On October 28, Rev. Stephen Tong, a renowned Chinese Indonesian evangelist and advocate of the Reformed Evangelical movement, delivered a sermon at the 14th World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) General Assembly, rebuking hypocrisy in the church and challenging pastors worldwide to live holy lives and embrace genuine repentance as faithful witnesses of Christ.
Returning to Holiness
At the beginning of his sermon, Rev. Tong noted that although this would be the shortest sermon of his life, he came because "that is the message from God to preach to you; I should present the message to you." He emphasized a single theme for his "squeezed sermon"—"the holiness of the Gospel message."
He challenged the audience by asking, "Are you the messengers of the Gospel?" After receiving their affirmation, he followed with a piercing question: "Are you holy?" He pressed further, questioning whether their lives, minds, words, and actions reflected holiness.
Rev. Tong exhorted pastors around the world that if they desired to be true servants of God, they should promise to live holy lives, for the One who calls is holy.
At the same time, Rev. Tong sharply rebuked the hypocrisy and moral decay within the modern church. "I have seen so many pastors who commit sin, but every week they come up and preach—that is kind of cheating Christians; that is a kind of hypocritical leader of the church," he said.
With solemn authority, he warned, "If you live in sin, do not go up to the pulpit… The pulpit is a holy of the holy, a place of the holy God."
Continued Repentance
Summarizing Jesus' earthly message, Rev. Tong said it would be "the Kingdom of God," and repentance is the only way to enter. "(If) you don't repent, you cannot enter into the Kingdom of God," he declared. "Repentance is not regret; repentance is not reproach by our conscience. Repentance means you know what the holiness of God is and what sin is against God," he continued.
"You should have the emotion hate sin, hate wrongdoings, hate everything against the law… make the decision to depart from sin, far away from sin… Say to God that 'now I need You; I return to You.'"
Rev. Tong stressed that repentance is not a one-time act but a continual posture before God. "You discover something wrong in your mind, kneel down and ask God to forgive your sin. You realize something you do is wrong, go out from the sin and come to God, kneel before Him, repent in Jesus Christ."
Those Who Belong to the Holy Spirit Live Out Holiness
Speaking on the work of the Holy Spirit, Rev. Tong challenged common misconceptions: "(When) the Holy Spirit comes down to you, you will get the power to (do) what? To perform the miracles? No! To heal the sick? No! To cast out the demons? No! To speak in tongues? No!" He declared that the Holy Spirit empowers believers to bear witness to Jesus Christ.
Rev. Tong repeatedly emphasized that the Holy Spirit was given not to glorify churches, seminaries, or denominations, but to testify to the death and resurrection of Jesus.
"How do you know this man has the Holy Spirit or has no Holy Spirit?" he asked. "The servant of God should preach only the Holy Bible," he said, stressing that God's servants are not called to preach politics, communism, or capitalism. "When your teaching is based on the Holy Bible, we know you have the Holy Spirit. Secondly, when a pastor, a witness, or a preacher lives a holy life, we know he has the Holy Spirit."
He rebuked leaders who misuse their positions: "So many church leaders are teaching the Christians, and they are cheating the Christians. They live in adultery, they always say something deceptive to people, their minds are for money, and they claim to have the Holy Spirit. That is nonsense!" he exclaimed. "Only true servants of God preach the holy word of God. Only the servant of God who lives in holiness can truly be a witness of the holy God."
The Holy One Is Pure-Hearted and One-Hearted
Rev. Tong asserted that the reason many Christians fail to live holy lives is their lack of purity of heart. Citing theologian Søren Kierkegaard, he shared a profound interpretation: "A pure-hearted man is a one-hearted man." He explained, "The pure-hearted man has only one direction, only one purpose in his life, only one target in his pursuit… If a Christian truly wants to please God and (has) no other purpose in his living, this man can be a pure-hearted man."
"We have so many purposes in our lives," he warned. "We like God, we love money more than God; we love Jesus Christ, we love power more than Jesus Christ. We love the Bible; we need so many things from profit and from this world more than from the Bible."
Rev. Tong pointed out that people pursue too many self-interests: "You cannot please your God because your purposes are so many and you are not one-hearted."
Concluding his sermon, Rev. Tong called on believers to return to the foundation of holiness, reminding them that God calls His children to be holy and to live lives marked by repentance.
Originally published by the Christian Times
- Edited and translated by Poppy Chan
