In particular, Luke says that he had “carefully investigated everything from the beginning”. Doubtless, he interviewed first-hand witnesses in various places and diligently poured over corroborated accounts of Jesus’ life, ministry and teaching. Since Luke was not an eye-witness himself, it would be no surprise if he spent many months to investigate everything. And finally, he wrapped it all up by writing an “orderly account”, which has come to us as the Book of Luke (and the Book of Acts) in the Bible.

In other words, what he has spent considerable time on, and exerted effort in, has turned out to be inspired Scripture to us. Thus, divine inspiration in this case, superintended by the Spirit, is through hard work and not through mystical direct revelation!

Does this mean then, that Luke’s natural efforts is the only way through which God reveals himself and communicates with us? Not at all! The Old and New Testaments show that God speaks to his servants supernaturally too, though we cannot pinpoint its mechanics. (For example, see Acts 11:4-14 and Acts 21:10-11.)

via GIPHY

One God but many ways

There are many other instances where God uses methods that seem to be polar opposites to each other in order to achieve his will and purpose.

In 2 Chronicles 20:22-24, God delivered king Jehoshaphat and Judah from a horde of enemies who amassed to attack Judah. God destroyed this horde without the king and his army having to even lift a finger! Yet, in another instance, Nehemiah had to put on his hard hat to lead, motivate, organize and plan in order to rebuild Jerusalem’s wall in the face of fierce opposition (Nehemiah 3-4). The former was clearly supernatural; the latter was much less so. It appears then that God uses both supernatural or natural means as he pleases, though they can be so dissimilar.

In another account, the Israelites conquered Jericho when its walls collapsed supernaturally (Joshua 6) but they conquered Ai through the outworking of a battle strategy (Joshua 8:1-29). The former was God’s direct intervention; the latter was God’s indirect guidance. Again, God is not limited to act in just one way and we should note that Joshua did not insist that they must conquer Ai in exactly the same way as they did Jericho.

In Genesis, the punishment of death for Adam and Eve was delayed but judgment was instant when Ananias and Sapphira sinned (Acts 5). Why it is so, is baffling. Still, we cannot escape the fact that God chose to punish later in one case while he chose to punish right away in another.

For Job’s obedience and faithfulness, he was greatly blessed in his latter life with riches, posterity and a long life (Job 42:12-17). However, for Paul’s obedience and faithfulness, he suffered torture, stoning, jail, cold and hunger (2 Corinthians 11:24-27) and a dangerous final voyage to Rome that almost cost him his life. According to tradition, he too was finally executed as a criminal, just like his Master. So, will obedience and faithfulness always result in wealth, health and a bed of roses? The answer is evidently “No”.

God’s ways are not formulaic

Without a doubt, God works in distinctly different ways even if these ways don’t seem consistent with each other. He is neither bound nor limited in how he works in, and through, people and events, and it would be presumptuous of us to think otherwise and confine him to a box.

via GIPHY

So, God’s ways are not formulaic. Shouts and trumpet blast brought down the Jericho walls only once. The sun stood still only once. Apart from Peter, no other disciple ever walked on water. And we definitely do not cast lots, like the Apostles did, to determine God’s will today. It’s a mystery why he works in one way rather than another but it’s a mistake if we insist that he must act in exactly the same way as before.

How then can we know what God would do in a particular situation, or discern what is God’s doing at any given moment? I have no fool-proof answer and the best I can come up with, is that the closer we are to him, the clearer the answers will be.

Still, we can trust him fully along this faith journey, knowing that he is all-wise and all-good, and “in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”.

Blessings!

This message is prepared by Pastor Mok Kok Hoong on 15th Feb 2021.

The post With God, There Is No Box appeared first on Georgetown Baptist Church.

To answer this question from last week, I looked at some passages in the Old Testament. From there, I learned that there were three guideposts to prophesying.

First, Exodus 4:10-17; Exodus 7:1-2 and Ezra 6:14 show that prophesying is speaking God’s message, on his behalf, to his intended hearers. The one prophesying is being God’s mouth-piece or his spokesman. He speaks what God commands or “puts into his mouth”, not his own thoughts or opinions.

Second, 1 Chronicles 25:1-6 and 1 Samuel 10:5-7 show that prophesying, in these instances, was accompanied by musical instruments and thus, praising and exalting God through music & song is another aspect of prophesying too.

