back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service
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I'm glad all of you made it safely here through the rain. 00:10:53.580 |
I wanna just call attention to the song, "We Fall Down." 00:11:00.500 |
this song talks about a posture of humbleness 00:11:06.100 |
Isaiah chapter six, we know when Isaiah is confronted 00:14:34.340 |
Good morning and welcome to bring community church 00:14:53.700 |
Let me just jump into our announcements first of all as you guys know our Bible study weekday Bible study in Galatians 00:15:03.140 |
At the end of the month in August 30th if you've never attended our Bible lab 00:15:13.760 |
August 27 through September 10th, which is three Sundays 00:15:18.440 |
I think starting from next Sunday and then three Sundays from two to three 00:15:22.380 |
Basically, this Bible lab is to help you do the inductive Bible study, which is what we're doing in home groups in small groups 00:15:28.820 |
So if you've been in the Bible study and you had a hard time, you know 00:15:32.900 |
You don't quite understand what's going on or you having a difficult time doing the inductive Bible study 00:15:40.420 |
So and if you've never attended before and you're new to the church 00:15:43.300 |
I strongly strongly recommend that you take you take this class because it'll help you to 00:15:50.360 |
so our inductive Bible study basically is we have a text in Galatians or whatever text that we're in and we ask you to go 00:15:57.140 |
Home and really dissect the text and come prepared 00:16:00.200 |
So that when you come to the groups you're there to share not just to have the pastor prepare the message and then just give 00:16:06.940 |
You like this is what it just means is we're asking you to come prepared for to do that 00:16:10.920 |
So if you're not used to do an inductive Bible study, and maybe you've never even heard the term before this Bible 00:16:18.740 |
So pastor mark is leading this class from 2 to 3 for 3 Sundays 00:16:23.020 |
And we do this each time before we start the Bible studies and so to kind of help you along 00:16:28.260 |
So again, even if you've taken it before and you need a refresher, he'll go through the text the word study, you know context outline and 00:16:36.460 |
Good questions to ask and this will definitely help you to jump in to be able to get the most out of the Bible study 00:16:42.900 |
So again, the regular Bible study is starting in not this week 00:16:47.140 |
But the week after that and then the Bible lab is also going to be happening starting from next Sunday 00:16:52.160 |
Okay, men's ministry. We have a quarters men's ministry that's happening on September 9th at 9 a.m. This is a Saturday morning 00:16:58.940 |
I'll be going over what it means to be accountable. So men especially for men 00:17:05.020 |
Accountability and that's the subject that we're going to be covering 00:17:08.540 |
So we have like breakfast that we're gonna be eating at 9 and then we have lunch fellowship 00:17:12.960 |
So it's a good time for the brothers to get together 00:17:15.260 |
Share a meal get to know other guys that the people that we're running with 00:17:19.980 |
So if you haven't signed up for it, I will strongly recommend you sign up 00:17:23.300 |
The cost for the meal is going to be $10. And again, we're going to be having light light breakfast and then a lunch afterwards 00:17:30.140 |
One last thing a family ministry community groups are starting again in the fall 00:17:35.440 |
And so it's gonna be starting on September 10th, October 8th, November 5th. So three times 00:17:40.620 |
so if you're a part of the family ministry and 00:17:42.620 |
You want to meet other people and fellowship with them if you sign up for this? 00:17:47.620 |
They'll put you into small groups. And then the whole purpose of this is so that you can fellowship and get to know the other 00:17:52.320 |
People who are coming into the church people who are in the church. And so it's an opportunity to to fellowship together 00:17:58.800 |
So all of these things you can find on our church app 00:18:02.300 |
So if you don't have the app, I strongly recommend you download the app if not on our it's not on our Facebook page 00:18:08.780 |
But it is on our church website somewhere I think okay 00:18:11.740 |
So if you go looking for it again, the best place to do this in the app 00:18:14.800 |
So I so look for that and that's where the signups would be 00:18:18.520 |
If you have a hard time finding any of this go to our newcomers table and they'll help you out with that. Okay? 00:18:24.980 |
All right. I think that's it for the announcements 00:18:28.420 |
Let me pray for us and give you a minute to give your offering and then after our worship time 00:18:33.200 |
Our sister Kim Ramos is gonna come and give our testimony be baptized this morning 00:18:38.440 |
So again, if you have a physical offering again, there's a box out there as you're going you'll see to your right. Okay, let's pray 00:18:43.980 |
Father we thank you for your blessing. We thank you for 00:18:50.380 |
All the things that you are doing that we are aware of the things that you do behind the scene 00:18:58.960 |
Help us Lord as we have gathered together to corporately worship you 00:19:05.940 |
But that you would stir in our hearts a reminder of what it is that we have in you 00:19:11.060 |
So that our worship may truly be an overflow of the tremendous grace and work that you have given us 00:19:17.420 |
May this time be a blessing to our congregation to you 00:19:22.700 |
May your name be exalted that even in this giving help us to give with a cheerful heart and may it be multiplied 00:19:29.280 |
3030 60 a hundredfold for the purpose of your kingdom in Jesus name. We pray. Amen 00:20:18.020 |
- Church family, let's all stand together as we worship. 00:24:51.660 |
♪ That the light of Christ might be seen today ♪ 00:24:56.660 |
♪ In our acts of love and our deeds of faith ♪ 00:25:55.660 |
♪ Cause our faith to rise, cause our eyes to see ♪ 00:26:37.660 |
♪ Help us press the heights of Your plans for us ♪ 00:26:44.660 |
♪ And truth unchanged from the dawn of time ♪ 00:27:05.660 |
♪ And by faith we'll walk as You walk with us ♪ 00:27:27.660 |
♪ And by grace we'll stand on Your promises ♪ 00:27:34.660 |
♪ And by faith we'll walk as You walk with us ♪ 00:28:20.660 |
My name is Kim, and I'll be sharing my testimony with you all today. 00:28:26.660 |
It was challenging to grasp the concept of familial love while I was growing up. 00:28:35.660 |
At the age of five, I witnessed my father leave us after years of struggle in a failing marriage. 00:28:45.660 |
A broken wife, broken sons, and a broken daughter. 00:28:49.660 |
