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00:03 Morning church. Before we even go a step further into his word, why don't we come together in prayer? Father God, we want
00:10 to give you praise. We come before you at the altar. Oh father, we see your arms open wide and
00:17 we see your word speaking into our hearts. And so we ask, oh God, that in this day and this morning, you give us
00:22 ears to hear and the faith that comes from hearing and the hearing from the your word. Pray Lord that you be your
00:29 word and your word alone and not your servants. Pray Lord be your wisdom imparting to us. Pray that God that we
00:35 will stand and be a changed group of changed people going against the culture
00:40 of pride and into your gospel. And we say this in Jesus name. Amen.
00:47 We've been going through a series on the book of Habachok. And for those of you who have been following in the series,
00:53 uh you will notice that there's a lot of uh highs and lows because Habacook is
00:59 asking, "Oh God, let there be justice in Israel." And then the and then God
01:04 replies and he says, "I will send your enemies to come and count him for you." To which he say, "Huh? How can you do
01:11 that? They are far worse than the Israelites now. How can how could you use how could
01:18 you use them like that? what will happen to us, your people, the ones that has been faithful following after you to
01:24 which Masimo had the privilege of using one of the most uh popular and most uh
01:29 passionate verses that we hear being used by the apostle Paul in the book of Habach that the righteous shall live by
01:35 faith and he spoken to and he spoke and he spoke to us. Yeah, sorry a bit of a teaser there. And
01:43 he spoke to and he spoke to you and he spoke to us in various forms of how that
01:49 fa that righteousness that's lived by faith. How does that come out? And then he leaves the burden to me of telling
01:55 you of all of hell, fire and brimstone. Is there a gospel in this passage? And I
02:01 can tell you quite fervently after hitting my head on the wall and wailing and asking and asking Almighty God where
02:09 are you and your grace and might? I tell you he did not give one. He gave three he he gave three uh very affirmative
02:16 words to share to us that even the midst of all of this and even in the midst of today in Malaysia the gospel is
02:23 proclaimed and the glory of God is still in this place. Can I get an amen to that even before we start?
02:29 I want to talk about the culture of pride first. Why is the title as such? Because I believe pride is actually the
02:37 root of the cult of a culture that is bringing about all this problems, all these evil manifested in this country
02:45 and in this world. What do I mean by pride? Pride in simple definition is a is a feeling of deep pleasure or
02:52 satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom it one is closely associ
02:58 associated with or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired. Now, someone may come up to you and say,
03:04 "Mark, shouldn't you be proud of your work? Shouldn't you be proud of the things that you've achieved? Shouldn't
03:10 you be proud that your kid has actually been accepted into, I don't know, Jeffrey Ch medical medical
03:16 uh medical school or IMU, you know, should you be proud?" And I say, "Yes, of course, it it is natural. It is a
03:23 natural experience for us to suddenly, you know, uh grow two inches taller when we are able to achieve something by
03:29 God's grace." And we see our ch and we see children being able to do something
03:34 as complicated as being able to be accepted into a medical school or law school or even something as simple like
03:40 my 2-year-old while we were sitting in the car was able to sing A to Z without any without anyone's help.
03:47 So of course we be a little bit proud but what happens when it becomes a culture and culture as a man smarter
03:55 than me he defines it as this. He says culture is an effort to provide a coherent set of answers to the
04:01 existential or what we exper or the situations that we experience that comfort human beings in the passage of
04:07 their lives. Culture therefore is actually is helping us explain and apply the things that we experience on a daily
04:14 basis. Now what happens when you use pride as the d is the as the steering factor
04:22 into our culture today? It gets our whole life therefore gets
04:28 disjointed as a Christian. I would say it gets disjointed from God. It gets disjointed
04:34 from the from the point of reference of which we hold steadfast to. It goes to our own emotions and then we set
04:41 standards for ourselves and we compare our standards upon others and that's why we get uh uh statements or we get
04:48 conversations we have with our children like for example why can't you be like your best friend? He is top 10 in class.
04:54 you're number 22. I speak that from personal experience. I'm the number 22. I'm not the number 10. And actually, I'm
05:00 And actually, I'm uplifting myself. I wasn't 22. I was number 32 out of 35. I
05:05 remember my best I remember I remember my best when my when my parents asked me, you know, what did your best friend
05:11 get? It was you got number five. What did you get? I got number I got number 25. That was also a lie. I lied to my
05:17 parents. I was 32 out of 35. And they come up to me and say, why can't you be like him?
