(soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - All righty, good morning, church family, and happy Lord's Day.
I hope you had a great week in the Lord. Praise God that we can gather together this morning to worship and to sing, to remember His goodness and His faithfulness, and all that God has for us in Jesus Christ. So let us go ahead and begin our worship this morning.
We're gonna sing together the song "You Are My King." (soft piano music) ♪ I'm forgiven ♪ ♪ Because you were forsaken ♪ ♪ I'm accepted ♪ ♪ You were condemned ♪ ♪ I'm alive and well ♪ ♪ Your spirit is within me ♪ ♪ Because you died and rose again ♪ ♪ I'm forgiven ♪ ♪ Because you were forsaken ♪ ♪ I'm accepted ♪ ♪ You were condemned ♪ ♪ I'm alive and well ♪ ♪ Your spirit is within me ♪ ♪ Because you died and rose again ♪ ♪ Amazing love, how can it be ♪ ♪ That you, my king, would die for me ♪ ♪ Amazing love, I know it's true ♪ ♪ It's my joy to honor you in all I do ♪ ♪ I honor you ♪ ♪ You are my king ♪ ♪ You are my king ♪ ♪ Jesus, you are my king ♪ ♪ You are my king ♪ ♪ Jesus, you are my king ♪ ♪ Amazing love, how can it be ♪ ♪ That you, my king, would die for me ♪ ♪ Amazing love, I know it's true ♪ ♪ It's my joy to honor you ♪ ♪ Amazing love ♪ ♪ Amazing love, how can it be ♪ ♪ That you, my king, would die for me ♪ ♪ Would die for me ♪ ♪ Amazing love, I know it's true ♪ ♪ It's my joy to honor you in all I do ♪ ♪ I honor you in all I do ♪ ♪ I honor you ♪ - All right, good morning.
Welcome to Breen Community Church. Let me get to a few announcements before we start it. First of all, as you can see, we have communion Sunday, and so I hope that you came with your hearts prepared, and we'll give you a little bit more instructions as we begin to open it up for that.
If you are planning to support the India pastors, please continue to do so, and I think the deadline is coming up soon, so please sign up for that. VBS sign-ups are still taking place, so as you go outside, you'll see sign-up, and then family ministry retreat. Today is the last day to sign up for early registration, so if you signed up and you have not paid, you are not officially registered, so I know that there's some people who just signed their name and was not able to pay the cost yet, so if you are one of those people, you must sign up by today.
Okay, so starting from next Sunday, the registration will still be open, but it will not be early registration, meaning that the cost will go up a bit. So if you are planning to go, please sign up for that, happening in August 16th to 18th, and then for the next round of Bible study, so obviously we have about two and a half to three months that we're taking a break during the summertime, and so if you are planning to sign up for the Bible study too, please do so now, so that when we start the Bible study, we'll have plenty of preparation, small group leads and home groups, and so please sign up for that.
So again, if you have brought a physical offering, we have a box in the back on the way out, but for the rest of us, let me pray for the offering, and we'll give you a minute to give online. All right, let's pray. Father, we thank you for your goodness.
We thank you for the love that you continue to pour. Help us, Lord God, never be so comfortable that the truths of the gospel and your love, Lord God, and your word would become so mundane. Help us, Lord, to be hearers of the word and doers of the word, that all that we do this morning will be an overflow of the tremendous work that you're doing in us.
May your name be magnified. May your ears be pleased. May your people be moved and be challenged and to be discipled according to your word. I pray that the offering that we give also may be an expression of the gratitude in our hearts. It may be multiplied 30, 60, 100-fold for the purpose of your kingdom.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Would you please stand and take a moment to greet those around you, and we'll continue to worship. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ >> You know, as you guys know, you know, we've been going out to India and we've been doing, like, medical trips.
And some of you guys know, when we first started going out there, we thought we were going to be doing, you know, various type of things. And then as time went by, we realized eye care was the most effective. And so after starting from the second year, that became the primary focus.
And so, you know, one of the most drastic things, and I think there's people who've been out with us many times out to India. I think they will testify. Every once in a while, we'll meet somebody who may be 60, 70 years old, and I don't know how long they've lived with eyesight that was so poor.
And so when they are able to get their glasses and literally are able to see for the first time, it's a drastic change in the way that they respond. And again, this is not something that happens every time we go. But every once in a while, and again, some of you guys who do remember that, they'll be in tears because they were functioning without sight, you know.
