back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 10.8.2023
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♪ Who would have thought that a lamb could be so kind ♪ 00:09:11.520 |
- All right, welcome to Breen Community Church. 00:09:19.520 |
Let me jump to our announcements before we get started. 00:09:22.520 |
First of all, if you are in the college department, 00:09:26.600 |
today there's a welcome lunch that's being hosted for you. 00:09:30.520 |
If you have questions about the church or college ministry 00:09:39.520 |
It's gonna be held right across the courtyard 00:09:43.520 |
to the right of the cafe, there's a room there, 00:09:50.520 |
Women's ministry tea time is happening this coming Saturday 00:10:14.520 |
where we're gonna have all the different service teams 00:10:16.520 |
in our church that's gonna be spread out out there, 00:10:24.520 |
And then some of them are just gonna be presented 00:10:26.440 |
so that you'll know what's going on at church, 00:10:30.440 |
And then along with that, so that you don't have to go out 00:10:32.440 |
and eat lunch, there will be a fundraiser lunch 00:10:47.440 |
the retreat that they're having early next year, okay? 00:10:52.520 |
And then newcomers lunch in October 29th at 12.30, 00:10:56.440 |
so if you are new to the church and you have questions, 00:11:01.440 |
and you wanna just come and meet some of the leaders there 00:11:04.440 |
and ask some questions, that lunch is for you, 00:11:11.440 |
For Thanksgiving dinner, that's taking place on November 19th, 00:11:22.440 |
if we can ask you to please sign up as soon as possible, 00:11:25.440 |
because we need to set where people are gonna go, 00:11:39.440 |
So if you live in Irvine and you sign up too late, 00:11:43.440 |
or to Cerritos or wherever it's available, okay? 00:11:48.520 |
so that we can put that together sooner than later, okay? 00:11:55.440 |
All right, this morning, after I pray for the offering, 00:12:04.440 |
we have a physical box as you're leaving, okay? 00:12:12.440 |
Thank you for your blessing that you give us, Lord God, 00:12:23.440 |
We thank you, Father, for living in a free country 00:12:34.440 |
help us, Lord, not to take for granted what we have, 00:12:38.440 |
that we may return it back to you, Father God, 00:12:46.440 |
Help us to give in a way that honors you, glorifies you. 00:12:49.440 |
May the offering we give be multiplied 30, 60, 100-fold 00:12:54.440 |
We thank you, Father, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. 00:13:48.200 |
I don't want to deprive you, but we haven't done this in many years. 00:13:51.200 |
Why don't we just take a minute to turn around, say hello 00:13:57.200 |
We'll give you a minute or two just to say hi, 00:14:01.200 |
greet one another, and we will get started here. 00:23:23.280 |
My name is Josh Choi, and I'll be giving my testimony today. 00:23:26.280 |
From my earliest memories, I was a part of two homes. 00:23:42.280 |
One was the embrace of my family, my mom, dad, older and younger brother. 00:23:47.280 |
The other was the church, an anchor introduced to us by my mother, 00:23:53.280 |
who ensured our regular attendance every Sunday. 00:24:01.280 |
I walked and grew in the church alongside my peers. 00:24:05.280 |
Whether in the praise team, church orchestra, body worship team, or youth group, 00:24:18.280 |
and I wished to walk with them, at least until high school graduation. 00:24:22.280 |
But things took a turn when my church experienced a schism. 00:24:29.280 |
The schism stemmed from sin within leadership disagreements, 00:24:33.280 |
which escalated into legal disputes, lawsuits, and assaults. 00:24:37.280 |
The church, which I had once perceived as an emblem of love and unity, 00:24:44.280 |
The most discerning aspect was witnessing friends, 00:24:50.280 |
including my youth pastor, distance themselves from me in fear of the schism. 00:24:58.280 |
though I had played no role in the conflict's inception. 00:25:02.280 |
Consequently, my heart grew cold against God, 00:25:06.280 |
and my depression and anxiety at the time worsened. 00:25:14.280 |
From a young age, I faced challenges in connecting with others, 00:25:17.280 |
perhaps rooted in deep-seated trust issues and an instinct to rely heavily on myself, 00:25:26.280 |
These struggles manifested in forms like insomnia during elementary school, 00:25:45.280 |
I often found myself delving into worldly desires of lust for pleasure, 00:25:52.280 |
and selfish tendencies to cling to comfort and security. 00:25:56.280 |
However, this worldly water left me wrecked and thirsting for more than before, 00:26:01.280 |
and I reached a breaking point where I was left in bed, desperate, 00:26:08.280 |
And by his grace, the Lord drew me to his bed. 00:26:11.280 |
And not going to lie, it was kind of funny thinking back. 00:26:14.280 |
I opened the Bible app, even though I barely read the Bible. 00:26:21.280 |
But the first thing I saw on the app was a reading plan for anxious people. 00:26:27.280 |
Reading from the plan, I read passages and sermons that helped soothe my anxiety. 00:26:36.280 |
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, 00:26:41.280 |
with thanksgiving, present your request to God, and the peace of God, 00:26:44.280 |
