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Psalm 032 - The Forgiven Man

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC Weekly, 2006-01-29

Text: Psalm 32

Whenever a New Year begins this is what everyone will wish one another: "Happy New Year" or "Blessed New Year." But what exactly constitutes this happiness or blessedness that we wish one another? Is it merely having a good feeling the whole year round? No. Happiness or blessedness is obviously more than that. It has to do with having the right circumstances which bring satisfaction to a person. 

To many people that would mean being free from life's problems and enjoying life's pleasures. Hence the greeting 'Happy New Year' is commonly understood in terms of the absence of bad things like sickness, sorrow and pain, and the abundance of good things like health, wealth, success and prosperity. 

Dear Reader, is that your concept of real happiness or blessedness? One that is based only on outward circumstances? If it is, then you can never really have a happy or blessed New Year. At times things may go well for you during the year, but at times, things will not go well. Can anyone ever have 365 good trouble-free days a year? At best, this is only wishful thinking, but at worst it is a deceitful delusion! 

But if your concept of real happiness or blessedness is based not on your outward circumstances that keep on changing, but on your inward state or disposition, then it is possible to have this blessedness at any time and in any place, no matter what happens to you. 

As today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, it would be good for us to consider one very wonderful inward source of blessedness that we should always seek for the blessedness that comes from being forgiven. 

King David, who wrote Psalm 32, had experienced this blessedness. He probably wrote this after he had confessed his sin of adultery with Bathsheba. David's confession of this sin is recorded in Psalm 51. Psalm 32 may be regarded as a sequel to Psalm 51 to describe his joy in experiencing God's forgiveness. The first five verses are as follows:

"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin."

Here we can see a sharp contrast between the time before David's sin was confessed, and the time after it was confessed. Before David confessed his sin to the Lord, what was his condition? Using figurative speech he tells how he felt so restless, weak and depressed because of the guilt of his sin. There was no peace in his heart, because He had no peace with God. Then, when he finally confessed his transgressions to the Lord, what happened? God forgave him! 

The drought of summer was then dispelled from David's soul as cool refreshing streams of God's love began to flow freely again. The heavy hand of God was lifted up from David, and that same hand now lifted David's spirit up to offer profuse praise and thanks to God! His youthfulness was restored, as the guilt of his sin was removed and his soul was at peace with God once again. All this is why David began the psalm by exclaiming, "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven!"

What a great and wonderful change David experienced here. Dear Reader, have you experienced this blessedness in your own life? It comes only from knowing God's wonderful promise in 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The key to experiencing this blessedness then, is to keep confessing all your sins to God. Do not keep any unconfessed sins in your life. Keep short accounts with God! Peace with God cannot be restored in any other way than this.

Whenever people commit sin, they try to deal with it in various ways: Some try to ignore it and pretend that it had never happened, hoping that it will just go away, but it doesn't. As sure as the blood of Abel cried out from the ground (Genesis 4:10) the sin will demand attention. Others try to excuse themselves, and say "I just couldn't help it. Anyone would have done the same thing I did." Some people try to reduce the sinfulness of the sin by saying, "Well, what I did is not as bad as what others have done. In fact, maybe some good may come out of it." Others try to shift the blame to someone else, and say, "That person made me do it," or when there is no one else to blame, "The Devil made me do it." 

But all these ways of dealing with sin will never work. There is only one right way to deal with sin that can bring the blessed relief, comfort and peace that your heart and mind needs - Confess your sin to God immediately! This means saying, "I did it and what I did was wrong. I am the one to be blamed for it and no one else. I am so sorry that I have sinned against You and caused you so much pain. Please forgive me." 

Here we need to define what constitutes a true confession of one's sin. Not every confession is true confession, and therefore not every confession will bring about the blessedness of being forgiven. In v.5 David said, "I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid." 

The basic element in every confession of sin is agreement. There must be full agreement with God about your sin. As long as the slightest disagreement exists, and you keep trying to justify what you have done, you are not viewing your sin the way that God views it. God views your sin with deep sorrow. It is an abomination to Him. Do you feel the same sorrow for the sins that you confess?

There are times when a person is confronted with his sin, and he feels sorry about it, but his sorrow does not mean that he agrees with God about his sin. He feels sorry only because he was caught, and his sin was unfortunately discovered and he now has to 'face the music' and bear the shame of being punished for it. In his heart he wishes that his sin could have remained hidden and never been discovered. 

This kind of sorrow leads only to resentment and bitterness. It does not lead to the blessedness of being forgiven that David speaks of in Psalm 32. Godly sorrow is not so much mourning about the shame that one has to bear for sin, but mourning about the damage and hurt that one has caused to God and to others. And when there is a true confession of our sins, there will also be a sense of horror at the sins which have been committed. Such a revulsion for sin may be enhanced by considering the terrible things that sin has wrought.

Sin Caused Death

Genesis 2:17 "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." This was the command that our first parents disobeyed, and it brought themselves as well as the whole human race into a state of spiritual death. It also brought sickness, pain and physical death into our experience and brought all nature under a curse. Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death" 

In the case of David's own sin of adultery - it brought about the death of Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba. It also caused the death of the child that was born out of the adulterous relationship. These deaths may have increased the horror that David felt when he confessed his sin to God. Whenever we think of the awfulness of death, the loss, grief and pain that it causes in taking away people we love, please think also of the awfulness of your sin! 

Sin Poisons our Relationships

1 Corinthians 1:10-11 "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you."

Sin is the ultimate cause of all selfish hatred, strife, division and all the wars and fighting that have been going on since the dawn of history. In the case of David, sin altered his relationship with Uriah the Hittite, who was actually his good friend and loyal soldier - he was one of the 37 fearless comrades who had fought together with David (2 Samuel 23:39). And yet, David wished him dead! 

Today, sin continues to damage relationships between family members. Divorce, broken homes, battered wives and battered children - all these are tragic reminders to us of how awful sin is! And when it is our sins that are the cause of such problems, surely we should mourn and weep in true repentance for what we have done. But we also need to mourn with sorrow even if our sins do not cause great damage to others. Because there is someone who is always very hurt whenever we sin, and that someone is God.

Sin Grieves God

Genesis 6:5-6 "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." Can you imagine the pain and sorrow that God felt when men sinned? It was so great that God had to wash the whole world with a Great Flood. Perhaps one may liken the waters of the Great Flood to the tears that were shed by God as He mourned deeply over the sins of the world.

In the case of David, because he was a man after God's own heart, he probably sensed the grief that he caused to God most acutely. He knew that by his sin he had hurt the God he loved grievously, and that is why he said in v.4 that day and night he felt God's hand bearing down upon him. 

Dear Reader, do you know that God is grieved every time you commit sin? Ephesians 4:30 "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." If you agree with God concerning your sin, then feeling the same way that He does for your sin becomes a very natural thing for you to do. And the place where the grief and pain that sin has caused to God can be seen most clearly is the Cross on which Jesus died.

Sin Made Christ Suffer on the Cross

1 Peter 3:18 "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:" Thinking of the agony that our Lord Jesus went through on the cross to make an atonement for our sins, must surely make us regret that we have caused Him such pain. 

King David may not have known about the death of Christ as we do today, but he did write Psalm 22 in which he describes in the first person, the suffering and pain of one who has been forsaken by God and whose hands and feet have been pierced (v.16). A thousand years later, Jesus uttered the very same words that David had penned in v.1 "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

Thus, King David may have had some knowledge of the sufferings that the Messiah would have to suffer one day for his own sins. And as he thought about this, plus the other awful results of his sin - the deaths it caused and the relationships it has damaged - he viewed it with the same utter contempt that God has for it. This then prompted his confession. And as he poured out his heartfelt confession to God, something wonderful happened: He found the blessedness of being forgiven!

Dear Reader, when you confess your sin to God like that, you can rest assured that He will comfort you and restore to you the happiness that you lacked. God says in Jeremiah 31:13 "for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow." Jesus echoed these words in the second Beatitude which is recorded in Matthew 5:4 "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." 

If you want this New Year to be a happy and blessed one, please be sure to confess your sins to God regularly!

Psalm 025:1-14 - The Doctrine of the Covenant

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC Reformation Lectures, 2004-10-26

Text: Psalm 25:1-14

1.   The Reformation and Covenant Theology  

�        'The Doctrine of the Covenants is a peculiarly Reformed doctrine.' (Vos)

�        With the Reformation came a general return to the study of the Scripture using grammatical-historical-biblical hermeneutics.

�        Covenant Theology emerged on Swiss soil, particularly at Geneva (John Calvin, 1509-1564) and Zurich (Ulrich Zwingli, 1484-1531, and Johann Heinrich Bullinger, 1504-1575).

�        From there is spread to Heidelberg in Germany (Caspar Olevianus, 1536-87 and Zacharias Ursinus, 1534-83), and to the Netherlands (Johannes Cocceius, 1603-1669).

�        During the persecution of Protestants in England by Queen Mary, many preachers and scholars who fled from there to Geneva and Zurich came under its influence, including:

o       Robert Rollock and Robert Howie in Scotland

o       Thomas Cartwright, John Preston, Thomas Blake and John Ball in England

o       James Ussher in Ireland

�        The Westminster divines (1643-1649) placed the concept of the covenant in the foreground of the Confession of Faith, Shorter and Larger Catechism.

�        'The distance between God and the creature is so great, that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto Him as their Creator, yet they could never have any fruition of Him as their blessedness and reward, but by some voluntary condescension on God's part, which He hath been pleased to express by way of covenant.' (Westminster Confession of Faith, 'Of God's Covenant With Man', 7.1)

 

2.   The Covenant Concept in the Bible

Psalm 25:14 'The secret of the LORD is with them that fear Him; and He will shew them His covenant.' 
 

�        The word 'secret' connotes a very close relationship - the wonderful relationship that God has with His people.

�        The words 'His Covenant' tells us what God discloses to His people. 
Through this they receive special benefits no one else can receive 
(Cf. Deuteronomy 7:6; 29:10-13). 

A covenant is a compact or agreement between two parties binding them mutually to fulfill certain conditions toward each other (cf. marriage).

 

3.   The Origin of the Covenant Concept

It originated from the ancient practice of making a treaty (berith) between two parties in Near Eastern nations, which involved:

�        The sacrifice and cutting of an animal ('to cut a covenant')

�        Walking between the divided pieces (cf. Jeremiah 34:18)

�        Burning part of it in honour of God

�        Eating part of it at a covenantal meal  

Two main types of treaties occured:

�        A Parity Treaty: Between two equal parties.

