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WEEKLY
Volume 1 Number 43
25 March 2007
Ye Are My Witnesses
(Sermon Notes by Pr Hien
Nguyen on the Message delivered by Rev Stephen Khoo at the
Inauguration Service, 3 pm, Mar 18, 2007)
Text:
Acts 2:38-47
You have heard the greetings
of Rev Dr Timothy Tow from Singapore. Rev Tow is now 87 years old. I
remember him when I was a young Christian, and later on when I attended
the Far Eastern Bible College. Rev Tow, during his younger days, as a
minister of the Lord, had a Volkswagen, and at the back of this
Volkswagen was written “Jesus Saves.” And together with another brother,
he travelled the length and breadth of Malaysia to preach the Gospel.
Back in Singapore, he started the Far Eastern Bible College, and the
reason we see is that he is committed to the preaching of the Word of
God so that everyone who hears the message may believe and be saved for
the glory of His Name. Once a person is saved, the next step is to teach
him the whole counsel of God so that he might stand strong on the truth,
and not be swerved by every wind of wrong doctrine. That is his
ministry. He has this purpose in his mind.
After more than 50 years in serving the Lord in this way and through the
Bible College, more than 600 students have graduated and gone to other
parts of the world to plant churches. And when they go to plant churches
they always have these two very important commitments. One is to preach
the Gospel that those who hear and believe might be saved, and then,
having converted these people, to teach them the Word of God. I believe
with all my heart that the Lord has such a purpose for this small band
of people led by preacher Hien with Tim Low and family, and Eric Too and
family, and also Michael Low. God can use a small church in a mighty
way especially when they are also committed to the preaching of the Word
of God so that those who hear and believe may be saved, and to nurture
these new believers that they might in turn go out and bring in other
souls to the glory of His holy name.
Four Salient Features of the Early Church
Let us go to Acts chapter 2
which tells us about the beginning of the church. What are the important
characteristics or features of the church? I believe there are four
salient features that should characterise the church, not only for a
moment but permanently, until Jesus returns. What are these four salient
features? But before we go into that it is very important to know that
the church comprises those who are believers.
Nowadays, there are many professing Christians who say they are
Christians but they do not do the will of God. It is important for us
here and all Bible-Presbyterian churches to ensure that our members are
saved and committed to the Lord. If people believe with all their heart
the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit will indwell them. This is very
important. If they do not have the Holy Spirit in them, it is impossible
for them to show or manifest these four salient features of the church.
They need His power. If they do not have that power, they cannot live
for Christ. They simply cannot do it. So, let us look at these salient
features.
First of all, in verse 41, we
see that they heard the Word of God and received it with gladness. They
believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, they repented of their sins, and were
baptised, and the Lord added to the church three thousand souls. And
then, in verse 42, they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine
and in fellowship which is the second feature. Third, they continued
stedfastly in the breaking of bread in remembrance of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The fourth is equally important, they continued stedfastly in
prayers. You find it in verse 46, “and they, continuing daily with
one accord in the temple.” Then I sat down and reflected on these
characteristics and thought of Bethel Church in Melbourne and the
churches in Singapore and other churches. I find that not one church is
equally strong in all these features. There are some churches, like the
Bible-Presbyterian churches, very strong in doctrine. And other churches
are strong in fellowship. And every church has the Lord’s Supper, but
sometimes you look at the Lord’s Supper, the way that it is conducted is
ritualistic and does not touch the hearts of the believers. What about
the prayer meeting? We find that almost every church has only ten or
twenty percent of the congregation instead of fifty, sixty, one hundred
percent coming to pray to the Lord. And I rarely see a church that has
more than fifty percent coming to the prayer meeting. Yet, we see that
God has put very great emphasis on these four features. Let
us look at these features and you can see why they
are important. And I believe that if we have these four salient features
in our church, and we live up to them by the power of the Holy Spirit,
God will bring the people in as we find in verse 47, “Praising God,
and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church
daily such as should be saved.”
Continue Stedfastly in God’s Word.
In the beginning of the church, or at the birth of
the church, the church had these four salient features. The first one,
the most important, of course, is doctrine. If the doctrine is not
right, our conduct will not be right either. The believers continued
stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine. They were faithful and held to
that teaching continuously. Today, we have the full revelation of the
Word of God, and now I speak to Brisbane BPC, this small band of
believers here, you have to be faithful to the Word of God and
continuously hold to the teaching of the Word of God. We must practise
what we teach, and God will bless us. Then we have the responsibility to
nurture the believers in the fear of the Lord. “Study to show thyself
approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly
dividing the Word of truth.” So you study God’s Word and when the
people come in, you will teach them God’s Word and the Holy Spirit will
convert them. But if you do not teach them God’s Word, He will not send
anybody to you. So I see ahead, when you are faithful, the Lord will add
many souls to your congregation.