which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 00:26:56.280 |
Though this verse didn't instantaneously cure my ailments, it was a beacon, 00:27:01.280 |
drawing me back to the Bible and teachings of the gospel. 00:27:04.280 |
Then, over the few years, including my first year at UCI, 00:27:07.280 |
I committed to attending church and reading his word. 00:27:10.280 |
During this time, I learned of God's loving and powerful character, 00:27:14.280 |
but I also learned more about my sinful nature and the harsh reality 00:27:19.280 |
that I previously loved God only for what he offered to me. 00:27:23.280 |
For the longest time, I went to church either to find a community 00:27:30.280 |
Like back in middle school when I went to church to seek after a community, 00:27:33.280 |
or back in high school when I leveraged anxiety and Bible plans 00:27:40.280 |
I perverted Christianity to serve my own needs. 00:27:44.280 |
I indulged in sin while deceiving myself that I was a Christian. 00:27:52.280 |
especially when the benefits far outweigh the costs. 00:27:55.280 |
All you have to do is say that you love this God that Christians speak of. 00:27:58.280 |
After that, you immerse yourself in the moral teachings of the Bible, 00:28:01.280 |
which objectively benefits anyone reading it. 00:28:05.280 |
And best of all, proclaiming this love will secure love and support 00:28:13.280 |
picking up positions like praise team or some form of servant team 00:28:18.280 |
will further bolster the respect and love you receive from your community. 00:28:22.280 |
And it can also inspire a self-feeding feeling of meaning and purpose in life. 00:28:28.280 |
It's almost like an all-in-one deal for someone who wants to capitalize 00:28:36.280 |
I could have easily continued simply going to church like this, 00:28:42.280 |
and probably more so during adulthood when I have kids 00:28:48.280 |
in hopes that they would also lead moral lives. 00:28:52.280 |
However, this past life of mine was void of God. 00:28:59.280 |
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, 00:29:02.280 |
but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 00:29:05.280 |
On that day, many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, do we not prophesy in your name 00:29:09.280 |
and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name?' 00:29:14.280 |
And then I will declare to him, 'I never knew you. 00:29:18.280 |
Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'" 00:29:22.280 |
Reading this verse, even after a lifetime of going to church, 00:29:27.280 |
I felt a heavy conviction that changed my paradigm of faith. 00:29:32.280 |
And I began viewing my walk with heavy scrutiny, 00:29:35.280 |
discovering more and more ulterior motives I had in the past coming to church. 00:29:40.280 |
I felt the overwhelming sin running through my veins. 00:29:44.280 |
However, with each and every sin in the past, 00:30:01.280 |
"But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, 00:30:06.280 |
even when we were dead through our trespasses, 00:30:08.280 |
we are now living this life together in Christ. 00:30:14.280 |
God has saved me from sin, and I am here today because the Lord has allowed me to. 00:30:19.280 |
It is through his redemptive power that I can stand and live to see every day. 00:30:24.280 |
Despite my sins, the Lord has shown me mercy and grace from time to time, 00:30:32.280 |
I desire to live a life that is surrender to God, 00:30:34.280 |
and I strive to give worship that is pleasing to him. 00:30:37.280 |
And with that, today I proclaim that the Lord my God is my Father, Lord, and Savior. 00:31:05.280 |
>> Now, should you understand when you go into the water, 00:31:09.280 |
and when you come out, you're being united to his resurrected life? 00:31:12.280 |
>> I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 00:31:36.280 |
>> All right, thank you, Joshua, for that great testimony. 00:31:39.280 |
And he did say he was a middle child with three boys, right? 00:31:53.280 |
If you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke 6:27, 00:31:59.280 |
but the main text that we're going to be looking at is in the first two verses. 00:32:09.280 |
"But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 00:32:14.280 |
bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 00:32:18.280 |
Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also, 00:32:21.280 |
and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. 00:32:26.280 |
Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, 00:32:31.280 |
Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. 00:32:34.280 |
If you love those who love you, what credit is that for you? 00:32:41.280 |
If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? 00:32:47.280 |
If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? 00:32:52.280 |
Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. 00:32:56.280 |
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, 00:33:04.280 |
for he himself is kind to ungrateful and even evil men. 00:33:09.280 |
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. 00:33:31.280 |
We pray for your Holy Spirit's empowerment, guidance, 00:33:35.280 |
