back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 05.12.24
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Also, a happy Mother's Day to all of our mothers. 00:09:22.320 |
Let me get to a few announcements before we get started. 00:09:26.320 |
for the fundraising is happening this Saturday. 00:09:29.320 |
If you are playing or you are helping out in any way, 00:10:08.320 |
Anyway, VBS is happening in July 15th to 17th 00:12:52.320 |
may it be multiplied for the sake of your kingdom. 00:17:13.320 |
- I'd like to introduce a new song this morning. 00:17:36.320 |
"to work together for good for those who love God, 00:17:39.320 |
"to those who are called according to his purpose." 00:17:50.320 |
The Scripture affirmed that both good and evil 00:18:08.320 |
and comes to us for the furthering of his purpose for us. 00:18:16.320 |
and assure us that God has ordained everything in our past, 00:22:01.320 |
Hello. My name is Michelle Chang, and this is my testimony. 00:22:25.320 |
For the longest time, I had trouble answering that question, 00:22:28.320 |
even though I was born into a Christian church 00:22:31.320 |
and accustomed with the principles of Christianity. 00:22:36.320 |
and being Christian meant going through certain actions-- 00:22:39.320 |
attending services, Friday nights, small groups, 00:22:43.320 |
helping out with BBS, and being on the praise team. 00:22:46.320 |
My true identity and worth were defined by worldly, 00:22:52.320 |
and that same thinking applied to how I viewed my faith, 00:22:55.320 |
which is why I had trouble answering that question, 00:23:05.320 |
Growing up, I set personal standards of success for myself 00:23:11.320 |
In high school, there were times of difficulty 00:23:13.320 |
that led me to cry out sincerely to the Lord, 00:23:16.320 |
and at that time, God planted a seed in my heart-- 00:23:24.320 |
peace, regardless of my circumstances and my works. 00:23:27.320 |
However, my view on my worth did not change at its core-- 00:23:30.320 |
that my value was dependent on what I did or did not do. 00:24:00.320 |
and therefore reluctance to come before a holy God, 00:24:03.320 |
and also blame and anger at the God who created me this way. 00:24:14.320 |
I would only feel relief for a short amount of time 00:24:19.320 |
when and what the next task life would throw at me. 00:24:23.320 |
I had a very pessimistic, transactional view of life, 00:24:28.320 |
something equally bad or worse had to happen as well. 00:24:31.320 |
I couldn't believe in the peace, contentment, 00:24:34.320 |
and promises Christ made in its everlasting nature 00:24:40.320 |
Upon graduating college, I had difficulty finding a job. 00:24:58.320 |
in a new state, living alone with no one to depend on. 00:25:08.320 |
I had a stable job, I was financially independent, 00:25:15.320 |
But on the inside, I was struggling the most. 00:25:24.320 |
I tried filling those gaps with satisfying my lusts 00:25:31.320 |
and the feeling of emptiness always came back. 00:25:41.320 |
that seed that had been planted in high school 00:25:52.320 |
I became more and more curious to learn who God is. 00:26:15.320 |
I was reluctant to state that I was a Christian, 00:26:20.320 |
they would be able to pick at so many things. 00:26:32.320 |
Something I had never considered myself to have. 00:26:39.320 |
yet in my actions, I showed that I deemed myself worthy 00:26:43.320 |
in front of the Almighty God by my own works, 00:26:46.320 |
when in reality, it was God who gave his only son, 00:26:53.320 |
and therefore I am justified in front of God. 00:27:00.320 |
Nothing I can do or have will change who I am, 00:27:11.320 |
"those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 00:27:14.320 |
"More than that, I count all things to be lost 00:27:17.320 |
"in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, 00:27:20.320 |
"for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, 00:27:22.320 |
"and count them but rubbish, so I may gain Christ. 00:27:27.320 |
"not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, 00:27:32.320 |
"the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. 00:27:38.320 |
"I grow steadfast in my identity as a co-heir with Christ. 00:27:42.320 |
"He is the one who gave me my skills and my gifts, 00:27:45.320 |
"steward for the purpose of building his kingdom 00:27:49.320 |
Who I am is not defined by what I achieve in this life, 00:27:55.320 |
but on who God has created and called me to be, 00:27:58.320 |
a daughter of God who has been fully redeemed 00:28:05.320 |
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, 00:28:07.320 |
"and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." 00:28:10.320 |
So I live this life confident that neither death, nor life, 00:28:18.320 |
will be able to separate us from the love of God. 00:28:23.320 |
as an act of faith and obedience to God's word. 00:28:32.320 |
Joe, do you understand when you go into the water 00:28:57.320 |
Can I baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, 00:29:11.320 |
All right, thank you, Michelle, for that wonderful testimony. 00:29:19.320 |
If you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke 8, 00:29:43.320 |
"and hold it fast and bear fruit with perseverance." 00:29:48.320 |
Father, we pray for wisdom, we pray for understanding, 00:29:53.320 |
and we pray, Lord God, for change and obedience. 00:29:57.320 |
May your word and the power that you've invested in it 00:30:03.320 |
and that your name may be magnified as a result. 00:30:08.320 |
Today is Mother's Day, obviously, as you guys know. 00:30:14.320 |
I'm sure you guys either did something last night 00:30:18.320 |