Like a damaged pot, cracks will only grow bigger and deeper with time. 00:28:54.660 |
And surely enough, as I grew older and the cracks grew bigger, 00:28:58.660 |
I was sure that happiness was never going to be an option unless I created it for myself. 00:29:05.660 |
Being emotionally, physically, and sexually abused show me how sinful people can truly be. 00:29:14.660 |
As I was raised in this environment, I concluded that I could have the same type of power they hold over me 00:29:23.660 |
People I had allowed in my life had only served as a means of survival. 00:29:28.660 |
Friendships and relationships were solely transactional. 00:29:32.660 |
I became a faceless, hollow shell masquerading in many masks. 00:29:36.660 |
Eventually, perfection was no longer a beneficial result of my accomplishments. 00:29:45.660 |
How I dressed, walked, talked, the accolades I collected, 00:29:49.660 |
I had to be impressive and spotless and perfect in every single way. 00:29:54.660 |
I was completely blinded by my greed, pride, callousness, arrogance, fear, shame, 00:30:01.660 |
and a deep sadness that resulted in clinging onto the world even more. 00:30:05.660 |
After graduating high school, I sunk even deeper into my own depravity. 00:30:15.660 |
I covered up my depression and filled the most empty parts of myself through substance abuse. 00:30:20.660 |
At this point in my life, I wanted power, control. 00:30:24.660 |
Yet it was my own fleshly desires that controlled me instead. 00:30:33.660 |
Quick fixes through my addiction and risky behavior was what kept me going. 00:30:39.660 |
I didn't have a father to guide me growing up, 00:30:44.660 |
so I clung onto unhealthy relationships and sought validation from men. 00:30:49.660 |
At this point in my life, I figured if people could so easily use me and abuse me, 00:30:58.660 |
While I was struggling with doubts of throwing my life away, 00:31:03.660 |
my brother became more active in attending church again. 00:31:06.660 |
As he continued to grow, he started to consistently invite me to Bible studies held at his church. 00:31:14.660 |
At first, I took his persistence as pestering, but I was curious. 00:31:20.660 |
I witnessed his heart change so much, and our relationship had improved so well. 00:31:26.660 |
And it led me to wonder what had been working through his heart. 00:31:33.660 |
And while I was still worldly, it sparked a curiosity to know more about the Lord. 00:31:40.660 |
One day, I went to a party, and while everyone else was drinking and partying, 00:31:44.660 |
I saw a guy playing guitar by himself, not participating in anything. 00:31:48.660 |
Intrigued, I approached him, and he was playing the only Christian song I knew at the time, 00:31:54.660 |
Ironically, we started having a conversation about faith at that party. 00:31:58.660 |
He then invited me to his church's communion night, a Q&A that their church holds once a month. 00:32:04.660 |
There, I asked the pastor a lot of questions, and while I approached him with aggression 00:32:09.660 |
and my own worldly sense of justice, he chose to answer with truth 00:32:13.660 |
and met me with so much patience, love, and care. 00:32:18.660 |
It was after that instance with that pastor that my desire to chase the Lord grew. 00:32:24.660 |
I started attending a different church after that for a couple of years, 00:32:28.660 |
and though I thought it to be with good intentions, my walk toward Christianity was imperfect. 00:32:34.660 |
I eventually became a professing Christian, but I still sought validation from the world. 00:32:43.660 |
I seek validation and comfort from Christian people, but not from Christ. 00:32:48.660 |
After facing challenging circumstances and growing doubts about the theology I was learning 00:32:52.660 |
at a previous church, I started to question the validity of my own faith and home. 00:32:58.660 |
But in my distress, I continued to pursue the truth fervently. 00:33:06.660 |
While I cannot pinpoint the specific moment I knew I was saved, I do remember one day last year, 00:33:13.660 |
laying in bed in prayer, in my loneliness and in my tears, 00:33:18.660 |
feeling the weight of God's sovereignty over my life, 00:33:22.660 |
the awareness of my own fleshly wretchedness, and how unworthy I truly was to be in his mercy. 00:33:30.660 |
Second Corinthians 12:10 states, "Therefore I am well content with my weaknesses, 00:33:35.660 |
with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake, 00:33:46.660 |
Even in my weaknesses and at my lowest, through his grace, God has given me strength, 00:33:51.660 |
even though I knew fully well that I am not deserving. 00:33:56.660 |
Hebrews 4:16 states, "Therefore let us draw near in confidence to the throne of grace, 00:34:02.660 |
so that we may receive mercy and find grace and help in time of need." 00:34:08.660 |
I now rejoice in my past hurts and in my present pain, 00:34:13.660 |
but it is through my struggle that I am drawn most closest to him, 00:34:22.660 |
I choose now to stand here before you all, to be baptized in front of the congregation, 00:34:28.660 |
in order to proclaim my devotion to our Father. 00:34:32.660 |
My body is no longer my body, but through unity with Christ's death, 00:34:37.660 |
my body now belongs within the body of Christ. 00:34:41.660 |
Even though my worldly father left me, my Father in Heaven was always with me, 00:34:47.660 |
imperfect just as I am, yet he still chooses to love me so deeply. 00:35:19.660 |
Kim, do you understand when you go into the water, you're being united to Christ's death, 00:35:22.660 |
and then when you come out, you're being united to his resurrected life? 00:35:26.660 |
And I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 00:35:47.660 |
All right, thank you, Kim, for that powerful testimony. 00:35:50.660 |
If you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke 6. 00:35:53.660 |
Again, we are continuing our series in the choosing of the 12 disciples. 00:36:07.660 |
We are going to be, again, in the same text, but let me just pray for us, 00:36:11.660 |
and we'll jump into the message this morning. 00:36:15.660 |
Heavenly Father, we ask for your blessing over this time. 00:36:21.660 |
We know, Father God, that there is a world of difference of just studying the Bible, 00:36:27.660 |
understanding the text and the context, than when you illuminate our hearts, 00:36:37.660 |
Lord, we want to know more than just information. 00:36:48.660 |
We pray that your word would be a means for us to come and draw closer to you. 00:37:01.660 |
As you guys know, we just came back from our retreat, 00:37:04.660 |
and every time that we have our all-church retreat, the debate is, 00:37:11.660 |