Third, 1 Samuel 19:19-24 clearly shows that a distinguishing characteristic of prophesying is that God’s Spirit moves and carries the one who prophesies.

When I connect these to the account in Acts 2, I see that the disciples indeed prophesied when the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost, as Joel said!

Disciples were vociferously “declaring the wonders of God”.

For firstly, the disciples were vociferously “declaring the wonders of God” (2:11)! They praised and exalted God in the Upper Room as they were moved and buoyed by the Spirit (2:4)! This lines up to the 2nd and 3rd guideposts of prophesying above.

Secondly, beyond the Upper Room, Peter, empowered by the Spirit, preached powerfully, “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah…. Repent and be baptized, every one of you…” God has spoken by his Son (Hebrews 1:2) and Peter became God’s spokesman as he preached to the Jews. This too, lines up to the 1^_st and 3^_rd guideposts above.

So what, you may ask. Well, it’s significant that there was prophesying at Pentecost because it shows that God has indeed poured out his Spirit as he promised! Of course, the fact that the disciples prophesied in various languages made it all the more dramatic and miraculous!

Be moved by the Spirit

This is for all New Testament believers (2:17-18) and it’s a privilege that few Old Testament saints enjoyed! So now, we can all look forward to being moved and buoyed by the Spirit to praise & exalt our God with energy, zest and vigor! Whether in season or out of season, we can also eagerly anticipate being God’s mouthpiece to preach and to proclaim his divine message, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, by the power of his Spirit!

Aren’t you thrilled that we can prophesy in at least these two ways today? It’s available for all of us believers! And thus, we should covet this privilege, desire it and finally, exercise it for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Blessings!

This message is prepared by Pastor Mok Kok Hoong on 3rd Feb 2021.

The post Was There Any Prophesying When The Holy Spirit Was Poured Out at Pentecost? appeared first on Georgetown Baptist Church.

In Acts 2:16-18, Peter pointed to the prophet Joel’s words, “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.”

But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams, even on my male servants and female servants. In those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy”.

Passage from Acts 2:16-18

It seems then, that prophesying is a/the sign when the Holy Spirit is poured out. So, this brings us back to our question, was there prophesying at Pentecost itself, when God poured out his Spirit? And if there was, what was the prophesying like?

via GIPHY

To answer this, I encourage you to consider what prophesying was like in the Old Testament in passages such as:

• Exodus 4:10-17
• Exodus 7:1-2
• 1 Chronicles 25:1-6
• 1 Samuel 10:5-7
• 1 Samuel 19:19-24
• Ezra 6:14

Let’s think about it, see what inferences we can make and I’ll give my take on it next week. See you back here in a bit …

Blessings!

This message is prepared by Pastor Mok Kok Hoong on 27 Jan 2021.

The post Pentecost: What actually happened? appeared first on Georgetown Baptist Church.

It was on a Sabbath day; Jesus was in the synagogue and he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. We know that Jesus knew how to read because in Luke 4:16-19, he “found the place where it is written” and he read that passage out. He would not have been able to find that passage in the scroll if he did not know how to read and of course, he could not have read it aloud either if he could not read!

We also see that Jesus knew how to write because in Jn 8:6b, 8 Jesus wrote on the ground. We do not know what he wrote but the accusers melted away leaving only the accused woman.

Thus, from passages such as these, and other passages where Jesus quoted from the Old Testament, we infer that Jesus was literate.

The point I’m trying to make here though, isn’t only about whether Jesus was literate or not. The point is that we should exercise inference skills when we read or study the Bible. So, rather than merely looking for clear-cut religious rules, we should look for implied information and observable clues, so that we draw logical conclusions that help us know God better. In other words, we connect the dots to see a clearer picture! As an upside, the more we become familiar with the Bible, the more dots there are to connect and the clearer pictures become!

Inference can be tricky though. In the past, some inferred that slavery was biblically justified! But just because some got it wrong, doesn’t mean that we should never ever infer. It only means that we hone the skill, be humble to learn and lean on God for wisdom as we do so.

Blessings!

This message is prepared by Pastor Mok Kok Hoong on 20 Jan 2021.

via GIPHY

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