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00:00:01 I will expose your righteousness and your works and they will not benefit you when you cry out for help let your collection of Idols save you the wind will carry all of them off a mere breath will blow them away but whoever takes refuge in me will inherit the land and possess my Holy Mountain and it will be Sav build up build up prepare the road remove the obstacles out of the way of my people for this is what the high and exalted one says he who lives forever whose name is Holy I live in a high and holy place but
00:00:41 also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite I will not accuse them forever nor will I always be angry for then they would faint away because of me the very people I have created I was enraged by their sinful greed I punished them and HD my face in Anger yet they kept on in their willful ways I have seen their ways but I will heal them I will guide them and restore Comfort to Israel's mourners creating Praise on their
00:01:20 lips peace peace to those far and near says the Lord and I will heal them but the wicked are like the tossing sea which cannot rest whose waves cast up Maya and mud there is no peace says my God for the Wicked This is the word of the Lord amen praise be to God very good morning to church to FBC greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus thank you so much Adam for reading God's word to us now before we continue I want to do a what my hii my company called a checkin exercise how many of you have done this checkin exercise W
00:02:06 God see um especially when you go for workshops and meetings in the morning and then people are like half asleep so my okay let's check in okay on a scale of 1 to five where are we today on the scale of 1 to five where are we today and not a trick question H this one really one is you're feeling really low today and five is your Cloud Nine okay don't think too hard canot think too hard canot cannot be like w must my better say five otherwise no all right just anyone below three today as you walk into the church and just
00:02:45 feeling low because maybe yeah t puncture maybe coming to church don't know right um how someone who is in the middle three yeah I see some hands who are really close closer to five today yay must be the decorations and the great worship uh the meaningful worship that we just had earlier anyway um just a check-in all right regardless of whether you're one or five the Lord wants to speak to you today um we've been going through a here 42 onwards on the themes of servanthood learning obviously from our
00:03:29 humble King Jesus whom we continue to fix our eyes on how apt during this Advent season where we reflect on the coming or and incarnation of our Lord Jesus but before we start let us just go to God In Prayer be it unto us Lord according to your word according to your promises may we stand secure we come humbly before you today asking that you revive our hearts hearts and renew the right Spirit within us may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight oh Lord our
00:04:10 Rock and Redeemer for Jesus sake amen amen the tile of the sermon oh sorry before that uh next week's sermon uh will be good news for the poor uh preachers uh brother William uh Christmas service will be preached by Dr Peter and um and then we before the end of the year when Grace redefines goodness will be preached by our brother Brandon Wong the title of sermon is Revival of the contrite and lowly taken from Isaiah 5712 to 21 which was just read to us and we'll be covering three things why the need for
00:04:54 Revival the deception of false Revival true Revival is found in Christ and his community the first why the need for Revival what is behind Revival isn't it the constant search and thirst for meaning for significance for success for security for fulfillment even an identity our selfworth we want to live our lives essentially when we're growing up as students some of you are is how many AIDS and awards we get in school in our careers we want to of course climb the corporate ladder or build a successful
00:05:47 business as quickly as possible so that we can have a an early retirement in our families we want a good marriage we M parents for our children a decent car a comfortable house in our society we want to have the abilities and means to serve the communities and give to charitable organizations to help the poor in FBC we want to serve and if we are leaders we want to build the Ministries that we lead well so that God will be pleased and say Well done good and faithful servant my wife and I always use this
00:06:28 analogy of a stank that constantly needs to be filled whether physically emotionally or spiritually that's just being human isn't it but because we live in a sinful and Fallen World the reality is that at some point in our lives if you're not already in the midst of it we're going to get hit by the storms of life and some fiery furnaces from a small cut on our finger to the breath of a pandemic we will experience suffering of many kinds sometimes due to our own sin some other times due to the sins of
00:07:12 others most of the time we just don't know and call it the act of God sin is still the biggest rock and sickness that sometimes overshadows suffering remember in Luke five when Jesus was calling one of his disciples Levi he was invited to a great feast in the house where there was a large company of tax collectors reclining at a table with him and the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled at as his disciples saying hey why this Jesus why do why does he eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners the CH come out right and Jesus
