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00:01 Uh good morning church. Uh today before we start the sermon we
00:07 are privileged to have with us Esther Co and Dwway from the co family.
00:17 As you are aware two weeks ago we incorporated this into our sermon and
00:23 that way um gave the closing and 3 days after that there was a high court. I was
00:29 very thankful my fellow elders Yidian and Yulam attended together with Linda and May. It was a packed house and a
00:37 landmark decision that has been carried by every major news portter globally
00:46 from CNN to BBC was done. This is landmark. I will now
00:53 read out a statement from the co family and then I would like to all of us to
00:60 pray for them. They have been here quite regularly. They are now members of GMA.
01:06 So be nice to them and say hi to them after church service. Can you guys do that? All right. Let me just read it out
01:14 uh the statement. We have a bit of time. We can do impromptu. Why don't you give me your mic? Sorry I put you on the
01:20 spot. All right. So, let me read this out.
01:26 Judgment of the civil suit last week on November 5th. The core family received the judgment that confirmed what was
01:33 already highlighted as findings and special task force reports. The ruling affirmed that what the family believed
01:39 that pastor Raymond Cole was a victim of an enforced disappearance. The family would like to thank God for
01:45 favorable judgment. gives us hope that in the darkest, most wicked circumstances, God light can still
01:51 shine. The judgment holds the government accountable for the serious violations of human rights perpetrated against
01:58 those who have been disappeared. It upholds liberty for all persons who have been placed outside the protection of
02:04 the law through extra legal and extra judicial abductions. We feel it's important to provide
02:10 clarity on the damages awarded and there's been some public discussion on this matter. Some have noted a
02:16 difference with the award in Amrich Chimat's case and this is due to differences in the legal basis of our
02:21 respective suits. In fact, in terms of damages awarded, both Susanna and Nohayati were awarded similar amounts.
02:29 The court awarded Susanna a total 3 million general aggravated exemplary damages amounting plus 215 cost. In
02:38 fact, OIT received the same amount in damages plus an additional 14,457
02:45 for children's education fees. As Raymond was a named plaintiff in Susanna's court suit, he was awarded a
02:52 total amount of around 34 million. This 34 million comprises general
02:58 damages of 10,000 per day, amounting to 31.8 8 million from 13th
03:04 February 20117 until it is found plus another 2 million in damages.
03:10 In contrast, no only sued the government for negl negligence but not for enforced disappearance of armory. The attorney
03:17 general chambers had appealed against the order of the high court and this could overthrow the findings. The case could go to the court of appeal and
03:24 therefore potentially to the federal court. Hence the family could face another long drawn out process.
03:31 The family has requested for meeting the home minister young daughter Dr. Sri Sai Nasuton Isma to get a chance to brief
03:38 him and to hear from outside. The recent high court ruling is based on clear evidence in an consistent the findings
03:44 of both the human rights commission suakam released in 2019 and a special
03:50 task force report a classified report that was only provided to the family in the course of the civil suit. The report
03:56 was commissioned by the cabinet itself and provided detailed evidence to support his conclusion. To our
04:02 disappointment, despite this consistent finding, the government did not persecute those named as suspects in the
04:08 report. Prayer requests this for us FBC. The family prays that the high court
04:14 decision will not be overturned. Pray for the attorney general chamber to withdraw the appeal and honor the high
04:19 court decision which is consistent with the findings of Su Hakam and court ruling that Raymond and Amry were
04:25 victims of enforced disappearance. Pray that a person with integrity and
04:30 honesty will be appointed to lead the investigation given that suakam the report and also recent court ruling
04:36 indicates that high ranking police were involved and still have not been found and brought in for questioning.
04:43 Pray for perseverance for the family after 8 years. They feel like the
04:48 judgment, the possible appeal now opens the door to the next phase and the ending is yet again uncertain. The
04:55 family thanks everyone who has been praying and who stood by us all these years. We pray and hope the government
05:01 will not give excuses, condone or remain silent in the face of such violations
05:06 and uphold constitutional rights, the rule of law and the misuse of authority. I'm going to lead us in prayer. But I
05:14 want to say 8 years takes the toll on any family. They are family.
05:21 They bleed. They struggle. So before I do that, I know I put them on the spot.
05:26 Perhaps Esther, you want to just say something in closing.
05:32 Okay. That we always give to the husband. Just quick one. Huh?
05:37 Um Okay. Um, so I think you heard the uh
05:45 the the statement and um the reason for that is to ensure the uh accuracy of the details, right? Because it's an ongoing
05:52 uh suit, right? Uh as you heard um there
05:57 are of course even the numbers that jump up like 34 versus three, right? Uh and I
06:04 think we also want uh uh to also emphasize I think there's need for for
06:09 the church um to also not just that uh support just the co-families but also
06:17 I think that's very important because what happened to her is equally tragic um and and we both want to uh support
06:25 and and also ensure that she also gets the sense of justice right uh then
06:31 secondly for I think for the certainly in the next phase. Uh I think you've you
06:36 you've already shared this morning. Um but also pray for um the other things
06:41 maybe perhaps not mention health. Yeah. As is again it's ongoing, right? Um
06:46 nowadays uh sleep, rest and it's a day-to-day thing now, right? I don't know what the
06:53 and having to react or respond to it's stressful. Yeah, it's I think can I just say guys, it's
07:02 very stressful for a family to go through this. I want you to have some humanity
07:08 8 years. You imagine your father disappears and you're in a media spotlight. Do you know what it
07:15 does to a family? They are now permanent residents of FBC.
