JURONG OUTREACH - June 10

Lessons From the Life Of Abel
6th June 2010

It would be hard to imagine that in history there has been a more famous family than the family of Adam and Eve. Students of the Bible are well acquainted with the history of their two sons, Cain and Abel, bringing offerings before the God of heaven, and how Cain eventually murdered Abel (Genesis 4).

The New Testament says that by faith Abel is still speaking. "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh" (Hebrews 11:4). No, Abel's faith does not speak literal words that we hear with our literal ears. But there are lessons for us to glean from his faith and from what the Bible briefly records about his life. Let's take a look at some of those lessons.

The history of Abel's life shows that Jehovah is aware of all that takes place on the earth. Cain slew Abel (Genesis 4:8). God then asked Cain, "Where is Abel thy brother?" (4:9). God did not ask such a question in order to gain information. The very next verse records this statement of Jehovah to Cain: ". . . the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground." You see, God sees and knows everything. He knew that Cain shed the innocent blood of Abel. Man's actions, speech, and even his thoughts, are "open" before the Lord. God declared, "For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes" (Jeremiah 16:17).
 

The Bible record of Abel's worship shows that there is such a thing as acceptable worship ­ worship that pleases the Lord.

While it is not true that God accepts every form of worship (for instance, He did not respect the offering of Cain, Genesis 4:5), neither is it the case that the Almighty refuses to accept any worship, period. "And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering" (4:4). Yes, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain" (Hebrews 11:4), and God was pleased by it. Since faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17), and because Abel made his offering "by faith," it must be the case that at some point prior to that offering God had instructed Abel about how to worship Him. So it is for Christians as well. In the New Testament the Lord has given us a pattern for worship, and when we as His children worship Him in spirit and in truth, then such worship is pleasing in His sight (John 4:23,24).

A third lesson that we note is that man's righteous action will not go unnoticed or unrewarded by God. God testified that Abel "was righteous" (Hebrews 11:4). The Holy Spirit further spoke of Abel's "righteous works" (1 John 3:12). To the first century saints it was written, "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name. . ." (Hebrews 6:10). And just what is the promised reward for the righteous? Going "into life eternal" (Matthew 25:46). When the days seem dark and difficult, and the road ahead seems long, take comfort in knowing that the Righteous Judge notices and rewards the faithful service of His children. 

The account of Abel's life and death further demonstrates that in order to please God, it is not necessary to be popular with other people, even family members. It is certainly more pleasant for our association with others to be characterized by peace and harmony rather than a state of conflict. However, we must recognize that when other people are upset with us because of our unbending desire to do what is right in the sight of Jehovah, their being upset with us must not cause us to waver in our service to Him. Look at Cain and Abel. Cain was terribly upset. Why? Because God accepted Abel's worship, but not Cain's (Genesis 4:4,5), and Cain saw that Abel's works were righteous (1 John 3:12).

The implied message of 1 John 3:11-15 is that Cain hated Abel. Did that mean that Abel was somehow out of line in what he had done? Not at all. Again, it is not pleasant to think of those close to us being dead set against us, but sometimes that is just the way it is going to be: "And a man's foes shall be they of his own household" (Matthew 10:36). Jesus said so.
Faith that pleases God must be evidenced by action.

Consider again what Hebrews 11:4 reveals about Abel. "By faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice . . . he was righteous . . ." Look at how those words go together: "faith," "offered," "sacrifice," "righteous." Abel's faith was not simply a "I have God deep in my soul" type of faith. No, Abel's faith acted according to the will of God, and that is what pleased the Lord. In the Christian era it is faith that works by love that makes us pleasing in God's sight (Galatians 5:6).

Finally, the history of Abel and Cain shows that sometimes siblings raised in the same home under the same circumstances turn out drastically different in the spiritual realm. It is puzzling, but it happens. Cain's works were evil, while Abel's were righteous (1 John 3:12). They had the same dad and mom, yet they went different directions in their spiritual lives. In the Christian age parents have the obligation to raise their children in the way of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). To do this, parents must both teach their children the truth verbally and live that truth in their lives. After such training, those children are on their own when they grow into adulthood. Christian parents need to do the best they can to bring their children up right, but if one or more of them later stray from the truth, parents should not constantly blame and punish themselves for the foolish mistakes of their offspring.

