The Greatest Love Of All

Sis Melinda Song

INTRODUCTION

How time flies! Can you believe that this is the last Sunday of February?

February is a very busy month for all of us. We celebrated Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day and today is Chap Goh Meh!

In the past today is the day when the nyonyas and babas come out in full force to celebrate the last day of CNY. The young nyonya maidens would make their way to Gurney Drive or the Esplanade to throw oranges into the sea. Since properly brought up young nyonyas live a cloistered life this is the one opportunity for the young babas to have a sneak peek at them. And so Chap God Meh became regarded as the Chinese Valentine’s Day.  

Since Chap Goh Meh also falls on February this year, love is really in the air and it is appropriate for us to take a look at “The Greatest Love of All” which is found in . . .

John 15:12-13 (NIV)  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

You might think it strange that love should be linked to death. Why so serious? But love is a serious matter.

News: On Friday, 14 December 2012, Dawn Hochsprung - principal of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut - together with several other teachers were in a school staff meeting when they heard the terrifying sound of a gun being fired. 

School therapist Diane Day told the Wall Street Journal, she said, "We were there for about five minutes chatting when we heard, 'pop pop pop'. I went under the table. The principal and the school psychologist Mary Sherlach had other ideas. They jumped out of their seat and ran toward the sound of the gunfire." They encountered and confronted the gunman who shot and killed both women.

The shooter then entered a first-grade classroom where he shot and killed the substitute teacher and most of the students. Next, he went to Room 10, another first-grade classroom. Teacher Vicki Leigh Soto was reported to have attempted to hide several children in a closet and cupboards. As the gunman entered her classroom, Soto reportedly told him that the children were in the auditorium. Several of the children then came out of their hiding place and tried to run for safety and were shot dead. Soto threw herself in front of her students and tried to shield some of them from the rain of bullets. She was fatally shot. Her first instinct - and her final act - had been to try and save her pupils. She was hailed a hero because she died trying to save her students.

Life is precious. All of us have a natural, inbuilt instinct for self-preservation. When faced with the question, “Your money or your life?” any sane, rational individual would rather surrender their wallet than to lose their life.

Let me give you another proof of our instinct for self-preservation. Do you know which is the most dangerous seat in a car?

Info: The front passenger seat is the most dangerous spot in a car. With a risk coefficient of 101, it means that the front passenger would be in a more dangerous position compared to the driver [risk coefficient of 100]. This makes sense because a driver’s natural instinct is to steer away from an accident. As a result, the front passenger is more likely to be heading toward an accident.

(Source: http://www.automaxblog.com/2010/03/safest-seat-in-a-car/)

Whitney Houston’s hit song “The Greatest Love of All” is a realistic look at this self-love that beats within every human heart: The greatest love of all is easy to achieve, Learning to love yourself,  It is the greatest love of all.

It is normal and perfectly natural for us to love ourselves. If sacrifices are demanded of us, it is difficult but not impossible for us to sacrifice time, money and effort for the well-being of another person. But it is not easy when it involves giving up our life.

Jesus declared that there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. When you give your life, you have given everything.

Whitney Houston was wrong. The greatest love is not self-love. According to Jesus: the greatest love humanly possible is to lay down your life, that is, to willingly die, for another person.

This was demonstrated in Room 10 of Sandy Hook Elementary School on that fateful morning. As I thought of what Vicki Leigh Soto did I am confronted with 2 questions:

1. Who would I be willing to take a bullet for?

2. Who would be willing to take a bullet for me?

Martin Luther King, Jr. said: "If a man hasn't discovered something he would die for, he isn't fit to live." "Not fit to live"? That sounds rather harsh but it's precisely in being willing to give up one's life, that one's life – while one is alive – gains tangible meaning.

So here’s a good question for you to discuss over lunch today. How many people are you willing to die for? If the chips were down, the moment came, and in a split second you had to make a decision, how many people would you be willing to lay down your life for—with no hesitation or reservation?

I thought of asking Linken to dress as a gunman to barge in through the doors of TOP right at this point in the message but I didn’t because we don’t want anyone to suffer a heart attack. If a gunman were to enter the sanctuary and start shooting, what would your response be?

How many people would you die for? As I thought about it, my list is very small but this one thing I know, I would willingly die for my husband. If such an act is called for I just pray it would be a quick death and not a torturous one. I also pray that none of us will ever be put in that agonizing position. But what if you were? Who would you die for?

A word of clarification here: I am not asking us to entertain suicidal thoughts or tendencies. Take this as an evaluation of who and what you love and value most in life. 

a.        We would die for someone we love. Vicki Leigh Soto did.

    

     There are countless movie scenes where someone takes the bullet or the knife in order to save someone they love. There are as many if not more real life stories of parents who die saving their children when they could have walked away unharmed from a fire or an accident.

Illustration: When the California gold fever broke out, a man went there, leaving his wife in New England with his boy. As soon as he got on and was successful he was to send for them. It was a long time before he succeeded, but at last he got money enough to send for them. The wife’s heart leaped with joy.

