back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 9/6/2020
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♪ I'm burned to a crisp in love, I feel you pulling down ♪ 00:00:22.480 |
♪ I'm burned to a crisp in love, I feel you pulling down ♪ 00:00:34.840 |
♪ I'm burned to a crisp in love, I feel you pulling down ♪ 00:00:39.840 |
♪ I'm burned to a crisp in love, I feel you pulling down ♪ 00:04:11.520 |
It's a little warm, and I'm glad to see a lot of you. 00:04:26.440 |
just the ability and the opportunity to come and meet 00:04:35.400 |
can't have the luxury and freedom to do what we do. 00:04:38.400 |
So I hope and pray that we would, even bearing the heat, 00:04:44.860 |
and really think about other brothers and sisters in Christ 00:05:11.900 |
♪ Unless the Lord does raise the house in glory ♪ 00:08:13.900 |
♪ Behold, behold our God shall live with us ♪ 00:09:44.900 |
our sauna service at 1030, those of you online. 00:09:49.900 |
I know it's hot and I wanna just kind of give a heads up. 00:09:54.900 |
We have water stations just in the different places 00:09:57.900 |
and sometimes you may not feel like you're dehydrated, 00:10:03.900 |
you won't know it until you start to physically feel it. 00:10:09.900 |
if you didn't drink a lot of water, you know, 00:10:13.900 |
And if in the middle of it, you feel more tired than normal, 00:10:17.900 |
just there's water station, I think there's one right there 00:10:22.900 |
or you can just go inside, just cool off a little bit. 00:10:26.900 |
Again, don't wait till you feel faint or anything like that. 00:10:30.900 |
So make sure that you have plenty of water in you 00:10:39.900 |
again, is a blessing that all around the world, 00:10:52.900 |
And so meeting out in the sun like this is, you know, 00:10:59.900 |
So again, it causes me to appreciate my Indian brothers. 00:11:03.900 |
You know, I remember going and teaching there several years ago 00:11:10.900 |
And so it can get as high as like 120 over there. 00:11:12.900 |
But I remember teaching and they always tell us, 00:11:14.900 |
"Don't come in April because it's too hot. Come in January." 00:11:17.900 |
So we always go in January where it's nice time of the year. 00:11:20.900 |
And the nice time of the year there is like 95, you know? 00:11:24.900 |
But again, just thankful that you guys are all here. 00:11:27.900 |
We have a couple of announcements before we get started. 00:11:29.900 |
First of all, let me say happy birthday to Joey Mao who's turning one, 00:11:40.900 |
She is the last of the celebration in high school 00:11:44.900 |
and then she's in college for good, for life. 00:11:55.900 |
Praise and Prayer, we have another one coming up in September 25th at 7.30 p.m. 00:12:01.900 |
And then Pastor Alex is going to give us an update of what's going on, 00:12:07.900 |
again, with the mission field and that kind of stuff, 00:12:12.900 |
Berean membership class is happening on September 27th at 9 a.m. 00:12:17.900 |
And so we want to clarify this is not introduction to Berean 00:12:24.900 |
So we are separating just a general education of Christian theology 00:12:30.900 |
And so it's taking place eight weeks from 9 to 10.30 a.m. 00:12:34.900 |
And so if you know of someone who is interested in becoming a member of the church, 00:12:41.900 |
And Pastor Nate, Nathan Quack, he's going to be the one who's taking the registration. 00:12:48.900 |
Or you can go to the app or the Facebook, and then you can find where you can apply for that 00:12:56.900 |
Our welcome team has an event every month or every other month to kind of introduce the church 00:13:04.900 |
And so this is taking place at 2 p.m. on September 27th online. 00:13:08.900 |
So this doesn't have to be -- obviously this is not for members. 00:13:11.900 |
This is for people who are coming into the church or even, obviously, 00:13:15.900 |
because we're online, if you have family and friends who just want to find out about our church, 00:13:19.900 |
possibly ask questions, one of the leaders will be giving a brief presentation of the church 00:13:24.900 |
and possibly answering some questions that you may have. 00:13:27.900 |
So that's taking place at 2 p.m. on September 27th. 00:13:30.900 |
So if you want to be invited to that, you can email the welcome team. 00:13:35.900 |
The announcements, again, will be on the app, on the Facebook, 00:13:40.900 |
Email Pastor Mark Lim and he'll be able to give you directions on how to get connected to that. 00:13:46.900 |
After this service at 12 o'clock, so you will have a brief break, and then at 12 o'clock, 00:13:51.900 |
all the parents of the youth group is going to be having a meeting inside in the air-conditioned room. 00:13:56.900 |
And so at 12 o'clock, please come there as soon as possible, 00:13:59.900 |
and then the leaders are going to be presenting what's going on with the youth group for the coming year. 00:14:06.900 |
Okay, so right after, please, at 12 o'clock, come inside. 00:14:09.900 |
And again, I want to remind you, we have water stations, and the otter pops are organic. 00:14:16.900 |
That's what I was told to tell you, so that you don't have to be afraid, you don't have to feel guilty. 00:14:20.900 |
It's outside, so afterwards, if you feel like you need to cool off, there will be plenty of that outside as well. 00:14:26.900 |
Okay, let's pray for our offering, and then we'll start with our service. 00:14:30.900 |
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the blessing that we have to be able to gather together and worship. 00:14:38.900 |
We pray that you would give us hearts that are focused, let your word do the work that you have ordained, 00:14:44.900 |
and we ask, Lord, that even the offering that we give, that you would multiply it for your glory. 00:15:07.900 |
Alright, church family, let's all rise together. 00:15:10.900 |
I have the privilege of leading worship today, and I have a mic. 00:15:14.900 |
And this person is not a child, but it's my wife's birthday today, so if you see her, say "Happy Birthday." 00:20:25.900 |
Once again I look upon the cross where you died. 00:20:32.900 |
I'm humbled by your mercy and I'm broken inside. 00:21:30.900 |
Once again I look upon the cross where you died. 00:21:37.900 |
