back to indexBAM Summer Retreat 2019 - Session 1
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Yesterday night I gave a very simple definition of what your identity is. 00:00:13.000 |
And in order to talk about this, the world has various categories to help you piece together 00:00:22.000 |
And when I say the world, all that the world can do is operate by what they see with their 00:00:30.000 |
And so they will ask, "What can you do for me?" 00:00:38.000 |
They'll ask, "What kind of things do you have, like possession?" 00:00:42.000 |
So I threw out to you all of these categorical things yesterday night. 00:00:50.000 |
Usefulness to your community, your looks, approval, all these kind of categories. 00:00:55.000 |
And we can just sit there and go through a line of more categories that build your personal 00:01:01.000 |
It's just that all those things happen to be things that operate by sight. 00:01:09.000 |
They have a certain identity for you because that's what they see. 00:01:13.000 |
And so that's why even right now, one of the more popular things politicians and our social 00:01:19.000 |
generation will look at is your identity groups. 00:01:23.000 |
Identity groups based on your race, your demographics of income, your locale, whatever 00:01:31.000 |
And a lot of people, they function just based on your academic or whatever, kind of these 00:01:39.000 |
So you came out of these kind of schools, you have this kind of career, or you're blue 00:01:45.000 |
All of those are identifying markers that you can see with your eyes. 00:01:49.000 |
So, one route of wrestling through this, I asked you yesterday to examine and ask yourself 00:01:59.000 |
the question, of all the things that you worry about in terms of your personal identity, 00:02:04.000 |
how much of it is actually related to Christ in any way? 00:02:08.000 |
That was the question in examination yesterday. 00:02:11.000 |
But today, starting from this session, I want to give you at least a path to think about, 00:02:18.000 |
well I can sit there and examine and then start feeling like, oh gosh, there's a lot 00:02:22.000 |
that doesn't even have anything to do with Jesus. 00:02:26.000 |
But then there's a question of how does my identity build? 00:02:30.000 |
What is the path for me to have a solid, good, perfect identity? 00:02:36.000 |
And I'm going to start off with a very interesting, interesting question for you. 00:02:41.000 |
And this question is, currently right now in your heart and in your mind, what do you 00:02:48.000 |
I'd actually do a little exercise with you and I want you to answer the question and 00:02:52.000 |
write it down on your paper or whatever you're using to take notes. 00:03:06.000 |
And if you're having a hard time, let me help you. 00:03:08.000 |
When I say what do you want most, sometimes it's just intensity. 00:03:11.000 |
Meaning, what's something that's just like, oh I just want it so bad, so it's up at a 00:03:15.000 |
scale like a 1 through 10 scale, it's up at a 9 or something. 00:03:19.000 |
Or, it may not be something you feel is like so bad and deep, but it just happened all 00:03:25.000 |
So, just evaluate through the last 10 weeks of your life. 00:03:28.000 |
What was something that just came up in your head again and again? 00:03:32.000 |
What was something that just, you don't even have to force yourself to think about it. 00:03:36.000 |
You have some free time and the next thing you know, you're fantasizing having that. 00:03:53.000 |
Good, a good number of you guys are looking up at me, so I'm assuming you're done. 00:04:02.000 |
Now, I want you to take a look at that and sometimes, I just don't want you to overthink 00:04:08.000 |
it because instinctually, sometimes we start judging. 00:04:20.000 |
So, in order as an exercise to combat our overthinking, self-evaluating nature, just 00:04:26.000 |
go ahead and show the person next to you what you are missing. 00:04:48.000 |
Now, the reason why I did this about your design, I apologize if some of you guys are like, 00:05:01.000 |
Now, the reason why I did that is because in building your identity, like actually taking 00:05:07.000 |
steps to solidify what your identity is, the scriptures actually teach us that God judges 00:05:19.000 |
And when I say that, remember the question I had. 00:05:27.000 |
Do you happen to be a 25-year-old, what are some big categories? 00:05:40.000 |
I'm looking around at you and you're just looking at us. 00:05:46.000 |
I just think you're always a little older than I am. 00:05:49.000 |
Sorry to single you out there, Star Wars fan. 00:05:55.000 |
Whatever it may be that just pops out at you, is that you? 00:05:59.000 |
I can do the same thing the world does, which is look and then just start calling stuff 00:06:07.000 |
