Hopefully, you guys are a little bit refreshed from the breakfast or are you guys more sleepy? So, yeah, I'm sleepy. There's a book that was written a while ago called Spiritual Depression, I don't know if you've ever seen it, by Martin Lloyd-Jones. But in the opening chapter, he actually says, "Talk to yourself, don't listen to yourself because the more you listen to yourself, the more depressed and negative you will become because most of the thoughts that go through your head are negative." And I think with anything, negative things actually sometimes weigh heavily more on us than just positive stuff.

You can hear nine compliments and it's the one criticism that we end up latching on to a lot of times, right? Yesterday's message was heavy. But one thing I don't like about just like turn or burn messages, and that wasn't what it was, but, you know, turn or burn preachers, that's not the whole counsel of God.

That's one aspect of…it's not necessarily wrong, but there is grace, forgiveness, God's goodness, security, eternal hope, salvation, all of that is also in what we looked at yesterday. So what I want to do is look through this passage again and then read farther down and then we'll pray. So starting at verse 13, and I'm hoping that you guys had good discussions yesterday and some of the stuff we're going to be covering today, you may have already talked about amongst yourselves about how do we know whether or not we're saved.

But here we go, verse 13 down all the way to 29, all right? So just follow along. "Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and there are few who find it.

Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles are they. So every good tree bears good fruit but the bad tree bears bad fruit.

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter.

Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.' Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.

The rock fell and the floods came and the winds blew and slammed against that house and yet it did not fall for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

The rain fell and the floods came and the wind blew and slammed against that house and it fell and great was its fall. And when Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at his teaching for he was teaching them as one having authority and not as their scribes." Let's pray together.

Father, thank you for this morning and we pray that you would speak, that you would really carve out the, just the junk on our hearts and that you would implant again afresh your holy word into the very fabric of our hearts and that your word would leave an indelible mark and impression on our souls.

So we pray that you would magnify your word this morning and pray these things in Jesus' name. So yesterday at night we learned that we need to be careful not to follow the crowds, to follow blind guides, nor to follow blindly and to not follow false fruits. And you guys had good discussions.

Hopefully they were very honest, good reflection. We talked about the road that leads to destruction yesterday, but if you look at this passage, we also learned that there is indeed a path that leads to life. So what are we to do to ensure we're on the small and narrow, that we're on the right road, that we will enter the kingdom of heaven?

So if you actually look at verse 21 of chapter 7, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,'" the other place in Scripture where you see this repeat, "Lord, Lord," is in the parable of the ten virgins. The five virgins were not prepared in Matthew 25 verse 11. They say, "Lord, Lord," too.

But there are five who are prepared, right? So in that parable, the five other virgins are well aware of the expectations of the bridegroom, they do the will of the bridegroom, and they wait patiently for him, so they do enter. Verse 23, it says, "If Jesus does not know those who practice lawlessness," he also says, "then who does he know?" Who enters the kingdom of heaven?

Those who do practice the law, right? So if you look at this passage, you do see a group of people also entering the kingdom of God, okay? And I said yesterday, my assumption is that most of you are on that path, but you do need to examine because guaranteed, not all are on that path.

In every church, in every context, there are always people who look sound and feel like Christians, but they are not. That's in every church. Okay? There's a book called "Pagans in the Pews" that was written a few years ago that talks about that, okay? So you do need to reflect often.

So yesterday, basically, the message was be careful not to drift. Today's point is, here's how not to drift, all right? So we're going to be looking at just this following passage. So verse 24 starts with "therefore." And again, we're learning that the word "therefore" in every section of Scripture is very important.

It bridges what was said in a previous section. This high-tech stuff. These, this, ugh. Is that okay? Is it like flopping? Okay, we're good. So "therefore" is very important. Since you need to take care to enter the small and narrow, what do you need to do to ensure you are on the small and narrow?

"Therefore." Okay, that's the whole section. So those on the small and narrow, according to verse 24, are those who hear and do the word. Hopefully, that sounds familiar to some of you guys, right? So when you guys memorize, who are, how many of you are memorizing through the book of James?

Is this section reminiscent of anything that you've done, gone through so far? Yeah, to hear and do. So what can save you, according to the book of James? The word that's in planet. So we see in this passage, verses 24 and down, there are two builders, okay? One builds his house on the rock, one builds his house on the sand, the rain comes and tests its foundations.

So there are two guys here that are responding to the words of Christ. And there are three things that both of these guys have in common. The first thing that they have in common is both hear the word. Yeah, that's the first thing they have in common, both hear the word.

So both of these builders, the one on the wide and the broad, the one on the small and the narrow, they're both building, okay? And both of these builders have an opportunity to be restored to the creator. So that opportunity is given and there is no neutral response. So you either respond positively or negatively, okay?

So both hear the word. And you guys know Romans 10, 17, it says, "And faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." So you cannot come to salvation without hearing the word of Christ. So both hear it and their outcome is based on their response. The second one, both are building, both are doing something in response to this word.

