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00:04 Okay, good afternoon. Good to see everybody here in the start of a new year. We're going to be looking
00:12 at um a sermon on gospel relationships. We're supposed to have Dennis Adams come
00:17 and preach to us, but he's been away because of back pain. So, I'm here standing in. So, uh next week we're
00:25 going to be doing the gospel and prosperity. So I thought it'd be useful for us this year to the week before this
00:32 to do gospel and relationships. This is a sermon which has bas basically taken a detail end of Colossians. So if you are
00:39 in the plant, I'm sorry, same sermon. Um so this is reworked. Um but for the rest
00:45 of you, it's new material. So let's start with a word of prayer. Lord, we ask that you be with us. guide us to
00:51 understand how the gospel permeates every fiber of our existence and how
00:57 this will lead to a transformation in our lives and especially our relationships. We ask for Jesus' sake.
01:02 Amen. Now um some time ago I was uh when I was
01:09 growing up um well I was a young man in this country the um used to go down to town
01:15 and if you go down to town there's a hotel in town uh and it's got a big sign
01:20 and the sign says Jesus saves. Very rarely I don't know how many of you remember there's this hotel in town that
01:26 says Jesus saves. I thought wow that's fantastic. very few people would dare put a sign in a downtown hotel saying
01:33 Jesus saves and it's actually owned by this man Kuk Ping who is a Tansri
01:39 uh is one of the 50 richest men in the world in in Malaysia actually um I
01:44 thought it was great is a reflection of his Christian faith he had become a Christian in 2009 and he claimed the
01:51 Lord has healed him from a stroke and he became a devout follower of the Lord there are other Christian fam uh
01:57 companies and and how they reflect their faith. For example, uh in the US there is a company called Forever 21 and they
02:05 reflect their faith by um uh putting John 3:16 in the back cover of their uh
02:11 clothes. Then in the Chickfield A is a Christian company and they close they
02:17 sell chicken sandwiches but they close on a Sunday right to honor the Lord. However, when you look a little bit
02:23 deeper in a newspaper, you can find Kiping and the wife in a bitter divorce
02:28 struggle. Nowadays, it's all the newspapers in British newspapers as well as Malaysian newspapers. And it's turned
02:35 out that this gentleman has been abusing his wife for many years. He's got two children, one of which has Tourette's
02:41 syndrome and one has autistic and he doesn't even pay money to support them even though he's a very royalty man.
02:47 testified by the daughter uh who basically uh says that this man is very an abusive person. Now if you are a
02:54 Christian, shouldn't that affect not only the signboard on your hotel? It must affect every part of your life. Um
03:02 there's a what happens when you get when you convert, when you come to know Christ, things must change. This is
03:08 Lamemensane, a professor of divinity at Yale. He he writes that the in
03:13 conversion is a turning of all of ourselves without leaving anything behind or outside towards God. A a
03:20 refocusing of the mental life, its cultural and social underpinnings and of our feelings and our affections and our
03:26 distincts instincts in the light of what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. Because of what Christ has done for us
03:33 in Christ Jesus, it changes basically everything. And it must also change the
03:39 core things that are in our life that are important. And this is basically relationships. So today in this last
03:44 part of Colossians, we're going to deal with how the gospel affects relationship. How it causes the
03:50 relationship to be built upon a new foundation for it basically focuses the
03:55 relationship on a new direction and how it's rooted in a new hope. First of all,
04:00 uh the gospel causes our relationships to be built in a new foundation. Wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting
04:07 the Lord. Husband, love your wives and do not be harsh to them. Children, obey your parents in everything. This pleases
04:14 the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke the children, lest become discouraged. Born servants, obey in everything those who
04:21 are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. So
04:28 in every instance there is a new foundation or whatever you uh do work
04:34 heartily as for the Lord and not for men knowing that from the Lord you will receive the
04:40 inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Jesus Christ. For the wrong do wrongdoer will be paid back for
04:46 the wrong he has done and there's no partiality. Masters treat your bondervant justly and fairly knowing
04:51 that you also have a master in heaven. So basically it's a new relationship
04:57 with God in the center and this is basically a recognition of the original order. If you go to Colossians chapter 1
05:04 it says for by him all things were created heaven and earth visible and invisible whether on thrones or
05:09 dominions or rulers or authorities all things were created through him and for him there. So in that way there's no
05:15 such thing as say it's my life, my marriage, my relationship, my family and
05:21 my God job. It was all created through him and for him. All relationships
05:28 belong to God. And if you look at chapter three, the first four verses,
05:33 the three things that he puts out. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek things that are above. which means
05:40 our activity should be focused on seeking spiritual matters where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set
05:47 your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, which means there's a preoccupation with the way you
05:53 think. And lastly, when Christ who is your life appears, you then also will
05:59 appear with him in glory. And that's a hope of which your life is new life is now anchored in. All right? It's as
06:05 radical as death. When you die, it's over. There's no vestage of your past
06:12 with you. And therefore, in chapter three, verse three, it says, "For you have died. Your life is hidden with
06:18 Christ in God." So everything else in the past is finished. And here it goes
06:23 on right in verse 10 and 11, and have put on a new self, a new identity, which
06:28 is being renewed in the knowledge after the image of his creator. Here, here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised
06:36 and uncircumcised, barbarian, sanctian, slave and free. But Christ is all and in
06:41 it all. It's like they rebooted your computer. New software, new operating system. It's
06:49 completely new. Now you've got a new software, new foundation. That's how you
06:54 conduct your relationships. But is marriage like that? Well, story was told of a couple uh sitting down and having a
07:02 glass of wine together. And basically out of the blue, the wife says, you know, uh I love you. And the
07:10 husband looks at her a little bit suspiciously and he says to her, "Is that you talking or the wine talking?"