And so we don't know how long they were like that, but it's the closest thing that we can experience to actually bring healing to somebody who couldn't see, couldn't function. And I think out of all the senses, again, you may have a different opinion on that, eyesight will cripple us.
All the other things I think you can, you can adjust, but without eyesight, it would be very difficult to function, right? And not to say that we can't function, but it's very important. And if you look at the scripture, you'll see that there's about three or four separate instances of someone who was blind and gaining their eyesight.
And oftentimes, our blindness, where God gives us light, is equated to salvation, where somebody who was in darkness is coming into light, or somebody who couldn't see are able to see. And oftentimes, our salvation is described exactly the same way. Is it actually raining or is this just falling?
It's not raining outside, right? All right. Are you guys going to be okay with this? Like, I can ignore it, but can you? Okay. It's going to go for a little bit, and then, so let me explain what's going on so that you'll, okay, so you'll know what's going on.
The Southern California Edison came in, and they said that they were going to help us, and they have this, like, energy-saving program where to reduce electricity, they put an icebox up there. And so initially, they'll use the icebox to blow cold air, and then after a while, it will turn on the regular air conditioning.
And so they told us that this would actually help us save money. So all of it was done for free, and then this type of stuff happened. So what happens, all right, so don't trust the government. That's my point. So basically, the ice that's in that box is melting.
That's what's happening, okay? So the ice that's supposed to be there that's supposed to stay cool and blow, you know, cold air into the room, when it melts, instead of circulating, it's coming down, okay? So why am I telling you all this? It has nothing to do with the sermon so that when you see it, it's like, oh, you're not going to wonder.
So why isn't it not -- it's not raining outside while it's going on? So that's what's going on. The icebox is leaking up there, okay? So all right, now can we get to the text, all right? So I'm going to just jump right in, right? So he's talking about the lamp, right?
No one lights a lamp for the purpose of putting it under the table or covering it, or else there would be no purpose for that, right? So the first question that we want to tackle is what is the light? What is the lampstand that he is referring to? Well, the scripture tells us that this is actually connected to the previous text that we were looking at, the parable of the sower or the seed.
And clearly it tells us that the seed is the word of God, and the word of God is the light that he's referring to. Psalm 119.105, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path," right? So he said the seed is not given for you to hold on to it, it's for it to be planted so that the darkness would be revealed, right?
So one, it is connected to the previous text of the seed. The word of God is a light that is meant to be seen, right? It's not for somebody just to study it, right? And that's why the Bible said the word of God is useful for us, to equip us for every good work.
So if you're studying it simply to gain knowledge, you've missed the point of the word of God. The word of God is meant to be a light, light unto you to bring you to salvation, and then the word of God is given to you so that you would be equipped to bring the light to the world.
And so that's how it's equated with the previous parable, right? The word of God, those of you who are receiving the word of God week after week after week, if you're not a Christian, is to shed light in whatever darkness that may be in you to bring you to Christ.
And then those of you who are receiving the word of God week after week, if all you are doing is listening and you're not being equipped, you're not using this as an equipment to be able to shine the light to the world, it says then all we are doing is lighting a lamp and then putting it under the table, right?
There's no purpose of it. So one, it says it's the word of God. Second, in John 8.12, it says Jesus is called the light. John 8.12, "I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." I am the light of the world.
So the main purpose of the word of God is to bring you to Christ. So if you're learning the word of God and it's not causing you to come to Christ any closer than you were before, then you're missing the whole point. So the word of God sheds light on the true light, which is Christ.
And then those who receive Christ, it says the light comes inside of us, and then now we have become the light. Ephesians 5.8, "For you were formerly darkness, and now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." So you see the word of God, the light goes in, right?
It shines in darkness to bring people to Christ, who is the light of the world. And then when that light comes inside of us, when Christ becomes us, or he is in us, we become the light, and then the gathering of the people who are the light in Revelations 1.20 says we are the lampstand.
We are the lampstand. The church, collectively, is the lampstand. So the whole process of salvation is illustrated by the light. The word of God is a light goes forth, and the light brings people to shed light, to bring them to the true light, which is Christ. And then Christ, when we repent and receive him, we become the light, and then the gathering of that light is the lampstand.
We collectively become the light. And so in Revelations 1.20, at the end of every letter, it says, "If you do not respond to my word, if you do not allow the light of God to shine on you," he says, "I will take away your lampstand." What does that mean?
He's saying the same thing that he's saying here in verse 16. You're going to light the lamp, but there's no purpose of this lamp. So when he says he's going to take away the lampstand, you will no longer be the light. That's what he's saying. That the church that gathers together is no longer functioning to bring glory to God.
