back to index2021-05-09 Run With Endurance Part 3
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All right, thank you, David, for that testimony. 00:00:05.920 |
If you can turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 12, we're in verse 1 to 3, and we're 00:00:18.040 |
Yeah, so as I've been preparing, there's some stuff that I just didn't want to skim 00:00:24.840 |
I wanted to take some time, and we don't have a timeline where we have to finish this by 00:00:28.220 |
a certain date, so we're just going to go as the Word of God is being revealed. 00:00:35.980 |
And I didn't even get through the whole Sermon for Service, so we'll see how long this takes. 00:00:42.600 |
"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay 00:00:47.820 |
aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with 00:00:55.960 |
Fixing our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured 00:01:00.180 |
the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 00:01:05.860 |
For consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you will 00:01:13.820 |
Heavenly Father, we give this time to you, asking for a clear understanding of your Word, 00:01:23.020 |
that you would search us and know us and see if there's any hurtful ways in us. 00:01:33.240 |
And we pray, Father God, that your grace truly would be enough. 00:01:42.480 |
You know, as we travel for various reasons, whether you go to Asia or go to India or Africa, 00:01:50.040 |
you know, there are some countries where, you know, like 15, 20 years ago, you don't 00:01:56.360 |
see anything Western, but you can see it developing. 00:01:58.720 |
And one of the things, signs that you see developing is you see more and more of the 00:02:03.240 |
So, you know, 30 years ago, I would say, what, 20, 30 years ago, when we would go overseas, 00:02:09.760 |
you know, we can tell if there was any kind of Western influence by looking at McDonald's, 00:02:15.360 |
And you go to McDonald's and you see, it's like, oh, there's a Western influence coming 00:02:20.120 |
And now, I think in the last 15 years, it's switched from McDonald's to Starbucks. 00:02:24.680 |
You can tell the progress or the economy getting better because you see more and more Starbucks. 00:02:29.680 |
And we saw that out in Beijing and we started to see that out in India. 00:02:34.200 |
Each time we go, there's more and more Starbucks, just like here. 00:02:39.240 |
I remember when Starbucks was first coming in. 00:02:41.840 |
Some of you guys are a little bit older, remember, you know, that period when it was coming in. 00:02:46.320 |
I was thinking, like, how is this business going to take off? 00:02:49.360 |
You know, coffee has been around forever and all they're selling is coffee. 00:02:54.080 |
You know, I know that since then, they've added like donuts and all this other stuff, 00:03:00.760 |
They're going to do a business just selling coffee. 00:03:02.920 |
And obviously, since then, I mean, it's one of the fastest growing companies, at least 00:03:06.640 |
in the restaurant markets and coffee business. 00:03:11.440 |
And I realized that, you know, part of the reason why coffee, not just Starbucks, but 00:03:15.240 |
coffee has taken off is because we become addicted not just to the flavor, but to the 00:03:23.680 |
And so, I remember growing up, we didn't really drink much coffee. 00:03:26.960 |
I didn't start drinking coffee until I was probably about 31 or 32 years old. 00:03:30.960 |
And the reason why was because I started to teach ESL to Korean grandparents. 00:03:38.320 |
And if I wasn't on my game, you know, I would lose them. 00:03:43.560 |
So, I was speaking, you know, I had to speak to them in English and Korean. 00:03:48.120 |
And so, my mind had to be alert all the time. 00:03:50.640 |
And so, you know, the best way to describe it is kind of giving five-hour sermons five 00:03:59.200 |
I have to constantly think about, you know, what to teach them. 00:04:07.680 |
And so, I remember thinking, wow, this is exhausting being a teacher. 00:04:10.520 |
And this is what the teachers must go through watching kids. 00:04:17.880 |
Like, you know, whether I need it or not, I have to drink coffee. 00:04:21.880 |
And then, if I'm tired during the day, I would drink another cup of coffee. 00:04:30.920 |
I mean, it's just, obviously, it's not just me. 00:04:32.640 |
All through the world now, caffeine is kind of what's keeping people going, right? 00:04:39.920 |
When we feel physically fatigued, maybe just go exercise, right? 00:04:44.520 |
Maybe drinking energy drinks or soda, whatever it may be, or just take a walk. 00:04:50.240 |
When we're physically fatigued, put caffeine in, do something so that you can be alert 00:04:57.320 |
But what do you do when you're spiritually fatigued? 00:05:00.720 |
