back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 5.23.2021
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but our theme for this year is to watch and pray. 00:06:29.880 |
that we really want to grow as a church together. 00:06:41.880 |
all the members, and even if you're not a member, 00:06:51.880 |
For the BCC Service Auction for India fundraiser, 00:07:15.880 |
Last time we had camping trips that were offered 00:07:23.880 |
with the fundraising for what's happening in India, 00:07:34.880 |
So they're taking sign-ups for that until the 31st. 00:07:38.880 |
or it can be a product that you want to donate 00:07:43.880 |
to the ministry that were participating in India. 00:07:46.880 |
Also for the All Church Retreat that's happening, 00:07:57.880 |
and so we're going to take all the precautions needed 00:08:00.880 |
when we are told, when we get closer to that time. 00:08:04.880 |
we encourage you to sign up as early as possible 00:08:12.880 |
because of all the stuff that's been going on. 00:08:22.880 |
And then one last thing is, as you guys know, 00:08:27.880 |
that Pastor Isaac has passed away from COVID. 00:08:31.880 |
So those of you who've been with us to India, 00:08:39.880 |
and he was the one who was going to take over 00:08:45.880 |
and so they were kind of grooming him to take over. 00:08:52.880 |
and then on Friday morning, he passed away from it. 00:08:56.880 |
but at the same time, the need to fill that gap, 00:09:03.880 |
So if you guys can keep them in your prayers. 00:09:06.880 |
So especially the people who are in the village areas, 00:09:08.880 |
I'm sure you've been reading up on what's going on, 00:09:11.880 |
but they don't have access to medical attention. 00:09:15.880 |
it's because it's kind of run its full course. 00:09:21.880 |
And so we don't know exactly what's going on over there, 00:09:34.880 |
that there is a tangible effect of not only for the pastors, 00:09:38.880 |
but the villagers, the Christians who they're dealing with. 00:09:42.880 |
So if you guys can please continue to keep them 00:09:44.880 |
in your prayers, and all the funds that are raised for that 00:09:47.880 |
is going to go to support our pastors who are out there. 00:09:54.880 |
but that's going to be taking place on this Saturday 00:09:57.880 |
for the raising of funds for our IMB missions. 00:10:04.880 |
we'll give you an opportunity to give your offering online 00:10:07.880 |
or the physical offering in the back box over there. 00:10:09.880 |
We're going to have our brother Tyler Wong come up, 00:10:18.880 |
Lord, we lift up our brothers and sisters, Lord, 00:10:25.880 |
We pray, Father God, for your grace and your mercy 00:10:28.880 |
to be heavy upon them, that as they grieve or they're sad, 00:10:33.880 |
that as wickedness increases, that our love would not grow cold, 00:10:37.880 |
but rather that we would experience greater revival, 00:10:40.880 |
greater sense of urgency to spread your word. 00:10:43.880 |
So we pray that even this morning as we come to worship you, 00:10:51.880 |
that all that we give to you may be a pleasing sacrifice. 00:10:54.880 |
I pray that the offering that we give may be multiplied, 00:10:58.880 |
30, 60, 100-fold, that your glory, your gospel, 00:12:08.900 |
♪ consider all the works Thy hands have made, ♪ 00:12:17.900 |
♪ I see the sun, I hear the rolling thunder, ♪ 00:12:26.900 |
♪ Thy power throughout the universe proclaim. ♪ 00:12:35.900 |
♪ Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee, ♪ 00:12:53.900 |
♪ Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee, ♪ 00:13:29.900 |
♪ that God His Son not sparing sent Him to die, ♪ 00:13:37.900 |
♪ my scares can take it, that on that cross ♪ 00:13:47.900 |
♪ my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died ♪ 00:14:01.900 |
♪ Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee, ♪ 00:14:19.900 |
♪ Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee, ♪ 00:14:51.900 |
♪ When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation, ♪ 00:15:00.900 |
♪ and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart. ♪ 00:15:18.900 |
♪ and there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art. ♪ 00:15:27.900 |
♪ Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee, ♪ 00:15:45.900 |
♪ Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee, ♪ 00:16:42.900 |
♪ The love of God is greater far than time or day. ♪ 00:16:53.900 |
♪ Can ever tell, it goes beyond the highest star, ♪ 00:17:47.900 |
♪ Years of time, years of time shall pass away, ♪ 00:18:02.900 |
♪ The men who here refuse to pray are rocks and hills ♪ 00:18:15.900 |
♪ God's love so sure shall still endure all measureless ♪ 00:18:26.900 |
♪ and strong, redeeming grace to Adam's race. ♪ 00:19:23.900 |
♪ The ocean fill and where the skies of parchment make, ♪ 00:19:48.900 |
♪ To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry, ♪ 00:21:50.900 |
I'm a second-year student in the College Ministry, 00:21:53.900 |
Casa de Long Beach, and this is my testimony. 00:21:58.900 |
Growing up, I was born and raised in a Christian household 00:22:01.900 |
and was blessed with the opportunity to hear and learn about God at such a young age. 00:22:06.900 |
I served in the church, went to Sunday school, 00:22:09.900 |
and checked off all the boxes on the outside on what it looked like to be a Christian. 00:22:17.900 |
and I lived a life with my own selfish desires, 00:22:19.900 |
especially when I wasn't at church on Sunday mornings or Friday night youth groups. 00:22:25.900 |
My focus was on worldly things with people that I don't even know remember who I am today. 00:22:31.900 |
I was a people pleaser and did whatever it took to make it seem like I fit in with the rest of my peers. 00:22:38.900 |
This would cause me to live a life for myself and live a life full of lies. 00:22:43.900 |
This life full of sin caused me to never be able to see what the Lord had desired for me. 00:22:49.900 |
Throughout this whole time, I attended church without a heart for the Lord, 00:22:52.900 |
even though I said and did the things to make it seem like I did. 00:22:57.900 |
I had a lot of head knowledge of who God was through Sunday school, Bible stories, 00:23:01.900 |
but did nothing to apply it to my own life personally. 00:23:06.900 |
I did this for my whole life heading into high school, 00:23:10.900 |
