back to indexBAM Retreat Session 2
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Hopefully, you guys are a little bit refreshed from the breakfast or are you guys more sleepy? 00:00:15.000 |
There's a book that was written a while ago called Spiritual Depression, I don't know 00:00:20.120 |
if you've ever seen it, by Martin Lloyd-Jones. 00:00:23.960 |
But in the opening chapter, he actually says, "Talk to yourself, don't listen to yourself 00:00:31.640 |
because the more you listen to yourself, the more depressed and negative you will become 00:00:40.080 |
because most of the thoughts that go through your head are negative." 00:00:45.920 |
And I think with anything, negative things actually sometimes weigh heavily more on us 00:00:55.720 |
You can hear nine compliments and it's the one criticism that we end up latching on to 00:01:07.280 |
But one thing I don't like about just like turn or burn messages, and that wasn't what 00:01:12.280 |
it was, but, you know, turn or burn preachers, that's not the whole counsel of God. 00:01:17.840 |
That's one aspect of…it's not necessarily wrong, but there is grace, forgiveness, God's 00:01:26.120 |
goodness, security, eternal hope, salvation, all of that is also in what we looked at yesterday. 00:01:33.400 |
So what I want to do is look through this passage again and then read farther down and 00:01:42.480 |
So starting at verse 13, and I'm hoping that you guys had good discussions yesterday and 00:01:48.520 |
some of the stuff we're going to be covering today, you may have already talked about amongst 00:01:52.400 |
yourselves about how do we know whether or not we're saved. 00:01:55.880 |
But here we go, verse 13 down all the way to 29, all right? 00:02:04.080 |
"Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to 00:02:08.480 |
destruction and there are many who enter through it. 00:02:11.280 |
For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and there are few who find 00:02:17.480 |
Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous 00:02:26.680 |
Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles are they. 00:02:31.320 |
So every good tree bears good fruit but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 00:02:35.400 |
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 00:02:41.000 |
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 00:02:50.840 |
Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven but he who 00:02:55.080 |
does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. 00:02:58.280 |
Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your 00:03:02.800 |
name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' 00:03:06.360 |
Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. 00:03:09.600 |
Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.' 00:03:14.160 |
Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them may be compared to 00:03:23.960 |
The rock fell and the floods came and the winds blew and slammed against that house 00:03:28.040 |
and yet it did not fall for it had been founded on the rock. 00:03:33.720 |
Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish 00:03:41.560 |
The rain fell and the floods came and the wind blew and slammed against that house and 00:03:49.040 |
And when Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at his teaching for he 00:03:53.000 |
was teaching them as one having authority and not as their scribes." 00:03:58.680 |
Father, thank you for this morning and we pray that you would speak, that you would 00:04:04.640 |
really carve out the, just the junk on our hearts and that you would implant again afresh 00:04:15.720 |
your holy word into the very fabric of our hearts and that your word would leave an indelible 00:04:26.680 |
So we pray that you would magnify your word this morning and pray these things in Jesus' 00:04:35.360 |
So yesterday at night we learned that we need to be careful not to follow the crowds, to 00:04:39.120 |
follow blind guides, nor to follow blindly and to not follow false fruits. 00:04:46.880 |
Hopefully they were very honest, good reflection. 00:04:55.240 |
We talked about the road that leads to destruction yesterday, but if you look at this passage, 00:05:01.000 |
we also learned that there is indeed a path that leads to life. 00:05:05.960 |
So what are we to do to ensure we're on the small and narrow, that we're on the right 00:05:10.400 |
road, that we will enter the kingdom of heaven? 00:05:13.760 |
So if you actually look at verse 21 of chapter 7, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, 00:05:22.960 |
Lord,'" the other place in Scripture where you see this repeat, "Lord, Lord," is in the 00:05:34.040 |
The five virgins were not prepared in Matthew 25 verse 11. 00:05:44.280 |
So in that parable, the five other virgins are well aware of the expectations of the 00:05:49.640 |
bridegroom, they do the will of the bridegroom, and they wait patiently for him, so they do 00:05:57.400 |
Verse 23, it says, "If Jesus does not know those who practice lawlessness," he also says, 00:06:15.980 |
So if you look at this passage, you do see a group of people also entering the kingdom 00:06:25.560 |
And I said yesterday, my assumption is that most of you are on that path, but you do need 00:06:32.340 |
to examine because guaranteed, not all are on that path. 00:06:36.820 |
In every church, in every context, there are always people who look sound and feel like 00:06:48.660 |
There's a book called "Pagans in the Pews" that was written a few years ago that talks 00:06:57.900 |
So yesterday, basically, the message was be careful not to drift. 00:07:02.260 |
Today's point is, here's how not to drift, all right? 00:07:05.880 |
So we're going to be looking at just this following passage. 00:07:16.320 |