But God, because He does not judge based on the way that man does. 00:06:12.000 |
You guys remember when the whole ordeal with King Saul was happening, God was very disappointed. 00:06:19.000 |
King Saul was a head and shoulders above everybody, literally. 00:06:23.000 |
He stood so tall that people literally were looking up to him and then what's more, they 00:06:29.000 |
presumed he had authority, power, and strength. 00:06:32.000 |
He had all the charisma, he had all the pedigree, and so they said make him our king and God 00:06:40.000 |
"Man judges by sight, I look into the heart." 00:06:45.000 |
Point number one of this sermon is, I judge you based on your desire. 00:06:52.000 |
Meaning, your identity is built on your desire. 00:06:56.000 |
What you long for and what you desire is a basic building block of your identity. 00:07:04.000 |
We can talk about purpose, we can talk about function, we can talk about production, possession 00:07:11.000 |
Those things are very important, but I want you to think of it like this. 00:07:14.000 |
If there are smaller details, those are those things. 00:07:17.000 |
Purposes, goals, ambitions, whatever it may be. 00:07:21.000 |
But then, an overarching criteria or overarching category is just the simple desires of your 00:07:38.000 |
A worldly example, a more like just humanistic example is this. 00:07:42.000 |
Now, I apologize ahead of time, you guys know, you guys have heard my preaching before, I 00:07:46.000 |
give a lot of like dating examples, you know. 00:07:49.000 |
Not just because of this context, I just think it's funny to talk about. 00:07:53.000 |
So, I typically, and I give a lot of counsel on it, so that's why I give it. 00:07:59.000 |
Imagine I'm meeting with this guy Frank, and this Frank comes up to me and says, "Pastor 00:08:04.000 |
Warren, Pastor Warren, I'm totally into this one girl." 00:08:17.000 |
And I was like, and typically the number one question I ask is, "Why do you like her?" 00:08:21.000 |
And then so Frank goes, "Because Franny is fantastic." 00:08:27.000 |
And then he goes, "Why, you don't think she's fantastic?" 00:08:37.000 |
Even a little bit of her body, she flirts with other girls. 00:08:50.000 |
Anyway, let me just carry on with my example, okay. 00:08:53.000 |
Pastor Warren's assessment, Franny is not fantastic. 00:09:03.000 |
I tell Frank, I'm like, "Dude, did you see what I see? 00:09:09.000 |
And then Frank finally admits, "Because she's fine." 00:09:27.000 |
When you have superficial, shallow desires that doesn't care for the things that are way valuable, 00:09:37.000 |
Because of your superficial desires, I judge you as superficial. 00:09:45.000 |
God regularly points the finger at our heart and asks you, "What do you want in your heart? 00:09:59.000 |
What's really interesting is, Turn Your Bibles over to John chapter 6. 00:10:07.000 |
And there was a huge crowd that gathered and they all traveled far and wide to hear Jesus. 00:10:14.000 |
Now, they came to hear Jesus, but they also came for other stuff. 00:10:21.000 |
Because what they heard was that Jesus not only had these great teachings, but he was 00:10:34.000 |
And so guess what happens is, in the Gospel of John it recounts how all these people were 00:10:38.000 |
fed, and then the next day Jesus actually went across the sea, and then he went off by himself 00:10:44.000 |
and the people woke up and were like, "Oh my goodness, where is he?" 00:10:47.000 |
And then so a bunch of people started following him. 00:10:49.000 |
Now turn your eyes to John 6 verse 26, and then he says this. 00:10:54.000 |
As they're following him, they even take boats and they go across and they go chase him down. 00:11:00.000 |
You might have been thinking, or when you're reading it, you're thinking, "This is pretty 00:11:04.000 |
amazing," because now he has a huge following. 00:11:09.000 |
It's like having a million subscribers or something, right? 00:11:12.000 |
Jesus turns and says in verse 26, "He answered them and said, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, 00:11:18.000 |
you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. 00:11:25.000 |
Do not work for food which perishes, but for food which endures to eternal life, which 00:11:32.000 |
For on him, the Father, God has sent his seal. 00:11:36.000 |
Therefore they said to him, 'What shall we do that we may work the works of God?' 00:11:41.000 |
And Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in him 00:11:47.000 |
So they said to him, 'What then do you do for a sign, so that we may see and believe 00:11:55.000 |
Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, 'He gave them bread out 00:12:00.000 |