So this is general, but basically this individual is responding to what has already been revealed to him. And we don't have too many details here about what building on sand looks like and what building on rock looks like. But when you actually look through the other parts of Scripture, you can assume the one building on sand is responding in the flesh, okay?

He's responding in the flesh. And whether that's outright rebellion or a legalistic religious effort, he is building in the flesh. So you hear the word of God and you can respond in the flesh, and that's building on sand. But the point here is the guy who's building his house on the rock is the one who hears the word of God, and in a response of gratitude, he's building on the foundation of Christ, okay?

So how do we not drift is what we're going to be looking at today. And how do we then build on this rock? And this is the definition I'm going to give you. What does it mean to build on the rock? Building on the foundation of Christ's life, death, and resurrection, and living every day in the strength of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

And I'll repeat that. What does it mean to build on the rock? Building on the foundation of Christ's life, death, and resurrection, and living every day in the strength of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Building on the foundation of Christ's life, death, and resurrection, and living every day in the strength of the indwelling Spirit.

That is what it means to build on the rock. Okay? So first thing they have in common is both hear the word of Christ preached. Second thing they have in common, both respond by building. And the third thing they have in common is the wind and the rain come on both.

So both are judged. Judgment comes to just test the foundation. Okay? Both hear the word, both are building, and both have the wind and the rain come. So I gave you this definition, building on the foundation of Christ's life, death, and resurrection, and living every day in the strength of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

What is that? Okay, so I'm going to break it up into two parts. So building on the foundation of Christ's life, death, and resurrection, turn with me in your Bible to 1 Corinthians chapter 3, and verses 11 to 13 is going to be what I'm going to be reading.

1 Corinthians chapter 3, verses 11 to 13. So building on the foundation of Christ's life, death, and resurrection is this. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident, for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work.

I'll keep reading a little bit more. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Okay, so I'm going to stop there. So the foundation is Christ, and from that foundation of Christ, all of our religious activity, all of our life is a grateful response to the mercies of God and the sacrifices of Christ. You do not do anything to earn your salvation. You can't do anything to gain extra favor from God.

Everything that you build on is out of a grateful response to this great privilege of a relationship that you've been given. So if you are actively trying to serve God to impress people, if you're trying to actively serve God to run away from your past, if you're trying to actively serve God in order to get extra reward in heaven, you're building wrong.

So Christ's life, death, and resurrection, everything was sufficient for our inheritance as princes in the kingdom of God. So it was sufficient. We have access to God. You can't add to that. You cannot do more to be more loved on by God. You guys following me? So the question is not so much, if I do this, will I lose my salvation?

If I engage in this kind of sin, will God throw me into hell? That's not the question you should be asking. The question is, am I giving God my whole heart as he deserves? Am I giving God my very soul as he deserves? Is my worship to God really with all of me?

That's the question that we should be asking rather than, is this going to cause me to be church disciplined? Is this going to cause me to be condemned into hell? Okay? So building on the foundation of Christ's life, death, and resurrection. Second, living every day in the strength of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

So your effort to please God is not going to be what bears fruit. Okay? So we're looking at this morning, the parable of the four soils. It's a word of God that bears a fruit. Your effort does not bear the fruit. Okay? So if you're like, oh, I'm going to win more souls to Christ, that's not going to bear fruit.

Oh, I'm going to be more godly this coming year, that's not going to bear fruit. What's going to bear the fruit is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Right now I'm 40 years old. Up until I was 25, I did not look anything like my dad, except my shoulders and my hands.

So when my wife met my dad for the first time, she said the first thing that she noticed, and really the only thing that she kept looking at was his hands. Because they're short fingers, they're a little bit chubby, but you make a fist, it's pretty wide, enough to kind of cover a whole face.

Short fingers, thick and chubby. So it's like sausages. So she was like, your dad has sausage fingers too. So that's the only thing. The rest of me is all my mom, except the shoulders and my hands. And that's interesting because now, so my, Rebecca met my dad when I was around 24, 25.

But now as I'm getting older, whenever my relatives see me, they actually say, it's so weird. You looked nothing like your dad, but now more and more, like I see your dad in your face. Your frame is starting to become more like your dad. Now is that something that I try to do?

Do I try to make my hands extra sausagey? What happens if I eat too many things, right? It becomes thicker, but the natural frame is not something that I have to try to be like my dad in. It is part of my DNA. Now if I just feed myself, if I sleep, if I exercise, if I just maintain my body, all of that latent potential in my DNA will get me to looking like my father.

How many of you guys look like your parents? Like spot on. Do you try to be that? No. It happens. So we are building in a response of worship to God, but the Spirit of Jesus Christ who is dwelling in our hearts is going to be doing all the work.

