back to index2018-02-11 Qualities of Biblical Love Part 2
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My original plan, if you look at your program, it says up to 13, but I'm not going to get 00:00:17.600 |
to verse 13, and I am not going to get to verse 12 either. 00:00:25.160 |
So I explained to the first service that as I was preparing, my intent was to get to 13, 00:00:30.640 |
and as I was preparing, I said, "Well, this is too much material. 00:00:35.520 |
Then as I was preparing, even last night, I took about half a page of notes, outline, 00:00:42.040 |
and I took it out, and then at night as I was reviewing, I put it all back in, and then 00:00:47.760 |
I put some more in after that, and I realized I'm not going to be able to make it all the 00:00:54.600 |
But neither did I want to take out certain important stuff in here, so we're most likely 00:00:59.360 |
going to get to 11, and then 12, 13, hopefully by next week. 00:01:03.200 |
But I'm going to read from verse 9 up to verse 13 before we get started. 00:01:26.680 |
Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 00:01:35.720 |
Lord, sometimes it can just become habit, coming to church and worshiping, and we know, 00:01:48.200 |
We want to express our love for you, our appreciation for your perseverance in us, not only for 00:01:54.320 |
saving us, but being patient, Lord God, through our sanctification. 00:02:02.120 |
We thank you for your living Word that reveals to us your thoughts, your heart, your intentions. 00:02:09.460 |
Help us to understand these things, Lord God, not simply for knowledge, that we may change, 00:02:14.720 |
that we may continue to reflect who you are through our lives. 00:02:18.120 |
So we pray for your blessing and your Holy Spirit's power to be revealed in your Word. 00:02:28.280 |
I was up at BMC, and they were celebrating their fifth anniversary. 00:02:32.320 |
And so, you know, it's been five years already since we sent out that team up there, and 00:02:37.720 |
in the five years they've been gone through, obviously you guys know, you know, what kind 00:02:41.920 |
of stuff that they went through, but in five years they've grown tremendously. 00:02:46.240 |
I've been there, I think, about a year, maybe a little bit less than a year ago, and last 00:02:52.000 |
time I visited they had maybe about 120, and this time I went and they had, they're almost 00:02:57.920 |
kind of hitting 200, and as a result of that they're having some growing pains. 00:03:02.360 |
In addition to the facility that they're in, they can fit maybe about 260, 250, 260 people, 00:03:08.920 |
and so they're kind of debating whether they're going to go to the gym or they're going to 00:03:11.760 |
find another location, but again, these issues are coming because, you know, they're growing, 00:03:17.400 |
So I was very thankful that I was able to be there and to share it in the time that 00:03:20.960 |
they have, but I ask you to continue to keep them in your prayers. 00:03:25.440 |
I just remember that when our church was growing and we hit about 200, that was the period 00:03:33.000 |
So some of you guys who were there during that period, not that they're all gone, but 00:03:39.080 |
that was the most challenging, when our church culture kind of changed and there was a lot 00:03:43.200 |
of challenges and the workload was doubling and tripling at that time, and all because 00:03:50.200 |
And so if you guys can, again, continue to keep them in your prayers, pray that the Lord 00:03:55.200 |
would use them, give the leadership wisdom, that they wouldn't be tired out and know how 00:03:59.600 |
to adjust certain things to be able to manage the growing number of people that are coming 00:04:04.280 |
You know, when Pastor Aaron asked me to come up and to, again, to address the church in 00:04:11.520 |
their fifth anniversary, I knew that we had a football game on Saturday. 00:04:15.040 |
Our elite sisters were going to go, and for the last five or six years, I wasn't able 00:04:20.860 |
So I asked Pastor Aaron to make sure, give me the latest flight out of Orange County 00:04:27.320 |
You know, I'm not talking about Super Bowl, I'm talking about the real football game that 00:04:32.800 |
And so, you know, he got me the latest flight, and then I was all, you know, geared to go 00:04:36.920 |
after our meeting and then found out that they were having it in San Diego. 00:04:40.280 |
You know, so I was up at the hotel up in San Francisco texting with our brother James, 00:04:46.120 |
and he was kind of giving me an update of what's going on. 00:04:48.680 |
And then I saw your video clips of the win and how excited you guys were, and I was excited 00:04:55.880 |
And I know some people may look at that and say, "Well, what a, you know, that's a lot 00:04:59.200 |
of time being spent that has nothing to do with God." 00:05:02.600 |
Two, three, four months, and then the next eight months thinking about it, right? 00:05:10.240 |
And I think if we're not careful and we just let football be football, yeah, it is a lot 00:05:15.960 |
