Good morning, church family. Lord's Day, I hope all of you had a good week in the Lord. It's good to be with you to gather together week to week. As we sing this first song, this first hymn, I just want to encourage us that as we come week to week, there might be a tendency for us to come and it's very normal and routine.

But just a reminder that as we gather together as a church, that we come with reverence and acknowledgement of who we approach, that our God is worthy. And this hymn, I Will Sing the Wonder Story, kind of walks us through some of the aspects of who God is and how much he deserves our worship.

And I hope that we will be reflective of that. Sing together, I Will Sing. >> Hi, everyone. We have an opportunity coming up in December to serve with Operation Christmas Child, which Women's Ministry currently has the shoeboxes, which they'll be collecting from the 13th to the 20th. On the 16th, we have an opportunity to serve from 10 o'clock to 4 p.m., and that is to see an inside look on where these shoeboxes go and how much work and volunteer hours are put into distributing these to children around the world.

So the organization has been around for 30 years now. They've been able to distribute over 209 million shoeboxes over the past 30 years. Last year, they were able to send out 10.5 million, and this year they're trying to send out 11 million. So all of that processing takes a lot of manpower and volunteers, so we're hoping that we can get a group of people to help out.

The location is in Fullerton. I'll be setting up outside with the Women's Ministry to answer any questions and to sign up. So if you're interested, please sign up on the app. Thank you. >> All right, and then the other thing is the Christmas party for the Family Ministry is coming up on December 10th.

It is going to be a lunch from 1 to 3 p.m. This is the first time in a few years that we've been able to do this because of the size of our church, and so we're going to try to provide child care for kids starting from Seeds A and B class and up.

And so the cost will be $10 per adult and $5 for the kids that 3 to 13 age range. And so please RSVP in the next couple weeks. The RSVP deadline is November 26th. It will be a time of games, of food, a fellowship. It's from all of us, Fam 245 all the way to Jubilee, whether you're a member or not a member.

We're just coming together to celebrate Christ's birth as a group. And so, yes, please sign up in the next couple weeks. Thank you. Is that for me or for her? You're going to clap for me too after I give my announcement? All right, so Fam 245, if you've been married three years or less, you're part of that ministry, and there's going to be a bowling fellowship that's going to be taking place on Saturday, December 2nd at 4 p.m.

And all the other announcements about the holiday outreach, there is a table and booth outside, and if you go visit them and you have any questions about the Christmas box and other things, there will be a table out there to answer any of your questions. Let me pray for our offering, and then after that, our brother Anthony is going to come up, and he's going to give his testimony and be baptized this morning.

Again, if you have a physical offering, there's a box on the way out, and you can visit that on the way out after the service. All right, let's pray. Father, we thank you for the privilege that we have to be able to come and communion with you, to give you worship, Lord God, that you deserve.

I pray that you will remind us again and again of the grace that we stand under, that our worship, Lord God, would be more than just singing. Our giving would be just more than giving, but it would be an expression, Lord, of the gratitude, of the joy that you've given us.

I pray, Father, that you would multiply this offering. May it be used, every penny of it, for the sake of your glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Church family, why don't we stand together as we come before God to worship. Just briefly, say hello to a couple people around you.

If you're new, just briefly. Good morning. My name is Anthony Chua. This is my testimony. Do you believe in God? It's a question I've wrestled with for a long time. If you asked me that question at different points in my life, you'd get an answer that varies from "maybe" to "never in a million years." That's because I'm not a typical churchgoer.

My family did not grow up with a church. Most of my friends and family are nonbelievers, and that is the environment I've known for 28 years. I was raised in total secularity and was an atheist through and through, or agnostic on better days. For 28 years, I had no perception of religion, aside from it being some self-help system for the blind and gullible, so in my head, neither applied to me.

I had no desire to change course, echoing the sentiment of others around me that as long as you had a good head on your shoulders and stayed out of trouble, there's nothing more you could do. Clearly, I wasn't ready to receive Christ, deciding that my own moral compass and values were enough to successfully navigate life, and so that would continue to define me for over two decades.

That would change after I'd start a new job because of one problem--traffic. If every great opportunity came with an asterisk, the star next to this job was a brutal three-hour-long commute across Los Angeles in one direction. In my mind, the world was mocking me, yet I was determined to make it work, using that time to think about how to solve traffic because that was way too much time to spend alone in my own thoughts.

And when you think constantly for a year about the same thing, only to conclude that a man-made problem couldn't even be solved by us, it gets disappointing pretty quick. Now there is something interesting about that moment because I recognize that Christ attempted to reach me several times, only to reach the dial tone at the end of my floundering spirit.

But with this moment, I finally heard that phone ring. It was the wake-up call encouraging me to question everything and above all else. I found a world defiled by man, riddled with imperfection, evil, and selfish to its core. I didn't have to look very far to find it because it was everywhere.

But for every awful thing I noticed, I would question how those things spoke to my character. If humanity had many faults, even at its best, how much more true would that be for myself? It was a question I would constantly ask, and armed with new conclusions, I began my pursuit of truth.

