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00:02 Good morning, brothers and sisters. Um, today's scripture is taken from Psalm
00:09 73. Would you please stand with me for the reading of the word?
00:15 Psalm 73, a psalm of SF. Surely God is
00:20 good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost
00:27 slipped. I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envy the arrogant when I saw the
00:33 prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles. Their bodies are healthy and
00:39 strong. They are free from common human burdens. They are not plagued by human
00:45 ills. Therefore, pride is a necklace. They clothe themselves in violence.
00:52 For the c from the callous hearts comes iniquity. Their evil imaginations have
00:58 no limits. They scoff and speak with malice. With arrogance they threaten
01:04 oppression. Their mouths lay claim to heaven and their tongues take possession
01:10 of the earth. Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in
01:15 abundance. They say, "How would God know? Does the Most High know anything?
01:22 This is what the wicked are like. Always free of care. They go on amassing
01:27 wealth. Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in
01:34 innocence. All day long I have been afflicted and every morning brings new punishments.
01:42 If I had spoken out like that, I would have betrayed your children. When I
01:47 tried to un understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I entered the
01:54 sanctuary of God. Then I understood the final destiny.
02:01 Surely you place them on slippery ground. You cast them down to ruin. How
02:07 suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors.
02:13 They are like a dream when one awakes. When you arise, Lord, you would despise
02:19 them as fantasies. When my heart was grieved and my spirit
02:24 embittered, I was senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before
02:30 you. Yet I am always with you. You hold me by my right hand. You guide me with
02:37 your counsel. And afterward you would take me into glory.
02:43 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My
02:51 flesh and my heart may fail. But God is the strength of my heart and my portion
02:58 forever. Those who are far from you will perish. You destroy all who are
03:04 unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the
03:11 sovereign Lord my refuge. I will tell of all your deeds. This is the word of the
03:18 Lord. Please be seated.
03:24 Thank you Clementine for that reading of God's word.
03:31 Morning church. Good to see all of you here. Um we're going to be continuing
03:36 our journey through Psalm 73. Uh let's start with a word of prayer.
03:42 Father Lord, we pray, oh Lord, that we will learn from
03:48 your word. That your word will bring us closer to you as we read the Psalms
03:55 every day in our lives. that it will bring clarity, it will bring intimacy
04:02 with you and it will transform the way we live and think and act. We ask for
04:07 Jesus sake. Amen. Couple of announcements first. Next week, uh our brother Brandon Wong will
04:14 be taking us through our first start of all the um sermons on the life of David.
04:22 there probably is the only one in the Bible who's got the most written about him in the Bible. So, uh starting off
04:30 from roaring agony to redeeming peace, brother Brandon Wong. Then our elder
04:36 Arnold Lim will take us through um Samuel 15, lessons from the genocide of
04:42 Amalachites. And after that, brother William Nao, man after God's own heart,
04:48 which is David, Samuel 16. uh to remind you there is a Christmas
04:53 banquet at this year on Christmas day. I think ever since we started this
05:00 years later on people ask me why you do it. I'll tell you very simply why we do it. When we have Christmas we actually
05:08 celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yeah but you do it at home with your own family. But there are lots of
05:15 people without families. There are people who are poor, disenfranchised, on the margin of
05:21 society who don't even know who Jesus Christ is. And so therefore on Christmas
05:26 day especially, we want to invite the world in. We pay
05:32 for many of these people who come from poorer homes and institutions. We give
05:38 them a good meal, but we share with them. We share our joy of what Jesus has done with them. So maybe this Christmas
05:46 you might want to sacrifice your cozy family meal which you can have anytime
05:51 but spend Christmas with people who need the banquet, people who need Christ. And
05:58 if you feel that you can't come and you can sponsor a table, it's very cheap. The price is I think it's 50 bucks or
06:05 something like that, but it's small amount for you to bring joy into orphans, elderly people who otherwise
06:10 the world would have left them behind. So I just commit this to your hands. Please uh be generous and share the love
06:17 of Christ. The sermons are about doubt which will
06:23 hit most of us. And Philip Yansy has written a brilliant book on disappointment with God. Most people
06:29 will dare not talk about disappointment in God. But he does confront this think squarely. So therefore there are three
06:35 copies. Please click on the QR code and borrow them from the library. It doesn't cost you anything. It's a great blessing
06:41 to read this book. Right. So last week we went through admission of doubt, the
06:47 reason for doubt which we can see from the passages and then wrestling with doubt which we dealt with very very
06:53 cursorally. Today we're going to look at more in depth how you actually deal with
06:58 doubt. Doubt is very very common. Here's a a study from about oh I I made the
07:03 wrong things 2,000 not 20,000 adults and teens in 2022. And we asked them even
07:09 Christians how often they will have doubt. Onethird actually frequently to occasionally have doubts and 55% of them
07:17 actually said that they have prolonged periods of doubt. So doubt is part of
07:23 our uh experience. What about great Christians? Mother Teresa, you can't get
07:30 better than her, right? She received the Nobel Prize, right?
