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Today we focus in on the tradition that we are perhaps most familiar with, the evangelical tradition. Let's prepare our hearts as we dive into the Word of God together.

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We are continuing uh the sermon series on the spiritual traditions of the church. And today what we'll be sharing on is perhaps something not very new to us, because uh the diocese of Singapore and to much extent in in Southeast Asia, we have been very much influenced by this stream of the of tradition, the evangelical tradition, which is discovering the word-centered life. So the word evangelical comes from uh actually the Greek word youangilion, which means good news, right? So the evangelical tradition centers and focuses on the good news or the gospel, uh revealed in the word. So everything that we know about the gospel is revealed in scripture, in the word. So the twin focus of uh this tradition, the evangelical tradition, is all about conversion and proclamation. I repeat again, it's all about conversion and proclamation. And these two are linked together. We can't proclaim when we are not converted, and when we are converted to Jesus, we can't help but proclaim the good news. So it's linked, and throughout the history of the church, where there is a radical turning to Jesus, radical conversion, abandonment of sin, uh God brings about a revival and a greater proclamation of the good news of the kingdom. Let me begin with the conversion story of Aurelius Augustine. Okay, some of us uh may be new to him, but he is actually one of the pillars of the church, uh, or at least the Western tradition, uh from which the Protestant uh uh denomination uh Protestant tradition where we are all where we all belong to draws its roots much way back uh as early as the uh second century. That's where he lived. And he is the one that actually influenced uh people like John Calvin and those who came after him. Uh he was the so-called uh the theologian and uh the father of many. Uh so a lot of uh theologians uh build on the work of Augustine. They stand in his line and his tradition. But little is known of his conversion story, little is known or discussed. There are many works that are being done on his theology, his understanding of grace, of sin, of predestination, but not enough work has been done to really understand his life. And if you are uh new to this, you know, uh he wrote the confessions, and that was uh that is still a classic, right? Though it's not an easy read because he shares his conversion story, he conf, it's a whole story of his life. So, unless you know the historical background, it's very hard to follow the nuancing of the text, right? But anyway, uh let us begin with his story. So, Alurius Augustine was from North Africa and was born in Tagesh in about AD 354. He has he had his his academic training in Carthage, which begins for him as an uh arderless search, uh a strong desire, a strong uh persevering desire to search for what is true, what is good, what is beautiful. Yet Augustine discovered in his life, in his search for truth, for for knowledge, for what is beautiful, he he realized that his own personal life, he struggled in his own words, with a hissing quadrum of lust. A hissing quadrum of lust. In his own words, he says this, and I quote, I polluted the stream of friendship with the foulness of lust and clouded its purity with the dark hell of illicit desire. And in his confessions, he wrote that he longed for genuine love but was unable to separate love from lust. So all his high-minded ideals seemed constantly contradicted by his moral shortcomings. He was trapped in the swirling mist of lust, which thrust him into a whirlpool of vice. Try as he might, Augustine couldn't break from the chains that held him as a moral prisoner. He says that the enemy held my will and made a chain out of it and bound me with it. From a perverse will came last, and slavery to last became a habit. And the habit being constantly yielded to became a necessity. He wrote that his sexual escape uh his sexual escapes underscores the more profound reality that the character of sin tains all affections. As a child, Augustine had stolen some pests uh from his neighbor, and in his confessions, he wrote about that the musings of how that seemingly uh small uh event, trivial event, actually revealed his penetrating understanding of how evil works into the very walk and wolf of all our motives. So his conversion story goes by this in the midst of this moral struggle, Augustine met Ambrose, which was at that time the Bishop of Milan. He was delighted and attracted by Ambrose and in his teaching and discourse that Jesus Christ had the power to break the bonds of moral failure. Nowhere in all his learned studies, in philosophy, in understanding the human mind and the world around, no one had offered that kind of power before. Not in all his learnings and explorations. So then he records uh perhaps a famous story of his conversion. It was in a small garden in Milan, which became for Augustine, his valley of decision, the point where there is no return for him. So this is what he says, and I quote, then a huge storm rose up within me, bringing with it a huge downpour of tears. Suddenly a voice reaches my ears from a nearby house. It is the voice of a boy or a girl, I don't know which. And in a kind of sing song, the words are constantly repeated. Take it and read it. Take it and read it. At once my face was changed, and I began to think carefully of whether the