back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Morning Service 01.28.24
00:01:24.980 |
- Good morning church family, happy Lord's Day. 00:01:28.180 |
Let's continue to pray for our Indian mission team 00:01:30.980 |
who left last Friday as a help to pastors in India 00:01:35.480 |
This morning we begin with the song, Oh Great God, 00:01:39.380 |
which I hope would be our earnest prayer to the Lord 00:01:44.680 |
And I'll read a shortened passage from Ephesians 2 00:01:48.280 |
and it reads, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins 00:01:51.780 |
in which you once walked, following the course of this world 00:01:55.380 |
among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh 00:02:00.940 |
But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love 00:02:04.140 |
with which he loved us, even when we were dead 00:02:06.580 |
in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. 00:05:22.880 |
I just have a couple of announcements for you. 00:05:26.480 |
As Isaac mentioned, our missions team is abroad. 00:05:32.280 |
and they're gonna be in for a very busy week. 00:05:37.080 |
They'll be returning Saturday and joining us next week. 00:05:48.820 |
So please join with them in praying for them. 00:06:06.040 |
and I know who you are, who haven't turned it in yet. 00:06:13.020 |
We may Asian shame you if we don't get it by today. 00:06:20.920 |
And also, if you are a brother at our church, 00:06:29.820 |
Pastor Sung Kang from Foundation Mission Church, 00:06:32.480 |
he'll be joining us and he'll be walking us through 00:06:35.520 |
just what it means to pursue holiness as a man of God. 00:06:40.820 |
and we do need you to register hopefully sooner than later 00:06:53.440 |
Otherwise, you can just give your offering to the Lord 00:07:02.040 |
Father, thank you for just allowing us to gather 00:07:10.580 |
and I pray that you would be honored this morning. 00:07:24.680 |
And as we bring our tithes and offerings to you, 00:07:28.340 |
Lord, we acknowledge that every good thing that we have 00:07:36.360 |
for just being so faithful and so kind to us. 00:08:37.160 |
- Let us rise and before we continue on our service, 00:09:26.920 |
♪ We will walk the valley with you by our side ♪ 00:09:47.720 |
♪ The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress ♪ 00:09:57.080 |
♪ Who can stand against us if our God is for us ♪ 00:10:21.040 |
♪ You will cheer me onward with never-ending grace ♪ 00:10:30.960 |
♪ The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress ♪ 00:10:40.280 |
♪ Who can stand against us if our God is for us ♪ 00:11:40.480 |
♪ The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress ♪ 00:11:49.800 |
♪ Who can stand against us if our God is for us ♪ 00:11:59.680 |
♪ The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress ♪ 00:12:08.960 |
♪ Who can stand against us if our God is for us ♪ 00:13:06.940 |
♪ Then through the darkness your loving kindness ♪ 00:13:43.460 |
♪ What heart could fathom such boundless grace ♪ 00:15:23.700 |
♪ Then came the morning that sealed the promise ♪ 00:15:40.020 |
♪ Out of the silence the roaring lion deplored ♪ 00:15:47.300 |
♪ The roaring lion declared the grave has no claim on me ♪ 00:15:52.300 |
♪ Then came the morning that sealed the promise ♪ 00:16:06.620 |
♪ Out of the silence the roaring lion declared the grave ♪ 00:16:14.300 |
♪ The roaring lion declared the grave has no claim on me ♪ 00:17:53.380 |
and I'm gonna be reading from verses 19 to 21. 00:18:12.020 |
and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. 00:18:41.060 |
And as we feed off of your word and your truth, 00:18:56.740 |
hearts that are tender and receptive, God, to your truth? 00:19:16.060 |
So you're all familiar with the word metamorphosis. 00:19:28.480 |
The process of metamorphosis in the animal kingdom 00:19:39.680 |
go through a process of metamorphosis in their life cycles. 00:19:43.760 |
Metamorphosis is especially common in insects, 00:19:47.800 |
