back to index2016-05-22 Past, Present, and Future Fruits of Salvation Pt2
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"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:00:14.000 |
Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, 00:00:22.000 |
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 00:00:26.000 |
and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. 00:00:30.000 |
And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts 00:00:34.000 |
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." 00:00:40.000 |
Heavenly Father, we thank You so much for this morning. 00:00:43.000 |
We pray, Father, that Your Word would have its effect on us, 00:00:46.000 |
that we would be more than just listeners, but we would be eager to apply all that You give. 00:00:52.000 |
Give us enlightenment, Lord God, as You open our eyes and soften our hearts. 00:00:59.000 |
As we've been going through the book of Romans, and again, just reemphasizing as what Paul emphasized, 00:01:08.000 |
The question that I have for you this morning is, 00:01:11.000 |
"What do you remember when you first met Christ?" 00:01:17.000 |
I know some of you guys don't know exactly when you met Christ. 00:01:21.000 |
A lot of your testimonies are, you heard the Gospel when you were young, 00:01:25.000 |
you're not exactly sure when you made a commitment, sometime in your high school, sometime in college, 00:01:29.000 |
maybe in your 20s or your 30s, but you can't exactly pinpoint when it happened. 00:01:34.000 |
But whether you can pinpoint when it happened, or whether it was a period of time, 00:01:38.000 |
what do you first remember when you became a Christian? 00:01:51.000 |
When was the last time that that has affected you? 00:01:59.000 |
what is the most tangible thing that you think of as a benefit of salvation, 00:02:09.000 |
Again, I ask you to take some time to think about all of this stuff, 00:02:12.000 |
because what salvation has accomplished in us, 00:02:17.000 |
if this does not have tangible applications in our daily life, 00:02:25.000 |
All it becomes is a security blanket that if I die, I have security that I'm not going to go to hell. 00:02:36.000 |
Our life doesn't look any different than anybody else. 00:02:39.000 |
That's why Apostle Paul, when he's writing the Book of Romans, 00:02:43.000 |
the goal of the Book of Romans is not so that after you read it and after you study it, 00:02:48.000 |
if somebody asks you what the Gospel is, you say, "Oh, I've taken a class in the Book of Romans, 00:02:55.000 |
The purpose of why Paul wrote this Gospel, or the Book of Romans, 00:03:01.000 |
is to set a proper foundation upon which Christianity, 00:03:15.000 |
The first few verses that we looked at in the last couple of weeks, 00:03:18.000 |
we find that the benefit of justification by faith, by our salvation, 00:03:22.000 |
first of all, he says, "We have peace with God." 00:03:27.000 |
Now, we don't normally think too much about the fact that the wrath of God is no longer on us, 00:03:33.000 |
because I don't know how many of us really felt the effect of the wrath of God. 00:03:37.000 |
So when the Bible says that His wrath was taken away from us, 00:03:40.000 |
it's kind of like, "Okay, now we have this access." 00:03:44.000 |
Secondly, he says, "We have peace with God, but we have access to this God." 00:03:48.000 |
Access. Again, how often do we think about the gift that we've been given to be able to access our God? 00:03:57.000 |
How excited do you get when you meet a movie star? 00:04:01.000 |
And I know a few of you who have met Kobe Bryant because he lives in this area, 00:04:06.000 |
whether it was at Jamba Juice or Irvine Spectrum, because it's on your Facebook. 00:04:13.000 |
Because you get excited if you somehow have some kind of encounter with him, 00:04:16.000 |
or some movie star at some restaurant, snap, snap. 00:04:19.000 |
It's on Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, whatever else is out there. 00:04:26.000 |
And if he somehow, or that person somehow, makes eye contact with you, 00:04:41.000 |
and you were able to take a picture with somebody that this world considers significant. 00:04:47.000 |
But consider what the Bible says, that because of what Christ has done, 00:04:53.000 |
