Pastoral Letter 25 Mar 2018

Westminster Shorter Catechism Q1 asks: What is the chief end of man? Answer: The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. To glorify God is our main goal and ambition in life. In everything we do in forming our goal and ambition, we must make sure God is be praised and glorified. It must be all the time and every time. Apostle Paul gave us these words, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Giving the glory to God is to acknowledge Him as the One who is most worthy of our praise and exaltation.

That's why in Psalm 29:1-2, the psalmist says, “Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” Our Lord deserves all the glory, in fact the highest glory of all. And God deserves glory, and so the psalmist declares, Give unto the LORD the glory due unto His name. As believers, we are to give God the ultimate glory both with our lips as well with our life of all goals and ambitions. To say that we still have own OWN goal and OWN ambition in life would contradict what we are supposed to do as obedient and faithful Christians.

And Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” Clearly we are not our OWN anymore. We belong all to God, both spirit and body. All our desire and purpose in life must all be in total submission to His will. There should not be and must not be any more OWN goal and OWN ambition to be found in the new life in Christ which God is pleased to bless every Christian. If even eating and drinking are to exist in the life of a Christian for the purpose of glorifying God, what's more for a Christian as he pursues his goal and ambition? They should be and must be goal and ambition pursued for God's glory. If this is the case, then it is no more OWN goal and OWN ambition. Oftentimes these OWN goals and OWN ambitions are formed in order to seek self-gratification and to satisfy the lust of our flesh, eyes and the pride of life. God will not be pleased with us and would definitely not be glorified when we seek our OWN goal and OWN ambition.

We learn from the account on the lost son in Luke 15:11-32. The son had initially left home with all his wealth, ambition and goals in life. It was until he lost everything that he came to realize his own folly and sinfulness. Upon such realization and spiritual awakening, the lost son rose up and began to turn back. What about his ambition and goals in life? They are now changed. Before, his OWN ambition and goals were all about making himself happy and had nothing to do with his father, that's why he left his home and his father. But now, he decided to return to his father, not as son, but as a servant under him. That became his ambition and goal in his new found life, to be with his father and serve him all the days of his life. This should be every Christian's experience in life with all their ambition and goals, seeking only to serve Him and for the glory of God. Make sure there is no more our OWN ambition and our OWN goals. May God help us. Amen.


Yours in Christ,
Pastor Dennis Kwok



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