PASTORAL CHAT

Camp Q&A (II)

(9) How do you interpret the Bible? How can I tell an interpretation is the only correct interpretation and other interpretations are wrong? Give examples.
We interpret the Bible with the Bible. The best commentary on the Bible is the Bible itself. The Westminster Confession of Faith 1.9 states, “The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself; and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly.”

Take Isaiah 7:14 for example, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Who is the virgin and who is her son? There are three views: (1) Isaiah’s second wife, the prophetess, and her son Mahershalalhasbaz, (2) Ahaz’s wife, the queen, and her son Hezekiah, (3) the Virgin Mary and her son Jesus Christ. The only meaning and correct interpretation must be the third, for this was what the angel said to Joseph in Matthew 1:20-23, “But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

For more examples, take the Basic Theology for Everyone (BTFE) course on Covenant Theology which will be taught by pastor this semester at Far Eastern Bible College, starting July 18. For more information on the BTFE courses, go to www.febc.edu.sg.

(10) How can I be sure that I am saved? How do I know for sure that when I die, I will go to heaven?
We can be sure or assured of our salvation from these three places:

(1) The Holy Scriptures. The Lord Jesus said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” (John 5:39). Peter knew for sure because of the words of Jesus, “Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” (John 6:68-69).
(2) The Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul said, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Rom 8:14-16).
(3) A Christlike Life. You live a life filled with the righteousness and love of Christ. The Apostle John said, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” (1 John 3:9-15). JK

[The church camp messages are available at True Life BPC’s YouTube channel.]

MISSIONS: GAPPI GETSEMANI

Shobastian

First of all, I thank the Lord for His grace and mercy upon us, for He has blessed us to be able to continue to worship Him and serve Him here. We thank the Lord too for your support and prayer for us. In this report, I want to highlight certain things for our thanksgiving.

Baptism of Wilson

Wilson whose actual name is Istifar was born in a Muslim family. Although raised a Muslim, he learned about the Lord Jesus, has believed in Him and sought baptism. We thank the Lord for he was baptised on April 21st by Rev Kiantoro Lie. Here is Wilson’s testimony.

“My name is Istifar (or Wilson). I was born in Riau and grew up in Batam. I was born into a Muslim family and raised a Muslim. After my father passed away, my mother remarried when I was five years old. My relationship with my parents was not so harmonious or you could say, not so warm. My parents and I rarely communicated. Growing up, I didn’t practice the commandments of my religion. Also, I listened to and read a lot of things related to philosophy. So, the question arose in my mind, does God really exist? Is God truly the one who created all this?

“After years of searching for the existence of God, I finally realised that God does exist. After realising the existence of God, a question arose in my mind: If it is true that God created and regulates all that exists, then, why are there many religions in this world? Isn’t it better for God to produce only one religion? I was stuck with this question in my mind.

“When I returned to Batam after my studies in Pekanbaru, I made many friends with people who are Christians, and got to know a girl who is a Christian too. I asked her many questions about Christianity, starting from “Why do you think Christianity is a religion that comes from God?" The answers from Christians made me want to find out the truth from an expert.

“This is where I started learning about Christianity. One day there was something that made my heart feel “Yes, this is true. This is the religion from God.” That was when I heard an explanation from an expert that Christianity is the only religion that guaranteed salvation by God, and Christianity is the only religion where God directly descends to earth to become a man just to save mankind. I compared it with my previous religion, and several religions that I knew, and sure enough, Christianity is the only religion that made sense to me. In the end, I contacted an expert to teach me more about Christianity. After learning more about Christianity, my heart grew to understand that, with the many sins I had committed in my life, God still wanted to save me. I will be saved if I truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, I finally decided to become a follower and child of God.”

We thank the Lord for how He has guided Wilson to salvation. Please pray that he will continue to grow in his faith.

Election of the Session

We thank God that on May 26th, we had our election for deacons. We thank the Lord for the two candidates, Mr Solat Tobing and Mr Janter Siregar who were called to stand for election. Thank the Lord that the election was done smoothly, and the two candidates were elected. Now we have two deacons serving for the next three years. Please pray for them that the Lord will bless their service for His glory alone.

Vacation Bible School

By God’s grace and mercy, we had three days of VBS in church. The VBS was held from July 1st to 3rd, starting from 7.30 am and ending at 11.30 am each day. We thank God for enabling us to teach the children God’s Word.

The theme for the VBS was “The Life of Abraham.” There were three lessons, one each day. We divided the children into three classes. Mdm Supartik, Murni, and I were the teachers. Brother Martin (FEBC student) who was having his vacation in Batam helped us to take care of the children, the games, and other things. There was also sister Ela, a youth, who came to help. There were some mothers in the church who came to help prepare food for the children. We thank God for all their services.

We thank God for entrusting us with 33 children in total, half of whom were newcomers. We pray that all the children have truly learned from Abraham. May they have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ like Abraham. Please pray that the newcomers will come to church for our children’s programmes. We also invited them to our Joyful Saturday meetings and to Sunday School every Lord’s Day.

On the third day after the VBS, we had a thanksgiving service with presentation items. We invited the parents of the children to come. I spoke from 2 Timothy 1:5-7 about the importance of bringing up children in the faith. I encouraged the parents to teach their children at home and to take them to a good church where good doctrines are taught. I pray that those believing parents will come again and bring their children to church, and that they will find GAPPI Getsemani to be a good church for them to grow in their faith.

Please continue to pray for us. Pray that we might be faithful to Him. Thank you very much once again for your support and prayer. God bless you!

[GAPPI Getsemani will hold its 16th anniversary thanksgiving on Aug 25, 10 am.]