The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.
00:00 Remember your creator.
00:07 Often times we take this passage and we chuck it straight to the youth pastor and say, "Mark, you know, go down the
00:13 basement one and preach this to the young people because it says, remember your creator
00:19 in the days of your youth." But hang on,
00:25 remember your creator in the days of your youth. Was this really what the teacher wanted to end with?
00:32 We have to understand that in Ecclesiastes it is the teacher that is speaking to a crowd of people who we are
00:40 assuming are a mixed age of mixed ages
00:46 preferably among the mature most likely those who are mature in age those who are able to comprehend such philosophy
00:52 and teaching. So if he had spent 11 chapters, 10
00:58 chapters over to speak to these people, why suddenly make a 90deree turn and go
01:04 to only young people unless the young people were merely
01:11 an allegory or a meeting point for both the young and the old to gather and
01:18 learn. And so it is ironic that our worship
01:23 team today is from CARIS group, the oldest age group that we have here in fellowship and to talk about remember
01:31 you're creating the days of your youth. Unless we come to realize that actually we are all gathering here to hear the
01:38 final words of the Cohelith and he has a message for each and every one of us.
01:46 May you be in secondary school or may you be going to or or may you be or may you be in a retirement home. May you be
01:53 a manager or a clerk, a missionary, a missionary or a mom. This message is for
02:01 you and is very plain and simple which all of us need to hear again and again
02:06 every once in a while. Remember your creator.
02:11 So three points very simple. All right. And the first thing I want to say is this. Remember your creator before you
02:18 forget him. Remember your creator before you forget him. The text starts with a
02:26 climb of hope. The climax of hope. As you would know if you have been following with us, Ecclesiastes is a
02:33 roller coaster of emotions. It starts with a it already starts with a jerk. Life sucks. You know you and
02:40 then as you go up you say actually it's not too bad. You know there is a meaning in life. There is a fulfillment in our
02:46 work. There are friends that we can turn that we can look to. But then they will die. We will all die. We will also go we
02:52 we will also go back down to the d go back down to dust and we go and we go back splat all over again. Then we climb
02:59 back up. We climb back up to talking about how uh friendships,
03:04 fellowship, camaraderie, um ethics, the moral values of this
03:10 world is beyond the sunburn and can be experienced within the sun.
03:15 And through and and more and even in everyday life, you will be able to see snippets of it and snippets of hope.
03:23 But always through a down and up down emotions of the feeling of how life is
03:30 meaningless. And now we and of course by now we should know that the word meaningless in this in in Ecclesiastes
03:39 can mean can mean various can mean various personifications of vapor.
03:46 So cannot be grasped, cannot be pressed, cannot be lost in, cannot be ignored.
03:51 But what about this one? There are two times where it says meaningless and it means and it means something
03:57 quite different from the text before. So remember your creator before you
04:02 forget him. We come to a happy point and it's a point of encouragement. And the
04:07 first point is that life on earth is to be enjoyed.
04:14 The teacher says, "Light is sweet and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. However many years anyone may live, let them
04:20 enjoy them all. It's okay to enjoy this life. This life is a gift of God. There
04:27 are things in life which we can take pleasure and joy in." You know, one
04:32 example is August 31st or every 31st month. It's the nice It's a nice time to go to BaskinRobins,
04:39 you know, and buy a pint or a quart at 31% off. If you're still single, you can
04:44 finish it all by yourself. If you're married, if you're married, then you have to share half and half. And if you
04:50 have a kid, then you have to share oneird. I have to admit that my daughter loves that stuff, you know. And uh
04:58 whenever I walk too near a Basker Robbins, she'll always say, "Daddy, buy ice cream." like no, no, no, no, no, no,
05:05 no, no, no, no. Okay. Although I know for a fact grandmother has been spoiling her rotten with ice creams
05:12 and she is enjoying every single bit. Life is to be enjoyed. Some fulfillments
05:18 in our lives we should enjoy. We make a big do about how when we get a degree, walk across the stage, shake the hand of
05:25 the dean who only saw you in the beginning of your beginning of your of your journey in the journey in the year
05:30 and then only will see you at the end of it. But you shake the hand, you see the diploma and you pass it to your parents
05:36 and say, you know what, mom, dad, I I did something. It's awesome.
05:41 For some kids, getting your driver's license is like, yahoo, freedom.