07:35 uh and at that time she says there's a radiating joy is real because Christ is
07:40 everywhere. Christ is in our hearts. Christ is the poor. We meet Christ in the smile we give and in the smile that
07:46 we receive. 11 weeks later on she writes, "As for me, the silence and the emptiness so
07:52 great that I look and I do not see, listen and do not hear. The tongue moves in prayer but does not speak. I want you
07:59 to pray for me that I let him have a free hand." So many unanswered questions live within
08:06 me, afraid to uncover them because of blasphemy. If there be God, please
08:11 forgive me. When I try to raise my thoughts to heaven, there is such convincing emptiness that those very
08:17 thoughts return to me like sharp knives and hurt my very soul. I'm told God loves me and yet the reality of darkness
08:23 and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul. Did I make a mistake in surrendering blindly to the
08:30 call of the sacred heart? Mother Teresa 11 weeks later on she struggles with
08:38 spiritual darkness. I'm surprised only one third of Christians say they have doubts. I would
08:44 imagine if she has doubts, I have doubts too. I'm sure many of your leaders will also have doubts. So the the issue of
08:51 doubt is not that they they it's blasphemous as she thinks. If you doubt that mean God will condemn you. Doubt is
08:59 basically a stepping stone to growth. Um
09:04 you can either accept the proposition or reject the proposition. Doubt is basically putting your foot on each boat
09:11 and having to make that decision. But what makes that decision is what propels you towards him or pushes you back.
09:18 Martin Luther says there only two things you look at unless I'm convinced by scripture and plain reason. My
09:24 conscience is captive to the word of God. So about five steps that we actually look at today in how we deal
09:33 with doubts. First of all, we reexamine the motives behind our doubts. I was
09:40 envious of the arrogant. When I saw the prosperity of the wicked, they set their
09:47 mouths against heavens and their tongues struck through the earth. Therefore, his people turned back to them and find no fault in them. And they said, "How can
09:53 God know? Is there knowledge in the most high? Behold, these wicked are always at
09:58 ease. They increase in riches. What is the motive?
10:04 The motive is envy, isn't it? Here you have your faith. Knowledge and
10:11 understanding leads to faith, will emotions. It is
10:17 emotions that change. It doesn't change the fact that Jesus died. It doesn't
10:23 change the fact that Jesus rose. It doesn't change the course of history, but your feelings will unravel and
10:29 attack your knowledge and understanding. Here's another survey that looked at causes of doubt. They asked pastors what
10:36 are the most common thing that make people doubt Christian beliefs and you can look past experiences with religious
10:43 institutions, hypocrisy of people, negative reputation of church, human suffering. So basically these are new
10:50 experiences makes you doubt your previous understanding and knowledge. Uh Kate
10:57 Bowler is um did a PhD on studying the prosperity gospel and she wrote a book
11:03 called blessed and uh in her interviews she actually discovered few things. 31%
11:11 of people Christians believe that God increases the riches of those who give.
11:17 So those of you remember BT760076. All right.
11:23 I'm sure you'll be lying if you tell me, "No, no, I give I don't expect anything back."
11:28 Most of us do. I do for a long time in my own sinfulness. Uh twothird of people
11:35 agree God wants people to prosper, right? I think we're having a Delta meeting downstairs
11:41 today. Let's see how they sing that. uh 43% of all Christians responded agree
11:48 that the faithful receive health and wealth right so so greed is therefore
11:54 normalized and discontent is encouraged uh all in vain the psalist says I've
12:00 kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence in vain you know that means
12:07 he became holy you know why he expect reciprocation from God if I'm a holy man
12:13 I should do well isn't Why the bad man has the Lamborghini and I have a proton.
12:20 There must be something in it for me. Right? So all day long I have been stricken instead made bankrupt
12:27 sent to jail sued. If I had said I will speak thus I would
12:33 have betrayed generation and yet he dare not thorough God dare not complain
12:39 because if I had done that I would betray the children other generations.
12:44 You see what I mean? So you keep up ex appearances of faith but in your heart
12:50 you feel disappointed with God because you know why you're not saved? Because you will stumble other people. This is
12:55 the internal struggle that we all have. We put up a facade. And in fact, Job
13:01 suffered. He was a righteous man. He God took away everything. His family, his
13:06 riches, his health, everything. And his friends came to to to visit him and comfort him and and speak to him. And
13:13 one of his friends, Alifas, says, "Remember that who was that who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were
13:20 the upright cut off? As I have seen, those who plow iniquity will sow trouble reap the same." So he's saying Job, it's
13:27 your fault. You must have done something wrong. Something wrong. That's why you
13:32 lost your health, you lost your wife, you lost everything. All right? And that is the same sentiment that the psalmist
13:39 has actually felt. If you look back, you know, in vain, I've done the right thing, but somehow God has broken his
13:48 promises. There was a unwritten understanding between God and me that if
13:54 I kept my heart clean and walk according his way, it will go right. So he says,
14:00 "Your best life now." That's what we do, isn't it? You follow his rules and
14:06 you'll get your best life now. Kate Bowler writes, "Some people wanted
14:11 bentleys, but more wanted relief from the wounds of their past and the pain of their present. People wanted salvation
14:17 from bleak medical diagnosis. They wanted to see God rescue their broken teenagers or their misfiring marriages.