and at this time, transitioning into high school was really tough for me 00:23:13.900 |
as I went to a small high school where none of my peers from middle school went to, 00:23:20.900 |
That whole year, I felt lonely and felt like my life was purposeless at the time. 00:23:27.900 |
I would come home every day from school, lock myself in my room, 00:23:31.900 |
and lock out God and the rest of the people in my life away from me. 00:23:36.900 |
I had no confidence in myself for at least the first half of my freshman year, 00:23:43.900 |
During this time of loneliness, I felt God's comfort and the love from the witnesses in my life 00:23:48.900 |
that never gave up on me and cared about me deeply. 00:23:51.900 |
I was overwhelmed by his love, and one night I cried out to the Lord in prayer, 00:23:55.900 |
realizing that I wanted and needed him in my life. 00:24:00.900 |
The Lord pulled me up from the depths of my sin, 00:24:03.900 |
and it is only by his grace that he opened my eyes to see him for who he truly is. 00:24:09.900 |
My eyes were opened, and in December of 2016, I was sprinkled at my home church. 00:24:14.900 |
Even after this event, I continued to struggle with sin and my obedience to the Lord 00:24:19.900 |
as I tried to hold on to sin with one hand and God with the other. 00:24:23.900 |
I continued to try and live a life as my peers did the rest of high school, 00:24:28.900 |
and those influences transformed my heart to be hardened 00:24:31.900 |
and unable to fully surrender myself to the Lord. 00:24:34.900 |
The summer of senior year heading into college, I realized that I needed to let go 00:24:40.900 |
and really sacrifice everything in my life that I truly idolized and desired, and so I did. 00:24:46.900 |
Ever since then, throughout the trials and tribulations, 00:24:49.900 |
the Lord continues to work in my life to shape me into the person he calls for me to be. 00:24:54.900 |
Luke 6:46 says, "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" 00:24:59.900 |
Today, as an act of obedience, I am getting baptized so that I may be raised 00:25:07.900 |
Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that God causes all things to work for good, 00:25:12.900 |
to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose." 00:25:16.900 |
The Lord continues to provide for me in times of uncertainty 00:25:19.900 |
and has blessed me beyond what I could ask for. 00:25:22.900 |
God is good, and I realize that sometimes that good isn't always what I want, 00:25:26.900 |
but it's what I need in my life, and I need God. 00:25:29.900 |
Christ is Lord over my life no matter what happens, 00:25:32.900 |
and I will continue to live a life for him in full obedience 00:25:35.900 |
and I will surrender it to Jesus who is Lord over my life. 00:26:38.900 |
If you can turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews 12, verses 1, 2, and 3, 00:26:43.900 |
and today will be the final message on these three verses. 00:27:09.900 |
"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, 00:27:12.900 |
let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us. 00:27:17.900 |
Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 00:27:20.900 |
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, 00:27:24.900 |
who for the joy set before him endured the cross, 00:27:28.900 |
despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 00:27:32.900 |
For consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, 00:27:36.900 |
so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." 00:27:41.900 |
Heavenly Father, we pray that you would open our eyes, 00:27:45.900 |
that we may see what you have ordained in your word, Lord God, 00:27:54.900 |
we've allowed our hearts to be hardened, Lord God, toward the things that you give us. 00:27:58.900 |
Help us, Lord, to continue to be softened by your Holy Spirit and your word. 00:28:02.900 |
We pray that you would anoint this time, and let your voice be heard, 00:28:06.900 |
that your children will hear it and follow you and you alone. 00:28:12.900 |
I don't know how many of you are active on Instagram or Facebook, 00:28:17.900 |
but I told people that I regularly stalk you. 00:28:21.900 |
It helps me with the church, especially it's growing. 00:28:27.900 |
If I'm not your Facebook friend, please make me your Facebook friend. 00:28:32.900 |
Friend me so I can connect, and that way I can know what's going on in your life. 00:28:37.900 |
I observe that based upon what you put on your Facebook page or your Instagram, 00:28:47.900 |
Usually you'll highlight certain things that you love and you care about, 00:28:54.900 |
I'm not saying that that happens with everybody, 00:28:56.900 |
but I can tell from a distance that some of you are foodies. 00:29:00.900 |
All you have, you have no pictures of human beings on your Instagram. 00:29:08.900 |
All I see is the years and years of where you've eaten and just delicious food, 00:29:14.900 |
I can tell without you saying a word that you are a foodie, 00:29:17.900 |
that you are willing to drive far distances to get the right food. 00:29:23.900 |
because all I see on your Instagram pictures are the various places that you visited, 00:29:31.900 |
I can tell that you enjoy traveling just by what I see. 00:29:38.900 |
Whenever you meet together with somebody, you'll take a selfie, 00:29:45.900 |
I see various pictures of who you've had meals with. 00:29:48.900 |
I know some of you who never post anything on Instagram or Facebook 00:29:55.900 |
There's no pictures of you. You don't interact at all. 00:29:58.900 |
Then all of a sudden, you become hyperactive as soon as you have a child, 00:30:02.900 |
and all the pictures that are on there are usually of your children. 00:30:08.900 |
"Oh, he uses his left hand to cook," or whatever. 00:30:13.900 |
So your Instagram and Facebook presentation kind of reveals 00:30:23.900 |
we have a tendency to be willing to suffer many things to do that. 00:30:27.900 |
Some of you might like traveling, visiting new places, but you may hate airplanes. 00:30:33.900 |
I enjoy seeing new things and going to new places and seeing things, 00:30:37.900 |
but that process of getting there is torture. 00:30:40.900 |
I hate being on an airplane. I have a bad back, 00:30:42.900 |
