Psalms 100:1-2,5
G Am D G
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
Am
Serve the Lord with gladness!
D G
(Singing in His presence).
C D
For the Lord is good;
Bm Em
His steadfast love endures forever,
Am D G
and his faithfulness to all generations.
We will have forsaken the world to follow our Lord Jesus if we are genuine believers. And surely we will want to find out the purpose of life that God has for us. Eph 2:10 tells us that when we are created in Christ Jesus, God has prepared beforehand we shall walk in good works which we will surely want to discover.
Whenever we talk about God’s will, we are actually talking about His guidance, or calling or ministry for us. The three distinct initiatives of God refer to His directing of our faith journey, His calling, and the service He places us in His Kingdom respectively.
(The material is gleaned from the book, The Disciple, by John Stott with Tim Chester and I took the liberty to paraphrase it.)
Guidance
It is essential to differentiate between God’s general and particular will first. God’s general will for all believers is Christlikeness. Rom 8:28-29. Particular will concerns decisions such as finding life-work or spouse. Though there are general guidelines or principles laid out in Scripture, specific answers are not given. Take the example of marriage. There are principles concerning marriage, yet Scripture will not tell us whether you should get married or remain single, or which man or woman you should marry.
How can we discover God’s particular will ?
Calling
God called us according to His purpose. Rom 8:28. It is a more of a calling to a Person rather than to do something. It is a wonderful fact that God cares enough to call us personally and individually. We are called to belong to Jesus Christ and to embrace and enjoy all blessings in our Lord Jesus. Like guidance, we have to differentiate between general calling and particular calling.
What is God’s general calling ?
In short, the Christian calling is to be called to belong to Christ in this life and beyond, to love one another in the peace of his new community, and to serve, witness and suffer in the world.
If God’s general calling is to be free, holy and Christlike, God’s particular calling relates to our individual different vocation. 1 Cor 7:20 and 24 tell us that we should remain in the condition in which we are called. In the context of 1 Corinthian epistle, Paul gave 3 examples of remaining in our domestic situation, whether married or single, in our cultural situation, whether Jewish or Gentile, and in our social situation, whether slaves or free. Paul had to remind the Corinthian converts then because they believed they ought to change their situation since nothing in their old life could be retained after becoming a new creation in Christ.
Martin Luther said,”Those who are now called ‘spiritual’, that is, priests, bishops or popes, are neither different from other Christians nor superior to them, except that they are charged with the administration of the word of God and the sacraments, which is their work and office.”
Every believer must benefit and serve every other by means of his own work or office, so that in this way many kinds of work may be done for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the community. 1 Cor 12:14-26.
William Perkins, a Puritan, said,”The action of a shepherd in keeping sheep…is as good a work before God as is the action of a judge in giving sentence, or of a magistrate in ruling, or a minister in preaching. Thus then we see there is good reason why we would search how every man is rightly to use his particular calling.”
These 2 callings should be pursued in balance to serve our Lord Jesus and to serve others. We must bear in mind that God does not work in us only after conversion, but He is at work in us even before our birth in our genetic inheritance, and then later in our temperament, personality, education and skills. God’s sovereignty over us is not only on our spirituality, but also over all sections of our lives.
Ministry
Discipleship is never an option. We are all called to be disciples of Jesus our Lord. As disciples, surely we will want to know how best we can serve in the Kingdom of our Lord. Like guidance and vocation, we need to distinguish between a general and a particular ministry.
John 8:1-11
1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
The scribes and the Pharisees should know the Jewish law and the Roman law very well :
So they were not really seeking the execution of the adulterous woman but was doing so to trap Jesus. When the Lord Jesus said the one without sin could cast the first stone, He was reminding these law experts, especially the witnesses, that they could do so if they had not sinned or flouted the Jewish Law. Deut 17:7. Judaism regards the violation of the 613 prohibitions in the Jewish Law based on the Torah as a sin.
They were already bent on trapping and killing Jesus. So when they went away, they were not feeling remorse because they realized they were sinners too, but because they knew they had flouted the Jewish law and sinned. A trap had turned into an embarrassing expose for them who were supposed to be experts of the law.
Jesus would not condemn the woman as He was not a witness either. But He reminded her not to sin the same anymore.
