Public Service at Surabaya - Sunday, February 18, 2007

Based on the structure of Tabernacle, the epistle of Jude refers to the covering of badger skins, which speaks of the protection and attention of God towards the true Church as well as separation from the false ones. Today there have been a great number of confusion just like a wheat and tare which looks similar, because there are a lot of perceptions saying that they are just the same (both the true and false Churches do serve and minister God). Indeed they seem to be alike, but God will sometime separate them; the true will be in the glory of God while the false will be judged.

Jude 1:1
1 Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:

The word ‘preserved’ implies the meaning of ‘covering’.
Today we only learn the word on verse 1a: ”Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James”. The writer of this epistle was Jude, the brother of James. There is a clear description between Jude and Judas that becomes a manifestation of the covering, that is, Jude the brother of James was separated from Judas Iscariot. This separation will be also revealed to Churches; the true Church will be separated from the false ones.

Both Jude and Judas were the servants of Jesus Christ, but they were separated as Judas was a thief.

John 12:6
6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

Jude stands for the true Church and Judas the false one whom God will someday separate them. Both Jude and Judas served and ministered God, even Judas looked greater in his ministry as a treasurer whom God had made trustworthy; unfortunately he stole God’s possession. Today more and more Churches steal God’s possession namely tithe and special offering. Such false Churches will be separated and judged by God. Thus, we must be careful with this!

Back to Judas 1:1a “Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ”.
What does “a bondservant of Jesus Christ” mean?