And I know for a lot of people, I mean, for myself included, 00:37:14.660 |
it's a huge blessing for me because not only am I enjoying the retreat and the teaching, 00:37:21.660 |
but at the retreat you get to meet a lot of people, 00:37:24.660 |
spend time with people that I've known for many years 00:37:29.660 |
or met a bunch of new people that some of you have been here for a while 00:37:35.660 |
so the retreat was an opportunity to kind of fellowship and get to know you better. 00:37:38.660 |
And hopefully that that will overflow into the life of the church as well, 00:37:42.660 |
the people that you've met that hopefully the church feels a little bit smaller to you 00:37:48.660 |
But every time we come back from a large retreat like that, 00:37:51.660 |
people say, "800-some people went up to a retreat. Your church is crazy. 00:37:59.660 |
And yes, and everybody who was involved, they worked so hard, 00:38:02.660 |
and every time it's like, "Okay, this is going to be it. 00:38:07.660 |
Because so much energy, time goes into prepping and running and doing all of this stuff, 00:38:15.660 |
Last time we went up two years ago, I think we had about 100 kids, 00:38:21.660 |
So just in two years, the number of children just grew exponentially. 00:38:26.660 |
So I cannot guarantee that we're not going to do this again, 00:38:29.660 |
but again, every time we do that, the reason why that debate is 00:38:34.660 |
because it is so hard to run things with the number of people. 00:38:40.660 |
This is just 800 people, but some of you guys have been to conferences 00:38:48.660 |
I've been to large conferences where there's over 10,000 people. 00:38:51.660 |
I've been to mission conferences where they had 20,000, 30,000 people. 00:38:55.660 |
So I can't imagine the work that goes into the gathering of these things. 00:38:59.660 |
So now, I mean, with the Internet and the advertisements, and I get emails all the time. 00:39:05.660 |
It's like, "Hey, there's this new conference coming in our denomination. 00:39:08.660 |
There's a pastor's conference. There's a leader's conference. 00:39:13.660 |
And some of them are small, just local, maybe gathering of maybe a couple hundred people, 00:39:19.660 |
We had thousands and thousands of people coming from all over the world. 00:39:22.660 |
Whenever I receive these advertisements, the first thing that I look at is who is coming. 00:39:29.660 |
Who are the keynote speakers that they've gathered together? 00:39:35.660 |
At least somebody in this group is like, "Oh, okay, these guys are coming." 00:39:39.660 |
It's a huge conference, so they got big names to come and speak and encourage the group. 00:39:44.660 |
But every once in a while, you'll have a conference, 00:39:47.660 |
and I don't recognize a single person in this chart. 00:39:50.660 |
They have like 15 names, and I don't know a single person. 00:39:53.660 |
Immediately, I was like, "Okay, this probably is not for me because I don't recognize who they are." 00:39:58.660 |
If you're going to put that kind of money and energy and time into putting an event that's that big together, 00:40:05.660 |
one of the first things that you think of is who are we going to come and address this group? 00:40:13.660 |
Now, the reason why I start my message with this is because, 00:40:18.660 |
can you imagine people who are coming to Jesus that they're asking, 00:40:30.660 |
That this is the greatest event that has taken place in Israel's history. 00:40:35.660 |
This could be the Messiah that they've been waiting for for hundreds of years, 00:40:39.660 |
and then they're going down the list of who he chose as his disciples, 00:40:43.660 |
and there's not a single person of significance. 00:40:58.660 |
The majority of them were just common blue-collar workers, fishermen, 00:41:03.660 |
and you had a zealot in there, and we have some people that we pretty much, you know, 00:41:07.660 |
as we're going down the line, the next few groups of people we know almost nothing about. 00:41:13.660 |
It's like, why would they gather these people for the greatest thing? 00:41:18.660 |
I mean, can you imagine, this is the greatest thing, 00:41:21.660 |
greatest event that happened in Israel's history, 00:41:25.660 |
and the people that Jesus surrounded himself with, 00:41:28.660 |
there's not a single person that was recognized. 00:41:32.660 |
In fact, out of all the people that Jesus gathered around him, 00:41:39.660 |
Now, we know that in retrospect, now that we have the knowledge of what Judas did, 00:41:44.660 |
it was a betrayer, and we'll talk about him at the end, 00:41:47.660 |
but at this point, when Jesus is collecting his disciples, 00:41:54.660 |
In fact, the choosing of Matthew himself, many people would have just disqualified Jesus, 00:42:00.660 |
saying, "How can he be the Messiah and have Matthew as his disciple? 00:42:08.660 |
You have to understand just how controversial this decision was to choose Matthew. 00:42:13.660 |
In order to understand why they hated Matthew, 00:42:16.660 |
you have to understand that at this particular period of time, 00:42:19.660 |
the Romans have spread their kingdom so vast and wide 00:42:23.660 |
that they had a very difficult time controlling rebellions that may break out. 00:42:27.660 |
And so one of the key things that they did was they put puppet kings. 00:42:37.660 |
Basically to control the population of Israel. 00:42:40.660 |
So they were more loyal to the pagan nation Romans than they were to Israel. 00:42:44.660 |
That's why the Israelites resented the Herods. 00:42:50.660 |
So just so that you can think that you have some religious freedom, 00:42:53.660 |
as long as you acknowledge Caesar as the ultimate king. 00:43:01.660 |
whatever temple that people would be going to, 00:43:03.660 |
and bow down and acknowledge Caesar before you go into the temple. 00:43:06.660 |
But of all the things that Rome did in order to control 00:43:10.660 |
and to subjugate the nations that they conquered, 00:43:14.660 |
where the people felt the most tangible place 00:43:18.660 |
where the rubber met the road was with the taxation. 00:43:22.660 |
The way that Rome, because of all the roads and many things that they were doing, 00:43:29.660 |
And they knew that if they sent Roman soldiers knocking at the doors, 00:43:33.660 |
that it would incite bitterness and anger toward Rome. 00:43:36.660 |
So they had an idea that they were going to recruit from their own countrymen. 00:43:40.660 |
And they would sell like a franchise that whoever bid the highest money, 00:43:46.660 |
that they would give it to them and they would have the rights to go and collect taxes. 00:43:50.660 |
