back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 1/2/2022
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Happy Lord's Day and a happy New Year's to you as well. 00:11:30.280 |
And we will now begin with our worship service. 00:12:41.280 |
♪ Jesus you rescued us through your great love ♪ 00:13:51.280 |
♪ Jesus you rescued us through your great love ♪ 00:15:20.280 |
♪ Jesus you rescued us through your great love ♪ 00:15:35.280 |
♪ Jesus you rescued us through your great love ♪ 00:16:50.280 |
Okay, we're celebrating our first Sunday together. 00:16:54.280 |
I can't believe that time is flying by so quickly. 00:16:57.280 |
We have a few announcements before we get started. 00:17:04.280 |
And so there's two places that they're going to. 00:17:06.280 |
They're going to the Source Mall and also the Spectrum. 00:17:13.280 |
you're kind of intimidated by going out in the street 00:17:22.280 |
and it'd be good for you to kind of participate in that. 00:17:35.280 |
We have a next membership class that's taking place 00:17:44.280 |
And so they're going to start at 9 a.m. to 10.20. 00:17:59.280 |
and he'll give you more instructions on that. 00:18:01.280 |
So the first class for that is starting on January 16th at 9 a.m. 00:18:10.280 |
And so we'll be studying through the book of First Peter. 00:18:17.280 |
because we're going to start making small groups 00:18:25.280 |
and you're just assuming that you're going to be a part of it 00:18:30.280 |
So if you're not signed up, we're going to end up assigning. 00:18:33.280 |
And if that home or if that small group gets too big, 00:18:36.280 |
we're going to end up assigning you to places 00:18:41.280 |
And so if you are planning to sign up for it, 00:18:44.280 |
even if you have been doing the same group for so many times, 00:18:53.280 |
So if you haven't done so, please do so as soon as possible. 00:18:56.280 |
And then all church praise and prayer on January 14th 00:18:59.280 |
and also our members meeting, our next members meeting, 00:19:02.280 |
which is usually at the beginning of the year 00:19:04.280 |
where we discuss finances and things like that. 00:19:06.280 |
That's going to be taking place on January 16th at 2.30 p.m. 00:19:13.280 |
our sister Christine Chun will come up and give her testimony 00:19:20.280 |
Again, those of you who are new to our church, 00:19:26.280 |
you can drop off whatever physical offering you have there. 00:19:29.280 |
And for the rest of us, we'll give you a minute 00:19:37.280 |
Gracious and loving Father, we thank you so much 00:19:39.280 |
for your continued grace that you've given to us 00:19:43.280 |
to sustain us, guide us, to teach us, to encourage us. 00:19:48.280 |
And we pray that as we celebrate and worship Lord God 00:19:54.280 |
that you would direct our hearts, our mind, our thoughts, our lives 00:20:01.280 |
Help us, Lord God, this morning to give you worship 00:30:07.040 |
that he sent his one and only son to die for our sins. 00:30:14.520 |
Not knowing the true gravity and consequences of sin, 00:30:17.400 |
I chose to ignore the worries about the future 00:30:20.760 |
enjoying every moment with the friendships that I have. 00:30:23.780 |
I continued to gain head knowledge about God and the Bible, 00:30:26.700 |
but I never chose to apply any of it into my life. 00:30:29.740 |
In middle school, I joined a Christian ministry 00:30:31.780 |
that meant to sing, dance, and worship every week. 00:30:42.520 |
I mimicked other people in the way I dressed, 00:30:57.460 |
I was even confirmed and therefore proclaimed to the church 00:31:03.220 |
and believed that he is Lord and Savior of my life, 00:31:09.140 |
While those around me had a burning passion for God, 00:31:31.580 |
I realized all this in addition to forgetting 00:31:38.060 |
My heart was hardened to anything my community said to 00:31:48.540 |
for I was never taught how to properly study the Bible, 00:31:56.000 |
I stood in awe and wonder at how marvelous the Lord is, 00:31:58.980 |
and how much he truly loves us despite our imperfections. 00:32:11.100 |
It always encouraged me and left me wondering 00:32:23.780 |