And Jesus then said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given 00:12:09.000 |
It is my Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. 00:12:12.000 |
For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.'" 00:12:18.000 |
In that interaction, there is this incredible convicting rebuke and the people don't get 00:12:28.000 |
There is this interaction where the people follow and Jesus turns around and says, "You 00:12:34.000 |
You're not coming because you see and you believe. 00:12:43.000 |
And then the people go, "Well, before Moses did it, now what are you going to do?" 00:13:09.000 |
And so clearly, the reason why, the motivation, the desire in their heart as to why they were 00:13:15.000 |
actually going and chasing Jesus was completely off and they didn't get it. 00:13:23.000 |
And later on as you walk through the Gospels, Jesus rebukes the entire generation. 00:13:31.000 |
Every time you walk through the Gospels, Jesus says, "This generation is a perverse and wicked 00:13:38.000 |
Because they keep seeking signs, wonders, and miracles and the other people who think 00:13:42.000 |
they're even holier, all they want is knowledge. 00:13:56.000 |
It's because again, the great challenge, the great crisis of identity is not so much the 00:14:07.000 |
We're then operating completely on a different platform than where God is operating. 00:14:13.000 |
One of the most essential things about our identity happens to be in here. 00:14:28.000 |
Now, a more biblical thing we can do is something really odd and interesting. 00:14:40.000 |
Please turn your Bibles over to John chapter 17. 00:14:44.000 |
The passage that I had you guys read in the Golden Age. 00:15:02.000 |
And as you take a look over at John chapter 17, the passage I had asked you guys to read, 00:15:16.000 |
Just for the sake of, well, we're just going to read a big chunk of it, okay? 00:15:24.000 |
And what I'd like you to do is if you highlight, you do those like marking stuff, sometimes 00:15:29.000 |
you read it over and over again for certain emphasis. 00:15:38.000 |
We're saying the desires of your heart start to define who you are. 00:15:44.000 |
Maybe I should use a different word so it's more simple. 00:15:47.000 |
Let's just simply observe and appreciate what is the desire of Christ's heart. 00:15:59.000 |
"But now I come to you and these things I speak in the world so that they may have my 00:16:12.000 |
Verse 14, "I have given them your word and the world has hated them because they are 00:16:17.000 |
not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 00:16:20.000 |
I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one." 00:16:27.000 |
"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 00:16:34.000 |
"As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 00:16:38.000 |
For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth." 00:16:44.000 |
Jesus wants their sanctification to the degree that He would sanctify Himself, which is crazy 00:16:54.000 |
When He says to sanctify Himself, He is going to go through all sorts of pain and suffering. 00:16:59.000 |
Verse 20, "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in me 00:17:03.000 |
through their word, that they may all be one, even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, 00:17:11.000 |
that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me." 00:17:20.000 |
Verse 22, "The glory which you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be 00:17:29.000 |
"I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may 00:17:33.000 |
know that you sent me, and love them even as you love me." 00:17:41.000 |
I desire that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am. 00:17:49.000 |
So that they may see me, my glory which you have given me. 00:17:52.000 |
For you love me before the foundation of the world. 00:17:56.000 |
I don't even know where to begin with that, but pretty much there's so much to say. 00:18:00.000 |
He says, "I want to share with the entire world the perfect love you've given me, and 00:18:10.000 |
"O righteous Father, although the world has not yet known you, but I have known you, 00:18:15.000 |
and these have known that you sent me, and I have made your name known to them, and will 00:18:21.000 |
make it known, so that the love with which you love me may be in them, and I in them." 00:18:28.000 |
I mean, we could just camp down here and just dwell on this for a while, right? 00:18:33.000 |
If you read Jesus' prayer, us knowing that this is not a moment of peace for Him, this 00:18:42.000 |
This is a moment, if you can just say it in a more colloquial way, He should be stressed 00:18:53.000 |
And this is why we could sit and say, "Our Lord is beautiful. 00:19:06.000 |
