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Calling of the First Disciples | Luke 5:1-11


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00:00:00.000 | ♪ As the praise of your name ♪
00:00:04.000 | ♪ For the good you have done ♪
00:00:07.000 | ♪ Oh my words could not tell ♪
00:00:11.000 | ♪ Not even in part ♪
00:00:15.000 | ♪ Of the debt of love that is owed ♪
00:00:21.000 | ♪ By this thankful heart ♪
00:00:24.000 | ♪ ♪
00:00:34.000 | You deserve it.
00:00:36.000 | ♪ ♪
00:00:38.000 | ♪ You deserve my every breath ♪
00:00:41.000 | ♪ For you paid the great cost ♪
00:00:44.000 | ♪ Giving up your life to death ♪
00:00:48.000 | ♪ Even death on a cross ♪
00:00:51.000 | ♪ You took all my shame away ♪
00:00:54.000 | ♪ Bare defeated my sin ♪
00:00:58.000 | ♪ Open up the gates of heaven ♪
00:01:01.000 | ♪ And have beckoned me in ♪
00:01:04.000 | ♪ Jesus what can I give ♪
00:01:08.000 | ♪ What can I bring ♪
00:01:11.000 | ♪ To so faithful a friend ♪
00:01:14.000 | ♪ To so loving a king ♪
00:01:18.000 | ♪ Savior what can be said ♪
00:01:22.000 | ♪ What can be sung ♪
00:01:25.000 | ♪ As the praise of your name ♪
00:01:28.000 | ♪ For the things you have done ♪
00:01:31.000 | ♪ Jesus what can I give ♪
00:01:35.000 | ♪ What can I bring ♪
00:01:38.000 | ♪ To so faithful a friend ♪
00:01:41.000 | ♪ To so loving a king ♪
00:01:44.000 | ♪ Savior what can be said ♪
00:01:48.000 | ♪ What can be sung ♪
00:01:51.000 | ♪ As the praise of your name ♪
00:01:54.000 | ♪ For the things you have done ♪
00:01:58.000 | ♪ Oh my words could not tell ♪
00:02:01.000 | ♪ Not even in part ♪
00:02:05.000 | ♪ Of the debt of love that is owed ♪
00:02:12.000 | ♪ Of the debt of love that is owed ♪
00:02:19.000 | ♪ Of the debt of love that is owed ♪
00:02:24.000 | ♪ By this thankful heart ♪
00:02:29.000 |
00:02:36.000 | Hi, good morning.
00:02:37.000 | Welcome to Breen Community Church.
00:02:39.000 | Let me make a few announcements.
00:02:41.000 | First of all, a Jubilee Lunch Fellowship.
00:02:43.000 | Those of you who are 50 and over,
00:02:45.000 | we have a lunch fellowship scheduled for April 2nd at 1pm.
00:02:49.000 | The cost of the lunch will be $10.
00:02:51.000 | And if you haven't signed up, please seek out Elder Phillip,
00:02:54.000 | and he'll be able to sign you up for that
00:02:56.000 | and give you directions on it.
00:02:58.000 | And again, that's coming up on April 2nd at 1pm.
00:03:01.000 | College retreat is happening on Friday to Sunday
00:03:04.000 | from March 31st to April 2nd.
00:03:08.000 | So if you haven't signed up for that, please seek Pastor Nate
00:03:11.000 | or one of the college students, and they'll give you help for that.
00:03:15.000 | And then if you are in the EV training that's happening,
00:03:19.000 | there is going to be light lunch pizza that's going to be served.
00:03:23.000 | And so we want to have that eaten as soon as possible
00:03:28.000 | so that we can get the meeting started at 1.
00:03:31.000 | And then there's going to be about 30 minutes of training,
00:03:34.000 | and then after that we're going to be going out into 6 different locations.
00:03:38.000 | So if you've signed up for that, please come to the new cry room.
00:03:44.000 | So not the cafe, but the other side.
00:03:47.000 | And as soon as you get there, there will be pizza.
00:03:49.000 | So you can go a little bit earlier.
00:03:51.000 | You can go at 1240, 1245, and pizza will be there.
00:03:55.000 | So just start eating your lunch, and then around 1 o'clock
00:03:58.000 | we're going to get started.
00:04:00.000 | And one last thing. This coming Friday we have our praise and prayer.
00:04:04.000 | And so we don't have normal Bible study or home groups this week.
00:04:09.000 | But we are doing something a little bit different.
00:04:11.000 | We're going to be praying on the floor.
00:04:13.000 | We're going to be kneeling in our prayer position.
00:04:17.000 | And I'm going to explain more when you come on Friday,
00:04:20.000 | but I think the way--our posture of prayer definitely helps us to be focused
00:04:27.000 | and recognizing who we are praying to.
00:04:30.000 | And so some of you guys who may have bad knees or bad back
00:04:33.000 | or for whatever the reason, the side are going to be still left the way it is.
00:04:39.000 | So you can just come on the side and just pray in that way.
00:04:42.000 | For those of you who are sitting here, in the middle, the two rows,
00:04:46.000 | we're going to be taking every other row out
00:04:49.000 | so that when it's time to pray that we can get on our knees.
00:04:52.000 | So in order to do that, we are asking you to bring pads.
00:04:56.000 | Bring something to put on the ground for your knee.
00:05:01.000 | Or worst-case scenario, if you forget, you can just use your jacket.
00:05:05.000 | It's just going to get a little bit dirty.
00:05:07.000 | But otherwise, we don't have enough mats for you to use that for,
00:05:12.000 | so we're asking you to bring as many as you can.
00:05:14.000 | And again, worst-case scenario, we'll just kind of have to grab something
00:05:18.000 | and put it on the ground.
00:05:19.000 | So this coming Friday, our praise and prayer is going to be done--
00:05:23.000 | again, those of you who are able to, we're going to be on the ground.
00:05:26.000 | So you'll be able to sit and listen, but during prayer time,
00:05:29.000 | we're going to ask you to join us on our knees,
00:05:31.000 | those of you who are able to do so.
00:05:33.000 | And again, I'll explain a little bit more on Friday when you do come.
00:05:37.000 | All right, let me pray for the offering before we start.
00:05:42.000 | And those of you who brought a physical offering, a check or cash,
00:05:45.000 | again, our offering box is in the back.
00:05:47.000 | As you're leaving, you'll see it on the right.
00:05:49.000 | And for the rest of you, you'll have time to give it electronically.
00:05:53.000 | And then after our praise time, our sister Monique Chang is going to come,
00:05:57.000 | give her testimony, and be baptized this morning.
00:05:59.000 | All right, let's pray.
00:06:03.000 | Heavenly Father, we thank you for your continued goodness and love
00:06:07.000 | that you pour upon us.
00:06:09.000 | Things that we are aware of, things that we're not aware of,
00:06:13.000 | help us this morning to give you worship that is truly in spirit and in truth.
00:06:19.000 | Help us not to simply see this time as obligation as Christians,
00:06:26.000 | but open our eyes, soften our heart, Lord God, that we may meet you,
00:06:31.000 | we may encounter you, that we may hear from you.
00:06:35.000 | And may the offering that we give, that we give cheerfully, abundantly,
00:06:39.000 | Lord God, as an acknowledgement of your gift to us,
00:06:43.000 | may it be multiplied 30, 60, 100-fold for your kingdom.
00:06:46.000 | In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
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00:07:32.000 | Church family, let us stand together for worship.
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00:17:09.000 | Hi everyone, my name is Monique and yeah, this is my testimony.
00:17:14.000 | I was born going to church as my dad is a pastor, and as a result, I grew up learning about God and hearing the gospel at an early age, although not fully understanding what it meant.
00:17:26.000 | I was a good kid, always following all the rules.
00:17:30.000 | I wanted to believe in God because that was what we had to do in order to go to heaven, so why not?
00:17:37.000 | It wasn't my own faith that kept me towards God, but what everyone around me was telling me.
00:17:41.000 | Right before middle school, my family moved from California to Korea because my dad had accepted a pastor position there.
00:17:49.000 | I felt like my world was turning upside down. I became an angry person.
00:17:54.000 | I was angry at my parents for making us move, which then built up as anger towards God.
