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Now as a Church as well, we've been going through the book of Daniel. It's an Old Testament book and it's a book that I believe is teaching us what it means to live strong in this world. And so we're going to Daniel today and continue our series in Living Strong.

When I was growing up, I loved to watch serials - Cantonese serials. My mum would rent tapes. I watched loads of it and I realised there's a very good storyteller. His name is Louis Cha. He's better known as “金庸” [Jin Yong] and Jin Yong is very well-known amongst Chinese in China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore for his wonderful novels on the martial arts world, the "功夫武林” [gong1 fu1 wu1 lin2" – mandarin phrase that means the martial art world] kind of a world. And one of his famous works, no doubt, is "倚天屠龙记” [yi3 tian1 tu2 long2 ji4] which is "Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre".

Now this is the version I watched when I was growing up, when Tony Leung is still young, all right, and he acted as the main character and the main character in this story is “张无忌” [Zhang Wu Ji.]  Zhang Wu Ji is the central figure where this whole story pretty much revolves around.

Now, Zhang Wu Ji, the story goes, was having a very difficult childhood. His parents were killed by their enemies right before his eyes, and not only were his parents killed, he was stricken with this terrible injury called "玄冥神掌[xuan2 ming2 shen2 zhang3" － Mystical Darkness Divine Palm]

(Pastor and congregation laugh).

Heard of it before? Hoik! "玄冥神掌.”  And there’s a big imprint on his torso and his life is in danger. But, some how he managed to survive, not only survived, he was ultimately cured of this "玄冥神掌.”  And not only that, he became the top gongfu master in his time. He became the top pugilistic exponent in his time.

You say, how did that happen? What made this boy who was about to die become a world beater? What's his secret?

The secret of Zhang Wu Ji is that he got his hands on two very important manuals or scriptures. He got his hands on "九阳神功”［jiu3 yang2 shen2 gong1] , which is the Nine, I don't know what is Yang, Nine Positive or Nine Goats[in mandarin, “yang”, a different spelling but having the same sound is known as goat], no lah "九阳神功" or "Nine Suns Martial Arts" and the other one is "乾坤大罗伊” [qian3 kun1 da1 luo2  yi1] which is the "Shift Heaven and Earth Gongfu".

(Congregation laughs).

So he got his hands on these two manuals and he got the martial arts and he became a world-beater.



Now I share this with you because I think I'm reminded of Zhang Wu Ji when I read about Daniel.

If Daniel lived in China, he may be called Daniel Zhang, I do not know. But Daniel, like Zhang Wu Ji had a very difficult childhood. I mean as he grew up, he was part of the nobility, part of the royal family possibly, but his parents were taken away from him. The war ravaged his hometown.

Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon transplanted him into a whole new foreign, hostile environment and they were feeding him spiritual poison. They wanted to Babylonise him. They wanted to make him forget God and worship the Babylon gods.  But Daniel didn't budge. He was not poisoned. He survived and not only did he survive, he thrived in Babylon and subsequently in the Persian Empire. He rose the ranks and he became the prime minister - this is extraordinary - of both Babylon and Medo-Persia. So he became a world-beater. He's a man of strength and courage and of conviction.

Why? What's his secret?

Last week, we looked at his courage. He's an amazing man, great strength, great bravery, but why? Is it something just out of nowhere? Is there no reason for it? No. I think there is a secret.

And so today, as we take a look at Daniel, a modern look at this ancient book, on this theme on Living Strong, I suggest to you, Daniel, like Zhang Wu Ji, became a great man, one of the greatest figures in Old Testament and throughout world history because he got his hands also on Scripture, now not martial arts scripture but the Holy Scriptures.

And I suggest to you that the reason, the foundation, the basis of Daniel's strength of character is because he had timeless truths in him as he lived in truthless times. He lived in Babylon, which is anti-God, but because Daniel had the timeless truth already in his life, so when he was transplanted to Babylon, he thrived and rose and shone for Jesus Christ, for God.

So my sermon today is a one-point sermon, very simple, and that is, for each one of us, to live strong in the world today, to live strong in a babylonized world that seeks to draw us away from God, you and I must have the timeless truth of God's Word, the Scriptures as we live it out in truthless times. I hope that's clear.

Now you say, “Pastor, where do you see that Daniel had Scriptures in his life? Because I've studied Daniel, I can't quite see it.” And I say to you, yes I agree. It's not obvious at all if you read Daniel itself, I mean you see Daniel's courage, you see Daniel's faith, but Daniel's faith based on Scripture, not easy to find. That's why I say it's a little bit of a secret that lies beneath the surface. But that's my job to share with you, how I think he's a man who has the truth in his life before he entered Babylon.


So this is Daniel. He was able to reject the advances of Ashpenaz, the chief eunuch that told him that he must eat and drink those food that will taint his soul. And he had the strength to say no.

Why? Obviously he didn't just say no on the spot. Because the Bible says he already purposed in his heart, resolved not to defile himself. He had certain convictions.

The reason is from the background he came from. Now bear with me as I try to prove this to you.

Daniel grew up in a time where Josiah was king, king of Judah. This is his hometown. This is his homeland. And when Daniel was born, Josiah was already king. And Josiah was a great king. The picture here tells you a little bit about Josiah's life. He's great king who sought to abolish idolatry. He's a great king.

When he heard the Bible, the Law of Moses for the first time, he was so grieved that the people of God did not obey God that he tore his clothes. Here is a man who had a tender heart towards Jehovah. And Daniel grew up in a kingdom where Josiah, a good king reigned. The kingdom of Judah had many kings. Most of them are terrible kings. You would see the pattern. Most of them are evil Kings, evil in the sense they do not follow the Scriptures, they do not obey God but they sought to draw people away to idolatry.