So if you are a child of God, you're going to start resembling your heavenly father more and more with each passing day as long as you are maintaining and eating and drinking and resting. You will look more and more like your heavenly father. You know, if I, let's say, don't eat for like five months, six months, regardless of my DNA, I probably will not look like my dad.

You guys following me? I will look shriveled and sick and gaunt. But if I just proceed normally as I would day to day, I start resembling my father more and more. And that was a question that we asked yesterday, like in the last five years, and five is an arbitrary number, but five years is enough where you can kind of gauge, am I more Christ-like now than I was five years ago, or am I exactly the same?

That was why that question was in there. How do you build on the rock of Christ? You eat, you drink, you rest, and he does all the work. You guys following me? If you try to earn more favor from God, you are working and responding in the flesh. That is not how you get on to the small and the narrow.

Building on the foundation of Christ's life, death, and resurrection, and living every day in the strength of the indwelling Holy Spirit. I am a human being. When I was born, I don't remember this, but I probably craved milk as a human being. I did not crave plankton. I did not crave worms.

I did not crave what other animals eat. As a human being, I was born and I craved milk. If you are a child of God, this is one way to know for sure. If you have zero craving for the Word of God, if you have zero desire to grow in your knowledge of the Word of God, if you have absolutely no interest in what God has to say, you are not a Christian.

Does this make sense? Animals crave milk. Fish do not. So you can tell whether or not you're on this wide and the broad. If you're someone who loves church, who loves hanging out, who's always quick to try to do stuff at church, but you have zero desire for the Word of God and communion with God, you are not a child of God.

And that's one of the surefire ways to tell if someone is genuinely a believer or not. A spiritual soul will crave pure spiritual milk of the Word of God. Now we all stumble, and that's for sure. We all kind of like sway a little bit. We all like struggle.

We trip, we fall, we, you know, in James chapter 3 verse 2, if you guys are memorizing through it, what does it say? We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is able to shoot. No, we all stumble in many ways. I had this. I did this just this morning.

Is a perfect man, or we all stumble in many ways, but if anyone doesn't stumble in what he says, he's a perfect man able to bridle his whole body as well, right? Okay, see, that was actually on purpose. It's just to test you guys. We all stumble. We are not perfect.

But at the end of the day, there's going to be something in your heart that longs to have God. Okay? And on that longing, you will be building. So the Holy Spirit working in our hearts through His Word is what bears fruit, and that's all over Scripture. One more time, the Holy Spirit, which is a seal and deposit, it's our spiritual DNA, right?

The Holy Spirit working in our hearts through His Word will bear fruit. Not your effort. The why is more important than the what you do. And the why, if it's all Holy Spirit just producing work, you will be sanctified and you will grow and you will become more and more like Christ and you can't stop it.

Okay? If the Holy Spirit is working within your hearts. This morning, I had you guys read through the parable of the four soils. And this is something you guys are probably familiar with. We teach it in Sunday schools. Okay? First soil. It's not even a soil. It's a path.

Right? The first thing I think is like, man, when I initially thought about this, I thought, what a bad farmer. He's throwing seed onto the sidewalk. Right? What a derelict, like, that's like such a waste. But then I started thinking about why he did that and it made me appreciate God a little bit more.

Why does he do this? Because he gives everybody an opportunity. Okay? He just throws it out there and then we read that the devil takes it away. In Matthew's account, it says the message of the kingdom is preached and the people don't get it. They don't understand it. So the devil just snatches it away.

The second soil is rocky soil. So it has soil with rocks in it and it looks like it's bearing fruit. Sometimes actually, it bears fruit faster. The temptation comes in, persecution comes in, and it kills the fruit because there's no roots. And that's the second type of soil. Third type of soil you guys read about this morning, it's a type, a soil that has thorns.

So as a fruit is growing up, what happens? These thorns come and choke it out. And I will say this, for you guys living in Orange County, you are more like, you are more in danger of being like soil three than two. But somewhere between two and three is where we may all be if we're not careful.

Okay? So look at chapter eight, verse 14 of Luke. You don't need to turn there, but it says this. The worries of this life, riches, and pleasures choke the word and there is no fruit. Is this not Orange County? What are those three things? Worries, riches. In Matthew 13 it says the deceitfulness of wealth, it's the same thing.

Worries, riches, pleasures. You need to be careful of these thorns that you don't drift. Not just if you're following me. Okay? You may have desires to grow Godward, but these thorns, worries, riches, pleasures come and choke it out. What are worries? Man, my retirement isn't enough. Man, what will people think of me if everyone has a house and I don't?

Will I ever be able to get married working this job? What if I never get married? God forbid. What if they don't accept me? What if I get sick? And a lot of times we're working hard to make sure everything's protected. Right? Worries. What's the second one that he lists?

Riches. I keep emphasizing that the opposite of poor is not rich. The opposite of poor is what? Enough. And everything beyond enough you're supposed to use to build the kingdom of God. That's scriptural. Opposite of poor is not rich. The opposite of poor is enough. And everything outside of enough, everything outside of your daily bread, you're supposed to be investing into the kingdom of God, not padding your future, what do you call that?

