back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 9/19/2021
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He's, you know, one thing that we always ask, just advice. 00:19:50.500 |
And Pastor Peter mentioned it, my parents mentioned it too, 00:19:53.000 |
is that they wish they can go back and enjoy this time. 00:19:58.000 |
Because having three kids, time goes by pretty fast. 00:20:04.000 |
It's very easy for us to just try to get through the day 00:20:07.000 |
and put them down and just try to correct things as we go along. 00:20:14.500 |
And our prayer request is that we would learn to slow things down 00:20:20.500 |
Because as much as we try to correct things and their behavior, 00:20:24.500 |
in the end, it's God who changes their heart, right? 00:20:27.500 |
And I've been a recipient of my parents' and grandparents' 00:20:35.500 |
And that's what brought me to salvation, I'm confident of, 00:20:40.500 |
So, you know, that's our prayer request, that above all things, 00:20:49.500 |
and really trust the Lord with their heart and their salvation. 00:21:06.500 |
He was born pretty much exactly two months ago. 00:21:17.500 |
So, well, he's not necessarily the most admirable person in the Bible. 00:21:22.500 |
But there were no other J names left that weren't taken by other brands. 00:21:30.500 |
Actually, Jonah was a name I really liked from the very beginning. 00:21:34.500 |
I don't know, I just like the sound of the name. 00:21:36.500 |
And actually, going into checking into the hospital, 00:21:40.500 |
we still hadn't decided on a name because I had a name I liked, 00:21:45.500 |
And you could say we received a sign from God 00:21:49.500 |
because the room that we were assigned after we checked in 00:21:53.500 |
literally had a sign on the wall that said "Jonah" on it. 00:21:58.500 |
So, at that point, it was pretty much decided. 00:22:03.500 |
Yeah, so as first-time parents, obviously, we're still learning. 00:22:07.500 |
And things like, you know, don't put sunscreen on your baby before six months. 00:22:13.500 |
Didn't know that one. Learned that after the fact. 00:22:16.500 |
Like how to hold a baby without getting tendinitis. 00:22:21.500 |
So, yeah, it's a work in progress, but God's been faithful throughout. 00:22:27.500 |
One is, I think it's been said, to stay sober-minded. 00:22:32.500 |
To be able to fulfill both our roles as parents, but also as servants of Christ. 00:22:46.500 |
in the context of having unbelieving friends and family, 00:22:49.500 |
to be able to share the gospel, share our values. 00:22:54.500 |
Really, that would be a means that they can understand 00:23:09.500 |
This is my wife, Jen, and older son, Lucas, sitting down. 00:23:17.500 |
Blaine is my father's name, so we chose that as his middle name. 00:23:20.500 |
And Isaac, we chose because it was one of the few names not taken. 00:23:26.500 |
And also, we know that it means one who rejoices, one who laughs. 00:23:31.500 |
So, our prayer request is that he would be content and find his joy in Christ. 00:23:37.500 |
And that he would be, of course, saved at an early age. 00:23:54.500 |
The reason why we named him Cannon was to try to kind of match 00:24:05.500 |
But we also named him Cannon because of Canon of Scripture. 00:24:08.500 |
And our prayer request really is for him to just know God's Word, 00:24:28.500 |
My name is Titus, and this is my wife, Grace. 00:24:35.500 |
And the reason why we named him Judah was because I named my-- 00:24:40.500 |
or Grace named our first one, and then I named our second one. 00:24:51.500 |
and we're kind of stuck with it because it would be weird if we didn't go with the third J. 00:25:09.500 |
Yeah, so, kind of like everyone else, our prayer request for him is just for him to come to know Christ 00:25:16.500 |
and for God to really use him for his glory and his kingdom. 00:25:30.500 |
Okay, so before we dismiss that, I want to read a passage from Psalm 127, verse 4 and 5. 00:25:35.500 |
It says, "Like arrows in a hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. 00:25:40.500 |
How blessed is a man whose quiver is full of them." 00:25:43.500 |
And so, in Psalm 127, it likens having children at a young age of having many warriors. 00:25:50.500 |
And so, when you first look at it, that's kind of a strange way to describe children in your home. 00:25:55.500 |
But in reality, I believe that this is probably the best reminder in soberness 00:26:02.500 |
that as we try to reach the world with the gospel, that if we don't first start at home with our children, 00:26:09.500 |
then you can save the world, but if you don't save your children, you know, at the end of our lives, 00:26:16.500 |
Especially what's going on in our culture right now, where they are deliberately, 00:26:20.500 |
the world is deliberately targeting our children to reprogram them, to move them away from biblical Christianity. 00:26:28.500 |
So we're no longer, and I don't think I'm exaggerating by saying this, 00:26:31.500 |
we're no longer living in a neutral country where our children can go, 00:26:35.500 |
and then it's left to the parents to teach about what we value. 00:26:39.500 |
It is the system and the authorities where we live have deliberately targeted our children 00:26:46.500 |
to be reprogrammed and retaught away from the very core of the things that we believe. 00:26:51.500 |
And if you've been paying attention to the news, and I think most of you will agree with me, 00:26:55.500 |
and all the more, as we have children in our church, that we need to be deliberate about the way we raise our children. 00:27:01.500 |
We don't just assume that if they go to school that they're going to be taught the proper things that we want them to know. 00:27:07.500 |