So Judah was deeply steep in idolatry. Of course the Northern ten tribes, Israel, were already worse, far worse. But they were coming along in that same terrible direction. And now there's a wonderful spike of Jehoshaphat, Joash, Hezekiah and now Josiah - a good king. Of course before Josiah was Amon and Manasseh, his father and grandfather, terrible kings. But here Josiah, one of the great Kings who brought about spiritual revival and renaissance to the nation of Judah. The Bible says,

“Josiah was eight years old, when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father; and he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.”
(2 Chronicles 34:1-2 ESV)

Josiah was eight years old. How would you like that? Eight-years-old king. Prime Minister, eight-year-old? (Pastor laughs). But here we have, that's what Judah had, a king at eight years old when he began to reign and he reigned a total of 31 years in Jerusalem.

And this is his description:
He did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, walked in the ways of David his father and did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left, a great man.



For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal images.
(2 Chronicles 34:3 ESV)

And on the eighth year of his reign, when he was about sixteen years old, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father. So at sixteen, we could say this is probably his conversion experience. He sought the Lord, he came to know Him. And when he was about twenty years old, twelfth year, he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, Asherim, carved and the metal images. He really sought to obey God.

Now, it is about this time that he wanted to rebuild the temple of God, he sent his people there, and one of the priests, Hilkiah, as he was settling the building or rebuilding of the temple, that they found the Bible, the Bible not as the one we have but the Torah, the first five books, the Law of Moses. So it had been missing for a long time. Israel had missed God's Word for many years and now they found it! And when they found it, he brought it to Josiah. When Josiah read it, he rend his clothes. He was grieved that Israel or Judah did not obey God. And then, this is what he did. He gathered the whole nation of Judah.

The Bible says,
“And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.”
(2 Chronicles 34:30-31 ESV)

He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant and the king stood in his place, made a covenant before the Lord, to say I will walk after the Lord, keep His commandments, testimonies, statutes with all his heart and all his soul. So he says before his whole nation: I'm committing myself to Jehovah. This is His Word. I will do it with all my heart and soul. What a king! What a man! And then,

“Then he made all who were present in Jerusalem and in Benjamin join in it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.”
(2 Chronicles 34:32 ESV)

He made all who were present in Jerusalem and in Benjamin join in it. He led the people back to obedience to God.



“But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem. Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem.”
(2 Kings 23:23-25 ESV)

And so in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, this Passover was kept. Why? Because for many years, Israel had forgotten the Passover. They've gone so far from God that they did not miss the Bible and they have neglected all the past ceremonies that God has given to the people. They're so steep in idolatry, you see. And so Josiah re-introduced that. In accordance to Scripture, he puts away the mediums, the necromancers, household gods and idols and all the abominations.

“That he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.”
(2 Kings 23:23-25 ESV)

His whole purpose is to establish the words of the Lord. The Bible, the Word was so important to him, and this is the wonderful conclusion: there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might according to all the Law of Moses.

And this is done when Daniel was about five to six years old. Now you got to do some historical, chronological comparison. But it will be about five to six years old when Josiah discovered the Bible, the Torah, instituted the spiritual reforms, abolished the idolatries, got the people together, said we will keep the law, we will keep the Passover.

And so when he was five to six years old, he must be wondering what's happening. “Mum and Dad, why do you take this lamb and kill it and then take the blood and spray all over our doors? What's up? Why is it that there's a National Day Rally where everybody got together and Josiah was telling us. What is he talking about?”

My son is six years old and I realize a six-year-old boy can ask a lot, a lot of questions. They're very curious and I'm not surprised if Daniel, a bright young boy would be asking his parents - by the way I think his parents were great people, they did not name Daniel after foreign gods. They named Daniel, Daniel, God or "El is Judge".

They were probably people who stood firm and did not go with the flow of idolatry. So Daniel would be asking Dad and Mum, “Mum, what's with this thing called Passover? What's with this thing of getting rid of those necromancers and all these idols, metal, we see all these taken down in our country. I mean that's the building where that great idol is but why is it taken away?”
And Daddy and Mummy, because they've also heard the law, because of the spiritual reformation that came, will be telling and teaching Daniel at a young and tender age.

But not only did Daniel, as a young man receive, I think, wonderful spiritual, Cultural Revolution and renaissance in Judah, there was also the ministry of Jeremiah during that time. So when you read the Bible, you got to see these people. The prophets are not like, out in thin air. They live in a context and the context of Jeremiah was that he began preaching when Daniel was born. He was a contemporary with Josiah. So whatever Josiah was doing as a king, Jeremiah was preaching as the prophet. And so this is a great period of time in Judah's history and Daniel grew up in such an environment.

He heard the uncompromising preaching of Jeremiah that says the days are surely coming! God will judge you if you do not turn from your sins and Daniel, I think, soaked it all up. So that's the context.

And so when he came to Babylon, please don't imagine it is all of a sudden God zapped him and say, “Ok; now you become spiritual.” I think there was those years, five to six years old to now fifteen, sixteen years old, maybe the past ten years, the ministry of Jeremiah, the ministry of Josiah, the ministry of parents, the ministry of even Habakkuk, would seep deep into Daniel's soul. And therefore when the challenge came - take this food and defile yourself,

Daniel could say,
“But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.”
(Daniel 1:8 ESV)

I have resolved not to defile myself, I know the Scriptures. God has said I cannot take of unclean foods. God has said that I cannot eat foods that are offered to idols. He knew it because he was taught it.

Remember subsequently he would stand before Babylon's King, Nebuchadnezzar. If I was Daniel, I would probably be very upset with this King who killed my family, who killed my relatives and destroyed my homeland. But throughout the Bible, you don't see Daniel insubmissive in any way. He served Babylon well. I think it's also because he knew the Scriptures. He knew what Jeremiah had said:

“Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
(Jeremiah 29:7 ESV)

To seek the welfare of the city where I've sent you into exile. Do that which is right. I think Daniel did it.

