back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Morning Service 01.28.24
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- Good morning, church family, happy Lord's Day. 00:11:17.640 |
Let's continue to pray for our India mission team 00:11:20.720 |
who left last Friday as they help the pastors in India 00:11:26.600 |
This morning, we begin with the song, "Oh Great God," 00:11:29.160 |
which I hope would be our earnest prayer to the Lord 00:11:34.000 |
And I'll read a short passage from Ephesians 2. 00:11:41.400 |
in which you once walked following the course of this world 00:11:44.800 |
among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh 00:11:50.480 |
But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love 00:15:13.860 |
I just have three really quick announcements. 00:15:25.020 |
and they're now on their way to the villages. 00:15:42.260 |
and then they'll be with us next Sunday for worship. 00:15:50.460 |
but you can look at most of those just on your own. 00:15:57.220 |
In a few weeks, February 17th, we have the men's workshop. 00:16:11.320 |
he preached for A Good Friday a few years ago. 00:16:18.380 |
through just what it means, personal holiness of men. 00:16:21.420 |
And so February 17th, so please do sign up for that 00:16:25.980 |
and register so that we can account for food, okay? 00:16:28.740 |
Thirdly, today is the last day for you members 00:16:39.000 |
And I know who you are who haven't turned it in yet, 00:16:46.820 |
or we may resort to the Asian public shaming methods. 00:17:02.740 |
Otherwise, you can send in your electronic payments, 00:17:15.520 |
of gathering together with your saints this morning. 00:17:57.580 |
We pray that you would help us to steward well 00:18:02.940 |
And we acknowledge, Lord God, that it's all yours anyway. 00:18:11.480 |
and acknowledge your lordship over our lives. 00:20:06.940 |
♪ We won't fear the battle, we won't fear the night ♪ 00:20:11.660 |
♪ We will walk the valley with you by our side ♪ 00:20:16.460 |
♪ You will go before us, you will lead the way ♪ 00:20:32.200 |
♪ The father's love is a strong and mighty fortress ♪ 00:20:41.380 |
♪ Who can stand against us if our God is for us ♪ 00:20:55.580 |
♪ Even when I turn back, still your love is sure ♪ 00:21:00.240 |
♪ You will not abandon, you will not forsake ♪ 00:21:04.940 |
♪ You will cheer me onward with never-ending grace ♪ 00:21:14.500 |
♪ The father's love is a strong and mighty fortress ♪ 00:21:23.440 |
♪ Who can stand against us if our God is for us ♪ 00:22:21.260 |
♪ The father's love is a strong and mighty fortress ♪ 00:22:30.240 |
♪ Who can stand against us if our God is for us ♪ 00:22:39.840 |
♪ The father's love is a strong and mighty fortress ♪ 00:22:48.840 |
♪ Who can stand against us if our God is for us ♪ 00:23:32.800 |
♪ In desperation I turned to heaven and spoke to God ♪ 00:23:39.500 |
♪ In desperation I turned to heaven and spoke to God ♪ 00:23:44.500 |
♪ Then through the darkness your loving kindness ♪ 00:24:22.920 |
♪ What heart could fathom such boundless grace ♪ 00:25:11.460 |
♪ Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free ♪ 00:25:16.460 |
♪ Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me ♪ 00:25:38.140 |
♪ Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free ♪ 00:25:43.140 |
♪ Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me ♪ 00:26:03.100 |
♪ Then came the morning that sealed the promise ♪ 00:26:19.420 |
♪ Out of the silence, the roaring lion declared ♪ 00:26:31.620 |
♪ Then came the morning that sealed the promise ♪ 00:26:43.820 |
♪ Out of the silence, the roaring lion declared ♪ 00:27:08.380 |
♪ Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free ♪ 00:27:13.380 |
♪ Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me ♪ 00:27:36.400 |
♪ Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free ♪ 00:27:43.120 |
♪ Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me ♪ 00:28:27.520 |
please turn with me to Galatians chapter two. 00:28:31.620 |
