I've decided to put up the notes to share. Note that it has been edited to fit a blog-post style. Whether a cursory or thorough reading, I hope you are edified as much as I was in preparing it.
Do give me some pointers.
The theme for this quarter’s Youth Service is ‘Unchanging Truth & Faith in a Changing World’.
Admittedly, I encountered some difficulty in thinking of what to speak on. In the end, I decided on: ‘An Anchor of Our Faith’
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Many of us have faced times or situations where we were forced to make decisions. Being forced means that we felt constrained to make the decisions that would affect the sequence of events ahead and more importantly, the direction of our faith.
A simple MCQ :
How often has it been for you that you had to make some tough decisions about your faith? (A)Quite often? (B)Very often? If we belong to any of these 2 groups, we should count ourselves fortunate. Why so? Firstly, it’s because these 2 options are actually the same, really, meaning that we’re working hard at preserving our faith. But more importantly, it reflects that we are actively concerned with ensuring that our decisions will only affect our faith in a good way.
Now this is of paramount importance in our compromising world. When we see how much the morals and ethics of the world have regressed, there is a strong need to be proactive in maintaining a steadfast faith.
Sometimes, we may not realize it, but the slightest thing that we take part in can have some form of repercussions on our spirituality.
For example, the progress of technology is a great gain to us. But when we do not exercise enough caution, we may just let Satan deceive us into watching more TV, spending too much time in front of the computer, or fiddling around with our new techie toys too much. The clear implication here is that we let ourselves willingly be robbed of time which could have been dedicated to God.
Today's world is changing further beyond the realms of technology. Morals have sunk to new lows. Decadence and opulence have become the order of the day.
How do we remain steadfast in a changing world?
The Bible's counsel in Hebrews 6:19-20 reads:
“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,”
Here, the author of Hebrews mentions of an Anchor of the soul. This anchor is sure and steadfast, unmoving and unchanging. The anchor is the hope of our salvation and the future glory in the kingdom above. Anchors are attached to vessels.
It is interesting to note how the Bible describes our bodies as the Vessels of God. Since in another sense, a vessel can refer to a boat, a ship, or an ark even. So we are vessels of the Lord, sailing on the seas of the world today, do we have an anchor that is strong enough? Have we examined whether our hope is well-positioned to help us to remain rooted when calamity strikes?
Ephesians 4:14 serves to remind us of this danger:
“That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,”
I recall of a testimony which I read and heard before:
There was an Indian brother who was Malaysian naval officer from Perak. He was sailing with the ship when he was mysteriously flung overboard in the middle of No-man’s Land. We can imagine how worrying it would be to get lost in a crowded place like a shopping centre, but this guy was lost in the ocean. He struggled to stay alive and had to fend off the attacks from jellyfish and predatory fishes.
Furthermore, the area where he was lost was famous for sharks! The brother struggled to stay afloat despite the rough seas and huge waves that pounded him from all sides. At one point he almost gave up, but his faith that God would save him, kept him from committing suicide.
Eventually he fainted but awoke to find himself near a shoreline. So he swam to the shore and was eventually rescued by the island's tribal men.
This is an extremely wonderful testimony.
It shows us that no circumstance can be too difficult for the Lord to show His grace upon us. What is important is whether we have the anchor that keeps us faithful to His promise.
However, there is a regretful ending to this testimony. Apparently, in a turn of events, this Indian Brother eventually got swayed by the wind of doctrine and cunning trickery of men and he defected to the Jehovah’s Witness.
What can we learn from this testimony? I believe that his faith in the Lord was genuine when he was in desperate situations. His prayers were heartfelt pleas to God to preserve him, which God did. At that time, his faith was true, his faith was sincere.
So what went wrong? This is where Ephesians 4:14 comes in, as we’ve read earlier.
1 Corinthians 10:12 gives us another indication and strong warning.
“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
Today we may think we’re standing firm and doing well in our faith.
Yet how sure can we be?
-Who is to say that we won’t give in to temptations and sin?
-Who is to say that we can be sure of our faith in the Lord?
-Are we really that strong?
-Who measures the strength of our faith?
Is it ourselves? Or do we let the Word of God be the measure?
When the author of Hebrews mentions of the hope of salvation being the anchor of our soul, the key issue is whether the hope we have is sure and steadfast.
There is a quote that goes “Change is the only constant”.
Things change and they always do.
- The world environment changed after the Great Flood.
- Lot changed after he moved to Sodom.
- King Hezekiah changed after his life was given a time-extension and he became a fool.
- In Revelations, the church of Ephesus changed and left her first love.
People, Emotions, Surroundings change all the time. How can we remain steadfast to the promise of God?
To answer that, we must know that there is only one thing that is immutable.
The Word of God that was in the Beginning is still the same today as it was in the past. Jesus is the Word. Jesus doesn’t change.
When Jesus mentioned that He was the way, the truth, and the life, He was providing a way of hope to the lost sheep of the world.
He made that hope available 2000 years ago. Today that hope continues to be the ultimate goal of ours.
Thus we should always bear in mind that this hope of salvation has to be worked out in fear and trembling, just like how Paul exhorted the Philippians in Philippians 2:12.
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;”
Do not be like King Saul who lost sight of his hope when his heart changed to be filled with hatred and jealousy. His anchor was dislodged from the the truth and correct understanding of God.
The happenings and eventual outcome of the Indian naval officer also serve as a great warning to us that we must never be complacent in our faith.
We need to be strong, alert and aware of the changing world to ensure that we stand firm.
To ensure that we’re in the right path of hope, we have to look to the only source of hope - The Bible is the true anchor of our faith and the Hope of our salvation – God’s Word.
The times ahead are going to be even more uncertain. We need to remain in the pattern of sound words and traditions of the apostles. This was what Paul encouraged young Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:13-14. Remain in the hope of salvation by remaining in the doctrines and teachings of the Word of God.
Our Vessels are battleships in the raging seas of the world. The waves may shift and the tides may turn against us, but when we have the hope of salvation as an anchor of our faith, we would do well to resist the trickery of man and Satan.
Have we lost our direction of our hope? - Lower our anchor.
Fortify it with the strongest of materials by reading the bible and praying for the Holy Spirit’s in-filling.
