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00:03 Thank you. So, this is a new level of nervousness from the last time. Uh yeah.
00:08 Uh I'm excited to preach the word again. Uh it's my privilege to be here and uh
00:16 it's kind of odd to uh from the last time. It feels totally different. It's like it's a whole different feeling
00:22 coming as a guest speaker and now coming as a pastor of this church. And I thank you for welcoming me.
00:28 Thank you for welcoming my family. Uh um we really want to make this part of our
00:34 family too. Yeah. And we are in the family of God. And that's the the point today of all things. My sermon is on how
00:40 the gospel works in relationships. We know that when we are chosen, we are
00:47 all part of this big family. Uh but then the problem is um in the Corinthian
00:54 church there were some problems with trying to work out the relationships
01:00 with each other and uh uh there were people that were uh see the temple have
01:08 feasts around them. There were a lot of worship of different gods around and Christians uh some Christians thought it
01:14 was okay to go to the temple and eat together with the people. Free food.
01:19 How many of you don't like free food? Yeah. Yeah. Um I tell you when you open
01:25 your house to free food, I bet a lot of people will come in and I and that's why in Malaysia the thing is a bit worse
01:31 because uh in most of those restaurants last time I remember Wendy's and all those kind even McDonald's gave free
01:37 refills right at one point. Then after they had to quit giving free refills, right? because Malaysians will bring
01:43 their extra tapware tumblr and then go home, you know. So anyway,
01:51 um and it was causing a uh uh uh a bit of a tension in the church. Uh but they
01:59 actually presented the problem to Paul as a problem of food of being offered to
02:04 idols. They actually presented a problem like that. they didn't see the real problem was actually the relationships
02:11 that they had. And so today I I hope I'll be able to present um that that that dimension to you and hopefully it
02:17 also increase our understanding of what the gospel requires for us in terms of
02:23 relationship. But let's pray before we start, shall we? Father, we pray that you will illuminate the word to us even
02:30 as we seek your truth. Father, we pray that you purify our hearts, our minds,
02:35 and make us more like you. Father, we thank you for today, Lord. We pray, Lord, that our focus, you focus our
02:41 hearts, our eyes, our ears on you even as we receive from your spirit what you're speaking to us today. We pray all
02:48 this in Jesus name. Amen. So, let's start. So, it starts off with Oh, this
02:54 doesn't work. Let me turn it on. It's off.
03:00 Oh, why can't I got it, I think. Does it work now?
03:06 No, it doesn't. So, Michelle, I think it's destined that
03:11 you have to press for me today. Oh, there it is. Is that me or is that you?
03:17 It's okay. So, now food sacrificed to idols. We know that we all possess knowledge, but knowledge puffs up. Uh,
03:25 knowledge is power. You know that today. uh one of the biggest company in the
03:30 world today is Google, right? I remember when those
03:36 days when I I first experienced the internet and how long it took to load a picture and how my modem goes
03:45 and I wait forever before I get to access the internet or even load one picture like this. Do you know how long
03:50 it takes? Then we have to see the G on the top there and then it goes down, right? you cannot see the picture and
03:56 then you just see sometimes you see the eyes first and then it goes down when you see different pictures but Google
04:02 started about then um you know in the early parts just being a search provider
04:09 basically all the information on the net uh you'd be able to sift through it and
04:15 today from being just a company that collects information they have become
04:22 one of the most wealthiest country company in the Do you know how much data they have collected thus far? Anyone
04:29 knows? 1.2 million terabytes.
04:36 1.2 million terabytes of data. That's 1,200 pabytes if you know what that is.