and so I literally have to suffer through all that to get to the other end. 00:30:46.900 |
But the experience that you'll have on the other end is worth it. 00:30:49.900 |
So if you're a foodie, you may not like driving, 00:30:56.900 |
but you're willing to go through all of that because you want to get there. 00:31:00.900 |
So depending on what you love and how intensely you love something, 00:31:04.900 |
you're probably more willing to put up with inconvenience and trials 00:31:12.900 |
Well, I say all of this because the motivation behind what Jesus did 00:31:17.900 |
is clearly spelled out in this passage where it says, 00:31:20.900 |
"Fixing our eyes on you, the author and perfecter of faith, 00:31:23.900 |
who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame." 00:31:28.900 |
You know, previously we looked about how Jesus was going to the cross, 00:31:31.900 |
and he says, "It's time for me to be glorified, 00:31:34.900 |
that I may glorify you, that you may glorify me." 00:31:36.900 |
So to think of the cross, knowing what it is, 00:31:39.900 |
and the term "glory" and the cross really don't fit together, 00:31:43.900 |
but Christ used the cross to glorify himself, to glorify the Father. 00:31:48.900 |
But this term here where it says "joy" and the cross 00:31:53.900 |
You would never think that these two terms would be associated with the cross 00:31:57.900 |
because it was human depravity that they came up with this, 00:32:06.900 |
not only to carry out the punishment, but as an example 00:32:10.900 |
so that nobody would want to commit that same crime. 00:32:15.900 |
And yet, the Bible says the cross was a place where God and the Father was glorified, 00:32:22.900 |
and then here it says he was able to endure the cross because of joy. 00:32:29.900 |
But what was this joy that was big enough, great enough, deep enough 00:32:37.900 |
So the more you love something, the more you are willing to put up with to have it. 00:32:43.900 |
So the fact that he was willing to endure the cross 00:32:49.900 |
was much greater than whatever he was going to suffer. 00:32:56.900 |
What was it that he had because of the cross that he didn't have before the cross? 00:33:02.900 |
You may say, "Well, the Bible says that he was lifted up, 00:33:04.900 |
he became the King of kings and Lord of lords." 00:33:17.900 |
Or say, "He sat down at the right hand of God." 00:33:21.900 |
He didn't need the cross to be sitting at the right hand of God. 00:33:24.900 |
All the glory that you can think of that God had, 00:33:30.900 |
So what was it that he was looking forward to, to enjoy, 00:33:35.900 |
that even the shame and the suffering that was coming because of the cross, 00:33:41.900 |
Now I remember the first time wrestling through this. 00:33:44.900 |
I read this passage. I memorized this scripture, this part of it. 00:33:56.900 |
And then you hear a lot of sermons about not to be entangled with things 00:34:01.900 |
that are encumbrances or sin that so easily clings to us. 00:34:04.900 |
And so you've probably heard a lot of messages on those things. 00:34:07.900 |
But one particular day I was fixating on the joy that was said before him. 00:34:16.900 |
So I was combing through scripture and looking up commentaries, 00:34:20.900 |
and I realized a clear thing that he was saying, 00:34:23.900 |
that the joy that was said before him is referring to me and you. 00:34:29.900 |
Everything else that you and I can think of as his exaltation, 00:34:35.900 |
But what he didn't have before the cross is us. 00:34:39.900 |
And the Bible describes how he came to restore that joy in us. 00:34:47.900 |
"We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, 00:34:56.900 |
God the Father didn't grab him by the throat and say, "You better do this." 00:35:00.900 |
Sinners were not the ones who forced him on the cross. 00:35:03.900 |
He volunteered, walked in, even as he was agonizing over the pain that was coming, 00:35:11.900 |
And he says this laying down of his life was a lavishing of his love toward us. 00:35:16.900 |
According to his kind intentions which he purposed in him. 00:35:20.900 |
Ephesians 2, 4-5 says, "With God being rich in mercy, 00:35:23.900 |
because of his great love with which he loved us, 00:35:27.900 |
even when we were dead in our transgressions, 00:35:29.900 |
made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved." 00:35:34.900 |
I think I've mentioned this enough in our sermons, in our Bible studies, 00:35:38.900 |
and throughout the years, that you and I live in a generation where 00:35:44.900 |
his love and mercy has been emphasized to the point 00:35:48.900 |
where people have a very shallow understanding of his holiness and justice. 00:35:53.900 |
It's almost kind of like a given, like, "Oh, come God, come God doesn't answer prayers. 00:35:58.900 |
People walk into brand new churches and say, "Oh, they didn't do this for me." 00:36:01.900 |
So we have this entitlement when we come to God, "Why doesn't God do this for me?" 00:36:09.900 |
Very weird thing to ask to come into the presence of God 00:36:17.900 |
But because of the way that the gospel has been preached in our generation, 00:36:21.900 |
an average person walks into church expecting God to love them, 00:36:28.900 |
So it's important for us to understand the balance that the cross 00:36:31.900 |
is the perfect glorification of his justice and holiness along with his love. 00:36:38.900 |
But having said that, as important as God's justice is, as important as his love is, 00:36:45.900 |
if we stray from understanding that the love was the primary motivation of why he came, 00:36:54.900 |
the damage that that does is equally harmful as emphasizing just the justice. 00:37:02.900 |
He says the primary reason why he came is because he loved God so, 00:37:06.900 |
and he loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. 00:37:09.900 |
So the gospel is a glorification of God's love toward us. 00:37:14.900 |
He was willing to suffer the shame, the agony, the pain, the rejection, humiliation, 00:37:20.900 |
all because there was joy waiting for him that this cross was going to produce. 00:37:27.900 |
We often think about the nation of Israel, and after we read the Old Testament, 00:37:32.900 |
our primary emotions, our primary idea of the relationship between Israel and God is 00:37:44.900 |
