Alright, if you can turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 6, and I'll be reading from verse 13 all the way down to verse 20. Hebrews chapter 6, verse 13 to 20. And we'll be in chapter 7 a few weeks later. Alright, verse 13 and on. For when God made the promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, saying, "I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply you." And so having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.

For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is the end of every dispute. In the same way, God desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his purpose, interposed with an oath. So that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast, and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Let's pray. Father, we pray for your guidance.

We pray for your Holy Spirit to be revealed in a very powerful and tangible way. We pray for your word, Lord God, that you are ordained to speak to us, to plant seeds in us, that we may bear fruit, and that you would stir in us a hungering and thirsting for righteousness, to be in the presence of Christ, that all that we do, all our affections, Lord, would lean toward him more and more each day.

So I pray that you would ordain this time, may it be a time of genuine worship before you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Okay, so I think most of you guys already know that I'll be heading into sabbatical after today. So next Sunday, myself and a pastor from Cross Life and another member, we're going to be headed out to India to do pastoral training out there in the villages, and we're going to be out there for about a week time.

Then after that I'll be headed out to Korea, and I have to give a sermon at a church, and then Esther's going to come join me, and so we're going to be headed out there for a little bit. So I'll be gone physically for a little bit, and then I'll be back here I think three weeks later.

People have been asking me, like, "What are you going to do in your sabbatical?" That's the most common question. You know, you have three months of doing nothing. So what are you going to do? I don't have a specific plan. You know, when people ask me, "What do you do on your free time?" I don't know what that even means.

You know, since I've been a youth pastor since I was 19, and so my schedule has been dictated by the group that I've been leading since I was a teen myself. And so I don't know what that feels like. You know, so I got married early, I was a youth pastor from 19 to 20, and so every summer retreat speaking, you know, every Sunday speaking.

And so for the first time, and I've taken breaks before, maybe I've taken like two, three weeks off, but usually just the pulpit, but the rest of ministry went on and I was in Bible study and I was engaged in church, but this is the first time when I'm actually taking a longer break and the elders are actually telling me to stay away from church, period.

So I don't know if that's going to happen, but I will be around, I just won't be actively engaged in ministry. So you know, only thing I have in mind is I want to take care of my health and I want to spend more extended time just to focus on my family and I have some gardening to do.

And so I got some stuff that I have on schedule, but other than that, you know, I'll explain a little bit. Why after almost 23 years am I taking this now? You know, I think previously I don't think I was in a situation where I would have felt comfortable just not being on the pulpit and not engaged in ministry because, you know, early on in ministry, it was obviously I was the only pastor and then Pastor Aaron was here and then we had interns at church, but they weren't fully involved yet.

They were just being trained and so if I left earlier, I would have just had to dump everything on Pastor Aaron and so I didn't feel right doing that. And then after that, Pastor Mark took his spot and so it was me and him for a long time. So if I left then, I would have ended up dumping everything on him and he would have went nuts.

And so for the first time in our church history, I feel that our church is in good hands. Not that it wasn't before, but that it's good enough hands where we have, you know, elders in the church. We had, you know, Phillip and Joe, who's been elders for a very long time in our church and they have been tested and I can honestly say that, you know, both of them has been tested in every way in the church and their character is something to me that stands out.

They are gifted in areas and even their temperament is so different than mine. It kind of keeps me balanced. There's a lot of ways that they respond to things that I observe and I'm encouraged and challenged by. Adding Elder James to the church has been a huge help. You know, I tell them as much as I can, but, you know, I remember when he was a younger man back in college and right out of college, like his, you know, he brought it on himself to be my bodyguard.

And so whenever I would go to speak somewhere, he would kind of ask and sometimes tag along and he would wear his leather jacket, you know, to intimidate people. And so, you know, he said like he wanted to be my bodyguard and to have, you know, somebody who has my back like that on the team to work together.

I mean, it's been a huge encouragement just even in the short period of time, you know, and you guys are good hands with the elders. We've added two pastors. We had added Pastor Nate to the church and he's the only pastor in our 22, 23 years of history that we've ever brought from outside the church.

And so it was somewhat of a risk to bring him, but he's somebody that we've been talking about, Pastor Mark and I have been talking about him for years. If we ever did bring anybody from outside, he's the only person that we can possibly think of. And so we've done plenty of research, you know, thinking about him, would he ever be interested?

And so when we actually did even contact him, it was just for the future. If by any chance something happens and you think you're going to move, you know, consider us and just by God's providence, it just happened that he was actually having that conversation with his staff and his wife right when we came to him.