04:45 So, it's crazy amount of data. And just because of data itself, of course they
04:50 diversified later and all but because they knew from the data what to invest
04:56 in, what to do, they became so powerful. Um they are still so powerful. Uh I
05:02 remember my first experience for Amazon when I went to America uh to study and I was shopping and it was just amazing
05:10 just from the data itself, right? They knew what I wanted to buy. It's so freaky. And they knew the price I wanted
05:17 to buy it at. So suddenly the email will come. Oh, you be Oh, this is the price I've been waiting for. You know, by
05:25 bought, you know, it's it's it's happening. So if those of you who are now using Lazada, for example, have you
05:32 experienced that? It's so irritating. It is so tempting always to see. But knowledge is so powerful today. In fact,
05:40 uh what we're worrying about in China, for example, is the amount of data they're collecting from their people
05:45 from that data itself. They can probably tell what you're going to do before you're going to do it. And it's kind of
05:52 scary. And uh sometimes I'm watching shows like Black Mirror and it talks about all this distant future and things
05:59 that are going to happen because of all this knowledge and data. And it freaks me out because I don't know whether
06:04 we're ready yet to deal with the data. But the other thing we also learned
06:10 about knowledge is that knowledge is futile. If you notice this,
06:16 let's see this. This was just on the 1 of May. I read this. More grain less
06:22 gain. Eating rice helps fight obesity. What I thought all this time I've been
06:28 going on this I'm diabetic. If you I have to eat less carbs, right? Then
06:33 suddenly here says eat more. I I mean if I really believe this research then I'm going to eat more rice than ever before
06:39 but I love rice but yeah one point they say rice not good next point and you
06:45 know the health industry has been like that isn't it one point cholesterol this are high cholesterol now say eat more
06:50 pit fats and my mind is going bonkers with this and then you have things like this you
06:57 know the hair loss industry do you know how much the hair loss industry is worth uh it say by 2023 which is a couple of
07:03 years down the road The industry of global hair loss products will reach 934
07:11 million. 934 million. Almost a billion dollars a
07:16 year. And guess what? Who's this?
07:23 The world's richest man doesn't even have hair. It obviously means that hair products
07:29 don't work. I'm proof of that.
07:35 that we we we spend so much in the industry trying to get our hair to grow
07:40 back. But actually nobody can even stop our hair from falling down
07:48 and knowledge is futile in that way. But certainly somehow along the way um when
07:55 we acquire knowledge when we get knowledge we we don't realize these two
07:60 dynamics. It's powerful, but it's also futile. And it leads us to a type of
08:06 pride. And the Pharisees thought they knew. They knew what it it it takes to get
08:13 salvation. And so much so it puffed them up. So much so that they decided that the only
08:21 savior that we know today is not it is he they crucified him. He's
08:29 not the savior. This is not the Messiah that they want. And certainly knowledge
08:35 is not what we need today because Paul said we all already possess knowledge
08:43 but knowledge puffs up. What we need today is love.
08:49 Love builds up. See knowledge that is subordinate to
08:55 love becomes beneficial. knowledge. Christian love builds up and
09:03 overrides knowledge that feeds arrogance. Christian love is not blind but is to be informed by knowledge.
09:11 See in 1 Corinthians 13:12 we go down the book actually 8 9 10 11 12 it's all
09:19 building up to this climax where he talks about the communion and we take it and he says really if you have
09:26 everything but you do not have love you gain nothing
09:32 and that's was the point he was trying to make to the Corinthian church it
09:38 seems that the the the church has acquired so much knowledge, has acquired so much ability, it's acquired so much
09:45 riches but they have not acquired the thing that matters most that is love.
09:53 Jesus replied the most important thing love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with
09:59 all your mind. This is the first and greatest command and the second is like this love your neighbor as yourself. All
10:05 the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. See the gospel is not
10:12 just about our vertical relationship but it's also about our horizontal
10:18 relationships. See if you want to claim you love God you must also
10:25 love people. See
10:32 he said this but whoever loves God is known by God.