Not simply that we have to pray, but that you are able to pray. 00:04:58.000 |
That you're able to speak to the living God who created us. 00:05:02.000 |
The very reason why you and I are able to exist today. 00:05:05.000 |
That we have access to this God that mankind did not have because of what Christ has done on the cross. 00:05:12.000 |
But because we have this access to God, that we have joy for the hope that we have in the glory of the coming Christ. 00:05:25.000 |
Now that in and of itself should get us excited. 00:05:28.000 |
That in and of itself should awe us and cause us to be worshiping God. 00:05:35.000 |
"Above that, more than that, we rejoice in our suffering, knowing that suffering produces endurance." 00:05:44.000 |
Now what I just told you was spectacular, but he says, 00:05:47.000 |
he begins the next phase of what he's about to say, is that all of that is great, it is fantastic, 00:05:53.000 |
but what I'm about to tell you is even beyond that. 00:06:01.000 |
What is he possibly going to say that he's trying to bring attention, like, 00:06:05.000 |
"I know these things are fantastic, but here's something more than what I just told you." 00:06:10.000 |
And he begins by saying that the suffering, even in suffering, you rejoice. 00:06:15.000 |
See, previously he said, "We rejoice because of the hope that is coming in the glory of God." 00:06:24.000 |
"We rejoice not only for the hope of the glory, but even in suffering." 00:06:35.000 |
I know we're doing Bible study and a lot of times I say things up here because it's in the Bible, 00:06:41.000 |
When was the last time you suffered and you rejoiced? 00:06:45.000 |
When was the last time, I mean, you could say that, "Oh, I rejoiced because of what the Bible said." 00:06:53.000 |
But when there's suffering in your life, how many of you really rejoice? 00:06:57.000 |
Is this one of those theological things that you just say because you're a Christian? 00:07:01.000 |
You're supposed to, but really it's not the reality. 00:07:07.000 |
I think when we start to dissect and really take a close look at what Paul is saying here, 00:07:14.000 |
And sometimes we read this passage in particular, 00:07:18.000 |
and we think that what it's saying is that God brings suffering in our lives, 00:07:25.000 |
and then if you endure through these sufferings, that God's going to make you a man of character. 00:07:30.000 |
And if you have this character, that it is a source of hope. 00:07:37.000 |
So the point of suffering is to make you a better Christian. 00:07:41.000 |
And if you're a better Christian, there's better hope for you. 00:07:47.000 |
But how many of you read that passage that way? 00:07:51.000 |
I told you not to raise your hand, so don't raise your hand. 00:07:53.000 |
Just think about how many of you have thought of this passage thinking like that's the application. 00:08:02.000 |
And again, when we interpret a passage, what's the most important part of interpreting a passage? 00:08:10.000 |
I've got to learn how to interpret whispers, because that's usually the kind of answers I get. 00:08:21.000 |
That's what you said. That's what everybody said, but that's what I heard. 00:08:26.000 |
The most important part of understanding the text is context. 00:08:30.000 |
What was he saying before? What was he saying after? 00:08:35.000 |
You're not supposed to take a passage and just pluck it out. 00:08:38.000 |
Just like if you're reading a love letter, you don't read one sentence in the middle and say, "Oh, I get it. I get his heart." 00:08:45.000 |
You have to read the whole thing. You have to read it in the context. 00:08:49.000 |
So I want to take a look at the context of what he is saying and see if that's what he's saying. 00:08:57.000 |
That that's the source of rejoicing is when God brings suffering in your life, is to make you a better Christian. 00:09:02.000 |
So if you're a better Christian, you have greater hope and greater joy. Right? 00:09:07.000 |
First of all, what does he mean by suffering? 00:09:11.000 |
The word suffering, literally in the Greek concordance, is to crush, to press, to compress, or to squeeze. 00:09:20.000 |
So the idea behind this word suffering is to be squeezed. Right? 00:09:27.000 |
