back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 11/27/2022
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Hebrews chapter 4, verses 14 to 16, it goes, "Therefore, 00:14:22.560 |
has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, 00:14:27.560 |
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize 00:14:30.560 |
with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things 00:14:38.560 |
to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy 00:15:00.560 |
And all of you is more than enough for all of me 00:18:39.560 |
We have a few announcements before we get started. 00:18:43.560 |
so Grace is going to come and give the announcements first. 00:18:59.560 |
It's a little bit away from now, so early announcement. 00:19:03.560 |
But it's a one-day event where if you sign up, 00:19:14.560 |
you will be sharing a time of intentional fellowship 00:19:20.560 |
And this is open to all women in college, BAM, 00:19:29.560 |
All right, so the event is happening at the end of January, 00:19:38.560 |
but as you exit, there is a table set up there, 00:19:41.560 |
so if you haven't signed up and you're planning to, 00:19:50.560 |
but Family Ministry is hosting a Christmas luncheon, 00:19:54.560 |
just kind of like what we did in Thanksgiving lunch, dinner. 00:19:57.560 |
And so if you're planning to participate in that, 00:20:04.560 |
you'll be going out and grabbing lunch together with that group. 00:20:08.560 |
So the sign-ups will be taking place on that. 00:20:10.560 |
And then at the end of the year, on the 31st, 00:20:18.560 |
right before we have our New Year's Eve service. 00:20:21.560 |
So it just happens to be on Saturday this time of the year, 00:20:30.560 |
to come and participate in the ping pong tournament. 00:20:37.560 |
there will be sign-ups on the website, our app. 00:20:46.560 |
Next Sunday, we're having our communion service, 00:20:48.560 |
and we are going to go back to our traditional way that we're doing. 00:20:52.560 |
And so we're going to have you come up in the front. 00:20:55.560 |
And I know some of you may still be a little bit nervous, if you are. 00:20:59.560 |
We are going to be taking precautions, wearing gloves and all of that, 00:21:02.560 |
but we do want to go back to our traditional way of doing communion. 00:21:06.560 |
And we'll explain why we feel the need to go back to that next Sunday. 00:21:18.560 |
our brother Benson Juan is going to come, give his testimony, 00:21:24.560 |
and you have a physical offering that you want to give, 00:21:29.560 |
And for the rest of you, we'll give you a minute to give it electronically. 00:21:35.560 |
Gracious Father, we thank you and praise you for your goodness over our lives. 00:21:40.560 |
We thank you that you've given us time, Lord God, 00:21:43.560 |
to gather together with family, friends, and church 00:21:50.560 |
and to be thankful, Lord God, for the gift of salvation 00:21:55.560 |
I pray, Father God, that that attitude of gratitude 00:22:02.560 |
that we would truly enter your court, Lord God, 00:22:08.560 |
We ask this morning that you would bless our offering. 00:22:13.560 |
May it be multiplied for your use and for your kingdom. 00:36:11.560 |
All right, thank you for that encouraging testimony. 00:36:23.560 |
If you guys can turn your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 4. 00:36:27.560 |
We'll be jumping back into the Gospel of Luke. 00:36:34.560 |
Even though we will be in the text all the way up to verse 13, 00:36:40.560 |
our focus this morning is going to be on the first two verses. 00:37:11.560 |
Heavenly Father, we come to seek your guidance. 00:37:26.560 |
I pray, Father God, that you would anoint this time, 00:37:35.560 |
that it may bear fruit thirty, sixty, a hundredfold. 00:37:38.560 |
Lord, whatever it is that we have brought into this room, 00:37:43.560 |
we know, Father God, that our answer is you and you alone. 00:37:47.560 |
So we pray that your Holy Spirit would guide us, lead us, 00:37:56.560 |
If you can post up the picture, the first slide. 00:38:07.560 |
Some of you guys may remember, I put this up on my Facebook wall, 00:38:18.560 |
and some of you have asked me, "Did I take this picture?" 00:38:26.560 |
I just put it up there because I saw it online somewhere, 00:38:30.560 |
You know, and, you know, like, I want to be able to see it 00:38:38.560 |
and then that time of the year, like, it'll pop up and say, 00:38:46.560 |
