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00:00:00 today's scripture reading is taken from Genesis 49: 8-9 and Revelation 5: 5-6 Judah your brothers will praise you your hand will be on the neck of your enemies your father's Sons will bow down to you you are a lion's Cub Judah you return from the prey my son like a lion he crouches and lies down like a lioness who dares to Rouse him then one of the elders said to me do not weep see the lion of the tribe of Judah the root of David has triumphed he is able to open the scroll and its Seven Seals then I saw a lamb looking as if it
00:00:58 had been slain standing at the center of the throne encircled by the four living creatures and the elders the lamb had seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the Earth this is the word of [Applause] [Music] God welcome to to our first episode of when the word comes Al in this series of uh chats we're going to be discussing on the topic of forgiveness and Reconciliation what are the foundations so we've got together two of our speakers Elder Arnold Lim and Pastor
00:01:49 Leon they've both been preaching about relationships forgiveness and Reconciliation so I thought it would be a good idea to get them together and we'll have a big discussion on how forgiveness really looks like in the trenches of daily life let's have a listen our guests are well known Pastor Leon who's been with us for the last uh one year and then our Elder Arnold limb who's a regular on our Pulpit so today I'm going to ask the two throw up some questions okay some difficult questions now somebody asked me uh you know can I
00:02:24 forgive and not feel very forgiving is it an act of the will uh or action can I say I forgive someone but I actually don't feel like forgiving it's so difficult can you guys take this ball and run with it yeah I think there's there's two parts to everything uh there is the action that supposed to be an outward expression of hopefully an inward reality right uh that if we say forgive then that has to be accompanied by action think people always expect that right uh but sometimes the action takes
00:02:59 time right uh and all the emotion takes time to to to be worked out I think um it's very normal to it's very normal for anyone to uh feel afraid still uh in Acts 9 uh when when we read about Paul it was just after he he actually persecuted the Christians right and then he came back and then he was introduced to the Believers and they were afraid yeah okay they were still feeling the emotions of it some of them obviously maybe even had family members you know mared you know are you saying that I can actually
00:03:41 commit the act of forgiving someone but in my heart I can I still feel bitter and resentful is that genuine I I think that that that that happens in reality and people will feel that um but you would and it was you would see that uh it takes time before that that they receive it but I also see that um they were willing to look at what God had did in Paul's life uh in forgiving Paul U more than they will see the act of all the things that he had did in the past okay can I ask that when I say I forgive someone
00:04:20 Arnold do you think my actual action of forgiving someone and my actual emotion of forgiving someone must they align that's my actual question because if my emotion doesn't align with what I want to do am I being disingenuous or hypocritical I think there's a lot of pres there's a bit of presumption in that question so um in fact I think the way the question is worded is is what you call symptomatic question you're looking at symptom you're not looking at root so this is going to be longwinded okay go
00:04:54 ahead Mike I think you you go back to your starting point why do you think forgiveness is probably the most written about Topic in Christian literature every book will touch on it um is a is a Hallmark of the Christian faith is the centrality of the Christian faith the Book of Genesis ends with it Revelation talks about it so so the Bible is really telling you this is your key issue mhm so I feel when we scirt around symptoms we are not looking at the core issue so the starting point I would suggest
00:05:26 that's my two sense is what's how different is it when Christians forgive compared to non-christians okay how would the How would how would the Buddhist uh forgive differently because Buddha thought compassion how would a Hindu forgive differently how would Muslim forgive differently how would the atheist forgive differently what is the difference with the way a Christian forgives that I think is a starting point out of that all these issues about the dichotomy between action and and and and behavior inner outward conditional
00:05:59 for forgiveness all those to me that's peripheral to this you you get that that that anchors everything okay so how do you get that so I think I think there two questions you ask number one scripture is very clear you forgive as the father forgave so meaning it really posit two things uh you can forgive someone on your human will or you can forgive someone with the help holy spirit so that that is your starting point and the the question is we struggle with that yes we struggle with that and we when we say we forgive what
00:06:30 scripture is telling you is that are you forgiving based on human strength that mean that's not that is not what God wants that means you're forgiving based on what we call either secular ideas or unchristian ideas or are you forgiving the way God forgave so I think there's a very important distinction me stop that I'm forgiving that person because the Bible tells me I should forgive which I believe is prompted by the Holy Spirit I'm following the word but my emotions haven't come right up to it I want to
