Biblical Certainty versus Global Uncertainty
Sermon by the Rev Dr Jeffrey Khoo at True Life BPC, 12 September 2010
2 Timothy 1:12, 13, “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.”
In The Straits Times of August 11, 2010, Mr Kishore Mahbubani’s article, “Why a Liberal Arts Education Is Useful”, caught my attention. Mr Mahbubani is dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, and was Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. In that article, he explained why his decision to study philosophy at NUS was a wise move despite many telling him that he was doing something most foolish. So why was it wise? He answered, “Simple! We are moving into an era of great uncertainty. Frankly, no one has a clue about the nature of the new world order which is emerging. Experts are clueless. … we have never experienced the kinds of historical changes we are experiencing now.”
People by and large do not like to be uncertain. Uncertainty makes us afraid, it causes us to worry, it robs us of joy and peace. So how does one prepare for uncertainty? Mr Mahbubani’s answer is, “The only way to do so is to take nothing for granted. We must learn to question every assumption in our minds.” To him, a liberal arts education equips one to do this. He says confidently, “this habit of questioning gives me the confidence to predict with certainty that we will be encountering uncertainty on many fronts.” In other words, he is saying, “I am absolutely certain about one thing in life and in the world, and that is uncertainty.” He is being honest, and he is right in his observation. Man with all his intelligence cannot tell for sure what will happen in the future.
Mr Mahbubani says we need to be philosophers—be thinking and inquiring. We need to think correctly, ask the right questions, and hope for the best. At any rate, philosophy as he admits can only make one certain about uncertainty. Philosophy can only go so far and no further. But there is a better way, if not the only way to certainty, not the way of philosophy but theology. Theology offers not such a hope-so faith but a know-so faith. The basis of our know-so faith is God and His Word.
Knowing God
The Apostle Paul was very sure of his God and Saviour, “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Tim 1:12).
The Bible tells us, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov 1:7). “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Prov 9:10). The important questions of life like “Where did I come from?”, “What is the meaning of life?” and “Where will I be when I die?” can only be answered and known if one fears God. The fear of God means we must acknowledge His existence. The atheist is a fool. Psalm 14:1 says, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” The pantheist goes to the other extreme thinking that everything is god. That too is foolishness. “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (Rom 1:21-23).
In order to be sure and certain of life’s meaning and be able to interpret correctly life’s experiences, man must have the mind of God. He must see himself and the world the way God sees it. How can he do that? Not on his own. On his own, he is hopeless and blind. Man needs God. He needs to surrender all autonomy and pray humbly to God, “I cannot help myself, please help me.” Unless and until man kowtows before the only living and true God his Maker, he will never be able to interpret his experiences and the events of this world that would bring him joy and peace.
Man if he is to wants true knowledge and wisdom needs a BA. Not a BA in philosophy but be “Born Again”. Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). This rebirth is not a physical one, not reincarnation. It is a spiritual birth that makes one a child of God. It is the work of the Holy Spirit who convicts a man of his sinfulness, of his need for righteousness and of the terrible judgement to come if he does not repent. And if he will ask this good question, “What must I do to be saved?”, it is the first step to true knowledge. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31), for Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Rom 10:9). There is only one way to heaven, Jesus is the only way. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5). Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
Faith is the key to divine knowledge. We do not see in order to believe; we believe in order to see. “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Heb 11:3). The question of origins is answered by faith. Not a Big Bang, but by divine fiat—“for he commanded, and they were created” (Ps 148:5). As the Rev Dr Timothy Tow said, “By faith, the doctrine of creation ex nihilo (“out of nothing”), not evolution, is to be received. By faith, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity transcends the principles of mathematics. By faith the doctrine of the Virgin Birth of Christ cannot be taught but by worshipful reverence. Theology is not only a science, but a ‘metascience’.” It is not Science that triumphs but “Metascience”, i.e. Divine Wisdom, and such Wisdom is found in God’s Word.
Knowing His Word
The Apostle Paul told young Timothy, “Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim 1:13).
Faith is not blind. It is not blind because it is based on God’s Word which is Truth. What is Truth? God’s Word is Truth (John 17:17). Faith is not only not blind, it takes away blindness. Sin blinds us from God. Our natural mind cannot grasp spiritual matters. The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:6-14 said, “Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” Spiritual things are spiritually discerned.
That is why the unregenerate man no matter how intelligent he is continues to be lost over the question of suffering and evil. He has no answer nor solution to the crisis of a self- destructive and sin-cursed world. He cannot tell the future for sure. He is at the mercy of the unknown. But God wants man to know not only his past but also his future. Know the Bible! Study the Bible! Dr William Lyon Phelps of Yale University rightly observed, “A knowledge of the Bible without a college education is better than a college education without the Bible.”
If we want to know our destiny and be certain about our future, we must go to God who knows all things, and has revealed to us what the future holds. What God has revealed to mankind is found in the Holy Bible which is full of prophecies, a lot of which concern world events, events that have already happened, and events yet to happen. For instance, Daniel 2:31-45 speaks of the successive empires in world history beginning with the Babylonian under King Nebuchadnezzar. Babylon fell and was taken over by the Medes and Persians. The Medo-Persian empire was conquered by the Greeks under Alexander the Great, and the Grecian empire was taken over by the Romans. The Roman empire gradually declined in strength and eventually ceased to be a superpower. But one day, it will be revived, and the world will come under the rule of an end-time Caesar, the Antichrist (Rev 13). As Christians, with the light of biblical prophecy, we know where we are in history, and can expect our Saviour to come back very soon.
The Apostle Paul warned of the imminent return of Christ, “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thess 5:1-6). We have the light of God’s truth, and should live in the light of His truth.
The truth is man is not in control, God is. Until and unless sinful man repents of his sin and believes in Christ and His words for his salvation, he will continue to walk blindly and come to a dead end. Take heed to John 3:16-21, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”
If we want to be sure and certain of the true answers to age-old questions concerning our origins, our existence, and our destiny, we need theology, not philosophy. Know God and know His Word. Biblical certainty in the midst of global uncertainty!