00:07:59 answered them those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick I have not come to call the righteous but Sinners to repentance what's he trying to imply yeah when you are sick you go to the doctor but when you are spiritually sick which we all are you go to Christ so sin is our biggest sickness that needs to be dealt with need to be revived from but we but we we we live in the now and the not yet isn't it John 173 reminds us that Eternal Life Starts Now the moment we know God is
00:08:42 what we're aiming for that's what the business calls the North Star right that's our North Star Revival therefore must be seen in the light of Eternity as opposed to uh what jeel Austin tells you best life now right best life now of course you know uh I don't know with with with all this nice Christmas celebration all activities lineup it's very difficult not to have some good and best life now but our best life is in eternity if your best life is now we run into the danger of the next point the deception
00:09:25 of false Revival and this is how the passage starts I will declare your righteousness and your Deeds but they will not profit you when you cry out let your collection of Idols deliver you the wind will carry all them off all of a breath will take them away these deceptions can either be selfmade or man-made last week uh Elder Arnold preached on Justice and righteousness remember the irony is that Justice and righteousness can so subtly be turned into religiosity or salvation by works all these righteous acts make us look good
00:10:08 now but in the long run as far as eternity is concerned it brings zero return all of us businessmen Chinese people uh knows what Roi is return on investment can you come and tell your boss uh we will break even in 10 years time not now cannot right zero returns so self-righteousness claims glory and looking good now not in the future a classic example is of course um the Pharisee and the tax collector the Pharisee standing by himself pray God I think I thank you that I'm not like the other men extortionist and just
00:10:49 adulterous or even like this tax collector because he thinks he's been there done that but it can even be as subtle as Kings David census I'm not sure whether you you have read this story that is tucked inside uh second Samuel right so King David was just counting his army oh look at my 1.3 million Valiant men Fighters 800,000 in Israel only 500,000 in Judah my target is 2 million the next year what may seem to be an innocent stock take of his army was to God a great sin of Pride and self-reliance so
00:11:36 much so that God sent a plague that killed 70,000 of his men but if and if you can't make it or fake it we go shopping for other Idols what are our modern day Idols is it materialism or consumerism is it our investment portfolios our Tesla and Nvidia stocks our real estate our Dream bmw4 our damond SAR hikes Bungalow and all the latest gadgets is it career and achievement I'm guilty of that worldly achievements tend to Puff you up is it relationship and approval my wife always so sorry um relationships and
00:12:27 approval including our very own family relationships including the people that we see every day people people pleasing approval again I'm guilty of that is it technology and entertainment your phone my wife always asked me do you love your phone more than me do you love your phone more than me pinch watching Netflix kramas and getting inundated with the plethora of social media meta X insta Tik Tok and what you have has a this viral effect to technology right my wife sends me tons of social media posts shots although she
00:13:13 doesn't think it's stons just a few only right but she will say watch this to the end make sure you watch this to the end I don't know I feel like I'm stuck in a slight predicament here is it ideologies and and movements political ideologies cultural movements or activism that replace Reliance on God's sovereignty including all the ongoing debates on wokeism again is a big word I'm not an expert in it last but not least addictions and escapism these are temporary Pleasures to numb pain and F spiritual voids
00:13:58 including substance abuse nowadays when you watch Netflix and then you you click and then you look at the info it goes 18 plus substance yeah it's everywhere almost quite a number of the the movies or the TV series is filled with substance abuse for some of us alcohol some of us gaming not good with games uh some of us food and culinary we Asian people AR indulgences I know men resorts to binge eating now when they are stressed or depressed there's such a thing as romantic and sexual escapism it promotes idealized
00:14:43 relationships including romance something as your romance novels that you read dramas pornography of course that creates unrealistic ideals it diverts our attention from The Real World relational challenges doesn't it for me it is alcoholism perfectionism and definitely coffee now one thing a good career and the latest gadgets is not in itself a bad thing isn't it but when we start devoting a large portion of our time and energy into only those things for some of us we start obsessing about it without even realizing it and I think
