1 Corinthians 02:1-5 - What is Evangelism?

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 10:45 am service, 2005-05-01

Text: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

The word 'evangelism' comes from a Greek word (euangelizomai) which means 'to preach the good news.' And the 'Good news' here refers to the message that sinners can be saved from their sins through Jesus Christ. There are many terms commonly used today as synonyms for evangelism. Sometimes it is called witnessing or testifying. At other times it is called personal outreach or fishing for men. Some prefer to call it Soul-saving or soul-winning. But basically they all refer to the same thing, and that is: 'The responsibility of lovingly convincing a sinner of the message of salvation, through the use of God's Word, and in the power of the Holy Spirit.' 

This complete definition of evangelism can be analysed into five parts: 

Firstly -

I. The Responsibility of Evangelism - For All Christians

Evangelism is the responsibility of every Christian. As such, we cannot choose to ignore it. Many tend to think that when they tell somebody about Jesus Christ that they are doing God a big favour. But the Bible tells us that when we do that, we are only doing what is required of us. 

Many also think that Evangelism in terms of special campaigns organized once in a while, where everybody goes out to distribute tracts or to invite people to a Gospel Sunday. Therefore as long as we take part in one or two of these campaigns, we have done our part in evangelism and need not do anything else. That is far from true. In Acts 8:4 we are told that the Christians of the early church 'went everywhere preaching the word.' And they were actually doing this not in any organized campaign, but while they were just in transit to settle down in new places and they happened to meet people. We can think of the time when our Lord Jesus happened to meet a woman at a well while resting after a long journey and He took the opportunity to witness to her. 

He did not plan to witness to the Samaritan woman. It just happened in the natural course of events. All of this indicates that Evangelism is to be a way of life for us. Our responsibility is to be ready to share the Gospel wherever we go, in our daily course of life, with the friends, colleagues and acquaintances we happen to meet each day. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us that we should be 'ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.'

What does this responsibility mean for us? Firstly it means that you need to identify yourself as a follower of Jesus Christ. The people that you are with in your place of work or study should become aware that there is representative of Christ in their midst. The next thing that you have to do is to match your Christian profession with Christ-like Conduct. Bear a good testimony before them. And when are doing that, you should then look for opportunities to tell them the Good News. 

In the course of your daily interaction with colleagues in your workplace, the Lord will open doors for you to share the gospel with them. But you on your part have to look for them. I remember the time when I was in Reservist in-camp training and my colleagues and I went for our lunch break together. When we all got our food and sat down to eat, everyone else just ate straightaway. But I took a moment to say grace before I ate. Then while we were eating the person sitting next to me, by the name of Benny, asked me if I was a Christian. This became a useful transition point and I was eventually able to share the gospel with him. There are actually many ways to introduce the subject of the Gospel without offending the person, but cultivating his interest, so that he will want to know more about God's salvation.

Thus we have looked at the Responsibility of Evangelism, and proceed now to consider:

II. The Goal of Evangelism - To Convince People to Turn to the Lord

Some may think that evangelism is simply bringing a friend to church, and then hoping that the message preached in worship service on the day that the friend comes, would somehow convert him. Evangelism is actually more than that. It means taking the initiative to share the gospel with him personally. 

God's Word in 2 Corinthians 5:20 tells us that 'we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.'

In evangelism, God uses us to speak to people on His behalf. That's what ambassadors are for. Therefore we are to talk to people about the things of God, and not merely invite them to come to church. If we were to depend solely on what they happen to hear from the pulpit on the day that they come to church, what they may receive may not have an emphasis on the gospel or an appeal to be saved, because the pulpit ministry has to cater to many different needs, and more often it caters to the needs of believers rather than unbelievers. Therefore the better way is still for us to personally communicate the message of Christ to our friends, rather than to depend on whatever is preached from the pulpit. 

But many of us may be afraid to do this. We have reservations about taking the initiative to share our faith with others, with questions like: How do I introduce the Gospel to them? What should I say? What if they were to ask me questions that I cannot answer? It is quite natural to have these fears, but we can overcome them as we look at: 

III. The Message of Evangelism - Salvation Through Christ

What is the message of salvation? There are some who think that it is a very difficult task to share the Gospel because there are too many complicated facts and abstract truths to remember and explain. However our text of scripture for this sermon, which is 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, reveals to us that the message is actually not beyond our ability to communicate. It does not require excellency of speech, or excellency of wisdom. You do not need to be a learned theologian or a Bible College graduate in order to share the gospel effectively. You do not need to be a clever salesman who can speak confidently and move people with very persuasive language, to be qualified to evangelise someone. 

If such things are required for evangelism, the apostle Paul himself may be disqualified! Look at what he says in v.3,4 'And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom' But what was Paul's message? He tells us in v.2 'For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.'

Christ and Him Crucified! This is the salvation message that every believer already knows about. Therefore any Christian who has been genuinely saved already has the basic knowledge that is needed for salvation - trusting fully and only in Christ, and Him crucified. That knowledge is what he had to know in order to be saved. All he has to do then, is to communicate that same knowledge to others clearly. 

And thus, you should get used to the idea that you can share the gospel. You have the ability. It is only a matter of being willing to communicate what you already know. To communicate that knowledge to a person clearly, it is helpful to organize it in a logical sequence under a few main points: The first point is: That he is a sinner under the sentence of eternal death. The second point is: That Christ is the answer to his need. And the third point is: That he must definitely accept Christ as Saviour and Lord.

Try to remember this simple three-point outline so that when you have the opportunity for evangelism, you will not miss any of them. It provides a framework for communicating the Gospel, and you can then build up on each main point, e.g. for the first point we may explain simply what sin is and why all men are now sinners. And for the second point, we may tell more about who Christ is - God's only Son who died for our sins. 

However, while the Gospel is simple enough for any genuine believer to communicate, we must ensure that we do not simplify it further. For instance do not share the gospel like this: 'Do you believe you are a sinner?' 'Yes.' 'Do you believe Christ died for sinners?' 'Yes.' 'Will you receive Him now as your Saviour?' 'Yes.' 'Then you are saved!' 'I am?' 'Yes, the Bible says you are saved!'

At a first look this method and the message might seem to be all right. But on closer study we are forced to have second thoughts and to conclude that this is an over-simplified gospel. This is not evangelism but 'easy-believism'. To make a person believe that he is saved when in fact, he is not, is dangerous. He becomes a nominal Christian - one who is a Christian only in name, but not in truth. He does not fully understand the Gospel. He does not have the basic knowledge that is needed for salvation, and hence he cannot be born again, as the Holy Spirit cannot work in a vacuum to save him. The saving truths of God's Word - concerning Christ and Him Crucified - these basic things ought to be received and understood. 

Always remember that it is the Word of God that gives spiritual life. This is the essential element in any method of evangelism. And so we now proceed to look at:

IV. The Method of Evangelism - The Word of God

In v.1 of our text the apostle Paul said 'And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.' In his evangelistic efforts among the Corinthians, Paul testifies that it was the 'testimony of God' that he declared to them. The term 'testimony of God' is one of the terms used in the Bible to designate God's Word. For example, in Psalm 19:7, 'The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.' It is also interesting to note that the first part of this verse tells us that the Law of the Lord converts the soul.

Dearly beloved, it is not our clever speech or sound arguments, but the Word of God which that converts sinners. In evangelism we must fully apply what God Himself has said about the power of His Word, in Isaiah 55:11 'So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.'

God has built into His Word a wonderful and mysterious power that can regenerate the sinner's heart! According to 1 Peter 1:23, we are 'born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.' According to James 1:18 'Of His own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.' According to Ephesians 5:26 Jesus gave Himself for the church 'That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word'

Hebrews 4:12 says that 'the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.' When the apostle Peter wielded this sharp two-edged sword at an evangelistic message at Pentecost, the hearts of three thousand people were powerfully pricked by the Word of God, and they immediately sought for salvation and were baptized (Acts 2:37). 

The faith they needed in order to believe in Christ also came from God's Word, because Romans 10:17 tells us that 'faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.' For this reason, it is always a good practice for us to employ verses of scripture in our evangelism. Instead of using elaborate philosophical speeches, it is recommended that you use more of God's Word. 

Now comes the question: How do we use the Word of God in evangelism? How do we know which verses of scripture we should use? This is where we return to our basic three-point outline. E.g. for the first point, where you want to tell a person that he is a sinner under the sentence of eternal death. You can use verses like Romans 3:23 'For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God' and Romans 6:23 'For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.'

As you move on to the second point, which is to show that Christ is the answer to his need, you can quote verses like Rom 5:8 'But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' And John 14:6 'Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.'

And for third point you can prove that he must definitely accept Christ as Saviour and Lord by using John 1:12 and John 3:16 - verses that should be familiar to us. 

There are several ways to present the Word of God to someone during evangelism. If you have a Bible, you could look up the verses in the Bible and get him to read it aloud. Ask him what he understands by it, and explain to him any words he does not understand. If you do not have a Bible with you, you can recite the verses from memory, e.g. John 3:16. However, you would need some disciplined preparation in order to do this - to learn these Bible verses by heart.

An alternative method is to use ready-made gospel presentations that have the main points as well as the relevant scripture verses printed in them. One example of this is the Gospel tractbooklet published by our church entitled 'Have You Heard the Good News?' It is a good idea to carry a few of these tracts with you in your purse or wallet. You may never know when they will be useful. You can go through it with a person, or if circumstances do not permit you to have much time with him, you can just give the tract to him, asking him to read it.

Sometimes however, you may feel the need for something more than this. Perhaps the friend that you are witnessing to is interested to know more than what is contained in a tract. This is when you can use a short Bible course, like the Inquirer's Bible Course, which is really an extended gospel presentation with many portions of scripture in it, and requires participation. This can also be useful if you have the opportunity to lead a group of people to know the Gospel of Christ!

Thus far we have covered the first four aspects of Evangelism: The Responsibility of evangelism - for all Christians; The Goal - to Convince people to turn to God; The Message - which is Salvation through Christ; and the Method - which is the use of God's Word. We now come to the last aspect, and the one that is decisive:

V. The Power of Evangelism ' The Holy Spirit

Always remember that God is the One who calls a person irresistibly and effectually to salvation. John 6:37 - 'All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.', John 6:44 - 'No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day'. 