10:38 Wait, this is wrong. Yes, correct. Deeper than knowing God is
10:45 being known by him. Knowledge about salvation of gospel does not save us. But being known by God is ultimately
10:52 what saves us. And if you want to be known by God, you don't only need to look at and and work on this horizontal
10:59 relationship. I love God. I love God. That's all enough. Christ is enough for me. I'm just in love with him. I'm so
11:05 It's so good. It's so good. Um sad to say um do you know ten commandments how
11:12 many commandments talk about the relationship with God? Do you remember
11:18 out of the ten commandments if you realize it only four commandments talk about the relationship with God the
11:25 other six do not steal talks about who
11:31 relationship with God. you stealing from God, man. It was about the relationship with each other. The six commandments
11:37 focused on our relationships with each other. So it we are going to deceive
11:43 ourselves to believe that if I love God, that is enough.
11:48 Um it it it has to come to a point where we have to realize that loving each
11:55 other, if you know God, you would love each other. And that's the the funny
12:02 thing. The Pharisees thought they knew God. Of all people, the Pharisees were the
12:08 one that claimed. And you know what? They know it so well. Um do you know that a Jewish kid by the time they're 12
12:15 years old have memorized Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, like word for word.
12:22 We can't even do that. How many of you have done that?
12:27 And the Pharisees memorized way more than that. They know the word of God
12:33 better than you and I. And yet all that knowledge was not going to save them.
12:40 None of that knowledge was going to save them. What they needed to see was that
12:46 they needed to love. And there was story after story how like Pharisees would go and pray, right? How would they pray?
12:52 Lord, I thank you like I'm not that brother there. That's what they prayed, right? Do you
12:58 remember those prayers? I'm thank you that I I can I I give you faithfully. I give you uh all that I have. I
13:05 faithfully give one/10enth. I do this. I do that. I not like that man over there.
13:13 This was happening in the Corinthian church. See, somehow along the way, I
13:19 don't know about this, but Christians start to compare, start to compare what we have or even
13:27 start to compare our spirituality. I I I don't know why this happens a lot of times. And I hope this is not
13:34 happening here. Definitely, I'm I I need I'm I only been here two weeks, three weeks. So it's it's it's but my fear is
13:42 that here because I know this church really desires to learn the gospel. I I I'm so excited. I see how many people
13:49 turn up for GMA. I encourage you more to come. But I see the enthusiasm to know
13:54 God's word. But my my fear is that after we've known
13:59 all these things, so what if the fruit of all that we know does
14:05 not result in love?
14:12 in the middle of the verse. Sorry. He says, "Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought
14:20 to know. Actually, uh the worst attitude in life
14:27 uh is to think you know. Uh I don't know about you, but when I
14:33 grow up, right, uh when my parents always try to correct me, right? Uh what's the first thing that you usually
14:39 say kids? I know. No, none of you. Just me.
14:49 And every time my mom before she opened her mouth, I know.
14:55 No, none of your kids do that to you. W I came to the right church. This is a wonderful church.
15:02 Wow. I And my my mom gets so annoyed and my dad especially my dad would be like,
15:09 "Oh yeah, you know everything. You know more than me." You know, but in his heart he said, "I
15:15 eat more salt than you eat rice." It's it's it's so irritating. And and I
15:23 love this story because there's this man. Do you know this man? Anyone know this man? Uh he's George
15:30 Washington Carver and he's an amazing genius. Uh in fact he found 145 ways to
15:37 to use the peanut just from a peanut. Um and so um he is
15:44 so famous for that. But do you know the story behind how he came up to find out those things about a peanut? See when he
15:51 was a young man he told he told the story when he was a young man he was like this you know he said God God
15:57 please please tell me the mysteries of the universe all of us one I don't know
16:04 about you I' I've come to points where I'm like oh God if you could just tell me everything then I know what to do
16:12 right and here's this young man reveal to me Lord oh all these mysteries then
16:17 God answered him Um, sorry, but that that knowledge is
16:22 reserved for me alone. So then he said, then God, how about
16:28 just the mystery of a peanut? And then God said, well George, that's
16:35 about your size. And that's how he got the revelations for all the things in the peanuts.
16:42 because he thought he needed to know all the answers to life. But what he needed
16:49 to know and all he needed to know or all that he could
16:54 acquire or his brain could fit was just a tiny peanut.