05:47 And it's okay. It's all right to be enjoyed. However many days that you have, enjoy it. Okay? But there is a
05:56 note of warning. Life on earth is to be enjoyed. But life on earth also has
06:02 sufferings. The text says, "Let them remember the days of darkness, for there will be
06:07 many. Everything to come is meaningless." Okay. Now that word there, meaningless,
06:13 it has a very interesting uh place. Let them remember the days of darkness.
06:20 Your achievements and our pleasures in life would not feel as sweet as it would
06:28 be unless we would have gone through some challenges if life. If everything was easy, everyone would do it and
06:34 there's no sweetness into it. Is it? There are two ways in enjoying a teaspoon of sugar. One is you put the
06:42 sugar in your mouth and you think it's not sweet enough. Add another sugar or add another one and another one and
06:47 another one. And you always wonder why is it that sugar that that the sugar does not taste sweet anymore? Cuz you've
06:53 numbed your mouth. So another way I go about it is take a wedge of lemon,
07:00 stick it in your mouth, lick it, feel the smolder.
07:10 Then take a teaspoon of sugar and put it in your mouth. How's it taste?
07:16 Awesome, right? It's a relief. Mary Poppins was right. Pour a spoonful of
07:22 sugar to help the medicine go down.
07:27 And in that therefore we can say that time of struggle is meaningless.
07:35 Meaning it is only for a short while.
07:40 like holding your breath when you first plunge into a cold pond. Then you open
07:46 your eyes and see the life that is available at the bottom of this lake.
07:53 The suffering part is meaningless because then later comes the joy.
08:03 So if life on earth is to be enjoyed but life on earth also has sufferings, what
08:09 then does it look like? Uh what yeah what then does it look like in everyday experience? And so the
08:16 teacher then brings in the young people where both the young and the old take a
08:21 very close glance of what it should feel like and we will feel some parts of our
08:27 lives to resonate with this example. So youth is to be enjoyed while you can
08:33 experience life but with moderation as God will hold you accountable.
08:38 So you who are young, the crowd then looks at the young people.
08:43 Be happy while you are young and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your
08:50 heart and whatever your eyes see. But know that for all these things God will
08:55 bring you into judgment. So it's focused on the young people. But
09:01 hang on, doesn't the advice also resonate very closely to all of our hearts
09:08 that life is to be enjoyed that no matter what stage of life that you're at? May you be retired, may you be uh
09:14 working your own business, may you be facing the grunt of the economy crisis, or may you be actually having a point of
09:20 relief right now because things are looking up for you. enjoy them, but enjoy them carefully
09:29 so that we may know that you that it is true that for myself and for some comedians like Gabriel Eiglacius, he did
09:36 say that I do not want to go to bed to I go I don't want to to to go to bed
09:42 tonight knowing that I and die tomorrow knowing that I could have a piece of cake today.
09:48 But at the same time, that doesn't give you the permission to have cake every day.
09:53 That doesn't give you permission to have two, three slices of cake every day. Because in the end of the day, you will
10:00 go to God and be accountable for every slice of cake we ate,
10:06 which normally comes with cookies and a pint of ice cream and a cup of hot cocoa,
10:11 which we need to talk to. So, we have this balance that life is good is to be is to be enjoyed, but at the same time,
10:17 do it in moderation because the life that's given to us is not really our own. It's given by God.
10:24 Doesn't that speak to all of us in various ages? So then banish anxiety from your heart
10:30 and cast off the troubles of your body for youth and vigor are meaningless.
10:37 So don't be anxious. Don't be worried too much about the nitty-gritty details
10:42 in life because you know what youth will be but a fleeting moment and life also
10:49 is but a fleeting moment. So what can we therefore do in application? Number one
10:55 is whether you're young or young or old, live daringly, live accountably
11:02 remembering God before you forget him in the midst of pain or pleasure. And I must say from
11:10 experience and from philosophy, we can also know for a fact that it is easier to lose God in pleasure than in pain.
11:21 For this whole week, ever since we heard the loss of our dear friend Joshua VBO,
11:27 we cannot help but cling on to God even tighter because we need him for our
11:32 hope. Whereas when we are thinking, h maybe next time, you know, life is good at the
11:38 moment. There's a concert going up in Ging Highlands, good vibes, I should go for it, and so on so forth, you know,
11:43 and then we forget about God. And is an experience that every all ages
11:50 would have would have felt as well. In every economy crisis that this world has
11:56 faced since the great depression in the 1930s, every time when there's a period of
12:02 depression or recession, church attendance increase by 20%
12:07 average because why? They're going to bend their knees and says, "Oh God, help me. I
12:13 don't want to jump off a building because I owe the bank money.
