back to index2018-09-16 Fulfilling the Gospel of Christ
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We're looking at today, we're jumping back into Romans chapter 15, verse 19 to 21. 00:00:09.240 |
For the sake of time, I'm not going to read it because Elder Joe read it already, but 00:00:15.800 |
Gracious and loving Father, we thank you so much for this morning. 00:00:18.920 |
You truly are a God who is patient, that even at times, Lord God, when you discipline the 00:00:24.880 |
church, we know that you do it to get our attention, that we may continue to live a 00:00:30.520 |
life truly worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:00:33.360 |
We pray that the word that you have invested your very breath, your very spirit, Lord God, 00:00:39.000 |
would go forth and not return until it has accomplished its purpose. 00:00:43.100 |
As it is a hammer, as it is a fire, mold us and make us. 00:00:46.780 |
If we've come into this room with hardened hearts, we pray that your word would soften 00:00:51.480 |
Many of our ears, Lord God, have been blocked and we have become hard of hearing. 00:00:56.160 |
I pray that your spirit would open it, Lord God, mold us and guide us, that the hammer 00:01:01.360 |
of your word would come and make us, Lord God, into the clay, into the pot that you 00:01:08.640 |
So we offer this time to you, asking you to speak. 00:01:15.160 |
As you know, I spent the last two and a half to three weeks out in Asia, out in Japan and 00:01:20.000 |
out in China, and it's always an encouragement to me when I go, even though it's physically 00:01:25.120 |
tiring, it helps me to see a larger picture of why our church needs to be doing what we're 00:01:34.640 |
So everything that we're doing in church, it kind of puts it in proper perspective. 00:01:39.640 |
World missions, there's things going on in Japan, and Japan has the reputation of being 00:01:44.480 |
a very hardened place where people are not receptive to the gospel, but going there and 00:01:49.680 |
meeting people and spending time with the local Christians and some of the non-Christians, 00:01:54.560 |
there is a stirring taking place in Japan, that the younger generation seems to be a 00:02:00.800 |
They are looking outside of themselves and the Japanese culture and their economy and 00:02:07.040 |
So it seems like, at least from the surface, and the missionaries agree, that there is 00:02:10.960 |
something stirring in Japan, and possibly that may be the opening to the gospel coming 00:02:16.360 |
The area that we went with Harry is another area where you can sense that there's a movement 00:02:23.640 |
in that area, that there's heavy persecution that took place, there's one of the largest 00:02:28.760 |
unregistered churches in that area that got shut down not too long ago, and as a result 00:02:34.380 |
of that, there's a lot of Christians who are underground looking for places to go, and 00:02:39.200 |
it just seems like a perfect place to set up base for Harry and Linda to continue to 00:02:46.600 |
All of these things were great experiences, and I come back just encouraged to see new 00:02:51.320 |
doors being opened up for our church to get engaged in, but the bigger picture of why 00:02:56.520 |
we exist as a church and what we are supposed to do as Christians. 00:03:01.720 |
Every once in a while, Christian or non-Christian, we will stick our heads up from our work and 00:03:07.960 |
from our families and the busyness of life, and we ask the question, "Why am I doing this? 00:03:19.320 |
Because every once in a while, we'll recognize that we've been running without really thinking, 00:03:24.240 |
and our life has a way of keeping us busy that every once in a while, whether something 00:03:30.960 |
triggers it, maybe a new stage in life, you just had kids, you just got married, got a 00:03:34.960 |
new job, and as a result of that, you're thinking about, "What is the purpose? 00:03:40.640 |
Or maybe something didn't turn out the way you wanted. 00:03:43.840 |
You've been really working hard for a promotion. 00:03:48.320 |
Whatever it may be, it's just not working out the way you wanted, and as a result of 00:03:51.240 |
that, it's causing you to think, "What is the reason? 00:03:59.040 |
You're doing a great job, and you got your promotion. 00:04:02.840 |
You live in a nice house and living very comfortably, and as a result of that, you're taking a step 00:04:09.160 |
Is this all there is to life, and I'm pretty successful, and the majority of the world 00:04:13.320 |
would be happy where I am, but is this really it?" 00:04:17.760 |
It's understandable that the world continues to ask this question because there is no good 00:04:22.800 |
answer to that, and the world is trying to make sense of what they're doing, like waking 00:04:30.040 |