And so as our children, however each of the parents choose to raise their children, 00:27:14.500 |
that as a community, that we commit together. 00:27:16.500 |
It's not just the Sunday school teachers and the people who are babysitting with the parents, 00:27:20.500 |
that every single person in this church sees the children as if we are living in a village together, 00:27:30.500 |
That if we have an opportunity to share the gospel with these children, 00:27:33.500 |
don't just leave it up to the parents, don't just leave it up to the Sunday school teachers. 00:27:36.500 |
If you happen to be there, to be a great example, and to actually share the gospel with these young children, 00:27:42.500 |
so that when they're older they can say that, you know, maybe they heard it from their parents, obviously, 00:27:47.500 |
they heard it from their Sunday school teachers, but even within the community, 00:27:51.500 |
that the community that they belong to, that we together raise these children, 00:27:54.500 |
that the next generation of believers will be even stronger than we are in this generation. 00:27:58.500 |
So I pray that, again, not only for our parents, but for the rest of the congregation, 00:28:02.500 |
that we would have the same commitment to these children as these parents do. 00:28:05.500 |
Okay? So let me pray for us, and then we'll dismiss them, and then we'll get into our main worship. 00:28:10.500 |
Heavenly Father, we thank you so much, Lord, for blessing these homes with these precious souls. 00:28:17.500 |
And as each one of these parents, Lord, desires so much to see their child come to faith, 00:28:23.500 |
I pray that you would open their eyes and soften their hearts in an early age, 00:28:27.500 |
so that they may have a long life honoring you, glorifying you, 00:28:31.500 |
to being the light that you called all of us to be. 00:28:34.500 |
We pray for courage for the fathers, Lord God, to stand for truth, 00:28:38.500 |
with the shifting foundation, Lord, that is all around us. 00:28:42.500 |
Give them the courage and strength to lead their homes, Lord, to honor and glorify you. 00:28:47.500 |
We pray for moms, Lord God, that you would give them the strength that they need 00:28:50.500 |
in times of discouragement, that they would find encouragement in you. 00:28:54.500 |
I pray, Father God, from a very young age, that the gospel would be clear, Father God, 00:29:02.500 |
And we ask as a community that you would help us, Lord God, to engage together to raise these children, Lord, 00:29:07.500 |
that they would know the love of Christ from an early age. 00:29:10.500 |
Help us truly be a light during our generation, Lord God, as the world becomes darker and darker, 00:29:15.500 |
that your light would shine only brighter and brighter, not just during our lifetime, 00:29:19.500 |
but especially, Lord God, for our children and the next generation. 00:29:22.500 |
So for that end, we pray for your blessing and your grace to be sufficient for all things. 00:29:36.500 |
If we can stand up--oh, sorry, I forgot to pray for our offering. 00:29:39.500 |
All right, so as we dismiss them, let me pray for us. 00:29:42.500 |
And again, if you brought a physical offering, it's in the back. 00:29:45.500 |
And then for the rest of us, we can give electronically. 00:29:54.500 |
help us, Lord, to give intentionally, joyfully, generously, Lord God, 00:30:01.500 |
that more and more people may know that we have hope in Christ, in Christ alone. 00:35:10.020 |
♪ Whose priceless blood has ransomed me ♪ 00:35:15.020 |
♪ Mine was the sin that drilled the bitter nails ♪ 00:35:33.020 |
♪ Who crushed the path of sin and death ♪ 00:35:44.020 |
♪ The man who wears my righteous clothes ♪ 00:35:49.020 |
♪ The man who wears my righteous clothes ♪ 00:36:34.020 |
♪ Though foes are mighty, I'll rush upon Him ♪ 00:37:12.020 |
♪ He crowns my life with lovingkindness ♪ 00:37:40.020 |
♪ And when He calls me, you will meet paradise ♪ 00:38:02.020 |
♪ And when He calls me, you will meet paradise ♪ 00:38:36.020 |
All right, if you can turn your Bibles with me 00:38:38.020 |
to Hebrews chapter 13, and we're gonna be reading 00:38:51.020 |
Our main focus this morning is gonna be on the first verse. 00:39:03.020 |
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, 00:39:09.020 |
Remember the prisoners as though in prison with them, 00:39:21.020 |
For fornicators and adulterers, God will judge. 00:39:24.020 |
Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, 00:39:29.020 |
For he himself has said, I will never desert you, 00:39:33.020 |
So that we confidently say, the Lord is my helper, 00:39:41.020 |
Christian loving Father, we pray that you would anoint 00:39:44.020 |
this time that your word, and your word alone, Lord God, 00:39:48.020 |
would be heard, and that our hearts may be softened, 00:39:55.020 |
Encourage us, strengthen us, rebuke us this morning 00:40:00.020 |
Let me start off this morning by asking a rhetorical question, 00:40:06.020 |
Don't even mumble it, because I don't want you to 00:40:12.020 |
So the question is, if you had a choice between 00:40:19.020 |
you want to go to a church where they are known 00:40:21.020 |
for their grace, or do you want to go to a church 00:40:44.020 |
because generally speaking, I already know the answer. 00:40:48.020 |
Because I've had so many conversations in the past 00:40:52.020 |
where even with other pastors that they have said 00:42:05.020 |
and warning them, if you do not turn from your sin, 00:42:12.020 |
There is never a time where God does something 00:42:27.020 |
will never do anything that contradicts his nature. 00:42:37.020 |
Nothing that he does will contradict either side. 00:42:44.020 |
The whole point of the cross is where God's justice 00:43:28.020 |
