The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.
00:00:00 today's passage is taken from 1 Corinthians chapter 1: 1 to8 1 Corinthians chap 1: 1-18 Paul called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God and our brother Stines to the Church of God in Corinth to those Sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy together with all those everywhere who call on their name of our Lord Jesus Christ they are Lord and ours Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus
00:00:43 for in him you have been enriched in every way in all your speaking and in all your knowledge because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed he will keep you strong to the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ God who has called you into fellowship with his son Jesus Christ Our Lord is faithful I appeal to you Brothers in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that all
00:01:25 of you agree with one another so that there may be no division among you and that you may be perfectly United in mind and thought my brothers some from chlo household have informed me that there are quarrels amongst you what I mean is this one of you says I follow Paul another I follow Apollos another I follow sephus and another I follow Christ is Christ divided was Paul crucified for you were you baptized into the name of Paul I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispers and gas so no one can say that
00:02:11 you were baptized into my name yes I also baptized the household of stephanas beyond that I don't remember if I baptized anyone else for Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel not with words of human wisdom less the Cross of Christ be emptied of its power for the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God this is the word of God thank you Jesse well good morning church right so um next week we will have our
00:03:04 Elder Arnold to speak to us on for God so love part two then you'll be stuck with me again on the true go the gospel and true wisdom then Good Friday and then uh Easter all right so before I move on uh just to remind you I me whenever I walk to church from my car that everyone's parking at the corner do you know you cannot park at corner because it will block the view of cars as they travel so as good uh testimony to our neighbors you can park whatever but don't park at the corners especially all right it will otherwise people get
00:03:44 upset all right so today we're going to look at the gospel and the divided Church um our theme for the year is basically the gospel in all of life and we're going to move in to the book of Corinthians because it shows us how uh the gospel actually works on the ground in every day life and the first thing that you encounter with the Corinthian Church is there are a severely divided church so let's ask the Lord to guide us with this Holy Spirit father Lord we ask that this morning that you open your
00:04:20 words to us shine the light of scripture in our hearts we pray for the Holy Spirit to move our hearts to understand and have this change the way we think and feel and act we ask for Jesus sake amen now the book of there a bit of background the book of Corinth uh Corinthians uh Paul reached out to them acts 15 on the um second missionary journey after Athens okay and Corinth is a very Str strategic place because it lies right in the middle of the isas okay which corrects connects the Corinthian Gulf to
00:05:01 the Sanic Gulf why is it important because uh you can just it's like the Panama Canal or the Swiss Canal you can it's about 6 kilomet wide in 1893 they actually built a canal across it but before that what they did was they will drag the boats onto the other side um and and that's important because if you can do that you cut your journey by a lot so it was a center of Commerce in those days very busy very bustling very important and the other thing was important is that this is a site of the isian games you have heard of the
00:05:38 Olympic Games this is not as famous Olympic games that happens every four years but it happens uh here it's called the eastn games where they get together and they have all sorts of um athletic activities the other thing is famous if you go to corrent even today is that huge mountain in front of you it's called the acro corrent and there is one supposedly 1,000 prostitutes that are there who are also Priestess and they come down every night to ply their trade so this is a very seedy Place here's a
00:06:15 temples abound there spiritual people aphrodites Apollo all over the place so and if you look at what Paul has written about them he says do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God you not do not be deceived neither the sexually immoral idolators adulterers nor men who practice homosexuality thieves greedy nor drunkard nor revilers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God as such were some of you wow we a whole bunch of people were swinders thieves totally horrible people you don't even want to
00:06:51 sit with them that's the church right and they were like that and Paul reminds them of that and then they're not very sophisticated they don't live in zanara Heights if you look at the passage here consider your calling not many of you were wise not clever didn't go to high school not many were powerful not many of noble birth right so these are what the Corinthians were immatured Paul writes and says in chapter 3 I cannot address you as spiritual people by people of the flesh infants in Christ they were they were
00:07:28 very very immature all right and this is AD here to actually discipline them I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people that means Paul has actually written to them before and now I'm writing in verse 11 writing to you again right so this is the it's First Corinthians is actually second Corinthians all right and there are a lot of church issues in this particular church I thought very good for FBC uh disunity splits Pride sophistication immorality lawsuits compromise aism the