And I'm gonna be reading verses 19 to 21 for us. 00:28:50.360 |
and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. 00:29:11.640 |
Father, would you grant us a great day of reminders? 00:29:22.120 |
and would you cause us to remember our identity in Christ? 00:29:39.480 |
Well, you're all familiar with the word metamorphosis. 00:29:50.100 |
The process of metamorphosis in the animal kingdom 00:30:02.480 |
go through a process of metamorphosis in their life cycles. 00:30:07.040 |
And metamorphosis is especially common in insects, 00:30:11.720 |
and insects generally undergo two types of metamorphosis, 00:30:16.080 |
incomplete metamorphosis and complete metamorphosis. 00:30:20.560 |
So grasshoppers, dragonflies, and cockroaches 00:30:40.520 |
where the young not only look entirely different 00:30:43.520 |
from the adults, but they consume completely different foods 00:31:04.280 |
The life cycle of a butterfly is very textbook stuff. 00:31:08.840 |
It's pretty standard, and this has been observed, 00:31:15.560 |
that the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly, 00:31:22.360 |
So we would all be shocked if out of a chrysalis 00:31:40.840 |
is a change of the form or nature of a creature 00:31:50.140 |
who had once been spiritually dead believes upon Christ, 00:32:03.540 |
The complete transformation of the Christian, 00:32:07.560 |
likewise, is miraculous, it's mysterious and radical, 00:32:12.560 |
and this also is unalterable, this also is irreversible. 00:32:17.560 |
And this transformation, in the same way, is also textbook. 00:32:31.880 |
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature." 00:32:37.600 |
The old things passed away, behold, new things have come. 00:32:42.600 |
So among insects, the metamorphosis can be incomplete, 00:32:55.240 |
the radical transformation, is always complete. 00:32:59.880 |
It is always total, it is always all-encompassing. 00:33:06.680 |
The old things are gone, the new things have come. 00:33:10.320 |
Hearts of stone have been completely replaced 00:33:31.720 |
So a Christian, by definition, is a new creation, 00:33:36.160 |
radically, totally, and irreversibly changed. 00:33:40.560 |
There is no such thing as a partial Christian salvation. 00:33:55.460 |
before the judgment of God has been instantaneously changed, 00:34:11.000 |
is also completely and instantaneously changed upon belief. 00:34:28.760 |
The passage that I read for you in the beginning, 00:34:34.920 |
It's a very well-known and very well-memorized passage. 00:34:39.520 |
It is a passage we all inductively studied together 00:35:31.440 |
of the stages of the Christian's metamorphosis. 00:35:34.160 |
And we're gonna be looking at this snapshot today. 00:35:38.420 |
I'm gonna walk you through these three verses 00:35:41.000 |
to explain first why we have been transformed, 00:35:49.920 |
and the process involved in this transformation. 00:35:59.780 |
and I'll detail for you what is inferred of the end result, 00:36:11.340 |
The process of the transformation, 20 and 21. 00:36:15.880 |
And then the product of the transformation, verse 21. 00:36:24.040 |
and it reads, "For through the law I died to the law, 00:36:42.060 |
Through every cursory reading of the scriptures, 00:36:46.540 |
we can easily conclude that you and I have been created 00:36:51.320 |
by God and for God to love God and to serve God. 00:36:58.180 |
God does not exist for man's happiness or fulfillment. 00:37:02.500 |
Man exists for God and not the other way around. 00:37:16.780 |
And to give holy service to God was the original purpose 00:37:34.820 |
and caused every human being born after the fall 00:37:41.400 |
and to commit what R.C. Sproul calls cosmic treason. 00:37:56.300 |
And the scripture describes fallen and natural man 00:38:02.180 |
as simply an unreasoning creature of instinct 00:38:06.180 |
who is blind to sins that separate him from God. 00:38:27.160 |
And the natural and fallen man is completely oblivious 00:38:33.700 |
