NREC 2011

Reformed Millennium Center Indonesia

Kemayoran-Jakarta, 23th-25th Dec 2011

This transcript has not been reviewed by the speakers.

NREC 2011
23th-25th Dec 2011 at RMCI, Jakarta
Preacher

Session 1 Opening Ceremony

Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong

: Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong

Why do we have this kind of convention? Why do we believe in God and why do we serve
Him? As a Christian, we should not just want blessings but have union with Christ. We
should live for him and bring His gospels to others, to lead people back to God, our Creator.
Our ministries must always be renewed.
What is the difference between Christianity with other religions? There are two kinds of
religions: religion of being and religion of doing. Religion of doing is doing something to
please God. But the Christian faith does what God wants us to do: believe in Him. It is not
something that we do. The Bible says without faith, no one can please God. It means you
should respond before Him.
God created the material world, and some things have life, but only human beings are created
in the image of God. It means we should be like God. We should think about our relationship
with God, who is invisible but created us with the essence to understand things far beyond the
phenomenal world. This ability is implanted in human being. Those who say they cannot
believe, already have their belief, namely that they cannot believe.
No one can please God, except through faith. Faith itself is a response. God commands us to
believe in Him. We know that Abraham is called as the father of faith. But faith does not
come from Abraham. God is the source of faith. Abraham sets the example for people who
believe. Heb. 11:8-12 speak of one man, Abraham, whom God called. Abraham was different
from the others. He responded to God properly. This kind of people is so few and so valuable.
This man immediately obeyed the calling of God. By faith, he was ready to receive God's
calling. So many times we are not ready to hear God's calling and respond to Him. But
Abraham was a man of faith and had high-sensitivity to His voice. He had the conviction that
God is there, so that we cannot run away from His presence. The problem in our disobedient
lives is the lack of reasonable conviction of Gods existence.
Abraham was called without knowing all the details of Gods plan. God needs not to tell you
everything in detail, but we need to obey Him. We should admit how limited our
understanding is. If one claims that he can know everything, he is too arrogant. You should
say yes to the Lord before knowing everything.
Paul says, I know whom I believe. Nowaday many people change the order: I want to know
everything, then I will follow God. God will not use this kind of people. If God gives you the
grace, He gives it step by step. The guidance of the Holy Spirit will bring you into the depth
of God's mystery. If God can be understood by human beings, then that God is too small.
Nowadays, in a church planning program, everything must be so organized. But the Bible is
so different. When Jesus ascended to heaven, there was not one single program given to His
disciples. He sends them to go to the whole world to preach to the whole nations. But not
even one cent was given to them. Jesus said, I have all the authority in heaven and on earth.
The will of God is that you should have the power, given by the Spirit, to be a witness in
Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and all over the world. It doesn't mean your family must be a
Christian family first, and only then you may preach to others.
Abraham is the example of all believers. The city of Ur was the biggest city at his time,
possibly inhibited by up to 100,000 people. It had houses with up to 100 rooms. Abraham
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Session 1 Opening Ceremony

Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong

himself had 318 male servants. He was a very rich man. But he was called to leave his father,
his city, his country, and go to some unknown places. And he obeyed. What if God called you
to Madura and you have to leave your house, wife, and children? Abraham obeyed because it
was God's will. People who understand God's will and do it are so blessed.
I was called by God when I was 17. To enter a seminary was so difficult for me. But God's
calling is never wrong. His provision is so beautiful. I learnt to obey God. I had been teaching
for so many years. Then God called me to move to Jakarta. Why? I did not know. The call
was so strong in my heart. I have preached here before. Why Jakarta and not just in Malang? I
told my wife to go to Jakarta. I should go, and I brought my whole family to Jakarta and
started Reformed Evangelical Movement. It is a movement, not an organization. It is not an
administration. Movement is to move, not the body, but heart and the mind of people to the
purpose God has prepared for us. It is so difficult for people to understand what I did. But my
family obeyed me. I had no support from any church. First we stayed at a friend's house.
Houses in Jakarta are so expensive. The money from selling my house in Malang was enough
to buy 3 toilets only. But if you see my house now, it is much bigger than any other preachers'
house.
Abraham left when he was 75 years old, and died when he was 175 years. It means he spent
100 years traveling a century of following God's plan without returning to his own land.
God promised him the land. God did not tell Abraham the time. Abraham's response was only
obedience. God does not tell us all. Yet that is faith, not knowing everything but still obeying
God, total submission to Gods plan. The promised land was given to Abraham's descendants.
We should have the same spirit just as of our ancestors, to obey in spite of the difficulties. A
life in the hand of God is so valuable. Faith never fails, it always gets the victory, in the hand
of God. Not according to man's evaluation but God's judgment. What is honorable in human
system is considered nothing in God's eyes.
Abraham followed and obeyed. His God is never wrong. He knows the future and He is the
same God who holds your hands. Put your trust in God, and keep your heart calm and
peaceful. Let us all say Gods will be done.