00:08:05 rejecting Apostolic Authority the question Resurrection issues which are common to the modern church that we live in today that's why it's very important that we go through one Corinthians and if you want more detailed uh look into it please join our gamma program every Wednesday all the slides and the Powerpoints are on the website so chapter 1 to 4 the gospel negates human Pride which is actually cause of Divisions and chapter 516 actually deals with the issues so today how do we actually address The Divided Church well
00:08:41 basically what Paul is doing in this first 18 verses is telling us there's no need to be divided because there's only one there's only one call that we respond to one Grace that empowers and sustains us one gospel that actually propels us let's go through one call that we all respond to Paul called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus and our brother Stines to the Church of God that is in Corinth to those who are Sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be Saints together with all those who in every place call upon the
00:09:16 name of our Lord Jesus Christ both their lord and ours Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ and as you read these first few verses what really strikes you is one word that keeps coming out call Paul is called by the will of God all right the people there in Corinth are sanctify Christ called to be Saints all those in every place call upon the name of the Lord so call is a central feature of this particular segment he says we are bound together with one call right and he says to the
00:09:55 Church of God the word church comes from the Greek word eaia e is out Calo is called so the called out on the church isn't a building it is a church is a group of people called out and who calls them it is God all right so he's Paul is an apostle the 12 called out that gives him Authority then he writes notice to the Church of God that is in Christ that is in Corinth look at all his other letters if you look his other letters to the Church of Thessalonians in God the church Church of galatia church who the Saints who are
00:10:32 in Ephesus to all the saints in Christ who are in Philippi to the Saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Corinth here directly it says the Church of God it is not he's not focusing on the locality it's actually focused fact that you actually are called by one God so that God isn't split isn't divided the context here is that been quarreling has been reported to me by chlo's people people that's quarreling among you my brothers all right so the church is a called out people that belong to God and not to factions what's
00:11:09 the nature of the call well your to those who are Sanctified in Christ Jesus all right Sanctified way made Hol holy all right hagos called to be Saints holy ones set apart all right so the idea of setting apart is that God is different from human beings in the sense that he actually created them to mirror him but he set apart in terms of morally totally perfect so we actually have example of Temple Tabernacle it gives you an idea of the concept of Holiness so God's holiness means is separated from sin and
00:11:48 devoted to seeking his own honor now how does that actually work out well you're called to be holy all right so Christ accomplished the Holiness we are Sanctified in Christ Jesus which means as Saints even here right you are already Sanctified the legal status when God looks at you he sees the status of his son we Are Holy our calling is for holy living we are called to be Saints there a calling that calls us to live and walk and not only that he will sustain you to the end verse 8 says he will actually sustain you to the end and
00:12:29 our ultimate glory is what being perfectly like God holy and perfect Guiltless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ so I think what has happened for a lot of us in church that we think we've been called to do this this to evangelize uh to a particular profession and you actually forget that our primary call in life is to be holy and set apart for God you know there old story of years ago this chap down there is actually a barber all right and what he does he not only cut your mustache he also digs out
00:13:09 boils in your foot um and if he even drains blood from your veins they're called Barbers and they used to cut your hair and you know why they cut your hair they cut your hair because they believe in those days in England was that evil spirits enter your body through your hair so the long longer hair you have the more risk the Arnold limb last time you got ponytail the back right the longer the ponytail the more likely the spirit will King come in and so Barbers uh you know were trusted to cut the hair
00:13:42 prevent the holy spir the evil spirits coming and doing all that and then some time ago uh what happened is that they became surgeons the people who cut your hair become surgeons they traded their shaving for modern instruments how did that happen well happened because King Henry VII um granted a charter to The Barbers ins surgeon Guild in 1541 he said to this bunch of people hey don't go dig up any all this don't don't cut hair anymore you go and you know cut bodies in order to cure them and they
00:14:20 became Royal he even gave them a big house you know look at Royal College surge Edinburgh 1541 and their and their status changed in the direction of all the Barbers change you don't go to the barber shop today and see them holding a big knife to you if you do see please run away all right they're more sophisticated they have a different calling in life so holiness gives us our identity just like royalty and calling it influences the choices we make and the outcomes in life that's a concept we want to get
00:14:54 across you need to go back to a book by Os Guinness which I read all the time if you got time to buy it's very good it's called the call and he actually explains what the call is and and the trouble is with the call there are two distortions in life that's called the Catholic Distortion the Catholic Distortion is that they actually Elevate the spiritual part of life above the secular and so in those days what they will do that you want to be full-time good then you go and spend all the time being holy on my