And one more thing, after a while Daniel became an old man, ninety over years old at this stage. And at ninety years old, Daniel, the Bible tells us, in the first year of Darius and so on, you can figure this out that this is seventy plus years after Daniel was captured. This was about the time that Israel is supposed to return to Judah. So it is at this time that Daniel, the Bible tells us,

“In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeansó in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.”
(Daniel 9:1-2 ESV)

He still goes back to the Word; he perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the Word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet. So you see he's saying, I need to study because God said we will go back, so I'm not sure how, when, let's go back to the Scriptures. For seventy over years, even though he was in Babylon, he did not forget God's Word. And he continued to say in Daniel 9:

“We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets.”
(Daniel 9:5-6 ESV)

The whole problem with us, Judah, we're in Babylon is because we did not obey God's commandments and rules, we've not listened,

“And have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him.”
(Daniel 9:10-11 ESV)

We've not obeyed, and Israel has transgressed your law. We've forgotten the Law of Moses.

“As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us;...”
(Daniel 9:13 ESV)

And all this is actually written there but we didn't listen.

Now I'm saying to you, as you really look intentionally at Daniel's life, to me it's obvious. Here is a man who had Scriptures in his life. I've done all that proofing so that I will say to you, my point this morning is a simple one.

Daniel's strength and fortitude in a world that is out against him is not some flash in the pan, it's not some mysterious zap from on high, but here is a man who shows us the power of God's Word in a man's life. And when the timeless truth is in our soul, it enables us to stand and be strong in truthless times.



My sermon is up. That's it. That's a one-point sermon this morning. And if you forget anything else, just remember this: you need the Word of God in your life.

In a world that assaults us on the outside, be sure the Scriptures is on your inside. But I know you'll not be happy if I stop here. So let me try, from this simple principle of life, to apply it to various situations.

1. Parenting
Number one situation, I would like you to consider is parenting. It's obvious application.

Think about Daniel's parents. I think Daniel's parents were good parents. To have a good son like this, they were good parents, parents who say we will name our son Daniel. We will not name him after other gods. And in parenting, teaching the Scriptures to your kids is of utmost importance.

This lady has gained international attention. (Picture of Tiger Mom shown). Anybody knows who she is? Name, please? First service, straight away, someone knew it. Very good. She is Amy Chua. Who's Amy Chua? Amy Chua is a Chinese by race but an American by citizenship. She's famous today for a book she's written – “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.”

Heard of the term 'tiger mom'? It was so famous; it was so well known that it appeared on Time magazine - The Truth About Tiger Moms. Essentially she's comparing, actually she's not being proud or arrogant as far as, no, she's making mockery of herself because she did fail in some aspect of her parenting. So she's comparing in a sense, Asian philosophy, Chinese philosophy versus Western philosophy.

My point here is not to compare philosophy or method or style, but I want to pick on something she said. She said in her book that in one study of 48 Chinese immigrant mothers, the vast majority said they believe their children can be the best students. In other words, to many Chinese mums, I think this is true not only in U.S. but in Singapore, for us as Chinese, somehow, many of you are Chinese; I know some of you are not, but this may also be in your system because so prevalent today.

Parenting is really about having good students. She goes on to say academic achievement reflects successful parenting. This is a popular belief people have today.

One more, if children did not excel at school, then there was a problem and parents were not doing their job. That is why parents, you will quit your job when they're primary one, not earlier, why? Because academic success is, to you, very important.  That's why you will not begrudge the fact that your kid will have to go tuition class, English class, Math class, Science class, intelligence class, reading class, writing class, all kinds of classes and that's why you will want to do that and there's nothing wrong with that.

I'm not saying it's anything wrong with that. But it seems to be the major emphasis of parenting today; I think it may be because of our Chinese culture, the "状元” [zhuang4 yuan2 means scholar in chinese]" syndrome, you know, my son is a "状元”. You want him to be "状元” or the other thing that you know is very real is when you meet kids, or when you see adults meet kids, they always ask 'Jia ba buay?' 'Tak cik buay?' Just ask two things, have you eaten and have you studied? I mean there are the two things we look out for. She pointed it out.

But is that parenting? Is parenting about academics and about food?

The Bible tells us how Jesus grew. The Bible says,
“And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”
(Luke 2:52 ESV)

Phenomenal statement. It's telling us that Jesus grew in such a holistic and balanced way. He grew intellectually. He grew physically. He grew spiritually and he grew socially. That is balanced growth.

And as parents, if you just focus on one and two, it is not good parenting. In fact I say you miss the mark, because large parts of Scripture are not about what you feed or what you teach, whether it's Math or Geography or Science, the Bible lays emphasis on the teaching of Scripture.

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
(Ephesians 6:4 ESV)

Ephesians 6:
Fathers, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

The word instruction is “noutheteo” which is, from which we get the word, to put in mind. Put in mind your kids the Word of God. Teach them the Scriptures. Build into them spiritually, like how Daniel's parents would have taught Daniel. What does it mean to have a Passover? What does it mean to obey the Law? Why should we obey the Law? Teach them to your kids.

“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
(Deuteronomy 6:7-9 ESV)


In Deuteronomy you know the schema which is hear, hear from God, hear what? Hear this! That as parents, you teach them. Teach what? The Word of God. The Law of Moses. Teach the Scriptures. Teach them to love the Lord thy God with all their heart, soul, mind, strength, that's what Deuteronomy 6 is all about. Teach them diligently.

I don't read Math, English, Science, again it's nothing wrong with teaching academics. That's fine. It has a proper place. But are you doing all that to the neglect of this? And then, like Amy Chua and many, many Chinese, we define our parenting by the PSLE grades. Isn't that how you define your parenting?

That's the golden moment: My son, will he do me proud?

If he gets 150, I "lao kui" (lose face in Hokkien).
If he gets 299, I wow, I’m a steady "pom pee pee" (proud) parent.

Isn't that how we think? Or maybe look at my son, so strong, hey look at the other one, "sam por"(skinny in Hokkien),  and this is the kind of thinking, we may not admit it, but it's so subtle and so prevalent.

But the goal of parenting is that they will be raised in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Teach them God's Word.

You can always farm out English, Math, Geography to enrichment centers and MOE. You can, and actually I think many of them do much greater, a better job than most of us will do, but there's never an enrichment centre for spiritual things. I've not seen one open in Singapore. Spiritual training for P1 kids, have or not? Never. There's none.

