New Sermon Series. 1st Sermon on "Apolstles' Creed" by Rev Dr Ng Swee Ming on 24 Nov 2013

1. I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker
of heaven and earth: And in Jesus
Christ his only
Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born
1 Peter 3:15
of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified,
dead, and buried; he descended into hell;tothird day he rose
Always be prepared the give an
again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the
answer toFather Almighty; fromwho askscome to
everyone thence he shall you
right hand of God the
to give the reason for the hope
judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy
catholic church; the communionBut do this with
that you have. of saints; the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen
gentleness and respect, ...

2.  The Church was growing...
 Persecution helped the
church to grow ...
 But how to teach / followup / disciple ...
 No “Bible”, teaching from
memory & “hear say” ... and
as a result...

3. God is ‘Holy’ &
Is the ‘God’ in the
Hebrew Scriptures the ‘Spirit’, how
can a Holy God
same ‘God’ as taught
be born as a
by Jesus ?
man into a
God is God, how
can God die ?
God will never allow
his Son to die, at the
last minute Jesus was
substituted by ...... !!
sinful world ?
God the Father
first created
Jesus His Son...
There was a time
when Jesus was
... !!

4. “How dare they refuse to honor me!?! All good
Romans must burn incense before my statues and
honor me as a god. Yet these Christians refuse to
do so. Well, if I have to feed every last one of them
to the lions, I will. If I have to sew them into the skins
of wild animals and have packs of dogs rip them to
shreds, I will. If I must crucify every last one of them,
I will. Sooner or later, they will acknowledge me as
their superior ruler.” - Nero, Roman Emperor

5. “Our Roman gods demand sacrifices from their
subjects. Without their blessings, the Roman Empire
is doomed. Yet those who follow the teachings of
Christ refuse to make sacrifices to the gods, claiming
that their God is the only true god. What nonsense!!!
Those silly people and their silly ideas. They should
get on their knees and worship the ground that
Jupiter and Minerva have create.” - Maximus, Roman Governor

6. THREATS
Q.
&
?
!

7.  Usually on Easter Sunday morning ...
 Fast whole day Friday (Good Friday)
 Instruction, Prayer & Cleansing on Sat.
 Overnight Prayer Meeting on Sat night...
 Early Sun morning go down beside a stream ...
 Remove all their clothing ...
 The Bishop then anoints the “oil of thanksgiving” and
the “oil of exorcism”
 The candidate declare : “I RENOUNCE THEE, SATAN,
AND ALL THY SERVANTS AND ALL THY WORKS.”
 Then he is anointed with the oil of exorcism, with the
words: “Let all spirits depart far from thee.”

8.  Enters & standing naked in the water, a deacon who is
doing the baptism puts his hand on the head asking:
“Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty?”
 The candidate reply: “I BELIEVE.”
 Then his head is pushed fully into the water.
 Next question : “Do you believe in Christ Jesus, the
Son of God, who was born of the Holy Ghost of the
Virgin Mary, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
and was dead and buried, and rose again the third day,
alive from the dead, and ascended into heaven, and sat
at the right hand of the Father, and will come to judge
the quick and the dead?”
 Reply: “I BELIEVE” and is baptized again.

9.  Question : “Do you believe in the
Holy Ghost, and the holy church,
and the resurrection of the flesh?
 Reply: “I BELIEVE”, and so he is
immersed a third time into the
water...
 He will then come up and is
anointed with the “oil of
thanksgiving” with the words “I
anoint thee with holy oil in the name
of Jesus Christ.”

10.  I believe in God the Father Almighty
 And in Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who
was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin
Mary, and was crucified under Pontius
Pilate, and was dead and buried, and rose
again the third day, alive from the dead,
and ascended into heaven, and sat down
at the right hand of the Father and will
come to judge the living and the dead.
 I believe in the Holy Spirit, in the holy
church, and in the resurrection of the
body.

11. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven
and earth: And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our
Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of
the Virgin Mary: Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was
crucified, dead and buried: The third day he rose
again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, and
sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and
the dead:
I believe in the Holy Spirit: the holy catholic Church:
the communion of saints: The forgiveness of sins:
The resurrection of the body:
and the life everlasting. Amen.

12.  Defn : A “creed” is a concise, formal and
universally accepted statement of faith.
(Summary of the main points of common
Christian belief).
 Latin “Credo” – “I Believe...”
 Not “I think”
 Not “I know”
 Not “I feel”

13.  Up till the 4th C there was a “story”
by the early church fathers that
each Apostle wrote one statement
of the Creed ...
 It’s just a myth – there is no
evidence that it was directly written
by the apostles
 But it is consistent with the
apostles teachings and beliefs

14. Early Christians & the Church :
 No “Complete Bible” as we know it Today –
only the Jewish Scriptures in Hebrew & Greek
 No NT Bible as yet
 Only scattered letters & writings circulating
 Times of persecution from without
 Costly decision to be a Christian
 Differing understanding & interpretation
within the church
 Doubts ? Questions? Heresies ...
 A great need to state clearly what are the key
beliefs of the Faith...

15. Early Baptismal formula :
 Great Commission
 Matt 28:19 Therefore go
and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing
them in the name of
the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy
Spirit,...
 Trinitarian formula

16. Present Day Baptismal Questions:
1. Do you truly and earnestly repent of your sins and
accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour?
Answer: I do.
2. DO YOU BELIEVE IN GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY,
MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH; AND IN JESUS
CHRIST HIS ONLY SON OUR LORD; AND IN THE HOLY
SPIRIT, THE LORD, THE GIVER OF LIFE?
Answer: I do.
3. Do you desire to be baptised in this faith?
Answer: I do.
4. Will you then obediently keep God’s holy will and
commandments and walk in the same all the days of
your life?
Answer: I will, by God’s help.

17. “These words which you have heard are
in the Divine Scripture scattered up and
down: but here gathered and reduced
into one, that the memory of slow
persons might not be distressed; that
every person may be able to say, able to
hold, what he believes.”

18. I BELIEVE inall branches of Maker
God the Father Almighty,
 Accepted by
of heaven and earth: And in Jesus
Christ his only
Christianity – Catholics,
Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born
Orthodox & Protestants crucified,
of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was
nd
 Used since the ? 2hell;C third day he rose
dead, and buried; he descended into
the
again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the
onwards
right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to
 Only formally written down
judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy
muchthe communion of saints;th C
later 5th to 6 the forgiveness of sins;
catholic church;
the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen

19. 1. To Define the Faith
 Short summary of what we
believe...
 Only the key points (Nonnegotiables) , it is not
exhaustive ...
 Easy to remember and
teach ...

20.  Only 479 characters in 106 words ...
 It is the oldest and most widely
accepted creed by all branches of
Christianity
 Covers a broad survey of Christian
doctrine
 From Creation thru Salvation to
Eternity

21. 2. To Defend the Faith
 Against heresies and wrong
teachings
 Forced the early Church
Fathers to re-think and define
the Christian Faith
Eg Gnosticism & Arianism

22. Gnosticism :
 Gnosis - ‘Salvation’ is only through mystical
knowledge which bring ‘enlightenment’ etc.
 Dualism - spirit was entirely good while
matter entirely evil. The divine Christ would
never stoop to touch flesh, which is evil, he
only seemed human and only appeared to
die, for God cannot die etc
** Marcionism (AD144) : That Jesus Christ was
the savior sent by God, with Paul as his
chief apostle, Rejecting the Old Testament
and the Gospels of Matthew, Mark & John.

23. In defense against Gnosticism &
Marcionism :
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our
Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary:
Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was
crucified, dead and buried:...

