going to be immensely difficult for you to live by it. If I were to ask you, why you should do a certain thing that scripture teaches, and all that you can say is, 'Because I think it is good to do it.' or 'Because my pastor says so, and I like him a lot. I think he must be right.' or 'Because that is the teaching that is taught my church.' then I am afraid that this shows that you have not yet understood the scriptural teaching behind it.

The only way to have firm convictions is to make sure that you have a good understanding of whatever teaching you receive. Check its scriptural basis. Is it really from God's Word? Then relate it to all the other teachings that you already know well. How does it fit in with them? Try to clear whatever doubts you may have, by asking questions. Don't be satisfied until you have a good grasp of it. There is one final way to know if you understand a scriptural teaching: Try to explain it in your own words. If you can explain a scriptural teaching in your own words, then you can say that you have really understood it well. 

2. Believe it. In his first epistle to Timothy Paul used a particular phrase twice, a phrase which brings out this necessary step. Turn your Bibles to 1 Timothy 1:15 'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.' In 1 Timothy 4:9 when Paul was teaching about the value of godliness for the present and life life, he said once again, 'This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.' This phrase shows that the teaching of scripture must not only be understood, but fully believed and accepted.

And why is this step necessary? Because it is very possible to understand what scripture teaches and yet not believe it nor accept it. We can all become experts in the fine little details of difficult ethical or moral issues based on the Word of God. But this alone does not necessarily mean that we personally hold to it, and will be faithful to keep it. Because we might still regard it as something outside of our lives, as something that we are not personally involved in.

To believe a teaching of scripture is to give it great value and credibility. Believing means acknowledging that it is trustworthy, reliable and dependable. It means that we involve ourselves in the teaching by fully committing ourselves to it, by personally resolving to keep it with God's help. And when we have done that, then it becomes a full-fledged conviction that will help us to remain steadfast and uncompromising. But we cannot stop here. There is one more important step to take, and that is to:

3. Maintain it. This is perhaps the step that many fail to take. Convictions need maintenance, because they can gradually wear out under the constant barrage of influence and pressure. King Solomon began his royal career with the strongest convictions that his God-given wisdom supplied, and yet in his latter years, those convictions became so weak and worn out that he drifted into compromise and fell into idolatry. If only Solomon had taken time to maintain his early convictions, the history of Israel might well have been very different.

One interesting phenomenon that we can see in Scripture is the priority that it gives to holding events that serve to remind God's people of their convictions. When the Israelites entered Canaan they went to Shechem to conduct a covenant renewal ceremony. Stone monuments were set up to commemorate the event (Jos 8:30). The same thing happened again at the end of Joshua's life (Jos 24:25). And another renewal took place when King Saul was made king at Gilgal (1 Sam 11:14). Besides these isolated events, there were also the annual religious feasts like the Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles when all male Israelites were to come to the Temple, and the sabbatical year when every man woman and child were required to gather, to hear a complete reading of the law.

Why were all these events necessary? They were necessary because they served to maintain the scriptural convictions of God's people. Today, we also have events like those: Christmas, Easter and Church Anniversary, and church camps like this are special occasions that serve the very useful purpose of renewing and refreshing our convictions. They cause us to go back again and again to the basic teachings and principles that we cherish. Every Lord's day worship service we attend also serves to help us maintain our convictions. Each week we come to God's house with convictions that have taken a rough beating from the world and after worship and fellowship we go forth with our convictions strengthened to face the world again.

Let us therefore gain the full benefit from all of these conviction-maintaining events. Participate in them fully with absorbed attention. We do not gain anything if our bodies are present but our minds and hearts are not. Don't regard them as just routine events that keep going on and on. They serve a very important function for you. Look forward to them with an expectant heart. Try to think of it this way: Imagine yourself driving through a hot desert. The one thing you would look forward to is to find an oasis, a place where you can be refreshed sufficiently to make your journey to the next oasis. The Lord has provided us with many spiritual oases in our earthly pilgrimage. Let us not miss them, but make good use of them.

