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[0:00] Cool. And so before we hand over to Pastor Albert to preach, Song will kindly be reading the Bible passage for us today. Cool. So let's get into it. This is the word, 1 Peter, verse 13 to 21.

[0:17] Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.

[0:32] But as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. For it is written, Be holy because I am holy. Since you call on a father who judges each person's work impartially, live your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.

[0:50] For you know that it was not with perish things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of your life handed down to you from your ancestors.

[1:03] But with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these times for your sake.

[1:16] Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him. And so your faith and hope are in God. Okay.

[1:34] Welcome, everyone. Nice to see you all. Yeah, I'd like to share about this topic called holiness. This is a bit out of the world.

[1:46] You know, still talking about holiness today. Now, there's a book that came across. It's called The Presence of the Future. Sounds a bit like a movie, right? But it was about 30 something years ago.

[1:57] And this book was written by this guy, George Eldon Ladd. And still a classic today. And it's talking about, you know, living because we're anticipating what's coming ahead.

[2:11] And how do we actually live in the presence? There was this word called eschaton. Eschaton is a word called, it really, the Greek word really means end times.

[2:24] Yeah. So this is a book was reminding us of the future of Jesus' return. And because of that hope, how are we going to live in this life?

[2:40] Okay. That talked a lot about when people, different interpretations of Jesus coming back and was this millennialism and all this kind of stuff.

[2:51] But one thing is, it's sure that Jesus is coming back. And how are we going to live our life during this time?

[3:01] Okay. Okay. So we've read that 1 Peter 1, 13 to 21. And actually in this passage I was talking about, Peter was reminding the Christians about the salvation that we have.

[3:19] That's done by Jesus in the past. But we also have the hope of his return in the future. We don't know when. Therefore, in present times, they were to lead a life that is to be different to the secular world.

[3:39] So that was the message that Peter was addressing the Christians at the time. Okay. And for us today, I believe that as Christians, because we have received salvation and secured the glorious hope, so we are to live a life different, you know, to dedicate ourselves to God in this present world.

[4:03] I think one word that came to me, when we're talking about holiness, we're not talking about perfection. No one can be perfect. You know, after 30 something years as a pastor, I'm no way perfect.

[4:18] You know, I read some of the questions, you know, what do we do in this, if we keep on sinning in this world? I tell you what, I sin. Okay. So no one's perfect.

[4:29] So not talking about perfection, but we're talking about perception. Okay. How do we perceive holiness?

[4:39] In our lives. Okay. Okay. Now, the recipients of this letter, when Peter was writing, it was, they were living around the province of Asia.

[4:51] Okay. So there were some places that was actually mentioned in verse one of, of first Peter one. So there were some places called Asia, not Southeast Asia, but Asia, that's Asia minor.

[5:06] Bithynia, Galatia, Pontus, Cappadocia. There were all these names was mentioned in verse one. Okay. So these guys, they were actually scattered. They were Jewish Christians.

[5:17] How they were there, there was maybe some historical events. It was maybe due to the Romans, this diaspora. So they, they, they, maybe due to persecutions.

[5:30] So they were kind of all scattered around. They were Jews. Okay. Jews supposed to be living down at Jerusalem, where you see at the bottom of the, of the, of the map.

[5:41] But they were up there. So they scattered. Okay. And they were in poor state because, you know, you're, you're away from home and you start life all over again. So, but, but Peter was writing to them, addressing them, calling them holy people, saints, even though they are in difficult times, even though they, even though they, you know, they're under persecution, but they are still to, to be living a holy life wherever they are.

[6:11] So I think that says to us all, you know. So what is holiness? You know, um, it's only guys like Pastor William or, or me, you guys live holy lives, you know, but I live in a corporate, I work in a corporate world and I can't stay holy, you know.

[6:30] So what, what, what is holiness? You know, let's have a look, you know, what, what the Bible says about holiness. Okay. In chapter one, verse 15, but just as he who called you is holy.

