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00:00 Uh good morning everybody and uh it's an honor again to be here to speak. Next
00:08 week we continue with Psalm three with William praying our fears. William is
00:15 doing a double slot praying his beauty. Psalm 27. I I that's a beautiful psalm.
00:20 I think we today this morning we we read it out and then Dr. Peter is back
00:26 praying our doubts. Okay. Um
00:31 you can get this on desiring God. Uh this is a website for pastor John Piper
00:38 and he was giving a talk to a group of missionaries in 2018 and they asked him
00:44 if he was 22 again what would he do and by that time he was 72. This guy still
00:50 going strong you know. So he said 50 years ago he said number one I will marry my wife again. Very romantic. Then
00:57 he said he will go back to seminary and just pick up exugesus because it's very important to know the Bible. He will go
01:04 into a Bible saturated church and throw himself into there. And then of course he starts his Christian hedonism. If you
01:10 know his theology, God is most glorified and most satisfied with him. And then he ended on point 6 about surrendering all
01:19 to God. And I was driving, you know, I I downloaded the the podcast, you know, and he said, "If I was 22 again,
01:26 I would memorize Psalm 25." I wa that important.
01:33 And then he said, "Psalm 25 is probably the most important text in the Bible on
01:39 guidance." I say, "Whoa, that's saying a lot." And he said, "If you're a missionary on the field, you memorize
01:46 Psalm 25." So I went back and I I downloaded his
01:52 sermon and I've been listening to it. Then I downloaded another sermon on Psalm 25 on Tim Keller and when he
01:57 started off Tim Keller says Psalm 25 is probably one of the most important
02:04 sermons are texts on guidance and I think they are right. Today we're going
02:10 to look about guidance and it's an important topic. Uh when we talk about guidance, we're talking about God's will
02:16 in your life. We're talking about decision making. And I think this is a very powerful psalm. I pray that uh we
02:24 let the Lord speak to us. Let's go before the Lord in prayer. Lord Jesus, we come before you in humility. Give me
02:32 truly a humble heart to speak this with fear and trembling, not with my wisdom,
02:39 with a correctable and teachable spirit. and that you guide us through this very
02:45 important topic. And we say this in Jesus' name. Amen.
02:51 Now, we're going to ask three questions first before we go to the text. And I
02:56 want us to just reflect. I'm not giving I'm not asking you to we're not going to
03:02 give an answer. You just pause and ask yourself. Number one, how do you go
03:08 around making important decisions? Right? How some people will think then
03:14 they'll pray they make a decision. What if the decision is hard to make?
03:20 What if you have two choices and they both equally correct?
03:27 Which one do you choose? I mean think about that. Huh? We can
03:33 give multiple decisions on that. All right. Two. Do you think how you make
03:38 small decisions influences how you make big decisions?
03:44 I'm not asking about little things like you know you go to the supermarket and
03:51 should you buy or do you buy Colgate? You don't go there and pray Lord give me
03:57 a sign. I need a sign Lord Dali or Kgate. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And the next guy looks at you looks very weird.
04:03 He goes, "Darly, hallelujah. Not asking you to do that."
04:10 But it's the way, for example, you drive your car and you and you get stuck and
04:15 you get very m you know, and you want to park your car and there's a guy in front
04:22 of you, you're very irritated. That's a simple decision, right? Does
04:28 that decision impact big decisions? And lastly, how do you know it is the
04:36 will of God? For example, if you talk to pastors,
04:43 and this is no judgment, and I I want to say they're correct.
04:48 All pastors, full-time people would tell you what, I am called to do this.
04:56 You apply for a job and you decide to take the job and you become CFO of a
05:02 company. Would you go to live group and said I was called to be CFO of the company?
05:08 But it's an important decision. So why is it in in clergy they can say
05:15 God called me but when you transferred from a job to another job you said I
05:21 made a decision. Why the dichotomy? Now these are important questions to ask
05:26 you know and Psalm 25 has a very interesting perspective on this. Uh
05:32 there were two very important books written on this. I just quickly sweep through. One came out the 70s called
05:38 decisionmaking in the will of God. That's a that's a standard Gary Fzen. Then there was a theological book by
05:43 Bruce Walkey. The argument is that you decide by wisdom.
05:49 The argument in the text that the Bible never tells you. God's going to tell you specifically job A, job B, choose job A.
05:57 God gives you wisdom in the scripture. You pray, you make that decision. But having said that, this is where we
06:04 oscillate. You meet some people and they will tell you with absolute certainty, God wants
06:10 me to do this. And you you can tell you know you look in their eyes they are absolutely
06:18 certain. How do you explain that? And here is the
06:24 common ways people claim they were guided and I I'm not saying this in a
06:29 judgment point of view. This is a matter of commonality. God opened the door. I
06:36 heard a voice. Uh this whole week God spoke to me on this.