singing of words like this came into any kind of game which children play. And I could not remember that I had ever heard anything like it before. I checked the force of my tears and rose to my feet, being quite certain that I must interpret this as a divine command to me to open the book and read the first passage that I should come upon. I snatched up the book and opened it and read in silence the passage upon which my eyes first fell. And he was led to Romans chapter 13, verse 13 to 14. It says there not in rioting and drunkenness. Uh this is old English, so uh it's a bit hard to interpret the words, but anyway, this is as what he says, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in concupiscence or lust. So he says, I had no wish to read further, there was no need to. For immediately when I reached the end of this sentence, it was as though my heart was filled with a light of confidence, and all the shadows of my doubt were wiped, were swept away. So for Augustine, he encountered the Lord Jesus through the word, the word of God. So the word centered uh life begins when we encounter God in his word. So for Augustine, he realized that the good news revealed in the word is that Jesus Christ came to save sinners. Jesus Christ came to save sinners, and this is the greatest news and the greatest need for our lives today. That Jesus Christ came to save sinners. In 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 13 to 16, the passage that uh uh Gary uh read for us earlier, so Paul was talking about his life prior to knowing Jesus. He was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and insolent opponent of Christianity. But when he received mercy, when he received God's gracious mercy, he records that the grace of the Lord overflowed for him and along with the faith and love that is in Christ Jesus. And he he he comes up with this uh saying in 1 Timothy 1, verse 15. The saying is trustworthy and true, and deserves full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am foremost. So for Paul's encounter, he he realized that when we think about conversion, we cannot run away from the need to face up, to square up, to sin in our lives. I wonder whether we are all of us sitting here today, whether we can identify with the conversion story of Augustine. His life was a constant seeking after truth and wisdom. Like many of us, perhaps we are seeking for reality, uh, we are seeking for what is real, what is true in life. And yet at the same time, we may be struggling with certain vices, uh certain sin in our life, sinful habits or patterns and desires. So it runs parallel for Augustine. On one hand, he desired God's truth and wisdom, on the other hand, he was crippled with last and simple, sinful habits until he encountered God through the word. The word centered life. When he picked up, when he was uh had the prompting from a voice that came to him externally, Romans 13, verse 13 to 14. Take up and read it, take up and read it. And he discovered that that word applied to his heart changed his life. And there are many times I've uh in my years of ministry, I do see people change or transform just by reading the word of God. There was once I was preaching a sermon, uh, it was quite a tiring day, I think. So I was just out there uh reading uh a sermon, doing the scripture reading. So there was a member that came up to me and said, Thank you for reading that scripture. It spoke to me. So I was thinking, the person may say, Thank you for sharing the word today, but he said, Thank you for reading the doing the scripture reading because it spoke to me that uh that morning. On another occasion, um uh while I was uh talking to to someone uh in terms of his own uh experience of God, you know, the person came to the realization uh from a chapter in Romans that says God demonstrates his love for us in this, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So the person was convicted that this is the Christian way because the word had an impact in our lives. So the word-centered life, the evangelical tradition is all about allowing scripture to pervade our lives. That is why I thought this year it's good for us to have scriptural memory, to have God's word in us uh more so that we are able to be stronger, uh, so that as we imbibe on scripture, as we live in and through the word, he's the spirit will use it to grow us and to mature us. So the predicament and struggle that Augustine felt is well captured by Paul in Romans chapter 7, verse 22 to 23. Paul, similar to Augustine, he says, For I delight in the law of God. On one hand, I delight, I really want to obey God, I really want to follow his will, I really want to come uh to seek the law and pray every day. But Paul says, I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. You know, uh there's uh uh argument going around by commentators whether this passage in Romans 7 is talking about Paul when he was pre-converted, or was Paul writing about his existential experience when he believed in Jesus? Right? I like to believe that it was, you know, when he had already believed in Jesus, uh, that he uh as he reflected on the the gospel in Romans, he came to the understanding that while he was he's trying his best to live out God's law in his life as a Christian, he realizes that there is another law working in his life, waging war against the law of his mind, making it captive to the law of sin. So it seemed that for Paul, the power of sin is stronger than his desire to keep the law. He has the desire, like Augustine, to do what is right, but he does not have the