When non-Christians can't tell the difference between the church and the world, you are no longer the light. When people are not hearing the word of God and causing them to come to Christ, you are no longer the lampstand. So the Bible tells us that the consequence of not living according to the word of God, not allowing the light of Christ, and the light of the world, and the collective gathering of the light, where we are not being the lampstand, all we are doing is lighting it and hiding it.
So the purpose of the light, number two, the purpose of the light is clear. It is to shine light in darkness. That's the purpose. So when we gather together, in order for us to be the light to the world, we need to first become a light-bearer. We need to be the light-bearer.
We are created to be the image-bearer of God. And so when we become Christians, we're able to reflect that glory. And that's why worship is central to the church. If you have a church that's not worshiping God, and that's not the central purpose of the gathering of the church, there's nothing to reflect.
You maybe have a shiny mirror, but there's nothing to reflect. That's why, first and foremost, the gathering of the church is to worship God, and a church that is worshiping God will naturally be the light to the world. That's the purpose of the church. It's not simply for people to gather together because we have a hard life, we want to help raising our children, to learn good morals, all of those things may be side benefits of being a follower of Christ, but the primary reason why we gather together is to know God and to make him known.
And that's why we're called lampstand. So the purpose of our gathering is to shine this light. Matthew 5, 14, 15, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house." The purpose of why we exist is to shine light in darkness.
That's the purpose. It's to shine a light, let the world know that God is real. Let the world know. Let them know. If we lose our purpose, our gathering becomes nothing more than social club, where we gather together and say, "I like it, I don't like it. I like these people, I don't like these people." And that's how we evaluate what is good or what is bad.
What makes a church good is that we are functioning as the light, that we are shedding light into darkness. Christian life was never meant to be lived in private. I hear so many people say, "I love the gospel, I love Christianity, but I don't love the church." And I can understand why some people say that, because they've been hurt.
But it's just like saying, "I love my mom, I love my dad, but I hate the family." Or your mom and your dad is family. So if you hate the family, you hate your mom and dad. You can't separate the two. You can't separate Christianity with the church. The church is the body of Christ.
So if the church is sick, then we need to make it healthy. But we need to participate in making it healthy. But you cannot abandon the church, because the church is what God has ordained to be the light to the world. You know, in Psalm 139, 11-13, the psalmist says, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night." "Even the darkness is not dark to you, and the night is as bright as the day." "Darkness and light are alike to you, for you form my inward part, you wove me in my mother's womb." Basically, it's describing God as light.
And this will hit you two different ways, depending on where you stand with God. If the omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient God, who knows all things, if he is your father, this is a source of tremendous comfort. Because it says, no matter where you are, no matter what circumstance, no matter what darkness you may be, there is no darkness that Satan can create, that the love of Christ cannot penetrate.
Right? That's Corey Tamboon's quote. He said God is everywhere, so if a loving, caring, powerful God is your father, he says you are in the light, and you will always be in the light, because you will always be with Christ. But he says, if he is not your father, and all he is, is a judge of righteousness and unrighteousness to you, he says this is a source of tremendous anxiety.
There is no darkness where you can run to, where you can hide from his eyes. There is no power greater than God where you can hide and be protected. If God is an antagonist to you, this light is a source of tremendous fear. But for those who have received it, and have become followers of Christ, believers of Christ, worshippers of Christ, it is a source of tremendous comfort.
And so that's why the light naturally divides. The light doesn't sneak into darkness. And there's no way, the light and darkness cannot co-exist. That's why the Bible says, if you love the world, the things in the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Because as soon as the light appears, darkness will disappear.
It says in John 3, 19-21, he says this is the judgment that the light has come into the world, and men love the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. He says the reason why people remain in the dark is because they choose to. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
But he who practices the truth comes to light so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God. When the light gets turned on, do you like it or don't like it? When the light gets turned on, do you like it or don't like it? You can't answer that because I didn't give you the context.
Three in the morning, if you're deep in sleep, if I turn the light on, do you like it or not like it? Of course you don't like it. Because you're intending to sleep. And so if the light gets turned on, when you have gotten ready and comfortable, and that's exactly where you want to stay, and the light gets turned on, you're going to hate the light and you're going to hate the person who turned the light on.
And that's exactly what the Bible says. People who want to remain in darkness will not only hate the fact that light is on, they're going to hate the fact that you turned the light on. So you can't sneak the light into darkness. When the light gets turned on, you will know.