14:23 They wanted talisman to ward off the things that go bump in the night. They wanted an iota of power over the things
14:29 that rip their lives apart at the seams. And in fact, Kate Bowler when she she
14:35 actually did her PhD on this, she got stage four cancer, which proves the point. You can't transact with God. See
14:43 the the real motive for faith for many of us is we want to believe we can shape
14:49 the life's cause. We're so powerless, right? That if we have something in our
14:55 lives that's transcendent, we can shape our life's cause. That is the issue. So
15:03 therefore, the problem is when our belief hits reality and it doesn't quite
15:08 work out, then we spin out of control. Here's another uh research study 2025
15:14 March Pew that looked at many western countries and even Southeast Asia including Malaysia
15:21 and they looked at the reasons for leaving the church
15:26 and the number one reason is LGBTQ.
15:31 Amazing is that right? Why do people leave? Well, here is Roy Clemens a very
15:37 famous Christian preacher. who was in quadral lumpo many years ago. brilliant preacher and he actually left
15:45 the faith and you know why he left the faith he says in short I don't believe I
15:50 can be cured by behavioral therapy I am gay and will always be so so what is his
15:56 motive for doubt because he wants to be gay he wants to pursue homosexual
16:02 relationships therefore he leaves that's his excuse sexual desire so many people
16:08 have unmet desires you may be single you may be having an unhappy marriage. You
16:14 may have lost the romance in your life. And so therefore, you know, having another woman is not good. So I might as
16:19 well I I either ditch the other woman or ditch my faith. So they ditch their faith. Here's Confessions of an atheist
16:26 in Malaysian Chronicles 2014. I don't have to this person left the faith. I
16:32 don't have to try to fit in the divine when science can explain the world works. Most of all, I don't have to
16:37 bother reconciling my ideas of women's rights and sexist notions of Christianity and other major religions.
16:43 If other women are happy being submissive to their husbands because the Bible tells them to do so, that's up to
16:48 them. But at least now I can choose not to. I'm free to speak seek a more
16:53 egalitarian relationship outside the misogynistic boundaries of religion.
16:59 Wow. Written by a Malaysian. because she didn't like the the the trouble is truth
17:05 doesn't depend on what you like or what makes sense to you personally. Truth is
17:10 a transcendent truth which the word of God gives us no matter what you feel. So therefore when you have doubts the first
17:15 thing you need to dive into is why you have those doubts. Perhaps the word of God irks you, disagrees with you because
17:23 you have unmet desires. And that's number five or something down there. Women rights. So we examine the motives
17:30 behind our doubts to make sure they're honest doubts. Second of all, we deliberately engage in worship with
17:36 others and regain insight. So when I thought how to understand this, when he looked at all the disparities in the
17:41 world and suffering, it seemed a worrisome task. He couldn't get over it until I went into the
17:48 sanctuary of God and I discern their end. So therefore, the second thing how we actually uh grapple with doubt is
17:55 that you go into re of God. The reason why you go in the sanctuary of God because as I've said last week, we
18:01 create our own user friendly versions of God that cannot contradict us, cannot
18:06 correct us, but can't really help us. You ask a child to draw the picture of the mother.
18:13 There's one picture mother happy and one picture of a mother's upset with them.
18:19 And if you are the mother, you would be really appalled because that's not a real picture of you. But that's all the
18:25 child can do. Imagine I ask you to draw a picture of God. If you draw a picture of God, it will always be a caricature.
18:33 It will not be the right thing because you will draw it like this because you are a child compared to God, the creator
18:39 of the entire universe. You will be that child. So, we all have a character. Here
18:44 is the greatest artist who ever lived, Michelangelo. If you go to Cyine Chapel and you go,
18:52 you pay your £30 or whatever, you go inside and you look right up there, is a picture of God.
18:59 Don't he look scary? A picture of God. Don't he look scary? The one who said Jesus died for us, you
19:07 know. Reminds me of Justice Pow. My my picture of my father when growing
19:12 up, the disciplinarian. We have a better picture nowadays. Ah, that one. Our
19:17 modern picture cleans it all up. But whatever we do, basically he becomes who
19:24 we want him to be. And when you go back to the scriptures, when you go to a church that actually preaches God's word
19:31 uncompromisingly, weak in and week out, we get reatted to
19:36 what God really looks like. They went back in Israel, only one tabernacle. They're going to worship one place at
19:42 the tabernacle in a temple in Jerusalem. Only one place. That's why they went and
19:48 they got reorientated to the reality of life. The problem is today we can go
19:55 shopping for churches. Go to the church that best fits our
19:60 needs which is a problem because that is the first problem in the first place because your your idea of God is a
20:05 caricature is a user friendly God. So now you go to a church which a user friendly and the first thing you do when
20:11 you go to a church oh are they friendly to me? Did they provide child services? Well, all these are pressured. You ask
20:17 all the leaders in the church, they are pressured. They say, "Uh, we want to be relevant. Don't mention hell. It makes
20:23 me uncomfortable. Stop making me feel guilty." Refer to sin as bad choices.
