Yesterday night I gave a very simple definition of what your identity is. It's just a simple question, "Who are you?" "Who am I?" And in order to talk about this, the world has various categories to help you piece together your identity. And when I say the world, all that the world can do is operate by what they see with their eyes.

And so they will ask, "What can you do for me?" Meaning, "What can you produce?" They will ask, "How do you look?" They'll ask, "What kind of things do you have, like possession?" So I threw out to you all of these categorical things yesterday night. Purpose, possession, function, value, right?

Usefulness to your community, your looks, approval, all these kind of categories. And we can just sit there and go through a line of more categories that build your personal identity. It's just that all those things happen to be things that operate by sight. And that's what this world can do.

They have a certain identity for you because that's what they see. And so that's why even right now, one of the more popular things politicians and our social generation will look at is your identity groups. Identity groups based on your race, your demographics of income, your locale, whatever it may be.

And a lot of people, they function just based on your academic or whatever, kind of these socioeconomic statuses. So you came out of these kind of schools, you have this kind of career, or you're blue collar, white collar. All of those are identifying markers that you can see with your eyes.

So, one route of wrestling through this, I asked you yesterday to examine and ask yourself the question, of all the things that you worry about in terms of your personal identity, how much of it is actually related to Christ in any way? That was the question in examination yesterday.

But today, starting from this session, I want to give you at least a path to think about, well I can sit there and examine and then start feeling like, oh gosh, there's a lot that doesn't even have anything to do with Jesus. Or you know what, a lot of it does.

But then there's a question of how does my identity build? What is the path for me to have a solid, good, perfect identity? And I'm going to start off with a very interesting, interesting question for you. And this question is, currently right now in your heart and in your mind, what do you want most?

I'd actually do a little exercise with you and I want you to answer the question and write it down on your paper or whatever you're using to take notes. What do you currently want most? And you've got to do it. Don't be all rebellious. Participate here and write it down.

And if you're having a hard time, let me help you. When I say what do you want most, sometimes it's just intensity. Meaning, what's something that's just like, oh I just want it so bad, so it's up at a scale like a 1 through 10 scale, it's up at a 9 or something.

Or, it may not be something you feel is like so bad and deep, but it just happened all the time. So, just evaluate through the last 10 weeks of your life. What was something that just came up in your head again and again? What was something that just, you don't even have to force yourself to think about it.

You have some free time and the next thing you know, you're fantasizing having that. So go ahead and write that down. Good, a good number of you guys are looking up at me, so I'm assuming you're done. Or, really rebellious. Just kidding. Now, I want you to take a look at that and sometimes, I just don't want you to overthink it because instinctually, sometimes we start judging.

Like, oh gosh, should I even want this? Oh gosh, is it like shameful? Is it godly? And you overthink it. So, in order as an exercise to combat our overthinking, self-evaluating nature, just go ahead and show the person next to you what you are missing. I'm just kidding. So guys, it's huge.

Oh my gosh. Just kidding. Okay. Now, the reason why I did this about your design, I apologize if some of you guys are like, "Oh, you told me so I did it." Now, the reason why I did that is because in building your identity, like actually taking steps to solidify what your identity is, the scriptures actually teach us that God judges you based on what you want most.

And when I say that, remember the question I had. Who are you? Who are you? Do you happen to be a 25-year-old, what are some big categories? Caucasian, engineer. You're an engineer, I understand. I'm looking around at you and you're just looking at us. You're not 25, I'm 30, I forget.

I just think you're always a little older than I am. Sorry to single you out there, Star Wars fan. pseudo nerd. Whatever it may be that just pops out at you, is that you? I can do the same thing the world does, which is look and then just start calling stuff out that I see.

But God, because He does not judge based on the way that man does. You guys remember when the whole ordeal with King Saul was happening, God was very disappointed. Why? King Saul was a head and shoulders above everybody, literally. He stood so tall that people literally were looking up to him and then what's more, they presumed he had authority, power, and strength.

