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2016-06-05 Saved From His Wrath


Whisper Transcript | Transcript Only Page

00:00:00.000 | (silence)
00:00:02.160 | Let me begin by asking you guys this question, okay,
00:00:06.040 | to help you guys get in the frame of the sermon for today.
00:00:09.440 | Is what is the best and greatest reward
00:00:11.980 | you have ever received, okay?
00:00:14.340 | The best and the greatest reward you have ever received.
00:00:17.440 | I'm not talking about a birthday present,
00:00:19.420 | that's something you just got,
00:00:21.520 | even though you didn't deserve anything,
00:00:22.640 | it's just 'cause you were born, you know?
00:00:24.280 | But something that you actually kind of worked for,
00:00:26.080 | but it was a bigger reward than you had imagined.
00:00:29.800 | A greater reward than you had imagined, okay?
00:00:32.280 | Can you think of something like that?
00:00:34.080 | Maybe you were pushing really hard for a test,
00:00:38.120 | you thought you might get a B,
00:00:39.120 | but you got an A plus or something like that, I don't know.
00:00:41.960 | Maybe you were working for a promotion,
00:00:44.040 | but you didn't just get a promotion,
00:00:45.160 | you got a bigger office, I don't know,
00:00:47.760 | think of something that you might have gotten, okay?
00:00:49.440 | You got that in your mind?
00:00:51.160 | All right, so that's great, that great reward.
00:00:52.760 | If you wouldn't mind, you could share it
00:00:53.880 | with the person next to you,
00:00:54.720 | just don't rub it in too much, okay?
00:00:56.280 | But you wanna share it with the person next to you, yes?
00:00:59.240 | No, okay, okay, gotcha.
00:01:00.440 | (audience laughing)
00:01:01.920 | This is a quiet bunch too.
00:01:03.600 | But they're laughing a little bit more
00:01:04.720 | than the first bunch, right?
00:01:06.080 | Okay, whatever that reward you received, right?
00:01:11.080 | I wanna let you know that God wants to bless you
00:01:14.640 | and reward you more than you can ever imagine.
00:01:18.400 | And I'll prove it to you by just what the word of God says.
00:01:22.280 | Do you believe that God wants to reward you
00:01:25.800 | and bless you more than you can even imagine?
00:01:30.400 | Do you believe this?
00:01:31.660 | Because if you do, then it will alter
00:01:34.080 | and it will change and transform the way you live your life
00:01:37.320 | and what you live your life for.
00:01:39.920 | You know, if we live our life for rewards on this world,
00:01:43.400 | what do you get?
00:01:44.240 | You get something temporary, right?
00:01:45.880 | You use your credit card to get some credit card
00:01:47.720 | reward points, what do you get?
00:01:49.560 | Maybe a free ticket.
00:01:50.780 | But when you live for God and you know
00:01:54.520 | that he wants to reward you greatly,
00:01:56.440 | then that will begin to change the way you look at God
00:02:00.000 | and also the way you live your life.
00:02:01.840 | And so that's what we're gonna be talking about today.
00:02:03.200 | So let's look at the Luke 19, verse 11 through 27, okay?
00:02:08.200 | Luke 19, verse 11 through 27, okay?
00:02:12.560 | I'll wait till you guys all get there.
00:02:14.720 | I'm reading from the ESV, the English Standard Version, okay?
00:02:20.680 | As they heard these things, okay,
00:02:24.000 | we'll get back to that part,
00:02:25.480 | he, Jesus, proceeded to tell a parable
00:02:29.400 | because he was near to Jerusalem
00:02:31.720 | and because they supposed that the kingdom of God
00:02:35.480 | was to appear immediately.
00:02:37.560 | He said, "Therefore, a noble man went into a far country
00:02:43.400 | "to receive for himself a kingdom and then return.
00:02:47.400 | "Calling 10 of his servants,
00:02:49.080 | "he gave them 10 minas and said to them,
00:02:53.580 | "Engage in business until I come."
00:02:56.240 | Everyone say engage.
00:02:58.200 | - Engage. - Thank you.
00:02:59.640 | "But his citizens hated him
00:03:02.140 | "and sent a delegation after him saying,
00:03:04.660 | "We don't want this man to reign over us.
00:03:08.040 | "When he returned, having received the kingdom,
00:03:11.120 | "he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to
00:03:15.000 | "be called to him that he might know
00:03:17.120 | "what they had gained by doing business.
00:03:20.700 | "The first came before him saying,
00:03:22.260 | "Lord, your mina has made 10 minas more.
00:03:27.260 | "And he said to him, well done, good servant.
00:03:31.300 | "Because you have been faithful in a very little,
00:03:33.780 | "you shall have very little more."
00:03:35.920 | Oh, I'm sorry, that's not what it says,
00:03:36.840 | I'm sorry about that.
00:03:38.200 | "Because you have been faithful in a very little,
00:03:41.020 | "you shall have authority over 10 cities.
00:03:46.220 | "And the second came saying,
00:03:47.480 | "Lord, your mina has made five minas.
00:03:51.300 | "And he said to him, and you are to be over five cities.
00:03:56.300 | "Then another came saying,
00:03:57.520 | "Lord, here is your mina,
00:03:59.640 | "which I kept laid away in a handkerchief.
00:04:02.100 | "For I was afraid of you because you are a severe man.
00:04:05.580 | "You take what you did not deposit
00:04:07.340 | "and reap what you did not sow.
00:04:09.440 | "He said to him, I will condemn you with your own words,
00:04:13.580 | "you wicked servant.
00:04:15.000 | "You knew that I was a severe man,
00:04:17.040 | "taking what I did not deposit
00:04:18.360 | "and reaping what I did not sow.
00:04:20.200 | "Why then did you not put my money in the bank?
00:04:22.840 | "And at my coming, I might have collected it with interest.
00:04:26.020 | "And he said to those who stood by,
00:04:28.020 | "take the mina from him
00:04:29.720 | "and give it to the one who has 10 minas.
00:04:32.280 | "And they said to him, Lord, he has 10 minas.
00:04:35.640 | "I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given.
00:04:39.960 | "But from the one who has not,
00:04:41.520 | "even what he has will be taken away.
00:04:44.120 | "But as for these enemies of mine
00:04:46.160 | "who did not want me to reign over them,
00:04:48.320 | "bring them here and slaughter them before me."
00:04:51.760 | The word of God to us today.
00:04:52.920 | Please take a moment to look at that yourself.
00:04:55.220 | Try to picture it.
00:04:58.360 | Imagine, feel the tension,
00:05:03.740 | the joy, the elation, all these things,
00:05:09.760 | the fear, all that stuff.
00:05:11.220 | Okay?
00:05:14.220 | And now let's just take a moment to pray
00:05:16.260 | as we enter into the word of God.
00:05:18.580 | Heavenly Father, thank you for your love.
00:05:21.460 | Thank you that as you look upon your sons and daughters,
00:05:24.860 | you absolutely adore them.
00:05:27.140 | In fact, you love them so much
00:05:28.820 | that you gave your only son for them.
00:05:31.580 | Is there anything that you would not provide for their needs?
00:05:35.300 | Lord, you are so good, you are generous.
00:05:37.500 | Every good and perfect gift comes from you.
00:05:40.760 | And I pray that today, Lord, as we look into your word,
00:05:42.820 | and once again, remind it,
00:05:44.580 | that Lord, as we live our life,
00:05:45.740 | that we would live it knowing
00:05:47.300 | that you alone are worthy of our praise,
00:05:49.020 | you alone are worthy of all of our life,
00:05:50.980 | and God, that you are a good and generous God.
00:05:53.220 | We love you, we serve you today.
00:05:55.020 | We pray that you would fill us with your spirit and guide us.
00:05:57.340 | We ask this in Jesus' name, amen, amen.
00:05:59.880 | So I think that as we look at this parable,
00:06:01.860 | it's kind of clear, right?
00:06:03.380 | Let me, can we do some interaction, is that okay?
00:06:05.820 | You guys can respond to me, okay?
00:06:07.260 | If you're wrong, I'm not gonna go, "Eh," get out.
00:06:09.500 | I'm not gonna do that kind of stuff.
00:06:10.940 | But I would like some interaction, okay?
00:06:12.860 | So who is the nobleman in this story?
00:06:15.000 | Jesus, very good, right?
00:06:17.820 | He's a nobleman who goes off,
00:06:20.020 | I thought I heard someone say Jesus.
00:06:21.820 | Okay, and he's the nobleman who goes off
00:06:23.740 | to a distant country to become king.
00:06:26.900 | That means we don't know how long he's going to be away.
00:06:29.780 | Okay, currently, he's been away for over 2,000 years.
00:06:33.260 | He goes away.
00:06:34.480 | Also, what else do we see in this passage?
00:06:36.580 | That he has given his servants one mina each.
00:06:41.060 | A mina is worth three months' wages, okay?
00:06:44.140 | So he gives each of his 10 servants one mina each.
00:06:48.540 | While he is away receiving his kingdom,
00:06:50.820 | there will also be haters,
00:06:52.740 | people who don't want Jesus to be king.
