Sermon Text: Psalm 59
Speaker: Pastor Prabhudas Koshy
Date: 22nd October 2023
Sermon Text: Psalm 59
Speaker: Pastor Prabhudas Koshy
Date: 22nd October 2023
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed” (James 1:12-14).
There is a widespread misconception that a person blessed by the Lord with happiness and peace shall not have any temptation or trial. Many modern-day false teachers claim that genuine faith would guarantee a life free from sickness, financial trouble, and all other kinds of distress. However, the Word of God here teaches us that the blessedness of a man of faith is not in the absence of temptation and trial in his life, but in his endurance in the midst of them.
A believer should not frown on the divine providence that permits trying circumstances. Instead, he must persevere happily even when his faith and commitment to God are tested, knowing that God’s providence is giving him an opportunity to prove the genuineness of his faith. This is why James urged believers in an earlier verse, saying, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations” (James 1:2).
A person undergoing trials may not feel “blessed” or happy. The difficulties would affect him emotionally, causing him to feel frustrated, fearful, or forlorn. Nonetheless, if he steadfastly believes in the promises and presence of God while remaining committed to doing His will, he will experience the great spiritual joy of an overcomer.
Every Christian needs to know that all sorts of circumstances will test his faith and devotion to Christ. So, he is required to be ready to endure the temptation that will inevitably come his way. In order to endure testing, one must cultivate a spirit of total dependence on and total obedience to God. Temptations and trials can conspire to make one falter in faithfulness to Christ. One can prevail over temptations and trials only with a spirit of unflinching devoutness and undaunted fortitude.
Let us note that the blessed man does not just suffer but endures his suffering and testing. He “shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (James 1:12b). The word “crown” conveys the idea of reward, and the word “life” indicates that the reward is life evermore. Jesus also said to the suffering Christians, “… be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). The sacred promises of such “crowns” reserved for the children of God are also mentioned in 2 Tim. 4:8; 1 Pet. 5:4; Rev 3:11; 4:4.
Amidst the trials, the Lord will manifest His pleasure in those who endure and prove their love for Him. He will assure and cheer them on with His promise of eternal rewards. His promise will strengthen their hearts and assure them that the trials are not a sign of His displeasure. His promise of reward will show that His love and commitment to them will never wither. They who love and honour the Lord in their trials have the assurance that the Lord will honour them through thick and thin.
We must note James’ caution: “Let no man say … I am tempted of God”. Some believers tend to misinterpret God-sent trials as God tempting them with opportunities to sin. Such a notion is far from the truth. So, James sternly warns those who may try to pin the blame on God and hold God responsible for their temptation to sin. James is very concerned about such an idea of God and desires that his readers will reject the suggestion that God has a hand in inducing people to sin.
One’s thoughts about God affect one’s decisions and responses to life’s experiences. If one presumes that the temptations of sin that he experiences are from God, he will then have an ill-conceived excuse for the sins he would commit. As James noted, he would then say impious and despicable things, such as “God tempted me with sins.”
To say that “I am tempted of God” is, first of all, to make a false claim about God. It is a heresy to say that God tempts us with sin. Any thought or statement that depicts God as the author of sin is contrary to the unmistakable teaching of the Holy Scriptures that all of God’s works are holy. In Deuteronomy 32:4, Moses avows that God “is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” Psalm 145:17 declares that “The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.” Likewise, Psalm 92:15 affirms that “the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him” (cf. 1 Samuel 2:2; Psalms 111:3; 119:137; Zephaniah 3:5; Revelation 4:8).
Secondly, such a statement deceives the heart to consider sin as an unavoidable matter that God has laid on him. Such a belief stands contrary to all the counsels and admonitions of God in His Word. God commands us to depart and be separate from everything unholy. For instance, 2 Corinthians 6:17 admonishes us, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” The LORD God would have nothing to do with those who follow the way of sin. He calls all His people to “come out” away from all sorts of unclean and false people and their ways.
How scandalous and diabolical it is then to say, “I am tempted of God”!
