A Story of Three Gardens

Ps Koay Kheng Hin

Today I'm quite excited because I've not been up here for quite a while. It's like when I make announcements I don't want to give away the Mic. I have an old fashioned sermon to share. I was telling Bro Andrew that I sometimes think that now that I'm officially part of the pastoral team, what comes to mind is the movie the Last Samurai. Tom Cruise and Ken Wanatabe in the last scene, shows the Samurai charging at guns and canons with their blade and that's why it's called the Last Samurai. All die.

I have an old fashion sermon and I only have the Word of God to offer you. I've had the opportunity to hear sermons and I realised that my messages are very old fashion.

There are a lot of fresh messages that is available online but I also believe that the insights into the Word of God is eternal and there are always fresh insights into the word. I noticed that most of my books are old old books. About 90% of my books.

The Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan is one of those old classics. How a young Christian when he searches for God and he uses a lot of analogy. It talks about the word itself drawn from Peter 1 that we are all pilgrims of this earth as we journey through life, God will keep us progressing.

What I can impart to you is my journey with the Lord. My task is to draw men and women into an intimacy with the Lord. What about missions you say? My task is to draw you into communion with God and it is God's task to call you to the commission.

When we talk about TOP as a church, it's you and me. If you are doing well spiritually, TOP will do well spiritually. When I say spiritually, I'm talking about the temperature of your spiritual life. Are you excited when we talk about the things of God? That is the spiritual gauge of your spiritual temperature.

The first garden is the Garden of Eden.

Genesis 2:8-9 (NIV)

8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

It tells us two things. One, God did not create Adam in the garden. He was created outside the garden. God put him in the garden. The second is that the word Eden appeared. We sometimes use the word paradise. A garden of paradise. Delight and pleasure. It's a good garden.

A lot of trees there but there are two important trees. The tree of life and the tree of knowledge.

Genesis 2:15-16 (NIV)

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;

There are two trees. The tree that comes.to the foreground is the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In the background was the tree of life. They took the fruit of the tree and that disobedience caused death to come to the human race.

Adam and Eve were created with the capacity for immortality. To live forever. There was a tree of life where they would not have seen death. But towards the tree of life was the tree of knowledge and at that tree they stumbled.

Adam and Eve were offered two trees. To get to the tree of life they had to get through the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They failed miserably.

The book of the Bible begins here but it became the lost paradise. It represented disobedience.

Genesis 2:17 (NIV)

but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Death became the norm for the human race. It is this death that came over the human race that marks every man and every woman. Now when you talk about paradise and heaven to people they will say I am on earth and still young, why talk about heaven. They do not have any hope beyond what they have now.

But many of these people, when they reach the end of their life, they search. People who have near death experience, they'll say they see clouds and if you read some books like "Heaven is so Real", you think it sounds a little far fetched to believe.

I only believe what the Bible writes. I really don't know about any other experiences written in other books. I only believe what is written in the Word of God.

As children of God, there are two things that we should not be doing.

We should not be putting paradise and heaven aside. Why? Because your awareness and experience of it now will affect your spiritual life on earth. What is the relevance of your heavenly hope in relation to your life on earth? Or should we right from the beginning in our Christian life be excited about heaven.

When you look into the Bible there is a strong connection and it no accident that the Bible begins and ends with paradise. At Revelations it describes the glorified garden.

The second garden is the Glorified Garden.

Revelation 22:1-5

1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

Before I interpret these few verses, let's look at the apostle Paul. He was thinking about the glory after death. He said to live is Christ and to die is gain. He had the consciousness that he was on a journey and his final destination is the glorified paradise.

Peter, he wrote that we are pilgrims and strangers on this earth and one day he will meet the Lord in glory.

And John wrote that he who testifies to these things he said come Lord Jesus. He was looking unto the glory of being with him in the glorified paradise.

There are a few things in this glorified paradise that would come true. There would be no more night. Where is this light from? You cannot trust Tenaga but you can trust God. The city of the New Jerusalem gets light from the glory of God. The glory of God lights up the glorified paradise.

Adam and Eve lost that covering of the glory of God when they took the fruit from the tree of knowledge. In the glorified paradise you have the second garden where salvation finally found its perfection. Fully manifested and the glory of God is everywhere.

In verse 4, it is written they will see his face. You will see Jesus face to face. In the lost paradise Adam and Eve lost the presence of God. Here you will see the Lamb of God on the throne.

Verse 3 says no more curse. No longer. The righteousness and truth and the perfection and full rest of the soul is found in paradise. Would we one day want to find a place where we can lay down all our burdens and all our anxieties are put away. Where the presence of God is seen and experienced forever. A place marked not by death but by life.

There was a movie called Shangri-La where a place of beauty, pleasure and life exists. Science uses the word Eutopia. Nobody wants to die. Even a man up to the very end will always have the hope of another day longer. Very few I've met who say why today cannot die, must wait until tomorrow?

Where is this second garden? The garden of the glorified paradise. Is it in heaven now or existing now, the answer is no. Revelations 21 tells us that it awaits a new heaven and a new earth.

There will come a time when there is a new heaven and a new earth. It will come down onto earth. The glorified paradise will still be on earth, a new earth. This is the hope of every sons and daughters of God. That one day we will be with our Lord Jesus experiencing the fullness of God.