When the light is clear, just as clear the light is, the reaction from the darkness will either be, "Thank you for turning that light on." Maybe you're having dinner and the power went off. And you ended up fixing the light. And so you saved the dinner. You're playing baseball at night and the light gets turned off.
And somehow you figure out how to turn it on. "Thank you for turning the light on," because light means that you can function. But 3 in the morning, you don't want that light on. If your intent is to stay in that darkness, you don't want that light on. So the purpose of the light is to cast out darkness.
And that's why you say you cannot be in darkness and in the light at the same time. You cannot. Because as soon as the light gets turned on, the darkness disappears. Unless you run from the light and you run to darkness. How you receive the word of God depends on where you're headed.
If I told you that in the next few minutes we're going to have 10 officers fully clothed and in uniform march into this room, it will hit you different. Some of you may feel protected. Maybe this is Officer Joe's friends, right? They want to know Christ. He witnessed them and they all came.
Maybe having police presence in our church, maybe you feel safer. And we have officers in our church and their presence makes us feel safer, maybe, right? Or maybe you just blew through about four or five lights and you thought you didn't get caught. But you did, you know. And so the officers decide, you know what, let's scare these guys.
And so they came in here to write the tickets for everything that you thought you got away with. Depending on what's in your heart, the police of authority and power is going to affect you differently. And the Bible says the light, the word of God, the presence of Christ, the Holy Spirit, will naturally shun the light.
Let me ask you, if we want utter darkness in this room, what do we have to do? If I ask you, you know, and I don't want to see anything, like turn -- okay, I already said it. What do you have to do, right? Get rid of all the source of light.
So the first thing that's obvious is turn off the light. But we're in the middle of the day, so if you turn off the light, you're going to have light coming in, right, through these holes, or maybe through the cracks of the door. Anywhere that light is coming in, you'd have to figure out a way to block that light.
Correct? Right? You don't need to figure out, like, how do we make it darker in here? There's no system, there's no -- we gathered together and we found a new way to bring darkness into this room. All you have to do is to make it as dark as possible is to prevent any light from coming in.
That's the Satan's work. All Satan has to do is to prevent the light from having its presence in darkness. That's all we have to do. There's no special strategy, there's no new science that will shun if we turn this switch on, this machine makes everything dark. No, you just have to prevent the light.
If you want to make a dark room to be bright, what do you do? Is there some other way? Is there some mechanism where you just turn a machine and it's just like somehow there's a new way of brightening the room? No, it's always been the light, whether it is through fire, the sun, or whether it's the light bulbs, or LCD, whatever it is.
All you have to do to brighten up a dark room is to turn the light on. And the brighter the light, the more the darkness disappears. And that's what he says that the church is supposed to do, that we are called to do. We are called to be the presence of light in darkness.
It's not that complicated. Until the church functions as the light, all the concerns that we have of what the darkness is doing, it's just, to be honest, it's just a waste of time. Because there is no new method to deal with darkness other than to function the way God had called us to function.
Right now, again, I know that you already know because I've said it multiple times, our greatest need is not more churches. It's not more churches. Just in Orange County, we have hundreds of churches, hundreds. And that's just in our denomination. If you include all the churches, we have probably tens of thousands, maybe a hundred thousand or more.
The problem is that we don't lack churches. We don't have churches that are shining the light to function as a lampstand. And so, yes, we are in dire need of healthy churches, churches that's going to shine the light, that reflect the word of God. So he says, what good is it if you're the salt and you lose its flavor?
What good is it other than to be trampled onto the ground? What good is it if you light a lamp, if you're going to put it underneath the table? What purpose does that serve? All we need to do to combat darkness is shine brighter. To live like Christian. To be obedient.
To reflect Christ. To do what he called us to do, to function like the way we're supposed to function. We cannot be worried about darkness while our light is flickering. While our own light is dim. And then somehow, that we're going to muster up enough strength and knowledge and courage to fight the darkness if our light is dim?
No, all you have to do is brighten the light that is already in you. Brighten the light. If you've been living with the night light just functioning, then all you need to do to fight darkness is to turn that light on brighter. Matthew 5.16, "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven." I've read books and heard sermons from pastors in the last 20 years who are trying to sell social justice, talking about how we need to separate the gospel from our good works.
Because the world is going to think that we're somehow manipulating them if we feed the poor and take care of the need and we preach the gospel. It's like, "Oh, the only reason why you're good to me is so that I can become a Christian." So therefore, we need to separate.