�        A Suzerainty Treaty: Between two unequal parties.  

The scheme for treaties:

�        Preamble or introduction

�        Historical prologue

�        Stipulations

�        Provisions for safe-keeping and continued observance

�        Witnesses

�        Curses and blessings 

Because the covenant relationship was so familiar to the people in the ancient Near East the Lord chose to use it to give expression to His relationship with His people. 

(e.g. The Book of Deuteronomy follows the pattern of the Suzerainty treaty.)
God's covenant is entirely the expression of God's voluntary condescension (cf. WCF 7.1) This covenant concept is the unifying principle of all biblical doctrines.

4.   The Covenant of Works

WCF 7.2 'The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works, wherein life was promised to Adam, and in him to his posterity, upon condition of perfect and personal obedience.' 

A. The Representative: Adam

�        Romans 5:12 'Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.'
 

�        1 Corinthians 15:22 'For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.'
 

�        Adam represented all mankind before God (cf. Abraham in Genesis 17:7).
 

�        We have all violated the covenant through Adam, and we all are now subject to death. 

B. The Condition: Obedience

�        The covenant of works is implied in the two trees in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9,17) 
 

�        Adam was presented with two alternatives:

1.      Obedience and Life

2.      Disobedience and Death

�        It is given the name the 'covenant of works' because it required Adam to obey God's commandment.  

C. The End of the Covenant of Works

�        When Adam disobeyed God, the covenant of works expired.
 

�        There is no longer any promise of life available through works of obedience.  

D. The Implications

�        People are already guilty of sin from the time they are conceived.
 

�        Although the covenant of works is no longer in force, they suffer physical and spiritual death. 
 

�        There was a need for another covenant. 

5. The Covenant of Grace

WCF 7.3 'Man, by his fall, having made himself uncapable of life by that covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called the Covenant of Grace, whereby He freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in Him, that they may be saved; and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life His Holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe.' 

A. The Representative: Jesus Christ

�        The covenant of grace has Christ as its representative 
(cf. Romans 5:14, Adam was 'the figure of Him that was to come.')  
 

�        Christ is the 'Second Adam' (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:22). 

B. The Condition: Grace

�        Unlike Adam, Christ obeyed the law of God perfectly for us.

�        Since we are represented by Him, we now bear the righteousness of Christ in us.

�        But man needs a change of nature as well, because sin has made him totally depraved.

�        The sinful nature makes all men sinners in their own right, making them guilty for their own sins, beside Adam's.

�        It also makes them incapable of choosing salvation, when they are given the choice to be saved.

�        This covenant is called the Covenant of Grace because God does everything to save and to bless His people with everlasting life.

�        Isaiah 42:6 'I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles'  

 

C. The Beginning of the Covenant of Grace

�        It began to be in effect just after the Fall, because the coming of Christ is foretold, and blood sacrifices were instituted to make atonement for sins. 
 

o       Genesis 3:15 'And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.' 

o       Genesis 3:21 'Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.'

�        Salvation was always by grace through faith in Christ�s sacrifice, even before Jesus died on the cross.

 

D. The Different Administrations of the Covenant of Grace

�        WCF 7.5 'This covenant was differently administered in the time of the law, and in the time of the gospel; under the law it was administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the paschal lamb, and other types and ordinances delivered to the people of the Jews, all foresignifying Christ to come, which were for that time sufficient and efficacious, through the operation of the Spirit, to instruct and build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they had full remission of sins, and eternal salvation; and is called the Old Testament.' 

�        WCF 7.6 'Under the gospel, when Christ the substance was exhibited, the ordinances in which this covenant is dispensed are the preaching of the Word, and the administration of the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, which, though fewer in number, and administered with more simplicity and less outward glory, yet in them it is held forth in more fulness, evidence, and spiritual efficacy, to all nations, both Jews and Gentiles; and is called the New Testament. There are not therefore two covenants of grace differing in substance, but one and the same under various dispensations.' 

 

 

Other Covenants mentioned in the Bible:

�        They are all part of the Covenant of Grace and all are finally fulfilled in Christ.

�        God initiated every one of them, and used them to reveal little by little what His grace is.

o        Noahic Covenant (Genesis 9:9-17, God's grace to living things)

o        Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:3, 17:6,8; God's grace to Abraham)

o        Mosaic Covenant (Deuteronomy 29:12,13; Exodus 34:27, God's grace to Israel)

o        Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:11-14; Psalm 89:3,4; God's grace to David)

o        New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34, God's grace to Israel and the Church) 

 

6.   Covenant Theology versus Dispensational Theology

�        Dispensational Theology divides history into dispensations.

�        In each dispensation, the method by which God dispenses salvation is different.

�        Each dispensation ends with man's failure and God's judgment, before a different method is used.  

�        2 Timothy 2:15, �Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.'

 

A. Origin of Dispensational Theology 

�        Liberalism infected many churches in the early 1800s.

�        Many were very unhappy with the sad state of the established Church and decided to separate from it.

�        This gave rise to the Brethren Movement in 1827 first in Dublin and later at Plymouth.

�        One of the founders of this movement was John Nelson Darby (1800-1882), who sought to incorporate all futuristic Bible prophecies into a single interpretative system.

�        From 1837 to 1859 he preached extensively in the British Isles, and from around 1859 he made six tours to America.

�        By 1900, dispensationalism had become a bedrock, and a systematic way to study the Bible for vast numbers of conservative Protestants.

�        Its rise paralleled the Fundamentalist movement in America which opposed Darwinism, liberal theology, and textual criticism.

�        In 1909 Cyrus Ingerson Scofield published the Scofield Reference Study Bible, which helped the average layman to better understand the Scriptures, and it became one of the mainstays of the Dispensationalist and Fundamentalist movements.

�        People could understand the purpose of God from Genesis to Revelation, and see the plan of the Lord for the Church Age and, as well, the unfolding Prophetic Plan into the future.

�        After some discussions and prayer in 1924, Lewis Sperry Chafer founded the Evangelical Theological College, as a centre for Dispensational theology, and it was later renamed Dallas Theological Seminary. 

B. The Key Differences in Dispensational Theology

�        It is wrong to think that dispensationalists teach that there is more than one way of salvation.

�        Dispensationalists do not believe that salvation has ever been by works or by anything other than faith (cf. Romans 4:3).

�        But they believe that though the Old Testament saints were saved by grace through faith, they were not saved through a conscious faith in a suffering Christ:

�        'It was historically impossible that [Old Testament] saints should have had as the conscious object of their faith the incarnate, crucified Son, the Lamb of God (John 1:29), and that it is evident that they did not comprehend as we do that the sacrifices depicted the person and work of Christ [and] that they did not understand the redemptive significance of the prophecies and types concerning the sufferings of Christ (1 Pet 1:10-12)' (Doctrinal Statement of Dallas Theological Seminary)

�        The faith that the OT saints had was just a general faith toward God, manifested in other ways (e.g. Hebrews 11:1-40).

�        Dispensationalists also believe that Christ originally came to set up the Davidic Kingdom of Israel, but because the Jews rejected Him, the present Church Age was introduced, and the inauguration of the Kingdom by Christ was postponed to the end of the Church Age.

�        Dispensational theology therefore stresses the discontinuity of the history of God's redemption.

�        The dispensation of promise should have continued, but it came to an end when Abraham's descendants 'rashly accepted the Law' at Mt Sinai and 'exchanged grace for law'. (Scofield Reference Bible, note on Genesis 12:1)

C. Two Flaws in Dispensational Theology

i.    The Old Testament Saints' Faith in Christ-s Death

�        It is claimed that knowledge and understanding of Christ's death for sinners was a mystery that was 'locked up in the secret counsels of God' until the Jews rejected Christ. (New Scofield Reference Bible, 996)

�        However, the following must be considered:

a.   2 Timothy 3:15

o       Paul wrote to Timothy, 'And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.'

o       Hence there must be enough information about Christ in the Old Testament that can bring sinners to trust in Him for salvation.

b.   Acts 3:18 and 10:43

o       'But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all His prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.' 

o       'To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins.'

c.   Luke 2:25,26

o       When Mary and Joseph brought the infant child Jesus to the Temple to dedicate Him, Simeon who was waiting for the promised Messiah took Jesus in his arms and said: 

Luke 2:29-32 'Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,  Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.�

o       Thus Simeon identified Christ with the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53.

o       Cf. vv.34,35 'Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;  (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.'

d.   Zechariah 12:10 and 13:7

o       'And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.'

o       'Awake, O sword, against My shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn Mine hand upon the little ones.'

e.   Isaiah 53:4-6

o       'Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.'

o       In earlier prophecies Isaiah had already announced that the one who would be born of a virgin would be called 'Emmanuel' 'God with us', 7:14) and 'The Mighty God.' (9:6)

f.    Psalm 2:2, 22:16 and 16:10

o       'The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against His anointed'

o       'the assembly of the wicked have inclosed Me: they pierced My hands and My feet.'

o       'For Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption.'

g.   Hebrews 11:26

o       'Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward..

o       Cf. John 5:46 'For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me.'

o       The Lamb that was sacrificed in the Passover was a picture of Christ.

h.   Hebrews 11:10

o       'For [Abraham] looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.' 

o       Cf. John 8:56 'Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it, and was glad.'

�        The OT saints knew much more about Christ's sufferings than is generally credited to them.

ii.   Christ came not to die on the cross, but to set up the Davidic Kingdom of Israel

�        Because the Jews rejected Him, that kingdom was postponed to the end of the Church Age.

�        'In the knowledge of God not yet disclosed, lay the rejection of the kingdom and the King, the long period of the mystery-form of the kingdom, the world-wide preaching of the cross and the out-calling of the Church.' (New Scofield Reference Bible, 996)

�        The following must be considered:

a.   John 1:29

o       John the Baptist introduced Christ as 'the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.'

b.   John 2:19 and 3:14,15

o       'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.'

o       'And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.'

c.   Luke 23:1,2

o       'And the whole multitude of them arose, and led Him unto Pilate. And they began to accuse Him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that He Himself is Christ a King.'

o       If it was the original intention of Jesus to set up the political Davidic kingdom of Israel, then what the false witnesses testified about Christ at His crucifixion trials was true!  

d.   Revelation 13:8

o       'the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.'

