HEB 12:14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

Dr Tong came back from a successful gospel rally in JB. As usual, he was exhausted, but preached a powerful message relating to holy living.

The author of Hebrews emphasized in verse 14 that we are to seek holiness as God is holy. We are also not to be arrogant from holy living, but seek to be at peace with all without any compromise. Then he issued a stern warning, that we are not to miss the grace of God. Grace is something given to us when we do not deserve it. How then can one miss God's grace. The answer lies in the fact that among all living beings, the human being is the only created being that can respond to God. Dr Tong has often declared that a man is measured not by anything else, but by how he responds to God. So when the grace of God comes, one can choose the manner to which we respond to His grace.

The problem is that we do not appreciate God's grace when it is with us. Like people who do not appreciate health until they become sick, we only seem to appreciate God's grace when it is taken away from us. The great theologian Cornelius Van Til said that in the last day, God will remove His general grace for all mankind and allow man to lead a decadent life, so much so that when Christ comes again, He would come to judge because the time of grace has passed.

Rev Andrew Gih once preached in England with a sermon entitled "The grace received by Judas". People were astonished at the title, but Rev Gih said that among all people, Judas received grace enough to have witnessed our LORD Jesus Christ and His many miracles, heard Him preach and lived with Him. The difference is that Judas did not respond correctly to the grace of God. Johaan Sebastian Bach while alive, wrote more than 200 cantata, and was able to perform one every Sunday afternoon at the church he worshipped. But no one noticed or appreciated his talent. After the death of Bach, for the past 252 years, the total production of cantata in the entire world could not match that of Bach's work. This applies also to his organ music compositions as well. George Frideric Handel was the same. He composed many great sacred music and oratorios in his lifetime, and while he was alive, people did not realise how difficult it is to compose pieces of that standard. After his death, the total production of oratorios in the world for the past 243 years would not reach a third of Handel's production.

These examples show us that we would not appreciate great things or people when they are with us, always missing out on grace. When Jesus Christ was on earth, His miracles did not bring appreciation. Ironically, His miracle of resurecting Lazarus brought about the decision by the Jews to kill Him. Dr Tong further illustrated this principle of us being unappreciative by looking into his own expository preaching ministry. Dr Tong said that when he found that the number of people attending Romans in Kuala Lumpur has reduced, he asked them if any one has had similar opportunities in the past to listen to weekly expository preaching. The answer was none. Dr Tong also pointed out that it takes great effort, human and financial, to put out the transcript week by week. Because the transcripts were so inexpensive and timely, people took them for granted, mass-produced them with no regard to copyright (Dr Tong said this is copy-wrong, not copyright) and distributed them without any permission from the ministry. Dr Tong pointed out that the co-workers who produced all these material needed to be paid to feed their families too, and there are other expenses like hotel, transportation, stationary, etc. So he has instructed the KL team to delay the publication of the transcripts so that people will not take it for granted. He also warned the people that the grace of God may not be with us all the time, and that after this series, he may not return for a long time. That decision brought about the increase in the number of people attending the expository preaching immediately. Dr Tong said that he has special regard for those who would make the effort to come for the session rather than simply take the transcript.

So the problem is that we miss out on God's grace not because it is not there; but because we look down on it, and would not treasure it. The author then touched on the topic of internal division, referring to them as bitter roots. We need to ensure that our roots and foundation are firmly planted on God's WORD. Every church needs to have the correct balance, and all of us need to take note of the development of other branches and ministries in the church, and not be focused only on the portion of our choice. Dr Tong pointed out that Mrs Ellen White, the founder of the Seven Day Adventist Church, declared that Sabbath is to be observed on Saturday. She claimed that a certain Roman Catholic pope made the mistake of declaring Sunday as Sabbath. But she never did bring out the name of the pope, nor did she highlight the exact council or church decision. So millions followed her teachings for more than a hundred years. Dr Tong admonished all to keep a tight control of their tongue, for it can bless and curse at the same time.

The problem is that we preach at the speed of the tortoise, but spread rumours at the speed of the hare. Dr Tong related an incident he encountered while he was in the Philippines. He was invited to an expensive dinner by an elder, and he thought that the elder must have some hidden agenda. True enough, Dr Tong was asked to sit in the session meeting of the church. Although Dr Tong explained that he needed to rush off to preach somewhere else, they insisted that he stay for half and hour. During the meeting, the elder said that they have gathered for a very important decision, and needed Dr Tong to give them guidance (Dr Tong said that they actually wanted his endorsement rather than guidance). Apparently, their pastor was found to be committed adultery for the past seven years. The pastor is a well-known man, and any decision would result in a church split. They asked Dr Tong for his opinion on what to do; and while Dr Tong was praying and deliberating, the elder declared that actually they have already made a decision, and will proceed once Dr Tong agreed with the decision.