Don't even think of Sunday school in church to be the place where they learn the Scriptures. They will learn something. I hope they do. They will be blessed. I hope they do. But you know what? It's one hour or one-and-a-half hour per week.

God has said you shall teach your children. I'm thankful to God that my kid is born and he doesn't become an adult overnight. Can you imagine the horror? He's born yesterday and today he's an adult. Wah, I think that will be terrible. You say, why does God give me such a long time? To change his diapers? To feed him milk? I tell you why. Because you need time to teach him the Word of God. You need to build into his life because you won't be with him forever and one day, like Daniel, he'll be plucked away from you, away from the protection. He'll be thrust out into Babylon and at that point of time, you wish you've built into his life. It is God's mercy that He gives us years where your child is with us, with you.

Think about this man, great man of the Bible, superstar of the Bible, Moses. You know what? Moses didn't grow up with great theological training in Egypt. He didn't have it. I mean he was educated in all the wisdom of Egypt but that's not the place where they worship Jehovah. Yet the Bible says,

“By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.”
(Hebrews 11:24-26)

When Moses was grown up, by faith, he had this amazing commitment; he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. He could be the most powerful man on planet Earth then. He could be, Pharaoh's successor but he said, I do not want it. Wah! Moses! Where did you get that?

The Bible tells us a very interesting snippet in Moses' life. You know the story. Moses was laid in a basket, flushed out into the River Nile. Miriam, his sister was very wise. She sort of tracked the basket and followed where Moses went. She saw that Pharaoh's daughter picked up the basket and say, “is such a good, handsome, cute baby, I want him for myself.” And Miriam said to the daughter of Pharaoh, “Do you need someone to take care of this cute little baby?” She said, “Ya.” “I know of a perfect person.” She went home and got mum. She went home and got Jochebed.

“So the girl went and called the child's mother...so the woman took the child and nursed him.”
(Exodus 2:8-9 ESV)

And Jochebed came and took the child and nursed him.

Why does God give us this detail? I think God is telling us the powerful influence of parenting in Moses' life, that when he's trained up the way he should go, when he's old he will not depart from it.

God has given you a Baby Moses. Would you treasure those years and build into his life or her life? Or would you say I will come into his life only when he starts to do his PSLE. It's choice. They need, our kids need the timeless truth because we live in truthless times. The world is not going to help him spiritually, you can be sure about that. You, should teach your children diligently.

Not only Moses, Timothy. The Bible tells us,
“And how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”
(2 Timothy 3:15 ESV)


Timothy was from childhood, amazing, from childhood, acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

You want your kids to come to Jesus? You want them to be saved? Don't just pray. Do pray, but don't just pray. Lead them to the Scriptures.

Don't hide behind that excuse that God is sovereign; He will save who He will save. It's true, He will save who he will save. But equally it tells you to teach your kids, and it is the Scriptures that make your children wise unto salvation. And Timothy had that as a child. That's why when he grew up, he was such a great help to Paul and he was pastoring and he was serving. And all that came because of the foundation laid when he was yet a young one as depicted in the picture here.

These are my two sons. You can put your kids' pictures here. How will they turn out? What would you want to go into their lives? Food? Math? English? Chinese? Or would you rather have Scripture as well? Is it in your kids? Do they understand the Bible? It's so sad that when in church we're comforted with the fact that my kids are coming to church and we assume that is done.

Now let me tell you something. You won't even assume that for your kids when it comes to Mathematics? Am I right? I mean if your kids are studying, going to enrichment class for Mathematics, they go for class, you don't assume his Math is okay because you'll still do homework with him. Check whether he understands.

But the tragic thing about us as parents is that we send them to church and then we assume that church will teach them everything and we never really ask them do they understand. So what your kids will grow up with is that borrowed faith where they're so used to coming to church with you but the Scriptures is not in them.

To live strong, they need the Scriptures in their life. I want to give you a simple diagnostic test.

The number one sign your kids are just borrowing your faith is that they rarely, if ever, ask questions. So they're churchgoers, they come to Sunday school but you know, they don't ask Daddy, Mummy spiritual questions. Not interested.

As parents, don't be satisfied with just bringing them to a centre. Be sure the Scriptures are in them. Please ask them. Please study the Bible with them. Please talk about the Bible with them. Please point them to the gospel. Point them to Jesus as best as you can.

Now we all don't do very well in this regard. We can be better. All of us as parents, myself included. But let us not excuse ourselves to say church can do it or somehow they'll turn out right. It's in your hands. It's in our hands.

In fact I read about this author who said that there're 65 apologetic questions every Christian parent needs to learn to answer.

Apologetics means the defense of the faith.

In other words he's saying kids will ask you questions about your faith. And they've sort of narrowed it to 65. And you should be ready to answer all 65. Quite a challenge hah.

Let me show you the questions. I'm not going to show 65 or you will die. You'll be overwhelmed. Just show some sample ones that are quite common.

No. 3 in the list is: Why would a good God allow evil to exist?

This is a very common question. In fact I showed you a video about Charles Templeton, the man who's advanced in age. He asked the same question.

Why would a good God allow suffering to exist?
Do all religions ultimately point to the same God? Why or why not? Don't just say, “Aiyah! You just believe lah, don't bother about the rest.” You can't do that. You can't.

When I drive my kid and he sees a temple, he sees a mosque, he sees, he asks about religion. What do I say to him? “Shut up, just follow me to church.”

Is that the way we deal with his questions? No wonder kids grow up saying I do not want your faith, it's illogical. Doesn't make sense. It's your faith, not my faith because I've never really understood it.

How can you know that the Bible we have today is a reliable record of the original writings? How do you know? Are you as parents equipped to deal with this?  If not, find out. Google is a very good friend. Or you ask someone in church who knows these things. There're plenty of people who would be able to point you to it.

What is evolution?
What are the key pieces of evidence of evolution?
What are the key questions evolution has not answered?

Evolution, creation is a big thing on kids' minds today. What does it mean to have faith and how is it that different than the popular definition of faith?

These are questions you need to ask.