So the people that they would be angry with, would be with their own countrymen. 00:43:55.660 |
So you can see how this would become a huge problem 00:44:01.660 |
That you literally had to sell out your nation. 00:44:04.660 |
But in particular, we're talking about Matthew. 00:44:07.660 |
The way that the Romans collected taxes was they had what was a fixed tax, 00:44:15.660 |
Whoever was born, that they would every once in a while go back to your hometown, 00:44:20.660 |
they would do a head count and based upon how many members are in your family, 00:44:24.660 |
they would have a flat tax for the people who are in your family 00:44:27.660 |
and they would have a flat tax for your property. 00:44:29.660 |
Those are the fixed tax, so you can't mess with that. 00:44:32.660 |
So you owe that every once in a while and you have to pay it, right? 00:44:41.660 |
because people who collected the duty tax basically created taxes wherever they were at. 00:44:47.660 |
So they would tax the road, they would tax the cart that you were on. 00:44:51.660 |
If you were a fisherman, they would tax the fish. 00:44:54.660 |
And then they would tax when you sold something, there would be a separate sales tax. 00:44:59.660 |
Basically, they could create whatever tax that they wanted to collect. 00:45:02.660 |
So the way that the Rome would make money was Rome would say, 00:45:08.660 |
and then the tax collectors would come and get that amount 00:45:11.660 |
and then whatever extra that they collected would be their own money, right? 00:45:16.660 |
So you can see why somebody would want that position 00:45:19.660 |
because it was the easiest way to become wealthy. 00:45:22.660 |
But they literally had to sell out their country to do that. 00:45:28.660 |
Matthew was somebody who was universally hated by every Jew. 00:45:33.660 |
In fact, the worst group to put together would have been the fishermen and this tax collector 00:45:40.660 |
because Matthew was from the same region that Peter and the other disciples came from, 00:45:47.660 |
which means that Matthew was the one who knocked on the door. 00:45:51.660 |
Matthew was the one, if they had a great catch and brought it in, 00:45:54.660 |
he would have been the one standing there waiting as they're counting the fish. 00:46:02.660 |
You know, every time we have a retreat or we have small groups, 00:46:07.660 |
we spend hours wrestling over the small groups, right? 00:46:12.660 |
And those are guys who went to the retreat and especially the singles. 00:46:17.660 |
And every time we make those rooms, sometimes you ask, which is easy, 00:46:20.660 |
and then those of you who don't ask, we have to sit there like, oh, are they going to fit together? 00:46:27.660 |
Do they have some drama in the past and we can't put them together? 00:46:30.660 |
So we have to think through all of these things to make sure that we're putting people in the right place. 00:46:34.660 |
And that's just a small group of any four or even Bible study of six or seven. 00:46:41.660 |
I mean, you're gathering 12 people and seven of them, 00:46:46.660 |
or they have a history of having their money embezzled by one of them, 00:46:53.660 |
and he chooses to put them together and travel together for three years. 00:46:59.660 |
I think most of us would have predicted this is not going to work out. 00:47:04.660 |
Matthew is going to die, basically, when Jesus goes up to sleep and then goes to pray. 00:47:09.660 |
And by the time he comes back, they're going to have 11 disciples. 00:47:13.660 |
You wouldn't predict that because that's kind of hatred that they had toward Matthew. 00:47:19.660 |
The question that we ask is why was he chosen among them? 00:47:23.660 |
We understand that he didn't choose the aristocrats. 00:47:26.660 |
He didn't choose the big names or the wealthy people or have a good track record. 00:47:35.660 |
But to have somebody that was literally taking their money, 00:47:39.660 |
you have to understand that this wasn't simply just taken from wealthy people. 00:47:44.660 |
You know, some of these guys are just wrestling to pay their bills, 00:47:48.660 |
and you see a tax collector coming knocking on their door. 00:47:51.660 |
They say, "Hey, you know, you're giving milk. Where'd you get that milk?" 00:47:57.660 |
If a mother's carrying the baby to go to the hospital or wherever they're going to give birth 00:48:01.660 |
or to get medical attention, they can tax that, the fact that you're on their road. 00:48:07.660 |
So this guy was considered the worst of sinners. 00:48:12.660 |
In fact, a tax collector is often equated either the worst of sinners or tax collector or a what? 00:48:22.660 |
And they were used simultaneously as the worst of the worst of the worst. 00:48:26.660 |
And that's how the nation viewed them, but even more practically, the disciples. 00:48:36.660 |
This was a guy who was taking our money, our milk money. 00:48:40.660 |
And because they were going around taking money that people didn't want to give, 00:48:46.660 |
They needed strong men to be able to go around and force people to pay the money. 00:48:52.660 |
So this guy, again, I mean, I'm not exaggerating. 00:49:04.660 |
This morning, I want to give you two things that are pretty obvious in this text. 00:49:08.660 |
One, Matthew was chosen deliberately for the purpose of challenging the religious system of that time. 00:49:17.660 |
Remember when John the Baptist, when he came out to baptize and he was preparing for the way of Christ, 00:49:24.660 |
So anybody who wanted to hear from him, that clearly he's a prophet. 00:49:31.660 |
Everybody is saying that this guy is speaking for God, but he's not speaking at the temple. 00:49:37.660 |
So even the Pharisees were curious, what's going on? 00:49:41.660 |
They had to leave the epicenter of Judaism to go out to listen to him. 00:49:46.660 |
And then when Jesus comes, he takes it to the next level. 00:49:51.660 |
Everything about his choice was to challenge the religious system. 00:49:56.660 |
He wasn't simply coming and saying, "Hey, you guys need some reform." 00:49:58.660 |
The way you're running the temple, collecting money, making disciples, how you're worshiping God, 00:50:03.660 |
what you think is right, you know, we're going to have to do some tweaking and bring some revival into the system. 00:50:09.660 |
He actually challenged the whole system itself. 00:50:13.660 |
The whole system had to be torn down and he needed to start over. 00:50:21.660 |
Remember in Romans 12, 2-3, those of you guys who remember the study of the Book of Romans, 00:50:26.660 |
Romans is a challenge against the Jews because they had such a hard time opening up the kingdom of God to the Gentiles. 00:50:34.660 |