like I didn't see it, just sweep it under the rug. 00:43:38.020 |
We're just going to pretend like it never happened, 00:44:25.020 |
simply because of our own personal prejudice. 00:44:39.020 |
This morning, we're going to be looking at one verse. 00:45:27.020 |
when we start to get dig too deep into theology. 00:45:33.020 |
just tell us what I'm supposed to do on Monday." 00:46:24.020 |
The root basic understanding of the word holy 00:47:30.020 |
"nor bear any grudge against the sons of the people, 00:47:33.020 |
"but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 00:47:53.020 |
But you have to read the rest of what he says. 00:48:05.020 |
The new commandment isn't simply to love one another 00:48:41.020 |
You didn't have non-Christian friends that loved you? 00:49:35.020 |
While we were still blaspheming and resisting. 00:49:41.020 |
he laid down for sinners who did not deserve it. 00:49:48.020 |
that the world practices, we're no different. 00:50:00.020 |
Why would you make an effort to love that guy? 00:50:26.020 |
"The one who loves his brother abides in the light, 00:51:00.020 |
if you weren't affected by the love of Christ. 00:51:03.020 |
He said that is evidence that you have met Christ. 00:51:16.020 |
do you remember what John and James were known for? 00:51:22.020 |
And they weren't sons of thunder because they were big guys. 00:51:25.020 |
You know, every time they walked around, the earth shook. 00:51:29.020 |
Sons of thunder because they had a bad temper. 00:51:32.020 |
Remember, as they were going through Samaria, 00:51:38.020 |
"Lord, do you want me to pray to kill all these people?" 00:51:48.020 |
But in the New Testament, what is Apostle John known for? 00:51:56.020 |
He writes more about love than any other apostle. 00:52:03.020 |
He writes more about love than any other apostle. 00:52:08.020 |
If you want to learn about love, you've got to go to the Gospel of John. 00:52:14.020 |
How did the sons of thunder, a potential mass murderer, 00:52:19.020 |
and all they did was they just didn't want to help, 00:52:29.020 |
A Christ even after he was crucified and mocked, 00:52:35.020 |
even after one of his disciples betrayed him, 00:52:39.020 |
And this was all part of his agape love to save the world. 00:52:45.020 |
You could tell John, you know, the lights going off. 00:52:55.020 |
Why would the King of kings and Lord of lords lay down his life for us? 00:53:01.020 |
They could not fathom it until he actually did it. 00:53:08.020 |
It's like, "Oh, that's what he meant when he got on his knees to serve." 00:53:12.020 |
If you want to be the greatest in the kingdom of God, 00:53:14.020 |
who is the greatest in the kingdom of God but Jesus himself? 00:53:19.020 |
And so Jesus said, "If you want to follow me, 00:53:26.020 |
You remember apostle Paul, another mass murderer, 00:53:33.020 |
And he literally was because he was responsible for the first martyr in the book of Acts. 00:53:40.020 |
he got a bunch of soldiers to go collect all these Christians. 00:53:51.020 |
and the very people that he tried so hard to extinguish, 00:53:59.020 |
as a witness to the world that he wanted to destroy. 00:54:04.020 |
Now he became the main mouthpiece to spread God's love to them. 00:54:09.020 |
And so there was evidence that man must have met Christ. 00:54:14.020 |
In fact, the greatest witness in the early church was the church itself. 00:54:21.020 |
In Tertullian, one of the early church fathers, 00:54:25.020 |
this is what he says about how the church was viewed 00:54:28.020 |
and he was quoting a pagan authority, and this is what it says, 00:54:32.020 |
"It is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us, 00:54:40.020 |
how they are ready even to die for one another, they say, 00:54:43.020 |
for they themselves will sooner be put to death." 00:54:47.020 |
He says he's just describing their reputation outside of the church. 00:54:51.020 |
In the early church, the greatest evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ 00:54:58.020 |
Do you know how much the Pharisees hated tax collectors? 00:55:04.020 |
Because they were the ones who betrayed their country. 00:55:06.020 |
They were collecting money from their countrymen. 00:55:09.020 |
And Matthew, the tax collector, and you had these fishermen 00:55:14.020 |
who were walking around calling each other brothers in Christ. 00:55:17.020 |
I mean, in a typical setting, they would have killed each other. 00:55:21.020 |
In the early church, you had the tax collectors teaching, 00:55:25.020 |
because he was an apostle, he was teaching converted Pharisees, 00:55:29.020 |
the experts of the law, about the new covenant in Christ. 00:55:34.020 |
You had runaway slaves and slave owners in the same congregation. 00:55:40.020 |
They didn't have rich on one side of the neighborhood 00:55:44.020 |
and then poor on the other side because clearly they're not going to be the fellowship 00:55:48.020 |
because if we have home groups, one day you're going to go to the mansion, 00:55:56.020 |
But the greatest evidence in the early church was all of them were together 00:56:03.020 |
And so you can look at that and say, "Well, what happened?" 00:56:08.020 |
My, the early leaders must have been fantastic leaders. 00:56:15.020 |
They were able to get people to put away their ego, 00:56:18.020 |
and they learned a system where everybody can get along. 00:56:27.020 |
See, the secular world can't explain the church. 00:56:30.020 |
And if you've ever read anything from the secular world, 00:56:33.020 |
how they describe why Christianity blew up so much, they'll say, 00:56:37.020 |
"Oh, because it was the poor people and there was a desperateness." 00:56:41.020 |
And Jesus described where they started to help each other, 00:56:44.020 |