He wants to share the perfect love that He has with God Almighty, and He wants to give 00:19:18.000 |
Not to simply approve us from afar, not to simply release us from the prison and then 00:19:29.000 |
And there comes then our assessment, "Lord, You are amazing." 00:19:35.000 |
Because this is the desire of the heart revealed to us, right? 00:19:40.000 |
My point simply was, your desires define and start to build your identity. 00:19:48.000 |
Now, the reason why your desires, even more so, define who you are, is because your desires 00:19:55.000 |
reveal what you believe, how you judge, how you interpret the world, what you think is 00:20:06.000 |
So point one was, your desires judge who you are. 00:20:10.000 |
Point two is, your desires reveals what you believe is completeness. 00:20:18.000 |
Your desires reveal your belief about what is completeness. 00:20:24.000 |
All I'm saying is this, it's this very simple point which I think you already know by intuitively, 00:20:29.000 |
that when you want something, that means you believe it's good. 00:20:40.000 |
You want it because you have placed it in some value and you think that is good for you. 00:20:45.000 |
Now, the nuanced way that I've told it to you is this, you want X because you believe 00:20:55.000 |
You want something because you believe that's going to be to you some kind of fulfillment, 00:21:00.000 |
some kind of wholeness, that when you have it, then you will actually be living on a higher standard. 00:21:06.000 |
You desire stuff because it's going to take you to that next level, getting closer to what you believe is wholeness. 00:21:24.000 |
Listen, even people who are wicked, vile, and heinous, they operate the exact same thing. 00:21:30.000 |
Do you think people are doing wicked, vile things because they believe like, "Ugh, this is so painful, bad, and horrendous. 00:21:41.000 |
Even wicked people, what they do, they believe it's good. 00:21:45.000 |
They might see that it has bad consequences, whatever, but they think it's a necessary thing. 00:21:51.000 |
Come on now, Thanos, how do you pronounce his name? 00:21:57.000 |
You don't think he thought in his head like, "This is what needs to happen. 00:22:03.000 |
Only I have the courage to do what's necessary." 00:22:06.000 |
And now you have this movie that sells biblical threads. 00:22:12.000 |
Turn your mind to Romans chapter 1, verse 28-32. 00:22:26.000 |
And remember, my point is, the reason why your desires reveal who you are is because it also reveals your belief. 00:22:34.000 |
You only want that which you have already judged as good. 00:22:40.000 |
Romans 1, 28-32, describing the fallen world, the sinful nature of mankind. 00:22:45.000 |
He says, "And just as they did not see fit," okay, I like that, "they did not see it fit to acknowledge God any longer." 00:22:54.000 |
So God gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper. 00:22:59.000 |
"Being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, they are gossips, slanders, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, 00:23:11.000 |
adventures of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful, and although they know the ordinance of God, 00:23:20.000 |
that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval of those who practice them." 00:23:32.000 |
What that means is they have judged in their mind and in their heart. 00:23:37.000 |
This is not fitting and good to give God worship. 00:23:42.000 |
That's just like modern day people who are rejecting God. 00:23:51.000 |
What's more righteous is my human love to this land. 00:23:54.000 |
What's more righteous is what I think is right. 00:23:57.000 |
No wicked individual sitting there thinking, "No, no, no, I'm wrong. Yes, I'm wrong, but I'm doing it anyway." 00:24:06.000 |
And then when they see other people do wicked stuff, it's like, "Good job." 00:24:17.000 |
Based on the stuff that you have already deemed valuable and good, that's how you are operating. 00:24:25.000 |
And so what needs to happen is a radical removal of your mind. 00:24:30.000 |
What needs to happen is a breaking down in humility of your own judgment and assessment of your circumstances and who you are. 00:24:40.000 |
Now, before I get any further, I do want to hit a really important point. 00:24:45.000 |
Point number one, your desire to judge who you are. 00:24:47.000 |
Point number two, your desire to judge who you are because it shows your belief system. 00:24:52.000 |
Point number three, this is what I like to call the common fallen condition. 00:24:58.000 |
This is the conviction of a fallen nature and the fallen way in which we think. 00:25:04.000 |
And this part is a little bit long, so I need you guys to track with me here. 00:25:08.000 |
