Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew

"BeApproved unto God"

2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV) "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

This year, Sydney B-P Church began their annual church camp on a Sunday instead of the usual Monday. The campers felt that the previous four nights five days were not sufficient. The camp theme was taken from 2Timothy 2:15. The word "approved" means to "be assayed by God to be genuine." It is like a person who analyzes a coin and finds that it is genuine. The main thrust of the camp messages was to challenge all the campers to evaluate the reality and sincerity of their relationship with God. God says that we do not need to wait until we stand before Him on the day of judgement to find out if we have been found approved or not. The revelation from God is that everyone of us can know for a certainty right now whether this life that God has given to us can be lived in an approved manner or not. The following are the nine messages that were spoken at the camp throughout five nights and six days, one message each in the morning and evening, beginning on Monday morning and the last message on Friday.

Message # 1 "Be Approved – In Salvation and Calling!" -- 2 Timothy 1:8-12 – The outline was: Don't Be Ashamed of Christ -- 1:8; Know Your Appointment – 1:9-11; Establish Your Faith – 1:12. The journey of being approved by God is salvation. If a sinner is not born again in Christ, he has no approval at all for he is an enemy of God because of his sinful nature and the many sins that characterise his life. Once we are born again in Christ, we need to know why we have been saved by God on this earth. A sinner is already fit for heaven the moment he is born again, like the thief who was crucified with Christ; he was in Paradise the moment he died. Sanctification is for the purpose of witness and testimony on earth so that others might be able to see Christ clearly in our lives. It is important that we know our calling so that we will not live aimlessly on earth. All callings are of equal significance. Whether we are called into fulltime service or not each calling is of equal importance. To teach that one is better than the other is erroneous. It is God who calls us. Everyone must fulfil what God has called them to do. Spurgeon said it well when he illustrated this with the two items that were used by the Lord at the Last Supper. There was the chalice or cup used for the Lord’s Supper and the basin used to wash the disciples feet. If we are the chalice, then be a chalice. If we are the basin, then be the basin. Do not say that one is better than the other or do not pretend to be the basin if you are the chalice and vice versa.

Through it all, we must make sure of our own salvation by establishing our faith. To live a life that is approved by God, we must not become a casualty in the cause of Christ. Making us doubt our salvation is an effective way to do that. Once we are unsure of our own salvation we cannot serve, evangelism becomes a chore, and worship becomes tasteless. Then our witness will be gloomy and no one will be able to see Christ in us.

Message # 2 "Be Approved – In Holding Fast the Word" – 2Timothy 1:13-18 – the outline was: Manner of Holding Fast – 1:13; Help in Holding Fast – 1:14-15; Assistance in Holding Fast – 1:16-18. To maintain and sustain our faith and calling, we need to hold fast the Word of God. To hold fast the Word of God implies that we must know the Word of God. This is done in faith and love. To hold fast in faith means we defend the Bible by first obeying it. The motive is Agape Love which is unconditional and sacrificial. To hold fast in love and faith ensures that no one can take the Word of God away from us. No seduction or persecution will succeed in opening our tight fist in holding on to the truth. We will not be moved but will remain stedfast.

The Holy Spirit will help us to hold fast, for we cannot do it alone. This is spiritual work and therefore the Holy Spirit must be the One we turn to for help to hold fast to the end. Some like Phygellus and Hermogenes have turned away from being identified with Paul because he stood for the faith. They were afraid that to be identified with Paul might result in persecution, for Paul was in prison when he wrote 2Timothy. We also need assistance from other like-minded believers to help us hold fast. Their words of encouragement and mutual Christian fellowship helps a great deal in holding fast together to the very end.

Message # 3 "Be Approved – In Passing On!" – 2Timothy 2:1-6 – the outline was: The Strength to Pass On – 2:1; The Ones to Pass On to – 2:2; The Endurance Needed to Pass On – 2:3-6. It is a great blessing to live in a time when the Word of God and the gospel are faithfully preached and taught. This allows us to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. However, we must not be selfish and be contented with our own blessings. We need to pass on to the next generation. The strength we need to pass on this responsibility of contending for the faith is God’s grace. We need to be strong in God’s grace and not in ourselves. God has equipped us with gifts and people and His holy Word to help us pass on the faith.

