back to index2020-02-09 To Know Him and Make Him Known Pt 1
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- Very thankful, but you know, while I was in Taiwan, 00:00:05.000 |
obviously the coronavirus was just starting to take off, 00:00:20.520 |
And I remember waking up early in the morning, 00:00:31.680 |
And then Zachary, my son, actually texted me, 00:00:50.680 |
to live through many celebrities and athletes 00:00:54.180 |
who've gone through tragic stuff and lost their lives, 00:01:01.200 |
He's just somebody that I watched for many years. 00:01:13.320 |
I was even surprised, like why I was getting so emotional 00:01:22.440 |
I've been watching this guy since he was 17 years old, 00:01:25.800 |
coming into this league as a cocky young kid, 00:01:28.640 |
and this is when Michael Jordan was, you know, 00:01:33.120 |
and he comes in and he's like challenging Michael Jordan. 00:01:35.400 |
This 17-year-old kid straight out of high school 00:01:48.320 |
And that's why he didn't get a starting position. 00:02:07.920 |
And to see this young guy throughout the years 00:02:10.640 |
just growing and actually challenging Michael Jordan, 00:02:18.040 |
You know, if you grew up watching Michael Jordan, 00:02:20.280 |
that was, I never thought that anybody would come along 00:02:23.960 |
where anybody would be even compared to Michael Jordan. 00:02:37.800 |
And I remember that game when he scored 81 points 00:02:47.800 |
In the middle of the birthday party, we started watching. 00:02:54.440 |
our church was small enough where all the guys 00:02:56.280 |
were invited to his birthday party and we were celebrating, 00:02:58.400 |
and we completely forgot, 'cause when he scored 81 points, 00:03:03.400 |
And that's a memory that all the brothers here 00:03:05.400 |
when the church was smaller that we remember. 00:03:08.360 |
And then when he won the championship in 2010, 00:03:11.640 |
okay, so don't worry, this sermon is not about Kobe Bryant. 00:03:21.800 |
after they lost a heartbreaking loss to the Celtics 00:03:24.320 |
in 2008 and came back, won the year after that, 00:03:29.760 |
and they went all the way to the seventh game, 00:03:34.600 |
And I remember watching this at home by myself 00:03:51.280 |
This guy was at the center of so much joy in my life 00:03:58.440 |
and he was the superstar on that team for so long. 00:04:02.600 |
And so it was weird when he blew his Achilles, 00:04:05.800 |
and seeing that interview, I just completely defeated. 00:04:13.140 |
and then sitting there realizing that maybe this is the end, 00:04:17.000 |
and it was, again, a part of Kobe that I've never seen. 00:04:20.040 |
It was like, wow, this is really coming to an end. 00:04:28.600 |
And it was just, the way that he just went out, 00:04:31.000 |
it was like, wow, that guy, he scored 60 points, 00:04:41.640 |
and run into him there throughout his journey 00:04:55.960 |
And yet, afterwards, you could see him maturing 00:04:58.800 |
as a father, as a husband, and he was dedicated. 00:05:01.440 |
When they would ask him, don't you miss basketball? 00:05:03.400 |
And to be honest, I was curious what kind of person 00:05:14.320 |
But it just seems like he's actually moving on, 00:05:21.920 |
when it seemed like he was just beginning to mature, 00:05:24.520 |
for him to just tragically die like that in a helicopter, 00:05:29.320 |
and it was really heart-wrenching for a while. 00:05:32.800 |
Even now, it's hard to watch the video of his life 00:05:45.040 |
some of you guys who are in your late 30s, early 40s, 00:05:47.440 |
you actually lived it with him 'cause you were that age, 00:06:07.640 |
The Lakers fans, you know exactly what I'm talking about. 00:06:11.320 |
We talk about Kobe, and there's almost teary-eyed, 00:06:21.280 |
Did he ever show up at your door on your birthday 00:06:33.200 |
Because for so many years, we've seen his glory, 00:06:41.280 |
See, the reason why there's such an attachment 00:06:49.600 |
We feel the most alive when we are in the presence 00:06:53.480 |