• 1 Corinthians 7:22-23
  22 For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave.
  23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
  Jude was a bondservant of Jesus Christ, so it means that he was a freedman – a man of redemption. Thus, a bondservant of Jesus Christ is the one redeemed by the Blood of Jesus; or in other word, one must be delivered / redeemed by the Blood of Jesus to become a bondservant of Jesus Christ.
  1 Peter 1:18-19
  18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
  19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
  Sinful men are contemptible and base before God, and unworthy to serve God – even if to the community, they are respectable as the rich and prudent figures. For that reason, they must have redemption through the precious Blood of Jesus in order that the worthless men become precious.
  Being redeemed = being delivered from hereditary and owned sins as well as being made priests and kings / servants of God. Such are precious in the sight of God.
  Revelation 1:5-6
  5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
  6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
  Maybe the world sees you as a foolish poor man, but it does not matter any longer after God set you free from sins and make you priests and kings, for you are such precious men of God.
  Sinful men are indeed worthless and vile; for that reason, God concerns to buy/redeem them from hereditary and owned sins with His Own Precious Blood as well as make them priests and kings / servants of God, so that they become precious in His sight.
  There are three terms for the Blood of Jesus (1 Peter 1:19):
  1. the precious Blood – delivering us from sins and making us priests and kings.
     The contemptible and base men are made precious before God.
  2. the Blood of the Lamb
     After being delivered from sins and being made precious priests and kings, we are redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb; meaning that we must become sheep under His shepherd. It is a must! Or else, this flesh, which is wild in nature, will encourage us to do base/rubbish things so that the redemption through the Blood of Jesus works in vain. That’s why, we must be shepherded – being restricted / brought into sheepfold – to stop the flesh from wandering and seeking pleasure. After being redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus, we are delivered from sins and already become the servant of God, priests and kings. Then we need to be redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb, meaning we are shepherded so that we do not commit base/rubbish things anymore.
     If someone has been redeemed from his sins, but he then never stops sinning, he will be like dog and swine (not sheep); a dog returns to his own vomit and a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire. Just imagine a pastor taking such form!
  3. the Blood of the Lamb without blemish and without spot
     We are delivered from sins to become precious servants of God under His shepherd until we one day have no blemish and spot like Jesus.
  That is called bondservant of Jesus Christ. That shows what is called a bondservant of Jesus Christ – it does not come easy as there are servants of men and money. A bondservant of Jesus Christ must be redeemed by the Blood of the perfect Lamb until we become perfect like Him.
  After we are redeemed to become the servants of Christ under His shepherd going towards perfection, we must beware of these two things:
  1. 1 Corinthians 7:23
     23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
     Lest we become slaves of men.
     Galatians 1:9-10
     9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
     10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
     Many people confess themselves servants of God but they are actually slaves of men, for example, Judas Iscariot. The term “slaves of men” is related to the teaching; meaning that slaves of men are servants who seek to please men even if they have to sacrifice the true teaching. Although one knows that the teaching that he is hearing is different from the one he has accepted and experienced its power, he still accepts it just to please men. Lempin-El has a motto: “Better rejected with the true teaching than received without the true teaching word”. This motto is intended to encourage us to become servants of Jesus Christ, not slaves of men. I pray to God for the students of Lempin-el that they hold fast one true teaching word and are strong in ministry.
  2. Luke 16:13-14 (plus 2 Timothy 3)
     13 "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
     14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.
     Lest we become lovers of money – serving God simply to meet or seek physical profits, such as position/status.
     Judas was a lover of money and he had to perish, therefore
  The above warnings should be enough to drive us to serve God correctly, that is,:
  • The ministry must be with the true teaching word
  • The ministry is not to seek worldly, but heavenly things.
• John 5:19
  19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.
  Jesus does everything according to what the Father does and so should we. Thus, servants of Jesus Christ are those taking Jesus as their role model. In short, our ministry must have the sign of redemption by the Blood of the Lamb and the precious Blood until we are shepherded and without blemish.
  Jesus leaves us an example in many things, but there are at least two most important examples as follows:
  • His obedience
    Philippians 2:7-8
    7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
    8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
    This is the order of Jesus’ obedience:
    1. Jesus was baptized with water
       Jesus actually had not need of repentance and baptism of water since He was innocent, but He did give Himself for the baptism to do/obey the will of the Father. Therefore, we as His servants must be baptized too, so that it is manifest that we are the sons of obedience.