07:17 And she looks back at him and says, "It's me talking to the wine."
07:25 So the next morning she wakes up from her uh um it's her birthday and she
07:31 wakes up and she tells the husband you know husband uh last night I had a dream
07:37 and my dream is that I actually received a diamond necklace don't know who give
07:44 but diamond necklace for my birthday so the husband was rather uncomfortable you
07:49 know you know this dream of her wife so they said oh maybe tonight if you if you
07:55 are patient uh you will find out why you have this dream line. And so what he did
07:60 was he went away and then that evening he came back with a small package wrapped up nicely in in present paper
08:07 and the wife was all excited. She tore into it threw the ribbons away everything open the box a book how to
08:14 interpret dreams.
08:19 So, so but if you look at this particular thing, when you look at marriage, you find a lot of
08:25 relationships, human relationships are basically conditional, isn't it? We we we it's basically transactional. Our
08:32 love is nonvulnerable. We we put out something and we expect the other person to come halfway, isn't it? Because you
08:38 put out, they don't put out, then it's very difficult. And all the time, whether you're courting or whether you're in marriage, you've got this
08:44 tussle. Um and and and this uh chap called William Vanto who wrote called
08:50 love has risks in chapter three there is a passage I want to read to you because
08:56 we need to be loved like we need air and water we can't live without love that
09:02 means there's a certain mercenary quality of our relationships we look for people whose love will really affirm us
09:09 we invest our love only when we know where we get a good return of course when we do that our love is conditional
09:16 and nonvulnerable because we're not loving the person simply for himself or herself. We're loving the person partly
09:21 for the love we are getting. Is that true? Anybody say it's not true? If not
09:28 true, try to forget your wife's uh uh birthday tomorrow and see
09:33 you will never hear the end of it for the you know until the end of time you know. So the problem is human marriages
09:39 are transactional isn't it? we do something for something in return and
09:44 that's really very difficult. True love should be vulnerable. True love you
09:50 should be happy when you spend yourself at the expense of somebody and when they're happy
09:57 you are happy even though it costs you. Now where do you find that kind of love in the world? You can't really find that
10:04 kind of love in the world simply because we all need love. And so therefore we enter marriage wanting to have our needs
10:12 met and having love in return which we many of us do. How are we going to do
10:17 it? Um we actually miscommunicate all the time. First of all even in this
10:23 transactional issue we we communicate all the time. It says a man will spend you know $2 for the $1 item he doesn't
10:31 need. Right? That sorry that he needs and a woman will spend $2. has a $1 and
10:36 a $2 item which she doesn't need. It's completely different idea of which people think, isn't it? We come to
10:43 marriage with whole bunch of expectations. We if we believe marriage is a um transactional kind of thing.
10:50 Then what happens? You come in with a whole bunch of expectations. Oh, I've met my soulmate. So handsome, so tall.