and that's why the poor people came in droves. 00:56:48.020 |
That's because they didn't study the early church. 00:56:50.020 |
The early church was filled with poor people, rich people, 00:56:53.020 |
slave owners and slaves, Pharisees, Sadducees, tax collectors, 00:57:01.020 |
And so the only logical explanation was the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:57:08.020 |
That's no different than if we fell asleep one day and the Republicans, 00:57:16.020 |
What was so powerful that they came together, right? 00:57:20.020 |
Something--people who hated--they wouldn't even walk into their town 00:57:25.020 |
because they hated each other, and yet they called each other 00:57:29.020 |
brothers and sisters in Christ because they met the resurrected Christ. 00:57:35.020 |
That's what distinguished them from the rest of the world, 00:57:38.020 |
and that's why it's so hard to understand how that happened in the early church. 00:57:44.020 |
So the greatest mark of holiness that sets us apart from the world is love. 00:57:50.020 |
Second, love is the greatest application of this community. 00:57:54.020 |
There's a reason why love is at the top of this list, and if you-- 00:57:57.020 |
I can sit here and go through passage after passage after passage after passage 00:58:01.020 |
of the various lists of the characteristics of a Christian, 00:58:04.020 |
and almost always love is at the top of that list. 00:58:11.020 |
In 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 13, it says, "But now faith, hope, love-- 00:58:16.020 |
abide these things, but the greatest of these is love." 00:58:19.020 |
I know if you've been raised in the church, you memorize this verse. 00:58:23.020 |
You might have a plaque on this at your home somewhere. 00:58:26.020 |
Your children may have memorized this in Sunday school. 00:58:30.020 |
But have you considered the gravity of this verse? 00:58:39.020 |
We persevere through all kinds of trial because of hope. 00:58:43.020 |
And yet he says, "Above faith, above hope, love is the greatest." 00:58:52.020 |
I mean, that really should cause us to take a step back and think about this 00:58:57.020 |
because the greatest application of God's holy calling is love. 00:59:02.020 |
Even though my relationship with God is reconciled because of faith, 00:59:07.020 |
and it is because of this hope that I'm able to be sanctified, 00:59:11.020 |
and yet the greatest application of our calling, he says, is love. 00:59:16.020 |
In 2 Peter 1, 5 through 8, Apostle Peter goes through the list of Christian disciplines 00:59:21.020 |
that we ought to strive for, and this is what he says, 00:59:24.020 |
"Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence in your faith, supply moral excellence. 00:59:29.020 |
In your moral excellence, knowledge; and in your knowledge, self-control; 00:59:32.020 |
in your self-control, perseverance; and in your perseverance, godliness; 00:59:36.020 |
and in your godliness, brotherly kindness; and in your brotherly kindness, love." 00:59:41.020 |
You notice here on this list that in descending order, 00:59:46.020 |
that these are the things that Christians who are trying to be sanctified 00:59:51.020 |
should apply themselves in increasing manner to grow in, and he says, 00:59:55.020 |
"Moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, 01:00:04.020 |
The reason why love is at the bottom of this list is because all this striving 01:00:11.020 |
The reason why we discipline is to get to love. 01:00:14.020 |
The reason why we apply knowledge is to get to love. 01:00:18.020 |
All the things that we are doing ultimately is to get us to practice the love 01:00:23.020 |
that Christ practiced with us, and that's what it means in 1 Timothy 1-5 01:00:27.020 |
when Paul sends Timothy to go to war in the city of Ephesus 01:00:31.020 |
because the Judaizers were coming and beginning to spread the false gospel, 01:00:35.020 |
and he's telling this young man, "Do not be timid. 01:00:39.020 |
I give you the authority," and the word "command" here is a military command, 01:00:43.020 |
where a commanding officer is telling the subordinate, 01:00:46.020 |
"I'm commanding you to go and command these men to stop teaching false doctrines, 01:00:53.020 |
and I give you the authority as an apostle of Jesus Christ to go and fight." 01:00:59.020 |
And this Timothy, he's concerned, he's timid, he has some ailments, 01:01:03.020 |
and people are falling out, and so Paul is trying to strengthen him up to go fight. 01:01:10.020 |
But as he goes to fight, he says, "But remember, the goal of our instruction is love 01:01:17.020 |
from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 01:01:21.020 |
The reason why I need you to fight is so that you can establish love. 01:01:26.020 |
The reason why doctrine needs to be pure is so that we can have love. 01:01:30.020 |
The reason why you need to make your stand clear is so that you can ultimately have greater love." 01:01:37.020 |
See, in our generation, because of the way that the gospel has been watered down, 01:01:42.020 |
that we somehow think that doctrinal purity and love somehow cannot coexist. 01:01:49.020 |
But the very reason why God calls us to purity in the church is so that we can have greater love. 01:02:02.020 |
Third, we are called to love as we love ourselves. 01:02:13.020 |
Adelphia is brother, but literally the word in Greek means of the same womb. 01:02:19.020 |
So the Greeks used this word Philadelphia to only refer to blood brothers, 01:02:28.020 |
So the Christians adapted this to apply to all their true believers. 01:02:33.020 |
So this was a, even though the word existed, the way it was applied in the New Testament 01:02:38.020 |