of something beyond us, and we begin to worship it. 00:07:02.960 |
an idol for many of us, somebody that was beyond. 00:07:24.600 |
I mean, it's understandable that we have these emotions, 00:07:38.440 |
See, when Adam and Eve challenged God's glory, 00:08:02.680 |
That's why the Bible describes the fall of mankind 00:08:09.080 |
And that's why when Jesus was going to the cross, 00:08:18.800 |
He describes the act of redemption of mankind 00:08:23.040 |
as glorifying the Father, glorifying the Son. 00:08:49.280 |
or whether it's basketball, or some superstar, 00:08:56.200 |
will eventually end in some sort of heartache. 00:09:35.520 |
And that's why when this question is asked of Jesus, 00:09:39.320 |
teacher, which is the greatest commandment of the law? 00:09:41.720 |
And he said to him, you shall love the Lord your God 00:09:50.600 |
He says this because this is what went wrong with mankind. 00:10:04.520 |
And we were wowed, and we experienced so much life and joy 00:10:10.720 |
God restores that, and he displays his glory in the cross, 00:10:17.560 |
because true life is found in Christ, in Christ alone. 00:10:24.080 |
a trivial basketball player live out his life, 00:10:39.000 |
to see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:10:44.120 |
That's why Jonathan Edwards describes a Christian 00:10:48.840 |
How do you know if you're a Christian or not? 00:10:51.040 |
He said the number one quality of a Christian 00:10:58.520 |
that he was not able to see when he was in his sin. 00:11:01.760 |
So when Christ came and cleansed us from our sins, 00:11:05.880 |
and we saw the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 00:11:11.320 |
And new life isn't just not dying and not going to hell. 00:11:26.460 |
Because now we see that my greatest joy is found 00:11:46.100 |
who saw the glory and who didn't see the glory 00:11:48.140 |
is the affection that is created when we see that. 00:11:54.340 |
the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God 00:11:57.060 |
with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. 00:12:13.420 |
But understanding the context will bring even more light 00:12:25.660 |
it was actually third of three questions that was asked. 00:12:38.620 |
are coming during Jesus' last week in his life. 00:12:42.740 |
And so he turns over the tables, he cleanses the temple, 00:12:46.460 |
and he knows that he's headed toward the cross 00:12:58.020 |
he is blaspheming or he is inciting insurrection 00:13:04.340 |
so that they would have a reason to crucify him. 00:13:06.740 |
It is in that context where it says in verse 15, 00:13:24.060 |
And he says, verse 16, they sent their disciples to him 00:13:30.620 |
the Pharisees and the Herodians were mortal enemies. 00:13:34.620 |
Herodians were the ones who sided with the Roman government. 00:13:39.480 |
They were the ones who went around collecting taxes 00:13:41.580 |
and they handed it over to the Roman government. 00:13:50.700 |
And so Rome actually set up a statue of Caesar. 00:13:56.780 |
that Caesar is greater than any God that you worship. 00:13:59.180 |
And the Herodians were the agents who were carrying this out. 00:14:03.140 |
So the fact that the Pharisees and the Herodians 00:14:09.520 |
you could see the hatred behind what they were saying. 00:14:20.580 |
and defer to no one for you are not partial to any. 00:14:30.980 |
Is it lawful to give poll tax to Caesar or not? 00:14:38.300 |
See, if Jesus answers this wrong and he says, 00:14:44.460 |
then the Pharisees would incite their disciples against. 00:14:48.940 |
This money is going to go to force us to worship other gods. 00:14:58.020 |
the Herodians would report that to the Romans and say, 00:15:00.340 |
you see, he's telling people to disrespect the Romans. 00:15:13.780 |
And that was a trap that they were setting to Jesus. 00:15:18.700 |
Verse 19, show me the coin used for the poll tax. 00:15:22.940 |
And they brought him a denarius and he said to them, 00:15:36.380 |