I'm humbled by your mercy and I'm broken inside. 00:21:58.900 |
Once again I look upon the cross where you died. 00:22:04.900 |
I'm humbled by your mercy and I'm broken inside. 00:22:31.900 |
If you can turn your Bibles to Hebrews 10, verse 26-31. 00:22:55.900 |
We've landed on a pretty heavy text this morning in chapter 26-31. 00:23:02.900 |
And again I've kind of debated to switch it up today just because I'm knowing that it's going to be hot and I wanted to try to keep you guys focused. 00:23:55.900 |
Sorry, I feel bad being the only person using the fan. 00:23:59.900 |
But not that bad. Not that bad that I wouldn't use it. 00:24:16.900 |
It says, "If we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment, of the fury of fire which will consume the adversaries. 00:24:28.900 |
Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 00:24:34.900 |
How much severe punishment do you think we will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 00:24:45.900 |
For we know him who said, 'Vengeance is mine and I will repay.' And again, the Lord will judge his people. 00:24:50.900 |
It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God." 00:24:56.900 |
Heavenly Father, we pray for guidance, wisdom, spiritual soberness, that we may have the capacity to understand not only your words but your very heart. 00:25:06.900 |
May this time be glorifying to you and sanctifying to the church. 00:25:20.900 |
All right, so this text that we're looking at is the fourth of five warnings in the book of Hebrews. 00:25:27.900 |
And it's probably one of the heaviest warnings in the New Testament outside of Jesus' gospel itself, where he is talking to the church and, you know, like the encouragement to stay focused and not to drift. 00:25:42.900 |
But in between these encouragements and warnings, he, uh, encouragements about Christology and about supremacy of Christ above all the creation and all the old system. 00:25:54.900 |
He always ends it by saying, but if you do not pay attention, if you hear my warning about, uh, about drifting and you just kind of take it lightly, he says, here are the consequences. 00:26:05.900 |
And then, so this is the fourth. And there's another warning that's coming up in later chapter. 00:26:11.900 |
In fact, Jonathan Edwards, he doesn't base his sermon, "The Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" on this text, but he borrows the words in verse 31, where he says, 00:26:23.900 |
"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God." 00:26:27.900 |
And you probably heard of that title, even as a non-Christian in high school, they study his sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." 00:26:34.900 |
So the words are borrowed from this text, but the text that he was expositing is in Deuteronomy chapter 32. 00:26:41.900 |
You know, again, this is one of those texts that if you were preaching a topical sermon, you probably would never hear. 00:26:50.900 |
Because this is one of those sermons that if you happen to just stroll into the church and hear a sermon on this text, you say, ah, he's another one of those fire and brimstone preachers. 00:27:01.900 |
In fact, I know some churches who have openly said that they would never preach on this because they don't want to discourage people. 00:27:10.900 |
We don't want people coming into church and being down and feeling heavy about their life and then going home discouraged. 00:27:17.900 |
In fact, some of you guys may know that there was a book written by a man named Robert Bell, "Love Wins." 00:27:24.900 |
Some of you guys may have heard of that book before, but basically the book's premise is that hell does not fit into modern Christianity. 00:27:32.900 |
And so his whole theme is to erase hell, that we should just get rid of that doctrine because it is not palatable, it's not acceptable in our generation. 00:27:41.900 |
This is what he says, "Telling a story about a God who inflicts unrelenting punishment on people because they didn't do or say or believe the correct things 00:27:50.900 |
in a brief window of time called life isn't a very good story." 00:27:55.900 |
And the point that he was trying to make in that saying that, that story is just not going to sell. 00:28:00.900 |
Again, you and I live in a generation where church growth movement, basically books and articles and conferences have been given 00:28:09.900 |
to how to attract the maximum number of people to church and how to run a church in such a way to keep as many people in the church as possible. 00:28:18.900 |
So within that framework, hell doesn't fit. This type of teaching, this type of theology isn't going to be friendly to people who are coming to church. 00:28:28.900 |
He goes on to say, "The belief that untold masses of people suffering forever doesn't bring God glory, at least in his mind. 00:28:37.900 |
Restoration brings God glory, God's glory, eternal torment does not. Reconciliation brings God's glory, endless anguish does not. 00:28:45.900 |
Renewal and return causes God's glory, God's greatness to shine through the universe. Never ending punishment does not." 00:28:52.900 |
And again, the whole premise of the book is because it doesn't bring God's glory in his mind, therefore it needs to be erased. 00:29:00.900 |
Now consider that to the sermon that Jonathan Edwards gave, which sparked a great awakening. 00:29:06.900 |
It brought revival not only to the United States or Europe, it basically the modern world where Christianity was being practiced. 00:29:14.900 |
The sermons that they were giving was indicative of the sermon that he gives in "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." 00:29:20.900 |
So many of you may have heard that or read that before, but it wasn't unique to Jonathan Edwards. 00:29:25.900 |
It was a type of preaching that brought revival during that period. And this is what he says. 00:29:30.900 |
"Yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you don't this very moment drop down into hell. 00:29:38.900 |
O sinner, consider the fearful danger you are in, 'tis a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit full of the fire of wrath, 00:29:45.900 |
that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath has provoked an incense as much against you as against many of the damned in hell. 00:29:53.900 |