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NREC 2011
23th-25th Dec 2011 at RMCI, Jakarta
Preacher
Bible verse

Session 2
Ev. Inawaty Teddy

: Ev. Inawaty Teddy

: Jos. 2

If we did not have Joshua 2, the story would flow fluently from chapter 1 to chapter 3, telling
us about the spies. We want to know what happens to them, but Rahabs story interrupts the
story about the spies and the dire situation they were facing, like breaking news. Breaking
news is more important than the story preceding it.
Joshua 2 focuses more on Rahab's confession rather than her lie. It is her faith that we should
ponder upon. In the NT, Rahab was mentioned 3 times. In Hebrew 11:30-31, regarding the
fall of Jerichos wall, Joshua was not even mentioned, but Rahab was. In James 2:25, Rahab
was also mentioned, about faith with works. The writer of James only took two examples:
Abraham and Rahab. She also appeared in Matthew 1 as one of the 5 women mentioned in the
list of Jesus ancestors.
Verses 8-13 are the center of the story. When there are dialogues in the Bible, it means they
are very important. We need to hear from the characters themselves. What is so important
about Rahab's faith?
1. Verse 8-9: the knowledge of God.
Rahab had heard about what the God of Israel had done. She had some knowledge about what
God had done. Before we believe in God, we need to have some knowledge. The Bible says
faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. Our faith must grow through
increasing knowledge about God. Many people think you have to leave your brain outside
when you enter the churchs door. That is not what the Bible teaches us. It is important for
Gods people to know what God had said and done, so we know who He is. In Exodus 10: 1-2
the ten plagues were given so that God's people may know that He is the Lord. Not only God
gives us His words but also His deeds. When things happen in our lives, God is teaching us
that we may know more about him. God is revealing Himself to us. Every time we should ask,
What are You teaching me? John 20:31 shows us that the gospels were written so we know
who Jesus is. We have become a Christian for so many years. Do we know the story of His
people and the story of the church in these 2000 years? We must have the knowledge of what
God said and done. Having said that, knowledge alone is not enough. You may have
knowledge and still not have faith in him. James 2:19 says that demons also believe there is
one God, and yet they shudder for they do not obey Him.
2. Verse 11: more than just the knowledge of God, we also need conviction.
He is the God on heaven above and on earth beneath. Why is this verse amazing? During that
time, they believed not in one God but in many gods. Even now, all the religions that believe
in one God do so because they believe in Torah of Moses, Christians, Jews, and Moslems. But
here we see one Jericho woman, a gentile, who had not heard the God of Israel before and
only heard about what happened in Egypt. Even God's people themselves did not believe so
much in His sovereignty. The first generation did not want to fight for Canaan. They did not
think their God is sovereign enough. In the world of Scripture, they believed our world is
secondary world, and the primary world is the world of gods. In a war, the ones who win a
war are not the stronger ones, but the ones with the stronger gods. 1Kings 20:23 tells how
Israel was fighting against Syria. The Aramaic people wondered how their gods could be
defeated by Israel's God. The battle was on the mountain, so they concluded that the God of
Israel was the God of the mountain and their gods were the gods of the plain. They decided to

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Ev. Inawaty Teddy

fight the Israelites on the plain. But we see that God, with a sense of humor, gave victory to
Israel so they knew He is the Lord over all, mountains and plains.
The Israelites did not understand God is a sovereign God, but Rahab did. I believe many of us
intellectually understand God as the God of heaven and earth, but is it also in our conviction?
How do we test that: How many of us believe in superstitions? Even in Jakarta, many office
towers do not have floor #4. We have 3 and 3A. To avoid number 13, we have 12 and 12a.
People have superstitions, even Christians. If we believe in feng shui, in astrology or good
date to get married, we do not have the kind of conviction that Rahab had. If you believe in
superstitions, you believe there are other powers besides God. You do not believe that God is
sovereign.
Our God is the God of heaven and earth. He is sovereign. Everything can happen only
because He permits it, even the suffering of His people.
3. Verse 12-13: the evidence of faith.
James says, faith without work is dead. We can see Rahabs faith in her works. Her faith is so
amazing. She puts not only her life but her households lives in the hand of God of Israel. She
believed that Jericho will be defeated. She made the spies promise to save her and her
household.
That's why James praises her. We may consider Rahab as a new Christian, that she had only
heard of what God had done in Egypt, and yet she could put her life and her family's lives in
God's hand. Can we put our lives in God's hand? Or our career? Do we believe God has the
best for us in store, or do we think we know what is the best. How many of us ask God, what
course we should choose when we start our undergraduate program? Or when we get a work?
Most of us say we believe in God but do not consider what He wants, what His will is. We
usually choose the program that could get us a lot of money. We should understand that each
of us has a calling from God. Our worship to God is not only on Sundays, but we worship
God with our whole life, with our career, when we raise our children, when we serve our
neighbors. Rom 12:1 says; present your body as living, holy, sacrifice. This is your spiritual
act of worship. Our whole life is a worship to God: the kind of career that we should do, the
kind of company should we work for. How can we believe He is sovereign, when we do not
trust God with the important things in our life? Can we put our life into God's hands like
Rahab?

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NREC 2011
23th-25th Dec 2011 at RMCI, Jakarta
Preacher
Bible verse