What do you do when you feel like the energy has been sapped down and you don't have the 00:05:08.680 |
Because caffeine might be able to give you a little perk and get you alert to be able 00:05:14.280 |
But when you have spiritually been fatigued and you don't have the energy to persevere 00:05:22.840 |
So the text that we're looking at in verse 1, in conclusion, the transition that's being 00:05:30.880 |
Everything that's been presented is therefore, let us run this race with endurance. 00:05:38.440 |
And that's what he's going to be talking about in the next two chapters. 00:05:40.720 |
And every verse is going to be running this race with endurance. 00:05:46.120 |
He's not simply saying, just dig deep within yourself. 00:05:53.360 |
Just find strength within yourself and just be determined to get this right. 00:06:00.620 |
If any of you, for any period of time, walked with God with that intention, we're just going 00:06:09.240 |
I'm going to memorize more scripture than I'm going to pray more than other, I'm going 00:06:14.720 |
Eventually, you get fatigued, you get tired, and you just don't have that energy. 00:06:19.160 |
And then if you keep living this cycle over and over again, that's what...and then we 00:06:26.720 |
He's not simply calling us to be more determined, to be more disciplined, to be more sacrificial. 00:06:34.080 |
He says, we're talking about...he says that the imperative is let's run this race with 00:06:39.800 |
And he talked about how we need to look first and foremost, are we committed to this race? 00:06:50.640 |
And then to look behind the cloud of witnesses that have gone, how they did it, what caused 00:06:58.400 |
And then last week, we looked at to look within. 00:07:00.320 |
Is there anything that I'm doing that is entangling me to hinder this race? 00:07:06.340 |
What am I engaged in that causes me not to have this appetite for Christ? 00:07:11.680 |
What are the sins that so easily clings, that we just kind of dismiss and say, well, everybody 00:07:16.440 |
struggles with it, and then we allow it in our lives without genuinely fighting it. 00:07:21.120 |
And then the part that we're at this morning is finally, and this really is the main point, 00:07:28.280 |
Without this, everything else just becomes more things that we need to do, right? 00:07:35.480 |
He says to look up, fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of the faith. 00:07:41.600 |
And then verse 3, it says, "For consider him who endures us hostility towards sinners against 00:07:49.760 |
If we don't get this, if we don't practice this, church can easily become a place where 00:07:58.720 |
week after week, you're being reminded what you're not doing. 00:08:05.480 |
You know, I mean, probably the most tired people in the world are mothers with small 00:08:19.320 |
And then you come to church, you need to be more involved. 00:08:31.040 |
So no matter how nicely and graciously I say it, that's what gets into your ear. 00:08:36.260 |
And then just, you know, life is hard enough as it is, but you end up just piling up week 00:08:40.020 |
after week this burden of what I should be doing that I'm not doing. 00:08:44.960 |
And if you've been there for a long time, this just is kind of piled up. 00:08:50.680 |
I'm a Christian, so what else am I going to do? 00:08:53.720 |
He's not simply saying, "Be more disciplined." 00:08:58.120 |
He's not simply saying, "Be more determined." 00:08:59.960 |
Although those are things that he does call us to do. 00:09:03.080 |
He says, "In order to be fueled, the ultimate fuel," he says, "to fix our eyes on Jesus." 00:09:09.560 |
Some of your translations simply says, "Look to Jesus." 00:09:12.920 |
The word there in Greek is much more intense. 00:09:16.800 |
He's not simply saying just to casually look. 00:09:22.600 |
The reason why in the ESV or the NASV it uses the word "fix" is because it has this meaning 00:09:32.040 |
To make a determination, you're intensely looking at something. 00:09:38.240 |
This word for looking or to fix our eyes on Jesus, and he said there's two reasons for 00:09:42.920 |
that, because he's the author and he's the finisher of the rate, perfecter of the faith. 00:09:48.900 |
Not only is he the one that we are justified by, he's also the one who will sanctify us. 00:09:54.360 |
Again, if we're not careful, we get justified by Christ, and then the sanctification is 00:10:02.320 |
Just hook them up with somebody who's more mature, and then just kind of through learning 00:10:06.760 |
and telling and discipleship that that's going to happen. 00:10:12.040 |
Justification we're completely helpless, but sanctification it's 100% us. 00:10:17.160 |
He said, "No, Jesus Christ is the author, and he, Jesus Christ, is also the perfecter 00:10:22.680 |
of our faith who will bring us into completion." 00:10:25.200 |