Security. Riches. Okay? You guys may not be blatantly materialistic. There's no Maseratis out in our parking lot. There's no Lamborghinis out in our parking lot. Is there? No. You might not necessarily be flashy, but in your heart there is this susceptibility. It's still early for me. There's a susceptibility to want this world.

First John 2.15, what does it say? Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Be careful. And the third one is what? Pleasures. Worries, riches, pleasures. Some of you are like, "No worries. I don't worry about the future.

Live for today. Carpe diem. Seize the day." Right? And all the FOMO and all that stuff. I'll just do it, you know, I only live once. Oh, that's not FOMO. YOLO. Okay? You know, I only learned BOGO like two weeks ago. What is all this stuff? What? No worries.

I don't need to worry about my future. Some of you guys are like, "Dude." Millennials are like, "Yeah, I'm not really -- I don't really care too much about like wealth. I'm more about the experiences." Right? Pleasures. As soon as I come home, I deserve to be entertained. I deserve to enjoy me time.

Right? And so there are those dangers. And I don't even need to elaborate on these things. Your brain can already just kind of go to what those dangers are. So be mindful. Fourth fruit or fourth soil is born long-term. So it actually doesn't look like it has fruit in the beginning, but you give it enough time, it becomes an unshakable tree.

That no matter what happens, it's being just strong, stable, mature, unflappable, unshakable. And there has been an anchoring of the soul. And if this soil were a house, the foundation would be the rock of Jesus Christ. Again and again in Scripture, you'll see who enters the kingdom of heaven.

In the parable of the four soils, actually, Luke chapter 8 verse 21, okay? The parable of the four soils and then a little bit after that, "Hey, your mother and your brothers are here, Jesus." And he says, "Who are my mother and my brothers? Whoever does the will of God is my mother and my brother and my sister." That's what he actually says.

So all over Scripture, one thing that you will notice that is the central theme is whoever hears these words of mine and puts them into practice, he is the one who has access to the kingdom. So that's the kind of person you would want to be, I'm assuming, right?

So what are the acts of building? It's building on the foundation of Christ's life, death, and resurrection and living every day in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. So like I shared, if you are a child of God, you will crave pure spiritual milk of the Word and as you feed off of the Word, you will bear fruit in your life.

So it's not like you try to bear fruit so you can access the kingdom of heaven. This is talking about Jesus Christ, who is your intercessor, whose work on the cross was perfectly efficacious, which means he will accomplish what he wants to accomplish in your life. You can't stop it if he wants you saved.

But if you are that person, he is going to bear fruit in your heart and in your life. So how do we apply all these truths? So therefore, and many will say to me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles?" And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you.

Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness." Therefore, how do we apply this? And you guys are Bereans, so you already know this, but you need to know the Word. You need to become excellent students of the Word. Now, don't get me wrong, reading, studying, and memorization of the Bible do not lead to salvation.

But you need to hear a lot so that you can do a lot. You need to constantly be hearing the Word of God so that you can grow. Now the question that you may or may not be asking in your head is, "Okay, how much Bible intake is enough?" Anyone have an answer?

How much Bible intake is enough? I'll answer it like this, okay? You don't need to grow in his Word anymore once you're free of sin. Until then, you need to intake his Word as if your very soul depended on it. And we learned yesterday, does your soul depend on the intake of the Word of God?

Yes. You need to feed off of the Word of God as if your very soul depended on it. Personally, for me, I am so easily corruptible. I see this in my heart. As I get older, the more and more I realize there is nothing good inside of me outside of Christ.

There's nothing good in me outside of Christ. So don't ever put your trust in me or any other pastors because outside of Christ, there is nothing good in us. I am easily tainted. So how much for someone who's easily tainted, super corrupt like me, how much intake of the Word of God is enough?

And I'll share with you personally, I calculated this. I'm in the Word about 12 hours a day. And that's not an exaggeration. I am in the Word 12 hours a day. And I'm still having to fight selfishness, irritability, pride, insecurity, greed, lust, mindless entertainment, gluttony, vanity. And in those 12 hours, as I'm doing these, just thinking through, reading the Word of God, I am constantly bombarded by temptation.

Do you know how many times I download a game onto my phone and then delete it two seconds later? I'm like, "That's so immature." Yeah. Do you know how many times I like, like when you're just scrolling through a website and there's an inappropriate image that you're almost tempted to click on it, do you know how many times it lingers for a second?

When there's an opportunity to show myself off, I want so much to take it. When I meet with old pastor friends, I want to tell them that I'm thriving in my ministry and then I wonder why. Is it to show them that like, like I'm aptly qualified for this job that I'm doing?

When I see my kids, I'm like, "Oh, OK. I played with them about 47 minutes. That's enough for my wife not to nag at me." Like, like there's always these wrestling things that are going on in my heart. So for me, the average of about 12 hours is not enough.