00:15:28 behalf please pray for me I can do whatever I want right I can do all my sin enjoy my life big my big house but but I'll pay your tithing give you money and you be holy on my behalf so therefore he split it into two that's called the Catholic Distortion and a lot of it even persist today the pastors are to do full-time Ministry we make money it's okay they're doing for us and that persists the Protestant Distortion is different it's separating the secular at expense of the spiritual which means when you do your
00:16:04 job it's just your job it's nothing spiritual about your job just make the money and that is the Protestant Distortion however you un misunderstand calling there's a primary calling the primary calling is to follow Jesus Christ in faith to the kingdom of God and to holy living all right that's the primary call that affects every every single one of us but then you tell me oh very simple you tell me I follow Jesus Christ and all that every day sit home prayer no the primary calling has to be worked out and that brings us to the
00:16:43 secondary calling primary calling causes us to have a secondary calling which is expressed as our calling to our family we are called to be husbands wives fathers daughters and sons called to the church where we use our gifts to serve within the body to build the body we're called to the community where Civic social responsibility roles in Justice and mercy we're called to our vocation our work glorifies God it serves the common good and it's something through which the human creativity can actually
00:17:15 flow out these are four different callings and I think it's a mistake to put one above the other uh we actually had someone some weeks ago who said the and I a lot of complaints from that so I'm trying to sort that out so uh your your church family should be above your actual family that's not biblical all right when Jesus says you are the hate your father mother brother sister it was in the context of uh you know his Devotion to the family of God and God and and Jesus Christ so that was taken out context if you Paul in Thessalonians
00:17:54 says that if you are having someone who widow or is poor the family should get involved to help them all right so basically you actually have a commitment to your family first okay you know I give this example let you you got one kidney right two kidneys right all right so so so so if you were to donate your kidney one kidney you donate your kidney who do you think you'll give it to your wife right ah you know how many people in church got kidney failure you won't give yeah well is he is he being selfish no no he has a
00:18:35 calling to his family as a husband imagine he gave it to the gardener and then his wife look at him you know big problem right that's that's a misund understanding of calling misunderstanding of our priorities that's not biblical let me clear that up so we actually have all these callings and I think it's wrong to be able to put one above the other and I think human beings tend to do that you can do all of this you can do all of this for example um remember the Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan a fell goes he sees a
00:19:10 Samaritan he he looks after him pays his hotel bill pays his doctor bill then you know his wife will say bloody hell you know all my money you go and take and look after stranger what about what about us uh we are living on poverty line you said mean I mean you can imagine the wife will do that sure one wife will come come and do that right but the point is Jesus doesn't do that Jesus tells that story because he says you are to love your neighbor and that doesn't come in conflict with loving your wife unless it's your kidney all
00:19:43 right so so so that is a false dichotomy which we have to get away from so our primary coling is expressed through our family our church our community our vocation and our Lord expects you to be able to accomplish all of this Luther's idea on work now you you look at Psalm 147 praise the Lord oh Jerusalem praise your God o Zion he strengthens the bars of your gate He blesses your children within you he makes peace uh in your borders he fills you with the finest wheed now how does he do that how does
00:20:17 God do that right how does he strengthen the bar of your gate which is security how does he make sure there's peace in the borders how does it fill you with the finest wheat well strengthens your bar community means put police peace in your borders soldiers fills you with the finest weight Farmers which means every single one of these occupations are blessed by God you know our our concept of work our calling is distorted some people think a work is a job well if it's a job means it brings Financial or
00:20:51 material gain you call it a job when brings you money at end of the month it's a career the focus is on social advancement you may even take a job with less pay in order to advance socially all right all the last one is calling when you produce goods or services while growing as an individual and contributing to the common good of the for the glory of God and as Christians our work is actually our secondary calling which stems from about primary calling you know the New Testament treats work in the context of a larger
00:21:28 framework work the call of God to live totally for him and his kingdom John St describes work the expenditure of energy manual or mental or both in the service of others which brings fulfillment to the worker benefit to the community and glory to God it's when we lose sight of this all the unhappiness comes in work if you look at recent data about Employee Engagement in Asia all right six 68% of people in Asia are quietly quitting I'm doing a job because it's a job it brings money and that's all I don't really care what I'm doing