05:24 to which at that time I wasn't filled with the spirit. I was filled with something else, anger. And I looked at
05:30 them and say, "If you want them, you go and adopt him. I'll sleep outside in the garden tonight." And I took my pillow and I took a blanket and I went out into
05:35 the porch and I slept there overnight. You see what happens when pride becomes
05:42 the epicenter? When pride becomes the the describing
05:47 factor of our culture today, westernization and globalization has
05:53 given us many good things. But one thing is that when we but one thing is that that that really harms us when we put
05:60 God aside and says me, myself, my family, my community, that's the one
06:05 that defines who I am and in which I am proud of.
06:11 Then we will see then you will see a slippery slope going downhill. But this wise man who was also an
06:17 evangelical socialist a sociologist also said this a genuine cultural revolution
06:24 is one that makes a decisive break with the shared meanings of the past. The break particularly affects those
06:30 meanings that relate to the deepest questions of the purpose and the nature of human life.
06:37 I believe the gospel is the revolution of our culture today that can bring us
06:43 back from death to life. That can bring us back from a sense of meaninglessness
06:49 and sense of lack of value to an eternal value that we can see in Jesus. In this
06:55 country, we ask for reform reformation. On another on another side of political party, they're asking for transform
07:02 transformation. The gospel is calling for us for revolutiony, revolution. And
07:08 the revolution begins in our hearts. And we have to pin down this issue of pride.
07:16 The one thing I love about the book of Habach, especially this these verses that we're going to go through is that it reminds me of the preaching style
07:23 that I do very regularly with the youth. I always say that when it comes to youth and you have 30 minutes, you're not
07:29 preaching one 30 minute sermon. You're preaching 10-minute sermon three times.
07:35 You know why? Because they zone out. They get distracted. They look at their phone. And then when they come back up again, hey, pastor hasn't changed topic
07:42 yet. Actually, no. I've already preached the sermon one time in 10 minutes. I preach a second time and a third time.
07:48 And then hopefully they'll get two out of three points. Habach does the same thing. So, what
07:53 you'll be what we'll be doing is that we'll be having a marathon. We'll be going we'll be we'll be having relays. We'll be going through this passage a
07:59 couple or a few times through and through and in each round we go you will see a theme of the culture of pride the
08:07 application of what happens when we put pride at the center and therefore it encourages us to stand away from it and
08:14 like I said before I already gave a spoiler there are three parts where we see the gospel just shine through
08:22 that causes the revolution in our hearts in this season especially when sacrif We
08:27 are thinking of the day that Jesus came and we welcomed him. It's Palm Sunday to be sacrificed on the cross.
08:36 So that's why I call it the culture of pride. We're going to evaluate what has
08:41 the culture of pride done to us and we're going to see how much therefore we need the gospel. The first thing I want
08:48 to say about the culture of pride people is that pride is the source of all
08:53 misery. Pride is the source of all misery. The
08:58 first relay through the word through the word we see here, we see here in the word in bold especially that some that
09:06 you see a just position in the word in in the phrases that you have become rich
09:12 but by extortion. You have you have plundered uh you uh you you have
09:18 plundered many nations. You have committed murder throughout the countryside and filled the towns with
09:23 violence. This kind of misery is not just misery for the self but misery that
09:28 had that is put upon other people for the sake of your own pride. So we see the Babylonian kingdom already God is
09:36 putting an account of them and upon them and there's also an account of how much misery that uh that either they are
09:43 putting upon themselves as an individuals or how they're putting upon their community and their empire. So you
09:50 see you become rich by extortion. You have plundered many nations. So we see
09:55 misery being done by pride grafted into financial gain. So that's extortion. And
10:01 also you see u the uh we see slavery which is the result of pride over the
10:07 value of another human being. Meaning you take yourself to be more valuable and more important than the other
10:13 person. Therefore you use him as a garbage bin. The text also we see that with money you
10:19 gain dishonestly. putting your family family's nest beyond the reach of danger
10:24 by the numbers uh by the uh but by the murders you've committed. So we have we have put our family first above everyone
10:32 else again it's a prideful thing but this time is from a family point of view and so the one of the acts that
10:38 therefore has been done is that bribery was committed and that is pride grafted into security. What I mean by that is
10:45 that when we uh when when a uh when a government or when a system comes up, we
10:51 pay a certain tax and from there we get certain safety and security and fac and facilities. But when we want to do
10:57 things done our way at our speed or if on the other side of the Babylonian government they try that they want to
11:04 earn more earn more profit that guess what happens.
11:10 You know we don't have to look that far. you just, you know, you you just take a speeding ticket or a policeman or
11:15 policeman falsely accuses you for using your handphone while you're driving. What is he asking for? What has happened
11:23 to security of that nation? Well, pride has been grafted in the security. And
11:29 again, we see slavery by the murders they've committed. They've actually not just used them as uh as as livestock,
11:37 they killed their livestock. And that's why we also see that kind of misery happening in the background of
11:44 what is supposed to be the most uh s one of the most sophisticated empires at that time.