But I'm not going to give a message on Mother's Day, 00:30:21.320 |
but I wanted to begin by acknowledging our mothers. 00:30:23.320 |
If you could put the slide up for the text in Luke chapter-- 00:30:30.320 |
and I'm going to read it, and some of you guys 00:30:32.320 |
are going to read it thinking, like, "Why this text?" 00:30:36.320 |
So hopefully you are encouraged by the content, okay? 00:30:45.320 |
"with proper clothing modestly and discreetly, 00:30:47.320 |
"not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly garments, 00:30:52.320 |
"as is proper for women making a claim to godliness. 00:30:57.320 |
"with entire submissiveness, but I do not allow a woman 00:31:04.320 |
"For it was Adam who was first created and then Eve, 00:31:08.320 |
"but the woman who deceived fell into transgression. 00:31:11.320 |
"But women will be preserved through the bearing of children 00:31:14.320 |
"if they continue in faith and love and sanctity 00:31:33.320 |
is going to get a harsh response, a reaction, 00:31:42.320 |
and all this stuff, it's this, because it's in the church. 00:31:46.320 |
And recently, there has been a push in the Christian community. 00:31:55.320 |
They don't love Christ, they don't know Christ, 00:31:57.320 |
they don't have the Bible, so I'm not as concerned 00:31:59.320 |
as what's going on, because they don't know Christ. 00:32:04.320 |
And recently, there has been more and more discussion 00:32:18.320 |
And the reason why I'm reading it this morning 00:32:44.320 |
If you look at the context, that's not what it says. 00:32:49.320 |
And instead, they are distorting the Scripture 00:32:51.320 |
and trying to say something that it does not say. 00:33:10.320 |
Why would God limit certain roles of women in the church? 00:33:14.320 |
Because I had a woman pastor that I really respected. 00:33:50.320 |
say, you know, I like everything about this church, 00:33:59.320 |
And only if this church would change this, right? 00:34:05.320 |
is because I've had conversations with people. 00:34:09.320 |
but basically that's what you were feeling, right? 00:34:18.320 |
and false teachings are penetrating into the church 00:34:21.320 |
from false understanding of what the text says. 00:34:25.320 |
And so our temptation is to stay away from this subject 00:34:41.320 |
So I like, you know, like putting Bengay back here, 00:34:50.320 |
But it needs special attention because it's sore. 00:34:54.320 |
And that's the reason why I don't stand during worship 00:34:58.320 |
My knees start to swell up at the end of their third service. 00:35:06.320 |
I can't ignore it because there's something wrong. 00:35:28.320 |
where you have women movement, the feminist movement, 00:35:34.320 |
how do we make the church more acceptable to the world. 00:35:39.320 |
And so the world is dictating what the church looks like. 00:35:46.320 |
certain core fundamental teachings of the scripture 00:35:49.320 |
will end up being compromised in order that non-Christians 00:35:56.320 |
And this is what I've been talking about all this time. 00:36:02.320 |
we're more than willing to sit down and talk with you 00:36:04.320 |
and the rationale behind it and what the scripture says. 00:36:10.320 |
even though I myself had a hard time with this, 00:36:16.320 |
in the family and in the church is beyond explainable. 00:36:23.320 |
You cannot have a football team or a basketball team 00:36:33.320 |
No one looks at that and says, "That's not fair. 00:36:37.320 |
Why can't we all be the head coach and be equal?" 00:36:44.320 |
and they're constantly challenging each other, 00:36:47.320 |
And so that principle, whether it is at home, 00:36:50.320 |
whether it is at school, whether it is at work, 00:37:16.320 |
"If you want to be great in the kingdom of God, 00:37:20.320 |
The least is the greatest in the kingdom of God. 00:37:33.320 |
means that they have some more value than somebody else. 00:37:36.320 |
That's not the principles taught in scripture. 00:37:40.320 |
God created the design of marriage and church 00:37:49.320 |
"God the Father is much greater than God the Son." 00:37:58.320 |
where one and each other submit to one another, 00:38:11.320 |
Because we understand that Trinity is perfectly one. 00:38:27.320 |
So the church, the family, and everything that we do 00:38:39.320 |
by the principles and the values of the world 00:38:47.320 |
That's a reaction because we've been indoctrinated 00:38:56.320 |
The very thing that causes a knee-jerk reaction 00:39:07.320 |
The fact that we hear a clear teaching of the word of God 00:39:30.320 |
causes us to have a knee-jerk reaction saying, 00:39:34.320 |
that's a revelation that something has gone wrong with us. 00:39:38.320 |
The Bible says, "Do not be conformed to this world, 00:39:46.320 |
Discipleship sanctification happens first in our mind, 00:39:50.320 |
in what we value, what we love, what we hate, 00:40:09.320 |
But if you are saturated by the thoughts of this world, 00:40:12.320 |
then you're going to take the values of this world 00:40:22.320 |
instead of seeing the world through the lens of God. 00:40:38.320 |
Secondly, the part where he says to the women, 00:40:42.320 |
"But women will be preserved through bearing of children 00:40:45.320 |
"if they continue in faith and love and sanctity of life." 00:40:52.320 |
well, the only way that you're going to be saved 00:40:54.320 |
is if you bear children and take care of them. 00:40:57.320 |
A Western mindset, because we're all individualistic. 00:41:01.320 |
And so as a result, we look at everything as like, 00:41:12.320 |
He's saying that this sinful world that we're living in, 00:41:30.320 |