00:06:56.380 | And we see that all the time around us, right?
00:06:58.980 | Sometimes even in our own life,
00:07:00.580 | we don't want Jesus to be king.
00:07:01.900 | We want ourselves to be king or queen in that sense, right?
00:07:06.340 | But Jesus is coming back as king,
00:07:09.540 | and when he comes back, he's gonna call everybody,
00:07:11.980 | his servants, to give account for their life,
00:07:14.780 | for what they've done with the mina,
00:07:16.700 | as well as the enemies who opposed him,
00:07:19.540 | he will call them to give account, okay?
00:07:21.620 | So that's pretty much what the parable is saying.
00:07:23.860 | Now, what Jesus has done is he has given us, actually,
00:07:26.940 | a future parable of what the framework of our life
00:07:31.940 | is going to look like, okay?
00:07:33.540 | So here we go.
00:07:34.380 | Let's imagine this is the picture frame.
00:07:36.620 | Slide number one.
00:07:37.980 | Ding!
00:07:38.860 | Wonderful.
00:07:39.700 | (audience laughs)
00:07:40.700 | So the picture frame at the top,
00:07:42.060 | Jesus is king, or going away to be king,
00:07:45.820 | and as he left, he gives us minas, his servants,
00:07:49.900 | but also there are haters.
00:07:51.380 | So this could be this side, right?
00:07:53.300 | Jesus is coming back.
00:07:55.260 | We do not know when, but he is coming back.
00:07:57.660 | And lastly, when he comes back,
00:07:59.660 | he will call us to give account for our life.
00:08:02.100 | This is the framework of our life.
00:08:04.500 | There's nothing you could do about it.
00:08:05.620 | You cannot change this.
00:08:07.260 | You cannot stop Jesus from becoming king.
00:08:09.420 | You cannot deny that he's given you minas.
00:08:11.780 | You cannot stop haters in this world.
00:08:13.300 | There's always gonna be haters.
00:08:14.620 | You cannot stop him from coming back.
00:08:15.980 | One day he's gonna come back,
00:08:16.980 | and nothing you can do can stop it,
00:08:18.660 | and when he does come back, we'll all give account.
00:08:21.340 | So the only thing that's missing
00:08:22.580 | from this picture frame is what?
00:08:24.860 | Ding!
00:08:25.700 | Ding!
00:08:27.540 | The picture of what your life is going to look like.
00:08:31.860 | Of what your life will be about.
00:08:34.380 | That is the only thing that is missing from this frame.
00:08:37.660 | Everything else, you cannot do anything about it.
00:08:39.460 | It is already set this way.
00:08:41.220 | But how you will live your life.
00:08:43.220 | What will be the picture of your life?
00:08:46.060 | So let's go back to the passage now, okay?
00:08:48.980 | This begins by, "As they heard these things,"
00:08:52.740 | and so it's a connector from verse 10, right, and on.
00:08:56.060 | Who are the they that heard?
00:08:57.660 | Who are the they?
00:08:58.860 | The they are not just his 12 disciples.
00:09:02.260 | The they are literally thousands,
00:09:04.780 | if not 10,000 people that are crowded around Jesus.
00:09:09.260 | They have watched Jesus raise the dead.
00:09:12.020 | They have watched Jesus heal the sick,
00:09:14.220 | cast out demons, feed the multitude
00:09:16.900 | with five loaves and two fishes.
00:09:19.860 | And they are in this frenzy, this euphoria.
00:09:23.980 | They are following Jesus because they believe
00:09:26.420 | that Jesus fits the exact model of the Old Testament prophets
00:09:31.420 | that are prophesied of the Messiah.
00:09:34.140 | They look at Jesus and they say,
00:09:36.420 | "If there's gonna be anyone who's gonna be Messiah,
00:09:38.860 | "it's Jesus."
00:09:39.980 | And so there are literally thousands,
00:09:41.780 | if not tens of thousands, that are following Jesus
00:09:44.460 | on his way to Jerusalem.
00:09:46.220 | Verse Luke 18, he was going through Jericho.
00:09:49.660 | As he was going through Jericho,
00:09:50.780 | there was a blind man by the name of Bartimaeus.
00:09:53.860 | Cries out, "Son of David, have mercy on me."
00:09:55.740 | What does Jesus do?
00:09:57.060 | Gives the man sight.
00:09:58.260 | Crowd gets even more frenzied, more excited.
00:10:01.100 | He's walking through Jericho.
00:10:02.420 | Remember he sees a small guy, what was his name?
00:10:04.860 | Zacchaeus, right, the chief tax collector.
00:10:09.180 | The one that is hated by the other Jewish people
00:10:11.740 | because he's considered a traitor.
00:10:13.700 | What does Zacchaeus do when he encounters Jesus?
00:10:16.340 | He says, "Look, Lord, right here and now,
00:10:18.380 | "I give half my wealth to the poor,
00:10:20.820 | "and anyone I cheated, I will pay back four times."
00:10:24.620 | He is returning the hearts of the traitors
00:10:27.100 | back to the heart of God in that sense.
00:10:29.340 | So they're like, "Jesus is unstoppable.
00:10:32.540 | "He's going to Jerusalem.
00:10:33.660 | "He's going to establish the kingdom of Israel."
00:10:36.940 | And they're pumped.
00:10:38.500 | But this is the thing.
00:10:39.700 | Jesus is not going to Jerusalem
00:10:41.440 | to establish a political kingdom.
00:10:43.420 | In fact, he tried so hard for those three years
00:10:46.420 | to do ministry in like these little towns,
00:10:48.440 | like Capernaum and Galilee, where he would be unknown,
00:10:51.540 | but it just continued to spread.
00:10:53.500 | Because in Luke 19, verse 10, he says this,
00:10:56.080 | "The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.
00:11:00.740 | "That's why I came.
00:11:03.140 | "I came to do the salvation work
00:11:06.040 | "before I build my kingdom.
00:11:09.200 | "I've come to save lives, to lead people back to Christ,
00:11:12.580 | "back to me, to salvation,
00:11:14.780 | "before I establish my kingdom," in that sense.
00:11:19.780 | And so he's saying the first time he's come,
00:11:21.740 | he's come as savior.
00:11:23.380 | But when he returns, he's going to come back as king
00:11:26.460 | and as judge.
00:11:28.500 | Now, the thing is this, even though he's telling them this,
00:11:30.900 | even though he's saying this to the people,
00:11:33.220 | they don't get it.
00:11:34.500 | Especially the disciples, they don't get it.
00:11:36.740 | They're like, "Jesus, when we get to Jerusalem,
00:11:38.080 | "can I sit on your right?
00:11:38.920 | "And can I sit on your left?"
00:11:40.040 | And they're arguing about this.
00:11:42.320 | Because their whole thought is this,
00:11:44.860 | "Jesus, we are sick and tired
00:11:47.240 | "of the Roman government oppressing us.
00:11:50.400 | "We are sick and tired of the pagan Roman worship.
00:11:54.780 | "We are sick and tired of all these idols
00:11:56.720 | "that are set up around us.
00:11:57.680 | "We are sick and tired of all our fellow Jewish people
00:12:00.360 | "just falling away.
00:12:01.480 | "We want you to make Israel great again.
00:12:04.320 | "Make America great again.
00:12:07.860 | "And we want you to do it now,
00:12:12.880 | "like I said, immediately."
00:12:14.920 | But Jesus is saying, "No, that's not why I came for.
00:12:20.020 | "I did not come to establish a political kingdom.
00:12:23.240 | "I did not come to become a political king.
00:12:26.040 | "I came to seek and save the lost.
00:12:29.240 | "When I come back, then there will be,
00:12:31.800 | "the eternal kingdom will be established."
00:12:34.440 | So we need to think about this,
00:12:35.860 | because I think many of us,
00:12:37.800 | we're kind of in the same attitude as the disciples.
00:12:40.800 | Oh Jesus, I'm sick and tired of these laws.
00:12:44.360 | I'm sick and tired of these transgender issues
00:12:47.160 | where guys can use the girls' bathroom.
00:12:48.960 | I'm sick and tired of all, I'm sick and tired,
00:12:51.100 | God, either you come back now,
00:12:53.620 | or you stop all this and bring judgment,
00:12:56.280 | and this is the kind of, take me away.
00:12:58.940 | And so in a real sense, we are just like the disciples.
00:13:04.500 | I notice when I look at YouTube
00:13:06.840 | and I see a lot of the 666 or the end of the world,
00:13:09.080 | a lot of those YouTube clips, they come from America.
00:13:12.400 | They don't come from other parts of the world.
00:13:14.080 | They're kind of just going on.
00:13:15.480 | It's the Christians in America.
00:13:18.160 | Come back now, Jesus, get us out of here.
00:13:20.800 | Rescue us, save us.
00:13:22.360 | And Jesus is saying, "No, it's not time.
00:13:26.560 | "The king is gonna go away for a while."
00:13:29.480 | And so he gives them this parable
00:13:31.360 | to help them to understand, okay?