Now, the early church, suffering was equated with Christianity. 00:09:33.000 |
Today, suffering, it depends on where you live. 00:09:36.000 |
I mean, today, Christianity in Orange County, when you think of Christian, you don't think of suffering. Right? 00:09:42.000 |
But the first 300 years of Christianity, immediately, Christianity was equated with suffering. 00:09:49.000 |
Because Jesus himself said, "If you want to follow me, you have to pick up your cross." 00:09:53.000 |
Suffering. His first disciples who followed Jesus, they all, majority of them, with the exception of one, 00:10:02.000 |
Not only the disciples, but almost every person that we see in the scripture. 00:10:07.000 |
Barnabas, Mark, Luke, all of these guys that we know in scripture, it's not mentioned in the Bible, 00:10:14.000 |
but in church history, we know that they were also martyred with the apostles. Right? 00:10:21.000 |
So we're not just simply talking about hard life, we're talking about all the people that we know written in scripture. 00:10:28.000 |
Apostle Paul, the one writing this letter, he's writing this letter in between being beaten, 00:10:34.000 |
going to prison in and out, suffering, being denied, people questioning his apostleship. 00:10:40.000 |
So in the midst of much suffering, he writes this letter. 00:10:45.000 |
So it's understandable that Apostle Paul is telling them, is telling a group of people who is under this intense pressure, 00:10:53.000 |
that even in suffering, we rejoice because it produces endurance. Endurance produces character, and character gives us hope. 00:11:01.000 |
But, again, let me re-understand what this passage means, okay? 00:11:08.000 |
And hopefully you'll be able to follow along, so at the end of the service, like, "What did he say?" 00:11:12.000 |
I need you to follow along with the logic and the context, so that we can, hopefully I can convince you that 00:11:18.000 |
I don't think that that's what this passage means. 00:11:22.000 |
Or else you're going to hate me at the end. You're going to say, "What is this guy talking about?" Right? 00:11:26.000 |
The word "suffering" here is talking about being pressed and compressed and to be squeezed. 00:11:38.000 |
It's not just talking about people who are living in difficult areas, who are being persecuted. 00:11:43.000 |
Anything that causes you to be squeezed, to feel pressure. 00:11:49.000 |
Now, most of you, including myself, are not experiencing persecution. 00:11:56.000 |
Maybe at work, people, your friends are laughing at you, or, you know, or maybe co-workers. 00:12:01.000 |
Maybe your boss, because you're a Christian, won't give you a raise, whatever that may be. 00:12:05.000 |
But the majority of us, on a day-to-day basis, do not experience persecution as suffering. 00:12:10.000 |
But the word here, "suffering," is talking about anything that squeezes you. 00:12:16.000 |
Now, I'll bet you, based upon that definition, that there's a whole lot of you, even today, who's being squeezed. 00:12:23.000 |
Some of you are squeezed because you have some people in your life that you just cannot stand. 00:12:29.000 |
For whatever the reason, they're annoying you. Right? 00:12:32.000 |
Some of you are being squeezed because you're at work, and you're overworked, and you're tired. 00:12:43.000 |
Some of you are being pressured because of just business and life. 00:12:46.000 |
Some of you just had kids. Second, third, fourth, fifth, six kids. 00:12:55.000 |
So, this word for "suffering" here, "to be squeezed," is anything that causes you to be tempted away from God. 00:13:04.000 |
Anything that's happening in your life that causes you to be tempted away from God. 00:13:09.000 |
That could be inside the church, or outside the church. 00:13:11.000 |
That could be at work. It could be social. It could be emotional. It could be financial. It could be physical. 00:13:16.000 |
Whatever it is that God allows in your life to put a squeeze in your life. 00:13:24.000 |
Now, he says, "We rejoice in the suffering because the suffering produces endurance." 00:13:31.000 |
Now, here's another word that we need to understand. 00:13:33.000 |
The word "endurance," in other translations, is translated "perseverance," or in another translation, "patience." 00:13:41.000 |