Number one, I don't think the crisis of identity is you forgetting who you are. 00:25:21.000 |
Point number three A is I think you know exactly who you are, but B, you're not happy with it. 00:25:28.000 |
The reason why you constantly look for stuff that you think is going to take you to that next level 00:25:33.000 |
is because you know instinctually you're not complete. 00:25:38.000 |
However, C, the common fallen condition is that rather than ditch my earthly identity, 00:25:48.000 |
rather than ditch this already sunken cost of an endeavor to try to redeem myself, 00:25:56.000 |
we actually desperately try to save our human identity. 00:26:01.000 |
I know that's a lot, so I'm going to review it. 00:26:02.000 |
Number one, I believe you know your identity. 00:26:05.000 |
Number three, you're desperately trying to save it. 00:26:15.000 |
Some people are like, "Oh, you know, I just forgot. 00:26:22.000 |
That's like every other moral story ever written. 00:26:28.000 |
So Bia and I sometimes we just do the free Netflix account for a month or whatever and then 00:26:40.000 |
It's like good action entertainment, but then once I actually think about the plot, 00:26:43.000 |
I'm just sitting here like, "This is fucking horrible." 00:26:47.000 |
Now the reason why--you can watch that stuff, it's fine. 00:26:50.000 |
But the reason why--I tell you this is so silly. 00:26:58.000 |
There's blood coming out of his eye and stuff. 00:27:00.000 |
And all of a sudden he sees a vision of his father. 00:27:15.000 |
And next thing you know electricity starts coming out of his face and his arms and his 00:27:23.000 |
And then you're sitting there like, "That's the lamest plot ever." 00:27:29.000 |
Because they're like, "Yeah, power is right here, deep inside. 00:27:42.000 |
The world eats that up because there's a subtle belief. 00:27:47.000 |
There's a great potential in you and you forgot that." 00:27:53.000 |
The Bible doesn't say you just have to forget that there's a great potential in you. 00:27:59.000 |
And number two, remember my point was you're just not happy with what you see. 00:28:03.000 |
The crisis of identity isn't like, "Oh my gosh, I don't know who I am. 00:28:10.000 |
I'm like an incredibly stereotypical Asian man with like five, seven and a half, five 00:28:51.000 |
You know, yesterday I started giving all these very tangible examples of academic hopeful, 00:29:00.000 |
What's really interesting about this is there are people who actually got what they hoped for. 00:29:08.000 |
There are people in this world who got the highest grades, went to the best schools, 00:29:13.000 |
they had the romantic love of their life, and they enjoyed it. 00:29:16.000 |
And then they had tons of money and they also had skills to pick a bit of it. 00:29:28.000 |
He said, "I see this vanity where I did not limit myself in anything." 00:29:35.000 |
He literally says, "I actually explored to the extent that I possibly could. 00:29:40.000 |
Like I did everything that I could to get as much as I can. 00:29:48.000 |
Supposedly he had like 400 wives and a thousand complicated vows. 00:29:54.000 |
Even when he had all that, he says, "I see this vanity because he feels incomplete." 00:30:01.000 |
You don't have to turn it for the sake of time. 00:30:09.000 |
A man who has been given riches, wealth, honor, so his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires 00:30:32.000 |
"I've done everything but I'm still in control and my desire is not fulfilled." 00:30:43.000 |
It's because the fallen condition of man is that sequence of thought I just told you. 00:30:51.000 |
But you know that both biblically and humanistically, meaning you don't have to have studied the 00:30:56.000 |
Bible to know that you're incomplete, that you're broken, that you're lacking. 00:31:05.000 |
If you've ever said any of these things, this means yes, you've had a question of identity. 00:31:09.000 |
And this also means yes, rather than ditch, ditch the broken human identity that God has 00:31:16.000 |
already said needs to die, you're trying to preserve it. 00:31:36.000 |
If you've ever complained like that, like, "I just haven't been given an opportunity 00:31:48.000 |
That old Mark Lin, who I think requires just more money, time, opportunity, and people 00:31:55.000 |
to be improved, that old Mark Lin actually needs to die. 00:32:06.000 |
Application number one is that you need to cease and desist. 00:32:13.000 |
Cease and desist from trying to establish your own identity. 00:32:22.000 |
That's, I mean, that's not something new and novel to you, meaning like you've never heard that. 00:32:27.000 |
But isn't that one of the number one challenges of Christian life? 00:32:37.000 |
We're so inclined to not be disappointed in myself. 00:32:44.000 |