00:07:00 put my will to forgive right because it's the right thing to do well Buddha says to forgive so you can say I'm forgiving because my religion told me to forgive so what's the difference so the the issue is is you can say I forgive because my my my personal moral principles tell teach me to forgive so that's not the point the point is no no can I stop you that can I say the holy spirit is prompting me to forgive no you can't say that why because the question the way the text voices starts off is forgive as the way the father forgave
00:07:28 yeah so the the problem is a lot of us have not appropriated that so the vertical therefore affects the horizontal until you understand the vertical which is unconditional love Grace and all of that you cannot do the forgive the horizontal the problem with Christians we jump right into the symptoms we start to say this this this I don't feel a forgiving what if he never repented what about bitterness that is symptomatic now until you you understand the vertical the horizontal will not will not work that that is so
00:07:57 are we saying that everybody who's got difficult forgiving does not have the proper understanding or even the transformative spiritual experience with the father everyone and I think that's our struggle Le want you jump in and and it's very clear because I think forgiveness like repentance and every area of the Gospel it shows that there's a starting point like like but there's also a process the problem is we want forgiveness to be a onetime event you forgive you forget done okay how is that possible right uh not after you've
00:08:31 killed my whole family in a war you've raped my family how do you expect a one-time event just because oh yes we had a one time event where Christ actually saved us right yes but we all realize we are not transformed fully into the image of Christ yet right yes so it takes time and then we struggle with all the emotions as we're going through that Pro process so I think if we see it as a process then I think um that whole entire process just like we talk about justification and then sanctification right just ification is
00:09:00 that point where we recognize so the point where we say we want to forgive is like the point we we we were justified by Christ when we repented but then repentance the the uh in in in in in it's very clear uh John the Baptist say You must bear the fruit of repentance mhm so it takes he's saying it's not just a one time event not just the baptism that happens at the pool that you you can do it so I think forgiveness is the same thing so I I I I think the process as we're going through those ups and downs and those waves of emotions or
00:09:32 or trying to work out our actions you know to be more like Christ in that process I think we'll struggle with times where our emotions don't match our actions our actions don't match our emotions there are many times where I I'm surprised also with my ability to forgive even though uh my actions right show that I don't I I I I I I I I my emotions are struggling I don't want to forgive mhm right I really struggle I said in my heart I don't want to but how God had in those moments also helped me to just let that go emotions so there
00:10:08 there there there's two sides to it it can be I'm emotional because uh I I I I I say I forgive but I my emotions don't match cuz I don't feel I want to forgive but I can also feel the opposite in know where I don't feel I'm forgiving but I have forgiven because I've taken the act so the process is very complex I think we want to put it as a onetime event then it becomes I think it becomes a struggle you want to add to that uh I I read somewhere um uh because if you take okay sorry for philosophical is
00:10:42 scripture starts always with this Paradox the gospel message is a par Paradox the fact is in weakness there is strength in poverty that riches the last shall be first and is found in the cross because in the defeat of the Cross there's Victory so I read somewhere he says that real genuine forgiveness is only when you recognize that actually is impossible to forgive I found it very profound it mean real genuine forgiveness is only when you realize forgiveness is actually impossible humanly yeah it's impossible because why
00:11:17 why because there two Dimensions to that because uh let's take a more real thing I mean yes if we are in Somalia in the W countries people you get raped you get murdered let's talk about more real things like people cheat you on money people do things to hurt you family members backstab you because you throw a stone now out there viewers one of most of you will get that so when you recognize forgiveness is impossible it allows you an opportunity to be vulnerable it allows you an opportunity to mourn it allows the opportunity to
00:11:47 express it and that's why that is really real theology because real theology is this let let's give the classic example of that the example of that is at the cross because Jesus does two things he says one forgive them for they know not what they do the second thing he says he use a very famous word my God my God why have you forsaken me so you see the emotion of that hopelessness and then the emotion of the will and the two are the two are that that Paradox is together no I I think it's very powerful so there is