And so the mothers have been given the assignment 00:41:42.320 |
if you have dedicated your life to raise your children, 00:41:53.320 |
And so you're not living up to your potential 00:42:03.320 |
it doesn't matter if you have a full-time job, 00:42:05.320 |
you're a doctor or a lawyer, whatever you may be. 00:42:13.320 |
if not all of them, will say it's their children. 00:42:20.320 |
and they've been challenged by the things of this world, 00:42:24.320 |
what's the most important thing in your life? 00:42:30.320 |
I would kill to make sure we make more money, 00:42:36.320 |
But the problem is that the teachings of this world 00:42:45.320 |
but I really want to make something of myself 00:42:49.320 |
and somehow motherhood has taken second seat, 00:42:57.320 |
that you go to school, what major are you going to do? 00:43:00.320 |
You get internship and you do all of this stuff. 00:43:02.320 |
Again, in and of itself, there's nothing wrong. 00:43:05.320 |
But if the most important thing that a mother is going to do 00:43:25.320 |
Money is spent, getting an education, a degree, 00:43:30.320 |
like what's the most important thing in your life? 00:43:34.320 |
And yet so little attention is given for preparation 00:43:40.320 |
and all of a sudden, what do I do with this kid? 00:43:49.320 |
and there's no preparation given to that, right? 00:43:55.320 |
It takes us away from what God has naturally designed 00:44:04.320 |
and this is an encouragement to the mothers in our church 00:44:07.320 |
that a society that does not elevate motherhood 00:44:16.320 |
Next generation of people are going to be destroyed 00:44:23.320 |
That's why I think this Mother's Day is important. 00:44:29.320 |
to what I'm really going to say today, right? 00:44:41.320 |
The father, obviously, is to lead and sacrifice 00:44:44.320 |
so that she can be the best mother she can be, right? 00:44:48.320 |
I'll talk about fathers in a few more weeks, right? 00:44:53.320 |
So that's part of the reason why I wanted to highlight this 00:45:02.320 |
we go through different stages in our attitude toward mothers. 00:45:05.320 |
When you're a child, your mom is everything, right? 00:45:08.320 |
I remember my earliest memory of getting into a fight 00:45:27.320 |
And she went out to go get bread or something. 00:45:31.320 |
I remember sitting there and the rain is falling, 00:45:39.320 |
and obviously somebody needs to be punished for this, right? 00:45:54.320 |
and she was just laughing while we were crying. 00:46:00.320 |
But then for some reason, we get a little bit older, right? 00:46:05.320 |
your parents become a nuisance during teenage years 00:46:11.320 |
and all of a sudden, your mom stands in the way, 00:46:16.320 |
So all of a sudden, she's the source of all your problems 00:46:31.320 |
so you get away from my parents so I can have freedom 00:46:34.320 |
and my mom and my dad is standing in the way. 00:46:41.320 |
because the people who've sacrificed the most in your life, 00:46:46.320 |
you see them as a problem in your life, right? 00:46:55.320 |
from the things that they restrict you to when you're younger. 00:46:58.320 |
And so your parents start to fall into the background, right? 00:47:08.320 |
And so you think you're more mature than you really are, 00:47:17.320 |
You love your parents, but they're not your priority, right? 00:47:23.320 |
and the only time you really realize how important you are 00:47:28.320 |
And you just assume they've been there all your life, 00:47:33.320 |
where the parents kind of fall into the background, right? 00:47:38.320 |
During your 30s is when you start to really mature. 00:47:42.320 |
You have a kid, and all of a sudden you realize, 00:47:49.320 |
probably, you know, maybe you were rebellious teenagers, 00:47:52.320 |
and all of a sudden you realize you didn't get here on your own. 00:47:58.320 |
and nobody sacrificed more than the mom in your life, 00:48:03.320 |
And then the real maturity happens when you're 40, 00:48:08.320 |
and then you start to realize what you were like as a teenager, 00:48:12.320 |
and, "Oh, my gosh, God is punishing me for what I did to my kids," right? 00:48:22.320 |
and you start to really appreciate your mom during that period. 00:48:27.320 |
but all of a sudden you wake up, and it's like, "Oh, my gosh." 00:48:30.320 |
You know, they really--my mom really sacrificed for me. 00:48:38.320 |
that's when you really start to appreciate it 00:48:40.320 |
because you realize you don't have a lot of time with them 00:48:44.320 |
And then they become much more important than you-- 00:48:50.320 |
I'm not exactly sure what it's like in the 60s. 00:48:56.320 |
But those are the stages that we go through in life with our parents. 00:49:00.320 |
We have a tendency, because we live in the Western world, 00:49:06.320 |
I don't need my parents because I can get a job, 00:49:09.320 |
I can pay my own bills, and I can live without them, 00:49:11.320 |
and we think that that's the final stage of maturity. 00:49:17.320 |
Anybody who can live and breathe can do that. 00:49:20.320 |
You don't have to be a good human being to do that. 00:49:22.320 |
All you have to be is just don't be lazy, right, and just get a job. 00:49:29.320 |
The final stage of maturity is when you begin to realize 00:49:35.320 |
because we have a tendency to ignore and trivialize 00:49:46.320 |
that somebody gave their life so that I could live, 00:49:56.320 |
Our moms, I think, of all the common grace that God has given us, 00:50:01.320 |
the greatest of the common grace is the moms in our lives. 00:50:05.320 |
And I know that some of you come from very difficult backgrounds, 00:50:09.320 |
