TRUE LIFE BPC CAMP 2017

I thank God that year after year, without fail, He has always provided us a place for our annual retreat where we are able to get away from our usual routine to study God’s Word together, to get to know one another better and to build up one another in the Christian faith.

The camp theme is “The Holy Spirit—Our Indispensable Comforter”. The Holy Spirit is God’s gift and seal to every believer. Eph 1:13–14 tells us “after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

Every one who professes to be a Christian must live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit (Gal 5:25). We must be growing spiritually, loving God and loving spiritual things more than worldly things. Are we fervent in prayer or lethargic in prayer? Do we take a great delight in reading the Bible or do we find it a bore? Do we resist and hate sin or do we compromise with sin? How is our walk with the Lord? It is imperative that we grow in our faith, yielding daily to the Holy Spirit who indwells us, and not to sin. We must bear good fruit in our lives, even the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance (Gal 5:22–23). May the Holy Spirit illumine our hearts as we listen to the camp messages and may we be re-energized, to know and to do the Lord’s bidding in our lives.

Our Pastor will be the speaker for the English section and the Rev Lee Kim Shong will minister to the Chinese section. The morning devotions in Chinese will be taken by Bro Jianwei, who has just graduated from the FEBC and the Rev (Dr) Koa Keng Woo, who at 88 years old is still full of vigour and serving the Lord fervently. Rev Koa will also speak in English at the morning devotions, with Rev Nguyen Gia Hien, Rev Errol Stone and Pr Park Jung Il taking turns to speak each morning.

We also welcome Pr Tann Heng from the Word of Life BPC in Cambodia and Dr and Mrs Wee from Kemaman, Malaysia. They will give us a report of their ministries on Tuesday night.

Bangkok is the capital of Thailand with a population of more than 8 million people. It is a popular destination for Singaporeans, with the lure of cheap and good food and lots of shopping, just two and a half hours away by plane. Could this be one of the reasons why 295 campers, the highest number so far, have signed up for this year’s camp? One thing is quite certain—many of us will be out in the afternoons to explore the city. For first-timers to Bangkok, be prepared for the heat and the traffic jams and beware of scammers out to make a quick buck out of you. Do remember that the country is still in mourning for their late king and take care not to say or post any thing in the social media regarding the royal family as there are strict laws to protect them.

Finally, let us not forget that our primary purpose in Bangkok is for a spiritual retreat, not a shopping trip. “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on the things on the earth” (Col 3:1–2).

Have a blessed camp!

Dn Tan Beng Lee, Campmaster

OUR INDISPENSABLE COMFORTER

Right after last year’s church camp, I started to think about what the next camp theme should be. Last year’s camp theme was “Living for His Coming”. Have we been living for His Coming? How to live for His Coming? To know how, we must have His Spirit. Jesus told His disciples, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you… Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” (John 16:7, 13).

As Christians, we cannot do without the Holy Spirit. He is indispensable to us. Without Him we cannot live for Christ. Who is the Holy Spirit, and what is He? Not many know Him. He is so misunderstood today, so badly represented by the Charismatics and the Megachurches, and so neglected in evangelical and fundamental churches. For this reason, I felt it important and necessary to study the Holy Spirit in this year’s camp, to see how He is so relevant and practical in our Christian life especially in these last days.

Let me take this opportunity to welcome one and all to this camp. I am glad to see you here. May the Lord bless you richly as you worship Him and meditate on His pure words and enjoy the fellowship through His free Spirit. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.” (Ps 133). Such a gathering is truly a foretaste of heaven on earth. The Holy Spirit makes it so.

Who is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Holy Trinity. “In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost: the Father is of none, neither begotten, nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son” (WCF II:3).

As stated in the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Holy Spirit is a person. He is not a force or an influence as viewed by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Jesus Himself regarded the Spirit as a person. He is called “Comforter,” and not “comfort” (John 14:26). He is called “another” Comforter (John 14:16), ie. He is another person like Christ. As a person, the Spirit has a mind (Rom 8:27), intellect (1 Cor 2:10–11), emotions (Eph 4:30), a will (1 Cor 12:11, Acts 15:6–11), and the ability to intercede (Rom 8:26). As a person, He can be lied to (Acts 5:3), resisted (Acts 7:51), grieved (Eph 4:30), blasphemed (Matt 12:31), and insulted (Heb 10:29).