07:21 Be nice. make them feel like family especially gaba people right
07:28 okay thank you let's pray can I invite us to stand and you feel led raise your
07:34 hand if you don't we'll just stand lord we just ask that the co family are just
07:40 human like us and eight years of fighting this being in the media spotlight a roller coaster it does
07:49 affect sleep health mental well-being We pray for the church to uphold this in
07:56 mercy and love for all enforced people regardless of religion and race. Whether
08:03 it be Amry Chie, whether it be Raymond, we uphold the law in this country as as
08:10 exiles in the land. We pray as spiritual exiles that as we prosper so the country
08:18 prospers and the country prospers when the law is upheld. So we ask the law is upheld and we support the government
08:25 endeavor on this. So everything that has been said, we put in your hands. And for
08:32 the family's well-being, we ask that since you brought Esper and Dway into our midst that we become family to them,
08:40 uh, and love them, care for them, we know not for the way ahead,
08:46 however it goes with the attorney general's chambers. We ask
08:51 that we as a church will walk alongside those who suffer
08:58 and that we open our eyes to elephants in the room as what we mentioned two weeks ago.
09:06 Change our hearts. Oh Lord, change our minds. Give us a new heart and a new mind in this. And we say this
09:13 in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you. And I like to thank both Esther and that way.
09:21 Okay. The next week's sermon, Dr. Peter, the Lord's Beloved, 30th November, David
09:27 Bashiba, Alex and 7th December, David Fe, the Lord will wow, we got a really cool nice
09:38 I think they gave it to me so I don't run around, but it's really cool. I'm sorry, I'm getting distracted. Right. In
09:45 2014, this woman, Elizabeth Holmes, made it to 400 most influential people of
09:53 Forbes at number 100. Fortune magazine named her under 30 most
09:59 influential. Time magazine named her woman of the year. Barack Obama gave her the
10:08 presidential award for best entrepreneur. Glamour magazine named her
10:13 woman of the year. At the age of 19, she started a biotech
10:19 company and the idea was to be able to test your
10:26 health by a prick of the finger. The company was called Tyrannos
10:34 and it achieved unicorn status in Turu 014
10:39 with 9 billion making her the richest
10:44 woman in America. In 22 she raised 10
10:50 million after leaving Stamford to do this. And so the milliondoll question,
10:57 why is it most people haven't heard of her? If she's so famous,
11:04 why most people don't know her? Because she was convicted of fraud.
11:13 The entire Toronto thing was considered a scam.
11:18 She was later sued. The payback was $450 million and she was
11:25 sentenced to 11 and a half years in jail.
11:31 Early this year, she gave an interview and she said, "I'm innocent
11:37 and when I come out of prison, I'm going to continue my biio medical calling."
11:44 And I saw an early interview, this is my calling in life to make the world a
11:50 better place. That's what I'm called for.
11:56 Plateau said the worst of all deceptions is
12:03 and I would tell you this is a problem everyone faces. So
12:09 today's sermon I think is very practical. It was very telling to me.
12:15 But let me give you the definition first. And I want to give you the biblical difference between
12:25 selfdeception is what we think and this is quite a correct definition. The action of practice or allowing oneself
12:32 to believe a false or unvalidated feeling ideal situation is true. This is
12:37 quite AI is right. Okay. The Bible, especially this text, gives
12:42 you a more nuance description. You know what it is? The action of practice to
12:48 align oneself to believe that partial obedience
12:53 to God is acceptable. Now, that's putting it bit more
12:59 differently and more importantly. So, we're going to look King Saul, which is a tragic story, and we're going to see
13:06 whether we see ourselves in him. Let's pray. Lord, we ask for this important topic, difficult topic that uh you
13:17 humble our hearts and that we hear your voice and we heed and when we listen, we
13:25 obey in Jesus name. We say this. Amen. Why? Got bad news for you.
13:35 Sorry, I have to take this away. Go get a refund. Did you get it from Shopppee?
13:42 Shopppee stuff shake. I'm sorry. Right. And we're going to read the text again.