00:12:18 the will that says father forgive them for they know not what they do but my God my God why have you forgiven me now let's foren forsaken me let look at it theologically let's look at it emotionally because that's the emotion of P you have the same issue with Joseph trying to forgive his brothers and he's weeping so forgiveness is what Leon says is a process first the process must allow you to express your bitterness your anger the unfairness and all of that in that context forgiveness is impossible because I I feel pain to not
00:12:47 do that is burying it and when you burying it feel you express that anger let's say you're okay let's practical example you're married and your spouse has betrayed you do you express that but there there's a way expressing it that's what Lamentations is but let let's look at the Genesis account the Genesis accounts has two stories of of of forgiveness or what we call reconciliation Jacob and Esau and then later on we have Joseph and the brothers okay Joseph and the brothers ends Genesis because at the end the brother
00:13:16 says I will serve you okay it basically closes the story of reconciliation now but that story is actually preceded by the story of Jacob Esau and what what what the text is Flowing is like this the story is telling you is that you must wrestle with God first that is your pre condition precedent know for you to be able to have a change heart to seek repentance so you wrestle oh God to align your will with your emotion is that am I correct I think I think it it's very clear because I don't think uh
00:13:48 forgiveness comes without that struggle to to think our Our God also doesn't struggle to forgive us is is really thinking to although he is all powerful all knowing and all those kind of things I think many parts of the Bible show that he's emotional too he hates in he is deep you know he regrets you know the the the the Genesis tells us he regret creating men and then he sent the flood you know and that you it's like he struggled too right so there we have it a great discussion I'd like to summarize a bit
00:14:23 of what we've been discussing about we fail to understand that forgiveness needs to be understood at two levels the more familiar horizontal level where we forgive because we're obeying a set of rules or moral principles which is basically ring on our own human strengths and determinations which most religions will have us do the other level is the more vertical level where forgiveness is based on the work of the Holy Spirit and in the manner how God has forgiven us all our struggles with bitterness and resentment and inability
00:14:54 to forgive are simply symptoms of our lack of understanding and appropriation of the vert iCal dimension of forgiveness which is namely how God forgives the second point in the discussion was we fail to realize that forgiveness is a complex process not a simple one-time event there's a gap between our will and our emotions and this Gap is filled with struggle as we honestly try to align the two together thirdly real forgiveness is humanly impossible unless it is Spirit enabled the spirit processes our forgiveness in
00:15:24 our lives and we honestly express our anger our struggle and we wrestle with God as Jacob did so I hope you enjoyed it I look forward to sharing with you in the next episode in the following week morning First Baptist Church we're now on the 29th of November four more weeks to Christmas this period of the Church calendar is called the Advent this when we prepare for the coming of the Lord and so what we're going to do is have a series of sermons that actually U tell of the coming of the Lord we usually deal with a bit of
00:16:02 Prophecy during this particular time so today topic of the sermon is the tale of the lion the root and the lamb the true nature of power we look into the three prophecies about the coming of Jesus so let's start with a word of prayer Lord we ask that you be with us this morning help us understand the prophecies that talk of the coming of your son we pray Lord that these will guide us to understand the nature of true power in our Liv so we ask for Jesus sake amen now let's get started with the wise men
00:16:36 and Herod Matthew Chapter 2 you remember the wise men were following a star and they were following a star and They Came Upon Herod and Herod was asking why are you following the star well because they had a prophecy and this is the prophecy Matthew 2:5 they told him oh in Bethlehem of Judea for so is written by the prophet and you oh Bethlehem in the land of Judah are by no means least among the rulers of Judah for from you shall come a ruler who will Shepherd My People Israel so this is a prophecy
00:17:11 which the told of the coming of a new ruler a king which the wise women were trying to follow on the other side of the field far away there was a bunch of Shepherds and when Jesus was born they shouted out fear not for behold I bring you a good news of great joy that will be for all the people for unto you is Born This Day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the lord and here you actually have two scenes on one hand the few the the scene of Joy on the other hand the massacre of the Innocence
00:17:49 then Herod when he heard that he had been tricked by the wise men became Furious and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years years old or under Christmas is mixed on one hand news of a great joy on the other hand news of great sorrow when the women and the mothers are all crying because their children under the age with two were all massacred and that's the irony of Christmas isn't it and irony is because of the misunderstanding of power Herod
