back to index2020-09-13 Remembering to Persevere, Part 1
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Again, this is a continuation of the text that we were looking at last week 00:00:18.000 |
But again, the conclusion of that, verse 32-39, is going to be a two-part message. 00:00:22.000 |
The first part today is going to be focused on verse 32-34, 00:00:32.000 |
"But remember the former days when after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of suffering, 00:00:37.000 |
partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, 00:00:41.000 |
and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. 00:00:45.000 |
For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, 00:00:49.000 |
knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. 00:00:53.000 |
Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 00:00:57.000 |
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. 00:01:03.000 |
For yet in a very little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay. 00:01:08.000 |
But my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. 00:01:13.000 |
But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, 00:01:16.000 |
but of those who have faith to persevering of the soul." Let's pray. 00:01:22.000 |
Gracious God, we pray that you would anoint this time, allow your word to go forth, 00:01:27.000 |
and affect our hearts, our lives, our thoughts, that it may overflow in all that we do. 00:01:34.000 |
We pray for your blessing over this time. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. 00:01:39.000 |
As you guys know, this week, especially in the United States, but all over the world, 00:01:44.000 |
there was a remembrance of what happened in 9/11. 00:01:47.000 |
So some of you guys probably saw that online or at work or wherever it was. 00:01:52.000 |
And it's the 19th anniversary of what took place. 00:01:55.000 |
Some of you guys who've been to New York may have seen the monuments, you know, 00:01:58.000 |
and the thing that you see all over is that we will never forget, right? 00:02:03.000 |
And I think the reason why, when there's these specific things that happen in history, 00:02:09.000 |
where whether it is by creating a holiday or monuments or just taking time to remember these things, 00:02:16.000 |
is because by remembering, there are certain things that we want to make sure that 00:02:21.000 |
whatever it is that we're thinking or doing now, that we wouldn't forget about it going forward. 00:02:27.000 |
So obviously when we think about 9/11, one of the first things that we think about are the people who lost their lives. 00:02:33.000 |
You know, over 3,000 people were killed that day, and out of the 3,000, 00:02:39.000 |
343 of them were firefighters who ran into the building to save lives, 00:02:43.000 |
and 71 of them were NYPD law enforcement who went in to basically help the people come down. 00:02:50.000 |
And as a result of their sacrifice, obviously, you know, they ended up losing their life. 00:02:56.000 |
And so part of the reason why we remember is to remember the people who gave their lives in the context of saving lives. 00:03:03.000 |
You know, it's interesting now that even though that was 19 years ago, just even probably a few months ago, 00:03:09.000 |
you know, we were praising people, you know, especially the first responders, the police officers and firemen, 00:03:15.000 |
you know, they're sacrificing in order to be in the front line to save lives, just like they did in 9/11. 00:03:20.000 |
But obviously, the environment has changed drastically overnight, 00:03:24.000 |
where even saying Blue Lives Matter or support of the police is happened, you know, became controversial just overnight. 00:03:31.000 |
And it is all the more why it's important for us to remember, right? 00:03:36.000 |
In order for us to remember the people who've sacrificed, but at the same time, to resolve, 00:03:41.000 |
to remember so that stuff like that does not happen again, right? 00:03:46.000 |
And the reason why is, again, for us to remember that we have a common enemy. 00:03:51.000 |
So some of you guys may remember at that time after it happened, 00:03:54.000 |
the Democrats and the Republicans stood linking arms at Capitol Hill saying that we're united, 00:04:01.000 |
