back to index2015-08-09 Serving the Lord with All Your Heart
00:00:00.000 |
To Romans chapter one, as you guys know, we visited the Troy family, the BMC up north. 00:00:10.000 |
And I know we've all been praying for Emily and their family. 00:00:13.100 |
But this coming coming weeks are extremely crucial. 00:00:17.440 |
They're leaving for New York tomorrow and they're going to be out there and they're 00:00:23.600 |
And then at the end of the week, they're going to find out exactly what procedure they're 00:00:28.000 |
And most likely, the parents told us that she's going to end up having surgery. 00:00:32.600 |
And if everything goes well, they're going to give her time to recuperate. 00:00:35.000 |
And they're hoping to be back at at their home up north in about three weeks. 00:00:40.600 |
But from the very beginning, when we heard about this news, they said that the best case 00:00:46.760 |
So there's a two year old child where they're going into her brain and taking out two tumors. 00:00:52.040 |
And so I know we've all been praying, but especially for the next three weeks, it's 00:00:57.880 |
And so we asked that you would really be on your knees and be prayer for Emily and for 00:01:03.920 |
And I know that the initial shock of the news, we've kind of gotten accustomed to it and 00:01:10.120 |
But like I said, the next three weeks are crucial. 00:01:13.520 |
And so that again, that the doctors who are performing surgery, that they'll go in and 00:01:18.360 |
they'll be able to be as precise as possible because it is brain surgery. 00:01:22.720 |
They did caution that there's a possibility of after effects. 00:01:29.400 |
And you know, I won't get into the details, but there's a lot of concern for that. 00:01:32.480 |
So if you guys can please continue to be in prayer and they're going to be out in New 00:01:37.400 |
They have some people coming in and out, but for the most part, they're going to be alone. 00:01:40.880 |
They're not going to have the support system that they had up north. 00:01:43.680 |
So please, please continue to keep them in your prayers. 00:01:50.600 |
Now, if you can turn your Bibles to Romans chapter one, we'll be reading from verse eight 00:01:55.580 |
Our primary focus this morning is going to be from 11 through 15, but I'll be reading 00:02:03.640 |
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed 00:02:09.400 |
For God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son, that without 00:02:14.320 |
ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now 00:02:21.020 |
For I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you. 00:02:25.480 |
That is that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. 00:02:30.320 |
I want you to know brothers that I have often intended to come to you, but thus far have 00:02:34.880 |
been prevented in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest 00:02:41.080 |
I am under obligation both to the Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the 00:02:45.440 |
foolish, so I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 00:02:52.440 |
Heavenly Father, we pray for your anointing, your blessing. 00:02:56.960 |
We pray, Father God, that your word would go forth with the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:03:01.440 |
It would convict us, encourage us, strengthen us, and remind us, Lord God, who we are in 00:03:07.160 |
you and our calling, Lord God, that we may live lives truly worthy of the glory of Jesus 00:03:15.800 |
As we've been studying through the book of Romans, you know, last few times we were talking 00:03:21.040 |
about how chapter 1 is basically, half of chapter 1 is an introduction of Apostle Paul. 00:03:26.120 |
He's going to get into the meat of what he wants to say to this church and start from 00:03:30.800 |
And so the gospel message, we'll be there in about two weeks, but the gospel message 00:03:34.280 |
in verse 18 begins with "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." 00:03:39.240 |
Before he begins to introduce why there is a need for Jesus, why he died, what his death 00:03:43.800 |
means, there has to be a conviction for the need for the gospel. 00:03:48.380 |
If there isn't a deep brokenness over our sins, the gospel is just going to be message. 00:03:55.440 |
It's just going to be news, but it's not good news. 00:03:58.600 |
So we're going to dive into that when we get to verse 18, but prior to that, Paul begins 00:04:02.360 |
to introduce himself because he hasn't been to this church. 00:04:05.820 |
They know of him, and he knows of them, but they don't know each other intimately. 00:04:10.060 |
So we looked at in the beginning, Paul begins the letter by introduction of himself, who 00:04:15.560 |
He's a bond servant of Jesus Christ, called as an apostle for the purpose of the gospel. 00:04:20.720 |
The second week we talked about his message, how this message was not something that he 00:04:26.600 |
It was given to all the prophets of the Old Testament, and now we see in every part of 00:04:31.040 |
Israel's history the preparation for the coming of Christ, and we looked at that when we talked 00:04:37.520 |
A couple weeks ago we talked about his ministry. 00:04:40.940 |