He had all the charisma, he had all the pedigree, and so they said make him our king and God was very disappointed. Do you recall what he said? "Man judges by sight, I look into the heart." What am I saying? Point number one of this sermon is, I judge you based on your desire.

I judge you based on your desire. Meaning, your identity is built on your desire. What you long for and what you desire is a basic building block of your identity. We can talk about purpose, we can talk about function, we can talk about production, possession and value, all those kind of things.

Those things are very important, but I want you to think of it like this. If there are smaller details, those are those things. Purposes, goals, ambitions, whatever it may be. But then, an overarching criteria or overarching category is just the simple desires of your heart. What do you want?

And that builds, that builds who you are. Let me give you, let me give you an example. A worldly example, a more like just humanistic example is this. Now, I apologize ahead of time, you guys know, you guys have heard my preaching before, I give a lot of like dating examples, you know.

Not just because of this context, I just think it's funny to talk about. So, I typically, and I give a lot of counsel on it, so that's why I give it. Here's an example, alright. Imagine I'm meeting with this guy Frank, and this Frank comes up to me and says, "Pastor Warren, Pastor Warren, I'm totally into this one girl." I'm like, "Who?" "It's Franny." "Franny?" He's like, "Yeah, super into Franny.

I want to ask her out. What do you think I should do?" And I was like, and typically the number one question I ask is, "Why do you like her?" And then so Frank goes, "Because Franny is fantastic." I'm like, "What? You think she's fantastic?" And then he goes, "Why, you don't think she's fantastic?" And I say, "No, you know why?

Because Franny, she flicks on church. She kind of flaunts what she has. Even a little bit of her body, she flirts with other girls. She's not fantastic. Why do you think?" What did I say? You got me. You got me. Anyway, let me just carry on with my example, okay.

Pastor Warren's assessment, Franny is not fantastic. And then so, listen to the punchline, okay. Listen to the punchline, right. I tell Frank, I'm like, "Dude, did you see what I see? Why do you think she's fantastic?" And then Frank finally admits, "Because she's fine." You see what I'm saying?

Alright. And then I said, "Oh my gosh. You're so superficial." What did I do? I judged him based on his desires. Right? When you have superficial, shallow desires that doesn't care for the things that are way valuable, what do I say? I judge you. Because of your superficial desires, I judge you as superficial.

That's how the world works. But what's more, that's how God works. God regularly points the finger at our heart and asks you, "What do you want in your heart? What do you want? What do you see with your eyes?" And then therefore you say, "I want that." And then he judges you.

Here's an example. What's really interesting is, Turn Your Bibles over to John chapter 6. Jesus is teaching the masses. Jesus is teaching the crowds. And there was a huge crowd that gathered and they all traveled far and wide to hear Jesus. Now, they came to hear Jesus, but they also came for other stuff.

Why? Because what they heard was that Jesus not only had these great teachings, but he was also performing an amazing miracle. He was feeding 5,000 people in one shot. He was feeding all these individuals. And so guess what happens is, in the Gospel of John it recounts how all these people were fed, and then the next day Jesus actually went across the sea, and then he went off by himself and the people woke up and were like, "Oh my goodness, where is he?" And then so a bunch of people started following him.

Now turn your eyes to John 6 verse 26, and then he says this. As they're following him, they even take boats and they go across and they go chase him down. They're pursuing him. You might have been thinking, or when you're reading it, you're thinking, "This is pretty amazing," because now he has a huge following.

It's like having a million subscribers or something, right? Jesus turns and says in verse 26, "He answered them and said, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food which perishes, but for food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.

For on him, the Father, God has sent his seal. Therefore they said to him, 'What shall we do that we may work the works of God?' And Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.' So they said to him, 'What then do you do for a sign, so that we may see and believe you?

What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, 'He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.' And Jesus then said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven.

It is my Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.'" In that interaction, there is this incredible convicting rebuke and the people don't get it. You see that, right?

There is this interaction where the people follow and Jesus turns around and says, "You know what? You're not coming because you see and you believe. You're coming because I fed your stomach. Knock it off." And then the people go, "Well, before Moses did it, now what are you going to do?" Essentially, they're saying, "Do it again." "You want us to believe?

