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00:00 Our brothers and sisters in Christ, friends,
00:05 or it should be good afternoon. The clock has passed 12. Um,
00:13 yeah. Um, I bring you greetings uh from my family, my wife Chuchi, my son Benjamin, and also from my church at
00:18 Dulos Presbyterian in Puchung. Uh, and again, I thank the church, I thank the leaders, Pastor Moby, pastor uh and uh
00:26 Dr. Peter for inviting me to share God's word with you uh this afternoon. Um yes,
00:32 the leaders have also asked me to share a little bit about the ministry that I'm involved with. Uh I'm actually not
00:38 serving full-time as a pastor at the moment, but rather uh my ministry is actually with KVBC Trust. So uh just to
00:46 share a little bit with you, uh what is KVBC Trust? Basically, this is a
00:51 ministry. is a not a denomination ministry but it's a uh interdenominational ministry uh set up
00:58 uh 20 years ago uh to encourage godliness through expository preaching.
01:05 Uh what is expository preaching? Well, in in a nutshell basically is a commitment to actually uh speak and
01:12 teach what is in the Bible to bring it out to all of us instead of putting into
01:18 the Bible what we want to say. Yep. So in instead of imposing on the Bible what we want to say and then use the Bible to
01:25 justify it uh we actually read the Bible and bring out from the Bible passages we
01:31 are dealing with what is actually being said in the Bible. So it seeks to be
01:36 faithful to its claim. It is God's word its context. Every Bible passage is part
01:42 of the bigger picture. Understanding where it fits in that bigger picture its focus. Yeah we are Christians. So we
01:49 read the Bible as Christians. we understanding implications of what Jesus has done and all scripture bear
01:55 testimony to the person and work of the Lord Jesus and his purpose is actually to lead us to the obedience of faith
02:02 through the Holy Spirit uh at work in our hearts in our lives for the glory of God. So basically that's what we seek to
02:09 do uh in our ministry basically is to promote and encourage such an approach
02:14 to the Bible in everything that we do. uh basically uh since uh over the last 20 years the ministry has developed so
02:21 that now we have three main branches of ministry. Let me just walk you through by the coming events under these three
02:27 branches. Uh the first one is actually for young people. As I look around, I
02:32 think there are quite a few in the age between 18 to 35. Well, this ministry is
02:37 for you. Uh we call it the NextG ministry which uh which was started about three years ago. Um what this
02:43 ministry seeks to do is that to encourage young people uh from the word of God. Um there are a lot of uh
02:52 thinking about how to have uh make make young people interested uh and sometimes we think it's program it's music it's a
02:59 games but actually if you read God's word carefully actually what is it that motivate us to want to follow Jesus is
03:06 actually understanding and recognizing God's love for us in Christ is actually
03:11 the word of God the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So what happens at this nextg conference is over four days and
03:17 three nights actually we introduce a model how do we handle God's word uh uh
03:23 in such a way that is faithful in a way that we have mentioned uh a couple of slides ago. So each year uh if you come
03:31 to the next gen you'll be working through a book of the bible at a time. Um so uh this year if you come first-
03:37 timerr uh you'll be actually looking through John's gospel and if you come as a returnee you'll be actually looking
03:44 through Exodus because the group is actually organized into different strengths but over three years over
03:50 three strengths you have an opportunity to work through a book of the new testament a book of the old testament
03:55 and then how to actually do a topical study in the light of the entire bible
04:01 okay so the idea again is to reinforce a faithful ful handle the word faithfully
04:06 and so that actually the ministry that we do uh will be lifegiving rather than
04:11 burdensome for young people. So NextGen is a ministry that is organized by young people not old guy like me but young
04:18 people uh running the committee organizing the programs uh and for young people uh age 18 to 35. Uh the coming
04:27 conference is actually over Harriaya but unfortunately this year uh the conference is full. Uh we are we thank
04:33 God for um 120 young people coming from Joho, Singapore to Pinang uh to Kada uh
04:41 to Sabah Sarawa. U we thank God that uh 120 of them will be coming together
04:48 eagerly digging into God's word uh and it's a wonderful experience. I think some of your church members have already
04:53 signed up. Look forward to meeting some of them there. uh if you'd like to know more about this especially for next year
04:60 it's again it's planned during the har royal uh time uh uh feel free to come and talk to me after the service
05:07 uh the second area of ministry under KVC trust is actually uh we want to journey
05:13 with those who teach God's word whether you are a Sunday school teacher uh
05:18 whether you run the boys be spirit program I had a privilege to have a chat with Vincent uh after this morning's service whether you are actually
05:24 teaching the youth class or whether you are preaching ing uh and handling uh Bible study at home. Yep. Uh well, this
05:31 is actually for you. Uh once a year, EPS uh uh is organized over two mornings,
05:37 just eight hours, four hours each day to help us just walk through what are the issues as we teach God's word. This year
05:45 we are focusing on how do we apply the gospel of grace. We all know what the
05:50 gospel of grace is. But how do you actually uh work through application uh the gospel of grace in our day-to-day
05:56 living? Uh we are especially conscious of the two extremes. One says that no no
06:02 Jesus save us but we still must do ABCD EFG all the list of things in order to
06:07 be a good Christian. That is actually not what grace is about as we shall see in Galatians chapter 2. But the other
06:14 extreme is some people say, "Oh, Jesus has done it all. So you don't have to do anything. So just come and enjoy." Uh
06:20 don't have to do anything as a Christian. You know, everything is done for you already. So just enjoy. Uh I
06:26 think that is also not what the go the Bible says about grace. So this year we will walk through over eight hours uh
06:32 what does it mean uh to apply the gospel of grace in our life. And we are
06:38 thankful for Dr. Brian Chapel. actually he's a very well-known uh preacher and also trainer of preacher. He has written
06:44 quite a number of books which are now textbooks in seminaries uh like STM or
06:49 even MBTS uh up north. Um so uh we are privileged that he will come and
06:55 actually uh guide us through thinking through how to apply the gospel of grace.
