back to index2018-04-29 Awake From Sleep
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If you can turn your Bibles with me to Romans chapter 13. 00:00:08.400 |
I'm going to read all the way from verse 8 to 14, but our focus is going to be on verses 00:00:19.360 |
"Owe no one anything except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled 00:00:26.040 |
For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall 00:00:28.920 |
not steal, you shall not covet, and any other commandment are summed up in this word, you 00:00:35.900 |
Love does no wrong to the neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. 00:00:40.680 |
Besides this, you know the time that the hour has come for you to awake from sleep, for 00:00:45.160 |
salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 00:00:49.480 |
The night is far gone, the day is at hand, so then let us cast off the works of darkness 00:00:55.840 |
Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality 00:00:59.920 |
and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make 00:01:05.640 |
no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires." 00:01:15.440 |
Heavenly Father, we thank you that it is by your mercy and your grace, Lord God, that 00:01:21.400 |
we are able to come to your throne to worship, to hear from you. 00:01:28.360 |
I pray, Father God, that only your word would go forth, no human reasoning, no human experience, 00:01:35.920 |
no human logic, only your word, Lord God, that your children will hear from you. 00:01:43.040 |
We know, Father God, that there's no human comforter, no human counsel, Lord, can take 00:01:50.580 |
So we ask, Lord God, that you would be gracious to us, that you would allow your presence, 00:01:58.760 |
May this room be filled, Lord God, with your grace. 00:02:05.720 |
One other announcement is that, as you guys know, we've been trying to incorporate more 00:02:11.820 |
corporate prayer in our church, and we've been having various discussions in our leadership 00:02:17.560 |
And one of the things that we've implemented on Friday nights, once a month, we have praise 00:02:20.940 |
and prayer night, and so we just had one this last Friday, but we're also very aware that 00:02:31.140 |
The early church was devoted to prayer, and so we want to make sure that we're devoted 00:02:36.340 |
So another thing that we wanted to implement is try to implement more corporate prayer 00:02:42.840 |
So we had various discussions, and the conclusion that we came to, without disrupting what's 00:02:47.240 |
happening already, is that what we're going to do, starting from not next Sunday, but 00:02:51.660 |
the Sunday after that, when Elder Joe is back up here leading worship, we're going to have 00:02:57.320 |
a shorter worship service in the front, and then the main worship time is going to be 00:03:03.060 |
So it's not going to be a major change, it's going to be just priority in the worship after 00:03:11.640 |
So the reason we're doing that is, one, I think we worship better, you know, oftentimes 00:03:17.200 |
after we hear the Word of God and are convicted, and also we want to give extra time for people 00:03:24.460 |
So during that time, as we are worshiping, as the Lord leads, that our church would spend 00:03:29.280 |
extended period, again, if you want to sit down, stand up, and just really come before 00:03:37.020 |
And so again, we're not saying that that is enough, but we're trying to implement more 00:03:42.140 |
ways that our church can be more mindful of how we are desperately in need of prayer. 00:03:48.000 |
So that's one of the things that we're doing. 00:03:49.580 |
So Friday, praise and prayer, and also on Sunday, we're going to do that. 00:03:53.660 |
And again, we're going to implement that in a couple weeks, and we'll give you a heads 00:03:57.780 |
And again, Elder Joe is going to lead us in that time. 00:04:03.060 |
Prayer, as we've mentioned on Friday, and as I've been talking about, is one of those 00:04:07.540 |
disciplines that you just absolutely cannot do in the flesh. 00:04:12.420 |
You can read your Bible when you're not spiritually focused. 00:04:17.820 |
You could have had a week where you just kind of indulge in the flesh and you come to Bible 00:04:22.040 |