Then feed us again." That's pretty much their response. Why is that such a rebuke? Because it reveals what they want. Right? It reveals what they were looking for. And so clearly, the reason why, the motivation, the desire in their heart as to why they were actually going and chasing Jesus was completely off and they didn't get it.

And so then what? And later on as you walk through the Gospels, Jesus rebukes the entire generation. Right? You guys remember that. Every time you walk through the Gospels, Jesus says, "This generation is a perverse and wicked generation." Why? Because they keep seeking signs, wonders, and miracles and the other people who think they're even holier, all they want is knowledge.

They don't want Jesus. And so He judges them. "You're perverse. You're wicked." Why? Why am I bringing this up? It's because again, the great challenge, the great crisis of identity is not so much the things you can see with your eyes. We're then operating completely on a different platform than where God is operating.

Do you see that? One of the most essential things about our identity happens to be in here. What does your heart desire and long for? What do you want? And by it, God sees and begins to judge. This is who you are. Now, a more biblical thing we can do is something really odd and interesting.

Let's take a moment to judge Christ. That sounds weird, right? Please turn your Bibles over to John chapter 17. The passage that I had you guys read in the Golden Age. And as you take a look over at John chapter 17, the passage I had asked you guys to read, let's see here.

Just for the sake of, well, we're just going to read a big chunk of it, okay? We're going to start from verse 13. And what I'd like you to do is if you highlight, you do those like marking stuff, sometimes you read it over and over again for certain emphasis.

I'm going to ask you this question. Judge Jesus based on what He wants. Right? We're saying the desires of your heart start to define who you are. Let's take a moment to assess and evaluate. Maybe I should use a different word so it's more simple. Let's just simply observe and appreciate what is the desire of Christ's heart.

And therefore conclude who is He. Take a look at verse 13. "But now I come to you and these things I speak in the world so that they may have my joy and be full of themselves." So that they may have joy. Verse 14, "I have given them your word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one." Jesus wants their protection. "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth." Jesus wants their sanctification.

"As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth." Jesus wants their sanctification to the degree that He would sanctify Himself, which is crazy to even think about. But you know what He's saying.

When He says to sanctify Himself, He is going to go through all sorts of pain and suffering. Verse 20, "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me." Jesus desires oneness.

Verse 22, "The glory which you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are one." What? Jesus wants to share His glory. "I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that you sent me, and love them even as you love me." Father, highlight this you guys.

I desire that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am. So that they may see me, my glory which you have given me. For you love me before the foundation of the world. I don't even know where to begin with that, but pretty much there's so much to say.

He says, "I want to share with the entire world the perfect love you've given me, and I want that with me here now." What? "O righteous Father, although the world has not yet known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you sent me, and I have made your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which you love me may be in them, and I in them." I mean, we could just camp down here and just dwell on this for a while, right?

If you read Jesus' prayer, us knowing that this is not a moment of peace for Him, this is a moment of His greatest anguish. This is a moment, if you can just say it in a more colloquial way, He should be stressed out, right? But here and now, Jesus' heart is revealed.

And this is why we could sit and say, "Our Lord is beautiful. He has a selfless image. His heart and His intention is kind." Why? He wants to share the perfect love that He has with God Almighty, and He wants to give it to us. He desires, He says, to be with us.

Not to simply approve us from afar, not to simply release us from the prison and then let us go free. He wants to be one, perfect union. And there comes then our assessment, "Lord, You are amazing." Because this is the desire of the heart revealed to us, right? My point simply was, your desires define and start to build your identity.

Do you see that? Now, the reason why your desires, even more so, define who you are, is because your desires reveal what you believe, how you judge, how you interpret the world, what you think is good. Which brings me to my second point. So point one was, your desires judge who you are.

Point two is, your desires reveals what you believe is completeness. Now, let's kind of all over repeat it. Your desires reveal your belief about what is completeness. What do I mean by that? All I'm saying is this, it's this very simple point which I think you already know by intuitively, that when you want something, that means you believe it's good.