When the Holy Spirit of God calls a sinner to salvation, no one can resist Him for long. There are at least 3 ways of describing the unseen work of the Holy Spirit in salvation: (1) He convicts the sinner, making his lost condition real to him. John 16:8 'And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:' (2) He enables the sinner to understand and accept the Gospel of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:4 'And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power') (3) He regenerates the sinner's heart (John 3:5 'Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.')

Our part in evangelism is only two-fold: (1) to present the gospel to him and (2) to pray that God will work in his heart (Acts 16:14). Prayer plays an important role in evangelism. Having done that, we then leave the Results to God. Don't worry or think you have failed if you don't get immediate results. The Apostle Paul himself did not always see a warm response to what he preached. In Acts 17, when Paul preached his gospel message to the Council of Mars Hill in Athens, it was not well-received at all.

There will be times when we will be tempted to feel disappointed and discouraged because people do not respond well to our efforts to bring them the good news of salvation. We expect them to accept our message with joy, but instead, many of them reject it with ridicule. 

When we feel this way, we need to remember that ultimately it is not our efforts, not our methods, not the approach we use, nor our skill in delivering God's Truth that saves men. It is God alone who saves. We will do well to do our part, and we ought to do it well. But the results must be left to God. Only God can change a sinner's heart and convict him of his need for salvation. Our responsibility is to sow the seed. The rest is left to God. He will cause it to germinate and grow. Sometimes the seed will flourish and grow, and sometimes it will not. 

Christ mentioned this in His parable of the sower. Sometimes the seed takes a longer time than expected to germinate. Many people hear the Gospel but do not respond to it until many years later, when they encounter a crisis and call upon Christ to save them. Sometimes a person may have to hear the gospel 10 or 20 times before he is converted. The timing of salvation and the results of our evangelism are best left to the mysterious work in the heart by the Holy Spirit. Our success in evangelism is measured not by the number of souls we have won to Christ, but by how well we have used the opportunities given to us to share the gospel with people around us.

Even though at times we may find very little or no results at all from our efforts, at the same time we must remember that: No results are possible at all if we do not first seek the opportunity to witness to people around us. So let us keep doing our best, and let the Lord do the rest. For if we withhold the message of salvation from them, we will be hurting them. Evangelism is every Christian's business. Let us be engaged in it in season and out of season.

1 Corinthians 15:58 - Always Abounding In The Work Of The Lord

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 10:45am service, 2006-09-24

Text: 1 Corinthians 15:58

Life on earth is full of disappointments. How many times have you looked forward with great expectation to something that had seemed to be so inviting and so promising, only to be let down when your hopes failed to materialise?

There was one well-known event in Church history which took place 162 years ago and which became known as 'the Great Disappointment.' It started with a Baptist preacher by the name of William Miller who lived in the Northeastern part of the United States. In August 1831 Miller was fully convinced, after studying the Bible intensely for 7 years, that he had discovered the exact time when Jesus Christ would return from Heaven - 21st March 1844. This preacher sincerely believed with all his heart that God had called him to go forth to proclaim this as earnestly and as widely as possible. For 12 years Miller and his associates laboured hard to warn as many people as they could that Christ would return and judge all the world on the 21st of March 1844. They stirred up such great excitement as they preached to large audiences, that a growing movement of over 50,000 followers was soon born. 

But the predicted date came and went and nothing happened. William Miller and his followers were disappointed. But one of his associates by the name of Samuel Snow went through Miller's calculations and realized that there was a mistake - the actual date of Christ's return was seven months later, on 22nd October 1844. Both men claimed that there was no possibility of a mistake this time. Anyone who rejects their message would most definitely be lost. The movement grew again, this time sweeping over the land with the velocity of a tornado, and many Millerites believed that God was the power behind this mighty movement. The signs of Christ's coming were just too plain to be doubted. Magazines were printed, heralding the return of Christ. Newspapers printed regular reports of Millerite meetings.

1,500 Millerites traveled across the U.S. going from town to town, and proclaiming with great fervour that the End is near! When the 22nd of October came, the Millerites watched and prayed. They had quit their jobs. They had given all their possessions away as a testimony to their faith. Putting on white ascension robes, many of them stood upon their rooftops, waiting for that blessed moment when the trumpet would sound from heaven, when the Lord would descend and they would be gloriously taken up to meet Him in the air. As the hour drew nearer and nearer, their excitement grew more and more intense - and then - nothing happened! They were not caught up to meet Jesus in the air. What a let down, what a huge disappointment that was for those 50,000 expectant hearts. All the time and labour they had spent had come to nothing. They had believed a fallible preacher's prediction in vain. They had earnestly preached and warned people in vain. One by one, they retreated from their house tops to pick up the pieces of their disappointed life.

Dearly beloved, you and I who are saved have put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to save us from sin and eternal death and to give us a heavenly home. We have committed ourselves to follow our Saviour and to do whatever He wants us to do. Many of us have by ow already invested much time, much energy and painstaking efforts for Christ. Will we one day be shocked like the Millerites, to discover that we had done all that in vain, that all our labour had really been for nothing, and that we had given so much for a lost cause? What an awful prospect that would be - a most awful prospect indeed! 

How then can you know that such a thing this will certainly not happen to you? Only by ensuring that your faith rests firmly on what God has said in His Word clearly, and not on anyone's contrived misinterpretation or misapplication of God's Word. Please beware of anyone who tells you that after a diligent study of the Scriptures and he has now discovered a new doctrine that no one has ever known before. Do not commit yourself to what he says and labour for it, or else you may find yourself standing on very shakey grounds, and you may be disappointed later on to realize that your labour has been in vain. This brings us to the first of three main points for this morning's message: You must always

I. Ensure that there are Immovable Grounds for Your Labour

Dearly beloved, if what you want is to have a faith that is steadfast and sure for all your labours, then you must stand upon immovable grounds for it - grounds that are solid, firm and stable, and that can easily bear the weight of your confidence and trust.

And the Christian does have such solid grounds for everything that he believes in and that he does - That grounds is our resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord we serve is not dead but alive and well. He is a resurrected Lord! We observe this truth in the context of 1 Corinthians 15:58. This verse is at the end of chapter 15, a chapter which provides the clearest and most profound teaching in the Bible about the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and how this relates to our future resurrection from the dead as followers of Christ. In order to fully appreciate the thrust of our passage, 1 Cor 15:58, we must go into this chapter in some detail.

The apostle Paul was constrained to write this chapter, because some members of the church at Corinth had actually been questioning the resurrection, even to the extent of denying it altogether. The ancient Greeks believed that the soul is good and the body is evil. To them, the body was the source of man's weakness and sin. Death was therefore the welcome means by which the soul was liberated from the body. And so in their thinking, resurrecting the body would only imprison the soul once again. In Acts 17, when Paul was at Mars Hill in Athens, he had no difficulty in preaching the Gospel to a crowd of learned Greeks until he mentioned Christ's bodily resurrection from the dead. Then he was immediately mocked and dismissed abruptly by the crowd. This helps us to understand the background of our scripture passage.

Because of their Greek upbringing, many people in Corinth may have found it especially difficult to believe that the dead can really return back to life. This caused some of them to doubt, and even to deny the bodily resurrection of Christ! Paul addressed this problem by first stating that the resurrection of Christ is a very essential part of the Gospel which he preached to them (vv.1-11). It cannot be ignored, forgotten or diminished. If there is no resurrection, they would have believed the Gospel in vain (v.2)! It has rightly been said that the resurrection of Christ is the central tenet of Christianity. Everything we do and believe as Christians stands or falls with it!

Then, in vv.12-29, Paul shows that it is the resurrection of Christ that guarantees the future resurrection of believers who had died. Without this, the Gospel would be a blatant lie, the Christian faith would be an empty faith, and Christians would be the most miserable and the most hopeless people on the face of this earth! Salvation from sin would be impossible without Christ's resurrection. After this, in vv.30-34, Paul reveals how much persecution and trials he had suffered because he believed most firmly in the resurrection of Christ from the dead. 

In the next section, vv.35-50, Paul elaborates on the nature of the glorious body we will have after our resurrection from the dead - it will be a body that is unique supernatural, just like the body that Jesus had after His resurrection. In vv.51-57, Paul concludes this whole discourse by describing the resurrection as our victory over death. We we are saved can now confidently exult in this victory as Paul did in v.55, saying, 'O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?'

And now, right at the end of all that comes verse 58 (the verse we are studying now) which forms the capstone crowning the whole chapter. Notice that it begins with the word 'therefore.' That word points back to everything that has been said in the chapter. Here Paul draws together all the threads of his arguments on the resurrection, and applies it with poweful impact to his readers. Far from being a doubtful teaching and a subject of mocking and ridicule, the resurrection of Jesus Christ provides the most solid grounds that we Christians can ever stand upon to be steadfast, unmoveable and always abounding in the work of the Lord!

Dearly beloved, please consider what a wonderful truth this should be to us: the Saviour that you are I love and serve today is a resurrected Saviour. This fact assures us of His awesome power to overcome death for us - a power which now gives us victory over death and the grave. This fact also speaks to us of the abundant life that Christ has within Himself - He is the living Saviour who supplies us with an endless stream of life! Can there ever be any grounds for our faith and labour that is better and stronger than this? No, not at all! Will anyone who chooses to rest completely on the resurrected Lord ever be disappointed? Never! 

Therefore if there is anyone here who has not done this yet, I would strongly urge you now not to delay. Make Jesus Christ your Saviour today! Trust in His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead to save you from your sins and from eternal death! I say this to all our unsaved friends who are here this morning: 

Why do you still wait to be saved when there is every reason for you to come to Him now? Turn to Him, dear friends; turn to Him right now. After all, you have God's Word to guarantee that you will not be disappointed. But I assure you you that if you do NOT turn to Him for salvation, then you will have every reason to fear that you will be disappointed, because you have rejected the only immovable grounds there is for all your faith and labour. You have chosen to stand on shakey grounds and you will definitely fall! And then you can only regret that you had lived and done everything in your life in vain.

