Lord’s Day, Vol. 10 No. 5
Rejoicing with Thanksgiving
It is with utmost joy and thanksgiving that we come before the Lord, counting our blessings, recounting His goodness upon God’s people at Blessed Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church on this 8th Anniversary Thanksgiving Service. Thank God for members, loved ones, and friends co-labouring in the gospel work.
We remember the labour of love and constant encouragement received from our late Pastoral Advisor, Rev. Dr. Tow Siang Hwa as we press on with the gospel work to the praise and glory of our Almighty God.
Our theme for the year “Thy Kingdom Come” (Matthew 6:10a), the highlight of the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), brings to focus the imminence of Christ return and our prayer that we may be prepared and ready for His soon return. This is the Blessed Hope of the Church.
The Apostle Paul reminds us how we may prepare in Titus 2:12-14 (KJV) 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Since the Fall of man, when Adam and Eve handled the dominion of this world to the evil one, Satan, sin, misery, and death plagued the world. When man energized by the devil rules the world, there is tyranny, oppression, and much suffering. The perennial conflict since then can be summed up in our Lord’s word to Satan in Genesis 3:15 (KJV) And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
God raised His standard against the evil that plagued the world by raising the nation of Israel beginning with her deliverance from bondage in Egypt, establishing her as a nation in the land of Canaan. With God’s divine laws given to the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai, there was order and blessing. It sets the model for righteousness that truly exalts a nation (Proverbs 14:34). However, Israel failed the Lord as His faithful witness. Israel later crucified her Messiah, Jesus Christ, the King of Israel. When Jesus, the Son of God, began His ministry, He began to preach, and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 4:17).
All who repent of their sins received forgiveness by looking to Jesus’ sacrificial death, on their behalf, upon the cross and His resurrection from the dead the third day. At the cross, the curse upon man was lifted but the earth is not yet restored to its Edenic state and man will still have to experience physical death – Romans 8:22-23 (KJV) 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. “Thy kingdom come” is the urgent prayer of the church for God to restore His rule on earth and reverse the Edenic curse as Daniel envisioned in Daniel 7:27 (KJV) And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. This is our blessed hope and present consolation as we see decay and disease still plaguing us and our loved ones. The consummation will take place at the rapture of the church (1 Cor. 15:51-54; 1 Thess. 4:13-18). Jesus returns to give all believers, dead and alive, their glorified bodies.
While we await the rapture, the evil one is allowed by God to energize men, reject the living and true God, by establishing a one-world government, (a precursor to the Antichrist kingdom in Rev. 4-19), men exalting men taught by the devil, to oppose the rule of God and His Christ (Gen. 11). A tyrannical rule that opposes the very laws of God as we see today – LGBTQ, abolition of families and family life through the breakdowns of families. These await the judgment of God. By these, we know what is evil and be awakened to abhor it. This prayer is that such evil will be pushed back and defeated if the Lord tarries, that more souls may be saved. This is also a prayer for believers to realize the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost (Rom. 14:17). Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He gave the mandate to the church to defeat the wiles of the devil through the preaching of the gospel. The church will be victorious. Jesus Christ will restore the earth to the Edenic state and physically rule the earth with His saints for 1000 years (Rev. 20:1-6). It will be a glorious time. Jesus says, “Surely, I come quickly. Amen.” The Spirit and the bride respond, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Rev. 22:17, 20) Amen.
Yours lovingly,
Pastor Lek Aik Wee