That's what Paul says when he says Philippians 1.6, "He who began a good work in you, he 00:10:29.520 |
will carry it onto completion, onto the day of Christ." 00:10:33.320 |
Now, that does not mean that human effort is not there. 00:10:36.360 |
That does not mean that God doesn't call us to discipleship and pick up the cross. 00:10:40.280 |
But in the end, the fuel that causes us to continue and to persevere is Christ himself. 00:10:56.600 |
One, the word to look, to fix, has the idea of gawking at something, to behold something. 00:11:04.840 |
You ever experience something where something is so great, whether you travel somewhere 00:11:10.080 |
or maybe you see movies, people standing in front of Grand Canyon, just they can't take 00:11:17.200 |
I remember as a young child when my family decided to move from Philadelphia to Kansas, 00:11:26.720 |
I probably was about 10 or 11 years old at that time. 00:11:29.600 |
I remember so vividly standing in front of Niagara Falls just being awed, even as a child. 00:11:37.420 |
Just the waterfall, it just looked so amazing. 00:11:40.800 |
Even though it was a brief time, even though I was a young child, that made a deep impression. 00:11:46.960 |
I remember a few years ago, we went back to look at it and it just didn't look as high. 00:11:52.440 |
Things that you look at when you're a child, when you go back as an adult, it just doesn't 00:11:58.040 |
I think part of the reason was obviously I'm older, but the other part of it is I've seen 00:12:03.440 |
I remember going to Kenya and this remote part of Kenya, we were at a waterfall. 00:12:08.680 |
We drove probably about four hours to get there, but once we got there, there was a 00:12:11.160 |
waterfall that probably was about three times that height. 00:12:14.720 |
I remember looking at this like, "Wow, this makes Niagara Falls look tiny." 00:12:20.520 |
The point of my story is there's things that we look at that just by the sheer magnitude 00:12:26.720 |
of what you're seeing causes you to gaze at something, to gawk at something. 00:12:34.400 |
It could be something or someone, maybe someone so talented that it causes you to look at 00:12:41.640 |
I remember, again, some of you guys are a little bit older. 00:12:44.200 |
Everything I say may be a little bit outdated, but do you know who Whitney Houston is? 00:12:54.640 |
I remember the first time hearing Whitney Houston sing that song, "I Will Always Love 00:13:09.000 |
I wasn't that old, but I remember listening to that song and saying, "I never heard somebody 00:13:22.280 |
This idea of gawking and looking and beholding is something beyond you, is so beyond you, 00:13:28.320 |
You can scenery, you can be talent, whether it's sports, whatever it is, it just naturally 00:13:41.380 |
In 1 John 3, verse 1, in the NASB, it says, "See how great a love the Father has bestowed 00:13:48.400 |
In 1 John 3, verse 15, James, the literal understanding, it says to behold. 00:13:53.600 |
Look intently how great a love the Father has bestowed on us that we would be called 00:14:01.880 |
That sinners like us, rebellious sinners like us, behold, gawk at, fix your eyes, that we 00:14:15.680 |
That's the idea behind fixing your eyes upon Christ, not just to casually look, not just 00:14:20.480 |
to consider, but to think deeply about what it is that we have. 00:14:26.320 |
Part of the reason why there is such superficiality in the way that we live our life is because 00:14:30.800 |
we have such superficial understanding of the gospel. 00:14:36.000 |
Especially if you've grown up in the church and you heard the gospel in Sunday school 00:14:44.280 |
Jesus came, died for us and he was crucified, resurrected on my behalf and now I go to heaven." 00:14:51.120 |
But then we've never seriously asked that question. 00:14:54.200 |
In fact, if you don't evangelize, you have no idea how many holes there are in your understanding 00:15:01.440 |
of the gospel because you've never been tested. 00:15:08.320 |
So you never ask the question, "Oh, Jesus loved me. 00:15:11.000 |
This I know for the Bible tells me so, the end." 00:15:13.880 |
Then somebody say, "Why does he have to die?" 00:15:21.640 |
All the mothers in this room, future mothers, we all know that we love our kids and that's 00:15:33.000 |
You don't tell your kids, "I loved you so much, I died for you." 00:15:37.840 |
In fact, "I loved you so much, I'm going to bleed for you now." 00:15:48.520 |
But sometimes we hear it so much, we just accept it without really asking what that 00:15:53.280 |
sounds like, not truly understanding the meaning behind any of this stuff. 00:16:00.240 |
Why does he have to die and then resurrect again? 00:16:04.200 |
But we just heard it and we have a superficial understanding, superficial appreciation of 00:16:09.080 |