And again, we're learning that the word "therefore" in every section of Scripture is very important. 00:07:21.140 |
It bridges what was said in a previous section. 00:07:37.100 |
Since you need to take care to enter the small and narrow, what do you need to do to ensure 00:07:46.900 |
So those on the small and narrow, according to verse 24, are those who hear and do the 00:07:56.580 |
Hopefully, that sounds familiar to some of you guys, right? 00:08:00.260 |
So when you guys memorize, who are, how many of you are memorizing through the book of 00:08:06.460 |
Is this section reminiscent of anything that you've done, gone through so far? 00:08:13.780 |
So what can save you, according to the book of James? 00:08:19.300 |
So we see in this passage, verses 24 and down, there are two builders, okay? 00:08:27.480 |
One builds his house on the rock, one builds his house on the sand, the rain comes and 00:08:33.200 |
So there are two guys here that are responding to the words of Christ. 00:08:40.280 |
And there are three things that both of these guys have in common. 00:08:44.040 |
The first thing that they have in common is both hear the word. 00:08:46.960 |
Yeah, that's the first thing they have in common, both hear the word. 00:08:51.940 |
So both of these builders, the one on the wide and the broad, the one on the small and 00:09:01.500 |
And both of these builders have an opportunity to be restored to the creator. 00:09:06.160 |
So that opportunity is given and there is no neutral response. 00:09:11.120 |
So you either respond positively or negatively, okay? 00:09:17.080 |
And you guys know Romans 10, 17, it says, "And faith comes from hearing, and hearing 00:09:25.340 |
So you cannot come to salvation without hearing the word of Christ. 00:09:30.500 |
So both hear it and their outcome is based on their response. 00:09:36.560 |
The second one, both are building, both are doing something in response to this word. 00:09:44.960 |
So this is general, but basically this individual is responding to what has already been revealed 00:09:52.380 |
And we don't have too many details here about what building on sand looks like and what 00:09:59.420 |
But when you actually look through the other parts of Scripture, you can assume the one 00:10:03.400 |
building on sand is responding in the flesh, okay? 00:10:09.080 |
And whether that's outright rebellion or a legalistic religious effort, he is building 00:10:17.860 |
So you hear the word of God and you can respond in the flesh, and that's building on sand. 00:10:28.880 |
But the point here is the guy who's building his house on the rock is the one who hears 00:10:34.220 |
the word of God, and in a response of gratitude, he's building on the foundation of Christ, 00:10:43.220 |
So how do we not drift is what we're going to be looking at today. 00:10:51.560 |
And this is the definition I'm going to give you. 00:10:57.200 |
Building on the foundation of Christ's life, death, and resurrection, and living every 00:11:04.760 |
day in the strength of the indwelling Holy Spirit. 00:11:13.000 |
Building on the foundation of Christ's life, death, and resurrection, and living every 00:11:21.180 |
day in the strength of the indwelling Holy Spirit. 00:11:27.240 |
Building on the foundation of Christ's life, death, and resurrection, and living every 00:11:30.460 |
day in the strength of the indwelling Spirit. 00:11:36.600 |
So first thing they have in common is both hear the word of Christ preached. 00:11:42.320 |
Second thing they have in common, both respond by building. 00:11:48.200 |
And the third thing they have in common is the wind and the rain come on both. 00:12:01.200 |
Both hear the word, both are building, and both have the wind and the rain come. 00:12:08.340 |
So I gave you this definition, building on the foundation of Christ's life, death, and 00:12:11.320 |
resurrection, and living every day in the strength of the indwelling Holy Spirit. 00:12:16.240 |
Okay, so I'm going to break it up into two parts. 00:12:19.000 |
So building on the foundation of Christ's life, death, and resurrection, turn with me 00:12:23.520 |
in your Bible to 1 Corinthians chapter 3, and verses 11 to 13 is going to be what I'm 00:12:45.480 |
So building on the foundation of Christ's life, death, and resurrection is this. 00:12:54.800 |
For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 00:13:02.400 |
Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, 00:13:10.280 |
straw, each man's work will become evident, for the day will show it because it is to 00:13:15.400 |
be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. 00:13:24.840 |
If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 00:13:30.080 |
If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so 00:13:37.560 |
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you? 00:13:45.040 |
So the foundation is Christ, and from that foundation of Christ, all of our religious 00:13:55.920 |
activity, all of our life is a grateful response to the mercies of God and the sacrifices of 00:14:03.600 |
You do not do anything to earn your salvation. 00:14:07.560 |
You can't do anything to gain extra favor from God. 00:14:12.840 |
Everything that you build on is out of a grateful response to this great privilege of a relationship 00:14:20.840 |
So if you are actively trying to serve God to impress people, if you're trying to actively 00:14:28.940 |
serve God to run away from your past, if you're trying to actively serve God in order to get 00:14:36.540 |
extra reward in heaven, you're building wrong. 00:14:42.480 |
So Christ's life, death, and resurrection, everything was sufficient for our inheritance 00:14:59.480 |
You cannot do more to be more loved on by God. 00:15:09.700 |