20:30 Tell me again how much God wants to bless me. Tell me what Jesus can do for me. Remember how much money I gave to
20:36 just last week BT76. Ding. Make sure there enough programs for my kids. You you see the number of comments
20:44 people make and ask of the church. They don't come to me and tell me, "Oh, this church preaches the truth. When I come
20:50 here, I get hit with the truth. I feel bad." If you feel bad, it's good.
20:57 We brush aside sin. We say, "It's just sinful. It's just normal choices." And then when you run into trouble because
21:03 you have a user friendly God, the kind God cannot correct you. It's the same God that cannot help you.
21:09 Truly, you set them and and and when you come to church, you come to the temple,
21:14 you get reorientated to the truth. Truly, you set them on slippery places. You make them fall to ruin. How they're
21:21 destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors. Like a dream where one awakes, oh Lord, when you rouse
21:27 yourself, you despise them as phantoms. This is the reality for these rich
21:32 people whom he was envious of. But then again,
21:38 I'm here now. It's not happening. They're doing so well. They're getting richer and richer and richer and more
21:45 prosperous and unimpeded. They're arrogant. It's like having children in
21:51 the back seat driving towards Ramban. In those days, every 10 minutes the children will ask,
21:58 "Are we there yet?" I mean, 10 minutes only ask you, "Are
22:03 you there yet?" 15 minutes are you there? Oh, I'm going to be a few more minutes, few more minutes. Then then there's a reason why they do that. And
22:10 the reason why they do that, if you look at them, one year in a four year old's
22:16 child is 25% of his life. One year in my life at 66 year old is
22:22 0.015%. You know, so that the perception of time for them, the perception of time
22:28 is very long. 10 minutes is really very long. If you talk about compared to a 66
22:34 year old person, it's a perspective of time. Look at the biblical instances of
22:39 waiting. If you know anything about God, he's got one to you. That's a nasty habit.
22:47 Everything he promised, he make you wait. Abraham wait 25 years. Isaac wait
22:53 for children 20 years. Jacob waited for his wife Rachel 14 years. Joseph waited to be redeemed 13 years. Israel's
22:60 enslaved in Egypt before coming to Canaan 400 years. David wanted to be king. Ah yes you have king but 15 years
23:07 later on Israel in the darkness 40 years Moses 40 Israel in exile 70 years. You
23:15 see biblical instances are waiting. Why? Because God for example Israel waited in
23:22 Egypt suffering as slaves. You know, don't you think God cares? No,
23:30 he doesn't care. He left us 400 years. Why? Because in Canaan, the the the the
23:35 Canaanites were godless people, evil people. God gave them 400 years to
23:41 repent. And giving him four years, 400 years to repent, Israel had to wait 400 years in
23:46 suffering. You see, there is a reason behind all these things. No matter
23:52 Philillip writes no matter how we rationalize God will sometimes seem unfair from the perspective of a person
23:57 trapped in time only at the end of time after we have attained God's level of viewing and after every evil have been
24:04 punished or forgiven every illness healed entire universe restored only then only then will fairness
24:12 reign. We may question his wisdom but never his love. So we need to know why
24:18 we trust him. All right. So Psalm 49, be not afraid when a man becomes rich and
24:26 the house of his glory of his house increases for when he dies, he will carry nothing away. His glory will not
24:32 go down with him. That is ultimate reality. Psalm 48 tells us about going
24:39 to the sanctuary. We have thought of your steadfast love, oh God, in the
24:44 midst of your temple. So when you come to church, when you fight doubt, when you come to church and worship with
24:50 everyone else, we all have a story to tell, a testimony to tell of how God's
24:56 steadfast love sustained us, right? As your name, oh God, so your praise
25:02 reaches the ends of the earth. The main aim in life is not that we get a more comfortable life, but our lives serve to
25:08 glorify him. Let let's take for example Jesus
25:14 right after baptism he was sent into the wilderness and Matthew chapter 4 Jesus was led to
25:20 by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil after fasting 40 days and nights he was hungry
25:28 and then the de tempter came to him and said if you are the son of god don't you think he's trying to elicit what doubt
25:36 did he come on day one No, he comes on day 40. Why? Hungry.
25:43 You see the son of man sort of doubt comes when we see don't correlate with
25:51 what we know. Jesus, do you think he ever starved for 40 days and 40 nights?
25:56 Never. He is God. For the first time in life because he became incarnate and a
26:02 human being. He never starved for 40 days and 40 nights. And he must be
26:07 wondering, why does God want me to do this? It's pointless. I'm not really
26:13 fat. I don't need to starve. And all he's thinking of is I wish I had this.
26:20 I mean, we have grabbed, right? For him, he could have a grab. He would have
26:26 changed the stones into bread. And he answered, "It is written, man shall not
26:32 live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." And
26:38 yet Jesus pivots to the reason is obedience.