The ones we need to pass to must be qualified. The qualification is that they must be faithful men who have the ability to teach others also. The gift of teaching must be found in these men. The key to a godly church is God’s Word. Leaders and especially the pastor must be able students of God’s Word before they can be teachers of God’s Word. This is a high qualification and gift that must be emphasized whenever a person is evaluated for the office of elder or pastor. Without this gift the person cannot be an elder or a pastor. Endurance is need to ensure that what is passed on is sound and biblical. The ones who receive it must also be prepared to endure. He does so like a good soldier of Jesus Christ. He cannot be involved in or be entangled with the affairs of this world to fight the good fight of faith. Like the farmer who labours, he must first be a partaker of the fruits, which means in order to work hard in the cause of Christ he has experienced Christ in his lives.

Message # 4 "Be Approved – In Understanding!" – 2Timothy 2:7-13 – the outline was: Manner of Understanding – 2:7-8; Cost of Understanding – 2:9-10; Content of Understanding – 2:11-13. Holding fast the Word of God and passing it on to faithful men must also include understanding. The right understanding of God Word is crucial before obedience. There have been many who obeyed the Word of God but wrongly because of a wrong understanding. Right interpretation is crucial. There are even those who defend the perfect Bible but fail to understand the Bible properly in other doctrines and have become casualties in the process. The Lord must give us the understanding even as we give our best and exercise due diligence. We must pray and the Lord will surely give us the understanding, for we are His beloved children.

After understanding and obedience, there will be persecution. The world in sin and darkness will not appreciate the life of holiness that shines forth the light of Christ. Satan as the prince of this world continues to hold sway the hearts and minds of many on this earth. He will do his utmost to hinder the children of God. We must be prepared to face persecution of all sorts as we live for Christ. Paul suffered trouble and had to endure all kinds of affliction for the sake of Christ. However, no matter how the servants of God might be bound, the Word of God is never bound. Paul was in chains in the Roman dungeon but he shared the gospel with the soldiers who chained him as well as those from Caesar’s household.[1] We must remain faithful and never deny Christ regardless of the temptation that Satan will surely place before us.

Message # 5 "Be Approved – In Dividing God's Word" – 2Timothy 2:14-18 – the outline was: Remember the Right Way – 2:14; Embrace the Right Way – 2:15; Avoid the Wrong Way – 2:16-18. To rightly divide the Word of God is a rare ability today. Many are dividing the Word of God according to what is right in their own eyes. Scriptures are wrested out of its context to suit what these "ministers" of the Word want the Word of God to say in order to satisfy their carnal desires. That is why Paul told Timothy to study, i.e. to spare no effort, to make sure that the Word of God is rightly understood. This requires hard work. Great diligence is needed to accomplish this very rewarding endeavour. Remember to avoid striving about words to no profit which results in the subverting of the souls.

These are profane and vain babblings that will increase to more ungodliness. There are those who write and speak many words that are seditious and must be avoided at all costs. Avoid such people who will hurt us in the end. They spew out false doctrines and undermine the faith of believers. Paul named them as a warning and so must we. Similarly, there are men today whose lives are like that of Hymenaeus and Phygellus. These men must be avoided at all costs. Expose them for what they are so that they will not be allowed to hurt God’s people. These men include leaders and are found in churches.

Message # 6 "Be Approved – In Sanctification!" – 2Timothy 2:19-21 – the outline was: Importance of Sanctification – 2:19; Illustration of Sanctification – 2:20; Purpose of Sanctification – 2:21. Sanctification is to be set apart for God to use us as holy people. He is a person who departs from iniquity. He does so by staying away from sin and sinners that lead him to sin. The moment he knows he has sinned, he repents sincerely with all his heart, like king David. When Nathan the prophet confronted him after he had sinned with Bathsheba, David repented immediately. Living the life of holiness through sanctification is the way every born again believer must travel. The Lord knows who we are. We cannot hide from Him.

In a great house there are vessels of gold and silver as well as wood and earth, i.e. clay. The ones who are God’s children will depart from iniquity and remain in a life of holiness. However, there are the professing believers who live in iniquity and bring shame to the name of Christ. These are the wood and earth vessels in the great house. If the believer purges himself of the iniquities, he is a vessel of honour and the master is pleased to use him for every good work. What a wonderful revelation and amazing work of transformation that God has wrought in our lives through Christ! Sin stained hands are now cleansed. Sin stained tongues are now used to praise. We have a wonderful Saviour who must be shown to the world through the sanctified lives of God’s people.