She took her boy to New York, got on board a Pacific steamer, and sailed away to San Francisco. They had not been long at sea before the cry of "Fire! fire!" rang through the ship, and rapidly it gained on them. There was a powder magazine on board, and the captain knew the moment the fire reached the powder, every man, woman, and child must perish. They got out the life-boats, but they were too small! In a minute they were overcrowded. The last one was just pushing away, when the mother pleaded with them to take her and her boy. "No, they said, "we have got as many as we can hold." She entreated them so earnestly that at last they said they would take one more.

Do you think she leaped into that boat and left her boy to die? No! She seized her boy, gave him one last hug, kissed him, and dropped him over into the boat. "My boy," she said, "if you live to see your father, tell him I love him."

    

     Even God acknowledges that a mother’s love is supreme.

Isaiah 49:15 (NIV) “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!

     So much for parent and child. What about brothers and sisters? Here's a story

Illustration: In his book Written in Blood, Robert Coleman tells the story of a little boy whose sister needs a blood transfusion. The doctor explains that she has the same disease the boy recovered from two years earlier. Her only chance for recovery is a transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the disease.

"Would you give your blood to Mary?" the doctor asks.

Johnny hesitates. His lower lip starts to tremble. Then he smiles and says, "Sure, for my sister."  The two children are wheeled into the hospital room--Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and healthy. Neither speaks, but when their eyes meet, Johnny grins.

As the nurse inserts the needle into his arm, Johnny's smile fades. He watches the blood flow through the tube.

With the ordeal almost over, his voice slightly shaky, Johnny finally breaks the silence. "Doctor, when do I die?" Only then does the doctor realize that Johnny believes  giving his blood to his sister means giving up his life.

b.             We may even die for a friend. We have read many reports in the newspapers of people who perish when they jumped into a raging river or the sea in order to save their friends.

     Illustration: One night, during the Vietnam War and a Marine sergeant is talking with his men. They are far into the jungle, deep in enemy territory. It’s cold and the men huddle around a tiny fire to keep warm. Suddenly a grenade flies in from the darkness, landing at the sergeant’s feet. Without thinking, he throws himself on the grenade, taking the full force of the blast with his body. He is blown to pieces, but in his death he saves his men. He gave his life for his friends.

When we hear stories like these, we feel as if we’re standing on holy ground. And indeed we are, for such sacrifices are rare indeed.

c.             We may even die for a stranger. Firemen have died to rescue survivors of the September 11 Twin Tower collapse.

Illustration: In the movie “Saving Private Ryan,” Tom Hanks portrays an Army captain whose unit is assigned to find a private named Ryan in the dangerous aftermath of the D-Day Invasion.  Ryan's brothers have both been killed in combat and he is his mother's only surviving son. Private Ryan is located and his life is saved by his captain who dies in the process. 

d.             We may even die for a cause we believe in. Think “Braveheart” William Wallace, missionaries like Jim Elliot, human rights activists like Martin Luther King Jr., environmentalists who tie themselves to trees to prevent them from being cut down, reporters and health workers who serve in war-torn countries. Throughout history there have been those who sacrificed their very lives for the sake of others or in service to a cause beyond themselves.

These examples show us friends dying for friends and loved ones dying for loved ones. We can at least understand what those people did when they sacrificed themselves for those they loved or what they believed in or in the line of duty.

But would I, would you, die for your enemy? Someone who hates you or have hurt you grievously. We wouldn’t but God did. God went far beyond what we would do. We would never imagine doing what he did.

Romans 5:6-8 (NIV) You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

This is the greatest love of all - that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Today's sermon has a simple point: God loves you to death. Because Christ died for you.

We discover two vital truths in these verses:

A. THE TRUTH ABOUT WHO WE ARE (v. 6)

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly" (5:6). Here's the spiritual diagnosis of our condition outside of Christ: weak and ungodly. We are weak in that we can't save ourselves, we can't set ourselves free from sin, we can't earn a relationship with God on your own merits. We are ungodly in that we think and feel and we live in ways contradictory to God's will for us. Apart from Christ, our lives are a mess and there's nothing we can do to fix it.

Verse 8 adds that we were sinners, and in verse 10 we are deemed God’s enemies!

Powerless . . . ungodly . . . sinners. . . God’s enemies. Those words describe what we were by nature from the moment we were born. They also describe the spiritual state of every person in the world apart from Jesus Christ.

In God’s sight there is nothing in us that is worth loving. There is no reason for God to love us. No reason except this: That’s the kind of God he is. God is love and he can’t help loving us even when we are his enemies. His love is both greater than our sin and in spite of our sin. God shouldn’t love us. . . but he does. This is the wonder of the ages. That God would love his sworn enemies.

We cannot understand the magnitude of the amazing love of God until and unless we realise how ugly, horrible and repulsive our sin is to God.