And so when he came in, it's been about a year, almost two years, and just seamlessly he fit into our church and our college and our whole church has benefited just in the short time that he's been here. Pastor Peter Chong, you know, was an intern before he went out to China and thinking that he was going to come back in a year, but he rebelled and stayed three more years after that.

And then like a prodigal son, instead of coming back, he went to Korea for five years to travel. He traveled all over the world, you know, for compassion. And he's probably traveled and seen more things than 99.9% of the world will ever see. And so when he came back, we knew he was going to be a huge asset because we knew his sharp memory, we knew his teaching ability, but, you know, one of the things that I've noticed since he came back is his shepherd's heart and how tender his heart is for the church people.

And I don't have to say, I think many of you have been deeply affected by him already. And so we knew that he was going to be a benefit, you know, when he came, but there's areas of the church that he's been helping out in that we didn't even know we had holes in until he came.

So he's been a huge help to us. And then Pastor Mark, you know, I can't say enough, you know, last, I don't know how many years, six, seven, eight years, I don't think our church would have lasted. I don't think I would have lasted without him. You know, I feel like he's a guy that I went to battle with multiple times, you know, we went to war and came back together.

And so, you know, I've shared this so many times, but I remember it's very specifically. And it's not just this one time, but that event kind of solidified for me, you know, that God placed him in my life for my personal encouragement. And you know, years ago on Thanksgiving, at Thanksgiving, I think it was about five years ago, five or six years ago, I got a phone call that our church was flooded, not this church, but the church that we were at.

And so I had to leave our family Thanksgiving dinner and I came to church and I opened the door and found our church flooded, about three inches of water. And you know, obviously I was really distraught because if we don't have those rooms, you know, our children would have nowhere to go.

They would have to have their Sunday school in the parking lot. And so there's no way that I'm going to be able to take care of this. And so I was just with the door open, I tried to drain the water as much as possible, but there's no way.

And then I felt bad calling anybody at church because it was Thanksgiving dinner. So if I called them, they would have to leave their home and come. And as I was thinking that, I saw Pastor Mark just drive up. I didn't ask him to come. He found out what was happening.

He drove up. And so we stayed all night together till five or six in the morning, just draining the water, pulling the carpet out, moving all the furniture out of that room and try to dry it out. And I think I was there till about seven in the morning and there was still a lot to do to prepare and dry it out for the children to come the next day.

But he was worried about me that, you know, he knew that I had to preach the next day. So he said, "You know, you need to go home and get some sleep and get ready for Sunday. I'll take care of this." And so he called a few people who were available, came, and he finished the work.

And so by the time we came on Sunday, we had it ready enough so that we can use it that Sunday and then take care of it. And so I remember going home just with a huge sigh of relief because Pastor Mark just showed up, you know. And I just give you that as an example because that's how he's been all these years with me, you know, whether it's the lights, the toilets, or, you know, even just this building, right?

And we literally went to war together while we were here. And so, yeah, I can't say enough. Pastor Mark has been my right-hand man. And I tell Esther, you know, God knew that I needed somebody like her in my life to balance me out. And Pastor Mark is kind of like my wife at the church in a good way, right?

A good way. So God knew what I needed and he kind of balances me out. But he kind of like, there's nothing beneath him. He's willing to do whatever it takes. And so he's been a huge encouragement to me. So I feel comforted to know that the church is in good hands, even if it's just for a short period of time.

You know, when people ask me what I love about Berea, I love the people more than anything else. But in particular, our leadership, you know. Our Saturday morning meetings is not a burden. You know, I look forward to just spending time with our leadership and just, you know, whether it's, you know, serious stuff or joking around, these are my brothers.

These are the guys that we're laboring together. And so that's part, obviously a big part of the reason why I feel that I can do that. But what is the purpose of a sabbatical? You know, sabbatical, just to kind of, to put it in a layman's term, is kind of like praying.

You know, we pray to kind of break away, to connect with God, and then if we want to really be serious, we start fasting. We'll set aside a day where we kind of break away from everything and to focus our attention on God. So sabbatical is kind of like fasting.

To take a break from your daily routines and to be able to ask the question and answer this question, "Is Christ enough? Is Christ enough?" And I know that this is a cliche and you've probably heard it hundreds of times if you've been a Christian for a while, but to be able to answer that question emphatically, yes.

And it's easy to answer that question in the midst of routine. You wake up in the morning and you don't have time to really deeply think, especially if you have children and you're busy at work. You don't have time to think about that. Maybe you give a couple minute here, a couple minute there, but to really contemplate and think, "If God took away your friends, your health, your job, maybe even the church, is Christ enough?