26:44 Obedience to God. And and why is it important? He had a similar experience
26:50 in John chapter 6 where he made produced bread for 5,000 people. They all had a
26:58 great w this is fantastic. It looks like sourdough you know. Uh so so very healthy for us. They ate plenty of
27:05 leftovers and they all followed Jesus. You know why they follow Jesus? Jesus answered them truly I say to you, you
27:12 are seeking me not because you saw the signs but because you ate your field of loves. Jesus understands all of us.
27:19 You're there because you want something. If I give you one meal and I give you a meal every day for people who are in the
27:26 Middle East and poor at that time, you've already increased their wealth by 50%. That's how much how important it is. And
27:34 then Jesus said, "Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the
27:39 Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." As far as bread is concerned, yeah, it's
27:46 important but not as important as obedience to God. Which is the point in Matthew chapter 4 when he was actually
27:53 tempted. The point is that not that he cannot call grab food. He can, but the point is the word of God obedience is
28:01 more important than food. The word or reorientates us to reality is not the
28:07 next meal that matters but his will. The purpose life not our comfort or food but his will. Submission to the will trumps
28:14 everything. Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him,
28:20 "If you are the son of God, right, throw yourself down, for it is written, he
28:25 will command angels regarding you and on their hands they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone."
28:32 So he brings them up to the high temple and ask him, "Oh, you God, you son of
28:37 God, is it?" Wow, if it's really true, then you just jump off. God will save you. And it's not necessarily untrue
28:44 because you know why the devil very smart when Jesus quotes scripture. Now the the devil also sc quote scripture uh
28:51 RSV version. All right. He says he will command his angels concerning you. On
28:56 their hands they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone. That's correct. If you had jumped off
29:02 God would have done that. God would have done that. It's not wrong.
29:07 People will quote scripture but that but it's out of context. Look at Joyce Mayer
29:13 power thoughts. When you wake up in the morning, begin by declaring God what God
29:19 says over your situation. If you're sickness, say things like the Lord heals all my sicknesses. Jesus took away all
29:27 sicknesses and disease and by his stripes I'm healed. And he quotes Psalm 103, Matthew 8. Every day you need to
29:33 say something good is going to happen to me today. I can hardly wait to see what God is going to do in my life.
29:41 You you you think saying that changes the trajectory of your life. You must be born stupid if you believe
29:47 this. I mean bad things happen to people every single day. Christians,
29:52 non-Christians, everybody. You think saying that will make any difference?
29:58 Jesus said to him again is written, "You shall not put your Lord your God to the
30:04 test." This is not that the scripture is wrong, but if you jump off, not nothing
30:09 to do. You just jump off. Hey, God, catch me. That what you're saying is that you don't trust God.
30:16 You're actually testing God. You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.
30:23 You see, I mean, so basically what happens is that
30:28 we need to think through the word, not just recite memory verses. You know, a lot of people misinterpret this chapter
30:34 in Matthew chapter 4. You got temptation, then you quickly find a big uh magic verse. Boom. You say it out and
30:41 suddenly the devil goes away. It's rubbish unless you believe it. Unless you actually believe it. So there are
30:48 three pillars in our lives and doubts will hit these three. Every temptation
30:54 doubt will hit these three pillars. obedience of the word of God, trust in the steadfast love of God, and purpose,
31:02 whether you're committed to his purpose. If you become a Christian today, you made a commitment to obey. You made a
31:08 commitment to trust. You made a commit to reorientate your life so that your
31:14 life moves towards that direction, that trajectory that honors God and God alone
31:19 no matter where it takes you. These are the three pillars of your life. And if doubt comes, it will hit just like the
31:27 temptation of Jesus, every single one of these pillars. When David looked out from the expanse of his of his opulent
31:35 palace to see the woman bathing, the three things, the three pillars in
31:41 his life were struck. Is he going to be obedient to God's will? Is he going to
31:47 trust that God will let him find satisfaction in his own wife and not another woman?
31:53 And will this honor and glorify God? Will I go and jump into bed with Bashibba and say, "Oh, praise the Lord.
31:59 This is wonderful. Next time we go to sin, you better think about that." When you jump into the
32:06 other woman's bed, oh, it's going to glorify God. We're going to have great sex. You see, these three pillars, the moment
32:14 doubt comes in, it always hits any one of these three pillars. We need to recognize it. We need to remember.
32:22 Deuteronomy says, "You shall remember when you were slave in the land of Egypt, and your Lord your God brought you to out here with a mighty hand and
32:29 outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you keep the Sabbath day." Worship in church is remembering.
32:35 And that's why when we come as often as we do, we have the Lord's supper. We remember that seinal event that
32:41 transformed our lives, that made us the sons of God. And that's why we do it. We
32:47 remind ourselves because we are forgetful people. And the community will be expression of God's love to us as
32:52 well. Now the the third thing is that we compare footholds here. We compare the ungodly. The
33:00 ungodly truly you set them in a slippery place. You make them fall to ruin. How
33:06 they destroyed in the moment swept away by terrors. Theologically when you come
33:11 you know what will happen to them. And then you look at yourself. Nevertheless, I am continuing with you. You hold my
33:19 right hand. You guide me with your counsel and afterwards you will receive me in glory. You always look at the two.