 

Romans 12:2 - How Much Clothing Can I Take Off?

By Rev Colin Wong

Preached at / Published Life BPC Weekly, 2006-04-02

Text: Romans 12:2

Nowadays, there is much talk about dressing. Although this is a controversial topic and I know that some may not fully agree with what is written in this article, I decided to write it anyway, and let the reader decide on his or her response to it. 

How much clothing can I take off? This is a difficult question. There is no easy answer to it. Some people say, "That much," but others disagree. Some say low cut is not a problem at all, but others say it is too revealing. Whatever answer you give as a Christian ought to give due consideration to what God's Word has to say concerning this much-debated subject. Is there a dress code for Christians? What and how should Christians dress? 

In Africa, 35 years ago, the Tanzanian government ordered 100,000 Maasai tribes people to put on shorts and trousers. One Maasai leader responded by saying, "If God made Adam and Eve nude, why do we have to go against what God originally intended?" It sounds pretty biblical but it is not. It was okay for Adam and Eve to be naked before the fall because they were sinless and pure (Genesis 2:25). However, when they yielded to temptation and sinned against God, their eyes were opened and they felt terribly shameful. So they took fig leaves to cover themselves (Genesis 3:7). Men and women should feel ashamed for overly exposing themselves in public places.

Some years ago, in a Star Awards Presentation, one top star actress appeared in a silver dress that left much of her body exposed. It was her jaw-dropping, slinky outfit that stole the show. She got the public wondering why she needed to bare so much skin? Is this not indecent exposure?

In our day and age, we see young and old wearing all kinds of creative clothing. Some prefer tight-fitting or figure-hugging clothes, like the Spice Girls! Our teenagers like to wear hip-hop style of clothing. Our little children are showing their bellies too! Fashions change from time to time. In days gone by, a person's everyday dress reflected not only his profession but it also reflected his morals. Today, fashion is everybody's game, and the game has no rules. In yesteryears, clothes were soft and lovely, elegant and feminine, but today, they are aggressive, irreverent, wild, and eye-popping. 

The Fashion Industry has put much pressure upon our young people. The cult of nudity has influenced much of our society. While the nude form isn't yet generally accepted by the public in Singapore, semi-nudity seems to have widespread acceptance, especially in fashion. As a result, it generates a lot of controversies as far as the church is concerned. Some say fashion is taboo; others say it is man's creativity. Humans love to decorate their bodies. They find the styles of clothing a means of expressing their personality. Clothing can give status and add to sexual attractiveness. This is especially true for the female - young and old.

Reaching the Youths of the 21st Century

We are living in the 21st century. When the older folks begin to talk about modesty to the present generation, they only draw blank stares. The Generation Xers don't know what they are talking about. These Xers cannot fathom how they can attach any spiritual significance to whether a hemline is three or four inches above the knee. Somehow they do not attach a moral implication to the shortness of a skirt or the tightness of slacks just below the hip line. "It isn't the length of a skirt that makes one spiritual," they loudly proclaim. It isn't what we wear that makes us spiritual. It's our relationship with God that matters. Don't judge us on our outward appearance! (1 Samuel 16:7) 

My concern is, do they know what damage they can bring to the name of Christ by what they wear? Imagine what would happen if a person claims to be a Christian and wears a silver dress that leaves much of her body exposed in church. Imagine each time you stand up to sing a hymn or the "Gloria Patri," and you are distracted by her slinky outfit. What consequences do you think that would bring to the congregation on a Sunday morning worship? The words are distraction and temptation. Such dressing not only distracts and tempts worshippers, but it also does not bring glory to God.

How much clothing can I take off? How does the Christian establish a code of modesty when fashions are constantly changing? Do we have any scriptural guidelines to use in the matter of selecting clothing? Is it wrong in one culture to wear little or no clothing and right in another culture? Why? If the matter of clothing is simply a cultural thing, how can the Christian establish any absolutes concerning rules that govern what he or she shall wear? What can the church do to help its people establish a code of modesty and still keep up with the latest fashions? 