Right? You don't want things that are junk. You don't want things that are useless. You want it because you have placed it in some value and you think that is good for you. Now, the nuanced way that I've told it to you is this, you want X because you believe X is going to complete.

Right? You want something because you believe that's going to be to you some kind of fulfillment, some kind of wholeness, that when you have it, then you will actually be living on a higher standard. You desire stuff because it's going to take you to that next level, getting closer to what you believe is wholeness.

The complete mark of it. Reaching my full potential. Having everything I was meant to have. That's why you want what you want. Can I tell you something really interesting? Listen, even people who are wicked, vile, and heinous, they operate the exact same thing. Do you think people are doing wicked, vile things because they believe like, "Ugh, this is so painful, bad, and horrendous.

That's what I want to do." No. Even wicked people, what they do, they believe it's good. They might see that it has bad consequences, whatever, but they think it's a necessary thing. Come on now, Thanos, how do you pronounce his name? The guy with the purple face? You don't think he thought in his head like, "This is what needs to happen.

Everybody is a coward. Only I have the courage to do what's necessary." And now you have this movie that sells biblical threads. That's how the world works. Biblical example. Turn your mind to Romans chapter 1, verse 28-32. Romans chapter 1, verse 28-32. The scriptures talk about how we operate.

And remember, my point is, the reason why your desires reveal who you are is because it also reveals your belief. You only want that which you have already judged as good. Take a look at this. Romans 1, 28-32, describing the fallen world, the sinful nature of mankind. He says, "And just as they did not see fit," okay, I like that, "they did not see it fit to acknowledge God any longer." So God gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper.

"Being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, they are gossips, slanders, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, adventures of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful, and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval of those who practice them." What does that mean?

What that means is they have judged in their mind and in their heart. This is not fitting and good to give God worship. That's just like modern day people who are rejecting God. God's not that horrible. God's not righteous. You know what's more righteous? What's more righteous is my human love to this land.

What's more righteous is what I think is right. No wicked individual sitting there thinking, "No, no, no, I'm wrong. Yes, I'm wrong, but I'm doing it anyway." They're thinking, "No, this is good." And then when they see other people do wicked stuff, it's like, "Good job." That's the world.

What am I talking about, you guys? What I'm talking about is this. Based on the stuff that you have already deemed valuable and good, that's how you are operating. And so what needs to happen is a radical removal of your mind. What needs to happen is a breaking down in humility of your own judgment and assessment of your circumstances and who you are.

That's what I'm talking about. Now, before I get any further, I do want to hit a really important point. This is point number three. Point number one, your desire to judge who you are. Point number two, your desire to judge who you are because it shows your belief system.

Point number three, this is what I like to call the common fallen condition. You guys don't hear me say it enough. This is the conviction of a fallen nature and the fallen way in which we think. And this part is a little bit long, so I need you guys to track with me here.

Number one, I don't think the crisis of identity is you forgetting who you are. I think you know exactly who you are. That's point number three A. Point number three A is I think you know exactly who you are, but B, you're not happy with it. You know it's not complete.

The reason why you constantly look for stuff that you think is going to take you to that next level is because you know instinctually you're not complete. You're not whole. However, C, the common fallen condition is that rather than ditch my earthly identity, rather than ditch this already sunken cost of an endeavor to try to redeem myself, we actually desperately try to save our human identity.

I know that's a lot, so I'm going to review it. Number one, I believe you know your identity. Number two, you're not happy with it. Number three, you're desperately trying to save it. Do you guys get that? I think you know exactly who you are. Some people are like, "Oh, you know, I just forgot.

I just forgot who I was." Oh, come on, dude. That's like every other moral story ever written. You guys have seen Thor? So Bia and I sometimes we just do the free Netflix account for a month or whatever and then we see this Thor Ragnarok. Everybody else is like, "Let's watch this." We watch it.