He's putting up with them, like, "I want to crush you, 00:37:47.900 |
but because I made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I just can't." 00:37:53.900 |
So the picture that we have oftentimes is God is just about to strike, 00:37:59.900 |
and right before he hammers them, he's like, "Grrr, I made that covenant. 00:38:04.900 |
I made that covenant, and I can't deny myself." 00:38:09.900 |
Well, that's not how his love for Israel is described. 00:38:15.900 |
"For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you. 00:38:19.900 |
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you." 00:38:26.900 |
I mean, he describes his love for the nation of Israel 00:38:30.900 |
in the most intimate relationship between a young bride, 00:38:33.900 |
in the honeymoon stage, where you just can't wait to get together. 00:38:37.900 |
He says the most intense love that we are able to experience, 00:38:49.900 |
'After glory he has sent me against the nations which plunder you, 00:38:53.900 |
but he who touches you touches the apple of his eye.'" 00:38:57.900 |
You know that term, "the apple of his eye," actually comes from this text, right? 00:39:02.900 |
And I remember trying to do research, and I Googled and asked professors, 00:39:10.900 |
Well, the apple of your eye is the part of your eye, 00:39:14.900 |
just basically the sensitive area in your eye, 00:39:19.900 |
when somebody tries to come and touch you, what's your instinct? 00:39:28.900 |
You close your eyes to protect your eyes, instinctively. 00:39:32.900 |
So if I come over there, right, and I just go like that, 00:39:41.900 |
your natural instinctive response is to protect your eyes. 00:39:46.900 |
He's describing his love for the nation of Israel, 00:39:52.900 |
it'll be like them touching the apple of my eye. 00:39:55.900 |
Instinctively, without even thinking, without calculation, 00:40:00.900 |
That's how he describes his love for the nation of Israel. 00:40:04.900 |
Even as he pronounces judgment upon the nation of Israel, 00:40:08.900 |
to discipline them because of their disobedience, he says, Isaiah 49, 15, 00:40:16.900 |
He's not asking a question. He's like, "Can they?" 00:40:19.900 |
Can they do that? No, he's saying, "Of course not." 00:40:22.900 |
The most sacrificial love that he can describe 00:40:28.900 |
and can she have no compassion for the son of her womb? 00:40:31.900 |
And obviously, the answer is a resounding, "No, of course not." 00:40:35.900 |
Of course, a nursing mom can't forget her child. 00:40:37.900 |
Of course, she's going to have compassion on her. 00:40:40.900 |
But even these may forget, but I will not forget you. 00:40:47.900 |
Even as he is pronouncing judgment, he says, "I will not." 00:40:50.900 |
I cannot forget you because he loves them this much. 00:41:00.900 |
as Jesus is coming to Jerusalem, he recognizes that they're going to end up rejecting him. 00:41:07.900 |
You would think that the natural response of Jesus would be, 00:41:18.900 |
that at one point he wiped them out in the flood, like Noah, 00:41:24.900 |
But yet, he's coming into Jerusalem knowing that the very people 00:41:27.900 |
that he's been patient with, that he loves, are going to reject him. 00:41:32.900 |
And instead of being angered, he has compassion. 00:41:36.900 |
It says he was weeping over the nation of Israel, 00:41:44.900 |
You know, every part of Scripture, even though, even in his anger, 00:41:50.900 |
Oftentimes we look at the book of Revelations and we say, 00:42:01.900 |
And you see these instances where you have the seal judgments, 00:42:05.900 |
you have the trumpet judgments, and you have the bowl judgments, 00:42:07.900 |
and every time a judgment comes, it gets more intense. 00:42:10.900 |
And you look at that and say, "Wow, God is truly wrathful." 00:42:14.900 |
Revelation is not a revelation of the wrath of God. 00:42:19.900 |
Because the true wrath of God is not expressed in the Bible. 00:42:24.900 |
All it says was, "The end shall come and you will be judged." 00:42:30.900 |
All that we see in the book of Revelation is a warning for sinners to turn. 00:42:34.900 |
Every bowl judgment, every trumpet judgment, every seal judgment, 00:42:39.900 |
is God pleading with the sinful world to turn and to repent. 00:42:44.900 |
If He was done with the nation, there is no drama of Revelation. 00:42:51.900 |
It was just, "I've had enough. You're crushed. The end." 00:42:56.900 |
But even in His judgment, God is being patient, 00:43:04.900 |
That's why the Bible says that when one sinner repents, 00:43:12.900 |
that He was willing to endure the excruciating pain, 00:43:16.900 |
the humiliation, the rejection from His own people 00:43:19.900 |
because of joy that He sees on the other side, 00:43:31.900 |
"Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, 00:43:34.900 |
that we would be holy and blameless before Him, 00:43:50.900 |
Arbitrarily, He just chose some and He didn't choose the other." 00:43:56.900 |
He says, "In love He predestined us to adoption." 00:44:01.900 |
Now, I can't explain to you how all of that works. 00:44:18.900 |
according to the kind intention of His will." 00:44:33.900 |
I'm going to die for you, cover you with my son's blood." 00:44:43.900 |
we would owe the rest of eternity to thank Him, 00:44:50.900 |
But that's not how the Bible describes our salvation. 00:44:55.900 |
"For you have not received the spirit of slavery, 00:44:58.900 |
but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, 00:45:19.900 |
at some point, you know, turn 10 maybe, 11 or 12, 00:45:33.900 |
And so they kind of make their transition where, 00:45:37.900 |
everything that they know, they ask you first. 00:45:54.900 |
and then they'll turn around and ask their friends, 00:45:59.900 |
Or then they'll say, "Oh, my friend said this." 00:46:01.900 |
And they start challenging you at some point. 00:46:04.900 |
So I remember when my kids were right around that age, 00:46:07.900 |
they started to change from "Daddy" to "Dad." 00:46:12.900 |
And I remember hearing that for the first time, 00:46:24.900 |
because that relationship that I have with my children, 00:46:32.900 |
I think every parent knows exactly what I'm talking about. 00:46:35.900 |
To this day, they call me "Daddy" and "Mommy." 00:46:38.900 |
And I know it may sound weird from the outside, 00:46:41.900 |