that we're going to fight this together, you know, and that was 19 years ago. 00:04:08.000 |
And so it's important for us to remember, remember the sacrifices, remember why that happened, 00:04:15.000 |
remember our common enemy, so that it would affect the way that we view the world today 00:04:19.000 |
and view the world going forward, so that we are cautioned not to allow that to happen again. 00:04:26.000 |
Now, all of this to say, this is really, that's really the point that he's getting at, at the text that we're looking at. 00:04:32.000 |
Last week we ended with probably the harshest warning that we see in the New Testament. 00:04:37.000 |
Basically, he says that if you continue to keep drifting, that there is no sacrifice for sins, right? 00:04:43.000 |
And it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 00:04:47.000 |
And so there is a warning of intense judgment that's coming if you don't take this seriously 00:04:52.000 |
and you continue to drift and thinking like this is okay, you know, and he said there's consequences. 00:04:57.000 |
But remember, we also said that the reason why he says this is not simply to make you feel bad 00:05:02.000 |
and feel guilty and feel heavy about your walk with God. 00:05:09.000 |
So if you are an unbeliever, that there is a judgment, there isn't, you don't just, you know, 00:05:14.000 |
die and then just go into oblivion. The Bible says that you will meet a judge 00:05:19.000 |
and he will judge us based upon all our sins, those that we know of, those that we do not know of. 00:05:25.000 |
But even for those Christians, and particularly for those Christians who are drifting 00:05:29.000 |
and is not taking it seriously, that I have all the time in the world, whenever I desire, 00:05:33.000 |
I just do whatever I want and I'm just kind of waiting to get to heaven. 00:05:37.000 |
And again, it serves as a warning to take this seriously. 00:05:42.000 |
But the goal of what he says is really to bring them to him. 00:05:47.000 |
And that's why he says in 32 to 39 to remember. 00:05:52.000 |
So there's three things that he tells them to remember. He says to remember the past, 00:05:56.000 |
which is what we're going to be looking at today. And then he says to remember the future, 00:06:00.000 |
the reward that's coming with Christ. And then at the end, he says to remember your current state, 00:06:05.000 |
who you are, right? That we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed. 00:06:10.000 |
Remember your identity. So it's to remember your past, remember your future, 00:06:14.000 |
and remember the present. So today we're going to be looking at the past, right? 00:06:19.000 |
And why he tells us to remember the past, right? So number one, 00:06:23.000 |
exhortation to persevere by remembering the past. 00:06:27.000 |
He says in verse 32, remember the former days. 00:06:31.000 |
He's talking about when you first heard the gospel, when after being enlightened. 00:06:37.000 |
Obviously, he's not saying remember when you were saved. 00:06:40.000 |
He's talking about when you first heard the gospel. 00:06:43.000 |
We hear a similar talk in Hebrews chapter 6, 4 through 5, 00:06:47.000 |
where he says once you've been enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift, 00:06:51.000 |
have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, have tasted the good word of God 00:06:55.000 |
and powers of the age to come, and then to have fallen away. 00:06:58.000 |
So when he says remember when you have been enlightened, 00:07:01.000 |
what he's talking about is when you first heard the gospel. 00:07:04.000 |
For the first time, you were confronted with the resurrected Christ, 00:07:08.000 |
and that Christ died for your sins. Remember the impact that that had on you. 00:07:13.000 |
You know, when I was thinking about how, you know, obviously most, if not all of us, 00:07:20.000 |
you know, we're privy to this. We've heard the gospel. 00:07:24.000 |
Many of you, multiple times. You've probably presented the gospel. 00:07:28.000 |
But when you think about a group of people who have been privileged with God's word, 00:07:36.000 |
there's no other group of people ever that have existed in human history 00:07:43.000 |
We live in a free country. You know, I know we're inconvenienced 00:07:48.000 |