[6:43] Okay. So, uh, we be holy in all you do for it is written, be holy because I am holy.

[6:54] Now, Peter was, uh, actually quoting, uh, in verse 16, the book of Leviticus. Okay. He first, he addressed the Christians at that time.

[7:06] Like you got to be holy. Why? Because God is holy. And then he double quoted, uh, the Old Testament again, because that, that was the basis that of, of his saying, you know, because God said that.

[7:19] Now, when in Leviticus, um, 16, it was, it was God was addressing the Israelites at the time as they were entering Canaan, because there was many, many ethnicities in there.

[7:33] Many people worshiping different gods. And there was, you know, the way of lives was very, very immoral. Okay. So they worship idols.

[7:44] They had, and, and because involving with these kinds of worships, there was adultery. And, and even there was, there was babies, newborn babies offering to, to their idols for human sacrifices.

[7:56] And, and, and, and God knew, you know, when Israelites enter into the land, they could have been very much influenced by them. That's why God warned them. Don't do anything like them.

[8:09] Be holy because I, you know, your, the Lord, your God is holy. Okay. So what is holiness? Holiness in its original meaning means to cut or to separate.

[8:23] Okay. So you are to cut off or to separate yourself from the people around you. Do not do anything like them.

[8:34] Why? Because God is holy. God is set apart. So, so the Bible's, um, description of holiness is absolute.

[8:48] It is of God's attribute. It's not man's definition. It's not man's doing. It's God. And, and holiness is one vital and primary attribute of God.

[9:04] Okay. So that's absolute. There is no negotiation about it. There's nothing to do with sin. Nothing to do with filth.

[9:16] And to be like God, we, we, we, we are to be like him to, to cut off from the rest. But then you, you ask, okay, God is holy.

[9:28] But why am I to be holy? I'm not God. It's okay for God to be holy, but I'm not God. How, why should I be holy? And I know I can't, I'll never attain holiness.

[9:40] You've said that. I've said that, right. But if I know I can't attain that, why do I still need to walk in that path? Okay. In one chapter one, verse 18, because, because it says that for, you know, it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you would redeem from the empty way of life, handed down to you from the, your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish of defect.

[10:12] It was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last time for his sake. Now, there was two important ways there. One is redeemed. Okay. Redeemed.

[10:22] And redeemed from what? From the empty way of life. Okay. What is, what is, uh, get back to the last one, please. This is, yeah.

[10:32] Now, redeemed, it is, it means a ransom. Okay. It was an original word. Um, it was like, um, a slave market during the time, um, when there were people for sale in the market.

[10:47] Okay. You don't, you know, you go buy chicken or you go buy fish in the market today. Okay. But during those times it was live human. Okay. Slaves on sale. So you, you, you buy, you negotiate your auction, you know, and you, you, you, you, get this guy as your property.

[11:06] Okay. You pay that price. And that price is called the ransom price. And this, this word redemption, redeem. So we are actually bought by Christ from being a slave of sin.

[11:23] From, because we were slave of sin, we were living in empty way, empty ways of life. Okay. Because that's why, that's why, that's why, because we, we are no longer us.

[11:35] We have been bought. We have been redeemed. That's why, and because Christ is the holy lamb of God without blemish or defect.

[11:46] That's why we are to, we belong to him. And because he's a holy, holy God. And we have no choice.

[11:58] All right. We have no choice. We belong to him. Just like what Alana just let us sing this before. I really like that song. Hallelujah. Praise the one who set me free. Death has lost its grip on me.

[12:11] All right. Because Christ has set me free. And because death no longer has, has its grip on me. We have to follow this holy God. We're not, we're not living the, the empty way of life.

[12:24] Just like what we did previously. Okay. And because the king of king calls me his own. And that's why I follow him. Because he's a holy God.

[12:35] I know I cannot be holy, perfectly holy. Again, I say it's not perfection. No one's perfect. But it's my perception of following this holy God.

[12:50] Now, there's this, the story about Israel and his God in Ezekiel 16 was, I thought it was a very vivid illustration. It was saying there was a baby abandoned in a field.