directing and sanctification through your word. 00:33:42.280 |
I think many of you know that in the earlier part of our church, 00:33:47.280 |
because we didn't have enough finances in the church, 00:33:53.280 |
and they did a lot of odd jobs in order to provide for the family. 00:33:56.280 |
And one of the things that I had to do was I became an ESL teacher, 00:34:00.280 |
where I taught citizenship to Korean grandparents, 00:34:08.280 |
and every week, literally I had one lesson that I taught for five years, 00:34:16.280 |
"Today is Monday, October 3rd, 19 something something," 00:34:22.280 |
So in one sense it was frustrating, but in another sense it was easy, 00:34:28.280 |
I would teach the same lesson like it was brand new, every single day. 00:34:32.280 |
But one of the joys of the class was watching the older ladies become citizens 00:34:40.280 |
And I remember going through the citizenship course 00:34:44.280 |
and just helping them to answer quick, "Who is Francis Scott Key?" 00:34:48.280 |
"When did the Declaration of Independence happen?" 00:34:51.280 |
And so as they're going through, I had to figure out, 00:34:55.280 |
like, these are the things that are necessary. 00:35:05.280 |
And then when they finally did become a citizen, just an elation, right? 00:35:09.280 |
Because many of these ladies came from--like went through the war. 00:35:12.280 |
They were older than my parents, and so they went through the war, 00:35:15.280 |
and they knew what it was like to be raised during the Japanese occupation of Korea, 00:35:21.280 |
also through the Korean War, experiencing poverty, 00:35:24.280 |
and for them, being a citizen of the United States was kind of like-- 00:35:27.280 |
almost like going to heaven, almost, you know, for them. 00:35:31.280 |
And so I remember very distinctly just how happy they were 00:35:35.280 |
when they became the citizen of the United States. 00:35:39.280 |
Can you imagine the elation, right, for Christians experiencing what it was like? 00:35:46.280 |
And I think every single person that has genuinely met Christ 00:35:53.280 |
And then to become the citizen of the kingdom of God. 00:35:56.280 |
You know, last couple weeks, we've been talking about the Beatitudes, 00:35:59.280 |
and Beatitude basically is the entrance into the kingdom. 00:36:03.280 |
These are the things that causes us to come into this kingdom. 00:36:08.280 |
He says, "Blessed are those who are poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God." 00:36:12.280 |
He's not simply saying those who are financial, who has lower economic status, 00:36:20.280 |
Obviously, he's talking even beyond that, right? 00:36:24.280 |
That in order for us to enter the kingdom of heaven, 00:36:30.280 |
which leads us to hungering and thirsting for righteousness. 00:36:33.280 |
He says, "Those who hunger will be satisfied." 00:36:38.280 |
Those who--again, if we were to read that in that context, 00:36:41.280 |
those who weep are the ones who are repenting. 00:36:46.280 |
"For theirs is then my hunger, which causes them to repent and weep." 00:36:51.280 |
And then it says, "Blessed are those who are hated, 00:36:53.280 |
because now they are part of the new kingdom, 00:36:56.280 |
that the people of the old kingdom will hate you, 00:37:03.280 |
Before we were enemies of the cross, now we are enemies of the world. 00:37:08.280 |
"Those who you were a part of, now they hate you." 00:37:11.280 |
And he said, so that was the entrance into the kingdom of God. 00:37:15.280 |
What we're going to be talking about for the next few weeks, 00:37:18.280 |
maybe even a few months, even though it's a short text, 00:37:22.280 |
that now that we are citizens of the new kingdom, 00:37:25.280 |
what is the central character of the citizen of God's kingdom? 00:37:34.280 |
The Scripture tells us that the central aspect of who we are is love. 00:37:40.280 |
"For by these he has granted to us the precious and magnificent promises, 00:37:44.280 |
so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature." 00:37:49.280 |
The divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 00:37:53.280 |
You notice here, salvation isn't simply somebody who deserved punitive penalty, 00:37:58.280 |
and Jesus paid the penalty, and so therefore, you will no longer be punished. 00:38:08.280 |
So therefore, we're going to go to heaven and experience eternity. 00:38:22.280 |
but he also saved us from the result and the life that comes with this sin. 00:38:29.280 |
We were children of darkness, now we are children of the light. 00:38:32.280 |
And in that divine nature, the central character of that divine nature is love. 00:38:39.280 |
Central character of that divine nature, of the new citizen, is love. 00:38:46.280 |
Beyond everything else, he says, "Put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity." 00:38:51.280 |
And then again, Romans 13.10, he said, "Love does no wrong to a neighbor. 00:38:56.280 |
Therefore, love is a fulfillment of the law." 00:38:59.280 |
When Jesus was asked, "What is the greatest commandment?" 00:39:03.280 |
The Pharisees and the scribes were constantly debating with one another 00:39:18.280 |