I needed to do my part and surrender my everything to him, 00:32:31.660 |
There was no date or time in which I accepted Christ, 00:32:37.220 |
as I participated in small group accountability 00:32:48.200 |
I learned to love and what it felt like to love. 00:32:50.600 |
I learned that love is different for everyone 00:33:21.920 |
and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 00:33:38.680 |
. - You understand when you go into the water, 00:33:43.680 |
and you look in the mirror, you look twice back, 00:33:49.600 |
you look in the mirror, you look twice apart. 00:34:09.380 |
- All right, thank you, Christine, for that testimony. 00:34:23.320 |
and the college staff have been praying for her for a while, 00:34:27.900 |
so I've been kinda watching and hoping and praying, 00:34:31.260 |
so it was really rewarding to be able to see that together. 00:34:36.540 |
to Ephesians chapter three, verses 14 through 21. 00:34:50.660 |
what our priorities are and what are some things 00:34:52.660 |
that we're gonna be focusing on in the new year, in 2022. 00:34:55.940 |
So I wanted to take two weeks to dive into this text, 00:35:05.580 |
I'm gonna be looking at verse 14 all the way to verse 21. 00:35:10.340 |
For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, 00:35:13.420 |
from whom every family in heaven and on earth 00:35:19.720 |
to be strengthened with power through his Spirit 00:35:25.740 |
and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 00:35:28.180 |
may be able to comprehend with all the saints 00:35:30.020 |
what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 00:35:32.420 |
and to know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge, 00:35:35.660 |
that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. 00:35:38.780 |
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly 00:35:46.100 |
to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus 00:36:01.400 |
Lord, we know that we can exposit and we can teach, 00:36:17.220 |
Open our eyes, our ears, soften our hearts toward God, 00:36:38.220 |
And so the Roman idol that got the name for January 00:36:48.220 |
is because Janus, the god that the Romans worshiped, 00:36:57.820 |
And what it represented was that you would pass 00:37:08.260 |
to make sure that the right things are passing through, 00:37:19.820 |
we make New Year's resolutions as we think about the past, 00:37:31.020 |
because we wanna make sure that we're grounded 00:37:36.060 |
You probably heard this quote from Socrates many times, 00:37:48.140 |
but I'm not sure how many of you know the context 00:37:51.660 |
Socrates actually was executed because of his influence 00:37:58.020 |
So he was beginning to question some of the state's mandates 00:38:02.620 |
of what gods that they're supposed to worship, 00:38:11.660 |
telling them that some of these idols were worthless, 00:38:18.020 |
basically saying that if you don't stop teaching these youth 00:38:23.300 |
that you're gonna be jailed or even executed. 00:38:25.620 |
So it's in that context that Socrates stood up and said, 00:38:29.220 |
"A life that is unexamined is not worth living." 00:38:32.220 |
In other words, I'd rather die than to just give in 00:38:38.420 |
and do whatever I'm supposed to do, it's not worth living. 00:38:41.780 |
So that's the context in which Socrates says this term, 00:38:57.220 |
What are some things that we're going through 00:39:06.700 |
we need to make sure that we have three things 00:39:10.780 |
First, let's say if you're going to Fashion Island 00:39:13.340 |
and you're looking for Nordstrom, as an example. 00:39:15.860 |
The first thing you do when you get out of your parking lot 00:39:23.160 |
So typically you'll look at a map, find out where it is. 00:39:28.240 |
there's a second thing that you need to know. 00:39:39.260 |
And so once you find out where you need to go, 00:39:44.140 |
the next step is what's the fastest way to get there? 00:39:48.460 |
So whenever we're lost or when we have specific direction, 00:39:51.540 |
we need to first figure out where am I going? 00:39:54.580 |