He talked about himself, he talked about the gospel, he talked about his ministry, and 00:04:44.820 |
we talked about how personal his ministry was. 00:04:48.760 |
That it wasn't just his job, it was his calling. 00:04:51.740 |
That he, this is my God, this is, you are my, in my heart, my prayer. 00:04:59.600 |
Well today we're going to be talking about Paul's goal in ministry. 00:05:03.340 |
So he's laying all this out before he actually even jumps into the message. 00:05:08.700 |
Well, he explains that to us again, if you were to go back with us in verse 11, he explains 00:05:17.260 |
And again, why he's even writing this letter. 00:05:19.060 |
It says, "For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen 00:05:26.820 |
So his whole reason why he wants to come to Rome is so that they may be strengthened. 00:05:32.540 |
But what he says initially, he says, "I want to impart some spiritual gifts to you, to 00:05:37.060 |
So there's some debate as to what does he mean when Paul says he's coming to strengthen 00:05:45.260 |
Now if you are, if you have a charismatic background, or maybe you've been taught differently, 00:05:50.100 |
you may say, "Well, Paul's talking about spiritual gifts as in he's laying hands, and they're 00:05:54.700 |
going to speak in tongues, and prophecy, and gift of healing." 00:05:59.980 |
Not to say that we can't say that, but again, whenever we look at scripture, you have to 00:06:04.340 |
make sure that scripture is reinterpreting scripture. 00:06:09.300 |
And we have to understand when Paul uses certain languages, that he's consistent with the other 00:06:15.500 |
He's consistent with what other people say, right? 00:06:20.040 |
So what we want to look at, when Paul says that he's imparting spiritual gifts, and for 00:06:24.820 |
the purpose of strengthening them, what do other passages and other parts of the Bible 00:06:31.500 |
Turn your Bibles with me to Ephesians chapter 4, 11 through 14. 00:06:34.380 |
Now, I don't want to spend too much time on this because that's not the main point, but 00:06:38.260 |
I do want to touch upon it because it is an issue that is talked about and debated. 00:06:50.020 |
It describes how church is strengthened and built up and united. 00:06:54.580 |
And this is what it says, Ephesians 4, 11 through 14. 00:06:57.320 |
With his own words, Paul writes this, "And he, Jesus, gave the apostles," and again, 00:07:03.780 |
this is not just a generic use of the term apostle. 00:07:07.380 |
He's talking about specifically the few apostles that were anointed, right? 00:07:12.540 |
Specifically called, "the prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip the saints 00:07:20.540 |
So if you notice, every one of these titles, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, 00:07:25.500 |
and teachers, that every single one of them, there's a unifying calling for each one of 00:07:31.420 |
And I think it's pretty obvious that the primary work of each of these offices is to preach 00:07:42.740 |
That's the apostles are receiving revelation from Christ, and so they're teaching and preaching 00:07:49.140 |
The prophets are proclaiming this, what they have heard, and then evangelists are to go 00:07:57.260 |
Pastors are to teach and to equip and shepherd within the church. 00:08:00.340 |
And then the teachers, obviously, is to, it's pretty obvious, even in the name itself. 00:08:06.060 |
That God, Christ, gave the church, these people, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, 00:08:13.160 |
to strengthen them for the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain the 00:08:17.420 |
unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God. 00:08:21.580 |
So the primary way that God has given the church to strengthen the church is by the 00:08:28.060 |
To mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may 00:08:33.900 |
no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried away by every wind of 00:08:37.980 |
doctrine by humankind by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 00:08:44.220 |
You may look at that pastor and say, "Well, he's imparting spiritual gifts, we don't have 00:08:47.520 |
apostles to come, and if he's laying hands on people so that they can prophesy and they 00:08:57.540 |
And we don't have people coming around and giving these spiritual gifts." 00:09:01.460 |
But I don't think that that's what Paul is talking about predominantly. 00:09:04.420 |
Not that Paul as an apostle couldn't do that, but if you look at the other text in the Bible, 00:09:08.540 |
it is clear that what Paul and what Christ says predominantly, what he has given the 00:09:14.420 |
church to equip and to strengthen, to unify the church, is the Word of God. 00:09:19.700 |
Even Christ himself said, "The whole reason why you perform miracles is so that they would 00:09:24.700 |
identify who he is and hear his message and believe him and follow him." 00:09:29.300 |
Think about all those people who've seen his miracles and yet when he was going to the 00:09:37.380 |
He's talking about the Trinity, he's seen his glory, but he says, "We have something 00:09:45.340 |
See, Paul, his intention, his goal of ministry is by coming to Rome and to continue to teach, 00:09:54.660 |