The world is in the lost paradise trying to find the glorified paradise and they'll fail.

In Jonathan Edward's Christian Pilgrim, he wrote that we should not rest in the world and its desires but we should be desiring heaven. We should want to be with God and to be with Jesus Christ. We want to be in heaven not because it has more beautiful beaches than Batu Ferringhi or that it has more beautiful gardens than Hawaii but because Jesus is there.

He tells us to enjoy whatever God has given you. So don't go and sell your house because I say you look to heaven.

What is our heavenly hope in God? Now we look at the third garden.

The third garden is the Garden of Gethsemane.

Matthew 26:36-39

36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

This third garden answers this question. The verse that stands out is this. My father if it's possible let this cup pass by me. But finally he says not as I will but as you will.

The first garden was a struggle between God's will and Adam and Eve's will. The devil pushed them - your will be done or God's will be done. Finally Eve decided my will be done. But Jesus said as God's will. The lost paradise represented the permissive will of God. Here it showed Jesus bowing to the will of the Father. It's the prescriptive will of God. God's will be done, the full providential will of God. We are all here on earth.

Every day we face this question. Is it my will or God's will be done. We are daily as a Christian in the Garden of Gethsemane.

The day we become a Christian we enter our Garden of Gethsemane. Everyday you will face this challenge, my will be done or his will be done.

Men and women who have captured the essence of that heavenly hope that whatever decision they make now will have eternal value. They will be able to say thy will be done. They have this hope of glory of Christ in them.

Many years ago even after becoming a Christian, I didn't really find rest in God. Until one fine day, I found two words. Strife and surrender. In these two words, I got the breakthrough as God illuminated it. God's will is about surrender. Eve did not do so, she had to use her hand to take it. It's strife. Everyday, are you going to strife to lay hold of things or will you surrender?

For us to surrender our finances, our career, our children, those things that are dear to us is easier said than done. It's a journey.

Many years ago, I'm a science teacher so I went through a period if I've surrendered my finances to God? My career to God? I ticked a list. Some things I stopped like chess because it's held on Sundays. So I ticked no. To surrender my wife to God. Don't want to say much. Tick la. That time Esther was two years old and Rebecca was seven. When it came to my children, I couldn't tick.

The tick means if God calls me back can I release them. Sometimes your life changes with just a little tick. Finally I ticked. You have to release. It does not mean your children is no longer with  you. It means surrender. Your will be done.

If we know there is a better life ahead of us, a heavenly hope, it gives you strength and the rest of the soul and it will be a barometer of your spiritual health.

Every single day of our life is the Garden of Gethsemane. Looking at the glorified paradise will give us strength and hope.

You have eternal life as children of God. But the more important is to have a victorious Christian life. The question is are you experiencing eternity in your life. If you are saying yes, then I want to encourage all of you that tomorrow as you wake up you will have that glorified paradise coming down to earth I to your life.

I end with this. The Bible has a poetic coherence to it. When God ordained that when you enter the tree of life, God maintains that principle that to enter the tree of glorified paradise is the tree in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is a prelude to Golgotha or Calvary. It's a tree of curse, shame and suffering and Jesus bored that. We now enter it through the tree of shame, it's our shame our suffering and our curse borne by Jesus.

The Power of Praise

 

Rev Ronald Ooi 

Let's welcome Joshua and company to TOP. They are with the House of Prayer. 

I was one of those young people in the seventies where I was gripped by the love of God. It was early in the morning when I encountered God and was praying in the Holy Spirit for four hours. I pray the young today will have an encounter with God not because their parents are Christian but they personally have an encounter with God. I was in KL at the House of Prayer and I saw how these young people were praying for you and I. 

In 2 Chronicles 20 we see an impending war. The world today is in a very vulnerable position and that the Third World War may happen anytime with all the nuclear warheads that are there. We call it the end times. But the prophesy is that in the last days there will be an outpouring of God's Spirit. We are seeing that happening and we also see the increase of violence and natural calamities. All have been prophesied in the Bible. 

But we have a God who is with his people even through the difficult times we are in. 

The Power of Praise. I want to talk about that. King Jehoshaphat called for a time of prayer and fasting. 

2 Chronicles 20:3-4

3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

The people were positioning themselves to seek God and to hear from God. Jehoshaphat did a very wise thing and we can follow him. 

We have not gone through a World War except the World War 2 and it was a traumatic experience for those who went through it. We may not have gone through this battle but we go through different battles ourselves. Some financial where we have to feed our family in spite of challenges. There are relationship issues. Lost of loved ones. Career and sickness, battles that we go through and some people don't even know what we go through. 

Men, women and children came to seek the Lord. And this was his prayer. 

2 Chronicles 20:12

O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

Have you been I'm a situation where you just don't know what to do? He said but our eyes are on you. When you face a problem, fix your eyes on God. God is bigger than your problems. You get scared and disappointed when you don't fix your eyes on him. 

He is always there even if it seems he is not. God is present. Jehoshaphat said we have no power but our eyes are upon you. He had a serious dependence upon God. 

We are going to come to the Good Friday and Easter event. We are entering the 21 day of prayer and fasting. I had my reservation when Allan said he is coming. He speaks to thousands in India. He is called the Jesus of India but he is a simple man. He is an evangelist, one of the five fold ministry. Once, he raised a person from the dead. He is bared from certain countries because they cannot handle the crowd. 