And so they asked Jesus, "What's the greatest law?" 00:39:20.280 |
And Jesus says, "All of the law is summarized in these two commandments. 00:39:24.280 |
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, 00:39:33.280 |
Everything that God has taught the nation of Israel, 00:39:35.280 |
everything that God has taught us as Christians, 00:39:46.280 |
Now why--when we talk about this, about the love, 00:39:57.280 |
Not do this and do that, don't touch this, don't watch this. 00:40:01.280 |
And so oftentimes we think that being spiritually mature 00:40:11.280 |
and there's things we need to do, things we don't need to do. 00:40:13.280 |
And the Bible does give us instructions to do that. 00:40:16.280 |
But he says all of the things that he has said 00:40:23.280 |
There is nothing more sanctifying than the practice of biblical love. 00:40:29.280 |
There is nothing that kills your natural self 00:40:42.280 |
there is nothing more emptying than the practice of biblical love. 00:40:48.280 |
Matthew 16, 24 says, "If anyone wishes to come after me, 00:40:51.280 |
he must deny himself, take up the cross, and follow me." 00:40:59.280 |
and denying of yourself more than the practice of this love. 00:41:04.280 |
Now some of us may say, "Well, I practice love. 00:41:09.280 |
I love my mom, I love my dad, I have a lot of friends. 00:41:12.280 |
I have a lot of friends. I love my church people, 00:41:21.280 |
The scripture tells us, and the text that we're looking at, 00:41:24.280 |
it says if you practice, if your love is limited to that, 00:41:32.280 |
Tell me somebody who doesn't love their mom or dad. 00:41:34.280 |
I'm generalizing, but that's not unique to Christians. 00:41:40.280 |
Who has friends? That's not unique to Christians. 00:42:02.280 |
Is there somebody here that doesn't hear what I'm saying? 00:42:08.280 |
He's not talking about those who are not deaf. 00:42:11.280 |
And he would often say, when he would say something important, 00:42:17.280 |
Was he looking at the crowd and saw some people without ears? 00:42:20.280 |
And saying, like, only those who have physical ears 00:42:26.280 |
He's saying, if your heart is not bent toward Christ, 00:42:30.280 |
if you're not interested in what he has to say, 00:42:47.280 |
In fact, it's ridiculous to even expect this. 00:42:52.280 |
The world will not look at somebody who practices this 00:43:14.280 |
The love that he calls us to love can only be understood 00:43:21.280 |
this divine nature that has been given to you 00:43:41.280 |
Now, you have to understand who the enemies are. 00:43:43.280 |
The enemies are not people who are irritating, right? 00:43:52.280 |
It's hard to love people who are different than you. 00:43:55.280 |
It's hard to love people who are not responsible. 00:44:07.280 |
An enemy is somebody who is willfully out to hurt you. 00:44:16.280 |
An enemy isn't just somebody that you have a hard time relating to. 00:44:19.280 |
An enemy isn't just somebody whose speech is difficult to swallow. 00:44:24.280 |
He's talking about somebody who is willfully trying to hurt you. 00:44:41.280 |
And remember we talked about Simon the Zealot. 00:44:43.280 |
The zealots prided themselves of willing to die in the context of killing their enemies. 00:44:53.280 |
And the person who was willing to do more harm than anybody else, that was your leader. 00:45:03.280 |
Israelites believed that when God came, that he's going to punish their enemies. 00:45:10.280 |
These Romans who have come and suppress them so that they can't have a good life. 00:45:20.280 |
And that's why they were waiting for the Messiah. 00:45:24.280 |
Not only that, remember, there was Matthew the tax collector in their midst. 00:45:30.280 |
And you have the fishermen who this guy was taking advantage of and taking their money. 00:45:36.280 |
And this is money coming out of their pocket, 00:45:38.280 |
money that they could have used to take care of their children. 00:45:43.280 |
So imagine when Jesus says, "Love your enemies." 00:45:47.280 |
I think there was an immediate practical application even among his disciples. 00:45:52.280 |
That even among them, he's not just talking generality, he's talking to something specific within them. 00:45:57.280 |
That if you want to be my disciple, you must practice this love. 00:46:07.280 |
Easy to be up in a pulpit and say, "Love your enemies." 00:46:13.280 |
But if you've ever even attempted to love somebody that is trying to harm you, 00:46:23.280 |
Because we don't wrestle with loving our enemies. 00:46:30.280 |
We wrestle with, if they harmed us, oh man, I want to teach them a lesson. 00:46:38.280 |
So to even think that we're going to move from that to love them and care for them, 00:46:43.280 |
is unimaginable because it's rarely practiced. 00:46:49.280 |
The love that he calls us to love is an agape love. 00:46:53.280 |
The Bible uses many different words for love, 00:46:55.280 |
but the love that he's referring to is a covenantal love. 00:46:59.280 |
And the closest thing that you and I can think of as a covenantal love 00:47:05.280 |
you make a promise that I'm going to love and respect, sacrifice, 00:47:08.280 |
in what? Enrich her for poorer, sickness and in health, 00:47:19.280 |