The word literally, "hupomeno," basically means "to remain under." 00:13:46.000 |
So, what he's saying is, "Suffering, being squeezed, causes you to remain under." 00:13:56.000 |
So, basically what he's saying, what God is saying is, "We rejoice because God puts a compressor in your life to squeeze you, 00:14:03.000 |
and when you're being squeezed, it forces you to stay and remain under this pressure." 00:14:15.000 |
How many of you rejoice because you're under pressure, and then God's making you stay there? 00:14:22.000 |
He said, "If our understanding of suffering is God squeezing you, and he don't want you to move, like, that's a good thing for you." 00:14:31.000 |
That's not what he's saying, because if that's where our understanding of suffering stops, of course it's going to cause bitterness. 00:14:42.000 |
If somebody is wronging you, I mean, it's very satisfying to slap them back. 00:14:49.000 |
It's very frustrating to not to slap them back. 00:14:57.000 |
Have you ever seen anybody turn the other cheek? 00:15:00.000 |
You know how excruciatingly painful it is to not to retaliate? 00:15:06.000 |
If our understanding of suffering is God's going to squeeze you, and you remain under, you stay put. 00:15:12.000 |
And sometimes a lot of Christians, that's the way they understand suffering. 00:15:16.000 |
It's like, "Oh, you know, God's doing it to me. I've got to just stay put." 00:15:20.000 |
"I can't retaliate. I can't do anything. I've just got to stay put." 00:15:32.000 |
And people just, you know, there's a lot of bitterness. 00:15:34.000 |
The longer you've been a Christian, the longer you've been at church, the more bitter you are in your heart. 00:15:39.000 |
Because you've been just sucking it up and taking it. 00:15:46.000 |
What he's saying is, suffering, squeezing, causes you to remain under this pressure. 00:15:53.000 |
Because when you remain under this pressure, what does it produce? 00:15:59.000 |
Now, here's the turning point of understanding this text. 00:16:02.000 |
Character, in English, we mean all kinds of stuff. 00:16:06.000 |
When I say, "Oh, that guy's a character," I could mean, "That guy's a joker." 00:16:18.000 |
Or, if I say, "He's a character," it's like, "He's kind of quirky. He's a little bit different. He's a bit off. He's a character." 00:16:24.000 |
Or we say, "He has character," meaning he has integrity. He's trustworthy. 00:16:29.000 |
So, the word "character" means all kinds of stuff in English. 00:16:32.000 |
So, we need to properly understand, what does Paul mean when he says, "It produces character." 00:16:40.000 |
Now, if this passage means that when suffering comes, God puts you under pressure, 00:16:49.000 |
and when you endure through that pressure, God causes character, 00:16:51.000 |
and so once you begin to develop character in your life, you have hope. 00:16:58.000 |
Because that hope doesn't disappoint, and that's the source of rejoicing. 00:17:01.000 |
Is he saying that when you become a better Christian, there's greater hope for you? 00:17:09.000 |
Now, remember, in order to properly understand it, what do we need to understand? 00:17:21.000 |
In the context, what has Paul been trying to establish? 00:17:37.000 |
if you have the law, you will be condemned by the law. 00:17:42.000 |
If you don't have the law, you will be condemned without the law. 00:17:46.000 |
If your idea of salvation is that if you try harder, if you work harder, 00:17:52.000 |
and you have better character, better morality, better obedience, 00:17:58.000 |
that you will have this hope because you have better access to God, 00:18:06.000 |
Isn't that the point that he's been trying to make all this time? 00:18:16.000 |
We've spent like five months talking about that, right? 00:18:20.000 |
So, is he all of a sudden changing direction and saying, 00:18:23.000 |
you know, we've been talking about justification by faith up to verse 2 of chapter 5, 00:18:27.000 |
and then all of a sudden he says, you know, more than that, 00:18:35.000 |
When God puts pressure in your life and you remain under it, 00:18:37.000 |
and then it causes you to have character, then we have hope. 00:18:49.000 |
Because typically that's how we understand this passage. 00:18:51.000 |