11:51 We see also in the text where money was gained through murder and corruption again. And so we see corruption that's
11:58 practed into public office. How do I know this is public office? What sorrow
12:03 awaits you who built cities with money gained through the murder through murder and corruption? built city building or
12:10 empire building is done by public office. What sorrow awaits you who make your
12:17 neighbors drunk and so and then you can go over their shameful nakedness. Obviously this part here there is a uh
12:24 there is an in this is an innuendo not just shame not just seeing or gazing over their nakedness but actually
12:29 participating in sexual acts. And so we see debauchery going on in the Babylonian kingdom. pride grafted into
12:37 entertainment. There's such thing as an innocent entertainment. There's such thing as entertainment that is point pointed out
12:44 by pride which is what can satisfy me best.
12:52 You cut down the forest of Lebanon and you'll be cut down. You destroy the wild animals now terrorize over you. There's
12:58 actually environmental abuse. Very interesting to know that actually the Babylonian they actually have God holds
13:04 us accountable even to the Babylonian kingdom of the of the impacts that they
13:09 have done upon the nature of the na of or in nature and the wildlife that they
13:14 actually had overtaken to build their own kingdoms. And so we see pride
13:19 grafted into environmental abuse. Then of course comes the one that we are very
13:24 familiar with where it describes how instead of worshiping the one true god. They make little gods which they can
13:31 control, they can put in their home, they will feed whenever they feel like it. They will give incense and candles
13:38 and and celebrate its mock birthday, you know, in their own time, in their own
13:44 control rather than actually going before the holy temple before almighty God. And so in that we
13:53 see pride grafted into worship. So all this you will see that's happening in
13:58 the Babylonian kingdom is because they are putting themselves above everything else. So even this idolatry although
14:06 they are saying that they are making these clay images, wooden images, images of gold and silver, they are not making
14:12 a god to truly worship. They're actually making a god a little idol as a
14:19 scapegoat so that they can truly take the time to worship the one person that matters the most themselves.
14:27 I wonder friends um all this signs of misery doesn't this sound my eyes today
14:38 if I were to close my eyes and listen to that kind of description put in a modern
14:44 translation I wouldn't think that's Babylon I think that's qualumpo
14:49 so we see so many things that's going on we see extortion we see corruption we
14:54 see slavery we see drunkenness and sex. We see environmental abuse. We see idol making. And we see all this is actually
15:00 being powered by this culture of pride. And the result of all the misery that's
15:06 happening, the background is there's poverty, unbalanced distribution of wealth. The the rule of law is not
15:12 enforced. The value of humankind has depleted via slavery and sexual abuse.
15:17 There's environmental consequences and ultimately judged by the Lord for the wrong they have done with their own
15:24 hands. feel miserable enough.
15:29 Either we are the instruments of such pride or we are the recipients of such
15:36 pride. Don't ask if you are either or. You are actually both.
15:41 Here's what I mean. Like I said earlier guys, we normally think that this is Babylon. And by the way, Babylon is
15:48 actually quite a lot to had actually quite a lot to be proud of. It's mathematics and technology. Until today,
15:54 we're using on a regular basis. If you guys own or are or who if you're wearing
15:60 a watch, maybe a smartwatch or a analog watch, you are using Babylonian
16:05 mathematics. 60 seconds makes a minute. 60 minutes makes an hour. 365 days makes
16:11 a year. That's Babylonian mathematics. But yet behind all that advancement,
16:17 we see misery that is going on in the streets and even in the homes of both the wealthy and the poor.
16:25 Does that sound familiar to you? Again, guys, you close your eyes. It doesn't sound just like Babylon. It sounds like KL.
16:32 Sounds like PJ. And how does And how and how does pride
16:38 equate to misery today? Well, we are seeing actually recently in parliament, I'm not going to point at any particular
16:45 politician, but just in general, just in general, you will notice that
16:50 politicians in the day one right or in any or any lower house of commons uh parliament, you will never hear an
16:57 apology by a politician. You will never hear it. You either hear
17:04 what are you talking about? We are actually growing. We are better in our economy today than before. Or you will
17:10 hear, "Oh, someone is someone is uh is uh is cheating and someone is and
17:16 someone is um uh someone is cheating on our economy and that's why we're still bad till today.
17:22 The recent runningings that is happening in parliament today and the statements that are given by politicians in general
17:29 that sounds so silly, especially the one that says, "Oh, if a nine-year-old marries his rapist, then everyone and
17:35 every everyone in the in the community will be fine. Does that sound fine to you?
17:42 Has he apologized? No. He will stand firm and steadfast to his
17:48 statement and because of that we become the res we become we become drowning in misery by
17:55 being the embarrassment and the talk of every news station and we get that fear
17:60 and anxiety at the back of our head saying those are leaders of our country.