You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it and burn it asunder, 00:30:01.900 |
and you have no interest in any mediator, and nothing to lay hold to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, 00:30:09.900 |
nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do to induce God to spare you one moment." 00:30:15.900 |
And his sermon goes on and on and on like this. Probably what I just read to you is probably 1/20th of his sermon. 00:30:21.900 |
And the majority of his sermon, the content is heavy like this. 00:30:25.900 |
And they give credit to this sermon that sparked the great awakening, a revival. 00:30:33.900 |
Imagine if this sermon was preached today, the response that would be given. 00:30:38.900 |
In fact, not that long ago I was trying to talk to a non-believer, and he's a guy who fell away from faith, 00:30:45.900 |
and I asked him, "What caused you to fall, and what keeps you from coming to church?" 00:30:50.900 |
And he said, "You know what, I don't want to go to a church where they're preaching condemnation and fire and brimstone. 00:30:55.900 |
I hate that stuff, and so I'm not going to go." 00:30:59.900 |
But sad to say, that's a common sentiment of many people. 00:31:04.900 |
And even sadder, that's a common sentiment of many people inside the church, 00:31:09.900 |
where I've heard pastors actually say that we will never preach this, that our sermons are always encouraging, 00:31:18.900 |
that our sermons will never cause you to be condemned or feel heavy. 00:31:24.900 |
We're always going to focus on you feeling encouraged after the sermon. 00:31:31.900 |
Now again, that pastor has not committed himself to an accurate teaching of the Word of God. 00:31:39.900 |
You cannot look at scripture and say, "I like this passage, and I don't like this passage. 00:31:45.900 |
This is going to cause the church to grow, and this is going to cause people to move away from church, 00:31:52.900 |
That person is no longer serving God, but man, he's serving himself. 00:31:57.900 |
It is not safe, nor biblical, to skim over certain passages in the scripture, because it is not palatable. 00:32:07.900 |
Obviously the text that we are in is a heavy text. 00:32:10.900 |
He has given warning, he's giving exhortation, but he says the consequence of not heeding the warning, 00:32:19.900 |
Jesus himself said the severest description of judgment is given by Jesus himself. 00:32:24.900 |
In Matthew 13, verse 41, they said, "There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 00:32:29.900 |
In the book of Revelation, it describes the second death as a lake of fire that cannot be extinguished. 00:32:35.900 |
You cannot accept the gospel of Jesus Christ and reject condemnation, because that is not the gospel. 00:32:42.900 |
You cannot take certain parts of the scripture and say, "This is what we want," 00:32:50.900 |
So this morning, I want to jump into this text. 00:32:53.900 |
I know it's a heavy text for us to be in this morning, but it is absolutely necessary. 00:32:59.900 |
I wish I would be able to give more time to this, you know. 00:33:04.900 |
But again, I want to make sure that at least for us, that we understand why this is here and who this is speaking to. 00:33:11.900 |
So there's three things that I want to cover in this text. 00:33:16.900 |
This is one of the harshest warnings that he gives, that who is he talking to? 00:33:24.900 |
Why was it necessary for him to give this kind of warning? 00:33:27.900 |
And then the third, what is the application of this? 00:33:34.900 |
And third, what is the practical application for us? 00:33:38.900 |
So first of all, the text where he ends by saying it's a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 00:33:47.900 |
He's not talking to non-Christians outside the church. 00:33:54.900 |
Because he's been telling the church who's been drifting, telling that we should not forsake assembling together. 00:33:59.900 |
He's not talking to people who are outside, who openly deny Christ. 00:34:03.900 |
He's talking to people who are drifting, and just kind of drifting back into the Judaistic and old system. 00:34:10.900 |
You know what's confusing though, in verse 29 he says, at the end, that by which he was sanctified. 00:34:19.900 |
He's warning these people, but he describes them at one point, was sanctified. 00:34:26.900 |
So some people have confused this to say, he must be talking to Christians, 00:34:31.900 |
that if they drift and they don't walk right with God, that they're going to lose their salvation. 00:34:35.900 |
Because of the language that is being used here. 00:34:38.900 |
The language here, the word sanctified, is not referring to a Christian. 00:34:43.900 |
In fact, in other parts of the New Testament, Paul says in Corinthians, 00:34:55.900 |
And the word sanctified doesn't mean that if a non-Christian, if you had two couples, 00:34:59.900 |
and one of them become Christian, the other one will be saved. 00:35:03.900 |
The word sanctified just literally means to be set apart. 00:35:08.900 |
Now when that is used for justification, we're talking about salvation. 00:35:12.900 |
But generally, the term simply means to be set apart. 00:35:15.900 |
So the way that Paul uses it in Corinthians, he's saying that if an individual who wasn't a Christian, 00:35:20.900 |
becomes a Christian, to not to simply walk away from an unbeliever, 00:35:25.900 |
because that unbeliever is set apart because there's a Christian influence in the home. 00:35:30.900 |
Just like a non-Christian, if he enters into the church, 00:35:33.900 |
he is also set apart because he or she is being exposed to the gospel. 00:35:39.900 |
That he is around. He's not like the unbelievers who are just walking around. 00:35:43.900 |
That because the church has been sanctified, has been set apart, 00:35:49.900 |
So when an individual is in the church, in a sense he is also set apart. 00:35:59.900 |
So this warning is given to those people who have the privilege of being in the church, 00:36:05.900 |
is hearing the word of God regularly, has common experience with genuine believers, 00:36:11.900 |
maybe even have gone out to missions and come back, 00:36:16.900 |