But "at just the right time Christ died for the ungodly." When we were drowning in deep water, at just that time Christ reached out to save us. He didn't merely throw us a rope, but rather exchanged places with us, drowning in our ocean of sin so that we might enjoy his place of safety.

So this is the truth about who we are: powerless, ungodly, sinners, God’s enemies. And yet these verses reveal to us . . .

B. THE AMAZING EXTENT OF GOD’S LOVE (vv.7-8)

We are in deep trouble and we are heading towards doom and damnation but God offers a solution to our problem that is so unusual that it goes far beyond human reason. We would never think this up on our own. Only God could conceive of this solution.

Verses 7-8 reveal the unearthly nature of God’s love. Two statements summarize this truth:

1. He Went Far Beyond What We Would Do (v. 7)

Romans 5:7 (NIV)  "Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die."

A righteous person is someone of exceptional character. He does all that the law and justice requires and gives everyone his due.

A good person besides being of exceptional character, is distinguished for goodness, kindness, generosity and is a benefactor to society, promoting the well-being of him with whom he has to do. Someone like Mother Teresa.

Here is a true observation on human nature. We might actually risk or even give our lives to save someone worth saving, but not to save someone who was truly evil like Hitler or Stalin. More often than not, we think that they deserve to die, like the five men who raped and murdered the Indian medical student!

When Christ said, "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends," it is the ideal of human love. But where men's love ends, God's love begins.

A.T. Pierson wrote, “When you have reached the highest ideal of human sacrifice and human affection you are only on the mountain-top with the heavens infinitely above you, and it is in the heavens that God dwells. Not until you can estimate the difference between the height of the highest mountain of the earth and the great distance from the earth to Sirius, or those great stars that sparkle in the firmament, can you begin to express or understand the difference between the height of human love and the height of the Divine love.”

Which leads us to the next verse that is one of the greatly loved and most frequently memorized verses in all of Scripture. It puts in a nutshell one of the greatest of all truths, including the reason for Christ's death on a cross. "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (5:8).

2. He Did What We Would Never Do (v. 8)

Romans 5:8 (NIV)  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The word “demonstrates” does not simply mean to “show or exhibit” God’s love. It actually means to bring something out where it can be seen in a better light, like a jeweler displays his jewels in the best light.

There are different ways that God has proven His love like causing the sun to shine and the rain to fall in order to give us life.  But there is only one way that God could so showcase His love that it is presented in the best possible light.  And God has done precisely that.

The verb “demonstrates” is also a present tense verb, meaning that God is still using that means to show in its best light His great love for us.

When we read this verse, we like to emphasize, “Christ died for us,” but the emphasis is clearly on the first phrase—"While we were still sinners.” The wonder is not that Christ should die for us—though that would be wonderful enough. The wonder is that Christ died for us while we were still sinners, still ungodly, still powerless and still enemies of God! He didn’t die for his friends. He died for his enemies.

Let’s go back to Vietnam, only this time the Marine sergeant has been captured and is taken up the Ho Chi Minh trail to Hanoi. Because he is a sergeant, he is beaten unmercifully. His teeth are broken, his cheekbone shattered, his legs disfigured, his ribs cracked, his back permanently stooped from hanging upside down in mid-air. His captors torment him day and night, trying to break his will.

At length a rescue operation is mounted. As the American forces move in, his captors surround him. Suddenly out of nowhere comes a projectile. It’s an American grenade. It lands in the middle of the group. Two seconds, one second. Just before it explodes, the Marine sergeant throws himself on the grenade, taking the full force of the blast, dying in the process but saving his Viet Cong captors. Blown to bits, he dies so that those men who savagely beat him might be spared.

Who would ever do anything like that? It doesn’t make sense. I know only one person who would do something like that. His name is Jesus Christ.

He didn’t die for good people. He died for bad people.

He didn’t die for saints. He died for sinners.

He didn’t die for his friends. He died for his enemies.

He didn’t die for those who loved him. He died for those who hated him.

We would never do anything like that! We might die for our friends but never for our enemies. But that’s what Jesus did for us.

If we were really great and wonderful and virtually sinless people, it might be possible to understand Christ's sacrifice as something we actually deserved. But we are sinners. We're rebellious people who have chosen to disobey God and to dethrone him from his rightful rule over our lives. Even more strikingly, as we read in verse 10, outside of Christ we are God's "enemies." We oppose God and his ways.

Therefore, Christ's death for us is not something we in any way deserve. Quite the opposite is true. So the fact that Christ died for us proves that God loves us. Only his love explains such an extraordinary and undeserved sacrifice.

Frederick Buechner in The Magnificent Defeat wrote:

"The love for equals is a human thing—of friend for friend, brother for brother. It is to love what is loving and lovely. The world smiles.

"The love for the less fortunate is a beautiful thing—the love for those who suffer, for those who are poor, the sick, the failures, the unlovely. This is compassion, and it touches the heart of the world.