I'm hoping that this picture will pop back up 00:38:50.560 |
But some of you guys were asking me, even on the thread, 00:38:56.560 |
Because I don't have the best reputation of taking good pictures. 00:39:01.560 |
you know, like, I'm not really into pictures. 00:39:03.560 |
I don't actually own a camera other than my phone, 00:39:05.560 |
and I have an iPhone, and I don't think iPhone 00:39:14.560 |
So, you know, I didn't answer the question, you know, 00:39:18.560 |
but the question was, "Is this real or is it not real?" 00:39:29.560 |
obviously, even something like that online right now, 00:39:34.560 |
what to believe and not to believe that's coming online. 00:39:40.560 |
I'm talking about technology where you can take 00:39:42.560 |
a face of a celebrity and just pop it on somebody else, 00:39:49.560 |
And so, like, what is real, what's not real, right, 00:40:25.560 |
I believe that you and I are living in a period of age 00:40:32.560 |
to be able to discern what is real and what is not, 00:40:41.560 |
because I just happen to be born in a Christian home, 00:40:59.560 |
but we know that a large portion of that is not real. 00:41:04.560 |
But how do we distinguish what is real and not real? 00:41:11.560 |
even though they don't have the same technology that we had, 00:41:14.560 |
because the Jews were so eagerly waiting for the Messiah 00:41:17.560 |
to be the answer for every problem that they had, 00:41:20.560 |
their economic problem, their health problem, 00:41:31.560 |
one after another, coming and saying that they are the Messiah, 00:41:45.560 |
coming out of nowhere and saying that he's the Messiah, 00:41:59.560 |
other people have made claims that they're the Messiah. 00:42:04.560 |
And so Luke has been systematically, from chapter one, 00:42:06.560 |
bringing evidence after evidence after evidence 00:42:26.560 |
angel coming and saying, "This is the Son of God 00:42:29.560 |
who's going to take away the sins of the world." 00:42:33.560 |
in the way that their son was going to be born, 00:42:39.560 |
about the consolation of Israel was going to come. 00:42:43.560 |
"The one who's coming after me is greater than me. 00:42:47.560 |
he's going to be baptizing you with the Holy Spirit." 00:43:02.560 |
and chapter three ends with Jesus' genealogy, 00:43:19.560 |
who are also saying that they are also the Messiah. 00:43:39.560 |
tremendous revival at one point in Korean history. 00:43:42.560 |
In fact, if you study revivals in modern history 00:46:15.560 |
acknowledged systems that they've already ordained, 00:47:24.560 |
There's a way for us to begin to do work there. 00:47:35.560 |
The heaviest concentration of poverty was in India. 00:47:41.560 |
The heaviest concentration of sex trafficking 00:47:51.560 |
Where there's something happening in South Korea 00:48:03.560 |
I believe that that same darkness exists here. 00:48:41.560 |
We're just doing what everybody else is doing. 00:48:45.560 |
We're living the way everybody else is living, 00:49:33.560 |
it's sort of an introduction to the rest of it, 00:49:35.560 |
because I don't believe we're going to be able 00:49:41.560 |
until we see, ask, and answer some of the questions 00:50:03.560 |
we need to recognize that he is who he says he is. 00:50:10.560 |
"and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness." 00:50:13.560 |
Do you see the double emphasis here of the Holy Spirit? 00:50:17.560 |
because I talked about this several weeks ago, 00:50:25.560 |
It says, "From the get-go, it was the Holy Spirit. 00:50:30.560 |
"and people who are moving according to the Holy Spirit." 00:50:37.560 |
"and who's the one who led him to be tempted?" 00:50:44.560 |
is the Holy Spirit moving him toward that direction. 00:50:46.560 |
In fact, our text says he was led by the Holy Spirit. 00:50:59.560 |
literally means to be driven, to be cast, to throw out. 00:51:11.560 |
Jesus didn't say, "Oh, I'm going to go take some time off 00:51:16.560 |
and the Holy Spirit just kind of went with him. 00:51:18.560 |
He says, "No, from the get-go, the Holy Spirit filled him. 00:52:14.560 |
He says to pray so that you are not led into temptation, 00:52:16.560 |
but here it says the Holy Spirit led Jesus into temptation. 00:52:21.560 |
"When you are tempted, let no one say that God is tempting." 00:52:24.560 |
God does not tempt anyone, nor can he be tempted. 00:52:33.560 |