Or is it Christ and other things? Christ and my friends, Christ and my future, Christ and my bank account?" And so the time of sabbatical is really to kind of take time off to answer that question and to refresh my convictions, "Is Christ truly enough?" And really, that's the question that the author of Hebrews has been asking this question to the readers, "Is Christ enough?" And it's because they couldn't answer this question, that's why they were drifting.

At one point it was. They were willing to get their properties confiscated. When their friends were going to jail, they were fellowshipping with them, supporting them. But at some point, that pressure of picking up their cross and living a life of suffering and denial got to them, and so they began to drift back into their old life.

So they were holding on to a form of Judaism, and they were trying to hold on to the newfound life in Christ, and they were trying to synchronize these things so that they could make it work for them. But the whole book of Hebrews is to continue to ask them, "Do you really know this Christ?

And is Christ ultimately enough? Is it Christ and friends, Christ in church, Christ in the family, or is it just Christ?" In verse 13 it says, "When God made the promise to Abraham, since he could not swear by no one greater, he swore by himself." Verse 13 to 16 is to remind us that the promise that he made, that he couldn't say it with more emphasis than by invoking his own name, is Christ truly enough?

You know, verse 17 is written when it says, "I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply you." The context of this verse is extremely important, because if you don't understand the context of this, you may just kind of extrapolate what you want from it. The context of this verse is given to Abraham and his descendants after God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.

Now you have to understand the historical context of who Isaac is. God called Abraham from his homeland, Ur of Chaldeans. Abraham was already a very wealthy man. When he left Ur of Chaldeans, he didn't leave with an empty bag. He had a caravan of people. He was already a very rich man.

So for God to enter into his life and say, "Pack up your bags and go into the desert," it wouldn't make any sense. Like, why would you do that? Why would you go into the desert, risking your life with all these powerful enemies surrounding you, simply because God told him to?

And that's why Abraham was considered a man of God, because of his faith. Because God told him to, and he believed him, he packed up his bags and family, and he went. And so Genesis chapter 12, God makes this promise, that because you obey me, I will bless you.

I will give you land, I will multiply your children, and as I bless you, I will bless the whole world. This was a promise that God made to Abraham and ultimately to the world. In Genesis chapter 15, he ratifies this promise with a covenant. And typically at that time, when people entered a covenant, they would cut animals in half, put it in a row, and the two people who entered the covenant would hold hands, and they would walk down this aisle.

And the purpose of this was to say, "If any party on either side breaks this covenant, let them be like these animals, to be slaughtered." That's how they entered into the covenant. But this covenant that we see in Genesis chapter 15, God sets up this row with animals, and instead of Abraham entering into this covenant, Abraham actually falls asleep.

And God enters through this covenant by himself. Did you know that the Christian wedding is representative of that covenant? And that's why we sit on the aisles, and we have one party sitting on one side, and then the other party sitting on the other side, because it signifies the covenant that God made with his people.

But it was a unilateral covenant. It was not a covenant that he made with Abraham, saying, "If you do your part, I will do my part." God was making a promise to Abraham and to the rest of the world that he is going to do this. And it is in that context where God tells him this, but it takes 25 years before he ever has his legitimate child, Isaac.

25 years. He wasn't a 25-year-old man when he left the world of Chaldeans. Do you know how old he was? He was 75. Now, some of us may think, "Well, 75 back then, maybe that was equivalent to 25." No. 75 at that time was 75. He was already a grandpa, and so was his wife.

So they have been waiting and longing for a child, so when God told them that he was going to be a father of many nations, finally God's going to answer his prayer. But it doesn't happen for 25 years. So by the time God answers the prayer with Isaac, he's 100 years old.

And that's why they laughed when God said, "I'm going to give you a child." They laughed, because they were already old at 75, and Sarah, his wife, is not much younger than him, and so they laughed in disbelief. Even though he lived his whole life trusting in this promise, when God finally says he's going to fulfill it, they laughed.

So they named their child Isaac. They laughed twice. They laughed in unbelief, and they also laughed in rejoicing. That's why his name is Laughter. So up to that point, you can say, "Wow, God fulfilled the promise because of his faithfulness." But it is that child, it is that child of promise, God says to offer him up, sacrifice him.

By the time he asked him to do that in Genesis chapter 12, Abraham's faith in God had grown. It wasn't just, "Well, you said it, so we're going to give you a chance." By the time he makes that promise, he doesn't ask. He's not wrestling with God. He actually packs up his bag, takes Isaac up to the hill.