to the purpose for which he has been created. 00:38:47.520 |
to his inability to draw near by himself to holy God. 00:39:09.300 |
the requirements of God's holy law in and of himself. 00:39:26.680 |
The Christian is one who has come to understand 00:39:30.060 |
that the law and upright living cannot save him, 00:39:35.060 |
and that the holy law of God only condemns him. 00:39:44.060 |
through faith alone, by the sacrifice of Christ alone, 00:39:52.720 |
And the transformed Christian is one who understands 00:39:58.380 |
that the primary purpose in his being saved and transformed 00:40:03.380 |
is that he might now be restored to his original purpose. 00:40:16.620 |
and now he can, and now he must fulfill that purpose. 00:40:21.620 |
So the Christian has a zeal for this purpose, 00:40:38.800 |
not in order to be saved, but because he is saved. 00:40:48.860 |
"I die to the law, hinnah, so that I might live to God." 00:40:57.580 |
but the Greek word hinnah is a very important word 00:41:24.700 |
So there is a purpose to a Christian's change 00:41:31.380 |
And it reads, "For through the law, I die to the law, 00:41:37.220 |
And it's important to pause here and to think deeply 00:41:59.660 |
Or more of that of the man who now understands 00:42:05.780 |
that the purpose for which he has been created 00:42:12.300 |
and remember the old is gone and the new has come. 00:42:33.780 |
We were not saved so that we can simply be more moral, 00:42:40.700 |
that we can access God's favor and protection in this life, 00:42:45.140 |
that we can have this eternal insurance policy 00:43:16.860 |
We were bought at a price, as it says in 1 Corinthians 6, 00:43:21.300 |
and therefore we are to honor God with our lives 00:43:24.060 |
and this is the primary purpose of our transformation. 00:43:28.740 |
Again, that we might live to God and live fully to God. 00:43:42.580 |
And that forever has already started for the Christian. 00:43:48.600 |
So what does that tangibly mean then for the here and now 00:44:26.180 |
And the rest of the verse I'll read at the end, okay? 00:45:02.420 |
And we know from Romans 8, chapter eight, verse 30, 00:45:38.180 |
From where we can perceive the life cycle of the Christian 00:45:52.040 |
in the resurrection and what awaits us in eternity. 00:46:04.140 |
but at present, you and I who have put our faith in Christ 00:46:14.940 |
And it's an awkward, already but not yet stage. 00:46:21.020 |
It's like an engagement period between a man and a woman. 00:46:30.260 |
You've been spoken for and taken, but not fully. 00:46:38.060 |
even though it serves an important purpose, right? 00:46:43.340 |
There are other sheep who are not yet of the fold. 00:46:46.280 |
This in-between stage still is a very awkward 00:47:01.740 |
because there is so much old self still remaining. 00:47:06.840 |
Many years ago, I had heard that most lizards, 00:47:13.940 |
I had heard that most lizards can self-amputate their tails 00:47:23.100 |
They go, tail breaks off and then they run, okay? 00:47:28.820 |
when I was camping with my friend as a young teenager. 00:47:48.260 |
I was a lot more agile back then, so I kicked the lizard. 00:47:55.420 |
whether or not the tail would indeed snap off. 00:48:09.580 |
So moments before I kicked it, in the interest of science, 00:48:42.020 |
Sometimes, we who have been transformed completely 00:48:48.900 |
still feel like that transformation is incomplete. 00:49:01.260 |
We have been permanently and irreversibly changed, 00:49:13.660 |
Why do I still struggle so much to remember my purpose, 00:49:22.660 |
to live a life consistent with my transformed nature? 00:49:29.580 |
Well, it's because sin, though it is dead in me, 00:49:42.500 |
So if we have believed upon Christ, we have been changed, 00:49:51.580 |
We have been transformed, but God is still transforming us 00:49:58.060 |
We have been united with Christ in his death, 00:50:02.420 |
but we are still being united with Christ in his death. 00:50:07.420 |