33:27 You just don't look at the one who is doing so well lying and thieving and doing all sorts of things. You just look
33:34 there. When you go back to the the the temple or the word of God, you go back to what God has promised you. A severe
33:41 mercy written by uh Sheldon Vanalen actually writes when I realized he's a
33:47 man struggling with doubt. There's a gap behind me as well. If I had believed in Christ that would have been a leap of
33:54 faith as there's no certainty but to even go back is a leap of faith. It
33:60 would take enormous faith to reject Jesus. Once I saw the gap behind me, I
34:06 leapt forward. And and that's what I usually tell people in the alpha course.
34:11 They go through 13 weeks in alpha where they actually presented with the gospel of Jesus Christ. They may have been
34:18 Buddhist before or atheist before or Hindu before. I don't care what you were before. But after 13 weeks, if the Holy
34:24 Spirit moves in your life, you can actually move towards accepting the proposition that Jesus Christ is Lord.
34:31 But it's not certain. There's no certainty. There's a gap
34:36 between what you know and the fact that Jesus is Lord and you there's a gap and that gap can only be covered by a leap
34:43 of faith. But then again, you say, "Oh, I don't want I unless God appears to me tomorrow
34:50 in a shining bright light and touches my head, then I accept Christ." But most times, God doesn't do that.
34:58 Then I ask them in Alpha, "Oh, well then can you go back? Can you go back and say
35:05 Muhammad is a prophet, Buddha is God, whatever that you were before then
35:11 thinking very carefully you know after 13 weeks of alpha I think for me to go back is also a leap of faith
35:19 and Sydney Vanogan says if going back is a leap of faith going forward is a leap
35:24 of faith what is that to lose you leap forward isn't that so that makes sense
35:31 when we that look at the actual footholds we actually
35:36 compare there's a famous mathematician called bla1 Pascal and bla1 Pascal
35:42 talked about Pascal's wager and this especially apply for elderly people like
35:49 myself and Idian if you want to make a bet and Pascal says a bet he's a mathematician right
35:56 you want to bet you bet on Jesus okay if you bet on Jesus Christ. The upside of
36:01 your bet, if you win the bet, you have eternal life for many, many, many, many, many years and glory. If you bet on life
36:08 on earth and there's no Jesus Christ, yes, you can have glory. You can have Lamborghini. You can be like Donald
36:14 Trump's right-hand man. You can have stock market. You can have wealth for 15 generations, but then you die, you know,
36:22 and you look at him and me, we don't have much years left, you know. So for me to bet the next 10 years of my life
36:29 versus eternity, you might be stupid to say you want to reject Jesus Christ. Isn't it? So that's what Bas Pascal
36:36 says. Your life even if you're young like this fellow sitting in front of me is actually nothing.
36:42 What do you got to lose? If you bet and you lost the bet, right? You only lost
36:48 some pleasures in this life. 15 concubines. Yeah, I give you that's the
36:53 most right stock market a few trillion dollars. So what the life will end if
37:00 you lose the bet if you gain the bet on the other side is eternity. So basically
37:06 what when you actually grappling your doubt you compare footholds. You take the two. So we examine our doubt
37:14 motives. We engage in worship with others and we gain insight. We compare footholds. We feel for his hand and and
37:21 nevertheless I'm continuing with you. You hold my right hand. You guide me
37:28 with your counsel. Afterwards, you receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? There's nothing on earth
37:34 that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is a strength of my heart and my portion forever. You
37:41 hold my hand. You need to look up for his hand. Guide me with your counsel. John the Baptist
37:48 described by Jesus in Matthew chapter 11. Truly I say to you, among those born
37:53 of women, there's arisen no greater than John the Baptist. That means better than
37:60 Moses. He's better than Isaiah. He's better than Jeremiah. He's better than
38:06 anybody else. And that is a compliment from Jesus Christ himself. And if you
38:13 look at the life of John the Baptist, he one in chapter one of John says the next
38:18 day he saw Jesus coming to him and he said behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin
38:23 of the world. That's enough. Does he know Jesus? Of course is his cousin Kakilang.
38:30 Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. His whole life has led up to this particular moment when he
38:37 declares that this is the son of God. And then when he actually baptized Jesus, a voice came from heaven and a
38:44 dove descended on the head of Jesus Christ and his voice said, "This is my
38:49 beloved son with whom I am well pleased." Who when is the last time any of you heard the voice of God? God here.
38:56 Anybody heard the voice of God? No. That's very sad for you, Mary.
39:01 Right. But if you heard the voice of God, you'll be more than a thousand
39:07 times convinced, right? No doubt at all. Right, Mary? No doubt. Huh? Ah,
39:14 right. John chapter one. And John bore witness. I saw the spirit descend from
39:20 heaven like a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him. But he sent me to baptize with water and said
39:26 to me, he on whom you see the spirit descend and remain. This is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. I've seen
39:32 and borne witness. This is the son of God. Right? Perfect testimony. You can't
39:39 do better than that. Then he gets thrown into prison. Oh, after marinating a few years in
39:46 prison, then he asked this question. Are you the one
39:52 who is to come or shall we look for another?