       To have the baptism of water, Jesus had to set aside His prestige. At that time, John the Baptist firstly rejected to baptize Jesus but Jesus then asked him to do the will of the Father. We must sacrifice our prestige to become obedient. Very often we cannot become obedient due to regarded prestige. Nonetheless, it should be no longer retained for Jesus has left us an example; He has paid the price by laying aside His prestige.
    2. In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
       In this case, Jesus’ obedience is shown by sacrificing His own will.
       Unlike Jesus, young men mostly insist on their own will and refuse to obey their parents’ advice, even more to talk about destiny, they will not obey. It is a pity whereas they were previously obedient children. Seeing this, we have to pray earnestly and let God’s will be to us, not ours!
    3. The best of Jesus’ obedience is to die on the cross (Philippians 2:8), sacrificing His Life.
       Briefly, the servant of Jesus Christ must follow His example, i.e. obedience to be baptized of water, not keeping prestige but obedience to do God’s will, not keeping our own will and also obedience to sacrifice our lives.
       If we dare to sacrifice our life, we must have the courage to give our time to serve and minister God in the shepherding service system, which takes three times a week, until we serve God everyday (Acts), even day and night in heaven. Today we practice serving God three times a week.
    Everything sacrificed for Jesus will not go with the wind; instead, God will return it all in the form of glory. In ancient times, the Israelites offered blood of slain animals; meaning to us, a sacrifice of prestige, will, time, and life. God will return them in the form of glory. Abraham was not afraid to sacrifice his son Isaac and in fact, he did not lose Isaac even received the glory/blessing of God. To become obedient, we must dare to pay a cost as Jesus had done on the cross in Golgotha.
    If we are unwilling to become obedient, we will be like Saul. Saul was unwilling to pay a price, but he then had to pay a higher price, that is, rejected by the Lord from being king.
    1 Samuel 15:22-23
    22 Then Samuel said: "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
    23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king."
    That is the higher price Saul had to pay. If he had become obedient, he would have just paid with animals. Saul was commanded to kill all animals, but he was concerned about the fat oxen and sheep that he did not kill them. It meant that Saul disobeyed the commandment of the Lord. As a consequence, he had to pay it with his kingdom.
    Very often we think about gaining and losing. If we want to go to church, it implies that we have to close our shop, which means we are making no profit. If we do not have the courage to pay the price, we will have to pay a higher price in the future and we may lose everything we have. I am not cursing and I am not making any threat, but this is true. God never lies to us for Jesus had become obedient with the highest price, that is, sacrificing His Life. Therefore, we should not hesitate to sacrifice for Him.
  • His faithfulness
    2 Timothy 2:13
    13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
    Jesus remains faithful for His faithfulness is ingrained, which cannot be diverted by every conceivable pressure, situation, or condition. As an illustration, if we press a mango to make mango juice, its juice is exerted; if press harder, what comes out is also mango juice. Such is Jesus’ ingrained faithfulness.
    Sometimes we are not like that. Someone asks about unfaithfulness in committing service and we answer it is because of many distresses in life we cannot bear. It all is because the faithfulness has not become character but we are faithful because of God’ blessings of just following others. If the faithfulness had become character, any pressure would have not influenced it. Likewise, Jesus is faithful whether we are faithful or not because He cannot be influenced by anything.
    As it commonly happens in a marriage, a man may be faithful to his wife because she is a kind woman, but if she becomes unfaithful, will he still be faithful? Only if faithfulness has become a character, the man will remain faithful. And so will the contrary; a woman will remain faithful although her husband is not of such faithful just because of her characterized faithfulness. The point is: we must be faithful as Jesus is faithful.
    Faithfulness encouraged by something in the world cannot become one’s character. For example, one might become faithful and fervent in serving and ministering God as he had much money; but once he is terminated from his job and depressed, he is no longer faithful.
    Such is what I experienced; recently I went on a fasting, but when I notice that the number of the congregation decreased, I started complaining. This indicates that my faithfulness to have fasting is merely to meet my need of multiplied people coming to this church. At that time, I was deceived with my disappointment. Now you know that I had fasting not from the bottom of my faithful heart, but because of my private need.
  Now let us look at our faithfulness; whether our presence here is because our faithfulness has become our character. These days we must be faithful to God.
  An obedient and faithful bondservant of God is the one who always watches and has proper care and attention until Jesus comes the second time. We need to watch since the flesh is negligent in nature.
  This is the summary of the meanings of becoming a bondservant of Jesus Christ:
  • We are delivered from sins and made sheep under His shepherd. Lest we become slaves of men and lovers of money!
  • We take the example of Jesus in His obedience and faithfulness. An obedient and faithful bondservant always has proper care and attention till the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Below is about watching/carefulness.

