I'm very grateful to be with you this morning.
I thank the leadership in the church for giving me this privilege.
And thank you for your generosity.
For many years you've been partners with us and been a blessing for us
and for so many people and many refugees as well.
I'd like, if I may, read Matthew 25, verse 31 to 46.
Matthew 25, start with verse 31.
When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him,
he will sit on his glorious throne.
All the nations will be gathered before him,
and he will separate the people one from another,
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right,
Come, you who are blessed by my Father,
take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat.
I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink.
I was a stranger, and you invited me in.
I needed clothes, and you closed me.
I was sick, and you looked after me.
I was in a prison, and you came to visit me.
Then the righteous will answer him,
Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you,
or thirsty and give you something to drink?
When did we see you stranger and invite you in,
or needing clothes and close you?
When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?
The king will reply,
Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine,
you did for me.
Then he will say to those on his left,
Depart from me, you who are cursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat.
I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink.
I was a stranger, and you did not invite me in.
I needed clothes, and you did not close me.
I was sick and in prison, and you did not look after me.
They also will answer,
Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or stranger,
or needing clothes, or sick, or in prison, and did not help you?
He will reply,
Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these,
you did not do it.
You did not do for me.
Then they will go away to eternal punishment,
but the righteous to eternal life.
May God bless his word.
Let us pray.
Just ask God to bless his word to us.
Lord, we thank you for this moment.
Lord, we pray to open our hearts and our minds.
I pray to give us freedom as we share,
and freedom as we listen to your word.
And we pray to cover our weakness, Lord Jesus,
under your precious blood.
And I pray that you help us continue to be clothes walking with you,
as you continue walking with us in this wonderful journey.
We love you, and we give you all the honor and the praise.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
The date, it was December 7, 1941.
The American soldier saw some signals on the screen radar
that there is Japanese jets fighter coming.
The soldiers on the operation system informed junior soldier
who disregard and neglect this warning.
And we know what's happened with Beryl Harbor
when the Japanese jets fighters bombed there.
The damage was huge.
And the main cause, probably it was,
because they're neglect and they're not really prepared.
And they didn't take the warning very serious.
More than 2,400 American soldiers been killed at that time.
Hundreds, about more than 180 lands been destroyed.
And the damage could be minimized,
but because lack of a preparation and receiving this warning,
this what's happened.
What I want to say, loved one,
the second coming of our Lord Jesus is reality,
that he is coming back.
Many people around the world are waiting for that moment.
The Christians, the Jews, the Muslims.
Even though each group, they have their own perspective
about second coming of the Lord Jesus.
But what we know for sure,
that the Lord Jesus,
who was faithful according to hundreds of prophecies
in the Old Testament,
came true for his first coming,
for sure he is faithful in his second coming.
For every prophecy about the first coming
in the Old Testament,
there is eight prophecies about the second coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
One person said,
probably in every average,
every five verses in the New Testament,
in a way or another,
it talks about the second coming of the Lord Jesus.
Though the second coming,
it's reality that Jesus Christ,
he will come back as he promised.
We see so many prophecies in the Old Testament,
but also we see in the New Testament,
for example, in Matthew 24,
the Lord Jesus talks about the signs,
which precede his second coming,
and we see many of these signs already fulfilled.
And in the end of chapter 24,
and in chapter 25,
he talks about three parables,
about be ready for the second coming.
And the first parable about the faithful servant
who was waiting,
and he was faithful,
and he was taking care of his fellow servants.
So when the master came,
he was prepared,
and he was ready.
And the second parable in Matthew 25,
you know the ten virgins,
when we're ready,
five is ready,
and the other five wasn't ready
because there wasn't enough oil in the lamb,
and they missed the opportunity.
And the third parable,
it's about,
where is the master give five talents
to one of his servants,
and another two talents,
and another one talent,
and we know the parable,
where is the five multiply the talents,
and the second,
the two,
have the two also multiplied his talent,
but the one,
he missed it.
The question is,
are we prepared for the second coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ?
I want to say,
loved one,
the Lord Jesus,
the first time when he came,
he came as the Lamb of God
who laid his life on the cross
for you and for me.