Session 2
Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong

: Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong

: Heb. 11 : 1-6

When I preached in Russia, I asked the congregation about denominations. They answered,
We dont care about denominations, whether Presbyterians, orthodox, Baptist... There are
only believers and non-believers. So many of those who call themselves Christians do not
believe the commands in the Bible. I agree with them. Even children of priests, elders,
deacons are not necessarily believers. Are you a believer? What should you believe? Unless
one believes in God, no one can please God. A man who draws near to God must believe that
He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. Since God is invisible, how do I know He
exists? God already implanted a common general revelation in our hearts, a revelation which
is clear to everybody. General revelation is given to man in two realms: the external testimony
and internal testimony. The external testimony is the creation of God. The internal testimony
is the conscience of our hearts.
The creation of God manifests the glory of God. His power and wisdom are shown there. If
you understand God's universe more deeply, you will know that there is no such thing as there
is no God. If you do not believe in God, you need to have a bigger faith than the faith in God.
The people who try to get the hidden wisdom of God are called scientists. Scio means to
know. How do you know what you know? That is epistemology. How can you be certained
that knowledge is possible? How to make conclusion of knowledge? I know because I
discover, I speculate, I count, I reason, etc. Before you discover those things, they are already
there. Science only discovers what God has created. 2+2=4 begins even before the existence
of heaven and earth. You can learn it from your teacher, but this reality exists prior to the
teacher. The knowledge is within your brain, but the knowledge needs not be there. When
God creates everything, He is outside the created things. The Creator must not be held equal
to the creatures. God is the Creator, not creature. He is above all things. There must be one
Creator. By His great work we know this. It is the external testimony that God exists. Not
only from that, but also the internal testimony from your heart, alongside the external,
confirms that there is God. If you still do not believe, it is because you suppress the truth. If
you suppressed the general revelation, probably you could not understand the special
revelation. God had given us the inner and outer, the internal and external witness. Those who
will come near the Lord must first believe the existence of God. People who deny the
existence of God are atheists. They purposely reject His existence. If you are chosen by the
Lord but suppress this knowledge, be careful. You cannot and will not be successful in
rejecting God. It is like putting your hands over your eyes and proclaiming there is no sun.
Unless you accept the existence of God, you will not have peace. God's existence is an
objective fact. It will not cease being the reality simply because your theory tries to deny it.
Just to know that God exists is not enough. You should believe in the grace of God; that He
rewards those who seek Him. If with all your heart you truly seek Me, you will surely find
Me. Are all religious people seeking God? Definitely no. They are seeking the blessings of
God, money, wealth, security, but not God. That is why God says 3 times, I looked down
from heaven to see if anybody seeks me. Not even one. They have gone astray. They never
truly understand me. They never truly walk on the path. That is the reason you should make a
decision to take off your mask and confess you do not love God.
To believe the existence of God requires the general revelation. But people also need special
revelation. The second realm of faith is to believe God's grace. How can I know God is the
God of grace? By the written word of the Bible. Special revelation is the key to understand
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Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong

general revelation. We can understand God through the word of the Bible. In the Bible, we
understand how to understand everything in the universe. It is the key to general revelation.
Special revelation consists of two things: the written word of God and the Word that became
flesh the Scripture and the Incarnated Word of God.
God is gracious. There is common grace of God in the whole universe. And there is also
saving grace, where Jesus Christ gave His own life. We become righteous people according to
His grace. We become His own. We become the children of God. We call Him our Father in
heaven. Faith is the belief in the existence of God and the grace of God.
Man is created by God and for God. He is the source of our existence. Man is like our God, as
we are created in His image and likeness. If you dont believe in God, you cannot understand
your existence. To exist is to be in front of God. You are created to face Him, to relate with
Him, since you are created to exist before God. Sren A. Kierkegaard says this. We know that
our existence is not absolute temporal existence. It is an existence to respond to God. You are
not what you think. You are not what you feel. You are how you react before God. If you
react wrongly before God, you will live wrongly. If you react rightly before God, you will live
righteously for eternity. Only by faith you will be justified. You have hope for eternity. The
grace of God transforms us. We are hoping to have life for eternity.
When people say, show me God so that I can believe. This is a wrong presupposition. Is it
true that after seeing God, you will automatically believe in God? Human beings already live
in sin, so they are blind. Some people ask for proof of God, so they can believe. This is also
wrong. Once, when I was in Amsterdam, a girl protested loudly against an Indonesian
preaching the Gospel shallowly. She said that Jesus is ancient, and things like that must be
thrown away. She studied philosophy and believed in logical positivism which says things
that cannot be verified in the laboratory do not exist. Yet this logical positivism theory itself
has not been verified in the laboratory. So what you believe is self-contradictory. You cannot
simply reject the Gospel.
Reformed evangelical is important, because it is not enough to be reformed. You need to
evangelize to lead people back to God. Reformed without evangelical will die.
Evangelical without reformed becomes weak. We should evangelize and bring more
people to God.

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Preacher

Morning Chapel
Rev. Romeo Mazo

: Rev. Romeo Mazo

There are 4 kinds of people:

Non-believer
Growing believer
Mature/advanced believer
Serving believer
Are we saved only to get into heaven? What do you do while living in this world? God has
provided the salvation, and we cannot pay for what God has given to us. Even the richest man
in the world cannot pay for our salvation. Why salvation is free? Because we cannot afford to
pay it. But we can respond to this salvation. A patient in hospital asked me to pray for his
healing and promised if he is healed, he would serve the Lord for the rest of his life. I
wondered what if God doesnt heal him; whether he realizes that serving God is a privilege.
All disciples must be believers, but not everyone who calls themselves a believer is
necessarily a disciple. In the parable of the sower, we see how not all seeds become a true
disciple (full growth), even if they are received at first. Faith must grow into maturity. Faith is
acting upon what you believe. Maturity is not the same as how long you have been a Christian.
We will take the apostle Paul as an example.
1. Humility
Rev. Tong defined a humble person as someone who keeps searching and studying the Word
of God and applying it in his life. In 1Cor. 15:9 Paul confessed that he was an unworthy
apostle, because he was the least, the smallest among all the apostles. In Eph. 3:8 he called
himself the least among the saints. In 1Tim. 1:15 he is number one among sinners. We tend to
feel good when we see someone worse than us. But Paul looked at God and recognized
himself to be nothing worthy of the great grace given to him.
1Cor. 15:10 says everybody is given unique talents, and every talent must be used to serve the
Lord. Whether you have one, two, or even ten; the more is given to you, the harder you must
work and depend upon the Lord.
In the Philippines I rebuked the people to return to God, instead of worshiping the Virgin
Mary. One man was enraged and looked like he wanted to fight me. I thought, bring it on. I
used to be a karate instructor. But later I realized I depended upon myself instead on God.
2. Compassion
2Cor. 2:4 shows Pauls love towards the Corinthians. He urges them to love one another and
forgive one another.