study because all you have to do is engage your mind and just kind of study like you 00:04:27.900 |
You can serve the church because it's physical. 00:04:30.000 |
You can have all kinds of things going on in your heart, but you can physically come 00:04:34.720 |
But prayer is one of those things that if your mind and your heart wasn't sober before 00:04:40.360 |
you began to pray, you'll see right away where you are in your walk with God can easily be 00:04:47.760 |
seen as soon as you close your eyes and try to discipline to pray. 00:04:53.300 |
Because the scripture says that the Holy Spirit is in us and groaning on our behalf. 00:04:58.200 |
And he also said that if you abide in me, my words abide in you. 00:05:01.520 |
Then ask whatever you wish, it shall be done for you. 00:05:03.400 |
So in other words, if our mind and heart and our life is going one direction and we come 00:05:08.220 |
to pray and we're praying the other direction, the Holy Spirit in our flesh is in conflict. 00:05:14.820 |
And so as soon as we come before the Lord in prayer, you see that conflict that's happening 00:05:20.480 |
So it's just even trying to get the words out. 00:05:22.800 |
Because your mind is thinking about things that have nothing to do with God, and yet 00:05:27.040 |
you're trying to say things before God that you know that God wants us to pray for. 00:05:33.360 |
So if you want to see where you are in your walk with God, you can tell immediately in 00:05:40.160 |
Whether you are consistently walking according to the Spirit or whether you are walking contrary 00:05:44.520 |
to the Spirit, you can see the fruit of it immediately when you are praying. 00:05:50.440 |
And again, prayer is not one of those things that you can do simply in the flesh. 00:05:56.100 |
And that's why it says in 1 Peter that our relationship with our wives, and again, it's 00:06:00.680 |
not just with our wives, but to treat her with honor so that we can pray. 00:06:06.360 |
So in other words, if we're not honorable at home, if we're not living soberly, it'll 00:06:11.900 |
And that's true not just in our home, but in everything else that we do. 00:06:16.720 |
See, Christianity was never meant to be a half-hearted commitment. 00:06:25.520 |
It was never meant to be given to God half-hearted worship, because the very idea of worship 00:06:36.960 |
I'm going to give a part of myself to worship," because then that isn't worship. 00:06:49.200 |
When we see who God is, when we see who Jesus is, and we're enamored and we forget everything 00:06:54.000 |
else and we're just focused on his glory, that's worship. 00:06:59.600 |
So the very nature of worship requires a full commitment. 00:07:06.240 |
That's exactly what Jesus says in Luke 10.27. 00:07:11.560 |
Considering all the other things that they were committed to do as Pharisees, over 600 00:07:20.300 |
Because we can't possibly do all of them, which one should we focus on? 00:07:24.100 |
Jesus says, "Love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, 00:07:32.300 |
The point of that is not, "How do we worship God with our heart? 00:07:42.180 |
He says the greatest commandment is to surrender all of it. 00:07:48.700 |
Isn't that what Paul says in Romans chapter 12.1, in view of this mercy, to present your 00:07:59.940 |
There is no lamb walking around with one leg or two legs. 00:08:11.680 |
So when he says, in view of this mercy, to offer your body as a living sacrifice, it 00:08:18.080 |
automatically means to die, to give all that you have. 00:08:25.000 |
In Deuteronomy chapter 4.29, God says, "This is the nation of Israel, but from there you 00:08:28.520 |
will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if," and that's a big "if," "if you 00:08:34.400 |
search after him with all your heart and with all your soul." 00:08:42.520 |
You will seek me and find me once you make up your mind that this is what you want. 00:08:48.040 |
Isn't that what Joshua challenges the nation of Israel after all those years of being in 00:08:54.680 |
And at the end of his life, he challenges them, "Stop teeter-tottering between two opinions. 00:09:07.440 |
But make up your mind, for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." 00:09:12.480 |