He shed his blood
to give us forgiveness,
healing,
restoration,
and to experience wonderful relationship
with him.
But in the second coming,
he will come as a judge.
And I want to say,
if you didn't meet with him now
at the cross,
as the Lamb of God,
and experience this wonderful salvation,
you have to meet with him
before the white throne of God.
But you will meet with him as a judge,
and it will be too late,
and you will be eternally separated
from the very presence of God.
Are we ready
to the second coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ?
In the verses
I just read with you
this morning,
it talks about that
the Son of Man,
named Son of Man,
because he's the one
who's going to judge humanity.
And I want to say,
he's the one and the only one
qualified to judge,
because the one
who has the right to judge,
he should be that he died,
that he raised,
that he's sitting
in the right hand of the Father,
and he intercedes for us.
And this is what Romans 8
talks about,
that Jesus is the one
and the only one
have these qualifications.
But when he is coming
with his glory,
and with all the angels,
he will be sitting
in his glorious throne,
and then all the nations
will stand in front of him.
And then he will,
what the shepherd does,
he will do,
he will separate the sheep
from the goats,
the goats,
and the sheep will be
on the right
and the goats will be
on the left.
And then he will say
to the sheep on the right,
come,
you have been blessed
by my heavenly Father.
You have been blessed.
Come enter,
come take the inheritance,
enter the kingdom
which has been prepared
for you
before the foundation
of the earth.
I want to say,
when Jesus said these words
to his children,
that every person
who put his trust
on the Lord,
who believed what Jesus
did in Calvary for him,
and became a child of God,
he been blessed
by our heavenly Father.
And I want to say,
loved one,
every one of us
as the children of God,
we have this privilege,
we have this honor,
and this blessing.
And this is what
Ephesians chapter 1 say,
that all of us
have been blessed
by our heavenly Father.
And we have been blessed
by every heavenly blessing.
We have the redemption,
we have the reconciliation,
we have the forgiveness,
we have the restoration,
we experience,
we experience these blessings
in our life.
What I want to remind you
and to remind myself,
especially when we go
through tough times,
and all of us
go through that.
When you go through
time of trials,
when you feel down,
when there is sadness,
or even depression,
please remember
that you've been blessed
by your heavenly Father.
Don't listen to the liar,
don't listen to the evil one
when he tries to put
these lies into your head.
Remember,
you are blessed
by your heavenly Father.
And then he said,
come to inherit the kingdom,
the kingdom of God,
which is prepared for you
from the very beginning,
before the foundation,
or before the creation
of this universe.
before this world.
And I want to say,
this kingdom,
the moment you give
your life to the Lord
and you allow him
to rule in your life,
you become part
of this kingdom.
The kingdom of God,
it's within,
where Jesus ruling
in your life.
But the kingdom,
as we say,
it's now,
and yet to come.
Which means,
this kingdom
will be completed
in the second coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And this kingdom,
loved one,
is not by chance,
but he said,
it's been prepared
for you
before the foundation,
before the creation
of this world.
What I want to say,
that you and I
have been in the mind
of God
and in the heart of God
before this creation.
This is how much
he loves you,
and this is how much
he cares about you.
I love the words
in Ephesians chapter 1,
that he chose us
before anything else.
Before God created
this wonderful universe,
this wonderful world,
he chose you.
You've been in his mind
and in his heart.
I love the verse
in Ephesians 2,
chapter 2,
verse 10,
where he said,
you are his workmanship,
you are his masterpiece.
You've been created
in Christ Jesus
for good works.
God already prepared
for you
in order
that you walk
in these good works.
imagine with me
God saying,
I want to do
wonderful work
in the 20th century
or 21st century.
In specific,
in 1960 to 2020
or 2040,
I want to do
good works
in this part of the world.
And I know
my son,
so and so,
whom I created
in my image,
whom I preparing him,
he will be the one
and the right one
to go
and to do
this good works
in certain time,
in certain place.
Many people
may be doing
good things,
but they're not doing
the best.
The best which is
God prepared
for you
and for me,
loved one,
and the blessed
the man
and the woman
who are able
to discover
and to experience
God's ultimate
plan
for their life.