00:18:00.000 | My thought process was, if my family wasn't Christian, then my dad wouldn't have been a pastor, and then we wouldn't have had to move, right?
00:18:08.000 | I wanted to rebel against my parents and only went...
00:18:12.000 | I wanted to rebel against God and tried to sin on purpose.
00:18:18.000 | I started to rebel against my parents and only went to church because I was forced to.
00:18:23.000 | Questions of God's existence filled my mind during this time, and the only thing keeping me from completely pulling away from God and church was the fear of going to hell in the back of my mind.
00:18:33.000 | During this time, on a summer trip to California, I randomly attended a summer retreat at my grandma's church.
00:18:39.000 | I did not want to go because I didn't know anyone at this retreat, but because of this, I was able to focus on God completely.
00:18:48.000 | I prayed to God that he truly was real to show me that I would believe in him.
00:18:53.000 | I left that retreat believing I had experienced God and that he was real. I thought that I had repented and was saved.
00:18:59.000 | However, my understanding of God and his character were so flawed.
00:19:03.000 | I did not fear God or see him as a holy God who is just and will punish all sin.
00:19:08.000 | As a result, I lived my life doing whatever I wanted, but thinking it was okay because I was saved.
00:19:15.000 | It got to a point where when I was in college, nothing I did in my life reflected that of a Christian.
00:19:20.000 | I stopped going to church. I loved and indulged in everything the world had to offer and for the most part had a good and ideal life.
00:19:28.000 | But this led me to slowly think that I can live life without God.
00:19:32.000 | I was doing so fine without constantly seeking him, so I thought I could live life however I wanted as long as I prayed for forgiveness from time to time.
00:19:41.000 | But my perfect life did not last and after graduating college, everything changed.
00:19:46.000 | Nothing I did made me happy and I spent all my days feeling lost, confused, and numb.
00:19:53.000 | I did not know what I was supposed to be doing in my life and spent most of my days sleeping or wasting time mindlessly
00:20:00.000 | and struggled mentally to find a purpose to just keep living.
00:20:05.000 | During this time, a friend invited me to check out her church and I said yes.
00:20:13.000 | I thought going back to church would be good for me as I thought it would help me get back to having a regular routine and give me something to do in my week.
00:20:21.000 | I wasn't sure why I thought this or why I continued to go, but this is how I started to attend Berean.
00:20:27.000 | Little by little, things started to fit into place.
00:20:31.000 | I felt relatively good about where I was in my life and was even proud of myself for building my faith back up by going to church regularly.
00:20:39.000 | I thought I was on the right path in life.
00:20:42.000 | However, during a sermon around last Easter, a question crossed my mind.
00:20:47.000 | Do I think of myself as a sinner?
00:20:49.000 | I realized then that I didn't and never really did in the past.
00:20:53.000 | This shocked me as I also started to question if I had actually repented for my sins all those years ago.
00:21:00.000 | It made me question my identity and whether or not I truly believed in everything I had been professing my entire life.
00:21:06.000 | I spent all of last year trying to relearn who God is and why I am a sinner.
00:21:11.000 | With the help from my small group leader, we started to read through the book of Romans, which highlighted to me the characteristics of God that I previously did not know.
00:21:20.000 | Like how Romans 1 verse 18 or 2 verses 5 through 11 show that God is full of wrath and will judge the unrighteous with no impartiality.
00:21:30.000 | They were tough truths to learn, but God slowly humbled me to see that I cannot save myself and the only way to God is through his son, Jesus Christ.
00:21:37.000 | He softened my heart to the point where I could no longer deny my sins and saw how powerful God truly is.
00:21:44.000 | Only then was I able to repent before God and ask for forgiveness.
00:21:48.000 | Knowing that I deserved nothing and yet Christ died for me was so hard for me to understand at first because I could not comprehend why he would do that.
00:21:57.000 | It was so humbling for me to realize what it truly meant for Jesus to die on that cross.
00:22:04.000 | It was a love I don't know how to process fully other than be thankful and something I know I can't just ignore or forget anymore.
00:22:16.000 | After truly accepting Christ, it has been so eye-opening.
00:22:22.000 | I see how God-sovereign my entire life has been, even during the times where I was so far away from him.
00:22:28.000 | I truly feel as if my eyes have been opened and I can clearly see how the things of the world that I once loved are so temporary and fleeting.
00:22:38.000 | They have lost their sparkle.
00:22:40.000 | I also can see the sins of my heart and how truly weak I am in my flesh and I laugh at how I could ever think I was not a sinner.
00:22:50.000 | After submitting my life to God, my life has honestly become so much harder.
00:22:55.000 | I am currently and continuously being humbled and uncertainties in my life have increased exponentially.
00:23:03.000 | But I know I am so much better off because my trust and hope is in God and because God is enough.
00:23:10.000 | Thank you.
00:23:12.000 | [Applause]
00:23:20.000 | Monique, those are your fans back there.
00:23:31.000 | [Laughter]
00:23:33.000 | Monique, do you understand when you go into the water that you're uniting with Christ's death and when you come out you're being united to his resurrected life?
00:23:41.000 | And I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
00:23:46.000 | [Applause]
00:23:59.000 | Alright. Usually it's only the college students that get the fans back there, but today we had the BAM. Alright.
00:24:09.000 | If you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 5.
00:24:13.000 | Luke chapter 5 and we'll be reading from verse 1 through 11.
00:24:19.000 | Luke chapter 5 verses 1 through 11.
00:24:22.000 | Reading out of the NASB.
00:24:29.000 | [Reading from NASB]
00:24:58.000 | [Reading from NASB]
00:25:05.000 | [Reading from NASB]
00:25:34.000 | Let's pray.
00:25:35.000 | Gracious Father, we pray for understanding, pray for open ears and soft hearts.
00:25:42.000 | Mold us, Lord God, as you will. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
00:25:47.000 | Alright, as we've been going through the Gospel of Luke, we understand that Jesus' fame is beginning to be seen.
00:25:58.000 | His healing ministry is beginning to catch a lot of people's attention.
00:26:04.000 | And so Luke begins this text by telling us that there's a large crowd gathered around him, pressing around him, and wanting to listen to the Word of God.
00:26:13.000 | Now, as I mentioned, I think it's important for us to understand, as I showed you last week, that there's a lot of people who are not listening to the Word of God.
00:26:26.000 | As I showed you last week, the visual of what it's like in India when people are pressing, because they desperately want medical attention.
00:26:37.000 | And then knowing that we can't get to everybody and how desperate they get.
00:26:41.000 | Can you imagine what Jesus' ministry was like for three years?
00:26:46.000 | If it was like that out in India. I don't know if you've ever been mobbed in any situation.
00:26:54.000 | I don't know what kind of situation that is.
00:26:57.000 | The only time that I can think of outside of India where I've experienced somewhat being mobbed was years ago when we were out in China.
00:27:06.000 | We were in a department store and as we were coming out, there were some homeless people who were asking for money.
00:27:12.000 | So I reached into my pocket thinking that I'm going to grab about 10 kuai.
00:27:16.000 | 10 kuai would be equivalent to a little bit over a dollar.
00:27:20.000 | So I reached into my pocket thinking I'm going to give them 10 kuai.
00:27:23.000 | Kuai is just how they call money or bucks.
00:27:26.000 | So I reached out and took it out and instead of 10, 100 came out.
00:27:30.000 | Instead of one, I had several that came out by accident.
00:27:35.000 | And so the few people that were asking for the money, as soon as they saw the 100 kuai come out, they grabbed my arm.
00:27:42.000 | And these were elderly. They said, "Man, these guys are strong."
00:27:47.000 | And so they were trying to pull my hand open. I'm trying to force it back into my pocket.
00:27:51.000 | And as I'm forcing it back into the pocket, other people started coming around.
00:27:55.000 | And next thing I know, I turn around and there's about seven or eight of them around me.
00:27:59.000 | And some of them are trying to forcefully put their hands in my pocket and take the money out.
00:28:03.000 | And so, you know, they're elderly so that I could physically push them off.
00:28:10.000 | So I kind of yanked myself away, but they were so aggressive.
00:28:15.000 | You know, they kept on grabbing and now both my arms are being grabbed.