They have common experience because they are inside the church. 00:36:22.900 |
In fact, a very similar idea is mentioned in Hebrews 6, 4-6. 00:36:27.900 |
"For in the case of those who have once been enlightened, 00:36:32.900 |
Enlightened meaning that they heard the gospel and they understood it. 00:36:38.900 |
meaning that they were in the context of a body of Christ, 00:36:49.900 |
They were partakers in the sense that they are in the corporate body of Christ, 00:36:55.900 |
Holy Spirit is mightily working, and they are in the context of that. 00:36:59.900 |
Not that they personally have the Holy Spirit, 00:37:01.900 |
but they are partakers of the work of the Holy Spirit. 00:37:04.900 |
"And have tasted the good word of God, and the power of the age to come, 00:37:10.900 |
It is impossible to renew them, and again to repentance." 00:37:19.900 |
They had pastors, they were inside the church, 00:37:22.900 |
and yet they say they willfully drift away from God. 00:37:31.900 |
In fact, verse 26, the word that they use for knowledge is "epinosis." 00:37:44.900 |
When you add the word "epi" in front of it, it means to intensify. 00:37:48.900 |
So when he says that this individual received epinosis of the truth, 00:37:54.900 |
meaning he's received everything that is necessary, 00:37:57.900 |
he's not the way he is because he had partial understanding. 00:38:01.900 |
He's not the way he is because he didn't understand, he wasn't taught, 00:38:05.900 |
there was a partial and misunderstanding of the gospel. 00:38:08.900 |
He said he has everything he needs to know fully, 00:38:11.900 |
and yet he is willfully walking away from the truth. 00:38:15.900 |
He chooses to go down that path knowing that this is contrary. 00:38:20.900 |
He says that this is an individual who is living in sin, 00:38:35.900 |
because a lot of people who are living in sin describe their lives as struggling. 00:38:42.900 |
There is a wrestling to repent, to put away their old life, 00:38:46.900 |
to continue to walk in righteousness, to openly confess. 00:38:55.900 |
They have embraced that life, and they see the grace of God 00:39:08.900 |
There's nothing you can do to please God because God saved us by grace and grace alone. 00:39:14.900 |
So they have all of these cliche things that they have memorized, 00:39:19.900 |
There is a great difference between living in sin and struggling with sin. 00:39:28.900 |
The whole letter is written to people who are using their bad theology, 00:39:34.900 |
wrong theology to embrace a life of licentiousness. 00:39:39.900 |
1 John is written to people who have been influenced by the Gnostics. 00:39:43.900 |
The Gnostics basically taught that your flesh is evil, 00:39:46.900 |
and there's nothing to be redeemed by your flesh. 00:39:49.900 |
So when Christ came and died, he saved us in our spirit, 00:39:54.900 |
So therefore, you can do whatever in your flesh because God saved us in the spirit. 00:40:00.900 |
And so they apply that to their lives to live in licentiousness and do whatever they want. 00:40:04.900 |
And so they say, well, one saved always saved. It's by grace, so it doesn't matter. 00:40:08.900 |
And so John is writing to a group of people who have embraced this kind of theology. 00:40:15.900 |
If we say that we have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness, 00:40:24.900 |
But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, 00:40:30.900 |
And the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin. 00:40:34.900 |
So in other words, if you say that you have fellowship with God and you continue to live in darkness, 00:40:40.900 |
and you see the grace of God as just, you know, get out of jail cart. 00:40:45.900 |
Remember when we were young, you know, you would cross your fingers. 00:40:51.900 |
And as long as you cross your fingers back here, you can tell all kinds of lies. 00:40:55.900 |
You can do basically whatever you want, because this is a get out of free free cart, right? 00:41:00.900 |
You can tell all kinds of lies. And at the end, it's a hey, you're a liar. 00:41:03.900 |
I said, uh, meaning that you're free from whatever it is that you've done, because I did this. 00:41:11.900 |
For people who are living in sin are living with their fingers crossed. 00:41:16.900 |
Well, I made a decision. I said, I believe and I crossed the line and I checked off the box. 00:41:22.900 |
And they continue to live in sin. There is no struggling for righteousness. 00:41:27.900 |
It's not their repentance is all of it is OK. I acknowledge that. 00:41:31.900 |
And they go right back into sinning. And he says, if an individual is living in sin, 00:41:39.900 |
These are people, again, who have convinced themselves that as long as they cross their fingers, 00:41:43.900 |
as long as they've got it, you know, checked off the box and went down the aisle so many years ago 00:41:49.900 |
and they got baptized, that that's their get out of get out of jail free card. 00:41:53.900 |
So the rest of it, it doesn't matter. He says in verse 26, if that's who you are, 00:41:59.900 |
a willful sinner who is continuing to live in sin, he says there is no longer sacrifice for their sins in verse 26. 00:42:07.900 |
And what he means by that, he's not saying that that person can't repent. 00:42:11.900 |
That if a only way of salvation, only way of receiving forgiveness is through the blood of Christ. 00:42:18.900 |
And you've been taught all of that. You had every advantage versus non-Christians. 00:42:23.900 |
And you choose to walk away from that. What he means by that is there is no other way of atoning for your sins. 00:42:30.900 |
If you rejected the only way of salvation, the only mediator between us and God is the man, Christ Jesus. 00:42:35.900 |
And you've heard all of this and you superficially acknowledge it. 00:42:39.900 |
And yet in your life, you are continuing to live in sin. He says there is no longer any sacrifice. 00:42:44.900 |
There's no longer any hope for this individual. It is a very dangerous place to be in. 00:42:51.900 |
To be inside the church and to be fooled all his life and then to meet a God who will judge. 00:42:58.900 |
And this is reason why the scripture is here and why he's speaking to people inside the church, 00:43:05.900 |
because being inside the church doesn't guarantee genuine faith. 00:43:10.900 |