10:58 Every time I say a joke, he laugh. I don't say joke, he also laugh. In fact, he's laughing all the time. But
11:05 but he's not laughing at me. So you come in into the relationship and he meets
11:10 you know you got all these expectations and the trouble is that you got this huge expectations and after you get
11:15 married suddenly you find out the love farts you know and he snores and he
11:20 forgot my my my birthday. So what happens is that in transactional
11:25 transactional relationships where where transaction is the basis what happens is that you will crush your partner with
11:32 your expectations and he will crush you with your with his imperfections. That's
11:38 the problem all of us wind up if you think you are looking very very hard in life a young person here for a person
11:45 who is just the right person your soulmate bear this advice. You will always marry
11:52 the wrong person. As long as they're a sinner, it is
11:57 always the wrong person. That's why the Bible, if you look at the Bible, there's not much emphasis on chapter three, how
12:04 to find good wife and then one, two, three, four, you know, you know, why why doesn't the Bible marriage is such an
12:09 integral part of our lives, right? Why there's hardly any pages devoted to get
12:15 good wife, must cook, must do that all all those except the Psalm 31 which is actually a personification of wisdom
12:22 anyway not really about wives. Why is it that? So basically the the issue in fact
12:27 what the Bible does talk about is how you live with your wife rather than how you choose your wife in particular. So
12:32 there are expectations and imperfections and if you let that build up over the years then there's a lot of resentment
12:38 in between because all the misconceptions will destroy the relationship. Uh so therefore what we do
12:44 in transactional love is we learn the language of love and you learn that to
12:50 do the right things. For example, I was uh in a seminar with a very famous Australian doctor who is basically a sex
12:57 therapist and we were talking about how men communicate with wives, you know, to in order to have more sex in marriage.
13:04 Uh and um so this man will come and buy the wife for her birthday. Hey honey, a
13:10 sex toy. Hopefully that will turn her on. Actually, that turns her off. And then she says, you know, as a sex
13:16 therapist myself, Rosie says, you know what turns me on? She tells her husband, you know what turns me on? She shared
13:21 with us. She says, "When my husband comes and I'm doing the dishes, he gently pushes me aside. He does my
13:29 dishes, sits me down, makes a cup of tea, brings
13:35 it to me, and we have a nice long chat at the end of which I feel like sex."
13:42 You see, the way women think and the way men think are completely different. So, what do you do in a transactional
13:48 relationship? We alter the language of love. We go and ring up and Google Rosie King after this and then got all the
13:55 kung fu so your marriage will be better because you got new language of love or you learn to laugh every time your wife
14:01 say something laugh and hopefully she it'll be better or basically you learn
14:06 new techniques as it were. Uh but this is Paul's approach. Look at Paul's approach. Paul's approach says submit
14:13 yourself submit to your husband as is fitting to
14:18 the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
14:24 The Bible takes it the opposite way. It it it just skips that whole issue. What
14:30 it does is that say basically Paul is saying when you're in marriage basically you are going to do things because it is
14:37 fitting in the Lord. You see all of us need love. And the beauty of the gospel
14:43 comes in. God comes in and with unmmerited favor and grace and he gives you all the love that you need so that
14:51 you are then entering your marriage not as a needy person you know and wanting your spouse to fill all your needs but
14:57 wanting the lord having filled your needs then you are able to love and truly love uh because of what the lord
15:05 has done. So the foundation of what is based on what the Lord has done for you. Let me give you uh example. Look at look
15:10 at this marriage vows. Nowadays this is Christian marriage vows. Nowadays you have some couples actually have their
15:17 own marriage vows. You know I will do this if you will do that. I will do that if you will do this. Better still sign a
15:23 prenuptual. Right? Three prenuptual is a sign of a transactional relationship between a man
15:30 and woman. But if you look at Christian marriage vows, you look to heaven and the whole from this day forward, for
15:35 better for worse, for rich or poorer, in sickness and health, in love and cherish, to death to his part, according
15:40 to God's law, not according to whether you remember my birthday.
15:46 It takes it completely out. All right? So therefore, it doesn't matter if you marry a pig. Some husbands are likened
15:53 to be pigs. Okay? But you know what Paul says? Paul says bearing with one
15:59 another, right? If one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other.