May God help us to see, accept, and apply these lessons from the life of Abel.

Tribute to a dear sister, Linda Sim
13th June 2010 

 There are a few ‘G’ words I can think of, besides “good”, that can describe Linda – Generous, Giving, God-fearing, God-loving… 

In her 34 years of life, she has influenced and impacted the lives of so many around her, from her classmates, colleagues, JBC students, church friends and most of all, her family. 

For me and my family, she has been such a dear and close friend and sister. She has been so selfless in her love and concern. 

Before I got married, we shared the love of classical music together. She was a talented pianist, and Seach Joo and I went to watch her perform at an NUS concert before. After I had Titus, she gave him his 1^st classical music CD – a lovely compilation of piano pieces for kids. This has become such a precious and well-loved CD we played over and over again. 

When we went to USA and then China, she never stopped writing, making beautiful cards and even sending parcels over. She always remembered my birthday and would send very thoughtful and loving gifts. 

When we were in Utah, she sent me an email dated 5^th March 2007, telling me that her colleague would be traveling there and asked me to invite her to church. She always cared about the salvation of those around her and was always active in evangelizing. 

At that time, she was pregnant with Ravel already. Another email after that, dated 14^th July 2007 included many beautiful photos of you 23 weeks pregnant in different maternity outfits. How we enjoyed looking at pictures of beautiful clothes, bags and shoes together! 

After Ravel’s birth, she was a very devoted and loving mom. She made the decision to fully breastfeed him, believing in giving him the very best she can offer. On 15^th of Aug, she sent me an email telling me she won a breastfeeding photo contest. She was very very happy and the photo was such a loving one. No wonder it won a prize. At that time, I was in China, but I could feel her intense pride and joy in him.

On 4^th Sept, the next day, she smsed that she had the worst migraines of the year, but she still went for the Chinese gospel meeting. On the 5^th of Sept., she smses again saying that she still had a headache but was revising for the Four Seas College Extension Course mid-term test.

I never ceased to be amazed at her boundless energy and desire to be close to God and study His Word diligently, despite her physical ailments. However, at that time, she was still unaware about her illness. 

It was on the 27^th of Sept that I received an email from her informing me of her illness. She also later smsed and called me to tell me what the doctors said and what her options were. There were no tears though. She talked through everything calmly and also asked for opinions on whether she should go on a clinical trial and which she should choose. 

It was a very tough time for her, but through it all, she maintained a positive outlook, a “never-give-up” attitude and a cheerful disposition. I admired her immensely for that. 

On the 4^th of Oct, she smsed me 4 times, asking me about my eyes and giving me advice on how to get it better. I had dry eyes, and had bought some eye drops through her. I was so touched. On 8^th Oct, she smsed me again asking about me even though she revealed she was going through a re-screen test because she failed the first one. I almost cried.                          

On 20^th Nov, despite undergoing treatment that made her uncomfortable, upon learning that I had some time available, she emailed me a comprehensive list of things to do and good places to eat along Orchard Rd. She also went to have breakfast with me at Paragon that week, even though it was her off day and she had to go for acupuncture treatment. Linda is always going out of the way to make time for her friends. 

She also loved reading. She texted me a list of good novels to read on 22^nd Nov. Why? She had insomnia due to her treatment, but she never wallowed in misery. She still thought of sharing good things even in her discomfort. She also asked her mum, to make Yam Discs for me and she brought them on Sunday for me to eat because she knew I was pregnant and very hungry every Sunday morning. 

  On 9^th October, she was in hospital but she texted me, “I really hope I’ll be out so I can go for church service. Having Migraine again, Started trial drugs, two doses already.” All these right up to the last message I received a week plus ago showed Linda to be a real fighter. She is determined and faithful to the end. She’ll be going to a better place where there is no more pain and suffering, and I am going to meet her there in future. See you then, dearest Linda.

This is the Linda we know. Always thinking about others, placing others before herself.                      --------------------   (From Anna Goh)

I’m Free 

Don’t grieve for me, for now I’m free

I’m following the path God has laid you see.