00:13:34.080 | And the parable is the nobleman go off to a far country.
00:13:37.060 | We don't know how long,
00:13:38.440 | but there's two things Jesus is sure of,
00:13:39.880 | that he is gonna become king, and he's going to return.
00:13:43.360 | And when he returns, every single person on this world
00:13:47.660 | will stand before him and give account.
00:13:50.440 | And those who have been faithful,
00:13:54.240 | those who have been obedient, will receive a great reward.
00:13:57.080 | But those who have not will face a great judgment,
00:14:00.360 | as we see here, right?
00:14:02.120 | It's all dependent on how we live.
00:14:04.160 | He calls his 10 servants and he gives them one minna each,
00:14:07.220 | says, "Engage in business."
00:14:08.560 | Everyone say, "Engage."
00:14:10.600 | That word, engage, in the Greek is the word pragmatoumai,
00:14:14.220 | which is where we get the word pragmatic, right?
00:14:16.720 | Pragmatic.
00:14:17.560 | It means to carry on business, to trade, to occupy.
00:14:22.560 | The king, the nobleman is telling his servants,
00:14:25.200 | "Be active.
00:14:26.320 | "Multiply the minna that was given to them."
00:14:29.800 | The command is simple, I think, and very clear.
00:14:32.480 | What, as a servant, am I to do?
00:14:34.880 | Engage.
00:14:36.760 | Engage in business.
00:14:38.960 | It's hard, though, right?
00:14:41.280 | Because we look around and we go,
00:14:43.240 | "Oh man, there's so much crime.
00:14:45.500 | "There's so much greed.
00:14:46.420 | "There's so much backstabbing.
00:14:47.780 | "I don't wanna engage.
00:14:48.620 | "I just wanna stay in a handkerchief.
00:14:50.660 | "I just wanna stay safe.
00:14:52.440 | "I just wanna protect myself."
00:14:54.120 | In fact, what happens is most of the people,
00:14:56.640 | if you look at the world,
00:14:57.960 | the population of the world is moving into cities.
00:15:01.320 | And so God is saying, "I want you to engage in cities."
00:15:04.840 | And I live in Gangnam, which is ridiculously crowded.
00:15:07.360 | If you haven't been to Korea, Seoul,
00:15:09.120 | it makes LA look like a countryside, really.
00:15:13.560 | You get into a subway, people are crammed against you.
00:15:15.680 | The first time I went to Korea,
00:15:16.840 | I sat down in the subway, I had no idea, okay?
00:15:18.880 | I had no idea, I'm from LA.
00:15:20.260 | I sit down, there's no such thing as personal space.
00:15:22.360 | I sit down, and all of a sudden,
00:15:23.760 | this girl who's wearing a short skirt
00:15:25.800 | stands right between my legs.
00:15:28.320 | And I'm just like, "What is going on here?"
00:15:30.520 | Personal space, you know?
00:15:31.600 | So when I encounter, you know,
00:15:32.920 | people are bumping, little ajummas are pushing me.
00:15:35.800 | When I encounter that,
00:15:38.000 | I'm telling you, I don't want to engage.
00:15:40.000 | I want to disengage and go off to some secluded area.
00:15:43.280 | But Jesus said, "No, I want you to engage.
00:15:47.680 | "I want you to engage."
00:15:48.880 | And he gives this parable, engage.
00:15:52.240 | But the question then becomes,
00:15:54.560 | okay, it's clear what you want us to do,
00:15:56.840 | but what does he mean by engage?
00:15:59.720 | Right?
00:16:00.560 | Because, you know, that could be kind of nebulous.
00:16:02.120 | What do you mean by engage?
00:16:03.320 | And secondly, maybe more importantly, how do we engage?
00:16:07.360 | Because I don't want you to just leave here
00:16:08.680 | and say, "Yeah, I have to engage, I have to engage,
00:16:10.040 | "but I don't really know how to."
00:16:11.400 | I want us to start thinking about how do we engage as well?
00:16:15.560 | So we are to engage, what does it mean,
00:16:17.840 | and how do we do it?
00:16:18.960 | So let's start by saying,
00:16:20.240 | by looking at what does it mean.
00:16:22.000 | To engage, literally, it means to put my money to work.
00:16:26.840 | Invest this for me while I'm gone.
00:16:29.880 | Literally, word for word, Jesus is commanding
00:16:32.480 | that the money given to us,
00:16:33.960 | all of it, since it belongs to God,
00:16:36.320 | somehow we figure out how to multiply it
00:16:38.440 | and then give it back to God,
00:16:39.840 | the money back to God.
00:16:41.680 | Now, to be sure, the Bible does talk about us
00:16:44.880 | being faithful stewards with God's money.
00:16:47.040 | We know that's there.
00:16:48.360 | But I think that most of us, if we look at this,
00:16:50.360 | we can figure out that it's not just talking about money.
00:16:53.000 | Right?
00:16:53.840 | Right?
00:16:54.680 | It's not just about money.
00:16:55.500 | Do you believe that?
00:16:56.340 | Do you see that?
00:16:57.180 | Because if it's only about money,
00:16:58.000 | some of you don't have money,
00:16:58.840 | so you go, "Well, this parable means nothing to me
00:17:00.560 | "'cause I have no money."
00:17:01.400 | So, no, of course not.
00:17:03.280 | And a lot of the apostles didn't have money too, right?
00:17:05.200 | Silver and gold I do not have,
00:17:06.760 | but this I have in the name of Jesus,
00:17:08.000 | stand up and walk, right?
00:17:09.840 | So, it means more than just money.
00:17:12.680 | So, what could this mina from the king be?
00:17:15.320 | This is interaction time.
00:17:16.240 | Can you guys give me something?
00:17:17.400 | What could the mina be?
00:17:18.560 | The gospel, very good.
00:17:21.560 | What else?
00:17:22.400 | The gospel, very good.
00:17:25.280 | What else?
00:17:26.120 | (audience laughing)
00:17:28.000 | Was that like an echo?
00:17:29.160 | The gospel.
00:17:30.000 | (audience laughing)
00:17:30.840 | The gospel.
00:17:31.680 | Anything else?
00:17:32.500 | (audience member speaking faintly)
00:17:33.340 | Huh?
00:17:34.180 | Abilities.
00:17:35.000 | Abilities.
00:17:35.840 | Spiritual gifts.
00:17:36.760 | Spiritual gifts, very good.
00:17:37.840 | Anything else?
00:17:38.680 | (audience member speaking faintly)
00:17:39.800 | Time, very good.
00:17:40.920 | That's so precious to us, right?
00:17:42.520 | What else?
00:17:43.360 | (audience member speaking faintly)
00:17:44.880 | Talents, right?
00:17:47.040 | Holy Spirit, right?
00:17:48.920 | So many things.
00:17:50.240 | And doing the research, going over commentaries,
00:17:53.960 | they all said these kind of things.
00:17:55.000 | The gospel, some of the commentaries are gospel,
00:17:57.360 | some of the commentaries say talents,
00:17:59.200 | energy, spiritual gifts.
00:18:00.800 | I think it's safe to say, though,
00:18:02.920 | the best way to do it is just life.
00:18:04.880 | It's all of our life.
00:18:07.200 | The King's Mina is all of our life
00:18:08.960 | since all of our life is a gift from God.
00:18:12.040 | Our life is a gift from God given to us.
00:18:15.600 | It will be the basis for our rewards.
00:18:17.600 | So the command is to take all that you are,
00:18:20.040 | all that you are, that which the King has given to you,
00:18:23.320 | and then to occupy, to engage until he returns.
00:18:28.040 | When we stand before God,
00:18:29.520 | God wants us to be able to say,
00:18:30.880 | Lord, Lord, the life you've given to me,
00:18:32.680 | I return it back to you,
00:18:34.000 | and it's been multiplied 10 times, five times, whatever,
00:18:36.640 | and God wants to reward you.
00:18:38.760 | Look at the person next to you and say,
00:18:40.120 | God wants to reward you.
00:18:41.360 | Say that to each other.
00:18:42.520 | That's right.
00:18:44.880 | God wants to reward you.
00:18:46.080 | So engage is to really start to do business,
00:18:52.640 | to interact, and it means to participate,
00:18:55.760 | to be involved, to enter into people's lives and interests,
00:19:00.440 | to get to know them is the understanding of engage,
00:19:03.320 | 'cause you have to trade.
00:19:04.280 | In order to trade, you have to interact.
00:19:07.040 | And you know what, Jesus is the true model,
00:19:09.280 | the supreme model of engaging.
00:19:11.920 | He did it all the time.
00:19:13.640 | In fact, he was the one who did it in the most real way.
00:19:17.000 | Do you remember when Jesus was over
00:19:18.480 | at Simon the Pharisee's house?
00:19:21.040 | He went in, Simon didn't wash his feet,
00:19:22.760 | didn't do anything, didn't give him water to wash his hands,
00:19:25.280 | and Jesus is laying down and he's eating, and what happens?