ability to carry to carry it out. Paul describes sin as a powerful and effective indwelling principle in the life of a Christian, inclining and pressing into actions agreeable and suitable unto his own nature. So the main point, uh, if you have time to look at Romans chapter 7, 1 to 25, uh, the thesis or the main point that Paul is trying to say is revealed in Romans 7, verse 13. Paul says this, did that which is good, which Paul was referring to the law then bring death to me? By no means, Paul says, it was sin producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment reveal and might show, might become sinful beyond measure. So, in other words, it is the commandments that reveal the nature of sin in his life. And Paul goes on to say in Romans 7, verse 24 to 25 Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And he concludes with this. So then I myself, in my present uh journey in this Christian life, even though I'm the great apostle, even though I do great things for God, I spread the gospel. Yet in my heart of hearts, in my inner being, I am, I serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh, I serve the law of sin. So this is Paul's tension and struggle. And I believe for many of us, this is the tension and struggle that we go through. But Paul realizes that every time he encounters God in the gospel, it reveals the God as the one who will deliver him from this. That is why he can say, Thanks be to God, is through Jesus Christ our Lord, that we are set free to live not according to our flesh, but according to the Spirit of God. So the first implication uh I'd like to share with us this morning is this the gospel is only good news to us. It only becomes good news that we'll that we will shout out on the streets, we will tell our neighbor uh immediately after we go home today, perhaps it's only good news to us. Uh when we see sin as a real issue that needs to be dealt with. You know, if we we trivialize sin, we think ah, it's okay, you know, I'm a good person by nature, you know, I don't do bad things, then the gospel is doesn't come alive in us because we still think that we are good. We can be good, uh a good Christian just because we come to church. But the gospel is only good news when we see sin as a real issue in our lives. We only treasure the good news and the gospel when we are able to see how much we need Jesus to be our deliverer. It is like Augustine, who was converted from a pattern of sinning when he encountered God in his word. So we need to allow God's word to take effect in our lives. Spend time reading scripture, read the Psalter, read the Psalms, allow God's word, spend time to allow his word to confront us. Because the Spirit of God is able to take that word and apply it to our hearts. He has done to men of old like Augustine. You know, he can do it to us today. I'd like to suggest, in terms of a practical application, for us to take Psalm 51. Psalm 51 is a wonderful psalm uh to allow the Spirit of God to search our hearts, to meditate on Psalm 51, maybe for the next few days, you know, your quiet time, your time with God, spend time just reading through. Spend the whole week, you know, reading and meditating and see what uh the Spirit of God will speak to you. Because I can't convict you of sin. I can't stand here and accuse you of sin. That's the last thing I would do, right? But only the Spirit of God can convict you of sin. And that's his primary role. That's why in a worship gathering, sometimes people break down, people cry, people break down, start to laugh, you know, people start to exhibit signs of the spirit's move because that is the spirit's work. Only He can bring us to the point of realization of our sinfulness before God. And only then will we treasure the gospel, only then will we not hide away, you know. And sometimes I'm also guilty of that. I wonder, you know, whether we are. Sometimes we are not able to. People ask you, hey, what are you? Are you a Christian? Uh yeah, I'm a Christian. Right? We are not confident, we are not bold enough to say, yeah, I'm a Christian because I have good news. I have good news, Jesus saved me. Right? And that that is the posture that we want to talk about when we think about evangelism. It's what we call natural evangelism. It flows out of a life that have experienced the good news in our lives. Uh, very quickly, like to bring us through uh Psalm 51, not the whole Psalm, but just portions of it. But before that, just a background to that, because Psalm 51 was written at a very poignant and critical time in David's life. It was written when Nathan the prophet actually confronted him and said, You are the man, you are the murderer and adulterer, you are the man. Are the sinner, so to speak, and out of that he actually penned Psalm 51. But before that, I like to draw again a similarity. David's life and Paul's life and even Augustine's life. You see, the great man of God, there's always uh a thread running through. For Augustine, he struggled. On one hand, he desired wisdom and truth, he was uh studied philosophy, had a great mind, yet the mind couldn't deal with his sin issue, right? So he struggled, struggled until he came to the point of encountering God. Paul, similarly, he had zeal, zeal for God, zeal for the law, but wrong zeal. He needs a Damascus road experience, similar to David. We all know David as the songwriter and as a man after God's own heart. We ask, who is David? A man after God's own heart, right? But little that we know that David, who is a man after God's own heart, was also, scripture records for us in 2 