Luke 12:35-37, 40
35 "Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning;
36 "and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.
37 "Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.
40 "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

Nowadays we must be obedient and faithful, which also means being in sleeplessness. Lest we be like Saul not giving himself for the will of God – so that the Lord rejected him from being king.
“Rejected from being king” = unable to enter the Kingdom of Peace; unable to welcome Jesus’ second coming; unable to meet him in heaven.

Students of Lempin-El, you are not only prepared for being pastors (for it is only halfway), but much more than that to welcome Jesus’ second coming. You can do all of this only with your obedience and faithfulness!

Similarly, pastors and ministers should not be satisfied with their being servants of God; instead, they must be obedient and faithful till Jesus returns the second time. Everything is nothing without faithfulness.

The matters that need to be watched in our lives as the obedient and faithful servants of Jesus Christ are as follows:

1. “Let your waist be girded”(verse 35) = wearing belt
   Ephesians 6:14
   14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
   Belt refers to the truth.
   John 17:17
   17 "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
   “Sanctify them by Your truth”; meaning: truth is something that sanctifies.
   “Your word is truth”; meaning: truth is the word.
   If both are combined, they become like this: truth is the word that sanctifies, that is, the teaching word.
   Where could we prepare the teaching word/the word of sanctification/belt? According to the tradition of the Israelites, they girded themselves to show that they had prepared themselves for action, but for us it means we gird ourselves with the teaching word by continuing steadfastly/faithfully in Bible Study Service followed with Holy Communion (please check the picture at http://www.gptkk.org/mrs-en.php). There we will be sanctified, firstly this heart, which is the source of sin, from wicked and unclean desires. If the heart is sanctified, the whole life will be also sanctified. Now we know that Bible Study Service is important, for it means that we gird ourselves with righteousness to serve and welcome Jesus’ second coming. Jesus is Holy and only saints (those without blemish and spot) may serve and welcome Him.
   If we fully give ourselves for sanctification, we may reap the result.
   Luke 12:37
   37 "Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.
   Students of Lempin-El, you do not live by the number of the Church! Never you go away from the ministry – even if you have to minister God in a remote area. Remember this principle: “as long as we serve God while girding ourselves / continuing steadfastly in Bible Study Service and allowing sanctification to pure us little by little – since we are now indeed not perfect yet but willing to be sanctified -, Jesus will gird Himself to have us sit down to eat.
   Who is to serve and responsible to feed us? It is Jesus coming directly from heaven. Our concern is to gird ourselves (give ourselves for sanctification). An error that usually happens at church is: Sunday Service is always filled with scores of churchgoers, but not Bible Study Service, which is actually the key of our life. We just need to concern with sanctification and let God concern with His responsibility to have us sit down to eat and to attend our lives in this hard world. Whether we can live or not depends on the belt we have, how we respond sanctification/Bible Study Service. If we do not want to attend the Bible Study Service, how could we be sanctified? The right way is to continue steadfastly in listening to the word of sanctification, so the word will eventually take effect and the attention of God will be more manifested. God will come and have us sit down to eat and drink.
   Not only useful to care, a belt is also good to neaten our lives. As long as we walk in holiness, our lives must be in order. God is present to not only care, but also neaten everything disordered.
   Perhaps there is something wrong in our marriage, but we always try to show to everyone that everything is fine; or maybe students are messy in their study, you may study hard, but should firstly gird yourselves. Neaten first your heart from sinful conducts and everything must be in order with time.
2. “Let your lamps burning”
   Luke 12:35
   35 "Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning;
   Lamps here point to Golden Candlestick and we must maintain the oil as our patience in General Service (please check http://www.gptkk.org/pelita-en.php) lest our lamps do not burn. The lamps also refer to ministries in the gifts of Holy Spirit. We are filled with the oil through our patience in General Service so that our ministry is in the anointing and gifts of Holy Spirit. The gifts are miraculous abilities from Holy Spirit that enable us to minister although we have only little capabilities. For example, you may have little capability in preaching, also about language so you take a language course. It is good but more than that is the gifts of Holy Spirit.
   Students of Lempin-El, maybe you have an impediment in your speech, but it does not matter if you continue steadfastly and faithfully in Public Service. The Holy Spirit will fill you with anointment and gifts/miraculous capabilities. If you are clever and skillful, you should not be conceited; but if you are not of such, you may not feel inferior. Let your lamps burning! The Holy Spirit will fill and give us miraculous capabilities to do the work of ministry. In the story of Joseph, the gift of Holy Spirit is symbolized the tunic of many colors, which implies the beauty of ministering God.
   Students of Lempin-El, you are chosen among tens of millions of men in the world to be full-timer of God, so you must keep the tunic and must not tear or put it off; otherwise, you will be naked. Keep it well!
   Before ministering God, everything that can be achieved in the world will not color this life, since he is still naked in the sight of God. However, if he ministers God with the gifts of Holy Spirit, his life starts to be colorful – even though he is nothing in the sight of men.
   After having the tunic of many colors, never we try to be unfaithful since it means that we put the tunic off and become naked again. This is real! Lest we minister only if we could do it! Most of all, the worst is to forsake the priest’s office like Judas; he did not only become naked, but he also burst open in the middle and all of his entrails gushed out. I am horrified to say this because it is firstly intended for me – that lest I try to be unfaithful. You will not know if I do not pray or check the word, but God knows it.
   Once again, we should never try to forsake the priest’s office, as we will be naked and burst like Judas – all entrails gushed out. Jesus had made naked on the cross to cover our nakedness with the tunic of many colors, so never we put it off! Keep it well even though we have to suffer because of committing no sin as if the tunic were dipped in blood. We have to experience this willingly or unwillingly, but know that God is beautifying our lives and futures.
   In short, this life will be beautiful:
   • If we gird ourselves / continue faithfully in Bible Study Service (so that God attends and straitens up anything in the wrong).
   • If we keep our lamps burning / continue faithfully in Public Service, the anointing oil/gifts are poured out and the tunic of many colors is given to us. Furthermore, God will beautify this life as a result.
3. Wedding atmosphere / full of love
   Luke 12:36
   36 "and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.
   There are three things must be watched as we have learnt below:
   • Girding ourselves/living holily/continuing steadfastly in Bible Study Service so that we are maintained and straitened up God.
   • Keeping our burning lamp/continuing steadfastly in General Service so that we have beautiful tunic of ministry with the gifts and anointing of Holy Spirit. We do it faithfully so God beautifies our lives.
   • Keep in love and avoid quarrels! For a marriage is always full of love. The love points to worship prayer which is described as neck (connection between body and Head (please check http://www.gptkk.org/dupa-en.php)
     Antichrist will cut off the head, seeing that the neck is the closest relationship between Head and body, i.e. relation in marriage/love. Therefore, let us worship God more.