00:19:28.360 | Remember, a woman walks in,
00:19:30.160 | a so-called sinner, probably a prostitute,
00:19:32.440 | and as she comes up to Jesus,
00:19:33.640 | she begins to weep, and her tears start to hit Jesus' feet,
00:19:36.800 | and the dirt begins to start to smudge,
00:19:39.080 | and then what does she do?
00:19:39.920 | She unties her hair, she begins to wipe his feet
00:19:42.520 | with her hair, and then pour the alabaster jar perfume,
00:19:45.240 | very expensive perfume, and what does Simon the Pharisee say?
00:19:48.920 | If Jesus knew who this woman was
00:19:52.800 | and what kind of a sinner she was,
00:19:55.120 | he wouldn't let her touch him.
00:19:58.860 | But this is the ironic thing.
00:20:00.440 | Only Jesus really knew who this woman was.
00:20:03.900 | You see, we look up from the outside,
00:20:05.460 | from the superficial, but Jesus actually engages,
00:20:07.980 | he knows them, he goes, "Daughter, your faith has saved you.
00:20:11.260 | "Go in peace."
00:20:12.820 | And then along comes another time, he's walking,
00:20:14.660 | and along comes a rich young ruler, remember?
00:20:16.460 | He goes, "Good teacher, what must I do
00:20:17.740 | "to inherit eternal life?"
00:20:19.220 | And Jesus says, "Well, what does the law say?"
00:20:20.800 | "Well, I've kept all the law."
00:20:22.560 | So all the girls are like, "Oh."
00:20:24.600 | (audience laughs)
00:20:25.740 | Keeps all the law, is rich and young and good-looking.
00:20:29.460 | "Oh."
00:20:31.700 | And then Jesus looks at him, engages him,
00:20:33.860 | 'cause he knows him, says, "That's one thing you lack.
00:20:36.460 | "Sell all you have, give it to the poor,
00:20:39.020 | "and then come follow me, and you'll have riches in heaven."
00:20:42.220 | And what does he do?
00:20:43.860 | Turns around and he leaves.
00:20:46.100 | You see, Jesus is the only one that truly engages people.
00:20:50.700 | He sees them as they really are.
00:20:52.140 | That's what Jesus wants us to do.
00:20:53.620 | He wants us to truly engage people,
00:20:56.980 | engage with your life, engage others.
00:21:01.020 | So this is the question.
00:21:02.540 | Do you engage, do you invest the life God has given to you,
00:21:06.820 | or do you try to escape?
00:21:08.340 | Do you try to hide or put it in a handkerchief?
00:21:12.960 | Now that was the word engage, what it means to engage.
00:21:17.460 | But how do we engage?
00:21:19.700 | How do we engage?
00:21:20.780 | That's the more important question, I think.
00:21:22.580 | Now let me start off by asking you this question.
00:21:25.140 | If Bill Gates gave you a large chunk of his money
00:21:28.660 | and said to you, "I want you to multiply this for me."
00:21:32.260 | Bill Gates gave you this chunk of money.
00:21:34.340 | How would you treat that money that he gives to you?
00:21:37.060 | And how would you know how to multiply it as well?
00:21:44.020 | Would you know how to multiply it?
00:21:46.660 | Now this is the thing, Bill Gates is just a man,
00:21:49.220 | and that money he gives to you is just temporary.
00:21:51.780 | God has given you his very son, his very spirit,
00:21:54.580 | his very life, his God, he's given you.
00:21:57.620 | How do you treat what he has given to you,
00:22:00.500 | and do you know how to multiply it?
00:22:03.300 | And so I was thinking about this too,
00:22:04.500 | 'cause I really want to be a good steward,
00:22:06.020 | I wanna be a good servant.
00:22:07.540 | If you wanna be a good servant in this place,
00:22:08.980 | raise up your hand, say, "Yes, I do."
00:22:10.420 | Yeah, amen, praise God, I'm speaking to you guys, great.
00:22:13.260 | So think about this, here are the 10 servants,
00:22:16.020 | they're lined up, and the king gives each one a mina.
00:22:19.580 | I want you to multiply this, engage in business,
00:22:22.060 | engage in business, engage.
00:22:23.380 | Now the moment the king gives them the money,
00:22:26.100 | what have they become?
00:22:27.380 | Stewards, yes, what else?
00:22:30.780 | Like, occupationally wise?
00:22:32.220 | Investors, right?
00:22:35.980 | They become investment bankers in that sense, right?
00:22:38.820 | So not only are they servants,
00:22:40.740 | they are now investment bankers.
00:22:43.340 | And so I started looking at this picture, this story,
00:22:45.300 | and I go, "Oh man, it would be great
00:22:46.460 | "if there was someone who was a professional
00:22:47.980 | "investment banker, and took this parable and taught it."
00:22:51.420 | So I said, "Okay, if God wants us to be investment banker,
00:22:54.020 | "then I better look up the five top qualities
00:22:56.660 | "of an investment banker."
00:22:58.380 | So that's what I did, I went on YouTube,
00:22:59.660 | I went on a bunch of different sites,
00:23:01.860 | click, click, click, click, top five qualities.
00:23:04.020 | I was shocked.
00:23:04.860 | I thought that the number one quality would be
00:23:08.100 | that they know where to invest,
00:23:09.580 | that's what I thought the number one would be.
00:23:10.780 | Wouldn't you think that would be
00:23:11.900 | a successful investment banker?
00:23:13.620 | This is what they all said.
00:23:14.780 | You can look it up yourself.
00:23:16.300 | Unanimously, they said this,
00:23:17.980 | "A good investment banker knows their client
00:23:21.180 | "and knows what their client wants."
00:23:24.060 | I was like, "Oh my gosh, that sounds like Christian."
00:23:26.660 | (audience laughing)
00:23:29.580 | Second, good investment bankers give of themselves
00:23:33.300 | and take big risks for their clients.
00:23:35.980 | Thirdly, good investment bankers sense
00:23:39.900 | where the investment will make the most impact.
00:23:42.140 | That's what I thought would be number one,
00:23:43.220 | but it was actually like number three or number four.
00:23:45.940 | So really, a good investment banker
00:23:48.220 | has this relationship with their client.
00:23:52.620 | That's the most important thing.
00:23:54.540 | The client comes and says, "Here's my money,
00:23:56.180 | "I want you to multiply it."
00:23:58.060 | The good investment banker says,
00:24:00.220 | "I'm making my number one priority to get to know you.
00:24:03.080 | "What do you want me to invest in?
00:24:04.780 | "How much return do you want?
00:24:08.000 | "Do you want a quick return or a slow, steady growth?"
00:24:11.900 | There is a sense where a good investment banker knows
00:24:14.140 | it's not my money, it's this client's,
00:24:16.580 | so I need to know this client.
00:24:18.700 | And what does the first servant say
00:24:20.860 | when he stands before the king?
00:24:22.580 | What does the first servant say?
00:24:23.820 | "Your mina has made 10 more."
00:24:28.820 | I'm so humbled by this servant,
00:24:33.060 | 'cause you know what I say sometimes?
00:24:34.180 | I go, "My mina has made 10 more."
00:24:37.660 | But he says, "It's yours.
00:24:41.300 | "Your mina has made 10 more."
00:24:44.140 | There is this humility, there is this absolute sense
00:24:46.940 | where he knows that it's all the king's.
00:24:50.580 | But there is a second principle that is so profound.
00:24:52.940 | He says, "Your mina has made 10 more."
00:24:56.540 | Do you know that the mina of God,
00:24:59.020 | what God has placed in you,
00:25:00.420 | whether it be His Spirit, whether it be the Gospel,
00:25:02.500 | whether it be the spiritual gifts,
00:25:04.100 | whether it be just your life,
00:25:06.260 | that if you just engage the promises,
00:25:08.660 | this is the principle, that it will just multiply itself.
00:25:12.000 | Because God is powerful, God is almighty,
00:25:15.580 | like the seed of the Gospel.
00:25:17.100 | It has everything in there to produce fruit, to multiply.
00:25:21.500 | You just have to engage.
00:25:23.460 | This is the principle.
00:25:24.300 | "Your mina has made 10 more."
00:25:27.060 | There is this absolute sense.
00:25:29.560 | I need to know you, and it's all about you.
00:25:33.100 | Sometimes this is a struggle for me,
00:25:34.580 | because I go, "God, it's my mina,
00:25:36.820 | "so I don't want to forgive.
00:25:39.240 | "God, it's my mina, so I don't want to share.
00:25:42.400 | "God, it's my mina, so I don't wanna give my time."
00:25:45.480 | I find myself doing that.
00:25:47.180 | But not only that, sometimes I find myself going like this,
00:25:49.380 | "God, I need more minas, and then I could do something."
00:25:53.820 | But you know what?
00:25:54.660 | It's not about how I feel, or even what I think.
00:25:58.380 | It's about being obedient to the King,
00:26:00.780 | who said, "Engage with my mina."
00:26:03.440 | It's about obedience.
00:26:06.000 | It's about being faithful.
00:26:08.200 | One investment banker said this,
00:26:09.960 | "You become more valuable to the client
00:26:12.760 | "as they see you understanding their wants,
00:26:15.720 | "and working hard to get their investments multiplied.