It's like good action entertainment, but then once I actually think about the plot, I'm just sitting here like, "This is fucking horrible." Now the reason why--you can watch that stuff, it's fine. But the reason why--I tell you this is so silly. Thor is getting beat up. He's like, "Blah, blah, blah." He's like, "Blech." There's blood coming out of his eye and stuff.

And all of a sudden he sees a vision of his father. He's like, "Who are you?" And he's like, "Who are you?" "I'm a god." "God of what?" "God of thunder." "God of what?" "That's right, God of thunder." And next thing you know electricity starts coming out of his face and his arms and his chest plates and then it kills everybody.

And then you're sitting there like, "That's the lamest plot ever." Now people eat that up, you know why? Because they're like, "Yeah, power is right here, deep inside. I'm a god." So stupid. The world eats that up because there's a subtle belief. "That's right. There's a great potential in you and you forgot that." No, that's not what the Bible says.

The Bible doesn't say you just have to forget that there's a great potential in you. But we love to believe that. And number two, remember my point was you're just not happy with what you see. The crisis of identity isn't like, "Oh my gosh, I don't know who I am.

I know exactly who I am. I'm like an incredibly stereotypical Asian man with like five, seven and a half, five eight, barely. I have short limbs and what else about me? I'm 36, kind of slightly losing my hair. I can describe myself. It's not like I forget who I am.

But what is my crisis of identity? I wish I was a little bit taller. That's my crisis of identity. I see who I am. I just am afraid. There's no signification. There's no me. I'm just like everybody else. But my parents told me I'm special. Like that's my crisis of identity.

What's my point with all that? You know, yesterday I started giving all these very tangible examples of academic hopeful, athletic hopeful, romantic hopeful. What were you hopeful in? What's really interesting about this is there are people who actually got what they hoped for. They actually got all of it.

There are people in this world who got the highest grades, went to the best schools, they had the romantic love of their life, and they enjoyed it. And then they had tons of money and they also had skills to pick a bit of it. They had all of it.

They had all of it. One of those individuals was King Solomon. Right? And you guys remember what he said? He said, "I see this vanity where I did not limit myself in anything." You redo that. He literally says, "I actually explored to the extent that I possibly could. Like I did everything that I could to get as much as I can.

Pleasure, money, people." And you know he did it. Supposedly he had like 400 wives and a thousand complicated vows. It's crazy. Okay. Even when he had all that, he says, "I see this vanity because he feels incomplete." I'm going to read you. You don't have to turn it for the sake of time.

Just listen to this. "There is an evil which I see under the sun. It's prevalent among men. A man who has been given riches, wealth, honor, so his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires and yet he has not the power to eat of them. And everybody else enjoys them.

This is vanity and severe affliction." What does he say? This is crazy. Right? "I've done everything but I'm still in control and my desire is not fulfilled." He's not satisfied. That's exactly what he says. Why am I talking about this? It's because the fallen condition of man is that sequence of thought I just told you.

You didn't just simply forget. You know who you are. But you know that both biblically and humanistically, meaning you don't have to have studied the Bible to know that you're incomplete, that you're broken, that you're lacking. But your flesh doesn't want to accept that. And you're desperately trying. If you've ever said any of these things, this means yes, you've had a question of identity.

And this also means yes, rather than ditch, ditch the broken human identity that God has already said needs to die, you're trying to preserve it. If you said stuff like, "You know what? All I need is just a little bit more time. All I need is just a little more support.

All I need is just another opportunity. I just haven't been given a chance." Well, good for you. That means you can do it without Jesus. Right? If you've ever complained like that, like, "I just haven't been given an opportunity to showcase what I can do." Don't say that. Jesus has challenged us.

That old Mark Lin, who I think requires just more money, time, opportunity, and people to be improved, that old Mark Lin actually needs to die. So here's application number one. Right? Here's application number one. Application number one is that you need to cease and desist. Cease and desist from trying to establish your own identity.

That's, I mean, that's not something new and novel to you, meaning like you've never heard that. But isn't that one of the number one challenges of Christian life? We're so inclined. We're so inclined to not be disappointed in myself. Right? There are moments when you're just like, "Oh my, I surprise myself at how simple I am.