continue to clarify the Gospel, which is exactly what he's going to be doing in the Book of 00:09:57.740 |
Romans, in order that they may be strengthened. 00:10:06.660 |
Paul writes to Titus and he tells him, "The whole reason why I left you in the island 00:10:11.380 |
of Crete is so that you may continue and finish the work that we started and establish elders 00:10:18.580 |
He didn't just go there and preach the Gospel and then move on and say, "Oh, you know what? 00:10:22.300 |
These people made decisions, so I'm going to move on." 00:10:24.860 |
His whole goal was to establish and plant the church, and then he says, "You need to 00:10:29.860 |
These people were converted, so you can disciple them, and that those disciples will eventually 00:10:34.520 |
become elders, and when you have elders in the church, then you can move on, so that 00:10:38.340 |
they can continue to equip and to strengthen the church." 00:10:42.280 |
So you can see that even in Paul, when he goes to each of these places, that his goal 00:10:46.500 |
is not simply to say, "Thus saith the Lord," and he hears the Gospel and then move on. 00:10:54.620 |
That's his intention from the beginning, when he sent out his disciples. 00:10:57.380 |
He didn't say, "Go and tell them what the Gospel is." 00:11:05.820 |
Some of you guys who are with us in the study of the book of Acts, something very important 00:11:11.980 |
Acts chapter 15, there is the first council of the church, where all the apostles and 00:11:17.220 |
the disciples get together, and there's a discussion that takes place that, "Did the 00:11:26.260 |
And they have this huge discussion that the Gentiles do not need to be circumcised. 00:11:30.820 |
That they don't need to become a Jew in order to become a Christian. 00:11:37.100 |
For thousands of years, they thought that the Kingdom of God was about Israel. 00:11:41.820 |
But all of a sudden, the Kingdom of God is open to the Gentiles. 00:11:44.540 |
So Apostle Paul and his companions take this message, and his whole second missionary journey 00:11:51.180 |
begins because he's trying to convey this message to these villages. 00:11:55.580 |
So he goes to the villages and he's sharing with them the vastness of his kingdom and 00:12:01.380 |
How the Kingdom of God has been open to the Gentiles, you don't need to be circumcised. 00:12:06.180 |
Acts chapter 16, 5, his second ministry journey of clarifying the Gospel, he says this, "So 00:12:13.700 |
the churches were strengthened in faith, and they increased in numbers daily." 00:12:23.580 |
Not because he was performing miracles, but because he was clarifying the Gospel. 00:12:29.860 |
So as they heard the Word of God, they were being strengthened and being equipped. 00:12:35.060 |
And as a result of them being equipped, what happened? 00:12:38.780 |
Why, you know, I'm going to take a few minutes to stop and talk about this for a few minutes, 00:12:52.220 |
You know, when I was in seminary, there was this movement, this church marketing movement 00:12:57.260 |
And it's now, after what, about, what has it been, four or five years? 00:13:02.780 |
It's now that this movement has come in, it's kind of embedded itself in the church, it's 00:13:13.540 |
If you want the church to be successful, if you want it to grow, if you want to attract 00:13:20.820 |
You know, you can't just straight up give them theology. 00:13:24.180 |
You can't just straight up exposit the Bible, because no one's interested in that. 00:13:28.340 |
We have churches now, and we've heard of churches, I've met people who would say, "You can't 00:13:43.300 |
You can call it Bible study, but you can't actually study the Bible. 00:13:47.820 |
So, I've, every once in a while, I'll have fellowship outside of my little bubble, and 00:13:53.100 |
I'll try to fellowship with people from different denominations and different schools, and we 00:13:58.260 |
would have this conversation, talking about, "Oh, what does your church service look like? 00:14:01.260 |
You know, what does your Bible study, what does your discipleship look like?" 00:14:04.580 |
And sooner or later, we get to the conversation of, "How long is your sermon?" 00:14:12.180 |
And so, typically, I would say, "Well, I shoot for 40 minutes, and typically I fail. 00:14:16.700 |
If I shoot for 40 minutes, I usually go about 45 minutes. 00:14:19.980 |
Every once in a while, I go about 50 minutes." 00:14:23.100 |
And when I tell them, like, "50 minutes," people come. 00:14:31.300 |
Like, "People sit through that for 50 minutes?" 00:14:38.100 |
We call it Bible study, so we're studying the Bible." 00:14:48.020 |
Their experience has been, "Well, if we do this, you know, the people are just not interested, 00:14:52.220 |
Let's do something, you know, we'll just kind of sprinkle a little bit of the Bible, and 00:14:55.580 |
then spend the rest of the time rock climbing or something, and then that'll attract the 00:14:59.980 |
And the sad truth is, that's how churches, in a lot of circles, are growing. 00:15:06.020 |
But if you look at the early church, he said, "Why did it grow?" 00:15:12.140 |
He says, "Because the churches were being strengthened in faith. 00:15:14.060 |
Because their faith was being strengthened," he says, "that they were increasing in number." 00:15:19.820 |