17:02 See, we always think we know more than we I don't know about you. Okay, it's
17:08 just me. It's just me. I always think I have to use me better not. We are all
17:14 very good people. Sorry. I always think I know
17:21 um uh I remember when I went through premarital counseling and then I sat with a counselor because I'm a pastor. I
17:27 also counsel people. Then I remember the premarital counseling when I was sitting through it was so dreadful because I was
17:34 like sitting down there and I was like yes I know yes I know. Yes I know. In my head you know. Yes I know. And then it
17:40 came to a part at one point they uh the the counselor said hey actually by your personality profile and the the research
17:47 uh that we did we had to do uh test and all kind of things both of you are not compatible
17:52 then in my heart yes I know
17:59 see but it was not the knowledge that I'm not compatible with my wife
18:05 that really mattered whether our marriage was going to work out or It was the knowledge to know that God
18:12 gave his love to us and gave us a love for one another. And we have over these
18:19 nine years had to work through the differences really hard.
18:25 But the difference that made it was not the knowledge I knew. Oh, that my wife
18:30 is like that. Oh, that she has these kind of habits. Oh, she thinks this certain ways. Oh, she's going to uh
18:37 what? Actually, at the end of 9 years now, I I really realized that I don't know
18:43 anything about my wife. The only thing I know is to love her.
18:51 And I think it's the same thing. It's it's a mystery. Humans are mystery. If peanuts
18:57 has so many things that it can do, God created us so much more
19:04 complex than a peanut. And we to know each other, it's going to take more than
19:10 just knowledge. And in fact, it is so intimate the word no that when the Bible
19:16 uses the word no uh uh in Genesis when Adam
19:22 knew his wife, it was talking not just of knowing in the head but knowing
19:29 physically, knowing intimately.
19:35 But the problem is that now in the Corinthian church um they
19:41 were growing with different levels of conscience in the gospel. Some of the people understood the love of God and
19:48 that freedom that he sets free and so they were okay you know they were like ah there's no other gods you know uh
19:55 there's only one true god so it doesn't matter what we eat right and uh there
20:01 were there were others that also reach a point you know in in verse 5 says that we realize that idols don't really exist
20:10 there's no real gods actually all the temple gods are just statues they mean
20:15 nothing. So therefore surely it doesn't defile us you know but the levels of
20:20 this reality is not the same for everyone. The knowledge of God's love for us every
20:27 one of us are is working on that. I I think about it this way. Um in a family,
20:34 right? Uh a father supposed Okay, a father is supposed to love all their sons or daughters equally, all their
20:40 children. Right. Right. Have you been in families, I don't know about you, uh
20:45 where you feel like that? Uh all the children will always tell you, "Oh, father has a favorite one."
20:52 No. God. Wow. This church is wonderful.
20:59 known play favorites, love very well. I anyway I grew in the type of family
21:04 right that that I felt my father favored my brother and it was so painful growing up cuz
21:14 uh really uh I will get caning but my brother don't get you know I would I
21:20 will get discipline but my brother won't get uh partially because he's ADHD and he didn't understand some things but but
21:28 also uh I think because the love of food kind of joined my father and brother
21:33 well together that's why they a certain size together and and so my father loved
21:39 him uh I felt more
21:44 uh until the day that my dad passed away then the reality sunk in actually I
21:51 don't think so I I didn't realize and I didn't realize
21:56 the reality that of that it took me a to take a step back to really think about
22:03 it. Actually, he loved me more in some sense because he disciplined me harder
22:11 than my son, my brother. He took time to talk to me about the problems and my
22:18 issues and I was the harder one to love. Honestly, uh actually I I heard that from my mom.
22:28 I was the harder one to love. My brother doesn't answer back as much as I do. But
22:34 they took the effort, no matter how tough I was, no matter how many times I said I know, to try to bring me to a
22:41 level of understanding that reality. And I think it's the same way with church. We all know God loves us. We know all go
22:50 we all know that God is true. But not all has come to the reality. We're thinking, "Ah, yeah, God favors pastors
22:56 more. Hey, if you favor me more, why am I bald? No, he loves all of us. But he said
23:04 this, I love all you all so much that I know every single hair on your head.