So there's something going on here that we need to ask 00:52:35.560 |
and answer before we understand the rest of it. 00:52:40.560 |
Because if we don't understand the rest of it, 00:52:43.560 |
Jesus set us an example for us to conquer our sins, right? 00:52:47.560 |
Which is not wrong, but that's not the main point. 00:52:59.560 |
So he was able to refute Satan, so you can refute Satan. 00:53:04.560 |
Now, in and of itself, it's not wrong, right? 00:53:08.560 |
But that was never the main point of Jesus' temptation. 00:53:17.560 |
Even as he tells us not to be led into temptation, 00:53:20.560 |
yet Jesus himself was led by the Holy Spirit. 00:53:23.560 |
The only one that was actually led into temptation. 00:53:32.560 |
if you read it systematically, why this is happening. 00:53:34.560 |
Because if you remember, at the end of chapter 3, 00:53:47.560 |
is that his genealogy goes all the way to Adam. 00:53:52.560 |
Luke the physician was not just writing random facts. 00:54:00.560 |
And so, the reason why he leaves it off with Adam 00:54:17.560 |
So as Adam was tempted in the Garden of Eden, 00:54:23.560 |
Jesus is in the wilderness, and in his temptation, 00:54:25.560 |
he's trying to bring us back into the garden. 00:54:28.560 |
So it's not by accident that Luke is putting this in order. 00:54:33.560 |
In fact, Apostle Paul makes this very clear in 1 Corinthians 15, 22, 00:54:37.560 |
"For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive." 00:54:43.560 |
Again, in Romans 5, 14, "Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses." 00:54:55.560 |
And now Christ is introduced, and that reign of death 00:54:58.560 |
is going to be reversed for those who receive Christ 00:55:06.560 |
"So also it is written, 'The first man, Adam, became a living soul; 00:55:09.560 |
the last Adam," referring to Christ, "became a life-giving spirit.'" 00:55:15.560 |
So first and foremost, why was he being tested? 00:55:18.560 |
He was being tested because the whole reason why he came 00:55:25.560 |
Jesus is the perfect example, because he's the perfect human being who never sinned. 00:55:29.560 |
So everything that he did serves as an example for us to follow, 00:55:41.560 |
who gave a perfect example for us to have a perfect life, 00:55:54.560 |
He who knew no sin became sin so that you and I 00:55:57.560 |
can become the righteousness of Christ, righteousness of God. 00:56:09.560 |
In fact, if you remember anything about the Old Testament, 00:56:12.560 |
the whole Old Testament is laid out, especially Leviticus. 00:56:16.560 |
It's laid out for us to remind us over and over and over again 00:56:20.560 |
that a sinful man cannot approach a holy God. 00:56:27.560 |
When you read the book of Leviticus, Leviticus is not a welcoming book. 00:56:35.560 |
There's a reason why Leviticus typically is avoided. 00:56:41.560 |
"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son." 00:56:47.560 |
But the whole book of Leviticus basically says, 00:56:49.560 |
"You will die if you do this. You will die if you don't do this. 00:56:52.560 |
You will die if you touch this. You will die if you go here. 00:56:56.560 |
I have anointed this tribe to do this and that tribe to do that, 00:56:59.560 |
and if any other tribes come in and give the sacrifice that was not warranted, 00:57:04.560 |
Repeatedly, over and over again, we are told, "You are unclean. 00:57:10.560 |
And even if you gave an animal sacrifice with any kind of defect, 00:57:18.560 |
And even if the animal was perfect, if sinful hands touched that 00:57:21.560 |
before the sacrifice, it would become defective. 00:57:25.560 |
So if there is any one point that was pounded into the Israelites, 00:57:30.560 |
it's that God is holy, and you and I are sinful, 00:57:34.560 |
and there is a huge chasm between this holy God and sinful man. 00:57:40.560 |
So Christ's temptation is to provide a credential for Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice. 00:57:47.560 |
If he failed in any of his sacrifices, any of his temptations, 00:57:51.560 |
he would have been disqualified before his ministry ever began. 00:58:02.560 |
He could have overthrown, maybe, he was organized enough, 00:58:06.560 |
and trained the soldiers, and overthrew the Roman government. 00:58:08.560 |
He could have been a great leader, but he would not have been our Savior. 00:58:16.560 |
That's why the Holy Spirit had to lead him to 00:58:23.560 |