So the whole Book of Romans is challenging the religious system of the Jews. 00:50:40.660 |
That the kingdom of God is not just for the Jews, but that God has opened the door for the Gentiles as well. 00:50:47.660 |
So Romans 12, verse 2 says, "Do not be conformed to this world, 00:50:53.660 |
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what the will of God is." 00:50:58.660 |
In other words, the Jews were having a hard time thinking of what they thought righteousness was. 00:51:05.660 |
And he said, "Your whole understanding, your whole paradigm has to change. 00:51:10.660 |
You have to understand the will of God, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." 00:51:14.660 |
And then he says, verse 3, "For through the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you, 00:51:18.660 |
not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think." 00:51:21.660 |
He's challenging the religious system because the Jews thought that they were ahead of the game of the Gentiles. 00:51:27.660 |
Those are sinners. Moses is our father. Abraham is our father. 00:51:35.660 |
And so the whole letter of Romans is to challenge that thinking, "No, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." 00:51:42.660 |
Those who are under the law will be judged under the law. 00:51:44.660 |
Those who are without the law will be judged without the law. 00:51:46.660 |
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 00:51:50.660 |
So he's saying, "Your whole paradigm of how you understand your righteousness has to change." 00:51:59.660 |
The choice of Matthew would have completely challenged what they thought righteousness was. 00:52:07.660 |
Because they thought if the Messiah came, he would choose one of the Pharisees. 00:52:12.660 |
Pharisees were the ones who were keeping the law. 00:52:15.660 |
They were the ones who were teaching other people. 00:52:17.660 |
They were the ones who made sure that everybody followed the law. 00:52:24.660 |
Not only were they not chosen, this worst of sinners, the tax collector, he was chosen to be one of his disciples. 00:52:34.660 |
See, that's why the Scriptures tell us the first thing that a Christian must do before he can add anything or do anything is he must die. 00:52:46.660 |
The Bible says if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 00:52:54.660 |
Because if you retain your paradigm of what you had before you met Christ, everything you learn you put into that same bucket. 00:53:05.660 |
If you are a materialist, which is the whole world wrestles with this, 00:53:11.660 |
a materialist is somebody who sees blessings through the eyes of material things. 00:53:18.660 |
So, we talk about the health and wealth gospel people. 00:53:23.660 |
So whenever they hear the gospel, the good news is that if you are faithful to God, if you are righteous, God is going to bless you. 00:53:35.660 |
And you're going to live, again, a long life. 00:53:37.660 |
Because they're hearing the gospel through the lens of a materialist. 00:53:42.660 |
But we don't have to go to Joel Osteen's church to hear the false gospel. 00:53:47.660 |
Because you can be here hearing the same gospel, but if you have the same paradigm as a materialist, 00:53:54.660 |
you thank God, "Oh, thank you for the grace that you've given me because I didn't have a job and now I have a job." 00:54:01.660 |
"Thank you for the blessing that you've given me. I was sick and I prayed and then you made me well." 00:54:07.660 |
"Thank you for being kind to me because I did my best to be faithful and I prayed and then you answered my prayer and I'm able to have a better retirement." 00:54:18.660 |
You don't have to go to a false gospel teaching church to be a materialist. 00:54:25.660 |
If we're not careful, we hear everything through the lens of a materialist. 00:54:33.660 |
We're thankful when things are going good, just like the eyes of the world. 00:54:38.660 |
And when things aren't going good, it's like, "Oh, what did I do wrong? Maybe I didn't pray enough. Maybe I didn't do this enough." 00:54:45.660 |
And that's because the old self has not died. 00:54:51.660 |
That everything that we hear goes into that bucket. 00:54:54.660 |
If you're an atheist, you hear the gospel and you say, "Oh, these are a lot of good teachings." 00:54:59.660 |
"Do unto others as you desire to do unto them, the golden rule." 00:55:03.660 |
And so you hear everything as an opportunity. 00:55:06.660 |
It's like, "Oh, he was a good man who set a good example." 00:55:08.660 |
"You want to learn good morals, the church or religion is the place to go." 00:55:12.660 |
If you're a theist, you hear that and say, "Oh, religion is good for society." 00:55:21.660 |
So religion is good, whether you're a Buddhist, whether you're a Muslim, whether you're a Christian. 00:55:30.660 |
A humanist will hear the gospel through the lens of how does it affect man. 00:55:34.660 |
So everything you hear the gospel is, "Oh, God loves us unconditionally." 00:55:38.660 |
"There's nothing you can do. God loves you no matter what." 00:55:42.660 |
And so the worst sin that you can commit is have somebody offended in the church. 00:55:47.660 |
The worst sin that you can do is somebody come in and say, "I was discouraged." 00:55:56.660 |
A legalist is somebody who hears the gospel and the first thing that they run to, "Okay, now what do I do?" 00:56:03.660 |
"What do I do? What do I do to become better?" 00:56:07.660 |
"What do I do so that I can earn my way and be discipled into the next level?" 00:56:14.660 |
The Pharisees saw their whole religion as a system of do's and don'ts that they need to climb up this ladder. 00:56:22.660 |
And in this ladder, the Pharisees were on the top and the tax collectors were on the bottom. 00:56:28.660 |
So the fact that Jesus asked tax collector to be one of his disciples, they just couldn't fathom. 00:56:38.660 |
Because it challenged their whole religious outlook. 00:56:43.660 |
Just kind of like if you're a materialist and you're coming to praise God and you become a Christian 00:56:53.660 |
All of a sudden you experience foreclosure or bankruptcy. 00:57:01.660 |
"I followed you. I became a Christian. What happened?" 00:57:04.660 |
And it completely destroys your paradigm of what you understand as a blessing from God. 00:57:10.660 |
Jesus chose Matthew because it completely challenged the fundamental core of what they believed was right and wrong. 00:57:19.660 |
I mean, I can go on and on about the response that the Pharisees and the scribes gave in Luke 5.30. 00:57:27.660 |
It says, "The Pharisees and the scribes began grumbling in their disciples, saying, 00:57:30.660 |
'Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?'" 00:57:35.660 |