Sermon Text: Psalm 58
Speaker: Pastor Prabhudas Koshy
Date: 15th October 2023
Christian life and ministry is a call to sacrificial service to God. Our pattern is the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ! “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross…” (Hebrews 12:2).
During His public ministry, Jesus specifically pointed out to His disciples “how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day” (Matt 16:21). Jesus willingly endured His afflictions and death for our salvation, in accordance with His Father’s will. So, shouldn’t we, His followers, be ready for suffering and even death in service to God? Paul, the prisoner for the Gospel, urged Timothy, “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God” (2 Timothy 1:8). Are you willing and ready to endure afflictions for Christ? We only achieve great things for Christ’s kingdom if we serve Him by willingly enduring afflictions, and even death!
During World War II, eleven missionaries were martyred on the Island of Panay in the Philippines. One of these was Dr. Francis Rose – who had penned the following poem that is commonly called “The Martyr’s Hymn”:
All human progress up to God
Has stained the stairs of time with blood;
For every gain for Christendom
Is bought by someone’s martyrdom.
For us he poured the crimson cup,
And bade us take and drink it up.
Himself he poured to set us free.
Help us, O Christ, to drink with thee.
Ten thousand saints come thronging home,
From lion’s den and catacomb.
The fire and sword and beasts defied;
For Christ, their King, they gladly died.
With eye of faith we see today
That cross-led column wind its way
Up life’s repeated Calvary.
We rise, O Christ, to follow Thee!
Dear Pastor Koshy,
Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! Praise the Lord for His goodness upon the churches here in Bogo and San Antonio. The Lord has been gracious and merciful to keep and preserve the two churches. The Lord be praised for the loving support of Gethsemane BPC, Singapore to the missionary-in-charge.
We recently had our 1st Annual Congregational Meeting on 17 September 2023. We thank God for all that the Lord has done in and through the church, looking forward to God’s blessings upon the plans of the two churches. Praise the Lord for His gracious provision through the loving support of the church in Singapore and the faithful giving of the brethren. Through these, our two churches’ expenses for the past fiscal year have been met and sustained. All glory be to God!
Praise the Lord for opening doors of opportunity for us to teach the senior high school students in Binabag National High School. Initially, we were given a one-hour slot (8.00am–9.00am) every Friday to teach the Word of God to the students. After the teaching session last Friday, we were asked if we could teach other students at another time slot (10.00am–11.00am). The Lord has graciously granted us opportunities to teach the Word of God and preach the Gospel. God willing, we will be teaching in two separate time slots this coming Friday (6 October). For the first time slot (8.00am–9.00am), the number of students is 32, and we expect the same number for the 2nd time slot (10.00am–11.00am). Praise the Lord for such a blessed opportunity!
By the grace of God, the brethren in Bogo and San Antonio are doing well. Though some are sick and have not been attending church, some newcomers have come and worshipped with us. Thank God for the planned Christmas meeting in Bogo on 20 December 2023. We look forward to attending such meetings and fellowshipping with the brethren.
Once again, thank you very much, Pastor Koshy and the Board of Elders, for your loving support to us. Praise the Lord for His goodness.
Sincerely in Christ,
Elder Eliezer
Sermon Text: Jonah 1:1–10
Speaker: Pr Samson Hutagalung
Date: 8th October 2023
David wrote in Psalm 23:6, “…and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” David was a man who always desired to be “in the house of the LORD”. There, he rejoiced in the goodness and mercies of the LORD. Worship, singing, rendering of testimonies, meditation of His Word, prayers, and all such activities in the LORD’s house granted him the greatest joy he had ever experienced in this world. In Psalm 5:7, he uttered, “But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.”
David often spoke in his psalms about his desire for the LORD’s house. He prayed in Psalm 26:8, “LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.” In Psalm 27:4, he wrote, “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.” His pious heart could not find a greater, nobler, sweeter experience than hearing the praise, honour and glory of God in the place of worship. No wonder the psalmist exclaimed, “How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God” (Psalm 84:1-2).
Furthermore, the psalmist said in Psalm 84:4, “Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.” He also declared in the same psalm: “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness” (v. 10). In the same vein, David counted being “in the house of the LORD” as the most blessed experience of a man’s life. So, he wrote in Psalm 65:4, “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.”