We've always said, from the beginning of the church, and again, you know, I've gone through 00:15:23.460 |
that the first part of my younger ministry, you know, I didn't know, like, what I was 00:15:29.860 |
And seminary, to be honest, doesn't train you for ministry. 00:15:35.860 |
It doesn't teach how to do ministry, like, you know, how to do communion. 00:15:43.740 |
So, you know, first part of ministry, oh, that's what you're supposed to do. 00:15:47.980 |
I just tried this, and I tried this, and tried that. 00:15:53.700 |
You know, the youth group grew, the college ministry grew, the young adult ministry grew, 00:15:58.340 |
and it was growing, but I looked at the growth, and I was extremely dissatisfied. 00:16:04.140 |
I would stand up on a pulpit, on some Sundays, and I would just stand there, just looking 00:16:09.060 |
at the crowd, thinking, "These people could care less what I'm about to say." 00:16:14.860 |
But I have to say it anyway, because I'm getting paid. 00:16:17.420 |
You know, I got to, this is my job, so I have to say it. 00:16:21.900 |
And I remember during that period, after, I was thinking about it, I was like, "I don't 00:16:26.220 |
I feel more like a social worker than a preacher of the Word, you know? 00:16:30.340 |
Like, I got to song and dance to make sure everybody's happy, and everybody's getting 00:16:33.900 |
along, and, you know, I got to do this, and I got to do that. 00:16:36.700 |
And I got burned out, almost left the ministry, and again, the only reason why I stayed in 00:16:45.660 |
You know, I'm not going to go too deep into that, but she said, "Don't quit." 00:16:53.580 |
It's more complicated than that, but that's basically what happened. 00:16:56.540 |
So when we planted this church, we, I came in thinking, "You know what? 00:17:00.820 |
I don't know if the church is going to grow." 00:17:02.860 |
And it didn't, for the first six, seven years of the church. 00:17:07.860 |
But I'm not going to do that again, you know? 00:17:10.060 |
Because even if it grows, it's not what I want. 00:17:15.220 |
I saw the superficieness of the church, and I'm not going to be a part of that. 00:17:23.060 |
So our intention was, from the beginning and to this day, that whatever growth is going 00:17:29.780 |
to happen, it's going to happen because people want to know Christ. 00:17:37.940 |
Some of you guys may have already picked that up, you know what I mean? 00:17:50.220 |
I'm not going to go around and plug up holes and make it look professional and have color 00:17:56.260 |
But we're going to make sure that at the core of it, that what we do have is Christ, that 00:18:04.620 |
Because I believe whatever growth happens, that it should happen with genuine followers 00:18:12.260 |
That if the church is going to grow, it's going to grow because people are hungry for 00:18:18.780 |
Not because they want VBS for their children. 00:18:22.100 |
In and of itself, there's nothing wrong with that. 00:18:24.820 |
But the church should not grow because the Word of God is taught, but they're not interested, 00:18:31.340 |
Then after a while, you're going to have a church packed with people in the name of Jesus, 00:18:39.300 |
I'm absolutely convinced that if you are a genuine follower of Jesus Christ, nothing 00:18:55.540 |
Maybe you notice it or you don't notice it, but I'm absolutely convinced. 00:18:58.900 |
If you have been justified, and justification basically means you heard the Gospel of Jesus 00:19:06.740 |
You've seen the glory of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and you were attracted to Him. 00:19:14.340 |
That's why you're spending your free time serving the church. 00:19:17.060 |
Because you saw something in Christ that you couldn't find anywhere else but in Christ. 00:19:24.260 |
So if we continue to, if we build a church to give you anything else but Christ, we wouldn't 00:19:34.180 |
I believe that life is in Christ and it's in Christ alone. 00:19:37.380 |
That's why when Paul says he's come to strengthen the church, you know, we may hear what Paul 00:19:43.300 |
says, it's like, you know, again, Paul's talking to a church that he just said was a model 00:19:49.300 |
That their faith is being proclaimed all throughout the world. 00:19:51.620 |
So he's not talking about a church that's backsliding. 00:19:54.340 |
He's not talking about the Corinthians Church or the Laodicean Church or the Church of Ephesus. 00:20:01.140 |
And yet he says, "I want to come to you to impart some spiritual gifts that you may be 00:20:09.140 |
If you're not careful, you may listen to that and say, "You know, that sounds like 00:20:14.660 |
I used to get a B+ and she said, 'How come you didn't get an A?'" 00:20:17.820 |
You know, "I got 3.9 but she said, 'Why didn't you get 4.0?'" 00:20:31.380 |
He says, Paul says in Philippians chapter 1, 9-11, another exemplary church. 00:20:39.180 |
You know, these churches in Macedonia, the Philippian Church and the Thessalonian Church, 00:20:46.000 |
But because Jerusalem was experiencing this famine, they begged Paul, "Give us an opportunity 00:20:55.220 |
So this was a model church and he's writing this letter. 00:20:59.540 |
Philippians 1, 9-11, "And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more." 00:21:05.020 |