Isaac asks him, "What's going on?" He said, "Well, God said we're going to do this." As he is bringing the knife down, he is stopped. And then because of his act, and again, as he promised, he says, "It's a fulfillment, it's a type of what was going to happen with his son, Jesus Christ, that he was going to offer up his own son instead of Isaac." And it is in that context where God responds to Abraham's faith, and he says in Genesis 22, 16, "By myself I have sworn." Again, he's referring to that covenant in Genesis chapter 15.

"By myself I have sworn," declares the Lord, "because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son. Indeed, I will greatly bless you and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore, and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies." Now, did God make this promise because Abraham was faithful?

No, he already made this promise. It's spelled out in Genesis chapter 12. He ratifies this in Genesis chapter 15. But why does he say, "Because you have done this by myself I have sworn." Now, we're going to get into that because he basically is making a double promise. What he has purposed, now he's making an oath to guarantee, just in case you had any doubt of who God is, he's guaranteeing it.

Now we don't know what Abraham was thinking at this time. We can only assume. But in Hebrews chapter 11, 17 to 19, it actually spells out what was happening with Abraham. Hebrews 11, 17 says, "By faith, Abraham when he was tested offered up Isaac and he who had received the promises was offered up his only begotten son.

It was he to whom it was said, 'In Isaac your descendants shall be called.'" Again, Abraham was fully aware. When God asked him to offer up Isaac, this makes absolutely no sense. I mean, he waited 25 years and God answers the prayer. Why would you ask Isaac? It made no sense because he was the promise that God said he was going to fulfill.

But here's what it says in verse 19, "He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead from which he also received him back as a type." In other words, Abraham understood that the fulfillment of the promise wasn't dependent upon Isaac. The fulfillment of the promise was God himself.

See, the struggle with a lot of Christians is that we never move beyond the gift and we never see the giver. And when things don't make sense, we begin to question the giver. Where's my gift? How come you don't answer my prayers? There's certain things and certain places and certain circumstances God places us in and takes us through which doesn't make any sense.

And we're always dependent on the gift. Where is Isaac? Why would you tell us to give up Isaac? But Abraham knew by this time after everything that he's seen that the assurance of God's promise wasn't on Isaac, but it was God himself. That's why it says in Hebrews 11, verse 6, "And without faith, it is impossible to please him." The reason why it's impossible to please him is because it's faith that anchors us to Christ.

And if we're not anchored to Christ in our faith, our worship, it changes based upon our situation. So when God answers our prayer and we get a great job, I want to worship him. When we get a difficult circumstance and we don't get the raise, we don't get the things that we want or we get sick, all of a sudden, where is God?

And we stop worshipping him. So when he says, "Without faith, it is impossible to please him," because it is only by faith that we are anchored to Christ. For he who comes to God must believe that he is, that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. Jesus isn't just the giver, he is the gift.

He's not the vehicle that we ride to get to the destination. Jesus himself is the destination. That's what he means when he says, "I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. I am the vine. I am the bread. I am the living water. I am the good shepherd." And so all the "I am" statements is to teach the nation of Israel and all of mankind that he didn't just come to give the gift, but he himself is the gift.

And that's what Abraham knew when God asked Isaac to be sacrificed, that even in sacrificing Isaac, as long as he had God, he was good. You know, when I was a younger believer, when I was 18, 19, I couldn't get this thought out of my head because the Bible says that the greatest commandment in the Bible is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

And then second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. And I couldn't shake that because I can honestly confess that I admired Jesus, that I appreciated Jesus. I can say I even worshiped Jesus. I can say I'm doing my best to obey Jesus. But I couldn't say with confidence to love Jesus because I didn't know what to compare that with.

Because I can say, you know, I love my mom, I love my dad, I love my brothers, I love, you know, some friends. And do I love God the way I love them? And I couldn't relate because it's different. So what does it mean to love God? So you know, I've had different people giving me advice saying like, "If you really want to love God, just say I love you God a hundred times.

Maybe your brain's going to be washed and you're going to wake up from that and say, 'Oh, I do love God. It worked. I did it as often as I could." You know, every Friday night I would go to prayer meeting and I would say that as often as many times as possible because the guys that I looked up to told me to do that.

And at the end of that, I said, "Huh, that didn't work. It didn't work." And then I would hear people telling me, "Well, it's not how you feel. If you really love God, just obey." And said, "Okay, maybe it's not about how I feel. Maybe loving God just means just do whatever He tells you to do and I'm doing this." But then I would come across passages that you call me Lord, Lord, but your heart is far from me.

I see passages in Revelations where it's saying, "You're doing all these right things, but you have forsaken your first love." And so I see all these things in Scripture. No, He doesn't just mean to obey because worship is dependent upon my affection for Him. So if the greatest commandment is to love the Lord you got with all your soul, mind, and strength, and I can't say that with confidence, where do I go from here?