00:18:24 the Great at that time when he heard there was a new ruler coming when he heard there was a new king coming he got afraid there was a clash of power and if you actually you understood Herod the Great he was a terrible ruler he had 10 wives and he had children of the three wives actually killed he was so paranoid about losing power that when his brother-in-law invited the chief priest to come to his swimming pool he actually was worried that they were planning a coup so he had the chief he had his
00:18:55 brother-in-law killed he had his favorite wife maram killed he had her grandfather killed and and this is the kind of person he was and when he realized there was a new ruler coming there was a king coming on he immediately felt his power was threatened therefore he reacted here we have Jesus coming into Jerusalem and just for the Passover riding on Donkey he was agil by the crowd he had the power of the crowd and this actually caused the Roman the the Jewish authorities and Romans to actually put
00:19:28 him to death not soon after this just like Herod China's leaders president Zin pin is terrified of religion just like President Mau in those days religion he says represents a threat to his authority a potential aculus heal of the Communist infrastructure Ryan Hall nuber who is basically one of the most foremost u theologians in America actually wrote about Society he said all of life is an expression of power human life as other life must have power to exist the relationship of life to life is therefore a relationship of power to
00:20:09 power and it's true isn't it if you look in our own Society there are different centers of power whether it be government whether it be rulers whether it be the courts family political Powers even in church they all exist in power relationships and each one is trying to VI to to Rive for power in a struggle in a competition uh we can see how finally after 60 years after so many years the government change hand and since then power struggles between these two men and after that new government comes to
00:20:45 place power struggle between these two and and current more power struggle there seems to be a linear characteristic of power I've got power and you want it and that's the problem we even see this power struggle in families husband and wives teenagers rebelling against the authority of their parents why can't we forgive each other we have a discussion when the word comes to life why can't we forgive each other because when you actually hurt someone else we've diminished their power we cannot forgive because we've lost the
00:21:20 power and we want it back look at Jesus own disciples John 15 perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force to make him King Jesus withdrew again into the mountains by himself see even with the people when they saw that Jesus did Miracles Jesus fed the 5,000 immediately they recognized this is a center of power the Dynamics of the nation will change and suddenly they want to make him King and overthrow the government of the Romans what about Jesus own disciples James and John Matthew uh 10:37 and they said
00:21:58 grant us to one on your right hand and one on your left in glory what about Peter when they came to arrest Jesus Simon Peter having a sword drew it and struck the high priest servant and cut off his right ear Jesus thankfully put it back so with this misunderstanding of power even bleeds into the church where a lot of churches will will relish having spiritual power spiritual why do we want spiritual gifts because spiritual gifts represent spiritual power power which we can re wield and change the Dynamics between
00:22:33 relationships Christmas unveils the true nature of power we misunderstand power true power comes from God and we cannot understand it apart from the revelation of Jesus Christ it is in Revelation of Jesus Christ that we understand the true nature of power so today we're going to look at three passages one is Genesis 49 we're going to look at the lion we're going to look at the Shute of the root of Jesse Isaiah 11 very famous prophecy about the coming of Jesus and we're look going to look at the lamb which is Revelations 58 we're
00:23:09 going to learn that from The Lion the metaphor of the Lion in Jesus when God reveals uh the lion nature of power is to serve the Sho the aim of power is righteousness and lastly the lamb the effect of power is transformation therefore we learn from The Lion the root and the lamb let's look at the nature of power now we go back to Genesis 49 and here's a time where where Jacob is about to pass on is gather his 12 sons together and he's starting to distribute power he's starting to prophesy and tell of their future
00:23:49 Genesis 49 then Jacob called his sons and said Gather yourselves together that I may tell you what shall happen to you in the days to come assemble and listed those sons of Jacob Jacob listen to Israel your father so here was a somber period of time and I suppose Jacob understands this more than most because he's the one who tricked his father to give him the blessing when that time came now each son comes forward and there is a defining characteristic of each son which then determines the prophecy about his future and here we
00:24:22 have Reuben the number one son and he this is what he says Ruben you are my firstborn my might the fruits first fruits of my strength preeminent in dignity preeminent in power here is the guy who's number one bristling with power if there anybody work out with with biceps that was him he's the first born his might first fruits of his strength preeminent in dignity but unstable as water you shall not have preeminence because you went up on your father's bed and then you defiled it he went up to my couch you know what