Personally I looked at Deuteronomy and I said I need to spend more time with Shawn and in due time with Matthias as he grows up. Because as I go out with him, as I travel with him, as I play with him, I want to point him to Christ, to Scripture, to principles of God's Word. I want to show him redemptive value in the things we see and we read. I see that as the pattern set in

Deuteronomy 6:
“As you lie, as you get up, as you walk, as you sit down.”

That's doing life with my son. But I don't think I was very effective at that at all because somehow he still doesn't quite get it. And I didn't do well. And I decided maybe it's time to not just hang out with Shawn only, I'm still doing it, but to read the Scriptures with Shawn.

Now of course I don't open my King James Bible and say Shawn, please read the King James Bible. He will be absolutely stunned. And he will not be able to absorb anything. So we took a picture Bible. I show you this because this is exactly what I use. Now if you've kids, young kids who can read a little, I strongly recommend this. Ok there're many good picture Bibles I'm sure, but this one I've read and I thought it's amazing. It's great. It's a wonderful book. I don't get any royalties, all right; I have no link with David Helm. I do not know who he is, he doesn't know who I am. I'm just saying when I read this book; it's a great picture Bible.

Now please don't expect picture Bible to be exactly word for word lah. It's not meant to be that way. But it captures the mega themes of Scripture, of redemption, of God's faithfulness very, very well. It's a very good tool and Shawn is enjoying reading the Bible with Daddy. And as a busy person, sometimes I say,  Shawn, very late lah, don't need to read lah. He'll remind me: Daddy you said you will read with me everyday ah. And he forces me to commit myself.

You see, teaching your kids is not easy. That's why the Bible says in Deuteronomy 6, teach them diligently.

And now he enjoys it. And I realize as I systematically look at the stories, point him to the lessons, there is a certain advancement that was not achievable when I was just hanging out with him. I'm sharing with you my failure so that you will not repeat that. Be balanced. Deuteronomy 6 is about way of life. True. But there's also a time to put into their minds the Word of God, I think, in the reading of Scripture. Just like the picture of young Timothy going through the sacred writings. And my hope is as he looks into the Scripture, he acquires the wisdom unto salvation.

But this will not come from MOE. This is not going to come from any enrichment centers. This is to be parents, you. Maybe your kids are older. They say, “Aiyah! Daddy, Mummy, this is so kiddish.” Then give them more "cheem" (difficult in hokkien) stuff lah. Give them more wah, Einstein lah, don't know what Aardvark lah, I do not know what this animal is lah, but give them literature that helps them.

Basically, I'm saying folks, there's plenty of resource today. If you're so resourceful you can send them to classes for all kinds of subjects, would you provide them spiritual training at home?

Talk to other parents. Talk to people who've journeyed ahead of you and ask them for advice. Speak with your CG leaders if you're struggling with some theological question you can't even answer your kids. That's fine. Learn, grow, it helps you. But your kids absolutely need truth built into their lives.

2.  Spiritual Life
My time is running by. I need to go to the second application. And that is for your own spiritual life. Daniel knew the Scripture not only when he was a boy but I think he knew the Scripture for the rest of his life. He continued to study, read it, grow in it. And I think that's the same need you and I would have.

You know the Bible today is the bestseller of all times, without a shadow of doubt. I'm told it's about five billion copies sold. The tragedy of it is, however, not all five billion are being read. And even fewer are being studied. There's one thing about reading the Bible and another thing about studying the Scriptures. Do you know that? You can read it like a storybook and you don't get anything or you may really want to go deep into it. So many people have the Bible but very few will read it and even fewer actually study and want to grow in it.

In fact when I was studying to be a doctor, there was this medical condition called “ganglion.” Some of you may be familiar. It's like a lump on your wrist joint, on your joints here, it's like a ball, you know (Pastor points to his wrist).

Do you know how doctors prescribe treatment for it? They say, “go get a good, old, fat Bible and bang it on the ganglion.” Piah! Now it works, by the way. And it is the official prescribed treatment to treat ganglion.

Some of us, our Bibles are used only to whack things. Whack your kids, obey your parents. Some of us use Bibles to decorate our bookshelves. Some of us use our Bible like “避邪” [bi4 xie2, ward off evil spirit in chinese), you know. Wah! Got evil spirit, like garlic and all that. You keep a Bible because you're scared there'll be ghosts. Some people buy Bible for all kinds of reasons. But how many of us really take the Bible and study it?

There's this, I think, spirit, it's amazing. We live in the day and age where there's so much excess, so great an excess to spiritual teaching but we're so poorly read in the Bible. I think people in time past, they don't have Internet, resources, books and commentaries like we do, they know the Bible better. The ignorance level is astonishing.

A story is told of Joseph Parker. He was a pastor in a church in U.K. and after preaching, one of the ladies came to him and said, “Pastor, I thank you so much for shedding such great light on the preaching of God's Word. You know what? Because before today, I thought Sodom and Gomorrah are husband and wife.” (Congregation laughs).

I mean, if you don't read the Bible, who is Sodom and Gomorrah? You'll think that they're husband and wife. Sounds similar, isn't it?

Another story is told of a pastor who came to a church, to a new church. He's now assuming pastoral ministry in the new place and he wanted to see the Biblical literacy of the church in general, so he went to a Sunday school class with the boys and he asked them: who broke the walls of Jericho? The boys all looked down. We do not know. And so he was very upset. He brought this matter up to the board of elders and he said to the elders: You know the boys in that class; they do not know who broke the walls of Jericho? How can it..And   he went on and rant and rant and then one of the elders stood up and said, “Pastor, Pastor, cool it, cool it. Don't worry, we know these boys. They are good boys. They won't do anything like that. If the walls of Jericho are really broken down, we just pay some money and repair it ok, Pastor?” Even the elders didn't know what is the wall of Jericho.

What about us?

Do you know salvation?

Do you know sanctification? You say, Pastor, don't use such “cheem” word. No, no, these are words in the Scripture.

Do you know redemption?

Do you know eschatology?

Do you know what the Bible teaches about parenting?

About faith and in your office?

Do you know about how we are created?