A chance encounter with a friend of a good friend brought me to the person who would walk alongside my curiosity, bring me here, and ultimately help me get the answer I sought. But with that answer came a remarkable difficulty to look in the mirror. I have this habit of looking myself in the eye properly to determine if I have a clear conscience.

But throughout this year, there were many days when I couldn't even raise my head. Sometimes I'd try to look and guilt would quickly readjust my line of sight. I recognized my sinful nature and it ran deeper than I could imagine. I was conflicted over a past of lies, cheating, anger, hatefulness, wickedness, and a whole number of things that if I started listing now, Pastor Peter won't get a chance to give his sermon.

But two things were clear. The first was that I was unwell and it was unbearable. The second was that if there was nothing in this world that could save me, I needed to find my peace somewhere else, and I was told I could find it in Christ. I started working, praying, hoping to earn that peace because I wanted to cleanse a soul that was far murkier than I had ever known it to be.

But no matter what I did, I didn't feel any clearer. I told myself I believed and was sure of it in my mind, but my heart was wavering. So even as I sat in these seats and sang these songs, I felt like I was on borrowed time. Although I was ready to receive now, I felt like I was lacking something.

And after trying what this world offered to no avail, I couldn't see myself turning back. I was at odds with opposing powers and felt stuck. It wasn't until the membership interview with PPC when he would remind me of the most fundamental part of the gospel, faith. For someone who studied Martin Luther so much, it's surprisingly easy to forget that faith justifies sinners like us.

But it was the first time after hundreds of hearings that it finally started to make sense. With PPC's encouragement, I asked God to change my heart so I may understand how best to serve him. It's hard to put into words what happened between that day months ago and right now as I stand here, but I can say one thing with certainty.

While I merely asked for this not long ago, I did not feel remotely the same. I spoke with my brother weeks after this request about a passage that was on his mind for years. Ezekiel 36, verse 26. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.

I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." And while he wrestled with this passage for so long, it could not be any more true for my story. God did give me a new heart. There was something, there was nothing I could do about it.

With this heart of flesh, I am free. And just as the Apostle Paul received the gospel and changed course in an instant, so too have I. Running far from the world and into Christ's warm embrace. So if you ask me now, "Do you believe in God?" Let me say this.

There is no guilt, there is no shame, no uncertainty. Only love, gratitude, and praise to the Lord who saved me. I am proud of the heart and the love I have received, and I hope that after 28 years of secular life, the heart God granted me continues to grow in love and compassion towards Him alongside you, my fellow believers.

And for those who still seek, I hope that just as it was done for me, He will also set you free. See you on the other side of the water. Did you understand when you go up to the water, you will be baptized death? And when you come out, you will be baptized with your first bite?

Baptizing there with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thank you, Anthony, for that powerful testimony. If you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke 6, verse 39 to 45. Luke 6, verse 39 to 45. We're going to read out of the NASB. "And he also spoke a parable to them, 'A blind man cannot guide a blind man.

Can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? A pupil is not above his teacher, but everyone after he has been fully trained will be like his teacher. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your eye?

Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good, and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil, for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart." Let's pray.

Father, we come before you asking for your grace, for your Holy Spirit to cause us to understand, and not just a mental assessment, but we pray, Father God, that you would give us grace to understand your own heart. Holy Spirit, guide us and lead us. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Just as a review of previous week's passages, where Jesus is talking about the new kingdom that he has come to bring, and the citizens of the kingdom, he says the Beatitudes, and basically flips upside down the principles of this world, and what is considered blessed and what is considered curse.

And then, after that, he gives basically a summary saying the core value of the kingdom is the love that we practice. And as Jesus said, "They will know you if you have love for one another as I have loved you." Not just any kind of love, but this agape love.

This unconditional love. Love that you commit to love, especially those that are hard to love. And he says to bless those who curse you, those who basically want to hurt you, and in the summary of it he says, "Love your enemies." And then he goes into the text that we're looking at, verse 39 to 45, he says, "The reason why this is so hard for you to understand, and why this is not being practiced, is because your leaders who are blind, they are leading the blind.

They're not leading you. Because the blind are leading the blind, they're going to take you into a pit." And basically that was an indictment against the leaders. It was an indictment against Israel themselves. And then, last week, we looked at the reason why they were so blind, is because they fixated all their attention on other people's sins.

He said that you're focused on taking a splinter out of someone else's eye when you have a log in your eye, and as a result of that, you're not able to see things clearly. You don't understand the position that you're in. Because all your energy is focused on fixing other people.

But you're not aware of how bad your sins are. And he said, "As a result of that, you become blind." And then today, he goes even a step further than that, and he says, "The reason why you're not able to see, the reason why you're fixated on other people, is because, at the core, you're a bad tree." And he said, "A bad tree cannot bear good fruit, and a good tree will bear good fruit." So at the core of who you are, you're just revealing who you are.

You're trying to pretend. You're a hypocrite trying to act, but eventually, who you really are is going to be revealed. That's basically what he is saying. You can pretend for a period. Some mentions are obvious, and some mentions trail behind it, but sooner or later, who you are is going to be revealed.

So the focus this morning, when we talk about sanctification, is that the fruit is going to come from who we are. He says, again, let me read this text again, verse 43 to 45, "For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit. Nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit.