And this process, which we call sanctification, 00:50:13.540 |
is currently the stage in which we find ourselves. 00:50:39.900 |
and we are still, figuratively speaking, hanging there. 00:50:45.860 |
And we are persevering in our hanging by faith. 00:50:50.580 |
And I wanna point our attention to the first few words 00:50:56.820 |
One of the most well-read passages in the Bible. 00:51:04.060 |
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live. 00:51:28.660 |
The present perfect tense is used for past actions 00:51:34.300 |
that are related to or continue on in the present. 00:51:59.700 |
So just as no one can physically crucify himself, 00:52:12.860 |
Just as no one can physically crucify himself, 00:52:18.220 |
neither can we spiritually crucify ourselves with Christ. 00:52:22.740 |
Our past and ongoing crucifixion, our sanctification, 00:52:43.060 |
It is part of his good and pleasing and perfect will. 00:52:47.940 |
If you agree with that and know that as truth, say amen. 00:52:55.380 |
"For this is the will of God, your sanctification." 00:53:14.860 |
after the writer says that God disciplines the Christian 00:53:18.740 |
in the way that a loving father would discipline his child, 00:53:23.180 |
he talks about the need for the sanctification 00:53:36.780 |
"Pursue peace with all men and pursue the sanctification, 00:53:50.420 |
Our sanctification is a prerequisite to seeing the Lord. 00:54:09.220 |
"For by one offering, he has perfected for all time 00:54:17.620 |
So this life we are living in the flesh is a crucified life. 00:55:05.820 |
Is there a way somehow to adjust the position of your body 00:55:11.860 |
to make it less uncomfortable and perhaps more tolerable? 00:55:33.020 |
with greater intensity as you try to keep your lungs 00:55:36.500 |
from collapsing by just pushing against those nails? 00:55:46.500 |
wouldn't you just prefer it to all just end quickly? 00:56:08.700 |
This is the Christian's primary proclamation. 00:56:24.820 |
And that too, brothers and sisters, is textbook. 00:56:40.220 |
except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:56:56.900 |
through which the world has been crucified to me 00:57:30.300 |
to find this world to be a very comfortable place 00:58:06.620 |
If you were to think of the Christian life as a ship, 00:58:23.420 |
where Christ has purchased a first-class seat for you? 00:58:39.860 |
This is very, this is something very sobering for us 00:58:45.860 |
to think about while we are crucified Christians 00:59:10.060 |
do not love the world nor the things in the world 00:59:19.060 |
Do not love the world nor the things in the world 00:59:32.820 |
This observable evidence of your metamorphosis 00:59:51.300 |
I believe that love, joy, peace, and patience, 00:59:59.180 |
But I also believe that the pain and discomfort 01:00:14.500 |
where the giant nails penetrate through your bones 01:00:36.220 |
I would imagine it to be even more excruciating, 01:00:43.500 |
The hanging is more painful than the initial nailing. 01:00:59.740 |
because the process of slowly dying on a cross 01:01:15.540 |
get immediately purged out of the person's life. 01:01:20.100 |
A lot of immediate changes take place in the lives 01:01:27.300 |
But the fallen nature of rebellious fallen man, 01:01:43.420 |
The initial shock of the nails can be painful, 01:01:48.220 |
but the agony of the ongoing bleeding out of our sins 01:01:53.020 |
is likely even more shocking and more painful. 01:02:23.500 |
Proverbs 8:13 gives us a little bit of an insight. 01:02:37.980 |
embezzlement, stealing, cheating on your taxes. 01:02:43.340 |
That's not on this list, although God hates those things. 01:02:46.500 |
More than drunkenness, more than sexual sins, 01:02:54.420 |
And if you are his child, he is going to kill your pride. 01:03:04.180 |
Are there things that are happening in your life 01:03:10.140 |
your insecurities, your arrogance, your deception, 01:03:15.140 |
your self-sufficiency, your self-exalting motivations? 01:03:20.220 |