It was David’s irrepressible desire to rejoice in all the activities conducted in the LORD’s house in worship of His name. His heart’s most cherished ambition was to be with God’s people in His house, thinking of the LORD’s goodness and mercy and serving Him. The desire for the LORD’s house was so great that he wanted to dwell there for ever. Obviously, nothing would fully satisfy his longing heart except heaven, where he shall dwell forever with the LORD!
Dear brethren, thank God that He does not refuse to let us in when we come to His house to seek His blessings and protection over us. He welcomes us to be like David, that we make His house our “dwelling place”. The LORD’s house is a place of asylum in times of our troubles, and also our happy dwelling place when our lives are joyous and blessed.
Let us never forsake our assembling together in His house. Do not miss any opportunity that we have to come into His house. May the church be your “home, sweet home”. Let us always say, “God’s house, My house!” Then, we too can say like David, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem” (Ps. 122:1-2).
Pastor Jied has reported that the construction of the Church and Bible Academy building has restarted after two months of delay caused by the rainy season. The concrete for the first level has been completed, and the construction of the second level of the building is about to begin. Pray that the construction will progress smoothly and be completed by early next year, as they desire it to be ready for use by February 2024.
Sermon Text: Psalm 57
Speaker: Pastor Prabhudas Koshy
Date: 1st October 2023
Sermon Text: Psalm 56
Speaker: Pastor Prabhudas Koshy
Date: 24th September 2023
Report by Pr Samson Hutagalung
Recollecting God’s blessings and giving thanks for all His benefits reflect our humble desire and gratitude to honour and praise God. Scripture admonishes us in Deuteronomy 26:11, “And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house…” We take this opportunity to consider God’s abundant goodness and blessings in leading His servants to do what He has laid on their hearts in bringing God’s truths all over the world through a systematic and in-depth study of the Word made available online. The Lord has graciously used Gethsemane BPC in various ways to carry out Christ’s Commission to His church in Matthew 28:18-20. The task given to the church involves preaching the Gospel to the unsaved, and teaching and equipping those whom the Lord has redeemed to serve Him faithfully and effectively. GBI-Online, as a ministry of our church, is tasked with equipping Christian men and women globally through the expository study of God’s Word.
The inception of GBI-Online came about because of the burden that the Lord has laid on Pastor Koshy to provide free online learning of God’s Word for God’s people globally. By setting up GBI online, and slowly and steadily enhancing it over the past 9 years, the Lord has enabled us to grant hundreds of people worldwide access to serious, systematic study of God’s Word.
When I first came to Gethsemane BPC in 2013, Pastor Koshy shared with me with great enthusiasm about his desire to start an online Bible Institute to offer Biblical courses that would help the students of Gethsemane Bible Institutes in Ethiopia and the Philippines (now also in India). Having heard from Pastor his desire and plan, I felt stirred in my heart to offer my service. With God’s continued help, I laboured to learn the Learning Management System (LMS). At that time, we learned that the Moodle platform was most helpful to set up online distance learning. After much hard work, we introduced the GBI-Online Website (www.gbi-online.com) and its platform for learning God’s Word during the 4th Missionary Conference (2014) held in Singapore. For a start, two courses were offered: First, The Names of God; and second, Jonah: Divine Conquest of a Defiant Heart. They were Pastor’s messages preached during the Bible Witness Retreats.
GBI-Online started night classes on Wednesday, 21st January 2015, at TGCM premises. This night class was started with a twofold purpose. The first aim was to record the videos of courses on theology and expositions of Bible books by Pastor Koshy. The second was to allow Gethsemaneans and friends keen to learn those Biblical subjects to attend Pastor’s lectures that were being recorded. The first lecture, Systematic Theology 1: Theism, had 34 students who cheered one another in studying God’s precious truths. The video lectures were recorded and edited, and subsequently made available on the GBI-Online website.