If he had a mic, that's when he would drop it, right there. 00:15:49.060 |
They're amazed, even verse 22, in hearing this, 00:15:52.220 |
they were amazed, and leaving him, they went away. 00:16:12.300 |
If you're even a little bit theologically astute, 00:16:15.300 |
instead of saying hypocrite, say, ah, he's a Pharisee. 00:16:18.060 |
It's all that we know, we hear, we've studied 00:16:33.740 |
if we understand where the Pharisees came from, 00:16:39.540 |
their intent, when they started, was a concern 00:16:43.980 |
because the Jewish people were starting to get Hellenized, 00:16:47.300 |
and the Greek culture was starting to penetrate, 00:16:49.380 |
and they started to even speak their language, 00:16:55.660 |
so the Pharisees decided to start a movement of holiness, 00:17:00.460 |
and that's what Pharisee literally means, to be set apart. 00:17:04.300 |
And that's why they paid so much detailed attention 00:17:09.180 |
to the extent that if they kept the law perfectly, 00:17:12.860 |
like that would bring revival, that God would bless them, 00:17:15.380 |
and that was at the core intention of the Pharisees. 00:17:29.860 |
They paid more attention to what was going on outside 00:17:36.540 |
In Matthew 15, seven through nine, you hypocrites, 00:17:46.780 |
In vain do they worship me, teaching and doctrines 00:17:50.800 |
You see, they started out with good intentions, 00:18:10.180 |
that we're going to have higher status before God. 00:18:12.700 |
And you know why studying the Pharisees is so important, 00:18:27.940 |
because the glory and the power is at the cross. 00:18:41.860 |
because we have certain positions in the church, 00:18:45.400 |
because I'm a deacon, I'm an elder, I'm a pastor, 00:18:52.440 |
that the work makes me better and more righteous. 00:18:56.480 |
No one is more susceptible to that than the leadership. 00:19:05.220 |
I can easily deceive myself to think that I am righteous 00:19:12.420 |
I can easily think that I am the closest to God 00:19:23.980 |
And if I can pretend, I know you can pretend. 00:19:31.900 |
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, 00:19:37.820 |
"to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, 00:19:40.840 |
"you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourself." 00:19:44.780 |
You know, why would they be so interested in spreading, 00:19:57.500 |
I mean, they devoted themselves to evangelize 00:20:01.460 |
See, you can easily give yourself to evangelism 00:20:09.980 |
as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, without loving Christ. 00:20:25.380 |
there's going to be many people who says to me, 00:20:33.900 |
And you said, "None of that had anything to do with me." 00:20:36.560 |
If we're not careful, the longer that we have been Christians 00:20:49.340 |
when I see the Pharisees, because it started out well. 00:20:59.660 |
they started using the law to gain glory for themselves. 00:21:05.540 |
That's why in Luke chapter 11, 30 through 40, 00:21:09.560 |
"Now you Pharisees, clean the outside of the cup 00:21:28.940 |
and I hope that our church would take advantage of that, 00:21:46.320 |
I've had so many Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons 00:21:50.300 |
coming to my door, and I would have discussions with them, 00:22:00.540 |
They didn't come to argue, they didn't come to discuss, 00:22:04.100 |
they're not really that interested in winning me over. 00:22:08.120 |
They knocked on the door and they're having a conversation 00:22:11.060 |
because that's part of their duty that they have to do 00:22:19.100 |
you could tell they want to go, but I don't let them go. 00:22:24.820 |
I want to turn the pages and I want to have discussion. 00:22:31.060 |
you could tell they're one foot headed the other direction. 00:22:43.340 |
If we're not careful, evangelism can feel that way. 00:22:50.360 |
and they gave you a script, say this and read this, 00:22:57.100 |
and then you're teaching them about something 00:23:02.840 |