And so, Apostle Paul actually says this very thing 00:40:00.960 |
as he is in jail with possibility of execution, 00:40:14.360 |
"of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus." 00:40:22.520 |
is to possess for himself what Christ has given him. 00:40:31.440 |
But Apostle Paul says, as much as I belong to him, 00:40:50.840 |
but for every Christian, that our purpose in life 00:40:55.000 |
is to have Christ, and then to have more of Christ, 00:41:06.080 |
If you've been a Christian for any period of time, 00:41:07.800 |
you know that the Bible makes it clear this is our goal. 00:41:17.000 |
Apostle Paul says, "Not that I have already obtained it." 00:41:35.520 |
Says, "No, Apostle Paul, the man who teaches us 00:41:38.120 |
"about justification says, 'I have not obtained this yet.'" 00:41:41.880 |
In other words, he doesn't have the fullness of Christ. 00:41:53.560 |
And so for every Christian, as we face the new year, 00:41:58.560 |
and look back at 2021 and the previous years, 00:42:12.800 |
if you check off all of that, at the end of your life, 00:42:15.080 |
you're gonna say, "Well, this was a good life 00:42:23.720 |
Is that what you would say at the end of your life 00:42:28.200 |
I don't think any Christian would say that, right? 00:42:31.620 |
Because what we value, at least we profess to value, 00:42:37.760 |
And so we live based upon what we would be able to say 00:42:42.760 |
was a good life, to honor Christ, to proclaim Christ, 00:42:48.440 |
And so what is it that we need to do, tangibly, 00:42:53.520 |
Whenever you make an application that's kind of vague, 00:42:58.520 |
every year you're gonna make the same application, 00:43:03.560 |
And so what does that mean, to be a better Christian? 00:43:06.480 |
So at the end of the year, you're gonna look at your life 00:43:13.200 |
The next year, when the new year comes around, 00:43:17.160 |
I say, "Yeah, I should be a better Christian." 00:43:30.240 |
What is it that you think needs to be put away? 00:43:34.940 |
What is it that you need to actively pursue and prioritize? 00:43:37.480 |
So if you say, "I'm gonna value my time with Christ, 00:43:55.840 |
So if you say, "I need to be in better health," 00:44:06.120 |
and then after you finish, you can look back and say, 00:44:11.800 |
we make these general sweeping things that say, 00:44:13.980 |
"I need to be in better health, I need to do this better," 00:44:16.400 |
but then there's no specific applications that we make 00:44:26.400 |
I'm way over here, hopefully I can get there." 00:44:33.360 |
And so that's the reason that we wanna make sure 00:44:44.720 |
that we wanna make sure that we need to be strengthened in? 00:44:52.360 |
I put today's title of my sermon, Hope and Pray, right? 00:45:05.960 |
again, we feel like this is our weakness in the church. 00:45:12.680 |
we probably put this as a theme more than any other theme, 00:45:15.360 |
right, there's a few years where we're saying, 00:45:18.520 |
"we need to have better teaching in this and that area, 00:45:20.720 |
"or evangelism," but probably more than any other theme 00:45:27.560 |
and it's probably this topic of discipline of prayer. 00:45:31.040 |
And I don't think it's any different this year. 00:45:39.000 |
but not to the point where we feel like where we ought to be. 00:45:42.640 |
We need to be a church that is not just known 00:45:49.100 |
Prayer tends to be weak in Bible-teaching churches, 00:46:00.680 |
We have a tendency, because we know our theology, 00:46:04.820 |
we know our Bible, that somehow that gives us an edge 00:46:11.560 |
If we are theological, and if we are Bible-centered, 00:46:24.920 |
Even the ones that may be sitting here thinking like, 00:46:30.700 |
Right, in fact, I dominate in humility, right? 00:46:49.400 |
'Cause you think you know, when you really don't. 00:46:55.640 |
You think you know God, when you do not know him. 00:46:59.200 |
It's just like, it's no different than reading a book 00:47:10.480 |
a strong Bible-teaching church tends to be weak in prayer, 00:47:14.880 |
because we feel confident that we are right with God in this 00:47:18.440 |