The wise King Solomon testified that life without God is a life that is lived in vain - there is really no hope and no meaning in it. This was the theme of what he wrote in Ecclesiastes: 1:2 'Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.' 2:11 'I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.' The words 'vanity' and 'vain' mean empty, without any use or purpose. 

In contrast to that, our text in 1 Corinthians 15:58 tells us that 'your labour is not in vain in the Lord.' Now, what is it that makes the difference between this and what Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes? The difference is found in the last three words, 'in the Lord'? It is only in the Lord that your labour is not in vain. This brings us to the next point in our message: You can

II. Anticipate Invaluable Crowns for Your Labour

Whatever labour that you do for the Lord is not in vain. It is not futile effort or wasted effort. It is useful, purposeful and meaningful, for at least two reasons: Firstly God is able to use your labour to accomplish His divine purposes on earth. Take for example, your efforts to bring a certain person to Christ. Perhaps you know that many others have already tried to share Christ with him before, without any success. You may think that it is futile for you to witness to him. But you should not let this stop you from making an effort to give him the gospel. 

Sometimes a person may have to hear the gospel 10 or even 20 times before he responds to it, asking the Lord to come into his heart. And your witness may just happen to be that final decisive time when he will be saved. Salvation is brought about by God's unseen mysterious work in the hearts of men.

Therefore success in evangelism should not be measured by the number of souls you win to Christ, but by how well you have used your opportunities to share the gospel with people around you. Listen to what God's Word says in Psalm 126:6 'He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.' Keep on sowing the gospel seed in every place you go. Your labour is not in vain! 

The same thing applies to your efforts to read the Bible daily, to study it and memorise it. Some of you may wonder if the time you spend in doing all these things is really well-spent, since it does not seem to produce immediate results. Let me say this - every moment that you spend reading, studying and memorising the Scriptures is a worthwhile long-term investment. God will use it to build you up spiritually and to change you little by little into the image of Christ! (2 Timothy 3:16-17 'All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.') 

You know, I am glad that a good number of us here in Life Church are coming early before the worship service to take part in the Scripture memory session, where the worship chairman leads us in memorising a verse or two from the Scriptures. Perhaps some of us do not join in, because you think that it is futile to participate in this, as you will soon forget what you have memorised. Let me assure you that it is not futile. Every effort you make to memorise God's Word will help you to build up a treasure store of Bible verses hidden deep in the recesses of your mind that the Holy Spirit can use in your life at some opportune time. It may be at a time of great crisis that you suddenly recall a verse you have memorised years ago, which now becomes most precious and appropriate to you, or to someone else! Your labour is definitely not in vain! 

This also applies to our Beulah Project - Those who are involved may sometimes wonder if it is really worth all the time and effort put into poring over the plans, attending meetings and discussing little details. One day when it is built and used, you will see that your labour has not been in vain! 

We have just seen three examples of how God is able to use your labour to accomplish His purposes, and this is the first reason why we should not regard our labour to be in vain. We want to look now at the other reason why your labour is not in vain, and that is: God will greatly reward your labour. Think of all the great and wonderful rewards that you will receive from the Lord at the judgment seat of Christ. Think especially of the incorruptible resurrection body and the supreme glory of dwelling with Him forever. 2 Corinthians 4:17 tells us 'For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.' What a glorious future there is in store for us! Surely this is worth everything we do for the Lord. Dearly beloved, your labour is not in vain! 

Now we proceed on to the final point of our message. Since you know that the grounds on which you stand are solid and immovable, and since you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord, you must now

III. Be willing to go to Infinite Bounds in Your Labour

Our Scripture text says: 'always abounding in the work of the Lord.' In other words, we should not place any limits on our service to God. We should not regard any task in whatever area of ministry God has given to us, as being too much for us to undertake for Him. 

One of the outreach ministries of Life Church are the four student care centres in primary schools in Yishun and Bukit View. These centres are run by dedicated Christian guardians who work long hours and who need plenty of patience to handle the students under their care. Their labour has not only met a pressing social need - that of dual income families, single parents and latch-key kids, but also more importantly, the spiritual need of these precious souls. Many of the 270 students under their care would probably have very little or no opportunity to come under the influence of spirit-filled Christians if not for the time they spend at the Student Care Centre. But it takes much effort for the guardians to persevere. The temptation to become discouraged and throw in the towel is very strong at times, because they can earn much more in other kinds of jobs. 

At the end of last month, when I was asked to give a word of encouragement to the guardians of our Student Care Centres at their thanksgiving dinner, this is what I said to them: 'I have never been a guardian in a student care centre before, and so I may not fully understand the difficulties that you face each day. But even though you may find your work at the Student care centres most difficult and even trying at times, let this thought keep you going 'your labour is not in vain in the Lord.' Please have faith to believe this promise at all times and keep telling yourself, 'My labour is not in vain in the Lord.' Cling to this promise even when you see no immediate or visible results. For there are things being accomplished by your labour that you cannot see. This thought will not only to keep you going, but 1 Corinthians 15:58 also says that it can motivate you to always abound in the work of the Lord.'

I believe that God has used this exhortation to encourage the guardians to abound in the work of the Lord. And I believe that God will use it also this morning, to encourage you in the work you are doing for the Lord. Perhaps you have been serving the Lord for some time in an area of ministry and you are facing some discouragement. Perhaps you have already have been serving for a long time in the choir, in the PA crew, in the music ministry, the Sunday School or Children's ministry, in the NBC, in the fellowship groups, in the Kota Tinggi ministry, or even in the Church session. But now you feel weary and discouraged. 

No one seems to be willing to help, and no one even seems to notice the work you have been doing faithfully. You do not see the results you had hoped for. You wonder if you should continue or not. If you are facing this situation, let your heart be strengthened by these words of v.58 'Be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.' These words ought to convince you that even though no one may take any notice of your work of the Lord, God does. And He wants you to be steadfast in that work. He wants you to remain unmoved by the difficulties and problems. He wants you to abound in it.

The word 'abounding' here literally means 'overflowing.' It implies that we should give more than what is required of us. We need to go the extra mile in our service and in obeying God's commands. And we need to do this consistently because the word 'always' is added on to the word 'abounding.' We should be diligent and persevering, and going on towards the goal of perfection. We should be continually making advances in true piety, and always be ready for every good work. The most cheerful duty, the greatest diligence, the most constant perseverance, should characterize those who have such glorious hopes. Can we ever do too much in the Lord's work, when we are assured of such abundant rewards in our future life? Let us not limit ourselves as to our spiritual growth and service, but be always abounding in the work of the Lord.

And if you are not doing any work for the Lord yet, I pray that God will use this message to speak to your heart today. Every Lifer really ought to be actively doing the work of the Lord. One way that you can begin is to participate actively in the WARM programme of our church that was just launched last week - Use the namecards that are in the pews and get to know other members of the church. And don't stop at just knowing them and having more acquaintances, but go on to minister to them in whatever way you can. It may be that God will use this to lead you eventually into some area of service that is meant especially for you within the body of Christ. 

May the Lord help us all to always abound in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as we know that our labour is not in vain in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:51-53 - Why Do I Believe in the Rapture?

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 8am service, 2002-02-24

Text: I Corinthians 15:51-53

I. What is the Rapture?

The Rapture is a supernatural event where millions upon millions of born-again Christians will suddenly disappear from the earth. It is that moment in time when we will finally be united with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Rapture will begin when Jesus appears in the clouds above the earth. Christians who have already died will resurrect from their graves and be brought up to Him. Next, those believers who are still alive at that time are transported right off this earth, and are also taken up to meet Him. Then there will be a huge, joyful reunion in the sky, of Christians from all nations and from every age in history with the Lord, who will then lead them to their home in Heaven. 

Now, this sequence of events is based on the Word of God in 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17 'For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.' 

The words 'caught up' in v.17 is where the word 'Rapture' comes from, as Rapture is a Latin word which means 'seizing and carrying away'. Technically speaking, the Rapture is actually a different event from the Second Coming of Christ although they are often put together. The Rapture is when Jesus comes in the air for His Church, but His feet will not touch earth. The Second Coming of Christ by contrast, takes place a few years later, when Jesus comes back to earth with His church and His feet stand on the Mount of Olives (Jude 14; Zechariah 4:14; Revelation 19:14).

In the Rapture, Christ comes to fetch His bride (which is the church) up to heaven so that the church can join in the Marriage Supper of Lamb (2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 19:6-9), but at the Second coming, Christ will come to make War on earth with the armies of the world and the only supper will be the one enjoyed by the flesh-eating birds and vultures (Revelation 19:17,18).

In the Rapture, Christ will come down in the same way that he ascended up to heaven - without a horse (Acts 1:9-11), but at the Second Coming he will descend from heaven riding on a white horse (Revelation 19:11). These differences show that there are two separate events - the Rapture of believers comes first, and then several years after that, the final descent of Christ in His Second Coming.

II. What is The Purpose of the Rapture?

Some of you may be wondering why the events have to happen in this way. Why should the Rapture be a separate event from the final descent of Christ to earth? Why do we have to be caught up to meet Christ in the air first? Why can't we just be allowed to remain on earth until Christ comes right down to the earth? From the description of the Last Days in many Bible passages, we can see that God's purpose for the Rapture is to keep believers safe from suffering all the awful plagues and judgments that God will bring upon the world because of its sins. When the full fury of God's wrath is poured out on the people of the world (Revelation 16), everyone on earth will be smitten with painful sores, the seas, rivers and streams of the world will all turn into blood, the heat of the sun will increase tremendously, scorching people with fire!

We cannot even begin to imagine the intense pain, sorrow, chaos and terror that all this will cause to people living on earth. No plague or natural disaster in the world can ever compare with these end-time judgments that unbelievers will experience! I don't think that any of us will want to be around when these things happen. And the good news is that we won't be here when they come! Since these judgments are only meant for unbelievers, those who are believers should not have to suffer from these terrible judgments. And so the Lord will take them out of the world before He pours out His great wrath on it. The Lord who is the great Judge of all the earth is not unrighteous to punish the righteous with the wicked (Genesis 18:25). His children are dear to Him, and so He must take them out of the world before His judgments go forth into the world.

