Bro Koay
Kheng Hin
The title
for today is the Messenger and I think it's a timely message and it's not
targeted at anyone in particular but that all of us are messengers. As I talk
to some in church, there is this sense of a new season and that God is doing
something new and it is something that God has planted in not one or two but
many in the church. When God calls us out we need to know how God uses us.
This
messenger is one "M" of three "Ms".
The first
"M" is about the Master. The second "M" is the Message and
the third "M" is the Messenger.
I want to
begin with a story. It's real life but how accurate I'm not sure. It happened
2500 years back before Christ. It's a story that our marathon runners will
probably be able to identify with. It's about the battle of marathon. The
Persian army came against the Athenians. The Athenians ran 42 km out of Athens
to this place Marathon where the battle was fought. And this man Pheidippides,
he's the messenger.
On the
day of the battle the Athenians were outnumbered 3 to 1. Seems like an
impossible task but they won. Pheidippides was given the honour to run and he
ran 42 km to Athens and when he reached Athens he shouted "rejoice we
conquer, we have won" the city celebrated and he collapsed and died. He
was the messenger for that particular battle.
But when
I saw my friends ran, they never collapsed so I was wondering if Pheidippides
was fit. But the more I dug into it, before the day of the battle he was also
the runner that ran to Sparta in order to get help. And that was the killer. He
ran 225 km across mountaineous terrain. Ran to Sparta and then ran back. So
over that 2 to 3 days he ran over 500 km. He also fought that day with full
armour and he had to run that last 42 km.
There are
three things in the story that applies to us.
When he
ran to Athens, he had the good news. Rejoice and we conquer. And we too as a
messenger has the good news to proclaim.
The
second is despite his exhaustion and obstacles, he did his job. We as the
messenger of Christ is also in the position. But sharing the good news is not a
bed of roses. Even as a 60 year old like me we are still at it.
And third
he became a martyr for what he was doing. Paul too became a martyr.
Hold on
to these three things.
And here
is the beginning of my sermon.
The
Master
John 12:31-32 (KJV Strong's)
31 Now is the judgment of this
world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 32 And I, if I be lifted
up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
Jesus
spoke these verses on the week of passion. The Greeks were there too and they
wanted to know about him. And here he turned from the Jews to the Greeks and to
all men. And here Jesus was talking about the cross of Calvary. And he was
talking to all men, drawing all men unto himself.
In verse
31, he said Satan will be driven out on the day Jesus is lifted up. On the day
Jesus is crucified. The prince of the world and the prince of the air will be
driven out. The insight here is that the cross of Calvary is not just about
Jesus being crucified because the Jew leaders instigated it or that the Romans
had the power to crucify him.
The cross
of Calvary is the time when Satan will be defeated. Jesus is the last Adam. The
first Adam missed it. That was the first spiritual battle. They were meant to
have dominion over the earth and they missed it.
Immediately
after they missed it in Genesis 3, Satan will be cursed and Jesus will crush his head and he will bruise the
heel of Jesus. It was prophetic proclamation of Jesus defeating the devil. It is a spiritual
battle. When we share the gospel we are taking the spoils of the spiritual
battle at Calvary. Men are spiritually dead and nothing we can do can make them
see truth. There's a spiritual blindness that covers their eyes.
We cannot
draw men to Jesus per se but Jesus is the one that draws all men to himself. He
is spiritually blind and spiritually dead. But when the kairos time is right,
Jesus will draw that man to himself.
When we
share the gospel where does the power lies? We who are smart may think it's our
brain. Or to some it's the method. That has a place because we need some order
or programme so that we can mobilise all of you and that our movement can bear
a certain focus or weight. It's like an army. There must be a strategy or
method. The Athenians had a strategy. He lured them because they was
outnumbered. He had a plan and the church must have that.
But
having said that you can have the best programme but at the end of the day it
is the people who goes to share the gospel that will determine the success of
the programme and the Intercessors that covers the programme because it's a
spiritual battle.
I want to
work on this question. Where lies the power of Jesus that draws all men to
himself. What is that power?