Do you know what is worship?
Do you know? No.

I didn't know who broke the walls of Jericho. This is the age we live in, a happy-go-lucky attitude with regards to the Bible. As long as we come to church, it's fine.

No, you got to study the Scriptures. Daniel studied the Scriptures. He is who he is, not because of chance or mysticism or some power zapping him. He knew the Bible.

President Woodrow Wilson, one of the presidents in the United States, he said, "I am sorry for men who do not read the Bible everyday. I wonder why they deprive themselves of the strength and pleasure." You know he's not a man that says you read the Bible because the Bible says so. He says I read the Bible because I do see the strength and the joy God's Word brings to my heart.

It's George Mueller who said, "The first three years after conversion, I neglected the Word of God. Since I began to search it diligently, (look at that word, Pastor adds), the blessing has been wonderful."

Some of us don't get blessings because you seek it casually.

"I have read the Bible through one hundred times and always with increasing delight!" One hundred times. Everybody knows George Mueller is an extraordinary man of faith. Why? He's just like that?

Let me tell you why. Here is a man who has read the Scriptures one hundred times.

Why is Daniel strong? Because he has read the Scriptures. Why will your kids be strong? Because they've read the Scriptures. Why will you be strong? Because you read the Scriptures and it is right in your system. It is Jesus, who said,

"Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it! "
(Luke 11:28)

There is blessedness in Scripture. How does Scripture bless us? Let me show you a list of verses. I will not tarry or wait here for too long. Jesus says, when I send them into the world, I know it's a hostile world. The world is against them, but this is what I pray for! Father,

“Sanctify them through thy truth, thy Word is truth.”
(John 17:17 KJV)

Sanctify them through your truth, protect them, set them apart through your truth. Your Word is powerful. Your Word is able to help them live strong in a very anti-God world. Your Word sanctifies. You see, the Bible washes and cleanses.

"That he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word”
(Ephesians 5:26 ESV)

He is God or Jesus. Her refers to the church. The church today is sanctified, purified because of the Word. Jesus Himelf says,

“Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.”
(John 15:3 ESV)

Already you are clean because of the Word. No Scripture, no sanctification. Your life would still be filled with sin and filth.

"I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you."
(Psalm 119:11 ESV)

In essence, know the truth and the truth will set you free. The truth is God's Word. Freedom is freedom from the bondage of sin.

Therefore D.L. Moody has it right - "The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible."

Look at how Peter says,
"As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby. "
(1 Peter 2:2 ESV)

As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word. No milk no growth. No Scripture, no growth.

“Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
(Matthew 4:4 NKJV)

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
(2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV)

All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect or complete, thoroughly or equipped for every good work. The Word gives you guidance, the Word gives you hope. The Word helps you know God.

I wonder why men will deprive themselves of the strength and pleasure the Word provides” President Woodrow Wilson.

Maybe Ghandi says it best. "You Christians look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilization to pieces, turn the world upside-down and bring peace to a battle-torn planet. But you treat as though it is nothing more than a piece of literature."

He's right, you know. He's not a Christian but he's right.

Maybe for some of us, after hearing this message, you say, “Pastor ok, I'm convinced. I'm convicted by the Scriptures that I need to read the Bible. So I'll start tonight. So you go home, you take your Bible off your shelf after it's been hitting some ganglions and used for some warding of evil spirits, you finally open it up and you say, “I'll start with Genesis chapter 1 verse 1, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Great! And you read and you're starting to enjoy the Bible. You read about Abraham, about Joseph. You read about how they came to Egypt and “Wah, what a nice story! The Bible is good. Pastor is right.”

Then the next week you read Exodus. Why suddenly change ah? From a nice story now it starts to talk about bulls and cows and temples and tabernacles and clothings and stones, I don't understand. Never mind, never mind, be patient, the next book will be easier.

And then you go to Leviticus. Wa lao! What is this about? I have no clue, what burnt offering, trespass offering, peace offering, how come so many offering? I thought church only one offering. You get all confused and you say: never mind, be patient, read Numbers.

And so you read Numbers, twelve tribes, I don't even know how come north, south, east, west also got formation one?

Can somebody help me, you say and then you go to Deuteronomy, worse, it's a repeat. Wah! I give up on the Bible, you say, and so when you read the Bible like this, you almost feel like you'd never get to Revelation. Am I right?

How you read, right? Because that's how I read.

Let me say this. I think we have heard enough messages that say go back read the Bible, you will find the truth. It'll be easy. I don't think it's true. I say this, reading the Bible is not easy. Ok? Get it?

I say it, reading the Bible is not easy. Otherwise you won't need to study diligently. But reading the Bible can be clear.

In other words, you may not understand everything about the Bible in the first reading, but there is enough that is clear that will benefit you.

The old-time Christians call this the principle of perspicuity. The Bible is perspicuous; it means it's clear. So when you read the Bible, not everything is obvious, not everything is easy. But there is enough to be easy and clear. The major doctrines of salvation will be clear. The major understandings of God Himself will be clear as you read the Bible, but there's always that process of growth. The Bible is simple enough that the child can understand. Of course not everything but the child can understand, but it's profound enough that the most intelligent of people will drown.

So please have the appropriate expectation, reading the Bible is not always easy, you need effort but you can learn. I'm amazed at how much you and I today can learn. So many of you are learned in tennis, in golf, in Chinese, in cooking, in all kinds of activities, in computer, you're so learned, why, because you put effort into it. But when it comes to the Bible, too difficult la, don't want to learn.

No, if it is important, put in your effort. Let me say this, one of the reasons why I insist, I know it may not be the most popular way of preaching but why I insist on preaching through the Bible, NT, OT, NT, OT is so that as a church, not only do you get truth according to the balance of Scripture, but the best I know how model for you what it means to approach the Bible, and every single week, I hope I'm giving you an honest exposition of the Bible and as you see it, you learn it.

And let me say, it's not that difficult. You need to have some tools, you may need some people to come alongside you and help you for the beginning but you will get better at it as you practise reading the Bible more. Like I said, I think it's almost criminal for anyone in our current generation to say, God, it's too difficult. I've no help. He says please go to Google. Google is the one I've sent to help you. I mean you've commentaries; you've resources, I mean it's even on my phone.