We are dependent on God because there are obstacles to the work of God. The time has come not just the Intercessors praying but all of us going for a time of prayer and fasting. It can be a vegetarian diet. See the instructions in the booklet. TOP will see a change. When you pray for victory there will be a battle. It can be a scary time. The challenges will come but when I look back in all my years as a preacher, I asked why is there so much trouble in my life and I realised it is a training ground where we get down on our knees to develop our muscles to become like God. And God will use you as an instrument to do exploits for God. 

We have become a very inpatient society. We want everything fast. We want fast food, fast cars. Fast money, fast entertainment. We want everything fast except to fast. 

Penang traffic is getting too fast. It used to be slow. We are losing this spiritual discipline to wait patiently in the Lord. Slowly wait before God. Pray for one hour, two hours, three hours, four hours. Don't be afraid. It's training. It's such a joy to wait on the Lord. It's such a joy when God's people come together to seek God. 

We pray that God will slow us down because we live too fast. With all of eternity before us, let us learn to wait on God. The Psalmist reminds us to wait on God if we want strength to go on. 

George Mueller started an orphanage at Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England. He prayed for everything he needs in. And that is what I have learnt. Before I open my mouth to ask anyone for anything, I learnt to ask God first. 

“I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk, when I lie down, and when I rise. 
And the answers are always coming. Tens of thousands of times have my prayers been answered. 
When once I am persuaded that a thing is right, I go on praying for it. - George Muller

It is the same with my life all these years. There was one time when my children was so sick in Penang. We had to send him to the hospital one week after my daughter and I asked God what did I do wrong? As I look back now, it was a training ground and when they came out of hospital, all the bills were paid for. 

If you fast and don't pray, it's starvation. If you fast and sleep, it's hibernation. If you fast and pray, it's intercession. 

2 Chronicles 20:15

And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's.

When you spend enough time with God you have to wait and wait and wait to get a prophetic word. Why only David get to bring down Goliath? You may say he's the lucky one. No. He's the ready one. You have to be ready. When you are ready, God give his word like he gave to the army. My battles become God's battles. My bill become God's bill. Your children becomes his children. God will fight your battles. And you will receive because his word will be released. When it comes, it is heavens word and not man's word. The battle is not ours. It belongs to God.

We need to be the ready ones. Not the lucky ones. And we will see the breakthrough we are waiting for. 

They then moved forward and praise God. They worshipped. 

2 Chronicles 20:18-19

18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. 19 Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high.

There is Worship. There was Praise. And there was Thanksgiving. They did all of that. 

Worship in Hebrew is "shachah". Worship is to bow, to kneel to crouch before the Lord. The emphasis is to come before God. 

It's like your puppy. When you come home, it's not the wife that greets you. It's your puppy and it comes to lick you. That's the image. 

Praise is boasting. Boasting of who God is and we give him the credit of what he has done. It's like polishing silver. Then you lift it up for everybody to see. To show your trophy. You lift him up and not shy about showing who God is and what he's done for you. You praise him not just in good times but also in bad times. In the valley you can still praise God. In whatever circumstances of life you praise him. 

Thanksgiving is to communicate surrender. Coming to him with empty hands and surrender to him. You couldn't have done it yourself. 

And blessings is to kneel down and saluting God for who he is in his authority. And you speak well of him. Like an eulogy given when someone died. Eulogia in the New Testament is to speak well of him while he is alive. 

And look at what happened when they praised God, something happened in the heavenlies. Something happened where God's power was released and the enemies killed each other. And they came in and plundered the enemies. There is a spiritual dynamics there that our minds cannot comprehend. God gives victory to his people when they praise him. 

You may not have an answer today but praise God and see the results that will come ahead. 

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you today for accepting me as your child.
I surrender to you all the challenges that I am facing in life.
I understand from your word today, that you will fight the battles for your people.

The Battle is the Lord’s!

I believe victory is mine as I praise your holy name. 

No weapon formed against me shall prosper.

I praise you today from the depths of my heart.

In Jesus Mighty Name!

Bro David Ng being interviewed by Ps Ronald about his experiences as an ex-Thomas Cup badminton player representing Malaysia.

Ps Joshua from House of Prayer leading us in a time of praise and worship at the close of the service.

Ps Ronald praying for all the ushers, and encouraging them on the importance of their ministry.

The Three Calls

Rev Ronald Ooi

Luke 6:12-19

The Twelve Apostles

6:13-16pp — Mt 10:2-4; Mk 3:16-19; Ac 1:13

12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. 13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: 14 Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Blessings and Woes

6:20-23pp — Mt 5:3-12

17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

I want to pick up on where Bro Koay ended last week. If you missed it, go download the TOP App.

The Call to Communion v13

There was a particular time in Jesus' life where he was going to call individuals to carry out a mission to save the world. I wonder what happened the night before? How many of you have prayed through the night before.

We used to do that and we call them the overnight prayer. Last night I woke up at 1.30am because of the mat rempits and I decided to pray through the night. I was talking to God and it was wonderful as I was trying to talk about the major decisions in my life.