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NREC 2011
23th-25th Dec 2011 at RMCI, Jakarta
Preacher
Bible verse

Session 3
Rev. Timothy Conkling

: Rev. Timothy Conkling

: Rom. 10 : 1-15 (Living Faith and the Evangelistic Pattern)

Two questions:
1. What do you really want in your life? If you can have anything you have, what do you
want?
2. What do you pray for?
Is the answer of the two questions the same? Paul prayed for what he really wanted, namely
the salvation of Israel.
When I was a child, Christmas is the time to give my parents a list of the things I want. Now
as a father, my child gives me such a list, only now it is more expensive and difficult to obtain.
After flying to California from Taiwan, hoping to bring back a play station for my kid, I had
to fly to Hawaii to buy one of the last two play stations in the whole US.
Too many times in my life, I want something of this world that money can buy. My desire and
my prayer is not the same as that of the apostle Paul. His kinsmen are Israelites, whom
privileges had been given. They should have known their Messiah, but they missed it. They
have the zeal and strive for legalistic righteousness, work righteousness. They do not have the
righteousness of God. We are sinners. We are not able to fulfill the law of God. We cannot
attain God's favor apart from the righteousness from God. God provided faith righteousness
for us: Righteousness that comes from faith in Jesus Christ, who died in our place and was
raised for our justification.
What do you pray for? Were mostly concerned about our health, our financial situation. That
is important, but I fear that prayer meetings are only concerned about temporary things.
Where is the compassion for the lost in your prayers? Paul prayed specifically for his
countrymen.
I did not want to be a missionary, but my wife secretly prayed a different prayer. We went to
the New Life Church, the church of many of the whos who in Westminster Theological
Seminary. Pastor Jack Miller would pray for missionaries by their names 15 minutes long. I
prayed for those missionaries I never knew. We reached out to the Chinese students in the US.
I started praying for China. In 1988, God moved my heart so that we went to Beijing, leaving
our own house, the church where I was pastor.
In Matthew 9, Jesus said to the disciple, pray that God sends workers for the harvest, for it is
plentiful but the laborers are few. In the next chapter, Matthew 10, there were people being
sent. Who were they? The same people who prayed. Who are you praying for? What is the
result of your praying? I prayed for a former student every day 15 years long. He was an
orphan and went through much hardship. His wife divorced him and in order to get their
childs custody, she hit herself with a hammer and told the police he abused her. After 15
years, on Christmas Eve, I interrupted our family Christmas tradition of reading the Bible,
praying, and opening the presents. I had an impression God wanted me to visit the mans
grandmother who lived down the street. I went there, not knowing how I could even enter the
apartment. But I met the man in front of the mailboxes. Not being his public school teacher
anymore, I could finally share the gospel with him. I shared my faults and the change in my
life. He showed me a gun and said he had planned to kill himself. But after hearing how
messed up I was, he said, If God could save you, God could save me. He believed in Christ.

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Rev. Timothy Conkling

Pauls passion was for his countrymen. Verses 9-11 are the message of the Gospel in 3 verses.
When God wanted me to go to China, my wife was going through chemotherapy. She said,
lets pray and see who God would bring up to take care of her while I was gone. A friend who
was a registered nurse came in that exact period of time. I had only been 2 years in Taiwan
and brought professional translators, but when I preached they became scared. I spoke in my
kindergarten Chinese and seven people believed in Christ. One of those seven led another 200
people to Christ. The number grew so that I was faced with a dilemma, which group of people
Id minister to first. We can come up with 1001 excuses to not preach the gospel. But they are
just excuses, not solutions.
There are two necessary conditions for salvation: confess with your mouth that Jesus is
Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. One person said he
believed in Jesus, but wanted to become a secret Christian. There is no such thing in the Bible.
What you confess is what you believe in your heart. It goes together. In China such a
confession opens the way for persecution. A man shared with me the hardship he had faced.
Because of his faith, he lost his job, his family, his belongings, but he showed a wide, joyful
smile and said he would do it again. It was worth it because he knows his living Savior.
Sometimes we dare not share the Gospel, because our life is still messed up. In the period
between Justification and Glorification, we live in Sanctification. Do not let whats still wrong
in your life shut us up. When people point to something wrong in my life, I will admit I need
Jesus as my Savior. We preach an objective truth of the Gospel; that is, for everybody.
Nowadays, I afraid there are 2 extremes of evangelization. First, those that are never
personally saved in their heart. On the other hand, a lot of people stress on personal faith,
subjective experience, but did not proclaim the fact of the Gospel. Throughout the book of
Romans, Paul emphasized the theology of resurrection to show that Jesus is Lord.
Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. During my stay in Indonesia, my former
students parent told me, If you need anything, just call me. First I didnt dare and just
texted him so he could ignore me if he so choose. He gave me his number and I called, and he
did not only help me with our big problem, he took us to the most delicious seafood place.
How did it come to that? Because I wasnt afraid to call him. No matter how messed up a
person is, God offers salvation. The God of the nations abounds in richness. Its not enough
just to hear the invitation; it is those who call which will be saved. Paul continued with a
series of rhetorical questions whose answers are They cant. After some time we might turn
apathetic. We just dont care anymore.
I am concerned about my body. It is wearing out. My eyes, my ears dont work so well
anymore. When Paul talks about the body, he makes a special mention of the feet in verse
15. The beautiful feet is followed by two more adjectives: glad and good, because they take
this message to the world. I pray that in this convention, that you have these beautiful feet to
carry this message.