00:28:17.000 | There's people trying to put their hands into my pocket and grab whatever's in my pocket.
00:28:22.000 | And so I pushed them away and passed Alex, who's in Taiwan right now.
00:28:27.000 | He was with me at that time. I said, "Alex, go run over there to that street and grab a taxi and wait for me."
00:28:35.000 | So I pushed him off and he went and I started running the opposite direction, looking to see if Alex got a taxi.
00:28:43.000 | And as I was running, man, they were running fast.
00:28:45.000 | One guy actually was crippled and he was running full speed.
00:28:49.000 | And I thought, "What happened to him? I thought he was crippled."
00:28:52.000 | And he was coming after me and then I turned to my left and he had the taxi.
00:28:55.000 | So I ran back over there and I literally jumped in the taxi.
00:28:59.000 | And as we were leaving, they were banging on the car because they wanted the money.
00:29:04.000 | And that's the first and last time I did that.
00:29:08.000 | That's the only time I can experience actually being mobbed.
00:29:13.000 | Can you imagine for three years, everywhere Jesus went, he was being mobbed.
00:29:17.000 | They wanted to touch him. They wanted to be near him.
00:29:21.000 | And this crowd is growing.
00:29:24.000 | You know what's interesting here is that he says they were pressing around him, but they were listening to the word of God.
00:29:32.000 | Remember we talked about that?
00:29:35.000 | What they recognized out was not his authority over disease or casting out demons.
00:29:39.000 | They said the first thing that they recognized was that he was speaking with authority unlike every other teacher.
00:29:46.000 | They recognized right away that what distinguished him before his miracles was his words.
00:29:53.000 | In fact, we made that very clear, what Jesus says throughout his ministry.
00:29:57.000 | The reason why the miracles even took place is so that he may be able to preach the kingdom of God.
00:30:04.000 | That he was from God and that his words were not of just any man.
00:30:08.000 | That he was from God.
00:30:10.000 | You know, Jesus himself says in John 6, 63, "It is the spirit who gives life.
00:30:17.000 | The flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life."
00:30:24.000 | Jesus himself said the life was not in his miracles, but his words.
00:30:30.000 | What he had to say. And he did miracles in order so that they would pay attention to the authority of the word of God.
00:30:36.000 | Romans 10, 17 says, "Faith comes from hearing and hearing by what? The word of Christ."
00:30:43.000 | He doesn't say faith comes from seeing. He doesn't say faith comes from experiencing.
00:30:49.000 | He says faith comes from hearing by the word of Christ.
00:30:53.000 | So the power was in his word.
00:30:57.000 | The miracles only pointed to the authority of the word.
00:31:00.000 | Of authority of who he is.
00:31:02.000 | In fact, Jesus himself says, "My sheep, they hear my voice.
00:31:07.000 | And I know them and they follow me."
00:31:10.000 | He didn't say, "My sheep know my actions. They know my miracles."
00:31:14.000 | He said, "No, they hear my voice. And I know them and they follow me."
00:31:19.000 | So as much as they wanted his miracles and as much as his healings,
00:31:25.000 | the primary thing that he was presenting to them were his words.
00:31:28.000 | About the preaching of the kingdom of God, about the gospel, about what he was about to do.
00:31:32.000 | In fact, Paul himself says, "What makes a church an ideal church or a mature church?"
00:31:40.000 | He says in 1 Thessalonians 3, 13, "For this reason, we also constantly thank God that when you receive the word of God,
00:31:47.000 | which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God."
00:31:54.000 | Which also performs its work in you who believe.
00:31:57.000 | So sanctification comes from the word of God.
00:32:00.000 | Justification comes from hearing the word of God.
00:32:04.000 | He says, "The way we recognize whether this is from God or not is the word of God."
00:32:10.000 | So as much as these miracles and these healings are great, they only gave temporary relief.
00:32:17.000 | That if you were crippled, you walked for a while.
00:32:22.000 | If you couldn't see, you saw for a while.
00:32:24.000 | And even if you died and you were resurrected, you lived a little bit longer.
00:32:29.000 | But only his words and faith that comes from his words are able to give eternal life.
00:32:36.000 | Christ didn't come so that he can put a band-aid on our problems.
00:32:41.000 | So that we can be a bit more comfortable on the way to judgment.
00:32:46.000 | He came to save us from eternal judgment.
00:32:50.000 | Eternal, not temporary.
00:32:52.000 | Our temptation is we get so focused on the temporal.
00:32:57.000 | That we think it's a blessing when he makes our temporary situation good.
00:33:02.000 | But we forget that if we are in Christ, it is not the temporal, but the eternal that has been solved.
00:33:11.000 | And so it's important for us to remember as Jesus continues his ministry, as Jesus continues to attract people,
00:33:19.000 | the whole reason why he's attracting these people is so that he can teach the Word of God.
00:33:23.000 | So it's important here when he says he was being pressed around him, listening to the Word of God.
00:33:28.000 | And so many people were pressing toward him.
00:33:30.000 | He says he saw a boat and he got on the boat and he pulled away just a little bit in order to continue to teach.
00:33:40.000 | Now, just so that you can kind of get a grasp of what it's like.
00:33:46.000 | If even in this room, if I turn this off and I start to teach people here.
00:33:50.000 | I'm just going to give you a minute.
00:33:51.000 | Some of us would have.
00:33:55.000 | But I'm not here.
00:33:57.000 | What if ever said that you came in just the way I taught?
00:34:01.000 | Like you know so much, right?
00:34:03.000 | I'm sure you might be closer to a problem.
00:34:06.000 | But even in this room, with all these books, with all these books, with this silence.
00:34:12.000 | Even in this room, you might get caught up in the frustration of the fact that you're not going to hear everything that I say.
00:34:19.000 | So imagine if you ever had any conversation at the lake.
00:34:23.000 | Even at the lake, even at the lake, there's noise.
00:34:28.000 | You'd be hard on yourself even with the little bit of noise that's coming from it.
00:34:32.000 | It's still late.
00:34:34.000 | Jesus was on a boat and he had to pull away and it says he sat.
00:34:39.000 | In order for that to be effective, every person there had to be dead silent.
00:34:44.000 | Right?
00:34:47.000 | So attentive, nobody fidgeting, nobody going to the bathroom four or five times during his sermon.
00:34:52.000 | Right?
00:34:54.000 | That's what it's basically the picture that we're getting is they're riveted by his words.
00:35:00.000 | They saw that he was speaking like no other person.
00:35:04.000 | They were hearing from God for 400 years.
00:35:07.000 | There was no prophet speaking for God.
00:35:09.000 | They were just regurgitating information.
00:35:11.000 | They were teaching each other wisdom from men.
00:35:15.000 | But they hear from God for the first time.
00:35:17.000 | So even though they're coming to him because they heard of his miracles,
00:35:20.000 | they sit and they are attentive to every word.
00:35:24.000 | That's the scenario.
00:35:26.000 | That's how Luke paints this picture.
00:35:28.000 | But what's significant about this text is this is the calling of the first disciples.
00:35:33.000 | After he teaches, he says as he turns around, gets on a boat, Simon's boat,
00:35:39.000 | and then he said let's go to the deep end.
00:35:41.000 | Right?
00:35:44.000 | And then when he had finished speaking, he said Simon put out into the deep water,
00:35:47.000 | let down your nets for a catch.
00:35:49.000 | So in order for them to get to the deep end, he had to leave the crowd.
00:35:52.000 | Right?
00:35:54.000 | So this miracle wasn't for the crowd.
00:35:56.000 | This was specifically for the disciples because he pulls away and he throws it in.
00:36:00.000 | Right?
00:36:02.000 | And then Luke 5, 5, Peter responds to Jesus' request.
00:36:06.000 | He says, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing,
00:36:09.000 | but I will do as you say and let down the nets."
00:36:13.000 | You could, you know, tell me if I'm exaggerating.
00:36:18.000 | You can see a tinge of annoyance.
00:36:20.000 | Right?
00:36:22.000 | Because he came back from all night fishing and he's exhausted and he's tired.
00:36:28.000 | And here's this carpenter.
00:36:30.000 | I know, you know, you're not normal.