You're not really that crazy about this product, right? 00:23:11.900 |
when we see the glory of Christ to go tell other people. 00:23:16.820 |
We don't just regurgitate information, right? 00:23:26.580 |
we are in danger of Pharisees if we're not careful. 00:23:35.140 |
we want to be evangelistic, but we need to know him first. 00:23:39.400 |
That what we do has to come as an overflow of that. 00:23:53.700 |
The Sadducees are the one who sat in the Sanhedrin, 00:23:56.660 |
the senators, kind of like our senators today, right? 00:24:07.260 |
even if you lived like a Buddhist all your life, 00:24:09.180 |
if you want to be elected in the United States, 00:24:14.300 |
If you know anything about politics, that's a given. 00:24:17.420 |
Because 70, 80% of Americans identify with Christianity. 00:24:22.420 |
Now, obviously, that's not true form of Christianity, 00:24:31.620 |
whether you're Republican or Democrat, Independent, 00:24:37.600 |
So a lot of the senators, presidents, they came out, 00:24:43.380 |
oh, he's a Christian, that guy's a Christian, 00:24:56.180 |
They had a loose connection to the Jewish faith, 00:25:01.640 |
but they didn't believe anything supernatural. 00:25:07.380 |
Anything supernatural, they completely rejected. 00:25:09.820 |
But you know what's interesting about the Sadducees? 00:25:15.140 |
Sadducees came from the priestly order in Israel. 00:25:32.740 |
And when they're asking Jesus, like the law says, right? 00:25:36.620 |
You believe in the law, the law says that if brother dies, 00:25:39.700 |
that the next of kin has to come and get married, 00:25:45.380 |
and when they go to heaven, whose wife is she? 00:25:51.140 |
They're basically trying to get Jesus to be stumped. 00:25:55.700 |
And Jesus said, you know nothing about the scripture. 00:25:59.940 |
the word means to be deceived or to be seduced. 00:26:16.240 |
All the priests that took care of the temple, 00:26:20.280 |
The high priest at that time, Ananias, was a Sadducee. 00:26:23.760 |
And there's a reason why the Pharisees rose up, 00:26:26.840 |
because the leaders of Israel completely rejected God. 00:26:31.840 |
And so the Pharisees were trying to bring revival 00:26:40.720 |
See, they were Jews by heritage and not by faith. 00:26:43.520 |
Do we have those kind of people in the church? 00:26:51.600 |
who grew up as Christians without true faith. 00:27:06.240 |
And if you ask them, do you really believe that? 00:27:07.760 |
A lot of them will say, I don't really believe it, 00:27:11.480 |
Many Christians come to church for the same reasons. 00:27:17.440 |
They don't really believe enough to give all that we have 00:27:36.480 |
and open up the scripture, but it has absolutely no effect. 00:27:41.880 |
There's no ever application because it's not real. 00:27:45.680 |
You're learning how to put a furniture together 00:27:49.760 |
So it's just information and eventually it gets boring. 00:27:53.800 |
So at the center of church life isn't the word. 00:28:04.800 |
They were trying to use their influence to advance Israel. 00:28:09.240 |
You know, the most dangerous people in the church 00:28:12.080 |
are the people who love the church without loving Christ. 00:28:16.320 |
'Cause their perspective is completely skewed. 00:28:30.960 |
Jesus shuts them down and after he shuts them down, 00:28:45.520 |
These were the guys who actually counted numbers. 00:28:57.760 |
you just probably fish, parameter, New Testament, 00:29:01.280 |
600 times and it'll come out and oh, how did you get that? 00:29:15.560 |
So I remember early on when I was giving sermons 00:29:19.000 |
and every once in a while, I would come across information 00:29:21.840 |
and said the word agape is used 6075 times in this context. 00:29:26.720 |
And I was like, oh my God, somebody actually counted this. 00:29:30.080 |
They sat there, went through page to page and they counted. 00:29:39.480 |
How many word daw is in the New Testament, right? 00:29:45.680 |