to new covenant people is uniquely Christian. 01:02:41.020 |
And the reason why it was uniquely Christian is because that idea of family 01:02:46.020 |
was applied to all true believers because we were all born by the same spirit. 01:02:53.020 |
So the Greeks used it to refer to people who were born of the same womb. 01:02:57.020 |
And the New Testament believers used it to all who are genuinely born again by the spirit. 01:03:02.020 |
And Jesus himself said when he was hanging on the cross and he was looking at his mother, 01:03:06.020 |
he looked at the disciples and he said to the mother, "Women, behold your son." 01:03:10.020 |
Then he said to the disciples, "Behold your mother." 01:03:12.020 |
From that hour, the disciples took her into his own household. 01:03:17.020 |
He said, "Now you are true brothers. That's your mother. That's your father." 01:03:21.020 |
And so that our community is actually our family. 01:03:26.020 |
Ephesians 4, 4-5, "There is one body, one spirit, just as you also called in one hope of your calling, 01:03:32.020 |
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all." 01:03:42.020 |
Now, like the application of all this sounds great, but what is the application of all of this? 01:03:48.020 |
He says we are to love one another as we would love our own family members. 01:03:54.020 |
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and spirit. 01:04:00.020 |
When we talk about the practice of holiness or practice of grace, 01:04:07.020 |
And I've had a friend tell me years ago that he believes that the greatest problem in our generation 01:04:16.020 |
That we need to weed out sin. We need to call out people who are in error. 01:04:26.020 |
But I don't know if I would phrase it that way because I don't think it's accurate. 01:04:31.020 |
I think the way we should understand is the greatest problem in our generation is that we don't practice true love. 01:04:38.020 |
Because the kind of love that we practice sometimes is no more than indifference. 01:04:44.020 |
We have different degrees of how we practice love. 01:04:48.020 |
We have people that we really care about and we love them. 01:04:51.020 |
We rejoice with them and we suffer with them. 01:04:56.020 |
And then we have some groups of people we don't either hate them or love them. 01:05:05.020 |
And then when they suffer, sad face on Facebook. 01:05:08.020 |
But that's about the engagement that we have. 01:05:14.020 |
So when they suffer, we rejoice inwardly, quietly, because we're Christian. 01:05:20.020 |
And then when they celebrate, we're kind of like, "Huh, they don't deserve that." 01:05:25.020 |
So we have different degrees of love that we practice. 01:05:30.020 |
But the people that we really love, we're engaged. 01:05:35.020 |
No mother or father who sees a child deliberately choosing a path that they know is going to hurt them 01:05:42.020 |
and sits there and say, "Well, I want to practice grace and mercy. 01:05:47.020 |
I'm just going to let you do whatever you want to do because I'd rather err on the side of grace." 01:05:54.020 |
No one would look at that and say, "What a great mom. What a great dad." 01:05:57.020 |
If your child is staying up till 4 in the morning playing video games 14 hours 01:06:02.020 |
and ruining their life and hanging out with the wrong crowd 01:06:05.020 |
and they're making decisions that ultimately are going to hurt them, 01:06:09.020 |
no loving mother, no loving father is going to sit there and watch it and say, 01:06:16.020 |
You'd get involved. If that was your brother, if that was your sister, if that was your mother or father, 01:06:22.020 |
because we love them, we would be more concerned about the damage that they're doing to their life 01:06:32.020 |
So sometimes our idea of practicing grace is being indifferent 01:06:38.020 |
because we're afraid how they will react to what we will say. 01:06:42.020 |
But we don't do that to people we really love. 01:06:45.020 |
People that we really love, we will say something, despite how you may perceive me. 01:06:52.020 |
I will say something to you because I know and I'm convinced that if you keep going down that path, 01:06:58.020 |
that there is destruction, there's no good waiting for you. 01:07:05.020 |
So the kind of grace that's supposedly being practiced in our generation is not grace at all. 01:07:13.020 |
It's just indifference and we're not doing it for them. 01:07:17.020 |
Even though in the back of our mind we know where, 01:07:20.020 |
say, "Oh, he's going to point out what's wrong." 01:07:23.020 |
So the problem in our generation is not that we don't practice church discipline. 01:07:37.020 |
Because God's love and His grace cannot be separated. 01:07:42.020 |
If you practice one without the other, it isn't from God. 01:07:46.020 |
If you practice justice without love, you'll get vengeance. 01:07:52.020 |
If you practice grace without justice, you have indifference. 01:07:56.020 |
Just kind of ignore it. Let them be. They're going to do drugs, let them do drugs. 01:07:59.020 |
They're going to run down this path and at the end of it there's a cliff. 01:08:05.020 |
You see, God's justice and His mercy and His grace can never be separated. 01:08:12.020 |
And that's the community that He calls us to, where the gospel of Jesus Christ, 01:08:18.020 |
When the cross is at the center, His holiness and His love will never be compromised. 01:08:35.020 |
You notice here He says to continue in my love. 01:08:38.020 |
He doesn't say practice love. He says continue in my love. 01:08:42.020 |
The word for continue is a very theologically rich term. 01:08:47.020 |
So if you've been at our church, I've given several sermons on this, on John chapter 15, 01:08:51.020 |