06:44 I I I can understand this. When I was dating a girl in university and I was struggling whether she were the right
06:49 girl, I felt everywhere I went, God was telling me she's the wrong girl. Thank God I didn't date that girl anymore. I
06:57 was absolutely convicted that I should break up with her. One of the best decisions I made in my life. So
07:02 understand this. And then this is another one. Inner peace. They come and tell you brother Arnold uh no should I
07:09 do this ministry or quit this ministry and then they give you a lot of reasons I have inner peace therefore I should do
07:16 this now I'm not saying this is right or wrong I'm saying this is common and we're going to use this to
07:24 look at decision making and we look at wisdom now we're going to look at three things why does God guide us and you say
07:31 duh of course we want to know what's the right decision that's not what the Bible says is you know the elephant in the
07:37 room is that but we're going to spend a lot of time on how does God guide us and we're going to look at the cause for
07:43 God's guidance now we're going to read the text to you oh Lord I lift up my soul oh my God in you I trust let me not
07:50 be put ashamed let not my enemies exalt over me indeed none who wait for you
07:56 shall be put to shame they shall be ashamed who are mentally treacherous and this is the first part about guidance
08:03 make me to know your ways, oh Lord. Teach me your paths. Lead me in your
08:10 truth and teach me. If there's not guidance, I don't know what that is. For you are the God of my salvation. For you
08:17 I wait all the day long. Remember your mercy, oh Lord, and your steadfast love.
08:23 They have been from old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions. According to your
08:29 statefound love, remember me for the sake of your goodness, O Lord. And here's another section on guidance. Good
08:36 and right is the law. Therefore, he instructs sinners in the way. He leads
08:41 the humble in what is right and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the
08:47 Lord are steadfast loves and testimonies for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. For your name's sake, oh
08:55 Lord, pardon my guilt for it is great. And then back again to guidance. Who is the man who feels the Lord? him will he
09:02 instruct in the way that he should lead. His soul shall abide in well-being yet his offspring shall inherit the land.
09:09 And if you are going to memorize a verse is this verse which scholars have picked
09:14 apart. The friendship of the Lord is for those who feel him and he makes known to
09:22 them his covenant. My eyes are ever towards the Lord for he will pluck my feet out of the net. Turn to me. Be
09:29 gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Bring me all my distress.
09:36 Consider my affliction, my trouble, and forgive all my sins. Consider how many
09:42 are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me, oh God, my soul, and deliver me. Let me not be put to
09:49 shame. I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprighteousness preserve
09:54 me, for I wait for you. Redeem Israel, oh God, out of all his troubles. Why
10:02 does God guide us? Let me give you the context. And this is
10:07 why Psalm 25 is particularly interesting compared to other texts in the Bible
10:14 about God's will and decision making. It has a very particular context which is
10:22 very very relevant to us. Number one highlighted, let not my enemies exalt
10:29 over me the context he has enemies. Verse 19, how many are my foes and what
10:38 violent hatred they hate me. Scholars believe this was written either in two
10:44 parts of David's life. one when Saul was chasing him or two when he is in the
10:52 civil war with his son Abselon that is the preferred option because of Psalm 27
10:58 because Psalm 27 is also about the warfare we don't know but he has people
11:05 to that want to kill him he got people want to kill him that's one huh
11:11 so he's trying to find guidance where people are trying to kill him here's the second I I am lonely and afflicted
11:19 and I am distressed. Point two, he's lonely. Everyone's abandoned him and
11:26 he's afflicted and distressed. We don't know whether it's because of the enemies. Some people got enemies. They're very confident. But some people
11:33 have enemies and it leads to pain and sorrow and depression. Thirdly, and this
11:41 is interesting, four times, four times he picks up our sins. The sins of his youth, the past,
11:50 my transgressions, the present. It is so bad his guilt overwhelms him. Pardon my
11:57 guilt. It is great. And lastly, his trouble is due to his sins. Verse 18, consider my affliction,
12:04 my trouble, and forgive all my sins. So
12:10 heavy guilt over sins of the past and present. And then in two contextes he repeats,
12:19 "Let me not be put to shame." And the the Hebrew rendering of shame is this.
12:24 God, don't disappoint me.
12:29 When you say that, it means what? I'm not sure. I don't know whether I can
12:35 trust you. You know, now this is your context.
12:41 Now, here's why it's a powerful psalm. How do you find guidance when you're
12:47 going through such crisis? It's very easy to tell people you want
12:54 to choose a condominium to stay. You look at your bank statement. You look at
12:60 the loan. Oh, this one got swimming pool, infinity pool. Wow, very nice.
13:06 This one I got EV charging station and got all of this and then the gym. Fantastic. Both also same price. What to
13:12 choose? Lord, I pray. Talk talk talk. I decide. Very happy. Correct.
