My dear readers,

Questions Posed at CPBPC’s Annual Church Camp (10-15 June 2019) – Part 17

Question: If your child is an unbeliever, can you attend his wedding?

Reply: The doctrine of Biblical Separation teaches believers that a Christian cannot be yoked with an unbeliever. The “yoking” includes marriages, business partnership and all religious and spiritual activities like praying or worshipping together, etc. If a believer is yoked with an unbeliever, Christ would be seen as having fellowship or concord with the devil. This must never happen. 2 Corinthians 6:14-18: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

If the believer’s child is not a Christian and marries a believer, based upon the above clear teaching of the Bible, the Christian parents cannot attend. If he is marrying another unbeliever like himself then there is no compromise between Christ and Belial. What every believer must bear in mind in attending weddings or any social activity is that he must not sin against the Lord by drinking or participating in shameful and carnal activities. He has to remain dignified and always be holy in his behaviour because is a holy person in Christ.

Question: If a church member, who is a fellowship group leader, allows his child, a Christian, to marry a non-Christian or to marry someone who refuses to be baptized, can he continue to be a leader?

If “allows” means he is present and participates at the wedding, then his action implies that he condones the marriage. The answer to the above question has been dealt with in the issue of marrying an unbeliever from God’s perspective.

What about the person who says he is a Christian but refuses to be baptized and still wants God to bless him at his wedding? God has given to us the sacrament of water baptism as a means of grace and as one of the clearest evidences of a person's confession of Christ as his Lord and Saviour. By his public confession at baptism he is saying to his loved ones and friends that he belongs to Christ and Christ is his Lord and Master, and sin no longer controls him. They will hear Christ’s words from his lips. They will see Christ by the way he conducts himself. They will see Christ by his dressing and the places he does not go to. Every facet of his life is transformed by what Christ has done in his life. He is not ashamed of Christ. But when a professing believer refuses to publicly confess Christ as his Lord and Saviour, he is disobeying Christ. He is ashamed of Christ. Mark 8:38: “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” How can such a disobedient sinner expect God to bless his wedding? He wants God to bless his wedding on his terms without publicly declaring that Jesus Christ is the Lord of his life through water baptism! It would be a serious transgression committed by this leader’s child for marrying such a person!

If the parent who is a leader participates in the wedding of his child and a person who professes to be a believer but refuses to be baptized, and wishes them well, then he becomes a partaker of the sin. He has chosen the child rather than Jesus Christ. By such a choice, he has declared that his child is more important to him than Christ. He has sinned a grievous sin. Jesus Christ is God. The child is not God. By his choice he made the decision that he would rather displease Christ than the child. This is the sin of idolatry. As a leader he has to be disciplined. The Bible always holds a higher standard of holiness for the leaders in God’s church. They are supposed to know more of the Bible and have been blessed more by the Lord. Was that not why Moses was disciplined so severely by God when he smote the rock twice when the Lord told him to speak to the rock? Numbers 20:12-13: “And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.” Likewise, parents in every home are supposed to behave more uprightly than their children, and a higher standard of conduct is expected of them. The leader will be asked to step down.

Can the leader serve again? If he is truly repentant and goes on to bear fruits of repentance there is no reason why he cannot return to service again. The main point is that he has brought shame to Christ by his sin. This damage to the witness of Christ in his life can be restored by his repentance and acknowledgment of his transgression. After fruits of repentance are seen in his life, he can become a leader again.

Question: How can we learn to trust God like the prophet Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3:17-19)?

Reply: Habakkuk 3:17-19: “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.”

There is a simple answer to this question: Keep on trusting regardless of the external circumstances in life. The answer is easy but the living is the challenge. It takes an entire life to learn this trust. But it is always one day at a time. We need to deny self, take up the cross that Christ has designed for us and follow Him at all costs.

This reading from Spurgeon might help: “Our heavenly Father sends us frequent troubles to try our faith. If our faith be worth anything, it will stand the test. Gilt is afraid of fire, but gold is not: the paste gem dreads to be touched by the diamond, but the true jewel fears no test. It is a poor faith which can only trust God when friends are true, the body full of health, and the business profitable; but that is true faith which holds by the Lord’s faithfulness when friends are gone, when the body is sick, when spirits are depressed and the light of our Father’s countenance is hidden. A faith which can say, in the direst trouble, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him,” is heaven-born faith. The Lord afflicts his servants to glorify himself, for he is greatly glorified in the graces of his people, which are his own handiwork. When “tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope,” the Lord is honoured by these growing virtues. We should never know the music of the harp if the strings were left untouched; nor enjoy the juice of the grape if it were not trodden in the winepress; nor discover the sweet perfume of cinnamon if it were not pressed and beaten; nor feel the warmth of fire if the coals were not utterly consumed. The wisdom and power of the great Workman are discovered by the trials through which his vessels of mercy are permitted to pass. Present afflictions tend also to heighten future joy. There must be shades in the picture to bring out the beauty of the lights.”

Question: What is the meaning of “shigionoth” in Habakkuk?

Reply: According to Strong’s, it means a passionate song with rapid changes of rhythm.

Question: If God is everywhere, then how could He “come from Teman” (Hab 3:3)?

Reply: Habakkuk 3:3: “God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.” These are anthropomorphic terms used by God to help us understand Him. The context is Habakkuk’s prayer. In this context, Habakkuk was referring to the south where Mount Sinai was located. Mount Sinai was where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel. Habakkuk was acknowledging the LORD’s sovereignty and covenantal relationship with Israel as he accepted and submitted himself to the LORD’s higher hand and will to send the Babylonians to chastise a disobedient Judah. The LORD always knows full well what He is doing and all the just must trust Him and continue to live by faith. That was why Habakkuk described the LORD as God coming from Teman.