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Preacher
Bible verse

Session 4
Ev. David Tong

: Ev. David Tong

: 1 Pet. 3:15

1 Pet. 3:15 explains first of all the task of apologetics, in Greek: apologia. Apologetics is not
being sorry for what we do, but the defense of what we believe in. Not being sorry about what
we believe.
Second, the task of apologetics is for all believers. It is not only for elders and deacons. It is
addressed to all elected persons: you and all Christians.
Third, the task of apologetics is to give reason. If you have NIV, in your heart set apart Christ
as your Lord and give an answer is incorrect. We need to give reason. In Greek: logos. Our
faith is one that we can reason for; it is a reasonable faith.
Fourth, always be prepared for it. Always be ready whenever it is required. A lot of Christians
are not only lazy, but not ready, because nowadays they do not understand what they believe.
Fifth, do such with gentleness and respect. We are not trying to win the arguments. We are
trying to win the person. Often time we win the argument, but we lose the persons.
Apologetics is not for the arguments sake.
Last, and more importantly, respect Christ as the Lord in your heart. Sanctify Him, let Him
become the center in your heart. A lot of apologists have done apologetics, but not all
arguments take the Lordship, the Deity, Triune God as the center, exalted Christ as Lord. Not
all apologetics are Christ-centered apologetics. If we did not realize this, we did not really
realize the power.
In this modern world, there have been a lot of philosophical thoughts for the last 200 years.
Modern people are influenced by Humian skepticism; by the secularism that is proposed by
Kant; by positivism, that only material world matters; by Feuerbach materialism; by the
process of becoming; by Darwinism; by Naturalism, that for everything an explanation can be
found in the nature; by Materialism, that everything can be reduced to material. A lot of
Christians have this kind of understanding.
How do we make sense of our faith in such a world? How do we make sense of historical
Adam who fell in sin? How do we make sense of the damnation of man? How do we make
sense of sin? That Christ was born of the virgin? Ironically, some Biblical scholars also deny
virgin birth. They try to understand the Bible naturalistically. They said that the term virgin
birth is invented by the Bible writer only to explain the difference of Christ from every other
human being. He is just a human being like you and me, but the difference is, He is the most
exalted of human being. True Christians understand what virgin birth is: the birth of Jesus
Christ from a virgin. Also, the concept of resurrection, second coming, etc. of Christian faith
is thoroughly supernatural from end to end. But for modern world, this supernatural religion
does not make sense.
I reject the dichotomy between sacred-secular, religion-science. I believe that the only conflict
there is, is between two different kinds of belief, two worldviews that oppose each other:
Christian Theism worldview and the Naturalistic worldview.
A lot of arguments try to prove that God exists as the end of the arguments. Let me give you
as example the argument of the existence of God, the so-called classical arguments of
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Ev. David Tong

existence of God. Universe is complex, not simple. The universe is like a watch. Universe is
more complex than watch, so the conclusion: there probably is a powerful designer whom you
call God, who created this universe. A universe that existed by itself is impossible. Design
shows the existence of a designer. Much more complex, bigger, so much more vastly is the
Creator. Such designer is God. Now, do you accept such argument? The question is whats
wrong with such argument? 3 things:
1. They only talk about the possibility that God exists. It never argues for the certainty
that God exists. Its highly possible that such a God exists. The chance that the
universe existed by itself is 1:10282; too small. It is more probable that God exists.
Such an argument does not exalt God. It is not good enough.
2. If such a God exists, why should it be a Christian God? Why not a Moslem God,
Buddhist, or Hindu? Its not an argument for the existence of a Christian God. If
theres God, you can substitute this God and explain the arguments. Such an argument
doesnt exalt God or Christ.
3. If the existence of design of the world points out to the designer, what do you make of
the designer if you see evil in the world? Theres something wrong about the world. It
might imply that the designer is imperfect. This kind of argument can lead to a wrong
conclusion about God.
These classical arguments do not honor God, Christ. It does not give the certainty concerning
the consistency of God.
Cornelius Van Til rejects all these classical arguments because he wants to sanctify Christ in
his apologetics. In exchange, he proposed presuppositional/transcendental argument. The
beauty of a presuppositional argument is that, unless you presuppose the Christian Theistic
God as the only God, nothing will ever make sense to you. The only way to sanctify and to
make Christ holy is to sanctify Him from the beginning. The argument must start from a firm
belief that God exists.
You will not understand fully, unless you take Christ seriously as your Lord in your reasoning.
Van Til reasons that Christ is the reason why you can reason in the first place. Christ is the
reason why you can understand things; remove Christ, and you wont understand anything.
Not between facts and values, science only give facts, faith only gives values. The problem is
to believe, presupposition. You believe God exists, I believe Triune God exists. The
opponents, unbelievers, believe that God does not exist, their presupposition is naturalism.
The way to argue forward is by presupposing otherwise. I will let you take your
presupposition, but let me also take my present presupposition grandly. From this state, let us
see which presupposition leads to a better understanding of the world. This is the beauty of
Van Til. Only the Christian presuppositions lead to a better understanding of the world. By
that, he also includes, Buddhism, Muslim, Jewish, all those presuppositions which do not
believe in Triune God, will not make the world meaningful to you.
My professor in Westminster Theological Seminary, Scott Oliphint called this: covenantal
apologetics. The faith is not separated from this world. The fool says in his heart that there is
no God. Deny God from your presupposition/argumentations, and that you can achieve is the
probability that God exists. Even if such a god exists, it is not God. As for you and me, we are
believers, our sinful mind has been redeemed by God. We understand everything through the
light and saving power of Christ. Your faith, brothers and sisters, is rational; this makes
everything reasonable.