For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorn, nor do they pick grapes from the briar bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good. And the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil.

For his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart." Now, again, for the purpose of application, so you and I understand exactly what he's talking about, the immediate application, obviously, is the leaders of Israel. The Pharisees and the scribes who are supposed leaders of Israel, but they're not leading them at all because they're blind.

But in a broader context, he's talking about Christians and non-Christians. A Christian, a genuine Christian, will produce genuine fruit. And if you're not a Christian, no matter how hard you try, you're not going to be able to bear fruit. You're just dressing up something without true change. Now, you and I live in a culture where something crazy has happened just in the last five to ten years where-- and the fact that this is even controversial is just crazy-- that a male with male parts, male muscles, male genetics, and if we say that he's a male, that you are homophobic, right?

You're a hater. You could even get fired. Right now, throughout the school boards, if the teacher refuses to call a child who's in every way male, says, "Oh, I'm not a male," and then don't address him the way they want to be addressed, basically you can get fired for that.

I mean, just how crazy this is that this is even being debated in our culture. If you act like a duck, eat like a duck, smell like a duck, and sleep like a duck, most likely you're a duck, right? Is that controversial? As crazy as that sounds, that's how things have become even in the church, spiritually.

You act like a non-Christian, you speak like a non-Christian, you live like a non-Christian, and then you say, "Are you a Christian?" It's like, "How dare you? How dare you judge us?" Paul--or Jesus is saying, he said, "The fruits that you see of that tree will determine what kind of tree that is." That's just common sense.

He's not saying anything controversial. He's not saying anything weird. He's saying just matter of fact, that this is fact of life. If you act, sleep, talk, live a certain way, you're going to say, "Oh, you must be a duck." But it's become controversial, even spiritually, to identify somebody that doesn't have any fruit, any evidence of Christian, and to--we can't dare say what they look like.

A good tree, he says, will bear good fruit. You can't expect good fruit from a bad tree either. Some of the frustration that we have in the church today is that we have not clearly identified who is a Christian, who is not a Christian, because we're not allowed to.

Because we're not allowed to. And then we're trying to disciple people to change their behavior where they might not be a Christian. They've never committed their life to Christ. They've never been forgiven of their sins. But because they're in church, we expect them to act like a Christian. So what ends up happening?

You start bearing false fruit. You pretend to be somebody that you're not. Then eventually, that ends up breaking down. And then they'll leave the church and say, "Well, these people are doing this, and they were judgmental, they're legalistic." You cannot disciple somebody who's not a Christian. And that's part of the reason why we practice membership at this church.

Because whether we're going to practice grace, whether we're going to practice discipleship, whatever we practice, first and foremost, we have to be able to identify what kind of a tree you are. You have to identify if you're a good tree or a bad tree. That's why we have membership.

That's why at membership, the first thing that we have to identify is, is there credible evidence of genuine faith in this person's life? In Mark 11, verses 13-14, Jesus condemns this fig tree. And in this fig tree, he says, "Seeing that this is a fig tree and leaf, he went to see if perhaps he would find anything on it.

And when he came to it, he found nothing but leaf, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, 'May no one ever eat fruit from you.'" And his disciples were listening. Years ago, I was trying to share the gospel with this elderly gentleman, and we were talking about various things about the gospel.

And he read this passage, and he said, "Why did God condemn this fig tree?" Now, for whatever reason, he had no problem with eternal judgment. He had no problem with the incarnation. But he got stuck on this, and no matter how much I tried to explain to him, he said, "It seems so unfair." And he had a Buddhist background, so he kind of had, you know, for whatever the reason, this got triggered, and he just would not let it go.

The tree did nothing. Right? And in fact, it says it wasn't seasoned to bear fruit. So if it wasn't seasoned to bear fruit, why did he expect it to bear fruit? Now, I want you to pay very close attention to what's going on here, because you're going to miss the point, what the indictment is.

He says, "In a distance, a fig tree in leaf." Right? If you miss that, you're going to miss the whole point of the indictment that Jesus is giving to the nation of Israel. See, a fig tree that doesn't bear fruit would not have leaf. He says he went there because he saw the leaf.

And leaf, for a fig tree, pointed to the fact that there would be fig on that tree. So Jesus goes there because he sees the leaf, but there's no fruit. And he uses this opportunity to condemn the nation of Israel. So what was the condemnation that he was giving to Israel?

Not simply that they weren't bearing fruit, but because they were pretending to be righteous without being righteous. They had the form of godliness with no power. They were externally keeping the law, but at the core of who they were and who they are, they did not know who God is.

That's why when the Son of God showed up, he said, "You're keeping the law, you're studying, you're memorizing, you're even proselytizing, but you don't know your Father." And that's why he said, "You call me Lord, Lord, but your heart is far from me." They pretended. They were actors. And that's what he kept on saying to them, "You hypocrites, you hypocrites, you hypocrites.

You're loading up your external behavior, but internally, you are no different. You're pretending." Now, the reason why this is so crucial in a post-Christian culture, especially if you grew up in the church, and all your friends happen to be Christians, the natural temptation for us is to want to be seen as good Christians.