07:01 Um at the same time Dr. Brian Chapel will also be coming to give us three nights of Bible exposition uh Bible
07:08 exposition on Ephesians as mentioned earlier on. Uh notice the red letters
07:14 free admission. So uh can I encourage you to make the most of this opportunity to come and hear God's word expounded
07:21 because it's not only for the teachers, isn't it? All of us need the word of God to be at work in our lives. Yeah. All of
07:28 us. Uh we need to be strengthened in our faith. We need to be reminded why we why
07:35 Jesus is so beautiful. Why do we sing Jesus is so beautiful? And we need content to encourage one another to
07:42 encourage one another with the word of God. So can I encourage you to come? Come at least for the first night, Monday night. And as I mentioned this
07:49 morning, if you don't like it, then it's okay. No obligation. It's a walk-in event. You don't have to come again. But
07:55 on Monday night, if it is helpful, then come again. Bring someone along with you. Yeah. because God's word got no uh
08:02 no copyright one is to be shared with all people and we are thankful that sponsors have made it possible for us to
08:08 continue after 20 years to keep this platform as free admission for all
08:13 people and finally uh for those of you who uh are looking for some help in
08:19 terms of how to actually go about preparing uh your Bible study uh your
08:25 Bible talks even your preaching uh can I encourage you to consider joining 14 to 16 uh September over the Malaysia
08:33 day weekend. Um it's actually Thursday, Friday, Saturday morning, two and a half days. We'll be looking at uh how to
08:40 teach and preach from Romans. These workshops have three components. We will
08:45 have uh people preaching through Romans. We will have lectures on how do we
08:50 handle Romans and generally how do we uh handle preaching and teaching and then
08:55 we break into small groups whereby we all practice. Okay. Preaching is learned by doing. Yeah. Uh so we will all be
09:03 working in small groups working through at least four Bible passages each p each person. Four passages through Romans to
09:10 apply the things that we have been listening uh that we heard about in the lectures. Okay. So three elements uh and
09:16 um this is actually the fourth time we are running this workshop in Malaysia and we are partnering with Charles Sean
09:23 Trust from the US. um um encourage you to consider coming for this two and a half days uh training workshop. For more
09:30 and other information can I encourage you encourage you to check out our website and especially our Facebook uh
09:36 page which is more regularly updated uh where you can also register for events.
09:41 All registration at the moment is actually online and we have advertised them as Facebook events that you can
09:47 sign up through. Okay. If you have any more questions about this, uh would be
09:53 more than happy after the service to talk to you. Okay. Uh thank you once
09:58 again uh for your attention. It's time to turn to God's word again. Come, let us uh ask God to help us as we consider
10:06 his word. Let us pray. Our
10:14 dear heavenly father, we thank you once again for the privilege
10:19 for coming into your presence so freely with confidence without fear
10:26 that you will turn us away, but rather that we can come before you expecting to
10:33 experience your presence aresh, to hear you speak to us aresh from your spirit.
10:40 And Lord, so we pray that truly you will fill us with your spirit. You help us,
10:45 oh Lord, uh through this morning's uh word uh session, Lord, that you will
10:52 increase our grasp, enlarge our vision of who Jesus is, what he has done for
10:58 us. That you will deepen our faith, our confidence in him, in your word to us.
11:06 and also strengthen our resolve, our commitment to walk worthy of you to love
11:11 you because you first loved us. Thank you oh Lord. Bless our time together. We
11:18 ask this in Jesus name. Amen.
11:25 What does the number 911 mean to you?
11:32 Emergency number. Not Malaysia perhaps, but somehow we all know 911.
11:37 Okay, maybe this one more local. What does the number 15? Sorry, 1957.
11:44 1957. What does it mean to you? Ba. If it doesn't mean anything else, it
11:50 means public holiday on August 31st. Yeah. How about 1517?
12:01 What do those four numbers mean to you? Reformation. Reformation coming from somebody who
12:08 just come back from a reformation tour. Yes. uh 1517 October 1517 was a year was
12:16 a time when Martin Luther famously nailed his uh 95 thesis on the door
12:23 wooden door of a church officially s uh uh kicking off a protest against the
12:30 official church of his day uh the Roman Catholic church which today we remember as the reformation.
12:36 Yep. uh and it's been 500 years since the reformation and so all over the
12:42 world this year there have been all kinds of events uh to commemorate and to celebrate the
12:49 reformation and those uh uh extremists will organize reformation tours.
12:56 Uh no not opportunity to have a dig at Masimo.
13:02 Uh why celebrate reformation more seriously? Why do we celebrate? Why the big all this big deal about 500 year
13:10 anniversary of reformation? For me, the reformation is primarily
13:16 about preserving the truth of the gospel
13:22 to guard the truth. What is the gospel that must be passed on from generation
13:27 to generation in a church? Even today here at First Baptist Church,
13:33 we celebrate the Reformation because thanks to the work of the reformation uh
13:38 of the reformers under God, the Bible was once again open in the churches the
13:45 way it hasn't been for many years. Back then, if you walked into most
13:50 churches, most of the Catholic churches, the preachers will not be preaching about the gospel of Christ crucified.