00:22:11 and that's very sad because it shouldn't be like that a job a career a it should be a calling where you are doing something that will benefit your fellow man The Other M problems why people forget about their calling is the misconceptions about Holiness some people think Holiness is for personal Merit and so wherefore we see the tax collector and the Pharisee and they're standing there and obviously they look at each other and they think Holiness is a personal marriage so the Pharisees say oh I give money to the church I attend
00:22:49 prayer meeting I do all that so I can stand taller and the other chap who done none of that shrinks back so the the holiness confers personal Merit and so therefore the danger for us in church is to forget right because there are surrogates for Holiness if we serve the Lord higher status if you got better theology you got miraculous gifts you can lay hands people fall down better you've got position or elder man what Pastor or senior pastor you know uh achievements what you have done for the church or reputation you know all these
00:23:28 become surrogates for Holiness but it is not Holiness that's where we're actually mistaken in fact when I was growing up in the Catholic Church what I had the wrong concept of Holiness was looking at all the priests and the monks I thought Holiness was austere joyless and sterile and you how often would you have the average Catholic kid come up and tell you when I grow up I want to be a priest when is the last time anybody nobody because they walk around in these robes and with the incense it is joyless
00:24:05 they don't smile they don't sin they don't do anything you know and I think that is a wrong concept of Holiness that's why we talk about Holiness people walk away you know right uh the other concept which swings the other way around okay is that God is a God who provides mercy no judgment Holiness is optional we don't talk about it all right two misconceptions of Holiness it's like it's like Holiness or happiness two different door if you want to be holy become holy but not happy you want to happy happy go and drink your
00:24:41 beer but you cannot be holy yeah it's a two different doors and and I tell you most of us in your mind I'm sure you feel that come to church you see out there you do whatever I used to go to um a a Catholic School in Australia Holy Cross College ride uh and you could see the difference on Sunday and on the average day they would be playing rugby and cursing and killing each other as the Asian guy I'm not not used the robust Caucasian kind of a fun uh beer and all sorts of things and and really treating each other badly but on
00:25:23 Sunday suddenly a miracle happened it was they all they're all sitting on the choir the guys with the foulest language are now singing you know you know absolutely singing like Angels you oh my God I went there I say what kind of world is this so so their concept of Holiness and happiness are actually separate which for a long time I never wanted to be a Christian because being Christian is no fun everybody wants fun isn't it all right the Commandments are like oh I love Mah car on my back be be honest a lot of you feel like that
00:26:03 even today all right but that's a wrong concept uh there was um Charles Wesley the the the the the progenitor of the the Methodist movement he formed the holy Club in 1729 in Oxford where he got very famous people called George Whitfield who actually caused the Revival in a America later on and every day they were every week they will meet read the Bible together read books that called the classics together and follow all the rules to become good Christians and he later on he he went off on the ship to Savana Georgia to be
00:26:42 a missionary went to Bible College and all that and he found it totally this Holiness business very tiring very taxing very very difficult to be holy holy means don't do this don't do that do all that it only later on when you actually had a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit a personal relationship with Jesus Christ they was absolutely transformed and he said these words you made to be hope happy in God God made you to be happy in him nothing else can make you happy many things of being happy with God in heaven but being happy
00:27:17 in God on Earth never entered their thoughts you say amen and that was my thinking for many many years of my life because looking at my leaders didn't never have any fun with it right so you next time you want to to interact anal he'll take you to the pub actually yeah he does that you know join him with the PB nothing wrong having a bit of uh beer right if you if you drink okay but that's the superficial part there is a deeper happiness inside you look at the Psalms the law of the Lord is perfect
00:27:47 Reviving The Soul the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise simple the precepts of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart can you imagine Bible study makes you rejoice you come to FBC makan very good Jo Bible Study Bible study maybe I'll hold my breath and then it's it's over right uh shout for joy in the Lord you righteous praise befits the I mean honestly please people out there these kind of verses are alien isn't it and if you haven't experienced this then there's something missing in our lives all the Bible
00:28:22 Commandments you know why they're there they're there to safeguard our joy in him and what what Satan wants to do he wants to replace This Joy that's what he wants to do Calvin says unless they establish the complete happiness in him they will never give themselves truly and sincerely to him unless we Are Holy we will never be happy unless we find our happiness fully the Lord we will never be holy now you think about it the happier you are in God the Holier you are and if you come to church and look
00:28:57 at Bible and you're not happy you're never going to be holy absolutely not because if Jesus Christ is God is the most beautiful perfect person the entire world and you hold him with your nose closed and at arms length then you're missing out it's like telling a matale like Brian here over here you know durian is great and all of them you know you can't even bring durian to the your hotel room go they'll chase you out but for us who know durian oh my God it's like heaven right but we enjoy it because we