when Jesus says, "If you want to bear fruit, you need to remain in me." 01:08:59.020 |
That word meno is used over 11 times in that passage. 01:09:03.020 |
And Jesus is telling His disciples as He is going to the cross, 01:09:08.020 |
But if you want to bear fruit, you need to meno in me. 01:09:11.020 |
The word meno is one of those words that can't be translated with one word. 01:09:16.020 |
So some of your translations, it would say remain. 01:09:27.020 |
But basically that word means to be connected, to continue what God has started. 01:09:33.020 |
So if you notice here, He says, "Let love of the brethren remain." 01:09:38.020 |
To continue. In other words, the love of Christ has given to all genuine believers. 01:09:48.020 |
Because that was the greatest evidence of separation from the world. 01:09:52.020 |
In 1 Thessalonians 4, 9-10, it says, "Now as to love of the brethren, 01:09:58.020 |
for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. 01:10:01.020 |
For if indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in Macedonia, 01:10:06.020 |
but we urge you, brethren, to excel still more." 01:10:10.020 |
"I don't need to teach you this because God already taught you this." 01:10:15.020 |
That God audibly opened up heaven and said, "Love." 01:10:20.020 |
"Oh, I don't need to teach you because you heard that from heaven." 01:10:26.020 |
He means that the practice of this love is so fundamental to the gospel 01:10:31.020 |
that as Christ loved us, you would naturally love. 01:10:35.020 |
If God was generous to you, you would be generous. 01:10:39.020 |
I don't need to teach you because at the root of the gospel, 01:10:42.020 |
at the root of redemptive history, is God loving sinners. 01:10:47.020 |
It was given to us, and it was given to us to do by the power of the Holy Spirit. 01:10:53.020 |
In 1 John 4:19, it says, "We love because He first loved us." 01:11:02.020 |
You know, one of the first things that happens when you begin to stray away from God 01:11:14.020 |
That's the first thing because this is impossible to practice. 01:11:20.020 |
In the Old Testament, God says, "Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth." 01:11:27.020 |
There's different degrees of relationships that we practice. 01:11:30.020 |
We practice vengeance, justice, mercy, and grace. 01:11:46.020 |
They punch you in the mouth, you punch them in the mouth. 01:11:50.020 |
The reason why God even has to tell us to practice justice 01:11:54.020 |
is because our natural inclination isn't to practice justice. 01:12:04.020 |
So as much as people are marching and saying, "No justice, no peace," 01:12:19.020 |
You punch me, I'm going to punch your family. 01:12:23.020 |
You slash my tire, I'm going to burn your car. 01:12:26.020 |
You rob from me, I'm going to take your whole bank account. 01:12:28.020 |
That's our natural, in our flesh, our desire. 01:12:34.020 |
You have to be a righteous man, a self-controlled disciplined man, 01:12:41.020 |
That somebody hurts you and you only hurt them as much as they hurt you. 01:12:47.020 |
Our sinful state is, "You hurt me, I'll kill you." 01:12:51.020 |
Make sure you never even entertain messing with me. 01:13:04.020 |
That not only does He tell us to practice justice, 01:13:13.020 |
It's like not take vengeance and not even justice. 01:13:19.020 |
How hard is that when somebody deliberately tries to hurt you 01:13:39.020 |
To grace and then go beyond that and then to love them. 01:13:46.020 |
So tell somebody who may or may not be satisfied with vengeance 01:13:52.020 |
and then command them to practice the love that He gave to us 01:14:00.020 |
To love them, give to them, take care of them. 01:14:03.020 |
And He said, "By that love the world will know you are my disciples." 01:14:07.020 |
Because that's not something you can do in your flesh. 01:14:12.020 |
And that's why He says to remain in this love. 01:14:21.020 |
it is humanly impossible to even imagine to practice this love. 01:14:28.020 |
See, God's holiness that sets us apart from this world 01:14:36.020 |
That's why He says we love because He first loved us. 01:14:44.020 |
Apostle Paul is talking about himself and his disciples. 01:14:47.020 |
Now understand the context of why he's saying this. 01:14:51.020 |
Do you remember Apostle Paul, he was writing, 01:14:53.020 |
and he begged the Lord three times to take away the thorn on his side? 01:14:57.020 |
And if you read the commentaries, people have done a lot of work 01:15:01.020 |
to try to figure out what is that thorn on his side? 01:15:09.020 |
There's no mention of that anywhere in the Bible. 01:15:11.020 |
So I'm not sure if that's the best interpretation 01:15:13.020 |
because if he was sick, that would have been the only problem. 01:15:18.020 |
His wife just couldn't stand that he's not making enough money. 01:15:29.020 |
But if you read the context of 1 Corinthians, 01:15:32.020 |
Paul, when he showed up to the city, he was trembling in fear. 01:15:36.020 |
He was getting beat up, jailed, whooped, almost died, shipwrecked. 01:15:41.020 |
So when he comes into the city, he was in fear. 01:15:52.020 |
"I want you to continue your work because I have many who follow me in this city." 01:15:57.020 |
So Paul spent a lot of time in this city sharing the gospel, 01:16:01.020 |
bringing people to Christ, and establishing this church. 01:16:04.020 |
So he had a special affection for this church 01:16:07.020 |
because he spent a lot of time at this church. 01:16:10.020 |
And it is that church that was falling apart. 01:16:15.020 |
you know the 1 and 2 Corinthians is the harshest letter to these churches 01:16:20.020 |
because some people were questioning because they didn't like what he had to say. 01:16:24.020 |
"That guy's an apostle. How can he be an apostle?" 01:16:32.020 |