13:18 You try to decide to buy a condo when this is happening to you.
13:25 You wake up and like what Eve says, you find out you got a disease and then you suddenly had a phone call
13:32 with your daughter and then the daughter slam down the phone to you. You feeling depressed
13:38 and you wonder because your phone your daughter slammed down the phone to you. Whether is it because when you were
13:44 young you treated her bad. You go to live group, you just hear monkey noise. You don't know whether God is real. Do
13:50 you think you're in a mood to decide which condo?
13:56 You can't think. That's why it's a very important text.
14:02 And John Piper says this, you know, you should listen to that sermon. It's in 1988.
14:09 You can't decide exact words 15 minutes into the sermon.
14:14 The only thing you want to do is put your hands on your head and cry.
14:24 Have you ever felt like that? That is the context of making decisions.
14:33 where you are so overwhelmed, so many decisions, but you still have to
14:39 go to office and clock in at 9:00 and tell your staff what to do.
14:46 You still have to come home and talk to your 10year-old boy who says, "Daddy, I
14:52 need help with my homework." But you just worried whether the hospital made the booking for you for
14:58 the operation because you miss it. You don't know what will happen. That's the context.
15:04 So why does God guide? So that we learn to trust in him
15:14 unconditionally. And let me double down
15:20 especially during very difficult circumstances. That's the context.
15:27 So here is David enemies around him. What happens when you have enemies that
15:33 want to kill you? What's your default thought? I want to get rid of enemies.
15:38 You have a lot of problems. You are worried about work about this. You get a
15:44 phone call. The doctor tells you the biopsy came back. I'm sorry.
15:51 It is melanin. Suddenly you don't have 10 problems. You have what? One problem
15:58 and you will filter everything through that one problem.
16:03 So here is David. People want to kill him. You know what does he do? He
16:08 declares his trust to the Lord. And here's the opposite to the Israelites. Isaiah 33, the Assyrians attacking.
16:17 And this is the prophecy from Isaiah. Woe to those who go down to Egypt for
16:22 help and rely in horses who trust in chariots because they're many in horsemen because they're very strong,
16:28 but do not look to the holy one of Israel or consult the Lord. Meaning, you're so worked up. Your cortisol level
16:35 has shot through the roof. You look at Egypt, they got the guns, they got the tanks. You know what? I don't need to
16:42 pray. I just need a solution. That's how we think.
16:47 I just got sued. Find me a lawyer. I found out Melinan. Quickly book me a
16:53 place. I found out my husband is unfaithful.
16:59 Quickly find out what happened.
17:04 And David prays. That's the point. And it goes against
17:10 us. Now, what is Isaiah telling you? In times of trouble, we want to be in control. and we will look for the
17:17 easiest most efficient answer. That's how you decide.
17:25 But here in the midst of so much trouble, he gets on his knees and he
17:30 prays. And that is a repeated pattern in scripture. To you,
17:36 oh Lord, I lift my soul.
17:43 The Hebrew understanding of soul is my heart, my body, my mind. I give you everything.
17:53 Lord, I'm screaming inside. I don't know what to do. You lock the door. You get
17:59 on your knees. I leave my soul. My eyes are ever towards the Lord.
18:09 For he will pluck my feet out of the net. And what's quite interesting in the
18:14 same breath he said Lord Lord don't don't disappoint me he holds two truths
18:22 in tension I'm not so sure I can trust you but I'm going to declare my trust in
18:27 you that's how he pulls the two have you ever felt like that I don't know whether I can trust God but God you know what I
18:34 make a declaration I trust you that's the function of guidance and we're going
18:40 to spend a lot of time on this how does God guide us?
18:47 I'm going to just many ways paraphrase Piper because it was quite eye opening to me. God
18:54 normally guides believers by the development of spiritual wisdom and
19:01 discernment. He uses another word which I'll come to later. And the key word isn't wisdom because evangelical
19:09 churches we are very proud know we we are very gospel centered. We know our Bibles. We know how to make decision.
19:16 Wait till your cortisol level hits very high. You can't think straight. Let's see how your Bible helps you.
19:22 The key word is discernment. That's the key word. Discernment is
19:28 repeated in many parts of scripture. The key one is Romans 12. It means you're
19:34 under fire. You're so pressed, but you are able to think straight and make a
19:41 decision. That's discernment.
19:46 Uh friend of mine sold a property for couple of hundred million dollars.
19:54 This this company has been going around by a lot of I won't mention it. You will know him. He told me how they bought the
20:01 property. The the the big guy you know him also came in a helicopter park in the school and then got all the machai
20:07 come and then they walk around the mall. He was his stand look like that. All the mai go around him. How muchh what's the
20:14 ROI? Darren did the due diligence talk. Okay. We buy like that only
20:22 buy this couple hundred million. You know I just read the papers yesterday.