We need to do good works and the gospel preaching needs to be separate. Utter nonsense. If somebody asked me, "The only reason why you're good to me is because you want to share the gospel with me." One hundred percent. One hundred percent. Because if I believe that you're going to be judged, what kind of friend would I be if I feed you, care for you, take care of your needs, and I never share the gospel?
If I knew that you had cancer and I had a cure of cancer and I feed you, take care of you, shelter you, but I never give you the medicine for cancer, what kind of a friend would I be? So the good works was never meant to be independent.
Good works is to come along with the gospel so that they may see the light. Purpose of the light is to shine on darkness and when we function the way God wants us to function, it naturally casts out darkness. Therefore, he says, number three, pay careful attention to what you hear, Luke 8, 18.
So take care how you listen for whoever has to him more shall be given and whoever does not have even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him. What's interesting is the word for take care is blepo. In Greek, blepo basically means to open your eyes to let light in.
He says if you, considering that you have been called to be the light, let light in. That's what it means. How do you let the light in? Listen. Listen carefully. Be a righteous, good listener of the word of God. Let the light in. In Matthew 17, 5, when Jesus is introduced to us and the heavenly father says, "This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased," listen to him.
First and foremost, if we want to be the best light that God wants us to be, he says you have to let the light in. That's why worship is central because worship is first receiving and giving to reflect who he is. If you're not a worshiper of God, you can't reflect who he is.
He says, first and foremost, pay very close attention. Listen to my son. Listen to his word. In Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 2, 13, Paul says that this city was a model city. This is what it says, "For this reason, we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe." Now, what does Paul mean by that, right?
When they heard it, they heard it as the word of God, you know? Were they listening into it and says, "Okay, word of God, check," right? And they put it in a separate notebook? What does that mean? What did he observe that he said they receive what we are saying as the word of God?
What does he mean by that? Obviously, it's not simply his theological position. He's not saying that when he spoke, he recognized like, "Oh, that's God's word. Oh, this is your word." And so they were able to discern it. What does he mean by that? He means that it came with authority.
That when they spoke and they knew that it was from God, they jumped. That it wasn't just spoken as a theological position. It came to them with authority, God said. So whatever was coming out of Paul's mouth, they listened to it as God himself was speaking. And so the reason why they were able to know that is because of the way they responded to the word of God.
If Paul was just speaking, he said, "You know what? That's your opinion. Maybe that's your background. Maybe that's your experience. Maybe that's your journey." And they could take it or leave it. But when God speaks, you don't sit there and say, "Well, that's your experience. We don't know that." No, God speaks.
You don't talk back. You just follow. That's what he means. The Thessalonians heard the word of God. They heard it from God's word, right? Not man's. And then persecution happens in Thessalonica. They run for safety. And where do they end up? Let's see how many of you are Bereans.
Where do they end up? In Berea. That's where we get our church name, Acts 17.11, right? There's so much material on the Thessalonians. How he got there, the gospel was preached, and letters are written. Two letters are written to them. So we know a lot about the Thessalonians. We only know one thing about the Bereans.
Mentioned in Acts 17.11, it says, "Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica." What is it that they did that they're even more noble-minded than the Thessalonians? "For they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so." Oh, they were--I would think, like, if I preach the word of God and you start, like, "Is that really the word of God?" You know?
Maybe I would respond by saying, "What's wrong with you? You don't trust me?" Right? Paul says, "No, they were more noble." Right? The Bible says that they were more noble. Actually, it wasn't Paul, it was Luke who said that. They were more noble. Because they questioned Paul. Because they knew that the authority came from the word of God.
They weren't following man, they were following God. And so they were careful listeners. They listened carefully to see, "Is God speaking or is man speaking?" And the reason why they needed to know is because if it is the word of God, they respond differently. You can discount me. Right?
I mean, I've been preaching long enough, and I've been criticized about everything about me. Right? I mean, that's just the nature of standing in front of people. You can just stand here for--that's why people are afraid to stand in front of people, because you'll get judged. Right? And it's not because they're necessarily judgmental, it's just because we're human.
Because it's like, "Oh, he's wearing a--that tie doesn't fit. Look at his hair sticking up to the left." You know what I mean? I've been criticized about even the way I point. It's like, "How come you split your finger every time you point?" I never even knew that until they told me that.
And I went back to the video, it's like, "Yeah, I do do that. I don't know why I do that." Right? Or you have your hand in your pocket too much. Or maybe you tell too many stories. Or you're not telling enough stories. Everybody has their opinion of what it is.
