|
WEEKLY
Volume 2 Number 43
23 March 2008
Easter Camp at Hervey Bay
(21-24 March 2008)
Camp Theme:
Our Bible Presbyterian Faith
Theme Verse:
“But
sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and 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” (1 Peter 3:15)
Foreword by Pastor
Dearly beloved brethren and friends,
Welcome to our first Easter Camp! We thank God for
His grace and mercy upon us and for His perfect gift, His only begotten
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose again for our
justification and salvation, so this time is a good opportunity for us
to commemorate our Lord’s sufferings and death because of us as well as
to celebrate our Lord’s resurrection, His victory over death, sin, Satan
and the world. Praise the Lord, our risen and ever living Saviour!
We thank God for His blessings upon our First
Thanksgiving Anniversary last Sunday with our guest speaker, Elder Boaz
Boon. As our church is still young, it is good to learn about our
Bible Presbyterian Faith so that we may understand what we believe
and know how to answer when others ask us about our faith. What does it
mean “Bible Presbyterian”? What Bible do you use? What is Reformed
Faith? What is Calvinism? What is Hyper-Calvinism? What about your
Baptism? What does Biblical Separation mean? What about your view on the
Millennium? What is the Presbyterian form of Church Government? Can the
church practise Cremation? and so forth.
Please pray for God’s blessings upon our first Camp
and prepare your hearts for morning devotion, Good Friday Service,
Easter Sunrise Service and theme messages. Please make use of this
opportunity to know one another, care for one another, serve one
another, and glorify our living and true God together in our worship, in
our lives and in our leisure activities. Please pray for God’s
protection, keep the Camp rules and enjoy this Easter Camp.
In His grace and love,
Pastor
Outline of Messages
Preached at the Camp
Good Friday Service – Christ’s Sufferings (Matt
27:46)
Christ Sufferings
-
Be despised and
rejected (Isa 53:3; John 1:11).
-
Be hated, persecuted,
blasphemed and evil spoken of (John 5:16,18; 7:7, 12; 9:24).
-
Betrayed, forsaken and
denied (Mark 14:50; John 13:21; 18:17, 25-27).
-
Be tortured, smitten,
mocked and crucified (Matt 26:67; 27:12,29,30,41).
-
Be misjudged and
thought to be punished by God (Isa 53:4).
-
Be burdened with the
sins of all mankind (1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:2).
The climax of Christ’s
suffering is when He cried unto His Father,
“My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me?” (Matt
27:46). Why?
Because of the sins of the
whole world, including yours and mine!
Christ’s Blood-Shedding Death
on the Cross
-
A perfect sacrifice for
our sins, our Redemption (Col 1:14; Heb 10:12-14).
-
God’s love and Christ’s
love manifested (John 3:16; 15:9,13; Rom 5:8).
-
God’s holiness,
righteousness, judgement: do not take sins lightly (Rom 3:24-26).
-
Jesus Christ, the only
living Way to God and to Heaven (John 14:6; Heb 10:20).
Our Proper Attitudes
-
Remember Christ’s love
and sacrifice with our gratitude (1 Cor 11:23-25).
-
Being purchased by
Christ’s blood, let us live for Him and His glory (1 Cor 6:20).
-
Be one with
Christ in His death to self, sinful lusts and worldliness (Gal 2:20;
5:24; 6:14).
-
Look unto the
Lord and humbly follow His steps (Heb 12:2; 1 Peter 2:21).
Message 1 – Our Bible (Eph 2:19-22)
What is Bible Inspiration?
The Scripture is
“God-breathed” or “inspired by God.”
The Holy Spirit guided
His saints and moved them to write exactly what He wanted them to write
so that the final product is the very Word of God, free from errors (2
Peter 1:20-21). God not only inspired His Word as a whole but also all
of His words (verbal plenary inspiration – VPI - Matt 5:18; 2 Tim 3:16)
in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.
What is Bible Preservation?
God has preserved
His inspired Word as a whole and all of His inspired words as He
promised (verbal plenary preservation – VPP - Ps 12:6-7; Matt 5:18;
24:35, et al), and they are in the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts
underlying the KJV.
Is the KJV the Inspired Word
of God? KJV is not
directly inspired by God, but it is the most faithful, correct, reliable
and beautiful translation in English because it was translated from the
preserved texts by godly and highly-qualified translators through the
verbal technique of translation (word for word). So, it has
preserved all sound doctrines.
Can God use the modern English
versions of the Bible like the NIV to save an unbeliever from sin, and
to edify a believer in the faith?
Salvation is of the Lord
(Jonah 2:9), and He can use modern English versions like a tract to save
a repentant sinner, but to grow in faith and fight a good fight of
faith, we have to use the KJV.