but that's because I want that relationship with them. 00:46:44.900 |
That term that is being used here, "Abba Father," 00:46:47.900 |
is the most intimate term that can be used between a father and a child, 00:46:52.900 |
where God says, "Not only did He save us from eternal damnation, 00:46:56.900 |
He raised us up as adopted children to call Him our Abba Father." 00:47:02.900 |
Anybody else that calls me "Daddy" would be weird. 00:47:11.900 |
This love relationship with my own children will be calling me "Daddy" or "Mommy." 00:47:16.900 |
And He says He's using that term to say He raised us up for that purpose, 00:47:20.900 |
so that He can have us for Himself, to love us. 00:47:24.900 |
He said that's the joy that was waiting for Him on the other side. 00:47:29.900 |
You know, Apostle Paul, this man who hated the Gentiles, 00:47:34.900 |
he was willing to murder because he was so nationalistic about his Jewish identity. 00:47:40.900 |
It's that man who says in the Thessalonians how he loved these people that he used to hate 00:47:45.900 |
like a mother, a nursing mother, and as a gentle father. 00:47:50.900 |
You know, we may look at that and psychologize this and say, 00:47:53.900 |
"Well, you know, maybe Apostle Paul has more estrogen than an average male, 00:48:03.900 |
I mean, look at Apostle Paul before he met Christ. 00:48:10.900 |
He's willing to die for Jesus or die for his purpose. 00:48:14.900 |
He says what he says because he is simply reflecting the love that he experienced with Christ. 00:48:22.900 |
He was simply showing the love that Christ gave him. 00:48:27.900 |
That's why in 1 John 3:1 it says, "See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us 00:48:31.900 |
that we would be called the children of God." 00:48:34.900 |
Behold, look carefully and see what it is that you and I have. 00:48:42.900 |
Again, everything that we do repeatedly eventually becomes mundane, whatever it is. 00:48:50.900 |
At one point, you're so excited about something, but after you have it for a while, it becomes mundane. 00:48:56.900 |
Even food, oh, I love this, but you have it all the time, every day. 00:49:05.900 |
I remember when I was younger, steak was--it's not like today where it's like, oh, I want steak. 00:49:12.900 |
When we were younger, steak was not available. 00:49:15.900 |
We would go to Sizzler's, and that was like a huge event, huge event, once or twice a year. 00:49:23.900 |
I had steak Thursday, so let's have something today. 00:49:25.900 |
And I had sushi on Wednesday, so let's have something else. 00:49:28.900 |
Anything we do repeatedly, we have a tendency to allow that to become mundane. 00:49:36.900 |
The love of Christ is one of those things that if you allow it to become mundane, it affects everything else that we do. 00:49:44.900 |
And that's why he says to behold, to continue to gaze upon Christ, who is the beginner and the perfecter of our faith. 00:49:52.900 |
As soon as the love of Christ becomes something mundane, it affects your worship, it affects your prayer life, it affects evangelism. 00:50:03.900 |
It affects your fellowship, the true fellowship, right, not just gathering of people and doing stuff together, but true fellowship. 00:50:14.900 |
He says that everything that he endured on the cross was for the joy set before him. 00:50:20.900 |
Sometimes we think of sanctification as somebody who's not disciplined to be more disciplined. 00:50:25.900 |
Or somebody who didn't know the Bible to know the Bible. 00:50:29.900 |
That if we didn't pray, that we ought to pray. 00:50:31.900 |
All of these things are external things that we ought to strive to buffet our bodies and make it our slaves. 00:50:37.900 |
But the primary understanding of sanctification is to restore God's glory in us that we've fallen short of. 00:50:54.900 |
So when he restores us, he's restoring that image. 00:51:00.900 |
I remember when Zachary, our second child, was born. 00:51:04.900 |
I remember the joy that he brought to us because he had a little dimple on one side of his mouth that you can only see when he smiles. 00:51:19.900 |
In fact, I don't know. Is he sitting here somewhere? 00:51:23.900 |
I don't even know if he still has it to this day. 00:51:25.900 |
But when he was a kid, and he would only see it when he cracks a smile. 00:51:28.900 |
The reason why it brought us so much joy is because Esther has the same dimple. 00:51:35.900 |
So I remember when he was an infant, every time he would crack a little smile, that one dimple would go in. 00:51:42.900 |
And for everybody else who would look at that, it's like, "Really?" 00:51:46.900 |
That little tiny little hole in his face brought so much joy to me. 00:51:50.900 |
It brought so much joy because it was a reflection of his mom. 00:51:59.900 |
I remember Esther and I just being so in love. 00:52:14.900 |
But when we withdrew from him, that image was tainted. 00:52:18.900 |
So when he saved us, he saved us in order to restore us and to restore that image in us. 00:52:24.900 |
And the more that we reflect who he is, the greater joy that it produces in him. 00:52:32.900 |
Sanctification isn't just externally behaving differently than you did before you met Christ. 00:52:37.900 |
It's that glory, that image that he created us for being restored. 00:52:42.900 |
That's what he's referring to when he says he endured the cross because of the joy set before him. 00:52:48.900 |
In Colossians 3.8 it says, "And have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him." 00:53:00.900 |
That we would be transformed to the true knowledge of the one who created him, to reflect him. 00:53:07.900 |
"But we all with unveiled face beholding in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord the Spirit." 00:53:19.900 |
So as we gaze upon his glory, his dimple is getting deeper in us. 00:53:25.900 |
His eye color, his heart, his desire, his righteousness, his love. 00:53:31.900 |
All of that is beginning to reflect off of us as we what? As we do what? 00:53:35.900 |
As we behold his glory and we are being transformed from one lesser form of glory to greater form of glory. 00:53:47.900 |
"Just as we have borne the image of the earthly, we will also bear the image of the heavenly." 00:53:54.900 |
So when the Bible describes and tells us early on in Hebrews, he says, "To enter the throne of grace with confidence." 00:54:04.900 |