up early in the morning, getting a job, coming home, eating dinner, and it's just a routine 00:04:36.520 |
You do that for a few months, for years, maybe a decade, and your conclusion is vanity, vanity, 00:04:44.960 |
There's nothing new under the sun, but it doesn't make sense for Christians to live 00:04:57.480 |
Because the Scripture has made that very clear. 00:04:59.880 |
It is not ambiguous for a Christian what our goal is, what our aim ought to be. 00:05:05.100 |
Sometimes we can lose track of what that aim is because we get entangled with things maybe 00:05:10.400 |
that we shouldn't be entangled with or just we forget, but what we ought to be living 00:05:19.120 |
So if a Christian continues to ask and continues to seek, "What is my purpose?" 00:05:24.000 |
either that person does not know what the Scripture says or he has not made up his mind 00:05:33.440 |
To be a follower of Jesus Christ, the answer is pretty clear. 00:05:37.320 |
What is the distinction between a follower of Jesus Christ and somebody who does not 00:05:41.080 |
And the answer is you have to be following Jesus Christ. 00:05:47.120 |
You can't say you're a follower of Jesus Christ and not go where He goes and not do what He 00:05:53.160 |
To be a follower simply means that you follow Jesus Christ. 00:05:59.480 |
Our culture, our post-Christian culture has made it normal to confess without living, 00:06:07.600 |
to profess a set of doctrines without having it affect any other part of our lives other 00:06:16.480 |
But yet they are not followers of Jesus Christ. 00:06:19.840 |
Apostle Paul at the conclusion of the letter in the text that we're looking at basically 00:06:24.200 |
tells us that this is the reason why he wrote this letter. 00:06:28.640 |
He wrote this letter because he was about to visit Rome and the purpose of visiting 00:06:35.680 |
Paul knew from the day that he met Christ until the day he died why he lived and why 00:06:41.560 |
he was doing what he was doing and then he died doing the exact thing that God called 00:06:46.880 |
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9, 26 and 27, "I do not run in such a way as not without aim. 00:06:58.800 |
But I discipline my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others I 00:07:06.680 |
If you are living a life that you experience the wildest success, it may be a business, 00:07:14.220 |
it may be a company, it may be friendship, whatever it may be, that you're consumed with 00:07:18.760 |
that and for whatever the reason you did a great job and you've succeeded in that and 00:07:24.440 |
at the end of that as a Christian it ends with so what? 00:07:40.720 |
See to the world if this world is it, that's all there is to live for, then you want to 00:07:46.440 |
make the most of it but as Christians who profess that this life, this world is under 00:07:51.320 |
the judgment of God and the book of Revelation is real, that Christ is going to come and 00:07:56.560 |
redeem what was lost and that he is preparing us for eternity. 00:08:01.800 |
So all that we are doing here is for the purpose of preparing for what is to come. 00:08:07.280 |
That's what we profess, that's what the gospel is, and that's what the scripture teaches 00:08:12.020 |
To profess that on Sunday and to live the rest of our lives like the rest of the world 00:08:16.780 |
to milk as much life from this world before we go to the next is inconsistent with the 00:08:25.180 |
We make ourselves to be hypocrites, to love the world and profess the gospel at the same 00:08:33.220 |
And it is not unique to Berean Community Church. 00:08:35.440 |
It is not because of a certain personality is preaching. 00:08:38.260 |
It is inconsistent with the doctrines that we profess. 00:08:43.380 |
Every evangelical church believes that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of 00:08:53.700 |
The wrath of God is being revealed against all unrighteousness and as a result of that, 00:09:00.560 |
This is not a guess, this is not a suggestion, this is not a foretelling and looking into 00:09:05.700 |
the future and saying maybe this might happen. 00:09:07.860 |
It is ordained by God that the world is going to be under the judgment because of sin. 00:09:13.700 |
And as a result of that, he saves us to glorify him, to enjoy this life. 00:09:18.100 |
But while we're on this world, while we're living in this world, our whole life ought 00:09:24.580 |
to be consumed with telling others about this message that you and I have come to know and 00:09:38.060 |
Anything else is hypocrisy because you can't profess to say that your loved ones, your 00:09:43.940 |
co-workers, the strangers that you see in this world are going to come under condemnation 00:09:49.820 |
and that there's a second death waiting for them until they are forgiven of their sins 00:09:53.700 |
and to profess this, to sing this, to memorize this and then to live and try to milk as much 00:09:58.380 |