Doing godly things doesn't guarantee genuine faith. 00:43:14.900 |
Unless all Christianity to you is for this life. 00:43:20.900 |
You have good friends, you live with purpose, have some good morals, raise children in a nice culture. 00:43:25.900 |
If that's all Christianity means to you, then you're here and just out the door. 00:43:30.900 |
And whatever causes you to be uncomfortable, you can just ignore it. 00:43:34.900 |
But if we genuinely believe what we profess to believe, there are serious consequences of not examining our life 00:43:41.900 |
and being certain that if we have genuine faith. 00:43:46.900 |
Now, he's not talking about people who are struggling with sin. 00:43:49.900 |
In fact, he says in that same passage, 1 John 1, verse 9, 00:43:53.900 |
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 00:44:00.900 |
See, an individual struggling with sin because we still have our flesh, we still wrestle, we still struggle. 00:44:06.900 |
There are times we fall and we repent, we get back up because the grace of God covers over us. 00:44:12.900 |
Our salvation is not dependent upon our righteous deeds, but what he has done. 00:44:20.900 |
There's a struggle and there's a straining, there's pressing on toward the goal. 00:44:24.900 |
So he's not talking about that. He's talking about an individual who is willfully and continually choosing to live in sin while confessing that he's a believer. 00:44:35.900 |
He said there is no longer sacrifice for sins. 00:44:39.900 |
He gives a reason why this is so important because in Hebrews chapter 10, 28 to 31, 00:44:44.900 |
this is how God sees someone who is living in sin. 00:44:49.900 |
"Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 00:44:54.900 |
How much severe punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God?" 00:45:02.900 |
Part of the reason why, especially in the Western world, the Christian world, 00:45:08.900 |
where people don't have a clear understanding of God's wrath and holiness is because we avoid it even in our preaching. 00:45:16.900 |
So a lot of people in the church have this idea that God of the Old Testament didn't tolerate sin. 00:45:22.900 |
It was no nonsense. God gave laws. If you broke it, you died. 00:45:27.900 |
That's the Old Testament God. But when we come to the New Testament, 00:45:30.900 |
he's like a grandfather that always has candy in his pocket. No matter what we do, he's okay with it. 00:45:36.900 |
And so one saved, always saved. And then he goes. 00:45:39.900 |
So the God of the Old Testament doesn't fit the God of the New Testament. 00:45:42.900 |
And so God of the New Testament is a God that we would love to have. 00:45:46.900 |
That's the God that we want to go to heaven and see and be in his house because he always wants to see us, 00:45:52.900 |
no matter what condition we are in, no matter what kind of life we're in. 00:45:55.900 |
He's like a grandfather who just doesn't care. And he just he just loves us no matter what we do. 00:46:01.900 |
And so the God of the Old Testament just doesn't fit our culture. 00:46:08.900 |
And then we kind of hover around the New Testament where there's promises of eternal life, promise of forgiveness. 00:46:14.900 |
And so and then we kind of avoid revelation because that's kind of hard to understand. 00:46:18.900 |
And then we come to these passages and kind of like gloss over that must be talking to non-Christians. 00:46:24.900 |
But look what he says. How much more severe punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under the footstool of God? 00:46:32.900 |
He has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has insulted the spirit of grace. 00:46:41.900 |
See, I think part of the reason why, you know, when we drift and when we're lukewarm, 00:46:45.900 |
that we feel completely safe and we have all the time in the world, it's like, wow, this is not where I should be. 00:46:50.900 |
But, you know, that's just the way we are. That's just Orange County Christianity. 00:46:55.900 |
And we just we're OK with it. Well, God is saying, no, he's not OK with it. 00:47:00.900 |
He said the way he sees an individual who had all the privileges and willfully chooses to live a life that is contrary to the gospel that he has heard. 00:47:09.900 |
He said he is like trampling underfoot the son of God. This is not just a casually drifting. 00:47:14.900 |
He says it is trampling, disrespecting, unclean the blood of the covenant, something that is very sacred, 00:47:21.900 |
sacred. He's considering treating it as rubbish. And it is an insult to the spirit of grace. 00:47:28.900 |
The Bible says if there's one sin that cannot be forgiven, it is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. 00:47:33.900 |
And that's what he is referring to, an individual who professes one thing. 00:47:38.900 |
But by his life, he is grieving the Holy Spirit. And he says, for we know him who said, vengeance is mine. 00:47:45.900 |
I will repay that God of the Old Testament, the same God of the New Testament. 00:47:50.900 |
In fact, the judgment in the New Testament is much more severe. 00:47:54.900 |
And the reason why it's much more severe is in the Old Testament, God would give promise of judgment, 00:48:00.900 |
but he was all he would always break in and say, but I will remember the remnant. 00:48:05.900 |
My son is coming. The Messiah is coming and he's going to forgive sins. 00:48:09.900 |
Yet in the New Testament, when the judgment finally comes, it is the end. 00:48:14.900 |
There is no hope after the white throne judgment. There is no warning. 00:48:19.900 |
There is there was no second chance. Once the judgment comes from the second covenant, 00:48:25.900 |
he says it is the end. There is no other Messiah that's coming. 00:48:29.900 |
There's no other crucifixion that's coming. That's why he says there is no other sacrifice. 00:48:34.900 |
If after hearing all of this and you choose to walk away. 00:48:40.900 |
Why does he say this? And obviously it is offensive to God. 00:48:44.900 |
But secondly, ultimately, it is to demonstrate his grace. 00:48:49.900 |
And you say, well, what are you talking about? Like there's nothing that I said this morning sounds anywhere remotely close to grace. 00:48:57.900 |