He says, "You will find me if you seek me with all your heart." 00:09:19.640 |
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart. 00:09:23.320 |
And over and over again, the Bible says, God is not somebody that you can find half-heartedly. 00:09:31.360 |
God is not somebody that you're going to meet when you have not fully surrendered. 00:09:38.120 |
The call to repentance is not to simply recognize that what I did on Monday was wrong, that 00:09:47.080 |
Repentance basically means my whole life was wrong. 00:09:51.560 |
All of me, everything that I sought, everything that I thought was good, everything that I 00:10:01.700 |
And so repentance is coming before God and surrendering your life, not just your youth, 00:10:07.000 |
not just a part of your finances, but your life. 00:10:12.240 |
And that's why Paul says in the new covenant in 1 Corinthians 9 24, "Do you not know that 00:10:17.120 |
in all, in the race, all runners compete, but only one receives the prize? 00:10:26.920 |
But even in the new covenant, God requires a worship from people who have absolutely 00:10:36.500 |
You can't give a nonchalant, half-hearted worship because by definition that's not worship. 00:10:43.460 |
You can't give leftovers to God because by definition that's not worship. 00:10:48.300 |
The definition of worship in and of itself requires an absolute surrender. 00:10:55.220 |
And see, nothing reveals that more than in our prayers. 00:11:08.140 |
You can write down your prayer and read your prayer. 00:11:11.100 |
But prayer that is powerful, that comes before God petitioning, requires all surrender. 00:11:21.860 |
And until we make up our mind that that's what we want, we cannot pray. 00:11:29.900 |
You can gather together for small group praying. 00:11:37.380 |
But the prayer that Jesus says that he will answer, "If you abide in me, in my words I 00:11:48.080 |
The greatest asset to any Christian is prayer. 00:11:52.120 |
Because prayer is what connects us to this holy God. 00:11:56.500 |
Everything that you and I know, everything that you and I know was created by this God 00:12:08.340 |
There's no amount of money that can replace that. 00:12:15.500 |
There's no amount of hard work that will ever come close to simply praying and the Holy 00:12:23.000 |
Spirit coming and supernaturally doing what he chooses to do. 00:12:28.340 |
So prayer is the most effective, most powerful thing that we can do as a Christian. 00:12:33.200 |
And yet, prayer is not something you can do half-heartedly until you have absolutely committed. 00:12:45.560 |
But we've only prayed when something was urgent. 00:12:49.340 |
Whether someone was sick, something desperate, there was an emergency, and you prayed. 00:12:55.100 |
Whether it was your life or someone else's life, you prayed because there was a sense 00:12:59.640 |
And that's the struggle that you and I are in. 00:13:05.520 |
There are some parts of the world where just by saying that they're Christian, there is 00:13:10.200 |
a sense of urgency in them because it's not safe to gather together. 00:13:19.280 |
Our problem in Orange County is that there is no sense of urgency. 00:13:25.560 |
And Orange County is not a place that people come to necessarily do things. 00:13:37.360 |
And it is a blessing because I'd rather have my kids here and not have to worry about them 00:13:48.280 |
I remember talking to a friend who's a pastor out in Seoul, Korea. 00:13:54.760 |
And we were just sharing about the challenges that we have in ministry. 00:13:59.720 |
And his challenges there and challenges here are so different. 00:14:02.800 |
And I asked him, I said, "It must be so challenging for you because the group that he works with 00:14:07.800 |
Because they're all expats who are there for work or vacation or something. 00:14:13.080 |
But they're all in the context of moving around." 00:14:15.280 |
And I asked him, "It must be hard because here in Orange County, most people are here 00:14:19.800 |
In fact, a lot of people move here because they want to get a job and it's a good place 00:14:28.160 |
He said, "He's a pastor who actually did church planting in this area before he went out to 00:14:36.200 |
And I said, "No, actually, it's a lot easier to do ministry out there." 00:14:41.840 |