So the question is not so much, if I do this, will I lose my salvation? 00:15:14.900 |
If I engage in this kind of sin, will God throw me into hell? 00:15:19.240 |
That's not the question you should be asking. 00:15:21.420 |
The question is, am I giving God my whole heart as he deserves? 00:15:39.060 |
That's the question that we should be asking rather than, is this going to cause me to 00:15:45.860 |
Is this going to cause me to be condemned into hell? 00:15:50.620 |
So building on the foundation of Christ's life, death, and resurrection. 00:15:55.740 |
Second, living every day in the strength of the indwelling Holy Spirit. 00:16:03.200 |
So your effort to please God is not going to be what bears fruit. 00:16:10.600 |
So we're looking at this morning, the parable of the four soils. 00:16:18.640 |
So if you're like, oh, I'm going to win more souls to Christ, that's not going to bear 00:16:23.880 |
Oh, I'm going to be more godly this coming year, that's not going to bear fruit. 00:16:28.040 |
What's going to bear the fruit is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 00:16:34.720 |
Up until I was 25, I did not look anything like my dad, except my shoulders and my hands. 00:16:42.240 |
So when my wife met my dad for the first time, she said the first thing that she noticed, 00:16:48.880 |
and really the only thing that she kept looking at was his hands. 00:16:52.080 |
Because they're short fingers, they're a little bit chubby, but you make a fist, it's pretty 00:17:06.480 |
So she was like, your dad has sausage fingers too. 00:17:11.720 |
The rest of me is all my mom, except the shoulders and my hands. 00:17:17.640 |
And that's interesting because now, so my, Rebecca met my dad when I was around 24, 25. 00:17:25.360 |
But now as I'm getting older, whenever my relatives see me, they actually say, it's 00:17:31.640 |
You looked nothing like your dad, but now more and more, like I see your dad in your 00:17:40.320 |
Your frame is starting to become more like your dad. 00:17:50.240 |
What happens if I eat too many things, right? 00:17:52.900 |
It becomes thicker, but the natural frame is not something that I have to try to be 00:18:03.440 |
Now if I just feed myself, if I sleep, if I exercise, if I just maintain my body, all 00:18:09.040 |
of that latent potential in my DNA will get me to looking like my father. 00:18:21.500 |
So we are building in a response of worship to God, but the Spirit of Jesus Christ who 00:18:31.500 |
is dwelling in our hearts is going to be doing all the work. 00:18:35.880 |
So if you are a child of God, you're going to start resembling your heavenly father more 00:18:41.260 |
and more with each passing day as long as you are maintaining and eating and drinking 00:18:54.300 |
You will look more and more like your heavenly father. 00:18:58.480 |
You know, if I, let's say, don't eat for like five months, six months, regardless of my 00:19:14.300 |
But if I just proceed normally as I would day to day, I start resembling my father more 00:19:22.180 |
And that was a question that we asked yesterday, like in the last five years, and five is an 00:19:25.920 |
arbitrary number, but five years is enough where you can kind of gauge, am I more Christ-like 00:19:30.620 |
now than I was five years ago, or am I exactly the same? 00:19:41.100 |
You eat, you drink, you rest, and he does all the work. 00:19:50.320 |
If you try to earn more favor from God, you are working and responding in the flesh. 00:19:56.340 |
That is not how you get on to the small and the narrow. 00:20:01.740 |
Building on the foundation of Christ's life, death, and resurrection, and living every 00:20:06.140 |
day in the strength of the indwelling Holy Spirit. 00:20:13.060 |
When I was born, I don't remember this, but I probably craved milk as a human being. 00:20:34.220 |
As a human being, I was born and I craved milk. 00:20:40.060 |
If you are a child of God, this is one way to know for sure. 00:20:44.020 |
If you have zero craving for the Word of God, if you have zero desire to grow in your knowledge 00:20:49.980 |
of the Word of God, if you have absolutely no interest in what God has to say, you are 00:21:06.940 |
So you can tell whether or not you're on this wide and the broad. 00:21:14.660 |
If you're someone who loves church, who loves hanging out, who's always quick to try to 00:21:21.860 |
do stuff at church, but you have zero desire for the Word of God and communion with God, 00:21:28.460 |
And that's one of the surefire ways to tell if someone is genuinely a believer or not. 00:21:33.060 |
A spiritual soul will crave pure spiritual milk of the Word of God. 00:21:47.380 |
We trip, we fall, we, you know, in James chapter 3 verse 2, if you guys are memorizing through 00:22:12.180 |
Is a perfect man, or we all stumble in many ways, but if anyone doesn't stumble in what 00:22:18.500 |
he says, he's a perfect man able to bridle his whole body as well, right? 00:22:30.840 |
But at the end of the day, there's going to be something in your heart that longs to have 00:22:44.780 |
So the Holy Spirit working in our hearts through His Word is what bears fruit, and that's all 00:22:54.140 |
One more time, the Holy Spirit, which is a seal and deposit, it's our spiritual DNA, 00:23:00.620 |
The Holy Spirit working in our hearts through His Word will bear fruit. 00:23:12.540 |
The why is more important than the what you do. 00:23:17.100 |
And the why, if it's all Holy Spirit just producing work, you will be sanctified and 00:23:25.020 |
you will grow and you will become more and more like Christ and you can't stop it. 00:23:32.740 |
If the Holy Spirit is working within your hearts. 00:23:35.660 |
This morning, I had you guys read through the parable of the four soils. 00:23:39.540 |
And this is something you guys are probably familiar with. 00:23:48.220 |