24. Arianism :
 Jesus the Son as Word & Logos was not
eternal or perfect like God
 Jesus was created by God before time
and through Him all other things were
made.
In defense against Arianism:
 Emperor Constantine
 Council Of Nicaea AD325

25. Apostles Creed
• I believe in  We believe in one God, the Father,
God the
the Almighty maker of heaven and
Father
earth, of all that is, seen and
Almighty,
unseen.
Maker of
 We believe in one Lord, Jesus
heaven and Christ, the only Son of God,
earth:
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
• And in
true God from true God,
Jesus
begotten, not made,
Christ, his
of one Being with the Father.
only Son,
Through him all things were
our Lord:...
made....

26. Modern Day
Gnostics:
 Christian Science
and Unity School
of Christianity;
 Mind & Healing
Sciences;
 Transcendental
Meditation (TM) ;
 New Age
Movement
Modern Day Arianism:
• Jehovah's Witnesses
• Mormonism
• Unification Church
• The Way
International

27. 3. To Disciple the Faith
 People were generally illiterate
 Written word very limited
 OT Scriptures in Hebrew & Greek
(Septuagint)
 Needed something to teach & share the
faith
 Short & Concise
 Easily remembered
 Easily shared

28. “I Believe” is a personal commitment to the
truth
 John’s Gospel : about 80 times declares that
salvation comes to those who believe
 Rom 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the gospel,
because it is the power of God for the
salvation of everyone who believes...”
 2 Tim 1:12 “... I know whom I have believed,
and am convinced that he is able to guard
what I have entrusted to him for that day.”
Offer a radical certainty amidst the sea of
skepticism today
What we believe will determine how we live Our conduct & behavior

29. Opening phrase of the Apostles Creed
“I Believe in GOD...”
• Fundamental truth
• Nearly everyone believes in ‘God’/‘god’
• But how do ‘they’ define or understand
“God”
• Pantheism ?
• Deism ?
• Theism

30. Three Important Truths about God:
1. FATHER :
• Abba (Gk) – 3 times in NT
• = Papa, Daddy
• Intimate & ‘Homely’
Calling God as Father :
• Very hard for some
Ps 68:5 A father to the fatherless, a defender
of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.
• Impossible for others
Matt 6:9.. The Lord’s Prayer – ‘Our Father ...’
• Political correctness !!

31. Three Important Truths about God:
2. ALMIGHTY
• “El Shaddai” : God Almighty - 58
times in the Bible
• “Nothing is impossible with God”
Lk 1:37
• Because God is ALMIGHTY ...
• Reassuring & Comforting...

32. Three Important Truths about God:
3. MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH
•
•
God “CREATED...”
That life as recorded in Genesis began
with God and not by chance
• God created because He wants to, not
because He has to ....
• Rev 4:11 "You are worthy, our Lord and
God, to receive glory and honor and
power, for you created all things, and by
your will they were created and have
their being."

37. In Today’s world :
 Relativism
 Nothing is sure or firm
 Depends on ... Feeling, situations,
circumstances, others ...
 Pluralism
 There is more than one way to God
 All religions/philosophies are the
same
 Materialism :
 The things in the world
 The ways of the world

38. I BELIEVE God
The Apostles Creed
in
the Father Almighty, Maker
of heaven and earth: And in Jesus
Christ his only
Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born
Ivirgin Mary, suffered under Pontius GOD ,
BELIEVE in Pilate, was crucified
of the
dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose
To ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the
again from the dead; he Define
right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he
To Defend
shall come to
judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy
catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen
To Disciple

39. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker
of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born
of the Virgin Mary: Suffered under Pontius
Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: The
third day he rose again from the dead: He
ascended into heaven, and sits at the right
hand of God the Father Almighty: From
thence he shall come to judge the quick and
the dead:
I believe in the Holy Spirit: the holy
catholic Church: the communion of saints:
The forgiveness of sins: The resurrection of
the body: and the life everlasting. Amen.