13:48 Verse 7. Then Saul attacked the Malachitis all the way to Shu near the eastern border of Egypt. He took a king
13:54 of the Amalachites alive. All his people. He totally destroyed the sword. Saw the armies span the best of the
13:60 sheep and the cattle, the fat cows, the lambs, everything that was good. These they were willing to destroy completely
14:05 everything that were despised and weak. He totally destroyed. Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel. I regret I made
14:11 Saul king because turned away from me and has not carried out my instruction. Samuel was angry and he cried out to the
14:18 Lord all that night. Early in the morning, Samuel got up and went to meet Saul. But he was told Saul has gone to
14:25 Camel. There he has set out a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone down to Gilgal. When Saul reached him,
14:31 Saul said, "The Lord bless you. I have carried out the Lord's instructions." But Samuel said, "What then is this
14:39 bleeding of sheep in my ears? What are this loing of cattle that are here?" Saul answered, "The soldiers brought
14:44 them for Amalachi. They spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God." Well, we totally
14:51 destroyed the rest. "Enough," Samuel said to Saul. "Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night." "Tell me,"
14:57 Saul replied. Samuel said, "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did
15:02 you not become the head of the tribes of Israel, the Lord anointed you king over
15:07 Israel, and he sent you on a mission, saying, "Go completely destroyed those wicked people, the Malachites, wage war
15:14 against them until he wiped them out. Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did
15:20 you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?" But I did obey the Lord. Saul said, "I went on a
15:26 mission. The Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Malachites and brought back Eg their king. The soldiers
15:32 took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God in
15:37 order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgar. And you almost hear him
15:43 say, "Hallelujah." But Samuel replied, "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the
15:50 Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is
15:56 better than a fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, arrogance, the evil of idolatry. Because
16:02 you have rejected the word of the Lord. He has rejected you as king. Then Saul said to Samuel, "I've sinned.
16:09 I violated the Lord's commands and your instructions. I afraid of the man, so I gave it to them. Now I beg you, forgive
16:16 my sin and come back with me so that I might worship the Lord." We're going to look at four things which I think are
16:23 very practical. The mechanism for selfdeception, the symptoms of selfdeception, the root of selfdeception
16:31 and the remedy for selfdeception. The mechanism for selfdeception. This
16:36 was quite fascinating. You see, you read the verse when Samuel
16:41 reached him, Samuel didn't say a word. Immediately Saul said, "Wow, this guy PR very good.
16:48 The Lord bless you. I have carried out the law's instructions
16:53 and scholars have picked up. Samuel didn't say a word.
16:59 You know this is like uh when Donald Trump comes to Malaysia, right, and opens the plane of the door, everybody
17:04 compound and then he does the Trump dance. If you land a Kia, would anyone do a
17:10 dance for you? No. But why would he do it? because
17:15 they know why he's coming, right? So the point is so knows why
17:23 Samuel is coming. He knows. So he tried to ch
17:29 he tried to cover the ground and hey hi brother come come sit now sit now li
17:35 I have carried out lost instructions but you see so knows verse three you're
17:42 supposed to wipe out everything and if you were not around two weeks ago we dealt with this the elephant in room the
17:49 idea of holy warfare and ham those of you interested you can look at
17:55 that that's a completely completely separate topic about justice because some people struggle with the idea of
18:00 genocide. But the point is don't keep the cattle, don't profit. But Saul
18:08 chooses not to know. But Saul and the army spared a king and the best of the
18:15 sheep and cattle everything that was good. But you see, he knows. You're not supposed to, but he chooses not to know.
18:21 Now this mechanism is very important and is very relevant to us because he
18:27 chooses not to know. He conditions himself not to know. I have carried out
18:33 the law's instructions. He repeats it twice. You tell a lie long enough,
18:39 you will believe it. But deep down inside,
18:45 Saul knows. Then Saul said to Samuel, "I've sinned. I violated the Lord's
18:50 commands, instructions. Why? I was afraid
18:56 of the truth. That is the text.
19:02 Now, how does it mechanism operate today? This one all the wives understand because men are men got problem with
19:10 this one. You cough pain, wife will tell you go see doctor. What do you tell your
19:17 wife? No problem. Wife said don't be stubborn. Go see
19:23 doctor. You said I'm okay.
19:29 You know but you choose not to know. Therefore you don't know.
19:37 Eventually you go to see doctor. Do doctor say got this. Yeah. My wife was right. Therefore deep down you know. Correct.
19:46 Let me double down this bit. Huh? Let's just say staff accuse you of
19:53 certain thing. Let's just say a company got three directors. The three directors each also got a mind of their own. Say a
19:60 say ba say ca everyone say the same thing. You know but no face m so you say all
20:09 the stuff are wrong. You are right. You choose not to know.
20:14 Therefore, you don't know. But the truth is you have a major
20:21 problem. Now, it's the same thing on the other side. HR interviews you, says, "We're
20:27 going to let you go. You're not doing your job." You say, "Well, you're very racist." Uh, is because I'm filling the
20:33 color, Chinese, Indian, whatever. You know, but you don't know.
20:42 But deep down, you know. That's the point. Now let me tell you why this is
20:48 important mechanism because we can take this to very serious matters. This one
20:54 our parents all know. If your son get caught in school and you love your son and the son say hey your boyh stole
21:01 money you will stand out. What kind of school it is? I sue you man. You got any proof or not? You calling my son a th go
21:09 home you lock everything. You correct? You know,
21:16 but you don't know. Therefore, you choose not to know, but
21:22 deep down you know. Correct? Now, this one I have personal
21:29 experience. When you're in the position to help someone, but company is restructuring,
21:36 company is slimming down, he's going to take over your place. They call this setting you up to fail.