and yeah, of course, yeah, of course, prayer is important, 00:47:21.120 |
but we don't realize just how important it is. 00:47:24.580 |
If I teach wrong doctrine, you will be up in arms, 00:47:34.640 |
Right, if I taught something wrong and nobody said this, 00:47:42.280 |
But for some reason, Bible-teaching churches, 00:47:46.440 |
when prayer is lacking, there is no up in arms. 00:47:52.660 |
And again, that's because this is our blind spot, 00:48:04.280 |
And I say this not because I've mastered prayer, 00:48:23.280 |
helmet of salvation, but breastplate of righteousness. 00:48:27.720 |
saying that our battle is not against flesh and blood, 00:48:30.000 |
it's a spiritual battle, and after he tells us all of this, 00:48:32.760 |
he concludes this statement by saying, in verse 18-19, 00:48:41.160 |
And with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance, 00:48:46.760 |
and pray for me on behalf so that others may be given my ... 00:48:50.280 |
My mouth will be opened to proclaim the gospel. 00:48:56.320 |
he says, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray. 00:49:06.960 |
After you've done all of that, if you do not pray, 00:49:14.600 |
your own knowledge, your own experience, your own intellect. 00:49:19.120 |
After you've done everything that God calls you to do, 00:49:21.480 |
humble yourselves and recognize that you need Christ 00:49:32.800 |
because easily we can take every gift that God has given us 00:50:07.000 |
Evangelism would be so easy if I just walked on water, 00:50:12.520 |
and if I was levitating on water and preach the gospel, 00:50:14.960 |
in my mind, I think they'd come to Christ, right? 00:50:27.720 |
He calmed storms that even professional fishermen 00:50:36.560 |
And you want to think, with all the things that Jesus did, 00:50:40.300 |
that the disciples would teach us how to do that, 00:50:54.060 |
Yet they observed, of all the things that Jesus did, 00:51:19.740 |
Prayer is something that any one of us can decide to do. 00:51:22.480 |
Is it because they didn't know how to close their eyes? 00:52:13.940 |
Think about what the point of salvation ultimately is. 00:52:19.760 |
The point of salvation isn't simply to save us 00:52:35.080 |
The point of the gospel is not simply not going to hell. 00:52:41.460 |
with our heavenly father, the author of life. 00:52:52.980 |
So when he says, "Your sins have been forgiven," 00:53:03.160 |
In the old covenant, God didn't tell them to come. 00:53:10.400 |
here are all these rituals that you need to go. 00:53:12.480 |
Here are the animals that needs to be soldered. 00:53:14.520 |
Here's the blood that needs to be sprinkled all over. 00:53:22.860 |
So now that Christ has come and washed us with his blood 00:53:31.860 |
And that's why he says, "Ask, seek, and to knock." 00:53:48.540 |
Think about how frustrated we are sometimes with life, 00:54:15.480 |
I don't know how many times I come to the Lord in prayer 00:54:19.500 |
frustrated and even angry about certain things at church 00:54:25.620 |
And I would be on my knees being rebuked in prayer. 00:54:43.340 |
that I wasn't practicing the love that he gave to me. 00:54:46.080 |
He was actually much more patient than I was. 00:54:49.240 |
And then there's also times when I'm at perfect peace. 00:54:55.680 |
And in prayer realizing that God is not at peace, 00:55:03.800 |
He wants me to say and draw the line and be righteous. 00:55:07.360 |
But I don't know how many times I've thought in my mind 00:55:26.040 |
but there's a huge difference between being illuminated 00:55:41.560 |
Illumination is when God takes the revelation 00:55:51.640 |
If that's the case the whole world will be saved. 00:55:56.400 |
It's the revelation where the Holy Spirit comes 00:55:59.640 |
and he opens our eyes and he illuminates a sinner 00:56:07.040 |
And so the Bible tells us that you and I cannot bear fruit 00:56:18.880 |
Abiding in him means to be broken in our sins. 00:56:26.760 |
To be humble before his presence and to be dependent on him. 00:56:37.920 |
as somebody who is not proficient with the word of God 00:56:45.600 |