12:19 But when things get better and when you're at the prime, attendance drop by 15%.
12:27 So it is easier to forget about God in pleasure than in pain. And the teacher
12:34 reminds us reminds us to remember God in both.
12:40 I would also like to highlight an issue that we an issue that we also face when we make choices in life. There is an
12:48 error that this world is actually trying to get us into. Number one is
12:55 number one is this whole notion of how we choose our life. How we choose to live our life. A psychology question for
13:03 you. If you could choose to live in a
13:08 piece of paradise, but only until you're 40, or you can live to 120, but in a sterile
13:18 environment, uh, in a sterile environment of a 2,000 square foot house
13:24 where you need the heperilters and the water filter and you need the the and
13:30 you need things to be as clean as possible. So, you're stuck in that house, but you get to live until 120.
13:37 Which one would you choose?
13:43 Now, there's a mixture of feelings, right? Because the media being so kiasu
13:50 sells both ends. Okay? Life is short. Go on a vacation.
13:57 But at the same time buy this detergent that kills 99.9% bacteria.
14:05 So we want to live but we also can't see. So it goes for both. You see and by the
14:13 way my dad being a microbiologist always says it is not the 99.9% of the bacteria
14:19 that we should be worried about. It's the 01% bacteria that the detergent doesn't kill and might actually kill us.
14:27 It's an advertising gimmick my dad would say but the gimmicks really helps us in
14:32 life really really coerces at our life and saying that you know yeah you got to be careful you know live live well but
14:40 you might die so go ahead and take these measures you know drink only RO water have it double filtered make sure it's
14:46 boil and make sure it's infused with six kinds of minerals through that six layer filter you know then you don't need to boil water again make sure you and then
14:53 and then throughout history my wife works in a direct sales company which always talk about health benefits. I remember 5 years ago it says don't eat
14:60 too much protein is bad for your heart then suddenly no eat protein don't eat the carbs no the carbs are okay the
15:06 carbs are okay but make sure you eat the right kind of carbs brown rice over white rice but then again both rice is still one bowl of rice of either or
15:13 still equates to six tablespoons of sugar. So, it's not the bread, maybe it's the
15:18 spices, and you know, it just goes on and on and on because you think you have control over your life by making these
15:24 choices. This is meaningless. This is a delusion
15:31 because there are people who have enjoyed being able to see the world until they're 80. And there are those who are able to have kept a sterile
15:37 environment in their home only to trip only only to trip on a wet floor after
15:43 you malt with your detergent that kills 99.9% bacteria and you flip down the
15:49 stairs and fall on your neck.
15:55 Where then do we find meaning meaningfulness in life?
16:03 Jesus comes in and says the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. These words
16:10 steal, kill and destroy actually has very specific meanings. To steal what you value, to kill what you have, the
16:17 life that you have left and to destroy the hope that you may have for the future. So Jesus comes into the picture
16:24 and said, "I have come." That's the hope that's the that's the confidence that we have that you may have life. That's the
16:31 promise. And have it to the full. That's the pro that's the hope.
16:37 This is the promise of Christ that in Christ we may experience the we may
16:42 experience the wholeness of life. No matter how long or short that we have
16:48 on this earth because why the amount of time that we have on this earth is not determined by us. It is
16:55 determined by God. That's where the media is actually telling us a lie.
17:01 Nothing can really extend or reduce our lives because God already has planned in
17:07 the background. God has already set it set it. Which is
17:14 why we find a lot of issues where some people are live healthy lives but get a
17:19 heart attack. And that people that smokes and drinks and eats cheeseburgers every day and live on 272.
17:27 Life's not fair. Just get life's not fair. But it's meaningless. It's only
17:32 for a moment. What does a fulfilled life look like?
17:41 Let me tell you a story about George Phillip Veta. George Phillip Veter is
17:48 actually known as the bubble boy. He was born like his brother with severe
17:55 combined immuno deficiency. He's allergic to so many things that his body
18:00 just reacts reacts very badly and just dies. His brother his brother got got that and in
18:08 three days he died and they knew that they didn't and they knew that when George is born he's going to get it to
18:14 he's going to get it too. So as soon as he was born, he had to be put into a
18:20 balloon and he always lived being felt and
18:26 carried in that balloon with gloves and plastic.