I surprise myself at how forgetful I am." It's not like you've never heard this sermon before. How many times have you heard this sermon before? Right? You've heard this before. And then you're just like sometimes so disappointed and frustrated with yourself. "How come I'm so thick-headed and I don't get it?" You know what I've learned?

I've kind of learned not to be so surprised and shocked at myself, but fully accept and to stop and cease to be so defensive. "No, no, no. I'm not that childish. No, no, no. I don't have this kind of weird, like sinful intent. It's all good intention in here.

It just so happens I make mistakes." That's not true. I've completely accepted the fact when God judges here inside. Right? For example, children. When you call them out on something, "What did you do? That was wrong." You know? They say, "I'm sorry I didn't mean it." Right? The Bible comes along and says, "You meant it!" You know?

Just kidding. The Bible's not like that. It's like a heart. Right? You've got to check your heart. And then you realize, "Well, to be honest, I had like this sinful desire to want that stuff and that's why I did it. I was so afraid and that's why I did it.

I was so concerned. What would this mean about your judgment of me? So that's why I did it." You know what I'm saying? Children. The kind of immaturity we have. A lot of times, so defensive. "No, no, no. I just made a mistake. I didn't mean to." Or we get even more bombastically defensive.

"I knew you were a fool to make a mistake. I knew you!" Right? My challenge number one is stop being so defensive. Accept the fact that so much of us, the Bible wants to change and sanctify to the measure that is Christ. Every single aspect of you. Not only your actions, your words, your behaviors, and all that kind of stuff, but your internal thoughts, your belief system, what you deem is good, your judgment of the world, your circumstances, all of that is up for sanctification.

Amen? And the great challenge for us as Christians in finding our identity is to first stop and cease and desist from trying to save that previous Mark Lin. That previous individual. "No, no, no. He wasn't that bad. All he needed was..." No. Old Mark Lin needs to die. Old Mark Lin needs to die.

Application number two then, I want to challenge every single one of you. You saw in John 17 what Jesus wanted. He wanted your character. He wanted your character to be sanctified by truth. I think when I was younger, I struggled a lot. Like, I want to glorify God. I want to love Him and I want to preach about Him, exalt Him.

But man, I'm not a pastor. And I was trying to work and study. So, trying to work and study. And I talked to some of you guys. Some of you guys work like 10 hours, 12 hours, 14 hours a day. And you might be sitting there like, "Oh my, I know I should be all about Jesus.

I'm investing all of my time into work. Like, what gives? What am I supposed to do? Is it even possible to be about Jesus when I give literally three-fourths of my life to work?" Do not equate false equations. Right? Do not confuse that kind of investment of time into a task as your Godliness.

And it goes both ways. God wants to see your character sanctified in your work. How you do it, why you do it, and what for. Right? And so what I'm telling you right now is you saw Jesus' heart wanting to see you sanctified with truth. You saw that He wanted you to have fullness of joy in Him.

And you saw that He wanted you to be perfectly united. That the way you look, appear, the way you talk and speak, the way that you feel and behave, all of these things would measure to that of Christ. Turn your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 4. Okay? Ephesians chapter 4.

Verse 11 through 16. The Apostle Paul says exactly the same thing, just in different terms, in different words. And he gives to us what we should apply ourselves to. Verse 11. "And he gave some to be apostles and some to be prophets and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ." This is your prototypical passage on church discipleship.

This is your passage on how church structure should be. But today I want you to highlight and circle the idea of what you should see as your number one desire. Okay? And so that really is the application number two. Send your desire on this. He says, "For the building up of the body," verse 13, "until we all attain to the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ." You should highlight that.

"To the mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried about by everyone with doctrine, by the trickery of men, by the craftiness and deceitful scheming.

But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the Head and in Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every choice applies according to the proper working of each individual part, cause the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love." Let me put it this way as an excerptation.

I didn't know how to necessarily summarize it. This second application that I'm talking about, where you set your desire on this, right? Let me ask you this question. We're talking about how your desires judge who you are, how your desires review your thoughts. So think about the ramifications of that.