Not, I will love and honor and support and sacrifice as long as they deserve it. 00:47:26.280 |
And that would be an honest confession to how we practice love. 00:47:33.280 |
I will love and honor and sacrifice as long as you don't tick me off, 00:47:36.280 |
as long as you do your part, I'll do my part. 00:47:40.280 |
But that's not what we say when we enter into this covenant relationship. 00:47:44.280 |
When we enter into this covenant relationship, it says when things are good and when things are bad. 00:47:53.280 |
We make this covenant relationship meaning that I'm going to love you, 00:47:58.280 |
whether you deserve it or not. And two people enter this covenant relationship. 00:48:02.280 |
And that's what a covenant, that's what he calls us to love. 00:48:05.280 |
He says to love, but not just anybody, not just your wife, but your enemy. 00:48:10.280 |
In John 13, 34-35, he tells us that that central identifying mark 00:48:17.280 |
between a non-Christian and a Christian is what? 00:48:21.280 |
Not what you do or don't do, not if you do quiet time or not what church you belong to. 00:48:26.280 |
He said the central identifying mark of a Christian is what? Love. 00:48:31.280 |
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, 00:48:36.280 |
that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, 00:48:46.280 |
Now how is this a new commandment? Because we see something similar in the Old Testament. 00:48:50.280 |
In Leviticus 19, 18, he says, "You shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge 00:48:54.280 |
against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 00:48:57.280 |
I am the Lord." Was Jesus not aware of Leviticus? 00:49:02.280 |
Did Jesus forget that this was already said in the Old Testament? 00:49:10.280 |
He says the new commandment in the stipulation that makes this a new commandment, 00:49:15.280 |
he says that love as what? As I have loved you. 00:49:20.280 |
That's what makes a new commandment. It's not just any love. 00:49:24.280 |
It's not loving people who are deserving. It's not loving people who are easy to love. 00:49:28.280 |
It's not loving people who reciprocate. But he says, "As I have loved you." 00:49:41.280 |
Natural love will not love anyone that's difficult. 00:49:45.280 |
Think about it. We don't have to search the scriptures deeply to know this. 00:49:51.280 |
Look at our own lives. If they're difficult, especially if you're a Christian, 00:49:57.280 |
there's Christian-y things that we say to make what we do godly. 00:50:06.280 |
And so it becomes like, these are friends and these are acquaintances. 00:50:11.280 |
So friends are people that we love, we care for, we invite into the house. 00:50:15.280 |
Acquaintances are people that we don't get along with. 00:50:21.280 |
And so natural love will never practice love to love people who are difficult. 00:50:27.280 |
Natural love will not love anyone that won't reciprocate. 00:50:31.280 |
I can practice love for a while, but if you don't reciprocate, 00:50:35.280 |
if you don't appreciate what I'm doing, eventually you become an acquaintance. 00:50:40.280 |
I'm not going to pour my life into it. I've done that, but you didn't reciprocate. 00:50:45.280 |
And at some point, so I'll tolerate for a while, for a month, for two months, 00:50:50.280 |
or maybe even a year, but you never reciprocate, so you don't deserve this love. 00:50:54.280 |
Natural love will never practice love to those who don't reciprocate. 00:50:59.280 |
Natural love will not love anyone that's different. 00:51:02.280 |
And that's why we gather around ourselves people who are like us. 00:51:07.280 |
They speak like us. They talk like us. They're financially like us. 00:51:11.280 |
And so we surround ourselves with people that are easier to love. 00:51:15.280 |
And so we practice love the way the rest of the world loves, 00:51:20.280 |
and so we think that we're practicing the biblical love. 00:51:25.280 |
The natural love, if it's difficult to do that, will never love your enemy. 00:51:33.280 |
Every fiber of our being will fight against it. 00:51:37.280 |
In fact, it almost sounds like, "Jesus could not have meant that." 00:51:42.280 |
Enemy? I can't even love people who are difficult. 00:51:48.280 |
If there's a possibility that you might hurt me, that's enough. 00:51:57.280 |
Many of you have come from churches where you've been hurt. 00:52:04.280 |
And as a result of that, you have a defense mechanism. 00:52:18.280 |
If there's a possibility that you might hurt me, I can't practice this love. 00:52:23.280 |
You can be my acquaintance, but I can't practice this love. 00:52:34.280 |
Because he didn't just say, "Hey, take a risk." 00:52:37.280 |
He said, "No, the people who are already hurting you to love them." 00:52:42.280 |
Naturally speaking, this is ridiculous. It must be a hyperbole. 00:52:45.280 |
God doesn't really expect us to practice this. 00:52:50.280 |
Not only does he expect us to practice this, he says, 00:52:53.280 |
"This is the identifying mark of a Christian." 00:52:56.280 |
There's nothing more that surprises the secular world 00:53:01.280 |
than when they see God's people practice this love. 00:53:06.280 |
Because they don't see this anywhere else in the world. 00:53:10.280 |