what we sing about and learn about and even share. 00:16:13.640 |
But because we haven't gazed, we haven't beheld and actually wrestled with what it 00:16:18.720 |
is that we actually have, we just kind of, "Oh, Jesus loves me, so he died for me, so 00:16:26.160 |
I'm going to go make disciples of all the nations." 00:16:29.480 |
And so we're given to work, we work hard, we sacrifice, but there is no beholding in 00:16:36.680 |
And as a result of that, we labor, we strive, we sacrifice, and then we get burnt out. 00:16:44.000 |
And then we labor, we strive, we get burnt out, and then something else happens, we get 00:16:49.520 |
encouraged and we get back up in this cycle over and over again. 00:16:52.240 |
And if that's the cycle that you've been in four years, five years, 10 years, 20 years, 00:16:58.760 |
something inside of you just dies, that you don't have hope anymore, that this is not 00:17:03.720 |
going to work, this hard work doesn't lead to anything. 00:17:14.800 |
The problem wasn't that we didn't work hard enough. 00:17:18.560 |
The problem was the fuel that we need to cause all these things to happen wasn't happening. 00:17:28.820 |
First we need to run this race with endurance. 00:17:31.720 |
And he says to behold, fix your eyes on Jesus. 00:17:34.560 |
Ephesians 3.16-19, Paul's prayer after laying about how he predestined us, he elected us, 00:17:42.440 |
he adopted us from before the creation of the world, and he's just basically laying 00:17:49.380 |
And then he says, after telling them this, he says, he prays that he would grant you, 00:17:54.080 |
God would grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power 00:17:57.640 |
through the spirit in the inner man, so that Christ would dwell in your hearts through 00:18:02.480 |
faith and that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all 00:18:11.360 |
There is a difference between revelation and illumination. 00:18:18.040 |
Open up the Bible, read what it says, and then regurgitate that to other people. 00:18:31.200 |
He's not talking about revelation, because revelation was already given to them, right? 00:18:37.680 |
So when he says to comprehend what it is that you have been given, he's not simply talking 00:18:42.240 |
about having a better or higher IQ or putting more effort into this. 00:18:46.660 |
He's talking that the Holy Spirit would take what was revealed to you so that you would 00:18:51.960 |
open your eyes to see with all the saints the breadth, the length, the height, and the 00:18:59.320 |
depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses all knowledge that you may be filled 00:19:08.580 |
That beyond revelation, that God through the Holy Spirit would illuminate you, that you 00:19:14.800 |
would begin to behold what it is that you have. 00:19:18.840 |
And in this beholding is what fuels everything else that happens. 00:19:27.160 |
You know, I think many of you already know that I'm a cynic by nature, right? 00:19:33.400 |
And especially now where you have Yelp, you know, I know we have a generation where you 00:19:44.240 |
I've gone to some of these five-star coffee shops, five-star boba shops, five-star sushi 00:19:49.240 |
shops and I can't think of a single time where I came back and was like, "That deserves 00:19:59.080 |
And part of the reason why it doesn't live up to the hype is because that experience 00:20:02.600 |
you had, you know, may have been that one person that was there. 00:20:06.360 |
Maybe the person was making that particular sandwich did a great job. 00:20:11.400 |
And maybe you have a different kind of taste bud than I do and you like something spicy. 00:20:17.840 |
It may have been you were with a group of friends and it wasn't just about the food 00:20:22.480 |
There's a lot of things that go into somebody just having a good time. 00:20:26.920 |
So when I go there and I specifically eat that, I really get excited. 00:20:30.800 |
And part of the reason is I'm not a good person, right? 00:20:34.000 |
Part of the reason I'm a cynic by nature, I just don't trust these things. 00:20:38.680 |
And I tasted part of the reason why is because I've traveled a lot and I've eaten a lot of 00:20:44.400 |
And so when I compare it to all of these things, it just never lives up to the hype, right? 00:20:50.440 |
And even Niagara Falls, I told you, I was so awed by it. 00:20:52.960 |
And so second time I went, I was expecting, "Man, we're going to go see Niagara Falls." 00:20:58.600 |
And I remember going there and saying, "Huh, there's a lot of water just falling." 00:21:09.720 |
And that's true whether it is scenery, whether you travel, whether it is food, it's like 00:21:18.680 |
So when I read biographies of people, I'm always thinking behind my head, "What is he 00:21:24.640 |
I know this is what they're saying about him, but what is he really like, right? 00:21:32.960 |
