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00:03 In our series of um exposition and parables today, we come
00:08 on to the priority of judgment. Not a very nice topic, but something that's
00:14 very, very important. Let's just start with a word of prayer. Lord, we pray that your words are the ones that will
00:22 strike our hearts. Your words are the ones that will seep in and change our attitudes and help us to realize
00:30 what life is really all about. And at the end of life, we shall face judgment and how we should live by faith in the
00:37 light of that. We ask for Jesus' sake. Amen. This last year, we everybody in the
00:44 world fussed about the possible ending of the world. You've got this in the Star newspaper
00:51 um in the TVs. Uh everyone's talking about that day. Now, of course, the world hasn't ended, right? But on that
00:57 time around December, everyone was wondering uh you've got people thinking what will happen on the last day. In
01:03 China, they actually arrested 93 people because they were spreading rumors that the world would end in December. Uh
01:10 because this was supposed to be against the Communist Party. Well, that's this ending the world is not necessarily just
01:17 limited to uh you know China. Uh in Serbia that particular day they were
01:23 supposed to have the world end as well and people gathered around this mountain called Mount Ranch um where about
01:30 hundreds of people gathered because they believe a sorcerer was hidden inside the mountain and on that day in December the
01:36 the mountain will split open. the sorcerer will come out, destroy the world, but everybody who gathered around can actually jump inside the mountain
01:42 and they'll be the safest place in the world. Um, in Russia, there's a bunker 42 in near the Kremlin in Moscow and
01:50 they prepared this bunker for the December Mayan date. It can fit 300
01:58 people, children, you have video games, you have makan, you have comfortable
02:03 digs to sleep in. Uh, it can take up to, you know, 300 people. You pay $1,000 to
02:09 get in. And if the world doesn't end, you get a refund of 600 ringg. $600, not
02:15 ringit. You see, in all these um predictions of the end of the world, one theme is
02:22 pathetically common. They expect the world to end, but beyond that, they
02:28 haven't got a clue except to give you a refund. And beyond death is simply the topic of
02:35 today which is reality's judgment. But we've erased you know we had this sermon
02:40 a 100red years ago. I won't have to give this sermon. 100 years ago everyone knew
02:46 that after death there was something else that this generation has erased it.
02:51 People like for example John Lennon if you remember his classic song imagine there's no heaven is easy if you try. No
02:59 hell below us, above us, only sky. Imagine all the people living for today.
03:04 Imagine there are no countries. It isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for.
03:09 No religion, too. Imagine all the people living in peace. You may say, "I'm a
03:14 dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us and the world be one." This talk of judgment is
03:23 so horrible. it belongs to these fundamentalist uh religions and it
03:29 crowds our life and we can't really live if we got to think about judgment. So therefore we imagine there's no heaven
03:36 and no earth and there won't be life after death. There's no religion. Isn't that nice when we just have to live as
03:41 one people under the sun. Now just because a lot of people believe this doesn't mean it'll come true. A man was
03:49 testifying on a program on the Fukushima uh tsunami and what happened at that
03:55 time they had a earthquake and earthquake was frightening enough if you live in Fukushima. So everybody ran to
04:03 the town center and because everybody was in town center they felt very safe because everyone's there ma but then
04:10 when you go to the town center you get this thing coming right on you and many people died. Now, no matter how well
04:17 they felt that there will be no tsunami even though there was an earthquake, the tsunami came and the most eerie thing
04:24 about this tsunami, it came very silently. It just came and they were washed away.
04:32 And just because you stood there in the town center with all your mates and all your friends talking that there is no
04:37 God and there will be no tsunami doesn't make it go away. And so therefore, it
04:42 came on that day. Three points today on the passage. Very obvious. First of all,
04:48 judgment belongs to Jesus. It will come when the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him. Then he
04:54 will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations. He will separate people from one another as
05:00 a shepherd separates sheep from goats. He will place the sheep on his right but
05:05 the goats on the left. And the king will say to those on his right. And it goes on. You know the story. But important
05:11 point that Jesus wants to point out is that the son of man Jesus the one who
05:18 comes he will be seated not on the cross you know he will be seated on his
05:23 glorious throne and he will be described the king in fact the king of kings it is
05:28 he who will be the judge and that's the first reality for everybody who sits in
05:33 bunker 42 or the center of Fukushima Jesus will be coming to rule and he will
05:41 judge the same Jesus. This is the earliest gravity on record about Jesus.
05:46 Alexos worships his king. And you notice the king has a donkey for a head and is
05:53 impaled upon the cross. The same Jesus where everybody looks at with derision.
05:59 They preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews, and a folly to the Gentiles. Tell your non-Christian
06:05 friends and they think you're crazy because you worship a donkey of a god. That's what they think about Jesus. Um
06:12 they have no they have significant qualms about saying nasty things about certain religions but of Jesus Christ
06:17 they will trash his name from one end of the world to another because they still think he's a donkey stuck stuck on the
06:24 cross. In other religions at the time, if you were Egyptian, you were to die.
06:29 They'll be very careful to embalm you to to take out every bit of your organ except your heart because your heart
06:35 will be kept inside. And when you travel to the next world, there will be a god called Ocerus, which is the one here.