00:24:58 happened Reuben had sex with Jacob's concubine and it's really demeaning and loss of face so what happened to reuben reuben was the one who is most powerful but he used his power for self- advancement and that was his defining characteristic the next prophecy comes to Simeon and Levi and Simeon Levi he says Simon Levi are brothers weapons of violence are their swords let my soul come not into their Council oh my glory not be joined to their company for in their anger they killed men and in their willingness they
00:25:37 hamstrung oxen so what they did was because of the rape of the sister Dina they went into the men of sheam and they killed many many men in retaliation for that one sin against sister they had the power and they used their power to dominate others that was their defining characteristic and because of that Jacob cursed them cursed be there in their anger for it is fierce and their wrath for it is cruel will divide them into Jacob and scatter them in Israel and finally it comes to the fourth brother
00:26:14 Judah the tune changes instead of cursing he describes a blessing and he says to Judah Judah your brothers they'll praise you your hands shall be on the neck of your enemy which means they will bow to you your father's Sons shall bow down before you this is his destined for Glory of everybody else this is the one that got the blessing which everybody wants and as an illustration of this blessing Judah it's like a lion's cup from his prey my son you have gone up he stoop low he crouched as a lion and as a
00:26:51 lioness Who Dares Rouse him which is a a picture of power he describes to the metaphor illustration of his power is like a lion and if you look at the ancient near East the lion is a metaphor image of great power you can see this on the walls of Babylon uh statues and murals there will be a blessing of royalty the septer which is the ruling stick shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler staff from between his feet until tribute this is in the original Hebrew is translated Shiloh which actually means Messiah until the Messiah
00:27:27 comes to him and and to him shall be The Obedience of the peoples which means people will be ruled by his descendant and to illustrate how great this is binding his fold to the vine and his donkey cult to the choice Vine he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes and he will be so beautiful his eyes are darker than Wine his eye his teeth are whiter than milk so here you have an illustration how beautiful he is ation how how rich you will be because you don't take your donkey you don't take
00:28:04 your donkey's coat you tie him to the vine because the vne is so precious and he's going to eat up the vine right and he washes his garments in wine which is the same thing as if you win a race you take a champag you all over the place right so that's a picture of abundance now why have all the brothers even Joseph he doesn't get this what is the defining characteristic of Judah for him to get this blessing and not Joseph and and not anybody else what's so special about him after all this is a guy a tempted murder of his
00:28:37 brother this is a guy who sold his brother into slavery this is the guy who deprived his daughter-in-law of marrying his sons and so therefore he also had sex with his daughter-in-law nobody else has done that if you look back at each of the Patriarchs Book of Genesis each of them have their own defining characteristics Abraham Faith Isaac obedience Jacob struggling with God and submission to him Joseph obedience through all the difficulties in life but what was the defining characteristic of Judah that
00:29:13 made him deserve as it were this particular blessing well it's sacrifice here was a situation where his Benjamin the youngest brother would have been trapped as the hostage because of a setup when they were in Egypt Joseph had placed Treasures in his bag and he was caught with it and he would have been under the threat of being H as a slave in Egypt it is through this dire situation where Judah stepped up and he said if I do not bring him back to you then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life now therefore please
00:29:53 let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my Lord and let the the boy go back with his brothers what was Judah doing this is a chap Who Sold Joseph this is a chap who had sex with his daughter-in-law this is a chap when the moment came when his brother's life was again under threat he had changed he had transformed he offered himself to be a slave and here we can see that true power the nature of true power is to be expended sacrificially in the service of others Genesis 438 when he talks to his father he tells
00:30:33 his father I will be a pledge for Benjamin's safety so here we have in Genesis 49 a comparison Judah versus his three other brothers Reuben powers of for self s Simeon and Levi power used to dominate others Judah power used to serve and to sacrifice that is the nature of true power the power to serve the second thing is that we understand that the aim of power is righteousness let's look at Isaiah that famous prophecy in Isaiah about the coming of Jesus we all know this there shall come forth a chute from
00:31:17 the stump of Jesse a branch from his roots and it shall bear fruit so it's a stump from a Jesse a shot or a root and a branch from his roots that shall bear fruit look at the prophecy and the spirit of the Lord shall rest on him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and the fear of God so here we actually have spiritual wisdom and might so when Jesus comes he will be a person this Messiah will be the one where the spirit will rest on him that he the