And the reason why, he said, is because the majority of the expats already left home. 00:14:49.920 |
So when they come to church, they cling to each other. 00:14:52.640 |
And it's easy to mobilize people who have already left their home and living outside 00:14:56.820 |
of their comfort zone to gather them together and gather the energy. 00:15:00.040 |
So it's easy to kind of mobilize them and send them out to missions and do challenging 00:15:04.320 |
things because they've already left their home. 00:15:07.840 |
But that's not the challenge that we have here. 00:15:11.040 |
Orange County is where we come to settle down. 00:15:14.280 |
We go out to missions and then we come here to raise kids. 00:15:21.160 |
These are, in my opinion, blessings that God has given us. 00:15:25.120 |
But when we don't recognize the stewardship that we have of what God has given us, this 00:15:29.640 |
blessing can easily cause us to blind us, to harden us. 00:15:35.080 |
And there's no longer a sense of urgency in what we're doing. 00:15:38.040 |
And the reason why Paul is getting to that in verse 11 is because he's given these instructions. 00:15:45.280 |
And typically in a situation, it's not a "no." 00:15:51.720 |
When there is no sense of urgency, it's always, "I will, just not now." 00:15:58.320 |
Paul is reminding them of the sense of urgency of the gospel. 00:16:02.480 |
And that's why Apostle Paul, when he preached the gospel, he said it was his passion to 00:16:09.720 |
In fact, this very letter is written to prepare and to get some support so that he can go 00:16:16.320 |
He never gets there because he gets imprisoned and then he ends up dying in prison. 00:16:21.380 |
But the letter is written in the context of urgency. 00:16:33.040 |
It's not that we don't take the Bible seriously. 00:16:36.000 |
But because there is no sense of urgency, we pray. 00:16:47.480 |
And even when we see our hearts hardened, we always think to ourselves, "We have plenty 00:16:52.680 |
of time to deal with this, if not today, tomorrow. 00:16:58.360 |
Not realizing that whole time, your condition is getting worse and worse and worse. 00:17:05.360 |
Paul has made this plea to the Roman church to live out their salvation, to practice this 00:17:13.080 |
love that the world is not going to understand. 00:17:16.660 |
But now, in four different ways, he talks about the urgency of time. 00:17:22.240 |
So my intention originally was to cover all four verses, but I didn't get to that in first 00:17:29.400 |
So I'm just going to cover this morning Paul's plea for urgency to practice what he's been 00:17:39.360 |
You know how if you get a mail, a lot of times the way that people try to get you to open 00:17:44.560 |
the mail is that this mail is time-sensitive, right? 00:17:50.360 |
So I'm sure all of you have experienced that. 00:17:52.720 |
And automatically, you know it's junk mail, but just in case, right? 00:18:02.640 |
You know, 10 out of 10 times, it's usually nothing, right? 00:18:10.080 |
But they do that because they want to get your attention, that this is important. 00:18:18.420 |
He uses the idea of time to instill in them that this is not something that you can postpone. 00:18:26.280 |
This is not something that you can do tomorrow or the next day. 00:18:35.440 |
Any of you who've raised children know exactly what I'm talking about. 00:18:38.360 |
If you tell a child to do something and they don't want to do it, they don't say no because 00:18:47.700 |
They know the trouble that's coming if they say no. 00:18:51.120 |
So if they don't want to do it, what do they say? 00:18:58.780 |
You come back later, "How come you didn't do it?" 00:19:04.040 |
Then you come back later, "I said you were going to do it." 00:19:11.760 |
Then you get so frustrated, you just end up doing it yourself, right? 00:19:20.240 |
And that's why he is giving a sense of urgency. 00:19:23.400 |
So the first thing that he says in verse 11, after giving these imperatives, he says, "Beside 00:19:35.320 |
Kronos is the word that they use in Greek to say it's one o'clock, ten o'clock, or today. 00:19:41.300 |
But the word kronos, or kairos, oftentimes is translated season, a particularly appointed 00:19:49.160 |