13:59 Instead, they'll be preaching about giving money to the church,
14:04 about indulgence. If you read church history, you'll know at that time the pope was in a massive uh uh cathedral
14:11 building project and they didn't have enough money. And so they thought of an
14:16 ingenious way to do fundraising in the church. If you pay indulgence, if you
14:22 pay a an offering to what's called indulgence, you will lessen the amount
14:27 of years that you have to undergo what's called purgatory. That means after you die, you have to be purified by fire and
14:35 you'll be purified by x number of years before you can actually enter into heaven. the period of time that you'll
14:42 be purified by fire, you can lessen it because the church got credit to offer.
14:50 You give money to the church in exchange for credit from the church. And with credit, you can lessen the amount of
14:57 years you spend through purgatory. And not just for yourself, even for your loved ones. You can buy
15:04 credit in purgatory for your loved ones in the church.
15:10 What a wonderful idea for a fundraising. Is a church thinking about church building.
15:18 But sadly, isn't it? That is not the gospel. And you go into a church, they will be preaching that. And that's why
15:24 Martin Luther and gang protested. That is not the gospel.
15:31 And thanks be to God, through their initiative under God, yep. The Bible was
15:36 restored to the center place of the church. So today you come to the church, you expect yeah at the center of the
15:44 church the word of God to be preached. But friends, while we have much to give
15:50 thanks for the reformation, we must not for a single moment think
15:56 that the worst is now behind us. It is not. Actually again if you read
16:02 history you will know that Martin Luther was 16th century 17th century we have
16:10 the enlightenment where people not only uh question uh
16:17 that whether you need to preach the Bible only but you can also have all kinds of popes saying all all the things
16:22 the sufficiency of scripture but in the enlightenment people begin to question
16:27 the reliability of the Bible enlightenment means my reasoning is
16:33 number one. My reasoning, my ability to reason, my logic trumps everything else.
16:40 So when it comes to the Bible about Jesus walking on water or Jesus healing a paralytic who can't
16:47 walk after 30 years, no way. Jesus rising from the dead.
16:52 All those things are all myths. So we censor all those things and we
16:58 just focus on all the ethical teaching of the Bible. Yeah. All all the things
17:04 that are helpful to help us to live a more meaningful life. Yeah. We retain them. Yeah. Because my mind tells me
17:11 those are meaningful. But all those things that my mind cannot explain, that science cannot explain, send cut them
17:18 off. So the reformation is far from
17:26 uh telling us that the worst is over. On the other hand, as we watch church history closely, in fact, as as we watch
17:34 our own uh church history closely, the history of our own churches, we would know that the gospel is always in danger
17:44 of being corrupted. We are always only just one or at most
17:49 two generations away from losing the gospel if we are not vigilant. If we are
17:56 not watchful. The Apostle Paul wrote the letter of Galatians because the church was not
18:03 being watchful. They have allowed others to come in soon after Paul brought the gospel to them
18:10 and soon after after Paul let they have allowed others to come in and draw them
18:16 away from the gospel to actually start to listen to all other kinds of fancy
18:22 stuff. Yeah. And the Paul Apostle Paul wrote to
18:27 urge them no return to the gospel. There is only one
18:33 gospel. There is no other. Yeah. In Galatians chapter 2, Paul
18:39 begins to unpack for them that this danger is ever present for us to slip
18:45 away to fall away from the gospel. And he mentions two instances where his own
18:50 church his church in Antioch where his church also faced such challenges.
18:57 The first challenge he shared about was over the issue of circumcision. whether circumcision still applies to
19:04 Christian. The second issue was over food. Yeah, Paul mentioned these two events
19:12 because he wanted to show them, show the Galatians from these events that it is
19:17 big issue not because he was fussy about these things but rather on both occasions the truth of the gospel was
19:25 being undermined. And he wanted the church to begin to recognize these things for what they
19:31 truly are. Because if we do not recognize these challenges for what they truly are, if
19:38 we are not being watchful, surely but slowly but surely, we will end up with a
19:45 different gospel which is no gospel at all. So let us all take a closer look at
19:52 Galatians chapter 2. What Paul wants to show uh show us today. How to be more
19:57 watchful in our own situations. Firstly, the test concerning
20:04 circumcision. Come with me to verse 1 to 10. Again,
20:09 in chapter 2 verse one, Paul mentions about a trip that he made from his home
20:14 church to Jerusalem roughly about 14 years after his original conversion.
20:21 Um, if you're familiar with the Bible, uh, you will notice that this incident probably correspond to what was recorded
20:28 in Acts chapter 11. In next 11 we read that a prophet came from Jerusalem to Antioch. His name was
20:36 Agabus. He went to the church and he prophesied that the great famine was
20:42 coming upon Jerusalem and the region and the Judeian region. And so the church responded by sending
20:49 relief through Jerusalem through Paul and Barnabas. And it was likely that it
20:54 was that trip that Paul is referring to here in Galatians 2 where he and Barnabas were bringing relief to the
21:00 Jerusalem church. When he was in Jerusalem, Paul met with
21:05 the leaders privately, some of the key leaders. Apparently at that time his home church
21:12 um was actually under a particularly uh was going through a particularly challenging period.