The Holy Spirit is God Himself. He possesses all the attributes of deity. He is all-knowing (1 Cor 2:11–12), all-present (Ps 139:7), and all-powerful (Ps 104:30, Job 33:4). He was involved in the creation of the world (Gen 1:2), in the incarnation of Christ (Luke 1:35), in the inspiration of the Scriptures (2 Pet 1:21, 2 Tim 3:16). He is the sevenfold Spirit of God (Isa 11:2) who has existed since eternity past, and will exist into eternity future (Heb 9:14). He is of the same essence as the Father and the Son. He is Jehovah (Acts 28:25–27 cf. Isa 6).

Although the Holy Spirit is same in substance, and equal in power with the other Persons of the Trinity, He is subordinate to them in role and function. There is a functional hierarchy within the Godhead. The Son is under the Father, and the Spirit is under both the Father and the Son (John 14:28, 1 Cor 11:3). God the Father sent God the Son into the world (John 3:17, 17:8,18), and God the Spirit is sent by both the Father and the Son (John 15:26). The Son glorifies the Father (John 14:13), and the Spirit glorifies the Son (John 16:13–14).

What Does the Holy Spirit Do?

The Holy Spirit does the work of conviction: “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8). He convicts man of sin, and points him to Christ as the only way to true forgiveness and righteousness. The Spirit also does the work of baptism by indwelling those who believe in Christ (1 Cor 12:13). He does the work of filling when the believer submits himself for sanctification (Eph 5:18, Gal 5:16). He dispenses the spiritual gifts to believers for the edification of the church (Eph 4:11–12). He Himself decides which gift(s) a believer should have (1 Cor 12:11).

Slain by the Spirit: What’s Wrong?

Does the Holy Spirit slay people? The Spirit has a ministry of convicting people of sin, and of indwelling, filling, counseling, and praying for believers. Nowhere however do we find Him having a ministry of slaying.

It is interesting to note that in this charismatic phenomenon of being slain by the Spirit, people fall backwards. Often those who fall backwards also start rolling on the ground, and some go into uncontrollable fits or seizures. Can this be the work of the Holy Spirit?

Charismatics often cite King Saul favourably as an example of one who was slain by the Spirit. In this incident the Spirit of God came upon Saul and he prophesied laying naked all day and night (1 Sam 19:23–24). The great Chinese pastor—Wang Ming Tao—has a good commentary on this episode: “Now, when Saul lay naked, he was not under the blessing of God but rather under His punishment to his shame. We should know that Saul at this time was long rejected for disobeying God. God had meantime anointed David king. God’s Spirit had departed from Saul and an evil spirit had come upon him. For envying David, he tried to kill him. David had to run for his life to escape Saul. At last he came to Samuel. When Saul came to know about this, he sent men to take David. But it turned out that three times men were sent to take him, three times, these men prophesied by the Spirit of God when they came to Samuel. They could not lay hands on David. Finally this Saul, monster of monsters, went himself to take David, but who could imagine that before he could get his quarry, he was overturned with disgrace. Not only did the Spirit of God cause him to speak but also meet with what the three messengers did not experience—for a day and a night he lay down naked. Not only should we not seek Saul’s experience but rather flee from it…. Who would imagine that among these seekers of charismatic gifts there should arise those who regard those fearful and shameful experiences for a pattern? To be teachers of the Bible without understanding is dangerous business.” If Saul was slain, he was not slain by the Holy Spirit but by an evil spirit (cf. 1 Sam 16:14–15).

The Bible records a couple of instances of people falling backwards. In the OT, we read how Eli the high priest fell backwards upon hearing that the ark of the Lord had been captured by the Philistines due to the fault of his wicked sons. In his fall backwards, he broke his neck and died (1 Sam 4:18). God judged him for his sins as Israel’s high priest. In the NT, we find the murderous mob looking for Jesus. When Jesus said “I am,” they fell backwards (John 18:6). In light of these two incidents, it is readily seen that falling backwards is not cause for rejoicing but worry. If when confronted by the power of God, one falls backwards, then it is not a blessing but a curse—a sign of judgement. To fall backwards is thus not a good sign of one’s spiritual state. All who fell backwards in Scripture were judged by God. All who fell backwards were unbelievers.

On the other hand, we have numerous accounts in the Bible of people falling forwards. Those who fall forwards, fall down to worship the Lord (Num 22:31; Matt 18:26, 29; Mark 3:11; Luke 17:16; 1 Cor 14:25). The biblical posture of obeisance is that of falling prostrate to the ground. If a person is indeed touched by the power of the Spirit, he will fall to the ground face down, kowtowing to the Lord, weeping and groaning for his sins. This was what happened in God-sent revivals during the time of John Wesley, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, and closer to home, John Sung. JK