18:32 All the food that had to go in had to be properly and carefully prepared.
18:39 Here the picture you see is his mother picking him up for the first time in
18:45 1977. He is she he was 6 years old and that's
18:51 only because by that time there was enough money and enough technology to prepare a clean environment for him to
18:59 be carried in such a way. For those who had kids, you just cannot wait to pick
19:05 up your kid. She had to wait for six years. Then only she could pick him up
19:11 and he could not go look. He could never see anything beyond a piece of filament
19:18 plastic that that is before his direct viewing.
19:24 But he had lived a good good life and a
19:29 meaningful one too. He got to play baseball although very
19:35 very cautiously. He get to see the parks, the zoos, and even though it
19:41 takes 28 specific steps for both the kid to memorize and the parent to make sure
19:47 that he can go from the sterile environment of his room into this little
19:53 to this little NASA astronaut suit. He gets to and he gets to spectate and be
19:59 in awe of life every day. It is unfortunate that at 12 years old
20:06 he passed away due to complications of a potential treatment.
20:13 But as but but as he knew that he was going to die very soon instead of being
20:20 full of resentment he then had this war awe and wonder in his eyes and saying
20:26 there was so much to see in this world. I can't wait to see what God has in mind
20:32 in the next life. In his little primit in his little way,
20:40 he found that actually life can be experienced fully even in the midst I
20:46 even wi even with great control. And this is the life that we have living
20:52 with the gospel. The envir this world is not meant for us
20:58 immediats.
21:08 It protects us. We can then experience life to the full and be not afraid because we are looking forward to the
21:16 future with him face to face. Where does this new life start? This new
21:24 life starts at the foot of the cross.
21:30 There are four constants in life which we experience that both harms us and
21:35 also encourages us. Okay. There is evil,
21:41 there is love, there is forgiveness, there is life. Where do these four
21:48 things ever converge in history? It converged in the cross of Jesus Christ
21:56 where evil was seen for what is worth for what it was. Goodness displayed in
22:01 his son Jesus. Love and forgiveness given.
22:08 Love and forgiveness given on that cross. Life a new we can receive. So
22:15 start your life in awe of him and start being in awe of him at the foot of the
22:22 cross. Know remember your creator before you forget him. So live in awe of him.
22:30 Remember your creator before you fade away. There is a long poem after chap in
22:37 chapter 12 verse 2 until until five and it talks about the and it talks in
22:44 allegory and in metaphor and in metaphors the regular the everyday experience an Israelite will have in
22:50 ancient day life and as do we in modern day life. So this long text here from
22:55 verse two to verse five let me break it down into three parts. First of all is the first paragraph. Before the sun and
23:01 the light and the moon and the stars grow dark and the clouds return after the rain. What does this mean? Well, if
23:08 you do not Well, if you do notice, all these things will bring to an absence of light. What does light represent in
23:16 Ecclesiastes? The light represents life
23:21 under the sun. So, where there is light, there is life. Where there is darkness, there is death.
23:28 So when the sun comes it so when the so when the sun and the light and the moon starts to grow dark means we that means
23:35 death is coming is coming and the clouds return after the rain. So it rained it
23:40 was sunny and that's what clouds come back again. What does that represent? It represents calamity. So that's a
23:45 constant that we will have in have in life. Whether you are young or old you will experience this too. Remember your
23:52 creator before the sun grows dim, before the clouds come, before calamity and and
23:58 and disaster comes back into your life after you've just completed uh the
24:04 previous one. The second part is when the keepers of
24:09 the house tremble and the strong men stood when the grinders cease because they are few and those looking through
24:14 the windows grow dim when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades. This is the death of a
24:21 city. Okay. So when the keepers of the house when the security guards when the
24:26 security guards are no more when the soldiers are when the soldiers are weakening the grinders are those who
24:34 sharpen the tools that are used for everyday use in everyday life. So when these people that help maintain the
24:40 running of a city also also disappears and the windows of corporate of all the
24:46 corporate buildings that normally we will hire people to clean, they're not there anymore. When the doors of the street are closed
24:52 and the sound of the grinding fades, when everything suddenly goes still and before a city dies. The picture that you
24:60 see is Chernobyl. Okay. Chernobyl is in Russia when the
25:06 atomic was was it Russia? Yes, it was Russia. When the atomic bomb hit Chernobyl, they had to evacuate. And
25:12 after uh and after 70 years, this is what and and after 50 years, this is what the city looks like while not being
25:20 taken care of. So remember your creator before your city fades away.
