TREASURY OF SERMONS
Am I a Student of God?
By Rev (Dr) Jeffrey Khoo
Text: 2 Tim 3:14-17; 2:15
All of us I am sure believe in getting a good education. We agree that having a good education is important. Some of you have just sent your children to school to begin primary one. Some of you have spent a lot of money to send your sons and daughters to further their studies overseas. All this is done to ensure that our children get a good footing in life. A good education is foundational. We want to provide them with the keys towards a successful life.
If a good education is so necessary and foundational in the secular realm, how much more in the spiritual realm. As Christians a good education on spiritual matters is vital for vibrant, and victorious Christian living. It is no wonder Jesus in His great commission said, "Go ye therefore, and TEACH . . . them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you."
When the Lord called us into His kingdom, He called us also into His University of Biblical Studies. We are called to be His disciples. What is a disciple? Many think that a "disciple" is simply a "follower." Yes, a disciple is a follower, but not just that. He follows in order to learn. The word "disciple" in the Bible literally means "a learner." Every Christian is thus a learner. We are called to study, to learn from the Lord through His Word.
As Christians we ought to have this holy desire to want to know more and more about our Lord and our faith. I remember as a young Christian, how I enjoyed reading the Bible. I would frequent the church library to borrow books to learn more about the Christian religion, I enjoyed my Sunday school classes. I would not think of missing those classes. When missed one, I felt that I have missed a lot. A newborn babe craves for milk. When you are born again, you desire to drink of the milk of the Word. So we are told by Peter, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby" (1 Pet 2:2).
Our texts from 2 Tim this morning tell us these 2 things concerning how we should regard God’s Word:
I. God’s Word is Worthy of Our Learning and Study (2 Tim 3:16-17)
Why? This is because it is unlike any other book. All the books in the world are products of man, but there is only one book in the world that comes from God—the Holy Bible. So we read, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." Please note that it is "all" of Scripture, not some part of Scripture, or most part of Scripture but all of Scripture. The Bible as a whole is perfect, and every single word to its jot and tittle is the Word of God without error. You’ll be surprised that many Bible Colleges/Seminaries do not believe this. They say the Bible is full of mistakes especially when it touches on scientific matters, or history or geography. Though the Bible is a salvation textbook, it is absolutely without error when it records things scientific, historical or geographical. So called science says the world came into existence by chance—evolution; the Bible says it is creation: God created the whole universe out of nothing in 6 days. The statement in Gen 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" is scientifically correct and true. Human knowledge is fallible (man makes mistakes), but divine knowledge is infallible (God cannot makes mistakes). Do you trust the scientist or do you trust God. I rather take God’s side because He was there when it happened, Darwin wasn’t.
The deep questions about human origin and destiny are answered in the Bible. When you study the Bible you know more about who God is, and who we are. Many people pay a lot of money to attend self-improvement seminars. It is a waste of time and money. You want improve yourself and be successful in life—Know God, and in learning about God wewill find ourselves—who and what we really are. Believe in Jesus Christ and that is the beginning of success in life. See what the Word of God can do (read rest of v16-17). The Bible has the answers. It is worth your study. Are you studying God’s Word? Yes, I am using the RPG for my QT. That is good, but that is not enough. I listen attentively to the sermons preached every Sunday. That is good, but that is also not enough. There are many things the preacher cannot bring out because of time constraints. Such are the meaty stuff, the deep things which are better taught or explained in a classroom setting.
Do you know your theology? The B-P church is reformed, and premillennial. Do you know what is reformed, what is premillennial? Some of us may say I know because I have been many years a Christian. You may have been a Christian for many years, but that does not necessary mean your knowledge of the Christian Faith is as deep. By way of testimony: Before entering Bible College, I had been for quite a number of years a Sunday School teacher. When I was in Junior College, I took divinity as one of my subjects. I scored a distinction in my ‘A’ level exams. I thought I knew a lot. I was conceited. When I studied at FEBC, the Lord really humbled me that I do not know many things, and those that I thought I knew, I understood wrongly. Eg: Trinity (also an elder who used an egg to describe the Trinity). How to correctly explain the Trinity? If you want to know how, then you must attend the Monday night classes on Calvin’s Institutes.