21:19 Some of you would know Paul's home church in Antioch was actually the first church where large number of Gentiles
21:26 became Christians. Yeah. It was the first church where a lot of Greeks first
21:31 heard the gospel. They were at the forefront of crosscultural ministry or what we call missions today. And there
21:38 were so many of them. So actually they didn't know what to call them and they started calling them Christians. Yeah,
21:44 we read all about this in Acts. But as so often is the case, where the
21:49 gospel prospered, so came challenges.
21:54 In verse four, Paul mentions that as the gospel prospered, some false believers,
22:02 they infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ
22:09 Jesus and make us slaves. They were beginning to impose on
22:15 Christians, not only you must believe in Jesus, you must also be circumcised and
22:21 not only circumcised but also obey all the Old Testament laws.
22:27 Now for Paul, whether a Greek Christian choose to be circumcised or not, for him
22:33 actually is a non-issue. It's actually a matter of freedom. If you read further
22:38 on in Galatians chapter 5, you will find Paul saying this. In Christ Jesus, chapter 5:6, let me read. In Christ
22:45 Jesus, neither circumcision nor unc nor uncircumcision count for anything. What
22:51 counts is faith working through love. That is what matters as far as Paul is
22:58 concerned. But for these false believers, circumcision was big. It was huge.
23:07 They say Christians, Jews, all Greeks, you must be circumcised.
23:14 You must still obey all the Old Testament laws.
23:19 Paul and Barnabas knew they couldn't allow this to be taught in their home church. And so they stood their ground
23:26 saying, "No, absolutely not." They realized what was going on. It's
23:32 not just a matter of being respectful to the Jews. but rather they realized the truth of
23:39 the gospel was being undermined. And so while they had the opportunity to
23:46 go to Jerusalem, they brought this matter up with the leaders in Jerusalem.
23:52 Why did he do that? Now we must not think that Paul and Barnabas, they were actually a bit
23:59 unsure, uncertain. They a bit iffy. What if we are wrong?
24:04 Maybe we are we we better check with the original apostles. Yeah. Whether the
24:09 truth of the gospel really is what we think it is. Yeah. So that we can have
24:14 the stamp from a Jerusalem and so that we can continue to preach the gospel with confidence.
24:21 That is not what is going on. Because if you look at verse six,
24:26 if you look at verse six, what does Paul say? He says, "As for those who are held in
24:32 high esteem, you know, those pillars, those senior leaders in Jerusalem, the
24:37 original apostles, whatever they were, actually make no
24:43 difference to me because God does not show favoritism."
24:49 That was not what he was trying to do to get their stamp of approval. Rather his concern was that the truth of
24:58 the gospel should be preserved wherever you go. Whether in Jerusalem, whether in
25:05 Antioch, Christians, wherever you go, you will hear the same truth of the gospel being
25:13 expounded, being preached. There should be no difference.
25:20 And by God's grace, their discussion, their private meeting ended on a very
25:25 positive note. You look at back in verse three, Paul says that even Titus who was
25:31 a Greek, he was not even Titus was compelled to
25:37 be circumcised. Imagine Jerusalem full of Jews. Here you
25:42 have Titus a non a Greek walk into the church supposed to be in comp in in
25:48 fellowship with all of them. Guess what? Even Titus was not told, "Hey, you want to hang around with us?
25:54 You must be circumcised." No. At the HQ,
26:00 surrounded by all the Jews, even Titus was not compelled to be circumcised.
26:08 And verse six is key. Paul says, "The Jerusalem leaders, they
26:15 added nothing to my message. They totally agreed with Paul and
26:21 Barnabas. There is only one gospel.
26:27 Circumcision is a matter of freedom. It shall not be imposed.
26:33 And so they affirmed Paul's ministry. Okay, Paul, you preach the gospel of no
26:39 circumcision to the non-Jews while Peter, you continue to preach the gospel to Jews
26:45 who are already circumcised. And there is no conflict. There is one gospel for all Jews and
26:53 Gentile. And they affirm Paul's gospel to be 100%
26:58 original from God, 100% accurate, 100% authorized by God.
27:07 And thanks be to God, the church passed the test with flying colors on that day.
27:14 It's important, isn't it, friends? that the church understands what is the
27:20 basis of our unity. Today I'm a Presbyterian minister coming
27:26 to being invited to preach in the Baptist church. We not necessarily hold the same
27:33 understanding on everything or our belief. And yet
27:39 it is clear we understand what is the truth of the gospel and we are united in
27:46 the gospel of Christ crucified and because of that we are able to
27:52 invite each other to preach freely in our churches when we are clear about the
27:59 basis of our unity. It enable us to be flexible
28:04 about things which are not essential to the gospel
28:10 only if we are clear on the basis of our unity.
28:15 And so the apostles were clear on the basis of their unity in the gospel. And
28:22 so they could see clearly therefore circumcision actually doesn't matter. It
28:29 doesn't matter. Praise God. Yeah. For the blessing on the church leaders that
28:34 day and pray that God will continue to grant our church leaders same clarity or
28:39 the gospel even today. But friends,
28:44 if we think the battle is over, think again. Because Paul then goes on
28:51 to talk about the next test in uh verses 11 onwards. The test about food.
28:59 And this time the apostle Peter is in the limelight.