18:07 I find it ironic that earlier in the year, we also just passed a bill against
18:13 child offenses and sexual abuses against ch against children, the protection for children's act.
18:19 And just months later, we Malaysians, we forget so quickly that a politician were there stand up and say, "Hey, you know,
18:26 if a nine-year-old were to marry his rapist, everything will be fine." What
18:35 I would like to see that done upon his children and let's see where you and let's see where it goes.
18:40 It's miserable. It's miserable.
18:45 And that is fueled being fueled by his pride. Let's go a bit more. Let's go a
18:50 bit more personal. How do we know that we have pride? Well,
18:57 a man wiser than me once said, "Show me a man full of misery, and I'll show you a man trying to guard his pride."
19:04 Show me a man full of misery, and I'll show you and I'll show you a man who is spending all of his misery and grief.
19:11 Right? If you lost something, shouldn't you be sad? When you lose someone, wouldn't you be sad? How can you tell
19:17 the difference between misery and grief? Well, let me explain this to you. I I believe in this time we as a church are
19:24 going through quite a lot of loss. Even personally for me, hear me out. He
19:31 hear me out from my heart. I've lost three I lost three dear friends unexpectedly in these past few years.
19:39 One of them is a girl who I have known her since she was 11 years old. at 25
19:44 years old, not even on her 25th birthday, she met with a horrendous car crash, taking her life unexpectedly.
19:54 And right the year after that, my family had lost my mother-in-law.
20:02 It all happened so quickly. We thought she had diabetes. She's having a pain in her stomach. Then when
20:08 she had when she had MRI, we realized that it was a cancer that was happening in the pancreas. Tried to remove it out
20:14 and we thought it'll be things will be all right. We maybe have six months, maybe one more year before we say our goodbyes. Not even two weeks.
20:24 And for the brother that we prayed for and his family, brother Ming Hoy, if you
20:29 seen him in his face, you would never notice that he will be unhealthy. You would, he will be the last person to get
20:35 a heart attack in your opinion. I will probably get a heart attack before him. I thought
20:43 but what's the So when we experienced all these things when I have experienced all these things I want to share this with you guys. There is grief and we'll
20:51 be sad.
20:57 My pillow is my pillow is drenched with sweat and tears of anxiety and sadness.
21:03 But I know just as he had delivered me from my dear friend the 24 year old my
21:08 mother-in-law just last year and just as we are going through the grief again of
21:14 our dear sir both actually we lost two officers William Chan and Lo Ming Hoy.
21:20 You sad? Yes. Absolutely sad. Devastated. But what changes from grief? What
21:26 changes the difference between grief and misery is that grief allows healing to come and we surrender it to God
21:35 that surrender to God what happens to them and what therefore happens to our lives whereas misery which is brought by
21:42 pride we put the blame on us oh if only if I've spoken to my 25year-old friend
21:49 maybe she wouldn't have maybe she wouldn't have driven down that highway on that time maybe if I delayed her. Oh,
21:56 if only Oh, if only I had spoken out because uh because because it was very interesting for my mother-in-law to
22:02 suddenly get diabetes at 58 or no at 58 years old. We should have done a we should have done a pancreas stand scan
22:08 right there and then. William ch for William Chan for Mang Hoy
22:15 we were we said oh if only we were told him that he's not so young he should go and see a doctor.
22:22 If only if only if only that becomes misery because why you are taking pride.
22:27 How dare you say Mark that I take pride. You are taking pride in thinking that you could be the life changer
22:35 that you can do something more than what God has destined.
22:42 So the difference between misery which is rooted by pride and our sorrow is that our sorrow is is the choice of what
22:48 we do with our sorrow. We either surrender it to God and let him be sovereign in this time.
22:56 Oh, and grow and make our lives miserable. Friends, I believe there's some of us in this place here that still
23:02 holding that that grip of misery. I should have done that. Should have
23:08 done this. I could have done this. If only I could have.
23:13 Let that go. Let that go. Surrender unto God.
23:19 depended on him for he is the one in the background that's running all these things.
23:27 Now for a more day-to-day application of misery and pride.
23:32 Why is misery a good litmus for pride? Well, that's because well because um
23:38 where you will find pride, you'll find misery. So you find misery when you fail because it harms your pride. This is me
23:46 11 years and 11 kilos ago. Look at that, man. I look at that
23:53 picture and I look at myself in the mirror and I told the guy in the mirror,
23:58 "You in that picture are in there somewhere under 3/4 of inches of fat."