So every opportunity I got, I prayed that, "Lord, if that's what you want, I don't know what that means." And nobody seems to have an answer. So every morning I would pray. I would do quiet time. I pray. I go to closet. I would pray. And God answered that request in such a powerful way.

Like to this day, to this day, everything that I preach, everything that I know, everything I desire from the church is related to that. There was a period when I was trying to really spiritually grow and separate from my non-Christian friends and it wasn't even my non-Christian friends, it was my Christian friends because they were very nominal.

They called themselves Christian. They would come to Bible studies, but every time we were away from it, it had nothing to do with God. In fact, it's very discouraging. Sometimes if you don't talk about God with non-Christians, I mean, it's different. But when you're surrounded by other Christians who supposedly are running together, but all that's in the midst of conversation has nothing to do with God.

So I really wanted to grow spiritually, so I decided, "You know what? I'm going to break away from that group," and I ended up being isolated. At that time, I was working as a janitor at a Hughes Aircraft. It used to be in Fullerton. They got rid of it and made a strip mall.

And at that time, it was that whole Fullerton area was dominated by this company, and so I got a job there working as a janitor. You know, and all the employees, they clock out at five o'clock and they had a few people who worked at night shift. And so I was in charge of cleaning out the bungalows eight hours a day from five to two in the morning.

And so I'm just isolated because there's nobody around. I'm there by myself from five to two. And you know, when I first started, I would go to the end of the trailers and I would turn on the light and have to come all the way to the back. But after a while, I realized that takes about 30 extra minutes to go and turn the lights on.

So I spent most of the night just in a dimly lit bungalows, just vacuuming and cleaning out trash. And I did that for about three, four months. I worked at that company for about nine months, but I did that for about three, four months, and I just couldn't take it, the isolation.

Now, that period of my life was so lonely because I started having really depressing thoughts. Because I was breaking away from my friends. I didn't live at home. I was working from five to two, and I was going to school full time during the day. I tried. So I was getting about three, four hours of sleep, and then I'd wake up in the morning, I have to go to school.

And I remember one day, I was in between class about 30, 40 minutes in between, I got so tired, and I laid on the grass where we had hundreds of students just walking by, and I just conked out for three hours. I never do that. I'm such a light sleeper, but I conked out on the grass because I was that tired.

I remember having this depressing thought, if something happened to me here, if I just disappeared here, I wonder how long it would take before anybody notices that I'm gone. And it was such a depressing thought. And then I started calculating, it's like, you know what, I'll bet you it'll take about a month before my mom says, "Where's Peter?" She'd be the first one that looked for me, because I wasn't living at home at that time.

And then another month goes by, my guess is she would probably ask my older brother and Philip to go look for me. And then it would take probably another few weeks to see what happened. And so in my mind, it would take about three months before somebody comes and says, "Hey, something happened." And that thought was so depressing.

And I remember being so isolated that the thoughts that I had, it sounded like audible voices, I was going crazy. And I remember one time I was throwing the trash out, and I started having those thoughts, like, "What are you going to do after this?" And I said, "Nothing." And I said it out loud.

Because it sounded so clear. "Nothing." I was like, "What are you doing, Peter?" This is how people go crazy. But during that period, I started to think, even the person who probably would miss me the most, which at that time would have been my mom, it would have taken her a bit of time, and then my brothers to come and look for me.

But immediately, I knew that God was there. Even before anything happens, God knew I was there. And so God became so real and intimate to me. And it wasn't because of anything I did. It was just my realization of His grace in my life. And so my affection for Him started to grow during that period.

And to be honest, to be able to say, "I love you," and to mean it from the bottom of my heart, that He means more to me than anything that I've ever had or experienced in my life, even to this day. And so that's the foundation to me in what I desire from our church.

Because without that, you can run and give your body to be burned, speak tongues of men and of angels. If I have not love, it means nothing. Because God said, that's the greatest command. That's what He desires more than anything else. He says there's two reasons why we can put our confidence in Him.

One, His unchangeableness of His purpose in Hebrews chapter 6, 17. Interposed with an oath, just like He did with Abraham. God made His covenant with Abraham, but because of His faithfulness, He made an oath to him. I will do this. It was a double whammy, just in case one wasn't enough.

He wanted to make sure that Abraham understood that God is not going to change his mind. That He not only doesn't say He's not going to do it, He says it's impossible for him to lie. It is impossible for him to change his mind. He cannot change his purpose.