And so we can focus all of our attention on how we are perceived. Whatever the standard that is made for the culture, the church that you belong to, we jump through the hoops to make sure that we meet those hoops. Do you remember the sin of Ananias and Sapphira in the book of Acts?

Early on, the Holy Spirit comes upon the church, and people are so excited. They were selling all their possessions. They were distributing to the poor. Ananias and Sapphira has an idea. They sell their possession, but they only turn in a portion of it. The Holy Spirit knows this and asks them, "Is this all that you have?" And they lie to the Holy Spirit and say, "Yes." Peter responds and says, "This was not required of you.

This was not a mandatory offering that God said that you had to sell everything and give to the poor. Why did you do this? What was their sin?" Their sin was they wanted to seem righteous without truly being righteous. It was the same sin as the Pharisees. And the reason why the Holy Spirit was so harsh with Ananias and Sapphira was the very sin that Jesus was trying to confront and weed out of Israel at the very beginning of the church, Ananias and Sapphira was trying to introduce it again.

Fake righteousness. Pretending to be something that they're not. That's what he was condemning Israel for with this fig tree. You present yourself to be righteous, but in reality there's no true fruit. In Matthew 23, 27, 28 it says, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, you actors! For you are like whitewashed tomb, which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.

So you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." The reason why a tomb had to be whitewashed in that first generation, in that period, is because if somebody stumbled upon a tomb accidentally, they would have become unclean, according to the Leviticus law.

So as a result of that, they would have to be isolated and say they are unclean for a period of time. So they wanted to identify where these tombs were, and they decorated it. They colored it with white, not only so that it would look nice, but mainly because they didn't want somebody to come encounter this grave and become unclean for a period of time.

So the indictment that he's giving to the nation of Israel, to the leaders, is that because they are unclean, that anybody that comes into contact with these hypocrites also become hypocrites. Because they are actors, the disciples that they produce will also become actors. So he wanted to make sure that they understood that even though on the surface they are decorated and look beautiful, but inwardly they are filled with dead men's bones.

All it is, is a grave. Some of the most miserable people that I've ever met, and I think you would agree too, are very religious people. They read their books, they know their theology, and I've been to situations where the first thing that they ask is, "What is your position on the doctrines of grace?" I say, "Hi, my name is Peter." Before I get into anything, I say, "Are you worthy of my conversation?

Are we going to be friends? Are we going to be able to sit here together? So I need to know what your position is. What's your position on the doctrine of grace?" Now, the question in itself is not the problem. But before anything else, before he was interested in anything else, he's like, "I need to know what your position is." Some of the most miserable people are people who are theologically astute, read the scriptures, knows the Bible, has doctorate or PhDs, pastors of large churches, wrote many books, and as a result of that, they look at everybody through that lens.

Jesus is talking to those very people. By the reputation of godliness, but had no power. It wasn't real. And because of that, they can pretend for a while. They can present themselves for a while. But as time goes by, the more you get to know them, the more you begin to see what's really inside.

Bitterness, anger, judgmentalism. And that's eventually, like some men's sins are obvious, some men's trail behind them. But the more time you spend with them, the more you see what is really inside. And that's what Jesus was pointing out. That your righteousness is all for the purpose of presentation. You're just an actor.

Now the reason why this is so important is, if we happen to be in a country where we're being persecuted, the entrance into the church is being prevented or being filtered because of persecution. So as a result, everybody counts the cost before they come in through the door. In a post-Christian culture, we make it as easy as possible to come into the church, and as a result of that, we don't know who the true Christians are.

We don't know who committed their life to Christ. As long as you're in church, we treat everybody as if, like, let's not be judgmental. And so because our churches are filled with people who just entered the church but never committed their life to Christ, we're discipling people to behave a certain way without true transformation that is happening in their heart.

We have to be careful that we're not reproducing more Pharisees, that people are jumping through the hoops and just going through the motion. Then how do we bear fruit, right? If we're just changing our external behavior is not real discipleship. If we just--people who didn't go to church to come to church, people who didn't read the Bible to read the Bible, people who didn't serve to serve, you can do all of that to dress up the pig.

You can put a lipstick on it, put hair on it. At the end of the day, it's just a prettier pig. The nature hasn't changed. Nothing has changed, right? So if we're not careful, we can have a church filled with people who are pretty pigs. True discipleship happens when there's an internal transformation, when a bad tree becomes a good tree.

In Jeremiah 13.23, it says, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin color or skin or the leopard his spot? You also can do good who are accustomed to doing evil." If you can't just say, "You know what? I'm just going to be a good tree now. I was a bad tree, and I was like the hypocrites.

I'm just not going to be that anymore." Is that how it happens? Telling somebody who is not--internally hasn't changed, "Hey, just change." "Stop being fake. Just change." That's no different than telling somebody, "You two fall in love." We have a lot of young singles in our church. Let's just get this over with.

Get in a room, you two, all the odd numbers here and even numbers, all the even and odd get together, and then next year we're going to have 200 weddings, and then we'll be good for a while. Just do it! I mean, obviously it doesn't happen that way. Just telling people to change.

It just doesn't happen just like that. If they're not doing this, we're going to get them to do more of this, or get them not to do this. All we're doing is dressing up their presentation with no real change that are happening inside. So we have to fundamentally ask the question, "What causes change in people?" True change, right?