You guys don't need me to teach you because God Himself is teaching you about love. 00:21:11.820 |
"With knowledge and all discernment so that you may approve what is excellent and so to 00:21:15.420 |
be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that 00:21:19.100 |
comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God." 00:21:21.820 |
Again, you hear that and it's like, "Oh my gosh." 00:21:25.260 |
You're talking to an A student and they're saying, "Get an A+." 00:21:29.660 |
If you don't listen carefully of the meaning behind what Paul is saying, you're going to 00:21:36.180 |
Whenever there is a push to sanctification, legalism. 00:21:45.880 |
So let's get rid of that and just talk about justification. 00:21:49.100 |
How He loves us and how He accepts us so that we can be free every week. 00:21:53.660 |
So whenever this push towards sanctification happens, we say, "Burden." 00:21:58.420 |
So again, some of you may have already kind of like, "That sounds like A+." 00:22:04.700 |
Again to the Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 4.1, "Finally then, brothers, we ask you and 00:22:09.820 |
I mean, He doesn't just say, "Hey, you're doing great. 00:22:15.740 |
"Urge you in the Lord, Jesus, that as you receive from us how you ought to live and 00:22:19.900 |
please God just as you are already doing to do this more and more." 00:22:32.700 |
There's some of you who are high achievers, right? 00:22:52.660 |
And for the rest of us, "I haven't read a book in a couple years." 00:22:58.940 |
I say, "Every morning I wake up at 7, you wake up at 9, you know. 00:23:04.900 |
You start out your workout routine, you make it about half a day, you know, and it just 00:23:11.740 |
And then you read stuff like this, and He says, "No, you're doing great, but keep doing 00:23:23.020 |
You know, this sounds like a Pharisee burden. 00:23:31.020 |
Didn't the Pharisees take the Law of God and they added all of these things, and you've 00:23:35.020 |
You're obeying the Sabbath, and He said, "No, you've got to do more and more. 00:23:38.260 |
You're going to the temple giving sacrifices." 00:23:51.100 |
Because he's not talking to Pharisees, he's not talking to people in the Law, he's talking 00:23:55.280 |
about Christians in the church to push towards sanctification, to urge towards sanctification. 00:24:05.340 |
If that's not enough, let me give you a little bit more. 00:24:07.900 |
If you're burdened already, I'm going to burden you some more. 00:24:12.100 |
Peter says, and it's not just Paul, so you can't just blame Paul. 00:24:16.740 |
Peter says, "For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, 00:24:21.780 |
and with virtue knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, 00:24:25.500 |
steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, brotherly affection 00:24:30.820 |
For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful 00:24:49.580 |
If you've been a Christian for a while, push for sanctification is no longer something 00:25:00.900 |
Why is this church constantly pushing us to seek holiness? 00:25:12.860 |
And just kind of like, "That sounds Pharisaic." 00:25:31.300 |
And he says, "Present your body as a living sacrifice." 00:25:34.660 |
Fundamentally, so fundamentally, we misunderstand what sanctification is. 00:25:45.420 |
People think sanctification is a way for us to appease God. 00:25:50.500 |
That if we work and if we achieve a certain level, that we're going to get to a point 00:25:56.060 |
And so we see sanctification as a hoop that we need to jump through and a grade that we 00:26:02.540 |
need to meet in order to get to the side and get the reward. 00:26:06.460 |
But the problem is, no matter how high we go, we never quite make it. 00:26:17.980 |
Sanctification is not an avenue to jump through a hoop to get the reward on the other side. 00:26:29.660 |
Sanctification, spiritual growth, discipleship is the reward. 00:26:34.660 |
Paul says that "godliness with contentment in and of itself is great gain." 00:26:43.100 |
Let me explain to you why Paul keeps doing this. 00:26:50.620 |
When you move to another country, if you, let's say as an example to China, because 00:26:57.180 |
When you go to China and you move out there, one of the first things that you need to do 00:27:00.860 |
is you lived in American culture, you ate certain food, you spoke a certain language. 00:27:05.740 |
In order for you to adjust to that new country, what's the first thing that you need to do? 00:27:16.140 |
And then your diet is going to change, right? 00:27:18.300 |
So if you take all the habits that you have living in the United States and then you go 00:27:26.780 |
I'm only going to speak to people who speak English." 00:27:34.740 |
"Well, you know, I grew up in a Western freedom country and you're not going to let this communist 00:27:47.340 |
You're going to make everybody around you miserable. 00:27:50.100 |
And they're going to be looking at you like, "What is wrong with that guy? 00:27:55.580 |
Sanctification, the scripture describes, is moving from one kingdom to another. 00:28:01.980 |
In Colossians 1.13-14, he says, "He has delivered us from the domain of darkness, transferred 00:28:06.500 |