They were the experts of the law where they sat there 00:29:47.720 |
and they scrutinized every single word, every single law, 00:29:50.040 |
and they counted out of all the laws, 613 laws, 00:29:53.320 |
and they were constantly debating out of the 613, 00:29:57.400 |
so which are the weightier and which are the lighter ones? 00:30:29.080 |
with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. 00:30:32.760 |
The reason why I'm focusing on this this morning 00:30:40.720 |
And there's a lot of great things happening in the church. 00:30:45.880 |
Possibly, who knows, that we would do more work 00:30:48.040 |
out in Taiwan, the work in India is thriving, 00:30:51.800 |
and the pastors are spreading the gospel in remote parts. 00:31:21.240 |
who opposed the ministry of Jesus more than anybody else. 00:31:28.440 |
that the Messiah's going to come and deliver them, 00:31:35.440 |
Not only did they not receive him as the Messiah, 00:31:42.040 |
The danger that you and I are in, where we are at, 00:31:56.400 |
especially if you grew up in a good Christian home, 00:32:07.200 |
There is a temptation because if you are in a church 00:32:18.080 |
that somehow you feel like there's a lot of prayer. 00:32:20.760 |
If you're around a lot of people who do evangelism, 00:32:23.080 |
that you feel like there's more evangelism going on. 00:32:42.560 |
or there wasn't enough sacrifices at the temple, 00:32:46.680 |
but they missed the whole point of their salvation. 00:32:56.320 |
It wasn't, our salvation is not about not going to hell. 00:33:03.160 |
The difference is where you're going to spend that eternity. 00:33:06.640 |
It's not eternal life where you're going to be. 00:33:29.800 |
This is not simply a part or important part of Christianity. 00:33:54.360 |
A worship that God accepts and a worship that God rejects 00:34:03.400 |
with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. 00:34:06.320 |
that all of the law is fulfilled in this commandment, 00:34:21.920 |
We can sacrifice great things without loving God. 00:34:23.880 |
We can evangelize, make disciples without loving God. 00:34:28.520 |
But it is the love of God that leads us to obedience. 00:34:32.160 |
That's why in Revelations chapter two, four to five, 00:34:48.720 |
Therefore, remember from where you have fallen 00:34:53.520 |
I will remove your lampstand and out of its place 00:34:59.280 |
The lampstand that he's talking about is the church itself. 00:35:03.000 |
In other words, you can have all this external things 00:35:23.760 |
He doesn't say you're going to get a B instead of an A. 00:35:33.640 |
the person who is in the greatest danger of that is myself 00:35:42.680 |
I'm the one directing and leading our congregation. 00:35:48.720 |
God is blessing me, God is blessing the church. 00:36:15.880 |
Paul says, "Why does he persevere in ministry? 00:36:30.680 |
If that's at the core, I need to love Christ more. 00:36:36.680 |
And people will say, in order to answer that question, 00:38:16.960 |
is because we are superficial in knowing him. 00:38:36.600 |
and everybody's taking their faith seriously. 00:38:52.880 |
What was the death and the resurrection about? 00:39:25.400 |
we realize, like, "Man, I don't know the gospel." 00:39:39.360 |
You know, that's what happens a lot in marriage, too, 00:39:53.800 |
you start to go, "Okay, we gotta do something." 00:39:55.520 |
And then now you start working toward it, right? 00:40:02.080 |
and then because we're in a covenant relationship, 00:40:13.120 |
When was the last time you actually pursued Christ, 00:40:42.320 |
where he was headed, where he was coming from, 00:40:48.400 |
Like, I mean, we know all kinds of information about Kobe. 00:41:00.360 |
When was the last time we pursued Christ that way? 00:41:09.400 |
He didn't just display his glory and then disappeared. 00:41:43.160 |
You wanted to have a communion with this God? 00:41:47.800 |
You just wanted to sit by him and just be near 00:42:14.040 |
with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.