You do not know Christ anymore than the next person 00:56:49.920 |
who doesn't know anything but doesn't know God in prayer. 00:57:09.960 |
That prayer is not, as long as we have the right doctrine, 00:57:14.840 |
like prayer is something that we need to work on. 00:57:23.760 |
you should not tolerate prayerlessness either. 00:57:36.920 |
that we don't want to be known just as a church 00:57:47.920 |
The text that we're looking at in verse 14 to 21, 00:58:04.280 |
And so there's five things that I want to point out 00:58:06.920 |
in this text, and so today we're going to cover two, 00:58:09.280 |
and then next week we're going to cover the other three. 00:58:18.720 |
And he just simply says in verse 14, "For this reason." 00:58:22.640 |
Well, "For this reason" means that he's been making 00:58:29.320 |
So the immediate context of this is, "For this reason," 00:58:34.000 |
But I believe that Apostle Paul is not just talking 00:58:41.320 |
And so he's summarizing the whole three chapters, 00:58:46.000 |
and he says, "Everything that I've been telling you 00:58:55.960 |
"before our heavenly Father for this reason." 00:58:58.600 |
So a quick summary of the first three chapters. 00:59:02.240 |
Ephesians 1, 3-14, and I'm just going to give you 00:59:09.960 |
"He blessed us, he chose us, he predestined us, 00:59:16.160 |
"he adopted us according to his will, by his grace. 00:59:27.400 |
"according to his kind intention, he purposed, 00:59:30.240 |
"he gave us inheritance to the praise of his glory." 00:59:40.240 |
"You know what, I want to really memorize this 00:59:46.560 |
From predestination to justification to election, 00:59:58.080 |
we can get wrapped up in, what is predestination? 01:00:06.200 |
are rich in theology that we really should master. 01:00:14.960 |
Because this text, as rich it is in theology, 01:00:28.480 |
So when we talk about predestination, election, 01:00:34.920 |
he always emphasizes he did it, he purposed it, 01:00:38.560 |
he provided it, he did it according to his riches 01:01:00.600 |
the blessing for that child is not a better house 01:01:10.300 |
All these things are byproduct, but the main gift is what? 01:01:22.100 |
And so everything that that child gets is a byproduct 01:01:25.980 |
of being adopted and loved by the mother and the father. 01:01:30.540 |
We can easily mistaken and celebrate predestination 01:01:38.360 |
and not going to hell and being freed from judgment. 01:01:41.020 |
We can do all of that and completely miss the point. 01:01:43.880 |
Because the whole point of the condemnation of man 01:01:48.100 |
is that we were separated, fallen what, short of what? 01:01:52.060 |
Fallen short of joy, fallen short of the garden of Eden, 01:01:55.940 |
fallen short of heaven, all of these things are true. 01:02:05.580 |
We've been separated from the author of life. 01:02:07.620 |
So the whole point of salvation is to bring us back. 01:02:17.940 |
See, if we're not careful, we can spend all our days 01:02:21.500 |
celebrating how awesome the work of Christ is 01:02:33.420 |
we become the experts in describing how awesome 01:02:49.460 |
He adopted us, he elected us, he came incarnate, 01:02:57.780 |
and we become experts in describing what happened, 01:03:01.620 |
yet never entering the throne of grace with confidence. 01:03:22.300 |
That's like receiving a gift and never using it. 01:03:29.940 |
you have from the old covenant to new covenant 01:03:32.940 |
is that the curtain to the holy of holies was ripped. 01:03:43.900 |
Instead of saying return, he said now you can come. 01:03:51.260 |
come to me all who are weary and heaven-laden 01:04:02.660 |
job after job, looking for some sort of peace. 01:04:13.800 |
But he says no, come to me, all you who are weary, 01:04:17.860 |
going from place to place, from stage to stage in life. 01:04:33.800 |
So the whole point of our salvation is to come to him. 01:04:42.740 |
and we're doing all of these great things, proclaiming, 01:04:45.300 |
and yet we neglect prayer, neglect to come to him, 01:04:50.020 |
of your salvation, you've neglected the whole point 01:04:58.300 |