And because I was just thinking through all of this, wrestling with my weakness, I've actually started craving the Word of God more. Over the last few weeks, I've actually turned off the radio altogether. So when I'm driving, I'm just going through the Word, the books of the Bible in my head.

And it's still not enough. I stopped watching Netflix. I have zero games. Oh, I left the Bible trivia games. Because sometimes when you're, you know, doing your business in the bathroom, sometimes you need something. And I don't like going through the Word of God while I'm doing that. But I've cut out everything.

Not because those are things that like about, "Oh, is that sin? Is that not sin?" No, because my soul is so sick and tired of tripping and falling and stumbling. I hate this prone to wander heart. So I just cut out stuff. Because it's not so much I'm worried about my salvation.

I am not. And I'll talk about that later tonight. I have absolute freedom before God. I'm not worried about my eternal destiny. Because there is so much confidence, not in my flesh, but in the fact that God delights in me. But I want so much to give God glory and I hate the fact that I keep messing up at it.

So I'm like, "Lord, I need you." And so I am in His Word. I think I should just use a regular mic next time. It'll calm me down. I'm in His Word. Because if I'm not in His Word, I'm distracted. Distraction leads to entanglement. Entanglement leads to fruitlessness. If there are things that are in your life that's potentially causing you to drift, you need to cut them out and pursue Christ.

It's simple. Or easier said than done. As simple as that. If there is something that is distracting you, potentially entangling you, rendering you fruitless, you have to cut it out. But the problem is, you don't want to cut it out. Now, I'm sure you understand what I'm saying. I hate the fact that I love sin.

And I know you guys hate the fact that you love sin. But the only way to have victory really and enjoy it in Christ is to run away. But when you're running away from sin, you have to have something you're running toward. And if you're trying to just run away in your own strength, "I will not watch this.

I will not do this. I will not buy this. I will not call him. I will not call her." Though if that is all in your own strength and in your flesh, it won't work. You have to pursue Christ. Amen? You guys follow me? So how much Word is enough?

There are 1,189 chapters in the Bible, 929 in the Old Testament, 260 in the New. There are 31,102 verses in the Bible, 23,145 in the Old Testament, 7,957 in the New. How much of it do you need? All of it. The Great Commission says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them," what?

"Everything that I commanded you." Some of you guys who have a heart for missions and evangelism, are you going to just go and win them over to yourself? What are you going to do? What are you going to teach them? What are you going to feed them? And how are you going to feed them if you're not being fed?

Are you going to take the pastors with you on every evangelistic crusade? How are you going to take on this baton of teaching them everything that I commanded you if you're not in the Word? All of it. I'm discovering that I can't survive without His Word and I'll tell you what's not God's Word.

The Word of God is not God's Word. It's about God's Word and they're useful but God's Word is first. And for you guys who are into theology, make sure you're in the scriptures and let the Word of God form your theology, not the other way around. Quiet time books are not God's Word.

Some of you guys have been in quiet time books for a long time. That's an interpretation of someone's words. Or that's an interpretation, someone's interpretation of God's Word. That's not God's Word. You need to feed off of the Word of God. The purpose of your life is to know God and to make Him known.

Amen? What's your purpose? To know God and to make Him known. The purpose of your life is not your comfort. The purpose of your life is not your success. The purpose of your life is not church involvement. It's not fame. It's not wealth. It's not home ownership. It's not status.

It's not marriage. It's not parenthood. Not humanitarian efforts. The purpose of your life is to know God and to make Him known. Have you strayed from that purpose? And if so, I can guess that your intake of the Word is not very strong. The purpose of your life is to know God and make Him known.

So if you ever say you are too busy to read your Bible, your life is characterized by sin. Let me repeat that. That's pretty strong. If you ever say that you are too busy to read the Word of God, your life is being led in your flesh and there is rebellion in your life.

Craving for the Word of God is a reflection of your heart. It's not a reflection of your schedule. And I didn't say skim the Word of God. I said read. And that's one thing I don't like about Bible reading plans because it makes me skim. Now, if you guys understand what that feels like, yeah.

Oh, shoot, I have five chapters to read. And I did it, seven minutes. The purpose of your life is to know God and to make Him known. And whatever it takes for you to become an expert in the Bible, do it. Help others to do it. And I want to share with you about how I ended up here.

My life was a mess. And I became a pastor because I was good with people. My life was a mess. I could not control my thoughts. I could not control my emotions. My very standard of right and wrong was skewed and I saw my life falling apart. So I decided just to start memorizing His Word because I realized I can't change my thoughts.

Memorization and review of verses that I learned as a child turned into clumps of sections of Scripture. And then it turned into the book of Philippians. And then it went from Philippians to 1 John because when I started coming to Berean in '03, we were studying the book of 1 John.