29:05 The scene of action this time took place in Antioch Paul's home church when the apostle Peter visited the church. Verse
29:12 12. Before certain men came from James Cus that is Peter. Peter used to eat
29:20 with the Gentiles. But when they arrived he began to draw back. He began to separate himself from
29:28 the Gentiles. Why? Because he was afraid. He was afraid of those who belonged to
29:35 the circumcision group. Now friends, as you know, Jews, they
29:40 observe special food laws. They only eat kosher foods. Just like Muslims in our
29:47 in our land, they only eat halal food. Now the question is this. When Jewish
29:54 Christians are in a church like Antioch where majority are non-Jews,
30:01 yeah, a majority are are Greeks, should they continue to observe food laws.
30:09 When the church organized their makan, do they need to have a kosher section
30:15 and a non-cooser section? Kosher utensils, non-cooser utensils.
30:23 Do we allow that? Do we must we continue to practice that? It's a practical
30:29 problem, isn't it? It's a real problem. When Peter first arrived at this church,
30:35 when he came to Marantine, he says, "Guys, no problem. We are all
30:42 one in Christ. We eat together. No need to have kosher, non-cooser.
30:48 until a group arrived from Jerusalem.
30:54 And then Peter began to sing a different tune because he was afraid.
31:02 Today we call it peer pressure, isn't it? We behave no problems when we are on
31:08 our own. But the moment a group of people start to appear, come into the scene, we have to make sure we are doing
31:15 the right thing. because we are fearful of what these other people would think of us or what
31:21 are the consequences if they actually start to hold us into account. So Peter
31:26 was afraid and because of Peter starting to withdraw other Jews in Antioch also
31:34 begin to follow and this time even Barnabas was led astray.
31:41 Can you imagine what was going on in that church where even Barnabas is now being led astray saying hey guys guys we
31:48 need to start seriously thinking about setting up kosher food corners in our church.
31:56 So is that what the church is going to be like? Antioch which is actually the mother church of all the gentile
32:02 churches. Antioch is going to set the pattern for all the gentile churches uh going
32:08 forward. So will every church then will have a kosher and non-cooser food. You
32:14 know sermon time we all preach from the pulpit all one in Christ. No Jew gentile
32:21 we are all one in Christ. The moment we walk outside to go makan. Oh but you go
32:26 that corner. No no no no. You cannot sit together. Is that what is going to happen?
32:33 What do you call a church that behaves like this?
32:38 Well, Paul says it's hypocrisy. It's hypocrite. Say one thing here,
32:44 practice something else the moment we leave the church door. So what did Paul do? He knew he had to
32:52 confront Peter. And he had to confront Peter in front of
32:57 everybody, which is exactly what we what he did. The truth of the gospel must not only be
33:03 upheld in our preaching, in our teaching, in our documents, but it must especially be upheld in how we live, in
33:11 how we conduct ourselves, in church camp, in communities, when we bump into each other during the week, in how we
33:17 run our businesses. The gospel must be clearly evidenced in
33:23 everything that we do. Not even the great Apostle Peter must be
33:28 allowed to pervert the gospel and to lead others astray through his
33:34 hypocrisy. Friends, other areas that we are tempted
33:42 to bend a little from the truth of the gospel, especially when the pressure
33:48 begins to build. Hypocrisy in the church continues to
33:55 stumble many today. I'm sure you have met many people who feels that way.
34:02 I can still remember what a friend's father told me when we were having breakfast in a small group.
34:09 He told me, "Kho, I believe in God,
34:14 but not the church. I believe in God. I really do, but I
34:20 don't believe in the church." Why? Because when my wife who was a faithful
34:26 churchgoer, in fact, faithfully serving and faithfully giving tithing in the
34:33 church, when my wife became ill and she could no longer go to the church,
34:41 nobody from the church came to her.
34:46 Is that what you call church? And so he told me so why should I be
34:52 bothered with the church? Why should I be bothered with the church?
35:01 Friends, what is your experience of the church here?
35:06 What is the experience of others who come and visit your house group, your
35:13 church, your family?
35:19 Now of course some of you will say hey kho don't be so hard hypocrisy is
35:24 present in every church don't you know you know if you find a perfect church don't join it because then it will no
35:30 longer be perfect know we even joke about these things
35:35 there is no perfect church there is no perfect church but
35:40 do we joke about it do we use that as an excuse therefore we don't have to be perfect We can be
35:47 hypocrite. Of course not. Let us not use it as an excuse.
35:56 But let us ask God to help us to grow, to become more watchful, not just about
36:02 what we say, not just what we teach when we're invited to lead a Bible study or give a
36:08 talk, but especially in how we conduct ourselves,
36:14 in our lives, in our conversations.
36:19 May God help us to grow in the grace of the Lord Jesus in this regard.
36:26 In the final section, Paul begins to explain even more fully how exactly has
36:33 the gospel been perverted in both the examples that he cited.
36:39 The Jews, you know, when they begin to impose things like circumcision and foot laws,
36:45 when you think about it, they can actually sound quite pious, can't they?
36:52 I remember a few months uh just a couple of uh just two months ago I met one of a
36:58 young leader in another church. I noticed wow he seems a little bit untidy
37:04 missile and uh and uh he's uh uh I've
37:09 lost a word jungled. He's jungle everywhere a bit untidy and he was
37:15 chairing the church meeting. So after the service, I ask him, "Hey, new look."
37:22 So he says, "Oh, no. I'm on a 50-day fasting and praying. Uh trying to follow
37:28 the Nazerite vow, no shaving." And I heard it, I said, "Oh."