Not just guilt. Some people come to church out of superstition, because you grew up in the church all your life, and if you don't go to church, God's not going to bless you. He's not going to answer your prayers. So I have to go to church. So you have to go and check off Mark, right?

So those of you who are coming to church out of obligation, the shorter the message, the funnier, and the faster the time goes, you like it, right? So it's like going to... It's like going to, like, you get a ticket and you have to go, right? You have to go and get your education.

I forgot what that's called. Huh? Traffic school. Okay. I should know it by now. I should have so many. You have to do it. So the shorter, the quicker, the funniest, it's better, because the goal of the traffic school is not, "I want to get educated. I want to become a better driver." The goal of a traffic school is to appease the court.

And so if I'm coming to church to appease the court, if I preach five minutes longer than what you're normally used to, I've ruined your life, right? Because you come to church like you're going to traffic school, right? You have to appease the judge. And so you don't find joy in this.

It's just something that you need to do, because that's what you're supposed to do. You grew up in a church. And if you don't, you're going to get judged. Some people come out of peer pressure. You went to college, and then you were surrounded by, you know, Christians who judged you for not going to church.

You know, like in some countries, they get judged for going to church. In our country, you get judged for not going to church. If you grew up in the church and you don't go to church, you're going to be persecuted, right, by other friends. So some people will come out of pressure, peer pressure.

Some of you just have a sheer sense of duty. You know, you've been an A student since you were in kindergarten, right? You never painted outside the line, ever. And so you went to the good school. You got the straight As. And so now you're a straight A student, even for your Christian faith.

And so you can't do any less than an A. And so you have to work to get that. Some of you innately have a sense of workspace salvation. You just try harder. I'm going to try harder, right? Every single year, like, "I'm going to do it. Last year I failed.

This year I'm not going to fail. I'm not going to fail." At the core of your heart, you're always miserable. Because no matter how hard you try, you're not quite there yet. See, in John 3, verse 1, when Nicodemus, the chief of the Pharisees, came and asked Jesus about the kingdom of God, most people would have said, "I mean, this guy is probably the most righteous." Top 1.1%.

I said too many points there, huh? 0.0001%, right? Most of you guys don't care, but I know there's some people in here that bothers you and that's going to ruin the whole sermon. Right? In John 3, verse 1, when he asked that question, he says, "Jesus answered and said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'" What is he saying?

He said, "Unless there's a complete transformation of who you are, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. There's nothing you can do. You have to become a different person." In other words, a bad tree has to become a good tree. You have to be a good tree. You have to be born to be a good tree in order to bear good fruit.

So the question is, how do we do that? How do you get a bad tree to become a good tree? I mean, the answer is pretty simple. Because every single one of us, I mean most of us, if you're a Christian, you know the answer. In Romans, chapter 10, verse 17, it says, "So faith comes from hearing, and the hearing by the word of Christ." You and I were justified, and our core nature changed when the gospel was presented.

You heard it, and for some reason you believed it. And because you believed it, not because of something you did, not because you were prepared, but simply by the grace of God, the word of God was preached, and you believed it. And when you believed it, what happened? Your eyes became open.

In 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4, it says, "In whose case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, so that they might not see the light of the gospel, the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." So the satanic work is to keep the sinners from seeing the gospel, the glory of Christ.

What did Christ do by preaching the gospel? When we heard it by faith, our eyes became open, and then we saw the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And when we saw, when we encountered this beauty, we changed. Right? We changed. All of a sudden, just like our brother Anthony said, all of a sudden he accepted Christ, and everything looked different.

And the Scripture says that in his light, we see all other light. It isn't until our eyes become open to the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ that all of a sudden we are changed. We changed, not because we worked hard, not because we were discipled to change.

We just changed. When we encountered Christ, that's what changed us. Beholding his beauty changed us. You try to change a behavior of somebody who hasn't seen the glory of Christ. All you're trying to do is that in this church, we expect this from you. What a miserable thing to do.

In this, I expect this type of behavior. I expect you to give this much. I expect you to sacrifice this much. Do this and don't do that. And so if you tell somebody who has not seen the glory of Christ and you have not been changed by the beauty of Christ, all you are doing in discipleship is shaming them to change their behavior.

Whether you're part of this church or that church. So if this church expects you to do this, you do this. You go to that church, and that church has a higher standard or a lower standard, and you just adjust your behavior based upon who you're around. But there's no true transformation that's taking place.

And all you're telling them to do is the things that make you happy to stop doing it. Don't do it. Don't buy that. Don't go there. Don't watch this. But do more of this. Do more of that. Give more of that. That's all you're doing. And it makes people miserable.

It makes people miserable because they're not pursuing life. They're pursuing death. And all church becomes is a place where you're constantly felt guilty for what you're doing, what you're not doing. What changes us is Christ. Beholding Christ's beauty. C.S. Lewis, in his book, "The Weight of Glory," says this, "It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.

We are half-hearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us. Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea, we are far too easily pleased.

For whatever the reason, we think we are justified by grace, but our sanctification is going to happen by hard work." And it doesn't mean that hard work isn't required of us, but what justifies us will also sanctify us, and eventually leads us to glory. It is confronting and being encountered by the beauty of Christ that changes.