Tempted in every way, yet sinless, without defect. 00:58:38.560 |
The reason why I say that is because oftentimes when we think of how Jesus 00:58:41.560 |
was a sympathetic high priest, usually the pushback, 00:58:46.560 |
"Well, Jesus is not a woman, so he doesn't really understand me." 00:58:53.560 |
Jesus never got married, so he doesn't know what it's like to 00:59:01.560 |
He's never been married to a husband who's just not leading well, 00:59:08.560 |
He's never raised kids who are rebellious, so he doesn't know. 00:59:14.560 |
He's never grown old, so he's never experienced midlife crisis. 00:59:19.560 |
In fact, majority of the things that you and I suffer on a day-to-day basis, 00:59:25.560 |
There are some things, "Oh, Jesus was the oldest brother, 00:59:32.560 |
Maybe his father died early, so he knows what that's like. 00:59:35.560 |
So we can pick and choose, but if you look at this carefully, 00:59:41.560 |
Luke chapter 4, 2 says, "For 40 days being tempted by the devil." 00:59:45.560 |
Now, verse 3 and on to verse 13 record the three temptations that are 00:59:49.560 |
highlighted for us, but the text clearly says he was tempted the whole time. 00:59:54.560 |
Mark chapter 4, 1, "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness 00:59:59.560 |
The whole purpose why he was led was not simply he can have time with God. 01:00:03.560 |
He said it was for the purpose of being tempted. 01:00:09.560 |
Mark chapter 1, 13, "And he was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan." 01:00:19.560 |
So the three temptations that we're going to get to next week or the week after 01:00:29.560 |
Many of you, if you're taking the bar or taking the medical exam, 01:00:38.560 |
The only reason why you even qualify to take that test is because you passed 01:00:44.560 |
It just happens to be your final accumulation of those tests. 01:00:47.560 |
So the three tests that we're going to be looking at that typically we focus on 01:00:54.560 |
What the text says, "For 40 days he was being tested." 01:00:57.560 |
Now, why is this important and why is this relevant to that question of, 01:01:01.560 |
"He can't relate to me because he wasn't old, he wasn't a female, 01:01:10.560 |
The number 40 is very significant in the Bible. 01:01:14.560 |
The Bible doesn't throw out anything just randomly. 01:01:17.560 |
The number 40 is very significant in the Bible, and it is related to judgment and curse. 01:01:24.560 |
It says--these are the things that the Bible mentions about 40. 01:01:28.560 |
Forty years of wandering in the desert before they go to the Promised Land. 01:01:40.560 |
It says in Deuteronomy 25 in the Old Testament law, 01:01:43.560 |
if an individual was guilty of some crime against another brother, 01:01:55.560 |
In Leviticus 12, 1-4, when a woman gives birth to a child, 01:02:03.560 |
And again, you know, it may be offensive to some of you 01:02:06.560 |
when you don't understand the context of that, 01:02:08.560 |
but the reason why that was given was because a sinful woman 01:02:15.560 |
and so in order to teach that sin is multiplying, 01:02:19.560 |
that she had to be declared unclean for 40 days. 01:02:24.560 |
Forty days, in Genesis 7, verse 4 and 12, the flood lasted. 01:02:30.560 |
So when the judgment came upon mankind to wipe them out, 01:02:35.560 |
the flood came and destroyed them for 40 days. 01:02:38.560 |
Ezekiel 4, verse 6, when God tells him to represent the sins of Israel, 01:02:45.560 |
he says he was to do this for 40 days, to represent their sins. 01:02:50.560 |
Moses fasted for 40 days, and he's up in the mountain for 40 days, 01:02:56.560 |
in order to receive the new covenant, the law of God, 01:02:59.560 |
that he was going to present to the nation of Israel. 01:03:02.560 |
The Bible clearly says that the law brought curse to mankind. 01:03:08.560 |
So the number 40 in the Bible represents God's judgment and curse, 01:03:13.560 |
and this is significant because chapter 3 ends with Adam 01:03:21.560 |
Jesus is in the state of the curse of mankind 01:03:24.560 |
for 40 days being tested in every way, yet without sin. 01:03:32.560 |
He may not have experienced what it means to be a female. 01:03:38.560 |
but there is no man who was tested and tempted like Jesus directly by Satan for 40 days. 01:03:49.560 |
It doesn't describe in detail exactly what it was, 01:03:51.560 |