As far as I am concerned, I believe the best guideline is found in 1 Corinthians 10:31 - "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do (like what you wear), do all to the glory of God." It doesn't matter what fashions you are into, if they do not reflect God's glory, then you must not put them on. So the next time you go shopping for new dresses, bear this in mind - If I were to put this on, will it glorify God? If it does not, then I will not buy it. 

The Teaching of Paul

Paul said, "In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array" (1 Timothy 2:9). Dress is to reflect modesty and is to identify the Christian with Christ, not with the world (Romans 12:2; 2 Timothy 2:4). Therefore, what we wear does matter, for it either identifies us with Christ or with the world.

In this verse, Paul was speaking to the females in the congregation. He was not trying to regulate women's dress. If you read it that way, then you have misunderstood him. When he said that women should not have "braided hair or gold or pearls or costly attire," he was not attacking the way women dress, except when it is a display of their heart attitude. 

God looks at the heart. He does not pay any attention to the outward man. But oftentimes the way we dress and the way we conduct ourselves is a vivid revelation to others around of what our hearts are like. For example, if a woman comes with her hair done up in the latest fashion, wearing the latest low-cut dress and flashy jewelry, she is obviously not trying to get God's attention; she wants men's attention. Her choice of clothing and the other things reveals her heart. This is what the apostle was talking about. 

So, how should women dress? For their adornment, Paul said that they should not emphasize the external, but the internal. They should dress modestly, with decency and propriety. These terms stress not so much the absence of sexual suggestiveness, though it is included, but rather an appearance that is simple, moderate, judicious, and free from ostentation (i.e. pretentious display meant to impress others; boastful showiness). Don't wear anything to impress others. Don't wear anything to show off what you have. The specifics Paul mentioned (i.e. braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes) are not wrong in themselves, but become inappropriate when they indicate misplaced values (1 Peter 3:3). In the New Testament church, fashions like these might have been associated with the local temple prostitutes. Therefore, Christians must be careful about letting a pagan culture or today's culture set their fashions.

Taking a Stand for the Lord - Do not Compromise

Taking a stand for the Lord is costly and unpopular. In this regard, it concerns dress code. What to wear and what not to wear can be a burden to some Christians. Because of the pressure the fashion industry continually exerts on them, many have compromised and have gone the way of the world. Betty Nohl rightly states that "responsibility is the key word in relation to modern fashions." If that is true, then Christians should not and must not wear anything that is not honoring to God. Christians must react to changing fashions with courage and keen judgment. They must resist the lure of soft words urging them to buy this or that when they don't need it. Their focus must stay clear. They may be interested in fashion, but they must not be obsessed by it. They know that wearing the latest fashion cannot guarantee them happiness, popularity or love. Their affection is set on things above and not on things below (Colossians 3:2). Therefore, they are able to take fashion or leave it. They will not be overwhelmed by the need to conform. They will realize that they can still be "in" with God when they choose to be "out" so far as certain fashions are concerned.

Dear Lifer, what you wear does matter. It reflects you - your personality, values of life and morality. Your choice of clothing does reveal your heart. Fashions come and go. Be fashionable but do not be overwhelmed by the need to conform. "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Romans 12:2).

Let me sign off with these words: Indecent exposure arouses embarrassment and shame or exhibitionism and sexual self-consciousness. That is why it is so important to have a proper "Christian" dress code. We all should dress in a way that is glorifying to God. Indecent exposure can be too much of a temptation, especially for our brothers in the Lord. Therefore, let us be mindful of what we put on as Christians lest we cause others to stumble. Amen.

  1. Romans 12:2 - Be Not Conformed To This World
  2. Romans 12:10 - Be Kindly Affectioned One To Another
  3. Romans 12:1,2 - Resisting the Influence of the Mass Media
  4. Romans 12:1,2 - How Should a Christian View Secular Personal Effectiveness Tools?