But I can tell you with all honesty that over 40 years, it's almost 40, I forget how many 00:21:47.240 |
Almost 40 years that I've been a Christian, that the love of Christ is far deeper than 00:22:00.360 |
It is far wider than what I remembered when I first met him. 00:22:05.160 |
It is far higher than I could possibly explain. 00:22:13.320 |
Nothing in this world lives up to that hype but the love of Christ. 00:22:18.400 |
And I remember Corrie Tamboon, again, this is one of these things that I remember so 00:22:22.640 |
much, and I know I shared it before, but I remember Corrie Tamboon, some of you guys 00:22:26.640 |
who know her, she's the author of the book, The Hiding Place, and it's her testimony about 00:22:32.280 |
how her whole family got slaughtered during the Holocaust. 00:22:38.960 |
And how before she became famous and was able to pay her bills, she said she used to sell 00:22:45.080 |
And after she would make a good sale, she would walk away from that, said always feeling 00:22:52.080 |
And the reason why was that it would bother her conscience that she had to hype up the 00:22:57.880 |
This watch is great, it's a great price, it's not going to let you down, and so she sold 00:23:03.360 |
But even though she was a great salesperson, she would walk away always feeling guilty 00:23:10.640 |
And then she became an evangelist and she began to share the testimony about Jesus Christ. 00:23:16.680 |
And she would walk away with the same guilt but for a completely different reason. 00:23:21.500 |
And she would share how no matter how much she would share about Jesus, she would walk 00:23:25.480 |
away thinking that maybe I didn't do God's love justice. 00:23:35.160 |
There's nothing in this world that if we gawk at it long enough does not fade. 00:23:41.760 |
There's no food, there's no place, there's no human being that you will put on a pedestal 00:23:47.320 |
and watch and behold where as time passes that it becomes greater than last year and 00:23:56.840 |
Nothing in creation lives up to that kind of scrutiny except Christ. 00:24:04.000 |
That's why when he says to behold, to look, to gawk at. 00:24:11.080 |
Because where our fuel comes from is knowing the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ. 00:24:17.880 |
You and I do not have the inner ability to just simply say no to temptation. 00:24:24.960 |
When we're tempted by things, tempted by hatred and anger, to simply say no because we're 00:24:37.360 |
So without beholding who Christ is, all Christianity becomes is more things that you're not doing 00:24:48.400 |
C.S. Lewis says this in his book, The Weight of Glory. 00:24:52.280 |
It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak. 00:24:58.320 |
We are half-hearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite 00:25:06.080 |
Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot 00:25:11.360 |
imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea, we are far too easily pleased. 00:25:18.960 |
He's describing an individual who gazed at, maybe have a glimpse of his glory, and then 00:25:25.840 |
spent the rest of his life gawking at the world, being tempted, constantly distracted. 00:25:32.880 |
And we're so easily pleased, easily pleased with food, easily pleased with travel, easily 00:25:46.680 |
You know, we take our Christianity as a pick up your cross, deny yourself. 00:26:04.560 |
You know, it says in Matthew 13 to 44 to 46, it says, "The kingdom of heaven is like a 00:26:10.620 |
treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid. 00:26:15.440 |
And from joy over it, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." 00:26:20.400 |
You notice here the motivation behind why he's selling all of this stuff? 00:26:26.300 |
Because he recognized the value of the treasure that he found. 00:26:32.380 |
And so when he sacrifices, he's giving up everything, what does he do? 00:26:39.360 |
I got to give up all of this so I can have that?" 00:26:50.280 |
And so everything that he had was worth selling and in joy sold everything so that he can 00:26:57.160 |
See, the difference between an individual who is struggling to sacrifice and discipline 00:27:06.920 |
versus somebody who is eager to follow is how he recognizes the treasure in Christ. 00:27:16.920 |
If Christ is not the treasure, you will not overcome the temptation. 00:27:21.720 |
How can you when everybody around you is going after that? 00:27:25.080 |
It's so nice, especially where you and I live. 00:27:30.620 |
We live 15 minutes away from the beach, 30 minutes, 40 minutes if you drive fast to the 00:27:37.280 |
mountains, Disneyland over here, Knott's Berry Farm. 00:27:46.440 |
You know one thing, the more I travel, the more I know that this is the best place in 00:27:55.840 |
Everything, we have access to pretty much everything. 00:28:03.040 |