life from this world, this condemned world, before we leave is inconsistent, is hypocritical 00:10:10.900 |
If you believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, our calling is not to milk life from this 00:10:14.500 |
world but to input as much life as we can before we leave because life is not found 00:10:25.740 |
So our goal in life is to bring as much life into this world, not to milk as much life 00:10:29.940 |
out of this world because milking much life out of this world is what the world is doing. 00:10:35.180 |
What the church is called to do is before you leave to input as much life into it before 00:10:41.300 |
And that's why Paul says, "I do not run aimlessly without purpose, without goal." 00:10:45.940 |
If you're living a self-centered life, you will be constantly asking yourself, "What 00:10:55.860 |
If you have established Christ as Lord over your life, your aim and goal is already established. 00:11:01.500 |
It is to exalt Christ and to make Him known so that all the rest of the world will come 00:11:12.140 |
That's what Paul means in the second part of verse 19 when he says, "In the power of 00:11:16.220 |
the Spirit so that from Jerusalem and roundabout as far as Ilikrium, I have fully preached 00:11:24.780 |
Paul's ministry lasted around 10 to 12 years. 00:11:28.260 |
At least it's the ministry that is recorded in the book of Acts. 00:11:31.740 |
In those 12 years, he traveled on foot the distance about a thousand miles from Jerusalem 00:11:39.980 |
That's about maybe from the distance between here and maybe the border of Oregon maybe. 00:11:49.140 |
I know they had horses, but I don't think he rode around in the fastest horses. 00:11:54.420 |
It wasn't like he was traveling around in business class or first class. 00:11:57.900 |
He was walking around and he made his trip about three separate times in the matter of 00:12:07.500 |
Our church has been around 21 years just even walking up to San Francisco. 00:12:13.700 |
He truly, when he says, "I poured myself out, I have fully preached the gospel." 00:12:19.220 |
Paul says in Romans 15, 20, 21, "I have fully preached the gospel in two ways." 00:12:26.260 |
He was faithful in the breadth of preaching the gospel. 00:12:28.820 |
He was also faithful in the depth of preaching the gospel. 00:12:34.580 |
He was faithful in the breadth of preaching the gospel, in the distance, in the area, 00:12:41.060 |
In Romans 15, 20, it says, "And thus I aspire to preach the gospel." 00:12:46.260 |
The word aspired, in some of your translations it says, "I was ambitious to preach the gospel." 00:12:53.300 |
Some of your translations says, "It was my aim or I strive to preach the gospel." 00:12:58.420 |
The Greek word that's translated aspired is philo to meo mai. 00:13:04.300 |
You already recognize the first part of it, philo, the word love. 00:13:08.540 |
The second part of the word, to meo mai, means to honor. 00:13:13.220 |
Apostle Paul loved the honor of preaching the gospel. 00:13:20.260 |
And for every Christian, it is not simply a burden, just like prayer. 00:13:26.300 |
Prayer has become a burden to the church to check off our spiritual discipline box. 00:13:31.340 |
But when you understand it in proper perspective, prayer is the ability to communicate with 00:13:36.420 |
our creator, which we could not do because of our sins. 00:13:41.740 |
So the greatest privilege that you and I have as a Christian is to be able to pray and to 00:13:49.400 |
The reason why you're in a position to preach the gospel instead of hearing the gospel is 00:13:53.260 |
because God has already been gracious to you. 00:13:56.340 |
And we have been given the honor and the privilege to be able to share with the world that there 00:14:02.020 |
is an answer to all their problems, their sins, in the name of Jesus Christ. 00:14:08.020 |
And so that's what Paul means when he says, "I aspired, I loved the honor to be able to 00:14:15.300 |
He fully preached the gospel in breath, not where Christ was already named so that I would 00:14:22.860 |
But as it is written, "They who had no news of him shall see, and they who have not heard 00:14:32.740 |
Paul preached the gospel and his aim, his honor was to take it to places that was hard 00:14:41.580 |
Even in the way that we practice Christianity, even in the way we practice Christianity, 00:14:46.580 |
we want to make sure if all our needs are taken care of. 00:14:51.660 |
We want to make sure that our children are taken care of. 00:14:53.420 |
We want to make sure that our bills are going to be paid. 00:14:55.340 |
We want to make sure that we're going to be safe. 00:14:57.580 |
We want to be made sure that we're not going to be persecuted. 00:15:00.540 |
We want to make sure that the room is going to be air conditioned. 00:15:03.660 |