by sometimes going outside, coming inside, wearing masks, 00:07:51.000 |
and you know, we can't gather here, we can't do this, but you know, 00:07:58.000 |
But we live in a free country where we can gather together. 00:08:00.000 |
We can worship God freely. We're not worried about police officers 00:08:04.000 |
or anybody, you know, coming through our door. 00:08:06.000 |
We don't have to worry about our neighbors, you know, attacking us 00:08:09.000 |
because we happen to be Christians. We live in a free country. 00:08:13.000 |
Not only do we live in a free country, the access that we have to the Bible 00:08:20.000 |
You know, we wrestle with which translation that we're going to have. 00:08:24.000 |
And if we don't like this pastor, we go to that pastor. 00:08:26.000 |
If we don't like this church, we go to that church. 00:08:28.000 |
If the church is too far, we want a church that's a little bit closer, you know. 00:08:33.000 |
And we wrestle with, well, if you like this book or that book. 00:08:35.000 |
We can go online. You wake up three in the morning 00:08:38.000 |
and you happen to hunger for the Word of God, three in the morning. 00:08:41.000 |
You can get the best speakers of our generation 00:08:44.000 |
and you can pick and choose which sermon to listen to. 00:08:50.000 |
I mean, the access that we have to the Word of God is unprecedented, 00:08:57.000 |
There's nobody that has ever lived in human history 00:09:01.000 |
that has the kind of access to God's Word that you and I have today. 00:09:05.000 |
Yet, one of the biggest problems that we have in our generation 00:09:10.000 |
are people who have access but are not interested in reading. 00:09:15.000 |
You know, one of the challenges of doing ministry in Orange County 00:09:19.000 |
in our generation is constantly trying to get Christians who are bored 00:09:27.000 |
People ask me, you know, because we were so involved with China 00:09:33.000 |
You know, at one time I counted, when we had about 200 people at church, 00:09:37.000 |
I counted up to about 160 plus that went to China for short-term missions. 00:09:43.000 |
And then we had over 30 to 40 people who actually lived there 00:09:46.000 |
for a short term, for half a year to a year and a half to two years. 00:10:02.000 |
I remember in 1993 I went in there with my seminary professor 00:10:06.000 |
and a small group of the students, and we went there for a vision trip. 00:10:10.000 |
And I remember going further away from the main city. 00:10:14.000 |
We were traveling the Silk Road, and I happened to be at a small university, 00:10:18.000 |
and we were speaking English, and one of the students there 00:10:23.000 |
So he came down and started having a conversation with us. 00:10:26.000 |
And then, so obviously, I took that opportunity to try to share the gospel with him. 00:10:30.000 |
And then I mentioned the name Jesus, and he said, "Never heard of him." 00:10:34.000 |
I said, "This is a university student. How can you have never heard of the gospel?" 00:10:38.000 |
I know this is a communist country, but this can't be right. 00:10:41.000 |
So I thought maybe my accent wasn't good enough, 00:10:54.000 |
because the Chinese word for Jesus sounds more similar to that. 00:10:57.000 |
So I tried everything, and sure enough, after about 15, 20 minutes of conversation, 00:11:10.000 |
And that just blew my mind, that I ran into somebody 00:11:14.000 |
in this world that has never heard the gospel. 00:11:17.000 |
Now, I've heard of that before, and I always thought that they were way deep in the jungles, 00:11:21.000 |
that we don't have any access to, but this was in a city. 00:11:25.000 |
And this is a guy in a university, and he told me he never heard the gospel. 00:11:30.000 |
So when I came home, I was thinking, "Wow, we live in a place where 00:11:34.000 |
we're fighting to keep Christians interested, 00:11:37.000 |
while there's people all over the world who's never heard the gospel." 00:11:41.000 |
In fact, the actual statistics that the missionaries give 00:11:56.000 |
like, "What caused you to start going into India?" 00:12:02.000 |
It's not a place that I was on my bucket list to go and visit. 00:12:05.000 |
Happened to have an opportunity to go to teach the-- 00:12:08.000 |