[13:04] Ezekiel 16. Okay. A baby was abandoned in a field in a pool of blood. I think Venus could identify with that. And the naval cord was not even cut. You know, a baby was like that abandoned in a field.

[13:18] What's his destiny? Awake death. But a stranger came along. He felt pity on, upon her. I would, I don't know why he would feel pity upon her.

[13:30] The baby, you know, I would feel, oh, yuck. I would just walk away. But God is full of mercy and compassion. He picked her up, washed her, nurtured her, gave the best to her, even to commit a covenant with her.

[13:44] And Israelite, they should know that was the God Yahweh. And because of that, the king of kings calls her his own.

[13:57] That's why they are to belong to Yahweh God. Because God has bought them and made a covenant with them.

[14:09] That's why the Old Testament, again, again, again, there was this phrase, the Holy One of Israel. That's why Israel had no choice but to follow their holy God.

[14:21] Today, Jesus has bought us with a heavy price. He redeemed us with his life. And because we belong to him.

[14:34] And there's no choice for us but to follow his holy way. All right? Thirdly, how? How are we going to live holy life?

[14:46] Is it easy? Of course it's not easy. If it's easy, you just push the button. Because it's not easy, that's why we need to commit ourselves to God.

[14:57] And is it possible? Yes, I believe it's possible. It's not easy, but I believe it's possible. When God calls us to do something, I believe it's possible. He won't call us to do something that's impossible.

[15:09] You know? God doesn't trick us. All right? You know, for me living in this world for 63 years, I tell you what, when God says yes, it's yes.

[15:20] All right? Not saying that I can do it every time, all the time. I fail at times. Yes. But is it possible? Yes. I'll give a testimony later.

[15:31] Okay. All right. How do we live a holy life? Verse 18, again. Not with perishable things such as silver or gold.

[15:41] Nothing that's man-made. Nothing in this world. In verse 19. With the precious blood of Christ. A lamb without blemish and defect. It's Jesus.

[15:52] In Isaiah chapter 35, verse 8. It was a very interesting phrase. It says that, in a highway. The next slide, please.

[16:03] In a highway will be there. It will be called the way of holiness. It will be for those who walk on this way, on that way. And clean will not journey on it.

[16:15] Wicked fools will not go about it. Okay. Now, the prophet was giving the promise of God. Well, actually, God gave the promise through the prophet to the people of Israel.

[16:29] You know, because they were exiled. They were deported in Babylon. Okay. God said, I will build this highway for you to return. Okay. And this way is called the way of holiness.

[16:40] And for those who walk in that way, it's my people. My people willing to repent and come back to me. The unclean, the fool will not walk on it.

[16:50] And this is a promise of God. And in the New Testament, we see this way of holiness is Jesus. And Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. And only through Jesus will come to the Father.

[17:04] Okay. So how are we going to walk on this way of holiness? The Bible has given us hints. Now, I mean, holy. It's not these kind of holy roles.

[17:15] Okay. In Southeast Asia, when we used to go to these short, short mission trips, you know, the paths, the roads are like that.

[17:26] You know, the local missionaries says, oh, you know, our roads are very holy. We've got holy roads here. And all the time we sit on this four-wheel drive or whatever. You know, just every time we just get bumped, bump, bump all the way to an hour, 60 minutes, 80 minutes, two hours to the destinations.

[17:42] And after we got there, we're kind of pretty tired. Okay. But I think this shows us that, you know, the path of holiness, not necessarily straight and easy.

[17:56] It can be windy. It can be bumpy. It can be ups and downs. But precisely because of that, we learn to trust in God. We don't trust in ourselves.

[18:08] Okay. What the Bible has given us, the four areas we can consider. How do we lead holy lives? For us to remember, so H-O-L-Y, one, H is heart.

[18:22] O is obedience. L for loyalty. And Y for yearning. Okay. Let's look at each one of them briefly. Heart, through him, you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him.