us to the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." 00:28:13.540 |
So we were once bound in the kingdom of darkness, and now we have been delivered from that. 00:28:19.260 |
Now we are in the kingdom of his glorious son. 00:28:22.940 |
So when we transfer this kingdom, the culture that you were used to, the food that you used 00:28:28.180 |
to eat, the kind of things that you were accustomed to in this kingdom, now is being transferred 00:28:37.860 |
Jesus Christ earned a citizenship and naturalized you as his adopted son. 00:28:43.100 |
But now that you are in his new kingdom, you are learning to function in his new kingdom. 00:28:47.700 |
Because the sooner you learn the language, the easier your life will be in the new kingdom. 00:28:52.820 |
The sooner you learn to eat Chinese food, you can eat anywhere you want. 00:28:57.620 |
The sooner you learn the culture, you can assimilate and be part of the people. 00:29:03.260 |
But as long as you hold on to that old kingdom, as long as you hold on to what you were used 00:29:08.020 |
to back over there, your life becomes that much more difficult. 00:29:16.100 |
Sanctification is freeing us from what used to bind us in our old kingdom. 00:29:21.380 |
So when we see sanctification as a hoop that we need to get through to get the rewards, 00:29:26.500 |
and not realizing that the more we become like Christ, the more free we are to live. 00:29:37.780 |
The more we live, the more we are closer to Christ. 00:29:41.180 |
The more we understand his heart, the more we speak his language, the more we are accustomed 00:29:46.020 |
to everything of Christ allows us to function in this new kingdom with joy. 00:29:51.420 |
Jesus Christ said, "If you drink of the water that is over here, you're going to be thirsty 00:29:54.900 |
again and you're going to have to keep going there. 00:29:57.100 |
But if you drink of the water that I give you, you will never thirst. 00:30:00.620 |
If you keep going back and eating of the bread that the world offers to you, you're going 00:30:05.700 |
But if you eat the bread that I give you, you will never go hungry again." 00:30:10.380 |
So the process of sanctification is moving us from one citizenship to another citizenship 00:30:19.740 |
And that's why Jesus says in John 10, 10, "I have come to give life and give this life 00:30:25.140 |
The very things that used to bind you, now God is challenging us, "Leave that aside and 00:30:30.340 |
come into my kingdom so that you may experience this joy and have this joy abundantly." 00:30:36.860 |
See, when we don't understand that, we think of sanctification as a task that we need to 00:30:45.100 |
And so whenever something becomes a task, it becomes burdensome. 00:30:51.180 |
Not realizing righteousness in itself is the reward. 00:30:56.260 |
If you're a Christian, if you are a true Christian, you will never experience more joy than when 00:31:06.140 |
That's why it says in Psalm chapter 1, "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel 00:31:11.540 |
of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners, sit in the seat of mockers, but his delight 00:31:14.940 |
is in the law of the Lord and on this law he meditates day and night." 00:31:18.700 |
He's like a tree planted by the living water. 00:31:35.020 |
See, what Paul is doing here, he's not burdening them. 00:31:39.020 |
You're doing a great job, but do this more and more." 00:31:54.420 |
The more accustomed you become to this new culture, the more you will be able to live 00:32:00.460 |
So righteousness and holiness is our path to freedom, not bondage. 00:32:07.940 |
In the old covenant, it was a source of bondage because they had to leap over that to get 00:32:22.780 |
And the Christian is most alive when he is living a holy life. 00:32:30.180 |
He's the most alive when the word of God is sanctifying him. 00:32:34.540 |
Because we are no longer in the citizenship of the old kingdom. 00:32:41.780 |
That paradigm shift, it may just sound like semantics, but that's the difference between 00:32:47.940 |
That's the difference between rejecting sanctification and embracing it with all our heart. 00:32:52.440 |
That's the difference between running this marathon with joy and running this marathon 00:32:56.780 |
always looking back, thinking you're missing out. 00:33:01.580 |
That's why worship is, worship can be a dread or it can be something we look forward to 00:33:09.180 |
If worship is something you have to do on Sunday, it's like, "Oh my God, how long is 00:33:17.260 |
It's like, "Hey, we need volunteers to put up the chairs. 00:33:20.580 |
You know, I'm working all week and I come to church and I got to set up chairs too?" 00:33:27.820 |
But if worship is what happens because you see joy in meeting Christ. 00:33:35.020 |
You know, today we have become a generation of people like, worship has to be led by Matt 00:33:40.500 |
Redmond or Casting Crowns or, I don't know, those are the two people I know. 00:33:47.100 |
Keith Green is no longer around so I can't, you don't even know who he is. 00:33:50.940 |
If it's not led by these people and flashing lights and John Piper speaking or some of 00:33:59.940 |
If it's not done by the cream of the crop, it just doesn't do it for us. 00:34:06.140 |