but during those 40 days, some people may say, "Well, it's only 40 days. 01:03:57.560 |
I mean, everyone here has lived longer than that." 01:04:03.560 |
John MacArthur, I think, says this well, and it helped me to understand this aspect. 01:04:08.560 |
He says, "Jesus experienced testing and temptation more than any other human being 01:04:17.560 |
And what he meant by that was every temptation that you and I feel and wrestle with, 01:04:28.560 |
And that's why Jesus says to pray to not to be led into temptation 01:04:35.560 |
because our God knows that if we are led into temptation at some point, 01:04:39.560 |
everybody has a cracking point, at some point we will crack. 01:04:42.560 |
And at the moment of compromise, we are no longer struggling with temptation. 01:04:56.560 |
So the struggle with temptation was always real to the very end because he never sinned. 01:05:03.560 |
In Hebrews 4.15, it says, "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, 01:05:10.560 |
In summary, your translation is, "In every way as we are yet without sin." 01:05:16.560 |
In fact, his experience with sin and curse was much deeper than what you and I normally experience. 01:05:24.560 |
In fact, it says in 2 Corinthians 5.21, "He made him who knew no sin," what? 01:05:29.560 |
"To be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God." 01:05:34.560 |
You notice here, he doesn't say, "He who knew no sin experienced sin on our behalf." 01:05:43.560 |
His experience with sin was so intimate that he says he became sin for us. 01:05:50.560 |
In fact, in Galatians 3.13, it says, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having," what? 01:06:02.560 |
He embraced it so fully, the Bible describes him being sin and being a curse on our behalf. 01:06:12.560 |
So those 40 days and every single second that he lived on this earth, 01:06:17.560 |
he experienced this curse to the fullest that you and I would never experience. 01:06:22.560 |
We typically think that he experienced it upon the cross. 01:06:25.560 |
The penalty of sin, he absorbed upon the cross on our behalf. 01:06:29.560 |
But every single second that he took on human form, he experienced this curse and his sin on our behalf. 01:06:38.560 |
Jesus' temptation was thorough, far beyond what you and I could ever possibly imagine. 01:06:47.560 |
Third question that we ask is, "How can Jesus even be tempted? 01:06:56.560 |
I mean, if you do inductive Bible study through this, and you ask a lot of questions, 01:07:01.560 |
one of the first questions you should be asking is, "Is Satan dumb?" 01:07:14.560 |
Remember Satan's interaction with God in the Old Testament? 01:07:22.560 |
God is on his throne, and Satan is roaming around the earth, and he allows Satan to come into his presence. 01:07:28.560 |
And the only reason why he's even able to do what he did to Job was because God allowed it. 01:07:35.560 |
Jesus says, at the end of his ministry, "Satan has asked permission to sift you like wheat." 01:07:43.560 |
Now remember, Jesus is the second person of the Trinity. 01:07:47.560 |
And he takes him up and he says, "If you bow down to me and worship me, I will give you this." 01:07:55.560 |
That's just like if I was standing in front of a world-renowned chef and said, 01:08:00.560 |
"If you would just honor me, I will make you some ramen." 01:08:06.560 |
And then actually expecting you to be tempted. 01:08:15.560 |
Jesus, Scripture says, all things were created by him and for him, and all of that, even that, was being sustained by him. 01:08:29.560 |
I mean, clearly the Bible doesn't present him that way to us, and he's way smarter than us. 01:08:34.560 |
In fact, the Bible warns us about taking the power of Satan lightly. 01:08:39.560 |
And yet, he comes to Jesus and says, "I will give you all of this if you would bow down to me." 01:08:46.560 |
In Philippians 2, 5-8, it says, "Have this attitude in yourselves, which also is in Christ Jesus, 01:08:52.560 |
who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 01:08:59.560 |
but emptied himself, taking the form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men." 01:09:07.560 |
I know this is a text that we often use to talk about church unity, about being humble, 01:09:12.560 |
about considering other people better than ourselves. 01:09:16.560 |
But if you dig into the meaning behind this, what does it mean for the God of the universe to empty himself? 01:09:26.560 |