and they generally undergo two types of metamorphosis, 00:20:03.120 |
where the young just look like wingless miniature versions 00:20:38.600 |
The third stage, they call the transition stage, 00:20:41.480 |
where the caterpillar becomes a pupa or a chrysalis, 00:20:46.680 |
And the fourth and final stage is called by various names, 00:20:54.160 |
And we've all learned about this at some point. 00:21:05.120 |
And the life cycle of a butterfly is textbook stuff. 00:21:14.480 |
and factualized process that you and I are familiar with. 00:21:19.000 |
The metamorphosis is in the very DNA of every butterfly. 00:21:23.020 |
So the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly 00:21:29.120 |
We would all be shocked if out of the chrysalis 00:21:34.920 |
comes just a fatter version of the caterpillar. 00:21:42.440 |
even though it's something we have come to expect. 00:21:45.800 |
The transformation is radical, it is unalterable. 00:21:52.440 |
is a change of the form or nature of a creature 00:22:00.880 |
who has once been spiritually dead believes upon Christ, 00:22:14.440 |
The complete transformation of the Christian, likewise, 00:22:24.000 |
This, too, is unalterable, this, too, is irreversible. 00:22:29.000 |
And this transformation, in the same way, is also textbook. 00:22:41.680 |
2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, 00:22:54.320 |
Among insects, the metamorphosis can be incomplete, 00:23:06.320 |
the radical transformation, is always complete. 00:23:10.480 |
It is always total, it is always all-encompassing. 00:23:16.400 |
The old things are gone, the new things have come, 00:23:20.880 |
hearts of stone have been completely replaced 00:23:42.840 |
So a Christian, by definition, is a new creation, 00:23:48.600 |
radically, totally, and irreversibly changed. 00:23:53.400 |
There's no such thing as a partial Christian salvation. 00:24:06.440 |
before the judgment of God has been instantaneously changed, 00:24:21.240 |
the very DNA of the Christian is also completely 00:24:40.200 |
So the passage that I read for you in the beginning, 00:24:47.800 |
It's a very well-known and well-memorized passage. 00:25:04.480 |
So let's take a moment to read the three verses again. 00:25:17.480 |
and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. 00:25:42.040 |
of the stages of the Christian's metamorphosis, 00:25:49.520 |
and here's the outline and thought flow up front, okay? 00:25:52.480 |
I'm gonna walk you through these three verses 00:25:56.180 |
to explain first why we have been transformed, 00:26:09.600 |
and the process involved in this transformation, 00:26:12.380 |
and to close, I'll be launching off of verse 21 00:26:22.080 |
of the end result or the end product of our transformation. 00:26:25.420 |
Okay, so first point, the purpose of our transformation, 00:26:29.920 |
Second, the process of the transformation, verses 20 and 21. 00:26:34.440 |
The third point, the product of our transformation. 00:26:43.480 |
I died to the law so that I might live to God. 00:26:57.180 |
So through even a cursory reading of the scriptures, 00:27:12.180 |
God does not exist for man's happiness or fulfillment. 00:27:16.200 |
Man exists for God and not the other way around. 00:27:48.020 |
that sin entered the world and caused every human 00:27:53.020 |
born after the fall to rebel against that purpose 00:27:57.040 |
and to commit what R.C. Sproul calls cosmic treason. 00:28:07.580 |
is born with a delusional and twisted sense of entitlement. 00:28:12.580 |
He is born innately thinking that God the creator, 00:28:18.360 |
if in fact he does exist, exists to serve him 00:28:24.720 |
The scripture describes fallen and natural man 00:28:28.960 |
as simply an unreasoning creature of instinct 00:28:32.520 |
who is blind to the sins that separate him from God. 00:28:54.360 |
to the purpose for which he has been created. 00:29:09.960 |