That's what Paul means in 2 Corinthians 5:14, "For the love of Christ controls us." He has become enslaved by the love of Christ. He can do no other, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died. Love changes us. Now, even the smaller understanding, the lesser understanding of love, it changes us.

When you fall in love, it changes you. There's people, you know, you had your hair parted here one day, and all of a sudden you show up next Sunday and you're parted here. What happened? You had that same hairstyle for 30 years. What happened? My guess is somebody you fell in love didn't like that haircut.

You didn't like going to this restaurant, and all of a sudden you're hanging out there all the time. All of a sudden it changes you, right? Your jeans become tighter for whatever reason. Like everything about you starts to change. You become softer. Something about you changes, because love, there's something powerful changed you, and it was love.

That happens even with parents. You have a child, you don't choose to fall in love, you just fall in love with your child. The moment that you have your child, all of a sudden, nothing else seems as important. You just fall in love with your child, and all of a sudden the things that you used to do, that you just, "I just cannot, I cannot, you don't know what I'm like," and all of a sudden you have a child, then you become a different person.

What changed you? Love for your child changed you. Love changes all of us, and those are lesser kind of love that the whole world experiences, but the love that he's talking about is the greatest of all love, where God the Father said, "This only be God's Son." There's no love greater than this, that a friend lay down his life for his friend.

And a child of God has experienced the greatest of love, and that's why Paul says, "This love, this love has bound me, and I can do no other." It changed him, not simply because he was out of duty, but because the beauty of his love motivates me, changes me.

In Galatians 5, 22-23, it says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is," what? "Love." And it is not by accident love is at the front, because it is love that produces joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and against such things there is no law. If you try to pretend to be joyous without love, it's a fake smile.

People always, you know, like make fun of me because my smile, I always smile with my mouth, but my eyes are the same. Right? It's like a little kid. My kids used to smile that way. Some of you guys smile that way. Your eyes are still the same. It doesn't move.

My eyes are frozen, but my lips go up. Right? We're trying to fake joy. Right? You know, at our church we have so many weddings, and people often ask me, like, "How many weddings have you done?" I've counted over 150. Throughout the years I've officiated over 150 weddings. And so people ask me, "Don't you get tired of weddings?" Never.

Honest truth, I never get tired of weddings. You know why? Because that's the happiest place on earth. Not this fake place in Anaheim. This is like the happiest place on earth. Yes, yes. All right. I saw who clapped. Okay, so you guys. Because even the love of those two people, even if everybody in the room is not in love, even just the love of those two people brings so much joy into the room.

And when people are in love, it produces fruit. So when he says there's no law for this, part of the reason why we need to be organized, and I need to prepare sermons, and we need to practice these songs and all this stuff, is because we don't have as much love as we should.

You fill a room filled with people who are in love with Christ, you don't need to prep anything. Worship happens. Even without a guitar, you just--songs break out. We don't have to--we need to pray. Prayer meetings happen. It just happens. Worship happens. Fellowship happens. You have a small group filled with people who are in love with Christ?

You don't need to be intentional. We need to be intentional. You don't have to be intentional. You can't help but talk about God. Because that's what's oozing out, because that's what's filled your heart with Christ. You tell somebody who's in love with Christ, go evangelize. Try to stop them from evangelizing.

They can't help but to share with other people. That's what he means. And that's why he says the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, saying, "Love your neighbors as yourself." And if you have that, it produces joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.

And against these things there is no law. In fact, in 1 Timothy 1.5, when Paul is telling this young protege, Timothy, to prepare him to go fight against these wrong doctrines, after telling him, "Command these men to stop teaching this," but then after he commands him, he says, "But the goal of our instruction is what?

Is love." The purpose of this is not so that we can simply be doctrinally pure, which is important. But we need to be doctrinally pure for what reason? So that we can have love. You know why? Because the beauty of Christ is the gospel. So if you pervert the gospel, you pervert the beauty of Christ.

If you pervert the gospel, you've taken something so beautiful, and you threw mud at it. And so what produces love in us, what produces change in us, you've muddied it. So people no longer see the beauty, they see your work. They see your design. They see idols. That's why perverting the gospel is so detrimental to the church.

Because they no longer are able to see the beauty that was presented in us in the pure gospel. The goal of this commandment, it says, is love. That's why Paul says in Colossians 1:29, "For this purpose I also labor, striving according to his power, which mightily works within me." He says he's laboring because of how he's been affected.

Not simply out of duty, not simply to change people's behavior. I found that this discipleship really works if we do it this way. No, there's only one way that people actually change, really change. From a bad tree to a good tree is when they encounter the beauty of Christ.

That's why the primary goal of any Sunday is so that you would see that beauty. And that beauty is presented. I don't need to make this up. All I need to do is present the Bible accurately to you. Things you understand, things that you don't understand. Because the beauty of Christ is presented in the scriptures.

So I don't have to worry about finding words, and I don't have to be Shakespeare. All I have to do is present what is in here exactly the way it's been presented because all of it points to his beauty, his glory. Paul says that in light of the surpassing knowledge of knowing Jesus Christ, everything else became rubbish.