00:26:18.800 | "The client recognizes that you genuinely care about them,
00:26:22.060 | "and not just trying to make some money for yourself.
00:26:24.860 | "You ask them if this investment
00:26:26.500 | "is acceptable to their portfolio.
00:26:28.580 | "If they say no, then you find something else.
00:26:31.220 | "If they say yes, then you act upon it.
00:26:33.860 | "Each step is taken side by side."
00:26:36.700 | So to engage in business, how do you do it?
00:26:40.140 | First, build your relationship with Christ.
00:26:43.000 | Build your intimacy with God.
00:26:46.140 | Know His heartbeat, know His ways.
00:26:49.480 | Know His words.
00:26:52.280 | In this parable, of course, the client, or the investor,
00:26:56.320 | he is the nobleman, he is the King Jesus.
00:26:58.760 | We are the servants.
00:27:00.360 | How well we know Christ, how closely we walk with Him,
00:27:03.800 | will determine how and what we invest in.
00:27:06.360 | And Jesus, again, is a supreme example of the investor.
00:27:10.800 | Because who is the client in his life?
00:27:12.440 | God, the Father, right?
00:27:15.200 | Jesus says, "I do nothing apart from my Father."
00:27:18.960 | Every morning, when everyone's sleeping,
00:27:21.040 | every afternoon, when people are doing ministry,
00:27:22.640 | whatever, busy, every night, when people go to sleep,
00:27:24.760 | what is Jesus doing?
00:27:25.600 | He is constantly engaging the Father,
00:27:27.760 | even starting from the age of 12.
00:27:29.520 | And because He knows how to engage the client, the Father,
00:27:35.480 | what flows out of Him?
00:27:36.640 | Engaging the world, right?
00:27:39.400 | Engaging in His ministry.
00:27:41.120 | That's the first thing.
00:27:42.440 | So, really, our life, in our engagement,
00:27:44.720 | it should look like Christ.
00:27:46.160 | That's what it should look like, the picture of our life.
00:27:48.000 | Second, a good investment banker gives themselves
00:27:51.040 | to take big risks for their clients.
00:27:52.720 | In other words, they work hard for their clients.
00:27:56.320 | They are faithful to the very end.
00:27:58.200 | The first thing a good investor does,
00:27:59.680 | and this is what they said, is,
00:28:00.820 | when they come early into work the next day,
00:28:03.740 | the first thing they do is they open up their portfolio
00:28:06.080 | and they go over the data, 'cause things change overnight.
00:28:10.080 | And then they meditate upon it, they research it,
00:28:12.240 | they even for hours sometimes,
00:28:13.800 | and they act upon it after they research.
00:28:15.600 | And I go, oh my gosh, this sounds like a Christian again.
00:28:18.760 | Doesn't it?
00:28:19.580 | Because what is, we as followers of Christ,
00:28:21.480 | what are we supposed to do?
00:28:23.400 | Open up God's portfolio, look over His word,
00:28:27.000 | meditate upon it, see how we are to adjust our life
00:28:31.000 | according to His word, and then act upon it.
00:28:33.400 | I go, oh my, this makes so much sense.
00:28:37.580 | That's why you're a good investor,
00:28:38.780 | because you know what's going on in the portfolio,
00:28:41.340 | you know what the word of God is saying in your life,
00:28:43.340 | and then you act upon it, and then you have to take risks.
00:28:46.140 | Because sometimes it's risky to say,
00:28:48.100 | hello, how you doing, to a stranger,
00:28:50.100 | because the word of God says, love your neighbor.
00:28:52.700 | Hey, you know, I have extra $5,
00:28:55.260 | but I just wanna bless you,
00:28:56.460 | because I feel like God wants me.
00:28:58.180 | It's risky.
00:28:59.940 | I wanna forgive you, it's risky.
00:29:01.540 | But you act upon it, because you see it
00:29:04.260 | in the portfolio of God.
00:29:05.940 | And this is the thing,
00:29:08.300 | investment bankers, they never quit.
00:29:11.160 | They don't call up their clients,
00:29:12.000 | hey, I lost your money in this investment,
00:29:14.460 | I'm sorry, so I quit.
00:29:15.540 | They don't do that.
00:29:17.060 | It's only the client who says, no, you're fired, right?
00:29:21.180 | You can't quit, only I can fire you.
00:29:23.820 | But that's kind of what we do sometimes as Christians.
00:29:25.540 | God, I messed up again.
00:29:29.000 | You should find somebody else, I quit.
00:29:31.680 | And God's like, no, I didn't fire you.
00:29:34.760 | Get back up, get back up.
00:29:37.400 | I still have work for you.
00:29:38.800 | Work with me, work with me.
00:29:40.680 | I want you to engage, right?
00:29:43.200 | Taking risks.
00:29:44.120 | So, think about this now.
00:29:45.320 | Here's servant number one, servant number two.
00:29:47.680 | Servant number one makes 10 minutes more,
00:29:49.980 | five minutes more, and then the third servant.
00:29:51.960 | So when servant number one and servant number two wakes up,
00:29:54.720 | how do they wake up?
00:29:56.240 | I know it doesn't say, but you imagine.
00:29:58.240 | How do they wake up?
00:29:59.640 | This is kind of what I imagine.
00:30:01.200 | My master has given me minas.
00:30:05.840 | How can I multiply it today?
00:30:08.520 | And meditate, think about it, pray about it, whatever.
00:30:12.600 | Okay, they're excited.
00:30:13.760 | They start to act upon their mina,
00:30:16.160 | upon what, you know, commander of them.
00:30:18.400 | In a certain sense, they wake up with meaning.
00:30:20.720 | They have meaning, they have purpose.
00:30:23.320 | How does the third servant wake up?
00:30:25.520 | Oh gosh, I'm so tired, maybe a couple more hours.
00:30:27.520 | (groans)
00:30:29.080 | Okay, let me get up.
00:30:29.920 | Mm, I wonder what's for breakfast.
00:30:32.240 | Who posted on Facebook?
00:30:33.360 | Anyone going to the mall today?
00:30:37.120 | Anyone going to the mall today?
00:30:38.640 | And looks over at the number one and number two guy,
00:30:40.680 | and servant's like, what are you guys doing?
00:30:44.540 | Why are you wasting your time?
00:30:46.040 | Come on, how long has this master been away for?
00:30:49.400 | 2,000 plus years?
00:30:50.480 | Come on, he's not coming back.
00:30:52.320 | You guys are stupid.
00:30:53.760 | You weren't, just give it up, and just come live like me.
00:30:56.440 | Come on, live it up, be free like me.
00:30:58.280 | And because the third servant has this kind of attitude,
00:31:01.640 | he doesn't care about the master's mina,
00:31:04.680 | and he doesn't take risks.
00:31:07.200 | In fact, what is his attitude like when the king does return?
00:31:10.360 | He goes like this, right, he goes,
00:31:12.800 | "Here's your mina.
00:31:14.000 | "I kept it in a handkerchief
00:31:15.160 | "because I know you're a severe man.
00:31:17.680 | "I know that you try to reap what you don't deposit."
00:31:21.180 | What is someone who tries to reap what they don't deposit?
00:31:23.440 | What are they called?
00:31:25.600 | A thief.
00:31:26.440 | This third servant is calling the king a thief.
00:31:31.600 | Could you imagine what servant number one, number two,
00:31:35.160 | are doing?
00:31:36.000 | They're looking at him, going,
00:31:37.440 | which king are you serving?
00:31:38.940 | My king is generous.
00:31:41.360 | He gave me one mina.
00:31:43.520 | It became 10, and I would have been happy
00:31:45.840 | if he just gave me 10 minas back.
00:31:48.200 | In fact, I'm thankful that he even gave me a mina,
00:31:50.960 | but he gave me 10 cities.
00:31:53.000 | Which king are you talking about?
00:31:55.600 | Something's wrong with you.
00:31:57.000 | I think about this third servant.
00:32:00.800 | Perhaps some of us are like this in this room.
00:32:03.320 | Where we think that God is stingy.
00:32:05.080 | Where we think that God takes away.
00:32:07.560 | You know there's that song,
00:32:08.880 | ♪ Every blessing you pour out ♪
00:32:12.280 | You know that song?
00:32:13.120 | (audience laughs)
00:32:13.960 | And then there's that bridge, right?
00:32:15.800 | ♪ You give and take away ♪
00:32:18.440 | ♪ You give and take ♪
00:32:19.800 | You know that, right?
00:32:21.080 | This servant is saying,
00:32:21.920 | ♪ You take and take away ♪
00:32:24.440 | ♪ You take ♪
00:32:25.280 | You know?
00:32:26.120 | (audience laughs)
00:32:26.940 | But I thought about this.
00:32:27.780 | I really thought about this for a second, you know?
00:32:29.320 | Where in the Bible does God just take things away
00:32:31.560 | from his faithful servants arbitrarily?
00:32:33.520 | Nowhere.
00:32:36.000 | Job says it.
00:32:38.120 | That's where we get that stanza from.