And here we see Jesus  trying to connect with the Father and he planned to connect with the twelve. He spent the whole night praying to God and it shows us how important it is to pray and catch the mind and heart of God and to align ourselves to him. We cannot live in a world by ourselves and like Cheryl she has connected to a girl in Mongolia and to getting his son to also connect with this child.

Here Jesus is connecting with the Father and he connects to the twelve. We are all connected to one another and the world. But how do we use the life that we have to bring the healing of God, the mind and heart of God to those we are connected to?

He was going to change the world and humanity. He chose twelve imperfect apostles and one even betrayed hm. The first is a call to him, to abide in him. When we draw towards him, we will not be swayed by other voices.

We have one life on earth so how do we want to live it? To live it for ourselves or to live it for the call of God? God calls us as his children. As his servant. The first call is to be with God. That was what Jesus did. The world has lost this communion. It's a clear call. Let my heart be broken with the things that breaks the heart of God.

Jesus said I'm the way the truth and the life and there's no other way. He's trying to connect to us and if we refuse that call we get into trouble. That’s why the world is going round and round and round into trouble out and then into trouble again.

It's breaks my heart that a woman was found tied to her child drowned in Penang. And I heard she's pregnant. Is there a cry in society that we really need him? Can we hear the call of God so clearly that when we walk with him we know what to do. We get that right and everything falls into place.

There is a safely in that centre. Harmony, peace and unity with God will flow into other areas of our life.

I was a diver so at a low point of my life, my wife asked that we do something different. So we dived and it's a marvelous sport. One time the sea was really rough and the instructor told us you must never swim alone. You must have a buddy. And you must know where that anchor line is.

You can lose your bearing down there. I always remember that life line. When you get lost, distracted or you drift away, remember where your lifeline is. My life has been spared because of the instructor's instruction. It was so rough that you struggle and use up your air. We don't call it oxygen but air. It was so bad that I wanted to quickly go up but my instructor told me to go down. And waited for the calm to come then we went up through the lifeline.

Life is like that. We can't predict what the day is. But I know in all the crisis of life, there is a lifeline. Stay as close as you can to God and he will show you when everything is stormy you will be fine because he is with you.

Our busy noise driven world is an obstacle to our pursuit of harmony with God. In Penang now everyone seems to be rushing. I'm surprised because 20 years ago the traffic was too slow for me and now it's too fast for me. We need to make that communion happen.  It's not a law but it's intentional. We need to have that communion.

Can you hear God calling you these days or are you so busy? You bury yourselves in your work so when the Holy Spirit prompts you, will you listen? Find that time because it's so vital.

Jesus made it a habit to seek a solitary place of worship. The early church began with constant prayer.

Acts 1:14

They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

And the early church was sustained by prayer.

Acts 2:42

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Prayer is the engine room for the church. That is so vital in these days we live in. We don't take time to warm up, like an engine. The prayer of the Saints are needed. Not just on Wednesday and Sunday but daily. We are a daily church. And if we want to see the fullness of God's purpose in our life, we need that engine room.

The present day generation will remain a powerful force of influence through prayer. We taught our granddaughter to pray before food and sometimes when we forget, she reminds us.

The present day church will remain strong through prayer. There was a group of house church pastors in China who came together to pray. They love praying. These are people who works, as farmers and executives but when they come together, they pray. The house churches are growing in China and the thing why these churches are growing is because prayer always precede revival. Nothing can replace true revival that happens is because of prayer.

And Malaysia, we have to pray. Pastor Raymond is missing. Something is happening and we have to pray. It is so essential for us to understand this. It is through prayer that revival happens.

Without a lonely place, our life is in danger. We need to have that time with God to find our direction. Listen first. Don't be so quick to speak. He gave us two ears and one mouth. Listen carefully. Without listening, speaking no longer heals. What is God saying to you? Listen carefully. The Lord will direct and give you the peace when you consult him first. As we learn to listen we will find that strength. 

Without distance, closeness cannot cure - Henri Nuowen .

The Call to Community v13

Why did he call twelve? Not one. He uses community. He chose Adam and then he chose Eve to oversee the whole creation. Then he chose Abraham and formed Israel. Then came the church through 12 apostles. To commune in unity. It's called teamwork in our modern day.

In the early days, I worked in a rehab centre. Living in community I learnt the acronym LIGHT. Living In Group Harmony through Truth. We are part of a larger community. We are not alone. Can you rest in the calling that God has called us together for a time such as this. That God has gelled us together for his purposes. If you hear that call clearly, then you will find no matter how difficult the work is you will stay true to that call because it is a call from God. You will work through.

In community, we do life together. One heart one mind. We do it together and as a channel for God to change the world.

The Call to Communicate v17-19

The commission. Jesus chose 12 to win and change  the world. Later in my life, I caught this. I will call 12 and pour my life into them. It has been the most fulfilling. If the Holy Spirit impress upon your heart, would you in your lifetime, just find 12 men or women and focus intentionally in raising them up as disciples. I can assure you just as Jesus did with the 12 and Jacob with his 12 sons, you will be like a father and mother in that approach to discipleship. 12 multiply by 12 is 144. That’s a whole new level. We don't play the numbers game but it's a discipleship process. 144 x 144? 1720. Wow.

