ARE YOU A BELIAL?

Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew

The “ungodly man” in Proverbs 16:27 comes from the word “Belial” which literally means “without profit”. It speaks of a person who is worthless in the eyes of God. It is used 37 times in the Old Testament, and its meaning is the same every time. Later, in the New Testament, the word came to be used of Satan, “And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?” (2 Cor 6:15). Anyone who follows Satan is considered an ungodly and worthless man. How worthless you might ask.

In the eyes of the world, a man of Belial might be someone most worthy, but in the eyes of God, he is utterly worthless. Such a man could be very brilliant in his field of expertise. He could also be very well respected and connected to people with power and importance. He could be very wealthy and influential and commands respect from the people around him based upon his worldly positions and accomplishments. He may have a self-aggrandised aura about him, and may think that everyone wants to know him and be connected to him because of who he is. More often than not, such a man cannot accept rejection or being marginalised. What will he do to anyone who does not kowtow to him or refuses to gravitate towards him?

Proverbs 16:27 reveals to us that such a man will dig up evil even when evil is nowhere to be found. He will dig up the “evil” of people whom he despises and envies. His aim is to destroy them. Everyone makes mistakes in life. It will not be too hard for a man of Belial to dig up “evil”. He will obviously spin it to his advantage to cause maximum damage. Half-truths are most potent because they have the semblance of truth. One of the most common ways by which he gets support to fuel his destructive agenda is to befriend and stir up as many people as possible especially those who are gullible and without discernment.

Another way is to make his victims beholden to him so that they will feel compelled to take his side. The modus operandi is through his words, whether in writing or in speech. The Lord describes such lips as “burning fire”. A burning fire cannot be put out and will spread and destroy everything it touches. There is not enough space in all the pages of the books of this world to contain all the accounts of all the evil words that have proceeded from such lips and the innumerable lives they have destroyed throughout the ages. The frightful thing is that its destructive power still burns intensely and with greater speed now with the internet world—a world of iniquity where words can run wild and rampant. All kinds of platforms are available in social media for words to be used to destroy people and their lives.

The great tragedy is that these burning fiery lips are also found inside churches today. They belong to wolves in sheep’s clothing or angels of light masquerading as children of God to deceive and to destroy the work of God. One of the most effective ways is to sow seeds of discord to ruin relationships and destroy brotherly love among the brethren. Some of them even infiltrate the leadership to inflict maximum damage. This is the devil’s ploy. Whatever it takes to succeed, the devil will employ. He has no principles and scruples being the father of lies. Deceptions, lies and manipulations are all used diabolically with masterful success. These lies include false doctrines and character assassinations. Churches, Bible colleges and seminaries have been laid waste by the devil and his evil minions.

Lives have been ruined by undercover agents of the devil who infiltrate by becoming members of the church. They will befriend children of God who unsuspectingly trust them, thinking that they are also believers. One of the more common methods is to garner support through so-called friendships, and when they are exposed and are about to leave huffing and puffing they will try to burn as many lives as possible. They leave behind a trail of ruined and hurt lives as an evil legacy of their tenure in the church. They just will not leave quietly but will drag some broken and disillusioned victims with them. There is an element of the Belial in them that seems to trigger such fiery evil from their lips. Not all will leave. Some will remain to continue the work of Belial. They will gossip and speak ill of people to burn lives and reputations like flame throwers pouring oil to keep their fire burning. They do so in the guise of “sharing”.

The only way to deal with men of Belial is to rebuke them the moment they open their fiery lips to destroy lives. They must be stopped to save the God-given unity among brethren and also the lives of God’s people. We must be our Christian brothers’ and sisters’ keepers to protect one another’s spiritual well-being for the glory of God and Christ.

True love and unity among brethren is hard to find. Once it ispresent, protect it at all costs. This loving unity is described in Psalm 133:1–3, “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.” Amen.

BIBLE WITNESS TV

Rev Dr Prabhudas Koshy

Bible Witness TV, a web-TV ministry, is the latest effort of the Bible Witness Media Ministry of Gethsemane Bible-Presbyterian Church in Singapore. God willing, this humble yet bold project will be available soon to all on the internet.

The idea of such a ministry was in our prayers and planning for almost two decades. The first step, which the Lord has enabled us to take, was the Bible Witness Literature Ministry in the year 2000, with the publishing of Bible Witness magazine. As we slowly built up our publications, we also endeavoured to make biblical resources available through various digital media (such as CDs and DVDs) and the internet (websites); hence we renamed the ministry as Bible Witness Media Ministry. In 2007, the Lord enabled us to begin Bible Witness Web Radio (BWWR), a 24/7 internet broadcast, which continues to this day. Realising the tremendous effectiveness of the internet, we exerted ourselves, with God’s grace empowering us, to build up our facilities. With the acquisition of Gethsemane Media Centre in 2019, a much-needed Audio-Video studio became a reality, and the work for BWTV began. Though many of our plans and efforts were severely disrupted by the COVID pandemic since March 2020, the Lord has enabled our church preachers, media staff, church choirs, and many of our congregants and friends to labour tirelessly to develop the content for BWTV. All glory be to God.

Purposes of BWTV

The launching of BWTV is, firstly, for the spreading of the Gospel and sound biblical resources to all corners of the world. Indeed, our gracious Lord has opened another door before us to reach the world with His Word. May this effort help us to fulfil the honourable duty that the Lord has entrusted us in Romans 10:14–15 – “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”

Secondly, BWTV provides an avenue for many from the congregation of GBPC and like-minded churches to offer their services for the proclamation of Christ and His blessed truths. Through this ministry, our people render their God-given skills and abilities for sinners’ salvation and saints’ edification. Indeed, “The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it” (Psalm 68:11)!

Thirdly, BWTV offers a godly alternative at a time when secular media drowns the minds of our children and youths with ungodly and worldly content. BWTV programmes include special content for kids (songs, Bible lessons, Bible activities, etc.), as well as for youths and adults (doctrinal and practical lessons through discussions, Q&A segments, sermon snippets, devotions, prayer, singing of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, etc.).

Programming of BWTV

God willing, come 1^st September 2022, BWTV will start on a small scale. There will be two channels – one for the kids, and another for youths and adults. These channels will provide new content every week. We hope to make most (if not all) of the content available on demand for repeated and delayed viewing. We hope in the Lord to increase the variety of categories as well as content in the coming months and years.

Viewing of BWTV

How can you access BWTV and benefit from its content? You can view BWTV either by accessing biblewitnesstv.com, or our church app (gethsemanebpc), which can be downloaded from your app store or https://gethsemanebpc.com/app.

You can watch BWTV daily as long as you can access internet via WiFi or mobile data services through your computers or internet TV, tablets, or mobile phones.

Home visitation to Uncle Devan on his 95^th birthday.