Subcategories

Gospel in Dialect

Do you face a language barrier when trying to witness for Christ to dialect-speaking relatives? Or do you need to polish up your Mandarin in order to share the Gospel with your Mandarin-speaking friends? This Gospel toolkit will help you to learn how to share the Gospel in Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien and Teochew.

There are 15 lessons covering the various topics in gospel presentation. Each lesson consists of a set of phrases, written in English, Chinese characters and Hanyu Pinyin.

To hear the proper pronunciation of the phrase, click on the respective plugin associated with each phrase. When the phrase is read for you, you should repeat it aloud. You can keep on playing back the phrase and repeating it aloud until you have mastered the phrase. Then go on to the next phrase in the lesson.

As you learn to speak new phrases, keep on reviewing the ones that you have learnt. Finally, test yourself to see if you can say the following in Mandarin / dialect aloud: 

Family

Introduction

Why a family resource page?  It has been often said that the family is the most important institution in the nation.  But never has this sentiment been as greatly emphasized in our history as a nation than now in recent times.  Indeed, the family is the most important institution because it is the first environment to which every person is exposed; it is the primary influence of a person, especially in his early formative years.  And failure of the family to influence and mould the child positively has contributed to the moral and ethical breakdown of societies.  Even the expert opinions of sociologists and psychologists point to the truth of this statement.  Counselors and mental health workers increasingly have to rely on Family Therapy to deal with the problems of the clients, seeing as how many adult conflicts and problems are actually conflicts and problems not resolved in youth within the family.  Of course, it is not surprising to find such delinquency and immaturity in the world.  And sadly, it is not surprising to find such worldliness and worldly problems in the church, as families capitulate their God-given rights.  More than ever, there is need for a family resource page, where families can be encouraged and taught to raise up Godly homes and to revive the Covenant family.  

And one of the main emphases of this resource page is on the subject and discipline of Family Worship.  According to the Westminster Directory of Family Worship, we are told that “BESIDES the publick worship in congregations, mercifully established in this land in great purity, it is expedient and necessary that secret worship of each person alone, and private worship of families, be pressed and set up; that, with national reformation, the profession and power of godliness, both personal and domestick, be advanced.”  Herein, it is suggested that national and ecclesiastical revival finds its genesis in the home.  And this is biblical. 

The theological foundations of family worship is in Deuteronomy 4:9,10 where believers are told to “keep thy soul diligently…[and to]…teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.” 

It is also in Deuteronomy 6:4-7 where the words which God had commanded believers should be taught diligently to their children, that they should “talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”  The chief Christian educators of our children are their parents, who have been given this sacred duty.

Psalm 78:2-7 also teaches this, especially when it says regarding the law “which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born, who should arise and declare them to their children: that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.” 

According to Dr Joel Beeke, “Every church desires growth. Surprisingly few churches, however, seek to promote internal church growth by stressing the need to raise children in covenantal truth. Few seriously grapple with why many adolescents become nominal members with mere notional faith or abandon evangelical truth for unbiblical doctrine and modes of worship. I believe one major reason for this failure is the lack of stress upon family worship. In many churches and homes family worship is an optional thing, or at most a superficial exercise such as a brief table grace before meals. Consequently, many children grow up with no experience or impression of Christian faith and worship as a daily reality.”

“Would we see revival among our children? Let us remember that God often uses the restoration of family worship to usher in church revival. For example, the 1677 church covenant of the Puritan congregation in Dorchester, Massachusetts, included the commitment ‘to reform our families, engaging ourselves to a conscientious care to set before us and to maintain the worship of God in them; and to walk in our houses with perfect hearts in a faithful discharge of all domestic duties, educating, instructing, and charging our children and households to keep the ways of the Lord.’”

Douglas Kelly says that “Family religion, which depends not a little on the household head daily leading the family before God in worship, is one of the most powerful structures that the covenant-keeping God has given for the expansion of redemption through the generations, so that countless multitudes may be brought into communion with and worship” of God. 

So may these resources help all Lifers to build up their families in the fear and admonition of the Lord; that Family Worship would not be an optional exercise but a time of day and activity well-sought after by Godly parents and children.  Amen.

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