Typically that's how we interpret it, and that's how we apply this passage. 00:18:57.000 |
What's interesting is this word, again, for character, 00:19:01.000 |
literal translation, in the Greek concordance, 00:19:04.000 |
it means to be approved, to be tried, to prove to be genuine. 00:19:13.000 |
That same word is used this way in 2 Corinthians 13. 00:19:18.000 |
Paul is talking to the Corinthians church, who is questioning his apostleship, 00:19:26.000 |
Oh, sorry. "Since you seek proof that Christ is speaking in me, 00:19:30.000 |
He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you." 00:19:36.000 |
That same word that is translated "character" here, in 2 Corinthians 13.3, 00:19:42.000 |
That you want proof that I'm an apostle, and here it is. 00:19:46.000 |
2 Corinthians 8.2, that same word again is translated "a test." 00:19:51.000 |
The test that has brought affliction upon their life 00:19:58.000 |
that they were giving extremely, even in their midst of extreme poverty, 00:20:04.000 |
Now how did this happen? Because their faith was being tested. 00:20:11.000 |
If not, you are going to have to re-hear the sermon. Ok? 00:20:16.000 |
He has led you up to this point, and then I don't think he is changing direction, 00:20:20.000 |
and all of a sudden he says, "You know, you have hope and justification by faith, 00:20:26.000 |
And I hear something more than that, that if God puts you under pressure, 00:20:29.000 |
and it causes character, then you really have hope. 00:20:33.000 |
That, I do not think that is what he is saying. 00:20:35.000 |
What he is saying is, that when God brings this pressure, 00:20:42.000 |
and you see this, and you persevere underneath it, 00:20:45.000 |
you remain underneath, because you know that this is God doing it. 00:20:50.000 |
And when you remain underneath, it proves what? 00:21:03.000 |
So what he is saying is not, your character, because you become a better Christian, 00:21:09.000 |
The better hope that he is talking about is the assurance that your faith is genuine. 00:21:16.000 |
The whole time that he has been talking about how our whole walk with God, 00:21:21.000 |
our whole salvation, to be saved from condemnation from hell, 00:21:29.000 |
See, I think the problem that you and I have in our culture is that 00:21:33.000 |
we talk about salvation by faith, and you say, "Oh, really? That is all it requires?" 00:21:40.000 |
And so we just kind of like, "Okay, I believe." 00:21:43.000 |
Some of you came down aisles, some of you filled out papers, 00:21:50.000 |
And whether you really, truly believed it or not, 00:21:53.000 |
it was just, "Okay, I will take it. Why not? What do I have to lose?" 00:21:58.000 |
See, but what Paul is saying is, if peace with God, access to this God, 00:22:05.000 |
and joy of His Second Coming all hinges upon this faith, 00:22:17.000 |
then wouldn't we carefully examine to see if this faith is genuine? 00:22:22.000 |
Right now, we are working on our new building. 00:22:26.000 |
And in the new building, because the occupancy is changing. 00:22:29.000 |
Before it was a warehouse, and there was the plumbing thing going on, 00:22:36.000 |
Some of you guys who have been to the new church site, 00:22:38.000 |
you know how we have these small poles because the building is smaller. 00:22:42.000 |
The building is much larger over there, so the poles are much bigger. 00:22:46.000 |
So the city is requiring that we have to fortify whatever is holding up the building. 00:22:54.000 |
So the whole building, the safety of all the people that are going to go into this building, 00:22:58.000 |
hinges upon the amount of weight that this building can hold. 00:23:03.000 |
So there are certain parts of the building that we need to re-fortify. 00:23:07.000 |
So we need to get a structural engineer to do recalculation. 00:23:10.000 |
So if we put an air conditioner on top of here, 00:23:13.000 |
they have to make sure that whatever is holding that up is able to hold that up. 00:23:18.000 |
And so the more the consequence, the more carefully we need to examine 00:23:23.000 |
to make sure that there's enough structure to be able to hold that up. 00:23:28.000 |
So if our Christian faith, our salvation from condemnation, 00:23:36.000 |