This is supernatural. This is something that you cannot practice. 00:53:14.280 |
You will not practice. They won't even praise you if you practice it. 00:53:25.280 |
"God demonstrates his love in this agape love." 00:53:28.280 |
Romans 5, 6-11, "For while we were still helpless, 00:53:37.280 |
Verse 8, "But God demonstrates his own love toward us, 00:53:40.280 |
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." 00:53:48.280 |
we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son." 00:53:52.280 |
While we were helpless, while we were sinners, 00:54:05.280 |
And when Adam and Eve and all their descendants 00:54:09.280 |
rebelled against God, how does the Bible describe our fall? 00:54:13.280 |
All have sinned and what? Fall short of the glory of God. 00:54:25.280 |
So when Christ comes and he restores that glory, 00:54:29.280 |
now we are back to what God intended to be his image bearers. 00:54:34.280 |
And what is the image that God desires us to bear more than any other image? 00:54:44.280 |
When we reflect the cross, we bear his image. 00:54:49.280 |
In that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 00:55:09.280 |
And then he tells us what that's going to look like. 00:55:13.280 |
So what he says from verse 27 down about what you ought to do, 00:55:23.280 |
You'll see like other religions that the good balances the bad 00:55:28.280 |
or fight against your enemy and how to conquer them 00:55:35.280 |
But to love your enemies, to turn the other cheek, 00:55:47.280 |
"Oh, you know, like spiritual people are people who know the Bible. 00:55:55.280 |
Mature people are the ones who have know-how and are the disciples." 00:56:06.280 |
that he wants us to reflect more than any other character, 00:56:09.280 |
is to love our enemies, to love difficult people, 00:56:20.280 |
You're not doing it because they're going to reciprocate one day. 00:56:24.280 |
You're not doing it because somehow there's benefit or glory that comes to you. 00:56:38.280 |
First thing that he says to us, just in case we superficially says, 00:56:44.280 |
And oftentimes what we think of loving our enemies is not hating them. 00:56:48.280 |
I'm not going to hate them, and I'm not going to go and slash their tires, 00:56:56.280 |
Well, he explains to us the application of this. 00:57:00.280 |
First place, he says, "To do good to those who hate you." 00:57:08.280 |
Like I said, if you've ever tried to love anybody, 00:57:12.280 |
if you've ever tried to be around, even be around somebody 00:57:31.280 |
Your struggle wasn't like, "What good can I do for them?" 00:57:34.280 |
Our struggle was, "How do I let them know that they're not going to get away with this? 00:57:43.280 |
And if you're self-controlled enough, and if you're godly enough, 00:57:48.280 |
that I'm not going to harm you the way you deserve, 00:58:04.280 |
the distinction between justice, mercy, and grace, 00:58:08.280 |
because you and I have a hard time in our flesh to practice even justice. 00:58:13.280 |
If somebody smacks me on my left cheek, right, 00:58:21.280 |
I'm going to learn some MMA and put you in an arm bar. 00:58:27.280 |
Once I break your arm, I'm going to break your neck, break your knees, break your-- 00:58:38.280 |
If you slap me, I'm going to make sure that you know what you did was wrong. 00:58:47.280 |
but I'm going to harm you enough so that you never do this again. 00:58:50.280 |
And I need to do this so that you don't go around hurting other people, 00:59:01.280 |
In the Old Testament, God restricts our justice 00:59:06.280 |
because it is our natural inclination to go beyond justice. 00:59:19.280 |
So he says eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. 00:59:22.280 |
So he puts justice--so that you can practice justice. 00:59:29.280 |
Mercy is even though you are wrong, you don't retaliate at all. 00:59:47.280 |
Even though you're a good man, a self-controlled man, 01:00:04.280 |
God is perfectly in his place to practice justice, 01:00:08.280 |
and if he practiced justice with us, you and I wouldn't be here. 01:00:11.280 |
He is perfectly just to destroy every single human being 01:00:17.280 |
So that would be perfectly just, to send all of us to hell. 01:00:25.280 |
And what--even if you think it's unfair, what are you going to do about it? 01:00:33.280 |
is because he allowed enough oxygen to come into our nostrils. 01:00:43.280 |
all he had to do was just stop, and you and I would die. 01:00:51.280 |
He would have been perfectly merciful without bringing justice. 01:00:56.280 |
And to say, "You know what? God could have destroyed them, 01:00:58.280 |
but he's not destroying us. He's just allowing us to live." 01:01:15.280 |
and he calls us to enter this throne of what? 01:01:24.280 |
That in times of struggle to come, seek him out. 01:01:28.280 |
People who are rebellious, people who are helpless, 01:01:30.280 |
people who are sinners, people who are enemies at one point. 01:01:34.280 |
He practiced this grace, and this is what he calls us to do. 01:01:42.280 |
because whenever we talk about the idea of grace, 01:01:44.280 |
we practice a worldly understanding of grace. 01:01:51.280 |
that when people are sinning and do whatever they want, 01:01:54.280 |