24:05 Now, I remember I told myself at this age when I was 11 kilos short, 11 kilos
24:11 lighter. By the way, I'm already 8. At that time I was already 81 kilos. So you can imagine my weight now. Okay. My
24:18 knees are going to give up before I turn 50. I tell you. All right. So when you So when I to I remember when I was when
24:23 I was 18 this time I was 18 years old. I said I will stick at this weight.
24:30 Oh Mark you gullible little fool. Little did you know that college and
24:35 someway pyramid being nearby and when you get wheels you do the one kind of vacation that every Malaysian loves.
24:43 food tour. 6 months in the United States for a foodie in Oklahoma where you can try
24:50 both southern Louisiana casian northn northern food and good old greasy butter
24:56 burgers. I have a choice here.
25:02 If I'm miserable about the way I look now because of this picture, I have put
25:08 myself I I'm I put pride upon myself before God.
25:17 I give thanks to God that actually in December after Christmas I was 96.
25:23 Now I'm 92. Long way more to go.
25:29 But will I hold myself accountable and say, "You know what? I'm going to hold to my pride."
25:35 And when I'm still sad because I can never get to this weight again, what do I do? Do I eat myself do I eat do I eat
25:41 myself even further into depression? Do I hit the gym and go through and and
25:46 whack it again and again and again and then call myself fat even though I might have maybe be able to lose 5 kilos after
25:53 6 months to a year in the gym? I think some of us are going through that. Some of us have chapters in our
25:60 lives that has maimed us with misery because we allowed our pride to be the
26:05 front and center of our success and it got hurt.
26:13 There's also another kind where you are so you are so proud that you also end up having misery even when we succeed. This
26:21 is Dion Sanders. Dion Sanders is an amazing sportsman. I don't like sports
26:26 so much, but this guy I got to take a double look at. Okay, he has won the NFL
26:31 Super Bowl championship twice in 1994 and 1995. He won the Super Bowl.
26:38 He was in the team that has help won the Super Bowl twice consecutively. Okay. He is the only man in the American
26:45 history that is able to play both the National Football League and the World Baseball League. He played baseball
26:51 part-time and he was really good at it. He's the only uh sports sports superstar
26:57 that was able to that dare say that I have played in both international leagues all over the world.
27:05 He has when he switched uh football teams in 1994 and 1995 the contract was
27:11 given to him was 12.99 million US cash.
27:20 And yet when he got that he gives his testimony. He wrote a book
27:26 and in that book he wrote a testimony to say that I had all that. I tried everything. I've tried women. I tried
27:34 booze. I try alcohol. It sounds like the book of Ecclesiastes which we'll be going through in the book of in the
27:39 month of May. I even bought a car. There was one time in 1996. He picked up a phone call. He
27:46 bought he called the Lamborghini sales department. He bought a car by phone. He told him the color, the make and the
27:52 model and the specifics. He closed on the phone. He was supposed to be thrilled, full of joy because he
27:58 succeeded. He said he said when he were he said 20 years, 15 years before he was
28:03 there, he said to himself, "I will one day be able to buy a Lamborghini cash." And he did. He was high about it for a
28:11 few minutes. And then he lay down on his bed and said, "Why am I still so
28:16 miserable? In his words, he says there's a
28:22 yearning, there's a hunger that no amount of success or or his pride in his
28:28 work can ever fill. Then he went to a church nearby his
28:33 place, came to know Christ and his life made a 180°ree turn.
28:40 Friends, I know there are many of us here who are successful,
28:45 who have done great things in their lives, but yet I bet you most of us here will
28:54 still carry misery with us in our hearts like a weight on like a weight on our on
29:00 our chest and we bring it to us at home when we go to bed. We fling it at our
29:06 spouses whenever we feel it's too heavy to bear.
29:12 We toss it to our children and see nah let's see you can carry this amount of success.
29:18 We fling it around to our friends
29:24 with a hope that maybe someone will be able to carry that misery away. Friends,
29:30 I'll tell you again, pride is a source of all misery. Release that pride and
29:36 you release that misery. Release that pride unto Christ and you release that misery right away.
29:46 Pride is the source of all misery. Pride will also acquire God's judgment. second
29:52 lap around the text. You will notice at every single time where there is a
29:58 description of a description of what evil is being done in the community,
30:03 what misery is being brought upon individuals and communities, you will also see judgment. What sorrow awaits
30:11 you thieves? Now you will get what you deserve. Suddenly your adeptors will take action. They will turn on you and
30:16 take all you have while you stand trembling and helpless because you have plundered many nations. Now all the
30:22 survivors will plunder you. You see, God uses other nations to punish the prideful nation.
30:30 We also see by the murders you committed, you have shamed your name and forfeited your lives. And the beams in
30:36 the ceilings echo the complaint. You will see your family name being shamed because we try to protect our family
30:42 nest. Try to not bring shame to our family.