16:04 As the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must forgive and all these above all
16:10 these things put on love which binds everything together in perfect harmony. So the issue is the basis of the
16:16 foundation of the marriage is put back to the Lord. Whatever the Lord has done for you, that becomes the basis how you
16:23 treat other people. So therefore, God's grace makes the imperfect perfect. So
16:28 therefore what happens when you marry a non-believer? A more non-believer will come into the
16:34 marriage with a transactional idea of love. Isn't it? She will believe that
16:39 you are her soulmate. Okay? And there will be so much pressure put on you. How
16:45 can you actually get married to someone who doesn't believe that the Lord will be the foundation relationship? You take
16:50 the foundation away, the marriage will fall apart. All right? So um
16:57 employer employee relationships they're always like the race and then threaten
17:03 to sack you. Isn't it? All right. This is what bondervants are supposed to do. Ser uh slaves. Obey everything those who
17:11 are your earthly masters. Not by way of eye service as a people pleasers but with sincerity fearing the Lord. Work
17:17 heartily as for the Lord not for men. So the new foundation is basically
17:23 working in your workplace as you would serve our Lord Jesus Christ. Masters treat your bond servants justly and
17:29 fairly knowing that you also have a master in heaven. So therefore our works have been transformed from merely
17:35 serving human masters or having human slaves or or employees as to a
17:41 transaction made in heaven as it were. So there's no more reciprocal relationships. This is an example of
17:47 Onissimus which is a runaway slave. This is a chap who's run away. And if you go back to Roman society, if you run away
17:53 from your master, the punishment is death. Okay. Paul writes to Odis uh uh
18:01 to Phileiman and tell him about Onissimus and this is what he says to him. For this perhaps is why he was
18:08 parted from you for a while. that while you might have you that you might have
18:13 him back forever, no longer as a bondervant, but more than a bondervant, a beloved brother, especially to me, but
18:19 how much more to you both in flesh and in the Lord. So he brings it back. Instead of punishing him, he says,
18:26 "Okay, you better treat him as you would treat a brother." My goodness, brother. How would you treat a brother? You
18:33 wouldn't crucify him, would you? And number two, let me give the next page. So if you consider me your partner,
18:40 receive him as you would receive me. Wow.
18:46 If he has wronged you at all or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I,
18:53 Paul, write this on my own hand. I will repay it. To say nothing of you, even owing me your own self. My goodness.
19:00 What's he saying? As you have respected me, you must respect your own slave. as
19:07 you owe me, you owe him as it were. So basically what he has done is has transformed the relationship and put
19:13 whatever Christ has done for us as payment for all debts owed to us by
19:18 every other person. So when we look at a person, it is no longer on the merits of
19:24 who that person is but on the merits of what Christ has done. And this is a revolutionary revolutional way by which
19:31 we actually integrate with each other. When you come to church and you come probably the first service is more more
19:36 evident. Everybody is huddled into a table and you see every table has the
19:42 same faces on. You know why? Because these are the people who get along with one another. They say the right things.
19:49 You know they compliment each other. They they they basically raise each other up and and you you're in that
19:55 fellowship. Why? Because you like each other. You get something in return. You wouldn't want to go to a table when they're scolding you all the time,
20:01 right? Right? You don't want to be table with the people who you don't like. But that's human relationship is
20:07 transactional. What Paul is trying to tell us from now onwards when we look at each other, we look at each other as if
20:14 we're dealing with the Lord in between because in the end of time when Paul uh
20:22 Jesus writes in Matthew 25 when he comes back, all right, how you treat each
20:27 other is how you be rewarded. This is Matthew 25. And the king will answer them, truly I say to you, as you did it
20:34 for one of the least of these brothers, you did it to me. So all relationships
20:39 are rooted on one transitional one foundational factor that everybody bears
20:46 the image of God and we treat that person not on the basis of what he has done, what his pedigree, what job he
20:53 has, how much money he has, how handsome or ugly she looks like, but basically who we are in the Lord. And when you do
20:59 that, everybody comes to church on an even playing field as it were. Now the second thing is how gospel affects
21:06 relationships. Now the relationships are focused in a new direction. Okay? In
21:11 every relationship new direction. The center of all marital wos is this idea
21:17 of your desire is for him is in Genesis for your husband and he will rule over
21:24 you. This is the curse that comes after the uh fall of man. The the great
21:29 controversy where women and men are always struggling. In the old days, not much of struggle. Roman husbands
21:37 completely rule the household. The wife has no say in anything except the household. They rule and they often
21:44 treat them harshly. Um nowadays we react, women react to that. This is a
21:49 very famous uh movie that came out 20 years ago. uh Goldie Horn, Bat Middler,
21:54 and Diane Kitten. And they represent the kind of movement and culture of women want to get freedom. We don't want to
22:01 get their own rights. Why doesn't the Bible talk about all this? In fact, um
22:06 they came back uh years later on, they wanted to do a first wife club part two,
22:12 and they found that they were going to be paid exactly the same money as 20 years ago. And and and that was a betrayal of
22:18 women's rights and so they refused to do it. Uh, let me give you a clip of how it
22:23 represents women's sentiments.
