June 5, 2016

Gethsemane Defenders’ Ministry (GDM)

Written by:
Rev (Dr) Prabhudas Koshy
(The first of a two-part sequel to GDM’s inaugural seminar, “The Bible Above All Sciences”, in which the theory of evolution was refuted as unbiblical, and the biblical doctrine of God’s creation of all things in six days was defended. Written by Bro Samuel Gan & Pastor Koshy)

Bible-believing Christians face a lot of struggles in and challenges to their faith, with the biblical moral standard under relentless attack from the world today! The Bible teaches that things will not get better as regards to the spiritual and moral landscape of the world. Pay attention to the following biblical predictions by the Lord Jesus and the apostle Paul concerning the last days’ spiritual and moral decadence, and heed their warning to the church to carefully avoid it:

“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:12).

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:37-39).

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

Sadly, such corruption of human society would not even be shocking to many of those who call themselves Christians. This is because the church itself will deteriorate, embracing false doctrines and immoral lifestyles, as forewarned by the Scriptures:

“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:4-5).

“And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:11).

“For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24).

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3). [This is a prediction of great apostasy within the church before the appearance of the Antichrist during the 7-year tribulation (cf. Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15).]

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Timothy 4:1-2).

In the church and in the world, anti-God beliefs are already gathering strength. Unless our congregation is vigilant against this evil trend, we will be no safer within the church than in the world!

Scripture expects us to be good soldiers of the His truth in these last days, and “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12). Also, “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). We can certainly count on His unfailing promises that He will be with us to help us to bear witness to His glorious truths (cf. Matthew 28:18-20).

For this reason, Gethsemane Defenders’ Ministry (GDM) was formed. Our aim is to equip believers to be valiant, bold, ready soldiers of Christ, having put on the whole armour of God and being strengthened with His truth and Spirit (Ephesians 6:13-17). We pray and hope that all Gethsemaneans will be strong and well-armed with the truth of God’s Word to answer everyone who ask them about the reason of their faith and hope (cf. 1 Peter 3:15).

GDM’s Inaugural Seminar

In the inaugural seminar, “The Bible Above All Sciences”, the topic of evolution was specifically dealt with. We firmly reject evolution, for it has no place in the Bible. The origin of the world did not occur through an evolutionary process of millions of years, but is the result of a six-day work of creation by God (cf. Genesis 1 & 2). [Please read also the articles written by Pr Ho Kee How in Bible Witness Volume 15, Issue 4.]

Consider the following Bible verses that unequivocally declare that God created all things, and that He did it in 6 literal days of creation:

“All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3).

“… the world was made by him” (John 1:10).

“For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day” (Exodus 20:11).

“… for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed” (Exodus 31:17).

“By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6).

“Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands” (Psalm 102:25).

“I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded” (Isaiah 45:12).

“For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:18).

“God, who created all things by Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 3:9).

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him” (Colossians 1:16).

“… by whom (the Son, Jesus Christ) also he (God the Father) made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:2).

“And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands” (Hebrews 1:10).

“… he that built all things is God” (Hebrews 3:4).

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:11)

Let us be fervent in exalting our God as the Creator. We must glorify God by declaring that which He has repeatedly said about the origin of all things. Subscribing to the theory of evolution is impossible without contradicting what He has said in His Word about the origin of all things. So, we affirm that God created all things in six literal, 24-hour days about 6,000 years ago, as reiterated in Genesis 1 & 2, as well as other portions of the infallible Scriptures. We ought to be unashamed in believing, defending and declaring a relatively recent six-day creation doctrine against the advocates of millions of years of evolution. There is no biblical or scientific reason to be ashamed of believing in what God has spoken clearly and emphatically.

Gethsemane Bible-Presbyterian Church adheres to the system of faith commonly known as the “Reformed Faith” as expressed in the Westminster Confession of Faith together with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms.
Our Worship Address
SingPost Centre
Level 5 Auditorium
10 Eunos Road 8, Singapore 408600
(next to Paya Lebar MRT station)
Our mailing address
Gethsemane Media Centre
33 Ubi Crescent
Singapore 408584
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