train the local church pastors, and then I realized that through these trips 00:12:20.000 |
"Well, they need the gospel. We have opportunity. Let's go." 00:12:23.000 |
And that's kind of what started to open the door. 00:12:26.000 |
Because we have so much access to the gospel, 00:12:29.000 |
so much access to the Word, to the Bible study. 00:12:33.000 |
Our problem is we take for granted what it is that we have. 00:12:38.000 |
And that's really what opened the door to do the ministry out there. 00:12:41.000 |
But when he says he's reminding them, because they're drifting, 00:12:46.000 |
he goes back and he says, "Remember, after you have been enlightened, 00:12:50.000 |
remember the first time you heard the gospel, how precious it was to you? 00:12:55.000 |
Remember the first time you heard the gospel." 00:12:58.000 |
If you are a genuine believer now, if you grew up in the church, 00:13:01.000 |
you may not remember the very first time you heard it, 00:13:04.000 |
because you probably heard it from your parents, your Sunday school teachers, 00:13:14.000 |
whether it was a specific time that you can remember, 00:13:16.000 |
or whether it was a period that you remember, 00:13:25.000 |
all of a sudden your paradigm of how you looked at the world completely changed. 00:13:32.000 |
It wasn't because you were sitting through good teachings for years and years and years. 00:13:36.000 |
It was just the impact of the reality of Christ and what He has done. 00:13:45.000 |
Something that you didn't know became real to you all of a sudden. 00:13:57.000 |
Again, there's nothing wrong with any of that. 00:14:00.000 |
But He says, "The reason why you're drifting is because you have forgotten this. 00:14:05.000 |
You have forgotten the power of the cross when you were first enlightened." 00:14:08.000 |
And then He says, "Because you were enlightened, remember verse 32, 00:14:12.000 |
how you endured great conflict of suffering." 00:14:17.000 |
Verse 33, "They became public spectacles through reproaches and tribulation." 00:14:23.000 |
It wasn't simply that they didn't get accepted in society 00:14:26.000 |
or people were pointing fingers or snickering at them. 00:14:32.000 |
Remember the text that we're looking at in Thessalonica? 00:14:54.000 |
and they left him there thinking that he was dead. 00:14:57.000 |
Remember what Paul does? He doesn't die from that. 00:15:00.000 |
He gets back up, he shakes off the dust, he goes back into Lystra. 00:15:07.000 |
So Apostle Paul didn't run out of Thessalonica 00:15:13.000 |
So imagine how intense this persecution was in Thessalonica. 00:15:19.000 |
He left because they were starting to persecute Jason 00:15:23.000 |
and in order for their safety, he ended up withdrawing, 00:15:26.000 |
and he writes that letter in order to check up on them 00:15:30.000 |
So when they're talking about this persecution, 00:15:34.000 |
it's nothing that I think any Christian in our generation 00:15:48.000 |
This wasn't just, you know, just snickering or stabbing you 00:15:54.000 |
They were very open about their hatred toward these Christians. 00:15:57.000 |
He says, "Remember when you first enlightened, 00:16:00.000 |
"you became a public spectacle through reproaches 00:16:05.000 |
And then he says in verse 14, "They accepted joyfully." 00:16:13.000 |
Remember how joyfully you accepted the seizure 00:16:45.000 |
to go forward, why would you remind them of that? 00:16:50.000 |
You say, "You know, I know it was hard in the past. 00:17:05.000 |
and the persecution is going to die down eventually. 00:17:18.000 |
he reminds them, "Remember when your property was being taken? 00:17:21.000 |
"Remember when you were like public spectacle? 00:17:36.000 |
because in the midst of all of that suffering, 00:17:39.000 |
he's reminding them the joy that they experience 00:17:55.000 |
and reminding them of the intense suffering in the past 00:17:59.000 |
in order to get them encouraged to continue to go forward? 00:18:21.000 |
He wasn't reminding them of how happy they were 00:18:32.000 |
"remember the impact that the gospel had on you, 00:18:52.000 |
"so your outlook in life is going to look a lot better." 00:19:08.000 |
He says, "Remember when you were in a similar circumstance, 00:19:19.000 |
Did they know their theology better in the beginning? 00:19:22.000 |