00:32:39.640 | But Job didn't know that it was actually Satan
00:32:41.560 | taking stuff away.
00:32:42.400 | Yeah, God allowed it, yes, but it was Satan.
00:32:44.920 | So in actuality, it's not even biblically right
00:32:46.840 | to say that he gives and takes away.
00:32:48.720 | In fact, if you look at God, what does he always do?
00:32:51.040 | He gives and gives and gives.
00:32:53.200 | He gave his son, he gives his Holy Spirit,
00:32:55.200 | he gives his word, he gives the body of Christ,
00:32:57.120 | he gives salvation, he gives us, he gives!
00:33:00.480 | But if you think that God is keeping something from you,
00:33:04.680 | he's stingy, then your heart becomes like this third servant
00:33:08.080 | you're a severe man.
00:33:11.320 | First servant, second servant goes,
00:33:12.160 | "Are you kidding me?
00:33:13.200 | "He is abundantly generous.
00:33:16.120 | "He gives, and now these two guys are excited.
00:33:19.600 | "Hey, you wanna serve my king?
00:33:20.900 | "He's awesome, he gives!"
00:33:24.200 | More than you can ever imagine.
00:33:26.800 | These three, these 10 servants, these three servants,
00:33:31.360 | they're all given the exact same minna.
00:33:33.960 | And that means every single one of them
00:33:35.400 | have the exact same opportunity to see multiplication.
00:33:39.240 | So what is stopping them from multiplying?
00:33:41.620 | What is preventing them from multiplying?
00:33:44.840 | (water splashing)
00:33:47.680 | Nothing, except themselves.
00:33:53.780 | Do you hear me?
00:33:56.780 | What is stopping you from multiplying
00:33:58.300 | God's minna in your life?
00:33:59.700 | It's not God, God's not gonna stop you.
00:34:02.740 | He wants you to multiply.
00:34:04.180 | It's not Satan, Satan cannot stop you.
00:34:06.220 | Only you can stop yourself from multiplying your minna.
00:34:10.980 | Only you can stop yourself from taking risks for God.
00:34:14.740 | Only you can stop yourself from pushing that extra hardness
00:34:17.860 | to get more of what God has for you.
00:34:19.700 | Only you can stop that.
00:34:20.900 | The third servant, he was his own worst enemy.
00:34:25.860 | God wants you to multiply your minna.
00:34:29.300 | You know what, it really saddens me
00:34:30.940 | that in modern Western Christianity,
00:34:32.660 | which is what I'm part of as well,
00:34:34.620 | in modern Western Christianity, or should I say Churchianity,
00:34:37.460 | there is this attitude.
00:34:39.420 | And the attitude is like this, or this belief.
00:34:41.420 | Well, I said this in this prayer once,
00:34:43.900 | so now I'm saved, and I go to church on Sundays.
00:34:47.500 | So check, check, check, I'm good.
00:34:50.900 | Now I will live my life the way I wanna live it.
00:34:53.980 | In fact, why would I risk, take risk?
00:34:56.420 | Why would I try to work hard for God?
00:34:58.380 | Why, I'm in.
00:34:59.400 | And there is a sense where we are living
00:35:02.740 | in such affluence and comfort that we just live like this.
00:35:05.820 | And what's kind of scary and saddens me
00:35:08.100 | is that the church, people in the church,
00:35:10.860 | our life starts to resemble a lot
00:35:13.340 | like the people of the world who don't serve God.
00:35:16.140 | And so this is an example of the picture,
00:35:17.900 | slide number three, please.
00:35:19.300 | So our life, this is what we're living for.
00:35:24.060 | Clothes, money, cars, house, you know?
00:35:27.340 | This is the picture that we want our life to look like,
00:35:30.260 | and it doesn't look any different
00:35:31.260 | than what the world looks like.
00:35:32.820 | But Jesus is telling us he wants us to engage in his kingdom.
00:35:38.000 | Do we understand the price that was paid for our salvation?
00:35:43.260 | Are we truly grateful for the honor and the privilege
00:35:45.940 | of being a servant in his kingdom?
00:35:48.620 | If we do, then how can we just go on living
00:35:50.940 | like people of the world, pursuing the things of this world?
00:35:54.620 | No, we must be like the first and the second servant
00:35:57.860 | who are faithful, who are hardworking, who take risks,
00:36:00.540 | and who give everything for their king.
00:36:03.420 | The third thing of good investment bankers
00:36:07.320 | is they sense where the investments
00:36:08.740 | will make the most impact.
00:36:10.620 | At any given moment, you know, there are hundreds,
00:36:13.380 | maybe thousands of different possibilities to invest in,
00:36:16.340 | mutual funds, CDs, real estate, et cetera.
00:36:19.280 | So what you have to do is you have to have a sense
00:36:22.380 | of where your master wants you to particularly invest in.
00:36:26.980 | You have to have the sense
00:36:28.540 | where you will make the most impact.
00:36:30.480 | Remember, it's the same Nina, but it's a unique servant.
00:36:35.740 | Each of you are unique.
00:36:37.300 | We all have one life to live.
00:36:39.180 | And we are to live the life that God has created
00:36:42.020 | and called us for.
00:36:43.780 | What has God called you for?
00:36:44.700 | So servant number one wakes up, this is what I enjoy doing.
00:36:47.500 | Let me use the Mina for God.
00:36:49.020 | This is, number two wakes up, this is what I enjoy doing.
00:36:50.580 | Let me leave it for God.
00:36:51.780 | You know, I've been a Christian now for 24 years,
00:36:57.060 | and there's one occupation that I didn't think
00:36:59.400 | could really be glorifying to God,
00:37:00.980 | and that's bodybuilding, okay?
00:37:02.500 | And please, you know, if you're a bodybuilder here,
00:37:05.500 | please don't get offended.
00:37:06.340 | You can hear the rest of the story, okay?
00:37:08.020 | Because, you know, you ever go to see,
00:37:09.700 | watch bodybuilding on TV,
00:37:10.980 | these guys come out and they're wearing
00:37:11.900 | like this thin, thin thong underwear, you know?
00:37:14.820 | And they turn around and you see their butt cheeks,
00:37:16.260 | I'm just like, how do you glorify God like that, you know?
00:37:19.300 | (audience laughing)
00:37:20.780 | And then the girls, you know,
00:37:21.620 | they come out in this even thinner, you know,
00:37:23.900 | and go, oh boy, you know, I don't know.
00:37:26.140 | But what happened was, in Korea,
00:37:27.980 | there was this one lady, her name is Samantha.
00:37:30.020 | She's from the States, she's Caucasian,
00:37:31.620 | and she came to Korea to teach,
00:37:32.900 | just to make some extra money,
00:37:34.060 | and she became a bodybuilder, okay?
00:37:36.220 | And so she came to New Harvest,
00:37:37.420 | and she wasn't a Christian,
00:37:38.260 | and she became a Christian.
00:37:39.380 | And so she's just on fire for God,
00:37:40.860 | and she's like, you know,
00:37:42.260 | I feel like God really wants me to bodybuild.
00:37:44.180 | I go, can you do that, can you do that, you know?
00:37:47.140 | And then she like posts pictures up on her Facebook,
00:37:49.220 | and I'm like, can I look at that?
00:37:50.460 | I don't know, you know?
00:37:51.300 | (audience laughing)
00:37:52.540 | So, anyway, but she's just on fire.
00:37:55.540 | Like, everywhere she goes,
00:37:56.380 | she's trying to encourage people.
00:37:57.460 | And so she's like, you know,
00:37:58.300 | how can I use my Mina for God?
00:38:00.340 | I was like, I have no idea.
00:38:02.180 | I really don't.
00:38:03.460 | Let me flex your muscle, my Jesus,
00:38:04.860 | I don't know, what, you know?
00:38:06.820 | (audience laughing)
00:38:08.140 | So then this is what happens, honestly.
00:38:09.180 | She tells me this, she goes,
00:38:10.140 | one day she's working out at the gym, right?
00:38:11.580 | And she's preparing for a competition.
00:38:13.260 | And all of a sudden, she meets this one Korean lady
00:38:15.060 | who's actually preparing for the same thing
00:38:16.780 | as that competition.
00:38:18.220 | Now, one thing, I don't know,
00:38:19.060 | some of you, you know, Korean people may know this,
00:38:21.180 | but in Korea, there is this huge shame culture
00:38:24.140 | where all Korean women, they hate the way they look,
00:38:26.140 | they hate the way their body looks.
00:38:27.620 | So they're always doing plastic surgery, right?
00:38:28.980 | It's really sad.
00:38:30.060 | So anyway, they start talking,
00:38:31.500 | and then this Korean girl, the Korean lady,
00:38:33.100 | realizes that she's in the same competition,
00:38:34.980 | so she goes, oh, I cannot do the competition.
00:38:38.060 | You look too good, I go lose, you know?
00:38:40.820 | She goes like that, right?
00:38:41.660 | (audience laughing)
00:38:44.460 | What, why are you guys laughing?
00:38:46.460 | I can do that, I'm Korean, I can do that, okay?