The misuse of this passage to deride judgment of sin will contradict the direct command of judging serious sins in 1 Cor 5:9-13. Most of the times, it is used to justify unrestrained sin and it is a terrible wrong in itself.
Heb 9:27
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.
Rev 20:11-15
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
One last day before the new earth and new heaven are realized, all who were dead will be resurrected and re-embodied to face the judgment of our Lord on His great white throne on earth. Rev 20:11-15. It will be quite a scene as all the great people who have ever lived as well as small lowly people will stand before the throne of God.
Since there will be no second chance after physical death, why is there to have such a day to judge everyone who has ever lived ? Why is one not judged immediately after death ?
This one day will a day of public vindication for many who are unjustly oppressed or martyred as well as retribution meted to be publicly shown to all who have ever lived. God’s promise that vengeance is His will eventually be honored on that day.
God, Christ our Lord and all the true believers will be vindicated on this day.
In late July 2018, I received news from my ministry partners in Olongapo, Philippines that their city was flooded without much warning and a state of calamity was declared for the whole week. I was preparing to fly there in 4 days’ time and the weather was forecasted to continue to have rain for the rest of the week. On the day I arrived, the waters had subsided and sunshine returned after weeks of absence. When I checked into the hotel, I was told by the security guard that the water level was about 3 feet flooding the ground floor of the hotel and he showed me the water mark on the wall. All thanks to our Lord for His journey mercy. The rain had stopped, and on the day I flew back after 4 to 5 days’ stay, the rain returned.
In August 2018, when I flew into Phnom Penh, the provinces surrounding Phnom Penh were terribly flooded as shown in the pictures that I took from the air. The rain had stopped when I arrived.
One day in October 2018 when I was supposed to fly back to Singapore in the late afternoon, I decided to visit an exhibition at the opening time of 10 am and then rushed back to check out the hotel by noon. I stayed in Kowloon and the exhibition was on Hong Kong Island. Never did I expect the highly efficient Hong Kong MTR train system to break down. I knew that I would not only be late to check out of hotel but also late to catch the airport bus to the airport. I did not buy travel insurance at all. I prayed and asked the Lord for help to allay my anxiety. Even on normal days, the human traffic during peak hours is terribly heavy and with the massive break-down, it was chaotic. Thanks be to our Lord when things seemed so impossible, it was possible with Him. I managed to get home eventually that day.
In April 2019, I sponsored several ministry partners to come for a conference held at Alfa Omega Ministries, Batam, to share of their experience in agricultural enterprise. And we also visited the farm managed by Alfa Omega Ministries in another island. It was pouring cats and dogs the day we took the ferry to this island. There was no shelter walkway from the ferry terminal to the ferry docked at the quay some 150 meters away. I had no change of new set of clothes so I was anxious not to get drenched. In my anxiety, I prayed for the rain to stop. But we were told to dash for the ferry as it was about to depart. I decided to run last with the faint hope that God would still answer my prayer. Strangely as I ran, the rain subsided very quickly. When I got into the ferry, my ministry partners were surprised that I was not drenched like them. Despite my lack of faith, God was faithful to answer my prayer. All thanks and glory to Him !
Flooding in Olongapo
Flooding in areas neighboring Phnom Penh
Flooding in areas neighboring Phnom Penh
By the grace of God, JC’s Manifesto is pleased to play a part in supporting the Bethel Grace Ministry in Cambodia. The ministry conducts weekly English classes for the children of the very poor living in the cemeteries, and also distributes free rice packets to them.
Visited two cemeteries in which some 300 families are living in one cemetery of some 200 tombs and another 80 families in another.
The weekly English class program starts with 15 mins of worship and Bible study so that the seed of the gospel can be planted in the hearts of the children. The joy we had was indescribable. All thanks and glory to our Lord.
James 5:1-8 NIV
Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you. Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.
Having wealth is not a sin, though wealth has its deceitfulness. The above Scriptural passage tells us clearly that selfish stewardship and dishonest acquisition of wealth is sin.
In the first century AD, the wealthy would store their wealth in oil, grain, silver and gold. Oil and grain could rot away, and expensive clothes stored away could get moth eaten. Storing away wealth was not helping anyone including the hoarder for the wealth might end up useless.