00:29:42 have the truth so there's a truth that's lurking somewhere there within the pages of your Bible not your durry uh that you haven't if you haven't discovered that Holiness the happiness in life I tell you then you've really missed out in him some people always uh criticize me whenever we go tour ring my wife will do the malls you see around all the beautiful things and I'm at a coffee shop drinking coffee and you know what I'm doing I'm looking at my Bible preparing for GMA next month and they say oh poor fellas never
00:30:22 see the the the Eiffel Tower not poor fellow I'm having a great time I love the word I'm enjoying the best place in heaven is like sitting on my computer looking the word this guy must be strange isn't it it's not strange because if you truly discover the beauty of God's word you will that happiness in him will keep you holy right the more holy happy you are and more you love him the more sin appalls you and when you sin you feel wretched because you actually betrayed him in say Psalm one his Delight is in the law of God he
00:30:59 doesn't walk in the Council of wicked he doesn't stand the way of Sinners nor he sits in the seat of scoffers so we are all bound by one call and the one call is to reflect the image of God we are called to be like him if you haven't discovered that then you're missing out so we need and we're distracted by the call to do so many other things now the second thing that Paul talks about is the the one Grace that empowers and sustains us if you look at this page grace to you and peace from God our
00:31:29 Father you know he goes on because of the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus that in every way you are enriched is all this speeches and knowledge even there's a testimony about Christ was confirmed in you so that you're not lacking any gift as you wait for the reveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ who will sustain you to the end Guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of his son Jesus Christ Our Lord let me just break
00:31:55 that down for you all right Grace is what he's talking about there's only one Grace and that Grace is in Christ Jesus where do you see God's glory now if you actually look at Moses when he asked to see God's glory you know what God's glory was he says I will make my goodness pass before you and Proclaim before you my name the Lord and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and show Mercy on whom I will show Mercy God's glory is actually seen in his grace and if you look in this passage the grace of God in Christ Jesus we are
00:32:33 enriched in Him in all speech and all knowledge that you are not lacking any gift you know what he's saying he's saying you know every single gift you have whether the gift of tongues or prophecy or even singing they all come from whom God you didn't earn it you were born with it you were given by the holy spirit with it so you didn't have any Merit it's given by grace even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you which me your transformative life that you were like that before you
00:33:07 were adulterous immoral people thieves the Corinthians were but now you are transformed and that transformation is actually in response to the gospel which was given to you for free it wasn't by you yourself um as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ so now because of what God has done in Jesus Christ they have a new hope they have a future Christ returned lives in anticipation who will sustain you to the end Guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ not only that God will actually guarantee you that you will be
00:33:43 sustained into the end and God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of his son Jesus Christ Our Lord which is the faithful commitment of a covenant keeping God as illustrated by the entire Old Testament you got all these things how by grace and one Grace it's not two Grace one grace through our Lord Jesus Christ and that speaks to the Corinthians because they thought they were super spiritual they Gifts of Prophecy speaking tongues and you know all that they were very clever they thought compared to Paul
00:34:19 whom they look down on you look at chapter four which someone else will preach on you a couple of weeks from now is that the Corinthians are actually this is what they said okay and it's written in sarcasm you have all you want compared to Apostles we go hungry and thirsty you have become rich we are the drags you have become Kings we are brutally treated and homeless and work hard you are so wise in Christ we have been so we have become fools for Christ you are so strong we are weak you are honored we are dis honored that your
00:34:53 mother telling you oh very clever after you burn your hand in the stove cook some Alla play samola this exactly what he doing is sarcasm because they think that all the gifts of Grace which God has given them is by personal Merit and so therefore they're not thankful for it because we're always comparing isn't it all right uh you know my tree is bigger than your tree I always look at Edan and say he got more hair than me you know although he's whiter than me know we're always comparing you know uh
00:35:28 someone wrote when you look at someone turn look at your neighbor right look at your neighbor you either look at them and they serve as a mirror or they serve as a window you see if you look at the person next to you and if there a window which means you can see wow Gan white hair you know terrible fellow yeah and yet today Elder God's grace God's power God's Beauty every person you look at you can either see the glory of God the power of the Gospel in their lives or you look at Eden and you like a mirror mirror mirror