06:41 And he will take the heart, put it on a scale. You will also have judgment. And the scale will be measured against a
06:48 feather. Hopefully, your heart won't be heavier than the he feather. If your heart is full of sin, it will be heavier
06:54 than the feather. It will sink down and another god called ma down here will makan and he looks like a dog, right? So
07:01 obviously most people won't make it. This is the feather and that's your heart. U if you were a Greek at that time you
07:09 travel to the netherworlds of Hades. You'll be judged by King Minos, Aus and Radamantus.
07:15 Now they got committee to judge you which is very odd, isn't it? So at least
07:21 they got three. Uh but in what Jesus says, he is the one who will judge. And
07:26 and Daniel predicts this. He says, "I saw in the night visions, behold the clouds of heaven. There came one like
07:32 the son of man. He came to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion,
07:38 glory, and a kingdom that all people, nations, and languages should serve him.
07:45 His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away. and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
07:52 Thousands of years before Daniel predicted this. This will be the son of man. And Jesus uses this prophecy to
07:60 describe him as the son of man. And Paul describes Jesus. God has highly exalted
08:06 him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. So that the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven,
08:13 on earth, and under the earth. Every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ the glory uh that Jesus Christ is Lord to
08:19 the glory of God the father. Paul describes a time one day whether you
08:25 laugh at Jesus as the donkey on the donkey head on the cross. It doesn't matter the last day every knee will
08:33 bow every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. So we often have two
08:39 pictures of Jesus isn't it? We all familiar with this one when we celebrate the Lord's supper.
08:44 poor Jesus as a lamb. But we very fel seldom look at Jesus as the lion of
08:50 Judah, lion with very sharp teeth. In fact, if you look at Revelations, it describes Jesus. In fact, we had the
08:56 last alpha course and and and Aaron came to ask us, you know, how come we've got two different types of God? In the New
09:02 Testament, you got the loveydovey God. Who is Jesus? Love your enemies. You know, when you slap, you are not one
09:09 cheek, turn the other cheek, you know. Um, and then the Old Testament, you've got this very fierce, very stern God who
09:16 will basically punish you. But that's not true. This is a description of Jesus in Revelations. This is then I looked
09:22 and behold a white cloud and seated the cloud is one like the son of man, Jesus
09:28 with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. What do you do with a sickle in his hand? You start
09:35 harvesting, chopping. So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered
09:42 the great harvest of the earth and threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. And the wine press was
09:49 trodden outside the city and blood flowed from the wine press as high as the horse's bridal for 1,600 stia which
09:57 is 300 kilometers. This is a metaphorical description what
10:03 judgment will be. This is your God. This is a wine press. It's so big that
10:09 you could take steps to walk down after all the grapes are gathered and you pick up in jars your wine. Imagine in God's
10:18 wrath the world will be judged. It will be so horrific that you would have this
10:24 for three 400 kilometers from here right past almost halfway to typing. That's as
10:31 much blood that flows. It describes Jesus as the judge. You know, a young child once wrote, "Dear God, instead of
10:38 letting the people die and having to make new ones, why don't you keep the ones you got now?"
10:44 Which is very logical, isn't it? Why, God, you have to go through this trouble and you put them in a wine press and you
10:50 squeeze everybody out, blood flows. It's such a horrible, horrible thing. Why don't you keep the stuff? Hey, keep us
10:56 the ones that you have so you don't have to keep on making new ones, right? Maybe they make better versions. I don't know.
11:01 But why judgment in the first day? Well, judges because of it is a function of his justice. The problem is that if you
11:08 don't have judgment in the world, it will make a travesty of God's justice.
11:13 Things will be left unfinished. This is Jimmy Savile recently of the BBC crisis.
11:21 This is a man who was knited by the queen. The same is getting a data or not
11:26 quite. Um a and and he was a DJ. He was a presenter. well loved by everybody.
11:33 But later on they found that he was a pedophile. He sexually molested children, women, whatever. You know, he
11:40 was doing all this uh and no one ever knew. And this is what was said of him.
11:46 He is without doubt one of the most prolific sex offenders we have ever come across. And every number represents a
11:53 victim that will never get justice. Now he is dead. If there is no judgment,
11:60 people like Jimmy Savile will get away. What kind of world do you live in when
12:05 you've got false moral values when whatever happens, the guy will get away anyway? This is an article that came out
12:12 recently on Indonesia's killers and the sun on the 24th of December this year.
12:18 You know during a time in Indonesia where the communist party was struggling for to to take over the country there
12:25 was a great purge of the communist party. The communist party went and killed certain generals and the
12:32 non-communists retaliated. They rooted out every single communist. They took
12:37 them out and killed them mercilessly with military death squads. In fact,
12:43 Christians were known in Indonesia to protect the communists simply because
12:49 they came to the house. Look, they're going to kill us. Can you please hide us? Some Christians actually hood actually hid these uh communists, gave
12:57 nourishment to the enemy and these were enemies and and and they were also persecuted and killed. So we have a
13:03 group of people who were hired in death squads and do you know that these people still live today and they describe in a
13:10 movie uh after they were interviewed how they did it. They used to use sticks to beat people. And after watching American
13:16 movies, very bad influence, they thought the more efficient way would be to do it like the mafia. They took a a wire
13:22 around the neck and you gar them. And then they found that this way to kill many, many more faster, more efficient.