25:26 When we were taking Joshua's ashes to Port Clang, we drove through the whole
25:31 of Clangtown. And I can just picture how busy it was when Clang was the capital
25:38 city was the working and active capital city of Slango and practically all of
25:43 Malaya because it was a port because it was a port city. All the stock and all the cargo, the hustle and bustle, all
25:49 the haggling, all the scolding in Hoken, in Mandarin, in Cantonese, in Malay, in Tamil, in Pinoy, in Thai, in Indonesia,
25:56 I think they would have haggled and there would have been real muhiba right there, right? But as I drove through
26:01 there into Porang, it's like a dead city. Now granted, it was Saturday, so quite a lot of the shops were closed for the
26:08 day, but can you imagine how still it was compared to the hustle and bustle of Chaos City Center?
26:16 And what Clang is now on a Sunday, Ka Kale city center one day will be in time
26:24 because all cities will naturally die. If not now, much later. And then comes
26:32 the personal uh experience. Remember your creator when people rise up at the sound of
26:39 birds but all their songs grow faint. It's not the birds are singing less. Is your ears unable to hear? When people
26:46 are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets, you know when you turn 50 and 60 years old when last time you used
26:51 to be able to walk, you was youble to walk in very narrow ways so that you can get to the nice mountain top. Now you
26:57 have to think twice or thrice as to whether your knees can take it or not. When the almond tree blossoms, the
27:04 picture that you see there is an almond tree in full blossom. It was once green and green and full of life, but the
27:11 flowers take over and now it's all white. I think you guys know what it means.
27:16 How many of us here are actually almond trees under all the hair dye?
27:23 Oh, some I think most I think quite a number of us are quite proud that we have almond trees
27:28 on our head, right? And then some of them and then some of us will say, "We'll be lucky you have any almond
27:33 trees on your head in the first place, right?
27:39 Basically, he's talking about age. You're fading away.
27:44 When the gr and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire is no longer stirred, then people go to that eternal
27:50 home and mourers go to the street. This is a experience of any human life. Now, of course, people can skip a few beats
27:57 like Joshua. Unfortunately, he did not live to see his hair go gray. He did not live to see he did not live to go blind.
28:04 He just went straight to the eternal home and we mourn and we miss.
28:09 But sooner or later we all will face the same thing. How does that give us any encouragement
28:16 at all? Well, because it's part of life. We tend to try our very best to look as
28:22 best as we can, but we know that that would not last. Here's some examples.
28:28 Goldie Horn was so beautiful in the past. Now she's looking not so good.
28:34 How many of you How many of you guys get so excited at the handsome uh MacGyver?
28:42 Hey, yes, they are the same people. No joke.
28:50 And of course, Arnold, Mr. Universe
28:56 look like a pot of jam. We'll fade.
29:03 And the media and this world tries and tells us that if we can't live like an
29:09 immortal, we can try and look like one. So that's why every morning we do our
29:14 very best, we comb our hair, we brush our teeth cuz that's hygiene, of course, but then we put makeup, we push sh even
29:20 men today, there is a in the cor in the K-pop community, there's a line of makeup now for men.
29:27 Lord, I didn't know I would see today. Um, so now both men and women can experience the whole idea of every
29:34 morning we do this ritual of of uh putting a mask on ourselves, making ourselves look good for the morning,
29:42 some hair extensions, some eyebrow, but by the end of the day after through the hustle and bustle, we look more like our
29:48 passport photos than we do than what we actually want in real life. This is Tyra Banks without makeup.
29:58 This is looking very hopeless, isn't it? Because we can try and fake it, but by the end of the day, this is the stark
30:05 reality. Literally naked reality.