You see, God is being gracious when he says all of this because his desire for this is for sinners to repent. 00:49:05.900 |
If God was done with us, there would be no warning. We would be gone. 00:49:11.900 |
We wouldn't be hearing any preaching. There is no warning in Scripture. 00:49:15.900 |
All this drama in the book of Revelation is a warning for us to take heed. 00:49:22.900 |
So it is his grace that causes us to listen to this and be warned and to take seriously, 00:49:29.900 |
not only for Christians to understand the urgency of this message, but for us to share it with urgency. 00:49:37.900 |
God uses warning to wake up the church so that we would be gracious as he is gracious. 00:49:44.900 |
So if you really see that from this perspective, one of the most gracious things that he can do to a straying unbeliever 00:49:53.900 |
is to warn him about the judgment that is waiting for him if he continues to drift down this path. 00:49:58.900 |
Second Peter 3, 9, he says, "The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, 00:50:03.900 |
but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance." 00:50:10.900 |
He said the reason why he didn't come 2,000 years ago is because God is being patient with mankind. 00:50:16.900 |
The reason why this text is in this passage, the reason why Revelation is in the New Testament 00:50:22.900 |
is because God doesn't want sinners to perish. He wants them to come to Christ. 00:50:29.900 |
The real judgment is going to come, and when it comes, there is no second chance. 00:50:37.900 |
You will not be able to cry out to God and say, "God, I'm sorry that I didn't pay attention." 00:50:42.900 |
You're not going to be able to stand under the judgment seat on the white throne and say, 00:50:46.900 |
"If you would just give me one more year or one more day." 00:50:50.900 |
You see, white throne judgment, when it comes, it is the end. It is finished. 00:50:54.900 |
So therefore, he says, if you are drifting and you are willfully living against the will of God, 00:51:00.900 |
understand the real judgment is coming. This warning is a revelation of God's grace, his mercy. 00:51:15.900 |
If we're not careful, we can hear sermons like this, or we can look at passages like this, 00:51:21.900 |
and our first response is, "I don't want this. Another fire and brimstone sermon." 00:51:27.900 |
Even if it is based on Scripture, I don't want to hear it. 00:51:31.900 |
There's things that I want to know, things that I don't want to know, 00:51:34.900 |
and this is one of those things that I don't think fits my life. 00:51:37.900 |
So you can say, "Christ is Lord," all you want. With words, it means nothing. 00:51:44.900 |
I can say I'm six feet tall. No one's going to be convinced, right? 00:51:48.900 |
Because that's not the reality. You can say that you're a believer in Christ, and Christ is your Lord, 00:51:53.900 |
but if you don't submit to every part of Scripture, those are just empty words. 00:51:58.900 |
But if we're not careful, one of the wrong ways to respond to this is simply reject it, 00:52:04.900 |
because it doesn't fit my reality. It doesn't fit the kind of Christian life that I want. 00:52:08.900 |
That's one of the wrong ways. But another wrong way to accept this is to say, "Yes, we need more of this." 00:52:15.900 |
In fact, why don't you preach this every week? 00:52:19.900 |
In fact, that's going to be the central message that I'm going to be preaching to everybody that I hear, 00:52:23.900 |
that I know, right? Judgment, harshness, warning. 00:52:30.900 |
And if we're not careful, we can be more concerned about judgment 00:52:36.900 |
than they are concerned about bringing them to salvation. 00:52:39.900 |
The reason why he puts this in here is not simply to say, 00:52:42.900 |
"Hey, you're going to be judged," and then just walk away. 00:52:45.900 |
It is a gracious God warning sinners to return. 00:52:54.900 |
You see, the danger of misapplying the judgment of God 00:52:58.900 |
is that we can take people who are in dire need of encouragement. 00:53:03.900 |
It could be an individual who's been trying so hard and is constantly falling short. 00:53:07.900 |
As an example, if you have a child who's waking up early and trying to take the test and memorizing, 00:53:13.900 |
did everything that he or she could possibly do, but they just couldn't get the grade. 00:53:17.900 |
And they got a C. And you say, "Well, you didn't get an A? 00:53:25.900 |
See, if we're not careful, we can misapply this to people who are in dire need of encouragement. 00:53:33.900 |
And they need to be reminded that it's not by words, it's by the grace of God. 00:53:41.900 |
So we can apply it in the wrong manner, just bringing condemnation to the wrong people. 00:53:46.900 |
But then the other end of application that we can get wrong is say, 00:53:50.900 |
"Well, if they say they're Christian, let's be gracious and just accept what they say." 00:53:55.900 |
And the consequence of that is we're giving assurance to people 00:54:00.900 |
so that we don't rock the boat, so that they're not angry with us, 00:54:04.900 |
while all the while that they may meet a holy God who's going to judge them for eternity. 00:54:12.900 |
And giving people assurance that everything is okay 00:54:17.900 |
while they are day to day drawing closer to eternal condemnation. 00:54:28.900 |
So we need to be careful that the way that we apply this, that we apply it accurately. 00:54:33.900 |
First and foremost, we need to make sure that whenever we apply certain things like this, 00:54:42.900 |
We don't simply reject it because it doesn't fit what we want, 00:54:46.900 |
nor do we just think like, "Okay, now everybody needs to be condemned. 00:54:49.900 |
Nobody is a Christian, and so therefore, you know, the condemnation is upon everybody, 00:54:57.900 |
So the principles of how we ought to be applying this. 00:54:59.900 |
One, don't use your moral compass as a guide to determine what is right and wrong. 00:55:05.900 |
How it sits with you or doesn't sit well with you 00:55:08.900 |
should not be the standard of what you accept and don't accept. 00:55:13.900 |
If it doesn't fit well with you, why? Why doesn't it fit well with you? 00:55:16.900 |