and maybe you say, "Well, you don't know my mom." 00:50:16.320 |
And so that's why I think this day is so important 00:50:19.320 |
because they are probably the least appreciated in our society, 00:50:23.320 |
and they are one of the most important people. 00:50:31.320 |
and if we allow the world to force their values in the church, 00:50:46.320 |
And the mothers realize the greatest task that they've been given 00:50:49.320 |
for the preservation of mankind has been given to you, 00:51:00.320 |
Obviously--now, this is how I'm going to connect it with the sermon, okay? 00:51:05.320 |
Appreciating our mothers is not the final end. 00:51:13.320 |
the final end--we're not saved because we acknowledge our mothers. 00:51:17.320 |
We don't get saved because we honor our father and mother. 00:51:25.320 |
that every good and perfect gift comes down from our father in heaven. 00:51:31.320 |
And when, one, our eyes become open to the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 00:51:36.320 |
the gift is not, as I've been saying, is not not going to hell. 00:51:42.320 |
The ultimate gift is God himself, is Christ himself. 00:51:47.320 |
Just like if we only appreciate our moms for like, "Oh, she did this," 00:51:50.320 |
and, "Why do you like your mom when you're a little child?" 00:51:52.320 |
You say, "Because she fed me, she gives me the toys that I want." 00:51:58.320 |
But as you get older, you realize, "Oh, I got all of those things because of my mom. 00:52:04.320 |
So you begin to appreciate the mom than the gift. 00:52:08.320 |
You begin to appreciate and thank the mom more than the food that she cooks. 00:52:12.320 |
And in the same way, our view of God, when we mature beyond our childhood, 00:52:19.320 |
we begin to see the gift is not what God does for us in and of itself. 00:52:24.320 |
The ultimate gift of salvation is Christ himself. 00:52:33.320 |
He is. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. 00:52:37.320 |
And so Christ opened the door so that we can have God again. 00:52:42.320 |
We have salvation, redemption, justification, 00:52:44.320 |
all because we've been restored to our Heavenly Father. 00:52:49.320 |
Now, let me transition to what I'm going to say. 00:52:56.320 |
why do people who do not know this God continue to come to church today? 00:53:01.320 |
We had three soils that we've been talking about. 00:53:04.320 |
The first soil, here, they don't understand it, so they reject it. 00:53:09.320 |
Most of them will leave the church because they're uncomfortable in this context. 00:53:13.320 |
"I don't believe God. I don't see what you see," and they leave. 00:53:16.320 |
The second soil is a little bit more difficult because they raised their hand. 00:53:23.320 |
But because they have no roots, when times and trials and difficulty comes, 00:53:29.320 |
As soon as their faith is tested, they realize they don't have faith and they walk away. 00:53:33.320 |
But in a post-Christian culture, many of them have not physically walked away. 00:53:39.320 |
They have decided in their heart, following Christ is not for them, 00:53:50.320 |
because they start growing and they look in every way like Christians. 00:53:56.320 |
They may even be pastors and leaders in the church. 00:53:59.320 |
But in their heart, they've never fully surrendered. 00:54:03.320 |
"I want to give God this, this, this, and this." 00:54:10.320 |
And it says the weed, the thorn that grew up began to choke, 00:54:14.320 |
and the Word of God is no longer getting through to them. 00:54:18.320 |
So the question is, then why do these people who have walked away from God 00:54:22.320 |
and sees worship of God as a chore, why are they still at church? 00:54:28.320 |
Well, I think one of the reasons is just out of habit. 00:54:32.320 |
If you grew up in the church and that's all you've known, 00:54:35.320 |
and you've done that all your life, so it's just out of habit. 00:54:39.320 |
I've done it when I was young, I've done it when I was in college, 00:54:43.320 |
So physically you are here, spiritually you're not. 00:54:46.320 |
You're singing songs, but you're not praising God. 00:54:49.320 |
You go through the motion, but there's no reality. 00:54:51.320 |
You're holding to a form of God because there's no power in it. 00:55:00.320 |
Just like Buddhists go to the temple and they burn incense, 00:55:03.320 |
and if they burn enough incense, the Buddha is going to bless your life. 00:55:07.320 |
And so a lot of people use Jesus just like Buddhists use Buddha. 00:55:12.320 |
That if I come and do the right things and serve, and if I'm generous, 00:55:15.320 |
and if I sacrifice, then God's going to bless my family, 00:55:18.320 |
He's going to bless my business, He's going to bless my future. 00:55:21.320 |
And so you're doing it really out of superstition. 00:55:23.320 |
It has nothing to do with the truth of God's Word. 00:55:27.320 |
You're just hoping that if you put in your work, that God's going to reciprocate, 00:55:48.320 |
And so you hold on to some of the stuff, just so that you don't get judged. 00:55:55.320 |
So these are the type of people who are always asking, 00:55:57.320 |
"You want to enjoy life? You want to pursue everything that the world pursues? 00:56:01.320 |
But I want to be saved. I don't want to go to hell." 00:56:04.320 |
So it's not about Christ. It's not about glorifying God. 00:56:09.320 |
It's just, "I just don't want to go to hell." 00:56:11.320 |
So you want to enjoy as much as you want in this life, 00:56:19.320 |
It's not that you don't have faith, you don't have conviction, 00:56:29.320 |