30:11 We can't find hope in lying. We can't find hope in facing the truth. Where
30:16 then can we find this hope? We find this hope in what ought to be. What ought our
30:24 image should look like? God from the beginning of time had hope that God that God created man in his own
30:33 image in the image of God he created him male and female he created them that's
30:39 the ideal and when we could not and when we lost that vision of what the image of
30:44 God looks like he sent forth his son and that's why he is called Emmanuel God
30:51 with us so when you want to see what a human being really looks like a man that is
30:58 man or or a person that has live that is living life to his fullest. We look to
31:03 Christ because although he had ended his life
31:09 had ended at 33 for three days after three days he rose and then now
31:15 lives in eternity. That's why I know that when Joshua passed is not that he
31:21 went alone. a living God had come with him and kept him and keeps him in his
31:28 arms until today. Do you have that confidence? Can you see that image in your life? And
31:35 if you can't, I I I I plead with you,
31:42 please go back to the foot of that cross and receive that warmth and confidence
31:48 that we can find that that cross is empty. that that cross is without a person. That tomb is empty because our
31:55 because our savior is not a martyr. Our savior is a living God.
32:04 So remember your creator before you forget him. Live in awe of him. Remember
32:10 your creator before you fade away. So live in his image because that image will last forever. And finally, remember
32:18 your creator before you face him.
32:23 A few items were left separately from the text in his natural in his natural
32:29 writing. And it's actually quite interesting. Remember him before the silver cord is severed and the golden
32:35 bowl is broken. What does that mean? Well, a lot of interpretation is in this, but what we can say for certain is
32:42 that silver and gold is being referred. And so we assume that what we think would last forever
32:49 and it's in the form of things which we which we would which we would normally use both on momentous occasions and very
32:56 important occasions. Golden bowls were used for ceremonies
33:01 and celebrations. Silver cords were worn uh especially among young people uh
33:07 young pe among young people uh because they look lovely in them. Uh they were
33:14 gifts. They were they are gifts. They are rewards. They are displays of wealth
33:19 and they are displays of what will last for what they thought will last forever. But these two will fade away.
33:26 Why? Because give anything in give anything on this earth enough time it
33:31 will corrode and fade away. So the so are the so are the things that
33:37 we hold value on this earth. So that means nothing lasts.
33:45 Nothing lasts. And we want instant uh and we want and we want these things to last because we have so much we put so
33:52 much meaning and value into this. But if these don't last, where then what
33:58 then can last through time? Christ said this very timely. Do not
34:05 store your treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, where thieves
34:11 break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in
34:17 heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal. Where can we find these
34:25 things that last forever? We see it in the person that is Jesus. Why? Because
34:31 when he died, no bacteria or virus, no bacteria or virus could degrade his
34:38 body. On the third day, it rose. He rose and he rose to eternity.
34:44 Do not store your treasures, your shuamura, your chisedo, your Maybelline,
34:52 your L'Oreal, your your hazelin. Is hazelin still around? I think hazelin still around, right? Nivea. Do not store
34:59 all these things so that you may look young and continue to as if you live forever because you won't. Store now the
35:06 image of God in your life and that will last forever
35:16 and live it well and live it without doubt. Treasuring life above Christ is a
35:22 tragedy. John Piper said, you know what is a tra you know what is a life what is
35:27 a good example of tragedy of a of a life of tragedy. John Piper gives this lovely
35:32 example. He says I let me tell you what tragedy looks like. Consider an article
35:37 in Reader Digest about a man and a woman was able to retire at 55 and 51 years
35:44 old and spend the rest of their lives living in a beautiful beachside in California collecting seashells all the
35:51 days of their lives. Now imagine their lives. Fast forward to now they go before the throne of God and
35:58 Jesus and and Christ says, "What have you done with your life? What is the guy going to say? Hey Jesus, check out the
36:04 seashells I collected." Whereas on the other hand, you see
36:11 brothers and sisters who have done so much to have left the comforts of home
36:17 in KL to go to Sabah. That's Roomba. She's epipomali and yet she loves Sabah
36:24 so much she's desired to move everything there and find her joy and completeness there and when she goes before Almighty
36:31 God I pray is not soon but when she does Christ doesn't even need to ask what
36:36 have you done she what will he say to her what will he say to us who therefore who dare who therefore dare to leave to
36:43 to live life under Christ you will say well done good and faithful servant now
36:50 come into place to this place of eternal rest. I must say that this year's vacation
36:56 Bible school will be very hard for a lot of us because Joshua Vanbo had been involved in every single one of them
37:02 ever since we came back into this side of Sububanga. But he had lived it well. He had done it
37:10 well. So to we experience God, experience his
37:15 grace, live it well, live without waste.