 

o       If Israel had accepted its Messiah and King, He would not need to die for them, and this means that the cross was not absolutely essential to the sinner's salvation. 

D. How should we regard Dispensationalism?

�        A.W. Pink described its findings as 'dreadfully superficial and faulty.'

�        Some have gone to the extent of regarding all who hold such teachings as cultist, false teachers and heretics.

�        Philip Mauro wrote: 'evangelical Christianity must purge itself of this leaven of dispensationalism ere it can display its former power and exert its former influence.... 
The entire system of "dispensational teaching" is modernistic in the strictest sense.'

�        However, let us remember that:

o       In the time when modernists were attacking the church, those who were at the forefront in the Fundamentalist camp were the Dispensationalists.

o       It was the Dispensationalist emphasis on in-depth study of the Bible and a literal interpretation of Scriptures that sparked off a great sustained interest in studying the Word of God within the last one and a half centuries.

 Conclusion

  • While we rightly differ from Dispensationalists in the theological framework we use to understand history, that we should not be so averse to fellowshipping with them.

  • There is a movement of dispensational brethren who have realized that there is more continuity than discontinuity in the history of redemption, known as 'progressive dispensationalists.'

  • Though we are covenantal in theology, we are premillennial in our eschatology, because we believe that God will literally fulfill the promises He made to the nation of Israel.

  • The majority of covenantalists are amillennial or postmillennial who believe that the Church has replaced Israel in God's plan.

  • The Covenantal-Premillennial view takes the Bible literally within its historical and grammatical context.

Psalm 019:1-4 - Is There A God?

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 8am service, 2002-01-13

Text: Psalm 19:1-4

Last Lord's Day we began our series of messages on the theme, 'Know Why You Believe.' I think that this is will be a very useful series for us, as many of us may know what we believe (e.g. some of us are able to recite the children's catechism or shorter catechism by heart, and state what we have taught in Sunday School since we were young). But not every one of us may know exactly why we believe what we believe. Dearly beloved, it makes an important difference to know why we believe, and not only what we believe. Unless we understand why we believe, we will never become fully convicted of it. Psalm 119:34 says 'Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.' 

If you do not know why you believe in something, and your understanding of it is still quite vague and nebulous, it is going to be immensely difficult for you to devote yourself to live by it. If I were to ask you 'Why do you believe in something? And all that you can say is, 'Because I just think it is good to believe it.' or 'Because my pastor says so, and I respect his views a lot. I think he must be right.' or 'Because that is the teaching that is taught my church' then this shows that you have not yet understood why you believe. Dearly beloved, what you believe must become something that you are personally convinced is true. Only then will you be able to live by it, keep it, defend it, and if necessary, even to die for it! And then, if someone were to ask you, 'Why do you choose to believe in what you believe?' you won't be at a loss to explain it to him in your own words. 

Now, there are of course some doctrines of God that we can never explain fully to anyone's satisfaction no matter how hard we try, because they are beyond the capacity of human minds to fully comprehend. For instance, we simply have to accept by faith the doctrine of the Trinity - that God exists in 3 persons because it is clearly taught in the scriptures. Truths like these are to be accepted by faith. But whatever God has meant for us to understand, we must spare no effort to understand them as well as we possibly can. 

These include things like: the existence of God, the deity of Christ, the Holy Spirit, the virgin birth, the resurrection and the second coming of Christ. These doctrines will be dealt with one by one over the coming weeks. All these are the tenets of our faith, which we must understand well, and be able to explain to people around us. In 1 Peter 3:15 we are told to '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.' 

In the course of your daily interaction with people each day, you are bound meet people who do not know the Lord. And some of them may be looking for good and reasonable answers to many of the questions that are troubling them. Why was I born into this world? Where did I come from? What will happen after I die? What is the meaning of life? And one of the most asked questions is, Is there a God? 

Today we want to consider this particular question, 'Is there a God?' Is there a Supreme Being or Ruler of the universe? How can I be sure that He exists? When you read the Bible you will soon find out that it does not attempt at all to prove that God exists, but simply assumes it as a fact. The Bible begins with the words 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.' In fact the proposition that God does not exists is considered to be foolish: 'The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.' (Psalm 14:1). This means that anyone who has the ability to think and reason and who looks at all the facts and phenomena of life objectively, would naturally conclude that there must be a God. 

Now, for us who already know the Lord, who have experienced His goodness in our lives and who are enjoying our personal walk with Him, if anyone were to ask us, 'How do you know that God exists?' our natural response would be to just say, 'I know that there is a God because I talked with Him today when I prayed, and He heard me and spoke to me even though it was only in a still small voice in my heart. This, to me, is the greatest proof that God exists - the fact that I can enjoy daily personal fellowship with Him.' 

But an answer like this may not make much sense to those who have not known God yet like we do. They may need something more than that. It is difficult for the natural man to believe in something that he cannot see, touch or feel (1 Corinthians 2:14). A long time ago I used to have a friend just like that - he kept on insisting on having clear observable evidence of God's existence. 

If you know someone who is like that, here are some useful points that you can use to help him. The first is to point to all God's wonderful works of: 

I. Creation 

A. Where did all things come from? 

Creation is the most evident testimony to God's existence. It is found everwhere, and only the blind will not see it! Romans 1:20 brings out this truth 'For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead' The text we read from Psalm 19 speaks of the evidence of God from creation when it says 'The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.' It is quite obvious that if the world exists, it must have had an origin or beginning. The only sensible answer to the world's existence is that there must be a God who made it. 

B. Who is Responsible for the Design of all things? 

Now, the world not only exists but it is filled with incredible complexity of design. The great inventor, Thomas Edison said this, 'No one can study chemistry and see the wonderful way in which certain elements combine with the nicety of the most delicate machine ever invented, and not come to the inevitable conclusion that there is a Big Engineer who is running this universe.' 

Johannes Kepler, the famous 16th century astronomer, was troubled by one of his friends who denied the existence of God, and took the view that the universe came into being all by itself. In order to convince his friend that God exists, Kepler constructed a carefully made model of the sun and the planets revolving around it. When his friend came into Kepler's observatory and saw the beautiful model, he exclaimed with delight, 'How beautiful it is! Who made it?' And Kepler carelessly answered, 'No one made it: it made itself.' His friend looked at him and said, 'Nonsense, tell me who made it.' Kepler then replied, 'Friend, you say that this little toy could not make itself. It is but a weak imitation of this great universe which, I understood you believe did make itself.' 

Dearly beloved, when you really think about it, you will know that it is absurd to think that the universe, the world and all the creatures in it do not have a Creator. 

C. Where did Life come from? 

A study of nature reveals that every little detail of every creature, even the tiniest creature, is not a product of mere chance, but has been deliberately designed to fulfill a specific function or role. 

One of the wonders of creation where the hand of God is so clearly evident, is in the existence of life. At one time many scientists used to think that life came about entirely by chance - by spontaneous generation. But today, with all the new research and studies that have been made in life sciences and molecular biology, we have a huge wealth of scientific information that make it much more difficult to hold that position any more. Now we know that even the simplest living cell is so complex and highly organised at a molecular level, that it is not just unlikely, but impossible that an ancestral form of it could have arisen by chance! 

For a single cell to function there must be at least 2,000 different proteins and nucleic acids. Life would be impossible without them. These vary in molecular weight from several thousand to many million, consisting of long chains of amino acids. They also have an enormous range of functions. Some are enzymes that are essential for metabolism; others have a passive structural role in the cell. We can think of each protein or nucleic acid in a cell as a little machine. The simplest cell processes such as replication of DNA (genetic material) requires more than 20 different kinds of machines working perfectly together. If even one of these is defective, replication can never take place. And yet they must all work continually, efficiently and extensively, or else life cannot exist. 

No one can explain how such a high level of technology on a molecular and cellular level could ever have come about by chance. Consequently some scientists, including the Nobel prizewinner, Francis Crick, who does not believe in God, have thrown up their arms in despair and concluded, 'I cannot myself see just how we shall ever decide how life originated.' (Crick, Life itself - Its Origin and Nature, Futura London, 1982). And a physicist Freeman Dyson wrote in his book, The Origins of Life, 'We know almost nothing of the origin of life' (1985, Cambridge University Press). 

If these men would just be willing to acknowledge that God exists, they would have their perfect answer to the origin of life! Psalm 36:9 declares this truth as the psalmist says to God, 'For with Thee is the fountain of life' Jesus said, 'I am the resurrection and the life' (John 11:25) and also 'I am the way the truth and the life' (John 14:6). And so the existence of Life (in whatever form you can find it - plant life, animal life, human life, and your own life) is therefore one of the strongest evidences for the existence of God! 

Thus far we have only considered one of the evidences of God's existence - Creation. There are yet more to consider. Let us go on to look at another evidence - that of: 

II. History 

A. The Worldwide Flood 

Since the dawn of human history, God has been manifesting evidence of His existence through various events on earth, various people, as well as ancient nations that have left their written records behind. One notable event in history is the worldwide flood. 

It is striking that ancient records from the Babylonians, Sumerians, Greeks, Hindus, Chinese, native Hawaians, Mexicans, and North American Indians all have a similar account of a man who was amazingly saved together with a few others, from a universal flood, and then had to face the task of repopulating the earth after the flood waters receded. All this is evidence of God's righteous judgment of the sinful world with the Great Flood that is recorded for us in Genesis 6-9. And the huge extensive deposits of sedimentary rocks all over the earth, with all the fossils embedded in them, confirm that this worldwide flood really took place. The fact that the world today is still filled with people and animals confirms that God preserved a family and some animals from being destroyed by the flood. Can anyone know these facts of history and say that there is no God? Hardly! 

B. The Nation of Israel 

The most sustained evidence of God�s existence in history however, is the nation of Israel. Today, we hear about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the news almost everyday. This nation has been an enigma in human history.

Many ancient civilisations that were greater and stronger than Israel have ceased to exist a long time ago - the Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks and Romans - nothing is left of them except some ruins that remind us of the greatness they once enjoyed. Yet this nation called Israel that began 4,000 years ago with one man (Abraham), has survived against all odds to this day, and still continues to hold its own today. No other nation in history has miraculously survived slavery in ancient Egypt, captivity in ancient Babylon, an extermination decree in ancient Persia, persecution under the Seleucid kings, dispersion under the Romans, the Holocaust under Nazi Germany, many pogroms in the Soviet Union and wars with the Arab world. 