We have a tendency, because of our works based mentality, we have a tendency to think that when we are doing well, we did righteousness and we gave and we were disciplined that we can come into the throne of grace with confidence. 00:54:18.900 |
But when we are not doing well, you know, we are kind of like, "Oh shucks, I don't deserve this." 00:54:24.900 |
We are kind of barely, we will get in because that's the only place we can get in. 00:54:29.900 |
There is something inside of us that constantly thinks that we need to be worthy. 00:54:35.900 |
But when he says, "To come to the throne of grace with confidence," he is saying because you are coming into your Abba Father's throne. 00:54:47.900 |
You know, as children, you know, we think, "Oh, you know, my parents have..." 00:54:53.900 |
At one point, when you mature, right, hopefully all of you are already there, you realize how much every parent has suffered for you, right? 00:55:04.900 |
Every parent, even the ones that you are mad at, they all sacrifice and suffer for you. 00:55:12.900 |
Imagine coming in one day and saying, "You know, I am going to make it up to you. I am going to give you a car. A nice car." 00:55:23.900 |
And then give it to your parent and say, "Now we are even." 00:55:32.900 |
There is no way you can match because every parent sacrificed everything they had in order so you can live. 00:55:41.900 |
You would have to give your life and do what they did to say you matched it. 00:55:47.900 |
There is no way. Every gift that we give is a gift of gratitude, recognizing what they have done for you. 00:55:53.900 |
But there is no way that you can exchange what they have done for a simple car. 00:56:00.900 |
See, in the way that we approach Christ, that we have this mentality that if I am more righteous, if I do more, 00:56:05.900 |
somehow we have a better standing before God because we have done more and God is more at peace with us. 00:56:11.900 |
The primary thing, the reason why He wants us to come to Him is because that is the very reason why He died. 00:56:18.900 |
The very reason why He died and He suffered is that it gives Him joy to have us in His throne. 00:56:25.900 |
It gives Him joy to see us, to be near Him, to reflect who He is. 00:56:32.900 |
God loves us. It's not He loved us. He loved us and that's why He did that. 00:56:40.900 |
You ever think why Jesus was constantly praying and again, our thought immediately is He needed energy. 00:56:51.900 |
Because He had so much He needed to do. He needed to pray so that He could be regrouped and be strengthened 00:57:02.900 |
But you ever think that maybe that's where Jesus wanted to be more than anywhere else? 00:57:08.900 |
That He just went there because that was His home? 00:57:11.900 |
Even if He had all the energy He needed, that's where He knew the love of Christ most intimately. 00:57:19.900 |
He just did it because that's where He wanted to be. 00:57:26.900 |
That's where this love relation, He just went to the Father's throne because God loves Him and He loves God. 00:57:33.900 |
You ever think of prayer and your intimacy with Christ in that way? 00:57:36.900 |
Not just like, "Oh, I'm a Christian. I need to do this. 00:57:39.900 |
I need to make disciples bear fruit so I need to pray and I need to do this." 00:57:43.900 |
You ever think that maybe that when God wants us to come to Him, just simply so that He can enjoy you 00:57:52.900 |
Because that's the primary thing that He says while He did all this other stuff. 00:57:59.900 |
But the primary thing, primary reward for our God was ourselves. 00:58:06.900 |
Not only did Christ endure for the sake of joy that was coming as a result of His suffering, 00:58:19.900 |
If Christianity has become nothing more than a checkoff box, 00:58:24.900 |
because you have accountability, and somebody's going to call you out if you don't do it. 00:58:30.900 |
If that's your primary motivation to get to the next level or to be a good Christian, 00:58:34.900 |
if that's your primary motivation, eventually Christianity becomes a tremendous burden 00:58:42.900 |
You will work hard, but it's not producing joy. 00:58:45.900 |
All it produces is what? Thorns and thistles. 00:58:49.900 |
Just like it says, as a result of the fall, you will work, you will labor, 00:58:53.900 |
but the end result is going to be thorns and thistles. 00:58:55.900 |
And at the end, it doesn't produce life. All it produces is death. 00:59:01.900 |
He's writing this letter to people who at what point did all that God required of them because of joy. 00:59:09.900 |
"For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, 00:59:16.900 |
knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one." 00:59:22.900 |
They were drifting because they lost their joy. 00:59:28.900 |
They find joy in the world. They find joy in traveling. 00:59:31.900 |
They find joy in food. They find joy in everything else. 00:59:41.900 |
And because of that, you go through the motion at church, 00:59:46.900 |
do what's expected at church, but you feel alive somewhere else. 00:59:52.900 |
That's where it produces rest for you, somewhere else. 00:59:59.900 |
Whether it's through media, whether it's through purchasing things, 01:00:03.900 |
whether it's through friendship or traveling, because Christianity has become a burden. 01:00:09.900 |
In Hebrews chapter 11, 24-26, "By faith Moses, when he had grown up, 01:00:14.900 |
refused to be called the son of Pharaoh and daughter." 01:00:23.900 |
Nobody offered a billion dollars if we don't walk with Christ. 01:00:27.900 |
He said he didn't consider that, choosing rather to endure ill treatment. 01:00:32.900 |
He went from Pharaoh's house to being ill treated with the people of God, 01:00:39.900 |
He realized that whatever temptation was there was only temporary. 01:00:43.900 |
Verse 26, "Considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasure of Egypt, 01:00:51.900 |
The reason why he was able to overcome that temptation is because 01:00:54.900 |
he was tempted with greater temptation for the joy that was coming in Christ. 01:01:00.900 |
He didn't just will himself to follow Christ. 01:01:04.900 |
It's because he believed that there was greater joy in Christ. 01:01:09.900 |
First Thessalonians 1, 2-4 says, "We give thanks to God always for all of you, 01:01:14.900 |