Everything that I fleshly desire is in Irvine. 00:28:08.080 |
How are you going to win over that temptation? 00:28:17.440 |
Simply by having accountability group to shame you if you don't? 00:28:26.440 |
He says because he saw the treasure of what he had, he didn't want to lose it. 00:28:33.200 |
So for joy of having that, he was willing to sell everything to get that. 00:28:39.880 |
See, if we're not beholding Christ and do not understand the breadth, length, height, 00:28:46.040 |
and depth of the love of Christ, it just becomes more work. 00:28:53.960 |
Life is hard enough as it is, and then you go to the church, and you got to do more work. 00:28:59.560 |
That's why he says to fix your eyes on Jesus. 00:29:03.640 |
To fix it, not just to look at it, not just casually think about it. 00:29:06.880 |
He says to fix, don't take your eyes off of it. 00:29:11.240 |
Because the moment we forget the treasure that we have in Christ, we easily get entangled 00:29:17.640 |
That's exactly what Apostle Paul meant in comparison to the surpassing knowledge of 00:29:24.400 |
Surpassing knowledge meaning this is beyond just revelation, beyond me telling you. 00:29:29.160 |
This is beyond anything that the world can offer you. 00:29:32.000 |
Surpassing knowledge of knowing Jesus Christ. 00:29:36.960 |
Roman citizen, wealthy family, highest education, already well-known celebrity, possibly a San 00:29:44.680 |
Hedron member already, a senator in the nation of Israel. 00:29:48.320 |
For any Jew, Pharisee among Pharisees, asked the law, he says perfect. 00:29:57.360 |
But he says in comparison, in comparison to the treasure he found in Christ, it became 00:30:06.200 |
He didn't make it rubbish, it became rubbish in comparison. 00:30:11.340 |
So when our eyes are taken off of Christ, there is nothing else in this world that's 00:30:18.800 |
going to save you from the temptation that we are surrounded by constantly. 00:30:27.840 |
You know, I remember when, right before I became a Christian, I was obsessed with baseball. 00:30:38.400 |
And my friends decided that we're going to make the Burbank High School baseball team. 00:30:44.980 |
So we spent every single minute that we had, right? 00:30:50.600 |
Because we were getting into a lot of trouble prior to that. 00:30:52.520 |
But when we decided to play baseball, every opportunity we had, we went on the baseball 00:30:56.560 |
field and we had a guy who wanted to play shortstop. 00:31:05.360 |
So I would take the glove and go to the left field and they would just pop it up, right? 00:31:09.920 |
And I said, "Put the ball over there so let me see how much distance I can cover. 00:31:16.840 |
We did that every day, every opportunity we had, because we were preparing to try to get 00:31:22.800 |
Well, tryouts came out, you know, it started out in December and it was about a week of 00:31:30.280 |
And then the second part was going to happen after the break. 00:31:39.440 |
And we spent so much time preparing for it, going to the batting cage and trying to get 00:31:47.120 |
But all of a sudden, I meet Christ and I just completely forgot. 00:31:54.200 |
I don't even remember wrestling about this decision because their Bible study was Friday 00:31:58.760 |
night and all the games were happening Friday night. 00:32:02.360 |
All the practices were happening Friday night. 00:32:04.360 |
And so I don't even remember thinking, "Should I? 00:32:09.000 |
I just don't remember that because what would be better than this God that I met?" 00:32:15.640 |
So I used to live in Burbank and one of the leaders would come and pick me up right after 00:32:20.880 |
Being in LA, Bible study starts at 7, finishes at 9. 00:32:23.920 |
We go have dinner and then from 11 to 1 or 2 in the morning, we'd have overnight prayer. 00:32:29.240 |
And then sometimes we'd just sleep over at the church just sleeping on the floor, waking 00:32:33.560 |
up, mowing the lawn of the church because that's the only way they would let us stay 00:32:40.600 |
And then waking up, just passing out pamphlets and trying to evangelize. 00:32:43.440 |
And I would come home sometimes like late Saturday. 00:32:48.360 |
And I just remember my parents never asked me where I was. 00:32:53.200 |
I think part of the reason was because I was getting into so much trouble prior to that. 00:32:56.320 |
They knew I was at church so that whatever I was doing over there was going to be much 00:33:07.120 |
I don't remember struggling to let it go because at that time, my mind was blown. 00:33:25.120 |
And then this is the Bible study that I need to attend to connect with this God versus 00:33:30.760 |
I get to throw this white ball around with these guys? 00:33:43.040 |
I wasn't more disciplined than the next person. 00:33:55.440 |