30:48 But then God will judge it and make it crumble down to the ground. And we'll be
30:54 held accountable for the work that we've done just to what we will say pad our
30:60 nest. We'll be judged for that too.
31:06 Has not the Lord of heaven's armies promised that the wealth of nations will turn to ashes? For as the waters fill
31:12 the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the Lord. We see the heavens also are against the
31:19 sinful nation. They are waiting. They're standing. They're waiting to pour out their judgment upon that upon that
31:25 country. For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of God.
31:33 You will see that your force you you force your cup on them and you can gloat over their shameful nakedness is the debauchery one. Soon it will be your
31:40 turn to be disgraced. It's your turn to be standing naked before almighty God. And I tell you and I'll tell you and
31:47 I'll tell you the truth. It's not going to be pleasurable.
31:52 Drink from the cup of the Lord's judgment and all the glory be turned and all your glory be turned to shame. You
31:58 see, you'll be publicly disgraced before Almighty God. You'll be judged by the Lord. your glory. Everything that you've
32:04 been proud of, that you put your life at that you put at life at stake for other
32:10 than the gospel of God will turn from glory into shame before the one true
32:17 God. You cut down the forest of Lebanon. Now you also will be cut down. You
32:22 destroy wild animals. So now their terror will be yours. It's almost a consequential thing that's happening
32:28 here. And we even see it today. We abuse their environment. Guess what? that the environment is not helping us today.
32:34 Consequences will creep up on us. And finally, of course, what good is an
32:41 idol carved by man that they may overlay with gold and silver and they are lifeless inside. But the Lord is in his
32:47 holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him. In the end of the day, in the end of the day, their idols will
32:53 never save them. And the one true God will judge in a silent hall.
32:58 This is the torment which we feel when we are estranged from
33:04 God. I'll explain that in a moment. We see actually in history how God in
33:11 the background uses empires and kingdoms to judge
33:16 another. This is the same geographical circle around here. Just picture an anchor point like Arabia. Here you see
33:23 the Assyrian. You will see the Assyrian kingdom which in the scriptures are looked upon as evil, horrendous,
33:29 terrible. God uses another country to judge them. What did he use? Look at the Babylonian kingdom.
33:36 There was a takeover and then Babylonians took over and they too fell into sin. And so God uses another nation
33:42 to another nation to to to judge them. Who did he use? He used the Persians.
33:48 The Persians gulfed up the whole empire there and then grew the empire and when they
33:55 fell to the and when they started falling to their own sin, God took a heavy God gave a heavy blow on them and
34:00 used another empire to judge them. Which empire is this? The Greek,
34:06 the Greek empire under Alexander the Great. And the straw that broke the camel's back is when the general went
34:12 into the temple of the Lord in Judea and sacrificed a pig in the temple of the in the temple of God is actually written is
34:18 actually is actually written in recorded history. Then there was a rebellion not just in
34:23 Israel but in the whole of in the whole of this area and another kingdom therefore took over. Which kingdom was
34:29 that? Roman. This goes on and on and on
34:36 even until modern day situation. The latest and greatest empire that we will say that that they will call themselves
34:42 is the glorious British Empire. The language that we speak today is due
34:49 to their imperialism. This was their kingdom between the late
34:55 1800s before the great war. after the Great War and World War II when obviously you see society in the United
35:02 Kingdom or Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the old and British Empire going down to pieces because why there
35:08 was slavery in India there was colonization and abuse in the states there was uh they was they send the
35:15 people that they don't like over to Australia you know and in the end of the day they
35:21 were once like this now they're like that
35:28 God in the background uses one country to judge another to judge another to
35:34 judge another. And this circle will come on and on and on until finally Jesus himself comes and all of us will be
35:41 judged. How many you guys here like justice? You guys will prefer justice, right?
35:47 Don't you want justice in our country? for the minority, for the poor, for the
35:52 for for the orphan, for the widow, so that they will not be able to stand against so they not be able to face the
35:58 abuses of society and people who are more cunning and more cunning and selfish and prideful. Well, guess what
36:05 guys? When you point justice for another thing, you're pointing three fingers back at yourself.
36:12 This Jesus himself told this story. There was once a man using definitely
36:20 accepted means via slavery and land acquisition and so on so forth. Okay,
36:26 he's actually using a typical everyday businessman in Jerusalem. There was once a rich man and he had so much to so much
36:32 uh harvest that he looked at his harvest and he said, you know, uh there's so much I can't even eat all of it. Now by
36:39 culture, okay, by the edict of God, what is he supposed to do with the surplus?