There are moments when you're just like, "Oh my, I surprise myself at how simple I am. 00:32:51.000 |
It's not like you've never heard this sermon before. 00:32:53.000 |
How many times have you heard this sermon before? 00:32:58.000 |
And then you're just like sometimes so disappointed and frustrated with yourself. 00:33:01.000 |
"How come I'm so thick-headed and I don't get it?" 00:33:08.000 |
I've kind of learned not to be so surprised and shocked at myself, but fully accept and 00:33:20.000 |
I don't have this kind of weird, like sinful intent. 00:33:28.000 |
I've completely accepted the fact when God judges here inside. 00:33:35.000 |
When you call them out on something, "What did you do? 00:33:44.000 |
The Bible comes along and says, "You meant it!" 00:33:52.000 |
And then you realize, "Well, to be honest, I had like this sinful desire to want that 00:34:03.000 |
What would this mean about your judgment of me? 00:34:26.000 |
My challenge number one is stop being so defensive. 00:34:29.000 |
Accept the fact that so much of us, the Bible wants to change and sanctify to the measure 00:34:38.000 |
Not only your actions, your words, your behaviors, and all that kind of stuff, but your internal 00:34:42.000 |
thoughts, your belief system, what you deem is good, your judgment of the world, your 00:34:47.000 |
circumstances, all of that is up for sanctification. 00:34:52.000 |
And the great challenge for us as Christians in finding our identity is to first stop and 00:34:58.000 |
cease and desist from trying to save that previous Mark Lin. 00:35:16.000 |
Application number two then, I want to challenge every single one of you. 00:35:31.000 |
He wanted your character to be sanctified by truth. 00:35:36.000 |
I think when I was younger, I struggled a lot. 00:35:40.000 |
I want to love Him and I want to preach about Him, exalt Him. 00:35:53.000 |
Some of you guys work like 10 hours, 12 hours, 14 hours a day. 00:35:57.000 |
And you might be sitting there like, "Oh my, I know I should be all about Jesus. 00:36:06.000 |
Is it even possible to be about Jesus when I give literally three-fourths of my life to work?" 00:36:17.000 |
Do not confuse that kind of investment of time into a task as your Godliness. 00:36:27.000 |
God wants to see your character sanctified in your work. 00:36:37.000 |
And so what I'm telling you right now is you saw Jesus' heart 00:36:43.000 |
You saw that He wanted you to have fullness of joy in Him. 00:36:46.000 |
And you saw that He wanted you to be perfectly united. 00:36:51.000 |
That the way you look, appear, the way you talk and speak, 00:36:55.000 |
the way that you feel and behave, all of these things would measure to that of Christ. 00:37:12.000 |
The Apostle Paul says exactly the same thing, just in different terms, in different words. 00:37:18.000 |
And he gives to us what we should apply ourselves to. 00:37:27.000 |
"And he gave some to be apostles and some to be prophets and some as evangelists, 00:37:32.000 |
and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ." 00:37:38.000 |
This is your prototypical passage on church discipleship. 00:37:42.000 |
This is your passage on how church structure should be. 00:37:45.000 |
But today I want you to highlight and circle the idea of what you should see as your number one desire. 00:37:56.000 |
And so that really is the application number two. 00:38:02.000 |
He says, "For the building up of the body," verse 13, "until we all attain to the unity of faith 00:38:11.000 |
and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ." 00:38:24.000 |
"To the mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 00:38:31.000 |
As a result, we are no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried about by everyone with doctrine, 00:38:41.000 |
by the trickery of men, by the craftiness and deceitful scheming. 00:38:44.000 |
But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the Head and in Christ, 00:38:51.000 |
from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every choice applies according to the proper working of each individual part, 00:38:59.000 |
cause the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love." 00:39:10.000 |
I didn't know how to necessarily summarize it. 00:39:12.000 |
This second application that I'm talking about, where you set your desire on this, right? 00:39:20.000 |
We're talking about how your desires judge who you are, how your desires review your thoughts. 00:39:28.000 |
Do you understand that your completeness, do you understand that your fullness comes from the full measure of Christ? 00:39:35.000 |
And therefore, did you, upon believing that, set your heart and your mind upon it? 00:39:44.000 |
Did you have moments in your life, I know sometimes like, 00:39:48.000 |