making mention of you in prayer, constantly bearing in mind your work of faith, 01:01:24.900 |
What's the difference between work of faith and labor of love? 01:01:26.900 |
If you're a Christian and you have faith, you are working in some capacity. 01:01:37.900 |
So you can't be a Christian if you don't have faith. 01:01:41.900 |
But along with faith, he says to labor of love. 01:01:46.900 |
And you know the difference between doing something because you love something 01:01:49.900 |
versus doing something because you're supposed to do it. 01:02:04.900 |
These are the questions that come from somebody who's in burden. 01:02:10.900 |
And I'll do it because I'm supposed to do it versus somebody who loves this. 01:02:19.900 |
So you do Bible study Tuesday and then you never open up your Bible. 01:02:22.900 |
Because Bible is a project that you're supposed to do. 01:02:37.900 |
Everything that we do, it just becomes a project. 01:02:40.900 |
So some of you are good at projects and some of you are not good at projects. 01:02:48.900 |
Labor of love is ultimately what produces joy. 01:03:02.900 |
Jonathan Edwards in his book, Religious Affection, 01:03:05.900 |
describes true affection versus false affection. 01:03:09.900 |
And he says in his book, hypocrite is someone who is using God to get something else. 01:03:14.900 |
On the surface it looks the same, but God is being used that if I'm faithful, 01:03:18.900 |
if I'm a good disciple, if I'm obedient, if I read enough, if I have enough theology, 01:03:22.900 |
that there is good that God is going to bring upon me. 01:03:25.900 |
And so if your mindset is that, when things don't work out, 01:03:28.900 |
all of a sudden we start to question the goodness of God. 01:03:32.900 |
Why didn't he answer my prayers? Why doesn't he give me this? 01:03:34.900 |
How come everybody else has it but I don't have it? 01:03:36.900 |
If Jesus is a primary source to get something we want. 01:03:46.900 |
But he says God didn't call you, he said, but true affection for Christian 01:03:50.900 |
is someone who has found Christ to be the supreme joy. 01:03:59.900 |
And that's what he means by if you drink of the things of this world, you will go thirsty again. 01:04:03.900 |
If you eat of the bread of this world, you will be hungry again. 01:04:06.900 |
Momentarily you may be satisfied, but you will have to do this over and over again. 01:04:11.900 |
But the water that I give you will well up into eternal life. 01:04:15.900 |
And if you drink of it, you will never thirst. 01:04:18.900 |
The bread that I give you will well up into eternal life, 01:04:31.900 |
Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden. 01:04:34.900 |
He didn't say come over here so I can tell you where to go. 01:04:40.900 |
He wants to restore that glory that you and I had, 01:04:54.900 |
In Psalm 1611 it says, "You will make known to me the path of life. 01:05:00.900 |
In your right hand there is pleasure forever." 01:05:08.900 |
John 17 verse 13, Jesus says in his priestly prayer, 01:05:11.900 |
"But now I come to you and these things I speak in the world 01:05:13.900 |
so that they may have my joy made full in themselves." 01:05:17.900 |
He came not to burden us of more things to do. 01:05:23.900 |
We're not saying that righteousness and fighting sin, 01:05:28.900 |
"You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in resisting sin." 01:05:32.900 |
So it's not that he's not telling us that we need to fight against sin. 01:05:35.900 |
But the primary call from a sinner to be saved 01:05:41.900 |
is to come and restore that love relationship with the creator. 01:05:46.900 |
To enjoy his presence as he enjoys our presence. 01:05:51.900 |
And it is that love that he uses to measure everything. 01:05:57.900 |
When that love is not there, it affects our fellowship. 01:06:10.900 |
John 10, 10 it says, "A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. 01:06:13.900 |
I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." 01:06:17.900 |
You notice here, the life he's referring to is not opposite of death where, you know, 01:06:25.900 |
He's not saying that he's going to get people who are not existing to exist. 01:06:39.900 |
That he may restore the joy that he intended. 01:06:43.900 |
And to restore that when we fell from that joy. 01:06:50.900 |
This love that he gave us is not something that you and I can muster up ourselves. 01:06:56.900 |
Let me -- I want to conclude with this passage of love in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. 01:07:02.900 |
Which is often used in weddings when a boy or girl is inspired by the beauty of whoever they're watching. 01:07:14.900 |
And they write a love letter, 1 Corinthians 13, because you're godly. 01:07:19.900 |
Or you take that and you put it up on a wall so that you can be reminded of this beautiful love. 01:07:24.900 |
But I think in many ways that we apply this the wrong way. 01:07:32.900 |
That it's not complete in the way that we use it. 01:07:36.900 |
The reason why he writes Corinthians is because this church in their passionate pursuit of religious superiority. 01:07:46.900 |
Who's better? Who's more righteous than the other? 01:07:53.900 |
You know the people who are disciples of Peter are more righteous. 01:07:56.900 |
People who are disciples of Apollos, he's more polished speaker so he's more righteous. 01:08:00.900 |
Or Apostle Paul went around risked his life and planted all these -- he's more righteous. 01:08:04.900 |
And so in their pursuit of religious righteousness it caused divisions in the church. 01:08:12.900 |
And so this division again the core problem was they were competing for righteousness. 01:08:20.900 |
And then that caused all kinds of divisions in the church. 01:08:23.900 |
And once the division came in they started tolerating all kinds of sin within the church. 01:08:29.900 |
And so it is within that context that he is writing to them the primary thing that you ought to be pursuing is love. 01:08:36.900 |
If I speak with tongues of men and of angels but do not have love I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 01:08:43.900 |
If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge. 01:08:55.900 |
That means like you've mastered the Word of God. 01:09:00.900 |