00:36:33.000 | You healed my mom so I appreciate you.
00:36:35.000 | But imagine who Peter is.
00:36:40.000 | Peter is a generational fisherman.
00:36:43.000 | Right?
00:36:45.000 | It's not like today where it's like, you know, I'm trying to figure out what major I'm going to be.
00:36:49.000 | You know, am I going to be an engineer?
00:36:51.000 | Am I going to be a doctor?
00:36:53.000 | Am I going to be this?
00:36:55.000 | And then you find your major and you struggle and then, you know, you got to, do I have to do this?
00:36:57.000 | And so, you know, what is your passion?
00:36:59.000 | What are you good at?
00:37:01.000 | And so we decide.
00:37:03.000 | At that time, that didn't happen.
00:37:05.000 | You were born into a fisherman's family.
00:37:07.000 | You're a fisherman.
00:37:09.000 | You see, my guess is, most likely, his dad was a fisherman.
00:37:12.000 | His grandfather was a fisherman.
00:37:14.000 | His great-grandfather was a fisherman.
00:37:16.000 | So this guy has generational knowledge that's been passed down.
00:37:20.000 | It's not like today.
00:37:22.000 | Right?
00:37:24.000 | This is a carpenter.
00:37:26.000 | Not only that, he had his own boat.
00:37:28.000 | Which at that time, like, you would have to be a pretty successful fisherman in order to have your own boat.
00:37:34.000 | So Peter was successful.
00:37:36.000 | He lived in a large house.
00:37:38.000 | Which was Jesus' center where he went out and did all his ministry.
00:37:43.000 | So Peter was a very successful businessman.
00:37:45.000 | He has his own boat.
00:37:47.000 | And this is Peter's territory.
00:37:49.000 | Right?
00:37:51.000 | This is not some new area.
00:37:53.000 | Peter has been fishing here.
00:37:55.000 | His dad's been fishing here.
00:37:57.000 | His great-grandfather may have been fishing here.
00:37:59.000 | So he knows this area well.
00:38:01.000 | Right?
00:38:03.000 | I had a friend who owned a boat, you know, as a pastor.
00:38:06.000 | He's been fishing since he was a little boy.
00:38:08.000 | And he was already in his 60s at that time.
00:38:10.000 | And he took me out to the waters between here and that island.
00:38:15.000 | Catalina Island.
00:38:17.000 | That island.
00:38:19.000 | Okay?
00:38:21.000 | He knew every part.
00:38:23.000 | Like, here's a little hill.
00:38:25.000 | If you go here, this is where the fish tend to gather.
00:38:27.000 | And then on top of that, now they have radars.
00:38:31.000 | Those of you guys who do fishing, they have radars.
00:38:35.000 | It's like cheating.
00:38:36.000 | Right?
00:38:38.000 | Because if you look at the radar, it'll tell you where the fish is.
00:38:40.000 | So on top of all of the knowledge that he has,
00:38:42.000 | because he's been fishing out there for hundreds of times,
00:38:44.000 | he also had a radar.
00:38:46.000 | So when I was on the boat, I mean, he was seeing things
00:38:49.000 | and doing things that I was like, "How do you know that?"
00:38:51.000 | He said, "Because he's been doing it, you know, all his life."
00:38:54.000 | Peter, this was his profession.
00:38:57.000 | Right?
00:38:59.000 | And he was good at it.
00:39:01.000 | He was generational.
00:39:04.000 | Generational, successful fisherman
00:39:06.000 | who fished all night and didn't catch nothing.
00:39:09.000 | He didn't catch anything.
00:39:11.000 | And he's tired.
00:39:13.000 | He's coming home and here's this carpenter.
00:39:16.000 | If I need advice on how to make furniture, I'll ask you.
00:39:19.000 | Right?
00:39:21.000 | But I give you advice.
00:39:23.000 | So you could see, it's like,
00:39:25.000 | I've been fishing all night,
00:39:27.000 | but because you told me to, I will.
00:39:29.000 | Right?
00:39:31.000 | So you could see kind of annoyance and reluctance.
00:39:33.000 | It's kind of like, you know, when you were young
00:39:34.000 | and your parents asked you to do something,
00:39:36.000 | but you said, you know, you don't want to do it,
00:39:39.000 | but you're going to do it because your parents
00:39:41.000 | hold the power over your phone.
00:39:43.000 | You know what I mean? Your freedom.
00:39:45.000 | And so even though I don't want to do it,
00:39:47.000 | I don't think you know what you're talking about,
00:39:49.000 | I'll do it because you're saying it.
00:39:51.000 | Right? And you kind of do it reluctant.
00:39:53.000 | Anyway, I'm reading between the lines.
00:39:55.000 | Right?
00:39:57.000 | That's kind of what I see with Peter.
00:39:58.000 | But why was Jesus pointing this out?
00:40:00.000 | Right?
00:40:02.000 | I want to make this very clear.
00:40:03.000 | Now you see, all of this is being done
00:40:05.000 | in the context of Jesus calling Peter
00:40:07.000 | and the disciples, first disciples.
00:40:09.000 | He needed to point out
00:40:11.000 | that the area that he has the most confidence in,
00:40:13.000 | the area that he is the proudest of,
00:40:16.000 | is the area where Jesus needs to be Lord.
00:40:19.000 | Our natural tendency is,
00:40:21.000 | whatever we're good at,
00:40:23.000 | we are the weakest in in the kingdom of God.
00:40:26.000 | Whatever causes you to be the proudest
00:40:28.000 | is what causes you to be the weakest
00:40:31.000 | because we have a tendency to rely on ourselves.
00:40:33.000 | And that's why the Bible says
00:40:35.000 | it is hard for a rich man
00:40:37.000 | to enter the kingdom of heaven.
00:40:39.000 | And the reason why it's hard
00:40:41.000 | is because we have everything.
00:40:43.000 | If we get sick, go to the doctor.
00:40:45.000 | Right?
00:40:47.000 | We need finances, find another job.
00:40:49.000 | We have so many resources
00:40:51.000 | that we're never really desperate.
00:40:54.000 | That we're never truly desperate.
00:40:57.000 | So as a result of that,
00:41:00.000 | we live our lives where Jesus is being sprinkled.
00:41:02.000 | So we take care of everything.
00:41:04.000 | Make sure it's done.
00:41:06.000 | Make sure that I have everything that I need.
00:41:08.000 | And then, hey, let's ask for
00:41:10.000 | the Lord's blessing on top of this.
00:41:12.000 | Let's sprinkle some Jesus on this.
00:41:14.000 | So just to make sure.
00:41:16.000 | And there's a tendency for rich people to pray that way.
00:41:18.000 | And every single one of you and I,
00:41:20.000 | we're rich.
00:41:22.000 | Right?
00:41:24.000 | What do you mean I'm rich?
00:41:26.000 | I don't make hundreds of thousands of dollars
00:41:29.000 | and I travel a little bit.
00:41:30.000 | Not to the nice places.
00:41:32.000 | Travel around the world,
00:41:34.000 | real places where people really live.
00:41:36.000 | Not the old relics
00:41:38.000 | where people go and watch.
00:41:40.000 | Travel a little bit.
00:41:42.000 | We are filthy rich.
00:41:44.000 | If you've ever been on an airplane,
00:41:46.000 | you're filthy rich.
00:41:48.000 | If you own a car, you're filthy rich.
00:41:50.000 | If you don't have to worry about money,
00:41:52.000 | you're filthy rich.
00:41:54.000 | If you had garage sale recently,
00:41:56.000 | you're rich.
00:41:58.000 | We are a different degree of rich,
00:41:59.000 | but we're all rich.
00:42:01.000 | And because of that,
00:42:03.000 | our constant challenge is
00:42:05.000 | that we don't actually need God.
00:42:07.000 | We know that we should want God,
00:42:09.000 | but we don't need God.
00:42:11.000 | This is an area where
00:42:13.000 | Peter and the disciples were experts in.
00:42:15.000 | And as a result of that,
00:42:17.000 | that could prevent him
00:42:19.000 | from following Christ.
00:42:21.000 | If you're a gifted musician,
00:42:24.000 | and you're trying to lead praise,
00:42:27.000 | you have a tendency to focus
00:42:28.000 | on the quality of the music.