to have peace with Him, to have access to this God, 00:23:48.000 |
then doesn't this faith have to be examined to see if it's true? 00:24:02.000 |
But if everything that God had promised, the Son of God, 00:24:06.000 |
was given to us, and our access to this was by this faith, 00:24:11.000 |
then shouldn't this be tested to see if it's genuine? 00:24:20.000 |
That God allows the pressure to come into a life of a Christian, 00:24:27.000 |
you have confidence that your faith is genuine. 00:24:32.000 |
And when you recognize that your faith is genuine, 00:24:34.000 |
then you have hope. And this hope does not disappoint. 00:24:38.000 |
So it's not talking about your character necessarily. 00:24:41.000 |
Now, does that mean that what we do with our life doesn't matter? 00:24:45.000 |
Paul's going to spend 12 chapters talking about this justification by faith, 00:24:55.000 |
But the imperatives of our obedience is based upon 00:25:06.000 |
then your obedience is going to be nothing more than 00:25:10.000 |
checking off the right and what I need to do. 00:25:15.000 |
See, that's what he means in James chapter 1 and 2. 00:25:18.000 |
It says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 00:25:28.000 |
He says God allows various trials in our life 00:25:31.000 |
so that your faith may be tested and produce steadfastness, 00:25:35.000 |
and let steadfastness, perseverance, have its full effect. 00:25:41.000 |
That you may be perfect, complete, lacking nothing. 00:25:47.000 |
Will we ever be completely sanctified while we live here? 00:25:51.000 |
If you say yes, we need to talk to you after service 00:25:59.000 |
He says, "He who began a good work in you will carry it until the day of completion, 00:26:04.000 |
So, our sanctification, our struggle against sin, 00:26:12.000 |
to test our faith and allow your perseverance, 00:26:19.000 |
that you may be perfect, "Helios," complete, whole, 00:26:26.000 |
When he says to be complete and not lacking anything, 00:26:42.000 |
Because he's going to pound in the book of James 00:26:47.000 |
Right? That's the whole theme of the book of James. 00:26:52.000 |
So, he begins, before he gets into that argument, 00:26:58.000 |
Faith, God will allow various trials in your life, 00:27:03.000 |
then you are assured that you have this faith, 00:27:05.000 |
so that you may be complete, whole, not lacking anything, 00:27:22.000 |
that these people went out and did all these things. 00:27:31.000 |
are preparing why Jesus Christ fulfills all righteousness. 00:27:44.000 |
See, the way God tests the genuineness of our faith 00:28:32.000 |
He'd been begging. He's such a young Christian." 00:28:43.000 |
because I thought that if God didn't answer this prayer, 00:28:49.000 |
But instead, his faith is even more strengthened, 00:28:57.000 |
And for whatever the reason, when he got squeezed, 00:29:00.000 |
his love for the Lord was confirmed even more. 00:29:04.000 |
And then I see people who are confessing Christians, 00:29:10.000 |
simply because they didn't get along with somebody. 00:29:16.000 |
And that's enough. That's enough for them to fold. 00:29:19.000 |
Or they come to church, and, "Oh, nobody reached out to me." 00:29:23.000 |
That's all it took for them to say, "Forget this." 00:29:26.000 |
See, God says he brings trials into our lives 00:29:47.000 |
Endurance produces character, and character produces hope. 00:30:03.000 |
Because God's love has been poured into our hearts 00:30:06.000 |
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 00:30:30.000 |
Now let me explain to you what I mean by that. 00:30:33.000 |
Those of you who have been Christians for a while, 00:30:36.000 |
when I say a while, I'm not talking about 2-3 months. 00:30:52.000 |
to say, "I don't want to deal with people anymore." 00:31:19.000 |
are just disappointment after disappointment. 00:31:51.000 |
Did you have more talent than the other person? 00:31:56.000 |
Now I'm not saying that we were all successful, 00:32:23.000 |
Wasn't it because you could not ignore the love of God? 00:32:29.000 |
That God opened your eyes to the glory of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, 00:32:32.000 |
and even if everything inside of me humanly says, 00:32:36.000 |
that you could not deny what God has shown you. 00:32:50.000 |