21:44 The guy walks into it board meeting. I don't know.
21:50 Actually, you know, and so he gets blamed.
21:55 He loses a job. Your position is secure.
22:01 Is his fault. You know, but you choose not to know.
22:08 Therefore, you don't know, but deep down, you know. And it's the same level
22:14 for this. Two weeks ago, I brought this up. This is the Bwalk
22:20 concentration camp within near distance from the town of Wear
22:28 where at the end of the war, they caught Nazi soldiers burning bodies. Those are
22:34 bodies stockpiled on the lorry at the back. And General
22:40 Patton brings in the whole town to say, "Look, it's just out there.
22:46 You mean you didn't see anything? You didn't see the smoke? You didn't know
22:51 hundreds of thousands of people are being butchered? You didn't see anything?
22:59 We didn't know. But deep down they knew.
23:08 Ever wondered why decent people can do the most wicked
23:14 acts imaginable? I've always struggled with this. We see
23:19 stories like two weeks ago where you can butcher a human being in Rwanda
23:24 in Cambodia. I've been to Cambodia for business. And you think the guy is the devil. But you look at him, if you took
23:31 him out of the killing fields, he would be like me and you raising kids. There's
23:36 a movie out there now. Russell Crow that talks about the Nuremberg war crimes.
23:43 And the man sentenced for sending thousands of Jews to death love his kids
23:48 to bits. You wonder why? And Tim Keller puts it
23:54 the best. Selfdeception is not the biggest sin
24:00 is the means by which men can do the most horrific acts imaginable.
24:08 And the same pattern when you tell your wife I don't have a problem with my
24:15 health is the same mechanism when your son is caught up and accused of things
24:21 and you said you are targeting my son or when you play office politics or you as a boss or as a pastor or as an elder say
24:29 it's not my fault is that same mechanism that scales up. You've got to think this
24:36 through. And of course, the best is Star Wars. I'm sorry. I haven't done this a long time.
24:42 All right, I have to do Star Wars geek, right? So Star Wars, right? Most famous scene of all the series. All you
24:48 Mandalorian people, Grou people, please. All you young people, you never seen Star Wars until you seen Empire Strikes
24:54 Back. That's cannon. All right. All Star Wars people, wake up. There was life
24:59 before CGI. 1981, 45 years ago. Millennials, we really
25:06 made movies then, not like nowadays. And in the most quintic scene, Darth Vader
25:12 faces Luke Skywalker and he said, "Do you know who I am?" And she says, "I know you killed my father. You are such
25:18 a horrible man. I am the hero. You're the bad guy. I I am on a mission. My
25:24 mission in life is to wipe out evil guys like you. I am a good guy. You have
25:30 nothing to do with me." And he mentions the most famous line. No. And there's
25:36 the four famous words which change cinema histories. I am your
25:43 wow thank you. But what happens after that is he says
25:49 no no no. And there's a very important line after that. He says this no search
25:55 yourself down deep down you know
26:02 and that's the point of today's sermon how you and I can go deep down
26:11 and face certain things behind how do we get to the deep down and now
26:18 we going to talk about symptoms and you're going to Ask yourself, and
26:23 I'm going to ask myself, do we have the symptoms?
26:29 The first is so obvious. The need to boost your ego first. He took the king
26:35 alive. Why is it important you take the king? Because if you take the king, you
26:42 are a king of kings. It makes you emperor. Number two is so is the text is very
26:48 ironic. He says he's fighting for God, but he went to Carmel and he set up a
26:54 statue for himself. I want you to look at this and you see I want you I want you to think this
26:59 through because this is very common to us. You know
27:05 when you look I think she had a brand consultant, you know, do her do her
27:13 makeup and also her her her office attire. When you look at her dressing,
27:20 doesn't she remind you of somebody quite famous?
27:27 Correct. This is intentional branding. Actually,
27:32 it's brilliant. You know, the posture and everything. It was so famous and so
27:37 done well. I mean, look, I'm nothing against brand consultants or anybody here, okay? I think this is quite
27:43 strategically interesting. It's quite smart. But if you watch the videos, everything was curated right down to the
27:49 hair, to the lipstick, to the attire, and even to a voice. You rec. And it was
27:55 so well done. She nailed it. Now, here's the problem. The moment they call you
28:01 the next Steve Jobs, you better live up to it. And when your research doesn't
28:08 go past peer review and you have investors in and your board has people
28:14 like Henry Kissinger, you know, her entire board all went on to form part of
28:19 the US cabinet. They they called it the most powerful board, you know, and venture capitalists have put in 9
28:26 billion. The old saying comes, fake it till you make it.
28:33 The problem is she never made it and the illusion
28:40 becomes reality. I want you to pick this up. The second one she does is manipulation.
28:47 And she does it in two ways. The first is blameshifting.
28:53 Verse 15, Saul answers, "The soldiers brought Amalachites." In the Hebrew is
28:59 they brought. Oh, I had nothing to do with it. I was too busy doing it. Some
29:05 rascal soldiers took the sheep back. But you know what? The sheep are here, man.