Continue Stedfastly in
Fellowship. Then we
come to fellowship. Now what is fellowship? This term is now quite
loosely used. Fellowship means when I see you, I say, “Hello! Can we
have a cup of tea?” And we talk about the weather, about everything
under the sun. But here there is something more important. The Greek
word koinonia means partnership and sharing, sharing all our
woes, our troubles, our joy, and this group shared and everybody
rejoiced. There was no jealousy. Sometimes we are jealous of a brother
because he is more blessed. Why did God bless him and not me? That is
wrong. When a brother is blessed, all of us
should rejoice with him. When a brother is in trouble or in need, we see
and we have to support our brother, instead of saying, “Thank God, I am
not like him!” That is wrong. That is not fellowship. Fellowship means
we feel for one another. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and suffer with
those who suffer. This is partnership. We come together and share
together. This is very important. In verses 44 and 45, “And all that
believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their
possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.”
They were willing to sacrifice. I thank God that in BP churches, many
congregations are very generous to help those who are in need in the
church. And may God bless them. Sometimes you think that there is a
service here, but you may say, “I am so tired and I do not want to go to
church.” We do not realise that even our presence without saying
anything encourages other brethren. Do you know that? So when you come,
especially to prayer meeting, and present yourself, even though you do
not say a word, you even do not stand up to lead in prayer, your very
presence encourages other brethren. And so koinonia here always
means this, never think of yourself first, but think of your brother’s
need. He needs encouragement, but you may not realise this but your very
presence encourages him. It is very important. Why? Because he is my
brother in Christ. This is the meaning of fellowship.
Continue Stedfastly in the
Breaking of Bread.
What does this mean? It is very sad that nowadays, in the breaking of
bread, it is very ritualistic! But it is true that we must keep the
breaking of bread and remember our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a means of
grace. In other words, every time we break bread, we remember our Lord
Jesus Christ, His redemptive work, leaving His glory in Heaven, coming
down to this earth, giving His life for you. This must be personal. I
always take it personally. When I take the bread, I take it personally
that the Lord Jesus Christ died for me. If He died for me, what must I
do? I must be grateful to Him. Each time we partake of
the bread, and drink of the cup, remember that Christ
loved me and died for me. If someone really saved you from an accident:
You were walking across the road, and there was a car coming, it was
fast enough to kill you, but another person quickly rushed and pushed
you away. And he himself got killed. You would be ever grateful to the
relatives of that person. And if he were alive, I believe that you would
come to visit him every year and say, “Thank you for saving my life on
that day.” But here the Son of God, sinless, but because he loved you
personally, He died for you, so when you partake of the Lord’s Supper,
you must remember and know how to respond accordingly. Then as a means
of grace, you will not withhold anything from Him, you will give Him
your all. I like Paul’s statement in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified
with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the
Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” When you partake
of the Lord’s Supper, think that way, you are crucified with Christ. You
are dead. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, the life I now live
in the flesh, I live by faith, live for God, live for Christ. All my
life is now Christ’s, all for His glory. No more “I,” but Christ only.
And the early Christians daily went from house to house, partook of this
because they were so joyful to learn this wonderful truth that Christ
died for them individually, personally. They were all happy and the
prospect of salvation to be saved from eternal condemnation, believing
in the Lord Jesus Christ, being baptised with the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit. We usually observe the Lord’s Supper once a month, and this time
we should think that way and be revived, and we ask God for the
forgiveness of sins, the sins that beset us, the sins of omission,
commission, and we say to the Lord, “Lord, I confess my sins and repent
myself, I rededicate my life to you.” That should be wonderful. Then you
go forth. You will be a changed person, day by day, month by month, year
by year, you will become more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ.
Continue Stedfastly in
Prayers. They come
together to pray. And they visit one another, and they pray together and
pray for one another. It is so important for Christians to pray. This
is not ritualistic. No, prayer is communicating with God. And who is
God? He is the almighty God and nothing is impossible with Him. When we
pray, we communicate with God, and He wants us to pray to Him. Jesus
Christ is a Man of prayer. He prays so much and there is power in His
prayer. When He prays things change, so much so that the disciples asked
Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.” And our prayers! What are they? “I do
not know how to pray, I cannot find the right words. You should ask that
brother, his prayer is beautiful!” Does God care? No, you just pray from
your heart, and God accepts that kind of prayer. And when you pray you
must believe that God will do. And you pray in His Name and the Holy
Spirit will lead you in that prayer. And when you pray according to
God’s will, He will answer your prayer. As Jesus says, before you pray,
God already knows your needs. So prayer is important, and Satan has
discouraged many Christians from praying. In
your individual prayers, how many times have you knelt down in prayer?
How many minutes have you spent in prayer? And really fervent in prayer?
And so James said, the prophet Elijah prayed for no rain, and there was
no rain. And then he prayed for the rain, and the rain came. Then we
should pray fervently with faith.
Conclusion
So remember these four salient features in the life
of the church. They are not just for a time but must always be done:
Holding forth the Word of life, maintaining a strong fellowship
together, remembering the Lord Jesus Christ with gladness and
gratefulness in the heart, praying always for one another, for kings,
for government, for ministers, so that the people may come to know the
Word of God and believe in Christ. Preach the Word of God for the
salvation of souls. This is a challenge for you, a challenge for
Brisbane Bible-Presbyterian Church. Let us pray.
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