37:34 I was taken back a little bit, very impressed, but also feeling a bit guilty
37:40 because I can't remember when was the last time I fasted. People who take spiritual disciplines
37:46 seriously, they actually can be very impressive, isn't it? They show that they take their faith seriously and they
37:54 cause us to wonder how have we taken our faith seriously in our own ways.
37:60 When these Jewish leaders when they came to the church and when they started to tell the Christians, hey, you are
38:06 Christians, wonderful. Let me show you what the Bible actually says. Read the
38:12 Old Testament. Look more carefully. Look at all these laws.
38:17 Now I know you are a Christian. But if you really want to be a good Christian, you would take all these things
38:23 seriously. Start by being circumcised. It can be actually very attractive. They
38:31 give the impression they are very serious about God. But Paul says, "Hang on, hang on.
38:39 Be careful. Spiritual disciplines may be impressive
38:45 but when they became what it is a law
38:50 a command a rule that must be obeyed. You want to be a real Christian you must
38:58 do all these things. When that begins to happen
39:03 you are actually perverting the gospel. you are preaching another gospel.
39:11 And Paul shows that the gospel is being perverted in at least three ways. Firstly, verse 15,
39:18 these Jewish teachers, they seem to conveniently overlook the fact that
39:24 actually whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, all believers have been declared right with God on the same
39:31 basis through faith in Jesus Christ. That's why Peter also had to become a
39:38 Christian. Had to respond to the gospel. That's why any Jew also needed to
39:43 respond to the gospel in order to be saved. Obeying the law alone is not
39:49 enough. Or rather, obeying the law is not going to bring them righteousness. Rather verse 16, they know that by the
39:58 works of the law, no one will be justified.
40:04 So Paul says, "If Jews know that, if Jewish Christians know that, why do you
40:10 still want to impose the law on Gentiles when you know by the works of the law,
40:16 no one is going to be justified? Why is trying to impose something that
40:22 you know doesn't work?" That's the first problem. Secondly, verse 17,
40:29 Paul also point out that these people are also confusing you that what sin
40:34 really is all about. These leaders, these Jewish leaders, they were probably telling the church,
40:41 hey, hey, hey, if you were to say, uh, never mind, no need to circumcise. Even though God's God's word, Old Testament
40:47 says circumcise, but no, no, no need, no need to observe food laws because you are all justified by faith. So, no need
40:54 to do all these things. What are you trying to do? You're actually telling people if you believe in Jesus, you don't bother about the
41:00 Bible anymore. You're actually causing Christians to sin.
41:06 But Paul says, "No, no, no. That is wrong. That is not what sin is about
41:12 nowadays. We no longer look to the law to actually keep us from falling into sin.
41:20 Rather, the one who sins, the Christian truly sins
41:26 is the one who keep insisting that Christians are still living under the law.
41:32 Because we have overlooked what Jesus has done on the cross.
41:38 When Jesus died on the cross, all the requirements of the law have already been met in him, met by him on our
41:46 behalf. And in that way Jesus has brought an end to the chapter to the rule of the law.
41:54 The law no longer has authority or any power to condemn the believer because
42:01 actually we have all been condemned when we were crucified with Christ. We have
42:06 all died. and
42:11 instead the life we now live. Paul says in verse 20, we live by faith.
42:19 That's how we live. We live by faith in the son of God. We live by his love. Him
42:26 who loved us, we live by what he has done for us. He who gave himself for us.
42:33 That is the basis of our living. That's the basis of our forgiveness.
42:40 Therefore, if you still try to impose the law on believers, what are you
42:46 trying to do? You're actually trying to reopen the chapter that Jesus has closed.
42:52 You're actually trying to rebuild what has been destroyed by faith. The gospel
42:57 says, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and the law has no hold on you." And you are
43:02 trying to say, "No, no, no, no, still God. Still God, still under the law." you are actually denying the
43:10 effectiveness of the work of the Lord Jesus in the believer's life. Now for a believer to continue to insist
43:17 on that, Paul says now that is really sinning against the law. The law is
43:23 supposed to prepare us for Jesus and we come to Jesus and we still want
43:30 to go back to the law. We have just disobeyed. We have just totally missed
43:36 the whole point of the law alto together. Do you follow? This is what
43:42 Paul will elaborate further in chapter three. But for now, in verse 21, Paul spells
43:48 out the bottom line. Therefore, to insist on doing the works of the law
43:56 is effectively to set aside the grace of God.
44:01 Because if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing. Paul says, here's the bottom
44:08 line. You try to add to the gospel of Jesus Christ. You must be circumcised or
44:14 you must observe kosher food law or you must observe the Sabbath or you must
44:20 observe Nazarite vow or you must if you add anything to the gospel of Jesus
44:27 Christ. Jesus Christ death is no longer of any
44:32 value to you because you say it's not enough for Jesus to die on the cross. It's not enough. I must still do all
44:38 these things. Your relationship with God will no longer be by grace.
44:45 Actually, you have just lost the gospel.
44:54 So friends, it's crucial, isn't it, for us to be clear about these things.
44:60 So let me ask you, are we still imposing rules on each other here in this church?