29:10 They are good sheep. Hey, the soldiers
29:17 action. If you can't break dance, you can't
29:25 break dance. A kangaroo hop is not break dancing.
29:34 But if media tells you this was the worst performance by an Australian athlete, you scored zero. You're an
29:41 embarrassment to the country. What do you do? You blame shift and make it
29:47 what? A gender issue. You're going after me because I'm a
29:53 woman. Nothing to do you being a woman. Hello. And in fact, the head of the Australian uh uh sporting thing said it.
30:01 She's being she's being torn down because she's a woman. Nothing to do with woman, dude. Yo, you can't break
30:08 dance. Full stop. Kangaroos are kangaroos.
30:16 Not my fault. Yian did it.
30:21 Blame Yidian. I wasn't there. You didn't. We got to have a talk about this
30:28 blame shifting. The second one, he downplays it. Look, it's only man.
30:34 Cool, cool, cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was wrong. I was wrong. But hey, can you relax or not, bro? Relax. Don't
30:39 Don't get so breathe. Don't hyperventilate. Mama lie. Mh.
30:44 Don't Don't Why you What's wrong with you, man? See, very clever. I shift it back to you. Okay. Okay. I'm sorry if I
30:52 offended you. Wow, great apology. You just threw the apology back to the guy
30:57 and you say that, you know what, you're overreacting. He's really good at this, you know, but
31:02 this is the best. He uses God's name on morality to
31:08 justify sinful behavior. The soldiers brought them from Malachi despair the best of the sheep to
31:15 sacrifice to the Lord your God. The author is very clear to pick this up. He
31:21 uses the word your God four times in the chapter. And when you shift to King
31:27 David, I have sinned against God.
31:34 And the best example of this is this. Sorry, I'm a movie guy. Anyone of us you
31:40 here watch this? Anyone here knows where this is from? Breaking Bad.
31:48 Everything I do, huh? L Paul, I did for you because I love you. You know,
31:56 I did it. Then you must tone down a bit eye to eye.
32:01 I did it for ABC. Good.
32:09 Here's what he probably told Samuel. Samuel
32:15 the sheep. You know, my guys, they're out of control. But since the sheep are
32:21 here, we're going to hold a big
32:26 feast for your God. And Samuel,
32:32 I want you to preach. See? Good. Huh?
32:40 And here's the key. where what you desire and what you fear is more
32:47 important than obeying God. And they're two sides of the same coin. Why did you pounce on the plunder is
32:55 found only twice? The Hebrew word pounce
32:60 is used only twice in the Old Testament. Is used in chapter 14 where the
33:05 Israelites pounce on the meat.
33:11 meaning he's not really interested in sacrificing to the Lord. He's interested
33:17 in the loot. Now, the opposite of it
33:24 is he's afraid of what people say. Let me
33:29 go a bit into dangerous territories. And I'm not
33:36 I'm not judging anyone. Let's just say
33:43 you're a girl and you slept with a guy and you come to FBC
33:52 and you hear scriptures saying keep yourself holy until after marriage. I'm
33:57 not pinning anybody please. You would tell yourself I loved him. I loved him.
34:03 I love him. Actually the guy is just horny. Let me tell you that.
34:09 When things get bad, you will say, "Look, you used me." But at that moment, I loved him. And
34:16 then say you meet a pastor, an elder,
34:21 and they ask you, "Are you honoring the Lord?" Yes, we are. Elder Anna, we pray a lot together.
34:31 You see where we're going with this? It's a dangerous slide. And this is the
34:36 worst you know and there's two more to close in he always have an answer for
34:42 everything one that one you can sense you got to go to chapter 13 chapter 13
34:47 Samuel asked what do you do at that gate he said when I saw the man was scattering you did not come I had to do
34:55 a burn offering basically was supposed to wait meaning it's not my fault my man was scattering it's not my fault you
35:01 didn't come on time you've done a foolish You see here are little patterns. Now I
35:08 want us to look at ourselves because this one is an Limla. I got answer for
35:14 everything. One and this one.
35:25 Look at his apology. I have sinned but please honor me before the elders of
35:32 my people before Israel. What is his motivation for apologizing?
35:40 Is a politician's apology so that he will get back his honor
35:47 before the elders of his people. It is a disingenous apology.
35:54 And in Malaysia, apology comes at a point of a gun.
35:59 Oh, you know, you shouldn't have done this for this thing. Why do you bring liquor in? No, I bring in bring in. You
36:05 do that. Why? I'll tell I'm sorry. I'm sorry I brought liquor in. It's not sincere
36:12 because you're worried of losing votes, losing your academia. Now, I want you to look at this.
36:22 If you're not in the list or you don't see you're in that list,
36:27 you're lying to yourself. Everyone here is in this list.
36:34 Now, how do you get out of it? You need to look at the root. And let's
36:40 spend some time on the the most important text. Now, everybody looking
36:46 very depressed already. So you always has bad news before you get good news. H
36:51 but the root is very telling and there are four verses here I think we need to really take to heart. Let's use back the
36:60 issue of it could be anything right? It could be you slept with a guy you felt
37:05 guilty uh you you you you took bribes you felt bad uh you were nasty to your
37:11 parents you felt bad. What's the best way of burying that voice?