[18:36] And so your faith and hope are in God. You know, now the word, the emphasis is on belief. Okay. Why use heart?

[18:48] Because belief is not just with our head knowledge, you know. Oh, I believe something is possible. I believe something is not good.

[19:00] Now, that's through our heart to discern. But belief is more than just, you know, discernment or to judge whether this is good or not.

[19:15] You know, to believe, we need to believe through inner heart and, in fact, will impact the whole of our beings. Right? Yeah. Yeah.

[19:25] In verse 5, it's in chapter 1, it says, through faith, we're shielded by God's power. In verse 7, that faith needs to be tested. In verse 9, it was the result of a faith.

[19:37] It was salvation for our souls. So faith penetrates our hearts, our whole being. That is the first ingredient for us to lead the holy life.

[19:50] We need to trust. We need to truly believe and enter into this relationship with God with daily trust so that we are enabled to walk on this holy path.

[20:02] All right. Next one, obedience. I trust in God, Lord, but when God says something, I need to obey.

[20:14] I can't just trust in God and I fully trust him, but I disobey him. I mean, that's absurd. You know, that's not good.

[20:24] So in verse 13, therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus is revealed and is coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.

[20:42] Now, with this word alert, actually, in King James, it was actually the word for gird up your loins of your mind.

[20:52] Okay. And the original language, it was actually an illustration of the people of Asia at the time. They were actually wearing long robes, you know, like Chinese do as well.

[21:06] You know, you've seen some old Chinese operas, you know, they were very, very, very loose robes. You know, they would walk about. It's okay. You know, it's kind of a, yeah, it shows that you're a good, well-to-do, you know, wearing long robes.

[21:20] But it's okay when you're like, you know, you go have coffee with people and you walk about and meeting friends. But you can't do that when you exercise or when you have to work or when somebody suddenly attacks you and you have to come back.

[21:39] You have to gird up that lawn. You have to tuck in that robe. And this is the word here. With your mind that are alert. I think Christians, we need to be alert of God's will for us.

[21:55] And in verse 14, it says that as obedient children, we need to conform to God but not to our own evil desires.

[22:06] We need to obey. We are children of obedience. We're not children of evil desires. So, heart, obedience, and thirdly, loyalty.

[22:23] Since you call on a father who judges each person's work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.

[22:34] We need to be loyal with reverent fear to God. Okay? Now, that reverent fear, that fear actually is the word in Greek is phobos.

[22:50] Phobos is the word today in English is phobia. Okay? We need to have that fear to God because God is awesome God.

[23:02] We need to come to God with that awe, you know, that attitude. And recognizing God, he's everywhere.

[23:14] He's with us. He reads my heart. You know, before we commit anything, we do anything, even the hearts, he knows in the middle of the night.

[23:25] We're no one around. What am I doing? What am I doing with my computer? What am I doing with my heart? Thinking.

[23:37] God is watching. We need to come to him with reverent fear. And lastly, yearning.

[23:50] Peter was describing this vibrant hope. Verse 13. Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

[24:09] It is coming. It is coming. The presence of the future. Because of the future, we live with hope in this presence.

[24:20] In verse 21. And so that your faith and hope are in God. We have hope because Jesus will return. We yearn for that day. And you know that word maranatha?

[24:33] Maranatha is Jesus come. That's the very last word in the book of Revelations. Maranatha. Jesus come.

[24:44] We have that hope. And yeah, that's nothing. And because of the hope, we have that assurance. Times are difficult.

[24:56] You know, I mean, if we think New Zealand is bad enough, you think about other parts of the world. We pray for the persecuted Christians in those countries that, you know, they're very much against the church.

[25:17] But because of the hope. And actually, the book of Revelation was writing. It was very, very, you know, with a lot of images, a lot of visions, you know. Because at that time, they needed that.

[25:29] And God knew. And because with visions and dreams and all these symbols, they know, they see. One day, Jesus will return. And that's the hope that God gives to us all.