00:31:50 spirit of wisdom and understanding and of Might and knowledge and then in Isaiah uh 11:3 and his Delight shall be in the fear of the Lord he shall not judge by what his eyes see or side disputes by what his ears here but with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth what's Isaiah saying when this Messiah comes he will provide righteousness people will be put into right relationship with each other all the wrongs in the world all the pain in the world will be
00:32:25 relationship will be put right and lastly and he shall strike the Earth with a rod of his mouth with a breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked righteousness shall be in the belt of his waste and faithfulness his belt of his lions and last thing is actual Justice he will bring Godly wisdom righteousness and Justice and the results of this look if you have Godly wisdom you've got righteousness and you've got um uh justice the wolf will dwell with the lamb and the leopard will lie down with the young goat and the Cal
00:32:59 and The Lion and the fatted Cal will and the little children uh shall lead them the cow and the bear shall Grace the young shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox the nursing child shall play over the whole of the Cobra and the wean child shall put his hand in the adders Den what righteousness achieves is perfect peace and flourishing among God's creation which is now been torn apart what righteousness will achieve is is peace they shall not hurt or destroy in all of my Holy Mountain for the Earth shall be
00:33:34 full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea the power will come and the right relationship requires accountability and Jesus will bring that and so when Jesus comes in Matthew chapter 1:1 17 all the generation from Abraham to David were 14 Generations from David to deportation to Babylon 14 generations and from the deportation of Babylon to Christ 14 Generations there's a link the Isaiah prophecy comes through from The Lion of Judah to the Sho of Jesse right down to Jesus Christ see all
00:34:10 if you seen recently in the United States elections all elections are interactions of power and even though you win an election like Joe Biden did the net result is still a power struggle half the country thinks he's a liar and he stole the election half the half the country supports him the net result is is still this Unity the lion is not going to lie down with the lamb it is not the idealized setting or the result which the Messiah will bring look at the recent conflict in Armenia versus aeran
00:34:43 you're fighting over small piece of real estate called Naro kabak this is a place where ethnic Armenians are in 1980 to 94 they Lo they had a great War there and thousands and thousands of people were killed in the end this area became semi autonomous and ruled by the Armenians and then now in the recent fight azaran comes in and it then attacks this area and then ownership passes to azaran and Russia supports Armenia turkey supports azaran again the tussle of power never results in peace it's just changing the
00:35:23 furniture look at scabo SCH an idic island in the middle of the South China Sea fighting over by China as Philippines the world tribunal court of justice has ruled that this belongs to the Philippines China doesn't accept it so you can actually have righteousness but you could be a right side of the law but if you don't have the power to enforce it you can't do anything I remember this uh uh very interesting movie called Bruce Almighty where uh Jim Carrey acting as Bruce was given the power of God and people emailing prayers
00:36:04 to him and what he did was because he wanted to be a good God he answered all the emails in the affirmative everybody I want a I want a cat for for for for for my uh pet I want a horse I want this I want M he answered everything in affirmative because he was good God he thought that's the way I will rule the world I'm not like the current God and in the end there was great desire Master because everybody's desires actually were in conflict with each other the aim of righteousness is not to be used for
00:36:36 yourself but used to be Ser to to serve but the aim of power is to actually achieve righteousness right relationship with each other lastly the effect of power is transformation you look at the scene in heaven painted by the Apostle John and what John hears is that there's a lion and one of the elders said to me weep no more the why the people in heaven are actually weeping the the the elders are Weeping and the angels are Weeping is because they have to open the scroll there's this scroll that when you
00:37:10 open it it actually the the plan of God for salvation for the whole entire world is unfolded when the seals are broken nobody could actually touch it nobody could actually open and nobody could take this scroll for the right hand of God and he say who's going to do it and the elders said to me weep no no more John was weeping because nobody was qualified to take that stroll and so therefore weep no more Behold The Lion of the tribe of Judah the root of David has conquered so he can open the scroll
00:37:40 and in its Seven Seals that's what he hears and what he sees is and between the throne and the four living creatures among the elders I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain what John hears is a lion what John sees is actually a lamb and so therefore this mixed metaph Paul tells us the power of the lion resides in the lamb it's paradoxical and it's the most important Paradox in the whole Christian experience that the power of the Lamb the lion resides in the lamb that's real power real power for transformation