Everything else became rubbish. Once you meet the love of your life, everybody else looks ugly. And if they don't, you've got a problem. But that's why you get married. That's why you choose that person because you fell in love, and that's all you want. From that day on, that's all you want.

You don't have the responsibility of anything else. You don't care because that's the one I want. And we feel like that with a lesser love. How much more when we meet Christ, the pure love, pure love of Christ, the superlative love, and we commit, "That's the love I want.

For the rest of my life, I'm not going to look at anything else. For the rest of my life, there is no way I'm going to find anything that's going to compare to this. I just want this and this only." That's why he says in the book of Revelation, this church was externally-- they built up all of these good works, and he says, "But this one thing I have against you, you have forsaken your first love.

You have built up--you painted this pig beautifully, but it's still pig. You have forsaken your first love." That's the greatest thing that he desires. And then you know what the remedy to that is? Remember. Remember the height from which you have fallen. He doesn't say work harder. He doesn't say be more disciplined.

He said, "Remember when you first met Christ, before you knew anything, before you had anything to present, remember when you first met Christ. Go back to that. Before you were theologically astute, before you memorized all of these scriptures, when you first met Christ and you encountered the beauty of Christ and all you could think of was, 'This is what I want the rest of my life.

This is all I want for eternity.' Remember that that you fell from. Repent from your empty works, and then go back and do what you did at first." Galatians 3, 2-3, the text that we looked at this week in our study, said, "This is the only thing that I want to find out from you.

Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish, having begun by the Spirit? Are you now being perfected by the flesh?" The same beauty of Christ that justified us is the same beauty of Christ that sanctifies us. When we want to become more like Him, when we want more of Him, we change.

We change. Because He's the one we want to please. He's the one we want to be near. He's the one we want to meet. If heaven is just a better place, if you're poor, you get to become rich. If you're short, you get to become tall. If you're unathletic, you're going to become athletic.

It's just a better earth. And Christ has nothing to do with it. The reason why heaven is heaven is because Christ is there. Because the beauty of Christ is revealed to us clearly. That we see in part everything we experience, we experience as a child. And even that little glimpse that we've seen has changed me for eternity.

Imagine what it would be like if we're able to see Him as He is. And we get a 3D vision of His beauty up close. Imagine what it's going to be like in heaven. And that's what changes us. That's what redirects our values. That's what causes us to look at the temptations of this world as rubbish.

In light, in light of the surpassing knowledge of the beauty of Christ. So, if our spiritual life isn't about knowing Him, just study, evangelize more, church planting, read more, do more, make disciples, it becomes an ugly place. It becomes an ugly place where everybody is just looking at each other to see who's doing what and who's not doing what.

Instead, imagine if the room was filled with people who are just in love with Christ. You can have one person up here with a guitar, sing 1970s songs, and you would never complain. It's an inside joke. Because you don't need the best preacher up here, you don't need the best brand up here, you don't need the best everything.

Just the fact that I get to worship God. Some of you guys remember what it was like when you first met Christ. And that's why Jesus said, as He was leaving the disciples, what about us, remember what Jesus said? John 15, "For it abides in me and I in you, as the branches cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me.

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." In other words, as you started with me, you need to continue with me. You need to remain with me. That when you first met Christ and you fell in love, that's what you need to be pursuing.

We're doing Bible study not so that we can be good Bible students. We study the Bible so that we can have a greater glimpse of His glory. To understand Him better. What is this love? Why would He do such a thing? Why would He remember me? Why would He be so gracious to me?

And for the rest of our life, we're trying to have a better understanding of what we already have in Christ. That's what Bible study is. Prayer is communing with the person who loves me more than anybody else in this world. Who desires the best for me more than anybody else I can possibly imagine.

It's a communion with Him. That's what prayer is. Evangelism is telling other people of what you've fallen in love with. And to tell them that He loves you too. You can come to Him too. That's what evangelism is. Church planting is a place where people who are in love with Christ, to gather together, to have community together, to worship together.

That's what church planting is. But if it becomes anything less than that, it becomes a miserable place. Everybody's just measuring to see who's doing what, who's not doing what. Let me conclude with this. In Psalm chapter 1, 1-4, you have who's blessed, who's cursed, and He says, "How blessed is the man who does not walk according to the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers." In other words, when He says you're not blessed if you do this, if you walk according to the pattern of this world, you're going to be miserable.

But who are the blessed? "Blessed are those who delight in the law of the Lord, and on His law He meditates day and night." Now you may look at that superficially and say, "Wow, I love studying the Bible." Is that what He's talking about? Some of you guys like reading and some of you guys don't.

So if you don't like reading, you're in trouble. Why does He delight in the law of the Lord? Some people delight in the law of the Lord because they love talking about theology. Because they're competing with other people. I read more, I know more, I can argue more. Now, don't get me wrong.

I'm not knocking theology because the theology is what causes us to see His glory. I'm not knocking theology. But if you pursue theology so that you can be better at theology, you're missing the whole point. That's not what He's saying. Why does He delight in the law of the Lord?

He delights in the law of the Lord because He delights in God. Because it's His words. Because it's His heart. Just like if you got a letter from the person that you fell in love with, you read that over and over again. And you're dissecting every word He says.