Did they have better discipleship in the beginning? 00:19:24.000 |
Was the church better organized in the beginning? 00:19:34.000 |
It was the gospel that impacted them so deeply 00:19:48.000 |
See, in Acts 5, 40-41, you see the disciples, 00:19:56.000 |
they were cowering because Jesus was being crucified. 00:20:11.000 |
the Holy Spirit comes and gives them the power 00:20:24.000 |
"If you keep doing this, possibly you may lose your life." 00:20:30.000 |
"They took his--and after calling the apostles in, 00:20:33.000 |
they flogged them and ordered them not to speak 00:20:35.000 |
in the name of Jesus, and they released them." 00:20:38.000 |
"So they went on their way from the presence of the council, 00:20:41.000 |
rejoicing that they had been considered worthy 00:21:08.000 |
There's no way to explain this to a non-Christian. 00:21:16.000 |
unless you have been impacted where your paradigm 00:21:23.000 |
this just sounds like a bunch of crazy people. 00:21:29.000 |
we have the power to crucify and kill you too 00:21:32.000 |
if you continue this, and they come out rejoicing 00:21:36.000 |
that God considered me faithful, that I would suffer as well. 00:21:40.000 |
Philippians 1, 29-30, Paul says to the Philippians, 00:21:44.000 |
"Sitting in prison, for to you it has been granted 00:21:47.000 |
for Christ's sake, not only to believe in him, 00:21:52.000 |
Experience the same conflict which you saw in me 00:22:00.000 |
Compare that to the way that we typically pray. 00:22:11.000 |
The weather is bad, pray so that we will be protected. 00:22:14.000 |
The air quality is bad, so pray that we will be protected. 00:22:17.000 |
We're raising our kids, so we pray for our children 00:22:22.000 |
How much of our prayer is about being protected 00:22:30.000 |
writing a letter to the people who are outside, 00:22:36.000 |
Completely different than the way that the world thinks. 00:22:53.000 |
That's why the book of Philippians is about joy. 00:22:56.000 |
In the midst of, in the context of sitting in prison 00:22:59.000 |
and being beaten, why he's reminding the people outside. 00:23:04.000 |
He doesn't say, "Come and get me. Where are you? 00:23:12.000 |
"I've learned the secret of being contented in every and all situations." 00:23:16.000 |
Only an individual who has encountered the resurrected Christ 00:23:20.000 |
and has been enlightened can say what he says. 00:23:27.000 |
It doesn't fit any kind of paradigm that this world teaches. 00:23:31.000 |
It's not to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ. 00:23:40.000 |
"So that also at the revelation of his glory, 00:23:49.000 |
Because the spirit of glory and of God rests in you. 00:23:59.000 |
The fact that you are suffering for the name of Christ 00:24:02.000 |
may be a good indicator that the spirit of Christ is in you. 00:24:06.000 |
Because only an individual who has truly been enlightened, 00:24:16.000 |
When we live the rest of our lives looking for safety and comfort, 00:24:20.000 |
that may be an indicator that our paradigm has not shifted, 00:24:24.000 |
that our hope may not be in the future, but here. 00:24:27.000 |
And Christ is only an avenue to have a better life here. 00:24:33.000 |
Why would you follow Christ if it means a greater suffering, 00:24:38.000 |
a public spectacle, taking away of your possessions? 00:24:55.000 |
In 33b, he says, becoming sharers with those who are treated. 00:24:59.000 |
The word "sharer" is a word that you probably are very familiar with, 00:25:05.000 |
If you've been a Christian for any period of time, 00:25:13.000 |
Anytime that Christians gather together for anything, 00:25:25.000 |
sometimes not really realizing the significance of that term. 00:25:32.000 |
And he's using that term as if you experience true koinonia 00:25:40.000 |
If you've ever suffered together for the same thing, 00:25:46.000 |
That's why you see a lot of guys who go to war, 00:26:00.000 |
I was fighting for the guys in the foxholes." 00:26:05.000 |
No matter what the background was, no matter what skin color, 00:26:07.000 |
they come out of that foxhole after suffering together 00:26:10.000 |
and fighting together, risking their lives together, 00:26:13.000 |
there's a bond that they have for the rest of their lives. 00:26:19.000 |