The first thing I think is like, man, when I initially thought about this, I thought, 00:23:57.420 |
What a derelict, like, that's like such a waste. 00:24:00.500 |
But then I started thinking about why he did that and it made me appreciate God a little 00:24:08.700 |
He just throws it out there and then we read that the devil takes it away. 00:24:15.300 |
In Matthew's account, it says the message of the kingdom is preached and the people 00:24:31.320 |
So it has soil with rocks in it and it looks like it's bearing fruit. 00:24:42.960 |
The temptation comes in, persecution comes in, and it kills the fruit because there's 00:24:53.460 |
Third type of soil you guys read about this morning, it's a type, a soil that has thorns. 00:25:07.500 |
And I will say this, for you guys living in Orange County, you are more like, you are 00:25:12.480 |
more in danger of being like soil three than two. 00:25:15.660 |
But somewhere between two and three is where we may all be if we're not careful. 00:25:26.080 |
You don't need to turn there, but it says this. 00:25:29.520 |
The worries of this life, riches, and pleasures choke the word and there is no fruit. 00:25:56.740 |
In Matthew 13 it says the deceitfulness of wealth, it's the same thing. 00:26:07.400 |
You need to be careful of these thorns that you don't drift. 00:26:17.020 |
You may have desires to grow Godward, but these thorns, worries, riches, pleasures come 00:26:40.480 |
Man, what will people think of me if everyone has a house and I don't? 00:26:48.180 |
Will I ever be able to get married working this job? 00:27:05.020 |
And a lot of times we're working hard to make sure everything's protected. 00:27:14.180 |
I keep emphasizing that the opposite of poor is not rich. 00:27:19.620 |
And everything beyond enough you're supposed to use to build the kingdom of God. 00:27:28.240 |
And everything outside of enough, everything outside of your daily bread, you're supposed 00:27:31.860 |
to be investing into the kingdom of God, not padding your future, what do you call that? 00:27:46.100 |
There's no Lamborghinis out in our parking lot. 00:27:50.300 |
You might not necessarily be flashy, but in your heart there is this susceptibility. 00:28:05.580 |
Do not love the world or anything in the world. 00:28:06.580 |
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 00:28:30.980 |
You know, I only learned BOGO like two weeks ago. 00:28:41.540 |
Millennials are like, "Yeah, I'm not really -- I don't really care too much about like 00:28:52.180 |
As soon as I come home, I deserve to be entertained. 00:29:09.500 |
And I don't even need to elaborate on these things. 00:29:12.300 |
Your brain can already just kind of go to what those dangers are. 00:29:19.460 |
Fourth fruit or fourth soil is born long-term. 00:29:25.220 |
So it actually doesn't look like it has fruit in the beginning, but you give it enough time, 00:29:34.580 |
That no matter what happens, it's being just strong, stable, mature, unflappable, unshakable. 00:29:51.580 |
And if this soil were a house, the foundation would be the rock of Jesus Christ. 00:29:58.660 |
Again and again in Scripture, you'll see who enters the kingdom of heaven. 00:30:08.660 |
In the parable of the four soils, actually, Luke chapter 8 verse 21, okay? 00:30:13.220 |
The parable of the four soils and then a little bit after that, "Hey, your mother and your 00:30:19.300 |
And he says, "Who are my mother and my brothers? 00:30:23.300 |
Whoever does the will of God is my mother and my brother and my sister." 00:30:28.780 |
So all over Scripture, one thing that you will notice that is the central theme is whoever 00:30:34.620 |
hears these words of mine and puts them into practice, he is the one who has access to 00:30:41.420 |
So that's the kind of person you would want to be, I'm assuming, right? 00:30:47.220 |
It's building on the foundation of Christ's life, death, and resurrection and living every 00:30:54.820 |
day in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. 00:30:59.420 |
So like I shared, if you are a child of God, you will crave pure spiritual milk of the 00:31:08.420 |
Word and as you feed off of the Word, you will bear fruit in your life. 00:31:14.180 |
So it's not like you try to bear fruit so you can access the kingdom of heaven. 00:31:18.440 |
This is talking about Jesus Christ, who is your intercessor, whose work on the cross 00:31:25.980 |
was perfectly efficacious, which means he will accomplish what he wants to accomplish 00:31:34.960 |
But if you are that person, he is going to bear fruit in your heart and in your life. 00:31:45.060 |
So therefore, and many will say to me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your 00:31:51.980 |
name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles?" 00:31:55.820 |
And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you. 00:31:57.740 |
Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness." 00:32:06.060 |
And you guys are Bereans, so you already know this, but you need to know the Word. 00:32:11.920 |
You need to become excellent students of the Word. 00:32:15.580 |
Now, don't get me wrong, reading, studying, and memorization of the Bible do not lead 00:32:26.980 |
But you need to hear a lot so that you can do a lot. 00:32:34.420 |
You need to constantly be hearing the Word of God so that you can grow. 00:32:42.120 |
Now the question that you may or may not be asking in your head is, "Okay, how much Bible 00:32:57.580 |
You don't need to grow in his Word anymore once you're free of sin. 00:33:01.700 |
Until then, you need to intake his Word as if your very soul depended on it. 00:33:06.400 |
And we learned yesterday, does your soul depend on the intake of the Word of God? 00:33:11.720 |