00:15:27 team Keller some izes very well he says the human heart is an idle Factory that takes good things like a successful career love material possessions even family and turns them into ultimate things our hearts deify them as the center of our Lives because we think they can give us significance and security safety and fulfillment if we attain them but the Bible says the wind will carry them all off a breath will take them away why because all of a sudden the storms hit us all of a sudden we're taken by the storm and some
00:16:12 of us are already right smack in the middle of it the 17 and Counting people that we were praying for earlier in corporate prayer chronic illnesses and physical pain including surgeries mental health challenges anxieties depress depression trauma grief and loss of loved ones injustices oppressions broken relationships and betrayals this was preached by Pastor palen two weeks ago as well Financial hardships poverty or just spiritual dryness and doubt resulting in emptiness meaningless meaninglessness
00:16:58 loneliness will any of our collection of self-made and man-made Idols help us navigate through these times it is really akin to building a sand castle beautiful and impressive on the outside but vulnerable to the incoming tide what we build with temporary things won't last when challenges come so where do we attain true Revival and that's the last Point here it is God who is and this is the key verse for today verse 15 it is God who is the high and light lifted exalted one who is eternal whose name is Holy it is he who
00:17:43 initiates Revival where does he live where does he dwell who is he he lives in high and holy places of course the heavens of course but also to the with those of a contrite and lowly Spirit contrite here brings the meaning of crushed broken bruised and lowly low humble and depressed for them Jesus on the contrary openly Associates himself with individuals whom the religious of his time claim to be sinful unworthy the social outcast the sick the sufferers the point is that God has like a dual citizenship isn't it in
00:18:36 the omnipresent sense none of us can do this H even in countries that allow dual citizenship you can only be at one place at a time only our trinitarian God can have both meekness and Majesty manhood and deity in Perfect Harmony but why what's the purpose of this dual citizenship the Bible tells us to revive the spirit of the lowly the heart of the contrite revive here means to give life to give life and in John 10:10 we are reminded that this life is to be given abundantly the verb here indicates
00:19:19 purpose intent result as if when you read this verse is as if he came all the way for us as his sole intention of coming down what does God do to revive us okay bear with me we're going to do a little bit of exeresis a little bit of word study I know Arnold did two uh last week on Justice and and and and righteousness so we're going to do a little bit more today um to understand the text so number one how does God revive us he removes every obstruction it shall be said build up build up prepare the way
00:19:58 remove every obstruction C from my people's way now the the language here in verse 14 is the language of building a highway what does each of the word mean there three words here right build up means to lift to Heap up or make a highway it carries the idea of preparing a way or raising a road often used for making path accessible or smooth for travelers second one is prepare again it has the meaning of clearing Turning Away make room implies clearing OB ERS From the Path and lastly remove of course is
00:20:33 meaning even even it doesn't mean remove it means lift up to lift in order to remove to exalt or to remove in this context it conveys the act of taking away impediments now um I don't know how many of you remember if you live along the middle ring room I remember the time back in the early 90s when I was staying at tamama malati this is the ULU plang area who experienced the building of the middle ring Road okay maybe different area yeah it was in the other side the ULU clang area the middle ring Road was being built
00:21:11 along we around the clang Valley and we couldn't wait for it to be completed I remember it took forever because they did it in stages right bit by bit and in the meantime every time they completed one then we move to the next stage we had to contend with hum potholes and endless traffic jam it was a nightmare what a relief when it was finally completed but Christ has done the heavy lifting the punishment of sin that was due us was paid once for all on the cross so that through and in Christ we no longer stand condemned the Lord's
00:21:52 holy Roth his holy anger is atoned for or the word is propitiated and therefore his face his presence no longer is hidden from us his love his grace his Mercy starts to flow into our lives what else does he remove he removes the guilt the shame that crushes us he removes the Clutter the spiritual clutter in our lives due to all the idol we spoke about earlier the question is what are your obstacles what are the obstacles and hindrances that distract and clutter your walk with God think about it after decluttering he continues to
00:22:44 indwell us by his Spirit he is not like your house contractor that comes to the job get paid and JW he wants permanent residence even citizenship in in your lives in your heart but because he's moved in he sees everything isn't it yeah and now the real work of renewal can begin he says I have seen his ways I've seen your ways but I will heal him I will lead him I will restore Comfort to him and his MERS so again three words to study here right healing Rafa means to heal to repair to rebuild to restore or