We know Christmas is coming, and we think about the incarnation, we think about what he has done, 01:09:33.560 |
and years and years and years, I'm pretty sure you've heard story after story, 01:09:38.560 |
and exposition after exposition about the incarnation of Christ every Christmas. 01:09:44.560 |
But I don't think it really affects the way that it should. 01:09:49.560 |
I don't think we really understand the depth of what it took for him to be incarnated, to take on human form. 01:09:57.560 |
That Satan, who is in rebellion against God, saw Jesus in his humble state, 01:10:05.560 |
and for the first time in his existence, he saw hope for himself. 01:10:20.560 |
He was so veiled in his glory that he actually thought that he was going to tempt Jesus with his own creation in his rebellion. 01:10:36.560 |
He was so humbled. He was so humiliated that the one who was in rebellion against him came to tempt him. 01:10:48.560 |
So the fact that this is even happening is because he emptied himself. 01:10:55.560 |
Do you see how ridiculous it is for pride and Christianity to exist? 01:11:05.560 |
A man who was walking with cries headed toward the cross, to be humiliated, 01:11:11.560 |
and to be thinking, "Am I going to sit on the left or to the right?" 01:11:24.560 |
In James 1.13, it says, "Let no one say that when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God, 01:11:28.560 |
for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself does not tempt anyone." 01:11:50.560 |
He saw a humble man, taking up the form of a servant. 01:12:01.560 |
his incarnation, what it took for him to just walk among us, 01:12:12.560 |
Doesn't that automatically see any kind of pride in us? 01:12:16.560 |
How ugly that must seem, especially in the context of worshiping this God? 01:12:24.560 |
Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. 01:12:29.560 |
And he repeatedly says, "If you want to live, you have to die." 01:12:33.560 |
How much of our struggle, how much of our anxiousness, how much of our anger, how much of our bitterness, 01:12:40.560 |
comes from when our desire to have a better life is thwarted somehow? 01:12:46.560 |
Even in the way that we pursue righteousness, 01:12:50.560 |
how much of our frustration comes because we're not getting what we want? 01:12:59.560 |
that any sinner in the presence of this God can allow pride to exist. 01:13:10.560 |
Our God humbled himself, became nothing, was tempted by his own creation. 01:13:24.560 |
Why did he allow himself, why did the Holy Spirit lead him to do that? 01:13:35.560 |
Yes, these are tools that will help us in our temptation, 01:13:42.560 |
but it's ultimately to prove that he is worthy to be our sacrifice. 01:14:03.560 |
I had an opportunity to visit Itaewon, and I shared that with you, what happened in Seoul. 01:14:10.560 |
Itaewon in Korea is an area that previously was known as a U.S. military base, 01:14:16.560 |
and so there's a lot of foreigners who live in that area. 01:14:19.560 |
If you want to get, a long time ago, now you can get it everywhere, 01:14:22.560 |
a long time ago if you wanted American food, go to American supermarkets, you have to go to that area. 01:14:26.560 |
Since then, the military base moved somewhere else, and so for a period, Itaewon was starting to die, 01:14:32.560 |
and in recent years, there was a resurgence, and the reason why there was a resurgence 01:14:36.560 |
was as these shops, these international shops started disappearing, nightclubs started coming in. 01:14:43.560 |
And so all these shops, and those of you guys who know Korea, Itaewon was known, 01:14:49.560 |
if you want to go get fake stuff, that's where you go, right? 01:14:52.560 |
That's where everybody knew, right? At least I've been told, right? 01:14:56.560 |
That's where you go, so every one of these shops, as they disappeared, the nightclubs started coming in. 01:15:03.560 |
So because of what happened, there's about 150 young people who are in their late teens and early 20s 01:15:09.560 |
were there in the clubs, and they came out through the alley at night, and many of them got crushed standing up. 01:15:17.560 |
It wasn't even that they fell to the ground, obviously anybody who fell to the ground couldn't get up and they were crushed, 01:15:22.560 |
but many of them died standing up because the pressure was so strong. 01:15:26.560 |