In fact, we have God's assurance given to us in 2 Peter 2:9 'The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.' This assurance is demonstrated in God's protection of Noah and his family who were kept safe in the Ark, while the rest of the world perished in the Great Flood (Genesis 6:17,18). This assurance of divine protection is also demonstrated in His removal of Lot and his family from Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:12,13) just before His judgement rained down upon these sinful cities in the form of fire and brimstone. How thankful those who were delivered must have been when they realised that they have been supernaturally spared by God from the awful destruction that befell all the rest.

And we who are living in the Last Days and are close to the time when the end-time prophecies will be fulfilled, should be especially thankful to God for this blessed assurance that He will keep us safe from suffering all His judgements. And how will He do that? - By the Rapture of all believers! The Rapture therefore glorifies not only the power of God, but also the goodness of God to His own dear children. It speaks to us of His great mercy and love toward us.

However, this does not necessarily mean that everything will be fine, and that there will be absolutely no suffering at all for believers in the Last days. Although we are spared from God's wrath, we may still have to face persecution from the ungodly people of the world - a persecution which will get much worse in the end times as the Antichrist is revealed. Jesus Himself said, 'Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for My name's sake.' (Matthew 24:9) But when the time comes for us to face all these persecutions, we can take comfort that they are nothing compared to the wrath of God that we are spared from because of the Rapture! And so while we thank God now for the biblical teaching of the Rapture of believers, let us also prepare ourselves well spiritually to face persecution for the sake of Christ in the end-times!

Having seen what the Rapture is all about, we shall now proceed to look at the things that we can look forward to, in it:

III. What Should We Look Forward To In The Rapture? 

A. The Fulfillment of the Promise of Christ to Us

The Rapture of believers was promised by the Lord Jesus Christ just before His crucifixion. In John 14:2,3 He said to His disciples 'Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.' Christ made this promise to His disciples when they were all troubled by the news that He was going to leave them. In a short while, He would be gone from them and they would see Him no more. 

How they would miss Him then, and long for the Day when they can see Him once again. And this is precisely what Jesus promised � that that Day is coming. Because of this promise the disciples can joyfully anticipate the time when Jesus will be back to receive them and take them to the mansions He has prepared for them in glory, and where they will never ever have to part with their beloved Master again. And this promise, which is as precious to us as it was to them, will be fulfilled at the Rapture! 

Now Christ supported this promise He made of the Rapture, by giving His disciples a wonderful preview of it. The disciples saw this preview when Christ ascended up to heaven. The important feature of Christ's ascension was that He ascended bodily. It was not merely a spiritual ascension, nor a vision of Jesus ascending seen by the disciples. It was full bodily ascension! The body of Christ after His resurrection was a physical body that could be touched and held by the disciples, and that could ingest food that was given to Him. And yet this same physical body of His was glorious in that it could vanish and disappear at will, and defy all the known laws of physics.

And so, if we are alive when Jesus returns, we will be instantly transformed to have that same glorious body He has. And then, like Him at His ascension, we too will find ourselves defying the law of gravity, and travelling upward to meet with Him in the sky. The power that enabled Christ to ascend up to heaven is the same power that will enable the raptured saints as well as the resurrected saints to ascend up to heaven to be forever with the Lord. Because of this, Jesus Christ is called our 'forerunner' in Hebrews 6:20. The term 'forerunner' refers to someone who goes into a place first first as an 'advance party.' He went up to heaven in His ascension to blaze the trail to heaven, so to speak.

He has inaugurated the pathway up to heaven that we will one day be taking when we are raptured up to meet Him in our new bodies. At that glorious day, our identification with Christ will be full and complete. This brings us to the second thing that we can look forward to in the rapture. It will bring:

B. The Completion of the Full Likeness of Christ in Us

The Scriptures tell us that we who are Christians are identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection (Romans 6:4,5). But one day, not only would we have died with Him, been buried with Him, and raised with Him from the dead, but we will also be ascended up to Heaven with Him. This is complete identification!

How wonderful for us it will be, to be exactly like Jesus Christ in all aspects of His life! There can be no greater joy and satisfaction to the soul than this. Dearly beloved, do you know that the ultimate purpose that God has for you and for me is to become like the Lord Jesus Christ in every way? In Christian living, our aim is to be fully conformed to the moral likeness of Christ - to become righteous as He is righteous, and holy as He is holy. In our thinking, our goal is to develop minds that think the way that the Lord Jesus Christ did. There are exhortations in the Bible that direct us to have the mind of Christ, e.g. Philippians 2:5 'Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus' Having the mind of Christ means having the same worldview, the same values that Christ had, and the same purposes that motivated Him to live the way that He did. 

While God expects us to strive hard to attain these two aspects of Christlikeness - the moral likeness and mental likeness - the third aspect of Christlikeness is something that we do not have to strive for at all! It is the physical likeness of Christ in us. This will all be effected by Christ Himself: Philippians 3:21 'Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto himself.' And the time when this change occurs, will be at the Rapture, as I John 3:2 tells us 'Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.' The Rapture is therefore the grand climax of our Redemption - a redemption that is comprehensive, because it encompasses the soul, the mind and the body!

This is a change we can all look forward to, as much as we look forward to the fulfillment of Christ's promise to take us with Him to heaven, and the completion of His full likeness in us. This change speaks to us now of the third thing that we look forward to in the Rapture, which is: 

C. The Exaltation of the Power of Christ to Change Us

Our text in 1 Corinthians 15 mentions two features that really brings out the magnitude of this change. Let us look again at this passage (vv.51-52) 'Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.'

The first feature that is mentioned here about this change is that it is a mystery. The word 'mystery' here implies that it is a great truth that has never been known before, and that is also beyond human comprehension. There are endless questions people can ask about the change our bodies will undergo in the rapture, like How will we feel inside this new body? Will we look old or young? Will children who are raptured become children forever? Will those who are very old with wrinkles still look old? These things are still a mystery to us, and we will not know the answers until the Rapture actually takes place. But one thing is sure about this change - it will be absolutely glorious, and worth waiting for!

The second feature about this glorious change mentioned in the passage is that it will take place 'In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye' Have you ever wondered, how fast is a 'twinkling of an eye'? Well according to the dictionary it is the time taken for a person to blink his eye and that is only about 1/100th of a second. This means that the change here is not gradual but instantaneous. One moment we are in our old mortal bodies, and at the next moment, we are already in our new immortal bodies! Can you imagine that the huge unbridgeable chasm between mortality and immortality will be crossed in only a moment, in just the blink of an eye!

You know, going through this change is really going to be the most awesome experience that anyone has ever gone through! And this makes us realise what great power Christ must have to bring about a change of this magnitude. This is the power we can all look forward to witness.

It will be even better than the Israelites watching the parting of the Red Sea, or the disciples watching our Lord Jesus calming the storm or feeding the five thousand. It will be a powerful transforming miracle that you and I will actually feel as it takes place right within us! You know, just thinking about the Rapture should make us wish that it could happen to us even right now. How wonderful it will be to be transformed, and to see Christ face to face and to have our redemption all completed! This is what we call our 'lively hope' (1 Peter 1:3) - a hope that will motivate us to press on now, as we prepare for the Rapture! And so we come now to the final part of our message: 

IV. How Should We Prepare For the Rapture?

A. Ensure That You Will Not Be Left Behind

How can you ensure that you will not be left behind on earth when the Rapture of believers takes place? By making sure that you are truly born again. This lively hope that we have just learned about is only for those who are born again. If you are not born again, but only a Christian in name, then you will be left behind. Let us turn our Bibles to Luke 17:34-36 to see the sad situation that some will face at the Rapture: 'I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left'. Imagine yourself enjoying a meal with your spouse at home. Suddenly she disappears and the truth dawns on you that you have been left behind! How awful that will be! And so, you be sure of your salvation. If you are not sure of your salvation, won't you receive Jesus as your Saviour right now? Do not delay, as it will be too late. This is the first and most important way to be prepared for the Rapture. Besides that you should also: 

B. Be Watching Rather Than Disputing About The Timing of The Rapture

Christians today sometimes spend too much of their time and effort vigorously defending their pet views on the timing of the Rapture. There are three different views taken by Bible-believing Christians. Many believe that the Rapture will take place at the beginning of the Seven Years when the Anti-christ will rule. This is called the Pre-tribulational Rapture (cf. Revelation 4:1). Others believe that we will be Raptured in the middle of the Seven Years just after the seventh trumpet judgment is sounded.

This is called the Mid-tribulational Rapture or 'Last Trumpet Rapture' as our Pastor calls it (Dr Buswell, cf. Revelation 10:6; I Corinthians 15:51-52). And yet others believe that the Rapture will take place between these two timings - not at the beginning of the seven years, nor after the seventh trumpet, but rather at the sounding of the first trumpet. This view, which is known as the Pre-wrath Rapture (Marvin Rosenthal, cf. Revelation 6:12-17).

I won't bother you with all the various arguments for and against each view. Actually many good reasons can be given for each of these views, and perhaps we will not know exactly who is right or wrong until Christ comes! Whichever view you take, the important thing is to be sure that you can go when the Lord comes to take us home. 

There are people today who spend hours studying the Bible verses for the wrong reason - To attempt to predict the exact date of the Rapture. In the 1840s a farmer in the US named William Miller started the Adventist movement, predicting that Christ would return in 1843. Those who believed him, sold their homes, gave up their jobs and waited for Christ to come. When nothing happened, Miller went back to his calculations and said that he had made a mistake and that the actual date of Christ's return was October 22, 1844. After the 'great disappointment' Miller admitted his error. Many people left the Adventist movement.

In July last year, someone gave me a call at the church office and claimed to know when the Rapture will take place. He said that based on his detailed research and calculations, it will be in April 2005! He even said that the identity of the Antichrist would be revealed by October 2001. But we are now already coming to the end of February 2002 and the Antichrist still has not appeared! So here evidently is another false prediction. The fact is, that we cannot know the date of Christ's return. In Matthew 24:36 Jesus Himself said,'But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only.'

All we should say is that the Rapture is imminent! This imminency must keep us in a state of constant expectancy, always looking for the coming of the Lord. The imminency of Christ's return has been a beacon of eternal hope within the heart of every believer in Christ since the first century, and given them every motivation to be prepared to meet with Christ. 