Samuel 11 to 12 and Psalm 51, that he was an adulterer and a murderer. He coveted the beauty of Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, and took her for himself. And when he discovered that she was pregnant, instead of owing up to the deed, he went to murder her husband Uriah. Bathsheba's husband and a loyal man of David, by putting him up at the front line where fighting was the fiercest, before withdrawing the troops so that he would be killed. And the irony of this, when he penned Psalm 51, because he was guilt stricken, Uriah would not sleep with his wife, right? David tried, if you read the account in 2 Samuel 11 to 12, he tried to uh cover up his sin, right? So he said, uh bring Uriah back, make him ask him to sleep with his wife, so that maybe the the child that comes up uh can be Uriah. Somehow uh the idea is that, yeah, it's not his his child. But Uriah was a loyal man. He said, How can I sleep with my wife when my man is fighting out there? So Uriah was righteous, he would not sleep with his wife when the war was on. But the irony is this David, instead of leading his men to war, in a time, 2 Samuel chapter 11 begins that in a time where kings should lead their men to war, David was at home. He was relaxing, enjoying a good time, right? And then the temptation came to his life. So instead of leading his men to war, he instead sleeps with Uriah's wife while Uriah was risking his life in David's war. So this was the irony of the account in 2 Samuel 11 to 12. So when Nathan confronted David, he penned Psalm 51. So Psalm 51 begins with these words have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy. And that is the right place, the best place for us to begin. The character of God. Appealing to God's character. And steadfast love comes from the Hebrew word cassette. And cassette refers to God's loyal, persistent love for his people, God's loving kindness towards his people, regardless of their unfaithfulness and rebellion. God will show cassette. God will show steadfast love. So David was on his knees. He was praying to God, have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy. The word abundant mercy refers to God's tender warm. It is often associated with an with our emotions, an emotional term that Joseph, that was used by Joseph, you know, when he saw his brother Benjamin in Egypt, he was moved with compassion for him. In Genesis 43, verse 30, Joseph hurried out for his companions, for his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. So it's that same idea. God's abundant mercy is his great compassion, uh, his great uh love warm for us. So David was a man after God's own heart, precisely because he realizes that no matter what happens in life, no matter what he goes through, he can plead on the character of God. He was a man after God's own heart, not because of his sin in his life, but because he realizes that he could come to the place of pleading to God for mercy in his life. And then David goes on to describe the nature of his sin. In verse 2 and 3, he says, Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. And the word iniquity that appears many times comes from the Hebrew idea of perversion. Cleanse me from my perversion, wash me thoroughly from my perversion. So it speaks of our conception in our mother's womb. We have an inherited perverted, sinful nature. So David cried out to the Lord, Wash me, cleanse me from my iniquity. And it goes on to say, For I know my transgressions. Transgressions is to intentionally cross a boundary. So David has crossed many boundaries, he shouldn't, right? He he shouldn't have taken uh Bathsheba to himself, he shouldn't have uh killed Uriah, uh caused him to uh die on the battlefield. So he has transgressed many times and he has sinned, he has missed the mark of God's standard. So at the heart of his confession and conversion, seeking God for a new heart is a profound understanding of Psalm 51, verse 17. It says, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrived heart. Oh God, you will not despise. Uh, and it's the nature of our defenses. None of us, even including myself, you know, will want to come and just blare out all our secret sins, right? All our struggles, and no one likes to hang their dirty linens in uh in the open, right? None we all want to portray that we are good people, nice people, controlled people, but only God knows that we have uh a depraved nature in us. Only God knows. So Psalm 51 helps us to come before God, to allow him to search our hearts, to uh identify with our sin. Because until and unless we come to God and allow him to search us, there'll be no platform for us to deal with sin in our lives, right? Because we come to church, we see each other, we portray our best, say, hi, how are you? I'm fine, you know, how's everything? Everything is well, right? We always, you know, have a facade that we are doing well, we are doing fine. But it's only before God that perhaps we can start to be broken. Because this is what God desires. The sacrifices of God, Psalm 51, verse 17, are a broken spirit, a broken, uncontrite heart. Oh God, you are not despised. May we use Psalm 51 to orientate ourselves, to come before God, to allow his word to bring us to the place of conversion, so to speak, as we see the duality of our lives and the reality of sin. Even for a man like David, who is a man after God's own heart, also struggle with deep shame, deep guilt. So all of us, right, are invited as we learn to embrace the evangelical tradition, no amount of activism, no amount of outreach effort, you know, can really