22:36 Pretty good. You remember
22:44 If you don't
22:58 let me ask you
23:04 and I love to be young and I'm free and I love to be free to live my life the
23:10 way that I want to say and do whatever I I'm
23:18 free and I love to be free to live my life the way that I want to say I do
23:24 whatever I don't know me
23:35 every
23:42 me
23:53 So ladies sentiments you don't own me. So the
23:58 whole tussle that a man owns a woman and a woman wants emancipation. Uh this is
24:04 uh Christian marriage instead is defined by a new direction is down instead of up. The you know this is there the roles
24:11 remain but the calling changes. Wives submit to your husbands as is fitting the Lord. Husband love your wives and do
24:18 not be harsh with them. Basically the roles remain the same. Okay. But the
24:24 direction is different. A woman desires to control the husband. She's asked to
24:30 give this up and to go down. This is up desire to control first wife's club.
24:36 Instead you're asked to submit. A man has control and rule, but he's asked to
24:41 love. And love is a form of mutual submission. Because if you love someone,
24:47 the happiness of that someone overrides your own happiness, isn't it? It's submission. If you look in Col uh in
24:53 Ephesians, do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
25:01 singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to the Lord the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus
25:07 Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. There's a mutual submission because we're filled with the
25:14 spirit. And so therefore, you have two ways you can go. You can go the way of the first wives club where culture is
25:20 coming up. Western culture tells us you got to have your rights. You got to have privileges. You got to position. You've
25:25 got to have control. You've got to influence. You nobody owns you. You're free. And it's like you're smoking a
25:32 cigar. And then women will turn to be like men. All right? Which is not the
25:37 biblical norm. If you look here, instead we're asked to serve each other, to submit, to obed to obey, to serve, to
25:46 love, and to sacrifice because we're doing it for our Lord. Look at the
25:51 results. This is 1 Peter 3:1-6. Likewise, wives be subject to your husbands, so that even if some do not
25:60 obey the word, they may be one without a word by the conduct of their wives. when
26:05 they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be
26:10 external braiding of your hair, the putting on of gold jewelry, the clothing you wear, or the burkin bags you buy.
26:17 Huh? Uh but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of the gentle and
26:24 quiet spirit which in God's eyes is sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to
26:31 adorn themselves by submitting their own to their own husbands as Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him Lord and you are her
26:39 children. If you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. So the end
26:44 result if you're rooted in the cross and you go down instead of going up is a conversion of the husbands.
26:52 Right? Uh this is 1 Corinthians 7:13. It says if any woman has husband who is
26:57 unbeliever, he should consent to live with her. He she should not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is made holy
27:03 because of his wife. The unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Here is an opportunity. If you
27:09 stay with your spouse who is not a believer by your holy and chased behavior, the gospel will be
27:16 made real. It'll be embodied so that your husband or wife will come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Children obey
27:24 your hus parents in everything for this pleases the Lord. Fathers do not provoke your children lest they become
27:30 discouraged. In the same manner, okay, this is mutual love. The fathers do not hop and use their authority. They do not
27:37 provoke their children and the children are to obey their parents because it pleases God. This is the workplace
27:44 bondervants. They are supposed to obey in everything. Those who are your earthly masters, uh they're supposed to
27:51 work heartily. Masters on the other hand have to treat your bondervants justly
27:56 and fairly knowing that you have a master in heaven. Now, people criticize uh the Bible because uh it's written in
28:04 a time where there's great slavery. 70% of Roman population at a time were made
28:09 of slaves. They were responsible for all the beautiful Roman forum architectures
28:14 that you see today. It's all on the back of slave labor. Slavery
28:20 is the Bible's against slavery, but it doesn't come out directly and say, "Sell all your slaves." You know what Paul
28:25 does? Paul recognizes slavery causes abuses. All right? What Paul is doing is that
28:31 when he brings the gospel in, he brings it right into the heart of everybody and the gospel removes the abuses. When you
28:39 remove the abuse, you know what happens? Slavery is removed. The abuse of slavery
28:45 is you get someone and he works for you day and night and he works from you
28:50 without pay. That's an abuse isn't it? When you ask them to treat them fairly
28:56 which means eight hours got adequate makan adequate pay then the person is he
29:02 continue is he a slave he's no longer a slave. So you understand how the Bible approaches it approaches this by drawing
29:08 the line to the heart of to the line of human heart not by saying that there's no slavery. Of course, if you can get
29:14 your freedom, so you get your freedom. But we what he does is that he regulates behavior instead. Look at the slaves in
29:21 1 C 7-22. Each one should remain in the condition he was called. Were you a bond
29:26 servant when you were called? Do not be concerned about it. But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself to the
29:31 opportunity. For he who was called in the Lord as a bond servant is a freed man. Likewise, he was free when he was
29:38 called as a bond servant of Christ. So what he's saying that through Christ we are now free to serve one another. We
29:45 are there are really no slaves in Christ. Um our pedigree of roles do not
29:50 define us here. There is no Greek, no Jew, circumcised, uncircumcised,
29:56 barbarian, cyian, free but Christ is in all and all. There's no
30:01 cast system. When the gospel comes, we are all equal. Our pedigree, our roles
30:06 do not define us at all. Uh this is the uh medallion which a slave would wear
30:13 everywhere in Rome. They would wear a medallion like this. Everybody will see it. And basically this means you're at
30:20 call. You're on call for your master. You'd work for your master from 6:00 in the morning to 6:00 at night. Have your
30:28 dinner. And if nobody to cook dinner, then you have to cook the dinner. And suddenly when you go to sleep at night,
30:35 your master has a tummy ache. He'll call you. You get up there, you go rub his tummy with oil. Next morning 6:00, you
30:41 work. That's the life of a slave. Then I was thinking, I also wear something like that.