00:36:23 on the wall who's the fairest of them all his hair is whiter than me right but my I got less hair than him but my hair is darker than his yeah that's because I look at you then as a mirror and as you go around you know how the conflict in this church goes on it's because we looking everybody and they all mirror they are not Windows into the beauty and grace of God you see there's a role of comparison Hebrews 66 and we desire each of you to show the same earnestness to have full Assurance of Hope until the end so that
00:36:58 you may not be sluggish but be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promise when you look at each other we are supposed to compare and when you compare you're supposed to imitate good and see the glory of God in his life that's what we're supposed to do become imitators the other way is what we do is that we are like the evil queen mirror mirror on the wall who's the feris of them all and we don't have mirrors we only got Facebook right now you look at Facebook W the makan so good he went here went
00:37:35 there I wish I could be like that too you know I mean we're always comparing isn't it and so therefore if we compare then we become Hypocrites we put on a face so when other people look at us and look in their mirrors they will be impressed okay and that's what happened to the Corinthian Church I've applied these all these things to myself and Apollo for your benefit that you may learn not to go beyond what is written that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one another so what they're doing is they're looking at each
00:38:06 other as Windows as as mirrors and they puffed up oh I look at him I'm better than him all right so the what is the function of the grace of of God in Jesus Christ the function is in Titus for the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people training us to renounce ungodly worldly passions and to live self-control upright Godly lives in the present age waiting for our blessed hope so what is the function of the grace when you look at someone through the mirror sorry through the window and
00:38:40 you see the grace of God and the power of God that actually helps us move towards Holiness that's what God gave you your neighbor for the other thing is that what does grace do by the grace of God Paul says in chapter 15 I am what I am and it's Grace towards me was not in vain but on the contrary I work harder than any of them you see you look at other people and you compare and God's grace to you actually Spurs you on to work even harder that is the function of God's grace God's grace is not meant to
00:39:16 fill you up with pride so that you look down on other people you see what I mean so the response to Grace is working harder and harder and harder as it were you know this chap went to jail for a while and and and recently he got half price he's got his I think the the the the the Judgment was half Priced Right 50 million from 100 and something and then he got 12 years and he got six years knocked off and you know what his response what his response through his lawyer was the client has not received a
00:39:48 fair trial najib has been denied wrong doing wow that's his response you know pardon is the act of Mercy it's a Act of Grace and if you compare that with the Sultan of uh uh Parra who actually uh commuted the sentences of several people and because he were satisfied they showed remorse they repented they apologized displayed good behavior while imprisoned promised not to repeat their offenses and shown determination to start a new life does this apply to the former prime minister no it's a inappropriate response to Mercy The Joy
00:40:28 the paron just Jam ashad he's so happy when he was pardoned you know how many years he was put in jail 40 years after 40 years they pardoned him you know his response is like see the trouble is our friend hasn't stayed in prison long enough right when you get pardoned you go oh my God you know and and I tell you what that's like all of you sometimes we don't feel the grace of God we're like the guy in Clank prison or kajang prison no way he is six years but ah actually I I never did any wrong if you never did any wrong that you will
00:41:07 never feel the grace of God you will never be empowered by the grace of God because whatever it is I never deserved it you know I deserve a full pardon because I'm innocent that's how Grace Works who is happier the Pharisee or the tax collector who is happier Simon the Pharisee or the woman who came to Jesus and washed his feet with her tears and wiped with her hair the worst sinner Jam Assad 40 years in prison compared to our friend six years who has more happiness because of Grace they understand the dimension of Grace that
00:41:58 God has given them so we actually have one Grace that empowers and stains all of us we shouldn't be fighting about what Grace has done for us individually all the gifts that we have received lastly one gospel that propels us all I appeal to you Brothers by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that all of you agree that there be no divisions among you but that you be United of the same mind and same judgment if you read this verse like this uh I think you might be mistaken that means church people must
00:42:29 all have the same mind and same judgment correct I mean it's written there right you must think alike you cannot have any differences it's it's like our friend the former prime minister another one I Haven go all the prime ministers today uh star 15 of January 20124 Malaysian Indians not completely loyal H all the Indians here not completely loyal that's what the old man say right you know what you should do you know what you should do do that's what he said all right he said uh non- Malay should fully assimilate
00:43:02 become Malay so next time you come here you wear s right that's exactly this is the words on 15 of January 2024 I think the old man and this not because he's 99 years old it's even from Young he's like that there he misunderstands fundamentally but understands one concept the concept is Unity is not uniformity there's a difference between unity and and uniformity it's a fundamental difference we can have unity and diversity which is actually what this nation was founded on it was founded on all the races coming together