And so Paul says, "All of these things I'm instructing to you, there's a sense of urgency 00:19:53.760 |
because you know that I'm talking to you because the time has come." 00:20:00.100 |
And then he says, "You know," meaning that he's not saying anything new to them. 00:20:06.200 |
That if you heard the gospel, that there was a certain level of urgency that came with 00:20:14.340 |
So apostle Paul, obviously, was going from city to city, even being beaten, stoned, jailed, 00:20:21.680 |
And so even by his very life, you could tell that there's an urgency to this. 00:20:25.580 |
But the very message itself is not simply because Paul said it. 00:20:34.400 |
But the message itself comes with a sense of urgency. 00:20:40.800 |
You can't say that without Christ there's damnation and not sense a sense of urgency. 00:20:53.200 |
If we share the gospel without a sense of urgency, it nullifies the message itself. 00:20:59.080 |
If somebody comes into this room and says, "The building's going to be condemned in a 00:21:04.040 |
few minutes, and if you're interested in living, just make an orderly line and come and stand 00:21:09.360 |
outside and I'll meet you in a couple minutes." 00:21:13.960 |
The way he has shared that message betrays the message. 00:21:24.400 |
The message itself comes with a sense of urgency. 00:21:29.060 |
And that's what Paul is saying in 2 Peter 1.3. 00:21:31.480 |
He says, "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness." 00:21:44.200 |
That's why Jesus says, as he's hanging on the cross, "It is finished." 00:21:54.080 |
And if you just wait for a little bit, he says, "No, it is finished." 00:21:58.520 |
Everything that the Jews were waiting for, for salvation, everything that was promised 00:22:01.680 |
in the Old Testament, he says, "It is finished." 00:22:11.040 |
And the only reason why he didn't come back is so that the church could continue to preach 00:22:16.640 |
the gospel with urgency, so that the gospel would go to the remotest part of the world. 00:22:21.320 |
He's saying, "Kairos, this is that time, now." 00:22:27.520 |
He goes on even further, and he says, in verse 11, he says, "That the hour has come." 00:22:36.040 |
The word "hour" also means a point in time, but it is a lot more specific. 00:22:44.360 |
In fact, if you've ever studied through the book of Hebrews, Hebrews is written to second-generation 00:22:51.040 |
Jewish Christians who are simply drifting back to their old life. 00:22:59.300 |
They got tired of fighting and going against the stream, so they just kind of let go. 00:23:05.320 |
And so the warning in the book of Hebrews is, how will you escape if you simply neglect 00:23:17.480 |
And so the author repeats over and over again, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden 00:23:26.040 |
"Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your 00:23:34.300 |
He calls the Jewish rebellion as simply hardening their heart. 00:23:38.840 |
And the reason why God calls the nation of Israel and their sins "stiff neck" is that 00:23:47.040 |
God would tell them one thing, and they would resist. 00:23:51.080 |
So he says, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart." 00:23:56.720 |
The temptation that we have living in Orange County is that, and especially when we're 00:24:00.800 |
young, we think we have a lot of time, which is not the case. 00:24:12.160 |
We fool ourselves as saying that today, tomorrow is going to look the same because that's the 00:24:20.840 |
And we just automatically lull ourselves to sleep to think that that's the way it's always 00:24:25.840 |
But scientifically, you know that's not true. 00:24:33.680 |
You know that the world at one point is going to die. 00:24:37.160 |
We know that everything that we experience, that even though it may have been the same 00:24:41.400 |
for the last 10, 20, or 30, or 40 years, we know the end is coming. 00:24:49.960 |
And yet, we convince ourselves that nothing's going to change because everything looks the 00:24:58.200 |
And that's why the warning, he says, "Today, the reason why you hear the Word of God, and 00:25:03.000 |
if you're convicted in any way, if the gospel message itself, it makes any sense to you, 00:25:08.280 |