00:23:32 make whole it can refer to physical emotional and spiritual healing lead to guide and lead or direct often carries the idea of a gentle guidance Like a Shepherd leading and finally restore has a rich meaning um to complete to fulfill to repay to make whole shalam or nakam to complete to fulfill to repay to makeo it has together these three words are holistic renewal and restoration but Houston we have a problem remember earlier we read that Revival is towards the heart and Spirit Revival is to the contrite heart and the
00:24:21 broken Spirit and the lowly spirit in Hebrew thought the heart and spirit are Central to one's emotions will and intellect So speaking of highlights the entire inner being the core of a person what does the Bible say about our hearts our heart is deceitful above all things and Beyond cure who can understand it Mark 7 from with from for from within out of the heart of men come evil thoughts sexual immorality theft murder adultery coveting wickedness in the list goes on our spirit is no different it has the
00:25:08 tendencies that goes against or at least has a thwarted view of the fruit of the spirit Pride goes Before Destruction a Hy spirit before a fall a spirit of prostitution very very harsh what here that Hosea is using leads them astray they are unfaithful to their God no amount of band aids is going to fix this dying heart of ours and our dying Spirit what we need is essentially a a heart transplant a heart transplant and this what Ezekiel says in chapter 36: 26 to 27 and I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within
00:25:54 you and I will remove the Heart of Stone remember the removal as well remove the Heart of Stone from your flesh and give you a heart of Flesh I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules the new contrite heart and the lowly Spirit beats the heartbeat of Christ as exemplified by King David's Psalms 51 when he prayed after his sin with BBA it Mourns it confesses personal sin and its grievousness before God it seeks forgiveness it humbly repents it continually long for God's
00:26:38 presence and the indwelling spirit that lives in US it longs to Bear the fruit of the spirit of Love of joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self self-control that church is a revived heart and spirit amen because he now recites in our heart we are assured that we also won't need to go through life's challenges alone that's how he Comforts us can he heal us physically emotionally psychologically right now right here of course if it's his will and we must pray but if he chooses not to then the
00:27:31 promise is that he will Journey with you the new heart comes with an unlimited warranty period he promises to Journey with you he promises to never leave nor forsake you amen amen finally with a new heart we can experience his peace his Shalom again Shalom is a very rich and holistic word it means completeness wholeness well-being health and safety how apt during this Advent season to celebrate Jesus our Prince of Peace now reaching almost the end uh speaking of comfort there's an interesting sidebar here notice in verse
00:28:19 18 he says I have seen his ways I and I will heal him I will lead him and restore Comfort to him and his MERS and his Cas MERS which implies The Community of Faith the family and friends the fellow pilgrims on this journey of Faith so I would like to um and I think we got still got we have plenty of time and there will be two sharing I would like to share my story um about my late mother um and then later on I will invite uh Lisa my wife to come up and share a bit about our family as we go through life challenges as
00:29:02 well in late 2015 my life and and that of my family took a sudden turn that would never be the same again for the next three years my late mother was diagnosed with stage two locally Advanced pancreatic cancer it was inoperable especially given her age I still remember very vividly see sitting next to her when a doctor broke the news to us she remained so calm while I was completely devastated I knew it was Christ peace that surpassed understanding that was guarding her heart even after being diagnosed she had to go through months
00:29:45 of ordeal to wait for what is called the FNA the fine needle aspiration biopsy to be done he was an extremely delicate procedure that only a visiting Professor from the US managed to complete successfully after many rounds that the local doctors tried it was as it was quite late stages of pancreatic cancer the her oncologist Was preparing us and saying it's typically 6 months at most but by the sheer grace of God her time on Earth was extended to close to three years she was even able to attend my youngest son's Ryan's first
00:30:24 birthday you see in the last photo just three weeks before she passed but then she was down to the bones throughout her her two plus years of battling cancer many rounds of chemo going in and out of Hospital which became almost our second home despite acute pain that came and went she hardly complained what kept her going were two things one it was certainly Christ journeying with her giving her that Supernatural strength endurance the peace knowing where her Eternal home would be and secondly it was The Community of Faith