You need to feed off of the Word of God as if your very soul depended on it. 00:33:18.480 |
Personally, for me, I am so easily corruptible. 00:33:23.400 |
As I get older, the more and more I realize there is nothing good inside of me outside 00:33:28.480 |
There's nothing good in me outside of Christ. 00:33:30.400 |
So don't ever put your trust in me or any other pastors because outside of Christ, there 00:33:39.200 |
So how much for someone who's easily tainted, super corrupt like me, how much intake of 00:33:48.760 |
And I'll share with you personally, I calculated this. 00:34:05.680 |
And I'm still having to fight selfishness, irritability, pride, insecurity, greed, lust, 00:34:30.320 |
And in those 12 hours, as I'm doing these, just thinking through, reading the Word of 00:34:35.640 |
God, I am constantly bombarded by temptation. 00:34:40.320 |
Do you know how many times I download a game onto my phone and then delete it two seconds 00:34:49.520 |
Do you know how many times I like, like when you're just scrolling through a website and 00:34:54.880 |
there's an inappropriate image that you're almost tempted to click on it, do you know 00:35:04.280 |
When there's an opportunity to show myself off, I want so much to take it. 00:35:11.800 |
When I meet with old pastor friends, I want to tell them that I'm thriving in my ministry 00:35:19.000 |
Is it to show them that like, like I'm aptly qualified for this job that I'm doing? 00:35:33.400 |
Like, like there's always these wrestling things that are going on in my heart. 00:35:37.960 |
So for me, the average of about 12 hours is not enough. 00:35:44.720 |
And because I was just thinking through all of this, wrestling with my weakness, I've 00:35:49.720 |
actually started craving the Word of God more. 00:35:53.880 |
Over the last few weeks, I've actually turned off the radio altogether. 00:35:57.480 |
So when I'm driving, I'm just going through the Word, the books of the Bible in my head. 00:36:14.720 |
Because sometimes when you're, you know, doing your business in the bathroom, sometimes you 00:36:19.320 |
And I don't like going through the Word of God while I'm doing that. 00:36:28.600 |
Not because those are things that like about, "Oh, is that sin? 00:36:32.080 |
No, because my soul is so sick and tired of tripping and falling and stumbling. 00:36:45.280 |
Because it's not so much I'm worried about my salvation. 00:36:56.480 |
Because there is so much confidence, not in my flesh, but in the fact that God delights 00:37:04.000 |
But I want so much to give God glory and I hate the fact that I keep messing up at it. 00:37:20.720 |
I think I should just use a regular mic next time. 00:37:40.560 |
Because if I'm not in His Word, I'm distracted. 00:38:04.480 |
If there are things that are in your life that's potentially causing you to drift, you 00:38:28.160 |
If there is something that is distracting you, potentially entangling you, rendering 00:38:41.720 |
But the problem is, you don't want to cut it out. 00:38:46.000 |
Now, I'm sure you understand what I'm saying. 00:38:56.200 |
And I know you guys hate the fact that you love sin. 00:39:00.280 |
But the only way to have victory really and enjoy it in Christ is to run away. 00:39:12.120 |
But when you're running away from sin, you have to have something you're running toward. 00:39:16.880 |
And if you're trying to just run away in your own strength, "I will not watch this. 00:39:26.240 |
Though if that is all in your own strength and in your flesh, it won't work. 00:39:45.160 |
There are 1,189 chapters in the Bible, 929 in the Old Testament, 260 in the New. 00:39:53.040 |
There are 31,102 verses in the Bible, 23,145 in the Old Testament, 7,957 in the New. 00:40:10.320 |
The Great Commission says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them 00:40:14.040 |
in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them," what? 00:40:26.680 |
Some of you guys who have a heart for missions and evangelism, are you going to just go and 00:40:37.840 |
And how are you going to feed them if you're not being fed? 00:40:40.440 |
Are you going to take the pastors with you on every evangelistic crusade? 00:40:47.800 |
How are you going to take on this baton of teaching them everything that I commanded 00:41:03.520 |
I'm discovering that I can't survive without His Word and I'll tell you what's not God's 00:41:10.800 |
It's about God's Word and they're useful but God's Word is first. 00:41:14.080 |
And for you guys who are into theology, make sure you're in the scriptures and let the 00:41:21.920 |
Word of God form your theology, not the other way around. 00:41:29.960 |
Some of you guys have been in quiet time books for a long time. 00:41:34.800 |
Or that's an interpretation, someone's interpretation of God's Word. 00:41:43.280 |
The purpose of your life is to know God and to make Him known. 00:41:53.960 |
The purpose of your life is not your comfort. 00:41:56.880 |
The purpose of your life is not your success. 00:41:59.460 |
The purpose of your life is not church involvement. 00:42:10.280 |
The purpose of your life is to know God and to make Him known. 00:42:18.680 |
And if so, I can guess that your intake of the Word is not very strong. 00:42:25.120 |
The purpose of your life is to know God and make Him known. 00:42:28.800 |
So if you ever say you are too busy to read your Bible, your life is characterized by 00:42:47.360 |
If you ever say that you are too busy to read the Word of God, your life is being led in 00:43:00.480 |
your flesh and there is rebellion in your life. 00:43:07.440 |
Craving for the Word of God is a reflection of your heart. 00:43:18.640 |
And that's one thing I don't like about Bible reading plans because it makes me skim. 00:43:22.240 |
Now, if you guys understand what that feels like, yeah. 00:43:32.640 |