"The love for the more fortunate is a rare thing—to love those who succeed where we fail, to rejoice without envy with those who rejoice, the love of the poor for the rich, of the black man for the white man. The world is always bewildered by its saints.

"And then there is the love for the enemy—love for the one who does not love you but mocks, threatens, and inflicts pain. The tortured's love for the torturer. This is God's love. It conquers the world."

The death of Jesus is the final proof of God’s love. Sometimes in this crazy, mixed-up world, people say, “Where’s the love of God?” Look to the cross. Gaze upon the bleeding form of the Son of God. There you will see the love of God.

The problem is that we can grasp this point with our minds yet miss it with our hearts. It took me a long time to fully to grasp God's love, or, rather, fully to be grasped by God's love for me.

I was already a Christian of more than 10 years when I went to Bible school. One day, we were discussing the attributes of God. Even though God is love, I argued that His holiness precedes His love. After all, didn’t the angels in the book of Isaiah and Revelation cry out “Holy, Holy, Holy”? You see, I understood intellectually that God is love but it never dropped down into my heart.

Say to the person next to you: God loves you. Turn the other person and say: God loves you. Now say it to yourself: God loves me. Say it again. Do you believe it? Very often it is easier to tell someone that God loves them than to say that God loves us.

Let us return to the story of Saving Private Ryan: As Private Ryan attends to his mortally wounded rescuer, the captain speaks his last words in a hoarse whisper - “Earn this.”  The camera merges from the young private's face to the face of an old man, standing by a white cross in the cemetery at Normandy.  It is Ryan many years later, near the end of his life.  He kneels by his captain's grave and says: “Every day of my life, I've thought about what you said to me that day on the bridge.  I've done my best.  I hope at least in your eyes that I've lived up to all you gave for me.”

Like Private Ryan, somebody else has to come to our rescue us from sin and death, and that Somebody was Jesus. Neither you nor I or any of us can earn the grace of God. But we can and should respond to His love by laying down our lives for the Lord, and laying down our lives for others.

Paul wrote: “that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10, NIV).

Laying down your life, whether for Christ or for others is only possible and only makes sense if the motivation is love and PTL! . . .

Romans 5:5b (NIV)  God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

The image is of a shower of rain soaking parched ground. So God soaks our parched hearts with his love through this work of his Spirit (Jn. 7:37-39). One of the Holy Spirit's main roles is to "make us deeply and refreshingly aware that God loves us."

And this is not something that God does only for a few, privileged super-saints. This is something he does for all who put their faith in Christ to justify them.

Today’s sermon has a simple point: God loves you to death. He died for you.

Maybe you have come to understand that God loves you because he gave his Son to die for you. But knowing this intellectually, as wonderful and necessary as it is, does not make you a Christian, and it does not fill the void in your heart. For that, you need to actually experience God's love for you on a personal level. And God is ready and waiting to pour out his love within your heart, if you will only open the door of your heart and invite Christ in. Why not do this today?

But while this "pouring out" happens initially when you receive Christ, God wants it to be an ongoing shower on your soul. For some of us, our hearts are parched ground. God wants to send you a downpour of His love today. If you are the person I invite you to come forward as an act of faith and trust in a loving God who wants to tell you that He loves you.

Sacrificial Generosity

Bro Vive looking smart in traditional Chinese suit befitting the Lunar New Year.

Last night I got a call from Pastor Gideon and he asked me if I could take the pulpit today as his throat was bad. I was preparing my youth message at that time. But praise God, it is good to serve God.

A rich man who once asked his priest, "Why does everybody call me stingy when everyone knows that when I die I will leave everything I have to this temple?"

The priest said:

"There once was a pig and a cow. The pig was unpopular and the cow was loved by all in the village. This puzzled the pig.

The pig said to the cow:

'People speak warmly of your good nature and your helpful attitude. They think you are very generous because each day you give them milk, butter and cheese. But how about me? I give them everything I have. I give them the famous sausages, bacon and ham i.e. my entire body.
Yet no one likes me. Why is that?'

The priest continued: "Do you know what the cow answered?

The cow said, 'Perhaps it is because I give while I am still living.'

I felt that at this time during the Chinese New Year it is appropriate to talk about generosity. And I want to title my message sacrificial generosity.

Acts 2:42-47
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

This passage presents to us the beginning of the church life. A very dynamic church. I chose this word because it they were first alive and they were active. They don't just sit, soak and sour. They did not just go through the motion but they were giving their life to ministry.

They bear fruit in the kingdom of God. On the expression of their togetherness they pool their resources together. They sold their possession, though I am not telling you to sell your house. It was not demanded or required by the leaders but it was a free response as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. What a standard they set.

What is generosity? Is it like we look through what we don't need in our garage and pick up all the things we don't need and bring it to the Salvation Army. Some of us may be a little better and wash our old clothes before giving them. Is that generosity? No. That is more like cleaning out your wardrobe.

I want to use an illustration. Eric, can you please come? Eric will be leaving us soon as this is his last Sunday before leaving for his studies in Sarawak.