You want to ask me any Greek word? I welcome you, not because I have it in my head, but it's in my phone. Just click, click, click, I can sound very intelligent when I'm not because it's all there.

Go to your CG leaders; go to people who've studied the Bible with you. You respect them for their ability to handle the Bible. Ask, be trained, be helped. Don't be satisfied with saying I don't know the answer but Pastor knows. It's dangerous. Your Pastor can turn out to be a crook some day. The most important thing is that you will know the Scriptures for yourself.

I've said a lot. But I just want to encourage each one of you to live lives like Daniel, who has a personal grasp of Scripture.

3.  Preaching
Finally I want to say this about preaching. Daniel received good, solid preaching, I believe, from Josiah, not Josiah's preaching but Josiah's leadership, humility, repentance, and I think he had received good teaching from a faithful prophet like Jeremiah. I think he did. He got good stuff.

These preachers were honest, uncompromising preachers. But do you realise during the time of Daniel and Jeremiah, there were not only good preachers, there were false preachers? And these false preachers preached contrary to God's Word.

Look at this:
"The prophet tells us what we need to know, not always what we want to know. "

I think this is a very important statement. A true teacher of God's Word teaches us, tells us what we need to know. It may not be what you want to know, because it challenges your soul. But he doesn't always tell you what you want to know.

In Jeremiah's time, in Daniel's time, there were preachers who told the people what they liked to know.

“Then I said: Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets say to them, you shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place. And the Lord said to me: The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.”
(Jeremiah 14:13-14)

Because these are preachers and prophets who say to them, "You shall not see the sword." Jeremiah is saying judgment is coming, they're saying no, peace, peace when there's no peace. You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, I will give you assured peace in the place. The Lord said to me, these guys are prophesying lies, I did not send them. They're prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination. These are people who say I saw a dream, I had a vision, God spoke to me, no disaster.

They're lying, absolutely lying; do not listen to the words of the prophets, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds. I don't know about you but it certainly sounds very familiar to what we're living in today. I see this, I see that, I see this, I see that, but they despise the Word of the Lord. They promise it will be well with you when God says turn and repent or judgment will come, and they prophesy lies in God's name, saying, "I've dreamed, I've dreamed!" And these are people who prophesy the deceit of their own heart.

God says a true prophet is not someone who prophesies nice things.

“Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”
(Jeremiah 23:28-29)

But a true prophet is one who has my Word and speaks my Word faithfully. The goal of every preacher is not fame, I hope it is not. I hope the goal of this church is not to become the biggest church for the sake of it. But that we will be a church who will be faithful to God's Word, whether big or small is up to God, but our primary objective: stay faithful, preach His Word faithfully.

“Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.”
(Jeremiah 23:32 ESV)

And God says, “I'm against those who prophesy lying dreams. They do not profit these people at all. They preach nice things but they're not good things.”

But why do they listen to these false prophets? Simple reason.

“The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?”
(Jeremiah 5:31 ESV)

My people love it. Why do people go to churches who preach half-truths? I mean there is always the element of truth but there's so much of lying and half-truths you just wonder why is it that thousands upon thousands will go to preachers like that?

The only answer I have: They love it!

They may not know it doesn't benefit them, but they don't care. It's just nice to hear. It's nice to hear whatever I do God will still love me and I don't have to be bothered about my sin. It's nice to hear that when I go to church, God will give me health and wealth and it's nice to hear that when I've prayed this prayer, God will always do what I want Him to do.  It's nice to hear.

Therefore they heap to themselves all kinds of teachers. I'll show you a video.

(Video about a boy learning tennis and hopeless at it yet the coach gives the father hope that he may be number one one day.)

I think you might be familiar with this illustration or this advertisement. There're people who only want to hear, not the good stuff, but the nice stuff. When I saw this advertisement, I think of people who go to churches that don't preach truth.

God loves me; I can do whatever I want. He obeys my bidding.

Don't you think of it that way?

What does the Bible say about this? Now this is so real, it's not just Jeremiah's time, it's our time.

Now, because Paul says to Timothy:
“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”
(2 Timothy 4:1-4 ESV)

Look at how serious this thing is, that Paul, who is the discipler for Timothy would give him such an official charge. I charge you, and not just I charge you, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, two persons of the Godhead, who is, it's like laying weight after weight after weight to this very, very solemn command.

This is serious, Paul is saying, because we live in a world where people want to heap to themselves false things. So Timothy, this is of utmost importance, what do you have to do? Preach the word. Not talk about your visions, not talk about your opinions, not talk about your ideas, but preach God's Word as it is.

The word preach is the word “kerusso,” which is to proclaim, to herald, to publish, meaning you don't add to it, you don't subtract to it, you don't modify it, tell it as it is.

Not your clever ideas, but faithfully preach the Word even when nobody likes it. Be ready in season or out of season, whether people are ready or people don't like it, you preach the Word.

And when you preach the Word, it is not always nice because you need to reprove. The word reprove is to convict, to point out their errors. The word rebuke is to scold, to censure. There'll be times when you have to rebuke them. It's not always nice, but it's not always not nice, because there're also times where you exhort, that is to come alongside, “parakaleo,” to come alongside, to encourage them, to console them, and you do it with absolute patience and teaching because it's all out of love.

A mother may give an injection to a child, it's not nice. But it is out of love. It is what is needful, it is what is wholesome, it is what they need. It's not what they want.

And a good preacher preaches the Word because people need it, not because they want it necessarily.

And there will come a time when people will not put up with wholesome words, they will not. You can give them the best doctrines as clear as daylight in the Scripture but they say: we will not have it. They will not endure because now their ears are itching to hear what they want, to suit their own lusts and passions and thereby turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into fables and myths, a sad direction many people can choose to take today.

And the Scriptures say, as a church, as preachers, you stay true to preaching the Word. No compromise.