The purpose of your life is to know God and to make Him known. 00:43:36.560 |
And whatever it takes for you to become an expert in the Bible, do it. 00:43:43.860 |
And I want to share with you about how I ended up here. 00:43:56.760 |
And I became a pastor because I was good with people. 00:44:08.280 |
My very standard of right and wrong was skewed and I saw my life falling apart. 00:44:16.700 |
So I decided just to start memorizing His Word because I realized I can't change my 00:44:23.580 |
Memorization and review of verses that I learned as a child turned into clumps of sections 00:44:34.040 |
And then it turned into the book of Philippians. 00:44:37.600 |
And then it went from Philippians to 1 John because when I started coming to Berean in 00:44:44.380 |
So I was like, "Hey, why don't I just memorize it as we study it?" 00:44:49.720 |
That turned into, "Oh, I don't know anything about this Old Testament prophet section. 00:44:58.980 |
So I decided just to memorize Obadiah because one time – it was a very short book. 00:45:11.460 |
And then I went to James and Galatians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Peter, 2 00:45:17.380 |
Next – over time, I discovered that because I wanted it, it was easier for me to remember 00:45:50.540 |
It caused me to be a better person, better pastor, better that time boyfriend. 00:45:56.740 |
You know, before I got married, I told Becky, "I'm like this. 00:46:06.500 |
I'm going to do everything that I can not to mess this up. 00:46:11.680 |
And I don't want to hurt you by being a bad boyfriend, hopefully, fiance, and then 00:46:20.580 |
And about two years ago, around year 10 of our marriage, Becky said to me, "You know, 00:46:40.620 |
He just started speaking to me every day through His Word. 00:46:43.580 |
I wanted to do snooze button, but Proverbs 6, 6, 'Go to the ant, you slugger, consider 00:46:48.460 |
Oh, as the door turns on its hinges, so the slugger turns in his bed. 00:46:54.500 |
Every single thing started being dictated by the Word of God and started pinballing 00:46:59.620 |
me in the direction that God wanted me to go. 00:47:12.380 |
God speaks to me every single day, and sometimes I find it super annoying. 00:47:18.940 |
But He does, not with an audible voice, but with His Word. 00:47:23.920 |
You know, my decision to come back to Berean, I just prayed five minutes. 00:47:28.460 |
I prayed, "Lord, my dad asked me to come back. 00:47:34.900 |
This is the first commandment, the promise, 1 Timothy 5. 00:47:37.380 |
If anyone doesn't take care of his own family, he is worse than an unbeliever. 00:47:41.420 |
And I know in context it might mean something different, but God spoke to me through those 00:47:46.140 |
and took me five minutes to take three steps backward in my career to come here. 00:48:04.500 |
We were sent to China to be there for one year. 00:48:10.720 |
And then in the third year, even though I did not like China very much, I committed 00:48:17.520 |
Because I couldn't shake this fact that the command is to go. 00:48:21.540 |
And I'm wrestling with this call to stay in America. 00:48:27.100 |
We need to be wrestling with the call to stay. 00:48:32.020 |
The command is to bloom where you're planted. 00:48:36.140 |
So I begrudgingly kept extending our stay in China. 00:48:50.740 |
Every aspect of the last 10 years, 15 years of my life has been dictated by the word of 00:49:06.500 |
Not to make you appear more holy, because it'll change you. 00:49:10.820 |
And some of you guys, I hear you joking around. 00:49:14.540 |
Or, "Hey, you know, like, if anyone considers himself religious and does not brattle his 00:49:20.300 |
You know, like, I hear you guys quoting that to each other. 00:49:27.780 |
So here are a few things that I'm regularly reminded of as I'm studying the word of God 00:49:38.460 |
That's in almost every chapter of the scriptures. 00:49:45.500 |
For my ways are higher than your ways, or for as high as the heavens are above the earth, 00:49:49.660 |
so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts then? 00:49:54.580 |
If I'm going to put it in a, if I could twist that, "You are infinitely stupid compared to 00:50:05.020 |
And I'm reminded of my stupidity before God every day. 00:50:09.820 |
So people, someone has asked me, "Hey, you've memorized so much. 00:50:18.380 |
It causes me to be terrified because I am more aware of how far I fall short. 00:50:25.180 |
God is God, I am not, and if you get to know the scriptures, you will realize how holy 00:50:30.140 |
he is, how great he is, and how dirty and small and puny and insignificant you and I 00:50:38.380 |
Another thing that I realize as I meditate through the word of God every day is this 00:50:43.780 |
How often does the scripture call you aliens and strangers? 00:50:48.300 |
But you guys are trying to take up residence in Orange County as if this is your eternal 00:50:54.540 |
destination so that you enjoy a nice heaven here and then go to a nicer heaven in heaven 00:51:07.060 |
You know, I've been to many hotels, possibly more than half of you all combined. 00:51:13.660 |
I've spent a lot of night, 100 days a year I was not in Korea when I was working at Compassion. 00:51:20.960 |
And as nice as that hotel is, I don't buy new curtains for that hotel. 00:51:25.540 |
"Oh, that TV is ugly," or "Oh, that sofa is not, you know, to my liking." 00:51:29.700 |
You don't readjust a hotel room, you just enjoy it for a time and then you check out. 00:51:48.780 |
That's like me buying a new toilet for a hotel I'm going to stay in one day. 00:51:56.900 |
Like, you know, you know what that is, right? 00:51:59.060 |
To stay in a nice hotel for one day and I invest in a fancy toilet, that's stupidity 00:52:07.980 |