00:38:48.420 | (audience laughing)
00:38:50.660 | So then this girl looks over,
00:38:52.060 | and this is what she says, Samantha,
00:38:53.620 | she goes, hey, I'm not your competition.
00:38:56.620 | Each of us, we do our best so that when we go up on stage,
00:39:01.620 | we present our best.
00:39:03.660 | You're your own competition.
00:39:04.740 | Don't compare.
00:39:06.060 | And I just thought, like, wow.
00:39:07.860 | And that lady, she got encouraged,
00:39:09.020 | and so she started working out, you know,
00:39:09.860 | and they're working out together,
00:39:10.900 | and I go, oh, I guess you can go
00:39:12.460 | if I got a bodybuilding, right?
00:39:14.180 | And this is what I realized, that she's absolutely right.
00:39:16.580 | Don't compare yourself to others.
00:39:19.100 | You are uniquely made for the way God made you.
00:39:21.300 | Don't compare, because if you compare yourself
00:39:23.420 | to somebody else, it will only lead to two things,
00:39:25.580 | either jealousy or arrogance.
00:39:28.220 | Look what they have.
00:39:30.780 | How come I don't have it?
00:39:31.700 | Jealousy.
00:39:32.840 | Look what they have, and look what I got.
00:39:34.340 | Arrogance.
00:39:35.660 | If you're gonna compare, compare yourself to Jesus,
00:39:39.260 | and then you realize how much more you need of him.
00:39:42.700 | You have to live out the plan
00:39:46.500 | and the purpose God has created you for.
00:39:49.060 | Engage with the way God has made you.
00:39:52.700 | Now, how do you know how God has made you?
00:39:55.800 | I know for sure you cannot figure it out
00:39:58.500 | by putting yourself on a handkerchief.
00:40:00.100 | You ain't gonna figure that out.
00:40:01.980 | What is a handkerchief?
00:40:03.020 | Handkerchief is this.
00:40:03.980 | Coming to church, sitting there,
00:40:05.580 | never talking to anybody,
00:40:06.620 | hearing the sermon, and then leaving.
00:40:08.540 | There is no way you're gonna figure out
00:40:10.340 | how to engage like that.
00:40:11.340 | There's no way, 'cause that's your handkerchief.
00:40:13.540 | I did my part, I'm out.
00:40:14.780 | There's no way you're going to figure out
00:40:17.420 | a sense of how you're supposed to invest
00:40:19.060 | if all you ever do is go to your office,
00:40:20.580 | lock the door, stay in your office.
00:40:22.660 | Wanna get some coffee?
00:40:23.500 | No, no, no, no, I'm too busy.
00:40:24.340 | I gotta work, I gotta work.
00:40:26.580 | You don't engage nobody.
00:40:28.260 | You're in your books all the time.
00:40:29.700 | I understand, some of you are students,
00:40:30.740 | so you have to study, I understand.
00:40:32.820 | But some of us, that's the way we just escape.
00:40:34.860 | That's the way we keep ourselves from engaging.
00:40:37.460 | There's no way you're going to know
00:40:39.220 | a sense of who you are, what God's called you for,
00:40:41.660 | if you're always escaping and hiding
00:40:43.900 | and being secluded by yourself.
00:40:45.860 | How do you learn the sense of who you are,
00:40:48.900 | of what God created you?
00:40:49.860 | That's why I love small groups.
00:40:51.260 | I love it.
00:40:52.100 | Because when you're in a small group,
00:40:54.140 | or when you're serving,
00:40:55.140 | and you start to interact with others,
00:40:56.540 | and all of a sudden someone comes up to you,
00:40:57.780 | goes, "Man, you know what?
00:40:58.780 | "I think you have a gift of hospitality."
00:41:01.740 | "I do?
00:41:02.580 | "How do you know?"
00:41:04.820 | "Because every time I'm around you,
00:41:07.380 | "you're so welcoming."
00:41:08.780 | "I am?"
00:41:09.620 | (audience laughing)
00:41:12.780 | "I didn't know."
00:41:13.780 | "Yeah, of course you didn't know,
00:41:14.740 | "because you didn't engage."
00:41:16.660 | But then when you start to engage,
00:41:17.780 | all of a sudden people start to see and call you out.
00:41:20.380 | "Man, you have a gift of generosity."
00:41:21.940 | "I do?"
00:41:23.500 | "How do you know?"
00:41:24.380 | "Because everywhere you go, people are blessed
00:41:26.940 | "to become more abundant when you pass through."
00:41:31.220 | "I didn't know."
00:41:32.060 | "Yeah, because you never engaged."
00:41:36.620 | But when you engage and you interact,
00:41:38.780 | then you begin to start to see people start going,
00:41:40.940 | "Wow, there's something about you."
00:41:42.740 | There's a brother that was here in the first service,
00:41:46.180 | his name was Joseph.
00:41:47.700 | Man, he's got such a gift of hospitality.
00:41:49.340 | You need to put that brother on the welcoming team,
00:41:51.780 | because as soon as he walked in,
00:41:52.780 | he just looked at me and goes,
00:41:53.620 | "Hi, I'm Joseph."
00:41:54.460 | I was like, "Hey, bro, how are you?
00:41:55.820 | "I'm Doug, so great to see you."
00:41:57.700 | This is like gems, man.
00:41:58.700 | You gotta really encourage them.
00:42:00.420 | You know?
00:42:01.260 | How will you figure it out?
00:42:03.380 | You're not gonna figure it out
00:42:04.220 | by just sitting in front of a book in a cubicle.
00:42:05.980 | You have to continue to engage.
00:42:09.100 | Do you believe God has given you life?
00:42:13.780 | Do you believe that God has given you his son,
00:42:16.140 | his Holy Spirit, every good and perfect gift?
00:42:19.860 | And that means you have this treasure
00:42:22.380 | that he's given to you.
00:42:23.940 | Then what can you do with this life?
00:42:25.820 | What is the greatest impact that you can make today?
00:42:30.260 | Not in a couple of years when you have money
00:42:32.500 | or when you have a bigger position.
00:42:33.860 | Today, how can you make the greatest impact today?
00:42:36.340 | What is the greatest impact you can make today?
00:42:38.620 | What is it?
00:42:39.460 | You know the answer is?
00:42:41.580 | It's unlimited.
00:42:45.140 | It's unlimited.
00:42:47.340 | The impact that you can make today.
00:42:51.300 | You know, we do a thing in our church
00:42:52.700 | called discipleship training.
00:42:54.060 | This time, this term, we had nine sisters
00:42:56.700 | that went through nine months of discipleship training.
00:42:58.940 | The third month, every sister is required
00:43:01.500 | to start to disciple somebody else.
00:43:02.940 | Now some of them are really shy, so they didn't do it.
00:43:04.900 | I had this one sister named Minji, very shy girl.
00:43:07.460 | She's a professor at a school.
00:43:08.900 | And so she saw this one student and she just engaged him.
00:43:11.700 | She said, "Hey, would you like to do Bible study?"
00:43:14.060 | In Korea, you could still do those kind of things, right?
00:43:15.700 | In America, I know you get in big trouble.
00:43:17.980 | So she said, "Would you like to Bible study?"
00:43:19.380 | And the guy's like, "Sure."
00:43:20.500 | And he's not a Christian.
00:43:22.500 | They started doing Bible study, the Book of John.
00:43:24.220 | He liked it so much, he invited his friend.
00:43:26.940 | Became two.
00:43:27.780 | He liked it so much, they invited another friend.
00:43:29.220 | There's three of them.
00:43:30.060 | Now this guy is on the verge of becoming a Christian.
00:43:32.540 | That sister Minji came up to me, her face is beaming.
00:43:34.540 | She's like, "I never knew that this could be done.
00:43:38.180 | "I could do this."
00:43:39.860 | I was like, "I know, because you never engaged.
00:43:43.060 | "But you finally took the risk.
00:43:45.860 | "And this is the joy of it.
00:43:47.620 | "When you engage with God's Mina,
00:43:49.800 | "not only will it multiply,
00:43:51.300 | "because that's the powerfulness of God's Mina,
00:43:53.860 | "not only will it multiply,
00:43:55.140 | "but you will also receive the sense of joy,
00:43:57.000 | "the sense of meaningfulness,
00:43:58.300 | "and not only that, God will reward you.
00:44:00.700 | "Why wouldn't you want to engage?
00:44:03.080 | "Why wouldn't you?"
00:44:04.120 | It's only if you're, as King says, if you're wicked.
00:44:09.100 | If you say, "I don't wanna live for God,
00:44:10.340 | "I wanna live for myself."
00:44:12.020 | So God's been really challenging me too, about this.
00:44:14.700 | You know, I'm in Korea, and so it's difficult for me,
00:44:16.540 | because everyone speaks Korean.
00:44:17.780 | So you know what, I said, "Lord, wherever I go,
00:44:19.260 | "teach me how to engage."