the scripture says it's the kindness of God that leads you to repentance. 00:25:12.680 |
The fact that you are even attracted to the Word of God, the fact that you hear the Word 00:25:17.200 |
of God, and there's any part of you that desires to obey, the scripture says that is God's 00:25:27.620 |
You didn't wake up one day and say, "You know what? 00:25:29.240 |
I'm going to be a good person, and I'm going to open my ears to hear His Word." 00:25:35.460 |
The scripture says that it is God's kindness that this morning, as the Word of God is being 00:25:40.360 |
taught, the only reason why you're even interested in listening to the Word of God is because 00:25:49.560 |
And so therefore, he says, "If you hear His Word today, do not harden your heart, because 00:25:59.080 |
Tomorrow you may have hardened your heart, and you will hear the same Word, and it no 00:26:05.520 |
Tomorrow you'll be at the church, and you'll hear the same Word of God, and you're annoyed 00:26:13.400 |
That's why it says, Hebrews 3.15, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart 00:26:19.600 |
Hebrews 4.7, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart." 00:26:25.000 |
You see how he says not to harden your heart? 00:26:31.680 |
We typically think, you know, hardening your heart just happens. 00:26:45.720 |
When did I make a decision to harden my heart? 00:26:53.440 |
You didn't make a decision and say, "You know what? 00:26:55.640 |
I'm going to harden it and harden it and harden it." 00:26:58.080 |
And that's why he commands them because you have a choice. 00:27:01.880 |
When you hear your voice, hear His voice, whether to respond or to delay. 00:27:07.960 |
Is there a sense of urgency to this gospel message that we profess, that we sing, that 00:27:16.000 |
Because the very nature of this gospel requires absolute surrender. 00:27:21.320 |
He says thirdly, "Salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed." 00:27:27.220 |
Not only are we in the time of season, he says it is now, not tomorrow. 00:27:31.880 |
And then thirdly, "Salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed." 00:27:35.520 |
Didn't Jesus say the time or the hour of His coming that He did not know, that only the 00:27:45.080 |
Does Paul know something that Jesus didn't know? 00:27:53.000 |
He's saying to every Christian for every generation after the death and resurrection 00:27:57.360 |
ascension of Jesus Christ, if you've been a Christian for three years, you are three 00:28:02.120 |
years closer to meeting the Lord than when you first met Him. 00:28:07.100 |
If you've only been a Christian for three days, you're three days closer to meeting 00:28:19.620 |
As non-Christians, it makes sense to live their lives as if they're going to be here. 00:28:26.360 |
And at the end of your life, you can look back and you can look at your bucket list 00:28:29.040 |
and say, "I did this and I did this and I did this." 00:28:32.040 |
And then when you die, you say, "Well, at least I milked everything I could of this 00:28:36.880 |
I can understand why non-Christians would do that. 00:28:40.560 |
But as Christians, this is our preparation to invest long-term. 00:28:47.440 |
That this life that we have, this bucket list that so many people have, at the end of our 00:28:53.840 |
life, if we are true believers, we'll look at that bucket list and you'll say, "Vanity, 00:29:05.160 |
See, as Christians, it would only make sense that if we are preparing ourselves for eternity, 00:29:15.080 |
That we'd be measuring what's going to fit in this bag that we can take. 00:29:18.960 |
Because the airplane that you're riding would only allow one bag, and so you are contemplating 00:29:24.360 |
which to take and which to throw away, which to leave behind. 00:29:29.200 |
So we would be spending a lot of time preparing for this travel. 00:29:42.480 |
And as long as we are here, we're counting our days. 00:29:47.720 |
We're counting our days until that day comes. 00:29:50.520 |
See, that's the logical response, a reasonable response to the gospel that we profess. 00:29:58.880 |
But to live our life like the rest of the world, it betrays our witness. 00:30:10.840 |
It betrays the sense of urgency when our lives don't look any different than the world. 00:30:17.120 |