So you have just enough fear to keep you in church, 00:56:33.320 |
but not enough to really surrender and follow Christ. 00:56:36.320 |
But I think the biggest reason why people who do not have faith 00:56:39.320 |
continue to come to church is because of your friends. 00:56:43.320 |
You've built up a community where all your friends-- 00:56:45.320 |
your wife's friends, your children's friends--are all at church. 00:56:50.320 |
that you have to start your whole life over somewhere else. 00:56:55.320 |
And so you just don't have the energy or the courage to do that. 00:57:08.320 |
So you go through the motion and do the minimum. 00:57:11.320 |
You admire people who are going ahead of you who have genuine faith. 00:57:16.320 |
But you yourself never have a personal testimony 00:57:24.320 |
I think a lot of people who have in their hearts 00:57:37.320 |
The main reason behind that is because of the community. 00:57:40.320 |
So the question that's asked--you know, when the pandemic happened 00:57:43.320 |
and the community disappeared, they said among the Millennials-- 00:57:47.320 |
50% of the Millennials stopped coming to church during the pandemic. 00:57:53.320 |
And the main reason why is because they couldn't see their friends anymore 00:57:57.320 |
because church went online, and all of a sudden they realized 00:58:00.320 |
the reason why they're going to church was their friends. 00:58:03.320 |
So when they couldn't meet together with their friends, 00:58:08.320 |
And statistically, they said 50% of the Millennials have left the church, 00:58:15.320 |
So how many people who are in the church are coming because of friends? 00:58:19.320 |
So the question is, would you be a follower of Christ if you were in North Korea? 00:58:25.320 |
Would you still come to worship if you were in the villages in India? 00:58:30.320 |
If you were the only Christian that you knew, would you still follow Christ? 00:58:36.320 |
From time to time, we need to ask that question. 00:58:39.320 |
How much of what I'm doing is motivated by the friends 00:58:44.320 |
and how much of it is because you've seen the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ 00:58:47.320 |
and I will go where he goes, even if it takes me away from my friends? 00:58:53.320 |
Now having said all of that, we're going to jump into-- 00:58:56.320 |
basically all of it is a summary of what we've been talking about up to this point. 00:59:00.320 |
The fourth soil, he jumps into it, but before we even jump into that, 00:59:04.320 |
I want to highlight that the success of the seed, 00:59:25.320 |
The only thing that the sower does is through the soil, onto the right ground. 00:59:29.320 |
But the success of the seed was based on the soil. 00:59:34.320 |
Now, that does not mean that the training and becoming a better sower is not important, 00:59:45.320 |
You and I are in a culture where we do so much training. 00:59:50.320 |
There's so much training, so much teaching, so many books written, 00:59:59.320 |
Everybody reads books on evangelism, books on prayer, books on this, 01:00:04.320 |
and I'm going to train you to do this, but very little sowing of the seed. 01:00:10.320 |
So, I'm not knocking training, but there's so many people who have said, 01:00:15.320 |
"I don't know how to evangelize because I have not been trained, and we never sow." 01:00:21.320 |
But the power of the fruitfulness of the seed is in the soil. 01:00:30.320 |
And that's why when God tells you to do something, he said, "Well, I'm not a good speaker." 01:00:34.320 |
And it's like, "Okay, okay, let me train you to be a good speaker then." 01:00:42.320 |
"I don't know how, if they ask me a difficult question, how to question." 01:00:47.320 |
And there's so many training, but in the scriptures it says, "I told you to do it. 01:00:50.320 |
I made your mouth. If I tell you to open it, just open it." 01:00:54.320 |
"If I tell you to say something, just say it." 01:00:57.320 |
"Because the fruit is not going to come from you." 01:01:00.320 |
"I'm not waiting. I have been waiting all this time because I've been waiting for proper training 2,000 years later." 01:01:07.320 |
"You just listen to my word. Don't turn from it to the left or to the right." 01:01:12.320 |
"If I say open your hand and throw it to the ground, just do it." 01:01:16.320 |
Because it says the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin and repentance. 01:01:27.320 |
Some of you may be better trained. Some of you may speak better. 01:01:32.320 |
But at the end of the day, real fruit, I may plant, somebody may water it. 01:01:41.320 |
And I say all of this because, again, you and I, we live in a generation where we have so much access to everything. 01:01:47.320 |
And everything has become more important than God himself. 01:01:53.320 |
That if we have enough training, if I have know-how, if I have gifting, if I have experience, that somehow I'm going to be fruitful. 01:01:59.320 |
But in this parable, I mean, we're all humbled. 01:02:04.320 |
He said a sower went out and he sowed at the end. 01:02:10.320 |
And so in this soil, he says in verse 15, "But these seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart and hold it fast and bear fruit with perseverance." 01:02:23.320 |
So there's five qualities of the good soil that I want to talk about. 01:02:32.320 |
And then we'll, just as I promised, another sermon next week. 01:02:41.320 |
First thing he says, an honest and good heart. 01:02:46.320 |
Now, what does that mean, an honest and good heart? 01:02:48.320 |
If you're not a Christian, how can you have an honest and good heart? 01:02:51.320 |