20:27 They just bought another also my client for 1.3 billion. How do people do that?
20:32 What do we call this? Killer instinct. Correct. I look at you, I look at this,
20:39 I go like that, like that, like that. You tell me the due diligence, you tell me.
20:45 Don't buy. Why? No feel. Correct or not? That's what Piper is
20:53 saying. How do you explain that? Don't know. I'm just not comfortable. The way
20:58 he talk, the way he tap his finger. I don't want to buy you. You get that? That's what he's talking about. I give
21:05 you another example. This one better. I have the gift of prophecy, by the way,
21:11 for a very limited people. My gift of prophecy is only to
21:16 Yulam and Cynthia. They didn't see this coming.
21:23 You know after a while a couples all start to look alike or they think alike
21:28 or they talk alike. So this is my prophecy.
21:33 Before Cynthia say I really need no one. It's like that if Cynthia tells Yulam in
21:41 this tone I know already.
21:47 If you're on the table, move away. It's like that. In music, they call it stato.
21:54 Hey, my music grade seven. No theory. Leong Yulam. Ah, you're dead.
22:01 Or she use the other one. Mr. Le also. How do I know that? Because the wife
22:08 does the same to me. If she says ah the lip I got prophecy
22:14 either I left the kitchen cabinet door open slidy door open yesterday we were
22:20 driving you know we went for dinner and I have this default action a couple of quadr I tend to turn right because I go
22:27 to work that way I just drive out I just went to second lane my wife says no more I turn back to left no need to say no
22:35 need to say she just say no more turn ready prophecy
22:40 You know what we call this? Instinct.
22:45 You can train it. And so Piper says, imagine a godly man
22:53 with godly instincts. How he makes decision when things are going very bad.
23:02 That's very powerful. The second reason for this is a lot of times when we make
23:08 decisions there are a lot of things underneath that wire us
23:15 all these things impulsely push us there is a store I go to for
23:23 I love the store until I'm so close to the owner I go in there
23:29 he give me every time I go there for snack until one day I went there I m I dar big
23:37 time now every time I pass by the store you pay me also I won't go in
23:44 you pay me I won't go in because the trauma of the diar is with me
23:51 imagine childhood trauma affecting your decision you are triggered so this is
23:56 important and here's the key text you see you look at the ESV render rendering
24:02 of the text and then the NIV and the NK V. It's like all scholars couldn't make
24:08 out how to do it. Oh, so the ESV say the friendship of the Lord. The NIV translator say no, no, no, no. The Lord
24:15 confides. No, hang on. The King James says it's a secret of Lord. You you can't miss this. Do you know what this
24:21 is? This is personal guidance. You know, it is what a friend tells you privately.
24:27 You cannot miss it. It's not general guidance. The Bible says, "Thou shalt not do this." It is God telling you,
24:34 "You better not do it." You cannot miss that text. Let me give you a few examples of this. And this is Piper's
24:40 exact words. God normally guides believers by the development of
24:45 spiritual sensitivities in decision making that will please God. He used that words and there are two stages to
24:53 it. I found this quite powerful. one clarity to discern issue that affect
24:58 your decision making. Back to that uh iceberg model in stage one you are
25:05 conscious there are trauma from the past for example that's affecting your
25:11 decision making and the consciousness of you helps you to be alert that's one
25:17 stage two the development of spiritual intuition like whoa he actually used the
25:23 word you can intu it and he says you know what it is learn it's not a gift
25:29 how do We back this up by scripture. Romans 12 1-2. You can discern the will
25:36 of God. Why? By the repeated practice of presenting your bodies as a living
25:42 sacrifice. And if you listen to his sermon, you keep doing that, you'll be instinctively
25:47 pleasing the Lord. And here is 2 Corinthians 2:2. It's a strange verse.
25:54 When I came to Trrowess to preach the gospel of Christ, a door was open for me
25:59 in the Lord. A door. Hallelujah. So when a door open, what must you do?
26:04 Walk through. Correct. And somehow the door was open in the Lord. You know,
26:09 right smack there. That's a door. Gary Fzen picks this up in his book decision making the will of God. Look at verse
26:16 13. My spirit was not in rest. Why? Not because of some touchyfey thing. because
26:23 I didn't find my brother there. He didn't go through it. Hey, hang on. God opened the door for you. You didn't
26:29 walk through her. You can't miss that. What is that saying?
26:35 Discernment. Godly instinct. So, I give you seven habits to become spiritually
26:41 more sensitive in decision-m. This is like Steven Kovi. Seven habits of highly successful people. All the old people
26:47 just me helps you to exit the text one. And habit number one is cornerstone.