37:17 What's the best way? I tell you the best way. Come to church.
37:24 Yeah, I give you even better solution to bury that. Get very involved in church.
37:33 So when the moment people tell you, you know what you did was wrong, you can tell
37:40 him, have you seen my CV in church or not? I'm an elder of the church. You know, you know how much I've sacrificed
37:47 the amount of time I done in counseling. You dare tell me I'm wrong. Lose your power.
37:53 Even if you don't use those words, your mind says it. You know what you're
37:58 doing? You're trying to buy your way out of your wrongdoing.
38:05 You are saying, "God, I know I did wrong. I took cattle, but look, I gave it back to you. So that should even the
38:12 skills, right, God?" Right? Right? Okay. Now we are negotiating. He's negotiating
38:18 with God. And then he puts another verse to heed is better than a fat of rams.
38:26 Now I want us to pick this up because this comes up very early in the text.
38:31 Because the text says, "I have obeyed the Lord." In Hebrew, the Hebrew
38:37 language doesn't have the word obedience. The Hebrew language has the word I heard the Lord. So there's a
38:44 rhetorical reply. So Saul tells Samos, I heard the Lord. As Samuel says, really I
38:51 think you just heard sheep. And so you don't listen.
38:56 You think you listen, but you're not. And that we see it echoed in Jesus. Every hearing but not
39:03 listening. And then he mentions two things which are really something a lot of people try
39:10 to bypass but it's a very important text. Rebellion
39:16 is the sin of divination. In Hebrew is stronger. You know in Hebrew it is not
39:23 rebellion is like the sin of divination. In Hebrew rebellion is divination. And
39:28 you say who what divination? King Saul didn't practice funo, you know.
39:36 But what is divination? Divination is trying to control the
39:41 outcome of your life supernaturally. When you negotiate with God and you say,
39:48 "God, you know what? I've done all this that is wrong, but I come to church. I serve and I think God you should accept
39:55 that." You just shifted God to be another God. You just made him up to be
40:01 the god of the Amalachites. He is no longer God
40:08 and you are in deination. The wizard is the wizard of your mind
40:15 and arrogance like the evil are. But you say, "Hey, what arrogance?"
40:20 Well, if you think what people feel about you is more
40:28 important than what God thinks about you, as far as God's concerned, that's
40:34 arrogance. Now, how
40:41 do you think this is a really big issue in the church? And I want to say this in
40:47 love. I think it's a pandemic
40:53 because churches all over Malaysia are packed with people who just come on
40:60 Sunday and then go back and they will call themselves Christians and they will
41:06 live lives no difference from non-Christians and when they get to heaven they will
41:13 tell God I was in church every Sunday
41:19 and God will say to obey is better than sacrifice. Your church
41:26 attendance is not going to save you. And as a leader,
41:33 my many hours in church service is not going to save me. I can't go to God and say, "Look, see
41:40 how much I done for APC, all my hours counseling people, Lord, I did so much." Yeah, but you disobeyed willfully and
41:47 you disobeyed without trying to change. Obedience is better than sacrifice. Let
41:53 me now give you the remedy. I want to spend some time on this and there are four and the first one is probably the
41:58 most telling. You see, he's not hearing you know.
42:05 So you ask yourself what is your heart really healing? And and this is this is
42:10 very real. I give you example. When your wife tells you, this is me,
42:16 hey, something wrong with the car. Every time you going, hey, something wrong with the car,
42:23 you will tell your wife, there's nothing wrong with the car. This too guilty already. But actually, there's something
42:30 wrong in the car. You don't know. You know, but you choose not to know.
42:36 Therefore, you don't know. But deep down, you know. But you see, when your wife tells you there's
42:42 something wrong with the car, do you know what you're really hearing? Hey,
42:47 you're not man. Correct. I see a lot of smiling faces.
42:53 It's true. How come all the other guys can fix the
42:58 cars? You cannot fix one. What kind of man are you? So you just say nothing wrong with the
43:04 car. Best way right now. Remember the mechanism of it scales up. You know,
43:13 let me take it a bit more seriously. You're in school, they pull you up. Hey,
43:20 we we your son the other parent complain that your fault you first instinctively
43:26 he started it. You know why you say that? Because do you know what you really hear?
43:33 You are not hearing my son was involved in a fight. What you're really hearing
43:38 is are you saying I'm a bad mother? Correct.
43:46 Saul is hearing. God says,
43:52 "Did you obey? Do you hear my voice?" What he heard is sheep.
43:58 You hear me? It's a very powerful text. He heard sheep. because that was more powerful.
44:05 When you hear your girlfriend says, you know, I think we should walk with maybe go and talk to Pastor Ling. He's very good about all these things or maybe I
44:12 don't know, talk to a counselor. You know what you're really hearing?
44:18 I agree. But actually, you've been manipulating her all these years.
44:23 You know how to trigger the buttons. You use passive aggressive language on her.
44:29 Do you know how you reply if your girlfriend ask you that? Sure.