you don't want to say lofty, big, high words. 00:39:53.000 |
When people pray like that, maybe it even annoys you. 00:39:56.000 |
"Oh majestic, heavenly, wonderful Father, I commit all my ways to You." 00:40:12.000 |
I'm not asking you to just make lofty statements. 00:40:16.000 |
I'm asking you though, is that what you want? 00:40:22.000 |
Even if you're all shameful to say it, and you feel like, "I don't have the confidence, I don't have the clarity of conscience to be like, 00:40:29.000 |
'God, I love You with everything I've got, and You are my complete, whole fulfillment in life.'" 00:40:36.000 |
Maybe you don't have the full clarity of conscience to say that. 00:40:43.000 |
I'm going to wrap this up with this, you know. 00:41:00.000 |
How many of you guys have fallen to the same sin over and over again? 00:41:10.000 |
You are going to be tempted to lower your standard and bar, to lower your goal, to lower your expectation, 00:41:17.000 |
to not want the full measure of Christ, the maturity of Christ, the standard that God has designed in His perfect Son. 00:41:26.000 |
That is not the maturity standard you're going to be shooting for anymore. 00:41:29.000 |
You're going to be tempted to lower that bar and say, "This is what's possible given my limitations." 00:41:36.000 |
Look at how many times I've fallen to the exact same sin over and over and over again. 00:41:44.000 |
And so by sight, you're going to set your bar right here. 00:41:48.000 |
I want you guys to talk about it in your discussion groups. 00:41:51.000 |
Have you settled in any way and believed certain measures of standards were okay? 00:42:01.000 |
Because of your fear, because of your shame, did you lower the bar? That's my question. 00:42:06.000 |
Because you're looking at your life, you're looking at what's normal for most people who are sinners, 00:42:10.000 |
you're looking at your traffic period, and you think God's going to be okay with that. 00:42:17.000 |
My challenge to you right now is we're talking about your desire by trust in Christ, 00:42:23.000 |
that He who began a good work within you, He who is going to work through you and in you, 00:42:28.000 |
He who authored everything is going to bring you to completion, even if you feel frustrated. 00:42:34.000 |
And you set your desire up here, because that's what God has designed the church to be. 00:42:40.000 |
That's why He put pastors and evangelists in place. 00:42:44.000 |
That's why He's given you brothers and sisters, to not be discouraged, but by faith, "I trust you, Lord." 00:42:56.000 |
I've accepted this fact. Mark Lynn, without Jesus, is a wretched being. 00:43:06.000 |
And I'm not going to sit here all ashamed, asking you to not look. 00:43:12.000 |
But rather, I'm actually going to invite you down. 00:43:26.000 |
I want your challenge. I want you to test me. 00:43:29.000 |
And I'm not going to be on the fence of telling you, "Well, that's not me, and I'm an introvert." 00:43:33.000 |
"Well, that's not me, I'm shy." "Well, that's not me, I'm timid." 00:43:38.000 |
He's not trying to get you to extrovertedness. 00:43:40.000 |
He's not trying to get you to be some kind of individual you're not trying to be. 00:43:44.000 |
He's trying to get you to the full measure of Christ. 00:43:49.000 |
And the question at hand is, have you completely adopted it? 00:43:53.000 |
Have you set your heart on it? Have you set your desire on it? 00:43:56.000 |
And that to you has become your driving force and motivation. 00:44:03.000 |
And so Apostle Paul says, in Colossians 1, verses 20-29, 00:44:09.000 |
"And that's why we proclaim Him, abonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, 00:44:16.000 |
so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 00:44:21.000 |
For this purpose I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me." 00:44:33.000 |
By way of conclusion, all I want to say is this. 00:44:37.000 |
When I said just a moment ago that this is going to be your battle as a Christian, 00:44:46.000 |
this is going to be a regular occurrence in your life. 00:44:50.000 |
You're going to be unsatisfied with your human identity that you can see with your eyes. 00:44:56.000 |
But God is asking you to buy into Christ's priestly prayer in John chapter 17. 00:45:03.000 |
And He is going to sanctify you with this truth. 00:45:07.000 |
And for you, it is then going to be an impetus. 00:45:10.000 |
Are you going to be a surrendered individual who is not setting your eyes upon your own deficiencies 00:45:19.000 |
But rather, are you going to exercise faith, looking at Christ, looking at His perfection, 00:45:26.000 |
and saying, "That perfect person, Jesus Christ, is going to be my perfect identity."