In the first century AD, the poor got no redress for such exploitation though they might protest. But God would avenge them. Basically Scripture condemns gaining wealth through all dishonest means and not just paying inadequate wages. Today, we have Christian landlords that exploit to increase rental in a tight property market for more gain with no consideration for the poor irking out a living by renting from them. Or we have believers that deliberately short change their customers for more gain in a tight market.
Scripture actually condemns the unrestrained indulgence on self over helping the poor and especially the least of the brothers. In today’s society, we see very wealthy believers who do not hesitate to squander wealth on luxurious limousines, expensive jewelry, exclusive branded clothes, epicurean foods and palatial homes, and yet they are indifferent to the plight of the poor in their midst.
After my mother-in-law passed away in 2001, I decided to bring my father-in-law to church with us and we searched for a church with a Hakka dialect congregation. We settled down in one particular church.
We had good bonding with the elderly folk in the church. One day, when we informed them that we would be going for a short 4 day holiday to Ho Chi Minh City from Sunday to Wednesday. We were surprised that 20 of them would like to join us. I ended up planning a tour package for all of us. The church leaders were upset that some 22 of us would be absent from attending the Sunday worship service. I told them I could hire a bus to bring us to the airport from church on that day. But the lay leader was still unhappy and warned that God would punish us. I prayed against such curse. On that very Sunday before we left for the airport, one elderly lady received news that her brother-in-law had passed away and she could not join us to Ho Chi Minh City after all. 2 days later, she suffered a heart attack. Had she joined us, the lay leader would pounce on such bad news to justify that God had indeed punished us.
Another such incident happened recently. I was supposed to leave on a ministry trip on a Friday to a third world country together with a brother. Just 2 days before departure, he suffered a mild stroke. Had he joined us, good medical care might not be available there. Thanks be to God for all such journey mercies. Hallelujah !
The mission objective of the new NGO, Koampla Phum Yoeung Organization, in Cambodia is to help the poor through various ministries for children based on Christian values. I believe due to compliance with local laws, non believers are also employed.
Felt honored to be invited to share the Christian gospel and hope in one morning session of the 5 day staff retreat held in Siem Reap, Cambodia, from 4 to 8 August 2019.
Hallelujah ! Four of the staff accepted Christ as their personal Savior and Lord. All glory and honor to our Lord Jesus.
The false teachers are described by Scripture as wolves coming in sheepskin to dwell among the unsuspecting sheep in the church. They will come in disguise as servants of righteousness. They can even masquerade as apostles of Christ ! 2 Cor 11:13-15. So how can we discern ?
Firstly, as agents of the devil, they will preach a different Jesus or a different gospel for sure to lure many in the church away. So this will be the main criteria to judge the motive of the false teachers. If you find them adamant in not recanting what they preach on the wrong soteriology and Christology after expose by many quarters, won’t you find it so strange ? Any genuine believer, all the more for so-called leaders, will not want to be misunderstood on belief on these very important doctrines and will definitely do their best to clarify them.
Secondly, they will have a different spirit and we can know them by their fruit stated in Jude 1:11-12.
Jude 1:11-12
Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
When Abel came to worship God, he came by faith knowing that he had to bring a substitutionary atonement sacrifice. Heb 11:4 told us that he brought a better sacrifice so there is reason to believe that God had instructed both Abel and Cain on the right form of worship sacrifice. Cain simply devised his own way of worship and came not by faith. Today, we can see the false hyper grace and NAR teachers devising their own way of worship denying repentance and forgiveness of sins, and including demonic manifestations during worship respectively.
Basically Balaam’s error is a deliberate decision to promote falsehood for monetary gain. Though Balaam was a prophet of God, yet he counseled Balak, God’s enemy, on how to exert harm on Israel for the sake of gain. When God stopped him from using his prophetic gift to curse Israel, he still counseled Balak how to weaken Israel through using women to seduce Israelites into sexual relationship and pagan worship. Today, we see the false hyper grace and prosperity teachers gaining so much wealth by perverting God’s truth.
When Korah promoted himself as leader over Moses, he was actually rebelling against God who called Moses. Today, we see the ambition of the NAR false prophets to subordinate God’s servants worldwide to their authority as apostles and prophets. God’s true leaders will shepherd their flocks and serve with humility and care and will not lord over them. 1 Pet 5:2-3; Matt 23:8-12.