Preachers, if you're in Sunday school, care groups, you're preaching in any ministry, Bible studies, make it your aim not to be famous but make it your aim to be faithful. It's easy to get fame when you promise people lies and lies and visions and dreams, which are not from God. People love to hear it, but what is the end of it all? It profits them nothing. You don't give health to the church, you don't bless the people, but Pastor, very few people will come to church, let it be, if God ordains it to be so. But I always believe my sheep will hear my voice. There'll be people who want the truth.

The best of all, there may be a Daniel in the multitude who hears God's Word and God can raise that young man, that young lady, for great things for Himself. Concern ourselves as a church to preach the Word.

“If I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.”
(1 Timothy 3:15 ESV)

We're to be the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of truth, meaning, yes we stand on God's truth. But we're also to demonstrate God's truth, that pillar of truth that shows the world what truth is all about. How is health and wealth going to be a demonstration of the truth of God? I can't see it.

"All Scripture is God-breathed and He doesn't waste His breath."

He doesn't. There're tough things in Scripture we've dealt with. I remember vividly our journey through Romans and chapters 9 to 11, it was tough. It's not nice to hear that God is sovereign. It's not nice for people like us who want to determine things. We're deterministic by ourselves. We don't like it to think that we've no choice and in a sense that God has already ordained it all. It's not what people want to hear but that's what people need to hear. He doesn't waste his breath.

All Scripture is profitable. Don't compromise; don't squirm out of it because it's tough. It's what people don't like, not what people are not used to. Get to the Scriptures and God will honour.

The prophet tells us what we need to know, not always what we want to know.

Timeless truths in truthless times. Because there is great power in God's Word.

Charles Colson, well known because he's involved in the Watergates scandal, subsequently came to know Jesus. He says,
"The Bible -- banned, burned, beloved. More widely read, more frequently attacked than any other book in history. Generations of intellectuals have attempted to discredit it, dictators of every age have outlawed it and executed those who read it. Yet soldiers carry it into battle believing it more powerful than their weapons. Fragments of it smuggled into solitary prison cells have transformed ruthless killers into gentle saints."

Preach the word. Give it to your kids. Feed it to yourself. Give it to the church. I've the privilege of hearing Ravi Zacharias once and He shared this story and I remember I want to share this with you.

He mentioned that in 1971 when he was twenty plus years old, he was preaching in Vietnam, and Vietnam was Communist country then, and he preached with the help of this Vietnamese interpreter called Fam Hien. After preaching, after that partnership with Fam Hien, he didn't get to see Hien for the next seventeen years. And one day he received a call from Hien. He says: Do you recognize my voice? He says: Yes, you're Hien, where have you been? I've not heard from you for seventeen years!

Dr. Ravi, I'm going to tell you this, you may not believe it, it's amazing but I'll tell you the story in a nutshell. After you left, because I'm a Christian, because I interpreted for American missionaries, because I interpreted for the American troops, I was captured by the Vietcong and placed into prison cell. And for one and a half years, every single day, the Vietcong would feed me books on Marx and Anglos,  Communist books. They wanted to brainwash me, they wanted me to disavow God, they wanted me to deny my faith and every single day was sheer mental torture and one day I said I could not take it anymore. I decided I would disavow God. I decided I would deny Him. And I decided the next day I wouldn't pray.

So the next day came and he didn't pray. And on the very same day, the commandant of the camp sent him to the latrines, the toilet to clean up the toilet and he said it was absolutely smelly, filthy. It was terrible; he'd to put a cloth over his mouth just to be able to breathe properly there. And he was cleaning the wastebasket when he saw in the midst of all the excrements a piece of paper. And he saw that it was in English. And he had not seen or read English for a long time. So he washed off the excrements, he puts it in his pocket, brought it back to his room and in the middle of the night, when everyone is asleep, underneath the mosquito net, he shone his flashlight and looked at what this piece of paper is all about.

And he saw that it was Romans chapter 8:
For all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose. Who shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus?

His tears began to flow. As he thought to himself, Lord, I have not denied you 24 hours and when I've denied you, you've not denied me.

The next day he went to his commandment and said: Sir, can you assign me to the toilet everyday from now on? And so that's what he was tasked to do, everyday, he goes to the wastebasket, cleans off the excrement, collects page after page after page.

What happened is that the commandant has been a New Testament Bible by the missionary and he used it to wipe his backside, throws it there everyday and Hien takes that piece of paper, washes it off, brings it home and he's the complete Romans before him and he read it for his devotions.

Finally he's released. Together with 52 men they built the boat to escape from Vietnam. The Vietcongs came to him, found out that he was doing this, and interrogated him, is it true that you are planning to leave Vietnam?

He initially denied but subsequently he was convicted and he says he will speak the truth and so he says, “Yes, what are you going to do with me? Are you going to throw me back into prison?”

The Vietcong says, “No, we'll not throw you back into prison, we want to go with you.” (Congregation laughs).

And so they managed together to sail to Thailand. And from there they were part of the refugees in the United Nations and were subsequently transported to the United States. He now stays in California. He studies a Business degree. He's working and he's a Christian man serving the Lord in Christian ministry.

My friends, you today can choose to take the Bible and wipe your backside or you can treasure it in your life, and believe that there is power in God's Word.

These are truthless times. God has sent us into the world and the only thing that will give you the strength and fortitude, that the Spirit of God could use, is that you have the timeless truth in your life - for your kids, for yourself and for the church of Jesus Christ.

What would you do with God's Word?

Let's bow for a word of prayer together, “Father, we thank You this morning. We ask that Your Spirit will do a deep searching work. Prevent us from being sloppy, lazy, careless, when we come to the Word of life. Fill our hearts once again with an eager hunger and anticipation whenever the Scriptures are opened. I pray we'll be a people who've a firm grasp of Scripture every single day of our life, that we will not be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, but being rooted and grounded in Christ, we will blossom and flourish. So dear God, would You bless what has been said to all our hearts. Give us homes where the Word of Christ is heard. Give us lives that diligently seek You. Bless this Church. We thank You in Jesus' Name, Amen.”

 

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