and to his inability to draw near by himself to holy God. 00:29:41.840 |
that he cannot be reconciled to God by his own strength 00:29:47.940 |
The Christian is one who has come to understand 00:29:50.920 |
that the law, or moral living, or upright living, 00:30:05.440 |
through faith alone, by the sacrifice of Christ alone. 00:30:08.720 |
And in that moment of belief, he is instantly transformed. 00:30:18.640 |
is one who understands that his primary purpose 00:30:24.440 |
is that he might now be restored to that original purpose. 00:30:32.240 |
to love God and to serve God, and now he can, 00:30:39.140 |
So the Christian has a zeal for this purpose, 00:30:44.220 |
and the purpose, or the fulfillment of this purpose, 00:30:55.440 |
not in order to be saved, but because he is saved, amen? 00:31:00.440 |
For through the law, I die to the law, hinnah, 00:31:11.800 |
but the Greek word hinnah is a very important word 00:31:20.880 |
and it always denotes the reason or purpose of something. 00:31:32.880 |
or expectation to what has previously been set. 00:31:49.720 |
And it's important to pause here and to think deeply 00:32:28.840 |
what is the purpose of your job or career now? 00:32:58.400 |
What is now the primary purpose of your role as a spouse 00:33:11.580 |
Do the people around you exist to please you? 00:33:20.660 |
What is the purpose of why you even eat or drink? 00:33:26.660 |
Is it simply to be merry since tomorrow you die? 00:33:31.320 |
Or is the purpose of even the most mundane things 00:33:39.820 |
What is the purpose of your presence in this church? 00:33:43.200 |
Is it to bless you or is it to build his kingdom? 00:33:47.700 |
Is the knowledge of Jesus Christ your life's pursuit 00:33:57.920 |
to somehow unlocking God's special blessings? 00:34:11.060 |
We were not saved so that we can simply be more moral, 00:34:18.660 |
that we can access God's favor and protection in this life, 00:34:22.500 |
or so that we can have an eternal insurance policy of sorts. 00:34:26.280 |
The primary purpose of our lives, our very creation, 00:34:45.540 |
We were bought at a price, it says in 1 Corinthians 6. 00:34:49.420 |
Therefore, we are to honor God with our lives. 00:34:53.420 |
That is the primary purpose of our transformation. 00:34:56.900 |
Again, that we might live to God and live fully to God. 00:35:07.560 |
And that forever has already started for the Christian. 00:35:11.120 |
So what does this tangibly mean then for the here and now 00:35:25.360 |
I'm gonna read Galatians 2, 28 to 21 for you, 00:35:35.700 |
and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. 00:35:49.240 |
And we're gonna read the rest in the third point, 00:35:54.660 |
By the grace of God, we have seen our desperate need 00:35:59.620 |
for a Savior, we have cleaved ourselves to Christ 00:36:05.760 |
And because of belief, we're in right standing before God. 00:36:18.760 |
that those who have been justified will one day, 00:36:36.140 |
of all the changes, our transformation begins 00:36:39.500 |
at justification, and it will end with glorification. 00:36:44.160 |
Glorification is what awaits us in the resurrection 00:36:52.900 |
is justification, and the end is glorification. 00:37:01.860 |
but at the present, you and I who put our faith in Christ 00:37:12.080 |
And it's an awkward, already but not yet stage. 00:37:17.960 |
It's like an engagement period between a man and a woman. 00:37:31.220 |
there's a ring on your finger, but you're not one. 00:37:41.140 |
even though it serves an important purpose, right? 00:37:43.380 |
The invites need to go out, there are other sheep 00:38:05.340 |
Many years ago, I had heard that most lizards, 00:38:32.140 |
I saw a lizard basking in the sun, chilling on a rock. 00:38:51.020 |
To see, wait, don't judge me. (audience laughing) 00:39:45.300 |
still feel like that that transformation is incomplete. 00:39:52.660 |
but sometimes we still feel so distant from Christ. 00:39:56.580 |