30:49 And people have stomach ache. Middle of night, 3:00. I still got to get up. I'm 57 years of age and I still do this day
30:55 in and day out. And I really don't have to do this anymore, but I still do it. And and you'll find that we all are
31:02 slaves to a certain extent in it. The only difference that I voluntarily put this on, isn't it? We are there is
31:11 really no free people because the only thing that we're slaves to is slave to what we want in life. This is uh the
31:17 tyranny of our own idols. This is Michael Phelps, the greatest Olympian who ever lived. I mean, he got so many
31:22 medals. My goodness, more medals than any person ever won the whole of Olympics, right? And you know what his
31:29 trainer told him? Michael, you have all the money that anyone else your age could ever want or need. You have a
31:36 profound influence in the world. You have free time. And you're the most miserable person I know. I mean, can you
31:43 imagine? And then is he miserable? Why? Because he lost. Because he won. Because he's won. He has to win some more, isn't
31:50 it? And basically the only person who's he's racing and trying to beat is himself. And that's the trouble with us.
31:56 We are under the tyranny of our own idols. This is uh a writer uh who
32:03 basically writes of this in the New York Times blog. Basically, he says, "When good
32:09 writing was my only goal, I made the quality of my work the measure of my worth. For this is the reason I wasn't
32:15 for this reason, I wasn't able to read my own writing well. I couldn't tell whether something I had written was as
32:23 good or bad because I needed it to be good in order to feel sane. I lost the ability to cheerfully interrogate how
32:30 much I liked what I had written to see what was actually on the page rather than what I wanted to see or what I
32:36 feared to see. And for many of us, our self-esteem is so tied up with our
32:41 writing and our poetry, our singing so much so that we're afraid to see. We cannot jud we cannot judge it fairly.
32:49 That's our struggle. There's a tyranny of our own inadequacy. David Bowie, famous singer, isn't it? one of the most
32:56 successful singers in the world. Also like this, I had enormous self-image problems, very slow, low self-esteem
33:04 which I hid behind obsessive writing and performing. I was driven to get through life very quickly. I really felt so
33:10 utterly in inadequate. I thought the work, songwriting, recording, performing
33:15 was the only thing of value and that drives him. You could have a billion dollars in the bank, but the only thing
33:22 that drives you is this sense of inadequacy. And the worst thing we do to ourselves. So we need to be delivered
33:28 just like a slave. We need to be delivered of that. We need to serve one master. Whatever you do, you work
33:36 heartily. Masters treat your bond servants justly and fairly. We have one master. So Jesus Christ actually
33:42 liberates us to serve each other. Serving each other. You see, if I served
33:48 you, then you know what Jesus did? What Jesus did was he got his disciples together
33:54 and then he girded up his put up his sleeves, girded up his loins and he
34:01 actually washed their feet. Now he did this for one reason to show them that
34:07 that God that serving each other is does not mean
34:13 you are lower. If you do to you know Chinese have this thing tamcha ceremony right where you get tea ceremony so the
34:20 the younger will always bring tea to the older why you don't see older have you ever seen old China man go and give tea
34:26 to the children have you ever seen one why why don't they do that if you do
34:33 that the old man will die a heart attack because the society is built you got to go to Korea Japan anywhere you go you
34:40 will not see the old man come and bring tea to the young Because service is a reflection of
34:46 submission. Service is a reflection that you are not as good, as powerful, as
34:52 reputable or as worth. See what I mean? And here you have the son of God,
34:59 the one who owns the whole universe. He takes the tea and brings it to you or
35:05 wash your feet, which is worse than the tea of ceremony. So he tells you that service is not beneath anyone. Service
35:12 is what you were created to do. And you serve each other out of love.