So you can easily discount me. It's like, "I don't like it. He speaks too loud," or whatever. But at the end of the day, whether you like the style or you don't like the style, at the end of the day, was the Word of God preached? Right? The content of what it said.
But if you discount everything that is being said simply by, "I don't like the style," or, "I don't like this," or, "You didn't say this enough." And so every week, you're just kind of discounting the content of the Bible. If the Word of God is open, to be a careful listener means that you receive it as God's Word.
Right? Not everything that I say, but the content of what it says. That's why we want to expose the Word of God to you. You know, there's a lot of things I can do up on the pulpit. Entertain you, tickle your ears, tell you stories, you know, maybe cause you to have a greater heart, whatever that may be.
And you can leave this room because maybe I did a good job. I've been doing this long enough to know if I did this and say this and if I kept my sermon this way and gave more stories and illustrations and organized them. And I could cause you to feel a certain way after the sermon is over, but at the end of the day, that's all it is.
It's fluff. I presented a lot of time just decorating the gift. The gift is the Word of God itself. It says to be a good listener. So I want to go through four bad listeners and one good listener that we are called to be. One, a bad listener, number one, is somebody who is dull of hearing.
In Hebrews 5, 11-12, "Concerning him, we have much to say, and it is hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing." In other words, he says he can't go deep into theology because you just don't have the appetite. So as soon as we go beyond God loves you, has a wonderful plan for your life, which, you know, it's true.
For believers, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. For believers. But as soon as we get beyond that and we talk about Melchizedek, and we start talking about the Leviticus and we start talking about the covenants and how God is using all of that, it gets dull of hearing.
I don't want to hear it. Just tell me about the love of Christ. Why do we have to get so theological? The reason why we get theological is because it's in the Bible. It's in the Bible. So we're trying to teach the whole counsel of God, not just pick and choose what you like.
So somebody who is dull of hearing is you keep hearing the same thing over and over again. You become desensitized. There's no longer any kind of movement. And he says, "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again or someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food." I think Vody Bachman did such a great job illustrating this.
And he said passionately, he said, "Christianity is the only thing that men engage in for decades and think that we are humble when we say, 'I don't know.'" If somebody says that they were an electrician for 30 years, we would assume that guy would be the expert. If somebody was a plumber and he said, "I've been a plumber for 50 years," you would think that that guy is the expert.
Whatever it is that you're doing, right? Whatever it is that you're doing. You change tires, you're the expert. You've been doing it for 30 years. Only Christians. You could have been a Christian for 30 years. You're like, "I don't know. I asked my pastor." You've been studying the Bible for 30 years.
"I don't know. I don't know anything." "Where's Leviticus?" "I don't know. I'm not a pastor. I'm not a missionary." Only Christians. It's become normal to be in the church for decades and don't know any more than when you first entered the church, where that has become normal. It says, "Don't be a dull hearer." At some point in your walk with God, we need to become teachers.
We need to become evangelists. We need to become disciple makers. If you've been a disciple and only a disciple for more than a decade, you may have become dull of hearing. Two, selective hearers. You pick and choose what you want to hear. 2 Timothy 4.3, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires." These people are good listeners.
They're very attentive. Only if they like what they hear. They're very selective. They pick and choose. So they choose churches based upon whatever leaning that they have. And I want to go to church for this reason. I want to go to church that's going to tell me these things or preach this way.
Not the whole counsel of God. And so there are large numbers of people who will only go to church if they never feel judged. Always feel encouraged at the end of the sermon. Always. Every sermon. But people who want their ears tickled are not all people who only demand grace.
There's also people who have leaning toward judgment. They're angry, and so God's angry, and so you need to be angry. And so the people who are selective hearers are whatever happens to be your hobby horse, that that becomes what tickles your ear. And so these are selective hearers. They hear only if you say what I already agree with.
You're not listening to truth. The Bible, if you talk about the harshest or the most offensive things that you could have possibly heard in the pulpit, read the Bible directly. Anything that you've been offended by, by the pulpit, pales in comparison to what's actually written in the Bible. You talk about judgment, like wipe out the whole nation, even the animals, even the children.
To wipe them all out. God was so angry with the world that he killed all of them except for eight. A third of the heaven and earth is just wiped out because of his anger. So whatever you may have been offended by that was preached in the pulpit, read the Bible itself.
It is much harsher, much more direct, much more fierce than what you may have ever heard in the pulpit. But no matter how gracious and loving and patient, no matter how gracious that is you've heard from the pulpit, read the Bible. God's love and grace and mercy and patient goes far more deeper than you could have possibly imagined.