44:35 Because you're smart. Because you know you say no, she'll react. You play the
44:41 game, put up a wall and basically excuse language, you will
44:46 screw the counselor. And then after that, you tell your girlfriend, "See, it didn't work out.
44:52 Let's try to solve it ourselves." That's your game plan. But you cannot see that and you cannot hear it. But deep deep
44:58 down inside, you know, you're always getting what you want.
45:04 And so once we scale it to this level, which is an issue in Malaysian schools
45:11 and you see this and you know your boy was involved,
45:22 do you really think you and I are going to hand your son over to the police?
45:30 Don't lie to yourself. You will protect your boy at any cost.
45:42 And you hear the words of Tim Keller. Selfdeception isn't the worst sins. Is
45:49 the means by which we do the worst things. And so when non-Christians tells
45:56 you, I think I'm a good person and I'll get to heaven by my good deeds. That is
46:02 the core of selfdeception. And you will say, "That's terrible. Is there anything
46:08 we can do to help?" You know why you say that? Because you're trying to dig for information to protect your boy.
46:16 Number two, and let's go to some good news. Now, everyone looking very depressed already.
46:22 You see, Samuel said, "Although you're once small in your eyes, did you not
46:27 become the head of tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king. And what you
46:34 understand therefore is that Saul still thinks he's small. To be a king, he has
46:43 to be respected by everyone. He's got to take prisoners. He's got to have
46:50 adulation. And we know this because the trajectory of the story is when he's
46:55 replaced by David, he tries to kill David. But you see, it's not just Saul. We are
47:04 kings. The New Testament tells us, Revelations 5, you will reign on earth.
47:11 1 Peter 2:9, a chosen race, a royal priesthood. We are kings. And then you
47:18 sit there. I don't feel like a king. I don't feel like a CEO. I don't have the
47:24 respect for people. In fact, people kick me around. What kind of kingship are you talking about? Look at all these people
47:30 in ABC with big cars and good lives and I don't feel like a king
47:36 and the Lord will say because you are not looking to Jesus as king.
47:44 You see Saul was the type of king who didn't accept consequences of actions. And if you're honest, we all have this
47:51 problem. You know, the text is really about pride and inability to admit
47:57 wrongdoing. But Jesus was the king of kings who took
48:02 on himself the consequences of all sins. So the text compares to
48:11 we can't even accept when things go wrong and we hide behind our positions
48:16 and we call ourselves Christians. Jesus took all two
48:22 Saul avoided dealing with his dark side. Eventually, it consumed him. But Jesus
48:29 faced the dark side humanity we love because he knew God's power overcome our
48:35 evil and create something new. What is that new thing? We sang we we read it out just now. is in Psalm 139
48:44 given by another king who was also deceived but came clean
48:53 new hearts and new minds that don't need to defend themselves
48:60 or justify failure and selfishness. Do you know what I think Christian leaders
49:05 need a cause in? I including myself we need a cause in humiliation
49:13 because if you can't take humiliation you cannot be like the king of kings.
49:20 Evangelical culture has created a culture where adulation and
49:26 selfactualization permits the church. You become a leader in a church after a
49:32 while you get used to it. It actually actualizes you. You get respected.
49:39 And so when things go wrong in church and people commend bad things about you,
49:44 people say things, you just drop everything. But Christ was humiliated for us, but
49:50 yet we can't take it. Three, recognize the monuments in your life you have to tear down.
49:58 And I want to suggest the monument Saul has is a monument all of us struggle
50:04 with. What do you think Saul struggled with? Was it money? Nope. King a lot of
50:09 it. Was it pleasure? Nope. No issue that he had a Solomon problem.
50:15 Was it what did he was he a what vice did he have? And I would suggest his
50:21 idol is an idol which is very common especially if you're in leadership and you ask me especially if you're in
50:28 Christian leadership remember this is a king you know so if you're a CEO you're in a managerial position which is high
50:36 you come from a family which is good you are in a certain corporate structure
50:41 this is your idol his idol was reputation
50:50 That's his idol reputation. He cannot take humiliation.
51:01 And I will tell you that's my idol. Um
51:07 yeah, I'll save this for the next point. selfdeception,
51:13 self- ignorance, self-centeredness, self-exaltation. The last one and probably the most
51:19 important, the most important remedy. If all of this is self, what's the opposite of
51:26 self? What's the opposite of self?
51:31 Community. Community. Because we all have blind sights.
51:39 And God gave him Samuel. Why do you think Samuel was angry? And he cried out to the Lord all that night because he
51:46 loved Saul. You see, you don't want friends that are an echo chamber.
51:53 You won't have friends that have the courage to tell you, you know, you have this issue. So I I I just come clean. I
52:01 mean, we must confess things. So I'm 59. I told myself, you know, I'm not like
52:07 Wong very good architect. I'm okay but but no self-esteem issues. But I tell
52:14 myself, some people know, you know, I don't spend rest of my life doing breaks. I want to build up people. Okay. I mean, so I've been thinking of going
52:21 full-time. I tell you honestly, I think the elders know. So I struggled. Should I go full-time? Am I right to be
52:27 full-time? So I had uh coffee mama talk with a brother in this church, which I
52:33 love. We sat down and I said, "Hey, I'm thinking maybe at one point I go full-time. I mean, really, go and do the
52:38 loss look and be a pastor." He said, "He looked at me
52:43 actually like that you were full-time.