35:18 That is how relationships now work. When you're in relationship with your wife, when you're in relationship with your
35:25 subordinate at work, you serve them. Masters, treat them justly and fairly.
35:32 And that's how you serve them. When you serve them, not because you are any lower, but because service is your new
35:38 direction that undergurts all your relationships. Now lastly, how does the gospel affect
35:45 uh you in terms of your relationships? It is also rooted in hope.
35:52 Couple years ago, uh this is a this is a this is a um 85 year old couple uh who
35:59 were very strong. They were very strong couple and they were very healthy and uh
36:06 they lived to about 85 years old and then they suddenly died. very romantic died together in a car crash and they
36:13 went up to heaven and St. Peter the moment I mentioned St. Peter, you know this is a joke. Uh meets them and takes
36:20 them to show them around. So they little China man couple and they take them to and then they show them this big mansion
36:25 got so many rooms. He goes in the room and sees w the room got jacuzzi, you got
36:31 TV, got big screen, uh got home theater system, you know the and the kitchen is
36:37 to die for, but they already died. So and then the man says, "Hey, how much to
36:43 pay rent?" And St. Peter turns to him and says to him, you know, it is heaven
36:48 free. Wow. Very happy gentleman. He put down his bag, you know. Then he takes him next to the uh golf course. Boy, I
36:57 go to golf course. This is not ninehole golf course. This is not 36 golf whole
37:02 golf course. The whole heaven full of holes. You can golf there all day. And they
37:08 asked how much the green fees. Oh, you know this heaven everything is free.
37:14 Lastly, they took them to a restaurant and they took them this restaurant. They got western food, Chinese food, Korean
37:19 food, heavenly food, all sorts of food. Then again, the China man asked again the question, you know, how much? No, is
37:27 heaven is free? Then the next question he asked was very funny. He asked the next question was uh where's the low
37:34 cholesterol table? Low cholesterol table? No, this is heaven. You can eat whatever you like.
37:40 No cholesterol one. Won't die heart attack. You die already. so you won't die again. And then a man
37:47 got very upset. He was jumping up, took out his hat, put it on the ground and he was jumping on it. His wife was trying
37:52 to console him. Peter was trying to console him. And then why you so upset? You know, my wife la low carbo diet this
37:60 diet. I could have been here 10 years earlier.
38:06 You see the the the problem is many of us older people especially we we we we
38:11 were like this isn't it we tried to cut the carbohydrate get I mean we suddenly realize that life is passing us by and
38:18 unless we actually preserve some of this we're going to go too fast isn't it and and and the preoccupation
38:25 and you see every time you wake up you go to a older person's uh all the older
38:30 people you know isn't it you're all eating all the time you're going out all the time and you're thinking back and
38:36 and whatever I do it's it's not going to work out. Why? Because ultimately you will die. And basically what actually
38:43 should actually motivate us is actually hope. If you got the correct hope in life and and hope takes us past the
38:51 nature of work. You see what Paul says knowing that from the you work heartily
38:56 knowing that the from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord for the
39:02 wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong. So therefore, make no mistake, when judgment comes, you will be
39:07 rewarded. The people who do wrong will be judged. So hope takes us past the nature of work. 2 Corinthians 5:10, we
39:14 must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each of us may receive what is due for what he has done in the
39:20 body, whether good or evil. All right? Um if it's a non-Christian view of work,
39:26 it's basically all work is necessary evil to be avoided. If you can escape, better escape, isn't it? Right? because
39:33 this whole idea of hope is lost in them. Uh the best thing is your job you're calling this uh famous footballer he
39:39 says what do you do want to do when you're older I'd say I want to be a footballer and they say to you no what
39:46 do you want to do for a job but that was the only thing I ever wanted to do so it
39:53 was nice but not many people are David Beckham where what you like to do and your job are the same thing isn't it
39:58 where your job is your calling I remember years ago uh I was in Sydney
40:04 where Leanne is going in a few days time and for the first uh uh year I had to
40:10 look for a job to support myself. So I had no jobs and and only job available
40:16 to me was a factory job in the place very far away. So I take two buses and one train there and we do the job and my
40:23 job was in a factory line where you actually basically my job was to take a toothbrush and polish all the lipstick
40:31 cans like this. All right down here. Very nice. Okay. And they will come off
40:36 hundreds and thousands and millions every day, you know, and I'm there.