If you ever have one of those situations, you go to a birthday party and they put it 00:34:10.820 |
in, whatever gift that they gave you, you know, they put it in this elaborate package 00:34:15.500 |
and you know, it's an iPhone 7, you know, package it up with a bow and then you open 00:34:21.300 |
it up and it's like a $10 gift card and like, "Ah!" 00:34:28.500 |
You know, like, so if the gift isn't that fantastic, you have to make the package look 00:34:33.860 |
But if it actually was the iPhone 6 plus, right, if it actually was something that you 00:34:38.540 |
really wanted, you could give them in a plastic bag. 00:34:42.020 |
You almost want to give it to them in a plastic bag so that they're just like, "Hmm, what 00:34:56.100 |
If the product isn't good, you have to package it really nice. 00:35:08.780 |
Because the Spirit of Christ and the Holy Spirit has been quenched, that we have to 00:35:13.700 |
package the church in a way that they come and then what happens? 00:35:17.300 |
They come in and say, "Wow, they have all this stuff." 00:35:18.940 |
And then they come in there about a year and two years later, it's like, "Huh? 00:35:28.100 |
But when Christ is at the middle, when the heart of the church is Christ, you know, some 00:35:35.180 |
of the best worship that I've experienced was in strange places in the world with 100 00:35:40.940 |
degrees inside, with wooden chairs, and no mic system, and the person gave two and a 00:35:46.540 |
half hour message that I couldn't even understand. 00:35:49.700 |
And then in worship, people are, I mean, worshiping. 00:35:57.740 |
You come out of that thinking like, "Wow, that was worship." 00:36:09.820 |
And so sanctification in our generation has become something we need to jump through, 00:36:18.660 |
When you're walking right with Christ, some of you, you know, maybe you're struggling 00:36:24.340 |
now, but you remember a period in your life when you felt the most peace and most joy. 00:36:30.460 |
If you're a genuine believer, and I'm confident that you will say the same thing I will say, 00:36:36.780 |
you were the happiest and the most joyful and alive, not because you had the most money, 00:36:43.740 |
not because you were the most comfortable, but when you were at the center of the will 00:36:51.340 |
Come talk to me after the service like, "That's nonsense." 00:36:56.420 |
When I went bungee jumping, that was when I was the happiest. 00:36:59.700 |
Yelp had this 5.5 star, you know, and this sushi, and that was when I was the happiest. 00:37:09.940 |
I'm confident that your confession is the same as mine. 00:37:14.300 |
It was when you were at the center of the will of God. 00:37:17.540 |
And that's why He pushes them to sanctification. 00:37:35.500 |
Paul, his joy, it wasn't the sanctification in and of itself of it produced joy, but he 00:37:48.420 |
He said, "No, you do this because you're my job." 00:37:50.260 |
First Thessalonians 2, 19, "For what is our hope or joy or crown or boasting before our 00:37:59.580 |
Not only is our sanctification a source of great joy, but sanctification and fruitfulness 00:38:07.020 |
If any of you have ever experienced somebody coming to Christ because of you sharing the 00:38:11.420 |
gospel, you know that there's nothing in this world like it. 00:38:19.700 |
You can't travel to the remotest part of the world and come back and say, "It was kind 00:38:26.060 |
It was kind of like when my brother accepted Christ. 00:38:27.940 |
It was kind of like when my children or my good friend or my parents came to Christ." 00:38:37.860 |
And so Paul is pushing them to sanctification so that they may receive joy, and he's preaching 00:38:47.740 |
And for the sake of time, we want to give enough time for the communion, but the scope 00:38:54.300 |
of his ministry, he says, and let me read from verse 13 all the way to 14 and 15, he 00:38:59.180 |
says, "I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you, but 00:39:02.940 |
thus far have been prevented in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well 00:39:08.340 |
I am under obligation both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to 00:39:14.540 |
So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome." 00:39:18.900 |
Paul uses the language, verse 14, "I am obligated." 00:39:21.820 |
And so whenever we think of obligation, we think of burden, right? 00:39:26.980 |
But then look what he says in verse 15, "But I am eager to preach the gospel. 00:39:30.500 |
I'm obligated to preach the gospel, and I am eager to preach the gospel." 00:39:46.220 |
He says, "I'm obligated, and all the more why I am eager. 00:39:56.380 |
You say, "Oh, obligation, that doesn't sound romantic." 00:40:04.060 |
But that obligation brings me tremendous joy. 00:40:10.380 |
And if I don't take care of them, what kind of a father are you? 00:40:21.000 |
My obligation to preach the gospel is my joy. 00:40:23.260 |
My obligation for the sanctification church is my joy. 00:40:27.500 |
So we think that obligation somehow negates the joy, but Paul says no. 00:40:33.300 |
Some of the greatest joys in life are the things that you are obligated to do. 00:40:59.860 |
I am eager to preach the gospel, both to the Greeks and to the barbarians." 00:41:06.620 |