we turn the other way, and we sweep it under the rug, 01:01:59.280 |
You would never do that to somebody you truly love. 01:02:03.280 |
If somebody, your mother, father, brother, sister, and your children 01:02:08.280 |
are headed toward the path that's going to harm them and destroy them, 01:02:14.280 |
you don't say, "You know what? I want to practice grace. 01:02:30.280 |
because you would not do that to somebody you truly love. 01:02:37.280 |
because I know if I say this, that they're going to say I'm a jerk. 01:02:47.280 |
Sometimes practicing grace means to say difficult things. 01:02:51.280 |
Sometimes practicing grace would cause them to dislike you even further. 01:02:57.280 |
Sometimes practicing grace means to speak the truth in love. 01:03:02.280 |
Nevertheless, he calls us to practice this grace in Romans 12, 17-21. 01:03:10.280 |
Respect what is right in the sight of all men, if possible, 01:03:19.280 |
Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, 01:03:22.280 |
for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine. I will repay,' says the Lord. 01:03:33.280 |
For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head. 01:03:36.280 |
Do not overcome evil, but overcome evil with good. 01:03:44.280 |
Not only to not hate them, he said to feed them. 01:03:49.280 |
Not only don't retaliate, he said give them a drink. 01:04:07.280 |
If you've never made an attempt to even practice this, 01:04:11.280 |
you're just going to hear it kind of like, "Nah, this can't be serious." 01:04:23.280 |
Loving somebody that is trying to harm you will destroy you. 01:04:36.280 |
Even the thought of doing good to somebody who is actively wanting harm in your life, 01:04:43.280 |
and to even contemplate, "How am I going to do good for them? 01:04:47.280 |
How can I feed them? How can I care for them?" 01:04:57.280 |
But that thing that dies in the context of trying to kill, 01:05:02.280 |
in the context of trying to love somebody who hates you, must die. 01:05:15.280 |
That thing which causes us to stiff-arm people, 01:05:28.280 |
So when Jesus says, "He who finds this life will lose it." 01:05:34.280 |
He who practices love like the rest of the world, 01:05:43.280 |
eventually, if that's the only kind of love you practice, 01:05:46.280 |
eventually you will see what that does to your marriage. 01:05:52.280 |
You will see what that does to your children. 01:05:55.280 |
You will see how long your friendship will last. 01:06:03.280 |
You will see what kind of children that you will bear. 01:06:05.280 |
You will see what kind of church fellowship you will have. 01:06:09.280 |
If you only practice this love that the world practices. 01:06:15.280 |
Because eventually, they're not going to be lovable. 01:06:19.280 |
Eventually, you will say they don't deserve it. 01:06:24.280 |
Eventually, you're not going to be satisfied in the way that they're responding. 01:06:32.280 |
lasts for a period because it's self-centered. 01:06:37.280 |
The love that he calls us to practice will kill us. 01:06:47.280 |
And it drives out any personal ambition that we hold on to. 01:07:06.280 |
I remember years ago, while we were engaged in homeless ministry, 01:07:14.280 |
when we first started engaging, God ignited a compassion in me. 01:07:19.280 |
And I remember having conversations with the homeless and thinking, 01:07:33.280 |
Because God allowed me to see them as people. 01:07:37.280 |
At one point, they were somebody's beloved child in somebody's arm. 01:07:45.280 |
At some point, they were somebody's brother that they played baseball with 01:07:52.280 |
Something happened in their life, and they're out on the street. 01:07:54.280 |
And God allowed me to have compassion for them. 01:07:56.280 |
So I went out, and I tried to, you know, "Let's go. 01:07:59.280 |
Let's go out and rally people to go out and help them." 01:08:04.280 |
But after a while, that compassion started to dwindle away. 01:08:11.280 |
Because as I started going out, and the money that I had to use -- 01:08:16.280 |
I mean, at that time, my full-time pay was $1,300. 01:08:19.280 |
And every challenge every week was, "How can I feed 100 people with $50?" 01:08:25.280 |
And I remember very specifically, you know, when we first started going out, 01:08:31.280 |
And they used to have these Farmer John hot dogs. 01:08:33.280 |
And these Farmer John hot dogs, you can get 50 of them for $4.95. 01:08:37.280 |
And then I can get another can of hot chocolate that I can make a whole 01:08:42.280 |
hot chocolate thing for another $4.95, right? 01:08:46.280 |
So I bought enough of them, so $50, we were able to do that. 01:08:49.280 |
It wasn't delicious, but it was just not for them to be hungry. 01:08:53.280 |
And then I remember a lady in our church wanted to help, 01:08:57.280 |
and so she would go collect old donuts, right? 01:09:00.280 |
Before they throw it away, she would get a whole bucket of it. 01:09:02.280 |
So that's what we fed every year for years and years, right? 01:09:06.280 |
Farmer John hot dogs, hot chocolate, and stale donuts, right? 01:09:12.280 |
And then I was like, "Oh, you know, winter is coming around, 01:09:17.280 |
So I started to collect used clothing that people would typically donate 01:09:21.280 |