13:30 And this how they describe it in this article. Um, but they could get away with it. Um, 500,000 Indonesians were
13:38 killed. None of the people were ever brought to justice. They live today. This is Adi
13:43 Zukardi. This is what he says. We were allowed to do it. The proof is we murdered people and we were allowed to
13:49 do it. War crimes are defined by the winners. I am a winner. So I can make my own definition. Not everything true
13:56 should be made public. Even God has secrets. And there he is sitting right in the middle here very happily waving
14:01 to the crowd. But this is the kind of man who walks the face of this earth having killed thousands of people. And
14:07 if there's no judgment like Jimmy Savile,
14:13 he will get away. He will get away. What about the thousands who are killed in
14:18 Rwanda? We have a sister that comes from Rwanda. You think in a truth and reconciliation
14:24 council that they will come forward? They killed with a matter of months
14:29 500,000 tootssis. You think they're ever brought to justice? What about our own
14:35 country where justice is still lacking for Atanuya or Chio Bangkok if they've all accidentally fallen out of the
14:41 window? You think your general election 13 will solve it? I don't think so. You might
14:48 not solve it in this world, but there must be judgment. What about the saints?
14:54 This is in Revelations. When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain
14:59 for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, "Oh sovereign Lord, holy and
15:04 true. How long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell upon the earth."
15:10 These are people who died for their faith. And 100,000 of them die every single year in the world. And they all
15:16 looked to the king. They all look to God and say, "You
15:21 are holy. You are sovereign. You are true." If there's no judgment, what does
15:27 it make God look like? an old gentleman who can't get it together. That's what
15:33 happens. So therefore, not only will there be death and taxes, there will be
15:39 judgment for sure. And judgment involves all people before him, all nations will
15:45 gathered and will separate people from one from another. As a sheep shepherd shepherds uh separates the sheep from
15:51 the goats, he will place the sheep on the right and the goats on the left.
15:57 All right, those not sheep and goats. You will either be a sheep or you'll be
16:04 a goat. In the Middle Eastern times, you've got the sheep who are prized
16:09 because they've got wool and got meat and they're obedient. One sheep does something, everybody else follows. Goats
16:17 are not like that. If you ever kept goats, so the metaphor is used for obedience and people who are
16:23 non-obedient. All right. Now, a story was told, this is a joke,
16:29 of of three people who are called by God. And God is telling them, look, you know, you know who they are, right? I'm
16:36 going to destroy this world in three days. And George W. Bush goes back and tells the folk, you know, there's good
16:43 news and then there's bad news. The good news, there is a God. I always told you there was a God. Uh bad news, he's going
16:49 to kill, destroy everybody in three days and nobody's going to change his mind. Then Vladimir Putin goes to his people
16:55 in Russia and says, "I got bad news and I got bad news." First of all, there is a God.
17:02 Second of all, he's going to destroy this world in three days. Then lastly, the creator of Microsoft goes before his
17:09 people in Microsoft in Seattle and he says, "I got good news and I got good
17:14 news. The good news is I'm one of the three top people in the world God calls for a conference."
17:21 And the second good news that no need to fix the problems in in Windows 8 because uh
17:28 now judgment day isn't like that where you've got a singular event and you got
17:33 different opinions about it. Uh judgment is actually going to be very serious and it's going to based on obedience. This
17:40 is what uh Jesus is saying for what is hungry
17:45 you gave me food. I was thirsty you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed
17:52 me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you and you came to me. I
17:57 mean, you you go off into the end of the world and you reckon, oh, but I said the
18:02 sinner's prayer. I did the follow-up navigator series. I
18:08 went to the prayer meeting, you know. I attended First Baptist Church for
18:14 goodness sake except at the back. But uh and then the criteria different one. How
18:19 come? It comes out, I was hungry, you gave me food. I was thirsty, you gave me drink. I was a stranger, you welcomed
18:24 me. When did I do that? And and and people who were questioned actually
18:30 asked when do we see somebody walking around with a long beard and a label across the head, Jesus, feed me.
18:38 You ever get that? No, you don't get that. But Jesus says, if you do to the
18:44 least of my brethren, you do this to me. It's basically here you need to spend time you need I mean if you look at
18:52 recently pastor Rama had the difficulty of I think that day he called me travel
18:57 280 kilometers doc in one day to visit this prisoner called bright you know who
19:04 who was one of the Ghanaian students locked up for overstaying this visa for some time and and and they went
19:10 disprisoned that prison 280 kilometers on in one day you think it's easy to visit prisoners
19:16 It's very very difficult. You need not only to spend money, you have to spend time. If this is what a prison looked
19:23 like in those days, this is where Paul was kept in Philippi. This is where Jesus was probably thrown in uh in a
19:30 Jewish prison. It's just one hole. You see that? No television, you know, throw you in the hole down there. Hello. When
19:36 you visit him, you just wave hi, throw the Maggie me inside. Uh and in those
19:41 days you see there's a common Chinese understanding when you when you go into prison you say I think the the
19:49 government will feed you curry right in those days they don't feed you if your relatives don't come and feed you and
19:55 throw stuff down the hole you get nothing to eat and you die it's very common to die in prison in those days so
20:00 therefore if you didn't visit the prisoner would die same as I was a
20:07 stranger you welcomed me in your home you know do You think there's Middle Eastern, there's the Hilton. Hilton didn't start until the, you know, much
20:13 later. You have no hotels, and if people didn't take you in, you would be robbed.