To say, the building is burning down and there's only one exit that's going to save you, and 00:30:24.480 |
then for us to live and to act like everybody else. 00:30:29.840 |
As Christians, we've learned and we've adjusted our lives to accept that. 00:30:35.600 |
But non-Christians see right through that hypocrisy. 00:30:46.680 |
The thing that you are so desperate for me to believe, you believe it first. 00:30:52.200 |
See what Paul is saying here in Ephesians 5, 15-16, he says again, "Look carefully then 00:30:57.040 |
how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time because the days 00:31:05.560 |
The word here for "make the best use" literally means to redeem. 00:31:18.700 |
Remember what Apostle Paul says, "If it was up to him, he's ready to go." 00:31:24.240 |
We look at that, "Oh man, that's so challenging. 00:31:32.600 |
A man who met the Lord, who lost everything for the sake of Christ, I mean, it wouldn't 00:31:37.640 |
make sense if Paul said, "I'm sitting in prison, I'm just afraid, like I don't want to be with 00:31:47.640 |
It would only make sense a man who truly met the Lord to say, "I'm ready to go." 00:31:57.600 |
But he says, "Knowing that my work is not done yet, and me staying means fruitful labor 00:32:05.080 |
for me, that I get to preach more gospel, and more people to come to Christ, that I 00:32:12.080 |
And that's the only reason why he would want to stay. 00:32:16.340 |
And that is the only reason why any Christian would try to stay and live hard here. 00:32:22.080 |
It is the only logical reason for any Christian to live their life with that purpose. 00:32:31.120 |
Our lives, what we choose and what we don't choose, it betrays our message. 00:32:44.080 |
The time to meet the Lord, our salvation, glorification, is nearer now than we first 00:32:49.440 |
In other words, be ready, be prepared, pack your bags. 00:32:56.240 |
Fourth and finally, he says, "The night is far gone, the day is at hand." 00:33:03.120 |
And as you guys know, the scripture oftentimes uses the night to refer to darkness and sin, 00:33:08.660 |
and the day to refer to light and righteousness. 00:33:12.680 |
When I read that passage, it automatically triggers memories. 00:33:15.920 |
When I was younger and I was working the night shift at the gas station in Norwalk, 76, and 00:33:23.240 |
we probably only had about three customers per night. 00:33:26.320 |
And the only reason why they kept it open was because corporate office told them that 00:33:30.360 |
they want to advertise, "We're a 24-hour gas station place." 00:33:33.600 |
So they were hiring people, students like myself, and I worked from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. 00:33:40.760 |
And initially, I thought, "That's great, 11 to 6 a.m. 00:33:46.160 |
And I was going to school full-time, so I was working to pay for my school and pay for 00:33:52.600 |
And again, you have to remember, this is a period when internet was not invented yet. 00:33:58.640 |
TVs usually turned off by about 1 or 2 a.m. at most. 00:34:03.320 |
And whatever was on at 1 a.m. was complete trash, infomercial type of stuff. 00:34:10.600 |
So I remember reading the Book of Acts four times, just one night, literally just out 00:34:18.240 |
And I was doing small group discipleship, and my disciple would give me a book to read. 00:34:24.200 |
And literally, I would show up next day, it's like, "Do you have something else?" 00:34:29.560 |
Because I had basically seven hours of doing nothing. 00:34:31.880 |
So initially, I thought it was great for a college student that I get to go there and 00:34:37.080 |
study, but I realized that I'm not that sober at 1 a.m. 00:34:47.080 |
And then there was no human interaction because there's no customers, and it wasn't at least 00:34:54.600 |
So I was constantly concerned that the wrong crowd was going to show up. 00:35:00.240 |
So after about two months of this, I mean, it was torture. 00:35:03.480 |
What I thought was a great idea, but it was torture because right around 1 o'clock, when 00:35:08.720 |
all human activity stops, I'm just sitting in this booth, and there's no gum, there's 00:35:16.440 |
