BBK, RETURNING AND GOING ABOUT HIS WORK

Dear Members in Christ,

BBK, Returning and Going about His work

“And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.” Zechariah 8:8

BBK:

The Basic Bible Knowledge class is conducted by the Church for the purpose of 1) Unbelievers seeking God. Upon completing the 20 lessons, the unbelievers will now have a good basic understanding of God, Sin and the need for Salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. He/She may then want to repent and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as his/her personal Saviour 2) Affirmation of Faith. As a child, the child had received child baptism, and now attained the age of understanding and accountability. He is now a young adult. The child now seeks affirmation of his/her faith in the Lord 3) Seeking to Transfer of Membership by regular worshippers, who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, to CJBPF membership. The unbeliever who is now a believer, after repentance and saying the sinner’s prayer, will now be a child of God. He is now “born again”. Together with brethren who seek the Affirmation of Faith, Transfer of Membership, after being examined by the Board of Elders, will now be baptised before the Church congregation on an appointed day by God’s ordained servant. 

Through the sacrament of Baptism, the baptised person is also admitted as a member of the Church. As a member, the brethren is now entitled to all the privileges like active participation in the Church ministries. As he/she grows in maturity and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, he/she will be able to serve in leadership roles of the various ministries of the Church.

 

Returning and Going about His work:

In the Old Testament, when the Jews were in exile in foreign lands, they look forward to return home to Jerusalem. They prayed and God answered their prayers after a period of captivity. God led them home “And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.” Zechariah 8:8. They returned to the Promised Land in batches and started to settle and rebuild their homes and land. The Temple and Jerusalem were finally rebuilt and restored. God said that Jerusalem will be great again when all the nations will travel to Jerusalem to worship God.

We can draw a parallel to today’s situation. In the midst of writing this exhortation, we are still in the restricted Movement Control Order, though it is now renamed to National Recovery Plan (with the 4 phases). How and when this restriction in gatherings and travelling will be relaxed is still uncertain. Thus, we are uncertain and can only guess when would God’s people be able to gather freely to worship in His house as before the global pandemic. In the human mind, even with all the latest scientific knowledge and data, man can only predict. God only knows. We can only wait upon God.

 

In times like this, we can relate to the exiled Jews, waiting and praying for the return of the day when we can all go back to our “land” to worship God in His Holy sanctuary. Our hearts now yearn to return to the Church for worship in-person. In the past, we had taken for granted that going to the Church is “simply going” - nothing can hinder us from going to the House of the Lord! We can go anytime and any day. God in His wisdom and timing teaches us otherwise.

God also teaches that despite man’s intelligence and knowledge, man cannot even manage a small and “unseen” virus. Man can travel to the moon and send spacecrafts to explore faraway stars like Mars yet not able to overcome a miniscule unseen Covid-19 virus. What is man that man can boast of? Indeed, man must acknowledge that there is a God who is on High. He is the God who creates the heaven and earth. He is the Almighty and an all wise and powerful God who can bring this pandemic to a conclusion as well. “Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.” 1 Chronicles 29:11.

As Christians we definitely believe that in God’s own timing and wise counsel, He will surely end this pandemic. Depraved and unregenerated man will then know that there is a God who reigns over the whole earth and universe. He is God, our God, our Father in heaven.

Let us remember to serve God. Let CJBPF be a place of worship for God’s people near and far. A place where the Word of God is being taught and preached in spirit and in truth. A place where the Truth is not compromised by false teachers and preachers, false and strange doctrines and corrupted modern translations of the Word of God. Let us hold fast onto the Word of God faithfully.

We had just celebrated the 37^th Anniversary of CJBPF on 5^th September 2021. Let us remind ourselves that CJBPF is a fundamental Church holding onto the faith that was once delivered unto the saints. Let CJBPF continue to be a watchman and defender of the Truth against false doctrines and teachers.

Like a good soldier in Christ, we should be proud of this heritage and must defend this precious heritage of fundamentalism and the BP faith. The Christian world is being compromised with liberal, modern and false teachings. Many churches have gone, and are going astray and apostate. Only God’s faithful remnants remain. Will you be bold, courageous, steadfast and always abounding in His work, as we see the days approaching when we can preach and teach no more. The clock continues to tick and the time to the second coming of the Lord Jesus is nearer than we think. Make haste. Awake from our slumber!

Surely, CJBPF means a lot to you. Do stand up for Jesus. While He tarries, let us serve Him diligently and fervently within and without the Church - reaching out to many lost souls to be added into His kingdom of eternal life. The Lord Jesus will surely return. Let us be found working when He returns and not be found wanting and slumbering.

 

May the Lord have mercy upon us and give us grace and fervency to serve Him everyday of our lives. “Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;” Romans 12:11.

 

In Christ,

Eld. Choe Tong Seng