Let us now turn to Ephesians chapter 6
verse 1 to 4.
Ephesians chapter 6 verse 1
to 4.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for
this is right.
Honour thy father and mother, which is the
first commandment with promise, that it may be
well with thee, and thou mayest live long
on the earth.
And ye fathers, provoke not your children to
wrath, but bring them up in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord.
Let us pray.
Almighty God, our loving Heavenly Father, how wonderful
it is that upon Chinese New Year's Day
is also the Lord's Day.
When we specially remember that you were raised
from the dead, that those who believe
in your resurrection are saved.
We thank Thee that we have received, and
also will be receiving them because of Chinese
New Year.
May we not forget to bring an ang
pao for thee.
If we have not done so, help us
to make good the next week.
And we also remember the poor and needy
according to Luke chapter 4 verse 13, that
we have an ang pao for them.
Lord, we
pray for our speaker next week, who is
Dr. S.
H.
Toh.
Grant him Thy word, O Lord, that he
may bring health and joy to us.
You have instructed us to pray for all
men, and apart from the 15% Christians
in Singapore.
The rest, including Muslims, are 85%.
While the people here only seek for money
by wishing one another good luck and much
money, we may bring them the word of
salvation.
Our good news, Thou has instructed us to
pray for kings and all those that are
in authority, that under their government we may
live peacefully.
And truly, we thank Thee for three Prime
Ministers who have led this nation, and we
pray for them above all that they may
come, and know the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, who is also their Savior.
O Lord, how wonderful it will be that
they will confess Christ and kneel before Thee,
the Son of God.
We see war clouds gathering in all parts
of the world, which shows us that the
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is near.
And the Church must hurry on with the
work of Your salvation in accelerated missions, as
it is commanded in Matthew 24, 14.
And this gospel must be preached in all
the world for a witness unto all nations,
and then shall the end come.
We thank Thee that the Far Eastern Bible
College, which is our college, is heavily involved
in the Bible College movement, and particularly in
Africa.
Thank Thee, Lord, that it is more Christians
in numbers counted than the people of Singapore.
And we thank Thee for the Bible College
of East Africa, of Tanzania, of Burma.
May Thou bless Thy children who are faithful,
and who love Thy work, and help us,
O Lord, the true-life Biblical Church.
Let it not be a dead church, but
a living and lively church, working with our
hands, turning upwards to heaven to see Thy
glorious coming.
This is our particular prayer for Chinese New
Year, for all Thy children here.
We pray all this in the name of
our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
The topic of my message is Chinese New
Year promotes filial piety and parental love.
And this is the beginning of Chinese New
Year, therefore it is appropriate for me to
speak on this subject.
This subject is based on Ephesians chapter 6,
verse 14.
Let us open again our Bible and read
together.
It is so little Bible that we know
that every time the Bible text is referred
to, we will want to turn to it
even again and again.
Let us read together.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for
this is right.
Honour thy father and thy mother, which is
the first commandment with promise, that it may
be well with thee.
Thou mayest live long on the earth, and
fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but
bring them up in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord.
You will live long on the earth.
Let me ask you the question, how long
do you want to live on the earth?
An old member of Life Church told me
sincerely, 65 years is enough for me.
Life is a hard struggle.
Well, the Lord let him live up to
75.
He is Mr. Kwek Kaomo, the son of
Rev. Kwek King Hoon, who was my pastor
in Princep Street.
Incidentally, Rev. Kwek King Hoon's nephew is Rev.
Kwek Hyok Cheong, my good friend.
And he has just come to 90, but
he always told me, I would like to
live up to 100.
But I happen to have told him, I
am at 95.
But since I am 5 years younger than
he, when the time comes, both of us
will go hand in hand to heaven, and
we will have a good laugh together.
Today is Chinese New Year's Day, and Chinese
New Year affects China most of all.
There are millions and millions of Chinese.
Like an army on the move to return
home to visit their parents once a year,
to eat the last meal of the 29th
or 30th night, and to wish their parents
well the next morning.
Some of them travel back as far south
as Yunnan Province, which is next to Burma.
And some of them travel back from the
west as far as Tibet.
The parents will bless them with monetary gifts.
But if the parents are aged, then it
is the reverse, the turn of the children,
to give them an angpao.
Christians can follow this custom that is kept
by Chinese New Year.
Indeed, Chinese New Year promotes filial piety and
parental love according to Ephesians.
Interestingly, Ephesians Chapter 6, 1-4 teaches what
we practice at Chinese New Year.
Now, why do we worship at 9am so
early this morning, and to finish by 10
o'clock?
It is for the purpose that we may
go and pay respects to our aged parents.
In my case, people kind of pay me
respect.
It is the other way around.
The delight is doubled when they pay you,
aged parents, and your daughter-in-law will
follow your son, and also give you an
angpao to make it two.
Well, that is my case, of which I
remember.
On the other hand, let us not forget
the younger ones, to give them an angpao
each.
That is why you see so many children
around Chinese New Year.
But whether children or not, even for servants,
for those who work for us, let us
never disappoint them who deserve an angpao from
you, only once a year.
If we have aged parents, we might gather
in the big brother's house and spend the
get-together with the rest of the family.
This will promote good relationships.
But sometimes we miss one or two of
the smaller families, that they do not come,
because they are at odds with the rest
of the family.
Not all families are peaceful.
And so, we pray that this will not
happen.
At Chinese New Year, in our Christian circles,
when we see even the extension of the
whole church, inasmuch as the members should come
and we invite them.
Now in Singapore, we enjoy two days of
Chinese New Year vacation this year.
When Chinese New Year falls on a Sunday,
which is a holiday, the vacation is extended
to Tuesday, January 31st.
An enthusiastic Christian husband, with his equally zealous
wife, makes it a point to invite me,
the pastor, to preach an anniversary message, requested
by the ladies, with a fellowship lunch thereafter.
Doesn't it seem to us, Chinese New Year
is more than promoting filial piety and parental
love?
God will surely bless such a large-hearted
home.
The joy of sharing Christian fellowship is such
joy that you cannot experience anywhere.
It is the first joy we receive out
of heaven.
He said so in the John Soong revival.
It was so wonderful to see friends who
are saved at the same meeting.
It is a joy out of heaven.
But the world does not know this.
So as for me, I must specially prepare
my anniversary message and tell about my excitement
beforehand.
To my brothers and sisters, remember Tuesday morning,
11am, January 31st.
And the title of my message to be
given at that time is The Role of
a Mother in a Christian Home.
Because I have written a book, the title
is Son of a Mother's Vow.
So you see, Chinese New Year comes handy
to promote Christian filial
piety and parental love.
And also to bring blessings to the whole
church, as the enthusiastic couple have done, as
I have mentioned.
Don't you agree with me?
Amen and Amen.