26:55 Habit number one essential. You learn to wait on the Lord.
27:01 He mentions this three times and I want to pick up two aspects of waiting on the Lord. Number one, you look at the I
27:08 highlighted in red. Some people say, "Yeah, I know to wait a lot. I find a quiet place. I shut the door. I sit down
27:14 there. I'm very calm." And then the Lord will tell me, "Okay, tomorrow I'm going
27:20 to go to Balakong and put a factory there." Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
27:26 Yes. Go Balakong. And then you put a factory there. Factory boonkus. Whose fault is it? Yours or God?
27:33 Correct or not? That's the problem with all of this, right? But you feel a lot of people look Anna, Anna, I sat down.
27:39 It's very quiet. I think the Lord told me to tell you, you should be a missionary. I had a phone call from
27:45 Australia on this by the way something that lines you know people are very convicted but that's not what it
27:51 says here look at verse five lead me your truth and what get a sign from
27:56 heaven teach me what is that read the Bible why
28:03 you are the God of my salvation because Christ died for your sins tied to gospel
28:09 you wait all the day long you wrestle on the Bible You ask yourself, should I open a
28:15 factory in Balong? You ask yourself, am I doing it for my pride? Do I have the finances? Am I a good steward? Can I
28:21 find people there? Can I love people there? Then you make a decision. You
28:26 don't ask for a voice to say go to Balakong or go to Puong to open the factory.
28:32 Now, here's the second one, and I think this is quite fascinating. You see, wait for you are the book ends of the text.
28:38 Verse 3 and 21. They they they open and close the psalm. Look what he says about
28:45 this. And I want you to think about it. Imagine you are in trouble. Like all you can think about is your problem. You know what he says? Redeem Israel.
28:53 Wow. You got a lot of time to think about other people. You know, you got cancer. You should just be thinking about your cancer. You like saying,
28:59 "Lord, I have cancer. Please help other people have cancer."
29:05 And I think that's what Eve is doing. And that is biblical. You know what he's saying? Waiting is
29:11 communal. You know, it's communal. You wait together.
29:17 You wait together. And if you're able to put yourself in the state of mind where
29:22 you're not so self engrossed on your issue, you don't become what? You don't have a victim mindset. You're able to
29:30 have clarity. The cortisol level drops. You don't just think you are the center of your problem. You remember other
29:37 people who have same issues as you. Look at verse three. None who wait for you,
29:43 not just him. You in a better mind to think
29:50 is creating a space of gratefulness and clarity for decision making. That's
29:57 point one. Point two, develop a sensitive conscience to your sin.
30:04 Sin is brought up four times. Verse 11 is interesting because of where
30:12 is placed. Verse seven, two sins, your past and your present. Verse 18, you
30:19 have come to realization your sin cause your problem. Verse 11 is taken right
30:27 before verse 10 and 9 where he is processing guidance. Now what he's doing
30:33 is this. He's processing guidance. He realizes he screwed up and he says, "For
30:39 your name's sake, Lord, pardon my guilt." Let me give a simple example. I I I thought it was fascinating. A CEO
30:47 says she can tell how successful people is by watching them place and order at a
30:52 coffee shop. Do you believe that? You think about this and I want to say
30:57 small decisions really impact big decisions. If you have
31:03 the humility to do some self-examination, John Kelvin
31:08 said this in his institutes to know God
31:14 is to know yourself. You have to have the tool. You know the character of God. You know yourself. You do that you have
31:20 guidance. Now I give you example. Let's imagine it's lunchtime and you went to Lin to buy coffee. You got 1 hour lunch
31:27 break and you went down there. The queue is very long. And there are five people in front of
31:34 you, 10 people behind there. You come to your time. You go to the barista, sorry,
31:39 the bar and you said, "Uh, got latte, got skim milk or not." Uh, today flavor go what? To order take you 10 minutes.
31:47 The back person want to try to strangle you already. Then you got your coffee, you say, "So
31:52 what? I didn't sin." No, you did. And if you think carefully,
31:58 the way you ordered coffee showed a lot about your character. There are two things it showed. One, you
32:07 have no empathy. You don't care. There are 10 people behind you, five
32:13 people in front you, and you took 10 minutes to order your coffee. If you are not empathetic ordering
32:18 coffee, do you really think at work you'll be empathetic to your colleague? So next time they give you a bad review,
32:26 don't blame everyone else. It's because you did not look at your sin. Two,
32:33 if the queue is so long, you got 1 hour for lunch, you waited 15 minutes in a
32:38 queue, and then you took 10 minutes to order your coffee. That's not very intelligent. You know,
32:45 you must be like Dr. Peter when he buys tomatoes at groceryer. Do you know how
32:51 Dr. Peter orders tomato or not jolly remembered he saw him he take a bag he
32:57 see the tomato two seconds count him
33:04 why because Dr. Peter tobato go out what's your problem
33:10 time management now it says a lot you have to reflect and if you take on a
33:17 serious note if you don't go back and look at your past you don't look at patterns of your life you are going to
33:24 repeat doing it because decision making is very often subconscious is autonomous
33:32 so if you are very m in the car you're screaming at a Right. And you want to park a certain way. It shows about you.