If we carry his cross we too may be betrayed. How did he responded to Judas? He called him friend and asked him to do it quickly. He use us to make a difference in the world.

There is the call, the community and then the curing. Power was coming from Jesus and healing happens. That's what it's like to be in a community. You touch one another.

Yesterday we went down to earth. We went to the Jelutong market. Suddenly, we had someone who called us pastor! We sat at the drain side by the market and it dawn upon me what is God saying? This is how I came down to your level. From heaven to earth with the sinful fragrance of earth. It is wonderful to be a part of this community. We walk through this world not just by ourselves but in the community he has given us.

We cannot do it without first fulfilling the first two call - to seek the Lord, called to community.

Rooted in God and community, we find life, we do life, we communicate life.

We can make a difference. We can change the world. Never say cannot. You may have had some obstacles but with God all things are possible.

Cheryl shared on World Vision and it's work.

Rev Ronald praying for the Head of Ministries.

Disciple Making is a Spiritual Battle

Bro Koay Kheng Hin

Today I want to continue the theme of making disciples. I have titled my message "the Spiritual Battle of Disciple Making ". The emphasis is that disciple making is a spiritual battle. If you're in the cell, you'll also know disciple making is in the current series.

I want to start with some military history. There was this battle during the second world war where the Nazis were trying to establish their control in Europe and they were being attacked from all fronts. D-day came about when the alliances got together on British soil and landed on Normandy beach.

The army rangers had young recruits and they were singing all the way to Normandy Beach, very gung-ho but they didn't know what they were getting into and there was a blood bath on the beach and they panicked. They were not prepared for what was awaiting them. But along the way with many casualties, they finally took the beach.

Disciple making is a spiritual battle and we need to be prepared. I want to look at Matthew 28 and look at it from this view point.

Matthew 28:18-20

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Most of the time when we look at these three verses, we will think of missions and missionaries or evangelism. But if you look at it in verses 19 and 20, it is one full sentence. It's comma and not full stop. It is not go and make disciples. Full stop. Go and baptize them. Full stop. Go and teach them. Full stop. It is punctuated by commas, which means it is one process.

And it comes with this understanding from the Greek that a disciple is someone who learns from the master and it is a life long process. When we say make disciples, he does not differentiate between conversion, baptizing and teaching. Matthew sees it as one whole process.

When the gospel is being shared and we evangelize, it is just the beginning of the discipling process. It is one full process and this tells us that this verse speak not only of evangelistic purposes but a verse that speaks to the whole church.

Discipleship is more than just conversion. Whether you are called to the mission field or not you are involved in disciple making. You may be involved in the cell or worship you are still involved in disciple making. A teacher can talk a lot but some cannot talk but can do. Like Bro Hooi and me, we have gone a long way and I can talk but he can do. He has the heart and he is involved in the discipleship process. The teacher can let the people know how it's done but it's the person with a gift of mercy that actually shows how it's done.

We have our different areas but together we show how discipling is done. It's a lifelong process from the day the person becomes a believer.

In my experience in lay ministry I can say that many have not put their hands to the plough and they say they're not ready but they have been saying this for the last 20 years. Or some will just say they're tired. Or some say they've done it before and it's not a good experience and they will not do it again.

Finally there will be the very encouraging ones who has been in it for many many years and they are still vibrant and at it and you can sense that God is enabling them day to day.

What I'm saying today is for all groups. What are my intentions? For those who has not done it, I'll say 2017 will be the year to serve. For those who's tired, I'll say he will give you the strength. And for those who has stopped doing it I'll say God gives you a fresh new start. And for those who's been doing it, God says well done and I'm with you.

Disciple making had to be grounded into the person of Christ. I want to link Matthew 28 to John 15.

John 15:4-5

4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

When we engage ourselves into disciple making we must understand that our work can only bear fruit if we abide in Jesus. It is spiritual work and work at the end of the day, if you look at another verse, Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

This tells us that first and foremost you have to have God working in you before God can work through you. This is where I want to emphasize about work when we put our hands to the plough. Generally they will say Monday to Friday they work for the boss and Saturday and Sunday, they work for God.

When we put our hands to the plough, it is not you working for God but God working through you. Every time you go and share the gospel you are not there to try to convince, persuade or coerce a person. You are there to proclaim the gospel and God will work through you. 

I heard someone said this last year. You owe it to me because I saved you. If you helped someone to come to Jesus and when a year later you need a favour you go back to the person and said you owe it to me because I saved you from hell. Sometimes in our language, we say I saved 10 souls and we don't really think about it.

This is where I bring the point number two that none of us has the power to make someone become a Christian. That role is the role of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit convicts the heart, we share the gospel. You may think there's no difference, you will find there's a big difference. When we think we save the soul, we will fall into the snare of the devil and pride can enter our heart.

But if we share the gospel and see our friends not being saved we take the burden of why the person is not saved when we're to supposed to save them. Or we may end up focusing too much on methodology. I'm not saying methodology is wrong, just it's not the emphasis. I wanted to title my message as the "mystery of disciple making" but I decided to change it to spiritual battle. Disciple making is indeed a mystery.

God has his timing and God will save whomever he wants to save and God has a kairos time for the person.