We want to make sure that there's other people who are my age, that people we can fellowship 00:15:09.060 |
And when all of that has been taken care of, then I will pick up my cross and preach the 00:15:16.780 |
Apostle Paul says, "No, it is his ambition, it is his honor to take it to hard places. 00:15:22.940 |
It is his honor and it is his love to take it to places where people have not already 00:15:30.180 |
The reason why it is so hard in our generation to get the gospel to the remote part of the 00:15:34.500 |
world, even after 2,000 years, because we don't want to be the first. 00:15:41.780 |
Paul says later on in Romans chapter 15, 22, "For this reason, I have often been prevented 00:15:47.820 |
from coming to you, but now with no further place for me in these regions, and since I 00:15:53.780 |
have had for many years a longing to come to you." 00:15:56.820 |
Paul says the reason why he was prevented wasn't because he lacked transportation, wasn't 00:16:03.420 |
He said, "The reason why I couldn't come is because somebody already came and you don't 00:16:10.140 |
According to church tradition, Apostle Peter was the one who first came to Rome and he 00:16:14.860 |
He said he was preaching everywhere else he could possibly preach. 00:16:20.220 |
So now that I've kind of run out, it doesn't mean that he preached to every single individual 00:16:26.980 |
He's saying that he made it his ambition to get the gospel to remotest places where no 00:16:33.060 |
As far as I know, I've targeted all these places and I've already been there. 00:16:46.340 |
But it's as far as I know, I made it my ambition to get the gospel out and now I'm about to 00:16:51.600 |
come to you so to prepare to go even further out, all the way out to Spain. 00:16:56.500 |
And until then I couldn't come to you because my work was not finished. 00:17:01.020 |
He was a man who was committed to the gospel. 00:17:05.420 |
In our generation, we look at what Paul says and he said, "Well, he's an apostle. 00:17:13.460 |
He doesn't possibly expect an average Christian to live like Apostle Paul. 00:17:20.940 |
Whenever we hear challenging messages, we say, "Well, he didn't call everybody. 00:17:32.460 |
He doesn't clearly want all of us to go and I have a simple answer for that. 00:17:42.540 |
He didn't separate a few Christians and gave him the responsibility of preaching the gospel 00:17:48.060 |
and then the rest of you take care of your family and clean the church every once in 00:17:54.660 |
Get together in home groups and enjoy each other's company and then they're going to 00:17:57.780 |
pluck some of you out of here and to go preach the gospel. 00:18:01.500 |
The rest of you just take care of your family and just be a good Christian. 00:18:14.620 |
He didn't call all of us to go to the remote part of the world, but he told all of us to 00:18:18.660 |
go, which means that if you don't go there, you need to go here. 00:18:27.740 |
And we need to live the life that we live here, sacrificing as much, giving as much, 00:18:35.620 |
needed as much as the Tongs and the Hans and the different people that we know packed up 00:18:40.700 |
their bags and gave up everything to go to preach the gospel. 00:18:44.620 |
That that's the calling of every Christian, not just for missionaries, not for some people, 00:18:55.060 |
And this is not unique to Beroean community church. 00:18:59.460 |
You can't go into the scripture and read it and allow and meditate on it and study it 00:19:04.860 |
and memorize it without every page in the Bible screaming out to you, "Missions!" 00:19:11.740 |
Because every part of scripture from Genesis to Revelation is a holy God pursuing sinners 00:19:17.180 |
and calling the sinners who have been called to go to get more sinners into the kingdom. 00:19:21.540 |
The whole scripture from Genesis to Revelation is about God's mission to the lost. 00:19:27.760 |
So when he told his disciples to come and follow me, which is also me and you, is to 00:19:36.540 |
So a Christian who is not given his whole life for the purpose of preaching the gospel 00:19:41.380 |
has either neglected his walk with God or has never surrendered his life to Christ. 00:19:49.660 |
You checked off a box and say, "You know what? 00:19:51.260 |
Do you believe that Jesus loves you and died for you and that if you believe in him, you'll 00:19:54.340 |
forgive your sins, you're going to go to heaven? 00:19:59.700 |
But you've never surrendered your life to Christ. 00:20:03.980 |
When Jesus said that if you find your life, you will lose it, if you lose your life for 00:20:10.140 |
And because you've never surrendered your life to Christ, you neither know the life 00:20:16.560 |
You see it in other people, you hear it in testimonies, but you don't know it. 00:20:27.480 |
You can go to conferences and hear good sermons and then say how encouraging it was, but it's 00:20:32.220 |