Is he saying that the fruitfulness of the seed is going to happen because it was looking for honest and good people? 01:03:01.320 |
So if you're an honest and good person, then the seed is going to bear fruit. 01:03:06.320 |
And if you happen to be corrupt and a sinner, it's not going to work on you. 01:03:12.320 |
Because in Romans 3.10, it says, "There is none righteous, not even one." 01:03:19.320 |
So it makes it very clear, before you meet Christ, we are dead in our trespasses. 01:03:28.320 |
Romans 3.16, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." 01:03:32.320 |
Not most people, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 01:03:37.320 |
So what does it mean that the good soil is honest and good heart? 01:03:42.320 |
It's not talking about morally good, because there is none. 01:03:46.320 |
The word for honest and good heart basically means that you are owning up to the truth. 01:03:54.320 |
That you are not corrupting the truth by your own prejudice. 01:04:01.320 |
That you hear the truth of the gospel and you receive it honestly. 01:04:08.320 |
Good not as in moral good, good in the sense that you've allowed the truth to come into your life. 01:04:18.320 |
Most people who reject God, reject God out of prejudice. 01:04:23.320 |
You probably talk to people saying, "I can't believe God because there are so many errors in the Bible." 01:04:32.320 |
I know, I'm asking you which one. Can you point out one? 01:04:42.320 |
And typically, that's your present. It contradicts science. 01:04:48.320 |
Which text were you wrestling with that you clearly saw that there was a contradiction with science? 01:04:55.320 |
I know, where? I'm asking you where? Which text? 01:04:57.320 |
I don't know how many conversations I've had with people when I would press that they don't have anything to say. 01:05:07.320 |
It's not the biblical prejudice. It's your prejudice. 01:05:09.320 |
Because you can't even answer and pinpoint one problem, but you say it's all over the scripture, right? 01:05:15.320 |
So some people, out of their own prejudice, will reject the Bible. 01:05:21.320 |
So that person doesn't have a good and honest heart because he's not being honest with himself. 01:05:25.320 |
But the most common way that people reject God's gospel is that I am the way I am because... 01:05:39.320 |
I am the way I am because you end up justifying your sins. 01:05:47.320 |
He said, "Adam, I told you not to eat of that tree." 01:05:51.320 |
He said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. I shouldn't have done that." 01:05:53.320 |
"But the women that you put in here, why did you put the women in here?" 01:05:57.320 |
"I thought you didn't want me to eat it. Why did you put the women in here?" 01:06:01.320 |
How much of our hearing of the truth of God suddenly justifies our sin? 01:06:09.320 |
Modern day psychology, if you go to a psychologist and say, "You are the way you are because your mom, when you were young, did this to you." 01:06:17.320 |
Maybe they were too strict or maybe they were too loose or maybe... 01:06:21.320 |
I remember when I was younger, I used to think, you know, I'm a middle child. 01:06:27.320 |
And I mentioned this many times and I said, "The order of my birth messed me up." 01:06:34.320 |
I grew up thinking my older brother got all the attention, my younger brother got all the love, and I was the neglected one, right? 01:06:42.320 |
And then on top of that, my parents moved around so much. 01:06:45.320 |
And so I was now in 11 different schools from elementary to high school. 01:06:52.320 |
And on top of that, my parents were... my dad was a pastor, so we didn't have any money. 01:06:59.320 |
And on top of that, they kept on going back to Korea and coming back to the United States. 01:07:05.320 |
So I grew up thinking I got jacked, you know? 01:07:10.320 |
And in some sense, my parents did it. Why did they do this to me? 01:07:14.320 |
But, you know, now after raising my own kids... 01:07:21.320 |
And I asked this the first, and they agreed with me, okay? 01:07:26.320 |
Who we are, how much of it is nature versus nurture? 01:07:32.320 |
Which means, how much of who we are, are we born that way? 01:07:35.320 |
And how much of who we are is because we've been nurtured that way, okay? 01:07:41.320 |
How many of you believe that we are who we are because of nurture? 01:07:47.320 |
It doesn't mean that it's 100% one and the other. 01:07:50.320 |
I'm just asking you predominantly, is it nature, is it nurture, okay? 01:07:55.320 |
How many of you believe we are who we are because of nurture? 01:08:00.320 |
How many of you believe that we are who we are because of nature? 01:08:07.320 |
Okay, and the rest of you are just being Asian, all right? 01:08:18.320 |
especially the ones who've raised children and they're older, 01:08:27.320 |
Because we spent all our lives discipling them, trying to nurture them. 01:08:32.320 |
And the end conclusion is, oh, they're born that way. 01:08:37.320 |
And so we're trying to direct them a certain path, 01:08:41.320 |
but their disposition, they were born that way. 01:08:46.320 |
My oldest son was so independent when he was born. 01:08:50.320 |
He didn't like us touching anything, like everything he has to do on his own. 01:09:00.320 |
There's little things that has changed with him, 01:09:08.320 |
And I remember our teacher, Janai, whenever she would watch Zachary, 01:09:13.320 |
our second son, she would constantly pull him aside and say, 01:09:21.320 |
And what she meant by that is whatever thought he had, 01:09:28.320 |
And when I watch him, I say, "Oh, I must have been like that." 01:09:32.320 |
And that's why my mom would always pinpoint at me. 01:09:35.320 |