33:39 You go and park the car. It cannot can I book the car park. It shows your character. People who choke parking is symptomatic
33:47 of bigger character problem. You know I know that because I have a problem. I
33:52 struggle over many years. My I say in love my mind and my mouth has no filter
33:59 and I offend many people. And I've offended you. I'm sorry. Do you know I have today one sermon note
34:07 I put in front you what is it is this speak slowly
34:16 because I'm conscious and I'm thankful for people like Patrick come and tell me you know honor you you know one of the
34:22 things I get very encouraged and people come and tell you you change people tell me you did a great sermon I'm happy but
34:27 if people come and tell me honor you speak slower I said hallelujah thank you brother you know me it means there's
34:33 book because it's very hard to change. You need people to remind you and that's
34:39 point number two. You need to be teachable and twice he says humility.
34:47 Now I want to give you a few points in this which is more appropriate to say is God's will for me or I believe is God's
34:54 will for me. A lot of people say if they see the first one it shows faith. You know, Tim
35:01 Keller would disagree with you. This is Redeemer Presbyisterian Church, one of
35:07 the biggest churches in New York. You build a church of this size, you will say it's God's will. But when he started
35:13 it, he sold his house. No inner peace. He just did it.
35:19 So why when you say God told me you got to be very careful because if God told you
35:26 and God didn't tell me what he's saying you are saying I have the gift of discernment of the voice of God and
35:32 other people don't you're not careful there's arrogance you know the other thing about being teachable
35:37 being teachable is something I need to learn I give example you come up to me
35:43 and you say hey you know the way you talk really you offend people I don't know how you can be elder Uh maybe
35:48 that's true. Do you think you encourage me? So I had one friend, you know, who
35:57 told me this and I really appreciate her. She's in Holy Trinity Brockham. She and her husband, the husband told me,
36:03 Anna, remember to breathe because I talk I don't breathe. And she told me this,
36:08 you know, half an hour after something happens, you normally you normally say a lot of
36:14 intelligent things. You know what she's telling me? Anno
36:19 when something happened, don't blow up because you offend people. But half an hour later, if you cool down, you make
36:26 more sense. But the way she said it to me, she didn't run me down, you know. So next time I will have another
36:33 statement that says reply half an hour later and I'll stick it in front. So you
36:39 say something I put it in front of you. I say wait I get back to you in half an hour. All right let me go on. Now this
36:46 tree is what we call the stage one of Piper. The second one is how you develop
36:53 intuition. These are the four. First you check if you're walking in steadfast love and faithfulness. that smack in
37:00 verse 10, all the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness. And the
37:06 word for love here is mercy. Faithfulness is truth to the word. You know what he's getting at? He's making
37:12 decisions based on the character of God. Why is it when Cynthia says
37:20 Yulam also got to give a prophecy? He don't need to do he do already because he know the wife.
37:27 He's in a covenant with his wife. My wife tell me I know. No need to finish
37:33 because I know my wife so well. I would do it. And the text is about being a
37:38 covenant keeper. If you know God well enough, you know how to make decisions
37:44 for God. That's his point. And then you repent of sins that impact
37:50 your decision making for his sake. What is the biggest sin that we have that
37:56 impacts decision making? And you look at the flow is very obvious. You know what that is? Pride.
38:05 And as he goes through, look at what he's saying when he asks for forgiveness for the sake of your goodness, for your
38:14 name's sake. All right, let me go through this four, right? God calling me to be senior pastor. Someone actually
38:20 told me that God told me to do this, God. Do you know what's the common trend here? They're all about you. You know,
38:28 you are just using God as a veneer for your own expansion.
38:33 You know, it's like chrome and stainless steel. Chrome is looking like stainless
38:38 steel inside is not. That means you smack God on the surface. You say, "God wants me to do that." Actually, you want
38:44 to do it. It's your pride. Six, ask yourself you're making
38:50 decisions out of fear of man or fear of God. And here I think he's going to a
38:56 very important part about decision making. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Look at verse 13.
39:03 His soul shall al abide in well-being. His offering shall inherit the land is
39:08 literally. And the soul means what you know that means every part of you shall get better. So I asked my pastor in
39:16 Australia, why are there so many middle to upper middle class people in church? Why are they so poor people? You know
39:22 why he told me? Because poor people when they come to church after a while stop being poor. I said, "Why got hand out?"