So I was like, "Hey, why don't I just memorize it as we study it?" That turned into, "Oh, I don't know anything about this Old Testament prophet section. It sounds – they're so interesting. It's so weird. I don't know anything. I don't know how to touch it." So I decided just to memorize Obadiah because one time – it was a very short book.

But then I realized, "Oh, I could do this." So then I went to Habakkuk and Zephaniah. I was like, "Wait a minute. I'm able to retain all this stuff." And then I went to James and Galatians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Peter, 2 Peter. Next – over time, I discovered that because I wanted it, it was easier for me to remember this because I was doing it for survival.

It turned into 34 books of the Bible. And that changed my life. It changed my thinking. It changed my attitude. It changed my behavior. It took away my temper. It took away my foolish decisions. It caused me to be a better person, better pastor, better that time boyfriend. You know, before I got married, I told Becky, "I'm like this.

And I want to protect you from me. I'm going to do everything that I can not to mess this up. And I don't want to hurt you by being a bad boyfriend, hopefully, fiance, and then husband. I'm like this." And about two years ago, around year 10 of our marriage, Becky said to me, "You know, you've never been this." I was like, "Dude, God changed my life.

It wasn't my effort. He just started speaking to me every day through His Word. I wanted to do snooze button, but Proverbs 6, 6, 'Go to the ant, you slugger, consider its ways and be wise.' Oh, as the door turns on its hinges, so the slugger turns in his bed.

Every single thing started being dictated by the Word of God and started pinballing me in the direction that God wanted me to go. It changed me. It impacted my very personality. God speaks to me every single day, and sometimes I find it super annoying. But He does, not with an audible voice, but with His Word.

You know, my decision to come back to Berean, I just prayed five minutes. I prayed, "Lord, my dad asked me to come back. What do you want me to do?" Boom, honor your mother and father. This is the first commandment, the promise, 1 Timothy 5. If anyone doesn't take care of his own family, he is worse than an unbeliever.

And I know in context it might mean something different, but God spoke to me through those and took me five minutes to take three steps backward in my career to come here. And I haven't been happier. This is the happiest I've been in 10 years. You know how I ended up in China?

I hate China. Okay, let me rephrase this. Hate's a strong word. Not Chinese people. I didn't say Chinese people. We were sent to China to be there for one year. I committed to two more years. And then in the third year, even though I did not like China very much, I committed to the rest of my life there.

Because I couldn't shake this fact that the command is to go. And I'm wrestling with this call to stay in America. The command is to go. We need to be wrestling with the call to stay. Are you guys following me? The command is to bloom where you're planted. So I begrudgingly kept extending our stay in China.

It helped that the food was good. And it just took me for a journey. Every aspect of the last 10 years, 15 years of my life has been dictated by the word of God. It's changed me. And I'm seeing fruit. That's why I want you guys to memorize. Not to make you appear more holy, because it'll change you.

And some of you guys, I hear you joking around. "Brattle that tongue." Or, "Hey, you know, like, if anyone considers himself religious and does not brattle his tongue, his religion is worthless." You know, like, I hear you guys quoting that to each other. That's beautiful. Speak to each other in scripture.

So here are a few things that I'm regularly reminded of as I'm studying the word of God and as I'm looking to do it. One, God is God and I am not. That's in almost every chapter of the scriptures. God is God, I am not. Isaiah 55, 9. You guys have heard this before.

For my ways are higher than your ways, or for as high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts then? Your thoughts. You know what God is saying? If I'm going to put it in a, if I could twist that, "You are infinitely stupid compared to me," is what God is saying.

And I'm reminded of my stupidity before God every day. So people, someone has asked me, "Hey, you've memorized so much. Doesn't it ever cause you to be arrogant?" Absolutely not. It causes me to be terrified because I am more aware of how far I fall short. God is God, I am not, and if you get to know the scriptures, you will realize how holy he is, how great he is, and how dirty and small and puny and insignificant you and I are.

Another thing that I realize as I meditate through the word of God every day is this earth is not my home. How often does the scripture call you aliens and strangers? All over the place. But you guys are trying to take up residence in Orange County as if this is your eternal destination so that you enjoy a nice heaven here and then go to a nicer heaven in heaven because death comes to all of us, right?

This place is not your home. You know, I've been to many hotels, possibly more than half of you all combined. I've spent a lot of night, 100 days a year I was not in Korea when I was working at Compassion. I was in a hotel. And as nice as that hotel is, I don't buy new curtains for that hotel.

I don't buy a new couch. "Oh, that TV is ugly," or "Oh, that sofa is not, you know, to my liking." You don't readjust a hotel room, you just enjoy it for a time and then you check out. You don't take ownership of that hotel room. That's the same thing.

You guys are wandering through this life. Your home is in heaven. Don't root down too much. That's like me buying a new toilet for a hotel I'm going to stay in one day. "Ooh, warm." Right? Like, you know, you know what that is, right? To stay in a nice hotel for one day and I invest in a fancy toilet, that's stupidity and that's folly.