If she would enter a room and something was broken, 01:09:38.320 |
she would immediately scan the room to see where I was. 01:09:42.320 |
And then I would say, "Oh, my gosh, I'm being picked on again." 01:09:45.320 |
Well, if the other nine times I broke it, most likely, 01:09:51.320 |
So raising him as a father, I'm realizing, like, 01:09:57.320 |
I was saying, like, "Oh, it's because we moved around, 01:10:02.320 |
And not to say that that didn't make some impact in my life. 01:10:05.320 |
My kids were raised in Irvine with good parents and good, you know, 01:10:10.320 |
good church and friends, bills paid, and I see the same thing with them. 01:10:16.320 |
And so each one of them, right, and I'm proud of who they are, 01:10:21.320 |
but each one of them, the thing that they were born with 01:10:28.320 |
And so the more and more I realize, yes, nurture plays an important part, 01:10:33.320 |
but the very core of who we are, we're born with it. 01:10:38.320 |
Now, at the core of what we're born with, the Scripture says, is corrupt. 01:10:47.320 |
now, you may have an extroverted, introverted, 01:10:49.320 |
and you may have all these complexities of your various personalities, 01:10:53.320 |
but at the core of what causes fruit and how that is handled is our fallen nature. 01:11:02.320 |
And so when it talks about a good soil that is an honest and good heart, 01:11:06.320 |
it's somebody who hears the gospel and is convicted and is honest with himself 01:11:11.320 |
and say, "I am who I am because of who I am." 01:11:15.320 |
In Romans 1:18, it says, "For the wrath of God is revealed, 01:11:18.320 |
being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, unrighteousness of men, 01:11:21.320 |
who suppress the truth with unrighteousness." 01:11:25.320 |
They hear it, and then they justify their own sin. 01:11:31.320 |
They don't recognize that they need justification. 01:11:34.320 |
So whenever we say, "I am the way I am because my mom did this to me, 01:11:38.320 |
my dad did this to me, because of my circumstance," 01:11:46.320 |
"I did what I did because the woman that you put in here did that." 01:11:51.320 |
"I am the way I am because you've allowed Satan to come and talk to me." 01:11:56.320 |
And so either we will hear the gospel and feel the need for justification 01:12:03.320 |
or you will spend the rest of your life justifying yourself. 01:12:13.320 |
I am self-centered because these things have happened in my life. 01:12:17.320 |
And typically, the person that gets blamed more than anybody else 01:12:25.320 |
And it starts with your mom, and it starts with your dad, 01:12:37.320 |
So a good and honest heart is somebody who hears the gospel and is convicted. 01:12:55.320 |
I came into this world with corruption in my heart. 01:13:02.320 |
remember the first thing that he says is, "Woe is me, woe is me." 01:13:09.320 |
I am a man of unclean lips from a people of unclean lips. 01:13:12.320 |
Now, why don't you just confess your own sin? 01:13:14.320 |
Why are you throwing all the people under the bus? 01:13:17.320 |
What he means is he recognizes that corruption is that deep, 01:13:27.320 |
In fact, in Psalm 51, 5-6, it says, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity." 01:13:34.320 |
David is being confronted for adultery and murder, 01:13:38.320 |
and the way he confesses his sin is, "I was brought forth in iniquity." 01:13:42.320 |
If you read that and you're not really thinking through what he's saying, 01:13:51.320 |
And then he goes even further, "In sin my mother conceived me." 01:13:58.320 |
If you read that carefully, it's like, "What did you just call your mother?" 01:14:03.320 |
In fact, David's mother is not even mentioned in the Bible. 01:14:08.320 |
He's not saying that my mother is what she did to me, 01:14:15.320 |
He's recognizing how deep this sin is, how deep this corruption is. 01:14:19.320 |
"Behold, you desire truth in the innermost being, 01:14:21.320 |
and in hidden part you will make me know wisdom." 01:14:26.320 |
He's recognizing just how corrupt his own heart is. 01:14:33.320 |
You're self-centered because you're a sinner, 01:14:36.320 |
because we have been corrupted by our own nature. 01:14:39.320 |
So when the gospel comes and the light is turned on, 01:14:46.320 |
So if you play the victim all your life, I guarantee you, 01:14:50.320 |
whether you are 10, whether you are 20, whether you are 80, 01:14:53.320 |
you will go to your deathbed blaming all your problems on somebody else, 01:15:00.320 |
And that's why life begins when we own up to who we are. 01:15:10.320 |
And when we, like the tax collector, come before a holy God, beating his chest, 01:15:16.320 |
that he cannot even lift his head to this holy God is the beginning. 01:15:23.320 |
The tax collector who is so righteous, and thank God I'm not like those people? 01:15:28.320 |
That the Pharisee who was saying that, or the tax collector who was beating his chest 01:15:31.320 |
because he recognized the corruption of his own heart and desperate need? 01:15:43.320 |
The gospel of Mark and Matthew says that he hears the word and he accepted it. 01:15:51.320 |
that Peter preaching a strong sermons, and you killed the author of life," 01:15:56.320 |
he says, "they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 01:16:06.320 |
That all the time that they spent justifying their sins, 01:16:10.320 |
we had to do this because of this, we did this because of this, 01:16:13.320 |
and when he heard this clear preaching of the gospel, 01:16:16.320 |
their conscience was broken, and they were brought to the point, "Woe is me." 01:16:23.320 |