00:38:13 maong said years ago all political power comes from the barrel of a gun Herod believed it that's why he massacred the all the children under two and if you look at the history of the world where every dictator comes on they used power to subjugate but it all ends up badly look at maong the Great Leap Forward he forced took away Farms from all the the Chinese Villages and made them into collectives to improve output he wanted to double the output of Steel in his country in just one year double it in
00:38:50 one year so he made them everybody had a backyard homemade furnace and they burnt they used wood they used furniture used trees when they got no more uh furniture they use their houses to burn and to make very poor qual quality pig iron which ended in disaster and what happened was the great Chinese famine where 18 to 45 million people lost their lives in famine because of this exercise of power he wanted Revolution but you can't achieve a revolution without transformation here's Paul po 1975 to 1978 he thought all the
00:39:29 evils of society are the rich people the educated people the people who subjugate the poor so therefore he started killing everybody who wore glasses everybody who was who was educated everybody was rich all the teachers all the nurses he killed them all and he marched everybody back into the villages to start over again reboot called year zero it didn't work out because you cannot transform men's Hearts what about Mahatma Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi took a page from Jesus Christ revolutionary nonviolence he stood against the British
00:40:04 colonial powers and he said at first they ignore you then they laugh at you then they then they fight you and then you win and he actually won using nonviolent peaceful means against the British Empire he overthrew them did it result in the lion lying down with the lamb and peace and righteousness in the world it didn't because he let despite his efforts or using the jesus-like principle if you look at Kashmir you look at uh Bangladesh you look at Punjab it is a cauldron of seeding animosity and conflict even to this day you cannot
00:40:44 achieve it the Crusaders thought all you have to do is put on the cross the KKK says put on the cross and you can use power for yourself The Roots or Evangelical political fervor is a retro report that came out recently actually tracked how come 80% of white evangelicals in America support Donald Trump who's clearly got character issues why is that actually if you trace it from the Retro report it traces all the way back to Jimmy Carter who called himself a Christian and then he was who took on the mantle of the the the
00:41:22 champion for the Christian cause then it was Ronald Reagan then it was George Bush and each of them sided with the Christians Christians sided with them to gain political power to to ensure righteousness in the land however it turned out badly this is Cal Thomas one of them who is a member of the Moral Majority and he writes the evangelicals are missing a greater point if you're not careful the political activism overwhelms the primary message which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ the only thing that is able to really truly
00:41:55 change a life and by extension change a nation and no politician can fill that role what he's saying is after a while the evangelicals were so obsessed with going near the proximity to power that they forgot that the primary message is actually one in which you transform lives only Jesus Christ only the gospel can transform life legislation cannot and so therefore we come back to Christmas where the angel say fear not for behold I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people for unto you is born this day a
00:42:29 city of David a savior who is Christ the lord we need a savior when the lion becomes the lamb he becomes a savior transformation occurs when the lion is the Lamb when Jesus says come to me all you who burden because I'm gentle he didn't come to serve but to Ser to to to to be served but to serve he didn't come to take arms but to take up a cross he lays his life as an atonement of sin for all people and that precisely he's the most powerful when he's the most powerless the most powerful moment in jesus' life
00:43:06 was when he was lying on the cross when the lion becomes the lamb power causes transformation Christmas is not about giving if you think it's all about giving it's not it's about dying it's about giving up power what about husband and wife Bible tells you Paul tells you you have to women are to submit they don't like that men are to sacrifice they don't like that either and so there's a gap between submission because if I submit but he doesn't sacrifice I sacrifice and he doesn't and she doesn't
00:43:40 submit there's a gap you know what happens the Gap is filled by God's power and God's spirit what about the victim and offender how do we find forgiveness how can I forgive that person who has hurt me so badly who may have raped somebody in my family or hurt someone or murdered someone how do I fill this Gap well Christ death fills the D the gap between victim and offender how can Jacob submit to his brother Esau Joseph forgive his brothers how can Jacob hang on to God instead of trying to overpower each of them have