but every time they got together, they always tell the story 00:26:23.000 |
because they became family in that foxhole, suffering together. 00:26:27.000 |
So he reminds them, "Remember the koinonia that you had? 00:26:31.000 |
Not only did you suffer, but when they suffered, 00:26:36.000 |
And you sympathize with them, those who are in prison." 00:26:42.000 |
the word is "sumpateo," means "together in emotion." 00:26:47.000 |
So he didn't just observe people who are suffering from a distance 00:26:56.000 |
we worry about Christians in North Korea and China. 00:27:02.000 |
But he said, "Remember when you sympathize with them, 00:27:07.000 |
and as a result, you were sharers with them?" 00:27:11.000 |
1 Corinthians 12.24, "And if one member suffers, 00:27:16.000 |
If one member is honored, all members rejoice with it." 00:27:20.000 |
In fact, in Philippians 3.10, Paul says that, 00:27:22.000 |
"I may know him and the power of his resurrection 00:27:25.000 |
and the fellowship," koinonia, "of his sufferings, 00:27:35.000 |
This is why he points and says, "Remember in the beginning, 00:27:39.000 |
not because of your hard work, not because you were more determined, 00:27:45.000 |
and the power of the gospel made such an impact on you 00:27:57.000 |
and you experience what it meant to be a follower of Christ 00:28:00.000 |
because of the impact of his word in our lives. 00:28:05.000 |
And he said, "That's what you've been drifting from." 00:28:09.000 |
Remember when you were first in line, how you suffered. 00:28:28.000 |
"I'm the way I am because I don't have enough of this." 00:28:32.000 |
If I was just at a better church, if I had just better leaders, 00:28:38.000 |
if I had better fellows, if I had older brothers, 00:28:40.000 |
if I had younger brothers, if I had more peers, 00:28:42.000 |
and how often do we say, "I'm the way that I am 00:28:45.000 |
because the circumstances around me are this way," 00:28:48.000 |
and then just waiting and hoping that if the circumstances would change, 00:28:59.000 |
He doesn't say, "Hey, you're missing out on this. Hey, try this new method. 00:29:02.000 |
Oh, this church down the street got this new way of organizing small groups, 00:29:06.000 |
and that's been working fantastic. Maybe if you did that, 00:29:13.000 |
He says, "Remember, in the beginning, in the beginning, 00:29:21.000 |
They weren't more theologically astute in the beginning. 00:29:24.000 |
They don't have years of bearing fruit in the beginning. 00:29:27.000 |
The churches were not organized in the beginning. 00:29:32.000 |
They didn't have formal established leadership in the beginning. 00:29:35.000 |
The only thing that they had was they encountered God 00:29:41.000 |
When you were enlightened, the impact of the Gospel caused you to react. 00:29:53.000 |
If you have Jesus and you have the Word of God, 00:29:56.000 |
you have everything that you need for a life of godliness. 00:30:05.000 |
can ever come before God and say, "I am in the condition that I am 00:30:14.000 |
Because everything that he's explaining about these Christians, 00:30:32.000 |
See, if you study the Old Testament in particular, 00:30:37.000 |
go back and when you read through the Old Testament, 00:30:46.000 |
There isn't a single book, single letter that you will read 00:30:49.000 |
that isn't saturated with that term or something similar to that to remember. 00:30:54.000 |
Because God already knows our tendency to drift. 00:30:58.000 |
In Deuteronomy chapter 4, 9, way before they ever entered into the Promised Land, 00:31:19.000 |
and giving them the law, this is what he says. 00:31:23.000 |
"Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently 00:31:30.000 |
You notice how he says, "Give heed to yourself." 00:31:35.000 |
How much of our time and effort is giving heed to what's going on around us? 00:31:42.000 |
And he says, "No, the greatest danger is yourself." 00:31:49.000 |
The greatest danger is not what's happening around us. 00:31:54.000 |
"Give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently." 00:32:02.000 |
"Hold fast the confession of your faith," which he just said previously. 00:32:07.000 |
"Give heed to yourself, keep your soul diligently, 00:32:13.000 |
In other words, if you're anchored in Christ, 00:32:27.000 |