20:18 You will be be raped, you would be captured. And so therefore, this is basically common courtesy and love. And
20:25 the king will answer them, truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me.
20:34 Why is it that these acts of love are actually used as a criteria for
20:40 judgment? I think one of the most important things is that if you look back in the ten commandments, it's
20:46 basically you are to love your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. And all of us actually
20:51 when we sin, don't do that. We we worship other idols in our life. We we
20:58 grab things for ourselves. And when we start to obey, we start to love. And the
21:03 best evidence of our lives being transformed is the fact that we've overcome the idolatry of money of
21:10 possessions and are able to open up our hands and touch other people's lives. So
21:15 worship here has a horizontal dimension. Worship is not monastic. Let's all be
21:22 spiritual and we'll go to EPO have our church camp and we'll sit down there and just commiserate talk about the Bible
21:28 and then we ignore everybody else. It's not mystical. is not monastic.
21:34 If you worship God and you say you worship God, there's a horizontal dimension. The closer you are to the
21:41 Lord, the more you are going to be seen in obedience, in love and care for your fellow man
21:48 because if that dimension is absent, that dimension is actually seen, you know, I mean, you don't go into heaven.
21:54 Imagine you have a a monitor here on your arm. There was a movie once called uh uh called I can't remember but Justin
22:01 Timberlake on time you know but in time right and you you got all these numbers
22:07 you take out ah I got how much time left so you're a young guy you say ah yes plenty of time so I won't worry about
22:13 god if you're a old guy like me oh not much time and then you'll do a little bit more right
22:19 but imagine you actually have something that shows God's approval that's even better if you had a monitor that
22:25 actually showed how God approved you did that, it was good. We did that, it was bad. You know, then wouldn't that be a
22:31 better guide for your life? That's what God is doing in this passage. He's saying that if you are to obey and have
22:37 your life transformed by love and you reach out and you touch the other human beings in love, that's going to be
22:43 better than any monitor that you could wear on your arm. That's going to be a tangible proof that your life has been
22:49 transformed by the blood of Christ. That's why when even when you worship, Jesus says if you got a problem with
22:55 your brother, leave your sacrifice at the door. Don't come in. Because worship has a horizontal dimension. You can't
23:01 say you worship God and you hate your brother. You see, it has a horizontal dimension. This is what Isaiah says.
23:07 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen.
23:12 Your hands are full of blood. These are the people of Israel who who basically cheated their brethren to seek
23:18 sacrifice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's case cause. This is worship.
23:25 Isaiah defines worship as seeking justice, correcting oppression, bringing justice to the fatherless, pleading the
23:31 widow's cause. Say, don't come to church, don't raise your hands, don't sing, don't play your guitar.
23:37 Seek justice, correct oppression, plead the widow's case.
23:42 Now the last thing I want to deal with is some theological issues. Who are these least of my brethrens? They can
23:48 have only two possibilities. One, they refer the Christians or two it refers to
23:54 any human in need. So I'll just give you a little bit of discussion on this for some of you who are the older
23:59 Christians. The rest of you who are not very uh old in faith, you can close your ears for a while. Uh first of all, uh
24:07 brothers could be disciples. And they take this from Matthew uh 12:50. Whoever
24:13 does the will of my father in heaven, my brother and is my brother, sister, and mother. Okay. Um
24:21 Jesus then said, "Do not be afraid. Go to tell my brothers to go to Galilee where they actually will see me." So in
24:27 many places in Matthew when you say someone is a brother, Jesus, it is actually a disciple. So, so the narrow
24:33 view or interpretation would be say that the least of my brothers is to you is basically Christians which means Matthew
24:40 is telling us oh if you are nice to Christians and you help them uh then then you will go to heaven as it were
24:45 example evidence that your life has been transformed. However, you also have
24:50 other passages which say I say to you that everyone who's angry with his brother will be a will be liable for
24:58 judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the counselor. Whoever says you fool will be liable to the
25:03 hells of fire. There at least eight occurrences in Matthew where brother doesn't necessarily mean a Christian
25:09 brother. It could be another fellow human being. So that's a problem, isn't it? All right. Then you've got whoever
25:16 gives a cup to one of these little ones, even a cup of water because he's my disciple, truly I say to you, he will by
25:23 by no means lose his reward. Which means if you Jesus sent out his disciples to
25:28 bring the gospel and if they receive them give them a cup of water because he
25:34 is my disciple. You look at the passage because he's my disciple. He will by no means lose his reward. However, if you
25:41 go to this passage, it says the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or
25:46 thirsty, give you a drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you or naked or clothe you? The people who were
25:51 judged did not know that they were disciples. Well, my the earlier passage