C. Prepare Yourself To Meet With Christ

We end our message on the Rapture of believers this morning, by looking at the preparation we should make, as we await our Saviour's coming to take us home: 1 John 3:2,3 'Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.' May the Lord help us now to do this - purify yourself. Are there things in your life that you need to change? Look at yourself now! Are you all that you should be? If you are not, then you'd better hurry and get yourself ready, because Jesus is coming soon!

1 Corinthians 14:1-28 - Why Don’t We Speak in Tongues?

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at Life BPC 8am & 11am service, 2015-07-19

Text: 1 Corinthians 14:1-28

 

Learning to speak a foreign language is never easy. You may remember that nine weeks ago (17 May 2015) we commissioned sister Chan Pui Meng to serve the Lord as our missionary in Cambodia. Since she arrived in Cambodia, she has been spending four hours a day learning how to speak the Khmer language so that she would be able to share the Gospel with the people there. Language-learning is not new to Pui Meng as she has worked in Laos before and has also served as a missionary to the Maasai tribe in Kenya. 

Two weeks ago she sent us her progress report. This is what she wrote: “The good Lord has enabled me to understand and carry out very simple conversation in Khmer gradually…There are 33 consonants, 20 dependent vowels, 15 independent vowels and many symbols to memorize.  Some consonants and vowels seem to have similar sounds yet each has its own distinct tone. We need a large ‘RAM’ for memory. For the first three weeks, we focused on conversational Khmer. Switching to think Khmer and speak Khmer was like going back to childhood days, when one learns to identify and read the letters of the alphabet. The life of Apostle Paul has been my inspiration that I ought to be disciplined and persevere to achieve the objective. With boldness and courage from above, I tried to speak to the sellers at the markets, shops, with strangers, tuktuk drivers, or anyone.  The Lord has been kind and good to me by sending many friendly and understanding locals to help me along. But there are also impatient ones who ignored me, or gave me a puzzled look, not understanding what I was talking about!” 

Pui Meng has four months more of language training to go, and we pray that the Lord will enable her to acquire the Khmer language well enough to communicate the Gospel and win souls to Christ in Cambodia. Knowing how laborious it is to acquire a new language helps us now to appreciate the impact of one sign gifts of apostolic times –the gift of speaking in tongues. This gift is the supernatural ability to speak fluently in a language that one has never learnt before. I am sure that sister Pui Meng and many other missionaries would be very happy if they could only have this gift – no need for them to undergo months of laborious language learning. But the gift of tongues is no longer available to them or to anyone else. It ceased to exist after the apostolic era. 

In our scripture passage today we will see that this gift was being used in the church at Corinth. The apostle Paul wrote his first epistle to them in AD 55. But in 1 Corinthians 13:8 he told them that the gift of tongues would cease (“Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease.”) And this happened soon after the apostolic era ended. This gift disappeared completely together with all the rest of the sign gifts. This actually answers the question given in our sermon title, “Why don’t we speak in tongues?” The simple direct answer is that we don’t speak in tongues because this gift is no longer around. It has ceased to exist. 

However in the last 120 years, some churches began to teach a new doctrine. They claim that speaking in tongues is a spiritual gift that still exists today, and that it includes speaking in angelic languages. They say that it is the evidence of being baptised in the Holy Spirit, and is available for all believers to experience. They also believe that it enables their spirit to communicate directly with God when they pray in tongues. 

This new teaching has changed the way many worship services are conducted today. In one part of the service, all worshippers will speak in tongues at the same time, filling the entire room with sounds that no one understands, and producing the strange but thrilling sensation that some supernatural power is working which they believe to be the Holy Spirit’s anointing.

Those who have never spoken in tongues before are encouraged to come forward to receive the gift so that they can have a part in this unusual phenomenon. How do they receive this gift? By being instructed to repeat certain sounds and syllables aloud and in quicker succession, until it becomes very natural to them. Unlike the biblical gift of tongues, modern tongue-speaking is nothing but meaningless utterances (gibberish) that is learned from others. But the sensational feeling it produces draws huge crowds to charismatic services. 

And this easily attracts Christians who feel that their own worship experience has become too boring and mundane. So they ask, “Why don’t we speak in tongues…like them?” Perhaps some of us have been asked this question by friends from other churches: “Why don’t you speak in tongues? Or Why don’t you come over and join us to speak in tongues?” How should we answer them? The best way to do it is to know what the Bible teaches about speaking in tongues, and particularly what Paul wrote to the Corinthians on this. There are three basic truths here in 1 Corinthians 14:1-28 that we need to know about the biblical gift of tongues: 

1. Its Position Was Secondary to the Gift of Prophecy (vv.1-20) 

This is highlighted in v.5 – “…greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.” Prophecy and speaking in tongues were both sign gifts that existed in apostolic times, but prophecy was the better gift. 

a.  Prophecy edifies the whole congregation. 

This gift brought direct revelations from God, which were needed at that time because the church did not have the complete New Testament as yet. What made these revelations effective is that they were communicated in a language that was known to the congregation. This language was probably Greek, since Corinth was a prominent city in Greece. 

The Corinthians could receive at least three kinds of benefits from the gift of prophecy, as v.3 says “But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.” The first benefit is edification, which literally means ‘building up.’ This refers to the strengthening of their faith and knowledge of God which enables them to grow spiritually. The second benefit of this gift is exhortation. Through this, the Corinthians would be encouraged to press on and persevere. The third benefit of the gift of prophecy is comfort. This would help those who were coping with suffering and distress. 

The good news is that all these benefits of this spiritual gift and more are now ours through God’s written Word, which is called ‘a more sure word of prophecy’ in 2 Peter 1:19-21 – “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:  Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” Thus we need to read the Bible daily to benefit from its edification, exhortation, and comfort. In contrast to the gift of prophecy, the gift of… 

b.  Tongues cannot edify anyone without interpretation. 

This gift also brought direct revelations from God, just like the gift of prophecy. The only difference is that they were communicated in languages that were unknown to the congregation at Corinth, and so no one understood them. What kind of languages were they? Were they angelic languages or human languages? To find out, let us look at Acts 2:4-11 which describes how the gift of tongues was given at Pentecost – “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.  Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.” 

Here we can see that the languages spoken were clearly understandable human languages. And since those who had come to Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost were from the entire range of the Jewish diaspora, no interpretation was needed. Everyone could understand what was spoken in their own language. The situation was different in local congregations such as the Church at Corinth – interpretation was needed since the Corinthians would probably not understand any language except their own Greek language. If no one interpreted what was being spoken to them in tongues, the Corinthians would be completely clueless about the message. 

It is just like watching a foreign movie on TV with no subtitles – we have to keep guessing what the actors are saying. In movies, the setting and actions may at least provide some clues. But listening to a foreign radio broadcast would leave us completely clueless. That’s what speaking in tongues without any interpretation would have been like to the Corinthians. What benefit could they gain from listening to these foreign language revelations from God? What edification, or exhortation or comfort could they receive from them? None. 

To press this point home, Paul gives several illustrations in vv.6-8. He reminds the Corinthians about how he communicates with them when he comes to Corinth. Paul was probably well-versed in several languages. Because of his strict Jewish upbringing he spoke Hebrew and Aramaic fluently. Because of his Roman citizenship he probably spoke some Latin. But when he came to Corinth he had to use Greek in all his teaching and preaching, otherwise the Corinthians would gain nothing from it. 

In verses 7 and 8 musical instruments are used as illustrations. If someone played random sounds on a pipe or a harp all it would produce is noise, not music. If a military trumpeter does not sound the call to battle correctly, his entire army would be defeated. Then in v.9 Paul delivers the punchline – “So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.” 

c. Tongues are not meant for self-edification. 

In response to this some people will say that the person who spoke in tongues must have received benefits from his gift, since v.4 says that “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself.” So at least there was still something gained from it. But what exactly did he gain from it? Could he understand the words he was speaking? The obvious answer is No. Because if he could, then he would not need anyone to interpret them for him. He would be able to interpret them for himself and for everyone’s edification, and the gift of tongues would then be exactly the same as the gift of prophecy. 

Since the person who spoke in tongues could not understand what he said, how then was he edified by it? Some claim that the answer is found in verse 2– “For he that speaketh in an unknown tonguespeaketh not unto men, but unto God.” From this, they infer that speaking in tongues enables believers to speak to God, and hence it must be a spiritual form of praying that does not require understanding. Thus they teach that praying in tongues may be practiced privately and devotionally between a believer and God alone for his own personal edification. 

But this teaching is faulty, because it actually defeats the purpose of spiritual gifts, which is not personal but corporate edification. Like all spiritual gifts, the gift of tongues was meant to edify the body of Christ. This was stated right at the beginning of this whole discourse – “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” (i.e. for the common good, 1 Corinthians 12:7). Corporate edification is also the main point of our passage. It is the basis for proving that the gift of prophecy is better than the gift of tongues: v.4 – “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.” Verse 12 – “Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.” 

With this understanding, we will now look at what Paul wrote v.2, beginning from v.1 – “Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy. For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.” In its context we see what the phrase ‘speaketh not unto men, but unto God’really means. What is spoken in tongues is called ‘mysteries.’ This term is used in the Bible for things that are known only to God but are revealed to men in His own good time for their edification, exhortation and comfort. Now, if the mysteries that are spoken in tongues come from God Himself, then what use is there in speaking them back to Him? Does God need edification, exhortation and comfort? Therefore Paul is not teaching the Corinthians to use their gift of tongues to speak to God. He is merely saying that without any interpretation provided, nobody except God can possibly understand what is being spoken, and that clearly defeats the purpose of making the mysteries of God known to men. 

I want you to notice also that the context of this passage shows that charity or love should always be our primary motivation for using spiritual gifts. Paul’s command to ‘follow after charity’ in v.1 is preceded by an entire chapter on love. Let us look at the description of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-5– “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil.” 

It is in this context that Paul wrote after that in chapter 14 that the gifts of prophecy and tongues must be used for the edification of others. This helps us to understand precisely what he meant when he wrote in v.4 “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.” Can you see what is implied here? 

Those in Corinth who insisted on speaking in tongues to edify themselves were actually lacking in love, and especially if they were using the gift to show off their spirituality and to draw attention to themselves! To such Corinthians Paul would say, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” (13:1) What irritating noise-makers they have made themselves! 