45:08 If you want to be a real Christian now dot dot dot
45:15 is that happening in your home group in your one-to-one
45:21 conversations when Christians are struggle do you actually start to impose guilt ah
45:27 because you haven't been doing your quiet time see so God is punishing you do we actually
45:35 start to associate God's blessing bing with things that we
45:40 do. And so to experience God's blessing now is going to be conditional. I know
45:46 you're a Christian, but if you want to experience the full blessing of God, you must dot dot dot. Is that happening
45:55 in our fellowship?
45:60 We are always just one or two generation away from losing the gospel.
46:09 I was preaching at this church at one of the Sunday school before I came up. Uh
46:14 gave a kids talk and said to the kids, "Kids, I want you to remember this
46:19 catchy tune, this jingle." She sang it, but I'll try. I I can't sing, so I won't sing it. If you are
46:26 bad, Jesus is sad. If you are good, Jesus is very glad.
46:39 Is that true? If you are sad, if you are bad, Jesus is very sad. If you are good,
46:46 Jesus is very glad. That is not the gospel, isn't it?
46:55 Wellent, well-intentioned encouragement for children to trust and obey the
47:01 gospel. But it is all wrong. It is another gospel that has sipped
47:08 into the church Sunday school. In my own church, I conducted baptism uh
47:16 last year and after that uh a church member came up to me. Pastor Ko is so we
47:24 thank God for you know baptism is such a wonderful blessing. I pray my husband
47:31 will also be willing to be baptized. I was prepared to say, "Oh, praise God." Until she said this, "So that he can
47:39 also go to heaven." Baptized so that he can go to heaven.
47:46 I have to swallow my words. First July, you're going to have baptism. Yeah. Is that what baptism is
47:53 about? Come and be baptized. Get the certificate. You can have assurance that
47:59 you are going to heaven. Is that the gospel?
48:05 I know I'm trading on dangerous ground. This a Baptist church.
48:11 But I think uh I'm likeminded with your leaders in this regard. Yeah.
48:17 Anything that we add on to the gospel of grace, we have just distorted the gospel
48:25 of grace. It doesn't help. It has become a different gospel.
48:31 When the apostle Peter when he began to withdraw from the people from table fellowship in Antioch, yeah, he didn't
48:39 think, "Oh, I'm going to twist the gospel, so I'm not going to eat with them. I'm going to twist the gospel. I'm not going to eat with them." He had no
48:46 clue. Yeah. He was actually preaching a different gospel. But he was
48:53 he has perverted the gospel. And even if even the great apostle
48:59 Peter, the one on whom the the the the the apostolic gospel was passed on. Yeah. In
49:07 much of the Bible that we have today, if even Peter the rock needed to be
49:12 rebuked, to be reminded, to keep be watchful in his conduct,
49:19 how much more you and me? How much more you and me
49:26 friends we need to be vigilant. We need to be watchful because if we are not
49:36 slowly but surely we will end up with the different gospel
49:41 which is no gospel at all. The Roman Catholic Church didn't just
49:48 one day decide, "Oh, guess what? We will preach something different in church today. We will preach indulgence. We
49:55 will offer people credit for purgatory." They didn't just decide on that overnight.
50:02 But over the years, slowly but surely, when people no longer
50:08 read the Bibles, and this one is going to hurt. when people no longer bring their Bibles to
50:14 church. In their case, they couldn't. Yeah. Remember in those days the Bible was in
50:21 Latin. Yeah. You need the priest to actually uh interpret and read the Bible
50:27 for you. You don't everybody have your own copy of the Bibles. Yeah. But if I may paraphrase it for our
50:34 context today, when we have access to the Bible all the time, but when we
50:40 start to stop reading the Bible for ourselves,
50:45 when we start to only rely on what we hear from this platform here,
50:52 everything I need to hear from the Bible, uh, our church leaders will tell us on my own, I don't need.
51:00 After year of year, generation of generation of doing that
51:05 when the church started to tell, "Oh, guess what guys, you need to do this indulgence."
51:12 And the church has, they could no longer tell the difference between what the
51:17 Bible actually says and what is actually not the gospel, what is another gospel.
51:26 Slowly but surely, the gospel is lost.
51:34 So friends, can I encourage you? Reformation 500, let me just encourage
51:40 you with one thing. As the reformers did for the churches back then,
51:46 can I encourage you to make a commitment to keep the Bible open in your lives?
51:56 in a fresh way, in the even more committed way as it was
52:01 before this. Keep your Bibles whenever. Keep your
52:07 Bibles open when your youth group gathers. Fine. Of course, we love games. My son
52:13 is a king of puns. We couldn't bear it. He loves he he can't stop saying puns.
52:19 It's fine. You know you have tons in your youth group and things like that but that is not the main reason isn't it
52:25 why you have youth groups that's not the main reason why you make a commitment to meet in homes when
52:32 everybody is busy why you still make an effort to come fight the traffic and all those things come together whenever we
52:39 come together make sure that we are hearing
52:45 what God is saying to us through his spirit from his word.
52:52 Keep our Bibles open when we meet for committee meetings as well.
52:59 Yeah. Of of course you want to decide what food to serve next Sunday. Don't go to the Bible and says, "Oh, the Bible
53:06 says cannot serve those with hoofs at the No, no, no. Don't go to the Bible to
53:11 find out what menu to serve." But when we wrestle through what should we
53:18 be focusing on? What do our young people need to hear from the church this year
53:23 as we plan our youth program? What do we do together in our Bible study group, our home group?