I took His hand when I heard Him call

I turned my back and left it all.

I could not stay another day

To laugh, to love, to work, to play.

Tasks left undone must stay that way

I found that peace at the close of day.

If my parting has left a void

Then fill it with remembered joy.

A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss.

Oh yes, these things I too will miss.

Be not burdened with times of sorrow

I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.

My life’s been full, I savored much

Good friends, good times, a loved one’s touch.

Perhaps my time seemed all too brief

Don’t lengthen it now with undue grief.

Lift up your hearts and peace to thee.

God wanted me now; He set me free.

1 Thess 4:13-14

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him

Blessed Are These
20th June 2010

The search for happiness has engulfed the minds of men since antiquity. Philosophers of various cultures and ages have asked this most profound of question – “What is true happiness? How shall we attain it?”  

The inspired psalmist reveals to us the key to true happiness when he said in the 119^th psalm, “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart (Psalm 119:1-2).” 

The word “blessed” simply means “happy”. The key to true happiness is found only in the holy, inspired Word of God. This materialistic world pursues happiness in the wrong direction. In seeking to amass wealth, fame, possessions and power, men and women have run themselves aground, losing sight of the true value of human existence. We are created by God for His pleasure, and our pleasure is to be found in Him, not outside of Him. 

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created (Rev 4:11).” 

How then is a person truly happy? What must we do to attain true happiness? True happiness is not a myth; it is not something whimsical or the mere figment of an imagination which has lost its bearing due to over-dwelling on the idealistic. True happiness is a reality, not a mere concept. “Blessed are the undefiled in the way...” 

Undefiled. In other words – kept spotless, without blemish; a state of completeness, fullness; upright and with integrity. Here we have an answer to true happiness. A truly happy person is someone who holds on to his integrity, is truthful, upright, and untainted by impurity. The world may concur and state that many are striving to attain to this lofty standard. Self-help psychology and humanistic ideologies extol this virtue. However, Scripture is specific as to the authority behind this life of spotless integrity. 

“Blessed are the undefiled in the way.” This phrase indicates a course of action, not passivity but dynamism. It is the way God wants us to live; His holy instruction that we are commanded to obey.“Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way (Psalm 25:8).” 

“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye (Psalm 32:8).” “Walk” indicates a way of living our life. As the redeemed of the Lord, we are instructed to abide in Christ; and to abide in Him is to follow His example and live a holy life. “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked (1John 2:6). 

” We are to walk in the “law of the Lord”, not according to the law and traditions of men. The Lord sternly indicted the self-righteous religious leaders of His day. “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men (Mat 15:8-9).”

“Keep” is to “guard, maintain, obey”. A truly happy person keeps close to and maintains by obedience the Word of God in his daily living. The Word is his sole standard of authority, to guide, lead and counsel him through the pilgrimage in this world unto the glorious one just beyond sunset.  

“Seek” means to “pursue or follow after; to search diligently”. A truly happy person follows after God diligently. “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart (Jer 29:13).” There is no diligence without effort and labour. Many are badly mistaken that the Christian life is a bed of roses. The Bible assures us that it is not. “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12).” Nonetheless, we have assurance from the Scripture. “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing (James 1:2-4).” 

A true seeker after God seeks Him with the whole heart, that is, with the feelings, will and intellect. In other words, the true seeker seeks God with his entire being. David was famously known as a man after God’s heart. He found true happiness. David was a man who was truly blessed indeed. 

Who are the blessed? It is those who serve and obey God wholeheartedly, not holding back for fear of losing anything. The transient things of this world evaporate with the passing of time. The love and esteem of men are but for a moment. Seek the eternal, strive for that which lasts and has true value.  

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33).” 

Unanswerable Questions?
27th June 2010

Back in 1957 a British archaeologist opined in an American magazine: "Nearly all the really important questions, the things we ponder in our profoundest moments, have no answer". No doubt she was thinking of such questions as: Does God exist? Why are we here? and, What happens to us after death? But, in spite of widespread scepticism, there are answers to all these questions. For there is a God, and He has spoken to us clearly and with real authority. Yet today, over 50 years on, there is an even greater unwillingness to accept the authority of Scripture, where God has given a revelation of Himself.