Are you realizing more and more that you're disgusting? 01:03:31.540 |
Perhaps the Lord, in his love, is putting your pride 01:03:43.660 |
You know why he sometimes allows you to be frustrated 01:03:59.340 |
He is emptying you of everything that needs to be emptied 01:04:32.420 |
What is the final product of the metamorphosis? 01:04:53.180 |
The end product of the transformation of the Christian 01:05:03.660 |
And Psalm 117 gives us a little preview of what awaits. 01:05:23.740 |
that the end of the Christian metamorphosis is glory. 01:05:29.460 |
no man at present can accurately describe in words. 01:05:49.020 |
which he has prepared for the glorified Christian. 01:06:13.620 |
But the Bible tells us it's beyond imagination. 01:06:32.460 |
no imperative, no application until chapter five, okay? 01:06:41.140 |
hopefully, that while you're hanging on for dear death, 01:06:55.460 |
and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. 01:07:02.860 |
we will be like him because we will see him just as he is. 01:07:43.860 |
So the only application is keep hanging there. 01:08:05.300 |
you live by faith in the son of God who loved you 01:08:24.980 |
if indeed you are waiting for the resurrection 01:08:34.220 |
My hope in this life, my expectations for this life, 01:08:46.860 |
my love for this world are supposed to be wasting away 01:09:16.500 |
And remember that the weaning off of this world is normal. 01:09:46.620 |
that the rich man is to glory in his humiliation 01:09:51.620 |
because like the flowering grass, we will fade away. 01:09:57.060 |
So as you're stripping us of our affections for this world, 01:10:10.340 |
We love you, Lord, and pray this in Jesus' name. 01:10:51.340 |
♪ He is my joy, my righteousness and freedom ♪ 01:10:58.180 |
♪ My steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace ♪ 01:11:26.020 |
♪ All is mine and yet not I but through Christ in me ♪ 01:12:10.140 |
♪ To this I hold, my shepherd will defend me ♪ 01:12:26.260 |
♪ Oh, the night has been won and I shall overcome ♪ 01:12:55.700 |
♪ The future's sure, the price it has been paid ♪ 01:13:28.540 |
♪ Oh, the chains are released, I can sing, I am free ♪ 01:14:01.700 |
♪ For He has said that He will bring me home ♪ 01:14:41.020 |
♪ Shall repeat, yet not I but through Christ in me ♪ 01:15:08.540 |
♪ Shall repeat, yet not I but through Christ in me ♪ 01:15:22.460 |
♪ Shall repeat, yet not I but through Christ in me ♪ 01:15:41.720 |
- Amen, now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 01:23:05.840 |
All right, let's try God is for us real quick. 01:23:47.800 |
♪ We will walk the valley with You by our side ♪ 01:24:08.480 |
♪ The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress ♪ 01:24:17.760 |
♪ Who can stand against us if our God is for us ♪ 01:24:41.760 |
♪ You will cheer me on with never-ending grace ♪ 01:24:51.680 |
♪ The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress ♪ 01:25:00.980 |
♪ Who can stand against us if our God is for us ♪ 01:26:01.260 |
♪ The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress ♪ 01:26:10.580 |
♪ Who can stand against us if our God is for us ♪ 01:26:20.500 |
♪ The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress ♪ 01:26:29.900 |
♪ Who can stand against us if our God is for us ♪ 01:26:46.540 |
I think for me, I was still slightly rushing on the bridge, 01:26:50.900 |
but I always have to be really careful with that. 01:27:26.780 |
and the very last-time chorus into the outro. 01:27:38.220 |
it's like, ♪ Who can stand against us if our God is ♪ 01:27:42.060 |
So you're doing that a total of two times in this song. 01:27:46.640 |
Okay, so first-time chorus and the very last time? 01:27:54.420 |
So yeah, as instruments, we'll all follow suit with that. 01:28:01.540 |
- Yeah, you're just patting the whole time, yeah. 01:28:03.460 |
- Well, it's funny, 'cause it's like all the way 01:28:08.020 |
but I realized while he was up here giving an essence