Eric, imagine him a malnutrition man who has not eaten for two days. And here I have 10 ringgit and I have just taken my meal. And Eric look at me and asked for 10 ringgit. And I look at Eric and tell him I have only 10 ringgit and if I give to you I will have nothing left. Then I said I pray for him and that God will meet all his needs. God is Jehovah Jireh and will provide all his needs including the 10 ringgit he needed. Go brother in faith. Is that generosity? No.

Generosity is a lifestyle of sharing. Whatever we have much or little we look at opportunity to share with others. Remember the widow at the temple court? Jesus said she gave more than all the others even though she had only 2 copper coins. In that we can understand what is generosity.

We are living in a world where selfishness have crept in. And we ask this question: why should we be generous? Let's look at why.

Generosity is rewarding.

Acts 20:35
I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘ It is more blessed to give than to receive. ’”

The Greek word for blessed "makarios" means happy. If I can paraphrase: It is more happy to give than to receive. This is the reason why generous people are happy people. Giving makes us feel good. It is one of the most beautiful verse in the bible but also a most disbelieved verse because of our sinful nature.

Proverbs 11:25
The generous soul will be made rich,
And he who waters will also be watered himself.

Proverbs 22:9
A generous man will himself be blessed,
for he shares his food with the poor.

Psalms 112:5
A good man deals graciously and lends;
He will guide his affairs with discretion.

Generosity builds our faith.

It builds the faith of the giver.

Deuteronomy 15:19
The Law Concerning Firstborn Animals
19 “All the firstborn males that come from your herd and your flock you shall sanctify to the Lord your God; you shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock.

This is a model that God have given to the Israelites. It is very difficult for them. Because when they give the firstborn, they are not certain there will be a second born. They are putting their trust in God. It is easier for us in giving our tithes.

I was talking to Melissa from YWAM as they were farmers and she told me that their stock always deliver twins. And the daughter's sheep delivers triplets. Praise the Lord. Generosity builds the faith of the believer.

Giving our first-fruits recognize that all we have belongs to God. It is a statement of trust and faith.

Generosity also builds the faith of the receiver.

When I first went to college, my dad could only afford 100 ringgit a month. That was all he could afford back in 1992. I got a study grant and it did not cover my meals and hostel. Back then things was getting expensive. My hostel was RM35. Unlike today when students room with one or two roommates. There was 40 of us in that room. So I have RM65 left for the rest and a good brother taught me to pay my tithes. Then there was a brother who faithfully gave me RM50 a month and he never failed for 3 years. God was so good and I never went hungry throughout my college years except when the church had prayer and fasting.

Sometimes I will long for something and God always met that desire. Generosity builds our faith.

Generosity is God's attribute.

2 Corinthians 9:7
Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

God loves a cheerful giver because God himself is a cheerful giver. He gave the ultimate sacrifice for us. Our God is a great giver. John 3:16 is a great example of that.

If the trademark of God is giving, shouldn't we carry that trademark? We have to wear His trademark.

How we can be generous?

There are many ways but I want to share the three Ts.

We can be generous with our Time.

It is so common for us to say we have no time. Pastor calls and we say we are busy. Time is becoming a commodity that is so precious to us. Unfortunately we use that commodity for our own need failing to see that time is what God gave us.

Psalms 90:12
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

We learn to number our days.

Time is precious but we do not know yet know how precious it is. We only know when we are no longer able to take advantage of it.

God has given us time to serve Him. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is coming. Today is the opportunity to serve the Lord. Never postpone the purpose God has in your life to tomorrow. Don't neglect the time and opportunity to serve Him.

A meteor struck Russia and more than 1,000 people got hurt. Thank God is was a small one. We never know what will happen tomorrow.

We had a Myanmarese member in the church in Klang. He was in church and he suddenly fell flat. Everyone thought that he was slain in the spirit. Only later we realized that he had no pulse. He died in the service. What a glorious way to go but what I am saying is that we don't know what will happen tomorrow.

Ephesians 4:1
Unity in the Body of Christ
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

Ephesians 5:15-16
Be very careful, then, how you live –not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Paul taught the Christians to live a life worthy of God. Paul taught them to redeem their time because the days are evil. Time is an important commodity.

In the story of the good Samaritan, one of the first things was that he offered him his time. He offered time to the man who was on the ground. He invested his time. He must have been a busy traveller. He was generous with his time.

I am very critical about coming to church early. It shows how reverend I am with God. I am sorry I am being very direct. If my CEO wants to see me at 10.00 I will make sure I am there by 9.45 not 10.00. I will be early.

If I get a PJK, some call it "Perut Jalan Kehadapan" I will make sure I am early for the ceremony. If the programme says 9.00am, I won't be going at 9.30am right? But why when we come to see our King of Kings, why are we late? I pray you'll search your heart. I was taught well by my youth leader.

Serving God requires time. Don't take your your time to serve God for granted.

We can be generous with our Talent.