of time wasted that has nothing to do with God, if that's all it is. 00:05:20.000 |
That you guys had fun, had great opportunity to fellowship and to get to know one another. 00:05:24.560 |
And if it ends in just having more people to go to Disneyland with, you know, to celebrate 00:05:31.160 |
birthdays and to just have more friends at church, if that's all it ends in, yeah, then 00:05:37.360 |
it is a great waste of time, no matter how excited you were, no matter how many games 00:05:42.620 |
My hope and prayer is that all the things that you've gained, all the fellowship, and 00:05:47.120 |
that's the thing that I keep hearing over and over, that they really love the camaraderie 00:05:53.640 |
And with that camaraderie, what will we do with it? 00:05:58.000 |
With the friendships and the community, in football, out of football, whatever it is 00:06:02.560 |
that we're building, what are we doing with that? 00:06:07.720 |
Is it just a better community where people know me and I know them? 00:06:11.840 |
But to really use every good gift that God has given and to be intentional about spurring 00:06:17.720 |
one another on toward loving good deeds, that make sure Christ is the reason why we're gathered 00:06:21.960 |
together, that all the friendships that we build, that we don't just use that to have 00:06:26.360 |
fun with, but that we're running this race together. 00:06:29.600 |
So anything that causes us to build a greater community would lead to greater honor and 00:06:35.320 |
And so my prayer is that it would not just end in football, but that football would only 00:06:42.680 |
Now I say all of this because that's the text that we're in. 00:06:46.760 |
Paul has been expositing for 11 chapters about the in-depth presentation of the gospel, and 00:06:51.160 |
he says in light of this grace, we should also offer our bodies, as Christ gave himself 00:06:57.480 |
for us, that we ought to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, that this is a reasonable, 00:07:04.640 |
And then he told us in verses 3 to 8, the avenue in which we are to live this life of 00:07:14.300 |
So God has given us different gifts, and that we are to use these gifts to build each other 00:07:20.120 |
So he gave us the arena in which we are to practice this Christian faith. 00:07:26.680 |
Well, respond in a way that honors and glorifies God in the context of the church. 00:07:32.080 |
The section that we're in now, starting from verse 9 to verse 21, is a rapid-fire presentation 00:07:39.840 |
And there's about 21 to 24 of them based upon how you divide this. 00:07:43.640 |
He just, one after another, to do this, to do this, and then do this, and then do this, 00:07:48.000 |
He doesn't sit there, like, elaborating on any of these things. 00:07:51.600 |
He just wants to know that this is a, again, there's about 21 to 24, but in no way is this 00:07:57.360 |
comprehensive to everything that we know about what it means to be a Christian. 00:08:02.820 |
And he doesn't go into in-depth description of what he is trying to say. 00:08:08.160 |
He just gives a long presentation of, these are things that we ought to give our thought 00:08:16.400 |
He doesn't just say, "Hey, you should be a good Christian." 00:08:18.920 |
He doesn't just say, "Hey, you should have affection for Christ." 00:08:21.320 |
He gives us, like, this is what it should look like. 00:08:23.720 |
So in verse 9, he began this list by reminding us that the greatest of these commandments 00:08:42.600 |
So if you look at this list of 21 to 24 imperatives, they don't all directly connect to love, loving 00:08:51.680 |
But whenever you see a list of things in the Bible, it's there for a reason. 00:08:57.880 |
When you see the list of the apostles, Peter's name is always on the top, and it is never 00:09:09.900 |
If you see a list of immorality that we are to avoid and to shun, these lists of sins, 00:09:16.640 |
sexual immorality is almost always on the top. 00:09:20.960 |
It is very deliberate that these are things that God wants to pay special attention to. 00:09:25.580 |
So the fact that on the top of the list, the first two verses emphasizes the practice of 00:09:31.420 |
love with brothers and sisters, it is not by accident. 00:09:37.240 |
And we mentioned that, I mentioned that a couple weeks ago when we exposited the first 00:09:42.880 |
In Galatians 5.14, it says, "For the whole law is fulfilled in one word. 00:09:49.640 |
Everything, all the imperatives, whether it is directly connected to it or not, he said 00:09:55.280 |
all of it is summarized in love the neighbor as yourself, to love. 00:10:01.240 |
Again, Philippians 1, 2, 1 and 2, it says, "If there is any encouragement in Christ, 00:10:05.800 |
any comfort in love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete 00:10:11.040 |
my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one 00:10:16.760 |
Again, he is not speaking to a select group of Christians who are experiencing this spiritual 00:10:22.960 |
fervor for God that other Christians are not. 00:10:24.880 |
He is basically saying, if you are a Christian, if you have repented and you find any encouragement 00:10:30.280 |