37:20 So remember your creator before you forget him. Live in awe of him. Remember
37:26 him before you fade away. So live in his image and remember him before you face him. So live without waste.
37:35 I think both young and pe young and old can learn from this. Right? So it's not
37:40 just those who in their youth but those also who is fading away because youth
37:45 also are fading away. So meaningless meaningless says the teacher. That's the final cry.
37:51 Everything is meaningless. So what then does this last meaningless mean? It means that it's short. Short.
37:59 Life is short. John Piper says it very well. He says life is precarious.
38:04 Therefore life is precious. Don't presume that you will have it tomorrow and don't waste it today.
38:13 Make the decisions that you need to make today.
38:18 and make a decision to be with Christ each and every day.
38:24 I want to close with uh an advice in a song that I've heard some time ago. Tim
38:30 McGraw um country folk singer. He sings a song about uh an allegory of a man.
38:37 The man says uh I was in my early 40s. I thought I had a lot of life before me
38:44 and then the moment came and stopped me on a dime. I spent most of the next days looking at
38:50 the X-rays, talking about the options and talking about quality time.
38:56 I was asked when it sank in that this might be the this might be the real in how's the picture when you get this kind
39:03 of news? What you do? So I said I was finally the husband that
39:10 most of the time I wasn't. I became a friend that a friend would like to have. I spent some time even doing fishing be
39:17 and wasn't and it wasn't such an imposition. I went three times that year and I lost
39:22 all my catch every single time. I took a look at the good book and I took a good long hard look of what I
39:29 would do if I could do it all again. And then I decided to live like I was
39:35 dying. And I say someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying.
39:41 Like tomorrow was a gift. Then you got eternity to think about what you what
39:46 you would do with it. What did you do with it? What did I do with it? What
39:52 would I do with it? What would you do with your life if you knew to live like
39:59 you were dying? Meaningless. Meaningless. Life is short.
40:05 Live like you are dying. What will be the first decision that therefore you make every day? Decide therefore to
40:13 cling on the things that will last beyond this life we live. This eternal
40:18 life that we can find through his son Jesus. I know Joshua's chapter on this earth
40:26 ended so abruptly and I myself as his pastor and as his
40:33 friend that had known him ever since he was seven years old, I sometimes think it's unfair
40:41 that I can get to live another day. But now that I have it, what will I do
40:48 with it? What would you do with it?
40:53 Live like you were dying. Live
40:58 in the eternity of Christ. Let's pray.
41:15 Today I'm calling upon people who had been jaded and had been
41:23 even hurt from the loss of life that we had been
41:29 given. And it's hard. It has been hard. It has been difficult.
41:35 It may even be okay. But we feel that something is always a miss in our lives.
41:44 When a young person like Joshua passes away, we cannot help but see a little bit of ourselves in him dying. That
41:52 youth, that vigor, that willingness to live. What happened to us? Are we are we
41:58 dead while we're still walking as if we are alive? If there are some of you today
42:05 that wish that you could live fully and not walk around thinking and feeling
42:11 like a zombie just filling up the blanks every day.
42:19 I ask you now, I ask you this day as if there may not
42:25 be a tomorrow. Would you take Jesus today?
42:31 Because only in Jesus today do I know that there is a tomorrow. It doesn't
42:38 matter where it is on this earth or may even be somewhere else in his arm. And I
42:44 know that therefore if it is somewhere else, it'll definitely be where he is, where Joshua is, and that's all that
42:51 matters.
42:57 Oh God, our God, we thank you and we ponder on the mystery that as we
43:05 close our eyes seeking your mercy and after the amen, when we open our
43:12 eyes, we can still see the light. Thank you cuz that means you have given us mercy to continue living and live in
43:19 your light to live in the light of your son.
43:25 So for those who are calling out to you we ask oh Lord Jesus son of God have mercy on me a sinner. Oh Lord Jesus look
43:32 at my life is not much but take it take it and take it take it oh Lord and make
43:38 it yours. And together, oh God, I yearn to
43:43 experience life with you because that's what it means to live fully
43:50 and not foolishly. [Music] Oh Jesus, speak to us in our hearts even
43:56 this day for those who are grieving and for th and for those who are anxious.
44:01 Give us your peace in the knowledge that eternity is found in your son Jesus. In whose precious
44:09 name we pray.