You've mastered Leviticus, the book of Numbers. 01:09:04.900 |
You've mastered everything that the Bible has to teach. 01:09:07.900 |
It says you have all knowledge and all prophecy. 01:09:11.900 |
And if I have all faith so as to remove mountains. 01:09:22.900 |
Our church is going to blow up to 10,000 tomorrow. 01:09:24.900 |
Because people think there must be a man of God over there. 01:09:30.900 |
But he says even if you have faith to move mountains. 01:09:34.900 |
Even if you have faith to remove mountains but do not have love. 01:09:45.900 |
You better say yes because this is the Bible. 01:10:00.900 |
And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor. 01:10:04.900 |
He's talking about somebody who is being martyred. 01:10:16.900 |
If I surrender my body to be burned but do not have love. 01:10:42.900 |
But the primary thing that we are judged by is by our love. 01:11:20.900 |
How much meditation do you need for your heart to be like -- 01:11:32.900 |
Somebody wrong you or somebody who is difficult to love, you 01:11:34.900 |
just go into your closet and memorize two verses. 01:11:46.900 |
And the most important thing in our Christian faith is this 01:11:48.900 |
very thing that he says, if you don't have, it means nothing. 01:11:54.900 |
Doesn't mean anything if you don't have this. 01:12:00.900 |
I mean, nothing causes us to feel more helpless than to try to 01:12:04.900 |
practice love with somebody that you don't want to love. 01:12:14.900 |
It feels good to take some vengeance sometimes. 01:12:28.900 |
But you try to love somebody that is hard to love or maybe 01:12:32.900 |
even deliberately trying to hurt you, it's not in us. 01:12:42.900 |
The best advice you'll get is, you know, keep your friends 01:13:04.900 |
Even as we confess our love, we so easily forget in our 01:13:14.900 |
No amount of meditation, no amount of hard work, no amount 01:13:16.900 |
of self-discipline is going to change your inner being and all 01:13:20.900 |
of a sudden start to love people that are hard to love by our flesh. 01:13:24.900 |
That's why the Bible says, when Paul says, it is the love of 01:13:32.900 |
It is only when his glory is restored that all we are doing 01:13:38.900 |
Because you dig deep down inside, you're not going to find 01:13:44.900 |
You dig deep down, you discipline it and you're like, resolved, 01:13:52.900 |
Anything that I need to do for me to survive, for me to have 01:13:58.900 |
Sanctification is when we behold what he's done for us. 01:14:02.900 |
And it begins to reflect, reflection of his love. 01:14:06.900 |
So 1 Corinthians 13, as beautiful as this is, it isn't 01:14:16.900 |
First and foremost is a description of his love for us. 01:14:26.900 |
So he wants us to behold his love and once we behold his 01:14:32.900 |
love, once we are inspired by his love, once we are 01:14:36.900 |
transformed by his love, then let that love reflect off of 01:14:42.900 |
Then the world will know that you are my disciples. 01:14:48.900 |
Because you are doing only what you can do because you're my 01:14:54.900 |
So I want to read this text to you again, but I want you to 01:14:58.900 |
read it not as a command for you to follow, even though 01:15:04.900 |
But I want you to see this as a description of God's perfect 01:15:10.900 |
So don't think about this is what I need to do. 01:15:14.900 |
And I want to read this passage and I want you to reflect upon 01:15:50.900 |
Does not take into account of wrong suffered. 01:16:50.900 |
Imagine if God was provoked every time we sinned. 01:16:58.900 |
That once we repent, he forgives and he forgets. 01:17:11.900 |
Think about all the things even to this day that he's bearing with us. 01:17:30.900 |
He's calling us to reflect this in our lives. 01:17:34.900 |
Not to produce this in our lives, but to reflect this in our lives. 01:17:39.900 |
Verse 12, for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. 01:17:42.900 |
Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known. 01:17:48.900 |
But now faith, hope, love abide, these three. 01:18:03.900 |
That's why when he said, if you ask for forgiveness, he's faithful just to forgive you of all your unrighteousness. 01:18:21.900 |
Just like every parent is eager to forgive their children because they want that relationship to be restored. 01:18:31.900 |
That's why he tells us, come, come to the throne of grace with confidence. 01:18:39.900 |
Because that's the reason why he died for us, so that we would come. 01:18:48.900 |
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart. 01:18:57.900 |
I pray that we would all, every single one of us, would find this rest in the love of Christ. 01:19:02.900 |
Let's take some time to pray again as we ask our worship team to come. 01:19:21.900 |
When's the last time you really beheld this love? 01:19:27.900 |
But when's the last time the glory of his love affected you so deeply that you desired that above everything else? 01:19:35.900 |
That you're willing to suffer to have more of it? 01:19:41.900 |
Let's take some time to pray again as our worship team leads us this morning. 01:21:25.820 |
and as we continue to reflect on God's love for us, 01:21:28.220 |
let us sing this closing praise of the Father's love. 01:22:25.140 |
♪ Now here will send his only Son to come and rescue us ♪ 01:22:51.700 |
♪ Your mercy floods our lives with kindness ♪ 01:23:27.340 |
♪ Now here will send his only Son to come and rescue us ♪ 01:24:28.060 |
♪ Now here will send his only Son to come and rescue us ♪ 01:24:42.300 |
♪ Now here will send his only Son to come and rescue us ♪ 01:25:30.580 |
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 01:25:34.820 |
For behold, those who are far from you will perish. 01:25:38.060 |
You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to you. 01:25:41.180 |
But ask for me, the nearness of God is my good. 01:25:50.260 |
Heavenly Father, we pray that this would be more than words, 01:25:53.500 |
but be our testimony and our confession to you. 01:25:58.860 |
in spirit and in truth, that we may reflect Christ's love, 01:26:09.900 |
to compel us to tell others, Lord, of who you are. 01:26:16.140 |
that your glory may reflect off of us wherever we go. 01:27:47.240 |
- All right, if we can have this side go out that way, 01:27:55.660 |
then starting from this side, you can enter, exit that way.