"Dear so-and-so." "Dear." He said, "Dear." I'm very dear to this person. Every single word is like an expression of the person's love. That's why you delight in the law of the Lord. It makes you happy. Not just because you're a rule-keeper. Not because you like to study. Because it's from God.

The one that you fell in love with. And so it teaches you. You are able to commune with Him. But He says He delights in the law of the Lord. And He meditates on it day and night because it makes Him happy. It's a source of joy and peace.

He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in its season. It yields its fruit. So in order to yield fruit, what does He do? Just plant in the streams of water. Isn't that what Jesus said? If you drink of the water that the world gives you, you will drink it, but you'll be thirst again.

But if you drink the water I give you, it will well up in you an eternal life, and you will never thirst again. So all He says, the same thing that Jesus says in John chapter 15, to abide, to remain, to continue. Blessed is the man, happy is the man, who is firmly planted by the streams of water which yields its fruit in season, and its leaf does not wither, and whatever he does prospers.

Whatever he does prospers. Meaning, our primary focus in everything that we do has to be to love Christ, to see His glory, to understand His beauty. And when we become people who are in love with Christ, He says, "Everything you do will prosper." Everything you do. There is no separate set of rules and training for being a good husband.

I mean, we live in a culture, we have so much knowledge, so many seminars, you want to be a good husband, go to this seminar. You want to be a good father, go to this seminar. You want to have a good church, go to this seminar. You want to be a good older sister, you want to make disciples, you want to evangelize.

And you have so many seminars, so much knowledge, and so little fruit. And you go to some countries where they have nothing. Pastors barely have any kind of training, and yet everywhere they go, they're bearing fruit. Because they love Christ. He says, "People who are planted by the streams of this living water will bear fruit whatever they do." Whatever they do.

You'll bear fruit in singing. You'll bear fruit in relationships. If you're struggling, "I don't know how to be a good father." Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. "I don't know how to be a good husband. I don't know how to be a good wife." Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

"I don't know how to do this." Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Because He says, "You will prosper in everything that you do if you do that." That's why He says to fix your eyes upon Christ, the author and the perfecter of our faith.

He's not just the one who justifies. He's also the one who sanctifies. So fix your eyes upon Christ. Love the Lord and all the other things that we're so worried about, He says, He'll take care of. I pray that that would be our goal. Christianity is so much more simpler.

Even as a pastor, I mean, again, I'm going to try to end this now, but early on in ministry, I was so burdened. Because seminary doesn't train me to organize a church. And people ask me, "How do you handle a church when it's a 200?" I don't know. I've never passed in a church 200.

"What do you do with the budget?" I don't know. You know what I mean? I've never handled that, so I would have to learn. "How do you do discipleship? What about the building? What about the sisters' ministry? What about missions? What about counseling? What about this? What about that?" It's like, I don't know.

I'm just trying to figure this out. And I remember young in ministry, I said, "Man, seminary didn't train me for anything." And then I was so burnt out. It's like, I don't know what I'm doing. And as I felt desperate, as I come to the Lord and open up the Bible and say, "That's not what I see in the Bible.

There's a bunch of men who just followed Christ around, and he said to sit down, they sit down, they said to go, he just goes." And then these utter failures, he equips them with the Holy Spirit, "Now go. Wait a second, I failed the biggest test, and now you're going to send us to go?" And he said, "Well, I'm not sending you.

The Holy Spirit is going to come upon you, and you will be my witnesses. Just go. When you stand in front of councils and they question you, don't worry about it. I'm going to give you the words. Just go. We're just fishermen. We just failed. We're not properly trained.

We've only been with you for three years. That's it? You expect us to change the world?" I said, "Yes. Just go." So much of what we've convinced ourselves that we can't do is not coming from the Bible. It's coming from the culture that we belong to. It's coming from the culture that tells us that you need this, this, and this in order for you to be successful.

But your idea of success is worldly. Success in the kingdom of God is to love God. And if you love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, fruit happens. Fruit happens. People around you, not because you focus on them, not because you did something, but because you love Christ, other people end up loving Christ.

Isn't that what discipleship is ultimately? Focus on yourself, loving Christ the best that you know how, and he says, "Everything else you do will prosper." I pray that you will believe that and practice that with all your heart. Let's pray. And as our worship team takes a few minutes to lead us, let's take some time to come before the Lord in honest confession.

Just thanking Him for what He has already done for us, that He would open our eyes to see the Christ that we fell in love with. Maybe for some of us years ago, that He would help us, that we may see the beauty of Christ, the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, so that our sanctification, everything that we do, would be an overflow of the powerful work that He is doing in us.

Let's take some time to pray again as our worship team leads us. (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) Let's all stand up for the closing praise. (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) Let's pray.

Now the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, eternal love, the deep, deep love, God our Father, restore, strengthen, and transform us that we may be good trees that bear good fruit. We pray, Father God, that wherever you send us now, teach us to focus our eyes upon the love of Christ, upon the glory that was revealed to us on the cross, that all that we do will be an overflow of the powerful work that you are doing in us, that through us, that your name may be magnified in this dark world.

Amen. (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music)