1 Peter 4:10
As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

There is no such thing as a good for nothing in the house of God. God has given us unique talents to serve God. We can serve with whatever talent he has given us. It could be cooking, or given the talent to be an encouragement to someone, even as simple as a hug. What have you done with your talents?

Some of you may be a retired musician. God has given you a tremendous talent and the business of life have let you put it aside. Give your talents to God.

We can be generous with our Treasure.

There was this pastor who says: We have the money for our building. Unfortunately, the money is in your pocket.

Remember the guy who gave me RM50? He was not a rich guy. He was on a motorcycle working as a construction supervisor. It is not how much you have but how big is your heart.

Remember the Widow of Zarephath?

1 Kings 17:9-16
“Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.” 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread–only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it–and die.”
13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land. ’”
15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

Imagine if Pastor Gideon visits you Joanna, and you had one last Bak Kua in your house, your last meal. No more pig in town and that's all you have. Imagine, Pastor Gideon asking you to give him that last Bak Kua.

The widow gave and trusted God to provide. The bible talked about her jar was never empty. It never run dry. The woman gave out of her limited resources to the Lord.

Why have God prospered us so much? Not to raise our standard of living but to raise our standard of giving.

2 Corinthians 9:11
You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

Unfortunately many times we have this notion that whatever we have is ours.

Psalms 24:1
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

The bible says the world and all within it is the Lord's. So are we the owner? We should ask what does the owner want us to do with the resources. In Christian terms we use a beautiful term called God's Stewart.

It is time to look at the treasures that God has given us and what we do with that treasure.

Or the time that we have, we have to look at how we allocate it.

And what are we doing with the talents that God has given us.

True generosity is giving away something we want and giving it to the other who have need of it.

I was so amazed to see the generosity of the early Christians. In the books of Acts it was stated there were no needy people at that time as they shared their resources. There were no needy person among them. There are people out there that needs our treasure. Are we going to share or keep it all for ourselves?

The Year of the Lord's Favour

Rev Gideon Lee

I welcome all of you to church and I saw on Facebook how so many of you celebrated your reunion dinner. Got chicken got pork got fish. Some had curry, some had steamboat and roasted duck. Why didn't they invite the pastor? (laughs)

My family is back in Klang. They drove back on Friday and the traffic was smooth. But coming up to Penang was really jammed. This is the first trip for Jayden and thank God he slept all the way. My mother cooked the best dishes and her Hong Bak is the best in Malaysia. I'm trying to get my wife to learn to cook like my mother's Hong Bak. Today after service I'm flying back for more. I have not had my Mee Suah and eggs.

Luke 4:14-21
Jesus Begins His Galilean Ministry
14 Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. 15 And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “ Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Luke 4:22
So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph's son?”

Note verse 14, Jesus returned to Galilee. And is verse 18, he quotes from the book of Isaiah.

Isaiah 61:1-3
Chapter 61
The Good News of Salvation
1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

As we celebrate the lunar new year today, they all say that this year is the year of the snake. More specific it's the water snake. I don't know if it's better last year which is the year of the dragon. This is one of the Chinese Zodiac sign. And it says those that are born in the year of the snake is wise, calm and very understanding people. But they can also be very treacherous and won't hesitate to double cross you. They seems to get along very well with the rabbit but not the dog.

You probably may be asking why is pastor talking about all these things? Does pastor believe in all these? In a word no. And we must understand that no matter what culture is, it must be aligned to the word of God.

My children goes to a Chinese school and they are exposed to all these. So we must know if it is aligned to scripture. So she asked me what year am I born in. And I told them the year but she said no, my friends told me I was born in the year of the Monkey. Then she asked me what year am I born in? That's when I took the opportunity to teach her.

I told her you are not born in the year of the Monkey because I do not expect you to behave like a monkey. I told her you are born in the year of the Lord.

I want to tell each one of you, you are born in the year of the Lord and this is the year of The Lord's favour. We read this in the book of Isaiah and we want to know what it means.

Isaiah was not writing about something new as it was last mentioned in the book of Leviticus. The Lord told Moses to observe the sabbath year every seven years. The Israelites were given a pattern to follow. In the seventh year they are to give the land a rest. Let the land be and whatever the land produce you can take from it but don't work the land.

Seven is a very special number. I am not here to promote any 4-D number so don't go to the Magnum shop after service. Seven is a very significant number in the bible. There was a preacher who wrote about it in a book called Biblical Mathematics. What is more significant than seven? Seven times seven, 49, where the Jews got the concept of the Jubilee on the 50th year.

When Isaiah was writing this portion of the scripture he was referring you to the year of Jubilee. It was a great time of celebration. Why? What happened on the year of Jubilee?

Well, all your debts are forgiven. On the 50th year your debt is supposed to be cancelled. If you sold a property, the property comes back to you. All slaves are to be set free. For the Jews, it's a year of great rejoicing.