The same Bible has both. The same Bible that tells us that if you love your mother and father more than me, you cannot be my disciple. The same Bible tells us that if you want to live long and prosper, you must honor your father and mother. The same Bible tells us that.
So how do we apply this? You need to hear the whole counsel of God. All of the scripture, not just pick and choose, not just the New Testament, the Old Testament, Leviticus and Numbers. And we need to hear all of it because all of it is a presentation of his light.
So he says you need to be good listeners, not dull of hearing, not selective. And then there are slow hearers, James 1, 19 to 20. "This you know, my beloved brethren, but everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger." What does it mean to quick to hear?
Quick to hear is you're eager to learn. Somebody who is quick to speak has already made a judgment. Any word, anything that you said, I've already judged you. I've already pegged you. He says no, a quick listener is somebody who is committed to understand. One of the people that have the hardest time applying this is pastors that I found.
It's not just pastors, but that's my field, so I know this better. I remember, as you guys know, and I've shared this before, years ago when I used to run a business out in Vegas. Vegas is such an interesting town that you shouldn't go to. Vegas is such an interesting town because every time they have a convention, you have like hundreds of thousands sometimes of them coming in all at the same time.
So when you see a NASCAR fan, one person, you say, "Oh, that guy's nice." But when you see 10,000 of them, it's like, "Oh, there's a certain culture in this group," right? So I used to love it when the NASCAR fans and the Cowboys used to come to town because they save money all year long, and they just want to have fun.
They're just happy-go-lucky. They're very generous. It's not because they're rich. They're just happy to be there, and they want you to be happy. The most obnoxious group of people that I met were there was a sales convention. Like 50,000 salesmen came into town. Every single one of them was the best seller.
Every single one of them made millions of dollars, right? But they all failed. But at one point, they saw them be millionaires, and they're constantly selling, constantly talking. And you see one or two of them, you say, "I have one thing." But when I saw a convention of them, I was like, "Wow, these guys are obnoxious." And then we had one group of people come in, and I'm going to kind of go off track.
We had TV executives come into town. We had 30,000 of them at a convention. It's like, "Wow, they were the worst." I hope there's no TV executive in here. All right. Because they're white-collar workers who are used to having the movie stars and models, and people want to be kissing up to them because they want to get a gig or something.
And you have a whole town filled with them, and they talk down to everybody. Is this wrong to say this? I'm just telling you what I observed. And they don't care what you're thinking. They don't care where you're at. They're just ordering people around. They're quick to speak, slow to learn.
Nobody likes being around that. Every time I'm--again, I'm not saying that pastors do this on purpose, but because our job is to give counsel and to teach, we're sometimes too quick to speak, and I'm guilty of that. And so whenever I'm in a room filled with pastors, I actually have to pray in the morning, "Lord, help me to keep my mouth shut because I'm going to be in a room filled with people competing to speak.
Let me first be a listener," right? Half the time I fail, right? Usually I get into some kind of a discussion, you know, argument about some theology, right? But that's what it means. A slow hearer is somebody who's not ready to listen, right? And you know how that feels if you're married to somebody like that, right?
They just have a lot to say, but they don't--they make no effort to understand you. And if you're one of those people, right, change. There's no other way, okay? Be a good listener. Third, fourthly, forgetful hearers. James 1, 23-24, "For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror.
For once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was." The purpose of the mirror is so that we can see what we look like so we can change. Every Sunday before I come into this room, I have to check the mirror, right?
And I don't check the mirror to admire myself, right? That's not a gift that God gave me. I check the mirror because I had so many times where I had my collar like this, and I preached a whole sermon. I don't know how many times I preached sermons like this.
And then I go outside, and then somebody--you know, I would go into the mirror, and I'd see, and it's like, "Nobody said anything." You're Asians, right? You're so afraid to offend. It's like, "No, I need help," right? So I would look to Esther sometimes and see--and sometimes I don't see her, but she would say, "Your collar is not on." So I have to go and check in front of the mirror.
If I don't go in there, it's just like, "Oh, yeah, I did a good job today," right? So when you woke up in the morning, did you go into the bathroom to admire your work, right? Is that why you went and checked yourself? It's like, "Oh, man, nice," and then you walked away, right?
Is that why you hung the mirror? I'm thinking probably most of us did not, right, so that you could see. Did you put your lipstick--did you put it on? You thought you put it right, and it's all over your face, and you got to erase that? Whatever it is that you've done, it's not right, and to fix it.