never your personal testimony because you've never surrendered your life to Christ. 00:20:38.800 |
And as a result of that, you don't know the joy, you don't know the worship, you don't 00:20:44.680 |
This is not unique to Berean Community Church. 00:20:46.760 |
Every part of scripture screams out the missions. 00:20:49.740 |
And that's why Paul says, "I do not run in such a way as not without aim, without purpose." 00:21:09.440 |
At the end of the day, you just have more money in the bank. 00:21:16.800 |
At the end of the day, all of that is rubbish. 00:21:21.360 |
The central message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is all have sinned and fall short of 00:21:26.600 |
And because of that, the wrath of God is being revealed. 00:21:31.400 |
Now we live the rest of our lives proclaiming that truth. 00:21:40.020 |
In Acts chapter 21, 11 through 14, he was about to go to Rome and Agabus comes and he 00:21:47.060 |
shares the vision with Paul at the Church of Ephesus, telling him that if you go here, 00:21:54.540 |
And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, "This 00:21:59.820 |
In this way, the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him 00:22:06.940 |
When we had heard this, we, as well as the local residents, began begging him not to 00:22:11.100 |
go up to Jerusalem because they really loved Paul. 00:22:19.020 |
He was in Lystra, stone, thinking that he was dead. 00:22:22.500 |
Paul, you know, I know all of that stuff happened. 00:22:26.620 |
But now God is revealing this is going to happen if you go to Rome. 00:22:30.260 |
Paul responds in verse 13, answered, "What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? 00:22:38.420 |
For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord 00:22:49.580 |
It was because he wasn't savvy and he didn't know how to avoid these people. 00:22:58.620 |
In fact, Jesus said, even from the first day that he called, "I'm going to show this man 00:23:02.580 |
how much he's going to suffer for my name's sake." 00:23:05.220 |
In fact, Paul says in Philippians that he wants to fellowship in the suffering of Christ, 00:23:09.740 |
that he may also know what it means to have fellowship with the resurrected Christ. 00:23:15.360 |
He embraced it for the purpose of the gospel. 00:23:19.300 |
And then look what he says in verse 14, "And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, 00:23:29.580 |
The paradigm of this world, we say, "God has blessed us when our children are well-fed. 00:23:42.240 |
God has blessed us when we live a long and peaceful life, when our retirement fund grows 00:23:51.740 |
They recognize that they were using the worldly paradigm to stop Paul from going to Rome. 00:23:57.700 |
When Paul rebukes them and saying, "Why are you doing this? 00:24:00.220 |
I'm ready not only to be bound but to die," they realize that the will of the Lord be 00:24:07.300 |
We automatically think that the Lord's will is our safety, is our health, is our success, 00:24:24.220 |
The Lord's will is his glory because when he is glorified, we live. 00:24:34.420 |
And so whether we live or whether we die, Paul says, "I pray that I may glorify him." 00:24:43.260 |
So Paul was committed to the fullness of the gospel being preached in everywhere. 00:24:47.900 |
Acts chapter 20, 21-24, "I solemnly testify to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward 00:24:55.060 |
And now behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will 00:24:59.740 |
happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying 00:25:11.220 |
God was already telling him personally, not just through Agabus. 00:25:15.660 |
Paul was revealing to him, "Hardships waiting for you," but verse 24, "but I do not consider 00:25:19.540 |
my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry 00:25:26.340 |
which I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God." 00:25:33.460 |
This is not a calling simply for the apostle. 00:25:38.300 |
This is not like, "Oh, thank God he didn't call me to do this." 00:25:42.540 |
I want to be a Christian, but I want to be one of those Christians that kind of is cool, 00:25:47.220 |
you know, and the world is going to look at me and say, "Man, if that's what it means 00:25:50.220 |
to be a Christian, I want to be a Christian too. 00:25:53.060 |
I've got plenty of money in the bank and everybody loves me, who's charismatic. 00:25:57.220 |
They walk into a room and they just light up." 00:26:08.540 |
Thank God he didn't call me to do what Paul was doing. 00:26:16.660 |
Apostle Paul is simply expressing and magnifying the calling of every Christian. 00:26:25.380 |
And if, even if it wasn't, it would only make sense. 00:26:33.540 |
Even if there wasn't a clear calling in scripture, it would only make sense. 00:26:38.060 |
Everyone who professed to believe this, to live their lives, to telling other people 00:26:47.140 |