39:29 He said, "No, they stop buying cigarettes. So they save 10 bucks. They
39:34 stop going to the bar three times a week. That saved them another $50. With their spare time, they do other things.
39:41 And so every month they make more money. So you see what is this telling us and I I I think this quite important
39:48 you know what we call this is called micro habits. If your soul is to be successful you
39:55 develop multiple habits and the culmination of that makes you very
40:01 powerful for God. I want to tell you, you become very powerful for the Lord. And your soul shall abide and your
40:08 children will see it and they shall become better children for you. This is
40:14 the promise of the Lord. Lastly, practice friendship with God.
40:21 What happens when you have a friend? A friend tells you things you might not
40:28 want to hear. A friend doesn't tell you in an oblique manner. I I I think the
40:33 Lord told me to go to Balakong. That's called an impression. And so the story of Josh Whitefield,
40:41 he had a son and he had a strong impression that God was telling him the child will grow up to be a preacher of
40:47 the everlasting gospel. In view of this design, he had a voice from God. He gave
40:52 his son a name John after John the Baptist. His mother was also named Elizabeth.
40:58 When John Whitfield was born, Josh baptized his son before a large crowd and preached a sermon on the great work
41:04 that God would do through his son. What do we have here? We have pride.
41:11 You believe God is speaking to you. You know what happened to his son? Four months later, the son passed away.
41:20 Not long afterwards, he wrote a wrenching prayer for himself that God
41:25 would render this mistaken parent more cautious, more soberminded,
41:31 more experiences Satan devices, and consequently more useful in his future
41:36 labors to the church of God. And Kellus says this, the lesson here is not that
41:41 God never guides our thoughts or prompts us to choose wise course of action,
41:48 but that we cannot be sure he's speaking to us unless we read it in scripture. Unless you wrestle with the word of God,
41:57 God's not speaking to you. Seven habits, it can be written
42:02 somewhere else. And let me end with this, just two points.
42:08 Which is more biblical? Surrender your plans to God. He will ensure you would
42:14 do be successful. That's the default what most people do. They say, "God, I I I want to start this business. I want to
42:21 date this girl. I I want to do this." So I pray, I pray, and then you do it. And
42:28 then if it's successful, it means God honored your prayer. That's one. Here's
42:34 the other one. Surrender what you do to God the
42:40 he ensure what you plan will be successful. Let me suggest to you the left one in
42:48 green is not biblical. The other one is biblical
42:53 and I'll give you the verse for it. Commit your work to the Lord. You know
43:01 what you do and your plans will be established. Now what what does the proverbs mean?
43:08 You see, you do all of this and then you say you I don't know what to decide. I'm still back to the two condos and I have
43:15 a disease. I don't know what is right. You know what the Lord will tell you? Just make a decision.
43:21 But what happens if I make that decision is wrong? Then the Lord will tell you in his eyes
43:29 there are what? no wrong decisions because you tried to
43:34 honor him. Lord, what if I took this job and I I prayed about it. I wanted to
43:40 honor you. I look at my sins and I it didn't quite work out for me. Well, you
43:46 do better next time. In that podcast with John Piper, he said, "I had a
43:52 calling to be a pastor." Eight months later, he said, "I'm going to give up."
43:59 and he prayed and then he went on again and he became one of the best preachers and pastors in
44:08 the landscape of evangelical Christianity. So no wrong decision to the Lord. Why?
44:16 Why? Because there's a cause for God's guidance. I want you to look at this
44:22 text and this is how David is in. And I want you to think
44:31 who had his feet plucked in the net in the New Testament. He was trapped by people
44:38 who hated him, who enemies wanted to kill him. And when he was trapped, his
44:46 disciples abandoned him. And he became afflicted.
44:52 And his troubles of his heart were so enlarged when he prayed in the garden of
44:57 Gethsemane, his tears were like blood.
45:03 the son of David, the greatest son of David who had no sins from youth.
45:11 Let God guide him into a trap to be
45:16 crucified so that you and I here now can have the Holy Spirit so we can be more
45:25 discerning. And what happened on that garden? You
45:30 know people tell sometime they say this I have peace of mind therefore it's correct
45:37 sometimes that's true but I tell you sometimes the best decisions are when you have no peace and
45:45 in that garden he says this is not my will but yours be done
45:52 many many years ago I called myself a Christian but I took Jesus as my savior and not as
46:00 Lord and I was sitting in a church in Australia at the back row far behind all
46:06 those people who don't like to be very religious all sit at the back one and a pastor said you cannot be this or
46:13 that his name was Philip Jensen I always remember you want guidance in your study life you take him as lord and I said I
46:20 don't like some of the things what the bible says you either trust in god completely or you don't
46:27 and on that night I gave my life to Jesus
46:32 Did I have peace? I tell you, I had no peace. It's very frightening to
46:37 surrender to God, you know. So if you're seated there right now and
46:42 you feel a little prompt that you should do something as a
46:48 parent, as a husband, as a
46:55 to a friend and you really don't want to do it, but
47:01 in your heart of hearts, you know that's right. I would suggest to you that's
47:07 discernment. That is the spirit speaking to you.