The elder said that the church session is preparing 4000 letters, to be sent to 4000 churches all over the world, declaring the sin of their pastor so that people will not be fooled by him anymore. Dr Tong asked the LORD for wisdom, and then asked the elder the number of years he has been a Christian. "26 years," the elder proudly declared (which meant that he is supposedly spiritually wise and mature). Dr Tong then asked if during the past 26 years, the elder had written 4000 letters to persuade others to believe in our LORD Jesus Christ. He need not give the answer right away. If he did write the 4000 letters, then he may go ahead with the next 4000 letters condemning the pastor. If he has not, he should start writing the 4000 letters for the gospel before he writes the 4000 letters of condemnation. After saying that, Dr Tong left without hearing their response. The next week, Dr Tong was informed that after he had left, the Holy Spirit worked among the leaders and they were ashamed of their actions. We have not been diligent in preaching the gospel, but we spring at any chance to be judgemental.

Dr Tong clarified that he was not defending the action of the pastor, but merely pointing out that those letters would have been a laughing stock used by God's enemies. We have bitter roots in our heart and our mouth. These are things we do not note. Many of us claim innocence in our motive, but our motives are often immature and wrong. We forget that as smart as we think we are, Satan has had thousands of years of experience in deception, and would as the verse said, use us to cause trouble and defile many.

After missing our on grace and having bitter roots, the third area of warning relates to sexual immorality and greed. Dr Tong declared that sexual and financial sins are the two most horrifying enemies of the church. We often lack power in our witness because we have fallen in these two areas. Even the Chinese know this in their ancient teachings, what's more for Christians who have received God's WORD? Dr Tong was told by a Muslim that the American Christians lead a decadent and animalistic lifestyle. If their sexual immorality was exposed in an Islamic country, they would have been put to death already. Holy living is the mark of the believer, and every one that does not lead a holy life is against Christianity. If a person is faithful in sexual matters, the LORD will bless him and his family. If a person is faithful in financial matters, contented and beyond reproach, the LORD will ensure that he is not lacking. We need to cleanse ourselves or we will not be able to see God.

Dr Tong emphasized again that holiness is one thing that cannot possibly be imitated. Holiness is not a gift, it is a description of a nature. The LORD wants us to be holy, because holiness is His nature. We wear Christ, and so we need to be like Him. We are witnessing worrisome trends today, with the proliferation of pornography on the internet, resulting in sexual immorality especially among the young. This situation is similiar to the days of Sodom and Gomorrah.

When he was 29, Dr Tong was invited by Rev Ye En Han to preach in Taiwan. He was given a travel itenary but no money or tickets. He was then in Indonesia, and was financially poor. In order to make the trip, he sold his only rolex watch that an accordion, the only two possessions he had. He preached 226 sermons in total, some times standing for more than 12 hours at a stretch. Although large crowd attended all the sessions, his honorarium was only US$50 (NT$2000) per session. In the end, he had enough to purchase the return ticket plus a few books. His sessions were so well attended that the organisers were able to recoup past losses, so they invited him back to Taiwan to preach again a few years later. The honorarium was still only US$50. But someone told him a few years later that the honorarium assigned to him was to be NT$20000, ten times what he actually received. This meant that someone took NT$18000 away from him without letting him know about it. But Dr Tong is not concerned, for he believes that his wealth is in heaven, so he will live a litte better than us when we are all in heaven.

Dr Tong declared that the LORD will not bless those who think about money day and night; while the reverse is true. All of Dr Tong's ministries are faith-based (this I can testify personally), and he does not decide on the ministry's direction based on financial consideration. In the upcoming music concert (Dec 15th 2002), some choir members from Indonesia are so poor that they cannot afford the expenses. Dr Tong encouraged them to believe that the LORD who had provided him for the past decades will continue to supply His own people with sufficient resources.

The session ended with Dr Tong emphasizing that we should never, ever sell away our status as first born because of money. In the end, we will lose out and have nothing left. Like Esau, we would not have any way to turn back history once we have sold out.

Disclaimer: This summary does NOT represent the official position of STEMI (Stephen Tong Evangelistic Ministry International), and is the personal opinion of the author, expressed without prejudice. Expressed opinions are meant for academic discussions only.