For a period of time, the TGCM premises had been a venue for night classes (2015-2017). By the end of 2017, Pastor had completed teaching six courses on Systematic Theologies: Theism, Bibliology, Anthropology, Soteriology, Ecclesiology and Eschatology. All these classes were attended by members of Gethsemane BPC, and there was not a time we were lacking students. The classroom was full to the brim. Some students who could not attend the night classes could follow the lessons online through the GBI-Online website.
In order to accommodate a bigger number of students, starting in 2018, the GBI-Online class was moved to SingPost Auditorium every Sunday at 9.00am. Pastor Koshy taught the Book of Revelation, attended by nearly 100 brethren. Subsequently, he taught the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah in the same venue till the end of 2019.
January 2020 was the beginning of a new phase for GBI-Online. This was due to God’s gracious provision of the Gethsemane Media Centre (GMC) to our church. Truly, it was a great blessing from God as it was so well-timed to meet our desperate need for a place for administrative matters of the ministry. Because of the availability of the new place, the GBI-Online class held on Sunday morning was shifted to 6.00pm on every Lord’s Day, under the new name: “Evening Teaching Service”.
In addition, the Wednesday Night Class, which had been stopped for a while, was resumed. Praise be to the Lord for all His lovingkindness. With the addition of Wednesday Night Class, GBI-Online courses have entered yet another progressive phase. Now, we have been enabled to provide more recorded courses for those who desire to learn God’s Word.
26th July 2023 is another milestone date in GBI-Online. The Lord has so graciously strengthened Pastor and Pr Cornelius Koshy to teach courses on Biblical Language Familiarisation (BLF: Hebrew & Greek). We see how the Lord has moved the hearts of our church members and their friends to join these night classes. 53 students attend BLF: Hebrews, and 62 enrol for BLF: Greek. For the Wednesday night classes on 1 Corinthians taught by Pastor, 112 students have registered. Praise be to the Lord!
In addition to the above classes, Pastor Koshy leads a group of preachers from different Asian countries for in-depth study of various theological topics. This programme is called “Pastoral Biblical Studies” (PBS). The participants of this course are preachers and missionaries serving the Lord in various mission fields of Gethsemane BPC. This semester, Biblical Covenant Theology (Part 3), is the topic of study. On Monday, after PBS classes, Pastor also teaches – online – the students from GBI-India (Vizag) and Soli Deo Gloria Academy (Cherrapunji, NE India). The Lord has opened all these doors for the GBI-Online ministry to equip many (locally and overseas) with His blessed truths.
Shall we not praise God for all His bountiful blessings to our church for using GBI-Online to equip God’s servants? Truly, the Lord is good. Next year will be the tenth year of the GBI-Online ministry. Our hearts are thrilled to see how the Lord has used GBI-Online to educate and edify God’s people everywhere.
GBI-Online now offers several courses that you can take at your own pace: (1) Systematic Theology 1: Theism; (2) Systematic Theology 2: Bibliology; (3) Systematic Theology 3: Anthropology; (4) Systematic Theology 4: Soteriology; (5) Systematic Theology 5: Ecclesiology; (6) Systematic Theology 6: Eschatology; (7) The Book of Jonah: Divine Conquest of a Defiant Heart; (8) The Names of God; (9) Theology of Prayer; (10) Divine Adoption; (11) The Book of Revelation; (12) The Book of Ezra; (13) The Book of Nehemiah; (14) The Books of Haggai and Zechariah; (15) The Book of Ezekiel (Part 1); (16) The Book of Ezekiel (Part 2); (17) Pneumatology: Doctrine of Holy Spirit (Part 1); (18) Doctrine of Holy Spirit (Part 2); (19) The Kings of Judah and Israel; and (20) 1 Corinthians.
May the Lord continue to bless GBI-Online. As of today, 250 students have registered on the GBI-Online Website, learning God’s Word from different countries. As the Lord commands us to grow in the knowledge of His Word, let us take advantage of the opportunity provided through GBI-Online, to nourish ourselves in God’s Word. Please pray for all who labour (our GBWL staff, Pastor Koshy, Pr Cornelius, and myself), and support this ministry generously. To God be the glory!
Sermon Text: Psalm 55
Speaker: Pastor Prabhudas Koshy
Date: 17th September 2023