We've created a Christianity, it's just utter nonsense to the world. 00:26:53.460 |
To profess it in a room and then they stay quiet outside. 00:27:02.140 |
To Sunday after Sunday, gathering together, talking about the judgment of God and the 00:27:06.740 |
grace of God and heaven that is coming, and then stay quiet and silent about all the other 00:27:15.740 |
And to not to live the rest of our lives to make sure that as many people can hear this 00:27:23.660 |
And to have our primary concern to make sure that the Lakers make it into the playoff this 00:27:40.100 |
That we save up enough vacation time to take this trip that we've been saving up for. 00:27:47.200 |
Whatever brings you the greatest joy is probably what you're living for. 00:27:53.880 |
Whatever you're sitting down thinking about more than meditating the most is probably 00:27:59.580 |
But Apostle Paul says, "I have fully preached the gospel." 00:28:03.420 |
And the whole reason why he's writing this letter now is because he's run out of places 00:28:08.300 |
Now he's about to go to Spain and he's writing them saying, "Hey, can you help me out?" 00:28:12.060 |
Secondly, Paul was faithful in the depth of preaching the gospel. 00:28:16.140 |
Not only was he committed to where he was going, but even the message itself he didn't 00:28:22.020 |
Acts chapter 20, 20 to 21, "How I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that 00:28:26.180 |
was profitable and teaching you publicly from house to house, solemnly testifying both to 00:28:30.700 |
Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." 00:28:35.060 |
Again in Acts 20, 26, "Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the 00:28:39.700 |
blood of all men, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God." 00:28:46.900 |
Sometimes we are more concerned about offending the world that has offended God than the God 00:28:54.420 |
And even the way that we preach the gospel, we're so concerned about how they will receive 00:28:58.420 |
it not realizing that we were the one who offended God. 00:29:04.140 |
And it is offensive for Christians to represent and to be an ambassador of God, begging the 00:29:13.700 |
There's nothing in the scripture, there's no other time where I see in the Bible where 00:29:17.140 |
any prophet or an apostle or an evangelist stands before a crowd of sinners and says, 00:29:35.700 |
And as a result of that, the world is under condemnation. 00:29:38.940 |
So the clear preaching of the gospel is a calling to sinners to repent and receive forgiveness 00:29:45.620 |
That this God who had every right to crush us because of our sins has decided to show 00:29:54.620 |
For the time being, because we know the end is coming. 00:29:57.120 |
We know that at the end of Revelation it is finished. 00:29:59.880 |
But we live in a period of grace where God is giving sinners an opportunity to repent. 00:30:04.180 |
And during that period, our whole aim, our whole purpose, our whole ambition ought to 00:30:13.420 |
And any other endeavor, good or bad, is a distraction, maybe even sinful. 00:30:22.380 |
First Thessalonians 2, 3 to 4, "For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by 00:30:26.660 |
way of deceit, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so 00:30:31.780 |
we speak not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts." 00:30:38.180 |
Even in the way that we preach the gospel, we need to preach the whole counsel of God 00:30:43.480 |
If men come to Christ, if women come to Christ not being convicted, not understanding the 00:30:48.820 |
weightiness of their own sins, all we make God out to be is a Santa Claus, a grandfather 00:31:00.420 |
No matter what you do, there is nothing you can do for God to be angry with you and it 00:31:04.940 |
And so when you created a God who is not holy, you created a God who accepts you no matter 00:31:17.700 |
All we need to do is say, "God forgive," and then we just move on. 00:31:24.060 |
Why the scripture tells us to live holy lives and why the church needs to be healthy is 00:31:28.340 |
because the church has been called to be the light. 00:31:32.260 |
If all we're going to do is enjoy life, the sooner we die, the better. 00:31:38.060 |
And excuse my language, the most beautiful place in the world that you want to visit 00:31:49.500 |
Because even the most beautiful place in the world is tainted by sin. 00:31:52.780 |
Remember in the book of Genesis, when sin came in, so did the earth got defiled. 00:31:58.620 |
There's weeds, there's bugs, there's rats, you know, everywhere you go. 00:32:04.940 |
So even the most beautiful place in comparison to where we're going is rubbish. 00:32:12.500 |
But if all we're going to do in this life is to enjoy it, the sooner we leave it, the 00:32:19.260 |
So if somebody dies early, we should say, "Thank God they left. 00:32:27.140 |