in Christ, if you have any fellowship with the Holy Spirit, any participation for His 00:10:34.720 |
affection, in other words, if you are a true Christian, make every effort to be of the 00:10:42.880 |
Again, in 1 Thessalonians 4, 9 and 10, this model church that Paul says that their reputation 00:10:50.640 |
of their genuine conversion is being spread all over Macedonia, that he doesn't even have 00:10:57.040 |
He said that people are talking about them, how they came to faith and how the genuine 00:11:02.200 |
Christianity is being practiced, and this is what he says to this church, "Now concerning 00:11:06.080 |
brotherly love, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been 00:11:16.320 |
Is he saying that to the Thessalonians that there was some kind of special revelation 00:11:20.360 |
that God opened up heaven and He was speaking audibly to them, that He wasn't speaking to 00:11:26.980 |
Was it some special revelation that only the Thessalonians had in saying, "I don't need 00:11:30.720 |
you, I don't need to tell you about love because God Himself is teaching you directly." 00:11:35.480 |
I don't think that that's what Paul is saying here. 00:11:38.680 |
What Paul is saying is that the practice of love is so fundamental to our faith that you 00:11:44.840 |
can't preach the gospel without preaching love. 00:11:48.020 |
There would be no gospel, there would be no salvation, there would be no heaven and hell, 00:11:52.260 |
there would be no incarnation, there would be no church without love. 00:11:57.420 |
So what Paul is saying is, "I don't even need to mention this to you because the very fact 00:12:02.920 |
that you became a Christian, you're already being taught by God that you ought to love." 00:12:07.320 |
That's how fundamental it is to our faith, that these aren't some extra instructions 00:12:12.780 |
You can't be a Christian if you don't recognize this. 00:12:16.520 |
Verse 10, "For that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia." 00:12:20.960 |
He said that's what makes them a model church because they were actually already practicing 00:12:25.600 |
He said, "But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more." 00:12:32.640 |
Here's this model church who's already practicing this love and he doesn't say, "Well, you're 00:12:38.480 |
You know, he's just kind of back off a little bit, you know, don't push yourself too hard 00:12:42.840 |
He says, "No, you're doing this, but do this more and more." 00:12:47.520 |
This is something that you need to be pursuing. 00:12:50.040 |
This is something that you need to be working on and sacrificing to the day you die, to 00:12:56.960 |
So there is no way that I can exaggerate the importance of this character. 00:13:02.640 |
You know, when we talk about spiritual maturity, we have various things that we can look at 00:13:07.240 |
to see how mature somebody is, like how committed are they to church? 00:13:12.520 |
How do they use their time, their discipline? 00:13:14.400 |
How many people have they shared the gospel with? 00:13:16.800 |
We have, you know, depending on what your perspective is, we all have a different measuring 00:13:22.920 |
Some of them overlap, some of them are very different. 00:13:25.240 |
Some things are very important to you and some things may not be as important, right? 00:13:29.240 |
So if you happen to be one of those people who love theology, you tend to measure other 00:13:34.060 |
people's maturity based upon how much theology that you think they know. 00:13:38.760 |
If you happen to be a prayer warrior and you tend to, you know, measure everybody else, 00:13:44.880 |
So we all have our own perspective of how we think. 00:13:48.360 |
Like these are people that respect, these are people that we think are mature. 00:13:51.920 |
Now none of these things are necessarily wrong, they are in scripture. 00:13:55.760 |
But above all of these things, you can have all of that and yet not have love, the scripture 00:14:03.980 |
You can have theology without love, it's nothing. 00:14:06.720 |
You can have devotion without love, it is nothing. 00:14:10.160 |
In fact, remember he says, "You can give your body to be burnt and have not love, it is 00:14:21.600 |
It is not just better, it is the thing that God desires from us. 00:14:26.960 |
It is the thing that he wants us to practice. 00:14:30.720 |
If there's one quality that we ought to look at and measure by, it's love. 00:14:45.000 |
So in verse 11 and on, he may not specifically mention the word love, but we know that the 00:14:50.880 |
application of all of these things ultimately is expression of love. 00:14:58.120 |
He says, "In this practice of obedience and offering your bodies a living sacrifice, do 00:15:09.320 |
The word slothful, depending on what translation you have, has been either translated lacking 00:15:20.040 |
And the word for zeal in other translations have been translated diligence, or like here 00:15:29.400 |
So these are words that, again, there are a little bit of differences and nuances, but 00:15:35.480 |