25:56 they gave them water because they were my disciples. So again um are we only to
26:02 be merciful to Christians alone? So when we make sure we give money to Christian
26:08 nursing home all the rest we don't care. It's unlikely. I think the larger
26:14 theological landscape uh we can't escape the fact that we actually should love fellow human beings. And so therefore
26:20 the least of brothers would probably refer to everyone who is made in the image of God. Now the response depends
26:28 on who you are. You actually uh divide people as to sheep or goats. We've
26:33 talked about that. And if you are one who is obedient to Christ, you will react in obedience and love. Now not
26:41 everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. But the one who does the will of my father
26:46 who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Cast out demons
26:53 in your name? Do many mighty works in your name? Then will I declare to you, I never knew you. Depart from me, you are
26:59 workers of lawlessness. So, it really doesn't depend on all the incantations you might think about to
27:06 express your fidelity to God. In the end, what really counts when the rubber
27:12 hits the road is the way you live your life, when the way you do the will of God. So in God's economy this is more
27:20 important rather in man's economy this is important. So we actually live in a
27:26 world where this is very important. You look out I recently had
27:33 personal experience of this. you have a a very big uh a very rich billionaire in this country who's basically buying up
27:40 all theies because he expects one day the dispensing uh uh rights to be taken
27:45 away from doctors and giving only to pharmacies. So he thinks ah great opportunity for me to make money. So he
27:50 goes up to all thearmacies bought up carrying pharmacy Costco and all that and he goes up to otherarmacies who are
27:57 independents and they said to them look you sell to me. The guy says no I don't want to sell to you. Okay I open next
28:03 door to you and he goes to all theies and eventually
28:08 because he owns such big chains and get such low prices he's able to muscle them out of the market. This is the economy
28:16 in which we have these people using that to enslave.
28:21 This is the kind of economy we have in the world where we actually prize money over people. You see Jesus economy is
28:28 completely different. Even with a in a hospital that I was once involved with now bought over by a laboratory chain
28:36 and the laboratory trade chain comes to the doctors that work in this place which I formerly worked at and he said to them look you can stay and work here.
28:43 I quit. Uh but on condition this is this and your rental we can wave if you can
28:50 chalk up $100,000 worth of lab tests. You see this is a lab company. So for
28:56 them bottom line is lab test. It doesn't matter the way they need it or they don't need it. You order the test. The
29:02 more test you order it's like your enrich card you get to fly for free.
29:08 And we're not talking about we're talking about human beings you know. We're talking about doing unnecessary
29:13 test so that we can have more money. Isn't it right? This is the kind of
29:18 economy that we live in. This is the kind of pressure that we are under in any kind of job. And we're are
29:24 Christians. We're supposed to be more than money. We are, you know, some of you think, oh, I don't have time to to
29:31 reach out to the poor in these countries. Perhaps I will give money designated fund lots of that. But you
29:39 look at the Bible passage. I was a stranger and you welcome me. I was a sick and you visited me. It didn't say
29:47 you can pay Michael to visit you or pay pastor Rama to visit you. He said you
29:52 were visited me. You came to me. Hello.
29:59 That's the price. It's not easy. If there's a transformed life, it's you who
30:04 will come. Not the pastors, not the full-time workers, not the elders. It is every single person. So do we have a
30:12 problem with salvation by works? Is Jesus saying that we work to get salvation rather than get faith? No. I
30:18 think what happens here is basically the works are evidence of faith. Here's Revelations 14. It says here's a call
30:25 for endurance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Christ. It comes together. Keep
30:31 commandments of God and faith in Christ. Those who have faith in Christ will keep commandments. And I heard a voice from
30:37 heaven saying, "Write this. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. From now on, blessed indeed, says the spirit.
30:43 They may rest from their labors for their deeds follow them." See, their deeds are evidence of the fact that they
30:50 kept the commandments and they have faith in Jesus Christ. So there's Jesus not saying that when you on the last
30:57 day, you'll be judged on your works. You'll be judged on your faith which is evidenced by your works.
31:04 uh otherwise you'll be like Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi looks like a sheep in it.
31:11 You almost think it's a sheep except a horn at the back there. Now you can do a lot of good works but
31:18 his motivation for doing good works is completely different because he was a Hindu and so therefore he believes by
31:23 doing good works he will get reborn again to a higher level cast as a
31:29 Brahmin cast whatever. So if you actually judge people by works alone, you'll be looking at goats who are very
31:35 well adowed. They're not necessarily obedient to so the reason why they do
31:40 works is very important. Some of you have seen this uh award-winning show um the miss and baby
31:48 Rob is actually one of the greatest novels ever written in the 19th century.