[25:41] So, because of heart, obedience, loyalty, and yearning. With these four aspects, it helps us to learn, to walk this path, this way of holiness.

[26:02] Yeah, again, I said, it's not perfection. No one is. But how do we perceive a perception of holiness, of this holy God?

[26:15] It's actually a month ago today. What's the time now? 5.30. I'm actually at the rest home. Five, four weeks ago. And actually witnessing my mom dying.

[26:26] Okay. We received a call around about four o'clock that the rest home nurse said, Oh, your mom actually needed oxygen. There was actually a few days prior to that that she was not eating.

[26:38] You know. So, about four o'clock a month ago, I went to the hospital. I went to the rest home and witnessing the dying process. Actually, it was sad, but it was a very healing process for me.

[26:55] Okay. To cut the story short, yeah. She just passed away about 7.30, very peacefully. And we're thanking God that all her life, she's been very blessed.

[27:05] But I want to share a little bit about mom's journey. I can share the next slide. Yeah. See, this is mom, right in the middle. And my sister, Sandra.

[27:16] Okay. And you can see Auntie Claudia at the back there. And Tommy. And you see Pastor James. Now, this is an earlier part of the PCBC. I was actually still in Hong Kong.

[27:28] I was invited back. This is Chosen Valley. I was invited back to share something about young youth ministry. Okay. Now, mom. Mom, she was. She came to New Zealand about.

[27:42] Next year, she'll be 60 years. Coming. Came to New Zealand. And early migraines had this really tough life. Okay. And, yeah. And she was.

[27:53] Because she was a widow. And she was being looked down. And she really had to strive very hard. And, and, and. Even, you know. Even, even.

[28:04] Yeah. All the ways that she just thought that was her determination. It was her, her diligence. But really, it was God. All the way. And I'm very, very, very thankful that she realized that.

[28:17] And eventually, we got baptized on the same day. 16th of December, 1979. It's 40 something years ago now. But one thing was very interesting.

[28:29] She was, she was living her empty ways of life. Okay. Early migraines, nothing much to do. So, she was really, really hooked, addicted to mahjong.

[28:41] Da mahjong, you know. Now, she could play three days to night. And, and, and just work. Sleep. Slept two hours. And woke up and work. Prepare food.

[28:51] Because we were running a takeaway business. And then she went into this mahjong table again. And the, the money. The ups and downs was quite, quite, quite a bit.

[29:03] Okay. But, interesting was. When she came to know the Lord. After she baptized. Jesus said. I think God doesn't like me to, to carry on like this.

[29:15] This is not pleasing to God. I said, oh, wow. Mom. Yeah. It was, it was hard for me to tell her, you know. But, but it was good that God told her himself. And she just said.

[29:25] But, but it's hard to rip it off for her. Yeah. Okay. We will pray for you, mom. And, but. She, she just. She shook it off in a year's time.

[29:36] Never again. She gambled on mahjong again. And to displace that. With. Singing hymns. Reading the Bible. And sharing the gospel.

[29:49] And, and before. You know, in, in, in. Dunedin. The Chinese. There was a Chinese church there. But there was. There only. It was hard. There was no pastor. There was nobody. It was hardly.

[29:59] It was only meeting once a month. And, and mom and me just decided. We, we, we invite our relatives to come to our home. To meet the, the rest of the three Sundays. And there you go.

[30:11] From then on. She was no turning back. And I was so very grateful. For, for mom. Now, I'm not talking about perfection. Again. Right. But I'm talking about.

[30:22] She was willing to submit. She, she perceived that. The holiness of God. She doesn't want to offend. The, the holy God. And, and she wants to submit.

[30:34] Yeah. That's, that's a testimony. You know. Is it possible? I believe it is. For her. That was, that was something she had to, to, to submit and learn.

[30:47] And I'm sure there are challenges for each and every one of us. Next one. Next slide, please. Yeah. And that's, that's the day, you know, we say goodbye to mom. And now we'll see her in heaven. And I'm sure she's pleased to see her Lord.