47:12 And if you keep practicing that, you become a better friend to God. Let's
47:20 close in prayer as we get the worship team up. And I thought we do something
47:26 maybe a bit different. Maybe Joanna, you can give us some keys.
47:32 And I want to just ask you whether you ever felt this.
47:39 Have you ever felt you are so sinful that God won't guide you?
47:47 Because I felt that I want us to just take some time to
47:52 maybe let that minister to you. Have you ever
47:58 felt that you know God says you know you you're such a horrible sinner. If only God knew what you would do. If only
48:04 people know who you were. Why would God guide you? You're such a hypocrite. You come to church, you
48:11 pretend to be one person. If only they knew.
48:18 If you are like me and you you you sometimes struggle with that. I think there's one verse there which I have
48:24 taken to heart. I have taken to heart.
48:29 Good and upright is the Lord. Therefore, he guides sinners
48:37 like me in what is right.
48:44 He leads the humble in his way.
48:50 He teaches the humble in what is right.
48:56 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love
49:02 and faithfulness to those who keep
49:10 his covenant and institutions. The friendship of the Lord
49:18 is to those who are near him and he would reveal his covenant.
49:26 In this moment of silence, I want God to speak to you
49:34 very personally and claim this verse the friendship of the Lord.
49:41 He will confide in you. He will reveal secrets of your life.
49:49 And if you are sitting there right now and you are struggling, you know there's a decision you need to
49:55 make. Maybe it's with reconciling with somebody.
50:00 I know this last two weeks I've done some really
50:06 improper things with my mouth and I'm trying to repent of it. is a struggle.
50:13 Maybe he's telling you the way you are at work, you need to you need to check yourself.
50:21 Let's take a silence and and we claim this. Good and upright is the Lord.
50:28 Therefore, he insult he instructs Anolim.
50:34 Put your name there in what is right.
50:40 only if I'm humble. He guides the humble in what is right
50:47 and teaches the humble in his way. Lord, as we pray this,
50:55 we do one thing. We lift our soul to you
51:03 in the way Jesus on the garden sat down.
51:08 Enemies had betrayed him. Disciples have deserted him and he was
51:15 in grief. And maybe you are there right now and you're in a period of pain.
51:21 And the Lord says, "Lift up your soul to me
51:27 and say, "Not my will, but yours be done. My eyes
51:34 are ever on you, oh Lord, for you will pluck me out of my net.
51:40 Lord Jesus, as we come before a time of ministering,
51:45 teach us to know who you are, to walk in mercy and truth, to learn to fear you,
51:53 Lord, in reverence. And by doing that we claim your promise that our soul will
52:01 prosper. That is a promise. I will get better
52:08 emotionally. I will get better mentally
52:14 and I'll get better in my spirit even though my body breaks down.
52:19 For me, after eight years of struggling with my the the sin of my tongue,
52:25 whenever a brother comes to me and says, "Annor, you speak slower, it makes my day."
52:32 I pray God sends people to you to say, "You have changed." Maybe 1%.
52:39 And as Liong said, and if you struggle, you say this, I have been crucified with
52:44 Christ. I no longer live but Christ lives in me and the life I live now.
52:52 I live for the son of God who loved me
52:58 and died for me. Lord, take our tears,
53:04 take our fears, take our doubts, put it before you.
53:10 And we say, Lord, despite everything else,
53:15 we will unconditionally
53:20 trust in you. Unto you, oh Lord, do we lift up your
53:26 name. Unto you, oh Lord, we will lift up name. Oh my God, you are my my Lord.
53:35 Let not my enemies exalt over me. And Patrick is going to
53:40 leave us in that very much same song. Romans 12 verse 1 to2. And let's use
53:48 this as a closing benediction. Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters in view of God's mercy
53:55 to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. Holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship.
54:01 God, as we go to work tomorrow, go home tonight to be better parents, to be
54:07 better husbands, to be better friends in church, we offer
54:14 our mouths, our hearts, our minds as a living sacrifice. Do not be conformed to
54:21 the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. We pray with that we have
54:28 discernment to make wise decisions for you. We surrender these plans to you and
54:34 we know that we put our plans and what we do we will succeed.
54:40 Then you will be able to test and approve
54:46 or other translations. You will be able to discern what God's will is.
54:51 His good, pleasing, and perfect will. God bless all of you.
54:57 Have a good week ahead. And as usual, we are here if you want to talk to us. God bless all of you.