at the end of the day, he's basically saying, don't be lazy in the things that God has called 00:15:43.000 |
Don't be slothful, lagging, and nonchalant about what God has called you to do. 00:15:56.680 |
If you've ever raised children, typically children don't say no. 00:16:04.360 |
Of course they say no, but when they want to disobey you, a lot of times the way that 00:16:16.200 |
You know, four hours later, it hasn't been taken out. 00:16:24.320 |
It's never a no, because he knows it's his responsibility. 00:16:34.760 |
You come back later part of the day and the dishes aren't done. 00:16:53.160 |
You wake up in the morning and it's still there. 00:17:00.520 |
Then I had to do something and I fell asleep, but I mean to do it. 00:17:16.820 |
Oftentimes, our disobedience is not expressed with, "No, God, I'm not going to do it. 00:17:26.580 |
When I have more time, when the bills are paid, when my children are older, when I'm 00:17:30.620 |
done with school, when I have more energy, it's usually later. 00:17:38.900 |
Disobedience, it'd be very easy to identify when somebody says, "No," because you're standing 00:17:47.020 |
If you've been raised in the church, you're not going to challenge God. 00:18:01.980 |
If you look at it, remember, you don't need to turn your Bibles there, but remember the 00:18:04.900 |
parable of the talents, where God gives this parable. 00:18:10.060 |
Understand that this is one of the last parables that Jesus gives in his public ministry. 00:18:18.260 |
He's only a few days away from being crucified. 00:18:21.100 |
The last public address that he gives to the multitudes, one of the last parables that 00:18:26.860 |
he gives is a parable of the talent, because he's preparing them for his departure. 00:18:31.380 |
In that, he gives this parable of the talent, when he says he gave one servant five, and 00:18:38.500 |
The one who will receive five, he invests it, and then he multiplies it. 00:18:42.580 |
He comes back with another five, and he says, "I invested in this and this, and I give you 00:18:47.380 |
The one with the two comes back, and then he says, "I multiply two. 00:18:50.220 |
You gave me two, and I added the other two, and here it is back." 00:18:53.660 |
The one with the one comes back, and all he did was bury it. 00:18:58.500 |
He buries it, and he comes back, and he gives it to him. 00:19:00.980 |
The response that he gets from his lack of work, I want you to look at this. 00:19:10.620 |
He said, "But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant, you knew that 00:19:15.740 |
I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I scattered no seed. 00:19:21.340 |
Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have 00:19:28.380 |
So take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents. 00:19:32.380 |
For to everyone who has will more be given and will have an abundance. 00:19:36.680 |
But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.'" 00:19:44.740 |
I'm going to give it to the people who were faithful. 00:19:47.000 |
But here's the part, how the end result of this servant. 00:19:51.740 |
"And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. 00:19:55.860 |
In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 00:20:13.000 |
So according to this parable, because he didn't do his job. 00:20:17.460 |
Now, if we're not careful, we can look at this and say, "You better get to it." 00:20:24.460 |
Those of you who've been lazy, you're going to go to hell. 00:20:29.060 |
If we're not careful, we can apply this and say, "Well, that's what the parable of the 00:20:35.120 |
Because he was lazy and he was slothful, he says there's going to be weeping and gnashing 00:20:42.780 |
I think we really need to understand this in context and who this man is. 00:20:48.180 |
Because in verse 26, the reason why he gave, why he didn't do what he did was, he says, 00:20:54.460 |
again, turn your Bibles, I don't think I have this up here, turn your Bibles to Matthew 00:21:00.180 |
Go to that parable because I don't think I have the verse up here. 00:21:04.420 |
In Matthew 25, verse 24 to 25, where this servant with the one talent, he gives the 00:21:16.860 |
And he says, okay, Matthew 25, verse 24, "He also who had received the one talent came 00:21:23.140 |
forward saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow 00:21:31.140 |
So I was afraid and I went and hid your talent in the ground. 00:21:38.600 |
So the reason why he gives, why he didn't labor for the kingdom was your fault. 00:21:51.740 |
And you are unfair and you're asking me to do something that is unfair, so therefore 00:21:56.500 |
So the description of this man is an unbeliever. 00:22:01.340 |
He said the reason for his slothfulness, the reason for his laziness was because he didn't 00:22:08.700 |
So this is not a distinction between a Christian who is working hard and a Christian who didn't 00:22:13.300 |
He's talking about an individual who because of his unbelief, it led to his slothfulness. 00:22:21.860 |
How much of our Christian life is the way it is because we do not believe? 00:22:30.540 |
