Author Archives: Gospel and Salvation

Living Stones

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Titles of Christians (#10)

1 Peter 2:4—6

Sermon by Pastor Sylvia Chan

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Today we are going to study another title of Christians:

NAS 1 Peter 2:4—6 And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, And he who believes in Him shall not be disappointed.” (1Pe 2:4—6 NAS)

Here Apostle Peter is calling Christians to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Here the word “Him” refers to the Lord Jesus Christ; he is a living stone, rejected by men. They killed him by nailing him to the cross. As the Lord Jesus is a living stone, so Christians are living stones. We are being built up into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, and we offer up spiritual sacrifices to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Please take notice that in this sermon today, I only focus on the living stone. I am not talking about the holy priesthood or the spiritual sacrifices; I will discuss these topics in my next sermon two weeks from now.

This passage contains several spiritual terms, and we need to find out the meaning of these terms one by one. Now let us study this passage step by step.

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Saints

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Titles of Christians (#9)

1 Corinthians 1:1 – 2

Sermon by Pastor Sylvia Chan

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Brothers, sisters and friends, today we are going to study another title of Christians:

RSV 1 Corinthians 1:1 – 2 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: (1Co 1:1 – 2 RSV)

This passage comes from a letter that Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. In verse 2 he says the brothers and sisters of the church are those sanctified in Christ Jesus, and they are called to be saints.

Christians are called saints, the holy ones

Most people think that only outstanding Christians who have accomplished a lot for Yahweh God are called saints, and that ordinary Christians are not saints. But here apostle Paul says all the brethren in the church who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus are called saints!

Indeed according to the New Testament all true Christians are called saints! Let’s look at some passages in the New Testament to confirm this point:

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Slaves of Righteousness

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Titles of Christians (#8)

Romans 6:18

Sermon by Pastor Sylvia Chan

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Christians are slaves of righteousness

We have studied 7 titles of Christians in the Bible, today we are going to study another title – this is the 8th title.

 NASB Romans 6:18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. (Rom 6:18 NASB)

Do you feel uncomfortable with this verse? We have just been freed from sin, yet the next moment we become slaves of righteousness! We leave one type of slavery only to fall into another type of slavery. Does it mean that we never have freedom from slavery? What does it mean to be slaves of righteousness? Now let’s look at the Bible to find the answers step by step.

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Chosen Ones of God

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Titles of Christians (#7)

Colossians 3:12

Sermon by Pastor Sylvia Chan

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In many countries, students have to take an exam after they finish middle school. This was true of Vietnam when I was living there. I don’t know what the present situation is, since I left Vietnam a few decades ago. At the time I was living there, this exam was very important, for it will affect the students’ future. Whoever failed the exam would have to repeat grade 12. But even for those who passed the exam, they were divided into different grades based on the marks they got in the exam. When the students applied for university or college, whether they will be accepted or rejected depends on their exam marks. Therefore all students had to study very hard. It was not enough to just pass the exam, but they had to achieve high marks, the higher the better.

Christians also have to pass an examination, and one of the titles of Christians is “The chosen one”:

 NASB Colossians 3:12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Col 3:12 NASB)

Here apostle Paul says Christians are the chosen ones of God; we are to have a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

The term “chosen ones” indicates that some people are chosen, and some are not. So who are chosen? By what criterion are we chosen? If we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and get baptized, will we be certainly chosen?

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Good Soldier of Christ Jesus

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Titles of Christians (#6)

Sermon by Pastor Sylvia Chan

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The good soldier of Christ Jesus

Today we are going to study another title of Christians:

 NASB 2 Timothy 2:3—4 Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. (2Ti 2:3—4 NASB)

Here Apostle Paul says that we are to suffer hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus, and we should not entangle ourselves in the affairs of everyday life, so that we may please the one who enlisted us, namely our Lord Christ Jesus.

Last time we studied the title “Ambassadors for Christ”; today we study the title “Good soldiers of Christ Jesus.”

A soldier’s work is the opposite of an ambassador’s work. As a soldier we are to fight the battle for Christ; but as an ambassador, we implore people to reconcile to Yahweh God.

So are we to reconcile or to fight? What kind of battle are we fighting? With whom are we fighting? Now let us find the answers one by one.

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Ambassadors for Christ

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Titles of Christians (#5)

Sermon by Pastor Sylvia Chan

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Last time we studied the title of Christians, “Witnesses of Jesus Christ”; today we are going to study a very interesting title:

ESV 2 Corinthians 5:20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2Cor 5:20 ESV)

Here it says that Christians are ambassadors for Christ.

The meaning and task of “ambassadors for Christ”

What does it mean to be “ambassadors for Christ”? According to English dictionaries, an ambassador is the highest-ranking person who represents his or her own government while living in another country.

Certainly ambassadors for Christ are different from the international diplomatic ambassadors, for we are not dealing with diplomats in foreign countries, but dealing with the people in the world, so we implore them to reconcile with God.