There is a need for an intensive systematic study of God’s Word. Are you right now engaged in such an exercise? Will you not commit yourself to do so this year. This leads me to my second point:
II. The Study of God’s Word Demands a Wholehearted Commitment (2 Tim 2:15)
Studying the Bible is not easy. I had one freethinker tell me: "You got a PhD in theology. It must be very easy to get since you only need to read one book—the Bible." Naively he thought so. Last November when I was in San Francisco, I visited the Flora Lemson Hewlett library in Berkeley. It is the largest Christian library in the USA with 700,000 volumes. Imagine from one book has come about 700,000 books that are based on it or written about it.
The study of the Bible and Theology is by no means easy. You can ask any of the FEBC students, and they will tell you it is not a piece of cake. Some may say, "After the first week of classes, I am already beginning to have nightmares."
Yes there are many very simple truths in the Scriptures that even a child can absorb and understand. Timothy for example knew the Scriptures since he was a child (2 Tim 3:15). At the same time, a man can spend a lifetime studying the Bible and never able to exhaust it. The Bible contains milk as well as meat. Peter himself said there are some things that Paul had written which are hard to understand (2 Pet 3:16). As such, the study of the Scriptures takes time and energy. Paul tells us, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the Word of truth."
The word "study" here is significant. It speaks of a wholehearted commitment—to spare no effort, to give all diligence. It is very much like the "search and rescue," and "search and recovery" of MI 185. Every inch of the river bed is combed by hand and by machine. It is painstaking work. Well, we are to study God’s Word with the same kind of carefulness and devotion. Why is such "study" needed?
This is because if we want to be approved by God, if we want to God correctly, or if we want God to bless our service for Him, we need to understand and communicate His Word accurately—"rightly dividing the Word of Truth." "Rightly dividing" literally means "to cut it straight." It has the idea of a surgeon who skillfully makes very precise incisions with his scalpel. There are many fine points in theology, and we need to know what they are in order not to misrepresent God.
 Will you not commit yourself this new year to engage in an intensive systematic study God’s Word? How?
Personal reading of Bible and good books (FEBC Bookroom)
Sunday School
Fellowship Groups
Neighbourhood Bible Communities (NBCs)
Prayer Meeting (Revelation and theology clothed with flesh and blood)
Fundamental Christian Ministry (Polys and Universities)
Church camps
FEBC evening classes. Just completed the first week of classes. We have altogether 150 students signed up for one or more of the courses (not counting full-time FEBC students). It is interesting to note from where most of the students come: out of 150, 46 (31%) from Life Church, 65 (43%) from Calvary, 22 (15%) from other BPCs, and 17 (11%) from non BPCs. I think we can match the zeal of Calvarians to study God’s Word. I would like encourage all Lifers to attend our evening classes. I hope our relatively low representation compared to Calvary is not a case of familiarity breeds contempt. I would also like to challenge our SS teachers, BS leaders, Fellowship group committee members, elders and deacons of the church to take up these classes and work towards the CertRK. Those who want to teach must be prepared to learn. In Hebrew grammar, there is the normal stem, and the intensive stem. The Hebrew word lamad in the normal stem means "to learn," but in the intensive stem, it means "to teach." In other words, a teacher is one who learns intensively.
We have such a precious gift of God, the gift of His Word. Let us not just allow it to collect dust. Let us turn its pages frequently. Let’s fill our Bibles with personal notes, underline important verses, etc. There are many books in the world, but only one of them is authored by God. It is a unique book that is powerful to change your life and my life. It is worth our study and learning. So let us work hard at being good students of His Word.
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