History offers no rational explanation for this amazing feat of survival and consistent triumph of the Jewish people over their foes. There is only one way that we can account for the existence of Israel today, and that is to believe that there is a God who has been providentially preserving the Jews throughout all ages of history, a God who is faithful to the promise He made in Genesis 12:3 'And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.'

Now, besides looking at creation and at history for evidences of God's existence, one can also look at himself and find ample evidence for this. John Calvin said that man can look into himself, and find there 'a hundred vestiges of God'. This can be called the evidence of: 

III. The Human Soul 

A. Spiritual Consciousness 

Man is born with an natural, inborn, universal belief in a supreme being. Throughout the ages of time, people have always desired to worship something or someone greater than themselves. Anthropologists have observed that every race or tribe in this world has always had a religion at some point in time in its history. Even though what they have believed about God is different from the truth and distorted, there was always this basic idea of deity - whether consisting of one god or many. Ancient cultures had sun goods, moon gods, thunder gods and many others. 

This shows that man has a spiritual consciousness inside him that tells him of his need to relate to God. The Bible tells us in Acts 17:25,26 that God 'hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us.' Blaise Pascal, the famous French physicist and philosopher put it this way, 'There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man, which only God can fill' 

Dear friends, have you ever felt a sense of restlessness inside you, or a longing for something, but you are not sure what it is? Do not stifle that feeling, because it may be your soul trying to reach out to God. So listen well to your spiritual consciousness, and believe in God. 

B. Intellectual Consciousness 

Now, besides the natural longing of the soul for God, another evidence of God that you can find within yourself is your intellectual capabilities. Man has an powerful intellect that is many times better than the best computers in the world. It is capable of comprehending and expressing abstract ideas and concepts, and of learning, reasoning, exploring his environment, and then changing and adapting it as he likes. It is capable of producing the finest literary works, the most artistic designs, the most moving pieces of music, and the most advanced high-tech equipment! 

Dearly beloved, it is this intellect that man has, that makes him unique among all creatures. But the question is, Where did it come from? The only reasonable answer we can have, is that it comes from God. Colossians 3:10 speaks of the intellectual consciousness, when it tells us to 'put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him.' According to this, man's intellect enables him to receive and understand knowledge, and it comes from the image of God that was imprinted in him at his creation. 

And so each time you use your intellect well, and you can see the results of it, remember that this is clear evidence to you that God exists. Now, besides our Spiritual and Intellectual consciousness, there is one more type of consciousness that we have, that cannot be explained apart from the existence of God, and that is his: 

C. Moral Consciousness 

We have a moral nature that teaches us the difference between right and wrong, and that governs and influences all our thoughts and actions. This is also known as the conscience. It serves like a guiding mechanism, compelling us do what is right, and troubing us with a deep sense of guilt whenever we do what is wrong. But where did this conscience come from? Like the intellect, it actually comes from the image of God that is imprinted in us by God. Unfortunately when this image of God was corrupted by Man's fall into sin, the conscience has not become as reliable as it was before. Therefore Ephesians 4:24 tells us that we need to 'put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.' 

And so, to summarise the evidences of God's existence that we can find within ourselves, they are the spiritual consciousness, the intellectual consciousness and the moral consciousness. And anyone who can observe these three things within himself should be able to infer from them that there is a God. Together with what we had seen earlier - the evidence of creation, the intricate design that is found in nature, the origin of life, the record of God's work in history such as the worldwide flood and the preservation of Israel - they are all irrefutable proofs that God really exists. 

The Implications of Knowing that God Exists 

And if you are convinced that God exists then there are three things that you must do. Firstly, you must: 

A. Know Him 

Knowing that God exists is not enough - you must go on to know this God personally. This is the most important knowledge you must have in your life, because God is the ultimate reality, the fundamental fact, and the integrating factor of the whole universe. Therefore your relationship with Him is the most important relationship in human existence. To be in a right relationship with God is life; to be out of a right relationship with God is destruction and death. So build up your relationship with God - by spending time to read the Bible and to pray to Him. Secondly, the fact that God exists means that you must: 

B. Love Him 

God has specially created you in His divine image so that you may love Him with all your heart, soul and mind (Matthew 22:37). Love means that God matters more to you than anything else in this world. And that love must then lead you to: 

C. Live for Him 

If He truly exists, then your life rightfully belongs to Him, and should be fully surrendered to do His will.

Psalm 139:7-16 - Through All the Changing Scenes of Life

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 10.30 am service, 2001-07-08

Text: Psalm 139:7-16

It is a joy and privilege once again to be able to bring the Word of God to all of you. Our focus this morning will be on how we should include God in our life, through all the changing scenes of life. Unlike all other religions, Christianity is a personal intimate relationship with the Living and True God. The Christian is to live his life with God and for God all the time. He walks with God, and includes Him in all aspects of his life.

Dearly beloved, are you including and involving the Lord in everything that you do, whether it is working, studying, eating, sleeping or playing? Do you know that God is deeply interested in every detail of your life? Every experience you go through in life must be enabled by God, and interpreted for you by God, and even enjoyed with God. Paul the apostle, says that 'in Him we live and move and have our being.' (Acts 17:28) David expressed the same truth in the psalm we read awhile ago. In the first part of the psalm he says 'O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.' 

We notice that in these first four verses of the psalm, David speaks of God's keen interest and involvement in no less than 7 specific details of David's life: his acts of sitting, standing, and lying down, the thoughts in his mind and the words uttered by his tongue, every path he takes, and every road he travels. All this clearly displays the comprehensive nature of God's interest in your life. There is nothing about you that ever escapes God's attention!

Then in the next two verses David paints a vivid picture of being completely surrounded by God. He says, 'Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.'

This thought of God's intimate presence and involvement in every detail of your life should fill your heart with the same sense of wonder that David experienced. Just think of it: Who are you, that the almighty, sovereign God should take notice of you, let alone take such great interest in every detail of your life? No wonder David responded by saying, 'It is too wonderful for me!'

In vv.7-10 we see David expressing this truth: 'Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.'

What a comforting thought this is, that there is absolutely no place on earth, or even beyond this earth, where we cannot experience the intimate presence and involvement of God in our life. He is present everywhere! And there are many others beside David who have testified to this: When Jacob was running away from the wrath of his brother Esau, and traveling toward Haran, a new place he had never seen before, the Lord said to him in a dream 'behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.' When Jacob woke up from that dream he was so greatly moved by this experience of God, that he set up a monument there and vowed to serve God with his life and with his substance.

When Jonah the prophet tried to run away from God by taking a ship westward, the Lord sent a storm to stop him, and a big fish to rescue him from being drowned in the sea. And even during the three days and three nights that Jonah was in the belly of the fish, he experienced God's presence with him and wrote about it later in his book: 'I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God. When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.' (Jonah 2:6,7).

When the apostle Paul was in the city of Corinth during his second missionary journey, the Lord encouraged him in a vision, saying 'Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.' (Acts 18:9,10)

And many years later, when Paul was on trial in Rome toward the end of his life, and all his friends had deserted him, he testified that it was the Lord who stood with him and strengthened him (2 Tim 4:16,17). Dearly beloved, the most important truth you must learn from the Word of God this morning is this: That like David and Jacob, and like Jonah and Paul you too can and should be experiencing God's intimate presence wherever He places you.

In whatever circumstance or situation in life you are, you can find tremendous comfort and encouragement that you are not alone. For He who has promised never to leave you nor forsake you (Heb 13:5) will be with you wherever you go. You can experience God's presence, whether you find yourself serving the Lord as a missionary in the densest jungles of the world, or languishing in some prison cell for the cause of Christ, or fleeing across the sea in a crowded ship if war should come and make you a refugee.

I thank the Lord that I found this to be very true during the time when I was a missionary in the Philippines with my family. This was a totally new experience for us, in a place that was new and strange to us, doing many things we had never done before. To be in a place with many unfamiliar customs, and at first knowing less about living there than even the children of that place know, and having to learn how to do the elementary things of life all over again - like how to eat, how to speak, how to travel and go to the market - all of these comprised the culture shock that we experienced.

There were times when we felt quite homesick and lonely, especially in times of prolonged illness, in the long nights without electricity, in the difficulties of traveling in the dense traffic, and the regular threat of typhoons and floods. You may have heard about the typhoon that just swept through the Philippines this past week. Every time a difficult situation like this arose, there were always the usual fears and questions: 'How would we be able to cope with this? Will we be affected and overcome by the dangers we face?' In the worst of these moments, it was always the precious thought that God is still with us, that actually encouraged and sustained us to keep going on.

And dearly beloved, this precious thought can also sustain you and keep you going in whatever new or unfamiliar situation you find yourself in. And I believe that God has providentially brought someone here to hear this message, who is facing a new situation. Some may have just started working in a new job environment and feeling uneasy about it, because there are some unfamiliar tasks ahead for you. Perhaps you have just been transferred over to a new department and there are great expectations for you to perform well, expectations you are not very confident you can meet.

Perhaps there is someone here who has just got a place in a local or overseas university and wondering if you will be able to cope with the heavy workload of lectures, tutorials and assignments. Some may soon be going into national service and feeling worried if they can take the strenuous physical training. Some may be moving to a new house or flat, or even to a new country for an overseas posting. Others may be getting married soon or have just got married, and yet others may be having their very first child. And there may even be some here who are now facing the real prospect of retrenchment, sickness and even death. Our life is filled with one change after another.

As we go through all these changing scenes of life, and as the Lord moves us to new places, to unfamiliar and unchartered waters, feelings of uncertainty and anxiety are bound to arise. And these unsettled feelings, if not properly dealt with, can easily lead one into the depths of despair and depression. This is why we all desperately need to know now and believe what the Lord has given us in His written Word about how we may include God in all the changing scenes of life. Please listen carefully now as we study the scriptures to derive some steps we can take for doing this. Let us look at Psalm 139:9,10 to see the first step:

I. Rely On God to Lead You and Keep You 

'If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.' The two verbs in v.10 tells us what the Lord will continue to do for us even if we were to dwell in the uttermost part of the sea: He will lead us and He will hold us. The believer is pictured here as a little child whose hand is being held securely by his father. A father holds a child's hand both to lead him along, as well as to hold him so that he will not get hurt when he trips and falls. God likewise leads us along in the right path as well as holds us to protect us from harm and danger.