00:42:30.000 | Because you're good at it.
00:42:32.000 | You know what you're doing.
00:42:34.000 | If you're good with people,
00:42:36.000 | you rely on your personality.
00:42:38.000 | If you are a good salesman,
00:42:40.000 | you tend to rely on your verbal skills.
00:42:43.000 | I know how to convince people.
00:42:46.000 | I know how to do this.
00:42:48.000 | I know how to do that.
00:42:50.000 | If you see yourself as an intellectual,
00:42:52.000 | you fill yourself with knowledge
00:42:55.000 | and that's the area you become the weakest in.
00:42:57.000 | Because this is a spiritual battle.
00:43:00.000 | So we don't engage spiritually.
00:43:02.000 | So whatever it is that you're good at,
00:43:04.000 | that's where you are the weakest in.
00:43:07.000 | I remember years ago,
00:43:09.000 | we had a pediatrician at church.
00:43:11.000 | And before he had a child,
00:43:14.000 | his job was basically,
00:43:17.000 | he was trained to take care of children.
00:43:20.000 | And he did extra fellowship,
00:43:22.000 | so he was an expert in that field.
00:43:24.000 | Whenever they had issues with infants,
00:43:26.000 | he was the one that they went to.
00:43:28.000 | Well finally, his wife got pregnant.
00:43:30.000 | And his wife sought me out
00:43:32.000 | because she was so frustrated
00:43:34.000 | that he wouldn't participate in the Lamaze class
00:43:36.000 | and he wouldn't go and get this and get that.
00:43:38.000 | Because he said,
00:43:40.000 | "I'm the one that they come to.
00:43:42.000 | I know this. I teach Lamaze."
00:43:44.000 | And then after they had their kid
00:43:46.000 | two months into it,
00:43:48.000 | they both showed up at our house
00:43:50.000 | with Esther and I
00:43:53.000 | and we were literally staring out into space.
00:43:54.000 | I said, "How do you do this?"
00:43:56.000 | Because all the advice that they gave
00:43:59.000 | went out the door
00:44:01.000 | when he was sleep deprived for two months
00:44:03.000 | because his child wouldn't sleep.
00:44:05.000 | And so everything that he just gave,
00:44:07.000 | that he learned from the books,
00:44:09.000 | all of a sudden realized none of it was working.
00:44:11.000 | And at that time,
00:44:13.000 | I think we had three children.
00:44:15.000 | They said, "Man, it's so hard with one.
00:44:17.000 | How do you do three?"
00:44:19.000 | It's very different learning in theory.
00:44:22.000 | And I think where we think we are the strongest
00:44:23.000 | is where we are the weakest.
00:44:25.000 | Because we tend to rely on our own resources,
00:44:29.000 | our own experience, our own knowledge.
00:44:31.000 | And I think that's the reason
00:44:33.000 | why he pinpoints this
00:44:35.000 | and he takes the disciples out.
00:44:37.000 | He's a professional fisherman,
00:44:39.000 | out to the deep,
00:44:41.000 | gets them to do something
00:44:43.000 | that as a man, he had no clue.
00:44:46.000 | Peter says, "Because you said it,
00:44:48.000 | I'm going to do it."
00:44:51.000 | And as he does it, in verse six and seven,
00:44:52.000 | when they had done this,
00:44:54.000 | they enclosed a great quantity of fish.
00:44:56.000 | And I want you to see,
00:44:58.000 | it almost seems like a hyperbole
00:45:00.000 | that Luke is trying to emphasize
00:45:02.000 | this was not just a good fishing day.
00:45:04.000 | Great quantity of fish
00:45:06.000 | and nets began to break
00:45:08.000 | so they signaled to their partners
00:45:10.000 | in the other boat for them to come and help them
00:45:12.000 | and they came and filled both of the boats
00:45:14.000 | so that they began to sink.
00:45:16.000 | Do you see?
00:45:18.000 | He said, "Great quantity.
00:45:20.000 | It was so great, nets began to break
00:45:21.000 | and then they couldn't handle it themselves
00:45:23.000 | so they asked other people to come help
00:45:25.000 | and it was so much that both boats got filled
00:45:27.000 | and then it was so filled
00:45:29.000 | they started to even sink."
00:45:31.000 | Right?
00:45:33.000 | Why?
00:45:35.000 | It just seems like,
00:45:37.000 | "Well, if you're going to catch the fish,
00:45:39.000 | just catch enough, you can come back
00:45:41.000 | and sell it and make money.
00:45:43.000 | Why sink the boat?"
00:45:45.000 | Jesus does the same thing
00:45:47.000 | when feeding of the 5,000, remember?
00:45:49.000 | He feeds the 5,000
00:45:50.000 | then afterwards, remember what happened?
00:45:52.000 | There were 12 basketfuls of fish left
00:45:55.000 | and these baskets,
00:45:57.000 | the word for the basket in that text
00:45:59.000 | is not just a small tiny little basket
00:46:01.000 | it's a basket that the disciples
00:46:03.000 | would have to harness over their shoulder
00:46:05.000 | and it would be from the top to the bottom.
00:46:07.000 | So if I was a disciple, I was like,
00:46:09.000 | "This is inefficient.
00:46:11.000 | Why don't you make just enough?
00:46:13.000 | Why do you make this carry?"
00:46:15.000 | So all 12 of them had to strap this on
00:46:18.000 | and they had to move when Jesus moved
00:46:19.000 | with the 12, with this weight.
00:46:21.000 | So you're thinking like,
00:46:23.000 | "Wow, Jesus overdoes this."
00:46:25.000 | What was the reason?
00:46:27.000 | Every time the disciples
00:46:29.000 | were carrying this and moving
00:46:31.000 | realized that there was a miracle that took place.
00:46:33.000 | Every single one of them.
00:46:35.000 | Why 12 baskets?
00:46:37.000 | Because there are 12 men.
00:46:39.000 | And this is the pattern that we see
00:46:41.000 | with Jesus' miracles.
00:46:43.000 | That this was not just a good fishing day.
00:46:45.000 | This was miraculous.
00:46:47.000 | The point of this
00:46:48.000 | was not to help them
00:46:50.000 | to be better fishermen.
00:46:52.000 | The point of this is that they see
00:46:54.000 | that Jesus is Lord even over the fish.
00:46:57.000 | That the miracle was not
00:47:00.000 | that they had a good catch.
00:47:02.000 | The miracle was that God was in their midst.
00:47:05.000 | And the disciples needed to know this
00:47:08.000 | because he's doing all of this
00:47:11.000 | to call them to himself.
00:47:13.000 | That they recognize in the area
00:47:16.000 | where they think that they are the experts.
00:47:18.000 | They know nothing in the presence of God.
00:47:21.000 | So Peter responds
00:47:24.000 | in Luke 5, 8-10.
00:47:26.000 | "When Simon Peter saw that,
00:47:28.000 | he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying,
00:47:30.000 | 'Go away from me, Lord,
00:47:32.000 | for I am a sinful man.'
00:47:34.000 | For amazement seized him,
00:47:36.000 | and all his companions,
00:47:38.000 | because of the catch of the fish which they had taken.
00:47:40.000 | And so also were James and John,
00:47:42.000 | sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon."
00:47:45.000 | This goes against
00:47:46.000 | how so many people
00:47:48.000 | understand who God is.
00:47:50.000 | Because we sold him
00:47:54.000 | like he's Santa Claus.
00:47:56.000 | He loves us unconditionally.
00:47:59.000 | He's a gracious God.
00:48:01.000 | He's a tender soul.
00:48:03.000 | All of this is true.
00:48:05.000 | But it goes against what we see in Scripture
00:48:07.000 | because every instance
00:48:09.000 | a sinner is in the presence of God,
00:48:11.000 | there's terror.
00:48:14.000 | We don't see them getting up and saying,
00:48:15.000 | "Oh, I want to be, give me a big hug."
00:48:17.000 | We don't see that in the Bible.
00:48:19.000 | Not to say that God isn't loving,
00:48:21.000 | he isn't gracious, he's compassionate,
00:48:23.000 | he cares, he's a sympathetic high priest.