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Preacher
Bible verse

Session 5
Michael Liu

: Michael Liu
: Isa. 6:2-5

Michael Liu started studying the Bible at 15, because he read the word of God, and the word
of God spoke to him and opened his eyes. He started to give out tracts at 19, because he heard
Rev. Tong had started to give tracts at 17. He thought he was a bit late. In age 22, he left God,
he left church and everything he heard about the righteousness of God, and turned to his own
righteousness. With self-righteousness, one day God will beat you down to such a degree
where you can hope for no one but Christ. And, why is he here? He is not ashamed of the
Gospel. Have you ever heard that you need to do every single thing that is possible to be done
in order to please your God? Age 27, God brought him back to his presence.
Today I want to show you the holiness of God in the Gospel itself. When the time has been
fulfilled, it shall only tell us one thing: the Bible is trustworthy indeed. It should be accepted
with full acceptance. God promised Abraham that there would be a son; a nation from his son,
and this nation will bless all other nations, in fact saving the whole world.
He gave Moses His holy law to urge people into repentance. Why is that that everyone needs
to be led into repentance? It is because the standard is not ours, but His. Return! And go back
to the righteousness of God.
Righteousness is not in you. Psalms 1 said: Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel
of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight
is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. When we see this, we
see it in a worldly view, a legalistic view. Of course, God want us to be blessed. God in OT
promised Eve, that from the woman the seed of salvation will come; and the seed is coming.
The time has been fulfilled. Jesus comes to fulfill the Law. You who long for the Kingdom of
God, let me tell you one thing, he has already fulfilled it! In Romans 1:2, the word
beforehand implies that the time it is near, it is almost here. War will cease, blessing will
flow. Is not the kingdom is at hand? God is holy, the kingdom of God is at hand. Do you
remember in Revelation, the rich man shouts: Mountain, rocks, cover us, because the
kingdom of God is coming, the wrath of God is coming!
The kingdom of God is at hand. Psalm 15: God is holy, and who shall dwell on His holy hill?
He who walks blamelessly. The non-believers, regarding many things, think that we deserve
the holy reward, a kind word that we have done this and that. Two days after Steve Jobs died,
I wrote in my Facebook whether he has heard the Gospel. But my friend said he should go to
heaven, for he seems better than Christians. When Isaiah saw Gods holiness, he said woe to
me, he knew his lips to be unclean, and he knew he did not walk in righteousness. Even
Christians who think things that are holy, I ask you, do you always walk in righteousness?
Then speak true in the heart. Most of the time the argument for our being good enough
stops there. But we can still say I am blameless. At 16, I liked to read the Bible. I took it as
my righteousness. Who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor,
nor takes up a reproach against his friend. We tend to look into our righteousness. Like the
adulteress will laugh at the thief and said You are thief, and the thief will laugh at the
adulteress, and said You commit adultery. We often bring this attitude to the church.
In whose eyes a vile person is despised. God has saved me and forever He has put in the
path of repentance. Whose eyes a vile person is despised, were you ever at the movies and
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Michael Liu

felt that the bad guys are cool? At the end of the movie, they have good endings. But do you
love this? Do you ever despise them?
Who honors those who fear the Lord. I honor Dr. Tong now, because he is the servant of
my God. In the church in New York, they say to the people who fear the Lord, Are you
trying to be spiritual in front of us? When a sister sings in the choir she will pray, Please let
me sing for you, God. It will make you happy. Do you have that in your heart?
Who keeps his oath even when it hurts. Many times we love being violent people. We
forget that Jesus comes to saves the sinners. Do you ever swear to your own hurt? God has
sworn that He will save us and will not change, though we turn faithless. In contrast, we want
things that benefits ourselves, we do things that bring us benefits. But we speak about the
holiness of God.
Who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent.
You might say, I am not a banker, what does it have to do with me? We don't have holiness.
A lot of time I dont tell the Gospel to the person sitting next to me. That is a little thing that
we do because I am shy, and we spend our own time with things that benefit ourselves.
Satan often bribes us. There is a rumor going that Michael Liu studies the Bible 4 hours a day.
Thats not true. I was reminded of myself 10 years ago, when I was self-righteous. I would
have remained silent. If somebody said, What a good person you are, do you give glory to
God or take His right?
Who does these things shall never be moved. David knew nothing in him was holy. Though
you know the things you must do, only one can fulfill it. The Gospel of Mark: The Kingdom
of God is fulfilled; the Kingdom of God is at hand. It is good news to the chosen people who
repent. Is it good for sinners? For evil people? God's holiness will appear. Jesus Christ will
come again. This is theocracy, God's rule. Psalm 2: When He comes, He will break them with
a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. And in verse 12 said: Kiss the Son,
lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all
who take refuge in Him.
If Jesus Christ was just like one of us, he could not have fulfilled the work of God. Today we
are talking about holiness. You probably think you know how to attain it. When we preached
the gospel, we need to show the holiness of God. Do not be fooled to show a different Gospel.
Don't show the holiness that you have achieved, but show them the holiness of God.
We cannot say we have the life of repentance, unless you bear fruit daily. Are you
comfortable to repent every day? Will you walk like Christ walk? The full course of a tree
will bring the gospels fruit. Whether we read our Bible, when we say we really trust in the
word of God.