Luke 15.1-2, "Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near him to listen to him. 00:57:40.660 |
Both the Pharisees and the scribes began grumbling, saying, 'This man receives sinners and eats with them.'" 00:57:46.660 |
I mean, they were bothered and triggered just the fact that Jesus was hanging around them. 00:57:52.660 |
Jesus just went to their house and they're like, "What kind of a Messiah, what kind of a man of God is that?" 00:57:58.660 |
So can you imagine if it triggered them for Jesus to be eating with them? 00:58:03.660 |
Can you imagine how it must have triggered them that Jesus chose one of them to be his disciple? 00:58:10.660 |
How much they were stirred, how angry they were. 00:58:13.660 |
That in and of itself, like he's disqualified. 00:58:18.660 |
Because he doesn't fit. It wasn't just the fact that he didn't go and conquer Rome. 00:58:21.660 |
Even his choosing of the disciples disqualifies him because he went against everything that they thought. 00:58:27.660 |
That's why they kept on asking, "How come they don't keep the Sabbath? 00:58:33.660 |
Because that fit into their religious system. 00:58:36.660 |
In fact, they hated the tax collectors so much that by their law, the tax collectors were banned from the synagogue and the temple. 00:58:47.660 |
In fact, in their Talmud, in their law system, they actually said, "It is righteous to lie and cheat a tax collector." 00:59:00.660 |
Since he does that for a living, it's only right that we treat him the way he deserves. 00:59:05.660 |
So by their law, tax collectors, you can lie to them. You can cheat them. 00:59:09.660 |
Again, can you imagine how much this must have triggered? 00:59:13.660 |
In fact, not only does he choose them as his disciples, as they kept on challenging Jesus, 00:59:17.660 |
in Matthew 21, 31, Jesus turns the table around and says, 00:59:21.660 |
"Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you.'" 00:59:31.660 |
So if they were angered that Jesus was eating with them, hanging out with them, and then even choosing them as his disciples, 00:59:40.660 |
can you imagine how much this would have angered them? 00:59:43.660 |
Not only are you wrong about all of this stuff, but they're actually more righteous than you. 00:59:49.660 |
They're going to enter the kingdom before you. 00:59:52.660 |
These were the guys who dedicated themselves to be religious pure. 01:00:01.660 |
They were the ones who tithed even the minute details of their income. 01:00:07.660 |
I mean, on the surface, they did everything righteous, and then can you imagine Jesus saying, 01:00:11.660 |
"No, the tax collector, who's a traitor to the country, who's embezzling people, taking money from poor families, 01:00:25.660 |
In 1 Corinthians 1.18, it says, "The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, 01:00:29.660 |
but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God." 01:00:33.660 |
So we can understand how, if you're not a Christian, you don't understand the gospel, why this would be so offensive. 01:00:42.660 |
Why would somebody who dedicated his life to embezzle other people get in the front line? 01:00:49.660 |
And why would the people who were religious leaders who dedicated their lives to study the Torah 01:00:55.660 |
and then to disciple other people be in the back of the line? 01:01:00.660 |
Everything that was doing it was to challenge the core of what they believed to be right and wrong. 01:01:12.660 |
But the reason why he needed to do that was not simply to slap them and say, "Hey, your whole system is wrong." 01:01:18.660 |
The reason why he did that was because they needed to first die. 01:01:23.660 |
Their whole paradigm needs to be shifted in order for the gospel to come in. 01:01:29.660 |
Because the gospel is not going to make any sense to a Pharisee. 01:01:33.660 |
The gospel message, the whole reason why Jesus came, isn't going to make any sense to a Pharisee 01:01:39.660 |
who his whole system of righteousness is, "We're going to keep the law. We're going to be good enough. 01:01:46.660 |
And then all of a sudden Jesus comes and says, "Your righteousness is based on faith, not by your works." 01:01:52.660 |
So he needed to make sure that they understood that I didn't come to bolster up your system. 01:01:57.660 |
I came to challenge your system and then to highlight the new gospel, the good news. 01:02:09.660 |
"It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 01:02:15.660 |
Among whom I am foremost of all, yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, 01:02:21.660 |
Jesus Christ might demonstrate his perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in him for eternal life." 01:02:34.660 |
If we were to choose based upon human ability, 01:02:38.660 |
Apostle Paul would have been at the top of that list, right? 01:02:41.660 |
So you say, "Why didn't he choose Paul to begin with? 01:02:44.660 |
Why the disciples and, you know, like the tax collector? 01:03:01.660 |
So that guy fit every quality that you would think was necessary in order for him to be an apostle of Christ. 01:03:09.660 |
But just so that you and I don't understand that we focus our attention on the wrong thing, 01:03:25.660 |
That his perfect patience, his perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in him for eternal life, 01:03:32.660 |
that if that guy, if that guy who was trying to murder us, 01:03:36.660 |
that guy was so wrong about Christ that he murdered people, persecuted. 01:03:48.660 |
If he can come into the kingdom and he can be used to highlight the mercy of God. 01:03:54.660 |
You know, oftentimes we hear people say that we're kind of diamonds in the rough and we're in the dirt. 01:04:01.660 |
And so God has perfect vision and so he knows our potential better than us. 01:04:05.660 |
So he finds a diamond in the rough and then he touches us and cleans us up so that we can live up to the full potential. 01:04:16.660 |
Scripture tells us that it's not the full potential that he's releasing because the purpose of the cross is to highlight Christ. 01:04:27.660 |
He's given unworthy people, a tax collector who deserve nothing, for what purpose? 01:04:44.660 |
And that's why Paul says, "When I am weak, he is strong." 01:04:48.660 |
The goal of a Christian life is not to tap into our potential. 01:04:52.660 |
The goal of a Christian life is in our weakness to point to Christ. 01:04:57.660 |
That if somebody like Apostle Paul, somebody like Matthew, can be forgiven of their sins and used for his kingdom. 01:05:06.660 |
See, Matthew's choice as a disciple gives hope to the prostitutes. 01:05:20.660 |
It gives hope to the poor, the insignificant. 01:05:27.660 |