You know,
the sad thing
is many people
wasting their life,
wasting many years
of their life.
Imagine with me,
a person after 50 years,
he relies,
he laying
the ladder
of his life
in the wrong building.
the Lord
put passion
in your heart
when you are
created in Christ Jesus,
a special passion
for certain things
to do
in this life.
And he will give you
the talents,
the abilities,
in order to do
the things
which he prepared
for you.
There are special things
no one
could do
better than you.
the way
God created,
designed you,
the way
he allowed
you to go
through
different
tribulation
in life,
different
trials in life,
different circumstances,
all these things,
loved one,
to prepare you,
to make you
the person
he wants you
to be.
And no one
else could do it
better than you.
But the sad thing,
if you miss
what God
best for you,
I pray
God help us all
as a believer
continue
to discover
these good works
which God
already preceded
and prepared
for his children
to walk
into
and
to reflect
his love
through these
wonderful
things.
Thanks.
we see
in verse
34,
after he said,
you blessed
come to inherit,
then he
invites
his children
when he
said,
because
I was hungry,
you give me
something to eat,
I was thirsty
and you give me
something to drink,
I was
stranger
and you invited
me
in.
I want to say,
loved one,
the Lord Jesus
didn't give them
the kingdom
according to
their good works.
We didn't
inherit God's
kingdom
because of
good things
we do.
We know
who we are.
But these
good works
coming as
naturally
as the
good seed
of faith
been planted
in you
as you received
his goodness
and his grace
and his work
on the cross,
naturally
after you're
born again,
good works
start to come
out naturally
from you.
I want to
say,
when Jesus
said,
I was hungry,
I was thirsty,
he knows
what he was
talking about.
Because for
40 days
and 40 nights
he was in
the desert
in Palestine,
hungry.
He knows
what it means
to be hungry.
hungry.
And when he
was on the
cross,
he said,
I'm thirsty.
And they
gave him
vinegar
instead of
water.
When he
said I
was a
stranger,
he's the
one who
lived the
heavens.
He's the
eternal one.
He's the
Logos.
He chose
to incarnate
through Mary,
lift the
glorious
heaven and
born in
simple place
in Palestine
in Bethlehem
as a
stranger.
And when
he was a
baby,
he left
his town
where he
been
home for
him and
went to
Egypt as
a stranger
and as a
refugee.
So he
knows what
it means to
be a
refugee.
I never
forget
when we
have to
evacuate from
Gaza, my
family, and
about seven,
eight other
families, because
it became very
dangerous.
One of our
church members
had been
kidnapped and
after ten
hours been
executed because
of his faith and
because he
refused to be
converted to
another faith.
He was
willing to pay
the ultimate
price.
So when we
went to
another town
in Palestine,
even though
that town is
Bethlehem, it's
part of
Palestine, but
when we
left Gaza, we
felt a
stranger and
that was
hard.
I don't
know if you
were able to
imagine what
it means to
leave your
home, to
leave the
streets you
love and
the people
you like.
And then
the Lord
put in my
heart to
come back to
Jordan and
I was a
pastor in
the exile.
But then
the Lord
connected me
with Iraqi
Christian
refugees.
Both of
us went
through
suffering and
persecution.
Both of
us experienced
what it's
like to
leave home.
But you
know, loved
one, through
suffering and
persecution, God
connected us
together.
And many
of our
Christians,
brothers and
sisters,
especially in
2014, when
ISIS came
in, literally
they lost
almost everything.
Their homes,
their properties,
their cars, and
some of them
even lost
their savings.
It wasn't
easy to see
that, and
some of them
are doctors,
engineers, and
professors at
the university.
And they
never thought
one day they
will be coming
to church,
waiting for
a parcel
of food.
And always
I tell my
brothers, any
one of us in
the Middle
East, especially
as a Christian,
could be in
their place.
We see
widows and
losing their
husbands and
the mother
become overnight,
the father and
the mother for
their children.
children.
But we
saw also
many people
are rejoice
and very
excited in
spite of
everything.
What's
happened and
the things
they lost,
they still
have this
joy and
that they
didn't deny
their faith and
continue to be
faithful even
they lost
almost everything.