00:44:21.020 | So I was at the gym, and I was working out,
00:44:22.460 | and I've been trying to get myself into shape,
00:44:24.380 | and working out, and there was this guy,
00:44:25.980 | really skinny Korean guy, and he was trying to do pull-ups,
00:44:27.940 | and he's like, "Yeah, yeah!"
00:44:30.140 | (audience laughs)
00:44:31.380 | And he brought a chair over, he's standing on the chair,
00:44:33.020 | "Yeah, yeah!"
00:44:33.860 | And I was just like, "Okay, chance to engage."
00:44:36.020 | So I go up to him, and I just said in my broken Korean,
00:44:38.340 | I said, "(speaking in foreign language)
00:44:40.820 | "Can I spot you?"
00:44:41.860 | And he looks over, probably shocked,
00:44:43.260 | 'cause I don't speak Korean very well,
00:44:44.260 | he's like, "Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah."
00:44:45.820 | So I kinda spot him, and I'm holding up the back of his foot,
00:44:48.500 | and he's doing like 15, "Ugh, ugh!"
00:44:50.420 | He comes down, he's like, "Oh, come on, sit down."
00:44:52.100 | I was like, "Oh, no, no, no, no."
00:44:53.340 | And so I go up, and then he just walks away.
00:44:55.300 | (audience laughs)
00:44:58.140 | But you know what, it didn't matter,
00:45:02.420 | because I do not engage so I can get something back.
00:45:05.540 | I engage simply because God has commanded me to engage,
00:45:08.620 | because my king has told me to engage.
00:45:10.980 | And you know what, I'm gonna continue to engage.
00:45:12.900 | Even yesterday, I went airsoft shooting with my son.
00:45:15.780 | I don't know if you guys know what airsoft is,
00:45:17.020 | it's like little plastic pellets, you shoot at each other.
00:45:20.260 | And we went airsofting in Norwalk over here, or Downey,
00:45:23.580 | and we're sitting at a table,
00:45:24.660 | and these two guys come over,
00:45:25.700 | and they're high school graduates.
00:45:26.980 | And I start talking to them, I just start engaging.
00:45:29.100 | You know how I engage them?
00:45:30.020 | I say, "Hey, you guys want some Doritos?"
00:45:31.580 | That is a powerful way to engage.
00:45:33.100 | (audience laughs)
00:45:34.020 | 'Cause no one says no to Doritos, right?
00:45:35.340 | "You like some Doritos?"
00:45:36.180 | I'm like, "Oh, yeah, sure."
00:45:37.340 | And so who's this strange old man giving me Doritos, you know?
00:45:40.300 | But they started eating it, they started eating my Doritos,
00:45:42.100 | and I just started talking to them.
00:45:43.380 | They just graduated high school.
00:45:44.900 | One guy is gonna be going to Long Beach Community College,
00:45:47.180 | and the other guy, he's gonna be going to Thailand
00:45:49.780 | for two years on missions.
00:45:51.300 | As soon as he said that, I go, "This guy's a Mormon."
00:45:53.820 | And sure enough, I said, "Oh, why are you going on missions?"
00:45:55.700 | He goes, "Oh, I'm a Mormon."
00:45:56.540 | I go, "Oh, okay, I already knew."
00:45:58.620 | I didn't convert him.
00:45:59.660 | That would be an awesome testimony, wouldn't it?
00:46:01.500 | I didn't.
00:46:02.340 | But you know what?
00:46:03.180 | As I just kept on talking with him, talking with him,
00:46:04.140 | and I wish my son was here, he could tell you,
00:46:05.940 | they were not even talking to each other,
00:46:07.420 | they just were talking to me now.
00:46:09.540 | They kept on asking me, they kept on engaging me,
00:46:11.340 | and I go, "Wow, Lord, I just took a risk,
00:46:14.580 | "and I just was obedient, and I just engaged them,
00:46:17.140 | "and look at the way their hearts are."
00:46:18.660 | That's what's gonna happen.
00:46:19.540 | When you start to engage the people at your work,
00:46:21.340 | and your family, engage them with God's love,
00:46:23.180 | with the gospel, with kindness, with generosity,
00:46:25.340 | you know what happens?
00:46:26.180 | When you're missing, they're gonna go, "Where's John?
00:46:28.380 | "Where's Sam?
00:46:29.220 | "Where's Lisa?"
00:46:31.020 | Because they're gonna miss you,
00:46:31.940 | because they realize without you, something's missing.
00:46:35.540 | It is that grace, it is that goodness,
00:46:37.060 | it is the life of Christ that he has placed in you.
00:46:41.100 | I wanna end with this passage, Matthew 25, verse 31.
00:46:45.860 | Again, remember, today's parable
00:46:47.580 | is really like a futuristic parable.
00:46:49.100 | He's telling us the framework of our life,
00:46:51.660 | and what will our picture look like, right?
00:46:53.620 | So Matthew 25, literally, it is,
00:46:55.460 | we're getting a glimpse of the end.
00:46:57.540 | Says this, 25, verse 31.
00:46:59.980 | When the Son of Man comes in his glory,
00:47:02.060 | and all the angels with him,
00:47:03.580 | then he will sit on his glorious throne, here is the king.
00:47:06.580 | Before him will be gathered all the nations,
00:47:09.260 | and he will separate people one from another,
00:47:11.460 | as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
00:47:14.740 | And he will place the sheep on his right,
00:47:16.740 | and the goats on the left.
00:47:18.740 | Then the king will say to those on his right,
00:47:20.700 | come, you who are blessed by my Father,
00:47:23.380 | inherit the kingdom.
00:47:25.500 | I give you the kingdom.
00:47:28.300 | Prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
00:47:31.620 | For I was hungry, and you gave me food.
00:47:34.580 | You see, giving food is sharing your minna.
00:47:37.180 | I was thirsty, and you gave me drink.
00:47:39.340 | Drink is a minna.
00:47:40.340 | I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.
00:47:42.860 | I was naked, and you clothed me.
00:47:44.320 | I was sick, and you visited me.
00:47:45.980 | I was in prison, and you came to me,
00:47:47.900 | visiting and coming to see somebody.
00:47:49.700 | That is a powerful minna.
00:47:51.940 | Then the righteous will answer him, saying,
00:47:53.660 | Lord, when did we see you hungry,
00:47:55.100 | and feed you, or thirsty, or give you drink?
00:47:57.660 | And when did we see you a stranger,
00:47:58.900 | and welcome you, or naked, and clothe you?
00:48:01.140 | And when did we see you sick, or in prison, and visit you?
00:48:03.860 | And the king will answer them,
00:48:05.140 | truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least
00:48:07.980 | of these my brothers, you did it to me.
00:48:11.460 | You see, these sheep,
00:48:13.060 | they were not even looking for a reward.
00:48:14.780 | They were not even looking like, where's Jesus?
00:48:16.100 | Let me do this, so I can get something from Jesus.
00:48:18.220 | They were just simply being faithful, obedient, and loving,
00:48:21.180 | because of the love and the faithfulness
00:48:22.560 | they had received from God.
00:48:24.780 | If you know that God has given you his son, salvation,
00:48:28.260 | forgiven you of your sins, given you the Holy Spirit,
00:48:30.460 | given you the word of God, the community,
00:48:32.180 | he has blessed you beyond imagination already.
00:48:36.260 | Then just live it out by sharing that with others,
00:48:38.340 | the love of God.
00:48:39.820 | Just live it out.
00:48:41.020 | Because God says at the end,
00:48:42.820 | he wants to say to you, well done,
00:48:45.340 | good and faithful servant.
00:48:46.980 | You've been faithful with very little,
00:48:48.660 | now receive much.
00:48:50.220 | Your reward is great.
00:48:51.060 | You know, I believe with all my heart,
00:48:52.900 | that each of you in this room,
00:48:54.340 | that there is a sphere of influence
00:48:56.020 | that God wants you to really impact.
00:48:59.080 | I believe that this church's body,
00:49:00.940 | that you guys can impact this area powerfully,
00:49:03.900 | as you each decide, Lord, I'm gonna live,
00:49:07.060 | and I'm gonna engage with your love, your grace,
00:49:09.320 | the life you've given to me.
00:49:10.540 | And not only that, but this is what I hope you all
00:49:12.020 | will do for each other.
00:49:13.540 | That you will be praying for each other,
00:49:14.660 | and say, Lord, if you're gonna bless me with five cities,
00:49:16.620 | I pray that you will bless my brother and my sister
00:49:18.260 | with 10 cities, bless them.
00:49:19.780 | Be men and women of generosity, of blessing,
00:49:22.860 | even as God has blessed you.
00:49:24.500 | Let's pray.
00:49:25.340 | Oh, sorry, here is a picture, actual picture of that guy.
00:49:27.220 | Sorry.
00:49:28.060 | So I took that picture out, and I superimposed it,
00:49:31.060 | but this is who he really is.
00:49:32.460 | He gave his life to really invest
00:49:33.800 | into international students and be a blessing.
00:49:35.900 | And this will be his reward.
00:49:37.140 | This will be his reward.
00:49:38.380 | The meaningfulness of his life well lived.
00:49:40.380 | Well, let's pray together.