Think about how easily and how quickly you and I change our mind. When you were in high school, you probably had liked certain type of girls. Now you're in college, is that the same? Some of you say yes, some of you will say no. Some of you love computers in high school but hate it now.

Some of you came in thinking you're going to be one major and then you switch and then you're probably not the last time you're going to switch either. How easily we change. Those of you who graduate and you start working, you had all these things that you wanted to accomplish, you start working and all of a sudden, your values change, the way you look at money change, your society changes.

You get married and have a wife, your paradigm about the world changes. Then you have a kid, that rocks your world and all of a sudden you change over and over again all throughout life. What doesn't change is our constant change. But he says God does not change. He is immutable.

In Malachi 3.6 it says, "For I, the Lord, do not change. Therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed." The reason why you and I are here is because God does not change. He made a promise. He made a covenant. He knew that if that covenant, if his desire to save the world was dependent upon Abraham, he knew we wouldn't make it.

Abraham would have failed during his lifetime and every single one of his children would have failed during their lifetime. Abraham would have failed. David would have failed. All the prophets would have failed. Jesus' disciples, every single one of them, not would have failed, failed. So when God decided to leave his great commission, he didn't leave it to them.

He left it to the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit comes, you will receive power because it wasn't in them. The only reason why you and I are here today is because God made a promise. After he wiped out the world, he said, "I'm not going to do this again." And he gave the rainbow as a covenant, as a symbol that he's not going to do this again.

And the reason why you and I have not been wiped out repeatedly over and over and over again is because God does not change. And that's what he was trying to teach. God does not change. And that's why you need to be anchored to him because God does not move.

Hebrews chapter 13, verse 8, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." That God who is immutable is the same Jesus that we worship. Romans 11, 29, "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." And so the reason why he's saying all of this is that everything else that you anchor yourself to, everything else that you anchor yourself to, to your friends, to your circumstance, to your education, to your bank account, it will change.

It will move. The only thing that does not change is God himself. In Revelation 1, 8, the book of Revelation begins by saying that he is the Alpha, Omega. And then it ends in Revelation 22, 13 by reminding them again that he is the Alpha and Omega. That he is the beginning and the end.

He's the beginning and the end. And everything in the middle is God-ordained and he does not change. All of human history is contingent upon his immutability. But what he has purposed, he will carry out. And again, not only is his purpose not changeable, but his oath. I mean, it's redundant to say, "My purpose," and then, "My oath," because his purpose is his oath.

But he wanted to make sure that the people who are hearing this, that he is guaranteeing. Whenever we buy a house or a car and you don't have enough income, you need to get a guarantor to sign. And if you're young, you may have one of your parents do it or somebody, a close friend that may desire to do it.

The guarantor cannot be a lesser of a person. If you're an older person, right, you're not going to ask your younger sister who's in high school to, "Hey, can you co-sign for me?" Because it's useless. Because the guarantor has to have more money. The guarantor has to have a better job, a good credit, to be able to come alongside and say, "You know what?

If they default, I will take the responsibility." They said, "But there is no guarantor that is greater than God. There's nobody that can guarantee the promises and the oath that he's making that is greater than God." So because of that, he says, "By my name, by myself, I declare." What his purpose is, what his promise is, cannot change.

Numbers 23, 19. "God is not man that he should lie, nor the son of man that he should repent. Has he said and will he not do it, or has he spoken and will he not make it good?" There are many things that the scripture promises that we can absolutely bank on.

And one of the most important things that you and I need to believe with all our heart and anchor ourself to is that if you confess your sins, that he is faithful and just to forgive you of all your unrighteousness. And as fundamental as that truth is, as foundational as that truth is, you wouldn't be a Christian if you didn't believe that and if you didn't practice that.

And yet, there's something in our heart that always believes that I have to do my part. Some of you are sitting in here because you're struggling with the same sins over and over and over and over again. And maybe you think that you have exhausted his grace. And you're trying to get your life straight before you get to God.

But the whole reason why he came and sent his only begotten son is because he knew you couldn't do it. Think about if the covenant that God made with us, if the promise that he's given us for eternal life was contingent upon your goodness. Whether you've been a Christian for a couple months or whether you've been a Christian for dozens of years, how many of you would be here today?

How many of you would be here be able to worship God? How many of you here could continue to pray and participate in the communion? None of us. I could think of dozens and dozens and dozens of times where by my own effort, I should have walked away. How dare you come to God?

How dare you ask for forgiveness again? How dare you after all that God has done? He knew we could not. And that's why he says, "By my name, I make a unilateral covenant that I will save you." So if you confess your sins, and that's the only contingency, if you confess your sins and you own up to your sins and you ask for forgiveness in faith, God will forgive you.