00:48:25.000 | But the primary nature of who God is,
00:48:28.000 | the Bible says, he's holy, holy, holy.
00:48:31.000 | A sinner in the presence of a holy God,
00:48:37.000 | his natural response would be terror.
00:48:41.000 | And let me give you an example.
00:48:44.000 | If you're driving down the street
00:48:46.000 | and you see a cop pull up right next to you,
00:48:49.000 | do you automatically say,
00:48:52.000 | "Oh, thank God he's here.
00:48:55.000 | "I'm going to follow him."
00:48:58.000 | "Where is he? Make a left, I'm going to make a left turn.
00:49:00.000 | "Please stay near me."
00:49:02.000 | Is that your response?
00:49:04.000 | Right?
00:49:06.000 | It is not.
00:49:08.000 | Why? Because he's evil?
00:49:10.000 | No, you don't know anything about him.
00:49:12.000 | You don't know anything about him.
00:49:13.000 | You don't know anything about this cop.
00:49:15.000 | This cop may be Officer Joe.
00:49:17.000 | The reason why you want to keep your distance
00:49:23.000 | is because all of a sudden it's like,
00:49:26.000 | "Are my tags current?"
00:49:28.000 | "Did I make a full stop at this light?"
00:49:31.000 | "Am I speeding?"
00:49:33.000 | "Am I going too slow?"
00:49:35.000 | "Was there a pedestrian coming into the walkway
00:49:38.000 | "that I didn't see?"
00:49:41.000 | All of a sudden,
00:49:42.000 | every rule that you're supposed to keep,
00:49:44.000 | it gets highlighted.
00:49:46.000 | Because if I break any of this
00:49:48.000 | and the cop sees any of this,
00:49:50.000 | he can give me a ticket.
00:49:52.000 | So your natural response is to keep a distance from them.
00:49:54.000 | Not because you hate the cop,
00:49:56.000 | because you're afraid of your mistakes.
00:49:58.000 | That's our natural response.
00:50:00.000 | When a sinner is in the presence of a holy God,
00:50:04.000 | it is our natural response
00:50:06.000 | that we see our sins more keenly than ever.
00:50:10.000 | Because of who he is.
00:50:12.000 | In fact, in every instance in the Bible,
00:50:15.000 | when they're in the presence of God,
00:50:17.000 | they're aware of their sin and they're terrified.
00:50:19.000 | In Isaiah 6, verses 1-7,
00:50:22.000 | Isaiah is being called to preach his word.
00:50:26.000 | And when he sees the glory of God,
00:50:29.000 | he says, "Woe is me, woe is me.
00:50:31.000 | "I am a man of uncleanness from a people of uncleanness.
00:50:33.000 | "How can you use a filthy mouth like mine?"
00:50:36.000 | He falls down in terror.
00:50:39.000 | Ezekiel 1-28.
00:50:40.000 | When Ezekiel sees the glory of God,
00:50:42.000 | like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud
00:50:44.000 | on the day of the rain,
00:50:46.000 | so was the appearance of the brightness all around.
00:50:48.000 | Such was the appearance of the likeness
00:50:50.000 | of the glory of the Lord.
00:50:52.000 | And when I saw it, I fell on my face.
00:50:54.000 | Matthew 17, 5-6.
00:50:57.000 | He was still speaking.
00:50:59.000 | This is Mount Transfiguration.
00:51:01.000 | "Behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them,
00:51:03.000 | "and a voice from the cloud said,
00:51:05.000 | "'This is my beloved son,
00:51:08.000 | "'and all the disciples, listen to him.'
00:51:09.000 | "When the disciples heard this,
00:51:11.000 | "they fell on their faces and were terrified."
00:51:14.000 | They didn't look to each other and say,
00:51:16.000 | "Oh, did you hear that?
00:51:18.000 | "That's awesome.
00:51:20.000 | "He has such a beautiful voice."
00:51:22.000 | Right?
00:51:24.000 | He sounded, look at that richness of his voice.
00:51:26.000 | None of that.
00:51:28.000 | They just fell down in terror.
00:51:30.000 | Revelation 1-17.
00:51:32.000 | Again, John, "When I saw him,
00:51:34.000 | "I fell at his feet as though dead."
00:51:37.000 | The angels were standing around the throne
00:51:38.000 | and around the elders and the four living creatures,
00:51:40.000 | and they fell on their faces before the throne
00:51:42.000 | and worshiped God.
00:51:44.000 | Every instance in the Bible,
00:51:46.000 | when they're in the presence of this holy God,
00:51:48.000 | there is terror and fear.
00:51:50.000 | All of a sudden, they recognize every mistake,
00:51:53.000 | every sin that they created.
00:51:55.000 | How can I stand before this holy God?
00:51:59.000 | The Bible says in Psalm 111, verse 10,
00:52:04.000 | "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."
00:52:07.000 | Fear is the beginning of wisdom.
00:52:12.000 | Then in Proverbs 1-7, it says,
00:52:14.000 | "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge."
00:52:17.000 | Whatever wisdom you think you have,
00:52:19.000 | whatever knowledge that you think
00:52:21.000 | that you have accumulated,
00:52:23.000 | if fear of the Lord wasn't the beginning,
00:52:25.000 | it is false knowledge.
00:52:27.000 | It is not true knowledge.
00:52:29.000 | You may be being deceived
00:52:32.000 | because it says the beginning of wisdom,
00:52:34.000 | beginning of knowledge, is fear of God.
00:52:37.000 | In Psalm 36, verse 9, it says,
00:52:39.000 | "For with you is the fountain of life.
00:52:41.000 | In your light, we see light."
00:52:45.000 | In your light, we see light
00:52:47.000 | until we recognize who God is.
00:52:51.000 | Everything else that you see,
00:52:53.000 | it was with a colored lens.
00:52:56.000 | It's not accurate.
00:52:58.000 | Why is this so important?
00:53:01.000 | Because fear of God drives out fear of man.
00:53:07.000 | Ever since we were young,
00:53:12.000 | we've been bound by fear of man.
00:53:15.000 | Somebody said, "Oh, I don't care."
00:53:17.000 | It's like, "Yes, you do."
00:53:19.000 | "I don't fear what they think."
00:53:22.000 | "Yes, you do."
00:53:24.000 | Even you saying that is highlighting your fear.
00:53:27.000 | You're just trying to hide it.
00:53:30.000 | The way we dress, how we talk,
00:53:32.000 | what we value, the cars that we buy,
00:53:34.000 | all of it is influenced by how it'll look.
00:53:38.000 | They say that the greatest fear
00:53:41.000 | in our generation is public speaking.
00:53:44.000 | The reason why public speaking is so scary
00:53:47.000 | is because you have all these eyes on you
00:53:49.000 | judging everything you say.
00:53:51.000 | It's the fear of man.
00:53:53.000 | It's not the fear of, "Who can speak?"
00:53:55.000 | What comes out of my mouth
00:53:59.000 | to reveal who I am?
00:54:00.000 | Did I do a good job? Did I do a bad job?
00:54:02.000 | It's the fear of man that causes this to be so fearful.
00:54:05.000 | It binds us.
00:54:08.000 | Those of you who are extroverted
00:54:12.000 | and you're good with people,
00:54:14.000 | a lot of that happens because you want them
00:54:16.000 | to see you a certain way.
00:54:18.000 | The way you've come to accept that
00:54:20.000 | is, "I'm going to work.
00:54:22.000 | "I'm going to be charismatic.
00:54:24.000 | "I'm going to be able to say that I'm going to do all this."
00:54:26.000 | Why?
00:54:28.000 | Because I want you to view me a certain way.
00:54:30.000 | Even if you're introverted,
00:54:32.000 | you're introverted because I don't want people
00:54:34.000 | to know what I think.
00:54:36.000 | I don't want to expose myself
00:54:38.000 | because I don't want them to judge me.
00:54:40.000 | Whether you are an extrovert or an introvert,
00:54:42.000 | fear of man grips you.
00:54:44.000 | What we choose to do,
00:54:46.000 | what we pursue,
00:54:48.000 | at the core of it,
00:54:50.000 | is the fear of man.