This verse, by the way does not imply that one can speak with angelic languages if one has the gift of tongues. The phrase ‘tongues of men and of angels’ is clearly a figure of speech, just as removing mountains by faith mentioned is in the next verse is also a figure of speech. Anyway, angels always spoke in human languages in the Bible (e.g. Luke 2:10-14). (SLIDE40) And would anyone be able to identify real angelic languages when he hears them? I doubt so. How can anyone do this, if no human being has ever heard angels speak to one another in their own language before? 

Thus we have seen that the gift of tongues is not meant for self-edification, and that it cannot edify anyone if there is no interpretation. One question that may then be asked is, ‘Why did God bestow this gift of tongues at all?’ If the gift of prophecy requires no interpretation to edify others, why bother to have this additional gift that requires interpretation in order to produce the same result? The answer may be found in vv.21,22 –  “In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not.” This reveals that… 

2. Its Purpose was to be a Sign to Unbelieving Jews (vv.21-22) 

a.  Tongues as a sign to unbelieving Jews in the Old Testament 

This is the second basic truth we need to know about the gift of tongues. Here, Paul traces its true purpose all the way back to the Old Testament. Here are the relevant passages of scripture: Deuteronomy 28:49 – “The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand…”  

Hundreds of years before Christ, the Lord had told the Jews through the prophet Isaiah that He would speak to them in foreign languages uttered by the lips of strangers. Isaiah 28:11,1– “For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.” So this sign was meant specifically for the unbelieving Jews who refused God’s loving offer of rest and refreshment. 

Fifteen years before this prophecy was made, the northern kingdom of Israel had been conquered and taken captive by the Assyrians (722 BC) because of unbelief and apostasy. Isaiah then warned the southern kingdom, Judah, that the same judgment was coming to them at the hand of the Babylonians. But the proud leaders of Judah refused to listen to him. 

A hundred years later, the Lord warned the Jews again through Jeremiah – “I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.” (Jeremiah 5:15) Once again, the sign of judgment was a foreign language. Shortly after this, the Babylonians conquered Judah and took the Jews into captivity, where they were forced to hear a foreign language every day of their lives because of their sins of disobedience and unbelief. 

b.  Tongues as a sign to unbelieving Jews in the New Testament

About 600 years later the Jews became ripe for judgment again, this time for rejecting Christ. They not only refused to believe in the Lord Jesus, they also crucified Him. And God’s judgment fell once again when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70 and scattered the Jews throughout the world. Then the Jews were forced to hear foreign languages spoken to them every day. 

But the Jews were given ample warning of this judgment when the Apostles of Christ spoke to them in tongues on the day of Pentecost in AD 30. To the Jews this was clearly a sign that God’s judgment was imminent (Acts 2:36,37). Though many Jews then believed in Christ, the vast majority of Israel still remained firm in unbelief. Thus, the gift of tongues continued to be a sign to Israel until the judgment that it warned them about was fulfilled in AD 70. Since it has already served its purpose, the gift of tongues is no longer in use today. 

As John Chrysostom (AD 347-407), an early church father wrote, “This whole place [i.e., I Corinthians 14 and its treatment of tongues] is very obscure; but the obscurity is produced by our ignorance of the facts referred to and by their cessation, being such as then used to occur but now no longer take place. And why do they not happen now? Why look now, the cause too of the obscurity hath produced us again another question: namely, why did they then happen, and now do so no more?” 

I hope that all of us can now provide a convincing answer to the question, “Why don’t we speak in tongues?” I believe all of us can see that whatever modern tongue-speaking may claim to be, it is definitely not the biblical gift of tongues. We have seen that biblical tongues cannot edify anyone without interpretation, that it was not done for self-edification, and that it was a sign to unbelieving Jews which has been fulfilled. But modern tongue-speaking is done with no interpretation, and for self-edification, and it continues till today as a sign to believers of being baptized with the Holy Spirit. There is one more reason why we believe that the biblical gift of tongues is not the same as modern speaking in tongues:

3. Its Proper Use Was Systematic and Orderly (vv.27-28) 

Let us observe the regulations given in vv.27-28 – “If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.”  These regulations are hardly ever observed in worship services where people speak in tongues today. In fact, with all the emotional excitement and loud noises in charismatic services, there is often much disorder and confusion. What does v.33 tells us? “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”(v.33) 

It is good for us to remember this whenever we come here for worship every Lord’s day. There should be orderliness, peace and quietness before, during and after each service, and sanctity should always be observed in this sanctuary. God is not the author of confusion. Confusion was a characteristic of pagan worship in Corinth as historical records have shown. It was common for Greek temples to have rituals where devotees worked themselves up into a trance-like state, and this was considered to be the highest form of communion with the divine. The ecstatic speaking of strange sounds that often accompanied such experiences was believed to be the language of the gods. 

And this leads us finally to consider, “Why do people really want to speak in tongues?” They are generally driven by the desire to have the closest possible communion with God. We can surely understand that, since we too long to reach God and enjoy intimate fellowship Him. But do we need to speak in tongues or pray in tongues to reach Him? No, because if we truly belong to Him, the Lord is already living in us. As Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…” Through prayer and reading His Word daily, I can enjoy having a very close walk with Christ who is with me and lives within me. May we all be blessed with a closer walk with our Lord Jesus Christ and find all that we need in Him alone!

1 Corinthians 15:20-26 - Why Do I Believe in the Resurrection of the Dead?

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 8am service, 2002-02-10

Text: 1 Corinthians 15:20-26

Among all the various doctrines of the Bible there is perhaps none that stands out like this one, in terms of the personal value that it has for each one of us. No other doctrine can bring such great comfort and hope to us, than the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead! The reason for this, is that death is the grim reality of life. The sober fact that we all must learn and accept in this life, is that sooner or later life ends in death. 

No matter how hard you may try to avoid this truth or to keep it out of your mind, it comes back to you in one form or another! You hear of it in the news everyday: Tragic deaths in local road accidents, and in the deadly floods that hit Jakarta recently. You hear of deaths in suicide bomb attacks and in the fighting that is still going on in Afghanistan. You hear of awful murders and suicides. In fact, there is not a single day of life on earth that ever goes by without death, and so the pages of obituaries in the newspapers will never be empty! Even as you sit there in the pews right now, someone out there is taking his last breath. Death stares at you in the face whenever you attend a vigil service or funeral. And death especially brings sorrow and pain to your heart, when a close friend, relative or loved one is taken away. 

And this may sometimes cause you to wonder: When will the 'grim reaper' come for you? When it will be your turn to have your name appear in the obituaries? When will your turn come to lie down in a narrow casket, all cold and lifeless? Dear friends, if that is to be your final end, with absolutely nothing more after that, then all the joy of living becomes a senseless joy, for there is nothing, absolutely nothing at all to look forward to in life if this is the way it must end. 

I. The Resurrection Is The Answer That We Need, To Death 

A. Death is a Fact of Human Life

And this is where the Bible's doctrine of the resurrection of the dead becomes so relevant to us. The resurrection is important to us, only because death is a fact of human life. 

If there was no such thing as death, there would be no need at all for a resurrection. And so to understand and appreciate what the resurrection of the dead is all about, let us first know what really happens to a person at death. 

What exactly is this thing called death? The simplest definition is that death is the total cessation of life. To a doctor, death is said to have occurred when a person stops breathing, his heart stops beating, the pupils of his eyes do not respond anymore to light, and all his muscular responses are gone. All efforts to revive him by applying cardio-pulmonary resuscitation or electric shock, fail to reverse the process of death. Within a matter of hours, the body becomes cold and stiff, and the cells and tissues begin to decompose, breaking down into simpler substances through the action of fungi and bacteria. The only things that remain after decomposition is over are bones. Now, all these are only the visible effects of death. What cannot be seen, is the separation of the soul from body that occurs at death (cf Genesis 25:8; 35:29; Mark 15:37). The soul leaves the body at death, and cannot return to it.

B. Death is Irreversible

The important point to observe in all this is the irreversible nature of death. All capabilities and organic functions of are irreversibly lost in death. And the soul cannot return back into the body, because all the changes that have taken place in that body render it incapable of sustaining life. All people, in every place and in every time, have come to accept that once a body has expired, it is impossible to bring it back to life, especially if it has been dead for days. How can the cells and tissues that have broken down be restored and function once again? How can organs and muscles that have already turned to dust be perfectly re-formed, all at the same time? How can the soul ever return to a reconstituted body and animate it once more? 

II. The Resurrection Demonstrates God's Awesome Power 

This then is the wonder of the resurrection - it actually reverses an irreversible change! To resurrect the dead back to life is to do the impossible, and work a mighty miracle of immense proportions! The power to reverse the irreversible change of death belongs to God alone. Therefore the resurrection becomes a tremendous demonstration of the awesome power of God! 

A. Ezekiel's Vision: 'Can These Bones Live?'

One passage of scripture that dramatically describes the power of God to reverse the irreversible change of death, is Ezekiel 37:1-10. Let us turn our Bibles now to this passage and read it 'The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, 2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. 3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. 4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. 8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. 9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.' 

This vision that Ezekiel saw is explained after this to be a prophetic picture of the resurrection of the nation of Israel. This nation that ceased to exist in history after Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70, was formed again in 1948 and will one day be restored to its former state of greatness that it enjoyed in the time of King David.

But this vision also serves another purpose. It is a preview of the great event that will take place at the last trumpet, when Jesus Christ returns from heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:16 'For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first'). The Lord Jesus Himself promised this in John 5:28,29 'Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.' And the Lord Jesus substantiated this promise by miraculously raising the dead to back to life. 

B. Miracles of Raising the Dead. 

The Bible records that no less than 3 people who died were resurrected to life by Jesus Christ - The 12-year old daughter of Jairus (Luke 8:41-56) had just died when Jesus came and raised her up. The raising of the son of a widow at a city called Nain (Luke 7:11-15) was a step further, because his funeral was already progressing when Jesus raised him back to life. But the most remarkable of these three is the raising of Lazarus at Bethany, because his body was already rotting after being buried for four days. And yet Jesus was still able to raise him back to life! 