00:44:20 understood that the center of power is when you actually give up power and you trust God to fill the Gap in your life look at Abraham and Sarah promised to have a child and they waited 20 years and in this 20 years they tried to fill the Gap she tried to fill the Gap with Hagar to give birth to ishmail didn't work he tried to fill the Gap by say heyo Lord I'm wait this long time so why don't you take my servant elasa we see we all try to fill the Gap because we believe power is linear and so therefore
00:44:56 who filled the Gap God filled the Gap God filled the Gap with his son Isaac ultimately because God fills in the Gap we can be other centered and Community Driven we can be instead of upwardly mobile we can be downwardly mobile because we're trying to serve we can attend to people's emotional and physical needs as well as the spiritual needs and we don't have to be flashy but we have to be enduring you know why God fills in the Gap I was watching a video recently of Joseph Stowell who who was giving talks on the seven churches of um
00:45:31 Asia Minor and he had received um information from Chinese Christian leaders who were being persecuted and when he asked for their prayer points uh he would expect them to ask him to pray in America that God would lift away all the persecution actually the Chinese leaders did not do that you know what they asked they asked that they pray that they endure they find endurance during this time of persecution you know why because they believe God fills in the Gap was Pastor Wang Yu December last year was a
00:46:07 pastor jailed for inciting subversion which is what the Communist Party will do to you when you don't want to obey them and uh this is what he wrote uh before he was thrown into prison it says if this regime is one day overthrown by God it will be for no other reason than God's righteous punishment and revenge on this evil for on Earth there's only ever been a Thousand-Year Church there has never been a thousand year government there's only Eternal Faith there's no eternal power how do we find endurance because God fills in the Gap
00:46:46 those who lock me up will one day be locked up by Angels those who interrogate me will finally be questioned and judged by Christ when I think of this the Lord fills me with a natural compassion and grief towards those who are attempting to and actively imprisoning me you see how do we find forgiveness because God fills in the Gap here we have a picture of Jesus Christ I'm going to give you a couple of pictures to end the sermon of Jesus Christ riding into Jerusalem for Passover he rides at a donkey instead of
00:47:23 a stallion and he's got children if you notice every picture that I show you they will have Jesus riding a donkey and how the artists have depicted him children always welcoming him again here we can see the donkey with children before him and this last one and it's a perfect picture of power Kingdom power is Unleashed by humility vulnerability and gentleness the authorities crucify him not long after this you know why because he's he they assume he's after their power you see when we look at the lion the
00:48:00 root and the lamb how do you make a triumphal entrance you ride on a donkey not on a horse how do you accomplish God's purpose you die on the cross humility and gentleness is how you change the world being a servant of all unleashes the power of the Kingdom that is the message of Christmas may God bless all of you as we meditate on the true nature of power in the lion the root and the lamb yes Lord yes Lord you are our King and we cry out to you in this moment when it seems that Darkness is all over we need
00:49:01 you there is a king seated Among Us let every heart receive him now when there is praise he will [Applause] inhabit there will be grace and Mercy all [Music] around every burden will be lifted in his presence every trophy will be laid down at his feet there is a name that rains above all others Jesus Christ the King King above all [Music] Kings unto the lamb honor and Glory [Music] Glory Worthy is he who overcame Merit and shame power he is alive the stone is rolled away all our worship will belong to him
00:50:56 forever ever death is conquered and our savior holds the king there is a name that rains above all others Jesus Christ the King above all [Music] Kings oh oh oh we worship you our King We Trust in your name we need you Lord we need you right now rule over our lives rule over everything oh Lord it won't be long [Music] where we will Behold Him and Never Tear he'll wipe away we'll be at home the war will be over soon we will meet our save your face to face everybody bur will be lifted in his presence every
00:52:34 trophy will be laid down in his Fe there is a king that RS above all others Jesus Christ the King above all Kings all our worship all our worship will belong to him forever death is conqu and our savior holds the king there is a name that RS above alls Jesus Christ the King above all Kings and all our ship will belong to you forever holy holy for all eternity yours is the name that RS above all others Jesus Christ the King above all Kings Jesus Christ the king of [Music] all let's pray father Lord we thank you
00:54:14 so much we are four weeks before Christmas four weeks before that defining event we when you show us the true meaning of power where the nature of power is to sacrifice and to serve the aim of power is to establish righteousness and the end the lamb shows us that the effect of power is transformation so I'm going to pray a lord as we depart in our individual homes and Ministries that you transform us you teach us the meaning of real power in our lives that we use it sacrificially for you and for others
00:54:57 in our lives each day we ask for Jesus sake amen e