That's how crowded it was. So I wanted to go and visit just to see that area, 01:15:32.560 |
so I went, I had some time and took the subway by myself, and I could tell as soon as I got off the subway, 01:15:38.560 |
I could tell the subway exit because there's an eerie silence. 01:15:42.560 |
Anybody who's visited Itaewon before this incident, you know how busy that area is, 01:15:47.560 |
but as soon as I got off the subway, there's this dead silence. 01:15:50.560 |
As soon as I went up to see where it was, it was right outside the subway exit. 01:15:56.560 |
Thousands of flowers and notes of encouragement and aching and crying, like splattered everywhere. 01:16:03.560 |
There's police officers just everywhere so that people don't get out of control for crowd control, 01:16:12.560 |
Obviously, 150 young people died there just a few weeks ago. 01:16:17.560 |
So I go and I'm walking around, and there's a couple things that I noticed. 01:16:24.560 |
Everywhere I went, I saw Buddhist monks walking around burning incense, 01:16:27.560 |
and everywhere I went, there was an altar that was set up saying, 01:16:30.560 |
"We're praying for you," or "We're pleading on your behalf." 01:16:34.560 |
So I had some time, so I was walking around, and I saw the notes that were on the wall, 01:16:40.560 |
and thousands of notes, primarily secular, atheistic, Buddhist notes. 01:16:46.560 |
Every once in a while, you'll see a Christian presence there. 01:16:49.560 |
I thought that was kind of strange because even though the younger generation has been lost under 3%, 01:16:56.560 |
the rest of the population is 33%. I said, "Where is their presence here?" 01:17:01.560 |
So I asked one of the missionaries and the people who were there, "What's going on? 01:17:06.560 |
It's weird that we don't see a lot of Christian presence there." 01:17:13.560 |
Some of the mega church pastors who were influential came out and spoke very publicly against what happened, 01:17:23.560 |
that because Korea is becoming more and more secular, that this was evidence of judgment. 01:17:29.560 |
These young kids should not have been out there that night. 01:17:32.560 |
And so where are the parents? How come they didn't restrict them? 01:17:35.560 |
What are they doing late at night in that place? 01:17:38.560 |
And so these 150 lives that was lost is God's judgment and was calling for repentance. 01:17:51.560 |
But what a way to be a witness to a hurting world. 01:17:59.560 |
If our indignation for the sins of the world stops with judgment, you don't understand the gospel. 01:18:10.560 |
Because if God did that to us when we were lost, 01:18:17.560 |
and yes, every pain that you and I experience is a result of our own sins and the sins of mankind. 01:18:24.560 |
If God looked at us and said, "Of course you're going to get judged, because you didn't act right, 01:18:30.560 |
because you embraced your sins, you shouldn't have been there." 01:18:34.560 |
If God did that, you and I would not be here. 01:18:41.560 |
He would not have suffered. He would not have been humiliated. 01:18:44.560 |
It's because He saw our problem and He drew near to us. 01:19:06.560 |
All the politicians are getting together, pointing fingers at each other. 01:19:09.560 |
It's because of them. It's because of the liberals. 01:19:12.560 |
Local officials are saying that they should have never converted into a nightclub. 01:19:18.560 |
It was overly crowded. There should have been some more residents. 01:19:23.560 |
Younger people are blaming the old people, saying that you guys didn't care about us, 01:19:27.560 |
and that's why we're distraught and the country is turning the way it is. 01:19:31.560 |
Older people are pointing fingers at the younger people. 01:19:36.560 |
And so everybody is pointing fingers, that the answer is, if you change, 01:19:40.560 |
if you do something different, we're going to fight so that you can change. 01:19:48.560 |
But the only answer to man's sin is Christ crucified. 01:19:55.560 |
And the moment that you and I think otherwise, we have joined the crowd of the world. 01:20:03.560 |
1 Corinthians 1, 18-19, "For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, 01:20:09.560 |
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 01:20:13.560 |
For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.'" 01:20:19.560 |
Every time something tragic happens, everybody is so clever. 01:20:28.560 |