He says the Word of God is like a mirror that comes before you, and he forgets. He just walks away. It's like somebody who's looked himself in the mirror, and he's like, "Nice," and then he just walks away. That's what he's describing. The forgetful here, the Word of God has no impact on your life.
That's a forgetful here. And then fifth and finally, which is connected to the seeds, Luke 18. "But the seed and the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart and hold it fast, bear fruit with perseverance." Here's the Word of God, and you don't just hear it like, "Oh, I like it," or, "I didn't like it." An honest and good heart, meaning that you saw the Word of God is a reflection who causes you to see your own sins.
Where do you stand? Are you the first soil, second soil, third soil, fourth soil? Are you a good hearer? Do you have a good heart? Are you listening, and all you're doing is accumulating knowledge? If all you do week after week is hear the Word, and then you just walk out, it's like, "Oh, nice," right?
"Thank you for that great sermon," or, "Can you keep it short?" And you just critique the sermon, and then you go out, and nothing changes about you. Nothing has penetrated into you. All you are doing is accumulating knowledge that you can reveal to other people. A good hearer is somebody who hears it and is honest and reflection on themselves, a good heart.
And you say, "How is what you've heard going to change you? What application are you going to make from what you've heard? How is it going to cause you to be a greater light? What modifications? What discipleship? What will change because the Word of God came into you?" If we're going to be the light, we need to allow a greater and greater influence of that light in our life.
Not to be satisfied with a dim light. Not to be satisfied with a night light. Just enough light so you don't stub your toe. That you don't live in a dimly lit room. Just enough so you can go to the bathroom. Just enough so you can go to the kitchen.
But not to live in. Not to function in. Not to work in. To turn the light on. To be the light that Christ called us to be with a good and honest heart. Who hold it fast and then bear fruit as you continue to persevere. How will the Word of God affect you?
And let me close with this. Revelation 3.20 says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Every time the Word of God is open to you, the light is coming in and Christ is knocking on the door. You need more light in this room. And he's knocking on the door because when you open the door, the light will come in.
He says, "If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him." Light will come in and I will dine with him and he with me. No matter where you are in your walk with God, every time you hear the Word of God, it's God, it's Christ in his light knocking on your door.
Will you open the door? Will you let the light in? So that we may be the light that he has called us to be. Don't say you're the light and then hide it under a table. And then cover it up and wondering why you're not bearing fruit. Let Christ's light shine on us.
So this morning as we participate in the communion table, I'm going to ask the leaders to come up. And as we prepare for the communion table, again, he says to do this in remembrance of him. We do this in remembrance of him. This is where Christ goes to the cross and he shines the light on the world to show them his holiness and his love.
And he invited us to himself. And because of what Christ has done on the cross and because of his resurrection, we have new life in Christ. And so we do this in celebration and remembrance. Nobody comes to this table by their own merit. If you're looking at this week or this month and you say, "You know what, I just didn't walk right with God so I can't come to the communion table." Then you have completely missed understanding of the communion table.
We come because we are in need. Because we are in need of grace. You can only participate in the communion table when you recognize that you are in need of his grace. So wherever you are in your walk with God, we don't want to participate in an unworthy manner.
So you can be unworthy by two ways. One, that you think somehow you've earned your way to come here. That's an unworthy way of participating. Two, an unworthy way is you have unrepentant sin. Repentant sinners are welcome. You know that this is an area that God's knocking and you refuse to open.
Take this time to come before God and confess your sins. Receive forgiveness. And come participate. And say thank you for what he has done. So when you are ready, again, this is for people who are baptized believers that we invite to participate. If you are not a believer at this point or you have not been baptized, we ask that you would be seated at your seat because this is more of an anniversary ceremony to remember our covenant relationship with God.
Baptism is a ceremony that unites us to Christ. So we ask that those of you who are ready, after we sing our communion song, that one by one you would come and participate. In 1 Corinthians 11, 23 it says, "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread.
When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.'" This is my body given for you This is the cup that holds the blood of the new covenant This is forgiveness, simple and true This is the way that I have made for you Before you weep, before you dream Take a long look inside and tell me what you see He said, "Do this in remembrance of me" This is the bread of life broken for you This is the cup that holds the blood of the new covenant This is the love of Christ born out anew This is the Son of God who died for you Before you weep, before you dream Take a long look inside and tell me what you see Then do this in remembrance of me Do this in remembrance of me Before you weep, before you dream Take a long look inside and tell me what you see Then do this in remembrance of me Do this in remembrance of me When you are ready, we invite you to come to the communion table.