And the gas station was like, it was not like today where you had a.m. p.m. 00:35:19.160 |
It was just cash register and buttons I push, and that's it. 00:35:22.520 |
And I was sat there for seven hours every single day. 00:35:26.360 |
And then every time a human being would come and be like, "Yes!" 00:35:30.960 |
So I remember after about two months, it was miserable. 00:35:33.880 |
So about every day from 11 to 1, it would go fairly okay because there's some traffic, 00:35:38.920 |
but 11, 1 to 6 was just looking at the clock, like 1101. 00:35:48.240 |
And I just remember just sitting in the booth just five, six hours just doing nothing, and 00:35:55.600 |
then every morning I would wait for that sunrise to come up because that sunrise meant people 00:36:03.480 |
There's going to be some traffic, and then I get to go home. 00:36:07.760 |
And I did that job for about seven months, but that was so like deeply embedded in my 00:36:13.240 |
Just every morning at 5 o'clock, just looking out. 00:36:17.160 |
I was literally in this position for seven hours and just waiting for the sun to come 00:36:22.560 |
up because that sun coming up meant life for me in that context. 00:36:29.960 |
So whenever I read this, it reminds me of that time. 00:36:33.840 |
Just sitting in darkness for that long and waiting for the sun to come up so that I can 00:36:49.240 |
Jesus didn't say I'm going to resurrect, he said he's resurrected. 00:36:53.640 |
Everything that we need for life and godliness has happened. 00:37:08.040 |
Are we waiting for older people to reach out? 00:37:11.180 |
Everything that we need for life and godliness, he said the sun has come out. 00:37:40.600 |
What else are we involved in in life that has distracted us from the core message that 00:37:54.280 |
All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful 00:38:04.080 |
And so Paul, the reason why he pounds this time, because it is not enough to simply profess 00:38:13.160 |
It is not enough to come to church and just mentally consent and dabble here and dabble 00:38:45.440 |
We can gather together and share our hurts and our concerns. 00:38:51.040 |
And we can soothe our brokenness with superficial band-aid. 00:38:58.600 |
But there is no healing until you come to Christ. 00:39:04.480 |
And you can't come to Christ if you don't pray. 00:39:09.360 |
And you can't pray if you have lost a sense of urgency. 00:39:24.360 |
I don't care what kind of job promotion you got. 00:39:55.040 |
And the only way that we can come to Him is by prayer. 00:40:07.800 |
Not so that your children can have a good education. 00:40:11.840 |
Not so that people who are lonely could have friends. 00:40:24.040 |
And it isn't until that message grips our hearts and changes our lives can you say that 00:40:38.960 |
These are words of a man who gave his life preaching this. 00:40:45.480 |
Surrounded by other men who had their heads chopped off. 00:40:57.880 |
Left their homes and went to foreign countries. 00:41:02.200 |
Because they found this treasure in Christ and they sold everything to make sure they 00:41:10.320 |
Until we come to recognize the preciousness of what it is that we have in Jesus, we will 00:41:17.080 |
live the rest of our lives fooling ourselves. 00:41:57.160 |
The Jesus I know was resurrected from the dead. 00:42:03.480 |
And even now after all these years, He calls us, "Come to me. 00:42:11.840 |
Come to me, all you who are weary and have been laden. 00:42:27.120 |
Let me lead us in prayer as our worship team. 00:42:38.800 |
Heavenly Father, we're all tired of playing games. 00:42:45.720 |
There's a disconnect with the songs that we sing and the lives that we live. 00:42:53.480 |
There is a disconnect with the theology that we profess and what has filled our hearts. 00:43:26.480 |
You deserve worship, true worship in spirit and in truth. 00:43:37.480 |
If we've been walking our lives, Lord God, nonchalantly, open our eyes to see the darkness 00:43:43.580 |
that is around us, the desperation, Lord God, of the non-Christians who are like sheep without 00:43:55.360 |
We implore you even in this room, Father God, to break us from our sins, break us from our 00:44:10.920 |
Not our wives, not our husbands, not our children, not our bank account, not our friends, not