From these two actions we now derive the principle that we need to rely on the Lord to lead us and to hold us. Let us consider each of these. Let us first consider God�s leading. In any place or situation, we need to rely fully upon the Lord's leading. God has already a charted out comprehensive path for our lives that encompasses everything - our birthplace, our cultural upbringing, our education, life-partner, our home and children and even our career. As God leads us by His hand through each phase of life from birth till death, He ordains all circumstances to fall into place in order to fulfill this plan. He opens one door and then closes another.

Our responsibility throughout this whole journey of life is to determine where the Lord is leading us. Whenever God places us in a new situation we should ask: 'Lord what wilt Thou have me to do?' What is God's will for me now? Now the will of God for living our life can be determined most of the time through a regular study of His Word. The Word gives us many useful guidelines to help us determine God's will. For example:

When God places you in a new place of work, your study of the scriptures will reveal to you that His will for you is to be a faithful and honest worker with God�s help (Col 3:22), so that you may earn enough to sufficiently provide for yourself and your loved ones (2 Thes 3:10; 1 Tim 4:8) and influence your fellow workers to know the Lord Jesus Christ (Mat 5:16)

What about your life at home? As you study the Word of God you will discover that His will for your home life is: to make your home as conducive as possible for Him to exercise His divine lordship within your family (Eph 5:22,23). If you come from a Christian family, this would mean raising up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph 6:4). If you come from a non-Christian family, this would mean living a good Christian testimony before your family, praying for their salvation and finding opportunities to bring each of them to Christ (Mark 5:19).

Those of you who are students would perhaps want to know what God's will is for your life in school. Scriptural principles will help you understand that it is: To do your very best in your studies with God's help (Luke 2:52; Ecc 9:10), so that you may eventually bring glory to Him through the right use of the knowledge, the skills, and opportunities that education brings (Mat 25:14-30).

Those who are contemplating marriage would perhaps be interested to know what God's will is concerning whom you should marry. The Bible tells us that it is God's will for believers to marry only believers. To do otherwise is to have an unequally yoked relationship (2 Cor 6:14) which is against God's will. However, apart from all these general guidelines that would narrow down our options, the Scriptures do not reveal specific details like: whom you should marry, nor what place you should stay in, nor what company you should work for, nor what treatment you should choose to deal with an illness.

The Lord's leading for these things is through the wisdom that God has given you to make sound decisions, and through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore you need to think carefully and pray earnestly before deciding what you should do. Look at how He has been leading you thus far - do you see the specific direction He is taking you? Then look at your present circumstances - is God providing sufficient resources for a certain choice? Consult brethren who can give sound advice. And finally, ask yourself: Which is the choice which gives you peace in your heart?

There is one more thing you should know about God's leading: He often leads us one step at a time. We should not expect to know His full plan for our lives from beginning to end. Once we have determined the next step He wants us to take and we take it, then He reveals the next step. This is why we need to keep relying on Him to lead us step by step.

The other thing implied in v.10 that we need to rely on God to do for us is to hold us. As our loving heavenly Father, God takes great delight in holding and keeping His beloved children. He wants us to be safe, and out of danger and so He holds on to us very securely. In fact, His hold on us is so secure that Jesus says in John 10:29 that no man is able to pluck us out of His hand! Psalm 91:10-12 tells us: 'There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.' This gives us great comfort when we find ourselves in any new place or situation where risks or dangers abound.

For example, those who are going into NS soon may sometimes feel a little apprehensive about the training, having heard stories about soldiers who suffered injuries or died in training. That was the way I felt when I began to my NS stint 18 years ago. But I thank God that he kept me safe right through my 2.5 years. Apart from having a sprained ankle and a few cuts and bruises I was able to complete it. And the important lesson I learned then was to trust God every day for grace to keep me safe and to take each day's training well. I trust that our students here may be encouraged to do the same. 

Now while the Scriptures tell us that God always holds us in every place we are, this does not mean that we are therefore totally immune to danger and injury. Although the Lord keeps us safe, in His wisdom He sometimes allows his children to suffer physically, or to be afflicted with a debilitating illness that requires much medical care and expense. The Lord sometimes sees it fit to put us through moments of difficulty. When this happens, let us not jump to the conclusion that He is no longer with us or holding our hand.

The apostle Paul was afflicted with some physical disability which he called his 'thorn in the flesh' (2 Cor 12:7) and he asked the Lord no less than 3 times to take it away. But God�s reply to him was: 'My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.' (v.9) In Paul�s case, God allowed physical suffering for two purposes: The first was to keep him from becoming proud of his spiritual accomplishments (v.7a), and the second was to reveal the power of Christ in him - that people would be able to see how Paul is still able to go on serving God faithfully despite his ailment, and this would cause them to give glory to God.

Dearly beloved, God may place you in adversity or suffering for the same purposes or for different purposes. Sometimes, we will not know what His purpose is until we see Him in glory. This brings us to the next step we should take to include God in all of our changing scenes of life:

II. Trust In God Concerning Things You Do Not Know 

Let us read v.11-12 'If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.' In these verses King David expressed the marvelous truth that nothing is ever hidden from the sight of God.

God sees everything -things that are in the light are as clear to Him as things that are in the darkness. In contrast, we who are frail creatures can only see things that are in the light. With our limited vision we can never see things that are hidden by darkness.

And it is often these things we cannot see that cause us to worry so much - because they are all still so dark and uncertain to us. I think that many of us would admit that when we were children, we were afraid of the dark. But as we grew older, we outgrew that fear and are no longer afraid of the dark. However, many of us may be afraid of a different kind of darkness. The darkness of the unknown!

There are perhaps many things that we wish to know, but do not know: We do not know what the future holds for us. We do not know the purpose for the things that have befallen us. We do not know the true motives and intentions of the people we have to deal with. Sometimes we realise that we do not even know our own selves very well - as it is possible to deceive ourselves concerning our own motives.

But the wonderful thing is that all these things are fully known to God. To Him they are as clear as the bright daylight! God knows our future - in fact He is the Author of it! God knows the purpose for all the things that have befallen us - because it is His divine purpose! And God knows the true motives and intentions of people. None can ever hide their true feelings and motives from Him. According to John 2:24,25 'Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because He knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.' And God knows us better than we know ourselves. This is why at the beginning of Psalm 139 David said, 'O Lord thou hast searched me and known me.' And at the end of Psalm 139, David said 'Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.'

What does all this mean to us? It means that in every change we go through in life that perplexes our hearts and minds, we should simply trust in the all-knowing and all-seeing God, concerning the things that we do not know, the things that are hidden in darkness from us. Let us look with eyes of faith beyond the darkness that covers us, to see the goodness of the Lord shining through.

One hymnwriter who was very familiar with darkness was Fanny Crosby, who was blind since childhood. We have sung many of her lovely hymns which are both inspiring and reviving. One of the best hymns she wrote was 'All The Way My Saviour Leads Me' This hymn is Fanny Crosby's testimony that despite her the setback of her dark world of blindness she still saw God's goodness shining through. Just listen to the words of the first stanza: 'All the way my Saviour Leads me; What have I to ask beside? Can I doubt His tender mercy, Who through life has been my Guide? Heavn'ly peace, divinest comfort, Here by faith in Him to dwell! For I know whate'er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.' Dearly beloved, can you say the words of the last line with conviction: 'For I know whate'er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well'? Can you praise God for His marvelous works in your life? King David who wrote this psalm we are studying was able to do so.

III. Be Convinced That God Will Do All Things Well 

This is found in v.13,14 'For Thou hast possessed my reins: Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.' Here David was praising God for His marvelous work of creating him at conception. As he meditated on all the intricate steps that took place as he was formed from a single cell into a full term infant at birth, he could not help but see the goodness of God toward him. In v.15,16 he says 'My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.'

Dearly beloved, the point we want to understand now is this: If God has really done all things so marvelously well in making us what we are today, if He cared enough for us to give us this present life, to make us grow, and to bring us into His eternal life through Christ, will He not continue to do all things well? If the Lord has spoken to your heart today, please listen to Him. Take these three steps outlined for us in God's Word: Firstly, rely on God to lead you and keep you. Secondly, trust in God concerning things you do not know. And thirdly, be convinced that God will do all things well. As you go now through all the changing scenes of life, please begin to include and involve God in everything you do and in every experience in life -in good or bad circumstances, in sickness or in health, in life or in death.

Psalm 018:1-3 - Secure in God

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at Life BPC 8am & 1045am Svc, 2014-02-09

Text: Psalm 18:1-3

Within the last few weeks some of us may have had the unpleasant experience of being caught in the long traffic jam at the causeway while returning home to Singapore. One reason for the super-long delays is the beefed-up security measures that have been put in place since the Woodlands checkpoint was breached by a Malaysian driver 3 weeks ago. Well, it looks like security breaches are becoming a new trend. Just two months earlier, an activist group managed to breach the security of several important government websites. And before that, the shocking disclosures made by Edward Snowden about mass surveillance and unrestrained spying had already generated plenty of concern about the security of personal data and communication. And Singapore was implicated as a participant in tapping undersea cables to listen to top-level private conversations.


I think we will be seeing more and more of this, as we live in a world that is moving rapidly toward globalisation. Studies have revealed that the present trend toward globalisation has increased insecurity, especially economic insecurity and social insecurity. While opening our doors wide to the whole world may bring huge benefits, it also brings huge challenges to security. And thus the quest for security will become increasingly difficult. New measures will have to be put in place to prevent more and more unwanted intrusions.


The quest for security also goes on at a more personal level. I am sure we all put measures in place to protect our lives, our jobs, our homes, our health and our finances. We keep all our treasures under lock and key. We buy insurance to cover ourselves against any loss or breach of security. During the present season we wish one another a prosperous Lunar New Year – “May your life be filled with peace and happiness!” But despite everything we do and wish for, the iron-clad security we seek for does not materialise. Things may seem to go well for a while, but something inevitably comes and rocks our boat. Unexpected things happen. Circumstances change. Problems develop. Disaster strikes! We feel insecure. 
 And so we ask the question: What is the real aim of security? If you think that the aim of security is to have a trouble-free life, then you will be disappointed, because that will never happen. Dearly beloved, if security is all about having a blissful life that is totally free of all trials and troubles, then we can never have it. But God’s Word tells us of a wonderful security that we can have in this life, and one of the best examples of this is King David. David’s life was filled with troubles, and yet he had the greatest security! And this is what we will discover as we look at a psalm that he wrote. 