00:43:38 and forming that beautiful tapestry of what we are called to be proud Malaysians right he says uh that that's why we we we mistaken this idea of same mind same judgment because we didn't read the next verse the next verse is is there there has been reported that there's no quarreling among you the issue is differences versus division you can have differences I hope you are a church that have a lot of differences the people complain all four Elders are L never agree on anything I think it's a healthy
00:44:10 sign because you are thinking independently but by you're United by the gospel you will never see any four of us move away from the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the primary of God's word but we can different ways of getting there there is a difference the difference is division quarreling and then her idea is that we are we we we can't help our differences if you're Malay you're Malay how going to change your color is it all right my Michael Jackson going and change the color of his skin you can't do that we are all
00:44:41 born and given our intrinsic differences which actually bring quality and and the diversity into the table right but what happens is division is that there's personal sinful alienation that's the difference when the differences result in Envy Pride selfishness resentment B malice and bitterness you go behind and you about everybody else that's what Paul is against when you allow your differences to cause personal sinful alienation from each other and there are a lot of causes in this church as well as the Corinthian
00:45:18 Church personal loyalties which is The Prestige of each leader spiritual immaturity chapter 3 or weeds don't assume everybody have BC is a Christian many of them are not Christian the Bible says so but they'll only be revealed on the last day and for the Corinthian Church their biggest fans Idols were what Greek philosophers they are the ones with a full range of rhetoric very stylistic language eloquent and that's why they actually condemn Paul for Christ did not send me to baptize but preach the gospel
00:45:54 and not with words of eloquent wisdom they were comparing in Paul they thought he was a stuttering idiot compared to the sophisticated speakers who do the T talks right uh FBC preachers are worse than the the ones who do the TED Talks that's exactly what they're looking at all right so and they they forgotten that they lack the glory they were swindlers they were thieves as such were some of you as Paul pointed out before who are our people whom we actually admire today Roger fedra Li Messi Taylor
00:46:28 Swift why why why why you would you pay 2,000 what what 6,000 ring to go down and watch this little girl singer in Singapore to me I B okay I think average saying okay I mean I know her IQ is the same as Einstein's one but we look up to these people why because they got Fame status money philosopher I tell you today anybody know name of one Malaysian philosopher none see times have changed if you're a philosopher today nobody look at you all right so you got to be in the trend the in the trend are actresses singers
00:47:10 tennis players football players seat Tako players and the reason for that is that we receive glory for one another Jesus said to the Pharisees how can you believe when you receive Glory from one another the stumbling block is that we are also Glory deficient that we are looking for Glory from each other all right 40 years ago remember this the whole bunch of people 40 over top singers got together to raise money for Africa famine 1985 there were 40 of them you might recognize Ray Charles Lionel
00:47:47 Richie and all and produce one album yeah we are the world didn't raise much you know 63 million only and then somebody wrote recently in this article though notable and good the charitable work is not its Legacy we at the world is known for being a wonderful delightful and ever entertaining hot mess of celebrities jocking for attention and the ability to say their voice did the most for Africa you see they use their Fame in order to increase their own Glory isn't it that's what the world is about when you go to the
00:48:19 football match and you're cheering for your team what are you doing what are you doing you're receiving Glory from one another you see the people who play in the football they are receiving Glory from the 200,000 people looking at them right the people sitting in the stands what are they receiving Glory from they're receiving Glory from their team if their team win means they win do you know how stupid that is it's absolutely stupid let me tell you in 2005 there was a UEFA Champions League final in in
00:48:55 Istanbul Liverpool versus verus AC Milan how many Liverpool fans here woo all right good good Liverpool fans here all right so this guy called Michael hooton and if you remember that that that that that that that iconic match in istano first round first half Liverpool down 3-0 hey end of the world right yeah Michael huton thought so so he fixed up a belt to his fan he hung himself he didn't realize 1 hour later on the Liverpool went 33 then they got penalty shoot out after penalty shoot out they won
00:49:36 32 so our friend hung himself 2005 I mean sometimes we are like that don't go hang yourselves but Liverpool fans it doesn't matter whether Liverpool won yesterday tomorrow how what does it matter I don't get $1 more unless you bet you bet you hang yourself otherwise it doesn't really affect you know what we're doing we're so Glory deficient we want that glory and that is what's behind Church politics at that time they're all aligning themselves among the various leaders there's no reflected Glory Paul
00:50:18 is very clear you know what he says is Christ divided is that Christ 2.0 3.0 or is Paul Cru ified for you so the next time you support a leader you ask arold did was he crucified for you huh he's still here no no no holes here your leaders are not cry for you you are not baptized in the name of un Li I hope not none of that is true will you baptize the name of Paul I thank God I baptize none of you oh you see that's why you not notice Peter never baptized people I don't I I rather every everybody baptized each other I thank