We definitely want insurance because justification by faith and faith alone, so we want to make 00:22:35.120 |
sure we have enough insurance so that when we die that we're going to go to heaven, but 00:22:46.740 |
Because all we are concerned about is insurance to get to heaven and the rest of it, I find 00:22:53.100 |
I want life in heaven when I die, but while I'm here I find life in anything else but 00:23:07.580 |
Turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 5. 00:23:09.580 |
Those verses are going to be up behind me, so if you don't have the Bible you can just 00:23:15.180 |
So if you look at Hebrews chapter 5, here's a passage that a lot of people get confused 00:23:20.060 |
about when we look at Hebrews chapter 6 where it talks about it's impossible in the case 00:23:26.060 |
of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gifts and have shared 00:23:29.860 |
the Holy Spirit and have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the age 00:23:33.580 |
to come and then have fallen away to restore them again to repentance since they are crucifying 00:23:38.580 |
once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 00:23:43.320 |
So people read that passage in Hebrews chapter 6, 4 through 6 and say, "Well, is he talking 00:23:52.500 |
Clearly, a one who has been justified by God's elect purpose cannot lose his salvation, so 00:24:02.140 |
If you look at the previous verse in Hebrews chapter 5, verse 11 and on, it gives us a 00:24:08.500 |
Again, the most important part of understanding scripture is context. 00:24:13.260 |
So in the context, remember who he's speaking to. 00:24:17.060 |
He's speaking to second or third generation Hebrew Christians where their primary sin 00:24:23.740 |
wasn't necessary that they rejected his blood, that they didn't believe in deity, like all 00:24:28.540 |
of these things are mentioned in Hebrews, but their primary problem was they were just 00:24:36.900 |
And so the argument that the author is making is the preciousness of Christ. 00:24:44.900 |
So in other words, how can you just nonchalantly just kind of drift back into your old ways? 00:24:53.580 |
He says, "About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain since you have become 00:25:01.060 |
That was their primary problem because they became lukewarm and they got tired and they 00:25:05.220 |
got dull of hearing, so they have a lot of teaching in their head, but now they're not 00:25:12.620 |
"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic 00:25:22.300 |
For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness since he is a 00:25:27.940 |
But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained 00:25:32.340 |
by constant practice to distinguish good from evil." 00:25:37.020 |
The reason why they became dull of hearing, though they have a lot of teaching in them 00:25:41.340 |
or they didn't mature, is because they didn't constantly practice righteousness. 00:25:48.060 |
And they were beginning to drift back into their old life. 00:25:51.380 |
It is in that context that Paul, I think it's Paul, but whoever wrote the book of Hebrew, 00:25:57.020 |
is trying to tell the readers that apostasy is not something that they choose, at least 00:26:08.060 |
Apostasy was happening because they weren't paying attention. 00:26:11.900 |
They were being slothful and their hearts were becoming hardened. 00:26:15.620 |
And as a result, verse 7 through 8, it says, "For land that has drunk the rain and often 00:26:19.920 |
falls in it and produces a crop useful for those whose sake it is cultivated receives 00:26:25.660 |
But after it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed and 00:26:45.060 |
You had every opportunity to love people, to give, take care of the poor, to live in 00:26:51.060 |
You were taught to do all of this stuff and yet you delayed. 00:26:56.820 |
You were simply slothful and you've always said, "Not now. 00:27:10.780 |
And it says, "After you receive all of this and some bear fruit and those who don't bear 00:27:15.460 |
fruit and it's not because you didn't have the opportunity." 00:27:22.420 |
See, in both situations, he's not talking about somebody who's outright rebelling against 00:27:28.380 |
God, he's expressing his unbelief through delayed obedience. 00:27:37.380 |
And then the next phrase that he says, the antithesis of that, is not to be slothful 00:27:42.220 |
in our zeal and our passion for God, but he says, "Rather be fervent in spirit, serve 00:27:50.180 |
I want you to understand the language that he uses here. 00:27:54.220 |
Live in obedience and just be passionate about the things of God." 00:27:58.020 |
The word for fervent here literally means to boil. 00:28:05.700 |
So when you think of something boiling, it's not somebody who's just checking in and checking 00:28:10.540 |
It's not somebody who just kind of like, "Oh yeah, you know, 15 years ago I accepted Christ 00:28:14.260 |
and I'm not like the pastors or the missionaries. 00:28:22.300 |
And when somebody, anytime somebody says, "Oh, I'm just an average churchgoer," it's 00:28:26.780 |