23:10 Every single one that falls, it's equal. He doesn't count like Yeah, today I don't want to count your uh uh uh
23:16 David's hair count, you know. I Leon has no more hair. No more counting. No, he
23:22 still counts you know every hair that is on our head, every tear we cry and but
23:29 the problem is there are these different realities and for everyone is not the
23:34 same. So for for grow when I was growing up it was tough. My brother had a
23:41 different reality because of his um the way his mind thinks. And so as I was
23:48 growing up, my mom would tell me, "You cannot do this. You cannot do that." And
23:54 it really irks me. Uh because uh um I
23:59 felt like why am I deprived of this privilege or why can't I do these
24:05 things? um you know and so in the church it was the
24:10 same thing. They was some people were still perceiving that food offered to idols are still def are defiled.
24:19 But the question that is more important at this point is not whether whether it is right to eat food offered
24:27 to idols or not. The question that is important is so how should we respond to
24:33 those who love God and are kn how we respond as those who love God and are
24:39 known by him. So the answer is that we need to love others the way
24:46 how God loves us says what be careful however that the
24:53 exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block. I I've heard sermons over this verse a lot and they teach you
24:59 how not to be a stumbling block. You know, don't do this because you'll be a stumbling block. And I always thought
25:04 that my mom uh told me not to do the things because she didn't want me to be
25:09 a stumbling block. Actually, what my mom and dad was trying
25:15 to teach me was to learn to exercise love instead of exercising my rights.
25:24 Paul is saying the same thing to the Corinthian church. See the problem with
25:29 us is not about stumbling block. If you f focus on time actually anything you do ask people can say you still stumble me
25:35 one. Do you realize that I I don't know okay as a pastor I always
25:41 feel like that sometimes go bald also can be a stumbling block one and that's why when I came to this church I before
25:48 that I had hair. Uh I remember that uh when I was serving in Singapore and then I was um uh a worship leader then and I
25:55 wanted to shave my head ball already then like many years ago but my pastor said no no no cannot no cannot I'm like
26:03 huh why I cannot shave my head ball he say if you shave your head ball all the
26:08 people when worshiing is going to see your head only not see God
26:17 and I struggled I struggled And I said, "Yeah, it's true." You know, uh maybe I
26:23 don't need to exercise my right. Maybe I don't need to do it. So finally, uh in a
26:28 new context, you've never seen me with hair. So So it's not a stumbling block anymore, you know. Uh and I can finally
26:35 exercise my rights. But the point is I could have just shaved my head.
26:43 My it is my right. So what if people are distracted, right? No big deal. After a while, they
26:52 get used to it. We can also justify it, right? After a while, they'll probably
26:57 think I'm I look cute or something. You know, that's what Jo said I am. Uh
27:06 but I knew certainly standing on this stage there's a responsibility that's larger than just about whether I have
27:15 the right to shave my head or not. And so I decided yes, don't shave my head.
27:20 And uh and now that I get to shave my head, I'm I'm pretty excited about it.
27:25 But actually, it's not that easy. I realized I just learned it like every day I still have to go and shave and
27:31 it's very irritating. Last time I I I don't even like combing my hair. So I thought I'll shave it then I don't have
27:36 to bother about my hair. But and now every day I spend at least 15 minutes trying to get it okay so that you won't
27:43 laugh at me. But here it is.
27:48 Paul was saying be careful not to be a stumbling block. It is not the point
27:54 about being a stumbling block. Be careful in the way you exercise your
28:02 rights. Instead of focusing on our rights, let us love someone else enough
28:08 to let our rights go. God chose to give up his rights so that we may be chosen
28:13 to inherit him. And that's what the story of communion is. If God says, "It
28:19 is my right to sit on my throne. It is my right
28:25 as God to wipe these people out. It is my right as the sovereign
28:33 to do what I believe is right. We'll all be gone.
28:39 But he said, "My rights are not as important as how much I love you."