How many times? Seven times? Seven times 70. As long as you confess that our righteousness is not based upon our own merit. You don't earn that. God gives it to us because he made that promise as long as we profess. But secondly, in our walk with God, not only is that important, he says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you." And that is a constant challenge for us because we're wealthy.

If we give all that we have to God, will he really take care of us? Would he really provide for us? Will our children really be okay? So in order to hedge our bets, we give some to God and we hold on to some. We hook our legs on one side and then we hook the other legs on the other side, frustrated on both sides.

But when he says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you," it doesn't make sense to believe that God, who would send his only begotten son to die for me, would be reluctant to take care of my physical needs. And that's exactly what it says in Romans 8.32, "He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him for us all." How will he not also with him freely give us all things?

It just doesn't make sense to confess that Jesus died for my sins, that he gave his only begotten son, and then to have such a hard time believing in the trivial things. If I gave you my son, you can bank that whatever else that I have would be much easier to give to you.

And that's exactly what he is saying, that he made this promise and that is his purpose. And you can bank on it. In 2 Corinthians 1.24, "For as many as are the promises of God, in him they are yes. Therefore also through him is our amen to the glory of God through us.

They are yes." Whatever God has promised, it is yes. It's like it's already happened. Because God is not man that he should lie, nor the Son of Man that he should repent. Has he not said and will he not do it? Do you believe this? So the two implications of knowing his nature, that he cannot lie about his purpose and he cannot lie about his oath, the two implications is that we can take refuge in him, in Hebrews 6.18, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.

So that two things that we are challenged to do is to take refuge and to take hope. To take refuge and to take hope. Now the word refuge. Refuge is a place we go to for safety when there's storm, when there's fire, when there's danger. So we run for safety.

That's what we call place of refuge. Doesn't have to be a place. It could be a person. If you're a child and danger comes, what do you tell the child to do? Look for your parents because that's their refuge. It could be a place, but it's a place of safety.

Refuge is where you come to hide from trouble. Refuge is where we run to to find help. So he says, if you believe that God is faithful to his promise and he cannot lie about his oath, he says we are called to take refuge in Psalm 46.1-3. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Everybody knows to thank God in times of goodness. You know, even gangster rappers, when they win the Grammy, thank you, Jesus.

Even people who deny Christ in every which way of their life, they win the lottery. Thank you. Thank you, God. Any of those who is anchored in Christ knows how to give praise to him in the context of trouble. I want to share this song with you. This is a song that I've searched for years.

My guess is most of you probably have never heard of it. Do you know who Twila Paris is? Those of you nodding your head, I know your age. It was a popular song back in the '80s, you know, and maybe early '90s. And I realized why I had such a hard time finding this song, because I thought Amy Grant sang it.

So I would always Google Amy Grant, and then whatever, and it never came out. And so I remember a couple of verses, and so I typed it in. So I've been looking for this song for years. For some reason, I found it this week. It wasn't by Amy Grant, but Twila Paris sang it.

And then Gary Valenciano was the one who wrote it. The title of the song is "Warrior is a Child." And the reason why I want to introduce this to you is because the lyrics to me is so powerful. And maybe some of you guys can relate. Lately, I've been winning battles left to right, but even winners can get wounded in the fight.

People say that I'm amazing, I'm strong beyond my years, but they don't see inside of me, I'm hiding all the tears. They don't know that I come running home when I fall down. They don't know who picks me up when no one is around. I drop my sword and cry for just a while, 'cause deep inside this armor, the warrior is a child.

Unafraid because his armor is the best, but even soldiers need a quiet place to rest. People say that I'm amazing, I never face retreat, but they don't see the enemies that lay me at his feet. They don't know that I come running home when I fall down. They don't know who picks me up when no one is around.

I drop my sword and cry for just a while, 'cause deep inside this armor, the warrior is a child. Can you relate? I think this song really captures what it means to have Christ as our refuge. Everything around us tells us to soldier up. My children know one of my favorite things that I say is suck it up.

Suck it up. Life is hard. I don't want you to be a snowflake. Suck it up and keep going. Soldier on. 'Cause no one's gonna hold your hand. No one's gonna sympathize. Don't wait for somebody else to fix your problem. Suck it up and keep going, because that's the world that you live in.

But that is not the God that we serve. In every other human relationship, don't wait for a handout. Don't wait for somebody to come running. Don't constantly search for somebody to lean on. Because they will disappoint you. Sometimes they're there. A lot of times they're not. But the God that you and I serve, his purpose, his promise is unchangeable, and he cannot lie.