Paul says he planted and Apollos watered but God is the one that gave the increase. You may be a planter. Or you may be a waterer. And these don't see the harvest and someone else may be harvesting. So the question is, is the harvester to be more rewarded than the planter or waterer? Don't go and count the number of souls you have saved because you can't save any souls. You are to just continue to be faithful in sharing the gospel.

When we talk of fruits, there is the fruit of character or the fruit of the commission. God first works in you, that's the fruit of character and then God works through you, then it's the fruit of commission. And they are both related. If you have the fruit of love in your character, then when you share the gospel, that love will bear fruit in your commission. And that transformation is what God wants to do.

I have been tired. I was once always at church loitering around because I'm free after school. I accepted the Lord in 1993. I went to the cell in 1994. I then put my hands to the plough. In 2001, I told pastor Geoffrey, I have nothing more to give. I feel like I was running on empty. I made a wise decision and I stepped down for one year. I'm not asking you to step down ya. But I told pastor Geoffrey I'll be back, like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator.

Your abiding in Christ is your key to your commission. We all in different ways will abide in Christ differently. There's no one way. I've learnt that we are all different and I can only share a little bit of what I do. But it is not a formula. When it comes to the things of God, it is different to each individual.

There is no formula but there is a guideline. What have I been doing the past 17-18 years. I spend a lot of time on the word of God. I have also learnt that theological study is one thing but devotional reading is different. Theological studies may stir or excite your mind but it does not change your heart. The Epistles are good for devotional reading. You just read and you can go over it again and again but in reading the word of God you will find the spirit of God and his presence will use the agent of the word to speak to you. There are things you can personalized but the reading must have constant reflection.

You will find something deeper comes in because it is God speaking to you and at a point you will response. I call it the 3R. Read, reflect and response.

This is one approach and there are other approaches because each individual is different. However you want to work at it, you have to. People have asked before how to have the presence of God? I keep it simple. God wants to draw near to you and if you draw near to him, he'll draw near to you.

Matthew 11:28-30

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

This come across to me as to abide. Not come and go. Just ask yourself, this day are you having the rest in your soul? Think about it. The rest of the soul is our heritage as the children of God. It is a treasure that money cannot buy. And it is a sign that you are abiding in Christ.

If we do not have the rest of the soul, all else that we have in this temporal life will often mean very little. If you have a lot of money but you cannot sleep at 3 o'clock in the morning, you'll wonder if you can exchange your money for that rest. That's why God can give a peace that surpasses all understanding. It is a peace that is only for the children of God.

If someone tells you he wants to give you RM50,000 for your peace, you better think carefully. It is a blessing to just lie down and immediately go to sleep. If you have the RM50,000 and that night you cannot sleep you go back to that person he will not trade with you even for RM100,000 because he can finally sleep.

My third point is that the rest of the soul is in abiding in Christ. I want to use the word communion. It is not found in commission. You may ask wah…serve so much also cannot find rest of the soul. We think when we put our hands to the plough, that work give us meaning or power, you will find if your rest is tied to the commission it will be like a yoyo. Because ministry goes up and down. Your commission will have good and bad times. It's the communion that gives you rest. It's the communion that strengthen you to do the commission.

I seldom go to seminars. So there was one seminar on marriage and I went and picked up a truth. The preacher said, don't as husband and wife and look at your wife to seek to be blessed by your wife and wives, don't look at your husband to be blessed and fulfilled by your husband. I was thinking what is this?

He drew on the overhead projector and he drew that when God bless and fulfill you, you will look at your spouse and look at how you can bless and fulfill the other. There is some truth in this. We have been created by the Lord and we can only be fulfilled by him. We often look at our spouse for something that our spouse cannot give. It is expectations that kills a marriage.

When you abide in Christ and listen and reflect on his words, and when the rest comes upon you, you will have all you need and the commission becomes an outflow of what God has given you. Not by might, nor by power but by my Spirit saith the Lord.

You must remember in the spiritual battle of disciple making, it is always by the Spirit of the Lord. Through abiding in his presence comes the power of your  ministry.

I want to look at two characters. Let's look at two women. Then I will look at two men. Fair la.

Luke 10:38-42

Mary and Martha Worship and Serve

38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”

41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Martha was distracted by her work and she probably didn't look to the Lord too. She looked at Jesus and complained about Mary and it looked like a rebuke. Jesus looked at Martha and said she is worried and troubled, much like when you are doing the commission. Your communion must precede your commission. We must understand that God is our Father. Not our slave driver. He is more interested in you than what he can do through you. He knows all things. If a person spend time with him, you'll put your hands to the plough. You get the heart right and you will not have to worry about the hands. A Martha may not be a Mary but a Mary will always be a Martha.

I want to look at two men, David and Saul in the OT. What is the difference between David and Saul?

1 Samuel 13:14

But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

Saul was not a man after God's heart while David is  a man after God's heart. Look at the Psalms. Half of it is written by David. Like Psalms 23. It is actually a poem of communion. It's all about his intimate communion with God. Look at the character of David and Saul. The Bible described that Saul got jealous and angry and at the end of his reign was one of distress. Even David played the harp to calm him down. David was the one with the rest of the soul. David had a chance to kill Saul twice and yet he said he will not touch the Lord's anointed.

David is one who spent time with God. Saul did not see his kingdom as God's Kingdom. Saul had an unfulfilled commission.