make a difference as much as a changed life. You know, all it takes is, you know, their time in church history, a John Sung, right, to turn and the revival crusades that happened uh in Taiping, in China, Singapore, you know, Malaysia. A man on fire for God because he was convicted that Jesus is the way. He was convicted that following Jesus, uh denying himself, there's no dichotomy. To say I follow Jesus means I deny deny myself. It's not just about receiving all the blessings that God will pour on us, but it means that I give my life fully to Jesus. That is why God used him so mightily, because his conversion was a life of total surrender to the purposes of God in his life. So may God birth and grow the gospel deep within our hearts, may he stir up our hearts to help us to see the reality of sin in our lives, so that we will treasure and value the good news, so that our lives will be a testimony to God as our deliverer. Let's continue with the story of Augustine to see how it will end. So the story of Augustine goes on that after his conversion, after the time where he heard a voice, take up and read it, after that, he actually headed back to Tagesh, where he came from, and set about establishing a lay community uh that will allow ample time for contemplation and scripture study. So that was how he began the trajectory of gathering people uh around uh the word of God and contemplation. So he was supremely the preacher with a passion for souls. Now I know of people who uh used to attack, like they call themselves a soul lover, like something like that, you know. They say, I'm a soul lover. So it's a good way to evangelize. Who are you? I'm a soul lover. Like so, Augustine was a soul lover, he had a passion for souls. He would say, preach wherever you can, he declared, to whom you can, and as you can. And why was he preaching as much as that? Why was he so passionate? Because he understood what it means to be converted, he understood the gospel, he understood that Jesus is the answer. So similarly, uh Paul in Romans chapter 1, verse 16 to 17 tells us, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God, the gospel, the good news, when embraced, is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes. And Jesus met Paul on the road to Damascus in Acts 9, where he saw a light from heaven which flashed around him. He was overcome by a greater light from heaven, such that even though his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. For three days he was without sight and neither ate nor drank. No one knows what happened during that time. Perhaps it was a spiritual reckoning. The three days without food and drink, he his spirit was sensitized to divine realities, perhaps. You know, and the account in Acts doesn't tell us what happened, but it only tells us the outcome. So a disciple at Damascus, Ananias, was directed by the Lord in a vision to lay hands on Saul that he may regain sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. So Acts 19, 18 tells us that immediately something like skills fell off Paul's eyes and he regained his sight. So similarly, we see conversion leads to proclamation, even for Paul's life. Paul's conversion in the road to Damascus in Acts 9 led to his mission to proclaim the gospel. So this is a life in which uh it means what it means to live out the evangelical tradition, right? And uh all of us here would say that we are evangelicals because we believe that uh in the Bible is true, we believe that uh we need to be converted, you know, to salvation, and we believe that we need to share the good news, we need to do good works. So, all these are examples and claims of Jesus, what Jesus is able to do in our lives. So the hallmark of the evangelical tradition is to focus on the need to proclaim the good news to all. The reason for Paul's confidence in the gospel lies in its power to save. So I wonder why, when we ask ourselves at times why we are afraid to let others know that we are Christians? Is it because we are ashamed to speak of Jesus as we are afraid that others will mock us? Or is it because we feel our lives don't measure up to what a Christian should be? So we'd rather be anonymous and a submarine Christian. I don't know for us what is the reason why we are so afraid perhaps to proclaim and share the gospel. It could be these reasons, it could be other reasons. But today, let us be convicted that the gospel, the good news, has the power to save and deliver us from sin. Because it is the power of God working in and through the word of God that reveals salvation, brings about salvation. Let me uh summarize. The evangelical tradition uh focuses on the good news. The good news is the gospel or the Yuwangilion, the gospel, the good news is revealed in the word, the good news revealed in scripture in the word. And its twin focus are conversion and proclamation. We can't have one without the other. When we are truly converted, when we are truly uh ministered by the Lord in our lives, uh we will we can't help but proclaim his good news to all. So may the Lord help us to come to the place where we are able to experience the gospel more and more for ourselves, where we are able to see our need for Jesus. And out of that deep experience of encountering God for ourselves, may we also rise up to proclaim the gospel to those who need to hear you.

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We pray that you've been ministered to by the Word of God today. If you'd like to know more about Eastern Christian Church, please visit our website at yccanglican.com. Have a blessed day.