TREASURY OF SERMONS
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God has everything for you, but you never asked!
By Rev (Dr) Timothy Tow
(Preached at Life BPC, 10.30am service, 21 Jan 2001)
Text: Matt 7:7-12
In spite of the Economic Crash in S.E. Asia Aug,
1997 and in spite of the Political Upheavals now raging in some
ASEAN countries, we Singaporeans have never had it so good. Like the
Laodicean Church, we have become lukewarm in our affluence and we
say, we are rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.
But our Lord pronounces us to be wretched, miserable, poor, blind
and naked (Rev 3:17). He continues, "I counsel thee to buy of me
gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment,
that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do
not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest
see." Materially we are well to do, but spiritually we are bankrupt.
Our faith in the Lord has to be tested. It is neither cold nor hot.
Our sins are a shame to His Name, and we need to be covered by the
Righteousness of Christ. We are not born again and need the Holy
Spirit to open our eyes that we might see God’s Kingdom.
Being wretched, miserable, poor, blind, naked we
have nothing that is presentable before the Lord. James says, "Ye
have not, because ye ask not." We are poverty stricken. James
further says, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss" (Jas
4:2,3). It is like a member going into speculative business. He
sells his house to "play shares." And he asks the pastor to pray
that he might reap good profits. When he gets them he would give
half the proceeds to the Church. Speculation is a form of gambling,
and one is sure to lose as one indulges in it. This member is asking
amiss.
God is a loving Father. If we ask Him to supply
our basic needs, He will give us the best. Does He not teach us in
the Lord’s Prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread"? Will He give
us a stone when we ask bread, a snake when we ask fish and a
scorpion when we ask egg (Lk 11:12)? If you are out of job, pray to
the Lord and He will surely give you. Many are the testimonies on
the back page of our Weekly how God has answered prayers and so the
thanksgivings of our people.
Why do some seek the advice of men and not the
Lord? There are those who get sick and so they rush to the doctor.
There are those involved with the law and they rush to see the
lawyer. But they do not first ask the Lord, to their great loss.
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and
it shall be opened unto you" (Matt 7:7).
What, above all, shall we ask? In a parallel
passage on asking, according to Luke 11, the Lord recommends the
Holy Spirit, God the Third Person who is our Comforter and
Counsellor. We have many problems. For young people it centres on
Career and Marriage. It is the Holy Spirit who will lead us into all
Truth.
In regard to Career, we read in the papers just
two days ago how a good percentage of doctors, being pressurised
with some 15 hours of work a day, regret choosing the profession.
That’s the reason why many leave for private practice. Perhaps, by
God’s leading they should have chosen to be teachers. Perhaps some
considering the futility of earthly professions might yield to serve
the Lord full-time.
The other area that concerns young people is
Marriage. One thing is sure. A Christian cannot marry a
non-Christian. In olden days when Christianity was first brought to
China, Christian girls were few. Christian young men had to take
non-Christian brides. As marriage was a three-tier family affair,
parents had much say and influence over the young. The bride, under
such influence would accept the Christian faith, so this became
known as "marital evangelism." It is no more today. When one marries
a non-Christian it is the other way. The Christian is dragged by the
non-Christian into the world.
I had a case of a member of our Church marrying
a converted drug addict. When their wedding day drew nigh the young
man returned to his drugs. I refused to marry the couple. They got
another pastor to marry them. Three months later the bride
sheepishly confessed they were divorced. A case of not listening to
the Holy Spirit.
I observe there are more single ladies in the
Church than single men. Some, fearing the advance of years, succumb
to marrying outside the rules, and suffer. Perhaps, a little more
waiting upon the Lord was the answer. Such ladies should seek the
Kingdom of God and His righteousness first. There is the case of
Ruth who clung to Naomi’s faith. She would not remarry a Moabite man
but returned with Naomi to Bethlehem. The Lord blessed her for her
faith by leading her to Boaz. Thus, Ruth became the great
grandmother of David. Wait, I say, on the Lord!
How shall we ask? A-S-K means we should
intensify our asking. The Lord gave the parable of a man having
received a guest in the middle of the night. Since he lacked bread
he asked his next door neighbour to lend him three loaves. Though
this man had gone to bed with his children, because he was his
friend, he had to get up and answer his request. So let us ask our
loving Heavenly Father, praying fervently and He will open to us.
During WWII we all knew how to pray. Amidst the
bombing and shelling we all called on the Lord with tears and the
Lord answered our prayers.
With many burdens on our shoulders, we should
make it a rule to pray to Him when we get up in the morning and when
we go to bed at night. One burden on my heart is our Mersing Resort.
Being situated in a Muslim country we have problems surrounding us.
Nowhere to turn to, I, as pastor, can only commit the matter to God.
After many prayers I now feel relieved that He will take good care
of us, sending his angels to encamp around us. No more, "All because
we do not carry, Everything to God in prayer." The Lord has lifted
our burden.
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