That's why in Revelation when it talks to the church of Ephesus, he says, "Remember 00:34:05.440 |
Remember when the gospel first came into you. 00:34:09.160 |
Remember how excited you were about singing, about Bible study, about prayer meetings, 00:34:13.920 |
You notice the difference between somebody who just became a Christian versus somebody 00:34:21.560 |
Somebody who's been a Christian for a while and they've become very good at this game 00:34:27.480 |
So we say, "Hey, we're going to have a meeting." 00:34:28.480 |
And one of the first questions we think, "Is it mandatory?" 00:34:42.560 |
Versus you meet a new Christian, "Am I allowed to come? 00:35:00.120 |
The difference between the two is that the young Christian's eyes beheld Christ and he 00:35:06.840 |
realized the privilege that he has to have access to God. 00:35:16.720 |
The privilege to be a part of a community of people to worship God versus somebody who's 00:35:21.280 |
been a Christian for a while is like, "Do I have to? 00:35:27.720 |
Even the way we ask questions, "Is this sin?" 00:35:31.520 |
These are all questions that are coming from somebody who has been burdened and there's 00:35:34.400 |
no fuel fueling them, just meeting the minimum standards. 00:35:41.080 |
You and I do not have that ability just to suck it up and keep it going if we're not 00:35:46.680 |
Do you know how you can tell somebody's beholding Christ? 00:35:57.640 |
It's like, "Tuesday at three o'clock, evangelism." 00:36:04.560 |
Sit down and ask them, "What did you do today?" 00:36:11.820 |
Somebody who's beholding Christ, fixated on Christ, "Oh, let's have fellowship. 00:36:17.720 |
We're going to have next Wednesday at three o'clock. 00:36:25.040 |
Somebody who's beholding Christ, just ask them, "What do you like to do for fun?" 00:36:38.640 |
Just comes out because just like if you watched a movie that you would just narrate, "Wow, 00:36:55.480 |
But because they were so impacted by that, they'll tell you. 00:37:00.880 |
That's why he's saying, "Behold, fix your eyes upon Christ that we may have a deepening 00:37:10.060 |
understanding of the breadth, length, height, and depth of the love of Christ." 00:37:17.040 |
The second meaning behind this is not simply to behold but to look intently for help. 00:37:22.720 |
Kind of like the way we use the word when we say, "Who do you look to when you are in 00:37:28.660 |
Who do you look to when you have financial problems? 00:37:37.460 |
Who do you look to when you feel lost or lonely?" 00:37:44.900 |
We use that word look to look at something for help. 00:37:49.300 |
Your friends, church leaders, government, money. 00:37:53.180 |
In Psalm 121, it says, "I will lift up my eyes to the mountains from where shall my 00:37:59.860 |
My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth." 00:38:04.140 |
In other words, the person that I'm beholding, this person that I'm looking to for help, 00:38:11.740 |
That's why the Bible always, when the Bible introduces us to God, you notice how often 00:38:37.460 |
The God that you are looking to doesn't have a limit in their bank account, doesn't have 00:38:53.860 |
Probably most of us, the closest thing that you and I can relate to, to agape love, is 00:39:00.620 |
the love that you and I receive from our mothers. 00:39:04.860 |
Even if they're not the best, they're sinners too, but probably the closest to somebody 00:39:11.020 |
who is willing to sacrifice their well-being in order that you and I could eat and live 00:39:16.820 |
and sleep comfortably, most of us will probably say it's our mothers. 00:39:30.080 |
I mean, you can't be selfish when you have kids around, because if a mother is selfish, 00:39:44.520 |
If the mother is selfish, they're not protected. 00:39:48.380 |
They're going to run around naked, starve to death. 00:39:50.800 |
That's what's going to happen if the mother is selfish. 00:39:52.400 |
So the closest thing that you and I can experience, oh, that's kind of like that. 00:40:08.040 |
Even the best of mothers are human and sinners themselves. 00:40:14.540 |
So he says, "But the God that we look to, he keeps Israel and will neither slumber nor 00:40:24.560 |
The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. 00:40:31.220 |
The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from the time forth and forever." 00:40:43.880 |
Anything else that we are beholding for our strength, anything else that we are turning 00:40:50.820 |
My guess is you've probably experienced that already. 00:40:56.320 |
Whether it's an institution, whether it's your circumstance, whether it was the government 00:41:00.220 |
or maybe it was a leader, whatever it is that you turn to that replaces where only God can 00:41:07.580 |
be eventually will let you down because nothing lives up to that scrutiny. 00:41:16.960 |