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Preacher

Session 6
Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong

: Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong

Sinful people have wrong presuppositions. First wrong presupposition: If I can see God, I will
believe in Him. They ask for proof of Gods existence. This is the second wrong
presupposition. Third, if you can let me think and reason about God, then I will believe.
Fourth, if you can let me experience, I will believe. These four presuppositions are wrong;
that we need to see, prove, understand, or experience in order to believe God. All four
contradict the Bible. But this is common to the fallen reason of man.
Bibles teaching is different from mans idea. In Isa. 55:8-9, My way is not your way and My
thought is not your thought. Sren A. Kierkegaard said this is the qualitative difference
between God in the heaven and man on earth. Kierkegaard gives 3 comparisons: heaven-earth,
God-man, eternity-temporality. I make a conclusion: thought and way. Thought is something
inside, way is something applied outside. Thought is ideology, way is the behavior. When you
combine both, you have culture. I can tell 50 more definitions of culture, but nothing
describes culture better than the Bible. Culture means ideology + way of life. In our soul we
have ideologies and concepts. And outside we have daily behavior of life. Interior and
exterior combined together is human's culture. Isa. 55:8-9 means the Word of God is superior
to the human culture.
If I can see, prove, understand, experience, then I will believe. These four presuppositions are
wrong. The first presupposes that believing is the result of seeing. You have never seen
electricity, freedom, democracy, independence, or the grandmother of your grandmother, but
you believe them. Why do you ask to see God? The Bible says: If you believe, you will see.
Read Heb. 11:1: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not
seen. You have conviction on what you haven't seen. The Bible teaches us: first you believe
then you will see. This principle is shown in John 11:40. Jesus told Martha: Believe (first),
and you will see the glory of God. I can testify to you that this is true. When I am old, my
ministry is confirmed by God. People know that Stephen Tong is the servant of God, because
he did not believe in the promise of human, but God. God is faithful, immortal, honest, and
sincere to us. Those who hold on to God will never fail.
Second: Without proof, faith in God is superstitious. This means you believe that God can be
proven by arguments. The Bible never says you can prove God. That's why Calvin rejected all
natural arguments: cosmological, teleological, ontological, etc. They are not sufficient to
prove God. How can the unlimited God be proven by limited arguments? Arguments are great
but still too small to prove God. The Bible said if you believe, you will get the proof.
Humans thinking is countered by God's thinking.
Third, if you can let me understand, I will believe. What we believe, our faith, is reasonable.
But rationality is not the cause of faith. Our faith is rational. Reformed people are rational but
not rationalists. What is the difference? A rational Christian is the Christian using his reason
to understand the revelation of God, guided by the Holy Spirit. Rationalists use reason to
comprehend everything, including God, who is beyond our reason. God has given us reason to
understand Him, and to stand under him.
The biblical principle is if you believe, you will understand. Reformed goes by the motto
Faith seeking understanding unlike some charismatic motto Faith seeking blessing. A true
religion seeks after God. False religions make the effort to escape God.

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Session 6
Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong

Fourth, if we can experience we can believe. The Bible says if we believe, we will experience
Gods promise and presence. Our God is honest to us. He tells us the right methodology.
When you search honestly you will find that He is right. In Heb. 11:1 we read: Faith is the
certainty and assurance of that which I hope and which is unseen. The Bible says so clearly to
us: Because you believe, you understand.

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Preacher

Christmas Eve Service

Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong

: Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong

I want to share what Christmas day is. The Bible says, when the time has come God sent His
son. 700 years before that day, God already prophesied through Isaiah of a childs birth, who
will be given the name Immanuel.
What is the meaning of virgin birth? An unmarried virgin gives birth. This has never
happened in history and happened only once. Why through a virgin? Gen. 3:15 promised the
seed of woman. Because of what Adam has done, sin is inherited to all mankind. The second
Adam, the last Adam, is not the same as the first Adam. The whole mankind is represented by
two Adams. The first is the failure in the first Adam and the second is the obedience through
the second Adam. The Word became flesh. God revealed Himself in flesh. Christ Himself
became man, lived among man, full of grace and truth. That is the beginning of the gospel.
This is the beginning of the new source of life. The reason of Word became flesh is that
God wants to be with man.
When Adam sinned, the whole mankind is separated from God. It is not that the hand of God
is too short that He cannot save, but because of our sin. God is holy but man has fallen into
sin. Man receives death as the wages of sin. Paul in 1 Tim. 2:5 says there is only one God, and
one mediator between God and man. Jesus Christ was the second Person in the Godhead. The
Triune God is something reason cannot acknowledge and cannot be accepted by Moslem.
How can it be that one is three and three are one? God is one and eternal. This is what we
accept as truth, whether we are Jews, Christian, or Moslem. These are the three greatest
religions that believe in Monotheistic God. But Christianity also says God is love, not that He
has love. Love is not only Gods character but also His essence. Before He created everything,
God was alone, and He is love. Before the creation whom could He love? Only the Bible can
answer it. The Triune God is one, eternal, and love was His essence. He is the Subject and the
Object of love. God the Father can love the Son, and the Father can love the Spirit, and the
Son can love the Father, and the Son can love the Spirit, and the Spirit can love the Father,
and the Spirit can love the Son. By this Triune inter-relationship God has already exemplified
His love. The love of God becomes the foundation for man to love each other. This is the
basis for community life. The relation between men is based on God's inter-relationship. God
expanded His love by giving His love to mankind, so that mankind can love each other. The
inter-relationship is then possible.
Since the relationship between God and man has been cut off, we have left the righteousness,
the love, the holiness of God. That is why in this world we do not have justice, truth,
righteousness, love, and holiness. We do not have the power to love the other. We do not have
power to be just, no power to do good deeds, and no ability to live a holy life. But as the
image of God, we still have the concept of holiness, the concept of goodness, the concept of
justice, and the concept of holiness. Because of this, we can argue about ethics and morality.
We have the concept of love, we can love each others. We have the concept of knowledge, we
can discuss about education. We have the concept of justice, we can discuss about law. We
see that all of these became mere theory; those who talk about love are full of hatred, and
those who talk about justice are unjust. We talk about truth, but we live in wickedness. We are
separated far away from God. We can only judge God and rebel against God. We are not
willing to submit ourselves to God. This has become the history of the mankind. God has not
left us in sin and not left us to rebel against Him. When we are far away from Him, He called