We need to see God as our Father and we as his children. This is where the mystery comes in. Many of us are fathers here. When our children do something out there, we do not ask did he do the job, but rather how are you. When my daughter called and said she bang someone's car, I asked are you okay. That is a father's heart. Who cares about the car.

When we involve ourselves in the work of the ministry or disciple making in the name of the Lord Almighty, when God sees you, he sees you first before he sees your ministry.

I read the biography of Hudson Taylor and he had many missionaries under him. He was looking not at their work but whether they are they safe. God first and foremost cares and love you above the work.

However much communion you have with the Lord but you don't put your hands to the plough, you must understand God's agenda is to transform you to be like Christ. If you do not put your hands to the plough, you do not give God the opportunity to transform you.

It is a biblical understanding with psychological support that the more you give, the more your heart becomes generous. The way to grow in kindness is to start with an act of kindness and it forms a seed for God to work on and soon you will live a life of kindness.

God is a genius. He always use one stone to kill two birds. Not like us who needs two stones to kill one bird. When you put your hands to the plough what he does through you fulfill his kingdom purpose, and you will be changed by your commission. That is why if you just pray and do nothing, you will find you cannot be transformed.

I have two testimonies of two person who went through difficult times. I have grown to be a better person by walking with these people. God worked in me through the counseling and I am myself transformed.

The other is when I teach in Bible class. I always say I am most blessed after teaching. Fresh insights come when I teach.

Communion will bring about commission. But finally in all that commission God has given you, God just desires this for you just like what Peter wrote. This was when he already knew he will be martyred. I will leave you with this.

2 Peter 3:18

but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

Unfading Glory

Bro Koay Kheng Hin

These two words, glory and unfading captures a certain essence of what our Christian faith is all about. Christ has done the work of the cross and resurrected over 2000 years ago and we await his return.

1 Peter 1:1

To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,

Here he mentions pilgrims (strangers) and the elect. This was during a difficult period and Peter is saying even during those times, it is only for a moment, a period. It was a church when initially established went under heavy Jewish persecution. The people persevered and when things seems better they got under Roman persecution.

Today, I believe that our country, when we read epistles like that we find it difficult to identify with the circumstances the people are going through.

For most of us we have a certain religious freedom that the government has given us. I think messages like that of an epistle like 1st Peter, we may not understand. I believe that Malaysia may go through a difficult period and we may not enjoy the liberty that we are enjoying now.

As I prepare this message unfading glory, I was looking at a time if the church faces persecution like we have never experienced before or as a Christian we go through a different challenge, 1st Peter may become meaningful.

I have a friend who is doing well, better than me. I'm doing okay as a school teacher but he is much better financially. He said he don't believe in God and he said he is not doing badly. If we talk of God in the area of temporal blessing they may not appreciate it because they say they are doing better than you. But if you look at Peter you will see he sees his faith in a different light.

Peter says this is not our home when he calls us strangers. We are journeying, a pilgrim. When the church is prosperous, sometimes we may forget that this is not our home. You may say I'm 60 years old so it's okay to say this is not my home but I want to say whether young or old this is not our home. Paul says our citizenship is in heaven. That's why Matthew talks about treasures in heaven. The NT is a gospel where eternity is real and the things that matters to us must be seen in the light of eternity.

It is on that basis that we can be more than conquerors for Christ. It is on that basis we can say that the kingdom of God is expanding on this earth.

1 Peter 1:24-25

24 For, “All people are like grass,

and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;

the grass withers and the flowers fall,

25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.”

And this is the word that was preached to you.

Peter writes that flowers wither and only the word of God will last forever. Peter is not talking about a concept but Peter has seen much of what is in man's heart. As we go through life, many things occupy our life. One is money. We need money but the problem is when their glory is their money. Where their security and worth is their wealth. Then we say their glory is their wealth.

Another area is beauty. I thought this is a problem only women have. But nowadays I realised these days men also have this issue. They go for facials. Sometimes God wants us to look pretty and beautiful and we are like that in God's sight. I remember an actress who could not take growing old. When the glory of her beauty fades. She secluded herself.

For some people their glory is other people's recognition. Like when they retire as boss, they no longer receive the same recognition. Some of these people lose much of the meaning of their life.

Coming to health, our health may become our pursuit and we make statements like my health is the most important thing. But no matter how well you take care of your health, you will slowly lose that glory. Recently I lost my mom and it affected me. I am very close to my mom and those that comes to my house knows that. My mom used to cycle around Lip Sin. Many knows her as the cycling auntie and I'm known as the cycling auntie's son.

In January my mom started losing weight. Esther my youngest daughter touched my mom and felt her bones. It was just skin and bones. We looked through old photos and she was very pretty when young. No offence but she is prettier than many of you here. But day by day I could see her body wasting away. You can see that the body at the end was just skin and bone.

2 Corinthians 4:16

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

Paul was talking about a fact of life. Outwardly we will waste away. But we are renewed inwardly.

2 Corinthians 4:17

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

We will one day have that glorious body that Christ will give to us. It is this that allows me to see that hope that I can capture in a real way that my mom as a spiritual soul will one day have a glorified body. But if you look at Paul, he says there are trouble. He said to the Corinthians that he suffered for the sake of the gospel and Christ but he says they are momentary. A passing moment in a journey. The momentary he compares to the eternal. Paul says these problems are light to me.