If we change them, if we change this, if we had a better economy, 01:20:31.560 |
if we had better family structure, if we did this and that, 01:20:36.560 |
if that was the case, Christ didn't have to come. 01:20:40.560 |
He could have just given us an instruction of books and telling, "This is what you should do. 01:20:45.560 |
Be better. Be better." He came because we could not. 01:20:51.560 |
1 Corinthians 1, 21-23, "For since in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, 01:20:59.560 |
God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message, 'Preach to save those who believe.'" 01:21:07.560 |
So foolish. You have people dying, suffering, sex trafficking, destroyed families, pain, isolation, loneliness, economic struggles, 01:21:18.560 |
and all you're going to do is preach the gospel? 01:21:22.560 |
That's all you're going to do? The world is about to fall apart? 01:21:25.560 |
We're about to enter World War III and all you're going to do is preach the gospel? 01:21:38.560 |
It may be foolishness to the world, but it is the power of God for those who are being saved. 01:21:51.560 |
For indeed, Jews ask for science. Greeks search for wisdom. 01:21:58.560 |
But we preach Christ crucified. To Jews, a stumbling block, and to Gentiles, foolishness. 01:22:07.560 |
But to those who are being saved, the power of God. 01:22:12.560 |
Let's never let anything in our generation, next generation, no circumstance, no pressure, no persecution, 01:22:22.560 |
ever thwart us from preaching the gospel in season and out of season. 01:22:36.560 |
Heavenly Father, we pray for wisdom. We pray for conviction. 01:22:46.560 |
We pray, Father God, as we meditate upon the sacrifice and the humiliation of Christ, 01:22:55.560 |
that we would also take up our cross and follow him to a path of humbling, of emptying, and sometimes even suffering. 01:23:11.560 |
That when the time of his glory comes, that we will also be glorified in him. 01:23:20.560 |
Help us, Lord God, especially now, as the world is suffering. 01:23:27.560 |
As so many, Lord God, are putting up a front, Lord, and yet inwardly in such pain. 01:23:38.560 |
That more and more of the world, Lord God, experiences the depth of this curse. 01:23:44.560 |
Help us, Lord God, instead of simply pointing fingers, but to have compassion, as you had compassion on us. 01:23:52.560 |
I pray that your word that you've implanted in us will bear fruit wherever you send us. 01:24:31.560 |
In desperation I turned to heaven and spoke your name into the night. 01:24:44.560 |
Then through the darkness your loving kindness tore through the shadows of my soul. 01:25:21.560 |
What heart could fathom such boundless grace? 01:25:28.560 |
The God of ages stepped down from glory to wear my sin and better my shame. 01:27:04.560 |
Then came, then came the morning that sealed the promise. 01:27:19.560 |
Out of the silence, the roaring lion declared the grave has no claim on me. 01:27:32.560 |
Then came, then came the morning that sealed the promise. 01:27:47.560 |
Out of the silence, the roaring lion declared the grave has no claim on me. 01:29:31.560 |
Lord, we pray that your Holy Spirit, Lord, would empower your people. 01:29:38.560 |
That our speech, our life, our work, our families, our leisure may all be used for your glory. 01:29:47.560 |
Lord, the world is dark and it is getting darker. 01:29:53.560 |
Help us, Lord God, to not to fall into despair with the rest of the world. 01:29:58.560 |
And as you warned us that because of increase in wickedness, that love of many will grow cold. 01:30:07.560 |
Help us, Lord God, not to allow our hearts to drift, to harden, but to see the world, Lord God, through your eyes. 01:30:22.560 |
As you pleaded with your disciples, Lord, we beseech you to send more workers into the harvest. 01:30:31.560 |
Raise men and women, Lord God, who will take up their cross to proclaim your truth. 01:30:38.560 |
To be able to say with a clear conscience, here I am, Lord, send me. 01:30:45.560 |
Bring revival. Help us to pray, to fast, to seek you with all our heart. 01:30:53.560 |
That we may bear much fruit according to your purpose and will. 01:30:58.560 |
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy. 01:31:06.560 |
To the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen. 01:31:50.560 |
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives. 01:32:33.560 |
And life is worth the living just because he lives.