The reason why we can bank on him is because he is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. You know, the reason why we anchor is because we found a place that we need to be. And we don't want to drift. And so we don't want to move. That's why we anchor.

You don't just anchor anywhere. And that's why we're challenged to anchor in Christ. Because we found Christ to be our refuge. We found that he is our hope. And that's why we need to anchor. In Matthew 12, 20 to 21, it says, "A battered reed he will not break off.

A smoldering wick he will not put out. Until he leads justice to victory, and in his name the Gentiles will hope." How often have you felt like a battered reed, just about to break? How often have you felt like smoldering wick, a little bit of wind, a little bit more, and it would have been enough to squash you.

And yet he says in his gentle voice, "A battered reed he will not break off. And a smoldering wick he will not put out." And he invites us to him. To trust him. To take hold of this hope. To take hold of it. To anchor. To put your anchor down in him.

Because when Christ is not enough, everything else will mean too much. Let me say that again. When Christ is not enough, everything else will become too much. So as I enter into sabbatical, that's my goal. I remember years ago, the only worthwhile possession I had was my Hyundai XL, which was a cheap car when it first came out.

The Hyundai's gotten better since then, but I remember I cracked the engine because I didn't put enough oil in there, and the engine was ruined. So I took it in, and the mechanic said, "I have good news and bad news. Good news, your engine's cracked. You need to replace it." Did I say that's a good news?

No, that's a bad news. But the good news is, is the Hyundai XL. So I can get a brand new engine for 500 bucks. So many of them were junked. So I said, "I'll have to go to the junkyard and get one put it in." So he put it in for me for about five, $600.

I remember that I was driving that Hyundai XL, and in the parking lot, I was just kind of like messing around, and I hit the pole. It had like huge cement in the bottom, and I was driving too hard, and I didn't see it because it was low, and I just smashed it.

And the whole side and the bottom part, and it bent the frame. So I took it in, and he said, "Oh, you really jacked this up." And he said, "They're going to have to use crane to bring it back. It's going to cost this kind of money. Do you want to junk it?" And I remember coming home from that feeling so free because that's the only thing I owned.

And literally, I came home with nothing. Like nothing, nothing in my pocket. I owned nothing. So when he said, "Pick up your cross," I was like, "Sure. I got nothing to lose. I'm not bound by anything. I don't belong to any community. I didn't have friends that I have to give up.

I didn't have any money in my bank account. So pick up your cross." I was like, "Sure." Because it was very, very light. But since then, I've gotten married, had four kids, bought a house, and the church has grown, and had a certain kind of reputation, and have to worry about so many different things.

And it hasn't been that simple since. And so I have to constantly ask myself, "Is Christ enough? Is Christ enough? What's driving you? What's driving me? Why do you do what you do?" If God took away everything, would you still love him? Would you still follow him? Would you still proclaim him?

And my honest confession is, it hasn't been that simple since then. Every good gift that he has given to me has become something that I had to give back, at least in my heart. My prayer for us is stated really in Habakkuk 3, 17 to 18. I think Elder James really loves this verse because I remember him quoting this a lot.

"Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exalt in the Lord.

I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." Isaac is not the fulfillment of our promise. My wife, my kids, this church, it's not the fulfillment of God's promise. It's God. And my desire is, for our church, is that not that we become the biggest church in Orange County, that we would have the most influence, that we would be filled with people who are the experts in theology.

It's hyper-organized, run like a well-oiled machine, that this is the place you come if you want to study the Bible. All of these things are great things. But what God wants more than anything else are people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. And you can't do that if you love Him, if you don't love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

So my desire for us, as I go into my sabbatical, is that we would learn to love God. Not to be a good student alone, not to be a good businessman, not to be a good child or mother or father. Above all of that, to be anchored in Christ.

And I know, I know that you know what I'm talking about, how easily we can be distracted, how easily we can fool ourselves, how easily we can love the gift more than the giver. Why we need to take a step back and anchor ourselves to Christ. Let me wrap up with this, and I'm going to ask the praise team to come up.

And I want to sing this song with you, this hymn, "My Hope is Built on Nothing Less." And this is a hymn that we sing quite often at our church, but my prayer is that as we sing it, that we would make this our prayer and our honest confession.

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ, my righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand. When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace.

In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil His covenant, His blood. Support me in the whelming flood, when all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. Father, I pray that the words of this song would be our honest confession.

Help us, Lord God, to realize that we cannot serve mammon and God. Help us to know the surpassing knowledge of knowing Christ, that all the temptations in our world would truly become rubbish. Help us to bank and to invest and to take refuge and hope in Christ and Christ alone.

May this song be our prayer. Amen.