kind of like an excuse, like there's different levels of Christianity and it's just some 00:28:31.020 |
pastors and some serious Christians have decided to be boiling for God and for the rest of 00:28:43.740 |
And it would only make sense that a reasonable response to the blood of Christ would be a 00:28:50.620 |
fervor, a boiling over, because what he called us to is not simply not going to hell. 00:28:58.900 |
The scripture says that he has come to give life and to give this life abundantly. 00:29:03.940 |
So it would only make sense that the blood of Christ that we profess to believe would 00:29:08.580 |
result in a life that is boiling over for God. 00:29:14.740 |
That's why it says in Jeremiah 29, 13, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me 00:29:23.080 |
Have we ever wondered why God doesn't seem to be answering our prayers? 00:29:33.980 |
Maybe, maybe we're already fed with the things of this world and there's no appetite for 00:29:40.480 |
Maybe we spend all our energy and all our fervor and all our might on something else 00:29:44.780 |
and then we bring the leftover to God and wondering why God is not passionately doing 00:29:51.640 |
He said, "No, you will find me if you seek me with all your heart." 00:29:57.160 |
Do you know that God may be waiting for you to make up your mind whether you're going 00:30:06.960 |
He's looking to Israelites who are giving sacrifices, who went through a battle, wandered 00:30:11.480 |
through the desert, and at the end of his life he says, "Make up your mind for me and 00:30:24.360 |
He's not talking to people who are chasing after pagan idols. 00:30:28.240 |
He's talking about people who are constantly wavering back and forth based upon any trials 00:30:34.160 |
and tribulation and temptation comes into their life and they choose whatever is the 00:30:38.160 |
most convenient for them depending on the circumstance they're in and he says, "Choose. 00:30:45.340 |
That's what it means to be boiling over in the Spirit in serving the Lord, to commit. 00:30:51.320 |
When Jesus was asked, "What is the greatest commandment?" in Mark chapter 12, 30 and 31, 00:30:54.840 |
"Then you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all 00:31:02.640 |
You probably heard sermons about what it means to love the Lord with your heart, with your 00:31:06.120 |
mind, with your strength, and with your mind. 00:31:11.480 |
But the emphasis in these verses is not your mind, heart, strength. 00:31:18.880 |
To love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with 00:31:33.160 |
And worship by definition requires a boiling over. 00:31:41.280 |
And you know, I was rooting for the Eagles, right? 00:31:44.280 |
And I was rooting for the Eagles because we used to live there a long time ago. 00:31:47.160 |
We had about three, four years that we were in Philadelphia. 00:31:49.520 |
So if I were going to choose any team, it would have been the Eagles. 00:31:52.880 |
And then I found out that there are a lot of Christians there. 00:31:56.320 |
I saw them praying before and then they were praying after and they're giving testimony. 00:32:06.600 |
So some of you guys may have watched the football and I heard some of you guys saying, "Oh, 00:32:11.440 |
It's like, I don't know, but I hate the Patriots, right? 00:32:15.000 |
So you were rooting against the Patriots, not necessarily for the Eagles. 00:32:20.780 |
So when they won, you know, different people celebrated differently, right? 00:32:24.280 |
And I was happy, but I wasn't elated because I didn't really follow football and I don't 00:32:32.080 |
So I kind of watched it and I said, "Oh, I'm going to choose the Eagles because it 00:32:35.560 |
And some of you guys were passionate about it, like really passionate about it, right? 00:32:42.440 |
And the different levels of passion is related to how much time you devoted to watching the 00:32:48.080 |
game and following the team and what kind of connection do you have and how much devotion 00:32:53.680 |
And so some of you have been fans for over a decade, maybe longer than that, and you've 00:32:59.560 |
So you went through the ups and downs, went to the Super Bowl and didn't win. 00:33:10.600 |
So, you know, we all celebrated, but we had different degrees of celebration, right? 00:33:15.880 |
But all of it was a genuine response of worship, right? 00:33:23.480 |
Our devotion to God, our devotion to God must reflect what He has done. 00:33:34.520 |
It only makes sense that if what we are celebrating is a sacrifice of His only begotten Son, He 00:33:44.600 |
who knew no sin became sin, that we may experience the righteousness of God. 00:33:53.520 |
That what we do and how we do must reflect that intensity. 00:33:58.080 |
So it only makes sense that God requires not checking in and checking out, not reading 00:34:04.440 |
up Scripture, not to say, "Oh, I prayed five minutes or ten minutes," but a boiling over 00:34:13.520 |
That's what He wants, and that's what He deserves, and that's the only reasonable response when 00:34:17.640 |
we truly understand what it is that we are worshiping. 00:34:21.280 |