What are the dangers posed by
modern Bible versions today?
They contain God’s Word but
are not exactly the Word of God because they are translated from the
corrupt texts by ungodly translators using dynamic equivalence
technique, so they do not present all biblical doctrines or right
theology. They even cast doubt on God’s Word.
Our Proper Attitudes:
Read, teach and preach the KJV with full trust & submission.
Message 2 – Our Reformed Faith (Eph 2:8-9)
What Is Reformed Faith?
-
It holds the fundamental doctrines
of our Reformed Faith: the Trinity; the eternal and essential Deity of
Christ; His eternal Sonship; His true humanity, His Virgin Birth by the
miraculous action of the Holy Spirit upon the Virgin Mary; His atoning
death, bodily resurrection, the second coming as the Judge of all the
earth; and His unique Person as God manifested in the flesh.
-
It holds the five great sola
statements: Sola Scriptura or “The Scripture Alone”; Sola
Gratia or “Grace Alone”; Sola Fide or “Faith Alone”; Solo
Christo or “Christ Alone”; and Soli Deo Gloria or “Glory to
God Alone.”
-
It holds the five points of
Calvinism (TULIP): Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited
Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints.
What is Hyper-Calvinism?
It overemphasizes God’s sovereignty and
neglects human responsibility. It is wrong because Hyper-Calvinists deny
God’s common grace and the free offer of the gospel and believe that
since God loves only the elect and Christ died only for the elect, there
is no need for evangelism.
What is Our View on the Millennium?
We are for Premillennialism (Rom 11:25-29;
Rev 5:10; 20:6). Amillennialism (no millennium) and Postmillennialism
(the world is getting morally better and better) are not biblical.
Sunrise Service – Christ Rose Again (I Cor 15:1-4)
How Do We Surely Know That Christ Died for Our Sins
and Rose Again?
God’s Word, the Scripture, says so, “Christ died
for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried,
and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1
Cor 15:3-4).
What Would Happen If Christ Had Not Risen Again?
-
Our preaching is vain, and our faith is also vain (v 14).
-
The dead would not be raised and all would perish (v 16, 18).
-
We are yet in our sins (v 17).
-
We are the most miserable, without any hope for our future life
after death.
Jesus Christ Truly Rose Again!
-
Jesus Christ is the Son of God, is God Himself, with all power
(Rom 1:4).
-
Jesus Christ fulfilled all the Scriptures (Luke 24:27,44).
-
His atoning sacrifice has been accepted (Acts 2:22-36). His
resurrection is for our justification (Rom 4:25) and our future
resurrection (1 Cor 15:20-23). Christ is our Hope.
-
Christ has overcome death, sin, Satan and the world and secured
our victory in Him (Rom 8:37; 2 Cor 2:14). Christ is our Life (Col 3:4).
-
Christ will return, and our bodies will be changed like His (Phil
3:21).
-
Our labour in Him is not in vain (1 Cor 15:58).
Message 3 – Our Practices (I Cor14:26-40)
God’s Word, the Scripture
is the foundation of our faith, salvation, doctrines,
worship, services and practices. Let all things be done unto edifying,
decently (properly) and in order, and with love (1 Cor 14:26,40; 16:14).
Our practices are as follows:
-
Biblical Separation
from sins, self, worldliness, wrong doctrines, all
unbiblical ‘isms’, and disobedient brethren must be applied in both
personal life and in the church (2 Cor 6:14-18; 2 Thess 3:6-15). This
should be biblically practised in love and humility to avoid being
isolationistic.
-
Sacraments
are only two: The Lord’s Supper
replaces the Passover (1 Cor 11:23-25), and Water Baptism (by
sprinkling) replaces circumcision (Col 2:11-12). Infant baptism (not
baptismal regeneration) signifies an entrance into God’s covenant which
is family-oriented (Gen 17:10-12; Deut 29:11-12).
-
Church Government
is Presbyterian, which means the church
is ruled by a plurality of elders (Board of Elders). Members must be
careful to elect godly and spiritually mature elders, and likewise
deacons who are submissive to the Lord and His Word to assist the elders
(Acts 20:17,28; 1 Tim 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9). Presbyterian government
is different from Episcopal government (governed by one person,
by a hierarchy of bishops – if he is ungodly, he will mislead the
members with ungodly decisions or wrong doctrines) and from
Congregational government (governed by all the church members – if
the majority are ungodly, the church will be ungodly).
-
Burial of the Dead
is our practice as our body is the temple of the Holy
Spirit (1 Cor 6:19-20) and will be resurrected with a glorious body like
Christ’s. Cremation (a heathen practice) is not biblical.
Top
/ Back
|