28:51 So exercising our rights at the expense of our brother sisters, Paul was saying
28:56 even he brings it to the next level. It's even scarier. He says exercising your rights at the expense of our
29:02 brother sister is sinning against Christ. So this weak brother or sister for whom Christ has died is destroyed by your
29:09 knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against
29:15 Christ. Now that's a scary thought. You know, back to the story about me shaving my
29:21 head ball, right? That means if I chose to exercise my
29:27 right at that point, I sin. Huh? No. Just shave head.
29:36 No big deal. I never saw that until I went back to this passage again. And then I thought about it. I thank God
29:42 somehow I decided not to shave my head, you know. But looking back on it,
29:49 I the Paul was saying, "Oh, it's quite pointant to me. If I had the chose, oh,
29:57 this is my right. It's okay. I'll do this anyway, I would
30:03 have sinned against Christ." Wow. Now, how scary is that?
30:10 And and I don't know, is that scary to you? It is scary to me cuz I didn't realize I
30:17 was I was I was so how would we call it? My my my I'm so
30:24 it's so easy to fall into the trap of doing things out of
30:32 just exercising my rights rather than love. If we are all working for the sake of
30:38 loving our brother sister in Christ, we no longer have to worry about being stumbling blocks. And I'm going to give
30:44 an example again and from my life. This is a picture of Do you know who's this? Yeah, that's
30:52 my son. Cute, right? Uh uh one day you get to hear the story
30:59 about how he came into our lives miraculously and uh we really thank God for him. But being a father, I remember
31:06 the first day I held him uh uh um it was
31:11 magical. I don't know how what what other word to describe it. And I held him in my arms and and it felt like
31:18 whatever rights as a father I have to do, I would be willing to give it up all
31:26 for him. And uh little did I know when I think that way uh how much things I have to
31:33 give up. For example, I have to give up sleep. I have to give up sorry, I have
31:38 to give up seeing TV. In fact, uh it has been almost a year since I last was last
31:45 watch a movie and I finally said, "Uh, grandma, can you take care of him? Me
31:51 and my wife go and see Endgame." Okay. Finally. But I had to give up many rights. In
31:57 fact, um um we we hardly are able to see TV now because every time we have to see either uh Roboci
32:05 or uh uh YouTube and he likes this all
32:11 those toys being put together or cars and
32:16 sometimes I get really bored but then I I have to give it up. I
32:22 remember my whole family so because my father my mother and my brother stays together with me and so so sometimes
32:27 they're watching a movie downstairs and then we're bringing him down and then it's violent then they all
32:33 off the TV you know because out of love for him we know that these things can
32:42 stumble him these things can affect his life
32:47 you know uh it's very funny how fast children pick up things we never let him see any of these shows. But one day he
32:53 came back and then he take this thing he made and then he called it a gun and then pew pew pew papa gun. I'm like I
32:59 never even teach you guns. How did that happen? And so we have to do it. But
33:04 it's so easy when you see this face. It's so easy to love. I know it's not so easy when you look at your brother and
33:10 sister in Christ and you're like I can't even stand that face.
33:17 But I think Paul in an act of communion and and reaching when he talks about
33:22 this is to tell the Corinthian church when we want to love one another, when
33:28 we want to exercise our rights, the first face we should see is this one.
33:46 This is the face of love. This is the face of someone who said,
33:53 "I'm willing to give up my rights because I love another person more than
33:59 myself. So what? I have all knowledge. So what if I have all knowledge in the universe?
34:05 But in the end, I do not have love." So today, even as we come to the table,
34:12 I would like to invite the worship team and even as we remember what God has
34:18 done for us, let us remember that we are called not just to know the gospel. We're not just
34:25 called to know have all the knowledge of all the truth.
34:30 We are called to be known by him. And that means that we have to love him
34:37 and that we have to love one another. This song that I'm going to introduce to
34:42 you is is is a song that I think is
34:48 is amazing in telling the story about what he's done. But even as we before we
34:53 partake of what he's given to us, I want you to remember him.