And he was writing letters to change them, to correct them. 01:16:38.020 |
They said, "This guy's letters are weighty, but his presence is weak." 01:16:42.020 |
"He writes with such authority, but when he comes, he's just a tiny little guy, bald-headed guy," 01:16:53.020 |
I don't know about you, but my inclination would have been, 01:16:56.020 |
"Well, you got Peter. Then go to Peter. That's Peter's problem. 01:17:04.020 |
Apollos is the better speaker. Go. No sweat off my back. 01:17:09.020 |
I got all these other churches I got to attend to. 01:17:11.020 |
If you just take off and leave, no sweat off my back." 01:17:16.020 |
I mean, his anguishing letter that he writes, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, 01:17:20.020 |
questioning his apostleship, begging them to repent, 01:17:23.020 |
and still them questioning him, "Who is this guy? I don't like his sermons." 01:17:28.020 |
And so he begged. I think him begging the Lord was his opposition 01:17:36.020 |
And as he says in Philippians, there are some people preaching the gospel 01:17:39.020 |
just to make it harder for him to preach the gospel. 01:17:42.020 |
He was not only being attacked by the Judaizers, but within the church 01:17:49.020 |
I mean, Galatians starts out, "Am I a servant of man or servant of God?" 01:17:53.020 |
And he was calling out even Apostle Peter and Barnabas, his mentors, 01:17:58.020 |
because he was afraid that their actions were going to pervert the gospel. 01:18:03.020 |
And so because he was bold in preaching the gospel, 01:18:08.020 |
And I believe when he said he begged the Lord to take away the thorn, 01:18:12.020 |
he was having a hard time with those who were criticizing him. 01:18:18.020 |
It is in that context, he writes, because it's so tempting to just let it go. 01:18:25.020 |
It's so tempting to shake off the dust and say, "Good riddance. 01:18:30.020 |
I'm here risking my life, almost died, so that you can have the gospel, 01:18:33.020 |
and this is the way you're going to treat me? Good. Gone." 01:18:44.020 |
It is in that context, he says, for the love of Christ controls us. 01:18:49.020 |
It was because of the love of Christ I endured. 01:18:53.020 |
Having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died, 01:18:56.020 |
and he died for all so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, 01:19:01.020 |
but for him who died and rose again on their behalf. 01:19:04.020 |
I believe when he was writing this, this was his personal testimony. 01:19:08.020 |
I'm persevering because I'm no longer living for myself. 01:19:12.020 |
It's not about me. It's not about my pain. It's not about my sacrifice. 01:19:16.020 |
But Christ crucified because the love of Christ was compelling him to endure and to love. 01:19:25.020 |
Fifth and finally, love is the ultimate goal. It is the fulfillment of this holy law. 01:19:32.020 |
Romans 13, 8-10 says, "Owe nothing to anyone except the love of one another, 01:19:36.020 |
for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law." 01:19:40.020 |
For this, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, 01:19:45.020 |
and he basically gives a brief list of the Ten Commandments, and he says all of this is summarized. 01:19:50.020 |
Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. 01:19:53.020 |
So if you look at the Ten Commandments, the first four commandments is about loving God. 01:19:59.020 |
Have no worship of any other God, no graven images, not take the Lord's name in vain to keep the Sabbath holy, 01:20:05.020 |
and then the next six is about the relationship that we have with one another. 01:20:09.020 |
He says, "But the purpose of holy living, to obey these commandments, is ultimately practice of love." 01:20:16.020 |
He's giving us a description of how to love God and how to love one another. 01:20:21.020 |
And that's exactly what he says in Matthew 22, 37-40. 01:20:25.020 |
"And he said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. 01:20:31.020 |
The second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" 01:20:36.020 |
On these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets. 01:20:40.020 |
So when we think of the law, we automatically say, "Oh, that goes into the context of holiness." 01:20:46.020 |
And when we think of mercy, we think of God's forgiveness and what he did at the cross. 01:20:52.020 |
But here he says, "The commandment, the holy commandment, the fulfillment of that is love." 01:21:03.020 |
So if you err in love, if you err in love, you err in the law. 01:21:17.020 |
1 John 4, 16-17, "We have come to know and have believed the love of God, which has for us, 01:21:22.020 |
God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, God abides in him. 01:21:31.020 |
There's another word that's important in the New Testament. 01:21:35.020 |
And remember, the word teleos doesn't mean that you yourself are morally perfect. 01:21:41.020 |
Perfected means that whatever was intended for that is finding fulfillment. 01:21:46.020 |
So if a child enters into school, when is he perfected? 01:21:58.020 |
I mean, he's not saying when you get straight A's all the time, you never get anything wrong, 01:22:05.020 |
This word basically means what God had intended, he's bringing to fulfillment. 01:22:11.020 |
Christ was crucified and he gave his love for us and is perfected in us when we are affected and love one another. 01:22:20.020 |
So his love is perfected in us when we begin to reflect that love in the way that we live. 01:22:37.020 |
You know, years ago I would go to retreats, you know, and usually, four out of five times, 01:22:43.020 |
there's usually somebody I know that asked me to come and speak and I would speak. 01:22:47.020 |