The
Message
Romans 1:16 (KJV Strong's)
For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that
believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
The
gospel. How does Jesus draw all men to himself? It's the gospel or evangelion
or the good news. It's the payment for the men who brought the good news and
later became the good news itself. The gospel is on the basis of the death,
burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The
message must always be true and consistent as it's precisely about Calvary,
Jesus' burial and the empty tomb. This are immovable facts. The gospel
encompasses a lot about what happened at Calvary. The understanding of what
happened at Calvary are things we can appreciate. If I talk about this then we
can skip lunch.
I can
summarise this. My students like me for this. Yesterday was teacher's day
celebrations and they wrote about me. I was thinking they said I'm the best
Physics teacher but they wrote I'm the best story teller. Especially they like
how I summarise things to 123.
When we
look at the cross, where does the power of the gospel lie? It lies in Jesus as
the lamb of God.
John 1:29 (NIV)
The next day John saw Jesus coming
toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the
world!
The power
of the gospel lies in Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the
world. I want to put it in perspective. We live in a world where money is
powerful. In the world today apart from Apple and Microsoft, it is the money
game. They can go above a billion in 2 years. If you look at Apple and
Microsoft it took more than two years. No matter how much money you have, money
cannot wipe you clean and take away your sins before God.
Some
businessmen think they can earn their
billions and then give back as compensation. It's the lie of the devil.
Take away
money and a lot of people think the more good I do the more sin I wipe out.
They think all their good works will compensate and take away their sins. Today
I want to affirm and confirm that there is no other way sins can be taken away
but by the blood of the lamb. This is the only way we can come back to God.
1 Peter 1:18-19 (NIV)
18 For you know that it was not with
perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty
way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious
blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
Jesus as
the lamb of God was the climax of the Old Testament sacrifices. The sacrifices
then had to be perfect and without blemish but they were perfect only to human
eyes. But Jesus was perfect and without blemish. He was sinless throughout his
30 odd years when he walked the earth. He was the perfect Lamb of God referring
to the life he led. This itself draws all men to himself.
We may
share and think we are not effective. Most people are stubborn with their mouth
but what's in their heart is another matter. They may say I don't need God. I
will live my own life. But within, he may be troubled. In every men and women,
there is an emptiness and vacuum that only God can fill. No matter how much
money they have, there is an emptiness within.
I testify
of this. My two brothers came at me before I was a believer. My brother came
back home and my mom was worshipping with food and my brother did not eat. My
mom asked why he had no appetite and my brother finally said I've become a
Christian so I cannot eat food offered to idols. The first thing my mom and dad
asked was have you been baptised. Those days that was the important factor. He
said yes so mom said she'll cook separately for him.
But my
mom said after that he don't use his head. How can he baptised then only tell
us. I must say I added fire. I said yes, he didn't think. I repented already. I
told my parents I won't be like that. You all can depend on me.
I had a
younger brother who stayed with my elder Christian brother. He also keep
sharing with him. I asked him how was it staying with elder brother? He said
okay but he said everyday ask me to go to his church. So I gave him sound
advice. I said you are staying in his house. If he ask you to go to church go
lo. After all it's just one Sunday morning what do you think he can do? Two
hours only. He talk you ma listen lo. Why you want to argue with him? After all
you are staying at his place and if he gets angry you have to go out and find a
room. Sound advice. So he said, ya, maybe you are right.
Three
months later, we met and I remembered so I asked how did it go with brother? He
said very well. All is okay. He still talks to me about Jesus. The he said, now
I want to talk to you about Jesus. I nearly fell off my chair. I said I asked
you to listen left ear in right ear out. He said I followed your advice, left
ear in but it didn’t come out the right ear.
They kept
talking to me about Jesus but I asked a lot of questions those days. I looked
smart in front of them and that I'm okay but they are not. But when I'm alone I
struggle. Everybody needs Christ. The good news is for everyone. The lamb of
God that takes away the sin of God.
That
cross gives us the doorway to eternal life. The word eternal life has a
duration to it. Beyond eternal life is the quality of life. It's a life of God.