39:57 Hello, this is a guy that said this is the son of God. I heard it. I didn't you know he had a vision. He had more
40:03 information than any one of us. And Jesus said that this is the best that the human beings that that can exist.
40:12 You see doubt will hit Mother Teresa. If doubt hit Jesus uh uh cousin John, you
40:18 think that won't hit you? You will have doubts. But how do you handle the doubt?
40:25 He reaches out. He sits at his disciples to see Jesus.
40:30 Are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another? because this prison
40:35 cell really sucks. I want to get out. And he wanted to feel God's hand.
40:43 Psalm 54 says, "My heart is in anguish. The terrors of death have fallen upon me. Feel fear and temp trembling come
40:50 upon me. Horror overwhelm me. And I say, oh that I have wings like a dove and I fly away and be at rest." This is
40:56 probably going through John's mind because when the terror of prison hits you, everything else disappear. Forget
41:03 about FBC. He forget about all your your your your your past experiences. And Jesus answered him. You know what
41:11 Jesus should have answered? Hey man, remember baptism
41:17 was me. You know I got a selfie from that. Did you not hear the voice? Hey, I got
41:23 tape recording. I'm the one, man. You lived all your life for this moment
41:29 and hey, how can you go go back and you know doubt me? Isn't it that which be
41:35 what a counselor will do you know ask them he'll probably tell you that
41:40 but Jesus didn't very funny you know you know what Jesus said
41:46 go and tell John what you hear and see the blind receive their sight the lame
41:52 walk lepers are cleansed the deaf hear the dead are raised and the poor have
41:59 good news preached to them astounding thing. You know what John is
42:05 being pointed to? He's being pointed back to the same prophecy
42:11 that inaugurated his own ministry. Don't lose sight. The knowledge and
42:16 understanding, the emotions get mixed up, but you go back to your original knowledge and understanding, and he will remember. Isaiah 35 says, "The eyes of
42:24 the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped, and then shall a lame man leap like a deer, and the
42:31 tongue of the mute sing for joy." And this prophecy was given hundreds of years before the coming of Jesus Christ.
42:37 I mean, when you put the two and two together, obviously Jesus is the son of God, isn't
42:43 it? He wants us to go back to scripture every single time. Not to the tape
42:51 recording. He could have said that you didn't hear forget your ear something wrong. He wants us to go back to the
42:58 word of God. And for us, we don't need a tape recording.
43:03 I have seen people a patient of mine who actually had a
43:09 vision of Jesus Christ and years later on it's left in the
43:15 dark. He's moved on. It's because only the word of God will
43:21 endure and transform your heart. That is when you reach out and feel for God's
43:26 hand. And God's hand comes in his word. You could reach out for this book.
43:33 Imagine you were in prison and and and and you got a Joel Austin book. Oh, your
43:39 best life now. Hey, I think my best life sucks. You know, it will all go. Of course, you will
43:45 doubt. And you know what happened? He sent and had John beheaded. His head was brought on a patter and given to the
43:51 girl and she brought it to him. So, did God help John?
43:59 After this, his head was chopped off. And Hebrews say later on, all these though commended through their faith did
44:07 not receive what was promised since God had provided something better for us that apart from us, they should not be
44:12 made they should not be made perfect. So which means there are some of us like John the Baptist. You know Psalm 1388
44:20 says God will fulfill his purposes for me. his steadfast love would uphold me.
44:30 You see, every single one of us has a purpose. As far as John is concerned,
44:35 yes, in the trajectory of history, he fits right in. His purpose was to pave
44:42 the road for Jesus Christ and then God takes him home. That's what God decides.
44:50 Mother Teresa struggling in the darkness. What do I labor for? If there be no God, there can be no soul. If
44:57 there is no soul, then Jesus, you are also not true. And she actually wrote and this person
45:04 in his church helped him, helped her, Reverend Joseph Nuna. And he says there's no human remedy for it. That is
45:11 she should not feel responsible for affecting that. She's not the cause of her own darkness. Feeling Jesus is not
45:16 the only proof of his being there. and his her very craving for God was not a
45:22 sure sign of his hidden pres was a sure sign of his hidden presence in her life.
45:27 What what he explained to her is that that actual craving for God is a sign
45:32 not that God has abandoned you but the fact that God is working in your life
45:37 even though it's not emotionally apparent at that time and you need someone third party to tell
45:45 you that when you are struggling in doubt you cannot ruminate in your own
45:50 juices of of or uncertainty isn't that you need somebody else family life
45:56 ministry life group to look at your situation objectively
46:02 and remind you how God's word applies. That's when you reach out and feel for
46:08 his hand. If you don't reach out and feel for his hand, he can't minister to you. And then she writes later on, I
46:14 can't express in words the gratitude I owe you for your kindness to me. For the first time in years, I've come to love
46:19 the darkness. She embraces the darkness. I've come to love the darkness for I believe now that it is a very part very
46:26 very small part of Jesus' darkness and pain on the earth. You taught me to accept it as a spiritual side of your
46:31 work as you wrote today. Really I felt a deep joy that Jesus can't go anymore through the agony but that he wants to
46:38 go through it in me. That means she has reinterpreted her darkness as the same
46:43 kind of darkness Jesus went through in the garden of Gethsemane. He went to garden of Gethsemane. He's
46:49 like, I don't want to go and die, but I can this cup pass from me. And you think God sent 10 angels to say, hey, Jesus,
46:56 we're still here. God didn't do that. There was a darkness before he went to
47:01 the cross. And now somebody else outside tells Mother Teresa, there's a darkness
47:07 that you necessarily have to go through. And she understood and it filled her with joy. We feel for his hand, and his
47:14 hand usually comes from someone else. Lastly, we make a God our refuge. Whom
47:23 have I got in heaven but you? There's nothing on the earth that I desire
47:29 besides you. My heart and my flesh may fail. You see, your emotions may fail.