Actually, all these was pointing to the coming of the messiah. It talks of God's grace and forgiveness. Isaiah expounded a little bit more about what it means.

It was nothing compared to the year of the Lord's favour. God was giving the Israelites something more to look forward to than just the year of Jubilee.

This is where Jesus comes in. Jesus in the temple said, this day this scripture is fulfilled. Do you know what Jesus is saying? You do not have to wait 50 years to have your debt forgiven or your sins to be forgiven. Jesus is saying today this scripture is accomplished and you can have the Lord's favour every day of the year.

In the words of Isaiah there is freedom for prisoners. You have the ability to break away from all that that hold you in bondage. You can be set free from your sins. Such as alcoholism, lust, greed. And all these is possible because of Jesus.

It also says the oppressed shall be released. The bible says we are once slave to sin. But know the blood of Jesus frees us. We are also promised to be released from our debts. Again, Isaiah is not talking about our worldly debt. The bible says the wages of sin is death.

I am so glad I do not have to wait 50 years to experience God's favour. We can experience it every day every year. That's why I say this is not the year of the snake but the year of the Lord's favour. I am not bound by all these things. Jesus has set me free and I can enjoy the freedom in abundance that God had for us.

How do we experience this?

The first thing that stands out is that Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. So may I suggest to you, in order to experience the favour of the Lord you need to be filled in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Is your Christian life boring? If it is there's probably something wrong. Is your Christian life filled with power and every day fresh? If you want to experience the favour of the Lord you need to be a person led by the Holy Spirit.

If you ask me how to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, it is a secret. It is so secret secret that I will only tell you because I am your pastor. Of course after I tell you it's no longer a secret. How? It comes from prayer. It is not the kind of prayer like "Father I thank you for the food". It comes with an earnest prayer to God. It is a prayer that comes from waiting upon God. It is not so that you feel nice but to make you more effective and that you will be bold to preach the word and to pray for the sick.

That is how you preach deliverance and freedom to the captives. That's how you proclaim the year of the Lord's favour. Under the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit.

Second is this. The people were listening intently to Jesus. They were giving Jesus full attention. The second secret is this. Have you given God all your attention? Is He number one in your life? I want to challenge you this morning. He must be number one in your life. Not your boyfriend or your girlfriend. Not even your husband or wife or children. If Jesus is not Lord of all, then He is not Lord at all.

When we go new year visiting, please put Jesus first. What would Jesus do if He is offered a beer? Or what if He is asked to play a game of mahjong. Huat arrrr! What do you do? Never mind la, this is Chinese New Year. Very simple but often overlooked. Make sure Jesus is number one is your life.

I am coming to my third point. Last but not least, you noticed that the people were filled with amazement and they praised God. They said isn't this the son of Joseph? They were not saying this in a cynical way. Joseph was a carpenter. If you are in a high society you may be learned. But here the son of a carpenter not only could read but expounded scripture. They praised Jesus.

Here is the secret. If you want to have the year of the Lord's favour, praise Jesus. Be thankful to God. If you remember to thank God for everything more of His blessings is on the way. I do this with my children. When my children ask things from me what do you look for parents? Whether they are grateful to you.

Youth let me tell you a secret. Learn to be thankful for what your parents have done for you. You know what happens? When they come to me again, I'd love to do it for them because they know how to be thankful. Once you are a thankful person, God is going to do more in your life.

The bible says count your blessings. Name them one by one. How do I know that we are thankful? Whatever God did for you, you give the glory back to God with testimonies. If you have one to share please come and see me. If you write to me I'd want to put it in the bulletin. We are blessed to be a blessing. The more we are thankful, God is going to do things to bless you because you know how to be thankful.

You too can experience the year of the Lord's favour is to have Jesus in your life. Maybe some of you are visitors and you don't have the Holy Spirit in your life. Jesus says I am the way, the truth and the life. No other religious teacher can say that. Jesus says in me you have life, the truth and the truth will set you free.

Turning Water into Wine

Rev Gideon Lee

On behalf of my family I want to say a big thank you for making time to be with us for Jayden's dedication service. I was really blessed to have Rev Marcus from Penang First Assembly of God.

Last week we took our Harvest Mission for both the English and Hokkien congregation. For those of you who missed it last week you can participate this morning.

John 2:1-11
Water Turned to Wine
1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
4 Jesus said to her, “ Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
6 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. 7 Jesus said to them, “ Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He said to them, “ Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. 9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. 10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”
11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

If you noticed I repeated verse 11. John attributed all the miracles as signs. What does signs do? It points you to something and in this case it points them to Him. The miracles that Jesus did was to point to the fact that He is the son of God.

It was a wedding at Cana, just outside of Nazareth. It was not a very big town yet Jesus chose to start His ministry here. Just like His birth in a small common town like Bethlehem, He is interested in common people like you and me. Why? To identify with each one of us. He has concern for every day people like you and me.

Mary was invited to the wedding. To the Jews, wedding protocol is very important. And you'd see that Mary the mother of Jesus was invited to the wedding of an ordinary couple. It sometimes lasts a week. Much like the Chinese custom. And they will end up in the groom's house. The groom's family pays for everything.