00:31:12 both family and friends that was mourning alongside her I will never forget what my brother constantly shared that a faith encouraged her mourners more than herself surely this Comfort came from our ultimate comforter and healer Christ himself as Verse 18 promised us one of my mom's favorite hymn was it Is Well with My Soul and I shall read the first verse when peace like a river attended my way when Sorrows like sea belows roll whatever my Lord thou has taught me to say it is well It Is Well with My Soul
00:32:01 and as she plays that over and over again I know that the comfort and the peace that transcends all understanding what's guarding our heart and mind in Christ Jesus in my own family we also have been very blessed to have a community of friends who both Shar Joys as well as um encourag and uplifted us on our hard days I would like to invite my wife Lisa up on stage to share a bit more about this hello wife and good morning church okay um hello um hello and good morning church my name is Lisa I am Alexa's wife
00:32:52 um we have two very bubbly very high energy boys um Erin and Ryan and they are seven and 10 years old um since since we had have had our children you took a step back from your career to be to stay as a stay home mom it's a role that requires so much patience care and so much giving of your time and energy and I know some days it's really really not easy you've told me quite often that Community has been such a blessing for us as parents can you share a little bit about that yeah sure um but first on behalf of all the
00:33:31 stayhome parents here moms and dads I would like to thank you for acknowledging that being a stayhome parent is very hard work um for me very honestly I feel so blessed that we have um a community of friends and family um that we can lean on and I lean on very much um on our good days and on our bad days um I remember when my children were younger for example um and as a very new and very young mom um sometimes you see your child break out in rash and you go oh my goodness what what is this you know as a
00:34:08 new mom you've never seen it before and you're just like silently maybe not silently freaking out so what I'll do is I'll take a photo and then I send to all my mommy friends and go like what is this help me out you know is it fungal is it heat rash is it hives is it you know whatever else I'm sure all the moms can relate to this and um just having older experienced mom respond and go oh don't worry it's just hives you know it's it's a it's an allergy reaction this is what you got to do um you know
00:34:39 give anti-histamines uh give a cool bath and just Monitor and he should be fine and if not you know this is what you can do after that um so that's one example of when uh our kids were very young um I also remember um a time a few years ago and this was in the middle of the pandemic lockdown and we had a family emergency back then um and we are members of the CIA life group in church and I remember it was a family emergency and it was a really challenging time for our family and um our live group friends
00:35:17 uh really stepped up and and helped us um they took leave I mean I know how precious your leave days are and this is a friend who took leave to come to our house Babys set our kids the entire day so that we could you know attend to our family emergency in the hospital um I remember we were I was in hkl Waiting for a a a family member to be warded and I had to wait there until 3:00 a.m. because it was just crazy and I remember your cousin 3: a.m. there's no more grab to to take ride home and and Alex had to
00:35:55 go home first to to take over to watch the kids and I remember messaging your cousin because your cousin was saying anything just reach out you know and and I messaged your cousin and he and his wife came at 3:00 a.m. and remember in the pandemic there were like roadblocks everywhere because you're not supposed to go past a certain distance from your home and our cousin y your cousin our cousin came all the way from subang down to HK to pick me up at 3:00 a.m. in the morning and and send me home I mean just
00:36:23 the love and the support that we've experienced is is it's it just means so much to me and um just very recently actually just a few days ago um it was a really long and hard day it was I mean those of you who are with your kids day in day out I think you this might resonate with you it was a really long and hot day you know everything that could go wrong went wrong that day nothing was going right and when the moment Alex came home and I said I just need to take a break I I I have to get out of the house and I
00:37:00 just ran in my car I drove out and I remember just sitting in the car and just crying and I messaged my group of very close friends and um some of them are Christians one of them is actually a Sunday school teacher here in FPC and I just said oh my gosh it's it's just been a horrible day it's been a really long day and nothing's going right I feel like a I'm a terrible mom and having the support and the love of this group of amazing women you know just tell you just having that that that provide you that Comfort
00:37:34 holding space for you um listening ear you know that reminder that just because you're having a bad day doesn't make you a bad parent you're not a failure you know just because you're having a terrible day doesn't you're not a failure and I don't know if words will adequately ever suffice but it just meant the world to me you know it it meant the world to me to be able to feel that love and support from the community that we had the community that I have and um I know beyond a shadow of doubt that