47:36 You're not going to be a paradigm of faith where you stand steadfast,
47:41 unmoved, invincible, bulletproof, never have a doubt. But the important thing is not my
47:48 heart and my flesh. My God is my heart and my portion forever. That's the
47:56 important thing. You know, when Abraham was escorting his son up to the mount
48:03 for the sacrifice, he would have said, "I don't understand you in this
48:08 situation, but I trust you." You see his faith was against sight but not against reason.
48:17 Why? Because rebraham can look back in his life. Whenever you come to situation in your life when you have doubt, you
48:23 need to make God your refuge. Because you will just look back about the day you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. About all the trials he
48:30 brought you through, all the transformation in your life, in the life of your family, and you go back and look
48:36 at that. Are you going to reject that? Lord, I don't understand you in this situation,
48:44 but I have sufficient reason to trust you in this situation that your steadfast love will carry me through.
48:52 Philosopher Beasel Mitchell writes a parable called the stranger knows best.
48:58 And it's a story about World War II where there is a rebellion where Nazi
49:05 Germany had taken over France and there was a partisan movement called the Marquee and they were against
49:12 the Germans and one day one of these partisans actually met a stranger
49:17 because stranger and had a wonderful conversation with him and he found out this stranger is a leader of another
49:23 partisan group and after that night of fellowship together He he got to trust
49:29 this stranger and the stranger said well no matter what happens you need to trust me and then he saw the stranger later on
49:36 interacting. He had some of his friends uh with him who are in trouble. He told
49:41 the stranger sent a message and stranger somehow arranged for them to be rescued
49:46 and he tells his friends the stranger knows best. And then the other day he found hey how come the stranger dressed
49:53 in Nazi uniform? stranger dressed in Nazi uniform putting
49:60 some of his partisans his own friends into jail
50:05 and then his friends come to him and say is a criminal he's a traitor you cannot
50:11 trust him but the friend goes back and think no I I I
50:16 still trust him that somehow he has a purpose and and I guess when you trust
50:22 God a lot of times you're going to see him wear a Nazi uniform
50:28 and do things which you don't expect. But you need to fall back onto that initial experience when you have that
50:34 night of fellowship with the partisan stranger that the stranger knows best.
50:40 Nevertheless, I'm continuing with you. You hold my right hand. You guide me your counsel and afterwards you will
50:46 lead me into glory. Martin Nimola was a German pastor during
50:53 Adolf Hitler's time. arrested, put into dungeons and
50:59 February 7, 1938, he will be brought up for trial and he describes his emotions
51:07 terrified, alone and powerless
51:12 as he was brought up to the court case, courtroom that would have ultimately
51:17 decided on his fate. But somebody whispered in his ear. It
51:23 was a Nazi guard, you know. And he whispered in ear this. The name
51:28 of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous man runs into it and is safe.
51:37 A Nazi guard. Basil Mitchell says, "The stranger knows
51:43 best. It is always God as our refuge. Faith here transform
51:51 his feelings. He's still going to go up. He's still going to get condemned. But faith here is seen as a deliberate act
51:58 in defiance of one's emotional state because of that one word that comes from
52:04 God. And you make him your refuge. Whom have I in heaven but you? There's
52:10 nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart will fail.
52:16 But God is the strength of my heart and portion forever. So when we go back and
52:22 struggle without doubts, let's remember to reexamine our motives, engage in
52:27 worship with each other, compare footholds, feel for his hand, and make God our refuge. May God bless you as you
52:35 go forward in the week. Father Lord, we come before you this day
52:43 and as we depart to go out into the world in the community with the ones we love and friends we work with, we pray
52:52 that we will be obedient that we will trust
52:58 and we will be committed to your purposes. that we live, we work, we
53:04 interact with our community so that your name will be glorified and to do that we
53:12 will need your help. We will need you to live through our life or alone we cannot
53:18 do this. You have gone through the temptation. You have overcome. And in
53:23 you, we too will overcome for the name's sake of Jesus.
53:34 Can I have my slide
53:40 now? May the L God of peace brought again who brought again from the
53:46 dead, our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the
53:51 eternal covenant, equip you with everything good, that you may do his will, working in us that which is
53:58 pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and
54:05 ever. And the God's people said, "Amen." May God bless you coming week. Any of you would like to have us pray
54:12 over your doubts, we'll be more than happy.