40:42 And the highlight of the day was when the four men told me, "Hey, Peter, you must go toilet." Hey, but I'm okay. No,
40:48 you must go. So, you force me to go to toilet. And you go to the toilet. It's a beautiful toilet with a huge tag of Time
40:55 magazine at the side and there's music and the cushions and all that. And you sit and when I finish and come out, he
41:01 say, "It's too short. Go back in again. You know why? Because that's what they
41:06 do. At any one time, everyone is sitting on a toilet. They're not working. The work is so boring and there's not much
41:11 hope involved. I would only getting $3.98 a minute an hour. Okay. Now,
41:17 imagine that if I was getting $100 Australian dollars per sticker,
41:23 you think I'll spend any time in the toilet? No. Oh, I'll be happily go
41:30 $100, you know. So, one day I could take home a h 100,000 maybe, you know. Isn't that think about it? How come the nature
41:37 of work changes because of the reward? Isn't it the nature of work changes
41:44 because the reward? The reward is all there is. So even though you wind up with a crappy job like my job, if you
41:52 have enough hope, it will change the nature of your work. Isn't it? You will do you will also come. Peter tell me
41:58 which factory $100 a lipstick can you'll join me. Isn't it? So basically hope is
42:04 extremely important. It transforms us when we put our work in an eternal perspective. Okay. So it doesn't matter
42:11 if you're a slave. So Paul says do not be concerned about it. Even a slave you
42:16 can get your freedom. Yes. Get it. Because a free man a bondervant is a free man and a free person is a bond
42:22 servant of Christ. It really doesn't matter. So therefore the gospel will affect every part of our relationship
42:31 with our wives, with our children, in our workplace. But the gospel must form
42:36 the foundation of our lives focused on a new direction in which we serve. Serving
42:42 doesn't mean subservient and is rooted in a new hope. Whatever jobs that we have when we start off this new year, it
42:49 is rooted in the hope of God's eternal reward for us whatever we do. So lastly,
42:56 there was another factory in uh Israel and this factory doesn't have a
43:03 big sign like Kaping's hotel Jesus saves. It just has a name of the company
43:09 called Galtronics. Galtronics is run by an American entrepreneur called Ken
43:14 Crowwell. And he described that the falling was to go first to an area where there was little or no Christian witness
43:21 to give employment to believers and non-believers in a safe working environment and to support the building
43:28 of a local church. That is his mission statement. So he goes to Israel to
43:33 Tiberius and he actually builds a factory there. 300 workers, Arabs, Jews
43:39 or Christians and and and lunch is a buffet all you can eat. Good incomes.
43:45 They sold two billion antenna to uh Samsung and Motorola and they also
43:50 started a 400 member church uh in that part and then now they're starting plants in China and Korea. This is a
43:57 business. You don't have to put the sign Jesus saves up there but you actually change the lives of the workers in that
44:04 particular plant. This is another couple who owned a bakery. And one day uh a gay
44:12 couple came into the bakery and said, "You must bake this cake to celebrate our gay wedding." They refused because
44:21 when they do cakes, what they put on there matters because their work belongs to God. The names are Randy and Trish
44:28 McGra. And they said they won't create cakes that fall in line with certain themes or that promote certain behaviors
44:35 they consider harmful or detrimental to society or God's order of things. They
44:41 actually were sued and they lost their business. I know of another uh gentleman who
44:48 actually worships in this church who owns a chain of restaurants. And if you actually go to his restaurant, I've been
44:53 to his restaurant. I can actually see how the Nepali workers are treated. If
44:59 you go and see how Nepali workers are treated in even your shops in in in Empire or Sububang parade, they cram
45:06 four, five, six fellows into one room. This fellow has two workers in every room clean. He provides them free food.
45:14 And lastly, even a gym. Now, that member of this church doesn't
45:20 need a sign to say Jesus saves. doesn't need to wear a badge that says Jesus saves by his transformed relationship
45:28 with his workers who will therefore go back to Nepal. Everybody in the Paul wants to work with him now because of
45:35 what Jesus Christ has done in his life. Brothers and sisters, if conversion, if Jesus Christ is real in our lives, it
45:43 will affect our families. It will affect our dreams. It will affect our occupations. It will affect our company.
45:49 The only way we can do it is to surrender to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is what Christ has done for us and
45:56 our response is basically a response to that. Let's pray.