Message # 7 "Be Approved – In Making Choices!" – 2Timothy 2:22-26 – the outline was: What to Flee! – 2:22a; What to Follow! – 2:22b-23; How to Follow! -- 2:24-26. Many lives have taken a turn for the worse because of wrong decisions. Making right choices is extremely important in our lives. Firstly, we must learn to flee, i.e. run away. We must flee youthful lusts, i.e. desires. These are the passions found in young people. It is not that older persons do not have lusts but the young ones are full of youthful zeal and boundless energy. They must be channelled to the service of the Lord instead of using them to fulfil their foolish desires. Running away from sin does not mean we will run toward what is good. That is why the word for "follow" has the idea of one who runs toward. This is the same word that is sometimes translated as "persecute." We must run toward righteousness, faith and charity, i.e. agape love in action. This is done together with other like=minded believers in Christ.

The way to do is to avoid foolish and unlearned questions that gender strife. As servants of the Lord, we must not strive but be gentle toward all men and ensure that we are able to teach the Word of God and do so patiently. In meekness, we must deal with those who indulge in these meaningless babblings, that God would give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. We do so in the hope that they might recover themselves out of the snare of the devil.

Message # 8 "Be Approved – In Obeying God's Word!" – 2Timothy 3:12-17 – the outline was: The Cost of Obedience – 3:12; The Perseverance in Obedience – 3:13-15; The Completeness in Obedience – 3:16-17. The last days that shall come are called perilous times, i.e. fierce and savage times for believers. The kinds of perils are mentioned in the next verses of 2Timothy 3. Christians who obey the Lord by living godly lives in Christ shall certainly suffer persecution. God warns us so that when persecution comes, we will not be found cowards by being strong and very courageous. Persecutions will come from man. God calls them evil men and seducers, i.e. imposters who shall wax worse and worse in their evil and seduction. They will continue to do so with effective deception even as they are being deceived in the process. This deadly trend is already seen in the lives of those who attack the perfect Bible by their lies and incessant distortion of God’s truth.

However, the godly ones must continue in the things that they have learned and has been assured of, for they have learned them from Holy Scriptures. The Holy Scriptures had been taught to Timothy since he was a child. They have the power to make him wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ. This is also true for every believer today.

Message # 9 "Be Approved – To the End!" – 2Timothy 4:1-8 -- the outline was: The Judge at the End – 4:1; The Judgement at the End – 4:2-5; The Reward at the End – 4:6-8. To begin well is good. But to end well is even better. There are many examples in the Bible, especially in the period of the kings, of those who began well but ended miserably. Top on this list was King Solomon. God wants all of us to begin well and also to end well. To do that we must know that there is the Judge who awaits all of us. He shall judge both the quick and the dead. No man will escape! Therefore, we must be ever ready to preach the Word of God and do His holy will in season and out of season. There is no time when the servant of God is not on duty to witness for Christ and defend His holy Word. The reward at the end of our life of service and obedience, having fought a good fight and finished the course and kept the faith, is a crown of righteousness. This crown of righteousness is not for Paul only but also for all of us who long for the return of Jesus Christ!

Sydney B-P Church also celebrated her 17th Anniversary with a Thanksgiving Service, with three candidates for baptism, followed by the Lord’s Supper. The message for that Lord’s Day was "The LORD is Good!" taken from Psalm 118:1-18. The following Lord’s Day, before our departure to speak at the BPCWA annual camp in Perth, the message was "The Steps of a Good Man!" taken from Psalm 37:21-33. It was a most blessed time spent with God’s people who remain faithful to the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. They continue to earnestly contend for the faith of God in Christ Jesus by defending the doctrine of the perfect Bible and in declaring that God has both perfectly inspired and preserved His infallible and inerrant Word of God in the original languages. The united leadership within the Session is a wonderful testimony of God’s abundant grace and mercy toward His people in these last days. The warm Christian fellowship was a very memorable experience that is more precious than fine gold. Psalm 133 captures these sentiments well. Psalm 133:1-3 (KJV), "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 2 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; 3 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."