The fact is, as Paul makes plain in Romans 1, there is a real, though limited, revelation from God in the created universe around us, "for the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead" (v 20). If it were possible for us to look about us without prejudice at the things that are made, we would feel obliged to accept the conclusion that no power less than God's could have made them. Yet people are prejudiced and very much deny the creatorship of God and even His existence. But the evidence Paul speaks of still exists and, in the last part of the verse just quoted, he adds that, because of this evidence, "they are without excuse". 

In similar vein, Paul told the idolaters in Lystra of "the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein"; and they should have recognised His existence. Paul told them that God "left not Himself without witness, in that He did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness" (Acts 14:17). They should have realised that God's kind provision in providence shows conclusively that God does indeed exist, and they should have realised this even if they had no further revelation, even if they never had the opportunity to listen to one of God's messengers and never saw any part of the Scriptures.

If we accept the right answer to the first question, the answer to the second should follow very easily. Psalm 29:2: "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness". That’s why we are here. But how can we know what is glorifying to God and what kind of worship is acceptable to Him? We must go to the Bible. There we will find both the main principles to guide us in fulfilling the end for which we were created. One such main principle, which applies to the whole of our lives, is: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself" (Luke 10:27). 

And the third question: What happens after death? It is obvious what happens to the body, but no one can observe the soul as it leaves the body behind. To discover what may be known of the soul's destiny, we must turn again to the Bible, where we are told that "the spirit shall return unto God who gave it" (Ecc 12:7). It is God who made us; it is He to whom we must all give account at last; it is He accordingly who will, in perfect justice, send each of us to where we will spend eternity, to heaven or to hell. Will it be to the place of everlasting blessedness? Yes, the Bible tells us plainly, if we have become reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. But the answer to that last question is, No, if we reach death still in our sins, still in rebellion against our Creator. 

God has indeed spoken. There is an answer in Scripture to every reasonable question, however profound. And all such answers are perfectly reliable, being given as part of an infallible revelation inspired by the Holy Spirit. In particular, He has told us all we must know so that we may get safely through this life and safely out of it into a better world.

But will man listen? Sadly, as in most other generations, the vast majority of people today refuse to take such answers seriously. Perhaps never before in the history of the world has there been a generation which has felt so confident in trying to live without a god. Behind that confidence, of course, lies a faith in the theory of evolution, with its assurance that everything just happened to come into existence, without any supernatural guiding power - apart altogether from a divine Creator 

Today's secular "prophets prophesy falsely", and the "people love to have it so" (see Jer 5:31).There was a time in the history of Judah when the Lord accused the people of following false gods. They were refusing to listen to the Lord's words; they were content with merely human answers to religious questions; in other words, they were walking "in the imagination of their heart", an expression which includes the idea of stubbornness. It was in this context that the Lord called: "Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud" (Jer 13:15). And why do people not listen today when God speaks? One clear reason is pride. They are too proud to submit to the authority of God and to obey when He commands. Equally our duty today is to put away our pride before this great God, to receive the truths that He has revealed, and to obey.

God has shown us clearly that we are sinners. Which points us to a further profound question: What must I do to be saved? This was what the Philippian jailer asked, and the answer he received is the very answer we need today. Human knowledge in most areas may have mushroomed over the past 2000 years, but, even in the 21^st century, man must humble himself and accept the Scripture as the only source of information on this vital matter. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," is the only accurate counsel that can be given to a sinner concerned about how to get safely to heaven. Yes, the answer may be expressed in other words; but unless it points in the same direction - that of faith in Jesus Christ - it is worse than worthless.

Post-modern society is on the verge of a tremendous departure from biblical standards in morals and religion. Certainly the rot had set in long before then. Economic growth has gone on more or less continuously, but it has been accompanied by a continued decline in morality and religious observance - and by an increasing refusal to accept that there are sound answers to our profoundest questions.

What is the solution? It is a return to the Scriptures - to receive them as the inspired Word of God, and to listen and obey.