Does your bucket list have anything to do with Christ? 01:05:04.700 |
Ephesians 1, 18 to 19, Paul basically summarizes 01:05:18.880 |
the whole reason why we do expository preaching, 01:05:27.120 |
of great preachers, and so I know more than you. 01:05:30.320 |
Hearing and studying of the word of God for you 01:05:42.960 |
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened. 01:05:49.140 |
when Paul basically revealed everything to them? 01:05:51.540 |
He's like, oh, it's because they're not smart? 01:06:00.660 |
so that we can exposit the text and understand it better? 01:06:03.900 |
What does he mean for their eyes to be enlightened 01:06:30.460 |
When he says, I pray that the eyes of your heart 01:06:35.820 |
what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance 01:06:38.180 |
in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness 01:06:47.740 |
who have right theology, who know the verse to quote, 01:07:02.380 |
is the person who has the greatest knowledge, 01:07:11.240 |
We need to couple our efforts in the word of God 01:07:46.040 |
Because we have hope, that's what he's saying. 01:07:55.440 |
killing Bathsheba's husband, and as a result of that, 01:07:58.920 |
God said that your kingdom's gonna be divided, 01:08:04.800 |
And just as God said, the prophecy's coming true. 01:08:12.800 |
And David gets on his knees and he begins to pray. 01:08:17.840 |
And he cries out to God and he said he fasted. 01:08:28.320 |
My child is sick and I need to plead to the Lord. 01:08:31.280 |
And as God said, prophecy comes true and his child dies. 01:08:48.360 |
I mean, you were so passionate praying and fasting. 01:08:51.480 |
How do you just, you know, he dies and then you just move on. 01:08:55.360 |
And David's response was, as long as he lived, I have hope. 01:09:22.600 |
But here's the difference in the new covenant. 01:09:30.200 |
Like Jesus, the leaders of Israel were trying to get at Jesus 01:09:35.840 |
Remember, Jesus would just walk through the crowd. 01:09:42.980 |
because from the get-go, it didn't take him a couple years 01:09:50.160 |
Jesus said, who told you to come to be baptized? 01:10:00.720 |
And so they were angry with him from the get-go. 01:10:03.800 |
And these are powerful men who could literally 01:10:05.960 |
put him in jail and possibly even stone him to death. 01:10:09.160 |
And so the disciples, as long as they walked with him, 01:10:15.420 |
In the middle of the storm, he would calm them down. 01:10:18.520 |
But all of a sudden, Jesus comes into Jerusalem 01:10:23.100 |
He's the most powerful person that they've ever met. 01:10:28.820 |
And yet he surrenders himself to go to the cross. 01:10:32.580 |
The disciples are watching him from a distance. 01:10:37.940 |
Maybe he's gonna pretend like he's gonna surrender 01:11:17.640 |
in locked doors, that maybe that will happen to them. 01:11:25.920 |
Christ comes back and resurrected on the third day. 01:11:54.880 |
And the apostles say that the power of the cross 01:11:58.520 |
says even when you die, he said, you shall live. 01:12:16.240 |
It doesn't matter what kind of government that we have. 01:12:18.360 |
It doesn't matter what kind of economic downturn 01:12:21.720 |
There is no Christian who is never without hope. 01:12:25.400 |
We have a hope that this world cannot take away 01:12:43.960 |
First Peter 1:36, blessed be the God and Father 01:12:50.120 |
has caused us to be born again to a living hope. 01:12:55.040 |
Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 01:12:57.840 |
To obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, 01:13:09.880 |
You notice he doesn't say protected by your hard work, 01:13:15.240 |
protected by your ingenuity or the right program. 01:13:26.040 |
Despite us, God says, you have hope, living hope. 01:13:44.920 |
from whom every family in heaven and on earth 01:13:52.840 |
so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow 01:13:57.280 |
and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess 01:14:17.560 |
Last week, Pastor Nate gave a sermon about fear 01:14:21.520 |
and the general thing that was kind of proclaimed 01:14:37.760 |