31:54 All right. It's one of the longest as well. And it basically contrasts this issue of grace and love. And basically,
32:02 if you've caught it, law is epitomized by Javer, who is a policeman who chases
32:08 with uh uh undying zeal. Jean Valhan. This is Javer. He's a policeman. And
32:14 John Valjan is a criminal whose life was changed because of a good deed a bishop
32:22 Muriel did. What he did was when he stayed with the bishop, he was a a prisoner had gone to jail actually for
32:28 the silly thing of just stealing bread for his sister. It was 5-year jail
32:33 sentence by stretch of 19 because he tried to escape. Uh and and he this hardened criminal went and stayed with
32:39 the bishop and he stole his silver. But the bishop said when he went to police station, he didn't steal it. I gave it
32:45 to him. The simple act of grace so transformed Jean Valjan that whenever he
32:51 lived his life after that he started to show that grace to other people as well. And I think in a certain sense Victor
32:58 Hugo has it right. It is being a Christian is like that. It's not obeying a set of laws. It is basically being
33:06 transformed by grace and love so that you would show others the same grace and love that have been shown to you. This
33:12 is Simon the magician in Acts and and and he himself was like many of us
33:18 believed right baptized right fed income real Christian believed
33:26 and baptized and then when Simon saw the spirit was given through the laying of apostles he said he offered them money
33:32 ah a few ringit give saying give me this power also that so that anyone on whom I
33:37 lay my hands shall receive the holy spirit but Peter said to him may your silver perish with you because You thought you could obtain the gift of God
33:43 with money. Oh, we saw the speaking on tongues or the laying of spirit and all
33:48 this miracle. I saw one. Can can I put a bid for $100 so that I could have this power and this
33:56 is what Peter said, you have neither part nor lot in this matter for your heart is not right before God. Repent
34:02 for because of this wickedness of yours and pray that the Lord if it's possible the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in a gall of
34:09 bitterness in the bond of iniquity. untransformed. You could have believed in Christ, said
34:15 the magic words, take the Lord's supper, take the baptism, this guy was not
34:21 transformed. Judgment restores meaning to life. This is very, very, very important. All
34:28 right? It gives you back meaning to life. The Greeks believe that when you die, you go to either one of these three
34:34 places. Elissium fields which is like our heaven or tentaro which is basically
34:40 hell where you be tormented forever or those of you on the sitting on the fence
34:45 as fields asphodil fields in your life you didn't do bad or didn't do good you were like nowhere so in life you will be
34:52 nowhere you'll be under the cave waiting waiting waiting and the Catholics have a term for this it's called purgatory all
34:59 right um but the sheep the king will say to them on the right come you are blessed by my father inherit the kingdom
35:06 prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Hello. Did you notice this? Prepared for you from the foundation of
35:14 the world. Before you were born, it was prepared for you already. Which means God had you in mind when he created the
35:19 world. And this is a wonderful thing that will happen that he will come and inherit this kingdom where you will rule
35:26 with God. If you're a goat, depart from me. You cursed into eternal fire
35:32 prepared by for the devil and you'll share the same faith at your boss, the devil and his angels. And the reason why
35:38 is that they don't honor him as God. All right? And God will judge you and the
35:44 purposes of your heart. The Lord will bring to light the things now hidden darkness will disclose the purposes of the heart. This is what judgment will
35:52 do. You see if you don't have judgment in life, the problem is you don't have
35:57 judgment in life, you just take this away, then life becomes meaningless. Just imagine if you don't have judgment,
36:04 what's the point of living? There was a good article by Sarah Barry in the
36:10 Sydney Morning Herald a few one week ago and the title of this article was it's
36:15 by non-Christians you know imagine uh a sad life is not necessarily a bad life
36:20 and it quoted the research of a psychologist called Roy Bmeister Bowmeister uh writes that happiness
36:30 okay is something you feel for all organisms
36:35 with a central nervous system. You actually have certain basic primal drives. You want to survive. You want to
36:44 reproduce. So you pursue these things. And when you get these things, you feel happy. So when George Bush is eating his
36:51 uh maze and the squirrel is eating maze, they have the same feeling, you know, happiness.
36:59 Now, if you live life without eternity and judgment, both George Bush and the
37:04 squirrel will both be happy. And if you are the kind of person who do all that,
37:10 you will be happy. You, it's a natural response. Paul says, "Let's eat and drink for tomorrow we die. Food is meant
37:17 for the stomach and stomach is for the food." Isn't that right? Even the Bible says so. If you have no judgment, that's
37:24 exactly how you should live. So the trouble is some of us take it too far.
37:30 You want to be very very happy. So you want to be very very happy. You eat more
37:36 and more and more and then you have certain consequences. That's the trouble. You got a law of diminishing
37:41 return. The more you eat the less you feel satisfied. So last time you were
37:47 satisfied with one burger. Now you need 10 to have the same feeling. And that's why some people like this fellow called
37:52 Mukesh Amani lives in a 27story house with 168 car parks and a family of that
38:01 requires 600 servants. Why? Because not happy. One servant not
38:07 happy must have 600. So see this is how we live as animals if we follow our
38:13 animal instincts. But Roy Bowmeers research showed that meaning is more
38:20 valuable than happiness. Happiness may involve taking and meaning involve
38:25 giving. Funny, isn't it? If you take, you become happy. And you give, you actually may
38:32 become more meaningful. Now, let me give you an example. All those of you who want to be to have many of you single
38:39 here who want to have children, put your hands up. One, two. Oh, you're so little. Wrong
38:46 example. Well, in another church in another time
38:51 in more ser people uh most people want to get married. They will get children
38:56 except for you guys. All right. Okay. And and and the perception is that actually when you get children you
39:02 become happier. Actually it's not. When you get children you become sadder.