So we should celebrate that because they're better off than we are if our only purpose 00:32:36.300 |
But our calling and our aim, our ambition is to make sure that other people come with 00:32:42.340 |
And the only reason why Jesus Christ did not come yet, even after 2,000 years, in Matthew 00:32:48.540 |
24, he says, "When the gospel has reached the remotest part of the world, then he has 00:32:53.260 |
It's been 2,000 years and it hasn't happened yet. 00:32:56.580 |
But when that happens, when the church wakes up and begins to preach the gospel to the 00:33:03.500 |
You know, you and I live in a generation where it is possible. 00:33:09.540 |
Because of technology, because of politics, because of money. 00:33:15.460 |
Some of you guys remember 30 years ago, you just didn't have a thought like, "Oh, I'm 00:33:18.940 |
going to go to Europe," and hopped on a plane and just went. 00:33:25.540 |
When you get there, you don't speak the language. 00:33:28.980 |
Nobody over there waiting for you to speak English and show you around. 00:33:32.900 |
30 years ago, if you wanted to go somewhere, you got in a car and you drove somewhere. 00:33:37.140 |
If you were like famous or you're like multi-billionaire or something, you were able to travel and 00:33:44.100 |
An average person just didn't get up and say, "Oh, I'm going to save my points and I'm going 00:33:52.860 |
It's happening now because of technology, because of money, because of freedom. 00:33:59.820 |
And instead of using that to indulge ourselves, those are vehicles that God has given us to 00:34:10.060 |
We're able to reach the remotest part of the world through the internet. 00:34:17.420 |
And the only reason why that hasn't happened is not because of opportunity, it's because 00:34:25.740 |
Paul in his preaching did not adulterate the gospel, the whole counsel of God. 00:34:30.460 |
In 2 Corinthians 4, 2, "But we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking 00:34:34.740 |
in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth, commending 00:34:42.860 |
And then verse 3, "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing." 00:34:46.540 |
In other words, Apostle Paul refused to compromise the gospel, every part of it. 00:34:52.380 |
2 Timothy 3, 16, "All scriptures inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof," 00:34:57.860 |
in some of your translations it says, "rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness 00:35:02.460 |
so that the man of God may be adequately equipped for every good work." 00:35:07.340 |
People ask us, "Why are you studying Leviticus? 00:35:10.380 |
And studying Revelation, you call it, "Why are you doing that? 00:35:16.660 |
There's a simple answer to that, because it's there. 00:35:24.380 |
There's nothing that he put in there, "You know what? 00:35:26.100 |
Study Romans and everything else will take care of itself." 00:35:31.780 |
You don't have a conversation with somebody for an hour and then you just zoned out for 00:35:35.460 |
20 minutes, and then you come back and it's like, "Okay, now I understand everything." 00:35:44.420 |
You might be right in the middle of a DTR, and they confessed their love for you, and 00:35:53.940 |
You had ADD for 20 minutes, and they're waiting for your answer. 00:35:58.580 |
Those 20 minutes, you don't know what's in those 20 minutes. 00:36:08.140 |
You don't go and read like four chapters and then you skip the fifth chapter and you go 00:36:11.660 |
to the sixth chapter and then ... Everything in the scripture is there for a reason. 00:36:15.460 |
That's why all scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for 00:36:25.180 |
If the Word of God discourages you, it's there to discourage you. 00:36:32.940 |
If the correct understanding of the Word of God causes fear in you, it's there for a reason. 00:36:42.440 |
When it describes hell, when it describes judgment, when it describes warnings, you 00:36:49.580 |
They say, "God casts out fear, and they use another part of the scripture to nullify this 00:36:53.420 |
part of the scripture, and so we kind of create this God that is going to be palatable to 00:36:57.140 |
as many people as possible, and the next thing you know, it's not the gospel at all." 00:37:02.500 |
The scripture says anything that you add, anything you take away, anathema. 00:37:07.860 |
It's exactly what it says in Galatians 1, 7 through 10, right? 00:37:11.420 |
Anybody come to you, preach another gospel, and all these Judaizers were doing, they were 00:37:21.980 |
They weren't rejecting His blood sacrifice and atonement. 00:37:24.540 |
All they were saying was, "You can have that, but you need to be circumcised first, and 00:37:32.820 |
And Paul, "But if you do that, you are perverting the gospel. 00:37:40.340 |
You can't add, and you can't take away from that. 00:37:45.500 |