I don't have any access to education. I don't have any access. I'm not this and I'm not that. 01:05:35.660 |
Jesus is just the choosing of his disciples just turned the table upside down. 01:05:41.660 |
What was good became bad and what was bad became good. 01:05:44.660 |
In Luke 5, 31, 32, "And Jesus answered and said to them, 'It is not those who are well who need a physician.'" 01:05:50.660 |
And this was a rebuke against the Pharisees because they didn't know that they were sick. 01:05:59.660 |
Remember the parable that he gives in order to rebuke the Pharisees? 01:06:04.660 |
He said, "You had two people go up and the Pharisee was bragging about how I'm not like this and I pay tithe and I keep the law." 01:06:14.660 |
"The tax collector was beating his chest," he says. He couldn't even lift his head. 01:06:20.660 |
And Jesus says, "Whose sins was forgiven? The tax collector." 01:06:25.660 |
You know what's interesting about that parable? 01:06:35.660 |
Matthew was there. You think Jesus didn't know Matthew was there? 01:06:39.660 |
He was rebuking the Pharisee but he was confirming for Matthew. 01:06:43.660 |
Matthew went up there and he's beating his chest because that was Matthew. 01:06:55.660 |
This nice house that I'm living in, I took it away from that poor family. 01:06:59.660 |
He knew his sin. He's the guy who was beating his chest. 01:07:06.660 |
And Jesus tells him, "Whose sins were forgiven? Who became righteous?" 01:07:13.660 |
Matthew was there when he was telling that parable. 01:07:17.660 |
He wanted to rebuke the Pharisees but he also wanted to encourage Matthew. 01:07:24.660 |
This is the gospel that he was trying to highlight. 01:07:27.660 |
You know what's interesting? Matthew becomes the author of the gospel of Matthew, obviously. 01:07:34.660 |
What's interesting about the gospel of Matthew is that it contains more Old Testament quotes than any other gospel. 01:07:40.660 |
In fact, 99 separate times. He quotes from the Psalms, he quotes from the historical books, he quotes from the prophets. 01:07:50.660 |
That's more than all the other gospels put together. 01:07:55.660 |
And the reason why is because the highlight of Matthew's gospel 01:07:58.660 |
is to connect the dots between the old prophecies about Christ and how Jesus fulfills. 01:08:04.660 |
And so, every gospel highlights a certain aspect of Christ. 01:08:16.660 |
Mark's gospel emphasizes his miracles, his works. 01:08:25.660 |
Which is ironic because Matthew was the one who rejected Israel. 01:08:34.660 |
He was the one that empowered the pagan nation to rule over Israel. 01:08:40.660 |
And yet, Matthew was the one who was chosen to remind the nation of Israel that he's the king. 01:08:50.660 |
So if you were an unbeliever, you would look at that and say, "Matthew, I can't read a word that Matthew said. 01:09:04.660 |
But to those who are being saved, the highlight wasn't about Matthew. 01:09:10.660 |
It was that even somebody like Matthew, God can save. 01:09:28.660 |
You know what's interesting was when Jesus calls Matthew, his sin wasn't way behind him. 01:09:35.660 |
It's like, "Oh, that guy used to do this. How can we forgive him? 01:09:40.660 |
Remember when Jesus called Matthew what he was doing? 01:09:48.660 |
He was in the middle of collecting his taxes. 01:09:51.660 |
So can you imagine the other disciples walking with Christ and pointing to Matthew and saying, "Matthew, come with me." 01:10:05.660 |
That Matthew could not have possibly been educated in the synagogue because he wasn't allowed to go there. 01:10:12.660 |
He could not have gotten any formal education about the Old Testament because he wasn't allowed. 01:10:17.660 |
Which means that all the things that he knew about the Old Testament, Matthew probably was studying by himself, 01:10:23.660 |
but he probably knew he's the worst of sinners, but there was a hunger for God that he couldn't join the regular community. 01:10:31.660 |
But can you imagine when Jesus said, "No, you come with me," that in his heart, even in the middle of his sin, he was searching for God. 01:10:46.660 |
But I know if you've been a Christian for any period of time, you know exactly how that feels like. 01:10:52.660 |
In the middle of your struggle, in the middle of your compromise, in the deep sense of your heart, you know you want God. 01:11:05.660 |
Even after all these years, I'm still struggling with this. 01:11:10.660 |
And it is our own sense of justice that keeps us away from his grace. 01:11:18.660 |
That Matthew was very interested in the Messiah. 01:11:22.660 |
And that's why he knew so much about the Old Testament. 01:11:25.660 |
But he couldn't possibly fathom, "How can I possibly go to him? 01:11:36.660 |
And the Scripture tells us that he dropped everything. Immediately, he went to him. 01:11:41.660 |
You know, the Scripture says, "Those who have been forgiven much also love much." 01:11:51.660 |
Matthew, I bet you, the whole time he was with Jesus, loved Christ deeply. 01:12:00.660 |
That every time the Pharisees, like, "He's with that tax collector? 01:12:06.660 |
He's eating with him? He's walking with him? That guy?" 01:12:11.660 |
Because I don't think anybody ever let Jesus forget or let him forget who he was. 01:12:16.660 |
And every time there was an indictment against Matthew, he remembered, "Only by the grace of God. 01:12:27.660 |
Even though he—you know, what's interesting about Matthew's gospel is Matthew rarely mentions anything about himself. 01:12:33.660 |
He's just in the background. He's just keeping the record, "This is the king. This is the king. This is the king." 01:12:38.660 |
And outside of what he pens about Jesus, we know nothing about Matthew's personality, character, nothing. 01:12:43.660 |
All we know is he does—he writes this awesome gospel, but he's just in the background. 01:12:52.660 |
This is a state of a humble sinner who's been saved by the grace of God. 01:12:58.660 |
And that's you and I, every single one of us. 01:13:02.660 |
None of us—I don't know, man, how much Bible you know, how much accolades or experiences. 01:13:10.660 |
None of us are here by even an ounce of our own righteousness. 01:13:16.660 |
It's because while we were yet sinners, Christ called us. 01:13:19.660 |
In fact, in Romans 5, 6 through 10, it says, "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly." 01:13:26.660 |
Verse 8, "But God demonstrates his long life toward us. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." 01:13:31.660 |
Verse 10, "For while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son." 01:13:37.660 |
While we were helpless, while we were sinners, while we were enemies, Christ chose to love us and called us. 01:13:47.660 |