III. The Resurrection of Christ Secures The Resurrection of the Dead. 

Now, these three miracles of resurrection that Jesus performed during His life on earth, were only the prelude to the greatest resurrection miracle of all - the one that Jesus performed on Himself! Jesus testified of this power to raise Himself back to life, in John 10:17,18, when He said, 'Therefore doth my Father love Me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.' Jesus also said, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' And the 'temple' here refers to His body. 

You know, it is truly the supreme demonstration of power for One who is dead to bring Himself back to life. As Romans 1:4 tells us, Jesus Christ is 'declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead'. This is why the resurrection of Christ is said to be the greatest of all miracles that were wrought by Him. This miracle is so great that it has become the focal point of debates by scores of scholars for centuries. Volumes and volumes of books have been written about the resurrection of Christ. 

And do you know that the Resurrection of Christ from the dead is the central tenet of our Faith? Every Christian doctrine that we believe in stands or falls with it. Even the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, that if Jesus had not been raised from the dead, then our faith is empty, we are still in our sins, those who have died believing in Him are all perished. And He says, 'if in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable.' But till today, no one has ever been able to successfully disprove the resurrection of Christ. 

A former chief justice of England by the name of Lord Darling, said this, 'In its favour as a living truth there exists such overwhelming evidence, positive and negative, factual and circumstantial, that no intelligent jury in the world could fail to bring in a verdict that the resurrection story is true.'

An English journalist with a law degree by the name of Frank Morison, at first thought that the resurrection of Christ was nothing more than a myth or fairy tale. He attempted to write a new version of the end of the life of Christ, removing anything miraculous from it. But when he studied all the facts of the case, Morison had to change his mind. In the end, he called the book he wrote, 'Who Moved the Stone?' and the first chapter is significantly entitled, 'The Book that refused to be written'. It shows that the evidences that Morison found for the resurrection of Christ were so compelling that his book was changed from an attack of the resurrection to a defence of it! So let me summarise for you now, what evidences there are for the resurrection of Christ: 

A. The Death of Jesus

The first important set of evidences that must be considered are the evidences that Jesus had really died. If He had not died, but only fainted and was then resuscitated back to life, there would be no resurrection at all. In debates about the resurrection some unbelievers claim that Jesus merely swooned on the cross, and this was mistaken for death. But one detail given in John's Gospel shows that Jesus died and not fainted: 'But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.' (John 19:34). What John saw - the flowing out of blood and water from the wound, is medically consistent with death. When a person dies, his heart stops beating and the blood will begin to separate into two components - the watery plasma, and the blood cells that clump together into a semi-solid mass. This evidence makes it impossible for anyone to claim that Jesus was not dead. 

Now, after Jesus died on the cross, His body was taken down, wrapped up tightly in linen graveclothes and embalming spices, and then laid in a nearby tomb. The tomb consisted of a little cave that had been hollowed out of the side of a hill. The body was laid in the tomb and a big flat round stone was rolled to cover the entrance. This tomb became site of the second evidence of the resurrection of Christ, when it became an empty tomb. 

B. The Empty Tomb

How can anyone explain the fact that despite all the strict security measures that were taken by the authorities, like sealing the door of the tomb, posting Roman soldiers to guard it, the tomb was found empty on the third day, and no one could produce the dead body of Jesus after that? 

One theory that was proposed was that the disciples came by night, overpowered the guards, opened the tomb and stole the dead body of Jesus, and then made up stories that they had seen Jesus alive, just to make people think that He had resurrected from the dead. But this theory is very weak, since the Roman soldiers who guarded the tomb did not report that the body was stolen. In fact they had to be bribed by the Jewish authorities to lie that the disciples had stolen the body when they fell asleep at the tomb (Matthew 28:11-15).

This lie has a very obvious flaw in it. Can you see it? If the soldiers were sound asleep at the tomb, how would they know that the disciples had stolen the body? This theft theory of skeptics also cannot explain one interesting detail related in John's Gospel (20:6,7) that the graveclothes that were used to wrap the body of Jesus were still found in the tomb. If anyone came to steal the body would they bother to spend all the time unwrapping it right there? 

C. The Appearances of the Resurrected Christ

We move on now to the third evidence that Jesus rose from the dead, and that is the many appearances of Christ alive over a period of 40 days (Acts 1:3). Ten of these appearances are recorded in the Four Gospels and they are summarised in 1 Corinthians 15:5-7 'And that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.' 

There are some who have tried to suggest that these appearances were all merely hallucinations. They say that because the diciples were so emotionally stressed and they missed Jesus so much, they imagined that they saw Him alive after He had died. It may be possible for one or two people to imagine seeing Christ at the same time, but how can over 500 people imagine that they are seeing Christ together, at the same time? 

And according to the Gospel records the resurrected Christ did not appear briefly like an apparition or ghost at a distance, but He was able to walk with them, talk with them, and even enjoy a meal together with them. And one of the 12 disciples, whose name was Thomas, was at first doubtful when he heard the rest telling him about seeing Jesus alive. He said to them: 'Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe.' (John 20:25) And when Jesus appeared to Thomas and allowed him to do all these things, the only response that Thomas could give was to believe that Jesus had truly returned back to life! (John 20:28,29). 

Thus far we have considered three evidences that Jesus had resurrected from the dead: Firstly, the evidence of the water and the blood which flowed from Jesus' side - this proves that He really died. Secondly, the empty tomb and the graveclothes that were still inside it. Thirdly, the many physical appearances of Christ to his disciples after He had resurrected. 

D. The Transformed Lives of the Disciples

Now we come to the fourth and final evidence of His resurrection, which is the changed lives of His disciples, as seen in the Book of Acts. If Jesus had not resurrected, how do we explain that a group of weak, demoralised disciples who had lost their leader, and who locked themselves in the upper room, afraid that the authorities would find them and arrest them, could suddenly become strong and bold witnesses for Christ, even willing to die for what they believed? 

Nothing but the real bodily resurrection of Christ from the dead could have produced this amazing change in them. And nothing but the resurrection of Christ could have produce the amazing change in the life of Saul the Pharisee who was so zealously persecuting Christians, and turn him into Paul the Missionary who zealously promoted the Gospel of Christ to the far corners of the Roman empire! The change came on that wonderful day when the Resurrected Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus. 

And today we can still see lives of countless men, women and children being changed. This cannot happen if Christ is still dead. Only a Risen Christ could have such transforming power in a person's life! The testimony of millions of people has proved Him to be a Living Saviour! 

And if there is anyone here this morning who has not yet known Christ as his Living Saviour, let me urge you to come to Him right now, to experience His transforming power in your life. Turn away from your sins and ask Him to save you. 

And when you are saved, then you will have every reason to rejoice in of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It means that He has conquered death for you, and you do not need to be afraid of death anymore. Whenever you are faced with death or the prospect of death, you can trimphantly say, 'Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?' (1 Corinthians 15:54,55). 

One day you will stand before God in incorruptible resurrected bodies that are just like His. Philippians 3:21 reveals this, saying that Jesus 'shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself.'

I trust that through this message, you now know why you believe in the Resurrection of the Dead. We have seen at least three good reasons: The first reason is that The Resurrection Is The Answer That We Need, To Death. The second reason is that the Resurrection (more than any other miracle or event) Demonstrates God's Awesome Power. And the third and most important reason is that, The Resurrection of Christ Secures The Resurrection of the Dead.

1 Corinthians 12:28 - Can I Offer My Services?

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 8 am Service, 2001-12-09

Text: 1 Corinthians 12:28

In our present series of messages on the Dynamics of Spiritual gifts we have covered about seven of the spiritual gifts. And perhaps by now you may be wondering what your spiritual gift really is and found that none of these seven gifts are yours. Perhaps you may be thinking, 'I definitely don't have the gift of an evangelist even though I can witness for Christ, or the gift of teaching. I know very well that the gift of faith is not mine either, because my faith is not the kind that can 'move mountains' so to speak. Neither do I have the spiritual gift of hospitality or giving which requires one to have been blessed with the means to offer these things. So what is my gift? Do I really have a spiritual gift from God?' 

If this is what you are thinking, then the spiritual gift that we are going to focus our attention this morning may help you. It is called the gift of Helps. It is found in 1 Corinthians 12:28 'And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.'

I. What Is The Gift of Helps? 

The gift of Helps is the gift of taking someone's burden and placing it on yourself. This gift relieves others and releases them from burdens that are hindering them from fulfilling their own responsibilities in God's service. This gift is valuable to the body of Christ because it enables others to become more efficient in the use of their spiritual gifts. One example is found in Acts 6 when the church of Jerusalem grew so rapidly that the apostles found themselves swamped with meeting the physical needs of the people and some believers were already murmuring that their physical needs were not being met. So the church appointed seven deacons to provide this service, so that the apostles may be released from this burden and be able to minister more effectively to the church with their own spiritual gifts. And God in His love and providence for the church has provided members who have the spiritual gift of helps to do these things.

It may just be the most routine and mundane tasks, e.g. putting all the inserts in the our church weekly every Friday afternoon, arranging chairs for a worship service, preparing the elements for the Lord's Supper, or preparing refreshments for a fellowship meeting, manning the PA system, manning the children's library, rostering teachers to take care of the children's programme and driving children to and from church for VBS or Sunday School. It also includes hours spent in planning all the logistic details for a church camp or anniversary, publishing gospel tracts or Christian literature, setting up and maintaining a computer system for the church, and maintaining a church website.

Some people may consider the gift of helps as being of lesser importance than the other more prominent gifts of the Spirit. They regard it like a consolation prize from God. But in actual fact the gift of helps is very important to the body of Christ. It can be considered as the backbone of an effective church, or the oil that lubricates whole body so that it will run smoothly and efficiently. When a church is blessed with members who are not only willing, but who also find joy and delight in doing all these things for the Lord, then the work of the Lord will proceed with much greater efficiency and speed.

But even though the gift of helps is important, those who have the gift of helps are often go unappreciated or unrecognised. The gift of helps does not attract very much attention, but those who have this gift will not mind it at all. In fact they prefer to work behind-the-scenes and not to be in the limelight at all - because they do it all for the Lord and not for self-glory. And I thank God for the many wonderful brethren in our church who are unsung heroes in their own right - serving the Lord quietly, faithfully and diligently in their own areas of service.