00:50:59 God that I baptize none of you except crispas and G so that no one may say you were baptized in my name I did baptize the household of stefanus beyond that I don't know whether I baptize anyone so he's not a fan of baptism even though we a Baptist Church okay Christ did not send me to baptize let me be very clear he did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel not with words of eloquent wisdom lest the Cross of Christ be emptied of his power I am not saying that baptism not command it is a command
00:51:28 you follow that but the issue of the person who baptize you no merit no merit at all all right so I think that's the problem of borrowed Glory it is one gospel that propels us all uh it doesn't matter about your leaders for Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel not with words of eloquent wisdom let the Cross of Christ be amplied as power you see the most important thing is the gospel is not people that's why Paul said even if we are an angel from Heaven to preach to you a gospel
00:52:03 contrary to the one we preach let him be a curse so Angel come better than Elders right if he preaches something different from the truth he should be cursed and if you look in Philippians he says some people preach Christ from envy and rivalry some from Goodwill others do it out of love knowing I am put here for the defense of the Gospel the former Proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment what what then only that in every way whether in pretense or
00:52:37 in truth Christ is proclaimed and in that I Rejoice you know what binds everybody together whether go right motive wrong motive no motive is that you proclaim the gospel and Jesus Christ and we rejoice in that because under the cross we are all equal I saw Joan yo sitting there and so therefore I remembered ah that was just there was a song some years ago of an Auctioneer you know auctioning a battered violin somewhat like this and um he said it was the last item and he said let's get it over with who
00:53:22 will have this for $1 nobody somebody put $1 who will have this for two some put up who this have for tree another fellow put up don't anymore nobody went past threee $3 and then an old man stood up and walked towards this uh violin tuned it a bit polished it a bit and he played and a beautiful Melody filled the room and then the auctioner came up again says who will bid first bid 1,000 second bid 2,000 3,000 and they went up what was the difference the difference was joy and yo if she plays the
00:54:09 violin and P plays the violin big difference isn't it huh if I played the violin you'll be forgiven for free if she played the violin it'll be worth thousands of dollars and the point is Brothers and Sisters in Christ we are all like that violin broken and battered filled with sin and there's only one person can take that violin and put the Magic Hands there and come out a beautiful song and there's only one person who does that and that person binds us all together by the power of the Cross all right can we have V uh joanel
00:54:56 come out and play the all right we we'll join with the last song it's a it's an appropriate song that expresses our unity in our call our Grace and Our Gospel should we all rise first response to the message let's sing this song as a desire to be United as a church let's be one voice [Music] father we ask the good day come our hearts together that your glory might be seen in US the world will know that Jesus Christ is Lord let's be let us be one voice that glorifies your name let us be one voice declaring that you Reign let us be
00:56:50 one voice in love and harmony and we pray oh God grant us [Music] Unity now is the time for you and I to join our hearts in [Applause] [Music] Praise that the name of Jesus will be lifted high above the Earth then the world will know that Jesus Christ is Lord let us be one voice that glorifies your name let us be one voice declaring that you Reign let us be one voice in love and harmony and we pray oh God grant us Unity let's be one voice let us be one voice that glorifies your name let us be one
00:58:14 voice declaring that you Reign let us be one voice in love and harmony and we pray may your God grant us Unity let's sing that chorus again just just your voices let us be one voice that glorifies your name let us be one voice declaring that you re let us be one voice in love and Harmony and we pray oh God grant us [Music] un let's pray father Lord we we are bound together Lord everyone in this room by one call and the one call is to reflect you in true Holiness and to be holy we need to be happy and
00:59:26 for many of us we don't know how to be happy in you and we're going to ask oh Lord that as we depart that you show us what it means to be truly happy then we can be holy for we cannot be holy without being happy father Lord we are bound by one Grace and we pray that as a people we will never hijack that Grace that only comes from Jesus as if that Grace is our Merit and that at the foot of the cross we are all equal we're all Sinners but we're all forgiven and we're all given that Grace and father more
01:00:05 importantly in our church as we work with each other as we interact with each other father Lord help us move forward and the only way ahead is that we're United in one gospel for one cross and one power it is only when we stand behind the cross we experience your power father Lord Lord this is the benediction from Paul and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all as we do for you so that he may establish your heart blameless in Holiness before our God and our father
01:00:46 at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ you may be seated and after a moment of silence you can uh go and those of you who want Ministry with us pastors and Elders here please come forward that we may pray with you