[31:00] The presence of the future. What are we thinking? What are we thinking now in this day? The next slide. Can we have the next, next?

[31:14] Yeah. So what, what, what, what kind of mentality do I, do I have towards this path of holiness? Certainly is not my, my, my own pursuit.

[31:27] And not my understanding, but God's definition. And it's not my strength, ability to, to, you know, to, to strive.

[31:40] It is him. And what hinders me from being holy? Maybe something in me. I think we know that. If I fail, surely we fail.

[31:54] What did, what do we do? My experience is get up, let Jesus pick me up again and walk again. Because he, in him, there is the promise.

[32:06] If I confess my sin, honestly confess my sin, he will forgive. The blood of Christ will cleanse away my sin. And he will lead me on this way of holiness.

[32:19] And all my life commit to him. And one day in the future, when Jesus comes back. This is my sharing with you today.

[32:30] Can we pray? And then we have some Q&A, okay? Father God, just thank you that you are holy God. In you, there is this absolute holiness. Yeah, we are, we are sinful people.

[32:43] But so amazing, Lord. You, you will pick me up. You picked us up. You will cleanse us. You bought us with a price. And you called us your own. Father, we don't deserve it.

[32:56] Never with any of our abilities or any of, of our, our strength. That we can attain what we have today. And you even call us saints. Father, we just want to thank you.

[33:08] We just pray, Lord, to, to, to help us. Yeah. Even though we are imperfect. Even though we, we stumble and fall. But Lord, because you have, you have prepared this way for us.

[33:23] Lord, we have confidence in you. In you, in the cross alone. Not in our own strength. That we'll walk in this path of holiness. Until Jesus' glorious return.

[33:36] In your mighty and precious name, we pray. Amen. So, feel free to keep posting questions.

[33:52] Because again, we might be able to answer them, you know, in groups. Or otherwise, afterwards. If we don't, even if we don't have time. So, first question. I think it's kind of hard.

[34:04] But in your opinion. And both of you can answer. What do you think is one of the most difficult things to stay holy in, in this day and age? You should go first, Pastor Albert.

[34:21] I've spoken for the last 20, 30 minutes. All right. Oh, man. Oh, I just, yeah, really helpful insights from the sermon. For myself and my own heart.

[34:32] I've been reading Hebrews. And it says here in Hebrews 12, 14. It says, make every effort to live in peace with all people. And to be holy. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord. And then the first example he gives is sexual immorality.

[34:46] So, I think in our day and age, yeah. Sex is, you know, is not a gift. It really is worshipped. And so, I think in our day and age, I think that's a particular challenge.

[34:58] How do we stay, you know, whether it's chastity or purity and singleness or faithfulness in marriage when, yeah, almost every TV show tells us the opposite or sells us the opposite.

[35:11] I think that's hard. And actually, another one, which actually the writer in Hebrews also points out. He says this verse at the end of his letter. Keep your lives from the love of money, you know, and be content.

[35:24] And I think, actually, that's probably another area. And maybe you might feel this a little bit more and it's more subtle. But just the fact that, oh, you know, people are buying houses.

[35:35] How come I'm not? Or, oh, they're making and tripling their money on with Bitcoin. Why am I not? You know, that sort of thing. I think those are two areas, I think, which are particularly difficult.

[35:46] Yeah. I don't know what you think, Pastor Albert. Yeah, I really like, actually, Dr. Yun, what he said last Wednesday. You know, it's not about heterosexual sexuality or homosexuality.

[36:01] It's holy sexuality that, you know. I think all sex is all perverted through media today. You just ask any ladies, would you just, you know, somebody, a guy would just come kissing and she, you know, started from struggling and then she just looked like a sheep?

[36:17] No, I don't think so. This is all being all very perverted. So I think we need to run away from this, what media presents, you know, this kind of a fantasy and look at reality.

[36:32] And the only reality you find is from the word of God. How do young people stay away from sin? It's from the word of God. Psalm 119, 106, you know.