But that's how some of you guys are tempted to live, like that third soil. 00:52:14.120 |
My home is here until I die and then I'm going to enjoy a nicer home. 00:52:24.080 |
And whenever you make a decision to peg that tent peg harder in this life, be careful. 00:52:40.400 |
Not sure if you understand why I'm saying be careful. 00:52:43.120 |
This is not your home and that's another thing I'm reminded of. 00:52:45.080 |
Third thing I'm reminded of is eternal life has already started for me. 00:52:50.160 |
Eternal life does not start when you are in a coffin. 00:52:55.200 |
Now, because eternal life, John 17, 3, this is eternal life that they may know you, the 00:52:59.000 |
only true God that Jesus Christ for me have sent. 00:53:07.960 |
I'm engaged to be married and once I get married, once we have our wedding, I will start asking 00:53:22.760 |
The engagement process, there's already a commitment but you are getting to know each 00:53:31.160 |
other through that whole process until you're finally wedded. 00:53:48.760 |
Another thing that I'm regularly reminded of in the scriptures is that I'm loved. 00:53:53.760 |
I am so loved and I am so aware of how much that I am loved, I feel so free. 00:54:11.320 |
My kids, they cause all kinds of problems every day. 00:54:16.040 |
They draw on things they're not supposed to, they break things that they're not supposed 00:54:23.400 |
And in a moment, I hug them, kiss them, roll around with them because they're my children 00:54:27.440 |
and they have freedom to do whatever they want because they know my love is not going 00:54:33.080 |
And because I am daily reminded of the love of God for me, I am free to love the people 00:54:41.520 |
We love because he first loved us, 1 John 4:19. 00:54:46.400 |
If you try to love in your own strength, in your own flesh, you will become bitter. 00:54:57.840 |
Try to love a mom or a dad who's very difficult to love in your own strength. 00:55:02.800 |
Try to love a friend who just makes silly decisions in your own strength. 00:55:07.040 |
You're going to be like, "Ah," and then you have to take a breath. 00:55:14.840 |
But when you are so free in the love of God, you can love other people without any expectations 00:55:25.240 |
I'm also reminded that the Word of God really is life. 00:55:36.000 |
It gives me insight into how I'm supposed to conduct myself day to day. 00:55:40.960 |
And it teaches me that my objective in this life is to represent the love of God, to know 00:55:57.240 |
So how important is the Word of God to you is my question. 00:56:19.280 |
And the sun shines on it, it blazes, and the fruit is gone. 00:56:23.440 |
Third kind of soil, the wealth—sorry, worries of life, riches, pleasures, chokes out the 00:56:32.200 |
You know the more you indulge in entertainment, does it cause you to want God more or does 00:56:38.300 |
it cause you to slip more and more every day? 00:56:43.040 |
You guys probably live it almost just regularly because I do. 00:56:49.120 |
But the more you turn away your thoughts from just mindlessly entertaining yourself, the 00:56:53.840 |
more you will start to be desperate for God and you start getting into a habit of feeding 00:57:03.760 |
The strangest thing, I text my former boss at Compassion. 00:57:07.920 |
I'm praying for her, "Hey, for some reason I feel like you're stressed. 00:57:12.200 |
And she was at the hospital when she got that text. 00:57:14.200 |
She's like, "How in the world did you know that? 00:57:20.400 |
My thoughts are, when they're focused on God, He brings me people to reach out to. 00:57:33.120 |
But when I'm focused on entertaining myself, I think of how to hide so I can entertain 00:57:41.340 |
I told Becky, "You know how you could tell how spiritually well I'm doing or not? 00:57:47.260 |
If I'm in the toilet more than 10 minutes, I'm not doing well. 00:57:53.300 |
I mean, unless I'm really not doing well, okay? 00:57:57.920 |
If I'm in the bathroom, I'm hiding from the kids. 00:58:02.800 |
I'm hiding from you so I could read what I want to watch, read, watch, play, whatever. 00:58:10.720 |
But if I'm in and out, then you know I'm actually—my heart's right." 00:58:15.280 |
So she was like, "That's the strangest test anyone has ever—" But I gauge it that way. 00:58:22.540 |
I like sports, but I've weaned myself off it where I'm not really that interested because 00:58:28.280 |
a lot of times they get my hopes up, "Who's being traded to the Lakers?" 00:58:34.600 |
But my heart, especially over the last several weeks, it's just, "God, every moment I'm 00:58:42.520 |
So this morning, I popped up and I was like, "Okay, Genesis 127, God created man in his 00:58:47.000 |
own image and in the image of God, He created him. 00:58:50.280 |
Genesis 218, then the Lord God said, 'It is not good for man to be alone. 00:58:57.140 |
Genesis 3-4, the serpent said to the woman, 'You surely will not die.' 00:59:00.620 |
Genesis 3-15, 'I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. 00:59:06.520 |
He shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel.'" 00:59:09.740 |
So I'm going through the index cards in this one box that I have, and it's just going. 00:59:15.420 |
And it continued while I was on that chair praying for you guys, and I just stopped praying 00:59:20.500 |
after a couple minutes, and then I just started continuing on. 00:59:23.520 |
And I was in Haggai 1-3, and I feel so free and happy because I'm just constantly letting 00:59:37.460 |
And I'm claiming the promise of Psalm 1, "Blessed is the man who doesn't walk in the counsel 00:59:41.400 |
of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sinners, he who sees the mockers, what's 00:59:44.580 |
His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. 00:59:54.020 |