That if we do this, what will people think of me? 01:14:53.840 |
Am I not gonna be able to advance in my career? 01:14:59.640 |
And what if my children don't get what they want? 01:15:06.880 |
Well, if I say this, what are they gonna think of me? 01:15:08.600 |
If I don't do this, what are they gonna think of me? 01:15:36.000 |
Every instance in the Bible when men and women 01:15:44.000 |
The first response is an, oh God, we were waiting for you. 01:15:55.480 |
Ezekiel chapter 128, Ezekiel is in the presence 01:16:01.240 |
He falls on his face, he's knelt down, terrified. 01:16:08.240 |
God speaks of his son, he says, this is my son 01:16:15.720 |
their first response is they fell on their faces 01:16:27.080 |
it says he fell down, and he says he felt like a dead man. 01:16:31.280 |
In Revelation 514, the elders in the presence 01:16:36.200 |
of the glory of the throne, he says they fell down. 01:16:40.600 |
And then look what it says in Revelation 7, 11 to 12. 01:16:43.240 |
And all the angels were standing around the throne, 01:16:45.640 |
around the elders and the four living creatures, 01:16:47.560 |
and they fell on their faces before the throne, 01:16:52.160 |
and then worshipped, saying, amen, blessing and glory 01:16:56.600 |
and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power 01:16:58.780 |
and might be to our God forever and ever, amen. 01:17:03.160 |
You don't equate, you and I don't equate fear with joy. 01:17:09.160 |
If something causes fear, we move away from that. 01:17:14.160 |
We don't buy houses where we don't feel safe. 01:17:20.320 |
Our whole world got shut down because of fear 01:17:26.120 |
Fear usually does not equate with joy and peace. 01:17:44.720 |
They worship, and worship is equated with joy. 01:17:59.960 |
that they were in the presence of God's glory 01:18:01.920 |
that they felt terrified, and then that terror 01:18:19.280 |
who we are praying to, and experiencing this life 01:18:25.720 |
One of the most convicting sermons I've heard 01:18:31.540 |
was on this subject of prayer is Martin Lloyd-Jones. 01:18:35.880 |
Martin Lloyd-Jones says, "Prayer is the hardest, 01:18:37.840 |
"one of the hardest things to do as a professing Christian, 01:18:41.460 |
"and it is impossible for an unsurrendered person to pray." 01:18:45.920 |
I mean, prayer as a discipline is easy, physically. 01:18:52.880 |
When other people close their eyes, you close your eyes. 01:18:55.720 |
And you have certain things that you wanna say 01:19:00.760 |
But he said, true prayer, you cannot come to God 01:19:17.960 |
"You will seek me and find me when you search me with," 01:19:28.080 |
in our generation is because our churches are filled 01:19:32.240 |
with people who have not surrendered their lives to Christ. 01:19:40.540 |
Because the Holy Spirit that is residing in us 01:19:50.260 |
The thing that the Holy Spirit wants for us and from us 01:19:57.020 |
is leading away from what we desire from our flesh. 01:20:01.960 |
So our prayers and the work of the Holy Spirit 01:20:15.340 |
And that's why our prayers are so frustrated. 01:20:22.900 |
until he has decided for himself that this is what he wants. 01:20:33.100 |
He didn't say seek me so that you may have peace. 01:20:35.100 |
He didn't say seek me so that you may experience joy. 01:20:45.780 |
No one casually drifts into the presence of God. 01:20:53.820 |
and hopefully if I'm around enough Christians 01:21:00.540 |
and just have this passionate love for Christ. 01:21:03.060 |
Because everything around us is drifting away from Him. 01:21:20.260 |
further away from God than where you are today. 01:21:29.700 |
Even before we pray, we need to make up our mind. 01:21:41.980 |
any one of us can just get on our knees, right? 01:21:44.940 |
Obviously that's not what he's talking about. 01:21:52.540 |
He's talking about recognizing who he is to be surrendered. 01:22:07.820 |
And the reason why they were worshiping idols 01:22:12.860 |
I mean, it's just a wood figure that they just carved out. 01:22:17.100 |
But the reason why they kept on worshiping these idols 01:22:19.180 |