We have been permanently and irreversibly changed, 00:40:07.300 |
Why do we struggle so much to remember our purpose? 00:40:13.840 |
To live lives that are consistent to our transformed nature? 00:40:16.920 |
Well, it's because sin, though it is dead in us, 00:40:27.700 |
We have been changed, but we are still being changed. 00:40:42.020 |
We have been united with Christ in his death, 00:40:44.700 |
but we are still being united with Christ in his death. 00:40:48.900 |
And this process, which we call sanctification, 00:40:53.980 |
is currently the stage in which we find ourselves. 00:41:21.180 |
and we are still, figuratively speaking, hanging there. 00:41:26.180 |
And we are persevering in our hanging by faith. 00:41:33.580 |
I wanna point our attention to the first few words 00:41:36.500 |
in this very well-memorized passage of the Bible. 00:41:40.820 |
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live. 00:41:45.380 |
The verb, susterao, okay, I have been crucified. 00:42:01.460 |
The present perfect tense is used for past actions 00:42:08.540 |
that are related to or continue on into the present. 00:42:33.860 |
And just as no one can physically crucify himself, 00:42:38.980 |
Neither can we spiritually crucify ourselves with Christ. 00:42:44.340 |
Our past and ongoing crucifixion, our sanctification, 00:42:54.700 |
because it is God's will for our earthly lives. 00:43:02.620 |
It is part of his good and pleasing and perfect will. 00:43:12.400 |
You better agree with that 'cause it's in the Bible, okay? 00:43:15.800 |
For this is the will of God, your sanctification. 00:43:20.800 |
Secondly, it's a prerequisite to seeing God face-to-face. 00:43:35.600 |
in the way that a loving father would discipline his child, 00:43:38.060 |
he talks about the need for sanctification to be embraced 00:43:42.440 |
and almost pursued by the beloved child of God. 00:43:48.240 |
Pursue peace with all men and the sanctification 00:44:01.360 |
Our sanctification is a prerequisite to seeing the Lord, 00:44:16.160 |
he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 00:44:21.160 |
Justification, glorification, sanctification. 00:44:29.720 |
So this life we are living in the flesh is a crucified life, 00:44:59.480 |
The phrase dead man walking has been traditionally used 00:45:07.080 |
Figuratively, we are not just dead men walking 00:45:37.260 |
Is there a way to somehow position or adjust your body 00:45:44.600 |
to make it less uncomfortable and perhaps more tolerable? 00:46:08.880 |
as you try to keep your lungs from collapsing 00:46:40.800 |
This is the Christian's primary proclamation. 00:47:07.000 |
"except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ 00:47:12.000 |
"through which the world has been crucified to me 00:48:06.580 |
If we were to think of the Christian life as a ship, 00:48:31.080 |
where Christ has purchased a first class seat for you? 00:48:37.580 |
or a lifeboat on which Christ is in the captain's seat 00:48:44.100 |
and wants to use the boat to save drowning sailors? 00:48:49.100 |
This is something very sobering for us to think about 00:48:54.800 |
while we crucified Christians live in Orange County. 00:49:11.300 |
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. 00:49:30.400 |
The observable evidence of your metamorphosis 00:49:47.500 |
increases in the Christian life with each passing year, 00:49:50.840 |
but I also believe that the pain and the discomfort 00:50:04.660 |
you're trying to push against this statement I just made, 00:50:11.180 |
and your disagreement are rooted in the Scriptures. 00:50:15.280 |
Otherwise, your faith is not based on the Bible. 00:50:28.060 |
onto the wooden beams, I would imagine to be very painful. 00:50:42.600 |
it was 220 last year, all right, 200-pound body, 00:50:46.480 |
being held up by my torn flesh and my broken bones, 00:50:51.480 |
I imagine it to be even more excruciating pain. 00:50:56.300 |
The hanging part is more painful than the nailing part. 00:51:07.980 |