And my encouragement to you guys is plant and drink deeply from His Word, and you're 01:00:12.060 |
Because when you're not doing well, you wonder where that line is, right? 01:00:19.180 |
How far do I have to go before I can't come back? 01:00:21.900 |
How far is this before it actually becomes sin? 01:00:27.180 |
You stop asking that question when you're just delighting in God. 01:00:33.260 |
But when you are not in His Word but you're indulging in the flesh, you're worried. 01:01:03.620 |
His Word is sweet, and He's changing me little by little every day because He's changing 01:01:10.860 |
The best way to keep from drifting is not to try not to drift. 01:01:18.820 |
The best way to not drift is just to obsess at the anchor. 01:01:29.900 |
If all you want is Christ, drifting is never going to be an issue. 01:01:36.700 |
If all you want is Christ, you will stumble and then you'll pop back up. 01:01:43.700 |
If all you want is Christ, over time you're going to want other people to want Christ 01:01:55.980 |
But my challenge is every opportunity that you have, whether it's choosing the Word of 01:02:11.860 |
Every person that I've seen undertake an intense meditation on the Word of God does not come 01:02:24.800 |
People who deeply meditate on theology, they can come out pompous. 01:02:29.420 |
If you are delighting in the Word of God, I've seen everybody who delights in the Word 01:02:34.820 |
of God become gracious, become stable, become very loving. 01:02:43.140 |
And the reason I wanted to, I mean, I didn't know what the theme was, but I figured, you 01:02:46.700 |
know, it'd be good if I spoke at our retreat because then, like, you know, guest speakers, 01:02:50.940 |
it's easy because you can go and preach whatever you want and then you're done. 01:02:55.820 |
But I wanted to do this first one and I never want to do this again because it's making, 01:02:58.380 |
it's hard for me to really enjoy this retreat, okay? 01:03:01.660 |
It's so that after we share and examine God's Word together, I'm still with you. 01:03:09.840 |
So if there is a desire in your heart to enjoy His Word, to know His Word, to study His Word, 01:03:16.300 |
scrutinize His Word, I will not say no to try to help you. 01:03:20.520 |
And I will connect you to other people who have those same interests because it is not 01:03:24.780 |
Pastor Peter, Kim, Mark, Nate, or me that you need to follow. 01:03:37.100 |
All we are are people trying to hold on to you and follow Christ. 01:03:45.740 |
But you need to attach to His Word before you attach to the pastors. 01:03:50.800 |
Don't use your pastors as your source of main feeding. 01:03:55.760 |
But if as you're feeding off of the Word of God and you just want help, you want extra 01:04:13.240 |
And you know one thing, just as a bonus, I remember almost every sermon that I've heard 01:04:18.760 |
at Berean since March 18th when I first got back. 01:04:24.120 |
Because every passage that Pastor Peter has preached out of, I either have memorized since 01:04:31.120 |
or if I've already memorized that section, I memorize a reference verse that he quotes. 01:04:40.680 |
So Hebrews 1, I started memorizing Hebrews as Pastor Peter started the Hebrews. 01:04:50.480 |
"God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many 01:04:54.560 |
ways, in these last days He has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all 01:05:00.840 |
And He is a radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature and upholds 01:05:05.320 |
all things by the word of His power when He had made purification of sins." 01:05:12.560 |
He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. 01:05:18.640 |
And it's just running through my head all day. 01:05:24.120 |
So Wednesday night Bible study, guess what happens when I'm ready to study it? 01:05:34.760 |
And then after Pastor Peter shared, I thought, "Oh, that's a great way to remember." 01:05:37.160 |
So I memorized Philippians 2.30 and memorized Romans chapter 10, verse 14. 01:05:40.240 |
Because he talked about how then will they call on the one whom they have not believed? 01:05:44.440 |
How will they believe on Him who they have not heard? 01:05:47.840 |
That is filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions. 01:05:55.000 |
The more you invest into the word of God, it's not going to make you arrogant or pompous 01:06:12.480 |
And my challenge to you is start cutting out things that you don't even really fully enjoy, 01:06:18.080 |
but now you're just addicted to, and turn your attention to the word. 01:06:22.220 |
If you turn off TV and just sit there in the room, you're going to watch TV again. 01:06:28.600 |
Your brain needs to be, your affections need to transfer themselves from this to this. 01:06:37.000 |
And that, your pastors are more than happy to help you with. 01:06:45.120 |
How do you become the soil that 30, 60, 90, 100 fold? 01:06:52.660 |
His word, working through the indwelling of His spirit in the soil of your heart. 01:07:01.560 |
And without you even knowing it, you're building on the solid rock of Christ. 01:07:12.080 |
Because if you don't, you're going to keep wandering and perhaps even drifting away. 01:07:19.800 |
And then tonight we're going to be talking about how we help each other do that and how 01:07:47.520 |
Free from the slavery and bondage to our addictions and our cravings and our sins. 01:07:59.780 |
And we know, Lord God, that you will free us to love one another and to serve you. 01:08:06.540 |
Help us to feed off your word and would your word bear much fruit in our lives? 01:08:14.220 |
Help us truly be a Berean community where we examine your word carefully and we obsess 01:08:26.440 |
And as we do so, Lord, that you would grow and mature us. 01:08:34.800 |
your glory. I pray these things in Jesus' name.