even in the midst of getting your possessions taken, 00:32:30.000 |
if you're anchored in Christ, and you do not forget, 00:32:40.000 |
all of a sudden your possessions become an issue. 00:32:52.000 |
because naturally that's the world that we live in. 00:32:55.000 |
But the only way to live in a paradigm unlike this world 00:33:00.000 |
is to be anchored with the One who radically changes this paradigm. 00:33:06.000 |
That's why he says, "Remember," Deuteronomy 8, 10-14, 00:33:10.000 |
"Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God 00:33:12.000 |
by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes, 00:33:19.000 |
And then verse 12, "Otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied 00:33:22.000 |
and have built good houses and lived in them, 00:33:25.000 |
and when your herds and your flocks multiply, 00:33:28.000 |
and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, 00:33:45.000 |
flowing with milk and honey, and I'm going to bless you, 00:33:48.000 |
not because you're great, not because you're many in number, 00:33:51.000 |
but because of the covenant that He made with their forefathers. 00:33:55.000 |
So I'm going to be faithful to myself, and I'm going to take you in. 00:33:57.000 |
But once you experience that blessing, be careful, 00:34:02.000 |
because your heart's naturally going to think, 00:34:06.000 |
And again, that's a challenge where you and I live. 00:34:09.000 |
We want Him, but we don't feel like we need Him. 00:34:14.000 |
And so, when we drift, we want Him, we should have Him, 00:34:20.000 |
but there's no urgency, because we've forgotten that we need Him. 00:34:25.000 |
And that's exactly what happens to the nation of Israel. 00:34:35.000 |
I've loved you like Hosea was loving Gomer, the prostitute." 00:34:41.000 |
He said repeatedly, He sends Hosea to love this unfaithful wife. 00:34:46.000 |
All of that to illustrate this was the relationship with God 00:34:55.000 |
you kept on going and kept on going, kept on going, 00:35:01.000 |
"As they had their pasture, they became satisfied. 00:35:05.000 |
And being satisfied, their hearts became proud; 00:35:19.000 |
because we have a good job, we have a good home. 00:35:24.000 |
Our biggest problem is the political environment, 00:35:29.000 |
getting a better job, getting a better car, safety, 00:35:34.000 |
our families, and again, in the eyes of the world, 00:35:40.000 |
And it would make no sense to say rejoice in suffering, 00:35:48.000 |
Only those who have encountered the resurrected Christ, 00:35:55.000 |
That's the Christ that the disciples encountered 00:36:03.000 |
even as they were following Christ, who's the greatest? 00:36:06.000 |
When the kingdom comes, let me sit on the left, 00:36:08.000 |
let me sit on the right, that's what they were consumed with. 00:36:11.000 |
But after the resurrection, after they encountered 00:36:24.000 |
Only a Christian who've encountered this Christ 00:36:31.000 |
That's why it says in Revelation chapter 2, 5, 00:36:34.000 |
to this church who is just going through the motion, 00:36:37.000 |
who lost and forsaken their first love, he says, 00:36:40.000 |
"Therefore remember from where you have fallen, 00:36:45.000 |
"and repent and do the deed you did at first, 00:36:48.000 |
"or else I am coming to you and will remove your lambs 00:36:57.000 |
It is not just one of many things that we need to deal with. 00:37:01.000 |
It is at the heart of everything that we're doing. 00:37:05.000 |
If we've been waiting for circumstances to change 00:37:08.000 |
or things to happen or when our children get a little bit older, 00:37:12.000 |
when my bills are paid, my relationships get a little bit better, 00:37:18.000 |
This is a reminder, he said, "No, remember the height 00:37:26.000 |
"Remember even as other people were suffering, 00:37:31.000 |
As I was preparing the sermon, I started to kind of comb through, 00:37:55.000 |
I grew up in the church memorizing Scripture, the Lord's Prayer, 00:38:06.000 |
and I remember just thinking, like every day I was thinking about 00:38:09.000 |
some verse that I memorized at BBS or the Lord's Prayer, 00:38:17.000 |
It's like, "Oh, that's why. Oh, that's what that means. 00:38:22.000 |
And I remember coming down from that mountain thinking, 00:38:32.000 |