John 2.17, John the Baptist says, "His disciples remembered that it was written, 'Zeal for 00:34:35.960 |
See, young children come and say, "Hey, don't block them from coming." 00:34:41.240 |
He had prostitutes coming and begging for forgiveness, and He was so gracious and loving. 00:34:46.280 |
Glass collectors that everybody wanted killed. 00:34:50.360 |
They wanted to pick up stones and just kill them, and the Jewish community would have 00:34:53.840 |
just dragged them out on the street and just left them alone. 00:34:58.440 |
He was probably the most gentle, gracious man that they've ever met, and yet when He 00:35:02.840 |
goes to the temple, not only that He's flipped over tables, He's actually making whip, and 00:35:07.480 |
He's starting whipping people out of His temple. 00:35:09.920 |
It was a scene they probably weren't used to seeing of Jesus. 00:35:14.080 |
It was afterwards, as they were meditating and thinking, the disciples quote a prophecy 00:35:20.560 |
about His Son, and they remembered, it says, that "Zeal for your house will consume Him." 00:35:31.460 |
If we are the body of Christ, and He is the head, and the Scripture says that He is consumed 00:35:42.760 |
He says, "Do not be slothful in zeal, but be consumed to be filled, to be passionate, 00:35:50.840 |
to boil over in the Spirit in serving the Lord." 00:35:55.520 |
That our Christianity is not just something that we do. 00:36:00.120 |
That the love that we practice, the grace that we are under, is not just something that 00:36:17.120 |
A worshiper of God is not just one of many identities. 00:36:27.240 |
To boil over, there's nothing more important than a reasonable response to God. 00:36:35.000 |
Benjamin Franklin, who many historians say he was not a Christian, and I don't think 00:36:39.960 |
there's any debate over that, and a lot of his helpers watched him attend George Whitefield's 00:36:50.520 |
And they asked him, "You're not a believer, but why do you keep going to his rallies?" 00:36:56.840 |
And his response, he confessed that he often went to hear George Whitefield because he 00:37:06.320 |
Whether Benjamin Franklin believed it or not, he knew that George Whitefield did. 00:37:11.240 |
And he was attracted to a man who absolutely believed what he was preaching, even if he 00:37:18.760 |
I was thinking about Apostle Paul's ministry. 00:37:21.960 |
You know, I've been in ministry, I started when I was 20. 00:37:24.320 |
I probably started earlier than I should have, but I've been in ministry about 30 years. 00:37:27.920 |
And I was thinking about Apostle Paul's ministry. 00:37:30.600 |
He came to Christ when he was about 30 years old. 00:37:34.600 |
He, obviously, he evangelized and he did various things, but his official ministry didn't start. 00:37:38.760 |
This three missionary journeys in the Book of Acts doesn't start until he's about 42 00:37:43.560 |
There's about a 12-year gap before he's a Christian, and then he actually begins to 00:37:46.960 |
do official ministry, where he's sent out by the Church of Antioch. 00:37:52.700 |
At the end of his third missionary journey, he goes to Rome and he gets carried out. 00:37:56.320 |
Eventually he is jailed, and then he is beheaded and he dies. 00:38:00.240 |
So his active ministry, official ministry, lasted 19 years. 00:38:06.680 |
19 years this man traveled over continents, not cities, continents, between Jerusalem 00:38:22.120 |
And even when he was sitting in prison, he's writing letters to make sure that he makes 00:38:26.680 |
You talk about a man consumed by the things of God. 00:38:32.240 |
And I keep thinking about, I've been in ministry for 30 years, and sometimes it's tiring. 00:38:39.080 |
I think about Apostle Paul, like, wow, he did this in 19 years. 00:38:46.320 |
Everywhere he preached, everywhere he went, this was a man who was consumed by the things 00:38:51.120 |
So when he writes these words to boil over in the Spirit, I mean, that's him. 00:38:59.560 |
You know, this week, myself and Pastor Mark and Pastor Nate, we were at a Steve Lawson's 00:39:08.720 |
Basically it was like a room full of pastors, about a small group, about 50 of us. 00:39:15.400 |
And Steve Lawson started out the half day on Monday, and then all day Tuesday, and then 00:39:22.520 |
So he gave probably a total of maybe about, I think about 10 messages in those two days, 00:39:31.760 |
And the whole time, I was thinking, there's nothing that necessarily he said was brand 00:39:37.920 |
But I just couldn't get the thought out of my mind that this 67-year-old man was standing 00:39:45.920 |
there for six, seven hours straight, teaching the Word of God. 00:39:51.240 |
And he revealed to us his preaching schedule. 00:39:53.720 |
And he said he was on the road for eight months, traveling all over the world. 00:39:57.640 |
And the whole time I'm thinking how time was just go to India. 00:40:05.160 |
It's like, "No, I need a couple more months." 00:40:07.920 |
And I keep thinking, "Man, this guy is 67 years old, and sometimes he's preaching 20, 00:40:19.360 |
And the whole time I was thinking, "How is this guy doing this?" 00:40:29.080 |
