- Sermon delivered by Pastor Mark Ng
Sermon Notes (Note: These are personal notes and not a transcription of the sermon.)
I.
Testimonies
Pastor Mark Ng shared a testimony about a guy who used to be an alcoholic.
He could not give up alcohol. However, he got in touch with Pastor Prince’s
sermons and listened to these sermons. Once, while he was drinking, he said “Lord,
I can’t [quit] but I am the righteousness of God in Christ”. Shortly after, transformation
appeared, and his desire to drink alcohol was gone.
Another man was diagnosed with diabetes. The doctor told him that he must
have injections of insulin throughout his life in order to stay alive. He kept
hearing to the sermons, and he was eventually healed, as for two months he didn’t
take the insulin at all. The wife did not believe that he was free from the
illness and asked him to go back to the doctor for another examination, and
praise the Lord, he is totally freed from diabetes. Not just that, he changed from
being a MCP (male chauvinist pig) to one who is helping his wife in doing housework.
In another testimony, a lady is running a sea cucumber business. She
believed in healing and was healed of thyroid cancer. However, you can have right
believing in one area and not in the other area. She believed in healing in the
area of health, but she didn’t believe in financial healing. So, she kept
thinking that she would be poor. When the business was not doing well, she became
worried. When she was worried, she became religious, and started to read the bible
and fast too.
She studied the bible and fasted, but the business kept on dropping. Why
was that so? When she prayed, her heart was not in the Lord but in the business
and sea cucumber, thus her motivation was wrong. Later, she realised that she
had to rest and simply listen to the Lord. She rested and fed on the Word for 21 days.
During those days, she had been feeding and encountering Jesus Christ daily, and
became really glorious. And, her business suddenly grew.
Now, whatever problems you are facing, be it problems with marriage,
children or career, just sit, and listen.
In the sermon “Listen
To The Preached Word And See Breakthroughs“ delivered
on 24 January 2016 by Pastor Joseph Prince, Pastor said that while the world is
getting darker and there would be financial crisis to come, we are not in darkness,
but in the light. God is going to empower and liven and enlighten you! We are
living in a glorious time, in a time of making history.
II.
He
Is Cursed So That We Are Blessed
Jesus Christ is the only way out.
He is cursed so that we can be blessed. Just come to Him without any doubt
or burden of condemnation!
Pastor Mark recounted that 50 years ago, when he was four years old, whenever he wanted to go pee, the parents would let him pee at the roadside. His mum would say, “Shh shh shh, xiam xiam xiam” (In Hokkien. English translation is “Excuse me, excuse me, go, go, go”). When they went to Taiwan, his parents would say “Shh shh shh, xiam xiam xiam” upon entering into the hotel room too. That was Pastor’s first “encounter” with the spiritual realm.
1 Corinthians 12:1 (NKJV)
Now concerning spiritual
gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:
In the spiritual realm, it’s where we live. The real person is the
spirit, the flesh is temporal. Anything that
is in the physical realm can be changed, and is temporal.
God is getting us to understand about the spiritual realm.
Colossians 1:13 (NLT)
For he has rescued us
from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear
Son,
John 3:3 (NKJV)
Jesus answered and said
to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
“born
again”- anew, from above.
Colossians 1:14 (NLT)
in whom we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Thus, go to Him and we receive redemption through His blood!
Romans 11:16 (NKJV)
For if the firstfruit
is holy, the lump is also holy; and if
the root is holy, so are the branches.
Our Lord is trying to tell us that the internal is more important than the
external. The more you focus on outside, situations cannot be solved. Focus on
the inside.
You are a different life right now; your life belonged to God.
Immanuel— God is with us.
Jesus comes to bring us closer. Grace allows us to see that He loves us.
Roman 5:21 (NKJV)
so that as sin reigned
in death, even so grace might reign
through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We can receive his blessings despite our weaknesses. Grace will reign
through the righteousness of God in Christ!
Romans 7:18 (NKJV)
For I know that in me
(that is, in my flesh) nothing good
dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I
do not find.
In your own flesh, there is no power. Christ is the power. He is the
salvation to those who believe.
III.
See
Ourselves As A Tree
The bible wants us to see ourselves as a tree— don’t run around as we don’t
see trees running around. We should stand still. We are planted by God and will
produce good fruits. When we produce bad fruits, we can’t change just the fruits,
we have to change the roots. We need the Word to wash us. We are planted by the
river and nourished by God. Thus, we need to hear the Word (nourishment):
Jeremiah 17:8 (NKJV)
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor
will cease from yielding fruit.
The more we hear the word, the more we magnify Jesus, and the more we will
be transformed and magnified in different aspects of our life.
We should not be fearful. God gives us the spirit of love and righteous,
and not fear. And our leaves will be green.
When we are planted by the waters of the Lord, we will bear fruits. Feeding on the Word is very important.
Jeremiah 23:4 (NKJV)
I will set up shepherds
over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor
shall they be lacking," says the Lord
Why are you growing the wrong fruits? The nutrients are “condemnation”.
If your roots are in condemnation, you cannot bear good fruits.
The Lord must be your righteousness. No fear, no anxiety. You should not
have fear and you can just rest in the Lord.
Jeremiah 23:6 (NKJV)
In His days Judah will
be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will
be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
The more we feed on these fruits “The Lord is our righteousness”, the
more we keep on hearing, the more we can see transformation in our lives.
Pastor shared another testimony. A lady was with her daughter in a poor
state, after her husband left her. She felt rejected, and was addicted to pornography.
Then, she heard about the Gospel, and every day, she ate bread and drank water,
and fed on what Pastor Prince taught. Every morning, as she woke, she proclaimed
that the Lord loves her. She fell in love with the Saviour and walked with the
Lord. Now, she is freed from pornography for three years!
Also, when her daughter didn’t do well in her studies, she told her
daughter, “I still love you. I will bring you to eat KFC”. Even when the daughter
dropped 20 marks further, the mother told her, “I still love you. I will bring
you to eat KFC.” Her daughter later became first in class! The life of this
lady was later transformed!
Grace always uses “we”, and not “you”.
Grace always brings us together.
God separates us from the sin.
To break away from sin is to receive grace.
The heart of grace is that He understands our weaknesses; God
understands us.
IV.
Conclusion
Hebrews 4:15 (NLT)
This High Priest of
ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do,
yet he did not sin.
We should just rest in the Lord who understands us. We should not be 提心吊胆 (having one's nerves kept on tenterhooks),
but we should “put down our heart” (放心).
Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV)
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that
we may obtain mercy and find grace
to help in time of need.
“Come boldly”— As you come to
Jesus, you will be blessed. Only Jesus can give you the abundant life.
God wants you to receive His mercy and receive what you don’t deserve.
Come boldly to God and God will help.
Deuteronomy 28:2 (KJV)
And all these blessings shall come on thee,
and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
Focus on Jesus, don’t focus on your lack, don’t focus on your
weaknesses. Learn to receive love.
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