Do you understand that your completeness, do you understand that your fullness comes from the full measure of Christ? And therefore, did you, upon believing that, set your heart and your mind upon it? Right? Did you have moments in your life, I know sometimes like, you don't want to say lofty, big, high words.

When people pray like that, maybe it even annoys you. "Oh majestic, heavenly, wonderful Father, I commit all my ways to You." Amen. And you're just like, "Okay, drama boy." Right? It just sounds so lofty. But that's my question to you though. I'm not asking you to just make lofty statements.

I'm asking you though, is that what you want? And have you voiced that to God? Even if you're all shameful to say it, and you feel like, "I don't have the confidence, I don't have the clarity of conscience to be like, 'God, I love You with everything I've got, and You are my complete, whole fulfillment in life.'" Maybe you don't have the full clarity of conscience to say that.

It bothers you. Let me then speak to you for a moment here. I'm going to wrap this up with this, you know. This is our test of faith. This is our test of trust. This is the Christian struggle. You don't have to raise your hands. How many of you guys have fallen to the same sin over and over again?

I have. Really frustrated. There's a temptation when that happens. You are going to be tempted to lower your standard and bar, to lower your goal, to lower your expectation, to not want the full measure of Christ, the maturity of Christ, the standard that God has designed in His perfect Son.

That is not the maturity standard you're going to be shooting for anymore. You're going to be tempted to lower that bar and say, "This is what's possible given my limitations." Look at how many times I've fallen to the exact same sin over and over and over again. And so by sight, you're going to set your bar right here.

I want you guys to talk about it in your discussion groups. Have you settled in any way and believed certain measures of standards were okay? That you know are far, very far from Christ? Because of your fear, because of your shame, did you lower the bar? That's my question.

Because you're looking at your life, you're looking at what's normal for most people who are sinners, you're looking at your traffic period, and you think God's going to be okay with that. Do you see what I'm saying? My challenge to you right now is we're talking about your desire by trust in Christ, that He who began a good work within you, He who is going to work through you and in you, He who authored everything is going to bring you to completion, even if you feel frustrated.

And you set your desire up here, because that's what God has designed the church to be. That's why He put pastors and evangelists in place. That's why He's given you brothers and sisters, to not be discouraged, but by faith, "I trust you, Lord." And my heart is set on your sin.

Do I see incompleteness in me? Yes. I've accepted this fact. Mark Lynn, without Jesus, is a wretched being. He's a wretched being. And I'm not going to sit here all ashamed, asking you to not look. But rather, I'm actually going to invite you down. I'm going to invite my brothers and sisters.

Look, I need more of Christ in me. And that to me is my completeness. So God, I want you. I want your rebuke. I want your challenge. I want you to test me. And I'm not going to be on the fence of telling you, "Well, that's not me, and I'm an introvert." "Well, that's not me, I'm shy." "Well, that's not me, I'm timid." That's not Jesus' point, is it?

He's not trying to get you to extrovertedness. He's not trying to get you to be some kind of individual you're not trying to be. He's trying to get you to the full measure of Christ. And the question at hand is, have you completely adopted it? Have you set your heart on it?

Have you set your desire on it? And that to you has become your driving force and motivation. That's it. And so Apostle Paul says, in Colossians 1, verses 20-29, "And that's why we proclaim Him, abonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.

For this purpose I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me." "Which mightily works within me." By way of conclusion, all I want to say is this. When I said just a moment ago that this is going to be your battle as a Christian, this is going to be a regular occurrence in your life.

You're going to be unsatisfied with your human identity that you can see with your eyes. But God is asking you to buy into Christ's priestly prayer in John chapter 17. And He is going to sanctify you with this truth. And for you, it is then going to be an impetus.

Are you going to be a surrendered individual who is not setting your eyes upon your own deficiencies and accepting your patterns of life? But rather, are you going to exercise faith, looking at Christ, looking at His perfection, and saying, "That perfect person, Jesus Christ, is going to be my perfect identity." Let's take a moment to pray.