And I remember, like, the thing that I struggled with the most 00:38:43.000 |
You know, most people want to exceed other people. 00:38:45.000 |
That was not my dream. My dream is to be normal. 00:38:51.000 |
I just want to be normal. You know what I mean? 00:38:57.000 |
I just want to be average and walk into a room 00:38:59.000 |
and nobody looks at you. It's like, "Who's that guy?" 00:39:06.000 |
And I remember meeting Christ thinking, like, "Wow." 00:39:09.000 |
But that burden was lifted instantaneously when I met Christ. 00:39:13.000 |
And whatever that was so important to me was no longer important. 00:39:16.000 |
And all I wanted to do was to go to Bible study. 00:39:20.000 |
All I wanted to do was sing songs and pray with these people 00:39:30.000 |
in Biola, there's this chapel called Rosemayor Chapel. 00:39:33.000 |
And it was in between the classes. I was going back and forth. 00:39:40.000 |
So I remember how much I loved being in that room 00:39:49.000 |
that sometimes I didn't have anything to pray about. 00:39:56.000 |
more than whatever else that was going on outside. 00:39:58.000 |
And I remember there were times that I would sit for an hour 00:40:01.000 |
or two hours just sitting there, just thinking about who He is 00:40:05.000 |
and just conversing with Christ. And it was never a burden. 00:40:08.000 |
It was just something that I preferred, you know, 00:40:11.000 |
than my friends just having silly, goofy time outside. 00:40:16.000 |
I think about how I wanted so much to share the gospel. 00:40:22.000 |
You know, I dreamt about meeting non-Christians 00:40:25.000 |
and sharing the gospel, bringing gospel to the lost. 00:40:28.000 |
And I remember reading Jim Elliott in his journal 00:40:35.000 |
He says in his journal, and this is not verbatim, he says, 00:40:38.000 |
"Lord, I'm not asking for a long life, but passionately, 00:40:44.000 |
And even if I die early, that I would be burnt out for Christ." 00:40:49.000 |
And I remember reading that being so challenged 00:40:57.000 |
I want to just run as hard as I can, as fast as I can, 00:41:00.000 |
and share the gospel to as many people as I can 00:41:08.000 |
But I have to admit, since then I've gotten married. 00:41:24.000 |
Too many relationships that went sour, you know. 00:41:32.000 |
And constantly being concerned and trying to overcome 00:41:37.000 |
the jadedness that kind of creeps in in my heart. 00:41:41.000 |
And at times it just kind of kills the joy that I have. 00:41:49.000 |
My first reaction is, "What kind of Christian are you?" 00:41:59.000 |
where I catch myself just trying to ride this out till the end. 00:42:04.000 |
And as I was thinking about what he was saying here to remember, 00:42:16.000 |
Some of you wrestled with being forsaken from your family 00:42:21.000 |
because you were making a decision to follow Christ. 00:42:25.000 |
I remember praying with you and crying together. 00:42:33.000 |
You know, I wanted to share some, but it would take too long. 00:42:42.000 |
And this is why we need to take some time to remember, 00:42:54.000 |
Remember how these songs meant so much to you? 00:42:59.000 |
Remember when you wanted to literally give your life 00:43:21.000 |
Now we're just making it from week to week, month to month, year to year. 00:43:25.000 |
You know, thinking like passion for Christ is something that kids do. 00:43:45.000 |
All of this really is summarized in the next chapter, 00:44:01.000 |
It's natural to be discouraged when you can't pay your bills, 00:44:13.000 |
our discouragement and encouragement, our joy, our sadness 00:44:15.000 |
is going to go up and down based upon what is happening around us. 00:44:32.000 |
And that's what he's trying to remind them of. 00:44:46.000 |
Repent and redo the thing that you did at first. 00:45:00.000 |
we are weak creatures in need of your grace, even now. 00:45:16.000 |
I pray, Father God, that you would help us as a church not to drift. 00:45:30.000 |
will recalibrate our mind, our thought, our hearts, and our lives. 00:45:41.000 |
help us, Lord God, to truly live for your glory. 00:45:45.000 |
So I pray, Father God, in the midst of this chaos, 00:45:49.000 |
that we would not run to the hills for safety. 00:45:53.000 |
That you would remind us to be anchored in Christ,