Is it because of something that you know of Scripture? 00:55:19.900 |
Is it contradicting certain doctrines of the Bible? 00:55:23.900 |
It is simply just the worldview or the God that you desire isn't this God. 00:55:28.900 |
Be careful not to use your own moral compass as a guide to determine what is right and wrong. 00:55:36.900 |
They can't even determine who's a male and who's a female. 00:55:40.900 |
You know, we have the world pounding for justice, but what justice? 00:55:43.900 |
What is just? What is just for one person is unjust for another person. 00:55:49.900 |
We have to make sure that we do not conform to this world, 00:55:51.900 |
but be transformed by the renewing of our mind, 00:55:53.900 |
that the Word of God is going to dictate what is right and wrong. 00:55:57.900 |
And if something that I sense, that I hear the Word of God, 00:56:01.900 |
and it doesn't sit well with me, the problem is with me, not the Word of God. 00:56:06.900 |
So do not use our moral compass as a guide to determine what is right and wrong. 00:56:11.900 |
Secondly, whenever these things are taught and we learn, 00:56:15.900 |
do not turn this around immediately to other people. 00:56:19.900 |
Say, "Well, yes, you know, like my brother needs to hear this," 00:56:22.900 |
or "I have a friend, my co-worker, that church, that pastor, they need to hear this. 00:56:28.900 |
First and foremost, we need to take every part of the Word of God and examine ourselves. 00:56:35.900 |
The Word of God is given to us to judge the thoughts and intentions of our own heart. 00:56:41.900 |
2 Corinthians 13, 5, "Test yourselves to see if you are of the faith." 00:56:47.900 |
First and foremost, when we hear these things, is our life-- 00:56:54.900 |
is there evidence of self-righteousness versus righteousness? 00:57:00.900 |
If we're not careful, we can take the Word of God and easily feed our self-righteousness. 00:57:05.900 |
It becomes not a lamp as a guide for our feet. 00:57:09.900 |
It becomes a flashlight to point out other people's darkness. 00:57:12.900 |
So, first, don't use your own moral compass as what is right and wrong. 00:57:17.900 |
Secondly, make sure that we examine ourselves first. 00:57:22.900 |
If we're going to teach this, if we're going to share this, 00:57:24.900 |
is our motive just to tell them they're wrong or is it to bring them to Christ? 00:57:30.900 |
How we preach about the judgment of God to the people that we love and care about 00:57:36.900 |
versus those people that we don't care about is night and day. 00:57:40.900 |
Our tone--you may be saying the same thing--but our tone and our motive 00:57:45.900 |
is to bring them condemnation versus wanting to see them come to Christ. 00:57:50.900 |
To know that all that the Scripture says about the condemnation, 00:57:54.900 |
it is a holy God being gracious to sinners, warning them to return. 00:57:59.900 |
Check our motives and make sure that we watch our lives and our doctrines carefully, 00:58:05.900 |
that we take it seriously, that when we see these things, 00:58:12.900 |
There should be a heaviness when we think about the judgment of God. 00:58:17.900 |
You know, I think, again, the part of the reason why there isn't a sense of seriousness 00:58:23.900 |
in the church in our generation is because of the lack of understanding of the judgment of God. 00:58:30.900 |
It's not because we are not passionate people. 00:58:33.900 |
Think about what's going on outside the world today. 00:58:36.900 |
We have people who are so impassioned because there is a perception 00:58:41.900 |
that there is injustice to a group of people around the world. 00:58:48.900 |
They are willing to march. They are willing to go to jail. 00:58:52.900 |
They are willing to commit violence because they feel that this needs to happen 00:58:58.900 |
because they have compassion, because they feel sorry for people, 00:59:03.900 |
because they're not getting the job that they need, 00:59:09.900 |
Now, I can understand that from the secular world, because this is all they have. 00:59:15.900 |
But I do not understand this from the Christian world, 00:59:19.900 |
where we are so lackadaisical about people who are suffering and dying, going to hell, 00:59:25.900 |
and we proclaim this gospel, we sing about this gospel, 00:59:28.900 |
and yet, when was the last time the church cried out for people who are going to hell? 00:59:36.900 |
People are willing to march and give up their comfort 00:59:40.900 |
so that they can have an equal footing to get jobs, to buy houses. 00:59:47.900 |
When was the last time the church got on their knees, 00:59:50.900 |
crying out for people who will be in hell for eternity if they do not turn from their sins? 00:59:57.900 |
How can a church be so lackadaisical about the judgment that is coming upon mankind 01:00:06.900 |
and be so impassioned about a temporary injustice? 01:00:11.900 |
No one is saying, "Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that it's not Christian's responsibility 01:00:17.900 |
to speak up for injustice, to fight for those who don't have voices." 01:00:21.900 |
But when our priorities are mixed up, when we don't understand the heaviness, 01:00:26.900 |
what the gospel preaches, where we put all our eggs in this basket, 01:00:31.900 |
and yet, we don't think twice about the songs that we sing, 01:00:37.900 |
about the gospel that we proclaim to know and to love. 01:00:42.900 |
Knowing that we have a generation of souls who've never heard the gospel, 01:00:47.900 |
we are surrounded by people who don't understand the gospel, 01:00:50.900 |
we have churches filled with people who have been attending all their lives, 01:00:59.900 |
Yet we don't grieve for that, we don't march for that, we don't cry out for that. 01:01:07.900 |
but we're not anywhere near that passion as what we are seeing outside. 01:01:13.900 |
I understand the world, but the priorities have been misplaced. 01:01:22.900 |
We need to make sure that we have our priorities straight, 01:01:25.900 |
that there is a sense of urgency, and that's why this is here. 01:01:29.900 |
Not only to warn the non-Christians who are in the church, who are deceived, 01:01:34.900 |
but also to wake up Christians so that we recognize the seriousness 01:01:39.900 |