What we can capture from here is that Paul looks into the future and see the glory. That glory is not just the glorified body. This word glory has diverse meaning. When we say the glory of the Lord, that word glory has a certain sense of the favour and the perfect righteousness of God. And a God given honour imparted to us. That is why we will one day reign with God not because of our doing but his. An honour that God gives to his children.

Jesus was trying to show Peter, James and John what the glory of God was when Jesus transfigured before them. There was a certain radiance and brilliance about the glory of God. When the apostle Paul looks to eternity he is captured by the brilliance of the Lord God almighty.

This brings me to verse 18. People asked me you talk so much about heaven but we are here on earth. So which is more important?

2 Corinthians 4:18

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

The apostle Paul is telling the Corinthians that we have to fix our eyes on the unseen and eternal. I wrote it down like that, that we must see eternity as we live out our present. Not see eternity and have that kiasu attitude with that of wanting eternity now. The decisions you make in your life will be different. And things that are important to you will be different.

Even though eternity is the destination, what we do now will affect our eternity. We all have eternal glory but you can slowly sense that there are different degrees of glory. I struggled with this. I thought glory is perfection so everybody is the same. Recently I bought a book that solved this problem. Infinity is infinite but there is smaller and bigger infinity. It's mathematical and it's true. There are different degrees. Apostle Paul will have a different degree of glory to you and I.

2 Corinthians 5:9-10

9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Paul is saying we must please God and that we have to appear before God not for judgement but rewards. What we do now will affect our eternal glory. What are we supposed to do or what criteria will God look at?

Centuries back, the church had a system called indulgence, this was before the protestants. You give and your sins can be cancelled. Until one day Martin Luther wrote this, it is blasphemous to be able to buy your way to heaven. How does God judge? I look at a more practical framework. Like if you are a cell leader more marks. If you are a ministry leader you get marks or if you save how many souls. I use a simpler system. I would put it this way, all in Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 3:18

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

God's system is easier. Not by merit. This scripture show how we get to heaven. How do we experienced having the wrath of God taken away from us to have favour of God. It is the imputed righteousness of God that is the criteria. The righteousness of Christ is where your eternity lies in. If you grow in the image or likeness of God you are on safe grounds.  But what exactly do we mean by the likeness of Jesus Christ? You have to look at the gospels.

When Jesus was being baptised by John, Jesus had done nothing but God the Father spoke that Jesus is his well pleased son, because of the life he lived even before he did any ministry.

If you want to grow in the image of Christ, it is about who you are, the spiritual character and the fruitfulness of your character. When God sees you does he sees the fruits of who Christ is. Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to empower you to Christlikeness.

In the garden of Gethsemane, he ended with that prayer not my will but your will. Christ knew his purpose, that he was faithful till the end. It's the faithfulness of his ministry.

Some people find loop holes. He said God has not called me to be a pastor, and I say thank God, or called me to be an evangelist or a prophet so I don't have to do anything. Those are positions that God has a special calling as office. Not all are called and it's true. But has God called you to preach the gospel? God has not called you to be an evangelist but called you to do evangelism. Or God has not called you to be a pastor but you are called to pastoral work and to care for another. We are all called to do the work of the ministry. The call leaders are not pastors but they do pastoral work. Faithful to the ministry where God has called you and every child of God is called.

It is just most of the time you have ignored what God has called you for. The renewal we have daily is a renewal of glory. A renewal that comes from the glory of God transforming us. In that transformation you go from glory to glory.

When the glory of God comes upon you, there is a certain joy and you feel light. That is what will carry you to eternity.

I was reading about Martin Luther who gave his last sermon the day before he was assassinated. I have been to the mountaintop. He says I have no fear of any man and what may come I am prepared for it. He had a premonition from God that God is taking him home. He said I have seen the glory of God and it's upon me. Like at the Transfiguration, they have seen the glory of God. The apostle Paul saw it. It was so brilliant and bright that it blinded him. The apostle Paul saw the glory of Christ.

As we behold him and spend time with the Lord, that glory will rub on us. We need to experience the glory of God. I am someone who uses my mind. What you experience in your mind is important but the spirit man grow when he experiences what is in the word. The logos has to become the rhema. You will see a difference.

All of us have eternal life which God the Holy Spirit promised us but how many of us have eternity in our hearts. Let's have eternity in our hearts.

I want to end with a story of two birds. One is the eagle while the other is a turkey. Can a turkey fly? I used to think no. Google say domesticated turkeys can't fly but wild turkeys can fly up to 100 feet. But they struggle to reach 100 feet. They have to accelerate hard before they can fly.

Eagles are different. They can fly to 10,000 feet. That's very high. And the eagle seldom flaps their wings, because they glide and look effortless when they soar.

If you have the temporal on earth at best you are like a turkey, struggling to fly. But if you are able to be like Peter who is a stranger on earth or like Paul whose citizenship is heaven, then you will be like the eagle that can reach 10,000 feet in your spiritual height.

Do you want to soar into the spiritual heavenly or do you want to struggle as a spiritual turkey. You should want to soar like an eagle instead of struggling like a turkey because you will end up on the dinner table on thanksgiving.

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