Jesus chose to be there and it was there that He performed His first miracle. And they ran out of wine and when Mary asked Jesus, it was done in a very discreet manner. It would have been embarrassing to run out of wine. It shows that Mary was quite close to the family as it would not have been something you share to strangers as it was embarrassing.

And here is what I find so interesting. Mary went to Jesus. Jesus is not a wine merchant. She should have gone to where wine is sold. By the way, this passage of scripture is not the license for you to go out and drink wine. Scripture must interpret scripture, not you. Where in scripture are you told to drink wine.

We have many many scriptures that says we are not to get drunk. But be filled by the Holy Spirit. When we get drunk we lose control. How many of you who has seen a timid man when he gets drunk he can sing! He becomes bold. Do not let your drunkenness take control of you but let the Holy Spirit do that. What fills you controls you. Nowhere does it says Jesus drank the wine. He turned the water into wine but it does not say He drank it. It's okay to enjoy yourself this coming New Year but take care of your body as it's the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus called Mary woman. Don't do that and call your mother woman. Mary did not tell Jesus what to do. That is how mothers will tell the son. Go do that, go do this. But Mary was approaching Jesus as her Lord and savior. She told the servants what He ask you to do, do it. She followed it up with faith.

The first thing I want you to understand is this. The wine can run out.

Wine in the bible is often equated with joy. And this tells us that sometimes joy runs out. This can happen to any of us, even leaders. But the thing is this, since we know this we need to keep our tank full.

How many of you when your car tank shows empty, you say it is still enough? The red light have not come out yet. We say "E" means enough and "F" means full. And when the red light comes out we still say can go some more. You then look for your favourite station. I know many of you do that. Look for Petronas. What happens when we get caught and our petrol runs out?

We need to fill up before we reach "E". As leaders we have been giving and giving and giving and we forgot to ask God to fill us up. And one day we burn out and don't want to serve God anymore. That is our responsibility to fill up. How? Very simple, just like filling up at the station. Come to the Lord in prayer. Read your bible and worship God. That's how you fill up. If not you will come to a point when you run out. As mature Christians I hope you will not wait till you reach "E" before you fill up.

Regular devotion, prayer time and regular worship. Simple things but we don't do it.

Coming back to our story. Jesus said why you ask me, not my time yet. Jesus said outside there are six jars. These are ceremonial jars. These are used to wash the guests hands and feet to get them ceremonially clean before entering the house. Isn't it interesting Jesus used the ceremonial jars to make the wine? Only Jesus could do that. Jesus told them to take a scoop and give it to the MC and the MC said how come you save the best for the last?

Jesus saved the best for last. Just as we know the joy can run out, Jesus is not only the giver of joy but the source of joy. He can turn things around for you. He is the source of joy.

When I began to come back to God, remember I told you how I love to drink? One of the things God had to deal with me was where to place my trust. I only trusted in me, I and myself. I love to gamble especially during Chinese New Year. I was good and I cannot remember ever losing money during then. This was one of the things God had to deal with me.

You know how God tested me? I went to see a client in a very tall building and at the door of the lift was this Singh who spoke to me in fluent Cantonese. He said, you look very nice on the outside but I know you have no money. Easy come easy go at that time for me. It was true. He even told me how much money I had in my pocket. He said your luck is coming. He said let me show you how to get it.

I told him don't talk in the lift, let's go to my car and talk. He followed me and sat next to me and in his briefcase were all the idols in there. At that time I thank God for the Holy Spirit who spoke to me. I told him I don't want to listen already. He got angry. I gave him some money RM20 (I had only RM30 so RM10 for lunch) and still he don't want to leave the car.

He said he can prove it to me if I listened. He put a piece of paper in my hand after writing it in there. He asked me some questions and he says what I answered is in that piece if paper. And lo and behold all three answers were correct. Then the Holy Spirit spoke to me and asked me what am I doing there? I told the man I am not going to listen because I am a Christian and he took out a photo of Jesus from his bag. I became bold and I told him whether my future is good or bad I told him my God is able to take me through.

We drove out of the car park and he told me to drop him off and he told me I was told to meet you. He said he will want to see me again and asked me for my card. I told him my God will meet all my needs.

When he left I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit filled my car and I just wept and from that day I walked the walk of faith. I am sharing with you because God had been good in spite of my unfaithfulness.

Last but not least. The bible says each jar is 20 to 30 gallons. I want to say that when God blessed you it is always more than enough.

Malachi 3:10
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.

When God blessed you it is always more than enough. That is why we are blessed to be a blessing. Give your tithes and offering. The principle is that you have to give first. They have to bring the jar of water before Jesus turn them into wine.

As I close, remember this.

Don't ever come to a situation where we run on empty. Every day you need to top up.

He is not just the giver of joy but the source of joy.

And lastly, he always gives more than enough.