52:50 I think you become even more arrogant." But it was sin in love. So I told the
52:58 elders, I told our general life group, forget me full-time. I need to deal with my sins.
53:04 And and it's true. You need friends to tell you this. So sometime you ask me again, one day maybe when I have dealt
53:11 with my sins, I will God willing be full-time for this church. Right now I'm not there. I better put it out there for
53:18 everybody. Amen. Okay. Now let me end with this and why this story is so
53:25 telling, you know, because Saul was never a bad guy.
53:32 You look at when he was inadedigeated as king. Look at verse 22. This is when
53:37 Saul was trying to be made king saying quite long. Is there a man to come? The Lord said, "Behold, he has hidden
53:44 himself among the baggage." They ran and took him from there. And when he stood up among the people, he was taller than
53:50 of the people. And Samuel said to people, "Do you see whom the Lord has chosen? There is none like him. Long
53:56 live the king." Here's the irony story. The story is about guy who is so worried
54:02 about reputation. So concerned with what people thinks about him and his idol is about I need
54:09 to be king at all cost. But when they want to make him king, he felt so unsure
54:14 about himself. He went to hide among the baggage. Just look at how he changed. You know,
54:20 and you think that's the only play. Look at his character when people insulted him. Verse 27. Some worthless fellow
54:27 said, "How can this man save us?" They despise him and brought him no present.
54:32 This is Saul. He held his peace. Don't caric capture Saul like a bad guy.
54:41 You know, you see Saul like Elizabeth Holmes started well.
54:48 I went to look at a YouTube video. She honestly wanted to save the world
54:54 through biotechnology. Along the way, the world consumed her.
55:02 And I want to challenge you with this as we close and we say we need the cross
55:08 and we need the open tomb. And I want to ask the worship team to come up
55:14 because this is the difficult topic. Nobody who's evil starts off by saying,
55:20 "I'm evil." But along the way, they lose themselves.
55:27 Now, I want to do a thought experiment. If we can get the keys going before we
55:32 sing the song, and it's a simple thought experiment.
55:40 I want you to think of the last time someone said something to you and you
55:46 were very offended. Can we try that? It hurt you so badly.
55:53 And I want you to think of your response. If you are like me, the response will be
56:00 they were wrong. They are like this. They did this to me.
56:08 [Music] And I want to ask you this.
56:16 Is this a case of you knew but you chose not to know,
56:23 therefore you don't know, but deep down inside your narrative of
56:30 it was done just to protect yourself.
56:37 It could be a quarrel you had with your girlfriend. Simple as that, right?
56:43 A fight you had with your mother. Something the boss told you, hey, your
56:49 work is no good. You know something for me as a as a as an elder the church, they say, you know, the elders are like
56:54 that. You know, y'all don't listen to us. And then you say, you know what, you're
56:60 wrong. I'm right. But deep down inside,
57:05 I know I need to change. That is what I think the text is telling you.
57:12 To obey is better than sacrifice.
57:17 To heed more important than a fed of rams.
57:24 For rebellion is divination [Music]
57:31 and arrogance idolatry. But we have the power of grace if we
57:39 have the humility to say Lord as King David says I have sinned.
57:47 Maybe I should treat my girlfriend better. You know, maybe my argument my mother I
57:54 was wrong my attitude. Yeah, maybe I wasn't a very good staff.
58:04 Maybe I failed as an elder.
58:10 And if you can do that, you are hearing the voice of God. Let us
58:19 pray. Lord Jesus, obedience is better than sacrifice. Let
58:26 us not hide our wrongdoings by our church attendance, our work in the church. What you want is
58:34 for us to confess our sins and you will give us a new heart, a new
58:41 mind, and because the King of Kings doesn't look at us the way the world
58:47 look of us, we can take criticism. We are not defined by our failures.
58:55 Church, will you say that in your heart? I am not defined
59:01 by my failures. Say it in your heart. I am not defined
59:08 by my failures. I have been crucified with Christ.
59:15 And the life I now live in the flesh,
59:20 I being crucified with Christ, I no longer live, but Christ live with me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I
59:28 live for the son of God who loved me
59:34 and died for me. Christ my wisdom.
59:39 Christ who picked me away from selfdeception.
59:44 As God's people say, amen. Let us sing this song as we
59:51 now unto him who can give us a new heart and a new mind and free us from the
59:57 clutches of self deception. [Music]
60:03 May his name be praised and glorified from now to eternity.
60:09 May we his children remember we are royal priests.
60:14 That we are not defined by our failures. We are not defined by our successes.
60:21 That we can have the courage to find community to show us our blind
60:26 spots and that deep deep down inside
60:34 we know you love us. And God's people say, "Amen." God bless
60:41 you all. Have a good week ahead. And we are here in case you want to talk to any
60:47 of us. Thank you.