And that's why the beginning of life, the beginning of the gospel in the book of Romans 01:16:27.320 |
starts with, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." 01:16:29.320 |
If you have the law, you will be judged by the law. 01:16:31.320 |
If you don't have the law, you will be judged without the law. 01:16:34.320 |
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 01:16:36.320 |
So the beginning of life is the conviction of our own sins. 01:16:41.320 |
But consider the way that the gospel is being presented today. 01:16:44.320 |
"Let him, give him a chance, open the door, let him in your heart." 01:16:49.320 |
I said, "Well, in and of itself, there's not a problem, but if you isolate that, 01:16:54.320 |
and that's all you understand about the gospel." 01:16:56.320 |
It's like, "Yeah, I gave him a chance. It didn't work." 01:17:00.320 |
"I let him into my life, and what has he done for me?" 01:17:04.320 |
And so you evaluate, instead of the Word of God judging the thoughts and intentions of your heart, 01:17:08.320 |
you spend the rest of your life judging the thoughts and intentions of God's heart. 01:17:13.320 |
Either the Word of God would cause us to be justified by God's Word, 01:17:21.320 |
or we will spend the rest of our life justifying who I am. 01:17:29.320 |
In Psalm 51 through 4, it says, "Be gracious to me, O God. 01:17:33.320 |
According to your loving kindness, according to the greatness of your compassion, 01:17:36.320 |
blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 01:17:42.320 |
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me." 01:17:51.320 |
If you spend the rest of your life worried about the sins of other people, 01:17:54.320 |
what they've done, and ultimately what God has done, 01:18:00.320 |
"But I know my transgressions. My sin is ever before me." 01:18:03.320 |
The greatest problem of mankind, the greatest problem in my life, 01:18:08.320 |
is not my mother's sin, is not my father's sin, is not my children's sin. 01:18:24.320 |
It's my own desire to pursue unrighteousness. 01:18:30.320 |
You know, the greatest fruit comes when you change. 01:18:35.320 |
Not because of your hard work, not because you were properly trained, 01:18:39.320 |
but the greatest fruit comes from somebody who met Christ, and they change. 01:18:43.320 |
And without a word being spoken, they see the life of that person changing, 01:18:48.320 |
and then the people around them begin to change. 01:18:52.320 |
Not because they were great teachers, not because they were great expositors, 01:18:56.320 |
but because they see the presence of God in that person. 01:18:58.320 |
When there is fruit in their life, fruit tends to cause other fruit. 01:19:05.320 |
And the beginning of that is we recognize the sin in me. 01:19:10.320 |
"Against you, you only, I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight, 01:19:14.320 |
so that you are justified when you speak, and blameless when you judge." 01:19:19.320 |
So when the Scripture says a good soil is the one with a good and honest heart, 01:19:26.320 |
it is an individual who hears the Word of God and recognizes that that's them. 01:19:32.320 |
Jesus did not come because he saw the problems in the world, 01:19:40.320 |
True, but Jesus came because he saw sin in you, because he saw sin in me. 01:19:49.320 |
Yes, he came for the world, but specifically, it's because of the corruption in my heart. 01:19:57.320 |
So as much as we want the world to change, as much as we want others to change, 01:20:02.320 |
greatest change will happen when we change, when we recognize that it's me. 01:20:09.320 |
It's me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer. 01:20:12.320 |
I'm the one that needs forgiveness. I'm the one that needs grace. 01:20:19.320 |
So I pray, again, as we continue, and I think I've gone over three today, 01:20:28.320 |
I spent my childhood hating the church, because it was, in my opinion, 01:20:36.320 |
And then when I became a Christian, I realized that it wasn't the Christians 01:20:43.320 |
It was the non-Christians who were penetrating to the church. 01:20:46.320 |
It was a first, second, third soil that the church has been bending over backwards 01:20:51.320 |
to accommodate, who has deliberately made the church look no different than the world. 01:20:57.320 |
The greatest witness of the church are genuine believers. 01:21:03.320 |
The greatest witness of the church is not our program, is not our talent, 01:21:09.320 |
is not our gift, and it's not the leadership. 01:21:12.320 |
It's genuine believers gathered together, worshiping God in spirit and in truth. 01:21:21.320 |
They may not know it, but the only way that they're going to reconnect, 01:21:30.320 |
I pray that as we continue to examine the things that you've heard may convict your heart, 01:21:34.320 |
but ultimately that the careful examination of ourselves would cause a revival in us, 01:21:47.320 |
live worthy of the gospel that you and I have professed. 01:21:57.320 |
Father, we pray that the power of your word that you've given us 01:22:01.320 |
would continue to convict, revive, and restore your church, 01:22:05.320 |
that we would be the light that you've called us to be. 01:22:09.320 |
Help us, Lord God, first and foremost, to be a church that worships in spirit and in truth, 01:22:16.320 |
That fruit that is born in this church would not simply be numbers, 01:22:20.320 |
but true worshipers who will worship you in spirit and in truth. 01:22:24.320 |
We love you. We praise you. We want to honor you wherever you send us. 01:27:07.320 |
rest, restore, strengthen, and build up the church