When an ambassador is sent to a foreign country, he represents his own country. Christians are the people of the kingdom of God; Yahweh God sent us into the world to represent the kingdom of God. What is our task? What are we supposed to do in this world?

ESV 2 Corinthians 5:18 – 20 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconcilingthe world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2Cor 5:18-20 ESV)

Here it says that Yahweh God wants to reconcile the world to Himself through Christ, not counting their sins against them. There are two steps: first He reconciles us to Himself; after that, He entrusts the message of reconciliation to us and sends us into the world to be ambassadors for Christ. Our job is to tell the world that God doesn’t count their sins against them; and we are to implore the people of the world to be reconciled to Yahweh God.

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Witnesses of Jesus Christ

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Titles of Christians (#4)

Sermon by Pastor Sylvia Chan

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In the past few weeks we have been studying several titles of Christians; today we are going to study anther title:

NIV Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8 NIV)

These are the words of the Lord Jesus to his disciples after he had been resurrected from the dead. He commanded them to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and all the way to the ends of the earth.

Even though most people on earth today know the name Jesus Christ, they know very little about the Lord or know about him inaccurately. I was one of the Vietnamese refugees. My family in Vietnam followed Buddhism and Chinese traditional ancestor worship; my family and I used to say blasphemous words against Yahweh God and the Lord Jesus. Today when I look back at our words in those days, I feel pain! Why did we do such a horrible thing? One of the reasons is that we didn’t know about Yahweh God and the Lord Jesus Christ, no one told us about them accurately. So we just followed what the other people were doing!

Christians have the responsibility to tell people about our Father Yahweh God and our Lord Jesus Christ; and we don’t just preach the easy gospel of believing in Jesus to have eternal life.

Do you want to be a witness of Jesus Christ? If we want to be witnesses of Jesus Christ, what are we going to tell people?

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The Light of The World

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Titles of Christians (#3)

Sermon by Pastor Sylvia Chan

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Today we continue to study the titles of Christians in the Bible. Last time we studied “The Salt of The Earth”; today we are going to study another title:

NASB Matthew 5:14 – 16 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Mat 5:14-16 NASB)

The Function of Light

Here the Lord Jesus says that we are the light of the world; in verse 16 he says specifically that we have to shine before men.

When we enjoy all the modern conveniences in life, we don’t realize how important light is. In the year 1993 Pastor Bentley and I went to a certain country in Asia to preach the gospel. At that time there were frequent blackouts in that place. If a blackout happened during day time it wasn’t that bad, but if it happened at night, it was really inconvenient. But the worst is when the blackout happened at night time while we were walking outside on the streets. A big part of the city would become pitch dark; it was more than just inconvenient, it was really dangerous. There were many open manholes on the roads without covers, because these would be stolen. Indeed there was an Englishman who fell into one of these manholes and died. We all had to look carefully when we walked on the roads. A few times we went out in the evening, and on the way back home suddenly there was a blackout. We couldn’t see anything on the road. I was really scared, and I turned to our Father in heaven immediately and asked Him to protect us bringing us back home safely. After that, we would always carry a flashlight when we went out in the evening.

Besides the open manholes, there were all kinds of garbage on the ground. When I walked on the roads during the blackout, I couldn’t see what was on the ground; I didn’t know what I was stepping on. It was only until we came back home, under the candle light, that I saw that all kinds of garbage were stuck to my shoes and my pants, sometimes there was even excrement!

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The Salt of The Earth

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Titles of Christians (#2)

Sermon by Pastor Sylvia Chan

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Today we continue to study the titles of Christians in the Bible. Last time we studied the title “Fishers of men”; today we are going to study another title:

NASB Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”

Here the Lord Jesus says that Christians are the salt of the earth. What does it mean to be the salt of the earth? Today we are going to find out the meaning of this statement.

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Fishers of Men

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Titles of Christians (#1)

Sermon by Pastor Sylvia Chan

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Brothers, sisters and friends, in the past few months we have been studying an important topic in the Bible: “The Kingdom of God and Eternal Life”. I have put all the 14 messages on this topic on the website: http://www.gospelandsalvation.com. You can go to the website to read all those messages; you can also download a PDF copy of the messages that you like. Today we begin to look at another important topic: The titles of Christians in the Bible.

Many years ago, when a Christian sister heard the term “Titles of Christians,” she said to me, “What? Christians have titles?” She was very surprised to hear the term “Titles of Christians.” Oh yes, Christians have many titles in the Bible. We know that Yahweh God has many different titles, and that the Lord Jesus Christ has many different titles, but people don’t talk much about the titles of Christians. Indeed Christians have many different titles too, and each title carries a different meaning.

But why do I want to study the titles of Christians? Because when we understand the meanings of these titles, we will know what we should do and how we ought to live our lives in this world. We have to always bear in mind that if we live a life according to the teaching of the Bible, we will bring glory to our Father in heaven and to our Lord Jesus Christ, and the people in the world will praise Yahweh God and our Lord Jesus.

The first title that we will study today is: “Fishers of men”.

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