He's opened your ears, and you can never shut it. 00:32:53.000 |
Even when you are tempted to shut it, you cannot. 00:32:56.000 |
He said that's evidence that the Holy Spirit has been poured in you 00:33:04.000 |
is because the evidence of His love in the Holy Spirit is sustaining us. 00:33:10.000 |
The only reason why I stand here this morning 00:33:17.000 |
It's not because I'm a better preacher, I'm more talented. 00:33:29.000 |
I am tempted when I'm frustrated with people. 00:33:40.000 |
And so what Paul is saying, here's all that we have 00:33:49.000 |
but when you remain, and your faith is proven to be genuine, 00:33:54.000 |
then you know that the love of Christ compels you. 00:34:08.000 |
Not because you prayed more than other people. 00:34:17.000 |
I mean, isn't there, can't you think of better things to do 00:34:26.000 |
And pray with certain people that you don't get along with. 00:34:36.000 |
typically we think about persecution and all this stuff. 00:34:41.000 |
But I think that sometimes the biggest trials that you and I face, 00:34:49.000 |
is not under financial pressure, not even health. 00:34:56.000 |
Because persecution, we know for a fact that it strengthens the church. 00:35:03.000 |
Those of you who've been to ministry with us out in China, 00:35:09.000 |
there was a sense of fear that if they became a Christian, 00:35:14.000 |
Especially those who were very high-functioning. 00:35:17.000 |
You know, they had good grades, and there was a possibility 00:35:19.000 |
that the Communist Party may invite them to be a part of the Communist Party. 00:35:23.000 |
So if they become a Christian, it's actually stated in their statement 00:35:28.000 |
So either they have to hide it, or they have to denounce it. 00:35:38.000 |
And when they became a Christian, they were being baptized. 00:35:42.000 |
But the problem that the underground church in China is facing today 00:35:49.000 |
in China, the biggest problem in China today is affluence. 00:35:56.000 |
They've been squeezed with persecution, and they were thriving. 00:36:04.000 |
And I remember years ago, some of you guys may remember, 00:36:09.000 |
We were running an English camp, and this guy came out, 00:36:19.000 |
So we were talking to him, and he was such an encouragement to us. 00:36:26.000 |
And in the context of dinner, he mentioned somebody's name 00:36:32.000 |
So some of you guys know who Kenneth Copeland is. 00:36:34.000 |
He's associated with the health and wealth gospel. 00:36:36.000 |
So obviously I was disturbed, and I asked him, 00:36:39.000 |
"Is this the Kenneth Copeland that I'm thinking about? 00:36:43.000 |
And he says, he was kind of confused, "Yeah, that's what he teaches." 00:36:51.000 |
So I said, "Okay, I need to take some time to study the scripture with him." 00:36:54.000 |
So right in the middle of dinner, we got the Bible out, 00:37:08.000 |
And he said, "I can't deny what's in the scripture, 00:37:22.000 |
Not many Chinese Christians are going to accept what you said." 00:37:32.000 |
When they were persecuted, the church was strengthened. 00:37:36.000 |
Now they're being tempted and squeezed with wealth. 00:37:43.000 |
See, you and I, we don't know that you are being squeezed right now. 00:37:47.000 |
Not because of work, not because of relationship, 00:37:49.000 |
but you and I are being squeezed right now because of wealth. 00:37:54.000 |
Because of freedom, because of money, because of distraction. 00:37:58.000 |
Not realizing that all of this is a form of squeezing. 00:38:10.000 |
How much of this faith in Orange County is real. 00:38:15.000 |
And it is in this squeezing that at the end of it, 00:38:24.000 |
Because when Jesus came, that's all he was looking for. 00:38:29.000 |
So genuine faith, in the context of where you and I are, 00:38:33.000 |
is not simply like, "Oh, you know, when I was in China, or when I was in India, 00:38:41.000 |
The problem with the nation of Israel wasn't when the Assyrians and the Babylonians were coming, 00:38:46.000 |
because when they were coming, they were clinging to God. 00:38:54.000 |
that when God answered their prayer because they were desperate, 00:38:57.000 |
they thanked God, worshipped Him for a period, 00:38:59.000 |