From the title we can tell that this is a psalm of victory, written after God had delivered David from all his enemies. Here David was praising God not just for one particular deliverance in his life, but for all the events in which God had delivered him. In fact this psalm was written when David was already a king on the throne of Israel. We see this in the last verse of the psalm – “Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.” (v.50)


One interesting point about Psalm 18 is that it is almost entirely reproduced in 2 Samuel chapter 22, just before the last words of David which are recorded in chapter 23. This indicates that David probably wrote it at the end of his life. This background gives us a better understanding of the psalm. Here we see David in his old age looking back on his life, and praising God for all the help that he had received from Him, especially in times of danger. And in the first three verses, David testifies of the great security he had experienced throughout his life. As we study these verses now we will see that we can experience the same security that David had as we do three things. Firstly, we must… 

1. Seek God as our RELIABLE RESOURCE of Security.


In the first two verses we see David using no less than nine terms to describe the LORD. In these nine terms we find four things that David had through the LORD. Firstly, David had strength through the LORD. This does not mean that David possessed superhuman physical strength like Samson. It means that David was empowered to do whatever the LORD wanted him to do. As Daniel 11:32 says, “…the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” Whenever God gives us a task to do, He will always give sufficient strength for us to do it. In moments when we feel weakest and without any strength to do all that God wants us to do, wecan be strong in Him and in the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10). We can experience how God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness. We will also be able to glory in our infirmities so that His power may rest upon us (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:9). 


And so we have seen that David had strength through the Lord. Secondly, David had safety through the LORD. Here the idea of safety is conveyed by the word ‘rock’ in v.2. Actually the word ‘strength’ later in this verse is literally translated as ‘rock.’ Thus there are two ‘rocks’ in this first but with different nuances of meaning - the first one (sela) refers to a rock that provides shelter, while the second one (tsur) refers to a massive solid rock that provides stability. 


One fine example of the shelter which rocks provide can be found in the ancient city of Petra in southern Jordan. The entrance to Petra is this rock formation called the Siq. It is a dim, narrow gorge about 1.2 km long and this made it almost impossible for an invading army to go through it. Thus the city’s inhabitants were sheltered from any attacks. Incidentally, the name Petra actually means ‘rock’ (in Greek). Besides providing shelter, rocks provide stability. From this we get the saying, “As solid as a rock.”


An example of the stability which rocks provide can be found in the ancient city of Tyre, on the west coast of Lebanon. This city was originally built on a rock island that jutted out of the sea. Because of its secure position and strong fortifications, Tyre became an important maritime power in the ancient world. It was able to withstand invasions from land and sea for centuries until Alexander the Great finally conquered it by building a permanent causeway to join it to the mainland. Incidentally, the name Tyre also means ‘rock.’


The kind of shelter and stability which rocks provide give us an idea of the excellent safety that we have in the LORD. In fact, Jesus Himself used the term ‘rock’ in Matthew 16:18 to portray the safety of the Church. He said, “…upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” And because of this we sing, “On Christ, the solid Rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.” 
Besides having safety and strength, we can also have sanctuary through the Lord. There are two words in v.2 which describe how the LORD was a sanctuary to David. The first is the word ‘fortress.’ A fortress is a place of refuge that is usually located on a mountain top. The Lord is our refuge.


 The other word that conveys the same idea is ‘high tower’ found right at the end of the verse. Both of these words indicate a place where one can find not only safety, but also rest and refreshment. Located high above the plains below, a fortress or tower gives those who are in it a clear aerial view of the enemies below. Dangers that had seemed to be so huge and fearsome become small and insignificant when they are viewed from our lofty sanctuary. And as we commune with God there, we find all the rest and refreshment we need to keep us going in life’s battles.


One famous fortress that provided rest and refreshment in ancient Israel was Masada. If you visit Israel, be sure to see Masada. It was built on an isolated rock plateau surrounded by vertical cliffs up to 400 meters high. Today, it is easier to get up to Masada, as there is a cable car. The main feature of this ancient fortress was its large storage capacity of food and water to withstand a long siege in battle. King Herod the Great built palaces for himself on Masada as a personal refuge, complete with storage jars filled with oil, food and wine, a swimming pool, and even a nice sauna bath!


 How good it is to know that God is our safe refuge who sustains us and refreshes our souls throughout our earthly life. So let us make David’s fortress and high tower ours as well. Now we move on to see that through the LORD, David not only had strength, safety and sanctuary. He also had salvation. There are 3 words in v.2 which show how the LORD was David’s salvation. The first is the word ‘deliverer.’ In modern English usage, the word ‘deliverer’ may be mistaken for ‘a person who delivers’ or a delivery man. That’s not the intended meaning of this word. The intended meaning is a person who rescues someone out of danger and brings him into full security. 


The second word in v.2 that shows how the LORD was David’s salvation is ‘buckler.’ This was a small hand-held shield that soldiers used for defence during hand-to-hand combat. Therefore to say ‘the Lord is my buckler’ is the same as saying ‘the Lord is my defence.’ We know that the best defence is sometimes offence. This is brought out in the third word that shows how the LORD was David’s salvation: the word ‘horn.’ Horns were what animals like oxen, sheep and goats would use for defence as well as for offence when necessary. When the meanings of all 3 words (deliverer, buckler and horn) are put together, they present a complete picture of salvation – The sharp horn repels away the enemy who attacks us, the buckler wards off all the spears and arrows that are hurled at us, and our deliverer rescues us out of danger and brings us into full security.


David was so thrilled with the fullness of the LORD’s salvation that he elaborates on it further in vv.4-17. There he describes how God moves heaven and earth just to rescue him from being destroyed by his enemies! The point of all these graphic descriptions is to prove that there is no better resource of security than God. He is absolutely reliable to keep us secure in every trial we face in life, with strength, safety, sanctuary and salvation. According to the title of this psalm, God delivered David from the hand of all his enemies. This means that there was no enemy that God could not deliver David from, not even David’s greatest enemy. Do you know who that was? It was not King Saul. Saul troubled David’s life for eight years, but this enemy troubled David’s life throughout his entire life. This greatest enemy of David was David’s own sins!


The man who had slain Goliath and had subdued powerful kingdoms was defeated by his own sins of lust and pride. At the prime of his life as Israel’s greatest king, David committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband by proxy. For that he almost lost his throne and suffered the loss of four sons. And then toward the end of his life, David proudly ordered the numbering of his men to glory in his might. For that sin, he had to witness the slaughter of a tenth of all his troops by the angel of death. But the worst was yet to come. Without any help, David’s soul would have been plunged deep into Hell by his own sins, to languish there forever.


David’s greatest need therefore was to be saved from his own sins. And God met that need fully by saving his soul. You see, when David made the LORD his security, the LORD gave him the greatest security of all, which is eternal security! Unfortunately many people have been seeking after the wrong resources for their security. Some think that money can give them all the security they will ever need. But what money gives is merely an illusion of security. It makes you think that your needs are met, but actually they are not met. Some think that having certain key people as their friends will give them all the security they need. But when crisis comes, they find that their friends have either left them or are unable to help them at all. How different things would be, if only they would seek after the only true and reliable resource of security. 


How about you, dear friends? Have you sought the right resource for your soul’s eternal security? Have you turned to the Lord Jesus Christ and received Him as your own Saviour and Lord? 
If you haven’t, please come to Him right now and don’t delay. He is the only one who can save you. Do you know that in Jesus Christ, God has moved heaven and earth to rescue you from sin and eternal death? If you know this, then be sure to seek Him as your reliable source of security. Now we come to second thing that we need to do in order to experience the same security that David had… 


2. Build the RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with God for Security.


King David had such a relationship with God. He knew the LORD from the time of his youth. The story of David begins in 1 Samuel chapter 16 when he was only a lowly shepherd boy tending his father’s sheep. To young people today, this may seem to be a very boring thing to do, but the many hours David spent taking care of the sheep benefited him a lot spiritually. While he was out in the fields with them, David probably spent a lot of quality time alone with God, meditating on portions of Scripture he had memorized, and reflecting on God’s greatness and goodness to His people. 


And it was in those fields that David began to experience God’s help in a very personal way. A ferocious lion and a hungry bear came to attack his sheep and took a lamb from the flock. With God’s help, David managed to pursue after them, rescue the poor lamb and then slay both the lion and the bear when they attacked him! (1 Samuel 17:34,35) This gave him confidence to trust the LORD for help in more dangerous situations later on – facing the giant Goliath, escaping from King Saul’s wrath, fighting the armies of the Philistines, and handling Absalom’s attempt to overthrow him. Through all these events, David personally experienced the LORD’s help many, many times.


And perhaps when David wrote the words of psalm 18 in his old age he may have recalled the most significant events where he experienced God’s help. Each metaphor that he used to describe God in v.2 may have been a mental image taken from a past event. Just imagine how an old man may flip through an old photo album, and shed tears as he gazes upon each faded photograph which brings back happy memories from the days gone by. 


As David begins to write, ‘The Lord is my rock…’ perhaps he recalls a certain rock in the wilderness of Maon where he took shelter as King Saul was pursuing after him as mentioned in 1 Samuel 23:25. 


The metaphor of the ‘fortress’ after that was probably inspired by a certain ‘stronghold’ that is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 12:8 where David recruited his first army of warriors who came to join him. The metaphor of the ‘buckler’ may have come from one of David’s great battles, perhaps the memorable one where he led his men to rescue their families from the Amalekites (1 Samuel 30:1-19). 


The metaphor of the ‘horn’ probably originated from David’s days as a shepherd, as he watched the strong rams in his flock lock horns when they fought with each other. How about the ‘high tower’ mentioned at the end of v.2? This metaphor may have been inspired by a tower that David himself built as an armoury to store the shields of his valiant soldiers, mentioned in Song of Solomon 4:4. If you were to visit Jerusalem today, you will see a tower on the city wall near the Jaffa gate. It is called the Tower of David and is probably a later version of the original tower. All the metaphors that David used to describe God in v.2 may therefore stand as a testimony to David’s personal relationship with God, each of them filled with fond memories of the help he experienced from God. 