Zephaniah 3:16-18
16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: "Do not fear; Zion, let not your hands be weak.
17 The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."
18 "I will gather those who sorrow over the appointed assembly, Who are among you, To whom its reproach is a burden.

“To whom its reproach is a burden” = having no blemish and spot.
Provided we continue steadfastly in worship, either at home or in church as one body of Christ (It is important to worship together), we will have renewal.
In worship, the love of God is poured out to renew/transform our lives, from fleshly men to spiritual ones.

What needs to be transformed? From the wedding in Cana, we learn that wine is compulsory for the great feast of the Israelites. Thus, water (fleshly men) must be changed into wine (spiritual men) for the marriage supper of the Lamb.

What is changed from the water? It is the character/inner side. At least we learn from the epistle of Peter about a wife, who is gentle, quiet, and obedient. This life will be sweet (starting to transform into wine). If in a family, a husband has a dominating character as well as the wife, the marriage will not turn into wine, but into bitter medicinal herbs. That is to say, the marriage becomes a nuisance and the relationship is bitter. After the inner side, the external is also changed, from colorless into red. This implies good conducts and sayings. If the outer side is changed, the taste must be changed too. The fresh plain water becomes sweet wine to give sweetness in lives like drawing out some to taste. After that you can bear witness that in the past your family always has strife but now pray together. Outer side and characters are continually changed until the taste is sweeter day by day and we will be changed to become same as Jesus at the time of His second coming. We get the sweetest wine, i.e. rejoice in the day of meeting, entering into the marriage supper of the Lamb (the sweetest joy).

Below is the summary of today service:

• If we become watchful bondservants (not perfunctory servants) of Jesus Christ (we gird ourselves), God will attend us; He has us sit down to eat and straitens up anything in the wrong.
• If we keep our lamps burning / minister God faithfully with the gifts of Holy Spirit, we will gain the tunic of many colors and see a bright future.
• If we keep the wedding atmosphere / worship God, the joy of life increases.

All that men desire has been completed by God; daily needs have been provided and everything is in order, the future is bright and joyful, so what else do you seek to find? Whoever we are, we need to be diligent in the three main services until we enter into the marriage supper of the Lamb.
God bless you!

1