So I started collecting that, and I would start laying it out. 01:09:24.280 |
And that's when I really got into trouble because it started attracting 01:09:28.280 |
a large crowd, and we would always run out of food. 01:09:32.280 |
And then not only would we run out of food, we would run out of clothes. 01:09:35.280 |
So all the good clothes, they would come and get it first. 01:09:38.280 |
And then once it ran out, the benevolence would turn to frustration. 01:09:44.280 |
And every week I went out, you would have the people in the front saying, 01:09:48.280 |
"Thank you for coming, thank you for coming," but at the end, 01:09:50.280 |
I would always get cussed out before we leave. 01:09:53.280 |
And so every day we'd pack up our stuff with somebody cussing us out 01:10:00.280 |
And my compassion started to dwindle into bitterness. 01:10:04.280 |
And at that time, even though it was $200, my full-time pay was $1,300, 01:10:09.280 |
so $200 at that time was a lot of money for me. 01:10:12.280 |
And I said, "Man, I'm sacrificing all of this to come out, 01:10:17.280 |
And then on top of that, the more time I spent with them, 01:10:27.280 |
Some of them talked about raping girls like it was fun. 01:10:33.280 |
And I'm sitting there listening to their conversation. 01:10:35.280 |
The longer I was out there, I mean, these aren't good guys. 01:10:42.280 |
And I see young teenage girls get hooked on drugs. 01:10:46.280 |
They come out, blonde hair, blue eye, like a high school cheerleader, 01:10:50.280 |
and then six months later, you could see how their physical appearance 01:10:58.280 |
and they would have to sell their bodies just to stay safe and to get drugs. 01:11:02.280 |
And I'm watching this, and I'm serving these people. 01:11:16.280 |
But I had to keep doing it because I'm committed, 01:11:18.280 |
because I got other people to come out with me. 01:11:24.280 |
But I remember as I was wrestling with this, thinking, 01:11:38.280 |
If I went out thinking like, "Oh, I feel good. 01:11:40.280 |
I feel like I'm doing something good," that also dried up. 01:11:45.280 |
After the initial period, that also dried up. 01:11:48.280 |
And I remember wrestling through that process 01:11:53.280 |
where every time I would come before God and pray, 01:12:04.280 |
Man, every fiber of my being fought against that. 01:12:14.280 |
Now, I share you that because that's what I experienced 01:12:23.280 |
But to be more real, I struggle with that as a pastor. 01:12:36.280 |
And that's the biggest struggle that I struggle with 01:12:52.280 |
If I wasn't a pastor, I don't have to deal with this. 01:12:56.280 |
So through the years, I wrestled with that thought. 01:13:01.280 |
If I wasn't a pastor, I don't have to deal with this. 01:13:18.280 |
When I think about loving people in my flesh, 01:13:29.280 |
There's nothing deep inside that if I tap into it, 01:13:52.280 |
And I realize that this is not a call because I'm a pastor. 01:14:05.280 |
This was not a unique calling for the pastorate to love. 01:14:13.280 |
And I can tell you, when I got saved in 1983, 01:14:25.280 |
I would like to tell you that God showed mercy to me 01:14:29.280 |
and grace up to that point because all the things 01:14:32.280 |
that I did in ignorance because I didn't know Him, 01:14:37.280 |
And so since then, I've been preaching the gospel, 01:14:41.280 |
bringing people to Christ, and thank God that I got saved 01:14:50.280 |
I wish I could tell you that that's how my life went. 01:14:53.280 |
My greatest regrets and embarrassment in life 01:15:10.280 |
considering that He's called me to the pastorate, 01:15:19.280 |
and to know that the only reason why I'm here 01:15:41.280 |
He's an emotionless being who's just all-powerful 01:15:48.280 |
But we have emotions because He has emotions. 01:16:09.280 |
but you will never be able to relate to the heart of God 01:16:18.280 |
You could try to explain logically why Jesus came, 01:16:26.280 |
Explain to somebody why He would send His only begotten Son, 01:16:39.280 |
to send His only begotten Son who won rebellion? 01:16:45.280 |
There's no amount of apologetics that can explain what Jesus did. 01:17:01.280 |
and attempt to practice this love in our lives 01:17:17.280 |
And you will never understand why He sends us to get more. 01:17:31.280 |
And you and I, at one point, were enemies of God. 01:17:35.280 |
So He calls us to practice what He did for us. 01:18:11.280 |
Even when we sin, we grieve over what it does to us. 01:18:16.280 |
But very little do we think about what it does to Him. 01:19:08.280 |
the length, the width, the height of Your love. 01:19:52.280 |
that we may see the glory of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 01:19:55.280 |
That what we desire more than anything in this world 01:21:57.660 |
♪ The vilest sinner's heart can be cleansed ♪ 01:22:55.380 |
♪ My heart is satisfied in the riches of God ♪ 01:24:44.280 |
and the fellowship and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit 01:25:06.080 |
That we may be the reflection of Christ's love 01:25:09.160 |
and the aroma of Christ wherever you send us. 01:26:40.160 |
♪ Worthy of every breath he could ever breathe ♪