I think of our PA crew members who come early each Lord's day to set up the PA system, record the worship service, and looking for ways to improve the sound with new equipment. I think of our church pianists and organists who avail themselves not only for worship services here but in other churches as well and even for weddings, for vigil and funeral services. Just this past week, we had two elderly members of our church who went to be with the Lord within a few days of each other, and when I called a brother to ask if he could play for some vigil services, he said, just tell me when I'm needed, and I will be there.

He even brought down his own accordion to the vigil service on Tuesday night because he wanted God's people to have better sounding music for their singing at the service!

You know, for the amount of time, effort, expertise and service that is put in by all these members, they would probably be paid quite handsomely if they were doing it in the secular world. But they do it in church for nothing, in fact oftentimes, they would put in their own funds for any expenses that are needed for their service, and would not ask the church to pay for it at all. I thank God for all the sacrifices they have made and trust that they will be encouraged to continue to serve the Lord well, with their spiritual gift. 

Now, I believe that of all the gifts of the Spirit, the gift of helps is probably the most common gift as well as the most needed gift of all. In the verse where it is mentioned among the spiritual gifts, it is ranked 6th in the list, above two other spiritual gift which the Corinthians regarded very highly (the gift of government and and the gift of speaking in tongues). It is a beautiful and marvelous gift and we need it in good supply in our church. We should never underestimate this gift, because nothing can be accomplished without it. And even though the ones who possess this spiritual gift do not crave at all for attention or appreciation, let us not think that we do not need to show our appreciation to them. Let us be ready to personally encourage them in their service, with verses like 1 Corinthians 15:58 - 'Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.'

And let us also be encouraged by their example to see if we have been similarly blessed by God with the gift of helps and should be using it. I believe that there are many more in our midst who have this spiritual gift but are not using it. The question then is, How can you tell if you have been endowed with this important spiritual gift? Here are some questions you can ask yourself: Are you motivated by a desire to relieve others of mundane tasks that are hindering their service to God? Do I enjoy doing these mundane tasks for the Lord's work? Am I willing to fit in anywhere? Is availability my greatest ability? Do I tend to avoid being in the limelight? Does my service help the church to run more efficiently? If most of your answers to these questions are 'Yes' then you probably possess this spiritual gift.

If you have it, then you should develop it. Look for opportunities to use your spiritual gift. This brings us now to the next part of our message:

II. How Should I Use the Gift of Helps? 

There are some guidelines for the use of this gift. The first is to:

A. Be Available and Observant 

One of the characteristics of servants in a household is that they must be available whenever the master calls for them. Those who want to serve the Lord with their spiritual gift of Helps must therefore be available for service. If you want to serve in any way in Church be sure that you make yourself available consistently on Sundays, and even on other days of the week. It is difficult to entrust responsibilities to anyone who is unable to commit himself to be available for service.

And when you can fulfill this basic requirement of being available, then you must do the next thing, which is to be observant. Be alert and observant and soon you will notice 101 things that need to be done. Then take the initiative to do it. A good servant is always alert to the needs of others. In Psalm 123:2, the psalmist said, 'behold as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that He have mercy upon us.'

The needs of guests in a typical Hebrew household were communicated to the servants by hand signals, so it was the duty of those servants to carefully observe the hands of the master and mistress. A certain signal would mean that food was to be served. Another signal would mean that something else was required. In the same way, those of us who have the gift of helps must observe the needs around us carefully to know what we should do. And it should not always be necessary to wait until you are requested to do certain tasks that need to be done. We should take the initiative, and do whatever has to be done. Now, sometimes you will observe that the tasks that need to be done are the so-called menial tasks, the tasks that nobody likes to do at all. This is where the next guideline for the gift of helps should be applied:

B. Be Willing To Take Unpleasant or Tedious Tasks 

Many may think that these tasks are insignificant and that it is beneath their dignity to do them. But let us remember that Jesus Christ Himself was a lowly servant in His ministry on earth. It is therefore good for us to make Him our role model of service. One of the best passages that shows this is John 13:1-13 when the disciples were gathered together for the Last Supper.

Let us turn our Bibles to John 13. In vv. 4 & 5 we see that Jesus rose up from the Supper table, laid aside His garments; took a towel and girded Himself and proceeded to wash their dirty and smelly feet. What He did was most surprising to all of them. He was doing the work of a servant, even though He was really their Master. They should be washing His feet. Then He said to them in John 13:14,15- 'Ye call Me Master and Lord: and ye say well: for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.'

If you want to serve the way that our Lord Jesus Christ served, then you must be willing to do things which are beneath your rank or status in life. One of the reasons why people dislike service is that the work is sometimes quite unpleasant, tedious or boring. Now, the challenge is not to just do these unpleasant, tedious and boring tasks willingly, but to carry them out with a joyful spirit of service! That is the third guideline for the use of this gift.

C. Carry Out Each Task With A Joyful Spirit of Service 

Do you know that it is a sin to serve the Lord without joy? Let me show you where it says this, turn your Bibles to Deuteronomy 28:45 -47 (In these verses, Moses is warning Israel against certain sins that will bring God's wrath upon them: 'Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; . . . (v.47) Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;' For this reason we are reminded in Psalm 100:2 to 'Serve the Lord with gladness.' Any service not done with gladness, but done grudgingly displeases the Lord. It should done as an expression of our love to the Lord, who is our Heavenly Father.

When our parents require us to do something for them like running an errand, we do it lovingly for them because we are their children. We have their interests are in our hearts, we count it an honour to serve them even in small little ways, because they are our very own parents. Much more then, when our heavenly Father requires us to do something for Him, we ought to do it as His children, with eagerness, love and joy in our hearts. We ought to give Him our best. This brings us to the next guideline:

D. Make Sure That Your Service Is Of The Best Quality 

The Gift of Helps places a very high responsibility on the ones who have them - the responsibility to give their very best in every thing they do, whether big or small tasks. Let nothing be done in a slipshod or careless manner, just because it is a small thing that no one bothers to take notice of. All service done for the Lord should be the best quality service. For instance, if you have been asked to chair a fellowship meeting, it would not be the best quality service for you to wait till just five minutes before the meeting begins to prepare the programme, choose the songs and make hasty preparations. To give shoddy work to the Lord is to insult Him. And if you want to do your best, always do more than what is required of you. Go the second mile. For instance, if you are required to play the piano or organ for worship service, practice and practice until you get the chords and tempo right. It is good to find out in advance what songs are going to be sung so that you can practise them before hand.

Please remember that the Lord is mindful of little details, even of an act of offering a cup of cold water. So whatever you do, do it as if the Lord Himself is going to inspect or audit your work and you have to give an account for it. Do remember the parable of the Talents? - how the first two servants were able to show their work to their master with joy, and not with sorrow and shame like the last servant did. Please do not consider any work to be too small or insignificant to deserve the best quality of service that you can give to it! In order for your service to be the best, your own resources will definitely not be sufficient. This is why the gift of Helps needs to be exercised in the power of God.

E. Carry Out Your Service With God's Power 

As you embark on each task and exercise your spiritual gift, get into the habit of praying for God's help. Ask the Lord to grant you wisdom, diligence, skill and guidance so that everything you do will turn out exactly the way that the Lord wants it done. Dedicate your work to the glory of God, and when it is accomplished, utter a prayer of thanksgiving for all the power and enablement He has given to you.

It is interesting to note that when the Israelites were given the task of building the tabernacle in the wilderness, there were two men who were blessed by God with the special spiritual gift of helps to make all the furniture and equipment that was to be used in worship. Let me read to you the account of this in Exodus 31:1-6 'And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship. And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee'

According to this, Bezaleel from the tribe of Judah, and Aholiab from the tribe of Dan, were specially endowed by God with all the skill and wisdom they needed for their service of making the Tabernacle and all the things that were used to God's worship. May all of us who are given tasks to do in the Body of Christ, also seek the Lord for the skill and wisdom to do it well. In this passage we also notice that Bezaleel was filled with the Spirit for his service. Let us seek the filling of the Spirit even for carrying out the seemingly mundane tasks of service. Remember what God said through Zechariah the prophet (4:6) -- 'Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit.' The enabling power for using our spiritual gifts comes from the Holy Spirit of God.

Besides depending upon the Lord for power to serve, those who have the gift of helps should also depend upon the Lord to reveal His will for their service. This brings us to the last guideline that we want to consider for the use of this spiritual gift:

F. Seek God's Will for Your Service 

Sometimes the Lord may want you to leave a particular area of service that you have been doing faithfully for Him, and train up someone else to take over your responsibility, because He is calling you to other areas that need the exercise of your gift. And perhaps God may be speaking to someone here today who has overcommitted himself or herself to too many areas of service.

Those who are keen to serve with the gift of helps can fall into this trap of overcommitting themselves, even to the point that their spiritual life is affected by this. Please do not think that you must do everything that there is to do. There is the danger of becoming too busy in service, doing more than you should be doing. Our Lord Jesus was a very close friend to a family of believers at Bethany, consisting of Lazarus, Mary and Martha. Lazarus was the one he raised from the dead. Once, when Jesus was at their home, the two sisters Mary and Martha did different things in response to the presence of Jesus in their home. Mary sat at Jesus feet, and listened intently to His word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to Him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. (Luke 10:38-42)

Perhaps there are many of us here who so busy being Marthas that we miss the blessing of being Marys. Be careful not to be cumbered about with much serving at the expense of spending quality time with the Lord. Perhaps God may want you who are Marthas to yield some of what you are doing to others those who have nothing to do. Get others who have the spiritual gift of helps involved in using their gifts.

Let us personally seek God's will concerning our service to Him. Ask the Lord what your spiritual gift is, and how He wants you to use it to do your part in building up the body of Christ. If the Lord should impress upon you that you have the spiritual gift of helps, ask the Lord to show you what areas of service He wants you to serve in. And as He convicts us about His will for us, let us commit ourselves to do His will.

  1. 1 Corinthians 12:27-30 - The Temporary Sign Gifts
  2. 1 Corinthians 11:20-34 - Proper Observance of the Lord’s Supper
  3. 1 Corinthians 10 - Food Offered To Idols
  4. 1 Corinthians 01:1-9 - Called to Be Saints

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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