00:38:14 having community and having this group of friends who I feel it in their words I feel it in their actions you know in both um I have no doubt that it makes me a better person it makes me a better mom because I have this community um and I am so very very grateful for for this community thanks so much for your encouraging sharing Lisa so if there's one takeaway uh to share with everyone here what would that be I think very often in the world that we live in today um so much emphasis is given on so much emphasis is given
00:39:02 on you've got to do it you know you have to make it you have to do it you have to do it and and sometimes we feel like we've got to do it all by ourselves we've got to fix it all by ourselves and I think the reality of the situation is that we are not meant to do it alone I think the reality is that we are not meant to go through life alone we need our friends we need our family we need our communities you know um and if there one take away from from this is that we need to have a community around
00:39:33 us and um the community is there we just sometimes it's on us to reach out and find the community thank you so much Lisa so go find a live group to belong to thank you very much for your sharing this yeah so I think we arrive at uh mostly the the closing close to the closing the worship team can start to maybe just play some music it is so Unthinkable church that our most high God whose name is Holy would dwell among Sinners of whom I am the worst and what more died for our sins for that we are forever humbled and
00:40:16 we stand in awe he is the way the truth and the life he is our revivalist but only to those who would welcome him with a broken spirit and a contrite heart in Jesus's words in the Beatitudes blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth and he says come to me all ye who are labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly
00:41:02 in heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light shall We All Rise As we sing the song of response from the first song We sang earlier Come Oh Come All You Unfaithful music as the music continues to play I would like to pray for each one of us here I would like to First pray for those like me who are struggling or struggling with recurring sinful habits without any eyes looking you raise your hands if you want if you if you if you acknowledge this that you
00:41:50 struggle with sin Man is Hard you struggle with the guilt of sin would you raise your hand your hands and you can put it down quickly we pray for you thanks thank you for those hands thank you for those hands Lord Jesus we come before you with hearts that long to be free you are the one who breaks chains and sets captives free for those here struggling with sinful habits that seem impossible to overcome Lord we ask for your power to intervene you have the power to raise the Dead that same power to remove all
00:42:31 hindrances our sinful habits that we go back to again and again by your spirit break every chain that binds them the chains of addiction of pride of angle of self-righteousness remove every obstacle that stands in the way of Revival in our hearts we confess Lord that we cannot do this on our own we need your grace we need the Community of Faith fill us fill them Lord with your strength and a fresh desire to pursue you Above All Else remind them of your promise that if the sun sets you free you will be free
00:43:15 indeed may your cleansing blood and the power of your Resurrection bring newness of life even as you have given us a new heart and a new spirit let us walk in Freedom in the freedom you have already W for them for me in Jesus mighty name amen and again with our eyes closed again for those I want like to pray for those struggling with pain with suffering with Brokenness if you would raise your hands and put it down quickly we pray for you thank you for those hands thank you Father Of All Comfort be lift up those
00:43:58 who are crushed under the weight of suffering of pain and Brokenness then seems never ending you have promised to be near the the Brokenhearted and to save those who are crushed in spirit for those who feel lost abandoned or just overwhelmed with lives trials we pray for your gentle touch to revive their hearts and Spirits Lord Jesus you are the man of Sorrows acquainted with grief and you carried our pains on the cross surely you understand us as Emmanuel God With Us enter into our suffering with your
00:44:37 healing presence bind up our wounds restore Our Hope and give us peace that surpasses understanding let us experience your Revival not just relief but the assurance that you are making all things new We Trust in your promise to comfort all who mourn to give Beauty for ashes revive them revive us Lord and fill us with your joy of Salvation once again in Jesus name amen amen as we remain standing let's close with the benediction that's taken from 2 Thessalonians 3:1 16 now may the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times in
00:45:24 every way the Lord be with you all amen service is over it may be dismissed after some silent prayer and for those as usual who require prayer um the elders and the leaders will be here to pray with you