of the crucified man was considered an act of kindness. 00:51:31.540 |
many of the surface-level sins get immediately purged 00:51:37.420 |
God changes the heart and lots of stuff get flushed out. 00:51:40.260 |
A lot of immediate changes take place in the lives 00:51:58.340 |
It's deep inside the core so that the residual effects 00:52:01.820 |
of this rebellion takes a long time to bleed out. 00:52:05.880 |
So the initial shocks of the nails can be painful, 00:52:12.820 |
of our sins is likely even more shocking and more painful. 00:52:22.040 |
But you know where we're at the top of his list? 00:52:29.940 |
Proverbs 8:13 gives us a little bit of a glimpse 00:52:48.340 |
More than drunkenness, more than sexual sins, 00:53:24.620 |
Are there things currently that are happening 00:53:28.180 |
in your life to expose and rid you of your self-reliance, 00:53:39.500 |
your pattern of deception, your self-sufficiency, 00:53:54.380 |
your desire for attention, your desire for approval, 00:53:58.240 |
your desire to be celebrated by those around you? 00:54:00.980 |
Perhaps the Lord in his love is putting those things 00:54:20.140 |
He is emptying you of everything that needs to be emptied 00:54:49.380 |
You love the created things more than the creator 00:55:08.800 |
What is the final product of this metamorphosis? 00:55:21.700 |
The end product of the transformation of the Christian 00:55:42.680 |
Psalm 117 gives us a little preview, then, of what awaits. 00:55:46.500 |
For the Lord is righteous, he loves righteousness, 00:56:04.780 |
no man at present can accurately describe in words. 00:56:29.220 |
"has ever conceived of all the glorious things 00:56:32.740 |
"which the Lord has prepared for those who love him, 00:57:10.100 |
There's not gonna be too much by way of application 00:57:14.580 |
no direct applications that come from the passage. 00:57:21.580 |
The first command doesn't show up until chapter five. 00:57:24.020 |
Actually, chapter four, verse 21 has a command, 00:57:33.140 |
But by way of application, I'm gonna leave you 00:57:38.180 |
with a hope-filled passage detailing what awaits us. 00:57:42.180 |
So hopefully, while you're hanging on for dear death, 00:57:56.240 |
"and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. 00:58:00.840 |
"We know that when he appears, we will be like him, 00:58:35.060 |
But you know what's cool about being crucified? 00:58:37.820 |
You can't crucify yourself, nor can you take yourself off. 00:58:46.880 |
you can't get off it, and you will be glorified. 00:59:09.580 |
if indeed the old is gone and the new has come. 00:59:21.160 |
and you're especially feeling the pain of sanctification, 00:59:34.920 |
and he gave himself up so that you would have life 00:59:51.600 |
that the heavens and the earth will pass away, 00:59:57.040 |
but your words are eternal, they will never pass away. 00:59:59.840 |
And in your word, we are told of our horrible past, 01:00:30.340 |
and encourage those of us who are feeling very feeble. 01:00:35.500 |
- If we could all rise for our closing praise. 01:01:20.440 |
♪ He is my joy, my righteousness and freedom ♪ 01:01:25.440 |
♪ My steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace ♪ 01:01:53.240 |
♪ All is glory at night, I'm but through Christ in me ♪ 01:02:17.840 |
♪ For by my side, the savior, he will stand ♪ 01:02:36.600 |
♪ To this I hold, my shepherd was his head and me ♪ 01:02:50.680 |
♪ Oh, the night has been long, and I shall overcome ♪ 01:03:21.960 |
♪ The future's sure, the price it has been paid ♪ 01:03:58.540 |
♪ Oh, the chains are released, I can sing, I am free ♪ 01:04:28.240 |
♪ For he has said that he will bring me home ♪ 01:04:33.240 |
♪ And day by day, I know he will be with me ♪ 01:05:01.180 |
♪ The rings will ring till my lips shall repeat ♪ 01:05:28.740 |
♪ When the rings is complete, still my lips shall repeat ♪ 01:05:42.640 |
♪ When the rings is complete, still my lips shall repeat ♪