36:45 Give to the poor, pay extra portion to his laborers,
36:50 help other communities and help other communities, give a bigger portion of
36:56 harvest offering toward the temple of the Lord, which was at that time also a community epicenter where people can
37:02 actually come and ask for help. But what did he say? He said, "I will build
37:08 bigger storehouses. I will store all my grain in it and I'll be able to sit back and relax and say, 'Well done, my dear
37:15 friend. Now you may eat and drink and be merry for the good labor that you have
37:20 done." God looks at this guy and says, "You fool. This very day I will take your
37:26 life and not even one grain you will eat. In fact, you will be in fact you will go to a place where there will be
37:32 weeping and nashing of teeth.
37:41 How healthy is everybody's trust funds today? Fixed deposits,
37:48 share markets. Do we take it to keep for the next time and the next time and the next time
37:54 until we have more than we can ever actually spend or do we make the effort to give to the poor regularly
38:02 to help those who are migrant, orphaned, widowed,
38:08 alienated. God will ask us these questions if it were not for the grace of God.
38:18 It's the other story. He actually goes on even further. And he elaborates it even deeper. He says, "I will take the
38:23 sheep and the goats before me, those who believe and those who don't believe. And I'll separate the sheep and the goats. I'll tell the sheep, well done, my good
38:30 and faithful servants, for I went come into the house of the Lord. For when I was hungry, you gave me something to
38:35 eat. When I was when I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I was in prison, you came and visited me. When
38:40 I was naked, you g you g you gave you gave me some clothes to wear." And then the people and then the believers they
38:46 will look at him and says oh Lord where do we ever see you naked hungry thirsty or in prison to which then the Lord says
38:52 I tell you for what for to whom you have done to the least of these you have done unto you have done unto me. And then he
38:58 looks at the goats says depart from me
39:06 because when I was hungry you gave me nothing to eat. When I was thirsty you gave me nothing to drink. When I was in prison you never visited me. when I was
39:12 naked in the cold, you never gave me anything to wear. To which then the Lord looks looks at
39:18 him and say, "Oh Lord, where do we ever see you hungry, thirsty, naked or in prison?" Is it and to which God says, "I
39:26 tell you the truth. What you did not do to these to the least of these you have not done unto me. Now depart from me
39:31 where there'll be weeping and nashing of teeth."
39:37 It's interesting to note also that the book of Habach chapter 2:14, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge
39:43 of the glory of the Lord as the waters covers the sea. We may see this in two ways and the one way that we will see
39:50 this also is judgment. Paul uses this same mimicry, this same phrase in Romans
39:56 where he says, "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people
40:02 who suppress truth by their wickedness." Since we since what may be known about God is plain to them because God has
40:08 made it plain to them. You see the similarity? God's knowledge is actually brought upon to this world and from the
40:15 knowledge of this world and we become negligent of it. We are therefore subjected to it. Now have we let our
40:22 pride blind us from being able to see the knowledge of the glory of God?
40:28 Have you tried to go and find our little piece of heaven? Vacationing, going a
40:34 cruise around the world, trying to find meaningfulness in life only to go at the
40:41 final gates of God and ask what's going but what what have you done with your life?
40:47 A vacation once in a while is good. I'd like to take one one day as well. But using it as a means to make it a pride
40:55 of your own life. I tell you the true friends, God would have it judged upon us.
41:01 Now, what does the torment look like? The what what we do with our pride
41:07 in and what we do to to to comfort and care and and and and keep safe our pride
41:14 instead of instead of surrendering ourselves before almighty God is like talking back about your friend. Imagine
41:20 you in a room and you're talking bad about your friend. Idiot. Useless law. you know, uh, he I
41:27 he asked me for five minutes of my time. We end up talking for three hours and end up resulting to nothing. Sounds like
41:32 some of our bosses, you know, it sounds like some bosses that we know, some managers and CEOs full of wind. So, you
41:40 talk and talk and talk and then you realize the guy is just right behind you.
41:46 How do you feel? You suddenly feel a distance away from that person, right?
41:52 Although you're standing next to each other, you feel like you you feel you feel judged, definitely condemned for
41:58 sure, but then also distanted. Your souls are no longer close as it were possibly before.
42:07 That is this that is the torment which is the separation between God and us because we have let our pride go in
42:14 between. And because we've prevented God from saving us with our pride, we will
42:20 therefore bear the consequences of being so distant from him.
42:28 How's your distance from God?
42:34 Pride is a source of all misery. Pride will acquire God's judgment. Finally
42:41 guys, the good news, the lap that makes all the difference. Pride can be overcome by grace.