Dearly beloved, what memories do you have of your own experiences with God? Can you recall them? How precious are they to you? But perhaps someone here may say, “What is there to recall? I have never experienced God’s help in my life.” If this is your situation, I suggest that you start earnestly to build a right relationship with Him. Read His Word daily – a good place to begin is the Book of Psalms. Read through it slowly and meditatively, allowing the Lord Himself to speak to you. And as He speaks, respond to Him with prayer – express frankly how you feel about what He reveals to you in His Word. If there are things you don’t understand, ask Him for help to understand it. Make this a daily habit, and you will soon begin to experience His help in your life.  There is also something that you will be able to do if you have a right relationship with God.


You will notice that in the midst of all the metaphors in v.2, one description stands out as it is not a metaphor but a statement – “my God.”  This is the first of five instances in this psalm where David used this term (see vv.6, 21, 28 & 29). This indicates how much David delighted in the thought that the LORD is his God. Many others may be content to regard the LORD merely as Abraham’s God or as Israel’s God. But that was not good enough for David. He proceeded one step further to say with firm conviction, “The LORD is my God.” How was he able to do this? 


And more importantly, how can you have this firm conviction that the LORD is truly your God and know for sure that He belongs to you as much as you belong to Him? This conviction must come to you directly from God Himself – as you read His Word, the Holy Spirit who dwells in you bears witness with your spirit that you are a child of God who has the privilege to call Him, ‘Abba, Father.’(Romans 8:15). For instance, consider what God said in Isaiah 41:10 – “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” As you heard this, do you have the boldness to respond to Him now, “O Thank You, Lord! I know deep in my heart that this is certainly true of me. I know that You are my God!”


Please don’t settle for anything less than this. Ask yourself today: Are you truly able to call Him your God? Such boldness belongs to every child of God. The apostle Paul expressed the very same boldness when he said, “…for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”(2 Timothy 1:12) 


If you know deep down in your heart that the LORD is your God, then you too will be fully persuaded that He is able to keep what you have committed to Him. This is the blessed security that comes from building a right relationship with God. And now we come to third thing that we need to do in order to experience the security that David had… 


3. Give a RESOUNDING RESPONSE to God for His Security.


Such a blessed security that David found in God drew a three-fold response from him. His first response was to love God, as he says in v.1 – “I will love thee, O LORD my strength.” Now, the Hebrew word for ‘love’ that David used here (racham) is a unique verb that is used only here in this verse for a man’s love toward God. This word is often used for a mother’s love for her child – a deep, strong love that comes from the bottom of her heart. This is the kind of love that David committed himself to have toward God. 


And this is the kind of love that we ought to have for God because He rightly deserves it from us. It may not be too difficult for us to have that kind of love for God when things are going well for us. The difficulty comes when things are not going well – How can we love God with all our heart at times when everything seems to be going wrong?   Like: When our health is failing? Or when we lose our jobs? Or when disaster strikes? This is where we need to learn from David’s second response, which is found in the words “I will trust” in v.2. Here David commits himself to trust in God for help. Such trust in God means firstly, he would have to Accept his circumstances. Secondly, trust in God means that David must Ask God for help. Thirdly, it means that he must Allow God to act in His own time. 


This is the kind of trust that you must have in God, especially when everything seems to go wrong for you. (1) You must accept the changed circumstances of your life, believing that God will use them to work out His plan for you. Instead of wanting God to change your circumstances, let God change you through these circumstances. (2) You must ask God to help you by whatever means He chooses. He may help you directly or He may direct you to someone whom He has prepared to help you. (3) Then you must allow God to act in His good time. Always wait patiently for His help to come and do not be impatient.  


Thus far we have seen two responses of David to God: To love Him, and to trust Him. The third and final response is found in v.3 – Here King David confesses that the God whom He calls upon deserves to be praised. Let us be ready to praise God under all circumstances, knowing that they are ultimately meant to bring glory and praise to Him. Even the most difficult trials we face are designed by God for His praise, and it is by praising Him that we triumph in our trials. For instance, when Job was severely tested by the worst trials of his life what was his response? Instead of complaining to God, Job said, “…the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”(Job 1:21)


And this answers the question that was asked at the beginning of this sermon: What is the aim of security? It is not to have a trouble-free life. From what we have learned from God’s Word today we understand that the aim of security is to be able to triumph in the midst of every trial we face in life. And this security becomes ours only as we seek God as our reliable resource of it, as we build the right relationship with God, and as we give Him a resounding response of love, trust and praise. May the Lord help us to do these things.

Psalm 139:13-18 - Who Should Play God?

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 10.30 am Service, 2002-07-07

Text: Psalm 139:13-18

During our Church Bible Camp two weeks ago, we had a question and answer session in which our panel of pastors answered questions from the floor. And toward the end of that session, there was an interesting exchange of views on the subject of human cloning. The question asked was 'Do clones have souls?' I think that this question and many other related questions on bioethics and biomedical research will be asked more frequently, since the world is now waiting with bated breath for the arrival of the first cloned human in perhaps a few months' time. 

Just about two weeks ago the Bioethics Advisory Committee announced its recommendations after 10 months of consultation with various religious and professional groups, and the view they have arrived at is that only human embryos that are less than 14 days old should be used for stem cell experiments and research. They say that this would be acceptable to Muslims who believe that human life begins only at the 4th month of pregnancy, and to Buddhists, who believe that human life begins at the 7th week, and to most Jewish groups who think that it begins only on the 40th day of pregnancy. But the question is, 'When does human life really begin?' 

A few months ago plans were unveiled for the building of a huge multi-million dollar complex called Biopolis which will be situated in the future Science Park at Buona Vista. This will be a biomedical hub for biomedical science companies engaging in lab-based R & D activities. The objective of this is to build a thriving biomedical R&D hub here in Singapore. One of the objectives of this is to generate more new jobs in a relatively new field that promises great profits. The 2,000 biomedical researchers that will work there will need plenty of qualified assistants. Local students will probably be offered attractive scholarships to be trained in genetic engineering and the life sciences. The question that may be asked by those choosing a career is, 'Can a Christian be involved in this kind of research work?' 

Dearly beloved, we cannot ignore the momentous changes that are taking place in the world today and in our own nation. They will affect us. You may remember the message preached here last month on the Christian and Modern Technology. We learned that though we should not be opposed to modern technology, we should also be cautious not to accept every option that modern technology makes available to us, as some of the options are against God's laws. 

If we are not careful we may trespass into forbidden territory - To break God's commandments or to usurp prerogatives that belong to God alone. And nowhere is the danger of playing God or of violating God's laws more evident, than in the area of biomedical science. The problem today is that almost all the leading research scientists in the genetic field are eithers atheists or agnostics. They look only within themselves for ethical guidance. They reject the idea of a sovereign God who created us, and to Whom we are accountable. To them, humans are only a product of blind, mindless evolution, and they are helping man to make further and faster progress in evolution. 

For this reason, I think that it is needful for us to understand the Scriptures to find the principles that will help us to deal with these bioethical issues instead of being led blindly into a 'Brave New World' by these trends. The first foundational principle we need to know is that: 

I. Human Life is Designed and Made by God, not Man 

Human life was specially designed and made by God Himself. The Bible tells us that man is the highest of all God's creatures, being made on the 6th day of creation in His own image, as the grand climax of all creation! If you want to find real proof of God's great wisdom and power, all you have to do is to look at yourself! Your body, mind and soul constitute a powerful living testimony to God's power and wisdom. This is why King David dwelled on this particular aspect. He said in v.14 'will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.' God is the One who created us at the moment of conception. He created our souls and bodies, and made each of us so unique and different from others. Think of it. Out of the billions of people who live today and who have ever lived on the face of this earth there is none who is exactly like you! Even identical twins don't have the same fingerprints and personalities. 

Did you know that a miracle takes place in every mother's womb? If you could only see the millions of intricate little events that must happen in exact and precise co-ordination and in proper sequence when a new person is developing from a single cell into a newborn child, you would truly marvel at how awesome God's creative power is! I had the opportunity to study embryology when I was a medical student 20 years ago. I still remember my professor, Dr Frank Voon, telling the class that there are so many things that can go wrong in the formation of a new human being from the moment of conception right until delivery, and if just one small little detail fails, there would be disastrous results! 

About 12 years ago when I saw my first child, Stella for the first time and carried her in my arms when she was brought out of the delivery room, I could hardly believe that such a beautiful little creature could be formed in just 40 weeks. Here she was, with all parts of her body and mind functioning and co-ordinating together perfectly, and throbbing all over with life. Here was a greater wonder to me than the seven wonders of the world. Even the earthly Temple of God took many men 7 years to build, but this little Temple of the Holy Spirit took the Lord only 40 weeks to complete! As I marvelled at God's power in creating a new human life, this verse from Psalm 139 came immediately to my mind: 'I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well.' 

Dearly beloved, if you ever want to know what God's awesome power is like, you do not have to look very far. Just look at the marvellous design and formation of your own mind and body. And when you do this, think of this: Can any man ever claim credit for the marvelous design and creation of a new human being? The answer is obviously no. And should any man ever attempt to design or to determine what a new individual will look like, and what attributes or personality he will have? Not at all, because these are prerogatives that belong to God alone, and He is greatly glorified in them. 

But today some are already talking about the day coming soon when man can design himself. Just listen to this statement written a few years ago by John Naisbitt - 'The consequences of genetic technologies will overwhelm the importance of information technology. IT has been hyped as a great revolution, but it merely helps us to what we want to do faster, better, more efficiently. Our understanding of DNA will put us in control of our own evolution. That knowledge and the technology it spawns are the real revolution.' On 26th June 2000 researchers moved a step closer to realising this goal when they announced to the world the completion of a 'working draft' reference DNA sequence of the human genome. This provides a valuable scaffold for generating a high-quality reference genome sequence which they hope to complete by next year. 

What does all this mean for us? It means that one day, in the not-too-distant future prospective parents may be able to walk into a medical store called 'Genes R Us' and choose whatever physical and mental features they would like their child to have, including the child's sex, the colour of the skin, hair, eyes, the height and level of intelligence they want.

Genetic technology may enable couples to have made-to-order children! If you think that this will be a nice thing to have, imagine what will happen when the child that is born through such technology grows up and asks his father, 'Daddy, why was I born with this brown hair and these blue eyes?' and the father replies 'Son, that's what your mummy and I decided for you before you were born! All that you are now has been planned and determined by us.' 