Not your husband, not your wife, not your children, not your circumstance, not your 00:41:24.220 |
Nothing lives up to that scrutiny but God himself. 00:41:28.220 |
That's why in order to run this race with perseverance, we need to fix our eyes on Jesus 00:41:32.900 |
who started the race and he's going to be the one who finishes the race and only those 00:41:37.700 |
who are gazing, beholding, and growing in beholding will persevere in their race. 00:41:45.380 |
I remember a pastor years ago described Christians beholding Christ in eternity like an ant trying 00:41:57.740 |
And the ant would get on the trunk and say, "Oh, the elephant is like this. 00:42:04.100 |
And then he would take a few steps and end up on the trunk. 00:42:16.140 |
And so every few steps he takes, he recognizes a different part of the elephant. 00:42:22.700 |
Well, that's a tiny little ant that's trying to describe something gigantic. 00:42:27.400 |
And so none of it is wrong, but not one thing is ever comprehensive. 00:42:34.140 |
And he described how us beholding Christ is going to be like that, but far greater. 00:42:42.020 |
But for all eternity, we're going to be gawking at him. 00:42:45.520 |
And every time we turn around, we see a different aspect, that God's love is much deeper than 00:42:53.300 |
It's much wider than I thought, much higher than I thought. 00:42:57.140 |
God was much holier than I possibly imagined. 00:43:00.160 |
God is more worthy than I could have possibly told. 00:43:03.980 |
And for all eternity, he is completely eternal, always immutable, is going to inspire worship. 00:43:15.160 |
And it is that God that he is referring to, that in order to run this race, to finish 00:43:20.660 |
this race, to fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author, the beginner, and the one who will 00:43:26.560 |
finish the race, the fuel to be able to persevere. 00:43:32.440 |
Let me finish with this in Isaiah 40, 28 to 31. 00:43:36.180 |
Do you not know, have you not heard, the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of 00:43:50.800 |
Though youths grow weary and tired and vigorous, young men stumble badly. 00:43:56.160 |
Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength. 00:44:08.360 |
For parents, especially for moms on Mother's Day, thank you for your sacrifice. 00:44:15.600 |
And I know, especially, whether you are a veteran mom or you're a brand new mom, the 00:44:22.040 |
sacrifices that you make and to present what agape love looks like to the family and to 00:44:31.400 |
But along with that, I want to make this very clear. 00:44:39.600 |
No matter how much you pour into your children, your love is not sufficient enough. 00:44:48.640 |
Your love, no matter how much you sacrifice, will not be enough to save your child. 00:44:58.300 |
The only love that can change a lost soul, that his identity is changed as a child of 00:45:06.760 |
God for eternity, is when they also behold this love for themselves. 00:45:14.200 |
So the best that you and I could do, the best that a mother can do, is help them see that. 00:45:22.200 |
The best way for you to do that is for yourself to behold that, to be a witness of that. 00:45:40.920 |
My preaching, organization skills, sacrifice is not enough. 00:45:48.840 |
That's why the primary goal every Sunday is to help you see that Christ is worthy. 00:46:08.880 |
Because only when you behold the same Christ would you also pick up your cross and follow 00:46:20.440 |
You and I are not gifted enough, we're not strong enough, we're not disciplined enough, 00:46:26.120 |
but by the grace of God, He has called us to be His witness. 00:46:41.640 |
So that they also may come and know this Christ for themselves. 00:46:49.840 |
Again, as our worship team comes up, if I can ask you to take some time to let the Word 00:47:01.160 |
If you've grown up in the church and you just say, "Yeah, I know Jesus died for me. 00:47:05.760 |
I believe that, so I'm going to go to heaven." 00:47:16.040 |
You don't understand the Word of God that's being opened. 00:47:19.840 |
To humble yourself before the Lord and ask, "Do I really know this God? 00:47:27.800 |
It takes some time to come before the Lord in honest confession. 00:47:33.240 |
Open my eyes, Lord, that I may behold Your glory as well." 00:47:37.920 |
If you happen to be somebody who grew up in the church and you're so busy doing so many 00:47:42.840 |
things but only one thing is required of you, fix your eyes upon Jesus. 00:48:01.920 |
We also need to take a step back and fix our eyes upon what it is that we worship, 00:48:10.480 |
Let's take some time to pray the same prayer that Paul prays, that with all knowledge, 00:48:17.320 |
that we would have the strength with all the saints to comprehend the width, the length, 00:48:22.480 |
the height, and the depth of the love of Christ.