of what it is that you and I profess to believe. 01:01:46.900 |
so that we can continue to live our lives the way we desire. 01:01:49.900 |
It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, 01:01:52.900 |
and it is the only power of God to salvation to everyone who believes. 01:02:01.900 |
Whenever we apply this, we can easily look at people and say, 01:02:04.900 |
"Well, they're not doing this, they're not doing this, 01:02:06.900 |
and a good Christian should be doing this and not be doing that." 01:02:10.900 |
You can't ever know what's going on with individuals from a distance. 01:02:14.900 |
People have struggles, and that person may need our encouragement, 01:02:20.900 |
and we apply condemnation, and we've done disservice. 01:02:28.900 |
And then you have people who are outright living in sin 01:02:32.900 |
and rebelling against God and have no evidence of the Holy Spirit in him, 01:02:36.900 |
and we constantly tell them, say, "Hey, don't ever question, 01:02:41.900 |
And we're giving them assurance as they are drifting to hell. 01:02:47.900 |
We need to be careful, and we need to examine. 01:02:49.900 |
And then fourth and finally, always give the full counsel of God 01:02:58.900 |
The Bible says that we cannot bear fruit unless we abide in Christ. 01:03:02.900 |
You cannot abide in Christ if you hold on to certain things and reject other things. 01:03:06.900 |
Either you embrace the whole counsel of God, or you reject all of it. 01:03:19.900 |
God is giving this warning because he is generous in his grace. 01:03:26.900 |
He's causing the church to repent and come to him. 01:03:30.900 |
Again, as I said, there is no warning after the white throne judgment. 01:03:39.900 |
Because if sinners do not come to Christ because of his tremendous grace, 01:03:44.900 |
they need to at least come to Christ because of fear and trembling. 01:03:49.900 |
However they come to Christ, they must come to Christ. 01:03:56.900 |
So this text is here, not simply put a damper on our day, 01:04:01.900 |
not simply so that we can go off and feel guilty, 01:04:04.900 |
it's like, "Oh my gosh, what am I doing with my life?" 01:04:10.900 |
It is his grace that causes sinners to wake up. 01:04:14.900 |
It is his grace to bring revival into the church 01:04:17.900 |
so that we can be what God has called us to be. 01:04:22.900 |
It is not enough that you and I just make it to the end. 01:04:26.900 |
It is not enough for you and I to just live our life comfortably 01:04:31.900 |
and then get to the end part of our life and say, "Phew, I made it. 01:04:38.900 |
Why the day that we were justified that we didn't die and go to heaven for eternity. 01:04:58.900 |
Because he doesn't want us to come by ourselves. 01:05:05.900 |
Because there are people in your lives that you are the best person to share the gospel with them. 01:05:11.900 |
You are the best person and you are the nearest person to warn them 01:05:19.900 |
To tell them about the hope that we have in Christ. 01:05:25.900 |
So if our lives and anything that we are doing does not align with that commission that God has given the church, 01:05:41.900 |
Is it consistent with the gospel that we profess? 01:05:45.900 |
So again, my prayer is the same thing every single week. 01:05:49.900 |
That as we hear this and apply this, that we would live up to the gospel that we profess. 01:06:01.900 |
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your constant grace and love. 01:06:06.900 |
You know, Lord God, that we are weak sinners who are absolutely dependent on your grace just to make it from day to day. 01:06:14.900 |
Lord, help us, Lord God, to see the reality of the spiritual battle that's going on. 01:06:19.900 |
That we would not chase after things that the world is chasing after. 01:06:23.900 |
Knowing, Father God, that at the end, that there is judgment. 01:06:29.900 |
I pray that within our church, that if anyone who is willfully sinning and has rejected you by their life, 01:06:39.900 |
Cause them to see, Lord God, if there's any bit or even a tiny bit of faith in them, bring them to repentance. 01:06:48.900 |
I pray, Father God, for us who are striving and day to day even struggling. 01:06:55.900 |
Help us, Lord God, to cling on to the grace that we would not drift away from Christ, 01:07:01.900 |
that we would not go from day to day just nonchalantly, being fully satisfied that we're OK. 01:07:08.900 |
Help us to recognize the temporary world that we're in that is under condemnation, 01:07:18.900 |
That we would be a church that is a light in this dark world. 01:07:21.900 |
So I pray, Father God, that you would help us and guide us and renew us by your word. 01:07:28.900 |
Church family, let's all rise together for a closing praise. 01:07:42.900 |
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. 01:08:24.900 |
'Twas grace, 'twas grace that taught my heart to fear. 01:08:48.900 |
How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed. 01:09:31.900 |
He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures. 01:10:14.900 |
But God who calls me here below will be forever. 01:10:31.900 |
But God who calls me here below will be forever. 01:10:58.900 |
Heavenly Father, we pray that the word that you have implanted in our hearts would bear fruit, 01:11:03.900 |
cause us to be sanctified for those who are drifting, Lord God, that you would have waken us up. 01:11:09.900 |
For those who are clinging to you, Lord God, in need of encouragement, 01:11:12.900 |
that your word would constantly encourage us, reminding us that it is the blood of Christ that sustains us. 01:11:18.900 |
We pray, Father God, as you send us our way, help us to live consistent with the gospel that we profess. 01:11:26.900 |
And so we pray, Father God, that you would give us a sense of seriousness and urgency, 01:11:30.900 |
the message that you've given, and that it may bear fruit, 30, 60, 100 fold, for the sake of your name. 01:11:37.900 |
Now the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit 01:11:40.900 |
and eternal love of God the Father restore, strengthen, and revive your church for the sake of your name. 01:12:18.900 |
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives. 01:12:59.900 |
And life is worth the living just because he lives.