If the Word of God is confusing, it is meant for you to slow down and take time to study. 00:37:49.820 |
Not for you to flip through and say, "Oh, it's confusing, so therefore God doesn't want 00:37:57.260 |
If you're having a conversation with somebody, somebody says something confusing, you don't 00:38:05.340 |
You're going to ask, "What did you mean by that? 00:38:08.980 |
And you're going to take extra time to find out what they meant. 00:38:11.180 |
A lot of times, the things that you're confused by, there's a lot more meaning behind it than 00:38:18.100 |
That's why we study Leviticus, because all scripture is inspired by God and is profitable. 00:38:23.860 |
So in preaching the gospel, we have to make sure that we understand the whole counsel 00:38:31.340 |
His wrath, His holiness, His judgment, because without understanding that, your understanding 00:38:38.300 |
of God's grace and mercy and patience is going to be like a three-year-old. 00:38:48.940 |
That's about the extent of your understanding of grace when you don't understand the God 00:38:55.500 |
That's why Paul says he fulfilled the gospel, the breadth and the depth of the gospel. 00:39:02.780 |
Paul was faithful even in the length in preaching the gospel. 00:39:06.220 |
Second Timothy 4, 6, and 7, "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and 00:39:15.540 |
So many people start out their Christian life well, with a bang. 00:39:20.340 |
By the time their third, fourth, fifth year into their walk with God, they fizz it out 00:39:24.900 |
And I see so many guys, you know, they're 33 years old, 34 years old, and they're already 00:39:43.880 |
But you already have a mindset of an old person just waiting to die. 00:39:50.860 |
There's more people older than you at 33 in this world than younger than you. 00:39:54.020 |
But what is the danger of that is you have that mentality, that time of activity and 00:40:00.260 |
passion and sacrifice, that's for young people. 00:40:08.180 |
And I understand why they do that because you watch a lot of sports and, you know, LeBron 00:40:12.300 |
James is 33 years old, and everybody says how old he is. 00:40:17.540 |
He's a professional basketball player that is competing at the peak. 00:40:27.660 |
He's got about 50 years left of life, an average, maybe 60. 00:40:36.860 |
You know, you kind of watch these guys at 33 talking about, "Oh, how old I am." 00:40:42.700 |
And then you start living like an old person, like all of your days of commitment and sacrifice 00:40:47.400 |
and evangelizing and mission, it's behind me. 00:40:51.300 |
Apostle Paul started, committed to the Lord, even sitting in prison. 00:41:02.540 |
And until the day he died, he left this world preaching the gospel. 00:41:13.220 |
You don't need another book to tell you what your purpose is. 00:41:20.600 |
You don't need to look for counselors because the Bible has made that very clear. 00:41:26.580 |
Go make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 00:41:34.460 |
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and lo, I will be with you to the end 00:41:40.420 |
And any other activity that prevents us or distracts us from that activity is either 00:41:59.140 |
I've been praying that, you know, our church is growing and I'm very thankful that we were 00:42:06.660 |
And as a result of that, we're able to do things that we weren't able to do. 00:42:09.700 |
So I've been praying, "Lord, where should I commit my time?" 00:42:12.740 |
Now we feel like we're getting into a new stage of our church. 00:42:18.420 |
Coming back from this trip, it's become more clear to me, again, not that it's changing, 00:42:24.700 |
not that this is anything new to the church, but just kind of reminded me why this church 00:42:38.500 |
Whether it is in Irvine, whether it is in India or Japan or in China or anywhere else 00:42:44.180 |
that God calls us, the reason why we need to be healthy, why we need to be strong, why 00:42:49.660 |
we need to be biblical, why we need to be Bereans is because He didn't call us home 00:43:01.340 |
Where we're headed is where there's no more tears, no more suffering, no more pain, no 00:43:05.380 |
more illness, no more sickness, no more poverty, no more illnesses, no more broken homes, no 00:43:14.060 |
more child abuse, no more sexual predators, no more pornography, no more pain. 00:43:26.180 |
But until we get there, until we get there, we need to commit ourselves to get as many 00:43:44.540 |
I pray that this next stage of our church life and your life, that we be able to use 00:43:50.420 |
our common resources, our fellowship, our people, our finances for that purpose, that 00:44:01.940 |
Again, let's take some time to pray before the Lord. 00:44:22.980 |
Are the songs that we sing just an acknowledgment of doctrine? 00:44:32.140 |
Let's take some time to pray as our worship team leads us.