I want to
say, is it
possible to
have joy in
the midst of
persecution?
This is what
we read in
Matthew 5,
in the
beatitude
number 8,
that to
rejoice.
And we
experience that
by the grace
of God.
But I want to
say we
cannot experience
the 8th
beatitude
before we
are able to
experience what
is the first
beatitude is all
about, what
it means to
be meek,
what is to
be poor and
desperate that
you desperate
want God in
your life and
what it means to
mourn over your
sins, what it
means to be
humble and
before the
Lord and what
it means to
hunger and
thirst for the
things of God,
what it means to
forgive and have
mercy toward
others and how
to be pure in
your heart, to
do the right
thing when it's
nobody's watching,
what it means to
be man of
peace.
When we
are able to
experience these
seven beatitudes,
I assure you
loved one, when
you go through the
toughest days of
your life, you
are able to
experience joy and
peace in the
midst of
persecution.
And we
saw that in
the life of
so many
people.
The Lord
Jesus
said, I
was hungry, I
was thirsty, I
was a stranger.
And then he
said, if you
did that, because
they asked him,
Lord, when, when,
when, because when
we did that to
you, you know, to
you, and he
said, if you did
it to the least of
these, you did it
to me.
Because his
children, his
disciples did
that out of
love to the
people and to
their master.
Why, as the
body of Christ,
why, as a
church, we need
loved one to
continue to do
what we do?
Again, I'm
grateful for your
church.
They've been very
generous and
standing with us
all these years.
We need to
continue to do
that and to
reach out to our
brothers and
sisters and also
to the people even
who's unbelievers,
because this is
what the Lord
Jesus teaches.
We need to do
that because Jesus
command us.
And he said, if
you do that, if
you reach out to
the people, if
you reach out to
the refugees, and
if you did it in
my name as if you
do it to me
personally.
You know, the
theologian William
Barclay, he
say these two
stories.
The first one, it's
about Francis
Assisi.
Francis Assisi in
Italian town, you
know, he was a
rich person, but he
didn't feel content
at a certain time in
his life.
So the story said
he was walking
down and he
noticed there a
leper, a person
with leprosy.
And when he saw
him, he moved
by what he
saw.
And he came
close to him and
he held his head
in his hand.
And the story
said, the face
of that leper, it
changed to become
the face of Jesus
in his hand.
And remind him,
when you did it
to one of these,
as if you did it
to me personally.
And the second
story he mentioned,
it's about Martin
of Taurus.
Martin was a
Roman soldier, but
he was a Christian.
One day he was
working downtown
and he, a beggar,
approached him and
asking for money.
And Martin didn't
have anything.
He didn't have
money to give him,
but he gave him
what he had.
And it was a
cold night and
this beggar was,
you know,
it was very cold
and so he took
his, his coat,
the Roman soldier
coat and even
though it was an
old coat and
torn, but he cut
it in half.
And he kept
half and he
gave the person
the other half.
And the story
said that Martin,
that night he
saw a dream
when he was
asleep and in
that dream he
saw the heavens.
And in the
heavens he saw
the Lord Jesus
and there's
angels around
him and he
was in the
midst and
Jesus have
this coat.
He were
wearing that
coat.
And one of the
angels he said,
what do you
have on, you
know, from
where you get
that coat,
master?
And Jesus
softly said,
my servant
Martin gave
me that
coat.
If we do
it to one
of these as
if you do
it to me.
Why we
need to
continue?
Because our
brothers and
sisters belong
to the same
body, the
body of
Christ.
And if it's
part of the
body has
been hurt,
all the
body is
hurting.
It's wonderful
to see,
my beloved,
the east
and the
west get
together and
to do what
God called
us to do.
The last
thing I want
to say,
why we should
continue to do
what we do,
because history
will keep the
records.
History will
write down
how the
body of
Christ,
how the
church of
the Lord
Jesus around
the Lord
responded when
our brothers
and sisters
became
refugees.
May God
help us all
to stand
together and
to do what
God called
us to do.
Thank you
and God
bless you.
Thank you.
Well, brothers and sisters, we come now to the Lord's Supper where we remember what it means.