I find people fall into three categories. One is you cannot mention death in
the house. It's denial. The other group says they are not afraid of death. But
those who come face to face with death will panic. And there is the third group
where I want us to reflect a little bit. They have grown comfortable with
death. This is our Christian heritage. Like Paul who says where is your victory
O death. We of all people should be comfortable with death. We will be
liberated to live if we embrace death in a biblical manner. I said embrace, not
covet.
I look at
death as the door that transits us to the eternal glory of God. We should feel
comfortable as we are on a journey and death is the door that transits us. I
have reflected on it when I read Martin Luther's last speech where he said he
can see the glory of God.
The
moment we can embrace Christ in death, then the journey of life allows us to be
more than conquerors. And this draws all men. Who don't want to live? Everyone.
Death is darkness and to be avoided but at Calvary, death brings life eternal.
Romans 5:8 (NIV)
But God demonstrates his own love
for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Love is
most used but least understood. It is used often. I do not want to go into a
technical exposition of love because love cannot be explained. The love of God
where Jesus draws all people is a sacrificial love with kindness. In that
kindness is grace. In the love of God expressed on the cross is the drawing
power of Jesus Christ. This is a brief summary.
Here I
can end the message but I talked about the messenger so I have to continue.
The
Messenger
Romans 10:14-15 (NIV)
14 How, then, can they call on the
one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they
have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And
how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful
are the feet of those who bring good news!”
You all
are the messenger.
2 Corinthians 2:14-15 (NIV)
14 But thanks be to God, who always
leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the
aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing
aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
Notice
the word everywhere. To me it's every tribe and nation. The triumphal is tied
to the keyword uses us. It's through us. God has given us that privilege. Only
we can transmit the power of the gospel. It's a privilege and a responsibility.
God has given you that privilege when you were saved. Without the master all is
meaningless. You and me are the messenger.
In the
gospel we hold the means to life and death. Christ holds the power to life and
death. Many of us have been taught that our focus is on the message. I want to
put to you that we cannot separate the message from messenger. The message is
different from the messenger but they cannot be separated.
Paul uses
the word fragrance. It's a nice scent and the knowledge of Christ brings
salvation and life and it is the fragrance of Christ.
I give
you a scenario. You share with a friend. I tell you a story from my mother. My
mother said a group of Christians came to share with my mother. My mother said
she was busy. There were three of them. In the midst of the conversation, the
person said all of you are worshipping worthless idols. My mother got angry. In
the end the young men said free one you also don't want. My mother got upset.
Years later my mother became a Christian. And where was the power of the
gospel.
Your life
is being observed. We cannot separate the message from the messenger. Even as
we speak about the love of God people will be able to sense a certain concern
and care. I talked to someone who became a Christian and asked why she accepted
the Lord when at first she was not very open. I thought she'd say it's because
I shared well and clearly. She said in the end it's because she felt the care
and concern. People don't care how much you know until they know how much you
care.
You may
ask how do I grow in the love of God so that you can impart it in your life. I
can let you know love is a funny thing. It grows on you. How does it grow? You
have to take the small step to look out of your family and yourself and see and
walk with another person.
I want to
thank the Lord that my mom was the one who said I've changed. Much of my life
revolves around my family. My excuse is I have no time. The first step I took
to walk along with someone who had a time of difficulty, I grew in the love of
God. When you take care of your parents and buy gifts for your wife or care for
your children, it's a very different dynamic when you choose to walk with
someone whom you don't know that well.
I make it
a point that in my life I have someone I walk along with. Recently I walked
with someone who had a health issue and has not been to church a while and I
asked if he has been baptised and he said no. I shared and he accepted the Lord
and I told him I'll be visiting him. If you don't walk with a person you may
not realised that how much you have to be thankful for. You'll change.
You want
to grow in the agape love of God, walk with somebody. There are a lot of
hurting people. Sometimes they just need a listening ear. You will grow and you
will be transformed.
I like to
give an analogy. You do not have to attract bees. If you have the flower and
the fragrance the bees will come. Your walk will affirm your faith. The world
needs a bit more kindness. It is the church that holds the key to eternal life
so treasure the gospel that you hold. Know that Jesus is drawing all men to
himself and you can have the fragrance of God in your life.