is because they were looking at what the Canaanites had 01:22:24.780 |
maybe we'll have wealth, maybe we'll have power. 01:22:27.460 |
We'll have more children, maybe we'll have this and that. 01:22:34.540 |
And it's at the end of his life, Joshua says, 01:22:37.820 |
"If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, 01:22:41.740 |
"choose for yourself today whom you will serve, 01:22:49.560 |
"or the gods of the Amorites," I'm gonna say Americans, 01:22:57.880 |
"but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." 01:23:07.180 |
Have you said this to your family, to yourself? 01:23:13.240 |
I'm not sure where the other people are going, 01:23:14.900 |
but for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. 01:23:21.900 |
Not my safety, not my comfort, not my retirement, 01:23:40.700 |
the question we need to ask is, are you surrendered? 01:23:55.580 |
and it is assumed, you don't have to be a Christian, 01:23:59.460 |
but it is assumed when they enter a covenant, 01:24:03.500 |
that they're going to put aside any other relationship 01:24:07.140 |
outside of this relationship, anything romantic. 01:24:34.440 |
that this wife, this husband, is going to be my sole love 01:24:40.060 |
So how much more, when we have this covenant relationship 01:24:44.660 |
with this holy God, that we must be committed 01:24:52.780 |
So a commitment to prayer is a commitment to surrender, 01:24:58.020 |
to recognize that he's my life, he's my hope, 01:25:02.060 |
that all the pain and sorrow that you may be experiencing 01:25:28.820 |
I wanna sing this song as our closing praise, closing song. 01:25:39.580 |
that'd make this a dedication for our new year. 01:25:50.740 |
This is a very simple song that you probably, 01:26:07.380 |
is that when Christianity began to sweep through India, 01:26:24.540 |
came out and basically got the crowd to be riled up, 01:26:32.300 |
threatened them that if you do not denounce your faith, 01:26:36.320 |
that your children and your wife is gonna give their life. 01:26:58.420 |
And it is at that moment he began to sing this song, 01:27:09.260 |
So when he said, "I have decided to follow Jesus," 01:27:12.380 |
he's not saying that I'm gonna go to church on Sunday, 01:27:24.620 |
When he says, "No turning back," no turning back, 01:27:29.520 |
that he wasn't gonna surrender this new life, 01:27:45.840 |
"Though none go with me, I still will follow." 01:27:49.620 |
"Though none go with me, I still will follow." 01:27:56.220 |
They wait until other people confess their faith. 01:28:13.140 |
movement of evangelism, you don't participate. 01:28:17.560 |
Sometimes our greatest hindrances are our own environment, 01:28:49.580 |
but I can't do it with her, so you're patiently waiting. 01:28:57.940 |
Or maybe my friends, or my church, or my leaders. 01:29:05.860 |
for revival to break out until there's a movement 01:29:16.300 |
And sometimes it will be many people being called one by one. 01:29:25.420 |
Maybe not even with your own family, it may just be you. 01:29:40.220 |
Third verse, the world behind me, though crossed before me. 01:29:49.580 |
he's talking about his life, his very breath. 01:29:59.180 |
is not to live a long, peaceful, prosperous life. 01:30:26.740 |
he's not simply talking about having nice things, 01:30:57.420 |
Even though we may not be practicing it perfectly, 01:31:04.220 |
To make 2022 a year where you are deliberately, 01:31:09.340 |
specifically, and passionately pursuing Christ 01:31:27.860 |
to make the pursuit of Christ the most important thing 01:31:38.180 |
and as we sing this song, may it be our proclamation, 01:31:42.980 |
may it be our confession for this coming year, 2022. 01:32:45.040 |
♪ Though not go with me, still I will follow ♪ 01:33:02.400 |
♪ Though not go with me, still I will follow ♪ 01:33:10.600 |
♪ Though not go with me, still I will follow ♪ 01:34:29.980 |
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly 01:34:39.720 |
to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus 01:35:17.080 |
♪ An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives ♪