[36:44] Yeah, I think, yeah. But obviously it's constant challenge. Yeah. Yeah. Not to conform to this world.

[36:56] Thank you. So thank you for answering the next question during the sermon. So we can skip over that one. But, yeah, someone has just messaged me and I'd like to ask, how can we help someone believe or understand that no sin is too great for God to forgive?

[37:17] I think it's, you know, sometimes if you're stuck in some sin that you find it difficult to get out of, yeah, you can feel quite stuck. And what would you say to that person?

[37:29] Well, I think it's not what I say. It's what God said. Right? Because all sins are pardonable except for the, what was that phrase in English?

[37:44] Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Right? Yeah, we hear that a minute. Every sin is pardonable. Yeah. Blaspheming the Holy Spirit. And I think every sin, if we're willing to acknowledge, yeah, that's what I said.

[37:58] That's what I said. We're not talking about perfection. I would get caught, you know, that actually has to do with question three. You know, one of my weakness, if you come across one day, you see me driving, I get agitated at somebody doing something silly thing to me.

[38:18] If you're one a day, Venus, you kind of, you know, driving nearby me and you see, oh, that's the house to help it. Good God. Why does it do that? That would be my challenge, you know?

[38:31] Yeah. I mean, no one's perfect. But we need to constantly, yeah. Thank you, Frank. Yeah.

[38:42] That's my challenge. Yeah. But we need to continue to perceive ourselves to continue to continue to walk in this, this holy path.

[38:53] Yeah. And I think what Pastor Albert told us from the message early, like, it's not that we were bought with, you know, silver or gold. We were bought by the precious blood of Christ.

[39:05] So, that's the gospel, isn't it? And so, for every one look at yourself and how you fail and you sin, a friend used to tell me, every one look at yourself. Take 10 looks at Jesus Christ.

[39:17] Yeah. There, you know, just whether you're just looking at him and his character, what he's like, there we have both the power and also the pattern of life to, yeah, to fight sin, to live differently.

[39:30] Yeah. And, yeah, there is grace because, you know, our sins are, yeah, they're many, but his mercy is more. Yeah. And the last question, also, just message through, how does God tell us or how does he let us realize when we're not being holy?

[39:52] I think we know. We know we're not being holy. And I think partly, I think because we have new life, we see new life, we should be very sensitive to sin.

[40:07] And also because of the dwelling of the Holy Spirit, because he's holy. Anything that's not holy, we know. Unless we kind of gotten so used to this pattern that we ignore the inspiration of the spirit, and that will be a dangerous, dangerous state.

[40:30] Yeah. And so what Pastor Albert described is what some people call the conscience. So God gives us the gift of a conscience. Think of it, your conscience, as your guilt sensor, you know, and as with any sensor, you know, it can get dirty and dulled.

[40:46] And then sin does it. The more you sin, the more your conscience gets weakened and weakened. You know, the more I look at porn, the less I think it's a problem. For example, the more I shop online, the less I think I'm getting addicted and that sort of thing.

[40:58] So it's dull by sin, now conscience, but it can be sharpened by the Holy Spirit as you sit in this word, as you hear what really is true. I think actually God gives us two other gifts I can mention as well.

[41:09] One is the community of God's people. So how do we know? Sometimes, yeah, one of the kindness of God is actually maybe groups or friends, brothers and sisters in the Lord who can come alongside you.

[41:20] And, you know, and hopefully gently say, hey, you know, I think what you're doing there, I'm not sure that would please God or that would really help you to really represent him well. And so that could be another help.

[41:33] And then in an ironic way, actually suffering sometimes actually magnifies what's in your heart. So I know that, you know, when I went through, you know, a difficult time when my mom passed away, actually it really amplified in my heart, you know, what am I living for?

[41:50] Is this an excuse for me to be selfish and sin or is this going to be an option for me to, you know, to look differently? Yeah. And so for some people actually suffering is actually a turning point in their life and reveals to them, you know, whether there are things in their life they need to repent and to change.

[42:07]  chance.