He says Greeks had a reputation of being, you know, they had the philosophy, they had 00:41:14.140 |
I mean, they were known to be the sophisticated people. 00:41:19.940 |
Well Paul is saying, "I'm obligated to both." 00:41:23.780 |
You know, we have a tendency to witness down. 00:41:28.820 |
You go out, street evangelism, and you look for people that are a little bit less than 00:41:40.780 |
I'm better looking, so that guy's going to hear the gospel from me." 00:41:44.580 |
You go out and then you say, "Well, that guy's taller, stronger, better looking, more educated, 00:42:00.180 |
So we have a tendency to preach the gospel down. 00:42:03.780 |
Because there's something inside of us that's relying upon our own effort, our own position. 00:42:11.020 |
So if I happen to be elevated, then I can preach down because, you know, I'm so respected 00:42:15.060 |
and I have all this money and everybody's looking up to me. 00:42:17.580 |
But as soon as we think somebody's a little bit higher, a little bit above us in any way, 00:42:21.420 |
we say, "Ah, they're not going to take me serious." 00:42:29.860 |
That's why in verse 16, "For I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God 00:42:38.980 |
Whether I'm preaching to the Greeks or to the barbarians, to the Gentiles or to the 00:42:44.180 |
It's not about my position, who I am, my experience, my money, my intellect. 00:42:51.580 |
That's why Paul says in Corinthians, he said, "You know what? 00:42:54.980 |
Your letters are strong, but your presence is unimpressive." 00:43:06.420 |
You know, they're comparing with him to, who am I thinking of? 00:43:20.180 |
In fact, Paul is known to be a short, bald guy. 00:43:23.220 |
He walks in, he's like, "That guy wrote this letter?" 00:43:27.580 |
"When I came to you, I did not come with persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the 00:43:34.060 |
When I was with you, I resolved to know nothing but Christ crucified. 00:43:40.300 |
Whatever you think of me, that's not where the power is. 00:43:43.980 |
Whether you think of me high or you think of me low, that's not where the power is. 00:43:47.360 |
Whether you are Nicodemus or the Samaritan woman, the high will be brought low, the low 00:43:53.860 |
Because the entrance into the kingdom and the power that changes people's lives is in 00:44:03.060 |
So as a church, we need to be brought back to what makes us us. 00:44:13.260 |
Why you were attracted to Christ in the first place? 00:44:18.020 |
What justified you should be the same thing that attracts you, and that's the very thing 00:44:33.540 |
Know what the ministry is and why we need to be doing this, that we may pursue this 00:44:40.020 |
We're going to have time of communion, and obviously every time we have communion, it's 00:44:44.500 |
an opportunity for us to reflect and to think about the very things that we're talking about. 00:44:50.480 |
We don't do this because you've earned your righteousness. 00:44:53.940 |
You don't come up here because somehow you've done the right things this week, so you deserve 00:44:58.620 |
Nobody comes up to this table because you deserve it. 00:45:00.720 |
So what we are celebrating this morning is what Christ has done. 00:45:06.860 |
But in the process of celebrating justification, we are to reflect deeply upon our pursuit. 00:45:18.660 |
Do you have bitterness toward people that you've left unresolved and is causing this 00:45:22.580 |
tension in the Holy Spirit to be grieved in your life, to take time to confess these sins? 00:45:27.940 |
And so as you are ready, we're going to ask you one by one, if I can ask Elder Phil to 00:45:33.300 |
And then when you come, please, obviously if you're sitting right in the middle, you 00:45:37.780 |
know, you're welcome to come, but again, it's going to cause traffic. 00:45:40.100 |
So if you, this side come this way, and this side come this way, and then grab your, the 00:45:45.020 |
elements and then go down this middle aisle together so we don't cause this traffic here. 00:45:49.500 |
But at the same time, we want to encourage you, if you're not a Christian, you've never 00:45:54.100 |
confessed your sins, to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, we ask you to sit in your 00:45:57.900 |
place and not to come up because communion table is kind of like an anniversary, right? 00:46:09.540 |
So if you have not been baptized, we ask that you wait until you're baptized to come up. 00:46:14.020 |
But those of you who are ready, just be prayerful when you're ready, one by one, we're going 00:46:19.100 |
Let me read a passage with you as our team opens up. 00:46:23.980 |
And then again, be prayerful when you're ready, we invite you to come up. 00:46:28.980 |
First Corinthians 11, 23, "For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, 00:46:33.220 |
that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed, took bread and when he had given 00:46:37.660 |
things he broke it and said, 'This is my body which is for you. 00:46:43.980 |
In the same way also he took the cup after supper saying, 'This cup is a new covenant 00:46:49.500 |
Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.'" 00:46:52.660 |
So as you are ready one by one, we ask you to come and take of the element.