39:08 The reason why you come sad. It's true. You to share the pot m
39:14 you go to restaurant you to pay more divide by four right last time you can eat all by yourself all the the the the
39:20 jagong you know and grow fat by yourself right so so actually marriage and family
39:27 brings less happiness but we offset it by meaning there is meaning behind it
39:34 you see human beings resemble many creatures in their striving for happiness but the quest for meaning is
39:40 the key part that makes us uniquely human. We become human when we give up
39:46 happiness in order to gain meaning in life. And so this is Ernest Becker's
39:51 book in 1973 which he wrote the denial of death. If we separate death from judgment, we have to deny death because
39:59 you see you ask the human being to to just think that there's no judgment and just death alone, life becomes very
40:05 difficult to face. So therefore most humans can't face the fact that they will die. So therefore they have to have
40:11 a big delusion. Perhaps I will live and I believe in something. If I believed I
40:17 identify my tribe or my race or my nation, this will live into the future. So therefore I will be happy. It will
40:23 gives me meaning. Or perhaps I get immortality to my children. The more children I have the nasty naughty fellas
40:30 doesn't matter. But they will live into the future and I my my name will live through them. You ask the average China
40:36 man, he must have his name Tan and all that. it will live on through all the children. That's why in China they don't
40:42 like giving birth to girls because they don't inherit their name and so therefore your memory of your name
40:48 doesn't pass on. It's an immortality system which you must adopt in order to bring meaning to your life. You see and
40:57 so some people actually have their remains shot up in space because maybe God have a closer look at you.
41:04 This is a man Noshira Kokiti who actually uh was only the last man left alive in Papu Nagini of his whole
41:11 battalion. They were all killed off except this one man. And at the age of 60 he made a promise that he would bring
41:17 all his mates back. All thousands of them. At the age of 60 he left his wife,
41:22 his children. Well, he he was very rich at that time and he left the whole company to them and he dedicated the
41:28 next 20 30 years of his life going back to Papa New Guinea at Kokoda and actually bringing all the bones back.
41:34 For him this was his immortality system. This was brought meaning to his life. You see death is meaningless. As Ernest
41:42 Becker said we have to bring some meaning back into our lives and for him it's doing that. Others is being shot into space. However, it doesn't last
41:50 long. This is Lenin. Now, Elen was a famous Russian dictator and his name is
41:56 on more museums, streets, and monuments and public institutions than any other 20th century figure. Last week in
42:03 Mongolia, they took him down. You see, hardly one generation, they take your picture down. Hardly one generation,
42:09 they wouldn't remember what your great great great great grandfather is. It doesn't really work. What is important
42:14 is what we do with Jesus. Jesus died on the cross and Jesus will be the judge
42:22 and this is the one that brings meaning to your life.
42:27 True meaning food is meant for the stomach stomach for the food. God will destroy one and the other. The Lord the
42:34 body is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord and the Lord is for the body. We are made with a purpose. We're
42:41 not animals. We're not made to eat jagong. We're not eat made to char makan
42:47 and that's all. You see, you talk to your friends, how are you doing makan? It's actually very stupid because you'll
42:53 eat and you will die and you'll be buried and you'll be dust. The body is made for the Lord and the Lord is for
43:00 the body. We must never forget that and one day we will give account of that and so so therefore we need to focus on
43:07 God's economy. So comes to my challenge at 10:30 precisely. What should we do? sign up
43:16 for the social ministry because we feel so guilty after this
43:21 then you'll be a very nicel looking goat because you're doing it because it's not
43:27 part of you. If if Christ has so transformed your life and you experience
43:32 his blood, his salvation, his grace and he's dealt with you not according to
43:38 what you deserve but what according to what his love is, then your life will be automatically transformed in gratitude.
43:45 We need to focus on authentic spirituality, not the kind of spirituality that that you go off like a
43:52 monk in like a warong off into the mountains and you pray and you worship the Lord all the time. you study your Bible very much, but it doesn't
43:58 transform your life. We need to focus on authentic spirituality when we see people volunteer because they feel that
44:06 the person whom they're feeding on the street is Jesus Christ. That's what Jesus is saying. Not doing because you
44:13 have to escape the punishment. Uh but because you're authentic sheep who wants to obey. This is a portrait of Dorian
44:21 Gray who made is a story of a man who made a pact with the devil. He says, "I
44:26 don't need to age. My picture will age." So as he got older and older, the picture became older and older and
44:32 older. I think a lot of us are like that. You know, we grow older, but we try to hide it. We dye our hair. I got
44:38 so many people telling me, "Why you don't dye your hair? It's so awful." You know, we fix our tummies, we go and
44:44 work out, we take gins, we do plastic surgery.