42:51 Pride can be overcome by grace. Time's running out by I want to put I want to show you those three bookmarks. Remember
42:57 the verse earlier that we said that that that you said that we saw earlier for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as
43:03 the water covers the sea. I said earlier that we can look upon it as God putting judgment onto the world by the knowledge
43:10 of him. Yes, that's true. But we have to bear in mind that Jesus came
43:16 that he shall bear witness to the truth. The truth that will set us free. This
43:21 person, the work of God in his fullness, the preeminent of it all, had actually
43:27 walked on this earth. Traditionally, this year on this Sunday
43:34 years ago, years and years ago, we welcomed him with our clothes on the floor and palm branches in the air. A
43:40 week later, we killed him. This is the one that will be that will
43:48 therefore usher in the grace because it therefore becomes no longer
43:53 judged by that wrongdoing but by who we depend on. Jesus said this now this is eternal life that they may know you the
44:01 knowledge of the glory of the Lord. They will know you the one true God and Jesus the Messiah whom you have sent.
44:10 Jesus was using the words specifically from this book of Habac. Because now, oh God, the knowledge of you have come upon
44:17 this earth. Now I pray that they may know you the one true God and Jesus the savior whom you have sent. Jesus has
44:24 come to save each and every one of us. Another part of it is this. The cup of
44:29 the Lord's right hand is coming around to you and disgrace will cover your glory. This cup of poison is cup of
44:37 judgment. Jesus actually referred to it in the garden of Gethsemane.
44:43 He says this, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me. This cup that was meant for us to drink.
44:49 This cup that was meant to be judged upon us. This cup that was meant to that that was meant to make our misery even
44:55 worse." Because not only have we distanced ourselves from the purpose in life, we distanced oursel from God.
45:03 Jesus then said, "But let not my will be done, but yours." and he took that cup of poison from us.
45:10 So when we read this verse actually we can also look at it as God speaking
45:15 directly to Jesus. The cup of the Lord's right hand is coming to you and disgrace
45:21 will cover your glory. Wasn't Jesus' glory covered with disgrace, our
45:26 disgrace for our sakes. And finally, if we are willing to accept
45:34 the knowledge of God's salvific work, the work that how Jesus can save us by
45:40 asking us to depend on him to acknowledge that he is the one that had
45:45 held our our our sins, the one that held our judgment.
45:51 We then can come to that last part of the verse where he says this, "The Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth
46:00 be silent before him. One day we will go to God and be silent before him. But we have a choice. We either cling on to the
46:08 temples that we had tried to build our own or we can cling on to the temple which Jesus had raised again. Next week
46:15 we are celebrating. Jesus answered, "Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days." John very
46:23 helpfully put a comment there and he says they replied uh he replied but uh after he
46:30 was raised from the um but the temple he had spoken of was his body after he was
46:37 raised from the dead his disciples recall what he had said they then then they believed the scripture and the
46:43 words that Jesus had spoken when Jesus first appeared to his disciples in that
46:48 renewed body in that renewed temple they stood silent before him.
46:56 Now Jesus is knocking at the door of your hearts.
47:02 Will you open it? Welcome him. Be silent before him and surrender your pride
47:07 towards him. How would this look like?
47:14 the more we realize how glorious God is
47:21 and not let pride make opaque or make us blind or how
47:26 great God is. And the more we realize how deep a how
47:32 deep how deep of a pit we have dug our own our own sins with and we have to be
47:38 in that pit ourselves and we do not let pride to say it's not that bad. I'm not
47:44 that bad of a person. No. If you let that happen, then your dependence on the
47:50 cross of Jesus Christ grows bigger and bigger and bigger. And he is big enough
47:56 for all of us today.
48:04 Pride is a source of all misery. Pride acquires God's judgment.
48:12 And now pride can be overcome by grace. Let's pray. Worship team, come on up.
48:27 Oh Lord, teach my song to rise to you when temptation comes my way. And when I
48:33 cannot stand, when the misery that is the result of my own pride, oh God, is holding down upon my shoulders,
48:42 Jesus, you're my hope and my stay. Oh Lord, teach me, oh God, to release
48:48 the pride that I have in my life, the pride that I have on my family, the pride that I have on my identity with
48:55 anything of this world. and let me just depend on my ident my all my identity
49:01 unto you for your yoke is easy and your burden is
49:07 light. Oh Jesus, as we stand before you, we
49:13 stand silent because that cup of poison that was
49:18 meant for us, that judgment that we deserve to have,
49:26 you had taken it in our place.
49:32 Oh God, teach us therefore to say every day, Lord, I need thee. Oh, I need you
49:40 every hour. I need you. You're my only one defense. You're my only
49:46 righteousness. Oh God, how I need you.
49:54 Oh God, let us take that back home and so that we may look with hope in our
49:60 country today and in the evil and our hearts even even now.
50:06 We will say that where sin runs deep, your grace is found.
50:11 So now let your grace, oh God, abound in us and cause a revolution
50:18 of love in this nation. And we say this in Jesus name. Amen.