What will this poor child do when he reads Psalm 139:14 'I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made' How will he praise God for what he is? What if he is not happy with the way that his parents designed him? What if there is a flaw in their design? Can he sue them in court for it? These are some of the ramifications that will result when man uses genetic technology to play God! 

Now, this does not mean that genetic technology itself is evil or sinful. Like all kinds of technology it is part of the mandate God gave to man to subdue nature and to have dominion over it. But like all kinds of technology, genetic technology should only be used for good, and not for evil. And the general guideline that determines whether one is playing God or not, is whether it is used to cure people or to further enhance their minds and bodies. Using genetic technology to heal the sick is fine. But using it to breed and evolve stronger, more intelligent kinds of human beings is definitely playing God. 

Actually the same guideline can be applied to any branch of medical science. The Scriptures are not against the use of medicine. In fact, the apostle Paul prescribed wine as medicine for Timothy's stomach illness and his frequent infimities (1 Timothy 5:23). And so, medicine is sanctioned by God when it is used for curing human life, and not for enhancing it. One striking example is the advent of plastic surgery. This is all right if the purpose is to correct deformities, like a cleft lip, or restoring an injured part of the body. But when a person who looks normal goes for plastic surgery just to make himself look better or to look like a famous person, then plastic surgery has crossed the line from curing to enhancing. 

History has shown that whenever some new development in technology opens up new possibilities for enhancing human life, there will always be a demand for it in this world. Whatever new innovation must be fully exploited for man's advantage. And this is due to the evolutionist mindset that most people have today - the idea that man has evolved from lower beings, and is still evolving and progressing into a higher being. 

This is actually the same sin as that of wanting to be as gods that Satan tempted Eve to commit (Genesis 3:5), and that Satan himself fell into, 'I will be like the most high'(Isaiah 14:14). The desire to be like God and to play God is part of the rebellious sinful nature that man has as a result of the Fall. 

And this is the same motivation behind the present race to produce the first human clone! Thus far, scientists have succeeded in cloning plants, frogs, sheep, cows, mice, monkeys and pigs. Cloning to improve agriculture and to improve the breed of domestic animals is valid. It is part of man's mandate to dominate and subdue the world. But the cloning of humans oversteps the boundaries set by God, and should be absolutely forbidden because man is created in God's image. And what is distrubing about the Biomedical Advisory Committee's recommendations is that though they do not condone the cloning of human beings, they allow for therapeutic cloning of human embryos. 

Why are scientists today trying so hard to clone human beings? Let us look at some of the reasons that have been given by various sources: Firstly it is believed that cloning is a great way to perpetuate genius. The promoters of cloning advocate selecting a few of the greatest men and women now living, for cloning. Secondly, some believe that cloning can provide soldier and servant classes of people. They can be treated as subhuman servants that have no rights. This will take us back to the days of slavery! Thirdly it is believed that clones can provide spare body parts. Today it is so hard to get a donor for a fresh organ, and even when a donor is found, his organ may be rejected because of a tissue type mismatch. According to cloning advocates, all these problems will be solved by cloning. 

But as you can see, these reasons are utterly utilitarian and man-centred. None of these or other reasons for cloning brings any glory to God! Man is now attempting to play God in making creatures in his own image. And in all these reasons you will notice that no consideration is made at all, of how the clones themselves will feel about being products of biomedical technology, made just to fulfill these utilitarian purposes - to be treated as mere objects, as laboratory animals, as slaves and as storehouses of genius or of spare body parts! Let us be very clear therefore that cloning of human beings is entirely wrong and an abomination to God. It reduces man, who is the highest of God's creatures to the level of the lowest plants and animals that reproduce asexually by budding, or binary fission. 

But while this method of reproduction is to be condemned, let us be careful not to put human clones (when they come into being) under the same condemnation and think of them as biological freaks or monsters. Being made from the cell of another human being does not deny personhood to anyone. Remember that Eve was made by God out of the rib of Adam (Genesis 2:22,23). Now, that of course, does not in any way make Eve a clone of Adam, for she was made by God's miraculous power. If she was a clone, she would be a man exactly like Adam. But the point here is that it is possible for life to originate from the cells of just one human parent, and still be considered as fully human life. 

By this analogy, a human clone should not be denied the rights of personhood just becaue he originates from one parent. He has a soul, having all the human characteristics of his parent - the ability to think, to speak, to feel and to make his own decisions. If within 15-20 years' time, a human clone should walk in here to attend our morning worship service, we should treat him as we would treat anyone else. No matter how the rest of society will treat him, we should regard him as a full human being, made in God's image like any of us, and as a sinner in need of salvation through Jesus Christ, and love him with the love God has given to us. 

Thus we have seen that the first foundational principle for dealing with the bioethical issues we face today is that Human Life is Designed and Made by God, not Man. Let us proceed to look at another foundational principle: 

II. Human Life Should Only Be Taken by God, Not Man 

Since God is the originator of human life, it follows that He is the only legitimate take of it. None but God has the right to decide when a person's life is to end. One of the moral issues that scientists handling human life have to deal with, is what to do with experiments that have gone wrong. For instance, it is known that Russian scientists at the Institute of Experimental Biology in Moscow are trying now to develop artificial wombs. These unbelieving scientists think that this will be real a breakthrough, because mothers will be free from having to go through nine months of pregnancy and through labour pains to give birth. But these experiments with artificial wombs have been going on very, very secretly. No interviews or pictures by journalists are allowed. Do you know why? Because out of the 250 human fetuses that are growing in these artificial wombs some have probably become deformed and were aborted. The sixth Commandment 'Thou shalt not kill' (Exodus 20:13) is being violated today by scientists who treat human fetuses as nothing more than a mass of tissue. 

Because of the public outcry against this by various groups, some have attempted to establish a limit within which experiments can be done on prenatal human life without violating the sixth commandment. As I mentioned earlier, the Bioethics Advisory Committee has recently set that limit at 14 days. This means that human embryos that are 1-13 days old can be treated as mere blobs of human tissues and used freely for experiments or for harvesting embryonic stem cells for medical purposes or research. The Biomedical Advisory Committee has even approved the creation of new embryos in the lab using donated sex cells, just for these purposes. This means that human embryos can be mass-produced and used, as long as they are all used and killed before the 14th day. 

Now, what criteria did they use to determine when human life actually begins? They say that it is only at the 14th day, that organised development in the embryo becomes visible. The primitive streak in the embryo that later becomes the nervous system appears only on the 14th day. So according to them, before this streak appears, the embryo has no sensation of pain, and is therefore not a person. All this is based purely on conjecture, not science. Scientists cannot prove conclusively, beyond any shadow of doubt that a newly fertilised egg or an embryo is not a person yet. And as long as there is the slightest doubt, they should not take liberties with human embryos. As someone has put it, no one can bury a person's body, unless he is absolutely sure that it is dead. If he is not sure, he better not bury it. In the same way no one should kill a human embryo if he is not sure whether it is a person or not.

There are others who say that even if we are not absolutely sure whether the young embryo is a person or not, it is still justified to do experiments with it, because of the greater good that such experiments will yield for mankind. As long as many people stand to benefit from the research at the end of the day, it does not matter if some human embryos have to be sacrificed. Let me say that those who take such liberties with human embryos are playing God. They claim to know when life begins and when it can be taken. 

The answers that these scientists are looking for cannot be found in science. They can only be found in the Word of God. And the scriptures are clear that Life begins at the moment of conception. 

1. Firstly, the Bible consistently refers to conception when speaking of the beginning of a person's history. Conception is mentioned 64 times in the Bible, and often as the beginning of a person's life. For instance, Job said in Job 3:3 'Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.' In Psalm 51:5 David said, 'Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.' Both Job and David regarded conception as the beginning of their personhood. 

2. There is an interesting account of fetal life recorded in Luke 1:42-44 'And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.' John the Baptist, then only a six-month old fetus (v.36) and already filled with the Holy Spirit (v.15), leaps for joy in his mother's womb at the arrival of his cousin Jesus in Mary's womb. How old was the unborn Jesus at this time? Probably only a zygote or an embryo, because this meeting took place shortly after Mary received the announcement from the angel that she was going to conceive Jesus soon (v.31). And in v.43 John's mother addressed Mary as 'the mother of my Lord'. This means that the embryo in Mary's womb was already the Lord Jesus Himself by that time. 

3. Coupled with this there are passages that show that God even calls some people into fulltime service even during their fetal life. Jeremiah 1:5 'Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.' And so we must take these as God's final word on this question, 'When does human life begin?' It begins right at the time of conception. And this means that no liberties should ever be taken with a human embryo, whether it is a day old or more than 14 days old. To take liberties with it is to play God or to violate the 6th commandent. 

The two foundational principles that we have seen this morning need to be known and applied by all Christians, especially those who are in the field of biomedical research or who are contemplating on being involved in it. 

Please remember that as Christians, we must abide by God's laws even in our career and occupation. And those of you who deciding or a career must choose your career with God's moral laws and principles as your guidelines. Don't get yourself into any career that will cause you to overstep the scriptural boundaries and to play God, no matter how good the prospects and earnings may be. 

Now there is nothing wrong with entering into a career of scientific research or even biomedical study. But please know your limits and keep to them. There is still a lot of research that can be done in the life sciences that do not violate biblical principles. E.g. with plants and animals. As I mentioned earlier, this is part and parcel of the man's mandate to exercise dominion over nature. 

Now, the Bioethics Advisory Committee made one good recommendation for those who are going to be involved in biomedical research: The consent of parties is needed. This means that no one can be compelled to take part in any research if he has strong views against it. Let us hope that this recommendation will be strictly implemented when the time comes. Let us in all things always strive to maintain a sense of reverence for what God has ordained - the miracle of human life, that God has specially made in His own image, in His own likeness. If things get out of hand, and society becomes numb and insensitive in the name of medical progress, let us not remain silent, but be bold to speak out. 

The Scriptures tell us that 'in the last days, perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good' (2 Timothy 3:1,2). Dearly beloved, we can already see this ungodly spirit of the age working in the world today. What we need to do is to keep on upholding the biblical view of life and morality, even if it means that we will have to suffer for it. May the Lord grant us all the faith and courage we need to stand squarely on His Word.

  1. Psalm 126:6 - Are You A Secret Believer?
  2. Psalm 119:11 - "Thy Word Have I Hid In My Heart"
  3. Psalm 103:1-22 - How Great Is God's Love
  4. Psalm 001:1-3 - Approaching the Word

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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