44:49 Yeah. Go Botox. Yes. Right. Forgot about that. And all the while the picture of
44:56 our soul is drying and shriveling up. Isn't Isn't that awful? That's not what
45:02 it should be about. If you really understand judgment, you should be looking at the reverse drawan grace.
45:08 Paul says we do not lose heart. The outer self is wasting away. Our inner self being renewed.
45:13 No matter how much you try to do, it will wear away. It will sag. I'm a
45:19 doctor. Believe me, it will all fall apart one day. you're just prolonging it. Paul is
45:26 saying focus on the inside. Focus on the transformation that the word of God does
45:32 which then is reflected in the way you love and care for the people who can't
45:37 care for themselves. So ministry is the big word here. The church is not an institution to store money. the church
45:45 institution where uses the money and uses your time, your time, your effort that we will minister to people who need
45:52 it. Authentic spirituality is when a church goes out whether it goes to
45:58 Sabah, Indonesia or anywhere else where we will help the people in need. So
46:03 ministry needs to happen in our church. Jake Porter was a young gentleman in
46:11 Ohio who had this disease called chromosonal fragile X which made him mentally But one thing he
46:18 loved in his life, he loved football and and he's being very mentally
46:24 He was awkward. He couldn't really put on the uniform or run. And
46:29 they had games and he was part of the team. They always he carried the water. He helped the people. the uh uh the
46:35 coach allowed him to join the team, even gave him a uniform and it was the last year of his high school and he know that
46:41 it was his last game and if anything had happened, Jake would leave high school
46:47 and his coach thought very long and hard about it and said, "Look, Jake can't really play. He's like a mascot." But
46:55 one day when they had a game, they were already down 47 to zero and the the
47:01 coach of the opposite team found out about Jake Porter and what he said he talked to the coach in this high school,
47:08 Northwestern High School and said, "Look, let's do something different." And what they did was they had a special
47:14 play. They had a play where they they started every everybody backed off. They
47:22 thrust the ball to Jake's hands and say, "Jake, you go in that direction." All right. They brought him in the field as
47:28 a player. And Jake looked at everybody, but there are big huge monsters in front of me. Doesn't matter. You go. So, he
47:34 ran. As he ran, all the other players parted like the Red Sea.
47:41 And it was captured in video. Jake Porter ran slowly. That took him all of his 49 seconds, but he reached the
47:47 touchdown, threw it down, and this was a memory. Jake Porter, fragile X
47:54 chromosone, mentally That high school did that.
47:60 See, this is what it's all about. True authentic Christianity is not about
48:06 competing and using people to get money. It's actually using money to bless people.
48:13 looking beyond the competition and looking at the face of Jesus Christ
48:18 here. This is the face of Jesus Christ. At the end of time, Jesus will come to
48:24 you and says, "Did you not see me at the corner shop? Did you not see me
48:31 when I was at Ansana Flats? Did you not see me when I was at Sunai Bulo prison? Or have you never seen the inside of a
48:38 prison in your life?" I was hungry, you gave me food. I was
48:45 thirsty, you gave me drink. I was stranger, you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you
48:51 visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. You see, the grace of Jesus Christ is immeasurably deep and yet
48:59 free. The demands upon us as a disciple is immeasurably
49:05 deep too. It demands your whole life.
49:10 And this should haunt us as we go back and look at our own lives.
49:19 At the cyine chapel, you will see this picture at the end. And this end caps
49:25 the end of my sermon. It's about the priority of judgment. This is drawn by
49:30 Michelangelo. One of the probably most valuable pieces in the world where right
49:35 front and center is Jesus. His hand is pushing down the people who are the
49:41 goats. And this hand is drawing up the people who are the saints, who are the sheep. Always as we live our lives, we
49:50 need to remember the priority of judgment. You know, Joseph
49:57 torn away from his family into Egypt is confronted by a beautiful woman called
50:03 Pafa. She strips off her clothes. She offers herself to him and he says this.
50:11 I cannot sin against my God. The picture of judgment hangs close in
50:19 Joseph's mind. We are accountable. Whatever we do, we have to account for a
50:25 king. And this is something that we can look forward with actually not great fear but great joy because one day when
50:34 you enter into the presence of God in unshielded glory of his he will say well
50:40 done good and ser faithful servant. I forgot the the the judge will be Jesus
50:45 Christ. But guess who's the attorney? Jesus Christ also he says I paid for
50:50 your sin. I'm standing here and you can be ushered into the joy that
50:57 God has prepared for you before even the foundation of this world. Let's pray.
51:04 Father Lord, we just thank you for your word and we pray each day as we live as your
51:11 servants that we will be transformed by your grace
51:18 that we will reflect the fruit of the spirit. That when we look at a face of someone
51:24 in in need, we will learn to see your face. We will learn to discern your
51:30 shape. We will learn to be guided by your spirit. Help us learn not to live like animals
51:38 seeking just for pleasure or happiness. Help us seek meaning in life. Help us
51:44 seek true meaning that our lives will be transformed and the true meaning lies in you. We ask for Jesus sake. Amen.