But that's how some of you guys are tempted to live, like that third soil. My home is here until I die and then I'm going to enjoy a nicer home. No, it's not. You're a tent pitcher here. And whenever you make a decision to peg that tent peg harder in this life, be careful.

Not sure if you understand why I'm saying be careful. This is not your home and that's another thing I'm reminded of. Third thing I'm reminded of is eternal life has already started for me. Eternal life does not start when you are in a coffin. When does eternal life start?

Now, because eternal life, John 17, 3, this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God that Jesus Christ for me have sent. Eternal life has already started. It's like this. I'm engaged to be married and once I get married, once we have our wedding, I will start asking questions and getting to know my wife.

The engagement process, there's already a commitment but you are getting to know each other through that whole process until you're finally wedded. Eternal life has already started. Take advantage starting now. Get to know this God. Get to know this Christ now. Another thing that I'm regularly reminded of in the scriptures is that I'm loved.

I am so loved and I am so aware of how much that I am loved, I feel so free. When I stumble, I get up right away. Oops, sorry dad. I'm up. My kids, they cause all kinds of problems every day. They draw on things they're not supposed to, they break things that they're not supposed to, they open stuff they're not supposed to.

That does not change my love for them. And in a moment, I hug them, kiss them, roll around with them because they're my children and they have freedom to do whatever they want because they know my love is not going to change. And because I am daily reminded of the love of God for me, I am free to love the people around me.

We love because he first loved us, 1 John 4:19. If you try to love in your own strength, in your own flesh, you will become bitter. And you've tried that probably, right? Try to love a mom or a dad who's very difficult to love in your own strength. Try to love a friend who just makes silly decisions in your own strength.

You're going to be like, "Ah," and then you have to take a breath. But when you are so free in the love of God, you can love other people without any expectations on their life. I'm also reminded that the Word of God really is life. It gives me wisdom.

It gives me insight into how I'm supposed to conduct myself day to day. And it teaches me that my objective in this life is to represent the love of God, to know Him, to make Him known. So how important is the Word of God to you is my question.

Four soils. First one, they don't get it. They don't understand it. It's beyond them. Satan takes it away. Second soil, ooh, that looks nice. But guess what happens? Persecution comes. Temptations come. And the sun shines on it, it blazes, and the fruit is gone. Third kind of soil, the wealth—sorry, worries of life, riches, pleasures, chokes out the Word.

You know the more you indulge in entertainment, does it cause you to want God more or does it cause you to slip more and more every day? You guys know the answer to that. You guys probably live it almost just regularly because I do. But the more you turn away your thoughts from just mindlessly entertaining yourself, the more you will start to be desperate for God and you start getting into a habit of feeding that hunger, it turns into fruit.

It turns into power. It turns into insight. The strangest thing, I text my former boss at Compassion. I'm praying for her, "Hey, for some reason I feel like you're stressed. Are you doing okay?" And she was at the hospital when she got that text. She's like, "How in the world did you know that?

I don't know. I just—you came into my mind." My thoughts are, when they're focused on God, He brings me people to reach out to. It's a strange thing how that works. But when I'm focused on entertaining myself, I think of how to hide so I can entertain myself more without distraction.

I told Becky, "You know how you could tell how spiritually well I'm doing or not? If I'm in the toilet more than 10 minutes, I'm not doing well. I mean, unless I'm really not doing well, okay? If I'm in the bathroom, I'm hiding from the kids. I'm hiding from you so I could read what I want to watch, read, watch, play, whatever.

But if I'm in and out, then you know I'm actually—my heart's right." So she was like, "That's the strangest test anyone has ever—" But I gauge it that way. I like sports, but I've weaned myself off it where I'm not really that interested because a lot of times they get my hopes up, "Who's being traded to the Lakers?" And it doesn't happen.

I get so discouraged. But my heart, especially over the last several weeks, it's just, "God, every moment I'm awake, I want to think about your Word." So this morning, I popped up and I was like, "Okay, Genesis 127, God created man in his own image and in the image of God, He created him.

Male and female created them. Genesis 218, then the Lord God said, 'It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helpful shooter for him.' Genesis 3-4, the serpent said to the woman, 'You surely will not die.' Genesis 3-15, 'I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed.

He shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel.'" So I'm going through the index cards in this one box that I have, and it's just going. And it continued while I was on that chair praying for you guys, and I just stopped praying after a couple minutes, and then I just started continuing on.

And I was in Haggai 1-3, and I feel so free and happy because I'm just constantly letting the Word of God just run through my head. And I feel blessed. And I'm claiming the promise of Psalm 1, "Blessed is the man who doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sinners, he who sees the mockers, what's his delight?" His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.

That's why I feel so free. And my encouragement to you guys is plant and drink deeply from His Word, and you're not going to worry about drifting. Because when you're not doing well, you wonder where that line is, right? How far do I have to go before I can't come back?