And the whole time I just kept on thinking, "This guy is being spent for God's kingdom. 00:40:37.600 |
It's almost like he's trying to die on the pulpit. 00:40:42.440 |
I was just not necessarily what he said, just watching him at work. 00:40:47.200 |
And then he said he's an introvert, and it's like, "Can you be an introvert and do what 00:40:52.800 |
And then in between the breaks, he would sit there and he said he loves football. 00:40:58.440 |
And then he said, "I know what happened, the Super Bowl, and I loved it, and I watched 00:41:02.880 |
And I think he said he was rooting for the Eagles. 00:41:06.520 |
But he said, "In between break, don't ask me about that. 00:41:11.480 |
So I would love to talk to you about that, but we only have short time. 00:41:23.200 |
I couldn't even say hi to him because he was always talking to people, and I didn't want 00:41:30.560 |
So I was just like, "Okay, he's busy enough as it is." 00:41:34.400 |
But the whole time I was just thinking and just challenged, not necessarily what he said, 00:41:48.280 |
Again, for me as a younger pastor, it was challenging to me just to be in that. 00:41:55.720 |
Jonathan Edwards is a guy that I think most Americans and even outside of America will 00:42:02.760 |
believe that probably the greatest theologian that modern Christianity has produced. 00:42:08.080 |
As a young man, he said he was resolved to live with all my might while I do live. 00:42:15.040 |
Resolved never to lose one moment of time, but improve it the most profitable way that 00:42:21.440 |
Resolved to ask myself at the end of every day, week, month, and year, wherein I could 00:42:30.600 |
The temptation for us is to be casual because we're in Orange County. 00:42:37.600 |
We can worship God, church, give, fellowship, all without any sacrifice. 00:42:49.160 |
We can choose an easy road that is broad and not narrow and still be in the church, still 00:43:04.600 |
Is to just be nonchalant in our walk with God. 00:43:10.960 |
We pray, which is something that we need to do. 00:43:13.600 |
We study the Bible, but it's not something that we must do. 00:43:16.520 |
It's just something that's good if you did do it. 00:43:18.960 |
See, in Ecclesiastes 9.10, and let me conclude with this. 00:43:22.600 |
He said, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. 00:43:27.720 |
For there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol to which you are going." 00:43:36.120 |
And you'll hear that over and over again, and probably you already feel that. 00:43:41.360 |
And the psalmist says, "Help me, Lord, to count my days." 00:43:48.560 |
It's not because he likes thinking about his death. 00:43:51.160 |
It's so that he can recognize that the time that we have is short, that I would use it 00:43:56.800 |
wisely to pursue and invest in things that have eternal value. 00:44:02.720 |
Not things that you're going to enjoy for the moment, and then a year later look back 00:44:18.040 |
If you don't understand who God is, you may listen to that and say, "Wow, what a burden. 00:44:25.080 |
And we come to church and you say, "You're not doing enough. 00:44:29.360 |
You can easily hear that if you don't know who He is. 00:44:36.040 |
Scripture says that He has come to give life and to give this life abundantly. 00:44:40.280 |
The life He's describing there, Zoe, is about joy. 00:44:45.200 |
It's about Sabbath that was lost at the fall. 00:44:48.840 |
And the whole purpose of salvation is to restore that Sabbath, to give us this rest. 00:44:53.880 |
And so the challenge to be fervent and to be passionate and to be boiling over, it is 00:45:05.960 |
Because real life is found at the center of His will. 00:45:11.560 |
Not this fake joy that you experience for a moment and then have to repeat it over and 00:45:16.160 |
Not this you travel one time and you come back longing to do more and you have to do 00:45:21.000 |
He says, "The water I give you will well up into eternal life and he who drinks of 00:45:27.560 |
The bread that you eat, you will eat and you will be hungry again. 00:45:30.640 |
But the bread that I give you will well up in you eternal life." 00:45:35.260 |
So the challenge that He has to not to be slothful in zeal, but to boil over in the 00:45:41.840 |
Holy Spirit in serving the Lord is an invitation to live. 00:45:51.280 |
I pray that our Lord would open our eyes and give us faith to see who He really is. 00:45:57.920 |
That the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ that we had a glimpse of would continue to 00:46:08.560 |
Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and find rest in Christ. 00:46:13.520 |
Would you take a minute to pray with me again as we ask our worship team to come and lead 00:46:23.680 |
You don't have to be, have to have long theological prayers. 00:46:39.640 |
Have you just been nonchalantly walking and drifting toward the world? 00:46:45.960 |
Hear the voice of God inviting you to His presence. 00:46:54.160 |
What have you been holding on to that's preventing you from this life? 00:47:01.000 |
Again, as our worship team leads us, let's take some time in honest prayer.