00:54:52.000 | The only thing that can deliver us from that
00:54:57.000 | is the fear of God.
00:54:58.000 | When we recognize who God is
00:55:03.000 | and we are more fearful of His judgment on us
00:55:09.000 | than of man,
00:55:11.000 | we are delivered.
00:55:14.000 | The only thing that delivers us from fear of man
00:55:18.000 | is the fear of God.
00:55:20.000 | So the beginning of wisdom is fear.
00:55:26.000 | The beginning of wisdom.
00:55:27.000 | The beginning of true knowledge.
00:55:29.000 | Because only in the light of recognizing who God is
00:55:33.000 | do we really see clearly.
00:55:36.000 | Because prior to that,
00:55:38.000 | we see everything through the lens of the fear of man.
00:55:41.000 | Fear of God is what causes us to see
00:55:44.000 | a high view of His Word.
00:55:46.000 | More than any other human words,
00:55:50.000 | more than your opinion,
00:55:52.000 | more than anybody else's opinion,
00:55:55.000 | fear of God is what causes us to see a high view of His Word.
00:56:00.000 | It is the fear of God that causes us to see a high view of worship.
00:56:04.000 | That He needs to be honored before people,
00:56:07.000 | before the opinions of man,
00:56:10.000 | until we are gripped by the fear of God.
00:56:14.000 | You cannot understand grace.
00:56:17.000 | Some people mistakenly think
00:56:21.000 | that God's love and grace
00:56:24.000 | is the flip side of His holiness.
00:56:26.000 | It is not.
00:56:28.000 | Holiness is who He is.
00:56:31.000 | And love is encompassed in His holiness.
00:56:36.000 | Let me explain what I mean by that.
00:56:38.000 | The word holy isn't just morally pure.
00:56:41.000 | It means to be set apart.
00:56:43.000 | It's different than anything else.
00:56:45.000 | So all other attributes of God
00:56:47.000 | are holy.
00:56:50.000 | Holy meaning set apart.
00:56:53.000 | So His grace is holy.
00:56:54.000 | His love is holy.
00:56:56.000 | His mercy is holy.
00:56:58.000 | It is set apart.
00:57:00.000 | And the reason why our generation
00:57:02.000 | has such a hard time with the love of God
00:57:04.000 | is because the love that they project unto God
00:57:06.000 | is a love that you and I experience,
00:57:08.000 | you and I think is good.
00:57:10.000 | So that's why they ask the question,
00:57:12.000 | if God is so loving, why does He allow that?
00:57:14.000 | If God is loving, why does He allow sex trafficking?
00:57:16.000 | If God is loving, why does He do that?
00:57:18.000 | Because we're projecting upon God
00:57:20.000 | what you and I practice as love.
00:57:22.000 | But the Bible says that His love is holy.
00:57:23.000 | It is set apart.
00:57:25.000 | It is beyond what this world practices.
00:57:27.000 | Everything that He does is holy.
00:57:29.000 | Everything He does is gracious.
00:57:31.000 | Now why is this so important?
00:57:33.000 | You cannot understand the grace of God
00:57:35.000 | until you understand the fear of God.
00:57:37.000 | You see, all throughout redemptive history,
00:57:39.000 | there's been a lot of people
00:57:41.000 | who have been in the midst of a lot of
00:57:43.000 | fear of God.
00:57:45.000 | And they've been in the midst of a lot of
00:57:47.000 | fear of God.
00:57:49.000 | And they've been in the midst of a lot
00:57:51.000 | of fear of God.
00:57:52.000 | And they've been in the midst of a lot
00:57:54.000 | of fear of God.
00:57:56.000 | And they've been in the midst of a lot
00:57:58.000 | of fear of God.
00:58:00.000 | And they've been in the midst of a lot
00:58:02.000 | of fear of God.
00:58:04.000 | And they've been in the midst of a lot
00:58:06.000 | of fear of God.
00:58:08.000 | And they've been in the midst of a lot
00:58:10.000 | of fear of God.
00:58:12.000 | And they've been in the midst of a lot
00:58:14.000 | of fear of God.
00:58:16.000 | And they've been in the midst of a lot
00:58:18.000 | of fear of God.
00:58:20.000 | And as a result of that,
00:58:21.000 | we don't see his glory.
00:58:23.000 | And we're not able to worship him.
00:58:25.000 | But we also know through the law
00:58:27.000 | that the only way to have life
00:58:29.000 | is to be reconnected with him.
00:58:32.000 | But how do we reconnect with the
00:58:35.000 | Holy, Holy, Holy God?
00:58:37.000 | If the only way for me to live
00:58:39.000 | is to get into the Holy of Holies,
00:58:41.000 | but if I get into his Holy of Holies,
00:58:43.000 | I'm going to die.
00:58:45.000 | That's the tension that the law brought.
00:58:49.000 | You know, today we talk about
00:58:50.000 | revival, flipping it, like,
00:58:52.000 | "Lord, come, come to me, come to me.
00:58:54.000 | We want your presence.
00:58:56.000 | We want you to be within, among us."
00:58:57.000 | You sure you want that?
00:58:59.000 | You sure you want a Holy God
00:59:02.000 | in your house?
00:59:04.000 | You don't even want to drive
00:59:06.000 | next to the police.
00:59:08.000 | You sure you want revival?
00:59:10.000 | You want God, Holy, Holy God,
00:59:13.000 | that these men who are terrified
00:59:15.000 | in his presence, you really want
00:59:18.000 | him in your house, in your marriage,
00:59:19.000 | with your kids, at your job?
00:59:21.000 | You sure?
00:59:23.000 | See, every Jew who's paying
00:59:25.000 | attention to the law would have
00:59:27.000 | been living with this tension,
00:59:29.000 | that the only way that I can have life
00:59:32.000 | is to reconnect with this Holy God,
00:59:34.000 | but if this Holy God comes
00:59:36.000 | in my presence, I will die.
00:59:39.000 | And only somebody who recognizes
00:59:44.000 | this and beating his chest,
00:59:47.000 | "Oh, what a wretched man that I am,"
00:59:49.000 | he recognizes what the cross is.
00:59:53.000 | Because only at the cross
00:59:56.000 | can this tension be reconciled.
00:59:59.000 | Only at the cross, when a sinner
01:00:01.000 | is afraid and terrified
01:00:03.000 | of the presence of God,
01:00:05.000 | yet knowing that I have to reconnect
01:00:07.000 | with him, if I don't go into
01:00:09.000 | the Holy of Holies, I shall die.
01:00:11.000 | "Oh, what a wretched man that I am."
01:00:15.000 | Only when you recognize that,
01:00:16.000 | you understand his grace.
01:00:19.000 | His grace is not a band-aid.
01:00:23.000 | His grace isn't you were hurt
01:00:27.000 | and he came and made you feel better.
01:00:30.000 | His grace is not you were sick
01:00:32.000 | and then you became well.
01:00:34.000 | His grace isn't simply that
01:00:36.000 | you needed community
01:00:38.000 | and you found community.
01:00:40.000 | His grace, see, he reconciled
01:00:44.000 | this mystery, this tension
01:00:47.000 | that he wanted us to understand.
01:00:51.000 | And only at the cross
01:00:55.000 | we can find true life.
01:00:58.000 | That's why the fear of the Lord
01:01:01.000 | is the beginning of wisdom.
01:01:04.000 | And selling Jesus as Santa Claus
01:01:07.000 | is the greatest heresy
01:01:13.000 | throughout human history.
01:01:16.000 | When people are no longer afraid of God,
01:01:19.000 | when people are no longer honoring God,
01:01:24.000 | then everything that we do in church
01:01:27.000 | is tainted, it's man-centered.
01:01:30.000 | We're more afraid what the world will think
01:01:32.000 | of what's being said here
01:01:34.000 | than they are about the Holy God
01:01:37.000 | that we have come to worship.
01:01:40.000 | See, Peter recognizes that,
01:01:42.000 | the disciples recognize that,
01:01:44.000 | and said, "I'm not worthy of you."
01:01:48.000 | Peter needed to know that
01:01:50.000 | before Jesus calls him.
01:01:52.000 | And he says in Luke 5, 10 through 11,
01:01:55.000 | Jesus said to Simon,
01:01:57.000 | "Do not fear, from now on
01:01:59.000 | you will be catching men."