See, the core of our worship is recognizing this grace that you and I are under, and we come to Christ to worship him, to celebrate him. 01:14:00.660 |
That's why the Bible is so clear about grumbling, because a grumbling person cannot be worshiping God. 01:14:07.660 |
You know, what's interesting is, you know, recently somebody won $1.5 billion. I forgot where it was, right? 01:14:13.660 |
I don't know if some of you guys were watching to see where this was going to happen, but I think it was second to the largest lottery ever. 01:14:22.660 |
You know, what's interesting is whenever the lottery is won, there's always an article that follows saying, "Well, he doesn't actually get $1.5 billion." 01:14:30.660 |
If you consider the taxes and the payment that he gets, and if you calculate all the things that he has to do, it actually only comes out to $470 million. 01:14:39.660 |
So, it's not $1.5 billion, right? He hasn't really won $1.5 billion. 01:14:46.660 |
He's like, "Are you serious?" You know who's not doing that? The guy who won $470 million. 01:14:57.660 |
I bet you that guy is not calculating. "Oh my gosh, they took almost a billion dollars. What kind of injustice is this? 01:15:05.660 |
What kind of a taxation is this? We need to fight the system. I got to get that billion dollar back." 01:15:13.660 |
I bet you he's going home, "I won $470 million." 01:15:20.660 |
Every single Christian is a Matthew who did not deserve the grace of God, who was chosen to spite. 01:15:29.660 |
As a result, we live the rest of our lives celebrating and thanking him, praising him for what he has done. 01:15:36.660 |
The moment that we forget that you and I are Matthews, and we revert back to our old system, we've become grumblers, complainers. 01:15:50.660 |
"Yeah, I got $1.5 billion, but why did you take that much money? I could have done so much more with $1.5 billion instead of $470 million." 01:16:00.660 |
As ridiculous as that sounds, that's what it must sound like in the ears of our God. 01:16:08.660 |
"I gave you my son. I gave you my son, and you're complaining because you don't have enough money? 01:16:15.660 |
You're complaining because you don't have enough friends? You're complaining because of this and that?" 01:16:21.660 |
The whole reason why Matthew was chosen was to nullify the world system and to bring in the good news. 01:16:33.660 |
I pray that every single one of us in this room recognize every week in a deepening fashion what it is exactly that we have in Christ. 01:16:46.660 |
That as Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, "There's going to come a time whether you worship in this mountain or that mountain, 01:16:53.660 |
that that's not going to be the primary concern, that our God is searching for people who will worship him in spirit and in truth, 01:17:01.660 |
and that that would become our primary goal in life, the primary reason why we gather, 01:17:07.660 |
the primary reason why we study the Word of God, to be worshipers so that God would receive what he deserves for his sacrifice. 01:17:30.660 |
As our team comes up, I want you to read the lyrics of the song that we're going to sing as our closing praise. 01:17:37.660 |
It says, "O come, all you unfaithful, come weak and unstable, come, know you are not alone. 01:17:45.660 |
O come, barren and waiting ones, weary of praying, come. 01:17:50.660 |
So what your God has done, see what your God has done, Christ is born, Christ is born, Christ is born. 01:17:57.660 |
O come, bitter and broken, come with fears unspoken, come, taste of his perfect love, O come, guilty and hiding ones, 01:18:04.660 |
there is no need to run, see what your God has done, Christ is born, Christ is born. 01:18:10.660 |
He's the Lamb who was given, slain for our pardon, his promise is peace for those who believe. 01:18:17.660 |
He's the Lamb who was given, slain for our pardon, his promise is peace for those who believe. 01:18:23.660 |
So come, though you have nothing, come, he is the offering, come, see what your God has done." 01:18:39.660 |
Help us, Lord God, to remember that we were sinners, unworthy of what you've given us. 01:18:50.660 |
That every day that you would fill our hearts with praise and thanksgiving, 01:18:58.660 |
that your name may be magnified, that you would renew the life that oftentimes is suffocated 01:19:07.660 |
because we have fixed our eyes on things that don't matter in eternity. 01:19:13.660 |
Help us, Lord God, to become true worshipers, that we would celebrate as Matthew did when he was chosen. 01:19:21.660 |
May your name be honored, may your church be filled with true worship. 01:19:40.660 |
"Oh come, all you unfaithful, come, weak and unstable, come, know you are not alone. 01:19:56.660 |
Oh come, barren and braiding ones, weary of praying, come, see what your God has done. 01:20:11.660 |
Christ is born, Christ is born, Christ is born for you. 01:20:32.660 |
Oh come, bitter and broken, come, with fears unspoken, come, taste of his perfect love. 01:20:48.660 |
Oh come, empty and hiding ones, there is no need to run, see what your God has done. 01:21:03.660 |
Christ is born, Christ is born, Christ is born for you. 01:21:20.660 |
He's the Lamb who was given, slain for our pardon, his promise is peace for those who believe. 01:21:36.660 |
He's the Lamb who was given, slain for our pardon, his promise is peace for those who believe. 01:21:53.660 |
So come, though you have nothing, come, he is the offering, come, see what your God has done. 01:22:08.660 |
Christ is born, Christ is born, Christ is born for you. 01:22:24.660 |
Christ is born, Christ is born, Christ is born for you. 01:22:50.660 |
Isaiah 55, verse 1, "Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. 01:23:00.660 |
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost." 01:23:05.660 |
Lord, we pray that a deepening understanding of the glory of the gospel of Christ would penetrate so deeply in our hearts 01:23:14.660 |
that all that we do and say would be an overflow of the tremendous grace that you've given us. 01:23:20.660 |
Help us, Lord God, to have an eternal perspective, knowing that what it is that we have in Christ, 01:23:26.660 |
that we would enter your courts with thanksgiving in our hearts, 01:23:30.660 |
that we would become more and more each week, worshipers who will worship you in spirit and in truth. 01:23:37.660 |
Help us to be a church that celebrates your grace, that practices this grace, 01:23:42.660 |
that we may live up to this grace that you've given. 01:23:48.660 |
Send us, Lord God, that we may be the aroma of Christ wherever you send us. 01:24:25.660 |
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lived. 01:25:05.660 |
And life is worth the living just because he lives.