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Christmas Eve Service

Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong

us to repent. When we lived in sin, He came to save us. What method did God use to portray
His salvation? Through the incarnation of His Son, Jesus Christ.
When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, Adam should submit to God, but he
submitted to his wife, and the woman should submit to husband, but she submitted to serpent.
Adam blamed God for the woman that God created for him, and Eve blamed God for the
serpent that tempted her.
The authority of God cannot take it lightly, that is why God cursed the land. However He
gave the promise, that one day the seed of the woman, the descendant of woman becomes the
enemy of the serpent. The serpent will injure the heel of the seed of woman. And the seed of
woman will crush its head. And this story continues along the history.
We are descendant of man. In all of our life, we are our fathers seed. We have received the
original sin inherited from Adam. Therefore in the whole mankind, there was no seed of
woman. Until Mary, when the angel said that she will give birth to a son, and He should be
called the seed of the woman. Mary was a virgin, he conceived from the Holy Spirit. This was
the work of the Holy Spirit. The Word became flesh, from the womb of Mary. Through Him
the new nation was born.
Jesus Christ is God. He came to the world and limited Himself. In history, there is one
Mediator. This Mediator is the One who gives peace between God and man. Why did Jesus
want to be man, with flesh and blood? So He could receive the punishment due to us. If He is
only Divine, He cannot represent man and He cannot die. If He was only man, He did not
have the power to die for all mankind. Why did He have to die? Because the wages of sin is
death. Anyone who sins has to die. But the grace in Jesus Christ for us is eternal life. How is it
possible? By experiencing the death, and gaining the victory. We can have no power to fight
against Satan. We only submit to sin. But Jesus has died for us. He represented us and he won
the battle on our behalf. That is how death is no more master over us. That is how we can be
set free from the power of sin. That is the meaning of Christmas, of the Word becoming flesh.
Nobody knew the time of Jesus birth. But we know for sure, that the Son of God came in our
midst and dwelled among us. Infinite God once limited himself to be with us.
Paul said I am what I am by God's grace. Paul said to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Today I
have clearly explained the meaning of Christmas. This Christ that has come from heaven, has
He come to your heart? The Bible says, He came to His own, but His people did not receive
Him because of the humans evil deeds. I could easily challenge those who rejected him; what
wrong has He done to you? He was sinless and faultless. Mankind hated him, but He returned
it with love. Man made him bleed, and He forgave man's sin. God loves you. That's why He
sent His only begotten Son. He sacrificed His life in order to save you. Those who receive
Jesus, will be received by the Father. God gives them the right to become the children of God.
Are you willing to open your heart, to humbly come before God?

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Preacher

Session 7 Closing Ceremony

Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong

: Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong

We are men of faith, descendants of Abraham, accepted by God. We have nothing to boast
other than Jesus, because God accepted us through Jesus. When God sees us, we have nothing
good, we oppose Him. When God sees Jesus, He sees His beloved Son. How come we are
accepted? Jesus was the second representative of man. The first one is Adam. Evangelism is
to move people from the first representation to the second representation. If people follow
Jesus, they have hope of life.
How do we obtain faith? Yesterday we talked about four wrong presuppositions. But it is not
because I see, I proof, I experience, that I believe. The Bible says because I believe, then I see
God, I get testimony, I can understand Him, and I experience grace and power of Him. So it
starts from faith.
The starting point is faith and the ending point is faith. First, when we believe Jesus, faith is
given to us. So many people think faith is a product of man. The Bible does not say that.
The Christian life is a new life to believe in Jesus. After we believe, we enter a journey to
follow Him and obey Him until the end point of faith. Who makes this possible? Heb. 12:1-2
give us the answer. Verse 2 says Jesus is the founder and perfecter of faith. He was in the
world as example to obey. So He endures the cross, a cruel terrible punishment of men. So to
serve people you need to go through suffering. You see the true joy through suffering. The joy
is in the end of suffering. His cross ends with glory of eternity.
Verse 2 says shame, which is the shame of the cross. The cross is shameful, naked, and
bleeding. And verse 2 ends with sitting at the right hand. What does it mean? It means
acceptance from God, acceptance of His obedience, offering through crucifixion. What is the
meaning of the throne? Victory. Jesus is accepted as the victorious general of war. Jesus
brings us back to God. The throne also means power to rule. Jesus will guide us. So as
Christians, as we follow Jesus, we will struggle, but Jesus is the perfecter of our journey.
We are called descendants of Abraham. It means the One who starts is the One who finishes.
Even though we are weak and we fail, but He is more powerful to accomplish. I hope that you
can bring this message in your heart.
Nowadays so many people are blurred to what Reformed faith is. In this convention you are
being taught to know what Reformed faith is.

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