01:02:01.000 | When they had brought their boats to the land,
01:02:04.000 | they left everything and followed him.
01:02:08.000 | I mean, humanly speaking,
01:02:09.000 | they probably couldn't have dreamed
01:02:11.000 | that they would have a catch like this.
01:02:13.000 | To the point where both boats are filled,
01:02:15.000 | it's sinking, people are coming.
01:02:17.000 | I mean, that's the worst time to call, right?
01:02:20.000 | It's like you just won the lottery
01:02:22.000 | and he says, "Okay, now give up everything
01:02:24.000 | and follow me."
01:02:26.000 | It'd be different, humanly speaking.
01:02:28.000 | I mean, this is a fisherman's dream.
01:02:30.000 | It's like winning the lottery.
01:02:32.000 | But that was Jesus' whole point.
01:02:36.000 | And Peter recognized
01:02:39.000 | that Jesus was more valuable
01:02:43.000 | than all the fish that they can count.
01:02:46.000 | Isn't that what Jesus said?
01:02:48.000 | The kingdom of God is like a farmer
01:02:50.000 | who finds treasure and he sees the value of it
01:02:53.000 | and he sells everything to follow him.
01:02:56.000 | That was what this miracle was for.
01:02:59.000 | So that Peter and the disciples
01:03:01.000 | would recognize that Christ is the Lord
01:03:05.000 | even of their wildest dreams.
01:03:07.000 | That's the challenge that you and I have.
01:03:11.000 | Do we know this God?
01:03:14.000 | Do we know the treasure that we have in Christ?
01:03:19.000 | Are you nibbling at the altar of Christ
01:03:23.000 | where you're just coming to get a taste
01:03:26.000 | but not to feast?
01:03:29.000 | That you left some things
01:03:32.000 | but not everything.
01:03:34.000 | The challenge for us week after week
01:03:36.000 | is just like Peter,
01:03:39.000 | just like the disciples,
01:03:41.000 | and just like the farmers,
01:03:43.000 | that we would recognize the treasure in Christ
01:03:46.000 | that we too will leave everything and follow him.
01:03:50.000 | Let's pray.
01:03:52.000 | Again, as our worship team comes up,
01:04:02.000 | let's take some time to pray
01:04:04.000 | and seek the Lord.
01:04:07.000 | Let the Word of God not just be heard
01:04:10.000 | but to bear fruit.
01:04:13.000 | Again, let's take some time to pray
01:04:17.000 | as our worship team leads us.
01:04:19.000 | Let's pray.
01:04:20.000 | Let the Word of God not just be heard
01:04:22.000 | but to bear fruit.
01:04:25.000 | Let the Word of God not just be heard
01:04:28.000 | but to bear fruit.
01:04:31.000 | Let the Word of God not just be heard
01:04:34.000 | but to bear fruit.
01:04:37.000 | Let the Word of God not just be heard
01:04:40.000 | but to bear fruit.
01:04:43.000 | Let the Word of God not just be heard
01:04:46.000 | but to bear fruit.
01:04:49.000 | (soft piano music)
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01:05:54.000 | (gentle piano music)
01:06:23.260 | - Let's all stand up for the closing praise.
01:06:25.460 | (gentle piano music)
01:06:30.920 | ♪ How great the chasm that lay between us ♪
01:06:44.800 | ♪ How high the mountain I could not climb ♪
01:06:53.140 | ♪ In desperation I turned to heaven ♪
01:06:58.140 | ♪ Spoke your name into the night ♪
01:07:05.060 | ♪ Then through the darkness your loving kindness ♪
01:07:11.480 | ♪ Tore through the shadows of my soul ♪
01:07:19.820 | ♪ The work is finished, the end is written ♪
01:07:24.820 | ♪ Jesus Christ, my living hope ♪
01:07:30.820 | ♪ Who could imagine so great a mercy ♪
01:07:41.480 | ♪ What heart could fathom such boundless grace ♪
01:07:49.780 | ♪ The God of ages stepped down from glory ♪
01:07:54.780 | ♪ To wear my sin under my sheep ♪
01:08:01.360 | ♪ The cross has spoken, I am forgiven ♪
01:08:08.200 | ♪ The King of kings calls me his own ♪
01:08:16.480 | ♪ The truth, the Savior, I'm yours forever ♪
01:08:21.480 | ♪ Jesus Christ, my living hope ♪
01:08:28.820 | ♪ Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free ♪
01:08:35.480 | ♪ Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me ♪
01:08:43.820 | ♪ God, I've broken every chain ♪
01:08:46.980 | ♪ There's salvation in your name ♪
01:08:50.280 | ♪ Jesus Christ, my living hope ♪
01:08:55.280 | ♪ Then came the morning that sealed the promise ♪
01:09:05.020 | ♪ Your buried body began to breathe out of me ♪
01:09:12.660 | ♪ Out of the silence the roaring lion ♪
01:09:17.660 | ♪ Declared the grave has no claim on me ♪
01:09:24.120 | ♪ Then came the morning that sealed the promise ♪
01:09:30.820 | ♪ Your buried body began to breathe out of the silence ♪
01:09:37.460 | ♪ The roaring lion declared the grave has no claim on me ♪
01:09:42.460 | ♪ Jesus, yours is the victory ♪
01:09:52.460 | ♪ Oh, hallelujah, praise the one who set me free ♪
01:10:02.460 | ♪ Oh, hallelujah, praise the one who set me free ♪
01:10:07.460 | ♪ Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me ♪
01:10:15.260 | ♪ You have broken every chain ♪
01:10:20.300 | ♪ There's salvation in your name ♪
01:10:23.580 | ♪ Jesus Christ, my living hope ♪
01:10:30.300 | ♪ Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free ♪
01:10:35.300 | ♪ Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me ♪
01:10:41.960 | ♪ You have broken every chain ♪
01:10:46.960 | ♪ There's salvation in your name ♪
01:10:50.300 | ♪ Jesus Christ, my living hope ♪
01:10:56.960 | ♪ Jesus Christ, my living hope ♪
01:11:01.960 | ♪ Oh God, you are my living hope ♪
01:11:07.200 | Let's pray.
01:11:17.540 | Father, you truly are worthy of all our praise.
01:11:25.080 | Not just Sunday mornings, but every day.
01:11:28.280 | Help us, Lord God, to realize the treasure
01:11:32.320 | that we have in Christ, that we would desire
01:11:35.960 | more than anything else in this world to follow you,
01:11:40.960 | to hear your words, to be reconciled,
01:11:44.580 | and to eagerly wait for his appearing.
01:11:49.040 | Lord, we pray that wherever you send us today,
01:11:54.040 | that we truly would be the aroma of Christ,
01:11:56.720 | whether by word or deed.
01:12:00.260 | May Christ be exalted so that this dark world
01:12:04.840 | will know that true light has come into the world.
01:12:07.740 | Help us, Lord God, to be mindful that we are not home,
01:12:12.600 | that we are just sojourners passing through,
01:12:16.880 | that we may live life with eternity in mind.
01:12:20.240 | So send us, Lord God, with your anointing,
01:12:23.200 | that we may bear fruit for your kingdom.
01:12:25.440 | In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
01:12:27.200 | ♪ God sent his son ♪
01:12:33.920 | ♪ They called him Jesus ♪
01:12:39.320 | ♪ He came to them ♪
01:12:44.800 | ♪ Healed and forgave ♪
01:12:50.640 | ♪ He lived and died ♪
01:12:55.640 | ♪ To buy my pardon ♪
01:13:01.080 | ♪ An empty grave is there to prove ♪
01:13:06.640 | ♪ My Savior lives ♪
01:13:12.640 | ♪ Because he lives ♪
01:13:18.400 | ♪ I can face tomorrow ♪
01:13:23.400 | ♪ Because he lives ♪
01:13:29.080 | ♪ All fear is gone ♪
01:13:34.840 | ♪ Because I know ♪
01:13:40.480 | ♪ He holds the future ♪
01:13:46.680 | ♪ And life is worth the living ♪
01:13:51.680 | ♪ Just because he lives ♪
01:13:55.060 | (upbeat music)
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