And a lot of these churches are not doing well. 01:22:52.020 |
And one of the most common questions that I was getting at churches, at retreats, was, 01:22:57.020 |
"Pastor Peter, when is the right time to leave a church?" 01:23:02.020 |
This is my friend's church, right, and he's talking about that church. 01:23:09.020 |
Eventually, like, you know, I said, "Well, this is one of the most common questions because people are frustrated." 01:23:15.020 |
And so, one, I can't, I'm at my friend's church. 01:23:22.020 |
My friend came to speak so that you guys can benefit and then I said, "Get out of here." 01:23:26.020 |
So I'm thinking, so I would give them the, you know, what you should give, right. 01:23:31.020 |
Well, how much of this is your problem, right? 01:23:37.020 |
Do you have a high view of the church where you're just going to hop around church to church? 01:23:41.020 |
So I would give them, not knowing the context, not knowing what the problem is, 01:23:44.020 |
and I'm more concerned about this is, I can't, I can't tell him to leave. 01:23:50.020 |
I don't even want to know what the problem is because even if I wanted to tell you to leave, 01:23:57.020 |
But years would go by and that would be the most common question that they would ask 01:24:03.020 |
And so I'm wrestling with this idea of practicing love, love as yourself, 01:24:08.020 |
and I'm just meditating, thinking about this. 01:24:13.020 |
What's the right way to answer this question? 01:24:16.020 |
And I thought, how would I answer if my son asked me this question? 01:24:21.020 |
He went to college and he's struggling, he's not growing, there's stuff happening in the church. 01:24:31.020 |
Because for my son, I wouldn't be as concerned about what they would think of me 01:24:38.020 |
I wouldn't be so concerned about my reputation because I would be more concerned about him. 01:24:44.020 |
So I resolved that I'm going to be honest and answer you exactly the way I would answer my son. 01:24:52.020 |
And so that's the mindset that I have even inside the church. 01:24:56.020 |
If you ask me a question, I'm going to answer you like I would answer my own son. 01:25:00.020 |
Sometimes you may not like it, but that's what I actually believe. 01:25:05.020 |
I'm not going to dress it up so that you won't hate me. 01:25:09.020 |
You might hate me, but that's exactly what I would say to my own son. 01:25:13.020 |
So even if we have to discipline somebody at church, I'd ask my question, 01:25:19.020 |
Because I have to believe that this is what's best for him, not because I'm annoyed, 01:25:24.020 |
not because I'm angered, or not because I'm offended, 01:25:27.020 |
because I would never approach my children that way. 01:25:29.020 |
Even if I'm angered, I would make sure that whatever I say and do is for their own good. 01:25:36.020 |
And so that didn't solve all the problems, but it made things much more simpler. 01:25:42.020 |
To practice this love, that I need to practice this love as I would love myself, 01:25:49.020 |
to love my children, to love my wife, to love people that I genuinely love. 01:25:54.020 |
So when a church practices true biblical love, accountability happens. 01:26:03.020 |
We don't just simply look at that and say, "Oh, what are they going to think if I say something?" 01:26:17.020 |
I'm not saying we're going to create an environment and I see everybody is wrong. 01:26:20.020 |
Because you wouldn't do that with your kids either. 01:26:23.020 |
You wouldn't be so quick to point out every false thing because you know that's not good for your kids either. 01:26:29.020 |
But true biblical love never separates holiness and mercy. 01:26:41.020 |
So in practice, and I know our natural inclination is I'd rather err on the side of grace. 01:27:01.020 |
Not what I want the gospel to be, but what the gospel actually is. 01:27:14.020 |
let's take some time to reflect if there's any areas in our life where we superficially applied love, 01:27:24.020 |
Where maybe we were overly harsh because we really didn't love. 01:27:27.020 |
We said, you know, we're going to speak the truth in love, but it was more truth than love. 01:27:35.020 |
So we ask the Lord to show us, search us and know us, see if there's any hurtful ways in us, 01:27:40.020 |
so that our church would truly be identified by the love of Christ, 01:27:44.020 |
that the world would know that we are his disciples. 01:27:47.020 |
So let's take some time to pray as our worship team leads us. 01:33:41.020 |
Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 01:33:45.020 |
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters. 01:33:50.020 |
He restores my soul, he guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 01:33:55.020 |
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil. 01:33:59.020 |
For you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 01:34:03.020 |
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. 01:34:06.020 |
You have anointed my head with oil, my cup overflows. 01:34:10.020 |
Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 01:34:18.020 |
Lord, help us, Lord God, to make this our true confession of our hearts this week. 01:34:27.020 |
May the life of your church, Lord God, shine in such a way that more and more people may know that we are disciples of Jesus Christ, 01:34:35.020 |
and that his love will be perfected in us in the presence of this dark world. 01:34:41.020 |
May your name and your Son's name and the Holy Spirit's name be magnified this week. 01:35:22.020 |
An empty grave is there to find my Savior lays. 01:35:34.020 |
As he lays, I can face tomorrow because he lives. 01:35:50.020 |
All fear is gone because I know he holds the future. 01:36:06.020 |
And life is worth the living just because he lays.