How far is this before it actually becomes sin? You stop asking that question when you're just delighting in God. But when you are not in His Word but you're indulging in the flesh, you're worried. Am I drifting? Am I the second soil? Am I the third soil? So I'm going to be honest with you.

I'm a sinner. I have lots of sins. I am immature. I am weak. I am not trustworthy. But one thing I can tell you, God is good. Christ is good. His Word is sweet, and He's changing me little by little every day because He's changing my thoughts. The best way to keep from drifting is not to try not to drift.

The best way to not drift is just to obsess at the anchor. Watch this if you understand this. If all you want is Christ, drifting is never going to be an issue. If all you want is Christ, you will stumble and then you'll pop back up. If all you want is Christ, over time you're going to want other people to want Christ just like you do.

But my challenge is every opportunity that you have, whether it's choosing the Word of God or not, choose the Word of God. And I guarantee it'll change you. Every person that I've seen undertake an intense meditation on the Word of God does not come out pompous. People who deeply meditate on theology, they can come out pompous.

If you are delighting in the Word of God, I've seen everybody who delights in the Word of God become gracious, become stable, become very loving. And the reason I wanted to, I mean, I didn't know what the theme was, but I figured, you know, it'd be good if I spoke at our retreat because then, like, you know, guest speakers, it's easy because you can go and preach whatever you want and then you're done.

But I wanted to do this first one and I never want to do this again because it's making, it's hard for me to really enjoy this retreat, okay? It's so that after we share and examine God's Word together, I'm still with you. So if there is a desire in your heart to enjoy His Word, to know His Word, to study His Word, scrutinize His Word, I will not say no to try to help you.

And I will connect you to other people who have those same interests because it is not Pastor Peter, Kim, Mark, Nate, or me that you need to follow. It is Christ. Amen? We can and may and will fail you. His Word will not. All we are are people trying to hold on to you and follow Christ.

But you need to attach to His Word before you attach to the pastors. Don't use your pastors as your source of main feeding. You guys follow me? But if as you're feeding off of the Word of God and you just want help, you want extra challenges, "Ooh, James, I'm almost done.

Ooh, give me another one." Okay, then Colossians, "Ooh." And you know one thing, just as a bonus, I remember almost every sermon that I've heard at Berean since March 18th when I first got back. Because every passage that Pastor Peter has preached out of, I either have memorized since or if I've already memorized that section, I memorize a reference verse that he quotes.

So Hebrews 1, I started memorizing Hebrews as Pastor Peter started the Hebrews. I mean, I did all this in the NIV. I have to switch all of it to the NASB. It's a little bit interesting. But that's what I'm doing. "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days He has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things and through whom He made the world.

And He is a radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature and upholds all things by the word of His power when He had made purification of sins." He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. I'm memorizing through Colossians 1. And it's just running through my head all day.

So Wednesday night Bible study, guess what happens when I'm ready to study it? I'm excited. I'm pumped. I'm, "Ooh, verse 24. What do we do with this?" Right? What is lacking in Christ's afflictions? And then after Pastor Peter shared, I thought, "Oh, that's a great way to remember." So I memorized Philippians 2.30 and memorized Romans chapter 10, verse 14.

Because he talked about how then will they call on the one whom they have not believed? How will they believe on Him who they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher? That is filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions. Ooh, good to know. I just memorized it.

The more you invest into the word of God, it's not going to make you arrogant or pompous or just haughty. It's going to make you fruitful. Isn't that what the Bible promises? Taste and see that the Lord is good. And my challenge to you is start cutting out things that you don't even really fully enjoy, but now you're just addicted to, and turn your attention to the word.

If you turn off TV and just sit there in the room, you're going to watch TV again. Your brain needs to be, your affections need to transfer themselves from this to this. And that, your pastors are more than happy to help you with. How do you bear fruit? How do you become the soil that 30, 60, 90, 100 fold?

What's the secret ingredient? His word, working through the indwelling of His spirit in the soil of your heart. And without you even knowing it, you're building on the solid rock of Christ. You guys follow me? Start somewhere. Because if you don't, you're going to keep wandering and perhaps even drifting away.

And then tonight we're going to be talking about how we help each other do that and how we pursue freedom in Christ. Let's pray together. Lord, we pray that you would help us. Know the truth. We know that the truth will set us free. Free from the slavery and bondage to our addictions and our cravings and our sins.

Free from fear of condemnation. Fear for our freedom from bitterness. And we know, Lord God, that you will free us to love one another and to serve you. Help us to feed off your word and would your word bear much fruit in our lives? Help us truly be a Berean community where we examine your word carefully and we obsess over it.

We scrutinize it. And as we do so, Lord, that you would grow and mature us. You would sanctify us. And you would bear fruit through us. your glory. I pray these things in Jesus' name.