53:31 What should we be doing in our church camp next year? Or we hear about news, corruption,
53:39 election coming up. How do we respond as Christians? What is the message as a church we need
53:46 to uh provide for church members? As we wrestle through those issues, make sure
53:51 we are having our Bibles open. Make sure we also ask the question, does
53:58 God have anything to say to us about these issues?
54:05 Of course, he has. If your answer is no, the Bible has nothing to say. Please talk to your leaders.
54:11 Yeah. But work hard at thinking through what does the bi how does the Bible inform us? How the gospel inform us as
54:19 we wrestle with these issues. But perhaps most importantly and I speak
54:25 with a heavy heart as well because I'm a father of a teenager. I understand it is
54:31 not easy to keep the Bibles open in our home. Isn't it?
54:36 When the interest level of interest is low, it is challenging to every night to
54:42 say, "Let's read the Bible. Let's pray together." It is not easy
54:48 and I fail on many occasions. I give up. I say, "You not interested? Never mind.
54:54 We don't want to read the Bible with such bad attitude." But the problem is after a while, we stop reading the
55:00 Bible. The Bible is no longer open. But keep the Bible open in our homes.
55:07 Find out what works for you best. If you have five minutes before everybody go
55:12 their way after breakfast, then use that five minutes to at least have a few Bible verses read and pray together.
55:21 If during lunchtime works for you, that's the only time you have un uninterrupted 15 minutes, use lunchtime.
55:27 or at night after dinner before everybody go to internet and TV and all those things have a moment 15 minutes of
55:33 Bible reading together and prayer or before you go to bed provided you can
55:39 stay awake yeah during that time whatever it works for you at home do it
55:48 and fathers as a father to another father this is our primary responsibility isn't it not our wives
55:56 not our children reminding us but we are ultimately responsible to make sure that
56:02 this is taking place in our homes but friends don't just read the Bible
56:08 though any way we like remember these people who turn up to the church in Galatia they came with the
56:15 Bible they came with the Old Testament and yet they were preaching a different
56:20 gospel the Catholic church 1517 they had
56:26 the Bible They claimed to be teaching the Bible and yet they were preaching a different
56:31 gospel. And today, sadly, you can walk into a
56:36 Christian bookshop and pick up a Bible reading material and there is no guarantee that you will
56:43 not be getting a different gospel. Sadly, but true.
56:49 So, we need to be watchful in how we read the Bible. cultivate good habits
56:55 so that we read the Bible in such a way that we will always be better prepared to appreciate who is Jesus to us. So
57:03 that we will read the Bible in such a way that it will truly make us wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
57:10 It will not make us slaves again like what happened to the Galatians.
57:16 It not make us hate the God and fearful of the God that will want children to be punished, children to be stoned. know,
57:24 but it will make us wise for salvation. It will make us see the demonstration of
57:30 the love of God in sending Jesus to die on the cross for us. Develop good
57:36 habits. Use materials that will encourage good habits. And if you need
57:41 help, get help. There's so many online courses, so many
57:47 Bible reading apps, so many courses or come for KVBC events. Yeah. Make
57:54 progress in our maturity how we handle the word. Do not end the year 2017
58:02 just as ill equipped as you began the year 2017. Make progress
58:09 as a Christian. We can all do that, isn't it? We will not be experts, but we
58:14 can all make progress. Do something about it.
58:22 So, as we close, how about we take a moment to reflect on what God is saying
58:27 to us today? There is only one gospel.
58:33 There is no other because God Jesus has only revealed one gospel to us.
58:40 And we need to preserve it. We need to walk in line of the gospel.
58:46 We need to encourage one another. Build each other up on that gospel.
58:52 Others need to hear that gospel from us.
58:58 Let us respond to God by considering how we can make progress in these areas. Let
59:06 us take a moment to pause before the Lord before I close in prayer.
59:55 Let us continue to pray. Our
60:00 dear heavenly father, we thank you for your great love for us that is so
60:06 clearly demonstrated in the Lord Jesus Christ that while we were still sinners,
60:12 while we were still enemies shaking our fist at you, yet you loved us.
60:19 You gave your your son for us, Lord Jesus. You came. You died on the cross
60:27 and you give us the assurance today that it is finished. It is done.
60:34 All that is necessary to bring us peace with God to make us God's children, it is done
60:45 by you. Lord Jesus, we praise you and thank you
60:50 for the wonderful good news that you have given us. and the assurance we have every time we
60:58 remember you our great God and savior. Oh Lord, we pray that you will help us
61:05 to guard our hearts for you know Lord how easily we are distracted by another
61:11 gospel. How easily our ear itches after the latest most interesting things that
61:18 others may have to offer. how quickly we grow bored with the
61:24 gospel of God's grace. Forgive us, oh Lord. May you fill us with your spirit that we
61:32 may indeed hold on to the gospel, to your grace, oh Lord, with all the
61:38 strength and wisdom that comes from you. And help us spur one another on, Lord,
61:44 in this regard as well. Help us encourage one another deeply to grow in
61:50 the Lord Jesus Christ, in his grace, in his truth. We pray especially for our
61:56 leaders, for our shepherds. Lord, it is difficult times to be leaders of the church. Grant them discernment,
62:03 grant them faithfulness, grant them godliness that they may teach
62:08 and also live in line with the truth of the gospel. Bless them, oh Lord. We pray for your
62:16 blessing upon all of us so that the gospel of Jesus Christ will truly go forth from this church from our lives
62:24 that more will come to know Jesus as who he is our great God and savior for all
62:31 people in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