and when everything went back to normal, they forgot God, 00:39:01.000 |
and then they began to play around with idolatry. 00:39:07.000 |
See, the greatest struggle and the testing for us, 00:39:15.000 |
will you still serve the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? 00:39:23.000 |
So if God reveals the genuineness of our faith through the pressure 00:39:31.000 |
what happens to a church that a knee-jerk reaction to any conflict 00:39:41.000 |
What happens to a faith, or group of people, or generation, 00:39:45.000 |
where our knee-jerk reaction is always find the easiest path? 00:39:55.000 |
Because assurance, the proving of our faith, comes through pressure. 00:39:59.000 |
But if we avoid pressure with every possible energy that I have, 00:40:06.000 |
It creates a generation of people who are not assured of their faith. 00:40:12.000 |
And they're always worshipping God with the hint of doubt. 00:40:18.000 |
Because they continue to get out under pressure. 00:40:26.000 |
"I don't fit in around here? I go over here." 00:40:28.000 |
And every decision we make is to make our life easier. 00:40:36.000 |
but God did tell us the greatest gift that He has given us is faith. 00:40:41.000 |
And what causes the greatest joy and greatest hope 00:40:58.000 |
We have hope, no matter what happens in this earth. 00:41:03.000 |
Think of the most tragic thing that could possibly happen in your life. 00:41:15.000 |
Whatever you could possibly imagine could be the worst possible thing happen in your life, 00:41:19.000 |
at the end result of that, because of justification by faith, is glory. 00:41:26.000 |
It's not suffering. It's not hell. It's not condemnation. It's not judgment. 00:41:31.000 |
That no matter what happens, it ends in glory. 00:41:41.000 |
So that you and I may be assured that we have this access with God. 00:41:48.000 |
That's why Paul, that's why Paul is squeezing us. 00:41:57.000 |
Some of you guys are under a lot of pressure, but He's squeezing you for a purpose. 00:42:01.000 |
Some of you are under pressure because of your children. 00:42:03.000 |
Some of you are under pressure because of work. 00:42:05.000 |
Some of you are under pressure because of church. 00:42:13.000 |
I want to lead us into the time of communion. 00:42:17.000 |
Remind us again, this faithful hymn that reminds us of what we have in Christ. 00:42:22.000 |
And if you can put up the slide so that we can see the lyrics. 00:42:25.000 |
I'm going to read it through, all the way through verse 4. 00:42:27.000 |
Then I'm going to have the praise team come up and we'll sing it together. 00:42:30.000 |
And after that I'm going to open up the communion table. 00:42:32.000 |
So when we open up the communion table, again I want to invite you guys to think about 00:42:46.000 |
The fact that you and I are here, the fact that you even understand what I'm saying 00:42:52.000 |
So to come and really celebrate, that no matter where you are in life, to really praise God. 00:42:57.000 |
So I want to read the lyrics to you because it pretty much summarizes what we've been talking about. 00:43:01.000 |
"My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. 00:43:07.000 |
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. 00:43:13.000 |
On Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. 00:43:18.000 |
When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace. 00:43:25.000 |
In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. 00:43:30.000 |
On Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. 00:43:36.000 |
His oath, His covenant and blood support me in the whelming flood. 00:43:41.000 |
When every earthly prop gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. 00:43:47.000 |
On Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. 00:43:52.000 |
When He shall come with trumpet sound, oh may I then in Him be found. 00:43:58.000 |
Clothed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. 00:44:03.000 |
On Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand." 00:44:19.000 |
I mean, really, what possible thing can we be entangled in 00:44:36.000 |
God brought you here through all your trials, through all the temptations, 00:44:45.000 |
So let's celebrate this this morning as we have the communion table.